THE writer recently attended the obsequies of a lady who was a wife and mother. The minister who was supposed to give comforting words before the casket hid the face from their view forever, gave expression to the following statements: "There is no death." "The dead are truly living, only changed to another sphere." That the spirit of the departed was hovering around, impressing him as he spoke, and it would often visit the husband in his lonely hours, and direct the future actions of the children, etc., etc.
As I listened to such statements I thought upon what authority they were spoken. Surely they are not the teaching of God's word; and if not, they must be untrue, for His word is truth. And if untrue, they must emanate from the father of lies, and therefore a poor place to receive comfort in the hour of affliction.
The Contradiction.
When God said to man in the Garden of Eden, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," the devil said, "Ye shall not surely die." So, tho the Lord says the result of transgression is death, the devil says, "No; they don't die at all;" and to prove to the world that this statement is true, he has invented and summoned to his aid "Modern Spiritualism," thru which he gives communication supposedly from our friends in the spirit world.
But if our friends are not dead, as many obituary notices and funeral sermons declare, and if they are really helping us in this life, then the devil told the truth, and Spiritualism is the place to seek for comfort in the hours of grief and sorrow.
Why Grieve If True?
But why, if "there is no death, but what seems so is only transition into a higher sphere of usefulness," should there be hours of grief and sorrow? If we believed such a statement we would not shed tears of sorrow at the loss of our parents or children; but rather tears of joy. And instead of sorrowing we would feel like shouting.
The greatest objection to the idea of consciousness after death is that it is not true, because it is out of harmony with God's word, "which is truth." For it is written, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. 15:26. Here Inspiration declares death to be an enemy; and why? — Because it robs us of our fathers and mothers, our babies and friends, and leaves nothing but vacancy and sorrow in its trail.
Death is not only an enemy, but it is the work of the great enemy, the devil. In Heb. 2:14, Paul says, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He [Christ] also Himself likewise took part of the same; that thru death He might destroy him that hath the power of death; that is, the devil." Therefore, it is clear that in death one passes under the dominion of the enemy. And since this is the last act of his power upon the individual, death is the last enemy.
The Dead and the Affairs of This Life.
The dead are not conscious, nor do they have to do with the affairs of this world after their departure; for it is written, "The dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Eccl. 9:5, 6.
Also in Job 14:1, 2: "Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." And in verse 21, "His sons come to honor and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them."
Plainly to the Point.
These scriptures plainly show that there is no continued consciousness nor further affliction with those who die.
The inspired writers continue by saying, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest" (Eccl. 9:10); and "if I wait, the grave is my house" (Job 17:13). Jesus says, "The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth." John 5:28, 29. Paul adds his testimony to this by saying unless this resurrection takes place, those who have "fallen asleep in Christ are perished." "For . . . in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward those that are Christ's at His coming." 1 Cor. 15:18, 22, 23. Again it is written, "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; 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." Then the apostle adds, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:16-18.
Therefore, we see that the dead are sleeping in unconsciousness, waiting for a resurrection at the second coming of Christ; and it is from this truth we are to gather comfort, and not in the mistaken idea of consciousness in death and visitations and communications thru spirit mediums.
The Highest Aim.
By F. E. Y.
THERE is no higher aim, nor destiny,
No nobler word,
Than prayer of mortal on the bended knee:
"O teach me, Lord."
F. E. Y.
Psalms of David.
THE following eloquent extract is from a late lecture by Henry Giles on the Psalms of David:
"Great has been their power in the world. They resounded amidst the court of the tabernacle; they floated thru the lofty and solemn space of the temple; they were sung with glory in the halls of Zion; they were sung with sorrow by the streams of Babel. And when Israel had passed away the harp of David was still awake. In all the years and ages, the inspiration of the royal prophet has enraptured its devotions and ennobled its rituals. Chorused by the winds of heaven, they have swelled thruout God's own on the sky and stars; they have rolled over the broad desert of Asia, in the matins and vespers of ten thousand hermits. They have rung thru the deep valleys of the Alps, in the sobbing voices of the forlorn Waldenses; thru the deeps and caves of the Scottish Covenanters; thru the woods and wilds of primitive America, in the heroic hallelujahs of princely pilgrims."—Jewish Ledger.
Stilling the Tempest.
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
Judea's sun was sinking down
Behind Mount Tabor's hoary crown,
The while, athwart the glimmering west
The sunset shook her flaming crest,
And hill and dale and wood and lake
A magic beauty seemed to take.
And now far o'er the purple sea
Of changeful, restless Galilee,
I see afar a white-winged boat
Upon the billowy tide afloat,
And sleeping on a pillow there
I see a Form divinely fair.
Thus, peacefully the moments fly,
When, sudden, o'er the purple sky,
Dark clouds came up, and tongues of flame
From out the gathering darkness came,—
And leaped and blazed and gleamed and flashed,
The while the billows madly dashed,
And rolling thunder boomed and crashed.
From cloud-girt Hermon's snowy height
The storm came down in sudden might;
And fiercer still the wild winds blew,
And black as night the storm-cloud grew,
And louder still and still more loud
The thunder pealed from cloud to cloud.
And still, 'mid tempest-riven sky,
That white-winged vessel rideth high.
I see her struggling with the storm
When lightning's flash reveals her form.
Hark! hear that cry above the roar
Of howling wind and beating wave,
A hoarse voice calling o'er and o'er,
"Master, we perish! wake and save!"
"What! hear'st Thou not the tempest's rage?
How can'st Thou calmly lie asleep
When mighty waves like mountains rise
To whelm us 'neath the surging deep?"
O Peter, Peter, knowest thou not
'Tis He who formed the mighty sea,
Who holds the waters in His hand,
That sleepest now on Galilee?
The Sleeper wakes; He calmly speaks;
The wind and waves His words fulfil:
"Ye raging billows, cease your strife,
O howling tempest,—peace,—be still."
'Tis done; the raging, wild winds ceased,
And evening breathed her breath of balm;
The rolling thunder died away,
And peace returned,—there was a calm;
And quiet nature sank to rest
Like birdling in her leafy nest,
Or child upon its mother's breast.
O restless heart whose hope seems dead,
When shadows rest o'er vale and hill,
When lightnings flash above thy head,
List, while He whispers, "Peace, be still!"
MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.
The Difference.
It has not escaped notice that Paul speaks of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit—as if he would emphasize the fact that the Spirit is life. Graces grow spontaneously in the Spirit-nourished life, and yet they require cultivation. Look at them! They are grouped in threes: Love, joy, and peace; patience toward others, kindness, benevolence; good faith, meekness, self-restraint. Gal. 5: 22.
How much can a man do for himself in the cultivation of these! Take the fundamental grace, which is at the same time the most original and spontaneous, Love. Can a man compel himself to love?—Certainly. Let him take the most unlovely thing which ought to be loved, and let him steadily ignore the unlovely aspects while diligently dwelling upon the aspects of promise and see how completely he can change his temper and attitude. The ability and determination to do this is one of the tests of the regenerate life. Can a drunkard discipline himself to self-control?—Yes, unless the habit has invaded the will. And by the Spirit of God he can achieve it whatever his condition.
In the conflict between spirit and flesh, therefore, the first step is for a man to feel the responsibility of working out his own salvation, the next that of availing himself of the grace of God by which he can do all things.—Selected.
Unconquered after Defeat.
BECAUSE we have just failed is no reason for giving up. It is the more reason for not giving up. Speer tells of a boy who, preparing for Yale, saw a football game between Yale and Princeton, in which Yale won. He watched the Princeton men, after their team's defeat, singing and singing, cheering and cheering, and then marching in a great, solid mass, still singing and cheering, down into the city.
After he had reached home the boy said to his father, "I believe I would like to go to Princeton." "But you know they got licked to-day." "O, yes, but they didn't know it. I would like to go to a college where they don't know when they are beaten."
And Speer adds heartily, "If the game had gone the other way he would have seen the same thing in Yale," and then asks, "Shall men have less of the Spirit of Christ in their moral life?" A defeat by sin is not meant to be the end of the fight. It must not be, if we will only obey orders from the front. The Captain is never thru with a beaten man, unless the man turns deserter.—Sunday School Times.
