Earlier text: Question CornerEVOLUTION AND GEOLOGY
By George McCready Price
XII. THE ASSUMPTION OF UNIFORMITY.
It is a singular and notable fact, that while most other branches of science have emancipated themselves from the trammels of metaphysical reasoning, the science of Geology still remains imprisoned in "à priori theories."—"The Glacial Nightmare and the Flood," Preface, VII., by Sir Henry Howorth. This quotation, from a prominent, scientific English author, is a most unqualified impeachment of modern Geology (as currently taught) as fit to rank among the inductive sciences. Certainly the inductive method and the "à priori" method of reasoning are exact opposites. Hence it is an abuse of language to speak of the current Geology as one of the inductive sciences. Astronomy, physics, chemistry were in this condition ages ago and long continued thus; but, one after another, at the magic call of common sense and true scientific methods, they "have emancipated themselves from the trammels of metaphysical reasoning." But, sad to say, this belated science of Geology "still remains imprisoned in 'à priori' theories." This and several of my succeeding articles will be written to amplify and illustrate this acknowledged fact. "A priori" (literally, from what is before) is a term used to denote a method of reasoning which proceeds from cause to effect, or from an assumption to its logical conclusion. Geometry is an example of this method. The opposite of this is to reason from observed effects so as to discover the cause; to take a number of scattered facts in nature, and, by correlating them together, to trace out the principles or laws pervading them. This is the inductive method, the true scientific method, and is the way in which everything worth knowing in nature has been discovered. But by the confession of Howorth, himself a voluminous writer on Geology, this so-called science needs to face square about, as the other sciences have done, and proceed by wholly different methods. The reasons for this change, and the manner of bringing it about, is the task before us. "The crust of our globe," writes a distinguished scientist, "is a great cemetery where the rocks are tombstones on which the buried dead have written their own epitaphs." The reading of these epitaphs makes up the larger part of the science of Geology; but it is certain that by false methods of reasoning, methods which, as Howorth says, have "all the infirmity of the science of the Middle Ages" (Id. Preface XIV.), we can never hope to read them aright, or discover from them a single fact or principle of which we can be certain regarding the conditions of their life or their burial. To us of the twentieth century Nature Is Not Capricious.
From the mote dancing in the sunbeam to the suns, and stars, and systems circling about the mysterious and far-off center of the universe, every atom of matter moves only in accordance with fixed and unalterable laws. Such is the case now, and such it has ever been so far as our reason can serve us for a guide. Even as the spectroscope has proved to us that the far-off nebulæ are composed of chemical elements similar to those about us and within us, so we know that nature is a unit in her manner of working, because her ways are all equally the expression of one eternal unconditioned Being who is perfect, and therefore unchangeable. We may all agree that the laws or methods of nature are unchangeable; but who shall define for us the limits of "natural law"? When we assume, as the geologists do, that things have always happened, and must always happen, as we see them now occur about us, we are surely getting very unscientific in our self-conceit. How is it that we, the creatures of a day, know the limits of nature's marvelous laws, or that we dare boast of having mastered them all? I know not any one with the courage to affirm this in the abstract; tho it seems that we are, many of us, inclined at times to arrive at conclusions, or adopt methods of research, which tacitly involve these preposterous assumptions. And yet, from our faith in the eternal truth of nature, we can only judge of the past by what we know of the present; we can only know of the distant by what is beneath our touch. The present action and potentialities of earth and air, water and heat, must be our study, if we are ever to make any progress in understanding the oftentimes intricate and obscure records of the past of our race and of our world. If we found a dear friend lying dead by the roadside, we would not feel content to call in the aid of some old witch-doctor to tell us how people generally die of old age or otherwise; we would invoke the best scientific training that we could possibly obtain. For we don't want to know how people generally die, but how this particular person actually did die. And only one deeply versed in the laws of physiology and the normal action of the human body would be prepared to say whether our friend had died a violent death, or one due to ordinary or "natural" causes. Man Contemporary with the Extinct Animals.
