He who came to live our example and die our sacrifice has left us a very plain lesson indeed in the matter of obedience to the law of God. Never in anything that he said or did is there even the most vague intimation that he had come to set up a will or a law of his own in opposition to the law and will of God.
He expressed his purpose in such words as these. "I seek not mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 5:30. "I am come down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 6:38. He taught his disciples to pray, "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth." And when it came to the supreme test where he must lay down his life for man's transgression of the law of God, he prayed: "My Father, if this cannot pass away, except I drink it, thy will be done." Matt. 26:42. "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." Ps. 40:8.
That is our example, our pattern in loyalty; that brings God and man into harmony, makes them at one. That removes the enmity—that child of a carnal heart—of the natural man toward the law of God. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:6, 7. While the carnal mind, or the fleshly mind, is dominant in the man, there is opposition to the law of God; and opposition to the law of God means opposition to God himself, whose character is expressed in that law. Christ manifested none of that feeling. He was here to teach us the very opposite. As was prophesied of him in Isa. 42:21, he did "magnify the law, and make it honorable."
Christ could not have been the Saviour of men if he had taken any course other than the one he did,—a course of complete submission to the law of God; for there is only one final authority in the universe of God, and that is God. For Christ to attempt to change the law of God or to set up a law of his own, would be to put himself in the place of God, to set up another government, and bring in discord, disharmony, rebellion,—the work which Satan did.
Instead of attempting to do any such work, Christ humbled himself and became obedient to the established order and law of the Father. It was Satan's work of opposition to the law and the established order of God's government that made necessary Christ's work of reconciliation, obedience, and sacrifice. The works which he did he declared to be the works of the One who sent him. His whole ministry was a ministry of reconciliation—not to reconcile God to man, but to reconcile man to God. See 2 Cor. 5:18-20.
Then, when Christ returned to the Father, and left with his followers the same "ministry of reconciliation," he left with them the example of his own life to follow. Thus speaks the disciple John: "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked." 1 John 2:6. How must we walk in order to walk as he walked? The same writer tells us in the sentences just preceding the above quotation: "Hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked." 1 John 2:3-6. That, says John, is the test which we may apply to ourselves, to know whether we are in him or not. If we walk as he walked, we are "in him;" if we do not, then we are not "in him."
If Christ had set up laws of his own in opposition to the will of the One who sent him, he would have nullified his own mission, and made the breach between man and God wider than ever. That would have placed him also in the ranks of those who needed to be reconciled. Lucifer, the one-time covering cherub, did that very work; and the load of sin under which the universe groans today is the result of that act.
Notwithstanding that fact, and in the plain light of the terrible consequences of that act, our Lord Jesus Christ is continually accused—and by those who profess to honor him—of doing the same thing, of setting up another law, instituting another sabbath, thus supplanting the law written by the finger of God upon the tables of stone and upon the hearts of men; and that accusation is made in the face of the plain and emphatic declaration of Christ recorded in Matt. 5:18, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
That was the uncompromising position which Christ himself took. It was the only position he could take and be man's Redeemer. The law which he magnified was the established law of the Father. He set up no will but the will of him that sent him. He wrought no works for his own glory, but rather emptied himself of the glory that he had with the Father before the world was—all that he might establish in the hearts of men the law which man had broken. That law is the very law which professed Christians are today accusing him of having abolished, supplanted,8overthrown; the very law (his word) which the psalmist declares is settled forever in the heavens. Ps. 119:89.
Nothing would have suited Satan better than to have caused Christ to transgress that law or seek to abolish it. So he tempted Christ on both tables of that law. If Christ had fallen down and worshiped Satan as Satan demanded, he would have broken the first table. If he had allowed himself to covet the kingdoms of this world, as Satan sought to cause him to do, he would have broken the last table of the law. But he yielded in neither. The ground of man's hope in Christ is the fact that he was a lawkeeper rather than a lawbreaker, a law-changer, or a law-abolisher. Christ loyally adhered to and magnified the law of God; and they that are his will do as he did. Knowing his example we must follow it, or we cannot expect his approbation in the great day of God.
