Earlier text: DEPARTURE FROM GODTHE CROWNING ACT OF CREATION.
By E. Hilliard
THE crowning act of God’s infinite love in creation is made manifest in the institution of the Sabbath. The Sabbath keeps fresh in the minds of men His creative and redemptive power. He has commanded us to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.” One can not meditate at any length upon infinite power, as shown in the created objects around him, without being reminded of the tender care of his heavenly Father in providing so bountifully for all his needs. One day in seven is none too much to be devoted to His worship; it is none too often for those who love the Lord, to meet and express their gratitude in songs of heavenly praise, blend their petitions, and encourage one another by telling of God’s wonderful love, of which they have been the recipients during the week. The seventh day has been sanctified and set apart by the Creator, and should be strictly observed as He has commanded. The violation of the Sabbath causes men to forget God, and dims their mental vision respecting a knowledge of His creative power and infinite love. He whose heart has been touched with heavenly love, hails the Sabbath with delight. Its sacred hours that come laden with spiritual blessings, remind him that he is a creature of the Creator. In his secret worship and public devotion, he is drawn nearer to his God. Praise the Lord for the peaceful day of holy rest! If men would view God as He is—a God of love—they would not be so ready to charge Him with injustice because He has permitted some things which they, in their short-sightedness, condemn. Many are puzzled, and can not understand why God has permitted sin to exist. Some pronounce its existence in our world unwise and cruel. They do not see that the ultimate design is to afford an object-lesson for all God’s intelligent creatures. Adam and Eve were responsible for yielding to Satan; for they were faithfully warned of their foe, and of the terrible results if they yielded. It was love that warned them; it was love that permitted them to make their choice after being warned. But why permit sin to be visited upon the posterity of Adam? The answer is, Because God is love. He loves the creatures He has brought into existence, and desires to teach them the awful results of sin. To do this He has made this world, in which He has laid the great plan of salvation, the lesson-book of the universe. The angels of heaven and the inhabitants of other worlds behold the fearful consequences of sin. They have seen man, in a rage of anger, take the life of his fellow-man; they have beheld men, made in the image of God, inflict upon their fellow-men, whose only offense was a difference of belief and practise in matters of religion, the most slow and cruel torture that human genius was capable of inventing. Besides these cruel, satanic acts, they have witnessed sickness, poverty, starvation, and death with all of their attendant evils. All this has produced an intense hatred against sin, and has built up a barrier against another rebellion in heaven. All who are successful in overcoming through Christ, and are transferred to the better world, will have passed through an experience that will destroy all desire for its repetition. Thus by permitting sin to exist and show its results, God’s universe will forever be placed on a safe basis. The Effects of Sin Felt in Heaven.
Sin has not only caused sorrow and suffering on earth among men; but it separated Christ from God. Christ took upon Himself the guilt and shame of sin. This brought Him into the world where sin exists, to live a life of self-denial and suffering, and to perish on the cross. God looked down from heaven on His bleeding Son, and His heart of infinite love suffered with Him. Angels wept. Thus sin introduced tears into heaven. Reader, think you that God was so unwise as not to know, in permitting sin to exist, that it would separate His only-begotten Son from Him, and cause Him to pass through such intense suffering?—No; it was infinite wisdom and unmeasured love that permitted man to make his choice between good and evil in Eden, and then God freely gave His only Son to redeem him from the effects of the fearful choice which he had made. This blessed Saviour has risen from the dead, and He offers pardon to every penitent, guilty soul. He watches for a response to this offer with a more tender compassion than that which moves the heart of an earthly mother to forgive her wayward, suffering son. He cries after the wanderer, “Return unto Me, and I will return unto you.” Mal. 3:7. Tonga, Friendly Islands, S. Pacific Ocean. Love and Hatred: The Spirit of Cain
By E. S. Brooks
