p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 33. (8/17/1904)

The Greatest of All

(1 Corinthians 13, American Standard Revised Version)

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of Prophecy, And know all Mysteries and all Knowledge; And if I have all Faith, so as to remove Mountains, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, I am nothing.

And if I bestow all my Goods to feed the poor, And if I give my Body to be Burned, BUT HAVE NOT LOVE, It profiteth me nothing.

LOVE suffereth long, and is kind; LOVE envieth not; LOVE vaunteth not itself, Is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, Seeketh not its own, Is not provoked, Taketh not account of evil: Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, But rejoiceth with the Truth; Beareth all things, Believeth all things, Hopeth all things, Endureth all things. LOVE NEVER FAILETH:

But whether there be Prophecies, they shall be done away; Whether there be Tongues, they shall cease; Whether there be Knowledge, it shall be done away. For we know in part, And we prophesy in part; But when that which is Perfect is come, That which is in Part shall be done away.

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: Now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror darkly; But then face to face: Now I know in part; But then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.

But now abideth FAITH, HOPE, LOVE, These three; And the greatest of these is LOVE

PEACE AND SAFETY.

Few indeed there are in the serious walks of life but what long for peace. The desire for war within the ranks of the military rises, generally, from those who are ambitious for advancement in rank. Among the common citizens it is aroused sometimes by patriotic ardor; sometimes by sordid desires for gain. Surely there is war sufficient now in the vast Orient, and all the spirit of war in some of our states and cities. Yet, despite manifest conditions, many false prophets, as of old, are crying of peace and safety. Of this time the prophet says:—

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” 1 Thess. 5:3-5.

At the very time that the Lord, through faithful servants and by a multitude of signs, is warning the world of its coming doom, and exhorting all to flee from the wrath to come by hiding in God, and laying up treasure in heaven, another class will be crying, “Peace and safety! a good time coming!”

Peace in sin has ever been the cry of false prophets, from Jeremiah to the present day. Isaiah and Micah show us that this cry will deceive many people and many nations, and the “many people” and “many nations” will say: “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” See Isa. 2:3-5; Micah 4:2-5. The mixture of idolatry, the divided worship implied in the message, is shown in Micah 4:5.

But concerning this message of peace of “many people,” the prophet says: “For Thou [God] hast forsaken Thy people the house of Jacob, because they be filled with customs from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of strangers.” Isa. 2:6.

Now here is the cry as predicted. Already we hear it preached. And the Word declares, “When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them; . . . and they shall not escape.” But the children of God shall not be deceived. That day will not overtake them as a thief. The false message that deceives and lulls to sleep thousands will be to the children of the light an evidence that Christ’s coming is near.

Interesting Articles in the August Cosmopolitan

Among the interesting articles in the August Cosmopolitan are “Simon Lake and His Wonderful Submarine,” by Sidney Mornington; “Railroads above the Clouds,” by Warren Harper (both illustrated); and “Wall Street’s Wild Speculation,” 1900–1904, by Henry Clews. Price, 10 cents.

Who Is General J. G. Wooley?

An esteemed contemporary speaks of “Gen. J. G. Wooley, the great temperance lecturer, whose labors have been world-wide.” Who is he? We know of John G. Wooley, lawyer, author, lecturer, indomitable temperance worker, but he spells his name with two l’s, and he is not a general.