Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 5. (2/4/1889)

Signs of the Times

Feb 4, 1889

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 4, 1889

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

Among the blessings pronounced by our Saviour was this: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." To hunger and thirst means more than simply to desire; it means to have that intense longing of soul so aptly expressed by the psalmist in these words: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?" Ps. 42:1, 2.

This is the language of the most intense longing. The panting deer upon the sun-scorched and barren plain, has but one impulse, namely, to reach water; the famished traveler in the desert waste has but one thought, Oh, that I might find water; and so must he feel who seeks God. When in sore distress the patriarch Job exclaimed in the anguish of his soul: "Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments."

These scriptures give some idea of what the man feels who has real longings of soul for God and for the things that pertain to salvation. And he who has these controlling desires, these all absorbing longings, will not be disappointed,—"he shall," says the word of God, "be filled."

THE MEN FROM THE TOMBS.

By Mrs. E. G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

JESUS and his disciples had spent the night upon the sea of Galilee, and early in the morning landed in the country of the Gadarenes. But no sooner had they stepped upon the beach than two men possessed with devils rushed fiercely toward them as though they desired to tear them in pieces. When the disciples and the others saw these fearful creatures rushing toward them, they fled in terror. But presently they discovered that Jesus was not with them, and they turned to see what had been his fate. They beheld him standing calmly where they had left him. He who stilled the tempest, he who had met Satan before and conquered him, did not flee before these demons. When the men, gnashing their teeth, and foaming at the mouth, approached him, Jesus raised that hand which had beckoned the waves to rest, and the men could come no nearer. They stood raging but helpless before him.

In accents of authority he bade the unclean spirits come out of them. The words of Jesus penetrated the darkened minds of the men enough for them to dimly realize that One was near who could save them from the demons that tormented them. They fell at the feet of Jesus, worshiping him. But when they opened their mouths to entreat his mercy, the demon spoke through them and cried vehemently, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not!"

Jesus asked, "What is thy name?" and the answer was, "My name is Legion; for we are many." Using the afflicted men as mediums of communication between themselves and Jesus, the demons besought him not to send them away out of the country, but to let

them enter into a herd of swine that was feeding near. Their request was granted; but no sooner did this occur than the swine rushed headlong down a steep precipice, and were drowned in the sea. Light dawned upon the minds of the restored lunatics. Their eyes beamed with an intelligence to which they had long been strangers. The countenances, so long deformed into the image of Satan, became suddenly mild, the blood-stained hands were quiet, and the men praised the Lord for their deliverance from the bondage of demons.

The design of Satan, in requesting that the demons might enter into the swine, was to hedge up the way of Jesus in that region. By causing the swine to be destroyed, considerable loss was brought upon their owners; and the enemy was not deceived in thinking that this circumstance would occasion Jesus to be held in disfavor throughout that country. The owners cared not that these unfortunate beings were now liberated, and sat calmly and intelligently at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words of instruction, filled with gratitude and glorifying the name of Him who had made them whole. They only cared for the property they had lost, and they were fearful of still greater calamities following the presence of this stranger in their midst. A panic spread far and near; the citizens apprehended financial ruin. A crowd came to Jesus, deploring the recent loss of property, and begging him to leave their vicinity. They looked with indifference upon the lunatics who had been healed, and were then conversing intelligently with Jesus. They knew them perfectly well, for they had long been the terror of the community. But the miraculous cure of these men seemed of less importance than their own selfish interests. They were thoroughly alarmed and displeased at their loss; and the prospect of Jesus remaining among them filled them with apprehension. They implored him to depart from their coast. The Saviour complied with their demands, and immediately took ship with his disciples and left them to their avarice and unbelief.

