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Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 3.

Hadst Thou Been Here

Review and Herald

Jan 14, 1915

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 14, 1915

Hadst Thou Been Here

By Almetta M. Jackson.

✦ ✦ ✦
“Hadst Thou been here,” O wail of human woe, Wrung from sore, stricken hearts and sadly tried At His approach whose coming seemed in vain, “Hadst Thou been here,” my brother had not died.
Long years have come and gone, but as we gaze On homes bereft of loved ones near and dear, The cry which rose from Bethany’s humble cot Now trembles on our lips—“Hadst Thou been here.”
“Hadst Thou been here,” for at Thy mighty word, Back flows life’s swiftly ebbing tide; Thy presence is the dread invader’s doom, “Hadst Thou been here,” my brother had not died.
“Hadst Thou been here,” O tender, pitying Christ, To shield us in temptation’s trying hour, We should not now have been so nearly wrecked— Our weakness shelter in Thy mighty power.
O Thou at whose approach death’s shadows flee, Haste Thy return, for every scalding tear Will then be wiped away, and pain shall cease, And death give place to life when Thou art here.
—Almetta M. Jackson.

MAKING the HYGIENIC MENU ATTRACTIVE YET INEXPENSIVE A SYMPOSIUM

By George E. Cornforth

HOW TO MAKE THE MENU MORE ATTRACTIVE YET INEXPENSIVE

George E. Cornforth
The first thing needful is to become more capable in the preparation of wholesome, palatable food—to acquire greater skill in preparing the common dishes so that they will taste better. This skill can be acquired by studying the instruction given in a good cookbook of healthful cookery, and in LIFE AND HEALTH, and by practicing according to that instruction, trying every time a dish is prepared to make it better than ever before.
To make meals more wholesome means economy, because it means better health, and better health means greater efficiency for work, less loss of time from work, and less paid out for doctors' bills. “The greatest economy is health.”
Meat is the most expensive part of the average bill of fare. More nourishment can be bought for a given sum when buying nonflesh foods than when buying meat. “From one fourth to one half the money spent for food goes to the butcher and usually the smaller the income the larger the proportion spent for meat.” Therefore the menu may be made less expensive by omitting the meat, and seems to us who are vegetarians that is more attractive, too, not to have a portion of a carcass on the table. And we believe it has been pretty conclusively proven that better health is possible without meat than with it. Therefore to do without meat means economy on that score. Ways of preparing attractive meals which require no meat have been described in LIFE AND HEALTH.
Adopting a nonflesh bill of fare will mean economy also in the expense for fat foods, and the nonflesh foods of this class are more wholesome—economy again from a health standpoint. Butter is an expensive article of diet, especially in cities where the best butter retails for about forty cents a pound, or perhaps more than that. Vegetable cooking oil

A Taste of One of Five Up-to-Date Articles Upon the Above Subject, Found in the January “Life and Health”

How much depends upon the condition of a man's stomach! One meets cranky, sour-faced, irritable DYSPEPTICS at almost every turn. Walk right up to such people and offer them the January number of Life and Health. It will tell them about GOOD FOOD COMBINATIONS—the best things from FIVE EXPERTS. And don't forget to mention “For the Mother,” a new department telling of “Uncomfortable Babies—Why?” “Whims of the Child;” “Artificial Foods for Baby;” “Faulty Feeding in Infancy;” etc. “The Consultation Room” is another new department. See “Foot-and-Mouth Disease,” “Prevention of Tuberculosis,” “Can Consumption Be Cured?” and FORTY-SIX OTHER articles in this PRACTICAL NUMBER. Send $1.00 for 20 or $2.00 for 50 copies TODAY. Sample copy, 10 cents. Postage stamps accepted.

