Your ShelfYour Projects

Signs of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 33.

THE PRESENT CRISIS
Earlier text: A PARABLE

A LETTER FROM ONE OF OUR MISSIONARIES.

By Editor

Just about the time of our camp meeting in California, a letter came from Brother Elliott Chapman, one of the company who left on our good ship Pitcairn. We have not been able on account of more local matter to find space for it till now; but although a personal letter we are sure extracts of it will be gladly read even at this late date. It was dated Tahiti, April 6, 1892:—
Dear Brother: Since bidding adieu to our many friends in California and casting loose from the physical ties that bind us to our native land, we of the Pitcairn have experienced the guiding hand of an ever-merciful Heavenly Father. We have all enjoyed a reasonable degree of health and strength, and have been kept from the dangers of the sea. Seasickness for a time made life seem miserable, but this unpleasant condition finally wore off, and we are all now able to come to the dinner table, and spend the passing hours of day in profitable employment.
After leaving San Francisco we were favored with a good breeze most of the way until we reached 7° north latitude, where we made little headway for two days. After rolling about there for a while, our sails were once more filled with wind, which carried us across the equator and bore us along to 11° north latitude, where we experienced another calm of about four days. The remainder of our voyage was made with light winds, frequent squalls, and sultry weather.
Sabbath afternoon, February 18, we sighted Pitcairn Island, and bright and early Sunday morning we were greeted by two boat loads of happy islanders, including Elder Gates, who was rejoiced to see us. After nearly thirty-three days on shipboard, we were cheered by a right hearty welcome to the shores of Pitcairn. Our stay on the island will ever be pleasant to look back upon. There were words of cheer and smiling faces wherever we would turn. Our time was spent quite profitably while there, as we had some excellent meetings and received a better fitting up for the work that is before us. While part of our company remained on the island, the Pitcairn sailed over to Mangareva, a neighboring island of the Gambier Group. Elder Gates went along, also Edward Young, in the hope of finding an opening for missionary labor among that people. The natives were much interested, although Catholic influence was so strong that no place was found for a missionary to locate among them at present. This trip to Mangareva occupied three weeks as the wind was very light.
The time for departure from those on the island of Pitcairn came at last. We had learned to love those islanders, because we found in them brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers who were serving the same Master as we. As we all knelt down on the beach and thanked the Lord for the blessings of the past, and sought his guiding hand to be over us as we separated, our hearts were knit together, and we longed for the time to come when such partings will be no more. The setting sun had disappeared beneath the sea, as we once more found ourselves on the deck of the Pitcairn, and bound for Tahiti.
There was scarcely any wind blowing, and as that is our motive power, we made headway slowly, and after six days had passed we were still less than three hundred miles from Pitcairn Island. The sea all around us was smooth and unbroken by a ripple, while we rolled from side to side over the swells that are ever present. Our course to Tahiti lay through the dangerous archipelago where there are a great many small, low islands and reefs. A good breeze came at last and we were carried along past the islands of the Gambier Group on the left, with Maria Island on the right. Wednesday morning, April 5, we sighted the loom of Maitoa in the distance. This is the most easterly of the Society Islands. In the afternoon of the same day the dark shade of Tahiti was seen against the western sky, and with a good breeze we glided up as near as it was safe and lay to for the night. In the evening the pilot came out, but the breeze went down and here we are becalmed within sight of Papeete, where we hope is some mail for us.
A good breeze came up later in the day, and we are now safe in the harbor. Elder Read met us with a quantity of good letters and a hearty welcome. It has been decided for Elder Cole and wife to go to Norfolk, Elder Cady with the ship for the present, and the case of my wife and I is still on the ragged edge of uncertainty. It was decided at Pitcairn that we either go to Nukalofa, Tonga, or to Fiji, but since coming here Elder Read has about persuaded the captain and Brother McCoy to think that we had better stop here.
We are all of good courage and rejoice to find so good news from home.
Your brother in Christ, Elliott Chapman.

LITERARY NOTICES.

