Signs of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 32.
IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YEPage 2
Earlier text: IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YEThe Sabbath
By Worthie Harris Holden
Again the evening hours draw on,
And six days of the week are gone;
Perplexities are tucked away
To sleep through all the Sabbath day,
The wheels of daily toiling cease
In reverence for this day of peace,
And thoughts unfettered soar above
To view the greatness of God's love. The chorus of the universe
Their great Creator's power rehearse;
For all the seraphs of the sky
Their Holy, holy, holy, cry,
And dwellers of the planets laud
The glory of the Mighty God,
While saints of earth their voices raise
In solemn prayer and hymns of praise. Now Israel afar and near
United in His courts appear,
To learn new truths at Jesus' feet,
And bow before the mercy-seat;
Then 'neath her vaulted canopy
They witness Nature's ecstasy.
So golden hours find sweet employ
In Sabbath rest and sacred joy. Sublime the holy Sabbath day!
Too swift its moments pass away!
Its weekly benediction blest
Imparts a glimpse of heaven's rest;
For all who from their works refrain,
The blessed rest of God obtain.
And still the earth renewed shall see
The Sabbath kept eternally. A Spiritual Autobiography—I
By J. A. L. Derby
THE purpose of this article, and a few others to follow, is to give a brief account of how the writer, once an unbeliever, and willing to be a disbeliever if evidences warranted it, came to accept the Ten Commandments as the epitome of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I say unbelief, and not disbelief; for on arriving at mental manhood, I found that what I had believed on matters of religion up to that time, was the result of hearsay—I had never really investigated them for myself. I had not rejected evidence, nor did I. What I did do, was simply, after a careful examination of my notions of religion, to admit candidly to myself that I had not thought largely enough on the existence of God, the inspiration of the Bible, or the divinity of Christ, to entitle me to an opinion on those subjects. On taking an inventory of the theological doctrines to which I had been giving assent, I found, among other ideas, belief in the existence of God, in the truth of the Bible, in justification by faith in Jesus Christ, in the immortality of my soul, in an eternally flaming hell of brimstone, and in the Decalogue as man's perfect rule of life. This, I think, will be considered a fair creed; but for myself I was compelled to admit that my faith in any of these dogmas was nothing but a superstition. I had not examined the evidences of their truth. I had no reasonable belief. Therefore I resolved on unbelief of everything I had not proved. I think I was honest. Whatever maturer wisdom may judge of my resolve, I thought I was consistent. Whether short-sighted or not, I reasoned that it was foolish, if not dangerous, to act on beliefs for which I was not certain I had good foundation. To trust strangers is frequently to fall a prey to confidence men. Furthermore, I am sure I was not biased. I had no prejudice for or against these doctrines. I was not convinced; but I was willing to be convinced if proof could be found. In the meantime, my attitude toward them was one of deference and respect. However, I firmly decided to reject them should investigation show them to be baseless. I omit details of how I became convinced of the existence of God. I will say only that in considering the arguments offered by natural and rational theology, I concluded that most of them are unnecessary. One proof towers above all the others—the proof of prophecy fulfilled. That affords proof, not mere evidence. No reasonable man can elude it. The next question I pondered was, If God made a revelation to man, could the latter recognize it as such? That was easily answered even from a rational standpoint; for to say that the infinite—nay, a very finite—God could not make Himself understood, would be absurd. An infinite God must be infinite in resources. This settled, another problem arises: Is the Bible such a revelation? There may be several avenues of approach to the solution of this; but mine was by way of Jesus as the fulfilment of many prophecies, and through a study of a small book on Christian evidences. In speaking of Jesus as coming in fulfilment of numerous prophecies, it must not be understood that I first accepted them as inspired. Not at all. I picked up a book called the Bible, which many people claim is inspired. In it I found many things claiming to be prophecies concerning future events, and especially concerning a person to appear on earth. In one place that book called this man "the Messiah," and said that he would appear at the end of a certain number of years, beginning with 457 B.C. Even the Higher Critics and skeptics admitted that this prediction was in existence 160 years B.C. Five Corroborative Histories
