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Signs of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 48.

OUR BIBLE BAND

Signs of the Times

Dec 6, 1910

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 6, 1910

OUR BIBLE BAND

For Week Ending December 17, 1910
Sunday December 11 Psalms 107-110
Monday “ 12 “ 111-117
Tuesday “ 13 “ 118-119:72
Wednesday “ 14 “ 119:73-176
Thursday “ 15 Hebrews 1-6
Friday “ 16 “ 7-10
Sabbath “ 17 “ 11-13
THE first part of the week we have Psalms 107 to the close of 119, filled with the most blessed instruction, splendid exhortations to devotion, wonderful teaching regarding the permanency of God’s holy law, and prophecies of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. It seems clearly evident that Psalm 119 was written by Daniel in Babylon. Everything connected with it indicates this to be the case. No one’s experience is better fitted to it than is that of the prophet of God in Babylon.
THE last part of the week covers the book of Hebrews; generally ascribed to the apostle Paul, but by comparing Gal. 1:11, 12 with Heb. 2:3 this would seem not to be the case. The apostle Paul tells us in his known epistles that the Gospel which he preached was not after men in any way, but he had received it by revelation from the Lord. Yet the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews classes himself with those to whom was made known the Gospel by those who had been with Christ and had heard Him; that is, those who had received the truth from the apostles. By some it is thought to belong to Barnabas, while others have ascribed it to Apollos. It would seem very fittingly ascribed to either one, as both were Jews, and had received Jewish instruction concerning the priesthood and the past. The epistle is filled with wonderful truth concerning our Lord, His preexistence, His wonderful fitness to redeem, His sacrifice as the Antitype of the sacrifices in the past, and the preeminency of His Melchizedek priesthood; all are set forth clearly and graphically, with marvelous exhortations to faith, constancy, and perseverance to the last.

3. Question Corner

“IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YE.”
This Inquirers' Department is conducted for the purpose of helping those who are studying the Bible. The answers are oftentimes only suggestive. They are never to be considered infallible, only as they agree with the infallible Word. The writer who may answer them does not consider that his opinion is infallible. He will simply give the best that he has, and plead with the inquirer to search the Word. Such questions only will be answered as, to the editors, seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. We can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. No letters are answered which do not contain the name of the writer. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.

