THE writer was traveling from S. C. to S. F. not long ago, when an old lady and gentleman got on at P. Junction. The old lady seemed quite feeble, and had a hard coughing spell. At G. a large colored woman, with a head and face denoting intelligence, sympathy, and kindness, came into the car and sat down opposite the old couple.
It was not long before the old lady had another coughing spell, and the colored woman sat looking at her with her face full of sympathy. In a few minutes she coughed again, this time so violently that the old gentleman raised the window, motioning to me to do the same with mine. This time the colored woman came and sat down beside the old lady, and, drawing her tired head over on her motherly bosom, began to stroke her hair.
I resumed reading my book, but was soon conscious of a sound that did not belong to the rumbling of the train. As I sat listening, I imagined it was a musical sound, and yet I could not tell whence it came. Just at that moment the wind coming in at the open window brought to my ears the low hum of a negro melody, so low as to be scarcely audible. The colored woman was singing an old familiar hymn in a musical, soothing voice such as none but the colored race possess. I felt a moistening of the eye, as I realized that that lowly follower of the gentle Saviour had seen in that needy soul "one of the least of these My brethren."
How many of us, dear reader, prepare to entertain the heavenly Guest, and then refuse to serve Him because He does not come clothed in purple robes, as we expected?
The singing continued until the train stopped at S. J., where the colored woman got off, leaving the old lady with tears in her eyes.
"As ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."
H. H. HAYNES.
THE work of the day is ended,
Its trials and duties done,
And I watch in the western heavens
The gleams of the setting sun;
And my heart is hot and restless,
And its longings been denied,
And I've missed the offered blessing.
How can I be satisfied?
I look on the glowing heavens;
There is written, "God is love,"
Till within my heart there stealeth
The peace of heaven above.
By faith beyond the mountains
I see the "crystal sea;"
And beside it the beautiful city,
So far, yet so near to me.
There bloom the beautiful flowers
With the fragrance of heaven sweet;
There gleam the many mansions,
And the shining golden street.
I rest in the cooling shadows
Of the tree with healing rife,
That grows by the life-fraught river,
The beautiful "river of life."
With glittering crowns and golden,
There gather the white-robed throng,
And they sing the story olden,
The glad redemption song.
I gaze on the face of the Ruler,
My Saviour, my Light, my All,
The King, Creator eternal,
Yet notes He a sparrow's fall.
Sometime, when life's work is ended,
The task He has given is done,
I shall see in the eastern heavens
A glory more bright than the sun;
Then will fall o'er my restless spirit
A hush, eternal and sweet;
I shall cross the beautiful river,
And sit at the Master's feet.
Adams Center, Wis. LOUISE BIDWELL.
THE LIGHT OF LIFE.
By William S. Sadler
"In Him was life; and the life was the Light of men." He is "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Jesus Himself says: "I am the Light of the world." "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 1:4, 9; 9:5; 10:10.
In the light that shines from the throne of God, there is life for those who accept it, and who are willing to walk in it. "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7. On one side we have light and life; on the other side, darkness and death. As children of God, we have been called out of darkness (death) into His marvelous light (life).
"With Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light." Ps. 36:9. The light of life must penetrate to our hearts. It must influence the whole life. It must illumine the mind and transform the character. It is not enough to hold truth as a theory in the mind; it must reach the heart, and find expression in the life. The light we refuse to live will be taken from us; yea, it will go out in darkness, and our souls will be left in awful peril.
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matt. 5:16. We let our light shine by living it. The true light is the life of Christ; for "in Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Every soul that walks in the light, as far as it has been revealed to him, will be glorifying God by the life he lives.
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." John 8:12. The child of God walks not in darkness, the way of death. He walks in the way of the light of life. Every ray of divine light is laden with the divine life. It is by the aid of this light that we come to know God, whom to know "is life eternal." John 17:3.
The rejection of light is the rejection of life. To neglect or reject rays of light from the Word of truth is in reality to crucify Christ afresh, and put Him to open shame. The trampling underfoot of light is the crucifixion of life. The acceptance or rejection of light is that which turns the judgment balance in which every soul must hang.
In accepting the light of truth, man takes hold of the most powerful transforming agent in the universe. We should not waste precious time in fighting error. Hold up the light. Let the light of life shine in and through us; and just as the rays of sunlight mean sudden death to any and all disease germs, so the rays of the light of life are the most powerful means with which to combat error. Then let us waste no time in antagonizing the wrong. Simply let the light of truth shine forth in the moral darkness round about. W. S. SADLER.
