Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 29. (7/29/1889)

Signs of the Times

Jul 29, 1889

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 29, 1889

God’s Thoughts and Ways

"FOR my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." Isa. 55:8. This has been proved many times over in the experience of every Christian. Ways that seemed right to us because we desired to walk in them, afterwards turned out to be contrary to the will of God; and it has been proved, even more truly, that God's thoughts are not our thoughts. We murmur many times because God desires us to walk in paths of his choosing, and yet we afterward find that these ways are ways of mercy, and have enabled us to become acquainted with phases of God's character hitherto unknown to us. With our finite minds it is possible for us to comprehend only a small part of the infinitude of God. If God's methods of dealing seem strange to us at times, let us strive to recognize in this fact a reminder of our own weakness and lack of knowledge; and let this discovery of our own inefficiency only stimulate us to become more acquainted with God, that we may learn to trust him through shade as well as sunshine.

THERE IS HELP IN GOD.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”

WHEN Christ came to the world, appetite and passion exercised almost unlimited control, and it seemed that the world was about to be swept away under its disastrous power. Men were debased, diseased, dwarfed and crippled through the baneful effects of selfish indulgence in evil. But never can the power of appetite be fully understood until the significance of Christ’s temptation and his long fast in the wilderness is comprehended. When Christ was fainting for food, Satan came to him and sought to overpower him with temptation.

He did not appear to Christ as he is often falsely represented, as an imp with bat’s wings and iron hoofs. The Scripture plainly states that he transforms himself into an angel of light. It was as a Heavenly angel that he accosted the Son of God. He told the Redeemer that he need fast no longer, that his long abstinence was accepted by the Father, that he had gone far enough, and that he was at liberty to work a miracle in his own behalf. The tempter said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.” And Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Oh, if man had but heeded this truth, the race would never have fallen.

“Then the devil taketh him up into the

holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” But again Jesus met him with the Scripture, saying, “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.”

“Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” He did not present the kingdoms of the world as they now appear, but in all the glory and attraction in which it is possible to present them. He desired that Christ should acknowledge him as his superior, and on this condition promised to give the world into his hands. But could Jesus admit that the world belonged to Satan? Could he acknowledge him as his superior, when there was but One to whom he owed homage? “Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

There are many in this world who would concede the principles of right for some worldly advantage. There are many who would forsake their rectitude for gold, or position, or power. But of what advantage is it to sacrifice your hopes of Heaven for earthly wealth and honor? You cannot take your treasure with you to the grave. Only a while at the longest, and life will be passed, and “what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” We would fix our eyes on something more enduring. The home of the saints is more worthy of our toil and affection; for it is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

Appetite exerts a controlling influence in the world. Unlawful indulgence in appetite and passion paralyzes the brain power, and deadens all the moral sensibilities and perceptions. We have all been bought with a price, even with the precious blood of the Son of God, and we have no right to abuse our powers by selfish gratification of lust. We should keep ourselves in a condition to render to God the most perfect service possible. With an eye single to the glory of God, we should seek to live in harmony with the laws of our being.

Daniel refused to eat at the king’s table, or to drink of the king’s wine. Why did he do this? Because he knew that indulgence in wine-drinking and luxurious food would enfeeble the powers of mind and body. He desired to keep his mind in a condition to appreciate the inspired word of God. Those who indulge in forbidden things work directly against their own interests and hopes. Selfish motives lead to self-indulgence, and animal appetites and passions bear away, and dominate over mind and soul. Those who are thus controlled cannot comprehend the truth of divine origin, or appreciate the value of heavenly things. They are ruled by appetite, and the brain power is benumbed. The very foundation of the physical being is undermined. We have no right to destroy the habitation that God has given us. We have been purchased at an infinite cost.

