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Signs of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 17.

Editorial

Signs of the Times

Feb 27, 1893

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 27, 1893

Editorial.

By Editor

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable."—2 Tim. 3:16.
THE power of true faith is the power of Christ according to our need; for faith lays hold of Christ through his word, and through his word is the power of Christ exercised. That power is "all power in heaven and earth." God will supply all "need according to his riches in glory." Let faith grasp the promises.
THE Supreme Court of the United States, on February 1, 1892, rendered a decision which makes Congress a censor of the press, and thereby nullified the First Amendment to the Constitution, which declares that Congress shall not abridge the freedom of the press. We are aware that the court declares that the liberty of the press is not abridged, that publications may circulate any other way the publishers please save through the mails; but the fact remains that the intent of the Constitution was to prohibit Congress from abridging the liberty of the press in the very agencies controlled by Congress, namely, the mail and postal service. The Amendment to the Constitution still stands, but its words are now empty so far as freedom of the press is concerned, according to the "construction" put upon them by the court. The next step will be the formation of an "Index-Expurgatorius." We may expect almost anything of the "Christian" Congress of this "Christian nation." It is that kind of Christianity which does just such things. It may always be expected of that kind of religion which seeks the aid of the State, or of that State which is controlled by the church.
IT is as difficult oftentimes to trace the beginning of backsliding as it is to trace the source of a river. In the lowlands between the tributaries of the great Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, the sources during the wet season often intermingle, and it becomes difficult to tell just which way the water runs. It will be readily seen what a small thing will change the destiny of a stream of water at this place. Such places every human being meets in his spiritual life. Some temptation, against which the Spirit of God warned, was yielded to, and the soul began its downward course. The sin of itself was what would be called small, but it was great in its results. It was the stifling of a conviction of duty; it was the hardening of conscience; it was the beginning of the downward path of sin which ends in eternal death. Beware, therefore, of the little sins, the little lapses from duty, the stiflings of conscience. Seek God continually for a knowledge of his word, for the anointing of the divine eyesalve, for an infinitely tender conscience, for a heart and will to ever choose for God and right. This is the way of loyalty and truth; it is the only safe way.

The Rival Camps and Centers.

The great religious question of the day, possessing not only a national but international interest, is the Sabbath question. It is not only of interest in religious circles, but in the councils of legislators and halls of governments. Sabbath legislation is being demanded and opposed everywhere. But the keen observer will notice that those who are asking State aid for a religious institution are invariably those who rally around the standard of the Sunday, while those who are opposed to all State interference in religious dogmas are those who hold to the Sabbath, of which the foundation was laid by the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the divine Son of God. Why is this?—Simply that the latter is supported by God's eternal word, and its adherents believe that he is better able to care for his own than any set of men can be, and that Sunday has no support as a holy day in the word of God, hence no basis of faith or confidence in the power of God to support it, hence the seeking of aid from worldly form. But that system which substitutes the power or works of man for the power and righteousness of God is "the mystery of iniquity." In its manifestation in these last days the center and rallying point will be the Sunday, the pseudo sabbath, enforced by law. On the other hand will be the manifestation, the preaching of the righteousness of Christ, "the mystery of God," by the power of the Spirit of God, and the center and rallying point of this will be the Sabbath of the Lord, at once a memorial of Christ's power in creation and recreation, a sign of the redemption which is in Him. Reader, in which party do you, will you, stand?

Laborers in the Lord’s Vineyard

"God never gives any man the right to pick his ground when he tells him to go to work in his vineyard."

THE POLICY OF ROME.

