Few things have more to do with our lives than our talking. He that offends not in word is a perfect man. Christ says that our words either condemn or justify us. This is a matter of course, because our words proceed from our thoughts. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” To have sweet words, there must be sweet thoughts. To have bitter words, there must be bitter thoughts. Unkind words are the fruit of unkind thoughts. Sour conversation is the product of sour meditation. Cheap talking indicates that the thinking is cheap. Small talk can prevail only with small minds.
Wisdom thinks more than it talks. It does not tell all it knows. The mouth is servant of the mind; and the mind that causes words to express all it knows is left quite empty.
Solomon says, “He that uttereth a slander is a fool.” Again he says, “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise;” and, “A fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.” “Let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore, let thy words be few.”
In the early part of the late General Conference, held in Battle Creek, Sister White advised that there be but little talking done by our people, but that there be much praying. She expressed it as her mind that there are usually about ninety-nine words spoken when there should be six instead.
If the Lord’s counsel in this matter should be heeded, there would be far less worry and sin in the world. It would provide a vast opportunity for rest and communion with the Lord. It appears to be the studied effort of man’s adversary to have mankind destroyed by overtalking and cheap thinking.
THE PEACE OF GOD.
By Mrs. Mary Martin Morse
MRS. MARY MARTIN MORSE.
The griefs that fell and swept my heart, because of sin and sorrow,
That often dimmed the brightest day, and almost quenched the life,—
The dread to sleep, for fear to meet the same old pain to-morrow,
With thought-ghosts of dear memories past, and future terrors rife,—
All these, and more, have given place to higher, holier feeling;
I cannot understand the change, because unfelt before;
Across the earthly heart-strings comes an unseen power stealing,
That brings to me another life, unknown in days of yore.
The pain I felt for flowers lost, and fallen, scattered petals,
That drifted round and buried me like winter's garb of snow,
Is now exchanged for silent joy, because of ripening fruitage,
That only those life's wine press tread can ever feel or know.
Is this the peace that comes for pain, and passeth comprehension,
Because God makes my crimson sins like whiteness of the snow?
Is it because He counts my hairs and all my members' mention?
He says in Him I evermore an undreamed rest may know.
Is it because He speaks with love unchanging and supernal,
Of fairer home beyond the reach of ebb or flowing tide,
Where I may rest and share the life beyond, with joy eternal,—
Unsinned against—more blessed still, unsinning,—at His side?
I'll take with Him the thorns, and myrrh, and all the scourging given,
And low in trustful patience bow beneath the falling rod,
Knowing the only pathway up to Him, and home, and heaven,
Lies in the nail-pierced footprints, where my Elder Brother trod.
ONE THOUSAND YEARS.
By Thos. H. Jeys
THOS. H. JEYS. (Modale, Iowa.)
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Peter 3:8. The Lord here warns His people not to circumscribe in their minds the power of God, nor to conceive of Him as being limited, like man, by time.
“One day as a thousand years.” When God’s time comes for the accomplishment of His purpose, then the obstacles which to man seem insurmountable, or so great as to require thousands of years to overcome, God can surmount in one day, and accomplish His purpose fully. Peter here speaks concerning the coming of Jesus in the great day. When we look over the great work to be done, our reason, unaided by faith, would have us believe that the time will be long; but when we remember that God can do a thousand-years’ work in one day, we may then realize the meaning of Paul when he says that God will finish His work, and cut it short in righteousness.
The gospel has ever been committed to man, and we have no evidence that it will be otherwise in the closing work. On the day of Pentecost, in the time of the early rain, three thousand were converted in a day. This was due, not to the power of man, but to the presence of the Spirit of God. O that the power from on high might rest now upon God’s people! Then would a thousand-years’ work be done in a day. God’s warning message would go immediately to earth’s remotest bounds, and a short work indeed would God make upon the earth.
THE “RETURN OF THE JEWS.”
By A. Carter
A. CARTER.
The call of Abraham occurred in 1922 B. C., and two hundred and fifteen years later Jacob went down to Egypt with his family, a little company of sixty-six souls. It was two hundred and fifteen years afterward that his descendants, numbering about three millions, came out of Egypt, having endured a century of slavery. Had they then shown a childlike trust in God, which the series of miracles attending their deliverance should have developed, they might have entered the promised land in about two-weeks’ time (Deut. 1:2); but through unbelief they failed to enter. Hence, after forty-years’ wandering in the deserts of Arabia, their children were at last permitted to enter the land of Canaan.
