Earlier text: THE BETRAYAL OF CHRISTThere would be ten times as much accomplished in the world if men would heed the following words by the late H. L. Hastings:— It is easy to make plans, easy to begin things, easy to give orders, easy, in the enthusiasm of some novelty, to launch out, tire out, and back out, leaving the grand undertakings that have been projected to come to nothing, a monument of the rashness and folly of their founders. A little, well and thoroughly and completely done, is worth many of these splendid undertakings. A hut built of rough boards and finished is worth a dozen towers which men begin to build and are not able to finish. There is no special virtue in that ambition which leads people to set things in motion, undertake twice as much as they are able to do, and fail in the middle of their undertakings, leaving everything in confusion and in peril, so that others must be drawn from their own proper work to avert disaster, and to gather up the wreckage produced by their recklessness. There are many people who are great to make plans, and are very generous with big talk, but who never accomplish what they undertake. Those people are more useful who plan cautiously, undertake what they are able to accomplish, finish one thing at a time, show some one thing built and completed, instead of a chaos of ill-adjusted plans, and enterprises undertaken but never brought to a conclusion. IN 1887 I united with the Salvation Army at Marshalltown, Iowa. I remained with the army, living at the Soldier's Home, until 1896, when I married an S. D. Adventist woman. After a year's study of the Bible and other literature which she had, I became convinced that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord. I have been rejoicing in the truth ever since, and hope to rejoice in it till Jesus comes to reclaim His own. JAMES MCGINNIS. WHEN about twenty-two years of age I moved to Fort Scott, Kansas. Up to this time I had heard of but one family of Adventists. But at Fort Scott I lived near Brother Harmon Jenkins, and, after making his acquaintance, I asked him why he kept Saturday for Sunday. I was somewhat surprised to think that he would deny that he did so; but he soon told me that he kept Saturday because it was the Sabbath. When I asked why he kept that day, he replied that the Bible said so, and if that was not enough, it was of no use to consider the matter any farther. Two weeks later I told my wife that I was going to find out why that man kept Saturday for Sunday. So we concluded to invite him over, that we might have an opportunity to question him. He gladly accepted the invitation, and was soon with us, ready to defend his position. After an extended study of the true Sabbath, and of the work of the Papacy, we decided to make a further study, and to inquire of our Methodist minister whether these things were so. On special request the minister came to our house, but, on finding that we wanted to inquire about the Christian Sabbath, he excused himself, and invited us to come to his house, where he said he could show us how the change came about. A time was appointed, but when I went he did not meet me as I expected he would. He did not allow me to enter the house, but said that if I was going to go off with the old Jewish Sabbath, I might as well go then as at any time. Seeing that he was evidently unable to give a scriptural reason for Sunday-keeping, we decided to keep the next Sabbath day; also to study God's Word daily, and to accept everything that should be revealed as truth. From having one Bible reading given us, and reading "Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation" two weeks, we had accepted the Sabbath truth. Since then God has given me some fruits of my labor, and I still rejoice in the blessed Third Angel's Message. I believe the Lord is able to keep that which I have committed to Him. MRS. G. M. PINEGAR
By Mrs. G. M. Pinegar
IN 1902 a canvasser came to our house, selling "Best Stories." We were then living in a large town, and had no use for canvassers, but we asked him in. After a little while he began talking about the Bible. I told him I had read it some, but did not understand it. He said, "Perhaps you would like to know more about it." I told him I would like to know a few things to "down" a certain minister, who had been at our house a few days before, talking about the poor in a manner I did not think becoming to a Christian, much less a minister. He said he would come back Monday evening. He came, according to appointment, and we studied the subject of the state of the dead. Several readings followed, and things began to look too plain for me to longer keep Sunday. The canvassers was Brother Wm. Lewsadder. CLXXII.
By Mrs. Dr. M. E. Nelson
It was only a little white-winged messenger in the form of a tract, yet it changed the whole tenor of my life. It was like the little leaven that leavened the whole lump. It wrought changes for time and eternity. The title was, "Who Changed the Sabbath?" and for the first time in my life I realized that I was not able to answer the question. Eagerly I searched the Bible to find a solution; but to my great astonishment the Bible was silent on that subject. I became very much exercised over it, and resorted to fasting and prayer, that I might be directed aright, and enabled to understand which day the Lord would have me to observe. The more I prayed and searched the Scriptures, the more apparent it became that the seventh day is still the Sabbath of the Lord. Notwithstanding I had been for forty years a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, I began at once to keep the true Sabbath, and continued to keep it strictly for two years before severing my connection with that church, and uniting with the Seventh-day Adventists. The Lord has wonderfully blessed and strengthened me since I have been keeping all of His commandments, for which I praise His worthy name. A MAN is guilty, said downright old Bishop Hall, How They Became Convinced
By Editor
[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.] THE CHURCH OF GOD. NO. 6.
