p. 2 | The Signs of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 38 (9/30/1913)

The Signs of the Times

Sep 30, 1913

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 30, 1913

Signs of the Times

“Exceeding Great Promises”

“That through these [the promises] ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.” 2 Peter 1:4.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16.

“Jehovah appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” Jer. 31:3.

“Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in loving-kindness. He will again have compassion upon us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:18, 19.

“For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.” Isa. 44:3, 4.

“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for Mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel; He shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the grain, and blossom as the vine.” Hosea 14:4-7.

“IF YE WILL INQUIRE, INQUIRE YE.”

This Inquirers’ Department is conducted for the purpose of helping those who are studying the Bible. The answers are oftentimes only suggestive. They are never to be considered infallible, only as they agree with the infallible Word. The writer who may answer these questions does not consider that his opinion is infallible. He will simply give the best that he has, and plead with the inquirer to search the Word. Such questions only will be answered as, to the editors, seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. We can not answer repeatedly in the same volume questions upon the same scripture. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. No letters are answered which do not contain the name of the writer. It is well always to enclose stamp for reply.

4188 — Cleansing the Temple — Differences

Please reconcile seemingly conflicting statements of fact as related in Mark 11:12, 15; Matt. 21:12; and John 2:13, 14. C. C.

We think that our correspondent will find no discrepancy or seeming difference between Matthew and Mark. Both of these relate to the same event. The passage in John relates to another event, at the beginning of Christ’s ministry; for it seems clearly evident that there were two cleansings of the temple, one at the very beginning and the other just before the crucifixion. John refers to the first: Matthew, Mark, and Luke to the second.

Neither is there any discrepancy between the texts Mark 3:16; Matt. 16:18; and John 1:42; for the texts do not state, as you will note, that Jesus so named him at that time. Mark, of course, was written years after the crucifixion. In Mark 3 it is simply stated that He ordained these disciples, and Simon He surnamed Peter. He doubtless did it before this; it does not say that He did so at that time. John 1:42 was probably the time when Jesus applied the term,—“Thou shalt be called Cephas [or Peter], which is by interpretation, a stone.” And even this may be taken as a prophecy. Matt. 16:18 is a confirmation of the giving of the name. A little thought in comparison of these seeming contradictions will show that there is not only no contradiction, but strong coincidences which prove the truth of the narrative. Differences are not necessarily contradictions.

4191 — To the Spirits in Prison

Please explain in the “Question Corner” Christ preaching to spirits in prison.

A. H. W.

The expression occurs in 1 Peter 3:19, “By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison.” One can get at the meaning of the text perhaps better by questioning it: To whom does the “He” refer? — To Christ. Verse 18 shows that.

To what does the “which” refer—“by which”? — To the Spirit. See verse 18. Christ was made alive in the Spirit.

Who were the spirits? We reply, The souls shut up in the prison-house of sin, with no power to save themselves. For this did Christ come. Compare carefully Gal. 3:22, 23, and Isa. 61:1.

What put them in prison? — Sin. See verse 20, — “that aforetime were disobedient.”

When did Christ preach to them? — “When the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing.”

Through whom did He preach by His Spirit? — Noah, “a preacher of righteousness” “by faith.” 2 Peter 2:5; Heb. 11:7.

What was the result of the preaching? — “Few, that is, eight souls were saved.” 1 Peter 3:20. That preaching also condemned the world, those that did not believe. Heb. 11:7.

4187 — The Importance of the Sabbath

If, as Seventh-day Adventists claim, the Sabbath is of such importance, why did God wait until almost the end before calling the world's attention to it? Will not sincere Sunday keepers be saved? If so, why do Seventh-day Adventists come over here to China and stir up all this discord?