It was by a failure to resist the inclinations of appetite that Adam fell in the garden of Eden. But Christ came to take up the battle in behalf of man. He met and contended with the powers of darkness, and at every point where Adam fell, Christ won precious victories. He wrought out a way by which we may be saved. However depraved, however sinful, as men seek for forgiveness of their transgressions, they will find pardon and peace through the merit of Christ. Divinity co-operates with humanity in the work of elevating and purifying the character. When the converting power of God takes hold of the soul, it will work a radical change. Those who have formerly abused their families and friends, will begin to labor earnestly for their salvation. Jesus came to save the lost, to take them out of their fallen condition, to make them more than conquerors, and to give them a seat upon his throne. O that the soul temple might be cleansed of every defilement. O that we might not offer to God a diseased, defiled offering. An infinite price has been paid to bring us into connection with Christ. Self-indulgence must cease. We must come into right relations with God, and we must be cleansed from all iniquity, and walk worthy of the vocation whereunto we are called.

When Jacob journeyed to the house of Laban, he lay down to rest in the wilderness, with a stone for a pillow. He was a discouraged, disappointed man. It seemed to him that he was forsaken of friends, and forgotten of God. His own brother was seeking him, that he might take his life. While he slept he had a vision. There appeared before him a ladder, whose base rested on the earth and whose top reached into the highest heavens. God was above the ladder, and his glory shone through the open heaven and lighted up every round of the ladder. The angels were ascending and descending upon it. The plan of salvation was open to Jacob’s mind in this dream.

When Jacob awoke, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.” Christ was the ladder that Jacob saw. Christ is the link that binds earth to Heaven, and connects finite man with the infinite God. This ladder reaches from the lowest degradation of earth and humanity to the highest heavens. We are to ascend the ladder that Jacob saw, but not by our own strength alone. It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance and reformation. We are not left to struggle on alone.

Those who have fallen by sin and iniquity may receive the pardoning love of God. By repentance and faith, the transgressors of his law may come to God through Christ. And when we have come to Christ, and have taken the steps requisite in conversion, we are to seek those things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. When we are burdened with care and sorrow why do we not go right to our Saviour, and claim his promises, and find him a very present help in every time of trouble? We are not left to be the sport of Satan’s temptations. God has given us precious promises by which we are to become partakers of the divine nature. In Christ is our help. When we come with repentance and faith, however polluted and sinful, we shall find him the sinner’s Saviour. He has said, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The sinner may carry his load to Calvary, and lay it down at the foot of the cross. It is the privilege of everyone to leave sin and transgression, and to become a loyal subject of the God of Heaven. We may be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, but his righteousness will not be a covering for the least iniquity. “Wash you, make you clean.” There has been a fountain opened for Judah and Jerusalem, and every stain may be cleansed away.

Do not wait to make yourselves better. How many there are who think that they are not good enough to come to Christ. Do you expect to become better through your own efforts? “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” But there is help for us in God. We are prisoners of hope. God has power in reserve for us. Those who are reaching out for help, exercising faith in Jesus, will receive it.

Divine power will co-operate with human effort. Brethren, the gates are open, and the glory of God is shining for every soul who looks to Heaven in times of trial and perplexity. How many go to human friends when they are in trouble. But how vain is the help that man can give. Human aid is only as a broken reed. Christ has been manifested to the world as the One who can bind up the broken in heart, and comfort those that mourn. Heaven was open to man through the sacrifice of the Son of God. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” He came into the world that he might understand all the needs of fallen humanity. He bore the griefs and sorrows of men. He was made a perfect Saviour through the sufferings that he bore in man’s behalf, and we through his grace may become perfected, and be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ in the everlasting kingdom.

Christ’s Coming and Reward

“Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.

Freedom from Sin

JESUS says men from sin, not in sin. He who would make the liberty to be found in Christ an excuse for sin, makes Christ the “minister of sin.” The liberty of Christ is freedom from all sin. Gal. 5:1; John 8:32, 34; Titus 2:14.

