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Review and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 12.

Jesus and the Widow of Nain

Review and Herald

Mar 22, 1906

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 22, 1906

Jesus and the Widow of Nain

By W. Morley Punshion

FORTH through the solemn street The sad procession swept, Pacing its mournful way with measured feet, While inly wept One mourner, in a grief Stern as the silent years, Which seemed to mock the common weak relief Of outward tears.
Keen was her sense of loss, An agony untold; For death had seized amid a world of dross, Her piece of gold.
They bore her only son, Star of her evening, fled; Whose lesser light recalled that vanished one Now long since dead.
For her best loved had died; And, stunned from former bruise, The widow’s oil of life had dried Within her cruse. Desert her heart, and bare; Like lone house on a wild; No voice to make blithe music on the stair— No laughing child.
No solace from the past, No hope in days to come, She cowered as if sorrow’s second blast Had struck her dumb. But, near the city’s verge, A sudden silence came; The hired mourners swift forebore their dirge, As if in shame To mourn a lifeless clod With such despairing cry, While the Redeemer, “the strong Son of God,” Was passing by.
He came and touched the bier. They wait in curious pause: Has He the power and will to interfere With nature’s laws?
He walked upon the waves! His word the thousands fed! — Is He imperial in the place of graves Over the dead?
Then spake the royal word; And quick with rushing throes, The red life in the clay obedient heard; The dead arose!
And so — just as before — Unconscious of eclipse; Like babe who only knows that night is o’er From mother’s lips; Or one who, free from harm, From the engulfing sea, Comes home and finds all on his father’s farm Which used to be;
The same through endless time, Thus Jesus healeth now, With “many crowns” for victories sublime, Upon His brow — Conqueror in each stern fight O’er mortal sin and dread, And mighty, from corruption’s foulest night, To raise the dead.
— W. Morley Punshion.

Our Publishing Work

By Editor

The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalm 68:11.
See last paragraph on this page for instructions where to order.
“SIGNS OF THE END” is the title of a tract just issued in the Bible Students’ Library series. It contains sixteen pages, and is furnished at one cent a copy, or eighty cents a hundred.
A BOOK of actions, not of resolutions, is “Power for Witnessing.” Its suggestions for Christian living, drawn from actual experience, ought to be helpful to those who read it. Paper covers, 25 cents; cloth, 75 cents.
No teacher or officer in the Sabbath-school can afford to be deprived of the help found in the Sabbath School Worker. Practical suggestions from workers of experience, and notes on the lessons in each division, appear in every number. Single subscription, 35 cents a year.
UNLESS one knows how to care for himself, he is very apt to contract a cold at this season of the year. You can learn how to prevent colds, or how to break up one which has been contracted, in the little book entitled, “Colds,” by Dr. G. H. Heald. Price, 25 cents.
A BROTHER who works ten hours a day in our Battle Creek Office, and whose time outside of the Office is very fully occupied, reports thirty-four subscriptions for Liberty, the new quarterly. Others can do equally well if they will try. Send in subscriptions promptly, so that a good list may be received before the first number is ready. The price is only 25 cents a year.
THE April number of Life and Health is just out, and sparkles with life-giving principles applied in treatises upon, Individual Mental and Physical Co-operation in Divine Healing, Restoring and Maintaining Health and Happiness Through Mental Reform—“A Change of Seeing,” Promotion of Health by Proper Dressing, The Effect of Personal Influence in Combating Disease, Fresh Air as a Cure for Colds, The Plague, Imagination as a Remedy, Interesting Facts for Patent Medicine Users, The Curative Value of Work, Protecting Milk, Infant Feeding, Filthy Restaurants, Continued Food Studies, Suggestions to Housekeepers, Simplicity of Life Needed, What “Dirt Pies” Mean to Children and Parents, The Kind of Girl Wanted by Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters, and All; Questions and Answers on, Tender Feet, Deceptive Anesthetics, Weak Eyes, Pneumonia, Fruit Juice, Constipation, White Skin, etc.; Comments upon, Candy, Vaccination and Drugs; News Notes upon, Pure Foods, Patent Medicines, Frauds, Communicable Diseases, Hygienic Reforms in Railway and Street Cars, Public Health Endangered by Migration, etc. Twenty-five or more copies of any one issue of Life and Health to one address cost only 63 cents, post-paid. Circulating this excellent health journal is good missionary work.
GOOD things to eat can be healthfully prepared if you use the “Vegetarian Cook Book.” The book contains only tried recipes. Price, 75 cents.
MOST interesting and inspiring is the little volume, “The Master’s Greatest Monosyllables.” It is full of the spirit of the Great Missionary. Read it, and pass it on that others may be helped by it. Price, 50 cents.
PARENTS, what papers are your children reading? They ought to have the Youth’s Instructor. It is filled weekly with interesting, helpful reading. It costs 75 cents a year—one and one-half cents a week.
THE orders for “Christ in Song” have come in so rapidly that we have not been able to bind them fast enough to supply the demand. We will soon have all orders filled, however. The prices are the same as heretofore: Flexible, 35 cents; board, 40 cents; cloth, 50 cents.
OUT of seventy-seven persons who accepted the truth in a single conference through reading some one of our books, seventeen mention “Daniel and the Revelation” as the book which was instrumental in doing this work. This but emphasizes more strongly the necessity of our giving this important book a more extended circulation. The plain cloth book costs only $1 a copy.
“MINISTRY OF HEALING” would be a great help to many people who are merely mind sick, for it enlarges upon the fact that “many die from disease, the cause of which is wholly imaginary. The condition of mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize.” No better service can be rendered the public than placing “Ministry of Healing” in the possession of the people. Price, $1.50 a copy in freight shipments, $1.65 when sent by mail.
OUR bird neighbors who desert the Northern States during the winter months are already beginning to return. Why not cultivate a closer acquaintance with them? Their customs and habits are very interesting, and our young people will find pleasure and profit in studying them. “Garden Neighbors,” a book of 256 pages, by Dr. L. A. Reed, relates some most interesting true stories of birds and animals, and is an excellent book as a guide in taking up a study of them. Price, $1. Some illustrations in color.
— Orders for any publication mentioned on this page may be sent to any conference tract society or to Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C., or Battle Creek, Mich. Also Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, Cal.; Portland, Ore.; Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn., and Fort Worth, Tex.

