Signs of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 57. (12/10/1894)

Signs of the Times

Dec 10, 1894

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 10, 1894

Saved by Works

"Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.

"Saved by Works."—Are we saved by works?—Yes, and no; it depends on whose works. We are not saved by our works, or by the works of man or men. Saved means eternal life and living in the kingdom of God; but man's best and greatest works come short of God's glory, because marred by sin.

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Man sinned and fell from his highest and perfect plane of creation. When man came from his Maker's hand he was created in righteousness and true holiness. He sinned and fell from the highway of holiness to the low level of sin, misery, suffering, and death. He could go no lower, for sin is the end of death. James 1:15. He can go no higher, for a sinful nature, a nature born in sin, delighting in sin, wedded to sin, holds him down. In fact, he is bound by the cords of his iniquities, a slave of sin, and doomed to death. He is "without strength" so far as his own salvation is concerned, and "none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Ps. 49:7.

This is the condition of all men. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Man has never risen from his low plane of sin and death by his own power, and never can. The ceaseless treadmill of human effort has been wheeling its wearied round through all the variations and vicissitudes of ages, but man is still at the bottom. He hopes—he has ever hoped—to rise on the wings of resolve and purpose, on the pedestal of effort or sacrifice, but his "feet still cling to the heavy clay." Through fasting and scourging and beating and isolation and every manner of self-discipline and torture, man has sought to "climb up" to the plane of God's righteousness and life, but has pitiably and pitifully failed. He is still treading the same weary round, and for the most part is unsaved. Of himself he is "without strength," and therefore without hope. "By the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in His sight."

But there is hope. Although man could not in the weakness of the flesh keep the law, God has provided a Law Keeper, who is able to save to the uttermost. "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God [did by] sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:3, 4. Christ left heaven, with all its glory, emptied himself of all his majesty, came down to earth as a man, was "made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." Gal. 4:4, 5. Having taken upon himself the form of man, the likeness of sinful flesh, he became "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He came down to the low plane of man's level. But to do this "he emptied himself" (Phil. 2:7, Revised Version), and God filled him with all his fullness (Col. 1:19; 2:9). His coming down to man's level by taking upon himself the nature of man, yet filled with the fullness of God, was God coming down to dwell with man. And that is what Christ came for,—to manifest God to the world. "And they shall call his name EMMANUEL, which being interpreted is, God with us." And again, "Thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins." It is God come down to us in order to lift us up to him.

"In him ye are complete," says the apostle. Just as Christ emptied himself and God filled him, so when we renounce self, yield up all our sins, our ambitions, our righteousnesses (which at the best are but filthy rags, webs of garments), our wills, our all to God, subject to his will and his alone, Christ enters the heart yielded to him and fills us with his Spirit, clothes us with the righteousness of God in him, and makes us complete in his completeness. Col. 2:9, 10. Christ was complete with God in him (John 14:10), and we are complete with Christ in us the hope of glory (Col. 1:27; 1 John 4:2, 4; John 17:21). As the life of God was manifest in him, so the life of Jesus is made manifest in our mortal flesh. 2 Cor. 4:10, 11.

But the life of Jesus is what Jesus lived; it is his character while here upon the earth. Here he went about doing good (Acts 10:38); he did the Father's will (John 6:38); he kept the Father's commandments (John 15:10), in other words, was obedient to all the holy law of God in its absolute perfection and fullness; for he "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Peter 2:22). That righteousness of Christ, the righteous works of his life, is imputed to the sinner through faith, and God accepts it as though the sinner had, as did Christ, obeyed all the law for all time. Thus we are saved from all past sin and accepted of God, not because of our works, but because we believe in Jesus. See Rom. 4:3-8. Nevertheless, the works have been wrought, the law has been kept, not by us, but by Jesus Christ. We are saved by works, by the works of Christ, wrought in his life.

