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Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 16.

FOR A PERPETUAL COVENANT

Review and Herald

Apr 17, 1900

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 17, 1900

“FOR A PERPETUAL COVENANT.”

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE.
A powerful foe, who puts on a very inviting appearance, is ever soliciting men and women for their companionship. He presents to them glowing advantages, which he tells them will be theirs if they will follow his advice. As the enemy tempted Eve, so he tempts human beings to-day, promising that in disobedience they will find liberty and freedom, which will make them as gods. Thus thousands upon thousands are drawn into the broad road that leads to destruction.
Satan has endeavored to change God’s law by instituting a spurious sabbath, and he uses every device to induce men and women to unite with him in his apostasy; and under his leadership the Christian world has chosen another mark than that of God. I will copy a few lines from an article I have read, called “The Changed Signpost:” “Some years ago, when the world was more boisterous than it is at present [a questionable assertion], it was thought a good joke to turn round a signpost erected at a junction where two roads met. Of course the perplexity and misery which that often caused was great. Once a signpost was erected by God for those who journeyed through this world. The road to happiness was as clearly defined as was the road to the city of refuge under the Jewish dispensation. One finger of the signpost pointed out loving obedience to the Creator as the road to felicity; while the other indicated disobedience, or sin, as the path to misery. In an evil hour for our race, the great enemy turned the signpost round; so that ever since that time, multitudes have mistaken the true road to happiness.”
The Lord has stated expressly that life and truth are to be found in the path of obedience. Obedience is the waymark all must follow. God has declared that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord. He has exalted this day as a memorial of his work of creation, plainly stating that it is to be a sign between him and his people throughout their generations. Thrice is this repeated in the thirty-first chapter of Exodus, and the speaker is Jesus Christ. “The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.”
In these words the Lord has clearly defined the road to the city of God; but the great apostate has changed the signpost, setting up a false one—a spurious sabbath. He says: “I will work at cross-purposes with God. I will empower my delegate, the man of sin, to take down God’s memorial, the seventh-day Sabbath. Thus will I show the world that the day sanctified and blessed by God has been changed. That day shall not live in the minds of the people. I will obliterate the memory of it. I will place in its stead a day bearing not the credentials of heaven, a day that can not be a sign between God and his people. I will lead the people who accept this day, to place upon it the sanctity that God placed upon the seventh day. Through my vicegerent I will exalt myself. The first day shall be extolled, and the Protestant world shall receive this spurious sabbath as genuine. Through the non-observance of the Sabbath God instituted, I will bring his law into contempt. The words, ‘A sign between me and you throughout your generations,’ I will make to serve on the side of my sabbath. Thus the world will become mine. I will be ruler of the earth, prince of the world. I will so control the minds under my power that God’s Sabbath shall be an object of contempt. A sign? I will make the observance of the seventh day a sign of disloyalty to the authorities of earth. Human laws shall be made so stringent that men and women will not dare to observe the seventh-day Sabbath. For fear of wanting food and clothing, they will join with the world in transgressing God’s law; and the earth will be wholly under my dominion.”
The man of sin has instituted a false sabbath, and the professed Christian world has adopted this child of the papacy, refusing to obey God. Thus Satan leads men and women in a direction opposite to the city of refuge; and by the multitudes who follow him, it is demonstrated that Adam and Eve are not the only ones who have accepted the words of the wily foe.
The enemy of all good has turned the signpost round, so that it points to the path of disobedience as the path of happiness. He has insulted Jehovah by refusing to obey a “Thus saith the Lord.” He has thought to change times and laws; but has he done this? The words in the thirty-first chapter of Exodus answer this question. With his own finger the Lord wrote the commandments on the tables of stone. “In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.” “Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.” The Creator has plainly stated that after creating the world, he rested on the seventh day, sanctifying and blessing this day as a memorial of creation, and giving it to his people as a rest day, “that ye may know,” he says, “that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.” Thus he desires to test their loyalty. Shall we set aside the divine command given in such positive language, and follow the path of the transgressor? Who will venture to change the signpost, so that it shall point the wrong way, vindicating the man of sin? It is a terrible thing to place a human institution where the Lord’s great memorial should be. It is a terrible thing for men to arrogate to themselves the power to set aside the day that God has sanctified and blessed, declaring it to be his holy day, and put in its place a common working day; to try to compel men to respect and reverence this day.
The Lord’s word is truth. It is so plain that we can not mistake its meaning. It is not evidence that people need; for this they have. But they do not desire to walk in the way of the Lord’s commandments. The world is walking contrary to the divine will; but God has a people on this earth, and between him and them the Sabbath is a sign, whereby they know that he is the Lord that sanctifies them. Upon them his mark is placed. “They that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: . . . thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father.”
It is obedience to the word of the living God that brings men into close relationship with Christ. To-day he is saying, as he said to the Jewish people, Oh that “thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace”! And soon will be heard the irrevocable sentence, “But now they are hid from thine eyes.” He said, again, as he wept over the devoted city: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.” It was not that the Jewish people could not receive Christ; they would not. Thus it will be with many in our day.
What does the Lord require of us?—The observance of his Sabbath, “as a perpetual covenant.” God wishes every family to bear this sign. Thus we may show that we are loyal and true to his commandments. Look at our world, full of disrespect for God, in open rebellion against him who in a moment could destroy every soul that breathes the breath of life. What has made the world so full of violence?—A disregard of God’s law. This was what filled the earth with rebellion and corruption in the days before the flood. See the regard shown to-day for the spurious sabbath. And those who make laws to guard this false rest day make laws also which legalize the liquor traffic, a curse that is brutalizing the beings made in the image of God, by taking away their reason. Knowing full well the sure result, man takes the wages of his fellow man, giving him in return poison that destroys his reason, and sends him from the saloon full of false ideas. He has sold his reason for liquor, and is led into all kinds of violence. Satan presents before his mind things that, though unreal, seem real to him. He is filled with a determination to kill the one who, he supposes, stands in his way. Terrible crime, and sometimes murder, is the result. Yet notwithstanding its fearful effects, the liquor curse is protected by law.
Why do not those who make laws abolish this debasing traffic?—Because they do not bear God’s sign. They do not keep his commandments. Therefore they tolerate that which is making the world a second Sodom. As it was in the days of Noah, when the wickedness of men was so great that God swept from the face of the earth every living thing save that which found refuge in the ark, so also shall it be when the Son of man is revealed. Man’s theories are exalted, honored, and placed where God and his law should be. But God has not altered the thing that has gone out of his lips. His word will stand fast forever, as unalterable as his throne. When every case is decided in the courts of heaven, this covenant will be brought forth, plainly written with the finger of God. The world will be arraigned before the bar of infinite Justice to receive sentence,—a life measuring with the life of God for obedience, and death for transgression.

“OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN.”

By Frances Moore Geiger

Thou art so far! the way all signal lighted With beacon stars that sure must lead to thee; Thought follows till she falters, dazed, affrighted, Alone, alone, amid immensity!
Thou art so far! deep in that secret chamber Wherein life’s still, sweet miracle is wrought; E’en in the tiny wild flower’s heart of amber Thy temple is, beyond my subtlest thought.
Thou art so far! vainly my spirit hearkens For reason’s voice the wide abyss to fill; The silence overwhelms, the distance darkens; Awestruck, I can but wonder—and be still.
Thou art so far! though past my soul’s discerning, Veiled in thick darkness is thy diadem; Drawn to thee ever by my heart’s dumb yearning, I trembling strive to touch thy garment’s hem.
And lo, thou art so near! the mists are mellowed With thine effulgence, shining from above; And all the dim, dim way grows sweet and hallowed, Warmed, lighted, glorified, by thy strong love.
Thou art so near! As to the little lisper Who sobs a wish none else may understand, The mother bends; so thou to my faint whisper, With ready ear and tender, outstretched hand.
Thou art so near! through all my joys and sorrows Thou leadest, though thy face I may not see; My yesterdays were thine, and my to-morrows I leave with thee—I leave them all with thee!
—Frances Moore Geiger, in New York Observer.

“HOW MANY LOAVES HAVE YE?”

