THEN answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?' Matt. 19:27. This was a reasonable question which came from the thoughtful and well-balanced mind. The desire to have, to possess, to own something, is natural to the human heart. The right of ownership is acknowledged and protected by such divine laws as "Thou shalt not steal." "Thou shalt not covet." He who cares nothing for possessions, and he whose whole soul is wrapped up in the things which he can accumulate, are alike unbalanced. Neither the idler, the spendthrift, nor the miser, pleases God.
The loved ones and the home are dear to the Christian, but he gives up all for Christ's sake. The disciples were not a band of shiftless fanatics, but a company of sensible business men. Matthew had left his lucrative position of Roman tax gatherer. Peter, James, and John had forsaken their prosperous fishing fleet, and being reasonable men, desired to know what they would receive in return. In His reply, Jesus included all who should forsake that which they love of this world for His sake. "And Jesus answered and said, Verily, I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My sake and the Gospel's, but
He Shall Receive an Hundredfold
now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life." Mark 10:29, 30.
The whole world was given to man. Gen. 1:26, Heb. 2:6-9. Adam was placed in control, but he gave himself and all his possessions into the hands of a liar and murderer, one who had refused to obey the law of God. With this unholy alliance, he could no longer be trusted with dominion over the earth.
The Sacrifice That He Made.
Christ offered to leave His heavenly home, His honor and glory and go "to seek and to save that which was lost." It would have been unjust to take the kingdom from Adam and give it to another who had not passed thru the same tests that were required of him. This was met by Jesus who "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. 4:15.
Christ being faithful, the kingdom is given to Him. The prophet Daniel had a view of his coronation. "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him." Dan. 7:13, 14.
Christ in His poverty felt and suffered the curse that had come upon the earth and bore it in the crown of thorns that He might redeem the earth for man, and said, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. 5:5. They are promised a hundredfold more in this present time than they have forsaken in houses, lands, etc. The blessings that come to others, come to the Christian, for he rejoices with those who rejoice. In the natural heart he rejoiced in the one home, the one farm which he called his, but now he rejoices in every happy home as tho it were his own. All the joy of earth is his, he is having nothing, yet possessing all things. 2 Cor. 6:10. But there are sorrows, also, and persecutions in which he must share. In the "world to come" there will be "no more death, neither sorrow nor crying" for "God shall wipe away all tears."
A Graphic Description.
Peter gives a graphic description of the passing away of this present world and the ushering in of the world to come. "But the day of the Lord will come as thief in the night: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. . . . Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter 3:10-13. John said, "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away." Rev. 21:1.
The Lord appeared to Abraham and told him to look in all directions, to arise and walk while he looked, and all the land his eye should rest upon should be given to him and his seed. Gen. 13:14-17. Paul said that Abraham was heir of the world. Rom. 4:13. Abraham had no more natural claim to the earth than any other descendant of Adam. Gal. 3:16 reads, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Abraham was to obtain his inheritance thru Christ, and to him is given no more than is offered us. Gal. 3:29 reads: "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Abraham was not looking for the possession of the present earth, as it is said of him and a multitude of his children, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Heb. 11:13. Had they looked for the inheritance in this life, death would have banished every ray of hope, they could not have "died in faith." Verse 16 says, "But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He hath prepared for them a city." They were not looking for a country in heaven but for "an heavenly" country. "Wherefore [because of this] God is not ashamed to be called their God." A soul so low as to be wholly engrossed with the things of this world, so sordid in nature that the gold and silver, the vain honor and pleasure of this life control its every impulse, so that it never yearns for the better land "wherein dwelleth righteousness," is "like the beast that perisheth," and well might God be ashamed to be called its God.
He Looked for a City.
Abraham "looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Heb. 11:10. He was not, as some men are, looking toward old Jerusalem, nor any other city, whose maker and builder is man. He looked for the city having foundations which God had made. John describes that city in the twenty-first and twenty-second chapters of Revelation. He saw it "coming down from God out of heaven." It was built of gold and measured twelve thousand furlongs, fifteen hundred miles, around. The saints who ascended to heaven at the second advent of Christ a thousand years before come with it. The wicked dead are raised and destroyed. The earth is melted and man's works burned up, and the new earth is ushered in. Revelation 20.
Beautifying the Whole Earth.
Then the people of God will go out from the city and beautify the whole earth. "And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them." Isa. 65:21. Thus God's plan will be carried out in His own way. God gave Adam one beautiful spot, the Garden of Eden, from which he was to "replenish the earth, and subdue it" till all the world would have been like the garden for beauty. In the new earth He continues His plan just where it was interrupted by sin. He gives us one spot of transcendent beauty, the Holy City, from which His saints go forth to complete the work.
