Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 9, 1901
OUR TALENTS
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
God has lent men talents—an intellect to originate, a heart to be the place of His throne, affection to flow out in blessings to others, a conscience to convict of sin. Each one has received something from the Master, and each one is to do his part in supplying the needs of God's work.
God desires His workers to look to Him as the giver of all they possess, to remember that all they have and are comes from Him who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. The delicate touch of the physician's hand, his power over nerve and muscle, his knowledge of the delicate organism of the body, are the wisdom of divine power, to be used in behalf of suffering humanity. The skill with which the carpenter uses the hammer, the strength with which the blacksmith makes the anvil ring, come from God. He has intrusted men with talents, and He desires them to look to Him for counsel. Thus they may use His gifts with unerring aptitude, testifying that they are workers together with God.
Property is a talent. To His people the Lord sends the message, “Sell that ye have, and give alms.” All that we have is the Lord's, without any question. He calls upon us to awake, to bear a share of the burdens of His cause, that prosperity may attend His work. Every Christian is to act His part as a faithful steward. The methods of God are sensible and right, and we are to trade on our pence and our pounds, returning our freewill offerings to Him to sustain His work, to bring souls to Christ. Large and small sums should flow into the Lord's treasury. All the people of God are to pay a faithful tithe. This is the Lord's portion, and He will reward a faithful return to Him of His own.
The Lord Jesus, whose we are by creation and by redemption, has pointed out our duty. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, He says, “and all these things shall be added unto you.” Those who choose to gratify every selfish desire will be judged accordingly. Living to please self, they dishonor God.
Speech is a talent. Of all the gifts bestowed on the human family, none should be more appreciated than the gift of speech. It is to be used to declare God's wisdom and wondrous love. Thus the treasures of His grace and wisdom are to be communicated.
An indwelling Saviour is revealed by the words. But the Holy Spirit does not abide in the heart of him who is peevish if others do not agree with his ideas and plans. From the lips of such a man there come scathing remarks, which grieve the Spirit away, and develop attributes that are satanic rather than divine. The Lord desires those connected with His work to speak at all times with the meekness of Christ. If you are provoked, do not become impatient. Manifest the gentleness of which Christ has given us an example in His life.
As Christians we should speak as Christ would speak were He in our place. We long to see reforms, but often because things do not move just as we wish them to move, an evil spirit puts drops of gall into our cup, and other souls are poisoned. By our ill-advised words they are chafed and stirred to rebellion. Make it your aim to speak the truth in love. Then the Lord Jesus by His Spirit will supply the force and power. Do not mingle self with anything done for God. Ever reveal the meek and lowly spirit of the Master.
All who claim to serve God should show by word and action that they are His children. To show by the daily life that we are members of the royal family is of more value in God's sight than all learning, all high accomplishments.
Strength is a talent, and is to be used to glorify God. Our bodies belong to Him. He has paid the price of redemption for the body as well as for the soul. “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” God is the great Care-taker of the human machinery. Were it not for His constant care, the pulse would not beat, the action of the heart would cease, the brain would no longer act its part.
The brain is the organ and instrument of the mind, and controls the whole body. In order for the other parts of the system to be healthy, the brain must be healthy; and in order for the brain to be healthy, the blood must be pure. If, by correct habits of eating and drinking, the blood is kept pure, the brain will be properly nourished.
We can serve God better in the vigor of health than in the palsy of disease; therefore we should co-operate with God in the care of our bodies. Love for God is essential for life and health. Faith in God is essential for health. In order to have perfect health, our hearts must be filled with love and hope and joy in the Lord.
The tastes are to be elevated, the appetite subdued, by those who are seeking for the eternal inheritance, a life which measures with the life of God. The gospel demands an unreserved surrender of body and soul, with all their energies and capabilities. The Lord claims all the service which any human being, aided and enriched by divine grace, can render; and to withhold this from Him is robbery.
Influence is a talent, and it is a power for good when the sacred fire of God's kindling is brought into our service. The influence of a holy life is felt at home and abroad. The practical benevolence, the self-denial and self-sacrifice, which mark the life of a man, have an influence for good upon those with whom he associates.
Imperceptibly influences affect the mind, and form the character. If the mind does not appropriate high and holy influences, it appropriates those that are low and debasing. If there is not a growth in piety and grace, there is a growth in worldliness and sin.
