Earlier text: BIBLE WINESInternational S. S. Lessons.
"So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."—Neh. 8:8. LESSON XII.—DECEMBER 18, 1892.
[NOTE.—The questions which follow are merely suggestive for the student on the leading points of the lesson; it is presumed that the thorough student will think of many more as he studies the subject. References, where verses alone are given, always refer to the lesson scripture printed above. All other references are given in book, chapter, and verse. The text printed is that of the Revised Version, not because it is especially preferred, but because it is not found in every family, as is the common version.] NOTE.—Instead of the regular Sunday school lesson, which is a review, we give this week a supplementary lesson to that of last week, which we believe will be of more profit to the pupil. It presents true freedom in Christ. MEMORY VERSE.—With freedom did Christ set us free; stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage. Gal. 5:1.
Golden Text.—If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36. 1. What was the cause of the trouble that arose while Paul was preaching in Antioch?
And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved. Acts 15:1. Note 1. 2. Tell what steps were taken to settle the dispute.
And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and questioning with them, the brethren appointed that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. Acts 15:2. 4. What effect was their teaching having?
Forasmuch as we have heard that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls; to whom we gave no commandment. Acts 15:24. 5. Did Paul regard circumcision as a sin?
And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra; and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess which believed; but his father was a Greek. The same was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek. Acts 16:1-3.
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing; but the keeping of the commandments of God. 1 Cor. 7:19.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love. Gal. 5:6.
For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. Gal. 6:15. 6. Then why did he so strenuously oppose the teaching of those men?
And when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and questioning with them, the brethren appointed that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees who believed, saying, It is needful to circumcise them, and to charge them to keep the law of Moses. Acts 15:2, 5.
To whom we gave place in the way of subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. Gal. 2:5. Note 2. 7. What was that really saying of the sacrifice of Christ?
I do not make void the grace of God; for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died for naught. Gal. 2:21. Note 3. 8. When only is circumcision profitable?
For circumcision indeed profiteth, if thou be a doer of the law; but if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is become uncircumcision. Rom. 2:25. 9. What is real circumcision?
But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. Rom. 2:29.
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Phil. 3:3. 10. Of what was circumcision a sign?
For circumcision indeed profiteth, if thou be a doer of the law; but if thou be a transgressor of the law, thy circumcision is become uncircumcision. If therefore the uncircumcision keep the ordinances of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned for circumcision? And shall not the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who with the letter and circumcision art a transgressor of the law? Rom. 2:25-27.
And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision; that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might be reckoned unto them. Rom. 4:11. 11. Where must righteousness be of any value?
Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thine heart. Deut. 6:4-6.
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Ps. 51:6. 12. Who only can put righteousness in the heart?
But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jer. 31:33. 13. Then from whom alone must true circumcision come?
And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. Deut. 30:6.
In whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ. Col. 2:11. 14. Of what could circumcision in the flesh only, performed by man, be the sign? Ans.—Of the righteousness of the flesh. 15. What is the righteousness of the flesh?
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be; and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Rom. 8:5-8.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revelings, and such like; of the which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they which practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Gal. 5:19-21. 16. Therefore, what is done for men when they are led to trust in circumcision, or works of obedience, for salvation?
Now therefore why tempt ye God, that ye should put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Acts 15:10. Note 3. 17. Was the service which God required of his people grievous or burdensome?
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous. 1 John 5:3.
And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. And Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord; for there he offered the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings; because the brazen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offering, and the meal offering, and the fat of the peace offerings. So Solomon held the feast at that time, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entering in of Hamath unto the brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had showed unto David his servant, and to Israel his people. 1 Kings 8:62-66.
O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid; thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. Ps. 116:16, 17. 18. Who only are in bondage?
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Every one that committeth sin is the bond servant of sin. John 8:34.
For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. Rom. 7:14. 19. As the Jews had perverted the religion of the Lord, what did their zeal for the law result in?
And he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? This people honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. Matt. 15:3, 8, 9.
Thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law dishonorest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as it is written. Rom. 2:23, 24.
And he said, Woe unto you lawyers also! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Luke 11:46. Note 4. 20. What does Christ give?
