Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 32. (6/29/1916)

Review and Herald

Jun 29, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 29, 1916

The Use of Suffering

By Ellen G. White

BLESSED are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” The mourning here brought to view is true heart sorrow for sin. . . . The Saviour’s words have a message of comfort to those also who are suffering affliction or bereavement. Our sorrows do not spring out of the ground. God “doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.” When he permits trials and afflictions, it is “for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.” If received in faith, the trial that seems so bitter and hard to bear will prove a blessing. The cruel blow that blights the joys of earth will be the means of turning our eyes to heaven. How many there are who would never have known Jesus had not sorrow led them to seek comfort in him! The trials of life are God’s workmen, to remove the impurities and roughness from our character. Their hewing, squaring, and chiseling, their burnishing and polishing, is a painful process, it is hard to be pressed down to the grinding wheel. But the stone is brought forth prepared to fill its place in the heavenly temple. Upon no useless material does the Master bestow such careful, thorough work. Only his precious stones are polished after the similitude of a palace.—Mrs. E. G. White, in “Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing,” pp. 22-24.

Statement of Health Principles

Adopted by the Medical Council at Madison, Wis.

At the recent medical convention held at Madison, Wis., the question was raised as to what constitutes healthful living. This question called out considerable discussion. As a result a representative committee was appointed to give specific study to the subject, and make a statement of health principles. This the committee did, with the result that the following statement was adopted by the representatives of the medical work assembled on that occasion:—

“The gospel ‘is the power of God unto salvation.’ It is designed to restore the image of God in man. By it poor lost humanity is to be transformed mentally and physically into the divine similitude. The apostle enjoins the believers to lay aside all ‘filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ The body of the child of God is declared to be the Lord’s temple, and the believer is admonished so to use that temple that it shall not be defiled; ‘to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.’”

“So broad and detailed is the scope of the religion of Christ that the apostle exhorts us, ‘Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.’ That the principles of health and temperance constitute an important part of the gospel reform which we as a denomination are carrying forward, we have definite instruction. The servant of the Lord says:—

“The health reform, I was shown, is a part of the third angel’s message, and is just as closely connected with it as are the arm and hand with the human body.”—‘Testimonies for the Church,’ Vol. I, p. 486. “Its place is among those subjects which set forth the preparatory work to meet the events brought to view by the message; among these it is prominent.”—Id., p. 559.

“And as to the reason why these principles should be observed, she states:—

“‘Let it be ever kept before the mind that the great object of hygienic reform is to secure the highest possible development of mind and soul and body.’—‘Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene,’ p. 120. ‘God requires all who believe the truth to make special, persevering efforts to place themselves in the best possible condition of bodily health, for a solemn and important work is before us.’—‘Testimonies for the Church,’ Vol. I, p. 619.”

“We must conclude, therefore, from these statements from both the Bible and the Testimonies, and also from the deductions of science, that the question of healthful living is not confined to any detail of human experience, but embraces every principle and every detail which has to do with man’s perfect mental, moral, and physical development.

“We therefore urge that our brethren and sisters take this broad view of the question, that they study it in its general bearing and broad relations, and seek to apply its principles in detail to their own individual experience. Among the applications of these principles which need special emphasis, we might enumerate the following:—

“1. The control of appetites and passions; self-control instead of self-indulgence.

“2. The use of wholesome and nourishing foods, containing the necessary food elements in proper proportion.

“3. Abstinence from the use of alcohol and tobacco, tea and coffee, flesh meats, rich and highly seasoned foods, irritating spices and condiments.

“4. The limited use of sugar and pastry foods.

“5. Simplicity in variety and amount, and in scientific combination and preparation of foods.

“6. Proper clothing of the body as relates to warmth, protection, simplicity, and modesty, avoiding constrictions and improperly adjusted weights.

“7. Sufficient and appropriate exercise, especially for those whose work is sedentary.

