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Review and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 30.

Questions and Answers

Review and Herald

Jul 23, 1914

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jul 23, 1914

Questions and Answers

By Editor

In this department there will be considered from time to time helpful and practical questions relating to the various phases of this message, church government, Christian doctrine, duty, experience, etc. The editors reserve the right to consider only those questions which in their judgment will prove of benefit to the readers of the REVIEW. All questions should be addressed to the editor.

11. Where and when will Jesus Christ set up his kingdom?

The kingdom of Christ will be established on this earth. In this will be carried out the original design of God, providing that this earth should be peopled by a holy race. Gen. 1:26-31. In this original plan, Adam, as the father of the human family, would doubtless have occupied the position of king. But through sin he lost possession of his inheritance. He could be restored to this lost dominion only through the provisions of the plan of salvation. In this plan Christ became the redeemer not only of man in his lost state, but of man's lost dominion as well. Through his grace both will be restored to their Edenic purity. Rom. 8:18-23. To Christ, the tower of the flock, by right of conquest and by virtue of his sacrifice, the lost dominion reverts. Micah 4:8.
That God's design that this earth should be peopled by a holy nation did not change with the entrance of sin is evident from his call to Abraham, to whom he promised that to him and to his seed he would give the earth. Gen. 13:14-17. The seed to whom the promise was made was the Lord Jesus Christ. Gal. 3:16. All who accept Christ are counted as Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. Gal. 3:29. And Christ, in speaking to his faithful followers while on earth, comforted them with the promise, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Luke 12:32. Thus, in the carrying out of God's purpose, Christ, the second Adam, becomes a quickening or life-giving spirit, and through the resurrection of the dead at the last day there will be gathered from every age of the world the people whom God has taken out of the nations of men for his name. Isa. 11:11, 12.
This kingdom will be established at the end of the world, the second coming of Christ. For proof of this see 2 Tim. 4:1; Matt. 25:31; 16:27; 13:40-43; Dan. 7:26, 27; Rev. 21:1-7; and other scriptures.

12. Will one who knows of the seventh-day Sabbath and does not keep it be saved?

The determination of this question does not rest with man. It is a question which only the Lord himself can determine at the last great day. At that time every man will be judged according to the light which he has possessed. “And that servant, which knew his Lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” Luke 12:47, 48. In the judgment of the last day the law of God will constitute the standard of judgment. See James 2:12.
Undoubtedly many earnest Christians have lived in this world and died in the full and conscientious belief that in the observance of the first day of the week they were keeping the commandment of the Lord. The righteousness of Christ will cover this remissness in the lives of these children of his. They did the best they knew, and God accepts the will for the deed in the service they rendered. When light comes to an individual and he rejects it and turns from it, that light, which would have led him on into the fullness of the salvation of God, will prove his condemnation at the last day. But the records of heaven only can determine at what time and in what measure light is rejected by each individual. Judgment does not belong to us. It is for us faithfully to proclaim the message of God. It is for us to restore to its rightful place in the recognition of our fellows the Sabbath of Jehovah. But, having given the message of the Lord with meekness and with godly fear, let us leave to God the judgment of our fellows in the relationship which they choose to sustain toward his truth. It proves many times that some whom we have believed had forever rejected the truth of God out of their knowledge, under changed conditions and in hearing the truth in a new setting were attracted by its beauty and yielded themselves to its saving power. Whether men hear or forbear to hear the gospel message, let us hope on and pray on and labor on, leaving to God the results of the harvest.

