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Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 7.

THE MISSION OF CHRIST

Signs of the Times

Feb 15, 1905

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Feb 15, 1905

THE FOUR SEASONS.
THE FOUR SEASONS.

THE MISSION OF CHRIST.

(ISAIAH 61:1-4, 10, 11. Lowth's Translation.)
The Spirit of Jehovah is upon Me, Because Jehovah hath anointed Me; To publish glad tidings to the meek hath He sent Me; To bind up the broken-hearted; To proclaim to the captives freedom; And to the bounden, perfect liberty; To proclaim the year of acceptance with Jehovah; And the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all those that mourn; To impart gladness to the mourners of Zion; To give them a beautiful crown, instead of ashes; The oil of gladness, instead of sorrow; The clothing of praise, instead of the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees approved; The plantation of Jehovah for His glory. And they that spring from Thee shall build up the ruins of old times; They shall restore the ancient desolations; They shall repair the cities laid waste; The desolations of continued ages.
I will greatly rejoice in Jehovah; My soul shall exult in My God. For He hath clothed Me with the garments of salvation; He hath covered Me with the mantle of righteousness; As the bridegroom decketh himself with a priestly crown; And as the bride adorneth herself with her costly jewels. Surely, as the earth pusheth forth her tender shoots; And as a garden maketh her seed to germinate; So shall the Lord Jehovah cause righteousness to spring forth; And praise, in the presence of all the nations.
AUTUMN
AUTUMN
WINTER
WINTER
SPRING
SPRING

Contents

By Editor

JANUARY 4

Washed from Our Sins, Editorial That New Leaf, Editorial The Sabbath, No. 1 Evolution and the World Problems, by Geo. McCready Price The One True Church, Editorial Church and State Notes, by Our Washington Correspondent Chinese Religion, by a Resident Missionary Some Sensible Suggestions as to Amusements, Home Department

JANUARY 11

Evolution and the World Problems, by Geo. McCready Price The Sabbath, No. 2 Sunday Enforcement News and Comments, by our Washington Correspondent A Trip to Los Andes, by William Steele True Hospitality, Home Department

JANUARY 18

Unwilling to Be Warned (a Very Striking Editorial) Is the World Growing Better? The Sabbath, No. 3. The Evidence of Archeology, Part 1, Illustrated, by Geo. McCready Price A New York Sunday Law Decision, by John D. Bradley Missionary Labors in Naini Tal, India, Missions Department A Temperance Picture, Home Department A Beautiful Young Woman the Devil's Agent, Home Department

JANUARY 25

Some Reasons Concerning Sunday Laws, Editorial Sunday Law Agitation in the Pacific Northwest, G. W. Reaser Sunday Enforcement in Hawaii, John D. Bradley The Evidence of Archeology, Part 2, Illustrated, by Geo. McCready Price The Sabbath, No. 4 Chile, South America, Missions Department For Making a Girl, Home Department

FEBRUARY 1

Resisting the Honor of Men, Editorial Is Saturday the Original Sabbath Day? Editorial A Better District of Columbia Sunday Law, John D. Bradley Darwinism, Geo. McCready Price The Sabbath, No. 5 Amoy, China, Missions Department Courage, Home Department A Little Girl's Dream, Home Department
By placing your order promptly, you may be able to secure the whole series. Address Signs of the Times, Mountain View, Cal.

