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VOL. 29A.

No. 4.

AUCKLAND,

N.Z., APRIL,

1909.

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pected disaster, and much human life is destroyed. sympathies go out to those who are bereaved.

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entire Dominion has been plunged into sorrow by the disastrous wreck of the Penguin, a vessel well-known to the travelling public. The steamers of the Union fleet are so continually crossing Cook Straits that it has become almost difficult to believe it possible for a vessel on so short a run to be wrecked. Yet this has occurred, and in various parts of our land there are sorrowing families, upon whom has come the gloom of sad and sudden bereavement. On that night the ill-fated passengers and crew, with no thought to the possibility of the actual ending to their journey, llmt'ec~ of tbe were anticipating a speedy arrival ~ellgutll. at their destination, but with sudden impact the vessel struck some unknown object off Cape 'I'erawhiti, and soon sank in the depths of the sea. At that very time we were crossing from Wellington to Lyttelton in a well-appointed steamer, and felt the discomforts of the journey by reason of the heavy squalls that followed each other in quick succession, and we can in some measure imagine the case of those who, in the darkness and the blinding weather, were struggling for life but a comparatively short distance away. We "'have read the story of the sufferings endured, of the loss of the boats, of the engulfment by the relentless waves, of the bravery displayed by those who sought to assist in the salvation of others. Glad though we are that there was so much of human help and consideration for others, deep sadness remains because of those who have gone down in the dark waters or were battered-to pieces on the cruel rocks. This may be put as one of the things that testify to the ultimate weakness of man. He can fashion .his well-appointed steamers, and seem to bid defiance to the seas, but an error of judgment, or the insidious action of unknown currents, will bring unex-

~~~~HE

'I'he President of the Aberdeen Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Services, having asked Sir William Ramsav for aNew Year Message, received the following reply, which was read in the Palace Theatre, Aberdeen, on the first Sunday of the year :-"Dear Mr. Leith,-You ask me to give Uimch? you some message of hope or good f1Dessagc. cheer to read to your meeting. I ha ve no message of good cheer; I see only danger and darkness before us.. The contest between good and evil, which makes the history of the world, seems in this country at present to be going in favour of the evil. I see no signs of the triumph of peace and order, but by many signs forwardness, want of discipline, mutual jealousy and hatred, love of amusement, and recklessness in the pursuit of pleasure. I see class arrayed against class. I hear all clamouring for their rights, but very few speaking of their duties. From one end of Britain to the other we are all complaining of the unfair treatment we suffer. We are all demanding justice, and we are all firmly persuaded that justice would mean giving to us benefits and rights .which are at present denied us. The truth is that justice would mean the opposite; there is none of us who, before his own conscience and the throne of God dare ask for justice. The ills we suffer are the results of our own perversity. What we have to ask for is mercy, not justice. Wherever in this country at the present time you find any person, or any class, or any religious sect or Church claiming its rights and demanding justice, you may be sure that it is marching strenuously and deliberately towards evil with its back turned on truth and right. Is there some message of hope; if there is, not of good cheer? There is always one hope-Light comes from the East.-W. M. Ramsay." This was doubtless an unexpected message to the most, but it appears to us most suitable and wholesome in a time wherein the clamour for rights indicates that God and His rights are being forgotten altogether.Words

of Life.
According to report, a new cry has been raised amongst our would-be theologians. Our fathers built up a strong

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APRIL, l009.

and robust theology from the materials supplied in the writings of the great Apostle Paul, but it it; held in these days of much learning that in this lEach to our fathers were wrong, and :;0 it ;Jesus. has happened that the modern cry, "Back to Christ," is held to represent a more ad vanced and a much clearer theology. The cry is a favourite one with the "New Theologians," and is used for all it is worth by those who are endeavouring to capture religion as an aid to the claims of modern socialism. But already there are signs that this cry must also be displaced, that henceforward the watch> word must be, "Back to J csus." The new cry will mean, not only that the Pauline teaching must be discarded, but that the body of narrative which assigns power and di vinity to the Lord must be eliminated, and that the readers of the Gospels J1Il1::;t content to accept just ::;0 be much, and no more, ati will depict a very small portion of the life of J esus, His birth and infancy, and one incident of His boyhood, and from the Synoptists detached fragments of one year of His life. If this is accepted, then it lUay be said that the historic Jesus as presented by the Four Evangelists hac completely vanished, so that the cry eventually means that the very person of the Saviour of man has wholly disappeared from the page of veracious history, and man's hope of redemption through Him is but a chimera. So, by those succcssi ve steps, if we would consent, these men would gradually lead Uti to occupy the state of nescience where they cnncst themselves. "Thanks," we say, "for the effort, but we have the historic JetiUIS,and believe that we appreciate the significance of His Person under that narue ; we believe also that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and we accept the Pauline revelation of truth which assigns to Him just that position which is actually needed to effect the salvation of mall, and the fulfilment of the fore-declared purpo::;cs of Uod. Walking in the light, we have no desire to grope our way in the dark and interminable paths to which you would cond uct Uti."

'l

tunity to- enlighten the New World. Mr. Carnpbell proposed with a great flourish of trumpets a campaign in this country in an extended series of lectures at two hundred dollars 'per'-which was sure to succeed, and to revolutionise American theological thought. Then came the first serious set-back; the lecture bureaus could not place him! So America was left to its old estate of darkness-except as some clerical luminary, of ::\I1'. Campbell's own order or calibre, reflected something of the new light."

Most pronounced of all is the latest withdrawal, that of Dr. liVarshauer, who has stood as Mr. Camp bell's "second" and the chief "scholar" in the X ew Movement. In his arraignment of the X ew Theology as preached in the City Temple, he demonstrates that the "charges malic against it ~l by Evangelical Christians are 1RepnNation. abundantly justified." Ha ving severed all connection with the Movement, Dr. Warshauer :;ays, by way of confession and recantation:"With regret far deeper than would ordinarily accompany a confession of having been mistaken, 1 have to admit to-day that it is the critics who were right. The doctrinal development of Mr. Campbell himself within the past year or :;0 has proceeded by leaps and bounds along lines which have only too fully justified thoso hostile predictions and criticisms. Let those New Theologians (if any) who may endorse these teachings come forward and i:iay:;0; for my own part, I utterly repudiate them as subversive of all that I might understand by Christianity-I might go further, and say, of all that I understand by religion." He justly characterises this X ew Theology as "a pitiless pantheism." Al1LI so, arc we not having another illustration of the "dissolving views" of which every age-not to say generahon-furnislies countless examples? God: truth i!> alone iuunuiable andimmortal! 'I'hosc who reflect it and promote it are the only permanent luminaries and illuminators in the celestial firmament !-The Bible Student.
During the recent visit of Bishop Neligan to the Old Country he stirred up a hornet's nest amongst us here by speaking strongly against our system of education, and intimated that our country was becoming "pagan" because it refused to ad IIIit rcligious teaching into its syllabus. In n;"e JSts"op auo IPaoanisJ11. the judgment of lllany who have long resided in the Dominion, and by personal experience can speak upon the results of the present system, he talked like one "of the birds that are of a brisker sort, who will run to and fro in trodden paths wi th the shell upon their heads," as Bunyan has it. Sir Robert Stout, an authority on Education, took the Bishop to task, and whilst the Bishop gently chides him for accepting a newspaper report of the speech containing the offending language, he does not give the language he actually used, and thus show where he has been misrepresented. He ought also to let us know what he

"Only a year ago the City Temple, London, with H. J. Campbell in it, seemed to fill the entire English thcological horizon. There was apparently nothing else in the whole firmament that could have been ticketed 'visible.' The 'Old Theology' had already UIJe U)asstno of been laid away to moulder back to campneutem .. dust, and even its 'obituaries' oftenest couched in irreverent and hilarious phrases. - were on their way to speedy and deserved obli vion. All protests went unheeded, even those of Mr. Campbell's 'discoverer,' the distinguished Editor of the British Weekly, Dr. Robertson Nicoll, who boldly affirmed that the utterances of the man in the pulpit of the late Dr. Joseph Parker were uniformlv made without knowledge and without thought. At about that time it was proposed to substitute the American Continent for the pulpit of the City Temple; in other _,yord::;, to give this extraordinary luminary an oppor-

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APRIL, 1909.

THE

BIBLE

STANDARD.

SI

means by the term "pagan." When first used it signified a "countryman," as distinguished from a town dweller; then it has come to mean a person who lives for this world alone; and in many minds it stands for that which gratifies self, even though all standards of morality be transgressed. Following upon the correspondence between the Chief Justice and the Bishop appeared a letter which contained the following significant extract: "The Registrar-General's report for 1907, gi ving the religion of criminals in gaols and mental hospitals committed that year through the Dominion: Church of England, various offences 2,311, debt or lunaey 33; Iioman Catholic, 1,811 and 23; Presbyterian, 891 and 11; Wesleyan, 172 and 1; Baptist, :l0 and 0; other Protestant persuasions, -l2 and 1; no religion, 78 and :l; pagans, 23 and 0." The writer adds: "1 will make no comment on this; it speaks for itself in reply to the attack on our unsectarian system of education." The other morning, when conning the daily paper, we crossed a statement made by Cardinal Moran that made us rub our eyes in astonishment. The Cardinal is gifted in the matter of saying the most outrageous things, and apparently does not care whether cacotnat f1Doran they are true or not. On more than one occasion he has been ano 1I)011tiC5. proved to be in the wrong, but this does not affect him in the least. He proceeds on his mission of filling the cars of the "faithful" with his mutilations of history. 'I'his latest is a veritable pearl. Opening a R.C. Church at Waitara, near Sydney, Cardinal Moran said that "they were sometimes told that the Catholic Church had political aims. 'I'hese antiquated calumnies had been repeated again and again over :lOO years. If some people were led astray it must be invincible ignorance on their part. Beyond teaching love of the Saviour, care for the children, the Catholic Church interfered in no way with politics." 'I'here I \V hat do our readers think of that? How does this fit with the claim; of the Pope to Temporal Power? Even in these lands of ours we know something of the efforts made by the priesthood on behalf of political represcntati ves, but in countries where Protestantism is weak, there the political power of the Catholic Church is an oppression of the people. There is a work just issued from the Press on "Peru," by Ueraldine Guinness, which tiay::;that the religion of Peru is Roman Catholicism. The features of this faith arc described by IJen and camera, and the a uthor declares that it is alike "a political power, a spiritual famine, and a moral pestilence." But if a comment is needed which is more likely to be effective', we have but to note the reasons which have been advanced to explain why the Pope did not visit the Rccne of the' recent earthquake in Calabria and Sicilv, The King ai.'l Queen of Italy went at once to the scene, and by their Ube lPope auo tbe JEartbqua"ke. presence greatly cheered the sufferers. Why dill not the Holy

Father go? A writer-in the (0) Oailcolic Times states that "political uncertainties had to be reckoned with," but the true fact was that "the question of the Temporal Power of the Pope was at the root of the 'impossibility.' " The efforts of the Papal Court are devoted to bring about international strife, for, as the writer of the explanation why the Pope remained in the Vatican, says: "Amid the confusion of some general conflict with the subsequent arrangements for settling the map, there might happen again what happened after the long years of Napoleon's domination; the Pope might once more come into his own. Meanwhile the Pope maintains his position and upholds his claim." But it seems to us that a further word is necessarv in reference to the claim that the Catholic Ch urch teaches "an abounding charity." In the Dnily Teleqrapli for September 17th, 1908, appeared a letter by W. Limbrick, of the Protestant Reformation Society, in which occurs the followUbe Uest of ing: "In 1901 there was issued " crbarit~." from the official Vatican Press a large work by Pater Marianus de Luca, S.J., Professor in the Georgian University of Home, in two volumes, under the title of 'lnstitutiones .Iuris Ecclcsiastici Publici.' On the covers of each of the copies of this work is a letter addressed by Leo. XIII. to its author, in which he expresses the warmest approval of this book. Now, in this book, which professes to give the eanon law of the Church of Rome for the twentieth century (the very law under which the Church of Home wishes to sec civilised nations put), Professor Marianus de Luca declares that coercive powers belong to the Church, that the Church has a right to inflict penalties and to employ physical force, that the Church has a right to demand power over heretics, has a right to kill heretics-and that the unly elfecl'ive way denl'ing with heretics is to put them tu death as qtl'ickly as possible!' Mr. Limbrick added that he was prepared to gi ve references to the pages to any who wish to verify these statements, Are we to consider this book as an evidence of "abounding charity?"

