Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Dec 1, 1904
The Northern Lights
By John Greenleaf Whittier
A LIGHT is troubling heaven! A strange dull glow
Hangs like a half-quenched veil of fire between
The blue sky and the earth; and the shorn stars
Gleam faint and sickly through it. Day hath left
No token of its parting, and the blush
With which it welcomed the embrace of Night
Has faded from the blue cheek of the West;
Yet forth from the solemn darkness of the North,
Stretched o’er the “empty place” by God’s own hand,
Trembles and waves that curtain of pale fire,—
Tingeing with baleful and unnatural hues
The winter snows beneath. It is as if
Nature’s last curse—the fearful plague of fire—
Were working in the elements, and the skies
Even as a scroll consuming.
Lo, a change!
The fiery wonder sinks, and all along
A dark deep crimson rests—a sea of blood,
Untroubled by a wave. And over all
Bendeth a luminous arch of pale pure white,
Clearly contrasted with the blue above,
And the dark red beneath it. Glorious!
How like a pathway for the shining ones,
The pure and beautiful intelligences
Who minister in heaven, and offer up
Their praise as incense; or, like that which rose
Before the pilgrim prophet, when the tread
Of the most holy angels brightened it,
And in his dream the haunted sleeper saw
The ascending and descending of the blest!
And yet another change! O’er half the sky
A long, bright flame is trembling, like the sword
Of the great angel of the guarded gate
Of paradise, when all the holy streams
And beautiful bowers of Eden-land blushed red
Beneath its awful wavering, and the eyes
Of the outcasts quailed before the glare,
As from the immediate questioning of God.
O, God of mystery! These fires are Thine!
Thy breath hath kindled them, and there they burn
Amid the permanent glory of Thy heavens,
That earliest revelation written out
In starry language, visible to all,
Lifting unto Thyself the heavy eyes
Of the down-looking spirits of the earth!
The Indian, leaning on his hunting bow,
Where the ice-mountains hem the frozen pole,
And the hoar architect of winter piles,
With tireless hand, his snowy pyramids,
Looks upward in deep awe,—while all around
The eternal ices kindle with the hues
Which tremble on their gleaming pinnacles
And sharp cold ridges of enduring frost,—
And points his child to the great Spirit’s fire.
Alas for us who boast of deeper lore,
If in the maze of our vague theories,
Our speculations, and our restless aim
To search the secret, and familiarize
The awful things of nature, we forget
To own Thy presence in Thy mysteries!
—John Greenleaf Whittier.
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THE books advertised on this page of this issue are those recommended for general use in the missionary campaign. They may be used by resident canvassers anywhere and at any time without consultation with the canvassing agent. On all of these, except “Christ’s Object Lessons” and “Story of Joseph,” which are dedicated books for the assistance of our educational institutions, the canvasser will receive forty per cent commission.
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Editorial
By Editor
Faithful Stewards
ALL that we have received is a gift from God. “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” This includes truth as well as property. We are simply stewards of both. And the same divine rule applies in both of these cases: “It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” He is not a good steward who simply attempts to keep what he has. There must be an increase. According to the heavenly method of reckoning, this increase comes from imparting. There must be a sowing of seed before there can be a harvest, and “he that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” The farmer who refuses to sow any of his seed lest he should by so doing diminish his store, leaves the harvest out of his reckoning, and could not be commended as a faithful steward. So it is in spiritual things. He who imparts the truth to neighbors and friends is enlarging his own knowledge of the truth. He who gives to God’s cause is increasing his own permanent store. In the day when all earthly possessions are swept away, his loans to the Lord will be repaid with interest many times compounded, to say nothing of present experiences. God has blessed us with a knowledge of this message, and this blessing will be multiplied as we make earnest efforts to pass it along to others. God has entrusted us with means that he may thus provide for the needs of his cause in the earth. In this way we may enjoy the benefits which arise from faithfulness in our stewardship, being the channels through which the Lord dispenses his salvation to the ends of the earth. Do we believe these divine principles sufficiently so that we are ready to act upon them? If not, then what real confidence do we have in any part of God’s plan as set forth in the gospel? The providences of God are making most positive demands upon his stewards just at this time. The call is for consecrated service as represented both in personal work and in the donation of money. What response shall we make?
A Wide Difference
NEARLY every reform movement has had the experience of advancing about so far, and then losing its vital power, and becoming a mere struggle to maintain itself. A variety of causes may contribute to such a result, but foremost among them is usually a departure from the original platform, and the substitution of other issues and aims. The pioneers of the movement pass away, a new generation of workers enters the field, and new policies are adopted. Then it easily becomes a mere mechanical organization whose representatives maintain it in respectable standing, and hand it on to the next generation of officials. This advent movement has been brought face to face with just this sort of an experience. The original spirit and the characteristic methods of the early times were to a certain degree lost out of it, and the doctrines of the advent message did not carry that conviction with them which seized upon the hearers in the former days. In the minds even of some of the professional advocates of the message there was a lack of unwavering confidence in it, and outward appearances indicated the possibility that it might follow in the wake of other reform movements which ceased to reform anything. But the Lord has visited his people, and has revived the original message in their hearts. A fresh study of first principles has renewed the hope that the Lord will cut his work short in righteousness and gather home his waiting people, and this has become the inspiration to an intelligent consecration to service. We must now recognize the wide difference between planning for our successors in this movement and planning to see the finish ourselves. Under the direction of our great General we must plant the standard in every field, and push the campaign untiringly until the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This means that every believer must have but one aim—the hastening of the coming of the kingdom. When this purpose fully takes possession of this people, it will be revealed in such a way that the world will recognize it, and God will witness to it according to his Word. May we not believe that we are now entering upon this experience?
Clouds in the Horizon
WHEN Elijah’s servant returned from his seventh scanning of the heavens as he looked “toward the sea” from Mount Carmel, and reported that “there ariseth a cloud out of the sea, as small as a man’s hand,” the prophet was able to interpret even this slight sign in the horizon; and he said, “Go up, say unto Ahab, Make ready thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” Elijah’s forecast was correct. That cloud was the forerunner of a storm. And in a short time “the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.”
There are clouds in our horizon which are larger than a man’s hand, and in the light which prophecy throws upon current history it ought not to require a prophet or the son of a prophet to interpret the meaning of some of these signs.
There are clouds in the political horizon. The recent presidential election has given to the already dominant party a new lease of power with a largely increased majority in both houses of Congress. The echoes of the hurrahs of the victorious party have hardly died away, and the light of their triumphant bonfires and illuminations has hardly ceased to dazzle the beholders, when notes of warning are sounded by some of the more thoughtful of their leaders. Parties somewhat evenly balanced serve as a check upon each other. An unbalanced majority encourages recklessness and irresponsibility.4The people have emphatically approved of the recent departures from the political traditions of this country in entering upon a colonial policy and in aspiring to become a world power. The few voices raised against imperialism have been almost drowned in the storm of popular applause of the new policy. It is inevitable that the course already entered upon will be pursued more strenuously than ever. There are many pitfalls in this path. An increased standing army, an increased navy, a strong foreign policy, and a desire to have a recognized influence in international affairs can easily be the beginnings of a military despotism, even under the form of a republic. The demand for a strong central power to maintain law and order in the face of so much domestic strife between the rich and the poor, the classes and the masses, will serve to emphasize the tendency. Add to all this the growing demand for religious legislation and the organized campaign for a union of church and state, and one ought not to be cried down as an alarmist who frankly states his serious apprehensions for the future. The clouds indicate a storm. It is not too early to begin to look for a shelter. The storm may break soon.
There are clouds in the financial horizon. There has been a steady and rapid accumulation of money and money power in the hands of a few men. Think of these recently published statements: Three great financial corporations in this country “have absolute possession of property and money in the form of assets of over $1,000,000,000, . . . and indirectly through their affiliated institutions of an additional sum, the aggregate of which is much greater than all the national banks of America and the great financial institutions of Europe, such as the Banks of England, France, and Germany. The three have a ready cash surplus of almost $200,000,000, which is greater than the combined capital of the four greatest institutions of Europe,—the Banks of England, Russia, France, and Germany. The income of these three companies is, each year, $100,000,000 greater than the combined capitals of the Banks of England, Russia, France, and Germany.” This reveals a situation which is astounding even to those who have been aware that the rich are becoming richer and the poor are becoming poorer. The figures quoted almost stagger the mind. Croesus would be embarrassed by his poverty in the presence of these modern plutocrats. They are in command of the finances of the country. They are behind the great trusts and other combinations of capital, some of which have gained the reputation of having robbed the common people of their investments. This vast accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few is a peril and a temptation.
