October 2016 Signs of the Times

[Stan]

October 2016 Signs of the Times Email Newsletter The Signs of the Times newsletter is a collection of stories and quotes from past issues ofSigns and These Times. ***************************      A certain young man had decided on what he considered the most profitable way of investing his life.      “Well, George, what are you going to make of yourself?” an older friend asked him one day when they were discussing the issues of life.      “I have decided to take a course in law,” said the youth, with pride and satisfaction.      “Yes, and then what?” asked the older friend quietly.      “I am going to do my level best to be the leading lawyer in the state.”      “And then what?”      “Oh, I suppose I’ll get married; have a nice home and lots of money. Anyway, I mean to make my mark in the world.”      “And then what?” came the question in the same quiet tone.      “Then what?” repeated the lad rather nervously. His friend was leading on a bit too rapidly to thoughts that he did not wish to entertain. “Then what?” he said again rather slowly—“Why, I suppose I shall die as other men have done.”      “And then what?” asked his friend, with the same steady gaze.      The young man made no reply, but the look in his eye gave evidence that the question had not missed the mark. And after the older friend had gone, the young man reviewed their visit. “Then what?” he asked himself when alone in his room. Somehow a great many things looked different. During that quiet visit with himself he caught a vision of the gulf that lay beyond the long, long trail; and being a boy who thought deeply when his heart led the way, he concluded that after all no investment of life could be genuinely profitable that did not make ample provision for a sure passage across the gulf that lies beyond that long, long trail.      That was many years ago. Today that one-time young man looks back upon more than a half century spent in soul-winning work. Has he regretted the choice he finally made?—Could you see his beaming face, you would know before he told you that he is grateful beyond words for the investment he made of his life.—By Matilda E. Andross, Signs of the Times, February 13, 1923. Quote: “It is poor policy to sell one’s robe of righteousness for a ballroom garb.”—Unknown, Signs of the Times, January 19, 1915 *************************** Don't miss the November 2016 issue of Signs of the Times: To order Signs, call: 1-800-765-6955 or CLICK HERE to order online. ***************************      William Jennings Bryan, visiting Japan, attended a banquet given to the admiral of the navy. All present paid tribute to the Japanese naval leader. The time came to drink a toast. Those present lifted their champagne glasses, but there was a gasp of alarm as Mr. Bryan was seen to raise a glass of water.      Someone grasped his arm and whispered that such a toast would be considered an insult. The Great Commoner was equal to the delicate situation. “You won your victories on water,” he said, turning to the admiral, “and I drink to your health in water; whenever you win any victories on champagne I shall drink to your health in champagne.”—By J. C. Long, These Times, September 1957. Quote: “The soul that perpetually overflows with kindness and sympathy will always be cheerful.”—By Parke Godwin, These Times, July 1966. *************************** NEW from Pacific Press—Understanding Ellen White, Merlin D. Burt, editor. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has become a truly global movement with members from diverse cultures and backgrounds; many of whom are unfamiliar with the history of God’s leading and the prophetic ministry of Ellen White. And, unfortunately, over the years, the Adventist church has sometimes not done a very good job of communicating her role to the newest members of our church family. Understanding Ellen White has been written to help build a foundation for interpreting Ellen White’s ministry to and through the Adventist Church. The editor, Merlin Burt, challenges us as Adventists—whether we are “seasoned” members or new to the faith—to read her writings in the light of the two central themes of her life: the love of God in Christ and a focus on Scripture. CLICK to read the first chapter of this book online. Order ONLINE or from your local Adventist Book Center--1-800-765-6955. ***************************                 In one of Dwight Moody’s meetings, an aged man stood up and asked prayer for the conversion of his wife.      “How long have you lived together?” said the evangelist.      “Thirty-five years,” was the reply.      “What! All that time, and she is not converted yet!” exclaimed Mr. Moody.      And the words produced such an impression on the heart of the stranger, that he immediately requested the supplications of the people for himself.—Unknown, Signs of the Times, March 22, 1877. Quote: “Where the heart is humble, the tongue is charitable.”