Review and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 1. (1/1/1914)

Review and Herald

Jan 1, 1914

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 1, 1914

THE WORK

By Editor

AND THE WORKERS

Six of our Washington Missionary College (Seminary) students have been selling the January Protestant Magazine on the streets of Washington, D. C., with excellent success. One gentleman sold 50 copies in one and one-half hours.

A CHICAGO business man writes: "I saw the advertisement of Life and Health in a California magazine, and have been trying to get the — number here in Chicago, but without success. Enclosed find 10 cents for the same. I may become a subscriber."

The beautiful cover design of the January Life and Health is a sufficient inducement for any one to buy the magazine. It is selling very rapidly — this "How to Reduce the Cost of Living" number. Send $1.00 for 20 or $2.00 for 50 copies. Single copy, 10 cents.

The news stand department of the largest department store in Washington, D. C., has just purchased 100 copies of the January Protestant Magazine, on consignment, to meet the local demand for this excellent "Pan-American Mass," "Mr. Bryan and Rome," and "Lying Constitution" number.

In a 26-inch letter from Mgr. W. T. Russell, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, Washington, D. C., to Rev. R. H. McKim, pastor of the Protestant Church of the Epiphany, the former refers to our student-agents as "these overzealous venders." See page 13 of the Washington Post for Monday, December 22.

The January number of the Protestant Magazine follows the December or "Idolatry of the Mass" number very nicely, as it tells all about the "Fifth Pan-American Mass." Remember, the special holiday offer of 15 months for $1.00. We give the October, November, and December, 1913, issues free with every 1914 subscription at the regular price.

In his open letter to Dr. R. H. McKim, the speaker at the great Protestant mass meeting recently held in Washington, D. C., Mgr. Wm. T. Russell, pastor of St. Patrick's Church, refers indignantly to the January Protestant Magazine, and to the fact of its sale on the streets of our nation's capital. See Washington Post of Dec. 22, 1913. Our student-agents are selling the magazine to the Catholic as well as the Protestant policemen.

"The magazine Life and Health was offered for sale at the door today," writes a business man of Trenton, N. J., "and I like the publication so much that I feel like subscribing. Do you issue bound volumes? Have you any former volumes, bound or unbound, for sale?" Bound volumes, half-leather, cost $1.75, postpaid.

A PROMINENT W. C. T. U. worker in Kansas writes: "I have no copy of Life and Health later than August, 1910, and would like to know if your journal is still published at the same price, and in the same place? Also have you any back numbers for the last two or three years that you can sell at a reduction so that we could use them for free distribution in our W. C. T. U. work for medical temperance?"

Unfortunately we have no back numbers of this magazine. Every edition is cleaned up from month to month.

A LADY writes from Sioux City, Iowa: "A copy of your Life and Health for 1908 just came into my hands. I do think it's the best paper of its kind I ever read. Will you kindly send me a sample copy?"

Have you seen the January number? It is a good one to sell.

Undermining the Foundations

By Editor

THE SAPPERS AND MINERS AT WORK

"We want state and religion, and we are going to have it."—Jonathan Edwards, D. D. "Congress must establish a standard of religion, or admit anything called religion."—Prof. C. A. Blanchard. "This nation must have a religion of its own, and a worship of its own."—Christian Statesman. "We made a mistake in the first place in not founding our government upon the Christian religion."—J. S. McGaw. "The object of this society shall be . . . to secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will . . . place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land."—Article II, National Reform Constitution. "If the American republic is to be sustained and preserved at all, it must be by the rejection of the principle of the Reformation [separation of church and state], and the acceptance of the Catholic principle by the American people."—Catholic World, September, 1871.

