Signs of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 45.
The Pope: Sovereign, Not SubjectPage 1
Earlier text: The Pope: Sovereign, Not SubjectTHE FUTURE STATE.
By Mrs. A. W. Heald
A clergyman of high standing in the Congregational Church, in his remarks at the recent funeral services of a brother minister in Manchester, N. H., made use of the following words:— "I wish to say a word in regard to the future upon which our dear father and brother has just entered. I believe there are different degrees and different kinds of enjoyment in the future state. To some, rest is given, when the life here was hard and laborious. To others, a sweet relief from especial pain and suffering here. And companionship to others, who were lonely and friendless on earth; and to others, service. Our friend and brother who now lies here before us loved the service of God, and I can but believe that somewhere in God's universe there is a work for him, upon which he has even now entered." In these "perilous times," when error is proclaimed on every hand, and false prophets would, if possible, "deceive the very elect," the only sure way to detect and refute false doctrine is by comparing it with the truth as revealed in the Scriptures. Let us, then, hide God's word in our hearts, for "the entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." Ps. 119:130. The Scriptures are very plain on the subject of man's future state. "It is written," "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Eccl. 9:10. "Man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." Job 14:12. Then, "Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee; thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." Verse 15. How will the Lord call?—"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. 4:16. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order; Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." 1 Cor. 15:22, 23. "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:17, 18. And, dear friends, who have laid away the precious dust of your loved ones beneath the grassy mound, is there not a deeper and more abiding comfort for us in these positive declarations of Inspiration than any we can derive from the fanciful "I believe" of the popular theologian? Mrs. A. W. Heald. THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST TO JONAH.
It has become fashionable to divorce Christ from the Old Testament, to set him over against prophets as their antipodes. The cry is, Give us Christ, as for this man Moses and these men the prophets, we care not what becomes of them. The opinion has credence that the Old Testament marvels and characters detract from the character and purpose of Christ, and so they must not be mentioned the same day. Take a prophet like Jonah, whose incidents and history require faith to accept them. The popular idea is that it complicates Christ to be in any way connected with them. License is demanded to disassociate Christ from the Old Testament worthies and history—no relation, mediate or immediate, must be established between them. The old-fashioned theory that the Old and New Testaments are part and parcel of the same system must be discarded. The orthodox Christian still holds to the old theory, the only divine one, that these two are one. That Christ is the product and perfection of Old Testament facts and theories. That they stand or fall together. That Moses is the forerunner and type of Christ. That his system made Christ's mission and work possible. Daniel in the lions' den must go hand in hand with Paul's delivery from the viper's bite. That the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego must stand or fall with Paul's shipwreck or Peter's jail delivery. That the ten commandments find their reproduction and spiritual expansion in the sermon on the mount. But the modernizers who clamor against dogma and creed will have none of this marriage between the saints of the Old and those of the New. The old are classed as Jewish myths. This may look wise and seem pious, but what does Christ say about it? Does he in his own estimate stand singular and alone in this regard? He, it is true, makes no mention of the heroes and conquerors of the Roman Empire, of which he was the subject. As far as he is concerned, they neither had mission nor work; served neither for illustration nor model. But the Old Testament men served him for illustration and proof. Jonah will serve as a specimen. The personality of the prophet is minor and obscure. Christ refers to him and without hesitancy puts the seal of truth on that, to the higher criticism, eye-sore incident, the being swallowed by the whale. Christ was bound, as the light of the world, to explode all traditions and myths which had been foisted on the credulous as religious truth. What does Christ think of this discredited incident of Jonah being swallowed by the whale? He refers to it with the greatest calmness and the clearest apprehension of its historical verity. "An evil and adulterous generation," he said, "seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it; because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here." He stamps the book as a fact, the prophet as a real person, and this most criticised and dishonored incident in it as typical or suggestive as a sign of one of the sublime and fundamental facts in his own life and work, making it a sign to an evil and adulterous generation of the power of God, which was soon to be illustrated in his own resurrection. To him these marvels of Old Testament history were not to be handled with the vandal handling of modern criticism, but as facts which show the power and presence of God all along the stream of revelation, and instead of giving occasion for doubt or sneering unbelief, should stablish and strengthen the faith of God's elect in the mighty power and oneness of the God of the Old and New Testament.