Earlier text: HEALTH AND TEMPERANCE PUBLICATIONSTHE Jews had separated themselves so far from God by their wicked works, that angels could not communicate to them the tidings of the advent of the infant Redeemer. God chooses the wise men of the East to do his will. These men were not Jews; but they had been waiting for the predicted Messiah. They had studied prophecy, and knew the time was at hand when Christ would come; and they were anxiously watching for some sign of this great event, that they might be among the first to welcome the infant heavenly King, and worship him. These wise men were philosophers, and had studied the works of God in nature. In the wonders of the heavens, in the glories of the sun, moon, and stars, they traced the finger of God. They were not idolaters. They lived up to the dim light which shone upon them. . . . These wise men had seen the heavens illuminated with light, which enshrouded the heavenly host who heralded the advent of Christ to the humble shepherds. And after the angels returned to Heaven, a luminous star appeared, and lingered in the heavens. This light was a distant cluster of flaming angels, which appeared like a luminous star. The unusual appearance of the large, bright star which they had never seen before, hanging as a sign in the heavens, attracted their attention. They were not privileged to hear the proclamation of the angels to the shepherds. But the Spirit of God moved them out to seek this heavenly Visitor to a fallen world. The wise men directed their course where the star seemed to lead them. And as they drew nigh to the city of Jerusalem, the star was enshrouded in darkness, and no longer guided them. They reasoned that the Jews could not be ignorant of the great event of the advent of the Messiah, and they made inquiries in the vicinity of Jerusalem. * The city of Jerusalem was thrown into great excitement by the sayings of the wise men. The news was immediately carried to Herod. He was exceedingly troubled, yet disguised the discomfiture, and received the men with apparent courtesy. The Jews manifested a stupid indifference to the story of the wise men. But Herod is intensely interested and excited. He summons the scribes, and the chief priests, and urges upon them to search carefully prophetic history, and tell him where the infant king was to be born. The careless indifference and apparent ignorance of the scribes and chief priests, as they turn to their books for the words of prophecy, irritate the fully aroused king. He thinks they are trying to conceal from him the real facts in regard to the birth of the Messiah. He authoritatively commands them to make close search in relation to their expected king. Although Herod received the wise men with apparent respect, yet the intimation by them of the birth of a king to reign in Jerusalem, excited his envy and hatred against the infant whom he thought might prove his rival, and drive him, or his descendants, from the throne. A storm of opposition and satanic fury took possession of Herod, and he determined to destroy this infant king. Yet he put on a calm exterior, and requested a private interview with the wise men. He then inquired particularly the exact time the star appeared. He apparently hailed the supposition of the birth of Christ with joy, expressing a desire to be immediately informed by the wise men, that he might be among the first to show him true honor by worshiping him also. The wise men were not able to read the heart of the tyrant Herod; but God, who is acquainted with every emotion of the soul, with the intents and purposes of the heart, was not deceived by his hypocritical pretenses. The glory of attending the angelic host had scarcely disappeared from the plains of Bethlehem when the malice of envious Herod was aroused in opposition to the infant Saviour. This king understood that Christ was to reign over a temporal kingdom, and he was utterly averse to the idea of a Jewish king. The chief priests and scribes had professed to understand the prophecies in reference to the appearing of Christ. They had repeated to the people the prophecies which relate to the second appearing of Christ in power and great glory, to put down all authority, and to rule over the whole earth. They had in a boastful, resentful manner, asserted that Christ was to be a temporal prince, and that every kingdom and nation was to bow in submission to his authority. After the mission of the wise men had been accomplished, they were purposing