“8. Abstinence from the use of poisonous drugs, above all, avoiding the patent medicine habit; and an intelligent application of the principles of rational treatment, as represented in the proper use of water, air, food, electricity, massage, and other natural physiological stimuli and therapeutics.

“9. Strict cleanliness of person and premises.

“10. Proper and sufficient hours of sleep and relaxation.

“11. Proper and sufficient ventilation of churches, schools, dwelling houses, and especially sleeping-rooms.

“12. Activity in the warfare against flies, mosquitoes, and all other disease-producing and disease-carrying insects.”

Scientific Testimony to the Value of Vegetarianism

FROM a recent number of the Daily Express (London) we quote the following statement made by thirteen British physicians regarding the value of vegetarianism as a diet for mankind:—

“We, the undersigned medical men, having carefully considered the subject of vegetarianism in its scientific aspects, and having put its principles to the practical test of experience, hereby record our emphatic opinion that not only is the practice based on a truly scientific foundation, but that it is conducive to the best physical conditions of human life.

“The diet of vegetarianism provides all the constituents necessary to the building up of the human body, and those constituents, as proved, not by the misleading tests of the chemical and physical laboratory, but by the experience of numerous persons living under normal conditions, are at least as digestible and as assimilable as the corresponding substances obtained from flesh.

“We therefore claim vegetarianism to be scientifically a sound and satisfactory system of dietetics.

“Moreover, considering the liability of cattle and other animals to ailments and diseases of various kinds, and the pure character of food obtained from vegetarian sources, we are convinced that abstinence from flesh food is not only more conducive to health, but from an esthetic point of view, is incomparably superior.

“ROBERT BELL, M. D. “GEORGE BLACK, M. D., Edin. “A. J. H. CRESPI, M. R. C. S. “H. H. S. DORMAN, M. D. “ALBERT GRESSWELL, M. A., M. D. “WALTER R. HADWEN, M. D., L. R. C. P., M. R. C. S. “J. STENSON HOOKER, M. D. “AUGUSTUS JOHNSTON, M. B., M.R.C.S. “H. VALENTINE KNAGGS, M. R. C. S., L. R. C. P. “ALFRED POLSEN, M. D. “ROBERT H. PERKS, M. D., F. R. C. S. “JOHN READ, M. B., C. M. “GEORGE B. WATTERS, M. D.”

The Unseemliness of Religious Strife

“THERE is always something unseemly in strife. Religious strife is more unseemly than strife in other spheres of activity. The whole spirit of the Christian religion prompts its followers to be forbearing, to consider one another, to be forgiving, for ‘the servant of the Lord must not strive.’ Even when we are called to stand with courageous fortitude for the principles of our religion, we can stand with kindly sympathy, and manifest the same spirit of love that filled the heart of the Saviour when he prayed for his enemies. ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’”

Love of Instruction

“Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.”

“A Statement of Health Principles”

By Frank M. Wilcox

WE have had considerable to say of late in these columns regarding the question of healthful living, and had not expected so soon again to revert to the subject. We feel, however, that we should call attention to the statement of health principles unanimously adopted by the representatives of our medical work in the medical council at Madison, Wis., as given on page 2 of this number.

This is perhaps one of the most comprehensive statements of the kind ever adopted by any similar body. It is broad in its scope and generous in its spirit. It recognizes the fact that the question of healthful living is not confined to any one detail, but that it “embraces every principle and every detail which has to do with man's perfect mental, moral, and physical development,” and we unite with the recommendation contained in the statement, that our brethren and sisters endeavor to take this broad view of the question.

The human mind is naturally inclined to extreme positions, and many have taken a one-sided view of this question. Some have made an issue on the subject of dress; others have made fresh air the subject of their propaganda; still others have felt that health reform centers on the question of vegetarianism, or the nonuse of butter, or the use of foods in their natural state, or some other detail. But we have usually found that those who have taken some one point and placed special emphasis on that, have been inclined to neglect in their own experience the observance of other principles quite as necessary.