Editorial

By Editor

“The return of Christ to our world will not be long delayed. Let this be the keynote of every message.”
“As the Hart”
How forcibly and how beautifully the psalmist expresses the longing of the soul which is seeking after communion with God: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.” As refreshing water to the deer wearied and heated in the chase, so satisfying and reviving is the presence of God to those who are wearied in the conflict of life. Man was made in the image of God, with the capacity to know and commune with God, and when the image of God is restored in the soul, and fellowship with God is established, there is a depth of the purest joy and a measure of the truest satisfaction which can be experienced in no other way. We are often harassed with doubts and fears. Sore temptations beset us on every side. Dark clouds seem to hide the Father's face, and we are almost distracted in the conflict, and we cry out, “O my God, my soul is cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” The days of trial and conflict will soon be over. Soon the warfare will be accomplished, and the reward will be bestowed upon the faithful.
“'Tis but a little while, And He shall come again Who died that we might live, who lives That we may with him reign: Then, O my Lord, prepare My soul for that glad day; O, wash me in thy precious blood, And take my sins away!”

The Old Paths

The prophet Jeremiah delivered his messages to the people of Jerusalem at a time when the downfall of the city was impending. Religion had degenerated into a formality with a large majority both of the leaders and of the people. Although they had lost vital union with heaven, and were walking in the sparks of their own kindling, yet they continued to say, as many are saying now, “The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.” Desirous of saving them from the destruction which they were bringing upon themselves, the Lord sent messages of warning and reproof to his people by the mouth of Jeremiah. Here is one: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.”
To the leaders and the people who had departed from the way of the Lord in sincerity may be known from the following indictment: “This people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you. For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”
The remedy pointed out for such a condition of things, and the only remedy in which there was any hope, was, “Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein.” If this counsel had been heeded, both the people and the city might have been saved, and Nebuchadnezzar and his army could have been turned back in confusion, even as was Sennacherib’s army. But the message of warning was not received. The leaders and the people refused to return to the Lord. The judgments of the Lord were visited upon Jerusalem. The people were carried into captivity; and the heathen appeared to triumph.
There is a marked parallel between the times of Jeremiah and our times. Now, as then, there is a form of godliness, but the power thereof is denied. Now, as then, the cry is raised, “The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.” And there has been such a departure from the fundamental truths of a Biblical Christianity that there is hardly an important doctrine of the Scriptures which has not been denied and rejected. Looking forward to the result of such a departure as this from the way of the Lord, the prophet Isaiah said: “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . Theland shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. . . . The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” Thus sure is it that the present wide-spread rejection of the message of salvation in the Word of God will bring destruction upon the world. Only those who ask for the old paths and walk in them will be saved in that day.
But this lesson has a still more specific application. It is not to be expected that this final message of reform would be left to do its work without an effort being made by the enemy of truth to pervert and nullify it. This effort has been made. “The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result?—The principles of truth that God in his wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy that would be introduced.”
It is therefore clear that instead of planning for “a new organization” and preparing “books of a new order,” we should be asking for the old paths of this third angel’s message and walking in them. “The past fifty years have not dimmed one jot or principle of our faith as we received the great and wonderful evidences that were made certain to us in 1844, after the passing of the time.”
The exhortation which was delivered to the church in the first century is applicable in a special sense to advent believers at the present time. “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” “Ask for the old paths.”

