IT was by the presence of God in the operation of the Spirit that the prayers of Elijah and Elisha brought the dead to life, and by it that our Saviour cast out devils, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, the power of speech to the dumb, sound flesh to the leper, and new life and vitality to Jarius' daughter, the widow's son, and Lazarus. This was the "virtue" that flowed from Him to the woman who gave the touch of faith. It was by this power also that the dead Saviour became the living Saviour, and that, after His ascension, Dorcas, whose eyes had been closed in death, opened her eyes again, sat up, and was restored in perfect health to her friends. By the same Spirit also all of the dead will be brought to life again, and all of them who are sleeping in Jesus will receive this Spirit in sufficient measure to transform them from mortality to immortality; for, says the Creator, "I will put My Spirit in you, and ye shall live."
The Spirit is the life of God, which is eternal life; and when, in the great transformation from "this body of our humiliation" to the likeness of "His glorious body," we shall be surcharged with the "Spirit of life from God," we will thus be "clothed upon with our house which is from heaven," "mortality" will "be swallowed up of life," and "He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit."
We have said that electricity is the best medium by which we can illustrate the Holy Spirit. Some seem to confound the Holy Spirit with electricity. Let us not make this serious mistake. Electricity is an agency that will obey certain laws, and accomplish wonderful results, but it is not the Holy Spirit. Electricity, when properly applied, will propel cars, drive machinery, produce the greatest heat known to science. It can be utilized in transmitting messages by telegraph and telephone. It is employed to brilliantly illuminate our streets and dwellings; it will produce the most glorious artificial illumination ever beheld by the eyes of man.
It can be utilized in manifold forms in the treatment of disease; and its all-pervading presence in our earth's atmosphere is the secret of wireless telegraphy. In fact, the space of a chapter would scarcely enumerate the uses of electricity. But, after all, it is only one of God's agencies, which man has discovered and adapted to his requirements. It can not think; it can not produce life; it can not connect us with the Supply Center of the energy of the universe.
Take a mental picture. Imagine a dead body. Apply a current of electricity to it, and while it may cause some of the cords and muscles to contract, it can not produce heart action, nor start the circulation of the blood, nor cause the lungs to perform their natural function, nor the brain to act, the eyes to see, the ears to hear, nor the tongue to speak. The current may be applied for an indefinite period of time, the dead will not revive. But when the Creator applies
A Current of the Holy Spirit
to the dead, it matters not how long life has been extinct; instantly, the heart beats
vigorously, the pure red life-current flows to every part of the body; the lungs contract and expand to supply the breath of God to the system; the brain cells act; the man thinks, reasons, worships his Life-giver; every organ of the body perfect performs its function. I call "a multitude of captives" with a resurrected Saviour at their head, to witness to this power of the Spirit. They all bear testimony with Jesus, "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore."
Reader, what think you, if this Spirit can resurrect the dead, can it not give you power over that which causes death? Let me assure you that this resource of supreme creative energy, is pledged in your behalf, to give you the victory over sin—even resurrection power; for "if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh." The power of sin may be fully broken by the superior power of the Spirit, therefore, "sin shall not have dominion over you," "if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you" in all of its fulness.
How Shall We Establish the Living Connection
with this Source of divine power? Suppose an electric car is standing "dead" upon the rails. The trolley is not in contact with the "live" wire above. The conductor places the trolley in contact with the "live" wire overhead, the connection with the great generating motor is made, the car speeds on its course. Faith is the trolley that connects us with the power above, and brings a living current supply of the Spirit, the life of God, into our lives, enabling us to pursue our course heavenward. Reader, have you established this connection with the Power supply of the universe. If so, do not relinquish your hold of the Spirit, and thereby cut yourself off from your base of supply.
The Holy Spirit forms also our telegraph and telephone connection with the throne of God. By the Spirit we are in touch with Him, and by the same Spirit we talk with Him and He hears us. Of all generations who have ever been upon the stage of action, the present population of the globe should be "not faithless, but believing." While the power of electricity was questioned when first discovered, with its present development even the most unenlightened will believe with the most highly intellectual, in the marvels produced by this so-called fluid.
If man has discovered one of God's created agencies, and so marvelously applied it to his own purposes, why should it stagger our faith to accept the fact, the universal agency of the Spirit of God?
It was not the Spirit which inspired the thoughts contained in the Book of books. "Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost!" It is by the operation of this same Spirit—God's omnipresent life—that the grass grows, the flowers bud and blossom, and emit their fragrance. It colors the rose, it paints the lily; it supplies the life principle in all seeds, which grow in infinite variety, to furnish food to God's creatures. Everything created is an expression of the thought of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is the agency by which all things created came into existence. It is the mysterious life, undiscovered and unanalyzed by all the resources of science, yet flowing freely from the Source of life to every man. Thus the Head of the plan of salvation has infinite resources at His command, and is in reality in touch with all of His creatures in all portions of His dominion.