Peace and Love Conquer

It is better to win by peace and love than to vanquish by strife and force; for he who is conquered by love is truly conquered, and becomes our friend, while he who is vanquished by force will not fail to renew the strife when strength and advantage offer. The feet of the Christian soldier are shod with the shoes of peace.

Moody on Rejecting the Bible

THE following from Mr. Moody is most commendable, and his conclusion is most emphatically true:—

“When I begin to pick at the Bible, and throw part of it away, I am going to throw it all away; for that is where all those men end who begin to pick at the Bible; and what is the use of being five years in doing what you can do in five minutes?”

Work Done for the Lord

“Whatsoever is worth doing is worth doing well,” is an excellent motto in all kinds of work, how much more so in the work of the Lord. And all work of the true faithful Christian is the Lord’s work. Painstaking and carefulness may not be appreciated by man; the imperfection of our best work may be ridiculed, but the Lord looks at the motive. So, fellow-laborer, look not to men for appreciation; but “whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ.” Col. 3: 23, 24.

Meekness Is Teachableness

MEEKNESS is not that disposition which is content with desires to learn, or prayers for knowledge. Meekness is teachableness. “The meek will he teach his way.” The meek man not only desires to learn, but is willing to learn, not in his way but in God’s way. Many suppose they are teachable when they desire to learn only in their own way. Such is not meekness but pride. They cannot bear to admit that their way is wrong. They lack an essential element of meekness, namely, humility. Meekness and humility are precious graces in God’s sight, but sadly lacking in the world. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Carnally Minded or Spirit Led

To BE “carnally minded” is to mind, to give heed, or to pay regard to the flesh or fleshly lusts. This is what the unregenerate man does. He may have wishes to do good, but the fleshly lusts override, sooner or later, his good desires and determinations. The flesh lusteth against the Spirit of God which strives with him, and does not yield, and, like Paul, he cannot do the things that he would. Gal. 5:17; Rom. 7:15, 19. But when a man has yielded all to Christ, and is born a child of God, he is led of the Spirit; he minds the things of the Spirit; he puts to death the uprisings of the flesh. Rom. 8:12–14; Gal. 5:16, 18. There will be temptations from the flesh but the Spirit conquers. The soul minds not the flesh, it is led of the Spirit.

Faith and Hope in God’s Promises

PAUL says: “Hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?” Rom. 8:24. In this connection hope is closely related to faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for,” and therefore faith necessarily presupposes a belief in things that are not seen. It requires no exercise of faith to believe in things that are right before our eyes, but to grasp the naked promises of God’s word and make the things promised therein appear real to us requires faith, and the Christian who exercises this kind of faith has the power to continually gain victories in his experience, for this is a living faith which enables him to triumph over doubt, always. “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4. If it seems at times that there are great things to believe in the Scriptures, let us realize that there are great things required of faith.

IN HIM IS LIGHT.

I do not ask that God shall always make My pathway light, I only pray that he will hold my hand Throughout the night; I do not hope to have the thorns removed That pierce my feet, I only ask to find his blessed arms My safe retreat.

If he afflict me, then, in my distress, Withholds his hand; If all his wisdom I cannot conceive Or understand, I do not think to always know his why Or wherefore, here; But sometime he will take my hand and make His meaning clear.

—Selected.

THE NEW BIRTH.

By T. S. Parmelee

BIRTH is the beginning of life. The beginning of our natural life is called birth; the beginning of the spiritual life is also called birth. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:6.

Everyone who receives Christ is born of God. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name; which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." John 1:12, 13.

To be without this life is to be dead. This is the condition of all who are carnally minded. To receive this life is to be made alive, or quickened. "And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins." Eph. 2:1. "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Rom. 8:6.

When the Spirit of God has given new life to the

believer, a new creation has taken place. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10.

The new birth is regeneration, or new creation, and always accompanies the forgiveness of sins. The new life is begun in every true believer. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." 1 John 5:1.

