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Signs of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 22.

The Heavenly Father
Earlier text: The Heavenly Father

Unto the Uttermost

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Shuttle

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Shuttle

I.

WEARY and wrinkled and thin and gray, The tired head on the pillow lay, And the look of pain that the white lips wore Told that the journey was almost o'er. The fading rays of the setting sun Were spent, for the weary day was done, While the flickering light that the pale moon shed, Fell on the pauper's dying bed.

II.

Gone, all gone are the misspent years, Bearing their record of sin and tears, Bearing their burden of hopes and fears. But the sick man smiled as he breathed a prayer, And his pallid features grew almost fair: “Tho' I am wretched and poor and lost, Christ can save to the uttermost.”

III.

Merrily singing a low, sweet song, A beautiful maiden tripped along; Her gentle spirit was kind and true, And her soul was pure as the morning dew.
Years passed, and the form that was once so fair, Was pale and rigid and cold and bare; With never a friend to watch and weep And close her eyes in their last, long sleep.

IV.

Not one in the careless throng was seen To pity the poor lost Magdalene; Her beautiful sisters all passed by With a curling lip and a scornful eye, With never a tear and never a sigh. And even the church in her haughty pride Passed coldly by on the other side. “For I am pure, and thou art vile,” She said to herself with a bitter smile; Nor dreamed, as she uttered her idle boast, That Christ can save to the uttermost.

V.

With a ghastly look in his sunken eye, I saw the victim of rum pass by. Poor and wretched and desolate, His doom seemed sealed by the hand of fate. His tattered garments were old and torn, And his face was haggard and thin and worn. There was never an outstretched hand to save The wretched soul from the drunkard's grave; The priest and the Levite each passed by With a cruel sneer and a scornful eye. Then, from the heavenly mercy-seat Echoed a Voice that was sad and sweet: “Jesus pleads for the vile and lost; He can save to the uttermost.”

The Coming of the Redeemer

By Geo. A. Snyder

By Geo. A. Snyder

IV. This Same Jesus; His Literal, Visible Coming

When Jesus left the disciples gazing upward with anxious eyes toward the spot where He had vanished from their vision, their quivering hearts were made to vibrate with joy by a wonderful message of consolation. We can never realize the depths of emotion that stirred the souls of that little company as they listened to the words of the white-robed messengers who were commissioned from the courts of heaven to comfort their hearts in that trying hour. It was not enough for them to know that He was coming back again, but when they heard the angels calmly, and we imagine slowly and emphatically, say: “This — same — Jesus — which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven,” they knew that some day they would see that same familiar form; that they would hear that same familiar voice, and be able to identify Him by those recently familiar scars.
It seems to the writer that the effect of those three words, “This same Jesus,” on that lonely little band of believers will never be equaled on this earth until that same promise is fulfilled. It was indeed a precious thought to those disciples who had journeyed with the Master in His earthly pilgrimage to know that “the Seed of the woman” who had been bruised and slain on Calvary, was to return to the scene of His earthly humiliation, still the Seed of the woman, to harvest the fruit of His sacrifice. Ought it not to be a precious thought to us who have not seen the Saviour literally as did those who watched Him ascend into heaven, that when He comes again, we too, if faithful, shall be permitted to see Him just as they saw Him when He went away!
We can not too often read or meditate upon the wonderful scene and promise recorded in Acts 1:9-11. In Luke 24:52, 53 we read that the disciples returned from the scene of His ascension, and went to Jerusalem “with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God.” No doubt one great cause of their rejoicing was that they knew they would some day see Him again just as they had seen Him when He was with them. If the hope of Christ’s literal, visible appearing could fill the hearts of those disciples with such joy, what fulness of joy will be manifested when all those who have waited for His advent behold His real presence revealed in the white cloud at His appearing.
In Rev. 1:7 the beloved disciple portrays the scene of the second advent in language which shows that he had not forgotten what the two angels said at the Saviour’s ascension: “Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him.” The Saviour’s own description of His second coming gives us an idea of the character of the clouds with which He will return. “When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit on the throne of His glory.” Matt. 25:31. When one angel came to roll the stone away from the tomb, “his appearance was as lightning and his raiment white as snow.” When Jesus comes attended by all the angels robed in the white light of heaven, there will be seen what John foresaw in vision: “I looked and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man.” Rev. 14:14.
“They also which pierced Him” will be present when He comes, and will see the same Jesus who stood robed in the purple robe of mock royalty when that hoarse cry of “Away with Him, crucify Him” rose from the bloodthirsty mob. When He comes clad in His rightful robes of royalty, still bearing the scars of Calvary, those who pierced Him will see the same Jesus who looked down on them from the cross. When the blue scroll of heaven rolls back and reveals the Man of Calvary robed in kingly beauty stretching forth His nail-scarred hands toward the earth, that scene will strike terror to every beholder who is not prepared to receive Him. “The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains and the mighty men, and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:14-17.
When “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and with the trump of God,” it will then be too late to plead for mercy, so the Lord is now sending forth His heralds to sound an alarm while yet there is time for preparation. By those who are prepared to meet Him it shall be said in that day: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him and He will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isa. 25:9. From this scripture it appears that only those who have waited for Him will be ready to meet Him, so let us be sure that we know what it means to be waiting for Him, waiting as we would wait for some member of the family to return after a prolonged absence.

