OUR TIMES INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE YEAR Of THE BIBLE THE CROSS AND YOU THE MISSING TEXT A SURE FAITH IN A SURE FUTURE Psalm 65: "Thou visilest the earth and waterest it." GLEN MORRISTON INVERNESS-SHIRE SCOTLAND OIL PRAISE THE LORD by Elsie E. Pratt FOR golden sunshine, sparkling dew; Gay dancing flowers of every hue; For trees and shrubs in green array; For earth, for sky; for night, for day — Oh, praise the Lord. For blossomed boughs and soft green grass; For rippling streams through fields to pass; For woods and lanes; for hill and vale; For mountain peaks and lowly dale— Oh, praise the Lord. For bare brown earth, and Winter's rest; For Spring's sweet song from feathered breast; For Autumn's tints and Summer's call; For cloud and wind and soft snowfall— Oh, praise the Lord. For light, for dark, for stars to shine; For desert sand and salty brine; For all earth's store by which we're fed; Refreshing drink and daily bread — Oh, praise the Lord. EARTH'S BOUNTEOUS GIFTS — BELOW, ABOVE; ALL SPEAK TO ME OF GOD'S GREAT LOVE. THE BIBLE and This month ... OUR TIMES A FAMILY JOURNAL OF CHRISTIAN LIVING DEDICATED TO THE PROCLAMATION THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL. PRESENTING THE BIBLE AS THE WORD OF GOD AND JESUS CHRIST AS OUR ALL-SUFFICIENT SAVIOUR AND COMING KING EDITOR � W LESLIE EMMERSON ASSISTANT EDITOR � RAYMOND D. VINE ART DIRECTOR . � . C. M. HUBERT COWEN CIRCULATION MANAGER � W J NEWMAN VOLUME 82/8 • AUGUST, 1966 • PRICE 1/- PRINTED AND PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE STANBOROUGH PRESS. LIMITED WATFORD • HERTFORDSHIRE ' ENGLAND ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION, including postage 17/6 ' SIX MONTHS 8/9 Please notify change of address promptly CONTENTS EDITORIAL BILLY GRAHAM AND "TOTAL" EVANGELISM � GENERAL ARTICLES 4 YEAR OF THE BIBLE � A � S � Maxwell 7 THE HARVEST OF ARMAGEDDON � J. � R. � Lewis 8 CRUCIAL ISSUES OF THE SIXTIES-8 Is � the � Gospel � Personal � or � Social/ � J � A. � McMillan 10 THE CROSS AND YOU � G � D. Keough 12 THE MAN WITH 40 NAMES � H. � M. S. � Richards 14 HERALDS OF HIS COMING-6 The � Final � Witness � . � . � . � . � . � . � . � . . S. � G. � Maxwell 16 WILL PROTESTANTISM AND ROME UNITE? . . � S. G. � Hyde 18 ALL THE WAY TO FAITH � Ernest � Cox 22 CAN YOU � FIND THE MISSING TEXT 7 � . � . . F. C. � J. � Pearse 24 ARE THE HEAVENLY-MINDED DREAMERS? . . � Lois � L. � Lane 28 BIBLE FLORA AND FAUNA-11 The � Lizard � of � Leviticus � � Eric � Hardy, � F.Z.S. 30 REGULAR FEATURES YOUR � BIBLE QUESTIONS ANSWERED ...... 29 THE � CHILDREN'S � PAGES � 32 MIRROR � OF OUR TIME � 35 POEM OH, � PRAISE THE � LORD � Elsie � E. � Pratt 2 COVER PICTURE: Rye Harbour, Sussex BILLY GRAHAM'S third Crusade in Britain has revived discussion of his methods and message. Our views are expressed in the editorial this month "Billy Graham and 'Total' Evangelism."—Page 4. In honour of the founding of the American Bible Society, President L. B. Johnson has named this year "The Year of the Bible." Arthur S. Maxwell writes about what our sister society has accomplished.— Page 7. In a harvest message J. R. Lewis draws a parallel with "The Harvest of Armageddon."—Page 8. There is much discussion these days as to what is the primary purpose of the Gospel and the Christian church. J. A. McMillan therefore poses and answers the question, "Is the Gospel Personal or Social?"—Page 10. That no-one can evade the challenge of the cross is stressed by G. D. Keough in "The Cross and You."—Page 12. "The Final Witness," as the name implies, is the last article in S. G. Maxwell's important series on "Heralds of His Coming."—Page 16. The union of the churches is a common topic these days and many committees are at work seeking to formulate proposals to this end. In this issue S. G. Hyde asks the ultimate question, "Will Protestan- tism and Rome Unite?"—Page 18. Not long ago Lord Eccles wrote a book Half Way to Faith. Ernest Cox takes his theme farther in his article, "All the Way to Faith."— Page 22. Many people have the idea that somewhere in the Bible authority can be found for the substitution of Sunday for Sabbath as the Christian rest day. F. C. J. Pearse has some interesting things to say in his article, "Can You Find the Missing Text?"—Page 24. It has been said jokingly that some people are so heavenly-minded that they are of little earthly use! Lois Lane takes up this challenge in "Are the Heavenly-Minded Dreamers?"—Page 28. Don't forget to let the children read their special pages.—Pages 32- 34. BY THE EDITOR DISCERNING THE TIMES... CURRENT EVENTS IN THE LIGHT OF THE BIBLE BILLY GRAHA an T TAL" EVANGELISM E VER since Dr. Billy Graham returned home after his third Great Evangelistic Crusade in Britain, and his second among London's millions, discus- sion as to his methods and message and the results he has achieved have been going on, and are likely to continue for a long time yet. From his experience at Harrin- gay twelve years ago and at Manchester in 1961, Dr. Graham knew that he would have his critics, and on the way over on the Queen Mary he actually pre- pared five pages of answers to some of the anticipated questions. But when he arrived he had to admit that "the opposition" was "more intelligent, sophisticated, and sharper, and far more cynical" than the last time he was here. Even so, most of the critics did not give him much trouble. Was not the campaign going to be inordinately costly? Was it necessary to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds to attract men to Christ ? Of course it is vastly more costly to organize a central campaign in London than for in- dividual churches to further the cause of the Gospel in their local areas. But in any case, as Billy tellingly put it, his campaign would cost no more than Cassius Clay 4 received for three minutes in the ring against one of his opponents. The cost would be one-fourth of the cost of a fighter plane built to destroy life, and one-fifth of what Liz Taylor got for playing the part of Cleopatra! Were his methods, utilizing every technique of modern com- munication and mass appeal, justi- fied in preaching the Good News of the Gospel ? He believed they were. If the Gospel is to gain a hearing amid the multitudinous counter-attractions of our modern world, every modern technique is legitimate and necessary to bring the message of salvation to men. As he said at one of his press conferences: "In one night on T.V. you can preach to more people than did the apostle Paul or our Lord in the whole of their lives." But doesn't the build-up of the evangelist prior to and during a campaign tend to obscure the One he is seeking to proclaim ? Anyone who heard Dr. Graham preach at Earl's Court would have to agree that such criticism is certainly base- less in his case. Before the assem- bled thousands, many of whom admittedly c am e to see the American evangelist in action, he did not preach Billy Graham; he preached Christ as the one hope of humanity, individually and collectively. Of that no-one could be in any doubt. That some people, like one of his television critics, may have "fallen in love" with him, rather than with Christ, was not his fault. When Paul and Barnabas were preaching in Lystra on their first missionary journey, the people had to be restrained from garlanding them as gods in the flesh, but no- one would accuse Paul of not put- ting Christ first in his ministry. Then, of course, the question of his appeal to the emotions of his hearers came up. To this Billy re- plied that it surely was ludicrous in an age when the emotions are being played upon by every kind of propaganda, to suggest that the Gospel ought to be presented with- out emotion. We respond with our minds to the truth and our hearts go out in love to Him "who first loved us." There is certainly a place for a proper appeal to the emotions in the presentation of the Gospel, and Billy Graham knows as well as any how to keep the balance between r ea son and emotion, between the head and the heart. All such criticisms levelled against his methods, he showed to be without any real substance. Money and modern techniques are essential to public evangelism in an age when the ears and eyes of men are concentrated upon the "things of earth" as never before in the history of mankind. Far more pertinent were the questions Dr. Graham had to answer about the content of his message. The liberals, of course, said his message was outdated by modern knowledge. They wanted a more sophisticated presentation in terms of modern science and psychology. But Billy replied that twentieth- century enlightenment had done nothing to destroy his faith in what "the Bible says." "Modern science," he declared, "has not shaken my faith, rather the reverse. . . . Modern discoveries confirm the Bible all the time." He further pointed out that though human knowledge and power may have vastly increased, human nature has not changed, and the Bible's message to men has not changed either. Indeed, human pride has risen to such unpreceden- ted heights that man needs to be reminded, as never before, that he is a sinner, in rebellion against God, and faced with the imminent judgment of God, and that his only hope is in the salvation offered him by God through Christ. "The Bible" and its "message," rejected by many, is today "more relevant than ever." There were others who wanted Dr. Graham to preach about changing the structure of society rather than just changing the "in- dividual," about the building of the kingdom of God on this earth now, rather than about a future kingdom in an "earth made new." But Jesus did not attempt to reform Roman or Jewish society, though it needed it just as much. He came to re- concile men to God, and Billy Graham is right Opposite.— Dr. Billy Graham preaching at Earl's Court. Right.— Kenneth Harris Interviews Dr. Graham for a television programme "About Religion." when he insists that this is still the church's most urgent task. The Gospel is not about social justice; it is about changing "men's lives from the inside out . . . which, if accepted, could create a climate of good will in the world" which would transform society. Social change at best can only be a veneer. The purpose of the Gospel is to change the hearts of men. Out of all these criticisms Dr. Billy Graham came out well. His aim was to preach the Good News of the Gospel and lead men to a saving knowledge of Christ, and at Earl's Court, as in all his other campaigns, many p e o p le un- doubtedly found Christ as a per- sonal Saviour and many more, already committed Christians, en- tered into a new and rich spiritual experience in Christ. But when all this had been said about the immediate results of the Billy Graham Crusades, the great problem remains of the paucity of lasting results, and it is this that points up the really vital question about his whole pattern of evan- gelism. In all modesty we believe that the explanation of the fundamen- 5 tal weakness of the Billy Graham Crusades is that they are not "total evangelism." In harmony with the Great Com- mission, Dr. Graham seeks, under God, to play his part in taking the Gospel "into all the world," in teaching "all nations," and in bringing "every creature" into con- frontation with Christ. His methods, as his associate Leighton Ford said in Christianity Today, are "total" in that, instead of regarding evangelism as the exclusive prerogative of the "pro- fessionals," he seeks to "mobilize the whole church" for the "penet- ration of the whole world." But where he falls down is in failing to declare "all things" which the messengers of the Gospel were "commanded" by Christ to proclaim. In seeking to gain the support of all the churches necessary for the prosecution of his vast mission, he has to preserve a strict neutrality between established church and free church, between high church and low church, even between Catholics and Protestants ; he has to counsel the souls revitalized by his ministry to "go back" to their own churches, and he has to leave to the new converts the choice as to which church they would like to join. Indeed, specific instructions are issued to the counsellors that they are "not to attempt to teach a particular doctrine or in any way to influence a person toward his own church or denomination" on pain of losing their place in the team. But this was certainly not the method of Jesus, it was not the 6 method of Peter and Paul, and it was not the method of Luther, Calvin, Wesley and other great evangelists of the past who all sought to call men away from the "traditions of men" to the pure Word of God. Leighton Ford in The Christian asserts that "mass evangelism high- lights the essential unity in Christ of many Christian groups," and says that "the beneficial effects of such oneness in purpose cannot be over-estimated." But the fact is it fails to warn men of what Jesus and the apostles made very clear, namely that the "mystery of iniquity" has been at work in the church from its very inception, and that in the last days apostasy will attain such dimensions within the church that the vast majority will become captive to two apostate spiritual powers, designated "the beast" and "his image," leaving only a remnant holding fast to the "faith of Jesus" and "the com- mandments of God." Rev. 14:6-12. The mass evangelism of the Billy Graham Crusades obscures the fact that the "unity of the church" is not by any means synonymous with the "unity of the churches," and it makes very real the peril that men may be brought to a knowledge of Christ and then left, without guidance, to be en- gulfed in the deepening apostasy of our time. "Inquirers" gather around the rostrum after one of the Crusade services. If modern ecumenism, which seeks to persuade all Christians to unite in the "great church" and then resolve their differences, has been aptly characterized as "unity in the dark," Billy Graham's pattern of evangelism can equally appropriately be described as "evangelism in the dark," because after bringing people to the "Light of the world," they are sent out without any certain guidance, into the deepening darkness of last-day apostasy. Rather remarkably, D. J. Wilson- Haffenden, the Crusade Chairman, in an article in the Life of Faith, "Britain Needs You, Billy," pointed out that one of the dangers of today is in thinking "that our religious problems can be solved by a spurious unity in a united apostate church," and he com- plained that some "pledged by virtue of their appointments to defend our Protestant faith and to uphold the truth of God, are proving unfaithful to their vows." This situation, he said, was one of the reasons why he believed that Billy Graham had been "called again by God to serve as a prophet to our nation." But what sort of a prophet was he when he told one newspaper interviewer that he found himself "closer to the Catholics" than to the radical Protestants of the Continued on page 27 Part of the choir of 2,500 voices which lead the singing in the Earl's Court Crusade. YEAR OF THE BIBLE by ARTHUR S. MAXWELL T 0 commemorate the founding of the American Bible Society in 1816, one year after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, President Lyndon Johnson has designated 1966 as "The Year of the Bible," and the Society has set its goal at ten million new readers by the end of the year. The Bible societies, of which the British and Foreign Bible Society was the pioneer, were the outgrowth of a movement which had been gather- ing momentum since the Reformation of the six- teenth century, which greatly quickened man's interest in the Bible. One of the first organizations formed for the specific purpose of circulating the Scriptures was the Canstein Bible Institute, founded in 1710 at Halle, in Saxony. Some years later various small societies with a similar purpose began to appear in England, one of them being called the "Naval and 'Military Bible Society," devoted exclusively to dis- tributing the Scriptures to soldiers and seamen. Then in 1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society, the first national Bible Society, was founded, followed by the Dublin (Ireland) Bible Society in 1806, and the Edinburgh (Scotland) Bible Society in 1809. The movement spread to the Continent and, despite all the turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, Bible societies sprang up in Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Holland, Poland, the Scandinavian coun- tries, and Iceland. In 1912 a Bible society was established in Russia with the approval of Czar Alexander I. Leaping the Atlantic, the same mysterious impulse to circulate the Scriptures led to the establishment of a Bible society in Philadelphia in December, 1808, followed in 1809 by societies in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, and New Jersey, with others coming on the scene in succeeding years. In May, 1816, a convention representing thirty- one state and local Bible societies met in New York City and established the American Bible Society, under the presidency of Elias Boudinot. The results have been infinitely greater than the founders could possible have imagined. Since 1816 this Society has distributed at least a portion of the Scriptures to more than 750,000,000 people throughout 150 countries. At least one book of the Bible has been translated and published in 1,250 languages, of which about 900 are still in use. In one language or another some portion of the Bible is now available to at least ninety-five per cent of the world's population. Far from becoming decrepit with advancing age the American Bible Society is more active and aggressive than ever. Designating 1966 as "The Year of the Bible," it is seeking public support in order to give the Bible still wider circulation in more languages among ever more people, nations, and tongues. That God's hand is in all this we have no doubt. The very existence of this Society, and the many others like it around the globe, is one of the most striking signs of the times, reminding us anew of the great prophecy of Jesus, "This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24:14. 