Contrary to all that the geologists taught for nearly a hundred years, some unmistakable relics of our own species have now been found fossil in conditions which show them to have been positively contemporary with hosts of "extinct" animals which lived when the land and water were very differently distributed from the way they are to-day, and when a totally-different mantle of air and climate was spread over all. Hence we take up with renewed zeal the study of the action of the elements, for only by a right understanding of their present powers and possibilities can we hope to arrive at a correct solution of those myriad problems arising about the conditions of that ancient world, and of the causes which ended those conditions and ushered in the present order of things. In the ordinary text-books we are told that the present surface of our earth which seems so stable is in reality not so, but rising in some places and subsiding in others at a very slow rate; and that these movements of level, prolonged9 over the vast eons of an abysmal past, have resulted in the dry land and the water changing places almost times without end. In some places (according to the theory) these slow and gradual changes of level have resulted in the bottoms of ancient seas, with their accumulated load of shells and sediment, being now found pushed up into lofty mountains thousands of feet above the level of the ocean. At the same time, and in other localities, "the sea, like a huge plane, shaves away league after league of the land," and conquers once more the territory snatched from it in some previous age. Even the "eternal hills," now high and dry, are by these lieutenants of the sea, "the river saw, the chisel of heat and frost, the ice wedge, the glacial file," working away "without haste, without rest," being slowly but surely brought down once more also beneath the dominion of that mighty liquid mantle which sometime in a past eternity was spread out over the yet unborn land. In short, we are taught that the action of the elements during all past time has been uniform with the present in character, perhaps even in degree, and that the landscape spread before us now in mountain and valley, river and lake, is but the final result of activities identical in character and methods with the present. This is Uniformitarianism, which Howorth characterized as "the religion founded by Hutton, whose high priest was Lyell," and which is thus defined by the Standard Dictionary: The doctrine that essential uniformity in causes and effects, forces and phenomena, has prevailed in all ages of the world's physical history, and that the activities of the past were similar in mode and intensity to those of the present. Dana says about the same thing: The method of interpreting the records rests upon the simple principle that rocks were made as they are now made through common-place operations.—Manual p. 15, Fourth Ed. Professor Ramsey was even more plain and positive, for in his address to the British Association in 1880, he said: From the Laurentian epoch down to the present day, all the physical events in the history of the earth have varied neither in kind nor intensity from those which we now have experienced. The first thought which probably occurs here to the reader is that the statement of this theory is a point-blank denial of the Biblical Deluge. This alone would be sufficient to make the believer in Genesis sure that there must be something wrong with it; but our task now is to determine in a scientific way just where and how it is wrong. This, however, is not hard to do. For it is easy to see that this theory of Uniformity, which says "that nature has always used precisely the same tools and employed them in precisely the same way" as she has since recorded history began, is an assumption at the beginning, not a conclusion or induction at the close, of our investigation of the rocky records of the past. It is certainly not a conclusion from any fact or series of facts in nature, for how can we be sure that the elements have always acted in the regular methodical way they have since human observation began? There is certainly nothing in the rocks to support such an idea, but everything to the contrary. The fact is this current doctrine of Uniformitarianism only came in as a preferable alternative to the "Catastrophism" of Cuvier; that it took ready-made the succession of life invented and used by this latter doctrine, and merely said that, given time enough, it would undertake to explain all these successive ages as possibly the result of ordinary slow-working causes, but neither Lyell nor any one else ever attempted to prove that this uniform action of the elements is the only thing that will explain the facts in the case. And to-day every single text-book on the subject starts out with this assumption of uniformity in its opening chapters, and studies all the strata from this standpoint. Hence, it is perfectly evident that if there is anything wrong with this succession of life idea which it received by inheritance from the "Catastrophism" of Cuvier and his predecessors, this doctrine of Uniformity may turn out useless, to say the least, if we have no ages to interpret. Assuming What Should Be Proved.
