Review and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 18. (4/30/1901)

Review and Herald

Apr 30, 1901

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 30, 1901

A TEACHER SENT FROM GOD

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

“BEWARE of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruit.”

There are some who have departed from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, and who by falsehood and misrepresentation seduce others. These false teachers are represented by Christ as ravening wolves. Their work is to tear down that which God through His agencies is seeking to build up. “Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets which make my people to err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded; yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.”

False prophets are described by Paul in his second letter to Timothy: “Men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” Paul warns his son in the gospel, saying, “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; holding faith and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.”

Men oppose the truth with falsehood, and those who do not desire a knowledge of the truth listen eagerly to the fables presented to them. Their hearts are imbued with the same spirit of opposition to the truth that fills the hearts of the false teachers. They act toward God’s commandment-keeping people in this time as the Jews acted when they refused to accept the truths that Christ unfolded before them. Christ presented to them the prophecies of the Old Testament, showing them that by their rejection of Him they were fulfilling these prophecies. But they continued in their evil course, and followed, to the end, the works that stand registered against them in the books of heaven, which have brought eternal infamy upon them as a nation.

What accusation did the Jews bring against Christ?—“He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.” Eagerly they received the testimony of false witnesses. They hired men to report against Christ, that they might have some pretext for condemning Him. They did everything that could be done to make themselves and others believe that He was a criminal. His every word and action was watched, and reported in a distorted light. Spies were constantly upon His track, saying, Show us a sign. Work some miracle.

When Christ said to the sick of the palsy, “Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee,” He gave His enemies a sign which they could not set aside. “And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” Knowing their unspoken thoughts, Jesus said, “What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins (He said unto the sick of the palsy), I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things to-day.”

Did this evidence that Jesus was the Son of God cause the scribes and Pharisees to believe in Him?—No; this demonstration of His power only exasperated them. It was not evidence that He was the teacher sent from God, that they wanted, but evidence that He was a deceiver. Their hearts were not open to conviction. They were filled with intense hatred and bitter prejudice, and they were ever seeking to find some occasion to manifest their wrath.

“And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, He said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Next in Christ’s work came a call from a ruler, saying, “My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did His disciples. . . . And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed Him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, He went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame thereof went abroad into all that land.

“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when He was come into the house, the blind men came to Him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.”

Notwithstanding this charge, the restored men, “when they were departed, spread abroad His fame in all that country.” This added fuel to the fire of prejudice. His enemies interpreted His works of mercy and compassion as a wrong done to themselves. The people were leaving them and listening to the teachings of Christ.

“As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a dumb man possessed with a devil. And when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake: and the multitudes marveled, saying, It was never so seen in Israel.” These words, contrasting the works and mercy of Christ with the course pursued by the priests and Pharisees, exasperated the leading men. Every additional proof given them provoked them to increased resistance. When they saw that they could not prevent Him from working miracles, they put forth their skill to misrepresent and falsify Him. They could bear false witness, and this they did. They said, “He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.” But Jesus worked on, heeding not censure, prejudice, or opposition. The genuineness of His power and His work was kept before the people, and His enemies could not turn the multitude from following after Him.

In Christ’s mighty works there was sufficient evidence to convince any one. But the Jewish rulers did not want the truth. They could not but acknowledge the reality of the works of Christ, but they cast condemnation upon them all. They were forced to acknowledge that supernatural power attended His work, but this power, they declared, was derived from Satan. Did they really believe this?—No; but they were so determined that the truth should not lead to their conversion that they charged the work of the Spirit of God to the devil. Thus they committed the sin against the Holy Ghost, which has no forgiveness in this world or in the world to come.

We read again of Christ: ‘When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.’

All-compassionate Redeemer! what love, what matchless love, is thine! Charged by the great men of Israel with doing His works of mercy by the power of the prince of devils, He was as one who saw and heard not. The work He came from heaven to do must not be left undone. Truth must be unfolded to men. The Light of the world must flash His beams into the darkness of sin and superstition. The truth found no place in the hearts of those who should have been foremost to receive it, because they were barricaded with prejudice and wicked unbelief. Among those who had not such exalted privileges, Christ prepared hearts to receive His message. He made new bottles for the new wine.

