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Review and Herald, Vol. 79, No. 16.

Publishers' Page

Review and Herald

Apr 22, 1902

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Apr 22, 1902

Publishers' Page

Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company.

The Marvel of Nations.

ALTHOUGH this excellent book has been published in the English language for a number of years, and is accomplishing a wonderful work, it has never been printed in any of the foreign tongues until the present time. It is now in type in the Danish, Swedish, and German languages, and the printing and binding are being hurried as fast as possible.
The time appointed for its completion in all three languages is May 1, 1902. It will be issued simultaneously in the three languages. Agents are assured the books will be ready for delivery May 1st.
This book tends to revive the old-time energy in the canvassing work. It contains the message for this time, as is evident from its power to stimulate believers, and to attract the attention of the public. It has accomplished good wherever it has been placed in the English language, and there is no question but it will be the means of bringing the message to thousands of our foreign neighbors.

Object of this Book

While the book contains many interesting and profitable facts for the people of this country, facts that easily attract and hold their attention, the special object of the book is to call the attention of the public to the future of this nation, and to the second coming of Christ. It should be placed in the homes of all the German, Danish, and Swedish people in this country in the immediate future. All our foreign members should push the circulation of this book during the coming season. It is an easy book to sell, and our lay members can readily learn to sell it.

Prospectus

The prospectus is a full English book in the best binding, with sample pages in all the foreign languages bound in. This arrangement is convenient in exhibiting the book in any one, or all, of the languages, as circumstances may require. With the combined prospectus, the canvasser may solicit orders for the book in all the languages. The price of the prospectus is 60 cts., postpaid.

Prices

The prices in the foreign languages are the same as the English prices,—$1.25 for the plain edges, and $1.50 for the gilt edges.
Place all orders with your State Tract Society.

Just Out!

The new Territorial Records and the Agent's Weekly Report Books are now completed. These books are for the State Tract Society's use in keeping the records of the canvassing work. The Agent's Weekly Report Books are made in two sizes, 200 pages and 400 pages. The Territorial Records are bound in three sizes—50 pages, 100 pages, and 150 pages.
All the blanks made especially for these sets of books are also ready for delivery.
Order of the Review and Herald Publishing Co., or of your State Tract Society.

A Chart of the Week.

A splendid display in chart form showing the unchanged order of the days, and the true position of the Sabbath, as proved by the combined testimony of 150 ancient and modern languages.
This chart is substantially mounted on rollers, and is printed on paper or cloth, in the original languages. It is eighteen inches wide, and seven feet long. It is an excellent arrangement to have in presenting the Sabbath question. The regular original price of the chart is $1.25; but for a short time we will send it, postpaid, for 45 cents.
Order of the Review and Herald Publishing Company.

The Great Controversy.

By MRS. E. G. WHITE.
A book that the people should have, especially at this time. In this book is represented the severe contest between truth and error, and the tenacity with which Satan holds to his claims. The warning this book contains, and the dangers pointed out, are what the people need now. It is published in the English, Danish, Swedish, German, and French languages. Price, $2.25 to $4.50, according to style of binding.
Order of your State Tract Society.

Looking unto Jesus.

Christ in Type and Antitype. An exhaustive treatise on the subject of the sanctuary. A well-written and nicely illustrated book of over 300 pages, on the work of Christ as revealed in prophecy from the beginning, by Uriah Smith.
Prices:—
Plain Cloth, postpaid........$1.00
Presentation Edition, postpaid........ 1.50
Order of your State Tract Society.

A New Tract.

Revelation the fourteenth chapter and the eighth verse, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication," is the subject of the new tract entitled "The Fall of Babylon," by Elder R. C. Porter. It is published in the Bible Students' Library, No. 169, January, 1902. It has an appropriate illustrated cover, contains 25 pages, and sells for 1½ cents per copy, with usual discount to tract societies.
Order of your State Tract Society.

Miraculous Powers.

