“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Gen. 1:2. It appears to be beautifully and undisputably true that the Holy Spirit is the executive of the Godhead. Law emanates from the Father, mercy and judgment are committed to the Son, while the executive of both the Father and the Son is the ever-blessed Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit the Father and the Son operate in the creation and upholding of worlds, and in reproving, regenerating, and sanctifying human souls.
The Holy Spirit is the indispensable agent in the production of spiritual life, both in its incipiency and in its fulness. In the beginning “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” We are told that the Hebrew sense of “moved upon” is, “brooded over like a mother dove.” What a beautiful figure! For one week, the first week of measured time to this world, the Holy Spirit brooded over a stupendous mass of matter. But each day there was a rapid and progressive unfolding, until the seventh day is reached, when all the angels of God, an innumerable host, beheld a beautiful world, all completed, furnished, and embellished. The crowning event was the making of the seventh day, a delightful memorial, blessed and hallowed by the Creator, to be remembered and kept holy, in all future time, in memory of God’s wondrous work of creation, performed by the Lord Jesus, through the almighty agency of the Holy Spirit.
We may imagine with what intense interest, and constantly enkindling rapture and enthusiasm, the angelic host watched the unfolding of this world in its primitive and pristine glory; and we are not surprised to learn, that, at its completion, that first Sabbath was welcomed right then and there, by the morning stars singing together and all the sons of God shouting for joy.
But in a little while that hateful thing called sin, was allowed to enter in, and under its blighting and killing influence this beautiful world began to sink under the curse of death, and will continue thus to sink until it reaches the bottomless pit, the condition of emptiness, chaos, and darkness, that it was in at the beginning. God’s hatred of sin will then have spread desolation everywhere. Again will the time come when the Holy Spirit will brood over the desolate and shapeless mass, and again will come forth new heavens and a new earth, more glorious than at the first. And again, the grand unfolding and completion of the new heavens and new earth, the morning stars, and all the sons of God, will be witnesses, and again will they sing together, and all shout for joy. And the best of all is, dear reader, you and I may be numbered with the sons of God then, and join with harp, heart, and voice, in the second rendition of that matchless creation anthem, which will fill and thrill the universe of God.
All mankind is a part of the fallen creation, the sentence of death for sin is upon us all. We can never be delivered therefrom, we can never join in the new creation anthem of praise until we ourselves, personally, are created anew. This the Lord is continually doing for lost souls, through the same divine agency employed in the original creation. The Holy Spirit broods over the sinner, convincing and convicting of sin. If the sinner yields by confession and true repentance, he is born again, a child of God. Then angels and heaven, beholding, rejoice. Now continues the gloriously begun work of unfolding the new life. Angels rejoice at its progress, and are sad when the work is retarded. The grand work goes on continuously if the soul is continuously submissive under the regenerating and sanctifying influence of the Holy Spirit, until the bright Morning Star appears on the scene, and last of all the vile body, all marred and scarred by sin, is changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and fashioned like the glorious body of the glorified Jesus. Then the new creation of the new race will be completed, to live forever in that New Jerusalem, and in the new heavens and the new earth; and when that has been accomplished, the ministering angels, morning stars, and all the redeemed sons of God, will shout and sing together, with a joy that will be everlasting, unspeakable, and full of glory. H. A. ST. JOHN
THE PROPHETS AND JESUS.
By Edward König
[From Prof. Edward König, Ph.D., D.D., in Sunday School Times.]
Prophecy is like the rosy dawn which ushers in the day. The prophetic word is “a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts.” 2 Peter 1:19. Prophecy is as trustworthy as the dawn that kisses the hem of the sun’s robe. Moreover, were there no dawn, there would be no day; and the soft glow of the morning red prepares the eye for the brighter light, and cheers the heart that yearns for the day.
It would be an easy matter to subordinate the Old Testament prophets to our Lord if we could follow the theory applied to these prophets by some modern scholars. They say that Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other members of their class (Jer. 7:25 f.), were moved through their own spirit and uttered their own human thoughts. But this very origin of their work the Old Testament prophets themselves ascribed to the action of their rivals. Eze. 11:3, etc. Such a theory, therefore, is evidently false.
Wherein Did Jesus Differ from the Prophets?
