Review and Herald, Vol. 82, No. 3.
For Thee, For TheePage 1
Earlier text: For Thee, For TheeAN event of profound significance to Asia and the whole Eastern hemisphere is reported in recent dispatches from Peking. The long-expected military awakening of China seems now to have actually begun. China, the land of four hundred million people, is on the eve of a transformation from a vast aggregation of unarmed and impotent barbarians, to a military power. One more great military power is to be added to those which already fill the world with the clang of warlike armaments. It is reported from Peking that the committee on the reorganization of the Chinese army has laid before the government a plan for the introduction of universal military service in the empire, the period of service being twelve years. . . . The project is for the provinces to begin by enrolling only a thousand men in each, selected for their aptitude and intelligence, to form corps of instructors and the staff of the future battalions. The training will, it is said, be modeled partly on the German and partly on the Japanese system, the Chinese commission believing that the latter produces the best results in field service. For the protection of the capital and the guarding of the northern frontier, it is proposed to have a separate and distinct army, the organization of which has been confided to Yuan-shi-kai, the governor-general of the province of Pechili. This functionary, who is one of the ablest and most progressive among the public men of China, has received orders to proceed at once to the formation of an army of two hundred and fifty-two thousand men, organized in forty-two infantry divisions, composed of twelve battalions of five hundred men each, the cavalry and artillery to be organized being additional. The importance of this action of the Chinese government, is manifest. It is meant, in the first instance, to preclude a repetition of 1900, when the troops of a coalition of foreign powers marched on the capital practically unopposed, and compelled the flight of the dynasty; and in the second place, to keep down popular risings menacing the foreign representatives, such as brought about the foreign coalition of that year. . . . For the world at large the military organization of a population of four hundred million of people hitherto quiescent and submissive is a portent for good or evil, as it may result, while for Asia it is the dawning of a new era. Thus rapidly are events shaping today for the coming battle of Armageddon. Military Lessons from Port Arthur
By L. A. S.
The story of the siege and capture of Port Arthur is an interesting one from a military standpoint, affording, as it does, a good idea of the progress made in military science through the use of some of the most recent scientific discoveries. It appears, for example, that the use of the telephone was largely instrumental in accomplishing the reduction of the Russian fortress, and that the capture of “203 meter hill,” which overlooked the city and harbor, was of importance to the Japanese more as a point of observation than as a position for mounting guns. The chief damage from the bombardment came from a number of eleven-inch mortars which were entirely out of sight of the city and the fleet, beyond an intervening range of hills, over which they fired, the firing being guided by telephone from the top of 203 meter hill. Four men were required to lift one of the shells fired from these guns, and a lifting crane was used to place the shell in the gun. It was the shells from these mortars that sank the Russian fleet. It was further demonstrated that no fortifications can be built strong enough to withstand the modern method of attack by boring tunnels under them, and blowing them up with dynamite.
