1. family and parenting
2. children

Warburton, Vic., December 8, 1952
Vol. 67
Price 2d.
No. 49
HOW TO POSTPONE
Your Own Funeral
DESMOND FORD
D
WIGHT L. MOODY records that
once, when asked to conduct a
funeral, he searched the four Gospels to find one of Christ's funeral sermons, but found none. Christ broke up
every funeral He ever attended. He
raised the son of the widow of Nain, the
daughter of Jairus, and Lazarus, the
brother of Mary and Martha.
There were whole villages through
which Christ passed in which the moan
of sickness was no longer heard. Death
and disease fled at His touch. No wonder
He proclaimed, "I am come that they
might have life, and that they might have
it more abundantly." John 10: 10.
Christianity is the more abundant life.
The Christian is not called to a narrow
and restricted existence, but to a life
which measures with the life of God.
This is true in a physical sense, as well as
a spiritual. True religion is concerned
with the body as well as the soul. Jesus
spent more time in healing than in
preaching.
"Beloved, I wish above all things that
thou mayest prosper and be in health,
even as thy soul prospereth." 3 John 2.
From Genesis to Revelation the Bible emphasizes that God's people should take
scrupulous care of their health in order
Photo shows mass funeral of victims of the Devon flood disaster.
that they might have happiness and freedom in serving Him.
"What? Know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is
in you, which ye have of God, and ye are
not your own? For ye are bought with
a price: therefore glorify God in your
body, and in your spirit, which are
God's." "If any man defile the temple of
God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
1 Cor. 6: 19, 20; 3: 17. It is God's desire
to live and dwell in us. Once we accept
Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up
His abode in us and we become the temple
of God. It becomes our solemn responsibility to care for that temple.
Perhaps the greatest asset in the battle
against sin is a healthy body. There is
no clear-cut separating mark between
the -body and mind. One merges into the
other, and whatever affects one reacts
also on the other. As Henry Ward
Beecher declared, "Half the spiritual difficulties that men and women suffer arise
from a morbid state of health." Every
Christian knows how much harder it is
to love his neighbour while a civil war is
being waged in the region of his stomach.
It is well-nigh impossible for us to receive the joy and peace God yearns to
give us, while we are suffering physically.
Because of these facts God, in His loveletter to us, has given counsel regarding
the preservation of good health. Here, in
the Bible, the Holy Spirit unveils the
devil's methods which aim at so lowering
our physical vitality that our spiritual
strength is likewise sapped. Of course,
in some cases sickness occurs according
to the purpose of God, and instanced by
the case of Job, but with the majority,
transgression of natural law is the cause.
(Registered at the G.P.O., Melbourne fa: transmission by post cs a cewspsper)
Christ made it plain that in the last
days millions will be led to wrongly indulge their appetites, and as a result, be
unprepared for His return in glory,
"Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time
your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this
life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on
all them that dwell on the face of the
whole earth." Luke 21: 34, 35.
In the beginning the devil led the
human race into sin through corrupting
the physical appetite. He coaxed Eve to
eat that which God had forbidden.
(Genesis 3.) And when Christ came as
our representative to endure temptation
on our behalf He was tried in the same
way. (Matt. 4: 3.) Jesus conquered
where Adam failed, showing that the way
of restoration begins with victory in the
field of appetite.
To those who question whether religion
has anything to do with our habits of
eating and drinking the Bible replies,
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or
whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of
God." "Ye are the children of the Lord
your God." "Thou shalt not eat any
abominable thing." 1 Cor. 10: 31; Deut.
14: 1, 3.
What we eat today is walking and
talking in a month's time. How careful
is the purchaser of a new car to see that
it receives only the right grade of oil!
The owners of prize-winning animals do
not permit them to eat just anything.
Their rations are carefully allotted in
precise proportions calculated to give
strength and health. And farmers know
that they must "feed" their land properly,
preferably with organic fertilizers, in
order to produce the best results. Despite all this, the most wonderful machine
in all the world, the human body, is
criminally neglected by most. We forget
that the law of God was written not only
on the tables of stone, but also on every
cell and fibre of our being. And in the
physical realm as well as the spiritual,
it is just as true that "whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal.
6 : 7.
Over two thousand years ago Mgses,
under inspiration, wrote "The life of the
flesh is in the blood." Lev. 17: 11. Medical science says Amen to this statement,
for the blood is the agency which nourishes the whole system, and it is the
body's final line of defence against
disease. The quality of our blood stream
depends upon what we eat and drink.
What did God provide for mankind
originally—what was the Edenic diet?
Surely that would be the pattern. Gen.
1: 29 records that fruits, nuts, and grains
was the diet provided for our first parents. The animals also were given nonflesh fare. (Gen. 1: 30.) When sin intervened, man was given permission to
add vegetables to his diet, because of
their curative properties. (Gen. 3: 18.)
After the Flood, when vegetable food was
scarce, man was also allowed to eat meat,
but only of certain animals, and always
devoid of blood. (Gen. 9: 1-4; 7: 2.)
When God redeemed Israel from Egypt
and led them towards Canaan, He taught
Page Two
them to discard the use of flesh as food
and provided manna, which in taste "was
like wafers made with honey." (Ex.
16: 31.) Both Daniel the prophet and
John the Baptist, who represent the
people of God in the last days (Dan.