Romans 14

3300.— Romans 14

Can you assist me in explaining Romans 14, regarding eating and drinking and the observing of days, etc.? W. H. C.
Please explain in the Question Corner regarding meats. Some use texts from Romans 14 that one may eat any kind of meat and not transgress the law of God. For instance, the 14th verse says that nothing is unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean to him it is unclean. And in the 17th verse also. They seem to think that it teaches the kingdom of God is not obedience through abstaining from meat of any kind. N. S. P.
We will have a much better understanding of Romans 14 if we will but grasp the great thought of the chapter and let everything else be subject to that. That thought is expressed in verses 4, 10, 12, 13, and 22. This is summed up in two thoughts,—that we should not judge our brother, that our faith is personal for ourselves. “Who art thou who judgest the servant of another? to his own lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be made to stand [in spite of anything that we can do]; for the Lord hath power to make him stand. . . . Let us not therefore judge one another any more; but judge ye this rather, that no brother put a stumbling-block in his brother’s way, or an occasion of falling.”
It will be noticed here that the epistle is addressed to brethren and their relations to brethren who believe in Christ. All have been accepted by Christ. The conditions of the past still seem to hold some, but not others. Some who had been Jews still held to the bitter herbs, to the Passover, and to the Jewish annual feasts, and to the ceremonial distinction regarding meats. Some seemed to have repudiated meats altogether, and yet all held to salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ alone and obedience to all His Word. This is indicated by the whole epistle to the Romans. The lesson of the apostle is that no man should judge his brother. Brother B might not do just as Brother A would, but Brother A should not condemn him because of that. At the same time if Brother A feels that Brother B is weak, Brother A should set no example that would cause Brother B to stumble. Let him keep the day of the Passover or the Atonement if he will; that is a matter which lies between him and God. If one who is strong should eat meat that is offered to idols, but which had been condemned by the tradition of the past, it was to the mind of others nothing which should be condemned. It may be believed that some of these Gentile converts ate flesh foods condemned by the law, ate them of necessity because they did not have anything else to eat. For this they should not be condemned, because—and it can not be made too emphatic—“the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Verse 17, A.R.V.
No carefulness of diet, no following of any dietary law, will bring one into the kingdom of God or keep him there. The kingdom of God is entered through Jesus Christ and Him only. But it may be asked: Should we not regulate our diet? Should we eat anything and everything? God has given us a law of diet which is as broad as one’s life, found in 1 Cor. 10:31: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” The man who carries that out will study to know what will please God, what will be for God’s glory. He will not eat the flesh of swine; because he will learn, as he studies, that it is wholly unwholesome, filled with corruption. He will learn from God’s Word in the past that it is unclean in its very nature, and so pronounced by God; and while the letter of that law may not be binding, the principle of it still holds. He will find, too, as he studies more and more, that flesh meats of any kind are not necessary, and are becoming more and more unwholesome, diseased, corrupted. He will find a most liberal diet in fruits, grains, nuts, vegetables, and by experiment and proper combination learn how to live upon these so as to glorify God in his body, keep a clear mind and intellect, and be able to yield, as no corrupt person can, his body to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. Faith is based on God’s Word, not on our particular sentiments. “Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. . . . He that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
The whole of Romans 14 is too long to explain in our Question Corner. These are but hints and suggestions which may be of help to our inquirers.

3301.— The Wearing of Gold

Should Christians, in the light of 1 Tim. 2:9, 10, and 1 Peter 3:3, 4, wear gold watches? Is the wearing of gold watches against the Bible principles?
READER.
It may be and it may not be. It depends to some extent on the motive. What the apostle very greatly forbids is the adorning of one's self. “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.” And in Peter, “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”
Sometimes it is very difficult to get any other good watch save a gold or gold-filled or gold-plated watch. It is rare that good movements are found in silver cases at the present time in most jewelry stores. So sometimes it is less expensive to get a good watch in a gold-filled case which is warranted for from ten to thirty years, than it would be to get that same movement in a silver case. Sometimes gold watches are given to individuals, sometimes inherited. Where they are kept for use there is certainly no transgression of Bible principles any more than there would be in wearing gold-bowed glasses. But if one wears them for ornament, for adornment, it is certainly contrary to Bible principles, as would be the wearing of a silver or brass ring. The whole point of the prohibition in the Scriptures turns over the one word “adorning.”
The dress of the Christian should be neat, becoming, and proper to his station. The adorning ought to be as stated in the Word, that of a meek and quiet spirit, that of good works, that which would commend him to the approval of all who loved right character.

3299.— Create Evil

I would be glad to have you explain Isa. 45:7, especially that clause that says, “I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” A. L. B.
The term is not used in the sense of sin, but in the sense of judgment, as in Amos 3:6: “Shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?” The text will be plainer if you will take into consideration the context. The Lord is talking concerning Cyrus the Persian. The Persian believes in a god of light and a god of darkness, two opposing deities. Sometimes one triumphs, sometimes another. The Lord would have Cyrus, whose name He had mentioned 150 years before he was born, understand that God formed the light and God created the darkness. God makes peace to those who yield to Him, and God brings evil or judgment upon those who are in rebellion against Him. This evil may come, and generally does come, as the consequence of the sin, but in all cases it is in harmony with God’s great law. Even tho His righteousness is life, yet if that way is perverted, death and evil are bound to ensue in consequence.

