THE St. Louis Republic, commenting on the effect in that city of the first Sunday with the saloons closed, says:
Recreation and amusement were not curtailed. There was no inconvenience or discomfort on account of closed shops. The arrests for drunkenness and for disorderly conduct were less than on the preceding Sunday. There were no arrests for assaults with intent to kill. Order was decidedly better, and there was virtually no serious crime. The record of the one "closed Sunday" is encouraging. Without referring to the practical value of the law as it is, or to the question of amendment, it can be said that enforcement of the law for one Sunday operated for the betterment of morals and order. St. Louis managed as well with the law enforced as it did when the law was not enforced. From a standpoint of behaviour it managed better. The one day's enforcement produced a state of affairs better in all respects.
Then why not close the saloons on Monday also? Or is it too much to expect that the people should be kept from "serious crime" more than one day in seven? Or are "assaults with intent to kill" any less heinous or criminal when committed on other days than Sunday? If the saloons are the cause of such crimes on Sunday—and no doubt they are—then why are they not equally guilty on other days? We suggest that the St. Louis people extend their saloon closing just one day farther into the week,7just for experiment. Surely they ought to be able to stand it two days in the week without an "assault with intent to kill," or other "serious crime." And they don't need saloons in order to get something strong to drink.
We might suggest a closing altogether, but that would meet too strong an opposition from the police department; for at least three-fourths of them would soon be conspicuously unnecessary, and lose their jobs. So we have proposed that they add only one day at a time, and work gradually. But they will not do it, for the reason that there is only one Sunday in the week. The enthusiasm for better days is so apt to stop when Sunday is past. "Great is Diana of the Ephesians."
THE DEEP SHADES AND SHADOWS OF RUSSIAN LIFE.
THE existing régime imposes its burdens on all classes of Russian society. "Their relentless weight rests most heavily, however, on the peasantry and the factory labor. Years of repression and suppression, of mental and spiritual darkness, have reduced the Russian masses to a pitiful state. He who would paint a true picture of present-day Russia," says a recent contributor to the Nedyelya (St. Petersburg), "must dip his brush in somber colors. The question 'what next' may be difficult to answer, but the question as it is, is truly hopeless."
All is somber and gray; the peasant huts are leaning outward, the roofs are half rotted. In the huts there is darkness, and an oppressive tainted atmosphere. Beyond the huts there are miserable gardens, and farther still the expanse of fields full of weeds where groans the exhausted earth, incapable of bearing,—a nurse deprived of all strength. Against this background one sees the heavily-laden peasant. It is his lot to be oppressed. In order to breathe a little more freely, he at times oppresses others. Such is the Russian village. People move about in the huts, near the huts, and work in the fields. On their sodden, yellowish-dark faces there is the stamp of deep, dumb sorrow, and of resignation. No illuminating intelligence shines in their actions. The herd-like life destroys in them everything living,—it destroys ability, and subjects the individual to the instincts of the blind masses. Accidents and habits hold sway, and blind instincts triumph; but there are no guiding principles to direct the work. There is no knowledge creative of enterprise. Such is peasant labor.
The wretched poverty of the peasantry, the writer goes on to say, is rendered more oppressive by the fearful sanitary, or, rather, unsanitary, conditions which prevail in the villages. The same applies also to the towns, where the conditions of factory labor is scarcely better than that of the peasants. We find sanitary defects in our fatherland wherever we turn, says another writer in the same journal. The sanitary condition under which the factory employees live are frequently in an awful state, and their evils are multiplied by overcrowding.
As to village life, it is like an awful nightmare. The population is dying out in many places. Let us, for instance, consider the question of drinking-water, the contamination of which is widespread. The Volga and its tributaries are covered with naphtha to such an extent that in some places the water is totally unfit for use. Complaints concerning the contamination of drinking-water—its bad taste, odor, etc.—are heard from most of our large cities.—Kazan, Tomsk, Nizhni-Novgorod, and others. Even the filter plants, where they exist, frequently fail to help matters. The population is using water unfit for consumption, and falls a prey to various diseases. . . . But it is difficult to imagine, at times, how the village populations manage to exist on poisoned water which even cattle refuse to drink. The factories and mills are largely responsible for thus poisoning the water-supplies of many villages. For example, in Ivanovo-Voznesensk, with a population of 60,000 there is no filter plant, and the river water is thoroughly contaminated. The fish, and even the frogs, have entirely disappeared, and one enterprising individual earns several hundred dollars a year by collecting the naphtha from the river. The grass refuses to grow on the meadows along the river, and the pastures have disappeared. The mortality is 37.3 per 1,000.
