VOL.

12. No. 7.

AUCKLAND,

N.Z., JULY, 1892.

ing, he replied, '.No, my time is at hand, ing orders and may go at any moment.'

TWUPENCE.

I have my marchPassing into an

... ' I :,... ," :

ARLIAMENT hopeful one. likelihood constituents

has met again, and thus Indeed there apparent are

far the prospect for the sess~on is not a

IS

.,

of a deadlock. of the Upper

The pr~sent House

not at all favourable to the policy of the present Government. There are nine vacancies in the Chamber, which can be made up, but to add that number of Government supporters would not give a sufficient majority. Twelve at least must be secured to allow the two houses to work amicably. At present the matter is at a deadlock. Whether or not, when the full Min isterin.l programme is revealed, matters ma,y be adjusted, remains to be seen. Until, however, something definite is settled with regard to the Legislative Assembly, no real forward work can be done. Such a position is an argument, readily seized upon by many politicians, for the abolition of the Upper House. We are of opinion that to make membership of the Upper House elective and periodical, instead of as now---by the appointment of the Governor, and for life -would be a radical enough change, and this might prevent such a state of things as now exists.

inner room, he laid himself upon the bed and peacefully fell asleep, with his last words sending his' love to the people at home.' His has been an eventful life, and one which has in wrought itself with the history of the wars and politics of the colony, In the storm and stress of bygone days, when the North Island was the scene of war and bloodshed, and in later days of financial embarrassment, according to his convictions he played the man, and though in later times many have dissented from his policy, yet not one of his opponents would hesitate to join with his closest friends in yielding an unstinted, meed of praise to his memory for his loyalty, integrity, thoroughness, and incorruptibility. Perhaps it was the nlost fitting close to such a life, that death should come into the precincts where much of the life's work was done, and with decided, yet withal gracious behest, bid the veteran statesman rest from his labours.

, Dying in harness' is a common enough phrase, but in actual life it is the exceptional thing. In the death of Sir Harry Atkinson, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, it has been fully illustrated. All the details are dramatic and impressive. Reference had been made in the Council to the death of three of its members, and out of respect for their memories, a motion for adjournment was passed. The Speaker retired to his room and chatted with a friend, who com plimented him on his improved appearance. But sm il-

The presence of Miss Morrison in Auckland on behalf of the Tailoresses' Union, has been the means of revealing a shocking state of things' in connection with the clothing trade. That lady came to this city to aid in reorganizing the Union, which from various causes was ina languishing state. On arri \'[\1 she found that although there was a log in existence, log prices were not generally paid. In one factory only was the log paid throughout. In addition to this she found, what had been known before by some, that sweating existed to a great extent. Mer first efforts were directed to securing the assistance and support.of prominent citizens, and then, with the aid of these she endeavoured to persuade all the female workers to join the Union. In this latter part of the work she has been successful. Just now a log is being prepared which it is hoped will be acceptable alike to employer and to worker. Miss Morrison is a shrewd and genial woman, possessing the qualities of tact and generalship. She makes no attempt to incite the workers to rebellion, nor does she make it her business to , set the employers in the worst possible light. She believes

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THE BIBLE STANDARD.

JULY, 1892.

that the acceptance of a log and the recognition of the Union would put the trade generally upon a better footing. would destroy cutting competition, and its offspring, sweating, and would thus secure a fair remuneration to the worker and be beneficial to the employer. We wish her well in her mission. The Licensed Victuallers' Association assuredly foresee that the day is nearing when licenses will not be had for the asking, nor renewed at the pleasure of the liquor party. The recent victory secured to the Sydenham Licensing Committee is recognised as a foretaste of what may follow. The Association wishes to make provision for the future, but it seems evident that all its members have not faith that this can be done, for at a meeting recently convened in Wellington only a dozen members attended. An effort was made to secure a 'larger attendance, and submit to it a Bill to provide compensation to hotel.owners when licenses are taken away. Too late, my friends. The public know that the hotel-owners of New Zealand are mainly the brewers, and it is not likely that Demos will consent to inflict taxation to pay them for the loss of a trade which is considered by the majority of the people to be a harmful One. It has yet to be shown that compensation can be rightfully demanded for a refusal to renew a license which exists only from year to year.

One item of news comes to hand just as we are about to publish, which we cannot refrain from mentioning with pleasure. An endeavour has been made by certain interested persons to open the King Country to the sale of intoxicating liquors. All lovers of temperance, and well-wishers to the native race, regretted to hear that former restrictions were to be removed from one district, and a liquor shop was to be opened. Immediate steps were taken, and meetings held to protest against the proposed change. These protests have been forwarded to the Government and have had a salutary effect. The Premier announces that the Government has decided that' the King Country is to remain closed against the sale of intoxicating liquors.' Those who have so assiduously laboured to remove. the restriction are for During Mr. Grubb's mission in Auckland, some interested the present foiled. To have granted the concession might persons industriously circulated the report that he believed have gratified, and perhaps enriched, the few, Dut at an ex- ' in Conditional Immortality. vVe referred to this in our pense that could not be estimated by gold. 'Ve are thank- ilast, and stated tha t he did not make this truth very ful that for the present the effort has failed, and we are apparent. We learn, however, that one good orthodox hopeful that at no future time will it be renewed. Christian determined to discover if this were true, that he might repel the charge thus brought against a man whose In a recent issue of The Fortnightly Review, Sir Roberb teachings had so pleased him, He therefore wrote to Ball, Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge, discourses at Mr. Grubb and asked him the question definitely, Did he length upon the probabilities of the sun's light and heat 01' did he not believe in this doctrine ~ For answer, the giving out, and, like many another scientist, indulges in a evangelist referred the querist to Dr. Anderson's book, little prophesying. Science Gossip for May comments thus What is Jlfan? stating that he endorsed the position taken upon the professor's antics :-' Is it not a pity that the by the author of that work (a very good book, by the way, newly -appointed Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge although it falls short of perfect advocacy of the truth). should be attached to a sensational Astronomy? His The work was procured, and we suppose eagerly searched latest prophecy is that the light and heat of the sun will to discover what the views were. Conditional Immortality! not be available for more than ten million years at the Then the accusation was true, and henceforth he must take most, and possibly not for more than four. The fact is, no back his denial of it. As for the book, no such work

conclusions like these of Sir R. Ball can be accepted as having scientific value unl~ss astronomera first know and are certain about. the actual temperature of the sun. Numerous attempts have been made to determine the latter, and the results have varied from 1,500 to 5,000,000 degrees. Even Sir Robert Ball allows a range of from 4,000,000 to 10,000,000 years for the sun's future duration. That gives a pretty fair margin.' Yes, it does allow a fair margin. But, of course, six million years is but a trifle with modern scientists. The light and airy way in which they discuss probabilities involving figures and margins like these is somewhat amazing to the non-scientist. There is one little scrap of consolation that is afforded. us, namely, that if it is true, we are not likely to be affected by it, and future generations will not be able to avert the inevitable. But after all, what do these prophets know? There is a gloomy forecast for the race should Sir Robert Ball be right-a world filled with darkness, and becoming the dwelling-place of eternal frost and ice, amid which the last shivering remnants of humanity will freeze to death. Pleasant prospect, truly! Another set of scientists, equally learned, but starting from earth instead of heaven, declare that the earth has within it a molten sea of fire, and that in a few million years it will become too hot for any life to exist upon it, and that the matter of which it is composed will finally be consumed. Between the two, what are the ignorant to do? Which must be believed? In our opinion, it is wiser to trust in the Word of God, which assures its readers that the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars are to abide forever. Whatever changes may come will not affect the solid structure of the earth, nor operate to destroy all life, either by freezing or burning. We believe the prophets of God, when they depict a fairer, brighter state of things for this earth, think them to be more worthy of credence than any modern scientist, who is by no means sure of his data. The God who has declared knows. Man only guesses, and if these do not harmonise with the declarations of Divine wisdom they are wrong.

JULY, 1892.

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

99

should rest upon his shelves, and it was returned to the book-store whence it had been procured. Of course we sympathize to some extent with the dear man. He feels, doubtless, that he has been deceived; and yet when it is considered that 2\'Ir. Grubb's stay was so short, the evangelist was wise in not attempting to throw down erroneous beliefs if he saw no opportunity for building up the truth. Certainly we should be better pleased if every man who held this important doctrine would boldly avow it. A man may possibly remain silent who holds the truth. He cannot help but speak when the trul.h has 'got him.' Another of the front-rank men in the Life and Advent believers has fallen on sleep, and a vacant space has been made in the host. J allies Kelly, M.A., of St. George's Church, Liverpool, has been, by voice and pen, instrumental during a long period in rendering noble and effective service to the cause of Bible study. His book entitled too little known, even amongst those who hold with him the Futurist view of prophecy. Twenty years ago he wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse as far as to the close of chapter sixteen, in which he gave the results of a long study of that precious book. On the subject of Conditional Immortality he was not less pronounced. On one occasion he delivered what was called 'a masterly exposition of Conditional Immortality,' to which the Duke of Argyle was an attentive listener. As these veteran soldiers of the Lord fall on sleep, it behoves all who love their Master to close up the ranks, and as far as possible take up the burdens they have so long and so ably carried.

jf~itb tbe j!,ife::::l'oot f $cience. o

ALL so-called physical science or absolute knowledge of Nature is based upon a grand article of FAITH, which is taken f01' granted, namely, the absolute uniformity of Nature, but which science, being limited in view, cannot prove, aud therefore must never be permitted to allege it against the possibility of miracles, or divine additions to, or violations of that order of N ature, if such' miracles' are properly attested. Faith is the life-root of science itself. The physical sciences, properly so called, are representations of the order of Nature in its various departments. They are valid as far as they go. But they do not embrace in their view the Supreme Invisible cause, on whose will and eternal might all Nature depends. The supe1'nn,tural is in the Infinite cause alone. If, therefore, men who have studied Nature within its limits, assume to comprehend its Invisible and Eternal CAUSE, and a priori to determine that He has left no sphere of direct supernatural action to Himself in the government of the universe of matter and mind, such science goes beyond its own necessary limitations, and deserves rather the name of ignorant presumption, if it dares to determine that there is not, and cannot be, any supernatural revelation of that Eternal cause. Faith is the life-root of science itself, and the presumption which 'intrudes into that region, which it hath not seen,' is the chief and unscientific cause of unbelief. But such unbelief carries also a moral quality, since it simply does not (as says St. Paul) 'like to retain God in its knowledge,' and has a moral root because it practically insults the Eternal cause with the old defiance. Depart from ~(8, FOR WD: DESIRIC
NOT THE KNOWLEDGE

The Eternal

Purpose of Cod is a masterpiece

or

'I'll, WAn:.

