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Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 6.

A War and a Crisis in State Church
Earlier text: A War and a Crisis in State Church

Cohering Currents

By T. E. Bowen

A LITTLE boy was experimenting with his batteries. An electric magnet had been made; and after completing his circuit through his magnet, and exhausting his experiments upon jack-knife, needles, pins, etc., he thought of tacks. Getting a handful of common carpet tacks, with his strong current from several dry batteries his magnet would pick up from the table every one — a great black ball, one hanging to the other like a swarm of bees clinging to a limb. By simply moving a wire and cutting off the current, the whole bunch would immediately be made to fall, a mass of individual carpet tacks, without any cohesion whatever.
As I watched him, I thought, What a beautiful illustration of how God unites into one His earthly believers! By His heavenly current of divine love, He holds together His children upon earth. But with the unseen heavenly current severed — well, there are so many illustrations all over the land, it is unnecessary to mention the sequel.
T. E. BOWEN.

Love Is the Poetry of Human Nature

"Love is the poetry of human nature."

Our Heart Treasures

By D. J. C. BARRETT

What Is Their Character?—They May Be Exchanged—Eternal Happiness the Fruitage of One Class, Eternal Death the Other

THE heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer. 17:9) is the divine depiction of every soul in his carnal state. This is the full measurement of all who know not Jesus as a personal Saviour. This simple pronouncement reveals the true status, before their redemption by the blood of Christ, of all who have ever lived or ever will live on the earth.
As we look at the text, it reveals to us the hidden purposes, motives, desires, contrary to divine suggestion. It lays bare the hypocrisies, deceits, false profession, of all the self-righteous, as well as the guilt of the most openly avowed sinner. It places all the human family on the same basis—"alienated from the life of God"—and Scripturally indicted—"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23.

TENDERNESS TO THE MOST DEGRADED

But God, addressing in tender pathos the most degraded sinner, makes the comforting announcement, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." Eze. 36:26.
The Lord takes away the unimpressionable, and gives us the impressionable. He takes away the rock constituents of sin, and gives us flesh tables. He takes away the dross, and gives us the incorruptible, with its enduring transformation.

A NEW HEART BY DIVINE DECREE

This operation of the Spirit receives beautiful expression in the following text, involving new covenant relation:
"After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people." Jer. 31:33.
What a transformation! What hath God wrought! He says of the wicked, deceitful, diseased heart, with its attendant symptoms: "From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness." Mark 7:21, 22. The fruitage of the law-breaking propaganda is superseded by the superscription of the divine: "The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide." Ps. 37:31.
And Matthew, speaking feelingly, enforces the thought: "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." Matt. 12:34, 35.

COMPLETE SURRENDER, ELSE DEATH

These texts forcibly set before us the absolute claim of God upon us. Our heart must be wholly surrendered to Him, completely dedicated to His cause, or a disordered heart, revealing any of the above terrible symptoms, will surely drag us down to perdition, eternal death.
The good treasure is obedience, is the law in action, revealing in the life the fruits of the Spirit, "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Gal. 5:22, 23.
Let God create in us a clean heart, let Him write on the tablets of the soul His holy law, let us enter into covenant relation with Him, and the positive message concerning our souls is, "None of his steps shall slide."
The evil treasure is "unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful." Rom. 1:29-31. And God, speaking with these in mind, says, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" 1 Cor. 6:9.

WHAT ARE YOUR SYMPTOMS?

Dear reader, what are your symptoms? Are you a candidate for heaven? Have you the superscription of the divine upon your heart? Are you actuated by the power and Spirit of God? Is your life bearing fruit to the honor and glory of God? Are you so walking that should God reveal Himself in full power, glory, and majesty, you would give expression to the triumphant experience, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us"? Isa. 25:9.
Or are you walking at cross purposes with God? Does your heart show signs of disorder, thus giving evidence of unregeneration? Do you not possess the complete satisfaction of a consecrated life? Does your life betray a divine confidence? Instead of the sweet influences of a Spirit-filled life, is your experience darkened, sickened by the miasma of a corrupt heart? If so, the admonitory voice of God is heard in this tenor: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Prov. 4:23.