Vegetarian Cookery

By Editor

A Valuable Compilation by a Master of the Art

One of the latest and most interesting additions to the culinary stores of the age is the "Vegetarian Cook Book," by E. G. Fulton, manager of the Vegetarian Restaurant of San Francisco, and published by the Pacific Press Publishing Company.
It contains nearly 250 pages of closely printed letter press, and many hundred recipes, of which we select a few for publication here.
In the preface to his book the author says: "It must appeal to the judgment of every thinking man or woman that the human family are more in need of sound, wholesome advice as to what they should eat and drink than ever before. The number of physicians and dentists increases each year at an alarming rate, but the aches and ills of the suffering people do not lessen. Thousands of people find themselves in a deplorable condition, with stomachs almost worn out, having depended largely upon predigested foods and a long list of so-called 'dyspepsia cures.'"
In writing this book, the author has treated the subject from the commonly accepted definition of the term 'vegetarianism,' which means to abstain from flesh food, but allows the use of eggs, milk, and their products. After years of experience in conducting vegetarian restaurants in several cities and making a study of the food question, he thinks he can bestow no greater gift upon the people than to place before them a book containing instruction in the preparation of wholesome dishes that will build up, in place of tearing down, the body.
The book itself contains nearly 250 pages of recipes for select vegetarian dishes, from among which we have selected the following:

NUT CHOWDER SOUP

Nuttolene or protose, ¼ pound; hard boiled eggs, 3; browned onions, 3; sage, 1 teaspoonful; bay leaves, 2; salt, 1 tablespoonful. Chop all together fine, then add to strained, boiling tomatoes, four cups; add boiling water, one cup; thicken with flour, one tablespoonful; reheat and serve.

VEGETARIAN CHICKEN SALAD

Chopped protose, ½ pound; chopped celery, ⅔ cup; grated onion, 1 small teaspoonful; lemons, juice of 2; salt; mayonnaise, 2 tablespoonfuls. Mix all together, adding mayonnaise dressing last. Serve on lettuce.

CARAMEL CUSTARD

Milk, 3 cups; butter, 1 tablespoonful; water, ½ cup; sugar, 1 cup; eggs, 6; vanilla, ½ teaspoonful. Put the butter into a sauce pan and set on the range. When melted, stir in the sugar and let cook until a dark brown color, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Now add the water, which should be hot, and stir until the caramel (the browned sugar) is dissolved. Beat up the eggs and mix with the milk; add this to the caramel and flavor with the vanilla. Pour into custard cups, set in a shallow pan of water, and bake till the custard is set in the middle.

FIG PUDDING

Butter, 2 tablespoonfuls; corn-starch, ½ cup; flour, ½ cup; fig marmalade, 1¼ cups; cream, 1½ cups; sugar, 1 cup; eggs, 4. Mix the butter with the corn-starch and flour; mix the fig marmalade and the cream; stir in the butter, corn starch and flour mixture, together with the sugar and the yolks of eggs. Mix well and fold in quickly the well-beaten whites. Pour into a buttered pudding pan and steam 1½ hours.
—January Number, Western Caterer.
The price of the "Vegetarian Cook Book" is 75c., post-paid.

Only Five Hundred Left

By Editor

THAT we might not disappoint those who send in their subscriptions to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES during the months of January and February, we published about three thousand extra of the issues described below. These have all been sent out with the exception of five hundred each.

FAITHFULNESS.

By Editor

THE first requisite of a steward is that he be faithful to his master's cause and interests. His intelligence and ability are presupposed in his selection or appointment. His faithfulness or non-faithfulness is manifest in the use he makes of all his powers for the time and purpose for which he is chosen.
EVEN so the one thing above all others which God requires of His servants is faithfulness. He does not say to the one who has improved his gift, "Thou hast been intelligent in a few things," or "Thou hast been wise;" but, "Thou hast been faithful." He does not say to the talent-user at last, "Well done, thou good and successful servant;" but, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." In the last great struggle with the combined powers of darkness, it is not said of His followers that they are great, or wise, or successful, or triumphant, or learned; but, "They that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." Rev. 17:14. The calling and choosing was of Him; the faithfulness is the result of yielding loyally to God's cause and choice.
THERE is a great difference between the way men and God estimate men. If man is successful from a worldly view-point, common humanity looks with leniency upon all his sins and mistakes. In the glamor of success they are forgotten. "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart;" and, among all the grand essentials of heart-service, faithfulness, with all it involves, stands pre-eminent.
WHAT an example we have of this in the life of "Moses the servant of God," "Moses the man of God!" How grand and glorious his character appears, limned against the black background of the selfishness of the great historic characters of the world! He served God, not man. He sought God's glory in all instances save in one moment of temptation. The one cause dear to heart and soul was God's cause and the salvation of the called people. They might misjudge his motives, as they did, he plead with God, and labored on. Mighty men and princes, a great multitude, disputed his right to a position which he sought to shun, but he left the contention with God, and labored on. His own sister and brother maligned him, and weakened his influence with the people; but he goes on with his work, leaving them to God, praying that healing power may restore Miriam, upon whom divine wrath has fallen. A whole people become so debased that the patience of Divinity seems almost exhausted, and God declares that He will destroy them, and make of His servant a nation; but "Moses the man of God" can not have it thus; God must save His people, and vindicate His name and promises. Better to Moses was loss of eternal life than the failure to save that people. These are but glimpses of the character of the man of whom God said, "My servant, . . . faithful in all Mine house."
GOD'S cause needs men of this character today—men dead to the petty ambitions of this world, dead to its petty jealousies and envies, oblivious to the tongue of calumny and reproach moved by envy and falsehood; men who will stay by God's work, wrestling with God for its triumph till from Pisgah's top they are permitted to see the promised land, ever they lay down their armor, or till divided floods congeal by the power of God and safe passage is given to the eternal Paradise of God. Men are wanted, faithful men.