—Selected. To-day is Sunday. Another week has rolled around and the weekly day of rest and devotion is here. Thousands of pulpits will be occupied by thousands of ministers, and hundreds of thousands of people will sit in the churches as auditors and worshipers. It would be interesting to know how much good would be done if each church attender could listen to the pure and undefiled preaching of the gospel. A few of the preachers will preach the gospel, but the great majority of them will go through the day's services as a sort of perfunctory duty, seizing upon the occasion, perhaps, to make a cheap display of learning. The great difficulty with the whole church is with the ministers. They complain about their congregations, but the latter would be all right if the ministers ministered to the wants of the people. One pastor talks intellectually; another attempts to be funny, and another rails and scolds at things which he sees and hears about him. In one way and another most of them manage to keep far away from the great truths of the religion which they profess to expound. This may sound like a sweeping judgment, but it is true, and it is the cause of small congregations and indifference upon the part of the people who do attend. If the preachers of Aspen would speak more to the hearts of the people, if they would subordinate history and intellectuality to the spirit of the gospel; if they would put aside wit and substitute earnestness, the churches would not hold the people who would flock to hear them. The man who walks forth at night and looks in awe upon the stars does not attend church to listen to a display of learning or wit, and if the church does not fill the need that he feels in his heart he will seldom occupy a seat in its edifice.—Aspen Daily Times. IS IT A SIN?
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
It is not an uncommon thing for those who teach that it is a Christian duty to keep the Sabbath, to be met by the inquiry: "Don't you think you would be doing a good deal more good if you wrote and preached against sin, instead of saying so much about the Sabbath?" The idea expressed in this question is one that obtains quite generally. To be sure, there are many who teach that Sabbath-breaking is a sin; but the Sabbath whose observance they would enjoin is a counterfeit sabbath, and not the true Sabbath of the Bible. But it is true that even among those who believe that Sunday is the Sabbath, there is a great deal of indifference as to the manner in which it is observed. In order to ascertain whether Sabbath-breaking is a sin or not, we must first determine definitely what sin is. There are certain things which few would hesitate to call sin, but we want a general rule that will cover all cases; a standard that will enable us to tell at once if a certain action is wrong, so that we may not be left to conjecture. Fortunately, we have just such a rule—one that is given by the pen of inspiration. We find it in 1 John 3:4: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." Paul makes the same statement in another form: "For where no law is, there is no transgression." Rom. 4:15. And, "Sin is not imputed where there is no law." Rom. 5:13. And this fact is universally recognized. You cannot convince any man that he is doing wrong unless you first show him a law that he is violating. And whenever a man does anything, knowing that that act has been forbidden by some power having the right to enact law, he stands self-condemned. Solomon tells us that to fear God and keep his commandments is the whole duty of man. Then it must necessarily follow that the law to which John and Paul refer, the transgression of which is sin, is none other than the law of God—the ten commandments. A few texts will suffice to show the importance of observing that law. As above quoted, it comprises man's whole duty. Eccl. 12:13. It is "perfect, converting the soul." Ps. 19:7. The keeping of the law is the test of our love to God. 1 John 5:3. It is only by keeping it, in connection with faith in Christ, that we are to inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God. Matt. 19:17; Rev. 22:14. On the other hand, we are told that "he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination." Prov. 28:9. Surely no worse fate could befall any man than that God should turn with loathing from his entreaty. And we learn that a partial obedience to the law will not suffice to bring the promised reward, or avert the penalty, for partial obedience is disobedience. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10. It could not be otherwise; for since God is the author of the whole law, we dishonor him if we do not render obedience to the whole law. If we willfully refuse to keep one of the commandments, we show that we do not keep the other nine out of any special regard to the Lawgiver, but because it is convenient or for our self-interest to do so. We do, therefore, really dishonor God by violating one of his commandments as truly as though we violated them all. Turning to consider this law, upon the observance of which our eternal destiny depends, we find that the Sabbath commandment is the most honored of them all. The fourth commandment is the one chosen to make known to men who the maker of the law is. It is true that three other commandments contain the word "God," but there is nothing in them to designate who is referred to. "There be gods many and lords many, but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things." 