FROM Eden lost to Eden restored, we read the long record of a continuous controversy. “There was war in heaven,” instigated by a mind that had set itself at variance with the mind of its Maker.
That controversy and that war were transferred to this earth when Satan purposed to do for man what he had done for the inhabitants of heaven who listened to his conspiracy.
God’s first admonition to the perfect pair in Eden was controverted by the arch-deceiver. There was a plain contradiction of the word of God, and a flattering encouragement to the pair to disobey God and become like gods themselves.
When they had accepted Satan’s suggestion and had disobeyed God, they realized in their own hearts and in their own appearance that they had done what they could never undo. Then, for the first time, they felt remorse, conviction, shame; for the first time realized the feeling of wrong committed. Satan had won his first battle over man. From then till now the agencies of God have been carrying on the operations that are to counteract the result of that victory of Satan over man.
But the deceiver had not desisted during any of that time. God taught Adam and Eve the consequences of their rash act, and then laid before them the only hope there was for the race. That hope lay in One who was to be the offspring of woman. So at the birth of Cain, Eve declared, “I have gotten a man from the Lord,” evidently thinking that this was the One through whom salvation would come. Presumably Satan thought so, too, for he put it into Cain’s heart to kill his brother Abel, and thus forestall the possibility of Cain’s ever being that One and doing that redemptive work. Then, when God promised a Seed to Abraham, Satan sought to adulterate and thwart the plan by bringing in a child in a way altogether different from what God purposed. Ishmael was born; but he was not the child of promise, and he soon showed a malignant spirit toward the one who did fill that place.
When Jacob and Esau, sons of Isaac, came to the estate of manhood, a deep and skilful plan was laid to bring about an enmity that would result in the death of Jacob, who was to be the father of the twelve tribes, through one of whom Messiah was to come. God overruled in this, and Jacob was spared, to become Israel, the prevailer with God, and the father of “the twelve tribes.”
Then the malignity of Satan established itself in the hearts of Israel’s children, and they sold their own brother into slavery; but God so overruled the result of that act that the slave boy became the instrument through which not only Israel and his offspring, but the inhabitants of Egypt and other countries, were enabled to subsist through the grievous seven-year famine. Satan meant to cut off the promised Seed by destroying Israel and his entire family.
When the time was ripe for the deliverer to be born who should lead the hosts of Israel out of Egyptian bondage and into the promised land, Satan caused a decree to go forth that all the male children born to the women of Israel should be put to death. The command was repeated and emphasized when the midwives were unwilling to become the executioners. Every male child was ordered to be thrown into the river. That this command was being carried out was shown by the course taken by the mother of Moses, first in hiding him three months at home, and then in secreting him in the little water-tight basket among the reeds and rushes of the Nile. Satan meant that Israel should never leave the bondage of Egypt; that Moses, the type of Christ, should never lead the people of God into the typical land of promise, but perish under the decree of Pharaoh. God preserved him, and he led the people out.
We find the same spirit manifested toward the youthful David in the court of Saul. Satan knew that David had been anointed to be king over Israel. This accounts for the seemingly erratic course of Saul toward him, and the satanic spirit which he showed on the occasions when he attempted to take David’s life, and for the persistency with which he sought to accomplish that object. David was destined not only to be the ruler over Israel, but one of the greatest of the prophets, through whom have come to the world the most blessed promises and encouragements in all the Bible. Satan would gladly have forestalled all that, as well as the wonderful teachings of wisdom by the son who followed him.
But the controversy was not over with that defeat. The enemy of God and man finally brought about the overthrow and scattering of the whole Jewish nation. He brought them into a bondage apparently as dark as that under which their fathers served in Egypt. But God remembered his promise concerning the Seed through whom should be restored the lost inheritance, through whom man should gain the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Israel, in repentance and deep humility, returns to the promised land; for Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem of Judea. He was born of the tribe of Judah, and he was born in the tribal home of Judah.