But the point just here is that whether it is more reasonable than Catastrophism or some other doctrine has nothing to do with the matter. What I object to in the name of inductive science, is this preliminary assumption of a great general fact, the truth or falsity of which ought only to come in as a law arrived at as a generalization from the sum total of our investigations. We are not ignorant of how the forces of nature now act, the degrees of their intensity, and the results of their work. Hence, instead, of prejudicing the case at the beginning of our investigations by assuming this uniformity during all past time, I say that the only scientific way is to make the truth or untruth of this general law a subject for investigation. Whether the air, the rivers, and the sea have always acted as we now see them act, it is our business to find out. To assume this general principle as a preliminary to our investigations of the past is to forever keep our science in the swaddling cloths of deductive methods which in this twentieth century ought to be considered a shame and a disgrace. If our science is good for anything at all, it is surely capable of deciding for us very positively whether or not the tools of nature have always worked at the same rate and with the same force as at present; and the investigation of this problem is without doubt the most important question that can engage our attention as geologists. Facts Are Not Proved by Hypotheses.
That the laws of nature are immutable, that earth, air, and water are absolutely subordinate to these immutable laws, and that we can only judge of effects in the past by what we now see taking place in the world around us, are truths that every one admits. But as has been remarked by a not unknown author, this is very far from saying that 'the physical operations now going on are not only the type, but the measure of intensity of the physical powers acting on the earth at all anterior periods.' This is certainly 'to assume an unwarrantable hypothesis with no a priori probability.' As already intimated, it is in effect assuming to possess a knowledge of all natural law, and is deciding beforehand what ought to be left as a subject for investigation—both of which are the antithesis of true inductive methods. Says Adam Sedgwick: The study of the great physical mutations on the surface of the earth, is the business of Geology. But who can define the limits of these mutations? They have been drawn by the hand of nature, and may be studied in the record of her works; but they never have been, and never will be, fixed by any guesses of our own, or by any trains of a priori reasoning based upon hypothetical analysis. We must banish all a priori reasoning from the threshold of our argument; and the language of theory can never fall from our lips with any grace or fitness, unless it appear as the simple enunciation of those general facts, with which, by observation alone, we have at length become acquainted. . . . An hypothesis is indeed (when we are all agreed on receiving it) an admirable means of marshalling scattered facts together. But by those who differ from us, an hypothesis will ever be regarded with just suspicion; for it too often becomes, even in spite of our best efforts, like a false horizon in astronomy, and vitiates all the results of our observations, however varied, or many times repeated. The Geologist and the Coroner.
Whenever a human body is found dead in the open field, a coroner is called upon to investigate the matter and find out if possible how the man died. This coroner is, or should be, a man thoroughly acquainted with the normal action of the tissues and organs of the human body, for only by employing such knowledge can he hope to decide aright regarding the cause of the man's death. But let us suppose that our coroner has seen hundreds of bodies cut up in the dissecting room, where death had resulted from all sorts of disease as well as old age, and that in his subsequent practise he has made autopsies upon great numbers of bodies which have likewise died from every imaginable disease; but that never in all his experience has he yet seen one where death resulted simply from loss of blood or bleeding to death. Such a thing, if not a probable case, will at least do as an illustration. What would we think of such a man if he were to proclaim to all and sundry that he had never seen a case where death had resulted from other than 'natural' causes, and that he had no reason to believe that such had ever occurred? 'This man is very old. He must be over ninety. There is very little blood in his body, as is usual in old age, but all the organs and tissues seem to be in a healthy condition, and they evidently all gave out together, like the deacon's 'one hoss shay.' People can't live forever, even if they have no disease.' Such language would certainly sound very strange, and the crude methods of such an investigation would be very evidently absurd, but not really more so than the assumption of a uniform action of the elements during all past time. Geologists are only coroners at large. On every bed, nay, on every fossil, we must hold a post mortem, and determine, independently of all theories, how these creatures died and how the bed was deposited. Uniformitarians would certainly make poor coroners, or, for that matter, poor investigators of law, or history, or anything else. "THE LIVING GOD."
