Earlier text: But We See JesusThe Chief Danger From Within
THE church of God has been threatened through the centuries by dangers from without and from within. By open assault, by persecution, by famine and sword, the enemy has sought to overthrow the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. But from these dangers Christianity has always emerged triumphant. For the most part, persecution and open warfare have served to purify the church of God, and to drive its members to the side of their Master for sympathy and support; but the dangers that have arisen from within the church have been more fatal to its holy interests. Apostasy in all ages has wrought its terrible havoc. Worldliness and indifference have destroyed the first love, and alienated the hearts of the believers. Coldness and criticism and unkindness have accomplished their desolating work. These foes from within are the ones which the church of God has to fight today. Heathenism largely has spent its force, and is decadent. Skepticism no longer carries forward its work with its old-time boldness and effrontery, but by subtle means, insidious and compromising. Subtle and disguised skepticism, the commercial spirit of the age, the mania for worldly sports and diversions, the influence of evil literature,—these and many allied forces are seeking to undermine the power of Christianity in many lives, and to bring demoralization to Christian effort. Against these insidious foes and influences seeking admission to our own lives, we need particularly to be on our guard. Sharing Alike
By Francis M. Wilcox
"As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike." This was the custom in Israel of old. The circumstances which gave rise to this regulation were these: During the absence of David and his men from their homes in Ziklag the Amalekites visited the country, sacked the city, and carried the inhabitants away captive, together with much spoil. The wives and children of David and his men were among the captive host. Returning to his desolate home, David inquired of the Lord whether it was his will that they should pursue after the Amalekites, and if he would give them the victory. An affirmative answer was received. Stopping neither to eat nor drink nor for much-needed rest, David and six hundred of his men started in earnest pursuit. They knew that their time was short, and that every energy must be enlisted for the chase. In the course of their journey they reached the brook Besor. Here one third of David's followers became so weak and faint that the question arose as to the advisability of their going farther, and indeed it was a serious question that confronted the entire company. For two hundred men to drop out meant a great lessening of the fighting force of the little army. For these two hundred men to remain behind when every impulse of love and family devotion urged them forward was for them a great trial. They preferred to fall by the wayside and to die in the attempt rather than to weakly succumb to physical conditions; but better counsel prevailed, and against their own will they were persuaded to remain. The record is of these men that they were "made to abide at the brook Besor." 1 Sam. 30: 21. With them were left army supplies and equipment. While they were unable to go to the front, they were to remain behind and guard the base of supplies, as a rear-guard to their companions who went forward. With a firm reliance upon Almighty power, David led his four hundred men on to the conquest. God gave them a signal victory. Every captive was recovered. They recovered likewise all their goods, and in addition they obtained as a reward of the conflict very much spoil that the Amalekites had taken from the Philistines. With thanksgiving and rejoicing the little army started on their homeward journey. As they neared the brook Besor, the two hundred men who had been left at the base of supplies came forth to greet them. In this meeting was afforded an opportunity for the exercise of the heart's natural propensities. There were selfish men in David's company, "men of Belial," who said, "Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart." Again better counsel prevailed. Their leader responded, "Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will harken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day." 1 Sam. 30: 22-25. It is not difficult to make an application of this beautiful lesson to the work of God to-day. We, like Israel of old, are called to go up against the strong-holds of sin and carry forward battle against principalities and powers. Some are called to go out in active warfare, away out on the firing line, face to face with the forces of evil. Others, like the two hundred men left at the brook Besor, are unable to engage in this active service. They can not go to India or China or Japan or South America or the islands of the sea. They are incapacitated by age or ill health or other conditions that make them unsuitable for this service. The providence of God directs that these shall stay by the stuff. They have a most important part to act. It is for them to protect the base of supplies; to furnish the sinews of war; to pray for their fellows who have gone forth to the conflict, even as the two hundred men must have prayed for their companions pursuing the Amalekites. If faithful in this service, in what might appear