1. society
2. unrest and war

WHAT IS THE SPIRIT OF MAN ?- See page 6.
Current
History
Happenings of the day
from all parts of the world
.ZXZz•A',77
.
4,77..AZZ.MX2C)C17
America's three 'dry' years, three
IN 1913 American film producers
exported 32,192,018 feet of film. years of prohibition, what has hapAfter the war their exports jumped pened? England still has 1,500,to the following figures : 1918, 000 unemployed and America has
79 888,387 feet; 1919, 153,237,260 a shortage of 500,00o workmen.
feet; and in 1920, 175,233,307. The Now let me ask you if prohibition
last figure, which is the high-water has succeeded."—Gypsy Smith.
nark of American film exports, reGEOPHONES, which during the
presents 33,188 miles of film. In
1921 the figure dropped to 140,- war enabled the Allies to detect
8,8,345 feet, and in 1922 to 133,- the underground mining activities
800,718 feet. For the first nine of the Germans, are now being
months of 1923, however, it in- used in mines. By the aid of this
creased to 109,258,622 feet, which instrument "in the quiet of the
is at the rate of 145,000,000 feet a mine sledge pounding has been
year. In 1913 Great Britain im- heard through about 3,000 feet of
ported 17,000,000 feet of American solid rock ; through 2,000 feet of
film; in 1918, 15,000,000 feet; in
1919, 38,000,000 feet; in 1920,
29,000,000 feet; in 1921, 17,000,000
feet, and in 1922, 13,000,000 feet.
EVENTS
It" w••••••••••.••••••••••11.4110.•••••••••••••••.••
AT Eindhoven, Holland, a safety
tube for X-rays has been completed. The tube "throws out a
Learn of X-rays in the manner of a
small searchlight which can be directed on any given spot, so that
no fear of the dangerous burns
produced by stray rays need be
felt. The tube is so simple that it
can be held in the hand and the
beam of rays can be so finely regulated that absolute uniformity of
work is assured."
THE recent census of the Indian
people reveals the fact that while
forty years ago there were 73
Christians to every to,000 persons,
there are now more than double
that number. There were two
rrillion persons employed in the
toking of the census and 250 languages were used in the giving of
particulars. About 161 males in
every thousand in India can now
read and write.
years ago. England had
2 000,000 men out of employment.
America 3,000,000 unemployed.
We are still 'wet' here but in
"THREE
PAGE TWO
coal; 400 feet of clay; and 55o feet
of mine cover. Talking has been
detected through about 125 feet of
solid coal."
IT is of encouragement to those
h bouring among less responsive
peoples to read of the growth of
Christianity among the Indians of
the United States. At the present
time it is estimated that two-thirds
of the total number of Indians in
that country are churchmemhers.
"To be tempted is not a sin,
'I he 'strongest attacks are made on
the strongest forts."
•••••••••••••••••••••• •••■•••••••••••••••
OF 1924.
...a....
.f
1
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••11.11.••••■••••••••••••••••••••••14
MARCH 24th.—EIGHT killed and sixteen
injured in Ostend-Basel express
collision.
M arch 25th.—GEORGE II of Greece deposed and republic proclaimed.
A. STUART MACLAREN starts on
world flight from Calshot near
Southampton.
March 26th.—M. POINCARE resigns.
M o u NT Everest Expedition
begins third attempt.
March 28th.—M. POINCARE forms new
Ministry. Drastic changes.
Under-secretaryships abolished.
ONE hundred persons killed in
landslide at Amalfi, Italy.
TWENTY-FIVE miners entombed
in Western Virginia.
UNITED STATES Attorney-General, Mr. Daugherty, resigns as
result of "oil scandal."
March 2oth —FIFTEEN killed and three
hundred injured in tornado in
States of Kansas, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, Arizona and
Texas.
CARDINAL BOURNE and 170
British Catholic pilgrims received by the Pope.
WIDESPREAD storms take heavy
toll of life and property in
United States. Damage estimated at £2,000,000.
March 30th.—EARTH tremors in East
Derbyshire.
March 31st.—LoNooN tramwaymen decide—on 5,000 majority—to resume work after ten days'
strike.
SEVEN thousand builders of site
of British Empire Exhibition go
on strike.
April Ist.—STRomsou in eruption.
PRIME MINISTER of Persia declares establishment of republic
to be counter to Moslem religion and prohibits all mention
of subject.
FLOODS cause widespread disaster in Poland.
MUNICH trial ends. Ludendorff
acquitted.
April 3rd.—LARGE numbers of Wembley
strikers resume work.
resent Truth
and Signs of the Times
THE NEWS INTERPRETER
April 24, 192 4.
\ ol. 4o. No. 9. Price 2d.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
HE subject for our consideration is "The
Four Horsemen of the
We
Apocalypse."
have seen that title a
great deal during the past year or
so, and no doubt you have connected it with the famous film that
bears that name.
The title is taken from God's
Word : the four horsemen of the
book of Revelation. The revelator
saw four men riding on horses, a
white horse, a red horse, a black
horse, and then a pale, ghastlylooking horse whose rider was
named Death.
The book of Revelation was written that men might understand
and know something of the things
that would happen in this world.
It declares, "Blessed is he that
readeth, and they that hear the
words of this prophecy, and keep
those things which are written
therein : for the time is at hand."
Rev. I : 3. It gives us a series of
prophecies : first, the seven
churches, which outline the history
of the Christian church from the
time of its foundation to the
close; secondly, the seven seals,
with the four horsemen. The prophecy of the seven seals covers a
period commencing with the time
when the Lord Jesus Christ
launched the infant church in all
its purity, stretches down the
stream of time until the present
day, and finally brings to view the
things that are about to happen.
It will be of interest and impor•Sermon delivered at Finsbury Park Cinema,
London Feb.24, before an audience of 2,000 people.
By Lionel W. Barras
tance to us to consider this wonderful prophecy that brings us to
the end of the age, to the establishment of a new kingdom in
which the Lord Jesus Christ will
be King of kings and Lord of
lords.
THE WHITE HORSE.
"I saw when the Lamb opened
f
AFTER FORTY YEARS
./.
iEarly in May, 1884, " Present i
Truth " commenced its career.
1 With the next number it will be
forty years old. The anniversary
issue will be unique in that it will
j contain specially contributed arti- I
! cles from various ex-editors of the !
j paper, including Pastors W. A. j
! Spicer (now President of the Gen- !
; eral Conference of Seventh-Day ]
! Adventists) W. T. Bartlett, M. C. !
Wilcox, and H. F. De' Ath.
i
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one of the seals; and I heard, as it
were the noise of thunder, one of
the four beasts saying, Come and
see. And I saw, and behold a
w bite horse : and he that sat on
him had a bow; and a crown was
given unto him : and he went forth
conquering and to conquer." Rev.
6 : 1, 2.
The church in her infant state,
in ail her purity, without spot or
blemish, goes forth, a rider on a
white horse, to possess the world
for Christ. This first symbol re-
presents the period from A.D. 31 to
the end of that century.
John says this concerning the
early church : "I know thy works,
and thy labour, and thy patience,
and how thou canst not bear them
which are evil : and thou hast
tried them which say they are
apostles, and are not, and hast
found them liars : and hast borne,
and hast patience, and for My
name's sake hast laboured, and
hast not fainted." Rev. 2: 2, 3.
A careful study of these chapters
reveals the fact that the seven
seals deal with the experience of
the church of God.
THE RED HORSE.
In Rev. 6: 3, 4 the second symbol is introduced : "When he had
opened the second seal, I heard
the second beast say, Come and
see. And there went out another
horse that was red : and power was
given to him that sat thereon to
take peace from the earth, and that
they should kill one another : and
there was given unto him a great
sword."
The scene suddenly changes:
the white horse going forth in all
its purity to conquer gives place to
the red horse whose rider is to
take peace from the earth. The
f rst, second and third centuries
were times of trial and persecution
for the people of God. As persecution ceased, the church became
worldly. When the Emperor of
Rome accepted the new teachings,
the church gave way to corrupt
practices; while she remained pure
in the days of persecution, she bePAGE
THREE
came impure in the days of ease
and comfort.
THE THIRD HORSEMAN.
"I beheld, and lo a black horse;
and he that sat on him had a pair
of balances in his hand. And I
heard a voice in the midst of the
four beasts say, A measure of
wheat for a penny, and three
measures of barley for a penny;
and see thou hurt not the oil and
the wine." Rev. 6 : 5, 6.
The decline cf pagan Rome
made way for the development of
a new power. The period A.D. 323
to A.D. 538 was a time of corruption. Superstition and idolatry
crept into the church, the people
forgot their early piety and faith,
and gave themselves over to the
new order of things. We find the
church trafficking "a measure of
wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny. . . ."
After all these centuries we still
find trafficking in the church.
Surely this should be rooted out.