The Old Testament prophets have not ceased to asseverate that they were dominated by supernatural inspiration, and I, for my part, do not venture to contest the sound character of this claim. Notwithstanding, the claim of our Lord to be superior to the prophets is no less certain. It is perfectly clear why He never called Himself a prophet. The prophets received their commission from the supernatural sphere, but He came Himself from this sphere. Hence we may understand His words, “All things are delivered unto Me of My Father; and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.” Matt. 11:27. Moses, however high the stage assigned to him in the history of God’s kingdom (Num. 12:7), was the “servant” of the Lord (verse 8). But Jesus was the “Son,” and whereas the divine grace gave the angels and the Israelites too (Ex. 4:22, etc.) the rank of sons of God, Jesus is by his inner substance Son of God. He contained an element which was not of this world. He was the “only-begotten Son” of God, and therefore He was the one who had properly seen God. John 1:18.
How They Became Convinced
[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.]
XXXV.
A. D. 1857.—“Young man, give me your highest and strongest reasons for resting from manual labor on the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, and for calling it the Sabbath, holy unto the Lord, the Lord’s day.”
Answer.—Father and mother do so, and all my good neighbors likewise. I know of no higher or stronger reason than human testimony and human example.
Question.—“Would it not be well and more pleasing to God, for you to look into the grounds of your religious faith and practise for yourself, than to depend wholly on merely human testimony and human example?”
Answer.—Thank you for the suggestion. I will certainly do so, and then my service to God will be not only in spirit, but also in truth, as His Word requires.
A. D. 1858.—“Young man, why have you changed your faith and practise since one year ago, observing the seventh day of the week, calling it the Sabbath day, holy unto the Lord, instead of Sunday?”
Answer.—Because I have learned from the Holy Bible, the highest source of authority among men, that the living God who created all things earthly, in whom I live, move, and have my being; made the week, and then made the seventh day thereof, upon which He rested, a holy Sabbath, blessing and sanctifying it. So all men have the example and explicit command of their loving Creator, to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” True, we remember our Creator and Sanctifier, delight ourselves in His love, and do His good pleasure.
A. D. 1902.—“Forty-four years a pilgrim. How about the journey now? and what is your hope?”
Answer.—Onward to glory in the same good old way. The pathway brightens; the Celestial City is not far ahead. “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14. H. A. ST. JOHN.
XXXVI.
I was born and raised in the Scotch Presbyterian Church, sang only the Psalms, and had committed to memory the entire “Shorter Catechism.”
I enlisted and served during the Civil War of 1861-65. While a prisoner of war I learned that my parents and the children at home had changed from the observance of the first day of the week to the seventh-day Sabbath. On returning home at the close of the war, I observed a great change in the lives of those who had changed views and practises. Their prayers and conversation affected me deeply. The same year I attended a series of meetings conducted by two Adventist ministers, during which I became intensely interested. I followed them with a critic’s eye, marking and studying each passage of scripture presented. It was the clear, plain and direct statement of the Scriptures themselves bearing upon the points presented that made the deepest impression on my heart. I was enabled to see the Bible in a new light. The Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment shone with a luster and power. I was fully convinced that I was in error. I could only say, “Let God be true.” The alternative left me was to obey God, or give up all hope of a future life. I surrendered. Jesus made me His prisoner; then gave me freedom. I enlisted in His service till the work of the Third Angel’s Message is done, and I am confident that its triumph is certain.
My heart says, “Come Lord Jesus, and come quickly.” R. M. KILGORE.
Graysville, Tenn.
THE WAY TO HIM.
By Phebe Cary
Is there no way to Him at last
But that where His bleeding feet have passed?
Did He not to His followers say,
I am the Life, the Light, the Way?
Yea, and still from the heavens He saith
The gate of life is the gate of death;
Peace is the crown of faith’s good fight,
And the way of the cross is the way of light!
—Phebe Cary.
A GREAT TEST OF CHRISTIANITY.
Burden for Others.—A real test of the possession of Christianity is burden for other souls; not a general burden for the heathen of China or India or the world,—all this is good if it issue in practical form,—but a burden for some one soul. And this, too, not a burden that that soul shall do your way, and walk in the lines of your marking; but a burden that that soul may be saved, may find Jesus Christ, the Saviour from sin, may come to know Him as the Friend above all others, “the Chiefest among ten thousand,” the One “altogether lovely.” The real test of your living, healthy connection with God is to feel that God must give you that soul for whom you are willing to give life itself.
