Earlier text: LESSONS FROM THE STORY OF CORNELIUS.—IIRESPONSIBILITY FOR THE GIFT OF LIFE.
By William Covert
ALL things that live are media for the manifestation of God's life. Man, being made in his Maker's image, was brought into fuller union with that life than any other creature of earth, and so became responsible for his conduct as a representative of Divinity. Closely allied to the life of man was that of every living thing belonging to the same creation. Man's course of action would determine his destiny, and also that of all things associated with him in life. Man, the responsible head, was made accountable to the great Head of all things; thus it was essential to the well-being of all that man's conduct should be in full harmony with that infinite principle of love upon which all true relations are founded. Life was given to be held as the chief of all gifts. Should his use of the gift become contrary to its primal purpose, it would be far better to take it from him. A good thing misappropriated generally becomes a bitter curse. Gold and silver fitly used, bless the owner; but turned into evil channels, produce misery. The sparkling dewdrop, the gentle rain, and the bubbling spring give moisture in proper forms to minister to life; but the falling hail, the terrific cloudburst, and the maddened torrent use the same element to produce death. If the receiver makes life a means of injuring himself and others, shall not the Lifegiver withdraw the gift? Selfishness unfits man for life; therefore if he abides in selfishness, he must die. When man was given life, it was essential for his enjoyment, and for the well-being of all things else, that he should recognize the Lord's authority, and respect the rights of every neighbor. That he might be taught how to maintain his proper relation to others, the Lord reserved one tree out of all that grew in Eden. His needs were well supplied without this tree, and he was told to leave it untouched. In partaking of it, he would show a spirit of selfishness, and become a sinner. Only this one restriction hedged him about. Even the possibility of temptation was confined to the investigation of the forbidden tree; and transgression could begin only by eating its fruit. Viewing the situation at this distance from the beginning of human history, it would seem that transgression could have been avoided. And so it could, as the conditions for obedience were made very favorable. Yet Adam failed, as the sequel will show; and all his children have likewise failed to yield perfect obedience. The Biblical account of the temptation and fall is told in simple story. It is this: The serpent of Eden was used by the tempter as a medium to beguile Eve, the mother of the human race. After yielding to his sophistries, she approached Adam, her husband, with fruit in her hand from the forbidden tree; and he, too, ate of it. This incident brought them both into the transgression. The serpent used great skill in his arguments, and by his wily reasonings made Eve think that she was listening to wonderful truth. He asserted that the fruit of the forbidden tree contained the elixir of wisdom, and man must eat of it in order to become wise. He further declared that instead of death's coming to man in case he ate of the tree, he would become as a god, knowing good and evil. This, he said, was a condition greatly to be desired. The argument seemed so plausible that it was accepted and acted upon. But the devil's promise, "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil," was worded purposely to deceive them. They knew good before eating the fruit. Evil, and a knowledge of it, followed in the wake of their transgression; but the only knowledge which came through disobedience was that which was earthly, sensual, devilish. This took the place of that which had come from above,—love, joy, and peace. The result was a mixed state of good and evil, with the evil greatly in the ascendancy. The fatal step from innocency to sin having been taken, joy gave place to sadness, as the glory of day glides into darkness with the setting of the sun. Trembling with fear, the guilty pair endeavored to hide among the trees of the garden, because the presence of their Maker was to them like devouring fire. While abiding faithful they had been happy and free, but under transgression all was changed. They were now slaves to fear. No resolution which they could make, nor hiding-place which they could seek, would annul the fact of their sad condition. It surrounded them even in the fragrance of their own floral home. It was impossible for them to undo its reality. They were in sin, and sin must bring suffering. It was therefore better for the Lord to return them to dust, whence they had been taken, because unorganized dust can not suffer. So for sinful man's sake came the necessary sentence, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. 