Signs of the Times, Vol. 35, No. 17. (11/25/1908)

Signs of the Times

Nov 25, 1908

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Nov 25, 1908

The Child Samuel

By Mrs. E. G. White

ELKANAH, a Levite of Mount Ephraim, was a man of wealth and influence, and one who loved and feared the Lord. His wife, Hannah, was a woman of fervent piety. Gentle and unassuming, her character was marked with deep earnestness and a lofty faith.

The blessing so earnestly sought by every Hebrew was denied this godly pair; their home was not gladdened by the voice of childhood; and the desire to perpetuate his name led the husband—as it has led many others—to contract a second marriage. But this step, prompted by a lack of faith in God, did not bring happiness. Sons and daughters were added to the household; but the joy and beauty of God's sacred institution had been marred, and the peace of the family was broken. Peninnah, the new wife, was jealous and narrow-minded, and she bore herself with pride and insolence. To Hannah, hope seemed crushed, and life a weary burden; yet she met the trial with uncomplaining meekness.

Elkanah faithfully observed the ordinances of God. The worship at Shiloh was still maintained, but on account of irregularities in the ministration, his services were not required at the sanctuary, to which, being a Levite, he was to give attendance. Yet he went up, with his family, to worship and sacrifice at the appointed gatherings.

Even amid the sacred festivities connected with the service of God, the evil spirit that had cursed his home intruded. After presenting the thank-offerings, all the family, according to the established custom, united in a solemn yet joyous feast. Upon these occasions, Elkanah gave the mother of his children a portion for herself and for each of her sons and daughters; and in token of regard for Hannah, he gave her a double portion, signifying that his affection for her was the same as if she had had a son. Then the second wife, fired with jealousy, claimed the precedence as one highly favored of God, and taunted Hannah with her childless state as evidence of the Lord's displeasure. This was repeated year after year, until Hannah could endure it no longer. Unable to hide her grief, she wept without restraint and withdrew from the feast.

Her husband vainly sought to comfort her. "Why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved?" he said; "am I not better to thee than ten sons?"

Hannah uttered no reproach. The burden that she could share with no earthly friend, she cast upon God. Earnestly she pleaded that He would take away her reproach, and grant her the precious gift of a son to nurture and train for Him. And she made a solemn vow that if her request were granted, she would dedicate her child to God, even from its birth.

Hannah's prayer was granted; she received the gift for which she had so earnestly entreated. As she looked upon the child, she called him Samuel—"asked of God." As soon as the little one was old enough to be separated from his mother, she fulfilled her vow. She loved her child with all the devotion of a mother's heart; day by day, as she watched his expanding powers, and listened to his childish prattle, her affections entwined about him more closely. He was her only son, the special gift of Heaven; but she had received him as a treasure consecrated to God, and

she would not withhold from the Giver His own.

Once more Hannah journeyed with her husband to Shiloh, and presented to the priest, in the name of God, her precious gift, saying, "For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me the petition which I asked of Him: therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord."

Eli was deeply impressed by the faith and devotion of this woman of Israel. Himself an over-indulgent father, he was awed and humbled as he beheld this mother's great sacrifice in parting with her only child, that she might devote him to the service of God. He felt reproved for his own selfish love, and in humiliation and reverence he bowed before the Lord and worshiped.

From Shiloh, Hannah quietly returned to her home at Ramah, leaving the child Samuel to be trained for service in the house of God, under the instruction of the high priest. From the earliest dawn of intelligence she had taught her son to love and reverence God, and to regard himself as the Lord's. By every familiar object surrounding him, she had sought to lead his thoughts up to the Creator. When separated from her child, the faithful mother's solicitude did not cease. Every day he was the subject of her prayers. Every year she made, with her own hands, a robe of service for him; and as she went up with her husband to worship at Shiloh, she gave the child this reminder of her love. Every fiber of the little garment had been woven with a prayer that he might be pure, noble, and true. She did not ask for her son worldly greatness, but she earnestly pleaded that he might attain that greatness which Heaven values—that he might honor God, and bless his fellow men.

Reward of Faithfulness.

