Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Nov 19, 1903
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Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company.
What Others Say of Paradise Home
I HAVE read “Paradise Home,” and am much pleased with it. I thought as I read chapter after chapter, “Well, this book is filled with gems of truth.” I can gladly recommend it as a book well fitted to find a welcome in many homes where this blessed gospel of the kingdom has not yet entered.
I have also shown it to one Bible worker and one canvasser, and both are much pleased with it, and will use it in their work.
O. O. FARNSWORTH.
“Paradise Home” is a nicely written description of a tangible home, the home long looked for. This home was once lost, but has been purchased, and will soon be restored. The book will have a large sale, and can not fail to do good. May God bless your efforts and crown them with abundant success.
R. A. UNDERWOOD.
The new book, “Paradise Home,” seems to be meeting with considerable favor among our people and canvassers in this conference. We trust that it will have a large sale. It is brief, concisely written, and to the point. It contains many points of present truth.
A. J. BOURDEAU,
Secretary California T. & M. Society.
Patriarchs and Prophets
AN excellent and authentic commentary on Biblical subjects, from Adam to the close of the reign of David. Especially helpful in the study of the present International Sunday-school Lessons, and also an unerring counselor in the study of the Old Testament Scriptures.
Thousands of these books have been sold to Sunday-school superintendents and teachers during the past two years, since the international lessons have been upon the Old Testament history, and the following unsolicited testimonial from a Sunday-school teacher is a fair sample of the many which are coming to the publishers of this appreciated book:—
I have a copy of “Patriarchs and Prophets,” and it has been a source of wonderful information to me during the past year. It has proved to be a key that has unlocked many, many Scriptures, and unfolded them, and made them plain and comprehensive. I found it of great assistance in preparing the Sunday-school lessons all last year, when they were in the Old Testament. I am very thankful for its great help.
L. D. SMITH, Biggs, Mo.
Copies of this book can be furnished in the following bindings: cloth, gilt edges, $2.75; library, $3; full morocco, $4.50.
The Bible Text-Book
BY ELDER O. A. JOHNSON
A COMPENDIUM of Bible subjects, bound in a neat and attractive form, and easy to carry in the vest or coat pocket.
The book contains forty-nine tersely written Bible readings on as many different subjects. There are five charts, explaining difficult Scripture subjects; such as, “The Weekly and Yearly Sabbath,” “The Two Laws,” “The Week,” “The Seven Seals,” “The Seven Plagues,” and “The Millennium.”
Every minister, Bible worker, and church member should procure a copy at once. This book should have a wide circulation.
It contains 208 pages, table of contents, and general index of subjects; is bound in two styles of binding.
Price, in cloth, 30 cents; in leather, 50 cents.
What Others Say of the “Bible Text-Book”
OAKLAND, CAL.
Review and Herald Publishing Company.—
Bible students will find the new work, “Bible Text-Book,” a great help to them in the study of the vital topics of the Word of God. Although small in size, the work covers an extensive scope of Bible subjects, and develops present truth in a convincing manner.
W. T. KNOX.
Review and Herald Publishing Company.—
As a suggestive text-book for ministers, Bible workers, and Bible students, we know of none superior to “Bible Text-Book,” by O. A. Johnson. It covers a series of topics embracing nearly every doctrinal subject of the Word of God, as well as many practical lessons. It will be a great help to those who are either teaching or making a special investigation of Bible questions. Every seeker after truth should own one.
I. H. EVANS.
The “Bible Text-Book” is indeed a work of rare merit.
S. H. LANE.
BALTIMORE, MD.
Review and Herald Publishing Company.—
I have taken pains to examine “Bible Text-Book,” and find it an up-to-date work. The readings are the most practical that I have seen in any volume of Bible readings. It is a work that will have a good sale.
CHAS. D. ZIRKLE.
The Stomach
Its Disorders, and How to Cure Them
BY J. H. KELLOGG, M. D.
THIS book presents in a nutshell what every person ought to know about the stomach,—its functions in health, the symptoms produced by disease, and the best methods of cure.
