PAUL writes of Christ: “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”
Paul could not speak to the Jewish converts as plainly as he desired regarding the mystery of godliness. Because of their spiritual weakness, their lack of perception, he could not utter the truth, which, could they have heard aright, with intelligent comprehension, would have been to them a savor of life unto life.
The fault was not with their instructors, but with themselves. They were dull of understanding. Abundant advantages had been given them. They could have increased in understanding regarding Christ, his work, his power to save to the uttermost all who come to him. But they had not pressed onward and upward, improving their opportunity to learn more and still more of the Saviour. Because they had not received in faith the truths imparted to them, their memory was weak. They could not retain in their minds the truths essential to success in character-building.
The apostle calls their attention to their fault in this respect, which had become their spiritual infirmity. Their misconceptions gave them an indistinct view of Christ’s power to make his people a praise in the earth.
How exactly their condition represents the condition of many of the people of God to-day, who have had every advantage, every privilege, and who, feeling the burden of God’s work, ought to be saying with the whole heart, Here I am, Lord; send me. But in the place of being teachers, as they might be, they themselves can not bear the plain application of the Word of God. They do not discern the value of Bible truth. They are not a strength to the church. Had they thoroughly consecrated themselves to the Lord from their first reception of the truth, surrendering themselves unreservedly to him, and obeying the call, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me,” they would have walked in the companionship of Christ, learning his lessons, receiving his divine impress. They would have recognized the claims of Christ, and would not have been half Christians and half worldlings, but whole-hearted Christians, believing and practicing the word, enlightened continually, not dwelling on vague generalities, but proclaiming Christ as the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.
Many who should be far advanced in Christian experience give evidence that they have forgotten the first principles of Christlike service. They are but children in the things of God. Their greatest desire is to carry out their own plans, while plans that the Lord lays before them they declare can not be followed.
In the most definite terms the Lord through Moses set before his chosen people his purpose for them, and the conditions upon which they would be prospered: “Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God; the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondsmen, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them; he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments which I command thee this day, to do them.”
God calls for men whose hearts are warmed by the love of Christ. He will choose workers from among those who are willing to hear his voice and obey his words. Their capabilities may be limited, but they are loyal; and loyalty is of far more value in God’s sight than mere knowledge.
God calls for earnest, high-principled men. He will use such men in his service. But he will separate from his work the lukewarm, worldly-minded, self-exalted ones. Those who have buried their talents will be replaced by men who will put into wise circulation the means God has placed in their hands. Learning lessons of Christ, these workers will combine patience with diligence. Christ’s work will be done. His servants will erect plants in every place in which they can find an opening. On the missionary ground next to our doors,—in the cities around us,—monuments to the truth will be established. By unselfish effort the work of God will be bound off. Humble, devoted laborers will find ways of reaching those who have not had an opportunity to hear the truth.
God’s Word outlines the work that we are to do. In all parts of the world the gospel is to be preached. God calls for volunteers to engage in his work. The canvassing field is in need of recruits. Those who engage in this work in the spirit of the Master will find entrance to the homes of those who need the truth. To these they can tell the simple story of the cross, and God will strengthen and bless them as they lead others to the light. The righteousness of Christ goes before them, and the glory of God is their rearward.
My brother, my sister, it is not enough to fold your hands, and say, “I am in the light.” Are you walking in the light? Is the genuineness of your profession demonstrated by practical, earnest endeavor? He who works for Christ makes steady advancement. It is the doers of the Word who will be justified before God. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
To walk in the light is to walk uprightly, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. The path of obedience is the path to heaven. Following it, we follow on to know the Lord. He who walks uprightly walks surely. The law of God is in his heart, and his steps do not slide. He stands firm in Christ.
There should be constant growth in spirituality, in righteousness, in sanctification. Every faculty of the being is to increase in usefulness. The mind is to be closely united with the mind of the Redeemer, that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we may appear with him in glory.
The Christian pilgrim does not yield to the desire to rest. He moves steadily forward, saying, The day is far spent; the night is at hand. This is his motto. “Not as though I had already attained,3either were already perfect: but I follow after. . . . I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
My Lord Delayeth His Coming
By G. B. Thompson
G. B. THOMPSON
SOMEWHAT recently, in conversation with a gentleman, he said, “Do you believe that Mr. —— believes that the Lord is coming soon?” I replied that he was a member of the church, and had been for several years, and says that he does. He said, “I know that he is a member of the church, and for a number of years has professed to believe in the soon coming of the Lord. He has talked it everywhere, but I do not believe that he believes what he professes. His actions do not so speak; for he already has more of this world than he can really use, and instead of lessening his earthly possessions, as I think a man should who believes what he professes to believe, he is adding on farms, and accumulating in other ways. For one, I do not believe he really believes in the coming of the Lord.”
This conversation called forcibly to my mind the words of the Saviour in Matt. 24: 48-51. After giving the signs in the sun, moon, and stars which are to appear as omens of his second coming, he gives some warnings and exhortations to those who will be living at that time, and says, “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Here is a servant who says, not with his lips, but “in his heart,” that the coming of the Lord is delayed. What is really in the heart is revealed in the actions. We may say we believe the coming of the Lord is near, yet if in our heart we do not really believe it, our actions, what we do, our manner of life, will show what is in the heart.
The Lord is coming in this generation: and the generation which is to witness this momentous event is already hoary with age. Have we been saying that we believed this, yet in actions denying it, all our neighbors who are watching us are coming to the conclusion that we do not believe what we profess? Let us prayerfully ponder this question. Suppose you have a neighbor who informs you that he is going to move in a short time to a distant State, yet when you meet him, the principal theme of his conversation is about the place where he lives, and he says but little about his prospective new home. You see him buying more furniture to fit up the home where he is, and from time to time he adds more acres to his farm. He continues to increase the size of his dairy, and buys new and expensive machinery to operate the farm. Would this look as though he expected to move? In seeing all this would you really believe that “in his heart” he was actually intending to emigrate to another State?—Hardly.
Well, it is the same with us. Though we may say we expect the Lord to come soon, and that the destruction of all things earthly is at hand, yet if we keep on adding to our earthly treasure, and fastening our hold more firmly on worldly things, our neighbors and friends will correctly conclude that while we say we believe the Lord is soon coming, yet “in our heart” we do not believe it.
How is it with us? Does our faithfulness in spiritual things testify to the world that we believe our dear Lord is soon coming? Are we as faithful in attending Sabbath meetings, prayer meetings, and annual convocations where God’s servants meet to seek for strength, as we should be? Are we as faithful as we were years ago? Is our zeal in missionary work such as to impress the world with the fact that we firmly believe that the Lord will come in this generation? Are we sacrificing to extend the work in foreign lands, as those should who believe that the probation of all the world is soon to close? Surely, the time has fully come when every plan and purpose in life should reveal that we are citizens of a heavenly country, and that we expect in a little while to move to that heavenly land.
The Church of Christ a Religious Liberty Society
By R. C. Porter
R. C. PORTER
(Concluded)
AFTER the church, by the judgments of God, was released from the bondage of the state, and was sent forth on her mission in the earth, further development of the work of organization became necessary. Moses’s father-in-law suggested that a distribution of responsibility was essential to the preservation of Moses’s health and the prosperity of the church. His suggestion was that if “God command thee so,” thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. All great matters were to be brought to Moses for consideration; but all the smaller matters were to be decided by them. Ex. 18: 17-24.
It seems that the men here called rulers were called elders in Num. 11: 16. Moses did not arbitrarily appoint these men; but held a conference with the people, and said to them, “Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.” The people concurred in the plan, saying, “The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.” Deut. 1: 13, 14. The principle of individual rights in church government is here respected. The church officials would do nothing affecting the companies of thousands and hundreds and fifties and tens over whom rulers were to be placed, without the consent and co-operation of the people whose right it was to have a voice in their selection.
Thus the principle of individual liberty proclaimed to the state touching rights of conscience in matters religious is here recognized as the fundamental principle of unity of action in the government of the church. In like manner this principle was adhered to in choosing deacons for the church: “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.” Also in sending contributions to Jerusalem, “Whomsoever ye shall approve them will I send.” A failure to recognize this principle in church government is sure to result in disunity.
