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Signs of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 40.

The Chief Book.—

Signs of the Times

Oct 14, 1897

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 14, 1897

The Chief Book.—

By Editor

Editorial

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ” are the opening words of the last book of the Bible. The Greek word is apokalupsis, from which the book is frequently called, “The Apocalypse,” the meaning of which is disclosure or revelation. It expresses what the book is, a revelation, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”
A Revelation is something revealed; and a revelation from God is something which he designs us to know; for while “the secret things belong unto the Lord our God,” “those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever,” that we may do his will. Deut. 29:29. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7.
The Island of PATMOS, Where John Received the Revelation.
The Island of PATMOS, Where John Received the Revelation.

The Chief Book.—

What Jesus Christ was to all the other prophets, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” is to all prophetic books. Other prophets and holy men revealed to the world one or more of the excellences, glories, or beauties of the character of God; but in Jesus Christ all shone forth in glory resplendent. In the writings of each of the prophets and holy scribes of old some one or more parts of the great Gospel system is revealed; but in “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” it is all set forth in wonderful fulness. It was a divine providence that overruled in making it the last book of the Bible, the summary and complement of all the rest. For it is impossible to thoroughly study the Revelation without involving in that study the entire field of revelation from Genesis to the days of the apostles.

Of Jesus Christ.—

Herein is our Lord revealed. It may be said that the revelation is limited by the words “which God gave unto him.” It is, but the limitation is itself unlimited. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” 1 John 4:14. That he might be “the Saviour of all men,” Christ “gave himself.” Titus 2:14. How fully he did this is revealed in Phil. 2:5–8 (R. V., margin): “Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being originally in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, becoming in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” And because he emptied himself for love’s sake, “wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name.” Verse 9. As it pleased Christ to empty himself to save others, “it was the good pleasure of the Father that in him should all the fulness dwell; and through him to reconcile all things unto himself.” Col. 1:19, 20, R. V. “For in him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Col. 2:9. He was “in all things” “made like unto his brethren,” even to death, that he might destroy death, and him “that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Heb. 2:17, 14. There is nothing more corrupt, nothing lower, than the death brought by sin; and the eternal Son of God went down to the lowest deeps in emptying himself for the love that he bore to the race. And because he gave all, God filled him with all his fulness, that by that fulness he might lift up the low and the fallen. “Now this, He [Christ] ascended, what is it but that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.” Eph. 4:9, 10, R. V. This is the revelation that God gave unto Christ Jesus, to reveal to all the universe the fulness of the Godhead, the eternal power and love and wisdom of God for the salvation of man. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ set forth in this last book of the Word of God to all who will receive it by faith. No plummet can sound its depths. No reed or measuring line can compass its length and breadth. No ladder can scale its heights.

“To Show Unto His Servants.”—

Our Lord obtained it for us. It would be selfish to ask that we alone should be sharers in it, but we may know that it is for us in its fulness as tho there were no others to share it. It is one of the blessings of the Gospel of grace that it brings to every one a complete Saviour; it connects every one with the great Central Source of power and wisdom and love just as truly as tho there were no other soul on earth. And there are no switch-offs, or repeating centers. God hears and answers, and the channel of communication is always open to the child of faith. Who are his servants? All ought to be. We are not only his by creation, but by redemption. We are his bought bond-servants. The original is as strong as this. The price he paid was his own life, which he gave and is giving for the life of the world. 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 1 Peter 1:18, 19. It is the bounden duty of every soul, therefore, to acknowledge Christ as Lord and Master and submit to do his service. Those who do this are “his servants,” “his own servants.” Matt.25:14. Such are the true worshipers of God; for the highest worship is service, obedience. The heavenly beings that continually praise and bless the Lord are those who “do his commandments,” and “his pleasure.” Ps. 103:20, 21. “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,” says Jesus, “and him only shalt thou serve.” Matt. 4:10. The bond of our servanthood is love. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15. “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3. Surely there was never such a service for such a master! Who would desire to call himself by a better title than “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”? And yet Christ calls those who are truly his servants his friends: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth; but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” John 15:14, 15. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Are we his servants? Do we do the things he commands? Or do his words apply to us, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46. Only he who obeys Christ can truly call him “Lord.”

