Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 31. (6/22/1916)

Review and Herald

Jun 22, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 22, 1916

Physical Degeneration

THERE are plain indications that the human race is becoming physically less efficient, even though many with an optimistic turn of mind refuse to recognize it. Almost unbelievable conditions of physical inefficiency exist among the men in the United States who are applying for enlistment in the army and navy. Of course it may be said that these men are not fair samples of American men in general. If they were, the nation would be in a bad way indeed. Still the facts are sufficient to indicate a marked decrease physically of many men in the United States. We quote from a letter addressed to the New York Journal by Capt. L. P. Pinkton, in charge of the recruiting bureau of the United States marine corps, New York City:—

“Do you know that during the present year to date there have been 11,012 applicants for enlistment in the United States marine corps at our recruiting station, located at 24 East Twenty-third St., this city, and that out of that number only 316 were able to pass the required examination? Just think of it! Twenty-nine men out of every 1,000—one in every 35 who applied—physically fit to be a marine!”

“Figures from other large cities of the United States do not show such a large percentage of physically ‘unfits,’ but they are interesting, and you may have them for the asking.”

Commenting upon these figures, the editor remarks:—

“Remember that it is not necessary for these men to pass intellectual tests. All that they require is a healthy body, sound legs, arms, lungs, and heart, to enable them to learn the drill and do the work.

“And not three out of a hundred are fit for the task.”

Prophecy Fulfilled

WE find that in these days of increase of knowledge, even public men in official positions in the United States government recognize to some extent the meaning of the inventions we see about us.

On March 7 the National Geographic Society held its annual dinner at Washington, in honor of the fortieth anniversary of the birth of the telephone. The National Geographic Magazine for March gives a full account of the occasion. The eight hundred guests at the banquet each had a telephone receiver, and conversations were carried on with all parts of the country. At the end of the hall was a large map fitted with electric lights. As conversation with any place was carried on, a bulb connected with that place on the map lighted up. Many interesting speeches were made, but to us the most striking was that of Hon. Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy. Speaking of the present time, he said:—

“We live at a time when the dreams of poets, seers, and prophets have been translated into realities. The finest things in the world are dreams. ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish,’ wrote one of the old seers, and another, whose vision seemed to overleap centuries and even millenniums and focus itself upon our own times, said, ‘Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.’”

Referring to the prophecy which the secretary mentioned, we find that it reads:—

“Thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. 12:4.

If this prophecy is now being fulfilled, as the Secretary of the Navy says it is, we are surely living in the time of the end. Secretary Daniels went on to speak of other prophecies which are in process of fulfilment:—

“It is indeed wonderful what some of those ancient wise men foresaw. Did Nahum get a glimpse of automobiles when he wrote, ‘The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightning’? Nahum 2:4.

“Did old Jeremiah get a foreglimpse of the aeroplane as an army scout when he wrote (chap. 48:40, 41), ‘Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are surprised’?”

“Truly the miracle of the twentieth century has been the discovery of radio transmission; it is the marvelous fulfilment—a fulfilment which we could not believe unless we had heard it with our own ears.”

If we read the verse just previous to that quoted from Nahum, we find that the chariots which Secretary Daniels thinks might well be automobiles, are said to be “flaming torches in the day of His preparation.” The present, then, is the day of God’s preparation, and this we sincerely believe. A world-wide work must be done that all may be prepared for the end of this world and the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Matt. 24:14 speaks of this time in these familiar words:—

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

When statesmen are recognizing the fulfilment of prophecy, it is time that we renew our own earnestness and go forward as never before to proclaim that Christ’s coming draweth near. Thus a people may be prepared to meet the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Note and Comment

Catholics Under the Flag

ACCORDING to this year's edition of the Official Catholic Directory, there are 24,922,062 Catholics under the United States flag. These are divided as follows:— United States proper ........ 16,564,109 Philippine Islands ............ 7,285,458 Alaska, Porto Rico, and other possessions ............ 1,072,495

Mr. Meier, the editor of the Directory, gives a list of twenty-six States which have a Catholic population of more than 100,000. There are ten which have a population of more than one-half million Catholics.