If God should provide some other place than this earth for man's kingdom and home because of sin having entered here, then Satan would have the honor of defeating the purpose of God, and God would not be omnipotent.
Visiting the Universe.
That the saints will visit all the universe of God is evident, as they "follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." The "heavenly country" on the new earth is their happy home, where sorrow never invades; where tears never fall; where beauty never fades; where God gives joy to all. From month to month and from Sabbath to Sabbath the saints go up to worship the Lord (Isa. 66:23), and partake of the water of life and the tree of life. Then will they appreciate the truth that "blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may6enter in thru the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17.
"Will you go, sinner, go to the highlands of heaven,
Where the storms never blow, and the long sum-
mer's given,
Where the bright blooming flowers are their odors
emitting,
And the leaves of the bowers in the breezes are
flitting?
Look by faith to the cross and behold Jesus
bleeding,
Then, ascended on high, at the throne interceding.
O, secure pardon now, while sweet mercy's ex-
tended,
Ere the harvest is past and the summer is ended."
The Day the Sons of God Shall Stand Revealed.
By Flora E. Yerkin
A LITTLE while—and Earth will laugh with gladness;
A little while—and all her groans will cease.
Creation will cast off sin's heavy thraldom,
And earth and man will know a sweet release—
A perfect rest.
Long years has Earth been filled with blood and mourning;
Has waited long for man to see God's ways;
Her barren wastes, made bare by man's transgression,
Will mingle with the sons of men in praise,
The day the sons of God shall stand revealed.
A little while—and loyal hearts made perfect,
Will rest with God in viewing work complete.
A little while—and unbelief of ages
Will know the value of the mercy-seat.
Hail, glorious day!
Creation will again be clothed in beauty;
Her cries have reached the throne, and God will hear;
And he within whose heart is found perfection,
Will in a perfect robe of light appear
The day the sons of God shall stand revealed.
'Tis almost here—the day of God's revealing;
The day for which the Son of God was sent.
God's everlasting purpose knows no failing;
Shall Wisdom fall 'neath traitor's vile intent?
His purpose lives!
For even now we're sons—tho not appearing;
(God only knows the battles fought and won),
And all who sought the wisdom of the Father,
In that glad day will hear from Him, "Well done;"
That day the sons of God shall stand revealed.
FLORA E. YERGIN.
The Master's Call to Action
By H. G. Thurston
H. G. Thurston
We must now arouse to action,
Do you hear the Master call?
Old and young, enlist to conquer,
Stand for right nor ever fall.
It is now no time for cowards,
But for valiant men and true.
See! the fight will soon be finished,
And a crown is waiting you.
Are you weary?—Jesus knows it.
Yes, He knows the way is long,
But His strength and life He gives you,
You can conquer with a song.
When your head is tired and aching,
And you long for quiet rest,
Hear the Saviour gently whisper,
"Lay your head upon My breast."
So we struggle on, dear pilgrim,
Jesus trod this way before;
When this weary life is over,
None will trouble any more.
All our cares and all our burdens
We will lay at His dear feet.
Courage! just a little longer,
We shall walk the golden street.
Deprivation of Life the Punishment of the Wicked
By Francis M. Wilcox
By Francis M. Wilcox
THE doctrine of eternal burning in hell-fire, once popular, has now fallen into disuse. And not only has it fallen into disuse, but the average churchman has ceased to hold it in a literal sense as a cardinal point of Christian faith.
While theoretically admitting that he believes it, in his own mind he makes such allowance for the spiritual interpretation of the doctrine that really robs it of its old-time terrors.
We are told that the fire which destroys the finally impenitent is remorse of conscience; that eventually all men will find salvation. These and various other perversions of the Scripture are brought forward in attempted proof that God, after all, will not visit the wicked with summary punishment. They are but the natural reaction from the unscriptural doctrine which was once advocated to the world that a God of love would take a portion of His erring children and subject them to torment thruout the endless ages of eternity.
The Reasonable View.
Such teaching casts reflection upon God's dignity, His wisdom, and His love. In contrast to this, how reasonable it is, as the Scriptures plainly declare, that God visits upon the finally impenitent the punishment of endless death. Says the inspired penman, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life thru Jesus Christ our Lord." This is the contrast: life and the opposite of life, cessation of existence. While we do not dispute, and firmly believe, that the wicked will be punished in proportion to their wickedness, that some will possess in their bodies a more lively sense of suffering than others, yet notwithstanding this, the great punishment which God metes out to the impenitent as a whole is depriving them of the life which they have shown themselves unworthy to enjoy.