But Christ's works do not stop here. He is not satisfied by placing to our credit his blameless life of righteousness for our sins of the past. He covers our sins of the past, that he may give us deliverance and victory for the future. Therefore he puts within us his Spirit, his life, that we may live it here even as he lived it here. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. . . . And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Eze. 36:26, 27. "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:4. "That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh." 2 Cor. 4:11. And will not the life of Christ, who is "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever," be manifest in keeping God's commandments now as much as it was nearly nineteen hundred years ago? Will it not observe all of God's commandments now as much as it did then? Of course, this will be no glory to us, no cause of boasting, that we keep his law; it will be all of Christ, only different manifestations of the same life in works. It will be Christ's righteousness covering our past sins; it will be Christ living in us his life of righteousness, willing and working in us to his own pleasure. But it is Christ's work in all. Reader, by whose works are you seeking to be saved? Whose life are you living? Whose will are you doing?

The American Sunday.

By Editor

The Tacoma School Journal of July has been sent to us containing an article on "The American Sunday," in which the writer contends that, as all of

these traditions of America are in favor of Sunday and Sunday laws, so the friends of the Sabbath should boldly assert themselves against a lawless Sunday. He admits that the first Sunday laws after the birth of Christ were made by Constantine; "for the purpose of giving laborers a rest and a day to attend divine worship. The friends of the sabbath [Sunday] have always insisted that on this day the laborer should have rest; but now there are some philanthropists who have such a burning love for the workingman that they would destroy all laws that the workingman might better enjoy himself on Sunday." The Journal concludes:—

It is high time that the friends of the American institutions should stand up and be heard. Here is a field for the A. P. A. Let every American citizen come forward and demand that this, the fairest flower of Christian civilization, should not be trodden beneath the ruthless foot of greed, lawlessness, and infidelity.

But it might be well for the Journal to ask itself the question if the laboring men of this country are not free men. Have they not the privilege of resting every day of the week if they so desire? or can they be compelled to work seven days in a week by their masters? The workingman is free to rest on Sunday just as long as he wishes. No one can compel him to work. Sometimes it may cost him sacrifice, but if his manhood and religion cannot afford that sacrifice, they certainly are not worth saving. He who has any religious regard for Sunday certainly has the privilege of showing it by observing the day as strictly as he will. He who has no regard for the day cannot be compelled to have it by any number of Sunday laws, howsoever severe they may be. But Sunday laws are in perfect harmony with the day itself. Its origin as a sacred day is human, and it can only be sustained by human laws; and when the Journal and all its other friends meet the success which they desire in a universal Sunday law, they will find, not the A. P. A. as masters of the situation in this respect, but that church which they now condemn as an enemy to the Sunday, namely, the Roman Catholic Church, as mistress of the situation. It is that church through which Sunday has come to us as a sacred day, and by which Sunday will be held up through civil laws in the future. It is a mark of the papal beast, the badge of its power, and Protestants who have departed from Protestant principles are simply submitting to its demands instead of following the word of God.

OUR CATHOLIC "PROTESTANTISM."

WHAT gave rise to the name "Protestant" was the famous "protest" of the German princes, presented at the Diet of Spires, April 19, 1529.

What really gave rise to the principles of Protestantism was returning to the word of God. As that protest states:—

There is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the word of God; that the Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine; that each text of the Holy Scriptures ought to be explained by other and clearer texts; that this holy Book is in all things necessary for the Christian, easy of understanding, and calculated to scatter the darkness, we are resolved, with the grace of God, to maintain the pure and exclusive preaching of his only word, such as it is contained in the biblical books of the Old and New Testament, without adding anything thereto that may be contrary to it. This word is the only truth; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us. He who builds on this foundation shall stand against all the powers of hell, whilst all the human vanities that are set up against it shall fall before the face of God.

Concerning this protest D'Aubigne, the Protestant historian of the Reformation, says:—

The principles contained in this celebrated protest, the 19th of April, 1529, constitute the very essence of Protestantism. Now this protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith; the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second, the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these abuses, Protestantism sets the power of conscience above the magistrate, and the authority of the word of God above the visible church. In the first place, it rejects the civil power in divine things, and says, with the prophets and apostles, "We must obey God rather than man." In presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. But it goes farther; it lays down the principle that all human teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God. —Book 13, chap 6.