Above Striking Cartoon Is Found on Current "Liberty" Cover

Every number of Liberty magazine hits the mark! It puts a new hole in the old church-and-state-union target. The current or "America" number is being viciously attacked by both Romanism and National Reformism. The Catholic Standard and Times of November 15 devotes a 28-inch editorial to an attack upon three of its articles, and the Christian Statesman for November, official organ of the National Reform Association, devotes four of its editorial pages to an attack upon one article. If you say so, we will begin YOUR list of subscriptions with this "America" number. Sample copy, 10 cents. One year (four numbers), 35 cents. Place five of your friends or town officials on the subscription list for one year for only $1.00, or 20 cents each. Send $1.00 for 20 or $2.00 for 50 copies. Sell or give them away.

Growing in Grace

By G. B. Thompson

G. B. THOMPSON

THE apostle exhorts, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18. It is important that we grow. A plant that is not growing is dying. Still water becomes stagnant.

Yet we find many professed Christians who do not grow. They have no strength, and after many years of profession have to be fed on milk instead of strong food. Instead of being pillars in the church structure, they have to be propped up, or carried from place to place. The slightest breeze upsets them. In their lives there seems to be a kind of spiritual dry rot which hinders all growth. Though a vine in the Lord's vineyard, they bring no fruit to perfection. Why this stunted experience?

"A gentleman was preaching in the open air; his subject was 'Growth in Grace.' At the close of the meeting a man approached him and said, 'Our minister has been preaching some sermons on that subject, and I have been trying to grow in grace for a long time, but I find I do not succeed very well.' The preacher, pointing to a tree, said, 'Do you see that tree?' 'Yes,' was the reply. 'Well, it had to be planted before it could grow. In like manner you must be rooted and grounded in Christ before you can begin to grow.' The man understood the meaning and went away to find Christ, and soon he was saved and rooted in Christ, and brought forth fruit to his praise."

Surely, we should become "rooted and grounded in love." Bleak winds of discouragement are blowing. Every wind of doctrine is whistling about us. We look out upon a troubled sea. The mutterings about us indicate that a storm of great fury is about to break upon us. And unless we are growing and taking root, we shall be blown away and lost forever.

But how can we grow, you ask? Here is the answer: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." 1 Peter 2:2. The reason many do not grow in the Christian graces is because of a failure to study the Bible. This is why many become uncertain and shaky in the message. They fail to study God's Word, and are unable to understand the truth and discern the difference between some new thing and the teaching of the Scripture. Our only safety is in studying the Word.

An Appalling Confession

By Charles Thompson

CHARLES THOMPSON

"WHAT'S Wrong With the Church?" This was the subject of a discourse in the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church, Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Dec. 14, 1913, by the pastor, Rev. Dr. Andrew Gillies, reported in the Minneapolis Journal, December 15. Among the many things mentioned, some appalling statements were made. No effort was made by him to hide the fact that something was wrong. He said:—

"The first is that for twenty years the religious knowledge of Christian people has been growing beautifully less and the terms of their faith increasingly vague. More Bibles are being sold, and fewer Bibles being read. Instead of its being a new book to many, it is no book at all. We boast of this as the age when every man thinks for himself. It is an age when few think at all, and when the majority of people called Christians feed their minds on all kinds of literature except on that mighty Book which is the core of literature and of life.

"A while ago the assistant professor in English at one of our great universities put to a class of seventy-eight, seventeen questions about the Bible. Those questions were perfectly simple, and ample time was allowed for answer. But not one attempted to answer all, and most of the answers were beyond belief. One said that the Jordan was the name of the man who took Moses' place as head of the Israelites. Another said the isle of Patmos was 'the place where the children of Israel were fed in the wilderness.' Another associated the armor of Saul with 'Saul's fight with the Ephesians.'

"Now you smile at those sayings, but I cannot. That same thing could be duplicated in every college in the land. Then the test could be taken out into school and church; and then other and greater questions could be added to these, and the result would be hideous in its pathos. Library tables are covered with modern novels, while the Book of books is dust-covered on the shelf. Our children start the Lord's Day with a bath in the mire of the comic supplements. Pews are filled with church members who don't know free grace from foreordination, and couldn't tell just what they believe, though they were beheaded for the failure."

