Earlier text: OUR BIBLE BAND“Tho I Should Die with Thee, Yet Will I Not Deny Thee”
By T. E. Bowen
The night had settled down, the last one that Jesus was to spend with His disciples as their earthly “Lord and Master.” The meeting in the “upper room” was over. They had sung a hymn, and were now on their way to the familiar place of prayer in Gethsemane. Jesus, knowing that His “hour” was come, that hour when He should be delivered into the hand of the prince of darkness, for him to do as he would, began to explain a little more fully the cause for the “exceeding sorrowful” spirit that had settled down upon His soul. “All ye shall be offended because of Me this night,” He said; “for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.” From these words His disciples could gather no other meaning than that Jesus was soon to die. But they could not have it that way. They could not see how their growing cause could be advanced by the death of Jesus. And, further, how could it be that He should count them so base as to be offended for anything that might come to them because of Him? “Never!” they thought. And Peter’s thoughts soon formed themselves into words. “Tho all men should be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended.” Jesus replied by telling him that before the dawn of morning he would three times deny that he knew his Lord. “Tho I should die with Thee,” Peter stoutly affirmed, “yet will I not deny Thee.” And “likewise also said all the disciples.” We wonder how this could be. But just before us a time is approaching when believers will pass through a similar test. The storm had been gathering in Jesus’ work. He knew that it was only because of the restraining hand of His Father that He had been preserved from being taken by those thirsting for His life. He knew that “His hour” had now come, the time for the supreme test of the ages to be made; that the hour had struck for the Son of God to lay down His life for sinners—the fulfilment of the compact made between the Father and the Son away back before the world was, in that mysterious council when the plan of redemption was laid. The disciples did not know all that was involved in the scenes taking place about them. Day by day prophecy had been fulfilling before their eyes, yet they comprehended it all but vaguely at best. Had they believed Jesus when He pointed out to them their condition, they might have been saved from defeat. But they did not know their own hearts, so entered upon the scenes of that eventful night unprepared. “Tho I should die with Thee, yet will I not deny Thee,” were Peter’s words. How about us? Are we cherishing the same self-confidence? Do we feel that whatever comes, we will not forsake the truth? Are7 we prepared for the decided change in the sentiment of the people that is sure to come before the work of God closes in the world? The same heavenly hand that protected Jesus has been restraining and holding in check these powerful forces of evil. But some day they will be held no longer. The exact time for this change we may never know. But when God does permit it to come, it will be as much the carrying out of His eternal purpose in the great controversy between good and evil as it was to permit Jesus to be taken by the cruel mob in Gethsemane. When the crisis came to the disciples they were unprepared. They failed to see that this experience for them and for Jesus was included in the Father’s plan. They rose up against it in their hearts. Is there not a lesson in this for us? After the resurrection Jesus explained to His disciples the meaning of these things. By “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself,” and showed that the Christ was to suffer “these things and to enter into His glory.” But we must be prepared beforehand; for the events to follow this time of trial just ahead will not be a long earthly experience, but the final scenes connected with the deliverance of the people of God; the time of their entering upon the eternal inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. To the humble believer in Jesus comes the encouraging promise of help and deliverance. “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” What Was the Matter with Eden?
“If all man needs is environment, what was the matter with Eden?” The Bible
By Nellie M. Butler
If we could read the books of ev’ry age,
Written by poet, chronicler, and sage,
There's nothing we could find that would compare
With the Bible. No book found anywhere
Can equal it. Its thoughts are grand, sublime,—
Above what man can think. It is a mine
Of jewels rare. We read it day by day,
And yet find something new,—some cheering ray
Of light that brightens up the path. And more
Of God's own love we see than e'er before.
'Tis in this Book we find the truest Friend,
With love that is unchanging to the end,
Who gave His life that sinful man might live;
And giving this, 'twas all He had to give.
How oft we find upon a dying bed
This name is faintly heard, the last that's said.
