THE RELIEF OF THE SCHOOLS: ROLLING BACK THE REPROACH.
By P. T. Magan
We are now set for the relief of our schools. We are set to do this because it is right. We are, furthermore, set to do this because the doing of it is a vital part of the Third Angel’s Message itself. All who take a part in relieving these schools of their debts are telling to the world that the message of the third angel is a living thing in them. They are showing to the world a practical manifestation of its work in them. They are proclaiming, in a manner that compels the Gentiles to believe it, that when the Third Angel’s Message shall be withdrawn from the earth, and shall leave for heaven, these people expect to be withdrawn at the same time, and to leave with it. In the Testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy, which tells us to relieve the schools, it is written: “ONLY IN THIS WAY CAN BE ROLLED BACK THE REPROACH WHICH HAS COME UPON OUR SCHOOLS ALL OVER THE LAND.” We are all familiar with that word “reproach.” We have read it somewhere before. Let us read it again: “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to REPROACH, that the heathen should rule [“use a byword against them,” margin] over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?” Joel 2:15–17. And now the Testimony comes, saying that these debts are a reproach, and that we are to roll them away. Very good; let all the people say Amen, and let us do it. So it is, then, that the Bible speaks of a reproach, and tells us to pray that we be not given to reproach, that the heathen should “use a byword against” us. The debts upon our institutions have made us to be a reproach, and have caused the heathen to use a byword against us. I know this to be an actual fact. I know that leading financiers in the United States have lost confidence in Seventh-day Adventists because of these debts. I know that leading financiers have refused to help support our work by temporary loans, “because,” said they, “your people do not support your work with gifts as they used to.” This has been said by the world. It has also been said by the Testimony. “God’s people are on trial before the heavenly universe; but the scantiness of their gifts and offerings . . . mark them as unfaithful stewards. . . . The world knows, and they know, that they have to a great degree lost the spirit of self-denial. . . . God calls for free-will offerings from those whose hearts are in the work. . . . Satan is seeking to secure means that he may bind it up. . . . Shall we be ignorant of his devices? Shall we allow him to stupefy our senses, so that we shall not discern the needs of this time?” But God is calling upon us to pay off these debts, to roll back this reproach, and to put ourselves straight before the world. This is good, and I am glad of it, because it reveals the fact that, with all our faults and failings, God has not lost confidence in us yet. God still believes that we will set his institutions free, and thus prove the sincerity of our love to him. Here are the names of contributors and pledge-makers. Next week watch the swelling of the list—and help swell it:— W. O. Palmer........................................$1,000 00
G. A. Irwin..............................................100 00
Russell Hart.............................................100 00
Frederick Griggs..........................................50 00
H. W. Cottrell............................................50 00
J. N. Loughborough.......................................50 00
J. L. Locke................................................20 00
J. L. Whitney..............................................50 00
Lloyd Manful..............................................50 00
Mary Lamont...............................................50 00
Ella M. Nesmith............................................50 00
W. H. Gilmore.............................................50 00
W. T. Knox................................................50 00
C. A. Rood.................................................20 00
Greenville Holbrook........................................50 00
Alex Patton.................................................50 00
A friend of the truth, Ont................................100 00 Send money to A. G. Adams, care Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich.