Article April 3, 1909 Issue

"REMEMBER NOW THY CREATOR."

RICHARD P. VERRALL.

After having reached the conclusion that human existence was but "vanity and vexation of spirit," the wise Preacher of Israel thus earnestly addressed the rising generation of his time: "Remember now thy Creator in the day of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; ... when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened." This vivid portrayal of matter's demise and the inevitable dissolution of the five physical senses, set forth in the body of the discourse, shows how important it is to commence, while there is yet time, to discover the true way of escape from this prison-house of matter.

In the congregation of Israel many of the fathers could no doubt remember how, in introducing the young king, David had said, "Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great: for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God:" and how, in his public thanksgiving for the prosperity of his own reign, he had declared: "Both riches and honor come of thee, and thou reignest over all; ... But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." The books of the Chronicles contain numerous other instances of the fidelity with which both David and Solomon remembered their creator in the days of their youth; yet, on account of their inability to conquer the flesh, both failed in later life to uphold the standard which each had set up.

When in the fulness of time "the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star," appeared in the form of the great Teacher and Healer, Jesus said, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work;" and again, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." And at the close of his victorious earthly career he triumphantly exclaimed: "I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with time own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." All through the period of his public ministry Jesus never once forgot that the power to heal and save which he exercised so freely was not his own but came forth from the Father. His appeal for a return of the glory which he had "before the world was," clearly indicates that Jesus had a foreknowledge of God upon which he never for an instant lost his mental grasp. Speaking of his disciples, he said, "They ... have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me."

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