Earlier text: EDUCATION AS FOUND IN EGYPTTHE FLEETING MOMENTS.
By A. Smith
As the clock ticks off one second of time, the earth moves on its axis at the equator more than ninety-two rods, and forward in its path around the sun about nine miles. In that time all the heavenly bodies in the universe change places. There is no going back; the motion is ever onward. So all mankind are moving onward, away from past experiences, and forward in ever-advancing age, and nearer to the grave, or to that solemn hour when the trumpet of the Archangel shall awake the dead. Lying awake in the silent night, and listening to the clock, as with solemn cadence it strikes off the passing hours, never to return, how deeply are we impressed with feelings of unrest, and regret that precious time has been so often wasted; and resolves to improve the golden moments yet to come, are made only to be broken again and again. Each person in the world possesses an individuality. No one can be somebody else. Each person is building a character for himself; and the experiences of the moments as they pass leave their impress upon the structure. These moments are precious golden coin from the mint of heaven, and how important that they be used to enrich the character in the graces that alone can qualify one for the genial companionship of the pure and holy in this life, and of the angels of heaven by and by. It is useless to spend the time in regrets over past misdeeds and mistakes, or over the adverse circumstances that have contributed to make us what we are to-day. It is best in deep sorrow to confess our sins to God, who alone has power to give us victory, and compensation for the unequal conditions that may, through no fault of our own, have drawn a line of division between us and the more fortunate of mankind. There is no time to lose. Let each press the conflict in the strength of God, and make of himself all that it is possible to make, that when the immortal day shall dawn he may see that the sorrows and conflicts of his mortal life have wrought for him a more exceeding weight of glory. 'Live while you live,' the epicure would say,
'And seize the pleasures of the present day.'
'Live while you live,' the sacred preacher cries,
'And give to God each moment as it flies.'
Lord, in my view let both united be:
I live to pleasure when I live to Thee.' A. SMITH.
Grandville, Mich. SAVED BY HIS LIFE.
By M. C. Israel
2. After receiving pardon for our past sins, how are we saved from sinning?
"Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Rom. 5:10. 3. What is Christ to all who receive Him?
"The Word," "the Life." John 1:1, 4. 4. What does Christ say of His words?
"They are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63. 5. What is there inseparably connected with the Word that gives life?
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth," or giveth life. See Eph. 2:1, 5, 6. 6. The Holy Spirit and life are contained in the Word of God.
"The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." John 6:63.
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," "God breathed." 2 Tim. 3:16.
"He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost." John 20:22.
God's breath is life, and the Word given by it is life. 7. What was God's purpose in establishing His law for the intelligent beings of the universe?
"Which if a man do, he shall live." Lev. 17:4, 5.
It was "ordained to life." Rom. 7:10.
"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life." Rev. 22:14. 8. What results from the transgression of the law?
"Sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4.
"The wages of sin is death." "And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." Rom. 6:23; 7:10. 9. Whose words did Christ speak, that were spirit and life?
"The Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that His commandment is life everlasting." John 12:49, 50. 10. The Word and the Spirit being life, and inseparable from each other, when we receive the Spirit, what will it cause us to do?
"I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." Eze. 36:27. 11. The law of God, the obedience to which gives life, was in Christ's heart?
"I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart." Ps. 40:8. 12. The same law is in the hearts of all His children.
"Saith the Lord, I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." Heb. 10:15, 16. 13. It is the same Spirit of life that was in Christ Jesus that delivers us from the law of sin that is in our members.
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." Rom. 8:2.
His death, and His life in us, make us also free from the condemnation of the law of God. 14. What did Christ's example while here in the flesh do for sin in our flesh?
"Condemned sin in the flesh." Verse 3. 15. If we receive this Spirit of life from Christ Jesus, and walk in it, what will it cause to be fulfilled in us?
"That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Verse 4.
See also Eze. 36:27: "Cause you to walk in My statutes." 16. If the Word is spirit and life, should we not search the Word and take in large draughts of its life-giving spirit?
"Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me." John 5:39.
"If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. . . . This spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given." Verses 37-39.
NOTE.—By receiving the Word, we receive Christ and the Spirit of life that is in Him; this keeps us from committing sin. See 1 John 3:4-9. 17. What will the Spirit do for all who receive it?
"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities." It "searcheth the hearts," and "maketh intercession" for us "according to the will of God." Rom. 8:26, 27. 18. Is God willing to give us His Holy Spirit so fully that we can live without breaking His law?
"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Verse 32.
"How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?" Luke 11:13. 19. What company will be found, when the Lord comes, bearing all the fruits of the Spirit?
"They are without fault before the throne of God." "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:5, 12. 20. In order to be found in this company, what command of Christ must we obey?
"Receive ye the Holy Ghost." John 20:22.
M. C. ISRAEL. We may not know, we can not tell,
What pains He had to bear,
But we believe it was for us
He hung and suffered there.
He died that we might be forgiven,
He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to heaven,
Saved by His precious blood.
—Mrs. Alexander. THE method of Roman Catholics in finding the true church is (1) to take the testimony of the evangelists as mere men in regard to what Christ said about the church; (2) to assume that Christ's testimony as to the church applies to the Roman Catholic Church; and (3) to then take the testimony of the assumed church as the witness to the infallibility of the Scriptures, and her interpretations as the voice of the Scripture. In other words, the chief testimony which the Roman Catholic Church has to offer to support her own claim to the true church or to the veracity and inspiration of the Scriptures is her own dicta (see article of two weeks ago). This is not God's method. His Word, written from 3,400 years to 1,900 years ago, is the chief witness as to the character, the marks, the history, of the true church; and that character, those marks, and that history written in the church itself, is the confirming witness: the two together constitute a testimony which can not be overthrown. So was the mission of Christ established; so must be established the mission of His church. The word rendered "church" in the New Testament comes from the Greek word, ekklesia, from the verb ekkaleo, defined by Liddell and Scott's Standard Greek Lexicon, "to call out or forth, to summon forth." Ekklesia is defined to mean, "An assembly of the citizens regularly summoned, the legislative assembly," opposed to a sullogos, a mere crowd or concourse, which might be "legal or riotous." The word ekklesia is used in the Scriptures to describe the congregation of Israel in the wilderness (Acts 7:38), the "assembly" at Ephesus (Acts 19:32, 39, 41), and the various congregations of Christians associating together, as well as the general body of Christians. In fact, the word "church," in both singular and plural, where it is used in the New Testament Scriptures, comes, with one exception, from the Greek word ekklesia, meaning "called out," "an assembly of citizens regularly summoned." The exception is Acts 19:37, rendered in the Revised Version "temples," its proper meaning. The Church of God or of Christ, is, therefore, composed of "those whom God has called out, citizens of His kingdom, regularly summoned." The Head of the church, the only Head, is Jesus Christ. This the Word declares again and again:— "Which He [the Father] wrought in Christ, when He raised Him [Christ] from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all." Eph. 1:20-23. "And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him should all the fulness dwell." Col. 1:18, 19. There is none above Christ to the church. There is no intermediary between the Head and the body. The divine nerve force flows uninterrupted from the mind to every member. Not only is Christ the Head of the church as a whole; He is the Head of each member, and is the Head of the whole church only because He is the Head of each member of the church. For says the apostle: "I would have you know, that the Head of every man is Christ." 