The history of its acquisition is now being made public, in part at least, and it is stained with fraud and corruption. The public mind is being stirred to the depths, and public confidence is being seriously disturbed. Financial distrust breeds financial disaster. Even in this hour of apparently remarkable prosperity there are conditions existing in this country which could quickly bring a crash and a reign of financial terror. The way is all prepared for the fulfilment of the scripture statements concerning the troubles of the rich in the last days. Some men are foreseeing and predicting the storm.
There are clouds in the moral and religious horizon. Revelations of the real condition of things in different parts of the country have been coming thick and fast during the past year. With the gradual decline of piety in the church, with the loss of the old-time revival power and experiences, and with the widespread departure from the Bible standard of doctrine there has come a swift deterioration of public morality. In city after city it has been shown that the public officers were public plunderers, robbers of the people whose interests were committed to their care. And now, to cap the climax, a responsible writer in a reputable magazine makes the following statement concerning the legislature of the state where the Pilgrim fathers set up their standard of austere piety: ‘I do not hesitate to say, then: “The Massachusetts Legislature is bought and sold as are sausages and fish at the markets and wharves. That the largest, wealthiest, and most prominent corporations in New England, whose affairs are conducted by our most representative citizens, habitually corrupt the Massachusetts Legislature, and the man of wealth among them who would enter protest against the iniquity would be looked on as a ‘class anarchist.’ I will go further and say that if in New England a man of the type of Folk, of Missouri, can be found who will give over six months to turning up the legislative and Boston municipal sod of the past ten years, who does not expose to the world a condition of rottenness more rotten than was ever before exhibited in any community in the civilized world, it will be because he has been suffocated by the stench of what he exhumes.”’ When such assertions are made concerning the representatives of our civilization, what can be expected of the recognized criminal element? It is the fulfilment of the sure Word which says that “evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse.” It is a return of the days of Sodom and Gomorrha, and the same storm is impending. Happy are those to whom a message of warning shall come, as it did to Lot, and who shall heed the warning.
We have given only a glimpse of the real condition of things in our world. What do these things mean to us? Do we realize that the third angel’s message is the warning message, and the message of hope and salvation to the inhabitants of a world staggering under its accumulated load of moral corruption? Do we appreciate the real situation? O there must be such a voice in the earth proclaiming this last teaching of the gospel of the kingdom as shall call with authority to God’s standard of righteousness all those who are willing to listen to a divine message of deliverance. This is the time of the loud cry of this message, and we may each have a part in it. So let it be.
Time for a Quick Work
By W. A. S.
“THE second coming of Christ to this world will not be long delayed.” Let us keep face to face with the fact. Prophecy is fulfilling before our eyes. We must show the true-hearted in every land the way of salvation from all the evil yet to come upon the earth. The visible breaking up of things has been preparing the minds of men to give attention to the advent warning. Among the millions of the East, where half the world lies in darkness, there is a growing conviction that the end of the age is at hand. Now for a swift crusade through the waiting lands, a grand rally to carry the standard into every unoccupied field, and the work is almost done, and we are almost home.
It is a time for action rather than talk. It is a frightful sin to be at ease in Zion, thanking God for blessings received, while a world is perishing unwarned. “There is a world to be saved!” The worker in the field must cut loose, and put his life and his all into the hand of God for service. It is only his reasonable service. Equally, then, the believer who remains to work and pray and hold the ropes at home must live for but the one purpose of doing the Lord’s business in the earth. For that one thing every business enterprise is to be conducted. Every gift for earning means is to be consecrated to God’s service just as definitely as any other gift. Every energy of the soul and every resource on earth must be held absolutely subject to God’s call. Anything less than this is treason to High Heaven at the very crisis in the great controversy. In the way in which we are facing this problem of our world-wide work to-day, in the response we are giving to the calls for help, we are deciding our eternal destiny.