12 : 13; Luke 1: 17; Mal. 4: 5, 6), subsisted on a fleshless diet. Daniel ate
"pulse" a term denoting all leguminous
foods, and John the Baptist used the
locust bean (according to some authorities) and wild honey as his fare. While
the Bible does not forbid the use of flesh
food it.definitely limits the varieties that
may be used (see Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14), and indicates that wherever
possible the resumption of the Edenic diet
will result in blessing.
In a book recentLy republished called
"Diseases of Food Animals," Dr. 0. S.
Parrett, who for years was in constant
contact with leading pathologists and research workers in the United States Public Health Service and the Department
of Agriculture, presents statistics showing the rapid increase of disease in animals over recent years. He quotes a report in the Journal of the American
Medical Association showing that of two
hundred bodies given a post-mortem
examination by doctors, forty eight contained trichinae. (Page 7.) This explains the wording of an American
government health poster. "Cook Pork
and its Products Thoroughly—Explanatory Leaflet Sent on Request." Dr. M.
Hall, former Chief of the Zoological
Division of the Washington Public Health
Service, has stated that one person in
every seven in America has trichinosis
from eating infected pork, and that in
most cases the sickness is diagnosed as
typhoid fever, intestinal flu, rheumatism,
heart disease, etc. Dr. Parrett points out
that neither fish, fowl, nor "prime beef"
is exempt from the rapid increase in
disease, and that complete safety is guaranteed only by a non-flesh diet.
The Prospect of Otis
Glad Surprise
ALFRED S. JORGENSEN
I heard the myriad angels sing
Their praises to the new-crowned King,
And earth-born hosts took up the strain,
As all joined in the glad refrain:
"Let blessing, glory, honour, be,
And power in heaven, earth, and sea,
To Him that sitteth on the throne,
And to His Son, the Lamb, alone!"
I listened as the chorus swelled,
And in my soul a yearning welled
To join their song, . . . but as I woke
I heard the tones of One who spoke:
"Not yet, ah, no, not yet, but soon
The darkness will give place to noon;
Be faithful, watch, each' day prepare
A crown to win, a throne to share."
Ah, blessed hope! how can I turn
The world to court, the Christ to spurn,
When evermore before me lies
The prospect of His glad surprise!
The roll of famous names of men who
have advocated such a diet is long, and
includes such names as George Bernard
Shaw, Henry Ward Beecher, Charles
Spurgeon, and John Wesley.
Says Dr. E. V. McCollum, of Johns
Hopkins University, "I have not the
slightest hesitation in saying that a vegetarian diet, supplemented with fairly
liberal quantities of milk, is the most satisfactory diet that man can take. All the
evidence from both animal experimentations and human experience supports, in
a manner which can never be broken
down, the viewpoint that meat is not
necessary in the human diet."
The Bible warns us also against the
use of poisonous herbs. (Deut. 29: 18,
margin). Yet three of such are today in
constant use by millions of professed
Christians. They are tobacco, tea, and
coffee. Cigarette smoke contains eighteen
active poisons besides nicotine. "The injurious nature of cigarettes is unquestioned. Nicotine excites the heart. In
the course of twenty-four hours the
smoker's heart may have suffered 30,000
extra beats. An expectant mother passes
on to her unborn babe, and later through
the milk which nourishes it, this poison.
The heart rate of her unborn child is
raised from five to ten beats a minute by
her smoking of a cigarette. The investigations made upon white rats show the
appalling injury to unborn children. This
injury continues in later life. Charles F.
Emerson stated that his classmates in
Dartmouth College who used tobacco
averaged 49A years at death, the nonsmokers, 59 years and four months. Professor Raymond Pearl of Johns Hopkins
University studied 6,813 American men.
He found that a man who at the age of
thirty is a heavy smoker has forty-six
chances out of a hundred to live sixty
years, while the nonsmoker has sixty-six
chances. These are but a small sample
of the testimony of scientists and physicians on this subject."—"The United
Presbyterian," May 28, 1942.
Dr. H. W. Wiley when Chief of the
Bureau of Chemistry of the United States
said, "This country is full of tea and
coffee drunkards. The most common drug
in this country is caffeine. Coffee drunkenness is a commoner failing than the
whisky habit. Caffeine is the essential
alkaloid of coffee, as theine is of tea.
Both are dangerous and detrimental
drugs."
The theine of tea and the caffeine of
coffee frequently cause nervousness, palpitation of the heart, insomnia, and indigestion, and are contributing factors in
producing high blood pressure and fatal
disease of the heart and blood vessels.
When God has warned against "poisonful
herbs" (Deut. 29 : 18, margin) why do
followers of Christ cling to these habits
which waste both money and health?
"Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread? . . . hearken
diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which
is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness." Isa. 55: 2. Surely the vicious habits, so antagonistic to health,
which prevail today, constitute Satan's
(Please turn to page 5)
December 8, 1952 :: SIGNS OF THE TIMES
AN EDIT
OF
sr- --
Unscrewing It!