13. Has the question of life insurance been made a test of fellowship in the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

We know of no instance in the history of the church where this question has been made a test of church fellowship. This is a question which pertains rather to the individual conscience and to the province of the individual relationship between the disciple and his Master than to the determination of the church. It is a question, however, which we believe should receive more careful and personal consideration on the part of our brethren and sisters than has been given it in the past.
We should not wish to take the position that no temporal benefit had ever come to individuals as the result of taking out life insurance policies. Such benefit has accrued to many from many other worldly enterprises and schemes. On the other hand, there have been many sore disappointments in receiving the benefits which it was hoped life insurance would bestow upon the beneficiaries. Thousands and thousands of dollars have been invested in these ways from which there have been received no commensurate returns. And there would have accrued to the participants much greater advantage by the safe investment of their earnings in conservative business enterprises.
But there is another phase of the question to the children of God, particularly to the believers connected with this movement. We are living in the day of the Lord's preparation. Is it his desire that we should make provision for the future?
If our lives are hid with Christ in God, if we have committed into the divine keeping our all, can we not safely trust the Father above for the outcome of our earthly existence? Is not the best life insurance that which lays up a bank account in heaven in store for the life to come?
The servant of the Lord has spoken with direct reference to this question:— “I was shown that Sabbath-keeping Adventists should not engage in life insurance. This is a commerce with the world which God does not approve. Those who engage in this enterprise are uniting with the world, while God calls his people to come out from among them and to be separate. . . . As a people, we are in a special sense the Lord’s. Christ has bought us. Angels that excel in strength surround us. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without the notice of our Heavenly Father. Even the hairs of our head are numbered. God has made provision for his people. He has a special care for them, and they should not distrust his providence by engaging in a policy with the world. “God designs that we should preserve in simplicity and holiness our peculiarity as a people. Those who engage in this worldly policy invest means which belong to God, which he has intrusted to them to use in his cause, to advance his work. But few will realize any returns from life insurance, and without God’s blessing even these will prove an injury instead of a benefit. Those whom God has made his stewards have no right to place in the enemy’s ranks the means which he has intrusted to them to use in his cause.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. I, pages 549, 550.
We believe that through life insurance, wild speculation, and worldly enterprises, much money has been absorbed which God would have had placed in his treasury. Our lives are in his hands, and we may safely commit to him their keeping against the day of his appearing. 1 Peter 4:19.

14. A reader of the “Review” raises the old-time question of where Cain obtained his wife.

We candidly admit that we do not know. The only record in existence at the present time regarding Cain and his posterity is found in the fourth chapter of Genesis, and that is silent on the question. We know of no other source of information to which we may appeal. How long after the creation of man before Cain's marriage we have no means of knowing. It is evident from the record that our long-lived forefathers did not marry at the early age at which marriages are consummated today. Undoubtedly before Cain's marriage a sufficient time had elapsed for the human family to largely increase and afford among some of Cain's relatives the woman whom he chose for his companion.
This woman was not found necessarily in the land of Nod, as skeptics sometimes aver. The record shows that after reaching the land of Nod, there were born to Cain and his wife sons and daughters. Gen. 4:16, 17.

The Example of Christ

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE
Dear Brother: At one time you made the suggestion that if the managers of our institutions offered higher wages, they would secure a higher class of workmen, and thus a higher grade of work. My brother, such reasoning is not in harmony with the Lord's plans. We are all his servants. We are not our own. We have been bought with a price, and we are to glorify God in our body and in our spirit, which are his. This is a lesson that we need to learn. We need the discipline so essential to the development of completeness of Christian character.
Our institutions are to be entirely under the supervision of God. They were established in sacrifice, and only in sacrifice can their work be successfully carried forward.
Upon all who are engaged in the Lord's work rests the responsibility of fulfilling the commission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”
Christ himself has given us an example of how we are to work. Read the fourth chapter of Matthew, and learn what methods Christ, the Prince of life, followed in his teaching. “Leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the seacoast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. . . .”
“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”
These humble fishermen were Christ's first disciples. He did not say that they were to receive a certain sum for their services. They were to share with him his self-denial and sacrifices.
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth, and taught them.”
He gave what is known as the Sermon on the Mount,—a discourse full of precious instruction for all who claim to be his disciples. His deeds of sympathy in restoring the sick to health had aroused a deep interest in his work, and had prepared the people to listen to his words.
In every sense of the word, Christ was a medical missionary. He came to this world to preach the gospel and to heal the sick. He came as a healer of the bodies as well as the souls of human beings. His message was that obedience to the laws of the kingdom of God would bring men and women health and prosperity. . . .
Christ might have occupied the highest place among the highest teachers of the Jewish nation. But he chose rather to take the gospel to the poor. He went from place to place, that those in the highways and byways might catch the words of the gospel of truth. He labored in the way in which he desires his workers to labor today. By the sea, on the mountain side, in the streets of the city, his voice was heard, explaining the Old Testament Scriptures. So unlike the explanation of the scribes and Pharisees was his explanation that the attention of the people was arrested. He taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes. With clearness and power he proclaimed the gospel message.
Never was there such an evangelist as Christ. He was the Majesty of heaven, but he humbled himself to take our nature that he might meet men where they were. To all people, rich and poor, free and bond, Christ, the Messenger of the covenant, brought the tidings of salvation. How the people flocked to him! From far and near theycame for healing, and he healed them all. His fame as the Great Healer spread throughout Palestine, from Jerusalem to Syria. The sick came to the places through which they thought he would pass, that they might call on him for help, and he healed them of their diseases. Hither, too, came the rich, anxious to hear his words and to receive a touch of his hand. Thus he went from city to city, from town to town, preaching the gospel and healing the sick,—the King of glory in the lowly garb of humanity. “Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”