How Some Smaller Mission Fields Are Helping

By William A. Spicer

SOME interesting correspondence has come in from two of the small island fields, showing how the little companies of believers in these isolated missions are joining us in lifting at the burden laid upon us who know the message for this time. St. Andrews Island shows very small on the map, away out in the Caribbean Sea to the northwest of Colombia, to which it belongs. The believers are very few, but they love this message. Sister J. B. Stuyvesant gives the following financial report:—
Our offerings in St. Andrews for the year have been,— Sabbath-school . . . . . . . . . . . . $101.45 Tithe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378.50 Washington Fund . . . . . . . . . . . 125.00 Oakwood School . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.00 First-day offerings . . . . . . . . . 135.50 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $750.45
Besides this, over seventy dollars has been raised; with this we have purchased a tent in which to hold meetings in other parts of the island. We buy our own Sabbath-school supplies, so we have been able to give all to the advancement of the message in some other places.
Brother — has provided a school-house and place for our meetings, helped every cause presented, and has built and deeded to the Mission Board a comfortable five-room cottage for a home for the mission worker or teacher who may have charge of the work here. Best of all, he has eleven children whom he is anxious to train for useful places in the message.
Such reports must ever be an encouragement to those who have given of their means in order to plant the standard of truth in the foreign fields. It shows that wherever this message goes, it gathers out earnest hearts who partake of the same spirit of sacrifice in its behalf.
Another similarly encouraging report comes from Elder J. A. Morrow, of the Bermuda Islands. He writes:—
I thought you might be interested in the following list of items which show the money raised in this field for 1905:— Tithe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 439.64 Sabbath-school offerings ($85 of which was given to missions) . . . . . . . . . . . 97.99 Weekly offerings . . . . . . . . . . . 30.94 Annual offering . . . . . . . . . . . 18.94 Profits on book sales . . . . . . . . 70.64 Collections . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.58 Washington work . . . . . . . . . . . 75.94 Church building . . . . . . . . . . . 345.60 Hall rent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75.00 Literature for free distribution . . . 6.00 Southern work . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.00 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,188.27
Of course the larger mission fields are all straining every nerve to help the work in every way, but it is of special interest to see these little isolated mission stations, such as St. Andrews and Bermuda, very beehives of activity in behalf of the third angel's message. Truly the believers being raised up in the lands abroad are people having a mind to work. We in the older and stronger fields may well be encouraged to work more earnestly than ever to sow the seed that will bring forth similar fruitage in all the unentered parts of the great harvest-field. W. A. S.

Two New Sunday Bills

Two additional Sunday bills have been introduced in the House of Representatives. Thus the number of Sunday bills brought before Congress during the present session has been increased to five, four in the House and one in the senate.
One of these last bills, for which Mr. Heflin, of Alabama, is responsible, reads as follows:—