The inhabitants had before them living evidences of the power and mercy of him whom they drove from their midst. They saw that the lunatics had been restored to reason; but they were so fearful of incurring pecuniary loss that the Saviour, who had baffled the prince of darkness before their eyes, was treated as an unwelcome invader, and they turned the priceless Gift of Heaven from their doors, and blindly rejected his visit of mercy. We have not the opportunity of turning from the person of Christ, as did the Gadarenes; but there are many in these days who refuse to follow his teachings, because in so doing they must sacrifice some worldly interest. Many, in the various pursuits of life, turn Jesus from their hearts, fearful that his presence may cost them pecuniary loss. Like the selfish Gadarenes, they overlook his grace, and ruthlessly drive his Spirit from them. To such his words apply, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Some may reason, that the course pursued by Jesus in this matter prevented the people of that region from receiving his doctrine; that this startling exhibition of his power turned them away from his teachings, and cut them off from his influence. But such minds fail to penetrate the plans of the Saviour. At the time that the Gadarenes besought Jesus to leave their coast, there was also a petition offered by the restored lunatics. It was that they might accompany their Deliverer. In his presence they felt secure from the demons that had tormented their lives and wasted their manhood. They kept close to his side as he was about to enter the boat, knelt at his feet, and implored him to take them with him and teach them his truth. But Jesus directed them to go home to their friends, and tell them what great things the Lord had done for them.

Not only did they enlighten their own households and neighbors in regard to Jesus, but they proclaimed his power to save throughout the region of Decapolis, among the Gentiles, telling the wonderful work of Christ in casting out the demons. The people of that region had refused to receive the Saviour because he was the means of destroying their property, yet they were not left in utter darkness; for they had not committed the sin of rejecting his doctrine, since they had not heard it when they bade him leave their coast. His words of life had not fallen upon their ears. Therefore he commissioned those who were so recently the mediums of Satan to communicate the light they had received from him to those benighted people. Those who had so lately been the representatives of the prince of darkness were converted into channels of truth, servants of the Son of God.

Men marveled as they listened to the wondrous news. They became interested and anxious to have part in this kingdom of which Jesus taught. Nothing could have awakened the people of this country so thoroughly as did this occurrence happening in their midst. Their loss raised the indignation of the people, and brought Jesus directly before the public notice. Although they entreated him to depart from them, they nevertheless saw and heard the men whom he had healed. When these persons, who had been the terror of the community, became the messengers of truth and taught the salvation of Jesus, they wielded a powerful influence to convince the people of that region that Jesus was the Son of God.

It is no wonder that violence and crime have spread over the earth, and moral darkness, like the pall of death, shrouds the cities and habitations of men. Satan controls many households, people, and churches. He watches the indications of moral corruption, and introduces his specious temptations, carefully leading men into worse and worse evils, till utter depravity is the result. Many professed Christians of our time banish Jesus from them for the sake of worldly gain. They may not use the exact words of the Gadarenes, but their acts plainly indicate that, in their various avocations, they do not desire his presence. The world is exalted above his mercy. The love of gain crowds out the love of Christ. They heed not his injunctions, they slight his reproofs. By dishonesty and avaricious scheming, they virtually petition the blessed Saviour to depart from them.

Real Faith

REAL faith is believing that God will do for us that which he has promised to do; not that which we would like to have him do.

The Decline of the Week of Prayer

By Editor

The Christian at Work bewails the fact that the week of prayer does not command the hearty co-operation of the churches that it did ten or fifteen years ago, and says:—

"One of our contemporaries, noticing the fact of the decline, says: 'It is only a question of time when the week of prayer will be numbered among the institutions of the past.' Doubtless this is true, and let us say, sooner than see it dwindle away, it would be better to abolish it altogether. When the week of prayer ceases to represent a real want, it ceases to justify its existence."

And yet the editor expresses the belief that "great good will come from the week of prayer just past."

The Return to Expository Preaching

By Editor

WE wish that preachers would do what the subjoined note calls for. The great difficulty is, to give expositions which will harmonize with the many unscriptural doctrines now held, and satisfy the inquiring listeners who might ask too many questions hard to be answered in an "orthodox way." The word of God, rightly interpreted, will recommend itself. Here is the item:—

The London Sunday School Chronicle remarks that public men have put in an earnest plea for a return to the expository style of preaching, and the plea is meeting with a response. The Chronicle well says: "Let us give the Word the chance of making its own impression. We may be quite sure that it will recommend itself. When people know what it is, they can afford to smile, even at learned German professors, who tell them what it is not."

Papal Pretensions and Italy

SPEAKING of the pretensions of the Papacy, both moral and political, America pertinently says:—

It is somewhat late in the world's history for the Pope to claim that he is the greatest moral power in that world. We read that "righteousness exalteth a nation." Where, in the history of the past, is there an instance of submission to the supremacy of Rome exalting either a people or a nation? The intelligence of this century judges institutions and dogmas by their fruits. So long as Italy rested under the shadow of "the real sovereignty" of the Romish Church, civilization slumbered within her borders, while ignorance and depravity paralyzed her progress. There is not an exception from the experience of Italy in history to sustain the Pope's pretensions, that it would be for the advancement of that or any other country that his temporal rights should be vindicated.

