Your ShelfYour Projects

Review and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 1.

A Better New Year

Review and Herald

Jan 2, 1913

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Jan 2, 1913

A Better New Year

MRS. S. M. SPICER
Ring out the old year, all its fruitage of sorrow, Its dark nights of woe all dripping with tears. Ring in the new year, with a joyous to-morrow, The dawning of hope that will banish all fears. Ring out all oppression, and graspings for gold That entail on the poor both hunger and cold. Ring in the sweet spirit the dear Master bore, With help for the sorrowing, the sick, and the poor.
Ring out the harsh clangor of battle and strife, The blood-sprinkled soil of many a land. Ring in blessed peace and brotherly love, When justice shall rule with a pitying hand. Yet, never will flee earth's shadows away Till sin has been vanquished, and mankind, forgiven, Shall walk with its God in the love-light of heaven. Ring out the old world, all the fruitage of sin; With gladness the new earth, redeemed, usher in.
Takoma Park, D. C.
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY 10 CTS. A COPY 35 CTS. A YEAR WASHINGTON, D.C.
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY 10 CTS. A COPY 35 CTS. A YEAR WASHINGTON, D.C.

"Statue of Liberty" and "Sunday Labor" Number

PARTIAL CONTENTS

Frontispiece: Cartoon "Religious Legislation Darkening the World"
The Statue of Liberty — Its Meaning
Religious Liberty Survey of the World
God and Caesar
President Attends Fourth Pan-American Mass
Menace of a National Religion
How Rome Dictates to Catholic Voters
Religious Liberty in Holland
Sunday Labor on Catholic University
Religious Liberty Prohibitionists in Pennsylvania
Digest of Sunday Laws in All States
Catholic Church and Sunday Observance
The Post-Office Closing Proviso
Center Photographs: Two-page picture showing President and Vice-President elect and White House, also religious liberty sentiments of White House occupants.

THE ENEMY

IS NOW SECRETLY AT WORK

to bring about Sunday legislation in the District of Columbia and other parts of America.

You Can Help to Defeat His Efforts

by circulating "Liberty Magazine" and our other religious liberty literature.
Speaking of the efforts of church and state advocates to enact religious legislation in America,

The Spirit of Prophecy Says

"The most momentous struggle of all the ages is just before us."
"The question of enforcing Sunday observance has become one of national interest and importance. . . . But are we ready for the issue? Have we faithfully discharged the duty which God has committed to us, of giving the people warning of the danger before them?"
"We are not doing the will of God if we sit in quietude, doing nothing to preserve liberty of conscience."

"Let Us Work"

"Fervent, effectual prayer should be ascending to heaven that this calamity may be deferred until we can accomplish the work; and then LET US WORK in harmony with our prayers."
"There are many, even of those engaged in this movement for Sunday enforcement, who are blinded to the results which will follow this action. They do not see that they are striking directly against religious liberty."
"Let us show the people where we are in prophetic history, . . . awakening the world to a sense of the value of the privileges of RELIGIOUS LIBERTY so long enjoyed."—"Testimonies for the Church," Vol. V, pages 7, 11, 7, 12, 7, 16.

Secure One Extra Issue Free

for 35 cents, the regular subscription price for one year, we will send you FREE OF CHARGE the splendid current "Catholic Federation" and "Sunday Mails" number in addition to the four issues for 1913.

While Our Supply Lasts

For $2.00 we will send ten copies of "Liberty" during the year 1913 to one or ten addresses, and also throw in free of charge the current issue until our supply is exhausted — FIVE NUMBERS FOR THE PRICE OF FOUR.
What an excellent opportunity to supply every editor, attorney, clergyman, city and county official, and public-school teacher with this magazine!

