Signs of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 18. (5/3/1899)

Signs of the Times

May 3, 1899

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · May 3, 1899

THE WORD MADE FLESH.

By Mrs. E. G. White

"AND you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight; if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; . . . whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the Word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints; to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Christ came to this earth working the works of God, healing the sick, and raising the dead to life. "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." But the priests and rulers of the Jewish nation refused to acknowledge Him as the Messiah. "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not."

The scribes and Pharisees accused Christ of blasphemy because He made Himself equal with God. But He promptly met and denied their accusations. "Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead?" they asked Him; "whom makest Thou Thyself?" Jesus answered: "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing; it is My Father that honoreth Me; of whom ye say, that He is your God; yet ye have not known Him; but I know Him; and if I should say, I know Him not, I shall be a liar like unto you; but I know Him, and keep His saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto Him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen Abraham?" Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."

Here Christ shows them that, altho they might reckon His life to be less than fifty years, yet His divine life could not be reckoned by human computation. The existence of Christ before His incarnation is not measured by figures.

"Before Abraham was, I am." Abraham greatly desired to see the Messiah in His day. He offered up the most earnest prayer that he might see Him before He died. "He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. . . . Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

But Abraham saw Christ. A supernatural light was given him, and he acknowledged Christ's divine character. He had a distinct view of Christ, the Messiah. He saw His day, and was glad. He was given a view of the divine Sacrifice for sin. It was Jesus Christ that had promised him, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be."

But Abraham was tested. The command came for him to take his son, his only son, Isaac, and offer him as a sacrifice upon a

mountain which God would show him. O, in what an agony of conflicting emotion, Abraham bowed at the foot of the altar which he had reared for Jehovah, praying for light! But the more he prayed, the darker his mind became. He heard the command, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering." He thought of the promise, "As the stars, so shall thy seed be," yet he was on his way to sacrifice the son in whom this hope was centered. With his own hand, by the divine command, he must cut off the only hope of having this promise made true.

But as Abraham stood with knife upraised to obey God, his hand was stayed, and he heard a voice, saying, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me."

This terrible ordeal was imposed upon Abraham that he might see the day of Christ, and realize the great love of God for the world, so great that, to raise it from its degradation, He gave His only-begotten Son to a most shameful death.

Abraham learned of God the greatest lesson ever given to mortal. His prayer that he might see Christ before he should die, was answered. He saw Christ; he saw all that mortal can see and live. By making an entire surrender, he was able to understand the vision of Christ, which had been given him. He was shown that in giving his only-begotten Son to save sinners from eternal ruin, God was making a greater and more wonderful sacrifice than ever man could make.

"And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh; as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." This was kept in mind by the Jews. When brought into the most difficult places, where there seemed to be no way of deliverance, they would say, "In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen."

This lesson was of great value to all Israel. By it Abraham was shown that God does not require parents to offer their sons and daughters for the sins of the world. This was done by heathen nations, and at times had been practised by the people calling themselves the Israel of God. But they were ever to bear in mind that no human being can be accepted as a sin-offering. The Son of God alone can bear the guilt of the world.

"Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." What a history is this! The Jews were so blinded by the deception of the enemy that, without any form of trial, they would have stoned Christ to death. They saw that He made Himself equal with God, and because they had no knowledge of God or of Jesus Christ, they thought this to be blasphemy. Had they had a knowledge of God, they would not have rejected His Son, and charged Him with blasphemy.

How many to-day are passing over the same ground! In their ignorance of God, in their misinterpretation of His Word, men wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction. They cherish error as truth, and have a zeal not according to knowledge.

The incarnate I AM is our abiding Sacrifice. The I AM is our Redeemer, our Substitute, our Surety. He is the Daysman between God and the human soul, our Advocate in the courts of heaven, our unwearying Intercessor, pleading in our behalf His merits and His atoning sacrifice. The I AM is our Saviour. In Him our hopes of eternal life are centered. He is an ever-present help in time of trouble. In Him is the assurance of every promise. We must acknowledge and receive this almighty Saviour; we must behold Him, that we may be like Him in character. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."