1 Cor. 8:5, 6. The fourth commandment expressly declares that this only true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, is its author. This law is almost universally recognized as the embodiment of all morality, the summary of all law; and the open violation of nearly all of them, especially the first three, and the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth, is considered a flagrant sin. The violation of the fifth and tenth is also theoretically considered a sin, although practically those two commandments are little regarded. But whether men regard the commandments in their lives or not, in theory they are generally ready to admit that they are all binding, with the exception of the fourth. The only reason of which we can think why men should thus lightly regard the fourth commandment, is that its violation is so common. Indeed, the custom of the people is often urged with all seriousness as a sufficient reason for not keeping the Sabbath. The Sabbath commandment is the only one concerning which men argue thus. They do not argue that God will not punish the thief because there are so many who steal; or that false swearing is now pleasing to God because it is so common. But in regard to the fourth commandment, they seem to imagine that they can overawe God with numbers, and convert him to their way of thinking. But sin is sin, whether practiced by few or many. Men become accustomed to sin, so that its heinousness is lessened in their estimation; but it is not so with God. The multiplication of sin only serves to make it more offensive to him. In this age of the world, human life is held very cheap, and murders are so frequent that we read of the worst crimes with scarcely a second thought; but we are not to suppose that God is less moved by a murder now than when Cain killed his brother. The fact that a multitude join together to commit any sin, does not recommend it to him. He says, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil;" and he has expressly declared that "though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." Who can tell which commandment God regards as the most sacred? It is beyond the power of man. When Christ was asked, "Which is the great commandment in the law?" he did not specify any one, but quoted the two great principles which cover the whole law. We have no assurance that God regards Sabbath-breaking as any less a sin than theft or murder. From the place which he has given the fourth commandment in his law, as the one to show the badge of his authority, his creative power, it would seem that if any distinction were made, Sabbath-breaking would be considered as the greatest of sins. But even if we were able to discriminate between the commandments, and say that one is greater than another, it would not release us from keeping the least commandment; for Christ says, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least [i. e., of no account] in the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:19. Following the verse in which James says that to offend in one point makes a man guilty of all, we read: "For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law." James 2:11. The fourth commandment may be supplied in place of the sixth, and we would then read, For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou break the Sabbath, thou art become a transgressor of the law. The same may be said of any other precept of the decalogue. Sabbath-breaking, then, is a sin, and those who would be preachers of righteousness must give the Sabbath its proper place in the law of God. We do not teach Sabbath observance to the exclusion of the other commandments, but we exhort men to obey all the law, for that is the standard by which "God shall bring every work into judgment." "And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before God, as he hath commanded us." Deut. 6:25. BIBLE ELECTION. NO. 2.
By M. C. W.
THE key to the harmony between the doctrines of election and free will and free choice, is found in Ephesians 1, some expressions from which we have already quoted. The apostle says:— "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good-pleasure of his will." "In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Verses 4, 5, 11. The apostle states that we are chosen that we should be "holy and without blame before him," and that this election and predestination is "according to the good-pleasure of his will." In verse 11 it is said that we are "predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." In verse 9 of the same chapter we are told that he has "made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good-pleasure which he hath purposed in himself." Here then we have the key which will unlock this mystery. God hath chosen and predestinated us according to his purpose, according to the pleasure of his will, and what his will is he has made known unto us. We inquire, then, What is God's purpose concerning man, as revealed in his word, the revelation of his will? 1. God created the earth for the home of man. After the record of the creation of the earth, we read: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Gen. 1:26. Man was created and given the dominion. Verses 27, 28. So the psalmist says: "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men." Ps. 115:16. It is not against the proposition that man lost this dominion, that the usurper, Satan, came in and led captive man, and took possession of the earth. To give man the earth was God's purpose, and it is still his purpose. The powers of evil may for a time seem to thwart God's purposes, but they only seem to do this; every purpose of God will be accomplished. Says the Spirit of God through the prophet: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited; I am the Lord, and there is none else." Isa. 45:18. It was God's purpose, it is God's purpose, that the earth should be inhabited by those for whom it was created, and that creation was not in vain, that purpose will be accomplished. 