THE WAYS OF LIFE.
JEHOVAH is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works.” “As for God, His way is perfect.” “In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.” Surely, the prayer of the psalmist is equally important for us: “Show me Thy ways, O Jehovah; teach me Thy paths.” *
The one thing loved, desired, sought after, in tins world, above all things else, is life. Even Satan recognized this truth when he said, “Yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.’’ How many times the truth of this has been manifested! We do not see it when men and women in the plenitude of health, with physical life-forces to th^ full, almost forget that they are mortal. But few there are indeed of the human family who would not buy off death for a-year, a month, a week, a day, with all that they have in this world. For what are all the riches of this world to any soul without life? Therefore, “what shall man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?”
Life is secure only in one place, and that is the way of righteousness; for righteousness is life; righteousness only is life. Things and men may seem to be living that are not righteous; but the living is only seeming. In reality they are dying. The human machine is running contrary to the law of its being, and is doomed to destruction. From the time the infant is born the bones begin to grow brittle, the blood vessels to harden and thicken, and the beginning of the end is at birth. Life is fed from sunshine, plant, and animal, from earth, air, and water. But after man’s best efforts, less than twoscore years marks the average of
God has made no arbitrary law, dear reader, that, if you do not do His will, He will visit you with dire punishment; and, if you do His will, He will reward you. There is punishment in not doing, dire and inevitable, but it comes by your transgression of God’s ways, your perversion of the great currents of life. He that sinneth wrongeth his own soul.
human life. Life fed only from lower life is doomed to go out into nothingness.
It was not so designed of the Creator. It was His plan that all His rational, moral creatures should receive life direct from Him, the
what God commands, to refrain from what He prohibits, to choose gladly His ways, whatsoever they may be, wheresoever they lead. To choose them thus is to choose life, and to place one where the great currents of God flow out full and free from the eternal Source of being. To reject God’s ways is to choose death, is to place one’s little will across God’s great currents of life, and be overwhelmed forever by their force. The beautiful brook which meanders through the ipea-dow, giving of its life to plant and herd, is a beneficent thing; but go a little farther down where it breaks from the valley meadow through a narrow gorge, throw a dam across it, turn its waters back over the fertile meadow, and its vegetation dies. The erstwhile brook of life becomes a sea of death. Its ways of righteousness are perverted, and death follows.
great*source of all existence; for “with Him is the Fountain of life.” But it was. also a part of the plan—in fact, it could not be otherwise —that the continuance of His life to His creature is conditioned on the continuance of that creature in righteousness.
The choice rested with the creature, as it does to-day. God sets before all life and death, blessing and cursing, and pleads, “Choose life.” Let the heart, the soul, the mind, the entire being, be yielded to God’s ways, to do
Yet God, in His goodness, does not leave His creatures in death. He has made visible life-connection between the great Fountain and the sin-burdened earth. Through His Word that He has given, through the person of His Son Jesus Christ, God is pouring out His life to all who will yield the sin and accept of His ways. In other words, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Believing is only
“But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.”
Volume 29. Number 11.
For Terms; See Page 15.
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, MARCH 18, 1903.
Weekly, $ 1.50 per year.
Single Copy, FiveCents
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
yielding with all the heart to His ways as set forth in.His Word. “ The words that I speak unto you,” says Jesus, “they are Spirit and they are life.” “He sent His Word and healed them,” is God’s record of His mercy to His people of old. He is the same to-day. His paths are the paths of life. All His ways are pleasantness; and all His paths are peace.
And God will grant the prayer, “Show me Thy way*., O Jehovah; teach me Thy paths.” He has given the prayer that we may have courage in praying it. In the very same psalm we read: “Good and upright is Jehovah; therefore will He instruct sinners in the way. The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way.” And those who thus seek God to know His way will find that “all the paths of Jehovah are loving-kindness and truth.” It is a blessed place to walk; for God will walk .there with His children, even to the end of the pilgrim path, when the obscured light of life in this sinful world will burst into the glorious effulgence of everlasting day.
CHRIST GIVES REPENTANCE.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
MANY think that repentance is a work which devolves wholly upon man, but this is an error. The Bible does not teach that man must repent before he comes to Christ. Repentance must precede forgiveness; but the sinner does not repent till he has faith in Christ as his mediator. Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. His love, shining from the cross, speaks eloquently of the sufferings of the only-begotten Son of God for fallen man. This love draws sinners to Him. The transgressor may resist this love; he may refuse to be drawn to Christ; but if he does not resist, he will be led to the foot of the cross, in repentance for the sins that caused the death of the Son of God.
If it were possible for man of himself to repent, Christ’s atoning sacrifice would be in vain. But this is not possible. Repentance comes from Christ just as verily as does pardon. It is a false theory which teaches that repentance is a work which man must do himself, without any special help from Christ. If one step in the way of salvation could be taken without Christ, every step could be taken without Him. But without His help, the sinner can not take the first step in this way. The grace that brings forgiveness brings also contrition and repentance.
It is true that great reformations in outward conduct are made by those who have never expressed faith in . Christ, and who’may not have even a knowledge of Him. But it is none the less true that it is the influence of His grace that put into their hearts the desire to reform. The change in their life is the result of a blind faith. Ignorantly they worship that which leads them to respect true manhood. If they continue to walk toward the light, increased light will shine upon them, and they will bow in adoration before God, filled with gratitude for the love that led Him to give His only-begotten Son as a sacrifice for the lost race.
The repentance that God accepts is a repentance that needs not to be repented of,—a repentance revealed by a radical change of mind and heart. The heart must be brought into subjection to Christ, and a repentance that brings about such a change can never originate with man. Only from Him who declared, “ I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me,” can such repentance proceed.
As the sinner yields to the drawing power of Christ’s love, sorrow for sin and a desire to turn from his evil ways fill his heart, and as he seeks help from God, strength front on high is given him. The Saviour says, “ Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.”
Those whom God pardons He first makes penitent. Some will say that this leaves man with nothing to do, with no part in the struggle against sin. This is not so; all the powers with which man has been entrusted must be employed in the effort to do the will of God. Man can never be saved in indolence. Christ declared, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work; ” and those for whom He has given His life are to be co-workers with Him. We must watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation. We must fight against pride, self-exaltation, jealousy, evil-thinking, and evil-speaking. Our earnest effort to overcome the evil in our characters will make manifest the sincerity of our prayers.
We must exercise faith in God. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” It is by faith alone that we can claim His promise, saying,' “I receive the things I ask for; Thy Word is sure; it can not fail.”
We must be willing to realize our need. Those who feel that they are sinful and poor and wretched are the very ones to whom the invitation of mercy is extended. Jesus says, “I came not to call the righteous,”—those who are clothed with the garments of their own righteousness,—“but sinners to repentance.” Those who are rich and honorable in their own estimation do not hunger and thirst after righteousness. They feel no need; therefore they do not ask for and receive the blessing of God.
Without the help ot the Saviour, fallen man could never keep the law of God. But how glorious is the truth of the atonement ? What a firm foundation have the saints of the Most High on which to place their hope of salvation 1 Not one of God’s promises can fail. Through the righteousness of Christ the condemned sinner may be purified and made white. The Redeemer has carried the world’s burden of guilt and woe, and He is able to strengthen His children for the conflicts that day by day they will meet in the path to heaven.
TO MAKE KNOWN LOVE.
God is love; but what is love? We can give no satisfactory definition of life, light, or love—all three of which words are used to define God. We can only know’ what life, light, and love do—their essence we may not comprehend. We know what the love of God has done. “God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son.” “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us.” In this we see how Christ came to destroy—to loosen, until free from—the works of the devil. Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden, declaring that God was a hard, unkind, and unloving Being, was shown to be untrue. “ Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.” Believing in this manifested love, we have been freed from our hard thoughts of God, and have returned to His bosom, looking up into His face, crying, “Abba, Father.”—Selected.
THE GOSPEL IN CREATION. NO. 2.
From Chaos to Cosmos.
CREATION, the wonderful story of which is recorded in the first chapter of the Bible, is an illustration of the infinite power of God (Job 26 :7—14), and an assurance of His ability to redeem (Isa. 42 : 5—7; 43 :1-7; 45 :17-19). The eternal purpose of God was that this earth with all its contents, in its beautiful original perfection should be the eternal possession, the everlasting inheritance, of a race of holy, happy, immortal beings. Gen. 1 :26-31; 2:7-9, 15-17; Isa. 45 :18. ‘ Altho the accomplishment of this purpose has been long delayed on account of sin (Genesis 3; Rom. 5:12), it will finally be carried out in all its blessed fulness. For He “who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” does not change nor alter His plans, nor suffer them to be thwarted. Mal. 3:6; James 1:17; Heb. 13:8; Isa. 45 :9, 10. But since the whole creation is so terribly marred by sin, in order to accomplish His purpose,. it will be necessary for Him “to make all things new.” Rom. 8 :22, 23; Rev. 21 :1-5; 2 Peter 3:13; 2 Cor. 5:17. All that was lost in Adam is regained in Christ.
Now, inasmuch as redemption is only recreation, and as God in Christ is the author of both, and as He is unchangeable, it follows that the new creation will be accomplished by the same means, and in the same way as was the old. Therefore as we study the story of creation we shall not only learn how, and by what means God made all things in the beginning, but also how and by what means He “makes all things new.” And this is but the study o the Gospel. Let this be kept in mind as we now study the record of creation in Genesis 1.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Verse 1. This verse naturally suggests two thoughts,—the Creator and the creation. Whilg it is true that the “ secret things belong unto the Lord our God,” and we can not by searching find out the Almighty unto perfection (Job 11 17), it is also true that “ those things which are revealed belong uiito us and to our children forever.” Deut. 29 :29. And God has in His Word revealed something concerning Himself, which it is well for us to understand and remember.
No mortal man has seen, nor can see God the Father, until made like Him, when we “shall see Him as He is.” John 6 :46; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6 :13-16; 1 John 3:1, 2. But God in the person of the Son has been seen, thus revealing the Father, for they are one. John 1 :18; Matt. 11:29; Luke 10:22; 2 Cor. 5 :17-19; 1 Tim. 3:16; John 14:6-11. Jacob saw God face to face, wrestled with Him, prevailed and lived. Gen. 32 :24-30. Moses saw Him in the burning bush. Ex. 3 :1-6. Again, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders saw the God of Israel in the mount and did eat and drink. Ex. 24:9-11. But that this was God the Son, and not God the Father, is clearly seen by comparing 2 Sam. 23 :1-3 with 1 Cor. 10:1-4 wherein we are told that the God of Israel, or the Rock of Israel that followed, or went with them (margin), was Christ. And so it is that the Father can be heard, seen, and known only through the Son. And so let it be remembered that when, in the beginning the heaven and the earth were brought into existence it was a revelation through Christ of the creative power of God. “Create” means to bring into existence that which did not exist before. In Ps. 33:6-9 David declares that “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host ol them -by the breath of His mouth.
2 (162)
Vol. 29, No. 11.
March 18, 1903.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
(163) 3
For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast."
In this wonderful transaction we learn that God’s word has power in it to produce what it pronounces, to accomplish what it requires. Then let us receive it into our hearts (Col. 3 : 16), that it may “ effectually work” (1 Thess. 2 :13), beget in us the new life (1 Peter 1 :22-25), and make us clean and pure (John 15:3), and keep us from sinning (Ps. 119:11; 1 John 3 :9; Acts 20 : 32).
Thus far we have only studied the record of the production of the raw material, of which the earth and its contents were to be formed, for verse 2 tells us that after the first creative act ‘‘the earth was without form, and void [empty]; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” A chaotic, formless mass of elements shrouded in darkness was the material of which the Lord made the first heaven and earth in all their beautiful perfection. And a perusal of the scriptures that describe the terrible condition of the world as we shall see it, marred and cursed by sin, reveals the fact that the material of which this new creation is to be made is, or will be, in similar condition to that of which the first earth was formed. ‘‘Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word.” Isa. 24 :1-6. See Isa. 24:19, 20; Jer. 4:23-27, and compare Gen. 7:6, n, 12 with Matt. 24 :37-39. What a dark, dismal picture of complete chaos and utter confusion! But remembering His triumphant success in bringing the first heaven and earth out of darkness and chaos, we may confidently say with Peter, “ Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:1-14; Rev. 21:1, 5; Isa. 66 :22.
Proceeding with the study of the account of creation we find the Spirit of God introduced as the operating agency. ‘‘And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Verse 2. ‘‘The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33 :4- “Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they [living creatures] are created; and Thou renewest the face of the earth.” Ps. 104 :3O. Just so in the work of redemption, the Holy Spirit is the operating agency. Christ, through the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God for us, thus purchasing our redemption. Heb. 9 :13, 14. In fact, the entire work of regeneration is accomplished by and through the Holy Spirit. “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one spirit.” 1 Cor. 12 :13. “Now if any man have not the Spirit of Cfirist, he is none of His.” “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” “ For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”
The First Day.
“And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.” Gen. 1 13. Let it be remembered that until God through His Spirit uttered that mandate, all was shrouded in dense, black darkness, and the entrance of His word into the darkness caused light to shine forth. Now, because of sin, the human heart, mind, and understanding have become darkened (Rom. 1:2; Eph. 4:17, 18), so that “darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people.” Isa. 60:2. “For 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.” 2 Cor. 4:6. And it is the entrance of His Word that giveth this light, by giving understanding to the simple. Ps. 119: 130. Just as a light, when carried by a traveler in the darkness, shows him where to step, and where not to step, so His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, showing us where to go and where not to go, telling us what to do and what not to do. Ps. 119:105. “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and the reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” Prov. 6:23. The law of God, which is light, was written in the heart of Christ. Ps. 40:7-10; Heb. 10:5-10. And so the Word of God, which is light, “was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” “full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.
Thus Christ became the Light of the world, and he that followeth Him will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12; 12:35,36. Just so when the Word, or the law of God, is written in our hearts and lived out in our lives by the Spirit of God, we become the light of the world. Jer. 31 :31-34, 2 Cor. 4:1, 2; Matt. 5 :14. Thus it is that in Christ and in His followers “the life”—“good works,” the Law of God lived out in the flesh —is the light of the world. John 1 14; Matt. 5 : 16.	.
“And God saw the light, that it was good.” Verse 4. If we try to imagine what conditions would necessarily prevail if there was no light, we shall more fully realize the importance and value of it; for without it no life, human, animal, or vegetable, could long exist. And were all the righteous, who are the spiritual light of the world, removed, how terribly dark and dreadful would be the condition. Truly, “ light is good.”
“And God divided the light from the darkness.” Verse 4. Absolute light and darkness can not exist in the same place at the same time. Where light is there is no darkness, and where absolute darkness is, there is no light. When the light of day appears the darkness of night disappears, and when the light of day disappears with the setting sun, the darkness of night reasserts itself. Carry a light into a dark room and the darkness is driven out; remove the light, and the darkness returns. Just so in the spiritual world. Light (righteousness) has no fellowship nor communion with darkness (sin). 2 Cor. 6:14-18. “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye the light in the Lord; walk as children of light.” Eph. 5:8. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. ” 1 Thess. 5 :4-8. No man can serve two masters, nor be the friend of both God and the world at the same time. “Ye can not serve God and mammon.” Matt. 6 : 24; James 4 :4. We are either light or darkness, either for or against Him, for there is np middle ground, no mingling of the two. Matt. 12:30. So it is still true, as it was in the beginning, that “God divides the light from the darkness.”
“And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night.” Verse 5. And in the spiritual realm, as has already been shown, God calls righteousness light (day), and sin darkness (night). Thus was completed the work and the duration of the first day of time; and that it was a day exactly identical in length and composition with the days of the present time is clearly evident to every intelligent, candid mind that will believe the plain, simple,
harmonious statements of the Word of God, rather than the contradictory and unreasonable arguments of the theological skeptics and higher critics, who would have us believe that the days of creation week were long, indefinite periods of time. That all the days of creation week were exactly alike is shown by the fact that exactly the same expression is used to describe each of them.
“And the evening and the morning were the first day.” Verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31. They were composed of darkness and light, the first part being dark, the last part light. And, al-tho man, in his efforts to pervert God’s ways, has agreed that the day shall begin at midnight (with nothing whatever to mark its beginning or end), the fact remains that, according to God’s plan, as revealed in the Bible, every day begins in darkness, or at the setting of the sun. “ From even zinto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbaths.” Lev. 23:32. The evening begins with the setting of the sun (Dent. 16:6; 23:11; Joshua 8:29; 10 : 26, 27; Mark 1 : 32; Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:40), for “the passover must be sacrificed at even, at the going down of the sun." “And at even when the sun did set, they brought the sick to Christ, and He healed them.”
Notice that all of these texts speak of the same kind of days as are described in Genesis 1,—days beginning with the evening—days composed of evening (darkness) and morning (light).