Wireless Long Distance Record

AMONG the inventions which mark the present as the time of fulfilment of the prophecy which says that in the last days “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased,” the wireless telegraph is one of the most important. We have seen this means of bringing all the world together rapidly develop in the last few months. A dispatch from Sydney, New South Wales, May 24, gives the most recent record. The American steamer “Ventura,” on arriving at Sydney, is said to have reported that she picked up a wireless message from the station at Tuckerton, N. J., nine thousand miles distant from that point. This is thought to be a world record for long distance transmission.

Medical Council

By F. M. W.

No class of workers connected with this movement have greater or more perplexing questions to deal with than do those engaged in our medical work. It seemed most fitting, therefore, that the medical superintendents, business managers, and head nurses of our sanitariums in the North American Division Conference should come together for a few days of prayer and study and counsel over questions of common interest.

About forty representatives of our medical work met at the sanitarium in Madison, Wis., last week. Dr. H. W. Miller and Brother L. A. Hansen, as secretaries of the Medical Department, had charge of the council. Every denominational sanitarium in the Division was represented. Many questions relating to medical procedure, ethics, finance, etc., were considered. Decisions were reached which, we believe, will have a wide-reaching influence on the future of our medical work.

A spirit of freedom and harmony prevailed. Time was devoted in the early morning meeting to seeking the Lord, and in the evening instruction in practical godliness was presented by Elder Evans and others. A fuller report of this interesting meeting will be given later by the secretaries of the Medical Department.

We believe that much good will result from a closer cooperation of our medical workers. Our sanitariums are not independent units, but each is a link in a chain, a member of a sisterhood. Our medical work constitutes an important department of this movement. The providence of God has brought our sanitariums into existence as auxiliaries for the giving of the gospel message to the world. Their success will be found in their recognition of this relationship. It is for them to maintain the ideals of true Christian temperance. If they fail to do this, and cater to purely worldly professional ideals, they will lose their distinctive character, and in consequence their power.

Our medical institutions have been passing through a severe crisis during the last decade. Encumbered with indebtedness, with a transitory patronage, the outlook has been dark; but better days are dawning. Our sanitariums are emerging into light and liberty. Some are freed from debt, and others are making fast progress in gaining their liberty. Soon all, we believe, will be able to sing the song of jubilee and deliverance.

And we see a quickening of their spiritual life. Their workers are reaching out for greater spiritual blessings, and God is responding to their appeal. In the near future our sanitariums will come to be centers of great spiritual power and physical blessing to the sick and afflicted. Of this we feel confident. Heaven will make them mighty factors in connection with this closing work. Let us hold their workers up before God in prayer. Let us seek for them blessings of wisdom, skill, and efficiency. In this spirit of cooperation and oneness their success will be assured.

F. M. W.

Are We Holding Our Own?

By G. B. T.

In an essay on prayer Rev. G. Granger Fleming says:—

“In 1910 we had a world-wide missionary conference. This was held with the purpose of an advance on all the enemy’s outposts. There was great enthusiasm and an evidence of splendid organization. One great note of weakness was, however, struck. The churches were prepared to invade the world, but it was found that they were incapable of holding their own in their present centers in proportion to the increase of population. Everywhere is the sense of need felt. How shall it be met?

“We must get back to the trenches; back to where we are sure; back to the Word of God, back to prayer, back to cultivation of the inner life. The Christian in his trench need fear no foe. Given to prayer and meditation, he is more than equal to all that can come upon him.

“What is wanted today is more intensity, more reality, more of the hidden work of grace. If we get right with God, we shall soon be right with men. If we become men of the Word and of prayer, we shall soon prove our worth in the field of action and practical service.”—The Dynamic of All Prayer, p. 2.

This statement is doubtless true, and is very suggestive, containing some thoughts that are pertinent to our work, and that we shall do well to study.