L. A. S. Invest in Brains
By G. B. Thompson
THE writer believes fully in the plan of our young people's working their way, wholly or in part, through school whenever possible. It has many advantages. Such a course develops a spirit of aggressiveness and independence, and awakens the latent energies, thereby becoming a blessing all through life. However, there are some noble young people scattered throughout the denomination who have the real hero spirit, but who nevertheless are bound by circumstances, and must struggle against obstacles which they are unable to overcome, and for this reason can not enter school. Do the best they can, they find themselves utterly unable financially to attend any of our schools, to receive the desired training to qualify them to enter the work. Among us there are those who are financially able to help these true-hearted, struggling young people to obtain an education. In the decline of life they find themselves with surplus funds to be invested in some paying enterprise. Here, my brother, my sister, is an opportunity to do a noble and generous thing. Instead of buying more land, a house and lot, horses, cattle, or sheep, or placing the funds in the savings bank, invest in some good brains. Look up some devoted, industrious, Christian young man or young woman who desires to attend school and be trained for work in the cause of God, and help them financially. Encourage them to go to school. Many will be lost unless they have such an opportunity. Loan them the money, to be returned when they are able to pay it; and in some cases it will be an excellent plan to regard the entire loan as a donation. Such an investment will yield gratifying returns, not only within this world, but in eternity as well. You will be helped, our schools will be helped, and the students will be helped. In this way, in a few years, you can have one or more missionaries in different parts of the earth teaching the message which is to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. No better investment could be made. The government inquiry into the nature of Mormonism, growing out of the attempt of the Mormon “apostle,” Reed Smoot, to enter the United States Senate, has elicited from the witnesses examined the following points, which, unless disproved, will stand as admitted “facts weighing against the admission to Congress of the Mormon senator-elect:— That in “taking the endowments,” an oath is taken by practically all Mormons, pledging absolute obedience to the leaders of the church. That the “living oracles,” consisting of the church leaders, are held by church doctrine to be inspired by God, and that the revelations uttered by them must be accepted by the church as supreme law and binding upon the conscience, in temporal as well as spiritual affairs. That Senator Smoot, since the hearings last spring, participated in the election of a polygamist, C. W. Penrose, as a brother apostle, and has done nothing to discourage the practise of polygamy. That the Mormon leaders interfere in political affairs in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, to the extent of dictating the election of county and State officials, securing the enactment of legislation favorable to the church, and preventing or repealing adverse legislation. That a system of courts exists within the church whereby persons are deprived of their property without due process of law; that hundreds of public schoolhouses in Utah are being used by the Mormons in conducting “religion classes,” the teachers in most instances being public school teachers. That the laws of the United States and of the State are flagrantly violated in Utah, and that violators can not be punished because of the overwhelming influence of the Mormon priesthood, Senator Smoot being a member of one of the governing bodies of the church. Notes of Travel
By Ellen G. White
FROM the Omaha camp-meeting we went to College View, where the General Conference Committee was in council from September 15 to 25. We were made welcome, and were well cared for at the Nebraska Sanitarium. ON Thursday morning I spoke to the students in the college chapel. A goodly number of the College View church-members were present, and I was led to present to them the exhortation given by the apostle to those who know that the day of the Lord is near at hand. Please read 1 Thess. 5:1-7. The apostle continues, “Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breast-plate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another.” This is our work. We are not to watch for defects in those around us. By so doing, we are placing ourselves on the judgment-seat, and are judging. This is not our proper place or work. If we see one in error, we should go to him kindly, and speak to him in regard to the matter, seeking by every possible means to present the truth in contrast with error. There is always a truth with which to meet error. Let this never be forgotten. And believers are to watch for souls as they that must give an account. Not that you are to watch for their haltings and their errors; you are to watch for the prosperity of their souls, that you may know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. We take upon ourselves a grave responsibility when we unite with the church. The church is God’s family, and the members of this family are to be unselfishly interested in one another. They are to pray and work for one another’s salvation. This is the work that God expects from us as a people. When you see a church whose members are in arms against one another, complaining and finding fault, you may know that there are duties which they have neglected. You may know that there is something lacking in those who always see something defective in their brethren. You may know that such ones have something to correct in their own characters. If you think that a brother is in the wrong, go right to him. Do not go to some one else, because this will not cure the difficulty. Go to the very one who you think is in error, and ask him if he is standing in a position that will lead others to make missteps. Tell him that he must make straight paths for his feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. It will not do for any of us to get careless and indifferent in regard to our church-membership. While on this journey that I am now taking, I have felt a most solemn responsibility to try to show our people that God holds them accountable to live lives that will keep the atmosphere of the church pure and fragrant. God is dishonored, and his Spirit is grieved, when this atmosphere is tainted by careless living and by evil-speaking. The haphazard work done in the church by speaking to others of errors and mistakes before speaking to the one at fault has been the greatest cause and manifestation of wickedness and defection in the church. Weakness has come to many because they have not taken up their appointed work. God