The Scripture Testimony on the Perpetuity of Spiritual Gifts.
Berean Library, No. 9.
The belief that Spiritual Gifts still exist in the church is here supported by means of Scriptural evidence and a compilation of testimonies from the writings of eminent Fathers and the greatest religious writers of every portion of the Christian dispensation. Every Seventh-day Adventist needs to be thoroughly versed in regard to this great point of doctrine, and this volume will be a source of the greatest assistance in this respect.
128 pages, price...............15 cents
Order of your State Tract Society.

The Master's Greatest Monosyllables.

In commendation of the new book by Wm. Pearce, entitled "The Master's Greatest Monosyllables," Elder W. E. Frederick says: "The writer, in a concise way, has developed thoughts that are especially applicable to us at this time. Those who fail to read this book will lose a great blessing. If the chapter headed 'Go' were read and heeded by each one of us as workers, the gospel would soon be carried to all the world, and our blessed Lord would come. May the Lord wake up his people, that they may become intense workers."
Price, postpaid...............50 cents
Order of your State Tract Society.

A New Revised Bible.

THE American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible was published in August, 1901. This late revision is the product of the American Revision Committee, who, in the preparation of the Appendix of 1885, in order to reduce the differences between themselves and the British revisers to the lowest limit, waived the larger part of their preferences, many of which they regarded as of decided importance. This new edition of the American Standard embodies a considerable part of the emendations which represent the deliberate preferences of the whole American Committee, which were not put into the Appendix.
In addition to incorporating in the text the renderings preferred by the American Committee, but hitherto printed in the Appendix to the British editions, this edition contains rectified errors, inconsistencies, oversights, and infelicities which have been detected; also, carefully selected references and topical headings prepared by the American Revision Committee.
It is printed in long primer, 4to, a very large, plain print, especially desirable for impaired vision, or for reading by gaslight. It is bound in one size only, 8¾ x 6¾ inches, and we advertise only three bindings, as follows:—
Cloth Boards, red edges..........$1.50
Egyptian Seal, limp, round corners,     red under gold edges.......... 2.50
Persian Levant, divinity circuit,     leather lined to edge, silk sewed,     round corners, red under gold     edges.......................... 4.50

What Others Say of This Bible

By remarkably unanimous consent, America now possesses the most excellent translation of the Holy Scriptures ever published in the English tongue. There has been neither party nor faction discernible in the welcome paid by Biblical scholarship to the American revision of the Bible.—The Interior.
The standard translation of the Bible for the English-speaking world.—Sunday School Times.
The most important volume that American scholarship has ever produced.—Church Economist.
The best entire version of the Bible now before the public. Why should it not be generally adopted?—The Examiner.
There can be no doubt that in this version we are nearer the thought, and, therefore, the spirit of the Master, than in any other version now existing in English.—Northwestern Christian Advocate.
This version is the best that has ever been published in the English language.—Pilgrim Teacher.
Order of the Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
Every State Tract Society is an agent for the Review and Herald Publishing Company, and will supply these publications at the prices indicated.

The Lord's Messenger

By Editor

Editorial

The Lord's Messenger

It is plainly declared in the Scripture that the work of John the Baptist was a direct fulfillment of prophecy. “As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” Before the Messiah should appear as the anointed of God, the only hope of salvation for sinners, there must be a messenger who should interpret to the people the word of the Lord through the prophets, and thus prepare the way of the Lord.

The Message of the Prophets

The Lord's messenger must have a message. He whose work is the fulfillment of prophecy must declare the message of the prophets. And so it was with John the Baptist. His message was the living word of God spoken to his own soul through the ministry of the prophets, and then delivered to the people with the authority of a prophet. “The word of God came unto John . . . and he came . . . preaching . . . as it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet.” It was not his work to originate a new message, but to be a messenger, that the message already spoken through the prophet might have an interpreter who should declare it to the people. And thus the way of the Lord would be prepared.

