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Signs of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 9.

Christ’s Mission
Earlier text: Christ’s Mission

Question Corner.

“Enquire, and make search, and ask diligently.”
[From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.]

No. 268. Forbidden Food.

PLEASE explain Isa. 66:3, 4 and Lev. 11:7, 8, 20-24. E. M. H.
The question of forbidden foods, etc., is discussed in our issue of February 13, in the article “Meats and Drinks.” It seems to us that the principles there stated are sufficient to guide in the settlement of Biblical foods. Isa. 66:3, 4 speaks of a gross class of religionists, who do not discriminate between the sacred and common, and whom God will leave to their own delusions. Lev. 11:7, 8 declares the swine to be unclean, and therefore unfit for food. Verses 20-24 show what insects or flying things are clean and what unclean. The word “fowl” means flying things. See Revised Version.

No. 269. Civil Power and Human Life.

(1) Has God in this dispensation given the civil powers on earth the right to take the life of man for the crime of murder? (2) Has any man a moral right for any provocation whatever to defend and protect his life or that of his family by taking the life of any man, war included, of course. N. L. MC.
1. God has given just as much right to civil governments in this dispensation as in any other dispensation. It is the right and duty of civil powers to protect their own existence and the rights of their subjects. If the death penalty is needed in this work, we should think it would be justified. See Rom. 13:1-4.
2. In a civil government, from a purely civil and human standpoint, yes.

No. 270. 1 Cor. 4:5.

PLEASE explain 1 Cor. 4:5. MRS. S. N.
The text reads as follows:— “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall every man have praise of God.”
In this text is taught and implied the following: (1) Christians as individuals are not to set themselves up as judges now; God has not given them that work. Rom. 2:1; 14:13; Matt. 7:1; John 12:47. (2) When the Lord comes, and they are freed from the infirmities of mortal flesh, they will be associated with Christ in the judgment of the wicked. Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3. The judging in this world spoken of in the latter text pertains to the church as a body. (3) When Christ comes, the records of all motives and deeds will then be laid open, and all judgment will then be just judgment. (4) “Then shall every man have praise [approval, reward] of God.” See also Rev. 22:12. It will be seen by the context (1 Cor. 4:1-3) that the apostle is speaking of ministers of Christ, not of those who would receive punishment instead of praise.

No. 271. The Bible—Its Compilation.

WHO compiled the Bible? and at what date? R. D.
See any good introduction to the Holy Scriptures, as, for instance, the articles on the Scripture Canon in the Oxford Teachers’ Bible, or any good Bible dictionary or encyclopedia. In brief, the “Old Testament” was compiled by Ezra, Nehemiah, and by later servants of God; that is, the generally recognized writings were by them brought together. See Josephus against Apion, 1:8. How and where the first New Testament Canon originated is uncertain. But, according to Origen, it was in existence as early as A.D. 250. A century later, Eusebius, acting under Constantine, made up a similar collection.

No. 272. Catholic Church—Its Foundation.

ACCORDING to the Catholic Church, that church is founded on Matt. 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Was this Roman Church founded by St. Peter?
(1) It is exceedingly doubtful if Peter ever saw Rome. There is nothing but tradition to support such a claim; the Bible is silent. (2) The only foundation for the true church is Jesus Christ. See 1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20; Luke 6:47-49. Peter himself declares that he and other Christians are living stones, built upon the foundation Christ. 1 Peter 2:4-8. This was the import of Peter’s confession in Matt. 16:16: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus tells him that this knowledge did not come of himself, but of God, and then follows the text above. In that text Peter is petros, a stone, but the rock petra is Christ. The building of a church comes through confession of that Rock. The important question therefore is not, What church did Peter found? but, Is the church in question founded in Christ? (3) Even tho the Roman Church were founded by Peter (a highly improbable supposition), that would by no means insure its permanent righteousness. Abraham had a son, Ishmael, whose hand was against every man. Those who crucified Christ were descendants of Abraham. The church of Christ holds living connection with him by personal faith on the part of her members.

No. 273. Baptism—Its Mode.

HOW SHOULD baptism be ministered properly, and where recorded in the Bible?
By immersion, into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. See Matt. 28:19. The very meaning of the word “baptize” is immerse. Baptism symbolizes death, burial, and resurrection. See Rom. 6:3-5; Acts 8:38, 39. Nothing but immersion can meet the demand.

No. 274. Hygiene and House Plants.

