THE following is taken from a sermon by Rev. F. O. Holman, the pastor of the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church, Minneapolis, Minn., preached in his church, from Rom. 6:23, April 24, 1892, and reported in the Minneapolis Tribune of the next day. It contains thoughts worthy of consideration because scriptural. Space will not permit us to give it all. After stating that he fully accepted the teachings of Christ, that the New Testament did teach future retribution, but did not teach future probation, he continued as follows:—
3. The New Testament teaches that retribution is meted in absolute justice according to the deeds done in the body; that punishment shall be in direct proportion and relation to sin; that some "shall be beaten with many stripes," according to the iniquity of the offense and the light against which it is committed. God will in absolute justice weigh out, in absolutely equitable scales, a penalty for sin which shall be in absolute equity, according to transgression. I think there is no divergence of opinion among thinking men as to that proposition.
FINAL, HOPELESS, AND REMEDELESS.
4. The New Testament teaches that this post-mortem retribution is final, hopeless, and remedeless. I have searched my Bible with tears and with prayers to find if I might possibly escape from that conclusion, and I have found it not. Upon any549careful exegesis of the New Testament statements on this topic, I see no escape from the unwelcome conclusion that the New Testament teaches that the doom of the incorrigible sinner is final, hopeless, and without remedy. Universalism is a pleasing dream in its form of restorationalism as it is held in this day. If it were true, it would relieve us of many a perplexing problem in theology. . . . But I am here this morning to say that, as for me, with the light I have been able to gain upon reading the Scriptures, both in the English and in the original, I have been unable to find any escape from the conclusion just stated. Standing then in the presence of these, which to me at least seem to be demonstrable positions from the New Testament scriptures, we face with throbbing heart and with thrilling interest the last question, What is the nature of this ultimate disaster which is to overtake the incorrigibly sinful soul? The great mass of the Christian church, at least of the Protestant Christian church, has for the last few centuries believed that the nature of this ultimate disaster was conscious, hopeless, unceasing anguish. If Jesus teaches that, I will bow my head in the darkness and submit, knowing that my Lord can teach no error. But does He teach it? This leads me to my last proposition in this connection:—
5. The nature of this retribution seems to be the more or less gradual extinction of personality by the inexorable proof of retributive forces inherent in sin itself. As viewed from one standpoint, this is the doctrine of conditional immortality. As viewed from another standpoint, it is the doctrine of the self-elimination of sin and the sinner. That is to say, immortality, according to this view, does not inhere by nature in fallen man, but he is put into this world in order that he may win it or achieve it through the free gift of God in Jesus Christ. Or, looked at from the other standpoint, man is such that sin works out in him ultimate degradation, deterioration, and final
OBLITERATION FROM THE UNIVERSE OF GOD.
Now, this view, held in the one form or the other, according to the standpoint from which you view it, seems to be taught in the New Testament scriptures, and I ask your patience for a few moments while I attempt to state to you some of my reasons for this conclusion. And you will immediately understand that I am not attempting this morning an exegetical defense of this doctrine, but am rather stating in general terms the results of my own personal studies in the matter.
First, then, the doctrine of natural immortality is an extra-Biblical and purely speculative dogma, imported from Platonic philosophy and having no solid exegetical basis. If you will turn to the account of the fall of man, you will find that when man had sinned, partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the Lord said, "He has now become as one of us; lest he put forth his hand and take of the tree of life and live forever, therefore God drove them out of the Garden of Eden and set flaming cherubims to guard the way to the tree of life," lest man should take of it and eat thereof and live forever. And if you turn to the book of Revelation, in which the inspired seer catches a glimpse of the future of the righteous, we read "that he showed unto me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in the midst of it and on either side of it was the tree of life," the tree from which man was expelled in the Garden of Eden. And, so far as I know, the Scriptures give no hint that man ever had access to that tree of life elsewhere. Again, we read in the first Epistle of Timothy concerning Jesus, "Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality." And again, we read in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John these pregnant words by Jesus: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word and believes in Him that sent me, has everlasting life and comes not into judgment, but has passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For, as the Father has life in himself, so gave he also to the Son"—and to nobody else so far as we ever heard—"to have life in himself." I say, then, in the first place the doctrine of natural immortality is an extra-Biblical and purely speculative dogma.