C. M. S.
Editorial
By William A. Spicer
Taking a New Hold on the Ropes
Week by week, of late, we have been hearing of the sailing of one party of missionaries after another for the mission fields. They have gone forth to meet new experiences and unknown conditions with glad hearts, and with confidence in God and his cause. That means a confidence also in the faithfulness of the believers in the home churches to the missionary advance; for most of these workers are landing in fields where they will be, humanly speaking, dependent on the resources that God has given us in the mission treasury.
It is a fact that it is an unusual thing in the history of missions for so large a number to go out from any society as we are sending this year. Our workers receive far less than most missionaries, and equipments in the field are much more simple. Yet, even for us, this departure of nearly one hundred and fifty persons in one year is a record almost startling. It seems as if Providence is surely pressing the workers out for the hastening of the message in view of a crisis just before us. No one knew how to say nay as the calls came and the workers responded at the last General Conference time.
But all this lays upon us in the home fields a solemn and grave responsibility. The Lord's people are his treasury, his stewards. He depends upon us to stand by this advance of missionary enterprise. A hundred thousand Seventh-day Adventists must take a fresh grip upon the ropes. Carey's old illustration is ever pertinent. "We are going down into the mine to search for gems," he said to his brethren, "and you at home must hold the ropes." We can assure the missionaries in all the far quarters of the earth that the cords of prayerful interest run from every station back into the hearts of believers in the churches; and the brethren at home will hold the ropes. W. A. S.
Strange Phenomena
By Frederick M. Wilcox
WE do not believe that the statement partakes of sensation when we say that the closing days of earth's history will be marked by many peculiar and unnatural phenomena. The Scriptures of truth declare that “there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”
The heavens above and the earth beneath will disclose many strange sights. When the great Creator formed the earth in the beginning and set the sun and moon and stars in the firmament above for lights by day and by night, he declared that they would be “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” Later, through the prophet Joel, the Lord declares that he “will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.” Our Saviour in his great prophetic discourse, recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, points out the particular period in which some of these signs would appear; namely, in the closing days of papal domination, ending in 1798.
How accurately and strikingly were fulfilled these prophecies in the notable darkening of the sun on May 19, 1780, and in the notable meteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833. Closely associated with these specific fulfilments of the prophecies were other striking and notable appearances in the heavenly bodies.
The daily press from time to time contains many reports of unusual occurrences in various parts of the world. The following striking incident is related in the Washington Star of August 4, telling of the destruction visited upon a village in Spain:—
MADRID, July 25, 1913.
The village of Alcocer, near Valencia, has been practically wiped out and the surrounding country ravaged by an aerolite of great size.
Shortly after noon there dropped from a cloudless sky a great lurid ball of fire. A deafening series of detonations, like a thousand rifle-shots, resounded through the still atmosphere and scattering tongues of flame in all directions as the heavy mass buried itself in the earth.
The surrounding country was set on fire, and within an hour nothing but blackened masses of smoldering cinders remained of farmhouses, hay-lofts, trees, and gathered crops of hay, wheat, and olives.
The whole population of Alcocer was at the moment attending a requiem service in the church, some two miles distant. But for that circumstance, the loss of life would have been terrible. As it was, five persons were seriously burned, one of them succumbing to his injuries the same evening.
At the moment the aerolite fell at Alcocer a terrific thunder-storm, which was accompanied by a rain of stones, some the size of oranges and weighing nearly two pounds, burst over the neighboring villages of Benavites and Cuartil.
The ground was covered in places to a depth of five inches by these stones. A pungent odor of sulphur pervaded the locality for hours after the phenomenon.
The earth and sea are contributing their quota to the full measure of these sign conditions. Earthquakes, tidal waves, pestilence, and famine, frightful and unheard-of calamities sweeping away whole towns,—these experiences are coming to be of almost daily occurrence.
