Earlier text: Turkey in ProphecyThe True Significance
By F. M. W.
No question of recent years has elicited such wide-spread interest and general discussion in religious circles of the United States as the appointment of the three American cardinals by the Pope of Rome. It was to be expected that the elevation of the three archbishops to the cardinalate would interest American Catholics. To them it betokens the gracious favor of the head of their church. They see in it the presage of growing efficiency in church work and increased glory to the Catholic cause. It is proper that they should rejoice, and if they desire, suitably celebrate the event. But there is cause for serious thought to see so wide-spread friendly interest displayed by professed Protestants. Many apparently regard the progress of Roman Catholicism as the triumph of the cross of Christ, and sing as loudly the plaudits of Rome as the most ardent communicant of that church. Rome to-day stands committed to the same principles which have shaped her course and guided her policies through the centuries of the past. She stands to-day the same system of error as when Luther nailed his ninety-five theses of protest against her abuses to the door of the Wittenberg chapel. The days of the Reformation brought an awakening. Godly men were raised up to cry against the abuses of the papal system. The shackles of ignorance and the chains of error and superstition were broken, and with unfettered intellect men and women began to think for themselves. The papal system was seen in its true character. The light from heaven was welcomed, and thousands of earnest devotees left the bondage of Romanism, rejoicing in the soul liberty brought to them by the blessed gospel. The nations of men shared in this liberty. The state became largely free from the domination of the church, and in turn freed the people from many galling chains. It is to be regretted that these dissenters did not remain true to the principles which they embraced. Had they done so, continuing to cherish the pure principles of the gospel, they would have become a mighty host in the evangelization of the world. Romanism would have received an effectual and permanent check. It would have taken its place among the other false religions of the world and been the object of gospel evangelization the same as other false systems of worship. But the same elements of spiritual degeneracy which corrupted the faith and simplicity of the early church began to manifest themselves anew after the days of Luther and Melanchthon. The great Protestant church has departed from its early simplicity. Worldly influences have pervaded its midst. Increasing numbers have given it popularity. Wealth has brought it social power. Loss of spirituality has made it the companion of the worldly and the indifferent. In great measure it has ceased to protest against the principles for which it so earnestly fought in the early days of its history. It has declared a truce with its erstwhile enemy. The Protestant church to-day is growing decadent. This is the taunt of Rome, who sees in the breaking down of old-time barriers, and the surrender of former principles, her own hour and opportunity. And we are forced by the rapid trend of events in the religious world to acknowledge the justice of the contention. Protestantism is listening with rapt attention to the honeyed professions of the Roman Church. It is viewing with admiration its gorgeous ceremonialism, its impressive parades, its mighty assemblages. It is clasping the proffered hand held out to it, and gives to Rome genuine hope for the accomplishment of all her plans for the future. Rome to-day poses before the world as the conservator of religious truth.10While the Protestant church is honey-combed with free thought, with liberal criticism, and with a subtle modern infidelity,—an infidelity which, while it professes faith in the Scriptures of truth, discounts their cardinal doctrines,—the Roman Church claims to be the conservator of Christian faith, the great protector of the Scriptures of truth, albeit these she will not permit her devotees to read for themselves. These claims of Rome in the minds of the multitude are taking phrases, and invite a confidence on the part of many who look into their own churches and witness the wreckage of the faiths which once were held dear. The significance of this ascendancy of Rome and the decadence of the great Protestant church can be understood only in the light of the Scriptures of truth. In the book of Revelation the rehabilitation of the papal power in the last days is clearly outlined. The prophet declares that again the Roman power should rule in the affairs of men; again it should sit in the great professed church of God asserting its former lordship, rejoicing in the passing of its widowhood, and its ascendancy to queenly power. See chapters 13, 17, 18. The Scriptures further indicate that this rehabilitation of the Papacy will be brought about through the influence of apostate Protestantism; the United States, under the symbol of the two-horned beast, which since its national existence has stood as the chief exponent among all its fellows of civil and religious liberty, would repudiate its early profession, and become the leader in turning the nations back to the worship of the papal power. That Rome is looking to the United States as her hope for the future, she herself frankly admits. One of the most recent utterances of this character is contained in the January (1912) number of the Missionary, the official organ of the Catholic Missionary Union, as quoted in the Washington Times of Dec. 20, 1911:— And what church in all the world has made such progress as the one within the borders of the United States? The Holy Father in his outlook from the watch tower of the Vatican sees about him the lowering clouds of direful disaster, but away in the West there is the gleam of hope. The westering skies are clear and sunlit. The church in America during these fifty years has leaped from modest beginnings to complete organization. Among the older Catholic nations apostasy is rampant, but in this Western World the young giant is sound of limb and wholesome of heart, and he delighteth to run his course.
