Providential Agencies for a Quick Work in Evangelizing the World
In the vision of the advent movement of Rev. 14:6-14, the prophet saw the closing message of the "everlasting gospel" being carried swiftly, as by an angel "flying in the midst of heaven," to every nation and tribe and tongue.
The Lord, the living God, is independent of the use of material agencies. He sends forth his word, and his Spirit speaks to hearts direct from heaven above. He appeals to the fact that he "giveth breath" to every soul on earth, every moment, as evidence of his power to send the message of life to every soul. Isa. 42:5-7. But he works through human agencies also in proclaiming the gospel message. He sends saved sinners to tell other sinners the way of life. Not unto angels but unto men has he committed the preaching of the word of reconciliation to the world. And wondrously has the providence of God wrought in raising up facilities and opening ways for a quick work in this generation.
Not so many years before the year 1844 brought the hour of God's judgment and the rise of the definite advent movement of the prophecy, there was not a steamship plowing the seas, nor a steam railway train moving on earth. We to-day can scarcely realize how very modern are the means for rapid transit.
Writing of world-transforming events of the Victorian era, — Queen Victoria began her reign in 1837, — Mr. J. H. McCarthy said, in his "Short History of Our Own Times," written in 1880: —
"A reign which saw in its earliest years the application of the electric current to the task of transmitting messages, the first successful attempts to make use of steam for the business of transatlantic navigation, the general development of the railway system all over these countries, and the introduction of the penny post, must be considered to have obtained for itself, had it secured no other memorials, an abiding place in history. The history of the past forty or fifty years is almost absolutely distinct from that of any preceding period. In all that part of our social life which is affected by industrial and mechanical appliances we see a complete revolution. A man of the present day suddenly thrust back fifty years in life, would find himself almost as awkwardly unsuited to the ways of that time as if he were sent back to the age when the Romans occupied Britain. He would find himself harassed at every step he took. He could do hardly anything as he does it to-day. Sir Robert7Peel traveled from Rome to London to assume office as prime minister, exactly as Constantine traveled from York to Rome to become emperor. Each traveler had all that sails and horses could do for him, and no more. A few years later Peel might have reached London from Rome in some forty-eight hours."
The heart is filled with awe in contemplation of the wonderful changes of our own generation, as we realize that these developments have come about in the providence of God, in order that in this hour of God's judgment the whole world shall hear the gospel message.
Speaking of the providential preparing of the pathways over the world for the era of modern missions, Dr. Edward Lawrence says: —
"There was one other force which was needed to fully equip the church for its universal activity, and to draw the nations of the world together into a net, as the peoples of old had been drawn into the Greco-Roman empire. That was the power of steam, which was to bind the lands together with bands of steel, turn the oceans into a Mediterranean, make the locomotive an emissary of God's kingdom, and the steamer a morning star to herald the day. That invention was not ready to begin its task of annihilating space until the dawn of the nineteenth century. But it was ready in time, for not until then was the purified church itself roused to a fidelity grand enough to undertake the work for which God had been preparing this equipment. It was in 1807, while the young men at Williamstown were praying and studying about missions, that Robert Fulton was making the first trip of the 'Clermont' from New York to Albany."
The 'Clermont's' success in that early time was bright with promise for the future revolutionizing of ocean travel. As Julia Ward Howe wrote for the Fulton centenary celebration: —
"And not alone for Hudson's stream
Avails the magic power of steam.
Blessings of unimagined worth
Its speed shall carry 'round the earth;
Knowledge shall on its pinions fly,
Nor land nor race in darkness lie;
Commerce her hoards shall freely bring
To many an urgent summoning,
And Want and Wealth, in sundered
lands,
Shall closely clasp redeeming hands."
But it was not at once apparent that the wide world was to be reduced to small dimensions by the new developments. As late as 1835 a Liverpool newspaper gave the following report of a lecture by a Dr. Lardner: —
"As to the project, however, which was announced in the newspapers of making the voyage directly from New York to Liverpool, it was, he had no hesitation in saying, perfectly chimerical, and they might as well talk of making a voyage from New York or Liverpool to the moon."