Christianity does not need patronage. The Lord Jesus Christ
has never asked for patronage.
He wants to get hold of the hearts
of men and bind them to Himself.
THE PALE HORSE.
Let us pass to the 7th verse of
this chapter. "When he had
opened the fourth seal, I heard the
voice of the fourth beast say,
Come and see. And I looked, and
behold a pale horse : and his name
that sat on him was Death, and
Hell followed with him. And
power was given unto them over
the fourth part of the earth, to kill
with sword, and with hunger, and
with death, and with the beasts of
the earth." Rev. 6 : 7, 8.
It meant something to be a
Christian in the Dark Ages, when
armies were raised to pursue and
tlot out the people of God, when
bloody tribunals were set up, and
Christians were put to all manner
of tortures.
Some of the places in those
mountains of Italy where the people of God fled for refuge and shelter have been visited by the writer.
It is estimated that ninety million
people were put to death during
the time of papal persecution.
This should make us value the religious liberty that God has vouchsafed to us in these days.
Now the four horsemen have
gone.
souls of them that were slain for
the Word of God, and for the testimony which they held : and they
cried with a loud voice, saying,
How long, 0 Lord, holy and true,
dost Thou not judge and avenge
our blood on them that dwell on
the earth ? And white robes were
given unto every one of them; and
it was said unto them, that they
should rest yet for a little season,
until their fellowservants also and
their brethren, that should be
killed as they were, should be fulfilled." Rev. 6:
These words symbolize the
great reformation that gave us
Christian liberty. Persecution
ceased in a wonderful way : God
raised up men, and had them ready
w hen the clock of prophecy struck,
and the people of God were allcwed to worship Him freely. We
now come to our own times : "I
beheld when he had opened the
sixth seal, and, lo, there was a
great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became as blood;
end the stars of heaven fell unto
the earth, even as a fig tree casteth
her untimely figs, when she is
shaken of a mighty wind." Rev.
6 : 12, 13.
History tells of the great earthquake soon after the time of the
Reformation—the greatest up to
that time—the Lisbon earthquake
of November, 1755. It shook four
million square miles of the earth's
surface.
When on the Mount of Olives
on one occasion the disciples asked
our Lord the following question :
"What shall be the sign of Thy
coming, and of the end of the
PAGE FOUR
THE DARK DAY.
Here are a few quotations from
famous astronomers regarding the
"dark day," May 19, 1780: "The
dark day was one of those wonderful phenomena of Nature which
will always be read with interest,
but which philosophy is at a loss
t) explain." "Candles were
lighted in many houses, birds were
silent and disappeared, fowls retired to roost ; it was the general
opinion that the Day of Judgment
was at hand." "The darkness
was such as to cause farmers to
leave their work in the fields and
retire to their dwellings. I conceive that if every luminous body
aim e•aultrur's earner
His Personal Message to You
" Love your enemies,
do good to them which
hate you, bless them
that curse you, and
pray for them 'which
despitefully use )ou."
WHAT COMES NEXT?
"When he had opened the fifth
seal, I saw under the altar the
world ?" (Matt. 24 : 3) He told
them certain things would come,
spoke of great persecution, and
said : "Immediately after the
tribulation of those days shall the
sun be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, and the
stars shall fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens shall be
shaken : and then shall appear the
sign of the Son of man in heaven :
and then shall all the tribes of the
earth mourn, and they shall see the
on of man coming in the clouds
of heaven with power and great
glory." Matt. 24 : 29, 3o.
He informed these men two
thousand years ago that He would
come again as King of kings and
Lord of lords and establish a kingdom that would abide for ever.
He called their attention to the
things that would take place; to
the long period of persecution that
would come; to the darkening of
the sun and moon: and to the falling of the stars.
Luke 6 : 27, 28.
Cassell & Co.
in the universe had been shrouded
it impenetrable darkness or struck
out of existence the darkness could
not have been more complete."
THE FALLING STARS.
We have seen how the first part
of t'i.e prophecy of Revelation 6
ben fulfilled. What about the
last part? "And the stars of heavn fell unto the earth, even as a
hg tree casteth her untimely figs,
whir• she is shaken of a mighty
wind." Rev. 6:13.
The stars falling from heaven
was to be the last sign in the
heavens of the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ in power and great
glory to establish His everlasting
kingdom.
When Dr. Young delivered a
sermon in Westminster a few
years ago he took for his text, "In
such an hour as ye think not the
Son of man cometh." Dr. Young
said to his people : "You have always thought that meant that you
would be taken off suddenly and
die, and that would be the coming
of Christ for you, but it does not
mean that at all."
There is no room for the
thought that we shall be nipped up
when nobody is looking. I believe
with all my heart that one day our
Lord will fulfil IIis promise and
come again. That is the best
thing that can happen to this poor
old world which to-day is racked
with strife on every hand. Let us
pray for the coming of the King.
Dr. Talmage wrote in the
"Christian Herald" of an event he
had often heard his father speak
about : "The sky was cloudless
and the air clear and suddenly the
whole heavens became a scene
never to be forgotten. Meteors
began to shoot in all directions.
or the two hours between four
and six in the morning it was estimated that a thousand meteors a
minute flashed; arrows of fire, balls
of fire, trails of fire, showers of
fire, explosion followed explosion.
Astronomers said those meteors
started two thousand miles above
the earth, and moved with ten
times the speed of a cannon-ball."
"I his event took place in November, 1833.
The Lord Jesus Christ, looking
down through the ages, saw the.
church in her purity; He saw the
time of the red horse, with the persecution ; the black horse, and the
work of corruption during the
Dark Ages of the Papacy, the pale
horse whose rider was Death, and
the "souls under the altar." Then
he saw the opening of the sixth anticipate ? The end of the reign
seal; the great earthquake, the of sin and death; we look for the
darkening of the sun and the fall- glorious appearing of our Lord
ing of the stars. These statements and Saviour Jesus Christ, and we
have been placed on record that expect Him to come, not as babe
we might know that there is a God born to be crucified, but as King.
in heaven Who has in His hand
THE LAST GREAT EVENT.
the things of the future. He has
not lost control of the world. He
The last great event in this
still holds on, and shows us day world's history is about to be enafter day that we are coming acted. Our prayer, "Thy kingrapidly to the time when sin and dom come" is about to be andeath will be in the past, and His swered.
kingdom will be established.
"The kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the rich men, and
i111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111011111111
the chief captains, and the mighty
men, and every bondman, and
THE GUIDING LIGHT
every free man, hid themselves in
FATHER, the way uncertain lies,
the dens and in the rocks of the
And darkening night
mountains; and said to the mounFalls o'er the distant plain,
tains and rocks, Fall on us, and
And blinds my sight !
hide us from the face of Him that
The gloaming hastens from the west ;
sitteth on the throne, and from
I cannot see.
the wrath of the Lamb : for the
O Light of life and love—
great day of His wrath is come;
"Abide with me !"
and who hall be able to stand?"
Still deeper falls the gathering gloom :
Rev. 6:
The rougher way,
Then there will be a great
Thorn-girt ; and love fades out :
prayer meeting when the men who
And I might stray
rc fused to accept Christ will gather
Into forbidden paths afar,
together and call for the rocks and
And hopeless roam—
() Light of life appear,
mountains to fall on them and
And guide me home I
hide them from the face of the
Lamb.
We are living in the
Daylight has gone, and night has come !
time symbolized by the sixth seal.
And over all
The seventh seal is about to be
The sombre shadows cast
opened.
A silent pall ;
"When he had opened the sevI see one bright and lonely star
Kindles the gloom—
enth seal, there was silence in
() Light of life shine on,
heaven about the space of half an
And lead me home 1
hour." Rev. 8: I. Under this
seal heaven is emptied as Jesus
The darkest night can never hide
comes to the earth with all His
Thy kindly hand,
holy angels. These form an escort
As ever on it leads
for the saints as they are taken by
To Canaan's land !
And should all earthly stars decline
the Saviour to the home that He
And set in night—
has prepared for them.
() Light of life shine in ;
Let us be prepared to meet our
Give me Thy light I
Srviour in peace. This should be
R. HARE.
our attitude as we face the closing
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 scenes of this world's history.
Yay each one of us have an inLuke, in writing his gospel, heritance in the kingdom that will
says : "There shall be signs in the abide for ever, when God Himself
sun, and in the moon, and in the will be our God, and the Lord
stars; and upon the earth distress Jesus Christ will lead us beside the
of nations, with perplexity; the still waters. May we keep right
sea and the waves roaring; men's with Him, and thus have a part in
hearts failing them for fear, and that inheritance.
for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth:
for the powers of heaven shall be
LOVE others by ceasing to love
shaken." Luke 21 :25, 26. "When
these things begin to come to yourself, and in doing so you live
pass, then look up, and lift up your intensely; for you will have within
heads; for your redemption draw- you not only your own life, but
also the lives of all whom you bless
eth nigh." Luke 21 : 28.