will not accept your gifts, however precious they may be, unless you make a straight path for your feet by following the directions that Christ has given. “If thou bring thy gift to the altar,” he says, “and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” We read again, “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.” Tell him his fault “between thee and him alone.” If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. You have not lost him, you have not built up a barrier between him and you. You have gained him. Say to him, If you have anything against me, tell me what it is, that I may take it out of the way. Do not blame him. Do not cast reflections on him, but ask, What have I done? If I have done wrong, I want this to be removed; for I have a gift to offer to the Lord, and he has told me first to be reconciled to my brother. When you have done all in your power to bring about a reconciliation, you have acted your part, and you can then offer your gift, knowing that it will be accepted by God. You will have removed a mountain of difficulty out of the way of your brother. It may be that the difficulty was really only a mole-hill, but it had been made into a mountain. When you remove the mole-hill, the mountain has gone. This is the work resting upon us, and we are not to delay to do it. We can not afford to delay. We have much of this work to do, because we have left much undone. It is because of this neglect that the Lord of heaven is not glorified in our lives. When this work is done, the disunion existing in the church will be cured, and the cause of God will move forward with power. When you see that which you think is wrong, do all in your power to correct it. Find out what it is that separates you from your brother, and plead for the unity that Christ has said should exist in the church. Love as brethren, and do the work appointed you. Then you will know the preciousness of Christ’s words, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” As you seek for Christ with all your heart, and in faith, that you may reach a higher standard of righteousness, he may reveal to you a duty undone, a stumbling-block that you must remove in order that your brother may be relieved, and that you may advance in the right way. Your brother may be wrong, and you may be wrong; therefore come together as children of the same family. Work as earnestly to make things right as you will wish you had worked in that day when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, and every man shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body. It is the neglect of this work that is standing in the way of our churches all through our conferences. When believers stand where Christ has said they should stand, when they clear difficulties out of the way by the very process that he has outlined, they will be greatly blessed. ON Sabbath morning I spoke in the church to a large congregation. I read from the first chapters of Revelation the messages given to the apostle John for the churches. John had a message for the people in his day. But they became tired of hearing of Jesus, and of the character which, in order to be saved, they must perfect through him, so they tried to kill the faithful messenger. This plan being thwarted, they banished him to the lonely, rocky island of Patmos. They thought that by separating him from his fellow men, they would silence his testimony, and that he would live out the9remainder of his life in mournful solitude. But God was with the lonely exile, and opened to his view the glories of heaven, and the things that “must shortly come to pass.” John bore no uncertain message. “That which was from the beginning,” he says, “which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” We have, as had John, a message to bear of the things which we have seen and heard. God is not giving us a new message. We are to proclaim the message that in 1843 and 1844 brought us out of the other churches. We need the Holy Spirit to kindle in our hearts the zeal and earnestness that were then seen among God’s people. I thank the Lord that there are still living a few who can remember those days, and who know whereof they speak. John continues: “These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” The Lord does not want us to walk in darkness and perplexity. He desires us to know the truth as it is in Jesus, and wherever we go, to proclaim that truth. By word and deed we are to reveal Jesus to the world. “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” “These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby we know that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk even as he walked.” My heart was made glad to hear of the unity and good cheer that prevailed during the council. I had a severe cold, and was not able to attend all the meetings, but my mind was constantly exercised. In the night season scene after scene passed before me. I am so sorry that we are such dwarfs in the work of Christ, when such wonderful incentives are placed before us to encourage us to cultivate our powers to the very highest point of development. We are to grow. Christians are to grow up to the full stature of men and women in Christ. Our words and works are to bear witness to the world of what Christianity can do for human beings. Every church should be a light in the world. If there is in your church a deadness, a stagnation, come together, as the disciples did before the day of Pentecost, and plead with God until you receive the light of life. Then let the light shine forth to those around you. Do not go on from week to week, from year to year, without knowing whether or not you are in the love of God. When Jesus went away, he promised to send the Holy Spirit, and we have a right to claim this promise. God wants us to work in the power of the Spirit. He wants us to be guided and controlled by the living, abiding principles that will keep us firm in the truth. God has not placed us on the judgment-seat, to pronounce sentence against our brethren. There is only one Judge, — the One who died for us, who took upon himself our nature and all the infirmities of humanity, that we might stand on vantage-ground with God. Never are we to dissect the work or the character of another. Each one has enough to do to attend to the work that has been delivered to him. Each one is to bear his burden in the place in which he has been appointed to labor, doing his work with that perfection which will give character and influence to the cause of God. This is what the Lord expects of every conference president. This is what he expects of every worker in every line. Stand at your post of duty. When you act well your part, in your own place, there will come to you a freedom, a light, a power, that will enable you to endure as seeing him who is invisible. LORD, what a change within us one
short hour
Spent in thy presence will avail to make!