But the new time at hand in the divine program of fulfilling prophecy demanded the bringing in of facilities never before employed; and with the call of the hour the facilities came. In 1838 the British steamships 'Great Western,' 'Sirius,' and 'Royal William' made successful trips to New York, and inaugurated the steamship passenger service between the Old World and the New. A New York paper, commenting on the arrival of the 'Sirius' and the 'Great Western,' said: —
"What may be the ultimate fate of this excitement — whether or not the expense of equipment and fuel will admit of the employment of these vessels in the ordinary packet service — we can not pretend to form an opinion; but of the entire feasibility of the passage of the Atlantic by steam, as far as regards safety, comfort, and despatch, even in the roughest and most boisterous weather, the most skeptical must now cease to doubt."
There was one other step to take, however, for real success. That came in 1843. Then was launched the 'Great Britain,' at Bristol, the first of the ocean passenger boats with iron hull, and the first ocean steamer fitted with screw propeller. "To forge her main shaft James Nasmyth invented his celebrated steam-hammer." The ship made its first voyage, to New York, in 1845. This ship was the pioneer of the enduring type of ocean steamships which now, in numerous fleets, are furrowing all the seas, uniting all lands, —
"Swift shuttles of an empire's loom,
That weave us main to main."
They have made open and swift the path in our day to the uttermost coasts of the earth.
(To be continued)
Tiresome Church Services
By F. M. Wilcox
WHO is to blame when the church services are dull, uninteresting, and tiresome? This is the question raised by one of our readers. We suppose there might be a difference of opinion as to the true answer. From the viewpoint of the leader of the service, it might seem that the congregation was indifferent and unresponsive. The congregation might consider the leader dull and prosy. Possibly both pew and pulpit might be at fault in the matter, each contributing in some measure to the evil.
Much depends on the spirit with which one relates himself to the services of the church. A listless, indifferent attitude of mind, a critical, complaining spirit, a heart closed to divine influences,—one in this condition is not a very inspiring listener, to say the least. He would quite likely feel bored with the service, whether long or short. The preaching of an angel would appear prosy, and the harmonies of heaven prove disquieting. This class of people, if they would obtain help from the church service, and find in it a season of refreshing and blessing, must change their attitude. They need to seek God for his converting, reviving power in their hearts, and then attend the church service not to criticize and find fault, but to give and to receive help. With this attitude of mind, no matter how prosy the service, they will find some blessing to their souls.
There is another class of church attendants who bring to the service wearied bodies from the toil of the week, and, in consequence, dull minds. These find it difficult to arouse their perceptive faculties to the point where they can comprehend and grasp the thoughts presented by the leader of the service. The service is uninteresting, and its close brings relief to outraged nature crying for rest. This class as well have something to do in seeking to cooperate to make the church service a blessing. As far as possible they should find rest throughout the week, bringing to the Sabbath hour a mind at peace from business worries, and physical powers unwearied by excess of labor. The eating of a less amount of food on the Sabbath, when the physical powers are less actively engaged, will often contribute to clearer thought and greater mental activity.
There are other classes of churchgoers to whom the service does not largely appeal, who, by a change of mind or heart or habit or environment, would find that the difficulty after all was with themselves.
But we are constrained to believe that the fault is not wholly with the members of the congregation. Many times the leader is to blame, and his manner of conducting the service responsible for a prosy, wearisome meeting. Long sermons are usually prosy. Ordinarily a sermon forty-five minutes long is much more interesting and effective than one of an hour and a half. The reading of a short lesson, occupying ten minutes, accomplishes much more in reaching the heart than a lesson of half an hour. An exhortation of five or ten minutes by a church elder will prove a much better incentive to a live service than a rambling talk of thirty minutes. Many church elders and leaders make the mistake of trying to preach rather than to give point and inspiration and direction to the service.
The best service is secured by the spirit of mutual consideration and helpfulness. Earnestness and brevity and pointedness on the part of the leader, sympathetic interest and response on the part of the congregation,—this spirit of mutual labor and receptivity, with prayer for divine guidance, the exercise of Christian love and charity, will do much8to cover weaknesses and failures, and insure to all who thus engage in God's service the witness of the Spirit and the evidence of divine acceptance.