In the language of The Jewish World, the Hebrew Nothing that true science has determined in visible population of Russia is, for the present, 'penned in.' The Nature has proved the absolute and changeless uniformity Austrian front-ier has been practically closed for some of Nature in any department. This absolute uniformity is time; Turkey refuses to receive Jewish refugees in Asia al ways assumed by sceptics without being prooed. It may Minor; and now Germany has resolved to close the frontier be, therefore, that if God exists He has reserved a special against Jewish emigrants of every description. 'With no sphere of action for Himself, both in physical and moral above other channels of escape than the Baltic and the Black government, and may have interfered supernaturally only to create new forms of life, but in order to Sea, and then the prospect of long and expensive voyages, law--not the oppressed people are in great perplexity and sorrow of save law breakers to attest a special message of imuiortalis, ing grace to mankind. This is precisely what the authenheart. The only crumb of comfort in the present situation And is the report that the Russian Government will shortly ticated -reeord. of Revelation declo es that he has done. give official sanction to the statutes of the Society for there is nothing known to science, properly so-called, to throw the slightest valid doubt on such duly attested Promoting Jewish Emigration, founded by Baron Hirsch, of Almighty Love to save dying As soon as this is done, the Russian Jews who wish to miraculous interferences men to Eternal life. leave the country will be able to depart, after observing
EUWAIW \VHI'l'E. the prescribed formalities, with a view to settlement in the -------<>---Argentine Republic. In any case, there is not likely as Christianity really teaches us to say, "Vhat seems thine yet to be emigration on a large scale, for it is expected is not thine, what seems mine is not mine, whatever thou that when the Hirsch scheme gets into full operation, those who wish to leave Russia will have to encounter many hast belongs to God, and whatever I have belongs to God, obstacles in the way of vexatious formalities imposed by YOIl and I must use what we have according to God's Dale. minor officials, and especially by the police. The exodus will.-Dj. from the lands of the north threatens to partake of a We must increase our talents, enlarge our graces, shoot for God's family character similar to that from Egypt thousands of years up with tallness, grow to this stature; ago, when for a time the king' would not let Israel go.'admits of no dwarfs. Stunted profession was never sonnd,-Adams. The Christian.

100

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

JULY, 1892.

Signs of tbe (.tIosing IDa~s of tbte IDit:pensa non.

ONE day as Jesus was leaving the temple, His disciples spake with Him, and desired to show Him all the buildings connected with that temple; and He answering them said: 'See ye not all these things 1 Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.' The literal fulfilment of this remarkable prophecy is now a matter of history, although at the time it was uttered nothing would have appeared more unlikely to the majority of the inhabitants of Jerusalem than such a fulfilment.

It is not, however, of the past, but of the present and future, that we have to write, and to this end we shall consider the latter portion of the question put by the disciples to the Master after He had sat Himself down on the Mount of Olives. An idea was evidently in the minds of these men that the destruction of the temple and the coming of the Lord, together with the consummation of the age; would take place at about one and the same time; and Christ did not controvert this idea. Doubtless his reasons for not doing so were good ones, and might be summed np in the injunction, "Yatch.' , Tell us what shall be the sign of thy presence, and of the consummation of the age l' (Matt. xxiv, 3.) In answer to this question, the Master indicates certain signs, amongst which are 'wars and rumours of wars,' but the end is not yet; nation rises against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines and earthquakes in divers places; all which are the beginning of travail. We are told sometimes, when speaking on these subjects, that these things have been characteristic of all ages since the words were uttered, and indeed before. To a certain extent this is true, but was the world at large ever before in such a state of unrest as it is at present 1 Surely the answer to this question can only be, No. Every nation in Europe is straining its resources to their utmost tension to put itself on a par with the others in the art of war; while death-dealing instruments of most marvellous construction and efficacy are being invented and improved on to such an extent that one wonders where and when it will stop. The secret plott.ings and foul murders of the Nihilists of Russia; the Anarchists of France, Italy, and Spain; earthquakes in Japan, America and elsewhere; famine in Russia; and pestilence the wide world over, in the shape of the influenza fiend, which seems to bid defiance to all sanitary arrangements, poisoning the very air we breathe, and numbering amongst its victims all kinds and conditions of men, women, and children; knowledge increasing to an almost unthought of extent, and its power being turned to the basest as well as the noblest of purposes; men rushing hither and thither, until distance seems to be almost annihilated, or, as a friend whom the writer knew many years ago in New Zealand, and chanced to meet a few days since in Adelaide, put it, 'Surely the world must be getting very small indeed when we knock

against one another m this unexpected manner after all these years.' The strange and appalling crimes we read of in the newspapers seem to fairly stagger one, and it may truly be said that to-day men's hearts are failing them for the things that are coming to pass. All these things indicate such a state of world-wide unrest as was surely never known before. Iniquity is multiplied to such an extent that the love of the many is indeed waxing cold. These, we think, are signs of the times that cannot be mistaken, but to the writer's mind the most definite and emphatic of all, as well as the most satisfactory, is that the Gospel of the Kingdom is beginning to be almost uni versally preached. True it is in many instances mixed with much error; nevertheless, it is to-day a fact, and a glorious one, that heralds are everywhere proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. The majority of men do not care to listen, and laugh the preachers to scorn; while, unfortunately, they are backed up by those who ought to know better, and who call themselves 'servants of God' and' ambassadors for Christ,' but who are so puffed up with human wisdom that they cannot, or will not, see the Divine purpose of God in sending His Son to redeem mankind from death, and restore this beautiful but sin-stricken earth to its former glory. , Art thou a king r said Pi late. ' To this end was I born,' answered Christ. Ay, and when He is in possession of His kingdom we shall see righteousness covering the earth as the waters cover the mighty deep. 'Then shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our own God, shall give us His blessing. God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him' (Psa. lxvii. 6, 7). Scepticism is to be another 'sign or characteristic of the end of this age, for Christ Himself asks, in Luke xviii. 6 : 'Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth l' How different this thought from that which seems to dominate the Churches to-day, viz., that the Church will yet convert the world. It is now about one hundred years since foreign missions were started, and it is claimed that about 3,000,000 converts have been made to Christianity; while the population of heathen lands has increased during the same period by about 300,000,000, so that 67 heathen have appeared for every Christian convert. Verily the work of converting the heathen to Christ will have to go on much faster than it has yet done, or ages will roll by and still the work be unfinished. But because the apparent results are so small, is that a reason to be downcast and disheartened, and so give up working 1 By no means. If a lunatic sailor goes down into a ship's hold, and bores holes in the bottom for the purpose of scuttling her and drowning his fellow-sailors, the captain can, provided he is warned in time, send down and have the holes plugged up and the inflow stayed, and so navigate his ship in safety to port; but if he calmly sits down when warned of the danger, and says: 'Vie have a fair wind, smooth sea, and are getting on very nicely indeed,' while all the time the water is flowing in and no effort made to stop it, by-and-by he will awake to the fact that the ship is sinking, and

JULY, 1892.

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101

nothing can be done to save her. And thus it is with the mission ship. Error is flowing in through the augur holes of orthodoxy, viz., soul immortalism, rewards at death, sky kingdom, post millennialism, and such-like man-invented theories, to the almost entire exclusion of that blessed hope, the glorious re-appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, until the ship, as a true Gospel bearer, is almost ready to sink, and the commanders stand by so puffed up with the idea of the conversion of the world by the Church that they cannot, or will not, see the danger, seemingly utterly oblivious of the fact that there is not a single sentence in the Book to warrant the notion of such a conversion j while those who see the danger and know the remedy are not allowed to lift a finger or say a word to stop the deadly inflow. Alas! alas! perilous times have come in these last days, as the Spirit forewarned the Church through Paul that they would come. When anyone goes out of his way to proclaim against the errors of orthodoxy, and makes certain Biblical statements relative to the nature and destiny of man, Christ's second advent, etc, the question is asked-' Have any of the rulers believed these things l' and the answer comes, Ask Bishop This, or ,the Rev. That, 01' Pastor So-and-so, and see how quickly he will refute the teachings of this babbler' j and doubtless he may do so, but it will be by the aid of the writings of Plato and other heathen philosophers, and not with the Sword of the Spirit, the Bible. The spread of Spiritualism is another of the signs of the times (see 1 Tim. iv. 1-3), and is evidenced in the formation of Spiritualistic circles, Theosophical societies, etc., in every large centre of population, with radiating branches in every direction. Then, again, how true a picture has Paul drawn ill his Second Epistle to Timothy iii. 1-5, and ill iv. 3, 4: , But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of Godliness, but having denied 'the power thereof.' Well might Paul say, 'From these turn away. For the time will come when they will not endure the healthful teaching j but having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts j and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.' Look round you, reader, think a moment" and compare the present with only thirty years ago, and I venture to say that you will agree with me that the development in the direction indicated in these verses is truly appalling j but then look up and thank God that the end draweth nigh. Yes, 2 Peter ii. 1-3 tells us that these false teachers bring swift destruction upon themselves, while iii. 1-5 gives us more knowledge by which we can discern the signs of the times, for verily this is an age of mockery. The last passage I shall bring under your notice in this

portion of our subject is the charge to the Laodicean Churcl: as found in Rev. iii. 14-22, and the characteristic of the age here referred to is 'lukewarmness, that sickly, nauseous thing, which induces vomiting. And so the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, even the Living One that was dead, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, says. for this lukewarmness, this being neither hot nor cold: 'I will spue thee out of my mouth.' Brethren in Christ, that this is pro-eminently the age of lukewarmness amongst professing Christians you have only to go into the majority of the churches in your city on any Sunday you like to satisfy yourself j and as for attending Bible classes, Bible readings, prayer meetings, and such-like services -well, any excuse serves to keep seven-tenths at least of most church-goers from bothering themselves by attending them. To such I would echo the Master's challenge, 'Can ye not discern the sign's of the times r Oh, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober, clad in the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand fast in the evil days which are come and coming upon the earth j for' He that overcometh I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with 'My Father in His throne.' Will you and I, dear reader, be 'there 1 , Our next subject will be, God willing, 'The Christ's return.' - ", Adelaide, May 6,' 1892. Promise of F.B.H.

