Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 22. (5/4/1916)

Review and Herald

May 4, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 4, 1916

If I Should Die Tonight

By Henry Ward Beecher

If I should die tonight, My friends would look upon my quiet face, Before they laid it in its resting place, And deem that death had left it almost fair, And laying snow-white flowers against my hair, Would smooth it down with tearful tenderness, And fold my hands with lingering caress, Poor hands, so empty and so cold tonight.

If I should die tonight, My friends would call to mind, with loving thought, Some kindly deed the icy hand had wrought, Some gentle word the frozen lips had said, Errands on which the willing feet had sped. The memory of my selfishness and pride, My hasty words, would all be set aside, And I should be loved and mourned tonight.

If I should die tonight, E'en hearts estranged would once more turn to me, Recalling other days remorsefully; The eyes that chill me with averted glance, Would look upon me as of yore, perchance, And soften in the old familiar way; For who would war with dumb unconscious clay? So I might rest forgiven of all tonight.

Oh, friends! I pray tonight, Keep not your kisses for my dead, cold brow; The way is lonely, let me feel them now; Think gently of me, I am travel worn, My faltering feet are pierced with many a thorn; Forgive! ah, hearts estranged, I plead! When dreamless rest is mine, I shall not need The tenderness for which I long tonight.

— Henry Ward Beecher.

Note and Comment

By F. M. W.

The Pope as Peacemaker

Will Pope Benedict XV head the peace commission which shall settle the terms of agreement between the warring nations? This very evidently is the position to which he aspires, and it is a rôle which many Protestants as well as Catholics would like to see him play. The numerous statements which have issued from the Vatican during the present conflict indicate, more than his so-called “paternal desire for peace,” that his ostensible purpose is to come into the limelight as the chief peacemaker. Benedict himself comes of the nobility. He is schooled in the art of diplomacy. According to the correspondent of the Paris Temps, he has shown his wonderful ability since his elevation to the papal see in bringing harmony out of the great confusion which existed in the government of the Vatican. This correspondent is represented by Current Opinion for April, 1916, as saying:—

“He has kept the peace within the church itself, a task of infinitely greater delicacy and difficulty than the warring world without can yet understand. The schism in Germany, about which so much was written in the first months of the war, has been definitely avoided. The difficulties incident to the occupation of Polish dioceses by the armies of Emperor William have been negotiated without offense to the Russian czar. There has been no breach with Austria, in spite of the latitude allowed to the heads of Italian dioceses in denunciation of the hereditary foe.”

According to a number of the Continental European dailies, “the original impression that Benedict XV is inadequate as a pacifier must be revised.” “The Pope, they point out, has restored peace within the church, and a correspondent of the Gaulois (Paris) argues that he may yet, therefore, restore it to the world.”

In the Rassegna Nazionale, an Italian paper, according to the Review of Reviews for April, there was published recently an interesting article from Signor Giuseppe Manacorda, a liberal Catholic. This writer of course does not speak for the clerical party at Rome, and expresses sentiments which could hardly be taken as representing their views. But he has infallible faith in the power of Benedict to bring about peace between the conflicting powers. He argues that the reverses which the church has suffered, especially in 1870, were really a blessing in disguise, in that thereby was “restored to the church its primitive character of an exclusively spiritual power, and since such a power is unique in the world, it appears today the most august of all.” He argues that on account of this unique position the Papacy is in a better position than at any other time to act in the rôle of peacemaker. He says:—

“The church alone can, if she will, pronounce the word that will sink deep into the hearts of the peoples and will most move them, since it is known that she alone can speak, when she wills so to do, even against her own apparent interest. In the midst of such a subversion of the idea of God, invoked on one side and on the other by the leaders of opposing countries, often supported in this by the foremost ecclesiastical dignitaries, it is hard for the afflicted peoples to avoid doubt and distrust; it is hard for them to refrain from asking themselves in what degree the religious ideal, the most perfect of all has become enslaved to state policy. Only the voice of Peter can resound above the clash of arms, far sounding as the voice of God, if he be willing to again become ‘a fisher of men,’ a rescuer of shipwrecked humanity.”