In five histories dealing with certain events at the end of the years mentioned above, I found convincing evidence that a man did appear at just that time, claiming to be the Messiah foretold, and, more remarkable still, meeting the specifications of not less than three hundred twenty-five other predictions in the same book. Juries Have Not Such Strong Evidences
I have noticed that most juries, when trying men for murder, are satisfied to hang a man on half a dozen strong circumstantial evidences. The jury do not believe them to be mere coincidences. In view of that fact, I felt that three hundred and twenty-five predictions, uttered at various times during a thousand years or so, and by persons between whom collusion was impossible, made a very strong case. I felt, I say, that the probability of those predictions' happening was about in the ratio of the product of the numerator to the product of the denominator of 1/2 multiplied by itself three hundred twenty-five times. No, the probability against their merely happening was too great. But they did occur, and that as foretold. Therefore they did not happen. In other words, they were ordered by the God of prophecy, and the person in whom they were fulfilled was the Messiah and whatever else those prophecies claimed he would be. The notion that these prophecies had been given by an infinite devil, was wholly excluded by their character. Now, according to these foretellings, the man who should thus come, was to be nothing less than God Himself in human flesh. There was for me no escape from the logic of this situation. He came. He was God. If He had a message for men, I must accept it. I tested my five histories mentioned above. I must be satisfied of their substantial accuracy. Cæsar wrote his "Commentaries" more than a hundred years before the first of these histories appeared; yet no informed man doubts the practical accuracy of Cæsar's narrative as we have it to-day. Much less can an impartial investigator doubt that the histories coming to us under the names of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are substantially correct and true. The question of the inspiration of these writings may be an important one, but it never appealed thus to me. Truth was strong enough to satisfy both my reason and my conscience. I may as well admit also that whether or not the books were actually written by the persons whose names they bear, is a matter I have never felt the need of devoting study to. It is sufficient for me to know that they are true or even as true as Cæsar's "Commentaries" or Sallust's "Conspiracy of Catiline." On this point I was very much assisted in reaching a conclusion by the little book mentioned above, on Christian evidences. It is by Prof. George P. Fisher, of Yale. It will be seen that by this time I had made four important steps in reasonable faith: I believed in God, I accepted certain writings (not the whole Bible, of course) as a revelation from Him, I was convinced that Jesus is the Christ, and I was satisfied of the substantial truth of the Gospels and the book of Acts. My Relation to Him Concerned Me
The matter next impressing me as calling for a definite opinion was my relation to the Man Christ Jesus. I read my histories. I found His claims absolute. Loyalty to Him is the essence of all righteousness. But surely loyalty to the law of God as taught before His time stands first. Not now. His demands are first. He is supreme Master and Lord. Loyalty to Him first of all—yea, before I know what He will command me. Is He God on earth? Then "Follow Me" demands my instant and unquestioning obedience—yes, tho His next word annul every obligation in the Old Testament. From Him as my ultimate Authority I must now learn my duty—not in part, but all of it. "Ye call Me Master and Lord; and ye say well; for so I am." John 13:13. "Moses truly said unto the fathers, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; Him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever He shall say unto you." Not only so, but it is a life and death matter; for, "it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not7 hear that Prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people." Acts 3:22, 23. To this evidence I yielded. To Jesus Christ I avowed allegiance come what would. Aye, tho the unfolding of His will should lead me into the Church of Rome, into faith in Mohammed, or into the creed of Mormonism, Jesus was to be my leader. But no such opposition between His teachings and the Old Testament did I find. Into no such strange folds did He lead me. I found that He spoke often of sin, tho He never seemed to think definition of it necessary. During the whole time of His preaching, He seemed to take it for granted that everybody knew what sin is. He in no way indicated that men first became sinners by failure to heed His words, or that when He spoke He set up a new test of what sin is. Therefore in seeking to know whether I was a sinner or not, I found that I must accept as He accepted some already existing test of sin and standard of righteousness. What that standard is, was not far to search. "And, behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And He said unto him, . . . If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments;" and that by "the commandments" He meant the Decalogue, is shown by His quoting several of its commandments to identify His reference. Let it be noted that the keeping of this law is explicitly stated by Christ to be the condition on which we receive eternal life. Then why does Jesus seem to be anxious primarily that we accept Him? "God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Are there, then, two conditions of eternal life, either of which will do without the other?