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Review and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 24.

JUST A LITTLE FARTHER ON

Review and Herald

Jun 11, 1901

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 11, 1901

JUST A LITTLE FARTHER ON.

By Thos. Rowe

THOS. ROWE.
Just a little farther on, just a little farther on, All our trials will be ended, all our sorrows will be No more sickness, death, or sighing, no more failures after trying, In that gladsome great "to be," just a little farther on.
Just a little farther on, just a little farther on,— What a hope to keep us striving till life's battles all are won! Though sometimes we lose its light, it is shining just as bright; In that gladsome great "to be," just a little farther on.
Just a little farther on, just a little farther on, No more hearts to break from crying, no more faces pale and wan; Life would not be worth the living, costliest gift not worth the giving, If our Father did not beckon, just a little farther on.
But there is a farther on, aye, there is a Farther On; For the night of sin is passing, soon eternal day will dawn; Hold on just a little longer, grasp faith's rope a little stronger, We shall stand upon Mt. Zion, just a little farther on.

“LABORERS TOGETHER WITH GOD.”

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE.
“We are laborers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, . . . of what sort it is.”
Let us study these words carefully and prayerfully. In order to be understood, the Bible requires much thought. When we are preparing to go to a new country, and have received from our friends letters of instruction, how carefully we study those letters! We are strangers and pilgrims on this earth, journeying to a better country, even a heavenly, and to us have been given letters of instruction. Again and again we are enjoined to study these directions carefully, so that we shall make no mistake. God is faithful. If we are willing to be taught, He will do His part in teaching us. Let us not neglect our part. We are to labor together with God, working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God who works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure. If we are faithful in doing our part, in co-operating with Him, God will work through us the good pleasure of His will. But God cannot work through us if we make no effort. If we gain eternal life, we must work, and work earnestly. If we lack in spiritual strength, we may know that we have failed of doing our part. Just as soon as the plan of salvation was devised, Satan began to work; and if we hope to stand against him, we, too, must work. We must follow the example Christ has left us, submitting to Him in everything. Our will must be in harmony with His will.
“Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Are we placing the right kind of material upon the right foundation? If we lay upon the foundation wood, hay, stubble, sad indeed will be the result! Will that which we are bringing to the foundation endure the fire of the great day of God? Are we using our talents in the Master’s service? Are we kind and courteous to all around us? Do we cherish in our hearts, and reveal in our lives, the principles of the truth?
The characters we form here will decide our eternal destiny. What kind of material are we using in our character building? We must guard well every point, seeking to gain that purity which will make our lives harmonize with the saving truth we profess to believe. Our part is to put away sin, to seek with determination for perfection of character. As we thus work, God co-operates with us, fitting us for a place in His kingdom.
If we constantly receive grace from God, we shall be vessels unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master’s use. Daily receiving blessings, we shall daily impart blessings to those around us. But in order to be successful in this work, we must deny self. We cannot at the same time please self and serve Christ. We are not to follow our own inclinations, but look to Jesus, waiting to receive orders from our Captain.
Our one desire should be to do God’s will in a way that He will approve. All our blessings come from Him, and He desires us in return to give Him our glad and willing service. Are we doing this? Are we receiving and imparting His grace? Are we standing under His banner as faithful sentinels? Are we learning precious lessons, that we may teach others? Let us not rob God. All things come from Him, and He expects us to return Him of His own.