By Frederick M. Wilcox

THE teachings and policy of the Roman Catholic Church as to the relation existing between the church and the State are well known to every student of history. Rome has ever opposed such a union where she herself could not figure as the dominant power. And in seeking to become the ruling principle in civil matters, her tone has ever been pacific and conciliatory till such rule was gained. It is no wonder, then, that we find Cardinal Gibbons at the annual dinner of the Catholic Club of Philadelphia, on the evening of February 6, in responding to the toast "Church and State," using the following language:—
For my part, I believe the relations between Church and State are as close and cordial as we should desire, for it is to be feared that as soon as a government started to support churches it would dictate to us what doctrines to preach, and in proportion as State patronage increased, the devotion and patronage of the faithful would wax cold. If it is a great wrong to muzzle the press, it would be a great wrong to muzzle the pulpit. Thank God, we can all say in this free country with the apostle, "The word of God is not bound."
The cardinal here expresses a truth the verity of which all history of the past demonstrates, and against the violation of which God's word faithfully warns. And we would that this expression from one of Rome's chief dignitaries might be taken as the true sentiment of the church he represents. But we fear it is only the soft, catlike purr and gentle touch of the tiger before it buries its hidden claws into its unsuspecting victim.
It is a maxim with Rome that she never changes. The one actuating purpose of her existence has been universal domination. And however pacific may be her tone to-day in professed Protestant America, we may be assured it is all for a purpose, and that purpose is her own elevation and aggrandizement in the end. As stated by Bishop O'Connor, "Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world." And, at the club dinner referred to above, Archbishop Ryan taught the same principle when, after stating that he was opposed to any union of Church and State as it is ordinarily understood, he said, "I hope the Catholic hierarchy will be worthy of this glorious country, which in the future it will religiously rule."
Let not Americans be deceived by Rome's soft words. Rome aims at political supremacy in America, and her patronizing tone to-day is only a policy bait covering the barbed hook beneath. F. M. W.

THE CHRISTIAN'S SABBATH.

The popular idea is that the Christian Sabbath is a separate institution from the Sabbath enjoined in the Decalogue. We are continually confronted with an imaginary contrast between a Christian Sabbath and a Jewish Sabbath. But both are strangers to the Bible; the Scriptures contain no intimation of either a Jewish or a Christian Sabbath. The only Sabbath mentioned in Holy Writ (excepting some special ceremonial sabbaths enjoined in connection with certain feasts of the Levitical ministration) is the "Sabbath of the Lord."
In the beginning the Sabbath was instituted in Eden, before man fell into sin, before any types or shadowy ceremonies had any place in the work of God. It was a memorial of a past work, and not a shadow of things to come. And Christ plainly tells us that "the Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2: 27. It was not made for any class of men, but for man—the entire race. There were only Adam and Eve when the Sabbath was set apart, and they represented the whole race.
There was solemn formality in the establishment of the Sabbath. God rested on the seventh day, and then he "blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it." To this is added the reason for the institution: "Because that in it he had rested from all his work." Gen. 2: 2, 3. And the Sabbath commandment repeated at Sinai repeats the reason, or object, of the rest day: "For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."
Has God ever in like manner set apart any other day? If he should set up another day as the Sabbath, to supersede the one already hallowed, we would naturally and reasonably expect the same solemn formality and statement of reason for the action. But we have no record of any such transaction. Christ said that he kept the commandments (John 15: 10), and when he was accused by the Jews of Sabbath breaking, he refuted the charge by showing that he did only that which was lawful. He had only violated their unwarranted traditions.
Yet the masses of Christian people insist that Christ did change the Sabbath to the first day of the week. But the claim is easily refuted, if the Scriptures be allowed to stand as the only infallible witness in the case, which they ever must be. There is no claim that the Old Testament teaches such a change, therefore we are shut up to the New; and this narrows the controversy down to a very limited scope. There are but eight texts in the New Testament that mention the first day of the week, and these we will cite:—
(1) Matt. 28: 1: "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher."
(2) Mark 16: 1, 2: "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun."
(3) Verse 9: "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils."
(4) Luke 24: 1: "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them."
(5) John 20: 1: "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher."
(6) Verse 19: "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."
So far there is no intimation that the first day was to be the Sabbath. On the contrary, it is plainly shown that the first day of the week was the day after the Sabbath. We come now to Paul's visit to Troas.
(7) Acts 20: 7: "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight."
This meeting was held on Saturday evening, as the days were then reckoned from sunset until sunset, and Paul departed on his journey the next morning. But holding a meeting of disciples could not establish a holy day. Only the Lord can sanctify a day, or anything else. The disciples then, as they do now, held meetings on any and all days—especially when a great preacher came around. Breaking of bread did not make a day holy, or constitute it a Sabbath day. We learn from Acts 2: 46 that in Jerusalem at a certain time they continued daily in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house. If holding meetings and breaking bread constitute a Sabbath, then every day is a Sabbath. But there is no command as to when the Lord's supper shall be celebrated, or when religious meetings shall be held.
There is only one more mention of the first day of the week, and that is:—
(8) 1 Cor. 16: 2: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."
This reckoning was a purely business transaction, and had nothing to do with Sabbath observance; the Sabbath is not here mentioned at all.
Here we have every reference to the first day of the week to be found in the New Testament, and there is not even a hint at its being set apart as a Sabbath day. It is only necessary to compare these references with the solemn consecration of the Sabbath of the Lord, in order to see that a first-day Sabbath has not one iota of divine authority. Its alleged sacredness is sheer assumption, and its foundation is human authority and nothing more.
A true Christian is a follower of the Lord. The Lord ordained, and when on earth kept, the seventh-day Sabbath, the Sabbath of the Lord. Therefore, if the Christian follows his Master, he will keep the Sabbath of the Lord, and the Lord's Sabbath is the Christian's Sabbath. Whoever sets up a Sabbath, or any other institution, in opposition to the commandment of God, is antichrist. W. N. G.