THE WORK AND THE WORKERS

HURRY up your order for the January Life and Health. The edition is nearly all sold.
A RAILROAD man in Columbus, Ohio, sends $3.60 for six yearly subscriptions for the Protestant Magazine.
THE wife of a South Dakota police justice of the peace sends $1.00 for a 1915 subscription for the Protestant Magazine.
“SHORTY,” the news agent at the entrance to the U. S. Treasury, Washington, D. C., reports a brisk sale of the Protestant Magazine from month to month.
TELEGRAPH and other RUSH orders are still being received for the January Life and Health and the current number of Liberty. Send $1.00 for 20 or $2.00 for 50 copies of either magazine.
ELDER E. L. CARDEY, religious liberty secretary of the Greater New York Conference, writes that its executive committee has voted to send the current number of Liberty to 500 judges and attorneys in that conference.
A NEW YORK lady agent for Life and Health wires as follows: “Kindly rush 400 January Life and Health to Syracuse, also 300 to Utica. Want them by Monday, January 4.” Have you seen this number? Hurry in your order. A good seller!
READ what Senator Perkins of California, Judge Simmons of Tennessee, Senator Works of California, and Senator Clapp of Minnesota have to say of our religious liberty principles and of Liberty magazine. See the current issue of Liberty.
WHY not pick out the names of ten of your friends, near you or far away, and ask us to mail to them one copy each of the December and the January Protestant Magazine. Send $1.00 for the 20 magazines. We will do the work. Write your tract society today.
REV. RANDOLPH H. MCKIM, rector of the Church of the Epiphany, Washington, D. C., writes his approval of the “Protestant Catechism” feature of the January Protestant Magazine. He says: “I have read the ‘Catechism’ in the Protestant Magazine with great interest and with strong approval. It is admirably done. Wishing you and the Protestant Magazine a prosperous New Year, I am.” Letter dated Jan. 2, 1915.
THE District of Columbia Conference has decided to unite with the North American Division Religious Liberty Department in circulating 900 copies of Liberty each quarter among the United States Senators, Representatives, and other molders of public opinion at the capital of our nation. If you wish to help in this good work, it will cost you only $1.00 to send Liberty to FIVE of these persons of influence for one year. Send the order to your tract society. We will furnish the names of legislators, public-school teachers, attorneys, judges, as you may prefer.
A PROMINENT wholesale merchant of Albany, N. Y., writes: “I have had several discussions with Roman Catholic friends, and have invariably ‘knocked the bottom’ out of their arguments with facts taken from your excellent Protestant Magazine. Have read a number of anti-Catholic magazines, but have never found any that treats the subjects in as dignified a manner as do you.”
Rev. WALLACE RADCLIFFE, pastor New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D. C., writes thus of “A Protestant Catechism,” found in the January Protestant Magazine: “I want to express to you my thorough appreciation and enjoyment of your ‘Catechism.’ It promises admirably, and will be a very instructive and efficient agent in our work.” Letter dated Jan. 5, 1915.

Economical and Wholesome Foods

Wholesome and acceptable substitutes may be used in place of some of the more expensive foods, as, for instance, meat, butter, and maple sirup.
The “staff of life” is the cheapest of foods. The thrifty housewife will provide a large variety of breads, and will prepare some of the expensive articles in the form of toasts.
The old-fashioned vegetables are economical, and the cook should know a variety of wholesome ways of preparing them.
—The use of some of the dried fruits—prunes, raisins, apples, apricots, pears—to replace in part the fresh fruit, may add variety and cut the cost.
Avoid monotony by having a large variety of foods, and preparing them in unaccustomed ways; but do not have a large variety at one meal.
Give attention to the service, the linen, silverware, dishes, flowers. Garnishes. Music.

The Gospel Call

By W. LETTERMAN SMITH

W. LETTERMAN SMITH
“UNTO you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man.” Prov. 8: 4. It is the voice of Wisdom, even of Jesus the Christ, who is the incarnate wisdom of God. And he is calling unto you.

To Salvation

“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3: 23. There is no exception. Sin is a dreadful fact and a universal experience. Salvation, therefore, is the soul’s greatest and most pressing need. Salvation is of the Lord, and of the Lord only; for there is “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2: 5),—one, and only one. Hence the call to salvation is a call to Jesus Christ. With confession of sin, in penitence and faith, come just now to him, and he will receive, pardon, cleanse, and save you with an everlasting salvation.
Come now. The gospel has only one time—now. Burning earnestness knows no other time. It knows no tomorrow. God never looks with pity on the sin, and never without pity on the sinner. Misery is the recipient of mercy. The miserable condition of the sinner commends him to the merciful Christ. The only refuge from God, the consuming fire, is in God, the merciful Saviour. Run unto him and be safe.
Great sinners may become great saints through the grace and power of Christ. The question is not, How do you feel? but, Where are you standing? Are you on the Rock? The Rock will not change, the climate will. Christ does not change, feelings do. Are you resting on feeling or on Christ? Plant your feet upon the unchanging Rock, Christ Jesus, that you may endure forever.
Men have tried many devices to save themselves. Perhaps you, too, have been trying in some way to save yourself from sin, from its tremendous power and terrible consequences, but all in vain. Strive no longer. Yield yourself to Jesus Christ, who alone can save. Heed the call, and come now to Jesus Christ for salvation.

