"Without shedding of blood is no remission." Heb. 9:22.
ANOTHER way of revealing in all ages the constant flowing of this life river, has been through the doctrine and practise of sacrifices and offerings. Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. At the very gateway of Eden, as soon as man had become conscious of his sin and loss, and consequently of his need of a Saviour, this wonderful sacrifice of the divine life was made known as his only hope of salvation. Till then death had been unknown; but now, to help men to comprehend the great gift of the divine life by which they were to be clothed with the garment of eternal righteousness, they were clothed physically with the skins of beasts slain and offered in sacrifice.
So terrible was the world’s first experience of death, and so deep was the impression thus made, that in no nation and in no land has that impression been wholly effaced. No nation has ever existed without its religion, and no religion has ever been known to be wholly without its sacrifices. Paul plainly shows that all these forms of false religion are so many gradually differentiating apostasies from the true religion once revealed by God. This first sacrifice, then, imaging and revealing the divine Sacrifice, was the common source of the practise of offering sacrifice. But here, as elsewhere, Satan has transformed the truth of God into a lie. While retaining the practise of sacrifice, the doctrine, or meaning of sacrifice, has been entirely changed and perverted.
In all paganism, sacrifice indicates the wrath and anger of the gods. Some god is always offended, and his wrath must be appeased by sacrifice, lest the people perish. If it is only an ordinary case of the anger of the gods, a bullock or a lamb will suffice for a sacrifice. If the gods are more than ordinarily offended, some spotless virgin or some innocent child must die. Almost every form of paganism has had, at least for extraordinary occasions, its human sacrifices. When the gods smell the blood of the slaughtered victim, their anger subsides, they are propitiated, and so the people are forgiven, and the impending destruction is averted. This is paganism. But in the Christian system, sacrifice means that "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son," that the people might be saved, not from divine wrath, but from their own sins, and the inevitable result of sin, which is death.
In all the Scripture, sacrifice has but one general meaning, whether the sacrifice of bulls and goats and lambs, or the sacrifice of Him who was the Lamb of God, is referred to, and that meaning is love. Indifference keeps; hatred keeps; selfishness keeps, or gives, if at all, but grudgingly, counting the cost, and figuring on larger returns at some future time. Love, and love only, sacrifices, gives itself, gives itself freely, not counting the cost, gives itself because it is love. Thus, then, the general truth taught by the Scripture doctrine of sacrifice is that, through the infinite love of God in giving His only Son, and through the equally infinite love of Christ in freely giving Himself, the life river has ever been flowing from the throne, and coming so near each heart that "whosoever will" may take and live.
But, sad to relate, it is not only in pagan ages but in pagan lands that this truth has been perverted. Here and now, even in this most Christian of all lands, it is also misunderstood and perverted. In the workings of "the mystery of iniquity," when, as Gavazzi says, "a pagan flood, flowing into the church, carried with it its customs, practises, and idols, the same power that brought into the church the pagan sun festival, substituting it for the Sabbath of the Lord, brought in also the pagan conception of the meaning of sacrifice, substituting it for the Christian meaning, and applying it even to the sacrifice on Calvary’s cross. So now the latest confession of faith of one of the largest of Protestant Christian churches contains these words, "Christ died to reconcile the Father unto us," that is, to propitiate the Deity, and appease His wrath by giving Him His "full pound of flesh," so that He would pardon us and let us go free. He who sees clearly the glorious Scripture truth of the atonement in contrast with Satan’s vile perversion of that truth, will recognize at once that wherever this idea is found, or however it may be clothed in a professedly Christian garb, the idea itself is paganism, and came from the father of lies.
Not in a single instance does the Scripture ever say that God needed to be reconciled to us; for God is not like man, or like the heathen deities, to become angry with us. On the contrary, our Father is angry only with the sin, and hates only the sin. And He hates that because it is the deadly enemy of the sinner, whom He loves. In all the Scripture, wherever the atonement, or the reconciliation, or the propitiation is spoken of, it is always and invariably God through Christ who makes the atonement, and we who are atoned for; it is God through Christ making the propitiation, and we who are propitiated; it is God in Christ reconciling, not Himself unto us, but the world unto Himself.
