Earlier text: The New YearWHILE so many so-called religious teachers are apologizing to an infidel science for the faith which they once held, and others are accepting the destructive conclusions of the new school of Biblical critics, it is refreshing to read such an outspoken repudiation of this modern infidelity as we find in an editorial in the January number of The Missionary Review of the World. In view of the evident tendency of some of the teaching which is now being urged upon this denomination, we believe that it will be profitable for our readers to understand what is involved in this scientific treatment of the gospel. This is our apology, if any is needed, for making the following liberal extracts from this vigorous arraignment of that science falsely so called which subverts the gospel:— We confess to a strong and growing conviction that the whole cause of a world's evangelization is threatened by the evolutionary theory which is becoming so alarmingly prevalent and more alarmingly aggressive. Beginning in the scientific sphere, it has not only encroached upon, but is gradually permeating the whole domain of Christian truth, life, and work. It seems to have so fascinated the minds of preachers and teachers in the church that Darwin, Huxley, and Spencer are becoming authorities more final and infallible than Paul, Peter, John, or even Jesus Christ himself. Professed leaders of religious thought are recasting in this new mold the whole history of Christianity and Judaism, and even the Word of God is being melted down and run into the same matrix, and taking a new and strange shape, and in the process somehow the whole supernatural element is being evaporated or eliminated. Evolution by natural selection, carried into the moral and spiritual realm, makes direct regeneration by the Holy Spirit unnecessary and impossible, just as in the vegetable and animal kingdoms it provides for all improvement by development. Evolution is a process of development by natural law, and leaves no room for any supernatural working. Miracle, prophecy, inspiration, and even divine illumination find no place in such a scheme. There is no God in history, as there is none in creation, unless he be simply the maker of a vast machine that runs itself with an undeviating uniformity. The advances of this modern philosophy, since Darwin first announced it, have been not by steps, but by huge strides; and nowhere has it marched forward more audaciously than in trampling upon the old, revered truths of the Bible. It tells us that Deuteronomy was a product not of the Mosaic period, but of the days of Josiah, and with subtlety set in its present position as a sacerdotal support to the pretensions of a priestly caste! Exodus and Leviticus are post-exilic in origin, and Sinai and the desert journey, and all the wonders wrought in Egypt and the Red Sea are myths! Of course Genesis, Book of the Beginnings, with the story of Eden and the fall, the flood and Babel, patriarchal history, etc., is a mass of legend and tradition, partly, if not wholly, borrowed from other and older nations. The whole basis of both Christian faith and Christian missions is thus being undermined. We have no Bible to carry to the heathen, and no new birth from above to proclaim. Man was not created in the image of God. There was no fall. There was no Noachian flood, no Babel confusion of tongues, no miraculous exodus, no miraculous supply of manna or pillar of cloud; it is more than doubtful if there was any tabernacle in the wilderness. Nay, we are now told by a dean of the Anglican Church that there is no authentic testimony either to the miraculous birth or resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth! And as to Pentecost, it follows, of course, that it is only the latest of fables! We write—even to record—such words with hesitation, as though even to repeat them were blasphemy. But it is time that we faced the real issue. These teachers in the church proclaim these doctrines, and yet go unchallenged. They are subverting the faith they are sworn to uphold, and yet go on preaching to congregations, and training a generation of preachers to attack the holy mysteries of Christianity with axes and hammers. . . . We have neither disposition nor occasion to pursue this theme further than to call attention to the fact that, in allowing our faith in the Scriptures and our courage for the work of gospel missions to be impaired or destroyed, we are accepting the dictum of a body of scientists, who, consciously or unconsciously, are determined to eliminate the supernatural factor from creation and revelation. Many men who are disposed to “hold fast the faithful Word as they have been taught,” are not disposed to be called ignorant, and be classed with the uneducated masses. They bow to the authority of scientists, as in other ages men bowed to the authority of priests. It is the fashion nowadays to doubt what has been most surely believed, and thousands yield before the tyranny of fashion. Few are willing to be sneered at as “unlearned and ignorant men,” while so many “of the rulers and Pharisees” do not believe. And consequently even the pulpit is becoming the platform from whence to proclaim, at second-hand, opinions destructive of both faith and missionary work. For if evolution be true, all faiths, however false, are but spiral movements in the grand onward progress. They have their place in the grand scheme, and befit their period. Even Christianity, which may belong to a higher point in the spiral, is imperfect, and will yet drop some excrescences unfit to survive, and develop some new and improved features or forms which in the ages to come will make it essentially a new faith. This is the real trend and outcome of this virtually infidel philosophy. . . . It is obvious that we are being compelled either to abandon evolution or to abandon Christian missions. Perhaps it may be well just now to turn