Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 6, 1903
Publishers' Page
By Editor
Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company.
Our Book Stock
Though our Manufacturing department is destroyed by fire, our book stock room and Wholesale department was not injured, and we are prepared to fill orders promptly for all books heretofore handled.
The Review
A few weeks ago a plan was inaugurated whereby every family among our people who were not taking the Review should receive some sample copies, in order that they might have the benefits and the opportunity of judging of its value. The publishers felt confident that these families would appreciate the paper, and that the Review would so help them onward toward the kingdom during the few weeks that it came to them free that they would desire its continued weekly visits, and would become regular subscribers. But just as we were entering upon this plan to serve those who do not have the paper, the misfortune of the great loss by fire of the Manufacturing department of the Review and Herald Publishing House came suddenly upon us, and we are powerless to complete this plan. So we appeal to all those who do not now take the paper, and ask them to promptly send in their subscription.
It has been for fifty years the faithful medium of communication between the workers in the field and the laity, whose hearts have been cheered, and whose faith has been strengthened from week to week as its general articles, reports of encouraging openings and the rapid progress of the work from all parts of the world have been read. Its columns are always filled with instruction, exhortation, and entreaty. Every family in the denomination should have it in the home.
To be without it means to lose sight of the progress of the message of God for this time, and to be more tempted and more easily allured into the affairs that pertain only to the carnal things of this life. Its presence in the home deepens spirituality, creates and maintains a deeper interest in God's cause and his messengers throughout the entire world, and promptly places every advance move and every phase of the work in the possession of its readers. It is a denominational paper, and is prepared with the needs of the whole people constantly in view.
The subscription price is $1.50 per year. Let all send in their subscriptions immediately. Address the Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
Words of Truth Series.
Excellent message-bearing literature that ought to be in the homes of the people while the long evenings are generally devoted to reading. Note the titles of the tracts and their prices: — Price
1. The Coming of the Lord. 100 .00¼
2. How the Sabbath Came to Me ............ 25 .03
3. Review of W. S. Gamble on the Sabbath Question ............ 50 .01
4. A Challenge to Protestants ............ 50 .00½
5. Fundamental Principles of Seventh-day Adventists ............ 50 .01
6. Candid Admissions.... 50 .00½
7. Personal Questions and Answers Concerning the Sabbath ............ 25 .03½
8. The Way, the Truth, the Life ......... 25 .04
9. The Reign of Righteousness ............ 25 .02
10. First a Willing Mind—Then All.......... 25 .01¼
11. The Law in Christ, or the Relation Between the Law and the Gospel ............ 25 .02
12. The War between Capital and Labor .... 25 .02
13. Last-Day Tokens .... 10 .10
14. Come, Lord Jesus ...... 100 .00¼
15. The Spirit of Burning.. 25 .02
16. What to Do with Doubt 50 .00¾
17. It's and Why's of Baptism ............ 50 .01¼
18. Sanctification, or Bible Conversion ........ 25 .01.
19. A Woman-Ministry, or the Gospel in the Home ........ 25 .05
20. Should Not Christians Keep the Sabbath?.. 25 .02
22. Is the End Near? ..... 50 .00½
23. The Rest Day... 25 .02½
24. Ownership and Tithing 100 .00½
26. An Open Letter and Answer ............ 25 .01
27. Important Questions on Great Events ...... 100 .00½
28. Hypnotism: What is it? 25 .03
29. The Seven Last Plagues 25 .03
30. Bible Readings on Education ............ 25 .03
31. Church Organization... 25 .02
32. Can We Know? ..... 50 .00½
34. Present Truth... 25 .02
Sabbath-School Lessons for the First Quarter of 1903
The International Sabbath-school Quarterly, No. 31, containing the Sabbath-school lessons for the first quarter of 1903, is now ready. These lessons will be “Studies in the Psalms,” under the following general topics: —
The Greatness of Jehovah; The Great Provider; God's Care for His Creatures; An Exhortation to Make Known the Wondrous Works of God;
God's Care for His People; God's Power Manifested in Deliverance; God's Purpose in Deliverance; Experiences of Israel for Our Learning; Experiences in the Wilderness; The Result of Disobedience; Deliverance from Sin; A Saviour from Sin and Distress; The wisdom of the Righteous.
