Signs of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 25. (6/22/1904)

Signs of the Times

Jun 22, 1904

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 22, 1904

THE TWO ROADS.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

ENTER ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

The two roads mentioned lead in opposite directions; one is narrow and rugged, the other is wider and smoother, but it ends in destruction.

Hospenthal, Switzerland, at the parting of the ways. Here the road divides, one branch going to St. Gothard and the other to Furka.

Those who travel these two roads are opposite in character, dress, and conversation. Those in the narrow way are serious and earnest, yet cheerful. The Man of sorrows opened the way for them, and traveled it Himself. They see His footsteps, and are comforted. As they travel on, they talk of the joy and happiness that await them at their journey’s end.

Those in the broad way are occupied with thoughts of worldly pleasure. They freely indulge in hilarity and glee, giving no thought to the end of their journey.

In the road of death all may go, with their worldliness, their selfishness, their pride, dishonesty, and moral debasement. There is room for every man’s opinions and doctrines, space to follow his inclinations, to do whatever his self-love may dictate. In order to go in the path that leads to destruction, there is no need of searching for the way; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad, and the feet turn naturally into the path that ends in death.

But the way of life is narrow, and the entrance straight. If you cling to any besetting sin, you will find the gateway too narrow for you to enter. Your own ways, your own will, your wrong habits and unchristlike practises, must be given up if you would keep the way of the Lord. He who would follow Christ can not follow the world’s opinions or meet the world’s standard. Heaven’s path is too narrow for rank and riches to ride in state, too narrow for the plan of self-centered ambition, too steep and rugged for lovers of ease to climb. Toil, patience, self-sacrifice, reproach, poverty, the contradiction of sinners against Himself, was the portion of Christ, and it must be our portion, if we ever enter the Paradise of God.

Yet do not therefore conclude that the upward road is the hard, and the downward road the easy, way. All along the road that leads to death there are pains and penalties, there are sorrows and disappointments, there are warnings not to go on. God’s love has made it hard for the heedless and headstrong to destroy themselves. It is true that Satan’s path is made to appear attractive, but it is all a deception; in the way of evil there are bitter remorse and cankering care. We may think it pleasant to follow pride and worldly ambition; but the end is pain and sorrow. Selfish plans may present flattering promises, and hold out the hope of enjoyment, but we shall find that our happiness is poisoned, and our life embittered by hopes that center in self. In the downward road the gateway may be bright with flowers,

but thorns are in the path. The light of hope which shines from its entrance fades into the darkness of despair; and the soul who follows this path descends into the shadows of unending night.

The pathway to heaven is narrow, but no one need fail of finding it. It has been plainly marked out by the Father’s hand. Not one trembling sinner need fail of walking in pure and holy light. Altho the upward path is sometimes difficult and often wearisome, altho the Christian may have to endure toil and conflict, yet let him go forward with rejoicing, trusting as a little child in the loving guidance of Him “who keepeth the feet of His saints,” knowing that the path he is traveling will bring him at last to the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those who love Him.

“The path of the righteous is as the light of dawn, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”

“TILL THE HEAVENS BE NO MORE.”

By T. E. Bowen

BY T. E. BOWEN.

If men would but believe God, take Him at His word, what speculation and false theories might be avoided, and what rest and peace and comfort might come to their souls. It is easy to believe the truth. Men can not be brought to believe a lie until they have forsaken the truth; for truth is quick and sure death to all falsehood.

Perhaps there is no subject around which, in the eyes of men, there is such a shroud of mysticism as the condition of man in death. False teaching upon this subject has so educated people that they are ready to accept almost any revelation purporting to come from “the spirit land” as wonderful and sublime and true. But all this results from wandering away from the truth—that which God has said.

God says that man lieth down in the grave, “and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.” Job 14:12.

This one sentence from God puts an end forever to all this spirit manifestation from “departed friends.” The friends are silent in death. They can not rise, and shall not rise until the “heavens be no more,” or until the Author of life—Jesus Christ—shall call for them. When the appointed time comes, God shall call, and these sleeping ones shall answer, “Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee.”

If men and women who seem to take so much comfort in talking with some supposed friend could but realize that they were talking instead with one of the wicked fallen spirits, an imp from the habitation of darkness, it would seem that much of the comfort would be taken from the supposed communication.

Thus it is evident that the recent supposed communication from Henry Ward Beacher concerning this “misplaced piece of money,” of no importance whatever in the salvation of the soul, is but another manifestation of that “mystery of iniquity” that is to be manifested just prior to the coming of the Lord, which goes forth into all the world to deceive kings and great men by means of the miracles it has power to do.