2. It is the purpose of God that the earth should be inhabited by a certain number. In the very711 nature of the case, this proposition must be true. God's plans are perfect. He never does too much; he never does too little. He does not need to provide for contingencies, or accidents. His plan is perfect. When he purposed to create the earth for the home of man, his purpose involved a certain size or area. He did not make it too large or too small. Neither would it be peopled by too many or too few. Were there too many of mankind the earth would be crowded, and therefore imperfect; were there too few, the opposite would be the result, and therefore also imperfect. So man was to multiply till he had replenished, or completely filled, the earth. Gen. 1:28. The word translated "replenish" means, not to fill again, but, according to Young, "to fill, be full." Boothroyd translates, "fill the earth." To fill the earth is not to overfill it or to less than fill it. To be a perfect home there must be a perfect and definite number. That this is true is also evident from another scripture concerning man after the fall. To the woman the Lord said, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception." Gen. 3:16. If man had never fallen, every soul born into the world would have made a part of that definite number which would have inherited the earth forever. But man fell, and God foresaw that many would reject his proffered mercies and be lost; therefore more would have to be born in the world, the "conceptions" of women would be greatly multiplied. In that mansion home which Jesus has gone to prepare, there will be no vacant dwelling-places. Again, the definiteness with which the city of God is described in Revelation 21, indicates the exactness of God's plan. The remnant of his people which will be gathered in at his coming will be 144,000, just the number which will be needed to complete the requisite great multitude which no man can number, but which is fixed in God's purpose and plan. But aside from all these scriptures, the perfection of God's character and wisdom shows that the number in his mind and plan must be definite. 3. This definite number in the purpose of God must be of a certain character. This is shown by man's creation. He was created innocent and sinless. God pronounced him "very good." Gen. 1:31. The wise man says that God "made man upright." Eccl. 7:29. And God's perfect plan and purpose (and he could have no other) must also involve such a character. Neither will the purpose of God be thwarted in this. Says the psalmist: "Those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth." "The meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." "For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth." "The righteous shall inherit the land [earth], and dwell therein forever." Ps. 37:9, 11, 22, 29. In order that man might develop a right character, God gave him his holy law, a law summarily comprehended in the ten commandments. This law was ordained unto life. Rom. 7:10. If man had kept it, he would have lived by it. Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:12. Nothing more could have been asked of him, for that law embraced all duty, all righteousness; for it was the expression of God's righteousness. Eccl. 12:13; Ps. 119:176; Isa. 51:6, 7. The definite character, then, which would be possessed by the definite number designed of God to inhabit this earth, is a character which reflects, or is in harmony with, God's holy law. That law would be inwrought in the mind and the affections and outwrought in every deed of the life,—a righteous character. This number was "predestinated," or "marked out," to a righteous character as measured by the law of God. Let the reader keep these propositions, so abundantly proved by the Scriptures, and so self-evident in themselves, in mind. We have some others to follow before we make the application. A UNION OF PROTESTANTS AND CATHOLICS.
By M. C. W.
THIS journal has from time to time presented before the people the sure word of prophecy which points out that this government, which was so just and wise in its beginning, would become a persecutor by connecting religion with the State. In this she would imitate the apostate church of the early centuries. There would be ecclesiastical and political combinations which would bring this about. The prophecy to us foretold this while as yet there was not even the little cloud in the sky. We knew it would come. The prophecy (found in Rev. 13: 11-18) could not lie. We have pointed out the one religious institution over which the great battle would be fought, the head of the camel—Church and State—which would dispossess the rightful ruler—civil and religious liberty; and this institution is the Sunday. We have endeavored for thirty years to warn our fellow-countrymen of the danger that lies before them. According to ability given of God, we have entreated and endeavored to enlighten our fellow-Christian brethren of other denominations. But what has been the result? It has been twofold. First, thousands have become enlightened, have turned their feet into the way of truth, and are laboring to save others, with an ever-increasing faith in their position. But not so with another class. They have ridiculed the idea that in this enlightened age, in this favored land, in the liberal religious atmosphere of