—Not so. A sinner can not keep a righteous law; but a forgiven sinner, with the Holy Spirit in his heart, thus obtains power to keep that law. It is evident, therefore, that the Ten Commandments, spoken by God Himself from Sinai’s top, written by Him on enduring stone, and preserved by themselves in the sacred ark, are recognized by Jesus as the divine summary of all God’s requirements. Having reached this conclusion, I found it necessary to clear up my ideas on some other points connected with the Decalogue. These I will explain in subsequent articles. "Not All Sleep"
By F. A. Lashier
[These verses came to us from Brother Lashier about three months ago, accompanied with an earnest Christian letter. A few days ago we were shocked to learn of his death. Tho he is not among those who shall not sleep, we believe he will be among those who shall wake at the Master's coming. Ed. S. of T.] The silver cord may not be loosed,
Nor e'er the bowl at fountain break,
For our dear Lord is soon to come,
To gather all for His dear sake. The failing eye, grown dim with age,
May not be closed in death's long sleep,
Nor tearful mourners gather here
Around the silent bier to weep. This earthly house may never fall,
As falls the old decaying tree,
For living saints will all be changed
To life and immortality. So let us wait, and watch, and pray,
With lamps well trimmed and garments white,
The task assigned by Him well done,
Prepared to join the hosts of light. Our Saviour and Lord
By George W. Reaser
Christ as Our Great High Priest
ONE of the most marvelous things relative to Christ is the large number of offices that He fills, each in absolute perfection. For this reason, at least fifty appropriate titles have been conferred upon Him. Each title that He bears has a special and beautiful significance, either in His nature, or in His character, or because of some experience through which He has passed, or of some high office that He has filled or is yet to fill. Seldom does a member of our human family fill one office perfectly, but Jesus excels in qualifications for His offices, and also in the execution of their functions. The universe constantly feels the vitalizing influence of His executive ability. Each office that He fills, each special experience through which He has passed in creating worlds, in putting down rebellion, in redeeming humanity, each work accomplished by His voluntary humiliation and triumph over sin, Satan, and death, justly entitles Him to be crowned with honor, power, glory, majesty. Thus it is that we appropriately sing, "Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne." Our allotted space will not permit a consideration of each of the offices that He fills, nor of the titles that He bears. We have briefly considered Him as Creator, Michael, Prophet, Teacher, Example, Sacrifice, and Saviour, and future articles will consider Him as "our Judge" and "our King." We will briefly notice two other offices bestowed upon Him by Jehovah. One of these is "antitypical priesthood;" the other, "priesthood forever after the order of Melchizedek." The latter of these two offices is conferred upon Christ by an oath of Jehovah; therefore special importance must attach to it. Each of these offices is entirely separate and distinct. In the first He was the antitype of the Aaronic priesthood, the great Sacrifice of the sacrificial system connected therewith. In the second He is Adam’s successor, redeeming Adam’s failure, and thus succeeding to the position once held by Adam as head of the whole family of earth. "God’s remedy for the havoc wrought by the first Adam is Christ, the last Adam (the Melchizedek), in whom all the purposes of God in the creation of man will be fulfilled, and in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen." His high-priesthood as the antitype of the Aaronic order is but an incident in the drama of sin. His priesthood "after the order of Melchizedek" is eternal. With the close of His mediatorial work as intercessor for sinners, He will disrobe as high priest antitypical of the Aaronic order, and immediately put on the vestments and crown of kingly authority which pertain to His office as Melchizedek. Altho He became the antitypical priest after the Aaronic order, He was never a priest in the Aaronic order, being of the tribe of Judah (Heb. 7:13, 14); but as Adam’s successor He stepped into the Melchizedek order after the triumph of Calvary, by which He redeemed Adam’s failure. That Inspiration makes a clear distinction between these two orders