In Allegheny County, Pa., there has been of late much agitation of the question of enforcing Sunday observance, through the provisions of the Pennsylvania State law in which Sunday is recognized as the Christian sabbath. Allegheny County is the center of the movement in this country which seeks to enforce Sunday observance on religious grounds, and the Allegheny County Sabbath Association, an organization of clergymen, is its fountainhead in Allegheny County. The so-called “civil” sabbath law of the State, which has survived as a relic of the times when church and state were united in this country, and is so manifestly a religious law that the secular authorities rarely think of enforcing it unless they are importuned to do so by religious zealots, is enforced upon the people by this ecclesiastical organization, acting in its capacity as a religious body and for purely religious reasons. Policemen and other secular officials enforce the “civil” Sunday law under its directions. The arrangement so clearly amounts to a union of church and state, and is so plainly contrary to the principles of republican government, so evidently theocratic in character, that it finds opponents even among clergymen who regard Sunday as the Sabbath, and desire to see that day generally observed.
One such clergyman, the Rev. W. A. Stanton (Baptist), was so impressed with the anti-Christian and anti-American nature of the undertaking, that, at a meeting of the Allegheny Baptist Ministers’ Association, he arose and offered a resolution calling on the latter to divorce itself from any further affiliation with the Allegheny County Sabbath Association in its Sunday observance crusade. In a sermon, the following Sunday, setting forth his reasons for such action, Mr. Stanton said:—
The church differs from the state in that it is a voluntary organization for religious purposes only, having a distinct history, creed, ecclesiastical government, and forms of worship. Its natural basis is man’s spiritual and religious nature; its laws, pains, and penalties are for its voluntary members only.
It has no moral right to assume the civil functions of the state. Neither has the state any right to assume its functions. Both deal with man, but with different phases of his nature. An infringement by the church upon the rights and functions of the state tends toward a theocracy, where the government is by ecclesiastics, and where the ministers would be in reality the chief officers of state, and would claim for all real or alleged revelations of God the authority of civil law. They would also claim the right to punish for violation of civil as well as of religious statutes. . . .
History is so full of the impossibility of making men religious by law as to need no specific citations. And yet the temptation is ever before zealous men to imagine that a good end justifies doubtful means, and that it is worth while, at least this once. They ask, How else may it be done? and because another way is not easily seen, or threatens slower progress, they try the one that seems quickest and easiest, without thinking clear through to possible results that they themselves would be quick to repudiate when actually brought to pass. It is here that I criticize the appeals of the Allegheny County Sabbath Association to churches and ministerial associations, as such, to enforce our civil Sunday laws. . . .
From their own circular entitled “Enforcing the Sabbath Law,” I learn that they report to the ministers’ associations, “under whose auspices the movement was inaugurated.” They ask the ministerial associations “to indorse the movement for the enforcement of law, and to pledge financial support to a total amount of one thousand dollars.” They even ask for “authority to proceed with the organization of a county Sabbath association to affiliate with the state association.” That hardly looks like a citizens’ movement, does it?
I should call it a movement of ministers, as ministers, in their organized capacity as officers of the church. Furthermore, in the same official document, signed by the officers of the Sabbath association, and all of them ministers, I find that they gave notice to offenders that they “would have to pay the penalty.” What right have church officers to do that? In another place the circular refers to the ministers’ associations as “those to whom we are responsible as a committee.” I see no other conclusion but that the ministers in these associations are enforcing civil law as ministers. Were further proof needed, it may be had on the fourth page of said circular, where “the association, or ministers of each Christian denomination that believe in this law, appoint a committee of five ministers, with power to add to their number five laymen” (not citizens, but “laymen”), “thus making a committee of ten, to act with the committees of other religious bodies co-operating to form an advisory committee to act with the executive committee in all its work, alike of enforcement, education, and legislation.”
With the exception of “education,” do we not have here a clear case of the officers and laymen of the church, in an official capacity and not as citizens, self-assuming the functions of the state?