Behold Your God

The message of John the Baptist was based largely upon the prophecy of Isaiah, especially the fortieth chapter and onward. It is a message of comfort to God's people, borne to them in a voice crying, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, . . . and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. . . . All flesh is grass. . . . The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: . . . but the word of our God shall stand forever. . . . Say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God! Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him.” The weakness of the flesh, the enduring power of the word of the Lord, God manifested in the flesh as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” and the coming of the Lord as the time and means of the final reward to his waiting people,—this was the message of the prophets through the Lord's messenger, John the Baptist, the voice crying in the wilderness. And this message would prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.

Only a Voice Needed

It was only necessary that the word of the Lord should find a voice in which it might be sounded forth to the world. John the Baptist, who was “filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb,” willingly became that voice for the divine word, and thus fulfilled the prophetic office, doing a work “in the spirit and power of Elias” the prophet. “When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? . . . he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. . . . Then said they unto him, Who art thou? . . . He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” John the Baptist did not preach his own opinions, nor set forth his own ideas, neither did he declare to the people the traditions of the church. There were plenty of men in his day who were doing just that thing, but there was neither light nor salvation in their teaching, and so the people wandered on in darkness and sin. There were plenty of men who were willing to be messengers for themselves, or for their church, but John the Baptist was willing to be the Lord's messenger, and so the Lord gave him a message which stirred “all the land of Judea,” and made sinners tremble, from the peasant in his humble cottage to the haughty king on his throne. And the Lord's own testimony concerning him was, “Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist.” And yet he was only a voice. What an exalted privilege it is to be a voice for the Lord! It is the voice for the Lord, speaking the word of the Lord, which prepares the way of the Lord.

The Work not yet Completed

The message of the prophets which will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord will not be fully given until the way of the Lord is so prepared that he comes bringing his reward with him. And so just before the coming of the Lord, and as a preparation for that coming, the word of the Lord must find a voice, and the message of the prophets must have an interpretation, in order that this gospel of the kingdom may be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. In the prophecy this is presented in the following fore-view: “And I saw another angel . . . having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, . . . saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come. . . . And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen. . . . And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image . . . the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Rev. 14:6–10. This is simply a new setting, made necessary by the great apostasy, for the message of the prophets as declared by John the Baptist, the one only and everlasting gospel. It is only necessary that this message should find a voice, a loud voice which shall resound throughout the whole earth, in order that the John-the-Baptist message may be fully and finally given, the way of the Lord be completely prepared, and the Son of man come in power and great glory.

The Mission of Seventh-Day Adventists

In the providence of God this people have been raised up and commissioned to do this closing work. The light which is to enlighten the world has been committed unto them. This movement to give “the advent message to the world in this generation” is just as clearly a fulfillment of prophecy as was the work of John the Baptist, and in fact, it is simply the revival of his message with such a fullness of power as will reveal the glory of the Lord for all that he is as Creator, Redeemer, Priest, and King, and bring the final consummation. The question now is, Shall we respond to the glorious opportunity, accept for our own experience the message of the prophets, and be willing to be a voice for the word of the Lord? The time is a critical one. Momentous resultshang upon the decisions of the present hour. Shall we be laborers together with God, accepting the high calling to be voice to the world for his last warning message? or shall we blindly refuse the opportunity of the ages? Shall it be said again, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes”? God forbid! This is the time of our visitation. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.” Be the Lord's messenger. “Lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” “Behold the Lamb of God!” “Behold, he cometh with clouds.” So shall this people fill the place offered to them; the advent message will be given in this generation; the way of the Lord will be prepared; and our eyes shall see the King in his beauty. Let every heart be filled with holy zeal and every life with loyal service to hasten the day.
“Jesus calls us! Meekly hearing, Master, now we heed thy call, Give our hearts to thy obedience, Serve and love thee best of all.”

On Earth or in Heaven? Which?