to return, and bear the joyful news to Herod of the success of their journey. But God sent his angel in the night season to turn their course. In a night vision they were plainly told not to return to Herod. The star leaving them when near Jerusalem, led them to make inquiries in Judah; for they thought it was not possible for the chief priests and scribes to be ignorant of this great event. The coming of the wise men made the whole nation acquainted with the object of their journey, and directed their attention to the important events which were transpiring. God well knew that the advent of his Son to earth would stir the powers of darkness. Satan did not want that light should come into the world. The eye of God was upon his Son every moment. The Lord had fed his prophet Elijah by a miracle when upon a long journey. He could obtain food from no other source. He rained manna from Heaven for the children of Israel. The Lord provided a way for Joseph to preserve his own life, and the life of Jesus, and that of the mother, by their fleeing into Egypt. He provided for the necessities of their journey, and for their sojourn in Egypt, by moving upon the wise men of the East to go in search of the infant Saviour, and to bear him valuable offerings as a token of honor. The Lord is acquainted with the hearts of all men. He directed the course of Joseph into Egypt, that he might there find an asylum from the wrath of a tyrannical king, and the life of the infant Saviour be preserved. The earthly parents of Jesus were poor. The gifts brought to them by the wise men sustained them while in the land of strangers. Herod waited anxiously for the return of the wise men; for he was impatient to carry out his determined purpose to destroy the infant King of Israel. After he had waited long for the knowledge he desired, he feared his purpose might be thwarted. He reasoned thus: Could those men have read the dark deed he premeditated? Could they have understood his design, and purposely avoided him? This he thought was insult and mockery. His impatience, envy, and hatred increased. He was stirred by his father, the devil, to seek the accomplishment of his purpose by a most cruel act. If he should fail in carrying out his murderous intent by pretense and subtlety, he would, by power and authority, strike terror to the hearts of all the Jews. They should have an example of what their king would meet, should they seek to place one upon the throne in Jerusalem. And here was a favorable opportunity to humble the pride of the Jews, and bring upon them a calamity which should discourage them in their ambition to have a separate government, and become the glory of the whole earth, as they had proudly boasted. Herod issued a proclamation to a large body of soldiers, whose hearts were hardened by crime, war, and bloodshed, to go throughout Bethlehem and all the coasts thereof, and massacre all the children from two years old and under. Herod designed in this cruel act to accomplish a double purpose: first, to exercise, by this bold act, his power and authority over the Jews; and, second, to silence their proud boastings in regard to their king, and also make his own kingdom secure, by murdering the infant prince whom he envied and feared. This cruel work was accomplished. The sword of unfeeling soldiers carried destruction everywhere. The horror and distress of parents were beyond description. The wailing cries of bereaved mothers, as they clasped their expiring infants to their breasts, rose above the coarse jests and imprecations of the soldiers, while they cried to Heaven for vengeance on the tyrant king. All this terrible calamity was suffered of God, to humble the pride of the Jewish nation. Their crimes and wickedness had been so great that the Lord permitted the wicked Herod to thus punish them. Had they been less boastful and ambitious, their lives pure, their habits simple and sincere, God would have preserved them from being thus humiliated and afflicted by their enemies. God would, in a signal manner, have made the wrath of the king harmless to his people, had they been faithful and perfect before him. But he could not especially work for them, for their works were abhorred by him.—Great Controversy, Vol. II, pp. 19-28. We could as rationally set out to find a sound that had expired in air, as to find a lost moment. The Beast’s Mark and Divine Law
By Uriah Smith
THE MARK OF THE BEAST AND THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD.