This perversion of the Scripture doctrine of sacrifice was a natural and necessary result of the world’s misunderstanding of the character of God. When man sinned, since the divine law was the law of happiness and life, misery and death came as the inevitable result. That misery and death thus resulted was really a positive proof of God’s love, showing Satan in his true character of deceiver. It clearly showed that the divine law was not arbitrary, as Satan had said it was, but that its regulations were necessary to happiness and life, and that it only prohibited sin in love, that misery and death might not exist. But Satan used his utmost effort of deception to hide these facts from mankind, since they so plainly incriminated him and thwarted his plans. Man was led to believe that misery and death came not as the necessary result of his own actions, but unnecessarily, and only because of the divine wrath. When men once believed this, they could no longer think of sacrifice as a manifestation of God’s love, but could only behold in it a means of appeasing His wrath.
This idea of sacrifice exists to-day because of the same misunderstanding of our Father’s character. Men are taught that God loves them if they are good, while it was the constant effort of Jesus to help men to see that God loved them always, even tho they were sinning and straying; that He so loved the sinner that He left the others who had never sinned, and went after him till he found him, and that not only the Father, but all heaven as well, welcome the returning wanderer with love and rejoicing.
Christ was here to reveal God. Again and again He said, "I and My Father are one." How did He feel toward even the most unrepentant and incorrigible sinners? Over Jerusalem, that had killed the prophets and stoned those that were sent unto her in love; over Jerusalem, that was just then plotting and planning to take His life, He wept in unutterable love. We hear Him saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!" When on the cross, while those for whom He was dying were mocking in unrepentant hate at its foot, He prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." These words reveal the true attitude of God toward even unrepentant sinners. He holds no grudge against the sinner. He would gladly forgive him if He could. There are two reasons why He can not forgive without repentance. Repentance is the turning away of the heart from sin. Sin can not be separated from its results, which are inevitably misery and death. But God Himself can not separate sin from us by any arbitrary process, He can not do it unless we freely repent, or turn from it of our own free will. As sin can not be separated from us, so its results can not be. That would not be forgiveness, therefore, which could not remove the result, or penalty, which is death. God reveals Himself in Christ to win us to repentance, so that He can forgive. "Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."
Again, to forgive sin without repentance, even were this possible, would be to ignore the sanctity of the law, and so to lead others to think lightly of transgression. This would be an injustice on God’s part, since by an unwise manifestation of love He would lead others into sin, and therefore into the results of sin, which are misery and death. God does not, like an unwise father, manifest His love so foolishly as to spoil the child. But through the sacrifice of Christ He reveals His love, to win us to a free repentance, that He may grant unto us the "forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace; wherein He hath abounded to us in all wisdom and prudence," God having through Christ first propitiated us, and brought us to repentance, can then be just, and yet "the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus;" for by such wise and loving forgiveness He does not lead others into sin.
All this is just what the Scripture says, only our eyes have often been blinded to these glorious truths by the pagan conception of sacrifice. I repeat, Throughout all the Scripture, the one general meaning of sacrifice is divine love, that gives itself freely to bring back the wanderer and reconcile him to God, so that he may be forgiven and healed of his backslidings.6God gives His life freely for us, because He is love, and it is the very nature of love to give freely. As we partake of His given life until we become like Him, our lives also are given, and thus we have part in His sacrifice. When the Scripture says, 'Without shedding of blood is no remission,' it states a most glorious and solemn truth. There is no paganism, and no arbitrary, mechanical conception of the atonement here. It is not necessarily the literal blood that is shed. 'The blood is the life.' This expression occurs often in the law, and it is the law interpreting the law.
The free shedding of the blood is the free giving of the life. This is made plain in many scriptures. 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your soul; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood.' You 'shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. . . . Whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.' This is a most wonderful and glorious scripture.
In the offerings, the victim stood for the one who offered it, its life for his life. To eat, throughout the Bible, is the symbol of self-appropriation. 'No soul of you shall eat blood. . . . Whosoever eateth it shall be cut off;' that is, thou shalt not appropriate thy life unto thyself; whosoever doeth this shall die. This is the innermost spiritual truth of Christianity. 'Whosoever will save his life shall lose it.' Nor does this mean simply that if we do wrong rather than give up the present life, we shall lose the future life. It means that if we save our lives selfishly to ourselves, we shall in so doing lose both the here and the hereafter; but if we give our lives freely for others, we shall in so doing find a glorified and larger life now and evermore.