When the time of Christ’s birth was at hand, Satan felt that the crucial day had come. So he began to stir up the Roman ruler of Palestine, and finally the decree went forth that the male children of two years and younger in Bethlehem and the region round about should be slain. Satan intended, and Herod supposed, that thus would be accomplished the death of the child Jesus. Note the similarity between this decree and that of Pharaoh. Foiled in this, Satan pursued the “Seed of the woman” till the seal of the Roman official closed the door of Joseph’s new tomb over the sacrificed Redeemer. That seal and all Satan’s power could not hold him, and he came forth bringing with him the guaranty of eternal life for every soul who would believe and accept him.
From then till now the wrath of man’s enemy has been turned in deadly earnestness against those who accept that sacrifice and that infinite gift. Christ’s followers were worn out by that power during the twelve hundred sixty years of papal persecution, and we are drawing near to that time when another decree is to go forth by the instigation of that same power. This decree is to be directed against “as many as would not worship the image of the beast.” The penalty for refusing to perform that act of idolatry is death. Rev. 13:15-17. That is the decree that faces all who will be loyal to God and his truth in the not-distant future. It is not in the least difficult to see in this decree the same spirit, the same malignant animosity, the same cruel handiwork, that we have seen at work down through the ages against the purpose of God and the people of God. This last decree, unlike the others prompted by Satan, is to be a universal decree. It is to be against every soul in the world who will not bow to the dictates of that “beast” power, worship it, and receive its mark or the number of its name. We hear more and more frequent mutterings of that on-coming storm which is8to try the loyalty of every soul. The warnings of the Word concerning it have been faithful warnings, and are now being given. The same being who deceived Adam and Eve into death, plotted the destruction of their posterity, conspired against the life of Moses, against David, against all Israel, against Christ, is planning this last onslaught upon those who purpose to be faithful to their Maker. But the Protector of his people will not leave them in this their “time of Jacob’s trouble.” Those who stand at last upon the sea of glass, having the harps of God, are they who have “gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.” Rev. 15:2. That seals the destiny of every soul upon the earth, and events now occurring in the nations of earth are telling in very certain tones that the time of that sealing is near at hand.
THE message of the “everlasting gospel,” in this generation, is a message of Sabbath reform; for it is in the Sabbath of the fourth commandment that Christendom has in doctrine as well as in practise set aside the commandments of God and followed papal tradition. The call of God, in this threefold message of Revelation 14, opens with the words:—
“Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”
This call to reformation in the worship of God is based on the terms of the fourth commandment. It is an appeal to worship the God who “made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20: 11.
It is the Creator, the God who made the Sabbath the sign of his creative power, that is to be worshiped. “Hallow my Sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” Eze. 20: 20.
The Sabbath is the sign, the divinely appointed mark of the living and the true God.
But the Roman Papacy has set up a mark of its own, a badge of the assumed power of the Catholic Church, to speak for God independently of his Holy Word. The Papacy points to the existence of the Sunday institution in Christendom as a mark of its power and authority; and so it is.
It was on this very point that the famous Council of Trent based Rome’s answer to the Protestant Reformation, that tradition and not Scripture alone is the guide, with the voice of the Catholic Church the living voice instead of the Bible, the living Word of God. The council had long debated the ground of its answer. The history says:—
Finally, at the last opening on the eighteenth of January, 1562, their last scruple was set aside; the archbishop of Reggio made a speech in which he openly declared that tradition stood above Scripture. The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the church had changed Sabbath into Sunday, not by the command of Christ, but by its own authority. With this, to be sure, the last illusion was destroyed, and it was declared that tradition does not signify antiquity, but continual inspiration.—Dr. J. H. Holtzman. “Canon and Tradition,” page 263.
Ever since, the Papacy has been boldly challenging Protestants with inconsistency in holding to the observance of Sunday while rejecting the authority of the Roman Church. One finds it in almost any Roman Catholic catechism. Thus:—
Question.—Have you any other way or means of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
Answer.—Had she not such power, . . . she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.—Kennan’s “Doctrinal Catechism,” page 174.
Again, a standard Roman Catholic work, written for Protestants, says:—
The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the church.—“Plain Talk About the Protestantism of To-Day.”
There can be no question as to the fact that the Bible recognizes no change of the day of the Sabbath. As Cardinal Gibbons says:—
You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.—“Faith of Our Fathers,” page 111.
