Earlier text: The Bible Student's LibraryMRS. E. G. WHITE
By Ellen G. White
A Visit to the South—No. 1
From Berrien Springs to Nashville
I HAVE just returned to Washington from the South. We were away for about six weeks, during which time we visited Nashville, Graysville, and Huntsville. On the way from Berrien Springs to Nashville, we had to wait for several hours in Chicago, and Dr. Paulson took us out to Hinsdale, where they are about to establish a sanitarium. I was very much pleased with all that I saw during the afternoon that I spent there. Hinsdale is about fourteen miles out from Chicago, and is a favorable place for a sanitarium. The atmosphere is good, and the surroundings are beautiful. Many of the houses are large, and are evidently the homes of men of wealth, who live in the country, and carry on business in Chicago. The roads are excellent, and sick people would find health in driving about and enjoying the scenery. The sight of the trees and flowers, with the sunshine and fresh air, would bring health to mind and body. In anticipation I can see the Hinsdale Sanitarium established, and hope and faith coming into the hearts of the patients. We were taken all over the sanitarium property. It consists of ten acres of land, with two houses and a barn. The place was once very beautiful, but it has been neglected for several years. It is a favorable site for a sanitarium, and I am so glad that it has been placed at the disposal of our brethren. About five years ago a gentleman from Chicago went to the Battle Creek Sanitarium as a patient. He was very sick, but the treatment given him was successful, and he believes that it was the means of saving his life. After returning home, he told Dr. Paulson that he knew of a place that ought to be used for sanitarium work. A few months ago he bought this place, and has placed it at Dr. Paulson's disposal. It cost sixteen thousand dollars, and can be paid for in small monthly instalments. Dr. Paulson looks upon the opportunity to secure this place on easy terms as a providence of God. And this is right; for the hand of the Lord is in the matter. The outdoor advantages that the sick will have will prove the greatest blessing to them, aiding in the cure of mind and body. And as the sick ones associate with those who love and serve God, they will be doubly blessed. How I wish that all our sanitariums could be placed among such natural surroundings. Men and women in need of physical and spiritual healing need to breathe just such an atmosphere. They need to be brought in contact with those whose words and acts will draw them to Christ. They need to be brought under the influence of the great Medical Missionary, who can heal both soul and body. They need to hear the story of the love of the sin-pardoning Saviour,—of the forgiveness granted to all who come to him confessing their sins. There are many, many in our great cities, both in the higher and in the lower classes, who need to be helped into the way of life by being brought into contact with our sanitariums. There are no entreaties so tender, no lessons so plain, no commendations so decided, as those given in the Word of God. How earnest and loving and compassionate are the invitations to come to the fountain of living water. God's Word is indeed a light shining in a dark place. And in our sanitariums, above all other places, the religion of Christ is to be clearly exemplified. This is why I have urged that many sanitariums be established in places out of the cities, that men and women may hear and understand the word of the Lord, and may be brought under an influence direct from heaven. God sends angels from heaven to co-operate with human instrumentalities in bringing encouragement and hope and joy and peace to the hearts of the sick and suffering. These men and women need the grace that comes from the Life-giver, the health that the great Medical Missionary alone can give. O that those who have received light from God's Word would take hold in medical missionary lines, to do all in their power to help those in need of help! Those who plan to establish sanitariums should reason from cause to effect. They should lay their plans with a deep insight into the necessities of a medical institution. One of the first necessities is a site out of the city, in a retired place, where the institution can be surrounded by grounds that can be beautified with flowers and shrubs and trees. Let the patients be taught that the breathing of pure air is necessary to health. Let there be facilities for the giving of rational treatment, so that there will be no necessity for the use of drugs. By wise methods the patients are to be led more and more to take outdoor exercise. Every one who is recovering from sickness needs such exercise, in order that disease may be completely overcome, and health regained. When physical health has been restored, men and women are better able to exercise that faith in Christ which secures the health of the soul, bringing peace and rest and joy from the consciousness of sins forgiven. Our sanitariums should be out of the cities. One who is unerring in counsel has given this direction, in mercy to suffering humanity. Physicians