Review and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 52. (12/25/1913)

Review and Herald

Dec 25, 1913

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Dec 25, 1913

THE WORK AND THE WORKERS

ONE dear old lady in Oakland, Cal., orders 500 copies of Life and Health each month.

HAVE you sent in your order for the beautiful January number of Life and Health? Send $1.00 for 20 or $2.00 for 50 copies. Sells fast.

SEE the seven prize articles on “What I Know About Reducing the Cost of Living” in the January Life and Health. Seven other departments also, filled with the best of matter—all practical. Single copy, 10 cents.

WHILE all may not be able to sell 370 copies of Life and Health in one day, as one lady did in the West, many busy housewives can go out once or twice a week, and sell from 50 to 100 copies in a few hours.

IT is said that a man’s heart is best reached through his stomach. The Healthful Cookery department of the January Life and Health contains ideal “Menus for a Week in January”—one for each day in the week. Excellent recipes also, for baked split peas, cream rice pudding, hot cakes, macaroni au gratin, cup custard, Irish moss blanc-mange, nut gravy toast, steamed fruit pudding, raspberry sauce, ribbon beans, mint sauce, pie-crust, apple pie, chili sauce, bread pudding, blueberry toast with whipped cream, strawberry toast with nuts, and date rolls.

ONE of the highest officials connected with the Smithsonian Institution, U. S. National Museum, Washington, D. C., writes thus to Life and Health: “I have received the two numbers which you kindly sent me in October, and have just found time to look them over. It is by far the best health magazine I have ever seen, and I take pleasure in sending you herewith check for $3.00 for 5 years’ subscription. Would like to congratulate your editor on the rational view of the diet question he advances.”

THE issue of Liberty magazine for the first quarter, 1914, is to be known as the “Thomas Jefferson” and “Temperance Memorial” number. It will contain a two-page photo reproduction of the great temperance mass-meeting held on the United States Capitol grounds, Wednesday, December 10, in which 3,000 men and women marched through the streets of Washington, under the banners of the Anti-Saloon League and the W. C. T. U. It will also contain the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States prohibiting the manufacture or sale of alcoholic drinks, and also a petition blank to be used in securing signatures of all persons favoring the passage of such an amendment. Send $1.00 for 20 or $2.00 for 50 copies today, and sell and distribute them in your neighborhood.

AT the greatest Protestant mass-meeting ever held in Washington, D. C. (New National Theater, Sunday, December 14), Rev. R. H. McKim, rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, spoke for two hours on the theme: “Why We Are Protestants; Reasons for the Separation From Rome.” During the lecture the speaker held up the January number of the Protestant Magazine, and quoted from the same in support of his sound arguments against Romanism.

HAVE you made up your list of ten Liberty magazine subscriptions (only $2.00) in behalf of your public-school board, teachers, mayor, attorneys, business men, and other molders of public opinion? Don’t forget to send one or two copies regularly to your public library, and see that they are displayed.

Copyright Underwood & Underwood, New York

Infinite Harmonies

By Worthie Harris Holden

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

Harmonious strains of heavenly music blend In life's complete engagement to its end. We oft have won a chord, now here, now there, But well the Master knows we could not bear Full knowledge of his will and work, and so He kindly dulls his harmonies below. Sometimes with the last cadence of the day He opes the portal, dense and somber-gray, That for a moment we may catch the thought The Infinite through all our hours has wrought; Then mortal lists to no distinctive sound, For sense submerges 'neath one jubilant bound Of gratitude. Too complex for our ear The wonderful infinities we hear. Could we discover a recurring strain Of melody 'twere this, God bids thy pain, Thy sorrow, and thy joy fulfil his care; He modulates sweet measures from thy prayer Of trust and full obedience to his love. His wonder-music is the theme above; And soon in paradise thy soul shall hear Transcendent rhapsodies, replete and clear.

Portland, Oregon.