In the Lord's plan there is a diversity in the distribution of talents. To one man is given one talent, to another five, to another ten. These talents are not bestowed capriciously, but according to the ability of the recipient.
According to the talents bestowed will be the returns called for. The heaviest obligation rests upon him who has been made a steward of the greatest abilities. A man who has ten pounds is held responsible for all that ten pounds would do if used aright. He who has only ten pence is accountable for only that amount. God accepts according to what a man has, not according to what he has not. He does not expect from the man who has only one talent what he expects from him who has five.
In the parable the man who received one talent hid it in the earth. He refused to do what he could to increase that which was given him, and then tried to make his lord responsible for his neglect. Had he been intrusted with five talents, he would have done just the same as he did with one.
It is the faithfulness with which the endowment has been used that wins the Lord's commendation. If we desire to be acknowledged as good and faithful servants, we must do thorough, consecrated work for the Master. He will reward diligent, honest service. If men will put their trust in Him, if they will recognize His compassion and benevolence, and will walk humbly before Him, He will co-operate with them. He will increase their talents.
God has left us in charge of His goods in His absence. Each steward has his own special work to do for the advancement of God's kingdom. No one is excused. The Lord bids us all, “Occupy till I come.” By His own wisdom He has given us direction for the use of His gifts. The talents of speech, memory, influence, property, are to accumulate for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom. He will bless the right use of His gifts.
We claim to be Christians, waiting for the second appearing of our Lord in the clouds of heaven. Then what shall we do with our time, our understanding, our possessions, which are not ours, but are intrusted to us to test our honesty? Let us bring them to Jesus. Let us use226our treasures for the advancement of His cause. Thus we shall obey the injunction, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
A CRUMB FOR MOTHERS
AN AGED MOTHER
At the present day most of the burden and responsibility of the training of the family are laid upon the mother. There is so much written and said for the benefit of parents, especially mothers, that I wonder the young generation is not far in advance of former generations in everything good. Why, even poets tell us that “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world;” and the mother is attending mothers’ meetings and child-culture clubs, seeking advice and wisdom, sometimes from those who God knew were not capable of training children of their own, and so withheld from them that blessing, and gave it to some who seemed to have less wisdom; for God sometimes chooses “the weak things” to confound the wise.
O mothers, when you ask advice, ask it of God, and cast your care upon Him. And you who give advice and write for the benefit of parents, give the mothers a little more rest and comfort, and the fathers a little more burden for the training of the children. Let us search the Scriptures more on this subject. Why did God choose Abraham? — Because he would command his children after him. Let us not pass this over lightly; for we can all see that there is something wrong somewhere at the present day. Are we following God’s plan? Does God blame or rebuke the mothers? If so, where? Do we truly teach the Fifth Commandment? Are the young taught to love and honor their parents? Some who really wish to do missionary work will go to these willful young people, who are disobedient and headstrong. They wish to excuse themselves — and how natural the desire to lay the blame on some one else! Adam, you remember, excused his disobedience by reminding God that it was the woman He had given him who led him to disobey. How much easier for a child to blame an earthly parent! The missionary sympathizes with the erring child, and straightway pens an article for the benefit of those parents.
Do the children see this article?—Oh, yes; it is in the REVIEW perhaps; and the mother trembles to see her children read it. She knows not why; for it must be all right, coming from that source. The father perhaps never thinks about the effect on the children — another straw added to the mother’s burden. A poet has truly written, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth is an ungrateful child.” The pain, the sorrow, the deep love, of motherhood are incentives to faithfulness, unknown to the father. The mother knows and ponders every trait of that child. Only God knows the burden she carries. Take courage, dear mother, God knows it all. Isaiah sings of his Beloved, who had a vineyard in a fruitful hill — a good place. And He planted in it the choicest vine, gathered out the stones, and made a wall around it. There was no opportunity for it to mingle with the wild grapes over there in the wood. No; no! He made every provision to gather good fruit for His labor. But when it came time for fruit, time for Him to rest and enjoy the fruit, alas! it was only sour wild grapes. Whose fault was it?