the humbler and less heroic part, God will count them in the end as worthy of the same reward as the stronger ones who have been able to go forth to battle. Think of this, faithful brethren and sisters, if by circumstances over which you have no control you have been kept from an active part on the great battlefield. Have you toiled on your farm or8in your shop; with your needle or in homely domestic duties; and of the means which you have earned, though perhaps at times a mere pittance, have you rendered to God his own, and responded with glad hearts and to the best of your ability to the calls for means? God recognizes this service as done unto him. He counts it as truly missionary labor as if you were in heathen lands teaching the blessed word to the children of darkness, and in the day of final accounts, when God renders to every one his due, you will share alike with those whom you have sustained by your labors, and upheld with your prayers. And you, dear fellow workers, who long bore the heat and burden of the harvest, but have become worn and weary, and to whom the Lord of the harvest has said, "Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord," or "Come ye yourselves apart . . . and rest awhile," the lesson is for you. You, too, shall share equally with your brethren, who, with greater powers of endurance and by God's grace, have been enabled to remain in active warfare. Though not on the firing line, God counts you still a part of his loyal army, even as did David his faint and weary comrades at Besor. So be of good comfort in God. There is in this no encouragement, however, to the shirker—to the man who would remain at home to enjoy its comforts when God has called him into active service. Those who stayed behind at the brook Besor stayed not from choice, but in response to the judgment of their brethren. They were "made also to abide at the brook Besor." God recognizes the true heart's purpose and the motives that prompt every decision. Let every heart decide each question of life from the standpoint of eternity and the eternal value of those for whom Christ died, and not from the standpoint of convenience or selfish choice. "As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike." The Hand of God in History
By W. A. S.
Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy
Increase of Knowledge in the "Time of the End"
"MANY shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 12:4. Ask any one what age of the world is best described by these words, and he will be constrained to say that they exactly fit this age of ours. It is doubtful if the characteristic features of the nineteenth century and onward could be expressed by eleven words any more clearly.
And 2,500 years ago the angel used these words to describe the "time of the end." Following the long reign of papal supremacy, the light of clearer knowledge was to spread to and fro through the earth.
Students tell us that the thought in the Hebrew phrase is not primarily of a running or traveling about, so much as of a "searching" to and fro; the time of the end was to be a time of searching for light and truth, of the opening up of the Word of God, with increasing knowledge and enlightenment. This certainly includes also the idea of the literal running to and fro through all the earth in the latter days; for, as many scriptures show, this increasing knowledge was to be spread through all nations, and "all the ends of the earth" were to see the salvation of our God.
The true meaning of the developments of the last "wonderful century" which have made for general enlightenment and the opening up of the world, can be read only in the light of prophecy. We can see events from afar shaping to this time.
The Reformation of the sixteenth century had begun to "shorten" the days of papal persecution. The Word of God was given anew to European peoples. One error after another by which the Papacy had made void the Word was seen and discarded. Step by step, in successive reform movements, the way of truth was being retraced toward the primitive faith of New Testament times.
It was surely no accident that the dawn of the Reformation era in Europe was also the dawn of the era of geographical discovery. The time had come when not only the truth of God was to be revealed again to men, but the way into all the world was to be prepared for the final work of spreading the knowledge of truth among all peoples.
The progress of geographical discovery fits in closely with the progress of the missionary idea. Down to the end of the fifteenth century Europe knew little more of the world than was known in the early centuries. In fact, by the Moslem invasion, adjacent parts of Africa and Asia, formerly better known, had been largely obscured to European vision. But at the very time when Reformation truth was preparing to spread its wings of light in Europe, an impelling force in providence moved the hearts of navigators to undertake the discovery of the world. The following is a brief schedule of the early voyages:—
1492—Columbus discovers the New World.
1493—Columbus's second voyage, discovering Jamaica.
1497—Vasco da Gama rounds the southern cape of Africa.
1497-98—The Cabots, from England, find the coast of North America.
1499—Vespucci discovers South America.
1502—Columbus on his fourth voyage reaches the mainland, in Central America.
1519—Cortez conquers Mexico.