What a wonderful message of by love. That is the best religion.
the life of Christ, the very life of
comfort and cheer!
What is the next thing that we God.—Stopford A. Brooks.
PAGE FIVE
What Is the Spirit of Man?
Some Difficult Passages Made Plain-By the Editor
life and wisdom. 2. Breath, life,
of man and beasts. 3. The mind,
the intellect. 4. Concrete, living
thing, animal."
This word occurs in the Old
Testament 24 times. Twice it is
rendered "spirit," 17 times
"breath," 3 times "blast," once
"soul," and once "inspiration;"
in all, five different ways.
3. Pneunia. Robinson's "Greek
Lexicon" defines this word to
mean : "I. A breathing, breath,
breath of air, air in motion. 2.
The spirit of man; i.e., the vital
spirit, life, soul, the principle of
life residing in the ,breath breathed
"SPIRIT" IN THE Or vGINAL
into man from God, and again reTONGUES.
turning to God."
This word occurs in the New
Four words-two in Hebrew
estament 385 times; and besides
and two in Greek-have been rendered by the translators by the one being rendered "spirit" 288 times,
English word "spirit." They are : is rendered "ghost" 92 times,
"wind" once, and "life" once;
Hebrew (0.T.)
four different ways.
1. Ruach.
4. Phantasma. This word is
2. N'shah-mah.
twice translated "spirit," with the
Greek (N.T.)
meaning of apparition, spectre,
3. Pneuma.
phantom-something conjured up
4. Phantasma.
ty the mind, but without real existence. Matt. 4 : 26 ; Mark 6 : 49.
DEFINITIONS.
To illustrate the great range of
I. Ruach. Genesius defines it meaning comprehended in the
thus : "1. Breath, a breathing, word "spirit" the following pasblowing; i.e., (a) breath of the nos- sages are given : trils, a snuffing, snorting; (b)
MISCELLANEOUS EXAMPLES.
breath of the mouth, often of the
vital breath, breath of life; (c)
I. "That which is born of the
breath of air, air in motion. 2. flesh is flesh; and that which is
The same as anima; i.e., the vital born of the Spirit is spirit." John
spirit, breath of life. 3. The ra- 3 : 6.
tional soul, mind, spirit; (a) as the
2. "God is a Spirit : and they
seat of the affections; (b) in refer- that worship Him must worship
ence to the disposition, the mode Him in spirit and in truth." John
of feeling and acting; (c) of will, 4: 24.
counsel, purpose ; (d) more rarely
3. "A spirit hath not flesh and
of the understanding. 4. The bones, as ye see Me have." Luke
Spirit of God."
24 : 39.
This word occurs in the Old
4. "Lord Jesus, receive my
Testament 442 times. It is trans- spirit." Acts 7 : 59.
lated "spirit" 232 times, "wind"
5. "But there is a spirit in man :
97 times, "breath," 28 times, and the inspiration of the Al"smell," 8 times, "mind," 6 times, mighty giveth them understand"blast," 4 times, also "anger," ing."
_
Jo 32 : 8.
courage," "air," etc.; in all six6. "Seek unto them that have
teen different ways.
familiar spirits." isa. 8 : 19.
2. N'shah-rnah.
Genesius de7. "The spirit shall return unto
fines this word as follows : "I. God Who gave it." Eccles. 12 : 7.
Breath, spirit, spoken of the breath
Obviously, in view of the many
of God, i.e., (a) the wind; (b) the shades of meaning it is possible to
breath, breathing of His anger; read into the word "spirit." careic) the Spirit of God, imparting ful reference should always be
T is very generally believed by the majority
of Christians that there
is a certain part of
man-called the spirit
-that is immaterial and not subject to death. This spirit is supposed to leave the body of the deceased and depart, according to
the person's conduct, either to
heaven or to hell. It is the object
of this Bible study to show the
plain teaching of the Scriptures,
concerning the spirit of man and
to demonstrate that the popular
view is untenable.
PAGE SIX
made to the context. The general
teaching of the whole Word on the
point at issue must also be kept in
mind. Only in this way will it be
possible to arrive at correct interpretations.
Omitting for the purposes of this
study all passages containing the
word "spirit" where it clearly refers to the Holy Spirit, or to
angels, and dealing only with
those relating to the "spirit of
man," it will be helpful to divide
them into four main classes.
I.-Those in which "spirit" refers to man's feelings or disposition.
II.-Those in which "spirit" has
reference to the breath of life
breathed into man in the beginning.
III.-Those in which "spirit"
refers to men as complete individuals.
IV.-Those in which "spirit"
has reference to man's spiritual nature.
NOTE.-It would be impossible to inc'ude all under one class and generalize
dogmatically that "spirit" means
"breath of life" everywhere. A number
of absurdities would at once arise. Transposed, John 3 :6 would read "That which
is born of the breath is breath," or Heb.
12 :22, 23, "Ye are come unto . . . the
breaths of just men made perfect." The
number of classes could be enlarged, but
it might tend to confuse rather than
elucidate.
Taking these four classes as a
basis we will deal with a few of the
more important passages that
would be included in each.
I.-MAN'S FEELINGS OR DISPOSITION.
"Or when the
spirit of jealousy cometh upon him,
and he be jealous." Num. 5 : 3o.
"Their
2. Discouragement.
heart melted, neither was there
spirit in them any more." Joshua
5:1.
3. Sorrow. "I am a woman of
a sorrowful spirit." I Sam. I : 15.
4. Sadness. "But Jezebel his
wife came to him, and said unto
him, Why is thy spirit so sad?"
Kings 21 : 5.
"I will speak in
5. Anguish.
the anguish of my spirit." Job 7 :
II.
I. Jealousy.
6. Hastiness. "He that is hasty
in spirit exalteth folly." Prov.
14 29.
7. Meekness. "The ornament
of a meek and quiet spirit, which is
in the sight of God of great
price." I Peter 3: 4.
8. Energy. "Not slothful in
business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." Rom. 12: II.
II.—BREATH OF LIFE.
1. Isa. 42 : 5. "Thus saith God
the Lord, . . . He that spread
forth the earth, . . . He that giveth breath unto the people upon
it, and spirit to them that walk
therein."
NOTE.—In this passage "spirit" is
clearly the equivalent of "breath." A
similar illustration is found in Job 27 :3 :
"All the while my breath is in me, and
the spirit of God is in my nostrils."
turn to dust again." Verses 19, 20.
The Septuagint, Douay, Vulgate,
Syriac, and other versions render verse
21 thus : "Who knoweth if the spirit of
the children of Adam ascend upward,
and if the spirit of the beasts descend
downward?"
4. (a) Psa. 31: 5. "Into Thine
hands I commit my spirit."
(b) Luke 23 : 46. "Into Thy
Lands I commend My spirit."
(c) Acts 7 : 59. "Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit."
NOTE.—These three passages are
classed together as their meaning is identical. But the question arises, Does the
spirit referred to by David, Christ, and
Stephen refer to the breath of life?
Would they, at a most critical time, go
to the trouble of committing their vital
breath to God, to Whom it would naturally revert? Yes; the spirit thus corn-
2. Eccles. 12:7. "Then shall
the dust return to the earth as it
was : and the spirit shall return
unto God Who gave it."
NOTE.—Solomon when writing these
words plainly had in mind man's original
composition given him by his Creator
(see verse 1) which, according to Gen.
2 :7, was dust and breath. These together make "a living soul." Eccles.
12 :7 is the reverse of Gen. 2 :7. At
death the dust and "spirit" (or breath
of life) again separate. The word
"spirit" could not possibly refer to an
independent, conscious part of man for
the following reasons :
I. It would teach the pre-existence of
man. The spirit that "returns" is sometl•ing that God "gave." If it came as it
is supposed to return it must have been
a conscious entity before being given to
man. This would mean that the miracle
of Christ's pre-existence was but the
common experience of every member of
the race.
2. It would teach judgment at death,
which would be contrary to the consistent
testimony of the rest of the Bible to a
future judgment. The words "and the
spirit shall return to God Who gave it"
are spoken promiscuously of all mankind, good and bad. But bad "spirits"
could not dwell with the holy God, so
they would have to be consigned to some
other region, which would constitute a
judgment upon them.
3. Eccles. 3: 21. "Who know-
eth the spirit of man that goeth
upward, and the spirit of the beast
that goeth downward to the
earth?"
NOTE.—The verses preceding this
passage make it very clear that "spirit"
here means nothing more than the breath
of life. "For that which befalleth the
sons of men befalleth beasts ; . . . as
the one dieth, so dieth the other ; yea,
they have all one breath [ruach as for
"spirit" in verse 211 ; . . . all go unto
one place ; all are of the dust, and all
Copyrigri .
