Signs of the Times, Vol. 14, No. 44. (11/16/1888)

Signs of the Times

Nov 16, 1888

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 16, 1888

DAVID'S EXPERIENCE IN PHILISTIA.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

DAVID was cordially received at Gath by the king of the Philistines. The warmth of his reception was partly due to the fact that the king admired him, and partly to the fact that it was flattering to his vanity to have a Hebrew leave his own nation to seek his protection. Achish hoped to be successful not only in gaining David as an ally, but in gaining others also, for he felt assured that many would be influenced through David's example to rally under his standard. David felt secure from betrayal in the dominions of Achish. He brought his family, his household, and his possessions, as did also his men, and to all appearances he had come to locate permanently in the land of Philistia. All this was very gratifying to Achish, who solemnly promised to protect the fugitive Israelites.

At David's request for a residence in the country removed from the royal city, the king graciously granted Ziklag as a possession, and it was afterward annexed to Israel's dominions. For a year and six months, David made his home in the country of the Philistines. He had tasted the bitterness of envy at Saul's court, and he feared that he might have a similar experience in the court at Gath. But it was for far weightier reasons that he desired to leave the royal city. He realized that it would be dangerous for himself and men to be under the influence of those who were connected with idolatry and transgression. In a town wholly separated for their use, they might worship God with more freedom than they could if they remained in Gath, where the senseless, heathen rites could but prove a source of evil and annoyance.

While dwelling in this isolated town, David made war upon the Geshurites, the Gezrites, and the Amalekites, and he left neither man nor woman alive to bring tidings to Gath. When he returned from battle, Achish inquired as to where he had been, and David gave him to understand that he had been warring against those of his own nation, the men of Judah. But, by this very dissembling, he was the means of strengthening the hand of the Philistines, for the king said, "He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever." By placing himself under the protection of the Philistines, he had discovered to them the weakness of his people; for the Philistines had feared David more than they had feared Saul and his armies. Although David knew that it was the will of God that the Philistines should be destroyed, and although he knew that he was appointed to do this work, yet he was not walking in the counsel of God when he practiced deception. Moreover, he had been anointed to stand in defense of the people of God; and the Lord would not have his servants give encouragement to the wicked by disclosing the weakness of his people, or by an appearance of indifference to their welfare.

David's faith in God had been strong, but it had failed him when he placed himself under the protection of the Philistines. He had taken this step without seeking the counsel of the Lord; but when he had sought and obtained the favor of the Philistines, it was poor policy to repay their kindness by deception. In the favor they had shown him they had been actuated by selfishness. They had reason to remember the son of Jesse, for his valor had cost them their champion, Goliath, and had turned the tide of the battle against them. The Philistines were glad of an opportunity to separate David's forces from the army under Saul. They hoped that David would avenge his wrongs by joining them in battle against Saul and Israel.

"And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men." David had no intention of lifting his hand against his people, but he was not certain as to what course he would pursue until circumstances should indicate the direction of his duty. He answered the king evasively, and said, "Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do." Achish understood these words as a promise to assist him in the approaching war, and the king pledged his word that if he would do this, he would bestow upon him great honor, and give him a high position among his officials.

But although David's faith had staggered somewhat at the promises of God, he still remembered that Samuel had anointed him king of Israel. He recalled the victories that God had given him over his enemies in the past. He reviewed the great mercies of God in preserving him from the hand of Saul, and he determined that he would not betray any sacred trust, or imperil his soul's salvation. He would not join his forces with the enemy against Saul, even though the king had sought his life.

How many would have yielded to the temptation that Achish presented to David! How many have fallen, and how many will fall, into the snare of Satan for temporary advantages! Ambitious for exaltation, they will unite their influence with the avowed enemies of God's truth if they can only be

honored among those who are honored of men. For present advantages, they will sacrifice the eternal good that God has in store for them. They will not endure the proving of God, and show themselves true in every place, and under all circumstances. God has promised that his faithful, obedient servants shall be exalted to be priests and kings. "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world?"