That there is growing in the United States a strong sentiment favorable to the Roman Church is plainly evident in every quarter. Her influence is being felt more and more in municipal, State, and national affairs. The leading men of the nation exert themselves to do her honor. Her prelates, if not recognized as ministers of state, are received in audience with a show of respect and deference which bespeaks hearty welcome to their counsels and suggestions. Some there are in the great Protestant churches who can see the trend of these things, and seeing them, tremble for the future. The United Presbyterian in its issue of Dec. 14, 1911, raises the pertinent query, “Have We a Papal Court at Washington?” Under this title it says:— The creation of three new cardinals for America appears to be given the place of a political event of national importance. It belongs to the Roman Catholic powers to give out as many red hats as they may think proper; that is a matter of internal administration of the church. But in some way it seems that a public recognition of Catholic events is given by our politicians and the press not given to the doings of other churches and which should not be given. On Thanksgiving day President Taft, members of the Cabinet, justices of the Supreme Court, and members of the diplomatic corps, attended a Thanksgiving mass in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church. The twenty nations of Latin America were represented, and the building was decorated with their flags entwined with our own. “The ceremony was a blend of the religious and patriotic.” It was a blend that does not belong to the spirit of American institutions. Our political leaders bend to the approaches of the leaders of the Catholic Church until we are in danger of becoming a vassal of the Pope. Our President should give more attention to the proprieties of his office, and less to political favors.
In an article entitled “That Roman Catholic ‘Official’ Thanksgiving Service,” the Lutheran of Dec. 7, 1911, declares that in her efforts to court official favor, Rome is seeking to become the official church of the Republic:— From Washington emanated a despatch on Thanksgiving eve that the President would attend, with two Cabinet members, the Chief Justice, and another member of the Supreme Court, and representatives of all the Latin-American countries, what the despatch calls “the official celebration of Thanksgiving.” If we remember rightly, the same thing occurred a year ago, and since two points determine the direction of a straight line, the recurrence of such an event and of the interpretation of the event indicates an endeavor on the part of the Holy Roman Church to accustom the American rulers to pay a little official respect, if not to an obeisance, to Rome, and the American public to think it the proper thing to do. Undoubtedly the public officials attended this “official” service for the same reason that they went in such numbers to the first of the many celebrations shrewdly planned to exploit the Roman Church by making His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons the accidental subject of so many columns of newspaper notices during the past two months. When one remembers that Rome maintains at Washington not only a national university but also a quasi-representative to our American government in the person of an apostolic delegate, who is aside from his civic functions a fifth wheel to the wagon in the well-organized American branch of that church, it is plain that the Holy Roman Church is edging forward pretty rapidly in her endeavor to become the “official” church of the American republic. Such things do not happen. They are planned. Two points determine the direction of a straight line. Are we headed toward the “official” church?
In the same strain writes the editor of the Christian Advocate in his issue of Dec. 14, 1911. In discussing the appointment of the three new American cardinals and the servility of their oath in support of papal authority, under the title of “Apropos New Cardinals” the editor, recognizing the growing favor with which the advances of Rome are being received, and fearful of the outcome, utters the following warning:— The “sublime dignity” of the cardinals and the spectacular shows connected with their appearance in public comport not with the teachings of Christ, nor do they comport with the teachings of the apostles. But in this free country they have the right to believe what they will and to teach their sentiments to those who will come to hear. They can not compel obedience as they did for ages, nor can they inflict physical punishment, nor take the lives of those who will not bow to their symbols or mandates.
Roman Catholicism is still in many parts the most gigantic system for the consolidation and exercise of power the world has ever seen.
Almost all there is of freedom in Germany, in Switzerland, in England, in Scandinavia, and in the United States is the fruit of the Reformation; and since then of the co-operation of Protestants, citizens with no form of religion, but lovers of equality and liberty, and certain liberal-minded Catholics.
We need not refer to the middle ages, or go back even so far as a single half century, to illustrate this. On the eighth of December, 1864, only forty-seven years ago, Pope Pius IX issued an encyclical to the whole Catholic world. In it he avowed every principal dogma of despotism; in it he claimed the right for the Papacy to inflict or procure “temporal penalties for the violation of sacred laws.” Truth and its opposite are artfully woven together, but the whole document in spirit, and in several parts in letter, openly condemns the chief principles of the Constitution of our country. . . .