S. A. N.

Every truth of God is important. Albert Barnes truly says, in his comments on Matt. 5:17-20, that any one who considers any command of God so unimportant as not to be obeyed is unworthy of His kingdom. There are many things which enter into the light which men have and which men have not. In this poor little world, solving the problem of sin, a great incident in God's eternal work, there are many great problems being wrought out. One of the factors in those problems is that man who desires his own way shall be allowed to have it, in order not only that the men of this world, but the beings in other worlds, may see what it means to depart from God and His truth. Consequently God suffered the great apostasy of Christian times; but in great mercy He foretold it, told the character of that apostasy, and what that apostasy would do, how it would think to change the times and the law of God. Dan. 7:25. He forewarned men, so that they need not fall into it. Yet He permitted it to come, that men might see what iniquity would do if allowed to work itself out. But just as truly as He had predicted that, He also predicted the Reformation, predicted the time when those who were among His people should take their foot from the Sabbath, from doing their pleasure on God's holy day, when they would restore the breach, build up again the wall that had been broken down by this apostate power. Isa. 58:12, 13. That is the message that is going to the world at this time.

But His people during that time of imperfect light, a time when darkness reigned because of apostasy, a time when so many lost sight of the great truth of the Bible, God will judge accordingly. So was it when Jesus came the first time. Great and important phases of truth had been buried under the traditions of the Jews. Jesus said of them, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.” If God did not give to the world in the last days His message concerning His Sabbath truth, He would not count as sin those who were transgressing it, yet who with sincere souls thought they were doing God's will. But He must demonstrate to the heavenly beings and to all mankind that notwithstanding all that apostasy has done, God will restore His truth, and will gather out of the last and darkest and weakest generation a class of people who are keeping all the commandments of God and all the faith of Jesus. To him who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, that message is a message of joy and gladness.

The everlasting gospel of which this reform is a part is the everlasting good tidings (Rev. 14:6-14); and Seventh-day Adventists, if they would be true to God, must preach this glorious, glad light which God has given them of the blessed Sabbath, the memorial that it is of a great, kind, heavenly Father, and the pledge that it is of a glorious Redeemer who is able to save to the uttermost. So while sincere Sunday keepers who have been unwarned and who do not know God's truth, who are living according to the light which they have with perfect hearts, will be saved, yet God would have His children fully enlightened, and especially in these days predicted by the prophets.

4189 — Satan and His Fall

God certainly knew Lucifer would fall. Why then was he created? Afterward He knew that Adam would fall. So why create Adam?

S. A. N.

These also are questions which, if we will stop to study them, we can see reasons for. No character can be formed without test. Otherwise it is a mere matter of machinery and mechanism, without will; but all the characters who are worthy to persist forever are those who have chosen God's service voluntarily, without compulsion, simply and solely because they love God and desire to do His will. On the other hand, the man who chooses to obey can choose to disobey; and the Lord saw, of course, that some would do this. Yet He does not even leave these in their misery and transgression, but calls after them then, and assures them that where sin abounds, grace much more abounds, so that even tho His creatures fall, He has opened a glorious way by which they may come back. And this must have been just as true regarding Lucifer and the angels as it has been true of man. But they would not. They would go on in their own way; consequently the Lord will use even the perversity of those who have rebelled against Him, to mark out a glorious lesson for the universe that will last through all eternity, and all eternity will demonstrate the wonderful love and justice of God. We may not see all these things, but God is working them out for His own glory and for His creatures' highest good. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” asks the “father of the faithful;” and the redeemed for all eternity will answer, “Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of ages.”

4190 — Death of Judas

Matt. 27:5 says Judas threw the money down into the temple and went and hanged himself, while Acts 2:18 [Acts 1:18] says he purchased a field with the money. How can the two statements be reconciled? J. E. G.

Simply in this way: the context is that the money that he received for betraying his Lord was used for the purchase of that field. It was given to the potter's field by those to whom it was returned. That was the result of his rejection of the money. He returned it to the priests, and they bought the potter's field with it. What a man does through agents he is spoken of as doing himself.