"TO THYSELF."
By Editor
THE apostle Paul exhorts, "Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God." Rom. 14:22. He has before given a reason for this personal application: "For we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. . . . Every one of us shall give account OF HIMSELF to God." Verses 10-12.
He tells us again that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men." Verses 17, 18.
Now the lesson is twofold. Let us make it personal: (1) We are not to judge our brother; we are not to force him to our terms; "for who art thou that judgest another man's servant?" We and he together must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, and there each must give an account of himself. (2) Our faith must be personal, to ourselves.
The things which the apostle is here setting right do not occur as between a worldling and Christian, but between Christians themselves. We who judge our brother and wish to exercise faith for him rejoiced when he yielded his sin and gave his heart to the Lord. But there is something that the brother still practises which does not quite suit us. He may not quite meet our ideas of dress; he may not eat just as we do; his ideas of some scriptures may not be just like ours; and we unsparingly condemn him, forgetting that our self-assumed judgment may be a thousand times worse than his sin, of which perhaps the Lord has not yet convicted him. We hunt up those texts which condemn him. We quote them in our testimony in social or class meeting; and we wonder that after all our effort our words have so little or no effect.
Perhaps we are a husband, and our wife does not see things as we do in every respect, and we throw at her such texts as Eph. 5:22; Col. 3:18; 1 Peter 3:1, etc. We quote them in the morning and at night; but somehow they have no effect unless it be to make the matter worse. And we get to feeling that the brother is not Christian, the wife does not know the Lord.
What is the trouble? The brother may be doing wrong; the wife may not be acting right. We are sure of this. The trouble lies right here: God has not given us the sentence of judgment. We are endeavoring to act both the part of the Judge and the Spirit. We seek to condemn, and apply the correction; and we are only man, as full of imperfections as brother or wife.
Those scriptures which condemn our brother are for him to take home to his heart, to make by faith application of them to his daily life. The Spirit will do the work.
We are piling up condemnation against a door which opens outward, and battering away for admission of our ideas. Do we wonder the door will not open?
The texts we throw at our wife may be needed by her; but they are for the wife's faith not ours. Let her read them and let the Spirit of truth do its work.
But what shall we do?—Read the Word, and let our faith in it be to ourselves. If we are husbands, here is our text: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church." Eph. 5:25. "Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them." Col. 3:19. All husbands may study these scriptures with profit.
Let us be careful that neither brother nor wife stumble over our eating or drinking, our life or actions. "Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify [build up] another. . . . It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Hast thou faith? have it to THYSELF before God."
Life and Immortality: Man’s Condition in Death
LIFE AND IMMORTALITY. No. 8.
Man's Condition in Death.
ALL life is from God. Life unperverted is eternal. Its perversion is sin; and "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." All men are, therefore, doomed to death; for "it is appointed unto men once to die."
But many who die, die in the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Many others—for "broad is the road"—die in their sins, hating God, and loving only self.
Does the former class go direct to their reward in heaven? Does the latter go direct to punishment, or misery? Is there a middle state, called "purgatory," for some? Or do all lie in silent, unconscious sleep till the resurrection? These are important, vital questions, which can be settled only by the Word of God.
That man is alive when he is dead, that he is even more conscious and intelligent than when he walked the earth, are the foundation-stones of "Modern Spiritualism" (more properly Spiritism), and of the doctrines of transmigration of souls, purgatory, eternal misery, saint-worship, hero-worship, and of every heathen polytheism in the world.
The question can not be decided by science, which rests upon demonstration. It is a question of simple faith in the Word of God and the reasonableness of His whole plan concerning man. It is also the testimony of our own normal senses. We see our neighbor about us in the full bloom of health. We see old age creep upon him. We note the failure of his physical and mental powers. He reaches his second childhood. He becomes so feeble that he seeks his last bed. He lies down, and dies. Friends and neighbors sympathize; sons and daughters mourn; and a loved companion, with grief beyond expression, bows her trembling form at the bedside of death. Through all the years of life he has been wont to respond quickly to her call, but now she calls in vain. The mute lips give no response, the eye returns no answering glance, the fixed features no sign of consciousness; he is dead, and, so far as human power is concerned, dead forevermore.
Now did not the real man die? Was it not the real man that the Lord addressed when He said, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return"? Was it not the real man that sinned? Or did the poor flesh alone meet the result of sin, while the real man entered into a higher state of existence? According to the Scripture, man, the whole man, died.
