Earlier text: DELIVERANCETHE BURNT-OFFERING.
By G. E. Fifield
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Rom. 12: 1. THE regular morning and evening worship of the Israelites was a burnt-offering. Of course, in this, the unregenerate sinner had no part; nor could he have part, till he had first brought his sin-offering, or trespass-offering. Then he could bring a personal burnt-offering, and after this he could unite, in his prayers, with the multitude, and participate with them in the morning and evening worship. In other words, he must first come to God as a sinner, confessing his sins, and yielding his carnal nature to be crucified, or burned as unclean without the camp; he must present his life in Christ's merit, to be renewed by His power and then be poured out in His service. Then, and not till then, could he have real participation in the burnt-offering. If he had already come as a sinner, bringing his sin-offering, but had since become conscious of having trespassed against God's holy law, he must acknowledge and confess that fault by bringing his trespass-offering; then he was free to bring a personal burnt-offering if he chose, or to unite in the congregational worship of the general morning and evening burnt-offering. All this plainly shows that the burnt-offering represented an experience in the Lord beyond that of mere conversion or regeneration, and also beyond that of the constantly backsliding and repenting life so frequent in the beginning Christian. It must, therefore, represent the experience of complete consecration. Let us see how. Whoever brought a burnt-offering must do so "of his own voluntary will," "and he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him." Here it is plainly seen that the offering stands for the offerer. Moreover, God was teaching, even back there, a lesson that many seem not to have learned to-day, and that is, that heart service—heart consecration—can not be forced; it must be voluntary. The offerer killed the offering, which stood for him, to show that he, of his own free will, was voluntarily shedding his blood,—that is, giving, or consecrating, his life. "And the priests, Aaron's sons, shall bring the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." While it is our part, of our own free wills, to consecrate our lives to God, it is the work of our High Priest, Christ, to sprinkle the blood, that is, to direct as to how and where our lives shall be poured out or expended. Then all the offering was burned upon the altar of burnt-offering, for "a sweet savor unto the Lord." If the animal was not too large to burn whole upon the altar, it must not be divided. The direction was explicit. "It must be a whole burnt-offering." If, however, it was too large to be thus burned, it might be cut up for convenience, but it must all be burned. The fire that ignited this sacrifice, was the sacred fire taken from the altar of incense. It had been first kindled by God Himself upon that altar, and had ever since been carefully and constantly kept burning. Sometimes, on special occasions, as in the case of Elijah upon Mount Carmel, God kindled the sacrifice directly by a flash from on high, but usually the fire was taken from the altar of incense. No other fire than this consecrated fire must be used. Nadab and Abihu, offering "strange fire," were themselves consumed by the Lord's displeasure. Now what does all this mean?—What but that the sinner, after he has presented himself as a sinner and has been accepted in Christ's merit, after his flesh has been crucified, and his life renewed by the divine power, should next voluntarily present all his renewed being to God, to be consecrated to His service, and used as He alone shall direct, consumed as a sacrifice upon His altar, consumed by the sacred love-fire which He only can kindle in the soul? Thus the burnt-offering is the sacrifice of consecration. Its truest, fullest illustration is the life of Jesus. His whole life was given to be consumed in the daily service under the inspiration of that divine love that constantly burned on the altar of His heart. Dr. Holmes well says, "You tap an artery, and all men see the life current flowing away, but you tap a nerve, and it flows just the same, tho no man marks the sacrifice." It was not simply when the red blood was flowing on Calvary that Jesus was giving His life. It was being consumed constantly, day by day, poured out often to be ignored and despised, or received, if at all, ungratefully,—only one coming back to render thanks where ten were healed,—poured out in the end to be hated and mocked and spit upon and crucified and covered with the dust. Woe to him that brings to such a sacrifice a divided heart! It must be "a whole burnt-offering." Nor