16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, 17 but have eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him. He that believeth on him is not judged; he that believeth not hath been judged already, 18 because he hath not believed on the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness 19 rather than the light; for their works were evil. For every one 20 that doeth ill hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God.
22 “After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. 23 And John also was baptizing in Ænon near to Salim, because there was much water there; and they 24 came, and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into 25 prison. There arose therefore a questioning on the part of 26 John’s disciples with a Jew about purifying. And they came unto John, and said to him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou hast borne witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. 27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it 28 have been given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but, that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice; this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 “He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh; he that 32 cometh from heaven is above all. What he hath seen and heard, of that he beareth witness; and no man receiveth 33 his witness. He that hath received his witness hath set his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for he giveth not the Spirit by measure. 35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36 He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
QUESTIONS.
1. How did God’s love for the world show itself? What was the purpose of this gift?
2. Did Christ come to judge? What was his work?
3. Who is not judged? Who is already judged? Why?
4. What is the basis of this judgment?
5. Who hates the light? Why does he not come to the light?
6. Who comes to the light? For what purpose?
7. Where did Jesus and his disciples now go? What was done there?
8. Where was John the Baptist? Why did he choose this place?
9. What event had not yet taken place?
10. What inquiry arose? Between whom?
11. What report was brought to John concerning Christ’s ministry?
12. To what source did John attribute every man’s ability and mission?
13. What statement of his did he call to their minds?
14. Under what figure did he speak of his relation to Christ and his work?
15. What was to be the relative importance of their positions?
16. Who is over all? Of what does he that is of the earth speak?
17. Of what does He that is from heaven speak?
18. What does he do who has received His testimony?
19. What does the One from heaven speak? What makes this possible?
20. What hath the Father done for the Son?
21. What is the believer on the Son in possession? What awaits the unbeliever?
NOTES.
1. THE first verse of this lesson contains the whole Gospel,—the love of God, the unspeakable gift (2 Cor. 9:15), as the summary of God’s work for the world; faith as the means of apprehending God’s gift, and eternal life as the result, on man’s part. He loved “the world,” he loved “the church” (Eph. 5:25), he loved “me” (Gal. 2:20). “In order to save the sinner, the Creator sacrificed himself. The Father suffered in his Son. The measure of God’s love is Christ. The Saviour’s sacrifice was not to create in God a love that had not before existed; it was but the expression of a love which had not been appreciated or understood.” “O, what a God have we! What a Benefactor! What claims has he upon our love! Having collected all the riches of the universe, and laid open all the resources of infinite power, he gave all the heavenly treasure into the hands of Christ, and said: ‘All these are for man. Use them to convince him that there is no love greater than mine in earth or heaven. His greatest happiness consists in loving me and giving his heart to me, who hath loved him with an infinite love.’” This verse completes the threefold purpose of God in giving his Son to the world,—that he might be its Life (chapter 1:4), its Light (chapter 1:9), and its Love.
2. CHRIST’S works were all wrought “in God” (chapter 14:10, 11), that they might be wrought “in us” (Isa. 26:12) by his power (Eph. 3:20), both in willing and in doing (Phil. 2:12, 13).
3. THE present possession of eternal life through faith is the lesson of verse 36. This life is in the Son (1 John 5:11, 12), and when we receive Christ by believing on him (chapter 1:12), it takes possession of us through the Spirit (Rom. 8:2), to be the power (Acts 1:8) that worketh in us mightily (Col. 1:29). This is not to say that we are immortal, or that we are made immortal before the coming of Christ. That which we obtain by faith we must hold by faith. Christ, who is the Eternal Life (1 John 5:20, last clause), dwells in our hearts by faith (Eph. 3:17). “God is the fountain of life, and we can have life only as we are in communion with him. Separated from God, existence may be ours for a little time, but we do not possess life. . . . Only through the surrender of our will to God is it possible for him to impart his life to us. . . . It will require a sacrifice to give yourself to God; but it is a sacrifice of the lower for the higher, the earthly for the spiritual, the perishable for the eternal.”
Suggestions for Further Study.
1. Observe the many new ideas and words brought out in this lesson: Love, everlasting life, condemnation (judgment, R. V.), purifying, bride, bridegroom, friend of the bridegroom, joy, seal, wrath of God. Study them.
2. How much is included in the experience of believing on Christ?
3. The word “sent” occurs over forty times in this Gospel as applied to Christ and his work. Why is this idea emphasized so much?