“The Things Which Must Shortly Come to Pass.”—

The Revelation is a book for the last days. Daniel was closed up and sealed to the time of the end. Dan. 12:4, 9. We have reached that time, and the seal is lifted. The Revelation is a part of the unsealing of that book, written for those who are looking for the coming of Christ. Isaiah prophesied seven hundred years before Christ. Among these prophecies were the messages of chapters 40:3 and 61:1, 2. For the centuries they were unfulfilled. But when John the Baptist came he gave the former, and Jesus Christ gave the first portion of the latter, cutting in twain the message in the middle of verse 2, leaving the latter part till the last days and the last message. See John 1:23; Luke 4:17–20. The Revelation of Jesus Christ is for his servants in the last days, revealing his fulness, and the soon coming events and vicissitudes of the earth and nations, the prevalent dangers and perils, and disclosing his great salvation.

“Sent and Signified It by His Angel.”—

Herein is another revealing of God’s love. “Angel” means messenger, no more nor less. It is applied to man as well as to heavenly beings. But it is generally used, and here means, one of a different order of beings, the spiritual, unfallen servants of God which dwell in his presence. But why does God send his message in that way? Is he dependent upon the angel? Does not he “fill heaven and earth?” Could he not speak to all and each?—Certainly he could. Here is the great reason. There is coming a day of rejoicing in the kingdom of God, a glad harvest home. Love can not rejoice alone; love can not therefore do alone. Only he truly rejoices over results who has sacrificed to obtain them. It is for this reason that God gives every intelligence in his universal empire a part in his work. There will be no one in all the vast host of the immortals who will say, “I wrought that work.” “I saved that soul.” There is but One who could say it; but he will not. All will share in the joy. The reaper and sower will rejoice together, the servants in heaven joining with the servants of earth, angels with men, in the glad hallelujahs to God and the Lamb for the souls he has saved, co-workers with God, co-rejoicers in the result. Sending by his angel to his servants is God’s way of working. That angel is Gabriel (see Dan. 8:16; 9:21; 10:21; Luke 1:19, 26), even as Michael (“who is like God”) is Christ. When God would convert Paul he reveals the heavenly glory (Acts 9:4–6), but flesh and blood must tell him the rest (verses 10–17). The angel met with Peter and with Cornelius, but Peter, not the angel, must preach the Word. See Acts 10. And so it has ever been and ever will be. God wants servants. He would have all share in the eternal joy. He has for all a share in his service.