IS IT healthy to sleep in a room half full of house plants, or not? MRS. S. N.
It is not generally considered unhealthful. House plants are said to absorb during the night carbonic acid gas, which the human system throws off. If this is so, their presence would be wholesome. However, house plants or not, there should be good and proper ventilation, so as to furnish a sufficient amount of fresh air to all the occupants of the room.

No. 275. Spirits of the Wicked.

DO THE spirits of the wicked go to God at death? We read in God’s word that the spirit returns unto God who gave it.
It will help our querist, and others also, to remember that the word “spirit” is used with a wide latitude of meaning. It may mean a spiritual being, as God, Christ, or an angel. See John 4:24; 1 Cor. 15:45; Heb. 1:14. It is often applied to the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost. It refers to demons, or evil spirits. But it never refers to an entity in man, something that has a conscious existence apart from the body. When used of man it simply means life, and all life comes from God. When man dies, his life goes into the keeping of the great Author of life, and will be given to man at the resurrection. This is true of both righteous and wicked. The spirit came from God as life; it goes back to God life, not an intelligent, thinking being.

No. 276. Was Christ a Priest?

DID John the Baptist belong to the Levitical priesthood? Was he a priest? If he was, was not Jesus baptized into the Levitical priesthood? G. L. P.
Yes, John was in the line of the priesthood. No, Christ was not baptized into the Levitical priesthood, any more than were hundreds of others baptized by John. One did not become a priest of Levi or Aaron by baptism, but by birth; he must be of the tribe of Levi. Christ could not be a priest after the tribe of Levi, because he sprang from Judah. See Heb. 8:4; 7:13, 14. Therefore a change in the law regulating the priesthood became necessary when Christ became a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Heb. 7:12.

THE HOME COMING.

By Paulina M. Alway-Anderson

BY PAULINA M. ALWAY-ANDERSON.
O, THE joy of His dear people At the closing hour of time! He will call them from the ocean, And from every land and clime; From the dark and loathsome dungeon, And from Russia’s exiled shore. Yes, He’ll bid them come and worship Where they’ll meet to part no more.
O, to stand upon Mount Zion With that grand and holy band, Free from every earthly power, Yes, redeemed, united, stand, With the harps of God most glorious, And the palms of victory sweet! We will cast our crowns with gladness At our dear Redeemer’s feet.
O, the lovely voice of Jesus Will be heard above that throng, Speaking peace unto his people— Then the anthems grand roll on! Come unto the marriage supper, For probation now is o’er. I have chosen all my loved ones. Sin and death are now no more.
In those blessed heavenly mansions Joy shall gleam from every brow; They will never faint nor hunger Suffer then as they do now; Jesus will proclaim with triumph, “Yes, for these I bled and died; All my earthly mission ended, I will rest well satisfied.”

CHOSEN ONES QUALIFIED BY THE SPIRIT.