4192 — Scripture Irony, 2 Chron. 18:12

2 Chron. 18:12 onward is a story of Micaiah's prophecy. First he tells the king to go to the battle and prosper; and afterwards he talks just the opposite. Why was this?

It was in the mockery of irony that Micaiah rebuked the other prophets. All of them told the idolatrous Ahab to go up against his enemy and prosper; and the messenger that came, told him just what would be desirable by the king. The king did not want to call Micaiah — told Jehoshaphat that he did not want to, because he always prophesied evil. So when the messenger came, Micaiah said he would speak just what God would have him speak. And when the king asked him the question, he answered in irony, and the king knew he answered in irony. “Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.” The king immediately answered, “How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord?” And then Micaiah answered and gave God's message,—that the people of Israel would be like scattered sheep having no shepherd, and that the king would meet his death in the war. And he did.

4193 — The Bands of Syria

In 2 Kings 6:23 it says, “The bands of Syria came no more to the land of Israel;” but in the 24th verse it says Ben-hadad went up and besieged Samaria. Was not Samaria a part of the land of Israel?

Yes, it was. But it was evidently some years after. The bands of Syria were those marauding, plundering bands which had been in the habit of ravaging the profitable territory, evidently, of the countries around. See 2 Kings 5:2. Just as long as the kindness was remembered, and the influence of that feast, why, these plundering bands came no more; but some years after that, Ben-hadad went up with a regular host and besieged Samaria. That is the obvious meaning, it seems to us, of the scripture.

4194 — The Two Seas

Please explain what the two seas are: namely, the east sea and the utmost sea. Is it referring to the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea? See Joel 2:20.

G. W. S.

Read as in the Revised Version,—“the eastern sea” and “the western sea.” The western sea in the land of Israel was the Mediterranean Sea, and the eastern sea was the Dead Sea, the two seas that lay on the borders of Israel.

Schedule for the Week Ending October 4, 1913

Sabbath School Lessons: Mark Chapters 8 to 14

| Sunday | September | 28 | Mark | 8 | | Monday | " | 29 | " | 9 | | Tuesday | " | 30 | " | 10 | | Wednesday | October | 1 | " | 11 | | Thursday | " | 2 | " | 12 | | Friday | " | 3 | " | 13 | | Sabbath | " | 4 | " | 14 |

Our lessons are still in Mark, covering from chapters 8 to 14, from the very heart of the ministry of Jesus to the time that He was apprehended. Wonderful chapters they are, of the wonderful works of the wonderful Man; chapters for which time ought to be taken in the reading, time to meditate upon them after the reading is over.

“Pray Without Ceasing”

By Ellen G. White

By Mrs. E. G. White

“Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

WE are not always so situated that we can enter into our closets to seek God in prayer, but there is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can hinder us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business engagement, we may send up a petition to God, and plead for divine guidance, as did Nehemiah when he made his request before the king Artaxerxes. A closet of communion may be found wherever we are. We should have the door of the heart open continually, and our invitation going up that Jesus may come and abide as a heavenly guest in our souls.

Altho there may be a tainted, corrupted atmosphere around us, we need not breathe its miasma, but may live in the pure atmosphere of heaven. We may close every door to impure imaginings and unholy thoughts by lifting the soul into the presence of God through sincere prayer. Those whose hearts are open to receive the support and blessing of God, will walk in a holier atmosphere than that of earth, and will have constant communion with God. But those who reserve their thoughts of God, their earnest soul longings for purity and grace, for certain times, and places, and occasions, will be overcome by temptation. The thoughts will be impure, the promptings of the natural heart will be fulfilled, and the man will be worsted in the conflict; for he will be drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. The injunction of the Saviour is, “Pray without ceasing.” The heart is to be continually going out in desire for the presence and grace of Jesus, that the soul may have divine enlightenment and heavenly wisdom.