Second, in the New Testament the antithesis between the righteous and the wicked is
AN ANTITHESIS OF LIFE AND DEATH.
Death is represented as the universal racial result of sin. Life is represented as the free gift of God to all who will accept it in Jesus Christ. "The wages of sin," says Paul, "is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life." Now, "lust when it is conceived bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth death." "And this is the record," says John, in his first epistle, "that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; he that hath not the Son hath not life," "but the wrath of God abideth upon him." Or, rather, that last sentence belongs in another place and is almost exactly the same quotation, "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." I say, then, the New Testament antithesis is not between the gladness of the blest and the pain of the woe, but between the life of the righteous and the death of the wicked.
Third, this view best and most naturally interprets the symbolism of the New Testament scriptures and especially of our Lord Jesus Christ on this subject. John, speaking of the coming Jesus, says, "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Jesus, speaking of the parables of the tares and the wheat, says, "Let them both grow together until the harvest, then gather the wheat into my barns and bind up the tares in bundles to burn them." Speaking again to his disciples, he says: "He that abideth in me and I in him, bringeth forth much fruit; but if a man abideth not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned." The symbolism all through here is not the symbolism of endless conscious suffering, but the symbolism of the utter destruction of that which has proved itself worthless in the economy of God.
THE SAME TERRIBLE SYMBOLISM
is found in the New Testament word for the ultimate destruction of the wicked. You all know that there are four words translated "hell" in the old version of the Scriptures, and I suppose you all know that there is only one of those words which should properly be translated hell. The Revised Version in the New Testament takes the word "hades," which was frequently translated hell, simply brings it into the text, transfers it to the English text. The only word which it translates "hell" is "gehenna." What is that word?—It is a word which means the place or the valley of Hinnom. The place or the valley of Hinnom was a very deep ravine just outside the walls of Jerusalem. It was the place in which Solomon set up the image of Moloch and caused the children to pass through the fire to him; hence it became accursed in Jewish history and was finally used as the city dump in Jerusalem. It was the place to which all the garbage and offal and refuse of the city were carried to be dumped and burned; and the fires were going there night and day for the destruction of this garbage and offal and the dead bodies of criminals of certain sorts, which were there deposited. Now, this is the word which Jesus uses to express the destruction of the wicked. In other words, in any natural interpretation of the symbol, hell is the moral garbage pile of the universe, it is the great dump of the city of God, to which all the offal and refuse and all the failures and garbage in all God's moral universe shall be cast out to be destroyed, because it is worthless. I say this view best expresses or interprets the New Testament symbolism of this topic.
Fourth, this view gives clear and unmistakable emphasis to the scriptural utterances as to the destructive and deadly nature of sin. No theology can survive the strain of careful thought which does not hold in firm grasp the destructive, disastrous, deadly nature of sin. It is taught in the utterances of human consciousness; it is taught in the retributions of natural law; it is taught on every page of the holy word. No theology can survive the strain of time which loosely holds to the deadly nature of sin, and you will permit me to say that a vast amount of loose and careless thinking among people at large results from failure to closely grasp this awful fact of sin in the universe of God. I hope to have something more to say concerning that phase of this subject this evening.
Fifth, this view indicates the goodness of God in that when the sinner, in the exercise of his freedom, has become hopelessly and helplessly degraded and miserable,
GOD IN HIS PITY
allows him to sink into oblivion and death. The great difficulty with the traditional view so long held on this topic by multitudes of good people, has been the question which inevitably offers itself.—Of what use that God should maintain in his universe vast numbers of people who have proved failures, whose existence is no pleasure to themselves or to others, and serves no necessary purpose in his universe? What can be the purpose of a good God in maintaining such people in conscious, eternal existence, forever and ever? That I say has been the difficulty with the multitudes of pious people in accepting the traditional view on this subject. Now, I say the view under discussion vindicates the goodness of God in that, when a man, in the exercise of his power of freedom and by reason of his willful sinfulness, has proved himself a failure in the universe of God, has made shipwreck of his life, has so marred and defaced and ruined his own soul that return to righteousness is impossible, and that existence for him must henceforth be a torture, God, in the exercise of an infinite pity, allows the man to drift out into oblivion and unconsciousness. Your modern physician will scarcely allow man to suffer the most trivial surgical operation without the application of an anesthetic. But, according to the theory which is held by many people (I will not even say the traditional theory, lest I should offend), according to the theory that is held by many people, God proposes to keep in eternal consciousness multitudes of people to whom he denies even the poor comfort of an anesthetic at last. There is a difficulty in that view, a great difficulty, and the view under consideration relieves it and vindicates the goodness of God.