We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full
of power!
Why, therefore, should we do ourselves
this wrong,
Or others, that we are not always
strong,
That we are ever overborne with care,
That we should ever weak or heartless
be,
Anxious or troubled, when with us is
prayer,
And joy and strength and courage are
with thee?
— Selected. Benefits Received in Faithfully Doing Periodical Work
By D. T. BOURDEAU
WITH true consecration, and the Spirit of God to counsel, comfort, and strengthen, and to open the way before us, to prepare hearts, to remove obstacles, we shall not only succeed in disseminating present truth, but new faith and courage will spring up in our hearts, and we become a blessing to others. Opportunities will be opened to us that could come to us in no other work. We shall be drawn out in love for God and love for our fellow beings, and our appreciation of our papers and our other literature will be increased. Reading the reports of the progress of the cause in the papers, we shall not be as inclined to be narrowly shut up to ourselves and to a small locality in our views of the work, but shall have enlarged views, and shall be in a better condition to pray more intelligently for the laborers in the work in other lands. We will naturally be led to put our tracts and other works into circulation, which will open new fields for the living preacher and hasten the loud cry of the third angel’s message. Are not these results sufficient to lead us to enter heartily into this work? As one who has derived incalculable benefits from reading the REVIEW for nearly a half century, who has known it to be a great blessing to many others, who possesses the conviction that with the co-operation of its present readers it can be made a blessing to those who are not favored with its weekly visits, my heart palpitates with joy in view of the present movement for extending the circulation of our periodicals and other literature. God forbid that my attitude toward this movement be that of one who assents, but does not have his course in harmony with what he says. The writer has recently put forth special efforts to obtain subscribers for the REVIEW, and has enjoyed more than an ordinary measure of the Spirit of God. The great object of all of our periodicals is the heralding of the second advent of Jesus Christ, and the needful preparation to meet that most important event. Each of these periodicals has its special mission to fill, yet the grand and all-absorbing object of all of them is the same. How inconsistent it would be on the one hand, to divorce the REVIEW from our other papers, and give all our attention to it! As well might we think of divorcing the good mother from her offspring who bear her noble character. The REVIEW inculcates love and respect for our other papers, and let us do the same. Good soldiers who stand at the front, bearing the brunt of war and doing important pioneer work, are honored; and so let us honor and support The Signs of the Times, for a similar reason, from a spiritual standpoint; also doing the same for The Southern Watchman, for the same reason, and for the weighty additional reason that it is struggling in a vast, important, and long-neglected field, to rise to that sphere of usefulness for which it was intended by Providence. The REVIEW is emphatically our church paper. It deals more largely in matters pertaining to our interested believers than any of our other periodicals. It reports the progress of the cause more fully than our other papers, and should make its weekly visits to every family of believers in present truth, and every isolated, English-speaking Seventh-day Adventist should read it. It is all the preaching many of our people have, and it will not be improper to extend its circulation to persons not of our faith. It has been the means of leading many persons to God and present truth.10 There is infinitely more at stake in pushing this campaign with our papers and other literature than there is in the present struggle between Russia and Japan; yet how much more enthusiasm is put forth to carry on and publish the latter than to carry on and publish the former! How many take secular papers in order to see what is going on in the far East, but do not take the REVIEW and our other papers and literature