"Catholic Federation" and "Sunday Mails" Number

PARTIAL CONTENTS

Frontispiece: Photograph of Senate Sunday Mail Reports, printed upon silk and displayed in office of Postmaster-General. Rome and the Prohibition Party Platform Establishing God's Kingdom by Law God's Example of Religious Liberty Putting the Church Over the State in Colombia American Principles in the Balance — a history of the famous Senate Sunday Mail Reports. Religious Liberty in Puritan Times Absurdity of Proposed California Sunday Law Proposed California Sunday Law Un-American A World Survey of Religious Freedom Religious Liberty by Divine Authority Report of Convention of American Federation of Catholic Societies Temperance the Question of the Century

REGULAR PRICES, POST-PAID

Yearly subscription - - - $. 35 Three years (or 3 subs. 1 year) - . 90 (Subscriptions for less than one year not accepted) Four years (or 4 subs. 1 year) - $1.00 Ten years (or 10 subs. 1 year) - 2.00 Ten copies, one year, to one address or more - 2.00
NO EXTRA CHARGE ON FOREIGN SUBSCRIPTIONS

A GOOD PROPOSITION FOR AGENTS

10 cents a copy; 5 to 40 copies, 5 cents each; 50 or more copies, 4 cents each. Send 10 cents for sample copy. Better still, send $1.00 for 20, or $2.00 for 50. Discount to agents on yearly subscriptions.

ORDER THROUGH OUR NEAREST AGENCY

If you don't know the address of our Agency, ask "Liberty Magazine," Washington, D. C.
Entrance to White House
Entrance to White House

A New-Year Resolution

“Do it all as unto Jesus, And not once as unto men.” Had you heard and had you heeded, Listened o'er and o'er again, Would you speak the word so sharply, Like an angry, poisoned dart? Would you wound another's spirit Till it made the tear-drops start?
Would the coin of thought or action Be paid back in kind for kind If in place of friend or brother Jesus stood, and read your mind? Would you gratify the turbid, Sinful impulse of the flesh If you saw the gentle Saviour Hung upon the cross afresh?
He receives this cruel treatment; ’Tis his word, as you can see: “As ’twas done to these, my brethren, Ye have done it unto me.” “Whatsoe’er ye do,” then think it, Act it, o'er and o'er again, Till all is done as unto Jesus, And not once as unto men.
Boulder, Colo.

Does the History of Turkey and Egypt Since 1798 Fulfil the Prophecy of Dan. 11:40-44?

A. G. DANIELLS
IT is of the greatest importance that the world should know the meaning of the last event foretold in that long line of prophecy recorded in the eleventh chapter of Daniel. It is this:—
"And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." Dan. 11:45.
The reason it is so important that the meaning of this event be understood when it is about to take place is because it is the prelude to the greatest of all the events in the history of the world. The prophet says:—
"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." Dan. 12:1, 2.
By the words "and at that time" these two events are immediately and inseparably connected. The first event seems to be the herald of the second. When the first is taking place, the world is to know that the other is immediately to follow.
These two events unite the present and the future. The first relates to the kingdoms of this world; the second to the kingdom of Christ. The first is the signal for the close of the history of this world; the second marks the beginning of the future, eternal life of the redeemed.
This second event is surely one of supreme interest and importance to all the world; and as the first is the warning given that the second is about to take place, it becomes an event of great significance.
What, then, is this first event? Who shall plant the tabernacles between the seas in the glorious holy mountain? What mountain and seas? With what preceding and concurrent events is this to occur? What does the expression "he shall come to his end" mean? Who no longer "help him"? To which one of these specifications does "at that time" refer when Michael is to stand up and the time of trouble to begin?
The whole line of the prophecy must be given careful study in order to obtain a correct understanding of its closing events. But in the historical survey to be given in this series of articles only the last six verses of the chapter will be covered. The different specifications of the prophecy mentioned in these verses are the following:—
  1. At the time of the end.
  2. Him.
  3. The king of the south shall push at him.
  4. The king of the north shall come against him, (a) like a whirlwind, (b) with chariots and horsemen, (c) with many ships.
  5. He shall enter into the countries.
  6. He shall overflow and pass over.
  7. He shall enter into the glorious land, and many shall be overthrown.
  8. Edom, Moab, and Ammon shall escape.
  9. Egypt shall not escape.
  10. He shall have power over the treasures of Egypt.
  11. The Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
  12. Tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him.
  13. He shall go forth with great fury to destroy.
  14. He shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain.
  15. He shall come to his end, and none shall help him.
This is the ground to be covered, and the purpose of this series of articles is to present, as fully as space will permit, the history which it is believed fulfils these specifications of the prophecy. Fortunately we have a definite time from which to start. "At the time of the end" these events are to begin. If we can be sure of that point, we shall know where to begin our search for the events that meet the specifications.
"At the time of the end" will be the subject of the next article.