This is the origin of the name "Protestant," but the source of Protestantism is in the word of God. Martin Luther found it there when he opened the chained Bible in the monastic cell. Let it be borne in mind that the two principles stated above are the principles of Christianity,—God's word, God's word alone, without any mixture of human error or tradition, or interference of civil power. Says Dowling, in his "History of Romanism," book 2, chap. 1, page 67:—

"The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants." Nor is it of any account in the estimation of the genuine Protestant how early a doctrine originated, if it is not found in the Bible. . . . If it is not found in the sacred Scriptures, it presents no valid claim to be received as an article of his religious creed. . . . The great question at issue between Popery and Protestantism is this: Is the Bible only to be received as the rule of faith, or the Bible and tradition together? Is no doctrine to be received as matter of faith unless it is found in the Bible, or may a doctrine be received upon the mere authority of tradition, when it is confessedly not to be found in the sacred Scriptures? The whole Christian world, both nominal and real, are divided by this question into two great divisions, the consistent and true-hearted Protestant, standing upon this rock—THE BIBLE AND THE BIBLE ONLY—can admit no doctrine upon the authority of tradition; the papist and the Puseyite [the high churchmen] place tradition side by side with the Bible, and listen to its dictates with a reverence equal to or even greater than that which they pay to the Scriptures themselves; and he who receives a single doctrine on the mere authority of tradition, let him be called by what name he will, by so doing, steps down from the Protestant rock, passes over to the line which separates Protestantism from Popery, and can give no valid reason why he should not receive all the earlier doctrines and ceremonies of Romanism upon the same authority.

But from the above principles Protestantism has departed, and by her acts utterly repudiated them. We have repeatedly shown from her various creeds and authorities that she professes to hold the Bible as the rule of faith, and to repudiate the principles of Church and State union. In other words, she professedly opposes the arbitrary authority of the church, and the intrusion of the civil magistrate. But practically she has accepted both. To say nothing about government aid for religious schools, the Sunday question is sufficient for illustration. While there is no command, nor the semblance of a command, in the word of God for the observance of Sunday as the Sabbath, the church exalts the day as holy, and demands its observance as a part of Christian conduct. She not only does this, but she demands "the intrusion of the civil magistrate"—that which the Reformation opposed—to enforce Sunday observance upon those who do not regard the day sacred. In both of these principles, which "constitute the very essence of Protestantism," the great mass of Protestants stand on Roman Catholic ground. Protestantism is but a name with them. The word of God is the shuttlecock of exigency and human tradition, and the civil magistrate at the beck of a "Protestant" hierarchy is seated in the throne of God's judgment.

A confession of the unscriptural Sunday-sabbath and the arbitrary authority of the church is furnished by a recent number of the Christian Work. That paper, in its issue of November 15, 1894, has an article entitled "Dr. Wallace on Sabbath Keeping." It is a criticism on an article of Dr. Wallace's which appeared in the November Nineteenth Century, in which the writer bases Sunday observance on the fourth commandment, and takes to task those who keep their servants at work seven days in the week. Upon this the Christian Work says:—

As to all of which, while admitting at the outset the inconsistency of many Christians in exacting a full seven days' service of their servants, we think it will be seen that Mr. Wallace puts sabbath [Sunday] observance on a wrong basis; for while Sabbath observance in its spirit rests upon the fourth commandment, it is not accepted by the Christian church as requiring LITERAL obedience in form and method. This is shown by the change made to the first day of the week; by this act the church swept away the literalness of the command to the rest on one day and on one day only, viz, the seventh day.

Now it seems very clear that if Christian people can, under certain exigencies, change the rest day from Saturday to Sunday, they can by common consent—and common consent was the sole authority of the change—substitute one part of another day for an equal part of Sunday; in this way the Sabbath rest—one-seventh—will be observed in spirit, just as it is now observed in spirit in the change from Saturday to Sunday.

