Earlier text: THE STATESMAN ARTICLESStability a Characteristic of our Work.
By George J. Butler
We often hear it remarked in reference to the religious movement in which we are engaged. Oh! this will all blow over in a little while, or something similar to it, as though this work lacked stability. Now we are free to admit that permanence and strength are good evidences of vitality and of the truthfulness of any position. And no doubt we can tell very much about a cause, and whether it is worthy of our confidence, by first ascertaining whether it is based upon such principles as evidence, strength, and durability, or whether fluctuation and change characterize its growth and existence. Truth is eternal. Its pillars are firm as the everlasting hills. But error is ever changeable in form, even though hoary with age. We have no objection to being tested by this standard. If this cause has merely exhibited a mushroom growth, with nothing substantial about it, then nobody should link his eternal destiny to it. If our positions upon points of faith have ever been changing like the shifting sand, this would be a suspicious circumstance. If our efforts have been mainly to get up something sensational in character, that would catch the passing popular breeze, and then to drop it for something else of a similar nature; then we are unworthy of confidence. This is an age of the world when there are plenty of such efforts as I have mentioned. One can hardly turn his eye without seeing them. But those are not characteristic of truth, or of God's work, but rather of man-made theories, pushed forward by mere human agencies. God's work starts out perhaps in the greatest unpopularity, when it seems like certain ruin of reputation or life to be identified with the movement. Battling with hydraheaded wrong and error, fighting its way, inch by inch, against stubborn opposition, it stands at last justified before the world as founded upon God's eternal truth. It lays its plans, not to catch the passing breath of popular favor, but because they are right and according to sound principle and policy, regardless of what men may say about them. This battle has been fought over and over in the world. And it is in this school where the world's real heroes are. They are not made as the children of fortune, sharing her favor, but ever trained in the school of adversity and discouragement. After success has crowned their efforts, enough can always be found to shout their praises; but very few to share their labors when the battle is hottest. Every great movement of reform from the darkness of heathenism and papacy has witnessed the repetition of this struggle. Truth starts out unpopular. We claim to be engaged in a work of real reform from the darkness of papal apostasy. The great work of reformation of the last few centuries has shed light in many directions. And yet there is error to meet, and its chains must be broken before Christ's church shall stand without spot or wrinkle, prepared for his coming, full and complete as the church he left when he ascended on high. We claim further that there has never been a religious movement more free from the merely sensational and fluctuating, than the one in which we are engaged. For some twenty-five years this movement has been in progress, meeting the united opposition of the leading churches of our land, and many times the most bitter and prejudiced statements concerning it. Its leading positions are all unpopular. The advent of the Saviour near has been a very unpopular position ever since the great disappointment of 1844. Our views on the life and death question have the popular sentiment of the religious world to contend against. While the seventh-day Sabbath arouses more opposition perhaps on account of its inconvenience than either of the others. And other views of less prominence are equally unpopular. There is nothing captivating to the popular heart about them. They tend to cut every one right off from those things that are esteemed highly by the world-loving throng. And yet this movement has gained strength every year in spite of this, and of a thousand other difficulties unknown to the outside world. We claim that there is no other religious movement in our world better prepared to meet opposition than this. We are a thoroughly organized people, and our organization is not based upon mere appearances, but upon a solid foundation. Having struggled against all kinds of influences, within and without, and being now a unit, speaking the same thing from ocean to ocean, it is not a very easy thing to shake us to pieces. It has been tried many times and failed. Not a single theological position have our people, as a whole, ever accepted that they have been obliged to give up. How different from the course of every other people who have sailed under the same name. These positions are becoming brighter and clearer every day. This is a very gratifying feature of our work to those who have been toiling against opposition and opprobrium for years in the face of the whole religious world, to look back over a struggle of a quarter of a century's duration and see how God has kept