Dear mothers, and fathers, too, God alone knows how often that question has been wrung from sore and aching hearts. He it is who pities. He who said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children,” saw our sorrows. Let us be comforted in remembering His precious promise; nothing is too hard for God. Let us plead for our children and our neighbors’ children.
SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD
In the beautiful Eden home was every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, also the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Gen. 2:7-9. God told Adam that he might eat freely of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil he should not eat. For in the day that he ate thereof he should surely die. Verse 16, 17. But Satan said, “Ye shall not surely die.” Whom did Eve believe?—Satan. She partook of the fruit, and we daily witness the sad results of her transgression.
The Lord says: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things [the necessaries of life] shall be added unto you.” Satan says, “You can not be a Christian. You can not make a living.” If you are a Christian, he says, “You have no time to read and study the Bible nor to pray. You must work from morning till night. You have scarcely time to eat your meals; but you must take time for the temporal food, or you can not live.” But God says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4. How can we live by every word of God if we do not study to know that word? Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life.” John 5:39.
Satan says, “You have been baptized, and belong to the church, and God knows your circumstances. He knows that you have a family to support; you must live, and you need every moment and every cent.” The same old story of Eve and the serpent! Whom shall we believe, God or Satan? We read that Satan is the father of lies, and there is no truth in him. John 8:44. But “God is not a man, that He should lie.” Num. 23:19; James 1:17.
Did Jesus live by every word of God?—Yes; and He is our example; He is the only perfect pattern.
He had not where to lay His head—born in a manger. “And every man went unto his own house.” “Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.” John 7:53; 8:1. Why did Jesus go to the mount of Olives?—He had no “house” to which to go. But God found Him a resting-place. So he finds a resting-place for each of His children, and supplies all their needs. Jesus often spent all night in prayer. If He needed to seek God often, that He might be able to overcome the enemy, how dare we even to think of being able to stand without seeking God. Oh, that none of us may be deceived by the “father of lies”! but let us seek “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.”
Are we laboring in the home, on the farm, in the office or shop, or elsewhere, let us make God first. “But you must be at work at a certain227time, or you will lose your position, or not accomplish much, and you work so hard you need to rest until nearly the last moment.” This is Satan’s suggestion again. Let us see what our great Example did. In Mark 1:35 we read: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Who will not say that Christ was busy and labored hard? Yet He had not the home comforts that we have, be they ever so poor. He sought “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.”
Are we gospel workers, such as ministers, Bible workers, canvassers, etc., let us seek “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,” and make the salvation of souls our object, trusting the Lord to take care of us. “And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them.” John 8:2. Jesus began early in the morning to give the message and minister unto the people. The salvation of those for whom He came, for whom He suffered, and for whom He was to die, was His object. It should be ours. We should seek to save that which is lost.
We say the Lord is soon coming again. May God help us to say it in our daily lives, and not only with our lips; and then the work will soon be done, the Saviour will come, and we shall be delivered from all trials and tribulations, and shall rejoice in the Lord forever.
“When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 8:17. Then let us study the Word, that our faith may be increased; and let us take Him at His word, and step out upon His promises, though the way may seem ever so dark. Now is the time to act. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1); “but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Rom. 8:24. “The just shall live by faith.” Gal. 3:11. Then, brethren, let us “be strong and of a good courage,” and seek “first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.”
THEY FORGOT
By T. E. BOWEN
T. E. BOWEN
Forgetfulness sometimes proves very serious. It resulted thus to Israel of old, and it will result the same to Israel’s remnant. Mighty acts were performed by Christ in Egypt, that His people, so long held in bondage, might know how powerful was their God. Wonderful things were accomplished to prove to them that the I AM was above all the false gods of the Egyptians.
Then Christ began proving them. He led them to the Red Sea. They knew that a corpse lay in every Egyptian home only a night past; they knew of the great hail, the frogs, the lice, the bloody Nile,—all this they knew; but here was this wide sea, and death by the sword in the rear. “They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked Him at the sea, even the Red Sea.” They forgot God’s power.
Then for Moses’ sake and His own name’s sake, Christ opened a path through the sea. Before they started, Moses believed that God would do this, but Israel did not believe until they were safely landed on the other side, and saw their enemies drowned in their vain pursuit to overtake them. The record says of them, “THEN believed they His words; they sang His praise.” But this was not the song of faith—the “song of Moses and the Lamb.”