Our money belongs to God, and He calls upon us to acknowledge this by paying a faithful tithe and giving willing offerings. The children of Israel were taught that their possessions came from God, and that by the paying of tithe and freewill offerings they were to acknowledge this. Thus we, too, may acknowledge whence our blessings flow. By giving of our means to save those for whom Christ died, we may show our appreciation of His goodness.
Is it possible that we are robbing God? If so, His blessing cannot rest upon us. This may be the reason why there is not more of the power of God with us. Let each one examine himself, and see whether he is obeying the directions God has given. Remove from your lives everything which separates you from God. Serve Him to the very best of your ability. Show your faith by your works. Cling with living faith to Jesus. Come up to the help of the Lord. Labor earnestly for the Saviour. Then the rich blessing of God will be your portion.
The doing of God’s will is essential if we would have an increased knowledge of Him. Let us not be deceived by the oft-repeated assertion, “All you have to do is to believe.” Faith and works are two oars which we must use equally if we press our way up the stream against the current of unbelief. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” The Christian is a man of thought and practice. His faith fixes its roots firmly in Christ. By faith and good works he keeps his spirituality strong and healthy, and his spiritual strength increases as he strives to work the works of God.
There is a crown of eternal life to win, a heaven of bliss to gain. The way is rough, and there is much climbing to do. But those who endure the toil, urging their way through all obstacles, will receive the overcomer’s reward.
Christ has a right to our entire obedience. “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and 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.” “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
When we claim to accept Christ as our Saviour, and yet continue to cherish sinful practices, we misrepresent Him and put Him to open shame. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
No one should deceive himself by thinking that his defects are not very grievous. If he does not guard against these defects, they will be his ruin, and will be reproduced in those with whom he associates. Those who do not think that Godrequires them to watch and pray unceasingly, striving against every imperfection, are deluded by the enemy. Until they change their attitude, they cannot grow in grace. We all need to pray earnestly for determination to overcome every defect of character. Pray that, “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; . . . ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power.”
How many there are who retain wrong habits because they think they cannot overcome them. They do not make determined efforts to overcome. They cherish their sins as if they were precious jewels. If they are reproved, they murmur against the one who is watching for their souls as he that must give an account. Some, when reproved, act disrespectfully toward the one who, in the fear of God, showed them that they were misrepresenting their Saviour. They need to learn the meaning of true conversion. Paul writes, “If so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. . . . Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Let us not be impatient and angry when our friends show us our mistakes and dangers. Some have followed their own way so long that they do not realize that they have serious defects of character, which influence others to their hurt. Let these remember that they are sowing seeds of imperfection, and that for this God will bring them into judgment.
We are enjoined to be “blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.” If your influence leads others astray, something is wrong. You are not obeying God’s directions. Take advice. Do not dispute with the one who labors for your good. Put yourself under discipline. Remember that if you cannot see that you are guilty, you are in danger. Self-indulgence has blinded your eyes. Put forth an effort proportionate to the value of the object of which you are in pursuit. Remember that you are seeking for eternal life. It will not pay to be indolent and slothful on the very borders of the eternal world. Put to the stretch every spiritual sinew and muscle. Infinite resources have been provided for you. Then do not fail of being complete in Christ. God’s work will triumph. The question we should each ask ourselves is, Shall I triumph with it?