3f no $econb Hb\)ent, tbcn 'Wlbat?

THERE are some professing Christians, who altogether deny the personal 'appearing of the Lord Jesus, and the resurrection of the dead. Did this question ever occur to them: If no second advent, then what 1 Is death forever to reign in the world 1 Is there to be no final out-come or consummation to human history 1 Those who deny the second coming of Christ, deprive history of all plan and consistency, and a gospel of a completed victory. According to them, the last enemy, death, will never be destroyed. Sickness, pain and the grave will always be the common lot of humanity. Reason, as well as Holy Scripture, pronounce such a view highly absurd. It will not be possible for man kind to rest forever upon this planet in its present condition. It devolves on those who deny the Second Advent and the resurrection, to show how the human race can exist forever under present environments, and how, even if this were possible, it would tally with the predictions of God's word concerning the final triumph of Jesus over sin and death, and the physical regeneration of the earth itself. The fact is, that when men begin to modify and explain away God's word in order to escape difficulties, they only involve themselves in still greater difficulty. This rule holds good in every case, and in nothing is it more apparent, than in the speculations of those who spiritualize away the second coming and the resurrection.e=Ruv. J. S. GILBERT,A.M., ill illeseiah' s Herald. .

102

THE BIBLE STANDAH.D.

JliLY,

1892.

~apel'5 on tbe lI\ingbom.

THE No. XI. KINGDOM TO BE RESTORED.

I is to be restored.

'And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David ; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it' (Ezek. xx xiv, 23, 24). 'Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the , But if ye shall turn away from following me, ye or yoUI' chil- nations whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, dren . . . then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel: and one king have given them' (1 Kings ix. 6, 7). David foresaw that there would be such a falling away, shall be king to them all ; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; and mournfully noted the dire results. neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor 'But thou hast cast off and rejected. Thou hast been wroth with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions with thine anointed. Thou hast abhorred the covenant of thy but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they servant. Thou hast profaned his crown even to the ground. . . . have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, Thou hast made his brightness to cease, and cast his throne down and I will be their God. And my servant David shall be king to the ground ' (P~. l xx xix, 38-44). over them; and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also After the division of the kingdom in the reign of Reho- walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes to do them' boam, predictions are given which show the approaching (Ezek. xxxvii, 22-24).

AVING spent some little time in the investigation of the facts relating to the downfall of the kingdom, I wish. now to show that at no time was this downfall viewed by God and His inspired servants as a permanent overthrow. If this fact can be impressed upon the minds of my readers, then the New Testament allusions to the kingdom yet to come will be more readily understood As seen in the preceding paper the kingdom of Israel, in view of the foreseen rebellion of the nation, was predicted as future and restored" under one of David's descendants. If these predictions had all been given after the removal of the people we should not have had so strong a proof of their inspiration as now. It would not have been in accordance with human nature for David when receiving the theocratic-favoured kingdom to predict its overthrow. As a rule, men are disposed to laud and magnify their possessions, and predict perpetuity on their behalf. The Bible predictions are opposed to the prejudices and desires of human nature. To make the position clear the following must be noted :I. Whilst the kingdom is in being the prophets note the fact of its approaching downfall. First, Solomon is warned by Jehovah that although the covenant with David is everlasting, yet Israel should suffer should the commandments of the Lord not be kept, and the sin of the reigning house would be visited upon the people as a whole.

The seers know nothing of two king. doms when that restoration is effected. The past historical division was but temporary and on account of transgression, and shall be effaced. The restoration is predicted in the most circumstantial manner. Some of its features are clear, as the following :--1. Notwithstanding the removal of the kingdom, and the severe tribulation and captivity of the people, the preservation of the race must be announced, for otherwise the election would fail, and the kingdom could not be restored, as predicted. In the most positive manner the continued existence of that people is assured.
'Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances 0 the moon and of the stars for a light by night, . . . If these ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever' (Jer. xxxi. 35-37).

These verses are connected with the promise that God will make a new covenant with them under which the entire people shall be holy. But the promise of a new covenant is the assurance of their continuance as a people.
'Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them' (Jer. xxxii. 42).

2. Notwithstanding their sinfulness and punishment their restoration ought to be distinctively presented, because David's kingdom is based upon it.

disaster which should affect both kingdoms. Compare Hosea i. 4, Am os ii. 4, 5, 6, 16. The books of Isaiah and Jeremiah are full of these warnings concerning this overthrow, even in days when it seemed an unlikely thing. But till the very last these were accompanied by the assurance that immediate repentance would avert the danger.
'Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place' (Jer. vii. 3).

3. As David's throne was in Jerusalem and was adopted by God as His throne; when David's greater son (the Seed) shall reign the centre of government should be there, to harmonise with the idea of a kingdom restored to Israel. On this the prophecies are very clear.
'At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem' (Jer. iii. 17). 'Behold the days come saith the Lord that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall yet go out onward unto the hill Gareb, and shall turn about unto Goath. . . . It shall not be plucked up nor thrown down any more for ever' (Jer, xxxi.

n. Whilst, however, the prophets in the days of prosperity faithfully declare that such adversity should follow upon wrong-doing, as that the kingdom should be taken "away, not the less clearly do they declare a following restora38-40). tion. The overthrow is not to be forever. The kingdom 'Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for is not to be cast down to the dust, never more to be the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and revived. The identical kingdom that is to be overthrown before his ancients gloriously' (Isa, xxiv. 23).

JULY,

1892.

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

See Acts iii. 23; Matt. x.28; and xii.ll.

103
J ames v. 20; Rev. viii. 9 ;

Indeed all the particulars needed for a fnll identification of the kingdom once established in the land of Israel, but now, and for many centuries overthrown, are given in the most simple language. There is 110 need, therefore, to make these passages mean any other than they seem to convey. Seeing, then, that the prophets depict one kingdom to come, and that in connection with the Israelitish people and throne, it is a gross violation of all propriety to take these descriptions and to arbitrarily apply them, as many do, a part to the present history of the Church on earth and another part to its future in heaven. Close study of the prophecies will, therefore, show, that the kingdom overthrown is the kingdom to be restored. Has that restoration yet occnrred? Further investigation will yield a full and satisfactory answer.
ALPHA.

~be $ouI.
in the Old Testament is nepheslc. It occurs ahout 752 times, and is translated 'soul' 475 times. With two single exceptions it is the only Hebrew word translated' soul.' It is the word which occurs in such phrases as 'the soul,' 'souls,' 'my soul, 'your soul,' 'any soul,' 'soul of man,' etc. With the adjective chctiyah, or living, it is translated 'living soul,' nephesli chaiyah, a term applied to beasts as well as to men. See Gen. i. 20, margin, and v. 24 text, and Lev. xxiv. 18. It is also applied to man. Gen. ii. 7. But it is nevel' connected with any adjective implying immortalitv or deathlessness ; that is in the inspired Hebrew Scriptur~~. It means It person, a breathing creature, and the life principle, or the animal life, animating such creature, ItS contained in the blood. Gen. ix. 4.

Parkhurst, in his Hebrew Lexicon, says that nephesl as a noun means 'a breathing frame, the body which by breathing is sustained in life.' Again, 'a living creature / a creature, or animal, that lives by breathing.' ' Particularly a lcurnam. creature, being, or self, as being the princip of animal frames, a person.' Again,' and as the animal frame, including the blood, is evidently the seat of the affections and appetites nephesh denotes the a:flections, desires, or appetites.' And, lastly, 'as a noun, nephesh hath been supposed to signify the spi1'itual part of man, or what we commonly call his' (immortal 1) 'soul: I must for myself confess that I can find no passage where it hath undoubtedly this meaning.' After telling us that 'Virgil applies the Latin word anima in the same sense' as the Hebrew word neplieeh, he refers us to psuche as its Greek equivalent. In Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon peuche is said, as a noun, to mean' breaili, Lat. anima, especially as the sign of life, spirit.' II.' The soul of man, as opposed to the body. In Homer, only a departed soul, spirit, 01' ghost, which still retained the shape of its living owner,' 'generally, the soul or spirit of man, Lat. animus.' Ill. 'The soul, mind, reason, understanding,' etc. In the Latin Bible of Beza man is called a 'living animal' (animal vivens), in the two passages already referred to, namely, Gen. ii. 7, and 1 Cor. xv. 45. And under the word ominias, Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary gives 'the soul, the mind, Ivumour, thought, passion, inclination, disposition, purpose, cou1'age, heart, soul, conscience, instinct.'

