Signs of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 8. (2/25/1886)

Signs of the Times

Feb 25, 1886

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 25, 1886

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

Love among Brethren.

“Be kindly affectioned one toward another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another.”

WE call God our Father, and claim to be children of one family. Our heavenly Father loves us with an infinite tenderness, and surrounds us with the evidences of that love; and if we loved him in return, we should love his children also. “For he that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not seen?”

Yet how many there are among professed Christians who have little love for one another; how many who instead of manifesting a charitable spirit are very severe upon those whom they suppose to be in error, while at the same time they are very sensitive to the least blame or question in regard to their own course. Too often hints are thrown out, and sharp criticisms are indulged in, when these critical, censorious ones are blind to their own errors, which are perfectly evident to others. When this disposition is manifested, when there is a desire to lessen the influence of another in order to build up self, we please the enemy, and grieve Him whom we profess to follow. The tenderness and mercy that Jesus revealed in his life should be an example to us in our treatment of our fellow-beings, and especially those who are our brethren in Christ. We are daily recipients of the bounties of Heaven, and loving gratitude should spring up in our hearts. Thoughts of the goodness of God to us should soften our hearts toward others, and lead us to sympathize with our neighbors and make their interests our own.

The love of God for us is manifested daily; yet we are thoughtless of his favors and indifferent to his entreaties. He seeks to impress us with his spirit of tenderness, his gentleness and forbearance; but we scarcely recognize the evidence of his kindness, and have little sense of the lesson of love he desires us to learn. But the Spirit of God will not abide where there is disunion and contention among believers. Even if these feelings are unexpressed, when they take possession of the heart they drive out the peace and love that should characterize the Christian church. They are the result of selfishness in its fullest sense,—an evil which may manifest itself in inordinate self-esteem or in an undue longing for the approbation of others, even if approbation be obtained by unworthy means.

The disciples of Christ will heed the instruction of the Master, who bids us love one another even as he has loved us. Religion is founded upon love,—love to God and to our fellow-men. It is full of gratitude, humility, long-suffering. It is self-sacrificing, forbearing, merciful, and forgiving. It sanctifies the whole life, and exerts an influence over others.

Those who love God cannot harbor malice, hatred, or envy. When the heavenly principle of love reigns in the heart, it will flow out to others, not merely because favors have been received, but because the ruling principle of action is love,—a principle which modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, subdues enmity, and elevates and ennobles the entire being. This love is not contracted so as to include merely “me and mine,” but is as broad as the world and as high as Heaven, and is in harmony with that of the angel workers. When it is cherished in the soul, it sweetens the entire life and exerts a refining influence on all around. Possessing it, we shall be happy, whether fortune smiles or frowns.

This love is the heavenly adorning that gives true nobility and dignity to the soul, and assimilates our lives to the life of the Master. No matter how many good qualities we may possess, no matter how honorable, intelligent, and refined we may be, if the heart is not imbued with the heavenly grace of love to God and one another, we are deficient in true goodness, and unfit for Heaven, where all is love and unity.

During the earthly ministry of Christ, the sick and afflicted were special objects of his care. He devoted more time to healing them of their maladies than to the work of public preaching. When he sent out the disciples, he commanded them to heal the sick as well as to preach the gospel. When he sent out the seventy, he commanded them to heal the sick, and then to preach that the kingdom of God had come nigh unto them. The physical health of the people was to be their first care, in order that the way might be prepared for minds to be reached by the truths which they were to preach. When the Saviour gave the commission to his apostles, who were to be his representatives upon the earth, he said of those who should believe the gospel, “They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” And when the Master shall come, he will commend those who have cared for the sick and the afflicted.

We are slow to learn the mighty influence of trifles, and their bearing upon the salvation of souls. The joy of our Lord consisted in enduring toil and shame for others, that they might be benefited through him; and there is great need that the pitying tenderness of our divine Pattern should be manifested at all times and in all places. God, in his providence, has willed that no one can secure happiness by living for self alone; but we may all find happiness in following the example of Christ, and living to bless our fellow-men.

Some who once loved God, and lived in the daily enjoyment of his favor, are now in darkness and despairing gloom. This is because they are cherishing self. They are seeking so hard to carry out their own selfish aims that all other considerations are swallowed up in this. In bearing their own yoke and carrying their own burden, they find no rest. But Jesus invites them to take his yoke and bear his burden; and in complying with this invitation, they will find rest and peace, light and joy. If they will forget self in the effort to do good, and to carry sunshine wherever they go, their gloom and despondency will disappear.