The Philosophy of Punishment.
This is true in the punishment of criminals for capital crimes. The punishment is not so much the pain that is felt by the criminal as he undergoes the death sentence, but the deprivation of all the privileges and blessings which he would have enjoyed if he had been a true citizen. Indeed, this principle is recognized to that extent that it has become a vital question with legislators to-day to secure in the inflicting of the death penalty the means which shall prove the least revolting in its horrors and the least painful to the criminal. For that reason some of our States have adopted execution by electricity rather than by the old style of the hangman's noose. The punishment is the taking away of life and life's privileges.
This same principle is recognized in the punishment of crimes of even less enormity. A thief is punished for his stealing. He is incarcerated in a prison cell for several months or years. There, perhaps, he is given quite as good food, quite as comfortable a bed, and withal has quite as many physical comforts as he enjoyed in his own home. Of what does the punishment consist?—In depriving him of the liberty he would have enjoyed if he had been a true man.
And this is the great measure of the punishment which God inflicts upon the impenitent. Had they accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, had they been loyal citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and obeyed the laws of the great Ruler of the universe, unending life-pleasures at the right hand of God would have been their portion. But they failed to improve the few years of time which had been allotted them. They have demonstrated that if God should bestow upon them an eternity, they would use eternity for the same selfish, wicked purposes as they have employed time. Hence, God deprives them of the life which they have refused to use to His glory. This is their punishment.
The Manifestation of Mercy.
And in this is manifest the great mercy of God. A life of sin entails a life of misery. This is true whether that life of sin be spent in a hovel or a palace, by a peasant or by a king. For God to prolong that wicked life would be but to prolong its misery, would be to add to the wo, the unutterable wo, of its possessor. In His love He causes the life to cease, and while the wicked man is deprived of all the joys of the redeemed, at the same time he is saved from drinking the eternal dregs of the cup of misery to which his wickedness has brought him.
And so in God's order the wicked become as tho they had not been. His universe is cleansed from all impurity, and righteousness and peace reign supreme with no cloud of sin to dim eternity's future.
This view of the finally impenitent's doom magnifies the mercy of God, extols His wisdom, and makes of the utterances of the inspired word a consistent, harmonious whole.
The Cant of Criticism
Of all the cants which are canted in this canting world, tho the cant of hypocrites may be the worst, the cant of criticism is the most tormenting.—Lawrence Sterne.
Using Money and Time
Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life, and the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use.—Doctor Johnson.
Advice for the Conceited
He who gives advice to a self-conceited man stands himself in need of counsel from another.—Saadi.
The Resurrection and the Life.
SUCH the Lord Jesus Christ declares Himself to be. And if we believe the narrative there can be no misunderstanding of His words. They are found in the eleventh chapter of the Gospel by John—the chapter which tells the wonderful story of the resurrection of Lazarus.
The friend of Jesus, the brother of Mary and Martha, had died. Jesus met the weeping sisters when their brother had been dead four days, and decay and dissolution had already begun. They each said to Jesus, "Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." Jesus responded by saying, "Thy brother shall rise again." They knew that He meant that Lazarus should live again bodily. Martha said, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Jesus declared, "I am the Resurrection and the Life." Even then He could break the power of death, and make anew the decaying body; yet He "wept."
Why did He weep? By what power does He raise the dead?
He wept in sympathy with those mourning sisters. His heart was touched by their woes and sorrows. More than this: He saw in those mourners there the mourners of all time, those who have followed to the last resting-place of earth those whom they loved; those who have heard the grave-clods fall upon the narrow house which confined the loved and the lost; those who saw the grave close its hungry, merciless portals over all their earthly hopes and fondest aspirations. Jesus saw all those, and wept in sympathy with the mourning hearts of every age. To all earth's mourners He declares, "I am the Resurrection and the Life."
What power has He to raise the dead? Death came by sin. "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Men die because man sinned; and no power has man in himself to lift himself above the sin, or save himself from death. Long and arduously have men sought thru philosophy and science and superstition for the secret of life, the fountain of perpetual youth, but all the seekers are locked in the grave, and the devil, who has the power of death (Heb. 2:14), opens not the doors of the prison-house. Isa. 14:17.