THE passing of that gallant politician,
William Morris Hughes, marks the passing of an era in Australian history. The
spirit that had carried him through every
fight against adversity sustained him in
his last illness. With his apparent recovery there sounded forth the same happy
phrases that rallied his people when he
served us as prime minister through
World War I. It was hoped by all that his
recovery would become a fulfilment of
one of his own pungent expressions of
will: to "conquer the unconquerable, unscrew the inscrutable." But there is a
limit to the human will to live, and
"Billy" has done his bit bravely and well.
In thus recording our respect for this
extraordinary figure, we take the liberty
of basing some comment on his picturesque phrase as quoted. Marvellous
as are the powers of the human will, who
can literally "unscrew the inscrutable"?
Our answer is, (with due respect for
diction) that it all depends on the screwdriver and the strength of the wrist that
uses it. There are some mysteries that
cannot be penetrated. There are some
that can. But for the most part they require more, much more, than human willpower to open them up. Take, for instance, the mystery of death. Some millions throughout the world are of the
opinion that for them death is no longer
a mystery. They feel they have the key.
Leading statesmen, scientists, and others
have experimented, and to their own satisfaction think they have been successful
in contacting the departed.
It is claimed by spiritistic journals that
some leading statesmen of this century
have resorted to mediums to discover the
beyond, to be guided in their decisions by
the alleged superior wisdom of those now
supposedly in touch with the Infinite. Of
such have been recently named the late
Mr. Mackenzie King, prime minister of
Canada, and Mr. F. D. Roosevelt, late
president of the United States of
America. In life these gentlemen are
said to have frequently sought counsel
from spirit mediums. Others, such as the
late unlamented Adolph Hitler, sought
guidance from the same source. In view
of the present chaotic state of society,
might we be forgiven for the suspicion
• that the same master mind directed each?
The suspicion is confirmed when we
open the Book. Therein is the information that no dead man can possibly be
alive, and that spiritism is a gigantic
hoax. The delusion is not that which
SIGNS OF THE TIMES ::
SURVEY
PENT
can be exploded by a Houdini or any
other exposer. Communications do take
place. But the Bible declares that they
are not from men and women who have
lived with us on this earth. Whom then?
They are from angels under the employ
and allegiance of one Satan, otherwise
known as the devil. The Bible, for Christians, is the final authority—not what is
muttered in the seance chamber, or perceived by the senses of any man, whatever his position, ecclesiastical or otherwise.
By their fruits we are to know all men.
So said Jesus Christ. The outcome of
American foreign policy under the Roosevelt administration does not appear to
have been planned by God. If so, then
every Australian mother who loses her
son by the thrust of a Communist bayonet
in Korea can thank God for it. If Roosevelt was guided in his policies by the
spirit world, then obviously those spirits
were not of God, but of Satan. Why
blame God for the results? His Word is
completely disregarded by anyone who
consults a medium. Whoever permits
himself to be influenced by one is directed
by the prince of darkness and of all evil.
When on the other side the human will
is united with that of Christ Jesus as revealed in His Word, the Ten Commandments, and all the rest of revelation, then
the mystery of death is understood in the
light of His resurrection gospel. To the
one now willing to do His will every mystery will eventually be made clear and
plain. The buoyant words of our "little
digger" can be realized very literally
when in the final day of triumph every
Christian will with God "conquer the unconquerable, unscrew the inscrutable."
R. P. B.
Bible Version for Today
WITH the production of the Revised
Standard Version a new landmark has
been reached in the long history of Bible
versions and translations. A committee
of thirty-two scholars worked for fifteen
years to make certain that readers of
today could have the advantage of recent
discoveries and older manuscripts, and
that the new translation would be in living English that can be readily understood today.
The enthralling story of this new version is told by Herbert Yahraes in the
Australian Women's Weekly for October
22. Printed simultaneously in four
plants in America and Scotland, one million copies went on sale at the end of
December 8, 1952
September. It is hoped that Australia
and New Zealand will be able to buy it by
the end of November.
To produce this Bible "ten tons of type
metal, 2,000 gallons of ink, 1,000 tons of
paper, and seventy-one miles of fortyinch cloth" were used. An advertising
campaign costing a quarter of a million
pounds publicized t the venture. The
value of the first printing alone will be
about £3,000,000.
"Certain improvements are noticed
quickly. The type is fairly large. The
text is broken up not into verses of a few
lines each, but into paragraphs, though
the old verse numbers are kept. . . .
"What was poetry in the original Bible
—and forty per cent of the Old Testament
was—is printed as poetry here. The
archaic `thou,' thee,"thine,' and 'thy' are
rarely used, except when God is addressed, and the old verb endings, est and
eth, are dropped.
"The 'begats' are gone, too, replaced by
`was the father of.' These and other
changes give the Bible a fresh look. The
Greatest Book now really seems to have
been written for today, not for a distant
past."
Mr. Yahraes tells of words that have
changed their meaning in the three hundred years since the Authorized Version
was published :—
"For instance, `anon,' presently,' and
`by and by' all meant 'immediately' in
Elizabethan times. The King James
Version has it that when Peter's motherin-law was sick, Jesus was told 'anon.'
Actually, the Greek shows that He was
told at once. And when Salome danced
before Herod and was asked what she
wanted, the King James Bible says that
she wanted the head of John the Baptist
`by and by.' The Greek shows that she
wanted it right away.
"The seventeenth-century translators
had God 'apparently' appearing to Moses;
reference to the Hebrew showed that He
appeared 'clearly'—which is what 'apparently' used to mean.