Freedom in Christ

By ELIZA H. MORTON

ELIZA H. MORTON
O Zion in the wilderness, O people bound by sin, O people with a mighty truth, Be clean and pure within!
Repent, confess, and put away Transgressions seeming sweet; Arise and shine, and trample sin Beneath thy conquering feet.
And pray for rain, the latter rain; Surrender all to God. Angels of strength and mighty power Will come from Christ the Lord.
Thy mouths with laughter shall be filled, With joy thy tongues shall sing, O hearts contrite! O tide of love! O Jesus, Jesus, King!
Portland, Maine.

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

By John Norton Loughborough

The Second Advent Movement — No. 3

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

A SCRIPTURE which gave great force to the advent movement, especially from 1840 to 1844, was the tenth chapter of Revelation. “I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire: and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: . . . and sware by him that liveth forever and ever . . . that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” Rev. 10: 1-7.
The Adventists said: “Here is a message announcing the time for the finishing of the ‘mystery of God.’ That mystery is the gospel, according to Rom. 16: 25, 26; Eph. 3: 8, 9; Col. 1: 27. This proclamation points to the sounding of the seventh angel as the event to follow; and when he sounds, there are voices in heaven saying, ‘The time of the dead, that they should be judged.’”
In 1838 Brother Miller published his lectures in a pamphlet of 204 pages. In that pamphlet he gave an exposition of the seven trumpets, claiming that the first four trumpets had their fulfillment in the wars that broke Western Rome into ten fragments. The fifth he applied to the Turkish “torment” of the Eastern Empire, after the founding of the Ottoman Empire, from July 27, 1299, to July 27, 1449, 150 years—five prophetic months. At this time John Palæologus, the last Greek emperor, died, and Amarath, the Turkish sultan, was storming Constantinople, using firearms, and with a ponderous cannon battering the walls of Constantinople. Very shortly he had possession of the city, “killing” the power which he had formerly “tormented.” His killing of the power was to be for “an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year”—391 years and 15 days, on the ground of a day symbolizing a year, according to the Lord’s explanation. Num. 14: 34; Eze. 4: 6.
“In the year 1840, another remarkable fulfillment of prophecy excited widespread interest. Two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition of Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman Empire. According to his calculations, this power was to be overthrown ‘in A. D. 1840, sometime in the month of August;’ and only a few days previous to its accomplishment he wrote: ‘Allowing the first period, 150 years, to have been exactly fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by permission of the Turks, and that the 391 years and 15 days commenced at the close of the first period, it will end on the eleventh of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this, I believe, will be found to be the case.’”
“At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the protection ‘of the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under the control of Christian nations. The event exactly fulfilled the prediction. When it became known, multitudes were convinced of the correctness of the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by Miller and his associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to the advent movement. Men of learning and position united with Miller, both in preaching and in publishing his views, and from 1840 to 1844 the work rapidly extended.”—“Great Controversy,” edition 1912, pages 334, 335.
Just after the battle of St.-Jean d’Acre, the following appeared in the London Morning Herald: “We [the allies] have dissipated into thin air the prestige that lately invested, as with a halo, the name of Mahommed Ali. We have in all probability destroyed forever the power of that hitherto successful ruler; . . . but have we done aught to restore strength to the Ottoman Empire?—We fear not. We fear the sultan has been reduced to the rank of a mere puppet, and that the sources of the empire’s strength are entirely destroyed.”
When the situation of the Turk became known, the people said: “Turkish independence is gone. The prediction of the prophecy is fulfilled. The year-day theory of prophecy is established.” This resulted in a mighty impetus to the advent movement. Many infidel clubs were broken up. Brother Litch stated that he had received word by letters from more than one thousand infidels who gave up infidelity on the strength of the fulfillment of that prophecy.
Lodi, Cal.