Realizing that many chosen to be rulers were liable to consider their position as one giving them authority, rather than as requiring them to be ensamples to the people of the principles of righteousness in judgment, Moses gave them this solemn charge: “Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.” Deut. 1: 16, 17.
Moses, being a prophet, was in direct touch with Christ, the head and all-wise counselor of the church in the disposition of these difficult matters. This plan of organization carried out according to the charge given by Moses was designed to bring perfect co-operation throughout the body, from highest to lowest. Free speech and a candid hearing were to be given the small equally with the great. This was God’s plan of church organization. It embraces the fundamental principles of individual liberty in organization, which is the only basis of liberty.
Where difficulty arose, no one, because of official position or social standing, was to be favored in hearing the cause of the differences. But an honest and righteous decision was to be rendered in the fear of God, as if standing in his immediate presence. This was Christ’s organization of his own church for service in the former dispensation. How marked is the contrast between this and any other organization extant at that time. The Lord designed that in the organization of the church should be seen the pure principles of individual liberty manifested in a perfectly organized and united body for more effective work in the earth.
After this organization was completed, God met with them, and gave them his law, which was to be the crowning act of preparation for their becoming a light to the world. Love to God and love to man was to be the basic principle of all their relationship with one another and with the world. If this relationship was as perfect as it was their privilege to enjoy, nothing could cause disunity among them;9for “great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” It is lack of love that spoils the peace of the church, and gives or takes offense that causes trouble. So in preparing this newly organized church for successful operation, the Lord gave it the law of love, which he so well knew was all important in its equipment to make its influence a light to the world.
In the organization of the church the ministry were not to ask the people for a creed to present in their teaching; but they were to take the Word of God and bear it to the people whether they would hear, or whether they would forbear. “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.” A higher tribunal than man was to hold the ministry to a strict account if unfaithful in their calling. Eze. 33: 8. Aaron, listening to the people in the church in his ministry, instead of presenting to them fearlessly the word of God, made a golden calf for them to worship in place of God, in the very face of the Lawgiver at Mt. Sinai. Ex. 32: 1, 2. For this great wickedness God would have destroyed him and the people had not Moses stood in the breach. Ps. 106: 19-23.
Its Plan of Operation
The plan laid by the Lord for the church is unquestionably practical and operative if rightly followed. One essential element in the successful operation of the plan is revealed in the first chapter of Ezekiel. The object lesson used to illustrate it is a view of the Lord’s organization of the universe from his own throne in practical operation. “And their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.” So well organized is God’s great family, that it operates like machinery; yet “the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning,” without collision or friction with any other of the living creatures. How was this possible? The spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. “Whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go.”
In studying the plan of operation of the church organization, too much can not be said of the importance of every church-member’s being controlled by the one Spirit which proceeds from the very Head, which is Christ. If all are under the control of this Spirit, whither his Spirit is to go, they will go. There will then be perfect unity of action.
Christ came to earth, and put this plan to test. He was not an arbitrary leader of the church while here, but a companion and fellow laborer with the brethren in church work. He sent out the seventy “into every city and place, whither he himself would come.” Luke 10: 1. When they returned and reported their work, he thanked God and rejoiced in spirit. He followed in his labors where they had been, not to criticize them or their work, but to preach the gospel to the poor, as it was written: “He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” “And all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.” This was a great encouragement to them in their work.
In the church in his day he organized no confederacy to enforce his wishes in the plans of the church work or selections of church officers. His gentleness, forbearance, pity, and faithfulness in his relation to his fellow disciples, were his testimony concerning how the church was to be operated.
A shortcoming Judas was not harshly dealt with, nor a backsliding Peter summarily set aside. The Master sought with all his heart to save them. Matthew 18 he authorized the withdrawal of the hand of fellowship from erring ones who could not be recovered by faithful labor, but instructed that labor as for the heathen should be continued for their restoration. The organization was never to lose sight of its mission to save a lost world, and never to forget that its primary manifestation of the Spirit of loving service must appear in the home and in the church.
