p. 16 (752) | Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 47. (11/28/1895)

PUBLICATIONS ON THE SECOND ADVENT.

HIS GLORIOUS APPEARING. An illustrated commentary on Matthew 24, containing 96 pages and 20 full-page illustrations. It takes up Christ’s great prophecy of his own second coming, and the signs of the times are clearly pointed out in their relation to that event. This is an attractive and instructive booklet, and is especially valuable at this time. Bound in boards with cover design in colors, 25 cents. Bound in fine English cloth, lemon edges, 40 cents.

HELPS TO BIBLE STUDY. Sixth edition. Contains readings on the following subjects: Home of the Saved, Second Coming of Christ, The Sanctuary, The Judgment, Seal of God, Third Angel’s Message, State of the Dead, The Two Laws, Second Advent, and Binding of Satan, etc., etc. These readings are what the title indicates, “Helps to Bible Study,” and will be found especially valuable for the Bible worker and family. Bound in fine cloth at 50 cents; same contents in pamphlet form, 25 cents.

SURE WORD OF PROPHECY. A consideration of the important prophecies of the book of Daniel, the last chapter of which brings us to the “time of the end,” just previous to Christ’s second coming. 96 pages, paper covers. Bible Students’ Library No. 131. Price, 10 cents.

SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. A brief résumé of the advents of Christ and the prophecies which cluster around these events. Two diagrams assist in the study. 80 pages, paper covers. Bible Students’ Library No. 97. Price, 10 cents.

CHRIST OUR ADVOCATE. Showing the work that Christ accomplishes in the sanctuary in heaven, before his second coming. 112 pages, paper covers. Bible Students’ Library No. 128. Price, 10 cents.

MATTHEW 24, OR THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST. An exposition of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. 96 pages, paper covers. Bible Students’ Library No. 58. Price, 10 cents.

THE SECOND ADVENT. By Elder James White. This tract very clearly points out the nearness of Christ’s second coming, and proves conclusively that this coming will be a literal coming, known by all, and not a spiritual coming to those in the “secret chambers.” Bible Students’ Library No. 31. Price, 4 cents.

MANNER OF CHRIST’S COMING. By M. C. Wilcox. This gives the original Greek of such words and terms as refer to the different “comings” of Christ, proves conclusively that the second coming of Christ will be personal and visible, and shows the harmony of Scripture teaching on this important subject. It is an excellent number to place in the hands of professional men and persons of education and culture. Bible Students’ Library No. 124. Price, 2 cents. Send for complete catalogue with description, and price list of other publications on this and kindred topics.

THE JUDGMENT: ITS EVENTS AND THEIR ORDER. By J. N. Andrews. This pamphlet gives in six comprehensive chapters, The Investigative Judgment, Examination of the Books, God the Father the Judge, Offices of Christ, Messages to the World, The Sanctuary in Heaven, The Crowning of Christ, The Executive Judgment by Christ, The Saints Sitting in Judgment. The value of this work can be appreciated only by him who has read it. 134 pages, paper covers. Bible Students’ Library No. 11. Price, 15 cents.

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News and Notes

Since Our Last Issue.

Foreign.

—Rustem Pasha, formerly minister from Turkey to England, and a man of great ability and note in Turkey, died on November 19.

—According to figures presented by the Union Signal, the drinking of intoxicating liquors in New Zealand has decreased materially since 1878. The consumption of tea and coffee has also decreased, while an increase per capita is noted for sugar. Tobacco in cigars and cigarettes has increased, but is used less in other forms.

—A boycott has been ordered by the Knights of Labor against the Wanamaker establishments in Philadelphia; also against the output of breweries controlled by English syndicates in several large cities, and all breweries employing non-union men; also against Kane, McCaffrey & Co., of New York. The mercantile establishments are boycotted for alleged unfair treatment of labor.

—It is reported from Cuba that Gomez, the insurgent leader, has ordered the devastation of all plantations whose owners attempt to harvest the sugar crop the coming winter. It is claimed that the Cuban cause will suffer if this industry is allowed to be pursued at present. As the majority of this business is said to be in the hands of foreigners, a pretty claim for damages is liable to be presented to Spain if she is successful in putting down the rebellion.