Satan succeeds in making many grow restless, even after they have wrestled against difficulty, and have run well for a season. He presents temptation in a new way, and under a different aspect, and places before men human honors and advantages, and they fall, as did Adam and Eve when the serpent said, "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Stretching beyond their capacity, they seek a more exalted position; desiring the highest seat they will finally, with shame, have to take the lowest seat. They sell their souls to the enemy, that they may be lifted up, and they will find, at last, that they are slaves to the one who degrades and ruins mankind. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

THY KINGDOM COME.

By Jean Ingelow

I HEARD a seer cry, "The wilderness, The solitary place, Shall be glad for Him; and he shall bless, When he doth come, with his revealed face, The forests; they shall drop their precious gum, And shed for him their balm, and he shall yield The grandeur of his speech to charm the field.

"Then all the soothed winds shall drop to listen (Thy kingdom come); Comforted waters waxen calm shall glisten With bashful tremblement beneath his smile; And Echo ever the while Shall take, and in her awful joy repeat, The laughter of his lips—(thy kingdom come); And hills that sit apart shall be no longer dumb; No; they shall shout and shout, Raining their lovely loyalty along the dewy plain, And valleys round about;

"And all the well-contented land, made sweet With flowers she opened at his feet, Shall answer; shout, and make the welkin ring, And tell it to the stars; shout, shout, and sing, Her cup being full to the brim, Her poverty made rich with him, Her yearning satisfied to its utmost sum;— Lift up thy voice, O Earth, prepare thy song; It shall not yet be long; Lift up, O Earth, for he shall come again, Thy Lord; and he shall reign, and he shall reign— Thy kingdom come." —Jean Ingelow.

"A TALENT FOR PRAYER."

How often we hear an expression similar to the above. Such a one, people say, is remarkably gifted in prayer; he has a talent for prayer; or he is so eloquent in prayer. There is no doubt that such expressions as these have done a great amount of harm. Young and timid persons, or those of little Christian experience, are led by them to think that they cannot offer an acceptable prayer. They become discouraged at their own short, broken sentences, and imagine that they cannot pray at all, or at any rate not in public. Such a conclusion is wrong, for there is no one who cannot and ought not to pray in public, at proper times; and the ill-considered statements of many persons, concerning prayer, are very often the reason why some neglect this duty.

It depends entirely on the purpose for which the prayer is offered, whether it needs to be eloquent or not. The minister of whom it was said that he "made the most beautiful prayer ever delivered to a Boston audience," probably gained the object for which he prayed,—the applause of his hearers,—but it is doubtful if his prayer was of any real value. If the object of prayer were to please the people, then only the well-educated, and those of ready speech, should pray. But this is not the object of prayer. Prayer is simply the making known of our wants to God, with the request that they be satisfied. If any person really feels the need of help, he can pray. If he does not feel the need of help, his so-called prayer is only mockery. The child who is very hungry asks its parent for food in the fewest words possible. He uses no unnecessary language. So it should be with the one who desires blessings from God. We are told that we are not heard for our much speaking.

A real talent for prayer, then, is the ability to feel that we really need the help which God alone can give, and to know just what things we need. He who is in this condition cannot easily keep from praying if he would. The mere words of prayer are subordinate to this. Having this earnest desire in the heart, there are just two things necessary to insure an answer to the prayer, no matter how short and faltering it may be. Paul gives one: "For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The other is given by David: "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."—Selected.

THE WARRANT OF HOPE.

We use the word hope in its largest sense as including our salvation. The finished work of Jesus Christ is the only ground of hope for a sinner. Nothing in himself or of himself can afford him aught with which to appear before God justified. His sins, according to the gospel, are no bar to his salvation; and, on the other hand, his righteousness, of whatever kind or degree, is no basis on which he can be accepted of God. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to the sinner who believes. Therefore he is never to look to himself, much less in himself, to find that whereon he may rest in hope, but to God, as God has revealed himself in Christ Jesus for our salvation.

The next question which confronts the inquirer after salvation is how he may know that the salvation which is in Christ avails for him. Multitudes have no doubt that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of all men so far as he is God's gift to the world; but they do not take hold of the truth for themselves. Even many Christians who have as a definite act of faith accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and are seeking conscientiously to order their lives according to the expressed will of God, are not sure of their salvation. No question is more frequently asked by the average Christian when the matter comes up than this: "But how may we know that we are saved?" Surely so great a matter as our salvation is not left to conjecture on the part of believers. We are struck with the fact in reading the New Testament that there is never a doubt either expressed or implied of the salvation of those who believed in Jesus Christ. Indeed, the New Testament glows and throbs with an assurance on the part of those who speak for Christ and represent him to the world, that is simply wonderful.