We well remember, years ago, a good sister, now at rest, who used to introduce her daughter, a plump and well-nourished girl, to the visiting ministers on the camp ground, with the remark, “See what health reform has done for my daughter,”; but the condition of this sister's teeth and her offensive breath showed that she had failed to recognize the principles of health reform as applying to these defects in her own physical condition.

We recall another good sister who considered it a mortal sin for a brother in the same church to drink tea and coffee, while she herself, although suffering from dyspepsia in an aggravated form, made fried doughnuts her chief article of diet. She saw truly that tea and coffee were not suitable beverages to drink, but she was quite blind to the need of a change in her diet in order to remedy her condition.

We met some years ago a good brother whose standard of health reform was abstinence from the use of dairy butter, but the constant grime on hands and face and neck and ears, and the offensive odor from his body, showed that he failed to appreciate the value of personal cleanliness.

We have attended general meetings whose managers prided themselves on the excellent and healthful diet furnished the delegates, but who were utterly oblivious to the great swarms of flies which infested kitchen and dining-room, spreading filth and disease over every food and receptacle.

And we have known many who stood radically and properly for some principle of healthful living, from whose homes and living-rooms came such foul air and offensive odors as to indicate that they had never given the question of proper ventilation due consideration.

Hence we believe that there is need of a broad and comprehensive view of the question of healthful living. We should realize that it has to do not alone with diet, although that constitutes a very important part of it; not alone with the question of fresh air, or proper bathing, or healthful dress; but that it embraces in its scope everything which concerns the health and upbuilding of the physical powers.

Let us seek to avoid cherishing narrow views on this question, but on the other hand let us be careful not to become so liberal that we discount this great and important question in its entirety, or even in its details. We are in greater danger of doing this than of erring on the side of radicalism. Indeed, it may be safely said that the indifference or active opposition on the part of many in the church to this great subject is a large contributing factor to the extreme position which has been taken by others.

We need to avoid both extremes. We need to keep in the middle of the road, and not veer to one side or the other. Indifference and opposition will make us the enemies of that which constitutes a part of the message of truth intrusted to us. Radicalism will inflict only wounds and bruises on the cause which its advocates are endeavoring to promote. We need a conscientiousness which will lead us to apply to our own individual needs the principles of truth contained in this great subject. We need a generosity which will keep us from narrowly judging our brethren because they do not conform their lives to our conceptions. We need a missionary spirit which will lead us properly and consistently to exemplify in our living and teaching the value of these principles. This threefold spirit constitutes Christianity as applied to our relationship to the subject of health reform.

F. M. W.

Historical Evidences

By L. L. C.

It is well for us sometimes to consider what are the historical evidences of the life and death of Christ. Recently in one of our colleges a student who had been taking a class in evidences of Christianity, expressed to a friend his appreciation of the help he had received from it, saying that he felt that the study of that subject had prepared him as much for carrying the gospel to the heathen with convincing power as had any line of study in his whole course. Sometimes in heathen lands our workers need this information in order to meet the honest inquiry of interested natives.

Let us briefly consider a few evidences which show that Christ really lived. To the Christian with a living Christian experience, the greatest unanswerable proof of the truth of Christianity and of the actual reality of Christ is his own experience in the things of God. He can no more doubt the actual existence of his heavenly Friend than he can doubt the existence of an earthly friend with whom he has held sweet communion.