There is but one way to life, the reverse of the way in which man found death. Man found death by sinning; he will find life by righteousness. "In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." Prov. 12:28. Jesus Christ lived the righteous life. He "did no sin." He kept God's commandments, and abode in His love. He died to release man from the claims of death, and to forever break its power; He lives to give man life forevermore. As He had no sins of His own the grave could not hold Him. Acts 2:24. And, blessed be God, all who forsake sin and believe in Jesus Christ will be clothed with the same righteousness, over which death has no power. In God's purpose they rose with Him when He arose; and therefore when God calls them from the grave at the sounding of the last trump, it is said that He brings them with Christ from the dead. 1 Thess. 4:13-16; 2 Cor. 4:14.
Would we have the assurance of that resurrection now? God gives it in the earnest of the Spirit to every believer in the power which that Spirit gives to enable us to overcome sin, in making the Spirit dominant over the flesh. For "if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies, thru His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Rom. 8:11. That life is the power to overcome, the power to renew heart and affections, the power to live a new life over sin, the power to heal and save the poor, mortal body. This is "Christ in you the hope of glory;" this is the manifestation to all men of the power of "the Resurrection and the Life," in frail but believing humanity.
Training Forces for the Conflict.
THERE is no one thing that has done more to corrupt governments than the influence of money. There seems to be a fascination about accumulating vast fortunes that especially appeals to the selfish, carnal heart. And so the men who have the disease of making it their life-work and life-long ambition to do the one thing of amassing the greatest possible fortunes have always been ready to spend money to “influence legislation,” and also to train judges and executive officers to do their bidding when it comes to putting the laws into effect.
Modern inventions have made it possible for the whole world to exchange ideas daily, and to ship the various commodities of commerce from one side of the globe to the other in a very brief space of time. These conditions have made the present time the one period of all the world’s history when men could embrace the whole earth with their arms of greed and selfish desires for accumulation of wealth. And consequently this is the age that has presented to men the greatest temptations to corrupt legislatures, courts, and executive officers in order that nothing stand in the way of their ambitious purposes to accumulate millions upon millions of wealth.
Many of the men of this generation who have had the opportunity have yielded to these temptations of avarice and have gone to insane lengths in building up vast corporations, trusts, and other combines to seize upon all the wealth of the world that they could possibly get hold of. The time was when a millionaire was considered a very wealthy man. But he is no longer a man of extraordinary wealth. We have the billionaire now, and in this rush to accumulate money and property there has been left a trail of corrupted legislators and jurists that has become an appalling menace to society.
The men of wealth have taught the lesson of the advantages of combining in order to secure their objects. They have taught a vast army of men how to unionize their interests in such a way that nothing could stand before them without being swallowed up.
The capitalist can not accomplish his desired purposes without the help of labor. And in order for him to make the most, the capitalist is always seeking to economize in labor as well as in everything else. And since his object, and his only object, is to make money, he is not at all careful to guard the interests of the laboring man. He is working for economy of production, and to him the laborer looks like any other material that he uses in his product.
The small dealer is just as ruthlessly trodden down by the great capitalist as is the laboring man. The records of the legislature and the courts are full of documentary evidence to show that one man after another has had to fall before the great octopus of concentrating wealth. A large force of high-salaried lawyers have been trained to so frame legislation that they can turn decisions of courts in any way they like by means of the technicalities that they raise. The cases of the men of big wealth are not tried on merit, but by the merest quibbles they are allowed acquittal. There is a strong reversal of sentiment just now against this sort of thing, and a big fight is going on to try to bring some of the big men of finance to the bar of justice. But they have themselves so strongly intrenched, and they have their forces so well drilled that it is next to impossible to do anything with them.
It is perfectly natural that the laboring men, as they have seen this course of things developing in the country, should also form combinations for the purpose of combatting these encroachments of capital. And the high-handed and unscrupulous methods employed by capital would naturally lead the labor combines to seek to meet these methods with whatever weapons could be made available. And so the strike and the boycott have been made strong allies. And the natural outgrowth of the strike and the boycott is rioting and violence.
Another one of the outgrowths of the struggle between capital and labor has been the effort that the labor-combine makes to force every laboring man to join the ranks of unionized labor. The labor leader makes an eloquent argument to the effect that if all the labor of the country is not united in the combine they will not be able to meet the forces of capital with any hope of victory. And so the “union man” is forbidden to work with any one of his fellow men who does not belong to the union. And here again the natural outgrowth of this principle is to engender hatred and exercise violence toward the man who does not choose to join in the union combine of labor.