LAST week we endeavored to show that the spirit of the genuine Christian is the Spirit of the God of love, and that his heart is too full of love to allow any room for hatred toward his poor suffering fellow-beings. We now turn our attention to the spirit of hatred, and its bitter, unchristian fruits. Since Cain was the first hater, we give him the first place. During the War of the Rebellion, we often heard sung:— “John Brown's body lies mouldering in the grave,
But his soul goes marching on.” The body of Cain lies mouldering in the ground,
But his soul goes marching along. Cain, like many others, was an inventor of improved (?) religion, and, like many others, said in his heart, “What pleases me, pleases God.” How bitter must have been his disappointment when the lamb of Abel was accepted, while his fruits were rejected. Instead of allowing God to teach him through Abel, he allowed the spirit of hatred to fill his heart, and at that moment became the first-born of the “seed of the serpent.” Passing over the bitter fruits of Cain's hatred, we come to Joseph and his brothers. The brothers first hated and then persecuted Joseph. They caused their father to mourn days, weeks, months, years. The long years of sorrow which they brought upon their father were but a part of the fruits of their hatred. Turning to the prophet Daniel we see that the Babylonian princes hated him and set a trap for him. But Daniel, like one resurrected from death, lived, and his haters died. How short, how short is the triumph of the haters and persecutors! Passing over the long and bloody persecutions of the holy prophets, we come to our dear Redeemer. God had said in the hearing of the Jews, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Was God the one to be “well pleased,” or were the Jews the ones to be “well pleased”? The Jews, like many Christians (?), felt that themselves were the ones to be “well pleased,” and consequently became haters of the Word. Many professed Christians of to-day are in reality haters of the Word of God, and are seeking to have it crucified on the Roman cross. Let no beloved but erring Sunday-keeper think the writer is mistaken, but let him look well to his own foundations. E. S. BROOKS. “Be thou faithful,” says the Master,
Faithful even unto death,
Faithful, tho we face disaster,
Faithful, while we’ve life and breath. If we trust Him hour by hour,
Trust Him ’midst the din and strife,
We shall find increasing power,
And, at last, the crown of life. THE Word of God says to fallible mortals: “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matt. 7:1. This is worth consideration by all, but especially by those who believe that “every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” We will get the same consideration in the judgment that we grant unto others before the judgment. Another reason for not judging is that God says it is inexcusable in us. “Thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest; for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.” Rom. 2:1. Therefore if the one who is given to judging is desirous of knowing what manner of man he is, he has only to look at the picture he has drawn of the one he is judging, and he will see himself; he will see his own likeness as shown by the camera of God's Word. There is, however, a species of judging that is practicable, and that is self-examination. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.” 2 Cor. 13:5. “If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” 1 Cor. 11:31. In harmony with this is the word of Christ in John 7:24, “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” Judging by appearance is the way the carnal mind judges others. Such judgment is always vicious, and is incapable, even unwilling, to see beyond the range of imperfect human sight. But righteous judgment is spiritual, and is therefore always charitable and merciful. “Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.” Matt. 5:7. Among brethren it is always safe to regard this counsel of the apostle Paul: “In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phil. 2:3), “in honor preferring one another” (Rom. 12:10). This apostle also gives us a happy conclusion in view of the judgment: “Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” Rom. 14:13. W. N. G. Consistency of Character in the True Vine
By Mrs. S. M. I. Henry
THE strength and beauty of Him who was the chiefest among ten thousand and the One altogether lovely were in His perfect consistency. No one was ever disappointed in the flavor of the fruit that was produced by the “True Vine.” John 15:1; Ps. 34:8. And it is the privilege of every “branch” to manifest the same beautiful harmony between heart and life. John 15:2–11; 1 Peter 2:1–8.—Mrs. S. M. I. Henry. Faithfulness to Present Duty in Life
HE who is false to present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and will see the defect when the weaving of a lifetime is unrolled. THE MOTIVE OF THE GOSPEL.
