Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Mar 3, 1904
Publishers’ Page
Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company.
The Desire of Ages
In the National Sunday-school Lessons for the first half of the present year, Christ, the Desire of Ages, is the central figure. No story is more impressive than the life of Christ, and none will so well bear repetition. In the hearts of all there is a longing for something not possessed, and it is God’s design that this longing shall lead alone to the One who is able to satisfy it.
It is the purpose of “The Desire of Ages,” which is an intensely interesting and instructive book of over 866 large pages on the life of Christ, to set forth that Life of lives as the One in whom every longing may be satisfied; and from now until July is a very favorable time to interest the Sunday-school people in this book, and thereby bring to them a fuller and truer knowledge of the Redeemer. Those who will, at this time, take this book to the Bible-loving people in the Sunday-schools, will not only be of great service to them, but will receive a commission on their sales that will abundantly pay them for their work.
The book is a handsome volume, profusely illustrated with six thousand dollars’ worth of new original drawings, bound in the following styles:—
Cloth, marbled edges ........ $3.50
Cloth, gilt edges ............ 4.25
Library, marbled edges ....... 5.00
Full morocco, gilt edges ..... 7.00
New Edition of the Great Nations of To-Day
BY ALONZO T. JONES
A presentation of the great nations of the present time, their rise, relations, best career, and their destiny, in connection with a clear and concise treatise on the seven trumpets, the three woes, the third angel’s message, the threefold messages, Babylon, the beast of Revelation 13 and its image in all its phases and workings, the commandments, the hour of the judgment come, and the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God.
An excellent volume to loan and to place in general circulation. 257 pages; paper covers, 25 cents.
The Lover’s Love, or John Three Sixteen
On March 1 the new book entitled “The Lover’s Love, or John Three Sixteen,” by William P. Pearce, will be ready for delivery.
This will inspire the hearts of believers, and win souls to God from the ranks of unbelievers. It will be a thrilling treatise on that priceless scripture recorded in John 3:16, and will impress the reader with the wonderful love of God for the world. It will contain an important message to the world, and can easily be sold to all readers of the Bible at this time while the Sunday-school lessons are upon the life of Christ.
Some conception of the scope of the book may be gained from the following table of contents:— “Love Counteth Not the Cost” (poem); “John Three Sixteen;” The Bible Lover—“God;” The Lover’s Intensity of Love—“So Loved;” The Lover’s Object—“The World;” The Lover’s Proof—“That He Gave;” The Lover’s Gift—“His Only Begotten Son;” The Lover’s Proviso—“Whosoever Believeth;” The Lover’s Purpose—“Should Not Perish;” The Lover’s Pledge—“Have Everlasting Life.”
It will be published as a trade book, in neat cloth binding, with 176 pages, 5⅜ × 7⅝ inches. It is printed in large type, without illustrations, and will sell for 75 cents, postpaid.
What Think Ye?
A tract of forty pages, published by the Southern Publishing Association, and containing short, pointed readings on the following important subjects:— God’s Gift to the World, What Shall I Do to Be Saved? Baptism, God’s Sabbath, The Condition of the Dead, The Resurrection of the Dead, Tokens of Christ’s Coming, The Judgment, The Earthly Sanctuary, The Heavenly Sanctuary, The 2300 Days, The Third Angel’s Message, The Fate of the Wicked, The Home of the Saved. Price, 3 cents, postpaid.
Looking Unto Jesus
Are any perplexed in the study of the Sabbath-school lessons? If there is anything about the lessons they do not quite understand, they should procure a copy of “Looking Unto Jesus,” and study it thoroughly. It will help them to get a better understanding of the sanctuary services. It is an exhaustive treatise on the subject of the sanctuary, and imparts invaluable information upon the prophecies as related to Christ and the plan of redemption. Its author, Uriah Smith, often said it contained the best of his life’s efforts. Of it the North and West says:—
“This work considers the theme of themes, our Saviour and Redeemer. Christ is regarded from every Scriptural point of view,—as present in creation, redemption, and the final judgment; as he is involved in history from Genesis to Revelation.”