Now the doctrine that man lives and is conscious when he is dead, is diametrically opposed to three great Bible facts—if the doctrine be true, making them of none effect. These are, (1) the judgment, (2) the resurrection, (3) the second coming of Christ.
1. The Judgment.—The Scriptures teach that in the future there will be a general judgment, when the cases of all who have ever lived, with the influence they have exerted during all time, will be brought before the great Judge of all. Here are a few plain texts upon this point:—
"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12:14.
"For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. 5:10.
"But why dost thou judge thy brother? . . . for we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ. . . . Every one of us shall give account of himself to God." Rom. 14:10-12.
Furthermore, this judgment will take place at a certain time, a definite season, in connection with Christ's second coming, as the following passages will clearly show:—
"Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." Acts 17:31.
"God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and every work." Eccl. 3:17.
"Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom." 2 Tim. 4:1.
"Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people." Ps. 50:3, 4.
"For He cometh to judge the earth; He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth." Ps. 96:13.
These and many other scriptures clearly show that the judgment of all is reserved till the last, and will not be executed till Christ shall come again. But if the righteous and sinner go to their reward at death, then are they judged already, and of what use is the great judgment day? Or is it possible that some have been cast into hell who should have gone to heaven, and vice versa, and that the judgment is necessary to determine this? God does not work in such haphazard way. Nothing that He does now makes unnecessary the judgment. The judgment will determine the destiny of all, and will vindicate God's character.
2. The Resurrection.—The future life of him who dies is, in the Bible, made to depend upon the resurrection; and the resurrection does not take place until the last day. In fact, there is no hope held out even for the righteous who die, save in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, and the resurrection of those who believe through Him when He comes. Here are some of the texts which teach this:7
"But we would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are fallen asleep; that ye sorrow not, even as the rest, which have no hope. . . . For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. . . . Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:13-18. See, also, R.V.
"For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Tho the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away, yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up; so man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that Thou wouldest keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee: Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands." Job 14:7-15.
"But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen; and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. . . . For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. . . . Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." 1 Cor. 15:13-18.
But all of this stress laid upon the resurrection is out of place if the real man does not die but consciously lives on, despite the dissolution of the body. The old Idumean patriarch, with whom God talked, made a great mistake in comforting himself with the hope of God's call from the grave. David, through whose inspired utterances God has comforted the world, was foolish to look forward to the time of satisfaction when he should awake with Christ's likeness (Ps. 17:15; Phil. 3:21), if he went to his reward at death. And if he went to his reward at death, Peter was mistaken when he said one thousand years later, Spirit-filled tho he was, "David is not ascended into the heavens." Acts 2:34. And Paul was mistaken in declaring that if there was no resurrection from the dead, those fallen asleep in Christ were perished. The hope of the dead—the Bible hope, the only hope—is the resurrection through Christ Jesus.
3. The Second Coming of Christ.—The hope of the world culminates in the second coming of Christ. It is "the blessed hope." It is the time when Christ takes His own kingdom, raises the righteous dead, changes to immortality the righteous living, and rewards the good of all the ages. Listen to a few of the many inspired utterances of patriarch, prophet, apostle, and Divine Teacher:—
"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and tho after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not a stranger." Job 19:25-27, margin.
"Our God shall come. . . . And the heavens shall declare His righteousness; for God is judge Himself." Ps. 50:3-6.
"And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isa. 25:9.
"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to His works." Matt. 16:27.
"When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory." See Matt. 25:31-46.
"We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound [1 Thess. 4:13-16, see above], and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. . . . Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:51-55.
"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him." Rev. 1:7.
"And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.
And this coming Paul tells us is "the blessed hope." Titus 2:13. But all these great facts and precious assurances are made of none effect by the theory of the conscious state of the dead and that man goes to his reward at death.
If this theory be true, of what use is the judgment of which God warns us? If this theory be true, of what use the resurrection, which the apostle presents before those who had lost friends, as the ground of true comfort and hope? If men are rewarded at death and enter a higher life than they enjoyed in the body, why the resurrection and a renewed body? If men receive their reward when they die, of what use is the second coming of our Lord, of which coming patriarchs and prophets and saints in all ages have sung?
But the judgment, the resurrection, the glorious coming of Christ, with its eternal rewards of merit, are facts, and the natural inherent immortality of man is among the falsehoods and spurious counterfeits of Satan, even tho believed by good men.