at

A new schel~le for the help of oppressed Jews has been mooted by a Mr. Hermann Landau, who is described as a well-to-do, level-headed man of business. He recently unfolded the project before a London Society for permanently benefiting the members of the race who at present are 1Aew 5ewlsb downtrodden and oppressed, and $cbeme. who are seeking for escape from their unsatisfactory surroundings. He points out that all modern methods do in large measure fail. Even w hen by effort certa in Jews are enabled to esca pe to other surroundings, they have no better prospect than to settle down in industrial centres, where, because of the language difficulty, are formed replicas of the old Ghettos. Mr. Landau proposes that all Jews should consent to raise the sum of one pound each; this, if agreed to, would constitute a fund of eleven million

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APRIL, 1909.

pounds. Having raised the money, he suggests that next large farms be acquired, say, of 2,000 to 3,000 acres, in various parts of the world, and on these to house and to give farm work, together with living wage, to all families that apply. When these have by this training acquired a sufficient knowledge of farming they are to be settled in land, preferably in Mesopotamia,; and to be provided with an advance of money, which is to be repaid by yearly instalments. In this way he hopes that .Iews will become agriculturists, which he believes to be an absol utc necessitv if the J ewish dream of colonisation is ever to be reaiised. 'I'he scheme was well received by the hearers, and it reruains to be seen what support it will have from the leaders of Jewry, and from the people themselves, who, we think, will be growing confused between the rival plans which are now in existence, each having its fervent supporters, and its no less fervent opponents. Zionism, Itoism, and now this scheme, each seeking the well- bei ng of the Jew, and each having its separate organisations and funds. 'I'he hope of ultin.atc C01111110n good is lessened as the attention and effort of the people are divided amongst these plans with ,diverse aims.

1bow "tIDtracles" are l1mrougbt.

The following. quotation merits thoughtful reading, because, being from a leading Spanish journal, it gives evidence of Spanish dissatisfaction with Roman Catholicism and disbelief in the claims of Rome, whilst, at the same time, it reveals how the so-called "miracles of Lourdes" can be wrought. The reader may well ask, "What has now become of the 'agile impotent man r' Where is he?" "There are miracles yet! Y cs, there are miracles yet I Although the incredulous smile, although atheists scoff, there are miracles yet to confound and to convince the one and the other! What happens is that thcre is very little faith, little charity, and even hope is being lost! "Let the unbelieving read what we are going to relate, and see how the Divine power has been manifested in a manner truly remarkable. The miracle did not happen in Spain; here not even this good fortune is left to us, unless it be the shattered wonder of the Canal. The fortunate city was N ancy, in France. "Two trains of pilgrims were to start for Lourdes, and the sick were conveyed to the railway station. Hope brought a sparkle of life to their feverish eyel:>,a faint rose colour to their pale cheeks! One of the sick, who was crippled, disabled, or, if you will, impotent, was conveyed in a carriage to the station, where some of the officials received him and treated him with very great care. The improvised ambulance-bearers, carrying the coach whereon lay the impotent man, were crossing the railway lines, when an inspector shouted to them in terror: 'Be quick! Run! The Metz train is coming upon you! Hurry! Hurry! The bearers, horror-struck, confused, hesitated a moment, but the impotent man, who, fortunately for himself, was not deaf, rose on his couch like a flash of lightning, jumped to the ground, ran like a soul pursued by Satan, and reached the departure platform in the twinkling of an eye. Those who had carried him did not fall on their knees, because the train would have crushed them, but once out of danger they shouted in chorus, 'A miracle! A miracle!' And the miracle is indubitable. The power of the Virgin of Lourdos is immense! The intention to go to visit her suffices, in order to see oneself cured of one's ills! IV e do not know whether the agile impotent man relinquished his journey; the pity is that he should have already taken his ticket. Some sceptics who witnessed the occurrence state that the miracle ought not to be attributed to the Virgin, but to the inspector. These are men of little faith! IV c do not enter into any discussion ; what no one will doubt is that fear is a wonderful miracle worker."-"The Vanguard."

\tbe ~o\\1er of n ""lRo."

The most tremendous word in the English language is the short yet mighty word ~ o. It has been the pivot on which innumerable destinies have turned, for this world and the next. Spoken at the right moment it has saved multitudes from disgrace, from ruin-s-yes, from eternal death! The splendid career of J oseph turned on the prompt "no," spoken at the very nick of time. Had he stopped to parley with that wanton woman (as too many young men stop to talk with a bright-eyed temptress in the street), he would have been lost. "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" saved him from the dizzy cdge of the precipice. Daniel might easily have said to himself, "Oh, everybody about the court here drinks wine and lives high on the king's meat. I do not want to be thought queer or puritanical." He dared to be singular. At thc end of two weeks he had a cleaner countenance and a;weeter breath than any of the fast livers in the palace. "So did not I," was the motto of this sturdy young teetotaller. If he had yielded to the current of temptation, and drifted with it, we never should have heard of such a man as Daniel. All the people who make a marked success in life, and who achieve any good work for God, are the people who are not ashamed to be thought singular. The man who runs with the crowd counts for nothing. It is when he turns about and faces the multitude who are rushing on to do evil, that he commands every eye. Then by a bold protest he may "put a thousand to flight." So the young monk, Luther, turned about and faced the hosts of the Papacy. His heroic "No," nailed up on the church door of Wittenberg, aroused Europe from its delusive and deadly dreams. Standing alone, he was re-inforced by the Almighty.-T. L. CuyleJ'.

A king, before he ascended the throne, declared that he would destroy all his enemies. Afterward, everybody was surprised that he treated them with great kindness. Some of his friends reminded him of what he had said. "And have I not destroyed my enemies?" he asked. "I have changed them into my friends."

APRIL,

1909.

THE
f1Nntl

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STANDARD.
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53

Wont

1Snsiness.

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"And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the king dom of God" (Luke ix. (2).

The man who ploughed in rocky Palestine with the rude wooden implement used for that purpose in those days, or the one who now ploughs in rocky New Hampshire with the modern iron plough, needs to pay strict attention to the work in order to do anything like a good job. He has not time to look back; if he does he will make a crooked furrow or strike a rock and break his plough. He is not fit for a ploughman if he does that. 1f any man has got to mind his business to make it pay,i t is the farmer. He has no time to loaf at the village store or tavern, His city friend puts in nine or ten hours a clay in the shop; and if he will do likewise on the farm his building will not look like a lot of begun but never finished efforts. Well, now, what shall we say to you who have once put your hand to the Gospel plough? Is that so easy that it goes itself and !'ou can loiter along and look back? If you have in any way engaged in Gospel work by professing to be on the Lord's side, join ing the church, and so on, it is your business to keep on in this profitable business if you ever expect to see the inside of God's kingdom. What a lot of old, rusty, weather-beaten, idle ploughs there are lying around that were once bright and shining and in the work! And what a variety! There's the "sulky" plough, the "side-hill" plough that has to have its furrow-hoard reversed at every furrow's 'length, and the "breaking-up" plough. There is work enough for all. Use the one that has been given you and sav nothing. If you cannot plough as deeply and throw as big a furrow as the other fellow, clo ~'OlH best. Keep ploughing. "He that plougheth not by reason of -the cold shall want in time of harvest." Spring ploughing may be cold, but it will be colder at harvest time with nothing to eat. To engage one's self in the service of God, or especially in the ministry preaching the Gospel, is a serious business, and there is no stopping place provided this Ri(le of the Kingdom of God, "for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" (Rom. ii. 29). Did He ca11 vou to it? 'Who told you to quit it? To turn about in tl~e evil way is just the right thing to do, but to try to turn about in the good way is the very wrong thing to do. Press on. Urge on the team, and by-and-by you may come shouting the harvest home as the sun sets in the west and the lowing ox seeks his crib and the fowl its roost. And what an everlasting comfort there will he in that to the honest, hard, faithful labourer. How about that idler, that loafer, who comes sneaking home across lots to the back gate? Does this mean vou?-

~-:~~~~~
BRINGING BAOK THE KING.
"Now, therefore, why speak ye not a word King back" (2 Sam. xix. 10). of bringing the

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from

IK the Old Testament the moral, social, and national life of the people of Israel is closely linked with the royal dynasty, and this not as a merely circumstantial connection-the union is vital. The national life and the national hope are inseparably connected, and for both the kingship is an essential factor. The provision of the royal line was divinely made, and without it no permanent blessing was intended for the chosen people. As a broader statement, giving both foundation and force to this, I may affirm that the whole of Old Testament history and promise is keyed together, harmonised, and expounded by One Person Who is the central object of hope from first to last. Apart from Him all semblance of coherent purpose is absent, but once his position is seen the whole of Bible presentation is unified. He is the Seed of the Woman; the Son of Abraham ; the Prophet like unto Moses; and He is David's greater Son. One Person Who gathers into Himself all the promises associated with these titles, so that having reached the last of the covenauts-e-that which 'assigns to Him the rule of the .age to come, and gives to Him the sceptre of Government as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, he carries forward into that state of universal sway all the covenanted blessings which are contained in the earlier promises. The comprehension of this great fact gives deep significance to the prophetic descriptions which depict His Person and His work. There was never a time in that Old Testament history that the hope of coming blessing was not before the people of Israel, and from the days of Da vid that hope received the impulse which centred it in the Person of the Ooming King. This meant that the blessing when realised, should come in a form which would take hold of man's needs in social and political aspects; would banish all the evils in those realms where man is continually striving for improvement, and effect by power and wisdom the changes which are whollv unattainable by present human effort. The King to' come is Iorepictured as intellectually perfect, as having wisdom without defect, and having under His control the power requisite to give effect to His decisions. As a conception merely this is a matchless presentation. In our days it needs to be insisted upon as the only worthy conception yet put before the world of what isactua lly needed to bring in permanent benefit to man. 'I'here are !llany schemes of human betterment before the world.and some of these antagonise each other.