Decline in Ministry Candidates

According to statistics recently published in the Advance, there has been a marked falling off, of late years, in the number of college graduates who have entered the ministry. From 1837 to 1840 Oberlin sent out 56 graduates, 66 per cent. of whom entered the ministry; but of the 201 graduated from 1861 to 1870 only 31 per cent. entered the ministry. During about the same years the per cent. of graduates entering the ministry from Yale declined from 32 to 15; while the per cent. of those from Harvard decreased from 12 to 6. A number of other colleges make about the same showing. The Advance says: "We doubt not that some pastors find these facts solemnly suggestive." "These figures, even with the most favorable interpretation and largest allowance, are eloquent as to the demand for more men in the ministry."

Sunday Law and Legalism

WHEN we preach the necessity of obedience to the commandments of God, there are many who charge us with being legalists, notwithstanding the fact that we preach "the faith of Jesus" at the same time as of equal importance. Those who repudiate the Sabbath of the Lord, seem to have a terrible horror of anything like legalism. But here an anomaly presents itself. The same people who would not dare keep the Sabbath, lest they should be called legalists, are very zealous in their efforts to have laws enacted to enforce the observance of Sunday. Law, law, law, is their main theme. "We must have a law," say they, "in order to check this Sunday desecration." Is not this legalism? If not, what is it? It seems from their actions as though the only law to be shunned is the law of God. After all, this is but natural, for that is the law which brands the Sunday as a base counterfeit. No wonder Sunday devotees wish to throw the law of God into the shade; but when they actually have a law requiring Sunday observance, their fear of legalism will be gone.

THE HIDDEN MEANING.

By Ella Wheeler Wilcox

WHATEVER evil falls across my path, I straightway look, with optimistic eyes, To see what purpose underneath it lies. For I believe always God's seeming wrath Is but the veil to some intended good, By men not understood.

But if we will take time amidst our grief To search for it, I think we cannot fail To find the hidden meaning 'neath the veil, And, having found it, lo! we find relief; And what has seemed a cruel, chastening rod, Proves the kind touch of God. —Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

THE DEVIL ALWAYS PREFERS BUSINESS TO PLEASURE.

WE are told, upon the authority of the book of Job, that once when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them. His audacity is always equal to the occasion. When asked whence he came, he replied in a flippant and free-and-easy way, that he had only "been going to and fro in the earth, and walking up and down in it"—had, in short, been on a pleasure excursion. Of course this was a falsehood, for Satan never took, and never takes, any such harmless trips. He never neglects business. He had been on a business journey, had been examining the condition of the crop from the seed previously sown, and sowing fresh seed as opportunity offered. He is still engaged in his old work of "walking up and down the earth," and of getting into the company of the sons of God whenever he has an opportunity, as the other crowd does not seem to need his special attention. Sometimes he steals into a pastor's study and tries his hand there. More frequently he is found in the prayer-meeting, where, under the cover of pious talk, he often succeeds in doing a great deal of mischief. Again he is found in other church meetings, giving bad counsel when any good work is projected or in progress. His most efficient work is, however, done privately and with individuals. He always puts on a pious disguise, professing the best motives for his malignant work. This disguise is not always easily discovered. It drops off as soon as we begin to study our Bibles, and honestly pray for light.—N. Y. Evangelist.

"I HAVE NO INFLUENCE."

IN his warfare against the truth, the evil one shows a wonderful fertility of resources, and skill in the use of them—a statement for which we do not claim entire originality. A favorite part of his spiritual tactics is to induce the professed disciples of Christ to excuse themselves from active work by the plea that they "have no influence," and can do nothing except, as they sometimes put it, "at the throne of grace." The confession is a virtual abnegation of one's manhood—and we use the word in its limited sense, because in these days no "manly man" could be induced to make such an excuse. His prayers go downward instead of upward. It is a poor, shuffling excuse for a neglect of duty—a virtual attempt to go to Heaven "on flowery beds of ease." Every man has an influence.—Selected.

