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Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 22.

FAITH AND ITS EFFECTS.

Signs of the Times

Jun 10, 1889

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 10, 1889

FAITH AND ITS EFFECTS.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
Our citizenship is not in this world. We are pilgrims and strangers on the earth, and we look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Christ has said, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
The consolation of these words has come down to our times to comfort the hearts of believers on Jesus in this our day. Our whole being should be thrilled with fervent gratitude that we have such a hope set before us. If we are co-workers with Christ, denying self, we may have connection with God, and obtain grace to help in every time of need, so that we shall not be found wanting when the Saviour comes to redeem his people. We may be found ready to be translated at the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour. I cannot make preparation for you. I cannot repent for you. This is work between God and your soul. If you are defiled in heart, you must go to him who can cleanse you from all unrighteousness. You must seek God. You must have the soul temple purified, if you would have the blessing of the Father rest upon you.
We cannot bless one another. My faith cannot save you, nor your faith avail for my salvation. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, they could deliver neither son nor daughter by their righteousness; they could only deliver their own souls. We should seek God now for his pardoning grace. Now is the time to obtain a genuine religious experience for the trying scenes that are just before us. God wants us to be in earnest, he wants us to be happy. When he gave Christ to the world, he gave all Heaven in that one priceless gift. He opened up to us all the treasures of his power and grace. By living faith we may grasp the hand of Infinite Power. We may be so connected with the God of Heaven that his grace may be found sufficient in every emergency of life. Says the prophet, "Five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight."
Open the door of your heart, and Christ, the heavenly guest, will come in. Are there any here who feel rich, and increased with goods, and in need of nothing? Are there any here who feel whole, and do not realize their need of a physician? They must fall upon the Rock and be broken, or the Rock will fall upon them, and crush them to powder. Why cannot we take hold of the righteousness of Christ this very day? There are many of you who profess to believe the present truth, but do you believe in Christ as your personal Saviour? You may have a nominal faith, just such a faith as the people had who crowded about Jesus in the streets of Judea, but this faith will not connect you with him. You need a faith similar to the faith of the poor woman who had been diseased for many years. She had sought help from the physicians, but her disease grew worse and worse. She heard of Christ, and her faith went out to him. She believed that if she could only touch the hem of his garment she would be made whole. Christ understood the longing of her heart; he understands the desire of every heart that is drawn out after him, and he responds to it. This poor woman who yearned after help improved her first opportunity to come into the presence of Jesus. The multitude were all about him, but she pressed through the crowd, until she could touch his garment, and that moment she was healed. Christ realized that virtue had gone out of him. The woman had felt her desperate need, and her faith had made her whole. So it will be with every one of you who go in your need to Jesus and lay hold upon him by living faith. Christ asked who touched him. His disciples were astonished that he should ask such a question when he was surrounded by a great multitude. They said, "Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?" But Jesus knew that somebody had touched him with no casual touch, but with the touch of faith. A longing soul had reached out to him for help which no one but he could give. Jesus said, "I perceive that virtue has gone out from me. And he looked around about to see her that had done this thing," and when the woman knew she was not hid, she acknowledged the good work that had been wrought in her. She told the story of her suffering and her hopeless condition, and her act of faith in touching his garment. He said unto her, "Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole."
Brethren, if we will come to Christ by living faith, we may receive virtue from him. Thank God, there is an abundant supply of grace in him. Jesus wants us to exercise simple faith, that we may have his virtue. If we will only give the touch of faith, the light, the glory, and the power of God will be imparted unto us. You say that you believe in Jesus, and we have a right to expect that your faith will manifest itself in works of righteousness. We have a right to expect that you will have a sound, healthful experience, that in contrition of soul you will present the offering of praise and thanksgiving to Him who has bestowed rich blessings upon you. Are you willing to work for the glory of God? You say, "I believe." How do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus saves you now? Do you believe that you can appropriate the merits of your Saviour to yourself? Do you believe that you can cast your helpless soul upon Christ, and that his righteousness will be imputed unto you? If you have genuine faith, you will confess your back-slidings and sinfulness. You will no longer stay in the darkness of unbelief; you will come to the light of Heaven. Says the Saviour, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
Living faith makes itself manifest by exhibiting a spirit of sacrifice and devotion in the cause of God. Those who possess genuine faith stand under the banner of Prince Emmanuel, and wage a successful warfare against the powers of darkness. They stand ready to do whatsoever the Captain of their salvation commands. They are enabled through the grace of Christ to be an example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. There is a great work for us to do if we would inherit eternal life. We are to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live a life of righteousness. Says the word of God, "Faith without works is dead." We are to "fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life," deny self, take up the cross, and follow daily in the footsteps of our Redeemer. We are exhorted to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And he bids us follow him. If we make him our example, we shall not fail of an entrance into his everlasting kingdom. There is a cross to be lifted, if we follow Christ. We shall find that there is a high wall to be scaled, a ladder to be climbed, before we can enter the eternal city; but as we realize our own inefficiency, and cry for divine power, the voice of Jesus will come to us saying, "Take hold of my strength, 'lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.'" The strength of Jesus will be imparted to every soul who strives lawfully for the mastery. All may be overcomers.