In the fourth precept of the Decalogue (Ex. 20:8-11), wherein direct reference is made to the transactions of creation week, exactly the same words are used to fix the limit of our time for labor and the period for our rest that are used to express the duration of the Creator's work and the day oiHis rest, thus proving that our six days of labor and seventh day of rest are identical with those of creation week. Again: Adam was created .early on the sixth day, and thus lived through the greater part of the sixth day, and all of the seventh day of creation week; but he was only nine hundred and thirty-nine years old when he died (Gen. 5:5), which could not be true if the days of creation week were long, indefinite periods or ages. “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” Rom. 3:4. W. A. Sweany.
A GOOD REPORT.
“The elders obtained a good report.” Heb. 11:2. This inspired statement means much. If the Lord says of a student in the school of Christ that he has obtained a good report, it is complimentary in the highest degree. Thus the Lord said of the elders of Israel, and He does not leave us to wonder or imagine how they obtained such a report, but explicitly informs us that they obtained it through faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God, but with it we may please Him, even to the degree of obtaining a good report when our life-work in probation is ended. All such will hear the “well done,” at last, and enter into the joy of their Lord.
In speaking of the world in relation to this matter of faith, we sometimes divide them into four classes, viz.: Believers, half-believers, make-believers, and unbelievers. Llnbelievers are entirely destitute of true faith in God or His Word, the faith faculty being in a state of paralysis. The make-believers are only hypocritical pretenders, destitute of real, living faith, and hence must properly be numbered as one class of unbelievers. The half-believers are numerous. They have some faith, but it is sadly mixed, and hence adulterated with doubts and fears. The half-believer has many ups and
4 (164)
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Vol. 29, No. 11.
downs. He tries to keep his conduct on the side of faith, while, at the same time, doubts harass his mind. He is double-minded, and hence unstable in all his ways. His service to God being so half-hearted, it brings him but little return of blessing or comfort. The Lord mercifully regards him as one of his children for a time, but if he does not come up to the standard of a full, whole-hearted believer, the time will come when the Lord will spew the lukewarm professor out of His mouth.
Very many of the remnant Laodicean church are in this fearful and dangerous condition. They are only half-believers, hence their love is fractional, and they are lukewarm. Unlike Abraham, they are constantly staggering at the promises of God. Faith and love, the gold tried in the fire, are within their reach, but they stagger cn with their ups and downs, and sometime many of them, we fear, will go down to rise no more.
Believers are full of faith and love. Believers believe all that God says, they believe with all the heart, and believe all the time. Being rich in faith, their service to God every day and all the time is rendered in spirit and in truth, and brings them rich returns of peace, comfort, joy, and illumination. And while all things work together for their good, they are working together with God for the good of all people, and when their work is done, they will have a good report, and enter into the eternal joys of their Lord. Faith and love are inseparably united in the heart filled with the Spirit, but in the world to come, when faith is lost in fruition, love is enlarged by fruition. Lord, increase our faith, until the things hoped for, but not seen, shall be both possessed and seen. Let us all be resolved that we will have a good report through faith, when our great Teacher comes to promote us to the school above.
H. A. St. John.
THE DEAD MAN’S KEY.
A story is told of an English minister, who, being called to pray by the bedside of a dying man, sought to take him by the hand in token of their agreement in offering united prayer.
The sick man withheld his hand, keeping it under the bedclothes, and the minister prayed without it. Presently the man died, and then as his hand was uncovered, the mystery was explained—he was holding in his hand, with the grasp of death, a key—the key of his safe where his money was kept.
The Lewiston Journal tells of a man in Durham, Maine, who was very penurious and a very determined man. He died at an advanced age. On his death-bed he kept his right hand closely clutched. As he drew his last breath he tightened his hold. Everybody there knew what he held in that hand. It was the key to the chest in which he kept his gold.
As his nerveless hand unclosed, the key dropped from it, and clattered against the bedside. As if to hold it even after he was dead, the miser had tied the key about his wrist by a strong cord, which he grasped as long as life remained.
He could not take his gold with him, but he kept the key. They buried him, as he was, with the key to his money-chest tied about his wrist.
“And what became of the gold?” “Oh, the heirs have taken care of that just the same ! They split open the chest with an ax and divided the gold, and let the miser keep the key about his wrist.” He is mouldering in the grave, and the key is rusting beside him. We
brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out of it.
“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”— Selected.	t
THE SINGER’S MESSAGE.
A stranger, I passed with the church-going throngs, And entered a temple with them for an horn;
I would hear a new sermon, a prayer, a few songs;
But hoped not for comfort, revealing, nor power.
I would pass through the hour tho nothing might sway, Or I might staunch some hunger of heart, maybe pray.
The silence fell softly, the light was subdued, .
The spell of the Spirit divine seemed to move.
I bowed my cold heart in a reverent mood
And knew how I hungered for heaven's sweet love. " The Lord’s in His temple, O bow heart and head, Let earth be in silence,” the minister said.
The pure prayer that followed probed into my soul As lights pierce the shadows, and laid my need bare,—
The misunderstanding, the weakness, the dole,
The keen disappointments, the thorn I must wear.
And close to the pain which my self-pity moved The Man of all sorrows lie lifted, who loved.
“ O Jesus,” my heart cried, “ if only again
Thy face I might see in the midst of earth’s hate, If only once more Thou wast here among men, And I could but find Thee, O how could I wait ?
I would run, I would fall at Thy feet, and 1 know Thy love would flow through me, and heal all my woe-
“ For Thou art not man—Thou art God—Thou art Love, -Thou knowest the wounds in the children of men,—
Aye, the children, the little ones, pleading above
Because there’s no refuge below. O, again The weary would seek Thee, and press for the hem Of Thy robe as of old, when Thou comfortest them.”
Just then came a note of magical depth,
Deep, sweet, like an angel’s; 1 lifted my face • And saw the sweet singer whose strange eyes had wept,
But whose face was alight with a heaven-like grace, As if the deep need of my heart she did ken She sang, “ Christ is coming, is coming again.”
The church seemed to fade from my view, and above
The heavens were opened to heaven’s white arch, And King of the hosts was the Christ-face of love
And His armies had gathered about Him to march. And swift through my heart poured His love to console, He knew, O He knew and had solaced my soul.
The sweet song was over, the sermon was .given. But whether I heard it or not, let it be.
I know that the hour seemed radiant with heaven
Because of the singer’s sweet message to me.
Because with fresh joy, it had come to my ken That Jesus, my Bridegroom, was coming again.
What mattered the sorrow or joy of the years?
For life or for death there was hope in my breast.
The message already had changed all my tears
Into rivers of gladness, and life was made blest.
With all the new vision of love, I lost pain In the joy that my Saviour was coming again.
What a message was mine to be given abroad !
And sin-sick and weary were waiting to hear As again and again I rejoiced before God
And sang in the message that faith had made dear.
Life found its lost channel of love to all men In singing this comfort, “ Christ cometh again.”
Hope Onslow.
THE NATURE OF MAN.
The question, What is man? is, in many minds, still unanswered; and yet God has made it plain.
Let us briefly consider our own natures in the light of Scripture, leaving out prejudice and believing just what God says. And now to our subject, What is man ? Of what does he consist ? What relation do the parts sustain to each other?
Let us notice i Thess. 5:23, where the entire man is comprehended. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then man is composed of three parts, “spirit and soul and body.” Now by reading Heb. 4 : 12 we learn that the Word of God makes a distinction between soul and spirit, or, in other words, teaches that they are different, the one from the other, and when one is spoken of it does not mean the other.
Now to understand what those parts are, let us go back to the account of man’s creation. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Gen. 2:7.
It is easy to understand what “man” is. It is the visible part, the tangible, material form made in the image of God. It is just as really man, when separated from the other elements as when united to them. Just as really man when dead as when living, so we read in Isa. 26:19: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. ’ ’
The account continues, “and breathed into his nostrils the breath [Heb. ruach, spirit] of life.” This introduces another part of the person. Now to know what the “spirit of life” is, we shall briefly consult a few of the leading authorities on this subject. While several definitions are given, we shall use the one that is the most natural, and in harmony with the Word of God.
Grim’s Greek Lexicon says, “ Pneuma—the vital principle by which the body is animated.” Ewing’s Lexicon gives the following definition of pneuma: “Spirit, the principle of animal life.” McClintock and Strong give the following as the third definition: “The vital principle which resides in and animates the body.”
Cremer’s Lexicon: “We are led to regard the spirit as the principle of life. ” In harmony with this is James 2:26: “The body without the spirit is dead.” It is now easy to understand that the spirit is the vitality, or animal life, that vivifies the body; that causes the heart to throb; the lungs to inflate; and the brain to quiver, producing thought. We now have a living body, performing all its functions. What is the result of this combination of life and matter ?—‘ ‘Man became a living soul.”
Laing’s Greek and English Lexicon gives “ mind ” as one of the meanings of “soul.” Gile’s Lexicon defines the word psuche as “soul, disposition, genius, mind.” Ewing’s Greek Lexicon has it, “soul, as distinguished from the body and spirit (1 Thess. 5 : 23). The mind, disposition, particularly as denoting the affections. ’ ’
We could increase the list of authorities, but this is sufficient. We have now the whole man, body and soul and spirit, or as defined, it is body, life, and intelligence; and we attach these meanings to the words in our ordinary talk. We say, “ That is a spirited horse. ” We mean full of life. Again, “He is a liberal-souled man.” We mean that he has a benevolent mind. This is in harmony with the teaching of the Bible (Eze. 18 14), “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” In Matt. 26: 38 the Saviour said: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.”
After examining the foregoing, it is clear to us that the complete man is the visible part made of dust, the spirit, which vivifies it, and the intelligence, and we have in a wondrous combination, “spirit and soul and body.”
The next question that would naturally arise is, How does death affect each of these parts? Eccl. 12:7 tells us: “ Then shall the dust return [go back] to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. ” Death, then, is a separation of life and matter, of body and spirit, and at the resurrection they are again united. “The Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet.” Rev. 11 : 11.
This was well understood by inspired writers. Read the dying prayer of Stephen (Acts 7 : 59, 60): “ Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. . . . And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Jesus, in His agony on the cross, cried, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit; and having said thus, He gave up the ghost.” Luke 23:46.
March 18, 1903.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
(165) 5
Man, when the spirit has returned to God, is spoken of as being asleep. Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.” Of Stephen it is said, “ He fell asleep.” In 1 Cor. 15:6 we read, “ Some are fallen asleep. ” Again, verse 16-18: “For if the dead rise not, . . . then they, also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” So we say with the divine warrant of all the unnumbered dead, when life has left them, they are asleep.
In the resurrection, when the spirit of life from God enters into them, they awaken. “ I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.” Ps. 17: 15.
With the understanding that death is a sleep it is easy to comprehend the condition of the mind. Our nightly slumbers are to us periods of unconsciousness. So with that longer sleep that shall be broken by the voice of the Son of God. f .
Here is what God says of the condition of the mind between death and the resurrection (Ps. 146:4): “His breath (ruach, spirit) goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” “The dead know not anything. . . . Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished.” Eccl. 9:5, 6.
The body of the dead is asleep. The spirit is not extinct, but separated from the body, and in the keeping of God. All thought is suspended till the reunion of life and matter shall awaken all the forces of life to activity.
The definitions given above are not absolute or complete. Sometimes the word soul or spirit is translated from a different word in the original, and sometimes one of the parts is named, when the whole person is meant. But when the parts of man are spoken of, as in 1 Thess. 5:23, I believe that the definitions that we have given are in harmony with the whole trend of the Scriptures.
L. D. Santee.
THE POPE’S BLESSING.
The pope sent the Golden Rose to Bomba, king of Naples, and in less than twelve months he lost his crown and kingdom. He sent his blessing to Francis Joseph, emperor of Austria, and in less than twelve months he was defeated at Sadowa, and lost his Venetian dominions. He sent it then to Queen Isabella of Spain, and in a short time she lost both crown and dominions. He next sent it to Louis Napoleon, or rather to the Empress Eugenie, which is more remarkable still, as she called the war with Germany her war. In less than twelve months France was defeated by Protestant Germany, and the emperor had to flee to Protestant England for shelter, where he died in exile; the Prince Imperial fell by the hand of the Zulus, and the papal favorite alone is left to mourn the extinction of that once proud dynasty.
Mrs. W. T. Sherman got the Golden Rose as a special mark of favor for her service to the church; and it was too much for her, as she died soon after. The pope cursed Italy as he had cursed England, and excommunicated King Humbert for taking the papal dominions, and making Rome the capital of the kingdom. Since then she has risen from being a cipher among the nations to be a voice and a power in the council of Europe. He cursed Germany, and she became the greatest power on the continent.
The pope blessed the French showman, Boulanger, and in less than two weeks he had to Hee to Germany for refuge, and is now an exile in Guernsey. The princess of Brazil, when near her accouchement, requested the interposition of the pope, and his blessing on her
child. She received it, and the child was born deformed. Maximilian was killed a short time after being blessed by the pope as emperor of Mexico, and his wife became insane after going to Rome, and receiving the benediction. The pope neglected some official business in order to give his special blessing to an English steamer laden with Sisters of Charity for South America in 1870, and it never reached its destination. Every soul on board perished. The empress of Brazil was blessed but once; that was enough, she broke her leg three days afterward. It may be remembered that the floating palace delayed its starting from Montevideo to Buenos Ayres until it received the assurance of safety in the papal blessing. It then raised its anchor, sailed out to sea, and went down in two days. “The order of Christ” was conferred by the pope upon Dr. Windhorst, his great champion in Germany. He died in less than.4 year.
August, 1895, the Archbishop of Damascus, in addressing the Spanish troops at Vittoria, when about to start for Cuba, declared that the pope, like a new Moses, had raised his hands to heaven, and prayed for victory. We know the result. The Spanish arms, the queen regent, and boy king have had his blessing many times. On the last occasion it was at the commencement of the Spanish-American war, and the result was that Spain was miserably defeated, her navies sunk, her foreign possessions dropped from her grasp, and the once proud and leading State in Europe sank into insignificance; the remnants of her troops returned home ragged, miserable, and sick.
The Grand Bazaar de Charite in Paris, on
(Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the Signs of the Times has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to te'l in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.]
Lin.
In 1871 I was converted and joined the Methodist Church in Perth Amboy, N. J. Thinking Sunday was the Sabbath, I kept it as the Sabbath should be kept. Out of this grew the following conversation between my sister and myself:—
She,—“ If you are to be as careful as the Jews, you ought to keep the Sabbath.
I,—“Do I not?” ’
She,—“No, Saturday is the Sabbath.”
1,—“ How say you Saturday, when Cod says the seventh day?”
She,—(smiling at my ignorance) “Saturday is the seventh day.”
Z,—“Can you prove that?”
She,—“See for yourself” (handing me an almanac), and for the first time I noticed that the week commenced with Sunday and ended with Saturday.
I,—“ What has the almanac to do with religion ?” She,—“True, but on what day did Christ rise” (handing me a Bible open to Mark 16:9)?
/,—“ On the first day of the week.”
She,—“Then, according to your own idea and Mark 16:9, Sunday is the first day of the week, and therefore Saturday is the seventh.”
I,—(in deep thought) “Yes, but then we ought to change.”
A brother then tried to show how Jesus and the apostles had changed the day, and it seemed so plausible I believed it, but asked where it was written. He became confused and I became suspicious, and pressed him for a “thus saith the Lord,” when he openly confessed that there was no scripture for it. I therefore sought God in prayer, searching His Word, but the only facts I could there gather were, “The seventh day is the Sabbath.” The whole world agreed with God that Sunday was the first day of the week, and therefore the day before was the seventh. I kept the following Sabbath, not knowing but what I was the only man in the world doing so. For obedience I soon lost my job as a carpenter, and was disfellowshiped by the church I loved.
May 4, 1897, had the papal nuncio to deliver the benediction. It was scarcely five minutes afterward when the building was in flames, and nearly 150 of the society ladies of Parisdost their lives. The late empress of Austria was the recipient of the Golden Rose, accompanied by Leo’s blessing. That did not protect her from the dagger of the assassin.
It is not superstition to regard with dread the special marks of.the pope’s favor with such a history. It would be madness to ignore this dreadful record and its manifest instruction to the Christians of the globe.—Primitive Catholic, Nov. 15, 1898.
UNDER CHRIST’S RULE.
Let our temper be under the rule of the love of Jesus: He can not alone curb it—He can make us gentle and patient. Let the vow that not an unkind word of others shall ever be heard from our lips be laid trustingly at His feet. Let the gentleness that refuses to take offense, that is always ready to excuse, to think and hope the best, mark our intercourse with all.
Let our life be one of self-sacrifice, always studying the welfare of others, finding our highest joy in blessing others. And let us, in studying the divine art of doing good, yield ourselves as obedient learners to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. By His grace, the most commonplace life can be transfigured with the brightness of a heavenly beauty, as the infinite love of the Divine nature Shines out through our frail humanity.—Andrew Murray.