Lacks Vision

Again he said the church lacks vision:—

"The other result of this age of transition is that for twenty years the Christian pulpit has had no definite message. I speak now of the ministry as a whole, and not of any man or church in particular. Over among the pages of that old Book I find the statement: 'Where there is no vision, the people perish.'

"Brethren, I wonder if the Old Testament seer has not led us to

the hole in the dike. For a quarter of a century the centrifugal forces have been tugging at the souls of men. The marvels of science and invention have exalted the material. The progress of science and philosophy has exalted pure reason. The strenuous pressure of an industrial age has driven the storm to the doors of the soul. Every element in the storm of being has beaten upon the foundations of faith. And all this time many of those who should lead have been negligent or inefficient. As Fred Smith says, preachers have tried to stop this tide with quotations from Browning. Essays on social science have been given the name of sermons. Highly spiced subjects have been flung out as bait, and vaudeville methods outdone. Men who had no chart nor compass have tried to steer storm-beset souls into port. Bread has been asked with white lips, and stones have been given instead. 'Be good and be generous' has been substituted for the call to repent. Those called to be fishers of men have been mere exhibitors of fishing tackle, and if the truth be known, it has often been poor tackle at that."

Think of a church existing for twenty years without a message for the people. Terrible condition, isn't it? But he does not confess this alone for the church he represents, but for the churches in general. During the time in the history of the world when the prophecies of the Scripture were being reduced with great rapidity to history precursory to the coming of the Son of man, the church of God comes forth and acknowledges that instead of gathering from such conditions renewed power to present a message, it has lost what it had. Surely the blind is leading the blind.

Spirituality Wanting

The real cause of this general spiritual declension is the spiritual poverty of the church. The church cannot give to others what it does not possess itself.

"O, yes, there is ample justification for the accusation of indifference. And I was going to make that my final point; but this morning Somebody came into yonder room,—Somebody whom I could not see, but whose presence I could feel,—and he said to me in words so plain that I could not help but understand:—

" 'My son, the trouble is not spiritual indifference, but spiritual poverty. My church cannot give to the world what it does not possess. He who would distribute to the multitude must first get bread from my hands. Only he can have the passion who has come close in consecration. Only he can transmit power who has tarried in the upper room. Go and tell my people not to rise to their feet or to go out into the highways, but first of all, to fall on their knees in repentance, contrition, and real agony of soul.' "

We believe that Dr. Gillies has given a true and honest picture of the tendency of the times, and one that is the vision of other leading clergymen. The Rev. Dr. Riley, pastor of the First Baptist Church in the city of Minneapolis, during a series of noonday meetings held in the Unique Theater, said, in substance: "When I look over the work of the Protestant churches in general, the outlook is not at all optimistic." This condition is surely the fulfilment of the prophecy of the seer of Patmos when he said, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen."

How glad we should be that God has not left himself without a witness, the church without a message, nor the world without a light. Right in the midst of this moral darkness, God is sending to the world a warning message, "the everlasting gospel." The cry is sounding: "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. . . . Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."

As a result of it all, the prophet saw a company "that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." While we rejoice in this fact and move forward in this faith, we should be admonished by the situation set forth by this pastor.

With so much of higher criticism, of failure to read the Bible, of spiritual poverty, of lack of consecration, of lost vision, is it any wonder that the church has no message? Failure to walk in the light is the trouble. May God keep us from such a condition, and inspire us to go forward rejoicing in that blessed hope triumphantly to the end.

Minneapolis, Minn.

The Old Year and the New

By Worthie Harris Holden

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

Crown the Old Year with his laurels, For his strenuous race is run; Let him rest among the mighty At the setting of the sun. Do thy tears bedew the roses Wreathing all his acts of love? On the tablet of the faithful Is his name enrolled above?