Such testimony from an unprejudiced witness ought to be convincing.
L. A. S.
Vatican and Italian Government Reconciliation
The Catholic Mirror believes it sees in events connected with the recent birth of an heir to the throne of Italy, indications of an approaching reconciliation between the Vatican and the Italian government. It says:—
Italy is rejoicing over the birth of an heir to the throne of Italy, and the authorities of the Vatican are especially pleased because Victor Emmanuel, in naming his son Prince of Piedmont, instead of Prince of Rome, indicated his desire to conform to the wishes of the pope. It is stated on good authority that Pope Pius X sent a personal letter of congratulation to the royal family by special messenger, and that the message gave more pleasure to the young king than did those he received from the crowned heads of Europe. Instructions have been sent from the Vatican to Cardinal Richelmy, archbishop of Turin, who has been officially invited to baptize the young prince, to defer in everything to the wishes of the royal family. . . . It is even said that the pope has proposed to send a gift for the royal infant, and this is taken as further assurance of early reconciliation between the Vatican and the Quirinal.
An Appeal for the Colored Race
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
The proclamation that freed the slaves in the Southern States opened doors through which Christian workers should have entered to tell the story of the love of God. In this field there were precious jewels that the Lord's workers should have searched for as for hidden treasure. But though the colored people have been freed from political slavery, many of them are still in the slavery of ignorance and sin. Many of them are terribly degraded. Is no message of warning to reach them? Had those to whom God has given great light and many opportunities done the work that he desires them to do, there would to-day be memorials all through the Southern field,—churches, sanitariums, and schools. Men and women of all classes would have been called to the gospel feast.
The present condition of the Southern field is dishonoring to the Redeemer. But shall it lead us to believe that the commission which Christ gave to his disciples when he told them to preach the gospel to all nations, can not be fulfilled?—No, no! Christ has power for the fulfilment of his commission. He is fully able to do the work laid upon him. In the wilderness, armed with the weapon, “It is written,” he met and overcame the strongest temptations that the enemy could bring against him. He proved the power of the Word. It is God's people who have failed. That his Word has not the power on hearts that it ought to have is shown by the present condition of the world. But it is because men have chosen to disobey, not because the Word has less power.
Some time ago I seemed to be, during the night season, in a meeting in which the work in the Southern field was being discussed. The questions were asked by a company of intelligent colored people: “Has God no message for the colored people of the South? Have they no souls to save? Does not the new covenant include them? If the Lord is soon to come, is it not time that something was done for the Southern field?”
“We do not,” it was said, “question the need of missions in foreign lands. But we do question the right of those who claim to have present truth to pass by millions of human beings in their own country, many of whom are as ignorant as the heathen. Why is it that so little is done for the colored people of the South, many of whom are ignorant and destitute, and need to be taught that Christ is their Creator and Redeemer? How can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? How can they hear without a preacher? And how can one preach except he be sent?”
“We lay this matter before those who profess to believe the truth for this time. What are you doing for the unenlightened colored race? Why have you not a deeper sense of the necessities of the Southern field? Does there not rest upon ministers of the gospel the responsibility of setting in operation plans whereby this people can be educated? Does not the commission of the Saviour teach this? Is it right for professed Christians to hold themselves aloof from this work, allowing a few to carry the burden? In all your plans for medical missionary work and foreign missionary work, has God given you no message for us?”
Then He who has authority arose, and called upon all to give heed to the instruction that the Lord has given in regard to the work in the South. He said: “Much more evangelistic work should be done in the South. There should be a hundred workers where now there is but one.”
“Let the people of God awake. Think you that the Lord will bless those who have felt no burden for this work, and who permit the way of its advancement to be hedged up?”
As these words were spoken, deep feeling was manifested. Some offered themselves as missionaries, while others sat in silence, apparently taking no interest in the subject.