Bound in a neat cloth binding, $1, postpaid.
The Gospel Reader
A reader prepared especially to follow “The Gospel Primer,” being graded and generally adapted to the natural progress of the children finishing the “Primer.”
The long and successful experience of the author (G. H. Bell) as an educator and Biblical student has enabled him to embody in this reader the primary essentials in progressive reading, and to utilize the more prominent events in Bible history as suitable subject-matter for a reader adapted to children. The cardinal principles of the gospel are taught in a clear, progressive, interesting manner, and the language is so clear, simple, and direct that small children have no difficulty in understanding the teaching of the text.
The thirty-five chapters of the reader are beautifully and impressively illustrated with twenty-two fine half-tone Bible pictures, and it is substantially and attractively bound in cloth, with a portrait of the Saviour in gold on the front cover; also bound in board covers in two colors. It contains 192 pages, printed in large, clear, new type. Price, in cloth, 75 cents; board covers, 50 cents.
Christ’s Second Coming, or the Bible Evidences and the Signs of Our Times
BY J. Q. A. HAUGHEY
This excellent tract, which has been out of print for some time, has been reset, and bound without covers, and made No. 42 of the Words of Truth Series. It contains 32 pages of Bible evidences of Christ’s second coming, and has proved to be an excellent tract for general circulation. Several hundred thousand have been sold, and excellent reports have been received of the good work it has accomplished.
It now sells for 2 cents a copy, with the usual discount to Tract Societies.
Our Paradise Home
It is simply wonderful how popular this little book has become in the short time it has existed. Almost every mail brings words of praise for it, of which the following is a fair sample:—
“We can not express too heartily our indorsement of ‘Our Paradise Home.’ We believe it will meet with even greater favor than ‘Gospel Primer,’ and be a great help to our canvassers. The message is presented in a very clear and interesting manner, and can not fail to fasten the attention, and to cause serious thought on the part of those who read it, and will create a desire to investigate further. The title is attractive, and appeals to the hearts of all; for “home” is one of the dearest words that man can know.
“E. A. MERRIAM, Sec. West Mich. Conf.”
Revised Science in the Kitchen
BY MRS. E. E. KELLOGG, A. M.
Superintendent of Mothers’ Work for the National W. C. T. U., Chairman of the World’s Fair Committee on Food Supplies for Michigan.
This excellent work has just been revised and greatly improved. It contains about 600 pages, printed on excellent paper, finely illustrated, and gotten out in a style at once popular, attractive, and substantial. As to its subject-matter, while it is thoroughly scientific, it is also thoroughly practical in presenting the best methods of preparing foods; and the work gives over eight hundred tested recipes for the same. The book is written in a style bright and entertaining, although concise, and is the embodied result of the patient and almost continuous research and experimentation carried on by Mrs. Kellogg during the last ten years, in the Experimental Kitchen connected with the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Price, oilcloth, $1.90.
Order of State Tract Societies: Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich.; Review and Herald, Washington, D. C.; Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal.; Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Assn., Nashville, Tenn.