HAVING ascertained what constitutes the beast—that is the Papacy—the next inquiry is concerning his mark and worship. There are but two classes brought to view in the third angel's message: the righteous and the wicked. Their only distinguishing features, as there brought to view, are the mark of the beast on the one hand, and the commandments of God on the other. It appears from the language that those who have the mark of the beast are not keeping the commandments of God, and vice versa. A full investigation of the mark, therefore, will involve the necessity of a previous examination of the commandments of God, to see wherein they differ from the code of morality at the present time enjoined. No question is raised on the first three and last six commandments of the decalogue, by any sensible or pious people. Their intrinsic holiness, perfection, immutability, and perpetuity, are by all such readily acknowledged. The only point wherein the practice of the Christian world confessedly differs from the letter of the precept, is in regard to the fourth commandment, which connects with the worship of God, a weekly rest-day, devoted to purposes of religious devotion. The commandment tells us that the seventh day of each week is the day that has been set apart for this service. The church of the present day, by precept as well as practice, says that it is the first day of the week which should be devoted to this use. What is the secret of this great change? Has it been accomplished by divine agents, or is it the work of man? Was it designed to be thus by Providence, or is it one of those schemes of the enemy by which he seeks to drown men in destruction and perdition? These are grave questions; but into these the subject naturally resolves itself; and if the first cannot be sustained, the latter must be admitted. Concerning the Sabbath, there are only three questions which need be asked and answered: 1. When was it instituted? 2. For whom it was designed? 3. How long was it to continue? these three queries cover the whole ground; for if we know in regard to any institution, when it was instituted, for whom was it instituted, and how long it was to continue, we know all that need be known concerning it. We know there was at some time a Sabbath instituted. We find it all through the Bible. The commandment which enjoins it is placed in the very bosom of the decalogue, which is sufficiently signified to be a code of laws separate and distinct from all others from the fact that it alone was uttered by the voice of God, in the hearing of all the people, and it alone was written with his finger on the tables of stone. By the fourth commandment we are pointed to the creation of the world as the time when the Sabbath was instituted; and as we might expect in this case, so we find the history of that institution among the records of the first week of time. We read that God rested the seventh day, and therefore blessed it and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested. Gen. 2:2, 3. Let the fact be marked here that nothing was done to the seventh day till after God had rested upon it. Then because he had rested upon it, he set his blessing upon it, and sanctified it, or set it apart for a holy use. The fourth commandment says God blessed the Sabbath day; then it was the Sabbath day when God blessed it. No other time or place can be found for the institution of the Sabbath, but the creation of the world and the garden of Eden. A word now concerning its design. God by the fourth commandment, enjoins the observance of the Sabbath, the seventh day, and gives as the reason for this institution, the fact that in six days he created the heavens and earth, and rested on the seventh day. The Sabbath then is a memorial of creation. Suppose a law should come into existence enjoining the celebration of our national independence, would it not run somewhat after this manner: Let the fourth day of July of each year be spent in demonstration of public joy, etc., for on the fourth of July in the year 1776, our forefathers declared themselves a free and independent people; and no one would ever think of calling it any thing but a memorial. So of the passover. When the children of the Israelites should ask them what that service meant, they were to explain it by telling them that the Lord passed over their houses when he smote the Egyptians. This was the reason for the institution; this therefore was its memorial. So with the Sabbath. The reason and the only reason given in the fourth commandment for its institution, is the Lord's resting on the last day of the first week of time. Consequently it was instituted as a memorial of that event, and designed to perpetuate in the earth the memory of the true God, the maker of worlds. We hope that these two facts, namely, that the Sabbath was instituted in Eden, and that it is a memorial of creation, will be fully appreciated by every reader. With these established, a good foundation is laid for all future argument on this subject. If the reader is well grounded here, he will be saved from all those foolish notions