Sixth, this view harmonizes with the operation of God in the natural world; it is the application of the law of the "survival of the fittest," in the spiritual realm. We know that in this world, in the struggle for existence, the strong survive, and the weak and diseased go down in the struggle. We know that in this world only those individuals and species, in the long run, persist which are in harmony with their environment and with the law of their being. We know that in this world the vicious and diseased ultimately cease to become self-propagating, and the species or the family dies out. That is the law in the development of organic life so far as we are able to trace it by personal observation. It would seem when we come to the shadowy limit of our vision and cannot see beyond that, in the absence of teaching to the contrary, we might assume that the law would persist in the realm that is unknown to us, and that in the spiritual as well as in the natural the law of
THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
prevails, and that only those who are in harmony with their environment shall persist, and that those who are not in harmony with their environment shall cease to be. I say this doctrine is in harmony with the operation of God in the natural world.
Seventh and finally, this view makes it possible to look forward to a perfected universe as the result of the progress of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. That the Scriptures do point forward to such a perfected universe seems to me to be clear. We are told that there shall come a time when he shall have put all things under his feet, and that the "the last enemy," also (which is death), shall be put under his feet, that God may be all and in all. 1 Cor. 15: 24-28.
Now it has always been a difficulty in theological thinking to reconcile that promise and expectation with the idea of the eternal persistence of a vast prison house of lost and mad and blaspheming souls. There can never be a perfect universe as long as there exists in it one blaspheming wretch who will not bow the knee to God. You may isolate such cases if you please, and you may build a wall around them as high as heaven and so deep as hell if you please, but so long as there exists in the universe of God one spot where God's will is not law, and God's love is not recognized, and God's peace does not abide, so long you can never have a perfect universe. And yet the world dreams of the time when God shall have produced a perfected universe. Philosophers, poets, prophets, and sages, have all dreamed of that far-off, defined event, toward which the whole creation moves, when in the length and breadth of God's dominion all shall be peace, all shall be harmony, all shall be holiness, all shall be perfect surrender to God. Now, according to the view here stated, it is possible to look forward to such a consummation, a time when in all God's realms there be peace.550
WHENEVER A LOST SINNER
who has proved utterly incorrigible, who has made total shipwreck of life, who has drifted so far in sin that he has become inseparable from his sin, shall, by the operation of inexorable retributive forces, become extinct, and there shall be in God's universe none but holy souls hymning forever the praises of Him who loved them and washed them in his own blood and made them kings and priests unto God forever and ever.
I have stated to you this morning what seems to me to be the New Testament teaching on this all-important theme. Life is no joke; sin is an awful reality; freedom is a sublime gift which brings with it possible perils of terrible extent. The great problem which faces every man when he comes into the world is, What is my life for? what does it mean? how shall I guide it? whither shall it tend? Life according to this conception of the Holy Scriptures, is a thing of infinite significance. Man is born not immortal but with a possibility of immortality. Man is born with the high potentiality of becoming a son of God. He may by sin and selfishness thrust this splendid possibility from him. He may turn from the shining crown of immortal life which God offers him and wallow in the mire of his own passion and revel in the filth of his own appetite, degrade himself until he becometh like a brute beast and
PERISH IN HIS DEGRADATION;
or he may, by turning to the life and accepting the Christ and walking in holiness and aspiring after the truth,—he may through the gracious gift of God in Jesus Christ our Lord, become a partaker of immortality, he may be crowned with the life everlasting, he may lay hold on the eternities, he may take his place among those who, . . . overcoming, have right to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the river.