The Parable of the Balky Horse

"FORTY-SECOND STREET in New York City is one of the busiest streets in the world. Street-cars, wagons, taxicabs, carriages, run east and west in almost continuous streams, two or three abreast each way.
"The other day for a quarter of an hour traffic was blocked there at the most congested time. As far as I could see each way from Fifth Avenue, the street was filled with what seemed a hopeless tangle of vehicles. Drivers were calling to one another; impatient heads were leaning out of carriage doors; mail-wagons hurrying to the trains were held up; policemen were trying to keep the north and south avenue crossings open, but with poor success. A multitudeof interests was involved, and there is no guessing what harm was done. Yet it all came about very simply.
"It happened that the street was being torn up for some repairs on the subway, and at one point the passage had been narrowed to the two car-tracks for a space of perhaps twenty feet. At just that point a horse had balked, and in his stubbornness had pulled the wagon and himself across both tracks. Then he would not budge.
"He was a fine big fellow drawing a wagon so light that, when the men finally unhooked him, one of them easily pulled the wagon away, while others forced the horse out of the way, and traffic was resumed. There was no heavy load; there was no overworked horse. There was just a stubborn animal, which had decided not to pull his load out of the way, and so had blocked the way of scores of other horses and hundreds of people."
A parable truly, from which a lesson can be drawn. There are not only balky horses, but balky people as well. The world is filled with balkers. Some of these find their way into the church and into the Sabbath-school.
A person who balks is worse than a quitter. A quitter simply stops, gives up the job, gets out of the way, and allows some one else to do something. But one who balks, like the proverbial "dog in the manger," neither moves on nor allows any one else to do so. He is an obstructionist; the whole procession must stop until he can be unhitched, or coaxed to go on.
There are churches where everything runs well for a time. Progress is seen in every line. Spirituality is deepening, the youth are giving their hearts to God, and the missionary work is inspiring. Visiting them again, we see a change in some. There is nothing being done. Stagnation is everywhere. Inquiring into the reason, we find that somebody who was pretending to lead balked. Something did not go to suit him. Some plans were suggested that did not please him; they were not the thing according to his notions; he saw no light in them. So he balked, and thus stopped the whole procession. He blocks the way, refusing to move or to allow others to move. His stubbornness he seeks to excuse by saying that he is one who does his own thinking. And the spiritual dry-rot continues.
There are Sabbath-schools that once flourished like a tree planted by a river. Their fruit is abundant. There are many such schools, where the children and youth are giving their hearts to God. They are progressive in every good work. The best methods are adopted; new ideas are sought for and put into practise. Plans which are recommended after prayerful and mature deliberation by those of experience, are used in the school. Everything seems to be flourishing, and it is a spiritual refreshing to visit such a school.
We go again, and there seems to be a change in some. We see a form, but little life. The routine is dry. Everything is mechanical. It seems as if the wheel of time had turned backward twenty years, or more, in its work. The methods are not up to date. There is nothing inspiring. The youth and children look as if they would be glad when the form is over. Others look bored.
On searching out the cause of this decline, we find a new leader arose who saw no need of new methods and advanced ideas. The way they used to do was good enough for him. He saw no need of making strong efforts to train teachers who have to deal with human souls and render an account at the tribunal of God; or of teachers' meeting, or revival services in a Sabbath-school. The plans for awakening the missionary spirit among both old and young, and raising funds to advance the work, though successful in other schools, did not appeal to him. So he balked. Nobody can get past him, so the procession of burden-bearers must needs stop. There is friction and confusion, and things are in a tangle. It made no difference if all these plans had been tested, and were recommended by those of long and successful experience, and had the approval of the church as a body. He preferred to balk and stay where he was, and prevent the others from going on.
Others when placed in a responsible position where some hard pulling is needed, do well for a time. But after a while the load gets heavy, the way is somewhat hedged up, and it is hard to keep from stalling in some rut. After tugging at the load for a while, they grow weary. To go on means to lift, sweat, and hang on. Being tired, they cease pulling and balk. So things must come to a standstill until they can be dispensed with, and some one else found who is willing to bear burdens for the Lord, and pull when something must be moved. And so we could go on ad infinitum.
Moral: Don't balk, but pull.
"When the cross seems hard to carry, Lift! brother, lift! O'er the burden never tarry, Lift! brother, lift!"