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matt. 11:28.
If therefore the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. Rom. 8:2. 1. Except . . . ye cannot be saved.—That is ever the cry of the gospel of self. With these Jews it was, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved," not realizing in their selfishness that in thus saying they declared that Christ was not sufficient. The real cause of the trouble was that another gospel was being preached, which was not the gospel, but which made of none effect the gospel. It is just as true of anything else which comes in as a matter of justification; it makes Christ of none effect, and as Christ is the only Saviour from sin, it therefore leaves man in bondage. 2. Needful to circumcise.—It was circumcision as a condition of salvation that Paul objected to. For the simple act itself he cared nothing one way or the other. Circumcision was a sign of righteousness. Rom. 4:11. But there can be no real righteousness except that which comes by faith. See Rom. 9:30-32; 10:1-4, 10; Phil. 3:9; Heb. 11:6; Rom. 14:23; John 6:29. Therefore the man who had no faith had no righteousness, and consequently his circumcision was a sham. The sign of circumcision was given to Abraham, not to make him righteous,—not as a condition of salvation,—but as a sign of the righteousness which he already had by faith, as a token of the saved condition in which he already was. The Jews who broke the law were uncircumcised, while the Galatians who, through faith, kept the law were circumcised. See Rom. 2:25, 29; Phil. 3:2, 3; Acts 7:51-53. To say to the disciples, "You must be circumcised—or you cannot be saved," was to teach them that they must trust in the law for righteousness, and that was to say that Christ had died in vain. 3. Then Christ died for naught.—When the false brethren said to the disciples, "Except ye be circumcised, ye cannot be saved," they were teaching them that their faith in Christ was not sufficient for salvation. That same teaching is common even to this day. Many who profess faith in Christ still say, "It is all right to believe in Christ, but that alone will not save you; you must keep the commandments too." Let us see what this really means. It is a fact that faith in Christ brings him into the heart and life. Eph. 3:17; Gal. 2:20. Therefore, when one says that in addition to believing on Christ we must keep the commandments, he virtually says that Christ's life is not in harmony with God's law. He really, although unconsciously, accuses Christ of sin. It is a dangerous position for one to take to presume to add to God's word, which says that men are saved by faith, and that Christians are wholly the workmanship of God. Eph. 2:8-10. Faith works by love, and love is the fulfilling of the law; therefore he who has faith in Christ keeps the law of God; he walks even as Christ walked, for it is by Christ's obedience that he is made righteous. Rom. 5:19. "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." But he who thinks that he must keep the law in addition to faith in Christ, thereby shows that he does not have faith in Christ's righteousness. The obedience which he proposes to add to his faith is the obedience that comes from self-righteousness, or sin. But sin is bondage. Rom. 7:14. Therefore the teaching of false brethren was leading souls into bondage—putting a grievous yoke upon them. See Rev. 3:17. 4. Transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition.—It should not be forgotten that "the Jews' religion" (Gal. 1:13, 14) was vastly different from the religion of God, as given through Moses. It consisted of traditions. Those traditions were the invention of the "fathers" (not Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), to insure that the law should not be broken. Trusting for salvation only in the law, and knowing that the law required perfect obedience in every detail, they naturally set themselves to find out the utmost details of the law. So they kept adding burdensome ceremony to burdensome ceremony, until it took a lifetime even to know what the traditions were. But all this was to no purpose, for their fine-spun traditions concerning the law were only the product of their own sinful minds; their most scrupulous service was only the service of the flesh, without the Spirit of God, and hence was sin. Thus they made void the law of God by their traditions. While trusting in the law, they broke the law. From all such slavish services Christ delivers us. See Rom. 7:6. He gives rest to the heavy laden, and makes the soul free indeed. A THIRTY-TWO PAGE MONTHLY MAGAZINE, devoted to the dissemination of true temperance principles, and instruction in the art of preserving health. It is emphatically A JOURNAL FOR THE PEOPLE,