Where, then, are we to find the sure warrant of our salvation? Certainly not in ourselves, any more than we are to find the ground of it there. Yet it is as habitual for Christians to look in and to themselves for assurance, as it is for sinners to look in and to themselves for the ground of their acceptance. Some turn back to a time when they think they were converted, and will tell you of the wonderful experience they had at that time. This to them is the warrant of their assurance. Others will tell you of their con-

scious communion with God, of the wonderful answers to prayer which they have had. Others appeal simply to an assurance which they feel in themselves that they are saved; again, others tell us of the "Spirit of God witnessing with" their "spirits that" they "are the children of God;" others will point to the growth in grace that has marked their Christian life, or appeal to their love of the brethren; and so on, and so on, to the end of the chapter. Now, there is no doubt that in these experiences there is a measure of proof that the persons who enjoy them are the subjects of God's good and saving grace; but in none of them is there a clear warrant for hope, and nothing could possibly be worse for an inquiring sinner or a believer than to put himself to the task of trying to realize or have these experiences in order to an assurance of salvation.

There is but one warrant of our salvation, and that is found in the word of God. In that word there is a record of God's purpose of grace toward sinful man, of the way in which he has accomplished his gracious will toward us by sending Jesus into the world, who took our sins and by his voluntary death put them away; after which he arose from the dead and passing through the heavens appeared in the presence of God and obtained eternal redemption for us. This same word not only tells us the conditions on which this great salvation is made over to us, but binds God by his word and oath to save eternally every sinner who honestly accepts his grace. John closes his Gospel with these words: "These are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." The word of God is an oath-bound word, that in both word and oath (the two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie) "we might have strong assurance who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us." That word, bound with an oath which God swore by himself, secures to every believer the salvation which Jesus wrought out. In like manner any sinner may come and claim the utmost grace of the warrant of the word. What the deed relating to a house is to the holder of the deed, the word of God is to the man or woman who has rested on Jesus for salvation. Just as the man who holds a deed would not appeal to his feelings or to his worthiness or to the memory or the day and incidents in connection with his original possession of the property in question for a confirmation of his title, but to the deed itself, so the believer does not appeal even to spiritual experiences for the warranty of his hope, but to the word of God, which is the written deed of gift to him through the Lord Jesus Christ.

The witness of the Holy Ghost himself is delivered through the word, as the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews saith: "Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us; for after that he had said before," then he refers to what the Holy Ghost had written before in the prophecy of Jeremiah: "Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more."

Nothing is more important for us to know and do than to regard the word of God as being finally authoritative in all matters of our relationship to God, and to take it at its face value and trust it implicitly. When our Lord said: "He that heareth my word and believeth him that sent me hath everlasting life," we may be staggered at the simplicity of this statement and wonder how so great a thing can be; but it is not for us to hesitate before the word of him who says: "Verily, verily, I say unto you." So again when the apostle says in Romans 10: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved," it would be the rankest unbelief and the worst presumption to question this abounding promise. Let us remember always that our warrant of hope is found only in the word of God. "If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. . . . And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. . . . These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5, 9-13.—Independent.

THE GRAVE OF MOSES.

By Interior (Presbyterian)

In the account of the death and burial of Moses, it is said that "no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day." The speculations have been endless as to why it was desired that the grave of the great law-giver and prophet should remain unknown. The suggestion is commonly made that it was to preserve it from superstitious or idolatrous worship. This hardly seems to be a sufficient or a reasonable explanation. The worship of relics was not a form of superstition to which the Jews manifested any inclination. They cherished the graves of the patriarchs. They had their tomb of Machpelah, where Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, were buried, and where the bones of Joseph were laid; but there is no evidence that any idolatrous homage was paid to these remains, or any superstitious ideas connected with them. The worship of relics was the development of a far later age, and was wholly foreign to Hebrew modes of thought. There was no more likelihood that the people would worship the bones of Moses than the bones of the patriarchs. The true reason, probably, why the sepulcher of Moses was to be unknown, was that it was not to be long tenanted by his body; it was soon to be an empty tomb. God laid the lifeless form for a little while in its mother earth, and then sent and raised it from the dead; and Moses is now in Heaven, with Enoch and Elijah, the representatives of a redeemed humanity; they three the first fruits, with Jesus, of the resurrection. There are two arguments for this view. One is that Moses appeared with Elijah upon the mount of transfiguration in bodily form. The other is an obscure reference in the epistle of Jude to a dispute between the archangel Michael and Satan "about the body of Moses." Just what this refers to is uncertain, but it is commonly supposed to indicate a bodily resurrection of Israel's great leader and prophet.