Jesus cited the lawyer who asked him what he should do to inherit eternal life to the sacred law-code given from Sinai; and to the lawyer’s interpretation of that code: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself,” he responded, “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.”

“Thy neighbor as thyself.” The question arises, “Who is my neighbor?” His reply is the parable of the good Samaritan, which teaches us that any human being who needs our sympathy and our kind offices is our neighbor. The suffering and destitute are our neighbors; and when their wants are brought to our knowledge, it is our duty to relieve them as far as possible. A principle is brought out in this parable that it would be well for the followers of Christ to adopt. First meet the temporal necessities of the needy, relieve their wants and sufferings, and you will then find an open avenue to the heart, where you may plant the good seeds of virtue and religion.

Those who desire to be missionaries have in our world of need a large field in which to labor. They should not wait for some great work to do, but should cheerfully take up that which is nearest to their hand. Jesus was the Majesty of Heaven; yet he stooped to the humblest offices. He ministered to rich and poor alike, having no respect to persons or station. And he would have each of us follow his example in meekness and humility. “Learn of me,” he says; “for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Here is the repose which so many crave, and in vain spend time and money to obtain.

Self-exaltation must be renounced by those who would serve God; otherwise they cannot expect the blessing of his divine favor. It is a wicked pride that delights in the vanity of one’s own works, and boasts of one’s excellent qualities, seeking to make others seem inferior in order to exalt self, claiming more glory than the cold heart is willing to give to God.

Instead of cultivating an unworthy ambition to be equal with, or higher than another in honor or position, we should seek to be faithful in the discharge of the humble duties assigned us. The spirit of self-aggrandizement is the spirit of Satan. It caused contention among the apostles even while Christ was with them. But when they disputed who among them should be greatest, Jesus sat down, and, calling

the twelve, said unto them, “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all and servant of all.”

When a mother made a request that her two sons should be especially favored in the kingdom of Christ, he told her that the honor and glory of his kingdom was to be the reverse of the honor and glory of this world. Whoever would be great must be a humble minister unto others, and he who would be chief must be a servant; even as the Son of God was a minister and a servant unto the children of men.

Thus the heavenly Teacher reproved the spirit of self-seeking, which is so contrary to the spirit of divine love that should reign in the hearts of his followers. He says: “This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

WE SHALL SEE CLEARLY.

THE joy that thrills our hearts to-day, The grief that comes to-morrow, Are both from God. His hand bestows Life's beauty and its sorrow; And all its gifts are tokens dear Of love and care unceasing; Our bliss and pain alike are full Of his paternal blessing.

When we in Heaven's sweet light shall read A new life's changeful story, 'Twill be to find its every line Illuminated with its glory. Then we shall solve earth's mystery Of strife, and blood, and sorrow, And all things dark to-day shall glow With light divine to-morrow. —Sel.

Getting at the Gist of It.

By Examiner

THE man that can do this is the successful man. The young man that sets out in his career with the determination to do it has the secret of success in his possession. No matter what the question that comes up, to get at the gist of it before acting is almost to insure that the action will be prudent, wise, safe, and successful.

Take a general. Napoleon was a wonder among commanders, because he grasped the situation instantly and always. As if by intuition, he saw straight to the point of the problem. Difficulties were nothing to him. What seemed insurmountable to his subordinates had been surmounted by his mental sight; while they were looking from the outside, he was looking from the central point, and had in mind every movement and maneuver. He might be disappointed, but he could not be surprised. All the possibilities and probabilities had entered into his calculation, and what appeared to be his brilliant dashes were, in fact, the result of his grasp of details before a single step was taken.

Take a business man. Cornelius Vanderbilt made a great fortune, because he got at the gist of the transportation needs and possibilities of the country. Where other men were afraid to venture through failure to grasp the great problem of the nation's development, and the facilities that such development must inevitably demand, he saw from the central point, and acted on what he saw. So a Stewart got at the gist of successful trade, in skillful buying, fair profits, strictly honest representation of goods, a complete assortment, and courteous attention. Through his grasp of the principles that should govern trade, added to his great sagacity in judging what would sell and what would not, he built up a mercantile house without an equal in the world. Wherever the successful men are found in any of the large lines of enterprise or traffic, it will be found also that they are the men who go straight to the point of whatever is proposed.