Then the words were spoken: “The South is a most unpromising field; but how changed would it be from what it is now, if, after the colored people had been released from slavery, men and women had worked for them as Christians ought to work, teaching them how to care for themselves!”
The condition of the colored people in the South is no more disheartening than was the condition of the world when Christ left heaven to come to its aid. He saw humanity sunken in wretchedness and sinfulness. He knew that men and women were depraved and degraded, and that they cherished the most loathsome vices. Angels marveled that Christ should undertake what seemed to them a hopeless task. They marveled that God could tolerate a race so sinful. They could see no room for love. But “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
Christ came to this earth with a message of mercy and forgiveness. He laid the foundation for a religion by which Jew and Gentile, black and white, free and bond, are linked together in one common brotherhood, recognized as equal in the sight of God. The Saviour has a boundless love for every human being. In each one he sees capacity for improvement. With divine energy and hope he greets those for whom he has given his life. In his strength they can live a life rich in good works, filled with the power of the Spirit.
The Sanctuary
It has been suggested that during this conference the truths which made us a separate and distinct people should be presented, as the present generation of Seventh-day Adventists know but little of the way in which the truth that makes us a peculiar people was first developed. The truth has come to us as a system. Many of us have embraced it because our fathers believed it, others because it appeared so clear when it was first presented to us. But few realize how the truth of the third angel’s message was brought out link by link from the Bible.
When the time passed in 1844, there were none who believed the truth as we now hold it. All believed the prophecies that brought us to that time. Then began a greater searching of the Bible than had ever been, probably, at any time since the days of the apostles. They went over and over the old arguments concerning the prophecies that pointed to 1844, and after most thorough examination they could see no other conclusion than that the prophetic periods terminated at that time. As they studied, they began to see one link of truth after another; and as these truths unfolded to the pioneers,—I have reference to such men as Elders James White, J. N. Andrews, Uriah Smith, and J. H. Waggoner,—they did not dare present that truth to the people until they had made it a special subject of prayer and the spirit of prophecy set its seal to it. That was the way the foundation was laid, step by step, until they found they had a system of truth, and understood the third angel’s message as it has been brought to us. At the present time there is but little realizing sense of this, and, in fact, it seems to me that we have been drifting away from the old landmarks, and are in such a condition that, when the test comes, as it surely will, many will be shaken out.
I will call your attention to the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel. The application of the prophecy contained in these two chapters at one time stirred the world. They were the basis of the preaching of Joseph Wolf in Asia and Europe and in the islands of the sea, of Edward Irving in England, of William Miller in America, and of others who led out in different parts of the world. Unknown to one another, these men preached the central truth that made a separate and distinct people. The truths which they presented from the prophecies of the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel, have been lost sight of to a certain extent. I have been told by some that they had been taught that we no longer need these prophecies; we need simply faith in Christ.
Now, my friends, let us see if we do not need these prophecies. When Moses brought Israel out from the land of Egypt, his last work was to recount the dealings of God with his people.9
About six years before Jerusalem was destroyed, Paul wrote to the Hebrews not to cast away their confidence, but to remember the days when they were illuminated,—to learn the history of the past, and to “call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions.”
And so it has been again and again. When God has raised up a people, and they have lost the spirit of the message that made them a distinct people, he has called upon them to review the past.
In that eighth chapter of Daniel we have a wonderful prophecy. If I should simply go over the theory of it, you would say, We all understand it. And doubtless you do. You know what Daniel saw in the eighth chapter—a ram having two horns, and the higher came up last; a rough goat, with a notable horn between his eyes, and the goat came close to the ram, and stamped him under his feet. Then Daniel saw that horn broken, and four stand up for it, and out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, and put Christ and the saints to death. The angel’s explanation is so plain that any child ten years old can understand it. The angel Gabriel said the ram represented the kings of Media and Persia, the rough goat the king of Grecia, and the great horn the first king. And then he spoke of the little horn that grew out of one of the four that came up when that notable horn was broken. This little horn represented the power that would put the saints to death, and it waxed exceeding great.