7 T HE woman, her eyes straying to the display of flowers and washed vegetables being arranged for the harvest festival by her friends, slipped on the top marble step, and falling, crushed on the altar table the bunch of grapes which were in her hand. The juice quickly spread, staining the white linen altar cloth. Like blood stains, she thought to herself, spilt among the harvest produce. by J. R. LEWIS The Harvest of Armageddon She was right. Crushed grapes at harvest time do remind one of blood stains. When the grapes are harvested from the slopes of the Rhine and the Rhone, the berries are trodden and trampled in the winepress vats for ten hours a day or more. And the arms, the legs, and the skirts of the peasants become splashed and stained with the spurting juice until they have the appearance of being splashed with blood itself. It needs little imagination to liken the men, perspiring and stained as they trod the grape harvest, to the gore-stained fighting men returning from the carnage of battle. Which is why certain inspired penmen of long ago, whose spiritual eye- sight enabled them to see farther than most of us, saw frightening imagery in the scenes of the grape harvest. They saw in the harvest a symbol of the bloodshed and carnage which would come one day upon all the earth. They saw that violence would seed and multiply, re-seed and fructify until the earth would harvest a veritable holocaust of blood- shed, culminating in what they called the Day of the Lord, or Armageddon. Harvest and war Although it is purely coincidental that the two last world wars began in the harvest months of August and September, these wise men of old, had they lived today, would not have missed the irony of it, the grape harvest being trodden in West Germany, as the blood of the forces of evil was being trodden in France. Said one of the old prophets: "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, travel- ling in the greatness of His strength? . . . Where- fore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat? . . . I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me, for I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury ; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment." Isa. 63:1-3. The picture is of an Avenger, splendidly dressed as a conqueror, yet with His rich robes splashed and stained with blood. The hero explains that he looks like one who has trodden the grapes in the winepress because he has been at war, he has trampled upon all the evil of the earth and destroyed it. The imagery is prophetic, and depicts the work of Christ, who at the end of time will come as the Avenger to destroy all those stubbornly impenitent who by the evil of their ways have contributed to the harvest of violence at the end of time. This harvest imagery of the Avenging Christ is quite common in Scripture. It is found in Revelation fourteen, and also nineteen : "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. . . . And blood came out of the winepress." Rev. 14:19, 20. Harvest and the end Harvest celebrations point not only to a climax of existence, but are reminders also of finality, of an end. Harvest tells us that growth has been com- pleted and development has come to an end. There has been the seed, the blade, and now the full corn in the ear. Now there is completeness, the harvest, and also the end. Jesus saw life like this, and He applied what He saw to the growth and 8 spread of evil, saying, "The harvest is the end of the world." Matt. 13:39. Flowers spread, weeds spread faster, wickedness spreads fastest of all. And evil will multiply until it reaches a climax and is destroyed. Even now the influences of evil are multiplying like some horrible malodorous growth, producing crops of violence and passion unknown before. As one has written: "Agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating, strengthening for the last great crisis, . . . daily papers are full of indica- tions of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are on every hand. Men possessed by demons are taking the lives of men, women, and of little children. Every species of evil prevails." This tide of wickedness is depicted in the Scriptures: "I saw three unclean spirits. . . . They are the spirits of devils, . . . which go forth . . . [to] the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Rev. 16:13, 14. Here are revealed the unseen, malevolent spiritual forces at work, preying upon the minds of men, deluding the senses of men, seducing the inclinations of men to do evil. Such nonsense has been written about Armageddon as to make men dismiss the idea of it ; but in these verses is given a true picture of things as they are. There is a triumvirate of evil leading humanity into a rejection of the ways of God ; the three generals of Armageddon seeking to destroy law and order, to undermine the pillars of civilization, and bring about its downfall. One hymn writer has summarized it all thus : "Wicked spirits gather round thee Legions of those foes of God. Principalities most mighty, Walk unseen the earth abroad. They are gathering to the battle Strengthened for the last great strife, Christian, arm, be watchful, ready, Struggle manfully for life." At the moment we have one cause for which to be grateful, and that is, there is a restraint placed upon the powers of evil. (See Revelation 7:1.) Men of character, people of strong conviction, are being used of God to withstand and check the downward tendency of their fellows. Dr. Ellicott, once Bishop of Gloucester, wrote: "There is today a great body of public opinion which restrains evil from breaking out in its ruder and more violent forms. Men may be hostile to spiritual religion, yet they may scarcely like to shock public sentiment, or to incur the charge of depraving public morals But there is coming a time after false principles haw been taught, corrupt manners been tolerated, the light of better things darkened, when pub!' 9 sentiment loses all sense of shame, and the decorums of life which have acted as a breakwater against the tide of evil are swept away. Then the hostile powers of evil, unchecked by popular conscience will cross boldly over, and invade the sacred soil of public life. Evil will be universal." The end will come. Hope for "the last day" Those who have read The Last Day of Berlin when 1,562,000 houses were damaged by bombing, when 20,000 guns concussed the people's ears, when 100,000 women from eight to eighty were assaulted, will comprehend what unhibited evil can be like. It was thus at the fall of Jerusalem, when in the agony of hunger women ate their own children. It was thus during the French Reign of Terror, when the Seine ran with the blood of the dead. There is indeed a terrible harvest ahead, a veritable bloodbath. (Revelation 9 and 19.) This is the harvest of Evil, the harvest that is Armageddon. Is the future wholly forbidding, then? There is one bright hope. In the ancient battles that were fought within the vicinity of the village of Armageddon in north Palestine, the God of heaven providentially delivered His people from the powers that were threatening to destroy them. So in the last great conflict between good and evil, when it will appear that the violence of wicked men is about to obliterate that which is good, there will be a wonderful deliverance wrought. Our Lord, whose coming in glory has been the hope of the church for so long, will come back to earth as the Great Avenger. The Christ who once drove from the temple the racketeering priests, the unscrupulous sellers of cattle and sheep, the extortionate money changers, will avenge Himself and His people of all those who by their wickedness have destroyed the earth. Those people who resist temptation, and put personal effort into the task of upholding Christian standards, these will not be without a place of safety when the Avenger comes to punish the wicked in the harvest that is Armageddon. In his eighth article J. A. McMillan talks about the primary task of the church "Ye must be born again," was Jesus' counsel to one distinguished rabbi who came to Him. IS THE GOSPEL T first blush this seems to be a totally irrelevent question. It is like asking, "Is an orange sweet and nourishing?" or, "Is a Jaguar (the car, I mean) fast and comfortable?" The Gospel of Jesus Christ is obviously directed toward the individual. The biblical terms, "any man" and "whosoever," are emphatically personal terms, and make it abundantly clear that God saves men personally—not en masse. John, the beloved disciple, in the preface to his gospel record, says that Jesus "entered His own realm, and His own would not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, to those who have yielded Him their allegiance, He gave the right to become the children of God, not born of any human stock, or by the fleshly desire of a human father, but the offspring of God Himself." John 1:11-13. (N.E.B.) Just as we are born into the world individually as persons, so we must be born again, as individual souls, by accepting the Lord Jesus as a personal Saviour and yielding Him our personal fealty. However, we are not saved in a vacuum. As individuals join themselves to Christ by an act of faith, so they become members of a redeemed society. "And day by day the Lord added to their number those who He was saving." Acts 2:47. (N.E.B.) It would follow from this that while the Gospel is primarily addressed to the individual, it is not exclusively personal, but carries the implication of a number of redeemed souls coming together in an organized group. It is at this level that much modern thinking tends to become confused and is in danger of departing from the principles of its Founder, our Lord Jesus Christ. The church and society A very pertinent article written by Anthony Lejeune, appeared a few months ago in the Weekend Telegraph. He called attention to the efforts of the organized churches to get into the political arena and wield formative influences, and made the thrust that "the political priest is rampant." There follow several paragraphs which deserve to be repeated: " 'A Christian socialist movement,' wrote Donald Soper in the Tribune, 'seems to make sense, whereas the very idea of a Christian conservative movement sounds ridiculous, as of course it is.' Scarcely better 10 was the clergyman who declared on television recently that 'religion is about social justice.' Instead of proclaiming the good news of eternal life, the political priests have allowed themselves to become preoccupied with a social gospel concerned with housing rather than heaven, with race relations rather than salvation. Canon Collins even went so far as to say that, if clergymen were not concerned about politics, they 'would not be concerned about anything that matters.' "This increasing preoccupation of the church, or at least of a clamorous part of it, with worldly politics, has been accompanied, not unexpectedly, by an increasing carelessness about the actual doctrines of Christianity. "Religion is not about social justice. It is not primarily a code of behaviour or a charitable feeling. It is an assertion about the nature of the universe. If religious doctrines have any validity, there can be nothing approaching them in impOrtance." In concentrating on secular concerns, the leaders of the churches are exposing themselves to criticism for getting involved in the political issues of the turbulent times in which we live. The most pertinent criticism that may be levelled against religious leaders today is that they are con- versant with world problems, and yet confused about the verities of the faith. Not social justice but eternal salvation After all, we look to the church to offer hope amid the despairs of this age, and divine certainty SOCIAL? amid the perplexities and confusions of our time. If our religious leaders forsake the certainties of biblical teaching, and instead became pundits on the political and economic questions of the day, are they not thereby becoming blind leaders of the blind, and instead of giving us bread, are they not offering us a stone? Anthony Lejeune adds: "If the church has noth- ing more than the world to offer, why go to the church? If the church provides no escape from the spirit of the times, what help is it ? If we want politics, there are politicians and political parties in plenty. If we want philanthropy, there are a multitude of charitable bodies. If we want practical advice, there are counsellors, lawyers, doctors, and psychologists. "But these are not what we want. These are the diversions and trivia of the world. They leave us, as they left our remotest ancestors, gazing out un- comforted into the awful darkness. The church's function is to bring light into that darkness, to take the sting from death itself, to preach good news which no election manifesto can promise. Anything which hinders, or distracts from, this function is unworthy and a betrayal. "The case for secular involvement is familiar enough. The church, the argument runs, in order to capture the hearts and minds of twentieth-century men, must be in the forefront of the campaigns which absorb them; campaigns for social and economic equality, for better housing and welfare services, for the advancement of the coloured races. But the argument is a fallacy. For the church to identify itself with secular causes will inevitably scandalize some of the faithful and deter some waverers, and it can have no compensating advantage unless, sooner or later, it actually brings irreligious people into the religious fold, persuading them to believe in God and to pursue the salvation of their own souls. That this latter result in fact occurs there is no evidence whatever." The early church faced this problem and we believe that God's Holy Spirit led the apostles in its solution. Custodians of the Gospel The New English Bible translation tells the story with clarity and simplicity. "During this period, when disciples were growing in number, there