THE REAL AND THE EVANESCENT.

By S.

EVERY year, since the year 1848, increasing thousands have passed through, or begun their journey toward, the Golden Gate of California. They know as they always have known, that there are dangers to be met; but they have pushed on and met them, and either overcame them or were overcome by them. All were filled with hopes and aspirations. Some realized their brightest dreams; others failed even to catch a glimpse of the Golden Gate or the glittering sands from which they hoped to glean a rich harvest. Some made fortunes, and thousands were ruined. Some went back with wealth, others never went back, but lost their all, bartered their souls and lost again. Still others, with the frost of many winters in their hair, are searching, delving, testing, turning hither and thither, hoping ever that the next pan will give up the golden key to the fortune whose quest they can not forsake. From stream to stream, from plain to craggy cliff, this insatiate army trudges, with hope for its knapsack and golden dreams for its pillow. One by one their comrades are sounding taps over the tired dreamers, and they are laid away. They looked toward the Golden Gate as toward the portal of a temporal paradise. The promise which hope had made them has never been fulfilled. They staked all, and they lost.
How different is the hope which the Gospel is holding out to man. It has its golden gate; it has its glorious reward beyond that gate; and there is no disappointment to the seeker. There are hardships to be borne; but they have been borne by Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and He has promised His unfailing guidance to every one who will undertake that journey. There are stormy seas to cross; but Jesus Christ is the Pilot from the port of sailing to the anchorage within the harbor bar; and no vessel which He pilots will ever founder or be thrown upon the rocks and be lost. There is absolute certainty in this. True, some have set out upon this voyage and have not gone through. But they forsook chart and compass, dismissed the Pilot, and thus put the wheel in the hands of him whose great purpose was the ruin of their souls.
Beyond the gate toward which the Christian journeys there lies the absolute fulfilment of the most glorious hopes the heart of man has ever harbored. Here men have striven, struggled, journeyed under desperate privations, passed through dangers hidden and revealed, dangers which threatened life itself,—all for a few ounces of gold and the joy they expected to find in its possession during a few short years. But what of that better hope which God has set before the race? He tells us, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." 1 Cor. 2:9.
Have you seen your brightest hopes fade and wither, and become the plaything of the winds of misfortune? The brightest hopes the child of earth can picture for himself are pale and insignificant beside the hopes which God holds out to the humblest suppliant of His grace—and His are real. It may have been best for you that the hopes you built have crumbled. It was best if these were blinding your eyes to the unsearchable riches of God. The golden portal of riches or pleasure toward which your longing eyes had looked, and through which you had hoped to pass, may have been a portal whose passage would have been your eternal ruin. We can not afford to wreck our hope of entering upon the enjoyment of the riches and glories of heaven and of the earth made new for the sake of the fleeting pleasures of a transient life. The golden gate toward which the Christian looks is the pearl-hinged gate of the City of God. Beyond that is life everlasting; beyond that is the fruition of hope long deferred; beyond that is the companionship of the Christ who bought us with His blood; "God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things have passed away." Rev. 21:3, 4.When that blessed realization comes, how little we will think of the bitterest trials we have had to pass through here. They will not then be deemed worthy of coming into mind. These things that try us and test us now; these things for which so many labor from dawn to dusk; they are the transient, the evanescent; they are passing away.
But these other toward which the Christian looks, and in which he hopes through the mercies of God, these are the real, the substantial, the enduring. In their possession we have all. Without them we have nothing, and life itself will fade away with the transient things to which it clings. Truly our hope is a glorious hope, for it binds us to Him who is the center and source of all the good the universe contains.