Containing what everybody wants to know, and is thoroughly practical. Its range of subjects is unlimited, embracing everything that in any way affects the health. Its articles being short and pointed, it is especially adapted to farmers, mechanics, and housekeepers, who have but little leisure for reading. It is just the journal that every family needs, and may be read with profit by all. Price, $1.00 per year. Sample copy free. Address, PACIFIC HEALTH JOURNAL, St. Helena, Cal. THE ATONEMENT. Part I, "An Atonement Consistent with Reason." Part II, "An Atonement as Revealed in the Bible." Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. Cloth, $1.00. —A six-story iron and stone building in New York City, occupied by Otis Corbett as a furniture house, was destroyed by fire on the 23d inst. Loss, $250,000. —The National Grange has passed resolutions opposing the Sunday opening of the World's Fair. —The burning of a large brewery at Faribault, Mich., on the 24th inst. caused a loss of $300,000. —Eighteen miners were killed on the 26th inst. by a cave in the Borda mine at Pachuca, Mexico. —Admiral Gherardi, with the cruisers Charleston, Baltimore, and San Francisco, arrived at Callao, Peru, on the 26th inst. —The large pressed brick and tile factory at Kreickerville, Long Island, was burned on the 23d inst., the loss being estimated at $175,000. —Hostile factions in Samoa are again at war. The fighting, at latest reports, was confined to the island of Tutuila, where two villages had been destroyed. —At Lynchburg, Va., on the 24th inst., a fertilizer establishment, a sash and door factory, and two tobacco factories were burned, causing a loss of $150,000. —A Milwaukee paper tells of the recent burning of Staadt's lumber camp at Marshfield, Wis., together with the fatal burning of three employes. Two others were so badly burned that their recovery is doubtful. —By the last steamer from Australia there arrived at San Francisco two emus, a present from the Sydney Zoological Society. They are fine birds, and will have a place among the attractions at Golden Gate Park. —In the Lithuania country, Russia, recently a lot of peasants surrounded the house of a man suspected of horse stealing, and set fire to it. The entire family, consisting of husband, wife, and five children, were burned to death. —The Secretary of the Interior has appointed a commission to negotiate with the Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians of Wyoming, and the Flathead and confederated tribes in Montana, for the purchase of certain portions of their lands. —Lieutenant Peary has received leave of absence from the U. S. Navy for three years in order to engage in a second Arctic expedition by way of northern Greenland. He goes under the auspices of the Philadelphia Academy of Science. —One result of the election in Kansas will probably be the extension of woman suffrage to all State officers, as both the Republican and People's platforms were pledged to that measure. The women already vote for municipal and county officers. —The Northern Pacific train was held up at Hot Springs, Wash., on the night of the 25th inst., by three men, who went through the Pullman car, robbing passengers of money, watches, and jewelry. This is said to be the first train robbery in the State. —Burglars forced a bank safe with dynamite, at Liberty, Missouri, last Saturday night, and secured something over $12,000. The walls of the building were considerably cracked. They then stole a carriage and pair of horses, and escaped. The team was found at the Missouri River, badly jaded. —From the large cities come numerous reports of gorgeous Thanksgiving feasts for the poor by charitable people and societies. Remembering the poor is proper thanksgiving, but if the great expense of a single gorge could have been scattered over a week's supply of plainer food, it would have been far better. —A Polish nobleman, who some years ago had his estates confiscated and was himself exiled for participation in rebellion, has recently had his estates restored to him. At the time of his restoration to favor at home, he was an obscure resident of Cleveland, Ohio. His property in Poland is valued at about $2,700,000. —A Baltimore dispatch of the 26th inst. says: "At a meeting of spinners of the Blackstone Valleys district to-night, reports were received from a majority of the mills stating that an increase of seven per cent. in wages would be made December 5. The increase at J. & P. Coates, limited, at Pawtucket, will be from ten to fifteen per cent in all departments." —The regular fall fiestas (bullfights) took place last week at Arteaga, a mountain town in Mexico. At the entertainment on the 26th, four infuriated animals broke through the inclosure into the audience. In the excitement the seats gave way, and fifty people sustained broken limbs and other serious injuries. The bulls killed one man and wounded ten others. —A disastrous fire occurred on October 11 in a part of Wuhu, China, inhabited by the boating population of that port, and destroyed upward of one