H E that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 John 4:8. Love is, and has always been, closely allied to sorrow. God's love for man, after he had fallen, was so great that in the person of His Son, His heart was broken. The Spirit of God, quivering with that depth of sorrow that man, calloused with sin, never has known or can know, one thousand years before it was fulfilled upon the cross, cried out, "Reproach hath broken My heart." Ps. 69:20. That this refers to the death of the Son of God is made certain by the next verse, which reads, "They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."
Matt. 27:34 gives the fulfilment of this when Christ was upon the cross. That great heart in which was a place for every son and daughter of Adam's ruined race, was broken under the weight of their sins, as with a "loud voice" He cried out, and so suddenly died. Matt. 27:50.
The depth of love for another, is measured by the depth of sorrow for the misfortunes of that loved one. I have seen a little child lying cold in death. Kind friends had gathered around sympathizing more with the living than for the dead. But there was one who wept with pale face and aching heart, for that dead child, and could not be comforted. Why the difference?—It was her child. She was its mother. In Isa. 49:15, God uses this tender illustration to convey to our hearts something of the love He bears toward us. He says: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have7compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee."
A mother—impossible as it may seem—"may forget;" yet when human love fails, God's love remains, constant and strong. "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." Jer. 31:3.
Unselfish love hesitates at no sacrifice, measures no difficulty. The path may lie among thorns, and the heart be deeply scarred; but the experience could not be purchased with treasure. It is sacred. "God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Rom. 5:8.
Many to-day stop short of the privileges granted them. They feel but a small portion of that love which makes duty a pleasure, a privilege, and which will cause them to sacrifice joyfully to aid in pushing forward the closing work of God in the earth. Giving for others is the life of the Christian.
Christ multiplied the loaves and the fishes for the five thousand who were faint and hungry; but when near death from hunger and thirst Himself, and urged by Satan to exert His power for Himself, and command stones to be made bread, He refused: He waited God's care, and "angels came and ministered unto Him." Matt. 4:11. Christ's love forgets self in helping others. Have you this witness?
One writer has said: "When left alone, Jesus 'went up into a mountain apart to pray.' For hours He continued pleading with God. Not for Himself but for men were those prayers."—"Desire of Ages," pp. 378, 379. "Neither pray I for these alone," said Jesus, "but for them also which shall believe on Me through their word." John 17:20.
Self has no place in the Christian's pathway. "The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master." Luke 6:40. "When He shall appear, we shall be like Him." 1 John 3:2, last part. With these graces woven into the character, God can call all the world to behold Him in His children. "Behold, I and the children whom the Lord hath given Me." Isa. 8:18.
The servant must be as his master. Is the standard too high? When receiving all as a free gift, is it not as well to accept of the whole treasure gladly, as to bargain for a part, and then halt in unbelief? All is for you; and accepting of all, does not detract from the fulness held out to every other soul. Instead, God has in you, when you have accepted of the free gift of His righteousness, another light to shine out in this world's moral darkness. Take the love out of a man's religion, and you have only a reproduction of the prophets of Baal who in blind zeal cut themselves until their blood flowed; or of the worshipers of Juggernaut, who, at the instigation of their priests, threw themselves before the wheels of his car, being crushed to death, with the hope that in this way his anger would be appeased. Fear, not love, is the offering thus given.
Christ says, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matt. 5:48. His bidding gives the power. From other scriptures we learn that the word "perfect" means sincere, true. Deut. 18:13 reads, "Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God." The margin says, "upright or sincere." Gen. 17:1, last part, reads, "Walk before Me, and be thou perfect," margin, "upright or sincere." There is no person who is too weak to be sincere. A man may know but little of the great truths of God's Word, yet be sincere; and being so he is accounted perfect before God.
It is not the amount of truth known, that will acquit a man before the bar of God; but it is the sincerity with which he accepts truth sent him from God, and the sincere desire he has to learn more. The loving heart is the longing heart until all the secrets of the other heart are known and shared. "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." 1 John 5:3. There is a blessing pronounced upon those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Then truly it is best to face honestly the question that means so much to you, "Lovest thou Me?"
The Sunday Movement the Central Theme
By A. O. Tait
By A. O. Tait
THE enforcement of the observance of Sunday is the one object in the federation of the religious bodies upon which they all agree. In the various federation meetings and conventions it is customary for them to mention in their speeches and statements of objects and principles the subjects on which they think they can all unite and work in unison. It is to be noticed that in all these statements there is one subject upon which practically all are agreed, and that is the enforcement of "sabbath laws."