Nor are these sentiments expressed alone by Catholic representatives in the Old World. Leading men of that church on this side of the Atlantic are engaged in the same propaganda. Hon. W. Bourke Cockran, a prominent American citizen, for a number of years a member of the national Congress, a few days ago addressed a large and representative assembly in the city hall of Portland, Maine, on the subject “The Papacy in Peace and War.” This lecture was attended by Bishop Walsh of the Catholic Church, who presided. Seated by the side of the bishop were Hon. Oakley C. Curtis, governor of the State; Wilford G. Chapman, mayor of Portland, and other dignitaries. Mr. Cockran gave a highly colored picture of the potent influence for peace and civilization which the Papacy had proved through all the centuries of the past, picturing the system as the one hope of the downtrodden and oppressed through the Middle Ages and in other periods of trial through which the nations have passed. Referring to the present conflict, Mr. Cockran pictured Pope Benedict as the one ruler in all the world who is able to bring order out of the present chaotic conditions. The Portland Daily Press for March 27, 1916, reports him as saying:—

“There is no power on earth, save one, that can bring peace to the warring nations now engaged in this fearful death struggle, and that power is the same that has done it before—the Papacy. No other institution on the earth has the power as this power has to reconcile the differences of men and to force them to a realization that the modern doctrine of materialism that has held full sway for a hundred years, the doctrine that enlightened self-interest is a better guide than the authority of God revealed by the teachings of his church, is wrong and leads to nothing but this terrible struggle now on.”

We naturally might expect that Catholics themselves would take this view of the head of the church, but it is the more surprising to find professed Protestants advocating the same principle. Many are doing this. Perhaps the words of Dr. R. J. Campbell, one of England’s popular clergymen, may be taken as fairly representative of this pro-papal sentiment among Protestants. Shortly after the beginning of hostilities, Dr. Campbell, in an address in the London City Temple, gave expression to his convictions as to the manner in which permanent peace might be maintained after the close of the present conflict. He said:—

“Would it not be possible for the Christian forces of the world to combine after the conclusion of peace for the one purpose of preventing a recurrence of this horrible strife? If we could not unite upon anything else, surely we might unite upon this one practical object.

“I would suggest that the Pope, as the head of the largest Christian communion, should be induced to take the initiative in the matter, and call Protestants to his counsels in connection therewith. Such action should be taken in concert with all the Christian churches of the world, however designated. Protestantism generally would support it, would be morally bound to do so.

“No one but the Pope could do it effectively, for the reason just given, that he is the head of the largest and most international organization of those who profess and call themselves Christians. The metropolitan of the great Eastern Church—or, rather, of that great branch

out of the four or five belonging to it in which the people of Russia are included—could not do it. The Archbishop of Canterbury, for obvious reasons, could not do it. He is the spiritual head of Anglicanism only, and Rome would not respond to an invitation issued from that quarter.

“What is wanted is something analogous to a general council of the whole undivided church of Christ,—not a general council in the ordinary sense, of course, because not directly concerned with questions of faith and morals,—but it would be a wonderfully impressive gathering all the same, and no doubt lead to even greater things—the ultimate reunion of Christendom, for instance.

“The Pope is the proper person to summon such an assembly. And there is a precedent for it in the Council of Trent, to which Protestant delegates were invited, but refused to come. Had their response been favorable instead of unfavorable, who knows what strife and anguish Europe might have been saved in the last three hundred years?”

In a more recent address Dr. Campbell reiterates this statement which he made at the beginning of the war, and emphasizes anew his convictions regarding this matter. In his late delivery, according to the Austin American of April 2, 1916, from which we quote, he again advocates the calling of a general council of Christendom, of which the Pope shall be the head, to lay plans for the maintenance of permanent peace. He inquires,—

“Could the Pope be got to do it as soon as the war is over? No one could charge him with pro-Germanism then, and it would not matter a button if they did. His personal opinions would not be in question.

“What the assembly would be expected to do would be to place on record its abhorrence of war between Christian powers, and to pledge itself to bring all reasonable pressure to bear upon civilized governments and peoples to render a world conflict like the present impossible for all time to come. We should have had our lesson by then, and be more than disposed to listen to the appeal.”