Notwithstanding the wonderful things God had done for them, and their bitter experience in the wilderness, they continued only a few years as a happy and righteous nation in Canaan. About thirty-six years from the time they crossed the Jordan, they entered upon the first period of captivity as a punishment for their wickedness. The following four hundred and fifty years was marked by a succession of relapses into abominable idolatry and grossest sin, followed by severe punishment through being taken captive by their enemies.
During those centuries of contact with surrounding heathen nations they might have seen in those nations the terrible consequences of living without the favor of God. But those depraved nations, with their cruel and despotic rulers, did not serve as an object lesson and warning to the Israelites; for discontent with their own divine Ruler showed itself in a demand for an earthly king, that they might be like the nations around them. Accordingly the Lord let them have the desire of their heart, and three times permitted the nation to have a king, each one ruling for a period of forty years.
Yet even this degree of liberty did not awaken a feeling of gratitude to God for His forbearance. Instead of peace, unity, and righteousness as the result of the past one hundred and twenty years, no sooner did King Solomon pass away than the people’s passion and rebellion burst forth again, causing the rupture of the kingdom. During the three hundred and seventy years which followed, the national life of Judah and Israel is stained with a long record of sin and trouble, which was intensified by the disgraceful lives of most of their kings, numbering thirty-nine in all.
The mercy and long-suffering of God were manifested in raising up prophets, and speaking through them solemn words of warning and entreaty to each generation. Yet they did not mend their ways, and the divine judgment again fell, in the form of the Babylonian captivity. This was the heaviest blow which had descended on the nation since they left Egyptian slavery, nearly nine hundred years before. As the seventy-years’ captivity was drawing to a close, the prophet Daniel was honored by a visit from the angel Gabriel, who, in answer to prayer, was sent to instruct the prophet concerning God’s plans for His chosen people. This revelation of the divine purpose is found in Dan. 9:24–27. The seventy weeks of years, or four hundred and ninety years, cover the last and most important probationary period in the history of the Jews, as a nation.
They had sinned grievously for many centuries, but now they were to be gathered from among the nations whither they had been scattered, and be organized into a united nation once more, to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, whose advent had been long foretold. The twelve tribes had been carried away captive by the Babylonians, who ruled the world at that time, and now the succeeding universal kingdom of Medo-Persia was to be instrumental in restoring them to their former position in their own beloved land.
When Moses was commissioned to lead his countrymen out of Egypt, how thoroughly was the work done by the Lord! Every tribe was delivered, and the immediate needs of that great multitude were supplied by their enemies, so that they went away furnished with gold and silver and other valuables. Now another great deliverance is at hand, and the work must be as thorough as on the former occasion. All the people must be called, and hence the king of Persia sends a written order “throughout all his kingdom.” Ezra 1:1.
If any of the Jews were too poor to bear the expense of the long journey to Jerusalem, the king’s command is, “Whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver and with gold and with goods and with beasts beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” Ezra 1:4.
The result of this decree was that “all Israel dwelt in their cities.” At the dedication of the temple a sin offering of twelve he goats was offered for “all Israel, . . . according to the number of the tribes of Israel” (Ezra 6:17), and they “killed the passover for all the children of the captivity.” Ezra 6:20.
Thus we see how God used human instruments to gather His people once more as a united nation,—there were no so-called “lost tribes,”—and they thus continued for four hundred and ninety years, which brings us down to the year A. D. 34.
The long-looked-for Messiah had come, and had been rejected. He came unto His own, and they received Him not. The knowledge that this highly favored and much loved nation had now missed its last opportunity, and His realization of its sad doom, moved the Son of God to tears. Luke 13:34, 35. Jesus told them, “Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.” But that solemn warning was unheeded, and “the little while” ended in three and one-half years from the date of Christ’s crucifixion. The apostles, having given to the Jews the word of God concerning Christ, said, “Seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” Acts 13:46.
In a few brief years—A. D. 70—Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans, and the Jewish nation as a nation has since then ceased to exist. They have experienced in all its bitterness and pain the time of darkness, of which they had been faithfully warned by their best Friend. How impressive are the words found in Jer. 19:11: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again.”