We should ever realize that in attending the church of God we have an appointment with our blessed Master, and go to meet not only with our brethren, but above all with the Lord Christ. He will keep his appointment. He will precede us to the place of meeting. He is the great leader of his church, and he will turn none away empty who seek him with sincerity of purpose. The service to others may appear dull, but to us his presence will make it as the gate to heaven.
F. M. W.
Waking Up Divinity
By C. M. S.
ONE of the most popular preachers of the present day is Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis; and his utterances receive as much attention as any minister's in America. In an article on the first page of the Examiner (Baptist), under the title "God Abroad," this much-quoted clergyman explains the movements and developments of our day by declaring that "the divinity in man is burning and throbbing. . . . Christ has spoken to the divinity in the peasant's soul, bidden him to awaken from his long slumber, and come forth to his full regency." This is the doctrine of evolution carried to its ultimate. Man has not fallen, but has been struggling upward for ages, and now God is speaking to the divinity in man and waking it up so that man can be like God and take his place among celestial beings. "Ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil," said the great deceiver. "Ye are gods now," says the clerical evolutionist, "only waiting for the arousing of the divinity inherent in you." As Satan's declaration contradicted God and the truth, so does this, which is, in reality, only an echo of his uttered in Eden. On that reef of falsehood, "Ye shall be as God," the human race foundered, and on that same reef in our day Satan would beat to pieces the remnant of the human craft.
Dr. Hillis seems to find no place for the message of God designed for our day. He does not recognize the fulfilled and fulfilling signs which proclaim the end of the age, the dissolution of all things earthly, the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, the destruction of the wicked, and the reward of the righteous. These things do not fit into the program of making men into gods. The program of such teachers is this, as expressed by Dr. Hillis:—
"The end of the era has come for the weary, worn millions, and the night of their oppression, too, has passed, and the new day has dawned,—the day of ownership in the land, the day of freedom in labor, the day of open schoolhouse and education, the day of self-government in politics. To-morrow there shall be no more autocrats in Russia, nor bosses in America, but the diffusion of liberty. To-morrow there shall be no more billionaires with special legal privilege, but rather the diffusion of property and bread for all. To-morrow there shall be no more ecclesiastical princes lording it over God's heritage, and holding the keys of death and hell for the ignorant and the weak. No more jails! No more poorhouses! No more saloons, no gallows, and no pauper and suicide! All shall be the sons and daughters of God, who have achieved universal happiness, righteousness, and love in the Father's house, where dwell peace and good will among men."
The Bible presents no such roseate view of our generation. God, who knows the end from the beginning, has warned his children of a time of trouble such as never was. He has faithfully told us of the perils of the last days, when men's hearts will be failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth; when evil men and seducers will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived; when the nations will be angry, and the wrath of God will descend; when the heavens and the earth will be on fire, the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up; and when the saints of God will enter upon their final reward so long ago promised in Christ. For all these things the clerical evolutionist has no place. To him all centers in man, and through the unfolding of the divinity in man all that is to be will be. Through that deception Satan purposes to blind the eyes of mankind to the real situation, that as many as possible may be caught in his snare and carried to perdition with him. "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness." For years the message that would save the people of this generation from that deception has been going to the world; and one by one they are coming out of darkness into the blessed light of the full gospel. One day the dawn will break, the opening heavens will reveal the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The greatest disappointment and sorrow that has ever come into the lives of millions will come into their lives on that day. The summer is past, the harvest is ended, and their souls are not saved.
But into the lives of others will break the greatest joy and rejoicing they have ever known. All the trials of life are ended forever; the conflicts are past; sin, with him who instigated it, is forever swept out of the universe of God; and the angels of the Lord bear the loyal children of God into the presence of the One who laid aside his glory and died to redeem them. That day of separation from all that has caused sorrow and defilement, and of union with all that is good and joyous and enduring, is near at hand. That being true, how important that we refuse to permit ourselves to be deceived by any of the devices of that evil one who has wrought such havoc, and whose end is so soon to be.