Every truth is invested by the God of heaven with an influence proportionate to its character and importance. The plan of redemption, which means everything to a lost and ruined world, was to be proclaimed, and the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus was brought into vital contact with the heart of the world. Light and truth vibrated through the universe. The plan of redemption was made known, which thrills the soul and prepares it for the great power of God. A truth so large, so deep, so full and complete, it could be the center of all truth hitherto revealed.

By Christ the truth was proclaimed. The hearts of those who professed to be the children of God were barricaded against it; but those who had not been so highly privileged, those who were not clothed with the garments of self-righteousness, were drawn to Christ. Their minds were convinced and quickened into activity.

The cross stands as the great center of the world, bearing a certain testimony which will be the condemnation of every transgressor of the law of God. To-day Satan endeavors to keep hidden from the world the great atoning sacrifice, which reveals the love of God and the binding claims of His law. He wars against the work of Christ. His evil angels unite with evil men in opposing this work. But while He is carrying on this work, heavenly intelligences are combining with God’s human instrumentalities in the work of restoration.

The children of God are not to expect an easy time in this life. There are battles to be fought. ‘We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.’ We are not left alone to engage in this conflict. Jesus is the captain of our salvation. He clothed His divinity with humanity, and took the field himself, that He might teach us how to fight the battles of the Lord. He says, ‘Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.’

MAY-DAY

By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

The balm of summer fills all hearts with gladness, And snows must melt before the breath of May; A cheerful face, a smile, will banish sadness, As night must vanish at the light of day.

Our words at best lend poor interpretation: Whate’er the soul would utter, it will speak In loving looks, and tender, thoughtful action, Nor e’er for praise or recognition seek.

We gaze upon an artist’s famed conception Of landscape beauty or a face sublime; Ope, Lord, our hearts to nature’s full reception, And grant a vision of thy face divine.

Then may our souls reflect fair nature’s glory, And faces radiant from the mount above. Tell more than words, the grand redemption story Of earth and lives renewed by Jesus’ love.

Hearts chilled by fear will warm to love’s kind wooing; Kind, helpful deeds will burst the bolts of hate; And heaven’s balm will rest on thee in doing As He hath done,—the while we watch and wait.

“LOVEST THOU ME?”

By BENJ. L. ANDERSON

BENJ. L. ANDERSON

“So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto Him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”

It was at the sea of Tiberias that the Saviour met with His disciples the third time after His passion; and it was at this place Simon Peter received his commission. Even as Peter had denied the Saviour three times, so must he likewise confess Him three times. But let us notice more carefully Peter’s experience.

In Luke’s Gospel we read: “And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.” This he did when he remembered the words of his Lord—how He had said that Peter would deny Him.

In John’s Gospel it is said that “Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me?” Was Peter grieved because he was asked to confess Christ the third time, or was it because of the manner in which he was asked? Let us notice more carefully.

In the passage quoted, we find that, in the inspired language (Greek) of the Scripture, two different words are used for the word “lovest,” namely, ἀγαπᾷς and φιλεῖς. The word ἀγαπᾷς means to love with divine love; while the word φιλεῖς means with human love.

Peter had made the assertion, “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended;” and he had also said, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” He is now brought to the test. Jesus, in His first interrogation to Peter, says: “Lovest thou me more than these?” The Saviour uses the word ἀγαπᾷς, meaning, Do you love me with divine love more than these love me? Peter does not now claim to have greater love for his Master than have his brethren, and does not even answer the question, but simply replies: “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” Peter uses the word φιλῶ for the verb “love,” meaning only that he loved his Master with human love. Peter is then commissioned to feed the lambs of the great Shepherd.

