WE are commanded to “desire spiritual gifts” (1 Corinthians 14:1), and to “covet earnestly the best gifts.” 1 Corinthians 12:31.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.1

These spiritual gifts are the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which are imparted by the Spirit to those who have received the Holy Ghost.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.2

The sole object of these gifts is the perfecting of the of the saints,—the bringing to perfection the believers in Jesus.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.3

Christian perfection is manifested in “charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” Colossians 3:14. Charity is the love of God; and “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” 1 John 5:3.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.4

So entirely is it true that charity is the sole object of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, that though I had the gift of tongues in such measure that I could “speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1. And charity is the love of God, and “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.5

So entirely is it true that charity is the sole object of the gifts of the Holy Ghost, that “though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” Verse 2.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.6

And charity is the love of God; and “this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.7

So entirely is it true that the sole object of the gifts of the Spirit is charity, that though I had these gifts in such measure that I were to “bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” Verse 3.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.8

And charity is the love of God; and “this is the love of God, that keep his commandments.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.9

Thus is it entirely true, and the evidence is overwhelming, that the keeping of the commandments of God is the sole object of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And thus it is demonstrated that the keeping of the commandments of God is the greatest gift that can possibly be bestowed upon men.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.10

Do you desire to keep the commandments of God? If you do, then earnestly “desire spiritual gifts;” for without these you never can become a true keeper of the commandments of God.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.11

Do you desire really to deep the commandments of God? If you do, then freely “covet earnestly the best gifts;” for only by the gifts of the Spirit can you ever be really a keeper of the commandments.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.12

“Ask, and it shall be given you.” “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” “Be filled with the Spirit.” “Covet earnestly the best gifts.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.13

“Hebrews 3” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 43, p. 682.

IN exhorting us, in Hebrews 3, to consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, in his faithfulness, the Lord presents for our consideration an additional example of faithfulness, and also a notable example of unfaithfulness.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.1

Christ “was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.2

Yet Christ “was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house.” That is, Christ built the house in which Moses was faithful. Therefore, although it is true that Moses was faithful, he was faithful in another person’s house, while Christ was faithful in his own house. Christ was faithful as a master; Moses was faithful as a servant.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.3

For “Moses verily was faithful in all his [Christ’s] house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ [was faithful] as a son, over his own house; whose house are WE, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.4

Therefore, as Moses was faithful in the Lord’s house, which is his church, so can we be. As Moses was faithful as a servant, so can we be. Yea, more, as Christ was faithful as a son, so can we be; for “behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” 1 John 3:1. So, whether we are in the position of servants or of sons, God has made it certain that we can be faithful. Thank the Lord!ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.5

Next there is presented by the Spirit for our instruction a great and notable example of unfaithfulness: “As the Holy Ghost saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.6

“Wherefore, take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of your be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.7

“For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; while it is said, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.8

To-day is the time to be faithful, not to-morrow; for in truth there is no to-morrow. To-day is all we ever have. Therefore, to-day is the time, and the only time, in which we can possibly be faithful.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.9

Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. “To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.10

God works from the inside, not from the outside, of man.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.11

“The Field of Mental Science” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 43, pp. 682, 683.

AS mental is mind, mental science is the science of the mind. And as science is knowledge, then the science of the mind is the knowledge of the mind.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.1

Knowledge of the mind must consist of a knowledge of the characteristics, operations, and phenomena of the mind.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.2

Human science of the mind would consist of a knowledge of the characteristics, operations, and phenomena of the human mind.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.3

Divine science of the mind would consist of a knowledge of the characteristics, operations, and phenomena of the divine mind.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.4

Now which of these fields of mental science—the human or the divine—presents the fairest prospect for profitable study?ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.5

With anybody who believes that there is a divine mind, and that it is in any wise accessible to the investigation of man, can there be any possible ground of comparison between the human and the divine as a field of profitable study?ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.6