3:19. It was love that returned man to his original elements. The purpose of God is that man may be recast, and so made new; but to do this it is essential to eliminate the evil, that the very scars of misery may be removed. The earth sympathized with man's sorrow, and shared in the curse of sin. For man's sake it took on barrenness, making more labor necessary in obtaining support from the soil. Toiling and sweating are better than a life of idleness. Labor gives health and strength. It occupies the time of the industrious, and leads them in ways that are good. Sweet sleep follows labor, and strength comes through proper exercise. Since the curse has fallen upon the earth, every honest step taken in climbing the hills of difficulty, carries one heavenward, bringing him nearer his Maker. Afflictions often make friendships, and these in their turn bring help. Sweetest comforts come from sorest trials. Richest fruit may be gathered from the knottiest trees. The most fragrant flowers are oftentimes plucked from the sharpest thorns. The most rugged road is frequently the nearest way home. Tears of grief often wash the eyes, and make the vision clearer to see besetting dangers. "Go, then, worldly fame and pleasure; Welcome sorrow, care, or grief, If you only bear the treasure Of enduring, sweet relief." How They Became Convinced
By Editor
[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.] In the year 1900 a friend said to me, "Do you believe in keeping the Ten Commandments?" "Yes," I said. "Then why do you work on the Sabbath?" "I do not work on Sunday," I replied. My friend remarked: "Sunday is not the Sabbath. The word 'Sunday' is not in the Bible." This caused me to think I never had seen the name Sunday in the Bible. Like a flash it came to me. Some one has given to God's day of rest a different name from what He gave it in His law. Then I began to inquire and to search in all available books of history for light upon this subject; and I was astonished to find that not only had the name of God's rest day been supplanted, but that man had attempted to change the Lord's holy time, and to place it upon another day in the week than that on which He had placed it at the creation of the world. I was educated in the Presbyterian faith, and at eighteen became a member of that church, where I remained until three years ago. All my people are Presbyterians. I can honestly say it was through the instructions of my mother, from early childhood, that I at last became convinced of the holy Sabbath day, for she taught me that the commandments were just, holy, and good, and that to break any one of them was a sin before God. A little time after I had learned of the change that human power had made in God's Word, a prominent, talented Presbyterian preacher, but now retired from the church, called on me. I had listened to his sermons for several years, and I said to him: "I am sincere; I do wish eternal life. I am now keeping the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, in place of Sunday, the first day of the week. Am I in the right, or am I wrong in doing this?" Without one moment's hesitation he replied: "You are perfectly right; taking the Bible as your guide, you can not "keep for the Sabbath any other day than the seventh day of the week. The Sabbath day of the Fourth Commandment begins at the going down of the sun on Friday, and ends with the going down of the sun on Saturday. If this is what you do, you are right; for it is the only holy time given us. Those who are keeping Sunday, the first day of the week, have no authority from God for so doing. I give you my full and free authority to tell any one anywhere that I say this." In great astonishment I asked, "Why did you not tell the people this truth when you were preaching in that church across the way?" He replied, "When I stood behind that desk I could not say this; but now I have no church, I am free to say what I think and what I know." Praise God for bringing me out of the darkness, in which professed teachers of God's Word are leading the people. Alice C. Bush. I was traveling South for a ten years' service in the Lord's vineyard, before going to Africa. When I reached Elder Saxby's, at Cleveland, he invited me to spend the night with them and their workers. A short conversation upon the Bible, sacred history, and the little tract, "Which Day Do You Keep, and Why?" and I left my old ancestral Sunday forever for the Sabbath of the Lord my God. I saw that the Lord's Sabbath was the seal of His law, without which any law must be null and void. I now feel that it was because I was not obeying God by going South years before I did, that I did not meet any Northern Sabbath keepers, and thus have my attention called to the Sabbath truth before. The Sabbath has been a sweet morsel to me, and a foundation stone by which to help me to many other truths. It grows more precious every day. Mrs. H. M. Simers. "FLATTERY is an ornament that will fit only on folly." MEN VERSUS THINGS.
By Editor
An important lesson for our time is found in the following incident in the life of Christ:— “And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in nowise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Luke 13: 10–14. In this test is drawn the contrast between the teachings of Jesus and the selfishness of humanity, which, in its short-sightedness, exalts things above men. The real test came to that nation, as it comes to all nations, over its regard for humanity, for the individual. God Loves the Individual.