The positive Biblical testimony of the condition of man in death we will leave till another number.
THE GROWING MANIA FOR TITLES.
By G.
THE waning of republican principles in the United States is nowhere more emphatically indicated than in the thirsting after royalty in social circles. Notwithstanding the almost invariable failure of the marriages of American heiresses and "beauties" with foreign gentlemen with inherited titles, the "society" people (especially the women) are everywhere ambitious for such alliances for themselves or for members of their families. A straw showing the desire to soar above the characteristic simplicity of real republican life, is seen in the following society item in a San Francisco journal of recent date:—
All the belles are patiently waiting for the next steamer to arrive from Nome. Why?—'Cause some "real, really real" counts from Russia are expected to arrive. They are rated as the genuine article, and have been speculating at a great rate in far-away Nome. No sooner had the news reached here than many enterprising mamas were thinking and planning. But there's a stumbling-block—a bright married lady, young and beautiful, has promised to take these counts under her protection, and, of course, mamas are "awful mad" and grumbling, and are saying that "a young married lady shouldn't be so captivating." O, it is really too bad, the sufferings of these mamas! Now callers are coming in droves to see this lucky lady. They are over-enthusiastic in their praises, for it is lovely to be invited to dinner and meet titles.
The older the country becomes, the greater the influence wielded by "society." And society is nothing without women; and where the women's heads are turned after titles, there must follow a consequent disposition on the part of men to have something of the kind here. At present our only approximate equivalent is in the military and naval service, or in certain political offices of high rank. This increasing mania for titles is one of the influences that is propagating the spirit of militarism in the United States. It means a sad waning of the once simple republican principles in the daily life of the most prominent citizens. The remedy is given by the Lord, and it is the only remedy: "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." Matt. 11:29. This is the only road to true royalty; for "he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." By following the humble example of the "meek and lowly" One, who now has "a name that is above every name," it is possible for every one to become a prince or a princess in the royal family of the universe. These earthly, perishing titles are but snares to entrap unwary souls, and he is apparently making an extensive "catch" with the alluring bait.
G.
QUESTION CORNER
By Editor
1089. Who is the Seed of Gal. 3:16?—Christ and all who are Christ's. Seed means race, posterity. "Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his Seed [posterity]. He saith not, And to seeds [posterities] as of many; but as of one, and to thy Seed [posterity], which is Christ." The Seed is the spiritual posterity, all of which are children of Christ. The promise is of the inheritance. The inheritance is of the world. Rom. 4:13. The coming of the Seed to the inheritance will not be till Christ comes to take the kingdom, with all His posterity. That will be at His second coming. Study with this Eze. 21:25-27; Luke 19:11, 12; Dan. 7:13, 14; Matt. 25:31, 34.
The Soul at Death
By Editor
1090. N. A. B. Soul at Death.—We do not know what our correspondent means by soul. When a person dies, "then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit [life] shall return unto God who gave it." Eccl. 12:7. See also Luke 12:20: "This night is thy soul ["life," margin] required of thee." R.V. All life is from God. At death all return to Him. All alike lie down to sleep till Christ shall come, the righteous to awake to immortality, the wicked to the second death. Job 14:10-15; 17:13; 19:25, 26; Ps. 17:15, etc. See the articles on "Life and Immortality," now running in the SIGNS.
Tormented Forever and Ever
By J. H. P.
1091. J. H. P. Rev. 20: 10; Mal. 4: 1.—The one text explains the other. Mal. 4:1 declares that all who identify themselves with sin will be destroyed with sin, root and branch, Satan and sinners. The torment or testing will be final; it will forever settle the question of sin. But beyond the burning lies a clean universe, where "there shall be no more curse." Rev. 22:3. For a fuller explanation of these and other passages, see Bible Students' Library No. 111, entitled "Tormented Forever and Ever, or God's Test of Immortality." Price, 2 cents by mail.