Test after test was brought to them. When God brought them to the borders of Canaan, their home, instead of going right in on the strength of God’s word, and with strong confidence because the pillar of fire and cloud led them there, they sent spies to see if God’s words were true. “Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not His word.” They forgot the wonders in Egypt, at the sea, the bitter waters, etc.; and because they forgot, they sinned through unbelief.
But what about us? Do we not have all this record? Do we not believe all these written words? We profess to; but when in our experience we are brought to a sea, to a bitter-water experience, and the like, do we by faith trust in God’s love and power, and go forward? Upon this point we have this testimony from the Lord: “God in mercy called them [the Israelites] out from the Egyptians, that they might worship Him without hindrance or restraint. He wrought for them in the way of miracles, He proved and tried them by bringing them into strait places. After the wonderful dealings of God with them, and their deliverance so many times, they murmured when tried or proved by Him. Their language was, ‘Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt.’ They lusted for the leeks and onions there. . . . Said the angel, ‘Ye have done worse than they.’”—Testimonies, Vol. I, page 128. We have forgotten more of God’s wonderful dealings than they had to forget. Let us be repentant of past forgetfulness of His many mercies and exhibitions of power for us, and remember constantly the great Gift of His love, who was slain for our sins, and in gratitude “bless the Lord, . . . and forget not all His benefits.”
Be What Nature Intended You For
“BE what nature intended you for, and you will succeed; be anything else, and you will be ten thousand times worse than nothing.”
NOBODY KNOWS, BUT MOTHER
How many buttons are missing to-day?
Nobody knows, but mother.
How many playthings are strewn in her way?
Nobody knows, but mother.
How many thimbles and spools has she missed?
How many horns on each little fat fist?
How many bumps to be cuddled and kissed?
Nobody knows, but mother.
How many muddy shoes all in a row?
Nobody knows, but mother.
How many stockings to darn, do you know?
Nobody knows, but mother.
How many little torn aprons to mend?
How many hours of toil must she spend?
What is the time when her day's work shall end?
Nobody knows, but mother.
How many cares does a mother-heart know?
Nobody knows, but mother.
How many joys from her mother-love flow?
Nobody knows, but mother.
How many prayers by each little white bed?
How many tears for her babes has she shed?
How many kisses for each curly head?
Nobody knows, but mother.
— Selected.
SPIRITUAL REST
By Mrs. W. H. Riley
MRS. W. H. RILEY
(Boulder, Colo., Sanitarium)
“REST in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Ps. 37:7. And He said, “My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Ex. 33:14.
The Lord, in His goodness and mercy, has promised to give a peace unto His people, different from that which the world gives. It is a secret rest and peace known only to the true child of God. It passes all understanding, and has the power to keep hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. The Saviour bids, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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.” Sweet promise of rest and assurance of God’s love and goodness!
This is an age of activity, of hurry and worry, of greed and gain. Through ambition, selfish plans are pursued and carried into effect: moderation is put aside. Under this constant strain of daily cares and duties, the body and brain are overworked. Nature intercedes, and endeavors to enforce her laws. The nervous system must suffer, which has a depressing effect upon the mind if not well supported by divine strength. Discouragements and evil forebodings follow. Burdens too heavy for human hearts are carried. The result is doubting, wavering, denying the promise of the Lord: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isa. 26:3.
The Lord’s promises are sure and unfailing. With a pitying eye He watches over His erring children. He desires, yea, yearns, to give them rest, and bids all that labor and are heavy laden to come unto Him, that He may give that promised rest. “The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.” Isa. 14:3.
The Lord desires perfect obedience from His children, whole-hearted labor, a work of righteousness which shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness shall be quietness and assurance forever. His people are to dwell in pleasant habitations, in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. Job said, “Thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.” The psalmist rejoiced and found perfect rest in the Lord, expressing his confidence, in these words: “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.” “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Here the psalmist experienced a spiritual as well as a physical rest. This is what the Lord desires from every one of His children; namely, “a daily spiritual and physical rest,” that He may come into the individual heart with all fullness and joy. This will certainly dispel clouds and gloom from the Christian’s life, helping him to obtain perfect victory at the throne of grace, that he may be a source of strength to others in showing Christ’s love. The Lord’s love and life manifested in the child in giving His word can not return unto Him void, no more than can a stream flowing in its course seaward, however lonely that course may be, fail to gladden some land. As no star ever rose and set without its influence somewhere, so no life can be pure in its purpose, and strong in its strife, and all life not be purer and stronger thereby.