Let us now notice some very significant facts in connection with this subject: It is well known by all Bible students that seven is regarded as the sacred number, and is used a great376many times in the Scriptures to indicate a perfect work, or completeness. I have therefore been much impressed by discovering the following points:—
Seven times Israel was on probation after entering the promised land, and while the Lord was their king. During that time their divine Ruler conquered seven hostile nations. Seven times the Israelites went into captivity during that period.
The Babylonish captivity was for seventy years; the restoration of Jerusalem occupied seven weeks of years, or forty-nine years; and the final period of probation, including the forty-nine years, covered a period of seventy weeks of years, or four hundred and ninety years. The downfall of the nation occurred in A. D. 70.
When Peter asked his Master how often he should forgive his brother who sinned against him, the answer was, “Until seventy times seven,” this being just what the Lord had himself done during the four hundred and ninety years of their history; for seventy times seven had the day of atonement come round, when individual and national sins for the past year were confessed and pardoned.
The calm and unprejudiced mind must, we think, be impressed with these things, and must see that God’s work with the Jewish nation is complete.
From the call of Abraham to the destruction of Jerusalem is over two thousand years. The patience and long-suffering of God have indeed been great. Unbelief kept these people out of the land of Canaan for forty years, and their guilt in spurning and killing the Saviour led to their lasting expulsion from their own land. Is it possible for them to re-enter and enjoy even greater earthly blessings in these last days?—No; especially as they still reject Him. There is no promise of such a thing in the word of God, and it would be inconsistent with the Lord’s former actions toward them to grant such a privilege now in the face of their hardened unbelief, which, be it noticed, has continued for nearly two thousand years since the advent of Christ. By unbelief they were broken off, and only by true faith can they return.
[To the foregoing it may be added that the threatening pronounced upon the Jews in Leviticus 26, that they should be punished “seven times” more for their sins, does not bring to view another prophetic period of two-thousand-five-hundred-and-twenty-years’ punishment, as many imagine, which is to be fulfilled in their history; for the expression “seven times more” is an adverb, and denotes only the degree of punishment, not the time, which God would bring upon them if they persisted in their sins; as if God had said, which He virtually did say, I will bring upon you a sevenfold severer degree of punishment if you continue to walk contrary to me, which they certainly continued to do. But the expression, while it involves no definite prophetic period, must certainly denote the continual and unrelaxed condition of God’s disfavor toward that people, as a people. No man can break through it to find a period of restoration and arbitrary future blessing for the Jews, aside from, or independent of, the regular provisions of the gospel, as set forth in the New Testament. The New Testament record is that Jews and Gentiles alike are subject to the dealings of God, on the same conditions. There is in Christ “neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female.” That is, none of these distinctions are to be taken into account in reference to judgments or blessings to come upon the people. Those who accept Christ, regardless of nationality or previous condition of servitude, will be owned by Him. And all who reject Him, whether Jews or Gentiles, will be rejected by Him. Why should the Jew be brought back to repeat his offense?—Ed.]
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
By F. Peabody
ELDER F. PEABODY.
CHRIST told His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go away; for if He went not away, the Holy Spirit would not come in the way He proposed to send Him, as the Paraclete, or Comforter, or, as the Revised Version says, a Helper. But if He went away, He would send Him unto them. This Helper was not to be the Father nor the Son, but “Another Comforter.” He was to be the representative of Christ on the earth, and instruct them in reference to all things that Christ had said unto them. Christ said to them, “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father.” Does not this mean that when this Helper was with them, it was the same as if Christ himself were with them? He went to the Father to send them the Comforter. Then was not this Helper to be the representative of Christ on the earth, His Vicar?
So long as Christ was within the veil in the earthly sanctuary, the congregation of Israel were uncertain of their acceptance with God. Hence the eager anxiety with which they awaited His coming out to them. Christ, as our great High Priest, has entered into the holy of holies of the heavenly sanctuary, by His own blood; and until He comes forth again at His second advent, how can we be assured that His sacrifice for us is accepted? We could not know unless He had sent out one from His presence to make known the fact to us. Hence the apostle Peter said, “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 2:33. Christ declared, “He [speaking of the Comforter] shall testify of me.” The apostles, who had been with Him, could testify of His earthly life. The Holy Spirit could testify of His heavenly life. Thus we see Jesus seated at the right hand of God, in unison with the Father, carrying on His work on earth by His representative, the Holy Spirit. Does some one say, “This puts Christ too far away”? On the other hand, it brings Him near.