What a reward was Hannah's! and what encouragement to faithfulness is her example! There are opportunities of inestimable worth, interests infinitely precious, committed to every mother. The humble round of duties which women have come to regard as a wearisome task, should be looked upon as a grand and noble work. It is the mother's privilege to bless the world by her influence, and in doing this she will bring joy to her own heart. She may make straight paths for the feet of her children, through sunshine and shadow, to the glorious heights above. But it is only when she seeks, in her own life, to follow the teachings of Christ, that the mother can hope to form the character of her children after the divine pattern. The world teems with corrupting influences. Fashion and custom exert a strong power over the young. If the mother fails in her duty to instruct, guide, and restrain, her children will naturally accept the evil and turn from the good. Let every mother go often to her Saviour with the prayer, "Teach us, how shall we order the child, and what shall we do unto him?" Let her heed the instruction which God has given in His word, and wisdom will be given her as she shall have need.

"The child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and also with men." Though Samuel's youth was passed at the tabernacle devoted to the worship of God, he was not free from evil influences or sinful example. The sons of Eli feared not God, nor honored their father; but Samuel did not seek their company nor follow their evil ways. It was his constant endeavor to become what God would have him. This is the privilege of every youth. God is pleased when even little children give themselves to His service.

Samuel had been placed under the care of Eli, and the loveliness of his character drew forth the warm affection of the aged priest. He was kind, generous, obedient, respectful. Eli, pained by the waywardness of his own sons, found rest and comfort and blessing in the presence of his charge. Samuel was helpful and affectionate, and no father ever loved his child more tenderly than did Eli this youth. It was a singular thing that between the chief magistrate of the nation and the simple child so warm an affection should exist. As the infirmities of age came upon Eli, and he was filled with anxiety and remorse by the profligate course of his own sons, he turned to Samuel for comfort.

It was not customary for the Levites to enter upon their peculiar services until they were twenty-five years of age, but Samuel had been an exception to this rule. Every year saw more important trusts committed to him; and while he was yet a child, a linen ephod was placed upon him as a token of his consecration to the work of the sanctuary. Young as he was when brought to minister in the tabernacle, Samuel had even then duties to perform in the service of God, according to his capacity. These were at first very humble, and not always pleasant; but they were performed to the best of his ability, and with a willing heart. His religion was carried into every duty of life. He regarded himself as God's servant, and his work as God's work. His efforts were accepted because they were prompted by love to God and a sincere desire to do His will. It was thus that Samuel became a coworker with the Lord of heaven and earth. And God fitted him to accomplish great work for Israel.

For Youth of To-day.

If children were taught to regard the humble round of every-day duties as the course marked out for them by the Lord, as a school in which they were to be trained to render faithful and efficient service, how much more pleasant and honorable would their work appear. To perform every duty as unto the Lord, throws a charm around the humblest employment, and links the workers on earth with the holy beings who do God's will in heaven.

The youth of our time may become as precious in the sight of God as was Samuel. By faithfully maintaining their Christian integrity, they may exert a strong influence in the work of reform. Such men are needed at this time. God has work for every one of them. Never did men achieve greater results for God and humanity than may be achieved in this our day by those who will be faithful to their God-given trust.

The Third Commandment

By J. O. Corliss

As already seen, the first commandment of the Decalogue presents Jehovah as the all-important Being in the universe. No other is to have a place in human affections in advance of Him. The second commandment does not even permit any supposed likeness of Him to be worshiped. God as He is,—the only supreme Being, He who so wondrously wraps Himself within His own holy righteousness to escape the vulgar gaze of the profane, that they die not,—He alone, without any symbol of His form, must be held uppermost as the Creator of all things, and trusted as the only source of help in time of need. Ps. 121:1-8.

It would seem as tho these minute directions were ample to guard every one against any lapse into spiritual darkness. But the third section of that marvelous code comes a little nearer, and touches what may be designated as one of the extreme outposts of danger. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” Ex. 20:7. The word “name” here used means more than a mere designation by which one individual

is distinguished from another of equal standing. It is derived from the word which means fame, or renown. Proclaimed by His supreme power as Creator, and also as deliverer of His people from bondage, His renown was in the mouth of all nations who had heard of His dealings with Israel. His desire was, and is, that that renown should be maintained, especially by those who receive signal benefits from Him.

To use this renown “in vain,” or falsely, as the original indicates, is held as a positive offense against the majesty of the Creator. It is quite generally supposed that the use of common blasphemy is all that this prohibition aims at. This indeed is a shocking violation of the commandment by wicked and unreasonable men, but there are other ways, evidently, by which even God’s professed followers may be adjudged guilty of the non-observance of this requirement. Take for instance the case of the people of Israel when in Babylonian captivity. They were permitted to go into heathen captivity because of their frowardness in the home land, that they might see the contrast between the blessings they had received in Palestine and the curses which attended those who walked after the lusts of darkened minds, and so they might be led to repent of their former perverseness.