Converts Becoming Mission Workers

A WRITER in the Missionary Review says that out of 3,000,000 converts in all the foreign mission fields, 30,000 have gone as workers into the field, or one out of every 100, while Protestant Christendom has sent forth but one out of every 5,000. The odds are greatly in favor of the converts from among the heathen.

Courage in Christian Trials

The Christian life is a warfare, therefore do not be discouraged when trials and temptations come. Have you failed to realize all that you had hoped to attain ere this? Do not lose courage; thank God for the help that he has given you, and trust him for still greater blessings. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you in due time.

High License and Prohibition

By Editor

The California Prohibitionist says:—
“Adherents of high license admit that it incites to illicit selling. But they say this can be prevented by the earnest endeavor of honest officials. True, but would not the same amount of honest endeavor wholly prevent the sale, and so make prohibition prohibit?”
The question is pertinent and we would like to hear it answered by some ardent advocate of high license.

A Statue on Babel’s Ruins

According to the Church News (Catholic), the ruins of the tower of Babel have been turned to some account at last. The Carmelites of Bagdad have recently erected a statue of the Virgin Mary on the highest portion of the wall which remains standing. Considerable doubt formerly existed in the minds of many antiquarians as to whether the tower of Babel in reality ever had any connection with the ruins which now go by its name, and some have gone so far as to state that even the site of Babylon (supposed to be the ancient Babel), is at present unknown. But of course this difficulty is now all cleared away by this action of the Romish Church. In her supreme wisdom and infallible judgment she has forever decided the matter by celebrating the mass on the spot, and then setting up the statue of the “blessed lady,” as before referred to. Well, so be it. Inasmuch as Babel means confusion, and the name is perpetuated in the Greek word Babylon, we can conceive of no more appropriate place for the great mysterious Babylon, the mother of harlots, to set up her idolatrous shrines, and practice her iniquitous mysteries than she has found in this instance.

Shintoism and Christianity in Japan

The Japan Christian Advocate says: “The assassination of Viscount Mori, Minister of State for Education, with subsequent explanations given for the deed, would indicate a deep-rooted devotion among a certain class of Shinto believers. It may indeed be that the quiet, unobtrusive cult of ancient Japan may prove in the end to be a stronger adversary of Christianity than even Buddhism. Buddhism is, after all, an alien religion; Shintoism is the original Japanese religion, and is to be found nowhere else. From time immemorial it has held its own, and has for all these ages lived to sustain a national reverence for the emperor.”

Massachusetts and Illiteracy

MASSACHUSETTS is the most illiterate State of the Union. Cardinal Manning, in his article on public schools in America, refers to this; but, as the Churchman says:—
“It is mainly owing to the cardinal’s own brethren, who have taken possession of it to an overwhelming extent, that the State has changed from having the smallest number of illiterates of any State in the Union, compared with its population, to the one which has the greatest number. It is the immigration from the French parts of Canada and from the south and west of Ireland, which has filled the cities and manufacturing towns of Massachusetts, and of the adjoining States, with their present illiterate population. The number of native illiterates, leaving out the foreign element entirely, would not be one-hundredth per cent. of the population. A large proportion of the newcomers from Canada and Ireland can neither read nor write.”
Education or enlightenment of the people has never been a part of Rome’s mission. Her mission is to enslave and blind.

