Earlier text: Opinion and Practice to Be Conformed to God's WordAn Imperative Necessity
By L. Flora Plummer
WHAT is it? — “There is the most imperative necessity of urging the injunction of Christ upon the minds and hearts of all believers, men and women, youth and children: ‘Search the Scriptures.’ Study your Bible as you have never studied it before. Unless you arise to a higher, holier state in your religious life, you will not be ready for the appearing of our Lord.” Thus speaks the Spirit of God. The Sabbath-school is a school which has for its avowed object the study of the word of God. That any Christian should ever complete the course of study, and be graduated from the school, is absurd. The Sabbath-school will always need the presence and help of each member of the church, and each church member will always need the help and blessing of the Sabbath-school. No other public service affords to those present of all ages so excellent an opportunity for the study of the things of God. Ideal as the general plan of the Sabbath-school is, and despite the fact that its influence has been in the past a strong factor for good, there is, perhaps, as much need of reformation in this line as in any other department of church work. That we may have a definite starting place in this reformation, I will mention two points in which our lack is very apparent:— First, the Sabbath-school membership is not nearly so large as our church membership, while it should be considerably larger. The membership of the schools as reported is about one fourth less than the church membership, and a large proportion of the Sabbath-school membership is made up of pupils too young to hold church membership. In this connection must be mentioned the average attendance of those who are members of the school. The very latest summary, which includes a report from every Conference in the home field, shows that of those whose names are enrolled upon the class books, there are over fifteen thousand absent each Sabbath. This is almost one fourth of the entire membership of the schools. The Conferences in other countries and the mission fields reporting, show a much better average attendance than do the reports from the home field. The second point is this: There is too little real study of the Sabbath-school lessons. Why is it that our young people who have attended Sabbath-school for years know so little about the word of God? Notwithstanding that most earnest appeals have been made to parents, teachers, and pupils, to study daily and thoroughly the Sabbath-school lessons, the fact still remains that the majority of the members in our schools have not an intelligent knowledge of those portions of Scripture that have formed the Sabbath-school lessons. We have been told that “young men and women are to come forth from our Sabbath-schools and colleges to become missionaries for God.” It is, then, the purpose of God that our Sabbath-schools should be real schools where the word of God is actually taught and actually learned, and where would-be workers may receive a training that will fit them for service. Do we see these results? Is not the lack of faithful study of the lessons one reason why we do not? Have we not all — officers, teachers, parents, children — been content with the most superficial study? The members of the classes, with the words of the hastily read Bible lesson ringing in their ears, answer the questions of the teacher in the briefest possible way; and the teacher, thinking to help them, asks the questions so that almost every answer is suggested. And this is called Bible study. If the teacher is a student, and the members of the class are not students, the teacher fills in the time by talking to the class on the subject of the lesson. But as telling a thing is not necessarily teaching that thing, in the majority of cases the pupils really learn nothing. To meet the condition of mental laziness and actual indifference to the gems of truth to be had for the searching, lesson-writers have been importuned to make the lessons “short and easy,” until many of us feel that a real injustice is done us if a lesson is so arranged that a half-hour’s glance at it is not sufficient to meet our ideas of what is required in the way of study. Let us away with all such ideas and practices. We have been told to take time for the study of the Sabbath-school lesson. Shall we not do it? “Parents, set apart a little time each day for the study of the Sabbath-school lesson with your children.” Is it safe for us to pass by unheeded this instruction? “Our time is precious. We have but a few, very few, days of probation in which to make ready for the future, immortal life. We have no time to spend in haphazard movements. We should fear to skim the surface of the word of God.” Now is the time to begin a reformation in both the lines I have mentioned. With the opening of the new quarter, the first Sabbath in April, we begin a series of “Studies in the Gospel Message.” The subject-matter of these lessons is of vital importance. Shall we not, one and all, be no longer content with the “milk” of the word, but reach out for “strong meat,” that our Sabbath-schools may develop strong workers for God? So let the message of reform reach out to every school, large and small, and to the isolated members as well. Every believer in the Sabbath-school, and every lesson thoroughly studied, should be our aim. Let every Sabbath-school worker in every place work for this end. The Duties of a Sabbath-School Teacher