THE REGENERATE TREASURE AND MORAL TRANSFORMATION

The treasure of the regenerate heart is the law of God, transforming the life, until we are perfect in Christ Jesus. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19:7. But the treasure of the unregenerate heart is the law of sin, which, if not superseded, means eternal separation from the face of Jesus Christ. The law of God upon the heart restores the moral image, marred, effaced by sin. "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Cor. 3:18. The law of sin upon the heart stamps the character of Satan, and the sad objective of such an experience is, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt. 25:41.
Let the prayer of the psalmist be the burden of your soul: "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Ps. 51:10. And when the Good Shepherd appears in glory and power, we will see Him as He is. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Matt. 5:8.

Triumphant Life Secret

By George B. Starr

The Plan for Continued Victory over Each and Every Besetment— The Personage and the Power That Assure Success

By GEORGE B. STARR
THERE has been but one absolutely triumphant life lived in this world, one life only that never failed to keep the world, the flesh, and the devil in subjection, and that ever kept them all under, no matter what the circumstances or the temptation or the pressure. He succeeded. He triumphed. That life was the life of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Many ten thousands have been charmed by that life, and have tried with all their powers to imitate it, to reproduce it in their own. They have tried sincerely, honestly, earnestly, but have failed, mortifyingly failed, and that for the very simple reason that no one can live the life of Jesus Christ but Christ Himself.
Why then was that one perfect life permitted to appear, and its every victory recorded, if we may not successfully imitate or reproduce it ourselves?— That we may be driven, by our very failures, to accept the provisions of the gospel, "which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27); to learn that man is not only saved from past sins by the blood of Christ, but "much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life" (Rom. 5:10)—His life in us—Jesus Himself living His own life over again in us, reproducing Himself.
But Jesus can only do this in the man or woman who is entirely dissatisfied with self, and ready to stop trying to prove that he can live the Christ life if he only struggles hard enough. Crab-apples only can be picked from a crab-apple tree; and if it is peaches we want, we must plant the peach-tree. So if it is Christ's character we want, we must have Christ's life to produce it. "Christ liveth in me," is the secret of success. "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end." Eph. 3:17-21.
But now to the blessed promise to us all: "If any man . . . open the door, I will come in" (Rev. 3:20), says Jesus. Then all will be changed. The self-satisfaction of being rich and increased in goods and in need of nothing is seen in its true light. The man or woman who has everything but Christ in the heart is truly wretched indeed, blind without His light, poor without His riches, naked without His righteousness.
But opening the heart to Him, we have all. "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him." He has "all power in heaven and earth," "power over all flesh." John 17:2. He has power over your flesh and my flesh, to subdue it and to triumph in it and over it, and to live over again His own life in it, and so glorify God. He prays to His Father: "I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me. . . . I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." John 17:21-26.
This is the secret of a triumphant life—Christ Himself by His Spirit in the life. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." John 1:12.

Is the Natural Man Partly Divine?

By John Norton Loughborough

May He Become a New Creature? — Promises of Help

By J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

THE Lord's description of man's natural condition is very materially different from some of the scientific theories of the present day. These theories affirm that man has in him an element of divinity, and that all he needs is proper environments, and he will be developed as a divine man, as a result of the evolution of the divine already implanted in him.
How does that theory compare with the experience related by the apostle Paul? "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." Rom. 7: 18.
It seems that the prophet Jeremiah had also learned the same thing, for he said, "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Jer. 10: 23.
Our Saviour, when teaching the necessity of divine aid to do right, said, "Without Me ye can do nothing." John 15: 5. Again, "No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6: 44.
Until a person turns from the way of sin through divine aid, he is represented as "having no hope, and without God in the world." Eph. 2: 12. How could this be if there were an element of divinity in him?

COMFORT TO THE FORLORN

To those in this forlorn condition, the Lord has given assurance of help: "I, if I be lifted up from the earth [crucified], will draw all men unto Me." John 12: 32. That man needs an element outside himself to lead him to do right, was laid out before Nicodemus, when the Saviour said to him, "Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God." John 3: 3. As expressed by another, "The religion that comes from God, is the only religion that leads to God."
Our Saviour, in His teachings, was only more fully developing what had been taught in the Old Testament. To those turning from sin to obedience, the Lord had said, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart [mind] out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." Eze. 36: 26, 27.

THE NEW CREATURE

How like the work of Christ, as portrayed by the apostle Paul when he asserts, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ["a new creation," R.V.]: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5: 17. How this change is accomplished, the apostle set forth in his epistle to the Romans: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8: 3, 4. Thus we are "created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained ["appointed," margin] that we should walk in them." Eph. 2: 10.
The Saviour, when about to close His earthly mission, said to His disciples that He would send them a Comforter, and, "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." John 16: 13. The psalmist foresaw how the Lord would lead His people: "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee." Ps. 32: 8, 9. Here is another precious promise: "The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way." Ps. 25: 9.
With such encouraging promises of divine guidance, how appropriate to make the prayers of the psalmist our own: "O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto Thy holy hill." Ps. 43: 3. "Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God: Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness." Ps. 143: 10. And, "Lead me in the way everlasting." Ps. 139: 24.

