Earlier text: God's Thought of UsLoyal to God's Instrumentalities
By F. M. W.
Our denominational work is represented under four great departments; namely, evangelical, educational, publishing, and medical. While each of these departments occupies a distinctive field of its own, all are closely correlated, and together form one complete and harmonious whole. It would be difficult for us to carry forward this last great movement with any of these lines of work lacking. Our people have shown their loyalty to this truth in the earnest manner in which they have carried forward every branch of this great work. Thousands are accepting the gospel message through the distribution of our publications. In their sale is afforded a great field of labor for self-supporting missionary work, in which it is gratifying to see thousands of our people engaged. Our schools for the most part are full to overflowing, and one very encouraging feature of their experience is that by far the larger part of those in attendance are preparing to engage directly in some labor connected with this cause. Not only do our schools prepare laborers for the great field, but they save as a result thousands of our youth who otherwise would turn to worldly pursuits. Following closely the work done by our publications as they go out into all the world, the living preacher is sent to bring the seed sown to further perfection. The latest instrumentality in carrying forward this movement, but for that reason none the less important, is our medical work. Nearly threescore sanitariums have been erected in different parts of the world, and these are busily engaged in an important service of ministering to the sick and needy, while at the same time they train young men and women to go out as medical missionaries. They thus accomplish a double missionary work,—that of relief and that of education. In these medical institutions, our people have valuable resources. Our sanitariums are visited by classes of people who are not ordinarily reached by other means. These are brought into contact with the truth in some form, and if they do not become adherents, are at least favorably impressed with our work as a people. For the great amount of good which our medical institutions may accomplish, both in training our young men and women for active service and in ministering to the needs of the sick and the afflicted, our people everywhere should heartily rally to their support. It is gratifying that they are already doing this, but even in a larger measure they can render them substantial help. The members of our churches make up the constituency of our medical department, as they do of every other department, and they should take pleasure in seeking to promote the interests of our sanitariums the same as they do the interests of our printing-offices or colleges. They may do this in several ways. First, and primarily, they can render them valuable aid through prayer, proper sympathy, and a spirit of Christian helpfulness. Of all classes of workers in this cause, those in our institutions are under the greatest temptation, and for that reason need a special supply of grace and help for their work. With our sanitarium workers, shut up day after day within four walls, associated continually with worldly men and women, there is constant danger that their work will become a routine. They need special grace to enable them to sense at all times the opportunities which are brought within their very doors, and their need of a living connection with spiritual power in meeting these opportunities. Second, our people can render material help to our sanitariums by giving to them personal patronage. When in need of medical aid, they should seek help, as far as consistent, in our own institutions. We believe it is much better for our people who are sick to entrust themselves to God-fearing physicians and nurses than to go to worldly hospitals.7 Third, our brethren and sisters everywhere can act in their neighborhoods as agents of the institutions. Some of our sanitariums to-day are paying out thousands of dollars in advertising in various ways. If all our people would rally as one man, and take upon themselves the responsibility of advertising our sanitariums in their particular sections of the country, bringing before the sick and afflicted of their acquaintance the merits of our work and the advantages which would come to them by spending several weeks at our institutions, there would be no need of other advertising; our sanitariums would be filled to overflowing. Our field laborers—ministers, Bible workers, and those who go from house to house selling our literature—have excellent opportunities to search out the sick and suffering. A word of encouragement at the right time would direct many guests to these places of refuge. All our medical institutions would be glad to furnish to our people circulars, catalogues, and general advertising matter for judicious distribution in this way. In return for this effort, our brethren would oftentimes see some who had failed otherwise in being impressed with the truth, reached through the influences with which they would be surrounded. We earnestly hope that our people will appreciate not alone the responsibility which rests upon them in sustaining our medical work, but the privilege which is offered them in so doing, and the great opportunities which exist in the accomplishment of great good through this important instrumentality. In every section of country our brethren and sisters should unite in close sympathy with every department of the work. This is a united movement. There is no branch of it sufficient of itself to go forward alone and unaided. No man of himself is a complete whole. Each needs his brother's help. Each department needs the help of every other department. Let us ever bear this in mind, and labor together for the accomplishment of the one end, the aim of all our endeavors, the giving of the gospel in its completeness to our fellow men. The Finished Work
By I. H. Evans
