Earlier text: General ArticlesPower of The Truth.
By J. B. Goodrich
"For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth." 2 Cor. 13 : 8. On entering new fields of labor I have often been reminded of this scripture. Men will arise and oppose the plain teaching of the word of God, thinking thereby to stop the work. But they who engage in opposing the truth engage in an uneven warfare. "Truth crushed to earth will rise again." What is truth? David said : "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." Ps. 119 : 142. Jesus said : "Sanctify them through thy truth ; thy word is truth." John 17 : 17. And the Apostle Paul said : "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2. Tim. 2 : 15. God spoke the ten commandments with his own voice, and wrote them on the tables of stone with his own finger. Deut. 4 : 12, 13. These are his law—they are the truth. They are given to men as moral agents ; they are God's moral law, and of course cannot be changed or repealed. Paul says of some that they "changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen." Rom. 1 : 25. A lie never changes and becomes a truth by reason of age. Neither does truth grow old and turn into a lie. "Holy and reverend is his name," will always be truth, and it will be equally true that "the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." So it will always be truth that "in six days the Lord 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." The fourth commandment still speaks the truth—and truth which will remain as immovable as the throne of Heaven. But the Catholic power thought to change the divine command, and substitute another day for the hallowed rest day of God. The first-day Sabbath rests on no divine authority. God revealed to his servant Daniel the work which that power would do, and what it would think to do. And all history, as well as that power itself, testifies that it has done that very work as described in the prophecy. And God has just as distinctly spoken through his prophets, describing the work of restoring the Sabbath. He has shown that the true people of God will be keeping his commandments and the faith of his dear Son before Jesus comes. Isa. 58 : 12, 13 ; Rev. 12 : 17 ; 14 : 12 ; and 22 : 14. So the Lord is causing a proclamation to be given to the inhabitants of the earth ; a message is going forth calling for Sabbath reform ; and they who oppose this work are engaged in an unequal warfare. They will yet be made to realize that their efforts are vain. God, who can make the wrath of man praise him, has said they can do nothing against the truth. Their opposition will only open the way "for the truth." We have a forcible illustration of this in Paul's experience. The Lord sent him to labor in Macedonia. With full assurance that he was called of God to that field, he commenced his work in Philippi. He preached on the Sabbath day by the river side, and one household was converted. As he was there certain days, a damsel having a spirit of divination troubled him, and he rebuked the unclean spirit and cast it out. This enraged the masters of the damsel, and they brought Paul and Silas before the rulers ; and after many stripes were laid upon them they were thrust into the inner prison and their feet made fast in the stocks. Then their enemies thought they had them secure, and they would have no more trouble with them and their doctrine ; they imagined that the disturbance caused by their preaching would soon die out, and the city would again have peace and quiet. But did not the Lord send Paul to preach the truth to that people? He did. And did not Jesus say, "Lo, I am with you unto the end of the world?" Yes. Will the purpose and promise of God fail? No, never. The Lord by an earthquake shook the foundations of the prison, and the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. When the jailor was about to kill himself Paul cried out, "Do thyself no harm, for we are all here." Had they been put in prison for theft, or murder, or any crime, they would probably have done as the guilty do now—they would have secreted themselves. But Paul knew that the effort made to crush the truth would, in the Lord's own time, serve to advance it, and be the means of saving souls for whom Christ died. And so it was. The jailor asked for instruction in the way of salvation, and believed the word spoken, and he and all his house were baptized that same night. All their malice and persecution of the servants of God could do nothing against the truth. And so we now may say, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Rom. 8 : 31. Their Witness Agreed not Together.