us on the path of truth. It looks as though God's hand was leading out. No man can say that these positions which were taken in discouragement and apparent weakness, and great unpopularity, are not mightily stirring the public mind now in contrast with what seemed possible then. Openings are seen even this year as never before. Other nations and tongues are pleading for light on these points, and never had we greater encouragement to hope for good results. The means and institutions supporting this movement are also of the most stable character. We have a Publishing Association, commenced in weakness, now owning a capital of nearly $70,000, free from debt, and capable of flooding the land with our books, pamphlets, tracts, and periodicals. The founding and management of this has cost toil and energy, but it is a fixed fact, and one which argues strongly for future success. Our Tract and Missionary Societies in process of organization will be able to scatter our publications in every nook and corner of our land, and make all our members unite in one system. This is no ephemeral growth, gotten up for show, but something promising real work and real success. It will show, when fully completed, that we are in earnest to bring our views before all the people of our land. And what could otherwise be expected of a people who believe they have a message to test the world. We could not do otherwise and be consistent. There is labor in getting such a system into working order as any one can imagine who considers that the organization extends, more or less, over all the northern States where we have churches. To bring all these into harmony of working is a great undertaking. With a tract fund of from $6000 to $10,000, and with the willing contributions of thousands more, success may be most reasonably expected. Our Systematic Benevolence for the support of our ministry is another institution peculiar to our people, and one greatly prized by us because it has been found to work so admirably. It consists of a system of giving in proportion to the amount of property, for the success of the cause, voluntarily adopted generally by our people. There is no compulsion about it. We find it abundant for the support of the object in view. Where can another people be found who have voluntarily adopted such a plan and practiced upon it for years? Cannot every one see that such a result as this is evidence of the strongest kind in favor of permanent prosperity. Surely such a result would not be expected of a work merely transient in its nature. So of the Health Reform and Institute. These have come up against the greatest obstacles, involving denial of appetite, one of the hardest things poor nature has to practice, and yet one of the most important for men's temporal well-being. The Bible is full of instruction upon the subject of Christian temperance. And the last days are pointed out as being perilous in the extreme on account of gluttony, or surfeiting, and drunkenness. Here is an important reform to be carried out in the last days, whether people believe it or not; for the church of God who are translated will not be found destroying themselves and benumbing their noblest powers of mind when ready for the touch of immortality. We are glad to say that this reform is making progress among us. It is laid in the very principles of nature, in living, and in treating the sick, and therefore not fluctuating or changeable. Our proposed school, in process of establishment, will also be founded in stability. Our main reason for its formation is that we may have a place where our young people may be taught with more thoroughness, and less of the artificial and showy, than in any place we can now find, and where those influences which poison the fountains of morality and religion may be counteracted. These reasons and the additional one of having a place where the important truths for this time may be taught are the great reasons we have for its establishment. We appeal to an intelligent public if in all these means which we are using there is anything of the merely sensational introduced. Are they not laid in common sense, in wisdom and stability? They are not designed for mere show and to captivate the passing popular favor. But they are just what an earnest people, with the fear of God before them, and the good-will of their fellow-men in their hearts, and a message of the greatest magnitude committed to them, would adopt to move the world. Fanatics do not pursue such a course, they do not create such institutions. And whatever people may think of the doctrines we teach, or of our ultimate motives in teaching them, it must be admitted that the means we are using for their promulgation and the principles we are acting upon, are stable, sensible, and consistent with truth. And the more our principles are examined and our theories investigated, with an unprejudiced mind, the more certainly will it be found that the doctrines and means are a part of one whole, well calculated to do the work we claim to be doing: the promulgation of a great system of truth calculated to test the world. Objections to the Sabbath Answered.