It was the apostle Paul who wrote, “I have finished my course.” This statement has in it the shout of victory, the crowning after the battle. It is the glorious triumph of a long life-struggle. It is a wonderful thing for a man to finish his course. To prepare for the race, to endure the long hardships necessary in securing the course of training requisite for the successful contest, to toil and drill when others have leisure and rest, to be abstemious when others are living in abundance and luxury, to strive in the arena for the prize, and then to sense the flush of victory, to be conscious of winning the prize,—this means much. All this, in the spiritual warfare, Paul had done, and, as he took a retrospective view of his life, he could say, “I have finished my course.” From that eventful day when, on his way, to Damascus, he heard the voice from heaven saying to him, “Saul, Saul, . . . it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks,” Paul had been an earnest disciple of the Master. It was then he entered the race for eternal life, and from that day he seems to have never lost sight of the prize. It was no Olympic contest in which he was engaged. It was no Marathon race which he was running. It was for no perishable crown that he was contending, but for a crown of immortality, the crown of eternal life, which he was to receive by faith in Jesus Christ. Not only did Paul bring his whole being into subjection to the will of God so that he was obedient to God’s requirements, but he also freely gave his life in carrying the gospel to the kingdoms of this world. It was this same zealous disciple who carried the standard of the cross into the regions beyond his native land. In many of the countries of Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and in the islands of the Great Sea, we find this ardent disciple of Christ preaching the crucified and risen Saviour. No daring explorer ever showed greater zeal in acquiring new territory for his sovereign lord than did this apostle in planting the banner of Prince Emmanuel in “the regions beyond.” In recounting some of his experiences he says: “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.” All these things were a part of the apostle’s experience. For more than thirty long years this man of God bore the toil and labor incident to one who had pressed the battle against the bitterest opposition, and had contended for the cross of Christ against all oncomers. In heat and cold, in the home land and in fields far remote, this same ardent disciple had preached the gospel of the kingdom of God. But now his labors are over. He is a prisoner, and his life is demanded by those in authority. He is under the sentence of death, and knows that at the pleasure of the emperor he will give his life for the truth which he has taught; but as he views his life’s work, he is content. Within his heart Paul had the assurance that he had run his race well, and that God had accepted his life through Jesus Christ. He said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” No man could ever have come from the field of conquest with greater triumph than this. “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” Surely he had not run in vain, nor labored in vain. He had won the prize. Is not such a life worth living? To come down to life’s close, and find in one’s heart no bitter regrets, but to be conscious that one has, in the fear of God, done his best, is certainly most satisfying. Why should not Paul’s experience be the experience of every Christian? It is true all can not travel by the same road, nor need they expect to meet the same trials as those through which Paul passed, but one thing is the privilege of every Christian, and that is to have faith in God, and to know that he has done his best, and is accepted in Jesus Christ. No man can say, I have finished my course, until he has reached the end of the race. These words can not apply to any one who falls out by the way now. We are nearly home. It is only a little farther to the promised Canaan. As we look forward we can almost see the end. To have shared in the work of the Lord, to have stood shoulder to shoulder with those who have borne the heat of the battle, to continue in the warfare till we almost hear the shout of victory, and then to fall by the way, seems too sad for contemplation. These words of the apostle should be the inspiration of all our lives at the present time. It is for each one to decide whether he will finish his work, or fail. It is our privilege to wear the victor’s crown. The prize of eternal life is for those who continue to the end. It is the Word of God that gives us the promise, and it is the privilege of each of us to say with the apostle, “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” Calls for Additional Workers
FROM every field come calls for additional workers, and means for advanced work. It rests with every reader of this paper to aid in answering these calls by dedication of life and possessions to the service of the Master, to be used as his providence shall point the way. “As Ye Have Received . . . So Walk”
By Ellen G. White
“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” We need a firm reliance upon God if we would be saved from the power of satanic agencies. If we will keep close to the teachings of the Word, the truths of that Word will be our safeguard, saving us from the delusions of these last days. We need the truth. We need to believe in it. Its principles are adapted to all the circumstances of life. They prepare the soul for duty, and brace it for trial. They bear the stamp of the divine Author. Upon all with whom they are brought into contact, they exert a preserving influence. The natural stubbornness of the human heart resists the light of truth. Its natural pride of opinion leads to independence of judgment and a clinging to human ideas and philosophy. There is with some a constant danger of becoming unsettled in the faith by the desire for originality. They wish to find some new and strange truth to present, to have a new message to bring to the people; but such a desire is a snare of the enemy to captivate the mind and lead