Price, 5 cents per copy, postpaid. Order of your State Tract Society, or of the Review and Herald Publishing Co.
A Five Years’ Diary in One Book
We still have a few copies of this excellent diary on hand. All who have used it pronounce it the best arrangement for record keeping on the market.
Its arrangement places a record of the same day in every month throughout the five years on every page of the diary, thereby focusing on one page five daily records for as many years. When making our record, it is always interesting and profitable to note what we did just one, two, three, or four years before, and this form brings this survey before the mind each day.
Many people do not wish to make extended records. Only important facts in a concise form are desired. This diary has space for such a record, yet is just the size to carry in the pocket.
Substantially bound in fine Russia, gilt edges. The price, postpaid, is $1 and $1.50. Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
The Best Revised Bible
The American Standard Edition is generally conceded to be the best edition now published. The testimony of Bible students affirms that this translation is nearer the divine thought and spirit than any other version in the English language.
These Bibles are printed in large type and are substantially bound at the following prices: —
No. 160. Cloth bound, red edges, $1.
No. 167. Egyptian Seal, limp, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.75.
No. 173. Egyptian Seal, divinity circuit, leather lined to edges, round corners, red under gold edges, $2.75.
In Very Large Type, Especially Good For Impaired Vision.
No. 260. Cloth boards, red edges, $1.50.
No. 267. Egyptian Seal, limp, round corners, red under gold edges, $2.50.
No. 274. Persian Levant, divinity circuit, leather lined to edge, round corners, red under gold edges, $3.75.
Order of the Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
A Valuable Book
“The Master's Greatest Monosyllables” is a faith-making volume, and a soul winner, and is a good book to present to a friend. It will accomplish good wherever it goes. Price, 50 cents, postpaid.
Hastening the Coming
By Editor
Editorial
Hastening the Coming
It is not enough to assent to the fact that the Lord is soon coming. Our responsibility is not met by a passive acceptance of the evidences that the end of all things is at hand. This truth of the near coming of the Lord must become personality in us. It must throb in our brains. It must thrill in our hearts. It must be the impulse of every action. It must be the keynote of our life. This is simply the experience of fellowship with the purpose of God for this time. Our faith must lay hold of the revelation of this purpose in the oath of the angelic messenger that “there shall be delay no longer,” and that the mystery of God is to be finished in our day. This is a living verity. There can be no theory about it. The theory of the coming of the Lord has no more salvation in it than any other mere form of godliness without the power thereof. We must ourselves become the incarnation of this advent message. The Word of his coming must become flesh. This advent message must appear to the world in visible form in those who have become one with it in heart and life. A divine voice will then be heard through human lips, and multitudes will be astonished at the doctrine, just as of old. There will then be a revelation of that power of the gospel which makes new creatures out of the most hopeless material, and which will soon give us a new heaven and a new earth. Here is the promise: “I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.” And so it is plain enough that it is our personal experience with God's Word which will hasten the coming of the Lord. With what earnest appeal does the apostle Peter close his instruction concerning the coming of the day of the Lord. “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God?” O reader, there is a personal experience in this question of the coming of the Lord. Do you know it? Can you help others into the personal knowledge of it? This is the reality of the advent message.
The Advent Message Lives
Fire cannot burn up this advent message. Satan and all his hosts cannot destroy it. It is a part of the eternal purpose of God, and it has in it the living and life-giving power of God's own life. And the home of this message is not in buildings of brick and mortar, but in the hearts of those who receive it. The burning of a building and the destruction of machinery employed in printing the truths of this message need not retard the progress of this message in the least. There are plenty of buildings and plenty of printing machinery in the world. The one thing which retards the progress of this message is the coldness of many who are only half-hearted in their devotion to it. If the flames of the burning Review Office would set on fire the heart of every one in this message, and if the fierce heat of that conflagration would make every lukewarm soul “hot” in his devotion to the work of giving “the advent message to the world in this generation,” we could find much comfort in the midst of this heavy material loss. The flames of the fiery furnace simply burned the bonds of the three worthies, so that those who “fell down bound” were seen “loose, walking in the midst of the fire.” We accept with humble submission any experience which will teach us how to stay our souls upon God with an increasing faith in the power of the naked truth, and which will set us free from the cords with which the world binds us in selfish ease, and will send us forth to the ends of the earth to carry the warning message. A greater fire is just ahead of us. “For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be as stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Let us go forth with our hearts on fire with zeal for the spread of the message which will “make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him.” “Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?” “The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.” Happy are those who know that the advent message lives in their hearts.