'rUE Hebrew word for 'soul'

In the same two famous passages in the French Bible published by the Trinitarian Bible Society (Ostervald's The word nephesli is translated, and used for, the dead, version), man is said to have become or to have been made as well as the living; hence there are dead souls spoken of (but not to have received) 'U11e {Ime vivante' ; and under in the Hebrew Bible as well as living souls. See Lev. xix, the word 'Ame' Surenn's .French Dictionary gives the 28, and xxi. 1, etc. following meanings :-' soul, mind, spirit, ghost, courage, Nepliesh. is also translated him, himsey; me, myseff, YOU1'- heart, conscience, justice, life, existence, person, value, selves, themseloes, heart, mind, creature, beast, body, and sounding, post.' So that, though some confound the terms once even mortall.u. Deut, xix. 11. In the Old Testament 'soul' and' spirit,' yet all these Lexicons bear outthe fact it is translated life, or lives, 120 times, and is applied to that there is nothing necessarily immortal about the' soul,' both man and to beast. It is translated pe1'son about 30 no more than there is about the heart, thought, humour, times. passion, courage, life, instinct, etc. We must come to In the Greek New Testament the word for 'soul' is Christ if we want 'eternal life,' or immortality; and we JJsyche, or psuche ; and this is the word used in the ought to be thankful to receive it from God as a special Septuagint as the equivalent for the Hebrew word nephcsh, gift, through His Son Jesus the Christ, our Lord.-ALBERT 'Man became a living soul,' psuchen. zosam. Gen. ii. 7, SMITH, in 'Tlte Paith.' Septuagint. St. Paul uses the same term precisely in 1 Cor. xv. 45. The term 'living' (ziisan) would be superfluous, The good begun by thee shall onward fiow.- Wilco~jJ. if a soul could not die; and its use, as a qualifying 'When YOIl have given yourself to Christ, leave youradjective, with' psuclien' implies the natural mortality of the soul. The wordpsuche (pronouncedpsulcee), occurs 105 times self then, and go about your work as a child in His housein the New Testament, and is translated life, or lives, 40 hold. times. 1\1 att. ii. 20 ; John x. 15, etc. It is never found A true faith can no more be separated from good works with any adjective implying its deathlessness; but it is than the light, of a candle can from its heat, or the heat found in passages teaching its mortality and destructibility . from its light.- Edscarde.

104
~~~-k

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

JULY, 1892.

Y~~ible ~\) ~~. ~

IG~ MONTHo~~i1"

$t~~~l~ ..
ORGAN

also, to urge the necessity of holy living, in order that we may escape (The Second Death,' and be ready for the (Marriage of the Lamb.' We kindly invite all who sympathise with tire object of this Christian Mission to unite with us at once, and help us by their prayers, presence and purse to accomplish a noble work for our Divine Master.

~~~!

t;o"iV Zealand Evangelistic and Publication Association.

EDITED EY GEO. ALDRIDGE.

AS"ISTED

BY

SPECIAL

CONTRIBUTORS.

The Auckland Church Tea was a great success. A good spirit pervaded it from beginning to end. Thankfulness for the past and hopefulness for the future were the predominant notes in the addresses. Loyalty to primitive truth was conspicuous throughout. The anthems were much appreciated. Our readers will be sorry to learn that our Bro., E. H Taylor, has been again seriously indisposed. Indeed for a short time life was despaired of; but a turn for the better has set in, for which we are all thankful. We had hoped to have seen him at our annual tea, but this could not be. We ask the prayers of the brethren on his behalf. The history of the Thames church has been one of uphill struggle, and we trust that now our brothel' may live to see rich and full fruition from his labours. Mr. Floyd, of Dunedin, has been delivering a series of addresses, of which one subject has been, 'Will the wicked be annihilated ~' Why should a Christian minister put the question as to the destiny of the unsaved in this form 1 Why not honestly ask, "Vill the wicked be destroyed l' But no, this would not serve the purpose, because it is a Biblical assertion that 'destruction' awaits the wicked, and besides, it looks a little more learned to use the longersyllabled word, and the preacher would have plenty of scope to show the absurdity of believing that atoms can be annihilated. 'Vonder if Mr. Floyd did this! This method of procedure is so common that we ought not to be surprised if he did. But it is a pity that any should waste time in the discussion of a subject not in question. The ultimate destiny of atoms is a theme about which we do not worry. But we claim that we have a revelation as to the destiny of man, and therein is affirmed, 'All the wicked will He destroy.' And that involves the annihilation of the persons, for (They shall be as though they had not been.' The breach which occurred last year in the English Mission does not seem likely to be closed up. Bro, Cyrus Brooks continues The Faith, as editor for the Faith Press Company. Bro. Vasey, as secretary for the Mission, issues a small sheet, which, we are informed, is scarcely large enough to secure public notice and acceptance. So far as we can learn from the somewhat scanty notices that have been published, the breach is caused by divergent views as to the best methods of work; and to our thinking, the importance of the work itself ought to be enough tu induce the brethren to endeavour to seek harmony in action for the presentation of the grandest message that could be entrusted to mortal man.
,.

Il9!f" The Editor wishes it to be understood that, while he exercises a general supervision over the articles and correspondence appearing in the Stanulami, responsibility for sentiments expressed rests upon the individual writer.

tl;;ociatiotl 1Aote;.
OURBro. Miles Grant has come and gone, and the short time he spent with us has made us desire more of his presence. He arrived by the Almneda early on Friday afternoon, and so was ready to give us a talk in the evening; and what a talk it was i-full of quaint sayings, and the results of a long life experience, and packed with Bible truth. The condensed report on another page can hardly convey these in their due proportions. Those who were privileged to listen to Bro. Grant felt themselves well repaid. He left on Saturday, June 18, for San Francisco, to be in time for the great annual camp meetings which are a feature of Second Adventism in the States. Our prayers go with him. In addition to the debate with .J oseph Symes, referred to in last issue, Bro. Grant engaged in a four-nights' discussion with Pastor Abbott, of Melbourne, the topic being (The Bible teaching on future punishment"; this, as Bro. Grant informed us, making his one hundred and first debate, the total of which cover, altogether, four hundred and fifty-nine evenings. The latter debate has been reported, but it is as yet undecided whether or not it will be published. The mission at Williamstown was a great success, a large number joining in the closing meeting, which was held to remember the Lord's death, in the breaking of bread. A regular Bible reading is now being held at Williamstown and at Hawthorn, and a central meeting is arranged for at the Hanover Rooms, Eastern Arcade, Bourke-street, Bro, Geo. A. Brown has finished his term of engagement with the West Melbourne Congregational Church, and is devoting his energies, as Secretary of the new union, to the spread of the truths it advocates. In a note he says: 'We are driving right into the work, by the help of God.' The following circular has been issued to all interested :In view of the startling fact, that the prophecies referring to the Second Coming of Christ, the Chronological periods, and the signs of the times, are all giving unmistakable evidence that the return of our Saviour is now a near event; we feel it to be a duty we o\~e to Him, and to the people generally, to do at once what we can, WIth earnest, self-sacrificing, Christian zeal, to spread in all directions the light and truth

The Psalmist was sure that he could run in the way of God's commandments when God would (enlarge his

we have

received

on this most important

and thrilling

subject;

heart. An enlarged heart, filled and overflowing WIth love, will know no weariness or discouragement.

JULY, 1892.

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

105

declare these things, it should be our highest delight to con-. sider them, and to look fOI:the restoration of that kingdom at the return uf Christ, which will have as its accompaniIN our present knowledge of the working of the Divine ments such wondrous blessings as above indicated.c=Enrrou, council we note that the prophets do not distinguish between the first and second Advents of Christ. To m, who stand beU:bO\lgbt-jfoo~. tween them, the history of the one and the predictions regarding the other are unmistakably clear; but for the obscurity of this distinction of Advents, which certainly existed prior I SUPPOSE it will be accepted as a truism, that the nerves to the first Advent, there must be a reason. Students have need food as well as the blood, and that the Creator has observed that the prophetic vision in its sweep takes in all provided for the nutrition of the great nerve combinationfuture things as the eye sees ranges of hills without dis- the mind. Thus we grow in spirit by thought-feeding, and tinguishing the valleys between. We believe that it will find the grand pabulum for this spirit nourishment in the be found that the main reason for the presentation in this word of God. I suppose the saying of Jesus, ' My words manner of things to come, lies in the fact that the kingdom are Spirit and Life," extends to more than His own spoken should be offered to the Jewish people, and the issue of that utterances. For bodily supply, its food must be good in offerbeing known, it necessitated the speaking of the Advent quality, be well eaten, and properly digested; and for spirit without directly specifying the first ~r the second. This is nourishing, God has established meditation as the process for word-digestion. And when His children may not be purposely done:sufficiently attentive to their right feeding, He sometimes 1. To allow full latitude to the freedom of the nation. 2. To evince the foreknowledge, truthfulness and faith- sees it well to give them a forced quietude, when they must think on these things. He does not intend His prepared fulness of God. food to be wasted, nor His dear children to starve them3. To test the faith of His people. 4. To throw the responsibility of the rejection of Christ selves by neglecting to eat to the satisfying of the spirit. I have lately been mentally reviewing the cases of failure upon the nation. 5. To prepare the way for the increase of the nation, and in life of many dear brethren whom I have known in the 6. To avoid the despondency that must arise if the long past, and of whom we expected so much work f~r the Lord, and I am forced to the conclusion that their lapse has not intervening period were presented. been from errors in their faith and doctrine, but from inFrom the manner in which the prophecies relating to the first Advent have been fulfilled, we may learn that the sufficient spiritual feeding. It is true of them, as of all of predictions relating to the second Advent shall be realised us, that the' Lord's divine power hath given to us all whereby in their grammatical strictness. Another reason why the things which pertain to life and godliness prophets simply announced the Advent without discrirni- are given to us exceeding great and precious promises.' nating, is that both Advents were really necessary for per The food is sufficient and richly nutritious for its purpose. fected redemption. The first is really preparatory to the 'That by these we might be partakers of the divine nature, other. We cannot properly interpret the ancient prophecies and escape the corruption which is in the world through without referring to the two Advents. They stand related lust.' Like all the Lord's provision of 'convenient food' to each other, and 'in every place are spoken of without any the promises are antiseptic, but only in the degree that intimation of the long centuries that have intervened they are rightly digested. Partly chewed food rots in the between them. The two are united as essential to the stomach and so makes corrupted blood. The object of eatsalvation of men, and the experience of that salvation in ing is to get strength for labour, so that we have to conclude that every Christian in feeding on the promises has a the kingdom of God. Not a little will be gained from our kingdom studies if direct promise of will and a conception before his mind of readers are impressed with the idea of dispensational truth. either present conformity to the life of Christ Jesus, or of God's teachings refer to different periods and different fitness to be with Him in the kingdom as a practised workpeople. The fact really laid hold of will be a great help to man. When sufficiently impressed with the idea of what is comprised in the righteousness of ,the kingdom, we shall the reading and the understanding of the Scriptures. In conclusion, I would say that the kingdom expected by then hunger and thirst after its righteousness, and find it prophets, whilst it was a restored Israelitish kingdom, was the inciting motive for our daily seeking for spirit nourishto have certain glorious additions which did not pertain to ing. A true appreciation of the fitness of the man Jesus its former state, and these will be added at the second Christ for this kingdom will cause the desire to be like Him, Advent, having been secured by the work accomplished at and fit to share in the honours. Thus, to know Christ, bethe first Ad vent. The most astounding events are linked comes a strong impulse to strive to attain His standard of with it. Resurrection (Dan. xii. 2), conquest over death purity, so as' to be unblamable in holiness before God at By the right (Isaiah xxv. 8), and the New Creation (Isaiah lxv. 1i,. the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' lxvi. 22) are, by the prophets, coupled with Restoration, digestion of the promises in the gospel we know that we and these, as the New Testament shows, are secured by the are strengthened to walk as He walked, so that we can obwork of Christ in the first Advent. If, then, the prophets tain the glory of the Lord. Before He can be in us ' the

U:be U:WO B~\1ent5.