The writer of the essay says that the churches preparing to invade the world found they “were incapable of holding their own.” Are we holding our own? We are not pessimistic. Neither do we have any sympathy with that class who seek to sow the seeds of disaffection by endeavoring to show that the work of God on earth is disintegrating and drying up. The movements which have been started by those who have left this message have disintegrated and withered away. Individuals who have become dissatisfied with the foundation and with the way the work was carried on, and have stepped out of the ranks to warm themselves by the sparks of their own kindling, have declined in spiritual power, and have ceased to be religious leaders. There seems to be no exception to this. But this message, born in obscurity and cradled in poverty, in the face of great obstacles and in spite of wolves from without and of men arising in our midst speaking perverse things, has gone steadily on, until the world has been girdled, and in nearly all nations the message of a soon-coming Saviour is being preached. At no time in its history has there been seen greater vigor and growth in all departments of the work than at the present time.

But it is not best to number Israel, and estimate too much as to whether or not the required number is made up, so that the Lord may come. While we are making advancement in the world and pushing the conquest into new fields, are we holding our own spiritually? How is it, brother, in the church you attend? Is it increasing or decreasing in numbers? Are you holding your own spiritually? Is there as earnest a spirit in the hearts of the believers now as when your little church was organized? Do you love one another as devotedly now as in the former days? Or are you losing your first love, and in this respect not holding your own? Are you holding your own in the prayer meeting? Is it as well attended now as some years ago? Do you attend as regularly as you once did? Are the fervent “amens” heard as often when some of the sublime truths of the gospel are brought home to the heart as years ago? Are you holding

your own in Sabbath keeping? Are you as careful concerning the observance of God’s holy day now as when you first learned that you were keeping a day substituted by man for the day that God blessed and made holy at creation? Should we not think soberly and prayerfully in reference to these things?

Are we holding our own in reference to plainness of dress, and practicing the principles of health as taught in the Word of God? Or are we growing more careless, and following more and more the fashions and customs of the world? These are personal questions, and it is not intended that they be answered by pointing to some one else and saying, “Well, I hardly think Brother and Sister Blank are living up to the light as carefully as they should, or as they once did.” They may be doing better than you are, measured by God’s standard. We are asking you. Are you holding your own along all these lines?

Again, are we holding our children in the truth? They are the most priceless heritage, and the greatest asset of the denomination. How about the flock which was once in your church? Did you hold them? Are they all in the truth today, or have you been incapable of holding them, and today they are in the world, without God and without hope? I heard a prominent evangelist once say that investigation showed that many of those in the slums, and dyed in the deepest of sin, once sat in Sunday schools. The churches had them, he said, but were incapable of holding them.

“During the great simultaneous revival campaign in the city of Philadelphia, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, at a noon-day meeting in the Garrick Theater, read a letter from a well-known evangelist in which he said that while conducting a morning meeting in a certain city a tramp came in and sat down in a pew. During the service this tramp stood up and said: ‘My father and mother used to sit in this pew. It is the first church I ever attended. My father was an officer in this church. Seven boys used to sit in this pew in the Sunday school class. We had a great love and respect for our teacher. Saturday afternoons she invited us to her home for an entertainment of music, eatables, and a look over the lesson. After a while, being anxious to please us and hold us, she brought out a pack of cards and taught us the names of the different cards. None of us had ever used cards, but we became enthusiastic over them and soon learned the game. Then we said, “Do not give so much time to the lesson, but let us have more time for playing cards, and teach us some more tricks.” After a while we got a pack of our own and were off in the cotton-gins playing cards, and not going to her home. Later we failed to go to Sunday school. Cards and cigarettes were followed by drink and gambling. We all, at different times, left our homes. Two of these boys have been hanged, three are in State prison for life, one a vagabond like myself. No one knows where he is; and if the authorities knew I was here, I would be arrested and put behind the bars.’”—The Master Workman, pp. 44, 45.

The church had these boys once, but did not hold them. It is time that we seriously investigate to see if our churches and Sabbath schools are capable of holding their own and of saving the young among them. If not, we must get “back to the Word of God, back to prayer, back to cultivation of the inner life.”