by which many have suffered themselves to be deceived concerning the Wilderness of Sin and the deliverance from Egypt. And to say that the Sabbath is a type of any thing connected with the plan of redemption, since it was instituted in Eden before man fell, and consequently before he needed any redemption, is at least, not to multiply epithets, an extreme absurdity. The second question, For whom was it designed? can now hardly furnish ground for controversy. We take it for granted that the reader is satisfied that the Sabbath was instituted at creation. If not, let him not proceed any further till he has so far examined that point as to become satisfied thereon. Then, since the Sabbath was made in Eden and made for Adam, there is no possibility of avoiding the conclusion that it was designed for all his posterity. For who can tell which one of Adam's children would be exempt from a requirement which was obligatory upon their father, or who of his children's children, or of any of his descendants, however remote, would be exempt from it? Adam as he stood at first was the representative of the human race. A severe proof of this is found in the application which God has made of the penalty attached to his personal transgression; and it might as well be claimed that mankind should be released from death, the penalty of Adam's transgression, as from the obligation of a regularly recurring rest-day, the observance of which was Adam's duty. Pass down to the ushering in of this dispensation! Behold the great Teacher, the Son of God, the perfect Pattern! We hear him declaring that "the Sabbath was made for man." There are here no lines drawn, there are no distinctions given; there is no limitation made; the expression is an exceeding broad one, it covers the race—"the Sabbath was made for man." And here we let it stand, satisfied that from the evidence of the commandment itself, the experience of the first Adam and the testimony of the Second, it is sufficiently evident for whom it was designed. Third, how long was it to continue? Still bear in mind that the Sabbath was an institution of Eden and given to man in his perfect state. Now let us inquire, How long would the Sabbath have continued, if man had never fallen? Think of this. And if we can find no limitation to it in this case, as is assuredly the fact the only question further that can arise, is, Is there anything in the plan of salvation, which, under these circumstances, can limit the existence or the obligations of the Sabbath? There is nothing. Every one can see that there is not; and we may be assured that man by his fall did not become absolved from any obligation which he was under in his perfect state. Christ and his apostles invariable taught the perpetuity of that law of which the Sabbath is a part; and fifty-nine times does the New Testament recognize the seventh day as the Sabbath in, and consequently as the Sabbath of, this dispensation. Such are a few of the general principles involved in this question. And what is the import of all this? Simply that the seventh day of each week is the Sabbath of the Lord, and must be kept if we would render obedience to the fourth commandment of the decalogue. We see then the significance of that declaration of the third angel, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus;" and we see what must constitute the distinguishing feature of those who do thus keep them; for all Christendom acknowledges the validity of every commandment except the fourth, both by precept and in their public walk. Now what constitutes the distinguishing feature of the other class? Whatever does, is the mark of the beast; for they bear that mark, and that stands in contradistinction to the commandments of God.
U. S.
(To be Continued.) MOSES AND ELIAS.
By John G. Matteson
LUKE 9:27-36, tells us how the kingdom of glory was seen in miniature by three of the apostles. Jesus was glorified and the light of Heaven shone round about him. Two men from the mansions of glory visited him, and talked with him of his departure from this world. When Peter and those that were with him awoke out of their sleep they saw the glory of the Lord and the two men that stood with him. Then their hearts were filled with joy, and they felt so happy that they desired to remain in this beautiful place and make it their home. Many have thought that at least one of the persons here spoken of, Moses, must have been a departed, immortal spirit, but this conjecture is not founded in truth. Elias, or Elijah, was translated bodily to Heaven. 