By L. A. Reed

L. A. REED.
When Christ asked for the loaves, though the disciples said, “What are they among so many?” yet, you will remember, they did not seek to retain the store. It was so small who would think of keeping it back? They gave, wondering what would come of it. But when God asks us for the little fragment of our lives, we not only say, “What is it against so much?” but worse, though it is too small a thing to refuse, yet we will not give it up. We will not let God have the soil in which to fructify the seed of his eternal word.
“How many loaves have ye?” It was out of what was given to Christ that he made all that came afterward. And so it is out of your life and mine, given up to him, that he makes the all that is to be. While God’s work is a miracle, and all a miracle, yet there is part of the work God will not cover by miracle. For our sakes, he must have something to start with. He might make children of God, as John said, out of stones, but that would only leave us entirely out; and he will not do that. He loves us, and wants us in his great purpose.
Our lives may be called nothing; but they are nothing only in the sense that, if selfishly retained, they will come to nothing. They are something in the same sense that soil is something—something to be turned into living fiber—something to be kindled with the energy of heaven—something to be transfigured and made radiant with the light of God.
And God utterly refuses to work his great work until he has at least this much. This is the purpose of our being yielded up to him. For this, Christ hung between earth and heaven, that he might draw you and me to him, and win our submission. And this part God will not work miracles to cover. He may work miracles to get us to do it, but do it we must, before God begins his own exclusive work.
Our lives are lost, they are miserable, insignificant, and utterly insufficient, yet they must be given up; and God must wait, and all heaven must wait, till we give them up.
And now I come to the most serious truth of all. What we give to God determines what is to be. Had the disciples given the Lord a few baskets of grapes, it would have been grapes that, by miracle, were given to the people. But it was bread and fish that they gave Jesus, and so it was bread and fish that, by miracle, were given to the people; and it was fragments of bread and fish that at the last were gathered up—twelve baskets full.
And this teaches a doctrine at once the most hopeless possible for the man determined to be a sinner, and also the most gloriously radiant with hope for the man set Godward. The young man, ignorant of the methods of God, is reckless of the future. He has heard something about a judgment, but that is far in the future, and between now and then he can change. So he reasons. A falling body from the sky accumulates momentum for every atom of space through which it falls, and at any moment its speed depends upon the occurrences of every moment that has gone before. So character perpetuates itself, and gathers momentum in whatever direction it is moving, gathers momentum from every moment of its past. When a man learns that every act has a tendency to repeat itself, and carry a man not only farther but faster in the chosen way,—I say, when a man learns this, he laughs no longer at the future, but takes life as the serious thing it is. Then it may be, seeing his insufficiency, he will give up to God.
But even so what he gives determines what he is to be. There will be continuity through all. It was bread and fish that the disciples gave to Jesus; it was fish and bread that Jesus, looking up to heaven, blessed, and broke; it was fish and bread that was given to the disciples, and to the multitude; and it was fish and bread, or remnants of them, that were afterward collected into the baskets. So it is your life that you give to God, and it is your life that he blesses, and it is your life all the way that he makes radiant with his life.
It was an act of Jacob’s that made him a fugitive from his father’s house, and wrought all the evil of his life. And it was out of this very act of Jacob’s that God wrought the greatest miracle of all his experience there by the brook Jabbok. Out of this act, overruled by the providence of God, Jacob became the Prevailer with God and man. God did not forget the past of Jacob’s life; God did not ignore it; he took it just as it was, and out of it made what was afterward. And what was afterward was determined, under God, by what had been.

PEN PICTURES.