Divine Immortality

By Joseph E. Steed

JOSEPH E. STEED

“As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” John 6: 57. One of the most important attributes of God, which can be traced in connection with the history of the human race from the fall of man to the final restoration, is that of immortality.

While in Eden’s garden, and in his probationary period, Adam had placed before him the hope of immortality; he was created in the image of God. The power to retain the divine attributes depended upon his loyalty to his Creator and his partaking of the life-giving virtue of the tree of life.

The fiat that went forth from God, “For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” was not an arbitrary provision on God’s part. By his own act of disobedience Adam would take himself and all the race out of God’s great plan of life into the domain of death, and as a result he and all his posterity would forfeit their lives.

That God’s character might be rightly understood, and that sin might be seen in its true light, God gave to man another opportunity to develop the traits of character to fit him for the bestowal of the divine attribute of immortality. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10: 10.

Man must partake of the divine nature before he becomes immortal. God will never bestow the highest attribute of his divine being upon any creature that fails to become like him. In his great mercy and love the Lord has provided the means whereby human beings may become partakers of the divine nature. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness [God-likeness] . . . whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” 2 Peter 1: 3, 4.

By the fulfilment of these promises man will be restored to the moral image of God. These promises rest in one who is divine and has life in himself; and so we are told, “He that eateth me, even he shall live by me.” This experience means a partaking of him,— living the life that he lived; being as he was in this world; bearing his cross; living his life over once again in this world where he lived amid evil surroundings. This godlikeness must be seen and felt as his was seen and felt; it must be a power in this world to help others. This life can come only through an acquaintance with him. “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17: 3.

While upon this earth our Saviour spoke many parables, used many illustrations and object-lessons, in order to impart this great truth to man; and yet few give this important truth very much thought. Satan has led man to believe that he has inherited this immortal life, and consequently has no need to ask for it. By his world-wide deceptions in this generation Satan is leading men to believe that they will rise to a higher plane of life, and that an eternal life. Others measure eternal things by the things they see; and oftentimes the things they see are of more value in their way of thinking than the eternal. The Saviour said: “And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5: 40.

The one who lives Christ’s life may go down into the dusty tomb, but to such Paul says: “Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Col. 3: 3, 4. When God imparts this divine attribute to his creatures, “then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” This will glorify “the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,” to whom “be honor and glory forever and ever.”

This great act before the universe will be God’s answer to Satan’s charges against his rule and character.

Australia.

A Sacred Ministry

By W. F. Martin

Preaching

A Sacred Ministry

W. F. MARTIN

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean

lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: and he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. And he said, Go, and tell this people.” Isa. 6: 1-9.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28: 18-20.

“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.” 1 Tim. 1: 12.

“As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” Acts 13: 2.

I have quoted these scriptures at length to illustrate the thought that God calls men to the ministry, to the preaching of the gospel. God has chosen through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Again, in enumerating the gifts that make up the perfect church, he places at the head of the list, “First apostles.” The word apostle signifies one sent forth. From the scriptures which we have quoted we see that such ones are sent forth for a specific purpose. That purpose is to preach the gospel. According to this, men are chosen of God for this specific work. We have direct reasons for wishing to impress the foregoing. It has been said that this is a hard time for the preacher. The habit of churchgoing has not been maintained. It has not kept pace with our rapidly increasing population. Worse than all this, the church itself has suffered a decline in its conception of preaching. In many instances its members fail to see the call of God in it. All of this has to an extent chilled the ardor of the preacher. There are certain other forces that work against the preacher. There is a multitude of books, magazines, newspapers, clubs, etc. These all meet the intellectual desires of the people. Competition is very strong. The preacher is no longer the chief person of the town. There is also a great flood of religious literature,—books, tracts, weeklies, and magazines.

Then there are other branches of religious work to which the minds of young men have been directed. They have been told that they can enter one of these and be engaged in the Lord’s work as verily as is the minister. We have sometimes been led to wonder if at all times an entirely unselfish motive has prompted the choosing of another vocation rather than that of the ministry.