3302.— Baptism

Please explain Acts 16:33. It seems that the jailer was baptized without leaving the prison. How can that be if immersion was baptism? N. M.
In the first place there is nothing in the record which would hold us to the view that he did not leave the prison. There may have been pools or reservoirs of water very near the prison, so far as we know, where he could be baptized.
Secondly, there were probably reservoirs or pools of water within the prison enclosure where they could be baptized. This would not be an uncommon thing at all. The record declares and intimates that all that were in the jailer's household listened to the Word of God, and after they were through listening they washed the stripes of the prisoners. They then went and were baptized, he and his family who believed. This was done outside of his house. After the baptism they were brought into the house, partook of a meal, and rejoiced. That is perfectly consistent with the meaning of the word “baptize.” It is not an English word; it is a Greek word anglicized, simply transferred from the Greek to the English. It means, as every Greek translator will tell us, “immersion,” “whelming;” that is, complete covering by the thing in which we are baptized or immersed.

Temperance Reform from a Bible Standpoint

By Ellen G. White

By Mrs. E. G. White

A Bible Example

We can have no right understanding of the subject of temperance until we consider it from a Bible standpoint. And nowhere shall we find a more comprehensive and forcible illustration of true temperance and its attendant blessings than is afforded by the history of the prophet Daniel and his associates in the court of Babylon. When they were selected to be taught the “learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans,” that they might “stand in the king’s palace,” “the king appointed them a daily provision of the king’s meat, and of the wine which he drank.” “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank.”
Not only did these young men decline to drink the king’s wine, but they refrained from the luxuries of his table. The food apportioned to them “from the king’s table” would include swine’s flesh and other meats pronounced unclean by the law of Moses, and which the Jews were forbidden to eat. They requested the officer who had them in charge to grant them more simple fare; but he hesitated
fearing that such rigid abstinence as they proposed would affect their personal appearance unfavorably, and bring himself into disfavor with the king. Daniel pleaded for a ten days’ trial. This was granted; and at the expiration of that time, these youth were found to be far more healthy in appearance than were those who had partaken of the king’s dainties. Hence the simple “pulse and water” which they at first requested was thereafter the food of Daniel and his companions.

True to Early Teaching

It was not their own pride or ambition that had brought these young men into the king’s court, into the companionship of those who neither knew nor feared the true God. They were captives in a strange land, and Infinite Wisdom had placed them where they were. They considered their position, with its difficulties and its dangers, and then, in the fear of God, made their decision. Even at the risk of the king’s displeasure, they would be true to the religion of their fathers. They obeyed the divine law, both natural and moral; and the blessing of God gave them strength and comeliness, and intellectual power.
These youth had received a right education in early life; and now, when separated from home influences and sacred associations, they honored the instructors of their childhood. With their habits of self-denial were coupled earnestness of purpose, diligence, and steadfastness. They had no time to squander in pleasure, vanity, or folly. They were not actuated by pride or unworthy ambition; but they sought to acquit themselves creditably, for the honor of their downtrodden people, and for His glory whose servants they were.
God always honors the right. The most promising youth of every land subdued by the great conqueror, had been gathered at Babylon; yet amid them all, the Hebrew captives were without a rival. The erect form, the firm, elastic step, the fair countenance showing that the blood was uncorrupted, the undimmed senses, the untainted breath,—all were so many certificates of good habits,—insignia of the nobility with which nature
honors those who are obedient to her laws. And when their ability and acquirements were tested by the king at the close of the three years of training, none were found “like unto Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.” Their keen apprehension, their choice and exact language, their extensive and varied knowledge, testified to the unimpaired strength and vigor of their mental powers.

