p. 61 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 4. (2/3/1914)

Earlier text: FACTS CONCERNING THE SEVENTH DAY

4255 — BREAKING OF BREAD ON MONDAY MORNING

By Editor

Commenting on Acts 20: 7, in your issue of December 9 you say, "There is strong evidence that it was Monday morning before they actually came to the breaking of bread." Is this new teaching?

No, it is not new teaching, but the thought intended was not expressed. The sentence as it appeared in the answer to that question should have been eliminated, and the statement should have been made, instead, that the Bible method of reckoning the day is from sunset until sunset, and since the meeting referred to in Acts 20:7 was in the dark part of the day, it occurred on what we now call Saturday night. Furthermore, the text shows that while Paul was with the church preaching, and also engaged in the breaking of bread, the disciples accompanying him were in a ship performing the common labors of travel; and when the light portion of the day arrived, Paul took a short cut across the country to meet them at Assos, as agreed upon. But if the individual desires to claim for the text a thing that is not true, and would seek to have it appear that that meeting occurred on what is now known as Sunday night, the breaking of bread, as is clearly evident by the text, did not occur until Monday morning. Hence no matter what view you take of it, there is absolutely no evidence in this scripture for Sunday sacredness. And the same is true, for that matter, of all other texts of the Bible.

4256 — UNABLE TO KEEP THE SABBATH

By Editor

If a man knows that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and is not able to keep it, because he can't make a living for his family, will God accept him and forgive him?

The same kind of question might be asked in regard to any one of the commandments of God. We know of no exceptions that God makes on the behalf of any individual, in the matter of observing His moral law; but we do know of a great many promises of power to enable individuals under all conditions and circumstances to do the will of our heavenly Father. Some of the greatest difficulties that may be presented to impede our progress are often permitted for the purpose of showing God's power in our behalf, and in order that we may learn to trust Him with living faith. And in view of the plain teaching of His word, and of His exceeding great and precious promises, all such questions as this must be answered between the individual himself and his God.

SYSTEMATIC BIBLE STUDY

We must keep the fact emphasized that systematic Bible reading and systematic Bible study go hand in hand. The work of the Master was ever to appeal to the Scriptures as the one great foundation for help and power in the divine life. He opened the understanding of the disciples of old, that they might understand the Scriptures, and directed them specifically to that which was written in the divine Book. See Luke 24: 45, 46. The living Christ will "open the understanding" of the disciples to-day who will earnestly read and reflect upon the utterances of the inspired Word. Many persons professing Christianity have never read the Bible through in their lives. We should set the pleasurable work before us of reading through the precious Book at least once a year. In the plan suggested for reading the Bible through during 1914, the following is—

THE SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 7

Genesis 37-44 Psalms 32-38 Mark 9-16

Read one chapter in Genesis each week-day, and two on the Sabbath; one psalm each day in the week; and one chapter in Mark each week-day, and two on the Sabbath. Remember the suggestion that "Patriarchs and Prophets" is one of the best of helps in the study of the first part of the Old Testament, and that "The Desire of Ages" is likewise helpful in the study of the Gospels, which recount the ministry and work of Christ while upon earth.

Notice

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

"SHILOH, THE MAN OF SORROWS," published three years ago in the SIGNS, will soon be published in book form, if enough additional advance subscribers can be obtained to warrant it. I wish to thank those who have already sent in orders. The book will be neatly bound in cloth, 350-400 pages. Price, from $1.00 to $1.50. Agents wanted. Send no money, but address the author, quick.

Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle, 1215 Vermont Ave., Lansing, Mich.

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Give Me Power

By Eliza H. Morton

GIVE me power!" exclaimed a lad as he threw down a book he had been reading. His mother, hearing the remark, examined the book, and found it was the life of Alexander the Great, and she asked, "Why do you desire power?"

"O," replied the boy, "the power to conquer the world is something to be desired."

"We will study the Bible this evening, and find out what it says about power," said the mother, for she had a habit of referring her children to that good Book for information on almost every subject in which they were interested.

"All right," replied the boy, for he loved the evening Bible studies, and was sure that something very interesting was in store for him.

When evening came, the entire family,—Mr. and Mrs. Brown, their daughter, Kate, their son, Will, and the hired servant, Martha,—gathered about the table, with Bibles in their hands.

