1. What promise did Jesus make to His disciples before His death?
"If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and HE SHALL GIVE YOU ANOTHER COMFORTER, that He [the Father, see verse 23] may abide with you forever." John 14:15, 16.
2. Who is this Comforter that should be given?
"Even THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." John 14:17.
3. What was necessary that the Spirit might come?
"It is EXPEDIENT for you that I go away; for if I go NOT away, the COMFORTER will NOT come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." John 16:7.
4. What would be the work of the Spirit?
"And when He is come, He will REPROVE the world of SIN, and of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and of JUDGMENT: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." John 16:8-11.
5. What would be the work of the Spirit in the church?
"He shall TEACH you ALL THINGS, and bring all things to your REMEMBRANCE, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26.
6. In what will the Spirit be the guide?
"When He, the SPIRIT OF TRUTH, is come, He will guide you into all TRUTH." John 16:13.
7. What is the truth into which we are promised to be guided?
"Sanctify them thru Thy TRUTH; Thy WORD is TRUTH." John 17:17.
8. In this guiding, of whom will the Spirit not speak?
"He shall NOT speak of HIMSELF." John 16:13.
9. Of whom will the Spirit testify? whose words will the Spirit speak? whom will the Spirit glorify?
"The SPIRIT of TRUTH, which proceedeth from the FATHER, He shall TESTIFY of ME." John 15:26.
"Whatsoever He shall HEAR, that shall He SPEAK; and He will SHOW you THINGS to COME. He shall GLORIFY ME; for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you." John 16:13, 14.
10. How close will be His relationship to believers?
"He DWELLETH WITH you, and shall be IN YOU." John 14:17.
"Which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory." Col. 1:27.
"If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and WE will COME unto him, and make OUR ABODE WITH HIM." John 14:23.
11. What did Jesus impart to His disciples after His resurrection?
"He BREATHED on them, and saith unto them, RECEIVE YE THE HOLY GHOST." John 20:22.
12. Had they yet received the Spirit in its fulness?
"Peace be unto you." "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."
"He . . . commanded them that they should NOT depart from JERUSALEM, but WAIT for the PROMISE of the FATHER, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but YE shall be BAPTIZED with the HOLY GHOST not many days hence." Acts 1:3-5.
13. What would the Spirit give them?
"But ye shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." Acts 1:8.
14. What would the Spirit enable them to do?
"And ye shall be WITNESSES unto ME both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8.
15. In what condition did the day of Pentecost find the disciples ten days after His ascension?
"When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all WITH ONE ACCORD in one place." Acts 2:1.
16. What remarkable experience and manifestation followed?
"And suddenly there came a SOUND from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and IT filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all FILLED with the HOLY GHOST, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:2-4.
17. What did Peter declare this to be?
"But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will POUR OUT of MY SPIRIT UPON ALL FLESH: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on My servants and on My handmaidens I will POUR OUT in those days of MY SPIRIT; and they shall prophesy." Acts 2:16-18.
18. What does Joel call this outpouring of blessings?
"Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for He hath given you the FORMER RAIN moderately ["according to righteousness," margin], and He will cause to come down for you the RAIN, the FORMER RAIN, and the LATTER RAIN in the first month [at the first]. Joel 2:23. See also A.R.V.
NOTE.—The "former rain" of Palestine fell upon the dry soil at the close of the year. It softened and prepared it for cultivation, seed-sowing, and the starting of the crops. Following the abundant rains came occasional showers till just before the harvest, when the latter rains fell to insure abundant crops, and fill out the grain for abundant harvest. So in the Christian dispensation (for Joel is a prophecy of these times, as Peter shows), we have "the EARLY RAIN" in the APOSTOLIC days, and "the LATTER RAIN" will fall in the CLOSE of the CHRISTIAN DISPENSATION. As God's people turn to Him and seek His righteousness, He will pour out the latter rain as at the first. In the latter days He will give both the former and latter rain, with all its blessed7fruits, foretold in Joel and recorded in part in Acts. Compare Joel 2:28-31 with Acts 2:16-21.
19. How does James predict this outpouring for the last days?
"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the COMING OF THE LORD. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the EARLY AND LATTER RAIN. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the COMING OF THE LORDDRAWETH NIGH." James 5:7, 8.
20. What promise does God give thru one of His prophets?
"For I will pour WATER upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour MY SPIRIT upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the watercourses." Isa. 44:3, 4.
21. What will the Spirit do for the penitent child of God?
"A NEW HEART also will I give you, and a NEW SPIRIT will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put MY SPIRIT within you, and cause you to walk in MY STATUTES, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." Eze. 36:26-28.