A. E. PLACE

By A. E. PLACE

“Judge Not”—No. 2

A. E. PLACE

A FRIEND once wrote me the following sentence, “God is far above our petty differings.” This is a truth of which we should be very thankful. But notwithstanding the fact that he is far above these things, he feels for us in all our weaknesses, and he “is touched with the feeling.” Yet how very small must appear to him many of our “differings” which to us seem of considerable moment.
“Petty differings!” Petted differings! O, how we have petted them, and pitied ourselves when we should have said, “Get thee behind me, Satan”! But these differings, however small, will finally become like the little land between the sources of the Amazon and the Orinoco Rivers. The one letter O divided the Eastern and Western churches. One claimed that the body of Christ was “homousian;” that is, the same substance with the Father. The other side claimed that the body of Christ was “homoousian;” that is, of like substance, etc.
The historian Bancroft tells us that the Peloponnesian War resulted from a strife about an oracle. So the peace of thousands of homes has been destroyed because one cries, “It was a rat!” while the other cries, “I say it was a mouse!”
Many of the differings of both friend and foe, if analyzed, would give but one precipitate—“petty.” Petty slights, petty hurts, petty feelings, petty differings,—all these are bases for judgment and condemnation. I often wonder if it was “petty differings” back in Paul’s day which led him to say, or write, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, . . . but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
Are we children, or are we men and women in Christ Jesus? If we are children, let us earnestly pray to become men and women.
For the past few years, I have been studying man’s nature and characteristics (and woman’s, too, for that matter) more than ever before, and especially have I tried to study my own, and I have reached the conclusion that we are all much alike. Some of us are for Paul, and some for Apollos. Paulites condemn Apollosites, and vice versa, but God says “both are carnal.” Paul may plant, Apollos may water, but God giveth the increase. So he who planteth is nothing, and he who watereth is nothing, but God who giveth the increase. No man living is anything in the sight of God, only as he is, or will be, connected with God. If we do not have God with us and in us in the planting or the watering, we are nothing, and our planting or watering is nothing. Christ establishes this truth by the statement, “Without me ye can do nothing.”
Let us now emphasize the truth that if God be with us and in us, or to the extent this is so, we shall not and cannot condemn or judge our fellow men. God manifest in the flesh of Jesus, said, “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”
This not only shows Christ’s attitude on the question of judging, but shows that he saw that if he came to judge the world, he could not save the world. Thus we see that criticizing and judging tend to destroy men, but not to savethem. Therefore, the great question for us each to decide for himself is, Am I a savior to this world, or am I a destroyer? Am I in God’s hands a savior, or is my life destroying or hindering his great, merciful work?
San Jose, Cal.