106

THE BIBLE S'!'ANDARD.

JULY, 189

hope of glory,' we must have got the thought of His glory into us as a controlling motive. The will of God as a means and agency of blessing was the hope and desire of the Son, knowing' that in J ehovah shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.' He devoted Himself to its realisation, so that such 'a promise became' his meat and drink.' Thus percei ving the all-controlling and energising power of moti ves springing out of the kingdom of God, we must see how, when any 'seem to come short of the glory of God' in the present life, we are justified in thinking that they have fasted too long and fed too little upon the precious promises, so that starvation has befallen them. Kindly and unselfish thoughts and meditations upon the kingdom are the essence of its faith and the nutritive power of its Gospel. By unselfish thoughts I mean such as filled the Lord Christ when He went about doing good. We know that no thoughts of His own dignity or power influenced Him, such as we have heard expressed as the ambition of some in regard to their faith in the kingdom of God. Without saying with our lips or our hearts I shall have such and such a house or estate, we can truly believe that the kingdom is for us according as we qualify for it. Take, as a sample, the promise in Isa, xxx. 20: ' Thine eyes shall see thy teachers, and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk therein.' Though this was spoken to Israel, it does not prevent it being ground for a noble ambition for any of us to be , teachers of the Gentiles in verity and truth.' We now often feel the want of some wise and capable person of whom we could take counsel in our strait; whose ad vice would be to us 'as the word of the Lord' was to the enquiring Israelite when he went to ask of the Lord. Such directing wisdom we may look to get as a spirit endowment, or an acquirement from the teaching of Christ or His monitors, the apostles, when they teach us how to 'learn for the kingdom's use. Paul gi-vesus a lesson in Phi!. iv. 8 on food thoughts and spiritual nourishing: 'Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if anything praiseworthy, think of these things.' Think on them till they become things of daily habit, easy to practise, now and hereafter. The lesson will bear going over till we get a .perfect apprehension of the bearings of all its parts in our Christian life. 'Whatsoever things are true.' We may lie to our neighbour in' actions or by not speaking the truth in love, and lie to ourselves and God by not practising truth in the inward parts. We may be dishonest towards God who giveth us richly all things, by withholding our thanks and not using His gifts wisely and rightly. We may not be honest to our feIlowman by defrauding him of his earnings or of his time. We may do the latter by inflicting on him (especially in sickness) a gossip visit, or twaddling to him when he wants from us comfort or instruction. But your own hearts and minds can do enough of this mental analysis without my enlarging further. I will just say that
(

much power lies in the comprehensive term-' whatsover things are of good report.' It seems to belong to the future as well as to the present life. How much we can honour God now by giving no one any occasion to truly say_ anything but good of our conduct as followers of Christ. Think what effect it would have on our powers for good in the kingdom, supposing it should be said of any of us: 'When I knew him in the previous life I could not think well of his teaching about the kingdom, for his life denied his faith; for he cheated me more than once in business, he insulted my young daughter with impure words, he showed a nasty temper to his servants, and it was a bye-word in the town, "we hope he won't reign over our town in that age he preaches about ;" we never heard of any kind action to a poor widow or orphan,' or other such things contrary to the sound doctrine Paul is here teaching. Truly, it is not for this life only that we should commend ourselves to every man's conscience 111 the sight of God.-J. \VILSON, in il1essenger.

$abbatb or $unba~1keeping.
THE question of the keeping of Sunday as a day of worship is a matter of very serious moment in more than one respect; and to teach that it is in no way binding upon Christians should not be done unless every semblance of proof to the contrary is impossible. Two acknowledged rules for the interpreting of Scripture are that of precedent and necessary implication, and by the use of these methods a very conclusive decision may be arrived at-that long before there were any Popes, the first day of the week was, as the resurrection of our Divine Redeemer, the day of the gathering of the saints for worship and the building up in their most holy faith. The Apostle Paul says, '1 have received of the Lord that which I deliver unto you.' By this it is clear that the Apostlc was in communication with the Lord, and we know also that the Holy Spirit was directing his going and coming (Acts xiii. 4). Then we have the fact before us, that in every city elders were appointed, as well as deacons and deaconesses, and that the Lord gave some apostles, some prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers. What for? unto the ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ (Eph, iv. 11, 12). Why all this array of workers, this grand o~'ganization of picked men and women? unless it was to systematise the work, and so reduce to order the vast and ever increasing numbers of those who, believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth the Lord Jesus, were added to the Church. And then we have the Apostle to the Hebrews, saying, 'Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, hut exhorting one another, as ye see the day approaching or drawing nigh do it the more.' With all this before us, can we believe that there was no day set apart, nothing but a spasmodic morning or evening as convenience served? I think the Apostles loved their Lord too well, and had too much love of order to leave this privilege, to be launched by some wicked Pope in some future age.

JULY,

1892.

THE BIBLE STANbARb.

covered it up, and that from mercenary

101

That degeneration

their meeting was to break the loaf.' Other corroborating evidences of the stated meeting of the disciples on the first motives a Pope got it reintroduced, and, many thanks to day for religious purposes are found in the fact, that Paul him for so doing, we may admit. The rule, however, of says he had given orders to all the congregations in Galatia, necessary implication, as applied to this question, is so as well as that in Corinth, to attend to the fellowship, or strong that no other conclusion can be come to than that the laying up of contributions for the poor saints on the our much esteemed brothel' in Christ has tried to prove too first day of every week. ' On the first day of every week much. But above and beyond the implied we have a let each of you lay somewhat by itself, according as he may positive' Thus saith the Lord' that a day was known to have prospered, putting it into the treasury, that, when I the Apostles as the Lord's Day. .Iohn, Rev. i. 10, says, come, there may be no collections for the saints.' Kala 'On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit,' auent which, mian. sal.bcuon, McKnight justly renders, 'first day of Albert Barnes says, 'The word here rendered "Lord's" every week'; for every linguist will admit that kata polin occurs also in 1 Cor. xi. 20, where it is applied to the Lord's means every city; kata mena, every month; kata ecclesian, supper. It properly means, pertaining to the Lord.' It is every church: and therefore, in the same usage, kat mian. cleat' (1) that this refers to some day which was distin- sabbaton. means the first day of every week, etc. Amen. guished from any other days of the week, and which would F. B. be sufficiently designated by the use of this term; (2) that it was a day which was for some reason, regarded as Hn peculiarly a day of the Lord, 01' peculiarly devoted to Him; (3) it would further appear that this was a day particularly "YHA'I' is truth? This question should be earnestly prodevoted to the Lord J'esus, for (a) that is the natural pounded by every Christian; but the mass seem content meaning of the word Lord as used in the New Testament; with the inquiry, what is popular 1 "Ye should be willing the and (b) if the Jewish Sabbath were intended to be desig- to follow the truth irrespective of popular theology-let nated, the word Sabbath would have been used. The term truth be what it may or where it may. Tradition should was used generally by the early Christians to denote the not deter us from a scrutinizing search of this rare article, first day of the week. It occurs twice in the Epistle of in this age of fables; the Saviour in addressing the Father Ignatius to the Magnesians (A.D. 101), who calls the Lord's gives this general answer: 'Thy word is truth.' Then let Day 'The queen and prince of all days.' Chrysostom (in us appeal to that word, holding ourselves in readiness to Psa, cxix.) says, 'It was called the Lord's Day because the submit to its unequivocal testimony, however adverse to sentiments. It is lamentably true that Lord rose from the dead on that day.' Later fathers make our preconceived that will tickle the ear, by those unacquainted a marked distinction between the Sabbath and the Lord's anything Day, meaning by the former the Jewish Sabbath, or the with the plain teachings of Christ and His apostles, is For instance, we seventh day of the week, and by the latter, the first clay of readily believed rather than the truth. the week, kept holy by Christians. So Theodoret, speaking hear proclaimed from the pulpit that man has an immortal soul that never dies; that as soon as the body dies the soul of the Ebionites, says, 'They keep the Sabbath according to the Jewish law, and sanctify the Lord's Day in like goes to heaven or hell, to await the great judgment day, and the soul manner as we do'-Professor Stewart The strong proba- when this mortal body will be resurrected bility is, that the name was given to this day in honour of brought back from heaven or hell, and soul and body Now, I must ask these modern theologians the Lord Jesus, and because He rose on that day from the reunited. dead. No one can doubt that it was an appellation given (wiseacres) where they get such doctrine. What does the It is declared in to the first day of the week, and that, if this book was Bible say in regard to immortality? written by the Apostle J ohn, the observance of that day Genesis ii. 7, that God formed man of the dust 'of the ground has the Apostolic sanction. He had manifestly, in and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man accordance with a prevailing custom, set apart this day in became a living soul, not an immortal soul: honour of the Lord Jesus, etc., etc. Professor McGarvey, , For it was dust and breath, the entire whole, That made a man a living soul.' in his notes on Acts of Apostles, says, 'The intimations

3nqutl'\~.

contained in the New Testament, together with the uniBut, again, what does the Saviour say in regard to such versal custom known to have existed in the Churches during teaching 1 Does He say that we must give account at the age succeeding that of the Apostles, has been decided by death or at the judgment 1 Answer: Jesus never told us them all, as sufficient to establish the divine authority of that we must give account at death, 'but at the judgment.' the religious observances of the Lord's Day.' The president Matt. xii. 36. Are saints recompensed at death or at the of the Bethany Bible College, Mr. A.. Camp bell, says, in resurrection 1 Answer: They shall be recompensed at the speaking of the breaking the bread every week: ':From the resurrection.c=Rev. xi. 18; Luke xiv. 14; Matt. xvi. 27 ; 2nd. of Acts, then, we learn that the breaking of the loaf Rev. xxii, 12. was a stated part of the worship of the disciples in their Are saints to be recompensed in heaven or on the earth 1 meetings, and from the 20th. we learn that the first day of Answer: 'Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in xi. 31; Matt. v. 5; Rev. v. 10; Psalm the week was the stated time for those meetings, and, above the earth.'-Prov. all, we ought to notice that the most prominent object of xxxvii. 11; Dan. vii. 27 .