The Peril of Universal Salvation
SUPPOSE the doctrine of universal salvation be true, and you disbelieve it; will it harm you? Suppose you fear God, and are devout and holy; will this exclude you from heaven?—By no means. Make Christ your portion, and whether it be true or false, you are safe. But suppose this doctrine be false, and unwashed and unholy you are called to judgment; will that delusion save you?
"Feed My Lambs"—"Feed My Sheep."
By S. H. Carnahan
WHEN Jesus gave the command to Peter, "Feed My lambs," "feed My sheep," He first asked him, "Lovest thou Me?" In order that we might be qualified to care for and feed the flock, the children of Christ, we must first have a deep and abiding love for Him and His truth, else our endeavors will end in failure.
His disciples were admonished, "Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." So now, we should study at His sanctuary until we receive the unction of the Holy Spirit. One writer has said that God does not call a person to work until he is ready to go. This means that the person must have a practical knowledge of the principles of the eternal truths, so that he can teach and exemplify them to the people.
The Character of the Food.
What are the overseers of the flocks, the guardians of the children of God, to feed those under their care? In the case of the animals, the owners or herders have to provide only temporal or physical food and shelter and protect them from the onslaught of beasts of prey; but the church-workers and godly parents must not only shield each other and those in their charge from the snares of Satan, false teachers, and profane men, but also see that they are furnished with both temporal, or physical, and eternal, or spiritual, food.
Destroyed for Lack of Knowledge.
Even as famine for physical food causes the temporal death of many, so "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," says the Lord. Hosea 4:6.
A German proverb says, "As a man eateth, so is he." And Solomon says, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." Prov. 23:7. It is a demonstrated fact that stimulating and irritating foods produce in the users desire for strong drinks, tobacco, etc. An improper use of even wholesome foods causes gluttony and disease. Likewise, light and trashy reading or talking affects people's minds so that they can not so well appreciate sound, sensible matter. Persons may listen to, and think upon, fables and infidel teachings until they will not "endure sound doctrine." 2 Tim. 4:3, 4.
Those who read the word of God with the view of criticizing and opposing it, bring upon themselves moral dyspepsia and death. Therefore, how concerned we who know these important principles should be in seeing to it that we indeed properly feed the lambs and sheep of the Lord's flock. The lambs—the babes in God's household—should be fed upon the sincere milk of the word, and the sheep, or older members, be given strong meat—sound doctrines—for spiritual food. And all should be taught thru the instruction of God's Spirit and word the proper use of wholesome physical foods, that they may build up healthful and temperate physical bodies, which are more conducive to intellectual and spiritual growth and happiness.
S. H. CARNAHAN.
Sin and Its Fruit.
THE "Scriptures of truth" are very clear as to what sin is. When man attempts to define it apart from the Bible, the explanation befogs and confuses rather than enlightens. For instance, a recent book, "The New Theology—An Exposition," by the Rev. T. Rhondda Williams, of England, thus defines sin: "A gratifying of the momentary self without considering others, and without considering that higher self whose enrichment always coincides with ministry to the social good."
Read the Bible definition, and note the differences:
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law." I John 3: 4.
Moreover this definition is all inclusive, comprehending all sin. Note the following:
"For by the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3: 20.
"For where no law is, there is no transgression." Rom. 4: 15.
"Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet." Rom. 7: 7.
"If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture; . . . but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. . . . 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. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James 2: 8-12.
What law is it which defines sin?—That law which says, "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not commit adultery," "Thou shalt not covet." What law contains these precepts?—The Decalogue, spoken by the voice of God from heaven, engraven with His own finger on tables of enduring stone. Ex. 20: 1-17; 31: 18; 32: 15, 16.
"Righteousness" is the quality of being righteous. And "righteous" is conformity with a right standard. Mathematically, a right line is a straight line, the shortest distance between two points. Any deviation from that makes crookedness, perversion, or mathematically, sin. The righteousness which God requires is inherent, exhibited in straightforward, up and down conduct, rectitude, rightness, with no crookedness in it.