—By Charles G. Bellah,Signs of the Times, November 5, 1929. *************************** Place this in your church bulletin or newsletter: Signs of the Times® helps your friends and neighbors find hope and meaning in these difficult times. Each month it takes on a broken world and directs hearts to Jesus for relevant answers. The result is changed lives! Send a subscription today. Order from your Adventist Book Center. To order call: 1-800-765-6955 or online at: http://www.adventistbookcenter.com/signs-of-the-times-magazine-yearly-us-subscription.html ***************************      William Cowper, pathetic figure of the eighteenth century, suffered throughout his life from periods of dismal melancholy, bitter disappointment, and insurmountable fear. But out of his tragedy he produced some of the cherished hymns of the Christian church. How often, indeed, “our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.”      Cowper came into a world that abounded in iniquity. The state church had degenerated into formalism and cold theology; there was little vital religion in England during the first half of the eighteenth century. The evangelical efforts of Christian leaders, as John and Charles Wesley, were still in the future. “Ignorance and brutality reigned in the cottage,” says a biographer of Cowper. “Drunkenness reigned in palace and cottage alike; gambling, cockfighting, and bullfighting were the amusements of the people. . . . Of humanity there was as little as there was of religion.”      Before William was eight years old, his mother died. This was a bitter loss, particularly to a boy who was unusually sensitive and shy. He was sent to a large boarding school, where the cruelty and barbarism of tutors and fellow students were torturing. His schooling later at the Westminster school brought him probably the happiest days of his life. After completing his education, he was called to the bar, and became an attorney.      Being nominated to a clerkship in the House of Lords, he was required to pass an examination. He brooded upon the test, and became so fearful at the prospect of facing it that he became insane. For some eighteen months his sensitive nature suffered from this experience; but, when he regained his full powers, he became a sincere Christian, and worked with John Newton, a devout evangelical clergyman.      Praising God for the recovery of his mental powers, he wrote: “Blessed be the God of my salvation; the hail of affliction and rebuke has swept away the refuge of lies. It pleased the Almighty, in great mercy, to set all my misdeeds before me. At length, the storm being past, a quiet and peaceful serenity of soul succeeded, such as ever attends the gift of a lively faith in the all-sufficient atonement, and the sweet sense of mercy and pardon purchased by the blood of Christ. Thus did He break me and bind me up; then did He wound me and make me whole.”      In his later years William Cowper gave his life to ministering to the sick and needy. He wrote much poetry, including sixty-eight of the beautiful “Olney Hymns.”      A minister wrote of the poet’s life; “With a fancy ever fresh, a poetic genius as pure and clear as the morning, and, amidst all his fears, with a heart most tenderly alive to good, and most warmly devoted to his Redeemer, he graced his friend Newton’s Olney Hymnbook with many a precious gem.”      His life and his poetry reflect his love and devotion to Christianity. Concerning the duty of man to seek God’s will and obey divine law, this poet wrote what he believed to be the task of a Christian:      “To bid the pleadings of self-love be still,      Resign our own and seek our Maker’s will;      To spread the page of Scripture, and compare      Our conduct with the laws engraven there.” This, to Cowper, was what God might expect in allegiance from all human beings.      To him nature was the handiwork of God, and he longed to be away from the congestion and evils of urban life. He saw God’s revelation in the book of nature second only to the inspired Scriptures. He is noted for the line, “God made the country, man made the town.” As he viewed the wonders of the world, he wrote:      “And poring on thy page, whose ev’ry line      Bears proof of an intelligence divine,      May feel a heart enrich’d by what it pays,      That builds its glory on its Maker’s praise.”      The religion of William Cowper was based upon love to God and love to his fellow men. Sincerity in religion was essential if Christianity was to be a power that would convert skeptics to the teachings of the Master.      “I venerate the man whose heart is warm,      Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and whose life      Coincident, exhibit lucid proof      That he is honest in the sacred cause.” Here, in Cowper, the true test of individual religion is in its sincerity. Hypocrisy is particularly distasteful in the life of a church leader. There were many clerics of Cowper’s age who cared not for their sacred office, and starved their flocks instead of feeding them from the Word of God.      The test of great religious literature is not to be found in what a man tells his fellow mortals to do to achieve goodness; no, the acid test comes when a man writes what the religion of Jesus Christ has done for his own soul. The devotional poetry of the Bible reveals the personal experience of the writer. Thus, David would say, “The Lord is myshepherd.” For David to write those words of inspiration, it was necessary for him to know the Shepherd personally. A literary critic has said that our poets who create good religious poetry must depend upon one essential: “He has only to rely on his own religious experience, that which comes to him from no outward source, and yet is common to him and to an immense number of his human fellows.”      