“THAT our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.”
It should be the object of every parent to secure to his children a well-balanced, symmetrical character. This is a work of no small magnitude and importance. It requires earnest thought and prayer, no less than patient, persevering effort. A right foundation must be laid, a framework, strong and firm, erected, and then day by day the work of building, polishing, perfecting, must go forward.
The early training of children is a subject that all should carefully study. We need to make the education of our children a business; for their salvation depends largely upon the education given them in childhood. Parents and guardians must themselves maintain purity of heart and life, if they desire their children to be pure. As fathers and mothers, we should train and discipline ourselves. Then as teachers in the home, we can train our children, preparing them for the immortal inheritance.
At an early age the minds of children are very susceptible to impressions of good or of evil. Even in infancy a child is affected by a sorrowful expression on the mother’s face. In a home where harsh, fretful, scolding words are spoken, a child cries much, and upon its tender sensibilities are impressed the marks of unhappiness and discord. Then, mothers, let your countenance be full of sunshine. Smile, if you can, and the infant’s mind and heart will reflect the light of your countenance, as the polished plate of an artist portrays the human features. Be sure, mothers, to have an indwelling Christ, so that on your child’s plastic mind may be impressed the divine likeness.
Mothers, have you neglected your God-given responsibility of multiplying agencies for the service of Christ? Children are the younger members of the Lord’s family. Parents should not allow them to be hindrances. They should be led to consecrate themselves wholly to God, whose they are by creation and by redemption. With their parents, children are to share spiritual as well as temporal burdens. They should be trained to be helpful. Thus they will be taught to serve the Saviour.
Opportunities of inestimable worth, interests infinitely precious, are committed to every mother. During the first three years of the life of Samuel the prophet, his mother carefully taught him to distinguish between good and evil. By every familiar object surrounding him, she sought to lead his thoughts up to the Creator. In fulfilment of her vow to give her son to the Lord, with great self-denial she placed him under the care of Eli the high priest, to be trained for service in the house of God. 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. His early training led him to choose to maintain his Christian integrity. What a reward was Hannah’s! and what an encouragement to faithfulness is her example!
The father should be the faithful high priest of the home, the house-band of the family. He should not be so absorbed in business life or in the study of books that he can not take time to study the nature and the necessities of his children. He should devise ways by which they may be kept busy in useful labor agreeable to their individual dispositions. It is a great mistake to allow young men to grow up without learning some trade. To the parents of ancient Israel God gave a positive command that every child should learn a trade. The carelessness of parents in neglecting to furnish employment to their children has resulted in untold evil, imperiling the lives of many youth, and sadly crippling their usefulness.
God desires both parents and teachers to train children in the practical duties of every-day life. Encourage industry. Girls—and even boys who do not have outdoor work—should learn how to help the mother. From childhood, boys and girls should be taught to bear heavier and still heavier burdens, intelligently helping in the work of the family firm. Mothers, patiently show your children how to use their hands. Let them understand that their hands are to be used as skilfully as are yours in the household work. Often a fretful infant or a sick child keeps the mother awake night after night. At such times how much better it is for the children to draw upon their strength than to allow the already overtaxed mother to be burdened with work that they should do. Too often the mother succumbs to disease, sometimes lying upon her death-bed before her children realize that by sharing the home burdens, they could have lessened her cares, and spared her much suffering and affliction.
Prayerfully, unitedly, the father and the mother should bear the grave responsibility of guiding their children aright. Whatever else they neglect, they should never leave their children free to wander in paths of sin. Many parents allow children to go and do as they please, amusing themselves, and choosing evil associates. In the judgment such parents will learn that their children have lost heaven because they have not been kept under home restraint. Parents should awake to their solemn responsibility, realizing that they are to teach their children to walk in the narrow way, that at last, a united family, they may enter the heavenly kingdom.
Children left in the hands of Satan are gladly taken by him and used in his service. Fathers and mothers, Satan is seeking to seize every one of your children. Come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty powers of darkness. Consecrate your household to God.
Evening and morning join with your children in God’s worship, reading his Word and singing his praise. Teach them to repeat God’s law. Concerning the commandments the Israelites were instructed: “Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Accordingly, Moses directed the Israelites to set the words of the law to music. While the older children played on instruments, the younger ones marched, singing in concert the song of God’s commandments. In later years they retained in their minds the words of the law which they learned during childhood.