THE motive power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is love. The Gospel is received by faith; but the power which carries it forward, the power which constrains its ministers and devotees, is love. It is “the Gospel of God,” and “God is love.” It is therefore the Gospel of love. Love can compel only as it wins and molds and changes. When the man yields to the power of love he is a different man, transformed by love. He who yields to force may be, and generally is, of the same opinion after he yields as before. But he who yields to love is changed in the yielding. So he who receives into his heart the Gospel of love is changed thereby to the character of love. Love places in his heart a different motive. Knowing that sin leads to death, that all are sinners doomed to die, he becomes burdened for souls. Like Paul he says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if One died for all, then were all dead. . . . Now then we . . . pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” This is the message which every truly regenerated soul must in some form bear to the world. He can not help giving it. The love of Christ constraineth him. It will flow from his lips in words of praise and blessing and instruction, from his hands in deeds of helpful kindness, from his heart in soul burden for others’ saving. Force may command him to be silent; with the apostles he will say, “For we can not but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” The growing tree can be checked in its growth only by destruction. The constantly-fed, pent-up waters can not forever be restrained. The constantly-replenished furnace can not confine its heat. The shining sun will lighten even the dark cloud. So he in whose heart the Prince of Life dwells can not keep silent when God bids him speak. As well bind the mighty river or stay the falling rain. God’s Gospel is diffusive. It is for this reason that those who have followed truth, in all ages, who have been faithful to the world, have been zealous in giving to the world the Gospel. Old established religious bodies have ever been prone to find fault with those drinking of the new wine of advanced truth; they cast them out of the synagogs, or turn them out of the churches, denounce them as proselyters, fanatics, troublers; and invoke against them prejudice, prohibition, and persecution. So Elijah was treated, and so other prophets of God in Israel. So Jesus, the Light of the World, was treated by those who should have received Him gladly. John Huss, John Wickliffe, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Roger Williams were all rejected by the majority of their contemporaries, and their message despised. Men celebrate their birth now, build monuments to their memory, but despise and reject the principles which made these men all they were, the principles of believing God and following all the light which was seen. “The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” This is true of the faithful Christian in his individual life. It is true of the church of Christ. Her brightest light will shine upon her just before the perfect day shall dawn. That light will shine from the Word of God, from the “more sure word of prophecy,” the light of God shining in the darkness “till the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts.” But to-day, as of yore, when men preach Christ’s coming, the coming of the better day, and the needed preparation therefor, also as of old the message is despised, the messengers are rejected. Reader, are you rejecting God’s message? What about that of Rev. 14: 6–14? Is it of God or man? On which side of the message will you be found when He comes? STATISTICS are not needed to show the criminal spirit that has taken possession of the rising generation. Common every-day observation shows it abundantly. The head-lines to a double-column article in a recent New York daily run thus:— “Office Boy, at Sixteen in Jail
As Expert Check-raiser.” Head-lines of a similar import may be found in the dailies almost any day in the year. And every form of crime that is known to depraved humanity is being committed by these children crooks, desperadoes, and outlaws. And many of them are of much tenderer years than sixteen. Little boys, and even little girls, of seven, eight, and nine years of age are being continually arrested for their desperate deeds of vice and crime. There are numerous causes that have led up to this deplorable condition. Perhaps the most potent evil is the flood of pernicious literature that has been cast out upon the youth and children of this time. Stories of crime have been so pictured that the criminal has come to be a hero in the child mind. And these stories have been most energetically circulated by covetous and unscrupulous publishers, who have cared more for the money they would get out of it than for the worth of the young souls they were ruining. Then the more reputable publishers of our great daily papers have helped the evil along by the minute descriptions they give of every crime that is committed. The daily paper is read the most of anything in this time, and by constantly coming in contact with so much description of criminality the mind becomes used to it, and soon ceases to regard it as terrible or evil. The principal thing that impresses itself on these degenerate and degenerating minds is the importance of keeping from being caught. There is also a form of cartoons in the daily papers, particularly the Sunday issues, that is imperceptibly doing its work. In these cartoons youthful depravity is pictured out with a view of appealing to one’s sense of humor and fun. Such cartoons are found in the very papers, and sometimes in the very selfsame issue of the paper, in which the editorial columns are filled with warnings and deprecations concerning the children criminals in this time. Can not such editors see that their cartoons are more potent for evil than their editorials are for good? For the cartoon is sure to be studied, while the editorial may not be. Another most powerful factor that has led up to this alarming harvest of youthful criminality is found in the many drunken parents who spend all they can get for whisky. Such persons are seldom very industrious, and while they lie in a drunken stupor at home, they send their children upon the streets to beg, and more often to steal, in order that they may get means with which to buy more whisky. These unfortunate children are taught how to steal. And with as much faithfulness as the Sabbath-school teacher would train her scholars to shun the road of vice and crime, these poor, irresponsible little folks are drilling in the infamous arts of lying, stealing, and even murdering. This is no picture of mere fancy; our cities are full of it. Now what can be the only outcome of all this?