A Smile of God
By Bennett
“God wills but ill,” the doubter said,
“Lo, time doth evil only bear;
Give me a sign His love to prove—
His vaunted goodness to declare!”
The poet paused by where a flower,
A simple daisy, starred the sod,
And answered, “Proof of love and power,
Behold! behold a smile of God!”
— Bennett.
CROOKED PATHS OF CABLE MESSAGES
When we follow the course of a cable dispatch, and see how many hands it passes through before reaching the person it is intended for, the wonder is that all cipher messages do not contain mistakes. The message from Minister Conger, for instance, was filed at Tien-tsin. The operator ticked it off to the cable station at Hongkong. From there it was sent to Singapore; it entered India, was caught up at Madras and hurried on to Bombay; with lightning wings it flew to Aden, in Arabia, where it was put on the cable to Suez, Africa. Then began the race toward Europe, by the way of Malta, Gibraltar, and Lisbon, ending on the eastern hemisphere at London. From the English capital it made another deep-sea journey to New York, and from there was telegraphed overland to Washington, having been transcribed no fewer than fifteen times.—Christian Advocate.
Nature, Custom, and Poverty
“NATURE makes us poor only when we want necessaries; but custom gives the name of poverty to the want of superfluities.”
The Whistling Boy
By Nixon Waterman
WHEN the curtains of night, ’tween the dark and the light,
Drop down at the set of the sun,
And the toilers who roam to the loved ones come home,
As they pass by my window is one
Whose coming I mark; for the song of the lark
As it joyously soars in the sky
Is no dearer to me than the notes, glad and free,
Of the boy who goes whistling by.
If a sense of unrest settles over my breast,
And my spirit is clouded with care,
It all flies away if he happens to stray
Past my window a-whistling an air.
And I never shall know how much gladness I owe
To this joy of the ear and the eye,
But I'm sure I'm in debt for much pleasure I get
To the boy who goes whistling by.
And this music of his, how much better it is
Than to burden his life with a frown;
For the toiler who sings to his purposes brings
A hope his endeavor to crown.
And whenever I hear his glad notes, full and clear,
I say to myself, I will try
To make all of life with a joy to be rife,
Like the boy who goes whistling by.
—Nixon Waterman.
COVETOUSNESS
By Lizzie Masters
LIZZIE MASTERS
When covetousness takes possession of the heart, money becomes the all-important subject for thought and meditation. It matters but little whether a person seeks money for the purpose of hoarding it, or for making useless expenditures; the question is, Does he love it? If so, whatever may be his object in acquiring it, he is disqualified for bringing souls to Christ; for how can he serve two masters at the same time? “For either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and Mammon.” If, in serving Mammon, he can not serve Christ, how then can he labor successfully in saving the souls of those for whom “Christ died”? “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” He, then, that loves the world is destitute of the moving principle to a life of usefulness.
Little of real, noble, Christian liberality is seen among a large proportion of those professing the name of Christ. They have been intrusted with an important talent for usefulness; but for what is it appropriated? For what end is it employed? Is it used for the salvation of men and for the good of the world? These are objects but seldom considered. To give a reasonable proportion of their talents and earthly treasures to the cause of Christ, would, in their estimation, be throwing them away. To honor God with their substance in using it for the salvation of others, is a thought that has not so far entered their hearts. And yet this is one grand end contemplated by the Giver of all our temporal blessings. If we would follow the meek and lowly Jesus, let us beware of covetousness, “which is idolatry.” If we give it a place in our hearts, it will greatly hinder our usefulness, and will disqualify us for winning souls to Christ.
A young man, with much apparent humility, came to the Saviour and anxiously inquired what he must do to inherit eternal life. The Saviour loved him, and evidently gave him the best instruction: “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But . . . he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.” O, the love of riches! What has it done! But the sad tale is told: he loved this world.