The work is thoroughly practical. It contains an explanation of the new and elaborate method of investigating disorders of the stomach in use at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and largely the result of researches undertaken there. The following is a list of the leading sections of the book: The Organs of Digestion; Foods; The Digestive Fluids; General View of the Digestive Process; The Maladies of the Modern Stomach; Important New Discoveries Relating to Digestion; Symptoms of Dyspepsia; The Symptomatic Treatment of Indigestion; Remedies for the Home Treatment of Dyspepsia; Quacks and Nostrums; Explanation of the Author’s Graphic Mode of Representing the Results of Stomach Work, Obtainable from Examinations of Stomach Fluid by the System of Investigation employed in the Hygienic and Research Laboratories of the Sanitarium at Battle Creek, Mich., U. S. A.
The work contains over one hundred cuts, including eleven plates, several of which are colored. Price of the work, bound in fine English cloth, with embossed cover, $1.50; half buffing, marbled edges, $2, postpaid.
Bell’s Language Series
In Five Books
THIS series gives an outline study of the English language, adapted to the training of the child from the nursery till he is graduated from college. These books claim the attention of practical educators everywhere. Based upon the natural method, giving and illustrating principles rather than rules, they are particularly suited to home study. This unique series consists of—
Book One, primary Language Lessons from Life, Nature, and Revelation. 227 pages. Cloth……$ .65
Book Two, Elementary Grammar. 224 pages. Cloth………… .65
Book Three, Complete Grammar. 281 pages. Cloth………… .80
Book Four, Rhetoric and Higher English. 375 pages. Cloth…. 1.25
Book Five, Studies in English Literature. 599 pages. Cloth…. 1.75
Bell’s Series of Bible Lessons for Sabbath-Schools
Full Set Complete
THE lessons are “progressive,” not only from their progression in the order of events, but from the fact that they are graded to correspond with the usual growth and advancement of the pupils intellectually as the study proceeds.
No. 1. Adam to Moses. Adapted to the capacity of the youngest pupils. 84 pages, 18 mo.; 15 cents.
No. 2. Egypt to Canaan. A continuation of No. 1, in a style for pupils more advanced, and opening with a review of No. 1, for the benefit of pupils who have not studied that book. 120 pages; 20 cents.
No. 3. Moses to Solomon. With a series of maps, and other new and interesting features. 132 pages; 25 cents.
No. 4. From the beginning of Solomon’s reign to the rebuilding of the temple after the captivity. 159 pages; 25 cents.
No. 5. From the rebuilding of the temple by Zerubbabel to the sending out of the twelve disciples by their Lord. This number brings the student to the close of the Old Testament and the opening of the New, thus connecting the two dispensations, and showing their intimate relation. 172 pages; 25 cents.
No. 6. From the sending out of the twelve disciples to the week of our Lord’s passion. 174 pages; 25 cents.
No. 7. From our Lord’s passover to the sending out of Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles. 101 pages; 20 cents.
No. 8. The Acts of the Apostles. This book contains 69 lessons, adapted to advanced pupils. 131 pages; 20 cents.
Order of State Tract Societies; Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich.; Review and Herald, Washington, D. C.; Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal.; Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Assn., Nashville, Tenn.
The True Gospel
By L. A. S.
Editorial
The True Gospel
THE true gospel is “the gospel of God . . . concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.” The true gospel teaches “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” The true gospel is “the gospel of the grace of God.” The true gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; . . . for therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.” The true gospel for this generation must proclaim, “All flesh is grass. . . . Behold, your God! Behold, the Lord Jehovah will come.” “And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.”
The Troubled Sea
IN his vision of the rise of the four great world-kingdoms the prophet Daniel saw “and, behold, the four winds of heaven broke forth upon the great sea.” In his vision of the closing scenes of this world's history the apostle John “saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree.” And to these angels came the instruction, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” Strife and commotion mark the history of the nations of the earth. They are frequently founded by a revolution, and maintained by bloody wars. But in the last generation the spirit of strife is greatly intensified, and it is only through the special restraining influence of heavenly agencies that the closing work of the gospel can be carried forward. This is the situation which we face to-day. We look out upon a troubled sea. The spirit of the times is the spirit of unrest and tumult, and vain seem the efforts of well-meaning reformers to bring about a change for the better. Labor organizes to strive against capital, and capital organizes to strive against labor. The industrial world is becoming a great battle ground. And the principle of compulsion, of enforcing their demands upon others by revolutionary methods, is fast taking possession of the minds of men. And with all the rest, the public sentiment is being debauched; and the tone of public morality is being lowered by the reflex influence of the acts of public immorality, until the public conscience is becoming rapidly hardened. The most flagrant crimes are often condoned, especially if the perpetrators are prominent in political and social life, or a mob of many persons will commit crime in their determination to punish the crime of one person. And thus the evil thing spreads. We are truly facing troublous times, and there is only one remedy. The gospel message, “Fear God, and give glory to him,” will bring deliverance to every one who receives it, and the coming of Jesus will calm the troubled sea. Believe the message. Wait patiently for the coming of Jesus.