I wish to consider the thirteenth and fourteenth verses of the eighth chapter: “Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” “Well,” says one, “that pertains to the past.” I think it does, and also to the present.
Let us notice carefully two or three texts of scripture. In the seventeenth verse of the eighth chapter I read, “Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.” When will this vision be understood?—In the time of the end. Shall we ever pass the time of the end before the Lord comes?—No. Then will there be something in this vision that is present truth until the second coming of Christ?—I think so. [Elder Johnson: “The Danish Bible says it belongs to the time of the end.”]
We will now read the twenty-sixth verse: “And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.” That is, there will be many days before the vision will be understood; or in other words, when Daniel lived, there were many days before the time of the end.
In the ninth and tenth verses of the twelfth chapter, we read: “And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”
Now I wish you to notice these three verses which I have read. Concerning the vision in the eighth chapter, the angel Gabriel said it would be understood after many days, in the time of the end. In the twelfth chapter we read that the words the angel spoke to Daniel were closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
How many wicked persons will understand the eighth chapter of Daniel in the time of the end?—None. Do you believe that not a single wicked person on the earth will understand the eighth chapter of Daniel?—Yes. How many of the wise will understand it?—All. Now suppose I should put the question another way, How many of you are trying to understand what is unfolded in the eighth chapter of Daniel, that you have not previously understood? Does our salvation depend on our understanding something there that the wicked do not understand? Will it ever, then, become a past truth, and not a present truth? The wise—the really wise before God—will get something out of that book that no wicked person will ever get; and when they get it, they will get salvation. Then, should we not study the book of Daniel? There is something in the eighth chapter of Daniel that is practical, that will give one an experience in the things of God, and we can not be safe without it. No other conclusion can be drawn from these expressions, and if we had no other expression to show the importance of the study of the eighth chapter of Daniel, it seems to me that every Seventh-day Adventist should be aroused to know what there is there that we have not understood.
What experience can I get out of that chapter, and where does it lie? It is not simply in the fact that the ram represented Media and Persia, the rough goat Grecia, the great horn the first king, that when it was broken four stood up for it, and a power was to arise that would put the saints to death and continue down to the end. I will tell you what there is in that chapter that is not explained by the angel, and that is the sanctuary question, not only the sanctuary question, but the time of cleansing the sanctuary.
I remember the time when the book of Daniel was opened, and those two verses were quoted. It sent a thrill through the congregation. All felt that there was life in it, and that there was salvation in it, and it opened up a vein of thought that brought to their souls peace, life, and light; and I remember more than that. When I began to observe the Sabbath, in 1853, we had a great burden to go where there were First-day Adventists, and hang up the chart and preach to them. When we visited the sick, we hung up the chart and preached to them the third angel’s message. One case in particular comes to my mind. While visiting a sick woman, I became interested in explaining the sanctuary question. When I had finished, the tears were running down her face, and she said, “I shall keep the law of God.” Many thus embraced the Sabbath in those days, and when men embraced the Sabbath in that way, they did not give it up. They did not become discouraged; they had something that kept them. They saw the Sabbath question from a different standpoint than simply the fact that the Bible teaches it from Genesis to Revelation. They saw truth in it.
I do not know that I need to say much in reference to the time. The ninth chapter is an explanation of the time. A question has been raised about the connection between the eighth and ninth chapters. Now I do not know any ground for any argument whatever to disconnect them, because the reading itself establishes their connection. Let me put two or three texts together, and I think all will see it. In the eighth chapter and sixteenth verse the Lord says to the angel, “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.” The one who gave the command was no other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what Daniel says in the twenty-seventh verse: “And I Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days; afterward I rose up, and did the king’s business; and I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it.” Then, did Gabriel explain that vision so it was understood?—No, he did not.