W. A. S.
An Approaching Controversy
By L. A. S.
The New York Sun sees upon the political horizon of the future a “burning question,” which it states thus: “Shall the public schools remain secularized? or shall religion be introduced into them as a fundamental and essential part of their instruction?”
Not only the Catholic Church, but a large element among Protestants, desire religious teaching in the schools. The Sun says:—
In a chapter on “The Catholic Parochial Schools of the United States,” contributed to the report of the Federal Bureau of Education for last year, the Rev. Morgan M. Sheedy, a Roman Catholic priest of Pennsylvania, brings together many expressions of opinion by prominent Protestant clergymen and teachers which agree with the Roman Catholic theory and principle that education apart from religion is a snare and a delusion, that secular and religious education can never be parted without moral results dangerous to the individual and the community.
Public education in this country is at present almost wholly secularized. But “the Roman Catholic Church,” says the Sun, “has never insisted more strenuously and more uncompromisingly on its demand for religious education as the prime essential.” There are about four thousand Catholic parochial schools in the United States to-day, and the number is rapidly increasing. Of the teaching in these schools the Sun says:—
In the course of study in a parochial school as much time is given to “Christian doctrine” as to any other branch of instruction except reading and arithmetic. Here is the scheme of religious instruction running through the years: Commandments, precepts, sacraments; explanation of principal feasts; prayers and approved pious practises; Deharbe’s Catechism; explanation of the mass, vestments, color, names, etc.; lives of saints; Bible history; history of the church.
Catholics desire these parochial schools to be supported by public taxation, and here is what the Sun terms “a sore question,” which, “if it comes before the people as a question of practical politics,” as the Sun believes it may, “will give rise to a bitter agitation.” “The point is made by Father Sheedy, and generally by Catholic priests,” says the Sun, “that Roman Catholics by voluntary contributions for their own independent schools ‘are saving to non-Catholic taxpayers a vast sum, estimated at from twenty million dollars to twenty-five million dollars annually;’ or the cost of educating the children now in the parochial schools.” The question whether Roman Catholics shall continue to provide this vast sum, or whether Protestants shall be compelled to contribute to the support of the Catholic schools and the teaching of the Catholic religion, is one which will involve and stir up controversy in every section of the country.
Catholics are now taxed like other citizens for the support of the secular schools, and they ask to be released from this taxation to the extent of the amount which they give for the support of their parochial schools, and thus “save to the Protestant taxpayer.” But the question of the maintenance of religious schools is a religious question, and of such questions the government of the United States, while it remains a secular government, can take no cognizance. It is a matter to be considered and provided for by the church. The system of public education is a part of the government, and is rightly maintained by the governmental resource of taxation. But to exempt Catholics from taxation by setting aside a portion of the public funds for the support of parochial schools would be to provide for the maintenance of such schools, and that is a matter with which the government can no more properly concern itself than it can with the maintenance of the Methodist or the Catholic Church. To support the parochial schools is, in fact, to support the Catholic Church; for the sole purpose of those schools, so far as their religious character is concerned, is to perpetuate the Catholic religion. The government of the United States is purely secular, and can not properly make provision for the perpetuating of any religion. When it does do this, war between the various Catholic and Protestant sects will be at once precipitated, and there will be fierce strife from one end of the land to the other. It was expressly to avoid such strife and its consequences that civil government and religion were separated from each other by those who laid the foundations of this republic.
Seventh-day Adventists, like all true Protestants, must stand opposed to the teaching of religion in the public schools. The only religion which they indorse is Christianity, the true Teacher of which is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Scriptures being the only text-book. It is obvious that the divine agencies by which Christianity is propagated in the world are not amenable to the regulations and conditions set up in the public schools. They are not and can not be subject to the public school authorities. Christianity can be taught only in God’s school, by God’s agencies, and in God’s way.
L. A. S.
Is the Security Good?
By G. B. Thompson
In Prov. 19:17 we read, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
Those who loan money are usually careful to see that the security is good, that the return of the funds may be sure. This is a proper thing to do, of course. But with the best of care mistakes occur, and the funds which oftentimes represent much hard labor are lost. We have all had plenty of object-lessons to convince us that there is no really safe place in this world to deposit our treasures. Thieves will break through and steal.
We suggest a careful study of the preceding text in connection with the week of prayer. The cause of God needs money. The foreign mission work is sadly in need of funds. It is utterly impossible with the funds available to respond to the calls from fields which are ripe for the message. Those upon whom the responsibility rests of directing this work are perplexed beyond measure to know what to do, for the cases are urgent in the extreme. Workers are ready to go to the most distant and difficult fields, but we are told that on account of the treasury’s being practically empty, their departure must be delayed. The poverty of this branch of the work appeals to us all.
Within the ranks of this denomination there are tens of thousands of dollars, which those who profess to believe that the Lord is at the door, have loaned to banks, and on approved security to friends and neighbors. Why not this loan to God, in the sense indicated in the text? Loan it as you give to the poor, to be paid in eternity. The fact that you have it loaned shows that it is a surplus, and you do not need it. Is not the bank of heaven a safer place than the banks and the security companies of earth? The interest you will receive in eternity will be much more than the per cent you receive for your deposit here. Can we really say we have given all when we have surplus funds? Read Luke 14:33.
The Lord says he will pay you all you loan him. Please study the text at the beginning of this article. If you conclude that the security is good, make the Lord the kind of a loan this scripture calls for. A real belief of this text will result in thousands of dollars being placed for eternity in the cause of God. Instead of loaning to man, let us loan to God. In this way our deeds will testify that we believe what we profess. Prayerfully study the text.
G. B. THOMPSON.
Thoughts on Giving
By L. A. S.
It is just as essential to have an outlet for the blessings of God as to have an inlet. If we close up the outlet, the flow of blessings through the inlet must also cease. If we keep open the outlet, God will keep open the inlet.
The blessings of God can no more be hoarded than could the manna. Hoarded blessings turn to curses.
Giving is not so necessary to the welfare of the recipient of the gift as to that of the giver. Giving is the law of life, and to cease to give means death.
The more we give, the more we increase our capacity for receiving.
God could rain money down from heaven, but it would be contrary to his plan, because it would not flow through the channel of our consecration.
So long as we give to God, he will not forget to give to us. We can always afford to exchange gifts with God.
It is as foolish for the poor man to hoard his little in the last days as for the rich man to heap together treasures for that time.
Running water purifies itself. If we become active in the cause of God, his Spirit will cleanse the evil out of our hearts.
The bank of heaven is still open to receive deposits, but the hour of closing is at hand, and “only a moment of time, as it were, yet remains.”
“Whosoever will save his life [and how much more his wealth] shall lose it.”
L. A. S.
A Reasonable Request
By Arthur G. Daniells
ONCE more before the week of prayer opens, I feel it duty to place before our people the recommendation passed by the General Conference Committee in behalf of the annual offering to be taken Sabbath, December 17. That recommendation reads as follows:—
Whereas, We have now opened missions in nearly every country in the world, thus permanently establishing our cause in all lands; and,—
Whereas, The steps we have already taken bring to us more pressing calls for more laborers and means; therefore,—
We recommend, That a call be made for an annual offering of $80,000, and that we earnestly request the vigilant co-operation of all conference officers, ministers, church officers, and people everywhere in raising this amount during the next week of prayer.
At first thought, eighty thousand dollars may seem like a very large offering to call for, and it may appear as though the committee acted without proper consideration. Whether the eighty thousand dollars is too much to expect from our people on this occasion is a question that each individual must decide for himself, but I can assure all that the action was taken by the committee and a large number of conference officers, after mature deliberation. We looked over the great field in which we are operating, with the greatest care. We took into account the rapid strides the cause is making in every land, and we listened to some of the soul-stirring calls that are continually coming to us for more laborers and multiplied facilities. We recounted the number of workers there are in the fields.