C. E. Copp,

1'n

"lVorld's Crisis."

If we would understand the Bihle. the Bible we must experience

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APRIL,

1009.

'T'his is because human wisdom is faulty. It is unable to grasp all the component parts of the problems before it, and thus much of human effort is sectional, and is apt to exalt its own field of effort into a position of prime importance. The introduction to the worlc1 of a l\lind in perfect agreement with that of the Ruler of the uni verse, with power to give effect to the decisions reached, would mean a speedy and complete solution to all present problems. A Person with such a mind, and with such power, is the object of hope to the Old Testament writers, and He is the central figure in the great covenants which God has made with man. Isaiah thus speaks of Him :"And the Spirit of the Lord sha.ll rest upon Him, the spi ri t of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fc'ar of the Lord; find His do light sha 11 be in the fen!' of the Lord" (I sa. xi. 1-5).

The whole of that passage is full of suggestive thought for those who ponder present world problems, and seek for their solution. Spite of the many immediate favours enjoyed by the people of Isaiah's day, the necessity for the presence of such a Person was keenly felt. Men looked for emancipation from social evil as men look to-day. Each age has its pressing needs, and as now, so then, the cry of the oppressed was heard, and the way of escape was sought, and the way was declared to be by the incoming of the Wise and Mighty Ruler. The hopes of the New Testament are the echo of those of the Old, but its history shows that the great hope seemed about to be realised; for Jesus is shown by all requisite proofs to be the Person to whom the covenants and the promises pointed. He was the one who in Himself answered to the requirements of descent, manner of birth, accompaniments of j.ower, delight in the fear of the Lord, and in intellectual perfection. "He came unto His own and they that were His own received Him not." Yea, they crucified Him. They would have had Him to disappear in obscurity, but the Roman Governor blazed the full truth upon the cross itself, "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEvVS," and into that title goes all of Divine promise and human hope. They crucified Him. But the hope is not thereby ended. The deed is used by God to manifest His power, and to confirm His promises, "Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified." The apostolic message takes up that feature; and proclaims that Jesus is the King Who is to return, and that at His Coming all that is promised in connection with His presence upon the earth shall be fulfilled. TIle charge laid against Paul by his opponents at Thessalonica was, that he said, "There is another king, one Jesus." 1\ow, these things being so, how is it that so little is said of them in modern preaching? If all hopes for humanity truly centre in the P resence of the Man of the covenants, Who, according to the promise made, is the "shoot out of the stock of J esse," why are not His kingly claims presented, and why is there not a word

sa id about "bringing back the King?" Much is now said regarding His claims upon men as their Saviour from sin, but without lessening this testimony there should be much said regarding His kingly claims and dignity; regarding His absence, and the blessings which HiH return will bring to this sad earth of ours. The modern silence upon this phase of Bible teaching seems to result from an inadequate idea of the extent and nature of human needs. 'I'he popular doctrine of soulimmortality yields no necessity for the incoming of the King. If the great purpose of the Bible is to fit men now for a heaven to be entered upon at death; if the doom to be avoided is an eternal misery in some place other than the earth; if, when the period of probation is over, the earth is to be done away with altogether, then, we repeat, there is no point of contact between these things and the doctrine of the Return of the King. But if, on the other hand, man is mortal, and there is before him the possibility of immortality upon God's terms; if God purposes that His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven; if that purpose involves complete redemption-rescue from sin, death, and from faulty conditions which mar human progress-in a word, if it means the establishment of Divine government on the earth, then there is necessity that we speak, and clearly speak, upon the Divine purpose to bring back the King. Churches are founded, and creeds are framed in absolute ignorance of the Bible purpose. Much is said of the crucified Saviour, but li ttle of the risen Lord and Coming Monarch of the World, Because we find these things to be unknown, faithfulness demands that we speak concerning the Return of the King. That man is a sinner, needing salvation, we assert with all the emphasis which the Bible warrants, but that this exhausts all of God's purposes in redemption we as emphatically deny. A view must be taken of all the consequences which have followed from the introduction of sin if we would truly grasp the meaning of redemption, and trace the wide field of operations which it covers. Man's efforts to reach amelioration lag far behind the great advance of the evils which have followed from the introduction of sin. Whilst man tries to cope with one evil, or one series of evil in manifestation, there are others which are rioting in unhalting advance. Does the Gospel afford any hope that these things can be overtaken and destroyed ? Yes, a thousand times, yes. The assurance of final victory lies in the promise regarding the Coming of the King. What a blissful promise that is. How comprehensive, and how satisfying. Men who are now enamoured of the modern efforts made by social reformers are taking short views of the true needs of man, and over-estimate their ability to meet and satisfy them. They over-estimate the powers of their plans because they assume a unity of design and purpose in the abolition of evil-a unity which has never been existent amongst the sons of men, and never 'will be because of fallibility, self-interest, and greed. They take short views of man's needs because they

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centre attention wholly upon the present, forgetful of the labour and labourers of the past, and because they can make no provision to counteract the stroke of death, and they' arc especially short-sighted because they are attempting to improve the tree without touching the root-sin. It is a trite remark that the enthusiasts of to-day ofttimes labour for a good which those who follow them will count as a folly. The matters which agitated the minds of men in past days as the most desirable things to be achieved, arc to-day pigeon-holed as the follies of our fathers. Some things sought for in the past have been in a measure secured, but the benefits are not valued, and those who labour to achieve them, and gave their lives to secure to posterity the boon which seemed so valuable, are forgotten. Who to-day values the work of the Reformation, and the self-sacrifice of the Reformers? We have lived to hear the one sneered at, and the brave martyrs derided. Yet the measure of libertv we enjoy i ours because of their labour and self-sacrifice. The benefit never seems so valuable to its possessors as it did to those who sought for it, but never reached it. Why is it that human hopes realised are so disappointing in their results? There is one answer, and it is simple. It may be sneered at, but it has the undying advantage of being true; it is that the heart of man is not changed. So long as that remains unchanged, for so long will all efforts to secure positive and permanent good for men be a failure. The good achieved always becomes a means in the hands of unscrupulous men to compass their own ends, and the rosy picture, so attractive when seen from afar, becomes a disappointment when changed into actual fact. In every field of human endeavour sin has marred the results. Attention is mainly drawn by Socialists to the manifestations of inequalities which now exist because of governmental maladministration. But that field is too narrow to cover all the facts. The evils that afflict humanitv cannot all be summed up in this category. That these things exist is admitted, nay is asserted by UR as part of the great sum of evil, but try as men mav thoro is no possibility of securing their abolition bv human legislation or by revolution, because the heart of man whence these things derive their strength still remains the same. 'I'he power to abolish them must lie in an abilitv to not only deal with the full-grown evil of whatever nature it may be, but is able also to go back to the root cause and so deal with sin that it shall be eradicated, This the Gospel of the grace of Uod guarantees shall be done. In the present time it brings to bear the testimony of the love of Ood, and the work of Christ in redemption, and promises to him who shall accept the Lordship of Christ the forgiveness of sin. That pledges the removal of sin and its consequences from the indi ridual-the door is open to the possession of eternal life. But that Gospel goes further ancl pledges also the wisdom and power of the King of Goel's appointment for the abolition of all social and political ills, and holds out as the end to be at-

tained the establishment of the Kingdom of God upon the earth in which His will sha 11 be done as it is in heaven. Because we find these things in the Bible, and believe them, therefore we declare that the only hope for the world lies in the Iieturn of the King. ~\vhcn David was away from J erusalem, the usurper Absaloiu nourished for a time. But the hopes that had been built on him came with sudden crash to destruction. Then it was that the hearts of the people turned to the absent, rightful. monarch, and with earnest longing they talked of the Return of the King. In the period of unrest caused by the death of the usurper they knew not what to do. They were at strife, but out of that cloud of strife emerged the one thing to be desired by the nation, "Bring back the King." That desire was heard, and the King returned and the people rejoiced. Let us set our hearts to know what our needs are, casting oft' our allegiance to the ruler of this present evil age, that with fervent appeals, loyal service, and sanctified endeavour, we may speak for the Monarch Who is absent, and declare that there is no hope for man, or for this sad earth of ours, until the King Returns. May He soon come.
(Notes of Address delivered --...

...

in West Street

by the Editor.)

<!basino jLies.
A lie is a bad thing to run at large. It damages, ravages, and devours. More poisonous than a serpent, it often ruins not only health but reputation and usefulness. Every lie should be stopped. But whose business is it to chase a lie? 'V,ho let it loose? The man who let it loose is bound to catch it again; but a man of truth is under no obligation to chase and catch other people's lies. Suppose some man or a dozen men send forth a falsehood about me, am 1 obliged to spend my days and years chasing it and contraclicting it? By no means. Let those that made it attend to their own work, or meet the responsibilitv of it in the reckoning dav, Everv man concerned in sending forth a false statement must purge himself of it or gi\'e account to Goel for what he has done. God holds men to verv strict accountability in these respects, and every man who thinks to dwell in God's ta barnacle must look well to his words, and "refrain his tongue from evi l, and his lips that they speak no guile."-"CMistian."

(Br0wll

(tfnongb 1Reststancc.

WE cannot explain fully the use of: temptation

and trial. But we do know this, that the strongest and sweetest Christian cha racters ha ve come to be what they are through great tribulations. The oak tree, when storms come, onlv clings the tighter to the earth-sends its roots down deeper and lifts up itself to a larger growth. The storms did not make the tree do this, but the tree did it to resist the storms.-Selected.

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THE 'fHE MIND MONTH POWER YOUR .. OF A

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OF CONTENTS.
52 .. 52

"No" ..
AUE Wrought S'1'RH:E'l' ..

How"
ECHOES

MIRACLES"

BUSINESS NO'I'ES OR MAN MADE FOR ETRRNITY ON THE STUDY OF PUOPHECY .. Nicws

~"ROM WEST BEING,

ASSOCIATION ENDLESS LETTERS CHUUCH THE THE

'1'0 A YOUNG FUIEND AND MISSION IS COMING BAND .. NERD~"UL TALK..