The disappearance of the fish and the deterioration of the pastures have deprived large numbers of peasants of their main source of income, and have at the same time added to the cost of food for factory labor. The unsanitary life of the latter, and the high mortality rate, as noted above, are due in part, also, to the miserable wages paid to the workmen. According to the report of Mikhailovski, the chief factory inspector of the St. Petersburg district, the annual earnings of the average factory employee in the government of St. Petersburg amount to 232 rubles ($116); to about the same in the government of Moscow; to 255 rubles in the government of Kherson; and to 268 rubles in Baku. These averages include the comparatively high wages of the masters, and also of the much lower wages of the unskilled or common laborer, whose annual earnings do not exceed 150 to 170 rubles. Notwithstanding these low wages, the Russian workingmen are obliged to pay as much, or more, for their provisions as is paid by the workingmen in England or America. Thus, the factory employees in the Russian cities must pay three cents for a pound of flour, nine to ten cents for a pound of meat, and ten cents for a pound of sugar. Everything considered, therefore, the American workingman is paid five times as much for his labor, and the English workingman four times as much. The economic conditions, normally bad, have grown immeasurably worse on account of the general depression due to the war. In many of the agricultural districts there is no bread, and not even seed for the following season. Numerous families have lost their supporters, who were called to the front, and the resulting situation in not a few Russian villages is well illustrated by a letter to the Yuzhnoye Obozryeniye from Slavyanoserbsk, district of Tiraspol. "It is war, war,—war of the unarmed and helpless against a pitiless foe," writes the village Starosta, Boris Sychenko.
"The name of this foe is hunger. There walk on our streets, not men, but the resemblance of men. And who can describe their anguish? Help us! We received here only 6,000 poods for 1,300 persons. People here can scarcely stand on their feet, and the children are dying like flies (fifteen in fifteen days). Hasten with your help. Make it possible for people to get something to eat. We have families here who live we know not how. There are some who obtained some Indian corn somewhere. They boil it in water and eat it without salt or bread. At the gatherings there is gloom, confusion, and resentment. In the homes—hell."
In view of these facts, it is not surprising that the peasants are frequently goaded to desperation. Their wretched life, their ignorance and superstition, make them an easy prey to agitators. Thus, the Russkiya-Vyedomosti reports that in the governments of Orel and Kursk the peasants have been holding meetings. They agree upon a certain plan of action, and at night attack the estates of wealthy landlords or merchants. The storehouses where the grain is kept are attacked and plundered, the buildings destroyed, the forests cut down. Many estates have thus been pillaged. The Kievlyanin (Kiev) also reports outrages in the governments of Orel and Chernigov. A number of large estates have been pillaged, important sugar refineries burned, and thousands of pounds of sugar destroyed. The losses are enormous, it being estimated that the Mikhailovsk refinery alone suffered to the loss of three million rubles. The peasant mob engaged in this work of destruction numbered about three thousand. The Russkiya-Vyedomosti also reports that the peasants near the town of Dagda, government of Dvinsk, have been made desperate by hunger. They have pillaged and destroyed several estates, carried off everything that was portable, and destroyed the rest. The cattle from some of the estates were driven off; the surviving landlords have escaped with some of their property, and have sought protection with the soldiers who were sent from Dvinsk. The local police does nothing. The inhabitants of the town do not sleep at night, fearing an attack by the peasants.
The fermentation among the factory employees still continues. The Pravo reports that five hundred striking artisans attacked the police in Sukhum. A demonstration by the unemployed occurred in Kiev. Similarly, the Syevero-Zapadny Krai recounts the strike disorders in Dvinsk. The Vyestnik Yuga reports rumored street disorders in Yekaterinoslav. A far-reaching strike has paralyzed all industrial activity in Byelostok. "Factories, mills, printing-houses, small industrial establishments, stores, street-car lines, express carriers, etc.,—everything is idle." Conflicts between students or workingmen and the police or military have occurred in Smolensk, Turiya, Oryehov-Zuyev, Warsaw, and many other places; and attempts to assassinate police or other officials have occurred in Minsk, Dvinsk, Warsaw, Ochemchiry, Poti, Tiflis, St. Petersburg, Kremenchug, etc. The reign of anarchy is at times hastened by the overzealous government officials, who organize counter-demonstrations and try to array class against class, or race against race.