LOGIC IN THE PULPIT.

THERE are people in all our congregations who complain that preaching is too dogmatic or too hortatory—that the preacher does not construct syllogisms to prove the truth of his assertions—that he speaks too much with authority and backs up his statements with proof texts rather than arguments. They would like to have him, whenever he says God, stop and prove that there is a God; when he quotes from the Bible stop and prove that it is a divine book; when he addresses them as sinners, stop and prove that they are. If he did so then they could reject what he said if he failed to demonstrate it to their satisfaction. They want to regard the minister as an advocate, and themselves as the jury who are to render a verdict according to their estimate of the argument. These people, and we fear that there are a good many of them, have not learned what the preaching of the gospel really is. They regard it as a kind of moral and spiritual lectureship—or, if it is not this, then to them, as to the Greeks of old, it is foolishness. A set of men no wiser than their hearers claim to tell those hearers what they ought to do. What right have they thus to dictate and even to denounce? Why, if a campaign orator should do so he would be hissed from the stump. Give us more logic, they cry, if you want to convince us and proselyte us!

Paul, though he reasoned before Felix, did not reason like a dialectician. He gives us in one of his letters the key-note of his preaching, "commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." No doubt he grappled with the conscience of the Roman governor, for we are told that Felix trembled. Men don't tremble when a logician is trying to prove before them some abstract idea, but when he appeals to their fears, when he startles the moral nature that they have drugged into insensibility.

Let us suppose a man arraigned for murder in one of our criminal courts. The prosecuting attorney in his opening argument says: "May it please your honor, we shall prove to you and the jury that this man slew his victim deliberately, with malice aforethought, and we shall expect a verdict of guilty and condemnation to the gallows." And then the judge instead of assenting says: "Mr. Attorney, you are not logical. You are taking too much for granted. You must first prove that it is a crime to kill a man, and that killing with malice prepense is a capital offense. We will have an open debate on these points before we proceed with the facts in the case."

The attorney would, of course, reply that those points are settled by the criminal code, and to discuss them now would be illogical. And so it is with certain great truths in the minister's commission. His business is to present them, not to prove them. He may illustrate in order to impress, but never for a moment should he make the impression that their claim upon his hearers' attention depends on his skill in presenting them. An ambassador sent to a province in revolt might be slow of speech, or a tyro in logic, but he claims to be heard not because he is an eloquent speaker or a great reasoner, but because he comes with authority, and presents the terms of pardon which the Government has sent by him. And so is it in the case of Christ's ambassador and the sinner who is in rebellion. The logic the sinner needs is in the application of the word to his conscience and his heart. And let all the preachers remember this. Let none of them be tempted by the senseless clamor for logic in the pulpit to try to prove what God has sent them to proclaim. God's authority is worth a thousand times more than any argument that they can construct.—Selected.

SHAPING THE FUTURE.

By John Greenleaf Whittier

WE shape ourselves the joys or fear Of which the coming life is made, And fill our future atmosphere With sunshine or with shade. The tissues of the life to be We weave with colors all our own, And in the field of destiny We reap as we have sown. Still shall the soul around it call The shadows which it gathered here, And painted on the eternal wall The past shall re-appear. Think ye the notes of holy song On Milton's tuneful ear have died? Think ye that Raphael's angel throng Has vanished from his side? Oh, no! we live our life again; All warmly touched, or coldly dim, The pictures of the past remain; Man's work shall follow him. —J. G. Whittier.

HARD KNOCKS.