John the Baptist sent messengers to Christ, saying, "Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another?" Jesus said to the messengers, "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the Gospel is preached."

The divinity of Christ's religion is shown in its adaptability to meet suffering humanity, its condescension to a low estate. Its glory is reflected upon those who receive it. But the Pharisees could not believe it; for they looked for a Saviour who was never promised. The Gospel is to be preached to the poor—not to the spiritually proud, those who claim to be rich, and in need of nothing, is it revealed, but to those that are humble and contrite. One fountain only has been opened for sin, a fountain for the poor in spirit. It is free to all who thirst for the water of life. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price."

Jehovah is the name given to Christ. "Behold, God is my salvation," writes the prophet Isaiah; "I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day ye shall say, Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted." "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength."

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven," Christ declared: "if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed." MRS. E. G. WHITE.

HELP IN CHRIST.

By C. P. Bollman

HAVE you been living under condemnation? Then know that "there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus." Has your own heart condemned you? Then know that Jesus saves not only from the penalty of sin, but from sinning. "Let him lay hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me," is the divine promise, and most gloriously is it fulfilled to every one who makes a full surrender to the Lord. It was when Jacob ceased to struggle for the supremacy, and, falling upon the angel's neck, humbly plead for a blessing, that he received the assurance that he was forgiven. "O, taste and see that the Lord is good."

C. P. BOLLMAN.

THE RESTITUTION.

By Eugene Leland

"LET not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. 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."

These were the Master's words of comfort to the little band whose troubled hearts were filled with dread forebodings at His saying: "Whither I go ye can not come." "Simon Peter said unto Him, Lord, whither goest Thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards."

Strange words were these to the disciples, and long they pondered in their hearts what they might mean. Until they saw Him go away, and a cloud received Him from their sight, they did not comprehend them. "And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:10, 11.

Cheered by these promises, the glad disciples then returned unto Jerusalem, where they remained in prayer, and all with one accord, and in one place, until the promised Comforter, the Holy Ghost, had filled them with His mighty power, and then they healed the sick and raised the dead to life. And Peter, preaching to the wondering people, said to them: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." Acts 3:19-21.

A multitude believed the Word, and thus were filled with all the mighty power of God. And, tho they all obtained a good report through faith, yet have they not received the promise. Many of them died the martyr's death. And millions more to whom the promise is yet to be fulfilled, have died the same. "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Rom. 8:23.

That promise will not be fulfilled until He comes whose right it is to rule, and takes the kingdom to Himself, until the Lord Himself from heaven descends to earth with the mighty shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God. That voice awakes the dead in Christ, and of the ransomed hosts of earth to greet the glorious Conqueror, they are the first. And thus to them the promise is fulfilled. Then we which are alive and waiting for the coming of the Lord, together with the resurrected saints, are caught up in the clouds to meet the Saviour in the air, and so with Him we evermore shall be.

And thus the times of restitution come. And thus the promise is fulfilled. To them that look for Him the second time, the Saviour thus appears. The saints, translated then,

stand on the sea of glass and sing the song of victory. There they shall live and reign with Christ a thousand years. From one end of the earth unto the other end lie the ungathered dead, slain of the Lord. No one laments for them, and there is none to bury them from sight. The earth is desolate. The heavens have no light. The mountains tremble, and the hills move lightly. There is no man, and all the birds of heaven are fled. The fruitful place is turned into a wilderness, and all the cities of the earth are broken down. "For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." Jer. 4:23-27.

The angel with the key of the abyss has come from heaven, having a great chain in his hand, and laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the world no more until the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season. Rev. 20:1-3.

Dread punishment! A thousand years in solitude! Dread punishment! Only to be succeeded by punishment more dreadful still! The sepulchres of all earth's mighty dead are there—warriors whose deeds have drenched the earth with blood and filled the world with wo. But they are dead. And Satan has no power now to move the mighty warrior's arm. In silence and unconsciousness, regardless of the desolation all about them, they sleep on a thousand years. The temples of the gods are there, deserted, broken down; temples whose smoking altars, could they but speak, would tell of human sacrifice; temples whose subterranean cells, had they a voice, could tell of myriad captives, who have pined and perished. But now the deeds of shame unnamable, done at the foul fiend's behest, are known alone to him.