God's Opportunity
There is no such word as difficulty or defeat in the vocabulary of heaven. What may seem to us to be an insuperable difficulty is simply an unusual opportunity for the Lord to reveal the might of his power and to show more of his inexhaustible resources. “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard? The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to him that hath no might he increaseth strength.” What might seem to our limited view of things as an overwhelming defeat may be the very crown of victory. The cross, that symbol to human minds of shame and defeat, is the glory of triumph to the Christian. A greater than a Roman triumph, when a victorious general entered the eternal city at the head of a procession of trophies, was the walk to Calvary. The glory of it is revealed, and yet hidden, in these words: “As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.” The great lesson to be learned is that God's ways are not our ways. “When I am weak, then am I strong.” “All flesh is grass. . . . Behold your God!” Christ crucified is the power of God.
“Whate’er in me seems wise, or good,
Or strong, I here disclaim;
I wash my garments in the blood
Of the atoning Lamb.”
Our faith “should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” “Because the foolishness of God is4wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” When apparent disaster comes to God's work, we should not be disheartened, but we should inquire of God to find his way and to learn what lesson he desires to teach us. The chastening hand of God is sometimes laid in love upon his children as the only way of saving them from the fruit of their own doings. Let us be strong and of a good courage, but let us diligently inquire of the Lord for the meaning of these very marked providences. Who can fail to understand that there must be a lesson in these things,—not a lesson of doubt and despair, but a call to learn the way of the Lord? It is time for us to ask ourselves the question which we have urged upon others, “What do these things mean?”
The Review Office
By Uriah Smith
In the shadow of a great calamity, we are of good courage. We have no disposition to draw back in the face of untoward circumstances. Fire has wiped from the face of the earth the visible symbol of what has long been regarded as an object of love and veneration. But God lives, and his truth endures. The original office building erected on the removal of the work to Battle Creek in 1855, still stands. The publication of The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald was begun by Elder James White at Paris, Me., in 1850. In August, 1851, the office was established at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. Seven months later it was removed to Rochester, N. Y., and in 1855 to Battle Creek, Mich. The first issue from Battle Creek was dated Dec. 4, 1855. In May, 1861, the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association was incorporated. In the summer of 1857 an Adams press was procured, also a steam engine to furnish power. The association immediately erected a new brick office building two stories in height. In 1871 a second building was erected, and in 1873 a third building was added. In 1878 the first and third buildings were united by a large four-story building, with two three-story wings. In the year 1881 a large press room was added to the right and rear, increasing the floor space to forty thousand square feet.
All this space was equipped with first-class machinery for printing, folding, book-binding, electrotyping, stereotyping, photographing, photo-engraving, mailing, shipping, etc., to which equipment had recently been added three typesetting machines. The machinery was most modern in all its branches. This is the building which has gone down before the flames. It was the expensive and delicate machinery which helped to swell the aggregate loss to a large amount. Against this there was only one hundred thousand dollars' insurance. But the promises of the Lord are sure. He has promised to go with us, even to the end of the world. The strength of the cause is the love for his appearing, which we bear, and our willingness to respond to any demands which his providence may lay upon us.
U. S.
Former Things
By Uriah Smith
“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.” Isa. 46: 9. The readers of the Review have not failed to notice what appeared in the paper last week, at the close of the volume, entitled, “The Review for 1903.” With the sentiments there expressed, the editorial workers on the Review are in the most hearty accord; and in the policy outlined for the paper, our hearts are fixed in the most steadfast purpose and determination. That purpose is to make this paper an exponent of the “present truth,” the bearer of “good tidings of great joy” to all its readers, and “an inspiration to a complete consecration of heart and life to the work of hastening the coming of the blessed Master.” The aim will be to make it of such inestimable value to all who love his appearing, that it will lead them to identify themselves with this great movement to give the advent message to all the world in this generation, regarding it as indispensable to the carrying out of their purpose, to “co-operate intelligently with other believers in this closing work.”