Changed Into His Image

MRS. E. G. WHITE
SIN-BURDENED, struggling souls, Jesus in his glorified humanity has ascended into the heavens to make intercession for us. "For we have not an high priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace." We should be continually looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; for by beholding him we shall be changed into his image, our character will be made like his. We should rejoice that all judgment is given unto the Son, because in his humanity he has become acquainted with all the difficulties that beset humanity.
To be sanctified is to become a partaker of the divine nature, catching the spirit and mind of Jesus, ever learning in the school of Christ. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." It is impossible for any of us by our own power or our own efforts to work this change in ourselves. It is the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, which Jesus said he would send into the world, that changes our character into the image of Christ; and when this is accomplished, we reflect, as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord. That is, the character of the one who thus beholds Christ is so like his that one looking at him sees Christ's own character shining out as from a mirror. Imperceptibly to ourselves, we are changed day by day from our own ways and will into the ways and will of Christ, into the loveliness of his character. Thus we grow up into Christ, and unconsciously reflect his image.
Professed Christians keep altogether too near the lowlands of earth. Their eyes are trained to see only commonplace things, and their minds dwell upon the things their eyes behold. Their religious experience is often shallow and unsatisfying, and their words are light and valueless. How can such reflect the image of Christ? How can they send forth the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness into all the dark places of the earth? To be a Christian is to be Christlike.
Enoch kept the Lord ever before him, and the Inspired Word says that he "walked with God." He made Christ his constant companion. He was in the world, and performed his duties to the world; but he was ever under the influence of Jesus. He reflected Christ's character, exhibiting the same qualities in goodness, mercy, tender compassion, sympathy, forbearance, meekness, humility, and love. His association with Christ day by day transformed him into the image of him with whom he was so intimately connected. Day by day he was growing away from his own way into Christ's way, the heavenly, the divine, in his thoughts and feelings. He was constantly inquiring, "Is this the way of the Lord?" His was a constant growth, and he had fellowship with the Father and the Son. This is genuine sanctification.
Many who claim to be sanctified become boisterous, passionate, and wholly unlike Christ in words and deportment, if their will is crossed. These show that they are not what they claim to be. The more closely one views Christ, the less disposed will he be to make high claims to holiness. He will have a humble opinion of himself and of his own goodness, but Christ will be revealed in his character.
Christ said, "It is expedient for you that I go away." No one could then have any preference because of his location or personal contact with Christ. The Saviour would be accessible to allalike, spiritually, and in this sense he would be nearer to us all than if he had not ascended on high. Now all may be equally favored by beholding him and reflecting his character. The eye of faith sees him ever present, in all his goodness, grace, forbearance, courtesy, and love, those spiritual and divine attributes. And as we behold, we are changed into his likeness.
Christ is soon coming in the clouds of heaven, and we must be prepared to meet him, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. We are now to accept the invitation of Christ. He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls." The words of Christ to Nicodemus are of practical value to us to-day: "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
The converting power of God must be upon our hearts. We must study the life of Christ, and imitate the divine Pattern. We must dwell upon the perfection of his character, and be changed into his image. No one will enter the kingdom of God unless his passions are subdued, unless his will is brought into captivity to the will of Christ.
Heaven is free from all sin, from all defilement and impurity; and if we would live in its atmosphere, if we would behold the glory of Christ, we must be pure in heart, perfect in character through his grace and righteousness. We must not be taken up with pleasure and amusement, but be fitting up for the glorious mansions Christ has gone to prepare for us. If we are faithful, seeking to bless others, and patient in well-doing, at his coming Christ will crown us with glory, honor, and immortality.
Prophecy reveals the fact that we are nearing the end of all things, and the people of God are to be the light of the world. In character and life we are to make manifest the requirement of God in humanity; and in order to do this, we must gather up the rays of divine light from the Bible, and let them shine forth to those who are in darkness. Christ must abide in our hearts by faith, that we may know and teach the way to heaven. "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever."
Christ is soon coming in glory, and when his majesty is revealed, the world will wish that they had his favor. At that time we shall all desire a place in the mansions of heaven; but those who do not confess Christ now in word, in life, in character, can not expect that he will confess them then before his Father and the holy angels. By those who have denied him, the cry will be raised, even to the mountains, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"
O, how happy will be all those who have made themselves ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb, who are robed in the righteousness of Christ, and reflect his lovely image! They will have on the pure white linen which is the righteousness of the saints, and Christ will lead them by the side of living waters; God will wipe away all tears from their eyes, and they will have the life that runs parallel with the life of God.