is evident from the following words: "If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood [or Aaronic], . . . what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron?" Heb. 7:11. Doubtless the chief points of distinction between the two offices are that one, the Aaronic, is temporary, pertaining to a sacrificial system, and entirely without anything pertaining to kingship; while the other, the Melchizedek, is eternal, not connected with a sacrificial system, and the possessor of the title must be a king and eventually possess an eternal kingdom. In one order men are constituted priests without an oath; in the other, by an oath of Jehovah. Heb. 7:20, 21. The Levitical system pointed to Christ as Sacrifice and Mediator for sinful men, but there was nothing in it typical of kingship. Each sacrifice slain and placed upon the altar by the Levitical or Aaronic priest was typical of Christ; while the Levitical high priest, clad in robes pontifical, symbolized Christ as the sinless but sin-bearing Mediator. In the Melchizedek order, Christ is not a substitute for the sinner, nor a sin-bearer, but rather a triumphant priest-king. We approach this theme with due reverence, for in its investigation we are to tread on holy ground. We concede also the mystery in which the office of Christ as "a priest after the order of Melchizedek" has for ages been enshrouded; but we most sincerely believe — and therein do we greatly rejoice — that this gospel "mystery" of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, but "which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ," is now revealed by His Spirit, through His Word, for the exaltation of Christ, and thus for the edification of "the church of the First-born." God’s Original Plan for Our World
To reach a correct conclusion as to what is comprehended in the office of priesthood in the Melchizedek order, it will be necessary to consider the question, "What was God’s original plan for our world?" "Whatever that plan may have been, it will eventually be carried to completion, notwithstanding the incident of sin, which for a few millennia (a few days with God) has seemed to defeat it, for none of God’s plans can ultimately fail."8 Jehovah’s perfect plan for our world contemplated a sinless and deathless family to fill properly the whole earth, with Adam as the head, the chief representative, the everlasting father-priest, and the king of the universal family of earth. The very first commission given to Adam was, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Gen. 1:28. The replenishing of the earth with the posterity of Adam could have no other meaning than to fill it with his offspring, organized into individual family units. That this was God’s plan, and that it will ultimately carry, is proved by these prophetic words: "Thy people shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified." Isa. 60:21. God knew that the happiest possible relationship is that of the family. Hence instead of filling the world with created beings, He gave the privilege to the first created pair to replenish the earth with their own children, to be the universal and eternal family of the earth. Had it not been for the disloyalty of Adam, the calamity of sin, and consequent death, he would still be the living, representative priest-king of our world, going betimes, with other sons of God by creation, into the presence of the Creator to worship before Him and to attend His councils, as do the unfallen sons of God. Job 1:6; 2:1. But by the fall, Adam forfeited his representative right, lost his preeminent position, his priest-kingship, his life, and the territory of his future kingdom. Nevertheless Jehovah’s plan for our world can not fail. Its failure would seal the doom of the organized universe; for if rebellion could enter and thwart His purpose in one world, it could do likewise in another, and thus all worlds might revolt from the government of heaven. But the Creator must possess power to fashion all things according to "His own will." To insure the success of His plan, help was laid upon One who is "mighty to save," and "who will save to the uttermost." With the overthrow of sin in our world, and the completion of God’s plan,—filling it with a family "all righteous,"—the calamity of universal rebellion will forever be averted. To redeem the failure of the first Adam, the Son of God must come into our world on the same plane upon which man was created. He must be made "in all things like unto His brethren." In making this condescension, and by the triumph of Calvary redeeming the failure of "the first Adam," Christ became "the last Adam." When He had thus triumphed, He took the position lost by the first Adam, not for the brief period of His earth life, but to all eternity. In taking Adam’s place, He became all to this world that Adam would have been had he not failed. Adam’s eternal loss, by his failure, was representation in the councils of heaven, everlasting fatherhood, high-priesthood to the whole family of earth, and eternal kingship. Christ’s sinless and sin-conquering life, and the triumph of Calvary, redeemed Adam’s failure; and thus all the offices held by Adam, being won by Christ, were conferred upon Him. All that is involved in these offices is embodied in the definition of the title "Melchizedek." The resistless logic of this forces upon us the conclusion that Adam was "a priest after the order of Melchizedek," and that the official title "Melchizedek" was won by Christ as Adam’s successor, having redeemed his failure. Definition of "Melchizedek"