KING

CHUISTIAN A FRW

ONE 'l'HING MINUTES'

'l'UEASUUER'S

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

53 53-55 56-57 57-60 61-62 62-63 63 63 63 64 61

were enthusiastic indeed that braved the weather to attend. After consultation, we agreed not to attempt a meeting, and hoped for such improvement in the weather as would enable us to carry out our further programme. Several interesting and, we hope, profitable conversations have been held with some who impress us as seekers, and we are looking for such result as will lead them into the light of truth. Those of our brethren who have known Bro. Heron, of the West Street Church, will regret to learn that he has fallen on sleep. It is but a short time since his wife was laid to rest in the Birkenhead Cemetery, and since her death he has shown signs of breaking up. He died on Friday, March 12th, and was laid to rest on the following day. For many years he has been a believer in the Lord, and during his experiences in India, as an officer in the Commissariat Department, he came under the influence of the teaching of Life Only in Christ From the time when he saw this truth clearly he proved himself a worthy supporter of it. In India his house was always open for those who could teach and speak on Bible truths, and on his removal to this land he became a hearty supporter of the movement here. When, owing to advancing age, he gave up his farm life, and settled in the city, he was a regular and faithful attendant at the meetings, and latterly became a deacon, and did what he could for the service of the brotherhood. During the few months that he was with his daughter, who cared for him in his closing clays, we have missed his genial presence, and his hearty, kindly encouragement. He had lived out his fourscore years, and has shown in these latter years how it is possible for a man to be upheld by a simple faith in the certainty of the Word of God. To the members of the family we extend our sympathy. The visit paid by the Editor to the brethren in the South afforded them a measure of encouragement. Services were conducted for two Sundays in Dunedin. The morning meetings were enjoyed by all, and at the evening meetings numbers of those who formerly attended were present. On the Thursday evening before the Editor left a number of the members met at the house of Bro. Lawrence. A helpful, quiet hour was spent. 'I'he theme for consideration was chosen to fit the circumstances of the church, and met with hearty approval. All joined in wishing the Editor to convey their heartfelt greetings to the brotherhood. At Timaru Bro. King and his wife welcomed us hospitably, and on the evening of arrival took us to the residence of Bro. Clarkson, where a few others assembled to give us a welcome. On the Sunday there were good attendances at both meetingsthe faith of the brethren had grown so strong that they had actually borrowed chairs to add to the seating accommodation of the hall. Another lecture was given on the Monday evening to as large an audience, and a few questions were asked at the close. On Tuesday morning we left for 'I'inwald, where Bro. Shearer was waiting. No arrangement had been made for a meeting in the evening,

~
MONTHTLY
0" THf

ORGAN

ntw Ztaland "angtllstlt andPublltatlon Jlssodatlon.

EDITED BY GEORGE ALDRIDGE. .lSSISTED BY SPECIAL CONTRmUTION8.
The Editor wishes it to be understood that, while he esereteee lI. gcneral super.talon over the articles and Correspondence appearing in the STAND.utD, responsibility Cor sentiments expreaeed rests upon the individual writer.

Elssociation

!Aotes.

Bro. Cropp, of Tacoma, Washington, U.S.A., is visiting New Zealand for a short time. Some of our readers will remember him as a youth in the Thames Sunday School, and afterwards as connected with the Auckland School and meeting. We are glad that he still retains his love for truth, and that in his own home there is a stated meeting of those of like precious laith.W e trust that this short stay with his relatives and friends at the Thames, and his fellowship with the brethren in this Dominion will yield him solid satisfaction and joy, and may give him pleasant and stimulating memories when he returns to his home and loved ones. We are glad to see him and to tell him so. It was decided that a Tent Mission should be held in Helensville from March 14th to 21st. Bro. Wilcock visited the town, and took the opening services on the Sunday. These were very encouraging, and great hopes were built for the week following. On the Monday the Editor went up to conduct the week-evening meetings. On the first two evenings a small company gathered, and close interest was taken in the themes presented. On the Wednesday evening (St. Patrick's Day) a concert was held in the hall, and this thinned our attendance, and somewhat militated against the meeting by reason of the noise which now and again broke out when some popular item won the applause of the hall's audience. Great hopes were built on the meeting for the Thursday, as many persons had promised to come to hear the special subject for that evening. But, alas for human hopes, the rain came down, and steadily continued, so that tJ1CY

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,{IOall f1Da~e for JEterllit)?
from page 43.)

bu t Bro. Shearer immediately went out and secured the hall, and called at the schoolhouse, that the children might announce the meeting. Only a few assembled, but as they were interested an address was given bearing upon the Heturn of the Lord. So the following day a few friends were seen, some of whom expressed their continued pleasure in the helpful matter furnished in the S'fANDARD. In the evening a small number assembled in the Orange Hall, and listened to an address on the question of Man's Nature. A number of questions were asked, some of them bearing upon the Millennial Dawn teaching. This visit to the brotherhood has yielded some lessons, chief amongst which is the testimony that is borne to the indifference which everywhere obtains on matters religious. This is confirmed in the experience of preachers with whom we held conversation. All agree that this is a most difficult time. Our duty remains the same, to be faithful to the truth, whether men will hear or not. A few words were exchanged with Bro. Murray at 'I'aihape. He regretted that a longer stay was not possible, but duties awaited us in the North, and we had to journey homewards. We acknowledge for the Edgehill Fund receipt of 1 from G., Dunedin ; 1 151;. 6d., LIelensvi llc Church. A brother writes from Petonc : "I have taken the S'I'ANDAHD for sixteen years, and I look forward each month to its coming, as it is the only teaching 1 get on its special lines. I enjoy the papers by C.C.B. and sermons by the Editor. 1 have read the Conference Report IV 1 th pleasure. 'I'll c paper on NIission \Vor k was ra th er hard on such as J, for I have to worship with another church, or not at all. For the last eighteen vcars I ha ye not lived witliin fourteen miles of a church 01 our order, and now it is hundreds of miles. If I had the chance of meeting with you at West Street I would not be often missing it.-D.l\I." From the J amwry Faith we extract the followinsr interesting item: "In connection with a new volume'" Mr. Hall Caine is publishing he has sent out a covering letter, a copy of which has been handed to us. The title of the book is "The White Prophet,' and it is founded upon the expectation of the Orient 'that in the time of the end a Redeemer will come to unite the religions of the world into one religion, and the peoples of the world in~o one people.' Further, the author says: '~othing said hy these theologians (Moslem religious heads at Cairo) left a deeper impression on my mind than was mane by a conversation I had with a group of unlettered Arabs at Khartoum. From these dusky sons of the desert J learned, what I have since confirmed, that deep in the heart of the Moslem people is the hope that a Redeemer who is to abolish Kings and Sultans, to put an end to warfare, to combine the Churches, and to bring in the Divine government of the world, will not be the Mahdi or yet Mahornrned, or Jesus, but a White Prophet of peace, to be called the Christ.' 'N e know nothing of the volume thus introduced, but these words from one who is, in the best sense of the word, 'a man of the world,' are very significan t, and accentuate the call to watchfulness and readiness for the great events which arc already casting their shadows before.

(Continued
WE now

continue our defence against Mr. Barlow's attack upon what he calls the "Destructionists." He believes his "true Jerusalem blade" will cut through our armour and ~rely wound us, if not end us as a religious sect. In our last paper we began our examination of his definitions of the "pivotal words" upon which this controversy turns. Let us continue our task. IV. 'I'he fourth word to which he invites our attention is the word Il'II[M0 R'I' ALITY. And he treats it in a very off-hand manner. He says, "This word needs to be relegated to the really obscure position it holds in the Bible, or to be better understood and used in the true sense. Immortality does not mean an endless existence, nor indeed existence at all, but represents simply an undying condition of existence. Scripturally used it means "undyingness"-that which cannot die. No man is naturally or inherently immortal. The sinner has an "ever-existing soul," but not an immortal one. Only the righteaus will put it on at their resurrection. Jesus, after His resurrection, said, "Behold, I am alive for evermore" (Rev, i. 18). This is immortality. When the corruptible body puts on incorruption, and this mortal soul or spirit puts on immortality, then will the whole man become immortal." RClna1'ks.-Whateyer shade of difference there may be between the strict meaning of the words, still the expressions "immortality" and "eternal life" and "endless existence" are practically s~nonymous. What is irnmortali ty? It is incaJ2ncily of denth-an immortal being cannot die. What else than this is "endless existence" and "eternal life?" Immortality (athanasia), and incorruption (aphtharsia), and eternal (aionios), are in the New Testament inseparably connected-"the immortal God" (1 'I'im, vi. 16) being also "the incorruptible God" (Hom. i. 23), and "the eternal God" (1 'I'im. i. 17), while the immortal body is also the incorruptible body (1 Cor. xv. 53-54). Of "the sons of the resurrection" it is said, "neither can they die any more (Luke xx. 36)-that is, they are incapable of death; they have "an endless existence." The assertion that any serious distinction is to be made in rendering the meaning of these words is mere hair-splitting. Such delicacies of definition may be necessary for the upholding of Mr. Barlow's contention-indeed, it is matter of life and death to him to cling to his definitions, for if no such material distinction exists his argument cometh to naught, for there cannot be an "endless being" apart from "immortality." His statement that "no man is naturally or inherently immortal" is a valueless one, for if man is "made for eternity," he must have "an endless existence," and as the existence of a man implies life, he must possess "eternal life," which carries with it the necessity of "immortality" and "incorruption." It is simply playing with words to say that the sinner has an "ever-existing soul," but an "immortal" one. This

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is not "J erusalem blade" work, it is a weapon of "adulterated metal" that bends in the hand of him who wields it. V. SPIHIT AND SOUh-"ln his nature man is dual (of two parts). Of the best of the earth is he, and of the best of heaven. The words spirit and soul are used in both Old and New Testaments interchangeably as representing the one entity. "Ye shall surely die," was a threat of spiritual death. The spiritual separation of Adam from God that day, made certain the seperation of the spirit and soul from the body which took place some years later on. The sentient spirit in which the personality and identity inheres, returns to God, who gaye it, to await the resurrection of the body." Remarks.-Aml what shall we say to this? It is manifestly incorrect. Man is not dual; he is a tripartite creature; he consists of a body and soul and spirit (1 Thess. Y. 23). To support his statement we have under heading No. IV. the sentence, "the mortal soul 01' spirit puts on immortality." This is indeed confusion worse confounded. The soul (psyche) and the spirit (pneuma) -in Hebrew, nephesh and ruach-are as distinct as chalk and cheese, and are never to be confounded. Soul in its primary meaning signifies life-force, whether in man or animal, what we commonly understand by life. This use is so common all through Scripture that we need not quote passages. The word is used in other senses, but neoer stands as the equivalent [or Spi1'1:t. The spirit is-nobody knows what. Eccles. xii. 7 and Ps. civ. 29-30 tell us all we know, which is that it comes from God and returns to Goc1 when its possessor dies. Animals have spirit as well as man (Eccles. iii. 19). It was when God breathed "the spirit of life" into Adam's nostrils that he became "a living soul." Zechariah declares that God "formeth the spirit of man within him" (xii. 1). J ames says, "the body without the spirit is dead" (ii. 26). The soul also can die-its life-force becomes exhausted. Nasa the spirit, which may be an indestructible element or principle-but however that may be, Scripture testifies to the fact that it "returns to God." The mode of its existence we cannot possibly guess, but it is undeniable that it is the departure of the spirit that causes the death of body and soul. Man is sometimes callec1 "a living soul," but he is never spoken of as "a spirit." He has a spirit, but it cannot be said, he is a spirit. God is a spirit (John iv. 24), so is our glorified Reeleemer (l Cor. xv. 45), and so it appears will be the saints after resurrection, for it will be true "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John iii. 6). For it is a Scriptural doctrine that the resurrection of the elead is by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. viii. 11), anel therefore the new or second birth at resurrection is rightly attributed to the Spirit of Gael-we shall be "spiritual," shall bear the image of the heavenly," and so become spiritual, immortal, incorruptible (1 Cor. xv. 46-54). But mortal man is not a spirit, he is "of the earth, earthly" -he possesses a spirit which is given at birth and is removed at death. The