Prophecies of Deliverance

From Egypt to Canaan—No. 1

Prophecies of Deliverance

A NATION was in bondage in Egypt. Egypt is often used as a synonym of sin and bondage. Speaking of a very wicked city, God said it "spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt." Rev. 11:8. That Egypt was a place not only of physical servitude, but of bondage to sin ("transgression of the law," 1 John 3:4), is made clear in Ps. 105:43-45: "And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness: . . . that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws."
Six hundred thousand men were under cruel taskmasters, and many of the famous landmarks of Egypt that have withstood the ravages of the centuries, were built at the cost of the precious lives of God's children. See "Antiquities of the Jews," book 2, chap. 9, sec. 1. God had promised to Abraham that after four hundred years of wandering and affliction his posterity should come forth from Egypt, and make homes in the land of Canaan. Gen. 15:13-16. This four hundred years embraced the time from the date of the weaning of Isaac, when Ishmael, the son of the bondwoman, through jealousy began mocking, or afflicting, Isaac, the son of the freewoman (Gen. 21:8, 9, margin, B. C. 1892), to the going out of Egypt, as recorded in Ex. 12:37 (margin, B. C. 1491).
This four hundred years of affliction, beginning with the enmity of Ishmael, is referred to in Gal. 4:29: "But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now." By reading verses 28-30, it will be evident that this scripture refers directly to the weaning of Isaac, recorded in Gen. 21:8-10.
Another date covering the same period, but reaching back thirty years farther, is found in Ex. 12:40: "Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years." This does not say that they dwelt in Egypt four hundred thirty years, but the sojourning of this people who dwelt in Egypt was fourhundred thirty years. This evidently began with the entrance of Abraham into Canaan in B. C. 1921 (Gen. 12:1, 4, marginal date), and ended with the night of Israel's deliverance from Egypt, B. C. 1491 (Ex. 12:40, marginal date), making four hundred thirty years. It is said of Abraham, "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country." Heb. 11:9. This places Abraham among those who were sojourners during the four hundred thirty years.
This period of years had two natural, equal divisions. From Abraham's entrance into Canaan to the removal of Jacob from Canaan into Egypt, was two hundred fifteen years. Compare marginal date of Gen. 12:4, 5, B. C. 1921, with date of Gen. 46:5, 6, B. C. 1706. From Jacob's entrance into Egypt to the deliverance by Moses was also two hundred fifteen years. Margin, Genesis 46, B. C. 1706, and Ex. 12:41, B. C. 1491. These divisions are mentioned in Josephus's "Antiquities of the Jews," book 2, chap. 15, sec. 2: "They left Egypt in the month Xanthicus on the fifteenth day of the lunar month, four hundred thirty years after our forefather Abraham came into the land of Canaan, but two hundred fifteen years only after Jacob removed into Egypt."
Only a part of this last two hundred fifteen years was actually spent in Egyptian bondage. The saving of the land by Joseph caused Israel to be looked upon with favor, and not until the generation died that knew Joseph did an Egyptian king bring Israel under bondage. "And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. . . . Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. . . . Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens." Ex. 1:6-11.
