“Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” Acts 27:31.
PAUL, that great apostle to the Gentiles, is on his last voyage. From the day he left the Jewish council, and took a bold stand for the Lord Jesus Christ and his persecuted disciples, he has been learning “how great things he must suffer” for Christ’s sake. Bonds and imprisonments have awaited him. Beaten with rods above measure, stoned and left for dead, yet he has risen, and with no condemnation of others or pity for himself, has pushed on, his one slogan being, “This one thing I do.”
Now we find him on the treacherous Mediterranean, a prisoner once more and ready for his third shipwreck. Fourteen days have passed without sun, moon, or star, and a great tempest is upon the vessel and crew, the ship unmanageable, even the tackling of the ship thrown overboard to keep her afloat. Men are ready to take to the boats, everything seems lost, but above the roar of the tempest that man of God cries, “Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.”
This is a message to God’s remnant people today.
In each of Paul’s journeys, and perhaps especially so in this last one, he seems to stand as a type of God’s people in their efforts to carry the threefold message to all the world.
Of ancient Israel we read, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” Why may not Paul’s experiences be a type of the experiences of the remnant?
Crises of experience are the lot of the human family. Some have them in the open, others in the privacy of the home and heart. This is true not only of individuals, but of families, of churches, of denominations, and of nations.
These crises tend to make or unmake the individual or the combination of individuals as truly as does the everyday routine of life. They constitute the elements for the building of good and strong character or of weak character. But so surely as the life or the cause for which the life is cast is worthy, so long as the desires are truly for the triumph of truth and not for the establishment of self or selfish interests, there will not be and there cannot be a Waterloo.
It is true that we do not have all to our mind in this life. With many, it is far from it. Childhood’s dreams seldom come true. Time and circumstance have torn the halo from many a cherished plan made this side the shores of childhood.
How many pledges of affection and vows of fidelity, how many tender chords of friendship, think you, have been broken and lie dead upon the rocky shores of the past? The wrecks of the ships of both state and nation strew the shores of earth’s history.
Even the old ship Zion, which has weathered so many storms during her six thousand years’ voyage, has been rent and torn. More than once it has seemed to be on the shoals and in the undertow of the ground swells, but in spite of the prophecies of worldly-wise men the tide has always turned, and, thank God, she still floats, and, like the good ship “Mayflower,” will sail on and on until she reaches her destined harbor, not a temporal refuge, but the peaceful harbor of eternal deliverance.
At one time Zion was declared a wreck, and but one survivor, supposedly, left to tell the tale, and that survivor had gone inland and taken refuge under a juniper tree; and when God found him there, he was praying that he might die. But God told that man that Zion was still safely afloat, with not less than seven thousand passengers on board. That man went aboard once more, and proved to be a trusty pilot.
It is an unworthy waste of time to criticize or blame Elijah, but there is great blessing to the man who is profiting by his experience. My brother, my sister, are you on board?
Time is lost if we stop to condemn the Jews, or any one else; but much time is saved if we “abide in the ship.”
I repeat, Are we on board, or are we under some juniper tree bemoaning our lonely, forlorn condition? If we are in the ship, it is well. She has cleared from her last port of departure. She is on her third and last voyage, and sailing is now dangerous, and before us is the most dangerous portion of the entire voyage.
He who looks for smooth sea ahead, has failed to study the prophetic chart, which the divine finger has traced with indelible colors. No man knows what is before us only as that chart reveals.
May we yet look for days without the light of the sun, and nights bringing neither moon nor star? Will it seem that latitude and longitude are lost? If so, then (if not before) we shall throw overboard all unnecessary cargo.
I am persuaded that that time will come; but allow me to testify to every troubled, trembling husband, wife, or child, let me say to my brethren and sisters throughout this denomination: The God who lived in Daniel’s day is just the same today. The Pilot who directed and steadied the ark through the tempests of the deluge and landed it safely at the end of the days; the Pilot whose feet walked the storm-tossed Galilee; the Pilot who faced Gethsemane and Calvary, and the prison house, the tomb, and came forth a conqueror from it all,—that Pilot is on board today; not as a passenger, but as the pilot. His hand is on the helm, and, so long as there is one Paul remaining on board, so long as there is a real Pauline message burning in the heart of officer or crew, just so long will the ship “sail on,” or, if she cannot sail, will be driven on by the winds of God’s divine providence.