They are allowed to come as Heaven's monitors. By them we should be admonished of the times in which we live. We are amid the perils of the last days. The danger is that our senses will become blunted and our comprehension dulled, so that we shall fail to read in the existing conditions the lesson God would have us learn. Happy is the man who today has God for his refuge; happy indeed the heart that can rest in him, not fearing for the future, but trusting in a father's love to protect and safeguard his children.
F. M. W.
"A Message for You"
By William A. Spicer
IN making his report of evangelistic labor at the meeting of the Northern California-Nevada Conference, Elder W. S. Holbrook related a suggestive experience. Over many and various paths, in these days of the hastening of the work, the Lord is drawing truth-seeking hearts to the message for this hour:—
He was holding meetings in a certain place in northern California. One evening he met a Methodist lady. As they shook hands, he was just conscious of the fact that she looked at him most intently, with an earnest, searching look. He thought nothing of it at the time; but later, she said that when she first met the strange minister at the meetings, as they shook hands, a voice seemed to say to her, "This man has a message for you." She thought at first it must be that he had come from her old home State and that some of her friends had sent a message to her; but, on second thought, it was apparent that that would not account for the impression being put into her mind so really and tangibly. She waited, and listened to the preaching. As she heard the message of Rev. 14: 6-14,—of the hour of God's judgment come, and the call to the keeping of "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,"—she knew well enough what the "message" was that the minister had for her. She accepted it, and is rejoicing in the blessings that come with it to every believing heart.
Mere impressions amount to nothing unless they come of God's Spirit to lead to the sure foundation of his blessed Word. That is the voice that speaks with authority. Nothing else counts. But the work of witnessing is to be closed quickly, and the God of heaven is able to use many ways to turn the hearts of his children to the way of light. He can speak to every heart on earth. That is our courage as we look toward the world's vast millions, and think of the carrying of the last message to all. The Lord will do it. He is able. And incidents like this related suggest to us how his Spirit is striving with hearts everywhere, and how the Lord will lead some in one way and others in another, gathering out all who will respond in the swift closing years of this generation. We shall see it. "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." Isa. 42: 16.
W. A. S.
Our Schools
By Frederick M. Wilcox
THIS month witnesses the opening of our denominational schools throughout the country. It is both interesting and inspiring to contemplate the large number of earnest young men and women who are already leaving their homes to enter upon another year of preparation for their life-work. And it is a cause for thankfulness that so many of these have placed before them as their definite life purpose an active part in gospel work. Some of their minds are on far-away fields. While here in training, their hearts are longing for the time when they will be able to represent the gospel cause in Asia, Africa, South America, or the islands of the sea. Others are preparing for equally important work in the home land.9It is to be regretted that some whose hearts are filled with longings for service are denied school privileges for the year to come. Some must remain at home to assist an aged father, to care, perhaps, for a widowed mother and younger brothers and sisters, to render service to those who are sick. Let these preserve intact the high purpose which now possesses them, believing that God in his own good time will open the way before them and give them the desires of their heart in necessary preparation for service. In the meantime, till the way is thus opened, let them faithfully improve the opportunities at present afforded them. Some, in their own homes, can take up work in the Fireside Correspondence School, and with but little expense and the employment of a short time each day, quite thoroughly master one or two studies during the year to come. This work will apply upon the regular institutional school work taken later.
But even more to be regretted is the condition of some young men and women among Seventh-day Adventists who, while not denied school privileges, are holding before them worldly standards and worldly ambitions. Let us pray that there may come to the hearts of these ambitious, world-loving youth during the year to come new views of life's duties, that they may hear the call of the Master sounding in their ears and be led to dedicate themselves to the advancement of the cause of truth in the earth,—the noblest calling to which any one can aspire. We believe that this excellent result will be attained in the cases of many. God has greatly blessed our schools to the salvation of many of our youth. We earnestly hope that the record of every one for the year to come may prove that each student has surrendered his heart to God, and devoted his life to his service. To this end let us hold up before the throne of grace our faithful teachers, that God may give them wisdom to labor in patience and long-suffering for those committed to their watch-care. F. M. W.
