THERE are millions killing themselves both ways. Business men recognize it, and the person himself or herself ought to appreciate the clear facts from purely selfish motives. A life assurance society devotes almost an entire circular to the drugging habit. We are told that 'the man who doses himself with patent nostrums' 'puts his hand into a sort of medical grab-bag, and if he draws only a harmless or useless nostrum he is lucky. Quite frequently he draws a narcotic poison.'
We are told that in many of these nostrums are alcohol, opium, cocain, acetanilid, phenacetin, caffein, chloral, etc., many of which are very dangerous, and they warn their members to use none of these, or even alcohol, without consulting a physician. Generally, the law prohibits the sale of the above except upon a physician's prescription, and also forbids the refilling of such prescriptions. We further read:
'Since alcohol is now known to be a narcotic drug, is there any real difference between the 'drug fiend' and the daily user of alcohol? Chemically speaking, there is little difference, except that alcohol is a direct tissue poison, while most other narcotics are not, but exert their evil effects by disturbing the functions of the body. Generally speaking, however, the drug addict is on a much lower moral and physical plane than the average so-called 'moderate daily drinker.''
'The drug addict is a thoroly poisoned individual. His system must be cleared, not only of drugs, but of the body poisons he has accumulated. With a system cleared of poison, and the bodily functions fully restored, the drug addict may be assured that there is no drug in the pharmacopoeia that has any mysterious power to enslave him, if he wishes to retain his freedom.'
A Christian, above all others, should not be addicted to drugs; and remember, alcohol is one of the narcotic drugs. W.
The Coming of Our Lord
By George W. Rine
Who Will Reject His Coming? and Why?
N his second letter to Timothy, Paul declared that when Jesus comes in the glory of His kingdom, He will bestow a crown of righteousness upon "all them . . . that love His appearing." Clearly, then, some will love the Master's coming, and, of course, will welcome that coming with unspeakable joy. But the apostle's testimony just as clearly conveys, by implication, the sad thought that some will not love His appearing.
It is evident that all who now love Jesus and live for Him will love and welcome His coming. And, conversely, all who refuse now to receive Him, by His Spirit, into their lives, will flout the doctrine of His second coming, and scoff at those who believe and teach that doctrine.
By Whom Rejected at His First Coming
Apropos of Jesus' first advent, the apostle testifies, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not." The phrase "His own" refers obviously to the Jews, to those who professed to be God's people, and therefore to be looking for the Messiah.
In that most vivid of all Messianic prophecies, the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, the prophet asks with touching pathos, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" With telling emphasis the prophet here foretells that the number who will recognize and receive the long-promised Christ will be so small as to be next to none. Yes, the divine Spirit foresaw that He would be despised and rejected of men; that His own nominal people would not esteem Him, and would hide, as it were, their faces from Him.
To the "chosen nation" had been graciously afforded every facility to recognize their age-promised Deliverer when He appeared to them as Jesus of Nazareth. The whole Old Testament scintillates with Messianic prophecies. There are in it more than three hundred such predictions, either direct or indirect. These were all fulfilled with the utmost particularity in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. Those very Scriptures were read every Sabbath day in the synagogs. How true it was that that people had eyes, ears, hearts, yet they saw not, heard not, understood not. Yet His citizens (people) hated Him, and said, "We will not have this Man to reign over us."
The reason for this tragic mistake on the part of the Jewish people was repeatedly stated by the Master Himself during His ministry. Did He not declare to them that if they had believed Moses they would have believed Him? "For," said Jesus, "he [Moses] wrote of Me." He told them plainly that it was impossible for them to believe His words if they believed not the writings of Moses. (John 5:45-47.) On one occasion He began with Moses and all the prophets, and expounded in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. The fatal error of the Jews in rejecting the Lord of Glory was owing to the sad fact that they knew not the Scriptures, nor the power of God.
They made the terrible mistake of ranking their traditions above the Word of God. With them tradition was paramount; the Scriptures were secondary, or even negligible. Jesus told them fearlessly that their formal worship of God was utterly vain so long as they taught for doctrines the commandments of men; and that by their traditions they rendered void the commandments of God. It was notoriously true of the Jews at that time that they practised the letter of religion, but were utterly destitute of its spirit and power. Jesus charged them openly with hypocrisy, and declared that they fulfilled the prediction of Isaiah when the latter wrote, "This people draweth nigh unto Me [God] with their mouth, and honoreth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me." (See Matt. 15:1-9.)