hundred houses. A temple in the neighborhood was also burned down. It is curious to note that this temple belonged to the god of fire, and the deity who is supposed to have control over this element was also reduced to ashes. That the deity should bring this calamity upon his own temple and himself is certainly remarkable in the extreme. On October 14 the dwelling houses of nearly two hundred families were also consumed by the flames at Szyeu. —At Goschen, N. Y., on the night of the 21st inst., Miss Martha Avery, aged 17, was marching in a political procession, when some fireworks prematurely exploded. Someone foolishly told her that her father was killed, when the sudden shock caused a hemorrhage of the lungs. She was immediately taken home, and died in a short time afterward. —Since the great strike at the Carnegie iron works at Homestead, Pa., has been declared off, there has been a great rush to secure old situations. And after securing them there was much depression over a notification of material reduction in wages. There is also great depletion in the public treasury of the town, because of the inability of the striking population to pay their taxes. —A Columbia, S. C., dispatch says that the constables who went to Washmassaw to arrest some colored men for attempting to force open the election polls, found themselves confronted with fifty or sixty armed sympathizers with the accused. The sheriff has taken the matter in hand, and will call on the State authorities for help, if necessary. Washmassaw is the "Dahomey" of South Carolina. —The Chinese residents of the United States are almost unanimous in their disposition to ignore the Registration Law. There is a prospect of a lively time next spring should the government undertake to send them all back to China. The passage money alone would cost several million dollars, to say nothing of probable diplomatic complications, and the cost of legal and other proceedings to enforce the expulsion. —Simultaneously with the appearance of several comets (visible only by telescope), there come reports of grand meteoric displays in various localities. An exceedingly brilliant display is reported to have occurred in the vicinity of War Eagle Mountain, Idaho, on the night of the 25th inst. It is said to have lasted about eighteen minutes, and at times was so brilliant that the mountain tops were highly illuminated. —Some of the great college sporting contests of the day have become little else than slogging matches. A football game at Detroit between the Cornell and Ann Arbor teams resulted in a fight in the midst of the game. Two men had to be carried off the field, and another one was ruled off for slogging. Another rough game took place at Kansas City between the teams from the Kansas and Missouri Universities, in which three men were disabled. —Miss Merres, a nurse at Swinburne Island, makes serious charges against the New York health authorities on account of maltreatment of patients during the cholera quarantine. Patients had to remain in bed for twelve days after they were able to get up, for want of clothing. Supplies which were ordered by the commissions never reached the island. She also alleges drunkenness and gambling on the part of male nurses when they should have been caring for the sick. —The International Monetary Conference, called at the instance of the United States, met at Brussels, Belgium, on the 22d inst. Montefiore Levi, of Brussels, was chosen president. It is not expected by anybody that the conference will amount to much, as it is generally understood in this country that the call was merely a means of quieting the silver discussion in the last session of Congress, and in Europe it is looked upon as a scheme for the disposition of the silver product of America. FOR THE WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 28. —Rev. J. Herndon Garnett, pastor of the First Baptist Church, San Jose, Cal., has tendered his resignation to the church and declared his intention to renounce the Baptist faith and become a Unitarian. —Two more Protestants have been imprisoned in Protestant(?) Germany for writing and publishing strictures upon Catholic methods. This time it was the "holy coat" fraud and the bishop under whose auspices the crusade was conducted that were criticised. —The Christian at Work notices a retraction on the part of Herbert Spencer of the charge that the apostle Paul was lacking in veracity. He had based the charge on statements in verses 4 and 7 of the third chapter of Romans; but he now acknowledges that he misunderstood the thought of the apostle. —A London dispatch says: "The Theosophist Society is going to send propagandist missionaries all over the world. Annie Besant will go to America, Secretary Walsh, an old and wealthy enthusiast, will go to India, and Mrs. Oakley will go to Australia. Mrs. Besant means to work chiefly in the West, from Seattle to San Diego." —The