Sphere of the Civil State

By W. F. Martin

Governments May Make Laws as Between Man and Man, but Not Between Man and God

By W. F. MARTIN
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Rom. 13: 1.
THE greater part of Romans 13 is devoted to a discussion of the Christian’s proper relation to the civil government. That this is true is granted by all.
There is another feature, however, in the chapter, that is frequently overlooked, and that is the proper attitude of the civil government toward the Christian; and not only toward the Christian, but toward all the citizens of the civil state.

THE PROPER FIELD FOR GOVERNMENTS

In verse 8, we are bidden, “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” This text recognizes the Saviour’s teaching in Matthew 22, where He divides the ten-commandment law into two sections, the first defining our duty to our God, the last defining one’s duty to his fellow men.
In this verse, also, is the key to what has gone before, as well as what is to come. The central thought is the relation of man to his fellow man,—that which is covered by the second table of the law,—the realm occupied, and rightly so, by civil legislation. Then follows verse 9, quoting the last five commandments of the second table, closing with the significant statement, “If there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

FORBIDDEN GROUND FOR CIVIL LEGISLATION

Why did not the apostle mention, in this list, the commandments of the first table? Was it because they were not to be obeyed?—Certainly not. He is not here defining duties to God, but duties to fellow men and civil government, and the realm of government. This not only defines the realm of government, but sets the bounds of the state.
Legislative bodies can with propriety pass measures defining the outward acts covered by the second table of the law. If it were proper for the civil law to define and regulate man’s duty to God as set forth in the first four of the Ten Commandments, the first table of the law, the apostle would have mentioned them here. On the contrary, by his expression, “if there be any other commandment” than those mentioned in verse 9, he recognizes that the realm of the first table is forbidden ground for civil legislation.
Well would it have been for all mankind, if this truth had always been recognized. The assertion has been truthfully made that when man sets himself as God’s avenger, he becomes a demon.
Consonant with the above are the noble sentiments expressed by the Hanover presbytery in the year 1776:
“We would also humbly represent that the only proper objects of civil government are the happiness and protection of men in their present status of existence, the security of life, liberty, and the property of the citizens, and to restrain the vicious and to encourage the virtuous, by wholesome laws equally extending to every individual; but that the duty we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason or conviction, and is nowhere cognizable but at the tribunal of the universal Judge.”
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Impressed by a Dream

By A. S. Booth

A WOMAN that attended some of our meetings in California, tells how God led her to see and accept the Sabbath. She had never heard of the Seventh-day Adventists, and her attention had never been directed to the Sabbath question. One night she dreamed that she and another woman, with one or two children, were ushered to the gates of heaven. One stood at the gate, and placed the children within the city of God, then inquired, “Have you come to enter the city?” The woman made answer, “Yes.” Then said the gatekeeper, “Before you enter, you must take oath to keep all the commandments of God.”
A few days after, she came to Los Angeles, and one Sabbath afternoon came into our tent, and heard for the first time a study on the seventh-day Sabbath.
When we called on her, she related to us her experience, and said she could do nothing else but obey the oath she had taken to be obedient at any cost.
The good Spirit of God is leading His children into the truth. A. S. BOOTH.

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTORS

By Editor

A. G. DANIELLS, W. A. SPICER, W. T. KNOX, I. H. EVANS, G. B. THOMPSON, R. C. PORTER, H. R. SALISBURY, E. E. ANDROSS, J. O. CORLISS.
Manuscripts should be addressed to the editor. Address all business and make all money-orders, etc., payable to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, California.

RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPUTED WITHOUT WORKS

By Alonzo G. Daniells

"Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works." Rom. 4:6.
MUCH has been said and written about the imputation of the righteousness of God to men. Yet the subject is not exhausted. Nor is the question an antiquated one. It is as fresh, as pertinent, and as full of interest to-day as it has ever been. And thanks be to God, He is still imputing His righteousness to all who will receive it in His appointed way.
No man by nature possesses the righteousness of God. Says Paul, "There is none righteous, no, not one." Rom. 3:10. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Verse 23. All sin is unrighteousness. 1 John 5:17. Thus we are taught that man not only does not possess God's righteousness, but that he is filled with all unrighteousness.