1. CONSTANT and strict punctuality. 2. Thorough acquaintance with the lesson. 3. Regular attendance at the teachers’ meetings. 4. Go to the class with a prayer in your heart. 5. In teaching, be familiar, affectionate, practical, earnest. 6. Converse personally with each pupil respecting his soul. Merely asking the questions on the lesson produces but little good. 7. See that your instructions are enforced by your habitual life and conversation. 8. Study the characters of your pupils,—their tempers, habits, associations, etc.,—and adapt instruction accordingly. 9. Visit the pupils at their homes. 10. Often look at the names of your pupils in the class book, and think of the judgment. 11. Bear each pupil on your heart in daily prayer. 12. Make their salvation the great object of all your instructions. 13. Regard your office as second in importance to none, except that of the pastor and the parent. 14. Cultivate a spirit of ardent piety, self-consecration, and a constant dependence on God for success.—Selected. Pause at Every Verse
By Luther
PAUSE at every verse and every word of Scripture, and shake every bough of the tree of life, so that its precious fruit may fall into your lap. — Luther. The highest attainment is to know God.
The divinest inspiration is to love God.
The happiest privilege is to please God.
The holiest completeness is to be like God.
The sweetest rapture is to commune with God.
The inexpressible joy is to behold God.
The crowning glory is to dwell with God forever.
— Herald of Holiness. Practical Hydrotherapy
By GEO. THOMASON, M. D.
It has been apparent in the previous studies that certain and definite phenomena take place in the body following an application either of heat or of cold. The nervous system is the principal agency through which the various results follow such applications. Next in importance may be mentioned the circulatory system. To explain further: when, for example, a cold application is made to the body, if prolonged, it excites within the body the production of heat. This is to compensate for the loss of heat which results by the abstraction of heat through the cold application, and thus to maintain the normal bodily temperature. To accomplish this, nerve impulses pass to different parts of the body, exciting the processes of oxidation, or, so to speak, fanning the vital fires, to burn more rapidly the fuel which has been consumed as food. This form of reaction is an effort on the part of the body to replace the heat which is being lost, and is termed the thermic reaction. It is under the control of the heat-regulating nerve centers. When a hot application is made to the body, or heat is communicated to the body, the oxidation, or food-consuming processes, within the body are diminished, thus lessening the amount of heat produced. The second important phenomenon is known as the circulatory reaction, and follows an application either of heat or of cold. The results upon the circulation following applications of heat or cold have been suggested in previous articles. The circulatory reaction is the one to which the greatest attention is paid. A knowledge of the subject of reaction is essential to successful results in applications of hydrotherapy in a curative way. In by far the majority of cases it is essential, and absolutely necessary, to secure reaction. In some instances, however, it is necessary that reaction should be partially or entirely suppressed; as an example for the necessity of suppression of reaction, we might mention headache, due to congestion of the brain. The essential feature for successfully dealing with this condition is to cause a contraction of the blood vessels of the brain, and to prevent their dilating, or enlarging, following the withdrawal of the means used. We must also depend upon the principle that the larger the quantity of blood in one part of the body, the less will be found in another part. The extremities may be used as a reservoir for the blood, and by increasing the quantity of blood in the feet and legs there will be a consequently lessened amount in the brain. This result may be accomplished by applying very cold compresses, renewed every three or four minutes, or an