Earlier text: The ChristChapter 1, Verses 5, 6, A.R.V.
1. How has God ordained us? “In love having foreordained us.” Verse 5. Note 1. 2. Unto what has He ordained us? “Unto adoption as sons.” Verse 5. Note 2. 3. Through whom is this ordination carried out? “Through Jesus Christ unto Himself.” Verse 5. Note 3. 4. According to what were we ordained? “According to the good pleasure of His will.” Verse 5. Note 4. 5. To the praise of what? “To the praise of the glory of His grace.” Verse 6. Note 5. 6. How has this grace been bestowed? “Which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” Verse 6. Note 6. Note 1.—“In love having foreordained us.”— We have taken the marginal reading of the last of verse 4 and the first of verse 5. It is true that we should be holy and without blemish before Him in love, but it seems to us that it is more necessary of emphasis to say, as the margin reads, that “in love” He has “foreordained us.” It has been with no hate, or indifference even, that God has marked out, or predestinated, His children. God is love, and all that He has wrought for us, or marked out for us, or marked us out for, has been in love. “Never careless hand, and vain,
Smiles these cheeks of joy and pain;
No immortal selfishness
Plays the game of curse and bless:
Heaven and earth are witnesses
That Thy glory goodness is.” Note 2.—“Unto adoption as sons.”— This tells us the object of His love. It gives the lie to the old black theology born in the despair of heathenism, that God foreordained men to destruction. His foreordination only takes in that which is good; His call, His invitation, is broad enough to include every soul who will, and those who will not, take themselves out of God’s great plan. God foreordained, predestinated, marked us out, to be sons of the Most High. There can be no higher call, no greater station, and it is eternal. How gladly we ought to submit to such a foreordination as that to which He calls every soul who is capable of responding to a call. 3. “Through Jesus Christ unto Himself.”— We have the channel, or agent; we have the ultimate object. The ultimate object of His foreordination is to bring us “unto Himself,” children “unto Himself” in character, in holiness, without blemish, “unto Himself” “in love,” “unto Himself” in the giving out of that love to all around us on every side. We could not be God’s children and be selfish. We can not be the effectual recipients of His love without giving that love in return. In other words, we can not receive that love into our lives without bestowing love upon others, and love does not diminish by the giving; it grows in its bestowing. And Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, is the One through whom the Father gathers to Himself the children of earth. It is not Father against Son, nor Son against Father, it is both working together for the good of earth’s children. 4. “According to the good pleasure of His will.”— If mere deity should say that it is according to the pleasure of his will, the deities which men have worshiped have had evil pleasure. Some of them are pleased to devote men to destruction, but it is not simply the pleasure of the will of a deity,—it is the good pleasure of the will of Him who is love; and so God’s pleasure it is that has marked us out and adopted us through Jesus Christ. God’s will is expressed in His holy law; His holy law is the standard of character which He requires, and in His own choice and by His own pleasure He will bring all those who will yield to His ordination to that character where they will rejoice in the will of God, and will say, like the Psalmist of old, “O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” 5. “To the praise of the glory of His grace.”— We have looked upon some of the marvelous paintings of the world. They were to the praise of Titian, of Raphael, of West, of Bonheur. As long as they remain, they will be to the praise of these artists. We witness some of the noble structures of the world. They are to the praise of the architect who planned them. Yet God is building things more precious than all the structures of this earth. All their beauty combined is not equal to that of one holy character. We can fancy that when the Taj Mahal was built as a tomb for a sleeping queen, the choicest, whitest marble that could be procured in India was chosen for it. But God takes the unpromising material of earth, characters that seem to be utterly ruined by sin, and will make them “to the praise of the glory of His grace,” through love. So that wherever these children of earth shall be seen throughout all eternity, they in their very characters shall tell of God’s goodness, of the influence of His love, and the power of His grace. The devil would have us believe that God does not love us, but we can tell him that He proposes to take us and make us lovable characters through the power of His wondrous grace. 6. “Freely bestowed.”