Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 10, 1901
GUIDE ME.
By Albert Carey
ALBERT CAREY.
(Honolulu, H. T.)
Kind Father, guide my steps to-day.
Dark sin-clouds hover o'er the way,
And I shall lose the narrow path,
And wander in the ways of death,
Unless thou guide. I cannot see;
But thine all-seeing eye for me
Discerns each step before I move,
And seeing, from thy heart of love,
Will guide me only in the right,
While walking here through sin's dark night.
Guide me to-day. The snare that's set
By Satan for my wayward feet,
Help me to shun. The privilege
That lies a pearl before my gaze,
Of doing some kind act for thee,
Help me to seize, and thus to be,
In thy kind hand, an instrument
For saving souls. The dart that's sent
By Satan to destroy my soul,
May faith repel it. The blest goal
Of life eternal, let it shine,
And if the fire that must refine
And fit me for that glorious place
Burns hot, keep sweetness in my face.
And may I glory but in thee;
More like thee every moment be.
Guide thou my weary feet to-day —
Yea, always — in the narrow way.
“NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME.”
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE.
DURING the night I was sorely distressed. A great burden rested upon me. I had been pleading with God to work in behalf of His people. My attention was called to the money which they have invested in photographs. I was taken from house to house, through the homes of our people, and as I went from room to room, my Instructor said, “Behold the idols which have accumulated!”
As I visited the homes of our people and our schools, I see that all the available space on tables, what-nots, and mantelpieces is filled up with photographs. On the right hand and on the left are seen the pictures of human faces. God desires this order of things to be changed. Were Christ on earth, He would say, “Take these things hence.” I have been instructed that these pictures are as so many idols, taking up the time and thought which should be sacredly devoted to God.
These photographs cost money. Is it consistent for us, knowing the work that is to be done at this time, to spend God’s money in producing pictures of our own faces and the faces of our friends? Should not every dollar that we can spare be used in the upbuilding of the cause of God? These pictures take money that should be sacredly devoted to God’s service; and they divert the mind from the truths of God’s word.
This making and exchanging photographs is a species of idolatry. Satan is doing all he can to eclipse heaven from our view. Let us not help him by making picture-idols. We need to reach a higher standard than these human faces suggest. The Lord says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Those who claim to believe in Christ need to realize that they are to reflect His image. It is His likeness that is to be kept before the mind. The words that are spoken are to be freighted with heavenly inspiration.
Christ looks upon a world filled with the din of merchandise and trade, with the dishonesty and scheming of buyers and sellers. In their desire to get gain, men have lost sight of the laws of justice and equity. “It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.” Satan has devised a multitude of ways in which to keep men from serving God. He has invented sports and games, into which men enter with such intensity that one would suppose a crown of life was to reward the winner. At the horse races and football matches, which are attended by thousands and thousands of people, lives for which Christ shed His blood are thrown away. What will become of the souls of the men and boys whose lives are thus extinguished? Will they be counted worthy of the redemption which Christ died to secure for them?
Looking upon these God-dishonoring scenes, Christ asks, “What is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” He calls the attention of men to the nobler world which they have lost from view. He points them to the threshold of heaven, flushed with the glory of the infinite God.
Those who have taken part in the solemn rite of baptism have pledged themselves to seek for those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God; pledged themselves to labor earnestly for the salvation of sinners. God asks those who take His name, How are you using the powers that have been redeemed by the death of my Son? Are you doing all in your power to rise to a greater height in spiritual understanding? Are you adjusting your interests and actions in harmony with the momentous claims of eternity?
Let there be a reformation among the people of God. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” Those upon whom the Lord has placed the burden of His work are struggling to proclaim the message, that souls perishing in ignorance may be warned. Can you not, by self-denial, do something to help them in their work? Arouse, and show by your unselfish zeal and earnestness that you are converted.
Every dollar is required in the work of saving souls. The money invested by the professed people of God in getting pictures made of human faces would support several missionaries in the field. Many small streams, when put together, swell into a large river.