22. Into what relationship with God's law will that Spirit bring one?
"I will put MY LAWS into their mind, and write them in their HEARTS." Heb. 8:10.
23. What does God enjoin upon us? and how willing is He to give His Spirit?
"And I say unto you, ASK, and it shall be GIVEN you; SEEK, and ye shall FIND; KNOCK, and it shall be OPENED unto you. For every one that ASKETH RECEIVETH; and he that SEEKETH FINDETH; and to him that KNOCKETH it shall be OPENED. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, BEING EVIL, know how to give GOOD GIFTS unto your children; how MUCH MORE shall your HEAVENLY FATHER GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT to them that ask Him?" Luke 11:9-13.
24. What will the Spirit bring into the heart?
"The LOVE OF GOD is shed abroad in our hearts by the HOLY GHOST which is given unto us." Rom. 5:5.
25. How will this love be manifested?
"This is the LOVE OF GOD, that we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS; and His commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3.
26. How will His Spirit thru His word affect His church?
"That He might SANCTIFY and CLEANSE it with the washing of water by the word, that He might PRESENT it to HIMSELF a GLORIOUS CHURCH, NOT having SPOT, or WRINKLE, or any such thing; but that it should be HOLY and WITHOUT BLEMISH." Eph. 5:26, 27.
27. What will then characterize His church?
"So that ye COME BEHIND in no GIFT; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 1:7.
28. Will His Spirit-filled children then be affected by worldly environment and influences?
"I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall GROW AS THE LILY, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall REVIVE AS THE CORN, and GROW AS THE VINE: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon." Hosea 14:5-7.
The Holy Spirit
By Mrs. E. G. White
[Extracts from the Writings of Mrs. E. G. White.]
BEFORE offering Himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the most essential and complete gift to bestow upon His followers, a gift that would bring within their reach the boundless resources of grace. "I will pray the Father," He said, "and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you [margin]."
Before this the Spirit had been in the world; from the very beginning of the work of redemption He had been moving upon men's hearts. But while Christ was on earth, the disciples had desired no other helper. Not until they were deprived of His presence would they feel their need of the Spirit, and then He would come.
The Holy Spirit is Christ's representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was for their interest that He should go to the Father, and send the Spirit to be His successor on earth. No one could then have any advantage because of His location or His personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high.—"Desire of Ages," pages 668, 669.
There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We can not use the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is to use us. Thru the Spirit God works in His people "to will and to do of His good pleasure." But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.—Id., page 672.
As He had been sent by His Father, so He sent forth the disciples. He breathed upon them, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." The apostles were not sent forth to be witnesses for Christ until they had received that spiritual endowment necessary to fit them for the execution of their great commission. All professions of Christianity are but lifeless expressions of faith until Jesus imbues the believer with His spiritual life, which is the Holy Ghost. The evangelist is not prepared to teach the truth, and to be the representative of Christ, till he has received this heavenly gift.
Men in responsible positions, who are proclaiming the truth of God in the name of Jesus without the spiritual energy given by the quickening power of God, are doing an unreal work, and can not be certain whether success or defeat will attend their labors. Many forget that religion and duty are not dreary sentimentalisms, but earnest action. It is not the great services and lofty aspirations which receive the approval of God, but the love and consecration thru which the service is performed, be it great or little. Storms of opposition and rebuffs are God's providences to drive us under the shelter of His wing. When the cloud envelops us, His voice is heard: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." The act of Christ in breathing upon His disciples the Holy Ghost, and in imparting His peace to them, was as a few drops before the plentiful shower to be given on the day of Pentecost.—"Great Controversy," Vol. 3, pages 242, 243.
Uncommon Service.
By M. D. Babcock
WE must not forget that our calling is a high one. How often we hear it said in our prayer-meetings that we are to serve the Lord in little things! It is true, and it is a great comfort that it is true, that the giving of a glass of water can please God, and the sweeping of a room can glorify Him. But wo be to us if we are content with small service! Too much thought of little things belittles. We should "attempt great things for God." Caleb said: "Give me this mountain." Mary broke the alabaster box that was exceedingly precious. The disciples left all to follow Jesus, and counted it joy to suffer for His sake. Let us not be easily content. The note of heroism should be in our giving, in our serving. Our King deserves and expects kingliness.—M. D. Babcock, D.D.
Wanted, Men.
NOT men in a physical sense does the world need. There are many poor, sick weaklings; many timid, feeble men; but there are also many strong, hardy athletes. It is not mere brute force, not mere physical strength, which the old world needs.