And so surely as any who have this message “abide in the ship,” they will, in the ship and by the ship, be brought to the land of promise; for the message is of God.
Officers may not see eye to eye today; dissension may be among the passengers or the crew; but every true child of God should know and does know that so surely as there is any eternal truth anywhere, the ship which flies “The Remnant” as her colors, will neither go down nor go to pieces till the land of deliverance is reached.
Therefore, no matter how any soul may look at any condition or all conditions on board, on board is now emphatically the place to be. It is the only safe place for any believer of this great threefold message.
There is no chart of the sea that points to any land undiscovered. There can be no church beyond the remnant. If the remnant is not clearly outlined upon Zion’s chart; if the compass, “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” is not a safe compass by which to steer today, need we look for another?
What use to leave the ship, expecting out of a plank, no matter how good it is, to build a better one, and especially when we know that the last storm is raging! Is there one on plank or spar within the radius of my influence? I will not question his sincerity. Some I love dearly. To you I call with kindness, and I trust with divine love, Come back, and “abide in the ship.” The ship may be much better than we think. It is much better than many think. The harbor is much nearer than the most candid can realize. Now is the time to listen for the voice of the angel as he speaks to Paul, saying, “Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” Is that angel speaking to you, and are you encouraging the officers and crew? Are you “standing by the braces”? Are you handling cargo so as to keep the ship “trimmed”? Or are you nourishing some seed of discord, disorganization, preparatory to the final act of disembarking?
No matter what any man or men may think of you, or what they may say to you or about you, or how you have been misunderstood, forgive and forget it all, and “abide in the ship.”
San Jose, Cal.
Press On to Safer Harbors
“WHEN you have done the best your circumstance allows, and acted according to what you thought was your duty, you have nothing to do with unfortunate results. To act in the living present, heart within and God o’erhead, is worth more to the most desperate position in life than all the deepest meditation of nerveless regret can bring to bear in a lifetime of gloomy passivity. Let us, like ships warned of the perils of the sea, press on with every strenuous power we have to safer and happier harbors, to which we may carry the treasure of our life’s endeavor.”
A Contrary Wind
“BETTER a contrary wind than none at all.”
Hardened and Benumbed Sensibilities
THE apostle Paul admonishes the believers to exhort one another daily, “lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” The apostle recognized the danger of associating with evil. Only as the consciences of the believers should be kept sensitive by the constant inflow of the Holy Spirit would they be saved from becoming inured to sin, and thus alienated from God. This is the danger of the church today, even more greatly than in the days of the apostle Paul. Sin exists in myriad forms. We are confronted by its advances in every phase of our experience. We must be careful that its subtle influence does not steal in upon us unawares, and unconsciously effect a lessening of our spiritual sensibilities and a dampening of our spiritual ardor.
We are confronted with the same danger with respect to the signs of the coming of the Lord, and the terrible conditions which exist in the world at the present time. Twenty-five years ago we were stirred by the then meager signs that showed the coming of the Lord to be near; but now the signs have become so abundant that they appear to us as commonplace happenings, and many times we fail to associate them with the fulfillment of the prophetic word.
There is danger that our sensibilities will become benumbed with the catastrophes which are taking place around us. A few years ago we were startled and horrified by some of the great disasters which took place on land and sea. The earthquake of Messina, St. Pierre, San Francisco, and Valparaiso set the whole world aquiver. The Johnstown flood, the Galveston tidal wave, and the sinking of the “Titanic” appealed with pathos to every heart. But disasters are becoming so multiplied that they affect us but slightly. We stand practically unmoved by the earthquake in Italy, which has sent down to untimely graves forty thousand men and women and children, and by other horrors of frequent occurrence.