This strikes the keynote of the work in our hands, namely, the sounding of the advent proclamation in all the world, before the generation beginning at a definite point in the past, and now nearing the utmost limits of its existence, shall have all passed off the stage of action. The prophetic announcement and its limitations are set forth in this scripture: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” In Matt. 24: 29, reference is made to certain days of tribulation; and it is said that immediately after that tribulation, phenomena in the sun and the moon, unheard of and unexplainable, were to take place. The sun was to be preternaturally darkened, and the moon was not to give her light. This was all literally and impressively fulfilled in the notable Dark Day of May 19, 1780, and in the following night. Fifty-three years and fourteen days later, Nov. 13, 1833, came the wonderful shower of meteors, known as “the falling of the stars.” This was to be followed, after an indefinite interval, by the shaking of the powers of the heavens. This will be fulfilled when Heb. 12: 26 is fulfilled, and the heaven and the earth shake at the voice of God. Rev. 16: 17, 18; Joel 3: 15, 16. But these are parts of the great day itself, when kings and chief captains, the rich and mighty men of the earth, call for rocks and mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne; for they then testify with terrible emphasis, that “the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6: 14-17. But the events prophesied of in Matt. 24: 29, except the shaking of “the powers of the heavens,” occur long enough beforehand to arouse the world, and to act as signs and precursors of the coming of that day. We stand right between verses 13 and 14 of Revelation 6, with the falling of the stars as the last sign in nature to herald to us the coming of the Son of man. What follows in this line of events is too late to be signs and warnings to us. Now note the climax of this instruction in Matt. 24: 32-34: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [“he,” Christ, margin] is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”
The writer of this may be allowed a word of personal application on this point: Born May 2, 1832, he easily reckons himself as coming within the generation which was living at the time of the falling of the stars, Nov. 13, 1833, the last tabulated sign in the heavens to foretell the near coming of the Son of man, and at the time of his baptism by an Adventist elder, in good standing under the first message, in the early summer of 1844, of sufficient age to see (historically) “all these things,” these phenomena in the heavens, and contemplate their value, as signs of the end, and on this evidence to raise from the doorsteps of his home in West Wilton, N. H., the cry, “The Lord is coming,” as far as the voice was able to reach relatives and friends in the neighborhood.
On that doctrine he has never had a misgiving from that day to this. And there he still stands, on the authority of the words of Christ, as we can but interpret them, “This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” Whether or not the writer lives till the Lord appears, there will undoubtedly be a sufficient number of that generation alive at the end to make good the prophecy. For the Lord says, “My words shall not pass away.”
In endeavoring to comply with the prophetic injunction to “remember the former things of old,” the object has been in these introductory lines to ascertain how far experiences of a personal nature could be linked with any work which God is developing in the earth, or any fulfillments5of his prophetic word. This has led to a consideration of what is meant by “this generation,” one of the crucial points of New Testament prophecy, for we finally reach a point in which it can be said, “This generation shall not pass away, till all these things,” not only the preliminary signs, but the events of the great day itself, shall take place. This inquiry is liable to lead to startling conclusions; for when we enter the little space of this generation, we enter ground which challenges the attention of the world. And we are happy to find a series of events set apart in the Scriptures as “these things,” covering “this generation,” the beginning of which clearly antedates the writer’s birthday. And now the question arises how long a generation can continue, the youngest members of which are upward of seventy years of age. We have not to wait for a new generation to arise, pass its period of infancy, youth, and middle life, before we reach the end, but only for a section of the human family to retire its old men, already fast disappearing, before all these things are closed up and finished. Happy they who have a part in this work now!
U. S.
Three Phases of the Church-and-State Movement in the United States
By L. A. S.