When Jehovah bestows an official title, it invariably signifies in its root meaning the office of the person upon whom the title is bestowed. Recognizing this absolutely universal rule in the bestowal of God-given official titles will give us a positively certain clue to the official position held by Christ in becoming, by the oath of Jehovah (Ps. 110:4), "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." Therefore, to discover the office held by Christ as a priest after the order of Melchizedek, our first avenue of approach should be to seek for the signification of the term "Melchizedek." If we first discover the meaning of the title, and then learn how Christ came into possession of it, we will know exactly what office He will fill, what position He will hold when the oath of Jehovah making Him a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek goes into full effect; and, incidentally, we will also learn the character of the offices held by each member of the order of the Melchizedek priesthood. Whither shall we pursue our search? Happily Inspiration has taken special pains to help us on this point. In the inspired definition of the title, and in the Scriptural specifications pertaining to both Christ and Melchizedek, we find that each is a priest forever of the Most High God, and each a king of righteousness and a king of peace. The inspired interpretation of the title also portrays the character of Christ as well as of each priest in the Melchizedek order. The primary definition of "priest" is "father," and secondary, "representative." God’s eternal purpose for our world—vested in Adam—was exactly the things included in the definition of the term "Melchizedek;" namely, father and representative of the whole family of earth, and eventually to be its eternal king of righteousness and of peace. Every Bible student will concede that Christ became "the last Adam" (1 Cor. 15:45) by redeeming the failure of the first Adam, and thus He became to our human family all that the first Adam was, or in God’s plan was to become. And inasmuch as the title "Melchizedek" signifies exactly what Adam was, and, in the plan of God, was to be to our world, so, Adam having failed, and Christ having redeemed his failure, when the title "Melchizedek" was conferred upon Christ by the oath of Jehovah, that title carried with it, in its definition, all that Adam was or was to be to our human family, and bestowed the same upon Christ, "the last Adam." Thus when Jesus received the title "Melchizedek," or "priest after the order of Melchizedek," He simply took Adam’s position as our "everlasting Father," our representative, our High Priest, our eternal King. With this discovery, how naturally are our minds carried forward by the prophetic Word to the time when, behold, "a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. . . . And this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer. 23:5, 6), which is equivalent to "Melchizedek, king of righteousness and king of peace." If this priesthood was composed of an "order" before Christ stepped into it—and it was—then it is certain that there must have been a group or class of high priests to compose the order; and if so, how may we determine the nature of the office held by each member of the order? The simplest, most logical, most conclusive proof of the nature of the office held by each priest in this order would be that, as Adam was the head, the father, the high priest of our world, and by right would have been its eternal king had he not failed, and as Jesus was not a priest in that order (Heb. 5:5) until He had redeemed Adam’s failure, at which time He became "the last Adam," "the everlasting Father," "the High Priest" and prospective King, in short the Melchizedek of our world, therefore the individuals who compose the order of the Melchizedek priesthood are each to his respective world all that Adam was, and all that Christ became to our world by stepping into the Melchizedek order; for the God-given title has in it all that Adam was, and that Christ became to our world in taking Adam’s forfeited place. But the reader to whom the thoughts advanced may be new will require additional Scripture evidence to supply a firm basis for faith. More evidence will be supplied in the next article. Give Him Thy Heart
By T. E. Morgensen
Come to the Saviour,
Come while you may;
Jesus is tenderly
Calling to-day.
Hear Him now pleading.
Sinner, depart
From all your sinful ways,
Give Him your heart. Why do you linger,
Why now delay?
Time is unceasingly
Passing away.
Sometime 'twill be too late.
Life is but short.