If it was essential for Moses to embody the commandments in sacred song, so that as they marched in the wilderness, the children could learn to sing the law verse by verse, how essential it is at this time to teach our children God’s Word! Let us come up to the help of the Lord, instructing our children to8keep the commandments to the letter. Let us do everything in our power to make music in our homes, that God may come in. Banish the discord of scolding and fretting. Never exhibit passion. Christian parents will put away every objectionable trait of character, daily learning from the Great Teacher to train their children wisely, bringing them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
Parents, your own home is the first field in which you are called to labor. The precious plants in the home garden demand your first care. To you it is appointed to watch for souls as they that must give an account. Carefully consider your work, its nature, its bearing, and its results. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, you must instruct, warn, and counsel, ever remembering that your looks, words, and actions have a direct bearing upon the future of your dear ones. Your work is not to form beauty upon canvas, nor to chisel it from marble, but to impress upon a human soul the image of the Divine.
For Christ’s sake, for the sake of your children, seek to conform your own life to the divine standard. Let nothing come between you and your God. Be earnest, patient, and persevering; be instant in season and out of season. Give your children intellectual culture and moral training. Fortify their young hearts with firm, pure principles. While you have opportunity, lay the foundation for a noble manhood and womanhood. Your labor will be rewarded a thousandfold.
The Presence of Christ
By Margaret E. Sangster
HERE, in my workshop where I toil
Till head and hands are well-nigh spent;
Out on the road where dust and soil
Fall thick on garments worn and rent;
Or in the kitchen where I bake
The bread the little children eat,
He comes, his hand of strength I take,
And every homely task grows sweet.
I sit among the books I love,
Or bend above life's dearest Book,
Softer than wing of whitest dove,
Kinder than friend's most winsome look,
He broods upon the page I read;
He tells me he is at my side,
Even here he gives what most I need,
And stays by me, my blessed Guide.
The tempter dares an evil spell
To weave around my wayward mood;
His baleful minions fain would dwell
With me in desert solitude.
But, ere men's craft can drag me down,
One strong to save defeats their end,
One once who wore hate's thorny crown,
One evermore my deathless friend.
O Master, while the moments drift
So fast away, till night draws near,
Be with me still that I may lift
Unceasingly my song of cheer.
I would not have an hour apart
From thee, sweet Lover, matchless King.
Abide with me. Take thou my heart.
Low at thy feet myself I fling.
—Margaret E. Sangster, in the Interior.
God’s Providence in the Selection of Pioneer Workers
By J. O. Corliss
The Experiences of Former Days — No. 7
God’s Providence in the Selection of Pioneer Workers
J. O. CORLISS
The third angel’s message was to be introduced to the last generation of men under peculiar circumstances. The multiplication of mechanical inventions and commercial plants was beginning fully to engage the talent of the world. Something startling must therefore be introduced by which to divert attention to the claims of God, if only for a brief period. The announcement of the immediate coming of Christ, at a definite time, was alone sufficient to do this. But even this must be more than a desultory proclamation. Men must be brought forward who could meet the conditions, and arrest attention.
Such men were found in William Miller and Joshua V. Himes, who were trained in adversity, and had the courage to sacrifice worldly prospects to enter upon a course of self-abnegation for the glory of God. But these men alone could not have done the work contemplated. Others, just as self-sacrificing and intrepid as they, became associated with them, and were thus trained to carry forward the work which the earlier great leaders were destined to let wane in their hands.
For the purpose in view, it is only necessary now to mention the names of Joseph Bates and James White. The former had known the hardships of sea-faring life, having worked his way from cabin boy to master and part owner of a ship. When he embraced the message of the Lord’s coming, he had never acknowledged defeat in an undertaking, and so was prepared to bestow a fortune on the cause his soul loved.
James White, a native of Maine, where in early days boys were generally trained in hardships, received his share of the common inheritance. Young, and full of enthusiasm, he received the news of the Lord’s coming at a definite period, with the greatest joy, and threw his whole soul into its proclamation. A born leader of men, he was destined to fill a prominent place in God’s work for the closing generation of men.
But these leaders could not have successfully met coming events without the training they had in company with such men as Miller, Himes, Marsh, and others of their kind. When the 1844 disappointment came, and the hearts of those who had before seemed strong leaders, grew faint, these men were prepared to follow the leadings of God’s providence. In order to strengthen their hands, noble young men were found, who through storms of adversity stood by the work, until they fell at their appointed task.
One of the first of these was a young man who had suffered affliction from a tender age. When but a mere child, a fever-sore developed on one limb, threatening not only to destroy it, but to take his life as well. As a last resort it was decided to amputate the limb in order to save his life. So, at the age of thirteen, he submitted to the ordeal, without taking an anesthetic; and with the nerve that would have done credit to a wounded soldier, he lay and watched the process of the operation.