will any motive suffice for this sacrifice save the motive of that divine and yearning love which God alone can kindle in the heart. Sometimes, even to-day, this flame is seemingly kindled by a flash directly from on high. God speaks by His Spirit, as to Paul on the Damascus road, and at once the heart is subdued and inspired for service. But cases like this were ever rare. Usually we catch the sacred fire from some other divinely kindled heart. We take it from the altar of incense, kindled long ago by God Himself in the soul of prophet, priest, or king, inspired singers of the olden days, or writers of the prophetic word, caught by us from their burning utterances and living deeds; or from the written words or recorded acts of Him who spake as never man spake. Or we may first feel the flash from reading of Judson, or Cary, or of other equally consecrated lives. Wherever we get it, it must be that sacred fire of unselfish love which can come from God alone, the source of all pure love. Woe to him who brings to this altar the "profane fire" of worldly ambition, or a selfish desire for popularity or precedence, here or hereafter, or any other motive save that of love alone. He will surely corrupt the sacrifice, and be himself destroyed. The burnt-offering, when truly made by the voluntary will of the offerer, was "accepted for him to make atonement for him"; i. e., accepted as the outward expression of the inner consecration and sacrifice of the one who brought it,—a consecration and sacrifice, which, if complete in Christ, made him one with God. It was only when the man was crucified with Christ, and his life renewed by Christ living in him, that he could make this sacrifice. It was not he, but Christ in him, that sacrificed and made the atonement. Here again it is seen that all arbitrary conceptions of the atonement, all understanding of it as of a plan arranged between the Father and the Son to take place once for all, for the whole world,—all such views of the atonement are utterly false and unscriptural. It is not too much to say that all such doctrines were invented by the father of lies, and invented for the express purpose of hiding the great central truth of Christianity, a truth so fatal to Satan's plans. That truth which Satan so much desires to hide, is the truth that "God so loved the world" that He not only for a little while, on Calvary, gave His Son, but that He so loved the world that He always and ever gives His own life in Christ for all who will take it by faith and live thereby. It is not simply Christ on Calvary, or Christ in the heavenly temple, but Christ in us, sacrificing and giving Himself there for others, that makes the atonement, and nothing else in earth or heaven can make us one with the God who gives His life for all, and who therefore lives in all who live, and who loves in all who love. All animals offered in sacrifice, except in the case of the scapegoat, which represented Satan, and not Christ or the Christian, were killed. "Without the shedding of blood [i. e., without the giving of the life] is no remission." Here is complete consecration. The offering, as we have so often said, stood for the one who offered it. If it had been bruised and beaten, and then let go, it might have spoken of a degree of consecration. It might have said, "I will go with Him to Gethsemane, and to Pilate's judgment-hall." It could not have said, "If need be, in His strength, I will go with Him to Calvary." Only the flowing blood, and the consecrated flesh consumed on the altar for a sweet savor, could fitly speak of such consecration as this. The regular morning and evening worship of the Israelites was the sacrifice of a burnt-offering. The tabernacle was in the center of the camp. Three tribes were camped to the northward, three to the southward, three to the eastward, and three to the westward. In the morning, as the sun rose and the birds began their songs, and again in the evening when the last red rays were kissing the tops of the distant mountains, all the people came to their tent doors and bowed in prayer. Incense was put anew upon the altar of incense, and the sacrifice was burned on the altar of burnt-offering. The smoke from the two altars, ascending, combined and went up, with the prayers of the people, to the God that is over all. Thus anew, morning and evening, was the life consecrated to God, and offered up in the merit of Christ,—the Christ whose life implanted in the soul had made them capable of offering this sacrifice. Was this not true worship when truly offered? Was not the living, saving Gospel there as well as here? What higher meaning can morning and evening worship have to-day than a constant reconsecration of the life to love's self-forgetful