We embezzle our Lord’s goods when we use for selfish pleasure the means which should be used to proclaim the last message of warning. If you spend the Lord’s money for self-gratification, how can you expect Him to continue to bestow His goods on you? How does the Master regard those who selfishly invest His money in photographs? That very money could have been used to purchase reading-matter to send to those in the darkness of ignorance.
The truth that God has given us must be heralded to the world. We have been given the privilege of doing this work. We are to sow the seed of truth beside all waters. The Lord calls upon us to practice self-denial and self-sacrifice. The gospel demands entire consecration. The necessities of the cause demand all that we can give. Our indulgence in photographs has been a selfish gratification on our part, which bears silent witness against us. By this indulgence a large amount of wood, hay, and stubble has been brought to the foundation, to be consumed by the fires of the last day.
After going from home to home, and seeing the many photographs, I was instructed to warn our people against this evil. This much we can do for God. We can put these picture-idols out of sight. They have no power for good, but interpose between God and the soul. They can do nothing to help in sowing the seeds of truth. Christ calls upon those who claim to be following Him to put on the whole armor of God. Our educational institutions need to feel the reforming power of the Spirit of God. “If the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Those who are engaged as teachers in our schools and sanitariums should reach a high standard of consecration. And the students in these institutions, who are fitting themselves to go forth as missionaries, should learn to practice self-denial.
We are God’s stewards, and “it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” The584money that God has intrusted to us is to be carefully husbanded. We are to increase in efficiency by putting to the best use the talents given us, that at God’s coming we may return to Him His own with usury.
CHRIST'S LIFE, OUR LIGHT.
By Clarence Santee
CLARENCE SANTEE. (Los Angeles, Cal.)
“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Rom. 5:10.
Some have imagined that the resurrection of Christ brought reconciliation and redemption, but the text just quoted states plainly that “we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,” and in Eph. 1:7 we read, “In whom we have redemption through His blood.”
Then the vital question in the battle with sin was, Will Christ follow it to the bitter end, or will He save himself from death, and let guilty man perish? Will He at the last moment drink the cup, or, calling the “twelve legions of angels” to His assistance, wipe the bloody sweat from His face, and leave man to his fate?
Christ died, and we are redeemed. “With His stripes we are healed.” Isa. 53:5.
How, then, if we are redeemed through His death, can it be said that “much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”? In answering this question, we should ascertain what life is referred to. Evidently it was the same life by which He was saved. It was “His life” that He lived in this world prior to His death, that brings salvation to us. This life does not refer to His resurrection. His life was lived for us. In brief, the penalty for sin must be paid. But when this is accomplished, and we have “the remission of sins that are past” (Rom. 3:25), what lasting benefit can we derive if we have only the same old life to return to? So, being reconciled by His death, we start out clear, and having “His life,” which we now accept in place of the old life, we continue to walk before God without condemnation.
Paul declares, “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Gal. 2:20. Christ says, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12. “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. Upon His life depended the efficacy, to us, of His death. Separated from that sinless life, His death would avail for no one. Then, “much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” It is imputed to us.
Let us consider the make-up of His life, which avails for us. Of what was it composed? Some believe that God is a being of stern, inflexible justice, who feels no tender pity nor love for the helpless and the fallen, but will, with relentless hand, and in fury, beat down, without mercy, and with a sort of grim satisfaction, all who disobey Him; and that Christ comes in, takes away the Father's law, and brings in a new order of things. It is true that there was one who left the courts of heaven to overturn the government of God, but such was not the work of Christ, as we shall see.
If the life of Christ is the light of men, it is most important that we know of what that life consisted. In the consideration of it we must find our light. It is “the light of life.”
The very keynote of the life of Christ refutes the idea that God hates men, and that God's law is a yoke of rigorous bondage. Christ says, “I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love.” John 15:10. His life fully represented God to men, for He says, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” John 14:7–9. There is but one way in which we could get a perfect acquaintance with the characteristics of another through a third party's life, and that would be by that life being exactly like the other.