WORK FOR BOTH.

By A. E. Bates

A. E. BATES.
(Training School, Chicago.)
“Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God.” Ps. 3:2.
Yes, there are many to-day who are saying, “It is no use to waste time in working for men who are as far down in sin as these criminals are. So we had better let them alone, and work for those who are more favorably inclined.”
But hold, my brother! did not Jesus come to save the sinner, and had we not better work for Him, in showing these discouraged ones His way, instead of turning all our energies to those who think themselves “good enough” already?
What if they are poor? “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him?” James 2:5.
Should we have respect to “him that weareth the gay clothing,” or to him that is morally inclined, and forget the one whose heart, perhaps, in the sight of God, is nearer right?
Let us deal with each as of infinite worth.

APOSTOLIC METHODS.

By F. D. Starr

ELDER F. D. STARR.
(Oakville, Ontario.)
The night before leaving my home to start to our recent General Conference, I had a dream in which I seemed to be receiving instruction from an extraordinary teacher. The topic he was dwelling upon was that of the manner of labor of the various apostles of our Lord in the early years of the present dispensation. Said the speaker: “The mighty work wrought by God through these men has not been suitably appreciated. It was the greatest miracle that ever took place since creation,—the wonderful spread of Christianity throughout the world at that time, its influence upon society, and the vast numbers who were soundly converted to God.” This teacher then proceeded to describe in detail the various individual methods of these apostles. There was unity in diversity. While all worked in harmony with a general plan, there was the greatest liberty in the matter of individual methods in their work. Philip’s manner of labor, with its personal peculiarities, was minutely explained, then that of Peter’s work, in the same way, then that of James, John, and the rest, one after the other. It was the most interesting and entertaining instruction to which I had ever listened. I obtained a view of the subject that was much in advance of anything I had ever conceived before. The details of this part of the dream I could not remember, they were gone from me like Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, but the vivid impression made upon my mind was ineffaceable. Said this gospel instructor: “The sequel of the matter, the key to the situation, the whole thing summed up in a few words, will be found in the book of Acts, the thirty-first verse, the last verse of the chapter, and this verse will connect the history and experience of that time with what follows, and this will connect that work with the work for the present time.” But the reader will discover there was a link missing. I did not understand, or remember, which chapter in Acts it was to which the instructor referred, but all can see it must be a chapter with just thirty-one verses; for it was to the thirty-first verse that reference was made, and it was stated that that was the last verse of the chapter.
When I awoke in the morning, the first thing to do was to examine the book of Acts to see whether there was indeed a chapter with just thirty-one verses. I began at the first, and as I turned leaf after leaf, from chapter to chapter, my heart began to fail me, as it appeared there was no such chapter, till, ah, I reached the last chapter,—just thirty-one verses, sure enough. And what is this golden text, containing in a nutshell the solution of the situation? “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.” “Preaching” and “teaching.” “The kingdom of God,” to which the prophecies point, and “those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ,”—not the things concerning self or the trifles of earth. “With all confidence;” doubt, fear of man, forebodings for the future, all annihilated! “No man forbidding,”—obstacles removed, the word of God having free course, even the opposition of enemies working for the furtherance of the gospel. Thus were the triumphs of the cross achieved in the early Church; thus will the victories of the present be attained.
The courage brought to my mind by this night-season instruction was such that it would be difficult for me to come away from the General Conference without more courage than I had when I went there. I wished to tell my dream there, but thought time was too precious for me to venture to do so, and so I take this opportunity.
Certain victory is before the Third Angel’s Message. It has seemed as if the work would succeed if we could get men enough, and money enough, and machinery enough behind it to push it along. But while these are to be consecrated to the work, the elements of success are in the message itself. Its springs that move it along to assured triumph are in itself. The hidden instruction as to the manners of the apostles’ labors will doubtless much of it be found in the book of Acts. For the purpose of learning those methods, let us study that book anew.

READJUSTMENT OF THE STARS.