HIS SAVING KNOWLEDGE.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

“For the Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature that is not manifest in his sight; but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Heb. 4:12, 13, R. V.
To the soul that does not know the Lord, this is one of the most terrible texts in the Bible. Since the day when Adam and Eve hid themselves among the trees of the garden, the consciousness of guilt has ever tended to make men afraid of God. The natural inclination of the sinner is to try to hide from God; he can not bear to have his misdeeds laid bare before the eyes of spotless purity. So the words, “all things are naked and opened to the eyes of him with whom we have to do,” and, “Thou understandest my thought afar off,” are words that strike terror to the heart of the ungodly. So the natural man tries to forget the fact,—tries to forget his own sins,—foolishly imagining that his ignorance, or forgetfulness, or unbelief, hides the matter from the eyes of God.
But it is impossible to hide from God, for he is everywhere, filling all space. “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” Ps. 139: 7–10. This being the case, the best thing for men to do is to face the fact, and find the comfort that there is in it, instead of following the devil’s promptings, and endeavoring to hide from him who is love, “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.” 2 Cor. 1: 3.
How is it that God knows all things? Is it by searching into the secret things, so that by study he arrives at knowledge that he did not possess before?—Impossible! for that would argue imperfection on his part. We may not seek to understand God’s capacities by a comparison with man. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” God himself is everywhere, the direct source of all life. Wherever there is life, wherever there is a created thing to be maintained in existence, there God is, and wherever God is there is all wisdom.
Notice that the Word of God pierces the joints and marrow, and soul and spirit, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. This is a natural consequence of the fact that “the Word was made flesh.” John 1: 14. God in Christ has forever identified himself with humanity. When Adam stood in innocence and uprightness, it was only by the indwelling Word, upon which he wholly depended. When he forgot his dependence, and struck out for himself, and thus fell, God did not forsake him, but descended to the depths with him, that he might lift him out again. So God is “not far from every one of us; for in him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17: 27, 28. When men would seek to justify themselves for not obeying the commandments of God, by professing ignorance of them, the Spirit says to them: “Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above); or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead);” for “the Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart.” Rom. 10: 6–8. Christ, “the wisdom of God,” knows the sins of mankind, because “he is come in the flesh.” He bears the sins of the world, because the Lord has laid upon him the iniquities of us all. Isa. 53: 6. He knows them, because in human flesh he feels them. He knows them, because nothing can be done that does not touch him; no motion can be made without the power that comes alone from the Word. This is the true “Real Presence.”
How utterly useless, then, to think of hiding our sins from the Lord! We might as well try to hide from the Lord the knowledge of his own existence. Every one of those sins is stamped upon his being. They pierce his brow, his hands, his feet, even his heart, and press upon him so that “his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.” Isa. 52: 14. He must know, for every sin touches his own life.
And herein is the comfort to us in the thought of God’s knowledge of mankind. “By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” Isa. 53: 11. He knows our sins, because he experiences their power, and by that knowledge he justifies many. How many?—As many as believe on him, as many as confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Rom. 10: 9, 13.
Christ bears the burden of the world’s guilt, and bears it easily. Our sin crushes us, and presses us down to destruction; but he swallows up death in victory. Tho sin crush out his life, yet he rises from the dead with the freshness of eternal life. Whoever knows this, and believes the truth, that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, will of course let the burden fall entirely on him who is able to bear it, and will thus be free.
So when we confess sin to God, we are not telling him any news. We are simply agreeing with his Word. He knew it all before, but he wishes us to be confidential with him. He is a faithful Friend, and will not betray our secrets. On the contrary, he will himself forget ourmisdeeds, blotting them out of existence, so that even our adversary, the devil, can not find them, to taunt us with them. The only way to hide them from the world, is to tell them to God.
What a blessing and comfort, then, to know that God knows! “He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” And he cares, too. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” And, what is more, he is able to carry the burden for us, and give us peace and rest. “Cast thy burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.” Therefore unto him that is able to keep us from falling, who is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,” to him who knows our sins, who pities our weakness, and who is mighty to save by his love and wisdom—to him be glory and praise forever and ever.
E. J. W.

THAT WE MIGHT BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE.