Slavery Among Ecuador’s Indians

By Editor

It is stated by a French missionary who has been through Ecuador that the Indians there, though nominally free, are really in a state of slavery. They are bought and sold, bequeathed by will, seized by a creditor in payment of debt, and really in no way distinguishable, in such respects, from a beast of burden. This state of things has been brought about by the law which allows an Indian to sell himself into slavery when he is unable to satisfy his creditor in any other way, and once a slave he is rarely able to extricate himself. His wife and children share his miserable lot. The greater part of the Indians, this missionary says, are reduced to this condition, and live a life of the utmost degradation and misery. As Ecuador is a strongly Catholic country, the Pope, who has of late been posing as an ardent anti-slavery advocate, might show his faith by his works, and order his vassals to use their influence for the abolition of slavery in that country. We have no idea, however, that the crafty Leo will trouble himself about the matter in the least; it will be much easier for him to do nothing, and then with a great flourish of trumpets carry off the honors after others have done the work.

HYMN OF TRUST.

By Oliver Wendell Holmes

O Love divine, that stooped to share Our sharpest pang, our bitterest tear, On thee we cast each earth-born care, We smile at pain while thou art near.
Though long the weary way we tread, And sorrows crowd each lingering year, No path we shun, no darkness dread, Our hearts are whispering, Thou art near!
When drooping pleasure turns to grief, And trembling faith is turned to fear, The murmuring wind, the quivering leaf, Shall softly tell us thou art near.
On thee we fling our burdened woe, O Love divine, forever dear, Content to suffer while we know, Living or dying, thou art near! —Oliver Wendell Holmes.

BE WHOLE-HEARTED.

By Methodist Recorder

A HALF-HEARTED, hesitating service, it matters not to whom it is rendered, is generally irksome and unprofitable. But when a man works with enthusiasm and energy, he generally takes pleasure in his work, and his work proves profitable. This is as true in regard to men's efforts in religion as in anything else.
A man who seems to hesitate between the service of God and the service of sin, although he makes some little effort to be religious, has very little spiritual enjoyment, and does but little to promote the cause of Christ. A man must give his whole heart and life to the Lord if he would have true spiritual enjoyment in his service and be instrumental in promoting his cause. What we need is, more soul in religion, more consecration to the service of God, a single eye in all that we do to his glory. If this were the case there would be more happy Christians, and more successful Christian workers.—Methodist Recorder.

COMFORT VS. PETTING.