—We must say, nothing short of a world-wide reign of violence and terror. From these fearful calamities the Almighty Father will graciously save every individual that will come to Him for shelter and protection. But the world at large is rushing down the incline at a furious rate to a certain and immediate destination. THERE are not only cyclones and hurricanes, earthquakes and tidal waves in the physical world to disturb the minds of men in these days, but in the social world there is a fearful storm brewing that is even more alarming. Men have tried to pass over these social forebodings as something that was of no special consequence. They have told us that the gathering storm in society would break away and a glorious dawn of peace and good-will would shine forth. But the cloud is getting blacker, the outlook is more threatening, and the discussions over social questions are becoming more heated and determined. A most intense feeling has entered into the minds of men, and they seem possessed with the idea that they are being driven to do something desperate. The vast number of monopolizing trusts that are being formed are looked upon as a menace to freedom, and by many it is considered that the colonial expansion policy upon which the United States has recently entered is all in the interest of the money power. In the discussions along this line a noted public speaker recently said: These are the two arguments which are always used in favor of conquest, philanthropy, and five per cent. The one chloroforms the conscience of the conqueror, and the other picks the pocket of the conquered. Some say that philanthropy demands that we govern the Filipinos for their own good, while others assert that we must hold the islands because of the pecuniary profit to be derived from them. I deny the soundness of both arguments. Forcible annexation will not only be criminal aggression (to borrow Mr. McKinley’s language of a year ago), but it will cost more than it is worth, and the whole people will pay the cost, while a few will reap all the benefits. Still weaker is the argument based upon religious duty. The Christian religion rests upon the doctrine of vicarious suffering and atonement; the colonial311policy rests upon the doctrine of vicarious enjoyment. When the desire to steal becomes uncontrollable in an individual he is declared to be a kleptomaniac and is sent to an asylum. When the desire to grab land becomes uncontrollable in a nation, we are told that the “currents of destiny are flowing through the hearts of men,” and that the American people are entering upon their manifest mission. Shame upon a logic which locks up the petty offender and enthrones grand larceny! Have the people returned to the worship of the golden calf? Have they made unto themselves a new commandment consistent with the spirit of conquest and the lust for empire? Is “Thou shalt not steal” upon a small scale to be substituted for the law of Moses? Another speaker within the last few weeks spoke the following:— Nearly all of the wealth of this land is passing into a few hands, and not one of these hands favorable to the freedom of the citizen. Every great industrial, commercial, mining, or transportation enterprise is passing into the hands first of corporations, and then by further consolidation into the hands of trusts, which thus have an absolute monopoly—a monopoly which can arbitrarily fix prices, fix wages, and regulate output—a monopoly which has no soul, and whose chief purpose is to plunder the public. We have established a moneyed aristocracy and are now fastening a yoke on posterity. A standing army is to be enthroned and bayonet argument is to govern. We quote still another speaker as follows:— We do not need this vast army in time of peace any more than we need a king. . . . We should, if we are true to the people and our principles, vigorously oppose this enormous increase of the regular army. A large standing army in a republic is always a menace to civil liberty and to free institutions. If you have taken the pains to read the foregoing quotations closely you see that they are the expression of very deep-seated feeling in regard to vital issues that are now engrossing the public mind. They are the outward evidence of a strong undercurrent of hostility to certain measures that they can not endure. Such expressions indicate more than a passing statement of indifferent opinion; they mark strong conviction—conviction so strong that something must be done about it unless this order of things is speedily changed. And every one knows that the foregoing quotations are by no means the strongest that might be given. They are simply some of the milder utterances that are heard from multitudes of men from all parts of the country. But you say, “The men who are making such statements are cranks; they are wild and fanatical.” Well, we will not take the time to argue that point with you. You can have it your way if you like. But let them be cranks, or fanatics, or what not, one thing is sure, and that is, they are popular with the people. Large crowds flock to hear them speak, and their writings are eagerly sought and read. Their utterances have a firm lodging-place in the public mind, and this fact is an auspicious omen. Such intensity of discussion, received so eagerly, and accepted so fully by the people, denotes a smothered sentiment that can not long be restrained from bursting into a furious social storm. If you will take the time to briefly read the story of the French Revolution and the discussions that led up to it, you will see that the issues then and now are identical. And if you will survey the horrors of the French Revolution you will get but a minimized view of the terrors of the social cyclone into which the whole world is driving at a furious speed. For the unmistakably accurate voice of inspiration tells us that we are entering “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” INTEMPERANCE IN FRANCE.
By T.