Opposition to the Message
By Editor
God will cause at last even the wrath of man to redound to his praise. We believe this will be true in the opposition which is now made against the preaching of the gospel message in Albany and Montreal. We have a report in this paper of the opposition which Elder E. L. Cardey is meeting in the former city.
In Montreal, Elder J. A. Vuilleumier, our French laborer, has been meeting with even more serious opposition. He began work in that city July 13. From the very first more or less opposition was developed. While the interest was good on the part of the general public, there was an undercurrent of ridicule and scoffing, and some even went so far as to cut the ropes of his tent. The second week of the services occasion was taken of the absence of police in that section of the city to raise serious disturbance in his meeting, and before the officers of the police force could be secured the meeting was broken up. The police arrived in time to escort Elder Vuilleumier and his wife to their home, and later dispersed the crowd.
Appeal was made to the chief of the police for better protection. This was disregarded. Taking advantage of the absence of the police, the mob beset the tent on the following Wednesday evening. The tent was torn to the ground, ropes cut, and much damage done. Elder Vuilleumier and his group of French believers found refuge in the home of a near-by grocer. The officers arrived just as the large tent was falling to the ground, scattering the crowd in time to save the small tent.
Undaunted by this spirit, Elder Vuilleumier reerected his tent the next day, and services began the following evening. Again the mob attacked the tent, notwithstanding the efforts of several police who were present. It seemed to be only the protecting providence of God which preserved our brethren and sisters from serious bodily injury. The crowd was finally dispersed. At this point in the meeting the temporary abandonment of the service became necessary.
This fierce opposition, however, on the part of the mob element, aroused many of the citizens to insistent demands upon the police department for better police protection in that part of the city. This was finally afforded. When services were resumed, it was with about twenty uniformed police standing about the tent, and as many more secret police in the audience and about the grounds. At last reports the services were being well protected, and the brethren state that it is gratifying to see a different attitude being taken by some of the men who before had cherished such a spirit of opposition to the work.
Brother Vuilleumier and his workers believe that God will gather out of those who are attending the meetings a number of souls for his kingdom. To this end let us pray. These experiences indicate the times into which we are coming. The spirit which is working under the surface will many times in the near future manifest itself in such outbursts as on this occasion. We surely need the God of Jacob for our refuge, and his everlasting arms of protection around us and beneath us. Dedicating our all to him and walking humbly before him, we need not fear what man can do unto us.
The New Map of Europe
THE fortunes of war are uncertain at best. It appeared at one time that Turkey might be driven out of Europe entirely. Dispossessed of the major portion of his territory, of the city of Adrianople which he prized so highly, and confined to Constantinople and territory immediately adjacent, serious consideration was given, not only by the outside world but by Turkish statesmen as well, to the transfer of the seat of government to Asiatic soil. The closing chapters of the Balkan struggle, with the consequent weakening of the allied powers, afforded Turkey an opportunity to recoup some of his losses. Adrianople and the surrounding country is again reoccupied by Turkish forces, and now as the result of the recent treaty between Turkey and Bulgaria, Turkey is again secure in the possession of Adrianople and “nearly all that is predominantly Turkish in population and religion lies within the new boundaries. . . . Thus the outer line of Moslem defense against Christian neighbors is once more intact from the Black Sea to the Marmora.”
Of course, Turkey has lost much,—part of Thrace and all of Macedonia, Albania, and Novibazar,—but in these provinces the Balkan races far outnumber the Turks, and their elimination from the empire will remove a thorn from the side of the Ottoman power.
It seems that the war indemnity of $350,000,000, which was to have been exacted from Turkey, has been forgotten in the later struggle. In consequence the government has been able recently to float a loan of $190,000,000 in France. These recent advantages, with the army of 350,000 men which Turkey has continually kept in the field by contributions from Islam at large, makes a power still to be reckoned with.
It is one of the unfathomable problems of history that in the struggle of the centuries, with every man's hand against him, Turkey has still hung on. And yet out of every conflict during the last one hundred years he has emerged despoiled of new territory and with a loss of national prestige. How soon the changing kaleidoscope of national events will bring about conditions which will complete the prophetic forecast, driving the Ottoman power back to its native habitat in Asia, we cannot of course foretell. In these times events shape rapidly. Soon, perhaps sooner than many of us realize, too soon for those who are unprepared, will the prophetic prediction concerning the king of the north be fulfilled. In the meantime, while the hand of mercy stays the execution of final wrath upon the nations of men, let us be diligent in sounding to the world the warning message for this last day.