WHEN Jesus stood before Caiaphas, the high priest, there was no lack of witnesses, but they confounded each other by their own contradictions. Jesus had no need to explain, for they were self-refuted. There was a general agreement between the witnesses and the scribes and elders, that Jesus was to be disposed of by any kind of testimony obtainable. It was intended that the court and the multitude should be misled by the false witnesses, for they had no other. One witness after another was called, and each one destroyed the testimony of the preceding, till the whole malicious story, self-canceled, fell to the ground. There is a class of men who affect that the religion of Christ is upon its trial to-day, before the court of public opinion; but the witnesses, like those who appeared against our Lord, agree not together. Among the witnesses against the Bible there are no masters of moral or of mental philosophy; for the world knows now that both heart and brain attain their highest and best, when swayed by the mind that was in Christ. Social science cannot be tortured to say anything else than that to live under Christ enthroned in the heart, and in the family, and in the community, would be the happiest condition of life. Political economy knows that the golden rule would adjust all the conflicting human interests as sweetly as gravitation balances and marshals the stars of heaven. These witnesses refuse to testify except for the defence. The witnesses against the Bible are all from the school of natural science. Their very sameness is suspicious. But as of old their witness agrees not together. The geologists assert that the record of rocks contradicts that of Moses, especially upon two points, viz., that the earth is probably a thousand million years old and that man existed before the time of Adam. These experts come into court each one contradicting all the rest. No three anti-Bible geologists agree either in their facts or their theories. There is one class called the catastrophists, who believe that King Accident has always ruled this planet, and another called progressionists, who hold that law is king of matter. These differ endlessly among themselves. Then, as to the earth which now is, Hopkins proves that its crust is eight hundred miles thick; Lyell asserts that it cannot exceed twenty-four; De Beaumont thinks its crust thinner in proportion than the shell of an egg; Cordier teaches that the central heat must be 450,000 degrees; while Davy thinks that so great a heat would melt the crust, like thin ice over boiling water. Among these Hugh Miller rises and says: "There are no calculations more doubtful than those of the geologist." Sir John Lubbock, President of the British Scientific Association, says, "The theory of an interior fluid is untenable;" and Professor LeComte says, "The whole foundation of theoretic geology must be reconstructed." Now let us rest on the old foundations, and breathe awhile until these men reconstruct their foundation. Our old Book is the defendant, having gained a right by thousands of years of possession, and we have little to fear as long as each new assailant drives all his predecessors away. Geologists, when attacking revelation, lack modesty as much as their theories want confirmation. If the chief priest wanted the truth, why did he not call Peter and James and John; why not examine Jairus, or the widow of Nain, or Lazarus of Bethany, or somebody else that knew, and would tell the truth? But no, they wanted a certain kind of testimony, and they employed men to make it; and their witness agreed not together. If truth is the object in reference to the relations of science to revelation, why not call up the men who are best acquainted with both? Why do they not call into court such witnesses as Sir David Brewster, Rev. Dr. Thomas Chalmers, Rev. Dr. John Pye Smith, President Edward Hitchcock, Dr. Taylor Lewis, Prof. J. S. Jewell, Leibnitz, Carpenter, McCausland, Hugh Miller, and their like, if their like ever lived. Meanwhile we shall rest without a fear on the old foundations of revealed truth: and after they shall have reconstructed the whole foundations of geology, it will be time enough to ask if it can teach us anything in accord with revealed truth.—Golden Censer. . It was Sunday. Mary had been twice to church, and to Sunday-school. From the latter she had drawn a book, in which was a picture of good old Nehemiah in Jerusalem (represented by a Scotch Puritan), rebuking and flogging the Jews for trading on Sunday. The picture was apparently after the Lord's Day Observance Society's own heart. Looking up to her mamma in child-like perplexity, she asked: "Mamma, where is it the Bible says we must keep Sunday instead of Saturday?" "Mary," said her mother, sharply, "It is time you were in bed and asleep; come, shut that book, and be off to bed immediately." Will some mamma or papa, possessing a little more patience, answer Mary's question? If not, we hope that such will cease to teach that Sunday is the Sabbath or Lord's Day. Parents! To the law and to the testimony for instruction for your little ones, and not to tradition which falsifies them.—Sabbath Memorial. A MAN who has had a fair start in an education ought never to leave off studying. A minister who rests upon the knowledge achieved in early life will dry up like an old corn stalk. He may rattle around, but he cannot grow any more, nor be profitable for anything. A student at sixty or seventy may keep fresh by hard study. The late Taylor Lewis was entirely deaf but full of wisdom to the last, pursuing the highest studies with zest amid increasing physical infirmities. Lord Beaconsfield read and wrote and studied to his last day. Gladstone, the present illustrious Premier of England recently gave astonishing proof of his knowledge of Greek and interest in Homer. We have known young men to quit college and their books at the same time. They knew less of the classics at forty than at twenty. What a terrible shame that is for a lawyer, doctor, or minister. Rufus Choate always kept up his classical studies. Adam Clarke was a prodigy of learning. John Quincy Adams renewed his youth by perseveringly gaining knowledge to the last. If you want to dry up like a puff-ball, quit studying. If you prefer to die early, lay aside your books and fold your hands and take it easy. If not, keep the best fixtures, Bibles, dictionaries, commentaries, text-books, periodicals. Consult the highest authorities, study for yourself at original sources. The ablest leaders, scholars, statesmen, and ministers in Europe are old men, over sixty, and some of them over eighty. We must not give up too soon; give up, never, not even to death. We beseech our ministers to keep themselves supplied with the best reference books, and to study hard and never stop. Keep all you have, and gain more constantly.