Outside of the proof of personal experience we have two sources to prove the historicity of Christ, the Biblical and

the non-Biblical. The non-Biblical is comparatively scanty and of little value. This is exactly as would be expected; for Christ came not as a world character, but as a humble man of a despised race. His family was poor, and there was nothing in his earthly environment to lead any pagan historian to anticipate the world influence that his teaching was to bring. Tacitus, however, the Roman historian, mentions the horrible torments to which Nero subjected the Christians who were the followers of the Man put to death by Pontius Pilate under the reign of Tiberius. See Annals, book 15, chap. 44. Pliny the Younger, in a letter to the emperor Trajan (A. D. 61-115), consults with the emperor as to how to deal with the Christians who were living in the province of Bithynia, of which Pliny was governor at that time. Pliny does not speak of the Christians as ordinary criminals, and writes that he has treated them with the greatest leniency. He says that he has never sought out Christians, but when they were denounced to him he has investigated, and if they were willing to offer incense to the Roman gods he never punished them. Of course if they refused, they would have to be punished. The emperor, in answer to this letter, approves the course which the governor had taken. See Pliny’s Epistles, book 10, Nos. 96, 97.

There are many other historical references to Christians and Christianity, but the most important of the non-Biblical references is a passage in Josephus. The words indicating a belief in Jesus as the Christ are probably interpolations, but the passage is valuable as non-Biblical evidence of the historic character of the life and death of Jesus:—

“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”—“Antiquities of the Jews,” b. 18, ch. 3, par. 3; “The Works of Josephus,” p. 535 (The John C. Winston Company edition, Philadelphia).

The most important evidences, however, are found in the Bible. In the four Gospels, even in the eyes of the critics, we have three, if not four, independent witnesses of Christ. The proof that these witnesses are independent is seen in the fact that their accounts differ in details. In any law court where three or four witnesses should give testimony which differed sufficiently as to detail to show that each was independent of the other, but all testified to the same general fact, the case would be considered conclusively proved.

In addition to these four Gospels, we have the four epistles of Paul,—Romans, Galatians, First and Second Corinthians. The authenticity of these Pauline epistles has never been assailed by critics.

Paul’s witness is of a very striking kind, for he was a highly cultured Jew who had been a strenuous opponent of Christianity on the ground that Jesus was not the true Messiah, not on the ground that he had not lived.

These four epistles were all written within twenty-five years of the public ministry and death of Christ, of which they speak. Some of the important facts of Christ’s life to which Paul makes reference are his Davidic descent (Rom. 1:3, 4), his crucifixion (Gal. 3:13), the institution of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:2, 26), and his burial and resurrection (1 Cor. 15:4-7).

The witness of Paul, together with the witness of the four Gospels, is certainly sufficient to prove not only Christ’s existence, but also his divine mission, to any who read and study them with open mind. This has been repeatedly proved to be the case even among the heathen. There is something about these Scriptural evidences which, when read, grips one with a sense of wonder, and there springs up in the heart a desire to have the Christ which they reveal as one’s personal Saviour. L. L. C.

Observations and Reflections in Travel

By G. B. T.

It is impossible, in traveling from place to place, not to be impressed with the marvelous progress, inventive genius, and material resources of this age. Man, with all his limitations caused by sin, has been able to accomplish much. This is seen perhaps as fully in the means of locomotion as in any other way. When we stop to compare the ease, comfort, and speed with which a transcontinental trip is made at the present time with the difficulties, discomforts, and tediousness of the days of prairie schooners, stage coaches, and caravans of pack mules, the contrast appears very great. A few hours now suffice to cover what then required days. In the early days of the message, brethren like Elder J. N. Loughborough and others, in their efforts to establish the work on the Pacific Coast, must either use these means of travel, or take the longer route across the Isthmus of Panama.

Men are indeed running to and fro, by both land and sea. All these means of rapid traveling are to be used in quickly carrying the message over all the world, where doors standing ajar are inviting the herald of the gospel to enter.

Leaving Washington on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for the West, as I had done many times before, I was impressed anew with the work which yet lies before us in the North American Division Conference, being, as it is, the base of supplies for strengthening the work in the regions beyond. Villages, towns, and cities are found all the way along the route. The spiritual need of Pittsburgh appeals to one, as well as of the populous centers in Ohio and Indiana. Then this is but one line of travel. Think of the teeming millions along all the other lines of travel. The message must be more fully preached in all these places.

