“There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” 1 Tim. 2:5. When two persons can not agree, it is a common custom for some one to act as a mediator. It is in this way that Christ acts between God and man.
The natural man is separated from God. In his sinful condition he is not reconciled to the government of God, for “the carnal [or natural] mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:7. Man must be changed, cleansed from sin, before he can be subject to God’s righteous government.
In order for Christ to be a mediator between God and man, it was necessary for Him to know the exact feeling of both. He already knew God; for He was the Son of God, and had the same divine nature as His Father. But He could not fully understand the condition of man until He came and took the place of man, in the same human flesh. Then He could have full sympathy for man.5
It was for the sake of fallen humanity that Christ left His royal throne, and came to this dark and sin-cursed earth. When the Saviour came, men had sunken so deep in sin and wickedness that they did not receive the One who had so graciously come to help them. He was “despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Because God can not accept man in his rebellious and sinful condition, that does not prove Him to be a hard Master, as some may think. He loves the sinner, and because of His great love He gave His Son to die for him, that the sinner might be separated from his sin, which, if not removed, must forever separate him from God and happiness.
Christ comes to us as a friend and helper, as One who has power and influence with God. He brings to us the terms by which, if we accept them, we may be restored to favor with God. “All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.”
“If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Every person has a case at the bar of God, because we all have sinned. “We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” But if we have Christ for our advocate, why should we fear? He is the only-begotten of the Father, and He is a man. As the human He represents us, as the divine He pleads for us.
The Mediator is the “Man Christ Jesus.” For “in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted.” Finally, when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, He comes before the Father as the advocate of every one who believed His Word, and He delivers all such from the destruction that comes upon the wicked.
Our Advocate, tho the Son of God, is from one of the human family; as such He is our representative. Can we not safely trust ourselves and all our interests, both now and forever, in His hands, saying with the apostle Paul, “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day”? 2 Tim. 1:12. EMMA L. RUNCK. Alma, Neb.
Paul's Panegyric on Love.
By Alexander Mc Laren
[Alexander Mc Laren, D.D. in S. S. Times.]
“I DON'T care for Paul's abstruse theological arguments, but that hymn of his to love is exquisite.” The many people who say this should remember that, in Paul's view, the love which he glorifies is the product of the faith which grasps his “theology,” and of it only. This sparkling fountain in the midst of the so-called arid waste springs up there because it is fed from the depths of what seems so dry. Christian love comes from the soul's response to Christian truth.
Paul's first thought in this lofty celebration of love is that it is at once the crowning beauty and the productive root of all other excellences. It adds the last poignant savor to them all, and without it, character, whatever its attainments, is defective. He works out that thought in verses 1 to 3. First he takes up the immediately preceding thread of thought, and declares that the “tongues,” of which he has been speaking, are no better than meaningless blarings and jinglings, unless it is love that speaks through them. That applies to much besides the gift of tongues in the early church. It brings in a new criterion by which to estimate eloquence, poetry, and all the floods of speech and writing that deluge the world. The supreme question for “criticism” of these is, Do they give voice to love? If they do, they are as sweet as harpers harping on their harps; if they do not, they are worth no more than the tuneless noises of braying trumpets, loud and strident, or the trivial tinklings of shrill cymbals. Loveless words are noise. When love speaks, there is music. Let us criticize our own utterances as well as those of others from that point of view.
XVII. THE SEVEN TRUMPETS.
“Trumpet to trumpet spake,
Thunder to thunder.”
THE prophecy of the seven trumpets—symbols of war—portrays, in highly symbolic language, the breaking up of the Roman Empire, the rise and fall of the Mahometan power, and the prediction and time of the judgment of God. The explanation herein given will be brief, and for fuller explanation the reader is referred to “Daniel and the Revelation,” by the late Uriah Smith. The notes following the questions on the text will summarize the views therein set forth. We had thought of passing over this prophecy, merely referring the reader to the work above noted; but on further consideration it seemed best to give this synopsis of more than two long chapters. We believe there is more light still, and we entreat our readers to study the Word.
Questions on the Text.
After the opening of the seventh seal, what did the prophet next see?
“And I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there were given unto them seven trumpets.” Rev. 8:2.
What was next shown him?
“And another angel came and stood over the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel taketh the censer; and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth; and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake.” Verses 3-5.
What did the seven angels immediately do?
“And the seven angels that had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” Verse 6.
What followed when the first angel sounded?