This Holy Spirit is a revealer, counselor, and guide to the Church. This is the true Vicar of Christ. As one has said, “There is but one Holy See upon earth, that is, the seat of that One sent forth by the Father to guide into all truth, in the absence, in person, of the Son. No one but He can occupy that seat without the most daring blasphemy.” The Holy Spirit is the only one to minister in the government of the Church. “Take heed unto yourselves,” said Paul, “and to all the flock, in the which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops [Revised Version], to feed the Church of God,” etc. Acts 20:28. Every office through which the work of the Church is carried on, is appointed by the head, Christ, but given to the Holy Spirit to superintend to its completion. Has the professed Church of to-day confidence in Heaven’s representative? Does the great Head of the Church have a voice in the appointment of officers and leaders, or are they chosen by ballot or viva voce? Is it the one who is filled with the Holy Ghost, who is sought for? or is it the one who can “draw”? Look around and see those who profess to take Christ as their leader, holding out their hands, and beseeching help from earthly powers, when One vested with all power in heaven and earth stands ready to come in and take His place, and purify, and strengthen, and make ready the Church for the coming of Jesus Christ in glory.
The Holy Spirit fortifies for the right, and banishes the fear of opposition from men. Contrast Peter dodging the issue at Antioch (Gal. 2:11–13), with his holy boldness as recorded in Acts 4:8, and onward. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ‘Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel.’” Even the rulers of the people and the elders of the Church could not cause him to fear. Why?—Because he was filled with the Holy Ghost. With all boldness he and his companion, John, stood before the combined power of Church and State, and challenged them to decide whether it were right in the sight of God to hearken unto them rather than unto God. At which time would you follow his example—at Jerusalem or at Antioch?
In this dispensation the Holy Spirit is not simply to visit the people in various ways and in divers manners, but is to abide with the Church. A few days after the ascension of Christ, the looked-for promised Visitor, or Comforter, came, resting upon the apostles, in the form of tongues of fire, enabling them to communicate to the company there assembled in their own vernacular tongue. From that on, we see that, when the Holy Ghost was said to be in the laborer, he spoke with a power that moved hearts.
The Comforter was ever present when room was made for Him. At the council in Jerusalem His advice was ready, so they could write, “It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us.” When Paul and Silas would have labored in Asia, the Holy Ghost said No; when they would go into Bithynia, the Spirit suffered them not to go there. By a vision He told them where to go. Macedonia was the field then. Waiting hearts were there, and the Spirit knew it. At Philippi some were waiting. A jailer, whose heart could be reached, was in the city of Philippi. Though the Helper knew that stripes, and the stocks in the inner prison, awaited the servants of Heaven whom He was guiding, yet He knew also that these servants of the Lord were to be victors in the end.
Throughout their ministry the early disciples went forth in company with the mighty Helper. His work is here. He is clothed with the same power now as then. Is He depended upon now as then? Is His counsel sought as then? Alas! it is not. Yet we are admonished, time and again: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” John, while on the Isle of Patmos, says, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.” The One who lives and was dead was speaking then. While John listened, he was in the Spirit. A good condition while listening to the word of God! Almost the last words in the closing invitation as given in the Bible are that the Spirit, in connection with others, says, Come and take of the water of life freely.
THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.
By William Brickey
WILLIAM BRICKEY. (Kimball, Minn.)
THERE'S a battle to fight, and a crown to be won,
And no soldier may rest till his duty is done.
Though our life be the forfeit, we never will yield!
In defense of the truth let us die on the field.
We are armed for offensive and defensive strife,
And our sword in itself is a savor of life;
Like the knife of the surgeon, it cuts but to heal,
For our weapons are not carnal weapons of steel.
With the sword of the Spirit we'll vanquish the foe,
And proclaim the pure gospel wherever we go;
And that strange, paradoxical doctrine will spread,
That the sword giveth spirit and life to the dead.