Let me read in the ninth chapter and twenty-first verse what the angel said to Daniel when he came to him: “Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked to me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” Daniel did not understand the vision at this time. Gabriel’s name is mentioned only twice in the Old Testament,—when Christ said, “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision,” and when Daniel, after praying and seeking God, said, “The man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision,” etc. Does that not identify him—the very one I saw in the vision, the very one whom the Lord told to make me understand the vision? And Gabriel says, “I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.” Now I do not know how to present this subject any clearer than it is set before us in those two chapters taken together.
That is not all. Notice what he says further. “At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand10the matter and consider the vision.” The first thing he would naturally think of would be the point he did not understand. Now, says the angel, think of the vision. Why?—For “I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.”
The first words of explanation were, “Seventy weeks are determined,” or cut off, “for thy people.” Cut off from what? There is only one period in all the book of Daniel from which they could be cut off. Seventy prophetic weeks would be four hundred and ninety days, and a day standing for a year, and seven days for a week, seventy weeks would be four hundred and ninety years. Four hundred and ninety years are cut off. All scholars agree that the Hebrew word signifies “cut off.” Then there must be a longer period from which it is taken. The angel said to him, I have come to give thee skill and understanding. The first words are, Seventy weeks are cut off for thy people—cut off from the twenty-three hundred days. How do you know it is twenty-three hundred days?—Because it could not be cut off from nothing, and that is the only period given in the Bible from which it could be taken. To my mind it would be folly to raise a question whether those chapters are connected or not.
Seventy weeks are cut off for thy people. During this time they were to have special advantages, and the gospel would be given to them. At the end of seventy weeks, it would go to all the world. Sixty-nine weeks reached to Messiah the Prince; that is, sixty-nine of the seventy. There is one week at the end of sixty-nine to make up the seventy, and in the midst of this week—the seventieth week—he will cause the sacrifice and oblations to cease. Now what caused their sacrifices and oblations to cease?—The death of Christ.
Notice we have three periods given: (1) the seventy weeks, at the end of which the gospel will go to the world; (2) sixty-nine weeks, which reach to Messiah the Prince; (3) the seventieth week, in the midst of which the Saviour was crucified.
The starting-point of the twenty-three hundred days is given in the twenty-fifth verse of the ninth chapter. “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks. The streets shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” If I can find when the gospel went everywhere to the Gentile world, then I can find every date, for they all have the same starting-point; and the seventy weeks are to reach to the time when the gospel was to go to the world, and be no longer confined to the Jewish nation. If I find that date, then I can subtract that year of our Lord from the 490 years; that will give me the starting-point. If I can find when Christ became Messiah the Prince,—so recognized in the New Testament,—I can go back and find the same starting-point.
If I can find when he was crucified, going back the same way I can find the starting-point. Or if I can find the date of the commandment to restore Jerusalem, that will establish all the other dates. A harmony here seals up the vision and establishes the twenty-three hundred days.
I will read two or three texts which I know must be familiar to many of you. “Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” Acts 8:1-4. You will notice your marginal date is A. D. 34. If I subtract A. D. 33½ from the seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, I will have 456½ B. C. It is very simple.
In the first chapter of John we find that the word “Messiah” means “the anointed one.” “Messiah” is the Hebrew and “Christ” is the Greek form for the English word “anointed.” In the tenth chapter of Acts and the thirty-eighth verse we read that Jesus was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power, and went about doing good. Then when did he receive the Holy Ghost?—At his baptism. Now turn to the third chapter of Luke or Matthew, to the record of his baptism, and you will find in the margin the date A. D. 27. Take 26½ from 483 years—or sixty-nine weeks—and you have just the same date, 456½.
When did the commandment go forth? You will find a record of it in the seventh chapter of Ezra, and the date in the margin is 457, or in other words, 456½. Ezra 7:9 shows that half of the year had passed when the decree went into effect. That date is established by more than twenty eclipses, and seven historical facts given in Luke 3:1-3 show when John began to preach, which was six months before the Saviour entered upon his ministry. To question the position taken in 1844 is to deny the plain facts given in the Scripture; for when you subtract 490 from 2300, you have only 1810 left, and adding 1810 to A. D. 34, you have 1844.