But it seems that the effect on them was simply to make them boastful of their own standing, as children of the Most High, while their actions were nearly allied to those of the heathen among whom they found themselves. The situation seemed so absurd to their heathen associates that they ridiculed and blasphemed the name of Jehovah, and God condemned the Israelites for the result. Speaking of the matter for our admonition, the Lord said that, “when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned My holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of His land.” Eze. 36:20.

Profession Vain.

From this we gather that to proclaim oneself a child of God, and then to act like those who do not know Him, is to profane His holy name, that is to pollute it to a common level with human affairs. God’s name, or renown, is supported by His sacred attributes. To do anything to lower this name in the estimation of those who should know Him better, is to place His name falsely, or in a vain way, before them. This is to use His name in vain, and is therefore a violation of the third commandment of the Decalogue. But this could not occur if the Lord’s word as expressed in this commandment were written in the heart, because the motions of life in the commandment, which is the Spirit of God, would control the actions of the physical man, and cause him to represent the life power of Him whose presence attends His word.

The apostle brings this matter home to one’s comprehension in this forcible way: “Thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, . . . and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. . . . Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? . . . Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you.” Rom. 2:17-24.

Here one who professes to walk in harmony with God’s requirements, and yet carelessly fails to do so, is held responsible for the blasphemy of God’s name by the Gentiles. The reason is obvious. Those who hold forth in words to sinners that they ought to yield themselves to God, must, in order to move them to action, present the advantage of having His keeping and saving power with them. But when sinners see that those who recommend the ways of God are not kept by His power, and in many respects follow the ways of the world, they simply scoff at the invitation, because they do not see the promised effect upon those who present the subject to them. God’s name and power are therefore blasphemed by sinners through the vain or false use of God’s name before the world.

How sad the consequences of neglected privileges! How disappointed some will be if they shall at last find themselves in the list with those who shall in anguish cry out: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them,” says the Lord, “I never knew [acknowledged] you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt. 7:22, 23. The use of God’s name in the lives of such people had been but the formal calling of the name in perhaps hurried, and therefore undevotional, words used in the form of prayer. Perhaps they themselves wondered at times why they were so devoid of spiritual comfort, but hardly realized that they were violating a principle which debarred the keeping power of God’s presence from entering their life work.

Unbelief Sin.

To transgress God’s law in any particular is sin. 1 John 3:4. But we are also told that “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” Rom. 14:23. This makes unbelief a transgression of God’s law. But how can that be, when one has not committed some overt act expressly forbidden in that law? Let us look at this question in the light of the commandment under consideration. The Lord Jesus says: “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 7:21. To have thus uttered that name before God and then be lost, was to employ it in vain, and so was a violation of the edict: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

As before intimated, the formal use of the name “Lord” by an individual does not insure salvation. Any appeal to that name must be entirely devoid of formalism; the heart must really feel its need of God’s help, because of its own helplessness, and have such confidence in His power and willingness to help as to bring conscious relief. The relief must be as conscious as the need was conscious, otherwise no satisfaction is found in the use of the name of God. The help needed can not be wrought except by a “faith which works,” not only the individual in the ways of God, but which also moves the arm of God in behalf of the applicant. Without this, the name of the Most High is employed to ask for that which is not really expected, however much it may be desired.

This is but virtually to say to the Lord, You have requested me to make known my wants unto You. You even have said, “Ask, and it shall be given you.” But Lord, while I am inclined to ask, I can not quite believe that the thing I ask for will really be given. Is not this really putting God in a wrong light? Does it not virtually rob Him, at least in the mind of the petitioner, of the “renown” given Him in the word? Is it really committing the keeping of one’s interests “unto Him as unto a faithful Creator?” If not, then has not His name been taken in vain? Why should we not consider distrust of Him a sin against His name? Surely the Lord’s “commandment is exceeding broad.” Ps. 119:96.

Stop! Look! Listen!

By R. M. Kilgore

THE railroad companies, seeing so many accidents and collisions at their country road crossings, offered $300 for the shortest and most comprehensive danger signal. Several were proposed. This one, “Stop! Look! Listen!” obtained the prize.