C. M. S.
News From Our Brethren in Turkey
By Editor
WE are glad to print a letter that Elder A. G. Daniells has just received from Constantinople, dated November 10. We know that many prayers will be offered in our churches for the believers and the people in the regions where war is raging. And what a call these troubles are to hasten the advent message through the unwarned countries! The world is devoting its treasures to preparation for the coming Armageddon; Seventh-day Adventists must devote their treasures to the gospel work that the Lord Jesus has given them to do in this time of the very end. This year's annual offering for missions is to be taken Sabbath, December 14. Let us make it the largest in our history; for never was there such evidence that the last things are being done, and the great thing left undone is the proclamation of the last message to the nations and peoples in the regions beyond. Here is the letter, from the secretary of the Levant Union Mission:—
I know that you are deeply interested in the condition of the work and the workers here in Turkey at the present time. I am glad to say that so far all of us are well and safe, except one worker in Macedonia.
Elder E. E. Frauchiger is far in the East, in Armenia. He had started before the war began, and I do not think the people there know what the conditions in Turkey really are. Even we here in the capital have to get our information about the war through the European papers, which come three times a week by way of Roumania. The government here will not allow the spread of news as to the unfavorable state of the war in European Turkey, for fear of a revolt. It will take Brother Frauchiger about four weeks to reach Constantinople from Diarbekir, from which point we had our last news from him. At that time he and Brother Garabed Aressian, his translator, were well, as were also all the other workers in Armenia, the Cilician Mission, and the Central Turkish Mission.
As to the Grecian Mission, we heard from Elder R. S. Greaves that he was glad he could reach Patras, Greece, before the war began. He had been staying in Janina. The workers in Salonica—Brother Scior and his family, and our nurse, Sister Loxandra Keanides—are in great trouble, as there was fighting just outside the city when Brother Scior wrote, under date of November 4. Since then people here have been talking about the fall of that city. We lack any information as to the state of Brother Sawas Wasiliades, our canvasser in the9Grecian Mission, who was working about Monastir when the war began. We telegraphed him to go to Salonica, but the telegram did not reach him. He wrote, however, that he would try to go there; but traveling was impossible. He was right in the war territory. The last post-card from him was dated October 12.
The conditions here in Constantinople last week became quite dangerous. Last Monday the public, especially the foreigners, were panic-stricken. But the government took strict measures against those who were trying to bring about a massacre, sending several thousand men as volunteers to the front, and the matter quieted down, especially under the influence of the presence of a number of strong foreign men-of-war, which arrived last week. The class mostly feared are the thousands of Kurds who fill the ruins of the places where the great fires have been. Another class are the hamals, or carriers, strong, rough men who fear nothing.
Yesterday we had a season of prayer in the church. The natives are quite unprotected, while the members of our European company are safe, as they can go aboard the foreign ships. This means the women and children. The men are instructed to gather at the embassies and consulates and club houses for further instruction. Some of our native people are trying to leave this week for neighboring countries. They have continually before their minds the awful scenes of the massacres of 1896 and 1909.
Our mission here, which means the rooms of the International Tract Society, where are kept also the property of the mission and the school, is under German protection, as we are registered at the German consulate-general.
The situation as it appears to us here is as follows: European Turkey seems to be lost to Turkey. The future of Constantinople is uncertain. There is at present not much fear of a revolt on the part of the Moslem population; much more fear is entertained that the Turks can not keep the position at Tshataltsha, but will be thrown back on the capital. It is easy to understand what that would mean, if some hundred thousand men on the point of starvation should enter the city. The soldiers from the foreign men-of-war can occupy only the European quarters near the harbor. The difficulty will increase if the sultan and the government should leave the city and go over to Asia Minor. But it is our earnest hope that before this happens peace will be established.
We would ask our people over there to pray for us, especially for the workers in the field, the isolated members, and our native people. These dark days will pass, and all will yet turn out to the honor of the Lord, to the benefit of his work.