It is not the plan to teach Sabbath observance from the Bible and enforce it by persuasion upon the consciences of men; but it is purposed to work the combined force and influence of the various national, state, and municipal federations to the end of securing more stringent Sunday laws where they think they need them, and to compel people by civil law to refrain from labor on Sunday.
We may search the Bible from cover to cover, and we will look in vain for the precept or the admonition from the Lord that suggests the thought of enforcing any religious observance by civil law. "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences." 2 Cor. 5:10, 11.
Those who know of the coming judgment are to "persuade men." "I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright, the morning-star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come; he that will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:16, 17. God's Word urges the invitation, but it compels no one.
A Religio-Civil Sabbath
The plan of the federation is to unite in securing and enforcing so-called "civil" Sunday laws. Thousands of those engaged in the movement are without doubt sincere. They see the evil that is stalking through the land and dragging so many, especially of the young people, to ruin. And this is one of the means by which they hope to remedy it. But they are following a principle that has been proved again and again to be wrong, and to work disaster and persecution in the end.
Regardless of the wrong principles that are followed, it is nevertheless a fact that there is a strong and united determination to make Sunday rest the central point in the federated movement. This Sunday rest will be secured through the influence of great numbers federating together in one body. The strong evidence that they will present will be the multitude that they are able to muster. They will exhibit the fact that they are a host of millions, and for this reason they demand what they desire. And, as they affirm, the lawmakers will grant their desires because of the overwhelming influence of their numbers.
But all the time that these federating forces are gathering, there is another company of men and women, very insignificant in point of numbers, who have the firm conviction that Sunday is not the Sabbath. They see the plain and obvious teaching of the Word of God that the seventh day, or what is commonly called Saturday, is the Sabbath of Jehovah. They believe and teach that God requires the observance of the seventh day now just the same as He has always done since the creation of the world. They believe and teach that the Sunday sabbath is a man-made institution, and that it comes so far from being the Sabbath of the Lord that it is actually a rival of the divine institution.
The Vital Issue
Thus is the issue set forth that is squarely joined between the two forces. On the one hand is the vast army that depends upon its numbers to enable it to win. But on the other hand is the insignificant army in so far as numbers go; this latter company depend wholly upon the power of God's truth to sustain their cause. They take the clear Word of God which says that the "seventh day is the Sabbath" of Jehovah. They take the plain promise of the commission of Christ to His disciples, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Matt. 28:20. And in the belief and the consciousness of the presence of the Christ of God they go forward, humbly but boldly.
They have not trained themselves to look upon the numbers that adhere to a doctrine as having any particular bearing upon either the right or the wrong, the truth or the falsity, of it. They have trained themselves to study the Word of God and to accept and act upon what it says.
A Matter of Prophecy
That Word has foreshadowed that the Sabbath question would be the central point of the last great religious controversy that will be waged in the world before the Lord comes. We can see the forces lining up for the conflict. On the one side is the vast army supported by the civil power, and depending upon the civil law and the iron arm of the civil officer; on the other side is the small company that place no trust in the weapons that are carnal, but depend wholly upon the spiritual power of God for their support. And there is a deeper meaning to all this than a mere religious controversy. It marks the final conflict that will bring the coming of the Lord in person in the clouds of heaven.
Let us stand in that day, trusting in God and His power, and not in the power of men, no matter how good may be the intentions that have misguided them.
—✶✶—
The Choice Is Now
ONCE to every man and nation comes the
moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, for the
good or evil side;
Some great cause, God's new Messiah, offer-ing each the bloom or blight,
Parts the goats upon the left hand, and the
sheep upon the right,
And the choice goes by forever 'twixt that
darkness and that light.
Hast thou chosen, O my people, on whose
party thou shalt stand,
Ere the Doom from its worn sandals shakes
the dust against our land?
Tho the cause of Evil prosper, yet 'tis Truth
alone is strong,
And, albeit she wander outcast now, I see
around her throng
Troops of beautiful, tall angels, to enshield
her from all wrong.
— James Russell Lowell.
"Lay by Him"
[One of the "strongholds" of Biblical first-day arguments is 1 Cor. 16:2. It is contended that the passage teaches that the Christians met together each first day of the week, and that a collection was then taken from the congregation. But it will be seen from the following compilation by Mr. A. L. Manous that no such thing is taught by the scripture itself.—EDITOR.]