service? Is it not literally true, as Paul says, that our fathers "did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that went with them, and that Rock was Christ"? The river of life was flowing from the smitten Rock, Christ, then as now, for He was smitten, or slain, from the foundation of the world. After Israel ceased to be a number of nomadic tribes, and became, instead, a permanently-settled nation, the tabernacle was, so to speak, merged into the temple at Jerusalem, and its worship was repeated there. Morning6 and evening the silver trumpets of the priests called the devout people to prayer on the flat housetops. The sacred and beautiful temple crowned the historic summit of Mount Moriah, and thither all faces were turned, while all hearts were lifted heavenward. While these uplifted hearts poured forth praise and petition, the smoke of the incense and of the burnt-sacrifice combined above the temple and ascended to heaven. No wonder the inspired poet sang so sweetly: "Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. . . . Walk about Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death." How sad that this spiritual worship was corrupted, its meaning lost and perverted, till even the temple itself became "a den of thieves," and Jerusalem, that might have stood forever, was terribly destroyed! What wonder that Jesus wept, saying, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes." As the Jews lost the spiritual truth out of God's revelation to them, their religion became cold, formal, and ceremonial. Then they boastfully carried the ark of the covenant before them, thinking that if they believed fully in that, it had some magic power to save them. The Lord had to let them be discomfited before their enemies, and even to permit the Philistines to take the ark from them, to show them that, received only in that way, their religion was powerless to help them. Even so to-day, men lose the saving spiritual truth out of Christianity, and then take the name of Jesus as a mascot, or magic pass-word into the Holy City. But this will not avail them. Nothing will avail, only the atonement that comes to our souls when Christ lives His life of self-sacrificing love in us, and thus makes us one with the Father. The living water from the life river must enter the soul, and purify it, and then grow it into the divine image. Thus "He is our peace" and the peace of His church. Let us, like the devout of old, "pray for the peace of Jerusalem." A young girl on a railroad train gave a bunch of roses to a little cripple. The child held them to her lips, and pressed them to her heart, and fell asleep. The train reached its destination. The father came in from the smoking-car. At the sight of his little one lying peacefully with her head against the stranger, and the roses in her hand, he said in a voice full of feeling:— "I'm not a prayin' man, but the Lord's blessin' rest on you for your kindness to my bairn!" The child roused as she was taken in her father's arms, and said:— "I've been in heaven, pa; I've got some roses." There was a mist in other eyes than the father's, and more than one heard a divine voice, saying, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me."—Selected. ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT.
By George B. Thompson
THE Bible speaks of some who kept the "Sabbath day according to the commandment." After the crucifixion of the Saviour, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, and others came forward, and, taking His bruised and lacerated form from the tree, placed it tenderly in Joseph's new tomb. The earthly pilgrimage of the Redeemer was ended; the Creator of the universe was at rest. "And that day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on." Luke 23:54. The following day was the Sabbath, for it "drew on." Supernatural darkness had enshrouded the earth from noon till three o'clock, when, in a voice which seemed to resound through creation, the Lamb of God cried out, "It is finished," bowed His head, and died. Then, in order that the bodies might not remain on the cross over the Sabbath which "drew on," having secured permission from Pilate, they prepared Him for burial, and placed Him where man had never before been laid. "And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Verses 55, 56. That which every Christian should, and does, desire is to "keep the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Not according to men's opinions, or any human tradition whatsoever, but "according to the commandment." Notice, the foundation of the Sabbath is not the edicts of councils, or the bulls of popes, but it rests on the immutability of the "commandment." It is in the singular number, too, indicating that there is