and ministers are called upon to exert their influence in favor of establishing our sanitariums, publishing houses, and schools out of the cities. And for the sake of the youth in our schools and publishing houses, and for the sake of the patients and helpers in our sanitariums, this should be done. We plead the necessity of our sanitariums being out of the smoky, dirty, noisy cities, with their tobacco-laden atmosphere. It is impossible to establish a sanitarium in a city without placing it in an atmosphere that will, to a greater or less extent, undo the good accomplished by the treatment given. All things are to be considered from the standpoint of the Word of God. The teachers in our schools and sanitariums are to guard the minds of the youth in their care from becoming estranged from God. They are to have an interest in each one. They are to show a Christ-like love for souls. Their minds are to be stayed upon Christ, and they are humbly and thankfully to receive, in order that they may impart. In their association with others, they are not to seek to benefit themselves, but to bless others. And as the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, let Christ ever be recognized as our counselor, infinite in wisdom, and always ready to help. Those who know God as revealed in his Word make him chief in all that they do. They say: “Thou, God, seest me. Thou hearest every word I speak; thou knowest the motives that prompt my words and actions.” The wisdom of heaven is to be brought into every sanitarium. All the workers are to live the truth as it is in Jesus. Godliness—the result of the grace of Christ—is to lead souls to drink of the water of life. THE world is full of weak ones. The Bible has not commanded us to despise the weak, to crush the weak, to neglect the weak, but to support the weak. “We8 then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.” Christ bore our infirmities. Like him, we should be burden-bearers. But how can we support the weak so long as we have no strength of our own? How can we support the weak while we walk in doubt and fear? Before we can support the weak, we must become strong. This is a duty. “Be strong,” is a command as binding as the law of the Sabbath.—N. Y. Christian Advocate. FROM this vain world, this weary life
So full of toil, and care, and strife,
So full of bitter grief and pain,
Of blighted hopes, and longings vain,
I look away. Faith guides my sight
Unto a realm of cloudless light—
The fair and glorious abode,
The heavenly city of our God. Its mansions by omniscience planned,
Fashioned by an almighty hand,
And decked by him whose touch adorns
The universe with all its forms
Of varied beauty. O how fair,
How bright, how beautiful they are! Sin’s fatal and polluting breath
Has never shed the curse of death
Through this divine Elysium; no,
Nor ever shall. All pain and woe
Are banished, and from weeping eyes
God wipes the tears in paradise. Angels, his holy ministers,
Who do his bidding mid the spheres,
Hover around the great white throne,
Chanting to thee—to thee alone.
O God of wisdom, power, and grace,
We render honor, love, and praise!
—Selected. The Great Disappointment
By J. O. Corliss
The Experiences of Former Days—No. 3
As an instance of the impression left from the services of those days, the following is to the point: Immediately after a conference held in Washington, D. C., in 1843, Brethren Joseph Bates and Herman S. Gurney passed on into Maryland, then a slave-holding State, and sought to proclaim the message. At one place a slaveholder attended the service, and after the meeting, insisted on the brethren’s returning with him to his plantation for the night. On the way thither, he told them that he had already seen them in a dream, in connection with the subject they were handling. So impressed was he with the circumstances, that he gave permission for all the slaves to attend the remainder of the meetings (a hitherto unheard-of circumstance), and when the meetings closed, he took these ministers with his own team to their next appointment, twenty-five miles away, and on parting with them said: “I would willingly sacrifice all my property, if I could but be in your situation.” Up to the year 1843, the leaders in that message had based their faith on time, declaring that the Lord’s coming would take place in the autumn of that year. Their conclusion was easily drawn. From Daniel’s prophecy they learned that from the going forth of a certain commandment, 2,300 years would close up all things earthly, and usher in the eternal reign of Christ on earth. By reference to the book of Ezra, the seventh chapter, it was found that this commandment went forth in the year 457 B. C. Subtracting 457 B. C. from 2,300, we have the date 1843 A. D. as the result. But in this loose calculation they were doomed to disappointment; for after getting everything ready to meet the Lord on the tenth day of the seventh month of that year, according to Jewish reckoning, the time went by, leaving them in great perplexity. Many theories were advanced to explain the disappointment, both by Mr. Miller and by others, but none of these seemed satisfactory. Before the end of the year, however, a conference