THE following are some of the English translations, chronologically arranged, of the expression, "lay by him," found in 1 Cor. 16:2. They show that the laying by was a private and not a public matter:
1380-1388. "Ech of you kepe at hym silf."—Wyclif and Pervey's Translation.
1525. "Let every one of you put aside at home."—Tyndale's Translation:
1582. "Let every one of you put apart with himself."—Douay Version.
1611. "Let every one of you lay by him."—Authorized Version.
1824. "Let every one of you lay up something by him, treasuring up."—Boothroyd.
1826. "Let each of you lay somewhat by itself." —Campbell, Macknight, and Doddridge's Translation.
1846. "Let every one of you lay aside and preserve at home."—Murdock's Syriac Translation.
1864. "Let each of you lay something by it-self."—Emphatic Diaglott.
1878. "Let each one of you put by itself,—treasuring up."—Rotherham's Translation from Tregelles's Greek Text.
1883. "Let each of you by himself lay by."—Fenton's Translation.
1885. "Let each one of you lay by him in store."—Revised Version (English).
1887. "Let each one of you lay by him, treasuring up."—Young's Translation.
1900. "Let each one of you lay by him."—American Standard Revised Version.
1902. "Let each of you put on one side and store up at home."—Weymouth's Translation.
1903. "Let each one of you put by itself."—Rotherham, from Wescott and Hort's Greek Text.
1906. "Literally, 'Put by himself, treasuring. Put by at home."—Vincent's "Word Studies in the New Testament."
1906. "Let each of you set apart."—"Life and Epistles of Paul," Conybeare and Howson, Revised to date by Howson.
He Shall Save from Sin
By Arthur L. Manous
"And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1:21.
1. From what does Jesus save His people?
"From their sins." Id. From all "iniquity." Titus 2:14.
2. What does Inspiration define sin to be?
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4.
3. What law is it of which sin is the transgression?
The law which forbids coveting; for Paul says, "I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." See Rom. 7:7-12.
4. What law is it which says, "Thou shalt not covet"?
God's law of Ten Commandments, one precept of which says, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's." See Ex. 20:1-17.
5. How many of the precepts of the law shall one violate to become a transgressor?
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10.
NOTE.—"He that offends 'in one point,' manifests contempt for the whole law; his influence and example are on the side of transgression; he becomes 'guilty of all.'"—"Great Controversy," page 582.
6. How many of the Ten Commandments are still "holy, and just, and good"?
"And so the law is holy, and EACH commandment is also holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12, Twentieth Century New Testament.
NOTE.—"That is, every branch of the law is holy, just, and good. It springs from, and partakes of, the holy nature of God: it is every way just and right in itself. It is designed wholly for the good of man."—Wesley's note on Rom. 7:12.
7. What does the psalmist say of the nature of the law of God?
"The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Ps. 111:7, 8.
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." Ps. 19:7, 8.
8. Who may have a right back to the Tree of Life from which Adam was deprived through disobedience?
"Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." See James 1:19-25.
"Blessed are they that DO His commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and8may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14.
Reader, does Jesus save or keep you from sin—from transgression of the law? If not, why not? Study Heb. 7:25, and see.
ARTHUR L. MANOUS.
Cartersville, Ga.
My Father and My Home
By Delwin Rees Buckner
I MAY be placed far from my natal shore,
Within a land wherein I was not born;
New faces I may meet each eve and morn,
New ones, that I have never met before.
My father's home may be far, far away,
And mother's face may fade with passing years,
With time grow indistinct, and dim through tears
That fall as I recall the former day.
The past may fade, I say; and yet I still
Have one true Father, present day by day;
And he who loves Him too is my dear friend.
My home on earth is where'er He may will
That I should stay; and there it is I pray
That I may do His bidding to the end.
DELWIN REES BUCKNER.
The Legitimate Spheres of Government
THERE are two legitimate universal spheres of government in this earth in its present condition which are ordained of God; namely, secular and ecclesiastical, or civil and spiritual. The civil power is designed to restrain evil, to prevent incivility, to guard the equal rights of each and all. For this purpose "the powers that be are ordained of God." Whether that government be a monarchy or a republic, an autocracy or a democracy, in the sphere above indicated its existence is necessary.