And Dr. Campbell hopes that even more than a political peace might be secured by such a congress. He hopes that it might result even in the adjustment of religious differences. He argues that as the church by its great influence in the Middle Ages brought about what was called the Truce of God, whereby hostilities were limited to certain periods, so that same influence might be exerted for the settlement of all controversies:—

“There is not a church in Christendom that would not join in it through its appointed representatives. And the vast conference thus convened would not end in smoke. As the outcome of it there might be a tribunal established more authoritative and effective than that of The Hague, to say no more. Perhaps we should get even further than that in, shall we say, the direction of adjusting our religious differences too, and unifying civilization once more on that basis.”

And who can say that this hope of Dr. Campbell’s will not be realized from his standpoint? The Scriptures of truth mention the possibility of such a combination. In fact, we are told that in the last days there will be brought about a great coalition of just such a character. The prophecy declares that the governments of earth will “have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. . . . For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.” Rev. 17:13-17.

For long years the Papacy has bewailed its widowhood, the loss of its temporal power. But there will come a time when she shall say in her heart, “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.” Rev. 18:7. But she knows not that these words are but the prelude to her final overthrow.

We cannot predict, of course, the order of events in the future, nor tell how rapidly the changing kaleidoscope of time will bring about a fulfilment of the words of God. We do not know whether Benedict XV will take a prominent hand in the bringing about of peace, or whether his counsels will be ignored by the nations engaged in the present war. But we do know that in the end, whether as the result of the present conflict, or later, the Pope will come once more, for a little time, into what he considers “his own.” We believe this is inevitable, for the reason that the prophecy of the Word clearly indicates that it shall take place.

The manner in which the nations of the Old World are coming under the influence of the Vatican, by returning to the old-time practice, even on the part of Protestant states, of sending representatives to the papal court, shows clearly the state of affairs among the nations of Europe as relates to their present attitude toward the Pope.

We can only watch and wait, recognizing in every successive step of fulfilling prophecy the times in which we are living, and the portent of the rapidly shaping events in the political and religious worlds. They admonish us to watch and be ready, “for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

F. M. W.

The Bible, Not Tradition

By G. B. T.

IN the discussion of the Sabbath question and some other theological questions which have wrapped up in them that which vitally affects the church and man's relation to his Maker, appeal is not infrequently made to the fact that certain customs exist, have existed for ages, and have been believed by the majority of the people, among whom are the most devout and learned in the church.

While this may be true, it is dangerous ground to occupy if our search is for truth. Had the Reformers taken this position, they would never have emerged from the midnight gloom of the Dark Ages, and cast off the shackles of error and superstition which had been welded upon them by popery.

The question is not what men believe, but what they ought to believe; not what men say is truth, but what really is truth. This is not determined by the number who may believe a certain dogma, or the length of time it may have had its residence among men. Hoary hairs do not change a lie into the truth. Satan is quite old, but he is the devil still.

The eminent historian, Gibbon, has well said:—

“The theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing religion as she descended from heaven arrayed in her native purity; a more melancholy duty is imposed upon the historian: he must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption which she contracted in a long residence upon earth among a weak and degenerate race of beings.”—“Gibbon, “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” preface.

The apostle Paul tells us that the “mystery of iniquity” was already working in his day, and that the full development of the “man of sin” was only a question of time. This spiritual decline made its appearance in the early church, and many unscriptural notions were introduced. Killen says:—

“In the interval between the days of the apostles and the conversion of Constantine, the Christian commonwealth changed its aspect. The bishop of Rome—a personage unknown to the writers of the New Testament—meanwhile rose into prominence, and at length took precedence of all other churchmen. Rites and ceremonies, of which neither Paul nor Peter ever heard, crept silently into use, and then claimed the rank of divine institutions.”—“Ancient Church,” preface.

The apostasy culminated in the Papacy, which has been characterized as “the last, the most matured, the most subtle, the most skilfully contriven, and the most essentially diabolical form of idolatry which the world ever saw, or which, there is reason to believe, it ever will see.” Concerning the error and superstition of a certain period of papal history, Dr. J. A. Wylie says:—

“By the most plausible pretexts and the most subtle devices was man led away from God, and taught to center all his hopes in himself. Faith was overthrown, and works were put in its room. The sacrifice of Christ was neglected, and man became his own savior. We trace the operation of this grand error in the superstitious and burdensome rites in which all holiness now began to be placed. Sanctification was no longer sought in a pure heart and a mind enlightened by divine truth, but in certain external rites, which were seldom either important or dignified. To nourish the passions and mortify the body was now the grand secret of holiness.