Knowing the Truth
By Editor
Editorial
Knowing the Truth
IN these days when human reason is being exalted as the final arbiter of truth, it is well to emphasize the plain instruction which Jesus has given touching this matter. To the Jews who listened to him, and who were inclined to cavil concerning his message as not having behind it the authority of the Rabbinical schools, Jesus said: “My teaching is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from myself. He that speaketh from himself seeketh his own glory.” The mind of man, weakened and darkened by sin, is not capable of passing a safe judgment upon that which is presented to it, and of determining its character. This is the inheritance of sin. There is preserved to us, however, the ability to choose and to will to do what is right, even before we know what is right; and when this choice has been made and is steadily maintained, the Lord promises to guide us in the pathway of truth. The ability therefore to distinguish between true teaching and false depends more upon the attitude of the will toward duty than upon mere keenness of the intellect. This is illustrated in the common experiences of life, as we often mark the deep spiritual insight manifested by those of very ordinary mental capacity whose one purpose is to glorify God, while some of the brightest minds fail to apprehend the simple gospel message. It was an illustration of this principle when Jesus said to the Sadducees, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.” The words were in their heads, but they had failed to permit the truth to rule their lives, and they therefore fell into error in interpreting the Word. Again, Jesus said: “If ye abide in my word, then are ye truly my disciples; and ye shall know the truth.” The daily acceptance and constant practise of the truth is the best preparation for discerning between truth and error. Fellowship with the Spirit of truth is the best defense against the spirit of error. These are days of peril, and no one is able to keep himself from being led away by the cunning perversions of the truth which are being taught on every hand. It is only as Jesus becomes our wisdom in our daily fellowship with him that we are able to distinguish those most dangerous falsehoods—half truths. The enemy will deceive, if possible, the very elect, and the human intellect is no match for the cunning of him who before he fell was “the anointed cherub that covereth,” and who was “upon the holy mountain of God.” Let the pride of human attainments be brought low, and only the keeping grace of God, given to those who obey the truth, be exalted as the confidence of the humble believer. “The Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, . . . shall teach you all things.” Faith is the key of knowledge.
The Ministration of the Spirit
THE ancient tabernacle service was typical of things in heaven. It is said of the priests that they “serve that which is a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.” In the earthly sanctuary, priesthood, and service there was set forth the teaching concerning the heavenly sanctuary, priesthood, and service. The efficacy of the earthly service ceased with the rending of the veil of the temple at the time of the crucifixion, but now “we have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” The continual service of the earthly sanctuary, with its priests, “many in number,” with its “continual burnt-offering,” its “perpetual [continual] incense,” its “continual show-bread,” has found its antitype in the continual service of the heavenly sanctuary with Christ as the one priest who “contineth ever,” who “when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever [continually], sat down on the right hand of God.” And it is further written concerning Christ’s ministry: “But now hath he obtained a ministry the more excellent, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises.” This “better covenant” of which Christ is now the mediator in his more excellent ministry is thus set forth: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I write them.” Through the ministry of Christ, our high priest in the heavenly sanctuary, the law of God becomes to us “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” Thus he ministers to us himself in the person of the Holy Spirit as “the Lord our righteousness.” Those who believe on him and accept his ministry in their behalf become righteous by faith. Herein is the sinner’s only hope. This is “the hope of righteousness.” By this ministry the gift of Christ to take our flesh is made efficacious in our behalf: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” By this means we are able to confess “that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.” This is the very essence of the gospel.
“Rich in Mercy”
IT is because of the abundant mercy of God that provision has been made for our salvation. “God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.” “When the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves; but according to his mercy he4saved us.” “Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.”
“Praise be to Jesus, his mercy is free: Sinner, that mercy is flowing for thee—If thou art willing on him to believe: Life everlasting thou mayest receive.”
The Christian Religion and Babylon
Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord utters this warning concerning Babylon: “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save every man his life; be not cut off in her iniquity: for it is the time of Jehovah’s vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense. Babylon hath been a golden cup in Jehovah’s hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: wail for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country; for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.” Jer. 51: 6-9.
Through the apostle John the Lord again declares this warning, and it becomes the last call to his people to gather them out in preparation for the coming of the Son of man on the white cloud. And “after these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. For by the wine of the wrath of her fornication all the nations are fallen; and the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth waxed rich by the power of her wantonness. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.” Rev. 18: 1-5.
“All who have paid the least attention to the literature of Greece, Egypt, Phenicia, or Rome, are aware of the place which the ‘mysteries’ occupied in these countries, and that, whatever circumstantial diversities there might be, in all essential respects these ‘mysteries’ in the different countries were the same. Now, as the language of Jeremiah, already quoted, would indicate that Babylon was the primal source from which all these systems of idolatry flowed, so the deductions of the most learned historians, on mere historical grounds, have led to the same conclusions.” “But the language applied to the New Testament Babylon, as the reader can not fail to see, naturally leads us back to the Babylon of the ancient world. As the Apocalyptic woman has in her hand a cup, wherewith she intoxicates the nations, so was it with the Babylon of old. . . . Why this exact similarity of language in regard to the two systems? The natural inference surely is that the one stands to the other in the relation of type and antitype.”