The next morning finds one in Chicago, the second city in the United States, and fourth, I believe, in the world in population. Here is a city entered by about twenty-four important lines of railroad, having universities and numerous other educational institutions, parks, boulevards, libraries, sky-scraper office buildings, and everything that goes with a great city of more than 2,000,000 inhabitants.

Sin is here, to be sure, but no more so than in other large cities. There are honest souls here also. The message has made a good beginning in this city, and churches have been established. We have consecrated, sacrificing workers here, who are laboring to the limit of their endurance to push forward the work. But when one walks the crowded thoroughfares and thinks of the number of tongues, and of the different nationalities represented, and of the shortness of time, the need of a great spiritual awakening and Pentecostal power, grips the heart.

Leaving Chicago over the Santa Fé Railroad, one passes through such centers of population as Joliet, Streator, and Galesburg, and the next morning finds himself in Kansas City, where are gathered a half-million persons. Here is found one of the greatest centers of travel in the Middle West. Sixteen trunk lines of railroad, besides a number of electric lines, center here. A new railway station costing about $6,000,000 has been recently opened. Here, too, our work has been established, and faithful workers are doing their utmost to win other souls. But again a sense of the needs of these vast centers of population weighs heavily upon the heart, and as we reflect on the overshadowing doom awaiting these places, we desire to be alone with God and pray for a real soul-winning burden to rest upon his remnant people.

Leaving Kansas City, the State of Kansas is traversed. On riding through

this State, where the blessings of prohibition have been enjoyed for years, one is greatly impressed with the fact that here are thousands of children and young people who have never seen a saloon.

But on and on we pass, through hundreds of miles of prosperous, populous country waiting for God's message to be given more fully. How much longer must God's work be delayed by indifference and lack of whole-hearted consecration? Passing on into New Mexico and Arizona, we see remnants of the aboriginal tribes of America into whose pagan mind the gospel seems to shine but dimly. We are impressed with the need of doing something to enlighten these people, for some of every tribe and tongue will stand on Mount Zion.

From here we pass into California. Nowhere in the world is found a more progressive class of people than in this State, so favored with a delightful climate and abundant material resources. Here are found the famous big trees. If there is such a thing as “tongues in trees,” behold it here. Although seventy years make up the allotted span of human life, these trees are said to have been in existence when Pharaoh's host perished in the Red Sea, or even before the building of the pyramids in Egypt was conceived. Some of these fallen monarchs of the forest, said to have lain for four centuries, are found to be sound. But while so vast in their proportions, the seeds from which they sprang were thin and slight, well illustrating the potency of life.

Here also our work has been firmly established, and is making encouraging growth each year. There are about ten thousand Sabbath keepers in the State, and some of our strongest institutions. I am now at Hanford, attending the Central California Conference camp meeting. The camp is large and well arranged, and a very earnest spirit prevails. The outlook is excellent for a good meeting.

This is only one of six conferences which have been organized in this great commonwealth to foster and develop the work in its borders. G. B. T.

No King but Jesus

By J. S. Washburn

J. S. WASHBURN

The angel Gabriel, in his annunciation of the birth of Jesus, said to Mary, “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

By divine right Jesus is the only king. If man had never fallen, he would have known no king, no ruler, but the Lord. For “the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting King.” There could have been no time or place for any other king. “Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isa. 9:6, 7.

As a result of sin, and because of man's rebellion, God permits earthly governments and human rulers, as better than anarchy. When Pilate told Jesus that he had power to release or to crucify him, Jesus answered, “Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.” John 19:11. But behind Pilate was Satan, the “god of this world,” “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” So even Satan's rule is permitted for a time, simply because man sold himself and all he had to Satan, and thus came under his cruel power. This is permitted only temporarily, that before the universe it may be demonstrated that no fallen creature has the power or right to reign in the kingdom of the Creator, whose scepter is righteousness and whose dominion is love.