Old things are passed away, and all things have become new. Answer. Those who raise this objection seldom know where to find the text on which it is founded; they know there is something of the kind somewhere in the New Testament, and that is sufficient. So they apply it to the Sabbath question and thus ease their consciences. But it has not the slightest reference to the Sabbath or the law, as will be seen by reading it. 2 Cor. 5:17. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” When do old things pass away and all things become new? At the death of Christ? At the change from the old dispensation to the new? Oh! no; but when a man comes into Christ and becomes a new creature. That is when this change occurs and what this text refers to. Another text similar to this is found in Rev. 21:5. “Behold, I make all things new.” What does this refer to? Read the connection. Verse 1. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away,” &c. The passing away of the old earth and the introduction of the new earth is what John is discoursing about. All can see that in either of these passages it is simply a perversion of Scripture to wrest them from their connection and apply them to the Sabbath or the law, to which they have not the slightest reference. The law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but after faith came we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Gal. 3:24, 25. To the same effect the law is declared to be a yoke of bondage, from which Christ has made us free. Gal. 5:1. And other expressions in this book show that the law reached no farther than till the cross of Christ; hence the law has been abolished. Answer. The whole question, it seems to me, turns upon what law is under consideration in the book of Galatians. If what Paul here says of the law does apply to the decalogue, I should have to agree with our opponents that it has been abolished. But it seems evident to me that Paul is referring to the ceremonial law, and not to the law of ten commandments. For this I will give my reasons. Any particular expression in this book should be explained in accordance with the general subject of the letter. What object did Paul have in view in writing this letter to the Galatians? Does he find fault with them for keeping any one of the ten commandments? No such thing is mentioned in the whole letter. In the first chapter he appeals to them thus: “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it; and profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.” Verses 13, 14. Here he mentions the traditions of the fathers, for which he had been very zealous. He then proceeds to say that the gospel which he preached was directly revealed to him by Christ himself, and not taught him by any man; no, not even by the apostles themselves. See verses 15–24. He then refers to a certain visit which he and Barnabas made at Jerusalem, at which time a council was held concerning this very question which was troubling the Galatians. Hence he refers to that council, and the action that was taken there, to convince these Galatians that they were regarding a law which was no longer to be kept by the disciples. Thus he says: “Then fourteen years after, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.” “But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.” Chap. 2:1, 2. Here he says that even Titus, a minister of the gospel, who went up to this council with him, was not compelled to be circumcised, though some, he says, tried to bring them into bondage, thus indicating that it is a law teaching circumcision which was troubling the Galatians. If the reader will turn to Acts 15, there he will find a lengthy account of this very visit of Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem. “And certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When, therefore, Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.” Acts 15:1, 2. This language compared with Gal. 2:1–4 puts it beyond question that it is the same visit which is referred to in both places, and, as will be seen, the same subject is up in both places, viz., that of circumcision and the law of Moses. The reader is requested to turn back and read my answer to the objection founded on Acts 15; but I will recapitulate a few points here. Thus verse 5 says: “But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.” The question here is with regard to circumcision, as the reader cannot fail to see. This law, in verse 10, Peter calls a yoke which neither their fathers nor themselves were able to bear. The council wrote to the Gentiles that they need not keep the law, with the exception of the four points which they name as follows: “That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well.” Verse 29. The reader will see that all four of these things here mentioned are contained in the ceremonial law; hence it is also that law which is under consideration by Paul in his letter to the Galatians. Take another item in Paul’s argument in chapter 2:11–14. “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” How does this affect the question which Paul is arguing with the Galatians if the ten commandments are the law under consideration? It can have no bearing whatever upon it. But if it be the ceremonial law it is indeed very much to the point. Look at it. Peter, a Jew, and an apostle, comes down to Antioch, and freely eats with the Gentiles, which was a direct violation of the ceremonial law, forbidding such things. But when certain other Jews came down from Jerusalem, Peter withdrew from the Gentiles, and would not eat with them any more, and thus showed by his conduct that he regarded that ceremonial law as still in force and binding on Christians. Paul justly reproved him for this, thus: “If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” In other words, if Peter, a Jew, could disregard that law, how much more the Gentiles. What law had he violated? Any one of the ten commandments? No; he had simply done what the Gentiles did, and thus broken the ceremonial law of the Jews. In this he