—At a late meeting of the Methodist General Missionary Society at Denver, Colo., it was shown that the labors of that denomination in Bulgaria had brought out 280 converts, after an expenditure of $400,000. The work was established in that country in 1857, and sixteen years were necessary for gaining the first 50 members. Much discussion was had as to the advisability of continuing the work, but it was decided eventually to do so. At present there is only one American laborer in that field.

Domestic.

—The Christian Scientist reports 200 incorporated churches in the United States.

—Over five hundred thousand acres in the Nez Perces reservation in Idaho have been opened up for settlement, by the government.

—The Supreme Court of Minnesota has denied an appeal in the case of Harry Hayward, the murderer of Miss Ging; consequently another murderer will meet his just deserts.

—There are said to be 236,426 schoolhouses in the United States, valued at nearly four hundred million dollars. In these schools are 260,954 women teachers and 122,056 men teachers.

—John Bennett and wife, faith curists, of Anderson, Ind., refused to employ physicians for their child in a case of diphtheria. The child died, and they have been arrested for criminal neglect.

—Five firemen lost their lives by the collapse of a burning building in Chicago on November 22. Two persons besides were fatally injured, and several others received severe bruises. The loss on property was $375,000.

—Two large buildings, containing thirteen valuable manufacturing plants, were burned in Chicago on November 21, involving a loss of $600,000. On the sixth floor of one building 400 girls were employed, but were rescued without loss of life.

—On Tuesday morning, November 19, a fast mail train on the New York Central Railroad was wrecked by four boys near Rome, N. Y. Besides the mail cars, there were three sleepers attached to the train, but only two persons, the engineer and one other, were killed. Three of the boys have confessed, and the object assigned for the dastardly deed was robbery.

—The increase of counterfeiting is shown by the reports of the Treasury Department Secret Service Bureaus, which state that 803 arrests were made during the past year, with very few exceptions for violation of the statutes against counterfeiting. Altered and counterfeit notes, counterfeit coins, etc., were captured during the year, representing an aggregate face value of almost $5,000,000.

—William Shoemaker, one of the attorneys for H. H. Holmes, the murderer of Pitzel, has been held by Judge Arnold for subornation of perjury. By a clever scheme he secured a false affidavit favoring the defense, but was outdone by the District Attorney, who, hearing of the plot, supplied the party who swore to the affidavit. The plot was revealed in court, and the young attorney’s career in Philadelphia, which had opened with the trial of this case, is probably at a close.

—A horrible tragedy is reported from Brownsville, Or., where a sixteen-year-old son of John Montgomery is accused of killing his father and mother and a visitor on the 19th inst., apparently for no other cause than a rebuke. The visitor was killed to prevent detection. A similar case of depravity occurred a day later in Indiana. A boy thirteen years old killed his brother, two years younger, because the latter reported him for playing truant. The murderer then committed suicide.

—An item in the New York World says that the average mission debt of the churches for the year seems to be about ten per cent of the expenditure. The American Missionary Association follows the rule, and, with an expenditure of $307,000, reports about $30,000 indebtedness. And yet the present rate of annual expenditure is $50,000 less than it was three years ago. Not only have schools and missions been closed, but many of those which remain are suffering in efficiency and power and in the compass of their work through the lessened number of faithful missionaries.

—The United States Supreme Court has rendered an opinion declaring void the contract between the Union Pacific Railroad and the Western Union Telegraph Company, by which the latter has been given exclusive right, as against any other telegraph company, of maintaining a telegraph system on the line of that road. The reason given is that any or all companies have equal rights of establishing systems over any post road in the United States. The decision further makes it obligatory upon the railroad to establish and maintain its own lines of wires, for private, public, and government use.