By Uriah Smith

It makes a good deal of difference which. If we locate things in heaven which take place on the earth, we confuse the things of heaven and earth, confuse ourselves, confuse two separate worlds, throw everything out of order, and block the way to a correct understanding of the Scriptures. If we locate on the earth that which takes place in heaven, we are apt to draw conclusions which not only contradict the Scriptures, but lead to ruinous practices in spiritual things. For these reasons we ought to adjust these matters with the most scrupulous care. For instance, there is a passage which seems to us to have a definite application to a scene of judgment after the close of probation, and to furnish a definite and clear place for an application of another important scripture which, otherwise, we find no apparent place to apply.
The passage is Rev. 20:4. The scene here described is located after the binding of Satan, and his incarceration in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Then John says: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” This is spoken of the blessed and holy ones who have a part in the first resurrection. “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” These are the ones who have no further part in life until the second resurrection, until the time limited for the binding and imprisonment of Satan should be fulfilled, and he should be loosed out of his prison.
Here are the saints reigning with Christ a thousand years. This accords therewith the prediction of the prophet Daniel concerning the same class. He says, “I beheld . . . until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Dan. 7:21, 22.
Compare this passage with Rev. 20:4, and then mark the statement of Paul in 1 Cor. 6:1–3. He says: “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? . . . Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?” When is judgment thus given into the hands of the saints?
When do the saints judge the world? — In the period mentioned in Dan. 7:21, 22, and in Rev. 20:4. But this judgment on the wicked dead, in which the saints are associated with Christ, is after probation has ended; for the second resurrection immediately follows the end of the thousand years, and all the wicked then perish in the second death. From this it follows that there is no second probation after this life, but all who would secure eternal life must make sure of it before they die. Some seem to think that they can avoid this conclusion, if they can find some text which can be applied to events that apparently take place in this world.
For instance, a correspondent writes from Omaha, Neb.: “How would you show that Rev. 14:2 and Rev. 15:1, 2, do not pertain to this life, and are not fulfilled in probation? The future-probation people so apply it when we quote Rev. 20:4 to show that the judgment by Christ and the saints takes place during the thousand years.” And why not apply Rev. 14:2 and 15:2, 3, as we do Rev. 12:3, and several other texts that might be mentioned? The answer is, Because in a consecutive line of prophecy everything must have its proper place, and nothing be placed out of its harmonious relation with the context and other scriptures. Now an explanation of Rev. 14:2 and 15:2, 3, involves an exposition of other prophecies, especially the threefold message of Rev. 14:6–10, as set forth in various publications issued from this Office, which bring to view the experience of the people of God in the last days, till they see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
But however we may apply these scriptures, we know that the judgment on the cases of those who have finished their probation in this life, decides forever their future destiny. Then let no one deceive himself with the thought that there will be opportunity to secure by a second probation the blessings of salvation which they neglected to secure while they had opportunity in this present time. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2. U. S.