The law is that which was “added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made.” Now, (1) the word “added” is from the Greek prostitheemi, defined by Strong, “to place additionally, i. e., to lay beside, annex, repeat.” It is rendered “spoken” in Heb. 12:19, having direct reference to the Ten Commandments. And the word “added,” in Deut. 5:22, from the same Greek word in the Septuagint, has also direct reference to the Ten Commandments. God spoke, or added them in that visible, tangible, audible form. (2) “Because of transgressions.” Man was by sinning so obliterating his sense of sin that it was necessary to give him the law in such a form that it could not be gainsaid. It was given, spoken, added in this form “that the offense might abound,” “that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” Rom. 5:20; 7:13. (3) The Seed is the Lord Jesus Christ and all His. It is Christ and His posterity, the children of faith, who will be manifested when Christ shall appear. 1 John 3:2. The promise is that of the inheritance, the earth made new. And the coming of the Seed is the coming to inherit. Eze. 21:25-27; Matt. 25:31-34. The law was spoken, added in its written form, to convince of sin (Rom. 3:20) till the Gospel work ends and Christ shall come. (4) So it concludes all under sin (Gal. 3:22); those who do not believe are still “under the law,” condemned by it (verse 23; John 3:18); yet while condemning us it leads us to the only One who can save,—Jesus Christ. When we believe, it is the blessed witness of the true righteousness we have in Him. Rom. 3:21, 22.
THERE is scarcely a man or woman in the world to-day who is not giving more or less thought to the great problems that confront the inhabitants of earth. In every walk of life there is manifest a feverish energy, a spirit of active unrest, a feeling that just beyond is some unforeseeable climax which in some way will bring in a new order of things.
Take the military situation, for example. While the blast of the bugle and the roll of the drum are summoning for conflict the armies of practically every nation under the sun, there is dread uncertainty in every movement. The past few weeks have presented a striking object-lesson to the thoughtful observer. Like the rush of a tornado comes the clash of arms in China, and in a few days all the great world powers are hurrying men and munitions of war to the scene; all are prepared for the work of death and destruction. In a few days more come rumors, and then confirmed reports, of ruptures between the "allies," jealousies, intrigues, distrust, showing that scarcely for the common interest and safety of all can they keep violent hands off one another. Each government, naturally, is full of its own selfish plans, and is ready to fight for its real or fancied rights. The work of arming, drilling, building navies and forts, enlarging armies, etc., goes on and on. While "diplomacy" restrains somewhat the spirit of the times, how long will conservative men be able to avert the dreadful, devastating scourge of war, when the military spirit runs rampant through the land, and upon the least pretext the people clamor to be led against the foe? Where and how will this reign of militarism end?
Then look at the political situation in our land to-day. It is needless to particularize, as that is being done continually through the dailies and other papers. Without desiring to cast reflection on individuals, we say without fear of being controverted that the "practical politics" by which this government is controlled to-day, are corrupt to the core. Especially is this true in the large cities of the land. Public officials are no longer chosen on account of fitness for certain positions. Elections are almost universally controlled by ring-politics. From the national candidate down to the red-nosed, blear-eyed "heeler" of the toughest ward, is simply a ring within a ring, a system by which men are elevated to positions of public trust and responsibility to whose progenitors could be truly said, as Augustus said to Livia, "Your son is too vile to wear the purple of Rome." And the result is that the people are robbed, the government prostituted to the service of corporations so as to oppress the people, courts are corrupted, "justice is turned away backward, . . . and equity can not enter."
As the people begin to see these things, they are stirred to desperation; the seeds of anarchy are sown in the human breast, and, failing eventually to find a remedy in the ballot, resort will be had to the sword and bullet. Just now a supreme effort is being made to throw responsibility for this condition of things largely upon a particular party or administration, and promises are made that in a change of administrations relief will come,—the iron hand of paternalistic oppression be raised, the specter of imperialism be dethroned. And this it is that brings the spirit of intensity and bitterness into the present national political contest. But no man or administration will ever again clarify the politics of this world. The root of the matter is Satan working in the hearts of man. Politics, in the very nature of the case, will continue, as in years past, to grow worse and worse. The question of questions for consideration now is, What will the end be? Are we ready for the crisis?
So we might set forth the influences at work in other spheres of life,—drunkenness, vice, and iniquity, which are undermining our whole social structure; organized capital and monopolistic corporations, called forth and arrayed against organized labor, which, led by men of selfish and unregenerate hearts, is often as cruel and tyrannical as the power to which it is opposed; the spirit of worldliness, ungodliness, and departure from the pure, true principles of the Gospel and Word of God so markedly observed in the professed churches of Christ. The words of inspiration vividly depicting the stirring scenes of the time just preceding Christ's second advent, are now fulfilling before our very eyes. Unseen but potent elements are at work, hurrying us onward to a climax in all these directions, and they will converge, culminating in one universal crisis, which will be the final consummation of all things earthly. What then?—"Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn;" but "unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."