"No more the writhing victim's groans fall on his gloating ear; No more the horrid carnival of shame and crime and fear; But bursted bands, and broken bars, and crumbling walls mayhap, And dungeons dark, and manacles, and sepulchers agape, And ruthless rack which never more shall quivering sinews strain, These all,—mute voices,—loud proclaim all past his power to pain, And hurrying through the broken aisles the echoes from his tread Seem to recall the pleadings vain from myriad voices—dead."

But he is bound. The wicked of the earth are dead, all dead, and Satan has no power now to lead them on to further deeds of wickedness. Yea, he is bound. He has no power now to persecute and cause oppression to the saints; for, rising from the grave, obedient to the Archangel's voice, together with the living saints, the righteous dead ascend to heaven to live and reign with Christ a thousand years, while all the wicked dead sleep on, unconscious that their mighty prince is bound.

But all the dead, the just and the unjust, shall hear His voice, and shall come forth, the just, when Christ appears the second time, but the wicked dead live not again until the thousand years are finished. And then even they shall hear the doom blast of the trump of God, and rise again. And then the shackles fall from Satan's hands, and for a little season he is loosed, and by his great deceptive power goes out to gather all this mighty host of resurrected wicked dead to battle, the number of whom is as the sand upon the seashore.

Meanwhile the holy city, New Jerusalem, the mother of us all, descending out of heaven from God, becomes the camp of saints upon the earth, protected by the mighty power of God from Satan and his horrid host, who, compassing the camp of saints about, and the beloved city, would wage unhallowed war with God. But fire comes down from heaven and devours them. This is the second death—awful—eternal.

Thus the earth becomes a seething mass of living fire, burning, unquenchable, until sin and sinners are destroyed. But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. After it has burned out the last vestige of sin from the earth, melting it to its original gaseous elements, awful example to the universe of the consequences of sin, the voice of the Son of God is heard as once before He spake, when looking at this same earth, formless and void. The chastened earth, trembling beneath the awful scourge of God, responds. A firmament all glorious and bright appears above. The waters from their hiding-place return and form the seas. The melted mountains rise again in shapely form, and in the valleys rivers flow as once before the stream from Eden flowed. Yea, in the wilderness waters break out, and in the desert, streams. The parched ground becomes a pool, the thirsty land a cooling spring. Again the voice of God is heard; and as the words in majesty and power roll through the earth, the wilderness and solitary place are glad for them, and with the desert they rejoice and blossom as the rose, yea, blossom forth abundantly, even with joy and singing. The glory of fair Lebanon, the excellency of sweet Carmel and of Sharon, are given unto them, and once again the glory of the Lord is seen, filling the earth even as the waters fill the sea. Isaiah, thirty-fifth chapter.

He speaks, and now the gladdened earth, despoiled by sin of every living thing, responsive to the word, brings forth abundantly. The seas are filled with finny tribes, no more pursuing to devour; and in the air, songsters adorned with radiant plumage, gladden the groves with rapturous melody. The wolf dwells with the lamb; the leopard lies down with the kid; the cow and bear together feed, their young ones lying near. The lion, all his fierceness gone, no more pursues his living prey, but with the ox, contented, grazes the fields, while the young lion and the calf, together with the fatling, play, led by a little child. Even the serpent's den is made a harmless place, where children sport; for they shall not destroy nor hurt in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord. Isa. 11:6-9.

And now, as at the first, the sons of God, beholding the new earth, clad with verdure and loveliness surpassing the power of pen to tell, and peopled with living creatures, as harmless as beautiful, together with the singing of the morning stars, shout for joy. No stain of sin to mar the harmony. No more the scalding, bitter tear of grief, for God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. Rev. 21:4. The yawning, insatiate grave at last is satisfied, for death and hell are cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. Rev. 20:14. And then, when all things have been made new, the invitation of the Saviour will be given: "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:34. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:23.

