p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 43, No. 28. (7/18/1916)

Earlier text: Heaven's Preparedness Program

Our Representatives

By Editor

UNITED STATES AND CANADA

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Above is a list of our authorized agencies and depositories, and we invite you to communicate with them if you wish to secure any books or periodicals advertised in this journal.

Foreign Tracts

By Editor

OUR foreign tracts are put up in envelopes, price 25c each. They are obtainable in Arabic, Armenian, Bohemian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and many other languages. Address your Tract Society.

To Perdition — Why?

AN influential religious organization that was recently in session adopted resolutions protesting against the operation of moving picture theaters on Sunday, and also against the use of public school buildings on that day. But if the moving picture theater is a demoralizing influence, why merely prohibit it on Sunday? Why not have it eliminated altogether?

The same body also proposed, through resolutions, to request schools and colleges to omit their recitations on Monday forenoon, so as not to place a temptation in the way of students to prepare their lessons on the Sunday before.

The idea seems to be gaining ground among all the great religious bodies, that much of the evil we find in the world comes because people are neglecting to observe Sunday strictly. The idea, from a superficial glance, appears plausible to many; but the facts in the case are that this world is going to perdition, not because it is disrespectful to the Sunday institution, which is nowhere commanded in God's word, but because the law of Jehovah has been rejected, which plainly teaches that the seventh day, commonly called Saturday, is the Sabbath.

And along with the teaching of Sabbath rest, this law of God prescribes honesty and uprightness as between man and man; and it also calls for the truest worship of the great Creator. It is because God's law has been set aside that the world is going to perdition, and not because men are refusing to observe some human tradition.

But regardless of the lack of Scriptural authority, men will continue to teach that many of our difficulties are brought about through a lack of Sunday observance. We are not far from the time when the prophecy will be fulfilled which shows that men will undertake to compel every one to observe the Sunday institution, under penalty of imprisonment, and finally of death itself. Prophecy is in process of fulfillment.

Keep these things in mind, and watch the trend of events. Do not allow yourself to be deceived by the theories of men which have no foundation in the teachings of the divine Book. The Sunday sabbath is not an institution of heavenly origin. The seventh day is the one sacred portion of time that is authorized by the Bible as the weekly Sabbath of Jehovah.

More Marauding Armies

By L. E. F.

THE following newspaper headlines are, to say the least, interesting: "Caterpillar army and beetle brigade prepare for attack . . . Destructive insect pests, which damage fruit and shade trees to the value of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, are preparing for their summer raid . . . It's going to be a real battle . . . The tent caterpillar, notorious enemy of the apple orchard . . . The tussock caterpillar, the long-haired worm which denudes poplars, maples, and other shade trees of their foliage."

Place beside these statements the following scriptures, and the interest increases:

"That which the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten. . . . For a nation is come up upon My land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion. He hath laid My vine waste, and barked My fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white."

"Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come."

"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. . . . And the Lord shall utter His voice before His army: for His camp is very great: for He is strong that executeth His word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" Joel 1: 4, 6, 7, 15; 2: 1, 11.

There is a striking similarity between the two quotations, for the former is a partial fulfillment of the latter, the prophetic description written over two thousand five hundred years ago.

The earth is indeed "waxing old." Isa. 51: 6 and Heb. 1: 10-12. Every tiller of the soil is painfully aware of it. The "armies" of pests are beginning to "devour" the fruitful places to an extent that is causing consternation among agriculturists.

The ever increasing varieties of destructive insects, together with the alarming ravages of the same, constitute another plain evidence that "the day of the Lord" is rapidly approaching.

These marauding armies will before long become a tremendous problem. They will increase to such an extent that the beasts will "groan," the herds of cattle will be "perplexed, because they have no pasture" (Joel 1: 18), and there will be shortage of food for the human race. The last-day famines and pestilences foretold in Holy Writ (Luke 21: 11) will come partly as a result of the marauding armies.

In view of these approaching events, how consoling the promise to every child of God:

"Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off." Isa. 33: 16, 17.

Troublous times are before this old world; but he who by faith lays hold on the promises of God, need fear no evil. His God will supply his every need. L. E. F.

Commercial Evangelism

By Editor

THE Washington Herald recently had an article headed "Evangelists Who Are Making Too Much Money." The article called attention to a dozen professional evangelists who have incomes ranging from $15,000 to $200,000 a year. The same article speaks of an effort on the part of the "Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America" looking toward "the elimination of commercialism and extravagant sensationalism in evangelism."

Many people are led to believe that the world is getting much better, because we hear of some of these great evangelists drawing large crowds and counting hundreds and even thousands of people as converts. But the divine Book, speaking of Jesus Christ, says that "the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." Matt. 8: 20. Christ showed, all through His life, that the money value must sink into insignificance, and the great stress must be placed upon the real worth of the human soul. His whole life was consumed in laboring for souls, and He treated with utter indifference the question of an income. It was relegated to the background.

The gospel minister needs a modest support—Christ recognized and taught that—but he does not need from $15,000 to $200,000 a year. However the work of the professional evangelists may appear to some minds, this much must be apparent to all: that such salaries are wholly out of harmony with the life and teachings of the sacred Christ, the great Missionary who laid aside all the glory and riches of heaven to devote Himself to saving men—not to saving men at a stipulated salary, but to saving men regardless of salary, and at an infinite cost to Himself.

Messages from the Spirit World (?)

By Editor

Read

Messages from the Spirit World (?)

By Dr. L. A. Reed

and then

From Persecuted to Persecutor

By Dr. B. G. Wilkinson

also

Can Future War Be Prevented?

By Dr. M. Ellsworth Olsen

IN OUR NEXT ISSUE

Returning to Power

THE deputies from the bishop of Constance who were sent to deal with Zwingle and his teachings, set forth the claim that if the authority of the church were to be set aside, universal anarchy would result. This has always been one of the favorite theories of the papal church. She is coming forward with the claim now, that it is because her authority has been set aside, that we have such anarchy throughout the world. The great mass of humanity will yield to her theories.

The triumphal return of the papal church to power, the healing of her "deadly wound," is the last great milepost of prophecy, and the next event following that is the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. There are many sincere Catholics as well as Protestants who are true Christians at heart, who do not know these things. They should study their Bibles for themselves, to learn the great truth of God.

All the theories of men are as stubble, and will ultimately be reduced to ashes by the breath of eternal truth. God's word can be depended upon. Its prophecies are sure, and the eternal Spirit of the divine Father is promised to guide each individual to an understanding of it. Each should know for himself the ground upon which he is standing.

Cigarettes and Good Morals

THE records of Los Angeles, according to an editorial in the San Jose Mercury Herald, show that "ninety per cent of juvenile court offenders are addicted to the habit" of smoking cigarettes. The same editorial says that the percentage of girls is almost as high. The cigarette and good morals do not go together. This is evident from these facts.