Now just as the message of warning against the worship of the beast (modern Babylon) and his image is going forth to the world, and is to swell to its loud cry in the proclamation of the fall of Babylon and the final call to come out of her, it is certainly a striking thing that there should arise a school of teachers, pretended believers in the Christian religion, who put forth the claim that Christianity in its essential features is derived from Babylonian sources. The “Babel-Bibel” addresses of Professor Delitzsch, the German theologian, which were given to the public last year, attempted to show the parallel between the teachings of the Babylonish system and those of the Old Testament, and “a systematic attempt,” says the Literary Digest, “is now being made to apply the same methods to the New Testament, and to find in the teachings of Christ and the apostles in the Gospels and Acts adaptations of Babylonian views.” In proof of this statement the Digest presents the following translation of a paragraph from the latest German views on this subject: —
A careful examination of the mythology of the Babylonians goes to show that it abounds in parallels to both Old and New Testament conceptions. Not only is this true of the contents of the historical books, but also of the epistles and the doctrinal teachings of the New Testament writers; especially does the book of Revelation demonstrate this theory. Babylonian elements can be traced in the doctrine of the pre-existence of Christ and of his wonderful birth from a virgin; in the glorification of the Christ child by the chorus of heavenly singers; in the miracles of the Lord, especially those that demonstrate his power over devils, even to the extent of expelling them; and in his descent to the lower world and his ascension to heaven. To Babylonian sources may also be traced the Christian mysteries of baptism and the Lord’s supper, church doctrines concerning angels and devils, and eschatological beliefs regarding the region of the dead, life beyond the tomb, and kindred matters. Nowhere else are the Babylonian elements more readily detected than in the Apocalypse, where the seven spirits, the twenty-four elders, the four heavenly visions of animals, the two witnesses, the book with the seven seals, the heavenly Jerusalem, the marriage of the Lamb, and many other details are to be attributed to Babylonian teachings.
Another German theologian, however, with more evident regard for revealed and historic truth, characterizes this theory as follows. “At bottom it is nothing else than the evolutionary theory run to seed. It represents the complete triumph of evolutionary philosophy in the researches of scholars over the real principles and canons of scientific investigation.”
In the light of the third angel’s message it is not difficult to interpret the meaning of this latest attempt to pervert the truth. It is simply a bold stroke of the enemy to discredit the warning against the corruptions of a pure Christianity which have been imported from Babylon. It is another variation of the one general effort to destroy a simple faith in the plain teaching of the Scripture by a method of scientific interpretation of Scripture which distorts and misapplies it. It only emphasizes the need for a message which shall make clear the real nature of the teaching which has come down to us from Babylon.
More Sunday Bills Before Congress
By L. A. S.
THE present session of Congress has been marked by the introduction of two bills calling for legislation establishing Sunday observance in the District of Columbia. The first of these bills was introduced in the House of Representatives, Nov. 24, 1903. It is a bill “to further protect the first day of the week as a day of rest in the District of Columbia,” and provides as follows:—
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall not be lawful for any person to keep open any place of business or maintain a stand for the sale of any article or articles for profit during Sunday, excepting vendors of books or newspapers, and apothecaries for the dispensing of medicines, and undertakers for the purpose of providing for the dead, or others for the purposes of charity or necessity; nor shall any public playing of football or baseball, or any other kind of playing, sports, pastimes, or diversions, disturbing the peace and quiet of the day, be practised by any person or persons within the District of Columbia on Sunday; nor shall any building operations or work upon railroad construction be lawful upon said day. And for any violation of this Act the person offending shall for each offense be liable to a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars, and in the case of corporations there shall be a like fine for every person employed in violation of this Act laid upon the corporation offending.