PERHAPS we should say the completed Reformation; for every true reformation in the congregation of God since Martin Luther, has been built upon the sure foundation principles of the great Reformation of the XVI. Century. And that must necessarily be the case; for that reform was founded on principles of everlasting truth. They are thus summarized by D’Aubigne, the historian of that great movement:— The principles contained in this celebrated protest, of the 19th of April, 1529, constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith: the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second is the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these two abuses, Protestantism sets up above the magistrate the power of conscience; and above the visible church the authority of the Word of God. It declines, in the first place, the civil power in divine things, and says with the prophets and the apostles, We must obey God rather than man. In presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. But it goes further: it lays down the principle, that all human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God.—Book 13. The Reformation was accomplished in the name of a spiritual principle. It had proclaimed for its teacher the Word of God; for salvation, Faith; for king, Jesus Christ; for arms, the Holy Ghost; and had by these very means rejected all worldly elements. Rome had been established by the law of a carnal commandment; the Reformation, by the power of an endless life. Book 14. It does not make against this great movement to say that these principles were not understood in their far-reaching scope. The Reformers did not see how much was comprehended in God’s Word, and how it demanded the absolute excision of all tradition as authority. Their immediate followers did not understand that the expansive life of the Word could be legitimately written in nothing in this world save in living, growing hearts; and that to endeavor to confine it to human creeds was to crush out its very life. And not knowing it they did that very thing. They endeavored to crystallize the faith of living men of God into creed forms, and demanded from the civil power support for the creed church. Hence came state churches and union of church and state with its consequent intolerance and persecution. Wedded to their idols, God passes by the great organizations, and calls out His remnant upon the Word and the Word alone. Hence came the Methodists and other dissenters. But as these grew strong in numbers and wealth they either crystallized creeds or rejected a portion of God’s Word. The last step in the Reformation will be the calling out of the last remnant church. That church will stand upon the solid foundation of the Word of God. She will know no creed save that Word. She will hold that Word for all that it is designed to be in the church. In other words, she will keep ‘the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ Rev. 14: 12. These are the divine marks of the true church in the last days. Signs and wonders, marvels and miracles, will be wrought in her and by her children, but these will not be the signs of her genuineness. For Satan will work in these last days, and is working, ‘with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth.’ 2 Thess. 2: 9, 10. ‘For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.’ Matt. 24: 24. Other scripture passages are equally strong and explicit. Therefore, signs and wonders and miracles will not be signs of the true church; for their marvelous counterfeits are among deceived ones. In the true church will be restored the gifts of the Spirit of God; apostleship, prophecy, evangelism, teaching, healing, etc., so that she will ‘come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Cor. 1: 7), but these will not be the signs of her genuineness; for there will be false churches who claim all these gifts, and who, deceived to the ultimate, will say in the day of His coming: ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.’ Matt. 7: 22, 23. Claiming all these things, yet are they lawless, disobedient. The Spirit of God is in harmony with the law of God. He is not divided against Himself. The principles of His government are not contrary to the life of His government. And therefore, no church can have His Spirit in its plenitude, the hearts of whose children are not yielded to His law and its fulness. Therefore, in the last great crisis, when the people of this world are divided between the worship of God, and the worship of the beast and his image, God characterizes His own called-out ones, not by saying: ‘Here are they that are numerous, or rich, or popular, or powerful, or have great political prestige;’ no, not any of these; but ‘Here is the patience [the steadfastness] of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.’ This characterization is not the vain boasting of man, but the designation of the Most High. Obedience to God, loyalty to principle, faithfulness to duty, confidence in the Word of God, the unswerving faith of Christ Jesus in that Word when all others proved faithless, are the means by which the called-out ones of God may be designated in the last days. This is the remnant church. This is the translatable church. Do you know it, reader? None can bar your entrance into it save the selfishness, the love of sin, in your own heart. IN a former article we noted the fact that three of King Nebuchadnezzar's officers, whom he had set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, refused to bow down and worship the golden image which he had set up. These were Jews of the captivity, whom the king had educated expressly for positions in the government. Their Babylonian names were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. When they frankly refused to do homage to the image, or to worship any of the king's gods, Nebuchadnezzar was "full of fury." He had announced that whoever should disregard his decree concerning the image, should be "cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace," but he was so angry with these Jewish officials that he ordered that the furnace should be heated seven times hotter than ever before. Then the king commanded the most mighty men of his army to bind the three dissenters and cast them into the furnace. So the men were bound in all of their clothing, and thrown into the fire. The flames were so hot that the strong executioners were themselves burned to death at the door of the furnace, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego fell down, bound, into the midst of the fire. But the king's fury was soon abated, and turned to astonishment. A strange scene suddenly appeared in the burning furnace, and he "rose up in haste" and called his counsellors together. In great consternation he asked, "Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" The counsellors answered, "True, O king." But Nebuchadnezzar replied, "Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (or "a son of the gods." R. V.). It was the Son of God, sure enough, but Nebuchadnezzar knew nothing of Him. His idea of such a noble, majestic personage was that He must be one of the gods imagined by such worshipers as himself. He had heard of the "God of heaven," the God of Daniel, whom he himself had felt obliged to formally acknowledge, but he knew nothing of His Son. Then Nebuchadnezzar went near to the door of the furnace and called to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, "Ye servants of the Most High God, come forth, and come hither." They came forth, and all the great assembly of officials from all parts of the kingdom saw them,—saw the little minority who had stood for the commandments of God in face of the decree of the greatest earthly kingdom the world ever has known. There were only three of them, but while they had the approbation of the Son of God, while they had Him with them in their fiery test, the flames of persecution could not harm them. And all the great company of dignitaries, who had fallen down and worshiped the king's golden image, "saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them." But these servants of the Most High God would have been accredited in heaven with standing the fiery trial even if they had been as quickly destroyed as were the "mighty men" who threw them in. It was their purpose to be faithful even if their lives had been sacrificed to the flames. They had so stated to the king. Their lives were, by faith, "hid with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3), and were to be disposed of just as He should deem best for the honor of His name and the furtherance of His cause. The haughty king had found that the God from whom Daniel had received so much wisdom also had power to deliver His servants out of the king's hand. He was again obliged to acknowledge the God of the captives. So he proclaimed, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies [Rom. 12:1], that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God." The king felt greatly humiliated—not, however, because of his sins, but because of his defeat. His submission was simply that of a vanquished opponent; and his subsequent decree was a desperate effort to gain favor with the superior God, but not with any intention of giving up his other gods. Nebuchadnezzar was aiming to establish not only the universality, but also the perpetuity, of his kingdom; therefore, he sought the good-will and support of every deity, real or imaginary. Hence this proclamation: "I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god that can deliver after this sort." But that kind of decree doesn't make a "Christian nation." Babylon was Babylon still. To submit to the God of Israel merely through fear of His power, or to gain temporal advantage, is not true allegiance nor pleasing service. To refrain from speaking against the God of heaven through fear of any state penalty is not that faith without which "it is impossible to please Him" (Heb 11:6). The national reform that is based on human penalties attached to human religious decrees, is Babylon still, no matter what it may profess to be. The fiery trial of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego was also a test of the Word of God by fire. That Word had been their Mentor in their established purpose to serve only the true God, at all hazard. It was with them in the fiery furnace, to sustain and to keep them. In that fire there was also tested the principle of religious liberty, for which that small minority had so nobly stood, and it, too, was vindicated by the Word that accompanied them in their fiery ordeal. That same Word, the "faithful and true Witness," is saying to us of to-day: "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." Rev. 3:18. All who are clothed with the white raiment of spotless character, having in them the righteousness of Christ by faith, may pass through all the fiery trials which are to try them (1 Peter 4:12), without a hair being singed, or a coat changed, or even the smell of fire upon them. Unfinished Work Is Not Work