Satan is represented as a roaring lion going about seeking whom he may devour. In the prophetic visions of Daniel and John, Babylon is represented by this very same cruel destroyer, and succeeding earthly kingdoms by other fierce wild beasts less noble than the lion, down to the very serpent, or dragon, another symbol of Satan. Since man sold himself as a slave to Satan's cruel tyranny, which ends only and always in ruin and death, he has been unable to control himself, much less to reign over other men. Thus only failure and ruin can be the end of any earthly government that has been or can be on earth. The principle of war, by which every government is sustained, is simply suicide in the end. “They that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”

“By a prophet [not a king] the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.” Hosea 12:13. A prophet simply speaks for God, the true King. But after a time, Israel, the church of God, demanded a king, “that we also may be like all the nations [heathen]; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” Though solemnly warned of God, his people started down the high road to ruin, which, after many danger signals by the way, ended in the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the captivity in Babylon. The king, who was to fight their battles, could in the end only lead them to utter ruin. This supposed defense was seen to be only weakness, failure, and loss.

Shall we fail to learn the lesson,—“Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord”? The Christian fights by submission, by suffering. God forbid that we should trust or glory in aught but the cross of Christ. We can conquer only by love; by giving life, not taking it. Hear the Lord's pathetic words of yearning sorrow: “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. I will be thy King: where is any other that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took him away in my wrath.” Hosea 3:9-11.

When the King came whose right it is, and was born in the manger in Bethlehem, the angel choir sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Thus was announced the advent of the humble Prince of Peace. Thus with singing and joy the heralds of the little Christ-child proclaimed

the earthly birth of the King of love, whose kingdom is the universe and whose reign is everlasting. But “his own,” to whom he came so gently, so lovingly, refused him, and at the last cried out, “Away with him, crucify him!” The blind, stubborn demand of Israel—Not God, but a man shall be our king—was the seed; the hoarse cry of madmen thirsting for the blood of the Prince of life—“We have no king but Caesar”—was the bitter fruit.

Who is our king? Shall not our answer be, We have no king but Jesus? Oh, may he reign in our life now, saving us to the uttermost!

Philadelphia, Pa.

Doing the Duty Nearest Us

“WAITING to do some great thing often prevents us from doing the important little thing that is just at our hand. Development of character comes from doing the small things that are clearly manifested as duties, taking them up one by one as they are presented to us. If we do the duty nearest to us, other and more important ones will speedily appear.”

Daily Prayers for Daily Cares

DAILY prayers are the best remedy for daily cares.—Western Recorder.

A Mighty Hunter

By Delwin Rees Buckner

DELWIN REES BUCKNER

LIKE vivid picture hieroglyphics, writ Upon the pale papyrus of the skies, The eagles may be seen, their eager eyes Fast focused on an open, ice-paved pit, Its snowy-breasted shadows lately lit By glowing orbs, whose fading light now dies Within the lion's twitching frame, the prize Of him, who, happy, stoops to handle it.

Ere brave Benaiah broke the brutal heart, How must the two have battled, face to face, Upon the frozen flake floor of the den, Which deed, with more in which he had a part, Obtained for him an honorable place Among the chief of David's mighty men.

Solis, Argentina.

“As He Is”

By T. E. BOWEN

T. E. BOWEN

Wonderful statements appear in the Word of God, most sublime truths are given, which we are very liable to pass over without appreciating their value. While we shall never know their unfathomable depths, yet they are for us, God's most sacred heritage bequeathed to us.

Writing to his “little children” in the faith, as he neared the end of his earthly pilgrimage, the beloved disciple John penned these words: “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.” 1 John 4:16-21.

True love among the believers was the evidence in the apostles' day that men and women had been adopted into the family of God—were separated from the world and had become sons and daughters of God. This unity and love for one another was the evidence to the world, as well as to themselves, that they had been born again, had become new creatures in Christ Jesus. And all this that was true back there, that was evidence then, is true today, and is evidence to us that these same transformations are taking place or have taken place in our lives.