THERE is a vast difference between comforting people and petting them. We are enjoined to "comfort one another," to "comfort the feeble-minded," but care should be exercised lest the solid comfort of the gospel degenerate into sickly sentiment and a man-pleasing spirit. The gospel is not a thing of mere sympathy; it is a system of remedies; it proposes to comfort by curing, not by administering anodynes. It not only says at the tomb of Lazarus, "Thy brother shall rise again," but it brings him to life. It proposes to comfort, not by hiding the coffin with flowers and eulogizing the dead, but by sanctifying and fortifying the living while living so that when dead he may yet speak for himself, and neither flowers nor eulogium be necessary.
Comfort means to make strong as well as to soothe. It includes the edification and fortification accomplished under the magical touches of Faith, Hope, and Love. These are all strengthening, nerving, inspiring. They impel to the most wonderful achievement, they inure to the severest hardships. They give genuine comfort. This comfort saints need, and must have.
But petting is not comforting. On the contrary, it in the end breeds discomfort, discontent, if not schism and mutiny. It makes the present incumbent exceedingly popular for a time with the class which is susceptible of that sort of work; but woe betide his successor. For him is prepared a pathway of thorns.
Petting spoils. It emasculates, enervates, demoralizes. It substitutes forces personal, sentimental, animal, for those which are religious and spiritual. It ignores God, truth, and conscience; it exalts self, art, and prejudice. It spoils both him that gives and him that takes; debauches both the petter and petted. It spoils, because it temporizes with evils which it has not the courage to cure until conviction evaporates and they become set fast, ineradicable. It feeds on sweets until the appetite is depraved and the system weak and anemic. It invents stays and props and pillows until all stamina and backbone have disappeared. It pleases until the taste is implacable; stimulates and caters until all desire for proper and substantial food is gone; and rears a sickly tyrant where else had been a saintly warrior; a spoiled and worthless servant where else had been an obedient, laborious, and sacrificing s...
The facile, the weak, the insincere, may pet, but only strength, trueness, and saintliness can comfort. He only whom God fills with strength can fill others with comfort.
Comfort is a Jonathan in Ziph. Petting is anAbsalom in the gate. The one builds for God; the other undermines for self. One is the love which edifieth, the other the sentiment which prostitutes.
The Holy Ghost is the great Comforter. Was his mission to soothe, to narcotize, to pamper lust, to apologize for sin? Did he come to close the eye with gentle stroke and lull to sleep with heavenly song?
When he came on the day of Pentecost, what was the character of the "comfort" bestowed? Did the apostles weep with self-pity or shout with self-satisfaction? "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." It was not soothing, not quieting, not stupefying; it aroused them to the boldest utterance and most vehement action. Every dormant energy was awakened, every nerve thrilled, every muscle made to quiver. The spirit of prophecy, such as fell upon Ezekiel and carried him away in bitterness of spirit, fell upon son and daughter, young man and old, servant and handmaiden, till every heart was heated with the fire that was in it, and every tongue vied with the other for a hearing. And what was the message? —Sin, righteousness, judgment to come; "God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ." The effect of this was that "they were pricked in their hearts, and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" If he ever preached on "heavenly recognition," we do not know it; certain it is he made no mention of it then.
The "comfort of the Holy Ghost" is the impartation of strength, manhood, martyr spirit; "strengthen you by His Spirit with might." Under the influence of His baptism "they spake the word with boldness." By Him as the comforter they were not only able to stand before governors and kings, reasoning of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, but they were "strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." This was none of your drawing-room, rose-scented, feather-bed piety. It bred soldiers and martyrs. The comfort that we need is not the comfort of poetic sentiment, the incantations of charmers, the romancings and speculations of "filthy dreamers." The gospel preacher is no barber, no manicure, he is no soothsayer. He comforts by the "sword of the Spirit" as well as by the balm of Gilead. He is not only to "bind up the broken-hearted," but to preach "the day of vengeance of our God," that he may have broken hearts to bind up. The true gospel preacher makes peace and gives comfort not by surrendering to worldliness, compromising with sin, and cajoling with sinners, but by getting men to repent of their sins and lead holy lives.
There is no sorrow but in sin; there is no comfort but in holiness, and they are the world's best comforters who, as vehicles of the Holy Ghost, reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come, and make men holy. Let us have earnest, honest workers—men of faith, conscience, and patience; let them subsoil the individual, the Church, with the plowshare of conviction; break up the fallow ground; pull up the thorns; plant the rose of Sharon; water it, like Magdalene, with tears of holy grief—then beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and may we say, Grace, grace unto it; comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.—St. Louis Christian Advocate.

THE GOSPEL INVITATION.