It should be perfectly clear to any one that the course that has been pursued by9the capitalist is subversive of law and order, and that it will lead to revolutionary and disastrous results. And it should be equally clear to any one that the principles of the labor-combines are just as truly revolutionary and subversive of that which makes for the tranquillity of society. When the sentiment is made popular that a man has a right to work if he belongs to the union, and that he has no right to work if he does not belong, it ought not to be difficult to see that a reign of tyranny has been reached.
The combines of wealth are growing more and more powerful and grasping. And the combines of labor are extending with even greater strength and rapidity. Any one should be able to see with his ordinary intelligence that these maneuvering forces must soon meet in a rioting and revolutionary combat. But we are not left in this question to our ordinary intelligence alone. God has given us the revelations of his prophetic word. These prophecies have been frequently dwelt upon in the columns of this paper, and it is our purpose to continually keep them before the people.
It is not necessary for any one to be found in the camp of either of these warring factions. The Lord of heaven is calling every one to make the character preparation that will enable him to stand without fault before His throne, and having this preparation we will be able to keep free from being swallowed up by the revolutions that are soon to rack the earth with violence.
The Lord Jesus Christ is coming very soon. The prophecies make this clear. Have you heard about them? If so, you know that the revolutionary forces of earth are to have their career of fury abruptly broken off by the coming of the just One. This bright and cheering hope of the soon coming of Christ is for every one of us to enjoy if we will. And if we have this hope, every forbidding outlook in the world serves only to deepen and intensify our joy at the knowledge of the return of our Lord. T.
Prayer.
By Kathrina Blossom Wilcox
The Conditions.
"More things are wrought by prayer
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore let
thy voice
Rise like a fountain for me night and day.
For what are men better than sheep or goats
That nourish a blind life within the brain,
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer
Both for themselves and those who call them
friend?
For so the whole round earth is bound in every
way,
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God."
"There is no such thing in the long history of God’s kingdom as unanswered prayer. Every true desire, even from a child’s heart, finds some true answer in the heart of God." Our prayers may not always be answered in our way, but they are always answered, nevertheless; if not in our way, in God’s own true, better way. "Ask, and it shall be given you." How easy the conditions, and yet how few accept the promise! What does it mean to ask? What is prayer? Montgomery has thus defined it:
"Prayer is the heart’s sincere desire
Uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast."
Another says:
"Say, what is prayer, when it is prayer indeed?
The mighty utterance of a mighty need.
That man is praying who doth press with
might
Out of his darkness into God’s own light."
"To pray is to desire, but it is to desire what God would have us desire. He who desires not from the bottom of his heart offers a deceitful prayer." Our will must be wholly submitted to His will. We must have confidence in Him as we do in our dearest earthly friend, knowing, however, that He has all power in heaven and in earth, that He knows the end from the beginning, and that He always gives us what we ask for, or something better.
Turn to that God-breathed masterpiece of all literature, the Sacred Scriptures, and find therein the records of those noble men who, thru faith, the golden chain which binds us to the heart of the Infinite, "subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of aliens."
"Call upon Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knewest not of."
"If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it."
"Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart; trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass."
These are only a few of the many precious promises with which God’s unchangeable word abounds, and which His people of old, as well as His people now, had as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast.
For example, let us take an incident in the life of Moses, the man of God. Israel, notwithstanding the loving-kindness and tender mercies of Jehovah, and the wonderful patience of Moses, had, even while Moses was in the mountain of God receiving instruction for the people, yielded to their carnal natures and gone back into idolatry.
God was displeased. "Get thee down," He said to Moses. "I have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff-necked people. . . . Let Me alone that I may consume them." Then, said the Lord, "I will make of thee a great nation."
O what an offer! Who could resist the temptation? Long and patiently had Moses borne with the murmurings and complainings of the children of Israel, and now even the long-suffering and forbearance of God seems almost to have become exhausted in His dealings with this disobedient people.
The father of a great nation! What an opportunity! What glory and prominence it would bring to Moses! How it would exalt him in the eyes of the world! Will he accept the offer?
His heart is filled with love for his people. How he pleads with God! "Remember, O Lord, Thy promises to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written."
O what a prayer is this! Can human mind fathom the simplicity, the grandeur, the self-abnegation, combined in this brief petition? A man of God indeed! Human?—Yes, but with his humanity so deeply buried in Christ that self is completely forgotten in his overwhelming love for God and his fellow men.
The same possibilities of perfection are ours to-day.
KATHRINA BLOSSOM WILCOX.
Conceit’s Incurable Disease
Conceit is the most incurable disease that is known to the human soul.—Henry Ward Beecher.