By A. Smith

A. SMITH.
(Grandville, Mich.)
The nebular hypothesis of the creation, preservation, and destiny of the starry worlds leads to skepticism, causing many to doubt that God is the direct and infinite Creator and upholder of all natural phenomena in the universe. Next to popular geology, it is doubtless one of the most hypothetical sciences known. And yet its deductions are the most natural and logical that can be adduced by minds unregenerated by the Holy Spirit, which alone “searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:10. Briefly stated, the nebular theory supposes the existence of all material unorganized substances from eternity; and that at some undefined epoch in the infinite past, the law of gravitation began to operate at a supposed point, drawing to itself adjacent substances, and, by impact or some other agency, evolving heat and rotary motion, eventually resulting in the formation of suns, planets, and satellites. Aside from certain principles forming the basis of true science involved in the system, the whole theory is vague and unsatisfactory.
Having evolved suns and planets to a point of complete development, the nebular theory compels belief in the final complete congelation of the worlds, the death of all organic life therein, and the extinction of light and heat emanating from sun and stars.
How soul-satisfying to turn from such speculationsto the unequivocable testimony of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen. 1:1. “He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.” Ps. 33:9.
The Lord said to Job: “Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” No; the ordinances of heaven are the ordinances of God; and the dominion is wholly in the hands of Him who “upholdeth all things by the word of His power.” “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isa. 40:25, 26.
Men may speculate about collisions of suns and worlds, and the heat and light evolved from the impact; but God’s word says of these heavenly spheres, “Not one faileth,” and “He calleth them all by names.” Yes, He who notices the fall of a little sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our head, has a father’s care for the worlds He has created, with their countless millions of sentient beings.
Because certain phenomena observable in some of the distant stars are unexplainable from any known data, we are not justified in concluding that they have diminished from or exceeded the conditions they were created to fill in the sisterhood of spheres.
The psalmist says: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork.” Ps. 19:1. The glory of God is His perfection. The works of His hands are perfect. The starry worlds therefore are perfect in all their appointments.
The earth, as a whole cannot now glorify God because of sin. There are, however, glintings of His glory in His people; it lingers in the pencilings of the divine Artist upon the evening sky; it flashes in the aurora borealis; it unfolds in the endless tintings of floral nature: all these are mementos of paradise lost, and promises of the earth made new.
None need fear that the suns and worlds that God has created will ever collide one with another. In their diurnal and orbital movements they all obey the divine will. “No balance, turning to one one-thousandth of a grain, is more delicate than the poise of forces on the world. Laplace has given us proof that the period of the earth’s axial rotation has not changed one one-hundredth of a second of time in two thousand years.” — Recreations in Astronomy, page 145.
No planet that God has made will ever become a frozen mass, nor suns fail of giving their light. God created the cold, doubtless to preserve the purity of interstellar spaces, as salt preserves the purity of the seas. It is called “His cold.” See Ps. 147:17. It can never trespass upon the works of God. It will ever accomplish His will, and no more.
God has declared it to be His purpose to consume sinful conditions in our world by fire; and certain scientists conjecture, since phenomena observable in some of the distant stars are like that which will probably appear in our world at the time of the great conflagration, that such stars in like manner suffer dissolution, and disappear or are recreated with increased or diminished primal glory. But an increase of light and heat in any star can consume, or destroy, nothing but sinful conditions; and since God declares of those stars that “not one faileth,” it is vain to base conjecture upon any other principle.
Heaven is the dwelling-place of God. See 1 Kings 8:39. His throne is in heaven, and there is set the dominion of the universe. See Ps. 103:19. The capital city of the universe is the New Jerusalem in heaven. See Heb. 12:22.
The position has been generally taken, and no doubt rightly so, that heaven is the center, or pivot, round which all the starry worlds revolve, God ever holding the dominion in His own hands, and guiding them. See Job 38:32.