ice bag, to the back or top of the head, or about the neck, and continued from fifteen to thirty minutes. At the same time the feet and legs may be placed in hot water at as high a temperature as can be tolerated, or a hot-blanket pack may be applied to the extremities, and continued as long as the cold application is maintained. In case of fever it is desirable to favor a circulatory reaction, and to suppress thermic reaction; and for this reason it is essential, when cold is applied for temperature reduction, that friction should be given to maintain a vigorous circulation of blood in the skin. This serves to favor the elimination of heat from the skin, and thus, by preventing the tendency to chill, the thermic reaction is to a large extent suppressed. This principle will be more fully treated in dealing with the subject of fevers. Barring the few exceptions, it is absolutely necessary that good reaction should be secured. There are certain conditions that favor, and precautions which may be taken to secure, reaction to cold applications. Heat is an antidote for cold, and vice versa; therefore heat may be utilized to precede a cold application, and thereby favor reaction. When the surface of the body is cold, or when there is a tendency to chill, the conditions are unfavorable for reaction; but if a short, hot application be made to the skin, the temperature of the skin is raised, the blood vessels dilate, and the conditions for reaction are thus rendered more favorable. There is practically no reaction from application to the body of water at a neutral temperature. As the temperature of an application is lowered, the tendency to reaction increases; in other words, there must be a difference between the temperature of the skin and the temperature of the water in order to secure reaction; and the greater this difference, the greater will be the tendency for reaction to occur. Thus it is that by raising the temperature of the skin by a hot application, the tendency to reaction is increased as the result of a moderately cold application. It is possible, however, to secure a reaction from cold applications, even if the surface of the body is cold, but the temperature of the cold application must be correspondingly lowered; for example, in order to secure reaction in a frosted ear or foot, the affected part must be rubbed with ice or snow. The intense glow and reddening of the feet after running in the snow, or of the hands after handling snow or ice, are examples of the intense reaction which follows applications at very low temperatures, and may be advantageously utilized by persons suffering from cold hands or feet. Exercises before and after the bath are of assistance in securing reaction. Care should be taken, however, not to carry it to the point of fatigue, as a tired person reacts poorly to a cold application. A state of either nervous or muscular exhaustion is unfavorable to reaction from cold. In such cases some form of heat should be used before the cold application. Friction, or a vigorous rubbing of the surface of the body, favors reaction, and may be applied during the bath, or by means of a coarse towel or with the warm hand at the conclusion of the bath. Certain conditions of life are unfavorable to securing reaction; namely, at the extremes of life. Aged persons react poorly to cold applications, owing to the fact that the vital fires are burning less vigorously than during middle age. Another factor which must be borne in mind is that in old age the arteries become more or less rigid, and less able to expand and contract than in earlier life. As a consequence, should a sudden general cold application be made, the great inrush of blood to the interior of the body is apt to result in a rupture of some of the small blood vessels, particularly those of the brain, and the condition known as apoplexy follows. Infants and very young children do not well tolerate extremes of temperature, and it is therefore necessary that a gradual training process should be followed, by beginning with applications at a moderate temperature, and gradually increasing their intensity by lowering the temperature as the child advances in age and vigor. Very fat persons react poorly, because of a relatively diminished quantity of blood in the skin. There is usually more or less weakness of the heart in this condition, which also necessitates care in making cold applications. The idea is quite prevalent that cold should be avoided when perspiration is present. This is only true, however, when the perspiratory activity is accompanied with exhaustion. Very unpleasant symptoms accompany poor or incomplete reaction following a cold application, such as chill, giddiness, dizziness, and headache. Complete and vigorous reaction is indicated by a feeling of comfort, buoyancy, exhilaration, and well-being. Why Do We Eat?