Herein is the great difference between monkery and Christianity. The monks left the cities and all the abodes of men, for fear of contamination with human guilt. They went into the deserts to be alone with God, that they might become righteous, that they might be saved. They failed. In seeking to become spiritual in this way, they became bestial, so that Draper well says, 'The degree of degradation from the dignity of a man, became the measure of the merit of the monk.' Monkery ate the blood,—appropriated the life unto itself,—and died. On the other hand, Christ was in heaven, where all was pure, and there was no danger of temptation, or of contamination; but to save us, who were fallen and lost, in self-forgetful love He stooped to these depths, and plunged into this maelstrom of temptation to rescue the perishing, or perish in the attempt. Christ succeeded, was made perfect through suffering, and given a name above every name in earth or heaven, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. Jesus gave His life freely, and found a larger life in the giving.
Jesus did not eat the flesh or drink the blood, but He gave it to us, saying, 'Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.' John 6:53. As we partake of His shed blood—His given life—until we become like Him, our lives are given also, and without this shedding of the blood, this giving of the life, there is no remission, and no atonement.
Theology has invented many arbitrary conceptions of the atonement, but all these are utterly unknown to the Scripture. The atonement is the at-one-ment. When our lives so partake of the nature of His life of love that they too are given freely for others, becoming merely so many channels through which His life of love flows out to the world, then, and then only, are we one with Him who gave His life for us all.
In creation, God gave His life to all that live, becoming thus the 'Fountain of life.' In redemption, He poured out His life through Christ into this dying world,—poured it out to be hated, spit upon, and crucified, 'and covered with dust.' Can we then be one with Him by any arbitrary substitution of sacrifice, while we selfishly keep our lives to ourselves? Hear the solemn answer of Jesus: 'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily.' 'Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, can not be My disciple.' Thousands of people believe, without a doubt, that Jesus was the divine Son of God, and that He lived, died, and rose again, and ascended to heaven, and yet their whole lives show that, instead of being one with God, they are in utter antagonism with Him in all things. It is not the sacrifice of Christ nineteen hundred years ago merely, that makes us one with God, but it is His sacrifice now and here, through us, that makes the atonement. Then when we are thus made one with God, we are to be channels through which the life river is to flow out to others. We repeat, without such a shedding of the blood there is no atonement and no remission.
THE RIVER OF LIFE BY G.E. FIFIELD
"HE THAT HATH THE SON HATH LIFE."
By T. E. Bowen
THIS is a precious truth, and also contains a promise of everlasting life. Every individual in the world has the call to life. "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." But while it is the will of God that none shall perish, yet the fact remains that all will not enter into life, because they have not the Son. For "he that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." It does not say, He that hath the Son will by and by be granted life. It is now. Life is in having the Son, and just so long as that Son abides within the soul, just so long that individual hath life. So we are exhorted to abide in Him. "Abide in Me," says Christ, "and I in you. As the branch can not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me."
The question of eternal life, then, is settled by our knowing whether or not we have unto the end the abiding Saviour within. Upon this point none need be in uncertainty; for plain instruction from God is left us upon this most vital subject: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." This is a real experience, and individually, with the apostle, we shall know it, and we can truthfully say: "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Gal. 2:20.
This is the only hope held out before us of its ever becoming possible for a soul to escape sinning, and be able to keep God's holy commandments—the breaking of which constitutes sin. He that hath the Son is kept by the power of God from sin. He that hath not the Son of God can not cease from sin; for the very thoughts of his heart are sinful. Jesus Christ is not the minister of sin. His mission to earth was to save His people from their sins. This He does by entering the souls of those who invite Him in, and so filling them with pure, elevating joys of His own precious life that sin loses all its attractions. The experience of that Christ-filled heart then is, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." And again, "If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin." Sin can not have dominion over the life of Jesus Christ within; therefore that soul hath life, because he hath the Son.
But how are we to know that Jesus is within? We need be in no doubt concerning this. Briefly let us compare a few texts: "We know that we have passed from death [sin] unto life [Christ within], because we love the brethren." 1 John 3:14. But how do we know that we love the brethren?—"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments." Chapter 5:2. How do we know that we love God?—"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." Verse 3.
Beloved reader, here is the test by which we are to know whether or not we have the Son of God: If any of the Ten Commandments are grievous—the fourth not excepted, which plainly declares the seventh day to be the Sabbath—be assured something is the trouble within. Christ will not take the throne of the soul temple to reign supreme with a mutilated law within the ark when light has shone upon all its precepts. "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." John 15:10. "And why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" "He that hath the Son hath life."