By Ellen G. White

“SIMON PETER, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Our future, eternal happiness depends upon having our humanity, with all its capabilities and powers, brought into obedience to God, placed under the control of Divinity. Many have no real faith in Christ. They say, “It was easy for Christ to obey the will of the Father; for he was divine.” But God’s Word declares, “He was tempted in all points like as we are.” Christ was tempted according to his elevation of mind; but he would not weaken or cripple his divine power by yielding to temptation. In his life on earth he was a representative of what men may become through the privileges and opportunities granted them in him.
In order that the human family might have no excuse because of temptation, Christ became one with them. The only being who was one with God lived the law in humanity, descended to the lowly life of a common laborer, and toiled at the carpenter’s bench with his earthly parent. He lived the life which he requires of all who claim to be his children. Thus was cut off the powerful argument of Satan that God required of humanity a self-denial and subjection that he would not himself render. The weapons that Satan designed to use against God, were taken from his hands.
When Satan tempted our first parents in Eden he said, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? . . . Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Thus he tried to flatter Eve into believing that they should be raised above the sphere of humanity. But Christ, by the example he has set before us, encourages the human family to be men, obeying the Word of God within the sphere of their humanity. He himself became a man, not a bond-slave to Satan, to work out his attributes, but a man in moral power, obedient to the law of God, which is the transcript of his character.
Christ became a man that he might mediate between man and God. He clothed his divinity with humanity, he associated with the human race, that with his human arm he might encircle humanity, and with his divine arm grasp the throne of Divinity. And this humiliation on his part was that he might restore to man the original mind, the image of God, which he lost in Eden through Satan’s alluring temptations, that man might realize that it is for his present and eternal good to obey the requirements of God. Disobedience is not in accordance with the nature which God gave to man in Eden.
The Lord has given Jesus to our world, to a life of suffering and a shameful death, in order to save perishing souls. In the place of punishing the guilty sinner, the Lord allowed his only-begotten Son to suffer the penalty of transgression, that man might have another opportunity, that another probation might be granted him in which to return from his transgression to his loyalty to God. By thus dying for man, Christ has shown that his love for the human family is measureless. And having done this, he will not withhold any facilities, any gift of heaven, that will enable man to accomplish the glorious work of salvation.
God would have us realize that all this was done to counterwork sin and rebellion against him, and bring in everlasting righteousness. Christ is able and willing to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him. Through his servant he declares, “For as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” As obedient children, we have the privilege of relationship with God. “If children,” he says, “then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.”
God loves his children the same as he loves his only-begotten Son. Then let us have a sense of our relationship to him, and walk circumspectly before the world. This world is our training-place for the world to come. If we would be saints in heaven, we must first be saints on earth. Wherever we are we must bear in mind that we are near to God. If we would only believe that angels of God are constantly around us to protect us from Satan’s snares, and to be a present help in every time of need, we would grow strong. Having a sense of our companionship we would do the things that are pleasing in the sight of God. How careful would we be lest our words should offend Christ, whose character we are to represent to the world. We need to meditate and converse on the mercy and love and compassion of God for us. Satan is not at all pleased with such pure, ennobling, and elevating themes, and he draws apart from us. God’s promise is, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.”
Through the moral power Christ has brought to man, we may give thanks unto God, who has made us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. Through Jesus Christ every man may overcome in his own behalf, standing in his own individuality of character. The word comes to him, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.”
Our whole earthly solace hangs upon him whose mission to earth was to give power unto men.
Christ would have us yoke up with him. “Learn of me,” he says, “for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Then we shall be overcomers. We “shall see his face,” and his name shall be in our foreheads. We shall be his chosen ones on earth, to enjoy the kingdom of his grace; we shall be with him in the heavenly world, to share in the kingdom of his glory. We shall be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; for he is our portion and our inheritance. We shall be partakers of his divine nature, and one with him in his perfection. We shall have the same life as Jesus; for we are sons and daughters of God.
God has a kingdom awaiting his children whom he has tested and tried in a world marred and corrupted by sin. Mansions are prepared for all who have subjected themselves in obedience to the divine law. Christ declared to his disciples: “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
Jesus asks no more of men than that they shall follow in his footsteps. He was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory; but for our sake he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. Almost his last words to us are, “Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Instead of being sorrowful, your hearts troubled, you should rejoice. For your sake I came into the world. For your sake I have been a disinterested worker in the world. In the future I shall be engaged, just as devotedly, in an important work in your behalf. I came into the world to redeem you; I go away to prepare an abiding place for you in my Father’s kingdom. MRS. E. G. WHITE.

MORAL AND RELIGIOUS LEGISLATION.