Authenticity of the Bible

By L. L. CAVINESS

L. L. CAVINESS
These are days of skepticism and infidelity; and it is well for us from time to time to consider the reliability of the hope which in us lies. The greatest proof of Christianity and of the Bible is the transformation which is wrought in the lives of those who receive and believe it; yet it may be interesting and helpful to consider some of the many other proofs.
William E. Gladstone, one of England's greatest statesmen, in speaking of the books of the Pentateuch, said:—
“The main facts of history they contain have received strong confirmation from Egyptian and Eastern research.”—The Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture, London, Wm. Isbister, 1890, pages 14, 15.
Not only in the facts themselves, but even in the manner of telling them, there is proof of the authenticity of the Bible.
“There is another evidence of its veracity, and it is this: In other histories we see the great tendency to hero worship. The historian has some favorite character. He wants to show what a grand man that was. The Bible never wants to show what a grand man anybody was. There is no hero worship in the Bible.”—Adolph Saphir, The Divine Unity of Scripture, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1894, page 214.
One of the most common attacks on the Scriptures is on the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, although “the unanimous tradition of the Jews ascribes the Pentateuch to Moses, and among Christians the Mosaic authorship was not called into question until a comparatively recent period. The evidence of the genuineness of the Pentateuch rests on direct testimony. If it had perished, most of its ordinances could have been gathered from the later books of the Bible; and the chain of evidence is completed by the testimony of Christ and his apostles, who without hesitation ascribe the composition of the Pentateuch to Moses.”—Walter A. Copinger, The Bible and Its Transmission, Henry Sotheran and Company, London, 1897, page 10.
The historical faithfulness is not found alone in the writings of Moses, but is present throughout the entire Bible.
“Here is a book which, unlike any other contemporary history, records the sins of rulers and people, the divine condemnations and punishments visited upon them for their sins, their numerous defeats at the hands of their enemies, faithfully preserved by this people, though it is historically a fraud [the critics tell us] from beginning to end. You ask me to believe the monstrous, the impossible. That is not all, this fraudulent compilation of writings [as they call it] claims from the beginning to the end to be from God. It is always saying, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ It also teaches the most perfect morality that the world ever received. Its doctrine of the Godhead is the sublimest ever taught to man: he is eternal, all-seeing, everywhere present, all-powerful, just, holy, true, merciful, long-suffering, and tender in mercy. The most ancient of these writings, even according to the critics, are filled with these sublime teachings. What wonderful teachers were Amos, Micah, Hosea, Joel, Isaiah! Yet we are told that more than two hundred and fifty years after their times a wily priest reversed Israel's history, and made that first which was last, and that which begun in the spiritual end in the merely ritual, and overslaughed the great teachings of the prophets with the ritualism of the Levitical system.”—T. McK. Stuart, Divine Inspiration Versus Higher Criticism, Jennings and Graham, Cincinnati, pages 70, 71.
John Stuart Mill says:—
“It is of no use to say that Christ, as exhibited in the Gospels, is not historical. Who among his disciples or among their proselytes was capable of inventing the sayings ascribed to Jesus, or of imagining the life and character revealed in the Gospels? Certainly not the fishermen of Galilee; as certainly not St. Paul.”—Essays, page 233; quoted in The Bible, Its Origin and Nature, Marcus Dods, D. D., Scribner's Sons, New York, 1905, page 208.
In concluding this article, two short quotations from that well-known anti-infidel writer, H. L. Hastings, are given:—
“I do not believe that a good man lies; and I do not believe that a man who lies is a good man. Perhaps you do; but if so, you were brought up in a different way from that in which my father brought me up. So I do not believe that a book packed with lies from one end to the other is a good book; and I do not want any one to come and tell me that Jesus Christ was a good man, and the Bible a good book, but that neither of them tells the truth. I join issue there. This book is what it professes to be, or it is a swindle; Jesus of Nazareth was what he professed to be, or he was an impostor. . . .”
“The Bible is a book which has been refuted, demolished, overthrown, and exploded more times than any other book you ever heard of. Every little while somebody starts up and upsets this book; and it is like upsetting a solid cube of granite. It is just as big one way as the other; and when you have upset it, it is right side up; and when you overturn it again, it is right side up still. Every little while somebody blows up the Bible; but when it comes down, it always lights on its feet, and runs faster than ever through the world. They overthrew the Bible a century ago, in Voltaire's time—entirely demolished the whole thing. ‘In less than a hundred years,’ said Voltaire, ‘Christianity will have been swept from existence, and will have passed into history.’ Infidelity ran riot through France, red-handed and impious. France still feels the curse and blight of its influence. The century has passed away. Voltaire has ‘passed into history,’ and not very respectable history either; few infidels would care to read publicly Voltaire's biography as written by a fellow infidel; but the Word of God ‘liveth and abideth forever.’”—Will the Old Book Stand? pages 4, 5.