A BILL

Prohibiting labor on buildings, and so forth, in the District of Columbia on the Sabbath day.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no labor in constructing buildings, or railroads, or work on streets, or hauling material, and so forth, shall be permitted in the District of Columbia on the Sabbath day.
SEC. 2.—That any person who permits such labor to be performed on his property, or who shall perform in any way such labor as is described in Section 1 of this Act, shall be fined not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. That all laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.
In the Washington Post of March 13 the author of this bill is reported as giving the following reasons for proposing such a law:—
Why, you walk around this city on Sunday and it is no uncommon thing to see men working on buildings as though this were a heathen land, or there was no such thing as the Sabbath.
I do not so much blame the laborer as I do the fellow who is hurrying the completion of a building—or the finishing of some other work.
Here in the capital of the nation, with the legislative body in session, it is simply outrageous that this thing is allowed. As I came from church Sunday, just east of the Hancock Monument stood an old man with Bible and hymn-book getting ready to hold services on the street. Passing up Pennsylvania Avenue were a long line of working men on wagons that were loaded with brick and other materials for the construction of buildings; and I made up my mind to bring this thing of licensed disregard for the Sabbath to the attention of the House, and I have introduced a bill covering this subject.
In the Post of March 14 Representative Heflin is again reported as making the following statement:—
I have just been visited by a committee from the District, in regard to my bill preventing labor on Sunday. This committee asks me to reconsidermy measure, seeing first if the difficulty could not be obviated by making it a matter of personal choice. They said: “Let each man work on Sunday if he chooses, but if he does not choose to do so, let him be protected from those who would force him to it.”
This all sounded very plausible, but one of the chief evils of working on the Sabbath is the bad example, and this is the same whether the laborers are forced or not.
Then they wanted me to introduce a bill which would provide that all labor contractors should give their men one day in the week for rest, letting each man select his own day. This I positively refused to do, both because it is impractical from the point of view of the contractor, since it would of necessity cause great irregularity in the working force, and because I firmly believe in the Scriptural doctrine, “Six days thou shalt labor and on the seventh rest,”
The Sabbath day has been authorized and sanctioned by the customs and religion of our fathers, and it has a vitiating influence on the national life to disregard it. My bill has met with much favor among the members of the House, and I anticipate very little opposition to it when it comes up to be voted on.
I don't propose to be browbeaten out of my present position by any committees, because I have introduced this bill not for the furtherance of political ends or because of any sociological predilections, but as a matter of individual conscience, and I intend to see it through. It comes before the committee in about ten days.
Both the bill and the reasons given for introducing it are certainly worthy of consideration. The bill is defined in the title as being one ‘prohibiting labor on buildings, and so forth, . . . on the Sabbath day,’ and provides that ‘no labor in constructing buildings, . . . and so forth, shall be permitted in the District of Columbia on the Sabbath day.’
In the first place it is plain that any kind of labor whatsoever, the proverbial works of charity and necessity not excepted, would become a crime on the day designated as ‘the Sabbath day,’ if this bill should become a law. Some specific kinds of labor are mentioned, and the others are easily covered by the all-inclusive phrase, ‘and so forth.’ This is as blue as the famous blue-laws of Connecticut. The most extreme bigot could not ask for a better opportunity to harass those who do not keep ‘the Sabbath day’ according to his ideas than would be afforded him by such a statute as this.
Furthermore, it is equally plain that this bill proposes religious legislation pure and simple. No labor is to be permitted ‘on the Sabbath day.’ And in explanation of the demand for such legislation, Representative Heflin says: ‘Why, you walk round this city on Sunday and it is no uncommon thing to see men working on buildings as though this were a heathen land, or there was no such thing as the Sabbath.’ The purpose of this bill, then, is to remove a possible ground for thinking that this is ‘a heathen land’ by compelling all persons to refrain from working on Sunday. In view of the pagan origin of Sunday, ‘the wild solar holiday of all pagan times,’ we seem to be involved in a strange medley of contradictions. Mr. Heflin would compel us to avoid the appearance of being like the heathen by scrupulously observing a heathen festival! Such is the inconsistency into which those are led who attempt legislation in behalf of what they term ‘the Sabbath day.’
And, thirdly, if this bill should become a law, it would at once become necessary for the courts to render a decision in the present religious controversy by determining which day is ‘the Sabbath day.’ Of course Mr. Heflin has no other idea than that the first day of the week is the Sabbath, but there is a large and rapidly increasing number of people who have discovered that there is no authority in the Bible for such a view, and who accept the plain statement of the Scripture that ‘the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.’ These same people have learned from reliable historians that from ancient times the Sunday has been the heathen rival of the true Sabbath, and they desire to avoid the appearance of being like the heathen in their observance of the weekly day of rest. Now shall Congress and the courts attempt to compel these people to adopt the badge of heathenism?
The advocates of another Sunday bill now before Congress make their strongest plea for the protection of the working men, who, they affirm, are compelled to work on Sunday, but Mr. Heflin takes an entirely different view of the question. He declares that ‘one of the chief evils of working on the Sabbath is the bad example,’ and he would therefore compel all to cease from labor on that day. In other words, Mr. Heflin would compel people to observe ‘the Sabbath day,’ and thus avoid setting a bad example.
It was the adoption of this very principle which led to all the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition. And the logical result of any and every attempt to compel people to conform to the religious ideas of the majority will be another inquisition. It is astonishing that intelligent men do not read more clearly the lessons of history.
There are certainly some considerations which ought to be brought to the attention of Congress before this bill is acted upon. It is possible that it may be discovered that the great majority even of professed Christians are indulging in a “licensed disregard for the [true] Sabbath.”
The other bill, introduced by Mr. Wadsworth, of New York, is substantially the same as one which was before the last Congress, and requires ‘certain places of business in the District of Columbia to be closed on Sunday.’ We reserve to a future time the consideration of this bill.
Does any one question the assertion that there is a growing tendency to enact religious legislation? Let earnest efforts be put forth to disseminate right principles upon this vital subject.

