Earlier text: THERE THEY CRUCIFIED HIMTHE DYING THIEF.
By John O. Corliss
ONE of the most interesting incidents in connection with the crucifixion of Christ was the conversation He held with an outlaw who was, with Him, suffering the penalty of Roman law,—death on the cross. Two thieves were there, in fact, one on either side of the suffering Saviour, each occupying a cross of his own. Every indignity and cruelty that could well be thought of was, by the soldiers, heaped on Christ. Their fiendish work done, they sat down before their Victim quietly to watch His movements under the agony He carried. During the momentary hush of those who stood gazing at the death struggle of the Son of God, there were some passers-by who stopped, and, looking up at the cross, recognized the central figure, and, wagging their heads in mockery and contempt, railed out, "Ah, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself, and come down from the cross." Mark 15:29, 30. This was the signal for other bystanders,—the chief priests and scribes,—who took up the refrain, saying: "He saved others; Himself He can not save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Strange as it may seem, this cry from the religious leaders was taken up by one of the thieves, who, looking at Jesus, blasphemously said, "If Thou be Christ, save Thyself and us." Luke 23:39. It mattered not that he was equally under condemnation with the Son of God, the spirit of the time controlled him, and the ruling passion was too strong to be resisted, even in the face of death. What so hardened his heart at the time, no one can truly say, seeing that those who suffer together under the same sentence generally sympathize with each other. Such railing from a criminal dying at His side was, however, another drop in the cup of bitterness our Lord was called to drink on that memorable day. The unfeeling words of the blasphemous criminal, tho received in silence by the suffering Christ, were not permitted to pass unrebuked by the other malefactor. "Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man hath done nothing amiss." This was a bold confession to make in the face of so much blasphemy. Not only does this condemned one acknowledge his own guilt, but reveals his faith in the righteousness of Christ, and the injustice of His condemnation. More than this, his next utterance betrayed a deep knowledge of Christ and of His earthly mission. Where he learned it all we are not able to say; he may have been an unknown listener in some roadside audience, where the Saviour discoursed on the nature and extent of His kingdom when redeemed. It may be that in tenderer years his heart had been touched with the prophetic references to the meek appearance and uncomplaining patience of the coming Messiah, and the glowing description of His future kingdom. Be that as it may, when he witnessed in the suffering Victim of the cross the very character which indicated Divinity, his heart quickly responded to the revelation, and, turning his face toward the sacred Sufferer, he cried out, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom." Luke 23:42. Few have perhaps stopped to analyze the faith of this dying culprit. Up to this time he had for years been wayward, going from bad to worse, until, under the laws of the land, he was paying the penalty of his crimes with his life. Beside him was dying Another, under the same law, upon whom was being heaped ignominy and shame by the scoffing multitude, because He had called Himself the Son of God, and Heir to the throne of heaven. To every one but an implicit believer in the divine personality of this Sufferer under the civil law, the scenes then being thrown upon the shifting canvas of history would have put upon His every claim the stamp of falsehood and deception. How could any such claim as His be established in the face of certain death? To unregenerated minds the logic was convincing; the death of the Pretender would scatter to the winds all the rumors of His miraculous works, and no more would be heard of His claims to the Messiahship. To openly recognize One and adhere to Him in the face of such disparity, was truly remarkable. This was not done, either, ignoring the fact that death would take the Son of God away from earth—from the kingdom He had come to redeem. But the faith of the penitent thief looked beyond, to the return of the Lord to earth, not as a sacrifice for sin, but as a King sitting on the throne of His glory. Heb. 9:28; Matt. 25:31. The thief had no expectation of being with Christ during the interval of death, as his petition