When eyes are closed to all of earthly things,
What peace and joy the name of Jesus brings
To those who mourn. And when in prison cell
This Book is read, no human tongue can tell
The happiness it brings to him alone
Who has no friend that he might call his own,
To know that there is One who loves him still.
How glad he is to do his Master's will.
No other theme portrayed with mortal pen
Is grand as this—the love of God to men.
Angels desire into this theme to look,
And so they study in this precious Book;
And while eternal ages roll along
It is their science and unending song. Power of the Bible
By Talmage
A MISSIONARY in France offered a Bible in a humble dwelling. The man took it, tore out a dozen pages, and with them began to light his pipe. Some years after, the missionary happened in the same house. The family had just lost their son in the Crimean War, and his Bible had been sent back home. The missionary took it up, and saw that it was the very same Bible that he had left in the house, and from which the leaves had been torn. The dying soldier had written on one of the leaves of the Bible, “Rejected and scoffed at, but finally believed in and saved.” The Bible may be used to light the pipe of witticism by some, but for us it is a staff in life, a pillow in death, and our joy for eternity.—Talmage. AN engineer on the Lake Shore Railroad is held responsible for a wreck in which two men were killed. He is a man past his three-score, and has been in the employ of the road for forty years. He told the coroner’s jury with tears streaming down his cheeks that he “took a chance, ran past his signals, knowing they were out of order owing to the blizzard, but thinking the track ahead was clear.” The foreman of the jury was so affected that he refused to sign the verdict. He “took a chance.” The track ahead wasn’t clear. That’s all. Two dead. This was not a “lucky” chance. He tried his “luck,” but lost and caused others to lose. The man who “chances” it on his luck will get into a mix-up somewhere. There are always dangers on the road ahead. The track is always blocked somewhere. Common sense should teach men this, but they are poor scholars. Chance is blind. To pass the signal is to take a run in the dark.—The New York Observer. Our Bible Reading
By G. W. Rogers
(Quotations from A. R. V.) 1. There will be two resurrections. “Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.” John 5: 28, 29. “There shall be a resurrection both of the just and unjust.” Acts 24: 15. 2. When will the righteous receive the reward? 3. Which resurrection takes place first? 4. How much time intervenes between the two resurrections? “The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished.” Rev. 20: 5. 5. Where are the saints during the thousand years? “And they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Verse 4. 6. What is the condition of the earth during this time? “Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger; to make the land a desolation, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13: 9. “Behold, Jehovah maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” Isa. 24: 1. “The earth shall be utterly emptied, and utterly laid waste.” Verse 3. See Jer. 4: 20-27. Satan’s prison then is the earth when it is brought back to its chaotic state. 7. Has Satan claimed possession of the earth since the fall of man? “And the devil said unto Him, To Thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.” Luke 4: 6. “And he led Him up, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world.” Verse 5. 8. How long will Satan be bound? “And he laid hold on the dragon, . . . and bound him for a thousand years.” Rev. 20: 2. “The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished.” Verse 5. 10. What will be his last work of deception? “And shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth . . . to the war: . . . and they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city.” Verses 8, 9. “And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” Rev. 21: 2. 12. How is his work closed? “And fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them.” Rev. 20: 9. 13. What will become of the wicked? “For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of Hosts, that it should leave them neither root nor branch.” Mal. 4: 1. “All the nations . . . shall be as tho they had not been.” Obadiah 16. 14. In what condition will the second death leave the universe? “And every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard I saying, Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever.” Rev. 5: 13. 15. How long will those of the first resurrection live? “But they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” Luke 20: 35, 36. Danger of Procrastination