Jesus again questions Peter the second time, but does not this time ask if he loves Him more than his brethren do, but simply asks if he loves Him with divine love (ἀγαπᾷς). Still Peter does not claim divine love for his Master, but makes reply: “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee,” using φιλῶ for the verb love. Again Peter receives a commission to feed the little sheep.

The third time the Saviour uses the same word that Peter has been using (φιλῶ), Lovest thou me with human love? Now Peter is grieved, not because he was asked the third time; but because he was asked if he loved his Master with human love, which he had already twice claimed. So Peter answers, “Lord, . . . thou knowest that I love [φιλῶ] thee.”

Although Peter had boasted of his great love for his Master,—that he would remain with the Saviour to the very last,—that though all men should forsake Him, yet he would not,—he does not now boast of any such thing; still, he is given the divine charge.

Now that Peter does not claim greater love than his brethren, the Saviour goes one step further, asking Peter if he loves Him with divine love, without comparison. Peter does not now claim even divine love, yet still he is commissioned to care for the sheep of the flock.

The Saviour ventures still another step in testing the boastful disciple, asking him if he has human love for the great Shepherd of the sheep. How wonderful!—after having been humbled, he still receives that grand and glorious charge, “Feed my sheep,” although he claims only human love for the Saviour of mankind.

THE CHARACTER OF GOD

By C. P. Whitford

C. P. WHITFORD

In the very beginning, Satan began the work of deception (Gen. 3:1-5), by misrepresenting the character of God, and it has been his studied plan to keep the people in ignorance in regard to the Lord’s true character.

To know God as He really is, is to love Him (Job 22:21), and those who truly love Him will keep His commandments (1 John 5:3), and those who keep His commandments will “have right to the tree of life.” Rev. 22:14.

The Lord has decreed that Satan shall be destroyed (Eze. 28:11-19); and so, true to the saying that “misery likes company,” he is set on leading to destruction as many as it is possible for him to deceive.

Satan would have us believe that God is a cruel master, who delights in punishing his creatures when they do not obey Him. In the garden of Eden he succeeded in causing Eve to believe that God was supremely selfish in withholding from her fruit of which, should she partake, she would be elevated in knowledge and wisdom. She was led to believe that God was not the kind, loving, and true friend that He had represented himself to be, but was, instead, arbitrary and exacting in all His requirements; and all the world has shared more or less in this belief, the sad results of which are told in Rom. 3:10-19, 23; 5:12.

All the discouragement in trying to live in harmony with the counsel of the Lord is based on the thought that God loves us less than we thought He did.

Before man can retrace his steps, and cheerfully accept and follow the instructions given by God, lost confidence must be restored; for “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Man must become so well acquainted with God that he can say in his heart, “No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly before Him.”

How, then, shall we become acquainted with God, so that lost confidence can be restored? The Saviour has told us to “search the Scriptures; for . . . they are they which testify of me.” God’s

plan by which we may become acquainted with Him is fully explained in His word.

God sent His Son into the world to live His life among men for thirty-three years. 2 Cor. 5:19. A careful study of the life of Christ will enable us to become well acquainted with God. As we search the Scriptures we read: “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45. Christ did not come to this world to be waited upon, but He gave His life in active, loving service for others. This life which He lived, represents the life and character of God.

“God is love” (1 John 4:8), and love “seeketh not her own.” 1 Cor. 13:4, 5. It is selfishness that seeks its own, and selfishness is of Satan. Isa. 14:12-14. Selfishness is sin, and “sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Christ saw our helpless condition, and without any invitation from us, came into this world to save that which was lost.

“Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.” “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Therefore He came to save us from transgressing the holy law of God.

Sin is bondage. We have all sinned, therefore we have all been in prison. Christ came to “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Isa. 61:1. The purchase price for the salvation of every individual has been paid. John 3:16. To make this plain, we will suppose that in the State of Florida it is a crime to contract a debt of more than one thousand dollars. A party of twelve are traveling through the country, and one of the number contracts a debt of two thousand dollars. For the crime he is arrested and tried, and sentenced to prison until the debt shall be paid. Suppose the other members of the party pay their friend’s indebtedness, and he is notified that his account is settled, and he is at liberty. But suppose he refuses to come out of the prison, remaining there until he dies. Would his death in prison prove that his liberty had not been secured to him?—Most assuredly it would not. The man was free, but would not make use of the freedom that was his by right.