Canary Islands
By B. B. Aldrich
B. B. ALDRICH
THE Lord is blessing the work here. The most we can do as yet is faithfully to sow the seed, improve the opportunities we have for Bible study, and then trust to our great Leader to do by his Spirit's influence what we can never accomplish. The Lord has truly gone before and given us favor with the people in presenting the health book. I am now trying to canvass the principal towns on the island, and hope after counseling with Brother Conradi to begin the work with the Bible books.
As God has used the health book to pioneer the work in other Spanish fields, we trust that he will bless it here, where there is a sad lack of all true hygienic principles. Thus far I have taken about seven hundred and fifty orders, besides selling hundreds of health and gospel tracts to the poorer people. I have been successful in placing the book in some of the best and most-cultured families on the island.
On account of Bible readings in Santa Cruz, I have been obliged to return weekly to the home. We have been favored with a visit from a native teacher who belongs to the Baptists in Palma, and other missionaries from Palma have visited the home. We trust that God's Spirit will use the home and our association with these persons to influence them for this great truth. They are doing a good work and God is blessing them.
This is the season of the wheat-harvest, and as I was passing through the country near Laguna yesterday, selling tracts, I came to a man who was threshing the wheat with a cow. They use cows here instead of oxen. I asked him to let me ride on the sledge and drive the cow, and as they are always very polite, he kindly allowed me to do so, and I rode round and round over the wheat on the rude stone-boat, which pounded out the grain and broke up the straw. All through the country are to be seen these threshing-floors, and for two or three months the patient cows and peasants are threshing the golden grain. Afterward they throw up the wheat and straw, and the wheat falls to the ground, while the chaff and straw are blown to one side. This makes very vivid Daniel's picture of the judgment-day, in Daniel 2, where he says the nations shall become like the "chaff of the summer threshing-floors."
There are, however, signs of progress. The people seem inclined to advance. There are now two new threshing-machines and equipment here in Teneriffe, one of them in Laguna, and they present quite a contrast to the old way. Merchants in the city are putting in new store-fronts, and there are other signs of advancement. We trust this spirit may mean more liberty to preach the message. At present the majority of the people are indifferent to all religion, and the country folk especially are very ignorant and superstitious. One peasant told me he did not take his wheat to the machine, as wheat threshed with fire and water did not grow well.
We invite the prayers of all the brethren and sisters for this needy mission field.
Honan, China
By J. J. Westrup
"I WILL praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright." And to his praise we can say that two days ago we closed one of the best general meetings ever held in Honan. With such a powerful message as we have to proclaim, we naturally expect our people to get up on higher and still higher ground. I pity those who do not, as the time is at hand and the end very near.
We were facing a terrible famine, having not had any rain to speak of for many months. The famine was already a reality in the north and west of the province, and the wheat was also dried up in most places here in central Honan. Thousands are continually coming down from the north with all their belongings in this world on their backs. Husband, wife, and children straggling along the roadways, hungry, dusty, and sickly. Everywhere are beggars covered with rags and sores, and facing starvation. It is an awful, pitiful sight, enough to make one sick to behold. Can it be wondered at that we long with all our hearts for the day when we can leave this cursed domain of the devil and enter the blessed places that Christ is preparing for his children, where we shall enjoy life and love and glory in abundance forevermore?
The curse of sin is seen more plainly in this awful heathenism, but the day will soon come when our dear brethren shall see it as plainly everywhere in one way or another, and long as much as do we for the kingdom. We naturally anticipated that this famine would hinder many from attending our meeting, which it did. Still we are thankful to say that our chapel has never been so crowded before, and by actual count we had one hundred and seventy who attended regularly, besides those coming in from the city.