did perfectly right. This fact should have great weight in determining what law is under consideration here. Farther on, Paul asks them, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” Chap. 3:3. This has plain reference to the fleshly, or carnal, ordinances of the ceremonial law, of which Paul, in another place, says: “Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.” Heb. 9:10. It could not refer to the decalogue, because those precepts are directly opposed to the flesh. To this he refers the Galatians again in chapter 6:12. “As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.” Here these works of the flesh are directly connected with circumcision, and those who kept that law did it to avoid the cross of Christ. Why? Because, by regarding all the ceremonies of the Jews, they would please them, and so escape persecution. That the law here spoken of is that which was written in the book of the law by Moses, and not on the tables of stone, is indicated by the following language: “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Chap. 3:10. And verse 19, we think, is decisive as to what law is meant: “Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgression, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.” Paul asks, What is the object of the law? He answers, that it was added because of transgression. Transgression is the violation of the law. 1 John 3:4. “For where no law is, there is no transgression.” Rom. 4:15. Then it certainly follows that some law existed and was transgressed before this law was given; and further, it follows that this law would not have been given if the other law had not previously been transgressed. Mark this point well. Paul says directly that this law was added because of transgression. Then if the cause (transgression) had never taken place, this law would not have been added. Transgression is a violation of law. So a law existed and was transgressed before this law in Galatians was given. And it never would have been given if the first had not been violated. It seems to me that this point is so plain that none can fail to see it. Now look a moment at the facts. When God made man in Eden, he gave him everything for his life and comfort, with a free access to the tree of life. Gen. 2:8–17. Only one tree was man prohibited from eating. In the day he should eat of that he must die; but as long as he was obedient and did not transgress God’s command, he should live; but he transgressed the law of God. Thus we read: “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,141 and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Gen. 3:6. By this act the woman transgressed three of the ten commandments. First, she desired, that is, coveted, the fruit which had been forbidden, and thus broke the tenth commandment, “Thou shalt not covet.” Secondly, she then took that which did not belong to her, and broke the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not steal.” Thirdly, she obeyed Satan instead of God, and thus broke the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Comp. Rom. 6:16. Thus they transgressed the moral law of God and became condemned sinners. In order to save them, it became necessary for Christ to die; and to shadow forth this fact it became necessary to offer sacrifices of animals, &c. Then there must be priests to offer these, an altar upon which to sacrifice them, a temple, provisions for the support of the priests, &c. All these things required a law to regulate them; hence it became necessary now to add a second law, the ceremonial to the moral law. If the first had never been transgressed, then the second would never have been added. Hence Paul’s language is true, “Wherefore then serveth the law,” or what was the object of it? “It was added because of transgression.” Yes, and we have seen the reason why. How long? Till the seed (Christ) should come. How long were these sacrifices, the temple, the altar, the priests, &c., to last? Only till Christ, to whom they pointed, should come. Hence that law ended there of necessity. Of this law Paul further says: “It was ordained by angels in the hands of a Mediator,” precisely the way the law of Moses was given. But the decalogue was given by God himself, written by his own finger—not in a book, but on tables of stone. In this light it seems to me Paul’s language is very plain. “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ; but after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Verses 24, 25. Chapter 5:1–3 furnishes further proof that it is not the ten-commandment law under consideration. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.” It will be seen that there is no reference here to the moral law, but to the law regarding circumcision. “If ye be circumcised,” says Paul, “Christ shall profit you nothing.” This he keeps constantly before their minds. Then he says, Whoever is circumcised is bound to keep the whole law, that is the whole of that law of which circumcision is a part; because if one part of that law is binding, of course it all is; hence they must proceed to offer sacrifices, &c. In the first place he calls it a yoke of bondage, the same term which Peter applies to the law of Moses. Acts 15:10. Can this apply to the ten commandments? Look them over. Is it a yoke of bondage to have no other gods, or to refrain from worshiping images, to speak God’s name with reverence, to honor our parents, to keep ourselves from murder, adultery, theft, lying or coveting? Here are nine of the ten. Who would stand up and say that these are a yoke of bondage to him? The man who would, would declare himself to be an unrighteous, unconverted, carnal man. There is only one commandment left which is the Sabbath commandment. Is it a yoke of bondage to rest on God’s holy day, to go to the house of God, to pray and sing and worship the Creator? To the carnal heart, no doubt this would be bondage, but God says that we shall “call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable.” Every reference shows that Paul in Galatians is considering, not