“Pilgrimages were undertaken, and their merits were regulated by the length and the perils of the way, and the renown of the shrine visited. Penances were imposed, fasts were enjoined; and in proportion to the severity of the suffering and the rigor of the abstinence, was the efficacy of the act to atone for sin, and recommend to the favor of God. A mind debased by ignorance, and not unfrequently by vice, and a body emaciated by flagellations and fastings, was a sure sign of eminent sanctity. Piety no longer consisted in love to God and obedience to his will, but in the observance of the most frivolous ceremonies, to which there attached an extraordinary value and a mysterious influence.

“To endow a convent or erect a cathedral was among the most illustrious deeds which one could perform. To possess a finger or a toe of a saint was a rare privilege; and the owner of so inestimable a treasure derived therefrom unspeakably more benefit than could possibly accrue from the possession of any moral or spiritual excellence, however exalted. Relics so precious were sought for with a perseverance and a zeal that set all difficulties at defiance; and what was so eagerly sought was in most cases happily found.

“The caves of Egypt, the sands of Libya, and the deserts of Syria, were ransacked. The bones of dead men, and, if history may be credited, of the lower animals, were exhumed, were hawked over Christendom, and purchased at a high rate. They were worn as amulets, or enshrined in cabinets of silver and gold, and, being placed in cathedrals, were exhibited at stated times to the devout.

“To abandon society, with the obligations it imposes and the duties it exacts, and to consume life in the midst of filth, indolence, and vice, was accounted an effort of uncommon holiness. To shirk the plow and the loom, and mount the wallet of the beggar,—to abscond from the ranks of honest industry, and fleece the laboring classes in predatory bands or as single sorners, was to be heroically self-denied and virtuous. Such holy men were rather unpleasantly common; for the West, as formerly the East, now began to swarm with monks and hermits. Such of the pagan sophists as lived to witness the rise of this superstition, no less amazed than indignant, pointed the keen shafts of their powerful satire against that filthy race, which had renounced the beautiful mythology of Greece and the martial gods of Rome, to fall prostrate before the bones and moldering relics of the dead.”—“The Papacy,” pp. 48, 49.

Think of drinking from such a polluted fountain, or looking to this period, or any other, as the place to find truth! Casting aside all tradition and superstition, our appeal should be to God's Word. We must follow the light which shines from its sacred pages, rather than walk in the footsteps of the multitude, be they ever so pious or learned. Here we can drink from a pure fountain; its waters are uncontaminated by the sayings of men who followed their own vain imaginings. Here every rock in time's ocean is charted, and all the dangers and pitfalls of the way are pointed out. Ever and anon it points with unerring accuracy in the right direction. From the broken fountains of error it leads us to the cooling springs of truth. The unadulterated Word is the only safe test by which we can determine the truth.

Taking the Bible as our sole guide, we shall find Jesus, and having found him, shall be guided into all truth.

G. B. T.

The Time of the End

By W. A. S.

(Concluded)

4. The Opening of All Lands

As the time came for knowledge to be increased, it was necessary that all lands should be open to receive the enlightening agencies. Thus, as the time of the end came, we see distinctly the hand of Providence swinging open the doors into all countries. It has been an era of world exploration and development. Particularly is this true of the last sixty or seventy years. It was in 1844 that the time of the prophecy came for the special advent movement, bearing the judgment-hour message to the world. The range of the movement is thus described in the prophecy:—

“I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” Rev. 14: 6.

This was a declaration that as the time came for the closing gospel work to be done, the doors of access to every nation and tongue and people would be thrown open. In 1844, or but a few years before, much of the world was closed to missionary endeavor. But as the prophecy indicates, the years following have witnessed the swift and systematic opening of all lands to the gospel message.

It was in 1842 that the first five treaty ports in China were opened to missions; in 1844 Turkey was prevailed upon to recognize the right of Moslems to become Christians, reversing all Moslem tradition; in 1845 Livingstone’s determination was formed to open up the African interior; in 1844 Allen Gardiner established the South American Mission. Dr. A. T. Pierson, speaking of the wonderful way in which Providence opened the doors of access in these times, wrote as follows:—

“Most countries shut out Christian missions by organized opposition, so that to attempt to bear the good tidings was simply to dare death for Christ’s sake; the only welcome awaiting God’s messengers was that of cannibal ovens, merciless prisons, or martyr graves. But, as the little band advanced, on every hand the walls of Jericho fell, and the iron gates opened of their own accord. India, Siam, Burma, China, Japan, Turkey, Africa, Mexico, South America, the Papal States, and Korea were successively and successfully entered. Within five years, from 1853 to 1858, new facilities were given to the entrance and occupation of seven different countries, together embracing half the world’s population.”—Modern Mission Century, p. 25.