By George Muller
How many times we find this expression in the Holy Scriptures! And it is just the very thing we are practically prone to lose sight of. We know that it is written, "The living God;" we may speak about Him as "the living God;" but in our daily life there is scarcely anything we practically so much lose sight of as the fact that God is "the living God," and that He is now whatever He was 3,000 or 4,000 years ago; that He has the same sovereign power, the same saving love toward those who love and serve Him as ever He had, and that He will do for them what He did for those 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 years ago, simply because He is "the living God," the unchanging One, the same as ever He was. O how, therefore, we should confide in Him, and in our darkest moments, and in our greatest trials, and in our heaviest difficulties, and afflictions should never lose sight of the fact that He is still "the living God" and ever will be "the living God." —Geo. Muller. OUR WORDS.
By Ellen G. White
THE right use of the power of speech has to do with every line of Christian work; it enters into the home life, and into all our intercourse with one another. We should accustom ourselves to speak in pleasant tones, to use pure, correct language, and words that are kind and courteous. Sweet, kindly words are as dew and gentle showers to the soul. The Scripture says of Christ that grace was poured into His lips that He might know "how to speak a word in season to him that is weary." And the Lord bids us, "Let your speech be alway with grace," "that it may minister grace unto the hearers." In seeking to correct or reform others, we should be very careful of our words. They will be either a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. In giving reproof or counsel, many indulge in sharp, severe speech, uttering words that are not adapted to heal the wounded soul. By these ill-advised expressions, the spirit is chafed, and often the erring ones are stirred to rebellion. All who would advocate the principles of truth need to receive the heavenly oil of love. Under all circumstances reproof should be spoken in love. Then our words will reform, but not exasperate. Christ by His Holy Spirit will supply the force and the power. This is His work. Not one word is to be spoken unadvisedly. No evil speaking, no frivolous talk, no fretful repining or impure suggestions, will escape the lips of him who is following Christ. The apostle Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit, says, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth." A corrupt communication does not mean only words that are vile. It means any expression contrary to holy principles and pure, undefiled religion. It includes impure hints and covert insinuations of evil. Unless instantly resisted, these lead to great sin. Upon every family, upon every individual Christian, is laid the duty of barring the way against corrupt speech. When in the company of those who indulge in foolish talk, it is our duty to change the subject of conversation if possible. By the help of God we should quietly drop words or introduce a subject that will turn the conversation into profitable channels. It Is the Work of Parents
to train their children to proper habits of speech. The very best school for this culture is the home life. From the earliest years the children should be taught to speak respectfully and lovingly to their parents and to one another. They should be taught that only words of gentleness, truth, and purity must pass their lips. Let the parents themselves be daily learners in the school of Christ.10 Then by precept and example they can teach their children the use of sound speech, that can not be condemned. This is one of the greatest and most responsible of their duties. we should make our words such as to be a help and an encouragement to one another in the Christian life. Far more than we do, we need to speak of the precious chapters in our experience. We should speak of the mercy and loving-kindness of God, of the matchless depths of the Saviour's love. Our words should be words of praise and thanksgiving. If the mind and heart are full of the love of God, this will be revealed in the conversation. It will not be a difficult matter to impart that which enters into our spiritual life. Great thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth, unselfish purposes, yearnings for piety and holiness, will bear fruit in words that reveal the character of the heart treasure. When Christ is thus revealed in our speech, we shall have power in winning souls to Him. The chief requisite of language is that it be pure and kind and true,—"the outward expression of an inward grace." God says: "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." And if such are the thoughts, such will be the expression. Three people sat in a car, a motherly woman, a wealthy young man, and a poor widow. They were strangers. Presently the young man noticed that the widow was ill and unconscious. The car stopped, and the two, with help, took her into the drug store. While applying restoratives, her purse dropped, and the lady, opening it to see if any clue to her identity could be found, saw only a bit of change and a faded paper, on which was written the words, “The blood of Jesus Christ . . . cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. When the woman recovered, they hired a cab and took her home, and on the way she told the story of her sorrow and widowhood, and how she had gone one night into a Moody meeting, partly to rest and partly from curiosity. She only remained a few moments, but as she was passing out, Mr. Moody repeated those words. They clung to her until she reached home. She wrote them upon a bit of paper, and read them