By William Ings

"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." Matt. 11:28-30.
This invitation is extended to all the human race, from the fall of Adam to the close of probation. It is an invitation to the sinner, who needs pardon. Sin has brought upon him a heavy load. Paul, in Hebrews 12:1, speaks of sins as weights, and calls upon the sinner to lay these weights aside, and thus free himself from this burden.
Paul knew from a sad experience the burden of sin. He was led to cry out in the agony of his soul, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. 7:24. We learn that the psalmist had a similar experience; but he was not left in despair. "This poor man cried," he says, "and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles." Ps. 34:6.
Mercy's door is still open to all; and the words of our Saviour are still in force: "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. 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." Rev. 22:17. This is a general invitation, which is accompanied by the operation of the Spirit of God upon the heart, showing us our need of a Saviour. Then commences the work of disposing of our burden of guilt, which separates us from God.
Our first inquiry is, What is sin? We go to the word, and find that "sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. The law shows us our true condition. It was through the law that the apostle Paul became convicted of sin, as we learn from the following: "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. 7:7. And when perfect submission to the law of God was wrought in him, he could say: "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:1. The carnal mind had been brought into subjection to the will of God; "because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7.
Thus we learn that in coming to Christ we must lay down our rebellion against the law of our Creator. We must follow the example of our Saviour, who came, not to do his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. John 6:38. And in his own words we are told what the will of the Father is: "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." John 15:10.
Our love must be supreme, as we learn from the following text: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deut. 6:5. A partial service will not answer the demands; we must be doers of the word. Says the apostle James: "If any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for hestraightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:23-25.
From this testimony we learn that we must constantly look into the law of liberty; and if we do so, and obey it, we shall be Christ-like. Obedience to this law is what constitutes righteousness. "And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us." Deut. 6:25.
When we are in harmony with the law of God, then we are in harmony with Christ; and this harmony will bring rest to our souls. Nevertheless, it will involve a cross because of the separation from the world which is required. The new birth has taken place. Old things have passed away, and our steps have been directed into the narrow path. Temptation will assail us on every hand; but we do not have to battle in our own strength, for Christ is our help in every time of need. We are now brought into the school of Christ, and are admonished to learn of him, our perfect Pattern. His chief characteristic is meekness, which consists in perfect submission to the will of God. This is verified by his own statement: "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me." John 4:34. And again he says: "I can of mine own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." John 5:30.
We here learn what constitutes true meekness. Christ has set us an example; and we are admonished by the text to learn of him. In order to be followers of Christ, we must do as Christ did; hence it stands us in hand to study his character, imitate his example, and walk in his footsteps. We cannot do this in our own strength, but help is promised. "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:13. And our experience will teach us that his yoke is easy and his burden light.
WM. INGS.

THE PATTERN IN THE MOUNT.

By Fannie Bolton

BY FANNIE BOLTON.
THE man of God went to the mount of God, Veiled in mystery of clouds. He trod The mountain paths till, lo! there blazed Glory unseen by mortal eyes. Amazed He looked upon the wondrous scene. He saw The Majesty of Heaven uplifted high. Awe Hushed his soul. There he beheld great things,— Angels with faces veiled in shadowing wings, Worshiping low with great celestial awe Before the throne, the ark, the fiery law, That sent great meanings to his heart, and fell Like terrible light that seemed unbearable With infinite might. Patterns to him were shown Of God's high tabernacle, and from the throne A voice fell, full of sweetness, "See that thou Make all things like the pattern shown thee now." Then lo! before him passed the lamps of gold, The ark, the altar, and the curtain's fold, Broidered with angels' forms, the tabled bread, From which all Israel's tribes were to be fed; The lamb of sacrifice, the incense mist, And the high throne that shone like amethyst In the most holy, and the great high priest, With Israel's tribes ensembled on his breast; And then, O wondrous vision! in death and loss, Afar he saw the Lamb on Calvary's cross. There type met antitype. In Christ he saw The glorious righteousness of Heaven's high law, In him man's substitute and surety, In him his merit and his purity, In him the bread of life, the incense rare, That makes acceptable a mortal's prayer; In him the light, in him the great High Priest, Bearing humanity upon his breast. In him the life, the truth, the living fount,— This was the Pattern shown him in the mount.
And once with Jesus, stood the beloved three, His followers, and saw his majesty In the transfiguration mount, and there Moses and Elias stood with Christ, the fair; And a great glory shone unutterable. "Let's make three tabernacles in which may dwell Our Lord, and Moses, and Elias here." Then suddenly, o'erwhelmed with awful fear, They stood, the glory fled, in darkness lonely; But when they looked again, saw Jesus only. O glorious one! of life and light the fount; He was the Pattern shown them in the mount.
And are these only privileged to be Beholders of high Heaven's Majesty? May we not pray, as Moses long ago, "O Lord, reveal thy glory to me now"? Is he a partial God, respecting more Those who have lived and loved him long before? Nay; e'en to-day the vision is for man. Nay; e'en to-day the great redemption's plan Opens its glory to our wondering souls, And Heaven's light in marvelous pageant rolls. Faith walks the mount, and from the glorious cloud Hears that great voice, the trumpets long and loud, Sees depths of glory, thrills again with awe To note the mighty meanings of the law, And the great Pattern of the high and holy Illumes for hearts that contrite are and lowly.
But when such views of Heaven and Christ are thine, 'Tis but to make thee more like the divine. When thou hast tasted of the heavenly gift 'Tis to go forth some other heart to lift, To carry living water from the Fount, To reveal the Pattern shown thee in the mount, That men may look upon thee and divine What makes thy life with unwonted glory shine.

