[From Prof. T. D. Witherspoon, D.D., in (Baptist) Examiner.]
The division of the Bible into chapters and verses is not of inspired origin nor of divine authority. The earliest Hebrew writings have only a point between words to distinguish them; in other respects the text is without break of any kind. In the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament, even the point between words is lacking. Parchment was costly, space was precious, and so the words were run together; every letter possible was crowded into a line, and the page looked as if one great word extended from the top to the bottom.
As later copies were made, spaces were introduced between the words; then, for convenience of public reading, sectional divisions of various kinds; but it was not until the thirteenth century that our present division into chapters was made, probably by Cardinal Hugo, and not until the sixteenth century that Robert Stephens, a printer of Paris, gave us the division into verses.
For purposes of quotation and reference the division into chapters and verses is highly convenient, and, indeed, almost indispensable. But for consecutive reading and for connected study of the Word, these divisions, which break the text mechanically into minute and often disjointed segments, are of serious disadvantage. What other book that we love to read would we consent to have broken up in this way? Think, for instance, of an edition of Shakespeare, or Bunyan, or Macaulay, in which the text should be broken into chapters of about five or six hundred words each, and these chapters into paragraphed and numbered verses of fifteen or twenty words each. How much we would lose in the continuity of thought and in the vividness of impression! How much we should prefer the present simple and natural arrangement of the writings of these authors!
To preserve, for purposes of quotation and reference, the notation by chapters and verses, and at the same time give a text that is arranged according to natural and normal rules of division, is the object of the Paragraph Bible. The text is printed in solid column by paragraphs, just as any other book would naturally be, and the figures which indicate the chapters and verses, are arranged along the margin, so that with a glance of the eye the reader can see the number of chapter and verse of any sentence or clause he is reading.
It is more than fifty years since the Bagsters of London issued their celebrated Paragraph Bible. Many editions abroad and in this country have appeared since. One of the most noted and admirable is the Revised Version, which came forth from the Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster, fifteen years ago, and which every earnest student of the Bible ought to possess.
Supposing yourself provided with some good Paragraph Bible, what are you to do with it?
First, use it in your daily reading of the Scriptures, accustoming yourself to read by paragraphs and not by chapter and verse. You will find how delightful it is to follow an incident or a line of thought to the end of the paragraph, and not simply to the end of the chapter, which in many cases (as Matt., chapter 9, Mark, chapter 8, etc.) cuts sharply and abruptly across the line of narration.
Second, use it in your daily study of the Word of God. Learn to study by paragraph and not by chapter and verse. We are too much accustomed to look upon the Bible as a collection of distinct and isolated texts. Finding every verse in the editions commonly in use paragraphed to itself and separately numbered, we are prone to study each verse by itself, and not in its relations to the verses that precede and follow. Take your Paragraph Bible; study the whole paragraph of which any verse in which you are interested forms a part. Catch the main thought of the paragraph. See the relationship of every sentence to this central thought. You will not only better understand the particular passage you are studying, but you will get an impression of the fulness of Scripture, its variety, its richness, its many-sidedness, that you could not get in any other way. The Word will have for you a spiritual significance, and come home to you with a spiritual power otherwise impracticable.
Third, use the Paragraph Bible for the occasional reading of the books of the Bible, each at a single sitting. One great defect of our reading of the Scripture is that it is to so large an extent fragmentary. We read a little here to-day, and a little there to-morrow. We lose sight of the fact that each book of the Bible has a great central thought to which every chapter and verse bears reference, and that we can not understand or appreciate any part fully until we have viewed it in its relations to the whole. It will help us greatly if, with the aid of a Paragraph Bible, we read a book through from end to end, noting, as indicated by the paragraphs, the divisions into which the subject matter of the book falls, and the respective relations of these to its great central theme. It would be difficult to overestimate the value of this practice of reading the books of the Bible through, each as a whole, each at a sitting, and each as the embodiment of some one great thought of God which finds expression in every paragraph. Every book would come to have for us peculiar significance as a part of the inspired revelation from God. It would be seen to fill its own appropriate place in the canon of Scripture. Its treasures would seem to us all the richer, because of their relation to each other and to the whole storehouse of divine revelation.
