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Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 50.

LESSONS FOR CHRISTIANS
Earlier text: LESSONS FOR CHRISTIANS

Sowing for Physical and Spiritual Health

By David Paulson; W. S. Sadler

David Paulson W. S. Sadler

A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS

That mysterious process by which solid food substances are transformed into soluble elements so that they may become a part of the human body, is certainly deserving of the closest study. It is a most wonderful process, whereby pure food may be transformed into brain cells, capable of thinking God's thoughts after Him. To accomplish this, there is provided a series of digestive organs, with their respective fluids, to act, a certain length of time, upon the food substances. As the usefulness of these digestive organs depends so largely upon securing certain favorable conditions, it is of the utmost importance that we know how to provide these necessary conditions.

THE DIGESTIVE FLUIDS

The activity of nearly all the digestive fluids depends chiefly upon certain enzymes, or digestive ferments. These digestive principles have a wonderful transforming influence upon the food elements; in fact, this activity is so great that a minute quantity of these digestive fluids seems to have the power of digesting an almost unlimited quantity of food substance, provided the medium in which they act is of the right quality, and the digested portions of food are promptly removed. One part of rennet (the milk-curdling ferment) will curdle from four hundred thousand to eight hundred thousand times its own weight of milk. See Schafer's Physiology, 317. Pepsin, another ferment that is found in the gastric juice, will digest, provided there is sufficient hydrochloric acid present, half a million times its own weight of proteids. Another remarkable property of these digestive ferments is revealed in the fact that they seem to act merely by their presence; that is, apparently, they do not seem to be used up by their activity.

THE ACTION OF FERMENTS—AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

As has just been observed, the pepsin and other ferments in the digestive juices seem to possess the remarkable property of acting by their very presence; that is, they are not used up, or consumed, by the work they perform. These digestive ferments are a beautiful illustration of the work of the Spirit of God upon the human heart; the mysterious power by which He acts is due to His presence. We may recognize truth with the intellect, and by faith we may lay hold of it; and, as it were, digest it, and appropriate it to the nourishment of the soul; but, nevertheless, it is due to the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit that we are able even to recognize truth, much less to lay hold of it by faith, so as to enable it to exert a sanctifying influence upon the character.
From the Holy Spirit emanates an influence of unlimited power, infinite power, and if we do not grieve Him away by creating a wrong atmosphere about ourselves, He will, as do the ferments of the digestive fluids, silently carry on the work of transforming our characters from the earthly to the heavenly. The pepsin requires certain definite conditions to be supplied in order to enable it to carry forward its mysterious work of transformation; and so with the Holy Spirit: there must be a willing mind, a sincere heart, and a determined purpose to live a life in harmony with the fruits of the Spirit, if we would daily experience the transforming influence of this divine presence.

DIGESTIVE JUICES STIMULATED BY NATURAL FOOD FLAVORS

Among the most important stimulants to the flow of the digestive juices are the natural food flavors. Even the odor, or fragrance, of certain foods will stimulate the flow of saliva, which furnishes a basis for the saying that certain things “make the mouth water.” So we see there is a real physiological necessity for preserving the natural characteristic flavors which the Lord has put into every food. Just as every flower has its own characteristic odor, so every food possesses an individual flavor, which has a tendency to arouse the particular digestive activity that is required to effect its transformation. But this arrangement of nature, in common with nearly everything else in this world, has been grossly perverted; to the extent that the cook, instead of endeavoring to preserve the natural flavors of the food, ignores them altogether by adding such coarse and artificial flavors as condiments, spices, etc. And these, instead of stimulating the natural physiological flow of digestive fluids, both hinder their production and retard their influence. Experiments have demonstrated that the taking of mustard, pepper, etc., by its irritation, will cause the pouring out of a large amount of fluid in the stomach, but it is of an inferior quality, consisting largely of mucus, which the stomach glands produce in self-defense. By the use of these artificial stimulants, the quantity of the digestive fluid is increased at the expense of the quality. An abundance of saliva will serve little or no purpose unless it has in it the requisite amount of ptyalin,—the ferment that changes starch to sugar.