Is it a reasonable thing to curse our Life-giver? How basely ungrateful to curse our Creator with the very life that He momentarily supplies, or to pervert that life and use it for serving sin.
It is good to recognize God's omnipresence, and to be filled with praise to the Sustainer of our lives.
THE HOME BEYOND.
By Max Hill
O home beyond the cloudland,
I see thy gleaming light,
The longed-for happy homeland
Where nevermore is night.
No more I look behind me
Where gloom and doubt appear,
Where sin and grief confined me
With cords and bands of fear;
But onward I am gazing
Where shines a glorious star,
A beacon ever blazing
For sin-tossed men afar.
For soon the Lord descending
With shout and angel song
Shall take to life unending
His saints, a ransomed throng.
To dwell with Him forever
Beyond this vale of tears,
Where death no more can sever,
Nor griefs can come, nor fears.
Within the city dwelling
With loved ones sleeping now,
The Saviour's goodness telling
As at His feet they bow.
O come, my heart is praying,
And bear Thy saints away;
O come, no more delaying,
Come quickly, happy day!
MAX HILL.
Danger for Danger's Sake Is Senseless
Danger for danger's sake is senseless.—Leigh Hunt.
THE PAPACY IN PROPHECY
By Abdiel
By ABDIEL.
THE TWO-HORNED BEAST.
The Image and Mark.
WHILE the two-horned beast is not the Papacy, it is so intimately connected with it that it must be studied in the consideration of the future of the Papacy. It has much to do in the reviving of that power and the healing of the deadly wound.
“And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight. And he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed. And he doeth great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who hath the stroke of the sword and lived. And it was given unto him to give breath to it, even to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name.”
Briefly to review our last two studies.
1. “Beast,” symbol of an earthly power, under its fifth head, the Papacy. “Another beast,” a different beast, occupying different territory, symbolizing a different government. Emphatically so was the United States.
2. The time of its rise was when the papal beast was going into captivity—1798. Then America was just rising to power and recognition among the nations of earth.
3. The place of his rise, “the earth,” in contradistinction to “the sea” of the first beast; the latter representing peoples, multitudes, nations, tongues, of the Old World; the former—the earth—representing the territory outside of the then known world, where, as one writer remarks, “Amid the silences of the earth we [America] grew into empire.”
4. The two horns like a lamb, Christlike symbols, representing civil and religious liberty, equality of man and freedom of choice.
5. The dragon voice, from a heart inspired by the dragon, the deceiver of the world, the persecutor of the church. Rev. 12:9, 13.
6. The “great signs,” the wonderful marvels of this country, manifest in invention, in discovery, in marvelous strides, in great undertakings, in occultism, with its thousand descriptive signs and allurements, manifest in many religious and psychic organizations.
7. He causes the earth and those who dwell therein to make an image to the beast.
The Image.
No kingdom, empire, or dynasty is mentioned in symbolic prophecy unless it is a world-moulding power and comes in connection with the people of God. Every power symbolized by a beast has been at some time in its career antagonistic to the work of God. It is opposed to God’s work because it is a church-and-state government; religion is upheld, promoted, supported, protected, or enforced by the civil power. These two elements constitute a beast-government of prophecy. Such a power, if it be faithful to its professions, must be a persecutor of those who dissent from its law-supported standard. If either element is lacking, it will not be a persecutor, for (1) a church without civil power to enforce its decrees can not persecute; (2) a civil power unconnected with religion will have no desire to persecute. The liberty which a beast-power grants to dissenters, it calls toleration; the liberties which a purely civil power grants to its citizens are rights belonging to each and all, irrespective of religious belief. When one of the heads of the beast of Revelation 13 received its death-stroke was when men rose up in wrath and deprived the dominant religious element of civil power.
Court-Made Law.
To make an image to the beast is to unite religion with the state, or to place dogmas and institutions of the religious element under the protection and the support of civil law. Ordinarily in this government that would mean the long process of change of constitution; but in these marvelous days men have learned a shorter way—through court decision, or “judge-made law.” To this purpose is the Trinity Church decision in February, 1892, in which the Supreme Court declared, contrary to the very genius of the government and the express statements of its constitution, that “this is a Christian nation.” Both houses of Congress and the Executive committed the government to the same evil principle a few months later by closing the Chicago World’s Fair on Sunday, and thus acting as a tribunal on religious questions.