Is it overbold thus to plead?—Nay, it is not. It is pleasing to God. It is the Christ-spirit that thus pleads. So Moses felt when he came down from the mount where he had been in communion with God. Israel had sinned. The golden calf was in the place of God, and His people were shamelessly, lasciviously dancing in nudeness before the idol. Then came the test of Moses’ Christianity. He was angry. Was it mere pique or vexation? No; his anger was righteous indignation for the Lord’s sake. But with brokenness of heart he pleads for the people: “O, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which thou hast written.” He is willing to die for and with the people who dishonored him as well as God. This was the spirit of Paul: “I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren’s sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh.” It is the Spirit of Christ which thus leads to utter giving of self for the sake of enemies.
There is divine philosophy in it all. It is God’s design to save men. He gave His Son to save men. Christ gave Himself to save men. The Spirit is present to save men, through men. And when a soul can be found anywhere which will co-operate with God, His Spirit will use that soul. It would be a denial of His nature for God to do otherwise. And mark also, He will not use that soul because of learning, education, ability, or worldly influence, but because that soul is in harmony with Him, responsive to the great heart-beats of Infinite Love. This is not to decry any true education, culture, ability. The more the better, if in harmony with God.
Will you not, dear soul, be used by God throughout this new year? When Andrew found Jesus, he went at once to tell Peter. When Philip found Him, he sought Nathanael to tell to him the glad news. Do you know God, even just a little?—Then tell others and so know Him better, so know yourself better, and so know that He only is the safe, wise, loving Leader of a free soul. Let His life flow through you unto other lives, and you will be blessed with ever-enlarging streams from the great fount of God.
KNOWLEDGE OF SELF, BUT HOW?
“Know Thyself.”—It is a sad thing to read or hear from Christian teachers the repetition of the old pagan precept, “Know thyself.” Pope has perpetuated it in his well-known couplet,—
“Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is man.”
“And all our knowledge is ourselves to know.”
This is considered divine; but our authority for it is Juvenal, a pagan: “This precept descended from heaven, Know thyself!” The great effort is put forth to teach us that this knowledge is gained by self-inspection, introspection, critical examination of one’s own motives and heart, in somewhat the same way an official would inspect a vault—looking for faults, defects, flaws, and errors. Schiller got nearer the principle, tho not seeing the truth,—
“Wouldst thou know thyself, observe the actions of others.”
The whole idea of self-knowledge is pagan and futile, man grasping after the unseen and unknown apart from God; looking to himself and within himself by his own uncertain light, the “sparks of his own kindling,” for that which God alone can reveal. Out of this perverted idea of how to gain knowledge has grown the great pagan and idolatrous systems of earth, the deification of the human, the pervertedly exalted idea of man, the virtual dethroning of God in the minds of humanity; and it has given Satan the clutch that he has upon a great part of human education to-day.
Man Can Not Know Himself.—Thus speaks the inspired Word: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt; who can know it?” “O Lord,” exclaims one of great experience, who lived in a time which tried men’s souls, “I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” And yet, why not if he knows himself? Philosophy and physics have had their “masters” and “students” in all ages, and no one of them could tell what he would do, what inconsistent course he would follow, twenty-four hours in advance. Of course, many thought they knew, but the logic of events has invariably overthrown their “logic” of human philosophy. Some have learned to know that they do not know, and therefore in egotism conclude that it can not be known. But these are not wise. The knowledge of man may be known in man’s limited degree by man, but he will never learn it by man or of man, neither is it the higher knowledge man may possess. There is higher, and it is only by the means of the higher that he can learn the lower.
The Knowledge of God.—That higher knowledge is the knowledge of God. “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace; thereby shall good come unto thee.” The good which comes by acquaintance with God is thus stated by our Lord: “And this is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.” Satan, knowing this, endeavors to keep man back from that higher knowledge by interposing as the one all-important thing a knowledge of one’s self in one’s self and of one’s self. Psychologic schools, schools of hypnotism, are spreading their dark and baleful and delusive theories over all the world, seducing poor souls to believe that the only hope of success is to learn man and so control him to ambitious, profitable, mercenary and unholy ends. And the more one studies himself and forgets God, the more will he be subject to the delusions of the enemy and the bondage of antichrist.