Now if this is not purely Roman Catholic ground, we do not know what is. What are God's commandments for if not to be literally obeyed in the true spirit of obedience? What did he say "the seventh day" for if he did not mean "the seventh day"? But if the Protestant "church" has authority to change God's command, why has not the Catholic? What more did the Catholic Church ever claim? What regard for the word of God is that which sets it aside "under certain exigencies"? And if by "common consent" the day can be changed, by the same "common consent" all sabbaths may be abolished, the Bible declared a myth, and Christianity a fraud. Out upon such trifling; but it is to this very plane that Protestantism has fallen. Says Romanism ("Abridgment of Christian Doctrine"):—

Ques.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days? Ans.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of.

Says "Protestantism" (Christian Work, see above):—

By this act [changing to the first day of the week] the church swept away the literalness of the commandto the rest on the one day and the one day only, viz., the seventh day.

If this is not flat-footed Roman Catholicism, what is? And yet it is only by such methods that Sunday keeping can be justified. It is Roman Catholicism and Sunday keeping on the one hand, or true Protestantism—Christianity—and seventh-day Sabbath keeping on the other. Christian brother or sister, reader, whoever you are, on whose side of this controversy will you stand? Is it on the rock of God's word or in the slough of human tradition?

IT IS BAD IN SWITZERLAND.

By W. N. G.

THE imprisonment of a Seventh-day Adventist minister in Basel, Switzerland, for allowing Sunday labor in his publishing house, when all other classes of people do about as they please on that day, has received quite extended notice by the American press. With few exceptions the comments are adverse to the action of the little republic which poses as a beacon of liberty among the monarchies and semi-monarchies of Europe. The principle is quite generally conceded to be bad for Switzerland. But when the same thing is done in our own country, most of these same journals are reticent, having nothing to say. One leading daily which editorially held up the Switzerland case as an illustration of the "absurdity of Sunday laws," squarely declines any reference to like action in the United States.

While in Switzerland there is one case of partisan tyranny, it is a fact that during the past six or seven years there have been a number of even worse cases—worse in partisan bitterness—in five different States of our own much-lauded American republic. At the present time men who observe the seventh-day Sabbath are in prison for Sunday labor in the States of Maryland and Tennessee, and others are awaiting trial. The fact that these men are singled out for prosecution by their enemies in communities where men of all other classes, church members as well as others, do as they please on Sunday, is illustrative, not only of the absurdity, but of the injustice, of Sunday laws. Their principal use so far is to give opportunity to religious zealots to annoy and persecute, under cover of law, those whose religious opinions and influence they desire to squelch, but cannot otherwise accomplish their vindictive purpose.

Not only are the Sunday laws being enforced upon this special class of orderly citizens in a few States, but in nearly every State such laws are upon the statute books, ready for use whenever the despised sect becomes sufficiently influential in any locality to incur the jealousy or displeasure of rival religionists. About twelve years ago California was haply relieved of its tyrannical Sunday law by repeal. Since that time the advocates of such intolerant measures have been zealously laboring for its reënactment. Failing to secure a State law, they have for several years been endeavoring to accomplish their purpose by piecemeal—that is, by county and municipal Sunday-closing ordinances. Of course these are aimed ostensibly at saloons, and are sought under the specious plea of temperance. Where no more than the Sunday closing of saloons can be secured, that modicum is accepted as a partial victory. But the closing of all business is urged where it is thought possible to secure so much. The ultimate end in view is to cover the State with these local ordinances, and with this prestige to carry a stringent State law.

Congress having opened its doors to unconstitutional religious legislation, and the popular churches and religious societies having shown a disposition to enter the field of politics as a body, many of the secular papers and many of the politicians are becoming rather fearful of running counter to the demands of the religious element, however intolerant such demands may be. So with this prospect before us, the outlook for freedom of conscience in the United States is little if any better than in the most priest-ridden countries of Europe. What is coming upon us in this respect is the more apparent when we reflect that the Sunday-law forces all over the land are boasting that soon they will see the fulfillment of their purpose to secure a National Sunday law, and then will come the strengthening of all State Sunday laws and their rigid enforcement. And they are counting upon the pliability of the average politician and the power of the church vote to bring about the desired result.

W. N. G.

166. BUY A SWORD.

WHAT did Christ mean when he said: "He that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. . . . And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough." Luke 22:36-38.