We need to have more distinct views of Jesus, and a fuller comprehension of the value of eternal realities. The beauty of holiness is to fill the hearts of God’s people; and that this may be accomplished, we should seek for divine disclosures of heavenly things. Brethren, we should pray in all places, and

under all circumstances. Our petitions may be only broken ejaculations, or they may be but secret thoughts of the heart; but whatever we have opportunity for, let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God may grant us a breath of His heavenly atmosphere. Let

the spirit groan after God, and mingle faith with fervent desire. We should encourage gratitude and praise, and always be found warring against every unholy impulse, crushing out of the soul every unclean lust. This is the warfare that must be accomplished. We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to God as naturally as the flower turns to the sun. The sunflower keeps its face sunward. If it is turned from the light, it will twist

itself on the stem, until it lifts up its petals to the bright beams of the sun. So let every one who has given his heart to God, turn to the Sun of Righteousness, and eagerly look up to receive the bright beams of the glory that shines in the face of Jesus. Thus we may educate the soul to press its way out of the corrupted moral atmosphere of the world, of sin and selfishness, into the atmosphere that is divine and health-giving.

We are to pray in the spirit, with the understanding also, and God will prompt the longings of the soul, and satisfy the desires of the heart. We must become intelligent as to the conditions upon which God will hear and answer prayer. There are many useless, meaningless words employed in prayer, but these heartless petitions are not acceptable, and can not prevail with God. If the soul is stained with impurity, if iniquity is cherished in the heart, the offering of prayer is an abomination to God.

The psalmist says: “Come, ye children, harken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” Says the prophet Isaiah: “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

The psalmist says again: “Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.” “Tho the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly: but the proud He knoweth afar off.”

The Lord is under no obligation to grant us His favors, yet He has pledged His word that if we will comply with the conditions

stated in the Scriptures, He will fulfil His part of the contract. Men often make promises, but do not live up to them. Often we have found that in trusting to men, we have leaned upon broken reeds; but the Lord will never disappoint the soul that believes in Him. “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed.” He still speaks to the soul: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee.”

The “I Come” Which Shall Be

By L. F. Starr

By L. F. Starr.

FOUR times in the book of Revelation the glorified Redeemer speaks explicitly the “I come” of His sure and speedy return. “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast.” Rev. 3:11. “Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” Rev. 22:7. “Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me.” Verse 12. “He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.” Verse 20.

Great is the emphasis, mighty and holy indeed the import, of such a personal promise.

When Christ had ascended to the heavenly home, glorified and divine humanity, and the disciples had seen the cloud receive Him, this same Jesus who had walked and talked and prayed with them, who had been with them in their boats on the lake, and who had toiled that very day with them up the ascent of Olivet,—the same Jesus had gone to share the Father’s throne. The angels had assured them that the very One who had ascended into heaven would come again even as He had ascended.

“Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him.”

“The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise.”

“The Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him.”

Thus will be fulfilled the Lord’s own promise to His disciples: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” From this array of Scriptural evidence, well might the disciples of Christ rejoice in the hope of His soon return.

The “I come” and the “I will come” of Scripture is a literal and glorious coming, for which the church of God has looked from the first—“looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”

The “I come” and “will come” of Jesus Christ is a glorious appearing to the church of God.

It is not at death—there is nothing glorious about death; but it is a meeting time, when those long separated by the tyrant Death, will clasp glad hands once more, and the family circle will be reunited.

It comforts our hearts with the assurance that beyond the weary wastes of this earth, and beyond the sin and the gloom, there is a meeting day on the hills of eternal bloom, and the coming of Jesus will be a glorious appearing to all who are His.

It is somehow possible for all who love and submit to the written Word, and hold heartily that definite prediction is a divine reality in that Word, to look up together into the heavens, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, loving His appearance, looking for the Saviour, who shall change our body of humiliation, and who shall welcome us to meet Him in the air. It is possible somehow for us all to be thus standing with our loins girded and our lamps aflame, as men waiting for their Lord. Who will be ready? Shall you? Shall I? “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh.”