over and over until she knew that she, a sinner, was washed in the blood of the Lamb. She had no Bible, and no friend to teach her, but God met her and saved her, and that bit of paper was her treasure. “I will give you gold for the bit of paper,” the young man said. But, tho she sadly needed comforts, she could not sell it, and told him so. “Do not refuse him,” said the lady; “it may do for him what it has done for you.” Her face grew bright. “Take it, sir,” she said, “without the gold.” He slipped it carelessly into his vest pocket. He had shown all the tenderness of a woman as they had cared for the poor widow, but now his face resumed its old skeptical, cynical expression. After he had gone, they found on the table a twenty-dollar gold piece. Through the kindness of the lady the widow found work, and her health was largely restored. Two years went by, and, as the lady was walking down Broadway, a gentleman suddenly extended his hand. Embarrassed, she said: “Your face is familiar, but I can not name you.” “Did we not act together the part of a good Samaritan to a poor creature in distress?” Then she knew him, and told him so. Then he inquired for the one they had befriended, saying, “I left New York that night, and have not been back until to-night. I consider my meeting with you a happy coincidence. Shall you see the poor woman again?” Being told that she would, he said, “Then give her this slip of paper, please, and tell her it proved a blessing, as she prayed it might. I was devoted to the world, and tired of life. I longed for something, I knew not what. The paper was a live thing in my pocket, and haunted me day and night until I became thoroughly convicted and converted.”—Selected. THE SABBATH
By L. A. Phippeny
THE conditions existing at the time of the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage, made it necessary for the Lord to reveal Himself in a peculiar manner to them. They had not forgotten the promises made to their fathers, but the hardships endured in their long period of servitude, and their associations with false religions, had blunted their perceptions of the truth. In their deliverance, therefore, the Lord rehearsed certain great fundamental facts concerning Himself and His plans, and re-educated them in a manner calculated to impress these facts indelibly upon their minds. If we were to enumerate all these lessons, it would require the copying of their whole experience from Egypt to Canaan. Every one of them contains a profound lesson for the people of God in every after age. But there was one manifestation of divine power and goodness which the Lord specially mentions as being given to prove the people as to whether or not they would walk in His law. This was The manna was first given a full month before the declaration of the law from Sinai. While it was given for their sustenance, the moral object is thus stated by the Lord: "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no." Then followed instruction concerning the gathering of the manna. It was gathered daily, except on the Sabbath, when there was none to be found in the fields. But on the sixth day the Lord gave a double portion, sufficient for that day and for the Sabbath day following. The manna gathered each morning of the six days preceding the seventh was to be sufficient for the day in which it was gathered. If kept until the following morning, it spoiled. But the extra portion given on the sixth day for the Sabbath was, by the same divine power that gave it, preserved fresh for the Sabbath day's needs. How was this a test, and what did the manifestation teach?—It was a direct test as to whether or not the people would keep the Sabbath, and, in the keeping of the Sabbath, keep the law of which it was an essential part. This was a month before the law was spoken from Sinai, and incidentally shows that the Sabbath and the law were known to them before Sinai. Of course every one of the principles of the law were known from the beginning, and were now being reiterated for a special purpose only. A Continual Object-Lesson.
As to the manifestation itself, the daily and weekly recurrence of this miracle was a continual object-lesson concerning the facts of creation. It was a repetition, a rehearsal on a small scale, of the six days' work of creation and the institution of the Sabbath, with its significance. Day by day and week by week Israel's Leader was revealing Himself as their Creator, Provider, Redeemer, Everlasting Rest. As they ate of the food so wonderfully provided for their physical needs, they were to learn of Him who only was their spiritual food. They were to learn the lesson God Himself placed in it for them, "that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." And they could not avoid the lesson. There were some who doubted, and went out on the Sabbath day searching for the manna, not having gathered the double portion on the sixth day. They learned by dear experience that there was no change in the plan in order to suit their convenience or ideas. The Lord taught them and all Israel a lesson of carefulness and regard for His word. It was only by reason of the definite and unalterable conditions surrounding this test that the people could properly appreciate the sacredness of the Sabbath and the law. To mankind in sin, the prohibition is before the permission or privilege, otherwise the blessing would be contaminated by evil. The Lord wanted them to learn a better way than their's; He wanted them to discern His character. And this could be learned only by a work revealing His creative power, setting forth the facts of creation. Hence, the manifestation for six days of each week in providing for their needs for the whole week, and the lesson of rest on the seventh day. The Lesson of Redemption.