The Wall of Jerusalem from the interior
of Absalom's Tomb.
Good Things in Store
It has been our privilege to spend
the past two months travelling in
Egypt, Palestine and Italy in the
interest of " Present Truth " and
the other publications of The
Stanborough Press, Ltd.
In the near future a series of
articles will be commenced in
which the impressions gathered
during the trip will be passed on,
profusely illustrated with photographs taken during the tour, to
the readers of this journal.
The first section will deal with
" The Land of King Tut " the
second with " In the Master's
Footprints " and the third with
"Rome Re-Visited." Much of the
information will, we believe, be of
considerable interest to the readers
of " Present Truth" and we make
this advance announcement so that
you may have opportunity to make
arrangements to secure the whole
of the series. —The Editor.
mitted is the breath of life which was
originally bestowed, but it includes all
that the breath of life has become worth
to the individual. "The point can be
teen more clearly if we take the case of
a child born into the world. Its separate existence commences with the inhalation of breath which to it is as verily
God's spirit of life as it was to Adam.
The gift is but a small one apparently
when we think of the infant, but it is the
bestowal of life, and in the gift of life to
a human being there is no limit set to
the possibilities involved. The infant
grows and learns, and every day the life
unfolds into new powers. When the
child has grown to manhood the life still
consists, as at first, in the breath. A
slight interference with the function of
breathing is sufficient to bring the life
to a close ; but as long as the life is continued a marvellous machine is kept in
motion. A treasure of knowledge, experience and power is represented in the
life of the developed individual. He becomes perhaps of priceless value to the
world in which he lives. Millions might
mourn his loss as irreparable. His life
represents the accumulation of, say, fifty
years of study, application and research.
What, traced back to its origin, is the
secret of this complex existence? All
was wrapped up in the gift of life bestowed upon the new-born infant. When
God breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life He put all these things within the
reach of the creature. The gift seemed
small at first, but now its amazing value
is clearly seen. In the case of Jesus it
meant all that had enriched His earthly
career, all the victories gained over sin,
all the experience gained of human nature. The hour came on Calvary when
the Saviour must relax His hold upon
life, and all that it meant to Him. What
more could He do than resign into the
hand of the Giver the boon of existence
trusting to receive it again of the same
hand when the sleep of death should terminate in the resurrection? So Stephen,
conscious that he was drawing his last
breath, resigned into the hand of God
the gift he had received, knowing that it
would be bestowed anew in the resurrection, worth to him all that it was at that
moment and worth infinitely more, because life would then become immortality."
III.—COMPLETE INDIVIDUALS.
I Peter 3:18--2o. "For
Christ also hath once suffered for
sins, the just for the unjust, that
He might bring us to God, being
put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit : by which
also He went and preached unto
the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once
the longsuffering of God waited in
the days of Noah, while the ark
was a preparing, wherein few, that
is, eight souls were saved by
water."
(Continued on page 14.)
I.
•
I'AGE SEVEN
11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
HE World War was brought to an end
by the Treaty of Peace. But the peace
has proved to be only a seeming peace.
The seeds of strife still remain. The
seeds of trouble have not been eradicated.
Many questions are still unsettled and undecided.
National jealousies and animosities have not been
blotted out. Personal hatred and bitterness is still
smouldering. No settlement that has been devised
seems able to blot out the memory of the horrors
which the war wrought by land and sea, the fields
strewn with corpses and trenches soaked with blood,
the pitiless exposure to the merciless winter, the terrible suffering of the wounded, and the unspeakable
wretchedness of women and children who have been
prisoners of despair.
There are still memories of screaming shells,
mangled bodies, the rending asunder of great ships,
the rain of explosives from the clouds, the ruined
cities, the tears of women, and the faces of little
children pinched with hunger and fear.
Mr. Lloyd George, in his book, "Where Are We
Going ?" says:—
"I warn you that it is madness to trust to the hope that
mankind, after such an experience, will not be so rash as to
court another disaster of the same kind. The memory of the
terrors, the losses, the sufferings of the war, will not restrain
men from precipitating the world into something which is
infinitely worse, and those who think so, and, therefore, urge
that it is not necessary to engage in a new crusade for peace,
have not studied the perverse, the stubborn, and the reckless
nature of man."—Pages 3o, 31.
There are the same national ambitions and the
same national intrigues which were the cause of the
former war. These have not been eradicated. There
is the same distrust between those who were enemies, and even between those who fought side by
side.
Twenty million men have been killed or maimed.
Mountains of money have been consumed. There
are ruined lands, towering debts, unnumbered
graves. These things have net been blotted out by
the shaking of hands or the signing of the treaties
of peace. There may be peace, but it is a peace in
pretence and outward show; in the hearts of men
there is a bitterness, hatred, hostility, jealousy,
malice, fear, and all the potentialities of unending
conflict and strife. Wars and rumours of wars continue arid increase. There is, and will continue to
he, "Distress of nations, with perplexity; . . .
men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking
after those things which are coming on the earth."
There is war in the heart of the human race—war,
and strife, and jealousy, and envy, and dissension,
and bitterness, and all hatred and malice. Guns and
battleships and great armaments do not make themselves; they are not spontaneous freaks or accidents
of Nature. They exist and stare us in the face
solely and altogether because they are the concrete
expression of an ideal which rules in human hearts
and minds. They are here as the deliberate thought
and premeditated act resulting from the rule of that
ideal in human hearts. And these things promise
never-ending turmoil and strife.
Speaking regarding the hatred now existing in
the hearts of millions in Europe, Mr Lloyd George
says : -PAGE •FIGHT
Photo by A. S. Maxwell
The high road across the Plain of Esdraelon, Palestine, skowsi
of Armageddon" fought here during the Great War. As Mr. F.
road to peace the day will come when their armies will again
By Carl
"Europe is a seething cauldron of international hates, with
powerful men in command of the fuel stores feeding the flames
and stoking the fires."—"Where Ate We Going?" pp. 37,
38.
As Sir Hall Caine has said in his "Letter to the
Churches," "the war has left the world worse than
it found it, more full of evil passions, of racial hatred, of jealousy, of selfishness, of a chaos of unChristian interests in which the brothers-in-arms are
most of all at strife."
Men have fondly hoped to compose the troubles
of the world by treaties of peace, by conferences, by
leagues, by understanding and agreement, and most
of all, through the influence of religion. Conference after conference has been held; disarmament
has been proposed; appeals have been made to the
League of Nations; a World Court has been
formed; the premiers of the allied nations have met
again and again to compose their differences.
But it is becoming more and more plain to all
men that the evils of the world which turn the hearts
of men from peace to war cannot be overcome by
parliaments, or cabinets, or conferences, or courts,
or leagues, or commissions, or councils, or conventions, or treaties, or tribunals, but only by a
complete change of the individual heart and the individual life by Jesus Christ. For wars issue not out
of conditions and things and circumstances and delicately-hung balances between nations and the breakdown of international diplomacy, but out of the
natural human heart.
Wars are not the result of imperfection in human
governments, but of imperfection in the human
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
qoad to
Copyright by The Stanborough Press, Ltd.
lorries, barbed wire and other debris retuattung from tile ' battle
!early proves, if the nations of the world do not follow the one
the high road of Esdraelon to the real and final Armageddon.
Haynes
heart. "From whence come wars ? . . . Come they
not hence. even of your lusts that war in your members ?" James 4 : 1.
Speaking of the potentialities in the international
hatred of Europe. Mr. Lloyd George writes : —
"A temple to human right was built with material quarried out of all that is choicest in the soul of men. But its
timbers are being drenched with the kerosene of hatred, and
one day a match will be lit by some careless or malignant
hand which will set fire to this magnificent edifice ; its splendour will be reduced to black embers, and the hope of mankind will be once more laid in ashes."—"Where Are We
Going?" p. 4o.
And men do not, and will not, come to Jesus that
they might obtain peace. Sir Hall Caine, quoting
once more from "A Letter to the Churches," says :
"If there is anything clearer than another, when we apply
the principles of our faith to the present troubles of the world,
it is that its salvation from the sorrow and loss of the late
war, from its aftermath of poverty and suffering, from the
race-hatred and suspicion which are the bitter harvest of the
battlefield, and from the still more frightful cataclysm which
seems to loom on the forehead of the future, lies in religion,
in the return of the nations to the moral ideals of Christ, in
forgiveness, in the spirit of brotherhood, in mercy and mutual
sacrifice."
We agree with this remarkable statement, showing unusual insight to the real needs of the world.
At the same time we know that the nations will not
turn to Christ, will not turn to the church, will not
turn to religion, and will not be saved. We know
this because the Bible has plainly declared it. The
world will be overthrown by Christ, but it will never
yield to Christ.