By Editor

THE Preachers’ Magazine for June is filled with suggestive topics. A very helpful article is that of Mark Guy Pearse on “Moses: His Life and Its Lessons.” “How to Begin the Study of New Testament Greek,” by Rev. R. Martin Pope, M. A., is another worthy article. In Homiletics are good suggestions on “Christ Sanctified for His People,” “The One Foundation,” etc. Wilbur B. Ketcham, publisher, 2 Cooper Union, New York. Monthly, price, $1.50 per year in advance.
A new magazine asking the favor of the public is McClure’s, published by S. S. McClure, 743 and 745 Broadway, New York, at 15 cents a number, $1.50 per year. The first number (June) is creditable. It is well illustrated, and has some novelties peculiar to itself, such as giving real conversations between noted men, sketches and portraits of noted men at various times in their lives. Among articles of interest are “Wild Animals,” “The Edge of the Future,” (what is said by Edison and Professor Bell), “A Day with Gladstone” (illustrated), “Europe at the Present Moment,” by M. de Blowitz, etc., etc. We do not know why McClure’s will not hold its own among all its older compeers if it goes on as it has begun.
The Californian for July is the Columbian number. “The California Poppy,” by Ina D. Coolbrith; “The Missions of California,” by Laura Bride Powers; “The Ambition of Cleveland,” by R. H. McDonald; “Dawn through the Golden Gate,” by Joaquin Miller, are among the many important and interesting articles. The Californian is the peer of any Eastern magazine. Price, 25 cents.
“Register of the University of California” for 1892-93. Replete with information on the University, its organization, faculty, etc., etc. Address Recorder of the Faculties, Berkeley, Cal.
“The Past and Present Steam Navigation on Long Island Sound” is a pamphlet published by the Providence and Stonington Steamship Company, New York. It is written by Henry Whittemore, author of “History of Steam Navigation in America.” It is profusely illustrated and shows from what beginning the now magnificent steamers, or floating palaces, of Long Island Sound grew.
“Tusculvm Periodicvm Latino-Græcvm” is a serial devoted to the teaching of Latin and Greek, and is designed for students, aiming to teach Latin and Greek as spoken languages. No. 1 contains two lessons each of Latin and Greek. Edited by Rugby Academy, 1415 Locust St., Philadelphia. Single copies, 10 cents.
“The Philosophy of the Real Presence,” by Robert A. Holland, S.T.D., an essay delivered twelve years ago before the Philosophical Society in Chicago. The subject is discussed purely from a speculative standpoint, with the evident desire to make philosophy support an unscriptural dogma. Price, 25 cents. Thomas Whittaker, New York.
“The Illustrated Apocalypse” (new edition revised and enlarged), by Thomas William Greenwell, F.R.S.L. Pamphlet, 50 pp. Price, 25 cents. The Craig Press, 176 and 178 Monroe St., Chicago, Ill. It contains merely a statement of the belief of the author, without proof, and holds to a past, present, and future fulfillment of much of the Revelation. His theory is an accommodating one; in fact, it is an evidently honest desire to harmonize the various schools of interpreters.
“The Siege of Cuatla,” the Bunker Hill of Mexico, is a neatly printed pamphlet giving an address before the New York Historical Society, April 4, 1893, by Walter S. Logan. Interesting in giving Mexico’s struggle for independence. Knickerbocker Press, New York.
“Mortal Man,” a pamphlet of 50 small pages, by A. Easton, being No. 25 of Unity Library, published by Charles H. Kerr and Company, Chicago, Ill. Price of Library $5.00 per year. It is a poem on man, placing him at the beginning as an ignorant, untutored savage, with an ancestry of apes. It is erroneous in philosophy and theology, and indifferent in poetry. Man begins a polynog and ends in nothingness.
From Fleming H. Revell Company, 112 Fifth Avenue, New York, we have received a neatly printed pamphlet of 68 pages, entitled “The Mosaic Record of the Creation Explained, Scripture Truth Verified,” by Abraham G. Jennings. The author takes the same ground as Morris in his “Work Days of God,” that the work recorded in the first verse of Genesis was no part of the six days’ work, and that the six days were literal, and that the work of the six days is described by Moses as it would have appeared to a spectator on the earth. The author’s faith in the verity of God’s word we admire. The author says, “Moses made no mistake in his narrative; it is the scientists who have blundered;” but we opine that the word sometimes suffers as much from its interpreters as from the scientists. The writer sustains the serpent’s falsehood to man in regard to his nature, and endeavors to lay a foundation for Sunday keeping in the account of the institution of the Sabbath. Let God be true in this also, even if it upsets theological as well as geological theories. Price, 20 cents.
“Small Talk about Business.” By A. E. Rice. A banker’s business hints for men and women. Published by Fremont Publishing Co., Fremont, Ohio. Sixty pages. Paper, 40 cents; cloth, 75 cents, by mail, postpaid. Descriptive pamphlet free. This book, as its name indicates, is a talk about business, a banker’s talks to men and women about the common, everyday business affairs of life. It is full of useful ideas for young and old, and is a book that should be on every desk and in every home.
SUNDAY LAWS OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES. A comprehensive collection of laws and decisions regarding Sunday observance, especially useful as a compendium of information. Paper covers, 25 cents. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal.
THE ATONEMENT. Part I, “An Atonement Consistent with Reason.” Part II, “An Atonement as Revealed in the Bible.” Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. Cloth, $1.00.