was disagreement between those who spoke Greek and those who spoke the language of the Jews. The former party complained that their widows were being overlooked in the daily dis- tribution. So the Twelve called the whole body of disciples together and said, 'It would be a grave mistake for us to neglect the Word of God in order to wait at table. Therefore, friends, look out seven men of good reputation from your number, men full of the Spirit and of wisdom, and we will appoint them to deal with these matters, while we devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.' " This proposition pleased the church, it was acted on with dispatch, and seven deacons were chosen and ordained to attend to the secular needs of the growing community of Christians. The result of this distribution of responsibility, whereby the apostles of Christ were left free to devote their energies to the preaching of the Gospel, is clearly stated. "The Word of God now spread more and more widely ; the number of disciples in Jerusalem went on increasing rapidly, and very many of the priests adhered to the faith." Acts 6:1-7. (N.E.B.) Would not more people be attracted to the church Continued on page 21 11 T HE cross of Christ, that supreme manifestation of the love of God for men who are in rebellion against Him, concerns every man in the world individually. It concerns you. It is impossible for you to ignore it, or to escape its consequences for good or ill. Whatever a man's race may be, whatever his country of origin or residence, whatever his religious profession, or lack of profession, whether he is white or black, or yellow or red, or any colour, he is a creature in rebellion against God, a fallen son of Adam, a lost soul, and he is either saved by the cross of Christ, or con- demned by it. It is inescapable. That is a stupendous fact, and every man must face it sooner or later. In fact, each of us is now facing it, for it confronts us, whether we will or not. You may say, I am an evolu- tionist, an agnostic, a Hindu, a Muslim, and I don't believe in Christ or His cross. You may wish to ignore it, you may reject it, you may ridicule it and pour contempt on it; but by doing any or all of these things you cannot escape it, or its consequences. It is for you, from Him who loves you, a means of salvation and eternal life, or a source of judgment and eternal damnation. It is for you, and you alone, to decide which alternative will be yours: You may make it life, if you so desire, or you may choose death. The choice, whichever it is, is your own, and you cannot escape making it. Neglect or indifference is in reality a choice of death. You should, therefore, be aware of the facts, and should make your choice with a full knowledge of what you are doing. Eternal life and glory are freely offered you, eternal death also confronts you; and life or death is no mere bagatelle. You need not be left in ignorance and find yourself suddenly confronted by death, with no escape, and you will be wise not to feign ignorance. The challenge of the cross What then is the message of the cross to you, to every man? It is this : For your sake, to redeem you, the Creator became a man. "The Word was made flesh" (John 1:14), is one of the most profound and thrilling statements of fact ever made. Consider it in its context. "In the beginning was the Word, . . . and the Word was God. . . . All things were made by Him ; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; . . . and the Word was made flesh." John 1:1-14. The Creator became a creature, became a man, and in- fused life into humanity, and as a consequence fallen 12 by G. D. KEOUGH man may become again a son of God, a son of the King of heaven and earth, with all that that im- plies of privilege. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God." A most wonderful and thrilling series of statements. They constitute the Gospel, the good news from God. They mean that your Creator left the high throne of the universe to rescue you from sin and death, not from death only, but from sin which is the underlying cause of death, and raise you once more to the status of a son of God. Today, through the discoveries of the astronomers, we are gaining a new understanding of what it means when we speak of "the throne of the universe." We know that our mighty world is a mere speck of dust when compared with the galaxy of which it is part. Of the thousands of millions of stars that compose our galaxy, even our Solar System, with all its vastness, is, comparatively speak- ing, an insignificant unit. And this great galaxy is but one of a million such galaxies that fill illimitable space. The greatest minds cannot grasp the immensity of these, "the outskirts of His ways." Job 26:14. Now the One who created all these, who upholds them all "by the word of His power" (Heb. 1:3), "who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of His might" (Isa. 40:26, R.S.V.), He it is who left His throne and became flesh to redeem you. Could anything equal that in its magnificent self-sacrifice? But He went even further. When He had become a man, while still retaining His deity, He not only endured the shameless opposition and enmity of those whom He had created and had come to save, but He submitted to a terrible death at their hands. He did so because death was the final consequence, the end of the road, of our transgression. He, the Creator, substituted for the creature, bore their guilt and expiated it, and thus made it possible for them to live again. You must choose Now, if your Creator did all that for you, is it unreasonable that you should be called to account for your attitude to it? As we have said, you cannot avoid making a decision one way or the other, either receiving Him, or rejecting Him, and your destiny depends on what that decision is. God begs you to accept it freely. God does not want you to be lost, for you are His creature. He does not want you to lose the gift of life and health bestowed upon you; and you have no excuse for being lost, for God has redeemed you, and has laid on you the responsibility of accepting that redemp- tion by giving you the power of choice. He made the sacrifice, and you may reap the benefits. The opportunity is glorious, the responsibility great. Every man in the world wants to live, wants to be happy, to feel secure from want, from pain, disease, and death, to have no enemies anywhere, to have at his command all that he needs. He would like to be able to go where he wishes, to explore space, to visit the planets and stars. All this, and much more, is offered to you freely, to be enjoyed in their plenitude, by the Possessor of them all. All that is required of you is that you accept the conditions as they are delineated by Him in the Book He inspired holy men to write for your instruction and guidance. The "facts" of We The revealed facts are that sin, which is lack of harmony with the law of life, has deprived mankind of all these privileges; that it will ultima- tely, if men continue in it, extinguish life itself ; and that they can and will be restored to men only by the elimination of sin from the life. None but the Creator Himself could release man from death, and yet live to give life to the truly repentant sinner. This could be done only by the Creator becoming man, bearing the sinner's guilt, submitting to death to atone for man's sin, and then giving the sinner His life. The Gospel is the good news that He not only was willing, but that He has in fact done so. It is the good news that sin, the cause of everything that is hateful and hurtful, has been conquered and can be eliminated, that peace and power and freedom can be restored to all who desire them. The Gospel is the good news that you can be free from sin, and from death, the fruit of sin. It no longer need have power over you. (Rom. 6:14.) The past is expiated, your sin may be forgiven, and there is power to make the present and future free from sin. By the grace of God, life, glorious, eternal life, is yours for the asking. To reject all this, or just to neglect it, because life now flows in your veins, and you are enjoying health and happiness—all of which you owe to Christ, to His life on earth and His death on the cross, even if you do not acknowledge it—is to be short sighted, proud, and ignorant of the realities that are everywhere about you. Do not postpone your decision You just cannot ignore the cross of Christ. It is not only that you cannot afford to do so, though that is true, but you will one day have to meet God to answer for your attitude to it, either in accepting it or in rejecting it. Your present life is from God; and He desires to prolong it to all eternity. To make that possible He made a sacrifice so great that it will never be fully grasped by the redeemed. How, then, can you be so foolish, so unfeeling, as to refuse it, and how can you face the terrible consequences if you neglect so great salvation? (Heb. 2:3.) Continued on page 21 13 O NE of the saddest things in my life has been to see my children come up from innocent babyhood and begin to understand a little here and there of the shadow of death as their young eyes looked out into the world. At first everything seems so beautiful to the child, so marvellous. Mother and Father can do everything; they have everything; their love is wonderful. The world is beautiful. Then they come up to five or six years of age and begin to sense the long shadow. They begin to question, "Father, why do people die?" Then we have to explain that everything isn't right with the world, everything isn't youth and love. It isn't all happiness and sunshine. There is a shadow, and behind the shadow there is pain, and beyond pain there is a dark question mark—"winds from unsunned spaces blow." It was a great Persian poet of the twelfth century who wrote: "Ah Love! could you and I with Him conspire To grasp this Sorry Scheme of Things entire, Would not we shatter it to bits—and then Remould it nearer to the Heart's desire?" No doubt the greatest book ever written by the hand of man, as far as literary excellence is con- The MAN with 4.0 cerned, is the book of Job. At least, it is one of the first books ever written. One thing that makes the book great is that it considers one of the world's greatest questions—the why of suffering. Why do the innocent, the good, suffer? Why do little children suffer ? kind mothers ? honest fathers ? Read the book of Job. Read it over and over again. It will help you to face the question, though it does not answer it. It will help you to meet it with the grand truth that God is greater than man, is wiser than man, and we must leave things in His hands. If there is a God, and if He is a good God, He will reveal Himself to the race that He has created. And, since a written revelation is more sure and certain than one that is merely oral, we would expect a written revelation. The Holy Scriptures claim to be that revelation. They bear in themselves their own witness to the truth—their harmony, their fulfilment of divine prophecy, the fact that they describe human nature perfectly and offer sensible and workable answers to our greatest questions : What are the origin and destiny of man ? What is the secret of a happy life? An angel who fell This revelation which claims to come from out- side our world, from outside ourselves, admits the reality of the shadow—sorrow, pain, heartache, and death. But it goes further and gives us the reason. Strange to say, the reason is a person, a powerful person, yet a perverted one. He is not a man, but Through the subtlety of Satan, Eve was persuaded to disobey God and partake of the forbidden tree. 14 an angelic being. For short, let us call him "the man � with forty names" : Apollyon, deceiver, murderer, prince of the power of the air, the spirit which now worketh in the children of disobedience, Abaddon, accuser of the brethren, your adversary, Beelzebub, Belial, the power of darkness, the serpent, the tempter, the god of this world, the wicked one, Satan, the devil, and many more. Before we go a step further, let us say that the monstrosity of the Dark Ages, that horned and tailed hobgoblin dressed in red tights and brandish- ing a three-pronged fork in his hand, bears no relation to the truth about this angelic being. The Bible reveals a being entirely different—highly intelligent, beautiful, and wise. Let us open the Names by H. M. S. RICHARDS great Book of John's gospel: "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." John 12:31. This word judgment is really the word crisis. "Now is the crisis of this world." Jesus was looking forward to the cross. He said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." Verse 32. Crisis of the ages This was the great crisis of the ages, the decimal point in human history, the watershed from which the centuries roll down in both directions. If I am crucified on Calvary; I will draw all men to Me, and the prince of this world shall be cast out. Notice that in this passage the word men is a supplied word. It is not in the original. If I be lifted up, I will draw all unto Me. If I die on the cross, that will settle the great conflict and for ever answer the question, Is God just? The, controversy between good and evil will be decided. The accusations of this man of forty names will be confuted. According to the Scriptures this angelic being fell from the highest position. He became the supreme egotist and aspired to be God Himself. He said in his heart, "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God : I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High." Isa. 14:13, 14. "I, I, I." Selfishness rampant! The same prophecy declares of him, "How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning! [Lucifer means "the bright, shining one," one of his forty aliases) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations !" Verse 12. Into the universe of love, hatred came. The Bible calls it sin, and "the wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. It entered the world through a great deceiver. This great forty-named apostate rebel and sinner, is described in symbolic language in the twenty- eighth chapter of Ezekiel as "the king of Tyrus": "Thus said the Lord God ; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty." Verse 12. There are no horns and hoofs here, no red demon, no horrific caricature to frighten children. Notice —"wisdom," "beauty." "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering." "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." Verses 13, 15. He was created by God, perfect, wise, beautiful. Then came the terrible fall from angel to demon, from the heights to the depths. This world of ours is the great stage on which the mighty drama, the controversy between good and evil, is being played to its end ; and we are near the end. Then the whole universe of unfallen beings, the habitations of love, joy, and eternal peace, will see that love is stronger than death, that God is righteous. And when the curtain falls, there will be no more sin or sorrow, nothing wrong with the universe, only eternal harmony. But someone asks, "Why did God make the devil?" He did not do so. He created a perfect being, but a free moral agent, as are we all. His high position was that of the covering cherub. (Ezek. 28:14.) It was God who said to him, "Thou wast perfect." Do we understand it? No, but we can believe it, for it is so stated by revelation. The perfect became imperfect. We may read his final epitaph in Nahum 1:14: "I will make thy grave; for thou art vile." "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty ; . . . I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. . . . Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee. . . . All they that know thee . . . shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." Ezek. 28:17-19. According to the twelfth chapter of Revelation, this exalted, though now degraded, being was cast forth into the earth with one-third of the angels of heaven. From that day to this, every human thinker has had to contend with the great problem of evil—something wrong, some evil personality opposing the best interests and plans of men. Many great world philosophers and leaders have suggested that there seem to be demonic powers, which at times interfere with the welfare of the human race. Continued on page 31 15 HERALDS of HIS COMING: The SIXTH ARTICLE IN THE SERIES By S. G. MAXWELL C OME quickly. See, the stars are falling! Is not this the day of judgment?" So thought thousands who rushed from their homes on the night of November 13, 1833, to witness the greatest meteoric shower on record. Seen over much of the earth's surface, its major effect was over the continent of North America. Fifty-five years previously another natural pheno- menon had been observed. The sun had been miraculously darkened from mid-morning onward, and the full moon failed to give its light that evening. Of this remarkable happening it was stated : "The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known." But students of prophecy knew. These heavenly events, together with the earthquake at Lisbon, mentioned in our last article, were seen to be the signs foretold in Scripture. (Rev. 6:12, 13; Matt. 24:29.) Additional evidences of fulfilling prophecy in the early nineteenth century were the French Revolution and the crisis of the Papacy in 1798. Encouraged by these unmistakable signs, Bible students in both the Old and the New Worlds searched the pro- phecies of the Bible concerning the "latter days." As early as 1812, the voice of Layman Beecher was heard in a sermon, saying, "The angel having the everlasting Gospel to preach to men has begun his flight." (Rev. 14:6.) Thus by the time of the great meteoric shower of 1833, new voices were raised as heralds of Christ's coming. Men of many denominations par- ticularly in the United States, Baptists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and others were coming to the con- clusion that the advent might be expected between 1843 and 1847. The witness extended down to Mexico, where a Roman Catholic magistrate, De Rozas, joined in the increasing witness to the approaching end of the "2,300 days" prophecy of Daniel eight. Miller and the advent revival And then, against the background of some seventy- five exponents of prophecy scattered among twelve nations, appeared one whose name and views were to become known around the world. Through him came the remarkable revival of interest in our Lord's second coming. In his early days no-one would have selected William Miller as a herald of Christ's coming. Under the influence of deist friends, he showed little interest in spiritual things until 1816, when he began to look into the Bible in his search for truth. With a concordance as his only help, he searched the sacred pages for two years. The result was that he came face to face with the great truth of the advent of Christ. To make sure of his position he spent a further four years checking all the texts and time prophecies which pointed to this great event. Then came the conviction that, ii the end of all things was as near as he understood it to be, the world should know about it. He commenced to preach. People were intensely interested. Invitations poured in. His travels took him far afield. So convincing was his presentation of Bible prophecy, and its climax in the return of Christ in a few years, that other Bible students were attracted to him. Josiah Litch, a Methodist minister, J. V. Himes, a business man, and many others accep- ted his views and began to share with him the proclamation of Christ's coming. Larger and larger towns heard the warning message. The printing press was enlisted. Tracts and books began to appear expounding the coming hope. A new revival was on its way. Yet it never entered the thinking of the leading men to separate from the churches where they had their membership. People began to talk of the Millerite Movement. No creed was formulated or church status claimed. It was the simple preaching of the warning message of the imminent advent. As with so many other Bible students of prophecy, the year 1843 was calculated to be the end of the great prophecy of Daniel on the 2,300 days-years. Miller expected the great event to happen some time between 1843 and 1844, as many had done before him. Further study brought the final date for the expected appearing of the Lord to October 22, 1844. The hope that did not tail But when the day came nothing happened. Christ did not appear. For many the hope had failed. It is difficult to imagine the intensity of the disappoint- 16 The falling stars were recognized as one of the predicted signs of the "last days." ment. Faced with the ridicule and scorn of the world, the majority quickly gave up their belief in His return. But not all. The time calculations were reviewed again and again. There was no possibility of a mistake in data they had followed. What then? Could they have been mistaken in the nature of the event which was to take place in 1844? God was not slow to bring light to the dis- consolate but faithful remnant. To them was opened up a vision of the heavenly sanctuary, with Christ ministering as High Priest in the Holy of holies, or second apartment. Immediately the Old Testament pattern of "things in the heavens" became clear. Once a year the high priest went from the first to the second apartment of the tabernacle on "the tenth day of the seventh month," to perform the service described in Leviticus chapter sixteen. This work constituted the earthly "cleansing of the sanctuary." As all trace of the earthly temple had disappeared when Titus destroyed the building in Jerusalem in A.D. 70, it was clear that this great time prophecy must apply to the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. The climactic message To those who sought for further light on the disappointment, this view brought great understand- ing and comfort. As they studied Revelation chapter ten, they saw that it would yet be necessary for them to "prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." As they gave themselves to prayer and Bible study, further understanding of forgotten truths came to them. They discovered among other things, that immortality is not inherent in man but will be ,conferred by Christ in the resurrection at His coming. They further found that the visible evidence of their allegiance to the coming Creator-Judge would be the revival of the true seventh-day Sabbath also obscured by age-long apostasy. Fifteen years later these "Adventists" organized themselves into a church body, taking the name, Seventh-Day Adventists. Thus the mid-nineteenth century saw the birth of a message and a movement heralding Christ's coming to all the world. Raised up in the providence of God, described in the words of the symbolic angel of Revelation fourteen, its work was to "preach the everlasting Gospel to them that dwell on the earth" and to say "with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him ; for the hour of His judgment is come." An understanding of this task of the world-wide proclamation of the "everlasting Gospel" in its last- day setting gradually dawned on those early Seventh- Day Adventists. With no financial resources they were often dependent on friends for travelling ex- penses to proclaim the glad tidings. But faith in the surety of their message triumphed. Funds were forthcoming for printing tracts and then periodicals and books. In 1874 they sent their first overseas missionary to Europe, to kindle again the embers of the flame of the blessed hope which had shone so brightly a generation before. From then on heralds, proclaiming in no un- certain tones the nearness of Christ's coming, began to enter country after country over the face of the earth. Switzerland, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Africa, Australia, and Russia had received the message before the end of the century. A ship was built to carry the tidings to the islands of the Pacific ocean. Literature has played a large part in the proclama- tion of Christ's coming. Over forty publishing houses now belt the globe. Nearly 5,000 schools and colleges provide for the effective training of the Advent heralds. Over two million Advent believers give active testimony to their faith today in "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." What a transformation from the isolated voices which passed on the blessed hope in earlier ages! The grand chorus is now proclaiming, "Behold, I come quickly ; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." And the echo is heard from every land, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:12, 20. God grant that it may rise from your heart, too. 17 B EFORE we can answer the question propounded it will be necessary to recall the well-known counsel: "Gentlemen, define your terms !" What do we mean by "Protestant" and "Protestan- tism" ? For there is a great gulf fixed between true Protestantism and nominal Protestantism. Let us then propound the question: What is true Protestantism ? Within the limits of our space the answer must of necessity be brief. I would cite but three of several definitive characteristics as they were pro- claimed by the Reformers when they first took their stand: spiritual charges to venerate idols and relics rather than worship God alone. At Reading monks offered for veneration a bone of Mary Magdalene, the spear- head which pierced the Saviour's side, and an angel with one wing! At Bury St. Edmunds they "ex- hibited" as many pieces of the Cross as would have made the whole Cross! In Somerset they displayed the Virgin's smock, and even part of the bread used at the original Lord's Supper! Religion, in those days, consisted mainly of Mary-worship, saint- worship, image-worship, confessions, and penances, all at a "price" which vastly enriched the coffers of the church. The Bible, then, was unknown. Not even the priests knew the Word. The precious truths of salvation through Christ were unknown. Except for a few scattered copies of Wyclif's translation of the Vulgate, the Bible was not available to the people in a language they could read. When young Queen Elizabeth I, at the age of twenty-five, ascended the throne in 1558 a memorable act of hers was the pressing of a Bible to her lips and heart before her assembled people in London. This act symbolized the end of ignorance and tyranny in the realm of the spirit. 1 A vigorous protest against the abuses, corrup- tions, and superstitions of the church of pre-Refor- mation days. 2 Making available to all men the Holy Scriptures. 3 Bypassing the barrier of priestcraft and cleaning the path to the Throne of grace, whose provisions were declared to be available "without money and without price." Volumes have been written regarding the abuses and superstitions of those dark days. We must be content to mention but a few examples. The people were under the domination of men ignorant of the Scriptures and who preferred their A S. G Will PROMJA NT I AND WI- ROME Below.—Three men who played a great part in establishing Protestantism in this country—Tyndale, translator of the Bible into English (centre), Latimer and Ridley, two of the "Oxford martyrs" (left and right). Opposite.—Luther's stand before the Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms. 18 I. J V YDE Of the "dead wood" which needed to be cleared away to open up the path to free grace and salvation, the late Bishop Ryle, of Liverpool, once observed: "The huge mass of rubbish was shovelled out of the way by the Reformers. People were taught that every heavy-laden sinner on earth had a right to go straight to the Lord Jesus Christ for remission of sins, without waiting for Pope or priest, con- fession or absolution." So Protestantism was created by those reforming servants of God waging war against all the failures to provide freely of divine grace unto salvation. At cost of life, personal freedom, and immense suffering, the evils of pre-Reformation days were removed, the Reformation—the greatest event since Pentecost —was born, and Protestantism was founded, strong and virile, fearless and flourishing. Great men, staunch custodians of the truth and grace, were these Reformers and martyrs. Typical of them were Latimer and Ridley, burned at the stake in Oxford. It was Bishop Latimer who said to the younger Ridley as he walked to his death: "Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man: we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England as I trust shall never be put out." And then there was William Tyndale, one of the translators of our English Bible, who just before his martyrdom prayed: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." John Knox, the very great Scottish Reformer, fearlessly exposed the abuses and tyranny of his day, thundering his anathemas from the pulpit of St. Giles Cathedral against Queen Mary and those associated with her. And in that other land, where reforming work was needed—Germany—the great Martin Luther resisted the might of Rome before the Diet of Worms with those memorable words: "Here I stand: I can do no other. So help me, God." Such was true Protestantism. And that kind of Protestantism will never—can never—join hands, with the Roman church. But a very different kind of Protestantism exists today. Indeed it is a false Protestantism. The English church which grew out of the Reformation, and was the original Protestant church in our land, is no longer Protestant. Even the name "Protestant" seems to be anathema to the Church of England, for the Bishop of Monmouth, preaching in Westminster Abbey, asked that the term "Protestant" be rejected as a valid description of the church's faith, and the term "Catholic" substituted. Modern "false" Protestantism Yes, the Bishop of Monmouth was right. The Protestant church of the Reformation is no more. Beginning with the Oxford or Tractarian Movement, led by such men as Newman (who later joined the Roman church and became the notable cardinal), Keble, and Froude, the "Catholic" movement which introduced again the doctrines and practices swept away by the Reformers, has developed into the Romanizing movement known as Anglo-Catholicism. Anglo-Catholicism has brought back much of the error and superstition of pre-Reformation days. It has re-introduced the Roman Mass, images, altars, rood-screens, candles, the priesthood, auricular con- fession, etc. All of which is being done under the banner of Protestantism. But it is a false Protestant- 19 P' PHONE NOW BELFAST—BELFAST 32421 BIRMINGHAM—VICtoria 5754 BOLTON (Lancs.)—BOLTON 24111 CARDIFF—CARDIFF 40811 DUNDEE—DUNDEE 40333 NEWPORT (Mon.)