4. In what way is the perpetuity of God’s law taught in the sixteenth verse?
5. Observe that darkness and evil go together, and light and truth.
6. How much is included in the “above all” of verse 31?
8. The believer hath life, the unbeliever (he that obeyeth not, R. V.) shall not see life. What force in the change of the tense?
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
On the 14th ult., at Bladensburg, Iowa, nine persons were baptized by Elder W. B. Everhart.
A GENERAL meeting is announced for September 30 to October 12, at Entre Rios, Argentina, South America.
ELDER C. N. MARTIN reports that there are enough persons at Stevensville, Wash., who have accepted the doctrines we hold, to organize a “good, strong church.”
A RECENT report of Scandinavian work in Brooklyn, N. Y., includes two baptismal occasions, on one of which seven persons were baptized, and on the other five.
BROTHER N. H. DRUILLARD and wife were recently in New York City purchasing furniture, etc., for outfitting the new sanitarium being built at Cape Town, Africa.
BROTHER A. J. STIFFLER reports the organization of a Sabbath school of twenty members near Macksburg, Iowa. He adds that “nearly all of them accepted the truth by reading.”
THE NEW YORK World of the 6th inst. gives a good illustration and description of the two tents now located in that city, in which Elders O. O. Farnsworth and E. E. Franke are conducting services.
ELDER D. C. BABCOCK, president of the West Virginia conference, which includes the three most westerly counties of Maryland, says, “Our companies at Bloomington and Swanton, Md., are threatened very severely with the Sunday law.”
ONE of our laborers in Newport, England, says that some of the people who purchase Present Truth have been taking the papers to a Baptist minister, and when they asked him what day was the Sabbath, he said, “Saturday.” There is also a strong desire there for meetings.
CAMP-MEETINGS for the remainder of July and the month of August are announced as follows:—
Texas, Keene — July 23 to Aug. 3
Oklahoma, Guthrie — “ 30 “ “ 10
Arkansas, Morrillton — Aug. 5-17
Ohio, Findley — “ 6-17
Virginia, Charlottesville — “ 7-17
Colorado, Denver — “ 19-31
Indiana, Marion — “ 20-31
Vermont, Rutland — “ 20-31
Kansas, Council Grove — Aug. 26 to Sept. 7
Illinois (northern) — “ 27 “ “ 6
Massachusetts, Leominster — “ 27 “ “ 7
Maine, Augusta — “ 27 “ “ 7
Nebraska, Fremont — “ 30 “ “ 7
Periodicals Wanted.
Clean copies of the Signs of the Times, Review and Herald, Youth’s Instructor, Little Friend, our health journals, and tracts can be used to good advantage by Arthur C. Everett, Eatonville, Orange Co., Fla. Those sent should be postpaid.
THE CHILDREN'S BOOK.
USEFUL as well as ornamental. Volume 6 of Our Little Friend is full of good stories, just such as children like. They can spend many an hour reading, with no danger of their minds being poisoned with such matter as many do read in other books and papers.
The bound volumes of Our Little Friend are just the books to place in the hands of our children. If we get books for our children, let us get good books for them. There are none better than the bound volumes of Our Little Friend, of which volume 6 is the latest. 416 pp., cloth; profusely illustrated.
It will be sent to any address for $1.00 postpaid.
Address,
OUR LITTLE FRIEND,
Box 548, Oakland, Cal.
International Sunday School Lesson
“Take heed unto thyself; and unto the doctrine;” “that thy profiting may appear to all.”
8. And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the entering in of the gate; and the Syrians of Zobah, and of Rehob, and Ish-tob, and Maacah, were by themselves in the field.
9. When Joab saw that the front of the battle was against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians;
10. And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abishai his brother, that he might put them in array against the children of Ammon.
11. And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee.
12. Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God; and the Lord do that which seemeth him good.
13. And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians; and they fled before him.
14. And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
15. And when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel, they gathered themselves together.
16. And Hadarezer sent, and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river; and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.
17. And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought with him.
18. And the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew the men of seven hundred chariots of the Syrians, and forty thousand horsemen, and smote Shobach the captain of their host, who died there.
19. And when all the kings that were servants to Hadarezer saw that they were smitten before Israel, they made peace with Israel, and served them. So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon any more.
Golden Text: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” Ps. 27:1.