The organization was not to become so vindictive in its working that it would restrain Peter from going to labor for the Gentile Cornelius, when the Spirit so directed him, or prevent Paul from going over to Macedonia under the direction of the same Spirit, or prevent Philip from leaving his field of labor to join himself to the eunuch’s chariot, when the Spirit so directed. On the other hand, the Spirit of Christ, which controls his church, does not ignore organization, but proceeds in harmony with counsel, as seen in the council at Jerusalem. This Spirit cometh from above, and “is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
One most essential thing this Spirit brings to each member of the church is the grace of humility. “In honor preferring one another.” Where this Spirit truly exists, there will be no strife for supremacy. The highest calling in the church of Christ is to be a humble child of God, not to occupy official position. A man may occupy official position, and be very deficient in Christian experience, and find at last when Christ shall write up his people that “there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”
Christ has taken the responsibility of declaring through the prophet Isaiah: “Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” The key that unlocks this desirable situation, and brings it into possession of the church, is also given. “That saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth.” This is the keynote of unity in church government. Confidence in God to bring to pass his pleasure in the church increases confidence in the brethren. Less confidence in self always follows increased confidence in God. Increased confidence in God always gives increased confidence in our fellow men. The Spirit of God is incomparably more potent to adjust difficulties and direct aright in the work of the Lord, than all combined human effort. Human hands must not take hold to steady the ark where the divine Spirit is controlling the work.
In the last message (Rev. 14: 6-12) the church is directed to “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” How bright the prospect before the church for complete unity of action when she heeds the instruction in the fullness of its meaning. Then shall her watchmen know, as Joshua and Caleb of old, that God has charge of his work, and will complete it according to his promise. They were discouraged when Israel turned their backs upon the promised land to wander in the wilderness; but they were in love with their brethren and did not part company with them. When they finally headed in solid phalanx for the land of promise, these men of faith were in the front ranks on the homeward march. The antitype of that joyful day is just at hand. The watchmen are soon to see eye to eye. The world is soon to know that the church of Christ are his disciples because of their love one for another. The earth will then be speedily lightened with the glory of God, and the mystery of God will be finished.
When Jesus comes, he will find his church which he established upon the principles of gospel liberty, “not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” It will be absolutely “without fault before the throne of God,” waiting for his return. In his righteousness alone this is attainable. God lives and reigns, and as surely as he has spoken the word, we shall soon see this happy condition in the church of Christ. This will be attained when each member comes into the right relation to right principles. “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
Worshiping Externals
By D. H. Kress
D. H. KRESS, M. D.
“Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valor, but he was a leper. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy. And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
“And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel.” And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.” This gives the simple narrative of how, through a little maid, this10mighty man of valor was induced to go to Samaria, to a man of God, to be healed of his leprosy. When he arrived and stood at the door of the house of Elisha, Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, “Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away.”
Naaman was disappointed in the simplicity of the remedy to be employed in his restoration. He was a man of wisdom, therefore reasoned as many men of wisdom reason to-day, as men naturally and logically reason. He said, If there is any virtue in water as a remedial agent, “are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel [which was undoubtedly true]? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.” And his servant—who evidently had confidence in God—said, “My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child.”
It is evident that God does not want us to deify remedies employed by him in restoring and healing. Of this there always exists the greatest danger. There is no virtue or healing power in the remedial agent employed. The healing virtue is found only in God. “I am the Lord that healeth thee!” The so-called remedies found in nature—air, water, pure food, etc.—are the means God has chosen through which to convey this healing to man; and while he is not confined to these, it is unwise for man not to recognize them. It is God’s presence, however, and not the water, nor the external applications made, that restores to health. There always has been, and always will be, danger of mortals worshiping the visible, and saying, “These are thy gods.”
People to-day go to places the waters of which are supposed to possess certain virtues. They see only the water. Anciently they flocked to the pool of Bethesda for healing. At the pool Christ healed the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, without asking him to step into the water, that the people might see that the virtue is not to be found in the water, but in him. In his presence there is healing.