Not thus did Congress in 1829 and 1831, when the same controversy in another form was brought to that body. It plainly said in so many words that Congress had nothing to do with religious questions in any way, shape, or manner.
8. The Worship of the Image and Beast.
The highest worship which men can render is obedience, service. “Ye are My friends,” said Jesus, “if ye do whatsoever I command you;” “If ye love Me, ye will keep My commandments.” The word which corresponds to Lord, is servant. Jesus says of those who profess to serve Him, “Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Satan, the tempter, said to Jesus, “All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me,” but Jesus responded, “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord, thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Enforcing the worship of beast and image is enforcing the religious demands of beast and image.
9. Giving life to the image and causing it to speak is simply placing in statute law what the union of religion with the state in the image of the beast and the sentiment of the people demand.
10. The Death Penalty.
It has ever been true that the highest penalty is attached to the laws considered the most important, the laws upon which the stability of the government depends, or the highest interests of its subjects. If religion be considered a proper matter of legislation, it goes without saying that, inasmuch as religion pertains not alone to the life which now is, but to that which is to come, it becomes of vastly greater importance to the stability of the government and the good of its subjects than any matters purely civil. An infraction of the religious law is counted a crime against High Heaven, of which the government is representative. When, then, a government goes so far as to reverse the very charters of its existence and establish by law a union of religion with the state, it may be safely reckoned that persistent opposition to that union will be counted treason against the government, of which the penalty is death. The last step, the execution of the penalty, is in the first step the defining or enforcement of religion by law.
The Mark of the Beast.
11. Out of religious strife, as out of political, grow party shibboleths and watchwords, badges, and ensigns. The religious controversy of the last days will all eventually center around the law of God and loyalty to Him.
The stamp of authority in that law is the fourth commandment. It reveals the God who gave the law, the great Jehovah; the extent of His jurisdiction, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. It is the one commandment over which the crucial test of all the ages has come. When it has been observed, there has been faithfulness in all the others. When it has been departed from, sun-worship and abominable idolatry have resulted. It has ever been one of the chief points of attack by the devil; and it will be in the latter days.
Opposed to this is the counterfeit which Satan has sought to thrust in its place, “the wild8solar holiday of all pagan times,” the great high day of the heathen, the day dedicated to sun-worship among the nations, and hence called Sunday.
Tho good men have observed it, just as good men have innocently passed counterfeit bills, it is not of God. It has no support in His Word, as acknowledged by many of those who observe it. It is classed among the six working days. It came into the church of Christ with the apostasy. Born of heathenism, adopted by the Papacy, sad to say, it has been fostered and nourished by Protestantism, in a most un-protestant way, namely, by civil law.
The Papacy squarely sets it forth as the mark of her authority. Contrast the teaching of God’s law with that of the Papacy. This is God’s law of the Sabbath:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant; nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8-11.
And now read this from “Butler’s Catechism:”
Ques.—Say the third [our fourth] commandment.
Ans.—Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
Q.—What is commanded by the third [fourth] commandment?
A.—To spend the Sunday in prayer and other religious duties.
But this is not what is commanded by the Sabbath commandment. Listen further from another papal work, “Abridgement of Christian Doctrine:”
Ques.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
Ans.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
Q.—How do you prove that?
A.—Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.
A hundred other authorities might be cited, both Protestant and Catholic, to prove the above, but let this suffice. One of the marks which Daniel gave of this power is, “He shall think to change the times and the law.” Dan. 7:25, A. R. V. The Roman Church declares, We have done that very thing.
To what other conclusion can we come, then, than this: The Sunday in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord is the mark of the beast-power, the stamp of its authority. But mark, dear reader, the writer is not saying that all who have kept or are keeping Sunday have the mark of the beast. This subject we will consider in our next.
WHY?
By Flora E. Yergin
WHY should we fret and worry
When clouds roll 'round apace?
Behind each one
Is the shining sun,
With love in his smiling face.
Often the seeds of sorrow,
We sowed when the storm was near,
Afar will spread,
E'er the seed be dead,
For many a weary year.
And often the words of comfort
We scattered in falling rain,
Will climb the steep
Where the angels keep
The sheaves of the ripened grain.
FLORA E. YERGIN.
PAUL BEFORE NERO.
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE.
PAUL before Nero—how striking the contrast! The height of earthly power, authority, and wealth, as well as the lowest depths of crime and iniquity, had been reached by the haughty monarch before whom the man of God was to answer for his faith. In power and greatness, Nero stood unrivaled. There were none to question his authority, none to resist his will. Kings laid their crowns at his feet. Powerful armies marched at his command, and the ensigns of his navies betokened victory. His statue was set up in the halls of justice, and the decrees of senators and the decisions of judges were but the echo of his will. Millions of subjects bowed in obedience to his mandates. To incur his displeasure was to lose property, liberty, life. His frown was more to be dreaded than a pestilence.