The new life is begun before the world is overcome. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God?" 1 John 5:4, 5.

We can do nothing without that life which flows to us through a connection with Christ the living vine, in answer to our faith. Jesus says: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me." John 15:4.

God works a miracle for every person who accepts Christ. "Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. 12:3.

The one who never had the Spirit of God working in him never was a child of God. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Rom. 8:9.

The new life that we receive when we are forgiven is one of the first-fruits of the Spirit. Paul says, "Ourselves also which have the first-fruits of the Spirit." Rom. 8:23. The same verse tells about the redemption of the body that completes the work of the Spirit in us.

After we become sons of God, we keep purifying ourselves; for the work is not completed. And we do this just as long as we have this hope of being like Jesus. We will not be like him until he comes, so in God's strength we will purify ourselves until he comes. Then the Spirit of God will have completed its work in us, and we will be born again in a larger sense than when we first believed. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself even as He is pure." 1 John 3:2, 3.

We will not take any credit to ourselves; for all our strength, even the ability to believe, is from Christ. He is "the author and finisher of our faith."

God has never promised to bring us, in this life, to a place where we will not be tempted. Such a condition would not be the image of Jesus Christ, for Christ was tempted. But he will give his children ability to overcome when they are tempted, and when they overcome it will be evidence that they have received life from the Living Vine, and are still the sons of God. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life." James 1:12. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Heb. 12:6.

From the time we first believe until our probation closes, God has deeper experiences and greater blessings in store for us; but there is no time in this period when we will be without chastisement, and if we have reached a place where we have none, we are not children of God. "But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons." Heb. 12:8.

T. S. PARMELEE. Athens, Michigan.

OBEYING BY DISOBEYING.

By W. N. Glenn

THE Burlington, Vermont, Independent acknowledges an increasing interest in the Sunday movement, because of its growing popularity, and scores the Seventh-day Adventists for weakening the work. It says they are "a very zealous and apparently well-meaning people, but in this respect working against the spirit of the command to remember and keep holy the Sabbath-day." Anything logical in the way of criticism could hardly be expected in a journal whose principles are confessedly based on popular clamor; so it is not surprising to find in it the self-contradictory idea of violating the spirit of a commandment by obeying its letter.

The idea that God would make a certain specified day holy, and command us to keep it holy, and then expect us to obey the spirit of the commandment by observing another day, is almost too childish for serious consideration. In the first place, man cannot make a day holy, and of course cannot keep one holy that has not been made so by some competent authority. God alone can make anything holy, and there is no record that he ever made any day holy but the seventh. Nor is there any record that he ever removed from that day the sanctity that he placed upon it in the beginning. Therefore, when either the church or the State commands us to keep holy any other day than the seventh, it commands an impossibility. And when either the church or the State assumes to make a day holy, it assumes the prerogative of God, and is guilty of blasphemy.

The idea of obeying a law by doing something else than is verbally specified in the law, would not work very well in any human affairs, and God's commands are of no less importance. There is not a department in all the realm of human activity where such a precedent would not prove disastrous. If the editor of the Independent should doubt this, suppose the employees of his office try the experiment for a week, that he may see the fallacy of his argument. Or if that fail to convince him, let his family, if he has one, carry out the spirit of his requests by obedience on the principle of his Sabbath-keeping theory. Or if he is used to that kind of discipline at home, and is satisfied with it, let him suggest it to the school authorities of Burlington, and if he can, get them to give it a trial.

What can express or indicate the spirit of a commandment but the language of the commandment? What else can give an idea of what is required, than the letter of the requirement? If the letter does not express what is designed in a law, what is the letter for? In the government of God, implicit, unqualified obedience is the first principle. Everything in the universe obeys him "by whom all things consist," except the carnal mind; that alone is enmity against God. That only seeks to evade the known duty to the Creator; and that alone is unwilling to accept the plain word as the unerring indicator of his will.