Christ did not come to do away His Father's law,—the Ten Commandments,—neither did He claim independent action. He says, “I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.” John 12:49, 50. “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.” Chap. 6:38.
It was even prophesied of Christ that, when He came into the world, it would be to present a perfect life of obedience to the commandments of God. God says, speaking to Moses, “I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deut. 18:18. Peter quotes this in Acts 3:20–22, and applies it to Christ.
In Ps. 40:7, 8, I read, “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” This is also applied to Christ in Heb. 10:7. Christ's life was one of willing obedience to the commands of God. This life is the “light of men.” The light, then, emanated from the law of God, and shone through His life. It made Him the light of the world. When the same life is seen in us, He can then truly say, “Ye are the light of the world.” Matt. 5:14. This is in harmony with Prov. 6:23: “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light.” Then let the law shine out, proving that we have “His life,” and the earth will soon be lighted with the glory of God.
ARE WE LIVING UP TO OUR LIGHT AND PRIVILEGE?
By W. S. Sadler
ELDER W. S. SADLER.
(San Francisco, Cal.)
“THAT was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:9.
Christ is represented here as the true light, as the light of life. He is the word of life. Only the true light has life in it. The other has deception and death in it. So it is very important that we should know how to obtain the true light. To make sure that there could be no possible deception to the honest soul, God has arranged that every being who comes into the world shall have in him a sample of “the true light,” so that if he is willing to be led by it, and be lightened and illumined by it, he can come into a more perfect knowledge of the true light. So then, as far as obtaining the ability to discern the true light is concerned, we find something within us which, speaking to us, says, “This is the way, walk ye in it.” I do not need to study about a thousand counterfeit silver dollars if I wish to escape being deceived; the thing for me to do is to study the true dollars. So we have no need to study this movement, that new thing, or this new doctrine, that is springing up here and there.
Starch is a food that we chiefly live upon. Two thirds or three fourths of our average daily food is starch. The great dietetic problem is how to cook starch. Most of the other food elements digest about as well without cooking as with.
The question may arise, “Did Adam and Eve have a cook-stove?”—No; they did not. When Christ went through the field and ate the corn, also. He ate it in its milky stage. In this stage there is no starch present, but only sugar; but as the grain ripens, the sugar is changed into starch; hence the grain must be cooked before it is suitable for food.
God changes the sugar of green grain into starch, for a purpose. In the case of fruit, the seed can propagate its species, but in the grain, we eat all that can produce another generation of the grain. So God has arranged that this sugar in the unripe grain, which is soluble, shall be turned into starch, because starch can be preserved. I have heard it reported that grain has been found with Egyptian mummies, which grew when planted.
Nature must convert the starch in the ripe grain back into sugar before the young plant can make use of it. God places in every grain, or kernel, of wheat just enough starch to nourish the little germ of life that He has put there. No scientist can explain it. But when you bury the kernel of wheat, put it beneath the ground, then the little germ of life begins to grow,—begins to eat the starch. Day by day it feeds upon the starch until it can get its head above the ground, and then, when the sunlight strikes it, it can make starch of its own. So God has put into every kernel of grain enough life to enable that grain, when planted, to get up into the sunlight; and then it can turn its face toward the sun, and make starch on its own account.
So God has put into every man enough of the true light to enable him to turn his face toward the Sun of Righteousness. Christ is the “true light which lighteth every man,” every soul, “that cometh into the world.” But if you bury your grain of wheat too deep, the little germ uses up all the starch it has, and so it never gets above the surface. Did you ever hear of people getting buried in their business, or of churches being buried in church trials and other difficulties? If you bury yourselves too deep beneath these things, you will not be able to get out into the sunlight, and, like the grain of wheat which was planted too deep, you will die. If we are in the sunlight, we can go, if duty calls, into the very miasmas of sin and iniquity, and right there be able to build character for God.