Thru that channel of righteousness from the great "Fountain," which is with God, flows the life, the vitality, the power of existence which we have. "In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." Prov. 12: 28. Outside of that channel is the land of death.
"Sin," in its original sense, means to "miss the mark." It is the swerving of the line from the right course. It is falling "short of the glory of God;" it is turning from "the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Rom. 3: 23; Phil. 3: 14.
Righteousness perverted is sin; straightness perverted is crookedness; life perverted is death. "Sin, when it is full-grown bringeth forth death." James 1: 15.
God created man "upright," and pronounced him "very good." He received life from God normally. For his physical nature it came thru the air he breathed, thru the water he drank, thru the food he ate. For his spiritual nature it came thru God's word and by His Spirit. Just so long as man was faithful to God, spiritual life dominated the physical. Death had no place in him. Had he continued faithfully obedient, he never would have died; for "in the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death."
But man sinned; he perverted the right ways of God within himself. He refused to be guided by Infinite Wisdom; refused to learn by God's appointed way—faith—the lessons of infinite worth, and to acquire by simple trust in his Maker the character worthy of eternal existence. He took the tempter's short, selfish way in the hope that he would gain knowledge of good and evil, and become like God; but he found evil only, and the end of it all, death. Compare Gen. 2: 17; 3: 4, 5.
It is true that the serpent's old lie has been perpetuated, and the millions of deluded mortals have believed it: "Ye shall not surely die. Strange, isn't it? that altho God said, just twelve verses previous in the Sacred Record, "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," and elsewhere, "The soul that sinneth it shall die" (Eze. 18: 4), men should believe the tempter, "Ye shall not surely die." It is the only promise of immortality to the sinner in himself in all God's Book. Do you believe its author?
Man died. Adam died. Said God, "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. 3: 19. "And he died!" "and he died!" "and he died!" has been the long, interminable chorus of history and biography ever since. Man has been born, has flourished a few days, has died, has molded back to dust. "But," says one, "it was his body that died; his soul lives on." Who said so? It is playing fast and loose with the words of the Almighty to say that His "thou" in one case means the body, in another passage the "thou" means the soul. It was the responsible Adam who sinned; it was the responsible Adam who died. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." Eze. 18: 4, 20. The erroneous immortal-soul theory, the unscriptural conscious-state-of-the-dead doctrine, are the great road bed and metals over which Satan has run his train of heathen gods and demigods, saint worship, purgatory, ever-burning hell, universal salvation, Universalism, Swedenborgianism, Christian Science, Modern Spiritism, and other false, delusive doctrines. Righteousness is life, sin is death.
Sin is a disease. Man was originally healthy, normal. But when he departed from God, he perverted the very laws of his being, and all the horrible monstrosities and degeneracies of sin have resulted. The virus is in bud, and every fruit of man bears the marks of the leprosy of sin. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is desperately sick; who can know it?" Jer. 17: 9, R.V.
Man has no healing in himself. Standing alone, he has "no hope" and is "without God," "alienated from the life of God." Eph. 2: 12; 4: 18. He may plan and devise ten thousand ways of life; the end thereof will be death. Prov. 16: 25. He may imagine ten thousand human saviours; but "none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Ps. 49: 7. He may plan, as he has, a thousand ways to save society and preserve the world, but in the midst of the blazing illumination of righteousness and with myriads of voices calling ever upward, the great tide of human corruption rolls on toward the night of endless perdition.
There is but one hope, only one, for poor, dying humanity, and that is the righteousness and life of Jesus Christ, an all-sufficient Saviour and Redeemer. He gives life by giving righteousness, and He gives it freely to all who will take it in His way—the only way.
“Demand This Label.”
By Editor
WE have recently been admonished by a well-meaning friend to demand the “union label” on our printed matter, as it will insure a great many blessings that the friend proceeds to enumerate.
We stand for unity. We stand for the exalted unity demanded and taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. And all the workers in this office are united, and happily united, too, in the great work before them, of spreading the news as rapidly as possible that the Lord Jesus is soon coming. He has told it in His prophecies in such a way that there can be no mistake about it. He is coming again, and He is coming very soon; and the employees in this office are a unit in devoting their lives to the spread of this soul-inspiring, and soul-rejoicing truth.