Recorded for Others

The history of Daniel and his companions has been recorded on the pages of the Inspired Word for the benefit of the youth of all succeeding ages. What men have done, men may do. Did those faithful Hebrews stand firm amid great temptation, and bear a noble testimony in favor of true temperance? The youth of to-day may bear a similar testimony, even under circumstances as unfavorable. Would that they would emulate the example of these Hebrew youth; for all who will, may, like them, enjoy the favor and blessing of God.
The lesson from the experience of these youth is one which we would all do well to ponder. Our danger is not from scarcity, but from abundance. We are constantly tempted to excess. But those who would preserve their powers unimpaired for the service of God, must observe strict temperance in the use of all His bounties, as well as total abstinence from every injurious or debasing indulgence.
Right physical habits promote mental superiority. Intellectual power, physical strength, and longevity depend upon immutable laws. There is no happen-so, no chance, about this matter. Heaven will not interfere to preserve men from the consequences of the violation of nature’s laws. There is much of truth in the adage that every man is the architect of his own fortune. While parents are responsible for the stamp of character, as well as for the education and training which they give their sons and daughters, it is still true that our position and usefulness in the world depend, to a great degree, upon our own course of action.

Sowing and Reaping

Let old and young remember that for every violation of the laws of life, nature will utter her protest. The penalty will fall upon the mental as well as the physical powers. And it does not end with the guilty trifler. The effects of his misdemeanors are seen in his offspring, and thus hereditary evils are passed down, even to the third or fourth generation. Think of this, fathers, when you indulge in the use of the soul-and-brain-benumbing narcotic, tobacco. Where will this practise leave you? Whom will it affect besides yourselves?
We are suffering for the wrong habits of our fathers; and yet how many take a course every way worse than theirs! Every year millions of gallons of intoxicating liquors are drunk, and millions of dollars are spent for tobacco. Opium, tea, coffee, tobacco, and intoxicating liquors are rapidly extinguishing the spark of vitality still left in the race. And the slaves of appetite, while constantly spending their earnings in sensual indulgence, rob their children of food and clothing and the advantages of education.
The use of intoxicating liquor dethrones reason, and hardens the heart against every pure and holy influence. The inanimate rock will sooner listen to the appeals of truth and justice than will that man whose sensibilities are paralyzed by intemperance. The finer feelings of the heart are not blunted all at once. A gradual change is wrought. Those who venture to enter the forbidden path are gradually demoralized and corrupted. And tho in the cities liquor saloons abound, making indulgence easy, and tho youth are surrounded by allurements to tempt the appetite, the evil does not often
begin with the use of intoxicating liquors. Tea, coffee, and tobacco are artificial stimulants, and their use creates the demand for the stronger stimulus found in alcoholic beverages. And while Christians are asleep, this giant evil of intemperance is gaining strength and making fresh victims.
There is need now of men like Daniel,—men who have the self-denial and the courage to be radical temperance reformers. Let every Christian see that his example and his influence are on the side of reform. Let ministers of the Gospel be faithful in instructing and warning the people. And let all remember that our happiness in two worlds depends upon the right improvement of one.

The Master’s Coming

By Charles L. Taylor

By Charles L. Taylor

VI. What His Coming Will Mean to His Own Children

BLESSED hope! Jesus will come again! The hope of a coming Redeemer has been the joy, and comfort, and strength, and blessing not of one age, nor of two, nor of three, but of all ages since man was placed upon earth.
Could we summon from the tomb the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles; could we bring from slumber the fathers, the mothers, the children, of ancient days; were it possible to call forth the army of martyred ones; were all these united, as they by and by will be, in one innumerable company, and were they asked to express the great truth which through life enabled them to be joyful, faithful, victorious,—there would go up from the mighty host in thunder tones, the wonderful testimony uttered by Job so long ago: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and tho after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold.” Job 19:25-27.

The Gateway to Immortality

Through God’s revelation the gateway to the eternal world has always been known as the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Not one single Bible character ever expressed any other thought. Righteous men had no thought of entering upon their reward at death; but instead, their faith grasped the promise of a coming Life-giver, who should break the power of death, and bring them forth from the tomb.
This was the faith of Abraham. Of him it is written, “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only-begotten Son, . . . accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.” Heb. 11:17-19.
This was also the faith of Moses. Said Jesus, “Now that the dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush, when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Luke 20:37. Moses understood the great plan of the resurrection; and seeing the day when all God’s children should rise from their beds of dust, he saw them living unto God, and thus spoke of them.
And what a remarkably clear testimony was borne to King David by the wise woman of Tekoa. “We must needs die,” she said, “and are as water spilt on the ground, which can not be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth He devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.” 2 Sam. 14:14. The “means” which God had devised was the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which opened the tomb for all who would believe.