to-day, religious oppression or persecution could result; why, the idea was preposterous, and none but religious enthusiasts, with a predilection for the interpretation of prophecy, could entertain such ideas. It has been said that the principles of Protestants were against such a movement, that they were not united enough to do this, that they were not strong enough politically to do it if they were so disposed, that Roman Catholics would oppose such a measure if begun by Protestants, or Protestants would oppose it if begun by Roman Catholics; and it has also been declared that to enforce any religious institution there must be one church established by law, and this could never be. There is no doubt that all these objections have been honestly presented and held as insuperable obstacles to religious legislation in this country. But there stands the prophecy. It declares that the symbol of this country should make an image to the papal beast. The papal beast was constituted by a union of religion and the State. An image or likeness to that beast would be a similar union in this country. That union in this country would enforce the "mark of the beast," the change which the Papacy has made in the law of God, or the Sunday. There stands the prophecy of God, here are the objections of man. Which is right? When attention was first called to this prophecy there were no outward indications of its fulfillment. The National Reform Association did not then exist. But since that evidences have been accumulating till now the careful observer needs not faith in the light of prophecy to convince him that there is danger from this source; he can see it in the political movements of to-day. The party which has led out in this work has been the National Reform Association, which has been gaining in numbers and influence from the time of its inception. Its essential principles are held by many outside of its organization. One of these principal objects is to enforce Sunday observance. Another association whose object is to promote Sunday observance through moral and civil law is the American Sabbath Union, numbering in its claimed adherents several millions of the greatest religious denominations of our land. As aids to this movement may be counted the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the Law and Order Leagues, and some workmen's organizations. A Sunday plank has been a part of every Prohibition platform which we have seen in the last two years, although we believe that there are many Prohibitionists who oppose such legislation. Those who stand at the head of the two first-named organizations are determined to carry their point at all hazards. Sunday must be enforced. Roman Catholics, not a few, have given utterance to just such sentiments. And in order to carry their point, the Protestant Sunday men have been willing and waiting to accept of the co-operation of that church, which has done more against Bible Christianity than all the infidelity of the world. Says the Rev. S. F. Scovel, in the Christian Statesman of August 31, 1884, in referring to the interest shown by religious bodies in upholding Sunday by law:— "This common interest ought both to strengthen our determinations to work and our readiness to co-operate with our Roman Catholic fellow-citizens. We may be subjected to some rebuffs in our first proffers, for the time is not yet come when the Roman Church will consent to strike hands with other churches—as such; but the time has come to make repeated advances and gladly to accept co-operation in any form in which they may be willing to exhibit it." The same journal of December 11, 1884, says:— "Whenever they [Roman Catholics] are willing to co-operate in resisting the progress of political atheism, we will gladly join hands with them." It will be recalled by many of our readers that the atheism of National Reformers is everything which opposes their ideas of National Reform. Dr. A. A. Hodge, in the Princeton Review of January, 1887, said:— "All we have to do is for Catholics and Protestants—disciples of a common Master—to come to a common understanding with respect to a common basis of what is received as general Christianity, a practical quantity of truth belonging equally to both sides, to be recognized in general legislation." Prof. Charles A. Briggs, D.D., of Union Theological Seminary, in the Christian at Work of April 19, 1888, says:— "In all matters of worship we are in essential concord with Roman Catholics, and we ought not to hesitate to make an alliance with them so far as possible to maintain the sanctity of the Sabbath [Sunday] as a day of worship." The American Sunday Union were only too glad to count Cardinal Gibbons' name as representing 7,200,000 Catholics, in their petitions to Congress for a national Sunday law last winter. Prohibitionists have rejoiced at the accession of every Catholic priest to their party. Thus much and more might be said, from the Protestant side of the question. What do Catholics say? In an Encyclical of Leo XIII., published in 1885, Catholics are exhorted— "To take an active part in all municipal affairs and elections, and to further the principles of the church in all public services, meetings, and gatherings. . . . All Catholics should do all in their power to cause the constitutions of States and legislation to be modeled to the principles of the true church." The above is authoritative, and has a direct bearing on Sunday legislation. Now for a later utterance. The Congress of Catholic laymen held its last meeting in Baltimore, Md., November 12. At that meeting a platform, or manifesto, was adopted, which, according to the San Francisco Daily Examiner of the 13th inst., contained the following:— "There are many Christian issues in which the Catholics could come together with non-Catholics and shape civil legislation for the public good. In spite of rebuff and injustice, and overreaching zealotry, we should seek an alliance with the non-Catholics for proper Sunday observance." Now what will be the result of such a union of forces. One result will be that the combination will hold the balance of power, and corrupt politicians, in order to get support, will swear eternal712 fidelity to all Sunday legislation, and, with those who truly hold to such principles, will pass Sunday laws. And then what may those who oppose such legislation and who truly fear God expect? 