SONS OF GOD.
By H. P. B.
[A Bible Study.]
“We are all sons of God,” you and many others say. Yes; Adam was the son of God.
“Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” Luke 3:38, R.V.
But how long did he remain the son of God?
“And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 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.” “Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.” Gen. 3:17–19, 23.
Had not Adam received dominion as well as sonship?
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion.” Gen. 1:28.
Like Esau, Adam sold his birthright—his heritage. Had he then anything left to bestow upon his children?
“For thus saith the Lord, Ye have sold yourselves for nought; and ye shall be redeemed without money.” “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands [weight] of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” Isa. 52:3, 2. Captive under sin, through disobedience.
The human family have nothing with which to redeem themselves; is there not, then, a ransom provided?
“And Thou, O Tower of the flock [the great Shepherd], the Stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” Micah 4:8.
“Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,” “and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant.” Heb. 12:22, 24.
Who shall inherit this city and this dominion?
The race of Adam. “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it; and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.” Rev. 21:24.
When shall this restoration take place?
“For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain with us until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Rom. 8:22, 23, R.V., margin.
“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality,” as “flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Cor. 15:53, 50.
“And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put My Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land.” Eze. 37:13, 14.
“Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt. 5:5.
Thus the mortal children of Adam, who have no estate through him, are to have the first dominion restored by the Redeemer, even to as many as believe on His name.
What are they called?
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” 1 John 3:1, 2.
Why?
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19.
“Ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Cor. 6:20.
Thus we become sons and heirs of God through belief and obedience unto salvation by faith.
“And it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He [the Redeemer] shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2.
Let this hope be in you. H. P. B.
New Orleans, La.
THE ETERNAL CROSS.
By Walter C. Smith
But all through life I see a cross,
Where sons of God yield up their breath;
There is no gain except by loss,
There is no life except by death;
There is no vision but by faith,
Nor glory but by bearing shame,
Nor justice but by taking blame;
And that Eternal Passion saith,
“Be emptied of glory, right, and name.”
— Walter C. Smith.
“CAN YE NOT DISCERN THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES?”
By T.
“The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired Him that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather; for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day; for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” Matt. 16:1–4.
The Master was on the earth doing a mighty work. He was speaking as never man spake. Miracles, in the healing of the sick, giving7sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, were attesting the reality of His divine power. And shining above it all was the wonderful life that He was living among them. His words were the clear, sweet music of purity and righteousness. His every act was the perfection of kindness, gentleness, and love. His daily life in this sinful world was as great a miracle as the healing of the sick and the raising of the dead.
All this was being done and lived by the Master in the very midst of these Pharisees and Sadducees, and still they wanted “a sign from heaven.” Surely the greatest sign that heaven could give was right among them in active life. What more could heaven show them after the love of God had sent His own dear Son?
The hearts of these Pharisees and Sadducees had been touched. They saw that none other than the Son of God could do these mighty works. And their consciences were pricking them. But they pretended not to understand these mighty works of the Son of the Infinite, and as they sought to make a show of honesty, they asked a sign from heaven. O, yes, they would like to be made perfectly sure that He was the Christ! And so they wanted a special sign right from heaven.
The Lord reminds them that they could discern the signs of the sky. They could forecast the probable conditions of the weather for several hours ahead. And in doing this they had to use only their common faculties. They had observed that a “red” sky in the evening was an indication of fair weather, while a “red and lowering” sky in the morning was an evidence of foul weather.
Now if they had been equally as observing of the work and life of Christ, and also had been willing to yield to what their judgment showed them was the truth, they would have had no trouble. The evidence was all there, and it was overwhelmingly abundant. The Master’s works, His divine teaching, and His perfect life were greater signs than anything that could have been hung out in the sky.
But their curiosity for “a sign from heaven” was not granted. The evidence already offered was sufficient. “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.”
The prophets had foretold the work of Christ. Infinite wisdom had given these prophecies, and they were all-sufficient. Every man and woman who did not resist the prophetic truth by their pride and prejudice could see the perfect clearness and the perfect application of all these prophecies that were being fulfilled in the life of the Messiah. And how fitting it is, then, that the Lord should have said that “no sign shall be given, . . . but the sign of the prophet Jonas.”