“Work that is not finished is not work at all; it is merely a botch, an abortion.” THE "Standard" defines the term to mean: "The doctrine that there will be an opportunity for faith and repentance and salvation after death." Is this true?—Yes, and No. "Probation" is not a Bible term. It literally means proving. "Probate" means proof. The word is used in the sense of trial. In one church new converts are placed on probation for six months before they become full members. The salvation of each soul depends on two persons—God and himself. Of the first it can be said that God is ever the same: "God is love;" "I am Jehovah; I change not." "With whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." "His mercy endureth forever." What He does, is doing, or has done, for sinful, responsible creatures in one age or time, He will do in every age and clime. He paid the highest price possible for the redemption of angels and men; He will use every means to save them possible and consistent with justice, love, and mercy. He saves but from sin. To save from eternal death He must save from sin; for all evils are of sin's fruitage. But God will not save men against their choice. He will do all He can to influence them to yield to infinite love, justice, and mercy, but He will not compel. Awful as it is, sad as it is, to Infinite Love, still men must have their choice. To every soul He comes. He "lighteth every man that cometh into the world." "The eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him;" and He pledged all Heaven in behalf of the trusting ones when He gave His only-begotten Son. Thus much for God's part. Man is himself a sinner, a slave to sin, absolutely, utterly helpless in himself to save himself. The very desire to come to Christ for salvation, is dependent upon Infinite Love. "No man," says Jesus, "can come to Me, except the Father that sent Me draw him." John 6:44. Again, "Apart from Me ye can do nothing." John 15:5. "That ye were at that time [when in sin] separate from Christ, . . . having no hope and without God in the world." Eph. 2:12. But our Lord again tells us that the great fact of His lifting up will "draw all men" unto Him. John 12:32. The soul that looks to the Lifted-up One shall live. The heart that heeds His voice shall be made whole. He who believes shall have eternal life. John 3:14-16. But if, despite God's call, despite the evidences of His love, His righteousness, His just demands, man chooses his own way, his own sin, he will finally so dull his ears and blind his eyes and harden his heart that he can not hear or see or feel God's demands or his own duty. In God's sight the man who does this has proved himself; his probation is ended. The Holy Spirit leaves him. The Father's love ceases to draw him. Through fear and habit and love of gain he may preserve a respectable exterior to the end, but God, the true God, is not in all his thoughts. Yet he may claim to be a part of God. Turning from the conditions of sonship revealed in the Word, he may claim to be a son, and to have within himself the Divinity and all the potencies of eternal salvation, as our New Thought friends, our Spiritistic, our Theistic Evolutionists, claim. Yet it is wholly the worship of self, the worship of man; and God can not reach the self-deceived soul. There comes a time when God has fully given mankind every opportunity for salvation. Not to all in the same way, but to each consistent with capacity, condition, environment, and light. In the last generation the voice of His everlasting Gospel reaches to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Rev. 14:6, 7. Its loud voice of entreaty and warning reaches every soul in the darkness of the world and the gloom of Babylon. Its augmented light floods the world. Rev. 18:1-4. "Multitudes, multitudes," the prophet sees, "in the valley of decision; for the great day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3:14. Finally, the work of the messengers closes. Every soul has at last identified himself with righteousness or sin, and the awful statement of fact goes forth that every soul has had his choice, which is, in the nature of the case, final: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly." Rev. 22:11, 12. All have had their choice, and eternal wisdom is vindicated in all its plans. But the inhabitants of other worlds, the righteous of this world, must have another object lesson. It must be demonstrated—for so the wisdom of God reveals—that man left to himself will do evil and only evil, even to fighting against God, and seeking to overthrow the Government of Heaven. Therefore, for the benefit of all the eternities to come, God gives the wicked a new probation in themselves, that they may demonstrate that man left to himself is "like the beasts that perish;" that his cherished theories of self-salvation are utterly foundationless, broken reeds piercing his side, and that God is just. He has no desire for true repentance, no love for righteousness and truth, no harmony with God. During the "little season" following the resurrection of the wicked, after the 1,000 years, the selfish hearts are utterly deceived by the prince of darkness and selfishness, and are led by him to fight against Eternal Goodness, the only power which can preserve the universe. Thus is Truth demonstrated to be worthy to live forever, and Error demonstrated to be worthy only to be swept out of existence. "Truth crushed to earth will rise again,
The eternal years of God are hers,
But error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies amid his worshipers." Seeing all this, the redeemed host raise harmonious song, "Allelujah; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." "Great and marvelous are Thy works,
Lord God Almighty;
Just and true are Thy ways,
Thou King of saints.
Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord,
And glorify Thy name?