The Egyptians knew that Israel expected, sometime, to return to Canaan. Joseph had spoken of it before his death. Gen. 50:24, 25. The sons of Jacob had told Pharaoh that they came down to "sojourn in the land" because of the famine. Gen. 47:4. Now, as their service had become so valuable, the king decided to make it impossible for them to leave Egypt. In this he arrayed himself against the word of God, rapidly filled the cup of his iniquity, and sounded the nation's fall. God had given that nation its day of privilege. He had sent Abraham to it, but because of a lack of faith, he was sent away without extending the light of God. Gen. 12:11-20. Joseph was sent to that nation, and a wonderful miracle, which must have forcibly called the attention of all the nation to the true God, was wrought in the providence of God, in connection with the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine. A few had believed. But now we see a king determined to withstand God and thwart his purposes. God had said of their sojourn in Egypt, "But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again." Gen. 15:16.
Some have connected this fourth generation with the four hundred years, and in this way believed that a generation was one hundred years. This is evidently a mistake. In verse 14 the attention of Abraham is called directly to the Egyptian nation, and Israel's connection with it. The fourth generation reaches from father to son, from the going into Egypt to the reentrance into the land of Canaan, forty years after the exodus.
Take the lineage of Judah. Zerah was the son of Judah, and came with him into Egypt. Gen. 46:8, 12. The son of Zerah, born in Egypt, was Zabdi; the son of Zabdi was Carmi; the son of Carmi was Achan. Joshua 7:1, 18. The four generations would be Zerah, Zabdi, Carmi, and Achan. Zerah came down from Canaan. Achan, the fourth generation, came into Canaan again. He it was who sinned at the taking of Jericho, the first city taken in the land of Canaan. Joshua 7:1. The four generations are grouped together in one sentence in Joshua 7:24: "And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah."
The prophecies of deliverance then embrace the four hundred thirty years from the entrance of Abraham into Canaan to the deliverance from Egypt. The four hundred years of affliction and persecution began with the weaning of Isaac, when the jealousy of Ishmael broke out into deeds of violence against the true seed, his posterity continuing the persecution (Ishmaelites sold Joseph into Egypt. Gen. 37:28), and also ended with the deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The fourth generation (four generations) began with the entrance into Egypt, and ended with the entrance into Canaan, forty years after the deliverance from the Egyptians.
NOTE.—In all Bibles general dates are given which often cover many years from one chapter to the next. Other Bibles give the intervening dates in the chapters. In the date of the feast for Isaac, we have taken the intervening date as given in the Oxford Teachers' Bible, Olivet Series.

What We Promised Each Other

MEADE MAC GUIRE
WHEN I accepted the Bible as a letter from God to men, I accepted his statement that I was a lost sinner, and that he loved me and had provided a way of salvation for me.
On accepting his gift, he made me certain definite, personal promises on which I base all my hope for this life and the life to come. He also required, and I made, certain definite, solemn, and sacred promises to him. Though these mutual pledges mean so much to me, I am prone to forget, so I find it helpful to go over them often.

What God Promised Me

1. His presence: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. 28: 20.
2. His peace: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." John 14: 27.
3. His joy: "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." John 15: 11.
4. His victory: "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world." 1 John 5: 5, 4.
5. His power: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." Acts 1: 8.
6. His character: "And as we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 Cor. 15: 49.
7. His tribulation: "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." John 16: 33.
8. His glory: "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them." John 17: 22.
9. His passion for saving men: "I will make you fishers of men." Matt. 4: 19. "And hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation." 2 Cor. 5: 18.
10. A place on his throne: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne." Rev. 3: 21.