The Kishinev and Baku massacres are but prominent instances of such activities. Similar incidents on a smaller scale have occurred elsewhere. Thus, on March 11 a drunken mob armed with axes and clubs surrounded the schoolhouse in the village of Yelani, in the government of Saratov, with the avowed purpose of killing the schoolmaster. It appears that for several days previously a number of suspicious persons appeared among the peasants, telling them that the teacher was an anti-Christ; that he did not believe in God, since he claimed that the earth revolved and that there are spots on the sun. The agitators implored the parents not to send their children to school, and thus save them from ruin. On March 4 there was a great gathering of peasants, at which whisky to the amount of 600 rubles ($300) was consumed. After this the mob marched to the school, drove off the children, and destroyed the school furniture. The schoolmaster escaped as if by a miracle.
It would seem that the agitators were carrying out instructions which they had received from others in pursuance of the general policy of suppressing enlightenment and independent judgment. This same policy is made manifest in a recent order of the governor of Vladimir, whereby the postmaster of the city of Vladimir was to report the names of all the residents of Vladimir who were subscribers to the papers Nasha Zhizn, Nashi Dni, and Syn Otechestva. One of the students of the local gymnasium found reading Nasha Zhizn was placed by the director in the detention cell for five hours. Such, in brief, are but a few of the innumerable facts, reported in censored Russian journals, which may serve to show to the outside world the burdens of the Russian men and women.
Ignorance and superstition among the peasants and workingmen, tacitly encouraged by the powers that be; official corruption and intolerance, disrespect for the law, disregard of human rights,—these and other ills make Russian life what it is, a great burden to the many, and a round of needless pleasure to the few.—Review of Reviews.
DISCREDITING THE WORD.
By S.
THE most tempting target for the so-called “higher critics” is found in the miracles of the Bible. The attempt is made either to discredit the narrative itself, or to gloss over the miraculous with a film of cunningly-devised fabrication, to show that whatever occurred was in the ordinary course. With all the miraculous carefully expunged from the Gospel records, Satan considers His conquest over the remainder more certain in the minds and hearts of men.
One of the latest and most curious and irreverent exhibits of this character appeared in the June 10 issue of the Christian Work and Evangelist. It is an effort to completely discredit the miraculous in the deliverance of Peter from prison at the time when he was about to be given to the sword. The writer’s idea, in a few words, is that the Roman soldiers who were guarding Peter had heard of his teachings, perhaps becoming converted, or at least friendly, and had themselves released him, in spite of the fact that they knew their own lives must pay the penalty for their act. He says, “They deliberately gave their lives that Peter might live,” and the words are in italics. This deliberate, emphasized assertion is made in spite of the plain declaration of the Word that “an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shined in the cell; and he smote Peter on the side, and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.” Acts 12:7.
Note the last sentence in the verse quoted; and then alongside of that place this statement of the higher critic: “While Peter slept, the soldiers unfastened his fetters. They unlocked the prison door. A confederate was waiting at the iron gate to open it.” Now another statement of the Word: “When they were past the first and second guard, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth into the city; which opened to them of its own accord.” Verse 10. The higher critic says a confederate opened it. Whom shall we believe, Inspiration, or Inspiration’s human antagonist?
When Peter had arrived at the house, where his brethren and sisters were praying for his deliverance, he declared that “the Lord had brought him forth out of the prison.” The higher critic states that it was a rough Roman soldier who did it. Again, whom shall we believe?
The higher critic states that the word there translated “angel” simply means messenger. Messenger is a correct translation of the original word; and, standing by itself, that is what it means. But it makes the greatest possible difference how that word is qualified. When the Bible states, as it does in Acts 12:11, that “the Lord hath sent forth His angel,” we have no shadow of excuse for supposing that God’s angel was a “rough Roman soldier.” In fact, the word translated “angel” in the New Testament, tho coming from the original Greek word meaning “messenger,” does not refer to men in any case, but to celestial beings, and that, too, where no qualifying word is used. One such expression is this: “And all that sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.” Acts 6:15. There can be no question but that word means a heavenly being; and how much more surely, when the word “angel” is accompanied by a qualifying word such as is used in Acts 12:11!
Another subtle insinuation of discredit in such criticisms as this above referred to is revealed in the attempt to make these sacred records appear to be simply a man’s impressions of what he supposed to be a fact. One other quotation from the writer referred to will show this very clearly. He says: “It will be objected that Peter himself ascribed his escape to supernatural agency. It appeared that way to him, and he told the story as he thought he saw it. But Peter’s perceptions were not sufficiently aroused to permit him to note accurately his surroundings, and his mental concepts were too indefinite to enable him to reason correctly as to cause and effect.”