By William P. Pearce

WILLIAM P. PEARCE.
“ALMOST thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” Acts 26:28. Did you ever stand on the bank above Niagara Falls, a little below the bridge between Niagara City and Goat Island? If so, you may have noticed a rock projecting from the water, called “Avery’s Rock.” Quite a history is connected with it. It was in July, 1855, that Averill and two companions, while boating on the upper river, were caught in the current, and carried down on the reefs between Goat Island and the mainland. The boat was upset, the two companions were drowned, while Averill caught hold of a log that had been stranded on this rock. The next morning, the 19th, the early sightseers were surprised to see a man clinging to such a frail support—only a short distance from the foaming, roaring falls. An alarm was sounded; hundreds of persons gathered, and many plans were suggested whereby he might be saved. First, a small boat is lashed to a strong cable, and sent upon its mission. Like a cork it bobs up and down, till, all at once, it is upset, and the cable is broken. Now from Buffalo comes a lifeboat. From the station it is carried by twenty strong men to the river bank. Strong ropes are wound about it, and two new cables are made fast to it. It is now launched. Beautifully it rides the waves. Gracefully it leaps the many formidable reefs. Only one more remains between it and the log. As it rises to plunge, it tips over, and partly fills with water. Finally it strikes the log, then stops. The spectators cheer. Averill climbs out on the log toward the boat; but as he does so, the current sweeps it around, breaking the cable, and with the current it is carried over the falls.
A third boat is now brought into action. It is a long flat-bottomed one. It makes the trip successfully. Quickly Averill seizes it, and signals to the men to pull. The voyage upstream is begun. What if the rope should break, or the boat upset as it climbs the reefs? The tackle catches, and the men, relaxing the strain a little, allow the boat to drift backward. Now the cable becomes entangled, and as the men pull, they make one side of the boat dip water. Off comes the boot of Averill, and quickly he bales it out. Now he climbs back on the log, and tries to push the boat from its tight place, but all in vain. For three months after Averill perished, that boat retained its position.
A fourth effort is made, this time by a raft with an empty barrel at the upper end to add to its buoyancy. Also some ropes are placed on it for him to lash himself to it, and beside there is placed a can of provisions. In safety this raft reaches the log. Averill climbs upon it, and lashes himself to it. Again the rescuers pull hard. Everything goes well, and the shore is almost reached. “He’s sure to be saved,” some one whispers. “God help him,” breathes a third. But what’s up?—The upper part of the raft catches under a reef, and in spite of all efforts it can not be moved. Alas! alas!
It was at this time that one of the large ferryboats of the lower river had been pressed into service. With care it was let down, until Averill was reached. Unlashing himself, he thrust out his hand to grasp the ferryboat as it came near him. But quick as lightning, it swung around, and with terrific force struck the helpless man in the chest, knocking him into the river. See, there he is! His head and hand rise above the foaming waves. How rapidly he is being carried toward the falls. Look! he is going over. Going! Gone. almost saved! but LOST.
In like sense many are almost Christians, almost saved, but altogether lost. To be almost a Christian is like Jeroboam, who said: “It is too far to go to Jerusalem to worship,” and therefore chose rather to worship calves at home. It is like Micah, who thought himself religious enough because he had a priest in his house. It is like Agrippa, who said, “Almost thou persuadest me,” and yet went on in his sin. It is like Ananias, who brought part of the price, and left part behind.
“Almost persuaded; harvest is past; Almost persuaded; doom comes at last! ‘Almost’ can not avail; ‘Almost’ is but to fail! Sad, sad, that bitter wail— ‘Almost,—but lost!’”

A SONG OF HOPE.

By Mary A. Lathbury

Children of yesterday, Heirs of to-morrow, What are you weaving? Labor and sorrow? Look to your loom again. Faster and faster Fly the great shuttles Prepared by the Master. Life's the loom! Room for it— Room!
Children of yesterday, Heirs of to-morrow, Lighten the labor And sweeten the sorrow. Now, while the shuttles fly Faster and faster, Up, and be at it, At work with the Master; He stands at your loom; Room for him— Room!
Children of yesterday, Heirs of to-morrow, Look at your fabric Of labor and sorrow, Seamy and dark With despair and disaster; Turn it, and—lo, The design of the Master! The Lord's at the loom; Room for him— Room!
— Mary A. Lathbury.

THE LAW — THE PROMISES.