Reasoning not alone from the prophecies and
teachings of the Word of God, but also from the
analogies of the past history of mortal affairs, we see
but little hope of human improvement. The tendency of mankind has been downward from the beginning. His penitence has been temporary, his
apostasy permanent. His acknowledgment of God's
authority has been feigned, his loyalty to Satan sincere. His reformations have been brief, his revolts
protracted. As widely as the race is scattered, so
widely have the works of the flesh been manifested.
Throughout all generations they have been the same
everywhere. The fountain is corrupt, and the stream
can he nothing but corrupted. The heart is deceitful, the life hypocritical. The source of wickedness
is within, the manifestation of it without. That
which is born of the flesh is flesh, and it inherits all
the lusts and depravity of carnality.
And these sins and lusts are not the occasional
mistakes and outbreakings of a better nature, but the
natural actions of a perverted and fallen character.
These are the lusts of the flesh which constantly
war against the soul (i Peter 3 : r 1); the outworkings of that law of sin which wars against the law of
mind (Rom. 7 : 23); the fruitage of the carnal or
fleshly mind which is enmity against God, not subject to His law, knowing no rule but lust (Rom. 8:
7); these are the things which, with tireless vigilance, must be kept under or they would make even
an apostle an outcast. i Cor. 9 : 27. And they can
be subdued only by the power of ciod, controlled
only by His Holy Spirit, :, nd crucified and slain only
by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gal. 2:2o;
5 : 24.
This persistent, perverse, unholy disposition in
"the natural man" does not change itself. Refinement will not change it. Education will not change
it. Evolution will not change it. Civilization will
not change it. The repressive enactments of human
governments will not change it. Changes in the structure of human governments will not change it. A
League of Nations or a World Court will not change
it. It is ever the same. The fruit is like the tree,
and the tree is vile. Men do not gather grapes of
thorns, or figs of thistles. The perfidious hearts and
lives of a rebellious race can no more be changed by
human means than an Ethiopian can change his skin
or a leopard his spots. The only way a change can be
brought about is when men are "created anew in
Christ Jesus unto good works." Eph. 2: 1o.
In all the ages of the past the only permanent
reformations have been those which have been
wrought of God in individuals. All national reformations and improvements have ended in dege.aeracy
and revolt.
All ecclesiastical reformations, after
they have run their course, have ended in backsliding
and apostasy. Out of these God has selected His
chosen people, working in them an individual and
permanent transformation.
It would be easier for the child of God who
understands by the prophetic Word the outcome of
all human efforts toward bringing in lasting peace.
to refrain from speaking just now. One who loves
his fellowmen cannot help but sympathize with their
(Continued on page 14.)
PAGE NINE
The
Home Corner
Conducted by - Naomi " She Was So Pleasant "
By M. V. Boucher
ANY years ago," says Oliver Wendell Holmes,
"walking among the grass
at Mount Auburn, I came upon a
plain, upright, white marble slab
which bore an epitaph of only four
words, 'She was so pleasant.'
That was all, and it was enough.
That one note revealed the music
of a life of which I knew and asked
nothing more."
The music of life—that is the
precious gift so many of us are
missing to-day. If all possessed
the rare genius of being pleasant,
the gentle spirit of constant cheerfulness, what a radiant world this
would be ! What happy homes
might be ours if we all tried to bear
one another's burdens! But in
this strenuous age, when life has
become so largely a thing of rush
and whirl and feverish excitement,
we feel we haven't time to be
pleasant. How many times we
hear it said, "He is so abrupt, so
hasty, so brusque, so bitter, he seldom smiles, he never praises, he is
always criticizing." The ceaseless
throb of pressing business, the
keen and relentless competition,
have robbed us of the "pleasantness" of life.
We are told that Saul and Jonathan were "beautiful in their
lives." We do not hear men described like that to-day. We speak
of a busy life, a useful life, a noble
life, but rarely of a beautiful life.
Yet the life which is destitute of
beauty and tranquillity is sadly imperfect. "The fruit of the Spirit
is joy" and one of the first indications of Christian discipleship
should he "a heart at leisure from
itself to soothe and sympathize."
When Jesus says, "Blessed are
the meek," the world shrugs its
shoulders and laughs its incredulous laugh. It thinks it knows bet-
M
PAGE TEN
C Anne Shriber.
ter. It says that "push" and
`'spirit" and "efficiency" are the
things we want to-day. Christ,
however, did not conquer men with
a sword, but with a smile; He did
not win them with loud words, but
with loving deeds. He was overKINDNESS
By Daisy Hemmingway
To help a friend who's in distress,
To try and make some burden less,
To create peace and happiness,
This is kindness.
To lead some wanderer on the way,
To teach an erring soul to pray,
To talk of Thee, Lord, every •day,
This is kindness.
To try to banish grief and care,
To help another's sorrows share,
To scatter sunshine everywhere,
This is kindness.
To point some lonely one to Thee,
To help a poor, blind soul to see,
A comfort, help and solace be,
This is kindness.
i1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
whelmingly great because He was
so superbly gentle.
Happy the man who has a
cheerful spirit ! Never was he
needed so much as to-day. Let
him laugh and sing. Let him
cheer the downcast with his buoyant spirits, and cure the careworn
ty- his infectious gladness. That
is doing Christ's own work, and
earn Christ's own "well
done." As the calm influence of
the atmosphere can remove rocks
and subdue mountains, so the invincible force of a man's hope,
and courage, and Christian cheerfulness can overcome the evil of
sinful hearts, scatter the mists of
pessimism, win the prodigal back
to virtue, cleanse the world of its
fret and passion, and lead men to
Christ.
Christian cheerfulness is a valuable personal asset. It gives a
bright serenity to life. It fills us
with new energy for daily toil ;
banishes irritability of temper,
peevishness and anxiety. It makes
us more valuable as workers, more
useful as citizens, more welcome
as companions. "Give us, oh,
give us," says Carlyle, "the man
who sings at his work ! Be his
occupation what it may, he is equal
to any of those who follow the
same pursuit in silent sullenness.
He will do more in the same time,
he will do it better, he will persevere longer."
Reader, your life may be hard
and grey and monotonous, and
you may have to fight against a
nervous, sensitive, irritable temperament. It means a bitter and
tedious warfare; yet the struggle
is not hopeless. "Look on the
bright side," said a young man to
a friend, who was discontented
and melancholy. "But there is no
bright side," was his doleful reply.
"Very well," said the young man
pi omptly, "then polish up the dark
one." Let us remember the word
of the Master, "In the world ye
shall have tribulation : but be of
good cheer." John 16: 33.
Don't Destroy a Child's
Courage
M
OTHERS have a very bad
way of telling visitors, before their children, how nervous the little one is, or how
stupid and hopeless is Martha in
her studies, or how bad is John,
until John really believes he is bad
and is rather proud of it; Martha
believes she is stupid and becomes
hopeless; and the little one is sure
that she cannot keep still nor sleep
because her mother said she could
not. The mother, without knowing it, has been one of the most
skilful suggestionists, and every
one of her suggestions has borne
fruit in the lives of her children.
No parent ever has any right to
assume that a child is stupid, for
he can no more know when the rebirth of the child, intellectually,
will come than he can know the
hour of its spiritual rebirth, and to
assure the child that such an hour
can never come is to discourage
him in the beginning to a life of
stupid existence. The boy may
not be openly assured that he will
never be a scholar, but the parent
permits himself to think it until it
gets into the atmosphere of the
home, so the boy comes to feel it
and loses hope.
One of the best places to give
suggestions is at the dinner-table
when the young child is busy devouring his food, stopping only
occasionally to hurl at the family
some bewildering question or to
relate enthusiastically some heroic
deed of which he has been the
author. Yet in this hour when the
boy is off his guard and is so susceptible to suggestion, what are
the suggestions which are usually
pouring into his ears ? Too often
they are of the nature of petty
gossip about the neighbour, criticism of the church or the minister,
the worries and troubles of life,
etc.
WHEN TO REACH A CHILD.
There are three conditions in
child life where the child is especially susceptible to suggestion,
and these may be utilized to better advantage than any artificiallyinduced conditions. The child is
more easily impressed just when it
is falling asleep, when it is at play,
and when for any reason its emotional nature is at a high pitch, as
when it is responding to the love
znd sympathy of the mother.
The parent who commits to a
servant the entire care of a child
and hence loses the constant opportunity for personal service, not
only sacrifices the most susceptible hours, but gives the child into
the influence of one whose suggestions, often, are not what we
would like to have. That parent
who fails to put the child to bed
and throw about it, when falling
asleep, the highest and holiest influences, misses the best opportunity for moulding the young life.-C. I. Hawkins, in "Congregationalist."