We are living now in times that are even more momentous than those days when Christ was upon earth in person. We are just a little time from the day when He will come the second time in the clouds of heaven. We are living, even now, in the very last of the last days. The whole world is charged with the evidence that shows it. Fulfilling prophecies are emblazoned all around us. The wonders and perplexities of this time have never before been seen in all of this world’s history. And just as Christ when on earth in person spake, and lived as never man had spoken and lived, even so now are prophecies being fulfilled with a significant impressiveness the like of which the world has never seen.
Do you discern the signs of these our times? It is very easy to see where past generations have failed in not discerning the signs of their times. And it is just as easy to see the signs of our own times if we will only look at the present in the same unbiased way that we look at the past. You have observed that in every generation there are men who seem to read the signs of their times perfectly. They seem to be clear in their accurate interpretation of the meaning of the issues and events of their day. “Why is this?” I hear you ask, It is simply because they ardently sought for the simple, plain truth, and when they found it they took it, no matter whether it looked just as they had expected it would or not.
Your mind has been impressed by the stirring scenes of our days. You have been awed and impressed before the great social and political problems, dilemmas, and evils that stare our whole world in the face. Do you honestly ask for the meaning of it all? Then turn to your Bibles and you will surely read the signs of these times in the words of inspired apostles and prophets. But when you hear the still small voice of God speaking to you in His Word, do not spurn it. Do not be like the Pharisees of old and seek for signs that God has not given. Be content with the plain Word of God. Its great prophetic truths are perfectly clear. We could not ask for more.
Will you discern the signs of this our time? If you do, and heed them, it will only be just a little while until Jesus will have you fitted for a place in His everlasting kingdom, and then come in person to take you to His blissful home. These are momentous hours. Do not idle them away.
T.
GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT.
CHRIST is the Head of the church. The church is the body of Christ, “the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” His believing children “are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” They become His body by the Spirit of God. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” 1 Cor. 12:13.
As the human body in its normal condition is perfectly organized, each member having its own functions to perform, without which the whole would suffer more or less, so also is the body of Christ. If one or more of the organs or members of the body are wanting, the person is deformed or crippled, and his work is defective. The defective body and its members can not properly and fully and consistently represent the head. So it must be with the church, or body of Christ.
If the head says, “Hear the message,” and the ear is wanting, the message is not heard. If the head says, “Speak the message you have heard,” and the tongue is wanting or diseased, the message can not be given. If the head should say, “Write the words I tell thee,” and the hands were wanting, the message would never be written. If the head should say, “See the warning, that you may give it,” and the eyes were wanting, or blinded, the warning would never be given. Once again, if the head should say, “Run and speak the message to that weary soul,” and the legs were wanting or broken, the soul would never hear what he might have given him. And so we might carry on the thought to every organ and function.
The body of Christ is His church; and just as truly as the members and functions of the normal human are necessary to effectual, consistent service, so it must as truly be so of the body of Christ. It must as truly retain in use the gifts and powers and members and functions, in order that it may do acceptable service for God.
As founded by our blessed Lord, His church possessed every gift; His body, every needed member; each member, every needed talent.
This especial fitting of the body for service, the church for work, the individual for service, are set forth in several scriptures, namely: (1) In the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14–30); (2) in the parable of the pounds (Luke 19:11–27); (3) in the spiritual gifts of 1 Corinthians 12; Rom. 12:3–8; Eph. 4:7–16. These all teach the same great lesson, each with additional detail. We shall be able to get but a brief though comprehensive view of the great subject.
The parables of the talents and pounds are one. The talents and pounds represent gifts of God, most precious—the symbols used in each case representing a money unit of the highest value; “talent,” the greatest unit measure of Jewish money; “pound,” the greatest unit measure of Roman money.
The “nobleman” who “went into a far country,” represents Jesus Christ. He left His church, with which He identified Himself, to go to that heaven, where dwells the Father, “to receive for Himself a kingdom, and to return.” Luke 19:12; Dan. 7:13, 14; Matt. 25:31. His returning is at His second advent.
He leaves His servants, His church, here to represent Himself—“Occupy till I come.” So Jesus said to the Father, “As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world.”