The serpent lifted up in the wilderness God employed in restoring health to many people; but the people who were restored saw Christ, not the serpent of brass. Afterward, that lifeless piece of brass became an idol, a god, and was itself worshiped by the people. When the people no longer saw Christ, but only the piece of brass, the Lord suffered it to be demolished. Hezekiah “brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan,” that is, a piece of brass (margin). That is really all it was, merely a piece of lifeless brass. It was worshiped, and no doubt some still affirmed that they were healed by it.
Because of this weakness on the part of man, God has to veil his glory, and truth has to be cradled in a manger, associated with no outward display. “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,” or outward splendor. John said, “There standeth one among you [externally no different from other people standing by], whom ye know not.” “Had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” He came without outward display. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” Many were searching for truth at that time. The Saviour himself said to them, “Search the Scriptures; . . . they are they which testify of me.” Some searched the Scriptures, not as learners, that they might know the truth, but as teachers they searched for material to sustain and build up their wrong, exalted views and conceptions of his coming. True, they were expecting the Messiah, and they are still expecting him. Their Messiah has not yet come.
Confidence in externals proved their ruin. They were looking, as many do to-day, for glorified instead of crucified truth, looking toward the throne instead of the manger. “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.” The great stones of the temple, the mammoth buildings, the great organs and choirs,—these are the things that appeal to the people to-day; so they say, “Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?” The worship of externals is merely beast worship, nothing more or less. The one who depends upon outward display, upon externals, is a beast worshiper. “And all the world wondered after the beast.” “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb.”
Virtue is not found in externals. It was not in the garment that was touched by the woman who was healed. The garment only concealed the virtue. The Saviour said to those who were in danger of worshiping the externals, “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come.” Paul said, “Henceforth know we no man after the flesh; yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more [after the flesh].” Worshiping the flesh, the external, the visible, accounted for their very bitter disappointment when he was crucified: their hope in him whom they thought would deliver Israel was gone. But truth is eternal, and can never perish; for God is eternal. Had their confidence been in truth, in God, they could never have sorrowed as those that had no hope, though heaven and earth should have passed away with Christ after the flesh. The invisible things are eternal. God reveals his character, but conceals his glory. “Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself.”
The Second Coming of Christ
What Does It Mean to This World?
WE are taught by the grace of God to look for the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour. This appearing will not be in a hidden manner, else it could not be spoken of as appearing. Webster defines the word “appearing” as the act of coming into sight; the act of becoming visible to the eye; a thing seen; an appearance in the sky; personal presence; exhibition of the person. Christ then will appear, will be visible to every eye. Rev. 1:7. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Teaching us that . . . we should live soberly, righteously, and godly. . . . Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2: 11-13.
The second coming of Christ has been spoken of by all his holy prophets. “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
On an average, one verse in every twenty-eight in the New Testament speaks of the second coming of Christ.
Enoch understood the coming of Christ, for in Jude 14 we read that he prophesied of the coming of the Lord with ten thousands of his saints. All the generations from Adam to Enoch had the privilege of hearing the message of Christ’s coming directly through Enoch; for Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years, and from creation until the birth of Enoch was six hundred and twenty-two years, so Adam lived three hundred and eight years after the birth of Enoch. Then Methuselah was born three hundred years before Enoch’s translation, so he had a chance to hear directly from his father. Methuselah lived until the year of the flood, and Shem, the second son of Noah, was born ninety-seven years before the flood; hence he had the message from Methuselah. Both Abram and Isaac had the privilege of hearing it from Shem; for Abram lived one hundred and fifty years, and Isaac fifty years, contemporaneously with Shem.
Abram looked for a city whose builder and maker is God. The message of Christ’s second coming, which was given by Enoch, had to pass through only two individuals, Methuselah and Shem, to reach Abram and Isaac. “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11:8-10.
Job’s hope was in the coming of Christ at the latter day. Job 19: 23-27:11“Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though 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 another; though my reins be consumed within me.”
Christ himself has promised to come again and receive unto himself all those who believe in him. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14: 1-3. This is a beautiful promise, and in Christ’s own words.