“And the first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth; and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” Verse 7.
What followed the sounding of the second?
“And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood; and there died the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, even they that had life; and the third part of the ships was destroyed.” Verses 8, 9.
Of what was the third trumpet the precursor?
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of the waters; and the name of the star is called Wormwood; and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.” Verses 10, 11.
What occurred when the fourth angel sounded?
“And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner.” Verse 12.
What announcement was then made?
“And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid-heaven, saying with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, to them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound.” Verse 13.
Of what was the sounding of the fifth a warning?
“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth; and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as have not the seal of God on their foreheads. And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man. And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men’s faces. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war. And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months. They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon.”Rev. 9:1-11.
What announcement followed this?
“The first Woe is past: behold, there come yet two Woes hereafter.” Verse 12.
What followed the sixth trumpet?
“And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt. And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk: and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.” Verses 13-21.
What solemn announcement followed?
“The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly.” Chapter 11:14.
What did John see and hear when the seventh angel sounded?
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ: and He shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshiped God, saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast; because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign. And the nations were wroth, and Thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear Thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth. And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in His temple the ark of His covenant: and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunder, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Verses 15-19.
Note and Comment.
1. Prayer and the Outcome.—Verses 3 to 5 of Revelation 8 are parenthetical. By the overturning of nations, by plague, calamity, devastation, and cruel war, God’s people would be affected, and earnest prayer would arise to the throne of Heaven for deliverance. Therefore, in the very beginning of the6 (198)prophecy, to the representative of God’s people, is revealed the care of the great and good Father over His children. Nay, more, He adds to those prayers His own effectual grace and merit, that they may come before Him as sweet incense. He speaks of them as tho they were actually material things, saturated with costly and deliciously fragrant incense offered by angel hands to God, and received by Him as a sweet savor, pleasing and refreshing. Holy angels, who live in God’s presence, filled with His Spirit, unite with human hearts and shape the human longings into acceptable petitions before the throne of God. And God hears and answers, and in the end will punish the world for its iniquity, and avenge the suffering of His people. Luke 18:1-8. Verse 5 carries forward to the final plagues of God’s wrath. Compare with Rev. 16:17-21.
2. The First Trumpet.—The first four trumpets have to do with the utter breaking up of the Roman Empire. The first invasion of Rome having this result was that of the Goths under Alaric, in the close of the fourth century. The fire and hail, symbols of destruction, fitly represent the devastation and ruin spread by these bold warriors from the North. Whole countries were laid in ruins, and cities were burned. Rome was pillaged, many buildings, both public and private, were consumed, and the streets filled with Roman dead. The Roman Empire was broken.
3. The Second Trumpet.—A scourge from the South, by the way of the sea. The great burning mountain symbolizes Genseric and his Huns, whose conquests were largely naval, during the period of A. D. 428-468. Great naval preparation was made to meet him by the Roman Emperor Majorian, but Rome was unable to cope with the bold pirates. Leo, emperor of the East in 468, fitted out a campaign with 1,113 ships, 100,000 men, at a cost of $26,000,000, but the whole fleet, nearly, was destroyed by the vandals, the ships set on fire by the “burning mountain.” The term “third part,” so frequently used in this prophecy, refers to the tripartite division of the Roman Empire.
4. The Third Trumpet.—Attila, with his hordes of Huns, who denominated himself “the Scourge of God,” who boasted that grass never grew where his horse’s feet had trod, whose operations were in the river section, and where the rivers had their sources, is the subject of the third trumpet. Bitter consequences followed his cruel raids.
5. The Fourth Trumpet.—The sun, moon, and stars are taken as symbols of the Roman Government, emperors, senators, and consuls, cast down by the barbarian ruler, Odoacer. The last monarch of Western Rome was Momyllus, called in derision the “little Augustus.” The empire fell in A. D. 476. Before the onslaught of Goth and Vandal and Hun, the great Roman Empire had fallen, dividing into ten divisions between the years A. D. 351 and 476.
6. “Woe, Woe, Woe.”—Fearful as had been the punishments and calamities of Rome under the first four trumpets, they were mild as compared with those to follow. The last three trumpets are harbingers of weighty woe upon the Roman Empire and the wicked world.