—In a recent lecture in San Francisco, Rev. Father Yorke told why the Catholic Church opposes the teaching of religion in the public schools. He said: “Education consists not only in training the mind, but also in training the heart. The only way to train the heart is by a system of religious morals. There are 242 different religions in this country; so, because we can do nothing else, we keep religion out of the public schools.” That is, briefly stated, because the Roman Catholic religion can not be imposed on the people to the exclusion of the 241 religions, it is policy to keep them all out. This is good logic, but the “nothing else” means that Rome would be glad enough to have her religion taught in the public schools as the only one in the curriculum, if that were possible. The present and past history of other countries proves this, and shows that the logical argument of no religion by civil law is urged not from a desire to insure exact and equal justice to all men, of whatever religious beliefs, and to respect their rights to such beliefs, but for policy’s sake, and under compulsion.

—Utah will come into the Union under a limitation not applying to any other state. This is the act of Congress passed in 1894 that any action taken by the people of the new state to restore polygamy or to establish a state religion will be void without the consent of Congress. This will not be necessary in a legal way, for the Mormon Church already exercises wide control by its influence, the chief officers of the state and the two United States senators belonging to that church. That the church may be expected to be heard in politics is evidenced by the words of President Cannon at a secret meeting of the priesthood, during the recent campaign, denouncing Messrs. Thatcher and Roberts, Mormon candidates of the Democratic party, for acting without consulting the church, a course which he is said to have described as “contrary to the rules of the church and subversion of good discipline.” The feeling produced by these words threatened for a time to retard the entry of the state into the Union, and shows the power of that church, notwithstanding the increase of “gentile” population.

—Last week we noted in this column the agitation caused by the decision of Judge Gibbons, of Chicago, regarding the Barbers’ Sunday Law. Many barbers took advantage of the decision, and opened their places on last Sunday, arousing the wrath of the Barbers’ Protective Association, which promises through its attorney to make such transgressors smart under the lash of the law. The object of the law secured by this association is stated to be to secure a breathing spell for the overworked barber, just as though any barber could not close his place of business one day in a week if he chose, whether others did or not. But the real object is a selfish one. Those who favor the law do so because it stops the other man from making money on the day on which they wish to rest, thus totally ignoring his wishes or his rights. Just how much the barbers want protection by law, is shown by the childish and really amusing complaint of the association that, although the law was passed for their protection from long hours and seven days’ work, just as soon as Judge Gibbons’ decision became known, a great many barbers at once opened their shops for trade on Sunday. Such is the selfishness and inconsistency behind all rest-day laws. Other unions are assisting the barbers in their fight, and it is announced that clothing merchants, street-car companies, and restaurant keepers, who do business on Sunday, will receive attention in the near future.

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SURE WORD OF PROPHECY. A study of the book of Daniel.

A concise study of this important prophetic portion of the Bible. Fully illustrated. Paper covers. 96 pages. Bible Students' Library No. 131. Price, 10 cents.

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Illustrated Tract.

One of the late issues of the Bible Students' Library, entitled “The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast.” Contains 4 original illustrations. The subject is one of vital interest to all, and now is an opportune time to circulate this tract widely. Order B. S. L. No. 130. Address your State Tract Society, or PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., Oakland, Cal.; Kansas City, Mo.; New York City, N. Y.

CHRIST, OUR ADVOCATE

His Ministry in the True Tabernacle

An up-to-date pamphlet on the work of Christ in the sanctuary in Heaven. Bible Students' Library No. 128. Fully illustrated. Paper covers. Price, 10 cents.

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THE JUDGMENT

By John Nevins Andrews

By the late J. N. ANDREWS

The Events of the Judgment and their Order. Following are principal chapter headings: The Investigative Judgment, Examination of the Books, God the Father the Judge, Offices of Christ, Messages to the World, The Sanctuary in Heaven, The Crowning of Christ, The Executive Judgment, The Saints Sitting in Judgment. Bible Students’ Library No. 55. 136 pages. Paper covers. Price, 15 cents.

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The Reason: A World in Rebellion

The Reason.—Listen, pilgrim, we will tell thee. The world is in rebellion against its rightful Ruler—the Author of its being and life. The sad consequences of that rebellion are rapidly nearing their climax. The world is sick with sin, and refuses the divine remedy of the great Physician. Dissolution is inevitable, and soon to come. The earth is waxed “old as doth a garment; and as a vesture” shall God “fold them up and they shall be changed.” The despairing hopefulness of wasting disease is manifest in the delusive optimists’ cry of “peace and safety,” but the great Authority diagnoses otherwise. The present age is nearing its end.

THE EARTH FILLED WITH VIOLENCE.

By L. A. P.

A Sign of the Last Days.

SELFISHNESS and all its attendant evils have been manifested in the world from the beginning, and in the time of Noah men had become so wicked that the record states that the world was filled with violence, for which cause God destroyed the evil works by a flood. As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be just before the coming of the Lord. (Matt. 24:37.) Because of universal abandonment to selfish impulses the same evils will be prevalent, and indeed if possible by reason of added ages, the wickedness of mankind will be greater. Certain it is that at the time of the Master's second coming the world will have filled to the brim its cup of iniquity. Special attention is called to such a condition of the world as a sign of the last days by the apostle Paul in 2 Tim. 3:1-5. Selfishness, covetousness, fierceness, the love of pleasure, together with the other characteristics mentioned, are productive of every wicked deed in the whole category of sins, and when times become “perilous” by reason of such widespread wickedness, then let it be known that the last days have been reached. While such perils have always existed, the time given this special prominence is a time of peril unprecedented in the history of the world as it now stands.

And what do we see in the world to-day? Let the chronicles of the life of the world, the mirrors of daily events and happenings, the newspapers, tell. We shall not attempt to present any overwhelming statistics, but such in plenty may be had. From the columns of a few only of the dailies that come to our table, we have made a count of various criminal and other items for the week just ended. Of murders there were 35; suicides, 12; deaths by accidents, 69; assaults, shootings, stabbings, etc., 16; robberies, 22; embezzlings, 5; lynchings, 1; losses by fire, $2,000,000, to say nothing of strikes, wrecks, earthquakes, floods, storms, and the mass of divorce cases, bigamy, and other criminal cases, and “civil” suits now on file in the courts. Nearly all the above occurred in this country, and the figures given must of necessity be vastly below the real facts; indeed, the records of the seven days specially observed appear to us to be small in comparison with other weeks.

But could not all these items be told in a few words in the dailies, and given inferior positions as compared with other and more peaceable news?—Yes, but they are not. Column after column, page after page, with bold headlines, are devoted to these things, to wars and to national disputes with threatenings of wars, to massacres by thousands, cruelty and oppression, and nameless iniquity, the world over, to scandals, and to “pleasures,”—games, sports, etc.—for the lovers thereof. These are not the minor items presented to a reading world; they comprise the great mass of news, and must reveal but a portion of the evil and woe of the world, for the press is limited, after all. It has been often said, and it is true, as multitudes can witness, that the black crimes and fiendish atrocities whose recital occasions but a passing notice now would have been the topic for months and years of comment to the readers of one such event a generation ago. What do these things mean? Is it time to cry, “Peace and safety,” or are we indeed in the “perilous times” that betoken the “last days”?

L. A. P.

The Great Threefold Message of Revelation 14

By Editor

OUR next symposium number is on a vitally important subject,—“The Great Threefold Message of Rev. 14: 6–14.”

Sabbath School Lesson on Religious Liberty

OUR Sabbath school lesson for this week is long, but it contains important matter on religious liberty. We hope that it may not only be read, but studied.

Hail to the Christ: Poem Set to Music

The poem found on page 2, entitled “Hail to the Christ,” is shortly to be published with the music “Hail to the Chief.” Those who have heard it sung by Brother Fowler pronounce it very fine. The price to be charged we do not know. Information may be obtained by addressing the author, this city.

Our Symposiums

By Editor

Our Symposiums.— Another symposium number is placed before our readers. We have in this, as in the last, found our space too limited for the amount of matter we desired to print. Some of the articles, though longer than usual, are too short for the great subjects they treat, especially those dealing with the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. Yet our contributors have given us very much evidence indeed that we are living in the last days. Our Home department is crowded out, as well as our usual article from Mrs. White, which we are sure will be missed by our readers. We wished also to insert two or three more illustrations, but space would not permit. They will keep, however.

Watchman, What of the Night?