From the beginning there was a quiet waiting on the Lord as if the brethren expected a special blessing; and thanks be to his name, they were not disappointed. Some sixty sisters in the Lord attended, and many of them had walked long distances on their small feet,—some as far as forty miles in that terrible dust,—showing a determination to get to the kingdom. Pastor R. F. Cottrell, our superintendent, was greatly blessed and sustained in giving the message. The brethren liked his sermons so well that the last day he was invited by them to speak twice. And our four Chinese evangelists who helped us were also wonderfully blessed in presenting the truth. Brother Cottrell remarked, "I love to listen to them preach; they are certainly able preachers."
On the Sabbath we celebrated the Lord's Supper, and the confessions made came from the heart. During the meeting one hundred and thirty-seven believers were buried with Christ in baptism to walk henceforth with him in newness of life. The offerings were fifty per cent larger than they have ever been before. Five persons, three of whom had been evangelists, one a teacher, and one a Bible woman, from the north of the province, were baptized at this meeting. They all have a very clean record, and we voted to send the men to our training-school in Shanghai next fall. They have earnestly been studying the truth for some months and preached it, with courage and great zeal both to their foreign pastors and to their Chinese brethren. Not a few are interested and wished very much to attend our meetings, but could not on account of the11famine. These men will be a great help in opening up the work in the north of the province and perhaps in Chi-li, too.
The Lord says, "My doctrine shall drop as the rain." But the Lord not only used his doctrine to water our hearts and establish our faith, but on the third day came rain as a direct answer to our earnest prayers. It rained gently and fast for two days and one night, and on top of it came snow, which melted at once and soaked thoroughly into the thirsty ground, so that now there is hope of being able to raise a little wheat and millet and other foodstuff for this year. O, how it cheered our hearts! Tears of joy filled many eyes. Many of the brethren testified that they had come to the meeting with the full confidence that the dear Lord would surely hear our prayers and break this terrible drought; and he did—another evidence that whenever we confidently expect anything and pray for it we get it. I had the same hope, as I had told some here that during the general meeting we should get rain. We had rain last year at our spring meeting and we all confidently expected the same this year; and again it came to pass, and I cannot tell you how greatly it strengthened everybody's faith in prayer.
We were not slow in taking advantage of this evident mercy and goodness of the Lord to impress upon the minds and hearts of all the importance and efficacy and power there is in prayer; that none should forget this, but pray often, and learn to pray with faith. Then the devil would have no power over us, and Christ could save us to the uttermost.
All went away from this meeting feeling that the Lord was indeed good to us, and with a solemn determination to serve him more faithfully and to get ready, by his grace, to meet Jesus when he comes in glory. "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; . . . there shall be showers of blessing." "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass."
We are very thankful for what the Lord has done for us, and we all know that there are greater blessings yet in store for us if we will only completely surrender and come up to the help of the Lord.
I told the brethren that in Germany, Russia, and England every worker had gained ten persons on an average for the Master last year; that in Siberia every worker had gained seventeen believers; and that if we also should really repent and consecrate ourselves to him, we could win two or three hundred really converted persons this year. We were thankful to read the good report in the Year Book, but if we could only be completely surrendered to God we should be able to accomplish ever so much more. As pointed out by Brother T. E. Bowen in a recent article, "God does much for those who make much of what he makes much." I can truly say that I have had some experience in this of late. I am here alone to lead out in this great work.
I have consecrated my life and everything else in this world (even leaving my wife and son in America for some two years, and they, too, without the least murmur), in order to do his work in this great field. I have never before so plainly seen his blessing upon everything I have done.