I moved to Texas to farm, where I lived five years alone. Having in the meantime heard of the Seventh-day Adventists, I went to Battle Creek, Mich., in 1876, where I soon learned more about the Sabbath. But for me to know beyond doubt what day was the seventh day, and that God said (Ex. 20:11), “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” was sufficient to cause me to change, and to keep me, tho alone, for five years. And what was sufficient for me seems might be sufficient for any honest person.
Keene, Texas.	A. W. Jenson.
LIV.
Mv parents were members of the Methodist Church, and I was early taught to reverence the Bible as God’s Word. In 1852, when but a child, I listened to my aunt as she read the Bible to mother, and as she read, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” it made a great impression on my mind. My mother soon commenced to obey, and after that Elders J. B. Frisbie, M. E. Cornell, Joseph Bates, J. N. Loughborough, and Brother and Sister White, and other pioneers in the message, came into Jackson County, Mich., where we lived,, and held meetings, ail of which made a deep impression on my young mind. When quite young, my parents moved to Battle Creek, Mich. The words of my first Sabbath-school teachers greatly impressed me. ,
When a little past twelve years of age, a series of meetings was held in our church for the young people. This, and my mother’s earnest talks and prayers, decided me to give myself to the Lord. From the time I made a start in the service of God I felt that I wanted to work for others. I shall always remembej one of my schoolmate’s meeting with a serious accident, and my going and talking and praying with him. Now, for more than twenty years, my life has been given to the work of the Gospel ministry.	Geo. O. States.
6 (166)
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Vol. 29, No. 11.
All Manuscript should be addressed to the Editor.
For further information see page 15.
Milton C. Wilcox,
C. M. Snow, 1
W. N. Glenn, /
..........Editor, Assistant Editors.
THE LIFE OF GOD.
DOES the Christian possess a life which the worldling—the unbeliever—does not ? Nay, more, is he a Christian if he does not possess a life which the unbeliever does not? We do not mean by these questions the hope of a life to come, or the promise of a life to come, but life now, actual and manifest.
“But is there more than one source of life?” “ Does not all life come from God ?” “Are not all living things, then, partakers of His life?” “And do not all, therefore, have the same life?”
These are all pertinent questions, and are worthy of candid consideration. Let us study the matter.
1.	There is but one source of life—God; for “ with Him is the fountain of life.” Ps. 36:9. “As the Father hath life in Himself, even so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself.” John 5 : 26. Anti from the Father and Son, through the Spirit, life pulses out to all parts of God's living universe. For “ by His Spirit the heavens are garnished ” (Job 26: 13); “ by the word of Jehovah were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath [Spirit] of His mouth” (Ps. 33:6); “Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit, they are created; and Thou renewest the face of the earth ” (Ps. 104 :30).
2.	The life of “ the everlasting God ” is everlasting life. We could not conceive of it as otherwise. From His throne flows out unceasingly, eternally, unfailingly the river of life. Rev. 22:1, 2.
3.	But His life is given in different ways, conditioned upon different laws. The life in the mineral follows its forms of crystallization, always reproducing with more or less modification the characteristics of that mineral. The earth, too, is alive, and the life received from the great Fountain follows the perverted law of a sin-cursed planet. The life is given to the vegetable, according to a different law, which forever perpetuates vegetables, but each vegetable according to its kind. One step higher, in numerous species and kinds, is the manifestation of life in the animal, each according to the law of its physical being, each perpetuating its kind and receiving the life according to that law.
4.	So far as this world is concerned the highest creature is man, the link between all lower creatures and the Creator, possessing both physical and spiritual natures, having moral sense and conscience, with implanted divine aspirations after the infinite.
5.	The life of all the lower orders of creation was perpetuated through physical food. The vegetable fed upon the mineral and upon sunlight, air, and water. The animal fed upon the vegetable, and received life therefrom. Man fed upon the vegetable for the sustenance of his physical being, drank in the sunshine, breathed the air, and quaffed the sparkling water. But all these lower laws were subject to the higher law of man’s spiritual nature, his moral image in God. That nature could not be fed on physical food. It must receive God’s life according to a higher law, which is the only law of unending existence—righteousness. And, therefore, it is written: “ In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death.” Prov. 12 : 28. “ The Spirit is life, because of righteousness.” Rom. 8:10. Man's higher nature, receiving the words of God, receiving them by living faith from the great Fountain, through them, fed directly upon the life of God, drank directly from the unadulterated streams of the living Fountain.
6.	Man’s spiritual life—the life of God in man— sanctified, shaped, controlled all lower life. As long as man’s heart was in harmony with the law of his existence—God’s righteousness—all life to all things was eternal life in all; for life in all was flowing in perfect harmony with the laws of being in all.
7.	But when man sinned, when he broke his connection with God, and transgressed the law of His
spiritual life, all laws beneath him were perverted. “The creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of Him who subjected it.” Rom. 8:20. When man, the king of the world, under God, failed to recognize his Creator and Ruler, failed to recognize his responsibility to the creatures under his care, he cut off from the world eternal life by perverting every law through which life came. Righteousness perverted became sin, and life perverted became death.
8.	From the great Fountain of God. life—His life —still flows. It leaves Him as eternal life, as it must, but it is received by perverted channels of law. Hence we see written on rock and tree and bird and animal disease, decay, death. Onlj- from lower creatures subject to decay, can each order in God’s creative plan obtain its life, life sooner or later to end. Unbelieving man stands on the same plane. From vegetable and animal, from water, air, and sunshine —all existing under perverted law—he receives a perverted life. Men live and move and have their being because of God’s goodness and mercy in prolonging life, but the life is not God’s life; they are “alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart.” Eph. 4:18. Therefore, it is true that as regards future life, man of himself has no pre-eminence above a beast. “As the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath [margin, spirit].” Eccl. 3:18-20.
9.	Man’s only hope is that the broken channel of everlasting life be restored. This God has done in Jesus Christ. He is the Righteous One; therefore, He is the Living One, the Quickening One. He not only has life, but gives life. The law in the sinner is perverted, and is a law of sin and death. The law in Christ Jesus was and is normal, and is the law of righteousness and life. As by faith God's life was in the beginning perpetuated by man, and as by unbelief man lost it, so by faith in Jesus Christ harmony is restored between man and God; man accepts, receives the righteousness of God in Christ, and the life of God is restored in the restored law of righteousness. “There is therefore now no condemnation td them which are in Christ Jesus. . . . For the law of the Spirit of lifem Christ Jesus hath made mefree from the lazv ofsin anddeath." Rom.8:1, 2.
10.	That life, that higher life, that all-sufficient, eternal life of God, comes to us only through Jesus Christ, through perfect submission to God's will. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3: 16. “ He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life." John 6:54. “And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. These things have I written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5: n-13.
11.	Surely this is conclusive. The true believer in Jesus Christ has a life which the unbeliever knows not. Like Paul he can say: “ I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me; and that life I now live in the flesh, I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.” Gal. 2 :20. It is this life which makes a man a new creation; which takes from him the love of the world and implants in its place the love of.God; which makes the drunkard a temperate man; which makes of the profane swearer a reverent man; which makes the lustful man a pure man; of the stingy man a liberal man, which enables a man to pass through the world and not be moulded by the world. O that God’s people might know that this life were theirs, actual, genuine, mighty, as long as faith was in exercise. How that life would move the world!
The victories that labor strikers gain over corporate employers are, as a rule, only victories over the people at large, most of whom are comparatively poor, and many of them extremely poor. The corporations are seldom losers. For instance: The United MineWorkers have succeeded in getting an advance of 12)4 cents a ton for mining bituminous coal, with the result that the wholesale price goes up 30 cents per ton, and that will advance the price to consumers considerably more.
PRESUMPTION.
The Word of God lays particular stress on the heinousness of the sin of presumption. David prayed that he might be kept back from “ presumptuous sins,” that they might not have dominion over him. And well he might, for even before his day there was abundance of historical evidence of the consequences of presumption. The destruction of the antediluvian world by a flood of water was because of their presumption. In the face of God’s care and great mercy “ all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth,” until few, indeed, walked with God.
When the people had again multiplied in the earth, they again departed from the Lord, and presumed to build a city and a tower to make for themselves a name. Then the Lord confounded their language, in order to restrain them from the thing they had “ imagined to do.”
When Moses went before the king of Egypt to demand the release of Israel in the name of the Lord, Pharaoh said: “ Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.” Several times, after promising to let the Lord’s people go that he might be spared further affliction, the king went back on his word and compelled them to remain at their tasks. Then, after letting them go, he again falsified his word and sent an army to compel their return. And when the Lord opened a way in the Red Sea, and Israel were passing through by faith, the Egyptian host went into the way by presumption, and were all destroyed.
When Israel fell to worshiping a golden calf, altho the festival was proclaimed as “ a feast to the Lord,” the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, with the result that three thousand perished. Again, when Israel demanded flesh instead of the manna that was given from heaven, their demand was gratified, but the result was a great plague, which destroyed many lives.
Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, with two hundred and fifty princes, rebelled against the authority of Moses and Aaron, and assumed an equal prerogative with the Lord’s chosen. But God showed His estimate of such presumption by an earthquake that swallowed up the whole company of rebels, together with their households and goods.
When Israel had sorely provoked Moses and Aaron by their continual murmuring, Moses “ spake unadvisedly ” at Meribah. God had told him to speak to the rock that it might give forth water for the people. But Moses smote the rock with his rod, a'nd said to thp people, “ Hear now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?” This is the only fault recorded against Moses after leaving Egypt as leader of Israel; but it was presumption, and must receive marked rebuke, as a noted example. Even, the making of the golden calf by Aaron was overlooked after a rebuke by Moses, he being actuated by fear of the people; but here was presumption, and a memorable judgment must be recorded against it. “And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”
When Israel “ presumed ” to go against the Ama-lekites and Canaanites at Kadesh, after the Lord had said He would not go with them, they were sorely beaten. When in their own strength they attempted to take the little city of Ai, thirty-eight years later, they were again humiliated in the eyes of the enemy. But the story of illustrations is too long to repeat in a brief article. Conspicuous, however, are the cases of the Bethshemites, who looked into the ark of the Lord (1 Samuel 6); of Uzzahfwho put his hand to the ark to steady it (2 Samuel 6); of King Uzziah, w ho went into the house of the Lord to offer incense (2 Kings 2 :26); of Nebuchadnezzar, who assumed the glory of building Babylon (Daniel 4); of Belshazzar, who Used the holy vessels at a riotous feast (chapter 5); and of Ananias and Sapphira, and Simon Magus, who used the Christian profession to further their selfish ends.
We might also note the case of the Jewish exorcists (Acts 19:13-16), who undertook to cast out devils in the name of Jesus, and were badly discomfited. But enough has been cited to show that the sin of presumption will bring its sure and sore consequences. To attempt to walk in the way of the Lord without faith is presumption. To invoke the power of God
Oakland, Cal., March 18, 1903.
March 18, 1903.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
(167) 7
for an unholy purpose is presumption. To ask the blessing of God upon any work or institution that has not the sanction of His holy Word is presumption. To place any decree of man in the place of the commandment of God is presumption. To assume a duty or responsibility which God has plainly placed upon another is presumption. Presumption is the extreme of lawlessness, the persistent continuance in well-known sin, and is virtually setting self above God.
Peter, speaking by inspiration of the Spirit, shows how God will deal with the unrighteous in the judgment, adding, “ But chiefly them that walk after th flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise dominion. Daring, self-willed, they tremble not to rail at dignities.” These presumptive souls are compared to Balaam, who tried to curse Israel for reward, after the Lord had plainly shown him that His desire was to bless His people.
It behooves us all to pray with David, “ Keep back Thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me.”	G.
GROWING IN HIM.
Growth and fruit-bearing are the characteristics of the true Christian; and the fruit is a sure result of ■ the growth. God has furnished all the requisites in unstinted quantity; but the responsibility for the growth and the fruit rests upon us, and they are the result of our choice.
The right way is faithfully pointed out; the right food is set before us; and then our responsibility begins. The Lord’s instruction to us through Peter is this: “ Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrasies, and envies, and all evil speakings [the paths which we are to avoid], as new-born babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation.” 1 Peter 2:1,2. That spiritual milk is the Word of God in its own purity. Partaking of that, growth is as certain as that water seeks its level; as much a fact as that the sun shines and men live. It is a result as sure as the melting of ice by heat or the congelation of water by cold. We feed upon the Word and we v grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3: 18. We neglect it and feed upon the food of our fleshly desires, and our souls shrivel and our hearts grow cold toward God and all His purposes. And such, Inspiration tells us, “ are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved.” Such a spring is a hollow promise; and such a mist deposits no moisture and blinds the eyes of those who should be rejoicing in the light.
Our material body depends for sustenance upon the food apportioned to it. Our soul must live and grow by the spiritual food suited to its necessities. There is life in the Word, and God designs that we feed upon that and receive that life. He knows better than we, but He will not compel us to go other than the way of our own choice.
God likens Hi.c children to stones in His temple; but He calls such “ living stones.” There is no place in the plans of God for anything that has not life. Death came as the result of sin. Sin cursed the earth as well as those upon it, and we see death in what we term “ inanimate nature ” as well as in the human being. It is around us and beneath us, because we are in the land of the enemy, surrounded by the subjects of the king of sin. When the curse is removed, life will throb through every atom of the handiwork of God, even as through redeemed humanity. So God does not use dead things to represent those whom His renewing life has vivified. Christ was a *'tried stone,” a “living stone.” He bore the cruel weight of sin, but it did not crush Him. He was tried and found true. The stone upon which the weight of the temple rests must be able to bear that weight—it must not crumble. A dead stone will not stand the test; it will crumble to powder and the building will fall.
Christ not only stood that test, but He has made it possible for every one who will be His to stand with Him every test that will come. The strength is in them only because it is in Him and He is in them. Outside of Him we crumble; in Him we can stand as firm as the Rock itself, for He has given His pledge to make us stand. It is the “ living stones” that are able to bear the weight; He promises to make us living stones. The weight will come;
and whether we stand or whether we crumble depends upon whether we choose to stand in the strength of Christ or to stand in our own frailty.
The ability to bear burdens in the cause of Christ is a precious gift, and He who has that gift will not consider work a hardship. The food he has taken has made him strong for the burden, has produced for him living tissue for the load he is to bear. Let us then eat of that spiritual food and drink of that spiritual drink, that we may grow and lift and bear as God designed we should.	s.
DEATH AND THE RESURRECTION.
1.	Death is the result of disobedience.
“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Gen. 2 : 16, 17.
2.	Through Adam's transgression death comes io all men.
“ By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men.” Rom. 5 : 12.
3.	Man is unconscious in death.
“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground; for out of it w; thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. 3 :19.
“The dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9:5, 6.
4.	Spiritual death is a condition in this world.
“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” Col. 2:13.
“ Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” John 6:53.
“ To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Rom. 8 : 6.
5.	The Son of God suffered death for us all.
“When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Rom. 5 : 6.
“ We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Heb. 2:9.
6.	Christ regained life through a resurrection.
“ I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Cor. 15: 3, 4.
“ Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” Rom. 1:4.
7.	So we can gain a future life only through a resurrection or translation at the coming of Christ.
“ Since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. 15:21,22.
“The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught-up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.
8.	Christ has the power of the resurrection.
“As the Father hath life in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself. . . . Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth.” John 5 :26-29.
“ I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [hades, the grave] and of death.” Rev. 1 :i8.
9.	The resurrection is shown in baptism.
“We are buried with Him by baptism unto death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection.” Rom. 6:4, 5; also Col. 2 :12.
10.	There will be two resurrections.
“All that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28,29.
“And I saw two thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of
Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years'. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Rev. 20 14-6.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. ” Rom. 6:23.
Question Corner
1332.—Job 14:22.
Please explain Job 14:22: “But bis flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.’’
H. E. D.
The passage is descriptive of man’s present state here. True, the verse previous speaks of his condition of death, but in verse 22 Job returns to man’s condition here. The American Standard Revision reads: “But his flesh upon him hath pain, and his soul within him mourneth.” The verse expresses a part of the trouble of the few days mentioned in jerse 1. It is because of the trouble, the pain, the mourning of the few days that Job thought the grave would be desirable. Verse 13.
1333	.—Isa. 66 : 24. “ Their Worm Shall Not Die.”
Kindly explain Isa. 66:24.	D.
“And they [the righteous] shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against Me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh.” The text is a description of what is stated in other words in Rev. 20:7-9. Note first that it is not upon the writhing bodies of agonized souls that the righteous look, but upon the carcasses of the wicked, the dead bodies. The undying worm and unquenchable fire are illustrations borrowed from Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, just outside of Jerusalem. It was at one time noted for its idolatry. It was afterward degraded to a place where the offal and refuse of the city and the bodies of animals and malefactors were cast. Upon this filth, worms constantly preyed, not to keep alive, but to devour; and to avert pestilence by such a mass of filth, constant fires were kept burning to consume what the worms left. The worms died not and the fire ceased not to bum as long as there was aught to consume. Both symbols became symbols of utter and complete destruction. See Isa. 51:67-8. Then will the enemies of God be seen to be identified with sin, to have chosen sin in preference to God and good, and they shall be an abhorring to all the righteous forever.