False Prophets
“BEWARE of false prophets.” Israel was troubled many times by false teachers, and frequent calamities came upon the people for listening to their words. There was one characteristic which was always to be observed of these prophets. They always prophesied smooth things to the people. They generally appeared when special admonition, or reproof, or perhaps judgments from God were needed, and they would tell the people that these reproofs or judgments were not needed, and were not from the Lord, but that some of their leaders were responsible for them. Thus when the Lord through Moses told those who had come out of Egypt that they should die in the wilderness, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rose up and declared that it need not be so, but that they might, if they would, go right on to the promised land. When God through the prophet Jeremiah told the people that because of their sins they should be many years in captivity to the king of Babylon, a false prophet rose up, and declared that within two years the Lord would break the yoke of the king of Babylon, and Israel would again be free. Other like examples might be given. The false prophet always finds a ready audience for his smooth statements; for they strike a responsive chord in every unsanctified heart. There is nearly always a demand for them, and this we are told is to be particularly true of the last days. When the end is at hand, when signs and judgments proclaim its nearness, and messages from heaven come to arouse and prepare the people for the day of God, they will say to their teachers, “Prophecy unto us smooth things.” Messages that reprove and cut are not popular in the church, not even with those who profess to be looking for Christ’s return. It is the smooth prophecy, that excuses and covers up things where close scrutiny is not desirable and promises an easy time if its suggestions are followed, that wins the popular favor. We are ready to believe that it is not God who is troubling us, but some man. But, beware, beware. The smooth prophecy leads to the rough experience, and ends in catastrophe, while the prophecy that cuts and hurts now leads to the haven of joy and peace. This is not a time of smooth things, but of a great crisis, of the climax of the long contest of righteousness with sin, of preparation for the greatest and most solemn of all earthly events. We must be prepared for the issue; or fail and lose eternity. Beware of the smooth words, that soothe and lull the conscience. Beware of false prophets. L. A. S.
The Message for This Generation
THERE is a special message from heaven for this generation. It is the divine provision for this hour,—the divine provision4to expose the snares of Satan which have been laid for this time,—the divine provision to save men and women from the sins of this time. We speak of it as the third angel's message. We are here because of it. Had it not been for such a message as this, there would have been no people known as Seventh-day Adventists. This people and this work owe their existence to the simple fact that for the people of this generation there is a special message from heaven.
In this day when the scripture is being fulfilled which says, 'In the last days perilous times shall come;' in this day when iniquity abounds, and the love of many is waxing cold; in this day when men are being spoiled 'through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ;' in this day when a false science is evolving and is presenting a conception of God which is in itself mystical, and is really atheistical; in this day when those who are set for the defense of the gospel, are, many of them, betraying their trust, and are denying the inspiration of the Scriptures as the Word of God, are denying the divinity of Christ, and are denying the need and efficacy of the atonement,—in this day, and for this day, there is a special message from heaven.
This message takes up the words of Isaiah the prophet, and says to all the world: 'All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. . . . Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come.' It takes up the setting in which these words were given to the world by John the Baptist in his message when he said, fitting the message to the hour and to the time, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!' It takes up both of these messages, and gives to them the setting that belongs to them by the prophecy, and says, 'Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water.'
This is a special message from heaven to the world for this time, and this message is to expose and to set right the wrong teaching of this time. This message is to set forth the Word of God as being inspired of God, and 'profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.'