but one commandment, one law enjoining Sabbathic observance; and that one commandment is incorporated into the very bosom of the Decalogue, and was spoken to quailing humanity as they were assembled around the burning, trembling mountain. And that commandment says that the "seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Ex. 20:10. It does not say that it was the Sabbath, but that it is the Sabbath. It says that it is the Sabbath now. No one will deny that the commandment as it now reads, once enjoined the observance of the seventh day of the week, and that a terrible penalty was attached to its transgression. But the commandment reads the same to-day, and if it reads the same why does it not mean the same? It does mean the same, and the death penalty is still hanging over its transgression: "The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. Now the "Sabbath day according to the commandment" is the day before the first day of the week; for "upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." Luke 24:1. Then the first day of the week, or Sunday, is not the "Sabbath day according to the commandment," for they had kept the Sabbath "according to the commandment" before they came to the tomb. To keep the "Sabbath day according to the commandment" we will certainly need to keep the day enjoined by the commandment. But this is the seventh day, therefore, keeping Sunday is not, and never was, keeping the Sabbath "according to the commandment," and only those who keep the day mentioned in the commandment can ever keep the Sabbath "according to the commandment." Reader, do you keep the "Sabbath day according to the commandment"? If not, I can testify from experience that there is a blessing in doing so. Another thing: To keep the "Sabbath according to the commandment" means more than simply physical rest. We can obtain physical rest one day as well as another, but we can not obtain Sabbath rest except on the Sabbath. The Lord put His rest into the Sabbath when He instituted it, and we will have to find it where He put it, and He put it in the seventh day. He "rested, and was refreshed." Ex. 31:17. This was not physical rest, for He was not weary (Isa. 40:28); but He was delighting Himself in divine contemplation of the things which He had made. It was a day of joy for those who rested. As they beheld the power displayed in creation, love for the Maker of all filled every heart, and praises ascended around the throne. In Job 38:4, 7 we are told how the first Sabbath was observed: "The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." What a Sabbath that was! It was observed "according to the commandment." And it is this kind of rest that is in the Sabbath, and we never can "keep the Sabbath day according to the commandment" till this rest and joy has been placed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Never, till we are converted, and have received the peace of God which passeth all understanding, can we keep the Sabbath as we are commanded. In other words, we do not keep the Sabbath to be saved, but we keep the Sabbath because we are saved. "I cried unto Thee; save me, and I shall keep Thy testimonies." Ps. 119:146. In view of this, how vain and wicked are all human laws compelling us to keep a Sabbath. The best they can do is to demand a hypocritical recognition of a day. Even tho they commanded obedience to the right day, the result would be the same, for they can not legislate the rest which is "according to the commandment" into the soul. Righteousness, peace and joy can not be administered to mankind like an emulsion; it must be given through the operation of the Holy Spirit. What the church of God needs to-day is more of the Holy Spirit; then they will not need any legal enactments, administered by some thumb-screwing reformers. And those who have the Holy Spirit will keep the Sabbath "according to the commandment." If each of us, as we pass through life,
Would bridle and curb the tongue,
And speak of only the pleasant things
To be said of every one,
What a wonderful difference there would be
Between this world of ours
And the paradise it might become
With all pathways strewn with flowers? Now surely a little reflection
Will show us, as plain as the day,
The mistakes we made when we hastily
Allowed our tongue full sway. When the day is done and we think it o'er,
Ah, me, that it should be true!
There are few of us who can honestly say
There is nothing we would undo. Too often the faults we clearly see
In others are faults of our own,—
And those who dwell in houses of glass
Should be wary in casting a stone.
So have charity, much charity,
The loveliest virtue of all,
And look well to the member unruly,
For it's prone to slip and fall. NOTES BY THE WAY. NO. 2.