In the work of the ministry one is called to suffer. From this the heart naturally shrinks. This is strictly a commercial age. Everything is weighed in the monetary scales. Naturally the young man who thinks he can be engaged in the work of God and have a settled home and a good income while practising medicine, will choose this rather than what seems a life of toil and itinerancy, with small pay.

The greatest Prophet was a preacher. He taught with authority. There was always in his teaching the predominating element of personality. The personal method was his way of teaching. It is the strong conviction of the writer of these lines that the gospel must be spread chiefly through personality rather than through literature or institutions. “From lip to lip and heart to heart the truth must be passed on, the divine life in one soul to be as a torch with which to kindle it in another.”

At the very beginning of Christ’s work, he gathered disciples, taught them and impressed his personality upon them. “He opened his mouth, and taught them.” His was the oral method. He did not have a single written word. He was training his men to be preachers. When they left his school, they went forth and taught as he had taught. Those with whom they came in contact knew these disciples had been with Jesus. He stamped his personality on them. He sent them forth to preach. They were to be witnesses, his messengers. In the early history of the church the apostles considered their chief work to be preaching. They asked for the appointment of deacons that they might give themselves to the ministry of the word and to prayer. The record of this is found in Acts 6. Notice the proposal came from the apostles, and it pleased the multitude. The church desires able ministers whose lives are given to prayer and the preaching of the word. Others than the ministers can serve tables. Paul says, “Christ sent me . . . to preach the gospel.” The angel of the Lord said to Peter, “Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.” When the call to the ministry is spoken of, preaching is made emphatic.

The Christian church began in preaching. The first great work of the apostles was done by preaching. Even the outpouring of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost was that each one present might hear in his own tongue the preaching of the gospel. The gospel was not written until after it had been preached. The apostle Paul was preeminently a preacher. His epistles were written to churches that had been gathered out by his skilful preaching. Preaching has been called “God’s word through a man.” “Speak, Lord,” said the young prophet, “for thy servant heareth.” The apostles said, “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Coming to times since the first era of the church, we find that preaching has been the great factor in the promulgation

tion of the gospel. Witness Morrison in China, Moffat in South Africa, Eliot among the Indians of America. We shall not speak of those in our own denomination who have been mighty men on the rostrum. It is true that other agencies have come in to help, but none of them will or can take the place of the preacher. The eras of great spiritual revivals have come from preachers who had messages from God. Such men have not always used correct language nor strictly formal decorum in the pulpit. They have had the creative thought and passionate speech that come from a burdened soul. They felt the woe upon them if they preached not the gospel. This responsibility has made men fearless and mighty. This fire burning in the souls of men is never understood until it is spoken. It is the accent of conviction that arrests and holds the attention. It is the tone of conviction that opens up the avenue to indifferent and hostile minds. A man who knows the message must speak it. Right here is where preaching is lifted above rhetoric, diction, and elocution. It rises into a higher sphere. Here again is the personal element. It is Christ speaking through his messenger. “Ye are my witnesses.”

It has been well said: “The source of genuine religious eloquence lies much deeper and higher than in the study and appropriation of rhetorical figures and other artificial human methods—in the deep glow, in the enthusiasm of the heart for the divine truth and beauty of the gospel, which the Spirit of God produces in the speaker when he becomes fully absorbed in the truth; and when this unfolds itself in his address, then also the Spirit of God cooperates, impressing and touching the hearts of the hearers. In this self-abandonment to the holy unction from above lie the inmost source of true religious eloquence and the secret of its fruitful operation.”

The work of preaching is incomparable. It is standing in Christ’s stead persuading men to be reconciled to God. The church will be wise in giving itself to the careful training of the ministry. No amount of attention to music, ritual, or learned lectures on secular subjects will answer or permanently draw a congregation. What is wanted is gospel preaching. Coupled with its hardships, preaching has its ineffable pleasures. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” No truer words were ever spoken. What can compare with the joy of hearing the burdened soul say, “I will arise and go to my Father”?