Christ “gave himself for us.” “He gave himself for our sins.” We, with all our sins, belong to Him. Gal. 1:4; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. We have all been in the prison-house of sin. Eph. 2:1-10.

Some have gladly accepted the freedom purchased for them by Christ. The purchase price was paid just as freely for those who will not accept salvation as for those who will. To illustrate: A table is spread with a bountiful supply of food, and all are invited to partake. Isa. 55:1; Rev. 22:17. Whose fault will it be if some go away hungry? To all who will accept it, the Saviour has promised a beautiful home (John 14:1-3; Rev. 21:1-4), and an endless life therein. Ps. 37:29. Who will enjoy that home? “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14.

God is love. And love seeks the happiness of the object loved. God gave to man this world in its beauty, unmarred by sin. Love gave a holy law, a transcript of God’s character. It was a law of love, given in love and by love, to promote the happiness of those for whom it was given. When man departed from this law of love, thus bringing himself into bondage to sin and death, love gave earth’s Creator, heaven’s best gift, the eternal Son of God, to die, that man might live. Surely God’s love should awaken responsive love in the heart of every son and daughter of Adam.

The earth speaks of the goodness and love of man’s Creator. Leafy tree, fragrant flower, dewy grass, balmy air, fragrant with sweet perfume,—all speak of God’s love for man.

In the beginning man was made “very good,” and placed in a beautiful garden, with a right to all its privileges and blessings. This was his home. It knew no death, no curse, no woe, no sorrow, till sin, which is not of love, entered and blasted the fair domain of the children of God.

Before that time man could read the love of God on leaf and flower and blade of grass, on tree and lake and cloud and sky; and even now, despite the curse, the beautiful things of nature look through the fog and miasma of sin, and tell of love, the wondrous love of God. The love that gave Christ is the love that gives all things. Rom. 8:32. It has already given all things in Him. Surely—

“Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my life, my soul, my all.”

MEMORIES

By Nellie Hawks

Troop down the land of years agone so often Fond memories of youth’s enchanted days, When love’s sweet dream of life did daily soften The toils and frets, the world and all its ways; The first own home, the first of life’s awakening From dreams to stern realities and grief,— The heartaches o’er the old home nest forsaking. Sweet years of childhood! Ah! they were so brief.

But come again before life’s thought and calling Day after day with joy and love replete, Nor overweight of burden e’er befalling, Did burdens all their history repeat. Adown the summer path to age we’re drifting, And hope grows strong, and sweetly memory gleams. To live for whom we love is all uplifting. Come, memory! more reveal thy long-past dreams.

The past is fraught with tears, and joys, and smiling, Each in its turn has passed review to-day. The present holds a future all-beguiling; Let past be past! And yet we would not stay Where memory no longer dared invading— The past is filled with measure pure and sweet. Though life unto eternity is fading, We sit and dream of loved ones we shall meet.

—Nellie Hawks, in Christian Work.

Christ’s Light in the Heart

“If Christ is dwelling in the heart, it is impossible to conceal the light of His presence.”

TWO WAYS

By F. S. Hiddleson

F. S. HIDDLESON (Brooklyn, N. Y.)

“THERE is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Because a way seems right, does not argue that it is right. Many times when traveling in a strange country, a certain direction seemed east, but when the sun came peeping over the hills the next morning, we found we were wrong. The direction seemed clear. To the majority of men the great suspension bridge seems to run north and south; but if you take the compass, you will find that it runs southeast and northwest. So it is in this world,—many things seem to be what they are not. As the sun and the compass are the criterions by which we may determine the directions on the earth’s surface, so God has given us a chart and compass by which we may determine the right way. If man were left to choose his way, he would make a mistake, for he would be guided by appearances; but God, in His great love, has said: “This is the way, walk ye in it.” This way of God is the way of life. It is “the way of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” “As for God, His way is perfect.” And Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” In God’s way there is truth and life, but in man’s way there is death.