Studies in the Gospel Message

The subject of the fifth lesson in the present series, the one for May 3, is The Gift of the Seed.
The Lord himself first preached the gospel when he said, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” In this simple promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head was included the whole gospel of the kingdom. All the promises made and all the instruction given since that time are simply the development of what was involved in the original promise, and of what was present in the mind of the Lord when he made the promise.
The promises to Abraham are all rooted in this first promise. When Abraham first came into the land of Canaan, the Lord said unto him, “Unto thy seed will I give this land;” and after the test of his faith in the offering up of Isaac, the Lord said to him, “In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” From this it is evident that the most important thing in the promises to Abraham, that upon which all the rest depended, was the gift of the Son of God in the flesh as the seed of the woman.
The promise to David, “I will set up thy seed after thee, . . . and I will establish his kingdom,” finds its complete fulfillment only in David’s greater Son who was both David’s son and David’s Lord.
The very heart and soul of “the everlasting gospel” are found in the fact that the Word, which was from the beginning, through whom all things came into being, and without whom nothing came into being, should become flesh, “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” and thus make the actual union between divinity and fallen humanity. As there can never be any other gospel than the one “everlasting gospel,” it follows that when this gospel is truly preached, the central truth presented must always be the gift of the Son of God in our flesh, and the blessings which come to us in and through this wondrous gift.
It is also important to notice that when God gave his Son to humanity, he gave to humanity the seed of all things, and therefore in giving him he gave all things to humanity in him. “His name is called The Word of God,” and “the seed is the word of God,” and “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” And so it is written, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground.” It is the characteristic life of the seed which is planted that determines the kind of growth which comes from the seed. This is the law of the seed. And this same principle is revealed in the giving of the divine Seed to humanity. It was through death that this divine Seed became fruitful in the reproduction of itself in human flesh. “Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” When the Son of God became the Son of man, he came as “the last Adam,” the head of a new humanity, that man might again be restored to the image of God. By himself becoming the seed of the woman, he united to humanity that power through which sin may be overcome in the flesh, and the head of the serpent may be bruised. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.”
It is through our personal faith that we receive this wonderful gift of the Seed. Believing on him is receiving him. And when we receive him, he becomes to us “the Lord our righteousness,” and the life we live in the flesh, we live by the faith of the Son of God. And this is the simple but very real experience of justification by faith. “The just shall live by faith.” What a glorious gospel is “the everlasting gospel” which has been committed to us for “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people”! “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”

Christianity vs. the Papacy

By L. A. S.

The gospel message to mankind is a continual call for a reformation. It speaks to the individual, urging him to turn from his evil ways, and walk in the pathway of God’s commandments; to exchange the carnal nature for the divine nature; to be transformed by the renewing of his mind. To accept this message and be converted means the reformation of the individual, and individual reformation has been the basis of every reformation that the world has known.
Since this individual reformation, which is the basis of all other reformations, is continually in progress wherever the gospel call is heard, it is not strange that frequent general reformations have marked the progress of Christianity in this world. As the spirit of self seeks continually to gain the ascendancy in the human heart, and as man is by nature subject to that spirit, there has been in the church a continual falling away from the truth of God, first secretly in the individual heart, and next in an open departure from the rules of righteousness, under the leading of those whose aim has been to draw away disciples after themselves. Thus there have been periods marked by a general falling away, when the spirit of self became dominant in the church, and error and sin supplanted the true worship of God until it seemed that only a hidden few remained who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Then some servant of the Most High would come forward in answer to the call of God, and raise aloft the standard of truth and righteousness, and the word of the Lord would go forth like a fire and “like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces,” and there would follow a turning back to the old paths which that word marks out. There would be a visible reformation.
The purpose of a reformation is to put God in the place of self. The body is the temple of God; every heart is his rightful throne. But the natural heart is the throne of self. The natural mind exalts self, and the individual ruled by the natural mind follows the dictates of self, rather than the commands of God. Every false system of worship is based on the exaltation of self; its foundation principle is the substitution of the human in the place of the divine. And so it is written of that power which stands foremost in the earth in opposition to the worship of God, that he “opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thess. 2:4. This power represents self-exaltation carried out to the fullest limit. It presents a man—finite, mortal, and fallible, as are other men—in the place of God; so that its adherents look to a man—to priest, or cardinal, or pope—rather than to Jesus Christ, for the words of eternal life. A man—a poor mortal like themselves—bounds their farthest vision heavenward; they dare not go beyond his words; he opens or closes to them the way of life; all their knowledge of God and of his will must come through this human source, and be such as a human mind chooses to portray it, and circumscribed as a human will chooses to limit it. Thus is a man made to sit in the temple of God, and the people made to look to him as to God. Thus is the human, in which there is no salvation, put in the place of the divine, from which alone can any salvation come. And this system of false worship pertains not merely to a single power in the religious world, but extends to every church in which human authority is put in the place of the authority of the Word of God.
The development of this evil system in the Christian church brought about the necessity of a reformation. A new people had to be called out and intrusted with the work of carrying to the world the pure gospel message of salvation. Thus there came about under the preaching of Luther and other reformers, a great separation from the corrupt church of Rome. But the spirit of self-exaltation continued to assert itself, and human traditions were allowed to make void the commandments of God, in the very churches which, because of this evil, had been led to withdraw from Rome. Gradually there came about a new falling away, a new development of the papal system, in the churches which derived their name from their protest against this system when they renounced the papal church. And such has been the history of the professedly Christian church. There has been a rising up of the spirit of self-exaltation, setting up the human will against the will of God, and substituting human ideas in the place of the truths of revelation, causing first a secret falling away from God in the hearts of those affected by this spirit, and next an open falling away in the practices and precepts of the church, until a separation from the church became necessary on the part of all those who would worship God in spirit and in truth. Then the call was sounded, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord;” the separation was made, a reformation was accomplished, and this process was repeated with each successive falling away from the truth on the part of those to whom it had been committed. New companies of men have thus from time to time been called out from the church and from the world, not because it was necessary or in harmony with the plan of God that his church should be split up into separate companies or denominations, but becausethere have been successive apostasies from the truth, necessitating new organizations to carry on the proclamation of the everlasting gospel.
For this reason it is that there exists to-day a denomination known as Seventh-day Adventists. This body came into existence because there had come at the time of its rise a necessity for another reformation. The spirit of the papacy had become dominant in the Protestant churches. The traditions of men had become honored above the commandments of God. The message which came down from God could find no place in his professed temple. Those who professed to constitute that temple refused to proclaim the word of the Lord foretelling his second coming to the earth. They set aside that word by the traditions of men and by arguments of human devising. The pastor, like the priest, put himself between the people and the word of God, assuming to interpret that word and to guide the conscience by his pronouncements. The name Protestant had become a cloak to cover a system which was essentially papal. Seventh-day Adventists are the true Protestants of this day, who take their stand on the Word of God as against the traditions and commandments of men. They are proclaiming to the world the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, through which alone can the world receive salvation. This is their mission to the world, which explains and abundantly justifies their existence as a separate people. L. A. S.