By Wm. Covert

BY WM. COVERT.
It is impossible for man when directed by himself to either do or know the thing which is right. This matter is well stated by the prophet where he says, “I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” Jer. 10:23. But if man unaided of the Lord can not direct himself, certainly he can not with wisdom and safety guide the footsteps of others. It is therefore plain that every one who is chosen to lead in any part of God’s work must be especially directed by the Lord if he properly fulfills his official duties. For this reason the Lord has always been ready to bestow the spirit of wisdom and ability upon the one who is properly selected to fill offices of trust and responsibility in his cause.
When Moses was called from directing the flocks of Jethro, to be leader of God’s people from the house of bondage, the Lord gave the man full instruction at every step along the way. Upon this great leader an abundance of the Spirit of God was placed, that he might be able to guide with wisdom the precious charge which had been intrusted to his care. Twice he was shut in with the Lord for forty days and forty nights; and during this time the man in mortal clay became so wholly swallowed up in the Spirit that his face shone with the bright radiance of heavenly glory.
The statement is that when he came down from Mount Sinai “Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone. . . . And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.” “And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face.” Ex. 34:29, 30, 33. His countenance shone with such brightness that he was compelled to wear a vail while he talked with the rulers and the people.
It is not known how long this glorified condition lasted; but it was understood quite fully by the people that Moses was endowed by the Spirit to be their leader; yet after a while the burden became too great for Moses’ physical strength. He then spoke to the Lord about it, and said, “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.” Num. 11:14. Then the Lord told him to select seventy elders from among the people, and have them present themselves before the tabernacle of the congregation; and said the Lord, “I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee; and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee.” Num. 11:17. Moses selected the elders as God directed him. “And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders; and it came to pass, that, when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, and did not cease.” Verse 25. The Spirit of God placed upon these men qualified them for the work which they had to do.
The same principle is illustrated in the history of the man whom God called to do the artistic work in building the earthly sanctuary. The case is stated in this way: “And Moses said unto the children of Israel, See, the Lord hath called by name Bezalel; . . . and he hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship; and to devise curious works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in the cutting of stones; to set them, and in carving of wood, to make any manner of cunning work.” Ex. 35:30-33. By reading the connecting verses it is seen that others were also associated with this man in the work, and they were all taught of the Lord how to do the particular work assigned them.
When Moses was finally called to lay down his life’s work, the one to succeed him was named by the Lord; and in the Lord’s own way, the man selected was qualified for the leadership:—
“Now after the death of Moses . . . the Lord spake unto Joshua, . . . saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them. . . . There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage; for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I swear unto their fathers.” Joshua 1:1-6.
Here the Lord promised to be with Joshua as he had been with Moses. As Moses was given courage and wisdom by the Spirit of God, so was Joshua likewise strengthened for the work and sustained in it to the end of a long and useful journey.
After the death of Joshua there follows the book of Judges, which is largely a history of how God worked by his Spirit in preparing leaders to deliver his people out of their troubles. See Judges 2:16.
Of Othniel it is written, “And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he judged Israel.” Judges 3:10. It was not until “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon,” that he was prepared to lead the people out of their troubles. See Judges 6:34. The Spirit gave the man true wisdom, and caused the prophet to have confidence in his leadership. It also gave him humility and good sense enough to refuse to be made king over Israel when that people desired to put a crown upon him.
The record has it that “the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule thou over us. . . . And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.” Judges 8:22, 23. Many other instances are cited, which we pass over, and come down to the selection of Saul as king. At the time this man was chosen to the office of king, the Lord talked with him of the help which he should receive that he might be able to discharge the official duties which would rest upon him. It was then said to the prospective king, “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou . . . shalt be turned into another man.” 1 Sam. 10:6. The Lord fulfilled all that he had promised to Saul, but Saul on his part became exalted and refused to be led in humility and wisdom by the good Spirit, and the result was disgrace and failure on the part of the king.
David was given wisdom and knowledge directly from God that he might be enabled to properly rule over the people. The same was true also of Solomon, and of many others. In fact, the secret of all the approved success of man is expressed in the scripture which says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zech. 4:6. Happy is that man who constantly heeds this blessed truth, and well is it for that people who permit God through his Spirit to rule over them.
Burlington, Vt.

A PICTURE OF THE LAST DAYS.

By Clyde Scott Chase

BY CLYDE SCOTT CHASE.
[“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, . . . unholy, without natural affection,” etc. 2 Tim. 3:1-3. “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature; and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman,” etc. Rom. 1:26, 27.]
'Tis said in proverb sweet and old, And beautiful as light of morn, That from the griefs and cares of life The noble ones of earth are born; That by the cruel blows of fate Is wrought true tenderness of heart; That poverty, disease, and woe Do blessed sympathy impart.
But now a shadow slowly floats Across the sunlight of the past, And o'er the earth in colors dark, This picture of to-day is cast:
The sea waves break upon the shore, Wild billows that afar have rolled, And bury deep, with worthless sand, A wealth of purest shining gold.
And souls amid life's stormy sea Are driven like the wave-lashed shore, And many a gleam of purest gold Is buried deep to shine no more.
As from the iron, glowing bright, The spark beneath the hammer flies, Until, in its new-beaten form, Hardened and cold the metal lies,
So many hearts with love o'erfilled, Like metal in the workman's hands, Become, 'neath fate's stern hammer blows, Case-hardened as with iron bands.
The misery of a hopeless age Enwraps mankind within its folds; And shadows of Gomorrah's vice Bedim the luster of the soul,— A vice that taints both great and small, Unnatural, in its passion vile, As pigments of Egyptian soil Becloud the waters of the Nile.
And, helpless in this midnight gloom, As Satan's wrath is on us hurled, We see no gleam of rescuing day Till God creates anew the world.

THE PRINCIPLE APPLIES BOTH WAYS.