— God’s grace is not something which is doled out stingily; it is not something which we must buy by wealth, or toil, or sacrifice. It does not demand that we should walk hundreds of miles on our hands and blistered and bleeding knees, nor that we should lie for days, or weeks, upon numerous spikes, or wear hair-shirts, or torture ourselves in a thousand imaginable ways. God’s grace is not so purchased. It comes to us because God is love, and it comes freely. He freely bestows it, sinner. We may say that we are unworthy; we are. It is not our unworthiness that moves Him to give us His love. He sees the possibility through His grace of what we may be, and He freely bestows it, bestows it even while we are in sin, in order that He may win us to Himself; and when that time comes that the heart is won, He bestows it even more abundantly, that the old life of sin may be cleansed away, and His own character, holy and without blemish, may shine out in us. Let us carry the thought of the study through the week. The end belongs to God; the choosing of the means, to us. Human wisdom will use means which are intrinsically wrong, thinking that a good end will justify their use, and that a defeat or disaster will be the outcome of the use of good means. This only illustrates man's folly and unbelief. He who uses good means, can leave the result with God. The use of wrong means to accomplish a right result, may seem to promise success, but it will ultimately prove ruinous to him who has committed himself to such a method. Right is always ultimately successful. Wrong is ever ultimately defeated. Korean Christians and the Gospel
“KOREAN Christians are trained to believe that their main business is to live the divine life, and carry the gospel to others.” Brotherly Love
By Ellen G. White
By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.” The more closely we resemble our Saviour in character, the greater will be our love toward those for whom He died. Christians who manifest a spirit of unselfish love for one another, are bearing a testimony for Christ which unbelievers can neither gainsay nor resist. It is impossible to estimate the power of such an example. Nothing will so successfully defeat the devices of Satan and his emissaries, nothing will so build up the Redeemer’s kingdom, as will the love of Christ manifested by the members of the church. Peace and prosperity can be enjoyed only as meekness and love are in active exercise. In his first epistle to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul sets forth the importance of that love which should be cherished by the followers of Christ: “Tho I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And tho I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and tho I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And tho I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and tho I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” No matter how high his profession, he whose heart is not imbued with love for God and for his fellow men, is not a disciple of Christ. Tho he should possess great faith, and even have power to work miracles, yet without love his faith would be worthless. He might display great liberality, but should he from some other motive than genuine love, bestow all his goods to feed the poor, the act would not commend him to the favor of God. In his zeal, he might even meet a martyr’s death, yet if destitute of the gold of love, he would be regarded by God as a deluded enthusiast or an ambitious hypocrite. The apostle proceeds to specify the fruits of love: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not.” The divine love ruling in the heart exterminates pride and selfishness. “Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up.” The purest joy springs from the deepest humiliation. The strongest and noblest characters rest upon the foundation of patience and love, and trusting submission to the will of God. Charity “doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil.” The heart in which love rules, will not be filled with passion or revenge, by injuries which pride and self-love would deem unbearable. Love is unsuspecting, ever placing the most favorable construction upon the motives and acts of others. Love will never needlessly expose the faults of others. It does not listen eagerly to unfavorable reports, but rather seeks to bring to mind some good qualities of the one defamed. Love “rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” He whose heart is imbued with love, is filled with sorrow at the errors and weaknesses of others; but when truth triumphs, when the cloud that darkened the fair fame of another is removed, or when sins are confessed and wrongs corrected, he rejoices. “Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” Love not only bears with others’ faults, but cheerfully submits to whatever suffering or inconvenience such forbearance makes necessary. This love “never faileth.” It can never lose its value; it is the attribute of Heaven. As a precious treasure, it will be carried by its possessor through the portals of the city of God. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace. Discord and strife are the work of Satan and the fruit of sin. If we would as a people, enjoy peace and love, we must put away our sins, we must come into harmony with God, and we shall be in harmony with one another. Let each ask himself, Do I possess the grace of love? Have I learned to suffer long, and to be kind? Talents, learning, and eloquence, without this heavenly attribute, will be as meaningless as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Alas that this precious treasure is so lightly valued and so little sought by many who profess the faith! Paul writes to the Colossians: “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful.” “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” The fact that we are under so great obligation to Christ, places us under the most sacred obligation to those whom He died to redeem. We are to manifest toward them the same sympathy, the same tender compassion and unselfish love, which Christ has manifested toward us. Selfish ambition, desire for supremacy, will die when Christ takes possession of the affections. Our Saviour taught His disciples to pray, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” A great blessing is here asked upon conditions. We ourselves state these conditions. We ask that the mercy of God toward us may be measured by the mercy which we extend to others. Christ declares that this is the rule by which the Lord will deal with us: “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Wonderful terms! but how little are they understood or heeded. One of the most common sins, and one that is attended with most pernicious results, is the indulgence of an unforgiving spirit. How many will cherish animosity or revenge, and then bow before God and ask to be forgiven as they forgive. Surely, they can have no true sense of the import of this prayer, or they would not dare to take it upon their lips. We are dependent upon the pardoning mercy of God every day and every hour; how then can we cherish bitterness and malice toward our fellow sinners! If, in all their daily intercourse, Christians would carry out the principles of this prayer, what a blessed change would be wrought in the church and in the world! This would be the most convincing testimony that could be given to the reality of Bible religion. God requires more of His followers than many realize. If we would not build our hopes of heaven upon a false foundation, we must accept the Bible as it reads, and believe that the Lord means what He says. He requires nothing of us that He will not give us grace to perform. We shall have no excuse to offer in the day of God if we fail to reach the standard set before us in His Word. We are admonished by the apostle: “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another.” Paul would have us distinguish between the pure, unselfish love which is prompted by the Spirit of Christ, and the unmeaning, deceitful pretense with which the world abounds. This base counterfeit has misled many souls. It would blot out the distinction between right and wrong, by agreeing with the transgressor instead of faithfully showing him his errors. Such a course never springs from real friendship. The spirit by which it is prompted dwells only in the carnal heart. While the Christian will be ever kind, compassionate, and forgiving, he can feel no harmony with sin. He will abhor evil and cling to that which is good, at the sacrifice of association or friendship with the ungodly. The Spirit of Christ will lead us to hate sin, while we are willing to make any sacrifice to save the sinner. ONE hears much these days like the following: “Heterodoxy showing kindness is a better thing than orthodoxy manifesting indifference.” “I would rather be a heterodox firebrand than an orthodox icicle.” Why such cheap, specious, not to say senseless flings at orthodoxy? Is orthodoxy indifferent and cold? Is heterodoxy warm and kind? Pshaw! If heterodoxy is a truer, better thing than orthodoxy, then heterodoxy becomes orthodoxy. Heretics, it would seem, are determined to make themselves famous for egotism and nonsense. Suppose these admirers and champions of heterodoxy and despisers and defamers of orthodoxy should say: “Error showing kindness is a better thing than truth manifesting indifference.” But this is what they virtually do say in the foregoing quotation. Suppose they should say: “I would rather be a stone giving nourishment than bread causing chills.” But do stones give nourishment? Does bread give chills? While heterodoxy is prating about its kindness and warmth, orthodoxy is patiently, faithfully, and successfully ministering to the world’s pain, and lifting the world Godward.— Word and Way. Love Across the Ocean
By Maltbie Babcock
I TELL you, fellow Christians, your love has a broken wing, if it can not fly across the ocean.— Maltbie Babcock. The Coming of Our Lord
By J. O. Corliss
Is There Life Beyond the Grave?