The direction which our Saviour gives concerning the sword, seems to have direct reference to what follows in the latter part of the verse. In the 37th verse, Revised Version, in the margin, the 36th and 37th verses are translated thus: "And he said unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise a wallet; and he that hath no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one. For I say unto you, that this which is written must be fulfilled in me, And he was reckoned with transgressors." It seemed necessary that the disciples of our Lord should have a sword among them, not that they were to use it, but that there might be some pretense on the part of his enemies in accusing him and arresting him, "for he was reckoned among the transgressors." And yet he was not a transgressor, and when his bold disciple Peter drew the sword in defiance of his Master, Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Put up thy sword;" "all they that take the sword shall perish by the sword." In permitting them to carry swords at that time it seems to us that a twofold object was gained: (1) It gave the Jews an additional pretext for their unreasonable charge that he was a transgressor, and (2) it gave our Saviour an opportunity of inculcating a lesson that would be for all time, that whenever his disciples were arrested or persecuted for the truth's sake, they should not defend themselves with weapons that are carnal.

The expression, "It is enough," at the close of the 38th verse, is understood by many as having reference to what the disciples themselves said. It is just as though Jesus replied to them, "Enough has been said about the matter; say no more." Whatever things he might have said to them in regard to the use of the sword, they would not have understood any more than they understood his teachings in regard to his death, burial, and resurrection. They must pass through the actual experience before they could understand the Master's teachings. That he permitted them to do, rebuking Peter for the use of his sword, and healing the wound which he made. The passage at the best is a difficult one, but it certainly does not teach, in connection with what our Saviour himself said on that very occasion (see Matt. 26:52, 53), that the use of the sword is justifiable in connection with the work of God in the earth. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal." 2 Cor. 10:4.

Question Corner.

By Editor

"If ye will inquire, inquire ye." "But avoid foolish questions."

[From time to time we will reply under this head, if deemed advisable, to such candid inquiries as may be sent us. Correspondents wishing a reply to their questions must give their full name and address, not for publication unless they wish, but as an evidence of good faith on their part, and to give us opportunity to reply by letter if deemed best. It is always well to inclose stamp. Let the questions be short and pointed, and such as may be answered in limited space. The questions will be numbered continuously.]

167. JOHN 11:26.

By Editor

Will you kindly give me some light on the following text? "And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

The text in question is intimately connected with the three verses which come before. Jesus said to Martha, "Thy brother shall rise again." Martha replied, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Evidently the words of our Saviour in response to Martha had reference to that time as well as the present. He declared to her that the One who raised the dead at that time had power to raise the dead in the present, and therefore he replied, "I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in me [that is, in the last day], though he were dead, yet shall he live." All those who sleep in Christ who died in faith will then come forth, and "whosoever liveth and believeth in me [at that time, the righteous living] shall never die." This to us is the simplest meaning of the text. When Christ comes there will be the two classes who will live forever, those who sleep in him, and those who will be looking for him. And He who will give life then can give it now.

168. REMISSION OF SINS.

By Editor

Will you please explain John 20: 23: "Whosoever sins ye remit, they shall be remitted unto them; and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained." Does not the power to forgive sins belong to God alone? MRS. C. S. P.

Yes, in its fullest sense the power to forgive sins belongs to God alone. We may forgive our brethren their trespasses against us; we cannot forgive sins against God. What the Lord meant here is that to his servants were committed the gospel, the message of man's salvation, and the terms by which man could receive it. Those who accepted that gospel, would be forgiven, and their sins remitted; those who rejected it would remain in their sins, and thus die.

See the article "Rome's Claims of Infallibility," in the SIGNS of December 3. See also "Spirit of Prophecy," vol. 2, pp. 244-247.

An illustration of the meaning of this scripture is furnished in Jer. 1: 10. The Lord says to the prophet, "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, and to build, and to plant." That is, Jeremiah did do that by the message of God. If the kingdoms heard his word and turned from their evil ways, they would be built up; if they rejected his word, they would be destroyed. See Jer. 18: 7-10.

169. TRIBULATION TEN DAYS.

By Editor

Rev. 2:10: "And ye shall have tribulation ten days." Please explain what the ten days signify, and greatly oblige, AN INQUIRER OF THE TRUTH.