But let us try this Burlington editor's principle of obedience on the Sunday movement. It ought to work both ways if it is a good rule. It ought to be as applicable to a first-day law as to the commandment for

keeping the seventh day. If the principle is worth a farthing it will fit a human Sunday law as well as the divine Sabbath commandment. Will the Sunday-law advocates concede that keeping Saturday or Monday would satisfy the spirit of their law? In those States where they have Sunday laws without exemption, do they admit that one who has conscientiously rested and attended church the day previous has obeyed the spirit of their so-called Sabbath law? The records of fines and imprisonments in those States answer, No.

When the Creator instituted the Sabbath he had a purpose, and that purpose was to commemorate the great work of creation, as a constant reminder that he who created the heavens and the earth was the true God. He set apart and hallowed the seventh day for that purpose, and himself rested upon it. That the spirit of obedience to that command consisted in the actual observance of the letter was demonstrated over and over again in the wilderness. That he requires literal obedience to his commands, is amply illustrated in the case of Saul when commanded to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all that they had. He essayed to obey his idea of the spirit of the command, instead of the plain letter, and for manifesting such a spirit was rejected by the Lord; the kingdom was taken away from him, and the Lord finally refused to have anything whatever to do with him.

But men in these last days are growing more and more presumptuous. They not only ignore the commandment of God, but they set up a rival institution, and seek laws to compel men to recognize their usurpations. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." Eccl. 8:11. W. N. GLENN.

THE RESTORATION.

By Calvin Green

BY CALVIN GREEN.

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." 1 Cor. 2:9.

"EYE hath not seen" the beauty of that land Prepared for them,—the meek and lowly here; The verdant plains stretched out on every hand, And hill and dale and lakelets bright and clear.

Life's river flows meandering through the earth Forth from the throne, branching to every place, With crystal waves bestows on all new birth, Beauty and life renewed with every grace.

The tree of Life with leaves of living green, And fruit of golden hue, greet now the eye Of those once dimmed by tears, fading unseen, Far from loved friends, and left alone to die.

The holy city with its garnished walls Of precious stones, laid by no human hand, With turrets, towers, and spires is seen by all; Lighted by God's own glory and the Lamb.

Those mansions bright, purchased at such a price, Opens to view, the home of all the saved; And as they look on them, they with one voice Break forth in strains of highest, purest praise.

"Ear hath not heard," as yet, such melodies As wait the worn ones and the weary, here; The voice of welcome which accompanies All of this glory, from a Saviour dear.

A welcome, too, is heard from the great throne, "Eternal welcome to your Eden rest;" A welcome sweet, and in such loving tone As calls to mind when here we first were blessed.

No lion will be there, nor ravenous beast, To tear and rend, allure and then destroy; No parched earth, but pools the land refresh, Which bring to all, glad hearts and peaceful joy.

The wilderness and solitary place Shall there rejoice, as in them beauty grows; And Leb'non's glory vie in wonted grace With Carmel's excellency and Sharon's rose.

Confirm weak knees, strengthen the feeble hand; For joy the lame shall leap, the blind shall see; The stammering tongue shall ring in that fair land, The deaf shall hear, and join the melody.

Be strong, ye fearful heart, be brave, fear not! Behold! our God shall come and all restore; His glory thou shalt see, then wait thy lot, Be faithful here, there's joy forevermore.

Then all shall see the glory of the Lord, The excellency of God's unchanging love; The great decree is given in his word, We read it clear, it comes from him above.

The earth restored "shall echo forth again The steps of Him" who blessed it ere the fall; There from all faces sorrow's pit'less stain Shall e'er be wiped, and "God be all in all."

Hebron, Wis.

Fraudulent Tea Company Exposed

A TEA company out West failed the other day, and after the disappearance of the manager the sheriff found that all the packages with mysterious Japanese marks contained only sawdust. Perhaps, after all, this stock was more valuable and less dangerous, from a hygienic point of view, than if it had been what it purported to be—"tea."—Catholic Mirror.