that tells us what the present Eastern struggle means when considered in the light of prophecy. The world’s literature treats the present struggle in the East from a purely worldly standpoint, as if the present state of things was to continue indefinitely, and the Eastern war was merely a struggle between two powers for the supremacy. Let us learn lessons of wisdom from the enthusiastic sacrifice manifested in the war in the East, and be more than earnest in our campaign with regard to the coming of our adorable Saviour and glorious King, the Prince of Peace. Eternal issues and consequences are involved in our attitude with regard to this campaign. We need power from on high,—the power of Endless Life to push that work assigned to us to a certain and final victory. But let us remember that this power and the latter rain will never come to those who fold their hands in idleness, and do little or nothing to publish the impending second advent, and warn others of the struggle that is coming upon the world. The power from on high and the special communion of the Holy Spirit are coming only to those who do something to labor for perishing men, as did early Christians on the day of Pentecost, and thereafter. May God add his blessing to this important movement, until the voice of the message shall swell into a cry that shall be heard by all nations and all lands, and the work assigned to us shall close in glorious triumph. May it then be seen that we have well acted our part in carrying forward the work. Then may we find a shelter from the plagues of God’s just wrath, and finally receive from the Saviour the “Well done, . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” The Measure of Success
By John M. Hopkins
A SUCCESSFUL life—what constitutes it? With some it is the acquisition of wealth, with others it is position and fame, with others it is pleasure. Wealth, if properly used, is desirable. Position, if in the discharge of legitimate duty, is also right. Pleasure of a proper kind and to a proper degree, is also highly beneficial as a recreation—a rest from toil and weariness. But the unlawful use of either or all of these is harmful. One may be in possession of them all and live many years, and still his life may be, viewed from the correct standard, a wretched failure. Wealth will not always bring happiness, but when used to bless the world, it is a means to success. But there have been thousands who were in possession of almost unlimited wealth; there are many who number their gold by the millions of dollars, yet whose lives are most unhappy, whose homes are places of strife, dissatisfaction, and unrest. Position is often fraught with danger, anxiety, criticism. Fame is a bubble,—exalted to-day, debased to-morrow. With even the most exalted, it can last only a few years at the longest. Of pleasure one becomes surfeited. It does not long satisfy. But we repeat that wealth, and position, and fame,—a good reputation,—and pure pleasure,—all are desirable if rightly possessed and employed. All are gifts of heaven to be used for the blessing of the receiver and the world. What, then, is the measure of success? What constitutes a successful life. First, it is being inwardly a true man, a true woman. It is to be in possession of, and controlled by, a principle of righteousness and purity. It is to have a pure, clean heart, an honest, honorable aim and motive. It is to have, as the foundation stone of character, a high sense of honor and truth. It is to have an unyielding purpose to adhere to the right under every condition and circumstance in life, to firmly stand for principle even through the darkest hour, through the strongest temptation. And not this alone, not only to resist evil, but to press forward manfully, in the discharge of duty; and it matters not what one's station in life may be. The humble toiler, the woman or the man pressed by poverty, by trials, yet firmly seeking to go forward in the discharge of duty, however humble or menial it may be,—such is a successful life. Such is the true measure of success. To be possessed of a spirit of gentleness, of kindness, of sympathy and love, of helpfulness, to scatter sunshine and blessing all along life's journey,—this is success. Were each one to endeavor to bring a ray of joy and happiness into