How shall we, who live in a day of merciful visitation, and in a time accepted, use our privileges and our talents which God in His mercy has intrusted to us? He that honoreth God with his substance shall gather fruit unto eternal life.
Trust in God
“TRUST in God is a well-spring of joy and peace in the heart, springing up evermore unto life eternal.”
COMMON AND UNCOMMON MIRACLES
By David Paulson; W. S. Sadler
DAVID PAULSON AND W. S. SADLER.
Dr. Vierworn, the German physiologist, makes the statement that the limit of our knowledge is reached when we have reduced everything to one Great Cause. This Great Cause for all things, he says, some have named the Unknown, others have called it God.
Even scientific men, whose minds have not been illumined by the light of revelation, recognize to a certain extent that there is a Master Spirit that pervades the universe, and is responsible for the harmony and order everywhere manifested. The principles that control the physical world lie parallel with those that control the spiritual world. In a certain sense, the smallest cell in the human body is endowed with something of that divine wisdom that is manifested throughout the universe. In the smallest things we may discern God at work; and we need not be surprised that in this vast complexity there are many things taking place that we can not explain. But as we become more acquainted with the known, we become more and more intelligent with reference to that which has before been unknown.
The simplest thing that God does is a miracle; but owing to our familiarity with the daily occurrence of His working, we may regard it as a very commonplace incident. Other things, which we have not observed so frequently nor understood so well, we may term a miracle. In Num. 17: 6–9 is described an uncommon miracle. A piece of almond timber budded, blossomed, and bore almonds in a night. But when another piece of the same kind of wood buds, blossoms, and bears almonds, only requiring several months in which to accomplish the task, it is a matter of no surprise to any one. Yet one is as inexplicable as the other. Christ fed five thousand persons by multiplying bread. But when the same miracle, only requiring several months’ time, is performed on a Kansas or Dakota wheat field, it is not regarded a miracle; and yet it requires the same divine power to take one kernel of wheat and make fifty out of it, as it required to take one loaf of bread and multiply it into fifty loaves. Christ once made wine in an instant, but He repeats the same miracle in every cluster of grapes that hangs from the vine. When a man is instantly healed, we say a miracle is wrought; and a meeting is called to thank God in a special manner. But if God, in His infinite mercy, takes six months to accomplish the same results, frequently neither the sufferer nor his friends feel under any special obligation to praise God for the restoration: they will, however, probably praise the doctor, or some horrible drug that had hindered his restoration.
Sometimes a miracle is defined as something that is out of harmony with natural law; but this definition is a result of ignorance rather than of knowledge. The law of gravitation says that everything shall come down, yet every growing tree apparently deviates from it,—defies it,—not only carrying up wood into the air, but tons of water as well, and yet no law is violated. The following lines are from an article by Mr. French, in Scribner’s Magazine:—“The Labor of a Single Oak.—A single oak of good size is said to lift one hundred and twenty-three tons of water during the months it is in leaf. This moisture is evaporated, and rises to form rain-clouds. All the trees are busy doing the same thing. From this estimate of the labor of a single oak, we can gain some idea of the immense force which the forests exert in equalizing the evaporation and precipitation and preventing periods of inundation and drought.”
When we see something happening that we can not explain, we call it a miracle, while those miracles that we are accustomed to see daily, we regard as simply commonplace events; but is not one as truly a miracle as the other?
The fundamental principle is that physical and spiritual truths operate on the same plane; and both of them are in reality beyond the realm of human explanation. God has a divine plan for each man: and when the man forgets to pray, he wanders away from this divine plan; while the man who prays finds the divine order. Every miracle that Christ wrought upon earth had a tendency to call the attention of the people to the miracles which He is constantly working all about us, but which we have overlooked. The only lesson that many of the people learned from the feeding of the five thousand was that if they followed Him the next day, they would get another meal. But the real lesson that should have been learned is that every loaf of bread is a miraculous gift from God. When Christ bade the man to arise and walk, it should have taught the people that whenever they observed a man walking, it was the power of Christ that enabled him to do so. A progressive miracle is as much a miracle as an instantaneous one. We are as utterly unable to explain the one as the other.