Comes the winsome happy New Year,— Eyes that shine with keen delight Gaze with mingled joy and wonder At each strange and welcome sight, Outstretched hands extend their greeting, Hopes renew, and voices cheer, As we hail the regal bounty Brought us by the glad New Year.

Portland, Oregon.

When the Books Are Opened

By R. A. Underwood

R. A. UNDERWOOD

How different will appear the present estimation of man when the unerring record, kept by the angels of God, is made known in the judgment! What a surprise it will be to many!

Often prejudice or other influences so affect the mind that it is almost impossible to write a biography or even give a report of the work of men and state the exact truth. Two individuals will give quite a different report of the same thing, and yet they may desire to tell the truth. But when viewed from still another standpoint, the facts appear in altogether a different light. Sometimes this is so when reports are made of the results of ministerial labor in a tent or city effort. Sometimes one person is given credit for accomplishing a large work, when in reality others have done more in bringing about the results than the one who receives the credit, yet no mention is made of their labor.

I remember one of our older ministers once conducted a tent effort which resulted in the organization of a church of thirty-five or forty members. He was about to make a full report of his work in the REVIEW when it occurred to him that it would be well to find out how many of the company had really embraced the truth as the result of his effort. So he asked each person who had joined the church to state just what had led to his acceptance of the message. As he called on one after another he was greatly surprised, and as the result of his investigation made a report quite different from that which he had in mind at first.

Only four or five of the forty persons had first heard the truth from his lips. Several had been convinced as a result of reading the Signs of the Times or the REVIEW. Others had purchased "Bible Readings for the Home Circle" or "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation," from a canvasser, and thus learned of the truth. Still others had received help from a Bible worker in another State. In most cases this minister had simply been watering the seed sown by others, and he said: "This investigation was an eye opener to me. I had been building upon the work of others, and in reality a small part of the results of the tent effort was due to my own labors."

Frequently this is the case; and in the day of sure rewards, when every man receives his due according to his work (Eccl. 12:14), God will give the faithful Bible worker, the canvasser, the brother or sister who has sent out the books and papers on their mission of love, a sure reward, regardless of who has had the credit in this life.

At the present time the minister has an organized church doing missionary work, paying their tithes and offerings; Bible workers to assist; a corps of canvassers on the firing line; and, aided by the prayers of the believers and the ministration of angels, he is only one of many in accomplishing the results that may come from nearly all our efforts. Only the angels are able to make a full report that will give credit to whom credit belongs. Hence, where all these agencies are at work, we should be a little modest in claiming too much as the result of any one person's effort. One has planted, another has watered, but it is God who gives the increase.

Jehoshaphat — No. 3

By Mrs. E. G. White

TOWARD the close of his reign, Jehoshaphat's kingdom was invaded by an army before whose approach the inhabitants of the land had reason to tremble. \x22The children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle.\x22 Tidings of this invasion reached the king through a messenger, who appeared with the startling word, \x22There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamer, which is En-gedi.\x22

Jehoshaphat was a man of courage and valor. For years he had been strengthening his armies and his fortified cities. He was well prepared to meet almost any foe; yet in this crisis he did not put his trust in the arm of flesh. Not by disciplined armies and fenced cities, but by a living faith in the God of Israel could he hope to gain the victory over these

heathen who boasted of their power to humble Judah in the eyes of the nations.

\x22Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the Lord: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.\x22

And Jehoshaphat, standing in the temple court before his people, poured out his soul in prayer, pleading God's promises, with confession of Israel's helplessness.

\x22O Lord God of our fathers,\x22 he said, \x22art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

\x22And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.\x22

With confidence Jehoshaphat could say to the Lord, \x22Our eyes are upon thee.\x22 For years he had taught the people that their strength was in the God of Israel, the One who in past ages had so often interposed to save his chosen ones from utter destruction; and now, when the kingdom was in peril, Jehoshaphat did not stand alone; \x22all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.\x22 Unitedly they fasted and prayed. Unitedly they besought the Lord to put their enemies to confusion, that the name of Jehovah might be glorified.