Protestant authorities—men who themselves observe the traditional Sunday—have freely declared that the New Testament nowhere teaches the substitution of the first day of the week for the seventh as the day of rest. Smith and Cheetham’s “Dictionary of Christian Antiquities,” a standard work edited by Church of England clergymen, says:—
The notion of a formal substitution by apostolic authority of the Lord’s day [meaning Sunday] for the Jewish Sabbath, and the transference to it, perhaps in a spiritualized form, of the Sabbatical obligation established by the promulgation of the fourth commandment, has no basis whatever, either in Holy Scripture or in Christian antiquity.—Article “Sabbath.”
And all the time the fourth command of God’s holy law declares the seventh day to be the Lord’s day, not a “Jewish” Sabbath, but “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Whoever takes Jehovah as God and Lord is asked by him to take his Sabbath also.
Here are statements by another Church of England writer, Dr. Egton, canon of Westminster:—
There is no word nor hint, in the New Testament, about abstaining from work on Sunday.
No commandment of God bids us do this or not do that on Sunday; we are absolutely free as far as his law goes.
The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands on exactly the same footing as the observance of Sunday.
Into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters.—“The Ten Commandments,” Truebner & Co. (London).
The late Dr. R. W. Dale, Congregationalist, famous in all the churches as one of England’s foremost writers and scholars, said:—
It is quite clear that however rigidly or devoutly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was founded on a specific divine command. We can plead no such command for the observance of Sunday.
There is not a single sentence in the New Testament to suggest that we incur any penalty by violating the supposed sanctity of Sunday.—“The Ten Commandments,” Hodder and Stoughton (London).
Christ kept the seventh-day Sabbath of the fourth commandment, as he kept all his “Father’s commandments.” He declared himself “Lord also of the Sabbath.” Mark 2: 28. It is the only Lord’s day of Holy Scripture, the only day blessed and made holy by the Lord. In keeping it, Jesus left his followers for all time an example that they should walk “even as he walked.” 1 John 2: 6. He is “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” He never changed the perfect law of God, which is “holy, and just, and good;” he magnified the law in his earthly life and death, and ever lives to bring repentant sinners into the obedience of faith. The new-covenant promise declares the joyful word, “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” Heb. 8: 10. That is the work of Jesus Christ and his gospel.
But the Papacy, that antichristian power, brought to view in Daniel’s prophecy, that was to “think to change” the law of God (Dan. 7: 25), has set aside the sign, or mark, of the living God, the Sabbath, and set up its own mark, the Sunday institution. This mystic9Babylon of the prophecies has “made all nations drink of the wine” of its errors and perversions. Even some professedly Protestant peoples are found seeking by civil law to compel the observance of the Sunday, the mark of papal authority. Therefore the Lord sends the last message to all nations, crying the warning:—
“If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.”
The whole question of loyalty and allegiance is bound up in this matter. The Lord sets forth his sign, the holy Sabbath, and the Papacy sets forth its sign, the Sunday institution. Whom shall we follow,—the living God? or the Roman Papacy that “sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God”?
The age-long controversy between truth and error is brought to the final crisis in this last generation. The issue is clear. There it stands written in the “sure word of prophecy” for all mankind to read. The Reformation is not ended yet. Every movement of reform in past days has been leading up to this last stand for God and his Holy Word, on the platform of the primitive faith of the New Testament—“the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
The closing work of the judgment-hour in heaven, and this advent movement and message on earth, are God’s answer to the great apostasy.
The prophet of old, as he saw the workings of apostasy treading down the sanctuary and the truth of God, heard the cry, “How long shall be the vision?” How long, O Lord, how long? was the cry of hearts through the dark night of papal error. The Lord’s answer was, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Interpreted, that answer was, Unto the year 1844, then will the judgment work begin in heaven that is to cut short the reign of sin and apostasy; and then will the Lord lift up on earth the standard of eternal truth against the Papacy in the final gospel message to the world.
