A GREAT crisis is just before us. Men boast of the wonderful progress and enlightenment of the age, but God sees the guilt and depravity of the world. The heavenly Watcher sees the earth filled with violence and crime. Wealth is obtained by every species of iniquity. By robbery of God and of their fellows, men are amassing fortunes. Everything that they can grasp is made to minister to their greed. Avarice and sensuality bear sway. Men revenge themselves on those who, they suppose, have hindered the success of their ambitious projects. They have accepted the enemy of all good as their leader, and have become imbued with his spirit.
The world is a theater, and the actors, its inhabitants, are preparing to act their part in the last great drama. God is lost sight of. With the great masses of humanity, there is no unity, except as men confederate to accomplish their selfish purposes. God is looking on. His purposes in regard to His rebellious subjects will be fulfilled. The world has not been given into the hands of men, tho God is permitting the elements of confusion and disorder to bear sway for a season. A power from beneath is working to bring about the last scenes in the drama,—Satan coming as Christ, and working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are binding themselves together in secret societies. Those who are yielding to the passion for confederation are working out the plans of the enemy. Cause will be followed by effect.
Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. God's people should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise.11
A Call to Christians.
The people of each age will be judged by the light they have received. The church of to-day has been favored with great light and many opportunities—favored even as Chorazin and Bethsaida were favored. How Christ longed to see some fruit from the labor He expended on these cities. And how greatly He longs to see His church of to-day standing in freedom from sin. O that those for whom He has wrought so mightily would strive to be like Him in character! How it would cheer His heart to see them partaking of His nature, their works testifying to their faith in God, and to their realization of the obligation resting upon them to work for Him.
Many wonder at the blindness of the Jews in rejecting Christ. Had we lived in His day, they declare, we would gladly have received His teaching. We should never have been partakers of the guilt of those who rejected the Saviour. But too often, when obedience to God requires self-denial and sacrifice, these very ones stifle their convictions and refuse to obey.
God expects us to gain every day a clearer understanding of His will. He asks for the consecration to His service of all that we have and are. If you have caught a glimpse of Heaven's truth, turn not away. Be not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Walk in the light you have received, and your pathway will grow brighter and brighter. In the light shining from Calvary, you will see the sinfulness of sin, and you will see also God's willingness and power to save from sin. The Lord holds out to you the offer of partnership with Himself. Uniting with Christ, you can work the works of God.
Christ's Coronation Day.
On His coronation day, Christ will not acknowledge as His any who bear spot or wrinkle. But to His faithful ones He will give crowns of immortal glory. Those who would not that He should reign over them will see Him surrounded by the army of the redeemed. They will see the head once crowned with thorns crowned with a diadem of glory.
In that day the redeemed will shine forth in the glory of the Father and the Son. The angels of heaven, touching their golden harps, will welcome the King and His trophies of victory—those who have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. A song of triumph will peal forth, filling all heaven. Christ has conquered. He enters the heavenly courts accompanied by His redeemed ones—the witnesses that His mission of suffering and sacrifice has not been in vain.
PRAY AND HOPE.
By Lilian S. Marden
Heart that prayeth, ever hope,
He who reigneth there is Love;
Cast on Him thine anxious care,
For He heareth all thy prayer.
Art thou weary? rest on Him,
Wipe thine eyes by tears made dim,
He that formed thee by His power,
Will be with thee every hour.
Heart that prayeth, ever hope,
Cling to faith, thine anchor's rope,
Till thou shalt behold His face
Shine on thee in radiant grace.
LILIAN S. MARDEN.
THE PAPACY IN PROPHECY
By Abdiel
THE TWO-HORNED BEAST.
The ten-horned, seven-headed beast of Revelation 13, representing the union of church and state in the Dark Ages, centering in the Papacy, at the close of its forty-two months' persecutions went into captivity. The Papacy lost its power to persecute in 1798 when Pius VI. was taken into captivity where he died.
Just at this time the prophet witnesses another scene which he describes as follows:
"And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like unto a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the authority of the first beast in his sight. And he maketh the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke was healed. And he doeth great signs, that he should even make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in the sight of men. And he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who hath the stroke of the sword and lived. And it was given unto him to give breath to it, even to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed." Rev. 13:11-15, A. R. V.
Note the symbols: A "beast," government. "Another beast," a power in addition to, and outside of the Old World powers symbolized by the seven-headed beast. Out of the "earth" in contradistinction to the "sea," out of which the previous beast arose. As the sea represents in prophecy multitudes, people, nations, etc. (Rev. 17:12), the earth must indicate a section of territory outside of the great nations of the Old World.