No fruitage of toil is so sure as using the Christian, God-given graces of the pulpit to make men doers of the word.

Again, the church needs not only more but better preachers. Men are needed who look not upon preaching merely as a profession, but who are filled with the living Word,—men who regard preaching as the highest and most difficult art, and, having this high conception, hold themselves to it, determined to attain efficiency.

No preacher can permanently succeed who does not make Christ the center of every discourse. The preacher must have a sense of a message from God. He stands before men, not to enforce his own ideas, but God’s; to teach men the way of salvation. He is an ambassador sent of God. “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” The sermon is not so much to be something as it is to do something. It is not to attract attention to itself, but to the Saviour.

The story is told of a great artist that when he had finished the painting of the Last Supper, he asked a friend to see it. As the painter withdrew the cloth, the friend said, “How wonderful the cup in the hand of Christ!” The painter impulsively drew the brush across the cup, saying, “Nothing shall hide the face of Christ.”

Again, remember they took knowledge of the disciples that they had been with Jesus. “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” A preacher who fails to lift up the Saviour and make him more to be desired than all else, has missed the mark. When he gets his message from any other source than the Bible, he is giving the people a stone for the bread they need. This is a hard time for the preacher, and yet it is the time of opportunity. God is calling for men—men who know the times, men who will be satisfied with nothing short of perfection—to stand on the wall and watch for the breaking of the day. Let us strive for the ideal as expressed by Luther: “There is no more precious treasure nor nobler thing upon earth and in this life than a true and faithful preacher. The spiritual preacher increaseth the kingdom of God, guardeth men against death, putteth a stop to sin, consoleth every man according to his condition, traineth young people excellently. In short, he createth a new world and buildeth a house that shall not pass away.” “We pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.”

College Place, Wash.

MRS. E. G. WHITE

By Ellen G. White

Jehoshaphat—No. 2

MRS. E. G. WHITE

Some years after coming to the throne, Jehoshaphat, now in the height of his prosperity, consented to the marriage of his son Jehoram to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. By this union there was formed between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel an alliance which was not in the order of God, and which in times of crises brought disaster to the king of Judah and to many of his subjects.

On one occasion, Jehoshaphat visited the king of Israel at Samaria. In honor of his royal guest, “Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people that he had with him;” and against his better judgment, Jehoshaphat was persuaded to unite with Ahab in an effort to regain from the Syrians by force of arms Ramoth, one of the old cities of refuge, which, Ahab declared, rightfully belonged to the Israelites.

Jehoshaphat had rashly promised to join the king of Israel in his war against the Syrians; but before setting out, he desired to know the will of God concerning the undertaking. “Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today,” he said to Ahab. In response to the request, Ahab called together four hundred of the false prophets of Samaria, and said to them, “Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.” But Jehoshaphat was not satisfied. “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord,” he asked, “that we might inquire of him?” Ahab answered, “There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Jehoshaphat was firm in his request that the man of God be called; and upon appearing before them and being adjured by Ahab to tell “nothing but that which is true, in the name of the Lord,” Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.”

The words of the prophet should have been enough to show the kings that their project was not favored by Heaven; but neither ruler felt inclined to heed the warning. Ahab had marked out his course, and he was determined to follow it. Jehoshaphat in a moment of weakness had said, “We will be with thee in the war,” and he was reluctant to withdraw his forces after promising help. “So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.”

During the battle that followed, Ahab was shot by an arrow, and at eventide he died. “There went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.” Thus was fulfilled the word of the prophet.

From this disastrous battle Jehoshaphat returned to Jerusalem. As he approached the city, “Jehu the son of Hanani the seer” met him with the reproof: “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.”

The later years of Jehoshaphat’s reign were largely devoted to an effort to bring about further reforms throughout the land of Judah. The king “went out again through the people from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers.”