This message is to set forth Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God, God manifest in the flesh, Emmanuel, 'God with us.' And this message also is to set us right, and to set right all who will hear it, concerning the atonement for sin, that which is now being largely set at naught, in making every man his own savior by evolving himself from a state of sin into a state of righteousness. This special message from heaven is to take hold of every deception, and set it right before the world in the proclamation of God's gospel, as God would have it proclaimed in this day. This is the special message from heaven for the people of this generation.
Note for a moment the call for such a message. It is not necessary for us to deal with a theory of the time, or to attempt to fit any theory to our theory of the time. We must be impressed now with the meaning of the time. Do we not see, and do we not feel, the intensity of the time? Do we not realize in our own experience the fact of the intensity, the strain, the pressure of this hour? Is not this the fulfilment of that word which has been spoken to us that there is a special power rising from beneath, and taking hold of every agency? And is there not need that there should be fulfilled this further word, that there should come also a special power from heaven that should be revealed in God's people, in his work for this time? In this closing period of the great controversy, are we to expect anything else than that, however great the power may be that is exerted against God's truth, there shall be a greater power to meet it? Is this not in accordance with the Word of God?
It is an easy matter for us who are here to think back five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and some of us twenty-five, thirty, forty, and it may be fifty years. Suppose fifty years, or forty years, or thirty years ago we had suddenly been transplanted from that day and time, and from the experiences of that hour, to the experiences of to-day, would it not have been with a shock? The change has come by degrees in such a way that we ourselves have become more or less hardened to it; we ourselves hardly appreciate the changes that have come in the world in our generation. One who must read the daily record that is being made now is impressed with the fact that there is a special revelation of satanic agency in the world now. Is it not true that to-day the daily record contains unusual crimes, far different from what occurred twenty or thirty years ago, and with but little provocation? Does it not show clearly that there is a power that is taking possession of men and women, and that is beginning to rule them almost against their will?
Now where is the power, and where is the channel through which that power will be revealed, that will meet this increasing power of Satan, and will give victory to men and women in this generation,—victory in their own lives, and a final glorious victory to the church? Of course that is power of God; but the ordained means for the revelation of that power in this generation, for the people of this time, is this special message from heaven that we call the third angel's message.
This message has called us out. We have professed before the world to believe that there was such a message, and that this is the message, and that this is the people, and that this is the movement that is to close the gospel work. These considerations bring a responsibility upon every one who has taken that position, that he himself should act well his part in the revelation of that truth, in the revelation of that saving grace and power, that this message, which is the only hope of this generation, shall spread with great rapidity throughout the world, and save the people of this generation just so far as they will receive it. Whether we are in the ministry technically or not, whether we occupy any special place or position in this work or not, the fact that this message has found us, makes us debtors to those whom this message has not found; the fact that we have received a light which we prize as being special light for this generation makes us debtors to give that light to others.
But let us inquire more specifically what it is that distinguishes this special message from other preaching of the gospel in this generation. What message can we give, and in what way can we give that message, that we shall have something to declare to the world that no other people have to declare? and how can we know whether we ourselves are holding fast to the message, or whether we are being swerved from it?
Note one or two things first: the keynote of the message is the first thing to find, and the keynote of this message is that the return of Christ to our world will not be long delayed. In a certain sense, the whole gospel is the gospel of the advent message; but when we come to this generation, when we have passed the fulfilment of certain time prophecies, and other prophecies have their application to the world, then we may say that the coming of Christ the second time to our world will not be long delayed; and that is the keynote of the message, that is the fundamental tone of the message.
There are others who teach the advent of Christ, there are others who teach the seventh-day Sabbath, there are others who teach conditional immortality. There are various phases of this truth that enter in what we term the special message for this time, which you will hear spoken of in other pulpits, but what is the distinguishing feature of this special message which has called out this people, and which is to distinguish the message that this people is to give to the world, from any other teaching of the gospel in this generation? It is important to make this inquiry for our own sakes. It5is important to make this inquiry as a basis for the correct teaching of this message in this generation.
We need not expect that this message will be allowed to do its work without a supreme effort to turn it aside. This message being what we believe it to be, it is to be expected that an effort will be made to turn it aside from its purpose, to blind the minds of those who are called out to give this message, and to prevent it from accomplishing its work in this generation. And I hardly need to add the other word which you have thought of already—that it has been done.