God’s providence has laid under tribute every force and every resource for the opening of all lands—missionary endeavor, love of adventure, commercial enterprise, and scientific interest. Railways have been built through regions that were undiscovered seventy years ago, and among the passengers traveling now over the iron trail are men and women of tribes unknown fifty years ago. But the gospel message was to go to every tribe and tongue before the end; and wonderfully Providence has been opening the doors throughout all this “time of the end,” and particularly in our generation.

5. Material Agencies for the Work

The prophecy represents not only a world-wide work, but a quick work in proclaiming the gospel message in the last days. The movement is symbolized in the Revelation by an angel flying in the midst of heaven, from land to land. And as to the closing work, when the end is near at hand, the Scripture says:

“For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” Rom. 9:28.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” This is the hope for a quickly finished work in all the earth in our time. Yet the Lord lays hold of material things for service; and wonderfully the hand of Providence has wrought in bringing into existence material agencies for a quick work in carrying the gospel to the world—such agencies as no generation before ours ever had.

At the time when the first foreign missionary movement was being launched in America, Robert Fulton’s steamship, the “Clermont,” was making its first trip on the Hudson. In 1838 the first ship to cross the Atlantic under steam power alone came into New York from Liverpool, forerunner of the fleets that furrow all the seas today, making quick pathways for the gospel messengers to all lands. It is a gift of God’s providence to this generation when all the world is to hear the gospel message.

“He hath made the deep as dry, He hath smote for us a pathway to the ends of all the earth.”

In 1825 Stephenson built his first railway passenger locomotive, which still may be seen in the Darlington (England) railway station. It was the beginning of the great revolution in land travel. The late Prof. Alfred Russel Wallace, scientist, wrote:—

“From the earliest historic and even in prehistoric times till the construction of our great railways in the second quarter of the present century [the nineteenth], there had been absolutely no change in the methods of human locomotion.”—The Wonderful Century, p. 7.

For nearly six thousand years men had traveled in the old way. Why should these revolutionary changes in travel by sea and land abruptly come just at that time?—Because the time of the prophecy was at hand, when the last gospel message was to be carried quickly to all the world—“to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” We see the hand of the living God opening the doors into all lands, and his wonderful providence laying at the feet of this generation agencies for quickly covering the whole earth.

Later came the electric telegraph, for the quick transmission of news. It was in 1837 that Cook and Wheatstone in England, and Morse in the United States, made their applications for patents on the electric telegraph. It was in 1844 that the first long-distance system was successfully demonstrated—when the historic message was sent from Baltimore to Washington, “What hath God wrought!” Now news of events fulfilling prophecy, and news of progress and conditions in all lands are daily spread before the world by this agency of our wonderful time. As the closing events take place, the Lord has so ordered it in his providence that no one need be ignorant of the signs of the times fulfilling before the eyes of men.

Here is an incident illustrating the way in which the electric telegraph may multiply and spread abroad the witness borne to the truth of God in some obscure corner of the earth: Some years ago a young man in Europe—a Seventh-day Adventist—was giving answer for his faith. His conscience would not allow him to do ordinary labor on God’s holy Sabbath. He had declared to the court that the oath of loyalty which had been required of him forbade his breaking the Sabbath. “How is that?” asked the judge. The young man replied:—

“I was sworn in with a Christian oath, and therefore cannot be under an obligation to violate the commandments of God and work on the Sabbath. One must regard God as the highest authority, and obey him in the first place.”

This witness was borne in a little courtroom, before a small group of men. But the press dispatches took it up, and the description of the scene and report of the words spoken were carried by electric telegraph to the press of at least four continents; and millions read the testimony of the young man to the faith that was in him. In the days to come, with great events taking place and solemn issues calling upon men to make decision for God and for his truth, how quickly, in some great crisis, all the world may be warned, and the last individual decisions be made for eternity.