shows, but desired that at Christ's coming, when the great indignation for sin was past, he might be remembered, and called forth from the grave. Job 14:13; John 5:28, 29. So he said, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom," that is, when Thou enterest upon the possession of Thy redeemed inheritance. His faith met a quick and appreciative response from the dying Prince: "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." Had human hands not placed upon this text the mark of apostasy, it would have been a direct answer to the earnest petition of the believing thief. As it has been made to read, it promises something that the thief did not ask for, and which it was not possible, as events proved, for Jesus to give, or the thief to receive. In the first place, Christ did not go to paradise that day. Paradise is in the third heaven, and contains the tree of life, which stands on either side of the river of life, a stream flowing from under the throne of God. 2 Cor. 12:1-4; Rev. 2:7; 22:1, 2. Paradise is therefore in the very presence of God. But on the third day after Christ's promise to the thief, just after He was raised from the dead, He forbade Mary to touch Him, for the reason that He had not yet ascended to the Father. John 20:11-17. How, then, has the promise of Christ to the thief been so distorted out of harmony with the general narrative of those days?—In this way, simply: Originally the Scriptures were written in a solid block without spaces between the words, and so of course without punctuation. Not long before the translation of the Scriptures into English, our present marks of punctuation were adopted. The translators, believing in the doctrine of man's natural immortality, placed the comma before the word "to-day," instead of after it, thus changing the meaning of the words of Christ. An examination of the text quickly shows this. For convenience, its insertion in both forms is made. "I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." With the comma as here placed, the text gives the thief a transfer to paradise the very day on which he hung on the cross—something he did not ask for, and, as before said, that which Christ could not possibly give, since, three days later, He Himself said He had not yet been there. The other form of placing the comma makes everything consistent: "I say unto thee to-day, shalt thou be with Me in paradise." In this case the word "to-day" simply makes the promise emphatic. To-day, when my enemies have nailed Me to the cruel cross of shame, have cast lots upon and divided My raiment among themselves, as tho I were a common felon; to-day, when even the influential rulers of the land deride Me and mock My dying agonies; to-day, when darkness reigns abroad, and even the Father has seemed to turn His face away from Me; to-day, when everything seems to give the lie to My words—in the midst of all this thou hast believed, therefore, I say to thee to-day, I will reward thee; thou shalt be with Me in paradise. This was but a case of simple yet appropriating faith. The dying malefactor went down relying upon the fulfilment of his request, when the Lord should return to His kingdom, exalted above His enemies. Luke 19:11, 12, 13, 27. It was the same faith that sustained the martyr apostle in his closing hours, as expressed by his dying testimony: "The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." 2 Tim. 4:6-8. When Christ comes in His second advent, then the sleeping dead will hear His voice and live, and the living righteous will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so, that is, in this manner, will all go to be with the Lord. This makes the Lord's coming an event to be longed for. This gives rich interest to the fulfilment of those prophecies that proclaim His coming near. May the reader study these with deep interest, and so prepare for what is to be revealed at the soon coming of the Master. J. O. CORLISS. Conductors of Divine Power
By D. C. Kelley
WHERE humanity has a desperate need, and God can find a man a fit conductor of His light or power, He always supplies that need. God must have a man willing to lay down his life for another, and brave enough to dare all costs that the blessings may come to them, before we are sure of the needed help. Such men are as needful conductors of divine power as the wire is to the electricity. The divine battery of love and help is always so charged that a right conductor in the right place to-day as surely brings divine help as at any previous age of the world.—D. C. Kelley, D.D., in Homiletic Review. A BAPTIST AND THE SABBATH.