OUR QUESTION CORNER.

By Editor

[From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries on scriptural topics or moral questions as may be sent us. Questions which minister strife to no profit to our readers will not be answered here. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. The questions will be numbered continuously.]

75. WHAT BECOMES OF THE CHILDREN?

By Dudley Marvin Canright

Do you understand that children of wicked parents who die before reaching the age of accountability will be saved in the kingdom? and how will it be with the children of righteous parents?
We do not know anything about it. God will do all things just right. The Bible is addressed to responsible, accountable beings. They are warned of danger, reproved of sin, told of the fearful curse which inevitably follows transgression, and the way of righteousness and life is revealed before them. Parents, the responsible parties, are exhorted to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and God gives many precious promises to those who will heed his instruction. It is better to teach and live the things which God has clearly revealed, than it is to speculate on what is not clearly revealed. The judgment of all rests with God, and his mercy is unbounded. He will save all who can be saved, all who are not identified with sin.

76. CHRIST'S ASCENSION.

Did Christ ascend to the Father in the interval between the meeting with Mary (John 20:17) and his appearing to his disciples (verse 19)?
Evidently he did. His message by Mary to the brethren would indicate this. He had done his work by making his great sacrifice, breaking the power of sin and death, bringing from the graves Satan's captives (Matt. 27:52, 53; Eph. 4:8); and now he sends glad message to his disciples that these trophies of his triumph were to be presented before, and approved by, Him who had sent him. The arrival at the portals of heaven with his redeemed ones is graphically presented in Ps. 24:7-10. Approved of God, he could then return to his disciples and assure them that all their hopes in him were forever safe. He was accepted of the Father. He had looked upon the wounds in the hands, the feet, the side of his dear Son, the emblems of the completed sacrifice, and approved it all. Christ was conqueror, worthy to be intrusted with all power. This is the message Jesus brings back to the disciples. His next ascension was accompanied by the angels alone.

78. THE KEEPING OF THE MANNA.

By G. A.

What is meant by the last clause of Ex. 16:23: "That which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning"?
It means all that was left after using what was necessary for the sixth day. God gave a double quantity of manna on the sixth day (verse 22), and they were to bake or boil all they wished on that day, of course using what was needed for that day; and what was left after they had eaten their last meal on the sixth day, they were to lay up for the Sabbath. This is the generally accepted explanation. As God gave it for two days, they were to cook it for two days, eating on the Sabbath what was cooked the day before.

79. JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER.

By J. W. H.

Did Jephthah offer his daughter up for a burnt offering?
We do not think he did. One writer says: "The original of Judges 11:30 when properly translated reads thus:—
"And it shall be, that whoever comes forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be Jehovah's, and I will offer to him a burnt offering."

77. KEEPING THE COMMANDMENTS.

Does Rev. 22:14 imply that none who have lived previous to the introduction of the message of Rev. 14:6-12 will enter in through the gates into the city? or will those who have lived up to all the light they have had be considered as having kept the commandments?
All the redeemed host will enter the city (Rev. 21:24, 27); the only keeping of the commandments which will give us entrance into the city of God is in Christ Jesus. We “are complete in him.” Col. 2:9, 10. The Revised Version of Rev. 22:14 is, “Blessed are they that wash their robes,” etc. There is no difference. The righteousness of God expressed in his law can be obtained by us only in Christ. He who accepts of Christ, walking in all the light which shines from Christ, will be counted as a doer of the law, or complete in Christ.