That His servants—“His own servants”—might fitly do His work, He bestows upon them the needed gifts or capital. But before He does this they must be His own servants, those who have yielded to Him, and whom He has consecrated by His Spirit; for “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” Those upon whom the Lord bestows His gifts, are those baptized into His Spirit, those who have received the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Note also in these parables that the time when He gave the gifts was when He went away, and that they were to be used by His own servants, and His own servants were to “occupy” till He returned.
In the other scriptures above referred to, the figure is laid aside and we are told just what these talents and pounds are which Christ has given His own servants; they are “spiritual gifts,” or gifts of the Spirit. About these the Lord would not have His people ignorant. 1 Cor. 12:1. Let us inquire:—
(1) When did the Lord by His Spirit bestow these gifts? (2) What are they? (3) To whom are they given? (4) For what purpose are they given? (5) For how long? All these questions are clearly answered.
1. When were they given? “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” Eph. 4:8. When He went away to the far country, we are told in the parable of the pounds. And its first marked fulfilment came on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:1–4.
2. What are these gifts?—“And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Eph. 4:11. 1 Cor. 12:8–11, 28 enumerates the following: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, workings of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, divers kinds of tongues, interpretation of tongues, apostles, prophets, teachers, helps, governments. Rom. 12:6–10 adds these precious gifts to the list: ministry, exhortation, giving, ruling. Not one of these lists give all the gifts; nor do all of them name them all. In them is the very fulness of God for absolutely perfect and effectual service. Nothing earthly or human can add to them that which will make them better.
3. To whom are they given?—“But unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Eph. 4:7. Wonderful gift! “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit.” “All these [gifts] worketh the one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one severally even as He will.” 1 Cor. 12:7, 11. “God hath dealt to each man a measure of faith.” Rom. 12:3. “His own servants. . . . To each.” Matt. 25:14, 15. “God is no respecter of persons;” He gives to each one of His children some one or more gifts as he can use, and for the use of which God will hold him responsible. What has God given you? How are you using it?
4. For what purpose are the gifts given?—“For the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ.” Eph. 4:12. “To profit withal.” 1 Cor. 12:7. “Trade ye herewith till I come.” Luke 19:13. The Spirit divides these divine gifts not as we will, but as He will; for He knows us better than we know ourselves. They are given that the people of God may be made perfect workers—“for the perfecting of the saints unto the work of ministry.” God makes them effectual workmen, ministers of His in the great needy world, and witnessing for Christ and gathering out living stones and building up the body of Christ.” Strength, union, power, are included in this building plan. It contemplates no divided church, broken into fragments by discordant creeds, but one harmonious body, bound, grown, together with the one life of Christ, each member an effectual and faithful servant of the body.
5. For how long are these gifts bestowed?—The answer is no less equivocal: “Till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full-grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Eph. 4:13. “Till I come.” Luke 19:13.
These gifts were all in the church once. Some of them are in the church now. What church does not see the necessity of pastors, evangelists, teachers, governments? What Christian would not say these were necessary? But if these, why not prophets, apostles, gifts of healing, etc.? The same Spirit which gave one till Christ should come gave all till perfect union is reached, till Christ’s body is complete, till the work of God in the earth is done. Why not all these gifts now? Why should the church of Jesus Christ continue on her way blind, and halt, and lame, and weak, and deformed? Reader, think of these things. We have yet more to say. Hear the Word. Dare in His name to follow where His Word leads.
“IMPERIAL” DIGNITY.
In the early days of this great republic its officials were noted for rigid simplicity and frugality in every public function, whether performed in America or in foreign courts. But with the recent victories of our navy a great change has come over the nation and government. Democracy has given way to imperialism; the Declaration of Independence has been riddled by the guns of our fleets, till whole sentences are blown away; and democratic simplicity must perforce be swallowed up in regal splendor.