Mr. Brown opened the study with the remark that "it is natural for the human heart to desire power." He then said: "We will find whence comes all power. Please read Rom. 13:1 for an answer."

Will read, "For there is no power but of God."

"The devil has power," said Kate, with a smile.

"Yes," replied the father, "for we read in Acts 26:18 that Christ came to turn men from the power of Satan."

"Then Christ must have had power," remarked Mrs. Brown. "Whence came His power?"

"If there is no power but of God, then the devil as well as Christ received power from God," said Martha, pleased that she could have part in the discussion.

"And that is true," replied Mr. Brown, "as you will see from John 5:19, which says that 'the Son can do nothing of Himself.' Who can tell what there is in the life of Job which shows that Satan had no power over him only as God permitted?"

"I think," said Kate, "that when God gave all that Job had into the hand of Satan, He told him to spare Job's life. That was certainly giving him great power."

"Why did God do that?" asked Will, with a puzzled look on his face.

"God permitted Satan," said Mr. Brown, "to use his power to test and try Job. He sometimes permits him to bring trials upon us for the same purpose, but there is a limit beyond which Satan can not go. God will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able to bear. 1 Cor. 10:13."

"God will permit Satan, in the last days, just before the coming of Christ, to work with great power and signs and lying wonders," said Mrs. Brown. "Can you tell why He will do that?"

"I think," said Martha, "that it will be to cause men and women to search their Bibles in order to be able to know truth from error. I remember that it says somewhere in the Scripture, 'To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.'"

"Yes," replied Mr. Brown, with an approving smile. "The verse you quoted is Isa. 8:20. It certainly is important to be able to detect error."

"The wicked have power," said Mrs. Brown. "Alexander the Great was a wicked man, and he had world-wide power."

"Yes," said Mr. Brown. "The power which they have is transmitted to them by Satan. Ps. 37:35 says, 'I have seen the wicked in great power.' The power which they have is God's power perverted by Satan."

"How does it come to them?" asked Kate. "What do they do to receive it?"

"God permits them to have that which they will to have," said Mr. Brown.

"But they must eventually pay the price. 'The wages of sin is death.' God will destroy them root and branch. Mal. 4:1. God never forces the human will. Whosoever will, may come to Him; and whosoever will not come, must suffer the consequences. 2 Peter 2:5, 6."

"I do not want the power that Alexander the Great had," remarked Will.

Mrs. Brown did not seem to notice the remark, but asked: "What about the righteous? Do they have power?"

"Indeed they do," exclaimed Mr. Brown. "The power of God working in us will enable us 'to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.' Eph. 3:20. It is the privilege of the righteous to have great power through the Holy Spirit. Micah 3:8."

"How may it be received?" asked Kate.

"It comes by faith (Eph. 3:16, 17), to those who are willing to receive it. Ps. 110:3. It is our privilege to know 'the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power,'" read Mr. Brown from his open Bible.

"I see," exclaimed Will enthusiastically. "Faith will make us dynamos for God. His power will work through us exceedingly. That is better than to have the power that Alexander the Great had."

ELIZA H. MORTON.

Alone with Jesus

By Frederick Whitfield

ALONE with Jesus! What a sweet and holy spot! What a blessed refuge to which the soul may betake itself from the charges of Satan, the accusations of the world, and the sorrows of life! Sweet spot for the heart to unfold itself, to tell its hidden tale in the ear

of infinite love, tenderness, and compassion! Alone with Jesus! How different a front would Christianity present to the world if the Lord's people were oftener there! What humility and gentleness and love would characterize all their dealings! What holiness stamped on the very brow, that all might read! What few judgments passed on others, how many more on ourselves! What calmness and resignation and joyful submission to all the Lord's dealings! Be much alone with Jesus. Then will the passage to glory be one of sunshine, whether it be through the portals of the grave or through the clouds of heaven.—Frederick Whitfield.

Distrust

By Calvin P. Bollman

As rises the sun in the morning bright, So hope springs anew each day. As we look afar from the mountain height, So faith sees the onward way.

The Lord has pledged to us day and night, Has given the shining sun, That we may trust His infinite might, Make ours the victory won.