In addition to the lesson of creation, with its signification, was the lesson of redemption, which was a manifestation of the same power, but also a revelation of the character of their Creator-Leader, which was necessary to give them a complete view of that character. The words of the law itself were prefaced by the following proclamation concerning the One who had delivered them: "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." In these words the Lord their God is declared to be their Redeemer from bondage. And this deliverance from Egyptian servitude was their lesson of the power of God unto salvation from sin. In the Sabbath commandment the Lord proclaims Himself the one who "made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is," and it was because of this fact of creation, and the great object of creation, that the seventh-day Sabbath was to be kept. And so the proclamation of the Lord concerning Himself as their11 Creator and Redeemer, demanded in their lives the recognition of every fact and principle of creation and redemption. The great fact of creation was memorialized by the Sabbath and its sacred associations. The great fact of redemption from sin is memorialized or signified by soul-rest within. And the outward sign is the Sabbath-day of rest, as a token of the knowledge and presence of the Redeemer and Creator within—a token of new creation. Some have said that it does not make any difference which day is observed as the day of rest; that the Lord demands a cessation of labor only on some one day of the weekly cycle. This lesson of the proving of Israel should forever settle this point. In it is revealed the utmost care and jealous regard for the definite facts involved. Otherwise there would have been confusion. The character of Israel's Leader could not have been made known except by these definite revelations, for He can reveal Himself only as Creator (redemption is creation). And the accomplishing of Creation's work—the preparation of eternal rest for His people—was signified by the Sabbath at the end of that work. That work of rest was fulfilled in Christ the Redeemer, who revealed Himself in the creation, and gave of His resources for the well-being of the creature and the dominion. He gave Himself to His creatures from the foundation of the world. And so He said, "I am the living Bread which came down from heaven." "I am the Bread of Life." Is our Saviour particular how we learn of Him? Is it a matter of indifference to Him how we feed upon Him? Can we serve Him or not, as we please, with equal commendation from him? The answer is obvious: No; in order to assimilate His life, His character, we must know who He is and what He is, and that revelation is what was re-taught to Israel of old for us to-day. "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." The mark or sign distinguishing Him as the true God, was the fact of His being Creator, and the memorial of that fact has already been pointed out. said the Lord, through Ezekiel, "and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." "Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." In this teaching are the fundamentals of the Gospel. The whole scheme throughout is harmonious, and reveals the foundations of truth as it is in Christ Jesus. The Lord proved Israel of old by the manna, as to whether or not they would walk in His law; He is proving some to-day, by the living Bread that came down from heaven, whether or not they will walk in His law. He says, "Come unto Me . . . and . . . rest." In Him is life; in Him is wisdom, sanctification, redemption, rest. O, let us learn the deeper lessons, as well as the more obvious lessons, of this great Sabbath question. DOES NOT COUNT WITH GOD.