One expression dropped into this scripture stands out with peculiar luster. It helps us to get a glimpse of the glory surrounding this mountain peak of perfection of character, which God's children are to attain. It is this: “Because as he is, so are we in this world.”

These few simple words unfold to us wonderful possibilities as to our attainment of character while here in this world. At first it seems too much to believe. John wrote this sentence long after the time when with his own eyes he watched his Lord go up into heaven. “As he is,” are his words, not as he was. No, it is “as he is.” This must mean, therefore, as Christ now is, up there in his ministry for us, so are we to be in this world.

The thought for us must be that as Christ in his work up there is perfect in love, blameless in his ministry of love, so are we to be as perfect in this same love while we in our sphere minister to others here in this world. As in heaven Christ's heart is filled with the love of his Father, so on earth our hearts are to overflow with Christ's love for others. “As he is, so are we in this world.”

What a revelation this is to us of the possibilities held out to us in our earthly service! “As he is,” takes on the form of a promise, pledging to us the bestowal of Jesus' love, as in sincerity of soul we seek for his indwelling presence that makes our lives actually fragrant with his unselfish love, like unto his own as he ministers in heaven.

We are commanded to love one another as he loved us while he was here. And when we do this, “as he is [now, for he is the “same Jesus” up there], so are we in this world.”

In this “day of judgment,” this time in which we now live, when Jesus in heaven is going over the record of men's lives, surely we need to have our love made perfect,—a love that casts out all fear, all hatred, all envy, and all evil speaking from our hearts forever. And this can be done only as the love of Christ fills the soul, and the words are fulfilled in us, “As he is, so are we in this world.” This being true, the way is prepared for the fulfilment of this other wonderful statement, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Takoma Park, D. C.

The Christian’s Promise of Peace

By William Covert

WILLIAM COVERT

There is a peace of mind for the child of God so sweet that words cannot express the degree of its sweetness. Money cannot buy it, because no commercial figures can indicate its worth.

Peter, in making a verbal effort to describe this peace, said it is “unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:8. Paul, writing of its heart-keeping power through Christ Jesus, declares it passes all understanding. Phil. 4:7. A Hebrew seer, in telling of the divine consolations, said, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isa. 26:3.

The thoughts of the believer should be so riveted to the eternal promises that there can be no place found for separation. The peace is perfect because the trusting is without a doubt. He that doubts, breaks connection with the promise and so his trusting comes to naught and his peace of mind is gone.

When Christ was giving consolation to his disciples regarding his departure to heaven, and their hearts were troubled because he was going away, he said he would give his peace to them and leave it with them. This wonderful peace has in it the Holy Spirit’s comfort, which contains blessings even greater than Christ’s bodily presence. John 14:27; 16:6, 7.

The promised peace comes into the heart of the believer with the gift of the Holy Spirit. This holy peace takes possession of the human mind when it yields all to God, and this yielding we call conversion. Perhaps the reader remembers the rejoicing which filled his mind when first he gave his whole being into the keeping of the Lord. If so, he can, with Philip Doddridge, say,—

“’Tis done, the great transaction’s done; I am my Lord’s, and he is mine; He drew me, and I followed on, Charmed to confess the voice divine.”

There is a holy confidence which fills the mind with joy and peace by the power of the Holy Ghost in believing (Rom. 15:13), and we are admonished to “hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” Heb. 3:6.

God has an ideal plan for the Christian life, which he would be pleased to have followed by all. And this plan was expressed by a prophet in the following words: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jer. 29:11. The foregoing was sent to Israel while they were captives in Babylon, but it is applicable to us now. The Lord’s thoughts toward us are thoughts of peace, for he ever seeks our greatest good, and desires that “we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” Shall we do it?

Aurora, Ill.

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