Our Sympathy Circle
Dear Home Folk :
How many mothers there are
who, in the daily round of family
life, unnecessarily tire themselves
cut and curtail their leisure time
by doing work which could be entrusted to the growing boys and
girls of the family. A few definite
jobs would not overtax them in
any way and the systematic training will stand them in good stead
in later years. Of course, we all
know that at times children are inclined to muddle things, but this
can be easily averted by the use of
a little tactful suggestion and patient teaching. I have often heard
mothers remark that they would
rather work unassisted than be
troubled with the tiresome business
of instructing their children as to
certain duties. But is this fair to
the young people ? How will
they face the future without having first learned to shoulder minor
responsibilities?
In the case of a large family
many tasks might be lifted from
mother's shoulders. For example,
Tommy, the eldest, could be assigned the brass cleaning. On
Monday, by way of suggestion, he
could do the door knocker and
bell or the front-room fire-irons,
it you still possess these somewhat
antiquated articles, Tuesday the
fender, Wednesday all the doorknobs, Thursday, the electric light
switches and Friday any brass
oddments, candle-sticks, etc.
Twelve-year-old Dora would feel
very important if given the responsibility of keeping clean the knives,
forks and spoons. Kenneth,. the
next in age, could keep the furniture nicely polished and dusted. A
cloth slightly dampened with oil
would help him considerably. It is
just the thing to preserve leather
upholstering, give the framework
a good appearance and make Kenneth proud of his work. The
washing of the dishes would not
be too big a task when divided between two younger girls. Light,
helpful duties such as these, systematically planned, would only
occupy a comparatively small section of the children's time, leaving
many spare hours for romps,
healthful games and out-of-door
exercise.
HELPING HIM OUT.
To remove tarnish from brass
rub the article, before polishing,
with a lemon rind on which has
been grated a little household soap.
This is a good suggestion which
would be of help to "Tommy" in
the execution of his duties.
STRAWBERRY-JAM BLANCMANGE.
Now here's the recipe of a tempting blancmange, simple and inexpensive to make—just the thing to
prepare when visitors are expected.
Ingredients.—zioz. cornflour, 2
pints milk, II dessertspoonfuls
sugar, 3 tablespoonfuls jam (strawberry).
Method.—Mix the cornflour to a
smooth paste with about half a gill
of the milk. Put the remainder of
the milk in a saucepan with the
sugar, and heat. Pour this on to
the mixed cornflour. Pour back
into the saucepan and boil slowly
for five minutes, stirring all the
time, otherwise it will be lumpy
and is liable to burn. Add the jam
to the blancmange and bring to
the boil again. Rinse a fancy
mould with cold water. Pour
the blancmange into the wet
mould, and leave until set. Turn
cut on to a dish. To do this just
shake the blancmange slightly
om the sides of the mould and
"NAomi."
turn it over.
"Do not search for the cause of
unhappiness in the things about
you, for all happiness lies within.
Search for it and you will find it."
PAGE ELEVEN
The Children's Two Pages
Conducted by Muriel Stockford
A Wonderful Story of
Consecratiun
HRISTIANITY is the most
beautiful thing in the
world. The following incident, related by a missionary in
India, reveals the beauty of the
spirit of Christ, even when found
iri the humblest person. A native
preacher, Samuel Nayagam, of
South India, was supervising and
helping in the building of a church
for his little company of believers,
ho had been worshipping in an
cld cow-shed.
One day three men came that
wav and called to him, "Hey, you
fellow, come here! \Ve want no
church in this village."
The pastor answered, "Well,
men, what are you going to do
about it ?"
" `If you go on building that
church, you will die a sudden, horrible and violent death,' they
threatened, their black faces still
Liacker with hatred.
" 'Men, I am building that little
church for Jesus Christ, and I am
not afraid of anything you can do
to me,' and with a smile he said,
`Salaam,' and returned to his
work. The church was completed
in a few days.
"Then he sent a note to the missionary : 'Please come over and
help us celebrate. The church
building is completed.'
"It was one of the darkest
nights I ever ;ravelled," said the
missionary, "and I walked only
five miles, but over the roughest,
rockiest road imaginable. When
I got to the church, the whole congregation was out in front, and as
soon as I arrived, they formed a
C
i Bible Hunting Band
j
In the book of Proverbs there is
a spindle. See if you can find it.
Time yourself as you did last
week and tell me just how long
you searched. April 3oth is the
date for your letters to reach me.
111.S .
611.1•••••••••••• ••••••••••••••AV•11....•••••-• ••••..••••••••••■••43...i
PAGE TWELVE
procession, the men carrying
torches, and the women and
children joining in the singing. with the men leading
and the band in front. Last
of all they brought me, seated
ten feet above the heads of
the admiring throng, in a
wedding car, the kind you
ride about in the day you get
married down in South India.
\Ve went round the town, up
one street and down another, the
band ahead, and the wedding car
i:. the rear, pulled by two oxen,
hile the voices of our Christians
ring out in their favourite song :
" 'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not
want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.'
"And while they sang, there,
were many who were hungry,
many who had not had a square
meal for years, if ever!
"Up in my exalted seat, I found
my heart overflowing with joy for
the light that was beginning to
shine after all these centuries of
idolatry. When the procession
was over, we returned to the little
church and knelt there to thank
God for His love in giving us at
last a preacher and a church.
"Then Samuel said, 'It is late.
Let me show you where you are
to spend the night.' He took me
to a little stone building in a corner of the town, gave me a cot,
and left me to go to the little
Hindu restaurant where he always
had his meals.
"It was late, but he had forgotten all about supper until then.
While he was eating his food, he
collapsed on the floor of the little
t estaurant, for someone had given
him with his food enough arsenic
to kill five men.
"He did not die that night; it
was too big a dose. He did not
die till the third day, and then in
excruciating agony.
"Not dreaming of his danger, I
called his brother, the lawyer
preacher, Vetha Nayagam, to
come with me to Kottur, where
we had people to baptize. He did
not return to the village till the
third day, just in time to see
Samuel's horrible and violent
death.
"The fifth day, returning from
Tuticorin, I met him on the road
and got out of my ox-cart to meet
him. His great chest was heaving
and his eyes were full of tears.
" 'What is the matter ?' I asked.
" 'Pastor, they have murdered
my brother,' and he told me of the
threat and of his brother's death.
"As I remembered what he had
undergone, my spirit was stirred.
I said: 'What is the use of your
preaching? You gave up your
law business, at which you were
making money. You laboured a;
long time without pay, and even
now are receiving but little help
from the mission. On the day
you started to preach, your house
was burned down over the heads
of your family, and now—now
they have murdered your brother. They would rather have
murdered you, because you have
the larger congregation. You
had better give up preaching.
Give it up and go back to your law
business. Thus far you have had
to seil nearly everything you
owned in order to preach, and you
still have a wife and children to
support.'
"As I looked, I saw that
through his tears Vetha Nayagam
was smiling at me as he answered,
'Pastor, my brother was a saint of
the living God, and to-day he is a
n artyr to Jesus Christ; and if God
should give me the privilege of dying such a death as he died, I
would praise His name for ever."
Animals With Pockets
A LITTLE boy with his first pair
of trousers is proud of his pockets.
I wonder if you know that some
outdoor creatures have pockets.
The squirrels do not carry their
nuts between their teeth, for they
have pockets in their cheeks. Did
you ever see them fill these pockets with nuts ? They empty them
by pressing with their paws
against the bottom of them and
opening their mouths.
The kangaroo has a pocket of
fur, in which she carries—what
do you think ?—her baby ! For
baby kangaroos cannot leap as
fast as their mother and need to be
carried if they are to keep up.
Another• animal mother, the
opossum, has a fur pocket big
enough to hold several babies,
which she tucks in when she goes
travelling.—` `_May
Our Competition
Corner
I'VE received umbrellas enough
this last fortnight to shelter the
whole Editorial Department from
a deluge—if it hadn't been for the
holes !
The best ragged one came from
Grace Sadler who lives at Bristol.
Grace has painted her umbrella
Result of Bible Hunting Band
black and has taken great care
No. 7
with the patches! Then from
The following discovered postal Willie Slow came one of the applesystems in the Bible : -lady type—an exceptionally subThelma Davies (Machen); Jessie Jenkin- stantial-looking, bulgy "gamp."
son (Rochdale); Connie Stanbridge And Muriel Hayzen of Hull sent a
(Luton); John Lennox (Glasgow); Arthur Hale (Treforest); Henry Braines very respectable and well-drawn
(West Norwood); Gwen Dobbs (Yny- specimen. Muriel explains that
shir); Cyril Ivey (Plymouth); Charles they don't store old umbrellas at
Taylor (Wyberton); Mollie Jenkinson her house ! These three win the
(Rochdale); W. King (Bristol); Alfred
Hale (Treforest); Charlie Grant (Leeds); prizes this time. We're giving
L. Lyons (Bridgend); Thomas Tapping one more prize than usual because
(Cambridge); Helen Morris (Paisley); Al- Grace's and Muriel's drawings
fred Hancock (Rochdale); Robert Soren- were both so very good that we
sen (Swansea); Mary Rodgers (Chesterfield); Annie Westbury (Bristol); Elsie couldn't choose between them.