7. The Fifth Trumpet.—A prophecy of the Saracens. The devotees of the religion of Mahomet—a religion consisting of “a great truth and a great lie”—became the scourge of the apostate church of Rome. Persia and Rome had exhausted themselves in war with each other, when Mahomet and his Arab hordes (generally known by the Romans as Saracens), issued forth from the obscurity of the desert, as locusts from smoke, and conquered Persia, and scourged Rome. The fall of the Persian emperor Chosroes, likened to a star fallen from heaven, paved the way for Mahometan triumph, for the overrunning of the land by the Arabian followers of the prophet of Mecca. This false religion is well likened to smoke from the abyss of chaos, confusion. Their principal efforts were against the presumptuous priests and followers of Rome, while God’s true people, those having God’s seal, were not purposely on the part of the Saracens included in their work of destruction. (See decree of Abubeker, in “Daniel and Revelation,” p. 474.) The description of these locusts present striking characteristics of the appearance of the mounted Saracenic warriors. The “five months period”—prophetic time, 150 days, 150 literal years—dates from the time that the torment, the harassing, of Rome began under the Saracens July 27, 1299, when Othman the first king entered the Roman territory of Nicomedia. The period reaches to 1449, during which time Eastern Rome was continually harassed, annoyed, worried, tormented, by the continuous warfare and raids of the followers of Mahomet.
8. The Sixth Trumpet.—When the first woe ended, the second began, at the end of the “five months,” July 27, 1449. “The four angels” represent the four sultanates of Iconium, Bagdad, Aleppo, and Damascus. They had been restrained, but in the providence of God they were loosed. The last Greek emperor of Constantinople was Constantine Palæologus, who came to the throne on the death of his brother John Palæologus VII. But Constantine took the kingdom by the consent of Amurath the Turkish Sultan, thus conceding the sovereignty of the Turks. The words of the Scripture are a vivid description of the Turkish forces, generally mounted warriors, with firearms, the discharge of the weapons in front seeming to proceed from the horses’ mouths. The prophetic period of an hour and a day and a month and a year, in prophetic time represents: A year, three hundred and sixty years; a month, thirty years; a day, one year; an hour, fifteen days; or three hundred ninety-one years and fifteen days. In the great Advent movement of 1830 to 1840 Josiah Litch published in 1838 an exposition of this prophecy, in which he declared that Turkish sovereignty would come to an end August 11, 1840. The three hundred ninety-one years and fifteen days, added to the one hundred and fifty years of the previous trumpet, amount to five hundred and forty-one years and fifteen days, the period between July 27, 1299, when Othman entered Nicomedia, to Aug. 11, 1840, when the Sultan of Turkey, in order to save his dominion from the power of Egypt with whom he was at war, placed his case in the hands of England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, thus relinquishing his sovereignty, and practically saying as had the emperor of Eastern Rome to the sultan in 1449, “I rule by your consent or support.” Under these conditions terms were offered to Egypt by the powers and the ultimatum was placed in the hands of the Pasha Mehemet Ali, Aug. 11, 1840. The sultan of Turkey was told that he need not worry as to the outcome as the powers would see to that and meet any contingency which might arise. This fulfilment of Litch’s exposition in 1840 gave a mighty impetus to the Advent movement. Altho this Mahometan scourge had been upon apostate Rome for six centuries, the apostates learned not the lesson, and repented not of their sins.
9. The Last Woe.—The opening of the last trumpet is preceded by an announcement of woe; but a little space intervenes before its sounding, covered by the word “quickly.” This is practically four years, as will be seen by a study of the work referred to above. Between the sixth trumpet and the announcement of the last woe two prophecies intervene, that of the mighty angel of chapter 10, and the two witnesses of chapter 11. These, tho intimately connected with the trumpets, and occurring in part under the sixth trumpet, are omitted from the prophetic view till the close of that trumpet. These we will consider in future issues.
10. The Seventh Trumpet carries us to the great day of God’s wrath, the closing work of the Gospel, the solemn hour of the judgment, and the wrath and destruction of the nations. It is the closing act in the great drama of sin. Under its sounding Satan’s reign ceases, and the kingdom is given to Christ. Dan. 7:13, 14. He will renew that kingdom by His own power, and reign forever. The anger of the nations, manifest in their preparation for war, the manifestation of God’s righteous anger against sin, the judging of the dead and living, the reward of God’s people, are all a part of the last great act. Verse 19 is a revelation to the church and the world that the law which God gave here to His people, written on tables of stone, deposited in the ark of the testimony (witness to God’s character) or testament (His will concerning man) in the sanctuary and temple of old, was but the transcript of His law in heaven. At that very time the attention of God’s people was called anew to His law in every part, and out of this has grown the agitation in both Church and State over the Sabbath question. It is of infinite importance to which view we take. The right side is loyalty to God and His law.