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
EVERY one would doubtless say that we eat in order to live, although the way in which very many people eat tends to death more than to life, and thousands upon thousands die solely as the result of wrong habits of eating, both as regards the kind of food and the manner of preparing and eating it. However, it is a fact that God has given us food in order to sustain our lives; but it is also a fact that He designs that we should have much more life than can be obtained merely by eating. The life that can be obtained only by means of food differs in no respect from that of the dumb beast, and God designs that man should possess life far superior and much more abundant. God could have ordained it so that we could live without eating. Many instances are on record where men have been kept in full strength and vigor without food, the most notable being that of Moses, who on two different occasions went forty days and forty nights without food or drink, and although he was engaged in active work all the time, he was in possession of his usual strength at the close. Jesus sat weary and hungry on Jacob’s well, yet when the disciples came back with food, and urged Him to eat, He seemed to have been already satisfied, and said, “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” John 4:32. Why, then, are we made dependent on our daily food? The answer is plain: In order that we may recognize and acknowledge our dependence upon God. If there were no visible means of sustenance,—if God poured His invisible life into us without any visible means,—we should all come to believe ourselves to be gods, having life in ourselves, and not dependent upon God. The truth is that we are absolutely dependent upon God for “life, and breath, and all things,” and the continuation of our life throughout eternity depends upon our abiding in Him; therefore the Lord has made it plain to us that we derive our life from Him, and not from ourselves. If we do not recognize Him in the visible gifts that He bestows, we shall not, of course, accept the greater life through the reception of the Spirit; but if in all our ways we acknowledge Him, we may be sure that He will give us life “more abundantly.” “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” While we cannot get righteousness by eating and drinking, we may thereby show our appreciation or lack of appreciation of the gift of life and righteousness through Jesus Christ, “who is our life.” The life that we receive in the food that we eat is the life of the Lord; for there is no other. If, therefore, when we have the very best food given to us,—food that contains the life in the purest possible form,—we deliberately choose that which is inferior, simply because it pleases our taste better, we show that we would rather please ourselves than to have the fullness of the life of the Lord. When we do so, although we may acknowledge that our life comes from the Lord, we at the best virtually say that we are quite content with a small measure of it; we want the Lord, but not too much of Him. Praise for God’s Providence
“Thy Providence supplies my food,
And 'tis thy blessing makes it good;
My soul is nourished by thy word;
Let soul and body praise the Lord.” What Is It?
By Edith E. Adams
THIS is what the Israelites said one morning, when they awoke and found lying on the ground about their encampment a small, round, white thing, like a tiny seed, about the size of hoarfrost. They were very hungry, and God had sent them bread from heaven. They called the name of it “manna.” The Hebrew word they used was “man-hu,” meaning, What is it? “for they wist not what it was.” And Moses said, “This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat;” but their question gave the name to that bread from heaven, and they went on calling it manna—what is it? Let us see how the Bible answers this question for us, and remember as we do so that what is true of this bread, is true also of all the bread that the Lord sends from heaven. Because this came to them in an unusual way, they were at first filled with wonder and curiosity. But after they became accustomed to it, they thought no more of it than we do of that which comes daily to our tables, or of the seed, the golden grain that covers the ground at harvest time. God’s mercies “are new every morning,” but because He does not forget us, we often forget Him. It would be well for us, every time we gather round our tables, or take any food at all, to ask with reverence the question that the Israelites did. And then, remembering that it is bread from heaven, think what God has told us about the bread that He gives. The Israelites “did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that went with them: and that Rock was Christ.” When they ate the manna from heaven, and drank the water from the rock, they were feeding on Christ. It is just so when you take any food that God gives you. All that He made for man’s food comes from seed. But the plants which produce the seeds all come from one Seed, by whose life all things live. That Seed is the divine Word which went forth into the earth in the beginning, to cause everything to grow. If we do not see this, we get, in the bread that He gives, only the outward form that feeds and strengthens our bodies for a time. But when the Spirit of God fills our hearts (and He has promised to give this to all who ask Him), we can then see Him in everything else. We can discern Him, and feed upon Him, in the food that He gives us; we can hold sweet communion with Him in every meal, and receive through the Spirit the gift of His everlasting life. “I am that bread . . . which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.” Food and Intemperance