This world in which we live, because of the pollution of sin has cost more than heaven and all the other starry worlds combined. Heaven was emptied of its wealth to redeem the earth. Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He took human nature, and no other, upon himself, and fallen human nature at that. He is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, our brother. Jesus loves those whom He has purchased so fervently that He is content to dwell with His people as their brother and king forever. See 1 Cor. 15:24-28. But the Father cannot be separated from His Son. Hence the capital city of the universe in all its glory is to be removed to this earth, and with it the throne of the Father. See Rev. 22:1-5.
The Lord said to Job, “Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” Job 38:33. This question implies that the Lord could do what man could not; He could set the dominion of the heavens in the earth; and the question would have lacked due force if the Lord did not have it in mind to do that very thing. The Lord says, referring to the earthquake at the giving of the law, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only; but also heaven.” Heb. 12:26; see also Matt. 24:29.
“The powers of heaven are the sun, moon, and stars. They rule in the heavens. The powers of earth are those who rule on the earth. The powers of heaven will be shaken at the voice of God. Then the sun, moon, and stars will be moved out of their places.” — “Early Writings,” page 33.
Why are the starry worlds to be moved out of their places? — Simply to readjust them to the seat of infinite dominion in the earth. Every star must be moved. Every world will feel the thrill of redemption in the earth. See Heb. 12:27, 28. The starry worlds are removed in order that redeemed man may be instated in a kingdom that could not be removed from the earth. The throne of God could be removed from heaven to earth, while the citizens of the heaven would remain there in everlasting possession.
The kingdom of redeemed man, although on the earth, will not be limited to the earth, as would have been had Adam and his posterity never sinned; for redemption has made necessary the union of the divine with human nature. The redeemed, therefore, being of divine birth, become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to all things. See John 16:15; Rom. 8:16, 17; Rev. 21:7; Gal. 4:7; 1 Cor. 3:21-23.
Redeemed man will reign in a kingdom of influence over the inhabitants of the starry worlds, such as no other people can ever possess. None will be so well qualified to teach the great principles of salvation as they. In them God will show throughout eternity the riches of His grace to the inhabitants of the starry worlds. When the “sons of God” (Job 1:6) visit heaven, the leading thought must necessarily be concerning the rebellion of Satan and the justice of God; but in the ages to come when they visit the earth, the theme of redemption will command superlative interest. The redeemed race will be the one above all others in which the interest of the universe will center. To be fitted for such a high and exalted position, they will doubtless need the course of training that the one thousand years of judgment in heaven will afford. But to this life only is limited the period in which to form characters, and to fix positions for the immortal life. Every moment is precious and fraught with everlasting consequences.
No joy will be so great and enduring as a sense of everlasting deliverance from the thralldom of sin and consequent death. Nothing will awaken the symphonies of the city of the living God in the earth made new like the song of praise, glory, and honor to Him who had redeemed His people out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Reader, will you share in that joy and song?
[NOTE. — The reference in the foregoing article to the teaching of science, that the whole solar system is destined at last to become a dead, frozen mass, calls to mind an incident in our own experience. Visiting a friend in the Michigan University, it was our privilege to attend some of the lectures on astronomy. The speaker held the same view of the evolution and formation of the stellar worlds as set forth above. From an original incandescent mass of matter, planets were formed by masses thrown off, from time to time, as the mass increased its revolution, under the cooling process. The conclusion was that the process was still going on, and that the sun is now the only residuum of the solar system remaining in its original state. But as this is still cooling, the time must come, so it was argued, or rather asserted, when this whole system must become a dark and frozen mass, and then a new order of things must begin. What, we know not. Thus the conclusions at which science arrives, if not guided by the word of God, are generally, as in this case, exactly the opposite of what is revealed in the Bible. Science says that this earth, and all life upon it, shall perish in the original cold of chaos. The Bible says that this earth and all things therein shall be burned up, and even its original elements shall melt with fervent heat. But the Bible says, further, that those who are endowed with everlasting life will be able to withstand the devouring fire. Isa. 33:14. Science holds out no hope. — ED.]