\x22Keep not thou silence, O God:\nHold not thy peace, and be not still,\nO God.\nFor, lo, thine enemies make a tumult:\nAnd they that hate thee have lifted up\nthe head.\nThey have taken crafty counsel against\nthy people,\nAnd consulted against thy hidden ones.\nThey have said, Come, and let us cut\nthem off from being a nation:\nThat the name of Israel may be no\nmore in remembrance.\nFor they have consulted together with\none consent:\nThey are confederate against thee:\nThe tabernacles of Edom, and the\nIshmaelites;\nOf Moab, and the Hagarenes;\nGebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; . . .\nDo unto them as unto the Midianites;\nAs to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook\nof Kison:\nWhich perished at En-dor: . . .\nFill their faces with shame;\nThat they may seek thy name, O Lord.\nLet them be confounded and troubled\nforever;\nYea, let them be put to shame, and\nperish:\nThat men may know that thou, whose\nname alone is Jehovah,\nArt the Most High over all the earth.\x22

As the people joined with their king in humbling themselves before God and asking him for help, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, \x22a Levite of the sons of Asaph,\x22 and he said:—

\x22Harken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.\x22

\x22And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the Lord, worshiping the Lord. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.\x22

\x22And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness.\x22 These singers went before the army, lifting their voices in praise to God, praising him for the victory promised.

And \x22the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.\x22

\x22And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.\x22

God was the strength of Judah in this battle, and he is the strength of his people today. We are not to trust in princes, nor set men in the place of God. We are to remember that human beings are fallible and erring, and that he who has all power is their strong tower of defense. In every emergency they are to feel that the battle is his. His resources are limitless, and apparent impossibilities will make the victory all the greater.

\x22Save us, O God of our salvation,\nAnd gather us together,\nAnd deliver us from the heathen,\nThat we may give thanks to thy holy\nname,\nAnd glory in thy praise.\x22

Laden with spoil, the armies of Judah, with Jehoshaphat \x22in the forefront,\x22 returned home \x22with joy; for the Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the Lord.\x22 They had come for rejoicing. In obedience to the command, \x22Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord: . . . fear not, nor be dismayed,\x22 they had put their trust wholly in God; and he had proved their fortress and their deliverer. Now they could sing with understanding the inspired hymns of David:—

\x22God is our refuge and strength,\nA very present help in trouble. . . .\nHe breaketh the bow, and cutteth the\nspear in sunder;\nHe burneth the chariot in the fire.\nBe still, and know that I am God:\nI will be exalted among the heathen,\nI will be exalted in the earth.\nThe Lord of hosts is with us;\nThe God of Jacob is our refuge.\x22

\x22O clap your hands, all ye people;\nShout unto God with the voice of\ntriumph.\nFor the Lord most high is terrible;\nHe is a great King over all the earth.\nHe shall subdue the people under us,\nAnd the nations under our feet.\nHe shall choose our inheritance for us,\nThe excellency of Jacob whom he\nloved. . . .\n"Sing praises to God, sing praises:\nSing praises unto our King, sing\npraises.\nFor God is the King of all the earth:\nSing ye praises with understanding.\nGod reigneth over the heathen:\nGod sitteth upon the throne of his\nholiness.\nThe princes of the people are gathered\ntogether,\nEven the people of the God of Abraham:\nFor the shields of the earth belong\nunto God:\nHe is greatly exalted.\x22

\x22According to thy name, O God,\nSo is thy praise unto the ends of the\nearth:\nThy right hand is full of righteousness.\nLet mount Zion rejoice,\nLet the daughters of Judah be glad,\nBecause of thy judgments. . . .\n\x22This God is our God forever and ever:\nHe will be our guide even unto death.\x22

Through the faith of Judah's ruler and of his armies, \x22the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest.