Note.—Chapters 8 and 10 may be read in connection with the lesson. It is not wise in the teaching of children, especially, to dwell at any length upon the slaughtering of armies; for with man’s liability to err, not understanding all the reasons why this or that was permitted, and the possibility of his speaking indiscreetly, not seeing the end from the beginning, it is safer to dwell upon the results attained than upon the actions by which those results are brought about, trusting in the wisdom and justice of Him who seeth all things. Psalms 18 and 60 throw light on the motives and experiences of David during the times here referred to. Study also Eph. 6: 10–18, making the application to the battles of life.
Suggestive Questions.
(1) At about what date in the history of the world did the events of this lesson occur? (2) What caused this war with the Ammonites? Note 1. (3) How were the troops arranged who were marshaled against the Israelites? Verse 8. Note 2. (4) In what perilous position did this place the army of Israel? (5) What preparation did Joab make to meet the emergency? Verses 9, 10. Note 3. (6) What provision did Joab make to prevent the defeat of the army? Verse 11. (7) What did Joab state as the object of their fighting? First part of verse 12. Note 4. (8) How did Joab show his faith and trust in God? Last clause of verse 12. (9) What was the result of Joab’s charge upon the Syrians? Verse 13. (10) What effect did this have upon the Ammonites? Verse 14. Note 5. (11) What did the Syrians do after their repulse at the hands of Israel? Verse 15. (12) What action did Hadarezer take? Verse 16. Note 6. (13) What did David do when he learned of this action? Verse 17. (14) State the good results which followed Israel’s victory over Hadarezer and his allies. Verse 19. Note 7.
Notes.
1. This war between Ammon and Israel was occasioned by jealousy on the part of Hanun, the newly crowned king of the Ammonites. He had just ascended the throne, and it would seem that the first taste of kingly power had filled him with vanity and conceit, so that he took advantage of the first opportunity of showing his disregard for the power of neighboring kings, and heaped a most stinging insult upon the envoys of King David. It seems that David did not consider even this a sufficient cause for war, and made preparations for it only when the preservation of his nation demanded it. See first seven verses of chapter 10.
2. At the entering in of the gate.—The arrangement of the forces shows well the character of the Ammonites. They had shown themselves treacherous in the treatment of David’s envoys; now they show their cowardice in taking up a position at the entering in of their gate (which would enable them to find ready refuge within the walls), while their allies were placed in the open field to bear the brunt of the battle.
3. Against him before and behind.—The Israelites were to have been attacked in front and rear, but the provision made by Joab was a wise one, and one that was used with telling effect in the American civil war. Had Joab attacked the Ammonites with his whole army, the Syrians would have fallen upon his rear and probably driven his army in confusion from the field. The same tactics would have been adopted by the Ammonites if Joab had led his entire force against the Syrians. Joab foresaw this and chose the only safe course.
4. Play the men for our people and for the cities of our God.—If there are objects which render war justifiable, these are such objects. This was not a war of conquest, but a war of defense, even tho it was carried into the enemy’s country. The success of the Ammonites and Syrians meant the subjection of Israel to the rule of idolatrous kings, as well as the wanton slaughter of thousands of the people.
5. Then fled they also.—This is a good illustration of how quickly the wicked and unscrupulous will forsake their cause when they are deserted by those who have been fighting for them.
6. Hadarezer.—Hadarezer was king of Zoba, and had sent 20,000 of his warriors to help the Ammonites. His dominion was northeast of Damascus, between the Orontes and the Euphrates.
7. They made peace with Israel.—The defensive warfare of the Israelites, in the various engagements here recorded, had the result of conquests; for the nations conquered yielded themselves to the rule of the Israelites when the latter were simply fighting for their people and the cities of their God. At the close of this war David was ruling “from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates,” according to the promise made to Abraham, recorded in Gen. 15:18.
NEWS AND NOTES
FOREIGN.
—Henry M. Stanley is seriously ill.
—The room in which Napoleon I. died is now a stable.
—Another Spanish victory is reported from Cuba, with a loss of 200 on the part of the insurgents.
—Monsignor Diomede Talconis is to succeed Cardinal Satolli as papal delegate to the United States.
—The Italians have decided to discontinue aggressive operations against Menelik of Abyssinia.
—Smallpox, yellow fever, and cholera form the triple scourge of “bleeding Cuba” at the present time.
—Another terrible massacre is reported from the Diarbekir district in Armenia, in which 4,500 persons were killed.