spirit then is a something apart from thc life or soul, and is to be distinguished from the flesh. But we have no more reason to believe that the human spirit merely because it is spirit is eternal in its duration than to believe it is omnipresent and omniscient, though we quite admit that man's spirit is the most God-like constitution of his nature, and that it is not his spirit that c1eathlessness maythereafter be introduced by the renovating and energying agency of the Spirit of Gael. It is a modest assertion that he who starts from an erroneous phychology will arrive at a false theory regarding Immortality, and he who will at any cost preserve the doctrine of "natural endless being" must support himself by a phychology which is not that of the Holy Scriphues. Mr. Barlow cannot prove his assertion that the personality and identity inheres in the spirit, and as sJJ1:Tit the man-in the other worlel-awaits the resurrection of the body. I n reference to the sentence pronounced on Adam in Eden, our contention is that Adam did not die on that day the death with which God had threatened him. For certain reasons-which do not enter within the scope of this paper-s-God did not execute the sentence that day. Adam Jived for 930 years before it was saic1 of him "and he died" (Gen. v, 5). Goc1 said nothing about dying ":1 spiritual death," though of course he fell morally and spiritually. The sentence, though postponed, was afterwards carried out in strict accordance with the terms so plainly expressed, "Dust thou art, unto dust shalt thou return." TT1. DEATH.-"Death and life are opposites, and are ever usec1 in the Word of Goc1 to describe opposite conditions of being or existence-never to express existence, limited or eternal, .or non-existence or non-being. Extinction of being or destruction is not to be found in the term "death." It never means the extermination of existence of the body or soul or spirit of man or of the man himself either here or hereafter. Death simplv means a separation. Whcn soul or spirit leaves the bodv that separate condition we call death, The man is not destroyed, but his completeness is. He is broken up, disintegrated, the union of parts is dissolved. Strictly speaking, it is the spirit which dies. The body is the house from which the tenant removes at death, anc1 it is the tenant who suffers the pangs of: the separation anel the consequent privation. When death comes the man inheres in the spirit and not in the body. 'vYe must all die, or pass through an equivalent change." RcmClrlcs.-We are not surprised to find the author endeavouring to put so strange anc1 unreal a meaning on the term "death"; indeed, he cannot do otherwise when he starts with the assumption that man has "endless being, and is mac1e for eternity." But to us the idea of death bcing "a condition of existence" is quite incomprehensible, inconceivable and unthinkable. We are told there is no actual first death; what we call c1eath is the separation of body anc1 spirit, and the spirit-in which inheres the man's personal identity-lives on, even that spirit which was for awhile the tenant residing in the body. If this be correct, and the first death

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59

merely means separation, what are we to understand by the second death? In resurrection a body is provided for the spirit, does a second separation take place? Again, it is said, "Death does not illl])ly the extinction of consciousness, the dead mun is mentally as acti ve as eve]'." OUl' reply is Lhut unless we change entirely the ordinary meaning of the terms death and life, th is extraordinary dictum is to us-we repeat-utterly inconceivable and unthinkable. ,Ve can understand the argument of those who sav "there is no death," but we certainly fail to comprehend how death "never means the ending of the existence of the body." But greater surprises are in store. Mr. Barlow goes on to say, "It is the spirit which dies, it is the spirit that suffers the pangs of separation and consequent privation." We confCRSourselves unable to follow him here. We are to understand that after the dying Stephen had said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and "fell asleep;" the next moment the dead Stephen-which means the living and separated spirit of Stephen-commenced a period of "suffering and privation," which we suppose will last till the spiritual Stephen is clothed with his body again. Poor Stephen! He was once a tenant residing in a house enjoying certain pleasures and comforts, now he is a homeless wanderer, has no dwelling place, and is exposed to continued pain and hardships, till he shall be housed again at the resurrection. Into what absurdities are led those who depart from the simple teachings of Holy Writ! But before passing on, there is one more statement worthy of note. "\Ve must all die, or pass through an equivalent chan qe" To what "change" does Mr. Barlow refer? If we mistake not, he is thinking of Paul's words, "We sha 11.not all sleep, but we shall all be changed" (1 Cor. H. 51) . Roll' "being changed" (macle immortal without dying) is set in opposition to being "dead." Wc who arc alive when Christ returns escape death because we shall be changed in a moment. The dead and the living are here contrasted. "The dead shall be raised, and we shall be changed" (ver. 52). And yet we arc bidden bolicvo that this change is equivalent to death! Paul says death 01' change. Mr. Barlow says, There is no distinction; the death of: a man to-clay is equivalent to the ascension change on the coming clay. This identification of things that differ is the outcome of the false philosophy of the nature of man and not of Scripture teachings. Death is simply a changa, similar to the grcat change that living saints will experience in the latter day l l Those who will may accept such an explanation, for our part we unhesitatingly reject it. We regard death as a great curse, the consequence of Adam's sin, which ends the existence of a man-s-even a good mall, for Paul solemnly asserts that "if there is no resurrection of the clead, then they also who arc fallen asleep in Christ haw perished" (1 Cor. X\'. 12-19). vn. PUNISI-IMEN'I'.-The author informs us that "the eternal conscious suffering of: thc wicked" has thus far found no adequate defender. The doctrine is sore pressed by the error of the Annihilationists. But he

with the true J erusalem -hlade" will cut through the armour of this doughty knight, and stop the ravages and onslaughts of this aggressive foe. And this is the style of the argument with which he attacks us. "The sinner is not to be punished external I.)' for tile sins conimittcd in a lifetime. Man's sin is, that he is a sinner, in defiance of God's will, and despite all that God can do to change his disposition. ] f man, therefore, in this condition passes on to the next world he must be an eternal sinner, he must be an eternal sufferer, by the vcrv Jaws of his being. Every man has endless existence, and must, therefore, suffer the consequences of endless sin. If there is no eternal person, there can be no eternal punishment. Punishment can be inflicted only where there is a consciousness of ill-desert and the capacity for feeling pain, mental or physical. If death is the terminus of existence it is equally the terminus of punishment, and so the punishment cannot be everlasting. Eternal punishment is a subject difficult for the Annihilationist to get away with." Remarlrs.-'Ye firmly believe in eternal punishment (l\Iatt. XX\'. 46), and eternal judgment (Heb. vi. 2), and eternal redemption (Heb. ix, 12), and eternal salvation (Heb. v. 9), and eternal destruction (2 'I'hess. i. 9), but the Bible never speaks of eternal punishing, and judging, and redeeming, and saving, and destroying. Eternal punishment does not necessarily imply eternal punishing. Death is the punishment that will hereafter overtake the sinner, and it will be an everlasting punishment, because from this second death there will be no resurrection recovery. Christ's redemptive work was finished on the cross, but it is called eternal, because it is eternal in its effects. And so with the Juclgment-clay, and so with the work of salvation now in progress throughout the world-the day of judgment and the day of grace will alike come to an end, but the outcome thereof arc eternal. Goel will not be for ever destroying sinners, and they never be finally destroyed. The destructive work at last will cease, but the awful result eternally remains. The Apostles write, "These, as creatures without reason, born mere animals, to be taken and destroyed shall in their corruption surely be destroyed" (2 Pet. ii. 12). "I tell you even weeping they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction" (Phil. iii. 18). There is then an "end" to the wicked. 'I'hey "perish" (John iii. IG). "But," objects Mr. Barlow, "a stronger word than 'perish' is needed to set forth annihilation." We can only reply, there is no stronger word in human language to set forth the "ceasing to exist" of the thing or person spoken of. In the epistle to the Hebrews we read concerning the heavens and the earth, "they shall perish, but Thou continuest" (i. 11). Here "perish" is opposed to "continuest." On the one sicle is an ending, on the other side a continuance of being. As a parting shot there is directed at us the following sentence :-"Eternal punishment is a subject difficult for the Annihilationists to get away with." This is sorry stuff from so great a champion. For he knows that we hold as firmly as does he

60

~---===~~====~==~======
to the c:oeirinc of eternal punislnncnt, As a matter of fact, it is he that discards this doctrine, and has substituted instead a new teaching,i.c., etcrna I punish ing, a doctrine unknown to the writers 0:" the Bible, and is, therefore, anti-Scriptural, God-dishonouring, and false to the last degree. Also, we object to 11i: persiston: endeavour to force upon us the term "Annihilations," when he knows that this is not the doctrine for which we contend. We know nothing of the annihilation of substance or what becomes of the materials of which man or any other living creature or thing is composed. All we speak of is the extinction of this life, the destruction of h is organic, personal existence, as an indi vidual whole. This Ire contend is what the Scriptures teach, when they speak of his death and destruction; noth ing more, nothing less. Those who believe that eternal suffering awaits tile lost should by act as well as by word proclaim their belief. They should abstain [rom marriage. In order that they may not-to use Mr. Barlow's words, "people hell with lost souls," they should refrain from begetting children; the 'risk is too great, for beyond doubt some of their descendants in future generations will be among the lost. Noune can pretend to believe that all their posterity wi IJ be "heirs of eternal life." But if to gratify self they enter into bonds of holy matrimony their deeds belie their words, no excuse for their conduct is valid, their inconsistency should earn for them the contempt and scorn of all mcn. Without any necessity they deliberatel v add to the population of the world, the majority of whom, according to Christ, tread the broad road that leadcth to -Christ said, "destruction," but they sal', "a never-ending existence in eternal torture." J s not the thought of the bare possi bilitv of so tragic a fate awful enough to disturb our sanity? Ought it not to absolntclv destrov any peace, any sense of ease and comfort in the minds of thc upholders of this terrible doctrine? Rutand here is the strangc thing-it does not; thcv live as other men apparently uninfiuenced and undisturbed by their professed belief in an eternal hell. If they really realised the purport of their glib words concerning the future or the ungodly, they would cry as Barnes the Commentator (lid, "Mv whole soul pants for light and relief: on these questions. In the distress and anguish of mv spirit J confess T sec no light whatever. I see not ono rav to cli~close to me the reason why man must suffer to all etcrnitv. ,Vllen I look 11pon a 11'01'1<1 of woev fillcd with hosts to suffer for ever, when I feel that Goel can Sine them, and yet He does not (10 it, I am struck dumb. It is all dark, dark, dark, to mv sou], and I cannot disguise it." If Mr. Barlow's attack upon thc position of the holders of the truth of Conditional Immortality is the strongest that can be macle, we need have no fear. His book only confirms us as to the correctness and strength of our contention, 1:.('., that death-the loss of life-is the end of all unrighteousnoss, and in view of this we can sal', "(i.10l'Y and power hclong to our Gorl, for tmo and righteous arc His judgments." Anr] we are more than ever pcr-

THE

BIBLE

STANDARD.