10S

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

the world to come, eternal xviii. 30. life.'-Mark

JULY, 1892.

Were the ancient worthies rewarded at death ~ Answer: Are departed saints now celebrating the praises of the 'These all died in faith not having received the promises.' Lord ~ 'The dead praise not the Lord.'-Psalm cxv. 17 ; -Heb. xi. 13, 39, 40. Psalm vii 5 ; Eccl. ix. 6. Will the soul come from heaven or the grave at the Are the Patriarchs in heaven 7 Answer: 'David is not resurrection 7 Answer: 'God will redeem my soul from ascended into the heavens.'-Acts ii. 34; John iii. 13. the power of the grave.'-Psalm xlix. Hi; Psalmlxxxix. 48. Does the soul die 7 Answer: 'He spared not their soul Have the prophets received their reward, or does it await from death.t=-Psalm Ixxviii. 50; and in Psalm xxii. 29, them at the judgment 7 Answer: 'The time of the dead that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give David says none can keep alive his own soul. reward unto thy servants the prophets.'-Rev. xi. 18; Dear reader, don't think that I have exhausted the Bible Psalm xvii. 15. for texts already referred to, for that would require months I have only quoted these few passages of Holy Have the apostles gone to heaven 7 Answer: 'As I said ofsearch. unto the Jews, whither I go ye cannot come; so now I say 'Writ to show you that modern theology is subversive of true immortality and of the Scriptural doctrine of a judgment day. to you (apostles).'-John xiii. 33; 1 Tim. vi. 16. Are saints crowned at death or at Christ's coming 7 It represents men as going to heaven or hell before being Answer: 'When the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall judged, involving the idea of a future rally from heaven and receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.'-Peter v. 4 ; hell to stand before the judgment seat of Christ, which would be like. first hanging a man and then trying his case. 2 Tim. iv. e. N either the reward of the righteous, nor the damnation of Did Job expect to see his Redeemer at death or at ' the the sinner, can be realized before the'judgment. Jesus never latter day,' in heaven or 'upon the earth,' ill a disembodied told us that we must give account at death, but 'They state or in his resurrected capacity? Answer: 'I know shall give account in the day of judgment.' Matt. xii. 3G, that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the But to cap the climax in regard to the immortality of t.he latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin, worms soul, Paul very plainly shows the fallacy of such doctrine destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.'-Job. when he says, 'The King of kings and Lord of lords; who xix. 25, 26; 1 Thes. iv. J 6. only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man 'What a grand assurance that Christ who is our life will can approach unto, neither hath seen nor can see.'-1 Tim. come back again to remove the curse that now rests upon vi, 15, 16. the earth, and fit it up anew for His true believers, who And now, this brings to mind that wonderful prophecy are now asleep in Jesus, as well as all those who shall die in Jeremiah xxxi., which was fulfilled by Herod in Matt. in the faith of the gospel, or who shall be li ving upon the ii. 16-18, in regard to his attempt to put Christ to death. earth at His second advent. Let us refer to this prophecy; 'Thus saith the Lord; A Did David expect to be satisfied at death or at the resur- voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; rection 7 Answer: 'I shall be satisfied when I awake with Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted Thy likeness.'-Psalm xvii. 15; Phil. iii. 20. 21. for her children, because they were not. Thus saith the 'Will the saints shine in the Kingdom at death, or at the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from resurrection 7 Answer: ' Many of them that sleep in the tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and dust of the earth shall awake * * * they that be wise, shall they shall come again from the land of the enemy.' In the shine as the brightness of the firmament.'-Dan. xii. 2, 3 ; first place, this has reference to children dying, as revealed in Matthew's gospel, and in addition to this, Rachel.which reMatt. xiii. 40-43. presented all the mothers in Israel that lost their children, Now, dear reader, don't get weary of the many Scriptural texts against the immortality of the soul, and don't let your should look forward to the resurrection for the consummafeelings run away with YOUl' reason, for all Scripture is tion of their hope; when their children would be brought given by 'inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, from the land of the enemy (not from heaven). Where is this land 7 It is where the gt'ave is. Where is the grave 7 for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished It is in the earth. Whose land is this 1 It is the enemy's. But who is the enemy? It is he who hath the power of unto all good works.'-2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. ii. 14. Did Christ promise to receive His saints unto Himself death, that is, the devil.'-Heb. at death, or at His coming 1 Answer: 'I will come again and receive you unto Myself.'--Jolm xiv, 3; Rom. viii. 23. Did the apostles groan for a disembodied state, or for the redemption of the body ~ Answer: ' We oursel ves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body,'--Rom. viii. 23; 2 Cor. v 4. When will the saints receive eternal life ?, Answer:' In You may be astonished at this conclusion, but you must bear in mind that we started out in search of a very rare article, truth, and if the Bible sustains us, then we are safe. But again, Christ says, 'Behold I make all things new, I create a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness;' and in regard to that beautiful city which Christ has gone away to prepare for His saints, John, "the

Are the dead conscious or unconscious 7 Answer: 'The dead know not anything.'-Eccl. ix. 5; Psalm cxlvi. 4; Isaiah xxxviii. 18.

x. 30;

Luke

JULY,

1892.

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

109

revelator, in his VISIOn, says he 'saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.' 'Where was that coming down to 1 Answer: The new earth, and will be the capital of Christ's Kingdom. D. M. GmFFI'l'H.

U::rue ~ra~er.
AN ADDRESS GIVE;>;, BY MILES GRAN1" T;>;'TilE FORESTERS' HAU"

to pray fLl'ight comes in answer to prayers, and grows by careful use. A sinner must not come rashly before God, or speak unconsidered words. He must prepare himself and his prayers, lest his worship be 'an abomination,' and he bring 'the sacrifice of fools.' He must desire and look for an answer, and mean to use the grace he seeks. His heart must say to God what his lips say. The aim of his life must agree with the prayer of his mouth. He must not rush into God's presence, neither must he rush from it, but live still before God ItS one who has prayed. It is no light thing to call on God in the name of the Crucified. God is not mocked or won by flattery. He knows how far my heart and life are like my words. Are my prayet's those of one to whom the Lord's ears are open 1 Are they more than a short hurried look towards God now and then, while I am far from Him 1 Do I mean my words, and pray with a clear aim, or do my words go on while thoughts wander and desires flag 1 Does the solemn meaning of what I do rouse heart and mind to earnestness 1 Do I wait God's answer, and feel my responsibility? My life should gi ve meaning to my worship, and my worship give tone to my life.-l'lte Daily Round.
POWER

AUCKTu\ND.

Bn BCl'OBtic.
There are but few who, in this dark decenerate ace Hold faRtthe Truth so clearly taught. ~pon the s:c:'ed page; E;"en fewer still who bravely will in its defence engage. But you have dared to raise aloft the standard of the right; Into the fray you've fearless plunged to battle with your might: Battling 'gainst those whowould obscure the Gospel'sshining light. Let all men know 'tis God's own truth for which you do contend; Expounding fearlessly His word, He will His cause defend. So let me grasp your hands, my brothel' in spirit, across the sea, Truth makes us all of kindred in Christ's society; And much though we may all deplore division with its strife; No other course is open, for in Christ alone is life. Death is the close of life we know, and not a higher mission; And this life is no suburb of a life they call Elysian. Relying on God's promises, alone can calm our fears, Death must yield up Christ's friends to Him, when He again ap. pears. 'V. J. EVANS. St. Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria.

Were we to take as much pains to be what we ought to be, as we do to disguise what we really are, we might appear like ourselves, without being at the trouble of any disguise at all. It is in proportion as we curtail the self-life that we increase the Christ-like. Attempt nothing for which thou cans't not pray to God.

'Thou shalt be perfect wiLh the Lord thy God'-Deut. xviii. 13. New Testament standard is no lower than the Old Testament on this subject, so I will put in with this text one from the New Testament, from the Sermon on the Mount :'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect' (Matt. v. 48). That is a startling text, frightful to look at. I did not put it there, and dare not take it away. It means something worthy of our attention, because it comes from the Great Teacher. I am going to talk about Perfection. Perhaps you will say, I do not believe in it. I prophesy that before I get through you will say you do believe in it. What is meant by this word' perfection r It is defined as having all that is requisite to its nature and kind, as a perfect statue, etc. So a believer should be perfect in moral excellence--being just what a man Ol' a woman ought to be to lead a happy life, and to be ready for the life to come. Let me give a few examples of perfect men who have lived -perfect, that is, according to the Bible standard j that certainly should be the correct one. In Genesis vi. 9 we read: , Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generation, and Noah walked with God.' That is number one example. That is why he had the ark built and his family saved, and he came this side the Flood. All the others were imperfect-too bad to be continued longer in life. Again in Job i. 1.:, That man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil.' That is number two of the men that were perfect according to the Bible standard. In Genesis xvii. 1 :, The Lord appeared to Abraham, and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me and be thou perfect.' That is instruction to him to be perfect. It is said that among the American Indians, when a young man wishes to select a girl for a wife the Great Spirit is consulted, and when chosen she has to pass through a severe ordeal before she is accepted. The men armed with spears and arrows form two lines, between which she must pass, and if anyone knows anything against her virtue he must shoot her dead. That must be a trying walk, but if the girl is honest and virtuous she has nothing to fear j they cannot touch her . Should we be willing to have two lines of citizens formed to-morrow morning, with the understanding that we must be killed if not honest and virtuous 1 If I have done wrong, if I have cheated, if not honest, if not virtuous, you may shoot me dead 1 Every man who is living as he ought to live should be ready for such a criticism as that. That is my idea of Christianity-the old fashioned idea.
THE

110
ii.
6).