Rome, N. Y. T. E. BOWEN.
"CHRISTIAN PHILANTHROPY."
By Editor
UNDER this caption some time ago a gentleman contributed the following sober reflections to the Evening Tribune of this city:—
A recent address by a Southern California orator who extolled a multi-millionaire for an act of Christian philanthropy and patriotism caused me to adjust my thinking cap, and a stern question stares me in the face: Could a real follower of Christ be a multi-millionaire at all?
If Jesus meant what He said in these two commandments, which are, according to His words, the "fulfilling of the law,"—"Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart; . . . and thy neighbor as thyself"—no man can be a Christian who does not practise them, and no man can fulfil these commandments and be a multi-millionaire.
If a man find a coal field, a gold mine, a tract of oil or timber lands, he would say, if he loved his neighbor as himself: "Come, neighbor, the earth is the Lord's. Here is plenty for all; let us partake of what He provides." He would not set stakes about to keep his neighbor out, nor pack lobbies to secure control of this or that natural resource, nor take advantage of his neighbors' less fortunate condition; for all these things would be contrary to a discipleship with Christ.
The fact that those calling themselves Christians come no nearer fulfilling this law than those we call sinners, only teaches us that they have no real faith in Christ or in His words. I have asked a number of professed Christians about it. All said, "It is impracticable." Yet we see, and reason teaches, that were all to fulfil these commandments the kingdom of heaven would be established on this earth.
Nothing is more certain than that the kingdom of heaven will never be established in this world so long as a few persons, whether multi-millionaires or otherwise, are given the legal right to monopolize the natural resources intended for all alike, and thereby make industrial slaves of the masses. It is said that the Son of man had not where to lay His head. If Christ should come now personally into7this so-called Christian country, He could find no place to lay His head without obtaining permission from some earth lord.
True Christianity and modern landlordism are as far apart as the poles. One or the other of these conflicting systems should be abolished. It is easy enough to tell which ought to be.
It is seldom that we find a better presentation of the condition of things in the main, from a worldly standpoint. It shows that God may and does find minds in the world through which He can better present the truth than through the medium of many who pose as Gospel teachers. The fact that professed Christians deem the teachings of Christ "impracticable" in this world is indeed proof that they "have no real faith in Christ." It is to the "little flock" that He says, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." And if there should but one enter that kingdom, it would be proof that the Word of God is practicable here; for only through that Word can we obtain eternal life. The Master's assurance is, "If ye would enter into life, keep the commandments."
The accumulation of wealth in the hands of the few, and the oppression of the poor by the rich, are characteristics of the last days. See James 5. And that professed Christians, as a rule, "have no real faith" is strongly suggested in the words of Christ, "When the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8. Yet when He comes it will be to establish His kingdom, for He says to them that are placed on His right hand in the great separation day, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:34.
Therefore the kingdom of glory, the everlasting kingdom, which is to "fill the whole earth," will not be set up where the evils complained of by the Tribune correspondent hold sway, or even where they exist at all. But because of such a condition, and because the earth is filled with violence, and becomes "as it was in the days of Noah" and in the days of Sodom, it will be utterly destroyed, and a new creation take its place. Before the flood, "the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished; but the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:6, 7. And then what?—"Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." There and forever will be fulfilled in every heart the command to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.
Another point in connection with the article we have quoted is that it appeared in the department of the paper devoted to the advocacy of the "single tax" policy, that is, the policy of government support solely by a tax on land. Without reference to the merits of this policy from a political standpoint, or the measure of good that might accrue from its adoption, it can not in any sense prepare the way for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. He will get His kingdom from His Father, and set it up in the earth when He has completed His priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary. The political policy of this or any other government has nothing whatever to do with it. No human scheme can remedy the ills of which men complain, for the Word tells us that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse." 2 Tim. 3:13.
Then the only remedy left to suffering mankind is to seek a home in the heavenly kingdom, an inheritance in the new earth—"an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." And it is a personal matter; the victory must be won in and for each individual. The terms are, "Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." No political or other confederacy of human device can redeem this sin-cursed earth or its people from the consequences of disobedience of the law of God. All the oppressions of rich men, or corporations, or unions, or leagues, or any other combinations for enforcing any principle whatever, are sinful; and "the wages of sin is death." It can not be patched up by any means, so that it may be acceptable to God. But those who have made the Word of God practicable by faith in its teachings, can always claim the victory through Jesus Christ; for "we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." Rom. 8:28.