once more to the words of the Lord in Jer. 8:8, 9: “How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? . . . The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?” We are thankful to see that there are some editors yet who have not bowed the knee to Baal, and who are willing to stand up and be counted on the side of an old-fashioned faith in the Bible as the inspired word of God, and in the Christianity of the Old and New Testaments as the one only saving religion. We commend this article to the earnest consideration of Seventh-day Adventists who may have been inclined to yield their faith in some of the fundamental truths of their own message to the world, simply because they have come to be regarded as out of harmony with modern thought, and as needing adjusting to the demands of modern science. Let us understand plainly that we must abandon one or the other. As for ourselves, we do not hesitate to take our stand openly for the fundamental truths of this definite message as against any effort either within or without the denomination to substitute for them the teachings of a speculative philosophy. And here we expect to stand. The Next Session of the General Conference
By A. G. Daniells
It is now definitely settled that the next session of the General Conference will be held in California, March 27 to April 13, 1903. This question received careful consideration by the General Conference Committee at the council held in Battle Creek, November 10–25. The time of the year, attendance, traveling expenses, general features of the conference, etc., were carefully canvassed. It is believed that the time selected will be as favorable for the American delegates as any time of the year. The weather in California at that time will probably be as pleasant as in any part of the United States. The traveling expenses required to reach the conference will no doubt be a little heavier than they would have been if the meeting had been held in one of the Central States. It was thought that it would not be wise to endeavor to secure a large attendance this year. The last conference was a large one. A full delegation was present from most, if not all, of the States, and many came from foreign lands.7 Those who came from abroad have just got well settled in their work since returning, and it does not seem best to either the Committee or the Mission Board to have these laborers leave their fields so soon for another conference. Many new workers have gone to foreign lands who need the presence of those who have been longer in those fields. Therefore it was decided that no delegates would be called from mission fields by the Board. It was also thought best to counsel our brethren in distant conferences that have few laborers and limited funds to consider the wisdom of sending only a limited delegation. Of course, each union conference must act its pleasure on this point. It has been suggested that the conference two years later should be made a great missionary conference, and that a large attendance would probably be called for. More will be presented in the future regarding the conference to be held in California. The definite place in which the conference will convene will be announced as soon as it is settled. We bespeak for the coming conference the earnest prayers of God's people. The following sections of the constitution of the General Conference will give required information regarding membership, voters, and delegation:— Section 1.— This conference shall be composed of (a) such union conferences as have been or shall be properly organized; (b) such local conferences as are not embraced in any union conference, provided such conferences shall have been accepted by vote at a session of the General Conference; and (c) such mission fields as have not been organized into conferences of Seventh-day Adventists in any part of the world. Sec. 2.— The voters of said conference shall be such duly accredited delegates from the union conferences, such members of the General Conference Executive Committee, and such other persons in the employ of the General Conference as shall receive delegates' credentials from the executive committee, as are present at any duly convened regular or special conference session. Sec. 3.— Each union conference shall be entitled to one delegate without regard to numbers, an additional delegate for each local conference embraced in its territory, and an additional delegate for each one thousand of its membership. Each local conference not included in the territory of any union conference shall be entitled to one delegate, without regard to numbers, and one additional delegate for each one thousand members. President of the General Conference. Science and the True Foundation of Faith
In discussing the decreasing influence of the church and the preachers over the average layman of to-day the Chicago Inter Ocean says: “Where many preachers have been to blame is in failing to perceive where the church’s true strength lies. . . . In trying to formulate religion by the rules and in the terms of science, many preachers have cut loose the ship of faith to drift upon a boundless sea of mental speculation. Faith, we are told, is the evidence of things unseen. Science declines to accept such evidence. Hence to attempt to formulate religion by the rules of science is as destructive to faith as to attempt to govern science by faith is destructive to science.” True science is a unit, and all the so-called branches of science are merely different parts of the one great field of knowledge of the truth, and the interpreter of this whole field of knowledge is the written Word of God. But an irreconcilable difference at once springs up between science falsely so-called (that science whose conclusions are based upon mere human research, or are the product of human reasoning regardless of the plain teachings of the written Word) and the revelation which God has