Our Work and Workers.

"Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters." "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy."

ANGEL HELPERS.

By Viola E. Smith

BY VIOLA E. SMITH.
WHEN temptations crowd our pathway, And our foes are great and strong; When the right seems crushed and helpless, Trampled down by sin and wrong; If we saw the host of angels Sent to help us on our way, Would our courage fail so quickly? Would we yield to dark dismay?
If we could, amid earth's discord, Catch an echo of their song, If we could but know the rapture Of the bright angelic throng, How life's darkest scenes would lighten, And its heavy clouds roll by, While our hearts would chime in chorus With the singers of the sky!
When by friends we are deserted, As our Saviour was of old, And the hearts once warm and tender Have become estranged and cold, If we knew that all around us Hands were stretched to grasp our own, That we were beloved of angels, Would we cry, "Alone, alone"?
Nay; though earth and hell combining Should assail the trembling soul, Leaning on our mighty helpers We are safe from their control; For when trusting Heaven to lead us, Loving ones and wise, to guide— "Who in heaven behold our Father"— Ever linger at our side.

NOT SELFISH.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

“AFTER this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven.” Why are we commanded to say our Father instead of my Father?—Manifestly, because it is not God’s design that any man should make a selfish petition. It shows that God designs his people to be united, and not that each individual should be independent. “No man liveth to himself.” When we pray to God, we are to identify ourselves with the whole body of his people; we are to indicate that we are members of the body, and are to remember them in our petitions. The man who ignores church fellowship, and thinks that he can be as good a Christian outside the church as in it, cannot use the Lord’s prayer; it was not intended for him.—Waggoner.

TO THE WORLD'S FAIR.

Weekly Excursions.

ARE you going? If so, it will be to your interest to call on, or write to, the undersigned before arranging for your trip.
The "Santa Fe Route" being the only line under one management from California to Chicago, we can offer you advantages, for a safe and pleasant journey, unsurpassed by other lines.
It is the only line running Pullman Palace and Tourist sleeping cars through to Chicago, every day, without change, on the same train.
Select Overland Excursions leave every Tuesday, with manager in charge through to Boston. Baggage checked to destination. Steamship tickets sold to and from all European points, via all the popular steamship lines. J. J. Warner, Agent, 972 Broadway, Oakland, Cal., or W. A. Bissell, G. P. A. 650 Market Street, Chronicle Building, San Francisco, Cal.
ANGELS; THEIR NATURE AND MINISTRY. Contains also some hints on the origin, history, and destiny of Satan as gleaned from the Scriptures. Bible Students' Library, No. 8. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. 140 pp.; 20 cents.
CHRIST AND THE SABBATH: Or Christ in the Old Testament and the Sabbath in the New, by Elder James White. Paper covers, fifty-six pages, sent post-paid for ten cents. Address: PACIFIC PRESS, Oakland, Cal.

OUR LITTLE FRIEND

By Editor

An Eight-page Illustrated Weekly Paper for Children.

OUR LITTLE FRIEND is designed to be practically useful. The matter all contains the best moral and religious sentiment. It contains two grades of Sabbath-school lessons on the same subject, one for children nine years old and under, and one for children from nine to fourteen.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.

One copy, one year, postpaid, - - - 50c. Five to nine copies to one address, each, - 45c. Ten copies, and over, each, - - - 40c. Sample copies free.
Address, OUR LITTLE FRIEND, Box 548, OAKLAND, CAL.
BIBLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS CONCERNING MAN. By Alonzo T. Jones. Bible Students' Library, No. 76 Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. 16 pp.; 2 cents.

THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM

By John Harvey Kellogg

Health Foods

To the Public:

This certifies that the Battle Creek Sanitarium Health Foods, manufactured by the Sanitarium under the business name of the Sanitarium Food Co., are made under my direction and supervision, and that Granola and the other special foods manufactured by this company, are not made or sold by any other firm or person except their duly authorized agents. J. H. KELLOGG, M. D.

Granola, = =

The Gem of Health Foods.
Our Granola, which has now been manufactured by us for nearly seventeen years, is unquestionably the finest health food ever devised, and is greatly superior to any of the numerous imitations to which its success has given rise. . . . .
For more than sixteen years the Battle Creek Sanitarium has maintained a Health Food Department, at first for the benefit of its patients and patrons, later, and for more than a dozen years, with increased facilities, to supply the general public. Within the last year MORE THAN 150 TONS of the following-named foods have been manufactured and sold:—
OATMEAL BISCUIT, RYE WAFERS, MEDIUM OATMEAL CR'KERS, FRUIT CRACKERS, PLAIN OATMEAL CRACKERS, CARBON CRACKERS, No. 1 GRAHAM CRACKERS, WHEAT GRANOLA, No. 2 GRAHAM CRACKERS, AVENOLA, Plain Graham Crackers (Dyspeptic), GRANOLA, WHITE CRACKERS, GLUTEN FOOD, No. 1, WHOLE WHEAT WAFERS, GLUTEN FOOD, No. 2, GLUTEN WAFERS, INFANTS' FOOD.
OUR goods are shipped to every part of the world—to Australia, New Zealand, India, Persia, and other foreign countries, as well as to all parts of the United States; and in every instance they have demonstrated their wonderful keeping properties. The following are a few of the hundreds of testimonials received from persons who have for years made use of our foods:
MICHIGAN. I have for three years used the "Health Foods" in my family, and can heartily recommend them, both for purity and health-giving properties. C. F. PORTER, D. D. S.
INDIANA. Your "Health Foods" are the wonder of the nineteenth century. I have used Granola but a short time, but have already experienced relief from indigestion and acid, or flatulent dyspepsia. I also find the Zwiebach nourishing and toothsome. D. M. KAUFFMAN.
NEW YORK. Your Granola is the best selling invalid food I have ever handled. I have already sold nearly two thousand pounds. A. J. BROUGHTON.
CONNECTICUT. We have used your "Health Foods" in our family for three years and cannot get along without them. Having been troubled with dyspepsia and chronic inflammation of the stomach, I found that your Granola, Avenola, Wheatena, and Gluten are the only foods that I can eat with safety. WM. M. MERWIN.
INDIANA. I have personally tested your excellent food known as Granola. It is highly pleasing to the taste, easy of digestion, and the most nutritive cereal production with which I am acquainted. DR. R. W. BULA.
OHIO. Our baby is a testimonial to Sanitarium food. She is ten months old, weighs twenty-eight pounds, and is as ruddy and healthy a specimen as can be seen. She has actually gained flesh while cutting her last two teeth. Her flesh is firm and sound, and she is very strong. FRED L. ROSEMOND.
MINNESOTA. We have twins, and the little fellows are thriving nicely. The food agrees with them perfectly, and I have recommended it to many who are bringing up babies "by hand." D. W. McCOURT.
We are constantly improving our foods, and adding to our list as the result of experimental researches conducted in the Sanitarium Laboratory of Hygiene and our Experimental Kitchen.
FOR THE LATEST DESCRIPTIVE CIRCULAR AND PRICE LIST, ADDRESS

SANITARIUM HEALTH FOOD COMPANY,

BATTLE CREEK, - MICHIGAN.

LESSON II.—SUNDAY, JULY 9, 1893.

PAUL AT PHILIPPI.

[NOTE.—The questions which follow are merely suggestive for the student on the leading points of the lesson; it is presumed that the thorough student will think of many more as he studies the subject. References, where verses alone are given, always refer to the lesson scripture printed above. All other references are given in book, chapter, and verse. The text printed is that of the Revised Version, not because it is especially preferred, but because it is not found in every family, as is the common version.]

Lesson Scripture, Acts 16:16-34.