—California Christian Advocate. THERE is a tendency in many quarters to misuse the word science, which ought to be avoided. Thus a contemporary says: “The scientists are at it again, trying to indict the Bible,” and a noted preacher only the other day spoke of “our latter day science, which is the nurse of irreligion,” while a contemporary affirms that science “says the heavens declare the glory of Galileo, Kepler, and Newton.” All this is not only misleading, it is unjust and untrue. Science proper is the apprehension of knowledge by the senses. Essentially it is not irreligious, and indeed may be said neither to have an irreligious or a religious side; it is the determination of truth; and though scientists may advance hypotheses which are unproven, and as we are assured, wholly false, it will not do to dignify such with the name science.
—Christian at Work. Richard Baxter said a good thing when he said of some who lived in his day, that they had a "wheelbarrow religion"—they "went when they were shoved." Comments on Lesson for January 28.
THIS lesson is found in Luke 11 and Matt. 23. On the first portion of the lesson, the power of persevering prayer, we take the following comments from Clarke:— The prayer related here by Luke is not precisely the same as that mentioned by Matthew; and indeed it is not likely that it was given at the same time. That in Matthew seems to have been given after the second passover, and this in Luke, was given probably after the third passover, between the feasts of tabernacles, and the dedication. It is thus that Bishop Newcome places them in his Greek "Harmony of the Gospels." There are many variations in the MSS. in this prayer; but they seem to have proceeded principally from the desire of rendering this similar to that in Matthew. Attempts of this nature have given birth to multitudes of the various readings in the MSS. of the New Testament. It should be remarked also, that there is no vestige of the doxology found in Matthew, in any copy of St. Luke's Gospel. Verse 6. In his journey is come—Or, perhaps more literally, A friend of mine has come to me out of his way, which renders the case more urgent—a friend of mine benighted, belated, and who has lost his way, is come unto me. This was a strong reason why he should have prompt relief. But if we persevere knocking; This sentence is added to the beginning of verse 8 by the Armenian, Vulgate, four copies of the Itala, Ambrose, Augustin, and Bede. On these authorities (as I find it in no Greek MS.) I cannot insert it as a part of the original text; but it is necessarily implied; for as Bishop Pearce justly observes, unless the man in the parable be represented as continuing to solicit his friend, he could not possibly be said to use importunity; once only, to ask, is not to be importunate. Verse 9. And (or therefore) I say unto you, Ask—Be importunate with God, not so much to prevail on him to save you, as to get yourselves into a proper disposition to receive that mercy which he is ever disposed to give. He who is not importunate for the salvation of his soul, does not feel the need of being saved; and were God to communicate his mercy to such, they could not be expected to be grateful for it; as favors are only prized and esteemed in proportion to the sense men have of their necessity and importance. The terrible denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees is thus eloquently paraphrased by Geikie:— "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, actors! Ye plunder the houses of desolate widows left without protectors, and to hide your doings, make long prayers while at such work! For you say in your hypocrisy, ‘Long prayers make a long life,’ and some of you boast that you pray nine hours a day! Believe me, ye will receive for all this the greater damnation hereafter." "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, actors! ye stand in the gateway of the kingdom of Heaven, that kingdom I have come to set up, and not only do not yourselves enter, but even close the doors I have opened, that ye may keep those from entering, who wish to do so." "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, actors! Instead of helping men into the kingdom of the Messiah, ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, that your party may profit by him, and when he is gained, what do you make of him? A son of hell, by your example, two-fold more even than you are yourselves." "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If any one swear by the temple, it is not binding; but if he swear by the gold which belongs to the temple—the gilding, the golden vessels, or the treasure—he is bound by his oath.’ Fools and blind! for which is the greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? You say, in the same spirit, ‘If any one swear by the altar, his oath is not binding on him; but if he swear by the gift that he has laid on the altar, he must keep his oath.’ Fools and blind! for which is the greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He who swears by the altar swears by it, and by all the things on it, and he who swears by the temple swears by it, and by him that dwells in it. And he who swears by Heaven swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it." "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, actors! for ye affect to be so strict in observing the law that you pay a tenth to the temple of even the sprigs of anise and cummin in your garden borders, and yet at the same time you neglect the great commands of the law: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. You ought certainly to attend the lighter demands of law, but surely not to leave the far greater neglected. Blind guides who strain out the gnat from the wine and swallow the camel! Sticklers for worthless trifles, regardless of matters of moment." "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, actors! Ye make clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but, within they are full of robbery and incontinence. Blind Pharisee, clean first the inside of the cup and dish, that the wine taste no more of plunder and lust, and that the outside may not only seem clean by your washing it, but be clean, by the taking away of that defilement which your life gives it, in spite of your cleansings." "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, actors! You are like the whitewashed tombs all over the land—fair outside, but full within of the deadliest uncleanness—the bones of men, and all corruption. You pass yourselves off as religious, but in your hearts you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Over against the eastern hall in which Jesus now stood, and from which he looked down into the valley of the Kedron, lay, on the slope of the Mount of Olives, the tombs of the prophets, the southmost of which is yet known as the tomb of Zechariah. In sight of these monuments, ranging his eyes from grave to grave, he burst out afresh— "Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, actors! Ye build fine tombs over the old prophets, and beautify those of the saints, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in their martyrdom of these holy men.’ But when you call them ‘your fathers,’ you bear witness that you are their sons—and you are, not only in natural descent, but in your spirit. You are of kin in heart to the prophet murderers! Fill up, therefore, the measure of iniquity your fathers before you filled in their day—by slaying me and those I shall send to you! Serpents! brood of vipers, for vipers your fathers were, and vipers are ye. how can ye escape the judgment of hell! That ye may not do so, behold, I send to you prophet-like apostles, and rabbis, and scribes. Some of them ye shall kill and crucify; some ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city—that on you, the leaders of the people, may come the punishment of all the innocent, righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to that of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, who was stoned by command of King Joash in the court of the temple, between the shrine and the altar. Believe me, all these things will come in this generation." Zechariah, of old, had denounced the sin of Israel, as Jesus had that of the priests and rabbis. "Why transgress ye," he had asked, "the commandments of the Lord? Ye cannot prosper! Because ye have forsaken Jehovah, he hath forsaken you." "O Jerusalem! Jerusalem," he continued, "that killest the prophets, and stonest those sent in love to thee; how often have I desired to gather thy children, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wing, and ye refused to come under my loving protection, by accepting me as the Messiah. Behold, your house is left to you! I come from the time of the divine help and guard, over you and your city, which I was sent to offer, is past." "I tell you ye shall not see me henceforth, after my death, which is near at hand, till I appear again in my glory. Then you shall be only too eagerly willing to hail me as the Messiah, though now ye refuse even to let others thus hail me. Then, when too late, you will cry, as the crowds did when I entered your city, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.’" Thus the breach between the future and the past was finally made complete. The whole hierarchy, from the high priest its primate, to the Levite its curate, and the rabbi its university professor or tutor, had been denounced before the people in language which they must resent if they were to retain any authority at all. Either Jesus, or the church as it was, with all its innumerable personal interests, must perish. It had come to this, indeed, before this last tremendous indictment of the system; and the certainty that nothing could avert his being sacrificed to the fanaticism and vested interests arrayed against him, had alone caused such a protest. He had no reasons for further reserve. It was fixed that he must die at their hands, and the irreconcilable opposition between the system for the sake of which he was to be martyred, and his own character and work must once more, for the last time, be brought out in full contrast, that every one might choose for himself, for which he would decide. No man can teach either old or young who trusts to his general knowledge and his fluency of speech. Less can he do so with the young. The truths to be taught must not only be familiar, but prepared so as to be intelligibly communicated to the youthful mind. When the late Dr. Chalmers was professor of moral philosophy at St. Andrews, he kept a Sabbath-school, and his biographer informs us that, though the scholars were of the poorest children in the neighborhood, “Dr. Chalmers prepared as carefully as for his class in the University; some stray leaves still existing on which the questions for the evening are carefully written out.” A teacher must gather materials for aiding his work of educating the young. He must not serve God with that which cost him nothing. He should have beaten oil for the sanctuary lamp which he holds before the young. —Steele. My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments. TEACHERS' BIBLES—OXFORD EDITION.