The Resurrection-Hope

The resurrection at the second advent was the blessed hope of the psalmist. Ps. 17:15. Isaiah, “the Gospel prophet,” believed likewise. His clear, ringing message is worthy our careful study. “Thy dead men shall live,” he declared, “together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26:19. “He will swallow up death in victory; . . . and it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isa. 25:8, 9. Yes, death should be swallowed up, and the dead made to live in that glory day of His coming, the day for which the church had waited.
Ezekiel looked to the resurrection (Eze. 37:12-14), Daniel prophesied regarding it (Dan. 12:1, 2), Hosea foresaw it (Hosea 13:14), and Jeremiah, through prophetic message, ministered comfort to the mothers of Israel (Jer. 31:15-17).

A Great Future Event

That the children of God had an intelligent faith, that they understood the time of the resurrection to be identical with that of the Messiah’s coming, is beautifully delineated in the words of Martha to Jesus When the Saviour said, “Thy brother shall rise again,” Martha replied, saying, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” John 11:23, 24. And Martha was only one of that people who for ages had cherished the same hope.
The great truth of the resurrection and the second advent was most fully brought home to the hearts of men in apostolic days. It was the very crux of the teaching and preaching of God’s chosen servants. See Acts 2:24, 33; 3:15; 4:2, 10; 10:40, etc. It was the personal hope of the apostle to the Gentiles (Acts 24:15); and when he would appeal to the king in behalf of his faith and hope, the uppermost thought of his anxious heart was, “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” Acts 26:6-8.

How Did It Originate?

Dear reader, right here ask your own heart these questions: Whence came this belief to men? How did it originate? And why so long perpetuated? Only one answer to the questions can be found; namely, that God Himself, at the very first, planted it in man’s heart, and by divine revelation has repeatedly brought it home to his soul to comfort and to encourage him, and to cause him to hope, to trust, to endure to the end. It is a path of life as old as the world, and one that God’s peculiar people will travel until time is finished. Moreover, it is a blessed hope, that will know no disappointment either in life or in death.
It was no new truth, no new promise, that Jesus gave to His disciples when He was about to leave them. John 14:1-3. Glorious and full and clear tho it was, yet, after all, it was only an iteration of summed-up Scripture promises, and to the sorrowing believers should have been quickly comprehended and received. But certainly Jesus gave them to understand that His coming again was to them of the supremest importance. To be with Him, to enjoy the inestimable privilege of life in His unending kingdom, depended altogether upon His personal return to earth. “I will come again,” He said, “that where I am, there ye may be also.”

What It Means

The coming of the Lord Jesus means, therefore, the final gathering of the saints of all ages. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise.” 1 Thess. 4:16. The voice that sounds from out the vaulted dome of ether is the voice of roll-call. By the King Himself the name of every faithful child of God, from that of Abel to the last one who surrendered life, is read from that wonderful Book of Life; and as the name is called, the guardian angel that watched over and cared for the soul through its earthly pilgrimage, speeds like lightning flash from the Master’s side to receive the resurrected one as he comes forth from his place of long sleep.
What a wonderful day that will be! In the glad company that respond to the call of the Author of life are all who have died in the faith of the Son of God. There are Abel, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, David, Peter, Paul; there are saints of all ages, all climes, all nations; there are young and old, black and white, free and bond; there are children and parents, brothers and sisters, lovers and friends; there are preachers, teachers, and learners; there are philosophers, schoolmen, and illiterates; there are men, women, and children from all states, all persuasions, all vocations. But now they all know the Christ, and in Him they all stand complete in holiness, happiness, harmlessness.