Well deserved is the warning of one giving his masterly mind to the mysticisms of this vague, uncertain way, when he cautions: “There is danger,—real danger,—along these lines of investigation. I have seen psychic cobwebs—if cobwebs they be [and certainly this is a very apt illustration]—tangle the feet of even intellectual giants; and the shrewdest experts—to change the simile—need to sail these mystic seas with sharp eyes and level heads, for these seas are wholly uncharted, and in sailing over them at times the ship’s compasses exhibit inexplicable variations.”

Ah! brother, why not avoid all these “inexplicable variations” of falsehood by following the sure, never-changing compass of the Word, the truth of God? Of man that Word says when he lieth down, he shall not rise again nor be waked out of his sleep “till the heavens be no more.” Why not believe it?

GOD’S PLAN FOR LIFE’S RESTORATION.

By William Covert

BY WILLIAM COVERT.

In the Lord’s eternal plan, there was to be life with exquisite sweetness and boundless fulness for all. Children of faultless beauty and physique should be brought forth to embody the life of God in all the earth. Every offspring of nature was to be as perfect as the parent which first came from the divine hand.

The interruption of this plan by transgression did not change God’s design. “God is not a man, that He should lie; . . . hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?” Num. 23:19. “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.” Jer. 32:17.

Tho sin mingled with and corrupted the life which was given to man, the Fountain of life remained pure; neither was the infinite purpose frustrated; so in due time the original counsels will prevail.

Ample provision has been made for lifting every man out of the corruptible pit into which he has fallen. Every soul is given the privilege of a new birth, that he may grow up in a new and living way. To provide this new way of life, the Son of God came from heaven to earth. He was born of human flesh that He might reach the fallen race, and purify all who will draw life from Him.

When requested to explain how life might be obtained, He answered, “Ye must be born again.” “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Being puzzled at the answer, the questioner wished to know how a natural man could be re-born. The reply was that the agencies effecting such a change are not visible to the natural eye, but are seen only by faith. The wind, tho a powerful element, is invisible. Nature’s forces operate unseen.

The divine mind alone can comprehend all the mysteries in the way of life. It is therefore best to believe God’s word, and let Him in His own way accomplish the work. John 3:1–16.

The Saviour said of Himself and His work: “The Son quickeneth whom He will; . . . for as the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also.” This arrangement exists between the Father and the Son, that every sinner who will receive life, may have it. The mission of Christ is to “seek and to save that which is lost,” and the question of salvation is not a matter of doubt.

The Lesson at Jacob’s Well.

The question of friends and bitterest enemies received virtually the same answers. But there are other classes to be taught. Some have never heard of Jesus and redemption. These are enclosed in the enemy’s net, but are not avowed opponents. With them the question has not been seriously considered, nor their attitude defined. Their minds have not been agitated on the subject of a life beyond the present state. They are carelessly living in sin without being purposely vicious.

Jesus met one of this class at Jacob’s well. It was midday, and, wearied with traveling, He was resting there, when a Samaritan woman of the city of Sychar came to draw water.

The Saviour asked her for a drink; and, upon receiving it, said that those who drank of this well would thirst again, but not so of those who drank of the water He would give. He had come to supply all thirsty souls from a living fountain,—one that imparts eternal life to all who drink of it. Upon hearing of the living stream, the woman, tho a sinner, requested that she might drink. The story revealed that for which her heart was longing. She drank; and, after drinking, she told many more of the life which flows from this fountain. They came also,—they drank, and their thirst was quenched.

The supply from this fountain never grows less. All who are thirsty are urged to drink. “And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

The Way of Life.

Jesus found it necessary to teach even His own disciples how to drink life from the crystal stream. As the Saviour approached the tragic close of His earthly ministry, He endeavored to prepare His disciples for the trying ordeal. The last Passover had been eaten, and the significant emblem of His approaching death had been accepted by the little flock as a covenant relating to the sacrifice which He was making of Himself for their sins.

But the disciples had not yet advanced far enough in Gospel knowledge to comprehend the full import of what was being done. They did not then understand the subject of atonement through His blood, nor His ministry in the sanctuary above. They knew but little about the workings of the Spirit. Seeing

there was a significance in His teaching which their minds did not fathom, they asked, “How can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” John 14:6.