London Daily News publishes the statement that Catholic authorities have closed the Methodist Church in Vienna and forbidden the congregation to worship, either in public or private, because they do not believe in the sacrifice of the mass. Their Sunday school was closed because a little girl repeated, in the hearing of a priest, a verse of Scripture which she learned at the school. —The last General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church gave all ministers to understand that if they didn't like the faith and practice of the church as it was they had better go elsewhere. Now the Occident says: "Several ministers have left our denomination since our General Assembly pointed to the door." —The last is in New York. He believes that the Bible contains the word of God, but declines subscribing to human creeds, rejects such titles as reverend or doctor, and objects to denominations." —"If Christians were not very much in earnest in questions concerning religion, would there be so much controversy in council, convention, conference, and assembly? There is a quietude that presages death. Where there is fermentation there is life."—Christian at Work. That sentiment hardly agrees with the word of our Lord. "A house divided against itself cannot stand." The effectual activity of Christians is not manifested in contentions with each other, but in united effort to give the gospel to the world. —A Mexican Aztec under sentence of death for a heinous crime at El Paso, Texas, renounced the Catholic faith and became a Baptist. He was taken to the water and baptized in chains. This gained for him numerous friends, who interceded with the governor for a commutation of his sentence to imprisonment. The governor respited him for one week, but he would do no more. Then the fellow denounced the Baptist faith, sent for the priest, made confession, and once more became reconciled to Catholicism. —Reports from Rome are to the effect that the pope is likely to come to the front as an arbitrator among the nations. It is said that communications are received at the Vatican from the German and Austrian Governments, aiming to obtaining the influence of the Holy See in interposing between France and Russia. It is also rumored that the pope will be called upon to decide the question of disarmament and rapprochement between France and Germany. It is also reported that Grand Duke Sergius has arrived in Rome to see the pope and try to induce him to support a combination in the interests of Russia and pan-Slavism. —N. S. Ravlin, who as a Baptist minister preached Swedenborgianism until he became a full-fledged and outspoken Spiritualist, now propounds this rather hard question in the Progressive Thinker: "Why is it that so many who are really Spiritualists are ashamed to be known as such?" Inasmuch as the popular churches are full of people of that class, we suppose there are many answers not promulgated. But the true answer is, This is an age of deception, and many who cling to the root principle of Spiritualism, inherent immortality in man, are blind to the fact that they are parties to the gross manifestations that naturally spring from the corrupt fountain. IN the twenty chapters into which this book is divided, the author discusses the unity of the divine plan and the continuity of God's purpose through all the ages, showing that in all dispensations the truths constantly impressed upon the minds of the people have tended to one end,—the elucidation of one central idea, of the dominion which was lost in Adam. CHAPTER I is a brief discussion of the Creation of the World; Man's Dominion and How He Lost It; the Origin and Authorship of Sin, with the divine remedy for its consequences. CHAPTER II treats of the "Promise of God to the Fathers," with all that it implied in heaven and on earth. In other chapters are discussed such subjects as "The Abrahamic Covenant;" "Righteousness through Faith;" "The Covenant with Israel," the reasons for it, and the universality of its application; "The Return of the Jews;" "The World's History in a Dream;" "The Setting Up of the Everlasting Kingdom;" "The Hour of Judgment;" "The Fall of Babylon;" "The Seal and the Mark;" "Signs of the Second Coming of Christ," and the responsibility of man in recognizing them; "The Resurrection of the Dead," and what the doctrine involves. THE LAST CHAPTER is a GRAND COMPILATION of the Promises of God in regard to the "Restoration of the First Dominion," with a vivid portrayal of the earth's appearance and condition when clothed in the garb of Edenic purity and loveliness. THE BOOK is substantially bound, and handsomely embossed with floral designs; gold title on side and back; heavy, cream-tinted, sized and super-calendered paper; size, 5 1/2 in. x 9 in.; price, postpaid, $1.00; gilt edge, with side design embossed in gold, $1.50. Address, PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.,
Oakland, Cal.