What He Required and I Promised Him

1. To love him supremely: "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." Mark 12: 30.
2. To relinquish everything to him: "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he can not be my disciple." Luke 14: 33.
3. To renounce the love of the world: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world." 1 John 2: 15; James 4: 4.
4. To trust him implicitly in both temporal and spiritual things: "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on." Luke 12: 22. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Rom. 8: 32.
5. Not to worry nor be discouraged: "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." Phil. 4: 6.
6. To confess my sins and stop sinning: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." 1 John 1: 9. "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." John 8: 11.
7. To yield my will and life absolutely to his Spirit: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? . . . Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor. 6: 19, 20. "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Rom. 8: 13.
8. To love his children: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." John 15: 12.
9. To seek and save the lost: "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." Luke 14: 23.
10. To prepare for his return: "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God?" 2 Peter 3: 11, 12.
Of all his good promises, only the last remains unfulfilled. And how sadly and often have I failed in keeping my vows to him! But he has provided against discouragement, even in this experience, by the assurance that "he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust," and "like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."
By claiming his promises I shall be able to keep mine until the victory is won and he fulfils the last and crowning one to me.
Loveland, Colo.

Helpful Thoughts

"SADNESS sits lightly upon the heart of faith."
PRAY hardest when it is hardest to pray.—Brent.
"A CLOUDY day often keeps some folks from seeing an opportunity."
"IT is surely better to pardon too much than to condemn too much."
"THE hands are for the hardness of toil; the heart is for tenderness."
"HIDE a troubled heart with a smiling face, and its ache will not seem so great."
WHAT a different place some people can make the same place!—Kate Langley Bosher.
"USEFULNESS is the rent we are asked to pay for room on earth. Some of us are heavily in debt."
It is the height of folly to throw up attempting because you have failed. Failures are wonderful elements in developing the character.—Max Muller.
IN rose time or in berry time, When ripe seeds fall or buds peep out, When green the grass or white the rime, There's something to be glad about. —Lucy Larcom.
THE desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge in excess, man; but in love there is no excess, neither can man or angel come in danger by it.—Lord Bacon.
WITH deep earnestness would I urge you to pray,—habitually, reverently, trustfully to pray to your Heavenly Father,—and never to rise from your knees until you feel that you rise victorious, and that you, too, have been saying to God in the heartfelt purpose which gave might to the older patriarchs, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."—F. W. Farrar.

Let Us Pull Together

THE strength of gospel effort is greatly enhanced by the cooperation and harmonious working of the believers. God has committed to us a great work. We can not do it single-handed. We can not accomplish it in our own strength or on independent lines. We must pull together. Divided, we shall fall; united, we shall stand against the forces of the enemy, and go forward in victory.
Satan will ever seek to divide our energies and separate our efforts by inculcating the spirit of suspicion, distrust, alienation, and criticism. We shall see much in others that we do not like. Their plans and policies and methods will not always commend themselves to our judgment. We do not need to watch one another narrowly to see many defects of life and character. And how the enemy rejoices when questions of this character engage our thought and occupy our attention! We need to cultivate continually the spirit of large-heartedness, of kindly benevolence, of tender sympathy, of long patience. Let us disarm the working of suspicion, and place upon the actions of others the best possible construction, realizing that we ourselves, similarly situated, might have done even worse.
We can never argue men into the kingdom. We can not drive our brethren to do right by criticism, but we may draw sinners to Christ by love, and the exercise of this Christian grace the world greatly needs to-day. The church of God needs it; Seventh-day Adventists need it; our families need it; our own hearts cry out for love and sympathy, and we welcome eagerly the spirit of true Christian helpfulness whenever it is shown us. Let this be the spirit which shall actuate us in our relationship to our fellows during the year to come.
Continue reading: To the Mission Fields in 1912