  1. And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.
  2. The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, which proclaim unto you the way of salvation.
  3. And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
  4. But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
  5. And when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city.
  6. And set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans.
  7. And the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods.
  8. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely;
  9. Who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
  10. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening unto them;
  11. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened; and everyone's bands were loosed.
  12. And the jailer being roused out of sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword, and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
  13. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm; for we are all here.
  14. And he called for lights, and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas,
  15. And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
  16. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.
  17. And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house.
  18. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately.
  19. And he brought them up into his house, and set meat before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.
Golden Text.—"Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved." Acts 16:31.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

  1. How did Satan first oppose Paul and Silas at Philippi? Verses 16, 17.
  2. What effect did it have on Paul? and what did he do? Verse 18. Note 1.
  3. What did her masters do? and why? Verse 19.
  4. What charge did they make? Verses 20, 21. Note 2.
  5. How did people and rulers regard this charge? Verse 22. Note 3.
  6. What did they do to Paul and Silas? Verses 23, 24.
  7. What did these men of God do under this sore affliction? Verse 25. Note 4.
  8. How was God's power manifested? Verse 26.
  9. How was the jailer saved from self-destruction? Verses 27, 28. Note 5.
  10. What effect did this manifestation of God's power, and the attitude of Paul, have upon the jailer? and what question did he ask? Verses 29, 30.
  11. What answer was given? Verse 31.
  12. What followed the preaching of the word of God? Verses 32, 33. Note 6.
  13. Why did he receive the apostles so generously and rejoice so greatly? Verse 34.
  14. How much is comprehended in believing in Christ? John 14:6. Note 7.

NOTES.

1. Paul being sore troubled.—This poor slave was doubtless possessed of a demon. Jesus would not allow the demon to confess him (Mark 1:34), because it was no benefit to his mission to be confessed by such characters. It was so with Paul. The people would get the idea that the spirit of his message was the same as that possessing the poor girl. He was therefore troubled, and God by his power rebuked the evil spirit. Satan's opposition to the cause of Christ is better than his friendship.
2. Trouble our city.—The real cause of the complaint was that their unjust, ungodly gains were gone; but this they knew would not stir up the people, so they appealed to their prejudice through their religious customs. Every act of the Roman almost was connected with his religion through State law; Christianity was against the Roman religion. The city was troubled because of sin. The truth of God does not make men sinners, but it shows their real condition. Then follows trouble. Those who believe find peace in the gospel; those who reject go on to greater trouble, the cause of which is within instead of in that which revealed the cause.
3. Multitude . . . magistrates.—The slave owners stir up the people, and the popular clamor moves the magistrates. Pilate would not have condemned Christ had he not feared the mad, thoughtless mob, stirred up by the priests. The magistrates probably would not have "shamefully entreated" Paul and Silas if it had not been for the people. The Congress of United States would not have committed itself to religious legislation on the Sunday question last year if it had not been for the people.
4. Praying, etc.—Note, they were stripped by the magistrates and scourged by the lictors on their bare backs, and thrown into the damp, dark, underground prison. Their feet were fast in the stocks, and the only way they could rest except in a painful sitting posture was prone on the lacerated back. They first prayed, committed themselves to God. They were his; it was his work, and he knew all about it. Then they sang praise for his goodness, for he was with them in the cell. It was a new thing to the jailers. Let praise be ever joined with prayer.
5. Do thyself no harm.—When there was no hope for the jailer, the servant of God escaped, and the guards were slain, not of God, but by the tyrant king, who in slaying them rejected God's power. At Philippi the jailer is to be saved, and the prisoner remains. It must have seemed a strange thing to the jailer,—the singing, praying prisoner, the supernatural power, and the prisoner's kindness to him. His heart was broken.
6. Baptized.—The jailer's whole household believed, because only those who believe are proper subjects of baptism. Baptism is an expression and profession of faith in Christ; it is the marriage ceremony which unites the believer with Christ. As all were baptized, all believed.
7. The Way and the Truth and the Life.—Such Christ declares himself to be; all the fullness of God dwells in him. To accept Christ is to accept him for all,—the way to God as laid down in his word, the truth of God as declared in that word, and the life of God as offered and contained in that word. He who professes to accept of Christ and yet rejects one of his commandments, one obligation of that word, rejects Christ. "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness"—right doing.