This printing and publishing-house does no printing whatever outside of its own books, pamphlets, tracts, and papers. It does none of the commercial work that printing-houses usually compete for. It is devoted to the one pleasurable task of printing literature that tells of the Lord’s soon coming, and of the preparation necessary to stand ready to meet Him at His coming.
We have a union for the carrying forward of this work, but it is the happy union that is produced by fellowship with Christ Jesus. We see the distress and the turmoil that is in the world, and we know what it means, for we have been reading it from the pages of prophecy for more than a fourth of a century. We have been saying all this time that the prophecies foretell that we are now in the last days, and because of the selfishness of men, manifested in their greed for wealth and their successes in amassing stupendous hoards, there would be brought on industrial conditions that will fill the world with terror. All this we see in the world to-day, and as already stated, we know what it means because the God of Heaven has caused His prophets to write it in His Book so that we might read and understand.
We have no quarrel with the labor unions. From the standpoint of this world, they have the same natural right to combine that is manifested in the great combines of capital. But the work of this office and of the employees of this office is not in the direction of becoming a party to any of these disputes between labor and capital that have become so distressing, and in many instances so bitter, and that we know from the sure word of God will continue to become more and more distressing and bitter till the end of time.
We know what is coming on this world, and know what it means. And we know that there are thousands of distressed souls who are full of dread because of the outlook. The unprecedented corruption, the clamorous wars between fabulously wealthy corporations, trusts, and combines, and the laboring people; the constant threatenings of war that have every promise of involving the whole world; the storms, earthquakes, and the like that are visiting so many places with destruction; and all the rest of the things of this character that we see so plainly everywhere to-day, are compelling men to be anxious about the future. Now we know from the plain prophecies of the Bible what these things mean, and knowing them, we must give ourselves to the one work of telling it to the world.
God has a shelter in the storm and also from the storm. We are all absorbed in the one work of telling about this Shelter, and pointing men to the Harbor of safety. And being absorbed and united in this one great work, any fair-minded person, we believe, will see that it would be both inconsistent and wrong for us to be entangled with the warring elements that are in heated combat in the strifes in this world.
“And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who enrolled him as a soldier.” 2 Tim. 2:2-4.
These words inspired by our Lord and Teacher form the basis of the commission under which we act. Our Lord is the Prince of Peace, and we are ambassadors of peace. And how could we act as ambassadors of peace if we allied ourselves with one of the warring factions and became a partisan? We believe that in stating things in this way we are not promulgating sectarian dogma that is narrow and warped into one-sidedness. We are stating fundamental Christian principle, and believe that it is a substantial platform on which every follower of the Nazarene should stand. T.
Courage Demanded Now.
By T.
WE have already entered the time of the world's supremest perils. We have already entered the days that God has foretold us would be "perilous" because of the covetousness and self-love that would exist. We have already entered the period marked by prophecy as the "time of the end"—a brief period just before the second coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven. Speaking of this time, and of the signs that were to precede His coming, the Master says:
"And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the billows; men fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21: 25-28.
The men who cling to this world and its sins, and who refuse to see the light of God's plain word may try to quiet their fears in the storm that is bursting upon the world, but they will not be able to do it. The Lord has foretold that men will be "fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world." And while men with fainting hearts and bated breath are trying to seek this solution and that of the meaning of these things, in the hope that they may find something that will sustain and impart courage and comfort, those who know the truth of the word of life must stand up with the courage of heroes and make known the truth in power.
The person who is rightly instructed in regard to the meaning of the things that are in the world and that are filling men more and more with the forebodings of despair has not a spark of fear in regard to any of the dangers that threaten us. He has made his peace with God complete. Even death itself has no terrors for him. His only regret is that he does not have a thousand lives to give in such a glorious work. He must meet everything courageously and calmly. He must be willing to be deliberately misunderstood and maligned, and still he must go right on with his work, imparting to every one he meets the courage and hope that are swelling his own heart to overflowing. T.
The Sowing of Wild Oats
“The worst thing about the sowing of wild oats is that they take root in other people’s fields.”