away from the truth. In our experience we shall see one and another start up with new theories in regard to what is truth, and, irrespective of what the influence of the advocacy of such theories may be on the mind of the hearers, they will launch out into the work of advocating their ideas, even though these teachings may be in opposition to the belief that has called out Seventh-day Adventists from the world, and made them what they are. The Lord would have those who understand the reasons for their faith rest in their belief of that which they have been convinced is truth, and not be turned from the faith by the presentation of human sophistries. The warning comes down the line to our time: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Let us heed this warning, and not be too ready to accept the productions of those who come to us presenting new light. We have the truth in the Word of God; we have the light that has come to us in the proclamation of the first, second, and third angels’ messages. The injunction is given us, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” In these last days we need a large and increasing faith. We need to be established in the faith by a knowledge and wisdom not derived from any human source, but which is found only in the riches of the wisdom of God. Men may claim great intelligence, but they need more than human intelligence to grasp the revelations of the Word of God, which Inspiration declares have been hidden for ages. “The world by wisdom knew not God,” but “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” “As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” The apostle Paul lifts up the Saviour before men, declaring, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Why then should we seek wisdom of those who have not learned the wisdom of God? Why should we not come ourselves in faith to Christ and receive the fulness of which the apostle speaks? The grace of Christ has made it possible that there be a close union between the receiver and the Giver. Those to whom God reveals by his Spirit the truths of his Word will be able to testify to an understanding of that mystery of godliness which from eternal ages has been hid in the Father and the Son. Those who have accepted the truth of the third angel’s message are to hold it fast by faith; and it will hold them from drifting into superstitions and theories that would separate them from one another and from God. Our reception of the truth we hold as Seventh-day Adventists was not a chance experience. It was reached by earnest prayer and careful research of the Inspired Word. The Lord would have us walk and work in perfect unity. His name, Christ Jesus, is to be our watchword, his example our badge of distinction, the principles of his Word the foundation of our piety. In unity of spirit and action will be our strength. Satan is at work to create differences of opinion among us, and to shake our faith in one another. Thus he seeks to lead us to yield our minds to be worked by a spirit that is not of God, and that will bring in alienation and disaffection. But Christ’s prayer that we all might be one as he is one with the Father, is to be fulfilled in his church in these last days. Our unity one with another is to be our credentials to the world that we have accepted him whom the Father sent to the world to represent the principles of heaven. Christ took his stand among men as the Oracle of God. He spoke as one having authority, addressing himself in strong terms to the people, and demanding implicit faith and obedience. We as a people have based our faith upon the principles set forth in his Word. We have pledged ourselves to bring heart and mind to obedience to the living Word, and to follow a “Thus saith the Lord.” All our present and future hopes depend upon our kinship with Christ and with God. The apostle Paul speaks strong words to confirm our faith in this respect. To those who are led by the Spirit of God, in whose hearts the grace of Christ is dwelling, he declares: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if9so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” We are called by Christ to come out from the world and to be separate. We are called to live holy lives, having our hearts continually drawn out to God, and having in our lives the Holy Spirit as an abiding presence. Every true believer in Christ will reveal that the grace of his love is in the heart. Where once there was estrangement from God, there will be revealed co-partnership with him; where once the carnal nature was manifest, there will be seen the attributes of the divine. His people are to become workers of righteousness, constant seekers after God, constant workers of his will. This will make them complete in Christ. To angels and to men and to worlds unfallen they are to make it manifest that their lives are conforming to the will of God, that they are loyal adherents to the principles of his kingdom. The Holy Spirit, dwelling in their hearts by faith, will bring them into fellowship with Christ and with one another, and will yield in them the precious fruits of holiness. The Resurrection
By Colwell Townsend
FORTH from the grave at break of day
Jesus the Conqueror treadeth the way;
Vain is the tomb, the watch, or the seal,
Death hath he spurned 'neath the touch
of his heel. Saw you the gleam of the messenger
bright,
As back from the tomb in his wonderful
might,
With a sweep of his arm, the grim stone
he rolled,
While the guards fall affrighted his face
to behold? O Death, thy dominion forever is lost,
When Christ paid all debts at such in-
finite cost;
No longer the grave shall boast of its
slain,
For Jesus the Crucified liveth again. He lives, and because of his life we shall
live,
For vic'try to all who believe he shall
give;
When he cometh to reign, we shall reign
with him there,
With our glorified Lord, whom we'll
meet in the air. But O, my beloved, the midnight is here,
Long pauses the stroke we are waiting
to hear,
While the world and the careless sleep
on to their doom,
And the messenger cries, “Behold he
shall come!”