IMPUTED BY LOVE AND CREATIVE POWER

Now the imputation of God's righteousness to men who are by nature all unrighteousness is a wonderful thing. It is a manifestation of clemency, of grace, which none but our heavenly Father, who is love, would show. And it is so great an act that none but God, who has creative power, can perform it.

A FREE GIFT — NOT BY WORKS

The only way that any one can obtain the righteousness of God is to receive it by faith as a free gift. But few of the great masses who have lived have been willing to receive it in this way. In all ages men have endeavored to obtain it by works — a thing that can never be done. This fact is thus stated by the apostle Paul:
"Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone." Rom. 9:31, 32.
This attempt on the part of the Jews to become righteous by works was simply an attempt to establish their own righteousness, which was nothing but unrighteousness. Paul says, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." Rom. 10:3.
"By the works of the law shall no flesh be accounted righteous in His sight." Rom. 3:20, R.V., margin. Paul says that if Abraham had been made righteous by works, he would have had "whereof to glory; but not toward God." "Abraham believed God, and it [his faith] was counted unto him for righteousness." Rom. 4:2, 3.

THE FAITH THAT BRINGS RIGHTEOUSNESS

The faith by which Abraham was made righteous is the faith which all must exercise in order to become righteous. That faith is so simple that all may exercise it. It is set before us by the apostle in these words:
"And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." Rom. 4:21, 22.
To this the apostle adds the following:
"Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." Rom. 4:23, 24.
Let us, then, believe that God is able to perform what He has promised, that His righteousness may be imputed to us. A. G. D.

THE VICTORIES THROUGH WAITING

Inspiring Promises to Those Who Await God's Hour — Warning Examples to Those Who Do Not
GIDEON was called supernaturally to the deliverance of Israel. With only three hundred men, through the cooperation of unseen agencies, the mighty hosts of God's invisible army, he put "to flight the armies of the aliens." Heb. 11:34, last part. Truly he did wax valiant in the fight; and as the armies of the aliens were turned to flight, he sent word to his brethren who lived along the Jordan for them to stand at the fords of the river. They rapidly gathered, and the victory was made far more complete through their help than otherwise it could have been.

DOWNFALL THROUGH RASHNESS

But Gideon's mighty victory has a sad sequel. Instead of waiting for the Lord to indicate to him the next step in his life, when there came a time for quiet waiting he refused to wait. When the leaders among his people came to him, and seemingly said, "Now, Gideon, what shall we do next?" he felt called upon to mete out a something that would fulfil their desires, and so he set up a system of idolatry that was a curse to Israel all his days. Judges 8:27. The evil sowing ended in the awful harvest of the wiping out of Gideon's house soon after his death. The sons quarreled among themselves, and murder and fratricide wrought havoc with the family.
The prophet Jeremiah tells us, through inspiration, a good thing to do in the time of rest and waiting. He says: "The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." Lam. 3:25, 26. And another prophet declares: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isa. 40:31.

MASTERFUL MAJESTY IN HIS LIFE

Contrast the haste of Gideon with the perfect majesty of Christ's life. Over and over Christ spoke of "the hour," "My hour," as clearly implying that every act of His was regulated by the conviction that the time appointed for it had arrived. Friends could not hurry Him, though they tried. He would not be hurried. He waited for His hour to strike. Until it was come, nothing could induce Him to act. His hour is best. Those who trusted Him then, learned that this is so. All who have trusted Him since, have been taught the same blessed lesson.
God's clock does not go at the same rate as ours. He can pack a thousand years into one of His days, and one of His days may seem to be lengthened out into a slow thousand years. His purposes are hidden from the ken of mortals until He chooses to reveal them. The considerations which determine His hour are beyond our sight. Whatever may hold back His hand, we know it is not lack of sympathy with our sorrow, it is not disregard for our confidence, neither is it unwillingness or inability to respond to our cry.
We are told that "the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness"; but He is long-suffering toward us. He is not willing that any should perish. He watches each soul, moved by the deepest tides of compassion. So what we call delay, is but the result of His love, and is meant for the greatest possible good to His creatures.