Jesus Is Near at Hand

By Chisholm

If we could only realize that Heaven is around about and within us, instead of beyond the stars, and that often when we least expect a royal guest, Jesus himself draws nigh and goes with us, we would not look away into the future for the answer to our prayers, which might be ours even while we are speaking.

Jesus is near at hand. Have you told him all about your trials, pains, and heart-aches? No matter what befalls you, "go and tell Jesus, weary, sinful soul! He'll ease thee of thy burden; make thee whole! Look up to him! He only can forgive! Believe on him and thou shalt surely live."—Chisholm.

Tears That Teach Us

By Dr. Cuyler

God sometimes washes the eyes of his children with tears, in order that they may read aright his commandments.—Dr. Cuyler.

A REMARKABLE PLAN.

THE questions of "how to reach the masses," and "how to get people to attend church," are, it seems, still live topics in New York; and a correspondent of the Evening Post of that city has offered, presumably as a solution of the latter problem, the suggestion that the rich men in the "large and handsome churches pay for a number of the best seats in the church, and have them reserved especially for the poorer people." "Only think," says he, "of the immense delight and privilege to a poor person to sit in a front pew, to hear the delightful music, to join in the beautiful service, and to feel himself a member of that great congregation—the church as free, as home-like to him as to the rich man whose noble thoughtfulness and whose bounty made the seat a free one!"

It is then suggested that the rich men would themselves sit in the "more obscure places," and this the Post's correspondent is sure would "so touch the hearts of the poor that they would rush to the churches to enjoy the boon."

Commenting upon this suggestion, the New York Sun says the following very sensible things:—

"Very likely many of them would come, but they would be only from among those of the poor who are willing to put their poverty on exhibition for pay—the tramps, the bummers, the dead beats, the beggars, and the imposters. If the rich Christians, besides reserving the front seats for them, should offer to each a dollar a Sunday, the fashionable churches might be filled as never before. Otherwise the plan would not work.

"The trouble with the system of hiring pews at high prices in fashionable churches is that it involves a discrimination between the rich and the poor, which does such violence to the whole theory of Christianity that the simplest see its inconsistency. Yet the plan proposed by the Evening Post's correspondent tends to emphasize the distinction. The poor are made dependent on the bounty of the rich, and their poverty becomes the more conspicuous in a place where all should be alike before God, and rich or poor only according to the measure of their spiritual worth.

"It makes no difference whether the rich occupy the front seats and the poor the back seats, or the rich the back seats and the poor the front seats. The line of distinction between them is drawn all the same, except that in the latter case the degradation of the poor would be more striking. They would be in the front seats because they were poor, and the rich would be behind them because they were rich. The fashionable pews would then be those in the 'obscure places,' since to occupy a conspicuous seat would be for a man to advertise his poverty and his inferiority in the social scale.

"Of course the self-respecting poor could never be induced to go to church on any such conditions. If they are to accept 'bounty' in God's house, they want it to be God's, and not man's, bounty. They do not want to be reminded, and to have everybody else reminded, when they go up to pray, that they are a class by themselves, and that even the privilege of religious worship is obtained by them only at the cost of those who have more money than they.

"Yet the dense ignorance of human nature displayed by the author of this plan is common enough in the churches of which he speaks, and it explains why they are unable to reach the great body of the people."

OUR ABSENT LORD.

By Charles S. Robinson

THE parable in Mark 13:34-36 cannot be discharged of its meaning by a reference to the ordinary risks of human mortality. Its theme is not man's dying, but Christ's coming.

I. The Son of man is represented as a householder away on a journey. Verse 34.

1. It is not fair to look upon Jesus as a mere absentee lord of the soil. For he made this world; he has suffered to save souls, and he owns what he has purchased.

2. It must be remembered that he went away for a most gracious purpose. He would send the Comforter. John 16:7. He has gone to prepare a "place" for those whom he died to redeem. John 14:2, 3.

3. It is better to urge his coming back with eagerness of prayer. There is fitness in the passionate words of Richard Baxter: "Haste, O my Saviour, the time of thy return; send forth thine angels, let the last trumpet sound! Delay not, lest the living give up hope. Oh, hasten that great resurrection day when the seed thou sowedst corruptible shall come forth incorruptible, and the graves that retain but dust shall return their glorious ones!"