Mankind had been turned out of the way of life, and had entered the way of death. To get back to the Father’s house, he must find and travel the “new and living way.” In it are the ways of heaven, the methods and thoughts of God. Isa. 55:8. This is the shining path. Prov. 4:18. It is not traveled by a set of enforced rules. The Spirit of God works to reach, to guide, and to save, a soul, by recreating through the vitalized potency of the Redeemer.

The Life-giving Vine.

Within or near Gethsemane’s garden the Saviour pointed to a growing vine as an illustration of Gospel truth and of the workings of life through Him. The vine, bearing branches laden with rich clusters of fruit, is a Gospel model. The way of salvation has its counterpart in the processes of nature. The living, fruiting vine is a beautiful emblem of the believer’s union with Christ.

Referring to Himself, Christ said, “I am the true Vine, . . . I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” The vine springing from the soil is a picture on the page of God’s living book. Christ Himself is the real vine,—the truth, the life, the reality. The branches of the vine represent those who truly believe and abide in the Saviour.

The light of the paschal moon revealed the full form of the plant, giving promise of abundant fruitage in due time. In this were found other beautiful symbols of the way of life. To impress the lesson, Jesus spoke once more, and said, “Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.”

As the husbandman is both honored and profited by the full vintage, so also is the Father pleased and glorified with the fulness of the Spirit’s fruit. It is possible for the branches to bear fruit, only as they grow in living connection with the vine. So with the disciples of Christ, they have not life nor godly fruit unless they abide in Him. The branch severed from the vine dies without fruit. Man can do nothing only as he is connected with Christ, because his connection with life is wanting. The sap from the vine flows through every living fiber in its branches, and creates and gives quality to its fruits.

A noticeable feature of the vine is that it must produce a branch before it can bear fruit. The fruit grows upon the branch, and not upon the stalk, or main stem. So the fruit of the Christian is but the manifestation of Christ’s life within him.

In the eleventh chapter of Romans an olive tree with ingrafted branches is used to represent the union of believers with Christ. The branches are scions cut from the wild olive tree. Contrary to the usual law, the root imparts its quality to the graft, and causes it to yield tame fruit. The scion has been so fully changed by the root that it has lost its wild nature.

As with the graft in this figure, so with the person united to Christ. His mind is by faith connected with the life that is in Christ. Now the life in his being is as the life from which it emanates.

New Life.

This is wholly a new connection of man with life. It comes to him, not as generated from Adam, but from the Son of God. Those receiving life from Adam are all counted dead, because his life is forfeited. Not so of those who receive life through Christ. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [a new creation]; old things are passed away; behold,

all things are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17.

Life for the future is to be obtained through Christ only. The Son of God does not add His character to a life that was naturally inherent in the sinner; but He imparts a new life to the one who will accept it. The man in Christ Jesus is a new creature. He gives all to the Saviour, that he may receive all from Him.

When a man believes that by fleshly birth he possesses an undying nature or an indestructible life, he can not consistently seek for life through Christ. Satan’s strongest effort is put forth to blind the minds of men on this point. He is anxious for men to believe that they have life in themselves, and that in some way, apart from the Redeemer, they can survive all possible destruction that may be threatened to come upon the finally impenitent.

Satan, in his first interview with our parents, declared that they should not die. He still affirms the same thing to others. But it is high time that all were undeceived. His teachings have been deceptive from the beginning, and designedly so. When man yielded to the tempter in Eden, he lost everything that had been given him by creation. All went together. When he is restored, he recovers everything in the Saviour. Jesus says, “I am come that they might have life.” This life they do not have apart from Him. “I lay down My life for the sheep.” John 10:10, 15. It is Christ’s life which they must have,—not one which is in themselves.

Through His incarnation and sacrifice, the life of Christ was placed in the hand of every human being as a free gift. They are urged to take it. It is the water of life freely offered to all who thirst for it.

WHEN THE SUN BREAKS THROUGH.

By Llewellyn A. Morrison

BY LLEWELLYN A. MORRISON.

THEY, who dwell within the valley Where the rugged mountains rise Toward the morning, till their summits Kiss the azure of the skies, Often lodge in murk and shadow, Where the mist doth all bedew; But the pasture lands are greener When the sun breaks through.

It is not as easy serving In the humidness and haze As when every bush and bracken In the brilliance are ablaze,— But we gather faith and patience Our ideals to pursue, And expect to see the fulness When the sun breaks through.