APRIl,

lOO!).

suaded from Scripture evidence that an everlasting existence or "endless being" is the heritage of tile righteous only, even that eternal life which is the gift of God through our Lord Jcsus Christ. Rotorua. C. Cnrsr
BROW~.

Urust,
"He shall cover thee with wings shall thou trust."-PPa..

lRot Sigbt.
His feathers, x ei. 4. and under His

Not "under His wings shall thou see!" If a little eaglet wanted to see for itself what was going on, and thouzht it could take care of itself for a little, and b hopped from under the shadow of the wings, it would neither be safe nor warm. The sharp wind would chill it, and the cruel hand might seize it then. So YOll are to trust, rest qu ietly and peacefully "under His wings;" stay there, not be peeping out and wondering whether God really is taking care of vou l You may be always safe and happy there. Safe, for "in the shadow of Thy wings will J make m v refuge" (Psa. Ii. 1). Happy, for "in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice" (Psa. lii. 7). Remember, too, that it is a command, as well as a prornise ; it is what you are to do to-day, all day long: "Under His wings shalt thou trust !"-8elecled.

A clean, sharp test of cur sincerity is here. "He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also to walk even as He walked." Walking with Christ means walking like Christ. ,\'e want, ahove all things, to do this, do we not?

The Eight Signs of St. Johll'S Cospel.

By FRANK
The claim made for

MADELEY,
this work of the

M.A. (Lond.).

is that Sign

it

E"MBODIES showing

A by

DISCOVERY

as to the order

records,

abundant proof that these form form A.B.C.D.D.C.13.A., in which and seventh, respectively V., VI., and the scope

an introversion and take the the first and last, t.he second

the third and sixth, the fourth and fifth sign;; correspond to each ot.her-as sec Chapters IV., vn. It is also shown that Psn lrns i, and ii. gi\'p

of John's

Gospel.
DTSCOVEHIEf'l The writ.ings here in at least that give its specific of noted authors are taken, four
0111'

It is these llNIQUE value to the Volume. quoted in support are also rl ist views

of the position upheld

Cond it ionchapters.

of the

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6r
the~ were types of one greater than themselves. The woa k and sinful priest, the pricsthcod with the imperfections ever a.ttaching to it can only find its completion and fu IfiIment in that Great High Priest that is passed into the heavens, Joshua-Jesus, the Son of God. He is here called "My Servant the Branch." 'Lh is is no new name for the Messiah. (See Is. iv. 2; Jer. xxiii. 5-15.) It is He who will one day spread His branches over the whole universe, even He whose priesthood shall endure as long as the earth shall abide. The stone seen in the vision seems to have been the foundation-stone of the temple, which also typified the Messiah, who in the writings of other prophets is likewise so symbolised. Thus the Psalmist says that "The stone which the builders refused is become the head of the corner" (Ps. cxv iii. 22). And Isaiah (xxv iii. 1G) S't~'S, "Behold, I lay in Zion for a founda tion stone, a tried stone, a corner stone, a sure foundation." (See also Matt. xvi. 18, xxi. 42; 1 Cor. iii. 11; Eph. ii. 20-22; 1 Pet. ii. 4-5.) The expression "Upon one stone shall be seven eyes," may mean that seven eyes were actually engraved upon tile stone, or that the seven eyes of God rested upon it, i.e., were directed towards it to watch and protect it (l Kings viii. 29). ]f the stone signifies the Messiah, is He not represented 111 the book of Revelation as having "seven eyes, ' indicating perfection of perception? The laying of this stone and the manifestation of the Messiah prefigured thereby were to result in the removal of the iniquity of the land for ever. That "one day" is still future, for in that day fearless peace shall be the heritage of the nation when a man will call to his neighbour to share the fruit of his vine and fig tree. Vision fice is easy of comprehension. Its direct purrose was to encourage Zerubbabel not to trust in an arm of flesh, but in the spirit of .Iehova h, as manifested in the providential ordering of the world, The prophet EaW a golden candlestick 'with seven lamps. The oi I was not supplied by human agency-no priest daily refilled the bowls (Lev, xxiv. 14)but from two olive trees, one on either side of the candlestick, did the golden oil naturally flow into the centre bowl, and thence by pipes to the seven lamps. Joshua and Zerubbabel were the living agents symbolised by the two olive trees, they being the heads of the religious and civil power then known in Jerusalem, but the vision (as chapter vi. will show US) looks forward to the time when Christ, as the true Priest and King, will supply, dispense, and keep up the light of Israel to the glory of Jehovah. No obstacle should hincler the Divinely authorised work. Before Zerubbabel God's agent, a mountain of difficulty should vanish, and the work progress easily, as a cart along a plain. And Zerubbabel, as a son of David, was to have the honoui-, not only of commencing, but also of fiuishing the rebuilding of the Temple. It might he a day of small things, but tha t day was not to be despised, for the eyes of the lord were rejoicing seeing Zerubbabel among the builders with the plummet in his hand to ensure that with

Letters to a Young Friend on tbe Study of Propbeey.

LETTER THE PROPHECll!.S XXIV. OF ) ZECHARIAH.

(Continued. l\Iy DEAR FRIEND,-

\\'e now come to the third VISIOn which Zechariah saw. He beheld "a man with a measurmg line in his hand" who was about to mark out the proposed dimensions of the to-be-rebuilt .Jerusalem. The measuring line is the syrnbo l of taking possession in order to occupation. It was God's intention that David's city should rise from its ruins. But the measuring would be unnecessary, ami, therefore, is not to be undertaken, for the population of Jerusalem should be so great that the extended circumference of the city would be of such dimensions as to forbid the erection of a wall. Indeed, such protection would be unneeded, "For I sa ith Jehovah will be unto her a wa 11 of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." Then come, a call to a 11 that remained in 'Bab~'lon to return to their own land, with a gracious promise, "1 will dwell in the midst of thee." It is not the Jerusalem which Nehemiah was restoring with resolute mind and energetic hand and God-loving heart; it is not the Jerusalem under Zerubbabel the Pri nce (Ezra i. 8), which the man with the line in his hand went to measure. It is the Jerusalem of the J uture that is here depicted. It is not a .Ierusa lem with a handful of fainthearted people, a J'erusalem the vass l of a foreign monarch. but a .Ierusa lem overflowing with rejoicing. estahlistu-d in righteousness, the Messiah in their rnidet, the m ist.ress of the world, free i;nd happy. Like a river overflowing its banks so shall the multitude of men and c-i i.t lo -a sign of wealth and prosperity->spread in such a "'ay that walls w i Ii Iw unable to enclose the great ;m'ginJ masses. Jerusalem shall spread as in these modern days London the mr-Lropolis of the world, has spread north, south, east. and west, with its "even millions of inhabitants. But to the prophet Zechariah and those to whom he spake, doubtless the vision wou Id encourage the belief that the ci ty then rebuilding would be the theatre, in which would be displayed the graciousness of the Lord. And their belief was justified. Had the returned remnants clung to .Jehovah their God with all their heart and soul, the Jerusa'lem which their hands were building would have witnessed the fulfilment of God's promise. But that promise was conditional. ":rhis shall come to pass, if ye will aiu-

"whitened sepulchres" (Matt. xxii i.) , and they proved the truth of his denunciation by "crucifying the Lord of life and glory." This was followed by a second dispersion which has lasted to this clay. The fulfilment of this vision then lies in the future, when once again the Jews shall be returned to their own land. Here is also a wondrous prophecy that "many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day." But a careful reader will note when th is shall take place. It will be "after the glory" (i i, 8). Christ must first appear in glory. 'I'here can be no un iversa.l blessings for the nations till then. Wllen Christ came the first time it was amid surroundings of poverty and humiliation, there was no "glory" then. Christ in His dying pra~'er asked for and looked forward to the "glory" (John xvii. 5 and 24). (See also Matt. xxiii. ()4). The glory of Christ precedes the millenial blessing, upon the nations. Universal homage shall be paid to the King at Jerusalem when judgments upon thc na.tions ('I[le" the manifestation of the Dicine glory) has broken the pride of mankind." T1:e Son of Man shall come in His glory" (}:htt. xxv, 31), not to destroy the V.' 0 rid, but to reign over it. Vision four emphasi ses an important truth, Israel cannot be blessed with God's favour unless the heart anu conscience of the nation be right. .They must be clean in liis sight, clothed with righteousness. And, this is set forth by a picture of Joshua standing before the Angel of the Lorl cJ;,,1 ill filthy garments, and Satan accusuvr 1';111 of being unfit for the Divine presence. "A brand plucked out of the fire" i" !IOW God spake of Joshua. Sa t.m won+d rather that the brand had been left in the fire of captivity at Babylon :1Il(~ been utterly consumed and ended chere :1'; so many other nations had been. B'Lt the filthy garments were removed, and Joshua clad in rich apparel with a beau, tiful turban on his head. Not only was his guilt put away, but signs of honour and favour lavished upon him. Joshua the high priest in his uncleanliness here represents the sin-clad nation of Israel. But God was pleased to cleanse them, and restore them to His favour. Yet notwithstanding this auspicious new start of the nation the whole future depended upon their continued obedience-it was conditional upon thei r doing God's will. The angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, "if thou wilt walk in My ways." A charge to Joshua and all successive high priests (and through them to the nations) is here given. Not only in the Temple as teachers should they have charge, but a further promise is made, "I will give thee a place of access among them that stand bv." This is understood to mean that as 'High Priest his petitions and requests on behalf of Israel should come directly before God-he should have free ingress and egress to Jehovah Himself as the angels do. A sure access should be for ever opened to the Divine Throne. Verses 8 and 9 which follow are perImps a little difficult to understand. Joshua and his companion priests were to be regarded as representative men;

gently

obey the voice of the Lord yottr

God" (vi. 15). Alas, the nation lapsed' into inditl'erentism and formalism, and four hundred years later their Messiah Himself denounced the religious leaders of the people as being "full of hypocrisy and iniquity," and likened them to

62
care and exactness all things should be done in connection with the House of God. Thus God, by thc prophet, eucou raged the people in their somewhat d ifficult task of rebuilding the Temple of the Lord.-Your friend, CARPUS.