1334	.—Adam Not Deceived. I Tim. 2 : 14.
Will the Signs please give us a little light on 1 Tim. 2 : 14 “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”	C. S. D. F.
The woman was deceived by Satan through the serpent. She believed him instead of God. Adam seems to have yielded so as to be with her in the sifi, because of his love for her. She was deceived; he entered into the thing openly.
1335	.—Isa. 66 : 17.
The application of the text is the time of judgment, when by fire and sword the Lord will plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. Verse 16. See Jer. 25:32, 33. Verse 17 mentions certain classes whose religion consists in idolatrous ceremonies, while they give themselves up to feasting and gluttony. They shall all come to destruction together. The margin seems to give a clearer sense.
1336	.—Rom. 2 : 12.
Sirs,—Through the Question Corner of the Signs of the Times, kindly explain Rom. 2 :12.	K. P.
Let us paraphrase the text: “ For as many as havp sinned without [the knowledge of the written] law [as the Jew had] shall also perish without law [shall not be held to strict account as those who have had greater light]; and as many as have sinned in the law [having a knowledge of the law] shall be judged by the law.” This is explained in verses 13-15, showing that it is to the heathen who have no knowledge of God’s law and to God’s professed people who do that the text refers. Verses 13-15 are a parenthetical explanation. For the time of. the judgment read verse 12 with 16.
8 (t68)
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Vol. 29, No. 11.
THE SUNDAY CAMPAIGN.
As noted in a previous issue, the people who favor a State Sunday law for California have announced a two-years’ campaign, the purpose being to educate the people up to the point of making a strong plea before the next Legislature. Whether directly to this end or not, Bishop Moreland, of the Episcopal Church, delivered an address on the subject in Sacramento, on the 4th inst. We note some of his reported statements that were evidently intended as pointers:—
God’s law of one day’s rest in seven is rooted in the deepest needs of man’s nature. When we consider the millions.of toilers in this country, we perceive that a rest-day, secured and protected by law, is a social necessity. The government has no right to consider the matter from a religious standpoint. It can have no theories about the seventh day or the first day. Christians, Jews, atheists, have equal rights under our laws. But the State can say one day in seven—Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or any which the majority agree to select—shall be observed.
No man with a real argument at hand would have ventured such an incongruous plea. “God’s law of one day’s rest in seven is rooted in the deepest needs of man’s nature.” Granted; but (1) “God’s law of one day’s rest” specifically designates which day, and the purpose for which He instituted the Sabbath forbade the change of the day. See Gen. 2:2, 3; Ex. 20:8-11. Furthermore, as the law could not be changed (Matt. 5 :17, 18), the day of the Sabbath could not be changed. (2) “The deepest needs of man’s nature” are spiritual needs. Therefore, the Sabbath day’s blessing is spiritual, which can come only through obedience of God's Sabbath law— not through any human decree. What spiritual good Can any law of man bring to the individual who will not heed the law of God ?
The bishop claims that “a rest-day secured and protected by law is a social necessity.” But the very things that a majority of people choose as a social privilege, are just what a Sunday law is designed to prohibit. Therefore, the logic of such a law is to define what its advocates will deem proper social entertainment. They, by this means, would become the regulators of the people’s “social necessity”—both as to character and time.
Again, we are told that “the government has no right to consider the matter from a religious standpoint. It can have no theories about the seventh day or the first day.” But the bishop is basing his plea on the demands of God’s law, and that law is spiritual (Rom. 7:14); therefore it is religious, and therefore it can not legitimately be considered from any other than a religious standpoint; and therefore the State can not properly consider it at all. The State has no jurisdiction whatever in the realm of man’s relation to God.
“ Christia’hs, Jews, Atheists, have equal rights under our laws,” says the bishop. But under a Sunday law they do not have equal rights. The Jew is taxed one day’s labor out of every six working days for the privilege of conscientiously keeping the Sabbath of the Lord. The Atheist has not the right to choose his own manner of exercising his “social necessity.” The Jew is compelled to sacrifice onesixth of his working time on the altar of religious tyranny, while the conscientious scruples of another class are enforced upon him by law. The Atheist is compelled to forego his own ideas of sociability, because other people have secured a law to enforce their ideas. And as to the State’s right to name one day in seven to be observed, the bishop and his confreres would loudly resent the naming of any other day but Sunday, no matter what the majority might be. They would very quickly see, and rightly too, that equal rights are not secured by majority dictation. But those who base their argument for a Sunday law on “ God’s law of one day’s rest in seven ” should remember that God never submitted the construction or manipulation of His law to human majorities.
The bishop grows quite patriotic in the assertion:—
I have no sympathy with the furious fanaticism whirl would bind public liberty with petty restrictions.
But he stultifies this fine sentiment in the very next sentence, and shows that the making of “ petty restrictions” is just the purpose of his proposed Sunday law. Here’ is his declaration of intention:—-»
I have less sympathy with the loose ideas of the foreign or California Sunday, from which God is banished, and which is spent in writing business letters or in sports and revelry.
Then he again stultifies his plea that the Sunday law is not a religious matter, when he says:—
No one can rise to the full benefit and glory of Sunday who does not keep it in a Christian spirit. This is what he misses who does not attend church. The most perfect rest, better than park, ocean, or country, is in the sanctuary of God.
But how can the State give the workingman this “full benefit and glory of Sunday”? Can it put a Christian spirit into him? The bishop says he misses this when he does not attend church. Then, if the workingmans “social necessity” were restricted to going to church, the climax would be reached, would it not? Then, how about the State’s adding that grand possibility to the Sunday law ? Such is the natural trend of such legislation, as indicated by the bishop’s remarks, and as carried out in the past, wherever public sentiment would submit. Every step in that direction is a backward step in the matter of religious liberty. All history shows that the more men were inclined to tinker with the Sabbath day, and add to it their own traditions and restrictions, the more formal. and oppressive was their religion. And all history demonstrates that the more the State tampers with religious dogmas and institutions, the more extensive are the restrictions to both civil and religious liberty.	G.
CROWDING TOWARD THE CENTERS.
The last decade has witnessed a wonderful increase in the growing tendency to crowd into the great cities. The ratio of this increase has gone up by leaps and bounds. As these multitudes have crowded in, the multitudes already in have been crowded down, and the condition of the urban middle and poorer classes has become more difficult or more desperate, according to the relative condition which they had previously occupied. The sad part of it is that this migration toward the centers grows in volume as the conditions become more harrowing. This “submerged” class, composed of those who are apparently hopelessly down, has grown to such an extent that it is a real menace to the existence of municipal government. With no employment in sight, hundreds of these drift into the Criminal classes, and become food for law courts and prisons.
Just recently London had opportunity to view' what ought to be in Christian lands of plenty a most unique procession. It was poverty on parade. Day after day thousands of the unemployed marched the streets in solemn procession, carrying contribution boxes to receive alms from those who had to give. Regarding this demonstration of the unemployed the London Spectator says:—
“The processions of the unemployed bid fair to become a regular incident in our street life. They go on day after day,—orderly, on good terms with the police, and not in the least anxious to provoke a breach of the peace. Apparently they never have anything to do, or if they have, it is of that convenient order which can always be put off to some future season. Ordinarily they are composed of that hopeless type which has so long lost the will to work that it has by degrees lost the power also. Here and there again, are some of a lower class still,—men who have ceased to pay any minute attention to the dividing line between poverty and crime.”
The Spectator voices an obvious truth when it remarks that while “ these processions may be harmless in themselves, they are not harmless in their
consequences.” This banding togetherof the worthy unemployed and the professional unemployed for the systematic collection of alms has a debasing effect upon all participants. The association itself is bad; the habit of the public solicitation of charity is demoralizing, and the temptation to many to “ get a living ” by a process easier than toil is a strong one, and one to which many of them will yield. It is a step downward, and leads to other downward steps. It is a result of the flowing of the tide of humanity toward the crowded centers of population. It is a result, but it is also a condition which has its own results—demoralization, depravity, crime. If there were a prospect of a turn in the tide we might have hope of better temporal conditions in the future, but there is no indication of such a turn. On the other hand the conditions which have made possible London’s “ poverty parade” are rapidly developing in all other countries, and their results are already seen in the constant increase in all classes of crime. The exposures of crimes committed by men charged with the control of large cities, men who should be examples of uprightness before their fellow-men, show the utter hopelessness of any permanent municipal reform. With criminals in the highest offices of trust and responsibility in the gift of a city, there is little positive influence for good outflowing to those in humbler positions. And these conditions should make the child of God awake to his responsibility as an ambassador of heaven in the midst of these powers of darkness.	s.
SUBSTANTIAL VICTORY IN A GOOD CAUSE.
In 1890 Mr. J. B. Watkins built the St. Louis Watkins and Gulf Railway from Lake Charles, La., to Alexandria one hundred miles, purchasing and incorporating ah the town sites along the line. But in all the deeds for lots sold was incorporated the following stipulation:—
That the said purchaser, his heirs or assigns, shall not at any time manufacture or sell intoxicating liquors upon said premises, except for medicinal, mechanical, or scientific purposes; and should this condition be broken, this deed shall immediately and ipso facto be and become null and void, and the title shall immediately and ipso facto revert to and vest in said vendor, and said vendor shall not be under any obligations to return any part of the purchase price.
During the thirteen years since that proviso began to be inserted in deeds to land along this railroad there is said to have been but one violation, or breach of contract. The penalty was greater than property-holders cared to risk. One, however, did take the risk, and he has lost his holding without recourse. The appellate court of Louisiana decided, on February 26, that the stipulation is legal; that property-holders whose deeds contain that provision can not sell liquor on their premises without forfeiting their title to that property.
Concerning this case Mr. Watkins says, in a personal letter to the Signs of the Times: “This is the only violation of the anti-liquor clause in the thirteen years, and there will not be another. This is real prohibition, and the only railway in the world along which liquor can not be sold.” If every railroad in the country would follow the example set by this one, what a vast amount of sorrow, want, misery, and crime of every kind would cease for want of that food on which they thrive. Mr. Watkins’ antiliquor railroad is “the only one of its kind;” and much as we would like to see the country covered with them, we are forced to believe that this road will long enjoy the distinction of being “the only one of its kind.” The great world is money mad, and railroads (with this one splendid exception) are making money out of the liquor they sell both on their trains and in their eating houses and on premises which they own. They could be a mighty power for temperance if they would, as this one example has proved. Mr. Watkins deserves the thanks, of the race for the example set,' whether others choose to follow or choose to continue in partnership with the crime-fostering drink.
WHAT THE MORGAN INTERESTS CONTROL.
In September, 1902, the Morgan interests controlled fifty-five thousand, five hundred and fifty-five miles of American railways, or more than the mileage of Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland combined. These lines, have a capitalization of $3,002,-949,571, which is more than three times the total
THE OUTLOOK
March 18, 1903.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
(169) 9
interest-bearing debt of the United States. In ad-t dition, the Morgon influence is powerful in almost all the other important railroad systems of the country. The direct Morgan interests include eighteen railroad systems, one monster steamship company, thirteen industrial combinations, seven banks, three telegraph and cable companies, seven great insurance companies, and innumerable smaller corporations of divers kinds. The total capitalization of these various combinations is $6,448,500,000,—an amount greater than the national debt of any country in the world, and twice the debt of Great Britain. The capital of a single one of the Morgan companies I —the United States Steel Corporation—is equal to I about twice the cost of the Boer War, and its net profits for the current year are estimated at one hundred and forty million dollars, a sum about equal to the annual cost of the British navy, and but little I short of the total revenues of Spain. The aggregate . net income of all the Morgan incorporations is prob-Bably nearly or quite equal to the public revenues of 1 any of the great powers of Europe, and the taxes on those companies pay the entire cost of maintaining the executive departments of New Jersey.
But Mr. Morgan does not depend on the dividends of his stocks for the bulk of his income. His chief business, at present, is promoting on a gigantic : scale. When he organized the underwriting syndicate that launched the United States Steel Corporation, the subscribers were pledged, if called upon, to - pay in two hundred million dollars. They actually advanced only twenty-five million dollars, and that was returned in the final settlement. Their profit on this investment was fifty-six million dollars, or over two hundred per cent. The share of J. P. Morgan and Company was about eleven million • dollars. Every company Mr. Morgan floats—and the number is large—yields profits proportionally. Often he has no need to advance money. The mere magic of his name floats a company, and his clients gladly pay him half a million, ora million, or five million dollars for the service. He has the knack of inspiring confidence. The people who trust him with their money—and he operates chiefly with other people's money, not with his own—do not try to tie his hands with contracts. They let him alone to use his brain in their behalf, satisfied that, in due time, checks for the profits will be forthcoming.'—5. E. Moffet, in February "Success."
Labor Union Items.—A London despatch says that the Taffvale Railroad Company has been awarded $115,000 damages against the Amalgamated Society of Railroad Servants. The complaint of the company was on account of malicious molestation, picketing, etc., during the strike of 1900. An extensive strike against the American Bridge Company has been declared by the International Association of Bridge and Structural Iron Workers. The reason given is that much of the work of the company has been sub-let to non-union men. Construction work in many places in the United States and Canada is stopped by the strike, and thousands of men are thrown out of employment. It is said that by May 1 more than 300,000 employees will be out on strike, and the employers are organizing to resist the movement. The strike of the United Brotherhood of Railway Employees against the Canadian Pacific Railroad is reported at an end, the men claiming to have won the recognition of their union. The railroad and steamship business at Vancouver, B. C., has been extensively hindered by the strike. At Waterbury, Conn., the strike of union employees of the electric street car company, has broken out afresh, accompanied by violence. On the night of the 8th inst., a policeman was killed, a non-union motor man was wounded and chased into a swamp, and another non-union man was beaten until insensible. The blacksmiths of Stockton, Cal., have won their strike against the big agricultural implement manufacturing establishments in that city, whose proprietors had to yield on account of pressing contracts. The strikers gained their point of recognition of the union and increase of pay of blacksmiths’ helpers from $2.00 to $2.50 per day. The city council of Santa Cruz, Cal., passed an ordinance requiring the union label on all city printing. The supervisors of Santa Cruz County passed such an ordinance for the county printing, but afterwards rescinded it, and laid the matter over for further consideration, the district attorney having stated that it was unconstitutional. According to a decision of an English court, no labor union can contribute to the support of a striking union without Unanimous consent of the members, whiclT practically takes away the support of strikers from that source. The war between employers and union labor is waging fiercely over there. The employers have charged that they are losing control qj markets, because the unions have enforced high wages and shorter hours, thus preventing the former from competing with the United States. Political warfare is the prospective
result, as it is also gaining ground in this country. On the 2d inst. the Civic Federation of San Diego County, Cal., presented to the board of supervisors a memorial protesting against the resolution adopted by the board prescribing that the county printing and advertising be awarded by the heads of departments to only such newspapers and printing establishments as were entitled to use the Allied Printing Trades label. The memorial cites that the resolution is against a natural law, unconstitutional, and not consistent with the advice of the department attorney, and requested reconsideration of the action by the supervisors.
Turmoil in the East.—While it is impossible to predict the outcome of the present warlike conditions in the Balkans, it is very certain that the situation is a dangerous one. Austria and Russia hcri united on a program which they proposed the sultan should carry out in Macedonia. The sultan promptly refused to carry out the part of the program planned for him, and the program was changed. He agreed to it as changed, promising to carry out certain reforms for the benefit of the Macedonians. Upon this promise, Russia and Austria began to work for the suppression of the anti-Turkish sentiment in the Balkan States; but it now seems that Russia and Austria are unable to aigree between themselves regarding this work, and Rumania has thought it necessary to inform the czar of Russia that she will not allow his troops to pass through her domain, that she will oppose them with force. Russia would thus find no mean obstacle to her progress if she attempted to invade Macedonia, as Rumania has an army of 170,000 men known to be the equals of any in war. The king of Rumania, in a recent speech, emphasized the seriousness of the situation. France and Italy are both watchful, and the latter has declared her determination, in the event of an outbreak, to see that her interests are adequately protected. Increasing numbers of the revolutionists are operating in Macedonia, and sanguinary encounters are occurring frequently between these and the Turkish soldiery. The inhabitants appear to be sheltering the bands and giving them information concerning the movements of the Turkish troops, thus enabling the revolutionists to evade pursuit. Telegraph lines are being cut by the latter, and they are opposing the troops wherever encountered. There have been considerable losses on both sides.