THE YOKE OF CHRIST.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

A YOKE is a symbol of service. When one is in bondage he is said to be under a yoke. Jeremiah was told to make yokes and send them to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyrus, and Zidon, and tell them that these were to indicate that they should be subject to the king of Babylon. The prophet was also to wear one himself, and to give one to the king of Judah. The sinner is reckoned as being under a yoke of bondage, for sin reigns over him until he is converted to Christ.
The gracious invitation of our Saviour is: "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." The ox-yoke, which is taken for the symbol, is made so that two can work together. So when one takes Christ's yoke upon him, he is to work side by side with Christ. Now that would not be an easy position if he were expected to do as much work as Christ. He is simply attached to the Lord by the yoke of love, and the Lord does the work. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." This is what makes the yoke easy, and the burden light.
But we must remember that it is the burden of soul that is made light, and this is because of a consciousness that sin is forgiven. The promise is not of an easy time in the world; it is not designed to encourage laziness in the work; for the slothful man, the sluggard, "shall beg in harvest, and have nothing." Why?—Because he is too dilatory to plow when it is cold. He prefers an easy, comfortable time to the prospect of a good harvest of souls.
God's people are also to reckon themselves as yoked together—"yoke fellows" (Phil. 4:3) "under the yoke" (1 Tim. 6:1). Thus we are "laborers together with God" (1 Cor. 3:9). If therefore there be a lack of harmony, the yoke will be made hard and galling, and the service of doubtful character. It behooves us, then, to "do all things without murmurings and disputings," that we may "stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel." Otherwise being yoked together must be a very uncomfortable position.
Being yoked with Christ implies walking as He walked (1 John 2:6), and He "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." As "sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4), and He did no sin, He was faithful in the observance of the law which shows what sin is—which law is shown in Rom. 7:7 to be the law of Ten Commandments.
He is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," and the law of God is the truth (Ps. 119:142). In Christ is eternal life (1 John 5:11, 12), and in keeping the law is life (Luke 10:25-28).
It seems clear, then, that walking in the yoke of Christ, walking "even as He walked," is to walk in the way of His commandments. So the scripture says, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: "Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." And this is the duty that confronts us in the judgment; for when this duty is presented to us, there is coupled with it the reason for the announcement: "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:13, 14. Then the law of God, the transgression of which is sin, is the standard in the judgment. It is wisdom, therefore, to be yoked together with a Mediator who is blameless before the law, and in whose righteousness alone we can stand (Rom. 3:23-26; Phil. 3:8, 9); for no man can keep the infallible law of God excepting in the faith and by the help of Christ. G.

PROVING GOD.

By G.

ALL human schemes for proving God, or testing His Word, are born of doubt.
Faith asks no voucher, or side assurance, that God will do what He says. Yet the Lord sometimes humors His weak, doubting servants, and honors their tests. He did so with Gideon (Judges 6:36-40), but the requirement on Gideon's part showed a lack of faith. But the Lord has given us some ways by which He asks us to prove His integrity and His fidelity to His promises. These are always legitimate tests, for God challenges us to apply them continually. First, we have

The Sabbath as a Test.

Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord says: "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy Father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. 58 : 13, 14.
Here is a straight, plain, unequivocal test: If we will refrain from our own fleshly pleasure on the Lord's holy Sabbath—the seventh day—and live so near to Him that the weekly commemoration of His work—creation and redemption—will be a delight to our souls, then we shall have the heritage of Jacob. And what is the heritage of Jacob?—It includes all the promises of the new covenant. See Jer. 31:31-34.
Another test, by which the Lord challenges us to prove Him, is

The Tithes.

By strict fidelity in this respect, we may always claim the promised prosperity. The Lord's infallible Word is the surety. "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delight-some land, saith the Lord of hosts." Mal. 3:10-12.
To get the full benefit of this test, there must be the utmost faithfulness in "tithes and offerings" (verses 8, 9), from the standpoint of God's judgment, and not from the result of selfish reckoning. Jesus told the Pharisees that they ought to tithe even the small incomes from their "mint and anise and cummin." See Matt. 23:23.
Still another legitimate means of proving the Lord, entirely proper because suggested by Himself, is

The Exercise of Christian Charity.

Light, health, and righteousness are assured, on condition that "thou bring the poor that are cast out [margin, "afflicted"] to thy house." In the same connection is the further promise: "If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shalt thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday; and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought; and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." See Isa. 58:6-11.
Is it not worth while to prove the Lord on this great proposition, with so much at stake? Then there is the promise of a great reformation, where the Lord's people are disposed to take Him at His word in the manner He has indicated. Here is the further promise: "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." Verse 12.
But the climax of all the means by which God desires men to prove Him—the climax of all because this particular test includes all others—is

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The contingency of such a proof is eternal life, which comprises all other possibilities to the one who seeks covenant relation with God in deed and in truth. The promise of eternal life to the believer is a direct challenge to sinners to prove the power and wisdom and love of God, by simply believing in Him who was sent to redeem them from sin and its penalty, death. "All things are possible to him that believeth." Mark 9:23. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23. Those who will stand when the judgments of God overtake the unbelievers will be "they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12.
God is pleased when men essay to prove His Word, if they set about it in the way that He designates. To do this is to show an honesty of purpose, a desire to know the truth. To set up conditions of our own, to attempt to bringGod to our human terms, is to judge Him by a human standard, and to assume that our tests are superior to those laid down in His Word. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31. G.

IMMORTALITY.

By G.

IN an advertisement in a popular journal, lauding the virtues of a new book that treats of the Greek philosophers, we find this peculiar statement:
In the words of Socrates, five hundred years before the New Testament was written, will be found a clearer statement of the doctrine of the immortal soul and its future states of probation, reward, and punishment, than can be found in any part of the Bible.
This is quite true, with one exception. The most direct and concise statement of the doctrine that we have yet seen is in the words of the serpent, when deceiving Eve, found in Gen. 3:4, 5: "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
This is not only a clear-cut statement of the doctrine, but it is an unmistakable indicator as to who originated and first promulgated it. It shows, too, that the original purpose of the dogma was to deceive the human race; and, alas! Satan and his agents have been making effective use of it to that end ever since.
This iteration by the serpent of the soul's immortality is the only instance in the Bible of such enunciation, while there are many that directly controvert the dogma. For instance: Gen. 3:19, 22-24; Job 4:17; Ps. 37:9-11, 20; Eccl. 9:5, 6; Eze. 18:4, 20; Mal. 4:1-3; John 3:16; Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:12-18, 32; 1 Tim. 6:13-16, etc., etc.
To say that Socrates has stated the doctrine of the soul's immortality clearer than can be found in any part of the Bible, is simply to say that he can outdo Satan in the statement of his favorite and most destructive deception; the only statement of it in the Bible being that quotation from the serpent's words. This is a rather doubtful compliment to Socrates.
Immortality comes to men only through faith in Jesus Christ, by a resurrection from the dead—and that by the "first resurrection." Compare 1 Thess. 4:13-18 with Revelation 20. Eternal life, which is the gift of God through Christ, comes to "them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality." Rom. 2:7. If men have immortality as an inherent possession, why the necessity of seeking for it through any one else? G.
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