By John Harvey Kellogg
THE relation of the food to intemperance is well worthy of most careful and earnest consideration. It is perhaps not going too far to say that the cooks make more drunkards than the saloon-keepers.—J. H. Kellogg. The Divine and Human Word
By William W. Prescott
"The word of God is living, and active." "The word of the Lord abideth forever." "His name is called The Word of God." "The Son abideth ever." "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." In the revelation of himself which the Lord has made to us in human language we have the same mysterious union of the divine with the human as we have in the revelation of himself which He has made to us in the flesh. In each case the divine light shines through the human medium. In each case the Lord makes himself known to man through the same channel through which man makes himself known to other men. Thus has divinity reached humanity by clothing itself with humanity. "I am . . . the truth." "Thy word is truth." In Christ, the Word of God, and in the written word, the truth has been revealed to us. We are not left to grope in darkness in search of truth, for the truth has been revealed. Some persons pride themselves in the fact that they are "only seekers after truth," when they really mean that they do not positively know what is truth, and do not think it possible for any one else to be certain of it. In this experience they are not in harmony with the will of God, "who willeth that all men should . . . come to the knowledge of the truth." They belong rather to the class who are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." There is a great difference between claiming to know all the truth, and claiming that what we do know is the truth. Only a small portion of the whole light given out from the sun shines upon this speck of a planet called the earth, and only a small portion of that small portion shines upon any one individual, but what does reach each individual is sunshine just the same, and it is his privilege to recognize it as sunshine. While our knowledge of the truth may be very limited, yet if we are willing to be taught of God, it is our privilege to know truth, and to know that we know it. This is not the assumption of a boasting intellect, but the confidence of a humble heart that God's word is truth, and that He has brought the pure truth within our reach by clothing it with human language. The Scripture itself bears ample testimony to this effect: "The sum of thy word is truth." "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He shall guide you into all the truth." "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." "We know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true [Him that is the truth]." "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments." The revelation of the truth which the Lord has made to us is much more than the verbal statement of that which is true. The truth is a living essence. The truth is life. The truth is a personality. The truth is the causative power which is revealed, and whose working is described, in the statements of those things which are true. Thus it happens that one may spend much time in reading the statements in the Scripture of that which is true, and yet "err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." No merely intellectual ability, the inheritance of the flesh, is capable of recognizing and dealing with the truth. The natural man cannot know "the things of the Spirit of God," and this is because "they are spiritually discerned." But these are the very things which we are to know, for "God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit." And this He does by enlightening and quickening these same intellectual faculties. Thus the truth is a gift to us, and must be revealed to us, but the gift and the revelation come to us through the active working of those mental powers with which we have been endowed. The highest use to which we can put our intellectual powers is in receiving the revelation which the Lord has made. This is the true purpose of all study. "If thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." These principles have a very practical application in the study and teaching of the Bible. The subject-matter with which we deal is not abstract theory, mere verbal expressions, but revealed truth; this revelation can be known, and can be known to be the truth; but it can be thus known only when it is received as life, and life is received by believing. "And that believing [or by believing] ye might have life." And so faith is the real key of knowledge of the truth. "Through faith we understand." "We have believed and know." Therefore in the study of the Bible it requires more than mere intellectual ability. "What is most essential in Scripture is understood by the spiritual man, though as to the soul and body of Scripture he may be ignorant." "The best critical, grammatical, historical, and aesthetic or human understanding of Scripture . . . is utterly insufficient to seize the real meaning of the word." It is the work of the Spirit, received by faith, to make us "of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord." The same principles apply in the teaching of the Bible. It is not the primary work of the teacher merely to present the facts of Scripture, although these are very important, but rather to make one know the truth which is revealed in the facts; to impart from and through his own experience the very uplifting help which is needed to transform the life. "Such as I have give I thee." Such study of the Scripture as this, and such teaching of the Scripture as this, would result in conversions in the Sabbath-school and in constant additions to the membership of the church in consequence of the work done in the Sabbath-school. Is it not time that our Sabbath-school teachers studied more on their knees, and taught more from the heart? Such study and such teaching would constitute an important agency in establishing the truth in the hearts of the people, and in preparing the way of the Lord. W. W. P. Jude’s Doxology