For Thou only art holy;
For all nations shall come and worship before Thee;
For Thy judgments are made manifest." IN one of our familiar hymns we read the encouraging assurance that— “God is wisdom, God is love.” Now this wisdom and this love combine in His judgment concerning what is best for us to know. In the beginning He knew that it was best for man not to know evil, and forbade his eating fruit that would engender a knowledge of mingled good and evil; for good mixed with evil tends only toward evil, when the evil is a deliberate choice. So the knowledge that Adam gained by eating the forbidden fruit was the result of disobedience, and could lead only to evil. God wants His people to get wisdom, but the getting of knowledge is not always the getting of wisdom; for wisdom consists in the knowledge of good things and in the proper use of that knowledge. So the wisdom of God often withholds the knowledge of good from His people when He knows they would not make a wise use of it. Of itself, “knowledge puffeth up,” or engendereth pride. Again, the people “are destroyed for lack of knowledge” because they do not seek the right kind of knowledge, or do not seek it in the right way, or from the right source. Hosea 4:6–8; Isa. 8:19, 20. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.” Col. 3:16. God has a way of giving such knowledge of coming events to His people as His wisdom and love deem best. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7. He has also a time when, in His judgment, it is best to make revelations known. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Eccl. 3:1. And Jerusalem was destroyed because the Jewish people knew not the time of their visitation. Luke 19:41–44. They didn’t know the time because they did not heed God’s manner of revealing His will. They had rejected the Spirit of prophecy, and had made of none effect the commandments of God by their own traditions. Because of Noah’s faithful life, God made known to him the year when the Flood would come; and, because of His faithful proclamation of the Gospel in his day, demonstrating his faith by building the ark, he was informed of the exact day when the Flood would come. Gen. 7:1–5. Because Abraham was faithful in his service of God, he was informed concerning the destruction of Sodom. Gen. 18:17–19. Because Daniel studied the prophecy of Jeremiah, he knew the time when the captivity in Babylon should end. Dan. 9:2. Because Simeon believed the prophecies, he was waiting for the consolation of Israel at the very time that Christ was born, and recognized in the infant Jesus the long-expected Messiah. Luke 2:25–32. Many people are anxious to know about the second coming of Christ—of the time, the manner, the purpose, and the effect. They find many and variant answers to all these questions; and there is much confusion on these subjects because men seek elsewhere for information than from the one true source—the Word of God, the Spirit of prophecy. Christ warns us that “there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” Then He adds, “Behold, I have told you beforehand.” Matt. 24:24, 25. This prophetic warning leaves any one without excuse for being deceived; for the same Spirit of prophecy gives plain instruction on all the points involved. As to the time, the Lord gives certain signs in this same chapter by which His people may know that “He is nigh, even at the doors.” See verses 29–33. He does not give the year nor the day. As yet He did not know the day nor the hour. Verse 36. But it does not follow that the day and hour would not be revealed to Him before the time. Noah was not told the day when the Flood would come until he had completed his work, and the unbelievers did not know it at all until it came upon them. Nor would Noah have known the day had he not labored on, believing the Spirit of prophecy that was in him. So the people of God who are faithful in the preparation for the second advent of Christ, and in the proclamation of the advent message, may have the day and hour revealed to them before the time has fully come. The manner is plainly set forth in the Scriptures. There will be no secrecy about it; for “He cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see Him.” Rev. 1:7. He will “come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him.” Matt 25:31. It will be “as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west.” Ch. 24:27. He will come in like manner as He went up from Mount Olivet. Acts 1:11. Such is, in brief, the testimony of the Spirit of prophecy concerning the coming of our Lord. By holding fast to this doctrine, and letting the light of truth shine out in obedience to “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” He will reveal to us, through that same Spirit, whatever else is best for us to know. But if we would be “wise unto salvation,” we must “despise not prophesyings.” This was what brought disaster to the race in the beginning, and it is that which has caused all the trouble in the world ever since. The essential thing, however, is to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent; for this is eternal life. John 17:3. Some people imagine they see starvation staring them in the face when they read or hear any suggestion of a "meat famine." A probable scarcity of flesh meat in the market, or an intimation of high prices from any cause is deemed a public calamity. But if all would invest the money usually spent for flesh food in any of the better articles of diet, they would be better off healthwise as well as in purse. That meat is a prime necessity in the line of food is a mistaken idea, as is shown in the lives of many individuals, and of large classes of people.