TRUTH KNOWN BY ITS FLAVOR

Just as the Creator has put into every separate food a distinct and characteristic flavor which distinguishes it from every other food; just as He has put flavors in foods, good and bad, which would, to the unperverted taste, be sufficient to rightly guide man in the selection of his daily food; so also the Lord has placed a spiritual flavor in every divine truth. Eternal truth is flavored with the divine Spirit, and by such it may always be recognized. To the soul whose spiritual appetite is unperverted, the great evidence of the reality of truth will not lie so much in any signs and wonders which the truth may produce, as in the flavor of the spirit which invariably accompanies the preaching of the everlasting gospel and the presentation of unadulterated truth. The individual who really desires food has his appetite for it aroused by recognizing its flavor; and so in our spiritual experience, the one who is hungering and thirsting for righteousness will be eager to lay hold of every truth he discovers. The flavor of the truth itself will be sufficient to stir up his spiritual appetite, and lead his soul to lay hold of the spiritual nourishment which the Lord has provided in the shape of living principles and precious gems of truth.
These digestive fluids are also stimulated by properly prepared foods. To illustrate: dry food encourages the flow of saliva; and the saliva, when swallowed with the food, encourages the flow of the gastric juice; and the gastric juice, when passed into the intestines, stimulates their digestive fluids. So nature has made it possible for us to start aright the digestive process; and, if this is done, the liability to subsequent digestive failure is very slight. From this standpoint it is clear that the mouth is, after all, one of the most important of the digestive organs. But when the proper function of the saliva is materially interfered with, by drinking large quantities of fluids at meals, and by the use of such foods as require but little mastication, thus allowing the food to pass into the stomach before the saliva has had an opportunity to mingle with it, the digestion of starch is greatly hindered. By endeavoring to subsist upon soft and liquid foods, we give the teeth little or nothing to do; and so nature very kindly takes them away, as the experience of thousands will verify. We are fast becoming a toothless race.

CONDITION OF FOOD ELEMENTS IN THE BLOOD STREAM

Man has been compared to a double sack, the inner walls being the alimentary canal, the outer the skin. Food which is simply in the alimentary tract is, from a nutrient standpoint, no more inside of a man than if he had placed it in his coat pocket. It is the one duty of the several digestive fluids to so transform the food that it can readily pass from this inner cavity into the human system proper. It is an interesting fact that much of the work of digestion is apparently undone as soon as the food substances are absorbed into the blood stream. The starch, which has been changed to sugar in the digestive process, is to a large extent temporarily stored up in the liver as glycogen—a form of starch. The proteids, or albumens, which have been dissolved into peptones in the process of passing through the intestinal wall, are again changed back to practically their original condition. Nature deals with digested fats upon the same principle.
Copyrighted, 1900, by David Paulson and W. S. Sadler