—In view of the strained relations between Greece and Turkey, Grecian troops are being sent to the Turkish frontier.
—The pope has granted permission to Roman Catholics to reside at the English universities, under certain conditions.
—There are said to be 11 Japanese evangelists laboring among 10,000 of their countrymen in the Hawaiian Islands.
—The Japanese Government is now figuring on establishing a line of steamers between Yokohama and Santa Cruz, Mexico.
—Cuban advices report the death of Jose Maceo, who was court-martialed and shot for insubordination, by order of Calixto Garcia.
—Japan will soon enter upon the construction of a ship canal across one of her peninsulas, the estimated cost of which will be $3,000,000.
—In the wave-stricken districts of Japan thousands are said to be starving, in spite of the emperor’s best efforts to send them relief. It is greatly feared that an epidemic of cholera will break out in the flooded districts.
—A statue of Queen Victoria has just been unveiled at the Royal Exchange, London, representing her as she appeared in 1846, when she ascended the British throne.
—Extensive forest fires are raging in British Columbia along the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, destroying much valuable timber, and threatening railway trestles.
—Captain General Weyler has issued a decree compelling all foreigners in Cuba to inscribe their nationality in a register provided by the Spanish Government for that purpose.
—At the coronation ceremonies of the czar of all the Russias, Li Hung Chang refused to bare his head, as he only performs this ceremony in the presence of his emperor and his joss.
—Two Jews of Bagdad have purchased all of Babylon, thus securing possession of the land on whose willows their captive ancestors hung the harps they could not strike in servitude.
—By monopolizing the tobacco business, the Government of Spain expects to raise $100,000,000 for war expenses. She also expects to raise a large sum of money by subsidizing her quicksilver mines.
—Another Egyptian pyramid, the Abou-Roach, has been entered by the director general of Egyptian antiquities, and a passageway was discovered giving access to thirty-three rooms, but no inscriptions have yet been found.
—It is estimated that 800,000 persons now hold the Babi doctrines, some of which have been borrowed from Christianity. They claim to hold themselves in readiness to abandon any opinion when proved contrary to the Bible.
—The London Missionary Society estimates that it costs $165 to convert each heathen. The society has been in existence 100 years, has raised $33,000,000 for foreign mission work, and as a result of its labors, 200,000 have been converted from heathenism to Christianity.
—Reports are still rife of trouble between Chinese and foreigners in the interior of China. A serious rebellion is said to have broken out on the borders of the Kiang-Su and Shan-Tung provinces, causing much suffering to missionaries of all nationalities who are laboring in that vicinity.
—As a result of the rule requiring students in Copenhagen to bathe three times a week in the school building, many of the parents are raising a vigorous complaint, on the ground that the practice makes the children dissatisfied with their dirty clothes and the filth of their dwellings.
—The Winter Palace at St. Petersburg is the largest residence building in the world. It has 700 rooms, in some of which it is said the White House at Washington could be erected, with plenty of space for porticos. The storerooms of this palace are filled with the china of the czars as far back as Catherine the Great.
—Spain has concluded the purchase of two more cruisers for use in subduing the Cuban rebellion. She has already lost 60,000 soldiers and expended $200,000,000 in the prosecution of the war. This great drain of money and able-bodied men from the mother country is adding hundreds daily to her army of paupers.
—A memorial has been presented recently to the emperor of China, asking that the same liberty be granted Christians in carrying on their work in the Chinese Empire as is now enjoyed by Buddhists and Mohammedans. The petition is now under consideration, and it is expected that favorable action will be taken in regard to it.
—It is reported that the Spanish soldiers under General Inclan sustained a crushing defeat at the hands of Antonio Maceo on July 15. By a feigned retreat on the part of the insurgents, the Spanish were drawn into an ambush and lost over three hundred men. Antonio Maceo was wounded in the heel, and General Inclan was taken prisoner.
—Emperor William’s special envoy to Crete reports that civilized people can scarcely imagine the outrages which the Turks have perpetrated on the Christian women and children of Crete. He declares that the powers must intervene, and that the only course is to turn the Turks out of Europe. The Christian insurgents intend fighting, and are receiving a plentiful supply of arms and ammunition.