The one precious object on this sin-cursed earth to the mind and heart of God is man. God loves him with an everlasting love; loves him even in sin; loved and loves him so much that He gave His only-begotten Son to save man from sin and death. Jesus Christ came to save MEN, not in the aggregate, but as individuals; let it never be forgotten. “For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” Luke 9: 56. In this work God is no respecter of persons, for He “hath made of one blood all nations of men.” Acts 17: 26. The worth of man is shown in the infinite price God paid for him, the life, the eternal sacrifice, of the Son of God. For it was not for a period of thirty-three and a half years that Christ took upon Him humanity, but for eternity, that He “might bring many sons unto glory.” This is God’s estimate of the worth of man perfected in Christ Jesus, a perfection made possible to all; and, therefore, each man, as an individual, was and is of eternal worth in the sight of God. “Forasmuch as ye know ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, . . . from your vain manner of life; but with the precious blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1: 18, 19. The Sabbath is and was then God’s holy day; but God gave it in the beginning, and has perpetuated it that it may be a blessing to mankind. “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Jesus Christ ever exalted the man above the thing, however holy the thing, or howsoever holily man regards it. The Jews regarded the Gentile nations as accursed; but Jesus utterly disregarded the corporation or union tradition, and took a long journey away up to Sidon, that He might heal the daughter of a poor Syrophenician woman. What were national traditions or prejudices compared with one poor, suffering soul? These traditions and rules were dearer to the Jews than were the lives of their fellow creatures. To them the thing was more than the man, the human being. Their sabbath law, their property in sheep and oxen, were more to them than the suffering, bowed woman. Tremendous in its sifting justice was Christ’s reply: “Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” On a similar occasion He asked the same class before He healed an afflicted one: “What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days.” No wonder that when He said these things His adversaries were “ashamed.” The same principles are operative to-day. The difference is only this: In the ancient times the society of Pharisees, federated in this thing with the Sadducees, followed, hounded, and persecuted even to the death the Christ of God, because He would not conform to their wrong laws and traditions respecting the right day. Now we have a class of men federated together into various Sabbath unions and societies, demanding that men shall bow to their wrong traditions and laws respecting the wrong day. The principle is the same; the spirit is the same; the methods, spying, trapping, assumptions of divine authority, are largely the same; and the result will be the same,—persecution and death, if within their power, to those who hold individual conscience and duty to God above that of mere traditions of men. The leader in this work has been the National Reform Association. This movement sets class against class, sets man to hunting, hounding, spying upon, persecuting his brother for the simple reason that he dares to disagree with him; and counts as anarchists and traitors all who may oppose the unholy traditions and unrighteous laws. And the same principle is working in the trust and in the labor trust—the union. The thing is placed above the man. The trust is above the manufacturer, the merchant, the small dealer who will not enter the trust or who can be of no profit to the trust, and the laborer. Of course the direct object of the trust is not to crush anyone, but to make money; and make money the trust promoters will, howsoever many human beings may be crushed by their automobile juggernaut. The direct object of the labor union is not to deprive any one of his rights; but woe unto him who does not fall in line, or who can not be of use to the organization. The trust, the union, the thing, is above the man. The friends of true liberty are fighting the same battles to-day that Christ fought; and to-day he who teaches the rights of men, the rights of the individual, in religion, in the observance of days, in duty to God, to family, to fellow man, in the disposal of his own time, where and how and to whom and for what he will in all legitimate pursuits, is denounced as “anarchist,” a “scab,” an enemy to the people when he is the truest friend that humanity has on earth. The spirit of apostasy is in it all. The spirit of the great apostate is in it all. Consciously, or unconsciously, the labor organizations have followed apostasy in religion always in arrogating to themselves the right to direct not only conscience and action in their own membership, but in all others outside; and the result is that the religious forces, united in securing religious legislation, as Sunday laws for instance, are winning the labor element, which has been moving on parallel lines to the same goal—absolute control of all opposing elements. And the union of the two forces will finally take place over the religious question of a civil sabbath, a mark of a tyranny which covers all the week, hence all the time. Very much more might be said as to this movement; this must suffice for this time. How shall the movement be met?