Or 43 Bond St., New York. THE Los Angeles Express of November 21 gives a report of a sermon by Dr. J. S. Thomson, at the Church of the Unity, on "Saul and the Woman of Endor," from which is taken as proof as usual that the dead are conscious. Of course, if the parable teaches the conscious state of the dead, it teaches Spiritualism. So Dr. Thomson says:— I am not a Spiritualist; I never was and never will be a Spiritualist. At the same time Spiritualism has revealed facts, and has been a genuine revelation to many. . . . There was a wave of materialism setting in several years ago that threatened to sweep away and destroy the churches and Bibles. Just at that time the thing called Spiritualism started up. There was a terrible battle, and notwithstanding free love and 95 per cent. of fraud, Spiritualism won the day. Through this system of belief thousands have been brought back to a sense of immortal life, and the black ocean of materialism has been changed into paradise. I don't owe a single thing to Spiritualism, for I never needed it; others did. The strongest statement in the Old Testament of the reunion of friends beyond, is found in this story: "To-morrow you and your sons will be with me." Dr. Thomson is a Spiritualist. He may not belong to any circle or association, but he is a Spiritualist, nevertheless, holding confessedly to all their cardinal points of belief. The evidence of familiar spirits, of demons, is taken by him in preference to that of God's word. The simple facts concerning Saul and the witch of Endor are these: Saul had departed from God, so that the Lord answered him no more in his appointed ways; God rejected him as king; Saul then went to this woman, who had a familiar spirit, and this familiar spirit simulated Samuel. Yet modern divines would have us believe that what God would not do by prophet or Urim, he did do by a woman belonging to a class the very existence of which among his people God had prohibited, and for consulting which he slew Saul. See 1 Chron. 10:13, 14. Another fact is that the spirit, representing himself to be Samuel, lied when he said, "To-morrow shall thou and thy sons be with me;" for Saul was alive when the morrow passed. Read Isa. 8:19, 20. Truly "His watchmen are blind." LITERARY NOTICES.
By Editor
WE have received from the General Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists, Battle Creek, Mich., a nicely printed octavo book (illustrated) of about 400 pages, entitled "Rise and Progress of Seventh-day Adventists, with Tokens of God's Hand in the Movement, and a Brief Sketch of the Advent Cause from 1831 to 1844." The book is written by one of the oldest pioneers in the work, Elder J. N. Loughborough, who is yet doing active service in the cause. The work contains twenty-nine chapters, some of the chief headings of which are as follows: God's Hand in the Advent Movement; Extent of the Advent Proclamation; The Tarrying Time; The Midnight Cry; The Second Angel's Message; The Disappointment; The Bitter Book; Fresh Tokens of Divine Guidance; Perils, Reproaches, Victories; Truth Advancing under Difficulties; New Features in the Work; The First Seventh-day Adventist Printing Press; The Trial of Faith—the Work Advancing; Organization; The Civil War; Health Institutions, etc.; California and Switzerland; Closing Labors of Elder James White; Truth Advanced Even by Opposition, etc., etc. We bespeak for the book a wide circulation among our people. As a work of history it should be in every family, and from God's blessings of the past fresh courage should be gathered to "go forward." For sale by Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich.; Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal., or 43 Bond St., New York. Or it may be obtained of our Tract Societies. Price in cloth, plain edges, $1.25; gilt edges, $1.50. From John D. Wattles, Philadelphia, we have received two little booklets. The first is "Two Northfield Sermons;" the first, "Moral Color Blindness," preached at Northfield, Mass., June 30, 1888; the second, "Our Duty of Making the Past a Success," preached July 3, 1892, both by Rev. H. Clay Trumbull. Both good, but the first is worthy of special mention and careful reading. Price, thirty cents. The second booklet is by the same author, entitled "Light on the Story of Jonah," republished from the Journal of Biblical Literature. The "light" which the author presents is the fact that the miracles, message, and repentance recorded in the book of Jonah are, according to Assyrian life and history, in every way reasonable. Price, twenty cents. Address as above. "Peloubet's Select Notes," by Rev. Dr. F. N. and M. A. Peloubet. 