It was their lack of spirituality that disqualified the Jewish teachers to understand God's revealed Word. As Jesus told them, they knew not the power of God. They had no experimental or vital knowledge of God, for they refused to receive His Spirit into their lives. Nothing but the Spirit of God dwelling in the heart can endue man with spiritual insight and discernment. Now, the fact is repeatedly emphasized that the Scriptures are spiritual, and that they are spiritually discerned. Holy men of God wrote the Scriptures as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, declares the Spirit-filled Peter.
Hence the essential and saving message of the Scriptures can be apprehended only as the learner is guided and quickened by the same Spirit who, through the prophets, wrote them. The religious leaders in the time of Christ felt self-sufficient, leaned to their own understanding. Hence, as Paul testifies, they were ignorant of God's righteousness. Accordingly, they failed to read Christ in their Scriptures, altho His portrait shone from every page. The day of their visitation had come, but they knew it not, simply because they knew not the written Word, and hence could not know and accept the incarnate Word. Inevitably the logical result followed—their house was left unto them desolate, and as a nation they wretchedly perished.
A very few, however, of those who made up the visible church of Jehovah at that time, lived in vital union with God. Spirit-filled, they were Spirit-guided in the study of the prophecies. Through the medium of the manifold Messianic predictions, they were led by the Spirit to see that "the time was fulfilled," and that the Redeemer was at the door. Therefore when Jesus of Nazareth appeared, the "wise men," Simeon, Anna, and many others, recognized and hailed Him as the Seed of the woman, the Desire of Ages—the Son of the living God.
In the Days When the Son of Man Is Revealed
But, as we have seen in previous articles, the Saviour is coming again—coming in the glory of His kingdom, and all the holy angels with Him. In the language of the inspired writer, "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28. Not fewer than forty times do the writers of the New Testament make explicit reference to the promised second advent of Jesus. Those who professed to be His church at the time of His first advent rejected Him, and in so doing made irretrievable shipwreck of their faith. Will those who profess to constitute His church at His second coming repeat the fatal mistake? If they do, the mistake will prove incomparably more tragic than was that of the Jews nineteen centuries ago.
The truth is that the deadly parallel is already in striking evidence in the religious world. That we are to-day living in the time when the personal return of our Lord is impending is attested by more than a score of eschatological prophecies. Numerous signs in the heavens, in the earth, in the social, the political, and the religious world, have either already been fulfilled or are in rapid process of fulfilment. Among all the races of mankind the conviction obtains that the end of the age is imminent, and that a new and radically different cycle in the history of all things mundane is impending. Yet the sad fact is undeniable that approximately the whole vast body of the professed Christian clergy not only ignore the advent message due to the world to-day, but regard with a feeling almost akin to contemptuous pity the small body of Christian workers who are faithfully teaching that solemn message to a benighted world.
As in the days of the first advent, the nominal church to-day is trusting largely in the wisdom of man as expressed in tradition, rather than in the living oracles of God. The prophetic portions of the Bible are well-nigh entirely neglected, in the face of the fact that the Spirit of God through Peter enjoins us to "take heed" to the "sure word of prophecy, . . . as unto a light that7shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn." All the holy prophets teach in the most explicit language that Christ will come again as visibly and literally as the sun rises on a cloudless morning. But what are the religious teachers doing with these obvious testimonies of the spirit of prophecy? — They are manipulating them, spiritualizing them, sophistically explaining them away. Having espoused the theories of extreme evolution and of "advanced" critical theology, which are utterly hostile to the plain, obvious teachings of Holy Writ, the typical preacher of our day has lost faith in the Bible as the uniformly inerrant revelation of God.
Not long ago, for instance, a noted clergyman, now dean of one of the most popular divinity schools of this country, preached a sermon on the "Second Coming of Christ," at one of the leading Protestant churches of the Pacific Coast. He declared that the promise of Jesus' second coming has been repeatedly realized in the past and will continue to be realized in all time to come. He alleged that that "coming" was fulfilled every time a sinner yields himself to Christ with a view to living a higher and nobler life; He comes again in those spiritual awakenings which sometimes sweep over the face of an entire community; He comes again in every righteous national or international event or movement; and so on ad nauseam. The speaker declared — incredibly fatuous as it was — that when, at the time of the Boxer uprising in China, the United States government returned to China a large part of the indemnity awarded to the United States, then this country saw the "Son of Man coming in His kingdom with power and great glory"!