But with religion civil government has no right to meddle. It may not come in between man and the object of his worship, whether that object be the great and ineffable Jehovah or the idol of wood or clay. In other words, God has not ordained civil government to usurp His place or to assume to exercise His authority. Whether the ruler be Christian or pagan, whatever be the religious belief of ninety-nine hundredths of the people, he or they have no right to crystallize these beliefs into civil law, or to attempt to impose them upon a single soul.
In the spiritual sphere of government every individual soul is answerable alone to God. Those of the one faith form the church of God, organized not to tyrannize or lord it over men's consciences, but to be of better service for fallen humanity and helpful to one another. The officers in that government are not to be "lords over God's heritage," but to be "ensamples to the flock." If a man wishes to consent to be dominated over by a tyrannical hierarchy, he has the privilege, but neither he nor the hierarchy may consent for others. The spiritual, or ecclesiastical sphere of government has no right to meddle with politics, to induce or compel rulers to place in civil statute laws the dogmas or beliefs of the church.
On the above basis these spheres of government could exist indefinitely without trouble. Under such conditions true religion has always flourished, and has ever had indirectly an uplifting influence on the unconverted and the state. But it does not please the perverter of all good to see each sphere of government held to its own purpose. It is his object to pervert and thereby destroy, charging the evil to the government of God. Satan has therefore labored to pervert both by uniting them, and in this he has succeeded remarkably. He is the deceiver of the whole world.
The union of religion with the civil power brings confusion to both church and state, and inevitably proves the ruin of both. It gave rise to the great Babylonian system of church-and-state governments, and has perpetuated the system in various forms ever since. The United States of America, the greatest and last of the nations, for a century stood aloof from the desolating scourge, and would none of it; but of late she is quaffing the poisonous cup of the Babylonian harlot, and is rapidly succumbing to its deadly influence. The sure symptoms are manifest in the demand for religious legislation on the part of ecclesiastical bodies, and accession to this demand on the part of time-serving politicians. The results have been, are, and will be in increasing ratio, religious persecution and utter ruin of both church and state.
—*—
Christian Science and Pantheism
By Editor
IN the letter of Mr. Farlow published in the SIGNS last week, exception is taken to our charge that Christian Science is pantheistic. In making the charge, we gave a large amount of evidence that there is close kinship between Christian Science teaching and idealistic pantheism.
In the letter of Mr. Farlow, he says, "[Christian] Science does not deny the tangibility or infinite personality of God, altho it does affirm that God is not person or form in the humanized sense."
This denial of God's having form marks again the kinship between pantheism and Christian Science. The Word is never in hesitancy on this point. It plainly teaches that God has form. Christ is the "brightness of God's glory, the express image of His person." Christian Science makes this entirely a matter of character or principle. But if the word "image" does not present the idea of form or outline, I do not know what word could.
In the beginning "God formed man of the dust of the ground." Gen. 2:7. Nevertheless so formed he was in the "image" and "likeness" of God. Gen. 1:26. Did this apply only to character or principle? The record does not say so. It makes the matter very explicit—"In Our image, after Our likeness."
God prohibited murder as a violence against His own image, the image of God in man. Gen. 9:6.
That man is made in the image of God is good New Testament doctrine also, as will be found by reading the following:
"Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God." James 3:9.
"For a man indeed ought not to have his head veiled, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man." 1 Cor. 11:7.
The descriptions of God in the Scriptures present Him as a being of glorious form and terrible in majesty:
"I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was ancient of days did sit: His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousands of thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the book were opened."
"I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man, and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Dan. 7:9, 10, 13, 14.
"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and His train filled the temple. Above Him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Wo is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes9have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts." Isa. 6:1-5.
Mr. Farlow asks, do we "accept the Scriptural teaching, 'God is everywhere present?'" If such is Scriptural teaching, the quotation ought to be in the Scriptures. It would have helped to make his Science complete, and would have given him a proof text of infinite importance. But such statement is nowhere within the lids of the Bible. It is therefore not Scriptural teaching. Consequently there is no reason why we should believe it.
To bolster up the Christian Science (and it is also the pantheistic) idea that God is everywhere, Mr. Farlow quotes Ps. 139:8-10. But in the verse that introduces this statement of the psalmist, which Mr. Farlow does not quote, we have the expression:
"Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?"
This question the psalmist then answers in the words quoted by Mr. Farlow:
"If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall Thy hand lead me, And Thy right hand shall hold me."
This shows us at once how we are to understand this scripture. We are to understand that God is omnipresent by His Spirit. This is exactly in accordance with the teaching of Christ over and over again:
"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever. . . . I will not leave you desolate: I come unto you." John 14:16, 18.