was called at Exeter, N. H., in which the matter was intelligently adjusted, and the message received new life and vigor. At the conference mentioned, several were making commonplace remarks, when a sister arose and said: “It is too late to be dealing in these platitudes; a brother in the audience has light for the people.” Immediately upon the sister’s taking her seat, John Couch arose and reviewed the data of the prophetic utterance upon which their message had been based. He showed that the 2,300 years reaching to the cleansing of the sanctuary must include both the first and the last day of the full time given; that inasmuch as the 2,300 years, if beginning with the first day of the year 457 B. C., could not be called completed before the last day of 1843, since it required 457 full years B. C. and 1843 full years A. D. to make 2,300 years. He then showed that the commandment on which their time message depended for its data, did not take effect until the autumn of 457 B. C., and so the term of 2,300 years would extend to the autumn of 1844. This would designate the autumn of 1844 as the time for the coming of the Lord. This explanation was so simple and satisfactory that the whole audience was electrified. They went forth from that conference with the cry on every lip: “Behold the Bridegroom cometh.” Men sold their homes, and gave their means to the proclamation of the Lord’s return, believing that now they would surely see the fruition of their fondest hope. But again disappointment overtook them. The time set for the Lord to come in 1844 passed, as had the date set in 1843. To many the disappointment seemed a relief. Their faith had never been very strong, but they had followed in the way others were going, hoping to be saved if the views held were correct. These soon mingled with the world, or united with nominal churches, and joined in ridiculing those with whom they had before been so closely associated. Not so, however, with others. To them the disappointment was very bitter. All their earthly goods had been swallowed up in the promulgation of a doctrine that had now left them where they did not know which way to turn. They could not believe that the Lord, whom they had so sincerely served, would desert them at that juncture, and so they “stood still,” to hear the voice of God. In referring to this time, Elder Bates told the writer that he had never supposed one could possibly have such a strong sense of grievous disappointment and live. Said he: “All my means were gone except a few pennies. I had purposely allowed my provisions to run out. The morning following the disappointment, when I went down the street to purchase a few pounds of flour for my family’s sustenance, the boys of the street followed and hooted after me, and men pointed the finger of scorn at me, saying, ‘I thought you were going up yesterday.’ Could the ground beneath my feet have opened to swallow me, it would have been a great relief, so intensely bitter was the disappointment of the time.” But the people were not long left in this lamentable state. O. R. L. Crozier soon published in an extra of the paper <i>Day Star</i>, an exposition of the sanctuary and its priesthood. This opened a line of thought, a few years later more fully developed by Elder J. N. Andrews, which explained the nature of the disappointment of 1844, and led loyal Adventists to see a beauty in the law of God which had not hitherto been appreciated by them. But God anticipated this movement, and as the truth of the sanctuary developed, witnesses to that truth were already prepared to move forward in its defense. This point must, however, be reserved for another article. Miracles and the Gift of Tongues
By Daniel T. Bourdeau
Are miracles superseded by the astounding progress and feats of modern science, especially those of medical science? and is the gift of tongues now dispensed with by a wise providence, because the Holy Scriptures have been translated into hundreds of tongues and dialects, and there will henceforth be no further need of that gift? With not a few at the present time there is a growing tendency to answer these questions affirmatively. But this is a bad omen, especially when those who return an affirmative answer to such questions pretend to believe the teachings of Holy Writ. It is not at all surprising that those who are professedly ignorant of the Scriptures, who do not profess faith in the divine inspiration of the Bible, and do not pretend to know the saving power of God's grace, should take such an attitude toward miracles and toward the gift of tongues; but to see those who profess to believe in the Bible, and to be familiar with its teachings, and who profess the religion of Jesus Christ, take such a position as this, is indeed most painful to such as really know the Scriptures and are acquainted with God's plans as therein revealed, and who know by personal experience what is meant by the saving power of God's grace. Those who daily and momentarily take in by experience the meaning of the power of divine grace that saves men from the power of sin and Satan, know that that power is miraculous in all its manifestations, that it is miracle-working from first to last. Its manifestations mean miracles to those who continually believe. The saving power of God's grace is miraculous in that it goes infinitely beyond the power of finite man in saving those who lay hold on it by faith, from sin and the power of sin. It converts the repenting believer, and in doing this it creates him unto good works (Eph. 2: 10); and nothing short of miraculous power is required to create. Therefore to claim that miracles are now superseded by the progress and wonderful feats of science, is to deny that men and women are being converted to-day, and that at the present time the work of preparing a people for a better world, and for a glorious, immortal state in that world, is going on in our world. Are we prepared to adopt9 such a conclusion?