The canvassing work has come almost to a standstill, and preaching is much hindered. It is hard to gather audiences, on account of lack of interest in religious topics, and for fear of trouble. But as soon as peace is established, people are sure to be deeply interested in the proclamation of the last message, for they will understand in what time we live.
We enjoy the peace of the Lord, and feel safe under his protection. We want to be ready to meet him, whatever may happen to us.
I remain, with kind regards and best wishes from all the brethren and sisters here to all our people in America and all the world,
Your brother in Christ,
C. Voigt.
Note and Comment
By Editor
Governor Wilson on Religion and the State
In an address delivered at the First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, N. J., just before his election to the presidency, Gov. Woodrow Wilson made the following statements, which we wish might be called to the attention of those who are seeking to express religion through the government, and also to the attention of those who are boldly proclaiming the principles of intolerance and declaring the necessity of carrying them into practise in our day. He said:—
The church represents that spiritual part of humanity which does not seek expression in the form of government, or even in the forms of society, but seeks expression in its search for God, in its search for the ultimate fountains of the human spirit. . . .
Those old martyrs who went to the stake smiling and singing songs of praise were terrible fellows; terrible because their very gaiety in going to the stake was evidence of the fact that this was an incident, not an end, and their ashes would seem to speak the condemnation of those who put them to the stake, and stand up and condemn the generation that dared interfere with the processes of divine providence.
Governor Wilson's words are true. The church which does seek expression through forms of government is not the true church, the bride, the Lamb's wife; and as the ashes of the martyrs condemned the generation which drove men and women to the stake for cause of conscience, so will those same ashes condemn this generation when it shall yield to the demands of religio-political organizations in this country and persecute men and women for following the dictates of conscience in matters of faith.
It is greatly to be hoped that, for the good of the nation and its influence abroad, and for the good of the individual souls who make up the nation, the president-elect may carry into practise the principles above expressed, and may use his influence to hold in check the mobilization of the forces of oppression now so actively proceeding.
What Seek Ye?
By C. M. S.
WHAT does the missionary seek in the highways and byways of heathenism, — the souls of the heathen, or the propagation of his country's influence? Whose ambassador is the man who goes to teach among the heathen “the unsearching riches of Christ”? If he is Christ’s ambassador, he will represent Christ and his kingdom, and all else will be subservient to that. If he has forgotten the import of his commission, he is almost sure to glorify the country from which he came, and extol the merits of his peculiar national civilization. But the true Christian who is an ambassador of Christ’s kingdom indeed, is a Christian without particular respect to nationality.
Christ’s ambassador can not represent him and any earthly government at the same time. The ambassadorship of the Christian is of sufficient importance to engross the whole time and attention and energies of the man who undertakes the high responsibility. His business is to teach the people the salvation of Christ, to represent in this earth — this foreign country — King Immanuel and the sovereignty of heaven. He can not rightly take the time to represent any other power, for the business of his Sovereign is urgent. The sovereignty of earthly powers must pass away, but the sovereignty of God is from everlasting to everlasting. Representing an earthly government or extolling its merits among the heathen is too small a business for him whom Christ has sent out in his name. Such work would be a double failure; Christ is not honored, and the earthly government is involved in difficulty with the people among whom he has sought to labor. The Christian, if he understands the meaning of his call, knows that he is abroad to represent the interests of the kingdom of heaven. His business is to seek the salvation of souls; and he, when in danger, will seek the protection of the One who sent him forth.
The missionary should weigh well the questions, Am I seeking the souls of men? or am I seeking the extension of an earthly government’s influence? Am I seeking to serve two masters, or one only, and that Christ?
But those who go to foreign countries as Christ’s representatives and gleaners of the gospel harvest are not the only ones who should ask themselves such questions. He who has taken the name Christian, whoever he may be and wherever he may be, has accepted the responsibility of a representative of Christ in this world. He has no more right to attempt to represent two masters than has the one who goes as a missionary to foreign lands. If we are Christ’s, — whether at home or abroad, — let us seek those things which are above, and exercise, wherever we are, an influence which heaven can bless to the salvation of souls. “What seek ye?” Let it be, first and last and always, the kingdom of God, the righteousness of Christ, and the straying children of the kingdom.