—There is but one true way, the way in which Christ Jesus met it, the teaching and power of the Word of God. Selfishness in organized and unorganized forms will persist in dominant power, despite all legislation to the contrary, as long as unregenerate man holds sway. Jesus Christ must come into the heart and life till the man knows the Golden Rule. Then he will be no longer an oppressor. He will see his fellow man through the blood of Christ, and will count the pound of flesh more than the pound of gold. He will recognize the equal right of every man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And such ones as these Jesus Christ will gather out to reign with Him over an earth made new forever; for only these have demonstrated the right to reign. In Christ Jesus they have conquered and ruled sin and self. THE present condition of this world is as true a fulfilment of prophecy as any fulfilment of prophecy that has ever come to pass. Even men of the world realize that a climax is approaching, tho they may not believe that climax has been long foretold in the Word of God. The words, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come,” are intended to prepare people now living to stand in the times of deception that now exist. Those “perilous times” are not simply times when it will be dangerous to walk abroad for fear of robbers, or those who would take life; but, rather, days in which the very soul itself is in danger through the falsehoods, deceptions, and soul-snares, that will be everywhere prevalent; a time when Satan will be working with “all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.” He will be using human instrumentalities; for the words, “them that perish,” refer to human beings, as well as to Satan and his fallen angels. So human beings, who are themselves deceived, will in turn become the deceivers of others, “blind leaders of the blind,” who will “fall into the ditch together.” We are seeing more and more of this very work as we draw closer to the end of the age. Men are taking up the work of advancing the most subtle deceptions that have ever been promulgated in the earth—deceptions designed by the great deceiver himself, and intended to undermine in the minds and hearts of men all respect, reverence and regard for, and all trust in, the Holy Scriptures. With that accomplished, it would be—and so far as it has been accomplished it has become—a much easier matter to introduce all kinds of specious reasonings, all kinds of deceptive doctrines, all kinds of groundless plans of salvation, until the whole world should become a confused whirl of speculation, doubt, deceit, and vaporings of “science falsely so called”—a babel indeed. Looking down through the ages upon the conditions that now exist and will increase to the end, our Saviour exclaimed, “When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” It would seem as if that were an impossibility; that the great flood of deception and false doctrine would sweep over and submerge the last vestige of the true faith; that the mists of doubt and “science” would quench the last spark of true Christian belief. But no; in spite of all the enemy has done or can do, there will still be found in the earth a people doing the will of God; a people holding up the light of faith in Christ, reverencing the Word of God, and refusing to yield to any of the commands or to heed any of the threats of that power, which is defying God and His work, and setting up himself and his work in the hearts of the people—and doing so much of it, too, in the name of God and Christianity. “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. This is what the prophet sees after looking upon the great host of this world’s inhabitants, who have forsaken the true God and the true faith, and have yielded to the commands of the “beast” power, doing its will and receiving its mark. At the time when the prophet sees this small company standing for God, the whole world has made its decision; the whole world has decided which power it will obey. The line is clearly drawn. The one company is marked; the other is sealed. Following this there is seen in the heavens “a white cloud.” Upon that cloud sits the Son of Man, “having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.” Rev. 14:14. To that One a voice from heaven cries, “Thrust in Thy sickle, and reap; for the time has come for Thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”7 That is the second coming of Christ and the judgment of the earth. The great work of the deceiver on the one hand, and the great work of the last threefold message on the other, have brought out these two classes, the one sealed to God and eternal life, the other marked with the mark of God’s enemy and destined to go with him into perdition. Now, at the present time, both of these great works are going on in the earth. The closing work of the Gospel is calling out the people who will “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” At the same time Satan’s work is progressing in and through those who have forsaken the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. As above stated, this work of the enemy will be carried on in the name of Christianity—in the name of God. It is now being so carried on. Men standing in Christian