A YOUNG man in Pennsylvania, who had been deeply convicted during the progress of a revival, was asked by his pastor to come to Christ. He answered, “Not to-night; perhaps I will to-morrow night.” The next day the pastor went out into the country, and while on his way perceived at a distance persons gathering in the street; and when he reached the place, he at once saw that this young man to whom he had spoken the previous evening was nearly killed by being thrown from a horse. They carried him into a neighbor’s house, where he lived but a few minutes. His last words were, “Lost! lost! and forever lost!” The call of mercy is often followed closely by the summons to judgment.—Anon. The Advent Precedes the Millennium
By Dr. J. T. Barclay
LET it be constantly borne in mind in the investigation of the whole subject, that, according to divine arrangement, the advent precedes the millennium, and the beginning of the millennium rapidly succeeds the end of this age, and the terrific judgments that accompany and succeed the advent.—Dr. J. T. Barclay. Whose “Christian Principles”?️
By Editor
We refer again to the World's Christian Citizenship Conference. As stated in our last issue by one of its chief promoters, it has for its purpose the adoption of a “Declaration of Principles—the Christian principles of civil government,” and these principles are to be recommended to the people of all countries for adoption. Suppose these plans are all carried out—the “Christian principles” adopted, recommended, and the recommendation adopted in abstract by the governments of earth. In absolute monarchies, or autocracies, if there were such, the Christian principles in concrete would be those of the king. When he died and his successor came to the throne these “Christian principles” might undergo a violent change. The first king might be a Trinitarian, the second a Unitarian. What a change would have to be made in religious educational text-books! And how would the court preachers adjust themselves to the change? But suppose a representative government like the United States should adopt these “Christian principles of civil government” in the abstract. Suppose that they should do as the National Reform Association, that is leading out in this great conference, advises,—embody them in the fundamental law of the state. The next thing would be to crystallize them into civil statutes, to make them practical in the life of the nation and of the people. One of the first questions which would arise would be, What is Christianity, and what are “Christian principles of civil government”? The legislators would immediately face a tremendous dilemma; for on one side would stand the Protestant Federation of Churches. Whether all Protestants were willing or not, the Federation would assume, in all probability, to speak for Protestantism, and such a large body would doubtless be accepted as authority on that side of the question by the religious, semi-religious, unreligious, and irreligious lawmakers. Yet there would be a large number of true, devoted Protestants in different denominations, and sometimes whole denominations, that would utterly repudiate the authority of such a body, and they would be compelled to do this on the Protestant principle of the Bible and the Bible alone. How would these be regarded? But there would face our legislators also another large body that have very decided views regarding Christianity and what are “Christian principles of civil government;” namely, the Roman Catholic Church. That body believes that the head of the church is not the Protestant Federation, or any kind of federation whatsoever, but the pope. His word to them is absolute law, and his interpretation is standard. That body can not, consistent with its belief, compromise in any way by uniting with Protestantism. Our legislators could not in any way patch up the matter between the two religious bodies by asking mutual concession. The only compromising element, as far as we could see, and as far as history has demonstrated, would be the Protestant body itself, which would compromise and yield to Roman Catholic principles in order to develop the designs of the Christian Citizenship Conference. That would mean, therefore, as far as these principles were formulated into statute law, Roman Catholic government. One step would lead to another; every religious principle introduced into operative government would be an entering wedge for others to follow, until we should have full-fledged church-and-state government of which the pope would be the head. Logically, such a government would emphasize its highest laws and would guard them by the strongest penalties. Logically, those laws would be that which pertains to religion, for man's good spiritually and morally. Logically, the free-born soul in Christ, who had been taught to serve God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and whose conscientious interpretation of the Word of God leads him outside of these “Christian principles of civil government,” would be considered the worst criminal, tho no whiter soul might live in the republic. Upon him would be visited the highest penalties. All these things would logically follow; and the more conscientious the supporters of such a perverted system would be, the more earnestly would they prosecute to prison and to death those who