Cowley (Liverpool) ;Violet Ward(Cardiff ;)
Other attempts came from Elsie
Helena Campbell (Belfast); Hilda Donohue (Eccles); Willie Slow (Kettering); Pratt (Sittingbourne); Stanley
Robert Aikenhead (Alresford); Monica Cannon (Pontypridd); Alfred
and Nigel Druitt (Fareham); Edgar Hyde Kelly (Bristol); Rose Kelly (Bris(Luton); Clifford Reynish (Swansea); Ar- tol); Henry Braines; Nigel Druitt
thur Cannon (Pontypridd); Melville de
Mellow (Jodhpur, India); Gordon Hunt (Fareham); Adolf Grute (Tor(High Wycombe); Hilda Wallis (Ketter- quay); Ben Mayes (East Dereing); Dorothy Mayes (East Dereham); ham); Elsie Lewis (Harrogate);
Violet Mayes (East Dereham); Doreen de Dorothy Watts (Bristol); M. Price
Carteret (Bristol); Adolf Grute (Torquay); Horace Welch (Bristol); Ronald (Bristol); Nora Lewis (HarroBrooks (Mountain Ash); Lilian Harrison gate); Elsie Cowley (Liverpool);
(Hull); Ruth Langford (Plymouth); Sarah Hilda Wallis (Kettering); Mary
Edge (Birmingham); Gordon ace
(I eeds); Herbert Barker (Mansfield); Etta Rodgers (Chesterfield); Elsie
hrossell (Garston); Eric Pool
Mayes (East Derel.an); Irene Roberts
(Swansea); Jchn !lodges (Southampton); (Birmingham); Monica Druitt
Norman Benwell (Reading); Doris An- (Fareliam); Ernest Kelly (Bristol);
nand (Sittingbourne); Elsie Throssell
(Garston); Elsie Pratt (Milton Regis); and Walter Lewis (Pateley
Sidney Reid (Hull); Violet Graham Bridge).
(Hull); George Strode (Walmer); Daisy
Last week I forgot all about
Brookes (Quarry Bank, Staffs.) Muriel
Hayzen (Hull): Ernest Kelly (Bristol); Our Corner birthdays, so I'll have
Clarice Throssell (Garston); Diana Dowell to wish the Many Happy Returns
(Glasgow); Nora Lewis (Harrogate); row—even though it is a little
Elsie Lewis (Harrogate); Rose Kelly
late. On March 7th John Hodges
(Bristol); Alfred Kelly (Bristol).
was eleven; then on the 29th Errest Cornish was eight and the
Overheard in an Orchard
day after Willie Slow was eleven.
SAID the robin to the sparrow :
We hope you're all enjoying being
"I should really like to know
one year older. Jessie Jenkinson
Why these anxious human beings
told me this week that "Mollie and
Rush about and worry so ?"
! have a little nephew who had his
Said the sparrow to the robin :
first birthday on the 4th of
"Friend, I think that it must be
March." How nice
You've
gat •hey have no heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me."
raced me, by the way, my tiny
AC{
•
neice is going to be one year old
next week.
We apparently have a few good
guessers in Our Corner. Thelma
Davies, Violet Ward, Elsie Cowley, Annie Westbury, Mary Rodgers and Ivy Binks all guessed
that last weeks' photo would be
cf Daisy Baxter.
The picture down in the corner
this week is of Doreen de Carteret.
Really, I ought not to have printed
that picture. You see, Doreen
sent me another that was taken
more recently and asked me to use
that, but I had so fallen in love
with the other that I just couldn't
resist showing it to you all. You
forgive me, don't you, Doreen?
Next week I'm going to introduce
to you K.R. who lives at Hereford.
I've had quite a few new pictures
lately. Claude Newton, Mollie
Jenkinson and Hilda Wallis have
all sent me theirs. Hilda is in her
Brownie uniform—she's going to
be a Girl Guide when she's eleven,
that's soon. Then this morning
Iris Owen's photograph came.
Thank you all ever so much. I'll
introduce you to the rest of Our
Corner in a little
while.
And now for
this week's'
drawing stand a\
bottle of ink on
the table in
front of you and
lodge a pen up'
against it.
Your attempts
must arrive
here by May
8th.
Next time,
we're going to
have an extraspecial competition. Be sure
you try it.
M. S.
Doreen de Carteret,
Bristol.
PAGE THIRTEEN
Only One Road to Enduring Peace
(Continued from page 9.)
ardent hopes for a permanent cessation of the turmoil of the world. We long for peace and justice to
be permanently established in this world as ardently
as those who look for this to be accomplished by
human means. Our minds leap eagerly and gladly
forward to that time when the earth will be for ever
purged of war and hatred.
We sympathize with the men of large hearts and
broad minds who stand as sponsors for every agency
striving for peace, and who are labouring unselfishly
in the interests of their fellow-men. We join them
in their earnest longing for stability and peace in the
earth. We hope their efforts may result in a cessation of strife during which the work of God among
men may be carried forward to its conclusion. We
sincerely hope they may be able to bring about some
lull in the storm, that little time of peace, which His
church is to use to finish His work. We therefore
pray that God will use their efforts to restrain the
wrath of men until His work is finished, and we pray
for the men themselves, that their yearnings for
peace may be realized by the Spirit of God opening
their hearts to receive as their Lord and King the
Prince of peace Himself.
It may be that such a lull in the storm will be
looked upon as an enduring peace. It may be that
a great "peace and safety" announcement will be
made, mankind boasting that it has at last found the
way to lasting and universal peace. It is this we
would guard against by directing attention to the
true hope of the world, the only hope of lasting
What Is the Spirit of Man ?
(Continued front page 7.)
NOTE.—The first "spirit" mentioned
in this passage is clearly the Holy
Spirit ; question only arises concerning
the "spirits in prison." A careful reading of the text, however, makes the
meaning plain. By the same spirit which
rpised Christ from the dead He preached
to these spirits.
"In the days
ot Noah, while the a-K was a preparing." Now there was a preaching of the
Gospel at that very time for 120 years,
God's Spirit striving with men through
Noah. Gen. 6 :3 ; I Peter I :II, 12.
The men of that wicked generation were
in the prison-house of sin and God strove
by His Spirit through His servant to
turn these "spirits" from their evil way
that they might be saved from the coming destruction. Isa. 42 :7 ; 61 :1. So
the word "spirits" here refers to the
complete individuals who heard the
warning of Noah.
2. Heb. 12 : 22--24. "But ye are
come unto Mount Zion, and unto
the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to
the general assembly and church
of the firstborn, which are written
in heaven, and to God the Judge
of all, and to the spirits of just
men made perfect, and to Jesus
the Mediator of the new covenant,
PAGE FOURTEEN
peace on this planet, the coming of the Son of God
to establish His everlasting kingdom of peace.
It is for the purpose of directing attention to the
true and only hope of mankind, the second coming
of Christ, that we point out the certain failure of
every human effort to save the world. Indeed, our
attention is directed by the Lord Himself to the failure of leagues and courts and federations. He says :
"Say ye not, A confederacy, to all those to whom
this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear
ye their fear, nor be afraid." And He says again :
"Associate yourselves, 0 ye people, and ye shall be
broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries :
gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces;
gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought;
speak the word, and it shall not stand : for God is
with us." Isa. 8: 12, 9, 1o.
And in this very time when the hopes of men are
centred in human associations and federations, the
Lord directs them not only away from these great
combinations of human strength, but to Himself,
saying: "Sanctify the Lord of hosts Himself; and
let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread."
Isa. 8 : 13.
We would be remiss in the duty laid upon us by
the Lord if, in this time when human society is more
broken up and turbulent than ever before, we did not
speak frankly. We cannot see the many and varied
plans for world peace launched one after the other,
laden as they are with human hope and pride, without pointing each soul to the only way he may reach
the port of quietude, peace and joy at last.
and to the blood of sprinkling, that
speaketh better things than that of
Abel."
NOTE.—Earlier in the same chapter
(verse 9) the writer to the Hebrews contrasts the "fathers of our flesh" with
"the Father of spirits" ("our spirits,"
R.V. margin). The spirits there referred to are not spirits existing independently of the body, for they pass
through chastening on the earth. Evidently the word "spirits" there refers to
converted men in whom the spiritual nature, once dormant, has awakened into
life and activity. It is in the same sense
that we must understand the word
"spirits" in verse 23.
As Christians
under the new covenant we do not now
come to Mount Sinai with all its terrors,
but to "Mount Zion, to the city of the
living God, to an innumerable company
of angels, etc." When? "Ye are
come ;" these are things with which the
Christian has to deal at the present time.