The Perpetuity of the Law

By C. E. HOLMES

C. E. HOLMES
There are many who claim that the fourth commandment was nailed to the cross at the crucifixion of Christ. Occasionally, however, we find one who distinguishes between the ceremonial law, which was fulfilled by Christ, and the moral law, which is eternal. One of the best statements regarding the establishment of the Sabbath and its perpetuity is made by Rev. David James Burrell, D. D., LL. D. He is pastor of the Marble Collegiate church, New York City, and president of the New York State Sabbath Association. Writing under the title “Some Mistakes About the Sabbath,” he says:—
“The first mistake made by Christian people is in supposing that the Sabbath law, as laid down in the Old Testament, was abrogated by our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Christ himself affirmed that he came ‘not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.’ The ceremonial law, in its symbols and prophecies, was intended to point forward to the coming of Christ; and at his coming it passed away, because it was fulfilled in him. So it is written: ‘He nailed to the cross the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way.’ But the moral law, as contained in the decalogue, is as eternal as the constitution of man. It was written in the nerves and fibers of the human system before it was transcribed on tables of stone. The fact that it was thus written on stone, if it meant anything, meant that it was to abide forever. It is difficult to see how any one could suppose that Jesus would select one of the ten precepts thus recorded,—and the very one which was expressed in the most positive terms,—and, leaving the others intact, abrogate that one.”—“Sunday Rest in the Twentieth Century,” page 205.
After quoting the fourth commandment entire, Dr. Burrell continues:—
“The opening word is significant: ‘Remember’! It is precisely as if God foresaw that the time would come when some of his people might say this commandment was intended to be only of temporary force, and thus forestalled it. Observe, also, the two illative conjunctions in which the rationale of the Sabbath is set forth: ‘For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, . . . wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.’ The Sabbath is thus establishedin the fact that God made the world in six creative days and then rested. This being so, is it not obvious that the law is of binding force so long as it continues to be true that God created the world in that way?
“If the Sabbath law, as thus formulated by God himself, were to be abrogated, it surely would not be done by his only begotten Son. Let me say it reverently, Christ would not have done this if he could, and, considering his relations with the Father, he could not if he would. He came into the world, ‘not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.’”—Id., page 206.

“Behold What God Hath Wrought”*

By Mrs. Mary H. Williams

MRS. MARY H. WILLIAMS
PROPHETIC the message that flashed o’er the land, “Behold what God hath wrought;” Writ in the lightning with unseen hand, What a lesson for us is taught!
The message is circling the whole earth round, “Christ’s coming and kingdom are near;” The forces of nature reecho the sound For earth’s teeming millions to hear.
From far-away lands and isles of the sea Where the battles of truth are fought, Come the joyful tidings of victory, And we marvel at what God hath wrought.
Let us onward press in the name of the Lord, His strength to our weakness unite; With the shield of faith and the Spirit’s sword We triumph alone in his might.
When gathered at last on the crystal sea, The hosts by the Lamb’s blood bought, Will praise his great name through eternity, Remembering what God hath wrought.
Charles City, Iowa.