S. O. JAMES
By S. O. James
THE thing we call sin is always repulsive in the abstract. Its deceptive nature constitutes its most dangerous feature, perhaps causing us to pronounce a thing good when it is not good. Otherwise, why are we so disgusted with sin in other folks, and not disgusted with it in ourselves? God says that all have sinned, and there is none good, no, not one.
S. O. JAMES
PREPARATORY WORK.
By Charles H. Bates
CHARLES H. BATES.
(Denver, Colo.)
“Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground? When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.” Isa. 28: 24–26.
The words quoted above are illustrated by every good tiller of the soil. The farmer goes out in the fall, plows and harrows the ground, until the soil is ready for the spring crop. In the spring he sows the seed, with the expectation of receiving an abundant harvest. The work of the previous fall was all preparatory work, and illustrates God’s plan of work with the human family at different times in the world’s history. The Lord never brings any judgment upon a nation or people without spending some time in preparatory work.
The case of Noah is to the point. One hundred and twenty years before the flood destroyed the wicked inhabitants of the earth, the Lord raised up Noah, “a preacher of righteousness,” to warn the world of its impending doom, thus giving the people ample time to prepare for, and thus escape, the general destruction that awaited them. But it finally came, and suddenly, too, when it did come.
Coming a little further down the stream of time, we notice the deliverance of the children of Israel. Forty years before the actual deliverance took place, Moses was chosen to lead God’s people, and was prepared by the Lord for this, the important work of his life.
There was much history made by the people of God during all those years, but the time finally came when Israel was delivered, and just as certainly as the people of God were delivered, their enemies were destroyed.
Take another example—that of Gideon, by whom the Lord chose to deliver the Israelites out of the hand of the Midianites. By a test of the fleece, the Lord first proved to Gideon that he was the man to lead out in the work. Judges 6: 37–40. He then told Gideon to have his men come up to the battle, and there assembled thirty-two thousand. The Lord said there were too many, and for all who were fearful and afraid to return, and twenty-two thousand went to their homes, thus leaving only ten thousand. But the Lord had still another test. He said, “Bring them down unto the water. . . . Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself.”
Many wonder at this test, but if we give it thought, it is quite plain. Those who were so unconcerned as to bow down on their knees to drink, instead of doing as the three hundred did, dipping the water up in their hands with their eyes on the enemy, would not be the men to fight, so the Lord sent them to their tents; but the three hundred who dared not take their eyes off the enemy long enough to bow down to drink, were the ones chosen of God.
All this was preparatory work, but the time finally came when the Lord, by the hands of a few faithful men, delivered His people from their enemies.
The work of John the Baptist is another example, showing how God prepared the people of that time for the advent of His Son. The judgment alone will reveal the great and important work John the Baptist did in heralding to the world the coming of our Lord.
Coming down to our own time, what has the Lord done, and what is He still doing, to prepare a people for the greatest event that will ever take place on this earth—the second coming of Christ?
The work was begun in the sixteenth century under Luther, and it has moved steadily forward until nearly every country of this dark world has heard the joyful news of the soon return of our blessed Saviour.
But all this is preparatory work,—to prepare a people to stand in the great day of God; and how soon, with the present facilities for carrying the gospel, can the special message of the third angel of Revelation 14 be carried to the uttermost parts of the earth? Christ will come, “but who may abide the day of His coming?” That day will come even as the flood came, even as the time finally came for the departure from Egypt, and as surely as the first advent of Christ to this earth.
Are we prepared for that great event? There will be only two classes living on the earth at that time—the wicked and the righteous. While the one are crying for rocks and mountains to fall on them (Rev. 6: 16), the other will joyfully exclaim, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.” Isa. 25: 9.
“Then shall the King say, . . . Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matt. 25: 34.
OUR CHILDREN.
By Aunt Rebecca
AUNT REBECCA.
“Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord.” Ps. 127: 3. “Children’s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.” Prov. 17: 6. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. . . . And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Eph. 6: 1-4.
God has blessed us richly in giving us children. Shall we do our part by giving them the education the Lord has commanded us to give them? Read Deut. 6: 6, 7. The true object of education is to restore the image of God in the soul.