By Sunday

HERE is a lesson from an iron bar: A bar of iron that costs $5.00, worked into horseshoes is worth $12.50; made into needles it is worth $350; made into pen-knife blades it is worth $3,000; made into balance springs for watches it is worth $250,000! What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to reach all that; but hammered and beaten, and pounded, and rolled, and polished, how is its value increased! It might well have quivered and complained under the hard knocks it got, but were they not all necessary to draw out its fine qualities and fit it for higher offices! And so all the drilling and training which you are subject to in youth, and which often seem so hard to you, serve to bring out your nobler and finer qualities, and fit you for more responsible posts and greater usefulness.

Consecration and Vigilance

CONSECRATION puts all upon the altar, and vigilance keeps it there. We must not only become earnest, but must remain so.—Sel.

WHICH IS THE GLOOMY DOCTRINE?

By John Nevins Andrews

THE sleep of the dead is often designated a gloomy doctrine, and many refuse to listen to the testimony of the Bible on this subject, choosing rather to remain "ignorant concerning them which are asleep" than to consider the stern realities of death and the grave. "Your doctrine," say they, "is chilling, repulsive, forbidding. The sleep of the dead! why, the very idea is enough to freeze one. But the immortality of the soul, and the reward of the saints at death, this, this is the very marrow and fatness of the gospel; this is indeed that blessed hope."

But stop, friends, a few moments. It may be that you are blinded by prejudice. Be not too hasty. If you are not willing to devote the needed time for weighing this subject in the balances of the Scriptures, will you not wait long enough to try the justice of this objection in the balances of reason?

You say that the doctrine is full of gloom, and that the departed saints have experienced a bitter disappointment in being consigned to the cold grave for long ages, instead of being received into glory. You think the idea full of gloom to the living, and dreadful to the dead. But you forget that, if the doctrine be true, there is no chill, no gloom, no darkness, no disappointment, no lapse of time, no waiting through long ages to the dead. The interval between their decease and their resurrection will be to them no time at all. The twinkling of an eye, in which the righteous will be changed to immortality, will be as long to them as the whole period during which righteous Abel has slept in death will be to him. And to him, so far as his own knowledge of the case is concerned, it will be precisely as though he entered Heaven at the very moment he was slain.

You say that this helps the matter a little; but that, for all this, the sleep of the dead will no more compare in consolation with the soul's immortality and the reward at death than the desert of Sahara will compare in beauty with the garden of Eden. Do not be too hasty, friends. You may discover facts that will change this opinion. You find great consolation in the thought that the soul is immortal, and that men are rewarded as they die. Answer me a few questions. How large a part of mankind lead lives of holiness, and die with good evidence of their acceptance with God? Truth compels you to answer that a minority are all that can be said to do this. What becomes, then, of this great majority of men who have died out of Christ, and entered their reward? Oh! they have gone into the furnace of fire, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. What is the condition, then, at this very moment, of the greater part of the dead, according to this cheering doctrine of yours? You have to answer, They are in unspeakable torment. You admit that this dreadful fact somewhat abates the consolation you have hitherto found in this doctrine. But I want you to answer one question more. If the soul is immortal, as you affirm, how long are these impenitent men thus to suffer? You answer again, and this time surely with a shudder, THEY MUST SUFFER TO ALL ETERNITY. Before we part, will you not own that yours is the gloomy doctrine? Is it not a relief to your mind to think that men are to be judged BEFORE they are rewarded or punished? and that till the day of judgment men wait for their reward? And is not that doctrine best which teaches that immortality is the gift of God, and that it is given only to the righteous?—J. N. Andrews.

"AT EASE IN ZION."

By B. Taylor

WE find this phrase but once in the word of God. Zion, as the word is used in it, means the true church, whether Jewish or Christian. Hence, to be at ease in Zion is to be at ease in the church, not out of it. This latter state is full of danger, but it may admit of question whether the former is not more dangerous and less hopeful. Ease is rest, or a quiet, undisturbed state. As applied to the body, it is freedom from pain, disturbance, excitement. As applied to the mind, it is freedom from anxiety, solicitude, or any thing that frets and ruffles it.