The relation of this incident is to point out a single lesson, and that is, that at that time of life the boy was revealing the material in him which, with the growth of his manhood, was to mark his persistence in work for the Master. During the seven succeeding years, the boy gave his attention to the attainment of an education, but in the dawn of manhood was led to receive the truth in its fulness.
This step in his life was taken in following after a cherished desire. He had long believed that if he could but secure an artificial limb, he would be able to walk without crutches. Partially to satisfy himself, he made a ‘stump’ with which to get about. But it was awkward at best, and he said many times in the presence of his mother, “O if I had a leg with a foot on it!” His mother, knowing of a Brother Martin who had one of that kind, not in use, induced the young man to go with her to Washington, N. H., to attend a meeting at which Brother and Sister White were to be present, under the promise that she would take him round by Brother Martin’s to see if the discarded leg could be secured.
On trial, the coveted limb was found to be a perfect fit, and having gained possession of it as a gift, the young man and his mother proceeded to the meeting, where he received the truth in his heart, and from there went home rejoicing. In just such ways, God leads men to accept his truth, that he may use them to his glory.
In the meantime the Advent Review had been enlarged, the sub-title And Sabbath Herald being added to it; and the office of publication was removed to Rochester, N. Y. As burdens multiplied upon Brother White, persons were sought who might assist in the editorial work. The call to this work came to Brother Uriah Smith and his sister Annie, when they were both well engaged in public-school work. After mature deliberation, they accepted the call, he leaving a salary of one thousand dollars a year, to work for his board and clothes.
Annie lived but a short time after connecting with the paper, but left behind beautiful sentiments in verse, which have kept her memory fragrant with some, even to the present time. Brother Smith became editor of the paper in November, 1855, at the age of twenty-three, and remained at his post until the allotted years of threescore and ten were added to his life, when he suddenly laid down his burdens, March 6, 1903, while going from his home to the Review and Herald Office in Battle Creek, Mich.
“And We Know”
By A. E. Place
Work Together
(Concluded)
A. E. PLACE
Many are kept from the blessedness of our text by a misunderstanding of the expression previously used, and they say, “Yes, I believe that in the end, when all things have been rounded up, it will be found that all things taken as a whole have worked, etc. But each circumstance as it comes along can not be the meaning of the text. Just think of this experience through which I am passing. I tell you, you can not appreciate what I have to endure. I know this is not for my good.” Some even go so far as to say that if God really loved them as he says he does, this or that would never have been allowed to come to them.
Should we admit this “round-up” theory, we should still be held to the truth that whether this present “terrible circumstance” is or is not for your good, depends altogether upon whether or not you truly love God. If you love God, it certainly will; for, “We know.” If you do not love God, it may not work for your good, or it may later be demonstrated9to you that it was one of the greatest blessings that God ever permitted to come to you, though in disguise.
But note that the text does not say that all things taken as a whole have worked, etc.; but it does say, “All things work.” We lose the great preciousness of God’s word by failing to discern the present truth in its present personal application in our daily experience. “All things work” is present truth, not future, and the more fully we recognize it and apply it, the more fully we know the truthfulness of our text, and hence that all things that come to us are for us, and for us.
It may be impossible for us to know how this can be. It may not be God’s design that we should understand the “how” at present, and possibly never; but he wants us to know the fact, and patiently wait his time to reveal the “why” and the “how.”
Gray-haired Jacob, with tears of anguish, cried at one time, “Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.” Just a few years later Joseph said to those same brethren, “God did send me before you to preserve life.” For years the old patriarch, in the land of Goshen, had an opportunity to prove that those things which he once knew so well were all against him, were all for him, and for his children. He learned that “all things work together for good to them that love God.” “Lord, increase our faith.”
Paul’s Experience
Some seem to think that the apostle Paul did not hold well to this text, as he says much about his trials and his sufferings. Let all who think this way study carefully just what Paul does say about his personal experiences, and why he says it.
First, as to his rights to an exemption from “hard times,” from the standpoint of his position and ability. He says, “I speak concerning reproach. . . . Are they Hebrews? so am I. . . . Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.” “I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, . . . brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law,” “circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee.” These statements might at first sight be regarded as boastful; but note carefully his words: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, . . . that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
Probably no apostle or Christian ever worked more humbly, more uncomplainingly, than did the apostle Paul. His ability and advantages, though far above many other men, were never used as a basis for better wages, a better field, or exemption from any of the hard and unpleasant things of life. His glory was centered in the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, and his resurrection. He was ready not only for Macedonia, but for “Rome also,” and for the knife of Nero.