I do not ask you, my friends, to think as I think. I have stated to you my convictions in this matter because I thought you had a right to know them. I invite you to the study of God's own word. I especially invite you to the infinitely pregnant words of the Lord Jesus Christ. But above all things I invite and urge upon every man and every woman that you live not carelessly, idly, as though it were a little thing to live and a little thing to die, but that you live seriously, thoughtfully, that you recognize the tremendous issues that hang upon the present hour, that you reach out with strong desire to lay hold upon all that God offers you in Jesus Christ our Lord, and that so living, so striving, so praying, so hoping, you may be saved from ever experiencing, or perchance from ever knowing, what is the disaster which overtakes the incorrigibly selfish and the incorrigibly sinful. God is love. I believe it—I know it. His prophets have declared it, his poets have sung it, his Christ has written it in letters of blood on Calvary's cross. God is love, and since God is love he will do the very best for every man that a God of love can possibly do. But human freedom is an awful thing, human sin is a real and deadly thing, and God has written it in his book, that "the soul that sinneth shall die." May he deliver you and me from the eternal death, for his dear name's sake. Amen.
NECESSITY OF CONTEMPLATING HEAVENLY THINGS.
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
JoHN says: "I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
If we would bear in mind the momentous events which are soon to take place, we would not be so weak in character. We would feel that we were living in the presence of God, and awed and amazed we should heed the injunction, "Be still and know that I am God." Oh, when shall we ever realize the full value of our Saviour's work and intercession? When shall we rely upon him with full confidence, and live a noble, pure, and devoted life? To what heights may the imagination reach when sanctified and inspired by the virtue of Christ! We may take in the glories of the future, eternal world. We may live as seeing him who is invisible. Walk by faith and not by sight. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Through searching the Scriptures we may come to understand what we are to Christ, and what he is to us. By beholding him we are to become changed into his image, becoming co-laborers with him, representatives of him in life and character. We must learn to realize that we are to live as the sons and daughters of God, loving God supremely, and our neighbor as ourselves. We are to live a pure, perfect life for Christ's sake. We are to love perfection because Jesus is the embodiment of perfection, the great center of attraction. The life we now live we must live by faith in the Son of God.
If we follow Christ we shall not have a spasmodical experience, and be moved by circumstances and influenced by our surroundings. We shall not let feeling control us, and indulge in fretting, envying, fault-finding, jealousy, and vanity.
It is indulgence in these things that puts us out of harmony with the harmonious life of Christ, and prevents us from becoming overcomers. We should be actuated by the noble purpose of winning daily victories, and by watchfulness and sincere prayer attain to complete control of self. When petty trials come upon us, and words are spoken that cut and bruise the soul, speak to yourself and say, "I am a child of God, heir with Jesus Christ, a co-laborer with heaven, and I cannot afford to easily take offense, to be always thinking of self; for this will produce a distorted character, and is unworthy of my high calling. My Heavenly Father has given me a work to do, and let me do it worthily for his name's sake."
We should consider earnestly and continually the excellence of the character of Jesus Christ, that we may impart his blessings, and lead men to follow in his footsteps. If the ministers of Christ would do this, there would be no reason for deploring their inefficiency. If they came to the people filled with the meekness and lowliness of Christ, knowing what it is to grow up into the full stature of men in Christ Jesus, power would attend their labors, and people would receive impressions from their association with them that would be of eternal benefit. The work of God would go deeper than it now does, and the soul would be changed into the likeness of Christ. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed in the same image from glory to glory, even by the Spirit of the Lord." "For as much as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. . . . The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? . . . Now the Lord is that Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." "Wherefore also we pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power; that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ."
HUMILITY.
By Bernard of Clairvaux
HUMILITY is the grace whereby out of the truest heart knowledge a man becomes vile unto himself. The root of humility is a deep sense of our own utter unworthiness,—not551making humble speeches about ourselves to others, and pretending to do humble things for others, but having humble thoughts about ourselves in our own hearts, and taking our place with the lowest and least, because we deeply feel that that is the place that belongs of right to us.—Bernard of Clairvaux.
THE CRACK IN THE BELL.
By T. S. Parmelee
BY T. S. PARMELEE.
WHAT means this crack in liberty's bell?
What means this crack?—will someone tell?
It once rang clear and loud and long,
Proclaiming freedom's welcome song.
Why are its tones now badly marred?