\x22

Will It Pay?

By Clarence Santee

CLARENCE SANTEE

This is a question that is asked as often as any other, or perhaps oftener. It is asked when we plant our crops, when we move from one place to another, when we buy or sell, when we hear the sweet voice of Christ calling us from the paths of sin. In one way or another we ask the question, "Will it pay?"

Christ represents himself as the heavenly merchantman. He says: "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfies not?" "Come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isa. 55:2, 1. While the heavenly treasure cannot be bought for silver or gold, it demands the heart's best affections. "Son, give me thine heart." Prov. 23:26. Will it pay to yield?

When men leave a comfortable home, the companionship of loved ones, and risk the dangers of wilderness and sea, facing the extreme cold of the arctic regions in search of gold, for the bare possibility of getting gold, they say, "It will pay." True, the larger number are disappointed, and many die far away from those who care; but to give their hearts renewed courage, they keep repeating, "It will pay."

A man will enter the army as a private upon a very low wage; he will endure rigorous training, the hardships of field and camp, consuming all his best years in slowly advancing, until with advanced age and silvered locks, he can at last point to his insignia and say, "I am a general." This distinction, like the crown of laurel, soon fades, and this uniform is laid aside for the shroud that awaits him. Did his days of training and nights of watching, until his golden years were spent, bring him returns that could satisfy? In every case there is a nameless hunger of soul that has never been satisfied, and in old age the goal is still far in the distance.

It is not so with him who has entered the army of the Lord, him who has purchased the "gold tried with fire." There are as notable examples of sacrifice and fortitude among those who have given all for the heavenly riches as was ever seen on the field of battle.

The prophet saw that people who would be persecuted and oppressed and killed by the cruel hand of the Papacy, and said, "They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Heb. 11:37, 38.

Like Moses, they esteemed the "reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." They "had respect unto the recompense of the reward."

Go with me to the valleys of the Waldenses, so often drenched with their blood. Listen to the testimony of their enemies, who hunted for them as for wild beasts; in fact, there is but little testimony we can get of that devoted people but through their enemies, and even they will ascribe to them patience, industry, faith, integrity, and devotion. I shall give a few of their statements:—

" 'They are often dressed in the skins of animals, and live in miserable huts and caves; yet they can all read and write. We found peasants who could repeat the book of Job by heart. Others could repeat all the New Testament, and every boy among them had a clear idea of their faith.'

" 'A friar who had been sent out to lead them back to the Roman Church came back much astonished, and acknowledged that in all his life he had not learned so much of the Scriptures as he had in those few days he had been conversing with the heretics. . . . One of the clerical ambassadors who had received the commission to search for them and persecute them, said: 'The heretics are known by their manners. Their conduct is quiet and modest, and no pride is seen in their dress.' Another says: 'In their manners and life they are upright, truthful in their words, and of one accord in brotherly love, but their faith is obstinate and unsound.' [A strange result of a faith of that kind, surely.]

" 'Still another says: 'They do not try to gather riches, but are satisfied with the necessities of life.' 'Their women are modest, not talebearers. They shun folly and levity.' . . . They were known as hard-working people, and their manner of living was exceedingly plain. They were enemies of all extravagance and debauchery. Consequently their men were sought for servants, and their women for nurses and servant girls. . . .

" 'When the king of France, Louis XII, was informed of the terrible crimes whereof the Waldenses were accused by their enemies, he sent his own confessor with another man to the province of Provence to look into the matter. When they returned, they said that they had visited all the parishes where they lived and examined their meetinghouses, but they found no images or things pertaining to the mass, nor any of the ceremonies belonging to the Roman Church. Much less could they discover any trace of those crimes whereof they were accused. On the contrary, they kept the Sabbath, practiced baptism like the apostolic church, and instructed their children in the Christian articles of faith and the commandments of God. When the king heard this report, he said, "They are indeed better people than I and my people."'—"Prophecies of Jesus," pages 111-113.