By T. E. Bowen
SO often it is said, "I do not believe God is very particular as to what day you keep for the Sabbath, just so you keep one." But stop a moment. How do you know He does not care? When you hire a man to work for you, do you not expect that he will pay some attention to your wishes? Most assuredly. To illustrate: Mr. Jones tells John to take the team and go to Petersburg with a load of grain, and on his return trip bring a load of coal. John starts out for the city bright and early, a distance of ten miles. When only a little distance from home he is hailed by neighbor Smith. "Where are you going, John, with Jones' team?" "Am going to Petersburg." "Must Jones have his coal to-day, and is it necessary that that grain goes into town to-day?" "Well," John in surprise says, "I did not ask him about that, but I suppose he knows his own business, and consequently I have nothing to say as to whether it must be done to-day or some other day. I am simply obeying his orders." "To be sure," Smith remarks, "I suppose he knows his own business, but what I was getting at, I am very anxious to get my plowing along, and would like Jones' team to help me out. It is such a nice day. We are on good terms, and I am sure it will be all right with Jones. It will make no difference with him." "Yes, but how do I know?" suggests John. "I know it won't," puts in Smith. "Jones is such a good-natured fellow he won't care. Better unhook. See this nice field. If I could only have you to-day, just to-day, we would be able to get through. I'll fix it all up with Jones, so it will be all right for you, and you may be sure both of you will be paid well." And John goes to plowing for Smith. Presently Jones drives down the road and comes up to his load of grain beside Smith's field. "What can this mean? This is surely my wagon, and that is my grain. What can be the matter? Wagon is not broken. Well! well!" he mused to himself. Presently John comes suddenly around the corner and discovers "good-natured Jones" down by the wagon. His heart beats very fast, but no use running. "Gone to work for Smith, I see," calls out Jones. "Yes," stammers out the hired man, "He said,"— "Well," interrupted Jones, "I do not know as it is important just now as to what 'he said,' you can bring that team here and hitch onto this wagon, and the rest we will attend to later." And John, should he be discharged, had no one to blame but himself. To his own sorrow, he ascertains Smith is no friend of the "good-natured" neighbor Jones, but was simply serving himself. John's labor for Smith did not count with Jones for obedience. Far from it. Likewise the earnest Sunday-keeping of many profits nothing with God. It can not be accredited as obedience, or service by the Lord; for He says, "Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:9, 10. "Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations." Ex. 31:13. We are still among the generations—down into the very last one—and surely the "all generations" means us, and still the Sabbath is a sign between God and His people. Jesus kept the seventh-day Sabbath during His entire lifetime on earth. See Luke 4:16. Jesus was of the tribe of Judah—a Jew. John 4:22. Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, because He is our Lord, and the Sabbath was made by Him for us. Mark 2:27, 28. He has not changed it, because the Lord of the Sabbath never changes. He does everything perfect and right on the start; hence no need for change. Heb. 13:8. Very pertinently He asked the unbelieving scribes of old, "Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say." As then, so now, obedience only counts with the Lord. The Gift of Making Friends
BLESSED is the man who has the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one's self and seeing and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another man.—Selected. A RICH nobleman was once showing a great collection of precious stones, whose value was almost beyond counting. There were diamonds, and pearls, and rubies, and gems from almost every country, which had been gathered by their possessors with the greatest labor and expense. "And yet," he remarked, "they yield me no income." His friend replied that he had two stones which cost him about ten florins each, yet they yielded him an income of two hundred florins a year. In much surprise the nobleman desired to see the wonderful stones, when the man led him to his mill, and pointed to the two toiling, gray millstones. They were laboriously crushing the grain into snowy flour, for use of hundreds who depended on this work for their daily bread. Those two dull, ugly stones did more good in the world, and yielded a larger income, than all the nobleman's jewels. So it is with idle treasure everywhere. It is doing nobody any good. It is right to be prudent and saving of our money when it is for a good, fixed purpose, but to hoard it up for its own sake is more than folly—it is a sin.—Selected. JESUS IS COMING AGAIN.
By C. M. Snow
Shout the glad tidings over the world;
Spread the glad news with banners unfurled:
Jesus is coming, coming again—
Jesus is coming, Saviour of men. Out of the nations, out of their sin,
Out of the fields where His workers have been,
Jesus is calling—calling to-day—
Heirs of His kingdom. Do not delay. Still sounds His message all the world through;
Fly to the Rock long riven for you.
In Him is cleansing; He will forgive;
Fly to His arms, O sinner, and live. Jesus is coming, Saviour of men;
Coming in glory, coming again;
Coming to rescue our souls from the grave;
Yes, He is coming His people to save. The Christ-Life and Success
"The Christ-life only is a success; but the Christ-life is characterized by love, faith, purity, truth, virtue, patience, self-denial, and magnanimous graces. No wonder, then, that the world is full of failure. The brook must fail when the spring is dried up."