the moral, but the ceremonial law. We freely admit that some of his statements are as true of the moral law as of the ceremonial, and perhaps some of them may be a general reference to all law, as where he says, “for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” Chap. 2:16. And again, “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident; for the just shall live by faith.” Gal. 3:11. In my answer to previous objections, I have answered that founded upon these texts where I showed that it was impossible for a sinner to be justified by even the strictest obedience to law, the moral law, or any other; hence it is true that a man cannot be justified by the works of the law, either the ceremonial or the moral. The blood of Christ alone can wash away our sins. But that does not abolish the moral law, nor give liberty for a man to sin. One or two more points in this book deserve a passing notice. Chap. 4:10, 11. Here, our opponents say, is a plain reference to the observance of the Sabbath. “Ye observe days, times,” &c. But I wonder if Sunday-keepers do not observe days, and times, as well as Sabbath-keepers? Why would not this be equally true of them? If it has any reference to the observance of the Sabbath day, then it would be wrong to keep any day, for that would be observing days, and times, according to this interpretation. But go back to the Old Testament a moment, and we find Moses giving a similar prohibition. Lev. 19:26. “Ye shall not eat anything with the blood, neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.” Again, Deut. 18:10, “There shall not be found among you . . . an observer of times, or an enchanter,” &c. Did this refer to the Sabbath? All know that it did not, from the very fact that at the same time they were strictly required to keep the Sabbath, and often other sacred days. We say that a fair interpretation of Paul’s language in Galatians will apply in the same manner, viz., to the superstitious observing of days, months, and times, which the heathen regarded. Another objection is founded on Paul’s allegory of the two women, in chapter 4:22–31. “For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman, was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory; for these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Because it is said that these two women represent the two covenants, and that one of these was from Mount Sinai, it is at once assumed that this is the ten commandments which were given at Mount Sinai. But there is no proof of this. It will be remembered that the ceremonial law was given from Mount Sinai as well as the ten commandments. When we go to Hebrews 8, we shall see that the old covenant is not the ten commandments. But it is sufficient now to show that the ten commandments are not what is represented by this bondwoman. What does Paul say that Agar represents? His language is direct and explicit: “For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to [or represents] Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.” A plainer statement cannot be made. The bondwoman, instead of representing the ten commandments, or the law, represents old Jerusalem with the unbelieving Jews, while the other represents not a new law, but the New Jerusalem, which is above, and is free. Paul concludes his argument on this point thus: “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.” We are not children of this old, literal Jerusalem, which has been rejected by God, but of the new and heavenly Jerusalem above, which is free. How a person can make the mistake of applying these two women, one to the old law, and the other to the new, is more than I can see, when Paul so plainly says that they represent the one, old Jerusalem, which is in bondage with her children, and the other, Jerusalem above, which is free. All these points in this book might be made clearer by a more extended notice, but endeavoring to be brief, I have contented myself with simply stating facts enough to show that the position of our opponents is untenable. Lessons from the Past:—Faith and Unbelief.
By Mary A. Davis
Our first parents stood in the garden of Eden, in the perfection of beauty and innocence, surrounded, by their Creator, with everything that could minister to their happiness, themselves the crowning glory of his creative work, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, and he, looking over his fair creation, pronounced it very good. Every tree that was good for food, or pleasing to the eye, was theirs to enjoy; but in the midst of the garden stood one tree, only one, of which they might not partake; for God had said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Instead of believing and obeying him who had freely given them so many blessings, they chose to heed the insinuations of a stranger, a usurper, who, without a single claim to their confidence, boldly dared to question the truth of the Creator’s word. They listened to his voice, and, yielding to the temptation, they plucked and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, and found, alas! too late, only a knowledge of the good which might have been their own, but which they by transgression lost; and a sad, bitter experience of evil, that would darken all their earth-life with its baneful shadow. Then God, touched with pity for the misery which sin had wrought, provided for the fallen race a way of escape—a Saviour was promised, who would render perfect obedience to the law of God and, by giving his life a ransom, redeem lost man and open up, once more, the way to life’s fair tree, forfeited by their sin. Still faith and unbelief contended for mastery in the human heart. Abel humbly offered a lamb in sacrifice, obedient to God’s command, and found the pardon which he sought; while Cain, in proud rebellion, brought only a thank-offering of the fruit of the earth and was turned away, rejected of him whose commands he dared to disregard. When the children of Israel cried for deliverance from bondage in the land of Egypt, Jehovah, mindful of his promise to their