Perhaps the terrible scenes connected with the great world war which has been waged for the last few months have had a strong tendency to produce this hardening of the sensibilities. We need to steel our hearts against this benumbing influence. Heaven is today speaking through these disasters to the nations of men. By earthquake, by devastating fire, by tidal waves, by the horrors of war, the human family is being admonished of the necessity of seeking the only sure refuge from the coming storm. Through them we may hear God’s voice speaking to us, bidding us flee to him as the only haven of rest and security.
The Fifth Kingdom
By C. M. S.
The Kingdom of God
IN the dream given to Nebuchadnezzar and in its interpretation by the mouth of Daniel, God gave to the inhabitants of this world a history in advance. Men write history after it has transpired. God writes it before it takes place—even before the men are born who are to shape the world events that constitute history.
When Daniel, under inspiration of God, had caused Nebuchadnezzar to see again the “great image” of his dream, he said, “Thou art this head of gold.” He told him of another kingdom inferior to his, a third kingdom represented by the brass of the image, and a fourth kingdom of iron and finally of “iron mixed with miry clay”—the divided state of the Roman Empire, as we see these divisions today. And then the divine record continues:—
“And in the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Dan. 2:44.
That was God’s kingdom, to be set up after all earthly kingdoms had been broken in pieces and had been scattered to the four winds. That is the kingdom
and its ruler is the ruler referred to in this prophecy of the psalmist:—
“Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. . . . His wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all they that take refuge in him.” Ps. 2:7-12.
That is the kingdom to which Daniel refers again in this scripture:—
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a Son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 7:13, 14.
It was of that kingdom that Jesus himself was speaking to his disciples when he said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return” (Luke 19:12); and the interest and partnership of the saints of God in that fifth universal kingdom are set forth in these words of Scripture:—
“And the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High: his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Dan. 7:27.
That glorious consummation is the climax of prophecy and the end of history. Toward that consummation every loyal intelligence in the universe of God has been laboring with intensity of purpose through the ages that have been made sorrowful by sin. What was lost in the satanic conspiracy in heaven will then have been made up through the labors, life, and sacrifice of Christ that fill with the earth-born children of the kingdom the places made vacant by the tragedy of sin.
This is the kingdom lost to man through his disobedience, and usurped by Satan when he brought man into subjection to himself through deception, false hopes, and falsehood. It was promised to man again through the Seed of Abraham:—
“Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. . . . God hath granted it to Abraham by promise. . . . And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:16-29.
Of what promise is the sacred writer speaking?—The promise that he should be the “heir of the world.” Rom. 4:13. Man had been the heir of the world, the9king of the earth; but when he disobeyed God and yielded to Satan, he lost his dominion, and became the subject of the “prince of the power of the air,” and of the “spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” The restoration of that dominion to the possession of man comes about through the life and sacrifice of the man Christ Jesus; and that restored dominion is the fifth kingdom. Concerning that restoration we read:—
“And thou, O Tower of the flock, the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” Micah 4:8.
That “first dominion,” lost in Adam, is restored in the second Adam, who is the “Tower of the flock” and the “Stronghold” of those who put their trust in him. Of that kingdom there will be no end, and they who are its happy subjects will be the trophies of divine grace, whose sins have been forgiven, whose mortality has been swallowed up in immortality, upon whom death no more can lay its icy grasp. In all the history of the world no other such glorious prospect has ever been held before the human race. Life, eternal life, in a kingdom that shall never pass away, who would not strive for such an inheritance!
In this world, kingdoms have risen and fallen, and others have built upon their ruins; but that restored dominion is a kingdom whose continuance will measure with eternity. Here the greatest rulers perish after a few short years; but there neither Ruler nor subjects will feel the touch of death, and the bloom of eternal youth will be upon the faces of all God’s people. Here we have the cripples, the dumb, and the destitute; but there shall “the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing,” and the wealth of a limitless universe will be shared by all the subjects of the realm. Here death and decay, sorrow and crying, sickness and pain, smite the rich and the poor, the young and the old; but there the almighty Ruler, the Prince of Peace, the Reconciler of a rebel race, the loving Father of mankind, “shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more: the first things are passed away. And he that sitteth on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21:4, 5. Then will this scripture also be fulfilled:—
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Rev. 21:3.