The Pope’s jubilee, in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his coronation, was celebrated at Rome on March 3, with gorgeous display, pomp, and ceremony. Nothing was lacking to impress the beholder with the greatness of Leo XIII. The papal guards in strikingly handsome uniform, with polished arms and measured tread, the high dignitaries of the church with gorgeous and costly robes, did all they could to make a god of the frail form seated in the papal chair. Speaking of this procession, one of the reports says: “From his elevation op the sedia gastatoria carried by twelve men in costumes of red brocade, flanked by the famous spreading feather fans and surrounded by a white and gold canopy, the pope appeared to be more than a human being.” And that was the purpose of the great demonstration. It is notable, however, that Jesus Christ, whose vicegerent the pope claims to be, allowed none of these things. The ceremony was a lengthy one, and it is reported that fully 75,000 persons were in attendance There had been an unprecedented demand for tickets, and when the gates were opened the report states that “an almost indescribable rush occurred, in which all present forgot the rules of holiness, and strove hard with push of elbows and feet to reach the interior of the sacred edifice, while on all sides were heard cries of fear and imprecations.” This ceremony in laudation of the human, and this striving of the human for the best places are strikingly in harmony. How much better the true plan of God, and how much better the dignity of His true service!
Trouble in China.—At the time the peace protocol between the Chinese Government and the allied powers was signed, there were predictions by those who best knew the situation that peace would not last long. Recent advices indicate that the Boxers are active in nearly all the provinces. The old Boxer leaders were not punished according to agreement, and were soon restored to favor. The latest news indicates that the whole of the Yang-tse Valley is fermenting in rebellion, as well as the northern and western provinces previously mentioned. Of course the uprising, which is called rebellion, as in the former troubles, is not so much against the government, as against the foreigners. There is hardly any doubt that the government is and always has been th® real instigator of the Boxer movement. In the former trouble the government plead inability to put down the “rebels,” and now the same leaders who are at large because their sentences were not executed, are again at the head. A recent plot to pillage the city of Canton was frustrated through information given to the police by one who was in the secret. He was given a handsome reward, but was soon afterward killed. The men arrested for complicity in the plot were held a few days and released “for want of evidence.” A native correspondent of the Shanghai Mercury says that the governor of Kwangsi purposely allowed the Boxers to accumulate in his province and is on friendly terms with the famous Prince Tuan, who is known as a Boxer
leader. It is also alleged that the reported defeats of imperial troops by Boxers were intentional on the part of government forces. Missionaries in several localities have petitioned the government for protection.
Famine, Disease, and Accident.—The practically complete failure of the rice crop last year in Japan has caused widespread distress in that country, culminating in famine in the northeastern provinces. An official report states that the number of starving is 147,688, with the possibility of these figures being greatly added to. The foreign element is now seeking to raise funds to alleviate the distress. Members of the Finnish relief society in New York have received samples of the food on which their starving countrymen are trying to sustain life. It is composed of the bark of pine trees, is almost as hard as stone, and no one would ever suspect that it could be eaten. A report from Alaska states that disease and privation are rapidly thinning out the Esquimo population along the Behring Sea. The natives have become greatly enfeebled through lack of food, and are unable to withstand the ravages of disease. The epidemic of typhoid at Ithaca, N. Y., is still counting its victims both among the Cornell students and the inhabitants of the town. Its origin is traced to one infected stream which helped to supply the town with water. The great storms of the past weeks have caused extensive suffering and thousands of deaths among the cattle on the western ranges from Colorado to Texas. In some sections the loss of stock is placed as high as 25 per cent. Nineteen workmen were drowned at Glens Falls, N. Y., on March 7, as a result of the capsizing of a small ferry boat.
The Trusts.—The great salmon trust of the Pacific Coast, which was capitalized at $13,250,000, has gone into the hands of receivers. The failure is said to be due to the light run of salmon; but an examination of the company’s books shows that at least $10,000,000 of its stock was water, and that the assets of the company are worth not more than $3,000,-000. The President has appointed two assistant attorney-generals whose business is to prosecute trusts for the violation of the anti-trust laws. A bill has passed both houses of the California Legislature, the purpose of which is to grant to corporations the legal right to combine, designed to apply to corporations outside as well as inside of the State. This bill expressly legalizes that absorption of one corporation by another, which is the essential element of the trust movement. The railway mergers were such acts and are now being prosecuted in the federal courts. This is an attempt to make legal what the laws now condemn and ought to condemn.
The great nations of antiquity went down under the hand of the monopolists. Egypt went down when two per cent of the population controlled her wealth; Babylon when two per cent controlled her wealth; Persia when one per cent held her wealth; Rome, when 1800 persons owned the civilized world. In 1835 there were but six millionaires in the United States, while in 1902 there were 9,600. The national wealth is seventy billion dollars, and one-half of it is owned by 25,000 persons. In 1850 capitalists owned 3714 per cent of the nation’s wealth. In 1870 they controlled 63 per cent, while in 1902 two per cent of the population owns seven-tenths of the entire wealth. These are stupendous facts for the sober thinkers.
Recently the Illinois State Teachers’ Association, in a meeting at Springfield, Ill., passed the following resolution: “We petition these two societies of experts [the American Philological Association and the Modern Language Association] to take further action to secure the adoption among our ethnologists and lexicographers of a universal system of key,notation for indicating pronunciation—a system which shall have for its basis a simple, thoroughly practical alphabet, adapted to common, every-day use, such as the alphabet of the American Philological Association seems to us to be.’’ This alphabet is that employed to designate pronunciation in the Standard Dictionary.
In Venezuela.—The Venezuelans are much dissatisfied over the large export duties which are now being levied on all goods sent from Venezuelan ports. They claim that the export duties are working greater injury to them than did the blockade of the allies. Some of the merchants declare that they can not pay the duties, and this.of course puts an . end for the time to their foreign business. Reports indicate that the revolutionists are as busy as ever, and are again threatening the Capital. To many of the members of the Venezuelan Congress the protocols with the powers are exceedingly distasteful, and it is feared that they may not receive the approval of that bodv.
The Senatorial deadlock in Delaware has at last been broken, and that State now has its two Senators. Mr. Addicks, who for years has been trying to buy his way into the national Senate, has withdrawn from the. race; but many fear that this is but a skilful move to gain his object.-
An extra session of the United States Senate is now being held at the special call of the President. The purpose is the consideration of the Panama Canal Treaty and the Cuban Reciprocity Treaty.
10 (170)
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Vol. 29, No. 11.
THE HOME.
BY MARY WOOD-ALLEN, M. D
Brothers and Sisters.
HO was that elegant young gentleman, Margaret?” asked a young girl of a friend who had just taken leave of a young man who lifted his hat in a most courteous manner.
“ O, that is my brother.”
“ Your brother! why, he took off his hat to you! ”
‘‘Certainly, why not.”
“ But I never heard of such a thing as a brother showing such attention to a sister.”
” I should think it very strange if either my brothers or my father did not pay such attention to me. They are all just as particular to tip their hats to mother or us girls as if we were strangers, and we are just as polite to them as if they were the brothers of some other girl. Indeed I feel more inclined to be polite to my own brothers than to strangers.”
“Fred, who was that pretty girl that was entertaining you so charmingly at the concert last evening? I guess you’ve made a conquest, old fellow.”
“ O, that was my youngest sister, Dora. Isn’t she pretty ?”
“ She certainly is, but I never before heard a fellow speak that way about his sister. I guess they nearly all feel as I do, that they’d rather be with any other girl than their own sister.”
“ Possibly you would, but I wouldn’t. Of course I don’t know your sister, but as you do, I’ll have to accept your dictum that she is not agreeable or interesting.”
“ O, I don’t mean that. Other fellows think she’s nice, but its rather poky to be devoted to one’s sister, isn’t it?”
“ Not to mine. She is one of the most charming girls I know. We are great chums and have lots of fun together.”
“The most fun I have with my sisters is to tease them. Whew! don’t they get fiery tho when I play some practical joke oh them! ”
“ Pardon me, but I should feel it very unmanly to tease a girl.”
“O. I wouldn’t tease any other girls, of course, but just my sisters, you know.”
“ Why should one not treat his sisters as politely as he treats other girls? ”
“ I don’t know; but boys don’t.”
Unfortunately the statement of this young man is too true. Surely brothers and sisters, children of the same parents, growing up in the same house should be the best of friends, the most delightful comrades, and if they are not, something has been wrong in the home atmosphere. Ps. 133:1. If they have not learned as little children to be friends, when they arrive at years of discretion they should try to bring about the brotherly and sisterly affection. More -especially should the older members of the family be kind to the younger.
I read yesterday an article by Rev. Edward Gall-audet in eulogy of his brother Thomas. When he was marching in cap and gown on the day of his graduation he saw his little brother watching him from the sidewalk, and holding out his hand said, “Come on, Eddie, and march with me.” The little fellow in kilts, with a heart almost bursting with happiness, tock the big brother’s hand and marched with the seniors in cap and gown. It was an hour of ecstasy that was never forgotten, and who can measure the influence of that one small act of brotherly kindness ?
The adolescent (boy or girl) is in great need of the sympathy of the older brothers aud sisters. Too often he is snubbed, teased, or ignored, and his heart is sore and lonely. He may wander away into the paths of sin because he has missed the loving word from his own.
A young woman listened to a lecture in which the
speaker alluded to the needs of the adolescent. This girl had a brother of fourteen whom she had thought a trial, but after the lecture she fell to thinking concerning her own lack of sympathy with him and determined to change.
She saw one evening that he was going out, but instead of sneering at him because he had taken unusual pains with his dress she said kindly, “Charlie, don’t you want me to tie your cravat? I know a new way that is very fine.”
“ I shall never forget,” she said afterwards, “the look Charlie gave me. So surprised, so incredulous, but seeing that I was in earnest he accepted my offer with thanks. The next day he seemed anxious to be kind to me, and I accepted his preferred favors with polite courtesy. In the evening I asked him to go out and make a call with me, and since then we have been the best of friends. He does not go
out nights with the boys, for we have always some plan for the evenings, and father says he believes I have saved Charlie. I am glad of that, but it seems a shame that a girl had to learn from a stranger how to be good to her own brother.”
Many a young man might find his missiorfin giving time and protecting care to the young sister who, in the ignorance of her life, is In danger of making serious blunders, but who would hear and heed his counsels because she feels sure of his sympathetic love. Christ is our elder brother, and the young girl in this impressionable period of her life may be led to take up the Christ-life because through her brother in the flesh she has learned of brotherly love.
What brothers and sisters may be to each other is illustrated in many lives. No one can read the pa
thetic story of Charles and Mary Lamb without realizing a brother’s unselfish devotion; William and Caroline Herschel proved how a brother and sister may be united in the pursuit of science. The friehdshipof George Washington for his half brother Lawrence is a fine example of brotherly love, while the poets Phoebe and Alice Cary illustrate sisterly devotion.
The home can not be a unit unless all the members are working for the common weal. , Selfishness can not rule if brotherly love is to continue. Sympathy of parents with children, of children with parents, and of children with each other is the essential of harmonious family life. This is the prophecy of Malachi which should find its fulfilment in every household (Mal. 4:6). “Let brotherly love continue.”
CAMPHORATED OIL.
A simple, home-made liniment that is almost magical in its results is composed of kerosene, camphor gum, and sweet-oil. Into a quart bottle put a pint of kerosene, and add as much camphor gum as will dissolve, adding a little more day by day, and shaking thoroughly. Then add half a pint of sweetoil, shake well, and it is ready for use. It should be well corked and kept out of the way of children. Use for burns, cuts, bruises, stiff neck, stiff joints, sore throat, bunions, and about all the ailments that flesh is heir to, as it will cure, and that right speedily, almost everything; and in our family it has gained the sobriquet of “cure-all.” Toillustrate: A young girl severely scalded her entire hand with hot grease the day before her graduation. The hand was immediately swathed in soft cloths, which were kept saturated with the liniment, and by night the heat had been so completely drawn out that no trace of the burn remained except a slight redness. By the following evening that had completely disappeared.
My own hand was so severely scalded with steam that it felt as tho the flesh might be fairly cooked. It was at once wrapped up and the liniment applied, but so fierce was the heat that the liniment evaporated in less than a minute. Application after application was made until evaporation ceased. The accident occurred about nine o’clock in the morning. At tea time I unwrapped my hand, prepared the meal, and washed the dishes with apparently a well hand. It was, of course, a little tender, but not in the least painful, and so natural in appearance that no one would have imagined that it had been scalded.
A burn or scald of any kind will not blister or long retnain sore if this oil be at once applied. Last spring, just as I began house-cleaning, I bruised my finger in such a way that the nail was torn half way back to the root, and the finger mashed until the blood came. It was immediately wrapped up in a cloth saturated with the liniment, and, instead of nursing a sore finger for days, I went to work the next morning with an entirely cured finger.
One suffering with a very severe “stiff neck” saturated a flannel cloth in the liniment, bound it about the affected part, went to bed and took a nap, and when she arose her neck was w'ell.
A cloth saturated with the liniment and bound over sore bunions Will soon cure them. I could fill this entire page with instances of its wonderful cures —but the above will suffice.—Exchange.
IS OATMEAL HEALTHFUL ?
Scotland is the home of oatmeal, and the Scotch are a race of pronounced vigor, strength, and general health.
This would seem to answer the query, but it does not. Any article of diet, however healthful of itself, may be so prepared as to be unfit for food. So it is with oatmeal. Do not believe any pretention of manufacturers, who cljftm to have a preparation of oats requiring only “five minutes’ cooking.” You not only will not get any value from the oats, but
TRUE LOVE BEGINS AT HOME.
BY THOS. R. WILLIAMSON.
A group of ladies once in great old Rome, Showed each to each her wealth of jewels rare;
And one there was within whose humble home No jewels were, but wealth of love was there.
So when they asked where her bright treasures were, She pointed to her children at her side, And gently said, “ These are my treasures fair,” And smiled upon them with a mother’s pride.
Home is the door whence our first blessings flow;
And they, who, like that good Roman dame of old, Prize home’s wealth first, they best can feel and know How to reach kindly hands into the cold
Of this great world, and call the wanderer back, And bear God’s message far across the seas, Where Arabs cower in the simoon’s track, Or billows harden in the Arctic breeze.
True love begins at home. The children dear Whom God has sent to cheer my earthly way, Clasp tendril hands about my nature here, And link me fast to others far away.
What easy lessons God gives first to learn 1 Love father, mother, sister, brother, friend, And wife and children; then may we discern
To love our neighbors to the great earth’s end.
True love begins at home, and reaching thence, Twines sympathetic arms round all our race,'
And fills our intervals of time and sense
With airs from heaven, its native dwelling place.
Love’s royal banner floats above our heads;
Beneath its folds majestic do we rest.
Home’s window-star its radiance outward sheds,— Come in, lone heart, be thou a welcome guest.
Swing back, ye cloudy curtains, from the skies, And let me see the architecture fine
Of those transparent palaces that rise
Where crystal streets in wondrous brilliance shine.
But little like them'can I hope to build, But yet in meek resemblance I would raise
A home with their transmitted luster filled, Whose walls shall echo to Immanuel’s praise.
For home shall be a type of that above,
Like Israel’s desert temple long ago, Built of the same grand masonry of love
As that bright dwelling-place to which we go.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
11
will ruin your stomach in the endeavor to digest them. The Scotch cook oatmeal until it may be drank as a gruel. That is the secret of oatmeal. Get the coarse oatmeal, the coarser the better, and then cook it three hours in a double boiler. Cook until it is like custard. It then will make good muscle and blood, and will represent more nutriment than the ordinary white, wheat flour.— The Clinic.	'
PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER.
f Never cease to pray for the salvation of those you love; never lose faith; the promises of the Lord are sure. He does not say, as we sometimes do, “I will do so and so, if I have time,” or “ I will try to do this or that;” but He says plainly that the “fervent prayer of a righteous man availelh much.” “Ask and ye shall receive.” There is nothing uncertain about this. It may be years before you re-fceive an answer; but keep on praying. The friend in the parable of the three loaves did not rise at once and lend the bread; but because of the petitioner’s importunity he arose and supplied his wants. So it is with prayer. We may not receive an answer atj once, but keep on praying and believing. The Lord will do the rest.	Sarah E. Billyard.
SENATOR HOAR’S TASTES.
No other senator of Mr. Hoar’s standing lives so simply as he. In Washington he does not keep house. Hence, of course, he does no entertaining, and takes small part in the social life of the capital. Indeed, his tastes lead him very little in the direction of companionship with his fellows. His leisure usually finds him in the diminutive study, for which he contrives to find space in his quiet lodgings, where he will read a good book far into the night, while other men generally are sleeping or making merry. His favorite subject is history’, and he reads it not as so many do, for the sake of amassing a knowledge of unrelated facts, but in the spirit and with the zest of a philosopher tracing through the stories of the written page the motives of the men who have shaped events in all ages, the influence of these events on national character, and the logic of the effects which have flowed from divers causes. The records of the past he thus utilizes for purposes of prophecy and the guidance of his own generation. He is a firm believer in the theory that history moves in cycles, not by accident, but because the same conditions in all ages lead up to the same or corresponding consummations.