By R. A. Underwood

R. A. UNDERWOOD.
(Concluded.)
Take Isa. 6:9, where the name of Christ is brought out more fully. His name shall be called Counselor. When you take that name, what does that entitle you to, my friends? When a woman links her interests with her husband, if that man with whom she is linked has wisdom and counsel above other men, is she not entitled to all of it? His name shall be called Counselor.
Not long ago a burdened person came to me, saying that she wanted to unload. Did you ever feel that way? I have. I longed to find somebody that I had confidence in, who would not betray me, and who would give me the counsel I needed. After a little time I saw that this woman was confiding in me, and I said that I did not know as she had better do so. I said, “Look here, no man has ever lived who was not liable to betray the confidence of another, and many of them have.” Is n't that so? We sometimes find that those in whom we have the most confidence, those who we think are the best and surest counselors, have a weak spot somewhere. “But,” I said, “there is one you can go to who will not betray you, and he has invited you to come, and he says that if you lack wisdom, he will supply it.” To how many will he give?—“If any of you lack wisdom,” come. He will not upbraid you for coming. He will give liberally.
May God forgive us that we have not taken his counsel. The counsel of God is not double counsel. One man may give you counsel, and another man may give counsel right the reverse; but not so with God. That is the difference between God and man. When he has given us counsel, we may rely upon it. God's counsel is true, and he will never reverse it.
Balaam once tried it. God said that Israel was blessed. Then Balak came and said, Curse Israel, and here are rewards—silver and gold and precious gifts. Balaam looked upon them and said, Stay all night, and I will inquire what the Lord will say more. And the Lord said, All right, if you wish to go, go on. But when you come down there, I will not allow you to do as you please. Balaam said, All right, I will go. You know the result, and what a hard time he had. He had his leg crushed against the wall, and got angry, and beat the dumb brute for turning aside when it saw the angel in its path ready to cut them down. But when Balaam's eyes were opened, and he heard the brute speak with human voice, he said, If you say so, I will go back. No, the Lord said, do just as you please. He went, built an altar to God, and got up to curse Israel, but he blessed instead of cursed. Then he tried it the second time, and the third time, but he blessed them every time. Then Balak became angry, and said, Why have you blessed Israel three times when I am trying to curse them? Oh, said Balaam, I can not say either good or bad. But he wished to, and the Lord let him have his way in the end. God's counsel never changes. Let us take it.
Again: his name is called the Mighty God. And he purposes that we shall receive the might of God. What is that name we are to inherit, not as a matter of merit, but as a matter of gift? His name shall be called the Everlasting Father. In what sense is Christ our Everlasting Father?—He is the Father of all the children he has created, and that takes in all of God's intelligences. And he is not only the Father of his children by creation, but he is the Father of his children by re-creation and adoption. When we repeat the Lord's prayer, “Our Father which art in heaven,” that applies to Christ. He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.” Do you want a father that has all power of protection? Oh, take the name of such a Father. He offers to give it to you; and if you take it, you will not take it in vain.
Again: he is said to be the Prince of Peace. What does that mean?—He is the author and ruler of peace, and every one who takes that name is entitled to peace, not only peace in the ordinary acceptation of the term, but he is entitled to possess the citadel of his soul in peace. Peace will reign, and rule, and govern every act of the life.
Brethren and sisters, have you that name? Does peace rule in your soul? Christ says, “My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” “My peace I give unto you.” And that peace, perfect peace, is love. 1 John 4:8. God is love.
Are you entitled to that name? When you take his name, can you have hate in the heart? “Perfect love casteth out fear.” What is associated with fear?—Torment. Were you ever tormented? This world is full of torment. The rich man is tormented; he is afraid the other fellow is going to get the better of him. The nations are afraid, and are watching one another with fear. The wicked are afraid. When you take the name of God, you will not take that name in vain. “Perfect love casteth out fear.” Why, you will not fear death. If it is God's good pleasure to let you go down in death, as some of our beloved brethren and sisters have done recently in foreign fields and in the home field; if God sees that it is best for you to rest, then comes the blessed promise, “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth [They can not die in the Lord unless they have taken his name]: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” Not only are we entitled to peace, but we are entitled to the fellowship and enjoyment of that perfect love of God. And when we have that, we shall love God's creatures. And if we see a soul going down the rapid current of time to the day of God unprepared, we shall do anything to help that soul. If we have the love of God, the love of Christ, we shall manifest that love. Otherwise, we have taken the name of God in vain.
On which side of that cloud do you stand? On which side of that law do you stand? Does it speak condemnation to your soul? Does it speak despair, and do you see nothing but a law of prohibition and darkness? Or does it speak to you as a law full of promise, of assurance, of God's protection, of God's peace, and of God's love? If you are on the dark side of that law,—on the disobedient side,—oh, in the name of God, step over on the other side before it is too late.
“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:4, 5. Do we wish light to shine upon the sacred page of God's word?—Then we wish the name of God. God made man in his own image. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” Man, who was made a little lower than the angels, or a little while inferior to them, went down, down, down. We have gone down till the image of God, morally and physically, is defaced. And then the Lord Jesus came down, down, down, just as far as man had gone; and took upon himself sinful flesh, but he did not sin. What for?—That our sinful humanity might be clothed with his divinity, and that he might lift us, and raise us far above the angels on a plane with himself, and give us his new name. What is his new name?—It is the “Man God.” And he is going to give us the same new name, the “Man God.”
I will read a statement that recently came in a Testimony touching this point: “The work of redemption involves consequences of which it is difficult for man to have any conception.” “There was to be imparted to the human being striving for conformity to the divine image, an outlay of heaven's treasures, and an excellence of power that would place him higher than the angels who had not sinned.” Do you believe it? Christ says that he is not ashamed to call us brethren (Heb. 2:11); and we are to be conformed to the image of the Son of God, who is the firstborn among many brethren. Rom. 8:29.
Turn to 1 Cor. 15:35-49. No wonder that the prophet, when he had a view of this weary land, looked forward to the time when he would awake in the likeness of God, and so be satisfied. “As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” “He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Brethren, have you the assurance that the work is begun in you? If you have, then you have the assurance that God's infinite power is given to you, and he will finish it even unto the lifting of you “higher than the angels.”
Then, and throughout eternity, we shall realize the fullness of that promise of God which, to the guilty sinner, is nothing but a command of prohibition and condemnation; but the righteous will realize the richness and the fullness of the promise, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”