What Power Is Symbolized?
What government or nation was coming upon the world's stage of action in the close of the eighteenth century? There were none in the Old World. There were none in South America. There was but one of any account and importance, which at that time was entering upon the stage of action and moulding the world; and that was this government and nation. Do the specifications of the symbol meet in this nation? There are two distinctive ones; he had two horns like a lamb; he had a voice like a dragon.
A "lamb" in the Revelation, and throughout the Bible, is the symbol or type of Christ Jesus. So He is represented in Rev. 5:6 as a lamb having seven horns, the fulness and perfection of power. Two of those elements of power possessed alone by the Lamb, peculiar alone to Christ's government or plan, is possessed by the government represented by the two-horned beast. These two elements of power are peculiar to both and to no others.
What two elements in the teaching of Christ can be applied to a civil government? There are two belonging to Christianity alone of all the religions in the world. These are the principles of the equality of man and freedom of choice in matters religious. In other words, civil and religious liberty. Christianity declares that the
"God that made the world" "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." Acts 17:24-26.
Jesus declared to His disciples:
"One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." Matt. 23:8.
As to religious liberty, or freedom to believe or not to believe, Jesus Himself said:
"If any man hear My words, and believe not, I judge him not; for I came not to judge the world but to save the world." John 12:47.
When His chosen disciples wished to call down what they believed to be condign punishment upon those who would not receive the Master, He rebuked them, and said:
"Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Luke 9:50-56.
And therefore His chosen apostle to the Gentiles expressed most admirably the true thought of Christianity:
"Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." 2 Cor. 5:11.
"Not that we [apostles even] have lordship over your faith; but are helpers of your joy." 2 Cor. 1:24.
In the above is set forth in the most unequivocal terms man's equality before God, and his absolute freedom of choice to believe or not believe. Search as we will throughout the world, and we will find no other religion possessed of such principles. There are orders and decrees in the hierarchies of all religions outside of Christianity. There are and have been compulsion of conscience and enforcement of religious dogma, till peoples groaned under the mighty burden of inequality and intolerance. But when Christianity held these great principles before the world, the honest in heart, the longing of soul, flocked to its standard, willing to die if need be to uphold such a religion, holding such glorious principles.
Search as we may again throughout the world, but we will find but one of earth's governments which has emblazoned these principles on her escutcheon and boldly given them to the world; and that nation and government is that of the great Republic of the West, the United States of America.
In the very charter of her liberties and of her existence, we find this great truth:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men."
In the Constitution, or fundamental law, of this nation there is the following, adopted in the very morning of the nation's existence.
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
The same wonderful document declared that no religious test should ever be required for those who might aspire to any of the offices within the gift of the people.
And these two principles, above all things else, were the lodestones of attraction drawing the oppressed and the liberty-loving from the tyranny of the Old World to take their place under the broad folds of the banner of the free republic.
Both specifications are met in Christianity, the religion of the Lamb, of all religions in the world, and both are met in this nation of all the nations of earth. The conclusion is therefore inevitable that the two-horned beast is a symbol of this government.
We will consider in our next the dragon voice of the two-horned beast.
'IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS.'
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
IT was the day before Thanksgiving. Steadily the great flakes of snow came down. Already they had heaped high, billowy drifts against the tiny cottage across the field, until they had crept almost halfway to the little chimney that peeped timidly out like the head of a big black turtle. The whistling wind shook the shaggy coats of the old pines and sent the flakes whirling in every direction.
In another cottage, but little better than the one described, and just opposite, sat a woman considerably past the prime of life, watching the storm. Her hands were hard and brown, and her dress poor; but in her eyes was a look of patient endurance, and on her brow was stamped the peace of God. Still, somehow, to-night, her thoughts go back over the years—years filled with constant service for others—years of weariness and anxiety, of poverty and monotonous toil. Hanging over the tiny window in the little bedroom is a motto. It catches Aunt Lisbeth's eye as she wearily raises her head:
'In Everything Give Thanks.'
'I've always tried to do it,' she mused, 'but somehow to-night it just seems as if life isn't hardly worth living. I s'pose the Lord wants us to learn some lesson that we're awful slow about learning—don't you think so, father?'
Uncle Toby had just stepped inside, and was just shaking the snow from his threadbare coat.
'Why, yes, Lisbeth, I s'pose so,' he replied wearily, 'tho I did hope the Lord was going to give us something for our old age, since we found out that that coal vein runs right through the back lot. But I guess it's no use hoping. The men said to-day that it wasn't noways likely it would ever be any good. I tell you, Lisbeth, the ways of the Lord look pretty hard, that's a fact. I can't understand it; we've always tried to serve Him.'
