NIN NI NIN NIN NN tl Nt Nt NNN
* The path of the just is as
the shining light, that shin-
eth more and more unto the
perfect day.”
NAAN NN NNN
THE
NASHVILLE, TENN., NOV. 19, 1907
WATCHMAN
PANN NNN NS NIN NINN NP
“The way of the wicked
is as darkness; they know
not at what they stumble.”
No. 47
“1 suaLL arise.” For centuries
Upon the gray old churchyard stone
These words have stood; no more is said;
The grand old promise stands alone,
Untouched, while years and seasons roll
Around it. March winds come and go,
The summer twilights fall and fade,
Or autumn sunsets burn and glow.
“1 shall arise.” O wavering heart,
From this take comfort and be strong!
“1 shall arise,” nor always grope
In darkness, mingling right with wrong;
From tears and pain, from shades and doubt,
And wants within that wildly call,
“1 shall arise” in God's own light,
Shall see the sum and truth of all.
I SHALL ARISE
Suggested by a tombstone bearing only the words. "I shall arise,
“1 shall arise.”
" and the date A, D, 1609.
Like children here we lisp and grope,
And till the perfect manhood, wait
At home our time, and only dream
Of that which lies beyond the gate,
God’s full, free universe of life,—
No shadowy paradise of bliss,
No realm of unsubstantial souls,—
But life, more real life than this!
O clarion call!
Time, rolling onward to the end,
Brings us to life that cannot die,
The life where faith and knowledge blend.
Each after each the cycles roll
In silence, and about us here
The shadow of the great white throne
Falls broader, deeper, year by year.
— Christian at Work.
[
Sa
CO-OPERATION
Mrs. E. G. White
J
RACE and peace be multi-
plied unto you through the
knowledge of God, and of
Jesus our Lord, according as
his divine power hath given
unto us all things that per-
tain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of
Him that hath called us to glory and vir-
tue; whereby are given unto us exceed-
ing great and precious promises; that by
these ye might be partakers of the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world through lust.”
‘“ Partakers of the divine nature.” Is
this possible? Of ourselves we can do
no good thing. How, then, can we be
partakers of the divine nature? — By
coming to Christ just as we are, needy,
helpless, dependent. He died to make it
possible for us to be partakers of the di-
vine nature. He took upon himself hu-
manity, that he might uplift humanity.
With the golden chain of his matchless
love he has bound us to the throne of
God. We are to have power to overcome
as he overcame. To all he gives the in-
vitation: ‘Come unto me, and 1
will give you rest. Take my voke upon
vou, and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy,
and my burden is light.”
In order to be partakers of the divine
nature, we must co-operate with God.
Man is no passive being, to be saved in
indolence. Let no one think that men
and women are going to be taken to
heaven without engaging in the struggle
here below. We have a battle to fight,
a victory to gain. God says to us,
“ Work out your own salvation with fea
and trembling.” How? — “For it is
God which worketh in you, both to w
and to do of his good pleasure.” Man
works, and God works. Man is called
upon to strain every muscle, and to ex-
ercise every faculty, in the struggle for
immortality ; but it is God who supplies
the efficiency.
God has made amazing sacrifices for
human beings. He has expended mighty
energy to reclaim man from transgres-
sion and sin to loyalty and obedience ; but
he does nothing without the co-operation
of humanity. Paul says: “This one
thing I do, forgetting the things that are
behind, . I press toward the mark for
the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus.” The Christian life is a
battle and a march. In this warfare there
is no release ; the effort must be continu-
ous and persevering. It is by unceasing
endeavor that we maintain the victory
over the temptations of Satan. Chris-
tian integrity must be sought with re-
sistless energy, and maintained with a
resolute fixedness of purpose.
“ Ye are God’s husbandry ; ye are God’s
building.” This figure represents hu-
man character, which is to be wrought
upon point by point. Fach day God
works on his building, stroke upon stroke,
to perfect the structure, that it may be-
come a holy temple for him. Man is to
co-operate with God, striving in his
strength to make himself what God de-
signs him to be, building his life with
pure, noble deeds.
No one is borne upward without stern,
persevering effort in his own behalf. All
must engage in the warfare for them-
selves. Individually we are responsible
for the issue of the struggle; though
Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land,
they could deliver neither son nor
daughter by their righteousness.
There is a science of Christianity to be
mastered,— a science as much deeper,
broader, higher, than any human science
as the heavens are higher than the earth.
The mind is to be disciplined, educated,
trained; for we are to do service for
God in ways that are not in harmony
with inborn inclination. Often the train-
ing and education of a lifetime must be
discarded, that one may become a learner
in the school of Christ. Our hearts must
be educated to become steadfast in God.
We are to form habits of thought that
will enable us to resist temptation. We
must learn to look upward. The prin-
ciples of the Word of God,— principles
that are as high as heaven, and that
compass eternity,— we are to understand
in their bearing on our daily life. Every
act, every word, every thought, is to be
in accord with these principles.
The precious graces of the Holy Spirit
are not developed in a moment. Cour-
age, fortitude, meekness, faith, unwaver-