GOOD LISTENERS

By C. H. Keslake

C. H. KESLAKE
(New Brunswick, N. J.)
To BE able to clothe one’s thoughts with words that are in every particular suitable; to be able so to emphasize the words that they shall have the desired effect upon the heart and mind of the one addressed, is truly a desirable accomplishment, which but few speakers possess.
An equally excellent accomplishment, if indeed it does not excel the one already mentioned, is that of good listening. A man may be peculiarly gifted as a speaker, and yet his labor be largely a failure if his audience are not good listeners.
Comparatively few have the gift of oratory,—the power to hold an audience as if entranced, while a flood of liquid words is being poured, as it were, upon their ears,—but all may become good listeners.
Two important admonitions on the subject of hearing are given us by the Saviour: “Take heed how ye hear,” and, “Take heed therefore what ye hear.” Their importance can not be overestimated, and yet they are sadly neglected. Much blessing, yea, even eternal life itself, is often lost, because of the failure to listen attentively.
The psalmist said: “I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints.” Ps. 85: 8. Oftentimes it requires great will power and determination to concentrate the mind upon the subject before one. Satan knows that much, yes, everything, is involved in this question of hearing; and so, to prevent the Lord’s voice being heard, he will set a-shrieking a thousand and one voices, every one discordant and ear-splitting. But we ought to assert our privileges in Christ Jesus, and say, with David, “I will hear what God the Lord will speak.” And when we are determined to listen, God will make himself heard above every din and discord.
Of Christ it was prophesied, “Mine ears hast thou digged.” Ps. 40: 6, margin. And again, in Isa. 50: 5: “The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.”
If it was necessary for Christ to have this experience, in taking upon Him our humanity, how strongly it emphasizes the importance, on our part, of seeing to it that our ears are opened, or digged. When we have cotton in our ears, or they are clogged with accumulated wax, we can not hear so distinctly as when they are free from these things. But we need to have them cleansed morally as well as physically.
How frequently in the book of Revelation we find the expression, “He that hath an ear, let him hear.” This is because God has in that book something of the highest importance for His people, and the man who hears and keeps the things that are written therein is promised a special blessing.
We must not forget what the Saviour admonishes about hearing—not only to take heed how we hear, but what we hear. Here again we have the Lord’s experience foretold, as found in Isa. 42: 18-20: “Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see. Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? . . . Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not.” While Christ’s ears were ever opened to hear the word of God, and the cry of the needy, and listened for the faintest sound from the poor penitents, they were ever closed to scandal- and gossip-mongers. He could not afford to lend a listening ear to such; for He would thereby have become contaminated with that which was impure and vile. In every respect Christ was the best kind of listener, and we are to study Him.
There is good wisdom in good listening. The wise man says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.” Prov. 12: 15. “My son, if thou wilt . . . incline thine ear unto wisdom, . . . then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” 2: 1-5.
God is wonderful in counsel (Isa. 28: 29), and He gives us good counsel in Rev. 3: 18.
It is ill-bred and ill-mannered not to give respectful hearing to those addressing us; it is worse than that to do so when God speaks. “The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.” Hab. 2: 20.

SPECIAL PRAYER

By H. E. S. Hopkins

H. E. S. HOPKINS (Fulton, Mich.)
MANY of us have near and dear relatives and friends who were once on the Lord’s side, and believed the truths we profess, but now have lost all interest in these things. It may be that some have never taken a stand on the side of right. We are anxious for their salvation, of course we are; we pray for them, with earnest prayer too, but it does not seem to be answered. We have waited months, and years, and yet we pray and hope that the beloved father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, or friend may yield to the strivings of God’s Spirit. The prospect is dark and discouraging sometimes, and we are almost tempted to give them up as hopeless cases.
Did it never occur to you that when we desire special blessings, we must put forth special efforts to secure them? Doubtless we pray at morn, noon, and night every day, and then we remember these cases; but do we ever have special seasons of prayer for our loved ones, calling on others at times to unite with us at a stated hour?
While studying the book of Daniel, an incident therein impressed me forcibly. When Daniel’s life was at stake, he requested his companions to unite with him in seeking God for deliverance. “He could have prayed alone, and doubtless would have been heard; but then, as now, in the union of God’s people there is prevailing power.” “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matt. 18: 20.
I remember a young man who was once a devoted Christian; but, being deprived of a mother’s tender watchcare, and thrown, much of the time, under the influence of those who did not have the least interest in divine things, his love grew cold. The father felt very anxious for his only child, and suggested having special seasons of prayer, that he might be saved. He would stop in the midst of his work, enter the house, and we would together earnestly seek the Lord. After a week or two the father was called away; still earnest prayer was offered up, day by day. Sometimes, if tempted to neglect it, a voice seemed to say, “Attend to this matter; make no delay.” Finally, prayer prevailed, the surrender was made, and the son was prepared for the sad accident which caused him to be laid away until the Life-giver comes.
The blessed Lord does not propose to do alone all the work that is to be done for the salvation of souls. He has placed you and me here to perform our part. And when He repeatedly tells us, through His servants, that we have but little time to work, and that what is done must be done quickly, He is desperately in earnest.
If we are as truly anxious for the salvation of our relatives and friends as we ought to be, why should we not also be desperately in earnest to bring it about? The Master stands ready to manifest His power in answer to prayer. He has said: “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.” Isa. 44: 3.
Cast away doubt and fear, and every shadow of unbelief, and take God at His word. While others are rejoicing over the conversion of those for whom they have been pleading, we, too, may have the privilege of praising God for His wonderful dealings with our loved ones.