Time fails us to speak of all the wonderful material developments of this time when knowledge has been increased, and when men are not only searching to and fro, but literally running to and fro. The whole earth is brought within the range of human knowledge, and the light is streaming out toward every dark place where the children of men dwell.

Nearly two thousand five hundred years ago it was written upon the prophetic page,—

“Shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”

There the word stood on the scroll of prophecy through more than two millenniums. Then, as the time of the end came, lo, the book of prophecy was unsealed, and the new era of increasing knowledge began to spread in wondrous blessing over the earth.

So surely, also, the prophecies of the last things will be accomplished; and we see, in the events taking place before our eyes, that God is indeed finishing his work in the earth, and cutting it short in righteousness.

W. A. S.

A Lesson from Experience

By L. L. C.

ONE of our exchanges tells of a personal experience, and draws a lesson therefrom, which we think worthy of being passed on to our readers.

The editor, it seems, lives at some distance from the office of the paper, and finds it necessary to take an early morning train to arrive at the office at the opening hour. Arising early one morning, he looked at his watch without his spectacles, and thought it was four o’clock when really it was five. He therefore supposed he had plenty of time for doing a number of things besides taking his breakfast, and still catch the train.

He consulted his watch several times to note the passing time. When he thought it was 5:30, he happened to glance at a clock and noticed that it was 6:30, too late to catch the train. His watch was correct, and though he looked at it several times, his initial error of thinking it one hour earlier than it was, kept him from really noticing the hour. He took it for granted that he knew the hour, and watched only the minute hand.

The lesson to be drawn from this experience is that many times our previous conceptions hinder us from a true view of the facts. Having grasped one side of some truth, one may practically close his eyes to any further enlightenment in regard to it. Because of preconceived ideas concerning the teaching of the Bible, many who read that holy volume fail entirely to see its real teaching. Everything they read is interpreted, not so much with reference to other scriptures, as with reference to their own system of belief. Let us individually decide that we will come to the Bible with entire open-mindedness, to find what it really does teach. Only thus can God give us the full truth. L. L. C.

Thankfulness Amid Trouble

By Richard Chenevix Trench

SOME murmur when their sky is clear, And wholly bright to view, If one small speck of dark appear In their great heaven of blue; And some with thankful love are filled If but one streak of light, One ray of God's great mercy, gild The darkness of their night. — Richard Chenevix Trench.

The Great Commission

“Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

“Whom Shall I Send?”

By H. A. ST. JOHN

H. A. ST. JOHN

Isaiah had a new view of the Lord and his glory, and he was humbled, and cried out, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” Then a high and holy ministering angel came to his relief. His lips were touched with a live coal from the heavenly altar, and his iniquity was taken away, and his sin purged. Then it was he heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah instantly cried out, “Here am I; send me.” Then the Lord told him to go, and he told him what to say and do.

Reader, have you ever had an experience like that? O, how many have unclean lips,—lips defiled by evil speaking, complaining, murmuring, faultfinding, jesting, foolish talking, etc. With zealous repentance tell the Lord, and your iniquity will be purged and taken away. Jesus is the live coal, the only one who can take away sin. Open the door of your heart and let Jesus come in, and you surely will hear the Lord saying, Go here or there; Do this or that; and, filled with the missionary spirit, you will instantly exclaim, Lord, here am I; send me. And he will give you a message, and will say, Go, and I will go with you. Thus will the Lord cut short his work in the earth.

Sanitarium, Cal.

Growing Old

By C. H. BLISS

C. H. BLISS

As I glanced over a list of obituaries recently, I noticed the announcement of the death of a man of seventy years, which said, “Died of old age.” Instantly I thought of Moses, of whom it is said that at the age of one hundred and twenty years, “his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.” How different the conditions in the world today! Men in the prime of life, at forty or fifty, are wrinkled and gray. In the strength of manhood many are suddenly stricken with heart failure. Surely there must be a reason for this change.

No doubt this age of hurry, strain, and overwork has much to do with the breaking down of health in early life. Worry, no doubt, kills thousands; but the waste of life’s forces through intemperate indulgences kills tens of thousands. On the streets we meet pale-faced young men whose sunken eyes and unsteady gait tell a tale of nights spent in debauchery and sin. If the hidden were brought to light, there would be found among church members and Christian workers many whose hearts are full of wickedness. Paul says, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection.” Again he tells us that one who strives for the mastery “is temperate in all things.” One controlled by fleshly lusts is under the law, a servant of sin, and the end thereof is death. Only he who masters self is a free man. Such have the promise of the life that now is, and of the one which is to come.