—NEWPORT 73051 A community service by telephone provided by the Seventh-day Adventist Church THE TWO-MINUTE MESSAGE AND PRAYER IS CHANGED DAILY ism, a farce and a menace. The late Dr. Dale, of Birmingham, declared: "Let Protestantism loose its hold on this country, and the life of the nation . . . so rich, so deep, so robust, will pass for ever away. Let the nation cease to be Protestant, and England, which, notwithstand- ing her faults, we have so passionately admired, will cease to exist." And such a brand of Protestantism will unite with Rome. Anglo-Catholicism now controls the national church, and its mission is to lead the church out of its dearly-bought freedom and light back into the slavery and darkness of the Roman hierarchy. "What shall we say of the modern proposal," asked Bishop Ryle, "to give up the principles of the Reformation, and to return to the communion of the Church of Rome? What shall we say, indeed! I say the man who makes such a proposal must have taken leave of his senses, or be utterly ignorant of the facts of history." But Anglo-Romanism has not been checked! It has grown stronger and more bold. It is endeavour- ing to turn every parish church into a ritualistic centre, and the incense which there ascends cries aloud to heaven: "How long, 0 Lord, shall this corruption continue?" The recent visit by the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Pope leaves no room to doubt of the Church of England's desire to be in fellowship again with Rome. Nonconformity and reunion Nonconformists, too, are actively interested. The life and witness of the "Free" churches has sadly declined. Trends toward ritualism are noticeable even in the Free Churches. Nonconformists are sidling toward the Romanized Anglican church and are actively studying with her the problems of unity. Gone is the day when Nonconformity gave a strong and loud witness against Popery in all its disguises. The union of so-called Protestantism and Romanism is today a live issue and gives promise of fulfilment. But what does divine prophecy say on this issue ; what light is there from the fountain of light? What the "sure Word" of prophecy declares Under two prophetic symbols God has revealed the growth, character, activity, and objectives of the Roman church. In Daniel seven and eight there is the symbol of the "little horn" whose policy was to "cast down the truth to the ground," who was to "prosper" in his transgression and "wax exceeding great." Dan. 8:9-12; 7:25. In the Revelation, under a symbol of a "beast" replete with "heads and horns," the same papal power is shown temporarily shorn of its power by a "deadly wound" (which was inflicted by the power of the Reformation), but recovering from that wound and going on to even greater strength, so great that "all the world wonders after it," and "all that dwell upon the earth" will worship it save those "whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." Rev. 13:3, 8. In Revelation 17:13 it is declared that "kings will give their strength" to the Papacy in its final ambitious attempt to control the minds and hearts of the human race. What paves the way for an "apostate Protestantism" seeking the shelter of the "mother's" bosom is the failure to use the Holy Scriptures and follow faithfully its teachings. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; . . . and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Tim. 4:3, 4; 3:13-17. The union of apostate Romanized Protestantism and the Roman church is a determined objective. And as the power of Rome each day grows greater and more potent, so the weakened and spiritually corrupt forces of a one-time virile Protestantism will find comfort and contentment as an ally of the Papacy. Hence the call of God to His people still within the ranks of spiritual "Babylon" is : "Come out of her, My people!" And just as surely as God called His people out of the antediluvian world, from Sodom, from Nineveh, and from the corruptions of pre-Reformation days, so today, be- fore God destroys "Babylon," His people are asked to make a bold decision and leave the ranks of those who consort with any part of corrupt Christen- dom, and to join with those who by God's grace "keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:12. 20 IS THE GOSPEL PERSONAL OR SOCIAL? Continued from page 11 if only the church would rediscover the beauty and the power that reside in "the faith which God entrusted to His people once and for all" ? Jude 3. (N.E.B.) It is surely not the business of the church to revise the truth of God to suit the demands of modern man. Men may have learned many things about nature, about the universe, about the structure of the universe and of the atom, but man as man still needs, and will ever continue to need, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for "it is the saving power of God for everyone who has faith." Rom. 1 :16. (N.E.B.) If the custodians of the Gospel were to preach it with conviction, instead of dissecting it and deny- ing it, they would find that Jesus is still "able to save absolutely those who approach God through Him; He is always living to plead on their behalf." Heb. 7:25. (N.E.B.) No-one has ever been saved by feeding on negations. Society can never be redeemed or uplifted unless and until the individual members of the social order are regenerated. It is precisely on this point that the Gospel of Jesus is so explicit. Jesus makes His appeal to the individual: "In truth, in very truth I tell you, unless a man has been born over again he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3. (N.E.B.) The Saviour of mankind was not a sentimental idealist, with visionary ideas concerning the basic goodness of human beings. Listen to His words about men. "Here lies the test : the light has come into the world, but men preferred darkness to light because their deeds were evil. Bad men all hate the light and avoid it, for fear their practices should be shown up. The honest man comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that God is in all he does." John 3:19-21. (N.E.B.) Regeneration not reform. These are not the words of an impractical dreamer concerning a world that only needs a patch here and there to improve the pattern. Jesus is ruthless in insisting that man must be regenerated, not merely reformed. There must be a surgical operation that cuts out the old nature with its lusts and prejudices. The men who first took the Gospel to the world were equally realistic in demanding individual re- pentance and change of heart. To the Greeks, Paul wrote: "Time was when you were dead in your sins and wickedness, when you followed the evil ways of this present age [similar to ours today), when you obeyed the commander of the spiritual powers of the air, the spirit now at work among God's rebel subjects. We too were of their number: we all lived our lives in sensuality, and obeyed the promptings of our own instincts and notions." Eph. 2:1-3. (N.E.B.) The late Ronald Knox rightly observed that "it is so stupid of modern civilization to have given up believing in the devil, when he is really the only explanation of it." However, over against evil spiritual forces, and men of wicked disposition, stands the redeeming grace and power of God's eternal love. "But God, rich in mercy, for the great love He bore us, brought us to life with Christ even when we were dead in our sins ; it is by His grace you are saved." Eph. 2:4, 5. (N.E.B.) Redemption then must, of necessity, begin with the individual. All redeemed souls are to be gathered into a redeemed society, but God's Word nowhere promises in this present age a society that will fully reflect the divine image. On the contrary, the Bible reveals that Jesus plans to return to this world to "take unto Himself" all who have given their hearts and lives to Him, that in the "kingdom of God" they may live with Him in peace. All vicious and evil elements will be excluded, and God's redeemed will delight themselves in the abundance of peace. THE CROSS AND YOU Continued from page 13 If you postpone your decision by deciding against accepting it, you may come to feel your need of salvation and life when it is too late. You may be- come bound inextricably with the cords of your own sins (Prov. 5 :22), so that you cannot repent, even if you would. True repentance is a gift from Christ (Acts 5:31), but when a man becomes hardened by sin he comes finally to the place where he cannot appreciate righteousness, cannot love God, cannot accept the gift of repentance. All that then lies before him is the prospect of the awful sentence of damnation, which he himself has freely chosen. Stop! Think it over. "Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Cor. 6:2. 1611111=011111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 READERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW more about the great truths of the Bible, are earnestly invited to avail themselves of the special, free, HOME BIBLE STUDY GUIDES advertised on the back cover. � Editor ISSIIIIIRSIISMEMOIRERNERRIWEIRRISISM 21 L ORD ECCLES, a one-time and well-respected Minister in the British Government, has recently written a book under the honest, but revealing title, Half Way to Faith. Some weeks ago, in a television broadcast, the author described the book as a portrayal of his own religious experience. He intimated that, as yet, his conception of immortality was confined to outstand- ing material achievements in this life. The produc- tion of an "immortal" painting, or of an undying musical composition, or of a book which would be read long after its author's death, was his notion of immortality. Such, of course, would be the "immortality" of a man's reputation, rather than the immortality of the man himself. Lord Eccles willingly and frankly admitted that he was, as yet, only "half-way to faith" in immortality, in the personal, Christian sense. Yet nothing is plainer in the Scriptures than that God's bestowal of immortality is essentially personal and individual. The Lord does not immortalize any man's talents, no matter how outstanding and beneficial to mankind they may have been. He immortalizes the man himself if he is finally found worthy through Christ. (John 3:16.) If only the exceptional products of a few men's minds lived on, while those minds themselves were doomed to eternal oblivion, then the Christian religion itself, as Paul implies, would be a hollow mockery. For the apostle asserts, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." 1 Cor. 15 :19. This life for the vast majority of mankind is little more than an experience of toil, sweat, and tears. But the Bible constantly speaks of a "blessed hope" at, and beyond, "the glorious appearing of . . . our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13. Indeed, true Christianity and the assurance of personal immortality either stand or fall together. If Christ Himself be true, then eternal life through Him is guaranteed. But if death, as we know it, is really the final end of all our conscious existence, then the life and sacrifice of Jesus are of no more lasting value to us than an intriguing tale ; and His noblest teaching of no more permanent benefit than any heathen philosopher's platitudes. Saving belief Actually, from almost the first days of His ministry, Jesus sought to make it abundantly clear that His hearers' inheritance of eternal life depended upon their acceptance of Him. "This is the will of Him {the Father} that sent Me," He declared, "that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:40. Jesus here affirms that eternal life is obtained through saving belief in Him. He further says that it will be bestowed at the resurrection of the THE WAY TO by ERNEST COX righteous "at the last day." He also declares that He Himself is the divine Resurrection-Instrument in God's hands. As He was the Creator at the creation (Col. 1:16), so He will be the great Lifegiver at the resurrection. How appropriate that He who granted consciousness to Adam amid Eden's pristine beauty, should give restoration to multitudes of Adam's blood-bought children, and initiate them into the glories of Eden regained. (Rev. 2 :7 ; 22 :2.) Without question, our present physical life is sustained by our consumption of bread and water. We may extensively vary the make-up of the bread. We may add very many different flavours to the water. But fundamentally our physical strength depends upon an adequate supply of bread and water. Jesus often spoke of Himself as the necessary Source of our spiritual strength, not only for this life, but also for that greater life which awaits us beyond the grave. "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness," Ile reminded the Israelites, "and are dead. . . . I am the living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever: . . � whoso eateth My flesh . . . hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:49, 51, 54. 22 Later on, while disputing with influential enemies at Jerusalem, Jesus declared, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death." John 8:51. "First" death and the "second" Obviously, the Saviour was here speaking of that awful and supremely tragic "second death," graphically described in the Revelation (Rev. 20), and against which we are specifically warned in John's gospel. "For God so loved the world, that The raising of Lazarus was much more than an amazing incident. It was, in truth, an acted parable fraught with tremendous significance for all man- kind. Jesus, of course, was in no way responsible for His friend's death. But He made Himself respon- sible, before a witnessing universe, for his return to life! With infinite tenderness for the bereaved, but with a quiet determination, He proceeded, step by step, to show that He alone possessed "the keys of hell [the grave) and of death." Rev. 1:18. Indeed, when gently breaking the news of the death of Lazarus to His disciples, He significantly added, to their probable bewilderment, "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe." John 11:15. Some of them had seen Him raise the widow's son, and, later on, the little daughter of Jairus. But these were cases of recent decease, and might be questioned by the sceptical. Jesus doubtless determined to leave no doubt, either in the disciples' minds or ours, as to the invincibility of His resurrection-power. With this purpose in mind, when at last He confronted the half-reproachful Martha, He re- minded her, "Thy brother shall rise again." John 11 :23. Martha agreed that her loved one would "rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Then Jesus, to comfort this sorrowing sister, made the tremendous claim which has ever enraged and discomfited the dark hordes of evil, but has immeasurably heartened generations of bereaved believers: "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this ?" Martha believed. Moreover she gave a very simple, but sound reason for her faith. "I believe," she answered, "that Thou art . . . the Son of God." John 11:27. To acknowledge the Saviour's complete divinity is to admit His boundless powers over all things natural and supernatural. Death must yield to Him. The darkest, strongest tomb, when He appears, can- not retain its dead. "And Jesus lifted up His eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. . . . And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth." John 11:41-44. It matters not whether a person has been dead for minutes, like Jairus' daughter ; or for hours, like the widow's son ; or for days, like Lazarus ; or for a hundred or a thousand years, the life-giving power of God's Son is unaffected and undiminished. "Because I live," He says to each of His believing followers, "ye shall live also." John 14:19. "And this is life eternal," He adds, that we might ravingly know "the only true God, and Jesus Christ," whom He has "sent." John 17:3. By the resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus demonstrated His power to release the captives of death. He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Whoever accepts and believes in Christ as his Saviour and resurrection Lifegiver, though he, in common with all of Adam's race, suffers the first, temporary death of sleep, he will never undergo the implacable sinner's "second death" of punishment and final oblivion. "If a man keep My sayings," as Jesus says, "he shall never die" the second death. But he will gloriously live the second life—a life without remorse, without pain, without further parting from loved ones, without vain regrets. (Rev. 21:4.) Jesus, as our re-Creator claims that the granting of this "second life" is His divine prerogative, and it will be bestowed alone by His redemptive power. For, speaking of His faithful followers in every age, He declares, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them. . . . I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish." John 10:27, 28. An acted parable Finally, it is fitting, in this connection, to mention what was probably the Saviour's greatest miracle. 