We have had severe shakings here in Honan, but by earnest prayer it is all turning out to be a great blessing to our work. Evangelist Dju Dzi in taking his leave and shaking hands with me, said: "The Lord has wonderfully sustained Brother Westrup during this meeting." God loves cheerful givers; I thank God for grace to have given all. "You may be obscure, but the day you fit your unworthy life into the great plan of God, you will see things accomplished. . . . Christ Jesus sits on his throne to bring to pass the things that he has promised in his Word." I know that this great need and great work appeal to you, my dear brethren. But I do not plead for Honan; we can get along. But I do plead for the unentered provinces of China. What real joy did J. Pierpont Morgan get out of his many millions? The brother or sister who has given all to the dear Lord gets more real joy—the joy of the Holy Ghost—even in this life. Brethren, if we want joy now and glory to come, let us consecrate our all to his glory and service. "Christ's word to all is 'Pray ye.' And when this is done, the gratifying results we all love so much to see, the advance into new fields, and the increase of our mission funds, will not be lacking." See Heb. 7:25.
"Judge Not"
By Gertrude Flather
"Judge not;" thou knowest not all things. Stay
Thy hasty, bitter word;
Err rather by indulgence; leave
All judgment to thy Lord.
"Judge not," the lowly Saviour said.
Wouldst thou his word obey?
Then have no eyes for others' faults;
Look well to thine own way.
"Judge not;" thou knowest not all things, nor
Canst ever read the heart,
Nor fathom secret anguish deep
With which some soul may smart.
"Judge not;" thou knowest not what the load
Thy brother's life may bear;
Wouldst try to help him lift it right?
Remember him in prayer;
"Judge not;" thou knowest not all; sometimes
The brightest smile conceals
A heart the while with anguish torn,
Sore pressed beneath life's ills.
"Judge not;" we know not all things. Ah!
Did we but know, how oft
No scathing criticism,—but
Would prayer be borne aloft!
—Gertrude Flather.
Jamaica
By Hubert Fletcher
Among the groups of islands situated in the sunny Caribbean is this Land of Springs, the Garden Islands of the West Indies, occupying a territory of 4,207 square miles. The climate is healthful and salubrious. The scenery is a grand display of nature's beauties wherever one travels, with mountains and plains, hills and dales, purling streams, and fruits and flowers.
Jamaica was discovered in the year 1494, by Columbus, and continued under Spanish rule for 161 years, when it was captured by the English in the year 1655. It is still a British possession.
Its population is 831,383, of which 15,605 are whites and the remainder colored. Emerging from the ban of slavery in 1834, she has been making rapid progress toward the goal of modern civilization. Already more than half of the population can read and write, and the stigma of savagery and heathenism as generally applied to the natives can be boldly repudiated. There are several colleges and a large number of private and elementary schools. There are natives who have reached a high standard of attainment educationally, men who are not lacking in efficiency, proved by the fact that they have been chosen to fill the highest positions in the island.
Kingston, the capital, is the largest and most important commercial town in the British West Indies. It covers an area of about 1,080 acres, with its suburbs, and is beautifully situated on grounds regularly sloping toward the north. There is a network of well-constructed roads throughout the island.
On this isle the torch of present truth was lighted in the year 1893. Elder A. J. Haysmer was sent down in response to a plea from a native lady who attended the General Conference that year. From a small beginning in Kingston, the work has grown until at present there are more than four hundred believers in the city, and centers of light are scattered all over the island, so that we now have a total membership of about two thousand.
This membership is divided into fifty-six churches and companies. Of these thirty-five have been raised up entirely by native workers and lay members, fourteen by foreign workers, and seven by the joint labors of foreign and native workers. Hence the most of the work has been done through the natives; this verifies the statement that "the natives can be used to advantage in laboring for their own people." And this is true of all countries. Our missionaries should be educators, training the young natives to work for their own people. Other denominations realize this, and are using the natives to great advantage. We have a bright and intelligent class of young people, who, under proper training, would develop into efficient workers.
In the early days of the message in this island, the church-members took an active part in missionary work. They went from house to house and district to district proclaiming the message to their relatives, friends, and neighbors, and as a result the ministers were kept busy attending to the many calls. Churches were raised up. This work, however, has fallen off to quite an extent. So many churches and companies cannot be managed as easily as when they were fewer, hence with the increase we need to adopt advanced methods, so that there shall be no relaxing of our missionary activities. Much more can be done than is being accomplished. We have the resources in men and means which, if developed, would meet in every way our present and future needs. It is our desire to keep in line with the advancing movement.