BIBLE ADDITION AND THE RESULT

By Mrs. A. L. Cunningham

MRS. A. L. CUNNINGHAM.
FAITH comes first, and we are to add to faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.
What is the result, the answer, the sum? Peter says: “If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And the tenth verse says, “If ye do these things, ye shall never fall.”

THREE ANGELS

By F. S.

They say this life is barren, drear, and cold; Ever the same sad song was sung of old; Ever the same long, weary tale is told; And to our lips is held the cup of strife; And yet — a little love can sweeten life.
They say our hands may grasp but joys destroyed; Youth has but dreams, and age an aching void, Whose Dead Sea fruit, long, long ago has cloyed, Whose night with wild, tempestuous storm is rife; And yet — a little hope can brighten life.
They say we fling ourselves in wild despair Amid the broken treasures scattered there, Where all is wrecked, where all once promised fair, And stab ourselves with sorrow's two-edged knife; And yet — a little patience strengthens life.
Is it, then, true, this tale of bitter grief, Of mortal anguish finding no relief? Lo! midst the winter shines the laurel's leaf; Three angels share the lot of human strife, Three angels glorify the path of life.
Love, Hope, and Patience cheer us on our way; Love, Hope, and Patience form our spirit's stay; Love, Hope, and Patience watch us day by day, And bid the desert bloom with beauty vernal Until the earth fades into the eternal.
—F. S., in Temple Bar.

WHY NEGLECT THE PHYSICAL TRAINING OF THE CHILD?

By Mamie A. Paulson

MAMIE A. PAULSON, M. D.
“TRAIN up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
We have always applied this to the child’s moral and intellectual training, but if we recognize the fact that the moral and intellectual development depends largely upon the physical growth, why should not this training include the physical as well? A mother said to me, the other day: “I am proud of my daughter, she is very bright and talented. She progresses rapidly with her studies, and I am doing all I can to help her finish her education.” Upon inquiry it was found that this mother was almost entirely neglecting her daughter’s physical growth. She is only fifteen years of age, and yet on the verge of nervous prostration,—every bit of nerve energy has been used to gain an education. The mother was beginning to appreciate the fact that something must be done for her daughter’s health. It is difficult to lay a strong foundation after the superstructure is erected; so it is with great difficulty that a healthy woman can be developed from a physically neglected child.
While I was a young girl, I read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and I have never forgotten the reply Topsy made when asked who made her. She said, “Nobody, I growed.” Some children grow all right if they have a fair opportunity and a good constitution to begin with, while many others, not so well favored, add to the vast army of weakly, sickly representatives of humanity.
Teach the child that the body must be developed to its very best, because through the physical it must represent its Maker to the world. Impress upon his young mind the importance of the proper carriage of the body. It is not sufficient to say, “Stand up straight,” or, “Sit up straight,” but show him the crooked tree, which is crooked because it grew crooked; it did not stand up straight while growing. Tell him of the results of a collapsed chest and round shoulders,—that these will soon be followed by tuberculosis or some other debilitating disease.
Teach the child the value of exercise,—what it does for him; how he grows and gains weight while sleeping; and how his mind, muscles, skin, and all his tissues are made of what he eats and digests. Why wait until his habits are formed before teaching him these valuable things upon which to so large an extent his future usefulness depends?
Mothers need not excuse themselves from this duty by saying that the child will not understand it. In fact, a child grasps it much quicker than many an older person, and at once makes practical use of the lessons taught.

A Sympathetic Word

I DROPPED a sympathetic word, Nor stayed to watch it grow, For little tending’s needed when The seed is good we sow; But once I met the man again, And by the gladsome way He took my hand, I knew I sowed The best of seed that day. —Selected.