This will explain, for instance, his attitude on the question of imperialism from the moment its outcroppings were first discernable in the sequel of our war with Spain. It cost him sincere grief to part company with his party on this issue. It grieved him yet more, however, that the conduct of his party had been such as to force the separation upon him. To stand comparatively, or even quite alone, was not strange to him—it was, in a sense, an inheritance with his blood. A descendant of men who took in hand their little all and bade farewell to their country and its precious associations to come as pilgrims to a strange and forbidding shore, for the sake of maintaining their right to worship God in their own fashion; who hewed and ploughed and fought their way to independence against powerful odds; who, tho bred in the cold and calculating atmosphere of the north, stood shoulder to shoulder with their blood kindred of the South in one war, but shot them down in another, both for a principle of human liberty; how could he have faltered at the thought of isolation as a penalty for following his conscience? It was his party that went astray when it proposed the most startling and dangerous innovation ever conceived in republican statecraft—not he, who stood on the same ground with the authors of the constitution. —Francis E. Leupp, tn the Pilgrim for March.
IMPRESSIONS OF A TEMPERANCE CITY.
The following is part of what Dorcas Spencer says of Portland, Maine, after a recent visit to that city, as given in the W. C. T. U. Pacific Ensign:—
I
The mayor of Portland gave many interesting and suggestive figures. Portland has a population of 50,000, and is assessed for $50,000,000—without a millionaire in it. As I was driven about in a carriage
all over and about the city, I could readily believe it had no paupers. I asked my host, “Where do the poor people live?” His reply was, “Well, I suppose there are some poor people, but I really could not tell where to find, them.” There was certainly no squalor, and if there was dirt or filth at all, it was hidden as completely as the liquor traffic.
Portland is strikingly clean. Think of it—not a saloon in it; the twin vice of tobacco is rather shamefaced. Men smoke, without doubt, in that city; but the streets are not polluted with the smell of it, and it is refreshing to see so many men free from the habit.
And that is what temperance laws, faithfully enforced, would do for any city, the canteen and saloon defenders to the contrary notwithstanding.
NOTICE TO GENERAL CONFERENCE DELEGATES AND VISITORS.
1.	The next S. D. A. General Conference will be held in Oakland, Cal., March 27 to April 13, 1903.
2.	The members of Oakland, San Francisco, Alameda, and Berkeley churches will put forth strenuous effort to entertain ail the delegates, furnishing lodging and breakfast free, the delegates furnishing their own dinner, and supper if desired.
3.	Rooms outside will be secured for vi itors at from one to five dollars a week according to location, furnishings, etc.
4.	A first-class, vegetarian restaurant will be opened for the accommodation of all, run on the European plan, where good meals may be obtained for from 15 to 25 cents.
5.	In order to secure accommodations, it will be necessary for both delegates and visitors to send their names at once to the secretary of Committee on Arrangements, C. H. Jones, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal. State just what accommodations are de- , sired, single rooms, single beds or double, or beds in a large room with several others, on the dormitory plan. This latter will be cheaper.
6.	It is suggested that all those who can—delegates and visitors—bring blankets.
7.	Come clothed warmly, as there will be a chilliness experi- I enced in the humid climate of the coast by those from the interior; and the nights are always cool.
Railway Rates and Directions.
1.	Special colonist rate will be in effect from February 15 to April 15, namely $33.00 from Chicago to Oakland or San Francisco; $25.00 from Missouri Riverpoints. Tickets may be purchased over any line. Stop-over privileges good in California only. Tickets are good in tourist sleepers, chair-cars, and day coaches, but not in standard Pullman sleeper.
2.	Double-berth in tourist sleeper costs from Chicago to Oakland $6.00; from Missouri points $5.00. Twenty or more coming together can secure control of a tourist car. There is no extra charge for seat in chair-car wherever run.
3.	Regular clergy rate from Chicago to San Francisco is $36.25; Missouri River points $30.00. This is regular coming or going, and it is what all workers will have to pay returning by any route. Clergy tickets are good in either standard or tourist sleeper. Double-berth in standard sleeper Chicago to Oakland is $14.00.
4.	Check baggage to and get off at Sixteenth Street Station, Oakland. Those coming over the Southern Pacific Coast Line, or the Santa Fd will land in San Francisco. Take the Broad Gauge Line ferry-boats to Oakland, taking the Berkeley local train on Oakland side of the Bay at the Mole, and get off at Sixteenth Street Station (about five minutes’ ride).
5.	Arriving at Sixteenth Street Station, either by this route or •via Ogden and the S. P., take Twelfth Street electric car, get off at Twelfth and Brush streets right at church door.
6.	Hold all'baggage checks, and deliver them to the persons : authorized to receive them at the church. When you are regis- i tered and located, baggage will be delivered at your room.
7.	For information concerning making up of parties, address i H. E. Osborne, Battle Creek, Mich. For further information ' concerning accommodations here, address C. H. Jones, Oakland, Cal.
“MAN OVERBOARD.”
We certainly would not hesitate to rescue a man who had fallen overboard in the middle of the ocean, but there are a hundred thousand prisoners in this country who have either fallen , overboard or else like Jonah they have been thrown overboard, and the same God that was interested in Jonah when’he was cast into the sea is interested in these men. Are you seeking to help them or to save them? God looks down from heaven to “ hear the groaning of the prisoner.” Ps. 102:20. We can be used as instruments in God’s hands to save these despairing, helpless men and women who have been cast overboard and for whom I society has no pitying glance.
If we had been born of the same parents and brought up in the same environment as some of these prisoners, perhaps some of us would be behind prison bars to-day. If they had been given the same opportunities that we have had, perhaps they would have improved much better than we have.
In April we shall send a cheering Gospel message of hope in the form of a copy of the Life Boat, to be placed in the hands of practically every prisoner in the United States. Prison officials without exception are interested in this effort, and will assist us all they can. Will you interest your friends in this plan ? The prisoner must have the Gospel as well as other sinners. He has more time to think than many who are on the outside of the prisons, as is shown by the following extracts from a few of hundreds of letters we have received since we issued our last Prison number of the Life Boat.
" If a man will study the paper called the Signs of the Times he-will soon find that the eye of his spiritual understanding is opened to the very things which a short time before seemed impossible. I want to ask you about Dan. 8:14, ‘unto twenty-
three hundred days and then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.’ What does that mean? I also want to know if the use of tea and coffee and meat is unhealthy—if so, why? I ask this because the less meat I eat the better, feel.”
“ I am always ready to receive your welcome letters. They bring good cheer to me for they are the only thing I long for. Sometimes I dream that I am at home and happy with my father and mother and little children and my nephews and nieces. I love the little ones so much that I would give all the world for one day of freedom. If a man does not get bis heart touched here in prison he will never get it touched any place.”
The following letter has just been received from the chaplain of the New Jersey State prison, and is a good sample of many others:—
“ Five hundred copies of your very profitable Life Boat can be used here. Out on the sea of life, wrecked by bad habits, drifting toward the lea shore of everlasting destruction, a paper ijke yours will help to save many a one who would otherwise perish. Any number you can send will be very- acceptable and will help me in my work as chaplain.”
This number of the Life Boat will be furnished at two cents each. Address, The Life Boat, 28 Thirty-third Place, Chicago.
For Rent.—Near the St. Helena Sanitarium, two suites of furnished rooms, suitable for small families without children.
Address, Mrs. W. C. White, Sanitarium, Cal.
Wanted.—Sabbath-keeper for assistant in honey production and commercial-queen rearing till October. Please write soon, giving age, experience, wages desired, etc. W. A. H. Gilstrap, Modesto, Cal.
HEALTH FOODS.
We desire to correspond with young persons who have a desire to engage in the sale of health foods. Must be those who take a deep interest in and for the work. Address, Portland Sanitarium Food Co., Portland, Oregon.
WANTED.
Fifteen young men and women to assist in Vegetarian Cafe that will be conducted for the convenience of the delegatesand visitors of the General Conference.
There will be an opportunity for a number to work a short time each day for their board. Others can work more for board and wages. Write at once to E. G. Fulton, 756 Market St., San Francisco, Calif.
Take a Tourist Car
—A Santa Fe tourist car—if you would enjoy your trip across the continent.
The cars are so comfortable, the route so interesting, the people so pleasant, the excursion manager so accommodating, the porters so obliging, and the meals so good, that you simply can’t help being satisfied.
Personally conducted east and west three times a week—Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays—to Chicago, Kansas City, Los Apgeles and San Francisco.
Folder giving full information furnished on request by any Santa Fe Agent.
COLONIST RATES TO CALIFORNIA VIA SOUTHERN PACIFIC
Every Day February 15 to June 15
NEW-YORK.......................$53.00
PITTSBURGH......................42.00
BUFFALO.........................42.50
CINCINNATI .....................39.00
LOUISVILLE..................... 38.00
CHICAGO.........................33.00
PEORIA.........................31 .00
ST. LOUIS.......................30.00
MEMPHIS.........................30.00
NEW ORLEANS.....................30.00
SIOUX CITY......................26.00
OMAHA...........................26.00
KANSAS CITY...................  25.00
MINEOLA ........................25.00
HOUSTON........................ 26.00
The cost of a ticket can be deposited at once with any Southern Pacific Agent in California, and the ticket will be furnished to the passenger in the East, while these low rates are in effect.
Illustrated California Literature Mailed Free to Any Address
E. O. MoCORMICK	T. H. GOODMAN
PASSENGER TRAFFIC MGR. GEN. PASSENGER AGENT San Francisco, Cal.
G. T. FORSYTH, div. freight and passenger agent 468 Tenth St., Oakland, Cal.
March 18, 1903.
12 U72)
THE SIGNS OF,THE TIMES'
Vol. 29, No. 11.
•FOR JESUS’ SAKE.
Men may misjudge thy aim, May not praise thy name, Think they have cause for blame,— Say thou art wrong;
Hold on thy quiet way, Heed not what men may say; Christ is the judge, not they; Fear not, be strong.
Be brave and dare to stand Alone, with heart and band, Under thy Lord’s command, Against the wrong.
From scenes of agony,
From cross and Calvary,
Christ whispers still to thee, “ Fear not, be strong.”
—Selected.
A NATIVE MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS.
THE time had arrived to commence a mission on the great island of New Guinea. The London Missionary Society had begun its work at Takiti in the far east and worked westward; island after island and group after group had been evangelized. The Loyalty Group being at the western extremity of the mission, New Caledonia being closed to us by the French, and the Presbyterians and Episcopalians being at work in the New Hebrides, it was clearly the duty of the young churches of the Loyalty Group to regard New Guinea as their foreign mission field, for it was a kind of unwritten law in the South Sea mission that when an island had received the Gospel it was to hand it on to the next. The question had been discussed at the annual meeting of the missionaries of the Loyalty Islands mission, and the directors in London had sanctioned our proposal and appointed me to carry it out. So I called a great meeting of the churches of Lifu, laid the scheme before them, and asked for volunteers from the native pastors and students in our seminary, with the result that all volunteered, they requesting me to select from their number those I considered most suitable. I felt, of course, that the best men were needed for pioneer work in such
The Cannibal at Home—Dragging the Victim to the Oven.
a place as New Guinea, and this is how it came about that Gucheng was the first native evangelist appointed to the New Guinea mission. The sacrifices which Gucheng and his wife made in leaving their comfortable home and pretty village and devoted people for the risks and privations of pioneer work among the cannibals of New Guinea will bear comparison with those made by European missionaries. Their homes are as dear to them as ours are to us, yet they cheerfully give up all for the sake of Christ and His kingdom, and place themselves unreservedly at the disposal of the missionaries.
In beginning a great mission in a sickly climate, among a savage and cannibal people, it seemed imperative to form a central station at a place tolerably healthful and safe.
As Gucheng was the first native teacher selected for work in our New Guinea mission, so he was the first located; he and Mataika (another Lifu native) were appointed to begin the work on Darnley Island; consequently, they were specially interested as we drew near our first landing-place since we left Lifu for New Guinea. The “sailing instructions” informed us that the anchorage was in “Treachery Bay,” a name given to the place on account of a boat’s crew having been massacred there, and that the natives were very wild and treacherous, and warned all visitors to be on their guard; so that when we dropped anchor in the bay without seeing a native our suspicions were aroused. There was no one to introduce us to this people, and none of us knew anything of their language; but acts of kindness are a language that people can understand all the world over, and that was the only language we were able to use in our first touch with these cannibal tribes in different points of our mission. The first man upon whom we tried this language was the leading warrior of the place, who is now the senior deacon of the church there. Soon after we cast anchor on that memorable Saturday evening he made his appearance on a hill, evidently to reconnoiter. We beckoned to him, and then jumped into our boat and met him on the beach. That meeting, like many others of our first meetings with the cannibals in New Guinea, was very different from the pictures in books and magazines of the missionary’s first landing among savages. I have often been amused at the pictures of Moffat and Williams compared with my own experience. Instead of standing on the beach in a suit of broadcloth with Bible in hand, the pioneer missionary in New Guinea might be seen on the beach in very little and very light clothing, with an umbrella in one hand and a small ba^ in the other, containing not Bibles and tracts, but beads, jew’s-barps, small looking-glasses, and matches; not pointing to heaven, giving the impression that he is a rain-maker, but sitting on a stone with his shoes and stockings off, surrounded by an admiring crowd, who are examining his white feet, and rolling up his wet trousers (he having waded on shore from the boat), to see if he has a white leg, and then motioning for him to bare his breast, that they may see if that is also white. The opening and shutting of an umbrella, the striking of a match, the ticking and movement of a watch—these things cause great surprise and delight and loud exclamations.
What we did when we met this savage on the beach at Darnley was to induce him to enter our boat and accompany us to the vessel, which after a few friendly demonstrations we succeeded in doing, tho he was evidently very much afraid. We talked to him on board
in a manner most effectual. Not knowing the way to his heart through his ear, we took the familiar road through his stomach by giving him a good dinner, then made him a few small presents and sent him away rejoicing, giving him to understand by signs that he was to return next morning when the sun was up and bring his friends with him.
It would have been interesting to know what was said around the fires in the coconut grove that night. Our presents would be handed round for inspection and gazed upon with longing eyes. They would naturally feel that there were plenty more
where they came from, and the question would be, how to get them. On these occasions some propose stealing, others suggest murder and plunder; the wise men, however, advise barter and begging. They have probably had intercourse with some foreign vessel, or have heard of natives who have, where the murder and plunder theory has been tried with results far from encouraging.
Long before sunrise we heard unmistakable evi-
Native Island Evangelist and Wife, Rescued by the Gospel, now Rescuing Others Through Its Ministry.
deuce of a crowd having assembled on the beach, all anxious to get on board, hoping, no doubt, to be treated like our friend the night before. After our morning bath on deck, during which there were loud exclamations at our white skins, we sent in the boats to bring them off to the vessel. On such occasions in our first contact with savages, we take the precaution to fasten a rope across the after part of the vessel, beyond which we do not allow the natives to go. Two or three of the crew are stationed in the bows of the vessel, the mate and one of his men stand behind the rope in the after part, keeping a sharp Ipokout on the crowd. All movable articles which might tempt the natives are put below and the hatches fastened. The way to and from the cabin is in the reserved part of the vessel, which the natives are not allowed to approach till we are acquainted with them. Neglect or contempt of these precautions has often led to very serious and fatal consequences. As a rule, pioneers should not allow natives who are savages and cannibals to get behind them. The temptation to a savage who is walking behind, with a club or tomahawk on his shoulder, is often very great; he knows of no tribunal in heaven or on earth to punish him, and is often led to kill, not from revenge, but from sheer ambition, knowing that if he is successful he will gain both approval and popularity from his countrymen.
Imagine, then, this crowd of savages on board our vessel, naked, and ornamented with paint, feathers, and shells, all talking at once, examining everything, peering into every place, pressing against the rope which they are trying to remove or surmount in order to get to the cabin, standing in the rigging to get a better view, some of them falling or being pushed overboard, amid the laughter of their friends. What were we to do with such a congregation on that memorable Sunday morning? How I longed to lie able to speak to them! All we could hope to accomplish was to make a favorable impression upon their minds, showing by our conduct that we were different from others who visited them. To this end I conducted our morning service in the Lifu language. The crew joined our eight teachers and
March 18, 1903.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
(173) 13
their wives, who all appeared in Sunday attire. Seven nationalities were represented, from the educated European to the debased savage. Every shade of color might be seen, both in skin and dress, from white tp black. It was a strange and most interesting sight. Never before or since have I preached to such an audience. We sang, to the astonishment and delight of the natives, “ Jesus shall reign,” etc., and the hills sent back the response, in solemn and glorious echo, “Jesus shall reign.” We prayed together that God would direct, protect, and bless His servants in the great work they were beginning, for never did men feel more than we did then their absolute dependence upon divine help. The savages looked on in silence and wonder. After the service we mingled with them freely, and took some of the leading men into the cabin; then made them a few presents, and sent them away feeling (as I afterward found) that whoever we were we differed from those who had hitherto visited them. In the afternoon we visited the village, where we were kindly received, return presents being made by the people. Thus our intercourse began, and in three or four days we had gained their confidence and established the mission, placing Gucheng in charge.