EUGENE LELAND. 704 St. Lawrence St., Montreal, Quebec.

The Light of His Purity

"BUT it was not simply the absence of outward glory in His life that led the Jews to reject Jesus. He was the embodiment of purity, and they were impure. He dwelt among men an example of spotless integrity. His blameless life flashed light upon their hearts. His sincerity revealed their insincerity. It made manifest the hollowness of their pretentious piety, and discovered iniquity to them in its odious character. Such a light was unwelcome."

Science, Education, and God

"God is the foundation of everything. All true science is in harmony with His works; all true education leads to obedience to His government."

E. S. BROOKS

By E. S. Brooks

LOVE AND HATRED. No. 1.

"GOD is love." Every true child of God is actuated by the spirit of love. The God of love causes the sun to shine on the good and the evil, and the rain to descend upon the just and the unjust. Every one who is godly, or godlike, loves both the just and the unjust. The child of the heavenly Father will not allow hatred to reign in his heart. He heeds the words of his Redeemer: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." But brute-like human nature says, "This is a hard thing to do." Really it is. The unconverted can not do it. Saul of Tarsus was a hater and a persecutor ere his conversion. But when the Spirit of the God of love entered his heart, all his hatred vanished like darkness dying at the approach of light. His heart was then so full of love that there was no room for hatred. From that time forward he could imperil his life in carrying the precious truth to his enemies and persecutors.

Sabbath-keepers are sometimes accused of hating Roman Catholics and Romanized Protestants. But nothing could be farther from the fact. Such an unjust charge could be also brought against many genuine Christians at heart who lived in the past, and, from time to time, discovered this truth and that truth which had been hidden and kept out of the sight of the people by the great apostasy.

Sabbath-keepers are indeed carrying forward the work that the God of love has called them to do. They go forth with the Spirit of love to warn their beloved but erring fellow-beings that in Sunday-keeping they are giving their homage to another beside the God of the true Sabbath. For this cause, and that alone, the Sabbath-keepers are accused of hating Roman Catholics and Romanized Protestants. As well accuse a physician of hating his patients because they are sick. The physician is not warring against the patient, he is warring against the disease. To oppose one's errors is an evidence of love for the person, and of a desire to show him the precious truth. If we offer a needy man gold, would he accuse us of hating him? Why, then, should he accuse us of hating him because we offer him truth far more precious than gold?

To accuse us of being haters will never check us from persuading our beloved fellow-beings to throw away their filthy rags of error and to put on the garments of truth and love.

E. S. BROOKS

THE LAW OF CHRIST.

By E. J. Waggoner

Gal. 6:1-3, R.V.

A Few Preliminary Explanations.

HASTY readers of the Epistle to the Galatians might think that there is a division in it, and that the latter part treats of practical, spiritual life, while the first part is devoted to theoretical doctrines. Such a conclusion would be a great error. No part of the Bible is theory; it is all fact. There is no part of the Bible that is not spiritual and practical. Moreover, it is all doctrine. Doctrine means teaching. Christ's talk to the multitudes on the mount is called doctrine, because "He opened His mouth and taught them." Some people express a sort of contempt for doctrine; they speak slightingly of it, as tho it belonged to the realm of abstruse theology, and not to practical, every-day life. Such ones unconsciously do dishonor to the preaching of Christ, which was nothing else but doctrine. That is to say, He always taught the people.

Sermonizing Not Doctrine.

That which leads people into this error is a wrong use of the words. That which they call "doctrine," and which they speak of as impractical, is not doctrine, but sermonizing. That is impractical, and has no place in the Gospel. No preacher of the Gospel ever "delivers a sermon." If he does, it is because he chooses for a time to do something else besides preach the Gospel. Christ never delivered a sermon. Instead of that, He gave the people doctrine; that is to say, He taught them. He was "a Teacher sent from God." So the Gospel is all doctrine; it is instruction in the life of Christ.