Then watch while you wait for that glo-
rious dawn,
As heirs of the kingdom to which you
are born;
For the King in his beauty shall come to
his own,
And the saved of all nations shall serve
at his throne. “Here Are They That Keep the Commandments of God”
By George I. Butler
Here we have another specification which will characterize the believers developed by the third angel’s message of Rev. 14: 9-12. What are the commandments of God here referred to? We answer, with perfect certainty, that the term “commandments of God” must clearly refer to the decalogue,—the ten commandments. These were spoken by God from Mount Sinai with a voice which shook the earth, and were written with his own finger upon the imperishable tablets of stone,—an honor conferred upon no other document under heaven: “And the Lord said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.” Ex. 24: 12. These ten commandments, therefore, themselves constitute a law. God calls them that. In the typical system they alone were placed in the ark, under the mercy-seat, over which the wings of the cherubim were spread, the typical representation of the throne of God, from which mercy and forgiveness come. Other laws were given, but no other law had such honor as was placed upon the decalogue. The ten commandments are a summary of the moral law. Scores of texts of Scripture teach the truthfulness of this statement. For fifteen centuries all Christians have admitted it in their articles of faith, catechisms, etc. Some, however, claim that the fourth commandment was abolished by Christ, and that another day was substituted for the Sabbath, which is the seventh day of the weekly cycle. What does our Saviour say in his great inaugural address, the sermon on the mount?—“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled [“accomplished,” American Revised Version]. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5: 17-19. These words will forever stand as most conclusive evidence that the moral law is perpetual in its duration. As long as heaven and earth remain, not a letter or point of a letter will be removed from it. The context demonstrates that our Saviour was speaking of the ten commandments, because he quotes two of them in close connection: “Thou shalt not kill,” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” The apostle upheld in the strongest possible language the obligation of the law of God, even as Christ did: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Rom. 3: 19. In the verse following, Paul says, “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” John says, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3: 4. All have sinned,—broken the law,—and the moral law therefore condemns all mankind,—condemns them because they have broken God’s commandments; hence they must have a Saviour, or all are forever lost. By the law is the knowledge of sin; by the gospel is the cure for sin. Sin, or the breaking of God’s law, causes all the woe, sorrow, and curse of this wicked world. Therefore God’s law will stand and testify against sin as long as the world lasts. Not a letter of it has passed away: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3: 31. To establish is to make firm, immovable. The law then stands as a whole,—every commandment, every word, every letter, every point of a letter: “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Rom. 7: 12, 14. The law and its principles search every heart, and condemn all the transgressors thereof. The keeping of the ten commandments is one of the conditions of our final salvation: “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22: 14. These words especially apply at the time when Christ is about to come; for in close connection we find this text: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” This is not saying that we are saved by works, or that of ourselves we can keep the commandments of God. We can of our own selves do nothing. The law can not save; it can only point out the wrong. The gospel through faith in Christ furnishes the only remedy for sin. To every repentant soul Christ gives pardon full and free. He changes the sinful heart, imparts a new spirit and a new life, and writes upon the tablets of that regenerated heart his own law. Then in the joy of his new-found experience, his child exclaims, as did David of old, “How love I thy law.” The keeping of the commandments is accomplished by the power of the indwelling Saviour. The disciple gives proof of his love and loyalty by walking in the paths of obedience. We are saved by faith without the works of the law, but we are saved by a faith that works, by a faith which demonstrates its life and genuineness by walking in the footsteps of our blessed Example. Keeping the law does not put Christ into the heart, he enters the heart through faith; but Christ in the heart and controlling the life, says: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40: 8. Hence the keeping of God’s commandments is a most important matter. The third angel’s message declares, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” This is one of the most prominent marks which will identify the last gospel church on earth. What is it to keep the commandments of God?—It is to keep all of them: “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: but if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For that law which said [margin], Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2: 8-12. 1. God’s law is called the royal, that is, the kingly, law. It was given by the God that made the universe. 