The spirit of Roman Catholicism and the spirit of despotism are “one and inseparable.” Public patronage of the federal government and of the governments of many of the States, and the leanings of politicians toward the flattery of Roman Catholics, are more than signs. . . .
That attempts to secure the public funds to support Roman Catholic schools and other institutions will soon be made openly, is more than probable. . . .
We sympathize with the unknown patriot who cried: “O for a trumpet voice to warn free governments of the dangers to their liberties at the last!”11Were there such a voice, the most fitting cry would be, “Lovers of your country, beware of the secret influence and the political power of Roman Catholicism!”
The Christian Advocate does well to raise this warning cry. It needs to be sounded from every housetop,—from the pulpit of every church, and in the columns of every journal. The American republic to-day faces the greatest peril in all its history—the danger that its blood-bought liberty shall be wrenched from it, and once more it be brought under the power of religious despotism, from which the Pilgrim fathers fled to find an asylum in the American wilds. But by the great multitude the warning will not be heeded. The majority of the great Protestant church, according to the Scriptures, will eagerly reach forth their hand to clasp the proffered hand of Rome. The historic gulf between the two will be bridged. Together they will unite in the creation of the image to the beast, in the enforcement of the papal sign of authority, in the enactment of religious persecution. We may not hope to save the nation nor the great multitude from taking the fateful step. We may labor, however, for the individual units of society, for the men and women in every communion, the Roman Catholic not excepted, who will see and appreciate the principles of gospel truth. Only in the light of the prophecies can the present trend of events in this country be rightly understood, and the true measure of the situation be gaged. Those who believe that they can meet craft with craft, lobbying with lobbying, underestimate the strength of the system with which they are contending. The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, affords the only weapon of defense and of aggressive warfare. For long years Seventh-day Adventists have looked for the coming of the present situation. The Roman peril is no longer a question of the future; it is a question of our day, of the present hour. With the knowledge which this people possess of the prophecies, there rests upon them a double responsibility in raising the warning cry. Upon them should fall to-day the mantle of Protestantism and a double spirit of the Reformers, like the inheritance which passed from Elijah to his successor. Aggressively and persistently, but conservatively; patiently and kindly, but none the less plainly, it falls to us to stand loyally for the truth of God in these days of spiritual declension. We war not with men, but with principles. Many noble men and women are to be found within the communion of Rome. These have become confused, and need the light of gospel truth as truly as the light was needed in the sixteenth century. For these we should labor in the spirit of the Master. We can not stand in the times before us in our own strength, but the blessed Master who has called us to his work, and made us the conservators of this last great message, will impart with the call the needed grace. Let us be true and loyal to God, distrustful of self, humble in our own weakness, but mighty in Heaven’s strength in giving the third angel’s message to the nations of men. Rev. 14:6-12. F. M. W. A Great Deception Culminating in Our Day
By C. M. S.
God has warned us to beware of the deception-working power that is to be manifest in these last days. He has told us that Satan would be working with “all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish.” So we need not expect to see all his power of deceit manifest in the creation and promulgation of false religions and isms. Every snare that Satan can invent to destroy souls will be in good working order to catch man in this generation. It is Satan’s plan to crush out of the heart of man all desire to know the truth of God, all love for his Word. He will do that by creating a love, or passion, for other things; and it is of this very snare of the evil one that Christ speaks in Matt. 13:22: “The care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word.” And the man out of whose heart the word has been choked or smothered is thrown into the very arms of Satan. God will not compel man to return; will not compel his love. There is no more dangerous condition for any person than that condition in which he has lost all love for God and God’s Word. There is nothing to hold him, and Satan can use him as he will. “The care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches” are doing their work now as never before. The great money-mad and pleasure-mad world has no time to give to the study of God’s Word, and one by one its principles are being crowded out of the heart. When that snare has fully done its work, the victim has no desire to hear even the last and most solemn message that God has ever given to this world. With the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this world Satan is steeling the hearts of men against the only message