To the Gospel Feast

The table of God’s love is spread with sweet, wholesome, satisfying refreshment for hungry souls. Pardon, peace, joy, hope, true and lasting pleasures, the bread of life, the water of life,—these rich blessings, purchased at the infinite cost of the tears, the agony, the blood, the death of the Son of God, are now freely offered to you “without money and without price.” Isa. 55: 1-3. “Come; for all things are now ready.” Luke 14: 15-24. It is the gracious invitation of the Master of the feast, the Lord Jesus, to you.
The door is now wide open, the table is spread, the guests are assembling, the spotless robe of Christ’s perfect righteousness is ready for you, and the Master of the feast awaits your coming. Thousands are hurrying in. Press in with the throng. Delay not, lest the Lord of the feast rise up and close the door against you, and you be left outside to perish eternally.

To Confession

Perhaps you have already accepted the great salvation, and have come to the gospel feast. If so, then your Saviour would have you confess him before men; and this you can do in three ways: (1) By uniting with his church, coming into fellowship and service with his people; (2) by speaking for Christ; (3) by a consistent Christian life. And so Jesus, your Saviour, would have you an open, confessed follower of his, and not a secret disciple.
Does anything keep you from publicly confessing the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, can it be fear that restrains you? But is it not better to fear the displeasure of the Lord than the sneer, the scorn, the ridicule, or even the more serious persecution, of men? Can it be shame that holds you back? But have you any reason to be ashamed of him who sums up in himself all the excellencies of earth and of heaven; of him who was the manliest of men, the perfection of manhood, the flower of humanity, the perfect One? O, surely not! Then will you not come out boldly for him, take your stand openly on his side, and by his grace witness a good confession before men?

To Holiness

The call to holiness is a call to the development of the Christian virtues, to the cultivation and perfection of the fruit of the Spirit, and to the growth of character and life into the likeness of the perfect character and life of Jesus Christ. Saved from your sins, this is now the great work to which you are called.
Penitence is better than sin, but innocence is better than penitence. “Keep thyself pure.” There are those who will do anything for the religion of Christ—write for it, fight for it, die for it, anything but live for it. God may not want you to die for him, but he does want you to live for him. Man asks, Are you fit to die? God asks, Are you fit to live?
In order to attain holiness there must be, (1) Renunciation of all sin; (2) separation from the world; (3) surrender of the whole self—body, soul, and spirit—unto the Lord.
“Be ye holy.” 1 Peter 1: 15, 16. This is now God’s call to you. Will you not hear and heed, be filled with the Spirit, live a life of faith in the Son of God, and so make your life a power for good in the world?

To Consecration of Substance

Having given yourself unto the Lord, you are called upon to consecrate unto him all that you possess.
You cannot serve God and Mammon, but you may and should serve God with the mammon; that is, take the money, talents, and worldly advantages with which God has endowed you, be they little ormuch, and dedicate them all to Jesus Christ, and use them in his service and for his glory.
Many, like the rich man of the parable, have much goods laid up for many years, but no goods laid up for eternity. He is poor indeed who has nothing but money. It is better to be rich in character, rich toward God, than rich in silver and gold.
If you keep back part of those things with which God has intrusted you, he will keep back the whole of the blessing. Our little, apart from Jesus, is little still; our little, with Jesus to bless and multiply, becomes much. Be not like Ananias and Sapphira, who kept back part; but give your all unto the Lord, as did the poor widow, who cast her all, even all her living, into the treasury of the Lord, and received the commendation and blessing of the Master.