A FRIEND sends us a copy of the National Baptist Flag containing an article entitled "The Christian Sabbath," with the sub-title "SIGNS OF THE TIMES and the Tacoma Baptist on the Sabbath." It is written by J. Lewis Smith, D.D. We are requested to reply to it. The contention of the writer is that Sunday-keeping was not brought in through the Catholic Church, or Constantine; in question form, "Did Constantine or the Catholic Church Originate Sunday Observance among Christians?" And the principal attack is against Apples of Gold Library, No. 45, "Historical Facts and Incidents Relative to the Sabbath and the Sunday." 1. Now, in the first place, it is not contended, nor has it been by the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, nor is it by the tract, that Sunday-keeping leaped into the Christian church all at once, full-fledged. Like all other error, it came in gradually. It was not at first in any way considered obligatory. Sunday observance of a sort came in early; for the apostasy began in the apostles' days. 2 Thess. 2:3-7; 1 John 4:1. But the custom was not established till years later, through the united influence of both Church and State. Dr. Smith endeavors to make the simple statements of these facts by the SIGNS, appear as contradictions. The contradictions all lie in the inconsistencies of an apostate church. 2. The writer says that he "agrees with every word" of Neander's statement that "the festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intention of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect; far from them and from the early apostolic church to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday." Now if Dr. Smith and the Baptist Flag agree with every word of that, they certainly do not believe in a Scriptural Sunday, or so-called first-day "Christian sabbath;" for if it "was far from the intentions of the apostles" or the early church to establish any such institution, as Neander declares, and Dr. Smith believes, all the authority Sunday has in this matter comes from an apostate church, a church which, in its purposes as respects Sunday, was "far from the intention of the apostles." Dr. Smith says, "Everybody knows there is no divine command in the New Testament for Sunday-keeping." Then why does Dr. Smith contend for it? Baptism is clearly based on explicit scriptural injunction and example; where are these for Sunday, or the first day of the week? Neither is there any divine command in the New Testament for Saturday-keeping.
But were these inspired men and the early churches commanded to keep the Jewish seventh day?
And for answer our Baptist brother goes to Neander, and Justin Martyr, and other of the "fathers" of Dr. Smith's unbaptistic practises. Why did he not go to God's Word? Why did he not take the commandments spoken by the Son of God on Sinai? Ex. 20:8-11. Why did he not take the words of Christ, that He came not to change this law even so much as to a jot or tittle; and that it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail? Matt. 5:17-20; Luke 16:17. Why did he not take the words of Jesus, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments" (Matt. 19:17); "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 the words of John, "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked" (1 John 2:6)? Why does he not take Paul's words that the Jews knew God's "will," because they were "instructed out of the law," and that they had "the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law"? See Rom. 2:17-22. The only difficulty was that they were trying to keep the law with carnal hearts, which were at enmity with God, the Lawgiver. Rom. 8:7. Why does not Dr. Smith refer to the text, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law"? Rom. 3:31. And there are a multitude more of kindred expressions, such as James 2:8-12; Rev. 14:12; 1 John 5:3, etc. Why not turn to the Bible for what was commanded of God concerning the law and the Sabbath? We turn to Neander, the great church historian, for custom and usage of post New Testament times; but for apostolic times why not go to the apostles? 4. Again, Dr. Smith tells us:— Your "Historical Facts" say that Tertullian, A.D. 200, was the first father who, without doubt, applies the term Lord's day to Sunday. Doesn't the Didache of the Apostles, written nearly 100 years before Tertullian, speak of Sunday as the Lord's day? You didn't know that, did you? Doesn't Clement of Alexandria, A.D. 194, speak of the Lord's day? He wrote before Tertullian, didn't he? Doesn't Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, A.D. [170], speak of the Lord's day? If you do not know these facts, read up. Don't blunder any longer.