Knowing God means a living connection with Him, means faith in Him, means loving Him, means trusting in His Word. And in that Word God has revealed the character of Himself and His own knowledge of man. And therefore, when He tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things,” and intimates in the strongest way that it can not be known, He also declares: “I Jehovah search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways.” Jer. 17:9, 10. The only safe thing, therefore, for any person to do is to commit himself to God. So did Jeremiah. Confessing his own nothingness in knowledge, he acknowledges God’s sufficiency. “O Jehovah, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O Jehovah, correct me.” God reveals that we are sinners under a perverted law, deceived by sin, perverted by sin, with no more power to change our own character than the Ethiopian his skin or the leopard his spots; and that our only hope—all-sufficient tho but one—is in Jesus Christ, His offering, His intercession, His priesthood, His power of life and love in our mortal flesh.
Is there no self-examination then?—Verily, there is. “Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith.” “What, shall we not examine ourselves to see how sinful we are?”—Not at all. God has done all that, and He tells us that we are of ourselves poor and naked and blind and miserable, that all our righteousnesses, in which we pride ourselves, are as filthy rags. Why not accept that Word? Faith will accept it. Are we in the faith? And accepting that, why not accept the further word that He gives: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “But then, shall not the Christian examine himself?”—No. To look into himself, he will either foolishly flatter himself by comparing himself with others or he will become utterly discouraged.
What should he do?—“Examine yourselves whether ye be in the faith.” What is the rule and revealer of your faith?—God’s Word. Who is the object of your faith?—Christ Jesus. Search that Word; look unto Him. That Word is the wonderful mirror in which you will find yourself revealed. Accept it all, and yield willingly, gladly, trustingly to its measure of yourself. Come into harmony with God. Accept of the all-sufficient Saviour revealed, and go free from sin and Satan.
Thus only may you know God; thus only by His knowledge, in the light from His face, may you know yourself. Never does a boy with soiled hands realize their condition as when he comes into juxtaposition or contact with the clean hands of a helpful friend. Never will the slovenly dressed woman be so quick to apologize as when she comes into the company of one who is dressed neatly. And never will man see his own sinfulness, littleness, and utter insignificance as when he gets some view of the majesty of God. Isaiah said in the light of that glory, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; . . . for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.” Jacob thought he would die as he looked upon God’s glory, himself seemed so sinful. Daniel, the “greatly beloved,” saw all his comeliness turn into corruption as he looked upon the shining purity of God’s messenger. And thus it has been through all the ages. Those nearest the throne will never boast in themselves; they can see nothing in themselves in which to boast.
Knowledge of God, nearness to God, harmony with God is what the people of earth—great and small, high and low—need above all things else. And in that greater light and knowledge we can learn all lesser knowledge that is useful. “Thus saith8Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding and knoweth Me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth; for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah.”
THE NEW YEAR.
By Editor
EVERY day is a fresh beginning of a new year, and yet it is well to have some point from which all people practically count time. The chroniclers of old—the Bible way—began the year with the opening spring, when, the bonds of winter bursting, the earth in these northern latitudes buds and springs forth to new life. But our spring here is autumn elsewhere, and, the world around, the time matters little.
What we wished to say to our readers is this, we wish them all
A Happy New Year.
They may make it so, if they will. But happiness will not come by seeking it. Sought in itself, it is as illusive, inconstant, and treacherous as a will-o'-the-wisp. It will lead its devotee in all the byways of sin and destruction, and, at its very best, will disappoint. If you desire happiness, forget yourself and seek to relieve the unhappiness of others. Put away the sin, but live no negative life. Be willing to sacrifice what it seems would give you great pleasure, to buy up the opportunity to make some other soul happy. The happiness which will come to you will more than compensate the loss. The harvest will pay for the self-denial in the breaking of the soil, in the seed-sowing, in the cultivation of the crop.
It is no royal road which leads to happiness; it is the road of self-denial and burden-bearing; but if the journey be rightly undertaken and pursued, it will be a happy road, nevertheless. Birds will trill in the branches of the trees beside the way, the babbling water will sing its clear, liquid notes down the declivities, and heart songs and smiles will gladden all the way. In the way of righteousness is life, and in fulness of life is happiness.
THE NEW THOUGHT SALVATION.
By S.