Jesus and His prophets foresaw this lamentable apostasy of the latter-day church from revealed truth. Note the emphasis with which our Lord prophetically announced that faith would almost have died out of the earth when He should come in His kingdom: "Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" Verily this day is that prediction fulfilled in our ears. In the third chapter of 2 Timothy Paul foretells that "in the last days" men would have a "form of godliness," but they would deny "the power thereof." They would be "ever learning," he declares, but "never able to come to a knowledge of the truth." We know that the Master Himself said, "Thy [God's] Word is truth." Hence religionists in the last days would be ever learning, but never come to a knowledge of the Word of God.
Indubitably, then, all merely nominal professors of the Christian faith, as well as all the irreclaimable unbelievers of the world, will reject and are rejecting the message of Christ's imminent return to the world to receive His loyal children to Himself, that where He is — in His timeless kingdom — there they may be also. The awful terror and panic in which all those who reject the message of the second coming will be thrown, is vividly depicted by the revelator, in the last four verses of Revelation 6: "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
Is the glorious appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, to you, dear reader, as it was to Paul, "that blessed hope"? If you really love Jesus, as did Paul, you will, like him, cherish the "hope" of the Lord's appearing; yes, you will "love His appearing," and like the apostle, receive, at that day, a crown of righteousness. Let us, finally, remind ourselves of the words of John, "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."
Ad Bellonam
By Frank L. Pollock
Mother of swords! While the river runs,
Or the steamer seeks the sea,
While the north wind blows from the chill of snows,
And the south from the scented key,
So long, so long will live the song
That thy lilting bugles sing,
As the war-ship rides down the deep sea tides,
Where the green foams white on her armored sides,
And the wind'ard gun shields ring.
There be they who sing that the song will cease,
The song that thy sons began;
That the good old world will loll in peace,
In the bend of the peace of man.
They sing,—and clear 'twixt the notes we hear
The clink of the warrior's trade;
And the thund'rous call where the hammers fall,
And the steam-power shrieks o'er the factory wall,
Where the rifled guns are made.
The breath of the Lord may rule the sea,
And the lies of men the land;
And the craft of the tongue may hold in fee
The strength of the heavy hand;
But tho tongues may quicken and strength may sicken,
And hands grow soft and small,
Year upon year the day draws near
Of the unsheathed sword and the shaken spear,
That shall make amends for all.
When the Armageddon's sunrise breaks
On the ironclad's smoking line,
When the last dawn lights on that last of fights
Where the strength of man shall shine,
One last grim day of the world at play
With bugle and tuck of drum,
While the red drops beat on the shattered fleet,
Till the red sun sinks on the last defeat,
Then—let the millennium come.
—Frank L. Pollock.
Satanic Delusions to Increase
By Mrs. E. G. White
By Mrs. E. G. White
“FOR the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” Prior to and at the first advent of Christ, religious teachers set forth strange ideas that were so mingled with portions of truth that they were full of deceptive power, and led souls away from God, altho they still preserved the appearance of being His true worshipers. We find a similar condition of society in these last days, and those who depart from the faith, mingle with their belief diversities of human opinion. The Bible is brought into criticism. Is it because the Scriptures are inconsistent and contradictory that ministers differ so widely in their interpretation? —No; the trouble is that men are doing to-day as they did in the time of Christ, and are teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Religious teachers are in the same condition as were the Pharisees of whom He said, “Ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God.” The very men to whom these words were spoken were presumed to teach and interpret the Scriptures to the people.
Not Vague and Inconsistent
Are the Scriptures vague and inconsistent? Is there any foundation for the conflicting opinions and various sentiments and doctrines that find credence in the religious world? If so, then we may entertain doubts of their divine origin; for it is not the inspiration of God that leads people to come to diverse opinions. Those who undertake to interpret the Bible, have corrupted the Word of God and wrested the Scripture from its true meaning, by seeking to harmonize the truth of God with the inventions and doctrines of men. The Scriptures are perverted and misapplied, and the gems of truth are set in the framework of error. These teachers are blinded, and can not clearly discern what is the true meaning of the Scriptures.