fathers, revealed himself for their salvation. He brought them forth with such manifestations of his power in those terrible judgments on their oppressors as should have awakened the most unbounded confidence in his love and care for them; yet, when tested at the Red Sea, how soon did their faith fail and unbelief and murmuring come in. Again the Lord delivered them; while their cruel foes were drowned in the mighty waters. Through all their journeyings in the wilderness, his tender watchcare was untiring. He fed them with the bread of Heaven, he guided them by a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night; their clothing did not grow old, nor their shoes wear out, in all their travels; and, more than this, the mighty God promised to go before them, to drive out their enemies, and bring them to a good land, flowing with milk and honey, if they would serve and obey him. Surely, if any people ever exercised unwavering faith in God, we might expect to find it in the history before us. But, alas! when temptation came, they disbelieved him, murmured at the trials of the way, and limited the Holy One of Israel. After the dread exhibitions of his power and majesty at Mount Sinai, when their leader was, for a little time, withdrawn from them, instead of patiently awaiting his return, they formed a calf of gold and raised the Heaven-daring cry, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!” No wonder that Moses, coming from the presence of the Infinite, with his light and glory still resting upon him, was filled with indignation at the sight, and cast the tables of stone upon the ground, breaking them in pieces. Still, God in mercy bore with their unbelief, and led them on till they came to the very borders of the promised land. At his command, spies were sent up to view the country, and, returning laden with the rich fruits of the land, all but two repeated the disheartening story, “There are great giants in the land, in whose sight we were but as grasshoppers.” Caleb and Joshua, with true courage and faith in God, replied, “If God delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it us; the Lord is with us—fear them not.” The people listened to the words of unbelief, and uttered the impious wish, “Would God we had died in the wilderness”! and the Lord granted them their desire. He bade them turn back into the wilderness, and there they wandered till, of all the men of war who left Egypt, only Caleb and Joshua remained, who followed the Lord with all their hearts. These things were written as examples unto us on whom the ends of the world are come, that we should not fall after the same example of unbelief. This is the evil root from which springs disobedience, sin in every form; while faith in God, a confiding trust in him and belief of his word, lies at the foundation of all true obedience. It is simply taking God at his word, yielding ourselves to obey him, and trusting him for the result. In its very simplicity is strength; for it is by faith that human weakness becomes linked to Infinite Power, so the apostle could say, “When I am weak, then am I strong.” Yes; when the sinner falls on Christ, broken, helpless, and penitent, believing his promises, and trusting to his atoning sacrifice, he has a power that can move the Eternal. But how shall we discern this faith? How distinguish between the true and false? for we may be sure that Satan will have numberless counterfeits with which to deceive the unwary. Say the Scriptures, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” If the tree is good, the fruit will be good also; but if the fruit is corrupt, we may be sure it springs from an evil heart of unbelief. All the spirits which are gone out into the world come from one of these two sources. There are only two ways, the narrow and the broad. The Saviour says, “He that is not for me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” As we draw near to the great consummation, this subject is of especial importance. God has given us sufficient evidence in his word, in the signs of the times, as seen in the political and religious world, in the sun, moon, and stars, in the elements, everywhere, so we may know our position in the world’s history. The exact fulfillment of every prophecy in the past insures the realization of those which are still future. And it is the part of reason, of sound judgment and good sense, to believe God and obey his word. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when the Son of man is revealed. He and his family alone, of all the world, believed God’s word and obeyed it. All the rest had the light, but they rejected it and perished. It is safe to obey God. We find in every instance recorded in Holy Writ that those who accepted the warnings given, and moved in faith and obedience, received just the help they needed. God never fails. He has given us the greatest proof of love possible for even God to give, in sending his own Son, the majesty of Heaven, into the world. And he has promised, with him freely to give us all things that we need. Have faith in God. With this, nothing indeed can separate us from his love, which is in Christ Jesus. Sin only, the bitter fruit of unbelief, can accomplish it. If the Bible is the word of God, then it is true, all true, its precious promises are recorded for us, and we honor God by believing and claiming them for our own. Like God’s ancient people, we have come up to the very borders of the heavenly Canaan; let us not be discouraged by the trials of the way, but with unwavering faith in him cry out with those leaders of old, In the strength of God, we are well able to go up and possess the goodly land. Those who are for us are more than all they who can be against us. All the heavenly hosts, God, Christ, and the innumerable company of pure, sinless angels, are interested in man’s salvation. Very soon will faith be lost in sight, the disgrace of sin be forever wiped out, and once more from all His glorious creation arise the glad ascription—“Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”