To Service

Are you saved? If so, God had a greater purpose in saving you than your own salvation merely. It was his purpose that you might serve,—serve God and your fellow men. To desire only to be served is the spirit of the devil. He wants to be served. To serve is the spirit of Christ. He wants to serve.
How can those who have done nothing for God and their fellow men rest from their labors and have their works follow them? They have performed no labor to rest from, and have started no good works to follow them.
Live for God and work for God, and so serve him. Do good unto men, and so serve them. And what better service can you render unto your fellows than pointing them to the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1: 29), and helping them on to higher, nobler, better living?
The world calls great those who are served; God calls great those who serve. Will you be of those who serve?

To the Marriage Supper of the Lamb

The Lamb’s wife, the church, is being made ready for the marriage supper to be celebrated in the Father’s house above. If you have obeyed the gospel call, you will be made welcome to this marriage feast.
The time is uncertain, known as yet only to the Lord himself, but you will be called in due time. Be always ready, therefore, with your lamp trimmed and burning. Watch, pray, wait, serve, so that when the Bridegroom comes you may enter in with him into the perfect peace and joy and bliss of the heavenly home, and there sit with him and with all the redeemed from among men at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Will you be there?

The Architect’s Plan

By Worthie Harris Holden

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN
HAIL the glad new year with hope and with cheer! Hasten to swiftly his mansion uprear,— Each month a story, and each hour a stone, Graven with thoughts thou must claim as thine own.
Twelve stories high, and embellished within,— Tablet inscriptions of triumphs o’er sin; Sculptures of art by the Master hand wrought, Themes which the angel host fain would have sought.
When soon the King of all glory descends, Palaces crash as earth trembles and rends, Still will thy structure continue for aye, Built for eternity each hour and day.
Portland, Oregon.