Lesson II.—Sabbath, July 8, 1893.

THE GREAT SALVATION. 1 PETER 1:10-16.

REVIEW QUESTIONS.—(a) What does faith do for us? (b) What is the character of the joy which it gives? (c) What graces are connected with this faith? (d) What is its end?

I. What the Prophets Revealed.

Verses 10-12: "Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Ghost sent forth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into."
  1. Who before us sought diligently of the salvation in Christ?
  2. Of what did they prophesy?
  3. Does this mean that the prophets did not know of God's salvation and grace? Note 1.
  4. Why did they search their own writings?
  5. What point did they especially search to know? Note 2.
  1. To what did the Spirit through their writings testify?
  2. What did God reveal in answer to their inquiries?
  3. Through what power is the gospel truly preached?
  4. What other beings desired to look into these things? Note 3.
# II. Practical Applications. Verses 13-16: "Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance; but like as he which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy."
  1. In view of what God has thus revealed, what should we do? Note 4.
  2. Like whom should we act?
  3. Against what are we admonished?
  4. After whom should we be fashioned?
  5. How is it possible for us to be holy? Note 5.
# NOTES. 1. Sought and Searched Diligently.—The holy men of old certainly knew the salvation of Christ personally. (See Gen. 49:18; Ex. 15:2; Ps. 9:14; 51:12.) The whole inspired psalmody of Israel breathes of the salvation of God, both present and future. Yet they did not understand the plan of salvation in its fuller development, as did and do those of the Christian era. This is expressly declared in the Scripture (verse 12), in the prophets themselves (Dan. 12:4, 9), by Christ (Matt. 13:16, 17), by the apostles (Rom. 16:25, 26; Eph. 3:5); but this understanding of what they wrote for generations future was not necessary, for God by his Spirit spoke through them things which they did not know nor understand. They were the instruments; it was the Spirit of Christ which was in them that testified, not the prophets themselves. The Spirit of God knows the mind and thoughts of God (1 Cor. 2:11), and therefore it was necessary that the Spirit of God must give the words which should convey the thoughts of God to future generations (2 Sam. 23:2; see also 1 Cor. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:2). Paul says that he spoke in the words which the Holy Ghost taught (1 Cor. 2:13); and again, that the holy writings were themselves "given by inspiration," or "God-breathed" (2 Tim. 3:16); and Peter declares that holy men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21). In all cases in Scripture it is the word which is exalted, not the man; in the wisdom of the world it is ever the man which is exalted above the word. 2. Time.—We are often told that prophetic time is nothing. But the prophets of old searched not only "what time," that is, just how long, but the "manner of time," whether literal or symbolic. They were anxious to know what God meant by the words spoken through them. As they spoke for us, how much more anxious we should be. 3. Angels desire to look into.—It is a wonderful thought that on this little world is being wrought out God's wondrous mystery, the fullest manifestation of his divine attributes, and that through fallen man who connects with God, namely, the church of Christ, the inhabitants of heavenly worlds receive knowledge of God's wonderful plan. The gospels reveal how anxious were the angels in the work of Christ at the time of his first advent (Luke 2:9-14; Matt. 4:11; 26:53); they reveal to us that at that time was the judgment (literally crisis) of this world (John 12:31); that the controversy between Christ and Satan at that time reached its climax; that Satan and his angels were conquered by the power of Christ (Rev. 12:7-9; Luke 10:18); and in that triumph for his people and church the purity and power of Christ's love for his creatures were revealed to angels as never before (Eph. 3:10, Revised Version), causing them to raise the song of praise and rejoicing recorded in Rev. 12:10, and the song of triumph which heralded the conqueror home (Ps. 24:7-10). Upon this point take also the following— The Lord Jesus is making experiments on human hearts through the exhibitions of his mercy and abundant grace. He is effecting transformations so amazing that Satan, with all his triumphant boasting, with all his confederacy of evil united against God and the laws of his government, stands viewing them as a fortress impregnable to the sophistries and delusions. They are to him an incomprehensible mystery. The angels of God, seraphim and cherubim, the powers commissioned to cooperate with human agencies, look on with astonishment and joy that fallen men, once children of wrath, are through the training of Christ developing characters after the divine similitude, to be sons and daughters of God, to act an important part in the occupations and pleasures of heaven.—Ellen G. White.
4. Revelation of Jesus Christ.—Note the marginal reading: "Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is being brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Note, that the "girding" is not a single act, but a constant work, a binding up with the truth of God (Eph. 6:14), as that truth is constantly revealed in the onward path of the Christian (Phil. 3:15, 16). And note also that this grace is not all future, but is constantly flowing from a full fountain to which we have access by faith (Rom. 5:2), as Christ is revealed to us more and more in his word; for to the faithful Christian student of the word is constantly revealed new manifestations of the glory of the Master (2 Cor. 4:6), which will increase from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18), until the day of the revealing of the glory of his presence (2 Thess. 1:7, 10; 3:8), when his people shall be made like him (Phil. 3:20, 21; 1 John 3:2).
5. Be ye. . . . Ye shall be.—There is both command and declaration, both precept and promise. See Lev. 19:2. God commands impossibilities for us of ourselves. He says, "Be ye holy;" but of ourselves we have no holiness about us. "We are all as an unclean thing, and [even] all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6); but as he who called us is holy, so he called us in our uncleanness to holiness (1 Thess. 4:7; Eph. 1:4); Christ sanctified, or made holy, himself that we might be holy (John 17:19), and those who submit to him he cleanses from all their pollution and gives a new heart and new spirit (Eze. 36:25-27), created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24); and being made free from the power of sin, we have, by God's grace, fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life (Rom. 6:22), so the expression, "Ye shall be holy, for I am holy," is a pledge of God's holiness and power, that, if we will but submit to him, we shall be established unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 3:13). Our part is to submit to God's plan, to yield to his holy conditions; God, by the Spirit of holiness and his word, does the work.
6. Word Studies.—"Sufferings of Christ" (verse 11), margin, literally, "unto Christ;" that is, destined for Christ. "The glories," plural, showing the successive manifestations of Christ's glory, like the resurrection, ascension, priesthood, and second coming. "Desire" (verse 12), meaning intense desire. See Luke 22:15; 15:16. "Girding" (verse 13), suggested perhaps by the binding around of the loose Eastern robes preparatory to running or fighting. Christ calls to a pilgrimage, to active service. "Be sober," better "being sober," a continued state of self-control. "Not fashioning" yourselves after the changeable world or vile lusts (Rom. 12:2), but "after the Holy One which called you" (margin), the Unchangeable.