In the thirteenth chapter of Revelation there is a prophecy which has not yet reached its fulfillment, but which is to be fulfilled in our day, in connection with the proclamation of the message giving a world-wide warning against the worship of the beast and his image. This belief Seventh-day Adventists have long held, and it has moved them in the past to a commendable activity in the prosecution of their appointed work.
The beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy was seen in the rise and work of the National Reform Party, which was organized by the Reformed Presbyterian Church. The avowed purpose of this organization was so to “reform” the government that God should be recognized in the national Constitution, and Christian observances in this country placed on a legal basis in the fundamental law. This meant nothing else than a union of church and state.
By means of the pulpit and the press, the doctrines of this new party were widely disseminated, and many religious and educational leaders were enlisted in the movement. It was denied that just government rests upon the consent of the governed, and the Constitution was held up as a godless document, which it was necessary so to amend that the government would be bound by it to execute the will of God.
To observers of the Bible Sabbath, the progress of this movement was of great significance. They saw it gaining adherents among men of national reputation. They beheld it laying siege to Congress, and making demands upon State legislatures, while from it an influence went out which put life into legal relics of the Dark Ages, and made men offenders for conscience sake. And as they saw powerful allies coming to its support—the W. C. T. U., the American Sabbath Union, the Christian Endeavor Society, and other organizations—and saw the fires of religious persecution kindling in various sections, bringing imprisonment and confiscation of goods upon many for their allegiance to God's Sabbath law, it seemed to them that the expected crisis was upon them, and that the climax of the struggle which the prophecy foretold, was at hand.
But this activity in religious circles was not all that was necessary to the end in view. That alone could not bring about the situation which the prophecy describes. It was one phase of the movement which was to accomplish this work, and there have been two other phases since, each no less significant than the first, though not so directly connected with religion. The state must join with the church before the latter could have power to enforce a false worship upon the people, and in this country the state was fundamentally opposed to any interference with religious freedom. The rights of conscience were protected by the principles upon which the government was established. A change in the national policy was to be looked for, and the change came. The essence of that change was expressed by the assertion made and maintained on the floor of the United States Senate, that governments derive their just powers from the consent of “some of the governed.” This statement was substituted for that one in the Declaration of Independence which recognizes all men as possessing the same inalienable rights, which it is the true purpose of civil government to preserve. The vital part of the Declaration was repudiated, and this sentiment was echoed and defended by representatives of the government from the president down, by leading clergymen and educators also, and was approved by a majority of the people. It has become a part of the political creed of the nation.
Who are “some” of the governed? This is a question that must be settled. From what portion or class of the governed is the government to derive its authority? What class of the people, in other words, is to control it and exercise authority over the rest? Will it be a large class? or will it be only a few? Does “some of the governed” mean men of a certain race only—the Caucasian race? Does it mean the millionaires? Does it mean the members of the labor unions? Does it mean the adherents of a certain church, or of a church combine? The Constitution is no longer a guarantee of the rights of all the people, with the power of all for their protection. There is now left only a struggle between the different classes for the mastery; and the sounds of that struggle are already in the air.
The third phase of the church-and-state movement began with the rise of the labor unions, in the gigantic contest between labor and capital. The labor unions have become a great power, and their power is steadily increasing. In many places the will of the labor unions stands for law. It sets aside the law, and steps into the place of the government. Unionized labor has two weapons which all men dread—intimidation and the boycott. The first is chiefly exercised in connection with strikes, and the second is in perpetual use, silent but deadly. Not all the authority of the law can so quickly or so fully bring an individual to terms as does the dread of ruin which the menace of these weapons inspires.
The contest of unionized labor with capital is developing a new and revolutionary form of government in this country. In the settlement of the great coal strike it was found that there was no power in the State or national government that would avail anything—that republican government in this country, so far as this strike was concerned, had vanished—and it was necessary to resort to a new procedure outside of all constitutional provisions to restore peace. This new procedure took the place of the law, and in the place of popular government there was instituted government by arbitration.