Second, as to his attitude in the matter of afflictions and persecutions. “I speak as concerning reproach, . . . in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things which are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” There is no boasting, no murmuring, in these statements, as we shall clearly see. His conclusion is stated in these words: “If I must needs glory, I will glory in the things which concern mine infirmities.” Why does he glory in those things? “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake.”
Again he says, “We are troubled on every side, . . . we are perplexed, . . . persecuted, . . . cast down; . . . always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus [that we may murmur or boast about it?—No.], that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor [fragrance] of his knowledge by us in every place.” Are all things against us? Is anything against the Christian?—Nay, verily. “For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.”
In the following words, this apostle and Christian describes and condenses the great sum of all his troubles of life: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
This man, Paul the apostle of Jesus Christ, emptied of boasting, criticizing, and murmuring, is the man who after long years of trial penned the wonderful words, “We know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” He wrote them because he knew. The great thing he knew was Christ, and to know Christ is Christianity. May God give to each one of us the burning desire and the patience and fortitude necessary to “know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Then we shall daily see the words of David being fulfilled: “He winnoweth my path.” We shall be able to see the kind and loving Lord going before us with his fan of divine providence in his hand, taking out of our way everything he does not wish us to meet. We shall know that all he leaves in our way is for our good because we love him. If we stumble, we shall endeavor to arise and uncomplainingly press forward, giving thanks to the Lord for the experience, “that the power of Christ may rest upon us.”
Fainting Hearts
By G. B. Thompson
G. B. THOMPSON
“AND there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken,” Luke 21: 25, 26.
The American Revised Version reads, “Men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world.” Young in his Analytical Concordance defines the word rendered “failing,” “to swoon away.” Barnes in his notes on this text says:—
“The word translated ‘distress’ denotes anxiety of mind—such an anxiety as men have when they do not know what to do to free themselves from calamities; and it means here that the calamities would be so great and overwhelming that they would not know what to do to escape. . . . ‘Men’s hearts failing them.’ This is an expression denoting the highest terror. The word rendered ‘failing’ commonly denotes to die, and here it means that the terror would be so great that men would faint and be ready to die in view of the approaching calamities.”
It was a view of these scenes that drew from the Holy Spirit the solemn words, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” Rev. 14: 13.
That we have entered upon perilous times is apparent to all. Look where we will, and we behold a troubled sea. Tokens of the approaching end, and a “time of trouble, such as never was,” are appearing everywhere. Nations are increasing their armaments; they are forging their weapons of slaughter as never before. The world is but a vast arsenal, and all stand breathlessly watching10to see which will make the fatal move on the chess-board of nations that will plunge this great military camp into the most destructive and terrible war since the creation of the world. What a scene of carnage it will be when the flower of manhood from all nations meet in battle array, driven by the demons of hatred and jealousy which control the world. Well may the prophet exclaim, “My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can not hold my peace; because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” Jer. 4: 19, A. R. V.
Destructive agencies are at work in the earth as never before. Such loss of life in railway and various other calamities is unprecedented. Destructive conflagrations, ruin by tempest and cyclone, strikes, mobs, and various other labor troubles are rapidly on the increase. Violence, as in Noah’s time, fills the earth. Intemperance is on the increase, and its victims by the thousands move in mournful procession to the tomb. The outlook is appalling, yet all these are but the beginnings of sorrows.
How sad it is to see multitudes dwelling amid the delusions of the enemy, and viewing with terror the increasing perils, without any hope in God. In the things occurring about us we are to see tokens of the end, and hear the voice of God announcing to lost men the doom of the world, and calling them to come unto him and hide till the indignation be overpast.
“AS the Eagle . . . So the Lord”
REV. WILLIAM J. LONG, in a book of animal stories called “Wilderness Ways,” tells an incident which interprets and illumines a Bible verse.
A mother eagle had tried in vain to tempt her little one to leave the nest on a high cliff. With food in her talons she came to the edge of the nest, hovered over it a moment, so as to give the hungry eaglet a sight and smell of food, then went slowly down to the valley, taking her food with her, and telling the little one to come, and he should have it. He called after her loudly, and spread his wings a dozen times to follow. But the plunge was too awful; he was afraid, and settled back into the nest. What followed, Mr. Long describes thus:—
In a little while she came back again, this time without food, and hovered over the nest, trying every way to induce the little one to leave it. She succeeded at last, when with a desperate effort he sprang upward and flapped to the ledge above, where I had sat and watched him. Then, after surveying the world gravely from his new place, he flapped back to the nest, and turned a deaf ear to all his mother’s assurances that he could fly just as easily to the treetops below, if he only would.