“Be ye also ready” indicates a state of preparation. What common ground for loving, solemn meditation may be found here! “Behold, I come quickly.” “Surely I come quickly,” “this same Jesus.” In the “quickly” of the promise, we are all to read that the disciple’s attitude, as it was with the Israelites of the Exodus, is to be that of the man whose shoes are on his feet and his staff in his hand ready.

It is an old story, but never out of date, certainly not in this age of enormous worldliness, when all but few “think not” of the stealthy approach of that great day. In the very midst of conditions as we see them to-day, in His own time He who comes as a thief in the night, but who is also the midnight friend to His beloved, will be here—and a new order of things will begin. The righteous will live and dwell with Him and loved ones through eternal ages. Is this prospect remembered and cherished? Are we maintaining it in the soul’s sanctuary, as a dear and joyful event? We may, we must, cultivate such a view of Him as shall naturally spring up in a moment and welcome Him. Then can the church of God unitedly sing:

“I shall be glad when Jesus comes, Come when or how He may. My heart with joy doth welcome Him. Lord, hasten that blest day.”

The return of Christ at His second coming will be a time, a moment, a crisis, never to eternity to be forgotten; a point of interview between the disciple and the Master, the servant and his Lord, at the solemn close of this working-day.

“Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” Laborer for Christ, ambassador for Him whose name you trust, can we hasten that day?

We are all, we are each, on our way to “give an account of the deeds done in the body,” of what we have gained by trading, of how we have lived for Him. We know not how soon, in the judgment, an inquiry will take place in the case of each, which will be as complete as Christ can make it. And the report upon it will be made as only He can make it. He will manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God.

How shall we meet the searching test?—As regards acceptance—only by looking to His hands and His side, and hiding there; only by walking in the light, and with Him day by day, in close walk, as friend with friend.

Are Angels in the World To-Day?

By William Brown

Rev. William Brown, in “Sunday School Times”

THE student of the Scriptures easily recognizes that a very large place is given in both the Old and the New Testament to the ministry of angels. Even a casual reading of the Bible confirms most accurately this conclusion. Many are the varieties of service which they perform; under many differing circumstances do they appear. Sometimes they are agents in the work of rescue; again they are seen in the character of messengers of comfort and of help. Sometimes we behold them as strong deliverers. In contrast with this richness of angelic ministry spread over all the pages of Scripture, it must be confessed that in the thought of the average Christian and in the consciousness of Christian experience there is not much place given to the agency of angels as the bearers and ministers of God’s goodness to the individual life.

It really occasions surprise when one realizes how sharp the contrast is at this point. For instance, one would naturally expect that in works on systematic or Christian theology there would be a very full treatment of this subject, of which so much is made in Scripture; yet here we are surprised by the meagerness of the discussion. Dr. A. B. Bruce, in his “Epistle to the Hebrews,” says: “For modern men the angels are very much a dead theological category. [Although] everywhere in the old Jewish world, they are next to nowhere in our world. They have practically disappeared from the universe in thought and fact.” So we face the fact that there has actually occurred the dropping out from the consciousness of the church, and largely from practical Christian experience, any recognition of angel ministry. This occurs, too, while at the same time there is the theoretical acknowledgment of the truthfulness of the Biblical narrative. How are we to account for this remarkable change?

The reason is in large measure to be found in the assurance which is given to the Christian, of free and uninterrupted fellowship with God. With a wealth of repetition there is promised the closest possible union between the Christian and his Lord. “Lo, I am with you alway,” is the Master’s own word. We are told that He will actually abide in us and we in Him. This being the case, the question naturally arises, What further need is there for a ministry of beings far inferior to our Lord, tho they may be much higher than we are? We are promised the actual guidance of the Holy Spirit. This along with God’s minute and comprehensive knowledge of all things pertaining to us seems to render unnecessary any help from angelic beings. Nevertheless it is clearly not the part of wisdom thus to set aside in our practical thought, and in our survey of the content of the Christian life, the very beautiful and compelling picture of angel ministry. God’s word at no point would lead us to conclude that there is anything of a temporary nature about the work of angels.