'Don't give up hope, father, the Lord'll provide somehow, He always does; I've tried all my life to live up to that little motto hanging up in the bedroom, and I don't mean to give it up now, if everything does look gloomy.
'I guess I'll get ready now and run over to brother Henry's, he probably wants his supper by this time—poor fellow;' and Aunt Lisbeth pinned her shawl over her head, put on a pair of heavy boots, and started on her errand of mercy—the third she had made since morning—to the little house across the way, of which the reader has already had a peep.
We will follow her as she struggles wearily through the drifts, until she stands in the little room, dimly lighted by one window.
'Lisbeth, Lisbeth, is that you? Have you come?' calls a weak voice from the corner. 'I've been thinkin', sister, to-morrow's Thanksgiving'—the ground's all white, I'm thinkin'. Will you give me a little more gruel, sister? I ain't goin' to trouble you much longer—I'll not see another Thanksgiving Day. It's a bad time for a burial, just now, Lisbeth, but if it's God's time, I trust I'm ready.'
'No, no, brother, cheer up; this storm makes us all a bit gloomy, I imagine. But come, now, let's you and I count our mercies, since Thanksgiving's so near; there's many a mercy the Lord has shown us if we are poor; first, I'll make your gruel, and then we'll have a word of prayer.'
The voice of prayer was often heard in the little room, but never had the listening angels bent nearer than on this Thanksgiving evening, in that snow-covered cabin among the old pines. Many a year Aunt Lisbeth had tenderly ministered like a guardian angel to her invalid brother; but, tho the passing years had left their mark on brow and form, they had left no bitterness in the tender, trusting heart. 'In everything give thanks' had always been her motto; and so on this night the gentle voice is lifted in a prayer of thanksgiving for the infinite gift of God's dear Son, and for His Holy Spirit. She thanks Him for His priceless Word, and that she is able to read and understand His rich promises; that strength has been given her these years to minister to her brother, and that, tho poor in this world's goods, their bread and water has been sure.
'Amen,' faintly murmured the sick man. 'Now, Lisbeth, I'm goin' to sleep; good night.'
An hour later, Aunt Lisbeth peeps in again, but the restless form under the faded coverlet is quiet now, and the trembling fingers are still.
For many years Aunt Lisbeth had been mother, as well as sister, to the crippled brother for whom life had held but few joys. Patiently and uncomplainingly she had shared her few comforts with him, thankful to be able to minister to 'one of the least of these.' The winter snows were never too deep, nor the stinging frosts too cold to keep Aunt Lisbeth from faithfully performing her self-appointed tasks. The neighbors had feebly remonstrated at first, and some of the members of the church had suggested the poorhouse. But Aunt Lisbeth had listened in tearful silence.
'Well,' remarked the nearest neighbor, Mrs. Black, to her friend, Mrs. King, after the funeral, 'I hope now that Aunt Lisbeth can have a rest. That poor soul has just lifted, and tugged, and sacrificed for that sickly, unfortunate brother of hers, till she's just about given up the best of her life,—never could go anywhere nor do anything,—beats all!'
'Yes,' agreed Mrs. King, 'and she's patient as Job; and Uncle Toby's just as patient as she is; and if ever I took to sympathize with her, sure's you live, tears would come into her eyes, and she'd point up to that motto of theirs hangin' over the door:13
### 'In Everything Give Thanks.'
So I learned to keep still.'
One day about a week after the funeral, Uncle Toby brought a letter from the post-office; letters were quite scarce at Uncle Toby's, and Aunt Lisbeth opened it with a little flutter of hopeful anticipation.
'Look here, Tobias,' she whispered, 'do you s'pose maybe those coal men are going to pay you something for that coal vein on the back lot, after all?'
Her voice trembled for very eagerness. But Aunt Lisbeth had not noticed the post-mark, or she would have known better at once. 'Why, Tobias, see here; this letter's from Sara Ann out in Texas,—poor thing,—let me read it; and this is what she read, with dim eyes filled with sympathetic tears:
'DEAR LISBETH:
'I'm coming to live with you—and to die with you, too, maybe. Nobody else'll have me. Ellen and Jim are moving away, and they don't want me—so I'm coming. I'm sick all the time—so I won't eat much, that's one good thing, for I s'pose you're poor as ever—'
Lisbeth did not finish the letter at once. She bowed her tired head on her toil-hardened hands, and cried; but hers were not tears of selfish sorrow.
'Do you feel called on to give thanks, Lisbeth?' gravely questioned Uncle Toby.