(To be concluded)
Appreciating What We Cannot Have
“I WOULD rather be able to appreciate things I can not have, than to have things I am not able to appreciate.”
The Introduction of Camp-Meetings
By J. O. Corliss
Experiences of Former Days—No. 14
The Introduction of Camp-Meetings
J. O. CORLISS
THE year 1868 was an eventful one in the progress of the third angel’s message. Soon after the General Conference, held that year in May, Brother and Sister White returned to their Greenville home. Shortly after their return, Elder Uriah Smith came to assist Brother White in his writing, and remained a few weeks. During his stay many seasons of prayer and consultation were held.
July 24 Elder J. N. Andrews returned to Brother White’s home, and spent much time with him and Sister White in studying plans for the advancement of the work. Day after day, for some weeks, the three might be seen wending their way to the back of the farm, and into a grove of oaks situated there, and then the voice of earnest pleading could be heard, as one after another supplicated the throne of Heaven for guidance.
After a few weeks of this importunate entreaty, it was announced in the family that a new thing was to be tried for the uplifting of the people. A camp-meeting would be held as soon as preparations for it could be completed. From that time on for weeks camp-meeting plans were the order of conversation at each family gathering,—at breakfast, dinner, and at each prayer season.
Early in August, Brother and Sister White went to Wright, in Ottawa County, Mich., and upon returning home, articles were written for the REVIEW AND HERALD, announcing the intention to hold the camp-meeting in Wright, beginning September 1. When the announcement appeared, many were the criticisms offered concerning the wisdom of such a move. Some thought that the introduction of camp-meetings would open the way for gross immoralities. Others thought it was copying after “Babylon,” and should not be countenanced. But all these criticisms had been anticipated, and articles were written showing that all the fears expressed were groundless. On the other hand, the articles set forth the advantages to be gained in having brethren from widely separated churches come together, exchange greetings, and work together as a united body for the building up of the work, thus avoiding sectionalism in the cause of God.
So at the appointed time, two or three hundred persons, including twenty or more from Wisconsin and New York, were found assembled in a beautiful oak wood on the farm of Elder E. H. Root. The family tents were improvised structures made of cotton sheeting, of any size which struck the fancy of those building them. There was no thought of permanency in making these temporary lodgings, the suggestion having been made that, after the meeting, they could be utilized for domestic purposes.
The family tents, such as they were, were about thirty in number, and ranged in a semicircle back of a large area of rough boards elevated on risers, placed for the seating of the congregation during the preaching. Directly in front of these primitive seats was built a covered stand of the same rough material, from which three ringing discourses were delivered daily for one week. The sermons were mostly by Elders White and Andrews, though Elders Matteson and Van Horn, and one other minister from New York, each delivered one discourse. Some stirring things were said at that meeting, which went far toward unifying the people. One solemn expression from Elder White, “It is court week in heaven; have your cases ready for trial, brethren,” made so lasting an impression that it was repeated over and over in public for several years. Another statement by Brother Matteson left a serious impression on many. It was11this: “It is a terrible thing for a man to have his own way.”
But there was one feature of the arrangements at that first meeting which ought not to be overlooked, and that was the book stand. It was not a roomy, carpeted tent, having extensive glass show-cases, and illuminated with electric lights. There were no sensational placards announcing that certain books were on sale. It consisted simply of three twelve-foot boards, so placed in the forks of three low trees as to form a triangle. Inside of this stood the salesman with his books on three sides of him. Not even a chair graced this primitive book shop. Indeed, there was little time to use such an appendage; for whenever the books were on exhibition, sales were so brisk as to keep the clerk actively on his feet. More than six hundred dollars’ worth of books was disposed of during the week of the camp-meeting.