1. By National Reformers to be classed with atheists, as they already have been (see the speech of Johnathan Edwards, D.D., at the New York National Reform Convention). And of this atheism, in which he places Jews and Seventh-day Baptists, he says: "Tolerate atheism, sir? There is nothing out of hell that I would not tolerate as soon." 2. By Roman Catholics to be classed with the worst of criminals. Says Bishop John Ireland, of Minnesota, at the centennial of Columbus, Ohio, September 10, 1888, as reported by the American Catholic News, of September 19:— "It is the intemperate class that violate our Sunday laws, and the violator of a Sunday law is the worst of criminals." The Dark Ages reveal the result of the movement we have been considering. Protestants and Catholics are agreed. As in the early centuries, when the church departed from Christ she had no means of defense (for down she had laid the weapons not carnal), there was but one of two ways for her to accept: either to acknowledge her error and repent, or to lay hold upon the civil arm, and thus deny her Lord. The church then chose the latter. She is making the same choice for the same reason to-day. The result will be the same. There will be the "confederacy" spoken of by the prophet (Isa. 8: 9-12); it will be the means of uniting apostate Protestantism and corrupt and hoary Romanism; but as Herod and Pilate were formerly made friends over the abused, condemned, and crucified Redeemer, so this union of Protestants and Catholics will again trample the purity of truth in the dust and crucify the Lord of glory again in the person of his saints. The trials, the legislation, the persecution will come. "Coming events cast their shadows before," in the persecutions of Georgia, and Arkansas, and Tennessee. We can say to the faithful who live at that time when there will be confederacies against right and truth, in the words of the prophet (Isa. 8: 12, 13, 20):— "Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy, neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." "To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Alone with God is better than to be allied with all the kingdoms of earth, without him. MANY are almost tempted to think at times that the Christianity of the present time is altogether different in its requirements than Christianity in the days of our Saviour. Such judge from what they see rather than from what ought to be. In no one feature is there perhaps a more marked difference than in the matter of self-denial. "If any man will come after me," says our Lord and Pattern, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Matt. 16:24. "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself," is recorded in Mark 8:34. See also Luke 9:23. And these injunctions were heeded by the early Christians. Peter could say, "Lo, we have left all and followed thee." No greater example of self-denial apart from the life of our Lord can be produced than that of the apostle Paul. The same spirit imbued the twelve and many others. Life, with all that the term means, was laid and bound on the altar of Christ. The plan of salvation itself was laid in self-denial. The Son of the infinite God laid aside his glory with the Father, made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, became poor that we might be made rich, and finally gave his life for sinful, rebellious man. Phil. 2:1-8; 2 Cor. 8:9. Never once in his earth-life did he minister to the desires of the flesh, nor even to its needs when urgent duty called in another direction. He denied himself. And he says, "Follow me." His apostle, who possessed so much of the spirit of self-denial, says: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil. 2:5. Many professed Christians believe these injunctions and endeavor to obey them in their own strength. They deny self and count it works of merit. This is not what the Bible demands. This is not the way the self-denial is to take place. We are not told to deny ourselves of anything which would make us purer, better, more capable of God's blessing, or of better service to our fellow-men. We are to deny "ungodliness and worldly lusts," to crush out every high thing which exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring every thought to the obedience of Christ. Titus 2:12; 2 Cor. 10:5. It costs suffering of the flesh to do this; but we do not have to do it in our own strength. If we did it by our power, we could then boast, and call self-denial a work of merit. But it is the grace and power of God that teaches this. "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." Titus 2:12. We are to deny what is opposed to soberness, righteousness, godliness, in the strength of the grace of Christ. He who has tasted of this grace should be grateful; and he who is grateful, who has been called a son of God, will for Christ's sake deny himself and find it easy. One who knew so much of that grace said, "The love of Christ constraineth us." There is no other way.
M. C. W.