RELIGIOUS.

—Since 1865 the colored Baptists in the United States have increased from 400,000 to 1,400,000.
—The Moravian Church has assumed permanent control of the Protestant Lepers' Asylum at Jerusalem.
—The General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church has decided that members may be excommunicated for “lascivious dancing.”
—The name of the American Home Missionary Society has been changed to the Congregational Home Missionary Society, in compliance with the condition of the $150,000 bequest of a Mr. Stickney, of Baltimore.
—This suggestive item appears in the New York Independent: “Within forty years fourteen Episcopal congregations below Fourteenth Street, in this city, have been given up or moved up town. Within that time the Roman Catholics have gained as many in the same district.”
—Monsignor Satolli, apostolic delegate in the United States, is on an extended trip to the North Pacific Coast. From St. Paul he will ride in the sumptuous private car of President Hill, of the great Northern Railroad, and will be accompanied by Mr. Hill and Archbishop Ireland.
—Bishop K. H. Gezvonsheel, special envoy of the king of Sweden to the Swedish-Lutheran Synod recently in session at Rock Island, Illinois, is making a tour of the Pacific Coast. The Synod requested him to use his influence in hindering the work of Mormon missionaries in Sweden.
—It is said that all the Catholic bishops of Ireland have joined in a memorial to the English Government to close all the saloons on Sunday and early Saturday night.
—The Jewish Exponent aptly remarks: “Now that the Presbyterian General Assembly has pronounced against enlistment in the United States Army, and another Presbytery, less prominent, against voting, Christian Speakers will have to let up on their use of Christianizing and nationalizing as synonymous.”
—The Sunday Rest League is making progress in France. One of the largest dry goods establishments, “Le Louvre,” recently sent out ten thousand circulars to as many lady customers, asking if they would consent to not receiving goods on Sunday. The answer “Yes,” was almost unanimous. Other business houses are following the example.
Continue reading: SECULAR