In the time of the apostles, teachers of this character sought to insinuate themselves among the teachers of truth. They tried to mingle the chaff with the wheat, and their theories were called “strange doctrine;” but the Lord would have us distinguish truth from error. The apostle exhorts us to “come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.” Peter, John, Jude, and Paul had to contend with men who sought to unsettle the unstable, and who made the word of truth of none effect. Those who were filled with vain philosophy and impressed with science falsely so called, were prejudiced against the truth.
A Warning for These Times
Jesus, who gave His life to save men, has given us a warning as to what shall come to pass in the last days. The disciples came to Him privately to ask Him concerning the end of the world, and Jesus said: “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” Satanic delusions and deceptions will increase as we near the end of earth’s history. Jesus warned His followers as to what should take place just prior to His coming. He said: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch8that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.”
Deceptions Will Increase
The deceiving power of Satan will continually increase to the very end. Through his agencies he will do great wonders, “so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do; . . . saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
Our world is fast approaching the boundary-line when probation will no longer be granted. A long-suffering God bore with the inhabitants of the world in the time of Noah; but at last He declared to His servant saying, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
The condition of society to-day is similar to what it was in the time of Noah; and if Jesus were among us, He would say, “Can ye not discern the signs of the times?” “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the Flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”
Watch Therefore
“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.” The world is given up to the pursuit of temporal affairs, as men were in the days of Noah. They are eating, drinking, planting, building, marrying, and giving in marriage. These things are all lawful in themselves, but it is the carrying of them to excess that is sinful. The world has had great light, and has been greatly favored, and yet the people of the world come short of living up to their responsibilities. The warning Christ gave to the cities that had been most highly favored and had not repented, applies to the world in this day: “Wo unto thee, Chorazin! wo unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.”
The Last Enemy
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
Pray, who art thou, so dread, so gaunt,
Thou specter grim of field and fen?
Who art thou, thus to curse and haunt
The precincts of the sons of men?
I've seen thee flit, with noiseless wing,
From sheol's dark and gruesome night,
And o'er our sweetest pleasures fling
A fear, a mildew, and a blight.
What awesome dread thy presence brings!
Thy cruel hand no man may stay!
Thou heedest not the prayer of kings,
Nor man nor angel bids thee nay.
Thy pestilential banner waves
O'er lowly cot and stately tower.
A hundred thousand new-made graves
All testify thy mighty power.
And then I heard a dismal word,
And felt an awesome, chilling breath;
In nameless fear a voice I heard:
"O child of earth, my name is Death.
I rule on land, I rule on sea,
On battle-fields 'mid clang and din;
The fairest realms belong to me —
My home is earth; my sire is Sin.
"And once," the mocking voice made boast,
"Once, from the shining heavens afar,
From blazing throne and angel host,
The Magi saw a gleaming star;
But I was there, and quick I sped
To Bethlehem's streets, and hovered near,
While angels wept o'er infants dead,
And frenzied Rachels moaned with fear.
"And once again, with sable wing,
On wild Golgotha's height I stood,
And smiling heard the clamor ring —
The loud, insistent cry for blood.
My fingers sped the awful dart
With might unparalleled, I ween,
With icy hand I chilled His heart —
The mighty, godlike Nazarene."
"Hold, monster of the nether gloom!"
I cried aloud with eager breath;
"He rose a Victor o'er the tomb —
My Master broke thy seal, O Death!
And all the dead shall hear His voice,
And dust and darkness backward fling:
'O Death, where is thy victory?
O Grave, where is thy sting?'"
Lansing, Michigan.
Our Saviour and Lord
By George W. Reaser
By George W. Reaser
Christ as Prophet and Teacher
AMONG the many offices filled by the Son of God, we find Him officiating as prophet and as teacher. As the former, He is the inspirer of all true prophets; as the latter, the teacher of all who are taught the greatest of all sciences, "the science of salvation."
The very first prophetic promise was Jesus' announcement that He would redeem Adam's failure. This prophecy in reality embodied that same gospel which was more fully announced by succeeding prophecies, and heralded to the watching shepherds that eventful night when, "lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. . . . And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
In brief, this first prophetic promise was that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. It was Christ's own promise that, inasmuch as Satan had been the occasion of the fall of man, He Himself, by coming into the world as "the seed of the woman," would become responsible for the vanquishing of "the serpent," and for the redemption of the man.