"To many readers, one of the strangest
counsels of the New Testament is the
admonition, 'Take no thought for the
morrow.' The new translation clears up
the difficulty. `Do not,' it says, 'be anxious
about tomorrow.' "
Among the four hundred instances
where words have been replaced because
of changed meaning, these are mentioned: "Esau is now a skilful hunter,
not a cunning one. The Israelites weren't
harnessed when they went out of Egypt;
they were armed. It wasn't outlandish
women who caused Solomon to sin, but
foreign ones. The persons hired by
Abimelech were worthless, not vain."
Those who read of the discovery of the
Dead Sea scrolls in 1947, and the great
importance scholars ascribed to theme
will be interested to know that the complete Isaiah scroll, ten centuries older
than the oldest Hebrew text known heretofore, was thoroughly studied in preparing the new version. This study led to a
dozen minor changes: "In Isa. 3: 24, for
example, the King James Version has the
phrase, 'there shall be burning instead of
(Concluded on page 6)
Page Three
The Second &ming
and the
PILGRIM
WALK
New design for Coventry Cathedral. The bomb damaged ruins of the old cathedral—to be
George F. Cox
incorporated in the new building—are seen on left.
T
HE preaching of the second coming
of our Lord and our pilgrim walk
hinge together. They are complementary one to the other. Nothing is
more easily slipped from than our attitude of watchfulness for His appearing:
but so soon as we cease to watch, we become immersed with the things of this
world and are in danger of losing our
crown.
Non-advent preaching is horizontal—it
never soars; it looks along earth's surface to a far-distant horizon of an illusory, evolutionary paradise.
Advent preaching is divinely perpendicular—it looks up to the blessed hope
of His soon coming again. It lifts the
eyes from a mass-hypnotized world
steeped in secularism, to an inheritance
reserved in heaven.
The heroes-of-the-faith-chapter in Hebrews and the glory-returning-chapter in
Matthew, run parallel. They lead to the
Mount of Blessing. They speak a common language, the language of heaven
and hope. They are not of the earth
earthy, but heavenly and spiritual. The
true adventist cannot be a materialist;
he is one in heart with the army of the
marching feet bound for the better land.
Priests and prelates may have palaces
here below; scorning these, he looks for
a mansion eternal in the heavens.
One of the biggest obstacles in the path
of the Christian church is its deep-rooted
materialism, and the complacency that
flows from it. Too often the legitimate
desire to own a home is corrupted into
regarding that home as the centre and
sum of earthly interests. It might be
good if God's people once again lived in
"tabernacles" as Abraham and Isaac, on
their way to the promised land. Similarly, many a hopeful has started in business to earn a living, and found the busiPage Four
ness develop into an iron cage, imprisoning his hopes and aspirations. Many
console themselves with living "good
lives," (in the worldly sense) providing
for their own, and posing as respectable
citizens. This suffices them. They join
some church, and pay it lip-service. They
possess the form of godliness but deny
the power thereof. (2 Tim. 3: 5.) Thus
the pilgrim walk of the true child of God
is completely lost sight of.
Modernist preaching posits an everimproving world, culminating in a millennium on earth. The second advent of
Christ is held as a nominal tenet, but it
is a vague, dim, far-off event, utterly out
of touch with the practical affairs, and
even the religion, of this present life.
That is its condemnation: it has no impact for holiness, no urge to sanctified
activity for the kingdom in present-day
conduct. Yet Peter has pictured the day
of the Lord in his inspired second epistle
in stark and graphic language that none
can read without trembling: "But the
day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night; in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the
earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Seeing then that all
these things shall be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought ye to be in all
holy conversation and godliness?"
The preaching of the imminent return
of the Lord, on the other hand, provides
a mighty spiritual dynamic to shock
sleeping saints out of apathy and worldliness, and to restore their lost conception
of this earth-life as but a brief probation
before the real, eternal life to come.
Modernist teaching fills its hearers
with a false optimism that leaves them
totally unprepared for that dreadful day
of the Lord: dreadful to the unready, but
glorious to the watching saints. In contrast to their teaching of a world to grow
better and better, the New Testament
teaches the exact opposite. "In the last
days . . . evil men and seducers shall wax
worse and worse, deceiving, and being
deceived." The advent preacher, on the
other hand, instructs his flock to view this
age with a healthy pessimism which lifts
their hope above this passing scene with
its sin-cursed, doomed society. On the
authority of God, who cannot lie, they
"look for new heavens and a new earth,
wherein dwelleth righteousness."
The second advent preaching delivers
men from the perils of merely ethical and
philosophical doctrine. The sheer fact of
the return of a crucified Saviour, coming
in power and majesty, brings the sinner
face to face with the awful reality of an
offended God. It drives away all dilettante speech and soft words as worse
than rubbish. The soul hears the dread
cry: "Prepare to meet thy God." Such
a soul will not be satisfied with rosewater. It demands the cleansing blood
that takes away sin. In its desperation
the soul clutches at the cross, with its
atoning and redeeming love, as its only
hope.