By Uriah Smith
“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” Jude 24, 25. With these words close the epistolary portions of the New Testament. What a sweep of present duties and dangers, present help, and future glory do they present! T. D. Bernard, D. D., in “The Bible Work,” by J. Glentworth Butler, well says, “We may observe with admiration the singular fitness of the few words of Jude to close the series of writings through which the faith has been wrought out, and consigned to the Church forever. It only remains for our last instructor to exhort us ‘to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints;’ to warn us of the dangers of relapse; to entreat us to build ourselves up on our holy faith, and ‘praying in the Holy Ghost,’ to keep ourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life; and, finally, to commend us to Him who is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” We are commended to Him that is able to keep us from falling, yes, even from “stumbling” (R. V.), to the dishonor of God. Thus a safeguard is made known to us, against our great and ever-present danger, that of falling, or stumbling. And there is in this more than simply a declaration of power; for it is a promise that He will keep us from falling; for we are never called upon to praise God for possessing an ability which He will never use. The very fact that He is revealed as possessing it, is a promise that He will use it for the purpose for which it is adapted. Therefore our being commended to Him who is able to keep us from falling, is a promise that He will keep us from falling. Our safety is in His ability and faithfulness; for John says that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We need to be kept from falling (1) into errors of doctrine, which are prolific on every hand in this age; for we have reached the time pointed out by the apostle, when every wind of doctrine is blowing; (2) from falling into errors of spirit, as, for instance, a lack of love; or a lack of discernment, to discover the wiles of the enemy; or into unbelief, on the one hand, or credulity, on the other; to be saved from fanaticism or conceit; (3) we need to be kept from falling into open and outbreaking sins. Alas! how low apparently the best of men sometimes fall in this respect! Then there are many other insidious and treacherous sins to be watched and guarded against on every hand,—neglect of duty, want of thoughtfulness, and the common sin of backsliding,—but the Lord is able to keep us from falling into any or all of these sins. We cannot keep ourselves without Him, nor can we depend upon our environment. No place nor association nor relationship can offer a guarantee from falling. We may have a name on the church book, with true Christians; we may have godly parents, earnest and devoted brothers and sisters; we may enter the closet of prayer; we may come to the table of the Lord; but temptations can assail us there. No set rules nor regulations can secure us from the danger of stumbling; and stereotyped habits may be only a cloak for deadly sins. Nothing but the power of God can eradicate evil from our hearts, and guard us against falling into grievous sins; but the Lord can do it. He can change our hearts, and make us new creatures in Him. And He is able to carry out His work to its glorious results, and present us faultless before the presence of His glory. John gives some of the characteristics of that company. He says, “And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” Rev. 14:5. And Paul says that Christ will present to himself “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” Eph. 5:27. And he further says that in Christ “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;” and that we are “complete in Him.” Col. 2:10; 4:12. “Faultless before the presence of His glory.” No fault can be tolerated there. And no one but Christ can deliver us from the faults of the past, and keep us from falling in the present, and in the future. He is called “the only wise God our Saviour;” and when we are presented without fault before the presence of His glory, it will be both to Him and to us an occasion of “exceeding joy.” It will be to Him, the joy that was set before Him. Heb. 12:2. It will be when the Saviour’s words are fulfilled, as recorded in His prayer (John 17:24): “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.” We can join with Jude in ascribing to this redeeming Saviour, “glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now [as in the past; for He was “before all time,” R. V.] and ever. Amen.” U. S. Teaching the Scriptures and Family Prayer
“TEACHING the Scriptures, praying in families,— this is the work of the evangelist.” Studies in the Gospel Message
By W. W. P.