Why is its noble form so scarred?
Around its rim a motto fair.
And—is our history written there?
Freedom we once proclaimed to all.
But has our freedom had a fall?
What are the tones that now we hear?
Do freedom's notes still greet the ear?
Our fathers crossed the trackless sea,
From priests and tyrants to be free.
The hand of God was leading them,
They promised freedom to all men.
But now another sound we hear;
Tyrants rejoice while wise men fear.
The narrow bigot now holds sway;
The people are not free to-day.
The Saviour's rule is set aside,
While priests o'er human conscience ride.
Men do not now sweet freedom sing,
And liberty's bell, now, cannot ring.
Traverse City, Mich.
Coarse Jokes Ruin Christian Influence
"Many a Christian has ruined his influence with the unconverted by descending to coarse, silly jokes."
THE FOES WITHIN.
By Christian Inquirer
It is said that Augustine was perplexed by the prayer of David, "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man." At length he concluded the evil man was himself. His exegesis was doubtful, but his interpretation was useful. Paul testifies of the struggle men know between right and wrong, and every Christian's experience will tell him of the necessity of watchfulness against evil propensities. Every man has need to be in constant fear of himself. We have enemies without, yet the old hymn is true:—
"But of all the foes we meet,
None so oft mislead our feet,
None betray us into sin
Like the foes that dwell within."
WISDOM—HOW TO GET IT.
By H. V. Adams
BY H. V. ADAMS.
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” James 1: 5, 6. As long as men think they know all there is to know, or all they need to know, and think they know how to use the knowledge they have, they will not seek elsewhere for wisdom, nor will they ask God for wisdom; nor could he give it to them if they did. When a cup is full, even if it has in it nothing but trash, you cannot put anything more in it—no, not even gold. So when your mind is full, even if in it there is naught but vanity, no more can be put in, not even wisdom from God. And if a man thinks he is possessed of sufficient wisdom in himself, his mind is surely full to overflowing of vanity—that empty nothingness which breeds in self-sufficiency. So God says: “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” 1 Cor. 3: 18, 19.
Therefore, when you conclude you have no wisdom, and make up your mind you want it, then go and ask for it. Be sure though that you want what God has to give you before you ask. The wisdom of God is a great thing, and when you ask for it, you are asking for a great deal. But that is your privilege. God tells you to ask for it. He wants you to have wisdom. A man who almost boasted in his disbelief of the Bible, once told me he had asked God in faith for wisdom but did not get it. This, he urged, was proof that the Bible was not true. But it was not anything of the kind. It was proof that either the man did not know what wisdom was, so could not appreciate the gift even if bestowed; or else that he never expected to receive it anyhow. In either case, he could not realize the fulfillment of the promise.
Men sometimes ask for wisdom, then go out among men to display their supposed newly-gotten power of mind. They commence an argument with a fellow man, expecting, now they have asked for wisdom, to dumbfound the poor fellow, whom, in their heart they pity, because he hasn’t asked for wisdom too. But their supposed wisdom doesn’t display, nor does it dumbfound anyone. And why not? Have they not asked God for wisdom?—No, sir; they have asked for egotism and self-exaltation, calling it wisdom. So they have only what they had before considerably intensified.
When you ask God for wisdom, know what you are asking for, realize that you need it, and then believe that you get it. But don’t expect to be a Solomon right away. You will be disappointed if you do. Just believe that God gives it as you need it, go ahead about your business, and the wisdom will be manifested in such a way and at such a time as shall be for the glory of God. Know that God’s promises are sure, and therefore, when you ask for wisdom in faith, you will surely receive it.
Now don’t depend upon feeling to ascertain if the promise is fulfilled. Just know that the Lord cannot lie, therefore, as he has said “it shall be given,” know that it is given. Take him at his word, and thank him that it is so. Believe him, not because you feel like it, but because he says so. When you realize you need wisdom, go to God, ask for it, know that you get it, and go your way rejoicing. Faith is the golden key that unlocks the treasure house of wisdom.
JESUS IS COMING.
By W. S. Ritchie
BY W. S. RITCHIE.