This latter is specially manifest in the lavish sums which are placed at the disposal of the Peace Commission. The commissioners not in public service will receive $150 a day and expenses. One secretary, $75 a day. An assistant secretary, $50 a day, and the men who do the actual work, such as stenographers, interpreters, etc., from five to ten dollars a day. The ladies who accompany the delegation will travel at government expense. A despatch from Washington says of the Peace Commissions:—
They are to lack nothing to adequately maintain their official position, and even the messengers are to be given liberal allowances for their personal expenses. Funds to the amount of $250,000, it is understood, have been deposited to the credit of Judge Day in one of the Paris banks, and he has unlimited authority to draw more if that is not sufficient.
But formerly that which would have maintained their official position would have been such expenses as would have been incurred if these men were visiting France on private business. A New York paper remarks: “America can be represented always and everywhere most fitly by distinguished citizens who spend the money of the people economically, and thus set an example of republican simplicity. It ought not to be the American idea that dignity can be maintained by extravagance and luxurious ostentation. That is the monarchical idea, and it is essentially dishonest and vulgar.” But a monarchy in fact if not in name is what America is fast becoming. These are ominous signs of the times which he who will observe may read with distinctness. We are living Rome’s life over again.
The parable of the pounds (verses 11 to 27) covers the time of the Christian era. Christ is the nobleman who went away. His church occupies till He comes again. He now sits as priest on His Father’s throne. Heb. 8:1; Ps. 110:1. He receives His own kingdom at the time of the judgment, when His priesthood is over. Dan. 7:9-14; Rev. 11:15-18. At His return the judgment takes place; and then, and not till then, are His enemies destroyed. The Gospel mission is to save, not condemn. The judgment will be the Lord’s and will not take place till the last day. See John 12:47, 48; Luke 9:51-56; 2 Tim. 4:1; Matt. 25:31-46. There is no reason in Luke 19:27 for religious prosecution or persecution.
869. The Offense and the Gift.
WILL you offer some thoughts on Rom. 5:15, 16? It reads: “But not as the offense, so also is the free gift; for if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift; for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.”
The object of the argument is stated in verses 20, 21. It is the abounding grace of God triumphing over the sin. Through the offense (or sin) of Adam many are dead; but much more by the gift of Jesus Christ grace hath abounded to many. It exceeds the sin and its results, bringing life and justification instead of death. The great truth is the life of God in Jesus Christ triumphing over sin and death.
870. How Long Did Christ Lie in the Grave?
How do you harmonize the Scripture expression, “Three days and three nights,” with the actual time He did lie in the grave?
J. E. A.
In the first place, it is nowhere said in the Bible that Christ should lie in the grave three days and three nights. The only text used for this proof is Matt. 12:40, whence it is assumed that “the heart of the earth” means the grave. But this is assumption. Why does it not mean the powers of earth, or the ruler of earth, which at that time was Rome? Jesus, in speaking of His passion, began “to show unto His disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” Matt. 16:21. Why may not the time begin from His deliverance into their power? It was then He said, “This is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Luke 22:53. It was then that “the prince of this world” came with his last effort. John 12:31; 14:30. In the second place, parts of days are counted in the Scripture as whole days. And so the three days and three nights of Jonah’s sojourn in the great sea monster were doubtless a part of each of two days and the whole of another. That this is the case, note the words of the disciples to Jesus on the afternoon of that Sunday on which Jesus rose from the dead: “To-day is the third day since these things were done.”
RESULTS OF ENLARGED POLICE POWERS.
By W. N. G.
The tendency of the professed followers of Christ to lean upon the power of the civil law instead of the power of the Word of God, is becoming more and more marked. For every imaginary sort of reform the first thing thought of is a law—national, State, or municipal. And such laws are tending to greatly enhance the prominence of the police power, by providing in some way to have this, that, and the other object placed under police surveillance. Furthermore, as police power is gradually enlarged, there grows the tendency on the part of the restless masses, conscious of the continual abridgment of their natural rights, to forcibly resist the encroachment of the element of force.
As this encroachment is largely due to church influence, the result is to turn the hearts of the people away from Christianity, albeit there may be enforced a formal recognition of its claims by means of the so-called reformatory laws and police regulations instituted in the name of Christian morality. The more the police power is extended, the more its exercise will be necessitated, because of the disposition of the people to resist the oppression of too much law. There is much boasting in religious circles over the assumption that “the world is growing better,” yet these same boasters are the very ones to clamor for more civil force. Naturally we would expect the opposite result from such a condition.