By L. A. Phippeny

BY L. A. PHIPPENY.
Here and there, and more frequently as time goes on, the Roman Catholic question crops out and gets in the way of Protestants. Recently, says the Christian Advocate, in its Baltimore Letter, the Emmet Club, a local Roman Catholic organization, petitioned the City Council and the Legislature of Maryland to set apart as a municipal and state holiday March 25, the day to be known as Colonists’ day. The Baltimore City Ministerial Union has protested, and sent a counter document to the mayor, City Council, governor, and members of the Legislature. In this, the ground is taken that the day “is not needed as a holiday; it would be the celebration of an historical event which enters a disputed domain; and it deals with a matter having ecclesiastical bearing and relating to religion, which should not properly become the province of the state.” The objection, especially in its last feature, is well taken.
Now, while I do not wish to appear as making a fling at some Protestants, yet it seems that a principle can be seen and defined by many when there is a prospect of Roman Catholicism creeping into state recognition. There is now before Congress a bill to amend the Constitution of the United States so as to embody a recognition of God and of Jesus Christ in the fundamental law of this nation. There is also a bill providing for a Sunday rest law, and these are backed up by nearly all the great Protestant churches of the land, who are pushing with might and main for their passage. Where now does the principle that religion “should not properly become the province of the state” come in? Is not the principle as clearly to be seen where other than the Roman Catholic religion is concerned? Perhaps there is a beam in the way.
But right at this point is located one of the great unalterable reasons why the provinces of church and state should be kept forever separate. First, religion is a matter of the conscience, between the individual and his God alone. Second, the state is a civil affair, dealing with man’s outward relations with his fellow-men. The state never can make a man religious by law, and any attempt to do so will result only in oppression, persecution, or the making of hypocrites. The oppression and injustice arise from the establishing and enforcing by law certain doctrines or principles which some individual or body of citizens in the nation can not accept and obey without violating their natural right to worship God, or not to worship him, according to the dictates of their own conscience. As witness the watchful jealousy with which the Protestant Ministerial Union of Baltimore descries and denounces the appearance of Catholicism in its overtures for state recognition. Is the principle wrong for Roman Catholics and right for Protestants? Or is it right for the latter because they are in the majority, and in the United States only? Then the principle is right for Mohammedans in Turkey and Armenia; right in Russia, where the Stundists are recipients of its benefits; right in Brazil, where Catholicism holds sway, and Bibles are burned by order of the priest; right in China, where Christian missionaries are depicted as worshipers of the swine, missions burned, and Christian men and women slaughtered; the Inquisition and the black works of the Dark Ages were right, for they were commanded by the civil law, behind which was the Roman system. No, the majority plea, or for the good of all, or the greatest number, will not work satisfactorily to all. For then might the tables be turned in all justice should the Jew, or Buddhist, or any particular sect of Protestants even, constitute a majority at any time in our own nation.
Equal and exact justice to all must demand an honest adherence to the principle of keeping the church and the state everlastingly apart. Nevertheless, the nation is practically committed to legislation upon the question, and professed ministers of Christ, who defined in unmistakable language the true provinces of the church and of the state, are apparently totally blinded by a false zeal to their own eternal interests and the principles of true religious liberty. With them, and under their lead, are the rank and file, who, not understanding, perhaps, the significance of the move, are lending their influence to the same disastrous end, for the end can only be disaster to the individual and to the nation. Would that all could see and would apply at home the principle as clearly as it has been outlined by the ministers of Baltimore, who it is sincerely to be hoped may themselves realize the scope of their resolution.

INFINITY OF THE WORD OF GOD.