O, what could even the Infinite do, To give us a refuge sure, That He has not done in His love so true? Then rest in that love secure.

As the sun comes up in the morning bright, And nightly the stars shine out, We will lovingly trust His wondrous might, And cast to the winds all doubt. C. P. BOLLMAN.

Mr. Bryan's Challenge to Materialists

By Ernest Lloyd

WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN once challenged materialists and those opposed to the theory of divine inspiration of the Bible to show they were right by producing a book superior to that sacred volume. He said:

"Atheists and materialists declare that the Bible is merely the work of man, and that it was written under the limitations that apply to human wisdom. Taking this position, they necessarily must contend that, unless man has degenerated in ability and declined in wisdom, he can produce a book equal to the Bible. Let them produce it."

"Atheists and materialists have assailed the Bible at every point. They have been as bold as the prophets of Baal in defying the living God and in heaping contempt on the written Word. Why not challenge them to put their doctrines to the test? When Elijah was confronted by a group of scorners who mocked the Lord, he invited them to match the power of their god against the power of his, and he was willing to concede superiority to the one who could answer with fire."

"Now, why not a Bible test? Let them collect the best of their school to be found among the graduates of universities, as many as they please, and from every land. Let the members of this selected group travel where they will, consult such libraries as they please. Let them glean in the fields of geology, botany, astronomy, and zoology, and then roam at will wherever science has opened a way. Let them use every instrumentality that is employed in modern civilization. And when they have exhausted every source, let them embody the results of their best intelligence in a book, and offer it to the world as a substitute for this Bible of ours."

"They have prayed to their god to answer with fire—prayed to inanimate matter with an earnestness that is pathetic. They have employed, in the worship of blind force, a faith greater than faith requires. But their almighty is asleep."

"But to the doubts and 'I don't know's' of the agnostic, the Christian, Bible in hand, answers, 'I believe.'"

And to the world the Christian demonstrates the fact that no other book contains such power to change the human life for good as does the prayerful study of God's holy word. May we be always wise enough to treasure its acquaintance. Let us be sure that it is having its rightful place—the first place—in all our reading. Its influence will always make for righteousness.

ERNEST LLOYD.

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Notice

By C. W. Flaiz

THE biennial meeting of the North Pacific Union Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists will convene at College Place, Washington, March 2, at 11 A.M. This meeting is held for the election of officers and the transaction of such other business as may properly come before it.

C. W. Flaiz, President.

Notice

By C. W. Flaiz

THE fourth biennial session of the North Pacific Union Conference and ministerial institute will be held at College Place, Washington, February 25 to March 8. Elders Daniells, Evans, Thompson, and other laborers are expected to be with us. It is earnestly hoped that all the laborers in this union will make an earnest effort to attend this meeting.

C. W. Flaiz, President.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

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A clear, simple exposition of the noted parable of Dives and Lazarus, given in Luke 16:19-31. Reading it will help you. Price $1.00 per hundred; single copies, 2 cents.

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The Fundamentals of Geology

Every person who would understand how to meet the present-day theories of geology and evolution as opposed to the Bible story of Creation should have this book. The fundamentals of geology, and the theories taught, are presented in a most interesting way. Maps and illustrations of great sections in Montana and Alberta where geological research is being carried on are given.

In the closing chapter, where the evidence is now grouped, the author says: "And when allowed to testify in a thorough-going fashion, geology, physics and chemistry, give her testimony in the same general scientific fashion regarding the great groups of plant and animal forms, like pointing backward along the great perspective of the ages to the same vanishing-point, already charted long ago in the Christian Bible as the birthday of the world."

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"He Stirreth Up the People"

MOST people recognize the quotation, "He stirreth up the people," as one of the charges that was made by the priests against Christ, and it seems a little strange to find this text quoted as an excuse for inflammatory agitations that are so prevalent.

Most of these agitators have the earnestness of religious conviction; and unless a person is in a position where he is quite closely in touch with what is going on in the world, he little realizes the violent character and the wide-spread dissemination of the revolutionary and turbulent doctrines that are promulgated. There is no denying the fact that the agitator has a text for his discourse. He takes the facts that are so profusely presented in the world, and presents them in such a way as to inflame the people toward the point of revolution. For instance, we might cite a sample or two from a current publication that is just to hand.