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

are perfect.' (1 Cor.

JULY. 1892.

, Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that

.-

How could he if there were no perfect ones 1 Are perfect, present tense when he said it. Again, Everyone that is perfect shall be as his Master' (Luke vi. 40). And yet nobody perfect 1 That would not be sensible. , That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works' (2 Tim. iii. 17). Then some kind of perfection is taught in the Bible. I do not say what it is as yet; that has to be examined. , That we may present every man perfect in Christ' (Col. i. 28). That is instruction to every man who stands in a pulpit. It is his duty to present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. -We have 110 right to alter.that standard. There are some samples of texts on the subject. Now I wish to make a remark that may startle you. The perfection taught in the Bible is not perfection of deeds, or thoughts or words. You say that must be low standard. Why not a perfection of deeds 1 Because we lack knowledge. I say things often that I would not say if I knew all the facts, so I think those things I would not think if I knew more. I think one wrong and afterwards find him right. So our perfection is not absolute. Absolute perfection admits of no mistakes. Our heavenly Father, and our Saviour are absolutely perfect. Ours is not a perfection of wisdom, knowledge, or power, but it is somewhere. I look again in 1 Kings xv. 14 and read that Asa's 'heart' 'was perfect with the Lord all his days.' It does not say his knowledge, or his wisdom, but' his heart.' What does that mean 1 We look a little further and find Hezekiah saying in Isaiah xxxviii. 3 ;'Remember . . . how I have walked before thee in truth with a perfect heart.' , Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord your God.' Now note, 2 Chron. xvi. 9 Do not lose that text, and do not forget it. Let it be a kind of keepsake all your life ;, The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him.'. That will take in Auckland, and this congregation. There is a fact that you may lay up. If there were no men perfect towards Him, I think He would not look all over the earth after them. But He finds them once in a while. I like to look over the examples found in the Bible. Daniel was a president under King Darius, but the other presidents did not like the idea of a foreigner being put over them. They said, We cannot get anything against him, unless it is against him and his God. This fellow prays every day. So they went to the king and got him to pass a decree that anyone asking a petition of any god or man for thirty days should be cast into the den of lions. They were pretty sure that Daniel would. not go thirty days without a petition. They caught him i4e act, and reported him to the king. They said, We found him making a petition. The king felt badly. He thought a good deal of Daniel. He contrived every way he could think of to deliver him, but the decree could not be altered. There was no way but for Daniel to go into the lions' den. How did

Daniel get there 1 He had a perfect heart. Early in the morning the king went ' and called to him, and Daniel answered, My God hath sent His angel who hath shut the mouths of the lions. Perhaps the good man had slept upon a hair pillow for the first time in his life. He came out all right. Why? Because he had a perfect heart. And we have the same God living yet, and as able to deliver now. But many only trust him in an easy spot. Daniel had some companions. The king had his image of gold put up, and upon a certain day everybody had to bow down, and everybody did, excepting three men who stood up and looked on. Ah, those were grand men! I hope to see them one of these days. It was reported to the king, and he, supposing them not to understand the decree, explained it to them again. But, they answered i-> 'Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, 0 king, but if not, be it known unto thee, 0 king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up' (Daniel iii. 17, 18). I like that. I won't do wrong if I have to go to the martyr's stake. What was the result? The furnace was heated seven times hotter, and they were tumbled into it; and the king looked to see them burn, but they would not burn a bit. He had never seen anything like that. .I think it a luxury to belong to a Being such as God is. All you need is a perfect heart. (1'0 be continued.)

Hn ~minous $ign.
'TnoSB who have visited Jerusalem in these latter years know of the large Russian convent and Greek church there, erected at great expense only recently; but few are aware of the great tower built under Russian auspices by the Archimandrite of the Greek Church. This tower is blasphemously erected on the Mount of Olives, and at the suppposed spot of the ascension of out' Lord to heaven. This tower is built of cut stone, is 220 feet high, is 24 feet at the base, and 21 feet at the top, and from it a most extensi ve view is obtained in all directions. It has an iron' stairway inside with platforms at the points where the wall is pierced with windows, which seem strong enough to carry rocket apparatus and torpedo pneumatic tubes, and from its upper story a battle on a vast scale could be conveniently directed. The tower is too large for churchly use, but in the event of a military campaign in this region, it would be of very great value as a signal station, not only for armies on land, but for fleets on the Mediterranean Sea. I t has within it a monster' bell, or tocsin, weighing 20. tons, cast in Russsia, brought for the purpose by 3,000 or 4,000 Russians, principally women, all the way to the base of the tower. It is now fixed in the tower, together with a peal of seven smaller bells above it. Higher still is an electric chamber, with wires to all the monasteries and convents in the Holy Land. On its summit is an electric light, and it is said that when this great bell is tolled (with some new electric and telephonic agency probably) it will be heard at J'affa, Jericho, and Mount Lebanon. It is also said that the convents and monasteries are well supplied with arms, and that quantities of land have been recently purchased around them.' Is this preparatory for the coming great strugg-Ie at Jerusalem in the Latter Day. =-Summorieed from Prophetic News,

JULY,

1892.

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

9. 'In weakness and in fear, and in much trembling' 10. Stephanas (1 Cor. i. 16). RESULTS.-l'en May Brewster, Sarah Lawrence,

111
(1 Cor. ii. 3).

correct : Margaret Green, Helen J. Brewster, Falkner. Nine correct : Emily Battson, 'V. E. Judkins, James J. French, Sydney Smith. Eiqht correct: Fanny French. Ernest Aldridge,
Louis ANSWERS TO EXTR,\ QVESTIONS-SIXTIi SET.

MPETITORS must be under eighteen years of age. It will be understood that the answers sent are the entire work of the children.
HINTS.

Begin with the present set. Do not write the questions, but send the amsuiers numbered to correspond with the questions, and state where you found them. ,,"\Trite'in ink. See that your note contains name and address, and reaches me not later than the 18th of the month. Competitors South of Wellington, and in Australia are allowed extension of time equivalent to the time taken for the STANDARD to reach their homes. To give an opportunity to those who are over the above-stated age, and who would like to compete, we have decided to form another class; age from eighteen to twenty-one. These will be expected to answer the stated questions, and the extra. ones, which latter the younger class need not attempt. 'Write answers to extra ,questions on separate sheet of paper. Do not keep back, though you cannot solve every question.
THE APOSTLE
THIHD

Margaret Green, Helen J. Brewster, Louis Falkner. Because the Jews were God's chosen people to whom Christ had been promised; it was therefore necessary that the 'Word of Goel should be first preached to them-(Acts xiii. 46). The Word of God is the' way of salvat.ion ' or the word that Jesus had commissioned His disciples to preach (Matt. xxviii. 19)the things concerning the :Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ. M. G.

A UCKLAND-

TWELFT!i

OF

THE

GENTILES. SET.

SERIES-SIXTfI regarding

Acts xviii. 12-22. 1. Find some particulars 2. Where is Achaia?

Gallic.

in

3. Were ltny miracles wrought during Paul's stay in Corinth? 4. Give ,the name of one of the members of the church

Cenchrea,
5. 'Where is Ephesus ? 6. For what was it famous ? 7. Which Apostle's name is associated , Pt1Il's.) 8. When did Paul next visit it? 9. \Yho li ved in Ccesarea ? 10. "That is the meaning of gone up? EXTRA QUESTIONS. 11. In verse 8 we get the words 'hearing, believed and baptized.' Give instances of a similar order of facts from the Acts, and state what teaching you get from it. 12. Verse'9: What other instances have we of appearances of the Lord to Paul, and how are they related to the Gospel he preached ANSWERS TO SIXTH SET.

with

that

city?