This has been a much debated question for many generations, and from many varying standpoints. The operations of nature afford no affirmative answer to the inquiry, but bear positive testimony negatively. In fact, every rule of logic is against it. Must one therefore conclude that the few, short, disappointing years of human life tell the story of eternity’s plan in behalf of man—a creature so highly endowed with comprehensive and inventive faculties as to rank far in advance of every other class of animated beings? This problem was one that an ancient patriarch debated with much clearness. His observation taught him that a man’s days were few and filled with anxiety and care, after which he was cut down, to appear no more among his kind. The great question was next presented, What becomes of him? Was he left as a thing to be forgotten forever, when even the root life of a dumb tree might replace the first growth, hewn down by the woodman’s ax? But nothing of the kind was observable regarding the noble structure of man. When cut down in death, his life is entirely snuffed out, so that no spark is left from which to kindle anew the man that once was. After viewing the question from so many angles, and finding that in some way man had forfeited the last element of life that nature affords even the plants of the forest, he concludes that if man does live after passing off the human stage, it must be through some power outside of himself. So after asking direct the question, “If a man die, shall he live?” his faith settles the point, and he quietly says, as tho talking with God: “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee.” Job 14:1-15. There is, in fact, no other method by which men can be made to live after having once yielded up life. Sin having entered his system, he is deprived of the power of life in himself, because the sin he permitted to find entrance within, became the “sting” of death in the fullest sense (1 Cor. 15:56), thus executing the fiat of Heaven: “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:17). The apostle fully recognized this point, and was therefore led to say emphatically: “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23. Had man not sinned, the element of continued life would have been his forever; but since that privilege was forfeited, life after death can be resumed only as a gift of God through Jesus Christ. Death has ever been recognized as a dreamless sleep from which none have ever awakened except through a special dispensation of God’s grace. More than this, no one who is born into this world has any prospect of perpetuated life beyond the grave, except by virtue of the added life of Jesus Christ. True, Enoch passed on to eternal bliss because “God took him.” Gen. 5:24. Elijah reached the undying state by ascending to the presence of God in a “chariot of fire,” specially prepared for his conveyance thither. 2 Kings 2:11. Moses also took bodily flight from the valley over against Beth-peor, upon being raised from the dead by Michael, who is Christ. Compare Deut. 34:6 and Jude 9 with Dan. 12:1, 1 Thess. 4:16, and John 5:28. But from the words of Christ to Nicodemus, it is clear that all these had received that life which is more than human; for in that interview He plainly stated that “except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3. This requirement demands that a new life, one that has never known the taint of sin, shall, in some mysterious way, known only to the Founder of redemption, be transfused into the needy human soul, in order to restore it to the standing of God’s image, which was lost by sin. This can come only from Him who has “life in Himself” to bestow, and thus become the “everlasting Father,” to those who receive Him and His power of eternal life. This done, and the one yields up the human life which sin demands, the hour comes when “all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.” John 5:28, 29. In view of this positive assertion by the Giver of life for the reward of faith, an inspired apostle attempts to reveal the time and manner of such an event. Writing to a people who, like good old Job, and other ancients, seemed to be troubled about the future of deceased friends, he says: “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” 1 Thess. 4:13, 14. This seems a most natural conclusion when one stops a moment to think of it; for as Jesus has the “power of an endless life” (Heb. 7:16), being “made higher than the heavens” (verses 25, 26), and therefore “continuing ever,” because, as the Son of God, it “was not possible that He should be holden” in death (Acts 2:24), is it not plain that those who are His by faith, and who are to be forever with Him and behold His glory (John 17:24), should also be raised from the dead as was He who is their everlasting Father? This scripture is not intended to convey the idea that those of whom the apostle speaks are already in heaven, and will come from there with Him to earth; but that as He was brought from the grave by the voice of God, so all who share His life by faith, will also be brought forth from their dusty beds along with Him, that is, after the same