No, sir; we do not know them as "facts," now. And we, right here, ask Dr. J. Lewis Smith to tell us just where these statements are found. We have no idea that he will do it. If the reader wishes to look up all that is said about Sunday or Lord's day in the fathers, he would do well to consult Andrews' "History of the Sabbath," or "The Fathers of the Catholic Church," in which all these various claims are candidly discussed. Statements are one thing; facts, another. Will Dr. Lewis quote the statement and give the work from which he takes it, the edition, and page? Then we will show him and others the kind of authority Sunday has. 5. Our Baptist brother contends from the authority of certain commentators that the Lord's day of Rev. 1:10 refers to the first day of the week, the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us see if this is true. That is, according to the Lord's own Word and the Lord's own example, what is the Lord's day? It is not a question to be settled by common usage. Many counterfeit bills pass because well worn, but they are not the less counterfeit; and, if brought to test, the fact of their continued use has no bearing with the honest official. The bill, judged by government standard, is false; it must go. So the Lord's day must be tested by government standard. This standard is not the corrupt semi-heathen "fathers of the church." They may be brought forward to sanction every error which has ever cursed the church. The standard of God is His Holy Word. According to that standard, what is the true Lord's day? (1) Jesus Christ was the Creator of all things. John 1:1-3; Col. 1:16. (2) He, the Son of God, made the seventh day in the beginning "holy unto the Lord." Gen. 2:2, 3. (3) "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10. (4) Christ, whose Spirit spoke through the prophets (1 Peter 1:11), calls it in Isa. 58:13, "My holy day." (5) Jesus says, "The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath day." Mark 2:28. (6) Finally, He Himself observed that day as an example. John 15:10; 1 John 2:6. Therefore, according to the standard of the Lord's Word, according to the example of the Lord, what day is the Lord's day? In the light of the judgment, and of that Word which shall either acquit or condemn you in the judgment (John 12:48), reader, how would you answer the question? Now it must be evident that to him who believes God's Word, and believes that Word to be a sufficient guide in moral duty, not only has Sunday observance no authority in God's Word, but the people who originated it had departed from that Word. 6. Dr. Smith again says:— To my statement that all the early Christian fathers observed Sunday as the day on which Christ rose from the dead, not one word in rebuttal is submitted. They did observe the first day of the week as the Lord's day.
This is true as regards a portion of the so-called "Christian fathers." Jesus says, "Call no man father upon the earth." The true Bible Christian's Father is God. The Founder of the Christian church is Jesus Christ, the Foundation of apostles and prophets; and the teaching of any "Christian father," whoever he may be, that is not in harmony with the Foundation, is but wood, hay, and stubble. It is still true, as stated in "Historical Facts," that "the first early father" who, without doubt, applies the term "Lord's day" to Sunday is Tertullian. On that day he tells us that fasting or kneeling was unlawful. They traced on the forehead the sign of the cross, and made offerings for the dead in connection with Sunday observance." This is one of Dr. Smith's orthodox "Christian fathers." Eusebius, another "Christian father" and bishop, admirer and flatterer of Constantine, says ("Commentary on the Psalms," quoted in Cox' "Sabbath Literature," vol. 1, p. 361): "And all things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we [Constantine, Eusebius, and other bishops] have transferred to the Lord's day, as more appropriately belonging to it." But previous to this, and long after, many Christians paid no regard to Sunday as a holy day. It was not till the beginning of the sixth century that the opinion began to spread abroad that Sunday labor was sinful, the Third Council of Orleans (A.D. 538) condemning such opinion. A council was held by King Gunthrum, in Mascon, Burgundy (A.D. 588), and this council warned Christians to "keep then the Lord's day." (Morer's "Dialogues on the Lord's Day," p. 265.) Another council was held at Narbon (A.D. 590), which threatened confiscation and banishment to those who would not keep the Lord's day. (Id., pp. 265, 266.) This shows how the early Christians observed it. On the other hand, those were anathematized who continued to observe the Sabbath. And Sir William Domville says: "Not any ecclesiastical writer of the first three centuries attributed the origin of Sunday observance either to Christ or to His apostles."—Examination of the Six Texts Supplement, pp. 6, 7. And very much more might be said. Sunday observance rests (1) upon the old heathen custom of sun-worship; (2) It was brought into the church as a holy day through these half-converted heathen philosophers and backslidden Christians. (3) Constantine greatly helped it by the first law for Sunday observance found on record. (4) This was supplemented by church decrees. And the church which did all this was apostate, the beginning of the apostasy which ripened into the Papacy. Those Christians who most faithfully served God had no learned disquisitions to offer, and the most of their writings have perished from the earth; but their record is on high. No better can be done than to close this7 article in the words of Dowling: "The Bible and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants." SPIRITUAL REST.