IT ADDS POWER TO THE MUSIC

Thus Ruskin has beautifully clothed the thought of our waiting for God: "There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music in it. How does the musician read the rest? See him beat the time with unvarying count and catch up the next note true and steady, as if no breaking place had come in between. Not without design does God write the music of our lives. Be it ours to learn the time and not be dismayed at the rests. If we look up, God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we shall strike the next note full and clear. If we say sadly to ourselves, 'There is no music in a rest,' let us not forget there is the making of music in it."
When the prophet Samuel did not appear just as soon as Saul thought he should, Saul took upon himself the task of slaying the sacrifice, and thus disobeyed the command of God, and by refusal to repent, shut himself away from God's favor, from God's prospering hand.
There is a necessity that we wait. Though it may seem that the heavens fall, wait till God's hour for us strikes. If we go forth alone, we shall be like those who undertook to take the city of Ai—we shall turn our backs upon our enemies, and flee headlong in shame.

DAYS OF WAITING, THEN THE VICTORY

There is a time coming when the people of God will have to wait weary days for God's hour to strike. During that time, they cry day and night to Him, and it will seem to them that He does not hear. But the promise comes, "Shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them?" Yes, says Christ, "He will avenge them speedily."
The time will come—God's time; and when it comes, it justifies all the delay, and makes up for every sorrow, every moment of patient waiting. "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord." The longer the waiting, the more blessed the results, the deeper the joy that will compensate for all the sorrows. L. A. R.

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SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS

By Editor

Our authority for the doctrines we teach is the Bible. Quotations are usually from the King James Version or the American Standard Revised.

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THE KINGDOM OF GOD ESTABLISHED

His Rights as Creator—The Marvelous Vastness of His Dominion—Character of the King and Stability of the Kingdom

THE history of the world has been written as related to kingdoms. Therefore in its beginning, the Bible record speaks of the dominion given to Adam. This earthly dominion was but an atom of the kingdom of God, which embraces the universe.
Adam's position as ruler of this earth was that of a subordinate sovereign, or prince. The stability of the earthly dominion would have been jeopardized by giving to Adam an independent sovereignty. God was ever the supreme King, and the stability of the dominion was assured by that fact. 1 Chron. 16:30, 31. "The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all." Ps. 103:19.
Adam could act with the fullest freedom relative to his vested right of dominion; but for any questionable act of his, he must answer before the supreme King under whose sovereign power he reigned. None of his acts could nullify the right of the supreme sovereignty of God over the earth.

GOD'S RIGHT OF DOMINION

This leads to the inquiry, "By what act did God become the rightful King of the universe?" The answer is, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1:1. A more sublime statement is not found in the Book of divine revelation. In these ten words is revealed the true origin of all kingdoms.
It is impossible to establish a kingdom without territory and subjects. In originating the kingdom of God both were wanting. No other kingdom was ever confronted by such conditions in its development. In all other instances recorded, the territory and the subjects were at hand awaiting organization or conquest. In the development of the kingdom of God the record begins with the Godhead alone, prepared to enter upon the establishment of a kingdom, with all else wanting. From that condition God designed and developed a kingdom covering the entire universe.

HE ONLY COULD OPERATE IT

It is to this fact—"In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is"—that God in His sovereign law appeals as the reason for His right to rule as king. Ex. 20:11. In this statement proclaimed by Himself in the law of His kingdom, we have the history of the origin of the elements and the formation of the kingdom of God. The kingship can not be questioned. He who by His wisdom could design a kingdom of such magnitude where no kingdom was or ever had been, He who could by His almighty power create every needful element for the formation of the kingdom on such a magnificent and boundless scale, was the only One who could operate the affairs of such a kingdom after it was established. Its territory was the myriad planetary systems of the universe; its subjects, all the created intelligences in heaven and earth; its law, the law of God; and its King, God. One unable to produce from nothing this vast universe, its subjects and its laws, would be incapable of reigning as king of such a kingdom.

THE CONCEPTION OF THE CREATOR

That the marvelous universe, which stretches far beyond the reach of the most powerful telescope, was created according to a design that had been first conceived in the mind of the Creator, must be conceded by all candid thinkers.
The telephone was conceived in the mind of the inventor before it was developed. Likewise the phonograph and wireless telegraphy. The artist places upon the canvas the image first pictured in his own mind. A sculptor was once asked, as he stood by a block of granite, what he was going to do with it. He replied, "There is a beautiful angel in it." There may be seen in the Cistercian Chapel in Rome the result of that sculptor's conception.