The Jews and the Third Angel’s Message

By HAROLD MAYER

HAROLD MAYER
Prophecy indicates that the final triumph of the third angel’s message will bring with it the conversion of many of the literal seed of Abraham; and it is clear from Scripture that the Jewish people must be given the gospel message of the kingdom before the Lord comes.
Jesus said at one time, speaking of the gathering of his people from all nations into the kingdom of God: “And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.” The spirit of prophecy makes it clear that the Jewish people will be the last of all peoples to receive the truth; but receive it they will, for we are encouraged to labor for them in the following words:—
“In the closing proclamation of the gospel, when special work is to be done for classes of people hitherto neglected, God expects his messengers to take particular interest in the Jewish people whom they find in all parts of the earth.”
“As his servants labor in faith for those who have long been neglected and despised, his salvation will be revealed.”
“Many will by faith receive Christ as their Redeemer.” “Their slumbering faculties will be aroused, and they will recognize Christ as the Saviour of the world.”—“Acts of the Apostles,” page 381.
And the Word of the Lord says (Hosea 3:4, 5) that “the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim; afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.”
We know we are living in the latter days, when all the signs of the end are being rapidly fulfilled; and we are engaged in the mighty work of helping the Lord to bring to pass his prophecy of Matt. 24:14. How important it is, then, for us to take into consideration the Jew and his relation to the third angel’s message! The apostle says the receiving of the Jews will be the finishing of the work. “God hath not cast away his people.” They have not stumbled that they should fall, “but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles. . . . If the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, . . . if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” Rom. 11:1-15.
“Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” The fullness of the Gentiles has come in. The gospel message has practically gone to all the world to gather out a people for His name. That work is almost finished; and it seems now that the Lord is but waiting for the Jew to take hold of the truth of God for these last days.
The prospect that the Jewish people will accept the message is very encouraging. We already have several Jewish believers, and others, here and there, slowly but surely, are accepting present truth. To be sure, it is difficult to work for the Jews. Perhaps there is no harder class of people to reach. This difficulty is accounted for by the fact that they have been so long bound by the traditions of men. Today, however, there are indications on every hand that these people are breaking away from the man-made precepts and ceremonies of their forefathers which have bound them in greater servitude than did their taskmasters in Egypt.
The Holy Spirit is moving upon the hearts of the Jewish people in these days, preparing them for the reception of the gospel, by convincing them that the persecutions of the past were no part of real Christianity, and by breaking the bonds of human tradition which have so long clung to them. The fear of the rabbi has now practically disappeared, and the Jew of today is an independent thinker. The Jew in this generation is not nearly so prejudiced as was his father, because he has come in contact with liberal-minded Christians and modern events, and this has broadened his mind.
The Jew today will talk to you about Christ. He believes that Jesus was a good man, and that his teachings are among the best; but he does not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. It is an impossibility with him for God to have a human Son. That is still the stumblingblock, as it was back in the days of Peter and Paul.
It is on this point that our people will have to meet the Jew. He needs to be shown this truth from the Old Testament. The great need of the Jews today is for us to go among them and show them the difference between professed and practical Christianity. They have always been taught that the name of Christ represents persecution, and that his followers are violators of the law of the Most High given through Moses. Therefore, Seventh-day Adventists are the only people who can set the Jew right on this question. Let him know you keep the Sabbath of the commandment, do not eat pork, and live up to the law as you know it from the Bible, and you will have established a tie between him and this people. You should not try to convince him that you know the Word of God better than he does, for he will quickly tell you that his people received the truth from God, and they are the correct interpreters of it. But speak to him about the similarity in his belief and yours. Tell him of your strong faith in the writings of Moses and the prophets. By and by he will begin to ask questions, and inquire where it is you and he differ. Then you can bring in Christ; for the Holy Spirit has impressed his heart to ask these questions.
“As his servants labor in faith for those who have long been neglected and despised, his salvation will be revealed. . . . The God of Israel will bring this to pass in our day. . . . ‘Thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.’”—“The Acts of the Apostles,” pages 381, 382.
Takoma Park, D. C.

Many Receive Advice; Few Profit

“MANY receive advice; few profit by it.”

Glorious Power

IT is the privilege of the child of God to be “strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.” If Christ is in him and he in Christ, he will have it. And think how much power it confers. It is “might, according to his glorious power.” Christ says, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Then the promise to the Christian is that, in his battle against sin, he may have divine power. That power will be bestowed in proportion as he becomes a “partaker of the divine nature.” With such unlimited resources as these from which to draw, certainly the child of God may take heart. Christ is his Captain, and through him the warfare knows no defeat.
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