THOUGHTS OF HEAVEN.

By L. D. Santee

ELDER L. D. SANTEE.
“I WILL come again, and receive you unto myself.” John 14: 3.
I take up my Bible, that message from heaven, And thoughtfully ponder the words that are there: The white robes of saints, and their sins all forgiven, And crowns that are starry, and homes that are fair.
I think of the faces and hearts that are tender, Of curls that lie lightly on foreheads of snow, Of eyes that beam soft, in their heavenly splendor, Of hearts that shall thrill, and of bosoms aglow.
I think of the price of that exquisite gladness,— Christ’s woe in the garden, His death on the tree,— And over my spirit a shade comes, of sadness: His death and His sufferings, all were for me, And humbly I pray that through Jesus’ merit My sins may be canceled, my errors forgiven, That I, as an heir, may the promise inherit, And dwell with the righteous, in yonder bright heaven.
My life is like others; ’tis, but the old story; My boat is adrift on time’s treacherous sea; But soft in the heavens there beameth a glory, A promise of welcome extended to me. The fogs from the waters are slowly uplifting, The sunshine of gladness shines bright on the shore, And soon shall I come to the end of my drifting, Where the tempests of trouble shall beat nevermore.

THE WORD FROM THE BEGINNING.

By W. E. Videto

W. E. VIDETO. (Agnew, Mich.)
“Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.” 1 John 2:7. The phrase “from the beginning” calls our minds to the time of creation, when all things were created by the word of the Lord. The word of God called every plant and animal into existence, but all created things were not alike. Life was manifested in a wide diversity of forms. Each species existed first in the mind of God, and the spoken word called into existence the species exactly as it existed in the mind of God. The creating word spoken to each plant and animal has continued operative all the time since creation. Every created species has retained the characteristics of the word spoken at the beginning. The word which spoke the white oak into existence still continues to make white oaks. “The word of the Lord endureth forever.”
What was the thought expressed in the word when man was created?—“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” In making man, the Creator expressed in the creating word His own form and nature. That creative word, like all the other words of God, must be always in force. What kind of men would this word, spoken from the beginning, create, if its workings were unhindered?—Men full of love; for God is love, and He spoke His own nature into man. So the gospel word “is the commandment that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” 1 John 3:11, margin. The reason that the working of the Word is not universal is because of unbelief. The word of God works effectually in those that believe. 1 Thess. 2:13. The new birth is simply the reception by faith of the word spoken from the beginning, and creating in the likeness of Him who is love. We are “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” The word will be as fully manifested in us as it is in any created being, when we surrender fully to it.

THE CHURCH.

In speaking of the Church of Christ under her various circumstances, William Miller said:—
“In tracing her history from the patriarch Abraham to the present day, we find her variable as the wind and changeable as the weather.
“To-day, she is coming up out of the wilderness, leaning on the arm of her Beloved; to-morrow, like a young doe, leaping upon the mountains, and skipping upon the hills.
“Now she is seen among the trees of the woods, next in a palace of silver, inclosed in boards of cedar.
“There we saw her in the clefts of the rocks; here we behold her in the broad way, in the streets of the great city.
“Again we find her among the foxes of the desert; and anon we perceive her seeking Him whom her soul loveth.
“She is asleep on her bed by night; and the same night the watch finds her in the city.
“Behold her Lord knocking at the door for admittance while she is too indolent to arise and let Him in. The next moment, she is opening to her Beloved, but He has withdrawn himself. At one time, the voice of her Beloved, sounding over the hills and echoing among the mountains, like the roar of distant thunder, has no impression; next, the soft whisper of love gains all her attention.
“Here blows the rough north wind and the strong south wind upon her spices, yet they put forth no fragrance. And there the lightest breeze makes her roses blossom, and all the air is perfume.
“See her countenance to-day, black as the tents of Kedar; and to-morrow, comely as the daughters of Jerusalem, and fair as the purple curtains of Solomon. To-day she is ‘a garden barred, a spring shut up, a fountain sealed;’ to-morrow, ‘a garden open, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.’ Now she is weak as a babe; a single watchman can ‘smite, wound, and take away her veil;’ and then she is courageous and valiant,—‘terrible as an army with banners.’ To-day she is made to keep another’s vineyard; to-morrow she is realizing a thousand pieces of silver from her own. She is truly a changeable being, carried about by the slightest circumstances.”