Preach the Word

“PREACH the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.”

The Offering for Our Orphans

By Arthur G. Daniells

THE time for taking the annual offering in behalf of our orphans has been appointed by the General Conference Committee for the first Sabbath in April.
At the last session of the General Conference held at Washington, it was thought best, in view of the rapid advancement and the constant development of the message in both the home and foreign fields, to make a change in the arrangement hitherto existing for taking contributions for the support of our orphans. That there might be a more equal distribution of the funds to the different phases of our work in all parts of the field, it was decided that five annual collections be taken at such times as the General Conference Committee might designate,—two for foreign missions, one for religious liberty, one for the work among the colored people throughout the United States, and one for the Haskell Home and similar institutions.
In harmony with this action of the General Conference, the executive committee designated the first Sabbath in April as the time for the offering to be taken in all our churches for the orphans.
This action to take one annual offering, instead of two as formerly, was not taken because we have less interest in caring for the orphans among us than in the past. But, as stated, the demands made upon us for the extension of our work in the vast, unworked fields of the world made a change in our former plan necessary.
Other institutions for the care of orphans are being started, and these are appealing to us for help. The children in these institutions should receive help, as well as those in the Haskell Home. For this reason the recommendation of the conference was that the collection be taken for “the Haskell Home and similar institutions.” This arrangement for the securing of funds to care for our orphans was made after careful consideration, and will no doubt be concurred in by all our people.
At the present time there are about one hundred children in the HaskellHome. Besides these, a number of faithful, hard-working, self-sacrificing teachers and helpers are necessarily employed to look after these homeless little ones. All these must have support, and unless the offering is a liberal one, financial pressure may be brought upon those connected with this institution. This is a church offering, and should be sent through the same channels as all other annual offerings. We urge, brethren and sisters, that this offering in behalf of our orphans be a liberal one.
A. G. DANIELLS.
A Statement of Facts Concerning Our Present Situation—No. 7
In the third and fourth numbers of this series of articles it was clearly shown that wrong plans of administration have been one of the primary causes of the trouble that has existed for years between the general body and what was considered its medical missionary department. The evil in the plan of organization was the centralizing policy by which it was intended to bind the medical missionary workers and institutions of the denomination to the Medical Missionary Association in such a way that the few men composing its Board would have a controlling power, to a greater or less extent, over our medical missionary work throughout the world.
This same evil principle of centralization worked its way into the administrative plans of the Publishing department, and also of the General Conference itself. To centralize authority, control, and power in a few men at a local point means to bind and circumscribe the workers in the great field, and to hinder the progress of the work.
Many Testimonies of warning, reproof, and instruction were sent to the General Conference committee, the Review and Herald trustees, and the Medical Missionary Board, pointing out the harm this centralizing policy was doing our cause. This was one of the greatest hindrances to the progress of our work in both home and foreign fields when we came to the General Conference session of 1901. It was necessary that this evil thing should be smitten, and that it should be utterly repudiated by the General Conference and all its subordinate organizations.
When the 1901 conference convened, centralization was the first question to receive attention. Sister White, who for years had received and given much instruction regarding this evil, dealt with it in the most earnest, positive, determined manner. It was natural, and consistent, if not absolutely necessary, that, first of all, the General Conference should be sharply reproved for its wrong in this matter. The General Conference is the highest, the most representative, and the most important organization in the denomination. It should have discerned and repudiated wrong principles of organization, and thus have set a good example to all other organizations in the denomination. Its failure to do this is undoubtedly the reason why it was singled out, and openly and severely reproved as it was in the conference of 1901.
That conference was a mystery to the delegates. Some were surprised, some were disappointed, some were perplexed and confused, some were alarmed, some were jubilant, and some were cheered and encouraged. But although the real meaning of what seemed a sharp turn in affairs was understood by but few, if any, at the time, it has been growing plainer to many ever since.
It is perfectly plain now, that it was both consistent and necessary to deal with the highest organization first. After setting the superior body straight, there would be more hope of correcting its subordinates. And it is just as plain at this time, that every word of counsel addressed to the General Conference then was intended for every other organization that had made the same mistake in its policy. And it is also plain that the course pursued by the General Conference in acknowledging and correcting the wrongs for which it was reproved, should have been followed by the other organizations that were doing the same wrongs.
It will be helpful in this connection to reproduce some of the counsel given the General Conference at that time, and also to point out the steps taken by the conference to follow the instruction given. In Sister White's addresses she made the following statements:—
What we want now is a reorganization. We want to begin at the foundation, and to build upon a different principle. . . . According to the light that has been given me—and just how it is to be accomplished I can not say—greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the conference.
Two or three men, who have never seen the barren fields, where workers have had to wrestle with all their might to advance an inch, should not control matters. . . . Those who have worked upon wrong principles are amenable to God for the condition of the work in foreign fields.
Now I want to say, God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to control it in every line. . . . If the work had not been restricted by an impediment here, and an impediment there, and on the other side an impediment, it would have gone forward in its majesty.
Here are the men who are standing at the head of our various institutions, of the educational interests, and of the conferences in different localities and in different States. All these are to stand as representative men, to have a voice in molding and fashioning the plans that shall be carried out. There are to be more than one or two or three men to consider the whole vast field. The work is great, and there is no one human mind that can plan for the work which needs to be done.
New conferences must be formed. It was in the order of God that the union conference was organized in Australasia. The Lord God of Israel will link us all together. The organizing of new conferences is not to separate us; it is to bind us together.
When we first met in conference, itwas thought that the General Conference should extend over the whole world. But this is not in God's order. Conferences must be organized in different localities, and it will be for the health of the different conferences to have it thus. This does not mean that we are to cut ourselves apart from one another, and be as separate atoms. Every conference is to touch every other conference, and be in harmony with every other conference.
Immediate and decided steps were taken by the delegates to carry out this instruction. At the first meeting of the session a large committee representing all parts of the field, all the principal lines of our work, and all our leading institutions, was chosen and instructed to study the needs of the cause in the entire field, and bring before the conference such plans for reorganization and advancement as might be agreed upon. As a result of this step, plans of reorganization were adopted by the conference which met every important suggestion that came through the spirit of prophecy. The working out of these plans has brought most excellent and satisfactory changes in our plans of administration in all parts of our great field, and in every phase of our work. Of these changes I will treat in my next article.
A. G. DANIELLS.