An Abuse.

People quite generally misuse the Epistle to the Galatians. They treat it as tho it were a purely argumentative book. They use it merely to draw arguments from, with which to establish some theory, or to demolish another's theory. Worse still, they even go to it to find authority for attacks upon the law of God, which is the law of Christ, since Christ is God, and the Father and the Son are one in all things. It is rare to find any one, even a real preacher of the Gospel, going to this Epistle for material for Gospel teaching. If they do, they use only the last portion of the fifth chapter, and a portion of the sixth. The rest they ignore, with the virtuous feeling that they can not waste time in disputes about the law. As tho the apostle Paul ever wasted time in such a thing! As tho it were a waste of time to preach that which the greatest of apostles took such pains to write under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost! As tho the apostle himself ever spent time after his conversion doing anything else but preach and write the Gospel!

The Gospel in Galatians.

Recall the beginning of the Epistle. Remember that it was written to reclaim those who were departing from the Gospel of Christ, and from God, into a pretended Gospel, which led to perdition. It was written that "the truth of the Gospel" might remain with us. Surely, then, it is a grave impeachment of the Spirit that guided Paul, to imply that he devoted the greater portion of the Epistle to something that is not practical Gospel. It is all Gospel, and nothing but Gospel.

The Law in the Gospel.

And yet the Epistle does deal largely with the law. In fact, it deals with nothing else; for the real law of God, the law of liberty, is the life of Christ, "who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil." Acts 10:38. The law is righteousness, and righteousness is life. Disobedience to the law is death. "All have sinned," and are therefore under the curse of the law; but "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." He received, so to speak, all the broken, ragged edges of the law in Himself, in order that through the creative power of His life, the law might come to us in its perfection, for the purpose for which it was designed, for it "was ordained to life." Rom. 7:10. Out of Christ, the law is a terror, a yoke of bondage, a ministration of death, because out of Him it is not kept; in Christ it is "not grievous," but is peace and life, because in Him we are made to walk in the good works which God Himself has wrought for us.

The Law of Peace and Love.

"Great peace have they which love Thy law; and nothing shall offend them." Ps. 119:165. "O that thou hadst hearkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Isa. 98:18. "The law is spiritual," and "to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Rom. 7:14; 8:6. Those who through the Gospel keep the law are kept in perfect peace, because it is in the Gospel of peace that the righteousness of God—the law—is revealed. Rom. 1:16, 17. Such ones are not "desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another." "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." It is only where men, by departing from the Gospel of Christ, transgress the law, that they bite and devour one another, and are consumed of one another. The fruit of the Spirit, against which there is no law, because it is the perfection of the law, is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." The Epistle to the Galatians was written for the purpose of restoring this Spirit in its readers. How natural, then, and how perfectly in harmony with the whole Epistle, are the opening words of the sixth chapter, which constitute our present lesson:— "Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in a spirit of meekness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man thinketh himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." Gal. 6:1-3, R.V.

The Gospel Means Restoration.

The work of the Gospel is to restore. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." Matt. 18:11-14.

Save the One.

Note the fact that the Lord represents His work by the case of the shepherd who seeks after the one sheep that has gone astray. The work of the Gospel is an individual work. Even tho under the preaching of the Gospel thousands accept it in one day, as the result of one discourse, it is because of its effect on each individual heart. When the preacher, in speaking to thousands, addresses each one individually, then he is doing the work of Christ. So if a man be overtaken in a fault, restore such an one, in the spirit of meekness. No man's time is so precious that it is wasted when devoted to the salvation of one single person. Some of the most important and glorious truths that we have on record as uttered by Christ, were addressed to only one listener. He who looks after and cares for the single lambs of the flock, is a good shepherd.

Salvation Is from Sin.

A fault, a trespass, is a sin. "Sin is the transgression of the law." If any man be overpowered by temptation, and fall into sin, restore him, that is, bring him back into harmony with the law, and thus fulfil the law of Christ. "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 1 Tim. 1:15. This He does by taking on Himself the sin, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." He bears the curse, that the blessing may come to us. He was made to be sin, "that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21. His name is Jesus, Saviour, because the work of His life is to save men from their sins. Those who are workers with Him must be devoted to the same thing. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3:31. The work of the Gospel minister is not to teach people that the law is abolished, but to bring them into harmony with it.