It was Jesus acting in His prophetic office who inspired Jacob, just before he "yielded up the ghost," to say, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." Gen. 49:10.
It was Christ who employed even the perverted lips of Balaam to declare, "There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel, . . . and Israel shall do valiantly." Num. 24:17, 18. It was Christ who used the consecrated lips of Isaiah to preannounce, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isa. 9:6. It was to Jesus' own prophetic utterance that the angel Gabriel referred when he said to Mary concerning the Son that was to be born to her, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." Luke 1:32, 33. It was the fact that Christ had spoken through Micah, which enabled the scribes to respond to Herod's demand as to "where Christ should be born," that the place of His nativity was prophetically announced to be "in Bethlehem of Judea."
Should the thought that Christ acted in the capacity of a prophet from the foundation of the world be new to any, such will desire proof of the position herein taken. Peter at once comes to our aid, and, in speaking of the "lively hope" and "incorruptible inheritance" secured to us in the gift of Christ, says, "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify; when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister." 1 Peter 1:3, 4, 10-12. Thus it is proved that the human prophets, of themselves, could not have given us a single detail of the coming of Christ into the world, but after recording the things dictated to them by the Spirit of Christ which was in them, searched their own writings, to discover if possible their meaning. And thus it is clear that men were only prophets, as Christ, the divine Prophet, opened the future to them. "Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear." Acts 3:22.9
Pre-Advent Prophecies
The things which had formed the basis of His prophetic announcements prior to His advent as a man into our world, were, that He Himself would become a member of our race,—"the Seed of the woman,"—the last Adam, to redeem the failure of the first Adam; "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," to conquer the adversary; the righteous Branch of David, to sit upon his throne; the Conqueror of the grave, to set the captives free; the Prince of Peace, to fill every troubled breast that would give Him room, with the peace of God, that passeth all understanding; "the Tower of the flock, the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion," to wrest the "first dominion" from the usurper, and restore it to "the saints of the Most High," who "shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever," when "the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace."
His pre-advent prophecies also included the rise and fall of kings, the overthrow of cities and nations, the final judgment, the gathering of Israel, and the establishing of Jerusalem as the capital city of the renewed earth.
Prophecies During His Earth Life
During His ministry here on earth His prophecies included the casting of Satan out of heaven; the destruction of Jerusalem; the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon His disciples; the wars, famines, pestilences, and earthquakes which would come; the long period of papal persecution; the arising of false christs and false prophets; and the signs of His second coming, to be followed by that sublime event. Sixty years after His ascension to glory it is evident that He still acted in His office as prophet, for He sent His angel to dictate to His servant John the book of Revelation, which by numerous parallel lines of prophecy outlines the world's history from the date when it was given till the close of time, the end of the millennium, and the establishing of the city of God and His throne on our planet. Thus will the redemption of Adam's failure be made complete.
The Purpose of His Prophecies
was to prove the existence of an overruling power, and that power Jehovah; to prove Himself to be the true Messiah; to prove the Word of God true; to warn against deceptions; to give opportunity for His people to prepare for impending events; to identify His own church; and to give a firm basis for hope in the great hereafter.
Christ as Teacher
That Christ was a teacher of unusual merit was conceded by Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. As he approached Jesus by night his greeting was, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God." It is evident that He must have possessed a rare gift as a teacher, for altho He never attended the rabbinical schools for a single day, yet at the early age of twelve years, as He wandered into the temple at Jerusalem and sat down in the midst of the learned doctors, listening to them and asking them questions, "all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers." Later, when He had entered upon His ministry, it is said that when He taught, the people "were astonished at His doctrine: for His word was with power." There must of necessity have been a peculiar power in His words; for it was He who once spoke into empty space, and our solar system sprang into being. It was He who formed the first man and gave him intellect. Surely He had the knowledge to impart, and the skill to instruct the minds that He had created. And yet while here as a man, He was dependent upon the wisdom that comes from above; but by prayer, through faith, and being a consecrated channel of blessing to others, He was constantly filled with wisdom from the fountain above. This same source of wisdom is open to all His disciples.
While possessing all knowledge, His specialty as a teacher was to teach the truth, of which He was the living embodiment. In teaching the truth, He undermined all error, unmasked "the father of lies," showed the universe to be real, tangible, not mythical, unreal. He taught that all things, even "the lily of the valley," and the wandering sparrow, are under the watch-care of an omnipotent hand. He taught men how to live, how to pray, how to labor successfully, how to glorify God, and thus the priceless secret of how to live eternally. In His statement to one whom He had healed, "Go thy way, and sin no more," He showed that all sickness is either directly or indirectly caused by sin, and thus He taught the way of physical health, as well as of health for the soul.
He recognized that one of the most direct avenues to the heart is through the eye, and hence we find His lessons on eternal truths beautifully embellished with object-lessons. Among these were the beauty of the lily and the protection of the sparrow to illustrate God's care; the withered branch to demonstrate forcefully the necessity of being connected with the True Vine; the withered fig-tree to demonstrate the power of faith; the lost sheep to show the intensity of God's desire for the rescue of the sinful one.
"He loved to gather the people about Him under the blue heavens, on some grassy hillside, or on the beach beside the lake. Here, surrounded by the works of His own creation, He could turn the thoughts of His hearers from the artificial to the natural. In the growth and development of nature were revealed the principles of His kingdom."—"Desire of Ages," page 291.
He taught by the wayside well, on the dusty road, on the mountainside, from the boat on the lake, at the humble evening meal, as well as in the synagogues and in the great temple at Jerusalem.
Results of His Teaching
Altho He was the Majesty of Heaven, yet in His teaching He came down to the level of humanity, so that the common people heard Him gladly.
We may form some idea of His ability as a teacher, and also of the results of His teaching, when we consider the wonderful work accomplished upon the twelve "ignorant and unlearned" men whom He chose as His apostles. In the wisdom of the world it would seem to be utter folly to select ignorant fishermen to be the leaders of a work that was intended to grow for nearly two millennia, until it permeated every nation under heaven. But such was the choice and such the wisdom of the great Teacher. He, "the Light of the world," was abundantly able to qualify them for the positions for which He had chosen them.
"Never had the world's great men such a teacher. When the disciples came forth from the Saviour's teaching, they were no longer ignorant and unlearned men. They had become like Him in mind and character, and men took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus and learned of Him."
The Light of the World
"The world has had its great teachers, men of giant intellect and wonderful research, men whose utterances have stimulated thought and opened to view vast fields of knowledge; and these men have been honored as guides and benefactors of their race." "But there is One who stands higher than they." "We can trace the line of the world's great teachers as far back as human records extend; but the Light was before them. As the moon shines by the reflected light of the sun, so, as far as their teaching is true, do the world's great teachers reflect the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Every gem of thought, every flash of intellect, is from the Light of the world:" That which He taught in words was revealed also in His character. It has been said that when He taught the people in person, "the day seemed to them like heaven upon earth."
O, the blessed privilege of sitting at the feet of Jesus! for He still comes to us as the great Teacher, in the name of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. If we learn of Him that which He designs to teach us now,—even righteousness of character,—we may eventually follow Him as Creator, Redeemer, Life-giver, and Teacher, wherever intellectual feasts may be found awaiting the redeemed, throughout the universe.
Our Bible Reading
Shadows and Offerings
1. What is the first record we have of the typical offerings?
"And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." Gen. 4: 3-5.
2. Did Abraham build altars to the Lord?
"And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him." Gen. 12: 7. See also verse 8; chapter 13: 4; etc.
3. What was the evident purpose for which these altars were erected?
"And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order. . . . And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son." Gen. 22: 9-13.
4. What was the significance of the offerings themselves?
"For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling them that have been defiled, sanctify unto the cleanness of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish unto God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Heb. 9: 13, 14.
"For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered without the gate." Heb. 13: 11, 12.
5. What is the significance of one of the names which Christ bears?
"And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matt. 1: 21.
6. Why was He made an offering for us?
"Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2: 14.
7. Read a text in which He is spoken of as the Lamb whose blood was offered.
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter 1: 18, 19.
8. When did the shadowy, typical offerings of the old dispensation meet their fulfilment and cease?
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Col. 2: 14-17.