Modernists' preaching finds its sufficiency in a scheme of things utterly outside
the hope of His appearing. To them it is
the fifth wheel of the gospel coach. Yet
in God's Word, it is set forth as undoubtedly the next great event in this earth's
history. An event so colossal, so revolutionizing in its consequences, so all-embracing, that its drastic effects no human
soul can possibly escape. Surely then, a
scheme of preaching which ignores such
a coming cataclysm; which ignores the
Son of God's repeated warnings to
"watch and be ready," is committing a
blunder of the utmost magnitude, the
December 8, 1952 :: SIGNS OF THE TIMES
consequences of which, to their hearers,
may end in appalling tragedy.
0 that men would heed the voice of
our God warning of that dread day soon
to come! "The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night . . . the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise . • .
the earth also . . . shall be burned up." 2
Peter 3 : 10.
I wakened one morning before the
dawn, and lifted up my heart to God in
prayer for souls in heathen darkness.
Suddenly God flashed before my eyes a
vision of souls perishing in a burning
sheet of flame. It impressed vividly the
terror of that coming day to the unsaved :
the urgent need to warn the unready.
O that the Lord's people would shake off
their lethargy and snatch souls from the
onrushing fires of judgment! In God's
name let us forget our nice feelings and
timid shrinkings, and plunge to the rescue as firemen in a burning building,
resolved at all cost to save some from
eternal destruction. The hour is approaching: opportunity is slipping fast
away: act now, or it may be for ever too
late!
HOW TO POSTPONE YOUR
FUNERAL
(Concluded from page 2)
snare whereby he hopes to deaden the
senses of a judgment-bound world.
Those who believe in the soon return
of Christ to this world will separate
themselves from every defiling practice.
Says the Apostle John, "Beloved, now
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be; but we know
that, when He shall appear, we shall be
like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
And every man that hath this hope in
him purifieth himself, even as He is
pure." 1 John 3: 2, 3.
A renowned drunkard who had failed
many times to break the liquor habit
heard the gospel story and received
Christ into his heart. The news spread
that now he was a transformed man.
One day he was stopped in the street and
a former drinking companion tauntingly
said, "I hear that you have the mastery
of the devil." "No," was the reply, "but
I have the Master of the devil."
In Christ there is provision for overcoming every sinful habit. "As many as
received Him, to them gave He power to
become the sons of God." "Thanks be
to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ." John
1 : 12 ; 1 Cor. 15:57.
Jesus proclaims to us, "I call heaven
and earth to record this day against you,
that I have set before you life and death,
blessing and cursing: therefore choose
life, that both thou and thy seed may
live: that thou mayest love the Lord thy
God, and that thou mayest obey His voice,
and that thou mayest cleave unto Him:
for He is thy life, and the length of thy
days." Deut. 30: 19, 20.
MARKS of SIN
SANFORD T. WHITMAN
H
E couldn't have been over twenty,
that day the men ate lunch under
the big walnut tree in the yard.
Twenty years old, and still a boy. Yet
the youthful lustre of his eyes was
strangely clouded, and on his face and in
his general manner were the unmistakable signs of disillusionment and cynicism. From his appearance, the men
building the new bridge across the South
Fork guessed that he was an ex-sailor,
battle-experienced and familiar with the
far places of earth. And such in truth
he was.
He had been something of an enigma
since he joined the bridge gang—quiet,
aloof, laconic, wise beyond his years.
But the time came, as it usually does in
such cases, when the men caught a
glimpse of the tragedy that was his life.
The weather had turned warm that
morning. First, the young man's gloves
came off. Then he unbuttoned his shirt
collar. Half an hour later, he rolled up
his sleeves. Finally, in a welter of sweat,
he took off his shirt. When he did that,
the men stopped and looked, and could
scarcely believe their eyes.
•
From his fingertips to his waist, the
young man's body was a crazy quilt of
garish, multicoloured tattoo pictures.
And such pictures as they were! A few
were patriotic. Two or three were
humorous—or were meant to be. The
others ranged from gruesome to hideous
and on down to shocking obscenity.
The old rancher who came out to chat
with the men eating lunch in his yard
was quick to notice the "picture boy," as
the workmen immediately dubbed him.
At once he was both curious and concerned, for plainly this was no ordinary
individual. He singled out the young
SIGNS OF THE TIMES :: December 8, 1952
cmv cpromide
H. G. DAVIS
A tiny shrub, dew-decked;
A sprightly breeze;
The sun's clear rays—these three,
And only these—
And lo, the fairest scene:
All gems and gold,
Rare diamonds, rubies red—
Oh, wealth untold!
A beckoning scene, God-given—
A promise-tree
Of heavenly glories bright
Reserved for me.
And now when sun has gone
And skies are grey,
Remembering that fair scene,
Hope lights my way.
man, won his confidence, and tactfully
brought the conversation around to the
tattoo marks.
"Don't ask me why I had 'em put on,"
the lad explained in a dreary monotone.
"I'd never do it again. I didn't know.
There was a war on and I was in it. Any
minute could have been my last. I never
had a home, and I didn't have anything to
come back to. A fellow does things when
he's with a bunch—things he wouldn't
do when he's alone."
The farmer was sympathetic. "Don't
they make it hard for you at times?"
The young man nodded without enthusiasm. "They get pretty embarrassing at times." He paused. Then without
realizing the impact of his words, he
added, "They always keep me on the outside, when the things I want are inside."