Truths obscured by tradition and trampled under the foot of apostasy are to be proclaimed anew. The message of Rev. 14: 6-14 is spreading to the world. Every year thousands of new voices join in telling it. Printing-presses are printing this message in many lands. Schools and colleges in every continent are educating thousands of Seventh-day Adventist youth, keeping before them, as the highest aim in life, the hastening of the advent message of Revelation 14 to the world. Sanitariums in many parts are training medical missionary evangelists, ministering at the same time to the sick, and teaching the principles of Bible health and temperance. The movement necessarily emphasizes every principle and every truth of the “everlasting gospel,” while pressing upon all the solemn issue that loyalty to Christ now means to turn from papal tradition to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, from the Sunday of the Roman Papacy to “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”
In times past Christian believers have been unwittingly following the Papacy in this matter; the Lord holds no man accountable for light that he did not have. Reformation is a progressive work. Of the past we may say with Paul: “The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness.” Acts 17: 31. And now, with this “hour of God’s judgment” already come, the entire covering of papal tradition is to be torn aside, and true believers will be found keeping the faith and keeping the commandments of God as Jesus comes in glory.
All this was shown to John on the Isle of Patmos,—the coming of the judgment-hour, the rise of the advent movement, and the heralding of the last message to the nations.
What John saw in vision nearly two thousand years ago, we see fulfilling before our eyes to-day. It is not enough to see it. We must have a part in it, and be a part of it.
W. A. S.
God's Promises Bridge the Gulf
By C. M. S.
From the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of the Revelation extends a glorious bridge of promises whose buttresses are set in eternity, and whose suspension cables are anchored in the throne of God. What a wonderful bridge, spanning all time and uniting the two eternities! Over that bridge must walk the whole host of the redeemed; for none enter heaven from this earth save those whose footway has been upheld by the promises of God. The first of them declares that the Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15); and the last: “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to render to each man according as his work is. I am the alpha and the omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are they that wash their robes [“do his commandments,” A. V.], that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:12-14.
This promise is emphasized in verse 20, which reads, “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.” On these two promises rests the Christian’s hope—the first given when all had been lost, the second enunciated when all had been redeemed from the hand of the usurper, from the curse of sin, through the giving and the bruising of that promised Seed. The victory of Christ over death and the grave gave him the right to that title, “the alpha and the omega, the first and the last.” So it takes the whole Bible, written to a greater or less extent in the blood of God’s children, to expound the full import of this title which the risen Son of God ascribes to himself. Between the alpha of Genesis and the omega of Revelation, upon which rests the bridge of our hopes, lies the great surging sea of sin’s conflict against the powers of righteousness. Said he who gave the Revelation, “I am . . . the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Because he was able to fulfil that first promise, and did so, he is able to make the last, and to fulfil that also. So is the great bridge completed, like the temple of old, without sound of ax or hammer, or human invention or appliance of any kind.
That first promise, involving the whole work of redemption, was made necessary by the disobedience of man. How fitting, then, that the last, or omega promise, should have connected with it the requirement of complete renunciation of disobedience, complete submission to the law of God! That disobedience, which made necessary the alpha promise, was what shut man away from the tree of life. How fitting, then, that in connection with the omega promise we should find the promise of the restoration of the privilege of coming to and partaking of the fruit of the tree of life! It was forbidden to the sinful man lest he should live forever. It is restored to the righteous, or redeemed, man in order that he may live forever. God will not suffer the perpetuation of sin; but he has pledged himself to the perpetuation of righteousness. Man, by his disobedience, put on mortality; but when the work of redemption is complete, “this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality.” I Cor. 15:54.
That fulfils the omega promise; that sweeps out the reign of sin, with all its sorrowful adjuncts; that brings in righteousness over all the dominion of God, with all the blessings which are bound up in it. Toward that glorious consummation this age is hastening with winged feet. The marshaling call to the hosts of sin and to the artillery of iniquity is heard throughout all the world. They are gathering swiftly for the fearful and final fray. The storm is driving on; but just beyond are the placid waters of eternal peace. The promises of God are sure; they can never fail. The word of the Lord shall stand fast forever.