SECTION 2.— That it shall be a sufficient defense to a prosecution for labor on the first day of the week that the defendant uniformly keeps another day of the week as a day of rest, and that the labor complained of was done in such a manner as not to interrupt or disturb other persons in observing the first day of the week as a day of rest. This Act shall not be construed to prevent the sale of refreshments, other than malt or spirituous liquors, or to prevent the sale of malt and spirituous liquors as now provided for by law, or tobacco,5cigars, railroad and steamboat tickets, or the collection and delivery of baggage.
The second Sunday bill was presented in the House, Feb. 4, 1904, its title being, “A Bill Requiring Certain Places of Business in the District of Columbia to Be Closed on Sunday.” It reads:—
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be unlawful for any person in the District of Columbia to sell or to offer for sale, or to keep open any place of business for the sale or delivery of, any groceries or fruits or meats or vegetables or other provisions on Sunday, except that from the first day of June until the first day of October meats sold prior to Sunday may be delivered at any time before ten o’clock of the morning of that day. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this Act shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the jail of the District of Columbia for a period of not less than one month nor more than three months, or by both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
SECTION 2.— That all prosecutions for violations of this Act shall be in the police court of the District of Columbia and in the name of the District of Columbia.
These bills were referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia. The first one represents the work of the Reform Bureau operated in this city by Rev. W. F. Crafts. The second one comes from a different source, and represents the effort of the local butchers and grocers to secure by law the opportunity to close up on Sunday without suffering pecuniary loss. A hearing on this bill was given by the District Commissioners, February 16. The butchers and grocers organized respectively into the Retail Butchers’ and Meat Dealers’ Protective Association and the Retail Grocers’ Protective Association, were represented at the hearing by several attorneys. No opponent of the bill was present at the hearing, and no opposition to it was expressed.
The arguments presented in favor of Sunday closing of the butcher and grocer shops were of the usual nature. “The speeches,” says a press report, “were all to the effect that the butchers and grocers are a hard-working class, and should be allowed to observe Sunday as a day of rest.” It was declared that unless a uniform Sunday-closing law is in force, those dealers who close up their places of business on Sunday will be put at a disadvantage in the competition for trade. At the close of the hearing, it is stated, the commissioners promised to give careful consideration to the arguments, and announce a decision later.
The only reason why butchers and grocers are not now “allowed” (as they express it) to close their shops on Sunday, is the fear that they would by so doing incur some financial loss. Rather than incur some loss of money themselves they will force others to incur the loss of liberty which their proposed law involves. If there are butchers or grocers who observe the seventh day, they must incur the loss of one sixth of their remaining time, with its proportion of trade, in order that the Sunday closers may not incur any loss. It will be noted that the bill contains no exemption for observers of the seventh day. It is safe to say that no labor union Sunday law will make any such exemption.
It is not at all unlikely that a favorable report on this bill will be returned by the District commissioners, as it is known that there is an influential sentiment in that body in favor of Sunday closing. Thus it is not improbable that success may now crown the oft-repeated effort to secure a Sunday law from Congress for the District of Columbia, and the long-sought precedent established of which advocates of a national Sunday law are ready to make much use. Thus are events hastening us on to the fulfilment of that for which we have been looking since this religio-political movement was begun.
L. A. S.
The Religion of Looking Within
By L. A. S.
THAT new phase of so-called Christian thought which teaches a person to look within himself for the revelation and guidance of the Spirit of truth, is not a phase of Protestantism at all, by the admission of its own exponents. One of these, Professor Moore, teacher of theology in Harvard University, says of it:—
This religion of the authority of the Spirit of God within men, when we shall have advanced to it, will be seen to separate us from some forms of Protestantism by a wider interval than that which separated Protestantism from Catholicism four hundred years ago.