that can save them. There is more money in circulation and in vaults to-day than at any time in the history of the world, and the desire for wealth has become an almost universal mania. The man of great wealth has a passport into the presence of royalty, dines at the king’s table, and enters the circles of the most exclusive aristocracy. In fact, so numerous have millionaires become within the last few years that they form an exclusive aristocracy of their own, and their sons and daughters are eligible to marriage in the families of nobility. To-day the men whom the world considers great are the multimillionaires, the great captains of industry, the rulers of mighty corporations. The great nations are the wealthy ones; and wealth more than education, more than statesmanship, more than considerations of high morality, is guiding the ship of state in the nations that are considered great to-day. In Congress, while the question of the retention of the Philippines was being discussed, the one speech that was given most attention and given the widest circulation in the press was the speech which dwelt upon the commercial advantage to the United States in the retention of those islands. But “the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,” the desire to be great among the nations, in the way that they consider great, have made possible the strange position taken and the strange work done by this country in the last days of its history. When the people of this country see, in its fullest extent, the result of that act, in the grip which it has given Catholicism upon the government, it is possible that then they may realize something of the meaning of the “deceitfulness of riches.” But America serves only as an illustration in this matter. The other “great nations” have done their part in this same work, and are reaping and will continue to reap a similar harvest; and that spirit in the governments has been reproduced in the people themselves. It is a corrupting example, and hearts are being corrupted by it. In the service of these governments frauds and embezzlements are being unearthed. One writer says: “Our country is being corrupted, so that the financial sin, fraud, is becoming a national vice.” He then goes on to give instance after instance of great frauds that have been worked upon the people, principally upon people who were eager themselves to get rich quick. The press teems with the records of frauds, embezzlements, forgeries, burglaries, highway robberies, insurance murders, and petty theft. Speaking of this same condition, the Herald of Gospel Liberty says: “Ministers sell their doctrines for gold. Many a preacher is silent as to truth, or doctrines disputed, lest his way to a better-paying pulpit may be hedged up by his utterances. One of the brutalizing effects of the acquisition of great wealth is seen in the effort that is being made for the establishment of an aristocracy12in our country, an aristocracy of wealth, the lowest form known. Religion under its influence becomes cant; education, piles of bricks with high salaries; charity, a fad; statesmanship, managing a machine and being a boss; business enterprise, getting control of competing corporations. Our country, instead of becoming more refined, is becoming coarser, so that lynchings and burnings at the stake are attended by women, and special trains to the lynchings are run by the railroad companies.” All these things are true, sadly true; and the people are rushing on in the belief that we are acquiring greatness as we pile dollar upon dollar; as we consolidate our great institutions; as we invade other countries with our commerce; as we become the creditors of the world; and those who enter that race are striving for that kind of greatness as they strive for affluence and gold. The presence of that spirit in the heart is a great mist that shuts out the shining of the Sun of Righteousness; shuts out the love of God; shuts out the entrance of truth; shuts out salvation. Babylon was nearest her fall when wealth and luxury were at their highest in that great empire. Her gardens are now a desert, and her wonderful walls are now level with the drifting sand. Persia reached the same pinnacle, and fell with the same fall, and her greatness has dwindled into a history and a name. Wealth and luxury shattered Greece in the heyday of her glory, and her temples and her gods have been strewn upon the ground. So with Rome and her palaces and her marble statues. They all tell us of the deceitfulness of riches. They tell us that wealth and luxury are not the certificates of greatness, but rather symbols of decay. It is the lapse of centuries alone that hides the ugly results of the worship of mammon. But with that same age-old deception Satan is to-day leading the world on to its ruin. It is not now the overthrow of a nation, but the overthrow of a world, in which the “deceitfulness of riches” is playing so loud a part. In that almost universal mania Satan hopes to hide from the world God’s last message of warning and so hold in his clutches the souls of the millions. Those who refuse to throw off the yoke of that bondage will go down with the money they have piled upon their souls; go down as victims of that working of deception. But the Christian’s duty is plain. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” 1 John 2:15-17. C. M. S. Praying for the Holy Spirit
By W. W. P.
