Editorial Letter by W. W. P.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 25, 1907

Editorial Letter

By W. W. P.

Jottings from the Editor's Note-Book

HELSINGFORS, the capital of Finland, where our annual meeting for that country was held, is a city of about one hundred and fifteen thousand inhabitants, about equally divided between Finns and Swedes. It is located on the south coast, and is the center of shipping and trade. Its principal business streets present about the same general appearance as do those of the large cities of Europe, and there are some very attractive public parks. There is a good system of electric trams, and the cheapest cab service which I have found in any part of the world. For one half of a Finnish mark (ten cents in American money) one person can ride to almost any part of the city, and as a natural result the people use the cabs freely. Even the laundry women use a cab to convey their baskets of clothes from place to place. The most of the horses are harnessed in Russian style, with the shafts directly connected to the collar, instead of using traces, and a high wooden yoke passing up over the foreshoulders of the horse is attached to the shafts where they are connected with the collar. These outfits correspond exactly to the pictures which I had seen of Russian conveyances.

Finland is a mission field under the direction of the Scandinavian Union Conference, and there are about one hundred believers in this territory, nearly all of whom are Swedes, as the work has thus far been largely conducted in the Swedish language. There are, however, some Finns who have received the truth, and others who are interested, and what we said in English was translated into both Swedish and Finnish. About seventy-five of our own people came to this meeting, and there was some attendance on the part of those in the city who were interested. On Sunday meetings were held in one of the principal halls of the city with a fair attendance.

In the instruction which I gave at this meeting I tried to present the gospel message for this time as a personal experience. When the third angel's message is received merely as a creed, it brings no more power to save from sin than does any other creed, and there is the same danger of formalism that there has ever been. This message is designed to gather out a people from every nation, and to give to them a special experience as a preparation for the coming of the Lord. The understanding of the sanctuary and its services, which came after the disappointment of 1844, threw a light upon the past, the present, and the future, and gave the right direction to this advent movement. It is the understanding of this subject and the experience which comes through it which will keep this people on the right path to the heavenly city, and it is therefore most important that this great truth should be clearly presented to all the people. “The third angel closes his message thus: ‘Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ As he repeated these words, he pointed to the heavenly sanctuary. The minds of all who embrace this message are directed to the most holy place, where Jesus stands before the ark, making his final intercession for all those for whom mercy still lingers, and for those who have ignorantly broken the law of God. . . . Many saw the perfect chain of truth in the angels' messages, and gladly received them in their order, and followed Jesus by faith into the heavenly sanctuary. These messages were represented to me as an anchor to the people of God. Those who understand and receive them, will be kept from being swept away by the many delusions of Satan.”—Early Writings, pages 117, 119.

Several were baptized during this meeting, and plans were laid for the more rapid advancement of the work, especially among the Finnish people.

We left Helsingfors the next morning after the close of the meeting, and went directly to the Swedish meeting which was held at Södertelje, a town of about ten thousand inhabitants near Stockholm. A tent had been pitched in which the public services were held, and the people were cared for in rooms secured in the town. About two hundred of our own people attended this meeting, but the attendance from the town was very small. This was doubtless due in part to the weather, as it rained every day, and it was rather cold for a tent-meeting.

Here again I dwelt upon the plain truths of this message, and endeavored to help all to see and avail themselves of the provision which has been made to enable us to meet the requirements of God and to stand complete in Christ. This led us to a study of the gospel of creation, and to the place which Christ occupies as Head of creation and Head of the church, and to his ministry by virtue of which that creative power works in the believer to reveal the character of God as manifested in the keeping of all the commandments. Through sin man ceased to be the temple of God, and lost the power to obey God's law, but in the gift of Christ to take the flesh to work out righteousness in the flesh, and as High Priest to minister that righteousness to all believers by the ministry of the Spirit, the power of his endless life, man may be restored to become again the temple of God, and to reveal the righteous character of his Creator. These wonderful truths presented from day to day brought light and courage into the hearts of our people, and seemed to give them a new experience. I find that the believers in all lands need just such help as this, and that they respond to the simple and plain presentation of

the vital truths of this message in the very setting which the Lord has given to them, and I see more clearly than ever the need of just such a message as this to be preached “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”

At the time of the Norway conference it was arranged that after I had attended the other meetings, I should spend a few days at the sanitarium at Skodsborg, Denmark, and I accordingly came directly to this place after the close of the meeting in Sweden. I have now held two meetings with the helpers, and have given a talk on Japan and Korea to both patients and helpers. An appointment has been made for me in Copenhagen for next Sabbath, and on Sunday I shall return to Hamburg. I expect to attend the general meeting of the German Union Conference at Friedensau, and after that the general meeting of the British Union Conference in England, before returning to America. I am hoping that these meetings will be occasions of special blessing to the work in these great fields. W. W. P.