The Spirit Helps Our Infirmities

THE utter inability of man to do any good by his own wisdom is forcibly expressed in Rom. 8:26: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought." The wisest man knows not what is best for him.

SPIRITUALISM AGAINST THE GOSPEL.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

BY ELDER E. J. WAGGONER.
LET it not be forgotten that Spiritualism is simply the belief that the dead are conscious, that they are interested in the affairs of men on the earth, and that they may communicate with them. That it is against the gospel is sufficiently shown in the fact that it contradicts the Bible. But we wish to trace a little more minutely its natural working. Take, for instance, the paragraphs quoted from Dr. Talmage last week. Read them carefully again, and see what is set forth as the motive for right doing. Is it the approval of the Lord Jesus?—Not at all, it is the approval of dead friends. The words are, "Young man! Better look out what you do and where you go, for your glorified mother is looking at you." But that is not the motive to set before any man, in order to get him to do right. Even if his mother were alive, something higher than the fact that she is looking at him ought to be the motive of his actions. But the idea that people are alive after they are dead, and that they are watching the living, puts them in the place of the Lord Jesus Christ and the angels.
Here is a fragment of an editorial in a religious paper that has a circulation of many thousands among all denominations of Christians:—
Some of the saintly faces of fathers and mothers, which are a benediction to all who look at them, could never have shone as now with the reflected light of heaven, unless they had been summoned to frequent upward lookings through the clouds in loving communion with their children in heaven. There are manly and womanly children, who are more serious and earnest and devoted in their young life struggles, because of their constant sense of the overwatching presence of their dead parents.
That is the Spiritualist way of being glorified. But now read the Bible way: "But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory." "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:6. That which can in reality be done only by the Lord Jesus Christ, Spiritualism thinks to have done by the spirits of the departed. Thus the Lord is robbed of the honor due him.
But further. Life and righteousness are inseparable. "To be spiritually minded is life and peace." Rom. 8:6. This is so because God alone is good. See Rom. 3:9-12 and Mark 10:17. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and therefore the life of Christ was the life of God. His life is the only perfectly sinless life that was ever manifested on this earth. Therefore no one can be righteous unless he has the righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God by faith. It is by the righteousness of one that many are to be made righteous. Rom. 5:19. That one is Christ.
But as the life of God in Christ is the only righteous life, and righteousness is inseparable from the life of Christ, it follows that all who are made righteous by his obedience, are made so by having his life in them. It is in him that we are made the righteousness of God. So we read, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20.
Now since righteousness is inseparable from the life of God, it follows that both eternal life and righteousness are attributes of Divinity. For one to claim that he has life in himself regardless of his faith, is to claim that he has also righteousness in himself, and that he has no need for the Saviour. For nothing is more certain than that Christ came to this earth for the sole purpose of giving life to men. See John 3:16; Col. 3:3, 4; John 10:10. Therefore Spiritualism is opposed to the very fundamental truth of the gospel.
It is an easy matter to show, as we have many times, that Christ gives righteousness by giving his own life. But that teaching that would make out that man has life in himself, frustrates the grace of God, and makes out that Christ died in vain. The apostle Paul, after showing the necessity of faith in Christ as the only means of righteousness, says, "I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. 2:21. And in the next chapter he says, "If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." Wherever life is, there is righteousness. Therefore the man who thinks that he has life in himself, unconsciously denies that Christ is the source of righteousness for men.
The tendency of this teaching is to throw man upon himself for righteousness. Thus the Pharisees who would not come to Christ that they might have life, "trusted in themselves that they were righteous." But this tends most directly to vice and immorality, for man is by nature corrupt, and out of evil only evil can come.
Again, take the temptation by which Eve was made to fall. Satan said, "Ye shall not surely die." Being deceived, she ate, and gave to her husband, and he ate. This disobedience "brought death into the world, and all our woe." All the iniquity in the world has resulted from a belief of the words, "Ye shall not surely die." Nothing but evil can come from that belief.
For this reason we lift up our voice in warning against any approach to the doctrines of Spiritualism. Shun as a pestilence any teaching that makes Christ and his sacrifice of none effect; accept nothing but the teaching of the word of God; and remember that man has life only by that same word.