What a jumble of inconsistencies and uncertainties all this would make of the Bible! In place of the infallible Word of God we would then have only the drowsy, beclouded impressions of men. And it is just such worthless themes as this that the pulpits of this land are sounding forth to the people. Is it any wonder that souls are drifting to ruin? that doubting, agnosticism, infidelity, are growing apace, when theologians are wasting their time and opportunity with such worthless babblings, when they might be saving souls?
It is but a portion of the great campaign of the enemy to becloud the minds of men, and set souls adrift from their moorings without chart or compass. He who values the cost of souls for whom Christ died will not be found feeding them on such soul-destroying husks. “The Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Heb. 4:12.
SUNDAY ENFORCEMENT NEWS.
By Editor
FOUR arrests in one day for violation of the Sunday law, is a current news item from New Orleans.
In White Rock, S. D., a man was recently tried in the circuit court for doing business on Sunday, and was convicted by a jury.
A movement for Sunday-closing in Milwaukee is said to have been instigated by fourteen ministers of South Side churches.
“A crusade against Sunday baseball has been inaugurated in Marshall, Mich.,” says the Detroit Journal. The crusade was being led by four ministers and the local W. C. T. U.
The mayor of Paducah, Ky., where Sunday enforcement has been inaugurated against saloons, has announced “that his determination to enforce the Sunday-closing law is just as strong in regard to drug stores as saloons,” and that he will “revoke the license of any drug store found guilty of selling liquor on Sunday.”
“Because of the many complaints, made principally by the Woman’s Sabbath Alliance, sent in to police headquarters,” the speeding of fast horses on Sunday on the Mamaroneck Avenue speedway in White Plains, N. Y., has been stopped by the police. “While speeding may take place on week days, there will be no more of it on Sundays.”
“More determined efforts are to be made to enforce Sunday closing against Indianapolis barbers,” reports the Indianapolis (Ind.) Sentinel. “Members of the barbers’ union will more closely investigate the status of Sunday closing in the city, and have determined to secure evidence against the violators of the city ordinance, and prosecute them vigorously. To do this work in a thorough manner, a special committee has been appointed by the union, and the shops of the city will be kept under a strict surveillance throughout the day on Sundays.” Special attention will be given to “shops conducted in connection with hotels, where entrance to the shops may be gained from the hotel lobbies.”
The Ionia County (Mich.) Ministerial Association, “recently organized to include ministers of all denominations,” has “put itself on record as opposed to Sunday baseball.” At the last monthly meeting of the association in Lyons, the ministers “decided to notify the sheriff that they would expect him to be on hand every time a Sunday game was advertised or expected, and see that the state laws were not violated.” It is by calling upon the civil officials for the “enforcement of law,” that the clergymen almost invariably put themselves on record when opposing anything on Sunday. And so it was in the Dark Ages; all the religious persecution was simply the enforcement of civil law.
The clergymen of Niagara Falls, N. Y., have given notice of their “intention to fight Sunday baseball again this year.” They state that they will see that the law is enforced as long as it is on the statute books.
At Bryan, Texas, on March 15, the grand jury, on adjournment for the term, after being in session seven days, reported among other things that they “had carefully investigated the enforcement of the Sunday law in Bryan, and found that the officers were discharging every duty along that line.”
The general naval board at Washington, of which Admiral Dewey is the head, recommends to the Secretary of the Navy that, on account of the situation in the far East, another battleship be added to our Asiatic fleet. There are already three battleships in that fleet, but it is deemed advisable to keep approximately an equivalent force to that of Japan in the Orient. Another item is that the joint army and navy board has decided to expend all the available fund for insular defenses—about a million dollars—in strengthening the defenses in the Philippines. As we are now logically to be reckoned as among “the kings of the East,” it will not do to be behind in any resource, lest we lose also our home prestige.
A Paris telegram says: “In the utmost secrecy both the French army and navy are being rapidly prepared for a general mobilization. All leaves in both services have been stopped, officers are being summoned back in haste to their regiments and ships, and at both the War office and the Admiralty the most feverish activity prevails.” So says the prophet with reference to the last days: “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruningbooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong,” etc. Joel 3:9, 10.