The True and the False Church

By Claude E. Holmes

CLAUDE E. HOLMES
CARDINAL GIBBONS, in his book “The Faith of Our Fathers,” which is now in its sixty-seventh edition, says that Christ was “pleased to stamp upon his church certain shining marks, by which every sincere inquirer could easily recognize her as his only spouse. The principal marks or characteristics of the true church are her unity, sanctity, catholicity, and apostolicity, to which may be added the infallibility of her teachings and the perpetuity of her existence.”—Page 21.
The claim of the cardinal seems to be a reasonable and an assuring proposition. It is an easy matter, he thinks, to pick out the church today which bears these characteristics.
A noticeable and important fact of history, found in both secular and sacred annals, is that false teachers have been prevalent at all times. The apostle John in his message to the seven churches, which cover chronologically the period from his day to the end, sends warning of those who claim to be apostles and are not (Rev. 2:2), of those who are of the synagogue (church) of Satan (verse 9), and of false prophets (verse 20).
There is extreme danger that one may be deceived. For that reason God, through the apostle Paul, described a great power that was to counterfeit the true church. It was to be a falling away from the church of Christ, and was to continue along with it through its entire experience.
This apostasy is foretold in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, and manifests itself as a power “who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thess. 2:4. This “mystery of iniquity” began in Paul’s day and is to continue until Christ’s second coming. So it must be in existence at the present time.
In the light of this prediction let us examine the cardinal’s rule. The pseudo-Christian church, by beginning in the apostle’s day and continuing intact until the second advent, bears the marks of apostolicity, unity, perpetuity, catholicity, etc. In fact, this false organization bears all the marks of the cardinal’s church. The cardinal says of indestructibility that “this fact alone stamps divinity on her brow.” If this is true, then divinity is stamped on the apostate church; for it is still in existence, and has been since Paul wrote. This argument proves too much in this case.
However, there is one of his marks that should be examined closer, that of “sanctity,” or “holiness,” as he terms it. The mystery of iniquity claims to be God, and therefore must of necessity assume holiness and infallibility, etc. But we wish further to test the Catholic Church on this point of holiness.
What is holiness? How can we distinguish a holy church from an unholy one. To be holy the church must keep holy that which God makes holy. In this particular the Catholic Church has made a great failure. It has ignored and made common that which God has made holy. Therefore it places itself outside the pale of the true church according to the cardinal’s own words, and unconsciously stamps itself as the mystery of iniquity. For there are but two churches, the true church of God and the apostate church. History knows no other organizations that bear these marks of antiquity, indestructibility, etc., but these two. If the Romish Church is not one, it is the other. If it is not the incarnation of the mystery of godliness, it is the mystery of iniquity. The writer believes it is the latter.
Now for the proof: The fourth commandment of the decalogue (Exodus 20) states plainly that we should “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” The specific day—the seventh—is then pointed out as the Sabbath, and directions are given for its observance.
By deliberately changing this institution established by the Creator, the Catholic Church brands itself as an unholy power. In attempting to excuse itself and support a counterfeit authority it places itself in a position that unquestionably reveals it as the mystery of iniquity.
Cardinal Gibbons says of the Pope:—“The Pope, therefore, be it known, is not the maker of the divine law; he is only its expounder. He is not the author of revelation, but only its interpreter. All revelation came from God alone through his inspired ministers, and it was complete in the beginning of the church. The Holy Father has no more authority than you or I to break one iota of the Scripture, and he is equally with us the servant of the divine law.”—Id., page 149.
If this is true, then the Pope is in a serious dilemma, for the cardinal further says: “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday.”—Pages 111, 112.
If the Pope can only interpret what is already in the Scriptures, and there is no authority in them for sanctifying Sunday, what is the Pope but a usurper and a deceiver when he sets aside the Bible Sabbath for the first day? God’s holy day is thus desecrated every week.
It may be argued that the church and not the Pope changed the day. From the viewpoint of Catholic writers there seems to be some question as to which of these two is the superior. However that may be, the Pope, as chief shepherd and protector of the church and its morals, is duty bound to correct the church in its digression from the plain revelation of God’s Word. In thus departing from the divine law the church should be reproved and corrected by the Pope, and brought back into obedience to the fourth commandment.
Recently a Catholic editor said, “He who contradicts God’s law clearly intimates his desire to set the Lawgiveraside.”—Pittsburgh Catholic, Oct. 8, 1914. That is exactly what the Catholic Church does in tampering with the law of God—it sets the Creator aside.
The Catholic Church bears all the marks of that apostate power which began in Paul’s day and continues until it shall be destroyed at Christ’s coming. Truly does a Catholic writer say, “The Catholic Church has not ‘had her day;’ her day will never come to an end until the world shall have come to an end.”—Short Answers, page 115. The true church does not come to an end when the Saviour returns, but really comes into its own.
The church of God, while it has various shining marks which the apostate church must of necessity bear, or it would not be a counterfeit, will above all things be obedient to the revealed will of God. His law will be respected and implicitly followed. It is on this vital point that the Catholic Church fails.
Takoma Park, D. C.

The Living Epistle

“‘If there is any better way to teach virtue than to practice it, I should like to know,’ says a keen and humorous thinker. The living epistle is still the one that never fails to be read, and to carry conviction with it.’”

Distinct Utterance

By WILLIAM COVERT

WILLIAM COVERT
In the days of Nehemiah a very successful gathering of the people was held, and a splendid work was done, because those in charge did their work well. The scribe who reported the meeting attributed the success of the occasion to the excellency of the reading. He says, “They read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” Neh. 8:8. Such reading as here reported is surely entitled to favorable mention in the Bible. It is said, “All the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.” It is true that the law condemned their conduct; but if the reading had not been distinct, the people would not have gathered the meaning.
The reader articulated distinctly, and spoke with sufficient force to be heard and to make his words understood. Whoever renders oral service of any kind in a public capacity owes it to those who listen to make himself understood. Let the voice be trained so that words will not be crowded together in a jumbled, indistinct way. Do not let the voice fall frequently, but keep it up so that each sentence will be full and complete.
The prophet, in giving instruction which would well apply to our lecture courses, said, “Make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” It should be so plain that a man who reads it may go on his way with no uncertainty; “he may run that readeth it.” The vocal organs were intended for improvement. Notice how the babe has to train and practice that he may learn the art of speaking; and the person who serves the public with his voice needs to train that he may do acceptable service.
Accent, quality, force, stress, emphasis, inflection, pitch, cadence, time, pronunciation, all belong in reading and speaking. These are well blended in proper vocal utterance. He that serves the people acceptably with his voice should be master of the art, for he is to operate on an instrument made by the Master of all that is true in the finest arts.