HOW WONDERFUL it seems to think that Jesus is coming again! He was on the earth once we all know and men seek to find the paths he walked in, and the hills about Jerusalem where he used to be. But what is all this when we think of his coming again? What would a visit to Jerusalem to see the places Jesus used to visit be worth when Jesus himself is coming to the earth soon? What a grand reception the world ought to give to the Elder Brother, who died for all.
Long ago, before the world got so cold and dark as it is now, we can remember the preparations that were made when some friend was expected. Perhaps it was an uncle or grandparent or some member of our family. We552would try to have everything neat and in order, and plan many things to enjoy in the company of the expected friend.
At last the day comes and the children run to and fro to scan the road in the distance, while a gentle murmur of preparation comes from parlor, kitchen, and hall. At last the shout is heard, "He's coming, he's coming!" and the little ones dance with delight. The elders catch the enthusiasm, and there is a moment of ecstasy that is only equaled when the carriage stops at the door and the long expected one looks into our faces once more.
What would this dark earth be without love? Love is everything, sweeter than the sweetest music, richer than the richest perfume—words are cold and empty things with which to hold it or try to describe it. Upon it the soul grows and flourishes like a watered garden. It cheers the fainting heart and gives health to the sick. For love men will endure all things.
The noblest Friend our misguided world has ever had is soon to be in our midst. He will bring rich gifts which for magnificence have never been equaled. He will greet us in a tone and with a voice more melodious than music and strong enough to call the dead to life. Within a few years Abraham, David, Peter, and all the others will be living, acting men. There will be a reunion such as has never been seen on the earth before, for the great enemy will be silenced forever. He may no longer bring sorrow or trouble to the world.
When Jesus comes again our lives will expand and bloom in eternal beauty. Joy will drive away all remembrance of our short journey and trial here. We will count the trials as nothing, not being able to call them to mind.
Do not faint or give up, dear brother or sister. Hold out until Jesus comes. It will not be long. Now may we prepare to receive our Lord. Could we look upon his dazzling crown should he come now? We will need pure white garments when he comes. We may put them on now, the righteousness that comes by faith. Then will we be ready to receive the beautiful King. All hail! Let us work and never weary until he comes.
THE STRENGTH OF THE CHURCH.
By W. E. Howell
BY W. E. HOWELL.
IN its issue of May 10 the Northwestern Christian Advocate quotes the following from the Inter-Ocean on the closing of the World’s Fair gates on Sunday:—
They [the church people of this country] have shown themselves strong, and are entitled to respect. They were strong enough to induce Congress to make it a part of the law of the land that the World’s Fair should not be opened on Sunday.
What is this boasted strength of the church which professes Christ to be its leader? Is it the power with which Christ promised it should be endued from on high? The last part of the quotation reveals the whole truth in the case: “They were strong enough to induce Congress to make it a part of the law of the land that the World’s Fair should not be opened on Sunday.” Ah! power in civil matters, is it—civil power? Whence came it? From their avowed Leader? Does he bestow civil power on his church to carry forward its work?—“The Lord will give strength unto his people.” Ps. 29:11. What kind of strength is this? Is it civil?—“God is our . . . strength.” Ps. 46:1. “Thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matt. 1:21. This shows the nature of that strength which the church should possess. The church is the ordained instrument of God to proclaim salvation. “O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation.” Ps. 140:7. Is civil power power unto salvation? If not, then the church has no business to have anything to do with it. The power, or strength, of the church is the “gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.” Rom. 1:16. The State cannot give that which it has not; therefore it cannot bestow upon the church that power which is unto salvation.
What is the only reason the church seeks for civil power?—It is because it realizes a lack of power in its work. Has God told the church that the resource of its strength is the civil power? “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” Isa. 40:29. Here is the resort of the church if it feels a lack of strength.
Even if the State could give the right kind of power to the church, the Bible tells us that “wisdom is better than strength.” Eccl. 9:16. Can the State bestow wisdom? “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God; . . . and it shall be given him.” James 1:5. And for the benefit of those who are so enthusiastic as to threaten the use of armed troops to enforce the decrees which the church has made through the civil power, the Bible tells us also that “wisdom is better than weapons of war.” Eccl. 9:18.
BE YE CLEAN.
By H. E. Sawyer
BY H. E. SAWYER.