1519—Magellan sails, to pass through the Magellan Strait and into the South Pacific, being slain in 1521 in the Philippine Islands.
1577-79—Sir Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe, touching the Pacific Coast of America from San Francisco to the Columbia River. Columbus felt upon him the pressure of a divine commission. Irving says in his life of the discoverer:— He looked upon himself as standing in the hand of heaven, chosen from among men for the accomplishment of its high purpose; he read, as he supposed, his contemplated discovery foretold in Holy Writ, and shadowed forth darkly in the mystic revelations of the prophet.—Book 1, chap. 5. A poet has represented his feeling and conviction in the lines:—
"I seek not wealth, I only seek to know
I urged the gold of India as the bait
For those who find no profit but in gold.
Mayhap my wrist shall feel the bite of chains,
And on my head the curse of fools may break
For that I prove them fools;—yet what to me?
Mine are rewards that they can never give:
And in my soul a peace they can not know,
I saw the hand of God blaze through the sky;
I heard the voice of God in all the winds;
The hand wrote, Follow! and the voice rang, Go!
And I obeyed the vision and the dream." After having discovered the New World—though he never knew that it was not the Indies—Columbus said:— In the execution of my enterprise to the Indies, human reason, mathematics, and maps of the world have served me nothing. It has accomplished simply that which the prophet Isaiah had predicted; that before the end of the world all the prophecies should have their accomplishment.—Humboldt's "Examen Critique," Vol. I, pages 15-19. However blameworthy for the misfortunes that came upon him, Columbus at any rate found comfort amid his reverses in the conviction that he had been an agent of Providence, helping to prepare the way for the end of the age.
Many minds in those days were evidently turned toward Daniel's prophecy of the time of increasing knowledge. The learned Francis Bacon (1561 to 1626) saw hope of the coming era in the awakening influences of that age of world-discovery. The "Cambridge Modern History" sums up his view:—
There was confirmation for such hopes in Holy Scripture. The anticipation of the Chaldean seer that in the latest times many should run to and fro, and knowledge be increased, he interpreted9as foreshadowing the opening of five sixths of the globe, hitherto closed, to man's travel, study, and reinvigorated powers of reasoning.—Vol. I, chap. 2.
Certain it is that the expansion of the world was used of Providence as an agency in expanding and awakening the minds of men, preparatory to the new era that was to follow.
(To be concluded) The Author of the First-Day Sabbath
By F. M. W.
THE law of God is the character of God in written form. As every law-maker puts himself and his character into the law he formulates, so the Omnipotent One expressed in his law of ten commandments his own divine attributes. This is so in the very nature of the case. God could not do otherwise than give to an instrument of this kind an expression of himself. Hence there could come no change in the law of God and that law still continue to express his character unless there came a change in God himself. As God is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, the same in this dispensation as in the old, the same when he died for men as when he made the world in the beginning, we must therefore conclude that if any change has been wrought in what men regard the law of God, it has been made by another power than the Lord Jesus Christ. Has there arisen in the earth a power that has tampered with the law of God? Is any such opposing principle brought to view in the Sacred Scriptures? It does not require a very careful reading of the Word of God to see that this is the case. For many centuries there have been two opposing principles in the universe — God and Satan. And ever since the fall of man these two principles have been manifest in the world, and in the flesh. God was manifest in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. He came not to tear down the government of God, but to exalt it; not to detract from the law, but to magnify it. And faith in him, instead of abolishing the law, only serves to confirm its authority. The principle of evil has likewise been manifest in the flesh, and its highest manifestation is in Antichrist. And the object of this power from the beginning has been to draw subjects from the kingdom of light to the kingdom of darkness; to misrepresent the character of God in the earth, and to weaken and bring to naught his rightful authority. And it is upon this latter power that the responsibility rests of working a change in the divine requirements, so far as the practise of men is concerned. Several scriptures bring this power to view. We shall content ourselves, however, with an examination of the references made by the prophet Daniel and the apostle Paul. The prophet states that after the Roman kingdom had become divided, there would arise a power which would speak great words against the Most High, wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change the times and laws of the Most High. Dan. 