'Yes, yes, Tobias, 'In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you,' murmured Lisbeth reverently; only,—only I do wish, Tobias, that coal money'd come, wouldn't I get Sara Ann something good to eat and some nice, warm clothes for winter? she was never kept half warm enough, and that's what makes her rheumatiz so bad, I believe.' And so Sara Ann came; the neighbors said Uncle Toby would have remonstrated, but he knew it would do no good. 'The Lord must love Aunt Lisbeth most as well as he did Job, I do believe,' declared Mrs. Black
when she saw the invalid drive up. "I declare there's another instalment of work and self-denial for Aunt Lisbeth."
And so it was; the days wore away, one after another, but instead of the kind and gentle old brother who had passed away and whose burdens she had so long carried, Aunt Lisbeth's loving hands must minister to a peevish, ill-tempered old woman. Sometimes Lisbeth would look tearfully over to the old house, and long to hear the soft, gentle voice of the dear old man, instead of the cross, fault-finding words which were now her constant reward. And yet, with the loving heart of true faith, she never murmured. Sometimes Uncle Toby would notice her looking wistfully at the motto that had been her daily guide for so many years. But the blessed Lord has His eye upon His jewel; and that Eye never slumbers nor sleeps. She was learning the lesson of faith and patience in the school of Christ.
The Thanksgiving days came and went. But the slow years left no trace on Aunt Lisbeth, except a few more white hairs about the temples, a little deeper lines on the calm brow,—that was all. She had learned to make every day a thanksgiving.
At last there was another funeral at Uncle Toby's. The poor, peevish invalid was laid to rest, and it was the gentle hands of Aunt Lisbeth that prepared the wasted body for burial. "Now," every one said, "Aunt Lisbeth and Uncle Toby may rest from their labors. But the increased expense of the past few months had made sad inroads in the little savings, and Uncle Toby was getting hardly able to care for the little garden. Aunt Lisbeth noticed it, but her faith in the Lord never wavered, but her favorite text was quoted oftener than ever.
At last another Thanksgiving morning dawned, cold and cheerless; but there was a bright fire on Uncle Toby's hearth, and a cheery voice in the kitchen was singing: "O praise ye the Lord in the beauty of holiness."
"I wish, Tobias, you'd read the fifth chapter of Second Chronicles this morning for worship,—you know it was while the singers were praising the Lord that He came down, and His glory filled the temple. Maybe He's got something real good for us,—some good news, or something—and He's waiting for us to praise Him."
And so the chapter was read, and the praise was offered.
"Good morning, Uncle Toby, here's a letter for you," said a good-natured voice at the door.
"You read it, Lisbeth,—my eyes aint so good as yours."
Somehow, Aunt Lisbeth's hand trembled, and such a mist gathered before her eyes that she could hardly read:
"Tobias! Tobias! the coal men are going to buy the back lot at last—at last! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name." "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
Sanitarium, Napa Co., Cal.
"FEAR THOU NOT."
By Flora E. Yergin
THE winds may sweep o'er the deep, wide sea;
May scatter the fruit, and spoil the tree;
The waves may roll, or the darkness drear
Be 'round my path, if I may but hear
The Master's voice
Say, "Do not fear,
For I am near."
The earth may quake—or may be no more;
The mountains fall, or the thunders roar;
The hosts of evil with pomp and song
May lure and beckon to paths of wrong,—
If I but trust
The Saviour's power
In that dark hour.
FLORA E. YERGIN.
Winter in California
at the
California Sanitariums
¶ Where the charm of country life at a high-class health resort, with your comfort and perfect rest, is the aim of the management. Medical attention if desired. Rates, $15.00 per week.
Reached by Southern Pacific Railroad from San Francisco or Oakland. Write for free booklet 16. Address, St. Helena Sanitarium, Sanitarium, Cal.
On main line Southern Pacific Railroad, near Redlands. Write for free booklet "A." Address, Loma Linda Sanitarium, Loma Linda, Redlands, Cal.
Take electric car at Pacific Electric Building, Los Angeles. Write for free booklet "A." Address, Glendale Sanitarium, Glendale, Cal.
Reached by Santa Fe to San Diego or National City. Write for free booklet 23. Address, Paradise Valley Sanitarium, National City, Cal.
¶ Where the same methods are used as at the Boulder, Colo., Portland, Ore., Melrose, Mass., Battle Creek, Mich., and nearly a score of other successful sanitariums. Christian physicians and employees attend to the needs of each guest.