The Christian Statesman of October 15 quotes a criticism against Sunday laws which states that legislation protecting the sabbath ‘becomes questionable and is of doubtful effect in proportion as it aims by positive force of law to secure moral and religious results.’ Upon this the Statesman remarks:—
It doubtless means that law should not contemplate moral and religious results in protecting the people of any locality from disturbance on the day of rest. This view of the matter would give us a sabbath based, not upon divine authority and law, but upon the will of the majority. But the people who desire a sabbath at all desire it for moral and religious ends. They believe it to be a God-given right. An adequate law on the subject must therefore protect the Sabbath as a divine institution, and as a right bestowed by God. It must protect the Sabbath in the sense in which Christian people regard it.
The above is a fair sample of Sunday-law fallacies. The sad thing about it is that presumably it is believed by those who publish it and by many who read it to be good argument. The only law any republic could ever justly enact would be one based on the majority; and if a Sunday law could be just at all, it would be no exception. But just as soon as a State enacts a sabbath law it gives the institution a different basis, a human basis instead of divine. It is true that ‘the people who desire a sabbath law at all, desire it for moral and religious ends;’ and God has given the only “adequate law” which ever was given or can be given to secure those ends. Christian people would be supposed to regard the Sabbath according to God’s law, to keep holy in heart and deed the seventh day. Ex. 20: 8-11. But no law of man can compel a holy keeping of any day. And if Christians wish to keep it holy, there is no law to prevent them. They may ‘lose a situation,’ what of it? Are they not willing to suffer if need for conscience’ sake? A Sunday law (for it is Sunday that the Statesman means) can only appear outwardly to protect a day as a divine institution. It can never make a day holy or divine. It can add naught to a day already divine. It may make a man seem to keep the day; but he who does it from the heart will do it, law or no law, and he who attempts to keep the day as to the Lord because of a human law is only a hypocrite. And that is all that laws for religious or moral purposes can do,—make hypocrites.

“IS THERE A GOD?”

By T. Shelley Sutton

THERE is a God! On every flower Is stamped the Maker's face, But doubters are not given power His image there to trace.
Faith can, alone, gaze ’neath the veil That covers sea and land; Doubt dare not, lest the Truth assail With an o'erpowering hand.
There is a God! all nature cries, Beseeching us to look Into her golden, sunny eyes, And read the open book.
Upon the sea—within the air— His adumbrations are; Look where you will, His face is there Reflected like a star.
There is a God! Pause in thy doubt And study man and plants,— Behold the proofs that lie about,— Do these things come by chance?
Creation's voice,—the foaming sea, The gentle winds that blow, The birds that sing from every tree,— Sounds forth an endless, “No!”
T. SHELLEY SUTTON.
Boise, Idaho.

Glimpses of "The Field" No. 1: Winning Souls to Christ

By Mrs. S. M. I. Henry

GLIMPSES OF “THE FIELD.” NO. 1.