manner. This thought is confirmed by what immediately follows in the divine exhortation. Thus we read: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [go, or stand before] them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself [not a substitute] shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.” So those who “sleep in Christ” can not be forgotten, from the fact that His sheep hear His voice at that time as well as when they listened to it amid the dead issues of human pilgrimage. John 5:25-29. Quickening power is in that triumphant voice, as it penetrates the very vault of the sleeping ones, and they respond to its demands as in former times. But those who turned a deaf ear to its earlier entreaties, continue in silence, because its summons have ceased to waft anthems of peace to all such. But happy are they whose senses are thus quickened by the benediction trumpet attending the advent of our Lord. These are borne aloft by strong angels to the welcoming arms of Jesus (Matt. 24:31), who sits in mid-heaven, there to hear His invocation of happiness: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matt. 25:34. This gracious benefaction extends not only to those who have awakened from their long sleep to the realization of their earnest faith-hope of human experience, but it includes as well those who live to witness the Lord’s descent from heaven, and exclaim with ecstatic joy at the sight: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isa. 25:9); for these, with the others, are “caught up” to “meet the Lord in the air.” But the best of this prospect is, that all who have part in this last day demonstration will “ever be with the Lord,” and be permitted to bask in the sunshine of His eternal glory. Matt. 13:43. Believing this, why should not one be able to comfort others with such a hope, for there can be no other so thrillingly magnificent and satisfying as this. [The topic of the next article in this series will be the Meaning of Our Lord’s Coming to Sinners, and to His Kingdom. It will be written by L. A. Reed.] QUARRELING.—If anything in the world will make a man feel bad, except pinching his fingers in the crack of a door, it is a quarrel. No man fails to think less of himself after than he did before; it degrades him in the eyes of others, and, what is worse, tends to blunt his sensibilities, and increase his irritability. The truth is, that the more peaceably and quietly we get on, the better for our neighbors. In nine cases out of ten, the better course is, if the man cheats you, to quit dealing with him; if he slanders you, take care to live down his slanders. Let such persons alone, for there is nothing better than this way of dealing with those who injure us.—Hilton. Let Your Light Shine
By Maltbie D. Babcock
MEN are convinced more quickly and certainly by what they see than by what they hear. It is not, “Let your lips speak,” but, “Let your light shine.” The living epistle is not known and heard of all men, but known and read.—Maltbie D. Babcock. “He gives nothing who gives none of himself.” The Law of God
By H. W. Cottrell
The Immutability of the Law
IN our last article, we found the character of the law of God to be perfect. A perfect law expresses the perfect character of the giver of the law, and in the very nature of the Deity, its Giver, it is not even subject to change. The immutability of the law of God is eternally fixed in the perfect, holy, spiritual character of the divine instrument. It being immutable, it is not susceptible to alteration. While the law is perfect, and does perfect work in making known every sin of every nature, yet it is not capable of change, either by increase or decrease. When that document — the moral law of ten precepts — was reiterated by the Lord from the quaking Mount Sinai, that unchangeable emphasis might be placed upon the immutable ten “words” (Deut. 10: 4, margin), He carved them with His own finger in the two tables of rock, and gave direction that His servant Moses place them in the ark of God. “And I will write on the tables the words, . . . and thou shalt put them in the ark. . . . And He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.” Deut. 10: 2-5. “There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there.” 1 Kings 8: 9. Only the law of God written on stone, was placed within the ark of God, that the immutability of the law might be impressed upon His people then and now. Of other commands, statutes, and judgments directing forms of worship, we read, “And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.” Deut. 4: 14. “The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep.” Ex. 34: 18. “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks.” Verse 22. “Thou shalt not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leaven.” Verse 25. “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.” Verse 26. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Write thou these words.” Verse 27. “And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark.” Deut. 31: 9. “And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark.” Deut. 31: 24-26. And this law is called “The law of Moses.” Acts 15: 5. God ordained that His immutable law — the Ten Commandments — have a vivid setting, by contrast with all ceremonial and civil laws, so He wrote His law on tables of stone, and Moses put it in the ark. Moses wrote the law directing forms of worship. He wrote it in a book, and this book of the law was put in the side of the ark. There are three codes of law referred to in the Bible: (1) the moral law of Ten Commandments, which is the law of God; (2) the law directing forms of worship, which is called Moses’ law; (3) the law directing national affairs, which was the civil law of the Jews. The law of God is eternal. The law of Moses ended at the cross of Christ, when type met antitype. Their civil law ended by limitation when the Jews were scattered abroad, ceasing to govern themselves as a nation. The unchangeable Son of God said, “I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Ps. 40: 8. Of the righteous it is said, “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.” Ps. 37: 31. Our heavenly Father, who wrote His law on tables of stone, puts it in the mind and writes it in the heart of each one of His true children, that they may remember not to violate it, and love to obey Him in its requirements. “I will put My laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.” Heb. 8: 10. “I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.” Heb. 10: 16. God has been putting and writing, and He continues to put and write His law in the mind and heart of every one who will permit Him to accomplish His purpose in his life. This work of God through the divine Christ, makes the new man. The law, stamped in the memory and engraved in the heart, establishes unquestionably the immutability of the law of God. “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him.” Eccl. 3: 14. [The next article in this series is entitled “The Eternity of the Law.”] The Inspiration of the Word
1. How are we told that it is the Word, and not man, that is inspired? “Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” 2 Tim. 3: 16, 17. NOTE.— There is really no difference between the Revised Version and the Common Version, altho one says “all scripture,” and the other “every scripture inspired.” The apostle in the verse before defines what scriptures are meant; namely, the scriptures which Timothy himself knew, including all the Old Testament scriptures. The New Testament scriptures were then being committed to writing. “By inspiration of God,” or “inspired of God,” is literally, “God-breathed.” It is the Word that is inspired, not the agent. It does not always demand that the agent himself should be the holiest of men. Sometimes God uses very weak and unworthy instruments to utter His Word. This is manifest through all the history of the giving of the Word. It is also worth while to note that in that Word is found all that the man of God needs for the carrying forward of his work. 2. How does Paul express the thought of the Word which God gave him and other apostles? “Which things also we speak, NOT IN WORDS WHICH MAN’S WISDOM TEACHETH, but which the SPIRIT TEACHETH; combining spiritual things with spiritual words.” 1 Cor. 2: 13. 3. How does David express himself in harmony with Paul? “The SPIRIT OF JEHOVAH SPAKE BY ME, and HIS WORD was upon my tongue.” 2 Sam. 23: 2. 4. And how do the writers of the New Testament regard the words of the ancient singers of God? “The scripture should be fulfilled, which THE HOLY SPIRIT SPAKE before by the mouth of David concerning Judas.” Acts 1: 16. “Wherefore, even as the HOLY SPIRIT SAITH, To-day if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Heb. 3: 7, 8. NOTE.— It is clearly evident that the New Testament writers had no question regarding the inspiration of the Scriptures. They did not say that David thought, or David imagined, or even that David did any particular thing, but that the Spirit spoke through David. They were David’s words, without question, but they were the Spirit’s words also. How frequently do we find in the Old Testament the same thought,—“The Word of Jehovah came to” this prophet, or to that prophet. It was God using men, and speaking through men, like a great master musician who could play on various instruments, bringing sweet and perfect music from them all. That music would bear the stamp of the instrument through which it was produced, but it would also bear with it the character and skill of the man who produced it. 5. How are we assured of this same thought by an apostle? “For no prophecy ever came by the will of man; but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1: 21. 6. How does our Lord show that this inspiration depends upon the very plural of a word itself? “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If He called them gods, unto whom the Word of God came (and the Scripture can not be broken), say ye of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” John 10: 34-36. 7. If the Word, then, comes to us in this way, of what may we be assured? “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth; but the Word of the Lord abideth forever.” 1 Peter 1: 24, 25. “WHAT are we doing? O, for a kindling of apostolic fires on the smoldering altars of the church!” “YET forevermore ring in our ears those words of responsibility and direct rebuke: ‘Go ye.’” Power to Obey God's Commands