God is calling for our children; He wishes them to be educated to carry forth the last warning message. Shall we help them to go forward? or shall we hinder their upward progress by our own slackness? Let the child know that you expect him to do a noble work for God. The Lord wants every child of tender age to be His child,—to be adopted into His family. Christ will make the children little missionaries. The whole current of their thoughts may be changed, so that sin will be a thing to be shunned.
It is surprising to see how little is done by parents to save their children. If parents realized their duty to their children, they would not scold nor fret at them. It is the especial work of the father and mother to teach their children with kindness and affection. God does not compel; you cannot compel the child to a better life.
I long to see parents imbued with love. I long to see the children doing their part because they love to do it, not because some angry word accompanies the command. Your own life will be the great power influencing their life, if you are true to principle,—in short, if your life is what it ought to be, your children will know it.
Look first to your own home for missionary work; make it a little heaven on earth. God has given you this opportunity to work for Him. Work as for your lives! Your work lies right at home—a fruitful field! God wants your children. In saving them, you save yourself. “Spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.”
Let us be true mothers and fathers in Israel, bringing the children into right paths, else the Lord will inquire, What have you done with my flock—my beautiful flock?
IDOLATRY
By M. E. Kellogg
M. E. KELLOGG.
(Coomer Station, N. Y.)
WHAT is the worship of the Virgin Mary by Catholics but idolatry? She was a human being at best; and, moreover, she is not living, but dead! Is not the worship of a dead human being the worst kind of idolatry? But do they worship her? Read the following from a Catholic youth’s paper—the Angelus:—
“The festival we celebrate to-day, dear children, was appointed by Pope Innocent XI, that on it the faithful should recommend to God, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the necessities of His Church, and return Him thanks for His gracious protection and numberless mercies. This festival dates its institution from the year 1683, when the Turks were defeated by the Christians, who placed all their confidence in Mary.
“The name of Mary is the most beautiful name, with the only exception of that of Jesus Christ himself, her divine Son. The holy Fathers tell us the name of Mary, when invoked in times of danger and temptation, is a most powerful weapon against the enemy of our soul. Mary signifies ‘Star of the sea;’ and well has our blessed lady been called by this beautiful title. We are, as it were, sailing upon the sea of this life, and constantly tossed about by the great waves and tempests of temptation, and constantly in danger of losing our soul. We need some one to console us during this time of trial, and some one to point out to us the true path, that we may not suffer shipwreck. Mary is the one on whom we can rely, and who will show us the way. The great St. Anselm tells us ‘that devotion to the name of Mary is a sure sign of predestination.’ This being the case, we should have a sincere devotion to that beautiful name, remembering that St. Bonaventure says, ‘It cannot be pronounced without benefit to him who pronounces it.’”
“Many a time during this school year you will have an opportunity to call upon the name of Mary, for at times you will meet with little difficulties in studying your lessons which will seem impossible to overcome; some lessons will appear so hard that you will feel you cannot master them. Stop for a moment and invoke that holy name of Mary, and you will find it easy to overcome these difficulties.”
Notice how much is said about Mary, and how little about Christ. A great victory was won over the Turks by Christians, “who placed all their confidence in Mary”! Then of course they had no confidence in Christ. But the apostle Peter calls attention to our privilege of casting all our care upon Him (not her); for He careth for us. 1 Peter 5: 7.
We surely need some one to console us during trials, and are we not taught in the Word that Christ was made flesh that He might be like us? “For in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Heb. 2: 8. After the reference to Mary in John 19: 25–27, where Christ, dying upon the cross, committed her to the care of John, she is not mentioned by name again in the Scriptures. Neither Paul, Peter, James, nor Jude in their letters make the least suggestion that she was deserving of worship, or that through her mediation any good could come to any one. Had they written like the Catholics of to-day, there would be ten references to Mary in their writings where there is one to Christ. The Catholics have turned from Christ, and like the heathen of whom Paul wrote, they have “changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” Rom. 1: 25.
He Hath Made Us Accepted in the Beloved
“He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.”
CANNOT SHUT THEIR EYES TO IT.