—Certainly not. Then let us with heart and voice thank God that the day of miracles has not passed. Why, dear readers, not only does the record of the blessed Bible open up with a relation of the wonderful miracles of creation, but that truthful and interesting record continues to its close in the relation of miraculous wonders that God has wrought in behalf of his believing children, and against those who have oppressed them. It is a special trick of the wily arch-deceiver to put divine miracles in the shade, and put the wonders of science in the front, flattering men with their great wisdom and might in making such wonderful discoveries and bringing into use such wonderful power by the application of scientific principles, and in causing them to believe that they are of great importance, and no more need miracles with which God used to strengthen the faith of his children, encourage them, and give them influence and power to rapidly advance the work of the gospel in the earth. Thus it is that Satan fills not a few with a spirit of self-sufficiency, and prepares the way for them to be captivated by his astounding wonders, and to think that they are the divine manifestations of miraculous power in harmony with scientific principles. We are safe only as we follow the teachings of God's Word. As we do this, we shall see from this infallible detector and guide that God vouchsafes to us, even in these last days when deceptions and counterfeits are multiplying on every hand, the manifestations of his miraculous power through the gracious gifts of his Holy Spirit, including even the gift of tongues, which is certainly embraced in his plan for carrying forward his work in the earth. Mark 16: 17; 1 Cor. 12: 28-30. We have indubitable evidence that this gift was manifested in the early history of this work. This was to show us what God would do through this gift for the furtherance of his cause when the final pentecostal season would come to the remnant church, answering to that in the early days of the Christian church. How effectual was the exercise of this gift on the day of Pentecost and thereafter, in publishing the gospel message to different nations! This miraculous gift brought with it most convincing power to those of different tongues. They wondered when they heard men speak in tongues which they had never learned. Acts 2. This brought deep conviction to unbelievers, and many of them were converted. It is written that this gift is a sign “to them that believe not.” 1 Cor. 14: 22. Such needed this sign in the days of the primitive church. Do not such need this sign to-day?—They certainly do, and will soon have it, notwithstanding the unbelief of many with regard to it. And the exercise of this gift will not dispense with the necessity of missionaries learning the tongues of those nations to whom they are sent. There is a proverb in the French language which says, “Aide-toi, et Dieu t’aidera” (Help thyself, and God will help thee). This is true with regard to the languages. Learn as many of them as you can, and use them in communicating the final gospel message to different nations; and God will sanction your efforts by working miraculously in the same sense through the gift of tongues. Get the Bible out in as many languages as you can; and God will approve of your noble work by re-enforcing you through that miraculous gift which will serve as a mighty means of conveying the last gospel message to those of different languages. We have no more right to exclude that gift than we have to exclude the gift of prophecy, the gift of teaching, or the gift of miracles. All the gifts of the Spirit are, by God's word and plan, perpetuated throughout the gospel age. The gift of tongues is one of those gifts; therefore we should plead for its manifestation in our day, for the glorious finishing of gospel work in the earth. There are too many thousands of believers in present truth who have witnessed the miraculous healing of persons who were given up to die by faithful physicians, for us as a people to believe that the progress and feats of medical science supersede the necessity of old-fashioned miracles performed by divine, supernatural power. And in saying this we do not belittle the efforts put forth by good physicians to restore the sick to health, nor would we give way to any wild freak of fanaticism by repudiating the use of natural and truly scientific means and methods for the restoration