The Ministry of Reconciliation.

The law of God is love. "His commandments are not grievous." Therefore there can be nothing of harshness in the work of reclaiming an erring one. "If thy brother sin, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone; if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." Matt. 18:15, R.V., margin. The object of showing a brother his faults is to gain him, to restore him, not to condemn him. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, but only as the Comforter. Whoever attempts this delicate work is to go in the spirit of meekness, which is the Spirit of Christ, who is meek and lowly in heart. He is to go simply as Christ's representative, as the agent whom the Spirit of Christ uses. The words that he speaks are to be Christ's words, and not his own. It is to be Christ that goes, and nobody else. Then, whatever be the result, the work will have been done right. But let us beware of putting ourselves in Christ's place. We are not to do something, and then comfort ourselves or defend ourselves with the statement that we have done as He would have done. The work is God's work, and He must be allowed to do it in us.

Not Imputing unto Men Their Trespasses.

Let us not forget the law of Christ. "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." That is, we are to restore the erring by bearing their burdens, even as Christ bears the sins of the world. Let us look at this closely. "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not reckoning unto them their trespasses, and hath placed in us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ, as tho God were entreating by us." 2 Cor. 5:19, 20, R.V., margin. God does not impute to men their trespasses; He takes them on Himself. Christ was in all things made like His brethren, "that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Heb. 2:17. He puts Himself absolutely in the sinner's place, to the extent of taking all the sinner's guilt on Himself. This is the way He reconciles. He calls us to look at Him, in the like situation with us, weak and tempted as we are. Thus He establishes a bond of sympathy, and having gained our confidence by not putting Himself above us, and looking on us with contempt, He shows us the way of salvation.

Salvation in Confession of Sin.

The greatest part, therefore, of the work of saving souls is to show ourselves one with them. That is to say, it is in the confession of our own faults, that we save others. The man who feels himself without sin is not the man to restore the sinful. He who goes to one who is overtaken in any trespass, and says: "How in the world could you ever do such a thing? I never did a thing like that in my life, and I can't see how anybody with any sense of self-respect could do so," might far better stay at home. God chose one Pharisee, and only one, to be an apostle, but he was not sent forth until he could acknowledge himself to be the chief of sinners. It is humiliating to confess sin. That is true, but the way of salvation is the way of the cross. It is only by the cross that Christ could be the Saviour of sinners. Therefore if we would share His joy, we must endure the cross, despising the shame. Remember this fact: It is only by confessing our own sins that we can save others from their sins; but whosoever confesses his own sins finds cleansing; thus we see that, while salvation is an individual matter, it has to do with more than one individual; our salvation is bound up with that of others. If we confess our sins, we shall be saved, and shall be the means of saving some one else.

Self-abasement.

"If a man thinketh himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself." Mark those words, "when he is nothing." It does not say that we should not think ourselves to be something until we are something. No; it is a statement of the fact that we are nothing. Not merely a single individual, but all nations, are nothing before the Lord. If we ever at any time think ourselves to be something, we deceive ourselves. And we often do deceive ourselves, and thus mar the work of the Lord. Remember the law of Christ. Altho He was everything, He emptied Himself. He obliterated Himself, that the work of God might be done. "The servant is not greater than his lord." God alone is great; "every man at his best state is altogether vanity." God alone is true, but every man a liar. When we acknowledge this, and live in consciousness of it, then we are where the Spirit of God can fill us, and then God can work through us. The "man of sin" is he that exalteth himself. 2 Thess. 2:3, 4. The child of God is the one who humbles himself. Instead of fighting against God's law, by maintaining that we are right, let us acknowledge that "the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good" (Rom. 7:12), that so we may find mercy, and salvation from our sins, and be made a blessing to others. E. J. WAGGONER.

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