made of himself in “the scriptures of the prophets.” And that teaching is most dangerous and confusing which uses the familiar phraseology of the Bible as the form in which to express conclusions which have not come from a study of the Bible, and which really subvert the teaching of the Bible. Such are some of the efforts to harmonize science and the Bible, which really end in bringing all spiritual truth down to the plane of the senses, and in making the discoveries of science the complete meaning of the revelation of truth in the Scripture. This is then brought forward as the discovery of a scientific basis for faith. It is in reality the refinement of infidelity. By substituting the revelation of the human mind for the revelation of the mind of God, it destroys the whole foundation for faith, and then we have only the shifting sands of “mental speculation,” instead of the rock foundation of truth, upon which to build. Human science cannot furnish a foundation for faith. “Faith cometh . . . by the word of God.” Demand for the Scriptures
ALL through the dominions of the sultan the people in a quiet way are calling with increasing earnestness for copies of the Scriptures. By permitting the circulation of the Greek Bible, Russia has made it possible for the colporteur to go through that empire. THE outcome of the Venezuelan controversy is that President Roosevelt has tacitly consented to act as arbitrator between Venezuela and the foreign powers who have undertaken to collect indemnity claims from that republic. It was first suggested by the president that the controversy be submitted to The Hague tribunal; but to this President Castro of Venezuela objected, and it was represented by England and Germany that on Venezuela’s part there had been certain offenses against the dignity of nations which could not properly be considered by The Hague court. All parties to the controversy are united in asking President Roosevelt to act as arbitrator, and the probability that he will be drawn into this position is a source of great anxiety to public men in Washington. It is believed at the capital that if the president proceeds to act as arbitrator, he will be forced to execute his decree in the matter, which cannot fail to be in favor of the European powers. It is asserted that this nation will be put in the position of a collection agent for Europe, which would destroy its influence in Latin America; and that to seize the Venezuelan customs, the revenues from which are the financial mainstay of Venezuela, will lead to a protectorate over that country, either temporary or permanent, on the part of the United States. Labor Unions and Limited Production
By L. A. S.
ONE of the chief evils of the trusts is that they limit production in certain lines of trade, in order to raise the price of their goods, and thus enhance their profits. The same thing also, it appears, may be charged against the labor unions. They assume the right to limit the amount of work a laborer shall perform in a given time. On this point a recent issue of The Independent has the following:— It is sometimes denied that labor unions aim to limit the amount of output for their work. But the Glass Blowers’ Union has an order limiting the amount of window glass which a man is allowed to make in a month, and the order of the president of the union removing the limit is so sharply antagonized that it is not likely to stand. Such limiting the work of ambitious men gives occasion to most effective criticism of labor unions. The arbitrary interference with the law of supply and demand is not the worst result of the systems by which the forces of capital and labor seek to increase profits or to maintain a set standard of wages. The interference with individual ambition and the restraint of legitimate enterprise constitute an evil which strikes at the very root of national prosperity. When an organization can dictate the conditions under which an individual may be allowed to work, and he can neither choose his place of employment nor his hours of work, nor exercise his productive capacity beyond an arbitrary limit fixed by a labor union, ambition and hope are destroyed, and the qualities which lie at the foundation of industrial prosperity are swept away. It is the opportunity to rise, by the exercise of individual genius, enterprise, and energy, unhampered by arbitrary restrictions, which has given to this nation such a measure of prosperity in its past history. L. A. S. Changeless
By Edith H. Divall
God will not change. The restless years may bring
Sunlight and shade, the glories of the spring,
And silent gloom of sunless winter hours,—
Joy mixed with grief,—sharp thorns with fragrant flowers,—
Earth lights may shine awhile, and then grow dim;
But God is true; there is no change in him. Rest in the Lord to-day, and all thy days;
Let his unerring hand direct thy ways
Through the uncertainty, and hope, and fear,
That meet thee on the threshold of the year;
And find, while all life's changing scenes pass by,
Thy refuge in the Love that cannot die. An Appeal for More Earnest Effort
By Ellen G. White