We are making our activities, I fear, far too much a substitute for piety, for study of God’s holy Book, and for prayer. We need to return to God, to humble the heart, to put away sin, to pray, to supplicate the throne of God for Pentecostal power, that we may not only hold our own in spiritual power, but be able also to reach out and lay hold upon others who are being drawn by the ebb tide of sin into the yawning gulf of perdition.

G. B. T.

The Ideals of Christian Schools

By F. M. W.

WE are especially pleased to learn of the simplicity which characterized the closing exercises of some of our schools. Prof. O. J. Graf spoke of this in his report in last week's REVIEW. He stated that the exercises attending the closing days of Emmanuel Missionary College were in harmony with the spirit of this movement and of our denominational work. Doubtless this was true of other schools. This is as it should be.

We hope the time will come soon (and we are rapidly nearing it already), when all those who pursue courses of study in our schools will do so in order to fit themselves for a part in God's work. To furnish this preparation is the very reason why our schools have been established. Why should not the closing exercises of the school year be in harmony with this idea?

When the true object of our schools is kept uppermost in the minds of teachers and students, the class day exercises will not be occasions for dress parade, for fun and frolic, cheap wit, and mental gymnastics, as is too often the case in schools of the world. The graduating address will not be an effort at high and dazzling oratory or great intellectual profundity, such as we might expect to hear at the commencement of the ordinary high school or the great university; but it will be an address embellished with spiritual thought and pregnant with spiritual power. It will be such an address as should naturally and appropriately be delivered by an older Christian worker to young men and women who are about to go out into the great world field to work for God and for their fellows; such an address as would inspire the undergraduates to renew their consecration to God, and to strive in the closing days of their school work for a better preparation for holy service. To several such addresses it has been our pleasure to listen at different times, and they proved an inspiration to all who heard.

The schools of the world do not constitute the proper models for the schools connected with this movement. The aim of most worldly schools is to develop mentality with but little if any concern for the spiritual welfare of their students. They appeal to selfish pride, to worldly ambition, to unholy zeal. They minister to love of dress and display, to class rivalry, to strife for honor and preferment. Many of their students possess an ambition for worldly position or political power. These are not the aims and purposes of our schools, nor should such aims be fostered in the minds of our young men and women.

Let the spirit reigning in our schools from the day of enrolment to the last day of commencement week be such that in every exercise, social, educational, religious, God shall be honored, and the students impressed that our schools are institutions of God's planting, to fit and prepare their students as workers for holy service. Only on this basis of operation can our schools expect the fulness of the blessing of Heaven.

F. M. W.

Christian Living Makes the Gospel Beautiful

The example of a Christian life will do more to impress others than the mere teaching of religious truth. A little Japanese girl attempted to illustrate this truth by telling some friends that her mother had some little black seeds which did not appear at all attractive to any of their neighbors. But the seeds had life in them, and her mother put them in the ground, and soon they grew, and blossomed out with beautiful flowers. “Then,” said the little girl, “the neighbors all admired the flowers, and many came to beg the seed that they might have some flowers for themselves.” So the gospel words have power in them, but they best show their beauty and meaning when translated into Christian living. Men may disregard our preaching, but the grace that blossoms into a beautiful and Christlike character they can neither argue against nor ignore.—Selected.

Make Others Happy

“MAKE others happy, and you will enjoy the reactionary influence of the happiness you impart.”

Power of Appetite

By Ellen G. White

(Concluded)

MRS. E. G. WHITE

("Testimonies for the Church," Vol. III, pp. 489-492)

If the moral sensibilities of Christians were aroused upon the subject of temperance in all things, they could, by their example, commencing at their tables, help those who are weak in self-control, who are almost powerless to resist the cravings of appetite. If we could realize that the habits we form in this life will affect our eternal interests, that our eternal destiny depends upon strictly temperate habits, we would work to the point of strict temperance in eating and drinking. By our example and personal effort we may be the means of saving many souls from the degradation of intemperance, crime, and death. Our sisters can do much in the great work for the salvation of others by spreading their tables with only healthful, nourishing food. They may employ their precious time in educating the tastes and appetites of their children, in forming habits of temperance in all things, and in encouraging self-denial and benevolence for the good of others.