THE

BIBLE STANDARD.
a nd the

APRIL, 1900. place is stirred more than it has been for years. Bra. Alclriclge's addresses wer listened to with great interest by both inside and outside audiences, and to-day people arc tclling us that we have stopped just as the interest was worked up. Those who "hca.rd " are now "talking," and those who did not hear wish they had done so. Wc are now hopiug to get Bra. Aldridge np occasionally for a week-night meeting, and we feel sure that much good would be donc by such meetings, and the interest that has been awakened would not be allowed to die ou t. The Mission was brought to a close on Sunday night, 21st March, by Bra. C. A. Green, who reviewed t ho week's work, summing up, piecing together, and connecting the whole of the subjects into one complete story. This W,tS the largest mceting of the Mission, and Bra. Green gave by far the best address he has ever given in Hclensvi lle , the audience, feeling the power of it, listened attentively right to the end. Bra. L. E. Fa.lkner, who came up to speak 011 Saturday night, had rather a rough trip with Bra. Skoa.tcs in the motor car. The number attending that cveniug was lather disappoiut.lng, but wc had some of the "right sort." there. Wo are hoping and pnL)'ing il1at the seed. sown will yield a rich ha rvest in God's appointed time, and in His own way. The Churoh Mission Box for Bro, Edgehill was opened last week, und contained 1 5s. tid., which amount was handed to Bra. Aldridgc to forward to our brother in British Guiana.-A.J.L.R WAllII.-Our Sunday School Annivcrsary took place on Sunday, February 28th, and was a great success. Bra. Taylor, of the Thames, came up for the day, and conducted all the services. At ;) p.m. the distribution of the prizes won during tile year took place, and occasioned many II smiling face and happy heart as the respecti vo teachers handed out the rewards to the successful schola.rs. There was quite a. large attendance at the evening meeting, Bra. 'J'aylor gave 'l most impressive and telling address, and the singing of the children was really good, reflccting grmtt credit on the painstuk ing cflorts of our Bra. Best.ic and Sis, Donaldson; we are also indebted to our friend, Mr. Alcx. Law, for his kindness and help in thc absence of Bra. Best ic. We deeply regret to S,ty that at the present time bot.h Bio. Bestic and Bro. Nielsen are in the local Hospital. Bra. Niclsou's trouble is not a very serious one, and we hope to see him about again in the course of a couple of weeks, but with our Bra. Bestic progress to recovery does not seem to be very rapid, and he may yet have to undergo a very serious operation. The brethren are praying that God's blessing and grace may rest npon the sick. and that they mfl,y be spcedi lv restored to us in hen Ith and strength. D.D. l'IMAIW.-From the very first that we learned that Bro. G. Aldiidge would spend a part of his holidays with us,

CHURCH AND MISSION NEWS. J

ACCKLANn.-Kothing out of the usual course of events has trunsp ired since our last publication. Complaints from many quarters are cam ing to the fore r-e sparse congrcgations and falling away from t ho faith. West Street CIIUlC:1 is not exempt, and we mark this as a Sign of the Times. Sunday, 21st February; Bra. Laurie Wilcock presided. Hebrews x. A grand exhortation was given upon verses 26 and 35. The speaker said the whole epistle is a grand argument set up. A solid Ioundat ion, a bcauti ful structure, then Paul draws his own deductions, and the whole argument is complete. Reference was madc to the brethren and sisters who ncglect the pri vilege of as sembling themselves together at the morning meeting. In th\! evening Bra. L. Fau lkncr gave a good address. Sunday, 28th: Bra. G. A. Green presided. Hebrews x. to verse lU of chapter xi. Without faith it is impossible to please God. The results of faith are recorded, ami are manifested day by day. In the evening Bra. G. A. Green. Subject, "Wha.t is the Mission of Clnist.ian i+y 1" The Bible is thc touchstone. But Cluist.ianity was not, and is not, intended to convert the world, but to bring some from every na.tion.Jnto touch and sympathy with Cluist," thus forming the Church, His Body. Sunday, lVlarell 7th: Hro. C. J3. King presided. The speaker said that cornbina.tion is in the air, but all combinations arc Hot for the good of our fellows. What we need is to combine to proclaim our faith in the Lord .Iesus Christ. We want divine unity. \Vc had the pleasure of witnessing a good confession this morning-Bra. Frederick Ornstein and Sister Ivy Campton put on Christ in the water of baptism. ::\hly they be kept by tile power of God. In tile evening Bra. Aldridge, who hat! just returned from a visit to some of the Southern churches, gave a discourse all "Bring ing Back the King" (chapter xix. of the 2nd Book of Samuel, verse 10). Sunday, 14th: Bra. Aldridge pre sided. lst chapter of Mark's Gospel. The morning's discourse was built upon Hebrews xiii. 8. This is strengthening. encouraging, and restful. The death of our late Bro. D. Heron was feelingly touch cd upon. In the evening the subjcct was "The Th ings that Ma tter" (Luke x ix., from verse 29). A very telling address. A great many things were pointed out that mattered, such as Christ's triumphal entry into .Ierusalcm as the King of the Jews. He was re-

jectcd. 1his brought all tbe climax of their standing and posit.ion for the present. Sunday, 21st: Bra. K A Idridge presided. Ist Epist.le of Corinthians, chaptor i. Commenting on this chapter, a splendid d iscourse wa.s del ivcred. Paul comes before us as a master builder, and JiJJs in many weighty and i 111portant details. The wisdom of God was shown in contrast to Ihe wisdom of the world. In the evening the subject was "Sin's \\ages and God's Gifts" (Acts xx., note verses 20 and 27). 'I'hose read in connection wi th the last verse of chapter vi. of Romans will show the only two conditions, Li fe, Death, which is in har11101lYwith, and runs through the whole Bible. What is sin? The transgression of the law? More-c-n.nythiug out of harmony w ith the known will of Cod. Dist.iuguish between the un t i t hesi s : Sin, \;V<tge" De'tth, and God, Gift, Eternal Life. On Wednesday evening, March 10th, Bra. Aklridgc presided, and again drew attention to the importance of rightly dividing the 'Yard, and the great evil of spiritual ising. 17th: Bro. Laurie Wileock presided, the subject bcillg ''In the Bcginning." A short discussion followed. 'V.G. II.ELENsl" lLLK-Sunday, Fcbruarv 1-1-: Bra. C. B. l( i s, presided at both ;norlinsr and. evening rncet ings. It W:lS et long wl~ile since our brother had vis;feli U~, and we were heartily glad to ~.'G him, and thorough ly enjoyed his .td,'.rpsses, wh ic': gave lIS much L1f)U for thought. February 21st: Bra. Cameron presided at the morning meeting, the subject being ta.cen from Mark x iii, 35 to 37. In the evening Bro. Cameron gave a strong talk on "Life only in 0,lnist." February 28th: Bra. Downey, of Ponsonby Road Church of Christ, presided at the morning meeting. His subject in the evening was "Let Your Light So Shine." Our brother's addresses were very helpful and in tcrest ing. ~1:arch 7th: Bra. Cameron presided, the subject of address being, "The ~ame of Jesus." In the evening Bra. Cameron's subject was "Christ Our Hope." March lHh: Bro. T. L. Wilcock pre sided, and our aged Bra. Laing gave us a stirring address on Phil ippians i. 1-2 and verse 27, "Only let your conversation be worthy of the Gospel of Christ." Bra. Laing's eyesight has failed him, hut his memory is still of the best; his voice is strong and hearty, and his brain as keen as ever. '1'\7 e grc<ttly enjoyed the fruits of his ripe expcricnce. JIl the evening Bro. Wileoek opened the Association's Special Mission in the tcnt, the subject of his address being . The \Vorld's Greatest Need." The hearers did not all come inside the tent, but there wore a fair number sufflciently intprested to do so, whi le those outside could hear the address quite distinctly. On Monday evening Bra. A ldridge continued the addresses, his first subject being "What is Man ?" The attendancc during the week has not been as good as we had hoped for, hut there is little doubt that much good has been done,

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.~PRIL, 1909.

THE

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STANDARD .

we seemed to expect that much blessing would be the outcome of the visit, and thank God we have not been d isa.ppointed. Our only sorrow was that his visit was of necessity so short. Arri vi nz from Dunedin by the second express o~ Friday, February 26, he met with the brethren that evening at the house of Sister Clarkson, where a very profitable and enjoyable time was spent together. At the Sunday morning Fellowship Meeting there was a full attendance of our little band, together with several strangers. Our brother led the meeting, and his exhortation was both earnest anrl encouraging, and did much to cheer our heart>; and strengthen our faith. In the evening his subject was, "The Question of Questions: A Ma.ttcr of Life and Death." There was a good congregation, and several afterwards expressed their appreciation of what they hall heard, and only wished they could hear our brother oftener. Several asked, "How long is he going to stay'!" Monday night again saw a good audience in our hall, the interest being keener than for some time past. The subject, "Why Must Christ Return 1" proved a vcry interesting one to all. The line of argument followed seems to have had a very convincing etl'ect upon more than ono who hac! the privilege to hear the address. On Tuesday morning we reluctantly bade farewell to Bro. Aldridge, but conscions that his visit, though short, had been most helpful and encouraging to all concerned, and our Iiea.rts went ant in thankfulness to our Heavenly Father that He put it into the heart of our beloved 'brother to thus come to us, and also so directed him by His Holy Spirit as to enable him to minister to our very need; and so strengthen our hearts while we wait for the Master's return. H. H. KING.

sorry our brother could not stay over the Sunday to meet all the brethren and sisters, and givc us a passing word of good cheer. Our Christian greetings to. all the brethren. S.L. ADj,LATDE,S.A.-It is with ueep regret that we give you a few particulars conccrning the life and death of Mr. Arnold Edwa.rd Gamble, second son of Bra. C. Gamble, of Stepney, who died suddenly at Perth, W.A. During thc latter part of his life he held a responsible position in the "Ban Marche Stores," Perth, vY.A. The mental strain being too severe, it resulted in brain fever, proving fatal on February 12, IDOD. Mr. A. E. Gamble was born at Stepney Street, Stepney, S.A., on Aug. 20, 1874-, and recerve his early education at the Norwood Model School. He was employed for some years by Donaldson, Andrews and Sharland, of this city, and from there received an appointment to the above firm, which he held up to the time of his death. He was brought to know the Lord as his own personal Saviour as a lad in his teens, at the George Street Christian Chapel, where he confessed Christ in baptism. During his residence in W.A. he associated himself with the Congregationalists, and became an energetic worker for Christ there, ever willing to assist the cause of 'lIS Master by every means in his power; and to use his own expression, "Do his best and leave results with God," which only the day of the Lord will reveal. Let me quote the words sent in sympathy to Bra. and Sis. Gamble: "He who has permitted the stroke, will also give the grace to bear," which we trust will be fully realised by our Bro. and Sis. and the remaining members of their family. For not a single shaft can hit Unless a God of love see fit. L. L BLACKEBY. THE KING IS COMING! As far it would as our session from has our advanced, gatherings

appclLr

DUNIWIN.-Since our last report matters with us have been about the same. Our morning and evening services are well attended by the members, but we find it ditlicult in our plain way to attract many strangcrs, so we trust to individual members to tell out the truth of "Life only in Christ" whenever and wherever they get a favourable opportunity, and to live the truth before the world. vVe have been favoured with a visit and a fortnight's help from our esteemed Brothel' Aldridge. The first Sunday's meetings. were well attended, and on the second Sunday evening the hall was practically full, which still convinces us that if we had our brother with us for, say, 12 months, we would have a large congregation, and a much larger membership. Brothel' Aldridge kept his hearers in rapt attention, and many favourable and encouraging comments were made on what he said by those who heard him, and we trust some seen has fallen in good ground. On the Thursday evening most of the members met at Brother Lawrence's house, and we had a very enjoyable and social meeting together. Our Brother Cropp from America passed through Dunedin, and called to sec us. We had a very enjoyable hour together, and we were

(By AN INVALID.) Life up thy voice, 0 saint, and sing! 'Ere long, thine eyes will see the King, Who cemeth soon to reign; He tarries, that earth's fallen race May hear the message of His gmCt~-The Lamb for sinners slain. Earth needs a Ruler brave and stronz Under man's rule there's mU~'1 ti,;t's wrong; Christ only can put right. Oh! that the Lord will soon return, For whose appearing many yearn. To end earth's darksorne night. Creation 'groans, and unbelief Is causing trustful hearts much grief, For error spreads apace. Shine forth! Bright Morning Star, pray, Ann hasten on that promised dav, When I shall sce Thy fa'~(,. WILLIAM J. Youxo (Bedridden) "Stevenage" Enuland Oct~ber 23rd, 1908. .