Not men in a mental sense are particularly wanting. There are many silly, vapid, shallow, senseless ones, whom neither riches nor poverty helps. There are also many bright, clever men in the world, many whose wisdom causes them to stumble and leads others astray. Yet the wisest and cleverest know but little.
"As the child to the child of four
Is the sage to the fool."
Notwithstanding the mental deficiencies, mentality is not the great need of the world.
The men needed by the world to-day are moral men—men who have a high moral standard, and hold to it; men who will not lie; men who would rather lose any bargain or profit than shade the truth to gain a customer; men who will not sell "cheap shoddy" for "all wool and a yard wide;" men whose business policies are founded on principle, not whose business methods are founded in policy; men while charitable according to their conception of human needs and their ability to bestow, are just to all men and straightforward in all their business dealing; men who are honest seven days in the week and twenty-four hours in a day; men whose word is as good as their bond; men who fear to do wrong more than they fear any consequences which will follow; men who fear God and do not fear their fellows. Clean men are needed—men pure in speech, pure in thought, clean and sweet in speech and person.
Such men must be God-made thru Christ, drinking in light and knowledge and growth and power from the divine fountains of everlasting life. These are the men needed; and having truly moral men, we shall have mental men, great thinking souls living God's thoughts after Him, fashioned after the similitude of Jesus Christ. Wanted—Men!
FREEDOM from sin and the power for doing right was considered to some extent last week in the study of the first part of the sixth chapter of Romans. The real philosophy of the ability to do right is set forth still more fully in the concluding verses of the chapter:
"Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus.
"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof: neither present your members unto sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace.
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to iniquity, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification. For when ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard of righteousness. What fruit then had ye at that time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life. For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom. 6: 11-23.
In former articles the fact has been dwelt upon that God's plan of salvation bestows the righteousness of Christ upon the individual who will turn to Him and accept it. And having received the gift of righteousness the individual is to "reckon" himself "to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus."
When the person is converted and gives himself to God, he will have the same temptations to sin that have always presented themselves to him. Indeed, at times those temptations will come to him even stronger than ever before, for Satan will redouble his efforts to keep his subjects from being taken away from him. But as the temptation is presented, we are to "reckon" ourselves dead unto sin. We have renounced and given up the sinful life, and it is now our work always and everywhere to "reckon" ourselves dead to sin.
This reckoning is the switch that God has provided that the redeemed from sin may always have at hand; and as soon as it is properly set, all the power of the divine Father comes flowing into the individual's life in order to make a fact of what he has reckoned. This is divine philosophy, and it is definitely accurate always in its working. It will always give the sinful, temptation-oppressed, struggling soul relief from the evil tendencies that seem determined to hold him in the slavery of wrong-doing. God has established His laws in the natural world, and we all know how definitely they act. He has placed this law in the spiritual world; and it acts just as positively as the law that governs falling bodies, or any of the rest of the laws that we see in operation in the natural world.
God having provided this mighty spiritual law by which we may "reckon" in His strength that we are dead to sin, we then have the inspiring command, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body." Many have looked forward to the resurrection body before it would be possible to be free from sin. But this text gives us something far better than that. We are not to let sin reign in our "mortal" body. God has issued the decree. It is God's power that makes the decree effective. We may stand in the strength of it and be free indeed.
"Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under law, but under grace." When the individual is a sinner, he is under the condemnation of the law. He will have to suffer the penalty of law if he remains in that condition. But now he has accepted the "grace" of Christ. He has taken the proffered righteousness of Christ, and is no longer resting under the condemnation of law. He is now under grace.
Then, lest any one should get the impression that he might go on in sin and thus continue to break the law because he is under grace, the apostle raises the question, "Shall we sin, because we are not under law, but under grace?" His answer is most emphatic—"God forbid." The whole plan of salvation is to win man away from sin, and the reason for it is that righteousness is much more enjoyable than sin can possibly be. The carnal mind would seek to have us disbelieve this great truth; it would seek to have us think that it is much more pleasurable to lead a life of sin. While sin has no pleasure that does not conceal a sting, the life of righteousness in Christ is a life of unmarred happiness every moment of all the time.
"But thanks be to God, that, whereas ye were servants of sin, ye became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness." When in the life of sin men give themselves up to serve sin, they plunge into all the pleasures that sin holds out. But now a new life has been found. Real joys have come to take the place of seeming joys. The slavery of sin has been renounced, and the freedom of righteousness has been accepted instead. And as the service of sin was entered into with all the heart, this new service of righteousness should be laid hold of with an earnestness that is as much stronger as the one is better than the other.