Is it not perfectly plain that as certainly as there is a divine mind, and that mind is in any way accessible to investigation by man, so certainly the science of that mind presents a field as much more promising than doest the human as the divine is above the human?ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.7

When one who believes that there is a divine mind, and that it is accessible to investigation by man, makes the human mind the field of his study in mental science, he thereby puts the human in the place of the divine, places it practically above the divine, and so shows that his professed belief in the divine is but a mere assent, having no weight, and being without effect, in his life.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.8

“But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you.” Hebrews 6:9. There is a divine mind. This divine mind is open to the study of man. Man is invited and welcomed to investigate the nature and operations of this divine mind.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.9

The operations of mind, whether divine or human, are solely through thought. And, primarily, thought is expressed in the divine word. And in the expression of the divine thought, as in no other, words are indeed things. For “in the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), and “the worlds were framed by the word of God” (Hebrews 11:3); “for he spake, and it was.” Psalm 33:9.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.10

As it was by the word of the Lord that all things were made that are, and as word is the expression of thought, it is plain that all things that are, are but the different forms of the expression of the thought of God. Even so says the Scripture: “Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.” Psalm 92:4, 5.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.11

It therefore follows that the proper method of the study of all things that are, is to study them as expressions of the thought of God, and to discover what the thought is that is so expressed. This is but the study, obtaining the knowledge, of the divine mind; and this, in itself, is divine mental science. Thus all creation is a field of mental science; and all nature-study, properly understood, is the study of the science of the divine mind.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 682.12

Yet this field of all creation, wonderful as it is, is not all of this great field of mental science. There is another, even more wonderful: “The Lord thinketh upon me.” Psalm 40:17. And, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil.” Jeremiah 29:11. These thoughts are his thoughts of salvation to sinners, the redemption of the lost, and are expressed in the word of his salvation, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For this gospel is the revelation of “the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 683.1

These thoughts of God, involved in his eternal purpose, and expressed in his word of the gospel, are the chief science of the heavenly intelligences. For the preaching of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” is to “make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by [through, by means of] the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Ephesians 3:8-11.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 683.2

And when this is preached “with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,” “the angels desire,” with intense interest, “to look into” it, that they may behold the manifold wisdom revealed in the operation of the divine mind in working out that eternal purpose. 1 Peter 1:12.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 683.3

Here, then, are two infinite fields of the science of the divine mind, opened to the investigation of man. And both center in Jesus Christ; for in both, all the phenomena are the expressions of the thought of the divine mind; and as thought is expressed in word, and Jesus Christ is the Word of God, so, whether in creation or in redemption, Jesus Christ, being the Word of God, is the expression of the thought of God. And as Jesus Christ is the expression of the thought of God in these two wonderful fields of the operation of the divine mind, it is perfectly plain that without him the thoughts expressed in these fields can not be understood.ARSH October 25, 1898, page 683.4

In view of these things, is it not perfectly plain, and easily understood, why “Jesus brought into his teaching none of the science of men”? why “his majesty could not mingle with human science”? why “the topic of human science never escaped his lips?” and why it is that “human science will disconnect from the great Source of all wisdom in a day”?ARSH October 25, 1898, page 683.5

And when men leave this wonderful double field of the science of the divine mind, and spend their time and effort in the dark and narrow field of the operation of the human mind, which is enmity against God, is it not true that they have left the beautiful waters of the snow of Lebanon, which come from the Rock of the field, for “the murky waters of the valley”? yea, that the have turned to “common sewers”? And when that is done, can there be any wonder that “the result” is “parched hearts in the school and in the church”?ARSH October 25, 1898, page 683.6

Shall not our schools, then, teach as mental science only the science of the divine mind?ARSH October 25, 1898, page 683.7

“Evil thinking, impure thinking, is the trail of the serpent through our lives.”ARSH October 25, 1898, page 683.8

October 18, 1898

November 1, 1898