By Editor
Among the prophecies regarding the nature of the closing hours of time, there are many that predict a sad decrease in spirituality among the professed people of God as we draw near the end. But when the evidences of spiritual declension appear in the Church, and we call attention to them as evidences that we have reached the last days, and the end is at hand, many are wont to meet it with the self-complacent reply, “Oh, you are pessimists! You are glad to get some charge against the churches. It is not as bad as you say.” But it is not what “we say” that is put in as evidence. We do not manufacture any testimony to show the low state of spirituality in the land. We allow the parties concerned to bear their own evidence; and when they testify to facts which prove the prophecy, though they may not perceive that it is against themselves, we deem it unbiased evidence which we have a right to use to show that the word of the Lord is surely coming to pass, and the great day of the divine promises is at hand. We have testimony to-day from another, whose position would lead him to speak cautiously, and as favorably to the Church as possible, on this point. A dispatch to the Morning Inquirer of this city, dated Des Moines, Iowa, June 3, 1901, says:—
Prof. E. J. Wolf, of Gettysburg, Pa., created a sensation in the Lutheran synod, Monday, by his report on the condition of the Church, saying there was a woeful lack of spirituality and godliness in the denomination, that the fire of piety burned low. He said:—
“Our church has suffered very seriously from defective government; and as long as loud voices are heard for individualism and unbridled liberty, as long as the general good must be subordinated to the rights of private judgment, our progress must halt, and our institutions languish. The love of many for the Church has grown cold. There is no disguising the present laxity and barrenness, the low estate of piety among us. The scramble for dollars leaves little time for the care of souls.”
As the eye of the reader rests upon these words, many passages of Scripture will flash upon the mind, especially that prediction of the general waning away of spirituality, while the closing messages of the gospel are being given to a deceived and drowsy world. Rev. 14: 8; 18: 1-5. And when one reads in this extract, “The love of many for the Church has grown cold,” he thinks at once of Matt. 24: 12: “And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.” Is it not doing so now? After that, verse 14 only remains: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” The next paragraph, which closes the dispatch, might be headed,—
WILL NOT RECEIVE THE TESTIMONY.
Dr. A. H. Studebaker, of Brooklyn, denounced the report as the most disgraceful jeremiad he had ever heard, said it did not in any manner reflect the spirit or belief of the synod, and after a hot debate it was referred back to the committee for abridgment, revision, and rewriting, leaving out the offensive parts.
It is, perhaps, not to be wondered at that they are not willing to admit the charges; but does denouncing the report as a “disgraceful jeremiad” alter the facts in the case, which are not disputed? We are not anxious to get anything against the churches, but rather try to cultivate that charity which Paul says “rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” 1 Cor. 13: 6. Instead of falling away in spirituality, we would that the churches in all sections would obey the word of the Lord, given in Lev. 19: 30: “Ye shall keep my Sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord.”
NO REPENTANCE IN HELL.
This declaration, “There is no repentance in hell,” is made by a prominent writer, to clinch the sentiment that afflictions make good men better, but bad men worse. And the Bible seems to support the thought. At least, we read of men’s actions, under the infliction of the seven last plagues: “And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the Beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores [the sores being those that result from the first plague. Rev. 16: 1, 2], and repented not of their deeds.” Under the last plague, the same thing may be inferred, though it is not stated. It says this: “And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail.” Verse 21. This leads one to say, “Wrath converts no man; it is grace that saves.” Christ speaks of a time of suffering without repentance: “There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.” Luke 13: 28. Suffering which causes weeping and gnashing of teeth would certainly suggest repentance, if repentance was at that time possible. But we reach a time before Christ comes when probation is ended, and repentance is impossible: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: . . . and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. . . . And, behold, I come quickly.” Rev. 22: 11, 12. This period of the end of probation must begin with the pouring out of the plagues; for there, while cursing God for their pains, they repent not. Reader, if there is anything in your character, or life, that calls for repentance, attend to it now, while the door is open, and not put it off till the mind is so overwhelmed at the prospect of losing heaven, and so racked with remorse, that there will be neither power nor inclination to divert attention from present calamities to the thought, How often I have been invited to heaven, and how easily I might have escaped death; but now it is too late; and this uncoupled with any desire to turn and live. It is an awful thought that men may get into a condition in which God’s judgments lead them to blaspheme, as in case of the hail; and the heavier the judgment, the more they blaspheme.
There are two kinds of employment in the future state: in heaven, the righteous praise; in the day of the Lord, the wicked blaspheme. Which do you choose?