Come to the Saviour now,
Give Him your heart. No more convenient
Time e'er will be.
Jesus is waiting now,
Sinner, for thee.
Come with thy load of sin,
Just as thou art.
Jesus will pardon thee.
Give Him thy heart. "That They Might Understand"
By Clarence Santee
It is a matter of surprise to note the different means God has made use of to cause us to understand His love toward us, the work of His hands. By inspiration Job says, "Thou shalt call, and I will answer Thee: Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thine hands." Job 14:15. Again God says, "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." Jer. 31:3. No man can fathom or comprehend that love. The angels can not measure it. The Holy Spirit says that "the angels desire to look into" these things. 1 Peter 1:12. We may illustrate, to assist the imagination to center upon it, and the mind to grasp it; but the depths beyond are still unexplored. Yet there is restfulness in the knowledge that it is boundless on every hand where we may turn. Sin like the setting in of mortification, or of leprosy, had seized upon a part of God's great family of the universe, and the whole felt its influence. "The wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. "Death [came] by sin." Rom. 5:12. There was but one remedy. "The fountain of life" must be poured into that dark "abyss" until the darkness would be turned into day, and the charnelhouse of the dead be replaced by the city, the river, and the throne, of life. The whole body — the universe — was endangered by the affected part. The cleansing must reach as deep and as wide as the poison had penetrated. An eminent writer has said:9 "To the angels and the unfallen worlds the cry, 'It is finished,' had a deep significance. It was for them as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. They with us share the fruits of Christ's victory. Not until the death of Christ, was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds." "Had Satan and his host been left to reap the full result of their sin, they would have perished; but it would not have been apparent to heavenly beings that this was the inevitable result of sin. A doubt of God's goodness would have remained in their minds as evil seed, to produce its deadly fruit of sin and wo." — "Desire of Ages," pages 758, 764. Some of the angels in heaven failed in the test of faithfulness, as well as men upon earth; and a doubt left in the hearts of the inhabitants of the unfallen worlds, would have been seed later to bear an evil harvest. The arch-deceiver had indeed laid his plans of rebellion wide and deep. The universe had been touched. Can God's love provide a ransom broad enough to cleanse all? To make the universe secure, the last seed of doubt as to the wisdom of the Creator must be taken away. The seed of sin will never die of itself. The Creator of all can die for all. But can He die the sinner's death? Can He enter the dark stream which has no other shore, which has no ray of light to penetrate the dark beyond? Can He pay the debt? The final death of the sinner will have no hope, not one ray of light. It will be a leap into eternal darkness. Jesus did pay the penalty to the uttermost. In the language of another let us read: "It was not bodily suffering which so quickly ended the life of Christ upon the cross. It was the crushing weight of the sins of the world, and a sense of His Father's wrath. The Father's glory and sustaining presence had left Him, and despair pressed its crushing weight of darkness upon Him, and forced from His pale and quivering lips the anguished cry, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' . . . Angels have witnessed the scene of suffering until they can look no longer, and hide their faces from the horrid sight. Christ is dying. He is in despair. His Father's approving smile is removed, and angels are not permitted to lighten the gloom of the terrible hour. . . . Even doubts assailed the dying Son of God. He could not see through the portals of the tomb. Bright hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the tomb a conqueror, and His Father's acceptance of His sacrifice. The sin of the world, with all its terribleness, was felt to the utmost by the Son of God. The displeasure of the Father for sin, and its penalty, which is death, were all that He could realize through this amazing darkness. . . . The fierce temptation that His own Father had forever left Him, caused that piercing cry from the cross, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' . . . Denied even bright hope and confidence in the triumph which will be His in the future, He cries with a loud voice, 'Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.'" No son of Adam, when left by the sustaining hand of God, has any basis of hope. The vital cord is severed. A nameless dread of the future will take the place of even the faint, uncertain hope that lingers while abused mercy still is pleading. Jesus, in His last decision, made choice of eternal death for Himself if need be, rather than that guilty man should perish. While bowed in the garden it was said of Him: "The awful moment had arrived which was to decide the destiny of the world. The heavenly hosts