* Peoria, Ill.

The Tenth Commandment

By MILTON C. WILCOX

The Law of God—No. 15

The Tenth Commandment

MILTON C. WILCOX

“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” Ex. 20:17.

We need not take time to dwell on the things named,—wife, servant, house, and various kinds of property. Let it suffice that they belong to some one, and no other person should covet them.

What does it mean to covet? What is covetousness?

The word is used in a twofold sense. It means inordinate desire, unlawful desire, for that which is not one’s own. This is the covetousness forbidden by the commandment.

Covetousness means an earnest longing for that which is good—“covet earnestly the best gifts.” 1 Cor. 12:31; 14:1. The American Revised Version has properly rendered it, “Desire earnestly the greater gifts.”

With the first meaning, the commandment, “Thou shalt not covet,” deals. We should not earnestly desire that which belongs to another; it is unlawful. Yielding ourselves to such a desire brands us as sinners. Such a desire controls us. It becomes a molding influence in our character. It turns our thoughts and our affections away from him to whom we should belong, and whose fulness ought to satisfy us, to a thing which does not belong to us. It can only be satisfied with the possession of that which we covet, and to possess it unlawfully is stealing, the transgression of the eighth commandment. The beginning of stealing and robbery is covetousness.

But covetousness is more than this. It interposes between our souls and God, in whom we should seek our satisfaction. It puts an object upon his throne, and the covetous man becomes an idolater. See Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5. O how many there are whose hearts cling to that which God and conscience demand to be given up, choosing their own desire instead of God’s wishes! It may be a farm or a house or a horse or a person, or a mere bauble of a costly hat or a ring, or perhaps baser lust. O soul, if you are bound, yield all these things, and let God’s commandment show your sinfulness even as it did the sin of Paul. “Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom. 7:7, A. R. V.

The last commandment, as the first, touches the whole law. No one can yield to coveting without putting other gods before the Lord. In his own heart he sets up an image and altar in the thing he covets. In such cases it does not become difficult to take God’s name in vain. The man controlled by covetousness may take God’s name in vain even when he prays.

The covetous man will desire God’s time, the Sabbath, for his own. Covetousness, therefore, leads to Sabbath breaking.

Any unholy life is dishonoring to godly parents, and covetousness in Jesus’ day made void the fifth commandment. See Matt. 15:3-6; Mark 7:9-13. Tradition had embodied in its code the unlawful desire to use for selfish purposes that which belonged to father and mother.

The criminal first desires the destruction of his victim before he kills; his victim’s property before he steals; satisfaction of lust before he commits adultery. The same unholy longing leads in various ways to the transgression of the ninth precept. The tenth commandment forbids the transgression of any other.

Men talk glibly sometimes of enacting into civil codes the ten commandments. How could serious, thoughtful men ever consider such a fallacy? “Thou shalt not” is a matter of heart and motive, which no human law can touch or determine. This tenth commandment, considered by itself, reveals the spirituality of God’s law. Such a view of God’s law brought Paul to his knees, an acknowledged sinner. He could say, “The law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14.

And that conviction shut him up to the only hope, the only Saviour, the only Deliverer, Jesus Christ our Lord. Rom. 7:24, 25; Gal. 3:22-24. He takes away the sin, freely forgives us by his grace, counts us as though we had never sinned. Rom. 3:20-24. Then the law, which before had condemned us, becomes a perfect witness to the righteousness which God has given us by faith. The two are one. Sinful, we could not get righteousness by law. But Jesus fully kept the law, and freely gave to us his righteousness that our sins might be covered.

More than this, he writes the law in our hearts. He places it not over us to condemn us, nor under us to be trampled upon, but with us, a blessing, a protection, a help, a guide to service, a witness to the appropriated righteousness of Jesus all the way, so that the erstwhile sinner joyfully sings, “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Ps. 119:97.

“This is the love of God, that we keep

his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3.

May the readers of these lines know the love of God which passeth knowledge, that love which delights in obedience to his every command, that they may be found at last among that twice-blessed band who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

Mountain View, Cal.

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