of the sick. Let these be used, and let the blessing of God be invoked upon them and upon good and faithful physicians. But when all these fail, let God come in by his Spirit and miraculous power, and do for the sick what every other available means can not do, if he, with his infinite knowledge sees that it will be for his glory and for the best good of the afflicted and of all concerned to restore the sick to health. Indeed, all of those in the faith who shall be alive when Christ comes, will have experienced the manifestations of God's miraculous power in transforming their characters after the likeness of that of their perfect model, Jesus Christ, in enabling them to do wonderful things to the furtherance of God's cause among men, and in wonderfully strengthening them physically, mentally, and morally, to pass through the time of trouble such as never was, and to stand before the Son of man at his coming. May it be true of us in that day that this has been our experience in the present state, that it may be ours in the immortal state to delight in witnessing the display of God's almighty power through his wondrous works, and to there join with the remnant church in singing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” Rev. 15: 3, 4. Family Worship
By G. B. Thompson
“THE hour for joyful, happy songs of praise to God and his dear Son had come. Satan had led the heavenly choir. He had raised the first note, then all the angelic host united with him, and glorious strains of music had resounded through heaven in honor of God and his dear Son. But now, instead of strains of sweetest music, discord and angry words fall upon the ear of the great rebel leader. Where was he? Was it not all a horrible dream? Was he shut out of heaven? Were the gates of heaven no more to open and admit him? The hour of worship draws nigh, when bright and holy angels bow before the Father.”—“Spirit of Prophecy,” Vol. I, page 28. The preceding quotation describes the sad experience of Lucifer soon after his expulsion from heaven. We refer to it to call attention to the beautiful truth stated, that in heaven the family of God have seasons of worship. There is a set hour when the family of the Lord assemble, and with “joyful, happy songs of praise to God and his dear Son,” the angelic host worship their Creator. What an example for the families of earth to imitate! How pleasing to God must be the scene, where, gathered around the altar of prayer, is seen the entire household, and after the reading of God’s blessed Word, and perhaps a song of praise, all bow and in earnest prayer of thanksgiving commit all into the hands of Israel’s God. In every home should there not be such seasons of worship? The powers of darkness are struggling for the mastery of every soul, and we need to light our tapers from the altar of Jehovah lest our light become extinguished. Yet how often the season of worship is neglected. The cares of life are permitted to come in. Business is urgent, and in a formal way a short Scripture is read, and a hurried, lifeless prayer said. Sometimes this season of devotion is omitted entirely. In some homes the family altar has never been set up. In others it has been set up, and then allowed to fall down again. Should there not at least be a time set apart in the early morning hours for family worship? The manna in the wilderness had to be gathered in the morning, else it melted and there was none. So we should be admonished to gather to our souls in the morning the heavenly manna. Daniel, though burdened with the affairs of state in the court of a mighty kingdom, found time to pray three times each day. “Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.” Ps. 55: 17. “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Ps. 5: 3. “Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, and upon the families that call not on thy name: for they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate.” Jer. 10: 25. Even This Shall Pass Away
ONCE in Persia reigned a king
Who upon his signet-ring
Graved a maxim true and wise,
Which, if held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance
Fit for every change and chance;
Solemn words, and these are they:
“Even this shall pass away.” Trains of camels through the sand
Brought him gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys through the seas
Brought him pearls to match with these.
But he counted not his gain
Treasures of the mine or main;
“What is wealth?” the king would say;
“Even this shall pass away.” In the revels of his court,
At the zenith of the sport,
When the palms of all his guests
Burned with clapping at his jests,
He, amid his figs and wine,
Cried: “O loving friends of mine,
Pleasure comes, but not to stay;
Even this shall pass away.” Fighting on a furious field,
Once a javelin pierced his shield;
Soldiers, with a loud lament,
Bore him bleeding to his tent;
Groaning from his tortured side,
“Pain is hard to bear,” he cried,
“But with patience, day by day,
Even this shall pass away.” Towering in the public square,
Twenty cubits in the air,
Rose his statue carved in stone;
Then the king, disguised, unknown,
Stood before his sculptured name,
Musing meekly, “What is fame?