2 Kings 2:11. When it is stated that Elias talked with Jesus, reference is made to that selfsame Elijah who once lived on the earth among the children of men. It does not denote merely his spirit or soul, but his whole spirit, soul, and body. No one can misunderstand this. “There talked with him two men, which were Moses and Elias.” Verse 30. Elias is here spoken of as a man—not a disembodied spirit or soul. Peter did not see an invisible spirit, but he saw537 “the two men that stood with” Jesus. Verse 32. Neither did he see one man and one spirit, but two men. If Elias was there bodily, then Moses was also there bodily. If one of them was a man, the other was also a man. If Elias on the mount of transfiguration was the same person—the same Elias—who proclaimed the word of God among the children of Israel in the days of king Ahab, then Moses, who was seen with him, was also the same person who led the Israelites out of Egypt. How could these two men be with Christ on Mt. Tabor? Whence came they? If Elias came from Heaven, whither he had been translated, then Moses no doubt came from the same place. But Moses died and was buried. How, then, could he come from Heaven? The Lord could raise him up and take him home to himself. There are twenty and four elders around the throne of God in Heaven. They have been redeemed unto God from every kindred and people by the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 5:9. They have been made kings and priests unto our God, and shall reign on the earth. Verse 10. They are representatives of the people of God before his throne until the great day of redemption, when all the elect shall be gathered. Moses may be one of these elders. Is there any reference in the Bible to the fact that Moses was raised from the dead? Yes, Michael, the archangel, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses. Jude 9. Michael is the great prince of the people of God who shall raise them up at the last day. Dan. 12:1, 2; John 6:39. The Life-giver would raise up Moses, but he that has the power of death would not let him go. Which one of the two came off victorious is seen on the mount of transfiguration. Jesus conquered the enemy. Moses came out from the tomb as really as Lazarus came out when he heard the voice of the Son of God. And Moses did not only receive life again, but he was glorified, and was seen in glory on the mount of transfiguration with Peter, James, and John. Luke 9:31. Would the Lord then suffer Moses to return to hades? Certainly not! No more than he would suffer Elias to return to his earthly, mortal condition after he had been clothed with immortality. Does not this contradict those texts which testify that Jesus was “the first-born from the dead,” Col. 1:18; “and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead?” Acts 26:23. Certainly not! The word “first” does not only mean first in point of time, but also first in dignity. The original word protos is thus defined by Greenfield: “First in time, order; first in dignity, importance, i.e., chief, principal, most important.” This is also seen by two parallel texts:— |
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| “But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.” Mark 10:31. |
“And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” Matt. 20:27. |
These two words, “first” and “chief” are translated from protos, and all can see that they mean one and the same thing. None can deny that Jesus was the first of the resurrected dead in dignity and importance. He is the chief among the resurrected dead ones. The resurrection of Christ is the foundation of all other resurrections both before and after the time when he himself arose. But Jesus did not rise first in point of time. Some were raised by the prophets. “Women received their dead raised to life again.” Heb. 11:35. Lazarus, the daughter of Jairus, and the widow’s son, of Nain, were all raised from the dead before Christ. To avoid this plain truth, some have said that Christ was the first who was raised unto glory, and that this is what the Bible means when it says that Christ should be the first that should rise from the dead. We cannot shape the meaning of the Bible according to the desire of this or that person. All we can do and all we wish to do, is to read what is there, and shape our ideas accordingly. The Bible does nowhere state that Christ should be the first that should rise from the dead unto glory. The words “unto glory” are added by men. In all other places in the Bible where the resurrection is spoken of in general, it denotes simply that the dead are raised unto life from the grave. Therefore it has also the same meaning here, since it is the same word used in the same manner. Thus we see a beautiful harmony in the Bible, when we believe simply what it says, and leave out all human additions. Moses and Elias were really with our Saviour on the mount of transfiguration. One was raised from the dead and clothed with immortality; the other had been changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, from mortality to immortality. Moses was a representative of the dead in Christ who shall be raised at the last day. Elias represented those who live on the earth and remain unto the coming of the Lord. These are all the subjects in the kingdom of glory. Christ, the King, was also there in glory. And a part of his kingdom shone with the light of Heaven, and was surrounded by the wall of salvation. Thus the kingdom of God—in miniature—was seen by three of the apostles before they died. And by this they were very much strengthened in their Christian faith. 2 Pet. 1:16-20. THE BURNING BUSH.