THE RESULT OF SPIRITUALISM.

The statements made in the previous paragraphs may seem too strong by some who have not given the matter much consideration, and therefore a few words further are in place. It is not charged that all who have held the doctrine that man does not in reality die are immoral. That would be a gross perversion of facts. Among the adherents of that doctrine have been some excellent men, and so there are still. Yet that does not disprove the charges made against the doctrine. An error is not made truth, nor is its error lessened in the least, because it is held by good men. The fact that Luther believed in the Real Presence did not make that theory true, nor diminish the evil which must result from it.
While it is true that many good Christians have held the doctrine that the dead are conscious, let it not be forgotten that they held that doctrine in common with all the heathen. Moreover, that doctrine was at the very bottom of the heathenism. There has been this difference, however, namely, that comparatively few of the Christians who have believed it have in time past carried it to its logical conclusion, and held that the dead could return and communicate with the living. But it is an alarming fact that of late years a belief in spirit return and communication has greatly increased among professed Christians. It is in this feature that the greatest danger lies; but whatever results from this must be charged to the belief of consciousness in death, from which it springs.
The way has been prepared for the prevalence of vice in the last days, even as great as it was in the days of Noah. In connection with what has preceded, a few quotations will suffice to show how it will be brought about. A few years ago Dr. Curry, a leading Methodist divine, in a conversation with a visitor, as he lay on his death bed, said, "I have perfect confidence in the truth of Christianity, although I expect my conceptions to be changed when I get over there."
Most people would doubtless consider that a very natural thing. It only serves to show that they are expecting to have their conceptions of Christianity changed after death. And that indicates a doubt as to the perfecttruth of that which they now hold. But what we are concerned with is the effect that such ideas may have on the living. As a matter of fact, those who die have no consciousness of truth or error; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave. When a man dies, he returneth to his earth, and in that very day his thoughts perish. But it is a fact that many people have seen the appearance of their departed friends, and have talked with them. How was this? Why, simply that Satan, who originated the doctrine that the dead are alive, and who is able to transform himself into the appearance of even an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), is working to propagate the false doctrine which he started in Eden. All the appearances of the dead, and the communications from them, are in reality from the spirits of devils.
Now for another point. A few years ago a popular Baptist preacher in California became an avowed Spiritualist. He had, however, for a long time before he gave up his Baptist pulpit, been holding communications with spirits, whom he supposed to be the spirits of his dead friends. These spirits were familiar visitors in his family. Speaking of some of his experiences, he said:—
"Nearly half a score of old Baptist preachers, with whom I have been associated in the past, have already come to our home, and explained wherein their former teaching was erroneous. The whole system of biblical interpretation is far away from the truth, as everyone will find when he enters the spiritual world."
At a great religious gathering held in London less than two years ago, at which there were leading Protestant ministers from all parts of the world, one of the most applauded remarks was by a member who said: "We speak of holding fast to the faith of the fathers; how do we know what the faith of the fathers is now?" The idea was that the fathers may have made great changes in their faith since their departure from this life. Well, the spirits of devils will take care that all who are willing to be deceived in that way shall know what the faith of the "fathers" is now. These spirits will come with every appearance of those departed ministers, and will tell them, as they did the Baptist minister before referred to, that the Bible means a great deal differently from what it says. And those who believe that it does not mean what it says in regard to the condition of man in death, will be prepared to believe anything that these spirits tell them as to what it does mean.
This is an exact fulfillment of the words of inspiration by the apostle Paul: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy." 1 Tim. 4:1, 2.
When men have thus cut themselves loose from the Bible, what is going to hold them?—Manifestly nothing. The Bible is the only safeguard against sin. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." Ps. 119:11. "The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide." Ps. 37:31. "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." John 15:3. Man can live only by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. So when men come to trust themselves into the hands of the devil, for an understanding of the Bible, what can follow except that he will lead them into the sins of which he is the author? And this he will do while he is flattering them with the belief that they are making advancement in truth and righteousness. Thus it was when he deceived Eve, and the apostle says to the members of the church of Christ, "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." 2 Cor. 11:3.
It was even thus that the flood of error and superstition and immorality came into the church in the first centuries after Christ, resulting in the Dark Ages. As the result mainly of the influence of Origen, the mass of professed Christians came to believe that the Bible does not mean what it says. His teaching was that it means often directly contrary to what it reads, and can be understood only by a certain few. Of course the practical result of this was to take the Bible out of the hands of the people. For they would soon cease to read a book which they were told they could not understand, and which would be more apt to mislead them than to lead them right. Consequently they had nothing by which to test the truth of that which was given to them by their teachers, and so imbibed the grossest errors.
More than this, the teachers themselves soon ceased to read the word of God. For since when they did read the Bible, they put their own interpretation upon it, making it mean whatever they pleased, it naturally came to pass that they soon fell into the practice of manufacturing scripture without the formality of reading the Bible before giving it to the people. Since it was only their own ideas that they taught the people, it made no difference whether they read the Bible, and then gave out their opinions, or gave out their opinions without reading the Bible. And so the whole world was open to the reception of the grossest errors. The result was seen in the frightful immorality that prevailed everywhere, and nowhere more than among those who professed to be Christians.
When Moses went to Pharaoh to demand the release of the children of Israel, the magicians withstood him with their enchantments. These magicians were Spiritualist mediums, and their enchantments were by the power of their master, the devil. Now read the apostle's description of how it will be in the last days, even among those who profess godliness:—
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith." 2 Tim. 3:1-8.
There are many good people who do not believe that they could ever be thus deceived. They cannot if they hold fast to the truth of God. But as long as they hold to error, they have no safeguard. It is the first step that contains all the rest. There are many who believe that the dead are conscious, who do not believe in spirit return and communication. But when they see the exact images of their departed friends, and receive communications from them, they will believe errors in spite of themselves. Only those who are settled beforehand in the truth that the dead know not anything, that life comes from Christ alone, and that immortality is bestowed only at his coming, and that all spiritual manifestations are from the devil, will be able to stand. May the Lord help all the readers of this to cleave to Christ and his word.