the life of some fellow creature every day, even if only by a kind word, a helpful deed, a cheerful smile, what an amount of good would be done during a life of threescore years. Such a life would be like a stream of light and blessing. It would be indeed a successful life in this world, and such a life, if actuated by the Spirit of Christ, would run parallel with the life of God. Glorious life! How may we attain unto it. The secret is, Christ in the soul. Such was his holy, blessed life. No sin stained his character, no wrong deed ever disturbed his peace. Love ruled in his heart, and moved by this, ‘he went about doing good,’ everywhere blessing humanity. And though he died upon the cruel cross, even his death was a victory over sin, a victory for principle and right, a noble triumph. What the world might look upon as a defeat, might be indeed a splendid victory for the Christian. Even the loss of friends, of home, of life, for principles’ sake, would triumph, in vindication of righteousness. Eternity alone can tell the grand story of battles fought and victories won for principle. Scattered all over the earth are those whose lives are a glorious success. Unknown in the halls of fame, their names never appearing in the annals of earth’s great ones, are men and women, noble in character, true as steel to right, principle, and duty. God sees them, he knows just where you live, my brother, my sister. Though isolated from all who are dear to you, all alone in trying to obey God’s Word, perhaps bearing reproach, be of good courage, my brother; your name is written in heaven. That record is imperishable; and the life you are now living is but the stepping-stone to the glorious life in the kingdom of God. This is the true measure of success. Judge Not According to the Appearance
By Elsie A. Brown
Mr. J. R. Miller, in his “Building of Character,” says: “Even the things that seem to be failures and defeats in our lives, through the love and grace of Christ—if only we are faithful—will prove in the end to be successes and victories.” Praise the Lord! Let the poor souls who, with human vision, see little else than failure in their experiences, take courage. “The Desire of Ages” tells us that “Christ was constantly confronted with apparent failure. He, the messenger of mercy to our world, seemed to do little of the work he longed to do in uplifting and saving. Satanic influences were constantly working to oppose his way, but he would not be discouraged.” What a mercy to us that he was not! When we “consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners,” we can but see that there was much less to encourage in his experience than in ours. What compensation did he seem to receive for having given up the glorious kingship of heaven, whose mighty, shining11throng adored his name and did his bidding? Even those who by natural ties would have been expected to esteem him and do him honor, misunderstood, despised, and “received him not.” And those whom his most earnest efforts seemed to gain, were but a tiny handful of what men would term, the refuse of the earth,—poor, unlearned men of no reputation whatever. Truly, “his mission seemed to call forth little response.” And we read further, that, at the last, even the Father, with whom the plan for the salvation of men had been laid, viewing him, burdened with the sins of the guilty world, seemed to turn away his face in disfavor. O where could he look for consolation? Surely, every refuge seemed to fail him! What wonder that the poor heart broke! We learn from “Testimonies,” Vol. II, page 209, that “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.” In view of these things, shall we who now for a little time must seek, amid the last-day perils of this wicked world, to gather out a remnant of such as shall be saved, loose heart and courage,—we who by faith can look beyond present weariness and disappointment, to the life which, freed from the power of sin, shall know the joy of being satisfied, and shall measure with the life of God? “Winter made ready for the spring
By months of struggle and suffering;
And the victory won from the mortal strife
Strengthens the fiber and pulse of life.
How if the earth in its chill despair
Felt that the fight was too hard to bear?
Where were the bloom and the vintage then?