1 I must not omit to record a very touching incident that occurred in connection with the settlement of Gucheng on Darnley. It happened on the morning of the fifth day that I was standing near the door of the grass hut that we had purchased from the natives as a lodging for our teachers till they built a suitable house for themselves. Our friends inside did not know that I was near. Their boxes and bundles had been landed, and all was ready for us to start for the point on the New Guinea coast where we intended, if possible, to form our next station. As I approached I heard one of the women crying most piteously; it was Gucheng’s wife. I stood for a few' minutes outside, unwilling to intrude, for such grief seemed to render the place sacred. “O, my country! my country! Why did wre leave our happy home? Would that we were back at Lifu again ! These people will kill us when the mission vessel leaves, or they will steal all we possess.” Then I heard her husband, in tremulous tones saying, “We must remember what we have come here for— not to get pearl shell, or trepang, or any earthly riches, but to tell these people about the true God, and the loving Saviour, Jesus Christ. We must think of what He suffered for us. If they kill us, or steal our goods, whatever we may suffer, it will be very little compared with what He suffered for us.” I could stand it no longer, but walked away till I recovered myself; then I entered the hut, and talked and prayed with them, and I am not ashamed to add that we wept together. Our party soon joined us, and when we walked down to the boat I need scarcely say that we were all sad and sorrowful; and as we pulled off to the ship, and beheld the weeping little group on the beach, surrounded by naked, noisy savages, one could not help feeling how little the world knows of its" truest heroes.
On our return to Darnley we were delighted with the change that had already taken place. Gucheng and his party had evidently been hard at work; with the help of the natives they had built a neat cottage, a great improvement upon the surrounding huts. It contained a living and a bed room; in the middle of the former stood a table and a bench, the legs being not on, but in the floor, and on the table were yams, bananas, and yotmg coconuts, while outside were a crowd of laughing natives, who all seemed anxious to show how pleased they were to have Gucheng and his wife live among them. We spent the Sunday there, and had a most interesting service in the coconut grove—the best of all places for public worship in such climates.—Missionary Review.
CHINESE WORSHIP.
In different parts of China altars are erected, or hewn out of some great rock, which are dedicated to the worship of heaven and earth. In the southern part of the city of Peking such an altar stands facing the Temple of Agriculture. It is the duty of the emperor to perform public worship yearly at this altar, tho he sometimes does it by proxy through some high official. The worship of heaven and earth is universal throughout China, and the officials all over the empire are obliged to conduct this worship. How much better the Gospel of Christ, behind which
stand all the sure promises of God, than this false and compulsory worship, out of which nothing good has come or can come !
NOTES FROM THE NATIONAL CAPITAL.
The loftiest solid monument of stone in the world is the famous Washington monument, 555 ft. 5% in. high. It was erected as a memorial to the “ Father of his country.” The names of forty States and many societies which supplied a share of the money to pay for this mighty obelisk, are inscribed on special stones on the inside of the great marble shaft— pure white marble without, granite within. It is tipped with a pyramid of pure aluminum on which is inscribed the Latin words—“ Laus Deo," Praise to God.
Washington himself is said to have selected the site afterward adopted. The corner-stone was laid in 1848. In 1855 the shaft had attained a height of 152 ft. Then, the funds having been exhausted, the construction was suspended for 23 years and was resumed in 1878. The finished monument was dedicated February 21, 1885, and its total cost was $1,300,000.
As I have looked upon this monument to human greatness, the highest stone monument in the world, and have considered the ascription of “ Praise to God,” that so fittingly crowns the summit—an inscription invisible from below, seen only from heaven above—I have thought that a vastly higher monument must be erected in the capital city—on whose summit the same motto shall be inscribed, a monument that shall stand for an infinitely greater government than the United States, for a Master Builder, a Ruler, incomparably wiser and greater than the revered “Father of his country.” This Kingdom for which we are ambassadors is vastly greater than the government of the United States. Our modest, quiet church, for which an appeal was made in the Signs of February 4, stands for that which is immeasurably greater and higher than that for which that towering marble memorial stands. Has the Signs asked too much for the capital city, when the appeal has been sent out for means to establish a memorial church here? Should not this work be. established yet even more strongly by planting here our representative institutions ? I can not believe that the Lord’s work will wait for years, as the Washington monument waited, for funds with which to build.
A monument, a memorial, built of the enduring materials—faith, prayer, labor, sacrifice, love—will tower into the very heavens and will last in its results through all eternity. J. S. Washburn.
1728 14th St.,
N. W. Washington, D. C.
LIST OF DONATIONS TO WASHINGTON, D. C., CHURCH, MARCH 1.
Before acknowledged	. . $53.07	Napa Church...............$3.43
J. Bowers..................2.50	Mrs. C. Vaughan	.... 2.50
Mrs. P. J. Campbell .	. . .2.50	S. Switzer.................1.00
Mrs. H. F. Parke.......1.00 Sr. Dore ................ . 2.00
R. U. Hesseltine.............25	H. L. Dye..................1.50
Mrs. H. Westphal! .	... t.00	A. M. Davis................3.00
Mrs. Wm. Ploeger.............65	Mrs. A. Lawson...............25
Mrs. M. C. Whitney	... 1.00	H. P. Cortwright...........2.00
Oakland Church.............2.co	J. G. Hunter...............2.00
A friend...............  . 2.50	Mrs. McBain................5.00
Mrs. M. J. McNally .	. . .1.00	H. Collier........... .3.50
W. H. O’Bannon.............1.25	Guerneville Church	.	,	.	.5.25
Mrs. Patterson...............25	A friend...................1.00
Roy Cottrell ..............2.00	Sallie Cain................1.00
Valencia St. Church	. . .3.10	Margaret Osterhout	.	.	. 2.00
M. M. Jordon...............1.00	------
Mrs. C. M. Hansen. . .1.00 Total .....	.$111.50
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
A canvassers’ school for the northeastern part of Iowa will be held at Cedar Rapids, beginning on the 16th inst., and continuing till the 30th.
The new church building at Spokane, Wash., is almost completed. It is fitted with church-school rooms, and is said to be a creditable structure.
The New York Indicator says: “Cheering news comes concerning a good work being done at Minetto in holding a Sunday-school. About fifty are in attendance, and a good interest is manifested in the lessons. The Little Friend is used. Some are attending the regular prayer-meeting, and desire further to study the Bible.”
A Sabbath-school of fifteen members was organized at Turkville, Kansas, February 17, by Brother T. Godfrey. Four persons had fully accepted the truth, and others were interested.
The prosecution of two of our brethren for laboring on Sunday has aroused an interest in the subject of religious liberty at Statesville, N. C. The papers have opened their columns to the truth, and three lawyers have come out against the Sunday law.
At Fredericton, N. B., where Brother W. R. Andrews has been laboring, a churcff of eleven members has been organized, and a new house of worship is being erected. The church will be dedicated about the first of June, and the first annual meeting of the Canada Union Conference will be held in it.
The following brethren and sisters arrived in San Francisco from Australia on the 5th inst.: G. A. Irwin and wife, A. T. Robinson and wife, E. H. Gates, and Miss Edith M. Graham. Brother Irwin is president of the Australasian Union Conference, Brother Gates is chairman of the missionary committee of that conference, and Sister Graham is the secretary and treasurer. They came to attend the General Conference. Brother Robinson preached in the Oakland church on the Sabbath following his arrival.
In the Central Advance we find this good report from Brother G. W. Berry: “A glorious victory has been achieved by the power of the Lord at this place. Brethren Cook and Beanies have lately been doing colporter work in this part of the Big Horn Basin. They found an interest here, and held a ten days’ meeting in September. The meetings were resumed January 2. At this writing, January 20, twenty-four souls have given themselves to the Lord. Nearly all are starting for the first time to serve the Master.”
Of the medical missionary work at Kimberley, South Africa, Brother J. V. Wilson writes to the Review: “ The great De Beers Diamond Mining Co., employing thousands of men, have voted to instruct their doctors to send their patients to our baths for treatment. Already this is greatly increasing our work. The government physician who prescribes for the post-office employees is sending the clerks here, and the Cape Police are coming also. This means a great deal for the work here. We are glad to have a part in this closing message, and wish to continue in it to the end.”
Some Life Boat workers recently visited the State prison at Lincoln, Neb., and distributed 300 papers. While talking with the prisoners one of the men said: “ If I had ever had a kind word spoken to me before, I would pot have been in this place.” The other man said, “Yes, that is the way with me. When I get out of here I am going to do all I can to help you people. The Life Boat work is a good work. We get copies every little while. I have a farm yet and some property. They are saving it until I get out, and then I am going to help you people all I can, and try to keep other fellows from getting in here.”
Brother J. E. Fulton says, in the Australasian Union Record, that “letters from Fiji give good reports of the work in that part. The work has now been started in several parts of the.group. A number have accepted the truth through reading the Rarama, our little native paper. Years ago we were told by Europeans that if our work ever took hold there, white missionaries would be compelled to remain, by the work; that if we removed, the natives would apostatize. This may be so with some, but we are glad to state there are some good, stable souls among the natives; and more, there are some who have not seen us at all, and who have, through reading alone, commenced to obey the truth. Last report says that two of our native boys have been out preaching, and both have seen a number accept the truth under their labors. . . . The Avondale Press is now' printing an edition of * Great Controversy’ in Fijian. Who will assist in paying the expenses of this work ? Some have already helped us. We are thankful for this, but we need more help. This is a book that ought to be in the hands of the people. Catholicism is making great progress in Fiji. There is no literature for the people to give them an intelligent idea of the papal power. In the 1 Great Controversy ’ the history of the past and the message of the present time are so linked together that we have therein the most valuable information that can be presented. No one will doubt this who knows the message for this time. . . . A young native Fijian is now' attending Avondale School, fitting himself to return as a missionary to his people.”
PUBLICATIONS WANTED.
Signs for missionary work in and around Chicago. Address R. E. Burke, city evangelist, 15200 Turlington Avenue, Harvey, Ill.
14 (>74)
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Vol. 29, No. 11.
THE SABBATH SCHOOL
THE
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON I.—APRIL 4, I9O3.-THE FOUNDING OF THE CHURCH.
LESSON 13.—MARCH 29.—REVIEW.
Lesson Scripture, I Thess. 1:1; Acts 17:1-10, A. R. V.
Note.—The Scripture text printed in these lessons is from the Standard American Edition of the Revised Version, published by Thomas Nelson & Sons, New York, which firm publishes the only editions authorized by the American Committee of Revision.
(1) “ Paul and Silvanus, and Timothy, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
(1) “ Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews; (2) and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, (3) opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ. (4) And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. (5) But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathered a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. (6) And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; (7) whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. (8) And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. (9) And when they had taken security from ason and the rest, they let them go.
(10) “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who when they were come thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.’’
QUESTIONS.
1.	What was probably the earliest epistle written by the apostle Paul? Note 1.
2.	Whom does he associate with him? 1 Thess. 1:1. Note 2.
3.	What record have we of Paul’s first visit to Thessalonica ? Acts 17:1. Notes.
4.	What did they find of special interest in that city?
5.	What course did the apostle take ? Verse 2.
6.	What was the burden of his preaching? Verses- Note4. 7. How were some of the Jews affected ?
■ 8. What did they do? What other class did the Gospel reach? Verse 4.
9.	How did the apostle’s success affect the Jews generally? Whom did these Jews choose? What did they do? How did their actions affect the city ? Verse 5.	,
10.	Whose house did they assault? and for what purpose ?
11.	Disappointed at not finding Paul and Silas, what did they do? What cry of alarm did they raise? Verse 6.
12.	What charge did they bring against Jason? Of what did they accuse the believers ? Verse 7.
13.	How were the people and rulers affected? Verse 8. Note 5.
14.	What did the rulers do ? Verse 9.
15.	What did the brethren do ? Verse 10.
NOTES.
1.	It is generally agreed that the earliest epistle written by the apostle Paul was the first to the Thessalonians, about A. D. 52, the second epistle from one to two years later. The burden of the first epistle is the reception and power of the Gospel message, the second coming of Cbrist, and the necessity of holiness and watchfulness. In the second epistle the apostle corrects wrong views obtained regarding the time of Christ’s coming, foretells the great apostasy, and exhorts to practical godliness. Both epistles are eminently present truth to the people of God now. In the study of the lessons, above all things else study the epistle, and receive it, as it is in truth the Word of the Lord.
2.	“ Silvanus ” is identical .with Silas, a shorter form of the same word. He was a leading man and prophet in the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15: 22, 23), his name indicating that he was a Grecian Jew. He was chosen by the apostles to accompany Paul, to bear the message of the first council to the churches. Acts 15. Afterwards he labored with Paul, and was with him in some of his greatest trials. After Paul’s imprisonment, he seems to have joined Peter. Timothy’s father was a Greek, and his mother a Jewess of Lystra. He was converted under Paul’s preaching, and proved a faithful soldier of God.
3.	Thessalonica was an important city of Macedonia. It was named after Alexander’s sister by Cassander, her husband. In Paul’s Jime it was a free city of the Roman’s, the capital of one of the four Roman divisions of Macedonia. Like other ancient cities, it was full of idolatry. It is now known by the abbreviated name Salonika. Its commerce is extensive with many nations. The population is about 80,000, of whom 30,000 are Jews, and 10,000 Greeks. It contains many churches and schools of different denominations, and ought to be a good missionary center.
4.	The burden of Paul’s preaching always was what is ever the only remedy for man’s great need,—Jesus Christ crucified and risen.
5.	The word “ rulers” is in the original “ politarchs,” not else-'where found in the New Testament; but the word is found on the ruins of a triumphal arch in the city, and the names of seven politarchs given, an undesigned coincidence witnessing to the truth of the epistle.
Lesson 7.—Christian self-control. 1 Cor. 8: 4-13. Golden Text: “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for -peace.” Rom. 14:19.
Lesson 8.—Christian love. 1 Cor. 13:1-13. Golden Text: “ Now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” 1 Cor. 13 :13.
Lesson 9.—Paul and Apollos. Acts 18:24-19:6. Golden Text, “ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.” Luke 11:13.
Lesson 10.—Paul at Ephesus. Acts 19:13-20. Golden Text: “ The name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.” Acts 19:17.
Lesson 11.—The riot at Ephesus. Acts 19:29-40. Golden Text: “ The Lord preserveth the faithful.” Ps. 31:23.
Lesson 12.—Paul’s message to the Ephesians. Eph. 2:1-10.
Golden Text: “ By grace are ye saved through faith.” Eph. 2 : 8.
Refreshing Sleep Comes
after s bath with
Golden Text.—“ Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28 : 20.	,*
Note.—The review covers Paul’s first, second, and third missionary journeys. Let the teacher trace these journeys on the map, calling attention to the progress of the Gospel during these years, and noting the extent of territory reached, the churches founded, and the obstacles overcome.
Lesson i.—Paul and Silas at Philippi. Acts 16: 22-34. Golden Text: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31.
Lesson 2.—Christian Living. Phil. 4 :1-13. Golden Text-“ Rejoice in the Lord alway.” Phil. 4 : 4.
Lesson 3.—Paul at Thessalonica and Berea. Acts 17:1-12 Golden Text: “ Thy Word is a lamp to my feet.” Ps. 119:105.
Lesson 4.—Paul’s counsel to the Thessalonians. 1 Thess. 5:14-28. Golden Text: “Hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thess. 5:21. •
Lesson 5.—Paul at Athens. Acts 17 : 22-34. Golden Text: “ He preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.” Acts 17:18.
Lesson 6.—The church at Corinth. Acts 18:1-11. Golden Text: “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 3:11.
Glenn’s
Sulphur Soap
It heals whiie it cleanses. Its medicative qualities render the skin free from impurities. Prickly heat, bums, cuts, dandruff, submit quickly to Its healing effecis.
CAUTIONGlenn’s Sulphur Soap (the only “original”) is incomparable and wonderful in its remedial effects. Take no other.
At all drug stores, or mailed on receipt of 30 cents by THE 0. Ji, CRITTESTOX CO., 115 Fulton Street, Sew York
The Good Health
Adjustable Waist
Affords ease, comfort and health. Retains symmetry and grace of the natural form. Its use will add years of pleasure to a woman’s life. It dispenses with the corset. Supports all garments without harmful pressure. No stays to break. Thousands sold. Satis= faction guaranteed. Write for circular and prices. Agents Wanted.