It is more than a coincidence that with the marvelous increase in the acceptance and promulgation of the “higher criticism” we see a wonderful increase in the spread of the doctrine of man’s power to save himself. The two facts are not only in harmony with each other—they are interdependent. The latter has grown out of the former as naturally as a shoot grows out of a parent stock. The destruction of faith in the teachings of God’s Word, the destruction of faith in the plan of salvation which God instituted, was bound to result in a man-made plan of salvation; and it has come. Schools for the propagation of this faith-destroying and soul-wrecking doctrine, or philosophy, are starting up in many places in this and other countries, the tenor of whose teaching is the sufficiency of man for the salvation of man. With the destruction of faith in God’s Word, God’s plan, and consequently in God Himself, man has begun to look to himself, to exalt himself, to make a saviour of himself, while treating as a myth or a fable the Saviour who only can save anyone in the world or out of it.
That theory, or philosophy, works the work of the “man of sin” as truly as the Papacy has ever done it; for it puts man in the place of God as Saviour, abolishes the Mediator, dethrones the everlasting King, and puts the creature in the place of the Creator, by making the creature the chief being in the universe. All that is what Satan tried to do in heaven, and he is seeking now to accomplish it in the minds of men; and men and women are allowing themselves to be deceived into taking just such a disastrous position.
This “new thought” is expressed in various forms; but a prominent exponent of the idea has clothed it in such language as this:—
Man is his own saviour, by virtue of the divine immanence within. It is an eternal decree of life that man must evolve and work out his own destiny throughout the earth and the more interior spiritual spheres of his existence. The Christ [by which they mean the spirit of life] must be generated from within in every individual soul. Every living soul must be its own saving power. There will not be a single human soul saved by any power external to itself.
What that salvation means it is difficult to imagine. What that kind of a saviour is able to do for one they do not tell us. But every one who has measured his own life by the true Pattern and realized how far short he has come of it, can determine that for himself. It is certain that the salvation of which they speak is not the salvation which the blessed Bible brings to view. The saviour of whom they teach is not the Saviour by whose life and sacrifice man and the earth on which he walks is to be redeemed from the curse of sin. They are different entirely,—and not only different, but diametrically opposed the one to the other. The inspired Word declares that, “In none other is there salvation.” This latter-day philosophy makes every man his own saviour; and not only that, but goes so far as to declare that there is no salvation outside of man—no one but man who can save man, thereby taking direct issue with God, contradicting God’s pronouncement word for word.
Christ declares, “Without Me ye can do nothing.” This philosophy declares, in effect, that Christ Himself can do nothing for us. These are its words: “There will not be a single human soul saved by any means external to itself.”
God’s Word teaches that in Him is the treasure-house of wisdom and knowledge; that in Him is the fountain of life. The “new thought” receives “the fundamental truths of life direct from the interior realms of being,” which they hold to be the “central home of all truth.” Its reception by the individual “will make him free in thought and action, and enable him to become independent of all external methods of salvation.” Certain it is that such a belief will put one beyond the reach of salvation. While promising him a saviour and a salvation, that philosophy robs him of both, and unfits him for the salvation which God has prepared.
But these two things, the contradiction of God’s Word and the building of this new tower of Babel, are working in perfect accord, under the direction of one mind, for the accomplishment of one purpose. That purpose is the ruin of souls, and the directing power is the same that contradicted God’s word in Eden, and inspired wicked men to build a tower of self-salvation on the plains of Shinar. There is only one power that can save souls, and that is the power of God. Any agent that comes to you with any other plan is the agent of God’s age-long enemy, who is bent upon your ruin. It will come to you in ingenious phrases, folding and infolding into each other, interweaving and intertwining, until the mind is lost in its mysterious mazes, confused, and mayhap unsettled.
Do not dally with the tempter. There is One whom you know to be Truth. Cling to Him. There is one sure way, straight and narrow. Take that; the straight line is the shortest line, and the narrow way is the safest way. It is plenty wide for you and the Man of sorrows and sympathies to walk side by side. There is a vast difference between desiring to be like Christ in purity, truth, and love, and the assertion that we are Christ—deity incarnate in our flesh. The first is the legitimate outgrowth of yielding to God, while the second is the fruit of selfishness and disobedience. “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.”
S.
SATAN AS AN EDUCATOR.
By G.
SATAN is an educator. He began to educate the human race in the very beginning, and his first lesson was of the false science order. It was designed to belittle the God who created all things, and to exalt the creature. “Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” was his sneering, insinuating question. The pupil answered:—
“We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.”