1 Cor. 11:3. The Lord is Spirit. His Word, His law, is spiritual. The church is His spiritual body, filled, actuated, controlled by His Spirit. There can be no wholly human head to a spiritual body. He only who is both God and man can connect man with God. He alone is the isthmus connecting heaven with the lost continent of earth. He is the ladder up which man must climb to heaven's heights. In the very nature of the case, Jesus Christ alone is the Head. He would have every soul know the blessed truth that the divine life flows free from Himself to each member; that the Head is in direct connection with each member, however small or insignificant that member may be; that there is personal contact, personal communication, personal sympathy, between each Christian and his Lord. No cordon of ecclesiastical police can hold back the humble suppliant from approaching the great Head. No mitred priests in lordly pomp may bow that soul in the dust and demand confession of sin which should be told only to Jesus Christ. There are to be no human non-conductors between the great infinite Source of divine electricity and the souls who need its vivifying power; and will be none if they will by simple faith look to Him and ask. Anathemas may be thundered; martyr fires may be kindled; men may die for Christ's sake; but as sure as the Head was raised by the might of God "far above all principalities and powers," every member of the body will triumph, and triumph eternally with Him. In this brief article we have two of the divine characteristics of the true church set forth: (1) She is composed of those whom God has "called out" of the assembly of heavenly, spiritual citizens, regularly summoned; and (2) her one, only Head, collectively and individually, is Jesus Christ. We will pursue the study of the subject farther in our next. IN past ages it may possibly have been difficult at times for some persons to definitely tell where certain Old Testament scriptures applied. But all that difficulty is removed from those who are living now. Hear the Word of the Lord upon this subject:— "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." 1 Cor. 10:1-12. "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted." And again, "All these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." "All these things," not a few of them, merely, but "all" "are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." Language could not express anything more clearly than the foregoing Scripture tells us that all of the experiences of ancient Israel that have been recorded in the Word of God are placed there to admonish us "upon whom the ends of the world are come." Then whatever we may read in the Old Testament, instead of tossing7it to one side by saying, "It was all intended for the Jews," we should closely and carefully consider and study every line and every word; for it is all written for us, rather than for them. And if you will take the pains to read the warnings and rebukes that were sent to ancient Israel, you cannot fail to be impressed with the fact that they are strikingly applicable to the world just now. From Genesis to Malachi, the words of patriarch, priest and prophet are thrilling with import, and weighted with the burden of divine truth that they bring to us right now. It is truly wonderful how our God was able to select just the experiences and the instructions that would meet a perfect parallel between ancient Israel and ourselves, and then have all the record so clearly written for the people of to-day. Your opinions, given to you by an erroneous or superficial education, may have been that the Old Testament is of no particular value to us just now. But it is perfectly clear that in this you have been mistaken. The Lord puts the whole matter beyond the realm of doubt or controversy by telling us plainly that all these things "are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." Then we who are living just now should study the Old Testament Scripture as well as the New with the closest and most devoted care. It is all the living truth of God for us of to-day. It is God's great light to guide us out of the darkness of these times into the perfect day of eternity. T. A SINGLE match in the hands of a little child kindles a great conflagration, and a city is in ashes. A little spark ignited the giant powder, and a great plant is in ruins. A little opening in the dam was suffered to go unnoticed, and the deluge of waters broke through, flooding all the vale, and sweeping many to destruction. A little leak in the noble ship fills her hold with water, drowns her fires, and finally sends her to the bottom with all on board. The lonely match, the one spark, the only opening, the single leak, were all such little things, but destruction and ruin attended their steps. The one cherished sin may seem in your eyes a little thing, but destruction is behind it. One cherished sin is a seed in fertile soil, which will bear abundant and baleful crop. O, do not harbor it in your heart nor permit it to remain in your thought for one moment! That one sin will pervert your standard of right. It will unconsciously lower every moral principle. The man who admits blackness into his soul where white light only should dwell, perverts every spiritual color sense. Sin is an enemy. It may be clothed in the insignia of royalty or the rank of the high of earth; it may pose as necessity, pure pleasure, or expediency; but if condemned of God, it is sin, a deadly enemy to the soul, an enemy that will be satisfied only when the soul perishes eternally. The sin is death, however small it may be. Look at it by faith in the Word. Count it death. Cast it out as such. Separate from it forever. Give it to Jesus Christ, who bought it, and let Him put in the place of its corroding presence His own blessed righteousness, fragrant and healing with the life of God. A MISCONCEPTION OF PROTESTANTISM.