II. To every one "our absent Lord" has given his own work to do. Verse 35.

1. There is a work to be wrought on ourselves. Our bodies are to be exercised and skilled for service. Rom. 12:1. Our minds are to be developed and embellished for God's praise. One of our Lord's parables, spoken on this very occasion, has actually added to our language the new word "talents," as signifying intellectual gifts. Matt. 25:15. Our souls are to be sanctified wholly. 1 Thess. 5:23.

2. There is also a work to be wrought upon others and for others. The poor are to be succored, the weak to be strengthened, the ignorant to be taught, the sorrowful to be comforted. This is the significance of that other parable our Lord spoke on this same occasion. Matt. 25:31. He declares that not doing is to be reckoned as well as doing, and that everything is to be reckoned as "unto me" or "not to me."

3. There is another work to be wrought for God's glory. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." Our whole life is to be consecrated to this, even down to the particulars of eating and drinking. 1 Cor. 10:31. We cannot increase God's "inherent" glory, but we can augment his "declarative" glory. That is to say, we cannot bring him more glory, but we can show the glory he has. This is what the third parable our Lord gave must mean. Matt. 25:1. The virgins were expected to swell the brilliant train of the bridegroom, and make the night shine with their torches as the procession drew near. They did not make his marriage splendid, but they lit up the splendor it had.

III. Our "absent Lord" is surely coming back again to this world. Verse 26.

1. He predicted his second advent. John 14:28. The language Jesus used in this remembered declaration is not at all figurative; it all goes together as a statement of fact. He said, literally, he would send the Comforter, and the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. And just as literally did he say he would himself return at the appointed time.

2. He asseverated the certainty and solemnity of his own promise, as if he foresaw some would deny or doubt it. Verse 31. This was indorsing the covenant engagement by a new oath; "because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself." Christ was the "Word," and so what he said would stand forever, when the grass should wither and the flower should fade. Isa. 40:8.

3. He left behind him vivid descriptions of the momentous day on which he should arrive. Verses 24-26. In these, however, he does little more than repeat the vigorous language of the Old Testament prophet. Dan. 7:9-14. Our Lord makes a reference to this ancient prediction, and accompanies it with vivid details. Matt. 24:15.

4. He even sent back word from heaven by an angel. Acts 1:11. While the disciples wistfully stood gazing after the ascending Redeemer, there suddenly appeared two messengers from Jesus himself, with a gracious rebuke for their forgetfulness of his promise, and a quick renewal of it. It should be "this same Jesus" who should come back, and he should come "in like manner" as they had seen him depart. Is it possible that any Christian now, after all this, should doubt that our Saviour will be on earth again by and by?

IV. The exact hour in which "our absent Lord" will arrive is not announced. Matt. 24:42.

1. Jesus asserted that he did not know it himself. Verse 32. The disciples once asked him about this. Matt. 24:3. He told them that God the Father had kept this one secret in his own solemn reserve. Acts 1:6, 7. He may have meant that in his subordinate office as the anointed Christ he had not been made acquainted with this specific date; or that he was not commissioned to declare it as part of his gospel message, it being unknown to the plan; or that, in assuming human nature as the Son of man, his divine omniscience was limited in this and like particulars. It is enough for us to understand that here is a decided rebuff for the modern curiosity which

assumes to fix times and seasons that Jesus himself said had not been revealed to him.

2. But our Saviour declares that his coming might be expected at any moment, morning or midnight, evening or cockcrowing. Verse 35. It would assuredly be sudden. The figure is employed more than once in the Scriptures of "a thief in the night." 2 Pet. 3:10. Peter in his epistle only quotes our Lord's own language. Luke 12:39, 40.

3. Moreover, Christ told his disciples that there would be tokens of the nearness of this great day, by which it might be recognized when it should be close at hand. Verses 28, 29. These signs would be as clearly discerned as shoots on fig-trees in the opening summer. He mentioned some of them explicitly. Luke 21:25-28. We may admit that "wars and rumors of wars," earthquakes, famines, falling stars, and pestilence (Matt. 24:6-8), together with "great signs in heaven and earth," are alarming disclosures; but will anyone doubt that such phenomena are conspicuous at least? Luke 17:24.

4. So Jesus insisted that men were bound to be wise in noting these signs, and be ready. Luke 12:54-56. People who could shrewdly and correctly predict changes in the weather just by observing the color of the sky, so as to say that one day would be fair and another would be foul, our Saviour called "hypocrites," if they could not with equal alertness of skill "discern the signs of the times." Matt. 16:2, 3.