Jephthah’s Vow and His Daughter

"The vow contains two parts: (1) That person who met him on his return should be Jehovah's, and be dedicated forever to his service, as Hannah devoted Samuel before he was born. 1 Sam. 1:11. (2) That Jephthah himself would offer a burnt offering to Jehovah. Human sacrifices were prohibited by the law (Deut. 12:30); and the priests would not offer them. Such a vow would have been impious, and could not have been performed. It may be safely concluded that Jephthah's daughter was devoted to perpetual virginity; and with this idea agree the statements that 'she went to bewail her virginity;' that the women went four times in every year to mourn or talk with (not for) her; that Jephthah 'did with her according to his vow, and she knew no man.'"—Appendix to Emphatic Diaglott.

80. SAUL'S WIVES AND DAVID.

In what sense did the Lord give David Saul's wives (2 Sam. 12:7)? Can it be construed in a bad sense?
It was a customary right, according to the code of morals of oriental kings, that to the reigning monarch belonged the wives and concubines of the one whom he succeeded. This custom, while not of itself right (compare with Matt. 19:7-8), gave David all of Saul's wives and concubines, and should have prevented him from taking the wife of Uriah, who had but one. David would better do the immoral wrong allowed by the custom of nations around him than to do as he had done with Uriah. But one wife was all that God designed that a king should have. Deut. 17:17. David's wives brought diversity and jealousy among his sons.

BIBLE READING.

SALVATION, God's eternal thought, (2 Tim. 1:9.) On ruined Eden shed its light; (Gen. 3:15.) Its rising beams the fathers sought. (Heb. 11:13.) It filled the holy prophets' sight (Isa. 49:6.)
Jesus, thy name alone can save; (Acts 4:12.) Salvation drew thee from the sky; (Matt. 18:11.) Salvation bore thee through the grave, (Rom. 5:8.) Exalts thee now with God on high. (Acts 5:31.)
Salvation breaks the power of sin. (Matt. 1:21.) From death to life the sinner brings; (Eph. 1:1.) The vilest hearts its graces win, (Heb. 7:25.) And hope eternal sweetly sings. (Heb. 5:9.)
Salvation's tower rises still; (2 Sam. 22:51.) Salvation's wells are pure and free; (Isa. 12:3.) Salvation's cup then let us fill, (Ps. 116:13.) And bring an offering, Lord, to thee. (Rom. 12:1.) —Selected.
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