Notwithstanding the example that Christ gave us in the wilderness of temptation by denying appetite and overcoming its power, there are many Christian mothers, who, by their example and by the education which they are giving their children, are preparing them to become gluttons and winebibbers. Children are frequently indulged in eating what they choose and when they choose, without reference to health. There are many children who are educated gormands from their babyhood. Through indulgence of appetite they are made dyspeptics at an early age. Self-indulgence and intemperance in eating grow with their growth and strengthen with their strength. Mental and physical vigor are sacrificed through the indulgence of parents. A taste is formed for certain articles of food from which they can receive no benefit, but only injury; and as the system is taxed, the constitution becomes debilitated.

Ministers, teachers, and students do not become as intelligent as they should in regard to the necessity of physical exercise in the open air. They neglect this duty, which is most essential for the preservation of health. They closely apply their minds to books, and eat the allowance of a laboring man. Under such habits, some grow corpulent, because the system is clogged. Others become lean, feeble, and weak, because their vital powers are exhausted in throwing off the excess of food; the liver becomes burdened and unable to throw off the impurities in the blood, and sickness is the result. If physical exercise were combined with mental exertion, the blood would be quickened in its circulation, the action of the heart would be more perfect, impure matter would be thrown off, and new life and vigor would be experienced in every part of the body.

When the minds of ministers, school-teachers, and students are continually excited by study, and the body is allowed to be inactive, the nerves of emotion are taxed, while the nerves of motion are inactive. The wear being all upon the mental organs, they become overworked and enfeebled, while the muscles lose their vigor for want of employment. There is no inclination to exercise the muscles by engaging in physical labor, because exertion seems to be irksome.

Ministers of Christ, professing to be his representatives, should follow his example, and above all others should form habits of strictest temperance. They should keep the life and example of Christ before the people by their own lives of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and active benevolence. Christ overcame appetite in man's behalf; and in his stead they are to set others an example worthy of imitation. Those who do not feel the necessity of engaging in the work of overcoming upon the point of appetite, will fail to secure precious victories which they might have gained, and will become slaves to appetite and lust, which are filling the cup of iniquity of those who dwell upon the earth.

Men who are engaged in giving the last message of warning to the world, a message which is to decide the destiny of souls, should make a practical application in their own lives of the truths they preach to others. They should be examples to the people in their eating, in their drinking, and in their chaste conversation and deportment. Gluttony, indulgence of the baser passions, and grievous sins are hidden under the garb of sanctity by many professed representatives of Christ throughout our world. There are men of excellent natural ability whose labor does not accomplish half what it might if they were temperate in all things. Indulgence of appetite and passion beclouds the mind, lessens physical strength, and weakens moral power. Their thoughts are not clear. Their words are not spoken in power, are not vitalized by the Spirit of God so as to reach the hearts of the hearers.

As our first parents lost Eden through the indulgence of appetite, our only hope of regaining Eden is through the firm denial of appetite and passion. Abstemiousness in diet and control of all the passions will preserve the intellect and give mental and moral vigor, enabling men to bring all their propensities under the control of the higher powers, and to discern between right and wrong, the sacred and the common. All who have a true sense of the sacrifice made by Christ in leaving his home in heaven to come to this world that he might by his own life show man how to resist temptation, will cheerfully deny self and choose to be partakers with Christ of his sufferings.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Those who overcome as Christ overcame will need to constantly guard themselves against the temptations of Satan. The appetite and passions should be restricted and under the control of enlightened conscience, that the intellect may be unimpaired, the perceptive powers clear, so that the workings of Satan and his snares may not be interpreted to be the providence of God. Many desire the final reward and victory which are to be given to overcomers, but are not willing to endure toil, privation, and denial of self, as did their Redeemer. It is only through obedience and continual effort that we shall overcome as Christ overcame.

The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan. But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan's temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome.