"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall bear witness of Me." John 15:26.
"For through Him we both have our access in one Spirit unto the Father." Eph. 2:18.
To say that God has form is not to say per se that He is finite. I can in a measure project my personality out from beyond my body. For example, these lines I am now writing in the quiet of the editorial rooms, will be read by hundreds far from sight or sound of him who wrote them. With the telephone I have talked across a state. With my voice I have reached hundreds in a room or a pavilion or in the open air. Where I can project my personality feebly and imperfectly, God can project, through His Spirit, His personality fully and perfectly.
And now to close this article, let us say a few things we have said before upon this subject.
"'The radical principle of the [pantheistic] theory is that God and the world are one. It denies to God any being distinct from the world, and to the world any being distinct from God. It may assume different forms according to the manner in which the divine nature is conceived. God may be conceived as spirit, . . . in [which] case there results an idealistic form of pantheism.'—'Apologetics,' by Alexander Balmain Bruce, D.D., p. 71.
"The quotation given above was written without any reference to Christian Science. It is a plain definition of pantheism in its various forms; and we see at once, if we know anything about Christian Science, how truly the latter is pantheistic. Christian Science is a form of idealistic pantheism; it accounts God and the real world as one, and that spiritual; this is its fundamental doctrine; this is the root from which the whole growth springs. We will find very much in the book 'Science and Health;' but consider this, taken almost at random from its pages: 'God is the divine Principle of all that represents Him and of all that really exists.'
"Put this with the definition of pantheism as already given. 'The radical principle of the [pantheistic] theory is that God and the world are one.' And the radical principle of the Christian Science theory is that God is the divine principle of all that really exists.
"'All is mind or God,' says Christian Science. 'All is God,' says pantheism. Both come from the same root; the two grafts may differ in outward form to some extent, but there is such a kinship between the two that they both thrive from the very same root.
"And now according to the teachings both of Christian Science and of pantheism, since all is God, all is eternal; there was no creation. Pantheism teaches, 'All things exist eternally by necessity.' Christian Science teaches that 'harmonious and immortal man has existed forever.' 'Spiritual man is the image or idea of God, an idea which can not be lost nor separated from its divine Principle.' 'Immortal man is coexistent and coeternal with God.'—'Science and Health,' chapter on 'Science of Being.'
"If man is coexistent with God, he has always existed with God, and was never subject to creation; for man there is no creation but coexistence with God. In this, pantheism and Christian Science are irrevocably in accord.
"Again, in tracing the likeness between pantheism and Christian Science, we see that both reject the Christian idea of the personality of God. Pantheists reject the doctrine of God's personality on the ground that it makes God finite. Fichte says, 'You make the divine Being a limited being like yourselves by ascribing to Him that attribute' [personality].—Fichte's Works, page 157. Similarly says Christian Science, as might be quoted in many forms from 'Science and Health,' but this from the chapter on 'Science of Being' is sufficient: 'A personal sense of God . . . necessarily limits faith and hinders spiritual understanding.' And in the paragraph preceding this the author shows what she thinks the Christian belief in the personality of God really is in contrast with Christian Science: 'Mortals believe in a finite personal God, while God is infinite love, which must be unlimited.'
"And thus again Christian Science can not rid itself of the charge of being pantheistic. It teaches the personality of God exactly as pantheism teaches it. By both pantheism and Christian Science, man's intellectual love of God is simply God's love of Himself; and as God loves Himself only in man, it is on man's part simply the enjoyment of his own existence as a rational being. This last is plainly involved in the first, that real man is part of God.
"And so just to the extent that man ceases, God ceases. That is to say God has no existence save in man. This is pantheism, but, too, it is Christian Science. Taking two sentences from chapter 'Science of Being' in the reverse order we get this idea a trifle more clearly yet, and it is easily seen by any one as the sentences stand: 'Spiritual man is the image or idea of God.' 'God without the image or likeness of Himself would be a nonentity, or mind unexpressed. He would be without a witness or proof of His own nature.' That is to say, putting the two together, 'God without spiritual man as the image or likeness of Himself would be a nonentity, or mind unexpressed. He would be without a witness or proof of His own nature.'"
Mr. Farlow says, "He [man] is not a part of God, but the expression or image of God." This fails to agree with what we have just quoted from Mrs. Eddy. But even admitting his statement, Christian Science still has enough left in kinship with pantheism for us not to mistake it.