7:25. That unmistakable reference is made here to the Papacy there can be no dispute among Protestant Bible students. That power has met every specification of the charges brought against it. It has spoken great words against the Most High in claiming to be God upon earth, to have power to forgive sins, and to be the arbiter of the consciences of men. It has worn out the saints of the Most High in the ages of the past in subjecting to death those who were unwilling to support its claims as against the leadings of their own consciences and the authority of the Word of God. The sacrifice of from fifty million to one hundred million martyrs testifies to the truth of this statement. And in addition to these crimes against High Heaven, the prophet states that it even would have the audacity to dictate a change in the government of God itself. The same work is brought to view in the epistle to the church in Thessalonica. Of this same power, under the name of the man of sin, the apostle writes that it would oppose and exalt itself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped. 2 Thess. 2:1-4. In enforcing the law of God as his own, he would place himself on an equality with the great Lawgiver; but his exaltation above God could come only by assuming superior authority, by changing the requirements of God, and enforcing the change instead of the original requirement. Has the Papacy met these requirements? and does it plead guilty to the charge? To prove this indeed true, we have but to call attention to the words of the Roman Church as printed in its representative publications. The following confessions, which might be multiplied twentyfold by similar quotations, reveal the position assumed by the papal church upon this subject:— Question.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept? Answer.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority. Q.—When Protestants do profane work upon Saturday, or the seventh day of the week, do they follow the Scripture as their only rule of faith? Do they find this permission clearly laid down in the Sacred Volume? A.—On the contrary, they have only the authority of tradition for this practise. In profaning Saturday, they violate one of God's commandments, which he has never clearly abrogated,—"Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day."—Doctrinal Catechism, pages 174, 352. Q.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days? A.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church. A.—Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.—Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine, page 58. From the foregoing prophecies and with the plain facts of their fulfilment, it is not difficult to determine the author of the observance of the first day of the week. It was not the Lord or his apostles, but it was the power which is pointed out in all the Scriptures of truth as the most dangerous enemy of the gospel of Christ. The Sunday sabbath rests alone upon the authority of the tradition of the Catholic Church. And he who observes it pays deference, though it may be unwittingly, to the authority of Antichrist. Respect for the Lord Jesus Christ and the proper recognition of his authority can be found only in obedience to his requirements, and in the sacred keeping of the day he himself made and set apart for the use of all men. Shall we honor Christ, or Antichrist? Shall we keep the Sabbath of the Lord, or the sabbath ordained by the great enemy of the church of God? Note and Comment
By Editor
The True Basis of Christian Unity
The Examiner for July 25, 1912, believes that it has found the true solution of the complex problem of Christian unity. It suggests this:— If it shall ever materialize, let all "man-made" creeds and confessions and preconceptions and claims of superiority be laid aside, and, all standing on a common level before God, let the New Testament be adopted as the sole determining authority in all matters of faith and practise. Then interpret it, not in the light of subsequent history, which is misleading because it soon began to misinterpret it most grievously, but in its own light, as the inspired record of Christ's teachings, with the comments and further communications of inspired writers. This is a splendid suggestion; and if all would abide by the plain teachings of the Word, there would not be at the present time a thousand and one denominations, but one true united church. We can not, however, fully share the sanguine10feelings of the Examiner when it says,— "We do not fear the result of such an inquiry, conducted by honest and prayerful men, so far as the fundamental doctrines of the faith and the meaning and mode of the initiatory ordinance of the church are concerned." We fear in the first place that it would be next to impossible for the religionists of the present day to lay aside their preconceived opinions and prejudices, and come to the study of the Word with unbiased minds. Some there are who could do this, but not the majority. Indeed, it would be a question with many churchmen as to whether they could accept the Scriptures of truth as the standard of Christian morality and doctrine. The dream of so-called Christian unity will