By John Nevins Andrews
WHEN the angel of God gave Moses his commission to deliver Israel, he chose a most significant form in which to manifest his presence. Moses had led his flock to the foot of Horeb, and here the angel of God met him. He saw before him a bush enveloped in a flame of fire, yet not a twig nor a leaf was consumed. The bush stood in the midst of the flame of fire as though it were in its natural element. The fire preserved, rather than devoured, the bush. So wonderful a sight caused Moses to turn aside to see it. No sooner did the angel of God perceive that his attention was arrested, than he bade him not to approach nearer, but even to remove his shoes, for the very spot on which he stood was holy ground. See the record in Ex. 3. This wonderful manifestation was, beyond all doubt, chosen for a wise and important reason. A bush burning with fire, and yet not consumed, was a most significant sight. Both the righteous and the wicked are represented in the Bible as having to meet the fire. But there are two reasons why we cannot understand this as referring to the wicked. 1. The angel of God could not properly stand as the representative of the wicked. 2. When the wicked are cast into the fire it is for the very purpose that they may be consumed. But the righteous are indeed most fitly represented by this emblem of a bush on fire without consuming. The angel of God could fitly represent the people of God. The very words that he uttered relative to the affliction of his people showed that this was what he had now specially under his attention and care. The Bible does likewise speak of the righteous according to this very figure, thus, Isa. 43:2: "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned." How wonderfully appropriate was the burning bush to represent the exact situation of the church of God. The iron furnace by which their servitude in Egypt is so often represented in the Bible did even then glow with intense heat, yet the people of God in the midst of it were preserved from ruin. The flames were fierce, but in the midst of them they flourished as though it had been their natural element. The burning bush is a fit representation of the church of God in all ages. The fire has had power to burn off the bands with which they had been bound by Satan, and by worldly influences. But it has not destroyed them. They have lived in the fire, yet have never ceased to live. Individual members have been destroyed by the malice of the enemy, but God has had some one else to take their place. Experience shows that the people of God can bear the fire of affliction, but cannot bear worldly prosperity, only in the smallest measure. So God preserves his people in this fierce element till the time of their deliverance. Then they shall come forth out of the flame without the smell of fire upon them. PREPARATION FOR THE JUDGMENT.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
OUR probation is soon to close. The cases of all living upon the earth are soon to be decided. We are warned of the fact. The tribunal is in session, and we know not how soon our cases may be called. Yet how slow to realize it. How little stirred by such solemn and awful truths. Observe the dying Christian who is sensible that his probation is about to terminate. How carefully he reviews his life. How anxious to confess every fault—to put away every sin—and to know his acceptance with God. How earnest to warn the living to seek Christ, to give their hearts to God, to give up the world, and to live in preparation for the world to come. But how is it with us who know from prophecy fulfilled, and from the signs of the times, that the great decisive day is right upon us? Are we acting in accordance with this faith? Are we laboring like those who know they have much to do, and but little time in which to do it? Are we striving to save others, as it were pulling them out of the fire? The great lines of prophecy of the four great kingdoms of the earth have been fulfilled. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars, have appeared. Light upon the prophetic periods of the Scriptures has been demonstrated; and the proclamation has been made, "The hour of his Judgment is come." And since these things have been done, according to the predictions of the word of God, the anger of the nations, and the holding of the winds for the sealing of the servants have been manifested, the sealing message, bearing the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, has gone forth, the powerful workings of Satan through Spiritualism, so abundantly predicted in the Bible, has been sweeping over the world, the demand for the image of the beast by the union of church and state, in our own beloved country, and the enforcement of the Pago-papal institution of Sunday-keeping to the subversion of the law of the Most High, is organizing its host for immediate and decided action, and last of all, the consuming Papacy, as if in a death-struggle, is speaking those great words of blasphemy, on account of which the beast is to be slain, and his body given to the devouring flame. The Pope, his power dwindled to next to nothing, has been declared infallible, and all is fulfilled of him except his destruction. And are we living and acting as though we believed that all these signs predicted in the sure word, would pass by and the end not come? If we believe, where is our corresponding action? Oh, let us be wise. Let us act upon our faith. Let us be in earnest to save souls from ruin. Let us prepare for the Judgment which is right before us. Let us cherish the spirit of Him who gave himself for us, who sacrificed all on our account. Let us improve the little time remaining, in striving, in a self-denying, self-sacrificing manner, to save souls for whom Christ died. May God arouse us, and help us to work, ere the time for working shall be past. O God! give me a part in thy work. "I will show thee my faith by my works."