pulpits are heaping discredit upon the Holy Scriptures, the plan of salvation, the commandments of God, and faith in Christ as Redeemer, and are setting up in their place a god of their own conception, their own plan of salvation, their own redeemer; and this is not confined to one pulpit, or to the pulpits of one country. That has become the popular teaching of these times. A popular preacher has given his estimate of Jesus of Nazareth. He was condescending enough to admit that Jesus was a good man and probably the greatest teacher the world had known up to that time, but that there were defects in His ethical conceptions; and then this popular preacher declared: “In these matters I could have given Him some important pointers myself.” While extolling “the manliness of Jesus,” this blind leader of the blind went on to speak of the mistakes which Jesus made in His ministry. Another such preacher laughs at the idea of asking people to come to Jesus, stating that all that is required of Christians is to do the best they can in their own circumstances, and that this is all that Jesus did. Add to such work as this the destructive work of the “higher critics,” and the preachers and teachers who are declaring the law of God null and void, and then can we wonder that the Word has warned us of these times as “perilous times,” times when the souls of men are in peril? A new god is being held up before the people. It is the god of self, and its worship is self-worship. Its commandments are simply the dictates of human desires, and obedience to them is obedience to him who first set up his own selfish desires against the word and will of the Most High. The service of self is the service of Satan, who is the god of selfishness. Every instrumentality not yielded to God will be impressed into the service of His enemy. They are being so impressed now, and soon the line will be drawn between “him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not.” It is a time of peril. It is also a time of great privilege for the faithful child of God. "GOOD WORKS" AND "WONDERFUL WORKS."
THE Lord desires that His people shall do good works in this sinful world. By these they are to glorify Him. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matt. 5:16. To this end Peter also gives us instruction: "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles; that, whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. . . . For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." 1 Peter 2:11-15. The purpose of our redemption is that God may have a people through whom He can do good works. Christ "gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:14. This redemption from iniquity, this purification of the heart by faith, is essential to the ability to do good works. No man can do good works of his own motion. Many people who do not know Christ are very zealous to do what they deem to be good works, hoping thereby to earn salvation. But God does not recognize their works as in any wise to His glory. In these latter times, just before the coming of the Lord, we are to expect "the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." These works are to be done through men who are deceived with the idea that, because the works they are enabled to do are somewhat extraordinary, they must be of God. The Lord permits them to be thus deceived because they do not accept the truth for the last days that would enlighten them concerning these things. Because they do not believe the truth, they take pleasure in what appears to them good and wonderful, but which God calls "unrighteousness." See 2 Thess. 2:8-12. "The world is full of the manifestations of this "power," these "signs and lying wonders;" and, as it was with Simon Magus, who flourished in Samaria, in Philip's day, the people think that the doers of these wonders are endowed with "the great power of God." But the judgment will reveal the true character of both the work and workers of these deceptive signs and wonders; that, altho they are done in the name of Christ, He does not own them as in any way connected with His work. In the Sermon on the Mount, He tells us of the result of such work: "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Matt. 7:22, 23. So much for the character of the "wonderful works" that men who ignore the truth are wont to do in the name of the Lord. It will be noticed that those who are to-day astonishing the people with unusual signs and demonstrative wonders do not recognize the binding obligation of all the commandments of God, which His Word tells us are the truth. See Ps. 119:144, 172. In the same judgment, however, in which the "wonderful works" of men done in the name of Christ are disowned by Him, He tells us what kind of works are acknowledged. "Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me." Matt. 25:34-36. Then those who are accredited with such ministrations unto the Lord express surprise, and inquire when such services were rendered unto Him; and He replies, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." Verse 40. Such is the character of the good works which the purified peculiar people will be zealous to do, and, as the Spirit becomes more and more manifest under the fuller endowment of the "latter rain," the greater will be the zeal of those who love and look for the coming of the Lord. THE great religious world is drifting away from