To be at ease in Zion, or the church, is to be free from care or anxiety about the spiritual state of the church as a whole and of the individuals who are connected with it. It is to have little or no concern about its purity, soundness in the faith, or growth. It is to be indifferent to its best interest. Though of it in name, those at ease in it seem to care little for it. Having become members of it, they expect to be carried to Heaven as a matter of course, as those expect to be carried to their destined port who have paid their fare and gone on board the vessel about to sail to it. They may be wrecked before they reach that port, but they do not expect to be.

Those at ease in the church do not add to its strength, but spiritually encumber and weaken it. Whatever they may do financially, spiritually they are dead weights rather than helps. . . . They might do their best to rescue one whose life was in danger, though a stranger to them; but they have not a word of warning for friend or foe who is perishing in sin.

Their own impenitent children are seldom if ever told of the danger to which they are exposed. In a word, much as they might do to relieve those in temporal distress, they do not utter a word to save the impenitent from the destruction that awaits them. Though God has made us keepers one of another so far as we have or might have influence one over another, those at ease in Zion seem to say, "The spiritual state of others is no concern of ours. We will go on in our own way and leave them to go in theirs." The father who does not care for himself or for his children is not likely to care much for others. And the church member who is so much at ease that he cares not for the spiritual interests of his church, is not likely to care for the best interests of those who are beyond its pale. Hence, so far as those at ease are concerned, their impenitent friends and neighbors have occasion to say, "No one hath cared for our souls." A revival is not likely to begin among those who are at ease in a church, or to be continued by them should God be pleased to revive the church to which they belong. As far as the members of a church are at ease, the church is in a dying state. Its light is hid, if it has light. It is of no benefit to others or the world at large.

And what is the divine word to those who are at ease in Zion? By one of his prophets God says, "I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease." He is not likely to be less displeased with the impenitent in a Christian land who are at ease. What then must be in store for those at ease in the Church? God tells us in one word: "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!" And woe means grief, sorrow, misery, a heavy calamity, a curse. Such are the things that await those who continue at ease in Zion. God says it, and his word will not return to him void. There is but one way to escape these direful calamities, and that one is to cease to be at ease in Zion.—B. Taylor, D. D., in Occident.

IS THERE A PERSONAL DEVIL?

By Rev. Geo. P. Byington

"The Lord said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." Job. 2:2.

THE revisers made no change in rendering the original of this verse, and left no trace in the margin of difference of opinion concerning it, and I will not revise their work. The passage occurs in the prose introduction with which the author prepares the reader to understand his poem of forty chapters which follows. And yet, underlying the simple style of narrative in the verse before us, is a poetic figure which makes the explanation more difficult. The figure is that of God as a monarch on a throne, surrounded by servants whom he sends forth to do his will, and who return from time to time for fresh commands. These are holy angels of God, and among them comes one called Satan.

1. The question is raised as to the real existence of this Satan, and this question belongs with another: Is the whole narrative an allegory, with the names of only fictitious beings occurring in it? or is it partly real and partly fact? It may be answered that the whole has the appearance of being real history; and it requires more than a theory to turn it into an allegory. Its representation of God's holy angels going forth and returning, as ministers of his will, agrees with the general teaching of the Scriptures. The existence of the sons of God (in such association) is not doubtful; and our narrative treats Satan as having the same reality of being as the sons of God, whom he follows to the throne.

The same representation also implies the real existence of a man called Job, who is known as a historical person, for Ezekiel speaks of Job just as he does of Noah and Daniel, who are undoubted historical characters; and James holds up Job as an example of patience. The verisimilitude of the scene

also makes Satan here as real as God. They talk together, and we may as well say that the one does not exist as the other; and so it is not probable that God and sons of God and Job in this narrative are all true beings, while Satan, who appears to be just as real, is fictitious!

2. If then our passage implies the reality of Satan's existence, it also implies his personality. He who is styled Satan cannot be a mere evil principle; for such a principle must belong to some personal being; and if God is the only personal being present, then we shall have him (by a figure) talking with an evil principle within himself. But he has no such evil principle. Hence, even poetic license will not permit us to interpret this Satan who talks with God as other than a personal being. He shows, too, the intelligence, self-consciousness, and free moral agency, which make him a person. He recollects the past; he relates his history; he shows a sense of responsibility; the pronoun "himself" is applied to him; he is as real a person as the angel Gabriel; and if we are at liberty to read out, even of this poetic story (in God's word), Satan's real, personal existence, I know not what (in the Bible) we may not read out (or in) at pleasure.