Having succeeded in getting his pupil’s attention, Satan quickly took advantage of it, and boldly asserted:—
“Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.”
This cunning teacher employed the “cramming process,” or, rather, the short, cheap course, of education. He held before Eve the glorious prospect of graduation, of a rise to the highest grade of knowledge, in a day. And all along the history of mankind this system of education—away from God—has been persistently carried on, through a perversion of truth. The enemy of truth gives special attention to science and religion. Satan’s education, having the one purpose to deceive, is varied according to circumstances in order to catch all classes. He encourages his pupils to believe anything they choose, as long as it is not the truth. Jesus says of him: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8: 44.
As a teacher of science, some of his pupils believe the world to be flat, resting on a big turtle, or on great elephants, with equally absurd theories of its creation. Others believe that it evolved from small particles of nebulous matter, and came into form and regular motion without the direction of any special intelligence. Space will not permit an enumeration of the many fallacious theories designed to overthrow the Word of God. Any theory is admissible that will teach that God did not make heaven and earth, and all that in them is, in six days.
As a theologian, Satan is equally untruthful and inconsistent. At first his ideal attainment of knowledge was to be as God, knowing good and evil. However, this teaching was for one who personally knew of the existence of God. Later on, people who had not enjoyed that personal experience were taught that there was no God. These were led to worship the sun, moon, stars, and all manner of creatures, living and dead, and even idols of their own make and imagination.
But there are those who would adhere to the Word of God to the extent of believing that there is a supreme Intelligence that created and upholds all things; and even these are provided with perverted truth. These are scientifically and religiously informed that God is in everything. Ah! that is pleasing indeed! Surely that is honoring God in the highest degree! But it is simply a revamp of the no-God doctrine, for it leaves out His personality. It puts Him everywhere in general, but nowhere in particular. And the result is practically the same as before—adoration of everything, with the variation that God is in it.
The motive for humane treatment of men is that the “life of God” is in them; tenderness toward animals and birds is enjoined because the “life of God” is in them; praises are sung to the plants and flowers because the “life of God” is in them, etc. Yes, God gives life and breath to all things, but it is a perversion of this fact to say that the “life of God” is in them all. The life of God is eternal life; and it cost the great sacrifice of His Son that even such creatures as are capable of believing, and are willing to believe in Him, might have that life. Every other creature and plant on the earth has the curse of sin upon it, and God does not curse His own life.
“All flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth.” Does the life of God wither and fall?—Nay, verily; “the Word of the Lord abideth forever.” 1 Peter 1: 24, 25. Even the highest order of beings on earth, even the creature made in the image of God, such an one in his natural condition is “alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” Eph. 4: 18, 19. And this alienation from the life of God is because of the perversion of truth in the university of Satan.
“But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus.” Verses 20, 21. The prophecy from which Peter quotes, says that “the grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people are grass.” Isa. 40: 7. The Lord does not blow upon His own life. The life of God is only obtained by personal acquaintance with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. John 17: 3. G.
Question Corner
By Editor
[From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.]
1301.—I Cor. 15:29; Baptized for the Dead. Will publish an article on the subject soon.
1302.—The American Standard Revision.
You so highly recommend the American Revised Version of the Bible that I thought at one time of getting one, until I read “A Brief Note of Warning,” by J. W. H. Geiss, in the Review and Herald of October 7, page 10. Did you notice it? And what do you think about it? M. L. H.
Yes; we noticed the “Note of Warning” referred to, and heartily endorse it. But our correspondent, in reading it, confounded two entirely different works. We have commended the “American Standard Revised Version,” published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, New York. So has the Review and Herald. It is not absolutely perfect; there never could be a perfect translation with humanity as judge; but it is perfectly safe to say that this is the best English translation ever made. And we say this, not from our own judgment, but from the character and scholarship of the men who did the work, and the conscientious, conservative, painstaking, long-continued effort put upon it. The “Twentieth Century New Testament” is an entirely different work. It is not a translation of the original, but a translation of men’s understanding of the original put in modern English, not the best by any means. Its very title is a reflection on the strong, pure English of our Bible, which, with the exception of some archaic words and forms, is as fresh and strong today as it ever was. These obsolete forms and meanings are not found in the American Standard Revised Version, and we are sure that our correspondent will delight in its study.