Another thought in this connection is that civil law and civil power are designed for the protection of the people; but as these are enlarged to abnormal proportions, they become oppressive rather than protective. So when we see the police power made more and more prominent, it bodes no good for the masses. And when we see this done in the name of Christianity, it portends a detriment to the cause of Christ.
In this city there is an ordinance forbidding street meetings within the fire limits, without the permission of the mayor. This centers within the judgment of one man what kind of meeting or by whom any street meeting may be held. Without such permission the police have the power to arrest any one who attempts to talk to an audience on the street within such limits. Under this ordinance religious gatherings of all kinds have been forbidden, excepting such as have been under the auspices of the popular denominations and auxiliary to some special in-door meetings.
Of course the plea is that these outdoor gatherings obstruct the streets. But several times the principal thoroughfare has been rendered almost impassable at different points by great crowds watching the bulletins for reports of prize fights and great ball games, and the police patrol seemed about as much interested as anybody else. There were no arrests for obstructing the streets. Such is the character of police power. Yet one of our Superior Court judges, in deciding a case quite recently, remarked that he had “observed with some degree of satisfaction the tendency in modern decisions to enlarge the scope of police powers. Regulations now sustained by the courts would have been dismissed with disfavor fifty or a hundred years ago.”
There are two inevitable results of this “tendency of modern decisions:” (1) The increase of court-made law, which is always inimical to good government and the rights of the people. (2) “To enlarge the scope of police powers” means the extension of the principle of force rather than of freedom in government, which logically begets a spirit of militarism, which naturally leads to imperialism and the enslavement of the masses, and thus again to resistance and rebellion on the part of the masses.
The word “imperial” is becoming dangerously common in connection with the government of the United States since the recent enlargement of the army and navy and the acquirement of foreign territory by conquest—without reference “to the consent of the governed.” We say the word is dangerously common, because it is generally used in a spirit of ambition for further aggrandizement on that line. Is not this a “sign of the times”? Is it not time to hang out the danger signal—especially as the professed Christianity of the country is not only in the van but is also bringing up the rear in the endeavor to secure greater police power? Shall the people of God deny the power of the Spirit, which the Most High has promised shall abide with them forever, and substitute therefor the weakness of man? God forbid! W. N. G.
“BUILDINGS LEVELED BY A TWISTER.”
By T.
The above is the significant heading in large type of a prominent column in a San Francisco paper of October 3. The article following tells of a cyclone that swept over Stockton, California, breaking down trees, buildings, and everything else that came in its path. The cyclone was accompanied by peals of thunder, and, what was most peculiar, it divided in the course of its progress and became two distinct storms, each part seeming to spread as much havoc as the other.
It has long been the boast of California that we are free here from these terrific storms. Such a thing as thunder is practically unknown in this locality, and the idea of having a cyclone here has been scoffed at. Indeed, it has long been the claim that these terrific whirlwinds were confined to the plains of the upper Mississippi valley. But all these theories are being wonderfully shattered. These great storms are becoming more and more numerous, and they are breaking out in unusual and unthought-of places.
The simple facts are that we are in the last days, and Satan, the prince of the power of the air, is stirring up storms by land and sea so that he may destroy as many as possible. It is only God’s miraculous restraining power that keeps the evil one from sweeping over the whole earth with waste and desolation. For in the Word of God it is foretold that “the earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.” Isa. 24: 19, 20.
How forcibly clear are these prophetic words! “The earth is utterly broken down,” “clean dissolved,” “moved exceedingly,” “reels to and fro like a drunkard.” We see the beginnings of the fulfilment of this prophecy in different parts of the whole earth. But what we have seen is as nothing when compared with what is just ahead of us.
The Lord has foretold what is coming. In numerous scriptures He tells of the perils of the last days, and none of these perils are more to be dreaded than the great storms that the enemy of truth will cause to sweep over the land. And while the Lord foretells the awful destructiveness of these storms in the last days, He also tells of His willingness to save every one from them. Hear the Word of the Lord upon this subject:—
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Ps. 91: 1–11.
Language could not be more assuring, and every one may have the divine protection if he will only accept. T.