By H. F. Phelps

BY H. F. PHELPS.
There is an infinity in the word of God, beyond the power of the mind of man to comprehend. It is said of the Gospel that it is “the everlasting Gospel” (Rev. 14:6), and the Gospel “is the power of God” (Rom. 1:16), and that God is “the Almighty God” (Gen. 17:1), “the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, . . . there is no searching of his understanding” (Isa. 40:28). Inasmuch then as he is the “almighty,” “everlasting” God, and the “Creator” of all things, it follows that his word is also everlasting; and so it is that we read, “The word of God” “liveth and abideth forever,” and, “The word of the Lord endureth forever” (1 Peter 1:23, 25), and, again, “The word of our God shall stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).
Thus it is that the student and believer of the word of God may come to it, receive it, believe it, stand upon it, rest upon it, and feast upon it with the assurance that it is as enduring as eternity, and will never fail him; for it is abiding, and as enduring as its divine Author; and, more, that it “liveth,” and that through it its Author gives life to all who feast upon it. Therefore, those who live by it, with it, and in it, will also be as enduring as the word itself, even to all eternity, as long as the life of the Creator of all, and the Author of the word.
There is also an infinitude, an immensity, in that word, which is also infinitely above and beyond the mind of man to comprehend. The divine Author of that word being a Spirit, a spiritual being, that word is also spiritual. And the Author of that word being the Author of all life, that word must also be life. And of this we read, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63. But spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. 2:14. This word, then, being spirit and life, partaking of the nature of its Author, who is Spirit and life, is but the unfolding of the thoughts of God, even the thoughts of Christ himself, for the Spirit of Christ was in the prophets when they wrote (1 Peter 1:11), revealing the thoughts of the Father through his Son (Rev. 1:1).
Now the thoughts of the eternal One can not be comprehended by the finite mind. There is therefore a necessity, if we would understand the infinite word of the infinite, eternal One, that we have the mind of that infinite, eternal One, in the place of our own mind, which is so weak and finite. And this is just what God has freely offered to all who will believe that they may understand, and read that they may believe. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2:5. And so the Author of that word provides just the very thing that we all need, even his own mind, in order that we may believe his own word. How wonderful all this is! Were it otherwise, a man would come infinitely short of coming to that word as he should, and receiving it as he ought, or even believing it unto salvation. Salvation is in it, and that is just what it is designed to give.
One thing must ever be remembered: A man must absolutely give up his own mind, have no mind of his own, when he comes to that word, but take the mind of Christ, and be led by it, in order that he may receive that word as his own. If he fails to do this, he will never understand that word. And the reason is at once to be seen; it is that a man can no more understand, or measure, or comprehend, the words of God, the thoughts of Christ, than he can measure the heavens. Indeed, it is thus expressed by the One who has revealed his own thoughts in that word: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isa. 55:8, 9. So, then, when we read a chapter, a verse, a single word—for a word is an expression of a thought—in the Bible, we must remember that it is a thought of God. Therefore, we ought not to expect to exhaust a single text at one reading; for that text is as far above our mind as are the heavens above the earth. How necessary, then, that we do indeed have the mind of its Author! It is our privilege and province to “consider” what God says, and “meditate” on his thoughts; and he alone can give the “understanding.” 2 Tim. 2:7; 1 Tim. 4:15.
Therefore, when we put our own mind far away from us, not for one occasion only, but for all time to come, and let the mind of Christ in as our mind to lead and to instruct and give understanding, then it is that Christ himself, understanding his own words, will begin to unfold them to us—not all at once, but little by little, as can be done with safety to our salvation, lest we be lifted up in our own conceits through the abundance of the revelation. And as long as we remain submitted to him, that his mind may indeed be in us, the richness and the fullness of the infinity of that infinite word, coming as it does from the infinite One, will be made to appear in its own blessed fullness for us to enjoy. Not only so, but an eternity will be given to us in which to enjoy that fullness.

CHARACTER SHOWN IN THE USE OF TIME.