AS showing how little even great and learned men in the world know of religious movements and their nature one only needs to read, "The Church in the Twentieth Century, by the Hon. David J. Brewer, justice of the Supreme Court of the United States." He predicts a roseate future. One of his reasons are thus stated:— It is not unworthy of notice either that the ancient enemies, Catholicism and Protestantism, are drawing closer to each other. The prelates and members of the two churches do not hesitate to affiliate in a thousand forms of labor. . . . The time is past when the Protestant should look back upon the horrible things of the inquisition and denounce Roman Catholicism on account thereof, or the Catholic, on the other hand, look back at the hanging of the witches, or the persecution of the Quakers, and denounce Protestantism therefor, but each should shake hands and join in a common effort to further the cause of a common Master. As to the things noted in the first two sentences, they are true, and it is sad that they are; for it means that Protestantism is the moving body. All that Rome inclines toward Protestantism is in policy not principles. In all that Protestantism moves toward Rome it is a sacrifice of the essential principles of Protestantism, of the principles which gave existence and life to the Protestant bodies. Protestantism in her origin, according to the historian, was based upon these principles:— The principles contained in this celebrated protest of the 19th April, 1529, constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second is the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these two abuses, Protestantism sets up above the magistrate the power of conscience; and above the visible church the authority of the Word of God. It declines, in the first place, the civil power in divine things, and says with the prophets and apostles: We must obey God rather than man. In presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. But it goes further; it lays down the principle, that all human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God. Even the primitive church, by recognizing the writings of the apostles, had performed an act of submission to this supreme authority, and not an act of authority, as Rome maintains; and the establishment of a tribunal charged with the interpretation of the Bible, had terminated only in slavishly subjecting man to man in that which should be the most unfettered—conscience and faith. In this celebrated act of Spire no doctor appears, and the Word of God reigns alone. Never has man exalted himself like the pope; never have men kept in the background like the Reformers. A Romish historian maintains that the word Protestant signifies enemy of the emperor and of the pope. If by this it is meant that Protestantism, in matters of faith, rejects the intervention both of the empire and of the papacy, it is well. Even this explanation, however, does not exhaust the meaning of the word, for Protestantism rejected the authority of man solely to place Jesus Christ on the throne of the church and His Word in the pulpit. There has never been anything more positive and at the same time more aggressive, than the position of the Protestants at Spire. By maintaining that their faith is alone capable of saving the world, they defended with intrepid courage the rights of Christian Proselytism. We can not abandon this Proselytism without deserting the Protestant principle.—History of the Reformation, D'Aubigne, book 13, chapter 6. Roman Catholicism at the time of the origin of Protestantism was the very opposite of what these principles demanded; she was indeed the impersonation of the principles against which the Reformers protested. She stood for a union of Church and State; she stood for the Inquisition; she stood for the persecutions of the Dark Ages, and she stands for all these now, because, not only are they hers by inheritance, but she is the avowed defender of all the principles and methods and deeds of that church during the past. Roman Catholicism is responsible therefor. All the evils are the direct outgrowth, the logical fruitage, of the union of Church and State, of a human tribunal over conscience and faith. Given the same opportunities now, and Rome would do the same, not because her devotees are worse than other men, but to be consistent to her system and teaching they must so do. Not so with Protestantism. One mourns at the deeds done in her name. But these deeds were not the result of the principles of true Protestantism. They were and are the direct outgrowth of Roman Catholic, pagan, and fleshly principles, held in professedly Protestant bodies, contrary to the principles of true Protestantism. The principles of true Protestantism and of Roman Catholicism are as irreconcilable and