The first practical work of every Christian is to persuade men from sin to Christ; and the best methods of doing this should be studied with more carefulness than any upon which worldly business success seems to depend.
In beginning any work for any purpose, good or bad, one of the first requisites is to learn how to meet the people with whom we are to have dealings; to know them as they are, and learn how to overcome any hindrances which may exist in their minds, or in their surroundings. Nowhere is this of more importance than in soul winning. Environment is such a tremendous factor in salvation, difficulties of the most material kind are so mighty in keeping a soul from the way of life, that we can not ignore them. All doors must be located by us, opened, and kept open. Nothing in ourselves must be allowed to close them, or to build up a barrier between us, as those whom God has sent, and any human soul. The progress of the Gospel is hindered more by the barriers which workers themselves build up between each other, than by anything else, unless it may be that spirit which would lead us to take offense at the peculiarities or unfavorable conditions of those whom we are to help, and to cultivate a favorite to the neglect of others.
There will be those who are less disagreeable to one of refined sensibility than are others. One individual will seem entirely above his surroundings; he may have abilities and gifts which are worth cultivating if they are to be used for God, but otherwise not, and, before there has been any change in habit or association to warrant it, much is made of him, to the neglect of others who do not make so favorable an appearance, but who may be worth vastly more in all that indicates possibilities of character. Such a course will kill any mission work, because God can not honor it. It will make division, build barriers, and bring Him who is “no respecter of persons,” into contempt. The people will be quick to discover a spirit that cares for appearances instead of needs.
None are able more quickly to see what is consistent or inconsistent in Christian living and work than the slum classes, in so far as they understand the principles involved. Their wits have been whetted by contact with the hardness of the world, and they are on the outlook for selfishness; and hence they will find it wherever it exists, and know it for what it is. If we win them, we must avoid anything like a spirit of partiality. Treat each one alike; that is, give the due proportion of care and attention to each, according to actual needs, remembering that the most needy have the strongest claim, and that the most wicked are the most needy. The most unpromising have a right to anything, everything, that will bring them up toward the average level at least, and so give them a fair chance among their fellows.
If it is discovered among “our people” that we really care for those that are the most needy; that we do not look at the outward appearance, but, like true representatives of Christ, are only anxious that the sorrows and distresses of the world shall be relieved, anxious to do our full share of the work to accomplish this, it will be telegraphed from heart to heart. It will be said: “That man is sincere, he is true blue, he is the right stuff. He is not after what he can get, he is really trying to do good.” A sentiment like that will spread and grow, slowly, maybe, out from under stones of prejudice and hate; but it will grow, and influence the whole field, like a fertilizer poured into barren soil.
An evil report from one about another is a handicap to any good work. It must be understood in our field that no one can get a hearing for anything, against anybody. If any one undertakes to retail an evil report about any person, it should be received by deaf ears. The gossip may insist, and say, “But you ought to know this about this person.” Then we must answer: “If so, I will find it out in God’s own way. If it is something which I ought to know, he will himself discover it to me; but I can not hear it from you.”
Steadfastness in this position is of vital importance. Any one who goes out with the Gospel, either to tell or to live it, will have constant occasion to stand for the principle which this involves. Those who are perhaps paying money for the support of the work, those who are looking on, but who would never touch it with the little finger, will think that they have a right to tell the missionary a great many things to the prejudice of others; but as surely as it is received by him, it will do its mischievous work. The effect will be to have closed some door which should have been kept open, and which must be reopened before he can do anything in that field. Listening once to an evil report may make necessary an entire reconstruction, and perhaps many changes. It may have been told as a dead secret, but the tongue that told it once, will tell it again, with all and more than has been said in reply. Every one will know that this representative of Christ is not above listening to such whisperings, and will have no further confidence in him.
The “every creature,” who is the person spoken of in the Gospel commission (Mark 16:15), is a very peculiar creature, whom we must try to understand if we are to take the Gospel to him. We must take him as God does, not as the world does—that is, as a naked soul, entirely distinct from his environment. Natural aversion to disagreeable things must be overcome, and oblivion to surroundings cultivated as a Christian grace. A story of experience will illustrate.