One important step in this work was the establishment and maintenance of efficient courts of justice. The king “set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.”

The judicial system in Judah was perfected by the founding of a court of appeal at Jerusalem, where Jehoshaphat “set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the Lord, and for controversies.”

The king solemnly charged these judges to be faithful. “Thus shalt ye do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully, and with a perfect heart,” he declared to them.

“And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the Lord, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass.”

“And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you.”

“Deal courageously, and the Lord shall be with the good.”

In his careful safeguarding of the rights and liberties of his subjects, Jehoshaphat emphasized the consideration that every member of the human family receives from the God of justice, who rules over all. “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.” And those who are appointed to act as judges, under him, are to “defend the poor and fatherless;” they are to “do justice to the afflicted and needy,” and “rid them out of the hand of the wicked.”

The Gospel Revealed in Earliest Times

By N. B. MATHES

N. B. MATHES

The Bible is sometimes divided into two parts, called the law and the gospel, and these correspond with the familiar terms Old Testament and New Testament. Some are inclined to attach little importance to the Old Testament, while emphasizing the New. A notary public in a Southern town, a man of some prominence in his county, once said to me, “The Old Testament is good old history, but that is all there is in it.” A prominent citizen of the same town, a deacon in his church, declared on oath that his denomination did not look upon the Old Testament as a part of the Bible. Let us hope that he was mistaken.

Some one brought a question which had to do with the teachings of the Old Testament to a minister of the gospel, and his answer was, “O, we have nothing

to do with the Old Testament; that is a dead letter now!”

It is true that we are not required to keep the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament, but the spirit of those laws is as binding now as it ever was, and the moral requirements of the Old Testament are as noble and elevating as anything we find in the New Testament. So let us see if there’s nothing in the Old Testament except some “good old history.” And let us go right back to the beginning. In the first three chapters of Genesis we have the creation of the world, the institution of the Sabbath, the creation of man, life in the garden, the creation of woman, marriage and home, the fall, and the expulsion from the garden of Eden. It was not very long from the creation of man to his expulsion from the garden; for Adam was only one hundred and thirty years old when Seth, his third son, was born. But before Seth’s birth there was ample time for many important events to happen. And in this time, in all probability, a system of religious worship was instituted, of course under divine direction. This we infer from the fact that God clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals. And what animals?—Very likely animals that had been slain for sacrifice, for the flesh of animals was not used for food at that time. Moreover, God had already said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel,” a passage universally accepted as the first recorded gospel promise. That is, Christ in making redemption would overpower the devil, and finally destroy him.

If we would be accepted of God, we must come to him in the right way. And there is only one right way; namely, through Christ. We are plainly told that the children of Israel drank of the spiritual Rock, Christ, in the wilderness, some fifteen hundred years before he was born. We are also told that Abel was accepted when he offered a lamb,—he must have looked through his offering to the Lamb of Calvary,—while Cain was rejected when he brought a fruit offering, in which there was no blood. Now it is plain that man needed the true religion as soon as he fell, as truly as he has ever needed it since. And it stands to reason that the Almighty revealed that religion to him just as soon as he needed it.

Again, we find that since man needed special time in which to attend to religious matters, a special time had already been set apart for this purpose, even before the fall. And of course he needed a Sabbath much more after the fall than he did before. He was not physically weak nor wedded to sinful habits, as he became afterward; but still the Sabbath was an absolute necessity, and God gave it to him, and doubtless instructed him how to use it properly.

Marriage, also, was instituted before the fall. And this ministered to the physical, social, and spiritual nature of man. It is not good for any human being to live an entire life alone. It takes two imperfect beings to make one complete being. Marriage is a religious duty and privilege. Marriage is not only important for the orderly propagation of the race, but an absolute necessity to meet the threefold needs of man. The home is the religious headquarters. It is the radiating center of the highest activities of the human soul. And the home began in earliest times.