were conscientiously and really opposed to such a government. Thus would they demonstrate, as expressed by the United States Senate Report adopted in 1829,— “that among all the religious persecutions with which almost every page of modern history is stained, no victim ever suffered but for violation of what GOVERNMENT DENOMINATED THE LAW OF GOD.” Therefore as the report declares,— “To prevent a similar train of evils in this country, the CONSTITUTION has wisely WITHHELD FROM OUR GOVERNMENT the power of DEFINING THE DIVINE law. It is a RIGHT RESERVED TO EACH CITIZEN, and while he respects the rights of others, HE CAN NOT BE HELD AMENABLE TO ANY HUMAN TRIBUNAL FOR HIS CONCLUSIONS.” These are noble words, and they ought to burn deep into the soul of every one who loves liberty. The American people ought to rise in their might, and denounce and repudiate every effort to change the principles of the freest and noblest government on the face of the earth. We will consider in later numbers some of the other things purposed; and before we are through with this we will show that our Constitution as it stands is nearer the divine conception of what a civil government ought to be than that of any government that has ever existed. The great conference to be held in Philadelphia in November next, is indeed an important one. It means much for American liberty. Are Americans awake to its meaning? In the September number of the Biblical World is an editorial entitled “The Passing of Apocalypticism.” By apocalypticism is meant the view that has been held by the church through the centuries that sometime our Lord Jesus Christ will come in the clouds of heaven and gather His people to Himself, with all the other events referred to in the Scriptures as occurring at that time. The article seems to be called out by a reader’s asking that the Biblical World should cite “one fact in the spiritual life that has been discovered since the [Scripture] canon has closed.” The editorial first quotes the words of Dr. Inge, professor of divinity, University of Cambridge. We quote as follows: “The earliest Christianity regarded the ascension as the penultimate scene of a drama which was very shortly to have its dénouement by the reappearance of the Messiah in the clouds of heaven. This is a fact, which, however unwelcome it may be to us, we ought, no doubt, to face.” Why this fact is unwelcome appears clearly in a later sentence. “Our Lord is recorded in the Gospels to have made predictions which certainly have not been, and can not now be, fulfilled.” These predictions, Dr. Inge maintains, tho ascribed to Jesus in the Gospels, and incorporated into early Christianity, were not really uttered by Jesus. “On the other hand,” he says, “the view hitherto commonly held by most Christians, that our Lord promised to return to earth at a far distant date unknown to Himself, does not seem to have any support in the New Testament.” The Biblical World assures us that Dr. Inge is not “attacking” the Bible, but speaking “as a defender of the faith.” Now the Gospels, all four of them, quote the words of our Lord Jesus Christ regarding His second coming. These words tell us that He will come again and receive His people unto Himself; that “as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be;” that He will “come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” and many other utterances of the same import. And yet this “defender of the faith” tells us that we may not believe in any of these utterances at all, other than this, that those who uttered them may have believed them, but that they have deceived us by saying that Christ declared what they say He said. In other words, their stories concerning Him in this respect are absolutely false, and the church has labored under an entirely wrong conception of His teaching during nineteen hundred years. In the light of this the Biblical World presents as the answer to the question in the beginning of this article the following: “We desire rather to call attention to the fact that a kingdom of God already among us, slowly but surely moving toward the realization It is impossible for a sincere Christian to have the best and most effectual success (whatever it may seem to be) while working outside of God’s plan. It is likewise impossible for him who is not a consecrated Christian (Are there any others?) to have success in God’s work while working in harmony with God’s plan outwardly. Knowledge, submission, and consecration are all needed. God’s way is always the simpler, easier, more effective way to the devoted, submissive, obedient heart. We have heard of “the stone age,” “the iron age,” “the steel age,” and all men wish for “the golden age.” This, however, seems to be becoming an electric age. Electricity has been called the life-force of all things earthly, and mechanically it is swiftly swinging that way. Generated by some great water-power up among the mountains, the busy, vibrating fingers of the giant propels machinery for all sorts of purposes a hundred miles away. In