Open Every Day in the Year
Single Comb Buff Orpingtons
SINGLE COMB BUFF ORPINGTONS.—We breed nothing else, for we believe them to be the best. Hens, pullets, and cockerels, $2 each. Trio, $5. Eggs in season, $1.50 per fifteen. Satisfaction guaranteed. Union College Poultry Yards, College View, Neb.
WHERE LIES THE HARM?
By Mrs. D. A. Fitch
It matters little how mercilessly the backbiter may assail my conduct, it is only my reputation that can be injured. My character remains unchanged. He who criticizes another unfavorably is bringing most harm to himself. At the same time he injures the listener by hanging in his mind an abiding and irreversible picture.
Mrs. D. A. Fitch.
Bank of Mountain View
By Editor
If you haven't already done so, why don't you drop us a postal asking us to send you a copy of our monthly paper, "The Bank of Mountain View Journal." It is very interesting. It is full of good ideas, and it is free to you for the asking. If you live in the East, send for a copy and see how we do it in California. We still hold ourselves ready to furnish you with information about Mountain View. Write us.
Address
Bank of Mountain View
Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California
God Is Just
INDEED, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.—Thomas Jefferson.
WANTON RECKLESSNESS.
WOULD they do as much to save life, to help the poor, to save a soul, as to lower the "record" of a previous auto race! These questions ought to come home to our reckless racers, who risk their own life and that of many others in the great reckless races being held more and more frequently. Here is a New York paper's account of an incident in the Vanderbilt race in the first week in October:
"Hedged in by the crowd and unable to escape from in front of Elliott F. Shepard's 130-horse power Hotchkiss racing auto, Curt L. Gruner, of No. 158 Hope Avenue, Passaic, N. J., was struck by the blunt hood and dashed twenty feet along the Vanderbilt Cup course yesterday morning during the running of the race.
"The accident occurred on Shepard's sixth lap when he had arrived a short distance above Krug's Corner on Jericho Turnpike, at Mineola. Nearly every bone in Gruner's body was broken, his skull was crushed, and he died instantly. In its flight the body hit a woman, knocking her twenty feet along the road. Her clothing was drenched with blood, and the terrifying sight bereft her of reason. Screaming and pulling at her hair, she ran away from the scene over the level fields. Friends followed and took her to a physician.
"It was impossible for the deputy sheriffs to control the mob of 30,000 spectators that tried to get to the scene. The crowd swarmed on to the course, and the racers that followed Shepard flashed into sight before the men and women could be driven back. Unable to check their speed, the racers bore down on the crowd at sixty miles an hour.
"The flagman waved the yellow danger signals frantically in an endeavor to halt the racers, but it was too late. With clubs and their fists, the deputies and flagmen fought back the crowd until a narrow opening was made, and through this perilous lane the daring drivers piloted their cars at sixty miles an hour or more.
"This is the second victim of Shepard's fast driving. He ran down and killed a little girl in France over a year ago, was tried and sentenced to prison for three months. The case was bitterly fought in court, and he was eventually let off on the payment of a fine and a sum of money to the victim's family."15
"SABBATH" AGITATION IN NEW YORK.
THE cause of enforced Sunday observance has received considerable attention in Elmira, N. Y., through the annual meeting of the State Sabbath Association, which was held October 28-31. The association represents fourteen denominations, and the occasion was the sixteenth anniversary of the organization, which is an auxiliary to the American Sabbath Union. The Elmira papers have given liberal notices and reports of religious liberty meetings held in the city at the same time by Elder John S. Wightman and his wife, Mrs. Lulu Wightman. The former is religious liberty secretary for the state of New York, and Mrs. Wightman is a well-known evangelist. Both the Gazette and Star gave quite full reports of her talks on religious liberty. A good supply of religious liberty literature was also circulated in the city. It was fitting that while the so-called Sabbath Association was disseminating its compulsory Sunday observance sophistry, the people should be given the truth as to what such a movement would mean if fully successful; namely, an entire change in the civil and religious character of our government.
The founders of this republic wisely omitted the principle of state-enforced religion, and the measure of liberty and material prosperity which the country has enjoyed is almost wholly due to this fact—to say nothing of the influence for religious liberty which it wielded in the Old World. But the success of the efforts to establish the principle of religious legislation—advocated by "sabbath" associations, the National Reform Association, and the Reform Bureau—will cause a radical reaction from fundamental principles. This fact has been amply demonstrated in the measure of success the movement has already attained. It is a time for the lovers of liberty to be on their guard. Politicians, especially candidates for public office, are coming to regard the movement as a political power to be reckoned with at the polls, and are therefore disposed to compromise and even to make pre-election pledges to favor politico-religious schemes.