C. M. S.
Our Obligations to the Cause of God
By W. T. Knox
The psalmist, contemplating the Lord's dealings with him, and the many mercies bestowed upon him, was led to exclaim, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” While David's life had the full share of the vicissitudes common to the lot of man, yet in them all he found it in his heart to render praise to his God for the blessings so freely granted; this, too, whether sitting upon the throne, surrounded by his courtiers, admirers, and friends, or fleeing from his enemies led by an unnatural son and a disloyal servant and false friend. In all circumstances, he found abundant occasion to praise the Lord; and in summing it all up, he reached the conclusion that “goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,” whether in the midst of the green pastures of plenty and the peacefulness of still waters, or in the turbulent scenes of warfare, or even in the presence or the shadow of death; and as he thought upon the question raised in his mind, notwithstanding he had gathered a fabulous store of gold and silver, brass and iron, wood and stone, for the building of the house of God, yet he was constrained to admit that there was nothing he could render in return for the benefits received but to “take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord,” or, in other words, to continue to place himself in a receptive attitude toward the mercies of God.
It is fitting that we frequently review the Lord's dealings with us. How manifold are his blessings! He not only gladdens our hearts by the material blessings that are renewed to us day by day, and by the spiritual blessings bestowed so abundantly, but also by the wonderful successes attending our efforts in cooperation with him in giving to the world a knowledge of his truth and purposes concerning man, which are so soon to be accomplished.
CHAPEL, OFFICES, AND PRINTING PLANT, SHANGHAI, CHINA
REAR VIEW OF HOMES FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN SHANGHAI, CHINA
FRONT VIEW OF HOMES FOR FOREIGN WORKERS IN SHANGHAI, CHINA
Nothing brings greater comfort and courage to his people than to see the wonderful progress made in our missionary efforts during the past two decades. Country after country has been entered by the messengers of truth, many of them previously lying in the grossest darkness of heathenism. In some of them to-day we have a strongly organized and progressive work established, and there remain but a very few of the nations of earth that have not witnesses of the truth among them. This has not been accomplished without self-sacrifice on the part of the faithful workers who are pioneering this great movement, in many instances at the cost of health, and even life.
But ever God's cause has been onward, until now we can by the eye of faith see a completed work in this generation. But this can be accomplished only by the continued sacrifice and greatly augmented devotion of the people of God. This spirit the Lord will honor with his blessing, and crown with success.
The Mission Board is greatly rejoiced that through the liberality of the people, they have been able to supply our brethren in these difficult fields with some facilities to render their work easier. Modest printing plants, school buildings, and dispensaries have been established, and the health and the lives of our brethren in heathen lands have been made a little more secure by the sanitary homes that have been provided. This work is only begun, however. We must expect, with our ever-expanding missionary effort, that renewed appeals for more homes, more means, and more consecrated men and women to enter the fields will be made upon us. All this will be to us, however, but additional evidence of the soon-coming final triumph of God's message, and the going home of all his people.
During 1912, we have undertaken to secure in mission offerings $500,000, in order that the work might be properly cared for. The first of November, with but two months of the year remaining, we find we have $200,000 of this amount yet to raise. The General Conference Committee, in planning for the work for 1913, has recently appropriated $525,000 for this purpose, and the appeals for additional help are still being received from the fields. In view of these things, it would be well for each one, in these closing days of the year, which are so generally characterized by at least formal thanksgiving, when the full fruitage of a prosperous year is fresh in our minds, with the urgent needs of the cause we love before us, to join with the psalmist in his query, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” The Lord gives us answer: “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase.” The blessings of the year, the great need in11the world for the light and salvation of God's truth, all call at this time for far greater devotion and more bountiful liberality than have yet been seen among us.
W. T. KNOX.
Note and Comment
Juvenile and Divorce Courts
IN every phase of human existence changing conditions create new demands. Our forefathers found little need for courts of law particularly set apart for the trial of divorce suits, and there was but little, if any, demand for the creation of courts to deal particularly with juvenile delinquents. Both of these methods of judicial procedure, however, seem to be necessities of our advancing but not bettering civilization. The growing spirit of moral degeneracy which has invaded all classes of society, and even the sanctity of the home, has created this demand. The old-time simplicity of the home is largely lost. Instead of finding joy and contentment in simple, quiet ways, there is a reaching out for excitement and amusement. Speaking of this, the Sun, of Springfield, Ohio, for Aug. 20, 1912, says:—
The people are more and more finding their amusements in the streets. The moving-picture show, the public parks, and the varied attractions of the city have all combined to lead the pleasure seeker away from home and out into the streets at night. Where a quiet game of the old-fashioned sort formerly sufficed for the family, a night parade about the down-town streets with their usual amusements is now considered a necessity.