That the gap which separates this new teaching from Protestantism is no less wide than the gap between Protestantism and Catholicism, and that, in fact, it leads back to the ground of the papacy, is set forth in another statement by Professor Moore, thus:—
In giving up to almost any extent the oracular and external theory of the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures, the Roman Catholic Church gives up very little, so long as it retains the doctrine of its own infallibility and the exclusive right of the interpretation of the Scripture. But the Protestant body, in questioning ever so little the verbal infallibility of the Scripture, in making itself in any sense the judge of that before which it yet bows as its own arbiter and judge, renounces, even though it may be all unconsciously, every authority in matters of religion short of God himself, and commits itself by a great act of faith to the divine principle working within humanity, to the religious instinct, to the trained intelligence, and the faithful heart of the individual man as the sole interpreter of Scripture and the only register of the influence of the Spirit of God upon the life of man. But between the authority of the church as the official interpreter of the Scripture and this response in our own hearts to the spirit which is in the Scripture there is no real standing ground. The sooner we make this clear to ourselves, the sooner we shall be delivered from half-way measures which are worse than no measures at all. [Italics ours.]
“The authority of the church as the official interpreter of Scripture” is the position of the papacy. The wisdom and authority of the church are greater than the wisdom and authority of any human individual, and between looking to one's self for spiritual guidance and looking to the church, the choice must be in favor of the latter. Thus it is evident that this teaching of the “authority of the Spirit of God within men,” which means that a man shall look within rather than outside of himself for this authority, is really calculated to lead the individual Protestant back to the Church of Rome. As Professor Moore says, between that position and the position of the papacy “there is no real standing ground.”
True Protestantism says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Between looking within ourselves and looking unto Jesus there is all the difference between the experience of falling into discouragement, then into sin, and then into darkness, and the experience of receiving light, strength, and cleansing from the life of God. “If you would be discouraged, look within; if you would be distracted, look around; but if you would be strengthened, look up.”
L. A. S.
Grace for the Crisis
By W. A. S.
THERE is comfort in the assurance that the emergency that comes upon us so unexpectedly does not take the Lord by surprise; and he has special grace for every crisis.
Paul was brought into a place where not one of his companions stood with him, and all forsook him. But that One who had promised grace sufficient for every trial did not forget the aged soldier of the cross. “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me,” wrote Paul, “and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.”
Looking ahead at difficulties and trials, the heart might be overwhelmed at the prospect; but when the experiences have come, and the billows of trial have broken, wave on wave, lo, as the tried one looks back after it is over, he6sees that grace sufficient came with each emergency. “My grace is sufficient for thee,” is the message to every child of grace.
It is true that there is a special time of trouble before all of us who shall live until the Lord comes. Many are sometimes inclined to look forward with anxious apprehension to the times before us. There is consolation and strength and present peace in the knowledge that grace comes with the trial. “Things present, nor things to come,” can never separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Moody gave a wise answer to one who asked, “Have you the faith to be a martyr?” “No,” he replied; “but when it will glorify the Lord for me to suffer martyrdom, he will give me a martyr’s faith.”
A missionary in China was awaiting execution during the Boxer uprising, along with her husband and little one and others. She left a message for her friends, which I quote as showing how truly the Lord verified his promise of strength for the crisis. She wrote in her last letter to her home friends:—
I am preparing for the end very quietly and calmly. The Lord is wonderfully near, and he will not fail me. I was very restless and excited while there seemed a chance of life, but God has taken away that feeling, and now I just pray for grace to meet the terrible end bravely. The pain will soon be over; and O, the sweetness of the welcome above! My little baby will go with me. . . . I do not regret coming to China, but I am sorry I have done so little. My married life, two precious years, have been so very full of happiness. We will die together, my dear husband and I.
So to the naturally timid and the frail, to hearts that cling to the quiet of home and shrink from the conflict and the tumult, there comes the grace that strengthens. It is all of grace, and not of human endurance. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. There is strength that comes in the crisis that enables one to act a part not at all possible to the individual unaided. Many a soul will know by experience the meaning of this word written to the dear ones at home by one of our missionary sisters just after sending the cable message bearing news of her husband’s death:—
I sent a prayer with the message that the Lord would strengthen you as he has me. I have gone through more than I ever thought possible. O that you, too, will be able to bear it!