waited the issue with intense interest. The fate of humanity trembled in the balance. . . . He sees the power of sin, and the utter helplessness of man to save himself. The woes and lamentations of a doomed world arise before Him. He beholds its impending fate, and His decision is made. He will save man at any cost to Himself. . . . He left the courts of heaven, where all was purity, happiness, and glory, to save the one lost sheep, the one world that had fallen by transgression, and He will not turn from the mission He had chosen." — "Spirit of Prophecy," volume 3, pages 99, 100. "Every pang endured by the Son of God upon the cross, the blood drops that flowed from His head, His hands and feet, the convulsions of agony which racked His frame, and the unutterable anguish that filled His soul at the hiding of His Father's face from Him, speak to man, saying, It is for love of thee that the Son of God consents to have these heinous crimes laid upon Him." — Id., page 163. This love wherewith He has loved us, can not be compared with that of men, tender tho at times that has been. We think of David and Jonathan; of Paul, who could say that he was willing to bear Israel's curse from God, if thus he might save some of them; of Moses, who could pray that his name be blotted out rather than that God should destroy the rebellious who had clamored for his death. Yet these are but drops from the great unmeasured fountain. God's love was manifested toward sinners, not righteous men. Rom. 5:8. The same love still continues. God says that His is "an everlasting love." The heart of God has a place for every son and daughter of Adam, every soul born into this world. Who, knowing that love, can turn a deaf ear to the calls of God's Spirit, and grieve it away until its pleading voice is heard no more? If you have grieved it long, still He invites you. True love never fails. Trust Him now, and He will accept and lead you. Union of Church and State
By C. M. Snow
For generation after generation, men and women quick of conscience became victims of the union of church and state. It is impossible that such a work of selecting out and destroying the most conscientious of the inhabitants, should not have a blasting effect upon all future generations. The conditions of Southern Europe to-day bear eloquent witness of this. To such a policy must we charge the cruel wars waged against the Waldenses, Paulicians, Albigenses, Huguenots, and Anabaptists. That policy is responsible for the Thirty Years' War, for the campaigns against the Netherlands, for the voyage of the Spanish Armada, and for all other cruel and blood-thirsty crusades in which the right of the individual to choose his own religion has been the object of attack. It is responsible, too, for the cruelties practised by the early colonial governments upon men and women who differed from the majority in matters of conscience. C. M. Snow. 1. How does the psalmist speak of the law of God? "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth." Ps. 119:142. 2. How does the psalmist speak also of God's commandments? "Thou art near, O Lord; and all Thy commandments are truth." Ps. 119:151. 3. How many lawgivers are there? "There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." James 4:12. 4. How enduring is the work of this Lawgiver? "The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness." Ps. 111:7, 8. 5. How perfect is God's law, and what will it do for the soul? "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Ps. 19:7. 6. What text refers to the commandments, and quotes directly from the Decalogue, commonly called the Ten Commandments? "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto Him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Matt. 19:17-19. 7. What question did a certain lawyer ask the Master concerning the law? "Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Matt. 22:35, 36. 8. What was the Master's reply, and how comprehensive is His summary? "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matt. 22:37-40. THE waters of the sea have many different shades. In one place they look blue, and in another green. And yet the difference is owing to the depth or shallowness of the part we see, or to the nature of the bottom. The water in every case is the same salt sea. The breath of a man may produce different sounds, according to the character of the instrument on which he plays. The flute, the pipe, and the trumpet have each their peculiar note. And yet the breath that calls forth the notes is in each case one and the same. The light of the planets we see in heaven is very various. Mars and Saturn and Jupiter have each a peculiar color. And yet we know that the light of the sun, which each planet reflects, is in each case one and the same. Just in the same way, the books of the Old and New Testaments are all inspired truth, and yet the aspect of that truth varies according to the mind through which the Holy Ghost makes it flow. The handwriting and style of the writers differ enough to prove that each had a distinct individual being; but the divine Guide who dictates and directs the whole is always one. All is alike inspired. Every chapter and verse and word is from God.—Ryle.