I ASK those who have charge of our work: Why are so many places passed by? Look upon the towns and cities yet unworked. There are many large cities in America, not only in the South, but in the North, yet to be worked. In every city in America there should be some memorial for God. But I could mention many places where the light of truth has not yet shone. The angels of heaven are waiting for human instrumentalities to enter the places where witness has not yet been borne to present truth. The Lord's name is reproached. Please read your Bibles, and see if it is not true that our work has scarcely begun. We need to realize that to every man God has given his work. Shall those who know the truth feel no responsibility? Shall not the knowledge that the signs of the times are fulfilling rouse us from our lethargy? Catch the spirit of the great Master Workman. Learn from the Friend of sinners how to minister to sin-sick souls. His heart was ever touched with human woe. Why are we so cold and indifferent? Why are our hearts so unimpressible? Christ placed himself on the altar of service, a living sacrifice. Why are we so unwilling to give ourselves to the work to which he consecrated his life? Something must be done to cure the terrible indifference that has taken hold upon us. Let us bow our heads in humiliation as we see how much less we have done than we might have done to sow the seeds of truth. When we are converted, our desire for ease and elegance will be changed. Christ brought his desires and wishes into strict abeyance to his mission,—the mission that bore the insignia of heaven. He made everything subordinate to the great work that he came to this world to accomplish in behalf of the fallen race. When in his youth his mother found him in the school of the rabbis, and said to him, "Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing," he answered,—and his answer is the keynote of his life work,—"How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" My dear brethren and sisters, I speak to you in words of love and tenderness. Every earthly interest must be made subordinate to the great work of redemption. Remember that in the lives of the followers of Christ must be seen the same devotion, the same subjection to God's work of every social claim and every earthly affection, that was seen in his life. God's claims must ever be made paramount. "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me." Christ's life is our lesson book. His example is to inspire us to put forth untiring, self-sacrificing effort for the good of others. Union with Christ and with one another is our only safety in these last days. Let us not make it possible for Satan to point to our churches, saying, Behold how these people standing under the banner of Christ hate one another. We have nothing to fear from them while they spend more strength in fighting one another than in warfare with my forces. The world is looking on with gratification at the disunion among Christians. Infidelity is well pleased. God calls for a change among his people. Agents of mercy are needed, not merely in a few places, but throughout the world. Men and women in this field should be preparing for service in distant lands. From every country is heard the cry, "Come over and help us." Rich and poor are calling for light. Money and workers are needed. We need to humble ourselves before God because so few of the members of his church are putting forth efforts that in any wise compare with the efforts that the Lord desires them to put forth. The privileges that he has given them, the promises that he has made, the advantages that he has bestowed, should inspire them with far greater zeal and devotion. We need the vitalizing power of the Spirit,—the strong cry of a church travailing to bring forth souls. There is need of more earnest wrestling with God for the impartation of the Holy Spirit. Eager, earnest, importunate prayer is needed. There is efficiency in prayer. In answer to fervent prayer, God can turn the thoughts and hearts of men as he turns the waters of the sea. God forbid that our churches and institutions shall be content to leave untouched the fields that are still unworked. The Saviour is saying to us, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." "Teaching them,"—not merely preaching a discourse now and then, but teaching them how to find the way to heaven. In every age, but never so much as now, this has been the work of the church. Dare any one of us to withhold a jot of the influence that should be exerted for the recovery of the souls that are out of Christ? Dare we work out our ambitious projects and satisfy our selfish desires, and then bring to God's altar the fraction that remains of our time and our means? Think you that God will accept such an offering? Entire Consecration Demanded
The members of the church of God in every place are to consecrate themselves to his service, body, soul, and spirit. Every addition to the church should be one more agency for the carrying on of the great plan of redemption. The church is to be a living, active, missionary agency, moved and controlled by the Holy Spirit. The members are to act as one, blending in perfect union. This miracle the cross of Christ is fully able to accomplish for the good of an unbelieving world. Every power of God's servants is to be kept in continual exercise to bring many sons and daughters to God. In his service there is to be no indifference, no selfishness. Any departure from self-denial to self-indulgence, any relaxation of earnest supplication for the Holy Spirit's working, means so much power given to the enemy. Christ is reviewing his church. How many there are whose religious life is their own condemnation! God demands that which we do not give,—unreserved consecration. If every Christian had been true to the pledge made on accepting Christ, so many in the world would not have been left to perish in sin. Who will answer for the souls who have gone to the grave unprepared to meet their Lord? Christ offered himself as a complete sacrifice in our behalf. How earnestly he worked to save sinners! How untiring were his efforts to prepare his disciples for service! But how little we have done! And the influence of the little that we have done has been terribly weakened by the neutralizing effect of what we have left undone, or undertaken and never brought to completion, and by our habits of listless indifference. How much we have lost by failing to press forward to accomplish our God-given work! As professed Christians, we ought to be appalled by the outlook. Wake up, my brethren and sisters. There is a great work to be done. Unceasing activity is called for. Darkness has covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. Many are far from Christ, wandering in the wilderness of sin. They are strangers from the covenant of promise. God calls upon his people to wake up, to shake off their careless indifference, and to take up the work waiting for them in their families. Then let them reach beyond their families to others who need help. God calls upon them to take up their long-neglected9 work. Let them commune with him, that they may be imbued with his Spirit. Then let them go forth to bestow on those in need the grace they have received from him. 'For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. . . . I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. . . . 'Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.' F. D. STARR