3. Our passage implies that Satan is a creature, finite and limited in power and work. Here he is acknowledging his accountability to God, like one of us. God demands, "Whence comest thou?" Only a being made by God is answerable to him. If there were a second self-created, self-existent, infinite being, God could not ask him to give account of himself.

The rest of the narrative brings out, in detail, how Satan is limited by God's will, in what he can do to Job. And other scriptures, which represent Satan as bound by God's chain, agree with this. Our passage will not let us give to Satan the divine attribute of omnipresence (as some of the talk we hear in religious meetings practically does), for Satan represents himself as going up and down in the earth and walking to and fro in it. That is, he is never in two places at once, like a divine being, but he must travel by some process, and take time in order to reach a given point. If he is personally tempting someone in Boston, at this moment, he is not in Middlebury or Paris. No matter how swiftly he may journey, he must consume time (like the limited, created being that he is). Our passage agrees with the rest of the Bible in making it improper to speak (or think) of him as in many places at once.

4. Our passage implies, also, that Satan is an evil being, because God is here calling him to give account of himself. . . .

5. Our passage implies that Satan is the overseer of evil in this world. His journeys to and fro and up and down in the earth are as superintendent of wickedness, to organize, discipline, direct his army, so that the most concerted and effective hindrance to the will and work of God may be maintained. Satan is the restless and mercurial leader, planning his campaign, and passing rapidly from one part of the world-wide field to another, to diffuse his spirit, to communicate his plots.

Most of his personal interviews are with demoniac or human leaders. . . . He does not do all the work of tempting the world.

He does not need to. He works mostly through agents, and there are plenty of agents. The strongest evidence to-day (outside of the Bible) for the existence and agency of a personal devil is the union of plan and effort on the part of those who are doing evil work,—the sameness of method of those who oppose revivals, or manage the liquor traffic, or scatter the issues of the Satanic press.

6. Our passage implies, also, that Satan's usurped authority over this world will come to an end. For he is the adversary of God, and the time must come when the almighty power and wisdom of God will end all his craft and power.

—Rev. Geo. P. Byington, in Cynosure.

THE ONLY SAFE COURSE.

By Sunday School Times

NATURE abhors a vacuum; and nature will not allow a vacuum to remain such. The only way to get rid of anything that is obnoxious in the world of sense or of spirit is by displacing it. A common saying that has only one side of a truth in it, is, "An empty house is better than a bad tenant." But an empty house will not remain empty. No sooner is it empty, swept, and garnished, after one demon has been cast out of it, than it is liable to be entered for a permanent abode by seven other demons, every one of them livelier than the dismissed one. A good tenant is better than an empty house, as well as better than a bad tenant. And no house of head or of heart need remain empty.

If you would be rid of bad tenants in your head or your heart, you must fill up that house of the soul with tenants who are worth having there. This is the only course of safety for you. By God's grace, this is possible to you.—Sunday School Times.

CHARACTER.

By Iowa Teacher

TRUE nobility of character always wins respect and admiration. The heroic examples of history or fiction will do much to inspire the boys and girls of a school with good resolves, if brought before their minds in a proper manner. Let the teacher read or tell a short account of some noble deed or life, and then call upon the pupil to tell what good traits of character were exhibited. Let the pupil read biographies of truly successful men, and then tell what caused their success. Let them compare characters of men, and tell why some succeed and others do not. Let them tell wherein the heroes or heroines of the works of fiction, which they read, show nobility of character. Let them notice each other's dispositions and tell what is praiseworthy in each. The teacher should carefully guide in the formation of proper estimates of character. The sensational literature of to-day is calculated to create a false standard of virtue. Systematic training of this kind, by a teacher who is an example of noble thought and action, cannot fail to fire some of the youthful hearts with an ambition to make their lives an honor to the world. Be not discouraged in your efforts. Some of the seed sown will fall by the wayside and some on stony ground, but some will take root in good soil, and bring forth fruit in the years to come.—Iowa Teacher.

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