THE BLAIR BILL ANTI-CHRISTIAN.

By Editor

"FAIR PLAY," a paper published in Valley Falls, Kansas, refers to the Blair Sunday-Rest bill and the Blair Educational Amendment bill, as "Christian bills," but why, we are unable to say. Certain it is that we have repeatedly shown that these measures are the very opposite of Christian. Christianity teaches that men should render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's. The Blair Sunday-Rest bill, should it become a law, would require men to render unto Caesar that which is God's. Again, Christianity teaches individual responsibility to God, and that man owes the highest duty to God. The Blair Educational Amendment, which provides that the principles of the Christian religion shall be taught in the public schools, would destroy that responsibility and place the Government in the place of God; because if the principles of the Christian religion should be taught in the public schools, the Government must define what are the principles of the Christian religion. And, if we recognize the State as having the right to decide this question for us, we virtually agree to stand by that decision. That is, we agree to accept as Christianity whatever the State may declare to be such. And to agree to such a thing is simply to deny the authority of God and of his word, and to apostatize from the true Christian faith.

Every good citizen will obey every law of the State which does not interfere in any way with his duties to God; but no Christian can yield obedience to the State in matters which pertain alone to his duty to God. The apostles taught that we should be subject to the powers that be, but when arraigned before the magistrates and commanded not to teach any more in the name of Jesus, they said, "whether it be right to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye, but we cannot but speak the things which we have heard." The Blair bills are not Christian but anti-Christian, for the reason that they are subversive of the very principles of Christianity.—American Sentinel.

FIVE REASONS FOR VERBAL INSPIRATION.

By George S. Bishop

THE Bible is the very handwriting of God! Suppose I believe that. Suppose, instead of Luke and John and Paul and Peter, I behold in overawed imagination "God grasping the pen" and setting down the sentences, the words, the jots and tittles—every stroke of it; does not that fix me? does not that arrest me? does not that determine, shape, and mould me, as no conviction other, lesser, can?

That is the anchor to which, by twisting a few honest strands, I would help, if I may, to rebind our cables. When we were resting quietly inside of Sandy Hook, our own ship and others swung round with the tide, but none changed its place, for all were well anchored. The ships of sentiment are swinging loose to-day, and with the counter tide. That has been, and it will be, again and again, so long as human opinion is the vacillating and uncertain thing it is. But we need not fear, for the old anchor holds as firm, as steady, as inflexible as ever. That anchor—back of all departures, heresies, and fluctuations—is the literal, direct, divine inspiration, on the original parchments, of the word of God.

We cannot consent to see in the Bible the pens nor the penmen; but, undistractedly, the Master Intellect, which every where directs each thought. . . .

The whole question of inspiration has, within the last half century, been made to turn upon the writers. It has been unhinged from those stanchions on which St. Paul makes it turn—the writings themselves.

This misdirection of thought would seem to be much like that of the boy who stands at the end of the telegraph line, and gets a message from his father ("I have written to him the great things of my law"), and who, instead of taking the message as direct, authoritative, final, goes to work to discuss the posts, the wires, electricity, the key-board, the touch of the finger, the process. His business is simply to heed and obey.

The doctrine of direct, dictated, verbal inspiration—that everything in the Bible was set down by the finger of God—has these five things in its favor:—

1. It is the first, original, and oldest doctrine.

2. It is the simplest doctrine.

3. It is the undeviating doctrine which has proved the bulwark of the church of God. Defended in the earliest centuries by men like Athenagoras and St. Augustine—defended still by men like Wickliffe, Huss, and Luther, in the struggles which led in the Reformation—and, in post-Reformation times, defended by men like the Buxtorfs, John Owen, John Gill, and Gaussen—it has been the one, consistent, inexpungable, permanent doctrine from the beginning. Scripture—sunlight to the sun—is the untarnished radiance of God. What it says, God says.