With this agrees the testimony of the Spirit through the prophet Isaiah:—
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people; and there shall be heard in her no more the voice of weeping and the voice of crying. . . . And it shall come to pass that, before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Isa. 65:17-24.
That is God’s renewed universe, when the fires of God’s judgment and his cleansing shall have burned and purified this breeding place of sin, and the New Jerusalem shall have come down “from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Rev. 21:1, 2. In that kingdom, with sin, sorrow, misery, and death wiped out, with even the desert places fruitful and blossoming as the rose, with beauty and joy on every hand, and every inhabitant sealed to everlasting life and privileged to enjoy the association of the Father who bore with us and the Christ who redeemed us, the highest hopes of the human heart will be realized, and love and peace and satisfaction will reign forever. What more could man ask? What more could God give? C. M. S.
An Arm That Restrained
By William Ambrose Spicer
In the days of the Irish rebellion of 1798, Protestants in County Wexford were being hunted and slain without mercy. The daughter of a godly Quaker family tells of the restraining hand of God that saved in the hour of peril as her parents committed themselves and their children to the divine care. One day a band of armed ruffians came to the house, led by one Kehoe, who had been shooting and robbing all about. The daughter’s account states:—
They asked for some refreshment, and were ushered into the kitchen, and sat down at a table, and some food was set before them. A few minutes after another party, about the same number (about eight persons), also armed, came to the front door and inquired if some of their men were not in the house, which was replied to by my father in the affirmative; and they were sent to join them in the kitchen, when they all sat down to the table, or near it.
We were all at this time in the parlor; my dear mother seemed to feel an impulse in her mind to go out into the kitchen, and requested my father to remain with the children in the parlor. I went with her; she carried a stocking she was knitting, and we placed ourselves with our backs to the fireplace, and immediately facing the table where this party sat. After a few moments, when they appeared to have finished their repast, they remained in a state of sullen silence, when this Kehoe raised his eyes, and sternly fixed them upon my mother. She instantly perceived it, and kept her eyes firmly fixed on his, until he bent down his head, as if confounded.
A short pause of sullen silence again ensued among them; I do not believe a word was uttered by any one; and they all, as by one impulse, suddenly rose from their seats, went out, and went away. In the meantime the girl I have noticed [the one servant who had not left them] went out for some turf for the fire, when she found a number of women in the out-offices, who had ropes with them, and who inquired of her anxiously, “What are the men about? What are the men about?”
We afterward understood that these ropes were intended to assist in carrying away the plunder, after our lives had been disposed of by this party.
Hints from the neighbors from day to day fully confirmed the impression that deadly peril was still impending. All about, Protestants who had joined together to fight for their lives had been slain. Then the one remaining servant fled from the house, a signal that another blow was about to fall. And still they put themselves in the hands of God, and looked to him for aid. The account continues:—
Early one morning, before we were up, we were again visited by a hostile band, several of whom were on horseback, some neighbors and some strangers. They got admittance at the back door, where they kept guard; and four or five, with pikes and firearms, came upstairs, where we were in bed. Their pretense was alleged to be that we had a person in the house who was inimical to them. This was disavowed, but they were directed to search by my father. They did so, but found no one. They appeared most maliciously angry, and one of them, in going downstairs, struck his pike through the glass of the clock, and into the dial plate, the mark of which is still visible; others of them stabbed some tinware and other articles in the kitchen; and after this they went away, some cursing and swearing, and saying they could not conceive or understand “what prevented them from doing what they came to do,” or words to the same effect.—“Principles of Peace,” Dr. Thos. Hancock.
The praying family who had refused to take up arms for their own defense, but had cast themselves upon the Lord, knew well whose arm it was that held back these men from “doing what they came to do.”