TOBACCO, ITS DEBILITATING EFFECTS ON ALL THE BODILY TISSUES

By Kate Lindsay

KATE LINDSAY, M. D.
While many earnest temperance workers are willing to sign and circulate a pledge to abstain from strong drink in any form, they do not see that it is almost, if not wholly, as great a damage to the human body to be poisoned and made ill by other forms of narcotics, and consequently the almost universal use of tobacco does not come under the ban of their displeasure. If true emancipation and individual freedom mean release from the enslavement of the alcohol habit, it means, as well, freedom from any other deadly drug which begets, by its use, a craving that can be satisfied only by continual gratification, and which contains a poison as detrimental to all the functions of the body as alcohol.
The use of tobacco is a filthy habit, which defiles the body, both externally and internally. The chemist has extracted from tobacco a strong poison named nicotine. It is one of the most powerful and deadly drugs known, and every boy and young man, in his first efforts to become enslaved, experiences its sickening effects. Like alcohol, the nicotine cripples the action of every organ in the body; it stupefies and benumbs the action of the brain; it interferes with the function of the digestive organs, and impoverishes all the structures by robbing them of needed nutrition. It hinders the action of the eliminative organs, and predisposes to what is known as auto-infection, or self-poisoning, because the wastes of the body are not properly removed.
While the extreme results of acute alcoholic poisoning are usually more intense and more marked in their outward manifestations than those of tobacco, it would be no easy matter to decide which does the greatest actual damage to the human race—tobacco or alcohol. Both hinder the healthy action of every member of the body; both render it filthy, and fill it with all manner of impurities; both damage the intellect and the morals of the race. The boy who begins smoking when young is stunted and degenerate in size and physical strength. His vital organs are weak, and their action often irregular. The medical examiners who inspected the recruits for the American army in the late war with Spain are said to have rejected as high as ninety per cent of the volunteers who were habitual cigarette users, and especially those who began the habit early.
It were surely as reasonable, for rational humanity to sign a pledge promising to abstain from this deadly poison, as it is to promise to forego the use of strong drink. Both these habits are very exacting and selfish in their demands. For strong drink a man will sacrifice all his wealth, his intellect, health, morals, and his hope for life now and hereafter. He will also barter his family's food and raiment. In the place of a husband's kindly care and a father's protection, he will give them only cold neglect and brutal abuse. The tobacco slave will spend his money for the filthy weed, even when his family need food and clothing. It is not only his master, but his deity; for he worships it above all other things either in heaven or on earth. For it he will neglect his duty to his Maker, himself, his family, and his country, and also trespass on the rights of his neighbors. Who, like the tobacco user, can so defile the air, and make unpleasant the surroundings of his fellow traveler by land or sea? He fills the atmosphere with the fumes, and covers the vessel's decks, and car and carriage floors, with filthy expectoration.
The Scriptures tell plainly that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. In 1 Cor. 3:17 is the solemn warning, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy.” Who, with all these facts before him, does not feel that there is need for Pledge No. 2? It forbids the use of the poisonous drug, tobacco, as well as alcohol, in the following words:—
I do hereby solemnly affirm that, with the help of God, I will wholly abstain from the voluntary use of alcohol in any form, as a beverage, or in any equivalent manner, and from smoking, chewing, or snuffing tobacco, or using it in any other form, and from in any way encouraging the use of these poisons.

SABBATH-KEEPING FOR THE LITTLE ONES

I WISH to ask the middle-aged fathers and mothers among the REVIEW readers to give, for my benefit, a chapter from their experience. What I want is the actual working out of tried plans, not theory.
How shall the little ones keep the Sabbath? What shall we do to teach them its sanctity, without making it irksome to them?
I have two children,—one five, the other two and a half, years old; and I must confess that I am at my wits’ end to curb their jubilant spirits at all times on the Sabbath. I have Sabbath books, toys, and pictures for them, and these are brought out at the beginning, and put away at the close, of the Sabbath.
As the Sabbath draws on, the children are tidied up, and dressed in their favorite dresses. The Sabbath is always ushered in with songs and prayer, which are continued until bedtime. I easily entertain them with Bible stories, songs, and heart talks. I usually read or sing them to sleep. Have read four chapters from one of the Gospels before they slept. What can bring purer thoughts, sweeter repose, or so easily drive away the influence of the evil angels, as for the little minds to gradually pass from consciousness, listening to God’s own words?
Sabbath morning, with breakfast and worship over, the trial proper begins. Their father, a busy physician, must have a little time for quietness and study, so to me falls the lot of helping the children keep the Sabbath holy.
By and by stories, books, and toys all lose their charm, and the little ones wish to play. They make their daily visits to me (with the couch as a buggy and chairs as horses), but to-day, instead, they attend Sabbath-school and meeting or visit the sick. I am an aged sick woman, for them to visit and help. Then one of them is sick, and I do Christian Help work with him. But this can not last always, and next a bona fide romp is in order, unless I can direct the overflow of energy.
Now noisy play and the Sabbath are incongruous ideas to me, and the query in my mind is, What shall I do to work off their natural, frolicsome spirits? Of course in summer we walk to the fields, gathering flowers, watching the birds, bugs, and animals. Last summer a colony of ants interested us for several Sabbaths. But now we are confined almost entirely indoors. What can we do? What has been successfully done to provide the necessary exercise for small children, that will, at the same time, preserve the Sabbath peace and quiet?
Every day’s actions, simple as they may seem, are forming the characters of our children. Hence, how carefully and wisely we should move in the matter of training them for God. Will some who have brought children up in the truth, and in the love of it, please teach us younger ones the way?