Take a preacher. Paul got at the gist of the gospel he was to preach,—"Christ and him crucified." See what a grasp of his work is indicated in his words, "I am become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some." The great preachers since Paul, great in the service of God and the saving of souls as his instruments, are the men who were like Paul in getting at, and putting forth, the pith and point of the gospel of salvation,—the men who have seen from that center which is Christ, and worked always from that toward souls. Every preacher who would succeed in his high calling must first make sure that for himself he has got at the gist of divine truth and his own work in its behalf. It is not those who waste themselves in running along the wavering and uncertain lines of a "new theology" or a modern theory, and who are ever striving after something, but never getting at the gist of the truth, that make the truly successful workers in the ministry. He who is rooted and grounded in the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and who brings his message from a mind that has grasped the needs of men and a heart that has been warmed by nearness to the Saviour of men, is the true and successful teacher and preacher and guide.

This is the great thing—to get at the gist of Christianity as a faith working itself out in a life. Every Christian should seek earnestly and prayerfully such a comprehension of the Divine will and purpose as shall lead to intelligent and consecrated action. And it is important to bear in mind that it is not the size of the circle of opportunities and means that is God's gauge. For that the worker need not care. His part is simply to get in the center of his own circle, large or small as it may look to human eyes, and there work. The circle will enlarge in proportion to the capacity and faithfulness of the worker.

The Christian who has by the Holy Spirit's illumination got at the gist of the gospel, and whose will it is unswervingly to follow that light in action, will be the living and giving Christian, whose means and energies will alike be spent for the spread among men of the saving knowledge contained in that gospel. What the religious societies need, what the churches need, what the pastors and individual members of the churches need, next to love for, and loyalty to, Christ, is to make sure of getting at the gist of the great and all-important work God has given them to do. Were this done, how many damaging mistakes would be avoided, and how many glorious successes would be won.

Her Prayer Has Not Been Answered.

A LADY parishioner came to me one day and asked, "Do you believe in prayer?"

Surprised at the question, I replied, "Certainly I do, or I would not pray either publicly or privately."

"No, not that," said she. "Of course you believe in prayer generally; but do you really believe in special answers to special prayer?"

"Most assuredly I do," was my reply. "We are warranted in that belief by Scripture teaching and by the practical experience of Christians in all ages of the church."

"Well, it may be so," she replied. "But I am ready to doubt it. For five years I have been praying that my husband might be converted, and my prayers seem no nearer an answer than when I first began to offer them. Indeed, I think he cares less and less about the salvation of his soul every year. Now do you really think that God hears and answers prayers for the conversion of friends?"

"I do. During my ministerial experience I have known many marked instances of such answers." And then I related to her a remarkable case that had lately come under my observation, where the prayers of a wife had been answered in the conversion of her husband.

"Well, then, what is the difficulty in my case?" she inquired in a voice full of emotion. "Is the fault in me?"

"Perhaps so," I replied. "The Bible tells us that it is the prayer of faith that prevails and brings the blessing. You may be lacking in faith, and therefore deficient in this essential element of success. Do you feel that God is able and willing to answer your prayer, and that he will do it?"

"Sometimes I think I do, and then I am sure I do not," she replied.

"Does the conversion of your husband lie as a burden upon your soul? Do you desire it above all else earthly?" I further inquired.

"Oh! I would give anything if he would become a Christian! At times it seems as though he must come to Christ, and then at other times this feeling is less intense, and sometimes almost dies away in doubt," she said, as the tears flowed down her cheeks.

On further conversation I plainly discovered that while she had a general desire for the conversion of her husband, she was lacking in that abiding burden on the heart which precedes and accompanies the prayer of faith for the conversion of friends, and which insures the answer. I endeavored to point out and make clear this fact, and said to her, "Do not lose heart in your effort for the conversion of your husband. Pray for it, work for it, live for it, and may God bless you and bring him to Christ!"

I had lately come into the parish, and had no personal knowledge of this lady's manner of life nor of wherein the strength or weakness of her Christian character lay. However, I felt that there was a defect somewhere, and could only wait for further acquaintance to reveal it.

Two weeks after, I missed her from the usual weekly prayer-meeting, and as I chanced to meet her the next morning, I said, "You were not at the prayer-meeting last evening?"

"No, I was not," she replied, as a flush rose to her face. "My husband thought I had better take the children to hear the minstrel troupe last evening, and I did so to please him."

Surprised at her statement, I made a few commonplace remarks and passed on, with one ray of light cast upon the prayers she was offering for the conversion of her husband.

After that I missed her frequently from the prayer-meeting, until one morning, as I met her, I took occasion to remark, "I did not see you at the prayer-meeting on Thursday evening."

"Oh, no!" she replied, with a sparkle in her eyes; "I was not there. Professor Stone has organized a dancing-class in our village and holds it on Thursday evenings. He is such a fine teacher that husband asked me to take the children to join it, and I did it to please him. I presume I shall be absent from prayer-meeting a good deal while the class lasts; for husband don't want the children to go unless I go with them, and you know I want to please him."