Did it pay for such a people as this to flee from place to place, making mountain caves or lonely fastnesses their places of refuge, and in many cases their places of burial? At one time the soldiers of the Papacy burned or suffocated more than three thousand in one cave, four hundred of whom were little infants, with their mothers, when with one word they could have been restored to favor and to their homes. O, they had in heaven a more enduring substance! For this assurance they took joyfully the spoiling of their goods. Heb. 10:34.

For a few years, which must have seemed long because of suffering and oppression, they bore their testimony to the fact that love for God and his truth can triumph over selfish interest. It is significant that they taught their children to repeat from memory the book of Job.

Then they were laid away to await the coming of the Life-giver for the reward of their faithfulness. Who is there today, if choice were granted between the two, would not have the life of these devoted commandment keepers for his portion, rather than that of the ruthless soldiers who, at the instigation of the papists, rioted in the torturing of men, burning of homes, and the killing of helpless women and children?

Soon the sighs and tears of God's oppressed children will be exchanged for joys and glad hosannas. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." Ps. 126:5. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Ps. 30:5.

It will pay. The eternal treasures will never rust nor become a canker that would eat the flesh of the possessor.

"When we've been there ten thousand years, Bright, shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we first begun."

It will pay to give all you have for the eternal inheritance. It will pay to exchange sickness for health, perplexity for assurance, weariness for rest, death for life, mortality for immortality. Yes, it will pay.

Loma Linda, Cal.

Autumn

By Edw. J. Urquhart

EDW. J. URQUHART

The summer is past, The toil of the sowing, The space of the growing— Time hastens so fast.

Now the winter draws on, The winter of ages, Of Scriptural pages, When summer is flown.

But a few days more Of faithfulness keeping, Of watching and reaping, Then harvest is o'er.

But a numberless host In shame will discover, When harvest is over, That all, all is lost.

Then, sinner, today, While harvest is keeping, Yield, yield, to the reaping Of Jesus for aye.

Chico, Cal.

A Year of Prayer

By Editor

WE have just passed through our annual season of special prayer. It has brought rich blessing to many hearts. Sinners have been converted, backsliders have been reclaimed, and the entire church of God has received a mighty impulse in spiritual life. Why not merge this week of prayer into a whole year of prayer? In some lives this will be done. It is possible for the entire membership of the church to do it; and what a fulness of blessing would come in consequence! If in one week we can enter so fully into the heavenly presence, what communion we might enjoy as the result of a twelvemonth effort! Such an effort would be well worth while. Indeed, we must reach the place in our experience where this spirit of prayer will continually abide with us if we would meet the mind of God and do the work which he expects us to do.

Let us make the year 1914 a year of earnest prayer, faithful Bible study, and zealous missionary labor. Faithfulness in these three particulars will keep backsliding out of the life, and coldness out of the heart. For the year to come why not make an appointment with God every night and morning, withdrawing from life's busy cares for a few moments to hold communion with God and with our own souls? If we will do this, we may be assured that God will always keep his part of the covenant relationship. He will always be on time at the place of meeting. He will always bring to the communion heaven's blessing.

Why not form a regular habit of daily Bible study? Some definite hour, if it can be arranged, is better than haphazard work. Quietly, and alone, open the Book of God and read the messages which he sends to his children, realizing that they are personal messages of comfort and instruction to every soul.

Then let us form for the year to come lists of the unconverted and of others who need our help, and make these our special subjects of prayer. In our secret devotion let us remember these individuals by name, pleading with God to send into their souls his converting power, and as we thus pray we shall find our hearts burdened for their salvation. This burden we may express as occasion shall offer in kindly words and little ministries, or in direct intercession for them to yield themselves to God.

Let us, as a church and as individuals, make the coming year one of blessed experience in the service of our King.

Continue reading: To the Fields in 1913