An instance, reported in a current press item, is8that of a Frenchman who is 105 years of age. Every day, no matter what the state of the weather, he is out on the streets of Carmes selling small brooms which he makes himself. His name is Ignace Botta, and he is hale and hearty, with snow-white hair. He is in full possession of his mental faculties, yet his life has been full of hardships. His daily nourishment consists of a loaf of dry bread, and sometimes a glass of sweet wine. He never has tasted meat. On this question of flesh diet, there are some leading points that are worthy of special consideration: 1. God knows what is best for the sustenance of the human body and mind. 2. When He created man and beast, no flesh food was prescribed for any living creature. The eating of flesh by man or beast was a result of the fall, and a consequent degeneration of instinct and perversion of appetite. 3. When God would supply His people with food in the wilderness, He gave them manna from heaven, altho it was just as easy for Him to give them quails, which He did not do until they cried for flesh, not being willing to accept the wisdom of God in the matter. See Num. 11:4, 13, 17-23, 31-33. 4. When Daniel and his companions chose to eat only vegetarian food while attending school, they graduated with higher honors than any others of their fellow students. 5. When God would select a food for the unlimited perpetuation of life, He chose the fruit of a tree—the tree of life—and not flesh food. 6. As there was no flesh-eating before the fall, there will not be any such thing when the dominion shall have been restored, as it will be in Christ. See Micah 4:8; Rev. 21:1-3; 22:1, 2, 14. 7. Whatever of actual necessity there may be now for flesh-eating at times or in remote places, under restricted circumstances, is the result of dependence upon it, and use of it, and the lack of preparation for the use of other diet. The necessity, real or imaginary, is altogether an artificial necessity—the outgrowth of long departure from the natural food provided by the Creator. Why is fire called everlasting, if it ever ceases? The literal meaning of “everlasting” is age-lasting, indicating a longer or shorter time not known. The priesthood of Levi is said to be “everlasting” (Ex. 40:15); yet it ceased at the Cross. The fire of Sodom is said to be everlasting or eternal (Jude 7); yet when it had turned the cities into ashes (2 Peter 2:6), it went out, and the Dead Sea has ever since rolled its sluggish waters over the place of its burning. Furthermore, the fire is everlasting in its effects, not in its duration. Why is it said that the wicked shall be punished with everlasting destruction, if they are resurrected after Christ’s second coming? See 2 Thess. 1:9. The final punishment of the wicked will be at the end of the thousand years. The first death comes to all in consequence of an inherited sinful nature. The second death comes to each one to whom it does come, because he has identified himself with sin. The large view of Christ’s second coming takes in the great “day of the Lord,” covering more than a thousand years. The second death will be the everlasting destruction. I know something about the ——— Company. It is not connected with any secret society, it only insures lives, for one or two or more thousands of dollars. In twenty years you can get your instalments (which run about fifty dollars a year) in one sum, whether you die or no. It is simply a big savings-bank. After you have been with them three years, and don’t care to be with them any longer, you can get your instalments returned. Now, what is wrong in a life insurance? Is it not all right for a person to take out a policy, and, if he dies, his family of wife and little ones have something to fall back on, without being compelled to rely upon the day’s wages of the mother? Is a life insurance, as I described above, not just like any other speculation? It seems to us that a savings-bank would be much better. You can put money in any bank, and draw it out the next month if you desire. And if you wished to leave it for three years, you could draw, not only your deposits, but interest beside. How is insurance any better than a bank? In twenty years you have paid $1,000. Of course, some of this has been on deposit only a short time, but the whole has been deposited on an average of ten years. One thousand dollars for ten years, annual interest at five per cent. without compounding, would amount to $1,500; but from your company you only get, at the end of twenty years, the principal. It is much better, we think, to invest in a small piece of land, or some kind of business in which wife and children will have an interest, than place before them the temptation of wishing for the death of a husband and father. To us God is a good insurance company for “He is thy life, and the length of thy days,” the only One who can insure life, and into whose care we can safely commit wife and children. Life Insurance is a “speculation,” but trusting God is a sure investment. 1558.—Preparation of Offerings. How did the Jews prepare their offerings so blood was not eaten? We have no other information than that given in the Scriptures. The animals were thoroughly bled. THE following is indicative of the spirit of the times:— The students of the Michigan Agricultural College recently struck. They have ended the strike and resumed their studies, have accepted a proposition from the Faculty, which is, that if they will resume class work a new committee will rehear their grievances. The strike was caused by the Faculty suspending seventeen students for participating in a freshman-sophomore class rush, and the proposition is that if that can be proved to be unjust, sentence will be changed, and if the judgment of the committee is not satisfactory the students can apply to the State Board of Agriculture. If things go on, in process of time, after the general spirit of the time, in order to keep the students it will be necessary to provide an appeal at least from every public school to the governor of the state.—Christian Advocate.