—Recent discoveries in Egypt have proved what critics and skeptics have long claimed could not be proved, that the children of Israel were mentioned in the official records of the Egyptian dynasties. The name of Israel appears prominently in the records of Amenhotep III., where are rehearsed his exploits in the subduing of other nations. A large black granite slab which had been stolen from Amenhotep’s temple, was built into the wall of a temple erected by Meremptah, and upon its back had been inscribed the records of the doings of Meremptah. Thus Amenhotep’s records could not be read until the temple of Meremptah crumbled in ruins; but when the opportune time comes, God’s voice speaks from the crumbling ruins of idolatrous Egypt to silence the boisterous skeptical acclamations of the despisers of his word. Thus will it ever be.
(Continued on page 15.)14
NEWS AND NOTES.
(Continued from page 13.)
DOMESTIC.
—Fire at Galveston, Texas, on July 12, destroyed property to the amount of $150,000.
—Carlos Ezeta, ex-president of the republic of Salvador, is now visiting San Francisco.
—A compound of carbon and boron has been discovered which will readily cut diamond.
—A company has been incorporated in New York for the purpose of manufacturing non-illuminating fuel gas.
—Fourteen men were drowned near Cleveland, Ohio, on July 16, by the sinking of an overcrowded ferry-boat.
—James W. McDonough, of Chicago, claims to have successfully solved the problem of photographing in colors.
—Wong Chin Foo, a St. Louis Chinaman, has started a movement for the enfranchisement of his fellow-countrymen.
—A rowboat was swept over a dam on the Kaw River, in Kansas, on July 12, and four of the occupants were drowned.
—A fire in Denver, Colorado, on July 12, destroyed the buildings of the Consolidated Electric Light Company, valued at $130,000.
—There was a disastrous cloudburst on Pipestone Creek, Montana, July 13, which was attended with great destruction of property.
—The Baptist Young People’s Union of America held its annual meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from July 16 to 20 inclusive.
—A half-million-dollar fire occurred in St. Louis on the morning of July 13, destroying the buildings of the Merchants’ Terminal elevator.
—The entire town of Wenatchee, Washington, is to be moved two miles from its present location, by the ordinary means of house moving.
—A new insect has been discovered in Pennsylvania, the end of whose existence seems to be the extermination of the Colorado potato bug.
—A wreck on the Wisconsin Central Railroad, on the evening of July 12, resulted in the death of five persons, and serious injury to three others.
—William E. Russell, ex-governor of Massachusetts, was found dead in his bed on the morning of July 16, at a little fishing station in Quebec.
—Justice Field, of the United States Supreme Court, has been compelled to give up his work and seek rest on account of mental and physical infirmities.
—An almost unparalleled hot wave has swept over southern California, particularly over the Mohave Desert, where fourteen have fallen victims to sunstroke.
—An agreement has been signed by which the troops of both Mexico and the United States will hereafter be at liberty to cross the border line in pursuit of criminals.
—The United States Government has authorized the expenditure of $5,000,000 during the present year, beginning July 1, for constructing coast defenses along the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts.
—Troops were ordered out to subdue a riot at the Brown Company’s works in Cleveland, Ohio, on July 17, and a number of the rioters received serious or fatal wounds from the bayonets of the militia.
—Two Chinese members of the Salvation Army of San Francisco will visit London, to take part in the great Salvation Army meeting at that place, and show the English what salvation can do for the Chinaman.
—A new potato bug has been discovered in several of the eastern states, which bids fair to be a much more dangerous enemy to the farmer than the Colorado beetle ever has been, being a much more lively bug and harder to exterminate.
—A heavy storm, amounting practically to a cloudburst, visited the cities of Allegheny and Pittsburg, Pa., on the night of July 15, bursting sewers, flooding houses, tearing up railroad tracks, and washing away a part of the cemetery. The total loss is estimated at $500,000.
—The Pacific mail steamship Columbia, on her way from Panama to San Francisco, was wrecked on Pigeon Point, thirty-five miles south of the Golden Gate, on July 14. No lives were lost, and most of the cargo will be saved, but the vessel herself, valued at $680,000, will be a complete loss.
—The officers of the New York Central are experimenting with a new motive power, namely, hot water under pressure. Experiments have thus far been satisfactory, and it is believed that hot water will largely take the place of steam and electricity in the future, on account of its cheapness.
—Prof. Francis A. March, LL.D., one of the principal editors of the “Standard Dictionary,” has lately received the honorary title of D.C.L. from the University at Oxford, and Lit. D. from the University of Cambridge. Only six persons have been honored with these degrees by these universities.