THIS is the general title of the Sabbath-school lessons for the next quarter, the subject for the first Sabbath, April 5, being “The Gospel of the Kingdom and the Coming of the Lord.” When the disciples asked Jesus, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” it is evident that they regarded these two events as so closely associated that the sign of one would be the sign of the other. When, therefore, in His reply, Jesus said, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,” it is certain that “the end” of which He spoke was “the end of the world,” and that this preaching of the gospel in all the world, which would be the sign of the end of the world, would also be the sign of His coming. It follows plainly enough that the preaching of the gospel which will lead up to and usher in the coming of the Lord must be the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, and that it must be proclaimed “in all the world.” Now by the reading of Rev. 14: 6–15 it appears that “the everlasting gospel” is to be preached to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” in a threefold message of exhortation (verse 7), declaration of religious declension (verse 8), and warning (verses 9–11); that the result of thus declaring this gospel will be seen in a people distinguished from all others by the fact that they are commandment-keepers; and that following at once upon this work and its result is the coming of the Lord. We may therefore safely conclude that “the everlasting gospel” which is to be preached in this threefold message is “the gospel of the kingdom,” and that this preaching of it is the sign mentioned by the Saviour in His reply to the disciples. It should be noted, however, that it is not a new gospel which thus prepares the way for the coming of the Lord. It is “the everlasting gospel.” At the same time it is evident from the forms of statement, the topical outline, as it were, of this threefold message, that “the everlasting gospel,” when proclaimed so as to constitute the sign of the coming of the Lord, will be just the message needed to establish faith in, and the worship of, the Creator rather than the creature; to deliver God’s people from the evil results of the false teaching of Babylon; and to give them the victory “over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark.” This gospel of the kingdom is not a set of theological phrases, not the expounding of a creed; it is the reality of an experience. It is the good news of a power working in the heart of sinful man which overthrows the dominion of Satan, and establishes the reign of righteousness. This is the experience of the teaching that “the kingdom of God is within you.” This is the banishment of Satan from his usurped dominion, and the restoration of Jesus to His rightful place as “King of saints.” This is the going of Satan and the coming of the Lord. And so the sign of the coming of the Lord, and the preparation for the coming of the Lord, is the preaching of the experience of the coming of the Lord. Much of the teaching of the coming of the Lord seems to be based upon the idea that the only thing to be dealt with is an outward event, which will take place at some future date, and that the main thing is to establish that date. But this is such a partial view of this glorious truth that it practically misses the real truth. And this statement does not belittle the value of definite time prophecies and their teaching, but the mere fixing of a date neither saves a soul from the power of sin, nor prepares a sinful being to hail the Lord’s coming with joy. This leads us to note the difference between that coming of the Lord which no human eye can see, and that coming which every eye shall see. The former coming means salvation to the repentant sinner, the latter coming means destruction to the unrepentant sinner. This former coming is set forth in the following verses: “He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” This coming of the Lord to dwell in the heart of the believer is the very soul of the gospel. This is the mystery of the gospel, “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This is the glorious experience that “it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me.” This is the gospel of the kingdom within, which is to be “preached in all the world,” not by mere word of mouth, but by a life of victory over sin, a life which shows itself, as the Master’s life always does, in going about doing good. This is that preaching of the coming of the Lord which will make his own people the greatest sign of the coming of the Lord in power and great glory. “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs.” When this great truth of the coming of the Lord in the flesh of His people has been proclaimed to all the world with such power that all have accepted or rejected it by a definite decision, then the Lord will come in His own person, and this is “the manifestation of His coming” (2 Thess. 2: 8, R. V.) which is the central theme of all the time prophecies in the Scripture. This should be taught, and the other should not be left untaught. Now this gospel of the kingdom within, this gospel of the coming of the Lord, this gospel of God manifested in the flesh, is to be proclaimed to all the world in the very words of Rev. 14: 6–12 just before the personal second advent of our Lord. It is therefore essential that we should know the real nature of this gospel, and know how to proclaim it in the very words of this chapter, in order that the way of the Lord may be prepared.