the parlance of the workshop, wherever the “juice” can be furnished at a reasonable rate, there its marvels are in evidence. These thoughts were emphasized by a visit to the great electrical exposition held in San Francisco, September 19 to 24. It was an exhibit of electricity applied to almost every mechanical device of human utility and necessity, and in simplicity, neatness, and power always to advantage. We have not space to mention a tithe of the things exhibited, or to dwell upon any of them; therefore a reference to the few must suffice for all. The manager, Mr. Moses, was very courteous, and took pains to point out some of the most wonderful and novel exhibits. In one section were great drills boring into solid rock and steel as tho they were wood. By five different patterns of vacuum cleaners the housewives’ cleaning woes were lessened. There were beautiful electric automobiles run with storage batteries, clean and odorless. An electric kitchen was in evidence, in which food was neatly and quickly cooked and served. The process of wireless telegraphy was shown, and messages from ships at sea were received. Electricity brought you within hearing of sermons preached and bands playing many miles distant. The telautograph copied in a good imitation of your own handwriting, your letter or autograph, on one sheet, while you inscribed it upon another. The copying machine might have been in another city 1,000 miles away. Another device, patented in San Francisco, writes in a large hand on a distant bulletin-board while the operator manipulates a keyboard or typewriter. If you wish to send a night letter over the telegraph wires, your message is taken, and comes out of the machine in a tape perforated with dots and dashes of the Morse alphabet. This perforated tape is fed into another machine; and 500 miles away, perhaps, an electric typewriter automatically writes out the letter recorded on the perforated tape. Great improvements have been made in electric lighting, both in lessening the price and making it much more effective in light-producing power, although human invention is yet far behind the glowworm in economy of energy. In one corner two cows were milked twice daily by an electric milking machine. An interesting exhibit was that of a man permitting 100,000 to 150,000 volts of electricity to pass through him. A paper could be lighted by contact with him, and other manifestations showed that he was supercharged. Eleven thousand volts would immediately kill. The secret is that in the high-frequency, alternating current the vibrations are so rapid from each direction that the nerves do not get time to respond, and hence receive no shock. The whole exposition was an interesting and instructive exhibit, and it brought forcibly to the writer’s mind the ancient prediction of this time, uttered by the messenger of God to the aged prophet by the River Hiddekel, “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. 12:4. In the light of this and other prophecies of the Book, these great discoveries and advancement ought to lead men to Him whose understanding is infinite, and whose lesser manifestations of power and wisdom exceed all human devices. The following is clipped from a business circular, issued by a “life assurance society:” “By reason of its poisonous effects, alcohol is an enemy of life-insurance companies. Directly and indirectly it is responsible for no small portion of the mortality rate. “Notwithstanding the successful movements in various sections of the country to restrict its sale and use, the fact that over two thousand million gallons of beverages which contain alcohol are consumed annually in the United States indicates that this dangerous drug still exerts a powerful influence for evil. Even the ‘high cost of living’ does not seem to diminish the national thirst. “In view of the wide-spread so-called temperate use of alcohol, we have endeavored to consider this subject in no narrow or partisan spirit, but solely from the scientific and practical view-point, as we would any other cause contributing to increase the cost of insurance. “It has been conclusively shown by laboratory experiments that alcohol taken in so-called moderate quantities (two glasses of beer daily), reduces mental and physical efficiency. Those who are disposed to question this statement would do well to have themselves subjected to a test in some experimental laboratory, where the degree of impairment of mental and physical functions caused by alcohol can be measured quite as accurately as a yard of cloth. “Alcohol is not a ‘demon,’ but a drug; not a stimulant, but an anesthetic. In so-called moderate quantities it reduces muscular and mental efficiency. It suppresses the higher brain functions, thereby releasing the lower. It is most dangerous to those with weak family histories. The effects of excess in those of normal family history may be transmitted to their children. The experience on large groups of insured lives shows that moderate drinking shortens life. Most cases of alcoholism are curable, if the desire for cure exists. Advertised cures are worthless; they merely ‘sober up’ the patient. The advice and assistance of an intelligent physician, the upbuilding of self-control, and faith in one’s manhood, are the fundamental requirements for a permanent cure.” One life-insurance company, in an investigation covering forty years, found that for every 100 deaths among total abstainers, there were 131 deaths among the same number of temperate drinking policyholders; 31 per cent in favor of the abstainers. Another company found it 100 to 146 in favor of the abstainers. These facts ought to appeal to every man of common sense. Higher considerations appeal to the Christian. Evolution Substituted for Revelation