ACKNOWLEDGED to be the best in the market, and celebrated for
CLEARNESS OF TYPE, EXCELLENCE OF BINDING,
COMPACTNESS,
FULLNESS AND COMPREHENSIVENESS OF NOTES AND TABLES,
And prices which place them within the reach of all. They contain in addition to the authorized text, with References, all that is essential in the study of the Bible. Furnished with one of these Bibles, no teacher would be at a loss anywhere, or at any time, in the preparation of his lesson. With the notes and tables are embodied the results of the most recent and authentic research of Biblical scholars, and it is believed that nothing has been omitted that can be desired in a The following list is a careful selection of the best styles:
NOS. PEARL 16 mo. (Size 4 x 5½ x 1¾ inches.)- French Morocco, boards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1.50
- French Morocco, circuit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.70
- Persian Morocco, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.10
- Turkey Morocco, boards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.75
- Turkey Morocco, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.75
- Levant Morocco, Divinity circuit, kid-lined and band, silk sewed, flexible back. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.60
RUBY 16 mo. (Size 4½ x 6½ x 1¼ inches.)- French Morocco, boards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.25
- Turkey Morocco, boards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.15
- Turkey Morocco, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.15
- Imitation Levant, Divinity circuit, leather-lined, silk sewed and band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.00
- Levant, Divinity circuit, kid-lined, silk sewed, and band . . . . . . 5.75
NONPAREIL 16 mo. (Size 4 x 6 x 1¾.)- French Morocco, gilt edges, stiff covers, silk book-mark. . . . . . 2.35
- Persian Morocco, gilt edges, flexible covers, silk book-mark. . 2.75
- Turkey Morocco, gilt edges, stiff covers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.25
- Turkey Morocco, gilt edges, flexible covers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.25
- Levant Morocco, Divinity circuit, kid-lined, and band, silk sewed, flexible back, red under gold edges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.75
NONPAREIL 8 vo. (Size 4½ x 7 x 1¾.)- Turkey Morocco, boards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.50
- Turkey Morocco, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.50
- Levant, Divinity circuit, kid-lined, silk sewed, flexible back, and band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.75
MINION 8 vo. (Size 5 x 7¾ x 1¼ inches.)- Persian Morocco, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.60
- Turkey Morocco, boards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.50
- Turkey Morocco, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.50
- Levant, Divinity circuit, kid-lined, silk sewed, flexible back, and band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00
715½ As No 715, with round covers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.50
By mail, Post-paid. Address, PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal. THE YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR.
By Editor
AN ILLUSTRATED WEEKLY PAPER FOR YOUTH AND CHILDREN, DEVOTED TO MORAL, MENTAL, AND RELIGIOUS CULTURE.
This paper is not devoted to insipid stories and religious fiction, but is filled with a great variety of that kind of reading which tends to the healthful development of the youthful mind. Its pages are made bright by the choicest illustrative pictures, and its columns are always full of useful information. As a Sabbath-school and Lesson paper, it is suited to the wants of scholars and teachers, and is calculated to increase the interest of all who read it, in thorough Bible study. The Sabbath-school Department contains two series of lessons, one for children and one for youth. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE, 75 CENTS A YEAR. All new subscribers paying the above price will receive the "Child's Poems" as a premium without extra charge. TERMS TO CLUBS, PAID IN ADVANCE. Price per Copy, Post-paid.
5 to 10 copies..............................60 cents a year.
10 copies and upward ......................50 cents a year. Subscription for 5 to 10 copies will be taken for six months. Larger clubs may be paid for quarterly. Address YOUTH'S INSTRUCTOR, Battle Creek, Mich.
Or, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, California.