By E. E. Andross
COME unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Matt. 11:28-30. If the presence of Jesus means rest to the weary, the heavy laden, the distressed, the heart-burdened, to be out of His presence means that all these burdens must be borne alone. How often do those whose load seems more than they can carry, seek human sympathy, perhaps pouring their troubles into the ear of one whose heart is already overburdened and knows not where to find rest! This can not bring relief. There is no remedy within the reach of humanity for this heart trouble, save the one offered by the great Physician. How tenderly does He address every sin-sick soul! How simple and yet how efficacious is the remedy! "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked," but "He [Christ] hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrow;" yea, "the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." Having borne the burden of our guilt, He now desires to take it from our weary shoulders. In the world of medicine there are many so-called remedies administered which, instead of removing the disease, simply deaden the sensibilities to pain, and so lower nature's flag of resistance, leaving the sick in a worse condition than before, tho they may feel much better for the time. So it is in the spiritual world. Knowing that many would seek relief from the burden of sin, the great deceiver has proposed many remedies. But unless these remedies agree perfectly with the great Textbook, we may know that they are not of heavenly origin. They are simply efforts to quiet an awakened conscience till the seeds of death have brought forth their awful harvest. "They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace." Jer. 6:14. The way to true peace is found in the words of the meek and gentle Jesus, "Take My yoke upon you." The yoke is an instrument of service. Cattle are yoked, and the yoke is essential that they may labor effectually. By this illustration Christ teaches us that we are called to service as long as life shall last. We are to take upon us His yoke, that we may be co-workers with Him. But how shall we serve Him and so find His rest?—"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." Jer. 6:16. The "old paths" and the "good way" are the ways of God's commandments. Verse 19. "O that thou hadst harkened to My commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea." Isa. 48:18. In the presence of Christ there is soul rest. But to be in His presence is to walk with Him; it is to serve with Him; for He says, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me." To walk and serve with Jesus are to keep the Father's commandments; for when His life-work was finished, Jesus said, "I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." John 15:10. Further, it is to delight in this law, to have it written in the heart: "I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart." Thus spake Jesus through the mouth of David. Ps. 40:8. One of the "exceeding great and precious promises" by which we become "partakers of the divine nature," is the following: "I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." Heb. 8:10. "Therefore, the yoke that binds us to service is the law of God. The great law of love revealed in Eden, proclaimed upon Sinai, and in the new covenant written in the heart, is that which binds the human worker to the will of God." It is the love of self that brings unrest. But this is the carnal mind—the mind of the flesh. "To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh can not please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." Rom. 8:6-9. Where the Spirit of Christ dwells, self is renounced, and instead of seeking to be served, the life is spent in loving service. The burdens are rolled at the feet of Jesus, and in His service there is sweet rest. We then find that, truly, His "yoke is easy," and His "burden is light." He who walks in the way of God's commandments is walking in company with Christ, and in His love the heart is at rest. Blessed rest! Who would not enjoy it? As the heart is yielded to God, and the will is swallowed up in His will, there is perfect peace and quietude. In perfect acquiescence there is perfect rest. As through Jesus, and in His presence we enter into rest, heaven begins here. Thus the joy of Christ—His joy of knowing that He was walking in the full approbation of His Father—is fulfilled in us. And, altho we may pass through the deep waters of affliction, we know that they shall not overflow us; or through the fire, we shall not be burned, and the flame shall not kindle upon us, for He is with us. Isa. 43:2. "Thou wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." Ps. 16:11. ARE THEY COMING TOGETHER?