Where were the harvest for hungering men?” O may the dear Lord in his mercy sustain us in our weakness until the battle shall have been fought and the victory won! LAST eve I passed beside a blacksmith's
door,
And heard the anvil's vesper chime;
Then looking in, I saw upon the floor
Old hammers worn with beating years of time. “How many anvils have you had,” said I,
“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”
“Just one,” he answered, then with twinkling eye,
“The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.” And so, I thought, the anvil of God's Word
For ages skeptic-blows have beat upon;
Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unworn—the hammers gone. The Enduring Memorial
By W. E. HASKELL
While humanity in sin has been drawing away and separating from God, he, in love to man, has been continually reaching out to reconcile and to restore the lost unity. He is constantly expressing in innumerable ways his desire for renewed companionship. 1. Unto what does he call us in the life of faith? “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” 1 Cor. 1:9. 2. How highly does he prize this privilege? “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.” Heb. 12:2. “Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” 1 Thess. 5:10. So love not only wills the highest good of the ones loved, but longs for companionship with them. Infinite creative love, though in the highest degree complete and independent in itself, could not rest satisfied in itself alone, but must create those upon whom to bestow, and from whom to receive, that fulness of love that binds in closest fellowship and highest joy. Thus creation itself is an expression of the love of God; and the Sabbath is a sign, a memorial, of that creative love which longs for and rejoices in companionship with his people. The enduring, unchanging memorial is a sign of the enduring, unchanging love of him who “having loved his own, . . . loved them unto the end.” Let us notice the important place that the Sabbath occupies in our progress in the present, and in our preparation for the future. 4. How is the Sabbath to be kept? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Ex. 20:8. 5. Who first made it holy? “Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:11. 6. How does the Lord make anything holy? “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. . . . God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Ex. 3:2, 4, 5. The Lord makes things holy by his presence in a special manner, making a difference between that wherein his presence is specially manifested and other places or things. So Christ blessed the Sabbath by placing his presence in the day for man, in a special manner, thus making it holy, making a difference between it and other days. The sinner in repentance may come to Christ on any day, at any moment, and receive pardon, peace, and the blessing of his presence. The Christian may continually, and at any time of need, receive a larger measure of his blessing. But over and above and in addition to all this, there is a Sabbath blessing and manifestation of his presence, that comes at no other time, that we can receive in no other way, that makes a distinction, a difference, between the Sabbath and every other day. On the Sabbath we have the privilege of a double blessing, a double measure of his presence. 7. What did the Lord do on the Sabbath? “And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” Gen. 2:2. 8. What kind of rest was this? “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?” Isa. 40:28. “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Gen. 1:31. “And on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed” (greatly delighted, one version). Ex. 31:17. It was spiritual rest, satisfaction and delight in his work, and especially in man and in companionship with him. 9. What kind of rest, then, should ours be, to be true Sabbath observance? “For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. . . . There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.” Heb. 4:4, 5, 9, 11. Our rest should be the same,—the Lord’s rest; spiritual rest. 10. What gives this rest? “And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.” Ex. 33:14. Christ’s special presence in the Sabbath gives a special and increased rest of soul to all who recognize and receive it by faith. 11. So what will the Sabbath be to those who truly enter into the Lord’s rest? “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight.” Isa. 58:13. 12. But what will they find in the Sabbath that makes it a delight? “Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” Isa. 58:14. Thus we see that the Sabbath is a double sign. On the Lord’s part, it is a sign of his love and delight in us. On our part, its true observance is a sign of our love for and delight in him. This makes the Sabbath of vast importance, for the degree of fellowship that we have with Christ, and of delight in his presence, is the real measure of our progress in the Christian life. True, loving companionship with him is the supreme test of our fitness for eternal companionship with him in the kingdom of God. When we know the Sabbath in its true significance, it becomes as it were a spiritual thermometer. The way we treat it is a sign to the Lord of our spiritual condition, of our progress or backsliding, of our fitness or unfitness for eternal companionship. Our attitude toward it, then, is, in reality, our attitude toward Christ himself. If the Sabbath is irksome, or a burden, so also would the presence of Christ be, even in heaven itself. If we ignore or forget it, so also would we him. But if we long for a closer walk with the Lord, with what glad, eager expectancy and delight will we hail the approach of the day that makes possible a more intimate union, that opens to us a new, deeper, higher, truer companionship with him.