antagonistic to-day as they ever were. D'Aubigne remarks: "In the first days of the Reformation, the Evangelical Church ranged itself under the throne of Jesus Christ, and the Roman Church under the scepter of kings. Enlightened men, even among Protestants, have misunderstood this double nature of Protestantism and popery." And more than ever they do to-day. The words of the historian should still be heeded:— The Reformation was accomplished in the name of a spiritual principle. It had proclaimed for its teacher the Word of God; for salvation, faith; for king, Jesus Christ; for arms, the Holy Ghost; and had by these very means rejected all worldly elements. Rome had been established by the law of a carnal commandment, the Reformation by the power of an endless life. If there be any doctrine that distinguished Christianity from every other religion, it is its spirituality. A heavenly life brought down to man—such is its work; thus the opposition of the spirit of the Gospel to the spirit of the world was the great fact which signalized the entrance of Christianity among the nations. But what its Founder had separated had soon come together again; the church had fallen into the arms of the world; and this criminal union had reduced it to the deplorable condition in which it was found at the era of the Reformation. Thus one of the greatest tasks of the sixteenth century was to restore the spiritual element to its rights. The Gospel of the Reformers had nothing to do with the world and with politics. While the Roman hierarchy had become a matter of diplomacy and a court intrigue, the Reformation was destined to exercise no other influence over princes and people than that which proceeds from the Gospel of peace. If the Reformation, having attained a certain point, became untrue to its nature, began to parley and temporize with the world, and cease thus to follow up the spiritual principle that it had so loudly proclaimed, it was faithless to God and to itself. Henceforward its decline was at hand. It is impossible for a society to prosper if it be unfaithful to the principles it lays down. Having abandoned what constituted its life, it can find naught but death.—Hist. Ref., book 14, chapter 1. The war is to the end. Rome will use all her ancient and modernized weapons and plans she is permitted to use; true Protestantism can only use the Gospel of Infinite Love. O that not only Romanists but professed Protestants could see its preciousness! 931. The Forbidden Fruit.
By Editor
WHAT was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden? It was the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” of which the Lord said, “Thou shalt not eat of it.” We believe the tree of life was a literal tree, emblematic of God’s goodness in Jesus Christ. It bears its life-giving fruits. Rev. 22:12. There is no reason to believe that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not a literal tree. See Gen. 2:9. What fruit it bore we know not, but we know God used it to test man, and man fell and died. The beast that John saw was the Roman beast from 538 to 1798. During that period it "was." Then it received its deadly wound, and since then "is not." Under the rapid influence of Catholicism the deadly wound is being healed, and the beast will soon be restored. It is about to come up again as a persecutor of the people of God, to reign for a brief season—one hour—(Rev. 18:7-10), and then go into utter destruction. And all those who are not warned by God's Word and enlightened by His Spirit will wonder and worship the rival of God upon the earth. Rev. 13:3, 4. J. D. 933. Matt. 16:28. M. A. S.—Matt. 16:28 reads: "Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom." This refers to the transfiguration, witnessed by Peter, James, and John. Matt. 17:1. Peter tells us that this was a representation or vision of Christ's coming in glory, a figure of His soon glorious coming, which some shall witness. See 2 Peter 1:16-18. Guidelines for Asking Questions
By Editor
Note.—We wish those who ask questions to take particular notice: (1) Only such questions will be answered here as we believe to be of general interest and information. (2) We can not undertake to explain from four to a dozen scriptures, as in one sentence we are often requested to do. (3) Do not ask to "explain" a certain text or passage. State clearly the point in question. (4) Give full name and address, not for publication unless desired, but as evidence of good faith, and to give us the privilege of replying by letter if deemed best. (5) Unsigned communications of any kind find the quickest way to the waste-basket. (6) It is always well to inclose stamp. (7) "Foolish and unlearned questions avoid," also those that minister to mere curiosity. (8) Study the Scriptures yourselves. SPIRITUAL DECLENSION IN THE LAST DAYS.