With all the facts before us, we were convinced that this denomination should, at this time, make an annual offering of at least eighty thousand dollars.
It will be noticed that the recommendation which names the amount, appeals most earnestly to every conference officer, minister, church officer, and believer to assist in the effort to secure the offering named. We are praying that the Lord will lay this burden upon the hearts of his great army named in this resolution. If ministers, conference and church officers, who have accepted the grave responsibilities of leadership in this mighty movement, will take this matter to heart and encourage the people, the amount called for will be secured.
Let none imagine that giving is a matter too unspiritual and commercial to have a place in the week-of-prayer services. The history of God's work in the earth shows that all the way along he has closely connected giving with the most sacred features of his work and the bestowment of his richest blessings upon the church. Examine the record of Israel in the wilderness and the building of the sanctuary; of David and Solomon and the building of the temple; and finally of the glorious experience of the apostolic church when they were filled with the Holy Ghost. While some went forth preaching the kingdom of God, others laid at the feet of the apostles all their possessions. Thus it will be in the closing work of the gospel. The Spirit of God will be poured out upon all flesh. Under the influence of that Spirit men and women will give their lives to the work, and will go to the uttermost parts of the earth. Others, who can not go, but who have means, will, like Barnabas and other believers in apostolic days, sell their possessions, and lay them at the feet of those who give their lives to the work.
Every condition in the world to-day bears the strongest evidence that we are very near the end, and that the time has fully come for an unreserved surrender and a complete sacrifice to be made by God's people. Shall not the coming week of prayer witness such a consecration as we have never experienced? If so, the eighty thousand dollars so greatly needed just now to do the work that can not be delayed, except at the peril and loss of souls, will surely be contributed by this people.
A. G. DANIELLS.
Note and Comment
A DISPATCH from the Italian capital brings word that the pope is well pleased with the result of the presidential election in this country, which “he is sure will be for the prosperity of the glorious, strong American republic, and for the maintenance of the most cordial relations between Washington and the holy see.” It is also stated that “Cardinal Satolli, formerly papal delegate in the United States, was especially pleased, and warmly expressed full satisfaction with the result.” Why is the papal hierarchy so interested in American politics, and so pleased at the triumph of one political party over the other?
L. A. S
By L. A. S.
THE constitution of the new republic of Panama contains a recognition of God, something which ardent advocates of religious legislation have long sought and are still seeking to get into the Constitution of the United States. Speaking of Panama’s constitution in comparison with that of this country, the New York Observer says:—
One striking difference between these two constitutions, however, is to be noted at the start. The constitution of this country makes no mention of the name of God—though that does not mean, as many argue, that Americans are an irreligious people. With characteristic Latin ardor and fervency, the Panama constitution makes quite frequent reference to the Deity, “the protection of God” being invoked for the new republic. Moreover, a state religion is, in effect, established by the recognition of Catholicism as the religion “of the majority of the inhabitants of the republic,” and by the provision that it be aided in educational work to some extent, and “in sending missions to the savage tribes.” The statesmen of Panama evidently do not wish to imitate the secularizing policies of the French republic, nor to break altogether with the Romish hierarchy.
The wisdom (?) which has led the organizers of this Isthmian “republic” to “recognize God” in the constitution is the same wisdom which led them to establish a state religion and to maintain a union with Rome. These three things go together, and this would be as true in the United States as in the republic of Panama.
L. A. S
Spiritualism and Fortune Telling Tragedy
THE following, taken from the Washington Times, is one of many similar warnings contained in the history of modern Spiritualism and kindred manifestations:—
Spiritualism and fortune telling have been the cause of a terrible tragedy in Zurich [Switzerland]. Under the influence of the former a wealthy couple fell into such a state of nervousness that they fancied they were followed by spirits who walked about all night. Matters reached such a climax at last that their daughter, a girl of eighteen, disappeared one night during a seance. In order to discover her whereabouts the parents consulted the various fortune tellers of the town, whose suggestions, needless to say, led to no results. Finally, the body of the unfortunate girl was found floating in the lake. In her pocket was found a letter saying that she had committed suicide because she could no longer stand the strain. The mother has since been pronounced insane by medical experts.