TEACHING

The King's Messenger.
“No need that any man teach you.” “Taught of the Lord.” “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” “The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.” He takes of the things of God and makes them known unto us, and thus shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord.
The things of the Spirit of God cannot be taught by the natural man; neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discovered. Only the Spirit can make known the deep things of God. “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.” The Holy Spirit is the teacher, and He must be received and given place, and will teach, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Material teachings will not answer. The teachings of the schools, or the pulpit, or the press, will not do. Mine or thine cannot measure up. We must needs be taught of the Lord. The Comforter has been sent, has come, is here, to be received and to enter in and abide and be made our Wisdom, our Counselor, our Guide, and to teach us all things and bring to our remembrance and show us things to come.
The Holy Spirit is the teacher. The Bible is the text-book, given of God. He wrote it, “given by inspiration”—His revelation. He only can teach it; for He is the only One that can open the book and apply it to our hearts. This book is the book of books, that must be learned by the heart. Other knowledge is received by the intellect. The brain is the seat of temporal knowledge, of worldly wisdom, but the will of God in the Scriptures must be received in the heart; for head reception will not answer. With the heart man believes unto righteousness, and God, the Holy Spirit, indwelling in our hearts, makes known to our hearts the things freely given to us of God.
We must know God to know His word, His will, His way. It will not meet the case to commit to memory the text of the book, even if it be in the original tongues. We must know the Author, and He must make himself known to us, as He does not unto the world. He is the light, He will illuminate the sacred page until it becomes a new book, and it will be a new revelation with new meaning and power. This comes not by study or searching, but by receiving Him, doing His will, and thereby knowing the doctrine.
It is hard and difficult, and, we are taught, dangerous, to put away the teachings which man's wisdom teaches; but we must do this to make room for the wisdom from above. The letter killeth, but the Spirit maketh alive. The Spirit openeth, the letter closeth. The one gives place to the other. The Holy Spirit must have the entire control, so He can make himself known, and unfold the truth as it is in Jesus; for no man can truly say that Jesus is the Lord save by the Holy Ghost.
We receive Him. He becomes our teacher. We look not to man teachers, nor to church doctrines, or dogmas, to religious books or papers, to holiness expounders, nor to evangelistic persuaders. We look unto Him who is the author and finisher of our faith. We keep looking unto Jesus; are dependent upon the Comforter. We become as little children, helpless, and of no strength, or might, or power. We simply surrender our entire will to Him. Our self dies, and He reigns and rules. He delights to make known, to solve to us and in us, the mystery.
He is no respecter of persons. His gospel is not of man; it is not “by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.” We must have the Spirit to understand God, and that is the only way He is revealed; and then we follow on to know the Lord. We do not receive this teaching at once. It is like all other knowledge in this respect. It is line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept; here a little, there a little. It cometh not with observation. It is not a splurge, nor a splash. Fleshly things may be that way, but the things of the Spirit are to make us perfect through suffering; to make us wise unto salvation, and wise to win souls.
This is not speaking with the tongues of men and of angels; for this without charity, love, God, the Holy Spirit, is as sounding brass or tinkling cymbals. This is nothing; this is flesh. All flesh is carnal, and to be carnally minded is death.
We try to teach. We go out to convict and convert. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and we cannot do it. We work, and work, and work the works of the flesh, and think we are laboring for God. We are followers of men; we make them our patterns, and take their ideas and their dogmas as our own, and we look to men, to households, to denominations, and alliances, and gatherings, for their praises and commendations. We try to make people religious, to proselyte, and to demand that everybody shall conform to our way of thinking. We compasssea and land to do this, and do it to be successful and popular, and to see the work of our hands. We want prosperity, and fear ridicule, and dread adversity. We follow after, and contend for, the traditions of the elders,—the way our fathers went, the teachings of the ministers,—and, resting upon these, our spiritual understanding is clouded, is veiled, and we doubt and walk in darkness,—taught of men, not taught of the Lord.
The Teacher teaches of unseen things. The natural things are evanescent, passing away,—no stability, no security, no satisfaction. All fleshly things are of no real good. We go into church work with all our hearts. We give money, time, and talents; we are full of service and piety and profession.
So did I, so was I. The spiritual I did not know; I thought I did. I was a Methodist of the Methodists, an extreme of the extremes, a Pharisee of the Pharisees; fasted and wept, dressed and tried to look puritanical, attended to all known and many unknown duties. I was righteous overmuch, but it was the righteousness of the flesh, and it did not satisfy, and I was all the time losing what I had, and seeking to regain it. I was at school in and to the flesh. The Enlightener came. I ceased from self, stopped the works of the flesh, began to unlearn what I had learned of man, so I could be taught of the Spirit. At one time I knew it all, I had it all, and had the best there was. All that vanished. I was nothing, knew nothing, but had received Him. I was no good, no use; my righteousness was as filthy rags, my holiness full of holes, my noise and clatter was in my emptiness. I became quiet, still; stopped my self-workings, and simply let Him.
For fourteen years I have been in the Teacher's hands. I have not as yet attained. I am going on to know. Leaving the first principles, I am pressing forward. I may be a dull pupil, but it is not in my scholarship, but in His teaching. I have learned I am nothing; He is all in all. I am His. He has me in training. I leave it all with Him. He will guide me by His counsel. He will keep that which I have committed to Him, and my faith lays hold on Him; for I have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that I may know the things which are freely given me of God, which things also we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
This is hard for the natural man to understand. It seems to him foolishness and fanaticism; and to many Christians it is an occasion of stumbling; but he that is spiritual, led of the Spirit, taught of the Lord, will be able to comprehend the length and breadth, the height and depth, and know the love of God which passeth understanding.
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