Astonishment was so clearly depicted on my face that she instantly saw it, and asked, "Why, you don't think dancing wrong, do you?"

Without stopping to measure my words I bluntly replied, "I hardly think attending dancing-school with your children on prayer-meeting evening, to say the least, will tend to impress your husband with the supreme importance of religion or greatly hasten his coming to Christ."

At first she seemed almost stunned by my unexpected reply, but soon rallied with a series of questions which led to quite a thorough discussion of the whole subject. Suffice it to say that we did not see alike at all points, nor could she be convinced that the course she was pursuing, in the least stood in the way of an answer to her prayers in the conversion of her husband.

We parted as friendly as we met, though with a far clearer understanding of the views and feelings of each other. She is still pursuing her former method of living, forsaking the prayer-meeting for worldly amusements whenever her husband requests it, yet still praying for his conversion, and wondering why her prayers are not answered. Is hers an exceptional case, or is she a type of a far too numerous class?—Illustrated Christian Weekly.

Our Character Revealed

By F. W. Robertson

WHAT we really are, somehow or other will ooze out, in tone, in look, in act, and this tells upon those who come in daily contact with us. —F. W. Robertson.

The Press and the Pulpit

By Jewish Messenger

When the press and the pulpit serve only to diffuse doubt, they simply instill a doubt of their own capacity.—Jewish Messenger.

Sanctification of Believers.

By S. P. Bollman

"Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." John 17:17.

THERE are two distinct thoughts brought prominently to our notice in this text; namely, the sanctification of believers, for which Christ prays, and the instrumentality by which that sanctification is to be accomplished. The sweet singer of Israel tells us in Ps. 119:105: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." A more comprehensive or strikingly true declaration cannot be found in the Bible. It represents the believer as being surrounded by darkness—a condition of extreme danger and peril, one from which he cannot move with safety without light and instruction as to the way. It implies, too, that the path of deliverance is narrow, and that on either side there are snares and dangers innumerable, to escape which would be impossible without this light. The further idea is that of a steady, brightly shining light, which makes the pathway very distinct along which the believer must run—fleeing for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before him. Heb. 6:18.

The sanctification of believers is the great object to be accomplished. Says the apostle: "This is the will of God, even your sanctification." In the development of this sanctification, sufficient time is required to test the subjects as to their spirit of obedience. "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." Isa. 1:19. The purpose of God in regard to the sanctification of believers is abundantly set forth in the Bible. The apostle, in writing to the Thessalonians, uses this significant language: "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord; because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." 2 Thess. 2:13. Every scripture bearing on this subject indicates not only the progressive nature of sanctification, but also the instrumentality by which the work is accomplished, viz., the truth.

Sanctification consists in active obedience to the truth, not in any theory, not in doctrine. The truth may be intellectually comprehended; but it is not he who knows, but he who does the will of God, who is in process of sanctification. It is not he who understands what the essential doctrines are, but he whose life is an exponent of those doctrines. In sanctification all Christian graces shine with a beautiful distinctness, which enables those who take knowledge of the subjects of this grace to know that "they have been with Jesus and learned of him." The Lord designs "to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14. In short, the disciples of Christ are to be holy. "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God?" 2 Pet. 3:11, 12. The instrumentality, then, in sanctification is the truth, the word of God, applied to the heart by the divine Spirit. Of the subjects of this work it may be truly said that they are "born again, not of corruptible seed; but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." 1 Pet. 1:23.

In marked contrast with genuine conversion and progress in a life of holiness, stands out the superficial conversions so abundantly manifested in the church's history all along the ages. Spurious conversions result from ignorance of God's word. The feelings may be wrought up to great intensity, and individuals may think themselves sincere; but fruits of holiness will be sadly deficient if the work is not wrought in God. Feeling and excitement are often mistaken for conversion; but when trial and tribulation come because of the word, such converts are offended, and either go back to the world and walk no more with Jesus, or hang as dead weights on the cause which they profess to espouse. Bible knowledge of the way of salvation is something of which such as these have no proper conception; the word of God is not, and has not been the man of their counsel. But all who are being sanctified, and are manifesting this grand fact by a walk and conversation becoming godliness, are intelligently keeping God's commandments, directed by the divine word, with which they familiarize themselves by prayerful study. Their communion with God is sweet through the word, which does them good as it doth the upright in heart. They delight themselves in the law and testimony after the inner man. In short, they are sanctified "through the truth" by an intelligent conception of the truth,—a scriptural understanding of what the Bible teaches in regard to the way of salvation, and a ready obedience to all the divine requirements. Thus we have "trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified." Isa. 61:3.