The truthfulness of this is daily verified. People who take their own way are continually testifying, unwillingly though it may be, to this mighty and everlasting truth. They are reeling under the weight of woe and sorrow that has come to them through having taken and pursued their own way, instead of that which God has marked out. They are living witnesses to the fact that “the way of transgressors is hard.” “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.”

The child that sets himself against the way of the parent, ignoring the latter’s advice, because his own way is crossed, and ends in the hovel or morgue, is on a par with those of maturer years who continue to trample under their feet God’s precepts because the old way “seemeth right.”

Of the untold millions that to-day throng the way to hell, I have no doubt that a personal examination of each would reveal the fact that they have reached that broad way through the door of their own desires and inclinations, through the “way which seemeth right unto a man.”

Into the Brooklyn Mission there came one day a poor storm-beaten soul who was under the influence of the demon of drink. In his more sober moments, which seemed to come to him like flashes of light from a friendly window to the belated traveler, he would wring his hands and bemoan his condition, only to plunge a little later into darkness, and plead for more drink. Once he had been a Christian, and had known God’s way, and the sunshine that comes to the child of obedience; but, yielding to appetite, Satan had wound about him the cords of sin until he was bound hand and foot, a most pitiable object lesson of the result of abject slavery. Another, in his delirium, heard the footsteps of his friend on the stairs, but, imagining that an enemy was approaching, threw himself from the third-story window, breaking his limb on the pavement below. Such is the wages of sin.

Why will men not learn from the experience of others? Why?—Because they are determined to have their own way; because they trust not in God, but lean to their own understanding; because they are blinded by the god of this world, and their hearts are in rebellion against God and God’s way. Jesus says, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Man rolls his stubborn will against the door of his heart, and thus bars it against Christ. In his haughty pride, man says, “I know a better way than the way of

the cross, a more reasonable way;” and he builds a ladder to climb up some other way, but Jesus declares that all such are “thieves and robbers.”

Dear reader, will you not surrender your will to that of your Heavenly Father. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isa. 55:8.

ARE YOU SHEPHERDS?

By W. F. Lane

W. F. LANE (Montrose, Pa.)

ARE you a shepherd? and are you caring for the sheep? Every one that leads a soul to Christ becomes a shepherd in whose care God has committed His sheep. After the Lord places His sheep in your hands by conversion through your labors, why are they neglected? Satan then works harder to draw them away, and how often he is allowed to do it without any opposition from the shepherds.

“Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” Why let them starve after conversion? If through your efforts fifty souls are converted, you are under great responsibility to look after their spiritual condition. Christ said, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?”

“That is the true spirit. When you have been the means of the conversion of souls, how can you see them leaving the fold without a single effort on your part to keep them in the truth? It is not the Spirit of Christ that makes you comfortable under those circumstances; for in His prayer for the disciples He said, “While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” John 17:12, R. V.

If Christ was so faithful and anxious that none should be lost, why are we satisfied when we see many departing from the faith? We are responsible for those sheep that God has placed in our care, if we do not do all in our power to keep them. Do not say, This does not mean me; for it means every one who has ever led a sinner to Christ; and if you have not, where are your fruits? “By their fruits ye shall know them.” “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire,” includes those trees that bring forth evil fruit, and also those that bring forth no fruit at all. Remember the drones are all killed before the honey is sampled.

How can we expect God to give us the care of more sheep if we do not take care of those He has already given us? How can we ask for more conversions until we have hunted up the lost ones?

“My brethren, if any among you do err from the truth, and one convert him: let him know, that he which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins.” James 5:19, 20, R. V.

Personal Religious Experience

“PERSONAL religious experience is needed in every church. Why?—Because those who are not under the working of the Holy Spirit will not stand amid the perils of the last days.”