UNDER the caption of “Temperance in France,” the Northwestern Christian Advocate of April 5 has the following:— The interest in the temperance question is not confined to the United States. There is scarcely a country in the world but has reason to be anxious over the effects of strong drink, and to feel the desirability for action to restrain the use of liquor. France, whose people seem less disposed than those of almost any nation to take a serious view of moral issues, is now engaged in an interesting, if not almost urgent, temperance agitation. The saloons have increased so rapidly during the recent years as to cause alarm, and a bill has been introduced in the French Senate for the avowed purpose of checking their increase. The bill is accompanied by statistics which show that, whereas in 1830 the saloons in France numbered 281,847, in 1869 they had risen to the number of 364,875, and to-day to 424,500, exclusive of the 30,000 grog-shops in Paris. That means 1 saloon to every 85 inhabitants, or 1 to every 30 adults. In the Department of the North there is 1 to every 46 inhabitants. It is hardly probable that a law can be enacted now that will effect a material change, but it is significant that the French people feel the need of restricting the traffic. They may, before many years, be willing to absolutely prohibit it. Intemperance in France, instead of temperance, would certainly have been fully as appropriate a title to stand at the head of such an array of facts. And it is hardly probable, as suggested by the Advocate, “that a law can be enacted now that will effect a material change.” When there is so much drinking that every eighty-five persons on an average support a saloon, and where even in some localities there is a saloon to every forty-six inhabitants, it will certainly be very hard to get the drink-shops either restricted or abolished. If France had never had any light, we might hope for different results from the agitation of temperance reforms. But France rejected the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, and yet she enjoyed the benefits of the mighty intellectual awakening that attended the Reformation. When she rejected the Heaven-sent reforms, she received in their stead a reckless infidelity that has driven her into the most abandoned vices and drunkenness. Now since France has taken this course with her eyes wide open, can it be hoped that reforms of any consequence can reach her? She has an intoxication that is more to be dreaded than the drunkenness that comes from wine and whisky. She is stupefied by her errors, and so engrossed in her rounds of hilarious pleasures that it is not likely that many of her people will be aroused until the sounding of the trumpet of Jehovah in the great day of the Lord. It is certainly a sad condition to be in, but still let us hope, work, and pray to the end that many of her people may be awakened to that true sense of their condition and needs that will work the most thorough reform in their individual cases. T. Notice to Correspondents Asking Bible Questions
By Editor
NOTE.—We wish those who ask questions to take particular notice: (1) Only such questions will be answered here as we believe to be of general interest and information. (2) We can not undertake to explain from four to a dozen scriptures, as in one sentence we are often requested to do. (3) Do not ask to “explain” a certain text or passage. State clearly the point in question. (4) Give full name and address, not for publication unless desired, but as evidence of good faith, and to give us the privilege of replying by letter if deemed best. (5) Unsigned communications of any kind find the quickest way to the waste-basket. (6) It is always well to inclose stamp. (7) “Foolish and unlearned questions avoid,” also those that minister to mere curiosity. (8) Study the Scriptures yourselves. DID not God in early ages order and direct war? If so, the Bible says He is unchangeable. This has puzzled me. At first it may seem that God has ordered wars. But study the question closely and you will see that God never ordained the cruelties and barbarities of war. God overrules in wars, but He does not originate them. When men get so wickedly cruel that they are determined to fight each other, the Lord often steps in and turns the scale so that the best results are achieved that could possibly be wrought out among such evil-minded men. The spirit of gentleness in the New Testament is the same spirit that is in the Old. This may not appear to you at first, but continue to study the harmony of God's Word, and not what wrong principles of education have placed in our minds as discord, and you will see the perfect agreement all the way through. This is too much of a subject to treat more fully in the Question Corner; we may have something to say about it editorially at another time. Is it true that Rev. 20:5 is not found in any of the earlier manuscripts? E. J. W. This question has been answered at least once a year for the last three years. In one or two of the early versions the verse is wanting in the original, but it was probably omitted by mistake. It appears in the others, and is by most eminent critics not even considered doubtful. The best and latest Greek text, of Wescott and Hort, does not question, neither do the Revisers. The text is without doubt genuine, and in harmony with the teaching of Scripture. Rev. 21:24 and the Words "Of Them Which Are Saved"
ARE the words ‘of them which are saved’ omitted from Rev. 21:24 in the early manuscripts? E. D. W. Yes; they are not given in the Revised Versions, and are omitted by Griesbach, Lachman, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Wordsworth. But the whole context shows that it is the nations who are saved that are referred to. Does 2 Thess. 1:9 mean banishment? or does it mean that the glory of His coming will destroy them? ELLIS Destruction means destroyed. Everlasting destruction means everlastingly destroyed. The wicked will be banished by everlasting destruction. Read the text in the light of 2 Thess. 2:8. The Revised Version reads, “Who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His might.” No sinner shall see God’s face and live. PLEASE explain Luke 21:35, “For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” P. I. R. It will be seen by the context and parallel scriptures that the day referred to is the great day of the Lord. That day is the day of God’s wrath against sin, in which no star of hope will shine for the impenitent. Those believing God’s Word will have sought His mercy. Those who do not believe will place their affections on earth; they become earth-dwellers. Not believing God, they will not prepare to meet Him, and so the great day of final testing will come upon them unawares. The child of God is a pilgrim, walking circumspectly. The Lord Redeemeth the Soul of His Servants
“THE Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants; and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate.” Magnify the Lord Together
“My soul shall make her boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” They Looked Unto Him and Were Lightened
“THEY looked unto Him, and were lightened; and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” “FOR THEY HAVE FILLED THE LAND WITH VIOLENCE.”