V. The greatest peril is that, when "our absent Lord" comes, men will be taken unawares. Verse 36.

1. The instinctive tendency of the human heart is to procrastinate in the performance of religious work. So, when the reckoning is demanded, souls are surprised. If all the good resolutions that have been made by members of the church of God, had been executed in their due time, the millennial glory would long ago have gleamed on every hill and shone in every valley.

2. Time glides mysteriously on with no reference to daring delay. The grave, like the horse-leech's daughter, cries Give (Prov. 30:15, 16), and damnation slumbereth not (2 Peter 2:3), but men sleep clear up to the edge of divine judgment. They did in Noah's time, and in Lot's, when a less catastrophe was at hand; and so it will be when the Son of man is revealed. Luke 18:26-30.

3. Christians ought to hold in memory the repeated admonitions they have received. Walter Scott wrote on his dial-plate the two Greek words which mean "the night cometh," so that he might keep eternity in mind whenever he saw the hours of time flitting by. Evidently the apostle Paul felt that he had the right to press peculiarly pertinent and solemn appeals upon those who had enjoyed the advantage of such long instruction. 1 Thess. 5:1-7.

4. There is no second chance offered after the first is lost. When Christ comes, foolish virgins will have no time to run for oil to pour into their lightless lamps. A forfeited life cannot be allowed any opportunity for retrieval. Where the tree falls, north or south, there it must lie, whether the full fruit has been ripened upon its branches or not. Ecc. 11:3.

THE MASTER'S CALL.

WHEN, passing southward, I may cross the line Between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, I may not tell, by any test of mine, By any startling signs or strange commotions Across my track; But if the days grow sweeter, one by one, And e'en the icebergs melt their hardened faces, And sailors linger, basking in the sun, I know I must have made the change of places Some distance back.

When, answering timidly the Master's call, I passed the bourne of life in coming to him; When in my love for him I gave up all— The very moment when I thought I knew him, I cannot tell; But, as unceasingly I feel his love— As this cold heart is melted to o'erflowing— And now so dear the light comes from above, I wonder at the change—and move on, knowing That all is well.

—Great Thoughts.

THE GOSPEL ITS OWN ATTRACTION.

By William N. Glenn

THE numerous worldly attractions attached to and thrown around the popular church and popular preaching at the present time, would lead one to suppose that there were no attractions in the gospel itself. The house of worship is constructed on an aristocratic basis, with everything necessary to make it a center of fashion—no matter what a burden of debt it may entail—on the plea of attracting men "under the sound of the gospel." All manner of worldly entertainments are put upon the tapis by professors, to show that "Christianity is not all gloominess," and that Christians may enjoy themselves as others do. The children of the Sunday-schools are much of the time kept under the excitement of drilling for public attraction at the Christmas entertainment, benefit concerts, or the May-day festival. All this is supposed to be the attraction of the gospel.

The fact is, all these things only tend to allure the mind away from the gospel, and to inculcate the idea that without these additions it has no attraction; that of itself it is a gloomy, monotonous proclamation, needing the skillful manipulations of the architect, the painter, upholsterer, musician, and dramatist, to make it at all presentable to the refined sensibilities of proud humanity. These worldly follies produce far more of spiritual dearth in the church than of spiritual life out of it. It is "giving the trumpet an uncertain sound." Men, women, and children, attracted by means of such devices, are generally interested only to the extent of the attraction.

But can the teaching surrounded and overhung by such trimmings be properly styled the gospel? Can those who sanction such things preach a pure gospel in the midst of them? Is not their preaching, to a great extent, like the paraphernalia and religious revelings, executed with a view to pleasing the multitude? Do they, who think the gospel needs these worldly additions to make it attractive, really appreciate it or understand what it is? Do they honor the Saviour with their lives, who still "count reveling for a day, pleasure"? Let the Scriptures answer: "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections [passions] and lusts." "All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."

I cannot see wherein is the Christian's self-denial, if he is to live on in fellowship with the world, and if pomp and gayety are to be the attractive features of the gospel. Let the gospel stand on its own footing. "What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" I cannot imagine anything more attractive to man under sentence of death than the proclamation of life—eternal life.