The Basis of Discouragement

"ALL discouragement is based on the thought that God loves us less than we thought he did."

Christianity

Christianity is not a theory or a speculation, but a life.—Coleridge.

SELF-DECEPTION.

By R. F. Cottrell

It is not natural for the human heart to confess its own faults without any effort at extenuation. We feel a disposition to palliate and excuse our wrongs, and to lay the blame on others. Adam’s excuse was that the woman which God had given him, gave him of the fruit of the forbidden tree; she claimed that the serpent beguiled her; and from that day to this the race have been disposed to follow their example.
It is easier to confess other people’s faults than our own; hence we often hear one undertake the work of confessing his faults, but before his work is half done he begins to give extenuating reasons for his course, reasons that transfer his blame to others, and instead of frankly confessing his own sins, and lamenting over the deep depravity of his own corrupt and deceitful heart, he is found confessing the sins of others, which made his own barefaced and enormous sins almost, if not quite, a matter of necessity. Of course, it was sin against a plain command of the decalogue, but then he was so beguiled and infatuated that he could hardly be said to be in his right mind.
That may be so. The apostle speaks of the “deceitfulness of sin;” and it is presumable that when one yields to temptation, it really seems to him that he will be the gainer. This is all deception; for the sinner is the loser every time. Therefore, in a sense, the sinner is not of a sound mind; and the plea of insanity, which is so often made, is not so very far out of the way.
This being a known and established fact, it is not necessary to revert to it in our confessions. Better, like David in Ps. 51, confess frankly to the enormity and blood-guiltiness of our transgressions, and, with a realizing sense of our deep depravity, plead for undeserved pardon.
R. F. COTTRELL.

HIS GREATEST ERROR.

By W. N. GLENN

MR. PARNELL, Ireland’s leading champion in the English Parliament, has made a great “political blunder.” As a leader of the Irish Home Rule cause for several years he has made warm friends and bitter foes; but at last he has committed a blunder that calls forth the condemnation of both friends and foes. It is well known to the reading public that the long political contest in which he has been engaged has culminated in the creation of a special court of inquiry to investigate grave charges made against Mr. Parnell by the London Times. It was while on the witness stand, testifying in his own behalf before this court, that Mr. Parnell committed the shocking deed. Those who have not read the account will be curious to know what this awful blunder was. Well, he actually and “without evasion,” confessed a fault. This is the incident that is so out of harmony with the usages of the political world. He frankly confessed that in a speech delivered in the House of Commons in 1881, he made a false statement for the purpose of misleading the House concerning Irish affairs. For lawyers and politicians of Mr. Parnell’s rank to evade the truth for the purpose of carrying some great measure is not at all uncommon, but that one should confess such a crime when he might have evaded the confession, is, in the language of a prominent journal, “almost inexplicable.”
The New York Herald says: “What Mr. Parnell’s purpose or motive could have been in making that remarkable confession is difficult to say. But it is easy to see that the confession is likely to prove a political blunder. For, however it may be looked upon among his own friends and followers, his opponents will be quick to seize upon it as a weapon to damage both him and the cause he represents. The most amazing aspect of it is the readiness, the almost alacrity, with which the avowal was made. He might have parried the attorney-general’s questions. He might have declined to answer them and remained silent, at least until driven into a corner. He might, without misrepresentation, have stripped his replies of much of that boldness and bluntness which will be used against him with no little effect. But, instead of that, he confessed with a freedom akin to zeal.”
It will be noticed that it is not the misstatement that is here condemned, but the confession. And to give his adversaries “so unnecessarily the chance of which they will now make the most, was a mistake which a leader of Mr. Parnell’s shrewdness cannot commit without surprising his foes as well as his friends.”
Neither do any of us know what Mr. Parnell’s purpose was in making this confession; but this incident and its effect upon those most interested, both pro and con., serve to illustrate the contrast between the way of the world and the requirements of God. Confession of sin is one of the principal conditions of reconciliation with Heaven; yet it is the one thing of all others that the carnal man will not do unless driven by circumstances or induced by expediency. It is no wonder that Mr. Parnell’s confession, when he might have evaded it, involving so much of political importance, was a great surpriseto politicians. It is no wonder that Christ should say, “My kingdom is not of this world.” It is no wonder that his disciples should be admonished to avoid the ways of the world, when its politics is so directly opposed to the principles of their Master’s kingdom. In politics, the confession of sin at a critical period of some important movement may be a great mistake which a shrewd operator will avoid; but in the kingdom of Christ, confession of sin is a forerunner of success. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” W. N. GLENN.