And "being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life. For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Yes, having followed the plan provided by our Father we reap the precious fruit of eternal life. God ushers His children into joys that are so rich and full that He wants them to have all the eternal ages in which to enjoy them. And they will need all eternity for the purpose of drinking the limitless cup of blessed happiness.
T.
A Flaw in the Foundation
A FLAW in the foundation is pretty surely to be followed by a crack in the superstructure.
Suggestive Notes.
Our readings for this week open with an account of a warlike action on the part of Saul, tinctured with an indication of his rashness. Yet again in chapter 12, Samuel protests against the setting aside of the old order and the choosing of a king; but the people would have it so. Chapter twelve closes with an earnest exhortation of the old prophet to cleave to Jehovah, and fear Him only.
Chapter 13 records another rash act of Saul, and the pitiful conditions to which the Philistines had subjected Israel. Chapter 14 is the story of Jonathan's remarkable victory, and another instance of the foolish, growing rashness of Israel's king.
Chapter 15 is another sad record of the king, in which selfishness and obstinacy are manifest in express disobedience to God's command to execute just wrath upon the Amalekites, which were a curse to all the nations with whom they came in contact. This last act brought his rejection as king by the Lord, and the anointing of David, the son of Jesse, recorded in chapter 16.
The next two chapters—17 and 18—contain the story of David as the champion of God's people, the fierce, unreasoning jealousy of Saul, and the beginning of the friendship between David and Jonathan. Saul's enmity against David, and David's efforts to avoid the mad king by fleeing to the mountains and forests, from city to city, even to the Philistines, yet all the time refusing to retaliate against the ruler of his people, is the story continued throughout the whole lesson of the week. It was a noble spirit manifested by the young king, totally unlike Saul's rashness.
Especially helpful—the brief—are Psalms 111 to 117 inclusive. How clearly and mightily is the unchangeable perpetuity of God's law taught in Psalm 111; the blessing of remembering the poor in Psalm 112; the exaltation of the humble in Psalm 113; God's deliverance from Egypt in Psalm 114. How graphically is the power of God contrasted with false gods; and how emphatically are we assured that His power is exercised for the good of His people! How many thankful hearts have sung again Psalm 116, "I was brought low, and He saved me." Surely that soul who experiences Psalm 116 can join in the song of praise in Psalm 117.
The Indians and Whisky.—One of the greatest curses which ever came to white men is that of tobacco, received from the Indians of North America; but the white men have paid it back a thousand times in giving the Indians alcohol. For centuries the users of tobacco, they had prepared in their own physical natures a basis for the taste of alcohol; and the product of the white man's still is rapidly exterminating the red race. It is pitiful.
In July, 1907, twenty Indians from nine camps attended the Zayante Indian Council at Mount Hermon. These men stated the five great "Wants" of their people: "We want (a) lands for homes; (b) protection from the liquor traffic; (c) education; (d) field physicians; (e) legal protection."
In their appeal concerning liquor they say: "We want protection from the liquor traffic. In the early days we did not fight among ourselves and kill each other. But now, the white people have brought liquor to us, and it is ruining the Indians of California. We are told that there are laws for our protection against liquor, but we seldom get the benefit of these laws. The white man's whisky makes a bad Indian. We ask protection from the liquor traffic and the punishment of both parties, the white man who sells and the Indian who buys. We do not know of an Indian who keeps a saloon. We suffer from the white man's trade." It is a charge the ground of which every man among the whites should do his utmost to obliterate forever.
Five Thousand Suicides.—The London Morning Post is authority for the statement that there were five thousand suicides in the city of Rome during the year 1907. The Catholic Mirror in commenting on the fact expresses the opinion that this vast amount of self-destruction is occasioned by "the blasphemous papers and pamphlets which an anti-papal government and an anti-Christian municipality allow to be freely circulated." There are others who would take a very different view from that expressed by the Mirror, and they would have good ground for the view taken. But aside from the cause of the suicides, the fact remains that a vast amount of suffering and despair is indicated by this multitude of self-inflicted deaths. It is one of the striking conditions of this time that suicides are very prevalent everywhere. And the formalities of religion will not save men from it; they must have the real Gospel of the real Christ as He taught it Himself in order to possess the power of mind that will enable them to stand before the disappointments which are so keen in these days of superabounding greed and selfishness.
The Liberty There Is in Christ Jesus.