tha t the committee of meetings had met WIth a fair measure of success with their programme. Thc attendance apparently is considerably better than it was last year. Of course it is still early in the 'year, and we hope for still better meetings. Now for a wonl about our programme. We still adhere to the practice of holding a roll call at the first meeting of each month, and on these occasions the pri vilege of providing a paper for consideration is conferred on some member. It is no easy task to present a short, interesting and helpful essay upon the subject chosen, and at the same time leave room for the members of the Band to add to it. This so far has been accomplished by the contributors of our roll meeting papers. Une meeting a month is being devoted to the biographies of some of the women mentioned in Bible history. One is stirred by the achievements and encouraged by the endea vou rs of these women; helped also, not only by the record of their successes, but by the story of their failures. "Ye f'orrn ourselves into a reading circle upon two evenings each month. Here we acquire some needed training upon various Bible doctrines. It is at all times needful thaf we should know just what our Text Book, the Bible, says upon certain subjects. Many false teachings flourish at the present time, like ill weeds, and it is needful for workers to be able to keep the hoe of Divine truth going. However, our Band meetings are undoubtedly a privilege. We would desire many more to find them so. Do you come ", If not, well, we heartily invite you to join us on Monday evenings. H.A. THE ONE THING NEEDFUL.

A YOUNG minister in a college town was embarrassed by the thought of criticism in his cultivated congregation. He sought counsel from his father, an old and wise minister, saying: "Fa.ther, I am hampered in my ministry in the pu lpi t I am now serving. 1 I cite anything from geology, there is Professor A., teacher of this science, right before me. If I use an illustration from Roman mythology, there is Professor B. ready to trip me up for any little inaccuracy. If I instance something in English literature that pleases me, I a.m cowed by the presence of the learned ma n that teaches that branch. Wha t shall I do?" The sagacious old man replied: "Do not be discouraged. Preach the Gospel. They probably know very little of that."

-Selected.

THE

BIBLE

STANDARD.

APRIL, 190D.

a
I
AM

fi\:'e f1Dinlltes' Uall~.

to you five minutes, and only five. Lit.tlo In five

~be :$ible Stanbarl'l.

The Bible Standard can be ordered direct from the 'I'reasu rer MR. A. M. SKI~ATES, Queen Strcet, Auckland.
R.

invited

to speak

may be said, and much may Le done, in five minutes.

minutes you may fire a city, scuttle a ship, or ruin a soul. The error of the moment makes the sorrow of a life. Get that thought instead destroy well in your of five. to sin, remember that in five minutes soul with undying you may your good name, fill your remorse, hearts, and my work is' done in a minute,

d.

Tempted

and bring, with sorrow, your father's grey hair to the grave. But if you can do so much el"il, so you may do a mighty sum of good in five minutes. You may decide to live for usefulness thing hangs on that care of the Take 1 made pen and allowed. scarcely many pence, and and honour. will take Everycare of

choice, and it may be made in five minutes. the pounds and the hours the hour it had are safe. were

themsel vcs ; take care of the minutes, " little Look in this way: paper; I wrote finished, ink and The and if, when and

In the breakfast-room

for breakfast been published

came, all was not ready, book was

a few words or lines, as time

2 6 Price per annum, post free .. 0 2 Single copies BOOK STEWARD-E. PHIPPS, 31, High Street. AGENTS FOR THlj~ BIBLE STANDARD: NEW ZEAtAND. Aucklaud-Mr. Hancock, Bookseller, Queen Street. Wel ling ton-c-H. J. Barraclough, Myrtle Crescent. Dunedin-Mr. Lawrence, Hope Street. Kaiapoi= Mr. James Holland. Rangiora-Mr. Wm. Smith, South Brook. New Plymouth-Mr. Fred Goodacre, Courtney Road. East Oxford-Mr. A. England. Thames-Mr. C. Sanders, Macky Street. Timaru--Mr. H. H. King, Stafford Street. Tinwald, Ashburton-Mr. Shearer. Witihi-:v!r. Joseph Foster. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. Adelaide-Mr. C. Gamble, Magill Road, Stepney. NEW SOUTH WALES. Sydney-Mr. H. Cropp, Mitchell Street, Kogarah. Oommunications to the Editor to be addressed: GEO. ALDRIDGE Brent.wood Avenue, Mount Eden. Telegraphic Address, .Rocky Nook,' All communication:; to the Association and orders for Bible Siasidard. to be addressed to the Secretary, MR. ALltX. PAGE, MurdochRoad, Grey Lyrm, Auckland.

a week before I heard it had saved a soul; it has saved It did not cost me one minute and as many that would have

since.

been used for anything else. Five minutes in the morning, will make you the master years. modern Before tongues, you are of middle

in the evening, in two or three all the of moments

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age, you may speak the spare

if you will but improve

the years now flying by. It will not take five minutes day will make a life of honour beyond.-S.

CHURCH
Hold Services as under:

OF CHRIST

to do a good deed, and onc a and usefulness, with glory

Irenacus Prime, D.D.

Ul'eaSlll'el"t,"; :acJmowle~Ol1lents.
TO MARCH 20. Grice, Lowe, Higgs, Gray, Wight, CumNoble, Misses A. L. C. Sanders,

AUCKLAND-West Street. Sunday, at 11 o'clock a. m., Fellowship Meeting 6.45p.m., Preaching Service. Sunday School at 2.45. Wednesday evening. Bible Class nt 7.45.
1~\Tang~1i'it'~ arldle~s-Ge:J. Aldridge, Brentwood Avenue

Mount F.den. Secretary-c-W. Gibson,Tennyson Street, Grey Lynn. MOU T ROSKILL Corner "Valters Road and Emma StreetSunday at 11a.m., F'el lowsh ip Meeting. Sunday at 6.15 p.m., Preaching-Ser vice. Sunday School at 2.45 p.m. OUNEDIN-Oddfellows' Hall. Stuart i:itreet. Sunday at 11a.m .. Fellowship and Meeting. F.venlng Preaching Servtce, 6.30. Secretary's Address-S. Lawrence, Hope Street .. Dunedin. HET,E~SVILLE--Church. Sunday, Fellowship Meeting, at 11a.m. Sunday School, at 2.30 Sunday Evening, Preaching, 7. Church Secretary, R. M. Cameron. THAMIllS-Polleo Street Lecture Hall. Sunday at 11 a.m., FellowShip Meeting. F,venlng Service at 6.30. Sunday School at 2.30. Blbte Class every WE'dnesdny evenIng at 7.3(, F,vangeJist-K H. T'ay lor, Bowen street, Par-a.wai. Secretary-Ch as. Sanders. Mackay Street. Thames. WAI HI-The Miners' Union Hall. Sunday 11a.m. Fello wshtn Meeting; ,. 2.30p.m. Sunday School. Sunday Evening. at 7. A Public Bible Add ress. Church Secretary-D. Donaldson, Evangelist-Joseph Foster, Waihi.

Standard. Subsc1-iptions.-Mesdames
Moore, mings, Young, McLean, Vicars, Moody, Tuckett, Bruce, Maxton, Bufton, Bormann, Bowen, Messrs.

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Parnell, Page, S. J. Hipkins, Broadbent, Jenks, Donaldson, Auckland Hospital, Waihi Library, W. Hood, Neilsen, Bestic, Lang, Ludwig, H. Bostock, Hales, Best, Foster, :fettlingham, C. J. Green, Mason, Ballard, Murgatroyd, Simes, Borell, Harrow, Chr isty, Keyes, 1\1. F. B. Hughes, VV. S. Hughes, Mugford,

Kern, Pearce, C W. Cropp, Baker, Wheeler, Goldie, Harlott, ''V'. Stowe, Jessop, -Tudd, Rothe, B. Dickson, McBurney, Heaven, D. Somerville, H. H. King, Alexander, F. Goodacre, R. B. Nesbitt, Corbett, T. Ashby, Hudson, N. Dane, W. Jones, C. W. Jones, S. Steele, Wilson. J. Green,

Asso~iat'ion Stbbscriptions.-Mesdames
Matthews, J. Parnell, Thomson, Brewster, E. Aldridge, Messrs. D. Donaldson, Waihi

G. Green, S. H. Green, C. Sanders (Thames Church), Church, E. H. Falkner, J. Peason, Cole. A, J. C. Hardy,

G. S. Fowler, Anderson,

Donations.-Comrie,

Phi lip, Hewitt,

TIMARU-Sophla Street Hall. Sunday, at 11 a.m .. Fellowship Meeting. Secretary's Address-H. H. King, Stall'ord Street, Tlmarn ADELAIDE. S.A.-Druids' Hall. Beulah Roail. Norwood. Secretary's Address-Miss L. L. B1ackeby, 226,Rundle Street. . Adelaide, S.A.

A. M. SKEATES, Treasurer.

THE MESSENGER-A Magazine of Christian Instruction and Intelligence. Edited by James Dowie, Annual Subscription, one copy, 1/6, post free, from Robert Leitch, Tighvonie, Dunfermline.

Printed by THE BRE"'~'PRINTINGANDPUBLISHINGCOMPANY. hortS land Street, for the New Zealand Evangelistic and Publication Association. and oublisbed bv W. A. SMITH, Selwyn Road, Mt. Aibert, APRIL. 1909. .