The ten days are evidently prophetic days, symbolizing so many literal years, and are generally considered as having reference to the last pagan persecution, from 301 to 311, during which time the people of God suffered greatly.

THE SENDING OUT OF THE SEVENTY.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

"AFTER these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come." The seventy were appointed to go on their missionary journeys some months after the twelve had been appointed to visit the lost sheep of the house of Israel. When the twelve were sent forth, they were restricted to the tribes of Israel, lest their missionary efforts should create prejudice among the Jews, whose teaching had been of such a character as to make them narrow in their ideas in regard to the extension of the gospel to other nationalities. The disciples themselves could scarcely comprehend the fact that the blessings of God were for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews, and had to unlearn many lessons that made them conservative in their views concerning the mission and work of the Messiah. But evidences were given them that prepared them to understand that the tidings of the kingdom of Christ were to be preached to all nations. Now that their sympathies were broadening, and their ideas expanding in regard to the purpose of God, Christ desired them to act out their faith before he should be removed from them, that there might be no misunderstanding in regard to the extension of the gospel.

Jesus' great heart of love was filled with longing to proclaim the words of life to all nationalities, and he did this in a large measure. He placed himself in the great thoroughfares of travel, where the crowds passed to and fro, and preached to large concourses of different peoples. But he saw numerous fields opening up for missionary labor. There was abundant opportunity for the twelve disciples to work, and not only for them, but for a very large number of workers. He educated a larger number to employ in missionary work, and, as he sent forth seventy more laborers into the harvest field, he said, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest."

In giving his laborers direction as they began this most important work, he said, "Salute no man by the way." The salutation to which he referred was not that of giving a friendly grasp to the hand, but was a long series of ceremonies, that consumed time to no profit, and their business was too urgent to trifle away precious moments in unnecessary forms. They were bearing a message that was to be as a savor of life unto life to those who received it, and as a savor of death unto death to those who rejected it; and all these superstitious positions and ceremonies of salutation, if performed, would lessen the importance of the message, and seem to make it of little moment.

The sending out of the disciples on a missionary tour was a most important movement, as it was a breaking away from the old, narrow conservatism of the Jews, and would have a tendency to lead them away from their prejudices against other nations, and establish them in a larger charity. He wished them to be impressed with the necessity of planting the truth in the hearts of all men, with the thought that all who would come might come to him, and by believing in him have life through his name. The time was approaching when he should leave his followers, but he promised them that the Spirit should come to lead them into all truth, to illuminate to their minds the Scriptures which he had himself given to patriarchs and prophets. No longer were the Gentiles to be kept in heathenism, or, as it were, in the outer courts of the temple.

The Pharisees were daily plotting to stop the spread of the gospel of Christ, and were misinterpreting God's word, by threatening the people, and seeking to intimidate them, and they deepened the darkness that enveloped the souls of men, and bound more firmly the chains of superstition and error that Jesus was breaking from those who believed in him. The Pharisees and rulers and rabbis sought to controvert the truth by their assertions, and manifested great zeal in pursuing their evil course. They hesitated at nothing that would carry out their hatred of Christ. The seventy were sent out with the warning, "Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves." But though sent out to meet opposition, they were not to be spiritless, powerless, and feeble. They were to exercise every proper means that was consistent with the commission they were given, and spend and be spent in seeking to win souls to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. A new and mighty movement was to be inaugurated, a new epoch was to be ushered in, advancing the truth to the world.