The moment the sun goes down, the plant ceases to make starch, and in the night it actually begins to eat up the starch it has made during the day. So we may have had a great and a grand experience, one that has led our soul out into the sunlight of His love and mercy; and then, by drifting into darkness and inactivity, we may consume all the good we were able to build from our past experience. Every one of us had an experience when the light first came to us that we never have again; and we should not be disappointed because it never comes again. Let us go right on, maintaining our Christian experience day by day.
The little plant that is raising a clod of earth a thousand times its own weight, could not stand a great wind-storm; but by and by, when the cornstalk places its roots firmly on every side, the tempest may blow on it, and still it will stand. After the first miracle of our conversion, which may be fittingly compared to the raising of the clod by the young plant, we need to be anchored to truth, so that the winds that blow hither and thither, in this direction and in that direction, will not blow us over. God has made provision for every man to receive light, and has put in him a taste of the true light, so that he can tell whether the light that comes to him is true or not. Let us not be wondering and worrying about every wind of doctrine that blows, but let us sink our shaft down deep into the mine of truth; for we are told that we shall know the truth, and the truth shall make us free.
It is a great blessing to have this little germ of life—a little part of God, as it were—placed in every human being to help him and lead him585into the right way. Every one who follows that light, will be safe. But if you persist in smothering that light; if you persist in burying yourself beneath worldly pleasures, so that the divine life that is in you cannot manifest itself, what is going to save you? Turn to 1 Thess. 5:4, 5: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”
Every soul has a sample of the true light; thank the Lord, that is true. The promise is sure. He has made provision that we should live in the day. We are born of the light—children of the light. Everything that we are depends upon the light we have received. All our growth, all that we are to-day, is due to the fact that we are children of the day, living in the light, not in the darkness.
In the night the plant does not make starch; and when you get into moral darkness and begin to backslide, you cease to develop, to make character; you consume what you already had. While the plant makes starch in the daytime, it consumes it in the night; so character develops more and more in the Christian who walks in the light. He cannot stand still. He must “walk in the light, as He is in the light.”
We must keep in the light, for He is always in the light. We must keep our faces turned heavenward continuously, so that we shall always be in the light, always developing character instead of consuming it. Thus we understand that the man who has a talent, if he does not use it, loses what he already has. There is no place where we may with safety stand still and fold our hands, and say, “Now we have the truth.” If we do not get more truth day by day, we shall surely lose the truth we have. Turn to Heb. 2:1: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” We ought to give the more earnest heed, day by day, lest the things of which we have come into possession, lest the truth we have known, shall run out, as from a leaking vessel. See marginal reading of Heb. 2:1. A leaking vessel is a deceptive thing. If you put water into a bucket having a hole in it, by and by, when you wish to take a drink from the bucket, you will find that the water has leaked out, drop by drop.
Everything depends upon the trial trip we are making now. Then let us keep pace with the daylight of heaven, and keep our branches spread out wide in the light, that we may make character instead of consuming it; that we may be growing in grace instead of wasting the little supply of grace we have.
(Concluded next week.)
“POWER FROM ON HIGH.”
By A. Smith
A. SMITH. (Grandville, Mich.)
I WAS riding in an interurban trolley car when suddenly it stopped. After waiting a few minutes I inquired the cause of delay. The answer was, “Waiting for power.” Yes, the power must come from far away in the city, or that handsome, well-equipped car could not move. True, the passengers might get off and push it, or they might hitch a team of horses to it and draw it; but the result would be unsatisfactory.
So a church may be large, well organized; have a beautiful building, good singing, and eloquent preaching; but it can never move forward successfully on the track God has laid for it until it is “endued with power from on high,” from the city of the living God, the New Jerusalem.
In the case of the trolley car, the first indication that the power had come was light. Still the car did not move until the power was applied. When God sends power from above upon a church or an individual, light comes with it. But the light is to give discretion in the use of the power. When the power is applied, the work of the gospel will move forward in God’s appointed lines. It is in vain to force an issue without it.