My Father's House

By Mrs. H. A. St. John

In the course of Jesus’ talk with His disciples at the last supper, among the many comforting things He said were these words: “In My Father’s house are many mansions. . . . I go to prepare a place for you.” Since “the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call,” you, dear reader, and I may appropriate this promise and repeat to others, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.”
The same Father who loved Jesus so dearly, is my loving Father. Soon after His resurrection Jesus said, “I ascend unto My Father, and your Father.” Still more precious is the thought expressed in the Lord’s prayer (John 17) that the Father loves those who believe on the Saviour as He has loved His only begotten Son. In connection with an exhortation elsewhere to separate ourselves from sin, the encouraging promise is given, “I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
It is not, “In My Father’s house” are thousands and thousands of rooms, but, “In My Father’s house are many mansions.” My Father’s house is composed of many houses, and it may sound stranger still to say that house is to be occupied by “a house;” yes, one built up here on this earth, the erection of which Jesus, the Master builder, is superintending. Jesus Himself is the chief corner-stone, “whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” So, while according to His promise Jesus is preparing a place, He is preparing a people also for those heavenly mansions.
He ascended to Jerusalem, which is above, and there entered upon His mediatorial work, our great High Priest, “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.” Moreover, “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
As one has put it, God has in His great government a bureau of salvation. The Lord Jesus is at the head of this bureau, and His office is a most glorious temple in the house of God. The throne of the Father is there, Jesus is at His right hand, and the counsel of peace is between them both. Our Lord and Saviour is there in the presence of the Father for us. It is from that glorious center of the universe that the Holy Spirit and holy angels go forth to this lost and sinful world upon errands of mercy, love, and salvation. They are cheerfully obedient to their exalted Head, our glorified Redeemer.

Eden Transplanted

After the fall, the lovely Garden of Eden was transplanted there in that city of our God. How appropriate that the same delightful Eden, the home of the first Adam and his beautiful wife, should now be in the Father’s house, where the second Adam is occupied in the stupendous work of redemption! He bought the original Paradise and already has that in His possession. He has bought the human race, and is now engaged in redeeming all that will accept of the great salvation provided. The earth, also, is His purchased possession, and the day is coming when He shall have redeemed the whole earth to the praise of His glory.
Jesus has greatly enlarged and beautified our Father’s house and is now preparing to receive and grandly entertain all His dear people when they shall be glorified and go home with Him to that “inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven” for them.
The saints enjoy a residence of a thousand years in this celestial home before its location is changed to a place prepared for it on this terrestrial sphere. I have no doubt the attractions and glories of the city will be greatly enhanced, at any rate not one whit diminished, when placed in that new setting, the glorious new earth, rejoicing and blossoming as a rose. Higher than the beautiful hills thereof will be the situation of my Father’s house, wherein is still the throne of God and the Lamb. Mountains will be leveled, and thus on the “top of the mountains” the holy city will rest, a flood of light and gorgeous colors emanating therefrom to all parts of the new earth, and constituting a medium through which the city may be seen in its dazzling splendor by all its inhabitants, the twelve tribes of the redeemed hosts.
The sweet singer of Israel says, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.” Ps. 122:1-4. In like manner the saints in all the new earth will be glad when they say one to another, “Come, let us go up to the house of the Lord.”
Then will all the redeemed of the Lord return and “come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.” Her gates will never be closed, and so easy of access will be the loved city that all nations are said to flow into it, or we might say fly, for they will be equal and like unto the angels. “They shall mount up with wings as eagles.” Isa. 40:31.
Dear reader, when our feet enter through the gates into that city, when we occupy one of those mansions, magnificent and sumptuous beyond description, we shall feel that we have a perfect right there. Rev. 22:14. Being adopted as sons and daughters of God, we are heirs, “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” It is our inheritance, and the dear Lord will conduct us into the full possession of it in His own good time. All praise and glory be to His blessed name forever and forever!
MRS. H. A. ST. JOHN.