Keeping the Tongue from Evil

“WHAT man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” Prov. 19; 23.

THE ART OF STOPPING.

By T. E. Bowen

T. E. BOWEN.
To know just where and when to stop is a very fine point in Christian living. Sometimes it takes more grace to stop than it did to begin. A good sermon is started, but spoiled in the stopping process. A good article for publication is started, but the writer did n’t know when to stop.
The exhaust puff in the steam pipe is but the spent force of that power that drove the cylinder of the engine to the other end; and before the puff is heard, the sweep in power has sent it on its way back again. It stopped in just the right place to get power for the return. But the power is not in the exhaust puff. Exhausting subjects is usually very hard work for the exhauster, and is liable to exhaust the hearers’ forbearance; while the force of power has been misapplied, and so largely lost.
To know what to say, to say it, and then stop, is an art few learn; but those who do learn it, have power.
The Lord came to a point where his work for chosen Israel was done, and he could not be induced to utter another word. He knew where to stop.

THE ORIGIN OF ALL POWER.

By O. S. Ferren

O. S. FERREN.
In Matt. 28:18 Jesus says: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Inasmuch as all power is given to the Lord Jesus, and this same Jesus is given to us, where is our source of power? “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:30, 31. “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” John 3:35. “Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” 1 Peter 3:22. “That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.”
We are admonished to search the Scriptures, to study to show ourselves approved unto God, and to “try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.” “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 2 John 7. Read verse 8.
John says that the three unclean spirits that he saw, were “spirits of devils, working miracles,” which go to the very ends of the world deceiving the whole world, as Paul says, “with all power and signs and lying wonders.” This is just before the coming of our Saviour in the clouds of heaven. Warning upon warning is given in the Word, that we may not be deceived. Paul says, “Let no man deceive you by any means.” Every means will be employed by the great deceiver to deceive even the elect if possible. As in the days of Moses, so God’s work will be counterfeited in these last days by these modern magicians.
All power is given to our Saviour. When we see advertisements of great divine healers, reading, “Send in five dollars for treatment,” or on every side behold the working of this last-day deceiver, to what source shall we apply? Read James 5:13, 14. Let us use God’s rational remedies. Jesus is the source of all life and health.
“Well,” says one, “my sister was made perfectly well by one of these healers, and she is a devout Christian, reads her Bible, and seems to have such a meek spirit, it can not be that she is deceived.” “If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” “And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”
When a person is healed, or seems to be, by one of these so-called divine healers, Satan takes a mortgage on that soul. God has given ample remedies for our healing, if it be for his glory; therefore we have no need to apply to the miracle-working power that has gone out of the mouth of the dragon, or beast, or false prophet.
No Seventh-day Adventist who carefully studies God’s word will be so deceived as to write, or apply in any way, to any of these so-called healers, whatever name they come under.

IDOLATRY

By E. A. Stillman

E. A. STILLMAN.
(Westerly, R. I.)
I was glad to see Brother Sadler’s article on the Virgin Mary, in the REVIEW of February 27; for it touches one of the most vital issues.
Another phase of the same subject has made a deep impression on my mind, striking, as it does, at the very root of the doctrines held by Catholics; namely, the adoration, or worship, of God through the crucifix or other images, pictures of saints, angels, and the nativity, passion, and resurrection of our Lord, etc.
All such adoration, or worship, when viewed in the light of the law of God, is found to be idolatry, a direct violation of the second commandment of the decalogue. And it is right here that the truth of God “crosses swords” with error, as the law condemns both the making for worship and the using of such things in worship of the true and living God.
While the law of God spoken upon Mt. Sinai condemns in the strongest terms every form of such departure from the truth, it is a most serious blot upon the Christian name that any such practice should ever have found a place in the Christian church.
It is no wonder that foreign nations are perplexed when missionaries to their shores carry such perverse doctrines to them for acceptance, when the very Word upon which their faith is said to be founded condemns their course. It is with this that our missionaries in South America and elsewhere have to cope as they present the plain, unadulterated truth of God, and teach obedience to his commandments. They must show that God forbids the making and the using of images, pictures, or any other object calculated to stimulate the imagination or attract the mind thus toward God.
The Lord has spoken so plainly concerning this that we must not hesitate to protest against it wherever we find it, and in whatever form it may appear. “Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace,” is the divine injunction. “He [Christ alone] is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.” “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Let us hold fast these truths. Let us spread the light of the second commandment as fully as that of the fourth, or of any other, realizing that God’s remnant people must keep his commandments and the faith of Jesus. If, as we believe, light has shone upon the law of God by our study of the sanctuary question, that light as truly reflects the divine beauty and truthfulness of the second commandment as it does of the fourth, seventh, or tenth.
Brethren, let us be bold in the Lord, not rash, but wise. These forms of idolatry, in all their cunning and subtlety, are so wide-spread, so flagrant, and so common, that, appearing as they do as part and parcel of the Christian system, unless we are on our guard and meet them with a “Thus saith the Lord,” there is a strong possibility of being ensnared in their meshes. Nothing short of a plain adherence to the life-giving Word will carry us through the trials of these last-day perils.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Remember the divine injunctions: “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry” (1 Cor. 10:14); and “keep yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:21.

A Lone Light for the Truth

The following experience of one of our sisters is a practical illustration of what may be done by one who is thoroughly filled with the truth, and ready to unite with others in Christian work:—
“For several years I studied the truth of the Third Angel’s Message, and at last came to the place where I found I must accept it. I had to take my stand alone, and stand as a lone light in the midst of darkness. About this time the work which Sister Henry presented to our women came to my notice, and I entered heartily into it. I joined the W. C. T. U., and was given the oversight of the Social Purity department. The officers of the union were not prepared for the practical way in which I went to work. Their curiosity became aroused, and they began to inquire what church I belonged to. One woman said to me, ‘I hear you are a Seventh-day Adventist;’ and when I replied that I was happy to inform her that that was the truth, she said, ‘Well, that accounts for your being such a worker.’
“Soon after this there was a Methodist revival held in the place where I lived, and a number expressed their determination to serve the Master. When the pastor called upon two of this number, and spoke to them about church membership, he was informed that they intended to join the Seventh-day Adventist Church as soon as there was an opportunity; so now I am not alone in defense of the truth, but have the Christian fellowship of these two sisters.
“Let us not become discouraged, but drop a seed here and another there; and the Lord will give the increase. Take courage, ‘lone light.’ You will not be alone long if you are faithful.”
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