PROPHECY FULFILLING.
By John F. Jones
JOHN F. JONES.
We are living in an age of the world when there is a great lack of real devotion to God and His truth. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the earth, and another spirit is fast gaining control of the hearts and minds of men. Yet there is no lack of form in religious work. Large and costly churches are still being erected; bells are pealing, morning, noon, and evening, summoning the worshipers to the temple of prayer. Neither are large congregations infrequent. But to the observant, there is a decided lack of the fruits of the Spirit of God, which gives little encouragement to those who expect to see their premillennium hopes realized in the near future.
With this condition of things confronting the religious world, and the fact that prophecy applies where the conditions prevail, would it not encourage the hearts of the faithful to examine anew the prophetic utterances of the past?
To the writer, a prophecy in the book of Ezekiel seems to find a fitting application to the present conditions: “And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. And, they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but do them not: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their gain. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. And when this cometh to pass (behold it cometh), then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.” Eze. 33:30–33, R. V.
Perhaps many of our workers could at this time, like our Saviour in His days while in the flesh, say to the people: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Luke 4:21.
While this may be true, it should be most encouraging to every worker; for it is but the logical outcome of another prophecy found in Paul’s exhortation to Timothy: “But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof: from these also turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:1–5, R. V.
Where and when this condition prevails, Eze. 30:31–33 will surely find a fulfillment.
But he whose heart is filled with longing desire to meet his Lord in peace, will find in this condition of things encouragement to labor for souls; for amid all this Babylon, there are precious souls who sigh and cry for the abominations of Israel. “O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain, O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold, your God! Behold, the Lord God will come as a mighty one, and His arm shall rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. He shall feed His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs in His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that give suck.” Isa. 40:9–12, R. V.
Without doubt the prophet Isaiah is here looking down through the ages, to the coming of the Lord to reward His faithful flock. But the feeding of that flock is intrusted to His under-shepherds. The apostle Paul in his instruction to the elders of the church at Ephesus realized this important trust, which he sets forth in the following words: “Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops, to feed the Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28, R. V.
The apostle Peter also sensed the solemn work: to which God called him. The elders of the Church in general, he exhorts to “tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according unto God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.” 1 Peter 5:2, 3, R. V.
In that noted prophecy of Jeremiah concerning the restoration of the scattered remnant, it is recorded: “And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and multiply. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be lacking, saith the Lord.” Jer. 23:3, 4, R. V.
Brethren and sisters, the remnant work is intrusted to our hands. Are we feeding the flock? Are we bringing them to the fold? Are we fruitful? Do we fear? The love of God casteth out all fear. Are we dismayed? “Fear thou not; . . . for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Isa. 41:10. Are we lacking? “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19.
While true devotion to God and the principles of righteousness are fast departing, the gathering call is being sounded through the earth: “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” Rev. 18:4.
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isa. 58:1. A little longer, and the message will have done its sealing work, and the faithful will have been gathered into the fold.
Let us praise God for a place and part among His workers.
HE WAKENETH ME.
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.
Night’s sable curtain wrapped the earth in gloom;
The stars came out like twinkling gems of light,
The whirling planets followed in their path
The silvery chariot of the queen of night.
My weary spirit with earth’s cares oppressed,
I laid me down upon my couch to rest.
Then Sleep came down, and with her finger touched
My heavy lids;—like magic, one by one,
The cares of earth like frightened vampires fled,
Sweet rest was mine until the night was done.
And then the Father whispered in my ear:
“Awake, my child, awake! the morn is here.”
E’en so, when life’s eventful day is past,
Weary and worn, I lay me down to rest;
When Death shall place her hand upon my brow
And still the tumult in my throbbing breast,
I’ll lay me down in peace, and quiet sleep,
Nor fear the darkness nor the chilling gloom;
For well I know He marks my place of rest,
And He will wake me from the dusty tomb,
And at His voice the heavens shall thrill and quake:
“Awake, my child! the morn has come—Awake!”