Good Health Pub. Co.
354 W. Main St.
Battle Creek, Mich.
CHICAGO— in LESS than DAYS
From San Francisco at 10 a. m.
CHICAGO UNION PACIFIC
& NORTHWESTERN LINE
Pullman fourteen-section Drawing-Room and Private Compartment Observation Sleeping Cars, with Telephone. Electric-reading Lamps in every Berth, Compartment and Drawing-Room. Buffet, Smoking and Library Cars, with Barber and Bath, Dining Cars—meals a la carte. Electric-lighted throughout.
Daily Tourist Car Service at 6 p. m. and Personally Conducted Excursions every Wednesday and Friday at 8 a. m. from San Francisco. The best of everything.
R. R. Ritchie
617 Market street gen. agent pacific coast
(palace hotel)	san francisco
Be Convinced
I had one trial of your E-Z Washing Tablets and am much pleased with them. Will not do without them. I enclose postal order for one dozen bars.	Mrs. S. B., Sprague, Wash.
The tablets are slowly but surely making friends. Those who have used them are loud in their praise. After a little I am sure I shall have a good sale for them. M. B., Keene, N. Y.
Enclosed please find stamps for two bars of E-Z Washing Tablets. I have used the sample you sent me and am delighted with results. Please send Tablets at once as I am entirely out.
Mrs. C. M., Barre, Vt.
Your samples of E-Z Washing Tablets received, and am well pleased with them. Find enclosed postage stamps for more. I find no fault whatever with your Tablets. I think they are all they are represented to be.	Mrs. S. H., Orland, Cal.
I send you stamps for your Washing Tablets. I used the samples and find them as represented.
Mrs. E. J. R., Fort Ripley, Minn.
Your Washing Tablets will do all you claim for them, and without injury to the clothes. 1 have used them over a year and would not want to wash without them. Washing is so much easier, as very little rubbing is required; indeed, plain clothes need no rubbing at all when boiled with the Tablet. 1 heartily recommend them.	Mrs. S. N. C., New York City.
We couldfrint many more such testimonials, but the above are sufficient to prove to any one that E-7. Washing Tablets are the best for washing clothes.
We positively guarantee them to be free from all injurious substances and will pay $10 to any one disproving it.
We will send 2 bars, (8 Tablets) sufficient to do eight washings for 2g cents, post-paid.
We Want agents to represent as in every town from Maine to California. Exclusive Territory
Liberal Terms. Write for them
Manufactured by ALFRED MALLETT,
Nyack, N. Y.
March 18, 1903.
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
(•75) IB
Home Books
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
By the Pacific Press Publishing Co.
(Entered at Oakland, Chi., as second-class mail matter.)
tsfefefeliy
A Picture Book for Parents
Every point of
THE BOY PUZZLE
is uniquely illustrated with pictures that illustrate
TRT	|_
The book is the outgrowth of personal work with and for boys, and will be found of inestimable worth to parents in solving the problems that arise in endeavor-’ing to properly train their boys.
Wr
*
Are boys made for truth and right ?
Read the answer as given in this book instead of shaking your head as you think of the boys’ uncertain ways.
TWT
Cloth Bound Post-paid, 75 cents
Things Foretold
Is a children’s hook on the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation
Printed in two colors throughout, large clear type, and illustrated.
Daniel's wonderful visions .and many things about this great prophet and statesman of old are told in simple, every-day language, and made especially attractive to children from six to twelve or fourteen years of age.
Aside from the Saviour’s life, the scriptures afford no examples more worthy of imitation in matters of integrity and faithfulness to God than Daniel. So why should not parents seek to place in the hands of their children such a book as above described?
THT
Bound in Board Covers Post-paid, 50 cents
THE
HOUSE WE
LIVE IN
Twr
A mother's talks with her three children about the human body-house
tht
It tells, in a simple and attractive story, about the various parts of the human body, and how to care for it, and how to protect it against injury from within and from without.
The wonderful things about the human body which are unknown to the children are clearly illustrated and impressed on their minds by things that are familiar and well-known to most every child..
Its powerful arguments for temperance and right habits of life are heartily recognized by old and young who have read it.
TRT
218pages, fully illustrated Post-paid, 75 cents
*
H. H. Hall, - - - - Business Manager.
Terms of Subscription.
Per Year, post-paid..........................$1 50
Six Months, 75 cts. Three Months. 40 cts.
To Foreign Countries, per year. $1.75.
SPECIAL TERMS.
i.	One new yearly subscription and one renewal, or two new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $2.50.
a. Two new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or three new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $3.25.
3- Three new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or four new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $4.00.
Sample copies sent on application.
TO OUR PATRONS.
Please be careful to write all names of persons and places plainly.
Send money by Post-office Money Order, Express Order, or Bank Draft on New York, Chicago, or San Francisco.
Orders and Drafts should be made payable to the Pacific Press Publishing Co.
Paper money or silver should be sent in a registered letter.
Registered mail is safe. Unregistered mail is at the risk of the sender.
Postage-stamps in five or ten cent denominations will be accepted for small amounts.
The address label on your paper will indicate the time to which your subscription is paid, hi case of uon-receipt of papers, or any other irregularity, please notify us immediately.
When subscriptions expire, no more papers are sent to the party except by special arrangement.
You are requested to watch the date on your label, and renew early, and save the loss of papers. We can not always furnish missing numbers.
When requesting change of address, be sure to give both old and new addresses.
Important.—If you order Signs, Our Little Friend, books, etc., at the same time, use a separate sheet of paper for each. If this request is complied with, it will materially assist in the prompt and accurate despatch of the business.
When writing to the editor, be sure to use a separate sheet of paper.
TO ADVERTISERS.
The fact that an advertisement appears in this paper indicates that as far as its managers.can ascertain, it is reliable. Extreme care is taken in the Securing of advertisements, and losses incurred through rflisrepresentation of firms advertising in this journal, have been made good by publishers. We can give no ditorial notices or assurances at the request of advertisers.
Special Offer
Our Little Friend
One year, and Things Foretold (Described in another column)
75 cents
SHOUSE WE LIVE IN
Post-paid
OUR LITTLE FRIEND makes its visits weekly, and is greeted with delight by the children. They are profited and blessed by its instructive articles written in language which they can readily understand.
The paper also contains a splendid series of lessons for the primary and kindergarten divisions of the Sabbath-school.
The above offer is good in United States, Canada, or Mexico.
The book may be sent to one name and the paper to another, if desired.
Address Your State Tract Society
^N-ewTor'k'chyStrert Pacific Press Publishing Co., Oakland, Cal.
18 West Fifth Street Kansas City, Mo.
ADDRESS
OUR LITTLE FRIEND
Oakland, California
16	76)
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Vol. 29, No. 11.
Oakland, Cal. March 18, 1903.
WWe send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance. When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the “Signs” are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon to pay for them. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.
gSF Our authority is the Bible, the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. When the Common (King James) Version, the Revised Version, or the American Standard Revised Version is used, quotations will not be designated in reference. Any Bible quotation in this paper, therefore, differing from the Common Version, unless otherwise indicated, will be from one of the two revised versions, usually the American Standard.
CONTAINED IN THIS NUMBER.
Poetry.
The Singer’s Message. Hope Onslow............... 4
True Love Begins at Home, Tnos. R. Williamson .... 10
For Jesus' Sake..............................   12
General.
The Ways of Life . ............................. 1
Christ Gives Repentance, Mrs. E. G. White....... . 2
The Gospel in Creation, No. 2, W. A. Sweany..... 2
A Good Report, H. A. St.John. . ................ 3
The Dead Man's Key...........................  .	4
The Nature of Man, L. D. Santee..................4
The Pope’s Blessing..........................  .	5
How They Became Convinced (A Sabbath Symposium) 5
Editorial.—The Life of God -Presumption—Growing in Him—Death and the Resurrection...................6,	7
Question Corner.—No. 1332-1336.................. 7
Outlook.—The Sunday Campaign—Crowding toward the
Centers—Substantial Victory in a Good Cause—What the Morgan Interests Control.................. ? . . 8, 9
The Home.—The Home, Mary Wood-Allen, M. D.—Camphorated Oil—Senator Hoar’s Tastes..............10,	it
Missions. —A Native Missionary among Cannibals—Notes from the National Capital, J. S. Washburn.......12,	13
International Sabbath-school and Sunday-school
Lessons.....................................    14
Publishers..................................... 15
A few weeks since we published an article from the Sunday School Tinies, entitled, “ When Lincoln and Beecher Prayed Together,” by Samuel Scoville, Jr. The Christian Advocate of February 12 reviews the article at some length, and, while attributing no motive to deceive on the part of the writer, shows conclusively that such an interview was highly improbable, and publishes a statement from Mr. Lincoln’s private secretary, William O- Stoddard, to show that it would have been absolutely impossible for Mr. Lincoln to have absented himself from Washington for six hours or hardly one hour, day or night, without at least one of six persons knowing it, and that any one of these would have told the others. Mr. Stoddard closes: ‘‘The story is incredible, impossible.” Surely, there is some mistake somewhere, and it looks as tho Mr. Scoville was in the mistake. This is a good illustration of the fallibility of human documents.	>
Adam’s Descendants and the Garden of Eden are great puzzles to both “ higher ” and “ lower ”*critics. The first class, of course, do not believe the Bible. What is not in harmony with their reason or knowledge they treat as mythical, legendary, or allegorical. The second class forget that God has not given the record to satisfy man’s curiosity, or to explain minute, unessential details. Whole generations and centuries are swept sometimes by a single sentence, all detail covered by one great fact. Nearly two thousand years are covered from that first week of Genesis 1 to the Flood in five short chapters, three of which relate almost exclusively to the first pair and their first three children; and much, very much, of detail is omitted. One correspondent sends a letter designed to prove that all five races originated at the beginning, but there is absolutely no evidence that the race was other than was Adam till after the Flood. What God designs that we shall get from those first chapters is the great moral lesson they teach. This lesson includes (1)
God’s creative power and goodness in calling the earth from chaos and darkness to cosmos and light, and fitting it for the home of man; and hence God’s power to take man from the chaos and darkness of sin and death to the order and light of the Gospel of Christ; (2) God’s wisdom in making one man the head of the race, and so teaching the divine principles of fatherhood and brotherhood; (3) the evils of sin, of inharmony with God, meaning ultimate separation, if persisted in; (4) God’s goodness in giving man hope and help in his sinful condition; (5) the two great types of faith and unbelief, in Cain and Abel, and the fruit of each. Study these and other great moral lessons of Genesis-, chapters 1 to 5, and be profited.
The Deluge of Noah’s Time is another great difficulty. Here, again, the “ higher critics ” treat it as a mythical legend; and the “ lower critics” concede it, but say that it must be local, prevailing in the Euphrates Valley, where some seem to think is the proper place for the Garden of Eden. (Others place it at the North Pole.) And yet the obvious, evident record of Genesis 6 declares that the whole earth was covered; that ‘‘all flesh, wherein is the breath of life” was destroyed; that, not’alone were the windows of heaven opened, but that “ the fountains of the great deep ” were broken up, continents sank and rose, ‘‘the mountains rose, the valleys sank down (Ps. 104:8, A. R. V.); that “all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered;” fifteen cubits upward above the mountains the waters prevailed, and all animal life that was upon the face of the earth perished. This, and much more, are we told by the record of the Bible, and the traditions of widely separate tribes and peoples all over the earth confirm the storyJ But this does not necessarily mean that the waters were five miles high, above Mt. Everest of the Himalayas. Evidence all goes to show that the conformation of the earth was vastly different before the great cataclysm of the Flood. There was much more land surface, and much less water surface before the Flood. Much or all of the land sank; ridges of land became ocean valleys; ocean beds became chains of mountains. In the words of an apostle: “For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; by which means the world [the cosmos, the arrangement, the order, shape, formation] that then was, being overflowed with water, perished,” and the antediluvian world is set in contrast to the conditions “ that now are." 2 Peter 3:5-7.. How futile, then, in the light of these facts, to attempt to locate the Garden of Eden, or any other pre-diluvian geographical point. The Deluge stands forth as a great fact of inspired history and tradition, even of the unlettered tribes of earth, to demonstrate that He who could make a world could unmake it; and that amidst the mightiest cataclysms of earth there is salvation for God’s people. —-------------------------------
Yes, They Are Easy.—A friend sends us a clipping from the Free Methodist, of Chicago, entitled, “ Easy Questions for Immersionists to Answer.” Here are the first four, fair samples of all the rest:—
Where do we read that we must be baptized by immersion ?
In what part of the Bible do we find that Jesus was baptized by immersion ?
Where does it say that Jesus was baptized for an example for us ?	* •
What right have you to say that John baptized by immersion ?
Now the simple fact is that baptize is. a Greek word transferred to our language, but not translated. It has come to mean by usage a so-called Christian rite performed in several different ways. But that is not the meaning of the Greek word baptizo. The meaning of the Greek word is to immerse, whelm. It would be tautological nonsense, were it not for the derived meaning of the word,—a meaning which has no place in Scripture,—to speak of baptism by immersion. There is no other baptism. One might as well speak of baptism by baptism, or .immersion by immersion. Baptism is immersion, and immersion is baptism. That is what the word means. All meaning apart from this is derived meaning, and is a perversion of the word and the rite. When Peter said, “ Metanoesate," he meant “repent;” and when he said, “ baptisthetb," he as truly meant “be immersed.” If we would take the words of the Bible for what they mean, we would not have to guess so
much about their “interpretation.” There is a word used in the New Testament, rhantizb, meaning to sprinkle. The Lord might, have used that instead of baptizo, but He did not. “Repent and be sprinkled” would sound strange, even to a pedo-Baptist. “ Repent and be immersed” it would be, if the Greek were translated. And, by the way, the American Standard Revised Version renders baptized “ in water,” instead of '''with water;” and there was no immersionist on the committee.
The Chain-Letter Scheme.—A brother writes us from Armona, Cal., asking us what to do with a chain-letter. He received it, saw no harm in it, and sent it on. The one to whom he sent it returned it; and now he does not know what to do with it. It will cost $9.16 to return the chain-letter to the originator, besides all the cost of paper and postage. Now, what shall he do?—Let it drop right there. Unless postage, at least, is enclosed, no one in this world is placed under obligation to reply to, or to write, a letter, simply because he is asked to write. There are business letters, friendly letters, and letters involving mutual obligations, which demand reply; but no chain-letter that we have ever seen demands the writing of any other letter, unless mayhap, a good missionary letter to the one from whom you received it. This chain-letter in question, “No. 458,” is a harmless sort of one; it is a request that the individual will pray earnestly, and ask some one else to, that God will abundantly bless all efforts of missionaries, and raise up more missionaries, and that the chain of prayer may not be broken. Now, all this is good enough, blit effectual prayer does not come in that way. Every true Christian is burdened for some other person or persons. If he labors as the Spirit moves, his burden will grow. God will give him travail of soul for others’ birth. But if he is not where God can impress his heart, we have no faith in his chain-letter promises, or any other mechanical means.
Take some time each day to commune with God; to meditate upon the things of God; upon what He has done for you; upon what He has promised that He would do. To do this satisfactorily, one must be familiar with God’s revelation of Himself in the written Word and in the life of Christ. An hour of solitude is far from misspent time, if in it one has been holding converse with his Maker. Such solitude spent in earnest, sincere prayer will do more for us than any amount of theological training without it. In such solitude we are not solitary; we are in fhe audience-chamber of God. His ear is open to our pleadings, and the fountain of wisdom and consolation is open to our needs. It is ouf blessed privilege to enter that chamber when we will, and learn there the.meaning of much that may be mysterious and uncertain to us now. We can make our times of solitude rich with blessings if we will.
----♦♦ ----- -
There Is No Truth in It.—Several years ago there were committed in a Baptist Church in San Francisco the horrible murders of two young women. Theo-dore Durant was tried for one of these murders, found guilty, and executed according to law. No well-grounded suspicion pointed to any other party or parties as being implicated with him. Notwithstanding all this, reports have been persistently circulated in the East, stating that the pastor of that church, Dr. Gibson, has since confessed to the crime. This, we believe, is the fourth time the Signs has denied this, in response to questions from correspondents. Mr. Gibson has made no such confession, and is still pastor of that church. It is about tilne that the falsehood died.
A correspondent sends this note, which he seems to think is something to occasion surprise:—
" The First M. E. Church, of Camden, N. J., one of the largest in the State, has inaugurated a new thing for Methodists in public worship. They have installed a surpliced choir. What next ? ”
And why not ? Is it not an “ Episcopal ” church ? If it carries the name and the organization, why not the form of worship ? This is the argument of an aristocratic Methodist Church in San Francisco, which recently decided to adopt the whole Episcopal ritual and form. The above action may be out of harmony with past Methodist custom, but it is logical, and to be expected. It is a pertinent sign of the times.