JESUS CHRIST came to set men free. "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
He came to set men free from the bondage of sin, the most grievous slavery in the world—that which binds the soul, the mind, the heart, and eventually dooms to eternal death.
He not only forgives the sin; He not only pardons the transgressor: He removes the sin. He breaks its power in the flesh. He enthrones by His creative power another mind there. Where the carnal mind ruled, the spiritual mind reigns—the mind of Christ.
A new power comes into the erstwhile slave, the power of an endless life. The same mighty Spirit of God which wrought in the reformation of the chaotic earth in the beginning, by which God "garnished the heavens," comes down into the heart of man, giving him new power, because he is given new life.
And that is what Christianity is, a new life, the life of God, poured out into this dark, dying world. Yet what limited views men have of this freedom. Says a recent sermon by the Rev. D. S. Phelan, editor the Western Watchman:
"Yes, our Saviour is the emancipator of mankind, and from His day to the present time His Gospel has been the key-note of liberty everywhere. There has been no slavery in the world since Christ came; certainly not in that world that knows Christ. CHRIST CAME INTO THIS WORLD ARMED WITH AN IDEA, AND ONLY IDEAS CAN MAKE MEN FREE."
Now it is the blessed fact that Christ sets men free, but mere "ideas" do not do it. The Gospel is not a mere code of ethics. The Sermon on the Mount is not merely a splendid statement of Christian principles and ideas. The Gospel is what it is because it is life. "The words that I speak unto you," said Jesus, "they are spirit and they are life." The Jews held "the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law," but they were servants of sin. The form was well, but a dead form will not convert a soul or regenerate the heart.
A church may hold what her devotees are pleased to call "the body of faith." It is utterly powerless to save a soul. The soul that is set free in Jesus Christ renounces the sin and receives a personal Christ, Christ within, "the hope of glory." The eternal life of God enters the soul, and the form of the truth is filled with the righteousness and life of God.
A form of words is not the truth. That form may express facts, ideas; but these may be as cold and dead as the marble crypt. But truth is throbbing with the life of God; and "ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Law will not free the soul; it condemns. The letter of the Gospel will not emancipate. The creed of the church can impart no freedom. The Spirit of God, the life of Christ in His living word, received by personal faith in the heart alone can impart freedom. But that liberty in Jesus Christ will find all of the blessed requirements and commandments of God, "the law of liberty."
THE following paragraph quoted from the Christian Advocate of March 19, indicates the strength of those who are contending for religious legislation. The number of societies working for Sunday legislation and the vast amount of literature distributed by them should stir every true lover of liberty to renewed efforts in setting the truth before the world.
"In response to a call, signed by the archbishop of Canterbury, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster, and the Rev. J. Scott Lidgett (a Wesleyan), president of the National Council of the Evangelical Free Churches, many prominent persons met recently in the Jerusalem chamber of Westminster Abbey, including representatives of over forty Sunday-Observance Societies. The meeting was in the interest of one day's rest in seven for the physical and mental efficiency of men, women, and children; for the promotion of home life, and to give an opportunity to all for worship. The claims of the different classes of workers in the trades and professions were presented and a committee was ordered to cooperate in creating a National Lord's-Day Alliance. Mrs. Darwin R. James, president of the Woman's National Sabbath Alliance of America, was among those who were present and contributed in securing this desired action. The latter organization has just passed its thirteenth annual meeting. Mrs. Don O. Shelton was elected president. Five hundred thousand pages of literature have been circulated in the past year."
Not a Firm Foundation
Not a "Firm Foundation."—Some one has sent
us a paper called the Firm Foundation, which contains
an article entitled, "The Sabbath Annulled."
There is nothing in it to trouble one. Its only
annulment is in the mind of the writer, and the
only evidence he gives of its annulment is his own
word. Here is an expression of its logic. "The
Sabbath law can not be moral, we naturally know,
and is commanded because it is right, and not
right because it is commanded." But that is the
character of moral laws; and they are moral
because they are right. Men "naturally" know
many things which are not God's verity. "The
law is spiritual," and he who knows it spiritually
will not question the Sabbath. He will build on
a better foundation than this writer's natural conception.
Financial Princes.—Senator La Follette, of Wisconsin, divides the money kings of the country, those who control American finances, into three groups. The first of these is the Standard-oil Morgan combination; the second, the great railroad interests; the third, a large class among whom are great lawyers and bank presidents. Mr. La Follette placed the capitalization of the industrial franchises and railroad trusts at $31,000,000,000, and this did not represent financial combinations, banks, trusts, and insurance companies.