HOW TO BE APPRECIATED.
By G.
It is wonderful how many things give way to the interest of the pocket-book. Even race prejudice, one of the most irresistible barbed-wire fences that crosscut human society, is not an exception. A prominent United States senator from the South is famous for his violent speeches on the negro question. Yet it is said that he employs on his plantation a negro who has had charge of everything in the owner's absence for the past thirty years. This negro enjoys the absolute confidence of his employer. In speaking of him recently, the senator is reported to have said:—
I do not know whether I belong to Joe, or Joe belongs7to me. Anyhow, we have been together for thirty years, and we have agreed to live together until one or both of us die, and when I go away, if I go first, I know he will shed as sincere a tear as anybody. I would die to protect him from injustice or wrong.
This is in harmony with Booker Washington's practical theory that if colored people will cultivate the industrial arts, and become expert workmen on the farm and in the workshop, their services will be in demand to fill responsible positions. Thus they will not only gain respect, but make themselves indispensable. The success of “Joe” as a manager, and the respect he commands from a most radical opponent of race equality, is an object lesson, showing that politics and enforced social recognition are not the only roads to respectability and success. As a rule, a shiftless, willfully-ignorant white man is not any more respected in society than the same grade of black man. “Water always seeks its level,” but men find theirs without seeking. Yet if one aspires to a higher level, he must work to that end in a legitimate manner. The man who is qualified to do something worth while, and does it energetically, will always find recognition—regardless of race, color, or previous condition.
And this is the principle upon which God deals with men. There is no respect of persons with Him. “Whatsoever good each one doeth, the same shall he receive again from the Lord, whether he be bond or free.” Eph. 6: 8. And “he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done.” Col. 3: 25. The Gospel of Jesus Christ knows no lines of race, color, or condition. This principle was shown to Peter by divine revelation, and he publicly proclaimed it at the house of Cornelius, in Cæsarea. “And Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons; but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.” Acts 10: 34, 35.
G.
GOD'S MESSAGE.
By Editor
THE message of God is always a present message, a message for the time. It is the everlasting Gospel making prominent and emphatic the very truth, or phase of the truth, needed.
The faithful watchman on the city walls would not call in the first watch of the night, nor at midnight, that the morning had approached. He would tell the hour, its peril, and the duty of the people. The faithful trainman on the New York Central Railway running East, does not call out Syracuse when he is nearing Rochester, nor Utica when he is only nearing Rome. His message is in nature ever the same, but it emphasizes the particular time and its duty.
Even so God's true watchman is like a prudent steward which gives his household food in due season—according to the season.
Noah preached the everlasting Gospel, but it emphasized the facts of a wicked world, an impending destruction by a flood, the need of repentance, and God's means of salvation for that generation—the ark.
John the Baptist preached the everlasting Gospel, but that Gospel then recognized the facts of the fearful apostasy of Israel, the impending judgment on the nation, the need of true repentance, the presence of the Deliverer in their very midst, and God's means of salvation to that generation—faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Saviour of the world, as the personal Saviour of each. That was the everlasting Gospel for that time.
The apostles preached the same everlasting Gospel, and they especially emphasized the truth of the resurrection of Christ Jesus, that He who was crucified and buried was a risen, living Saviour at God's right hand to save to the uttermost all who would come unto Him by faith.
In the days of the Reformation the same “everlasting Gospel” was preached by Martin Luther and others, emphasizing the facts of the awful apostasy of Christendom, the destruction that surely awaited both Church and State, and the absolute necessity of leaving human merit and trusting to faith in Christ alone for righteousness.
And so, reader, in these last days God's message is the same “everlasting Gospel,” fitted in its life-giving mission to this age and time. It emphasizes the fact of the world-wide apostasy, the Babylon of every creed and doctrine that has ever cursed the world. It points out clearly by the “sure word of prophecy” the impending judgments of God; and it points out as the only refuge, faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour from sin and His second coming as the only hope of a future life to the living and the dead. This is God's message for this time. It is outlined in Rev. 14:6-14. It meets every error in the world for it includes every truth. In it and in it alone is salvation for the church and the world, and it is this message which this paper is set to give and is giving. “Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.”