Abide with Me

By Henry Francis Lyte

ABIDE with me! fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide! When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O, abide with me!
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not, abide with me!
Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word; But as Thou dwell'st with Thy disciples, Lord, Familiar, condescending, patient, free, Come, not to sojourn, but abide, with me!
Come, not in terrors, as the King of Kings, But kind and good, with healing in Thy wings; Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea; Come, Friend of sinners, and abide with me!
Thou on my head in early youth didst smile; And, tho rebellious and perverse meanwhile, Thou hast not left me, oft as I left Thee; On to the close, O Lord, abide with me!
I need Thy presence every passing hour; What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power? Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be! Through cloud and sunshine, O, abide with me!
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; Where is Death's sting? where, Grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me!
— Henry Francis Lyte.

More Light

[From John Robinson’s Farewell to the Puritans as they left Holland for America.]
WE are now to part asunder, and the Lord knoweth whether I shall live to see your faces again: but whether He hath appointed it or not, I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no further than I have followed Christ. And if God shall reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth by my ministry; for I am very confident that the Lord has more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy word. . . .
“The Lutherans could not be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw; for whatever part of God’s will He had further imparted and revealed to Calvin, they will rather die than embrace it. And so you see the Calvinists, they stick where he left them, a misery much to be lamented; for tho they were precious, shining lights in their times, yet God has not revealed His whole will to them. And were they now living, they would be as ready and willing to embrace further light, as that they had received.”
“And here I must put you in mind of our church covenant, wherein we promise and covenant with God and one another, to receive whatsoever light or truth that shall be made known to us from His written word. But withal, I exhort you to take heed what you receive for truth, and well to examine and compare it with other scriptures before you receive it; for it is not possible that the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick antichristian darkness, and that full perfection of knowledge should break forth at once.”

1. What did Paul say is the natural condition of man?

By H.

Conversion

1. What did Paul say is the natural condition of man?

“I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7:14.
2. How many are thus bound?
“All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:23.
3. What is the final end of this condition?
“To be carnally minded is death.” Rom. 8:6.
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Eze. 18:20.
“The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23.
4. How may this result be avoided?
“Return ye now every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.” Jer. 18:11.
5. What is the promise to those who return to God?
“Thus saith Jehovah, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, that thou mayest stand before Me;” “I will heal your backslidings.” Jer. 15:19; 3:22.
6. What steps are included in conversion?
“Godly SORROW worketh REPENTANCE unto salvation.” 2 Cor. 7:10.
“He that covereth his transgression shall not prosper; But whoso CONFESSETH and FORSAKETH them shall obtain mercy.” Prov. 28:13.
Note.—It will thus be seen that conversion includes sorrow for sin, repentance, confession, and forsaking sin. One leads naturally to the other. Some one has said that conversion means, Right about face. But true conversion goes farther; it is not only, Right about face, but Forward, march. True service is not negative, but positive; it is not in doing no sin, but in doing right; not in standing still, but in pressing on to higher attainments.
7. With these steps taken, what follows?
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9.
8. Indeed, when are the sins forgiven?
“I HAVE BLOTTED OUT, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me, for I HAVE redeemed thee.” Isa. 44:22. H.

The Need of a New Birth

You have often heard it said that a child’s mind is a piece of white paper upon which you can write any character you please. This doctrine needs qualification and correction. The child’s mind is a piece of blank paper, but in no instance is it white and its moral fiber is such that you can not write some characters upon it. You can not write the characters which spell out the CHRISTIAN until its moral texture has been changed. There is an unconscious past tense in every child’s life. He inherits alike the vices and the virtues of his ancestors. To-be did not begin with him when he first drew the breath of life, but to-be began with him sixty centuries ago when God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Back there in the very dawn of man’s being, the stream of human life was turned out of its channel and through all the centuries it has been flowing down the valleys of sin, picking up the mud and mire of transgression, and to-day that turbid tide is poured into the veins of every child. Before that life can be white it must be taken to Jesus and poured through Him, who, acting as a filter, will cleanse it from all its impurities.
This is the supreme reason for the need of regeneration. “As by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” The world, the flesh, and the devil are opposed to every tendency or influence toward right-doing, and would be victorious in every life but for the new birth.—Baptist Chronicle.
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