REQUESTS FOR PRAYER

A SISTER who has just begun to keep the Sabbath requests prayer in behalf of her husband, that he also may see the truth.
I desire your prayers for my family. My husband is not a believer; my daughter is very worldly; and my son, fourteen years old, believes as I do, but is influenced by his associates, and I fear he will be drawn away into the world. Pray for them, and for me, that I may be faithful before them, and that they may be saved.
A brother who is wrestling under the conviction of some great sin makes the following request for prayer:—
Pray for me, that I may be forgiven, and may know what to do. I wish that God would make me whole and pure, so that I could do His work, but I fear I am lost. Please pray soon, or I am surely lost.
This brother has a violent temper. We hope that earnest prayer will be offered for him, that he may have strength to confess whatever stands between him and the peace which Christ has given for him, and that everything may be quickly made right.
Many of the sisters will remember that a few weeks ago a request for prayer in behalf of a sister in the insane asylum, whose case was regarded hopeless, appeared in this department. We are glad to pass on the following good word which has just been received from her husband:—
I am happy to report that your prayers have been effective, and that my wife's reason is being restored. Praise the Lord! In order to show you how marvelously the Lord has worked, I inclose two letters from the physician, and the letter which my wife herself wrote me. I am deeply grateful for your kind interest in my affliction, and assure you that it has been the source of much comfort and strength to me.
While we rejoice to get this word, we should not cease praying in behalf of this sister, but let our prayers increase in earnestness until she is fully delivered.

“THE FIELD IS THE WORLD”

By Genevieve Hale Whitlock

Not with the brawl of battle, Not with the roll of drum, Not with the shout of conquest, Should a Christian nation come.
Not by the conq'ring hero, Not by the armed men brave, Not by the stir of conflict, Can a Christian nation save.
Only the Christful gospel, The strong, sweet song of peace, Only the Herald from heav'n, Shall bring their souls release.
Go to this heathen nation, And plead with them in prayer; Teach them all things commanded— I shall be with you there.
So spake the Christ long years ago, So speaks His church to-day; Go to the Filipinos, But go to preach and pray.
Then who will bear the message, And who will sing the song? Who from the far, strong people, Will haste the word along?
—Genevieve Hale Whitlock, in N. Y. Observer.

READING CIRCLE STUDY

By S. N. H.