A certain W. C. T. U. missionary was sitting at her desk in the mission room, by the window writing. Glancing out, she saw a man turned out of a saloon. He staggered to another near by, and sat down on a beer keg, under the awning; but he was not wanted, and very soon a man in a white apron came and ordered him to “move on.” He obeyed, stopping under the awning of the next saloon, only to be again ordered to move on. He had evidently spent all his money, and was therefore not wanted inside, nor was he wanted outside, where he could be considered as a sign, or sample, of the kind of work which was done within. It was raining, and this W. C. T. U. woman ran down the stairway, across the street to the poor fellow. “Come up to the Temperance Headquarters,” she said. “You can have shelter there from the rain.” A good Christian man who kept a store near by saw her, understood, and came to her help, and between them the man was taken up the stairway into the mission.
It was a late autumn day, and the fires were going. The half-drunken man was placed in a chair by the stove in the corner, the only thought being to get him dry. This woman had not had experience enough yet to know what the consequences would be; but perhaps my readers can imagine. He became very sick, and soon some strange work had to be done. There was no one to whom she could give that job; and, under the circumstances, she would have given it to no one if she could. It was her own special service for Him who had said, “Ye have done it unto Me.” Her interest in that man’s salvation had in those few moments become such that she thought of nothing but what was required for the comfort and cleanliness of his wretched body and soul. Her heart was full of prayer while she worked as a soul-winner, with water and towels, to remove that filth of sin out of the way of the Gospel.
While she was busy, down upon her knees, the door opened, and her pastor entered. He was one of the most careful of men, the embodiment of neatness and refinement, a noble Christian man, but one who could not endure the sight of anything uncleanly. He gave one glance, an exclamation of disgust, and, saying, “I will come again some other time,” bowed himself out. A few days later he met that member of his flock, and, as he shook hands with her, he said—
“Sister —, I have not been able to keep you out of my mind since I saw you the other day in the mission.”
“No, I presume not,” she said.
“Well,” he continued, “do you know what I thought? I tell you you have mistaken your calling. I do not believe God has given you, or any other Christian woman, that sort of work; and the sooner you get out of it, the better it will be. I have had it in my mind to come down and say this to you.”
“You and I look at it a little differently,” she said. “I would not have missed that work for anything.”
“You would not have missed it! Well,” he said, “I confess I can’t understand you.”
About three months afterward, during whichmany things had happened in the mission, as well as in the church to which she belonged, and she was enjoying a talk with her pastor about it, the minister mentioned a certain young man who had been converted in the mission, and had recently united with the church. He had been at once recognized as a man of very fine ability, and made unusually welcome by pastor and people; and now the “doctor” spoke of him in the highest terms, as a man “worth saving,” one for whom it would “pay to spend a great deal.” “That sort of result gave one great courage in the efforts which were sometimes discouraging.” The “doctor” expressed himself warmly, the missionary agreed with him perfectly, and, finally, when he had thoroughly committed himself, she said:—
“Do you remember the last time that you called at the mission?”
“Shall I ever forget that?” he replied with a look of disgust. “Do you remember what I said to you about it? It was a shame.”
“O, but listen!” she said. “Doctor, that young man about whom you have been talking just now is the result of that day’s work.”
“What do you mean?” he cried.
“Just this, that young man is the result of that day’s work.”
“You don’t mean that he is the same young man?”
“The very same.”
“Is that possible?” and his color changed, while tears filled his eyes, and began rolling over his cheeks.
“It is the truth,” she replied; and, while she went on and told the story, of which he had seen the beginning and ending thus far, he received a revelation of what it meant to be a preacher of the Gospel; and when she had finished, he arose, and, laying his two hands on her head, he said:—
“Well, all that I can say is, God bless you, God bless you, God bless you.”
The point which I wish to illustrate by this bit of experience is this: We must forget the man in his soul. We must be ready to wade through filth, if necessary, to win a soul; must be able to forget that it is filth, ignore it as such; be able to take hold of it, if necessary, without shrinking, as we would of anything else which has come in the way of life, and must be removed at whatever cost. Just the moment we should begin to count it as filth, instead of simply an impediment, it will become unforgettable, and take our thought from the life that is to be rescued and saved, and become a personal incumbrance. Nothing is so filthy as sin; and as long as we have that to deal with, anything which can be done for its removal is clean work, however it may appear.
The disagreeable things connected with sickness and feebleness are easily ignored by those to whom the patient is dear, as well as by those who care for the sick from humanitarian and Christian principles. But when it is debauchery!—Ah, but we must learn to recognize debauchery as only a symptom of that most deadly sickness, sin, and then we shall be able to look through it, as those who look through a wall, and see nothing but the soul,—just the soul which Christ died to save, and which is so far beyond all price for value, that we can well afford to go through or handle anything to reach and save it! MRS. S. M. I. HENRY.
Sanitarium, Battle Creek, Mich.
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