Character begins with a choosing between higher and lower things, but as it grows, and we have made certain of our choice of the higher, there is a new and more refined test in our choosing between richer and poorer. One of the signs of growth in character is the discovery that we now treat as essentials things that once seemed to be entirely optional, and things that formerly never occurred to us as a matter of conscience now touch us with the sense of shame that only downright sins used to bring.
The number of possible sins increases as character increases, and, one after another, things that once we felt undisturbed about are slowly shading off into the things that we must let alone. The soul begins by obeying laws, but, if it is to be a rich soul, intimations and hints and suggestions from God’s Spirit come to take on all the authority that statutes used to have for us. So it is that an ordinary spirit, with no greater ambition than to balance the good and evil of the soul, will have no sense of the struggles of a richer soul about things that seem more like refinements than positive duties. But duties do become more delicate and refined, and one never makes a coarser mistake than, when God has graciously led him into the sight of some richer feature of character, he looks about, and, finding that some other soul does not feel any such call, takes refuge in their commoner habit. Every soul that has received a higher intimation, and falls back contentedly into the habit of one less advanced, makes it so much more impossible for that soul to advance.
One of these things which begins by appearing optional and ends by being imperative, is our use of time. This becomes a matter of conscience and character as surely as one realizes that God has a work for a man to do in the world; and we can not doubt for a moment that many a character has been as thoroughly laid waste by the failure to use time aright as by coarser and more flagrant sins. There are men who have been willing to do the will of God, who have failed to find the largeness of that will for them, because it has never been discovered by them that the use of time had much to do with it. One of the causes of this is undoubtedly the fact that we seldom get a long, clear stretch of time in which we may work uninterruptedly, and so we think that it is not worth while to attempt any large undertaking until we shall be freed from the pressure and bustle of common affairs. If in the midst of such there comes a small release, we think that it is too small to make it worth our while to enter upon any ambitious task, and we postpone the endeavor until we shall happen upon some freer and more favored hour. When that comes, we are quite likely to feel that we are not in the mood for it, and dare not attempt the hoped-for work until we shall feel just right for it.
Men naturally wish their work to be led up to gracefully, and to go on to the next by equally graceful gradations, but instead we are presented with a great mixture of raw material in the shape of all kinds of moods and days and leisure moments; and it is out of such that all great human fabrics have been woven. So a man comes to realize that he is fast getting to be a mere gazer, and to see with some chagrin that men who have even less time than himself are accomplishing more of the very sort that he would do. The greatness of Jesus appeared quite as much in the odd moments, and what came forth out of them, as in the stately official acts of his life; and he was never waiting for a favored hour, but made every hour draw favor. With many a man who has in him the power of some high accomplishment, the habitual doubt of the usefulness of such time as is given him has become so deeply seated in him that he is palsied for the carrying out of his ambitions, and for such the help of God is as essential as in overcoming any other sin. We have to pray for faith in the present hour. Our conversions and salvations are endless, and God becomes necessary on every side of our life.
He who does not know what to do with the odd openings of time will stand quite helpless in the presence of leisure. There is an advantage in these moments that we are let into in the midst of the rush of life, for we have upon us the glow of exercise as we go into them, which will make us capable of absorbing more and accomplishing more than in those hours that are led up to by no such vital approaches. There is a glamour about retirement and isolation which facts hardly warrant. One of our greatest historians was heard to say: “I think there is a good deal of fraud about work done in the evening; there is a kind of romance about it, and we are apt to think it is better than work done in the busy hours and the sunlight and the interruptions. I used to think so, but I have found that the best work that I do is in the morning, when other men are doing theirs. It does not seem so romantic, but the work turns out better, I find.” . . .
It is an old discovery that those who have the most to do are those who do the most. Emmerson often regretted that he did not have “a stated task;” and those who are in positions where they have to map out their own work, are in positions of greater temptation, as well as greater liberty, than are those who have their tasks set and defined for them. If we are in positions where we control our own time, we are in positions where our character may become larger, but we need God’s help continually to make us large enough for them. . . .
When at last a man is won upon by the greatness of God’s purpose for him, and his purpose is great for every man, he feels as sensitive to this imputation that he is not moral in his use of time, as to any lesser imputation. God draws him apart from his looking at the accomplishment of other men, and makes him see that their task or their ease may have nothing to do with him, and that every man’s discipline is somewhat different from that of other men. And when one feels the force of this criticism, and what it means for character, he will find that in this, as in all things that make character, he needs the help of God, and will add one more to the experiences by which we realize that God is in every part of our life, and that his salvation is salvation “to the uttermost part of us,” and that we need his help in saving and possessing our days.—Sunday School Times.

RECEIVING REPROOF.

In the Bible we read much about the danger of scorning and rejecting reproof. “He that hateth reproof shall die.” Prov. 15:10. “He that refuseth instruction [or correction] despiseth his own soul.” Verse 32. We naturally think that we are doing exceedingly well to receive patiently reproofs that we know we deserve; but we feel that we have a right to reject reproofs that seem to us uncalled for. This is thought to be only the manifestation of a proper spirit of self-respect. But when we do so, we are likely to deprive ourselves of much necessary and wholesome warning; for we are most commonly blind to our own failings, so that we usually think reproof unnecessary. The wise man is he who receives all reproof with meekness. The reproof that we think least deserved may really be the most needed. By accepting all reproof without gainsaying, we run no risk of losing valuable instruction.
If perchance a reproof should be undeserved, then we ought to be able to endure it the better. A man was bitterly complaining that he had been accused of gross misconduct, of which he was entirely innocent. He thought that a man had a right to feel indignant when accused falsely. “Well,” said one to him, “would you feel better if the charges were true?” This put the matter in a different light, and made him more contented. We do well to remember Matt. 5:11, 12.—Present Truth.
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