23 T HERE are many people who honestly and sincerely believe that Sunday is the divinely appointed day of rest in the New Testament and that we can find the scriptural authority for its observance in the New Testament. And certain it is, that if Sunday is to be honoured with the same reverence as the Sabbath was right up to the cross, we should be able to find Bible evidence for its establishment as a divine institution. The first question then which we may ask is, "What did Jesus have to say about Sunday?" The gospels record the teachings of Christ on many subjects, but it is surprising to discover that there is no record of Christ ever having made any reference to Sunday, the first day of the week. He had many discussions with the Jews on how the seventh day Sabbath (Saturday) should be kept, but never once did He declare that a change of day was impending. And nowhere do we find Christ commanding His followers to Sunday observance in place of Sabbath observance. The word "Sunday" is not to be found in the Scriptures. The word is of pagan origin, for it was the day on which the pagans worshipped the sun. It was the Day of the Sun, Sun-day. Saturday, the seventh day of the week, is always referred to in Scripture as the Sabbath, but Sunday is always re- ferred to as the first day of the week. And it may surprise you to learn that there are only eight references even to "the first day of the week," in the New Testament: six in the gospels, one in the book of Acts, and one in the epistles of Paul. If there is any scriptural authority for Sunday obser- vance it should be found here in these texts, and so in our search for truth let us carefully examine these texts. Matthew knew nothing of it Our first text is found in Matthew 28:1: "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre." This is a record of some of the events that took place on the resurrection morning. Matthew mentions two days here. One he gives the sacred title of "the Sabbath" and the other he merely calls "the first day of the week." He also indicates that the Sabbath ended as the first day of the week dawned. "In the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week." There is no confusion in the mind of Matthew as to which day is the Sabbath. He says it is the day before the first day of the week, Saturday. What is more, he makes no suggestion here nor anywhere else in his gospel 24 that there had been or would be a change of the Sabbath day. Now the gospel of Matthew was written some thirty years After the death of Christ. If a new Sabbath had come into existence replacing the old, Matthew, one of the leading disciples, would have known about it and mentioned the fact in his gospel. But according to Matthew, the Sabbath is still the day before the first day of the week. So he puts in no word for Sunday sacredness. Mark is silent The second reference to the first day of the week is in Mark 6:1, 2: "And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." This is Mark's account of events on the resurrec- tion morning and like Matthew, he also mentions two days. One he calls the Sabbath and the other the first day of the week. One is given a sacred title and the other is referred to as just the first of the six working days of the week. Writing under in- spiration, Mark clearly states that "the Sabbath was past" before the first day of the week dawned. This gospel of Mark was written some years after the resurrection and surely Mark had ample time to learn of any divine change of the Sabbath, if there had been any. Yet he calls the day before the resurrection, the Sabbath. He indicates that to keep the Sabbath, we must keep the day before the first day of the week. To keep the Sabbath on Sunday would be to keep it one day late. Mark makes one further mention of the first day of the week in Mark 16:9 and this is our third reference in the New Testament: "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils." This verse establishes the fact that Jesus rose on the first day of the week and that Sunday is the first day of the week. In the light of this text it would be impossible for us to make Sunday the seventh day of the week, in an attempt to identify it with the Sabbath. Nothing in Luke or John Luke provides us with the fourth reference to the first day of the week and it is found in Luke 24:1: "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." If we read the last three verses of chapter twenty- three with this first verse in chapter twenty-four we find the whole story from the crucifixion on the Friday to the resurrection on the Sunday. Here we find Luke mentioning three days, the "prepara- tion" day, "the Sabbath day" and "the first day of the week." Writing under inspiration, Luke clearly indicates that the Sabbath "according to the com- mandment" is the day that comes between the pre- paration day, or Friday, and the first day of the week. The climate in Palestine made it necessary to em- balm bodies at the earliest possible moment, and so if ever there was an excuse for working on the Sabbath, the followers of Christ now had one. But they had been with Christ throughout His earthly life. They knew how He had kept the Sabbath and never for one moment did they think of embalming His body on the Sabbath. They "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment," while Christ Himself rested from the work of man's redemption in Joseph's new tomb. But "upon the first day of the week . . . they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared." It is very significant to discover that the followers of Christ would do on Sunday morning what they would not do on the Sabbath. Surely this action of Christ's followers should make every follower of Christ now stop and think. We now turn to the gospel of John for the fifth reference to the first day of the week. We read in John 20:1: "The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." This text adds nothing new. It is merely a repeti- tion of what has already been said in the previous gospels. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give parallel accounts of the life of Christ. They all declare that Christ rose on the first day of the week, but they never say anything to suggest that henceforth it was to be kept in honour of the resurrection. The last reference in the gospels is found in John 20:19: "Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." Some people believe that here is the record of the first Easter service, the first Sunday service in honour of the resurrection. They say : "Here is the inauguration of Sunday as the first Christian Sabbath." But the question we must ask is, "Were they assembled to honour the resurrection day?" The scripture does not say so. It says they "were assembled for fear of the Jews." You will remember that when Christ was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, the disciples "forsook Him, and fled." Mark 14:50. Fearful that they too might be arrested 25 by the Jews, they had fled to this upper room where it is said they "abode." Acts 1:13. Another fact that makes it very clear that they were not celebrating the resurrection is the fact that at this particular time they did not believe that Jesus was risen from the dead! (See Mark 16:11 and Luke 24:9-11.) And when Christ did appear to them in that upper room we are told that He "upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen Him after He was risen." Mark 16:14. They could hardly be celebrating an event which they did not believe had taken place! This was not a praise service in honour of the resurrection. They were gathered behind locked doors through lack of faith and unbelief ; they "were assembled for fear of the Jews." A Saturday night meeting The first day of the week is mentioned in but two other places in the New Testament. The first is in Acts 20:7: "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow ; and continued his speech until midnight." Here is the only instance recorded in the New Testament where a religious meeting was held on the first day of the week. But there are several facts about this meeting that we should notice. In verse eight we are told there "were many lights in the upper chamber," and verses seven and eleven tell us that Paul "continued his speech until midnight" and "talked even till break of day." Thus these scriptures tell us that this meeting was held in the evening or dark portion of the first day of the week. We may jump to the conclusion that this was Sunday evening. But was it ? Going back to the record of creation we see how God reckons each day. In Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31 we are told that each day of the creation week was made up of "the evening and the morning." The evening, or dark part of the day, comes first, and is followed by the morning, or light part. When the sun goes down, the day is ended and a new day begins. The evening is the begining of the day. Therefore this service was held on Saturday night, and not Sunday evening as we may at first have supposed. This fact is recognized by many writers. Conybeare and Howson, in their popular Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul, make these remarks concerning the time when the meeting was held: "It was the evening which succeeded the Jewish Sabbath. On the Sunday morning, the vessel was about to sail."—Scribner's ed., Vol. 2, page 26. Dr. Horatio B. Hackett, professor of New Testament Greek in Rochester Theological Seminary, in his Commentary on Acts says: "The Jews reckoned the day from evening to evening, and on that principle the evening of the first day of the week would be our Saturday evening. If Luke reckoned so here, as many commentators suppose, the apostle then waited for the expiration of the Jewish Sabbath, and held his last religious service with the brethren at Troas . . on Saturday evening, and consequently resumed his journey on Sunday morning." And in The New English Bible, a translation produced by the major Christian bodies of the British Isles, Acts 20:7 reads: "On the Saturday night, in our assembly for the breaking of bread, Paul, who was to leave next day, addressed them, and went on speaking until midnight." Thus there is every indication that this was a special meeting, held because Paul was about to leave them. He had spent the Sabbath with them, and on Sunday he would be continuing his journey to Jerusalem. Therefore an extra service had been arranged for Saturday evening so that the believers might have the blessing of Paul's ministry while he was with them. If the first day of the week had become the sacred day of rest in honour of the resurrection, Paul was certainly setting a very bad example when he spent Sunday journeying eighteen miles to get the boat that would take him to Jerusalem. But Paul was not setting a bad example, he had set the right example by worshipping with the believers on the Sabbath. This meeting was not recorded to give evidence for Sunday sacredness. Actually it shows that Sunday was not at this time regarded as sacred by the Christian believers. Concerning the collection We come now to the last reference in the New Testament to the first day of the week. It is the words of the apostle Paul and is the only time he mentioned the day: "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come." 1 Cor. 16:1, 2. Some have thought that this text, at least, gives evidence of Sunday worship, that reference is here made to the collection being taken up in church on Sunday morning, and that Paul was giving direc- tion on how it should be done. But a close and candid examination of this text reveals that it is not at all a reference to a public collection in church. Each person was to "lay by him in store." Greek lexicons translate the Greek word here as "with one's self," "at home." And various translations make it clear that Paul required the people to put aside each week what they could afford and keep it at home. Paul knew the value of systematic giving. He was making a collection for the poor among the believers 26 oice of Prophecy at Jerusalem and he knew that unless the people put aside a little each week, there would not be much for him to collect when he came. This text, therefore, rather than proving to be evidence for Sunday sacredness, is a strong argument against it. Each "first day" they were to put aside "as God hath prospered him." To determine the amount one had prospered there would be need of examining one's financial affairs. So according to Paul, the business man was to spend Sunday balancing the accounts of the previous week and assessing his profits, so that he could put aside accordingly! We have now made a careful and candid ex- amination of every text in the New Testament that speaks of the "first day of the week." We have found that they give us no scriptural authority for Sunday observance. Not one of them countermands the explicit will of God as given in the fourth commandment, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Exod. 20:8-11. But while we cannot find scriptural evidence for Sunday observance, and church leaders recognize the fact, we do find in the book of Acts, overwhelm- ing evidence that the apostles and the early Christian church kept the seventh-day Sabbath. We read that Paul was "in the synagogue every Sabbath" (Acts 18:4), for it was "his manner" or practice. (Acts 17 :2.) It is very interesting to discover that Paul went right on keeping the Sabbath after the cross, for there are those who would try to make Paul teach that the moral law was done away with at the cross and that since we are "under grace" there is no longer any need to keep the Sabbath. Surely Paul's example of Sabbath-keeping is proof that he never regarded it as no longer necessary. In the book of Acts there are recorded no fewer than eighty-four different specific Sabbaths kept by the Apostles: two at Antioch (Acts 13:14, 42, 44), one at Philippi (Acts 16:13), three at Thessalonica (Acts 17:2), seventy-eight at Corinth. (Acts 18:4, 11.) And a very important fact that should be noticed in connection with these is that not only the Jews but the Gentiles also worshipped in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. (See Acts 13:42, 44.) Some people have the false idea that the Sabbath was for the Jews only, and not for the Gentiles. But none other than Christ, who made the Sabbath, said, "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2 :27. The Sabbath was made for mankind. It was made for me and for you. In this important matter of Sabbath observance, Christ says, "Follow Me." Let us follow the ex- ample of the disciples of Christ who immediately "forsook all and followed Him." Luke 5:11. BILLY GRAHAM and "TOTAL" EVANGELISM Continued from page 6 Bishop of Woolwich type, and that he thought "the Roman church today is going through a second Reformation." If Billy made remarks like this in the United States it is no wonder that Cardinal Cushing frater- nized with him in Boston, and that the Roman Catholic Coadjutor Bishop of Middlesbrough ex- pressed the hope, in Frontier, that similar "contacts would be made with Cardinal Heenan and other Roman Catholic leaders in this country, if this has not yet been done." Indeed, Norman St. John-Stevas, in the Catholic Herald, goes so far as to say that because "the Graham mission is not to make converts to his own faith, but to send them back to the churches of their own tradition . . . his efforts should have the support of Catholics." If Dr. Graham were to declare the "whole counsel of God" as it is set forth plainly in the Word of God, doubtless he would lose the co- operation of the protagonists of some interpretations of the Christian message, but he would at least give to those who go to hear him "guidelines" which would protect them not only from the de- lusions of the anti-God movements of our time (Rev. 14:6, 7), but also from the growing power of the Roman "beast" and his ecumenical "image" (Rev. 14:8-11), and direct souls into the fellow- ship of the believing remnant who hold to the true "faith of Jesus" and all "the commandments of God," before the world is confronted with the final judgments of God. (Rev. 14:12.) We hope, even yet, that he will. RADIO CAROLINE NORTH "TIME FOR THOUGHT" 199M 7'55 A.M. DAILY (EXCEPT SUN.) RADIO CAROLINE SOUTH "TIME FOR THOUGHT" 259M 7.55 A.M. DAILY (EXCEPT SUN.) RADIO CITY "VOICE OF PROPHECY" 299M 710 A.M. AND 610 P.M. DAILY RADIO CITY "YOUR RADIO DOCTOR" 299M II A.M. MON. WED. FRI. FREE BIBLE READING GUIDES available from VOICE OF PROPHECY, 123 REGENT ST., LONDON,W.I. 27 ARE THE HEAVENLY-MINDED DREAMERS ? by LOIS L. LANE I T has been said of some people that they are too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly use, and that they should give more attention to making this world better than to be so much concerned about the world to come. But do truly heavenly-minded people really do less toward making this world better than those who are entirely earthly-minded ? The tendency today is to concentrate on social welfare, with the idea that if people are fed and clothed and provided with all the good things of life they will automat- ically become better citizens—peaceful, law-abiding, neighbourly, etc. But experience proves that it does not work out that way. The fact is that those who look forward with eagerness to a better world to come are the best citizens of this world, and do the most toward making it a better and happier place. This does not mean that they work harder than many others at improving things, but their efforts are concen- trated on convincing the world, by persuasion, by example, by demonstration, of the one great remedy for its ills, the love of God revealed through Jesus Christ His Son. The next world and this The apostle Paul tells us that those who are looking for the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour "should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." Titus 2:12, 13. He also tells us in his letter to the Colossians that the hope which is laid up for us in heaven makes us "fruitful in every good work, . . . strengthened with all might . . . unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." Col. 1:5, 10, 11. The world would certainly benefit by having a lot more of this kind of people. The beloved John also writes that "every man that hath this hope in him {the hope of Christ's' coming} purifieth himself." 