THE gospel is the same in all generations, but there is a special application of the principles of the gospel to meet the needs of any particular time or experience. Noah preached the everlasting gospel of righteousness by faith, but he proclaimed his message with special reference to the impending flood. John the Baptist preached the same gospel, warning the people of his time not to trust in the flesh; and the advent of the coming One was emphasized in his teaching, and his message was shaped by that event. The same principle applies in our own time and work. We have no new gospel to proclaim, but in the presentation of the everlasting gospel the second advent of Christ must be the keynote of every message. Fundamental to the correct understanding of the time, the message for the time and the proper setting for this message, is a clear apprehension of the mediatorial work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary and its relation to the experience of the church on earth. It was light upon this subject which enabled the pioneers in this message to understand the trying experiences of 1843-44, and it has been the increasing light upon this subject which has guided this people in carrying forward the work of giving the threefold message to the world. It follows at once that the intelligent Seventh-day Adventist will view the truths of the gospel in a way that no member of any other denomination would view them, and both his teaching of the gospel and his experience in the blessings of the gospel ought also to be different. In view of these facts we ask what difference ought there to be between the Seventh-day Adventist and a member of any other denomination in the very practical and important experience of praying for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Does the light concerning the heavenly sanctuary and the ministry of Christ therein have any practical bearing in attempting to answer this inquiry? Is the one who knows nothing about the subject of the sanctuary exposed to any danger of being deceived? and will the knowledge concerning Christ’s ministry be a protection against the effort of the enemy of the gospel to bring the professed Christian world under his control? We can perhaps best answer these questions by quoting some paragraphs from “Early Writings.” We take an extract from the article entitled “End of the 2300 Days,” pages 46, 47, of the first part of the old edition:— I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and the most of those who were bowed down arose with him. I did not see one ray of light pass from Jesus to the careless multitude after he arose, and they were left in perfect darkness. Those who arose when Jesus did, kept their eyes fixed on him as he left the throne and led them out a little way. Then he raised his right arm and we heard his lovely voice saying, “Wait here; I am going to my Father to receive the kingdom; keep your garments spotless, and in a little while I will return from the wedding and receive you to myself.” Then a cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded by angels, came where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot and was borne to the holiest where the Father sat. There I beheld Jesus, a great High Priest, standing before the Father. On the hem of his garment was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate. Those who rose up with Jesus would send up their faith to him in the holiest, and pray, “My Father, give us thy Spirit.” Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace. I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, “Father, give us thy Spirit.” Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan’s object was to keep them deceived, and to draw back and deceive God’s children. It is plain that those who receive this threefold message will be led to fix their attention upon the mediatorial work of Christ, and that by their personal faith in him, they will be united with him in that work as no other body of people will be. What this means to them and what it will mean to others who reject this special light, is made clear in the following paragraphs:— The minds of all who embrace this message are directed to the most holy place, where Jesus stands before the ark, making his final intercession for all those for whom mercy still lingers, and for those who have ignorantly broken the law of God.—“Early Writings,” old edition, second part, page 117. I saw that as the Jews crucified Jesus, so the nominal churches had crucified these messages, and therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they can not be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them to his snare.—Id., page 123. On the day of Pentecost the minds of the disciples were directed to the heavenly sanctuary and they understood that13the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on that occasion was due to the ministry of their great High Priest in the sanctuary above. Thus Peter said: “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” Acts 2: 32, 33. As the special dispensation of the Spirit was introduced by this outpouring on the day of Pentecost, the early rain, which signalized the entrance of Christ upon his ministry in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, so the change of his ministry from the holy to the most holy place marks the time for the latter rain, the gift of power for the proclamation of the final message of the gospel. Those who understand the nature of the work of our great High Priest at this time, and who by their faith become united with Christ in that work, will direct their petitions for the gift of the Spirit to the inner apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, uniting their prayers with the very work in which their great High Priest is engaged. When Christ breathes the Holy Spirit upon them in answer to their prayers, they will have not merely light and power, but also love, joy, and peace. The mere exhibition of power is not therefore the necessary evidence of the gift of the Spirit. Those who are longing for the outward demonstrations of power should beware lest Satan take advantage of this to impart to them an unholy influence which will not result in bringing them nearer to God. Furthermore, it is not necessary or probable that the outpouring of the Spirit in this generation will be accompanied by the same visible phenomena as at Pentecost. The best evidence of the reception of the Holy Spirit is the increase of love, joy, and peace, and that power for service which enables one to do in the very best manner the work committed to him. The situation at Pentecost called for the gift of tongues in order to proclaim the gospel to the various peoples gathered at Jerusalem. The situation has changed, but the presence of the same Spirit is necessary in this generation in order to proclaim this gospel message to all the world. For this outpouring let every one pray, but let these prayers be in harmony with that faith which enables us to enter with Jesus into the most holy place and to coöperate with him in his final work of atonement. W. W. P. Seeking Not Ours, but Us
By C. M. S.