By Editor
We have frequently pointed out that the principles of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism are absolutely irreconcilable, and that Roman Catholics stand now just where they did in medieval times. If either party is yielding—and it is evident that this is the case—it is the party of professed Protestantism, which, after all, is not Protestantism. The following, from a recent issue of the Christian Advocate, presenting an editorial from the New York Sun, is worthy of careful reading:— A few weeks ago the New York Sun denied the allegation that its very able editorials, religious, are written by a Roman Catholic. Justice Brewer, of the United States Supreme Court, who has appeared several times in the role of a prophet, but on close inspection appears, like many modern prophets, to be predicting merely what it would please him to have happen, says, "It is not unworthy of notice that the ancient enemies, Catholicism and Protestantism, are drawing closer together," and declares that "the history of the past should be ignored, and each should shake hands and join in the common effort to further the common cause of a common Master." Upon this the Sun says editorially:— "The Church of Rome, surely, has neither abandoned nor in any degree lessened its claims; it still offers to Protestantism no possibility of unity with it, except on the condition of yielding to its authority and rendering allegiance to the papal supremacy. Within a very few years the pope, by refusing to accept the validity of the Anglican orders, has practically pronounced the whole Church of England heretical, schismatic, and destitute of an apostolic foundation for its ministry. The only terms Rome offers in the nineteenth century are the same as those it offered in the eighteenth century, and they will be the same in the twentieth century—unconditional surrender. "The present pope, Leo XIII., is not one step closer to Protestantism in 1900 than was Pius VII. in 1800. Nor is Protestantism, in its spirit, distinctive features, its very genius, any closer to Catholicism now than it was then. The strongest Protestant tendency at present seems to be to an even wider separation than in the past, for the new school of Biblical criticism, now so powerful in Protestant theology, tends logically to the exclusion of all such supernatural authority as the Church of Rome asserts. Protestantism is growing more rather than less distinctively Protestant; it is more insistent on the right of private judgment and more intolerant of the domination of church authority. Meanwhile Catholicism insists not less stoutly on that authority than it did in the days of the Reformation; it has shown no shadow of yielding. Individual Protestants, craving such spiritual control, may pass over to the Church of Rome, but Protestantism, in the exercise of its asserted private judgment, is now further from it than ever. "The difference is deep and radical, full of great significance, and, as we have said, can not be bridged over by any gush of sentiment. The two can never come together except by Protestants yielding and becoming Catholics, or Catholics turning into Protestants. You might as well try to mix oil and water as to attempt to bring these two radically conflicting and diametrically and essentially opposing religious systems into harmony, without the complete surrender of the one to the other; and the twentieth century will not lessen that impossibility by one whit." This is absolutely true, and such sentiments as those of Justice Brewer, tho quite common, are of the same sort as those which have betrayed a large part of Protestantism, at the other extreme, into the hands of the Unitarians, anti-supernatural Biblical critics, and even avowed agnostics. If the twentieth century obliterates distinctions between Protestants and Roman Catholics, the latter will swallow up individual Protestants in ever-increasing numbers; while at the other extreme agnosticism will flourish, and many of the most spiritually-minded Protestants, distracted, will react into various forms of fanaticism; and worse, though different, forms of confusion than those that have marked the well-defined conflicts of the past, will leave a large majority of the population of adult years drifting into worldliness or agnosticism, protected from suspicion and unpleasant embarrassment by politic silence. This is not prophecy, but conclusions based upon an "if." To say that if dynamite is ignited there will be an explosion, is not prophecy but truth. Captain Leary Recalled From Guam
By Editor
CAPTAIN LEARY, the American ruler of the island of Guam, is to be recalled. The reason of his recall is said to be that he has issued too many decrees. It was one of his decrees that sent a certain Catholic church official away from the island. Another decree forbade all Catholic feast-day demonstrations, and abolished concubinage. Two of his decrees prohibited the selling of intoxicating liquors in the island or the importation of liquor. It was necessary that the government should recall Captain Leary in order to be consistent with its own position on the canteen question. Of course Captain Leary had no right to forbid feast-day demonstrations, unless the demonstrators undertook to compel American citizens to uncover and bow down in the presence of the procession, as they attempted to do some months ago in New Mexico. Spiritualism in Every Organization