The world's Redeemer marks out the course the disciples were to pursue. There must be no betraying of sacred trusts on the part of those intrusted with the work, no yielding save to one Guide. Christ laid out before them the rules of action they were to follow, the manner in which they were to pursue their work, and there must be no swerving from God's word. He sent them forth two and two. This was the order in which the laborers were to go forth. He was about to leave the work, and he determined to put it in the hands of faithful men, who would teach others also to carry forward and proclaim the gospel of the kingdom to all nations, tongues, and peoples. He had revealed to his followers invisible realities, and had told them of coming events, reaching down to the end of earth's history. He had opened up to them principles concerning redemption and moral government by holding forth to them the words of life, and all these great truths which he had communicated to them were not only for their enlightenment, but that they also might communicate truth to others who were in darkness. The seventy were to go forth to do a work similar to that which was being done by the twelve. They were all endowed with supernatural endowments as the seal of their heavenly calling. They were ordained to proclaim that which Jesus at the beginning of his ministry had bidden them to keep secret. Repeatedly Jesus had charged them not to proclaim his Messiahship, but to let the people receive him upon the testimony of his words and works. His works presented the divine credentials that bore sufficient evidence of his claims. But before the close of his earthly ministry, it was his purpose to give men unmistakable evidence of the fact that he was the Sent of God, that he was the center and soul of the kingdom of Israel; and this fact was to be proclaimed throughout all the borders of Judea; and in his last journey toward Jerusalem, prophecy should be so publicly fulfilled that no student of Scripture need be in doubt concerning his character and mission. The specifications of prophecy were to be fulfilled to the letter.

It was the work of the seventy disciples to give publicity to his work. They were his delegated forerunners, sent forth to create an interest in him, and to bear their message heralding his approach. The Saviour gave them special instruction as to how they were to conduct themselves, and what preliminary work must be done by them. The instruction was after the same order as he gave to the twelve when he sent them forth. "Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth." They were not to keep their goods, bind them up in a napkin, and hide them in the earth. The Lord would have them put to use the talents he had given them, and put them out to the exchangers, by using every ability of money, mind, or influence in furthering the communication of the light of truth to souls who sat in darkness.

He said to them, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

The spirit of prophecy had distinctly predicted that God would raise up an inspired Teacher, who should instruct the people. This great Teacher had appeared among men, but they knew him not. Christ, the foundation of the whole Jewish economy, who had been prefigured in sacrifices and offerings, had appeared in the Jewish nation, but their eyes were blinded. He had himself inspired the prophets to testify of the manner of his coming, and at sundry times and in divers places Christ himself had spoken to man. There had been no time when he was not in communication with his chosen people. The Jewish services all testify of him, pointing out the attributes of his divine character. Important truth concerning him was veiled in types and shadows and symbols, and was to be fulfilled in Christ's mission and ministry. From time to time the veil had been lifted and the mystery had been revealed concerning the plan of salvation. The reality had been made plain, the substance had appeared, explaining the shadow. Jesus Christ was revealed, the One who was to give his life for the redemption of the world. Those who believed in him in the ages before his personal advent, "died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

"By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward." Here is plain evidence that Moses understood the mission of Christ and the work he was to do. He expected the substance to be revealed, and the unfinished economy of the Jewish nation would be completed in perfect fulfillment of every specification that God had given in types and shadows. He would bring his own system of arrangements to perfection. For Moses truly said unto the fathers: "A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days."

The work of the chosen twelve, and of the seventy who were sent out, was to proclaim the Messiahship of Jesus, and to herald his personal coming wheresoever they should go. They were to say, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!"

RETURNING TO GOD.

By J. E. Rankin

BY PRESIDENT J. E. RANKIN, D.D.

[From the German of Louisa Henrietta, Electress of Brandenburg.]

I WOULD from all the ill I've done To thee, my God, betake me. Thy help bestow, through thy dear Son, Thine heir, thy child, to make me. A new heart in me do thou form, My cold and dying graces warm, Nor let thy grace forsake me.

By nature can no man perceive His own deep desolation; Nor blind and deaf will he, Lord, grieve To find from sin, salvation. Perverse in will, perverse in deed, Thou art my spirit's sorest need; Hear thou my lamentation.

Lord, by thy grace awaken me To all my grievous sinning; Again my soul's Redeemer be, My heart to love thee winning. Now let me feel thee drawing near, My cares and burdens leaving here, With tears new life beginning.

Here is my heart; oh, make it clean! Of sins give me remission. I ask of thee the things I mean, Kneeling in deep contrition. Oh, ground my soul in thee anew, And help me fight faith's battle through, Nor heed the world's derision!

—N. Y. Observer.

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