If the clouds be dense above us, And the world is in the wet,— Still the winds are on the mountains, We can hear their music yet; Past the duskiness and dimness Come the gleam rays into view As the heralds of the splendor, When the sun breaks through.

Tho the fog distort the fancy Till the less appears the great, And God's Acre looms a “Tophet” Where abhorrent demons wait; It is only in the seeming— Morn by morn the day is new.

We shall see the “Holy City” When the “Sun” breaks through.

Toronto, Can.

"WAXED STRONG THROUGH FAITH."

By H. A. St. John

BY H. A. ST. JOHN.

WAXED strong through faith, giving glory to God.” Thus did Abraham, as the Word of the Lord declares, “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4. Then the weapon of victory is faith. With strong faith that did not stagger at the promises of God, Abraham received the things promised, and gave glory to God for them long before coming into actual possession of the things promised. In fact he died before receiving all the Lord had promised him, but his faith waned not, but continued steadfast unto the end of life, and he died in the triumphs of a living faith, giving glory to God for His promises until life ceased. His faith will be victorious. It will be honored, gloriously and eternally honored, when the Lifegiver comes to call to life and immortality his faithful servant Abraham, together with all who have overcome in like manner.

If we would only take God at His word, comply with the conditions, and claim His promises, whether they be for time or eternity, then hold on by giving glory to Him, He never could, and never would, fail fully to fulfil all His promises to us in His own good time and way. And that time and way would always exactly accord with our highest and best good, and His glory.

O, that men, all men, would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! If we would but consider how good the Lord is; how necessary, valuable, and constant His mercies are to us; how that we live, move, and have our being in Him; how that every good and perfect gift cometh from Him; and how He daily loadeth us with benefits; then we would feel to cry out as one of old, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” Then, like David, we would accept the cup of salvation from the hand of the Lord, and praise Him with unfeigned lips, and a heart filled with gratitude. Then it would be much easier to exercise constant and implicit faith in all His promises to us. We would make our requests known unto the Lord always, with thanksgiving, and grow strong through faith.

WHAT SHE DID.

CHRISTIANA DICKSON, the wife of one of the first settlers of Erie County, Pennsylvania, was a small, blue-eyed, low-voiced woman, extremely timid, but she had a horror of drunkenness.

She lived in days when the use of liquor was universal. But when her sons were born, she resolved to put a stop to whisky drinking in her home. Her husband being absent, her brothers called for the help of the neighbors, according to custom, to put up a barn needed on her farm. They all assembled and went to work, while she prepared a great dinner. After an hour or two, whisky was asked for. She refused to provide it.

Her brothers, and, at last, an elder in the church, came to reason with her; to tell her that she would be accused of meanness. Without a word the little woman went to the barn, and, baring her head, stepped upon a log and spoke to them:—

“My neighbors,” said she, “this is a strange thing. Three of you are my brothers, three of you are elders in the church—all of you are my friends. I have prepared for you the best dinner in my power. If you refuse to raise the barn without liquor, so be it. But I would rather these timbers rot where they lie than give you whisky.”

The men angrily went home; the little woman returned to the house, and for hours cried as tho her heart would break. But the next day every man came back, went heartily to work, enjoyed her good dinner, and said not a word about whisky.

This led to a discontinuance of the use of whisky at barn-raisings in the country. Her sons grew up strong, vigorous men, and did good work in helping to civilize and Christianize the world; their descendants are all of a high type of intellectual and moral men and women. If she had yielded this little point, they might have become like many of their neighbors—drunkards.

Our forefathers redeemed the land and drove out the wild beasts and serpents; but there are vices still to be conquered, for which we need women of high souls and gentle spirits, like Christiana Dickson.—California Voice.

Babylonian Records Confirm Daniel’s Account

Fifty years ago the book of Daniel was the only authority for the statement that Belshazzar was at Babylon at the time of its destruction. The Greek authorities said that Nabonidus was the last king, that he was not at Babylon when it was taken by Cyrus, but at Borsippa, and that he was not killed, but captured. The conflict between the two sources of information seemed absolute. Now we have dug up from Babylon the whole story. We know that Belshazzar was the son of Nabonidus; that his father sent him to resist the invading army, that he failed, and that his father then left him as viceroy in Babylon, while he led the army himself, and that Belshazzar was in Babylon, as the Bible says, when that city was captured, while Nabonidus was absent, as the Greek historians say. Both authorities are equally corroborated. Here is a remarkable confirmation of the Bible history.

Continue reading: The Industrial Conflict in the Light of Revelation