In setting forth the spiritual temple into which believers are builded, the idea of a beautiful perfection is made very prominent. Stones "polished after the similitude of a palace," indicative of the harmony and perfect symmetry manifest in the entire building, the complete holiness of every component part; "that he [Christ] might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." Eph. 5:27.

Evil Not Forever.

By R. F. Cottrell

"And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord."

THE text is found in so many places that it is needless to select any one in particular, and too great a task to count the number. And the significance is sad and woeful; and but for the fact that there is a brighter, more hopeful side of the subject, it would be truly disheartening.

What a blind and rebellious people were the children of Israel! After God had shown them mighty signs and wonders in Egypt, and had so evidently come for their deliverance from bondage as he had promised to Abraham, shielding them from evil while he plagued their enemies, the Egyptians, instead of trusting in God in the time of apparent danger, they were ready to reproach the servant of God through whom their wondrous deliverance had been wrought, with the question, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?" Nevertheless God opened a passage for them through the sea. They sang his praise, but soon forgot his works.

The next thing we hear from them, they are murmuring against Moses and Aaron, and wishing they had died in Egypt "by the hand of the Lord," as if he was their enemy, and seeking to take away their life; but their kind and long-suffering God mercifully provides for their wants, giving them manna, a wholesome and nutritious food, and also sending them flesh food for their lust, and to cure them of their longing for the flesh-pots they had left in Egypt. Thus he taught them a good lesson, which they ought to have remembered.

How long do they remember it? In a very short time they are chiding with Moses, accusing him of bringing them out into the wilderness to die of thirst. God gives them another evidence of his power and love by giving them a fountain of water from a desert rock.

And when he had brought them to Sinai, and they had made a solemn covenant with the Lord to obey his voice, and had heard that voice from the mount proclaiming the commandments of the moral law, and after pledging themselves again to keep these commandments, in a few days they were saying, "Up, make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him." And they make the similitude of an ox, that eateth grass, and worship that which their own fingers have made!

But we will not trace them in their marches and countermarches in the desert and through the land of Gilead and Bashan, on the east side of Jordan, but come to their history after they are settled in their promised inheritance.

God had specially warned them against mingling with the nations of Canaan and worshiping their gods, denouncing curses against them should they do so. But said he, "Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree; and ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place."

Did they heed these instructions? They did not. At various times good beginnings were made. Judges and rulers would arise that were reformers, and would work in the right direction; but they would fail to make a clean breast of it. The fashions of heathen neighbors would prevail; and they were soon found worshiping Baal, Ashtoreth, Milcom or Chemosh, or the golden calves, or some other abomination; and the groves were re-planted and the images set up, and the high places were thronged with a mongrel host of worshipers.

This is the general character of the progress of that highly favored people. Were God's chosen people the worst of any on earth?—No; they were the best. But their picture is the picture of fallen humanity. How much better we would have done in their circumstances! Would we? Where are the people who are doing better, in view of their circumstances and surroundings? You admit that their portrait fits to the wicked world in our days. Is it not the picture of the churches? Are not they conformed to, and following the fashions of the world? Not only other churches, but our church too. Reader, you and I are of this sinful, backsliding race.

But there are those now, as anciently, that are reformers. They lead out in some good work of reform. Hope is indulged. There are favorable indications; but soon it is found that their reform is going stern foremost toward perdition. This is the case every time. There are no exceptions. There is no confidence to be placed in human nature. The fashions of an ungodly world carry the people now, as much as in the days of Israel. It is as true now that "the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord," as it was then. People now would have their groves and high places and images, if it were only the fashion. This is evident from the following of the foolish and disgusting fashions which prevail.

Well, what is the use of working for reform? Some will be gathered out and saved. Some will hold on to reform, while others slide back. Some of Israel were saved by God's merciful dealing with them. Some will be now. The faithful and enduring have gone safely through. So it will be. There is the same motive to labor in behalf of humanity that induced the Son of God to come into the world to seek and to save that which was lost.

Let all who have the good of humanity at heart labor on. Your labor will not be in vain in the Lord. Soon the fruit of all this toil will be seen in the immortal kingdom of God. Then it will not be necessary to say that the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord. The time hastens on; and while we desire its coming, let us still labor that others, as well as ourselves, may have a part in that inheritance that will never be defiled by sin.

R. F. COTTRELL.

The Fear of the Lord Is Clean

"The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever." Ps. 19:9.

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