By Editor
SABBATH, August 11, was spent with the church at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. In the morning Pastor S. N. Haskell spoke from the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation, showing their relation. Incidentally he also showed that there would be but two dominant powers in the earth at the close of earth's history, the beast and the false prophet, the world divided between European powers and apostate America. The writer followed in the afternoon upon the signs of the times, showing from the great field of prophecy that we are near the end. THE weather for the last six days in the East has been unenviably warm, and the weather bureau promises one or two more days, eight in all, breaking all previous records in most of the great cities, both in heat and continuance. Here are a few items of heat results taken from the daily records. August 10: Philadelphia, 5 deaths, 20 prostrations; Chicago, 9 deaths, 15 prostrations; Pittsburg, 5 deaths, 6 prostrations; Milwaukee, 2 deaths and 1 prostration. August 11: New York, 33 deaths, with many prostrations and great suffering, especially among the poor little ones; Chicago, 9 deaths, 25 prostrations; Pittsburg, 2 deaths, 8 prostrations. Many have been driven insane and have committed fearful crimes; others have killed themselves. The thermometer in Washington registered 101°, the eleven days of the month exceeding the torrid heat of 1896. The conditions of the worn-out earth are rapidly coming to that place where the sun has "power to scorch men with fire." THE last two days' record is a perfect medley of crime. Train robbery, shooting and stabbing affrays, brutal beatings, poisoning, wife-slaying, and numerous other crimes contribute to fill up more than a full catalog. Cruelty and revenge without mercy seem to be taking possession of the people of the earth. From Germany we hear the kaiser's charge to his soldiers to show the Chinese no mercy; and eye-witnesses relate wanton cruelty of Russian soldiers who tossed and caught repeatedly Chinese babes on their bayonets in sheer wanton cruelty, while a soldier recently from the Philippines tells of cruelty on the part of American soldiers which is unparalleled, but which, he assures us, has been common in the Philippine war. After Filipinos have laid down their arms and surrendered, after their village had been searched and no weapons found, they have been wantonly shot, and on the order of the officer in charge, the village burned, including an old lady, sick with smallpox, whose condition was known and reported to the officer. This is a mild summary of a story told by Alexander Grant, of Cincinnati, as given in the Enquirer of August 12, of that city. The soldiers themselves were generally accorded the worst sort of treatment. All this is the spirit of imperialism and war. It was what we read of in imperial Rome. It was what we read about in the records of imperial Babylon. Professed Christendom is rapidly filling with the same spirit of cruelty, brutality, and revenge. Her "three unclean spirits like frogs," from the mouth of the old dragon, the devil, are permeating the nations of earth, and the prophecy is fulfilling that the nations are angry, and God's wrath is come, and the time that the earth should be judged. Rev. 11:15-18. AFTER a beautiful ride over the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from Cincinnati, skirting the great Ohio River, and crossing the entire Appalachian mountain system with its beautiful valleys and varied scenery, I arrived at Richmond, Va., August 13, 3:30 P.M. The camp-meeting is held at Forest Hill Park, four or five miles from the city. It is estimated that about 150 are encamped on the ground, with about twenty tents. We found Pastors H. F. Cottrell, General Conference district superintendent, from South Lancaster, Mass., and A. E. Place, president of Atlantic Conference, of Brooklyn, N. Y., present, assisting the local ministry. Later, Prof. F. Griggs, of South Lancaster (Mass.) Academy, and Mr. S. N. Curtiss, manager of the Pacific Press Office, New York, came and rendered material assistance. Pastor A. F. Ballenger is expected later. There is good freedom in preaching the Word, but not the attendance from the city which might be desired. Yet there is reason for this. It has been hot, very hot. The mercury has climbed up through the nineties and over into the hundreds two or three, and, it is reported, six degrees. It is difficult to do anything energetically. Yet there have been some good stirring meetings and real interest has been aroused for God's work. The officers of the conference are as follows: President, Pastor R. D. Hottel; remaining members of executive committee, James Garget, A. C. Neff, W. F. Davis, F. L. Whitehead. James Garget was elected treasurer, and F. L. Whitehead secretary. There is a great, broad field in the "Old Dominion" for missionary work; and may those who love God in Virginia meet in living faith the demand of an hour. MAN is naturally a coward. Sin has made him so. At the very time when, per force of strength, he imagines himself brave, he is the most arrant coward. God is courageous; He is courage itself, just as He is love and power. The moment man yielded to the tempter in Eden, he became a coward. He tried to hide from God, his only friend, because he was afraid. It was his first experience in fear. After the disobedient act of our first parents, the record says:— "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." Gen. 3:8-10. In the process of redemption, one of the essentials is the inspiration of true courage. But for sin, the words "courage" and "fear" never would have been necessary to the human vocabulary. Courage would have been instinctive, and fear (as now understood) would have been unknown. The contrast in condition has made both words necessary in order to express the contrast. The idea of fearing God, and the injunction to fear God, mean a returning