A Mighty Contrast

By open graves they stand for an instant, as between two great worlds. Behind them lies the world that was,—the world of sin, of sorrow, of affliction, of sickness, of death. Before them lies the world to come,—the world of holiness, of joy, of blessing, of health, of eternal life. But the world that was, is a thing of an absolute past, and is now forgotten as the redeemed stand face to face with the mighty and blessed realities of the new kingdom. They now see the King in His beauty. Isa. 33:17. They are like Him. 1 John 3:2. They are clothed with incorruptibility (1 Cor. 15:52), and fashioned after His own glorious image. Phil. 3:20, 21. Sickness is forever gone. Isa. 33:24. And bidding farewell to the narrow prisons which for days, or years, or perhaps centuries have held them, they join their angel escorts to meet their Lord in the skies, and as they ascend they sing the glad song of victory over death and the grave. 1 Cor. 15:55.
Then comes another triumph in the work of man’s redemption. Said the apostle, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:17. The coming of the Lord was resurrection to the dead; now it is translation to the living. They are changed from mortality to immortality “in the twinkling of an eye.” 1 Cor. 15:51, 52. Like Enoch and Elijah, they are taken without seeing death. Filled with the buoyancy of Spirit life, they find themselves freed from the laws which bind matter to matter, and with angel body-guard they too ascend the skies and join the loved and the lost who have come forth from death’s charnel-house.
“In My Father’s house are many mansions,” said Jesus. To those mansions the redeemed now find their glad way. With the glorified Son of Man at their head, the host of the saved come to their long lost home, the city of God. In tones of command, but rich with heavenly melody, the Saviour speaks, saying, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in” (Ps. 24:7), and when in answer to His word an angel hand throws back the pearly gates upon their glittering hinges, He enters with His ransomed into rest.

Beautiful story! Blessed hope!

Ah, there are untold worlds of light and blessing in the truth of the Master’s coming. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,” its precious realities; but to the faithful ones God reveals them by His Spirit. 1 Cor. 2:9, 10. Like the apostle Paul, let us enter so fully into its blessedness, that even while in the very shade of death we may be able to say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day.” 2 Tim. 4:7, 8.
May He indeed come quickly, and may it indeed be your happy lot, dear friend, to be ready to welcome Him when He appears.
— —

Nearer Thee

By Mrs. M. C. Sollars

By Mrs. M. C. Sollars
NEARER, Saviour, nearer Thee— This my earnest prayer shall be; Come, abide Thou, heavenly Guest; Bless me, and I shall be blessed.
Bless, that others may be blessed With Thine everlasting rest. Blessings for the sad and lone, Give; Thou canst not give a stone.
Brighter things than earth had given, Joys for which my soul had striven, Foretaste, here, of heavenly things, Such as earthland never brings.
O, thou messenger of light, Robed in garments pure and white, Bearing ever to and fro Messages for human woe,
Hast thou not for even me Joys to set my soul more free, In His heavenly wisdom planned, Only waiting my demand!
May I claim the promised prize! Lingering, with longing eyes, My unworthiness I plead, And my great and longing need.
Ballard, Washington.

Attitude Toward Men and God

“YOUR attitude with men depends on your attitude with God.”

The Power That Lifts Up

“THE power that comes down is the only one that will lift up.”

H. A. ST. JOHN

By H. A. St. John

Biblical Paradoxes—No. 4

“I AM crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live.” Gal. 2:20. We see that one of Paul’s favorite ways of teaching and impressing truth upon the mind and heart, was by the use of paradoxes—statements apparently contradictory. The above is one example of many. The language following in the same text is explanatory and impressive: “Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” It was sin that caused the death of Christ. He died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and we receive Christ by dying to sin. The old life or body of sin being thus crucified, we are made alive unto God, and henceforth the life we live is by the faith of the Son of God. We are new creatures in Christ Jesus. Blessed life, blessed relation, which becomes the stepping-stone to immortality.

H. A. ST. JOHN

Continue reading: VI. Smyrna and Pergamum