The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews expresses the truth for all time when he says, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?” Some facts gathered from Scripture concerning the angels

stand out very clearly. They are a great company, like the hosts of a mighty army. They are not flesh and blood as we are, but spiritual beings, probably with spiritual bodies. They are ever ready to do the will of God, waiting on Him in the spirit of loving, prompt obedience. With marvelous swiftness they can pass through the spaces of the universe, fulfilling their Lord’s command. In the prayer which He taught His disciples, our Lord gives us this petition: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” What is the implication in those words concerning the doing of God’s will in heaven? Is it not a reference to the great company of angels continually attending to His every command? Their interests lie wholly within the sphere of the Father’s interests, especially in the sphere of redemption. For this reason they were the heralds of the incarnation. It is for this reason also that we are told of the joy in their presence over one sinner that repenteth. Their work on behalf of those who are young in the Christian life is revealed in the words of the Master where He warns against despising one of these little ones, for their angels always behold the face of the Father. It is in this aspect of a gracious ministry that we see them most frequently.

Angels rescued Lot from the destruction of Sodom. They were the bearers of God’s comforting message to Jacob when he lay down to sleep on the rocky hillside at Bethel. They cheered Elijah in the hour of his loneliness and depression. Promptly they took their place as ministers to our Lord’s need following His temptation. The agony of Gethsemane also found them with their strength for that hour. As they were privileged to announce the fact of the incarnation, so also were they bearers of the message of the resurrection of our Lord.

The stirring truth which all this brings to us is that our Father, whose will the angels delight to do, still has a large place for their service; they are still His ministering spirits. In His infinitely wise and loving protection of His own He has a definite task for His angels. They are the agents of His providence, working continually under His direction and control. He guides them in their appointed tasks. They are not the source of good in themselves; they do not claim for themselves the worship of men; they know that they are only the servants of the Creator of all. To us they are unknown, because unseen; yet that does not take away from their actual existence and presence in the world.

They watch over us; they accompany us on our journeys; by night and by day they are near. The servant of Elisha, when his eyes were opened, discovered that the mountain was full of horses of fire and chariots of fire. So numerous are they that they can shield us from the fiery darts of the evil one. When the evil one makes an attack on one of God’s children, His angels form a wall of fire round about him. They protect from physical dangers, from disease and accident. Oftentimes they are the Father’s agency in bringing messages of comfort and of peace. Following a time of stress and turmoil, they bring a calmness of soul that is mysterious in its origin. In no better way do we have an expression of the constancy of this ministry of protection than that given to us by the psalmist out of his own experience, and prophesying the greater experience of David’s Son:

“For He will give His angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”

It is not mere enthusiasm to maintain that it is the privilege of the Christian to have the same consciousness of angel protection which the writer of this psalm had. For we know that back of all that they do for us, back of all their activity, but giving direction to it, there is the unerring wisdom and loving power of our heavenly Father. . . . With the advent of our Lord in glory they will accompany Him, still as His ministers to do His commands; separating the righteous from the wicked, and ushering them into the fulness of heavenly joy.

A genuine belief in angel ministry is not something that may be designated mere childishness, something to be laid aside when we reach years of maturity. On the other hand, it is to be a sure ground of confidence and strength. Very properly may children be taught the beautiful lines:

“Hush, my dear! Lie still and slumber. Holy angels guard thy bed; Heavenly blessings without number Gently falling round thy head.”

At the same time, the truthfulness of these lines may be appropriated by every one. For in a far larger sense than we now realize, it is the privilege of God’s children to appreciate the inspiring truth of angel ministry, to know that they are continually being sent forth to do service for those who shall inherit salvation.

Continue reading: The Message for This Day