4. A fourth fact is the logical impossibility of any other counter position. "If we do not take direct inspiration," says Waller, "what we are to take is not so clear." If we begin to admit inequalities in revelation, where shall we stop? If we turn our attention away from the writing to occupy ourselves with the writer—his genius, his knowledge, the amount of assistance required—who does not see that

this descent from heaven to earth, from the high Himalaya of the Divine to the low, marshy ground of the creatural human, must tend to gravitate, to minimize, and more and more, until your Bible is reduced to Shakespeare or (who knows?) to Bret Harte. The fabricators of degrees in inspiration—the men who so self-confidently set forth to us their four classes,—the inspirations of "elevation," of "superintendence," of "suggestion," of "direct dictation,"—tell us themselves that the last is the highest. Ah well! we will choose—we will cling to that highest. Why not? If dictation anywhere—in any one instance, then dictation all the way through. If not, why not? Where are the limits? Where shall we stop? Suppose certain words in the Scripture—only a few—to be put there by God. Suppose this admitted, and it is admitted—who shall define the number of those words? Who shall assume to stand up and tell us where God the Holy Ghost expresses himself in the very form of the word, and where he retires from the word and leaves it a shell merely human?

The difficulties attaching to any other view of inspiration than the verbal are simply overwhelming. Suppose that something, no matter how little—whatever you please—be left to the writers themselves, and who shall satisfy us that nothing essential has been omitted, nothing irrelevant or trifling has been emphasized, nothing inaccurate has been set down? Who does not see that, so, inspiration is utterly lost?

5. And that leads, logically, up to the climacteric position, that we must hold to verbal inspiration, or if not, at last—give up the Bible. What other result can there be? Is not this just what it comes back to—"I receive what appeals to my likings, I repudiate what I dislike"? In other words, I make my consciousness my arbiter—my prejudice, my Book,—and my self-will, my God.—Geo. S. Bishop, D. D., in the "Inspired Word."

THE HUMAN ELEMENT IN THE BIBLE.

DR. TAYLOR LEWIS published some years ago, a book entitled, "The Divine Human in the Scriptures." He contended in it that the Bible is the most thoroughly human book in the world, and inferred from this its divinity. It was a legitimate inference. Only He who knew man thoroughly could make a book that would win its way to the hearts of men of all races and temperaments, and degrees of culture through the ages. Compare any ancient history by an uninspired author with the historical books of the Old Testament. Few people read Herodotus or Xenophon, though we have excellent translations of them. But everybody reads the Bible. Its men and women seem nearer to us than the men and women in Bancroft's History of the United States. Tens of thousands know more about Abraham and Joseph and Moses than they know about George Washington. There must be a reason why these writings, that come to us from a period so early and comparatively rude, are so universally studied and admired. That reason is their naturalness; the charming clearness and simplicity with which they present the most surprising and most familiar things. The narrator describes the every-day life of the patriarchs who dwell in tents, and then goes on to tell of a visit of angels, and of the raining of fire and brimstone from heaven, in the same quiet style, as if, from his point of view, there was nothing strange or startling in what we call the supernatural. It is this constant self-possession of the sacred writers which makes their books so attractive, and which compels us to believe that they wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Now, if we had no Bible, and it were announced that God is going to give us one, and the scholars of the age were asked, what kind of a book it would be, what would they answer? Would they not reply, a systematic statement of God's nature and attributes, and of man's duty and destiny? Would they ever dream of such a Bible as we now have? But would a Bible made according to their ideal be popular? Would it come into general use? Would the common people love it, and study it, and pillow their heads upon it in sickness and in death? No, such a Bible would be a text-book in theological seminaries, but not a hand-book in the homes of both the rich and the poor, the wise and the unwise. Truly, the foolishness of God (as skeptics deem it) is wiser than men."—Occident.

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