But under this form of government there must be an arbitrator, some third party not identified with either of the contesting parties. It must naturally be some body of persons or some organization outside of the ranks of labor, outside of the trusts, and distinct from the civil power. There is one such organization, and that is the church. But when the church steps into this position, the church becomes the government, and in all matters where its arbitration is invoked, there is a union of church and state, full and complete. To this it need only be added that the question of which church shall be selected remains to be settled, and that the Catholic Church, by reason of its control of the leaders of the labor unions and of those elements within the unions which are most active in fomenting strikes and disorders, is the one that must naturally be chosen. And when this is done, Rome becomes the government and dominates the nation, and there is a union of church and state which is a perfect “image6to the beast,” such as the prophecy brings to view.
The prophecy will be fulfilled. Its fulfillment has been steadily coming upon us all these years; it has never ceased its progress for a day. And now, indeed, it is near at hand, the forces in the religious, political, and industrial worlds are marshaled and almost ready. And the work of warning that we would do before these unite to enforce the worship of the beast and of his image, must be done quickly. L. A. S.
We Are Not Following Cunningly Devised Fables
By Arthur G. Daniells
It is now more than fifty years since a little company of believers in the great threefold message of Rev. 14: 6-12 united together to proclaim that message to the world. These believers believed in their message. Their views were well defined, and their convictions were positive. In their teaching by voice and pen they gave the trumpet a decidedly certain sound.
They believed, and openly and confidently taught, that the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation were all fulfilled except the very last, which can only be fulfilled by the coming of Christ. They believed that the twelve hundred and sixty years ended in 1798, and that then and there began the time of the end, the day of God's preparation. They taught that the twenty-three hundred years of Daniel 8: 14 ended in 1844; that then Christ entered the most holy apartment of the heavenly sanctuary to make an atonement; and that this marked the beginning of the judgment as set forth by the first angel of Rev. 14: 6, 7. They believed, and vigorously taught, that the ten commandments as deposited in the ark of the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary are God's law, and are as binding upon men to-day as ever, therefore they began to observe the seventh day as the Lord's Sabbath.
These believers taught that man is mortal, that death ends consciousness, and that the wicked will be destroyed, and be as though they had not been, instead of living forever in torment and inexpressible suffering. They believed that all these truths were embraced in the threefold message of Revelation, and that to them was committed the responsibility of proclaiming these truths to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
Believing this, they set about this great work with unbounded confidence that they would accomplish the task, and that then the end of the world would come. There were but few of them to do the work, they had no facilities at hand with which to work, and very little means with which to provide facilities. But they had faith in the message, and to it they gave their all — intellect, strength, and means.
Fifty years have passed since that little band of believers obtained a clear view of their message, and entered upon their world-wide work. Their numbers have been increased to many thousands, facilities of every kind have been provided, and the work has been firmly established in nearly all the countries of the world. The light held up by that obscure band in a small corner of the earth, now shines around the world, giving light to all nations. These are facts in the history of this work. Now we ask, What is the original source of this light? What are these views — divine truths or cunningly devised fables? Is this movement from God, or of men? Will it triumph in everlasting glory? or will it end in disappointment and disgrace? Is this the truth in this world of error and delusions? Can we risk all that we are and have in it?
Let none think that these questions imply doubts in the mind of the writer. They are put for another purpose — to arouse to greater devotion and achievements. The truths of the third angel's message have stood the test of the ages, for they are nothing less than the everlasting gospel revealed in its fullness. From the first this special movement has steadily advanced in the face of a heavy fire from the enemy. Not one fundamental doctrine has had to be abandoned during the fifty years of test. And although the message, instead of offering indulgence to the flesh, presents crosses and self-denial at every point, it has won its way to the hearts of men and women in all nations. It stands forth a glorious conqueror of evil.
Ah, no, brethren, we have not followed cunningly devised fables in being led captives to this message. If there is any spiritual truth in the world, it is this. If there is anything besides our own selves to devote our lives and fortunes to, it is this movement of the third angel's message. If this were not to be depended upon, we should certainly be at sea — altogether stranded and without hope.
But, believing as we do that this movement is from heaven, and that it is under the leadership of Christ, what tremendous responsibilities rest upon us. The movement is here, and we are connected with it, not by mere chance, but by divine providence. And we are connected with it to receive from it and to contribute to it.