It would be too much to expect that this spirit would not have its effect upon the youth.
The children have followed the example of their elders in this search for amusements. They, too, demand a constant change, and it is here that the damage is wrought. Parents no longer demand of their daughters an explanation of their whereabouts at night. Any sort of an excuse is deemed sufficient to account for the three or four hours between supper and the time the girl comes home to sleep. The mothers no longer sit up to await the home-coming of their children, and in the laxity of the parents the ruin of thousands may be found.
In consequence, as portrayed by the Sun, the following conditions may be found in practically every city and village of any considerable size:—
A trip through the down-town streets after dark will show even the most casual observer that the juvenile delinquents are increasing in numbers. Everywhere can be found girls, painted and powdered, in dresses scarcely reaching to their ankles, on the hunt for a good time. They do not hesitate to approach a stranger, and by their suggestive actions and loud laughter seek to attract the attention of pedestrians. Sometimes they travel in crowds, and again they stroll about in couples; but a close watch shows them later in the evening generally in the company of some young boy or man whom they have literally found on the street. Occasionally one of the girls falls into the hands of the authorities of the juvenile court; but the majority of their stories are never told.
These conditions are a sad commentary upon our much-vaunted civilization of the present day. Many commendable efforts are being made at the present time by missionary societies at home and abroad, by charitable and philanthropic organizations, by earnest men and women who are seeking the betterment and uplifting of their fellows; but the fact remains that regardless of all these efforts a spirit of terrible degeneracy is fast taking hold upon the individual life of the nation. Barriers of integrity are being broken down, and we are face to face to-day with painful conditions in our social life. We fear it will be impossible to stem the onsweep of the fearful tide. Our only hope is in raising the warning cry, and seeking to save as far as possible our fellows from being engulfed in the fearful vortex.
The Bible and the Church Service
More and more the reading of the Scriptures, and for that matter their use in any form, is being crowded out of the average church service. At one time great attention was given to the reading of the Word, but little by little this is being abandoned. Regarding this the United Presbyterian of Oct. 24, 1912, makes the following excellent comments:—
In the average service the reading of the Scriptures is much neglected. A comparatively short selection is read, a selection made chiefly because of its relation to the sermon. Unhappily it is too often read as if it had not been made a previous study, read without the solemnity becoming the Holy Word and without the emphasis that gives it force. Far from this, the reading of the Scriptures should have such a place in the service as rightly belongs to the most holy worship of God.
The Scriptures are the word of God, given us to be read in the sanctuary. They are the word of life, they are the very bread of life. “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life,” said Jesus. The soul is nourished by the word. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” As compared with the sermon, the words of the Scriptures are divine; ours at best are like ourselves.
There are two objects in the service of the sanctuary, the edification of the people and the worship of God. Of these two the devotional is the greater, and more for the soul’s benefit. In the sermon the minister speaks to the people as from God; but in the reading of the Scriptures he speaks from God in God’s own words, speaks directly as from the holy place. In the worship of God the soul draws near to God in holy reverence, and should do so as in his presence. We often hear the more devotional part of the service spoken as the preliminary service, an introduction to the sermon; whereas it is the devotional part of the worship that lifts the soul to the spirit of the holy place.
The Scriptures should be read with solemnity and reverence. “Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel,” is the call of God as the Sacred Book is opened. It is shocking, the glibness and want of reverence with which the Scriptures are sometimes read. When read as the word of God speaking directly to the soul, or the soul speaking to God in the words which he has given, there is a divine uplift, as entering the gates of heaven. Give the Holy Word its proper place in the service, and the people will praise the Lord in his sanctuary with a new zest and power.