The Design of God in the Gift of Prophecy, and Its Revival in the Last Days

By GEO. I. BUTLER

GEO. I. BUTLER

THROUGH the gift of prophecy God from time to time communicated with chosen persons, instructing, encouraging, enlightening, and greatly assisting all willing to be saved by the means God has instituted. The Bible alone furnishes us the true record of God’s merciful interference in human affairs to save fallen man. That holy record has been the principal agency through which God has wrought, bringing light and truth to guide poor, lost man through the perils of this world. That blessed volume came to us through visions and revelations from God; in other words, through the spirit of prophecy. The revelation through John, Christ’s beloved disciple, as we say, closes the canon of inspiration about the end of the first century of the Christian dispensation. That century was a wonderful era. It abounded in visions and revelations from the God of heaven. In it the whole world heard the blessed gospel preached. Paul says, in Col. 1:23, that it “was preached to every creature which is under heaven;” but it is evident that comparatively few fully accepted

it, though no doubt it continued to be preached by many God-fearing men, and believers continued to come into the churches.

One great fact stands out very prominently: the gifts of the Spirit rapidly ceased. The church wandered farther and farther from God. By the third century the apostasy was quite fully developed. The pure doctrines of the apostolic church were corrupted. The church itself became worldly and began to persecute. The great apostasy was complete.

After ten centuries of the Dark Ages, in which the Papacy was dominant, the light began to break, and the great Protestant Reformation dawned upon the religious world. Great Reformers appeared and proclaimed many important truths. The art of printing was invented and perfected by pious men, largely for the purpose of multiplying copies of the Scriptures, which previously had to be written out by hand.

The bringing of the Scriptures to the common people was the greatest agency in their enlightenment. But after centuries of the existence of Protestant churches, it must be evident that the reformation from the errors of the great apostasy was only a reform in part. One sad evidence of this is the existence of a large number of sects, differing in their religious views and doctrines, and in many cases antagonistic to one another. All cannot be true; and we cannot be sure that any one of them has all the truths of the Bible. For example, practically all of them have brought with them the pagano-papal Sunday Sabbath, and as churches they strenuously contend for it, while the fact stands out prominently that not a single text of the Holy Scriptures can be found intimating that the first day of the week became a holy day, in the place of the seventh day of God’s appointment. The Catholic Church claims to have made the change, to have substituted the first day of the week for the seventh-day Sabbath, and defies the Protestant world to prove from the Scriptures that Sunday is the Sabbath. And history corroborates this claim of the Catholic Church.

History also furnishes evidence that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul was brought into the church directly from the heathen world, and there are other doctrines held by Protestants which were derived from the same source. The Scriptures clearly teach that we are living in the last days. Overwhelming proof is being given to the world that the very last days of time have been reached, and that Christ’s second advent is soon to awaken this drowsy world. The Protestant churches have rejected this doctrine. They hold that the world is to be converted before Christ can come. This present awful war, the most terrible ever seen in human history, ought to awaken men, and show them the folly of this peace-and-safety cry.

The condition of the religious world today is very sad. Of earth’s sixteen hundred million people, about ten hundred million are pagans. Of professed Christians a very large majority are Roman Catholics or Greek Catholics; and the Protestant world is divided into a large number of sects differing greatly in belief. It is safe to say that of its ministry a very large majority do not accept the entire Bible as inspired. A large number do not accept the Mosaic record of creation. Modern critics discount the flood, and even the existence of Abraham and the record of the exodus. Indeed, comparatively few of the Protestant ministers believe the Bible to be the word of God. The Protestant world is far from accepting the Bible as a book of authority in religious doctrine. All sects are being permeated with skepticism. Ages have passed since heavenly visions of inspiration have been seen in the professed Christian world; and this condition is the terrible result. Under the high pressure of modern revivalists, multitudes are being received into the Protestant churches, with no Scriptural evidence of genuine Christian conversion. Christ is soon coming; but who are preparing for that event?

In this sad condition of the religious world today, is there not great need of a true prophet of the Lord, one who has genuine visions from the Lord of heaven? Would it be possible without such an agency to prepare a people for the coming of the Master to gather his people and save them? Every wind of doctrine is blowing in our world. Never were times so perilous. Great Babylon is fallen, and spiritual lethargy is everywhere. Christ left a united body of believers when he ascended, and he will find a united people when he comes to translate his living saints. But they can never become a united people in this degenerate age without special spiritual help from God.