1 John 3:3. How very, very much the world needs a hope that will make people purify themselves from the lusts of the flesh! Again Paul, in urging the Thessalonians to make the necessary preparation for the world to come, admonishes them to be at peace among themselves, to support the weak, to be patient toward all men, and ever follow that which is good, both among themselves and to all men. (1 Thess. 5:13, 15.) The epistles of the New Testament were written to those who were truly heavenly-minded, whose dearest hopes were centred in the world to come, and to such the admonition was to "render therefore to all their dues : tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom ; fear to whom fear ; honour VaLt tatlailatit Qll to whom honour." They were to "owe no man anything, but to love one another." Rom. 13:7, 8. "Honour all men," writes the apostle Peter, "love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king." 1 Peter 2:17. If all the people in the world were to follow these Bible rules for their behaviour in this world, would it be a better world, or worse, than it is now ? A correspondent in a local paper just recently stressed the only way to make this world better. Writing about "the many ills of this poor old planet—ills being brought about by our own folly," he adds, "We have done the wrong—we must undo it! Mankind must work with God's laws, instead of against them. We can start right now to build a better world for ourselves and the rest of humanity. To do this, we must honestly want happiness for the other fellow just as much as we want it for ourselves. We could change the world, quite quickly, from one of chaos and distress to one of peace and harmony, if enough people had a strong enough desire to do it." It is sadly evident that so far there have never been enough people with a strong enough desire to make a better world by working in harmony with God's laws, the essence of which is to love God supremely and our neighbour as ourselves. Indeed, the rosy dream that the vast and almost unbelievable achievements of science will eventually bring about world-wide peace and plenty and international friendship, has almost faded from the minds of thinking men and women; for, despite all the sinccre efforts put forth, crime and violence and hatred mount steadily to frightening proportions. After all, something more heavenly may be needed to stem the tide of evil in this "poor old planet." For the Bible quite frankly calls it "this present evil world," and further declares that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." 2 Tim. 3:13. Indeed, the only hope for this world is the hope of a better world to come, and the heavenly-minded people are the ones who are demonstrating the principles of that better land by practising them here, and earnestly striving, by the grace of God, to perfect them and so qualify for citizenship in the kingdom of God. Let us then aspire to be numbered among the heavenly-minded, for they are "the light of the world" and "the salt of the earth." They are ambassadors for Christ, beseeching men and women in His name to be reconciled to God, so that He may transform them and bring joy and peace and hope into their lives, making them better citizens of this world, better neighbours, better workers in every good cause, and daily better prepared for that "land of pure delight" where all the inhabitants are absolutely heavenly-minded. WILL GOD'S PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN AT THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST, OR WILL THEY SIMPLY RISE TO LIVE ON THE EARTH AGAIN?—F.K. JEsus's statement answers your question clearly : "In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you." John 14:2. Jesus added that He was going to His Father's house—that is, heaven—to prepare the way for His people, and that when He would return, it would be for the purpose of taking His people to Himself that they might for ever be with Him. (See John 14:1-3.) It is obvious from the language that He intends to take the redeemed to these "mansions," or as the Greek literally reads, "abiding places." This triumphal entry into the heavenly courts is confirmed by other Scriptures. Paul affirms, "For 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. Jesus said His attending angels will gather His elect (Matt. 24:31), and it is apparent that they will bear the redeemed upward to God and the heavenly abodes—a space flight that will make man's attempts in space to appear puny. The apostle John was given a glimpse of the redeemed saints standing in heaven before the throne of God. Clothed in white and with palms in their hands—symbols of their recent victory—they praise their Maker and Redeemer with great rejoicing. (Rev. 7:9, 10.) However, heaven will not be the permanent home of the saved. Jesus indicated that their heritage would ultimately be the restored earth: "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Matt. 5:5. And Peter, after describing God's final judgment upon the earth and sin, predicted, "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Peter 3:13. 29 • - • THE LIZARD OF LEVITICUS I N Britain we see two kinds of lizard. On sunny days the more alert among us may notice the common brown kind hunting insects in sand- hills, and stony quarries, on railway banks and dry heathlands. The larger, greyer sand-lizard is much scarcer, and confined chiefly to a few sandy places. In the Holy Land there are many more lizards and they are an everyday sight. Indeed, on the first walk I took after arriving by train in Jerusalem and strolling up the road to the Jaffa Gate, I saw common hardoun lizards, Agama stellio, nodding their heads as they sat basking on the stones beneath Mount Zion. They soon scuttled to their retreats when I approached too closely. These were obviously the biblical lizards of Leviticus 11:30, for they are the commonest all over the country. But why should the Bible have to ban the eating of lizards as unclean food? Who would wish to eat lizards anyway? Jerusalem is very close to the semi-arid desert country of the Dead Sea and the great Jordan rift- valley. Here, and in Sinai, the nomadic bedouin lived off the desert, eating what few edible plants and animals could be found there. His food included several large lizards like desert warans and small monitors, whose tracks we used to follow over the desert sand to their burrows where they sheltered by day beneath stones, or desert shrubs. Just as the ancient Jewish condemnation of pork arose from the tapeworms man can still acquire from eating undercooked pork, so there is a reason- able foundation for warning people against the desert habit of eating lizards, or the meat from the tail (in the way that the French still eat the meat off frogs' legs). In these Near Eastern countries by ERIC HARDY, F.Z.S. the lizard is host to a disease called filariasis, which causes the disfiguring condition of humans called elephantiasis. Mosquitoes transmit the parasite causing this to lizards and to man. In 1945, Professor R. M. Gordan, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who was studying this disease, asked me to supply him with some desert lizards for his medical studies. But all the lizards sent to him from Egypt were already infected with the disease; so I collected some fresh supplies in Palestine and sent them to him. The ancient Israelites didn't know the mosquito's part in conveying the microfilaria between lizard and man. But it seems that they were aware of the lizard's unsuitability for human food and because of God's ban upon it, the disease did not spread among the Jews as it spread among the natives of Africa, for instance. The Israelites would probably see lizards eaten by their taskmasters in Egypt. The Hebrew word in Leviticus, letaah, is correctly translated as lizard. The "land crocodile" of Herodotus is believed to have been the desert- monitor or waran, which once ranged from the costal dunes to the sandy deserts of Palestine, growing to some three feet long, including its hefty tail. The tail, which is the part the bedouin eats, is about three-fifths its length, like most lizards. They chase insects like ants and small rodents. Their relatives, called geckoes, which crawl over walls and ceilings with the aid of sticky pads on their toes, are beneficial hunters of mosquitoes and other insects. Lizards in Britain are all useful insect- hunters, and these include the legless slow-worm, which is neither slow, nor a worm. The common hardoun grows to about ten inches. We must not confuse it with our sand-lizard, wrongly claimed in the Holy Land by Canon Tristram. It is found on the Isle of Purbeck, near Agglestone Rock in Dorset, also on the Ainsdale- dunes in Lancashire, but it is not the sand-lizard of Palestine and North Africa, Acanthodactylus boskianus. They are different species. None of our lizards dwells in the Holy Land but there are several close relatives. Many birds, from kestrels to yellow hammers, eat lizards, or rather their tails which are shed by the animals in peril of capture. This habit of readily shedding the tail when caught by it, probably encouraged the Bedouin Arab to seek it for food. In his famous travels in Palestine in Victorian times, Canon Tristram claimed to have seen the common green lizard of the Channel Isles, well known as a pet in Britain ; but this and our sand-lizard and slowworm have never been verified by modern zoologists and are believed to have been mistaken identities. 30 THE MAN WITH 40 NAMES Continued from page 15 The Scripture says: "I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more." Ezek. 26:21. He is a terror now. Jesus and the evil spirits When Christ was on earth, He met unseen beings called demons. These no doubt were the fallen angels, who, with Satan himself, form the wandering banditti of the spirit world. Using human voices, these demons said to Jesus, "I know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God." Mark 1 :24. "Art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?" Matt. 8:29. They knew there was a time coming—a judgment time, a day when sin and sinners will be no more. Of some sinners, Jesus said, "Ye are of your father the devil. . . . He was a murderer from the beginning." John 8:44. Every man who goes to the gallows, to the electric chair—in fact, every death of every sort—may be traced back to this "murderer from the beginning," who introduced sin with its penalty, death, to our race. The end of the drama I was talking with a dear one the other day, and he said, "Oh, when I see the suffering in the world, the things going on that should not, what innocent men, women, and children suffer, I just cannot understand it!" Well, I cannot understand it fully either. Job could not understand it. I cannot explain it from any human standpoint, but I find a hint about it in this divine Book, this revelation. It is clear from the Holy Scriptures that the world is a theatre for the whole universe. They are watching important events, bigger than the actors. But soon the drama will be finished. God does not hate the world, but He does hate the sin and evil—the lying, hatred, falsehood, obscurity, and confusion. God must work through justice, love, and truth. In the not-distant future things will look different, too, than they do now. Then, if you are alive, you will see as God sees; and He will wipe all tears from your eyes. Then every intelligent being of the universe will say, "Glory, and honour, and blessing be unto our God, who doeth all things well." Then, better than now, we shall be able to write a com- mentary on what some say is the hardest text in Scripture: "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Rom. 8:28. It is written that Jesus came to "destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8. In Hebrews 2 :14 we read that He came to destroy the devil himself. So, when Jesus died upon the cross, He sealed the fate of Satan, the man of forty names. It was his death warrant, signed and sealed, but deferred to a future day. Then, from every tongue and every creature in heaven and earth, and from all that are in the unfallen worlds, the united voice of the universe will rise to the praise of God. The great controversy will be completed. Jesus said that some day fire would fall from heaven, fire "prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt. 25:41. Then, the great controversy will be ended. "Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and glad- ness beats through the vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love."