the fundamentals of true Christianity. Many who consider themselves Christians are free to admit that they do not believe now in the Christianity which they embraced at conversion; that they have discarded as non-essentials those things which they then considered fundamentals. This is not simply a broadening of view, but a departure from very first principles in such matters as the atonement of Christ, salvation through Him alone, the fall of man, the personality of God, and the penalty for sin. These are Scripture truths; and yet there has crept into the popular church theories that are steadily undermining belief in these truths. Souls are drifting away from these saving truths to pin their faith to theories that are of human invention—theories that leave Christ out of the plan of salvation and belittle its Author. Because of this condition, which God knew would exist in the last days, He caused these words to be written: "We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them. For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?" Heb. 2:1-3. Here is brought to view something that is in danger of drifting and something that is steadfast. God designed that we should cling to that which is steadfast, and so become established ourselves. His injunction to us is: "Be ye steadfast, unmovable." And again: "As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and builded up in Him, and established in your faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit; after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ; for in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." Col. 2:6-9. Outside of Him there is none of that fulness which makes for eternal life; and outside of Him are all those philosophies and vain deceits, inventions and traditions of men, and rudiments of this world—all those subtle powers that are working together to cause souls to drift away from the foundations of faith. So the Word admonishes us to give heed to the truths of the Gospel, lest we drift away from them, and allow ourselves to become spoiled through human schemes, which are to-day being put in the place of the truths of God. A ship is in great danger when it begins to drift away from its course. It is in greatest danger when, near its journey's end, it begins to drift. With propeller and rudder gone, with the rocks at hand, and the wind and waves urging it on, its doom is sealed. We are warned of a time when there would be a form of godliness in the world, but destitute of vital power. That time is now. The powerless and rudderless ship of many a soul is surely drifting upon the rocks of ruin, because the admonitions of the Word have not been heeded. While there are still many souls anchored to the steadfast Rock, the great church body is surely drifting. It is a time to "give heed" and "watch unto prayer," to examine ourselves "whether we be in the faith," to put no trust in the arm of flesh or the philosophies of men, but rather take the Word of God as the "man of our counsel," and put our trust in that Name than which there is none other under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. 1490.—The Ark in the Sanctuary.
Is there any scripture telling us how the ark was to be placed in the most holy place of the sanctuary? From Ex. 26:33; 30:6; 40:3-5, and other related passages and contexts, it is evident that the ark was in the middle of the most holy place, directly opposite the altar of incense. When a tent was pitched for it, it was placed in the midst of the tent. Just how this position was changed, if at all, to meet what is said in 1 Kings 8:8 and 2 Chron. 5:9, we do not know. The symmetry and order in God's work would demand that it be placed in the very best position in the most holy place, and this would be the middle as regards the sides, but near the second veil, so that most of the apartment would be in front of the ministering priest, and would allow the staves to be drawn out against the curtain or veil. Please explain the above text. In what way can we be angry and not sin? W. W. P. It has been well said that a person incapable of anger is a fool. But God does not want us to cherish anger; for "anger resteth in the bosom of fools," and we should not let the sun go down on our wrath. First of all, we should not be angry at persons, or cherish anger toward them. But when high-handed wickedness triumphs, when the poor are oppressed, the weak trampled upon, the orphan, the widow, deprived of their rights, souls deluded by blinding sophistry, what righteous soul who sees these things can feel otherwise than indignant, angry, and yet without sin? But if this anger leads us to cherish ill feeling against persons, it is not without sin. In reply to C. M. T. we would say that the term, "first day of the week," is the same in Luke 24:1 and Acts 20:7, but the events recorded in these scriptures are entirely different. The day begins, according to Bible reckoning, the evening before. On our common Saturday night—the evening after the Sabbath—the disciples came together to break bread (perhaps the Lord's Supper; perhaps a common meal, Acts 2:46). Paul, who had been with them for a week, preached to them till midnight. The miracle of raising Eutychus from the dead occurred. Then the breaking of bread took place; Paul preached again, even till day dawned, and then departed, to spend the light part of that Sunday in travel.