Another statement is recorded in Acts 1: 9-11. Jesus was talking with his disciples, and when he had finished speaking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And it was then, as they stood looking steadfastly toward heaven, that two angels appeared to them and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” This must have been a blessed assurance to them to know that he would come again. After being so closely associated with Christ, I believe it was a disappointment to the disciples when he was taken from their midst, but when the promise was given them that he would come in the same manner as they had seen him go, they must have rejoiced. So also should we rejoice as the promise is handed down from generation to generation and by all the holy prophets to us.
The last Bible prophet describes Christ’s second coming: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” Rev. 1: 7. This, then, agrees with the text in Acts 1: 9-11. A cloud received him out of sight, and when he comes, it will be with clouds.
(To be concluded)
Plain Dressing
A YOUNG Christian woman a while ago started to go to Kansas. On the way the conductor of the train sat down opposite her, and politely asked: “Why do you dress so plain?” She inquired what his motive was in asking this question. He replied that his wife always talked about the necessity of women dressing plainly, while he did not see any reason for doing so. The young lady looked at him and said: “Why do you wear this special uniform?” He replied: “Because I serve the Rock Island Company, and comply with its orders in wearing it.” “So do I,” was the quick reply; “I have joined the church of Christ, and am in the service of my Master, whose orders I must obey in my dress, according to 1 Tim. 2: 9, where he states that women shall adorn themselves in modest apparel.”
Let Christian women put on this uniform, and save time, money, labor, strength, and even life itself.—Selected.
God's Help in Tribulation
By George Matheson
“He was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered unto him.” Mark 1: 13. It was a meeting of extremes—the wild beasts and the angels. Two ends of the ladder of creation rested on the Son of man. His human nature had never been so lowly, never so near the ground. He was experiencing what we all at times experience—a sense of the desert. The sheer had faded from the waters of Jordan; the dove had departed; the crowd had deserted; again, as in his infancy, he was with the beasts of the field. Yet it was now again that the angels came. It is always in his depression that I read of the angels coming—in the manger, in the wilderness, in the garden.
Why do they come in his depression? Because there is a virtue in depression?—Nay, the reverse—because there is a danger in it. God will not let me have a cross without the alabaster box; he fears the effect of unqualified pain on me. There is not in all his providence a night without a star. He plants a flower on every grave, and that flower is the boundary line beyond which grief can not go.
Therefore it is, O Father, that I do not die. I could not have lived with the wild beasts if the angels had not come. I have often marveled that I did not die in the desert. When I saw it from afar, I said, “I could not live there.” Yet I have passed through, and my life is preserved. The moment I entered the desert, I felt a nameless strength. It was thy nameless angel, O Father—the angel that struggled with Jacob to keep him standing when he fain would fall. So would I have fallen, but for thy nameless angel. Thy strength passeth understanding. It was not that my anticipation of the desert proved false; it was as bad as I expected it to be. If I had been left to myself, I should have groveled on the ground. But the nameless Hand upheld me, the unseen Presence saved me, the indefinable Peace supported me.
It was an incomprehensible peace. It came where it had no right to be. By all the laws of nature I ought to have fallen; the gravity of the whole earth was dragging me down; wherefore did I stand? It was thy veiled arm that held me, O Peace irrational, O Strength invisible, O Rest inexplicable, O Power that movest through shut doors, I have lived by thee! Thy staff in the valley, thy rose in the desert, thy star in the night, thy crown in the cross, thy bells in the snow, thy voice in the storm, thy print in the wounds, thine angel with the beasts of the field—it is they that have comforted me.—George Matheson, D. D.
Trust
Though Thou slay me, I will trust,
Thou art God, but I am dust;
Though thou grieve, thy grace I’ll prove,
I am loveless, thou art love.
Though thou seem to turn away,
I will nearer to thee stay;
Though thy silence wound me sore,
I will follow thee the more.
Though thy face I can not see,
Well I know ’tis turned to me;
Though the clouds exclude its light,
Well I know its beams are bright.
Though the children’s bread denied,
Still I linger by thy side;
Though thy fullness thou refuse,
Still the crumbs I may not lose.
Any sorrow I can bear,
Save the sorrow of despair;
Anything thou ask’st resign,
Save the bliss of being thine.
Nothing that mine eyes can see
Shall disturb my faith in thee;
Love to wait can well afford
For the leisure of the Lord.
—Selected.