That was five years ago. But the old
farmer still remembers the "picture boy"
who once ate lunch in his yard. And he
still discerns deep spiritual meaning in
the pitifully marred body and hopeless
words of this misguided young man.
Not many of us bear the marks of the
tattooer's needles, but as much cannot be
said of the deeper and more deadly marks
of sin! The cuts, the bruises, the scars,
the sores and witherings and rotten places
of sin—how they cover us!
The fact of our sinfulness is all too evident and conclusive to require Scriptural
proof. But too often the possibility and
means of removal, of cure and cleansing
are unknown.
To all men everywhere the hands of
the great Sin Bearer are outstretched in
earnest entreaty. "Come now," He urges,
"and let us reason together : . . . though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as
white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa.
1: 18. "Come unto Me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest."
Are you tired of your load of sin? Are
you ashamed of its defacing scars? Then
come! Whoever you are, wherever you
are, whatever your sorrow, come to the
fountain and be cleansed. There is pardon in the blood of Christ. There will be
a welcome for you at your Father's house.
How can anyone refuse or delay
longer? The call of mercy is so beseeching!
"Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways; for why will ye die?" Eze. 33: 11.
"I have loved thee with an everlasting
love: therefore with lovingkindness have
I drawn thee." Jer. 31:3. "I, even I, am
He that blotteth out thy transgressions
for Mine own sake, and will not remember
thy sins. Put Me in remembrance: let us
plead together." Isa. 43: 25, 26.
Friend, won't you put Him in remembrance now, and know for yourself the
joy of lifting your eyes in eager welcome
to the dawn?
Page Five
THE "GIVING" XMAS
MYRTLE O'HARA
UESS what my mother did yesterday," Jill called excitedly to a
group of her classmates in the
school ground. One by one the children
had their guesses. "No, you are all
wrong," said Jill. "She put a deposit on
the most beautiful doll that she is going
to give me for a Christmas present."
"But Xmas won't be here for a long
time," mused Rae. "Oh, I know that, but
it will take mother a long tithe to pay for
it, as it is a very expensive doll. I wish
I had it now, I simply can't wait till
Xmas comes."
"You are a lucky girl, Jill," little Jean
said wistfully. "You have so many lovely
things to play with. My mother never
has any money to spare for toys. I don't
think I will get anything special this
Xmas." And the little girl looked very
sad indeed.
Then followed a discussion among the
children as to what they would like and
what they hoped to get for Xmas. They
were clustered in a group under the
office window, and were not aware that
Miss Martin, their teacher, was sitting at
her desk listening to all that they had to
say. She looked troubled as she noticed
that each child expected to get something,
but not one mentioned giving anything.
It so happened that in Miss Martin's
school there were several children whose
parents, she knew, could not afford to
buy Xmas presents. As she thought
about the matter, suddenly she had a
bright idea. Later in the day she told
the children all about it.
"Children," she began, "while I was
in the city yesterday I noticed that the
shop windows were full of lovely things
for Xmas. I thought of all the happy
little girls and boys who would receive
some of those toys, and then I could not
help thinking of all the little children
who would not be so happy, those who
had no one to buy presents fot them. I
thought of all the children in the orphanage, those who have no mothers and
fathers, and then I had an idea, and I
want you to help me carry it out. Would
you be willing to do what you can?"
"Why, yes, Miss Martin," the children
called in a chorus, "but how can we help?
What is it you want us to do?"
"Well," continued their teacher, "how
would you like to make this coming Xmas
a 'Giving' Xmas instead of a 'Getting'
Xmas?" However, the children did not
know just what she meant. "This is my
plan," she explained. "I am sure that
many of you have perfectly good toys and
G
Page Six
other things that you no longer value. If
you would bring them all along to school,
we could give them to the children who
live in the orphanage, and I am sure they
would just love them. There are lots of
things the girls in the sewing class could
make, and I think the boys in the woodwork class could help, too."
The children thought her suggestion
was a fine one, and they could not start
quickly enough on their collection. When
their parents heard aboLit it they also
caught the enthusiasm of the children.
Fathers mended toys, mothers sewed and
knitted, neighbours were asked to help,
and before long the special box at school
was more than full of gifts. Clothing out
of which the children had grown was
added to the other things.
At last Xmas time arrived. Miss Martin and the older children decorated the
school room, and on a huge Xmas tree
they hung all the presents, making sure
that all the children, especially the poorer
ones, got just the very thing they needed.
After that was done there were still lots
of things for the orphanage children.
And how happy everyone was as they
saw the delighted faces of the little ones
who were thus remembered.
They were all sure that never had there
been such a lovely Xmas, and all agreed
that a "Giving" Xmas was far nicer than
a "Getting" Xmas. In fact they determined that they would begin almost at
once working for the next Xmas, and so
make it better than ever.
Wouldn't you like to make Xmas this
year a "Giving" Xmas? Just try it and
see how you like it.
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus,
how He said, "It is more blessed to give
than to receive." Acts 20: 35.
am,
Faith Destroys
Fear
GRENVILLE KLEISER
HE best-loved things of life are the
T
familiar things. From the commonplace we often derive a sense of peace
and contentment. The sunshine smiles serenely, sea and sky are clothed in beauty,
our friends prove true, and all is well.