The demand for such a warning signal suggests that this is an age of reckless dash, blind rush, and determined push. The movements of to-day, in every walk of life, are in marked contrast to the calm, slow-measured tread of our fathers who trudged along on foot, and in ox carts. In those times no danger signals were needed; there were no collisions at the crossings, no approaching express trains to kill the unwary. To-day every nerve is stretched to its highest degree of tension; everything is at fever heat. Those on the highways forget that that signal says “Stop”; the engineer forgets to blow his whistle, and there is a collision, a smash-up, loss of life and property. They were in too great a rush. The signal was in place, the warning was not heeded. “What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”

At this time business interests involve much more than in the past, and so engross the time and attention of those enlisted in them that they have no time to consider things eternal, or to give a serious thought in regard to the end of their reckless driving through this world. With this fascination attending commercial work, when much of it is transacted through the phone, and by wire, and without the wire, sometimes hundreds and thousands of miles; then calling into action, for shipping, the trolley car, the automobile, the lightning express, and the air-ship (now projected), so that unless the tension is let off, and these souls be returned to their right minds, there can be no hope of avoiding disaster and eternal loss in the end. Can not the danger signal which was erected so long ago be placed a little higher up, and athwart their track?—“Stop!” “Look unto Me, and be ye saved.” “Listen!” “Hear, and your soul shall live!”

In this age when our cities are vying with each other in all that makes them up-to-date corporate and independent bodies, by which to increase their population and power, when the dwellers in them are in a race to erect more elegant and costly mansions than their neighbors, while others, whose ambition is to be exalted above others, seeing that the heavens are cheaper than the earth, decide to pile their stories high upon one another till the top scrapes the sky (the latest being 909 feet above the curb); a word of caution to these high-minded and forgetful ones may enable them to remember Shinar, and the fate of those who assayed to make for themselves a great name, and attempted to build a tower: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” “Wo to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!” “Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbor’s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.” “Stop! Listen.” Phil. 4:5; Hab. 2:12; Jer. 22:13-15.

When corporations, unions, and combines are multiplying their organizations to increase their power of control over the rich marts of the world; when men are tumbling over each other in their mad rush to amass colossal fortunes in a day, or to increase their illgotten gains by heaping together their accumulated treasures; while this epidemic is raging, we would cry aloud, calling the attention of those who are afflicted with this contagion to the Signal already in place, “Listen!” “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God.” “Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.” “For in one hour so great riches is come to naught.” We are in a time when iniquity abounds; crime is on the increase, and hides not its face for shame. Anarchy unblushingly raises its head, and asks for recognition. Evil men and seducers “wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived;” the love of many is growing cold; faith and piety are waning and fading into a kind of penumbra; the Bible is being relegated to the good old days of our fathers, and is largely supplanted with heathen philosophy, higher criticism, and a growing popular infidelity.

The world is certainly drifting, going down with the current, and the multitude sleeping while before it is the fatal precipice. There is sure destruction if the danger signal is not heeded. “Stop! Look! Listen!” “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

R. M. KILGORE.

I Wonder.

By Susan B. Roberts

If God has given earth such flowers, What shall we see in heaven's bowers? If this is sin-stained earth we see, What must the charms of heaven be?

Neglected flowers seem to say, We rise above ourselves each day, Tho low may be their wildwood bed Each flower lifts a beauteous head.

But when the florist's task is done, Has added care to rain and sun, We stand enraptured with the sight Of nature's charms of beauty bright.

If wonders never cease to rise In sinful earth, what of the skies? If this is sin-stained earth we see, What must the charms of heaven be? Susan B. Roberts.

The Great and Only Seal.

By Archer Thorne Shearer

By Archer Thorne Shearer.

GOD uses the selfsame seal with which to finish every great work of His hands. By searching His word, we find that seal upon every important manifestation of His omnipotence. What is the seal of God? Read Eze. 20:20: "Hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God." This and many other scriptures make this plain.

When He finished the work of creation, we find that God immediately placed upon it the seal of His approbation. Gen. 2:1-3.

When He had delivered His people from the bondage of Egypt, His seal was placed upon the work to make it complete. Ex. 16:29.

When He gave the law through Moses to the children of Israel, the seal of His authority and authorship was found embodied in it. Ex. 20:8-11.

When the Jews were brought back from captivity, and Jerusalem was restored, the seal of God was applied to that work also. Neh. 13:15-22.