The Turkish prince, Ahmed Kemal Eddin, brother of the sultan, has died and been disposed of, and the whole affair occurred so quietly and secretly that it is generally supposed to have been at the dictation of the sultan himself. The sultan is always in dread of assassination, and if his chief of police intimates that there is danger from any source, that source is soon disposed of; and it is said that there has been enmity between the chief and the now dead prince, who was heir to the throne in case of the sultan’s death. Such is court life in oriental countries.
As the sequel to the practical destruction of the Russian navy by Japan, Grand Duke Alexis, high admiral, and Admiral Avellan, head of the Naval Department, have resigned. The grand Duke, who is uncle of the czar, is said to fear assassination. Extensive frauds in connection with the building and operation of the navy are generally alleged. Fraud seems to be the bane of the Russian Government. It would be well for the world if that were the only government so affected; but it is not.
The Southern Pacific Railroad Company is about to begin the work of tunnelling the Sierra Nevada. There will be five tunnels, one of them five miles long. The first will start a short distance north of Donner Lake, and the series will end at the foot of Blue Canyon on the American River. The contracts already let call for an expenditure of over $25,000,000.
That our Chinese Exclusion Law is too severe, is the judgment of the Secretary of War. Perhaps the probability of China’s carrying out a retaliatory exclusion policy has something to do with it. The Orientals are old experts at that business, and if they undertake the work, it will be done effectually.
China has given notice to an American railroad company that it must either sell its concession to the Chinese Government at a reasonable price or submit to the confiscation of the concession. The company has agreed to sell.
It has been agreed that representatives of Russia and Japan will meet at Washington, D. C., to arrange terms of peace. Japan, however, does not agree to stop fighting until Russia unreservedly declares for peace.
THE RESULTS OF REPENTANCE.
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
REPENTANCE is one of the first-fruits of saving grace. Repentance includes sorrow for sin, and a turning away from it. We shall not renounce sin until we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life. Repentance is the only process by which infinite purity reflects the image of Christ in His redeemed subjects.
The great Teacher, in His lessons, presents the life-diffusing power of His grace, declaring that through His grace men and women may live the new life of holiness and purity. He who lives this life works out the principles of the kingdom of heaven. Taught of God, he leads others in straight paths. The working of the Holy Spirit in his life shows that he is a partaker of the divine nature. Every soul thus worked receives so abundant a supply of the rich grace of heaven that, beholding his good works, unbelievers acknowledge that he is controlled and sustained by divine power, and give to God the glory.
There are those who, notwithstanding all the gracious invitations of Christ, continue to reveal ungodliness in their lives. To such ones God says: "How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge? Turn you at My reproof; behold I will pour out My spirit unto you; I will make known My words unto you."
The most striking feature of the covenant of peace that the Lord has made with human beings is the exceeding richness of the pardoning mercy offered to the sinner if he repents and turns from sin. "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness," the Lord declares of those who repent, "and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Does God turn from justice in showing mercy to the sinner?—No; God can never dishonor His law by suffering it to be transgressed with impunity. Under the new covenant, perfect obedience is the condition of life. If the sinner repents, and confesses his sin, he will find pardon. Forgiveness is secured for him by Christ's sacrifice in his behalf. Christ has paid the demands of the law for every repentant, believing sinner.
"As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth. . . . And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."
The atonement that has been made for us by Christ is wholly satisfactory to the Father. God can be just, and yet the justifier of those who believe.
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." By beholding Him, we may be changed into His image. The promise has been made, "I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." Through disobedience man forfeited holiness, accepting in its place the principles of unrighteousness. But by breaking the yoke that Satan has fastened upon him, and taking the yoke of Christ, learning of Him His meekness and lowliness, man is created anew. Christ has promised to write in the heart of every repentant sinner His law, which is holy, just, and good. He promises to renovate the soul, through the medium of truth. He diffuses His own life through the entire being. Thus the sinner is born again, and henceforth, in a life of loving service, he is to work out the grand, ennobling principles that he can take with him into the heavenly courts. There is placed upon him a new mould of character, which the world knows not, but which all must receive who obtain entrance into the courts above.
Well may we count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord. This knowledge is the highest science that man can study. It is the sum of all true science. "This is life eternal," Christ declared, "that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."
The Analytical Method of Bible Study
By William S. Sadler
HOW TO ENJOY YOUR BIBLE. No. 3.
BY W. S. SADLER.
The Analytical Method of Bible Study.
THIS is a method of Bible study that is especially enjoyable to a certain class of minds; and if you will but take the time to apply this method to a few verses of scripture that you thought you were thoroughly familiar with, you will be greatly surprised to find out how little, after all, you had ever discerned of the real truth and instruction contained in a single verse of the Bible.