to confidence in God from the natural fear of man with which the human heart is imbued as a consequence of sin. Now that man has become a coward, whom shall he fear? Jesus says: "But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him." Luke 12:5. From the words of wisdom given to Solomon, we learn this: "Fear God and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Then fearing God simply means obedience from the heart. This is not an abject fear, as of a formidable enemy. Compare the thought, "Fear God, and keep His commandments," with John's expression, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." Thus the Biblical expression, "Fear God," means to love God. Spiritual things are always the antipode of the natural. Naturally, to fear God would mean to hide from Him. Spiritually, it means to love Him and draw near to Him. "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." Therefore, fearing God means courage to return from the dread of an enemy to the love of a Friend. Throughout the Gospel dispensation—which means all of man's probation on earth—God aims to inspire men with courage. To Joshua He said, "Be strong and of a good courage." Why?—Because Joshua had to lead His people against an enemy that seemed to be invincible. What was the basis of this advice?—It was the covenant made with the people at Sinai: "If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people." Through David the Lord gives this counsel: "O love the Lord, all ye His saints; for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord." Ps. 31:23, 24. Courage means standing in the faith. "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity." 1 Cor. 16:13, 14. "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Eph. 6:10, 11. That is just the point where we need courage—the point where our first parents failed, and became cowards, entailing cowardice on all their posterity. They could not "stand against the wiles of the devil" because they neglected to "put on the whole armor of God." They were for the moment attempting to stand in their own might, and of course they fell. Just so will every one who attempts to stand in the imaginary courage of his own might be sure to fall. It takes courage to resist the "wiles of the devil," but it is not the courage of bravado nor the might of muscle. It is the courage inspired by the love of God and the desire to do His will that enables one to overcome all of this world's obstacles. "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in His commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth; the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house; and his righteousness endureth forever." Ps. 112:1-3. G. ONE of the significant features of these times is the amount of hard study and work that is put upon the question of how to get from place to place in the shortest possible time. It had been deemed about impossible to construct faster vessels for ocean travel than some of those recently built, such as the Campania, Lucania, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, etc. But now comes the new Hamburg-American liner Deutschland, that has beat all previous records, having sailed 3,085 knots at the average speed of 23 knots an hour. Few people recognize the significance of all this. The Lord Himself is inspiring all these wonderful inventions and improvements in our time. The Lord Jesus Christ is soon to come. The world is filled with the evidence of it, and it is the Lord's design that the knowledge of this great event shall be fully known in every nook and corner of the habitable globe. Politics and questions of that kind are the all-absorbing themes with the most of men now. But the corruptions and the evils that are coming into the world because of the wickedness of men are fast filling the hearts of men with perplexity and distress. This distress and difficulty will soon occupy the minds of all. It will be impossible for it to be avoided. And in that time thousands will want to know what all this means, and what will be the end of the trouble manifest upon the whole earth. Then, in a very brief space of time, the Lord will have His agencies proclaim to men what His own Word has been telling them all these years. The Word has made it plain that the end of all things is at hand, but men would not believe it. But here are circumstances that compel them to reflect seriously upon the appalling conditions of our times. How wise and good it is for the Lord to have everything in readiness, so that men in every part of the world may be reached quickly, and thus get the help they need! It has been Satan's studied plan to have all destroyed. That has been his object in bringing all this evil upon the world. But the Lord has laid world-wide plans to thwart him in his efforts, and it will be seen that He will save every one who is willing to accept the salvation so graciously offered. T. Exports to the Philippines
By Editor
REPORTS for the first nine months of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1900, show that United States exports to the Philippines aggregated in value $1,888,360. The list before us contains 56 sums of money, representing the value of that many classes of goods. Forty of these items are valued in amounts from $2,000 to $20,000, the total amount for this part of the list being a little less than $250,000. Eight items have values between $20,000 and $60,000, two in the ninety thousands. Four are between $100,000 and $200,000, and three are above $200,000. The largest item by $60,000 on the list is for beer, $299,333. Beer, whisky, and brandy amount to $414,801, or more than the total value of 45 classes, out of 56. The sums for mules, horses, hay, and oats aggregate $672,056. Of course these last items were mainly for the army; perhaps the next to the last were, too. But it is not a very creditable showing, nevertheless, with beer, whisky, and brandy heading the list. SUNDAY-LAW PERSECUTION.