The Outpouring of the Spirit

“Is not the great thing wanted, that the Spirit of God should be so poured out upon Christ’s people that men should be made aware of his presence with them, and of the presence of Christ at the right hand of God? so poured out that there should be a coming together, in some sense, of the blessed God and of that world which has separated itself from him, that the powers of the world to come should take hold upon men, and constrain them to cry out, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’”

A Great Movement

By Arthur G. Daniells

One of the greatest movements of a definite, practical, far-reaching, and beneficial character ever inaugurated by Seventh-day Adventists is now taking place among us. It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Minnesota to Texas. It is marshaling for holy service thousands of our people. It is throwing “the life line” to many thousands of perishing men and women, and it is bringing glad relief to our debt-burdened schools. This movement is the campaign for the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” No one can have any true idea of what is being done in this direction unless he is closely watching the movement; nor can he have any just appreciation of the immense harvest to be gathered from this sowing, unless he has a clear conception of its great possibilities.
Look at what is being done. The Lake Union Conference has two schools carrying an indebtedness aggregating $85,000. This indebtedness is to be paid with the proceeds from the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” This requires the sale of at least 72,000 copies of the book in that union conference. This means the sale of four books for every church member in the Battle Creek College district, and about twice that number for each member in the Mt. Vernon Academy district.
Looked at from the standpoint of individual responsibility, the task seems small and the proposition simple. But when we look at the work and the results as a whole, the undertaking seems great. And what is true of the Lake Union Conference is also true of all the other union conferences.
The Atlantic Union Conference has a debt of about $45,000 on South Lancaster Academy, which means the sale of five or six books for each of its members. The Pacific Union Conference has an indebtedness of about $66,000 on its two large schools, requiring the sale of six books for every member. The Union College district has a debt of $78,000, to be removed by the sale of four books for each member. Although the school debts in other union conferences are not as large as those mentioned above, they have fewer members, so that the work for each member throughout the United States is about the same.
Now the difficult part of carrying out the plan for paying these school debts from the proceeds of the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons” is to get the books sold. And the only difficulty there is in getting the books sold is in getting the church members to work. And this, as we all know, is the solution of the problem. It is the key to the whole situation. If every member would sense his duty and do it promptly, the task would be but little greater than it would be if the debt on each school was only five dollars, and there was but one member in each conference to pay it.
Ohio has taken its full quota by an order for 12,000 copies. Michigan has filled its quota by an order for 18,000. Montana and Utah have ordered their full number. Iowa has completed its list by an order for 11,000 books. Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska, and Manitoba have ordered their entire number. The Upper Columbia, North Pacific, and California Conferences are all in line, and are organizing to push the work from now until their full number is sold. New York, New England, and Vermont are hard at work to the same end. Oklahoma has about finished its campaign, and Texas is following hard after. Thus this movement is extending from ocean to ocean. It is taking practical and resolute shape in conference after conference. God is sounding the trumpet call to service. It is being heard throughout the land. Thousands of our dear people are being aroused to action. The cloud is lifting, and Israel is preparing for a march. This is good; for we have compassed this mountain long enough.
And now, what will come from this movement, if it is carried through as the Lord has directed?
1. The indebtedness of our schools throughout the world will be paid. This will stop the payment of an annual interest of at least $15,000. It will place our schools on a sound financial basis, and this will remove many anxious cares and perplexities from our school boards. Then we can do more in a financial way to improve our school work.
2. The payment of the school debts will release $300,000 of our people’s money for use in other branches of the work. This will no doubt swell the contributions to our destitute mission fields.
3. The three hundred thousand copies of “Christ’s Object Lessons” that will, by this movement, be placed in that many homes, will prove an unspeakable blessing to humanity. O, the harvest that will be gathered from this sowing! Who will venture to estimate it?
4. The personal service performed by those who sell the book will prove a great stimulus, a blessed inspiration, to them. Nothing does the human heart so much good as to pour its love out upon those who need it. Jesus emptied himself, and took the form of a servant to poor, lost, suffering humanity. Let this mind be in you. It is more blessed to give than to receive. The value of the service that will bring our people face to face, and heart to heart, with the millions they will meet in the sale of more than a quarter of a million of “Christ’s Object Lessons,” is beyond all comprehension.
5. The whole cause of the third angel’s message will be revived and advanced. Three hundred thousand dollars will have come to its treasury from the world. Its light will have been set in three hundred thousand homes outside of its followers. And its seventy-five thousand believers will have gained an experience in personal service that will prepare them for further and still greater service. This is a great need among us. Our tendency is to turn our religious work over to the ministers. This has been the fatal mistake of all the denominations which have gone before us. It weakens the church and delays God’s work.
Brethren, “the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees,” which we hear, is the call of God to us. Let us bestir ourselves, for the Lord has gone out before us to win glorious victories for us. Some of our brethren are at work. They are truly in earnest about this matter. Theirs is not an enthusiasm akin to noise and the swinging of caps. It is that born of deep conviction, and inspired by bright prospects of sure and complete success. A. G. DANIELLS.
P. S.—Since writing the foregoing a stirring meeting has been held in thechapel of Union College with the teachers and students, and the ministers of the Nebraska Conference. This great company of nearly four hundred had caught the spirit of this movement, and the moment an opportunity was given, the majority of them volunteered for service. The teachers led out, and scores of bright, earnest young men and women followed. After this general volunteer movement, we separated for organization. The Nebraska laborers retired to one room, and the college faculty to another. Both companies decided to take their full quotas for the conference and the school. Fifteen or twenty companies of the students will be formed to work in Lincoln and the surrounding country. These will be led by the teachers. The books required for the work have been telegraphed for, and the campaign will open as soon as they arrive. In the meantime the companies will meet frequently for counsel, prayer, and the study of the book. Thus good history is being made faster than we can write it.
A. G. D.
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