By F. D. Starr
“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Col. 1:20. We see from this that it is the purpose of God that everything in the universe shall be brought to a condition of the most complete reconciliation. From 2 Cor. 5:18–20 we learn that this is the work of the gospel: “And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” To the ambassador for Christ is committed the word of reconciliation, the ministry of reconciliation; in other words, the gospel of reconciliation. Then a true gospel work will be a work that tends to bring everything to a state of reconciliation. It is not only that men shall be reconciled to God, but from Matt. 5:23, 24, we learn that in case we are not reconciled to our brother, the first thing we have to do is to become thus reconciled. God cannot accept of our service until we are reconciled with each other. We might expect that a reconciliation would be made by having the offending party make the concession. But God has set us the example by the manner in which we become reconciled to him. “When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.” Rom. 5:10. By whose death? By our own death, or by our own gift, or act of restitution? This might be the natural plan, but it is not the divine plan. Not the offender, but the Offended makes the concession. Let us pause and consider, and then go and do likewise. It is not for us to demand that the trespasser be brought to terms of strict justice before we can be reconciled to him. “Be ye reconciled.” The gospel has always been a work of reconciliation. When the angel told Hagar: “Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands” (Gen. 16:9), he was proclaiming to her the gospel of reconciliation. It is true that Sarai dealt hardly with Hagar, that she afflicted her, and we can imagine we hear Hagar saying: Ah, Lord, I would rather die than to go back to that overbearing, abusive woman. But, not so, Hagar must learn submission, and that is what we all must learn. 1 Peter 5:5. When Abraham said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between me and thee” (Gen. 13:8), he was preaching the gospel of reconciliation, upon the divine plan of giving up his own rights for others’ good. When Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon, it was to the intent that a complete reconciliation might be brought about between master and servant. Philemon 10–16. It is a grand and inspiring thought that there will be nothing in all the universe that will not be fully reconciled, each individual to all the others. We need to study the subject of reconciliation from the sacrificial services of the Old Testament, and from the practical instruction of the entire Bible. Would you know the bliss of the future world of harmonious unity? then “first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come;” for nothing unreconciled can enter there. Established by Spiritual Gifts
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” What is the profit? — “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Eph. 4:12, 13. The gifts of the Spirit are for the purpose of building up the church, the body of Christ. But the gifts of the Spirit must accompany the Spirit. As soon as the early disciples received the Spirit in accordance with the promise, they received the gifts. One of the gifts, speaking with new tongues, was manifested that very day. It follows, therefore, that the absence of the gifts of the Spirit in any marked degree in the church, is evidence of the absence of the Spirit; not entirely, of course, but to the extent that God has promised it. The Spirit was to abide with the disciples forever, and therefore the gifts of the Spirit must be manifest in the true church until the second coming of the Lord. As before stated, the absence of any very marked manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit, is evidence of the absence of the fullness of the Spirit; and that is the secret of the weakness of the church, and the great divisions that exist. Spiritual gifts establish the church; therefore the church that does not have those gifts cannot be established. Who may have the Spirit? — Whoever asks for it with earnest desire. See Luke 11:13. The Spirit has already been poured out, and God has never withdrawn the gift; it only needs that Christians should ask and accept.—Present Truth. A Transformation of Character
By Harry Armstrong