tion of its ideal of perfected personal character and a perfected human society, has already displaced the hope of a day when the present order of things shall suddenly and forcibly be destroyed to make way for the instantaneous establishment of a heavenly kingdom.” He says further, in explanation of this thought, that instead of waiting for the day of the Lord, as an event which is to come “out of the clouds,” Christians find inspiration in the thought that they are working with God in an age-long process toward a far-off goal sometime to be reached. This is Evolution substituted for revelation. It does not seem to us that it would be hard at all for the ordinary man to see that this “defense of the faith” is frank infidelity. If we can not believe the writers of the New Testament respecting the utterances of Jesus regarding His second coming, why should we believe their utterances regarding His first advent, regarding the incarnation, regarding His supernatural birth, regarding His crucifixion and the events connected therewith, regarding His resurrection or His ascension? Logic would demand that if we were to reject what He said regarding His second coming as crude ideas, which the writers of the New Testament imbibed from erroneous Jewish thought, we should relegate a great deal more of the Gospels to erroneous teaching gathered from the same source, and finally that everything which did not harmonize or pay tribute to our superior latter-day view should be utterly rejected as unworthy of Christ. Thus we would come at last to believe that the very witnesses Christ chose were not true witnesses at all, but false, and that the enduement of the Spirit they received, that they might be true witnesses, was in itself a farce, as far as effecting what the Master designed. From such “defenders of the faith” we can most devoutly pray in the language of the old litany, “Good Lord, deliver us.” How one could conceive that this would be a help to any Bible student is more than we can possibly understand. If the Gospels and the writers of the New Testament in general—for every one speaks of Christ’s second coming, and all are in harmony—do not tell us the truth respecting this, we have no foundation on which to build faith in Jesus Christ as a Saviour. One of the reasons why this doctrine of apocalypticism, as it is called, is passing, is said to be that the disciples were disappointed in their hope of Christ’s soon coming, and that the things which He is said to have promised “have not been, and can not now be fulfilled;” in other words, the disciples believed that the Lord was coming in their day; He did not come; their words have been proved false. We beg our readers to study the question further. That phase of the subject we will treat in our next. When Christ in His glory struck down the zealous tradition-bound Saul of Tarsus on his tour of persecution, and the humbled man asked, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” the Master did not tell him. He sent him to another, to a disciple of His. Jesus had a twofold object in this: (1) He wanted Saul to come into His church, to feel the union and interdependence that church-members ought to feel, to know that he was not too great or learned to be taught by a humble follower of Christ, whom a little time before he was seeking to slay. (2) It is God’s plan to connect with Himself in soul-saving His people. Not one soul shall be gathered into His kingdom as the result of one’s sole effort. No one will say, “I saved that soul.” Even the Lord Jesus, by whose love and sacrifice and grace all are saved, associates with Himself in the saving of every soul some one or more of His children. He does this that others—angels and men—may have a part in the rejoicing. Not long ago a certain man of a certain expedition refused to share the glory of discovery of a certain point on this earth’s surface with companions who had borne the trials and hardships with him and whose presence with him made possible the discovery. Jesus our Lord furnished all things for His work, and plans that all shall share His glory in the joy of soul-saving. Therefore He calls all to share in that work. Therefore He calls you that He may send you to some soul. Has He ever sent you? Have you ever heard Him call? Have you felt His burden? If not, why?