G.
HUSBANDS.
By A. Smith
"Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Gen. 3:16. But God never intended that a man should rule his wife arbitrarily. The apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it." Eph. 5:25.
A true husband will be gentlemanly toward his wife. How can a true woman love a man whom she can not respect? and how can she respect a man who is arbitrary and brutal in his conduct toward her or her children? In the domain of love, respect, and honor, she has a right to equality with him, and she often proves to be his peer. It is a shame that there should ever be occasion for a true wife to tremble in fear of a storm of reproach or wrathful conduct on the part of her husband, because, perhaps unavoidably, she sometimes fails in some domestic duty. When they were first married, he would have silenced his wife's apologies for such things with fond caresses, and an assurance that for her dear sake the misfortune afforded him much pleasure, as an occasion for showing his sympathy. It is much better to let some of the sweetness run through the entire married life than to quaff all the nectar in the honeymoon, and drain the bitter dregs in after years.
A husband who is unappreciative of his wife's little efforts to please, and is harsh and unkind in the domestic circle, is sowing seed that will yield to him a harvest of tares in years to come.
The Bible says, "Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which He [God] hath given thee under the sun." Eccl. 9:9. To live joyfully is to live a life full of joy.
Husbands, do you think that Jesus would treat anybody, especially one of His humble, loving, trusting followers, as some of you treat your wives? You ought to be too noble-minded, even if you are not a Christian, to betray the trust and confidence of a pure, true woman.
When a man and woman accept each other as husband and wife, each has a right to expect that the other has never, even once, committed the act of fornication or adultery. There are, doubtless, confessions of wrong upon this point that must be made between some husbands and wives before they can enter the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God." Matt. 5:8.
No doubt much of the infelicity of married life arises from excessive indulgence of the lower passions. A man may be drunken with such excess as certainly as he can be with the cares of this life, or with intoxicating drinks. No drunkard has eternal life abiding in him.
"Restrain the passions' lawless riot;
Devoted to domestic quiet,
Be wisely gay.
So shall ye, spite of age's fiat,
Resist decay."
A. SMITH.
FAITH.
By Carol Wandell Bunce
WHEN our faith in God is wav’ring,
And our trust in man is fled,
When our hope of heaven is fading,
And our hearts are full of dread,
When our weary steps are falt’ring
In the path of gloom and fear,
And we blindly grope and wander
Through the labyrinth so drear,
Then, before our view uprising,
Lo! a shining cloud we see,
And from out this glorious vision
Comes a voice, “Child, lean on Me.”
Thus, the mountain gained, we’ll linger,
Gathering power for further flight;
Then our strengthened faith will take us
Straight above to heaven’s own light.
All our years will end in brightness
If in everything we trace
That our God, our Friend, our Father,
Holds us in His fond embrace.
—Carol Wandell Bunce.
QUESTION CORNER
By Editor
1079. J. H. F. Isa. 57:2.—Read as in the Revised Version: "He entereth into peace; they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness." The sense is that, tho men care not for the righteous nor regard their death as a loss, God cares for them, and all the upright ones rest in His care. Compare with Job. 14:6-15; Rev. 14:12.
1080. H. B. The Sabbath and the Commandments.—A correspondent writes us that he believes the only Sabbath there is is the seventh day, but he does not see that it is binding on the church; yet he does not belong to any church, because he has "never found one that is following the commandments." Now one of the commandments of God's immutable law enjoins the seventh-day Sabbath. The Lord Jesus Christ, our great Exemplar, observed it with all the others, and tells us to follow Him. 1 John 2:6; 1 Peter 2:21. Whether any church does or not, why will not our correspondent follow the commandments? Col. 2:16 refers simply to the yearly feast days and sabbaths, not to the weekly Sabbath. See Lev. 23:24-38. All these were "beside the Sabbaths of the Lord." Romans 14 is one of the strongest lessons in all the Word of God against judging others. It is not for us to judge men, whatever they do. It is for us to see that our own course is such that we can meet it before the judgment-seat of Christ, where we shall be judged by His law. See James 2:10-12; Eccl. 12:13, 14.