2. The law of God is that which convinces a man of sin; because sin is the transgression of the law, and by the law is the knowledge of sin. 3. In order to become one who keeps God’s commandments, we must keep all ten of them. The illustration given demonstrates that beyond all question. If we commit no adultery, yet if we kill, we become transgressors of the law. Hence, if we keep the commandment against murder and yet break the Sabbath commandment, we by the same process of reasoning will be accounted transgressors of the same law. Therefore,10to keep the kingly law we must keep all of the commandments composing that law. To fail to keep it, we need to break but one of them. The strength of a chain depends on the strength of each link. If one breaks, the chain is broken. The great mass of professed Christians are breaking one of the commandments of God,—“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . . The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. . . . For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath [i. e., the rest] day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20: 8-11. Keeping Sunday, the first day of the week, or any other day but the seventh, is not keeping the fourth commandment. It can not be. God did not rest on any other day of the weekly cycle. God’s rest day is the day God commands us to keep holy because he hallowed it and set it apart to a holy or religious use. A large part of the so-called Christian world has been trampling it under their feet for ages, and making it the busiest day of all the seven. But in the grand work of true reformation in the last generation before Christ comes, a people will be raised up who will honor all of God’s commandments alike. All were spoken by Jehovah. All are entitled to respect. Those who have committed this sin in ignorance will be judged according to the light they have had. But sinning in ignorance is no justification for continuing to sin when light has come. God is raising up a people whose message from God is to proclaim, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” Will you not leave off your transgression of God’s law? Will you not cease sinning, and obey God’s commandments? It is blessed to do it. Blessed are they who keep his commandments; they shall have right to the tree of life, and live eternally in his presence. Come, dear reader, let us accept this message, and rejoice forever in his great salvation. An Appeal to Young Men and Women
By E. A. Sutherland
THERE is a great law of the mind which reads, “As he [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” God works in harmony with that law. He tells us what to let the mind dwell upon in order to develop the character he would have us form. We have an instance of this in the book of Deuteronomy. There we read that the children of Israel were told to repeat often to their little ones the story of the conquest of the promised land. The leaders in that great movement, such men as Caleb and Joshua, were characters worth studying. God wanted the children as they grew up to let their minds dwell upon the sturdy, self-sacrificing spirit of these leaders. By so doing, the children would become sturdy burden-bearers, men and women with the Caleb and Joshua spirit of self-sacrifice and devotion to God. We have passed through an experience similar to that of the children of Israel. The third angel’s message was proclaimed by persons of great faith and courage. Such were Elder James White and his wife, Elders Joseph Bates and J. N. Andrews, and many others that could be mentioned. They were bold, brave spirits who forgot themselves and their personal comforts in their zeal for the cause of God. When the Lord impressed these men to move out in any direction, they did not hesitate over the question of personal comfort, salary, or any such thing. They moved straight forward and did nobly the work that God gave them to do. They laid the foundation for the greatest movement that the world has ever known. It is the duty of our young people to let their minds dwell upon the work done by these pioneers. As we do this, we shall become like them in spirit and courage. The leaders in the days of Israel did a great work, but some things remained for the young people to do. To-day we find that the pioneers in the third angel’s message have likewise left some work for the young people to do. There are still some nations to conquer. Our pioneers were soldiers, solid Christian soldiers. But many of our young people shrink from the life and duties of a soldier, while the Lord is saying that our schools should train for the battlefield. The Lord intends the Southern field to be a great training-school for thousands of young Seventh-day Adventists. The South offers them an opportunity to gain the same experience that the pioneers had. The Lord says he has been waiting twenty years for our young people to do the work that is needed in the South. Recently the message has come: “The Lord is certainly opening the way for us as a people to divide and subdivide the large companies that have grown too large to work together to the greatest advantage. . . . Properties will be offered for sale in the rural districts of the South at prices below the real cost because the owners desire city advantages. . . . When driven from the cities, or when sent to other countries, the trades learned in our schools may be an influence in favor of the truth. The last call should be made just as important in new places in this country as in distant lands. Enter every possible place and begin the work of education in vicinities where they have not heard the truth. . . . I am instructed that angels will direct in the opening of fields nigh as well as far off. . . . Why did our Saviour labor to sow seed in out-of-the-way places? Why did he travel slowly from the villages? . . . He chose as a missionary field places which others could not discern as especially advantageous.” “For twenty years it has been before our people that they must do a special work in the Southern States. When the Lord repeatedly sends messages to his people, it is because he desires them to follow the light he has given. We are not to work in the same places over and over again. . . . As a people we need to yet learn what it means to fill our place as missionaries among the people who know not the truth for this time. . . . Every city in the Southern States, every town and village, must have earnest work done for it. That field will be missionary soil until many churches are raised up.”