What is the gospel? It is simply the glad tidings of life for a race of creatures doomed to die. The plain publication of the fact of eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is God's appointed way of converting men to him, and we have no assurance that they can be converted through any other means. The principle laid down in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus,—they have Moses and the prophets; if they will not hear them they will not believe though one rose from the dead,—holds good to this day. Men are not convinced of sin by means of architecture and drapery, nor by fashion and popular music, nor by creeds and litanies, nor by religious theaters and social revelings, nor by any other man-made schemes. "By grace ye are saved, through faith." "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."

All Judea followed John the Baptist into the wilderness, attracted by the simple truth, although he continually confronted them with rehearsals of their sins. The multitudes followed Jesus from place to place, attracted by the plain tidings of salvation, without any modern embellishments whatever. Peter spoke but a few words of plain truth on the day of Pentecost, when three thousand were turned to the Lord. Paul entirely ignored "vain philosophy" and the "enticing words of man's wisdom," as well as every species of ostentation and worldly folly, yet his preaching proved to be "the power of God unto salvation."

Yes, the gospel is brilliant with attraction when presented in its purity, untrammeled by human improvements and substitutes. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" Isa. 52:7.

W. N. GLENN.

The Tears of the Penitent

"To confess and deplore one's errors evinces an excellence of character capable of discerning and correcting them. The tears of the penitent are only the clouds and the raindrops that precede the sunshine of holiness; the sorrow that heralds the joy that will be a living fountain in the soul."

CHRIST OUR EXAMPLE.

THE law of a Christian life should be unceasing progress. As in climbing a mountain-peak, every step taken must lead on to a step still higher—must be taken in view of that higher step; and every support which presents itself, if it be a sound one, must be grasped and made to lend its assistance. We may indeed enjoy a momentary satisfaction in some particular resolution carried out or good step taken, just as a climber experiences a feeling of exultation on standing upon some obstacle surmounted, measuring with his eye the space between the pinnacle whereon he stands now and the spot where he lately stood at its base, and thinking that he has made the embattled crag itself a stepping-stone. The climber is justified in such satisfaction for a moment. But he cannot sit down content with this present exhibition of prowess; for it is not a mere display of prowess he is after, but to reach the top. The tree-tops yet close him in, thickets bewilder, crag upon crag rises higher than that whereon he stands, no breath of heaven dissipates the oppression of his constrained surroundings, and no sight of it but a little patch of blue; he must mount higher. And so must we. Our goal is to become Godlike.—The Church of To-day.

BE PATIENT.

BE patient with your friends. They are neither omniscient nor omnipotent. They cannot see your heart, and may misunderstand you. They cannot know what is best for you, and may select what is worst. Their arms are short, and they may not be able to reach what you ask. What if also they lack purity of purpose and tenacity of affection? do you not also lack these graces? Patience is your refuge. Endure, and in enduring conquer them, and if not them, then at least yourself. Above all, be patient with your beloved. Love is the best thing on earth, but it is to be handled tenderly, and impatience is the nurse that kills it.

Be patient with your pains and cares. We know it is easy to say and hard to do; but you must be patient. These things are killed by enduring them, and made strong to bite and sting by feeding them with your frets and fears. There is no pain or care that can last long. None of them shall enter the city of God. A little while, and you shall leave behind you the whole troop of howling troubles, and forget in your first sweet hour of rest that such things were on the earth.

Be patient with your deferred hopes. The heart is sick, no doubt, but sick hearts must take the tonic of patience. The hope itself is put in peril by the impatience that weakens and prostrates your strength. Here also you have no better resource than patience. You will reach next year just as soon by taking it quietly; the end of your preparation for life's work—your apprenticeship or college course—will come of itself. The end of your labor is not far beyond, and need not be sighed for or impatiently expected. Clad in patience, your walk is an invisible armor, against which temptations to repine fall harmless. Put on patience against your hungry hope.

Be patient with God. It seems almost irreverent to counsel you so. And yet, you know that even against God you have cried out in your impatience. Your garden did not bloom in season or bear fruit in abundance, and in your heart you said: "God will never reward me according to my works. He has flowers for others and fruit even for the ungodly, but me he leaves in want. When shall my turn come?" Be patient. He has one time, and you have another. Your time is when you desire; his time is when you can use. He sees your day of real want; you see only the hour of capricious wishes. For him and for you there is abundance of time. His years shall not fail, nor will yours. You can afford to wait. Be patient.—Selected.

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