God loves us and cares for us. If he did not, he would not have been hunting us ever since our first parents hid from him in Eden. Wrong put in us the first distrusting instinct to flee from our best Friend, and our own wrongs have kept it alive. “Come unto me,” has ever been God’s invitation to man. When we had set our faces toward the evil and toward the death that lay hidden in that treacherous way, God was still saying, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” God knows that death everlasting lies in wait for every one who walks in the ways of wickedness. So he says, “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Man is apt to feel his own sufficiency in judging for his good; but against that God warns him. Without the “heavenly eye-salve” man is powerless to choose between the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death. The way that leads to death may seem at its branching to run parallel with the other. Though its goal is the gateway of death, yet it seems right to the man walking in his own counsel. The trouble with the “false shepherds” of Israel was that “they all look to their own way.” In that they found darkness for light, deception for their trust, and the way of death in place of the way of life. But the Lord says: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” In looking to God we find his way, and strength to walk therein; and at the goal to which that way leads are joy and peace and satisfaction, eternal life, and every good thing. That is the way in which God would have every man, woman, and child in this world walk. His salvation is promised to the people in “all the ends of the earth.” “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” There is a way of life. Christ lived to make it manifest. That way is mapped out and consecrated by the blood of the Son of God. At every obstacle in that way Christ stands to strengthen the weary feet, the feeble knees, and to heal the hurt of his people. When discouragement stands in the way of the child of God, Christ himself is there to turn a brighter beam of light upon the comforting promises of God. When doubts assail, he is still there to show to those who wish assurance the everlasting verities of the Father’s word. And when the great enemy death stands on the threshold demanding his choice from the family circle, the trusting child of God can hold before him that promise and that provision which robs death of its terror, and makes the captivity of death a matter of transient duration only. Relying on that word, the captivity becomes a “false imprisonment,” and the great Judge declares it so, and opens the prison-house. So the whole course of man’s existence from the day of accountability to the day when the record of life is done, has all been seen and planned for at every step; and this being so, no circumstance nor combination of circumstances can arise that will find a weak place in the plan of salvation. No matter how trying the experience, how disheartening the outlook, God has made it possible for man to be victorious over it all. Faith is the passport to victory, and when the yearning heart presents that passport and calls upon that Name which is above every name, there is no question about the result. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” says the inspired Word. That “whosoever” goes right down into the haunts of the poorest, the weakest, the wretchedest mortals that ever turned away from the narrow pathway of our Saviour; and whosoever in that lowest stratum of existence shall turn from his folly and “call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” God is hunting men even there, and holding before them the map of the only way by which they can turn their captivity into victory, turn their sure-impending death into the certainty of eternal life, their sadness into joy, their mourning into shouts of triumphant song. God is still calling for mankind, still calling to individual man, to turn from hopeless captivity to glorious freedom; from the service of a cruel tyrant to the fellowship and sonship of a gracious Lord; from the gates of death to the portals of everlasting life. Listen to his pleading, flee not from his seeking, yield to his entreaties, and live. Faith That Right Makes Might
LET us have faith that right makes might; and in that faith let us dare to do our duty as we understand it.—Abraham Lincoln. WITH a plea that there shall be no decrease in the effective strength of the United States Navy, George von L. Meyer, Secretary of the Navy, in his annual report to Congress declared that while seeking peace and arbitration treaties the world must understand that America “is prepared for war.” The Secretary asks for more ships this year to maintain the navy at its existing strength, which is being diminished by the elimination of battle-ships first constructed for the “new navy.” THERE is now at Sandy Hook proving-grounds the biggest cannon ever turned out. It is twenty yards long and weighs thirteen tons. The cost of each shot fired is $1,500. Gambling in Fashionable Society
That much gambling is carried on in the higher social life, and that the effect of this is seen in the promotion of the spirit on a broader and cruder scale, is very generally recognized, especially by the police forces of our large cities who have to cope with these evils. The police of Chicago have recently threatened to raid some of these society games. The fact that the participants play for “hand-painted china and other desirable and delicate things” is no reason why they should not be placed upon the same basis as the professional gambler who plays for money. Indeed, it is likely that the influence of the fashionable lady gambler is more pernicious, the same as the influence of the moderate drinker is more pernicious in a community than the drunken sot. Many young men and women reason that these people, occupying high and influential positions, engage with impunity in these practises, so surely there is not so much harm in them after all. They take the first step, but weakness and lack of self-control and circumstances surrounding them often lead them on to lower depths, and they are swallowed up with the spirit of the great gambling evil. It is well for all Christian people to consider, while condemning the grosser evils, if they themselves are in any measure guilty of starting a chain of influences which have aided or abetted in their creation.