But one day the steel-like hand of fear
grips us. Then we do well to think of what
the psalmist David said in like circumstances; "What time I am afraid, I will
trust in Thee."
Faith is the soul's great venture. It trusts
what it cannot clearly see but profoundly
believes. Faith lights the way through the
darkest night. Faith elevates the soul,
purifies and strengthens the heart, and fortifies the will for courageous endeavour.
Society is built upon faith, upon confidence in one another's integrity. They can
conquer difficulty and discouragement who
believe they can. Faith imparts a wondrous
confidence to its possessor.
Faith is really another word for constancy,
and constancy is the complement of all
other human virtues. The secret of happiness is constancy of purpose.
Faith plays a vital part in our daily life.
We trust people on slender information. We
take a streamlined train without having any
knowledge of the engineer. We believe that
we will safely reach our destination.
Faith is not credulity. A fool can be
credulous and superficial, but faith requires
for its Noting and growth soil that is deep
and strong.
Faith is not simply a process of assumption, shiftlessly taking things for granted.
"Faith is . . . the evidence of things not
seen," a firm belief that ventures beyond the
frontier of ordinary vision, an exploring of
the hitherto unknown and seemingly inaccessible. Someone has said : "Faith has an
eagle's eye and a lion's heart; an eagle's
eye to discern the good, and a lion's heart
to ileet and conquer the evil."
Faith stimulates us to higher levels of
thought; creates for us a world too large
to be filled with the trifling interests and
commonplace incidents of life.
Faith has been extolled by our greatest
seers and divines. Hamilton Wright Mabie
says: "He who distrusts, holds back, and
fears, misses the great opportunity and loses
the noble achievement; he who trusts and
dares plucks the flower of victory out of the
very jaws of death."
Thus faith and courage are the only
safety; only those brave souls who possess
these character traits push resolutely through
storm and darkness and danger.
"S*4
BIBLE VERSION FOR TODAY
(Concluded from page 3)
beauty.' The new version makes it read,
`instead of beauty, shame.' " In Isa. 24: 4
what in the King James Bible is called
a "proverb" against the king of Babylon
becomes a "taunt."
"The most noteworthy point about this
find, however, is that it has led to so
few corrections."
This, we believe, is the most noteworthy
point about all revisions and the new
translations of the Word of God. The
greatest Bible scholars, working for
years, and examining thousands of manuscripts, need to make only minor changes.
The great Bible truths of salvation and
redemption shine out clearly and unmistakably.
Through the centuries and millenniums
of time, God has preserved His Word from
corruption. We welcome this new version, designed to make the meaning of
God's Book crystal clear, in living
M. M. H.
English.
December 8,1952 :: SIGNS OF THE TIMES
of horse meat—p fectly legal in
England—average weekly sales in the "tight
little, right little isle" of £350,000.
10' SALES
grateful to science, are
now finding happy homes in TV sets, according to Popular Science magazine. Basking in the tubes' warmth, they dine on glue
in the cabinet. Dispossessing them calls for
an expert and not a home spray job, the
National Pest Control Association warns.
bi COCKROACHES,
Ito GERMANY'S fast-rising steel output helped
the country's car "makers turn out 372,000
vehicles last year, twenty-two per cent more
than in 1950, reports the Wall Street
Journal. Exports rose still more steeply—a
sharp fifty per cent over the 83,000 of 1950.
Best customers were Sweden and Belgium.
They took almost a third of the 120,000 cars
exported last year.
design and the machine age still
have not replaced the old-fashioned broom
as the most popular piece of cleansing equipmeant in the farm home. Miss Helen C.
Potter, University of California housing research specialist, reports that of the 2,639
homemakers who answered a questionnaire
on the frequency of the use of cleaning
equipment, 2,069 use the broom daily in
their work about the house, and 282 use the
vacuum cleaner.
11" MODERN
00 THAT alcoholism has many causes but no
cure was emphasized recently at the sixth
annual meeting of the National Committee
on Alcoholism, Inc., in New York City. Dr.
Harold W. Lovell, psychiatrist, reviewed
current medical belief about alcoholism.
Patients can be assisted in their efforts to
stop drinking, but they cannot be "cured,"
he said. "Alcoholism is a progressive degenerative disease, much as are cancer or
heart disease," he said. He declared that
clergymen who regularly use alcoholic wines
in rites are more apt to become alcoholics
than those who use non-alcoholic liquids.
comes from Copenhagen, Denmark, that archaeologists have unearthed
from a Danish peat bog the almost perfectly
preserved body of a red-haired youth believed to have been hanged as a sacrifice to
the goddess of fertility two thousand years
ago. Scientists from the Prehistoric Museum
of Aarhus, Jutland, believe this to be true.
Tannic acid in the earth changed the man's
skin to perfectly preserved leather. The
muscles were not petrified, and even the
reddish stubble of his beard was intact. Dirt
could be discerned under his fingernails.
b' NEWS
O. AN English company, Morcream Ltd.,
reports the London correspondent of the
Wall Street Journal, has developed a technique for making ice-cream with such added
ingredients as creme de menthe, brandy, and
rum. But local officials won't give the firm
the "wine and spirits licence" needed to
market it. Magistrates don't mind adults
lapping up the spiked sweet, but shudder at
the thought of the kiddies stopping at milk
bars on the way home from school to get
"one for the road."