LOVING obedience to the will of God shows the power of the gospel in the heart. Early in the history of revelation God taught his people that in doing his commandments they should live. He has never untaught them that lesson. Christ came into the world to turn us from disobedience to obedience. He is the minister of life to the repentant transgressor. To talk of being free from God's law is to vitiate and dethrone faith. The gospel confirms the righteousness of the law. It offers pardon from the condemnation of the law upon the immediate and unconditional recognition of eternal and loving obligation. As penitents we obey, because we love. We are no longer under the condemnation of the "law, but under grace," and by loving faith "we establish the law" in which we now "delight," for to us it has become "holy, spiritual, just and good." The great concern of the no-law believer seems to be to shrink from the inconvenience of obedience. A faith that is always seeking the convenient will not take us through stormy seas. The commandments of God are not grievous, as all who keep them "and the faith of Jesus" witness. Faith enjoys the language of the psalmist: "O how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." This estimate of God's will shows the kind of faith needed in order to enjoy Christ and his work here upon earth; and such faith is to be seen in good works. "Faith works by love," and strengthens every righteous thought, plan, resource, and activity of its possessor. Let us "work the works of faith" to-day. There is no time to lose. Study, pray, decide, and act; and know that Jesus is with them who abound in his work.—Sabbath Memorial. PIOUS GRAB-BAGS AND SANCTIFIED SWINDLING.
"AND now," says the California Christian Advocate, "comes the time for church fairs and frolics, and mysterious and doubtful ways of getting money. Jacob's well and the pious grab-bag and the postoffice with excellent and truthful communications, and various and elegant and prudent devices for evading gambling laws, petty lotteries and systems of voting for the prettiest girl, or the most popular minister or candidate, or something else. We are not as well up in the literature and ways of such 'entertainments' as we might be, but they are all doubtless very beautiful, since they are baptized. Swindling and lotteries and games of chance are all sanctified if dedicated to a good purpose. * * * But let us keep out of the clutches of the law." Religion and the Pleasures of the World
THE cry of hundreds of professing Christians is, "Just give me enough of religion to keep me out of hell, and yet enjoy all the pleasures of the world." IS NATURE ALL THE GOD THERE IS?
By A. P. Lawton
SO SAYS A. If by nature we are to understand the Creator of heaven and earth, that would be correct. But as this term is generally understood to be the creation, then A must be wrong. Who made this earth with its attendant spheres, hung upon nothing, each fulfilling its order? If I should answer, They made themselves or each other, you would at once say, Impossible. If I should tell you that nature made the house you occupy, you would not believe me; you would know better. How, then, can you make me understand that all these vast creations were conceived and brought forth by nature, or by mutual consent? But says A, I cannot comprehend God, and to believe what we cannot comprehend is not required. What can you comprehend? When we find ourselves unable to comprehend the most simple of the Creator's work, which are visible and tangible, is it a wonder that we cannot comprehend the invisible creator? We hear no one say that, because they do not know how a blade of grass grows, there is no grass, and that we ourselves do not exist because we cannot explain our existence. When we see an edifice, we know an architect has been there. No one will say that it made itself or sprung up by chance, because they had never known the builder. If we allow ourselves to use good common sense upon this important subject, as we do on other things, all is easy. We reason from effect to cause in the most common things. If we see a footprint, we know some one has made it. When we see a production, some one must have produced it. When we view the vast universe, we know, or should know, that it never produced itself. Take the Bible view, and all is plain. But how can we know that the Bible is true? It proves itself. What the prophets foresaw and predicted thousands of years in the past have met their perfect fulfillment, and have become history. This of itself is a sufficient proof for any one who does not choose to disbelieve. Only a small part of the prophetic word remains unfulfilled—the plagues, the latter rain, the shaking of the powers of heaven, and the burning of the earth, and the destruction of the wicked, which are just as sure of fulfillment as those which have been fulfilled. Each will come in its order.