THE SKEPTIC AND THE SOLAR SYSTEM MODEL

A skeptic was ridiculing the credulity of Christians who believe that the universe was designed and created by the power of God. A learned professor of astronomy prepared a most skilfully designed miniature reproduction of the solar system, which he exhibited to his skeptical friend. After a careful survey of its proportions and relations, the skeptic inquired who had so skilfully designed and developed this unique representation of the celestial system. In order to illustrate the fallacy of the skeptic's reasoning, the professor replied that there had been no designer or developer, it just developed itself. The skeptic retorted that he was not so childish as to believe any such inconsistency, and insisted upon the professor's treating him as a rational man. The professor quietly replied: "During your last visit, you asked me to believe an infinitely greater absurdity; namely, that the entire universe of planetary systems, circling in space in perfect order, was developed without a designer. Why refuse to accept your own theory when it is brought within the range of your comprehension in a miniature form?"

DESIGN PROVES A DESIGNER

All rational men must admit that design is evidence of a designer. In no other direction is there such evidence of wisdom displayed in design as in the work of creation. Mr. Mitchel, widely known as one of the fathers of modern astronomy, says:
"If all this mighty system was organized by chance, how happens it that the angular motions of the perihelia of the planetary orbits are ever progressive, while the angular motions of the planets of the orbits are vibrating? Design, positive and conspicuous, is written all over the systems, in characters from which there is no escape."
The psalmist David confirms this view. "Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them." Ps. 139:16. Every member of the psalmist's body was designed and written in God's book of designs before the Creator began His creative work. In the face of such evidence no greater folly could be displayed than for one to say in his heart, "There is no God."

THE CHARACTER OF THE KING

In the kingdom of God the character of the King is the standard of the character of His subjects. It is written, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16. His holiness is the strength of His justice. "God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness." Ps. 47:8. "God is love." 1 John 4:16. But that love is not mere sentiment. It is manifested primarily in justice and judgment, which are the foundation of God's throne. Ps. 89:14, R.V. The whole strength of His kingdom is therefore pledged to support the upright subject, and "none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?" when He judges. Dan. 4:35.

FINITE ILLUSTRATION OF HIS LOVE

The sinless pair in Eden were warned not to touch or eat the fruit of the tree that would bring a knowledge of evil, lest they die. Gen. 3:3. This was the warning of infinite love and justice. A finite illustration is seen in a mother warning her child to refrain from evil associations, lest ruin follow, or warning the innocent babe not to touch the hot stove, lest it be burned. There is nothing arbitrary in love and holiness. Holiness is always just. "Love seeketh not her own." In this relation to others God finds His highest pleasure, and the happiness of loyal subjects is insured.

STABILITY OF THE KINGDOM

A proper conception of the kingdom of God manifests His glory, His power, makes known to the sons of men His mighty acts and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. It does more. It declares its stability. A kingdom built upon such a substantial and magnificent scale was designed to be everlasting. "They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power; to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." Ps. 145:11-13. "Thy throne is established of old: Thou art from everlasting." Ps. 93:2. "A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary." Jer. 17:12. Since "what God doeth, it shall be forever," we may rest assured that when He established His kingdom "in the beginning," it was His design to provide for His subjects a home that would be everlasting.

DESIGNED FOR ALL ETERNITY

Man, made a little lower than the angels, was originally designed to live eternally. In his sinless state he was not subject to death, and having access to the tree of life in his Paradise home, an endless existence was possible. Seraphim and cherubim were created sinless and established in the kingdom with the possibility of an eternal inheritance. With the kingdom thus established, there was not a place in the universe where death had claimed a victim. Not a sigh spoke of broken promises. Not a heart throbbed under the burden of disappointed hopes. On this earth, man, in his perfection, was all that woman's heart could desire. In his companionship she could trace no shadow of insincerity, and she need not shrink from him in fear as from a tyrant. Woman, pure and true, was the joy of man, a fitting companion to share his labors and his pleasures.
Such was the happy Eden home of our first parents, and such were the joys of the kingdom universal, when, by the work of creation, it was originally established. With what rapture of holy joy the King reviewed His completed work, when, with one glance of His omniscient eye, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good"! Gen. 1:31. Then "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Job 38:7.

The Kingdom of God

By Editor

THE kingdom of God has ever been a favorite theme of discourse. Much is said about it in the Bible. The Master often spoke of it when He was here in person; and the erroneous views of the Jews of that time, and even of the disciples, were exposed for correction. Our readers will be favored with several independent articles by Elder Porter on various features of the subject. The articles already presented from his pen, on creation and evolution, give a splendid foundation for this article, and others that are to follow. Our readers will find in this matter that which will instruct, edify, and entertain. EDitor.
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