At a recent meeting of the California State Spiritualist Association, former President Newman declared that Spiritualism had now permeated every organization in the world, and filled the pews of the churches. The preachers, he said, had been compelled to preach the philosophy of Spiritualism, and he named several prominent divines who had declared their belief in its doctrines. THE newspapers sometimes tell us things as news which were told by prophets of the Lord hundreds or thousands of years ago. From an editorial article in the Tribune, of this city, we take the following expressions:— "It is noticeable how suddenly and almost completely all the talk of fresh and far-reaching wars has come to an end. A few weeks ago the despatches would have us believe that it was only a question of perhaps days ere the flaming torch would be waved on high. . . ." "Now, however, all is apparently as calm and serene as the proverbial mill pond. With the exception of the continuation of the struggle in South Africa and a skirmish every now and then between the American forces and the remnants of Aguinaldo's army in the Philippines, not a sound of discord is heard. . . ." "One does not have to go far to find a reason for all this. The powers are in mortal fear of one another, and it is this and this only that keeps the balance of peace." Concerning the days before His second advent, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke these words: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 21: 25-27. The fear of one another on the part of the leading nations, their distrust of one another's loudest protestations of friendship, their dread of unseen complications, their financial straits, all combine to increase the "perplexity" which the Lord foresaw, and which is not new or unexpected to the believer in His Word. And the student and believer of the Word knows that the winds of warfare are held in check by the angels of God, until the work of the Gospel shall have been accomplished. See Rev. 7: 1-3. But another expression in the same article from which we have quoted indicates also the feeling of security indulged by the world when there comes a temporary lull in the storm:— "These are the main reasons, therefore, why the threatening war clouds have drifted far away, and why there is little likelihood that they will form again in a manner productive of trouble." And this sense of security is also foretold in the Scriptures. Concerning it Paul writes: "Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." 1 Thess. 5: 1-3. There are many items of reliable news in the Scriptures of truth concerning the times in which we are living. And that such intelligence is of invaluable importance is assured by the fact that God published it so far in advance of actual occurrence. The most important medium of current news is the Word of God. IS IT FREEDOM OF THE PRESS?
By Alonzo T. Jones
A DESPATCH from Manila under date of March 26, says:— "La Patria and El Liberal, Spanish organs of the extreme Filipino party, have recently been publishing articles inimical to the military government. General Otis has suppressed the former journal for sedition, and imprisoned the editor, at the same time issuing a warning to the members of the extreme party that they should observe greater moderation." It has been the boast of this country that it allowed the most absolute freedom of speech and the press. Every one has freely talked just what he believed, and those who did not believe in the same way have had the fullest freedom to enter the arena, get as large an audience as they could, and tell as widely as possible their contrary views. But it has always been the policy of a kingdom or an empire to suppress those who spoke things contrary to the views of the reigning power. The king or emperor does the thinking and planning for the nation, and every one else is to keep still. Such actions as this of General Otis ought to enable any one to see that this country has adopted the régime of royalty, and is no longer standing by its principles of republicanism. This act in the Philippines may seem like a small thing, but no people ever had their freedom taken away from them all at once. It is by almost imperceptible degrees that freedom is taken away and the yoke of oppression and tyranny is fixed upon the necks of men. The last part of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation is a prophecy of this United States. That prophecy states that the time will come when this nation will speak "as a dragon." It will even go so far as to proclaim a decree of death against those who will not submit to the worship of the Papacy. This is a simple matter of prophecy that the Signs has kept before the world for more than a quarter of a century. We have seen evidences all along that it would soon be fulfilled in all its startling particulars, but now the actual workings of the fulfilment of it are right before our eyes as never before. The course that this nation has adopted will soon bring in a civil despotism, without which there never could be religious tyranny to any great extent. We have had Sunday laws on the statute-books of the nation for many years, but they have not been enforced to any great extent, because the freedom of the republican principles of the Constitution have so anchored the hearts of men that they could not be driven to give their consent to any form of religious intolerance. There have been a minority that would banish every person who does not believe that Sunday is the Sabbath, and who teaches that Saturday, the seventh day, is the rest day of Jehovah. But this minority have not been allowed to act out their sentiments, because of the great majority that have held to the principles of republican freedom. Yet Satan is planning with a deep-laid cunning. He will get men used to tyranny by degrees. He will touch them in points that are not so vital to them as their religion, and by gradual processes he will prepare the world for the greatest delusions and the most oppressive tyranny that have been known to all history. The events and conditions of to-day should be studied the most closely, for prophecy is fulfilling with increasing rapidity. But a very short time is allotted to the full development of the things that are now before the world, and the Lord's coming is right at hand. There is no possible mistake about this. Every one in the world should know that the second coming of Christ is even now just before us. The few moments that we have left in which to prepare for the event are much more than golden. T.