“Watchman, What of the Night?”—The above question does not confine itself to the time of the Gospel prophet. It is a question of to-day. We are not needless alarmists. We would not give an uncertain tone to the trumpet. But we would not close our eyes to the condition of things about us, and rush heedlessly on with the madding crowd to destruction. What mean the unrest and distress among the nations, the terrible and widespread convulsions of nature, the fear and trembling of rulers, the low state of religion? We would calmly and candidly and earnestly inquire, “Watchman, what of the night?” How long will the long, dark night of sin and misery and hopefulness deferred continue? When will dawn the cloudless morning, and the eternal reign of the Sun of Righteousness? What of the night?

The Morning Cometh

“The Morning Cometh.”—The long, dark night is nearly gone. Earth’s travail for the better day will soon be done. Already the golden dawn of the golden day tips the mountain tops with rosy light. The heralds are here; the King will soon be ushered in in his glory. He will meet his loved ones. He will take them to the many mansions. They will dwell with him forever. The hope, oft darkened by doubt and dimmed by tears, will be transfused to glad fruition in effulgent day.

And Also the Night

“And Also the Night.”—Yes, night cometh. It awaits those who have rejected the Crucified—a deeper, darker night than earth has ever known. They have rejected the Light of the World, and their own, fed by his, even though perverted, has gone out. Night has come—a night not lighted by radiant moon, nor by some lone star breaking through the fitful clouds; it is “the blackness of darkness forever,”—“everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power” to “them that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Return, Come

Return, Come.—Thus pleads the Lord through the prophet to the anxious inquirer. Isa. 21:11, 12. Mercy waits. The night of destruction has not yet folded her sable doors. The glory of eternal day, in the light of which no sinner can live, has not yet broken the veil of God’s mercy. The long-suffering and merciful love of the King still urges. In encouraging tones he pleads, “If ye will inquire, inquire ye; return, come.” Soon he will cease pleading to deaf ears. Will you not say, sinner, “Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God.” Return. Come back from the ways of sin, while the wounded hands and feet and bleeding side argue for you. Come; he pleads with thee, sinner. He knocks at thy heart’s door for admission. He invites thee to the marriage feast, to the crown of life, to the kingdom eternal. He will not compel thee to come. He wants love for his love. “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come.” Who come?—Whosoever will. “The morning cometh.” The King is at the door. Are you ready to receive him? Are you watching? “Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”

What Spirit?

—The Christian Advocate gives the following from an interview with Dr. Vanner, a Baptist pastor of New York City, who has recently been to Germany:—

“I found a pastor in the Hartz Mountains who prepared for his Sunday’s work as follows: He ate an early supper on Saturday night, consisting of sour milk and grated cheese, blood sausages, and black bread, and, lastly, the stoutest kind of German cheese. He then lighted his huge pipe, filled with strong tobacco, and at 9 o’clock in the evening, with a bottle of black beer under either arm, entered his study. By 4 o’clock on Sunday morning his sermon would be written and committed to memory, and he would then retire for two or three hours of sleep. This man preached good sermons, and could discuss ably any question relating to philosophy or science.”

Quite lengthy comment is made on this, but no condemnation for such a course except from a health standpoint. The spirit infused through such sermons is that distilled from the tobacco and beer. Imagine Christ or Paul or Wesley thus preparing a sermon!

Pacific Ensign on Divine Law and Popular Vote

The Pacific Ensign says:—

“Rev. C. H. Mead thinks that God did not say to Moses, ‘Take down the commandments and submit them to a vote of the people.’ Any party that does it writes its death knell in letters of living fire.”

Neither did God relegate his authority to the people nor to any civil power. He has given them in this dispensation neither the authority to enforce nor the power to change the law of God. Any party that attempts to do it writes its death knell in letters of living fire.

Sabbath School Lessons for First Quarter 1896

The lessons for the primary division of our Sabbath schools for the first quarter of 1896, to be published in Our Little Friend, will be on the subject of “The Creation.” Those for the intermediate division will be, as heretofore, on the same subject as the senior and junior lessons. These lessons for the first quarter of 1896 will be on “The Great Threefold Message of Revelation 14.”