—Ellen G. White in The Great Controversy, page 678. COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Cover picture : J. Sheerboom, Francis Powys ; pages 4, 5, 6, 12, Keystone; pages 7, 24; Stanborough Press Ltd.; page 9, Newton & co., Ltd.; page 10, artist Axel Hou; pages 17, 18, Review & Herald; page 20, Thee Lions; page 23, Bible Magazine; pages 28, 32, Studio Lisa; page 30, F. W. Bird. WE ARE SURE YOU HAVE ENJOYED READING THIS ISSUE OF " OUR TIMES WHY NOT BECOME A REGULAR READER ? Fill in the coupon and post with cheque or postal order to : The Circulation Manager, The Stanborough Press Ltd, Watford, Hertfordshire. K � My postal subscription of 17/6 for twelve months. K My postal subscription of 8/9 for six months. Place a tick against the order of your choke. Mr./Mrs./Miss � Address � Block letters please INE Mi Mt � .11 31 p EGGY was almost in tears when she came home from school and handed Mother her report. As Mother looked at it she said, "Oh, what a poor grade in arithmetic, Peggy. Can't you do better than that ?" "Mother, I just can't do arith- metic. I can't understand division and I can't remember the multi- plication tables. I really have tried." "Well, Dear," mother said as she kissed her, "I know it is hard for you, but you can even learn to do arithmetic if you try hard enough." "Well, I've got some problems in division for tomorrow that I have been trying to work, and I just can't do them." "Let's see if I can help you," Mother said. So after supper, they sat down at the table and began to work. First Mother drilled Peggy in the multiplication tables, so that at least she could remember that 7 times 6 is 42. She had never been able to remember that before. Then Mother tried to explain to the little girl how to work prob- lems in division. But it seemed that Peggy just could not get the idea through her pretty little head. Finally, after struggling with prob- lem after problem, and only being able to work them with Mother's help, she burst out crying. "Oh, I'll never be able to work division all by myself !" she said. "What am I going to do ?" Mother said, "Well, I know what you must do, and I don't know why we haven't done it before." "What is that ?" Peggy asked. Mother had opened her Bible and was searching for a verse. When she found it she read, 'Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.' That is Proverbs 16:3. Now, Dear, we must kneel down while you commit your arithmetic to the Lord." "What does 'commit' mean, Mother ?" Peggy asked. "It means putting your work, or anything that you are planning, into the hands of the Lord, and trusting Him to help you with it." "Will Jesus help me with my work then ?" Peggy wanted to know. "He will if you will do your best. He will e s t ablish your thoughts." "What does that mean, to 'establish' my thoughts ?" Peggy asked. "It means that He will help you to know how to work, and will bless the thoughts of your mind so you can keep them on your work." So they knelt down and asked the Lord to take Peggy's work into His hands and to help her to get her thoughts established. Division problems did not be- come all clear in Peggy's mind the very minute she went back to work, but she did begin to understand them better after a few minutes of thinking and working. Gradually, as she worked another and then another example, she got the idea of how to do division problems. Suddenly it was all clear to her. She still had a little more work Peggy was almost in tears. "I Just can't do arithmetic," she said. to do to memorize the multiplica- tion tables. That was finally done. After that her grade in arithmetic was much better. "Mother," she said, "I know what it means now when it says, 'Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be estab- lished.' I'm going to commit all my work, even my bedmaking and dishwashing, to the Lord. Not just arithmetic." "Not just Arithmetic" by MABEL CASON 32 O LD Andrew said there's lots of pretty shells at Cripp's Cove," exclaimed Kay ex- citedly to her brother, Tim. "Let's go there after lunch." "It's a jolly long way," grumbled Tim. "Why it's four or five miles." "I know, but a special bus goes there this afternoon," Kay ex- plained. "It's our last day, and Andrew says the shells are much prettier than those found here." "We were going swimming," Tim complained. "I know, but we've been swimming almost every day, and besides if we take our costumes, very likely we can have a swim at the cove," said Kay. "Oh, all right!" growled Tim. Shells held little attraction for him, but he knew that what Kay sugges- ted was fair. The bus started from the church at two fifteen. Cripp's Cove was a very quiet little place, and the bus paid only one visit per week. On arriving, the children made straight for the beach. Neither was dis- appointed. Kay was soon gathering shells of all colours, and Tim found several small pools with shrimps and prawns. After a time he began to take an interest in other things. Reach- ing a high breakwater, he peered through one of the many gaps in it. On a piece of flat rock he could see a big bird. It was about nine- teen inches long; its upper plumage was grey and the under- parts white. By the clumsy manner in which it moved, Tim guessed it to be hurt. At that moment Kay's voice, calling with great urgency, reached his ears. "0 Tim, come quickly! It's five to five by my watch, and it's stopped." Tim forgot about the bird. Shouting to his sister to run and that he would catch her up, he collected his net, then rushed after her at great speed. Ten minutes later two glum faced children stared at each other in dismay. It was half past five, and the bus had left quarter of an hour before. Now they faced a long, weary walk home. "Can't be helped," said Tim, and seeing the expression on Kay's face added, "Look, I've got our fares. If we buy some of those cakes we saw in the baker's shop and then walk home along the cliff top, it won't be too bad." "It will save us a mile at least, too," said Kay, determined, like her brother, to make the best of things. The cakes proved as delicious as they had looked, and provided some consolation. "I say, Kay, look at that bird down there on that flat rock. I saw it when you called and I feel sure it's hurt." "Perhaps it's just resting," sug- gested Kay. "No, I saw it move about ; it was simply hobbling," said Tim. At that moment the bird shuffled awkwardly across the rock's surface. "There! just look at it," cried Tim triumphantly. As if resenting this criticism, the bird suddenly took flight. Both children watched in surprise and admiration at the effortless manner in which it wheeled and glided through the air. "Nothing wrong with its wings at any rate," said Kay. "No, it must be a leg or a foot," replied Tim. "I doubt if the bird was hurt at all," said Farmer Jones when told of the mysterious incident. "By your description it was a fulmar petrel. These birds are noted for their clumsiness on land just as they are noted for their mastery of flight. The effortless manner in which they glide through the air, using every current of wind, and with scarcely a wing beat, is wonderful. Fulmar petrels belong to the Shearwater family." "I am glad we went to Cripp's Cove now, Kay," admitted Tim. "That's another species of bird I can add to my list." "And I've got some really gorgeous shells!" replied his sister, happily. IS YOUR NAME GEORGE? by G. E. DIGGLE T WO Greek words, one mean- ing "earth," and the other "a worker," combine to give us the name "George." So the name means "a gardener," or "a farmer"—"a worker of the earth." St. George is the "patron saint" of England. He lived in Cappa- docia, in Asia Minor, and was put to death in A.D. 303 during a great persecution of Christians. The famous legend tells how, after killing the dragon, he put away his armour and weapons, gave all his money and goods to the poor, and became a travelling preacher. CHERRY TREE FARM by RONALD JAMES 33 ' ' ''' ' ' � ' L0. ......... We have had six King Georges in this country over the past 250 years, and a lot of other men called George who have served God and men faithfully. George Fox founded the Society of Friends (or Quakers)—those men and women of peace who have always been to the front in good causes. A century after George Fox came George Whitefield, one of England's greatest preachers. George Williams started the Young Men's Christian Associ- ation, the Y.M.C.A., as we usually call it. George Muller began an orphanage at Bristol, over 100 years ago. This orphanage has never made a public appeal for funds to support the work, relying entirely on prayer. Among the great writers we have had George Herbert and George Borrow ; among the painters George Romney, and among the great musicians George Frederick Handel. Boys will also remember George Stephenson, the railway pioneer, and also George Washington, the first President of the United States of America. ANIMALS on the MAP by EDYTH HARPER AKE an atlas or any country map of Britain. Look at the names marked. You will be surprised how many of them are connected with animals. Many of our towns were given their names as tiny villages at a time when a place-name told the character of the locality. Oxford was obviously the place where the river could easily be crossed, or forded, by cattle or oxen, and was much used by drovers. Cowbridge in Glamorgan- shire was also on a route for moving herds of cows, probably from one pasture to another. Our native animals such as the badger [Brock], otter, and rabbit, crop up in place names all over Britain. Brockenhurst, Coney Hatch, Otterburn, and Ottershaw were all places where local people knew these animals existed. In Anglo-Saxon times a wood was called a "hurst." Naturally a wood where there were plenty of badgers came to be known as Brockenhurst. Similarly a shady copse was de- noted by the end- ing — "shaw ;" while "bourne" and "burn" are endings of places with a stream. Otters are never far from water, hence Otter- bourne and Otter- burn appeared on the map. Gleneagles needs no explan- ation, � while Dovedale was obviously a good spot for bird watchers. Cuck- See how nicely you can colour this picture and send it with your name, age, and address to Auntie Pam, The Stanborough Press Ltd., Watford, Fleets.. not later than September 5th. field in Sussex owes its name to an old legend, for here, they said, the cuckoo stayed on, long after other birds had migrated from our shores. Whiting Bay must have been a good area for fishermen. Beverley in Yorkshire is a reminder that once beavers were natives of Britain—around Chaucer's time. Many dogs seem to have taken their names from different locali- ties, but rarely appear to have been the cause of a place name. Hounds- ditch in London is an exception but Cockers, Clumbers, Bedlington, Airedales, and Skye terriers to name a few, all owe their names to the locality where they were bred. Insect place names are practically non-existent ; St. Bee's Head might qualify, although it really owes its name to a saint. Worm's Head has more of a claim; while the Lizard is an example coming from reptiles. Hindhead, Swanage, Wildboar- clough (where the last wild boar is said to have been killed in England) are other examples, all going a long way back into the past, and showing once again our native fondness for, and observa- tion of, animals. RESULTS OF MAY COMPETITION Prize-winners.—Susan Mitchell, 15 Laburnum Crescent, Shoreditch, London. E.2. Age 12; Sylvia George. "Mevagissey, Hurn Road, Drayton, Norwich, Norfolk. Age 8. Honourable Mention.—Linda Wood (Shef- field, 8) ; Pamela Sheldrick (Shoeburyness) ; Brenda George (Mevagissey) ; Alison Tweedie (Heaton Moor) ; Ernest Daley (Clapton) ; Danielle Lawniczak (Kettering) ; Margaret Allcock (Mansfield) ; Wendy Huggins (Bath) ; Anne Crawford (West Moors) ; Alison Crawford (West Moors) ; Lynda Peters (Wolvershill) ; Dean Edwards (Southend-on- Sea) ; Rosalind Tuson (Edmonton) ; James Burt (Falkirk) ; Avril Thompson (London. derry) ; John Dilks (Croxley Green) ; Rose- mary Dalton (Yelverton) ; Ann Chaplin (Woodford Green) ; Sandra Lord (Plymouth) ; Marie Cecelia (London, W.4.) ; Malcolm Coombs (Watford) ; Raymond Hall ( Plymouth) ; Richard Gallivan (Garston) ; Maureen Smith (Londonderry) ; Theresa Doyle (Acton) ; Barbara Mear (Benfleet) ; Lynn Machen (Dringhouses) ; Rosemary Pearson (Westcliff-on-Sea) ; Margaret Ison (Thetford). Those who tried hard. — Irene Peaty (Ipswich) ; Brenda Cunningham (Falkirk) ; Carol Coughlin (York) ; Ben Saul (Croydon) ; Raymond Dougherty (Ballymoney) ; Lorrae Davey (Chilwell) ; Kerie Davey (Chilwell) ; Duncan Robbens (Kidlington) ; Betty Taylor (Londonderry) ; Diane -French (Norfolk); Geoffrey White (Plymouth) ; Cynthia Chur- chill (Isleworth) ; Geoffrey Austen (Wester- ham) ; Claire Smithson (Orby) ; C. Buckley (Chiswick) ; Susan Staples (Nottingham) ; Pauline Leonard (Londonderry) ; Kathleen Gallivan (Garston) ; Christine Hay (London- derry) ; Jonathan Agard (London, E .12) ; Cecelia Lawrence (Southall) ; John Turner (Gloucester) ; Lynda Goyner (Chelmsford) ; Wilma David (Huddersfield) ; Lynette Jenner (Hailsham) ; Elizabeth Thompson (Hammer- smith) ; Kerry Horrocks (Derby). 34 Heading for judgment "ONLY a fool will believe today that we are not heading for a world-wide showdown when nuclear power is spreading to so many nations," says Dr. Billy Graham. -The world is heading for judgment and if we think we can solve our problems with- out God we are wrong." Gene's "little stroll" CONGRATULATING Astronaut Eugene Cernan on his 36,000-mile walk in space, one and a half times round the earth, President Johnson said, "That little stroll, Gene, was one of the finest chapters in our whole space story." Stupendous fact "THE most stupendous fact in Christian history in the last hundred years," said Dr. Trevor Huddle- ston, Bishop of Masasi, at a missionary meeting in London, "is that fifty million new Christians have been added to the church in Africa alone." !'oung gamblers A REPORT of the Churches' Council on Gambling states that "there are more young men now taking part regularly in 'gambling than there were when betting . . . was limited to street bookies" and when punters were more "toward middle age." A thousand million Chinese "OFFICIAL Peking estimates," says Stanley Karnow in the New York Herald Tribune, put the popula- tion of China at "650 to 700 million. . . . By the end of the century, everyone agrees, there should be well over a billion (a thousand million) Chinese." Still dark continent A REPORT from Addis Ababa states that only six out of every ten native children born in Africa survive to adult life and only one half ever go to school. Attacks never more vicious "NEVER in my life," asserts D. Elton Trueblood, "have I known a time when the attacks on the Gospel were as vicious as they are now. I see about me a far more militant atheism than I have ever seen before, and I see it pressed with evangelical fervour." State of death THE National Academy of Medicine in France has decided that a person may be pronounced dead when the encephalograph records no brain activity, even though the heart may still be beating. Over fifty million copies FOR the first time in its history, the American Bible Society reported in 1965 the distribution of more than 50,000,000 Bibles, testaments, and portions. The British and Foreign Bible Society last year distributed over 18 million copies. Grudging approval As might be expected from its aversion to "bishops," the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed by a very narrow majority, 245 votes to 222, the authorization of a committee to "try to find a way forward to unity" with the Church of England and the Episcopal Church of Scotland. Smoking and coronaries A MEDICAL investigation in Ireland has revealed that among men under sixty years of age most coronary cases smoked twice as heavily as the average person. Not, just a "good chap" "THE average Englishman" said a Cathedral provost to a Times reporter, regards Christianity as "being good, being a decent sort of chap." But he asserted, "Being a Christian is not being a good chap. It is accepting the Faith." ****************************** JUST FILL IN THE COUPON INDICAT- ING YOUR PREFERENCE AND THE LESSONS WILL BE DISPATCHED TO YOU IN PAIRS UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE COURSE AND RECEIVED A CERTIFICATE. NDERSON, ARTIST E REVIEW & HERALD FREE HOME BIBLE STUDY GUIDES Why not invite the into your home THROUGH A FREE BIBLE STUDY COURSE SENT TO YOU BY POST ? WHATEVER YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES —, WHATEVER YOUR PERSONAL PROBLEM —WHATEVER YOUR AGE — GOD'S WORD HA FOR YOU THE VOICE OF PROPHECY HOME BIBLE STUDY GUIDES WILL HELP YOU TO FIND IT. ARE YOU INTERESTED to know the meaning of world events today? Do you wonder whether there is life after death? Are you interested to find the secret of answered prayer? Then, "GREAT TEACHINGS AND PROPHECIES OF THE BIBLE" will help you. ARE YOU A PARENT OR TEACHER helping children to know more of the wonderful life of Jesus Christ? If so, the "HOPE OF THE WORLD" Bible Study Guides are just what you need. ARE YOU A YOUNG PERSON wishing to become better acquainted with the interesting stories of men and women of Bible times? Then you will find the "YOUNG PEOPLE'S BIBLE COURSE" interesting and informative. Please send me the course indicated below. (Tick course desired) 111 GREAT TEACHINGS AND PROPHECIES OF THE BIBLE LI HOPE OF THE WORLD (Life of Christ) K YOUNG PEOPLES BIBLE COURSE Mr./Mrs./Miss � Address OT BLOCK LETTERS PLEASE I I4 COMPLETE COUPON AND POST TO: VOICE OF PROPHECY BIBLE SCHOOL, I � 123 REGENT STREET, LONDON, W.I.