THE good news of the power of God unto salvation presents to every one the glorious possibility of a complete transformation from a life of sinfulness to a life of sinlessness. The standard is a high one, reaching even unto perfection, and can be gained, not by looking at self and circumstances, but by looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. “Ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” Jesus Christ was manifested in the flesh with no other purpose before him than to do the will of his Father in taking away sin from sinful flesh. “And thou shalt call his name Jesus,” said the angel; “for he shall save his people from their sins.” Observe that this salvation does not save a man to sin, that he may keep on sinning, but from sin, and therefore from sinning. That is to say, the power of God through Jesus Christ can separate man from his sin, destroying the sin, but saving the man, restoring unto him his sonship. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. . . . Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” “For we shall see him as he is,” says the apostle. But that which alone can make it possible for us to see him as he is, will be a complete transformation from what we are, to what he is,—a transformation of character, which means a removing of sin, of every sin, so that the glory of his presence may be seen in us and upon us, as the royal, priestly garment of a sinless life. The pure, white lily of the field, that knows no spot or stain, is a perfect pattern of heavenly glory. “Consider the lilies of the field,” says the Great Teacher, “how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” Observe the contrast: the glory of the lily is the garment of its purity of life unfolding10 from within, while that of King Solomon consisted merely of an outward show of power, which possibly, oftentimes, barely sufficed to cover and hide his inward weakness. “Seek ye my face,” says Christ. And the heart that responds, saying, “Thy face, Lord, will I seek,” will be led out of the busy street,—from man,—into the quiet field where God reveals the power of transformation in tree, bush, and flower. And there “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” By beholding him we become changed from what we are to what he is. “We shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is,” and “our God is a consuming fire.” After Moses had given a manifestation of his own way of delivering Israel from Egypt, by smiting the Egyptian, the Lord desired to make his way known unto Moses. And that he might do this, he led Moses into the quietude of the wilderness, that he might there receive an education that would qualify him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. “Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the back side of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Ex. 3: 1–5. The bush, being passive in the hand of its Creator, allowed the glory of his presence to be seen in it, and it burned with fire. It not only burned with fire,—that would have been a common thing,—but it was not consumed. Moses saw it, and was attracted to it, saying, “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush.” Now just as the Lord revealed himself in that bush in the wilderness, even so will he reveal himself in every member of the human family, that is passive in the hands of his Creator. For God will have a people in whom he can dwell in all his glorious fullness, and through whom he can flash forth the rays of his divine presence; and when God can thus manifest himself through his people, those who are wandering in the wilderness of sin will be attracted, like Moses, by the fire of his presence, and will “turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt;” and when they turn aside to see, God will speak to them out of the midst of his people, just as he did out of the midst of the bush, saying, “The place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Then shall sinners turn and reverence the Lord, and magnify his holy name, when they shall see him dwelling in his people in the perfection of his own character—even as he is. More Life Needed
By D. H. Kress, M. D.
“The spirit giveth life.” The letter of the truth without the spirit killeth. Knowledge may be power, or it may be weakness; it may save, or it may condemn and kill. The acceptance of a theory, however correct, cannot impart life; it is only the indwelling of Christ’s spirit that can do this. Is Christ’s spirit a fault-finding spirit? Is it a murmuring, worrying, or criticising spirit?—No; there is death in such a spirit. Every one knows that worry kills. The man who worries and murmurs is doing himself an injury; he is shortening his life, no matter how much he may know and accept as truth. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.” In these there is health. These emanate from the Spirit that imparts life. We must exchange the spirit of heaviness for the garment of praise. Man reveals what is within. “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.” Peace within will also be written upon the face. “As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man [is revealed] to man.” But will not the many offenses and annoyances which come mar the peace?—No. If we are crucified with Christ, we shall say with him, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. . . . Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Instead of destroying peace, they increase the peace. We may be able to say with Joseph, “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.” “The Spirit giveth life.” “If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [impart life to] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” “Much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Only the life of Christ can save; but his life is of no avail or benefit to me as far as salvation is concerned unless it becomes my life, and his character my character. His life received, will be lived. His life is a life of cheerful obedience, a life of faith, a life of love, joy, and peace, a temperate life, a self-denying life spent in service to others. It was said of him even by his enemies, “He saved others.” There is salvation in no other life. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Of him it is said, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” He who is a partaker of Christ’s life will be in harmony with God’s standard of righteousness, the law of God. When a soul receives Christ, he receives power to live the life of Christ. No one can expect to be saved by Christ’s death while refusing to live his life of self-sacrifice. There is balm in Gilead; a healer is there, who heals all our diseases.