sometime be realized, even in this world, but it will not be such unity as the Scriptures advocate. The prophecy of the Word indicates the union of the great professed churches for the purpose of enforcing their dogmas and doctrines, but against such a federation the Scriptures of truth plainly warn. True Christian unity comes not by the submission of the weaker to the stronger, nor yet by the submission of the minority to the majority. It can never be ushered in by resolution, federation, or legal enactment. It can come into the church only as every disciple submits to Christ, and unites with him. The union of all believers in Christ Jesus, will constitute them a united church. They will be one with each other, because all are one with Christ. For this union our Lord prays in John 17. “Give Ye Them to Eat”
By J. N. Anderson
THESE were the words of Jesus when the twelve urged him to dismiss the multitude in the hour of their need. The disciples were intensely anxious to have their Master made king; this they conceived would bring the realization of their hopes. But their minds were sorely distressed by the surging throngs that gathered about Jesus. In their perplexity they saw only one way of escape,—“send the multitude away.” They little realized that the feeding of the multitude was in very truth the bringing in of the kingdom. When Jesus bade the disciples, “Give ye them to eat,” rather than send them away unfed, they began at once to cast about and calculate how much bread would be required, as if the whole problem was for them to work out, forgetting all the time that with them stood Jesus, the one all-sufficient source of supply. How blinded! How they had misunderstood Jesus! How human were all their ideas of the kingdom! and how little they counted on Jesus even in emergencies! But are we not in danger of repeating the very mistakes of those devoted but misguided disciples? As we stand face to face with the one billion of heathendom, distributed over those vast areas, are we not sensibly oppressed with the immensity of the task? and in such moods are we not almost on the point of wishing that the kingdom might come without our being under the necessity of giving our lives to the seemingly impossible task of feeding the hungry millions? But, as in the case of the disciples, the multitudes remain, increasing rather than decreasing before our vision of the expanding world field; and the call of the Lord of the harvest comes more and more distinctly, “Give ye them to eat.” This is the will of the Master; there is no alternative; it is the way of the kingdom. And here again we are in danger of doing just what the disciples did. With a fuller knowledge of the task before us, a clearer and nearer view of the unsatisfied and unsaved masses, it is so human for us to set over against these our own human, material resources. In human fashion we begin to devise ways and means, tabulate our forces, and then calculate our success or failure. Moses did so; Israel did so; the disciples did so. It is the human way, but it is also the fatal way. As surely as the promises of God point to the triumphant march of the gospel of the advent around the world, so surely do they point to Christ as its wisdom and power. How often in the human history of his eternal purpose has God bidden his faithful ones, “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord,” when with outstretched arm he has wrought mightily for the onward march of his kingdom. If we could only see how, in the last few decades, kingdoms have been set up and kingdoms have been cast down; how kings and others in high authority, as well as whole races, have been compelled to make way for the entrance of the gospel of peace, we should in astonishment declare, “What hath God wrought!” Surely the highway of our King is being prepared in all nations, and the kingdom is coming. But while it is eternally true that the source of spiritual supply and all the power are of God, and that our work is merely to minister these, yet must we bear in mind that God employs human agencies and instrumentalities. The better fitted, the more wisely, carefully, and thoroughly prepared, the more effectively God uses these instruments of his own choosing. Heathen darkness is seated in the mind and heart, members of unrighteousness; by means of these same members, thoroughly trained intellectually, and equipped, furnished with the virtues of the Holy Spirit, God will carry on his warfare against heathenism. These are the human organs, the weapons of the divine energy. They must be consecrated, equipped, and trained. This, then, brings us to the matter of cooperating with God in the preparation of workers for the great foreign missionary enterprises. Even when we count that the bulk of the work in those foreign fields will be done by native workers, the fact still remains that the scores of untouched mission fields (untouched by all Protestant missionary societies), and the many fields we have entered but only partially occupied, call for a large army of well-trained foreign missionaries. We can not know, nor need we know, how many will be required for this task. Ours is to go forward, and the Lord of the harvest will indicate when we must arrest our steps. At the Centenary Conference held in Shanghai in 1907, the missionary societies operating in China decided to double their force of workers at the earliest possible moment. The larger societies are pressing forward at a strong pace, rushing their forces into China by the scores. Similar plans are being laid for other fields, especially Africa, where Christian missions are under a peculiar urgency to checkmate the swift and vigorous invasion of Islam now sweeping11down from the Sudan. In a word, the present plan of the Protestant missionary propaganda is for a decided advance in every field, and one of the leading reasons for this action is found in the fact that several of the great heathen religions are preparing for what they believe to be a death struggle with Christianity. Buddhism in Japan is seeking a renewal of strength and vigor with which to meet the invasion of the religion of Jesus; Hinduism is doing the same thing in India; and Mohammedanism is seeking to present a united front, armed with modern weapons, against its ancient, uncompromising foe, Christianity. These are days of moral and spiritual intensity throughout the entire world. What are our plans for, and our part in, this world struggle? Our faith is that God has called us to the crucial, crowning part of this crisis. Our faith is splendid; our giving is noble; but are we preparing our forces in purpose, in numbers, as we might, as we should? Has our preparation of missionaries that respect to the special training of the hands, the head, the heart, that it should have? We have in our ranks a large army of splendid young people. These are our living materials that we must conscientiously and thoroughly equip for this final work. The future is theirs; they bring the highest, the best gift, the gift of life, to this work. The Protestant churches of North America count on no less than twenty million young men, young women, and children under their influence; and in this army they place their confidence as they look ahead into the immediate future of foreign missions. They represent incalculable possibilities; the plan is to educate and train them to the highest point of efficiency for the mission field. Can we do less? In our Sabbath-schools, in our churches, in our Missionary Volunteer Societies, in whatever way we touch our young people, we must seek to impart missionary information, and to inspire them with the work of missions. The study of missions, especially the world missionary movement of our day, in all its phases, should have a large place in all our schools. It is the most momentous enterprise engaging the activities of man. But what is, if possible, of even greater importance, we should have a large class, the very pick of our young people, in special training for the foreign mission fields. We give special training to our prospective physicians, ministers, teachers, Bible workers; and we do well; but are we not slow in recognizing the need of specially trained workers for the greatest and most difficult task before us—the carrying of the message to the entire heathen world? This, indeed, is our work. The one sole reason for our existence as a denomination is that we should carry the advent message to the entire world. All other interests must be made subordinate and contributory. This special training, in the very nature of the case, can no more be given by the ordinary school than physicians can be trained in these schools. To attempt to do so can result only in waste and disappointment. This work must be done by instructors whose special knowledge of the conditions in the foreign fields and their close touch with our missionary work enable them to train candidates for the foreign field with particular reference to the conditions and needs in those fields. In any case these heathen fields are full of perplexity to the missionary; but the present situation makes them so in a marked degree. Within the last few decades the non-Christian lands have been so largely influenced by the West as to create almost entirely new conditions. Modern education carried forward in many non-Christian lands by up-to-date secular schools whose equipment, methods, and teaching force equal the best we have in the home land, make it impossible, or nearly so, for the mission-school to do its work without the best equipment. The spirit of reform and a deep undercurrent of national awakening are sweeping the heathen lands away from their old civilization, which will be displaced by something better or worse. The entire heathen world is seething intellectually, politically, religiously. It is God's hour. The irresistible logic of all these facts has led to the founding of the Foreign Mission Seminary at Washington, D. C. This institution stands for one object—the special training of young men and women for the mission fields at home and abroad. And this object, both as to scope and as to meaning, is coming to be more clearly and sharply defined. The managing board and faculty of the Seminary are composed of men who as representatives of our missionary movement stand face to face with the great problem of carrying the advent message to all the world. In policy, subject-matter, and method, the constant aim is to inspire our young men and women with missionary enthusiasm, and to train them to the highest degree of efficiency in the sacred work before them; and all the time our foreign mission work in its various phases is being carefully studied, to the end that the missionary training in the Seminary may be based on a knowledge of the actual conditions in the field. The unentered and unoccupied fields are calling for scores of our devoted young men and women, the best in our ranks, to qualify themselves without delay for this, the greatest work of the ages. And the Foreign Mission Seminary stands pledged to cooperate heartily and intelligently in this work. "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." The Chicago Israelite speaks truly when it says that the Sunday sabbath is of heathen origin. In its issue of Aug. 3, 1912, it says:— The Christian Advocate is somewhat taken back because not a single word of protest was uttered by Americans against running the Marathon race at Stockholm on the “Lord’s day.” It is indeed surprising that the Stockholm Olympic games were permitted to operate on Sunday. The Christian Advocate remarks that the “Olympic games originated in a festival to a heathen god.” Perhaps that journal has forgotten that Sunday originated out of a veneration for a heathen god. Sunday was not originally the day of the Son, but the day of the sun. It was the day sacred to Apollo, the sun-god, the dies veneris solis, the venerable day of the sun. Perhaps the men who arranged the Stockholm games knew that Sunday was of heathen origin just as they did that the Olympic games were of pagan source, and the eternal fitness of things suggested the utilizing of both to further the interest in the Marathon race. A Visit to the Tsungwesi Mission
By R. C. Porter
LEAVING Gwelo the morning of April 28, after trekking nearly all night, I took the morning train for Salisbury, arriving at 4:30 P. M. I was met at the station by Brethren Francis and Henry Wessels. They had come into Salisbury from their farm at Kimberley Reefs, seventy miles distant, for a vacation, on account of severe attacks of fever. I was taken to the Langham Hotel, where Brother and Sister Wessels had engaged rooms, and was very hospitably entertained by them during my stay. While in Salisbury, I improved the opportunity to look up the grant of a mission site in the Selukwe Reserve. Not having time to finish the business, I left it in the hands of Brother Henry Wessels to complete the arrangements for the Selukwe lease. April 30 I took the morning train for Inyazura Siding, seven miles from the Tsungwesi Mission. I reached my destination at 4:30 P. M., after a slow and tedious all-day train ride. I was glad to see Brother M. C. Sturdevant with two boys and a four-mule wagon awaiting my arrival. The luggage was soon transferred, and we were off for the mission. As we journeyed homeward, we noted that although we passed by much delightfully rugged scenery, the road to the mission was quite unbroken, there being but one small hill to pass over en route. The mission farm lies in a basin entirely surrounded by most beautiful mountain scenery. For fertility of soil and beauty of scenery, combined with freedom from fever, the Tsungwesi Mission is unsurpassed by any of our mission farms in Rhodesia. The 3,666 acres of land is all very good soil. Even on top of the mountain, a thousand feet above the valley basin, and all up the mountainsides, the soil is a rich red or black loam. In places grass grows eight to ten feet high on top of the mountains. The wash over the farm from the mountains is therefore a good fertilizer. Last year was extremely wet, and this year is extremely dry. The small beginning that has been made in farming is showing most excellent results. The mission workers have an abundance of sweet potatoes, monkey-nuts, beans, and other garden products. They will have enough mealies this year to provide for the mission, and sell about one hundred bags. There is abundance of good running water, and grass for a large amount of stock. The cattle and mules on the farm are fat and sleek. The new mission house is made of brick, with iron roof. It is enclosed with a good yard fence, and the yard is nicely laid out with neatly prepared walks, beautified by Rhodesian flowers. The house, yard, and campus are adorned with beautiful shade-trees, and the fields of grain lying in the valley, supported by a magnificent mountain background, add greatly to the beauty of the scene. There has been no fever here. Another item regarding the Selukwe Reserve, concerning which all are now quite familiar, will be of interest. The South African Missionary says:— "Plans are being perfected at the Somabula Mission whereby another station — Selukwe Reserve — will soon be in operation. By faith they go forward, believing that as God has opened the12way, he will send the necessary means for its establishment in his own good time. Pastor Gibson writes that the Church of England missionary is leaving the Que Que Reserve at the end of July, and that our native teacher has started work on a farm two and one-half miles from the reserve. At the last Sabbath service sixty-eight were in attendance."