KEEP FAITH AND TRUST

By Elsie A. Brown

ELSIE A. BROWN

It is not with the expectation that the individual who may read the following lesson will be able to apply it all to his particular case, but with the hope that there may be some portion of it applicable to many, whereby they may be strengthened through the remembrance of the Source of power, that I send it for publication.

1. Why keep faith and trust?

“Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 16:58. “We shall reap if we faint not.” Gal. 6:9.

2. But, says one, I don’t see much indication of it.

“But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Rom. 8:25.

3. Did Abraham see the evidence?

“Who against hope believed in hope.” Rom. 4:18.

4. But I lack faith.

“If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful.” 2 Tim. 2:13.

5. But how am I to get faith?

“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Eph. 2:8. “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19.

6. But I am so weak.

“God hath chosen the weak things of the world.” 1 Cor. 1:27. “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9.

7. But I am slow, and do not seem to accomplish much.

“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.” Eccl. 9:11.

8. Well, there just seems nothing to me.

“And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are.” 1 Cor. 1:28. “Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” Ps. 39:5.

9. Who before you has felt his nothingness?

“Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints.” Eph. 3:8. “For I know nothing by myself.” 1 Cor. 4:4.

10. Who was this?

Paul, who “was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.” 2 Cor. 11:5.

11. But things have gone so crooked in my life.

“The crooked shall be made straight.” Luke 3:5.

12. It seems impossible.

“With God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37. “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27.

13. What is the assurance if we walk in the path of God’s appointment?

“I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight.” Isa. 45:2.

14. But I am getting old and feeble.

“And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoary hairs will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” Isa. 46:4.

15. But my health is so poor.

“I will restore health unto thee.” Jer. 30:17. “I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health.” 3 John 2.

16. Note the remedy for weakness, old age, and slowness.

“I have laid help upon One that is mighty.” Ps. 89:19. “My grace is sufficient for thee.” 2 Cor. 12:9. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isa. 41:10. “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” Isa. 40:29. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zech. 4:6.

17. But I’ve been so afflicted.

“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Isa. 48:10. “For thou wilt save the afflicted people.” Ps. 18:27.

18. But I have been bereft of my children.

“They shall come again from the land of the enemy. And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.” Jer. 31:16, 17.

19. Well, I am fearful of the future, for are we not to have a time of trouble?

“Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jer. 30:7. “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.” Rev. 2:10.

20. Why fear nothing?

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jer. 29:11. “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations; like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” Amos 9:9.

21. My associates and family are against me.

“I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” Jer. 3:14.

22. I have no one to help me.

“For He shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.” Ps. 72:12. “For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.” Ps. 9:18.

23. But my enemies work so against me.

“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the

heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 54:17.

24. But I have backslidden.

“Return ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.” Jer. 3:22.

25. But no one seems to care for, or particularly to interest themselves in, me.

“He careth for you.” 1 Peter 5:7. “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.” Isa. 49:16.

26. The enemy so shapes his temptations to my weakness as to overwhelm me.

“The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He shall thrust out the enemy from before thee.” Deut. 33:27. “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Isa. 59:19.

27. But so much is expected of me.

“What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah 6:8.

28. But I am unclean and sinful.

“I will also save you from all your uncleannesses.” Eze. 36:29. “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” Rom. 6:14.

29. But I am afraid I shall fall.

“A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” Prov. 24:16. “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” Micah 7:8.

30. But I have failed so many times.

“He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities.” Micah 7:19.

31. What further promise have we for those who fear falling?

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless.” Jude 24. “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” Rom. 14:4. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Phil. 2:13.

32. But it seems almost presuming for me to hope.

“The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope is His mercy.” Ps. 147:11.

33. What is mercy?

“Disposition to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves.”—Webster.

34. Having therefore these promises, what shall we do?

“Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22. “Trust in Him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before Him: God is a refuge for us.” Ps. 62:8.

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