Church Federation and Adventism

By L. A. S.

Under the strange spell which is cast over minds by the fascinating idea of church federation, the editor of the World’s Crisis writes the following:—
If a historian of later years shall look back to our own time, seeking to discern its distinctive character, probably not doctrinal controversy, nor even revivals, will appeal to him as the paramount issue of these times, but church federation. This is a movement which has been brought to the front in recent years, and it constantly gathers momentum, and it has risen to the dignity of a great movement which characterizes our time.
Is the Crisis prepared to surrender the second advent ground upon which it has stood from the beginning of its history, to take up now with the idea of church federation? If not, why does it talk of the “historian of later years” looking back “to our own time”? The second advent doctrine that Christ is to come again in this generation must be abandoned before any enthusiasm can be felt for the idea of church federation. The second advent movement and the church federation movement do not go together; they are fundamentally opposed to each other. If Christ is to come and overthrow all earthly governments and terminate all worldly activities in this generation, the one great mission of the church is to send her messengers out to all the world to proclaim the fact, and the church federation movement has no future, and is worse than a waste of effort. And if church federation were right, on the other hand, then it would be useless to hold that Christ is to come at the time and in the manner proclaimed by the advent people since the days of William Miller.
If the churches had received the advent message proclaimed by William Miller and others, they would not now be entering into a church federation; that message would have brought Christian unity instead; and evidently it will remain for those who have been true to that message and to the light into which it led, to stand alone at the last in opposition to confederacies of every sort.
L. A. S.
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