Those living who were present at that meeting, if they see these lines, will doubtless recall with pleasure that occasion, and, with the writer, agree that it was one of the best camp-meetings they have ever attended. Nor is that all. That camp-meeting marked an era for good to all the cause. The prejudice formerly existing against such gatherings was entirely allayed, and the next year similar meetings were held in several States of the Middle West.
Begin the Day Right
By Fred Zappe
FRED ZAPPE
It is true that God desires that all should do his will, and live wholly for him, but he does not wish any of his children to worry and fret about how they will live for him one year, a month, or even a week. He asks us to live for him only by the day, just simply one day at a time. It is to-day, the present day, that we must overcome temptation, resist Satan, and have faith and courage, if we wish to be victorious in future days.
Let us be in earnest about living for God, while it is called To-day, lest our hearts be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. To all Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for thee.” He who really tries, in the right way, to live for the Lord by the day will surely have a living experience in the things of God, and thus grow up into Christ hourly and daily.
“But,” some one may say, “I have tried living for the Lord by the day, and have only sadly failed.” Yes, this no doubt is very true in many cases, but the secret of all such failure is in the manner in which the day is begun. Begin to unwind at the wrong end a spool of thread, and the task will be difficult. Begin right, by getting hold of the right end of the thread, and it will unwind very easily. So it is in living for the Lord by the day. Begin the day wrong, and you are almost sure to be overcome by temptation; begin it right, and sin can not have dominion over you.
How can the day be begun just right? How can we begin the day in a way that will insure to us each hour the love, joy, peace, and rest which Jesus gives? The answer to these questions is found in the following instruction:—
“Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, ‘Take me, O Lord, as wholly thine. I lay all my plans at thy feet. Use me to-day in thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in thee.’ This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to him to be carried out or given up as his providence shall indicate. Thus, day by day, you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ.”
Iowa and Ohio
By G. S. Honeywell
G. S. HONEYWELL
BECAUSE of the multitude of voices calling for help, many who love the cause of God have been greatly perplexed of late to know just where and how they may aid the work of the Lord most effectively. For some time I have felt that the Lord had a plan, which, if rightly understood, would relieve the embarrassment now existing in many honest hearts.
Those who have been careful students of what the testimony of Jesus has recently set before us in the REVIEW, will notice the prominence given to that crowning virtue so wonderfully defined by the apostle Paul in the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians,—charity;—indicating that our faith as a people has not as yet brought forth this fruit of the Spirit to that degree of perfection that is pleasing to God.
From recent reports, it seems that the Lord has been pleased to make the conferences of Iowa and Ohio the pathfinders for his people into greater light. And I believe it will not be six months before all our conferences will be in line with them. This work, this unselfish love for our brethren of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people (many of whom at this present time are bound in chains of error) was outlined for us, as I believe, more than eighteen hundred years ago.
Those who have studied Paul’s two letters to the Thessalonian brethren will notice how largely they deal with the much-needed readiness of the church to stand in the day of the Lord, or just before the second coming of Christ. In the first chapter, verses 3-10, he sets forth the church in a most favorable light. But notwithstanding all this, he seemed to have a very heavy burden for the church, that their faith might reach perfection. And we see the same burden resting upon the Lord’s inspired servant to-day.
Let us read carefully the apostle’s forewords: “Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith.” 1 Thess. 3:10. But where was this imperfection to be found?—In brotherly love. But did they not love their brethren in the church?—O, yes. Now let us read a little farther: “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia [or State conference]: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more.” Chapter 4:9, 10.
The remnant church is to have the faith of Jesus (Rev. 14:12), which could not be confined to some small territory like Judea, but broke through and over all man-made bounds. His love encircled the earth. “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”
For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man’s mind,
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
If our love were but more simple,
We should take him at his word;
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.
Our love should “increase more and more” until we, like our divine Head, take in the whole human race. Or, as the apostle expresses it: “And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.” 1 Thess. 3:12, 13.
I think we shall see some excellent fruit from this new move, in the near future.