As this cause has grown, opportunities for service have multiplied. Opportunities bring responsibilities. This places us to-day where we must rise up and do a much greater work than we have done in the past, or we must apologize to the world, and retire.
What shall we do? I hear the firm, loyal response from sixty thousand believers in this message, saying, We shall stand by this work until it is finished, and the earth is lightened with its glory. We shall enter the open doors of the world. We shall answer the pressing calls for help from all lands. We shall, ah, yes, better still, we do, here and now dedicate our lives and our means to the finishing of this work. Having by hard struggles, much sacrifice, and by God's grace brought this movement to its present place, we shall not now drop nor desert it. We shall go forth “conquering and to conquer.”
This is the language of hundreds of young men and women. They are glad to give up every earthly honor, advantage, and selfish ambition that they may proclaim this message where it is not known. They beg to be permitted to go to India, China, Africa, and other countries. Fathers and mothers who have cared for their children from their infancy are solemnly binding their young people upon the altar of service in distant and strange lands. Conference laborers are volunteering for foreign fields, and the conferences are volunteering to let them go, and to support them abroad. Every conference laborer in two State conferences has recently handed in his name for service in the distant, destitute fields. Some conferences are appropriating one half of their annual tithe to the work in foreign lands, while many are devoting from one tenth to one fourth.
A change is taking place. A new movement is on foot. What does it mean? That there shall be delay no longer? That the loud cry has begun? That we are soon to see the work close up, and we be gathered home? What else can be the meaning? The appointed time has come. Let the Lord have his way, and we shall soon see the King in his beauty.
A. G. Daniells.
“The American Contempt of Law”
By L. A. S.
The following editorial in the last issue of McClure’s Magazine is worthy of note as a commentary upon the general lawlessness which has become a marked feature of these times:—
“How many of those who have read through this number of the magazine noticed that it contains three articles on one subject? We did not plan it so; it is a coincidence that the January McClure’s is such an arraignment of American character as should make every one of us stop and think. How many noticed that?”
“The leading article, ‘The Shame of Minneapolis,’ might have been called, ‘The American Contempt of Law.’ That title could well have served for the current chapter of Miss Tarbell’s ‘History of Standard Oil.’ And it would have fitted perfectly Mr. Baker’s ‘The Right to Work.’ All together, these articles come pretty near showing how universal is this dangerous trait of ours. Miss Tarbell7has our capitalists conspiring among themselves, deliberately, shrewdly, upon legal advice, to break the law so far as it restrained them, and to misuse it to restrain others who were in their way. Mr. Baker shows labor, the ancient enemy of capital and the chief complainant of the trust’s unlawful acts, itself committing and excusing crimes. And in ‘The Shame of Minneapolis’ we see the administration of a city employing criminals to commit crimes for the profit of the elected officials, while the citizens—Americans of good stock, and more than average culture, and honest, healthy Scandinavians—stood by complacent and not alarmed.
“Capitalists, workingmen, politicians, citizens—all breaking the law, or letting it be broken. Who is left to uphold it? The lawyers? Some of the best lawyers in this country are hired, not to go into court to defend cases, but to advise corporations and business firms how they can get around the law without too great a risk of punishment. The judges? Too many of them so respect the laws that for some error or quibble they restore to office and liberty men convicted on evidence overwhelmingly convincing to common sense. The churches? We know of one, an ancient and wealthy establishment, which had to be compelled by a Tammany hold-over health officer to put its tenements in sanitary condition. The colleges? They do not understand.”
“There is no one left; none but all of us. Capital is learning (with indignation at labor’s unlawful acts) that its rival’s contempt of law is a menace to property. Labor has shrieked the belief that the illegal power of capital is a menace to the worker. These two are drawing together. Last November when a strike was threatened by the yard men on all the railroads centering in Chicago, the men got together and settled by raising wages, and raising freight rates, too. They made the public pay. We all are doing our worst, and making the public pay. The public is the people. We forget that we all are the people; that while each of us in his group can shove off on the rest the bill of to-day, the debt is only postponed; the rest are pressing it back on us. We have to pay in the end, every one of us. And in the end the sum total of the debt will be our liberty.”