THE PERVERSION OF LABOR.
By G.
From the beginning it has been the plan of the adversary of the human race to pervert every good thing, and to use it for the destruction of peace on earth. One of the most essential elements of society is labor, and just now every possible influence is brought to bear to make labor a disturbing element. Designing men are using every conceivable artifice to make the laboring class a stepping-stone to individual gain—political or financial. It always has been the case, in countries where popular sovereignty is in vogue, that candidates for office would make great pretense of friendship for the laboring man about election time.
But the organization of labor into unions and federations has added much to the feasibility of manipulating the labor element. Men who aim to lead or control men know that it is easier to control an organized community than an unorganized one. When men organize, they necessarily place themselves under the control of a leader, or a few leaders, and obligate themselves to follow. Then comes the leaders' opportunity, and opportunity develops their real characters. They may use their opportunity unselfishly, but the majority of leaders in this world's affairs are not absolutely unselfish. The great schemers will find it much more convenient to control a few ambitious minor leaders than to control the mass. Thus an organization formed for one purpose, even a legitimate purpose, may be used to further the interests of political schemers at election time. It is also true that laboring men have political ambitions, and to gain influence with or control of labor organizations goes far to encourage such ambition. And the so-called common people have many times cast their votes for men who professed to be their friends, but in due time proved otherwise. These thoughts are sustained by prominent journals favorable to labor unionism. For instance, the San Francisco Chronicle, an employer of union labor, says:—
There is reason to fear that in some large centers union labor is being led, not by the wise men who are the nominal national leaders, but by hotheads and extremists, who are incompetent to judge of what it is reasonable for labor to ask, or what is possible for employers to concede, and who possibly do not care as to either, so long as they are confident of the brute force behind them.
To this we add a forcible expression by Organized Labor, a journal which represents union labor, pointing out the danger of extreme measures:—
To say that a reign of terror exists in Chicago is to grossly overstate the facts; but it is none the less a fact that violence, coercion, and even murder, have increased at an alarming rate recently. Moreover, try to hide the fact as we will, it must be confessed that many recent demands made by the Chicago unions are arbitrary and unreasonable.
A notable illustration of this is found in the astounding demand of the Teamsters' Union that managers of buildings shall use no other fuel but either gas or coal for a period of five years. This piece of presumption has not been eclipsed by any employer of labor, no matter how tyrannical he may be.
Another example of this gross overstepping of bounds of reason is furnished by the street-railway employees, who, in the very face of a plea for arbitration made by the employers, voted overwhelmingly for a gigantic strike, which, if inaugurated, would have brought suffering and inconvenience upon 500,000 disinterested citizens.
The man or the paper having labor's cause at heart stands aghast and bewildered at this tyrannical abuse of strength. Had the threatened street-car strike taken place, or had the elevator operators' strikes continued much longer, public opinion would have been as a unit in opposition to both unions, and their unjust strike would have been lost, despite the sheer strength they depend so much upon.
We can not too often call attention to the prophecy of James 5: 1-6, as indicating the extreme to which laboring men will go in the last days, because of the oppression of the rich. But this prophecy is too often mistaken for a justification of the predicted violence. It shows three prominent results of human wrongs and the human remedy: (1) Human greed knows no bound but physical restraint. (2) Oppressed humanity in an unregenerate state knows no remedy but retaliation. (3) Labor organization utterly fails to alleviate the condition by peaceful means, and at last resorts to violence. Organized labor, no matter how well intended at the outset, is so manipulated as to finally become an organization of extreme violence. Then the oppressors and those who have sought to save themselves by retaliation will go down together. For just at this juncture those who are trusting in the only Saviour are enjoined to be “patient,” not retaliative; “for, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
Will laboring men heed the lesson, and beware of putting themselves under the control of human leaders, to be led they know not whither, until too late to recover? It is a time to seek the Lord, and to be guided by His Word. “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” These are the gracious words of Him who “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.”
G.
DARWINISM IN EUROPE.
AMONG scientists in Europe at the present time a strong movement is on foot against Darwinism, the descent of man from beings of a lower order through natural selection. This does not mean, on the part of all Darwinism’s opponents, a disbelief in evolution; but the “descent of man,” through the scheme worked out by Mr. Darwin, is believed by many well-known scientists to be a matter of ancient history, whose death struggle is now being witnessed.