The mother eagle flew up again, and halted well above him. I held my breath, for I knew what was coming. The little fellow stood on the edge of the nest, looking down at the plunge which he dared not take. There was a sharp cry from behind, which made him alert, tense as a watch-spring. The next instant the mother eagle had swooped, her talons striking the nest at his feet, sending his support of twigs, and himself with them, out into the air together.
He was afloat now, afloat on the blue air in spite of himself, and flapped lustily for life. Over him, under him, beside him hovered the mother on tireless wings, calling softly that she was there. But the awful fear of the depths and the lance tops of the spruces was upon the little one; his flapping grew more wild; he fell faster and faster. Suddenly—more in fright, it seemed to me, than because he had spent his strength—he lost his balance, and tipped head downward in the air. It was all over now, it seemed; he folded his wings to be dashed to pieces.
Then like a flash the old mother eagle shot under him; his despairing feet touched her broad shoulders, between her wings. He righted himself, rested an instant, found his head; then she dropped like a shot from under him, leaving him to come down on his own wings. It was all the work of an instant before I lost them among the trees far below. And when I found them again with my glass, the eaglet was in the top of a great pine, and the mother was feeding him.
And then, standing there alone in the great wilderness, it flashed upon me for the first time just what the wise old prophet meant when he said: “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, . . . so the Lord.”
Faith in God and the Sanctuary
By Stephen N. Haskell
THERE are two elements in faith that are essential if we would receive the blessings that come as a result of faith. We must believe that God is a personal being, dwelling somewhere in particular. The habitation in which God dwells is called a sanctuary. This was illustrated by the ritual service in connection with the earthly sanctuary. The people were commanded to bring their offerings to the door of the sanctuary (Lev. 17: 1-7); for there God would meet them. Ex. 29: 38-43; Deut. 12: 5-14, 17, 18. If they failed to do this, it was evidence that they were idol worshipers. One essential feature in their worship was to recognize God’s personal presence in a particular place, that is, in the sanctuary. Lev. 17: 7-9.
This thought is further shown in the prayer at the dedication of the temple. Solomon acknowledges that God dwelt in heaven; but while heaven was his dwelling-place, God’s eyes were ever open toward this house, for his name was there; it was his dwelling-place on the earth, and represented his dwelling-place in heaven. So when the people prayed, they were to look toward the temple. 1 Kings 8: 27-30. When a man trespassed against his neighbor, if he turned his face toward the Lord’s house, he received pardon. Verses 31, 32. If the armies of Israel were smitten before their enemies, and would make supplication before the temple, God heard them. Verses 33, 34. In time of drought, if the people would pray toward the temple, confessing their sins, God would send them rain. Verses 35, 36. If they were smitten with pestilence, famine, blasting, mildew, locusts, or any plague or sickness, if they would spread out their hands toward the temple, God would hear and deliver them. Verses 37-40. If strangers from a far country should pray toward the temple, God would vindicate his word and save them. Verses 41-43. When Israel went out to battle, to insure victory they were to pray toward the city; for the temple was in the city. Verses 44, 45. When they had sinned and repented, they were always to pray toward God’s dwelling-place. Verses 46-50.
What object-lesson could God give that would more forcibly impress his people with the personality of God in him, the sanctuary above? This dwelling-place was in Jerusalem, and in the temple Solomon built. God answered Solomon’s prayer by filling the house with his glory, the object being that all the people of the earth might know that the Lord is God, and that there is no one else. Verses 56-60. See also 2 Chron. 6: 12-42; 7: 1-3.
Jehoshaphat obtained a great victory when he pleaded this promise at a time of great helplessness, appealing to the fact that this was God’s sanctuary, built for his name. 2 Chron. 20: 5-30. Daniel prayed, “His windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day.” Dan. 6: 10.
If there was any virtue in this,—and there certainly was,—does it not mean something to us? Rom. 15: 4. We have not a sanctuary on earth, but in heaven, where Christ is minister, at the right hand of God, the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man. Heb. 8: 1, 2. We should direct our prayers to him, believing “that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Is it not, then, necessary when we pray that our hearts be lifted up to heaven? Jesus “lifted up his eyes to heaven” and prayed. John 17: 1. God would have his people pray, “everywhere lifting up holy hands,” without wrath or doubting.
Any effort to direct the mind to the human body as the antitypical sanctuary, or to any other object on earth, is to turn the face toward idol worship. Every ray of light received comes from the heavenly courts, and the human body becomes the spiritual temple only as it receives these rays of light from a knowledge of Christ’s work in the heavenly sanctuary.—S. N. Haskell, in Southern Watchman.