From the very beginning of the proclamation of the last warning message, the third angel’s message of Rev. 14:9-12, there has been connected with it the spirit of prophecy. In proof of this let us examine briefly Revelation 12: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” “And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” Verses 1, 2, 5. In this scripture the inspired John gives a symbolic account of the first advent of our Saviour. The woman is the true church of Christ; the moon represents the Jewish church in the past dispensation; the crown, the twelve apostles; and the last event mentioned, Christ’s ascension to the Father. In connection with this another symbolic representation is presented, that of Satan as a great red dragon ready to destroy the man child, evidently referring to the Roman power seeking to destroy Christ very soon after he was born. See Matthew 2.

In many scriptures a woman is a symbol of a church. “And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days.” Rev. 12:6. This period of twelve hundred and sixty prophetic days means twelve hundred and sixty years, from A. D. 538 to 1798, during which time the Papacy had the supremacy. This period includes what is called the Dark Ages. The Catholic Church ruled the world, practically speaking. During the latter part of this period that church was greatly crippled by the Reformation in its power to persecute. In 1798 Berthier, the French general, captured Rome, and carried the Pope into exile in France, where he died; then for about two years there was no pope. During the long period of twelve hundred and sixty years the true church of God was largely hidden from view; this was the wilderness state of the church. The true people of God were called heretics by the ruling power, the Papacy, and multitudes of them were martyrs, the Catholic power preaching crusades against them and seeking every chance to destroy them from the earth.

The Protestant Reformation greatly checked this work of the Papacy. In the latter part of the twelve-hundred-and-sixty-year period, persecution nearly ceased. This relief from persecution is referred to in the last portion of the chapter as follows: “The earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” Verse 16. That is, the Protestant powers of earth held these persecutions in check so that in these latter days the true gospel principles might be freely preached.

Now we come down to the final work of the true church on earth. “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Verse 17. We can draw no other conclusion from this language than this: The remnant church is the last true church on earth. This prophecy begins at the first advent of Christ, and includes his birth, his crown of twelve apostles, his ascension to his Father, this long period of twelve hundred and sixty years of persecution, the relief through the help of the Protestant earthly governments toward the close of that period, and ends with the remnant church. The remnant of a piece of goods is the little remaining after the larger part has been used up. Webster gives the meaning of remnant as follows: “That which remains after a part is removed, destroyed, used up. Webster gives the meaning of tion; . . . a fragment.” The remnant church is the church living when Christ comes. No other is to follow it.

What characteristics distinguish this remnant church? The first is, it keeps the commandments of God. It keeps them all. Jesus says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10. The strength of a chain depends on each link. If one link is broken, the chain is broken. So with the law of ten commandments. All ten are kept by this remnant church. If all ten are kept, then

the fourth precept is kept, as well as the other nine. That precept says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” We look around, and, behold, almost all the churches of Christendom are trampling under their feet every week this true Sabbath of the Lord of the universe. They have chosen another day, of which not one verse in the whole Bible has a single word indicative of its being kept as the Sabbath. Isn’t this strange, yea, astonishing? But away down here in the closing days of time, the prophetic eyes sees a little remnant church which keeps holy the day that the God of heaven commanded to be kept.

But there is a little variation, at least in the wording of the scriptures, concerning the remnant church and the one brought to view in the third angel’s message. The latter says “the faith of Jesus;” the former says “the testimony of Jesus Christ.” What can “the testimony of Jesus Christ” be? We dare not pretend to answer on our own authority merely. We will give the Scripture definition in the place of the word itself. We have this definition in Rev. 19:10: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” When we have the true definition of any word and put that definition in the place of the word itself, we always get the true sense. Let us do this in the case under consideration. “The dragon was wroth with the woman [the true church], and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the spirit of prophecy.” The prophet of God sees away down in the end of time a little remnant church that is peculiar, that is different from all the multitude of churches about her; for this one little remnant church that is peculiar, that is ten commandments and have the spirit of prophecy. Such a church will be, yea, must be, found; for God said there would be such a people in the last church on earth.

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