J. B. GREENWOOD.
UTTERANCES OF AMERICAN PAPERS.
By Editor
PROPHECY in the Word of God indicates that this nation will become imperial in purpose and action, if not in name. Here are utterances from three American newspapers, which we give without comment:—
"For a long time thinking people who have large commercial interests have felt unsafe with our present form of government. Now is a good time to do away with our obsolete Constitution, and adopt a form of government that will be logical, with expansion ideas, and will give ample protection to capital.
"A constitutional monarchy is probably the most desirable plan that we could now adopt. Everything is ripe for the change. We take it that the great farming interests of our land will readily adapt themselves to the change. The farmer is a great lover of law and order, and anti-monarchy is largely the expression of French revolutionary ideas suggested by hot-headed theorists.
"We believe that history and experience have proven beyond cavil that a republican form of government can not subsist beyond a certain stage. That as soon as a people become rich, strong, and great, the republic droops and dies. We believe this is so of necessity and not by chance. We believe that there is not a single case of record where the masses of a great nation possessed the intelligence to initiate laws, and were intelligent enough to compel the enforcement of such good laws as they might pass.
"It would seem as if science teaches that men are created to follow their masters—the inspired minds of the world. History shows that a king must be and is found in every nation to guide its people in every great crisis. Neither is the change to be dreaded or looked forward to with foreboding. While we are in fact largely under the conditions of a monarchy, we have the evils without the benefits of the same."—Des Moines (Iowa) Globe.
"Fate has decreed for us a destiny in which an imperial executive free from the restraints of a written constitution will govern the Colonies according to his own ideas."—Army and Navy Journal of Washington, D. C.
"It is folly to assert that the policy of this country shall be governed by absurd maxims uttered more than a hundred years ago. The greatest evil which now confronts us is the clamor about the old Declaration of Independence, to the effect that all men ought to be free and equal. This is merely generalization of the doctrines of Voltaire and the encyclopædists.
"It is a dictum absolutely lacking foundation in history and incapable of syllogistic justification. It suited our purpose in 1776, when we were breaking away from the mother country, but it was only a bit of sublimated demagogism. To bring forward this Declaration in this year 1900 is as gross an absurdity as ever was practised, and an insult to the intelligence of the people."—Boston Investors' Review, of July 28.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.
It is refreshing to find such forthright utterances as the following by a religious denominational paper in these days when intolerance of unpopular beliefs is growing more manifest. This is from the Christian Advocate, and is entitled, "Within His Legal and Moral Right."
"A citizen of Connecticut has left about fourteen thousand dollars, the residue of his estate, to the Advent Publication Society of Boston. The provision of the will is:—
"I hereby give, devise, and bequeath the remainder of my estate to the Advent Christian Publication Society, located in Boston, which is duly and legally formed and organized. I charge this society with the duty of faithfully improving, according to their judgment and wisdom, chiefly by publications, in counteracting as far as may be the greatest of all pagan delusions, and upon which is founded all the great systems of error and superstition in the world—namely, the unscriptural, unreasonable, and pernicious doctrine of the immortality of the soul—that hereby the entire Christian system may be readily and clearly perceived, and the way leading to eternal life made free and plain to all who will follow it.
"Some of the heirs have appealed against the probate of the will and taken the case to the Supreme Court. They claim that it would be contrary to public policy to allow the bequest to stand, which is made for the purpose of attacking a doctrine universally believed by Christian peoples, and which is a corner-stone of civilization. This is no ground for breaking a will. This wing of Adventists simply believe this: that immortality is a gift to the true believer; that without this gift people are extinguished by the dissolution of the physical body, but Christ gives the principle of immortal life to those who believe in Him. Mr. Hall, the testator, has been for years a leader in the Second Adventist Church, and has spent thousands of dollars publishing tracts attacking the ordinary view of immortality and the relation of Christianity to it. He has the same right to propagate these views, and leave money to do it, that ordinary Christians have to support the ordinary view. The Unitarians, Universalists, Swedenborgians, and all other classes have similar rights. The great sum that was left to the society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, whereby its fine building was erected, was left by a man who believed in the transmigration of souls, and he was particularly interested in the brutes on that account. An appeal was taken, but the courts decided that it was no evidence of insanity, and that he had a right to act in harmony with his belief."
It will be of interest to know how the court decides this question.