There was but one Aaron’s rod that budded, blossomed, and bore almonds in a night; but there have been millions of almond branches that have done the same thing, only requiring a longer time. For every loaf of bread that Christ made in an instant, He has created millions that have consumed more of the element of time. For every cup of wine that Christ made in a moment, there has been an infinite number which it has required months to produce. For every single sick man that God sees fit to heal instantaneously, there are thousands whom He knows it would be safer to conduct through progressive healing. It takes time for some men to get fully in harmony with God. If God does not work the instantaneous miracle of healing for a sick man, it should be evidence that He has still some great lesson for the man to learn. God has promised that He will renew the strength of those that wait upon Him. However, this waiting period should not be merely a period of idle expectancy, but should be improved in putting away wrong habits,—ceasing to do evil and learning to do well,—and in thoroughly co-operating with nature in other ways.
The climax of Christ’s life was reached when He prayed, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.” The greatest faith is displayed by the greatest submission. When God makes a man’s bed in sickness, it is not the most unfortunate thing in the world to be sick. It is better to be sick and in harmony with the Lord, than to have wonderful things done by Satan, which Christ will afterward pronounce spurious. The faith that can trust God in the darkest hour is greater than that which will apparently bring fire down from heaven; for even the devil will be able to do that.
We must recognize that everything that comes from God’s hand is a miracle, and must fasten our faith upon a truth that produces miracles, rather than upon the miracles themselves. The conversion of a man at a gospel mission is a wonderful miracle; but it is no less a miracle for a man to be able to walk out of the mission, even when he is not converted. The first is a spiritual miracle of an unusual character, the second is a physical miracle of daily occurrence.
TRUTH GREATER THAN MIRACLES
This is an age when people are asking and looking for things sensational and miraculous. The desire to behold some supernatural manifestation seems to be uppermost in the minds of a large number of professed Christians. At the present day, plain and substantial principles of truth are little appreciated by the average mind. People are seeking for remarkable and unusual things; and so to-day, with the presentation of every great truth, we find the people making the same demand that Herod made of Christ, “Show us a miracle.” In the estimation of many, miracle-working is regarded as the greatest test that can be applied to any truth or movement, in order to determine its divine origin, or to detect errors in the principles underlying the teachings of any new theory or doctrine.
Heaven-born principles of truth may be presented in their most practical and self-evident phase, and yet the people of this age clamor for the miracle. Truth, eternal truth, does not seem to be sufficient for the average Christian. Many professed truth-seekers seem utterly unable to recognize truth by its flavor. The Spirit of truth is the flavor of truth. Divine truth is flavored with the divine Spirit, by which it may always be recognized, just as any flower may be recognized by its characteristic odor. There is a far greater evidence of the truthfulness of truth, than the miracles which the truth may produce: it is the flavor, or Spirit, of the truth which is in the truth, and which can not be separated from the truth. This is the supreme test of truth. This is a test that Satan can not successfully counterfeit, which is not true of visible signs and wonders and the working of apparent miracles.
THE DANGER OF MIRACLE-SEEKING
Many and serious are the dangers attending this miracle-seeking disposition. Satan’s deceptions will be so subtle, and his apparent miracles so marvelous, and so nearly approaching the genuine manifestations of the working of God, as recorded in the Bible, that, if it were possible, “the very elect” will be thereby deceived. Matt. 24: 24. But, thank God, it will not be possible; for the elect know the truth. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8: 32. They have received the love of the truth—the truth for the truth’s sake—that they may be saved: and they will be saved.
The power to discern and appreciate truth by its flavor is a power that renders the true child of God unsusceptible to the influence and deceptions of this master miracle-working power. The fact that the devil will have many accomplices who will pose as teachers of truth and workers of miracles is clearly evidenced by the bitter wail of earth’s lost sons and daughters, who say, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” Matt. 7: 22.
True and genuine miracles will consist not so much in the thing done, as in the results produced by the working of the miracle; namely, the love of truth and the spirit of sincere obedience. Every Christian should be on guard against the danger of making apparent miraculous demonstrations the basis of his faith or the ground of the acceptance of so-called truths or principles which may be taught in association with these manifestations. Remember that our adversary, the arch-deceiver, once deceived even the angels in heaven. Is your discrimination better than that of an angel?
The Golden Rule and Gospel Power
“WHEN those who profess the name of Christ shall practice the principles of the golden rule, the same power will attend the gospel as in apostolic times.”