There is nothing that marks this time more strongly than its intense spirit of violence. There is the violence of war that has completely taken possession of the whole world; there is the violence of Anarchist and Nihilist that is seen and felt everywhere; there is the violence of strikes, showing the intense feeling that heaves and convulses the laborer; there is the violence of murderers and outlaws in committing the most barbarous and blood-curdling crimes; and there is the violences of mobs and lynchers as they so suddenly rise up and so furiously destroy their fellow-men. How long can this condition of things endure? Life and property are no longer safe; for the whole of society is on such high tension that a person can not be sure that the words that he speaks with no thought of unkindness, or some trivial act, may not be suddenly seized upon, and before he can get time to explain or apologize, he be violently struck down. Some cruel crime may be committed, and some one may merely offer the surmise that a certain person has had something to do with it, and then like a furious storm the mob rushes upon the individual and murders him, often in the most barbarous manner, without giving the fellow any chance to prove his innocence, and without taking the time to be sure of his guilt. A short time ago two men were walking along the streets of San Francisco, supposedly the closest and most intimate friends. One of them dropped a remark in mere sport. This rankled in the mind of the other, and a little while later he entered his friend's office with a revolver and shot him down. This is only a sample. During the last few days the despatches have told us of mobs that have burned one man alive, and hanged another. But before doing this they tortured their victims by cutting off their ears and fingers and otherwise barbarously mangling their quivering flesh. It is true that at least one of the victims had committed a horrible crime, but that only adds to the evidence of the violence of these times and does not take away the fact that the mob was as horribly barbarous in its violent fury as anything that was ever seen in the most savage jungles. And we make a mistake if we say that such things could not happen only in certain localities. For some of the deeds done in Ohio, Illinois, and elsewhere, are not far behind, to say the least, any of this violence of the South. Where is our boasted civilization while such things continue and increase? The two men in Kansas City who quietly discussed their jealousies of two women, and who deliberately decided to take a bulldog to their room and set him upon them, is another case in point. These ruffians stood by with cold-blooded indifference while the dog caused one of the women to leap out of the window and break her collar-bone in falling, and then they followed the other into the street, whither the enraged brute had driven her, and stood in front of the gathering crowd while her flesh was terribly torn and mangled. Then there is the little boy only nine years of age who a few days since planned in the most approved style of the desperado to wreck a passenger train, and was only saved from it by a section boss just chancing to come along on his hand-car. And we might mention other cases of notorious youthful criminality that have entered the realm of violence, but it is unnecessary. The reader knows too well how truly appalling the situation is to make it necessary for us to even present any evidence at all; for you have the evidence in all its shocking realities all about you all the time. No matter how men may regard this situation, we may learn from the following language how God looks upon it:— “Then said He unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke Me to anger; and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury; Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and tho they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” Eze. 8: 17, 18. The prophet is here speaking of a time when “they have filled the land with violence.” And because of this violence the Lord says, “Therefore will I also deal in fury; Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and tho they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.” This fearful violence that is in the world to-day will surely, and shall we not say speedily, call forth the divine interference. Why, if things are permitted to go on much longer in the way they are going, this world will be nothing short of one vast slaughtering-pen. And will the true and just and tender and merciful and loving God look on with indifference while demons incarnate work the inhumanly barbarous destruction of the race?—Never! “Something great and decisive will take place, and that right early. If any delay, the character of God and His throne will be compromised.”