A Review of Seven Chapters of Revelation

S. N. H.
In the first chapter we are given the manner in which God communicates to mankind through the gift of prophecy. It originates with God, is given to His Son, who sends it by Gabriel unto His prophets, and they communicate it to the people. So to reject any prophecy would be to reject God, Jesus Christ, and the angel Gabriel, as well as the instrument through which it came.
God, angels, and the Holy Spirit send a heavenly benediction to those who read, or hear read, this book. Christ is revealed as He comes in glory, also His work in heaven in behalf of His people.
“The Lord himself revealed, to His servant John, the mysteries of the book of Revelation, and He designs they shall be open to the study of all. In this book are depicted scenes that are now in the past, and some of eternal interest that are taking place around us; others of its prophecies will not receive their complete fulfillment until the close of time, when the great conflict between the powers of darkness and the Prince of heaven will take place.”
The apostle describes the majesty of Christ in Rev. 1:12-18. Most glorious and precious words! Oh, why are we so ready to yield to temptations? Why are we so irresolute in purpose? Why are we so weak to practice the word of God? Why so feeble in action? Why is the glory of Jesus so dimly seen? Why is His preciousness so little realized, His love so imperfectly experienced? This should be our prayer, “Lord, show me thy glory.” If we by faith see Christ’s glory on earth, we shall love Him and see His fullness in heaven.
The second and third chapters are an abbreviated history of the church, which is shown in two ways: first, by the names chosen; and second, by the language used. The church did run well for the first century, but lost its zeal, its first love. It soon passed into a state of submission to the persecuting power, without compromising principle, and no reproof was given it, but precious promises were held out to it. The third period was a state of compromise; and the fourth a state of persecution as a result of the worldly union of Church and State. The third chapter covers the signs in the heavens and in the earth. This chapter closes with the great Redeemer representing himself as a heavenly merchantman laden with riches, calling from house to house, presenting His priceless goods, and saying: “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” The gold that Jesus would have us buy of Him is gold tried in the fire; it is the gold of faith and love, which has no defiling substance with it. That white raiment is the righteousness of Christ, the wedding garment which Christ alone can give. The eyesalve is true spiritual discernment; for spiritual things must be “spiritually discerned.”
In our daily life we should be careful of the record that is passing up to heaven; for God is no respecter of persons, but will render to every one according to his works. The thoughts of those who are finally saved will be upon heaven and heavenly things. Those whose minds are full of the things of this world will never enter the pearly gates. Such are superficial and carnal, loving things that are sensual and devilish.
The fourth and fifth chapters present some of the most wonderful thoughts the human mind can grasp. Our attention is directly called to the great center of the universe, where God is seated upon His angelic throne. In the midst of the angels of heaven, are seen some who have been victors on the earth. But the most wonderful of all is that amid this redeemed company who are in the midst of the angels that constitute His throne, stands “a Lamb as it had been slain”—a monument of God’s everlasting love! Christ not only took our nature and is now in heaven, but a company out of “every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” are there. And every one of them has a vial of incense, which is offered with the prayers of the saints. What more could have been done than He has done for our encouragement and salvation?
Then there is the rainbow of promise, a token of God’s everlasting covenant, around His throne. The light of the sun is the glory of God. His glory is His character. Ex. 33:18, 19. His character is mercy and love. Ex. 34:6, 7. The work of the sun illustrates His character. Matt. 5:43-48. It brings forth the precious fruits of the earth. Deut. 33:14. “As a flower turns to the sun, that the bright rays may touch it with beauty, so will the soul turn to the Sun of Righteousness that heaven’s light may beautify the character with the graces of the character of Christ.”—Desire of Ages. “Christ is sitting for His portrait in every disciple.”
The sixth chapter of Revelation is another history of the church. God gives the history of His people and of the world in various ways, that different features may be brought out. Human language is not able to make the different features stand out in only one line so as to be appreciated. This chapter contains the relation of the church to the civil governments. The signs in the heaven are also made prominent. The Saviour’s instruction about the signs in the heavens is mentioned by each of the evangelists. In the seven churches and in the seven seals we are brought to the end of probationary time.
The seventh chapter is one of special interest, as it takes up a history of the work of God’s people from 1844, and more particularly from 1848. It is a work that will close when God’s servants are sealed. It began in 1848, when the time of trouble would have begun had not the angels held the winds until God’s people were sealed. It carries them through to the end, and reveals them surrounding God’s throne in glory. It also brings in another company, the innumerable number, composed of all the redeemed in glory.
“The one hundred and forty-four thousand were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious star containing Jesus’ new name.” “As we were about to enter the holy temple, Jesus raised His lovely voice and said, Only the one hundred and forty-four thousand enter this place; and we shouted, Alleluia. This temple was supported by seven pillars, all of transparent gold, set with pearls most glorious. The wonderful things I there saw, I can not describe. Oh that I could talk in the language of Canaan! then could I tell a little of the glory of the better world. I saw there tables of stone in which the names of the one hundred and forty-four thousand were engraved in letters of gold.”—Experience and Views, “Early Writings,” pages 11, 14.
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