1081. "Will you please tell us through the SIGNS whether John 6:53 has reference to the Lord's supper, and if it applies to one who does not partake of the same."
C. A. S.
The text reads: "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." No, it does not have reference to the Lord's supper. The next verse says, "Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life;" and the ceremony of partaking of the communion could not give eternal life. The text has reference to the daily life, a continual communion with God, and it applies to every one. Verse 63 says: "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Christ was the Word of God made flesh. Chapter 1:1, 14. Eating His flesh signifies partaking of the Word. The blood is the life of the flesh. Gen. 9:4. Therefore to drink His blood signifies the imbibing of His life. Jesus, in replying to Satan's suggestion that He make bread of the stones, said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4. "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby." 1 Peter 2:1, 2.
ANOTHER STRAW.
By C. M. S.
WHEN Admiral Kempf, at Taku, China, drew his war ship out of the zone of fire, refusing to commit an act of war on a nation upon which the Congress of his country had not declared war, a murmur of disappointment ran through the country; and Admiral Remey was soon on his way from Manila to take command on the China station. Cooler thought has vindicated Admiral Kempf's course; but, according to report, he has returned to Manila, to look after certain repair work. In other words, he has been superseded because he would not commit an unauthorized act, an act which the principles of the American Government would have condemned. There is no doubt that, had he fired on the Taku forts with the present military fever in the country, his act would have been praised, he never would have been asked to explain it, and he and his men would have "won glory." As it is, he is not a popular hero. The mass does not think of glorifying such an officer. Fame and popularity are lost to this man for adherence to the principles of his government. All this shows (and it is mentioned for this purpose only) that there exists in this country an uncontrollable drifting away from the principles on which the nation had staked its future. The people, like the Israelites in the time of Samuel, are anxious to be like the nations round about. The military spirit is gaining ground; the spirit of republican simplicity is waning. The forms of the republic remain; but the spirit of the doctrine is running out like water from an open tap. The whole trend of events is toward an intermingling of this country in the complications of the powers.
A few years ago students of prophecy could see no way in which America could become involved in the great battles of the last days. The impossibility of her keeping aloof from them is evidenced now on every hand. With such unswerving fidelity to the prophetic Word are the events of these days shaping themselves, that he who will listen to the Word of God need not be taken unawares. This is but one of the many straws which point the direction of important developments.
C. M. S.
“AT THE EDGE OF THE ABYSS.”
By T.
At the head of an editorial, a recent issue of the New York World placed the significant words, “At the Edge of the Abyss.” The article dealt with the situation in China. Here are some of the sentiments expressed:—
“This country can not do too much thinking along the line suggested by the World’s cabled reports this morning—Russia’s curious movements in North China and the jealous suspicions those movements are exciting in the other European powers.
“Do we or do we not wish to engage in a great war in China, in a general European war over China?
“It is apparent to every one who has watched the far East that in all human probability a vast and desolating war in China is imminent. The only question is as to how the parties to this war will array themselves. And if we are there in force, co-operating, taking sides, exciting and being excited by the jealousies, suspicions, recriminations, and misunderstandings, we can not escape participation in the conflict.”
The World seems to recognize that a universal conflict is impending. It asks whether the United States will keep out of it. The United States is already into it, and it will become deeper and deeper involved till the battle of Armageddon itself is reached. Men everywhere should know that the intense spirit of war in these times is a direct fulfilment of the Word of God which tells us that the spirits of devils will stir the whole world to war just prior to the great day of God. The thrilling thought for every one to consider now is not whether this nation or that will keep out of it. The Lord foresaw what would be, and has told us of it in advance. Every nation under heaven will be involved in these final conflicts. But at the same time every individual who so desires may keep out of it and be free from it. We may all stand with Prince Immanuel if we wish, and He is the Prince of Peace.
The world is going mad over war, and it will get worse and worse. Do not make a mistake. Do not misunderstand. Things in this world will keep getting worse and worse till the Lord comes. But we need not be in the evil, neither need we fear it. We should be as beacon lights pointing the way out of it. We should tell men everywhere that the end of all things is right at hand, and that the Lord’s coming is even at the doors. And while things are intensely dark for the evil-doer, yet for him who desires to be true and do the right there lie just before the brightest prospects and the gladdest days in all earth’s history. Let all the world rejoice. Jesus is coming soon, and when He comes He will put an eternal end to all the desolating evil that is in the land. T.