But evolution is still a matter of belief among these same scientists, who must have some other plan than the plan of God for the creation and perpetuation of man upon the earth. Darwinism is found untenable, and some other untried, and unproved, and unprovable scheme must be adopted to blind the eyes of men to the truth of God. It is not proved that the new process is any more susceptible of proof than was the old; but it is newer, and not so much evidence has yet been found against it. When this also has had its day, it, too, will be superseded by something unproved and less easily disproved for the time—so busy is the enemy of souls with the deception of men.
On the other hand, however, there are eminent scientists who discard the whole unbiblical belief. The great bacteriologist, Pasteur, was an outspoken opponent of the whole evolutionary philosophy, and stated his opposition in these words: “Posterity will one day laugh at the foolishness of the modern materialistic philosophers. The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the works of the Creator. I pray while I am engaged in my work at the laboratory.” Professor Virchow (now deceased), tho not a professed Christian, was as outspoken an opponent of Darwinism as was Pasteur. At the last convention of anthropologists, held in Vienna, he said: “The attempt to find the transition from animal to man has ended in a total failure. The middle link has not been found, and will not be found. Man is not descended from the ape. It has been proved beyond a doubt that during the past five thousand years there has been no noticeable change in mankind.” The majority, however, do not go so far as this. While discarding Darwinism, they yet hold that “the germ of truth which it contained will become a permanent possession of modern science.” There is no doubt that this “germ,” tho its right to the title of “germ of truth” has never been, and never can be, proved will remain with the race until it and all other germs are consumed in the fires of the last day. It will continue to do its work of deception until the author of all deception himself is taken out of the way. It never was aught but a theory; always in opposition to Bible truth; never proved by any of its supporters, and now being discarded piecemeal by those who had looked to it as a confounder of the Bible. The only sensible thing to do is to discard it wholly, and plant the feet firmly on that Rock against which evolution has pounded and broken itself. We can not hold to evolution and Christianity at one and the same time. The former was devised to blind men’s eyes to the truths of the Gospel. It will work as long as Satan is permitted to work, and will cease when he is no more. In the last great struggle between truth and error which is now on and will soon be decided we can not afford to be found bolstering up this unchristian theory of creation.
Increase of Crime
Dr. Eaton, a Baptist minister of Louisville, Ky., declared in a recent sermon, according to the Nashville American, that—
The penalty for murder in that city is only $300. With that amount of money a murderer can get off scot free. The low bail fixed for murderers here is ridiculous. Life is held too lightly. I do not think a man could be convicted of murder in Kentucky, and sentenced to death, if he wanted to be. In order to get the death penalty it would be necessary for him to go to a shrewd criminal lawyer, and find the exact way to commit the murder.
The News and Courier, of Charleston, S. C., commenting on Dr. Eaton’s statement, remarks:—
And yet Kentucky is not much, if any, worse than South Carolina. The cheapest thing in this State, as we have said, is human life, and the safest crime is the crime of homicide. How to cure the evil we confess ourselves unable to suggest.
And then the Nashville American asks:—
And what of Tennessee? Is it any better in this regard than Kentucky or South Carolina?
It replies as follows:—
A day or two ago the American contained a special from a Middle Tennessee town, in which it was stated that a man who had attacked a policeman who was sitting down, and beat him to death, because the officer had previously arrested him for immoral conduct, had been sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. Five years for an aggravated murder! In another case, nearer home, a few months ago, a man who had deliberately waylaid and assassinated a citizen on the highway, was acquitted by “a jury of his peers.” Many instances might be cited, showing the gross miscarriage of justice and the too often farcical proceedings in our criminal courts. Boast of a high degree of civilization when human life is so cheap is a vain boast.
These are sad and awful statements, but they are fulfilment of just what the Bible said should be. When men forget God’s law, they soon become transgressors of all law, or look lightly upon transgression.
Please give an explanation of Matt. 19:24. C. P. W.
“It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God,” is generally considered to be a common proverb used to express a practical impossibility. Lightfoot gives several quotations from the rabbis, where difficulty is represented by an elephant going through a needle’s eye. In the walls of some oriental cities there are several gates open after the large gates are closed. These gates are called needle’s eyes, as window’s are sometimes called “bulls’ eyes.” A laden or erect camel can not squeeze through these gates. The only way he can be gotten through is to unload his burden, and to cause the beast to shuffle through on his knees. So the rich must yield all to Christ and humble himself. But then in himself he is a rich man no longer.