The ministry of our Saviour Jesus Christ upon earth was made complete by that same seal. Matt. 5:17-19.

The redemption of man from sin has reached the place where the seal must be applied to make it a finished work. It is now being placed upon the redeemed to bind them to the Father in heaven forever; and this is the same seal. Rev. 7:1-8; 14:9-12.

You must make a definite choice in this matter. You must choose to accept this seal of God, which is a sign to the world that you will obey Him, or reject it and take upon you the mark of disobedience. What is your deliberate choice?

The Cause of Consumption.

By D. H. Kress, M.D.

WOMEN constrict their waists either with corsets or bands, making it impossible to take in more than one half of the air needed to keep the blood clean and the system freed from impurities. Men confine themselves to the city office and forget how nature designed them to breathe, the lungs never being fully inflated. Both men and women sleep in rooms from which pure air is carefully excluded, and then we wonder why man is born to sorrow!

Consumption, "the Great White Plague" of modern times, is carrying off thousands of our young men and women each year in the United States. There is a cause for this. A noted doctor has said, "Only those who are too lazy to breathe have consumption." Certainly persons who make full use of their lungs seldom have this disease, and those who have the disease and begin to breathe as they should, frequently recover. It is the upper lobes of the lungs, the parts which are not usually filled with air by ordinary house-, school-, or office-breathers, which lose their vitality, and in which the germ of tuberculosis finds an inviting nook for development.

D. H. KRESS, M.D.

The Value of Your Religion

“The value of your religion depends upon how much of yourself is invested in it.”

Jesus, My Dearest Friend.

By Clara L. Resech

JESUS, ever near my heart, Love and sympathy impart; Jesus, Thou my dearest Friend, Bless and keep me to the end.

Jesus, when my faith is weak, Give me strength Thy face to seek; Tossed about with doubt and fear, Let me know that Thou art near.

Give me faith and love and trust, Grace to suffer if I must; Clearer vision give to me, I the right would ever see.

Jesus, great Physician Thou, Hear my prayer and heal me now; Let me place my hand in Thine; All to Thee do I resign. CLARA L. RESECH.

Unforgivingness.

By Sunday School Times

SATAN rejoices every time any one feels unforgiving toward any one else. For unforgivingness means unlove, and that means hatefulness, which always plays into the hands of the devil. No Christian can serve Christ, or loyally represent Christ, while withholding free, full forgiveness from a single fellow man,—no matter how unworthy of forgiveness that fellow man is.

The Christian who says of any human being that, because of this or that terrible injury or injustice, he can never forgive him, has abandoned Christ and is serving the devil in that act. The devil knows this, and seeks persistently to persuade us that there are some things, or some persons, that we ought never to forgive. He succeeds in persuading more of us than he ought to. Paul gave as a reason for free, unconditional forgiveness "that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices." We are fond of claiming that it is our own high sense of righteousness and fairness that makes it "impossible" for us to forgive certain offenders; but the real reason is our likeness to that very offender, in our confessed allegiance to the same Satan that he serves. —Sunday School Times.

Believing unto Life.

1. How are all men born by nature?

"Born of the flesh;" subject to death. John 3: 6; Rom. 5: 12.

2. What will those do who are born of the flesh?

They do "the works of the flesh." Gal. 5: 19-21. "Because the carnal mind [the mind of the flesh] is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8: 7.

3. How alone can man do the work of God?

"Ye must be born from above." John 3: 3, margin. "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." Verse 5. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." John 1: 12.

4. What does faith in Christ bring to the sinner?

Righteousness and life. "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith." Rom. 3: 22. "In the way of righteousness is life." Prov. 12: 28.

The Method of the Master

By W.

GOD is love. His religion is a religion of love, as His character is love. That character and religion were manifest in their beauty and perfection to the world in our Lord Jesus Christ. He declared God to the world in His teaching and example. He came to reconcile men to God to proclaim the glad tidings of an all-powerful Redeemer to a race lost and wrecked on the stormy, treacherous ocean of sin.