“An express command of God implies the power to obey.” God is infinite in every perfection, possessing in Himself all the riches of the universe; and all these infinite perfections He offers to man and asks him to be a partaker of them. All the hoarded love of eternity vibrates in the blessed invitation: “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Rev. 22:17. And this is but the responsive, living echo of the voice from the four living ones about God’s throne, “Come,” “Come,” “Come,” “Come.” Rev. 6:1, 3, 5, 7, A.R.V. Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Dear sinner, why not come now? Persistent Faith
By Adolphe Monod
It always seems to us that the experience of others does not correspond exactly with our own. That which confirmed the woman of Canaan, that which made her conquer, was a resolution to rely upon the Lord and upon His word, whatever might be the consequence; it was an unwillingness to see anything, to hear anything opposed to her faith. Thus was she rendered capable of resisting, not only this trial or that, but all the trials that might come upon her. It was when everything had been tried, exhausted, and when she had been found not only unvanquished, but invincible, it was then that the Lord said to her: “O woman, great is thy faith.” O, if she had lost courage before the close of the combat! if she had abandoned her hope, when there was but one step more to take! Perhaps you are at this very point. One more step—one more effort—one more prayer, and you will be saved. Do not say: It is a year, five years, ten years that I have been praying, and the Lord has not answered me; but say: The Lord can not reject me. Do not say: I have such and such evidence that the Lord will not answer me; but say: The Lord can not refuse me. Arm yourselves, my brethren, with the faith of the woman of Canaan, with a faith that excites His admiration. Say to Him with Jacob: “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.” Lord Jesus, who commandest faith, and who crownest it, Thou art He also who givest it, and who, having given it, increasest it. We believe, Lord, help Thou our unbelief. Lord, increase our faith! Amen.—Adolphe Monod. Practical Humility
By Charles A. Rhodes
In traveling the uncertain paths of life, we all make blunders — some of great, some of less, consequence, both to ourselves and to those with whom we associate daily. True humility, if not a degree of moral courage, is demanded to frankly confess our share in making mistakes. Ofttimes it is so easy to attach the blame to the other fellow, and let him bear the heaviest consequence of the error. We are willing to take the background for the time being, and push the other fellow into the lime-light. Such action is nothing short of moral cowardice, which selfish pride fosters. We all admire frankness and open-heartedness in others’ characters. Shall we not endeavor to cultivate it in our own dispositions, and be frank and courageous enough to “own up” to our part — however small or inconspicuous our part in the error — when such a confession is evidently required to rectify a mistake? The humility that such a course involves, will not only strengthen the confidence of others in our integrity, but broaden and elevate our own characters in nearer conformity to the true character — Jesus Christ. The Strongest Fortress of All
By Delwin Rees Buckner
The nations of this whirlpool world confide
In giant guns that soon must rend or rust:
Or mammoth Dreadnoughts, plated with a crust
Of toughest steel, which menacingly ride,
Like monster bulldogs, on the plastic tide,
And sniff for feather foes in which to thrust
Their lead-filled cannon fangs; or else they trust
In frowning forts where men may better hide.
But I hope not in works of man's own hand,
In which each valiant, sword-armed warrior
boasts—
No matter what his state, his race, or creed.
I have a fortress that will ever stand
Invincible,—the mighty Lord of Hosts
To whom I flee in every time of need. The Clean Record
By Worthie Harris Holden
Before me lies the parchment of the day.
Lo! see it now unroll. An angel hand
Inscribes the thoughts I think, the words I say,
The talents that are waiting my command,
The evil deeds or service for the King,
The gift bestowed in loving ministry,
And every prayer that binds an offering,—
These shall in judgment witness faithfully. Here, as the day advances, every hour
Is traced indelibly by scribe unseen
A final record; for no earthly power
Can alter or efface or render clean.
But when I view my failures, and deplore
The sins, omissions, or the thoughts unsaid,
My Intercessor writes this statement o’er,
“Forgiven,” in the precious blood He shed. So when the parchment, sealed at close of day,
Is stored with all the records kept above,
May I be found within Thy righteous way,
And all my wrongs forgiven by Thy love.
And for the passing records, one by one,
Help me to walk e’en as my Master trod,
Relying on Thy power from sun to sun,
Till home at last I dwell for e’er with God.