There is a large cartoon of a dinner participated in by a goodly company of churchmen. Upon the wall of their banquet hall is a picture of the crucified Christ, and under the cartoon we find the words:

"Their Last Supper. The crowning ceremony of the Episcopal Convention at New York was a banquet tendered to the clerical deputies by the Church Club. It cost $10,680 — about $20 a plate."

With such a text, it requires no stretch of the imagination to perceive the impressions that would be made upon the minds of men who, in the place of having $20 to pay for a single dinner, have nothing to eat at all, and no money with which to buy.

Another double-page cartoon in this same publication represents a highly cultured and well-dressed congregation comfortably seated in the church, and the minister is addressing them in these words:

"Thus, friends, we see the masses filled with a vague, unchristian spirit of discontent. They cry out upon work, bewailing their divinely appointed lot, forgetful, my brethren, of the heavenly law which ordains that only through toil and tribulation, by the narrow path of self-denial, may we enter into the higher values of spiritual blessedness. Let us pray."

Another cartoon in the same publication represents two hoggishly fat men riding together in a carriage, and one of them is saying to the other:

"Woman suffrage? I guess not! Women are too shifty. I'd just got my mills running to suit me, when every — woman went on strike for shorter hours!"

The masses of the people are surfeited with cartoons and statements of this character, and declaiming against it does not stop it. It must be recognized that there are millions of people in this world who are in want, while there are a few who are able to spend very extravagantly. The foundations of society are being broken up by these conditions, and to fail to recognize such apparent facts is very foolish indeed.

There are few but are cognizant of the existing turbulence, and there are many theories in regard to the prospective outcome; but the wise course will be to follow the light of Him who was able to predict these things in minute and accurate detail more than two thousand years ago, and to tell in advance what would be the final result.

Teaching Both Morality and Immorality

By Editor

IN one of the states of this Union, a highwayman, who was also a murderer, was caught, convicted of his crime, and sentenced to be hanged. The unfortunate fellow was young. He pleaded for clemency, desiring that his sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. This young man offered the argument that if he were permitted to go to prison he could do a great deal of writing for the papers, and thus warn other young people against the snares and pitfalls that had entrapped him.

An editor in one of the leading dailies of the nation deplores the fact that this—

"daring and hard-hearted young criminal had reason to believe that he might be able to do just what he had planned. For the very same thing had already been done and was being done. . . . "He had read, day by day, that society is the real criminal, and the robber and assassin the mere irresponsible creature of his environment. "He had seen, every day, columns devoted to apologizing for crime and to lionizing criminals, and he had seen scoundrels as depraved as himself lecturing, issuing books, exploiting their shame without shame, and impudently setting themselves up in print and on the platform as advisers and exhorters of honest men and women. "And seeing and hearing all this, this young man embraced a life of robbery and assassination as a natural and inviting highroad to distinction and sympathy, with the incidental promise of a flourishing career as a moral uplifter."

The foregoing utterances from the editorial are quite true to fact. The deplorable sentiments and conditions of the time in regard to criminality are not overdrawn. But it can not be possible that the editorial writer of that particular paper gives very close attention to what is placed in his journal, outside the editorial columns; for if he did, he would find that his paper has been carrying a full-page story, with big illustrations, recounting in graphic detail the life incidents of a person who is said to be one of the greatest "reformed" criminals of the age—a criminal who had been successful in eluding arrest for years, and who is now set forth "in print and on the platform as adviser and exhorter of honest men and women." In other words, a feature of the Sunday issue of the very paper in which that editorial occurs, is the identical thing that is so strongly condemned.

This is one of the most alarming characteristics of our time. The news columns of our dailies, with their Sunday magazine sections, are parading crimes, oftentimes making heroes of the criminals.

They are also caricaturing continually the most sacred relations of life. And this education that they are giving through their news columns and their magazine sections is helping, more than anything else, to create the conditions that the editorial so properly inveighs against. Yet the men who are the chief actors in such inconsistencies are exceedingly indignant when it is suggested that there is no evidence whatever that our world is getting better, but, on the other hand, that it is getting worse and worse, just as the Bible said it would in these times.

It seems more reasonable to accept the straightforward Biblical prediction than to take the testimony of witnesses who are so contradictory in their course of action.