•••
•••s•
R. PAVITT BROWN
MARIAN M. HAY
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11.' ONLY
We never send out papers that have not been
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SIGNS PUBLISHING CO. (A.C.A. Ltd. Props.)
Warburton, Victoria, Australia
and registered as a newspaper in Victoria.
Vatican radio station, inaugurated
twenty-one years ago by Pope Pius XI, has
doubled the power of its transmitter, from
twenty-five to fifty kilowatts.
W. THE
10 A LABORATORY model of a new type wristwatch powered by a tiny "energy capsule"
was shown publicly for the first time recently
at the Elgin National Watch Company in
Chicago. Said to be one of the major innovations in watchmaking in several hundred
years,_ the new power unit eliminates the
need for the mainspring mechanism found
in conventional-type watches. The unit, designed to produce energy for a year, is about
three-quarters the size of an ordinary vitamin capsule.
Editor:
Associate Editor:
seven per cent of the world's population live in the United States, yet they
receive forty-two per cent of the world's
income.
11. VANILLA
Printed and published by
• 4. • •„.D.•
Wherever the digestion is
impaired or weakened, a little
MARMITE Vegetable Extract
dissolved in hot water makes a
richly sustaining, highly appetising broth. Recognised as
a particularly rich source of
Vitamin B1*, this famous product sharpens the appetite,
tones the nerves, and helps to
build up the system in a way
that few other foods can equal.
Serve also mixed with butter
as a grand spread for school or
sick-room sandwiches. Even a
little, remember, does a wonderful lot of good! Obtainable
from good grocers everywhere.
MARMITE
VEGETABLE EXTRACT
AA
tb.410
SIGNS OF THE TIMES :: December 8, 1952
Page Seven
Blossoms
of the
Heart
VIRGINIA MURRAY
E SAW IT THERE at our feet, a tiny rosebush hardly
six inches high, loaded with pink blooms and the
sweet buds that always give promise of continued
beauty. My companion picked several blossoms and,
smiling pinned them in my hair. She did not say
anything. She did not have to, for this was the language of the
heart. It was as if she had said, "You're a wonderful friend.
And whenever you see wild roses, I want you to remember how
much I love you and appreciate your friendship."
W
Since then, wild rose blooms remind me of people I love.
They are among the blossoms of my heart. With other flowers,
they call to my mind some of the beauties that are part of the
Christian's life.
I was exploring a bluff along the coast line one summer. Everywhere were pilings of stark black rock, as if some giant had stood
there decades before, shaving off arrowheads. In that place thrived
myriads of bluff lettuce plants, brilliant orange flames in chartreuse
holders, growing out of the slate rock. They reminded me of
God's people in a bleak world, people who are holding high the
golden flames of truth so that whole neighbourhoods are lighted
by their saintly doctrine and spiritual lives.
Then there was the year we lived in a cabin on the edge
of a clearing. One spring morning I noticed a white flower
a few yards from the doorstep. It was pure and simply designed
as only beauty will have it. It had been one of the first to come
out in the spring and was among the last to be seen in the
autumn. Its kind, I noticed, held up under the hail, the summer
heat, and autumn's blighting winds. Through the storms that
tried to beat it down, the blossom stood by, face turned up in
simple trust and sweetness.
"It's like the promise," I said, thinking of John 3: 16. "For
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Enshrined within the promise to Adam and Eve, it
was the first to appear in the world of sin, and it will be seen
Page Eight
to the last. Like the blossom, it is dependable and enduring.
Through the storms that threaten to strike us down to despair,
through the heat waves of our irritation, through the circumstances that try to blight our lives, the promise stands, telling
us that Jesus loves us, Jesus saves. It declares that in walking with
the Son of God there is no despair; that in planning with
Him there is no ruination of plans or character; that in living
with Him there is no anger or oppression. It declares that God
the Father is the founder of love and freedom from sin; that
Christ the Son is the builder of beautiful thoughts and lives to
all who accept His sacrifice. The blossom and the promise are
both alike to me.
And there was the time I was sick. Someone brought a flower
into the room. It seemed to transform the very spirit of the place.
It radiated fragrance and happiness and was always seeking more
light. In all the time I was there, it did not droop or say a
cross word to me, but remained its gay and charming self. Often
it would seem to smile and nod as it caught the breeze coming
through the window.
"Feel the cooling air," it would seem to say. "God has sent
it to heal you. Breathe it deeply. See the afternoon sun streaming
through that cloud? How warm and inspiring are its rays! And
have you noticed my pretty yellow dress? It is my heavenly Father
who clothes me in this petal-soft beauty. He shines in all that's
fair, and if you will look to Him for love and inspiration, He will
shine in you, too."
Through that flower God spoke to me of the beauty of the
characters He has ennobled and perfected. Considering again
that messenger of bright joy, I have thought, "Who would not
be willing to exchange his present thoughts for the fragrance and
purity illustrated in the flowers? What person would not gladly
shed the burden of his morose and moody ways to be clothed in
the personality of Christ, who is chief among ten thousand? And,
learning of the loveliness of Jesus as taught in the flowers, who
would not gladly bow his head and say, "Help me, Lord, to
find the beauties of the Christian life, the blossoms of the heart"?
December 8, 1952 :: SIGNS OF THE TIMES