Yes, there is grace to enable every child of faith to endure. “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee.” Isa. 43:2. Let the knowledge of perilous times before us lead to making sure work in keeping truth in the heart and sins forgiven in the present, but let no anxious fear of “things to come” darken the present experience in the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. He who was strengthened by an angel in the hour of his trial, when the endurance of the flesh was at its utmost limit, has pledged that his grace shall be sufficient for us. It comes with the emergency to the child of grace.
W. A. S.
The “Creed of Christian Patriotism”
By L. A. S.
SUCH a creed has been formulated and set forth under authority of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. As given in the Union Signal of February 18 it is as follows:—
I believe that human governments are ordained of God, are bound in all their acts by his law, are essential to human welfare, and are, therefore, to be loyally upheld.
I believe that Christ’s law, “Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s,” binds me to the intelligent and faithful performance of my full duty as a citizen.
I believe that that duty includes the following:—
The payment of all taxes justly assessed against me.
The study of the questions to be decided at the polls.
The knowledge of the several political districts in which I reside, and the records of the several candidates.
To register and vote and to exert a positive influence at every general and primary election, so far as I may, for the triumph of righteous men and measures.
To take an active interest in public affairs and in my country’s history and welfare.
Thus believing, everywhere and always, the first affections of my heart and the first labor of my hands, next to that due to Christ’s world-wide kingdom, shall by my country’s.
From the Christian standpoint, we think this creed is open to objection in several places. The statement, for example, that human governments are bound in all their acts by the law of God, seems to imply that the civil government is bound to take cognizance of and settle religious questions relating to the law of God, as the question of the observance of a weekly Sabbath. If civil governments may rightfully take cognizance of religious questions, their decisions respecting such questions may rightfully be enforced, and all dissenters from such decisions, all who disregard them, may rightfully be punished. And from this it follows that the persecutions of the Dark Ages were right in principle, at least. For, to quote from a United States Senate document of 1829, “Among all the religious persecutions with which almost every page of modern history is stained, no victim ever suffered but for the violation of what government denominated the law of God.”
It is not the business of civil government to deal with religion at all, and it can not do so without such a use of force as is contrary to the purpose of the gospel.
Every government official is bound individually by the law of God, and he can not under any circumstances separate himself from this responsibility. But he must act for himself alone in religious matters; he is not authorized to act for any one else whatsoever. And since in his official capacity he does represent and act for others, the sphere of his official acts is bound to be kept separate from the sphere of religion. The government is non-religious, but not anti-religious. When a government becomes religious, it inevitably becomes antichristian.
We think this creed is in error also in making the study of politics a Christian duty. It is plainly stated in the Bible that Christians are a great power for good in the world. “Ye are the light of the world,” is the statement of Christ to his followers. They are “the salt of the earth,” also; the thing by which the earth is preserved. But how? Is it through politics that they enlighten and preserve the earth? Is it not a well-known fact that the sinners far outnumber and out-vote the saints? Is it not well known7that the small minority who constitute Christ’s followers can neither dictate the party platforms, nominate the party leaders, nor control the vote for any successful candidate? Beyond all dispute, such is the truth; and if Christians were obliged to render their service to the world by measuring votes with the multitude who oppose the truth of God, they would come very far from fulfilling the Saviour’s words.
It is by their union with Christ, not with politics, that Christians are the light of the world. They are ambassadors for God, seeking to make men subjects of another kingdom and another country, not of this earth. “My country” means to the Christian the country of his father Abraham, of which Paul wrote in his letter to the Hebrews: “For they that say such things [those who confess themselves to be strangers and pilgrims on the earth] declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”
Christians are the light of the world not by being like the world, but by being unlike it; not by descending to the level of the world, not by employing worldly agencies and weapons, but by sitting with Christ in the heavenly places, and by the use of weapons and the influence of agencies working with them that proceed alone from God. It is the one purpose of the Christian to hasten by such means the answer to the prayer, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” L. A. S.