It is pantheistic because:
It robs God of personality,
It denies God as having form,
It denies any creation worthy the name,
It makes God out to be an influence, a pervading principle everywhere present.
Its radical principle is that all is mind or God, and man must be included in this "all," and so is part of God.
God is dependent upon man for His representation or expression, and this and all these as mentioned are but forms of pantheism. The radical principles of Christian Science and pantheism are wonderfully alike. Christian Science is pantheistic.
R
While It Is Hard
OUR worst temptations we usually expect to conquer a little later on in life. It seems too much to expect that we should master them now, while their appeal to us is so intense. But if Christ's power is worth anything, it must show its worth in this immediate present. And if our faith in Christ is faith at all, it must work to the uttermost now. There are some temptations that may, through the passing years and the changes in our interests, lose their force and drop away from us without much effort on our part. Small credit to us if we conquer them then! "I want to win now, while it is hard," said a young Christian business man as he set himself to the conquering of a temptation, in the spirit in which he would go after a business contract that looked hopeless. To-morrow's victory is not of much value to-day; nor has it the value it ought to have even for to-morrow, if it ought to have been won to-day. Let us claim the best that God can give us, now, while it is hard. God postpones many of our blessings, but it is never His will that victory over temptation should be delayed by an instant.—S. S. Times.
The Way of Life
In both Testaments, human life is represented as walking in a path or way. In harmony with this idea, we are exhorted to walk circumspectly, honestly, and soberly; and, according to the same usage, we are spoken of as walking in love and walking in light. All these various phrases indicate the course of human life. The way of destruction is represented as a broad way, in which many walk careless of their destination, while the way of life is narrow and strait and leads directly to God and eternal life. God's Word is spoken of as a lamp lighting our path. The path of God's people is lighted by the divine grace shining through the pages of the written Word; and so the earthly life, the daily experience, the whole course of a Christian's earthly existence, is marked out for him.—Robert Stuart MacArthur.
When You Have Found Your Place
You will be happy in it — contented, joyous, cheerful, energetic.
The days will be all too short for you. Dinner-time and closing-time will come before you realize it.
All your faculties will give their consent to your work; will say “Amen” to your occupation. But it needs a humble, faithful, unselfish heart to find the place.
Afflictions
By Thomas Brooks
AFFLICTIONS are but as a dark entry into our Father's house.—Thomas Brooks.
NOTE secondly the exceeding sinfulness of sin everywhere emphasized; that was one of the great reasons of the mighty object-lessons which God has given us in this book of Leviticus.
THIRDLY, the important feasts of Passover, of Weeks, or Pentecost, of Tabernacles, and the great yearly fast in the Day of Atonement. Every year there was a round of priestly service. Every year that yearly service closed on the tenth day of the seventh month, or the great Day of Atonement. All the sins of the people were remembered in the sanctuary day by day; but on the last great day those sins were brought out, placed upon the head of the scapegoat, and sent away to a land of forgetfulness. It was in that sense a judgment-day, and typical of the great, final judgment-day. Every soul that was not on that day in living connection with God, was cut off from his people. Unless some of these great thoughts are kept in mind as we read the book, the reading will be dry and wearisome; but if we continually remember that all these sacrifices were types of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all the slain beasts pointed forward to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, if we see Him in them all, it will invest these otherwise dry details of laws and regulations with new life, and make them a blessing to the reader.
CHAPTER 9 shows how God blessed His people by taking away their sin, and accepting the offering in which their sins were represented. That offering was wholly consumed by the fire which fell from the Lord, showing that their sins were all taken away; but chapter 10 shows us that where men identified themselves with sin so as to become a part of it, and so went into the presence of the Lord, they were devoured with the sin. So it will be when God’s presence shall be revealed in the last days. Those who are identified with sin will be consumed with the sin.
God's Presence in His Word
God's presence cleanses from sin. When our Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush and to Joshua as the Captain of the Lord's host, His Presence made the ground holy. Ex. 3:5; Joshua 5:15. Mount Sinai was made holy by the same Presence, and it seemed to sinful Israel as a consuming fire, but it only consumes sin. God's living Presence in His Word gives it power to cleanse whoever receives it. Jesus spoke, and the leper was cleansed. Matt. 8:3. He said to the disciples: "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." John 15:3. He cleanses His church "with the washing of water by the Word." Eph. 5:26. Let God's Word reign in the heart, and it will purify and sanctify the life.