H. M. KELLEY

By H. M. KELLEY

The Faith of Jesus—No. 5

H. M. KELLEY

WHEN EVE “cast away truth” she surrendered herself to Satan. As it was then, so is it now; faith is the test of discipleship. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:14, 15, 18. Infinite love was first revealed to fallen man when a promise of the Saviour was given, and faith to believe that promise was restored to him. Faith that accepts Christ as the Saviour of the world is the greatest gift ever given to man.
The Lord, in speaking to the serpent, the representative of Satan, said, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Gen. 3:14, 15. The Seed is to bruise the serpent’s head. This is the first promise of a Saviour. The precious blood of the Son of God was promised to atone for the sins of the race. Faith in the efficacy of his blood will result in the cleansing of the heart from sin. “For by grace are ye saved through faith.” But before his blood can be applied, we must show our willingness to accept the atonement. This we do by believing on his name. But we cannot believe until unbelief is destroyed. So Jesus said, “Every plant, which my Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Unbelief is a foreign seed that was sown the day when Eve yielded to Satan, but faith was given to retard its growth, and will finally expel it from the heart if the individual is fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit.
“When Satan heard the declaration that enmity should exist between himself and the woman, and between his seed and her seed, he knew that his efforts to deprave human nature would be interrupted; that by some means man was to be enabled to resist his power.”—“The Great Controversy,” pages 505, 506.
John said, “This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” The first thing Adam and Eve surrendered to Satan was their faith, and they lost everything as a result. The first thing restored to man in the plan of salvation is faith, and it will enable us to overcome the world, and all the blessings of heaven will follow in its train. A careful study of the life and works of Jesus when he was on earth shows that in all he did he encouraged faith. Those whose faith was the strongest received the greatest blessings and did the most for him. Study the lives of the men of God in all ages, and you will find that the secret of their success was their faith in God. Study the history of the third angel’s message, and you will find that it was started by men of faith; it is being carried to the world today by men and women whose faith is strong, and it will be closed up by those who “have the faith of Jesus.”
Herrin, Ill.

“Who Art Thou That Judgest?”

By T. E. BOWEN

T. E. BOWEN
JUDGES deal with law. A judge is supposed to hear all arguments, and then render a just sentence according to law. He can deal with only those who have transgressed the laws of the land.
In spiritual matters God is judge. He is the one lawgiver, and by that one spiritual law passes sentence after all evidence is in, upon every man. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” The sentence there rendered determines the case for either eternal life or eternal death. There is but one judge, one lawgiver, one spiritual law, by which all are judged.
None can judge in spiritual matters without being spiritual. One cannot judge perfectly without himself being perfect, and able to read the secret motives of the soul. No one has the right to judge another man’s servant. From every standpoint, therefore, judging another in spiritual matters is completely ruled out. Very pertinent the question, then, “Who art thou that judgest another?” No one can do so without putting himself in the place of God, assuming the prerogatives of the Most High.

Our Saviour’s Watch Care for His “Little Flock”

By HANNAH J. BAKER

HANNAH J. BAKER
The care a hen has for her chickens was strikingly illustrated in an account given in one of our daily papers a few years ago. A small stable with a lean-to was found to be on fire. A cow and a few implements were taken out before it was destroyed, but the next morning the family happened to think of a hen with little chickens that stayed in the shed, and went out to see what had become of them. They found the charred body of the hen still hovering her little ones, which were all alive and well.
Just before our Saviour made his great sacrifice on Calvary for us, he spoke of a hen’s love for her brood as typical of his love for his “little flock,” in these sorrowful words, as he wept over the doomed city of his love: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, . . . how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matt. 23:37.
Oklahoma, Okla.

Sublime Patience

By George Macdonald

Do not be in a hurry, but be diligent. Enter into the sublime patience of the Lord. Be charitable in view of it. God can afford to wait; why cannot we, since we have him to fall back upon?—George Macdonald.

Will Jesus Go With You?