Without money, without friends, without counsel, Paul had been brought forth from a dungeon to be tried for his life. His experience had been one of poverty, self-denial, and suffering. With a sensitive nature, which thirsted for love and sympathy, he had braved misrepresentation, reproach, and abuse; shrinking with nervous dread from pain and peril, he had fearlessly endured both. Like his Master, he had been a homeless wanderer; he had lived and suffered for the truth's sake, seeking to bless humanity and to live the Christ-life. How could Nero, a capricious, passionate, licentious tyrant, be expected to understand or appreciate the character and motives of this son of God?
Paul and Nero Face to Face!
The countenance of the monarch bearing the shameful record of the passions that raged within; the countenance of the prisoner telling the story of a heart at peace with God and man. The results of opposite systems of education stood that day contrasted—a life of unbounded self-indulgence and a life of entire self-sacrifice. Here were the representatives of two theories of life—all-absorbing selfishness, which counts nothing too valuable to be sacrificed for momentary gratification, and self-denying endurance, ready to give up life itself, if need be, for the good of others.
The Jews brought against Paul the old charge of sedition and heresy, while both Jews and Romans accused him of instigating the burning of the city. While these accusations were urged against him, Paul preserved unbroken serenity. The people and the judges looked at him in surprise. They had been present at many trials, and had looked upon many a criminal; but never had they seen a man wear a look of such holy calmness as did the prisoner before them. The keen eyes of the judges, accustomed to read the countenances of prisoners, in vain searched Paul's face for some evidence of guilt.
When Paul was permitted to speak in his own behalf, all listened with eager interest to his words. Once more he had an opportunity to uplift before a wondering multitude the banner of the cross. With more than human eloquence and power he presented the truths of the Gospel. His words struck a chord that vibrated in the hearts even of the most hardened. Truth, clear and convincing, overthrew error. Light shone into the minds of many who afterward gladly followed its rays. The words spoken on this occasion were destined to shake nations. They were endowed with a power that would enable them to live through all time, influencing the hearts of men when he who uttered them should be silent in a martyr's grave.
His Burden for Others.
As Paul gazed upon the throng before him—Jews, Greeks, Romans, with strangers from many lands—his soul was stirred with an intense desire for their salvation. He lost sight of the occasion, of the perils surrounding him, of the terrible fate that seemed so near. He saw only Jesus, the Intercessor, pleading before God in behalf of sinful men. He pointed his hearers to the sacrifice made for the fallen race. An infinite price had been paid for man's redemption. Provision had been made for him to share the throne of God. By angel messengers, earth was connected with heaven, and all the deeds of men, whether good or evil, were open to the eye of infinite Justice.
Thus pleads the advocate of truth; faithful among the faithless, loyal among the disloyal, he stands as God's representative, and his voice is as a voice from heaven. There is no fear, no sadness, no discouragement, in word or look. Strong in a consciousness of innocence, clothed in the panoply of truth, he rejoices that he is a son of God. His words are as a shout of victory above the roar of battle. He declares that the cause to which he has devoted his life is the only cause that can never fail. Tho he may perish for the truth's sake, the Gospel will not perish. God lives, and His truth will triumph.
Paul's countenance beams with the light of heaven. Many who looked upon him "saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." Tears dimmed many eyes. The Gospel found its way to the hearts of many who but for Paul's witness would never have been led to the Saviour.
Death
DEATH is the ugly fact which Nature has to hide, and she hides it well.—Alexander Smith.
GOD OUR REFUGE.
By Susan Birdsall Roberts
"For this God is our God forever and ever,
He will be our guide even unto death."
My lips open Thou, and my tongue shall sing praises,
Praises to Him with unfaltering breath.
God is our refuge and strength in all trouble;
Let the sea roar, and the billows roll high;
Call, O my soul, in faith, ever humble,
Present thou'lt find Him, a refuge e'er nigh.
Not unto us, not to us be the glory;
Not unto us, but unto Thy great name;
Loving and tender, Father, Defender,
God changeth not; He is ever the same.
Down to old age, when the frail bark is drifting,
And gray hairs are wafted on each passing wave,
His canopy o'er us; His arm shall enfold us;
His strong arm so tender, yet mighty to save.
SUSAN BIRDSALL ROBERTS.
A Blush in the Face
BETTER a blush in the face than a blot in the heart.—Cervantes.