By J. B. Greenwood
A LETTER dated July 4, a day which suggests historic scenes that have caused much admiration for a country which has stood as the exponent of great and true principles of liberty, furnishes the following:— "My brother, George Vaughan, has been up before the mayor of Hickory for selling eatables on Sunday, and fined $25 and costs, and in the second case he was fined $5 and costs. He runs a restaurant there. He has taken appeal to a higher court. They put him in the lockup after he took the appeal, but he only remained about five minutes, for eight of the most prominent men of the town came in and went his bond, and told him they would see him through." Later the following information was received from the writer of the above:— "Brother's case came off yesterday, August 15, in the Catawba County Court. He was found guilty by the jury, and to-day the judge gave his decision. He suspended judgment. The cost of the case was 13 dollars, which was promptly paid by outsiders,—prominent men of Hickory." This circumstance occurred in North Carolina. Think of it! Here is a man whose vocation is to supply food to the public on demand; another man is in need of that food; but, because the day happens to be Sunday, it is felony to satisfy the hungry man! If one had said, fifty years ago, that the time would come when honest men would languish in prison cells and work in chain-gangs in this land by reason of the invocation of the civil power to coerce the conscience, he would have been considered an alarmist; but so far have the fundamental principles of this government been departed from, that this very thing has come to pass.9 The persecution of Mr. Vaughan is an effort to compel him to keep Sunday as a holy day. It is not an isolated case; there have been numerous others in various parts of the United States during the last decade. These events are significant in that they reveal to us that Revelation 13: 16, 17, will soon reach a complete fulfilment. Are you ready for the issue? Do you know the teaching of God's Word concerning these things? A RECENT New York World says: "Yesterday [August 12] was a day of disasters. In this region a cyclonic storm of dust, rain, and hail caused the death of many persons by lightning and by drowning. From other parts of the country come stories of calamity through collisions, fire, and lightning. From abroad comes the story of the ramming and sinking of a French torpedo-boat and the loss of more than twoscore lives. If all the misfortunes of yesterday were heaped together, the casualties would equal those of a considerable battle." This old world is getting very stormy. It is not only in the physical world, but the political and social world as well are full of storms and forebodings of disasters and destruction. The Lord's Word tells us plainly what all of these things mean. They are the strifes and commotions and upheavals that Satan is bringing upon the world in order to destroy as many as possible in these closing days of time. Speaking of these days, the Word of God says: "Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Rev. 12: 12, 17. The woman in this twelfth chapter of Revelation symbolizes the church of Christ, and this Word very plainly shows the wrath of the dragon against the remnant of the seed of the church. The remnant is the very last part of anything. Therefore, the conclusion is clear that in the last days of time Satan will manifest in a remarkable degree his malevolent energies. Again, as stated in verse 12, when he knoweth that he hath but a short time, then it is that Satan comes down having great wrath. Satan has been a student of the prophecies of the Bible for thousands of years. He has seen their fulfilment. He recognizes that the end of all things is at hand, and, true to his satanic principles, he is seeking to do everything he can to destroy men. But the Lord gives His power to those who will seek Him, and through His Word He unmasks the designs of Satan, so that none who heed the Word need fall under the power of evil. T.