By Francis M. Wilcox

IT is our privilege to enjoy constant companionship with Jesus. He has promised to be with his disciples “whithersoever” they go, “even unto the end of the world.” Joshua 1:9; Matt. 28:20. These promises, of course, are on the condition that we walk in his ways; for “can two walk together, except they be agreed?” Amos 3:3.
In determining where we shall go and what we shall do in the year now before us, it is well for us to submit each perplexing question to the test, Will Jesus go with me? That he will accompany me to the house of prayer and praise there can be no doubt. That he will be my companion in visiting the sick and needy in their distress I need not question. In all that makes for the upbuilding of my spiritual life or for the salvation of others I may know that I shall have his Spirit’s aid. But there will be more perplexing questions to settle,—questions when inclination and natural impulse will hold parley with conscience. Our consciences will incline to the safer side, but the persuasions of the human heart will confuse the mind and deaden the sense of keen discrimination and discernment.
At such times it is well to submit the question to the test, Is this a place to which I can confidently ask Jesus to accompany me? Will he go with me to the exciting worldly sport, to the idle party of pleasure? After the occasion has passed, can I enjoy the same communion with him? Will prayer have lost its relish, the study of the Word its interest?
Too many, like Peter, are following their Lord afar off. They are seeking this world and its pleasures, and, at the same time, reaching out after the world to come. They cannot have both. “Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.” In half-hearted service for Jesus there is little joy. Because of this half-hearted service many Christians are joyless and spiritless. They long for something they do not possess, for a pleasure they do not experience, and to satisfy this craving seek the pleasures of the world. Such need to learn the joy of a life fully surrendered to God’s service, the joy of a communion with the Master deeper and sweeter and more satisfying than any human companionship.
The service of the Lord is not a hard service. It may bring to us trial, sorrow, pain, anxiety; but with the trial will come sustaining grace, with the sorrow comforting solace, with the pain strength to endure. Like Paul and Silas, we shall have songs in the night of our sorrow, and rejoice that we are counted worthy to suffer for the One we love.
Love for our work or love for the one for whom we work transforms daily toil from servitude into willing service, and makes of us not slaves but freemen. Many men go forth daily to wearing, grinding toil; but love for wife, for children, for home, lightens the labor, and puts within the heart cheer and inspiration. Love for Christ will bring richer and deeper joy in service. For this joy of service let us seek. It will come through prayer, through surrender and consecration. It is for every disciple now and throughout eternity.
F. M. W.

When They Learn That the Tithe Is the Lord's

By W. A. S.

A POOR Korean woman has found the truth. She had prayed for light, and just then an isolated member of ours came in and told her of the message. Instantly, as the Spirit flashed the truth to her heart, she decided to keep God's Sabbath. Then the truth came to her that not only was the seventh day the Lord's holy time, to be rendered to him, but the tenth of her income was the Lord's tithe, holy unto him. To know was to do.
“This woman has an income of only two dollars a month,” Dr. Russell writes, “but she sent in seventy cents as tithe and sixteen cents as Sabbath school offering last week. She had never heard a study on tithing, but read the third chapter of Malachi only.”
Dr. Law Keem had just landed in Wuchan, to establish our first mission in the great province of Kwang-si. A man came from up the river, calling him to go three days’ journey to a place where some had already begun to keep the Sabbath through reading. A visit was paid them, and a few weeks later a second visit. On this occasion twenty-three were baptized.
“Their faces all shone with new joy,” wrote the doctor; and he added, “The next day, one man brought me $1.80, which was his tithe, saying, ‘After this, every ten loads of rice I have, I will give one to the Lord.’”
So they came, rejoicing in the saving truth, and recognizing God as the giver of all their little substance.
“One girl twelve years old came with her tithe also,” says Dr. Law. “She sells peanuts on the street. ‘From now on,’ she said, ‘every ten cash I earn I am going to take out one for the Lord.’” The “cash” is the little brass coin, worth but a fraction of a cent.
“It did my soul good,” our brother wrote, “to witness such willingness to obey the Lord’s instruction in this matter, though all are poor. They say this province is very poor, but we are beginning to think it rich in honest souls who are longing for the truth. O that we had more workers to search for these jewels!”
Thus in lands where there have been little light and few opportunities, we see the blessed truth causing new believers to give the Lord his own with joy.
W. A. S.
Continue reading: The “Sacrifice of the Mass”