Fame is but a slow decay—
Even this shall pass away.” Struck with palsy, sere and old,
Waiting at the gates of gold,
Said he, with his dying breath,
“Life is done, but what is death?”
Then, in answer to the king,
Fell a sunbeam on his ring,
Showing by a heavenly ray,
“Even this shall pass away.” The Gardener and His Choice Vines
By F. W. Field
ONCE a gardener planted some seeds of a choice flowering vine. The young plants grew thriftily; but the gardener was so busy with other matters that his choice vines were neglected. No trellis was provided for their support; so they twined about a thorny hedge, and some became entangled among rank vines of another sort. But one day the gardener passed that way, and saw their sorry plight. His heart smote him, and he began at once to make amends for his former neglect. He built a strong trellis, and trained up the drooping vines. Such as had not yet twined about some other support, he was able to train as he willed. But some had wound tightly about the thorny shrubs; his hands were torn, and the vines were broken, in his efforts to free them. He noticed one that had coiled back upon itself till it lay in a tangled, unsightly heap; it seemed well-nigh impossible to direct its growth upward. Those which had twined about the low, creeping, diverse vines he was entirely unable to reclaim. These weeds were parasites; and after the manner of such plants, they attached themselves closely to the choice vines, and absorbed their vitality. True, some of the choice vines did bear a few sickly blossoms; but their perfume was almost lost among the rank odors about them. Then the gardener was sad, and much troubled. And he mourned for his choice but ruined vines till they were cut down by the autumn frosts. The gardener was a Christian father who awoke too late to a sense of his responsibility; and the choice vines were his children. Do Not Judge
By G. H. Heald
“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not despise him that eateth: for God hath received him. Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth.” Rom. 14: 1-4. The apostle here distinguishes between two classes of people. One class believes it is their privilege to “eat all things;” another class, designated by the apostle as “weak,” selects a diet consisting of herbs. We would now call them vegetarians, I suppose. Whether Paul designed to indicate such as weak in mind, or in body, or in the faith it is not necessary to consider now, though the first verse of the chapter rather indicates that the last was the apostle’s intention. It would seem at any rate that so far as Paul was concerned, the man who believed he could eat all things was nearer right (see 1 Tim. 4:4, comparing the third verse, also Rom. 10:25); but his main contention is that each man should be free to follow the dictates of his own conscience in these matters, without adverse criticism from his fellow men. “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth.” The Saviour, in the sermon on the mount, as recorded in Matt. 7:1-5, teaches that the spirit of criticism is a worse evil than the thing criticized. “Thou hypocrite,” he says, “first cast out the beam, out of thine own eye; and then thou shalt see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Paul, in the first verse of the second chapter of Romans, says, “Wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.” He who indulges a spirit of criticism against the diet of others has not yet become possessed of the true principles of healthful living. A spirit of criticism necessarily embodies malice and envy, and of itself is a hindrance to the highest enjoyment of health. A feeling of irritation on my part, because a neighbor who I think ought to know better is indulging in pork chops, ham sandwiches, cigars, and other abominations, would be an indication that my health reform is not that “born of the Spirit,” but an article which I have manufactured and put on. It is, in fact, a spurious, hand-made article. I am, in the language of Paul, doing the same thing as the person I have criticized; or, as Jesus says, I am a hypocrite. If anything is plainly taught in the New Testament, it is that, whatever our belief may be regarding diet, we are not to condemn others for not doing as we do. It is right to educate, to spread the principles of healthful living far and wide; but in doing it we should adopt as our guide the Saviour’s words, “If any man receive not my words, I condemn him not.” The gospel of health is a message of salvation, not of condemnation. If I have more knowledge on these lines than my brother, it is not my prerogative to rein him up to my standard, but it is my privilege to so live that he shall not stumble over what he sees in my life. “Take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to those that are weak.” 1 Cor. 8:9. Read also the eighth verse for the connection. I will conclude with a modernized version of the parable of Luke 18:— Two men went up to the church to pray,—the one an Adventist and the other a saloon-keeper. The Adventist stood thus and prayed with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this saloon-keeper. I keep the Sabbath, I live health reform, I pay tithes of all I possess, and give liberally to the cause: and the saloon-keeper, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. Is this a forced application of the parable? Let us see. The Pharisees were a very good sort of people, as men go.11 They were conscientious and scrupulously careful as to their daily lives. The Saviour selected for the parable the classes that to the people seemed the best and worst in society—those who made most pretentions to righteousness, and those who made no such pretentions. To the remnant church he says in Revelation, “Thou sayest, I am rich and increased in goods, . . . and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” The tendency is to overlook our own faults, and see as with a magnifying glass the faults of others. Joy, a Christian Duty