Again, we find the threefold needs of man supplied in the labor he was required to do in order to make a living. Before the fall, such toil as we are accustomed to perform would have been little less than abject slavery for this godlike creature, man. But after the fall, it became a privilege and an honor. And we are told that if a man will not work, neither shall he be allowed to eat. So much for the advantages of those early times.

In the fourth chapter of Genesis we find the first shepherd, the first farmer, the first son, the first daughter, the first grandson, the first city, the first gypsy, the first musician, the first artificer, the first murderer, the first polygamist, and the second murderer; and in the fifth chapter we find the first man who ever left this world without dying. Surely this is “good old history.” But is it nothing more than history?

The descendants of Cain made great progress in the arts and sciences, and built a city or cities. Their civilization may have been as splendid as that of Greece or Rome. But they forgot God and lived for this present world; and it is not surprising that a family which started with a murderer, Cain, should also end with a murderer, Lamech. Nor is it surprising that God, who looks upon the heart rather than upon outward appearance, should have wiped away such a godless civilization by the flood of waters.

Here is a lesson for parents. They have it very largely in their power to determine the character of their descendants. Very likely Seth and his descendants did not make so much material progress, but they called upon the name of the Lord, they called themselves by the name of the Lord, they soon became known as the ‘people of God, and because they feared God the human race was preserved at the time of the flood. Moreover, the longevity of Cain and his family is not even mentioned. But the longevity of Seth’s family is particularly referred to. It was as true then as now that the wicked “shall not live out half their days.” This rule always holds good, with few exceptions. No man can reasonably expect to attain great age unless he lives right. And the only way to live right is to “fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

Look at Lamech, among Cain’s descendants, the seventh in line from Adam—the polygamist and murderer! Then look at Enoch, among Seth’s descendants also the seventh in line from Adam—the prophet or preacher for about three hundred years, whose name we find in the list of heroes of the faith in the book of Hebrews, a man who had the testimony while he lived that he pleased God; for he walked with God. What is it to walk with God? To live in the daily practise of vice is to walk in vice. To live in the daily practise of virtue is to walk in virtue. So one who communes with and faithfully serves God day by day walks with God. Enoch found companionship with God, and one day walked so far with God that he did not get back. And this one case of translation makes heaven real. It makes the spiritual body a reality; likewise the transfiguration of Christ, when Moses and Elias returned to earth. And no doubt there will be many of God’s people alive when the Lord comes again, and they will be translated just as Enoch was, without dying.

The first man failed, miserably, pitiably, and every revelation made to him afterward, and all the providences of God, were calculated to impress upon his mind the thought of his weakness and failure. But in Christ, the coming Redeemer, he might become a grand success, and finally be exalted even above the highest angels and archangels.

Is it true that there is nothing in the Old Testament but “good old history”? We find it full of the very marrow of the gospel. Of course the gospel in history is easier to understand than the gospel in prophecy. It is easier to understand things that have already taken place than to understand things that are yet to be. Here we have the advantage. But it is about the only advantage we have over the people of ancient times, save the fact that we live in the dispensation of the Spirit and have easier access to the Bible. And it might be well for us to note this fact, and occasionally endeavor to look at the gospel from the standpoint of ancient times. “The word of God, which liveth and abideth forever,” includes not only the New Testament, but also the entire Old Testament. Paul declares in his letter to the Galatians that the Scripture actually preached unto Abraham. Now there is no preaching in the Scriptural sense except gospel preaching. What was the gospel preached to Abraham? “In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.” Here is the text of one of the grandest sermons ever preached. For the “seed” of Abraham was the Christ, through whom alone all nations could be blessed.

— Christian Observer.

Speak of Happiness

“TALK happiness. The world is sad enough Without your woes. No path is wholly rough; Look for the places that are smooth and clear, And speak of these to rest the weary ear Of earth, so hurt by one continuous strain Of human discontent and grief and pain.”

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