Let us open our Bibles, and engage in the study of a verse of scripture along the lines of the analytical method, and see what suggestions we can get.
My Bible opens at the First Epistle of Peter. Suppose we analyze the first two verses of the first chapter and see what we can find.
In this analytical method, there are a number of rules we must follow if we would get started right. First, read the verse carefully, slowly, and prayerfully, making sure that you understand the meaning of the words used, and that you understand the construction of the language.
Second, examine the first sentence, carefully, even the first word, if it is one of importance, and crystallize in your mind the first thought or truth you learn from it.
Third, in the analytical study of the Bible, always work with paper and pencil at hand, and the first thought you secure, from the study of your verse, write down, in as few words as possible, well crystallized, and call it Number One. Then proceed to get the next thought, etc.
Fourth, make sure that you get every important thought and truth out of your verse, writing them down systematically, but also be careful not to write down anything, however true it may be, altho it may even be suggested by the verse you are studying, unless you find it plainly and clearly stated in the verse you are analyzing.
Now, with these suggestions before us, let us proceed to find out and write down what we can learn from 1 Peter 1:1, 2:
1. This passage teaches us that Peter is the author of the epistle.
2. That the Peter who wrote it was an apostle of Jesus Christ.
3. We find the name Jesus Christ in these two verses twice; Jesus being the human name of the Son of God, and Christ the divine name or office, we are reminded that our Saviour was both human and divine.
4. Peter writes this epistle to "strangers;" thus reminding us that we are pilgrims and strangers in this world, looking and longing for a better.
5. These "strangers" were scattered abroad throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. (Here let the student refer to his Bible maps, and learn the location of these different countries and in this way this passage of scripture will always be more interesting to him.)
6. These "strangers" to whom Peter wrote are called "elect."
7. These "strangers" were elected according to the foreknowledge of God.
8. This election was to be carried out or effected "through sanctification;" that is, while God foreknows the elect, they are to make their calling and election sure through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is a progressive work. God foreknows the election, but their election is made sure by the sanctifying and purifying work of the Spirit of God.
9. The result of this work of sanctification in behalf of the elect is:
(a) Obedience; "through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience."
(b) Sprinkling of the blood of Christ; which denotes the forgiveness of sin (see sprinkling of the blood in the service of the Aaronic priesthood), and which implies that those who are saved and obedient are those who have accepted the atoning work of Christ in behalf of sin.
10. That the object of God's choosing us is that we may obey His Word and will.
11. That the ground of our election, or the basis from which God chooses us, is the sprinkling of the blood of Christ; that is, through His cleansing work in our behalf.
12. That sanctification, or daily growth in grace, is God's foreordained way of preparing His chosen ones for the high and holy position for which they are candidates.
13. God is our Father, hence those who are obedient and who have accepted the blood of Christ are His children.
14. The mention of the three persons of the Godhead: (1) God, (2) Jesus Christ, (3) the Spirit.
15. "Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied"—indicating again, the progressive work of sanctification.
Thus we have found lying right on the9surface of these two opening verses of Peter's first epistle, fifteen great truths. And we could analyze these verses much more closely, but this is sufficient to illustrate the method of pursuing analytical study of the Bible.
Many Bible students read the good Book very superficially. We would seriously recommend to all, that they study one of the smaller books of the Bible—one of Paul's epistles, say—after this analytical fashion. You will not only find a world of good in it directly, but it will cultivate careful and thorough habits in the study of the Bible, which will help you in all your future perusal of the sacred Word.
Such methods of Bible study will also develop the mind, strengthen the memory, and make one more observant and thorough in all his reading and study.
THE HOLY SPIRIT.
By Eliza H. Morton
BY ELIZA H. MORTON.
WE pray for the Holy Spirit
With never a thought or care
How much is involved in asking,
How much is meant by that prayer.
No sin can live in its presence,
Our God's a consuming fire;
We ask for the Spirit's cleansing
Which may be destruction dire;
But not, if we yield completely
And part with each idol dear,
Laying them all on the altar
Without a regret or fear.
'Tis then that the Spirit comforts,
'Tis then when it acts as guide
And opens before our vision
Green pastures and waters wide.
O Spirit, divine and holy,
We long for Thy fulness sweet,
To change and transform our natures
And make us for glory meet.
We feel in our souls Thy presence,
O strengthen our hearts to claim
The birthright by Jesus purchased,
And ours by faith in His name.