Is the Sun Burning Up?

J. BOSLER, astronomer at the Observatory of Meudon, France, has been doing some very careful figuring of late, in regard to the energy in light and heat given off by the sun, and the consequent using up of that body. According to his figures, in thirty millions of years the sun would lose a mass of matter equal to this earth; and as the sun loses its mass, it loses its power to attract, and consequently there must come a time, according to his theory, when something will happen to the orbit of our planet. We should learn to distinguish between science and speculation. Scientific men have discovered a great deal of scientific truth within the last century in particular, and much of it is a blessing to the world. But it is easy to form the habit of taking for granted that everything is true which is said by a man who has acquired the reputation of a great scientist. Sometimes these scientific men come out with great theories in regard to the earth cooling off and the fire of the sun going out, and sometimes these stories have quite a serious effect upon some nervous people. But to the individual who knows and believes the word of God, there come to mind such assuring words as these:

"Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bring out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth." Isa. 40:26.

This text invites us to look up and see the great suns that dot the infinite expanse of space, and we are to remember that because the divine Creator is strong in power, not one of them will fail. Infinite power has created our sun to go on forever, and it will be shining in even greater strength in thirty million times thirty million years from now than it is to-day. For the same prophet, Isaiah, when speaking of conditions in the redeemed state, said that—

"the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of His people, and healeth the stroke of their wound." Isa. 30:26.

It is perfectly safe to trust God's word; but when the scientist speculates, the chances are strong, if we follow him, in favor of his misleading us.

Alcohol Depresses Rather than Stimulates

DR. EMIL KRAEPELIN, professor of mental diseases in the University of Munich, Bavaria, has conducted a large number of very carefully planned experiments to get the true effect of alcohol upon the system. The reports say that his conclusions were "determined with almost mathematical certainty, by experiments made dozens of times under absolutely similar conditions, as regarded time of day, food, exercise, and surroundings." After making his experiments in this careful and accurate manner, he reached the conclusion that alcohol is a narcotic, that it is a depressant, and not a stimulant. The apparent stimulating effect is deceptive. In each case, under the influence of alcohol the individual did less and poorer work, although in his semi-intoxication he thought he was doing more and better work.

Other men noted for their research have reached similar conclusions, but perhaps none of them have made more careful and patient experiments in reaching the accurate effect of alcohol upon the system than Dr. Kraepelin.

Unemployment and the Fall of Rome

In some of our cities large armies of unemployed men are demanding work, and in some instances they stipulate that the wages shall be $3.00 a day. In one or two instances, public-spirited citizens have contributed sums ranging from $1,000 down, to provide employment to some of these discontented men. The clamors for work from the governmental authorities which are becoming so pronounced throughout the world are furnishing a very accurate parallel to what is furnished in the history of Rome during her declining days. Read that history, read the news of the day, and note the almost complete identity of conditions. Rome was wholly and permanently dominant only in a comparatively small part of the world around the Mediterranean, and when these clamors arose among her populace, she withstood them for a while, and finally went down. Have you seriously considered the meaning of these conditions as they are appearing in all parts of the world?

The Gospel Against Immoral Dancing

By Editor

THE question of placing a ban upon the tango dance is being considered by the Vatican. Would it not be more effective, instead of issuing ecclesiastical manifestos against such things, to go to the people with the open Bible, and teach them the pure, refining, elevating gospel of Jesus Christ, and thus implant within their hearts sentiments of revolt against all such debasing things as immoral dances? The power of the gospel carries with all its prohibitions the exceeding great and precious promises of the Word, which furnish something much more desirable to the converted heart than any of the frivolities the world has to offer.

Greece and Italy’s Colonial Policy

The people of Greece are very much concerned over Italy's policy in settling colonies in what they term "dangerous proximity to their boundaries." It is pointed out by the Greeks that this course on the part of Italy has many of the essential elements in it that were at the foundation of the recent Balkan war.

Chicago Stores for the Unemployed

CHICAGO is planning a chain of stores for the purpose of aiding the unemployed by retailing fuel and food at actual cost. The city itself proposes to finance the scheme.

O Lamb of God

"O LAMB of God, who died for me, I consecrate my life to Thee; Yea, all, for this I surely know,— He died because He loved me so."