MANY in this enlightened age seem to be content to breathe air over and over again, little realizing that this carbonic-acid gas which they are constantly inhaling is a slow poison and one great cause of sickness and death.
The pure atmospheric air is one of heaven’s precious life-giving boons. It is a free gift and one within the reach of all, both the rich and the poor. To maintain health we must have that which will impart life; then open the windows and let in the life-giving element; up with the curtains, that the light may gain an entrance. Both were given by a kind Benefactor, to be a blessing to all mankind, and, instead of treating them as deadly foes, we should bid them a glad welcome into our homes.
We are told that the surface of the skin has a million little mouths, through which it should breathe, but how can it breathe when these mouths are clogged through the impurities of the system, because of the neglect to have a free circulation of air daily. Cold air from an adjoining room, or a hall that is closed, is dead air; and heated air which comes from a stove is low in vitality and weakens the lungs. To open a window on one side of the room is not sufficient. There should be an opening on the opposite side, that the impure air may be driven out. From the pen of a well-known writer we glean the following:—
The air we breathe is of more importance than the food we eat. To deprive the lungs of air is like depriving the stomach of food. Air is the food that God has provided for the lungs. Welcome it, cultivate a love for it.
Pure air and water, cleanliness and a proper diet, purity of life, and a firm trust in God, are remedies for the want of which thousands are dying. Yet these remedies are going out of date, because their skilled use requires work that people do not appreciate. Fresh air, exercise, pure water, and clean, sweet premises, are within the reach of all with but little expense.
Professor Kedzir once said: “If the housewife washes her hands in water, she does not say, ‘The water does not look dirty and I can use it again.’ No, the water was used to remove dirt, and she throws it away. Shall she wash her hands five or six times a day with clear water and wash her lungs twenty-eight thousand times a day with dirty air?”
Said a voice from heaven to ancient Israel, “Be ye clean.” Does not that voice speak the same to the Israel of to-day?
Oakland, Cal.
MISTAKES.
By Calvin Green
BY CALVIN GREEN.
It has been said, "Let a person recover from a serious mistake he will not be liable to be overcome by it again." This depends much upon the nature of the mistake, the effect it has over him, and the course or steps taken to rectify it. If it is a mistake deeply affecting his moral nature, bringing him to the very verge of ruin, and is distinctly discerned and realized, it will require much more than a superficial effort to regain the lost ground, and a full command of all the faculties of the mind, and the feelings of the heart, affected and despoiled by a wrong course and a foul sin. No one who has thus violated the spiritual laws of his nature can, or should, expect a full restoration to the favor of God or man, or can have full confidence in himself even, until he has by humble confession and reparation as far as lies in his power, amended the wrong he has by his weakness been led to do.
God in his word has laid down explicit instruction for all such mistakes and wrongs. Not only has he done this, but in his word caused to be recorded the names and mistakes or sins of many who have taken this way to recover their vantage ground. Jacob is mentioned, David's sinful course is recorded, and his humiliation and repentance brought out in words and acts corresponding with the evil done. Peter's denial of his Master is given and his after repentance of his perfidious act. These things are not only written for encouragement to return to God with humiliation and confession, but show also that the wound must be probed and thoroughly cleansed before the remedy for healing—God's forgiveness and manifested favor—can be applied. And then, after all this, not one guilty of any wrongdoing of a grievous character, need expect the work is done. Grave mistakes, resulting in grievous sins that have stained the soul and brought reproach on God and his cause, demand, even when deeply and sincerely repented of, a life of constant watchfulness lest we repeat them; even then we often are brought to feel their effects by their repetition in those very near and dear to us.
Jacob realized this over and over again by deceptions practiced upon him by his own sons as well as others. David heard and felt from his own children the awful words of retribution, "The sword shall never depart from thy house," and there can be no doubt that Peter experienced at times the repeated efforts of Satan "to sift him as wheat."
No, not always will a person so fully recover from a mistake as to be wholly and entirely free from its consequences in this life. He may, by God's grace, and sincere repentance, so far regain his hold on the strong arm of his Deliverer as to be saved from repeating it again, but he must keep his hold, never expecting so long as life shall last to be the one he might have been had he from the first remembered "the rock whence he was hewn, and the hole of the pit whence he was digged."