This denomination ought to have one voice, this message to the world ought to be as the message of one man, not in uniformity of expression, not necessarily in uniformity in every shade of view of Bible truth; but in the most blessed unity in the presentation of the whole message, which ought to grow out of the very nature of the message, and our personal experience with the message.
Now again let us ask what is to distinguish the preaching of this message from any other preaching of the gospel for this generation. It is quite true that the question of the Sabbath is to stand out in clearness and with emphasis as a very marked feature in the giving of this message; and I might add more than that even, I might say truthfully that there can be no other such preaching of the seventh-day Sabbath as should be taught in this message; even though there be others who do teach the obligation to observe the seventh-day Sabbath, there should be a teaching of that truth from the standpoint of this message which will mark it as distinct from any other teaching apart from this message.
But there is something which involves the Sabbath question, which does not vitiate anything we have said about the prominence of that issue in this message, or its peculiar character in this message; there is something that lays the foundation for all this special and specific message to the world; and that is bound up in that great truth that we speak of familiarly as the sanctuary question.
Recall the history of this people; those who are familiar with the early days know that it was the teaching of the truths revealed through the sanctuary and its services which called out this people, the Seventh-day Adventists, and those who are familiar with the instruction which came at that time know that the spirit of prophecy said that 'such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the twenty-three hundred days, the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past advent movement, show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting, and give certainty to the glorious future.' These I have frequently seen were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell.' That instruction applies just as clearly to-day as then.
Out of that teaching of the sanctuary question in the gospel sense will come the special mold and setting to this message. That message of Revelation 14, in the threefold presentation of it, is built upon the sanctuary question as its foundation. This message which comes in the closing generation is not something apart from, and not fitting into, all the teaching of the gospel in the past. It is not a new gospel, it is simply the climax of all the teaching of the gospel since the first promise was made to our parents in the garden of Eden. It is the keystone for this six-thousand years of gospel teaching, and in it will be found principles that involve every principle of the gospel reaching back to Eden. And this teaching, this heaven-sent message for the people of this generation, is not to take the place of any truth in the past. It is not to present any new plan of God for the salvation of this generation; but it is to gather up all the truths of all past generations, it is to put them into the setting in which truth must be proclaimed in this generation, in order to meet the situation which God foresaw long before we knew anything about it; and it must be presented from that standpoint, and in that setting, in order that the same gospel truth of salvation through faith in the merits of Christ our Saviour may have a standing ground and do its work in this generation. And this setting is found in the sanctuary and its services.
(To be continued)
A Terrible Epidemic
By L. A. S.
In the Century Magazine for November, Dr. J. M. Buckley, editor of the leading Methodist paper in the United States, calls attention to “The Present Epidemic of Crime.” That there is such an epidemic is shown by facts which Dr. Buckley cites. Although he is not a believer in the nearness of Christ’s second advent, yet he is candid enough to admit that existing conditions, so far from suggesting a coming millennium of peace and righteousness, are such as Scripture has foretold would be characteristic of the days just prior to the end of the world. Here are some of Dr. Buckley’s statements:—
An appalling epidemic of crime exists in the United States. . . . Among the evidences of this epidemic is the recent rapid increase of juvenile and youthful crimes, and of crimes of premeditation and ingenuity committed by persons under or but little over what is called legal age. Moreover, these crimes among the young are by no means confined to the so-called lower classes. It occasions only momentary surprise to read that a scion of one of the best families is guilty of some heinous offense against law and morals. Indeed, the number of crimes committed by the highly educated is an alarming feature of the situation. The list of defaulting bookkeepers, bank tellers, clerks, and college graduates constantly lengthens, reflecting a lurid light upon the theories of those who attempt to account for the origin of all sin, vice, and crime by ignorance. Those who attribute all crime to intemperance are also silenced, since many prevalent crimes are incompatible with that vice, for they require the keenest intellects, the most concentrated attention. It is noteworthy also that representatives of the clerical, the legal, and the medical professions are furnishing an increasing number of crimes of dishonesty, violence, and pollution of domestic life.