340 pages. Illustrated, cloth, 12mo. Price, $1.25. Boston, W. A. Wilde & Co. For sale by Am. Tract Society, San Francisco. This commentary on the international Sunday school lessons for 1893, like its eighteen predecessors, bears evidence of the widest research on the part of its compilers into every field of Christian literature. Its exhaustive quotations, excellent suggestions to teachers, helpful anecdotes, and admirable notes, are well adapted to impress upon the mind the salient points of each lesson. The library references are particularly full and a great convenience to the busy worker who desires to study in detail from original sources, of the times, places, personages, and secular as well as the sacred history of the events and peoples mentioned in the lessons. In authentic colored maps, appropriate original illustrations, and general mechanical make-up, the present volume excels all previous issues, and this is praise enough. Specimen pages are sent free by request. Will any of our readers who make such request please mention this paper. Address as above. The California Illustrated Magazine for December shows in its two first articles the abrupt and striking contrasts of Christmas in this wonderful state, from the snowy scene in the Yosemite in the frontispiece to the "California Wild Flowers," an article by Bertha F. Herrick. Dr. Remondino discusses various portraits of Napoleon. Thomas Crawford Johnson has a concluding article on "Did the Phoenicians Discover America?" connecting them with the Aztecs. Dr. Hirst writes on "Methodism in California." There are other excellent articles, which space will not permit us to mention. The California Illustrated is the great magazine of the West, and, like the West, is constantly and rapidly improving. For sale at all news stands. The Cosmopolitan for November is well up to its usual high standard. It has for the frontispiece a fine engraving of Mr. Gladstone. Japan Revisited, by Sir Edwin Arnold; A Cosmopolitan Language, by M. Q. Holyoake; The City of Hamburg, by Murat Halstead; Aerial Navigation, by John P. Holland, are a few of its principal articles. The magazine is well illustrated. Price, 25 cents. For sale at all news stands. Astronomy and Astro-Physics for November is just such a number as will interest students in astronomy. The principal papers are: The Probable Origin of Meteorites, by George W. Coakley, professor of mathematics and astronomy, University of New York; The Motion of the Solar System, by J. G. Porter; Stars Having Peculiar Spectra, by M. Flemming; The Nebular Hypothesis, by Professor James E. Keeler (formerly of the Lick Observatory); The Lunar Atmosphere and the Recent Occultation of Jupiter, by Professor W. H. Pickering, in which the author calculates that the density of the moon's atmosphere at the surface cannot exceed one-four-thousandth that of the earth; the pressure at the surface of the moon should be about equal to, but not much exceed, that at forty-five miles above the surface of the earth; A Large Southern Telescope, by Professor Edward C. Pickering; The Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago, and very much more of interest. Price, $4.00. Published at Northfield, Minn. The Good Citizen is a new magazine, the organ of the Columbian College of Citizenship, with headquarters at Columbus, Ohio. Its object is to discuss on broad lines what its promoters believe will tend to develop good citizens. The Central College has its subordinate district colleges, while these in turn have their branch local colleges. The organization is designed not only to be national, but international. It has great possibilities for good or evil. We shall be glad to see on which side of the great "reforms" it ranges itself. Price, $2.00 a year, Columbus, Ohio. The Health Exponent, published monthly at Mount Vernon, Ohio, at seventy-five cents a year, is a bright, crisp, and helpful little magazine, just like a cool hygienic dinner. It is conducted by Dr. O. G. Place and wife. "Road Making As a Branch of Instruction in Colleges, and the Betterment of Our Highways," from Mr. Albert A. Pope, Boston, Mass. It is not the province of this paper to discuss public roads, but if this country does not have better roads in the future, it will not be the fault of Mr. Pope. BIBLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CONCERNING MAN. By Alonzo T. Jones. Bible Students' Library, No. 76. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. 16 pp.; 2 cents. BAPTISM: Its Significance, Its Nature, and the Necessity for It. By E. J. Waggoner. Bible Students' Library, No. 75. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. 16 pp.; 2 cents. RESPOND AT ONCE.
By Editor
In 1892 the Sabbath school lessons of this denomination for the advanced divisions of the schools were based on the same lesson scriptures as those of the international Sunday school lessons. The Signs published these lessons, and will publish the Sabbath school lessons for the year to come. It will also publish the Sunday school lessons, or notes on the same, if a sufficient number of our readers and subscribers desire it. But this we must know at once. Please respond. Bible Wines in Health and Temperance
By Editor
We hope that the good articles in our Health and Temperance department for the preceding number and this present issue will receive careful reading. They present valuable testimony on Bible wines.