Hebrews in Minneapolis

THERE are 5,000 Hebrews in Minneapolis.

THE CENTER OF THE SCRIPTURES.

By Alexander Maclaren

CHRIST, the Son of God, is the center of Scripture, and the Book—whatever be the historical facts about its origin, its authorship, and the date of the several portions of which it is composed—the Book is a unity, because there is driven right through it, like a core of gold, either in the way of prophecy and onward-looking anticipation, or in the way of history and grateful retrospect, the reference to the one “name that is above every name,” the name of the Christ, the Son of God.
And all its incompleteness, its fragmentariness, its carelessness about persons, are intended, as are the slight parts in a skillful painter’s handiwork, to emphasize the beauty and sovereignty of that one central figure on which all the light is concentrated, and on which he has lavished all the resources of his art. So God—for God is the Author of the Bible—on this great canvas has painted much in sketchy outline, and left much unfilled in, that every eye may be fixed on the central figure, the Christ of God, on whose head comes down the dove, and around whom echoes the divine declaration, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
But it is not merely in order to represent Jesus as the Christ of God that these are written, but it is that that representation may become the object of our faith. If the intention of Scripture had been simply to establish the fact that Jesus was the Christ and the Son of God, it might have been done in a very different fashion. A theological treatise would have been enough to do that. But if the object be that men should not only accept with their understandings the truth concerning Christ’s office and nature, but that their hearts should go out to him, and that they should rest their sinful souls upon him as the Son of God and the Christ, then there is no other way to accomplish that but by the history of his life and the manifestation of his heart. If the object were simply to make us know about Christ, we do not need a book like this; but if the object is to lead us to put our faith in him, then we must have what we have here, the infinitely touching and tender figure of Jesus Christ himself set forth before us in all its sweetness and beauty, as he lived and moved and died for us.—Alexander Maclaren, D. D.

ROME AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

CATHOLIC hostility to public schools is not easily located and bounded. It exists in varying degrees of intensity in different parts of the land. A considerable fraction of the Catholic population of the Union send their children to the public schools, unhesitatingly, where there are no parochial schools; with fear and trembling where the latter exist. Probably, if there were no priestly influences to the contrary, the number of Catholic children in the public schools would rapidly increase, and the parochial schools would be pretty generally abandoned. The inferiority of the latter is easily apparent to the intelligent observer.
But there are such priestly influences at work in nearly every parish. Occasionally we are called upon to note an individual exception to the rule. Even a bishop has been known to say kind words of the public-school system. The prevailing feeling among the priests and their superiors, however, is one of hostility. And it prevails for the very reason confessed by Cardinal Manning (who is no more un-American than many prelates and priests who live in America), namely, that the public-school system lessens the control of the priests over the people. Believing that the Pope is the divinely appointed master of all human concerns, spiritual and temporal, he wants the Pope's bishops and priests to have absolute sway over children and parents, homes and schools. The same desire is shown by divers American bishops, who have refused absolution to Catholic parents for preferring the public to parochial schools.
The priests, as a rule, eagerly second the repressive measures of the bishops. All this tends to diminish the regard of Catholic laymen for public authority and institutions, and to fasten tighter upon them the bonds of Papal rule. It becomes the more offensive and deplorable, now that the plans for a Catholic university at Washington are being worked out. Soon we shall have a fully organized Catholic educational system, from primary grade up to the highest attainable. The whole thing will be welded together, and the parochial school at the base will become a most important part thereof. Protestant universities and colleges are content to receive the youth who come to them from the public schools. In that way they recognize and respect the duty of the State to provide for the primary education of its oncoming generations. And this is one of the marks of difference between those who honor the Government which protects them, and those who will pay it and its institutions only so much honor as the Pope of Rome permits.—Interior.
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