True, they are not visible to the natural
eye, but they are to the spiritual, the eye
of faith. And thus equipped the Christian sees in his brethren and sisters not
merely men and women after the flesh,
but men and women born again by the
Spirit of God. "The believer who comes
by faith to the city of the living God,
Jerusalem above, and to the church
whose names are written in heaven, finds
himself associated with the spirits of just
men made perfect. If he depended on
his natural powers of observation only,
he might decide that some of those same
brethren were far from perfect, but with
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the spiritual eye of faith he sees them
clothed with the same spotless raiment
as hides the shame of his own nakedness. So will he account them not as
they are in their sinful selves, but as they
are 'in Christ.' "
On this passage Dr. Adam Clarke
writes as follows : "In several parts of
this epistle [Hebrews], teleios, the just
man, signifies one who has a full knowledge of the Christian system, who is
justified and saved by Jesus Christ. . . .
The spirits of just men made perfect, or
the righteous perfect, are the full-grown
Christians ; those who are justified by
the blood and sanctified by the Spirit of
Christ. Being come to such implies that
spiritual union which the disciples of
Christ have with each other and which
they possess how far soever separated ;
for they are all joined in one Spirit. . . .
This is a unity which was never possessed even by the Jews themselves in
their best state ; it is peculiar to real
Christianity."
IV.—MAN'S SPIRITUAL NATURE.
I. John 3 : 6. "That which is
born of the flesh is flesh; and that
which is born of the Spirit is
spirit."
NOTE.—This text is representative of
a large number wherein "spirit" refers
to what is known as "man's spiritual nature." But what is this spiritual nature,
developed in man by the working of the
divine Spirit of God? Is it an immorta!, independent part of the being, detachable from the body? Does being
"born of the Spirit"' mean that henceforth there are two individualities in the
man who has experienced the spiritual
birth, one of them earthly and the other
spiritual? "No; for if the man should
fall away from Christ, what would happen to the second undying individuality?
Again, Christ died to save sinners, the
old sinful individualities. If the work of
Jesus is to be a success He must save
these from sin. If He does not accomplish this, but simply creates a new set
of individualities of a spiritual order distinct from the first, He does not do what
He undertook to do. Indeed, His sufferin, and death would not have been necessary if He were only going to create
new individuals and not save the old
from their sins."
In every man there is a moral nature.
It is part of his complex constitution
given him by his Creator. This may lie
dormant for many years, but one day the
vitalizing touch of the Holy Spirit of
God brings it into life and prominence.
This is what happens at the new birth.
God does not at that time put into man
a new individuality ; He simply quickens
that which has been lying asleep. When
death comes, one individuality dies ; one
part of the life does not go on living independently of the other, for unless the
resurrection takes place "they that are
fallen asleep in Christ are perished."
Cor. 15 :18.
2. Zech.
12:
the word of the Lord for Israel,
saith the Lord, which stretcheth
forth the heavens, and layeth the
foundations of the earth, and
formeth the spirit of man within
him."
NOTE.—Many would wrest this scripture to mean that God creates spirits (of
course, independent of the body and immortal) in all men as they are born into
the world. But the verse states no such
thing. If it did it would lead to a number of absurdities. Says Smith in "Here
and Hereafter," page 79 : "God said to
our first parents, and the commission was
repeated to Noah after the flood, Be
fruitful and multiply. Multiply what?
Themselves of course. Did that mean
that they should multiply bodies, and
God would multiply souls to fit them?—
Nothing of the kind ; but they were to
multiply beings having all the characteristics, endowments, and attributes of
themselves. So Adam (Gen. 5 :3) 'begat a son in his own likeness, after his
image ; and called his name Seth.' This
son was like Adam in all respects, having
al: the natures that Adam possessed.
. . . But according to the doctrine of
creationism, Adam begat only a body,
and God created a soul, which was the
real man, and called his name Seth, and
put it into that body." Again : "Has
God made Himself the servant of the
human race to wait upon their will, caprice and passions? For how many of the
inhabitants of this earth are the offspring
of the foulest iniquity and most unbridled
lust ! Does God hold Himself in readiness to create souls which must come
from His hand immaculate and pure, to
be thrust into such vile tenements at the
bidding of godless lust? . . . Again,
who stands ready to thrust the soul into
the new body just in the nick of time?"
—Page 77.
The true meaning of the passage is
seen by simply noting the real definition
r I "form." It does not imply creation,
but means, according to Liddell and
Scott, "To form, mould, shape, Latin
pngere, strictly used of the artist who
works in soft substances, such as earth,
clay, wax," The artist does not create
that with which he works. So the spiritual or "moral" nature of man is transmitted from parent to child with the rest
of the endowments of human life, and in
due time God works upon this by His
own Holy Spirit, moulding and fashioning it, if permitted so to do, until it ;s
completely conformable to Him and takes
on His own divine likeness.
CONCLUSION.
Almost if not on every occasion
when the word "spirit" is used in
reference to man its meaning will
be found to fall within one of the
.bove classes. It may not always
be easy to decide immediately upon
the correct definition, but whatever the result, it will never be
found that "spirit" means some
immaterial, immortal part of man's
constitution which at death separates from the body. Although the
word "spirit" occurs 526 times in
the Scriptures it is never once associated with any word meaning
"not subject to death." The
Bible consistently teaches that at
death men cease to exist, wholly,
entirely, and absolutely, and that
they know no more, neither "body,
soul, nor spirit," until the resurrection.
"IT is better to work with a
trowel than with a crow-bar; better to be a builder than a tearer
down."
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W.W.
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1. "The burden of
PAGE FIFTEEN
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The Companionship of Jesus
By E. E. Craven
" Jesus Himself . . . went with them." Luke 24 : 15
THE resurrection day was full of surprises to the
disciples. First one and then another brought news
of the risen Lord—the unexpected had happened.
Some of them doubted (Matt. 28 :17) ; and Thomas
(John 20 :24-27) refused to believe until he had
seen and touched.
Before the resurrection the disciples went with
Jesus—they followed Him. Now, the record says,
"Jesus . . . went with them." Two disciples were
on their way to Emmaus, when Jesus joined them.
Jesus on the road of life with us saves it from becoming wearisome. Life is monotonous to the vast
The dreary round and common tasks
majority.
tend to make life burdensome. Along life's highway, too there are dreary tracts of loneliness.
Everybody comes to them ; they are our desert experiences. But all this can be relieved by the presence of Jesus.
These two disciples were wondering what had become of Christ. The grave was empty. They had
heard from the women the angels' story that He had
risen. They were longing to see Him, and He
appeared. When His twentieth century disciples
are disappointed and the fogs of life hang low, then
Jesus will come, if He is wanted, and all will be
changed.
The walk to Emmaus that day did not seem long.
The time passed far too quickly. What a difference
companionship makes ! The presence of Jesus
makes life interesting. Duty is no longer drudgery,
but delight.
When they left Jerusalem these men were sad
(Luke 24 :17) ; their hopes and ideals had been shattered. Right up to the last moment they had believed that Jesus would come down from the cross
and reveal Himself as a majestic King. "We
trusted," said they as they talked together, "that
this had been He which should have redeemed Israel." Verse 21. As they had walked over the
hillsides of Galilee, earth had been a heaven. Now
it was anything but that. All interest was gone.
z.v..1:tvr•
Suddenly the presence of the "Sun of righteousness"
banished all the mists of disappointment. As they
walked He "expounded unto them the Scriptures."
Verse 27. New light shone upon the prophecies.
So to-day the presence of Christ brings wonderful
encouragement, lighting up the future and making a
new Book of the Bible.
The presence of Christ will help us to face the end
of life courageously, "Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil :
for Thou [Jesus] art with me." The way to the
throne is via the cross; where there is no cross there
is no crown. Troubles and trials are God's workmen. They will do a wonderful work in our lives
and should we ever feel the burdens are too heavy
Christ will come with His own yoke and help us to
carry them.
We notice, too, that Jesus went all the way with
these two disciples and even tarried with them.
(Verse 29.) He never tires of our company. If
these disciples had been called upon to face any
great difficulty that day Jesus would have shared it
with them. Nothing is too common for Jesus. Our
task is His task. He is willing to accompany us all
the way, through this life into the next. If we have
His continual presence, life will no longer be monotonous. Our burdens will be carried for us. Life's
journey will seem far too short. The Bible will become a new Book. Every meal will be eaten with
thanksgiving. Our homes will become temples
where God's praises will be sung.
In the Royal Academy there is a picture entitIod,
"Left to Die." Some soldiers are fleeing from pursuers across the desert. One poor fellow is badly
wounded. None of his mates stay to help him. He
is left to his fate. Jesus, however, will never leave
us alone in the desert of life. He will tarry with
us. When that great man, Livingstone, was in
Africa he wrote in his diary just before he died,
"Jesus Christ is a gentleman, and never lets a fellow down."
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