What were His methods? Did He compel, coerce, boycott, persecute? What were Christ's teachings? What was His example? He is the great example of the church, their great prototype. First of all, hear Him proclaim the motive which brought Him here:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

It was love that brought Christ here, and love will not compel. To compel men against their choice would destroy their freedom and make them slaves. True, Christ has His bond-servants, but it is "the love of Christ" that "constraineth." He will allow men their own way. He will set before them all the beauties of God's truth; He will appeal to them to become sons of God and walk in His light (John 1:9-12), but He will not compel belief and acceptance; for loving acceptance and belief can not be compelled save by love. But what if men would not believe? — He did not condemn them nor give them over to punishment. His mission was not to destroy but to save. His words are:

"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on Me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words, hath one that judgeth him; the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." John 12:46-48.

His light shines, but the judgment is suspended. Infinite mercy pleads; the Holy Spirit touches the heart; Christ on Calvary still draws all to Him, but He does not compel acceptance. He leaves all to the judgment of the last day, when every truth He ever spoke will be demonstrated in the resplendent glory of eternity, and every sinner will stand self-condemned by the word of Christ. But His disciples then as now thought otherwise. On one occasion when the Master, weary and worn, would have turned aside to rest in a village of the Samaritans, they in their national prejudice "did not receive Him, because His face was as tho He would go to Jerusalem." His disciples, James and John, had not yet learned the heart of the Master; they would condemn and punish:

"And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But He turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village." Luke 9:54-56.

"God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved."

When He came to the close of His life, in that hour of the power of darkness, when betrayed by His own disciple, another, impetuous Peter, drew a sword and smote one of the band which came to arrest Him. What did Jesus do? — He healed the wound of His enemy, and, turning to Peter, said to him and to every disciple who has since lived, "Put up again thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." Matt. 26:52. He could then have called on His Father, and angelic power would have been given to scatter the powers of darkness, but it was not to be. He was living man's example, while dying man's sacrifice.

A few hours later He stands before Pilate, charged with sedition in stirring up rebellion and making Himself a king. What does He say?

"Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world; if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is My kingdom not from hence." John 18:36.

He sends forth His servants on the same mission of the Gospel, with the instructions, "Be ye wise as serpents and harmless as doves." The power He promises, the all power, is that of the Holy Ghost, received by faith. Acts 1:8. His panoply with which He clothes His own soldiers (Eph. 6:10-16) contains only spiritual weapons, not carnal, yet mighty through God for meeting all the powers of darkness (2 Cor. 10:4, 5).

But why enlarge? It is ever the same — strong and tender love to the sinful and weak. From His first call of the disciples, from the gift of freedom to the demon-bound in Capernaum, on that wondrous Sabbath day, to His weeping over Jerusalem and to His prayer for them who nailed Him to the cross, it was ever love, and only love, which longed that men should choose His way of righteousness and life, but could not nor would not compel.

Those, therefore, who seek civil law to compel furtherance of religious or moral ends, do not know Christ. Those who know Christ will seek to save in love's way.

On the Threshold of Great Opportunities.

In a recent lecture before the students of Hamilton College, Secretary Elihu Root said: "You are standing on the threshold of great opportunities. In all the ages, never were there so many avenues of success open to the young man of power, intellect, and force of character." This statement by Secretary Root is no doubt true with reference to the affairs of this life; but has it ever occurred to you that the greatest opportunity of all the ages is before the young man and the young woman of this time—not an opportunity that pertains merely to this life, but an opportunity that measures the full length of eternity itself?

There are great issues before the world, but the greatest issue is that of the second coming of Christ. There are great opportunities before the world, but the one opportunity that eclipses all the rest is the one of making known to the inhabitants of this earth that the Judgment-day is now impending, that the resurrection morning is just before us, that the second coming of Christ, the crowning event of the ages, is nearly due. Those who avail themselves of the opportunity of not only knowing these things, but of making the necessary preparation to meet Christ at His coming, are embracing the one opportunity of all others that is really worthy of serious consideration.

The evidence is overwhelmingly abundant to sustain these statements, and no young man or young woman should throw away God-given abilities in the merely transitory amusement of securing a great fortune in this life or attempting to seize the fame that so rapidly vanishes with passing time.

Heaven Begun on Earth

A devout Scotchman, being asked if he ever expected to go to heaven, gave the quaint reply: "Why, mon, I live there!" All the way to heaven is heaven begun to the Christian who walks near enough to God to hear the secrets He has to impart. There is such a thing as having an inner heaven in the heart: "The kingdom of God is within you."

Religious Persecution in Bolivia and Peru

As late as 1836 the penalty was death for holding any worship other than the Roman Catholic in Bolivia and Peru.

Continue reading: Schedule for Week Ending December 5, 1908