(not

1. Berea (Acts xvii, 14). 2. Thessalonica (1 ThesR. iii, 2). 3. That he would have nothing

to do with

them

(Bible Die-

tionaru ).
4. Neh. v, 13. 5. From this time. so far as Corinth is concerned ( Bible. Die-

tion(t1'y).
6. Yes (Acts xviii. 19). 7. Yes (1 Cor. i. 14). 8. Acts xxiii, 11,

ON Wednesday evening. June 29th, the Auckland Church celebrated its twelfth anniversary. The evening was not a favourable one, but the attendance seemed little affected by the inclement weather. The proceedings were hearty throughout. and everybody privileged to take part in them. seemed to find pleasure. ,Ve are sure that those" ho especially laboured in preparing the tea are well repaid by the results . . The meeting commenced about 7.45 p. m., Bro, Aldridge presiding. After prayer and the singing of a hymn, n short address was given by the chainiian, in which he commented upon the history of the past year, briefly referring to his illness and the sympathy and love which the Church had manifested. He then referred to the growth of the Church, and called attention to one phase of this which was deserving of note. At first the truths which they had received and which they cherished had taken possession of their minds in crystallized and isolated form. displacing just so much of error, but as time had gone on, they had not only received-more light and truth, but the main facts of the Life and the Ad vent had ceased to retain that isolated position. They now seen as part of a whole, pervading and being pervaded by the whole truth of Scripture. This had the tendency, so he believed, to produce a practical manifestation in life of the power 01 truth. !le believed there hall been a steady progress in the realisation of a better and nobler Christianity. . Bra. Wild, said: On such occasions as the present we like to think of the past, of what has been done, and how the work has prospered in which we have been engaged. It is, sf course, a difficult matter for me to see how things are moving here; I cannot be here often, although my heart is with you in the work, But I can speak of my own experience, which confirms the words of our Chairman. I Can tell you that never was the religion uf Jesus Christ so real, so grand, so supremely blessed to me as during the past year. It fi.ls me now with true sarisfaction and pleasure. I have come in contact with some of the dear brethren. and I find that there seems to be much the same experience with them as with myself. And I ask how is it? I think it is because we have gone more to the Word of God, and we have obtained a stimulus from our study which has carried us on and we have been tilled with love to GGc\. I think from the signs that I have seen, that the work of the Lord is prospering in our midst. \Ve do not desire to praise each other, or to exult in ourselves. vVe will give all the praise to God. There is just one word I would like to give you: 'In all thy ways acknowledge 11 im and He shall direct thy paths.' If we realise that the many blessings we enjoy, day by day, are the gifts of our Heavenly Father, let us during the next year, rest upon Him. seek His advice and counsel'; and He will direct our paths. Bro. Fletch3 in the course of his address. said: To all that has been uttered, IIl!hel~, my heart gives its ready assent. It is a good thing to look back upon 'the way wherein the Lurd thy God hath led thee.' The more we realise the leadings of God's love, the more we shall be satisfied with it. When first I received the truth of life only in Christ. it chased away a vast amount of mist, but it has been a marvellous thing to note how by its influence, the mind has been cleared of accumulations of error, IV hich many years had gathered and heaped together. It has given me the power to lay hold upon the Bible teaching concern-

112

THE BIBLE STANDARD.

JULY,

1892.

ing the Kingdom of God. All human leaders have failed to accomplish permanent good for men, the struggle against evil and wrong is constant. Men still yearn for the deliverer from the thraldorn of oppression and sin. Where there is sin there is tyranny, and when freedom from that is secured there is the greatest liberty. We accept the Christ of God as the deliverer from all that is evil, but to accept Him as leader is to recognise His claim in every walk of life. The evidences to hand show that we are still ~oing forward. The young are offering- themselves to the Lord, and this gladdens us. I trust that many more will) ield themselves to the living, loving Redeemer. Bro. Becroft gave the assurance that as a Church we were free from any financial burdens, and added that he hoped that the coming year would find us living free from debt, and this could be if all contributed systematically. He helieved that the glorious doctrines put forward by the Church were permeating the whole Christian society of Auckland. No attacks were being made upon us as formerly, and nothing was said nowadays in support of the dogma of eternal misery; and there was a disposition to read our literature, and to listen calmly to what we could advance. All this betokened a growing toleration. He then recited the circumstances of his union with the Church, and concluded by exhorting all to extend the largest charity to all, because our doctrines are broad as John iii. 16. Bro. Wilcock, upon being called to the platform, after a humorous preface, said: I feel that during the past year the Christianity of Jesus Christ has been more real than ever before, aud it has been for the reason already given-we need Bible-reading Christ inns. I have read more of the \Vord during the past year than in any year previous, and it Ins been to me the best and the brightest year. \Ve need Christians whose hearts are warm, who have not lost their first love. \Ve want to have more of the Spirit of Christ in us, and more .enthusiasm, that the sooner the world might ring with the praise of Jesus Christ. In concluding his interesting address, the speaker exhorted his hearers to cultivate Christian love that it might be a love stronger than death. i\lany had fallen asleep since he had joined the Church, but who had loved them looked forward to the time when we shall hear the trump of God, and when we should join hands once again with the loved ones, to be parted no more for ever. Under the careful training of Bro. Seal the choir had prepared several anthems which were well rendered between t'_e addresses. Sister Grindrod also gave a beautiful song, entitled 'Eternal [(est.' We thank all for their' labour of love.' DUNEDTN.-vVe are pleased to report that our meetings are well attended, especially the evening meetings. Hall pretty well filled to listen to Bro.her Carr delivering his lectures on The Coming- of Christ,' illustrated by charts; all being well satisfied at his mode of explaining the Scriptures, hoping that the seed sown will fall into good ground and yield fruit most abundantly to the glory of God. We were pleased to have amongst us our Brother Slinn, from Auckland, presiding at the Lord's table, last Sunday week. May the Lord prosper and bless him in all his travels, also the faith t.hat we are contending for: Life in Christ only. SYDNEY. -\Ve are still keeping in remembrance the death of our Lord till He shall return, and the hope that it may be soon, so that we shall be able to meet our absent friends along with our sleeping ones. ''le have lost our dear Brother Edgehill; he has left for his home in the West Indies, with the purpose of spreading to his people the truths of Life in Christ. God bless him in his noble endeavour. We are holding meetings on Sundays now, with the wish of spreading to others the truth we so dearly love. It falls upon each Brother to take his turn and deliver a lecture. We have had Brother Miles Grant with us for one Sunday. He spoke at North Shore in the afternoon, upon' Is there a personal God,' and in tIre evening his subject W8.S 'Pelfection.' We enjoyed his lectures very much. Our hearts send fOIth a feeling of love to our brethren who are fighting for Christ. We hope that our fightin~ will soon be over, and all shall be a cloudless sky and a waveless sea.

The Christian. (London) in commenting on the work accompltshed by Messrs. Moody and San key, notes especially the fact that so many people who differed so strongly on subordinate though important matters of creed or Church government, joined hands gladly with them in their work for individuals, thus emphasizing very strongly the unity of the people notwithstanding the disturbed condition of the ecclesiastical world. The Chicago Post Office has now four electric machines for stamping letters and cancelling stamps. Each machine does the work of six men and stamps 28,000 letters an hour,

AGENTS FOR THE BIBLE STANDARD

NEW ZEALAND.

Auckland-Mr. C. Mackay, Bookseller, Grey-street. Mr. C. Mackay, Bookseller, Karangahape Road. Dunedin-Mr. Aitken, Arcade. Gisbome-s-Mr. A. Slack. Hamilton-Mr. John Steadman. Invercatgill-Neil's Botanic Dispensary. Kamn=-Mr. J. l l eape. Kaie poi=-Mr. James llolland. i\lilton-i\lr. Gregg. New Plymouth-c-Mr, Fred, Goodacre, Courtney Road. Timaru-e-Mr. J Rowboiham, Cash Store, Church Street Thames-Mr. W. H. CroPI'. Wangaloa-Mr. Taylor.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Adelaide-Mr. Adelaide-Mr. Sydney-s-Mr.

C. Gamble, Life and Advent Bouk Room, King William-street, City. C. Gamble, Magill Road, Stepney.
NEW SOUTH WALES.

l Ierbert

CroPI', 27, Munni Street,

Newtown.

Communications to the Editor to be adllressed:-G EO. ALDRIDGE, Boston Road, Anckland. All Communications to the Association to be addressed to the Secretary, W ~1. RATTRA Y, Victoria Avenue, ofT Eden Terrace, Auckland. .

CHURCH OF CHRIST
Hold services as under :A ucxr.xxu-c-Foresrers' IIall, Karangahape Road. Sunday, at II o'clock a.m., Fellowship Meeting. 6.45 p.m., Lecture on some important Bible Theme. Sunday School .11 3. Wednesday evening, Bible Class at 7.30. Evangelist's address-Geo. Aldridge, Boston Road. GISBORNE-l\/eeting held in private houses. Address=-Mr. A Slack. North Gisborne. Duxz nr x-c Oddrcllows' 11.,11,Stuart-street. Sunday, at 1I a. 111., Fellowship ~Ieeting. Lecture at 6.45. Sunday School at 2.45. Prayer Meeting and Bible Class every Friday evening at 7.30. Evangelist'; Address-Edwin CaIT, Stafford Street. Tt;A~IES - Pollen Street Lecture IIall. Sunday, at II ".111., Fellowship Meeting. Evening Service at 6.3. Sunday School at 2.30. Bible Class every \Vednesday evening at 7.3. Evangelist's Address-E. H. Taylor, Thames . MELBOURNE-Eastern Arcade, Bourke-strect . . Sunday, at 5.30 p.m., Fellowship Meeting. Lecture at 7 p.m. Bible Class Tuesday Evening, at 7.45. ADELAIDE, S. _\.-Meeting for Fellowship and Breaking of Bread, II a. m., 96, North Terrace. Inquiry and Discussion Class, Red Cross Rooms, Rundle Street, Monthly, on nearest Friday to full moon. Secretary's address-F. B. Hughes, 96, North Terrace. SYDNEY-Warwick Hall, Station Street, Newtown, Morning meeting at I I. Bible Class Wednesday at 7.45. Secretary's address- W. V/aJ ner, 16 Pin-street, Redfern, Prir ' ed by H. BRETT, Evening Star Office, Short land-street, for the New Zealand Evangelistic and Publication Association, and pul;l;,ned by E. H. FALKNER, Ka;angahap~ Road, Auckland. JULY, 1892.

current

"lRew; ano 1Aote;.

A MEl.BOURNE sceptic has been visiting- Auckland recently, and has contributed his impression of our city and its churches to the MelbolWlle Liberator. Of course he is sure he is right and that all who believe in Christianity are wrong. and his feelings, if we may judge Iro,n the contemptuous strain of his letters, are not at all akin to pity.' Amongst the places visited we note that he includes the Foresters' Hall, and this is how he writes :-' I went to the Foresters' Hall at night, where a rant in ; Bible Christian said, Do not seek to reward people with heaven, or punish them with hell; we want to save them frcm death and bring them to Christ." They sat still; of stupid nonsense they had their fill.' We are sure that we should not accept this writer's summary of what was said. We thank him for the title' Bible Christian,' even though it has the prefixed' ranting.' Although this man may have attained tu a height of wisdom whence he can look down upon his fellows, he has just a little to learn in the way of courtesy, and possibly some humble believers whom he meets in his travels may ~erve as examples,