True religious poetry or prose arises from the inner life of the writer. The experiences of William Cowper gave him a beautiful friendship with his Lord. Where has a more sincere relationship been spiritually expressed than in the following hymn?      “Oh, for a closer walk with God!           A calm and heavenly frame,      A light to shine upon the road           That leads me to the Lamb.      “Return, O holy dove! Return,—           Sweet Messenger of rest;      I hate the sins that made Thee mourn,           And drove Thee from my breast.      “The dearest idol I have known,           Whate’er that idol be,      Help me to tear it from Thy throne,           And worship only Thee.      “So shall my walk be close with God,           Calm and serene my frame;      So purer light shall mark the road           That leads me to the Lamb.”      Love for the Saviour is shining in every line of this personal confession of faith. How many souls this hymn has drawn to God! Like Enoch of old, Cowper longed to have the divine communion and fellowship that would lead him through the gates into the glorious city of God.   Another hymn that has helped multitudes of Christians bear up under the blows of adverse circumstances is “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.” This poem came from the heart in the crucible of doubt and fear. How beautiful is the message of the last three stanzas of the hymn!      “Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,           But trust Him for His grace;      Behind a frowning providence           He hides a smiling face.      “His purposes will ripen fast,           Unfolding every hour;      The bud may have a bitter taste,           But sweet will be the flower.      “Blind unbelief is sure to err,           And scan His work in vain;      God is His own interpreter,           And He will make it plain.”      It was the hymn, “Hark, My Soul, It Is the Lord,” that became the favorite of William E. Gladstone. The essence of vital faith in an omnipotent God is found in the words. “It describes in language that is exquisitely simple and true, the work of the Saviour for the soul in redemption.”      Another of Cowper’s hymns has been sincerely loved, and yet it has also been much debated. “There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood” has caused some Christians to feel that the thoughts expressed are too gruesome. But the test of a hymn is the love church members have for it; and this song of the divine sacrifice of the Son of God has found a continual answer in the souls of Christ’s followers.      Could any poet leave a greater heritage for generations who follow him than the gift of a holy hymn? Down through the years, the rich spiritual hope that a mind had created would be sung in the arched domes of the house of God, and the words would ring in the experience of Christian men and women who loved God. This is a glorious reward for the hymn writers, and such is the blessing that has fallen to the poetry of Cowper’s hymns.      Stopford Brooke, noted literary critic, has called the humble sufferer of the village of Olney a poet “who has written. . .  the noblest hymns for depth of religious feeling and for the loveliness of quiet style; whose life was as blameless as the water lilies he loved.”       Schooled in the tragedies of humanity, Cowper passed through much tribulation. Physical suffering is difficult to bear but mental agony knows no depths of melancholy. He walked in the valley of the shadow of death; but he knew his Shephard was at his right hand. In his darkest hours he cried out, “Oh, for a closer walk with God!” Thousands of weary sinners have shaped those words upon their lips, and by faith found peace in fellowship with Jesus Christ.—By Merlin L. Neff, Signs of the Times, October 24, 1939. Quote: “Seek for God as keenly as you seek for gold and you will soon find Him.”—Unknown, Signs of the Times, April 25, 1900. *************************** CLICK to view the largest assortment of Adventist eBooks. *************************** In a Monk’s Cell Disdaining worldly fame, Coveting all the blame, Draped in black robes he came           On bended knee. On the cold floor he cowed, Low in the dust he bowed, Crying in anguish loud,           “O Lord, save me!” With chains of darkness bound. No trace of light he found. Despair enclosed him round.           He could not see. Dawn found him pale and weak; He had no strength to speak. “O Lord, ‘tis Thee I seek—           Thine own to be.” Then rang a message bold: “None can be bought or sold; All in My hand I hold.           There was a tree!” Transformed like Saul before, Luther rose from the floor. “I’ll preach it evermore:           Pardon is free!”—by Carroll Blair, These Times, June 1966. *************************** Compiled by Dale Galusha. Please pass this newsletter on to others.

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This is one great magazine with great articles!