By James E. C. Sawyer
THERE is a deeply rooted idea in the minds of many people that Christianity is a religion of gloom. More than one great thinker has called it the religion of sorrow, and poets, who delight in things bright and beautiful, sink into minor tones when they sing of religion. True it is that in a certain sense Christianity may legitimately be called the religion of sorrow. Its founder, the Lord Jesus Christ, was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Its symbol is a cross, significant of suffering and shame. The condition of its service is: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Its triumphant disciples are those who have come out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Yet the joy of the Lord, underlying the sorrow of the Christian life, and often bursting out with a radiance which changes the sky from dull gray to glowing brightness, ought never to be forgotten. We are so apt to emphasize the sorrow that we obscure the joy. The sorrow is only accidental and transient, while the joy is essential and permanent. Even sorrow itself becomes the handmaiden of joy when one learns the duty of being glad, for then we rejoice in the Lord always, knowing that in every experience, perfect wisdom and love are present to make all things work together for good. Both in the Old and New Testaments, religion is described as joyous in its character. The Hebrew economy was jubilant in its arrangements for worship, calling into play the music of harp, viol, tabret, cymbal, stringed instruments, and organ. There was joy in the daily service of the temple, and at the great feasts, when all the people kept holiday; the land was filled with gladness from mountain top to valley. Thus the Hebrews recognized the duty of being glad, and put it into practise. The teaching of the New Testament is no less emphatic. The very message of Christianity is the gospel, the good news of redeeming love. Christianity was introduced by a summons of joy: “Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” On the night of his betrayal, when the shadows of the approaching crucifixion fell thick and fast, Christ gathered his disciples around him and told them of the blessed mystery of their union to him, ending with the striking declaration: “These words have I spoken to you that my joy may be in you.” The purpose of the Christian life, as revealed in the teaching of our Lord and his apostles, is to fill heart and life with the joy of Christ. When the believer realizes the truth, he quickly apprehends the privilege and duty of being glad, and soon he walks in the sunshine of a joy which can not be banished by the fog of human doubts or the clouds of earthly trials. Cheerfulness is always an element of strength. The joy of the Lord is the strength of every true Christian. Joy is the law of the kingdom of heaven; in that kingdom light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. This joy is no transient feeling, born of the mood of the moment and clouded by the change of emotions, but a divinely sustained principle based upon an abiding assurance. True it is that this joy has its times of rapture and ecstasy when heaven seems specially near, and glimpses of the beatific vision are caught. Then the joy becomes unspeakable and full of glory. But these upliftings are rare, and can not be expected often, whereas the calm gladness of peace and communion ought to be the constant condition of the soul of every believer. Gloomy Christians repel; sunny Christians attract. We are the world’s Bible, and men judge the religion we profess by us who profess it. If we are dull and sad in our intercourse with our fellows, can we wonder at their blaming our religion? What we need to-day in our Christian life, is a baptism of gladness that shall send us on our way with shining faces and jubilant praise. Rejoicing in the Lord, we should recommend Christianity by the winsomeness of our words and deeds. In the worry and strain of our generation, no more welcome strength could come to any life than the abiding gladness of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The surface of life may be troubled with a passing storm, but eternal peace will dwell in the heart. Our stream in the desert may be embittered by a Marah, but there will always be a sweetening tree at hand. We may be brought into our garden of Gethsemane, but there will always be an angel near to comfort and strengthen. Why, then, be sad? Should we not cast all gloom, born of doubt and fear, far from us, and live out full and happy lives in the sunshine of faith?—James E. C. Sawyer, D. D., in Northwestern Christian Advocate.