HERE is what Jesus said eighteen centuries ago:— “And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold. But he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.” Matt. 24:12-14, R.V. Here is what the apostle Paul said:— “But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, . . . holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof.” 2 Tim. 3:1-5, R.V. This is the testimony borne by the governor of New Hampshire:— “The decline of the Christian religion, particularly in our rural communities, is a marked feature of the times, and steps should be taken to remedy it. No matter what our belief may be in religious matters, every good citizen knows that when the restraining influences of religion are withdrawn from a community its decay, moral, mental, and financial, is swift and sure. To me this is one of the strongest evidences of the fundamental truth of Christianity. I suggest to-day, as far as possible on Fast Day, union meetings be held, made up of all shades of belief including all who are interested in the welfare of our State, and that in your prayers and other devotions and in your mutual councils you remember and consider the problem of the condition of religion in the rural communities. There are towns where no church bell sends forth its solemn call from January to January. There are villages where children grow to manhood unchristened. There are communities where the dead are laid away without the benison of the name of the Christ, and where marriages are solemnized only by Justices of the Peace. This is a matter worthy of your thoughtful consideration, citizens of New Hampshire. It does not augur well for the future.” A Methodist-Episcopal minister of Boston declared, according to the Literary Digest, that “Christian ministers found that among the towns of New England there were boys and girls fifteen and sixteen years of age who had never heard a minister of the Gospel speak.” This is the testimony of Dr. N. D. Hillis, successor to Lyman Abbott, in Plymouth Church:— “While our States are increasing in population, the population of the country districts and smaller villages is actually less than it was in 1890. Not New Hampshire alone is threatened. The census of nine counties in Iowa shows forty deserted churches. In one county investigated in Illinois were nine deserted churches, and in one county of Wisconsin five. The explanation is that the city has drained the country town of its best blood and Christian leaders [but our cities are certainly not growing better]. Sections which once had strong churches are now given over entirely to foreigners. . . . Now, how do these godless communities compare with the institutions of our fathers? The customs of our present day immigrants are to their ideas what the iron pyrites is to the pure and massive gold.
“It is well that our mountains are exalted above the Alps, that our lakes contain half the fresh water of the planet, that our forests are unequalled, that our hills are crowded with waiting ore. But what matters it if we have richer soil, larger fields, more luxuriant grass than the land of the Puritans if we can only produce oxen and horses where New England produced great men and splendid women? . . . It ought to be of small moment to us as a nation that we have greater forests and fields than our fathers, if our youth are to lose our fathers’ courage and moral worth which they had from God’s Word.
“In view of these millions of untaught youth, these thousands of godless villages and country districts, there are reasons for believing we are passing through a crisis in our history.” Dr. Isaac M. Haldeman, of the First Baptist Church, New York, was asked the following questions by a New York reporter, and gave the replies appended thereto:— “1. Do you think that religious zeal and the influence of the Gospel are losing ground?—Answer—I do.
“2. If so, to what do you attribute the cause?—Answer—(1) The astounding spectacle presented by preachers in the pulpit seeking to prove to people in the pews that the Bible is not the Word of God. (2) The spirit of unbelief and worldliness everywhere prevailing in the pews.” Before you, reader, is the testimony of the Spirit through Jesus and Paul as to what would be; and here are the testimonies of men who would gladly have it otherwise, yet who are forced to confess to the very condition predicted by Jesus. Certainly, according to the Word, we are living in “the last days.” But this condition of things will not be helped by statute law, or by mere fasts, or by resolutions. It will be helped only by absolute submission to the Gospel of God’s Word, consecration to Christ, and the individual reception of the Holy Ghost. THREE STRIKING AND TIMELY CARTOONS.
By Editor
THE first we mention is in Puck of March 29. The central figure is that of the roof, tower, and dome of the United States capitol. Climbing to this dome by means of a ladder which reaches from the roof to the base of the dome is Leo XIII., having on one shoulder a cross, and on the other a hook ladder, by which he hopes to reach the top. Below is Uncle Sam, in coat of blue, beckoning with his hand and shouting to the climbing prelate. The conversation runs thus:— “Uncle Sam—What are you going to do up there?
“The Pope—I thought it was time to nail this cross over the dome.