W. A. S.
Assailing the Freedom of the Press
By Editor
LAST week we printed the two bills, recently introduced into Congress, providing for an amendment to the postal laws. The animus of this proposed legislation has been made evident by editorial comments in recent issues of Catholic papers throughout the country. From these it is clearly seen that one of the bills, if not both, was introduced at the demand of Roman Catholics, and that their purpose is to exclude from the mails those journals which have made attacks upon the Catholic hierarchy.
The leading Catholic weekly of this country, America, for January 23, in an10article entitled “The Menace and the Mails,” refers to an open letter in a current number of the Catholic Mind, written by Mr. Paul Bakewell and addressed to the Attorney-General of the United States. In this letter Mr. Bakewell gives it as his opinion that the Postmaster-General has the authority to exclude from the mails publications of the Menace type, for the reason that the paper in publishing the matter which it does violates existing laws created to govern such questions. But the editor solaces himself with the thought that if the Postmaster-General finds present laws unsuited to the needs of the situation, relief will be found in the bill introduced by Congressman Fitzgerald. We quote:—
If Mr. Bakewell’s interpretation of the law in question should differ, however, from that favored by the Attorney-General, the bill introduced into the House of Representatives, on January 7, by Congressman Fitzgerald of New York, would seem to “cover the case” of the Menace perfectly. As Mr. Fitzgerald’s amendment, however, is likely to meet with vigorous opposition in Congress, and at best cannot become a law very soon, and as the Menace, meanwhile, continues to enjoy second-class privileges in the mails, let us hope that the Attorney-General of the United States may find in Mr. Bakewell’s “Open Letter” an interpretation of the law that will keep the Menace out of the mails. Certainly it is high time an end were put to the wrongs the sixteen million Catholics of this country are suffering. We are forced by the government to pay for the distribution through the mails of a scurrilous paper that slanders and reviles in its every issue persons, tenets, and practices that Catholics consider holy, sacred, and venerable. Let us stop paying the Menace’s mailing bills.
We have no sympathy with the spirit which characterizes much of the opposition to the Roman Catholic Church. Much of this opposition springs from religious prejudice and partisanship. We do not believe in dealing in billingsgate, or in the publication of slanderous charges. We doubt not that many evils are connected with the Roman system, evils which are the outgrowth of its principles and teachings. In a consistent Christian manner these evils should be pointed out and a warning should be sounded against the wrong, anti-Scriptural doctrines of that church. But we have never seen how any advantage would accrue to the cause of Christ, or how souls would be won to the kingdom, by continually delving into cesspools of iniquity and holding up to scorn and contempt the men who are engaged in this sort of work. Christ did not do this; the apostle Paul did not do it. Indeed, he said of certain practices, “It is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.” Questions of social purity may be dealt with in such a way that their promoters will become unconsciously aiders and abettors of the very evils and crimes which they are seeking to mitigate.
We do not believe that the public mails should be used as the medium for the circulation of obscene literature. Such literature leads to the making of criminals and to the commission of crime, and with any teaching which directly encourages criminality the civil law has a perfect right to deal. But on the other hand, new legislation is not required in order to prohibit the circulation of obscene or scurrilous matter through the mails. The publisher of every paper is held responsible before existing laws for the character of the matter which he prints. If he defames the character of any man, he can be strictly taken to account for the same, and punished severely by imprisonment and fine. The bills which have recently been introduced into the House contemplate far more than exclusion from the mails of matter of this character. They aim at the suppression of every publication which is antagonistic to the Church of Rome. In the hands of a biased or sectarian Postmaster-General they would become instruments of great evil. Surely it is unthinkable that Congress would jeopardize the freedom of the press by the passage of such measures.
The discussion of these bills is taken up at length in the Protestant Extra, which has just been issued. To the careful study of this discussion we earnestly invite the readers of the REVIEW, and hope that each one will do his utmost to extend the circulation of the Extra among his friends and neighbors.