Making due allowance for the number who, in the hope of pardon, attempt to ingratiate themselves by representing that they have belonged to various Christian denominations, and have been taught in Sunday-schools, the fact remains that a majority of the inmates of reformatories and prisons have been connected with different churches, either through their families or actually as communicants. Whoever studies criminals can but note that whereas the traditional type seemed to give a plausible argument to the theorizers who imagine that they can infallibly ascertain character by an examination of the exterior of the skull and the physiognomy, there may easily be selected from a thousand prisoners one hundred who, properly clad, could pass for the judge, jury, lawyers, court officers, and principals in an important civil suit.
About three years ago I delivered an address to the prisoners in the penal institution at Sing Sing. In the audience of eight hundred were two bankers, thirty bookkeepers, forty-seven clerks, four physicians, five lawyers, one United States consul, and twenty-one salesmen. Besides, there were policemen, chemists, dentists, nine merchants, two journalists, an architect, and two clergymen. The balance of the twelve hundred and fifty in the prison, four hundred and fifty of whom were in attendance at the Catholic chapel, included all trades and occupations. Prominent representatives of almost every denomination were there, and several members of families of high ancestral distinction in the country. In addition to these were many skilled workmen. After a similar address in the Tombs prison in New York, I visited the prisoners from cell to cell. Among them were fourteen charged with murder. Of these, ten would compare favorably in appearance and manner with the male attendants at any religious service. It is not so surprising that more than a third of the inmates of the Elmira reformatory are well educated, and many of them refined and ingratiating in conversation and deportment. The alarming fact is that a large proportion of these are among the most incorrigible.
Another peculiarity of the time is that it is common to read the statement that the accused, when brought before the court, “seemed the most unconcerned person in the room.” As a rule, nothing can account for such effrontery except familiarity with thoughts of crime and calculations on the possibility of detection. Again, the most outrageous acts are perpetrated with no very powerful ascertainable motive for their commission. The brutality also which marks6many recent criminal acts has never been exceeded. Outrages upon children and upon the aged of both sexes, and the assassination of benefactors, are every-day occurrences. A single morning paper will recount scores of such ghastly acts. I recently counted fifty-two in a single number of a daily paper. . . .
In any community an average amount of crime, ascertained by comparisons covering several years, would hardly be considered an epidemic. But when crime spreads rapidly and extends to regions comparatively free from it before, and where it has been common—takes on new and startling forms, it is obvious that both usual and unusual influences must be at work. Such has been the recent course of things in the United States. Individual crimes have increased in number and malignity. In addition to this, under extraordinary influences a wave of general criminality has spread over the whole nation. Meanwhile in certain regions there is an outbreak of a particular class of crimes.
Having made these statements, and having noted further that the present epidemic of crime can not be due to hard times, since the country has been generally prosperous, Dr. Buckley enumerates what he regards as the causes which have produced such a deplorable and alarming result. But one cause which he does not mention underlies all the others, and that is that the world is rapidly being given over to the spirit of strife and crime, because men have resisted the Spirit of God until it has been almost withdrawn from the earth. Prophetic scripture tells us that abounding iniquity is to be characteristic of the last days of time; that an epidemic of sin will sweep over the world; and with this there will naturally be also an epidemic of crime, for where reverence is lacking for the law of God, there will be little respect shown for the laws of men. In the light of Bible prophecies the present situation is alarming, but it is not mysterious. We are not left in the dark either as regards what course we must pursue at such a time, or what we may further expect.
Dr. Buckley has no remedy to offer for the situation, though he asserts that “to realize our danger and our deficiencies, to realize that ‘the rule of a republic is a rule of law and order,’ has, in itself, the potency of a remedy.” The Saviour, however, in foretelling such a condition of things as now exists, did not say to his disciples that they should try to remedy the situation, and so save society and the state, but he did say that when they should see these things coming to pass, they should lift up their heads and rejoice because their redemption was at hand. In this lies the only real benefit of calling attention to the perils and calamities which foreshadow the approaching dissolution of earthly things. All these things proclaim the coming of Him who has redeemed the earth, and whose right it is to reign, whose coming will put an end to sin and crime and suffering, and whose reign will be with everlasting peace and righteousness. The long usurpation of sin and Satan is about to end, and “soon the earth with joy will receive her King.” L. A. S.