“Uncle Sam—Well, you come down. We’ve got a figure up there that will last for some time yet!” It has been well remarked by one who viewed the cartoon that when the pope gets as high as that represents him to be in the affairs of State, he will not “come down.” Puck has done well, however, to call the public’s attention to the danger, which is even greater than indicated in the picture. The second is from the same journal, also by Mr. Keppler, on the Peace Congress. In the upper part of the picture is dreamland, around the fragile, angelic form of Peace, holding over her head a scroll on which is the word “Millennium,” are dancing the symbolic figures of the European nations, the bear, the lion, the wolf, eagles, cocks, and dogs, holding each other’s hands, laughing and jubilant. This is the millennial dream of Europe at Easter time, represented at the bottom of the picture by a beautiful, regally-clad woman sleeping. From her hand is slipping a scroll on which is inscribed: “Proposal for a Universal Peace Congress.” At her feet are open boxes of munitions of war. By her side is a pile of mammoth cartridges, and at her head an open barrel of powder, in which is inserted a lighted candle fiercely burning away, the fire rapidly nearing the powder. Editorially the same paper says that while professedly the European nations seemed to be pleased with the czar’s proposal, it is not interfering with their other business. “Russia is taking care that she shall have a respectable number of arms to lay down when the day for disarming comes. Germany has passed a new army bill; France is joyful over a new submarine torpedo-boat; England is exceeding her income to build new battleships; and it is a poor day when a new gun or a new explosive is not invented. China, we believe, would attend a peace gathering in perfect good faith. Perhaps Aguinaldo would, too, if he could find the time. But they are about the only two against whom suspicion would not run. In truth, if the angel of peace [the world’s angel] were searched to-day, he would probably be found to have concealed weapons on his person.” The third cartoon is from Judge, of April 15. It is entitled, “Springing up like Mushrooms,” and represents the great trusts as a forest of gigantic mushrooms, covering the entire ground, and encroaching upon each other. We have named the cloth, champagne, banana, oyster, cast-iron, electric, coffin, beef, nail, gas, starch, sugar, biscuit, oil, coal, tobacco, flour, leather, rubber, steel, threshing-machine, plow, furniture, and milk trusts, and a dozen others, more or less, covering nearly every necessity of life. Being crushed to death by the trusts, or already fallen, are small merchants, tradesmen, miners, bakers, mechanics, farmers, and consumers, while, in the center, Uncle Sam has been thrown on his back by these sudden mushroom growths, and is floundering, trying to rise to his feet, a thing it is seemingly impossible for him to do, while he lustily shouts, “Something MUST be done, and quickly!” The abnormal growths are crushing the very life out of men and nation. Each and all of these represent great and far-reaching evils. Religious monopoly, money monopoly, and the war demon hold the nations of the world, ready to throttle them forever. God has forewarned concerning them all, and presents also the only remedy and safe refuge in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ONE writer tells us that the monasteries of the Russian Church in Constantinople are really huge fortresses, in commanding positions, and that the “monks” are well armed. The Prophetic News of September, 1898 (article of Mr. W. Greene), has this to say of Russian work in Palestine:— “Those who have visited Jerusalem in these latter years know of the Russian Convent and Greek Church there erected at great expense only recently, but few are aware of the gigantic tower built under Russian auspices by the Archimandrite of the Greek Church. “The tower is blasphemously erected on the summit of the Mount of Olives, and at the supposed spot of the ascension of our Lord to heaven. It is 220 feet high, built of cut stone, 24 feet at the base, and 21 feet at the top, and from it a most extensive view is obtained in all directions. It has within it a monster bell or tocsin, weighing 20 tons, cast in Russia, and dragged up on a strong carriage, brought for the purpose, by 3,000 or 4,000 Russians, principally women, all the way to the base of the tower. It now hangs within the tower, together with a peal of seven bells above it. Higher still is an electric chamber, with wires to some of the monasteries of the Holy Land. On its summit is an electric light, and it is supposed that when this great bell is tolled—with some new electric or telephonic agency probably—it will be heard at Jaffa, Jericho, and Mount Lebanon. It is also said that the convents and monasteries are well supplied with arms, and that quantities of land have recently been purchased around them. Such activities, especially the tower and its arrangements, must be for some special purpose. The question is, What is the purpose intended?”