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Review and Herald, Vol. 79, No. 49.

A Call to Praise

Review and Herald

Dec 9, 1902

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 9, 1902

A Call to Praise

Psalm 148

Praise ye Jehovah. Praise ye Jehovah from the heavens: Praise Him in the heights, Praise ye Him, all His angels: Praise ye Him, all His hosts: Praise ye Him, sun and moon: Praise Him, all ye stars of light. Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, And ye waters that are above the heavens. Let them praise the name of Jehovah; For He commanded and they were created. He hath also established them forever and ever! He hath made a decree which shall not pass away. Praise Jehovah from the earth, Ye sea monsters, and all deeps; Fire and hail, snow and vapor; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word; Mountains and all hills: Fruitful trees and all cedars: Beasts and all cattle: Creeping things and flying birds; Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth; Both young men and virgins; Old men and children; Let them praise the name of Jehovah; For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and the heavens. And He hath lifted up the horn of His people, The praise of all the saints; Even of the children of Israel, a people near unto Him. Praise ye Jehovah.

Appropriate Holiday Books

For the readers of the Review or for any individuals who are looking for the coming of the King of kings, and who can discern through the signs of the times the rapid approach of that great event, there are no more appropriate holiday books than our regular standard denominational works,

Those that Contain the Message for this Time

These are new books to the great majority of people, and they contain the last warning message to the world.
While the month of December is the accustomed annual present purchasing time, and the great majority of people are searching for appropriate gifts, our people lose a great and favorable opportunity if they use this time and their energies in the sale of new, light, nonessential, message-barren literature.
During the next thirty days thousands of souls can be reached with the message for this important time if each of the Review readers will sell only one volume of any of our standard works to a world holiday present purchaser.
OUR OPPORTUNITY AND PRIVILEGE IS APPARENT TO ALL
WRITE TO THE
Tract Societies or Publishing Houses
FOR CIRCULARS AND PRICES

We Shall See Him

By Editor

Editorial

We Shall See Him

The apostle John makes this remarkable declaration concerning our experience now and our experience hereafter: “Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be. We know that, if it shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even as he is.” The time has come when it is our privilege to read the last statement with particular emphasis upon the pronoun “we.” Our faith may now grasp the promise as a personal one, “We shall see him.” It is a thrilling thought that we may be among those who shall be translated without seeing death. It is enough to rekindle our enthusiasm, and arouse anew the hope that was well-nigh dead, when we accept as a reality the soul-inspiring thought that we may see our blessed Lord coming in the clouds of heaven. To those who have long indulged the hope that they might live to see the second advent of our Lord, we repeat the encouraging words, “We shall see him.” Let every heart take courage. The time has come according to the plan of the ages when the mystery of God should be finished, and the Redeemer and redeemed should see each other face to face. There is only one thing which puts off the glad day,—the feebleness of our efforts to give this warning message to the world. “Ye churches of the living God, . . . consider how your lack of faith, of spirituality, of divine power, is hindering the coming of the kingdom of God.” Let living faith take hold upon God for the power needed that this gospel of the kingdom may be speedily preached in all the world for a witness, and then “we shall see him.” O believers in this message the key to the whole problem is in our own hands. Do we really desire to see him? The consecration of time, strength, and means to the giving of this message is the only satisfactory answer to this question. The world is waiting for this message, and the Lord is waiting for them to receive it, and we are merely waiting for the Lord when we ought to be working while we wait. To the work, and soon “we shall see him.”

Preach the Message

THERE is a definite message to be proclaimed to all the world in this generation. It is the threefold message of Rev. 14:6-12, which is to prepare the way for the coming Saviour. This message is “the everlasting gospel” so presented as to meet and defeat the final effort of Satan to make of none effect the provision which God has made for our salvation. When the messengers understand the situation as made plain in the prophecies, they will see clearly that this particular message is the only presentation of the gospel which will be able to deliver either their own souls or the souls of the people from the fearful deception which Satan has brought upon the world. And they will further see clearly that the heart of this message is found in what is called the sanctuary question. It is through the study of this question that we learn when “the hour of his judgment” began, and are brought face to face with the great truth of the immediate personal coming of Christ. It is in the study of this question that we learn of Christ as our sacrifice, our substitute, and our surety. It is in the study of this question that we learn of the heavenly sanctuary above, and the work of our great high Priest, “who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” It is in the study of this question that we learn of the unchangeable law of God and our relation to it. In fact, the whole of that teaching which constitutes what we regard as the special message for this time finds its center in the sanctuary question. And the instruction which was given to this people in the early days of the message is just as applicable now. Here it is: “I have seen the danger of the messengers running off from the important points of present truth, to dwell upon subjects that are not calculated to unite the flock and sanctify the soul. Satan will here take every possible advantage to injure the cause. But such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the twenty-three hundred days, the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past advent movement and show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting and give certainty to the glorious future. These, I have frequently seen, were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell.” Saving truth is what the people need to-day, truth which will save them from present sin and from present deception. In following this instruction no phase of saving truth will be neglected, but all will be presented from such a standpoint and in such a setting as to meet the actual needs of the present situation. There is great need that all the messengers should now present a united front to the enemy by all preaching “in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” the definite message which is due to the world at this time. This alone can prepare the way of the Lord.

Preserve the Foundations

By Uriah Smith

The Holy Spirit led David to propound this fundamental question: “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Ps. 11:3. We may well raise this same question, and apply it to our own time, the days when error is taking on such an aggressive attitude, and the so-called “Higher Criticism” is making such fierce onslaughts upon the fundamental principles of the gospel, and setting forth propositions, which, if carried out to their last analysis, can but result in subverting the faith of many.
Paul, and the church in his day, were troubled with just such unsettled minds. The apostle speaks of them in 2 Tim. 2:17: “Of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.” And we have been forewarned that there will be similar characters in the last days: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hotiron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” 1 Tim. 4: 1–3.
David speaks of the “foundations” being “destroyed,” showing that there are principles which are regarded as the fundamental supports of the truth; and he says, If these be destroyed, what can the righteous do? That is, if these supports, or fundamental principles, be overthrown, what can the righteous rest upon? How well 1 Tim. 4: 1–3 applies to the claims and manifestations of modern Spiritualism; and to Romanism, with its celibacy of the clergy, its confessional, and its superstitious distinction of meats, forbidding them, or commanding to abstain from them, on certain church-forbidden days.
Another great error, which throws its baleful shadow over all the Christian world, is the pago-papal doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the conscious state of the dead. If the teaching of the Bible on these great questions could once be established as the faith of Christendom, think how suddenly it would clear the atmosphere of the whole theological world. Think how Romanism, with its superstitious saint-worship, Mariolatry, and purgatory, with its presumptuous aspirations to raise itself above God, presuming to change his law, and corrupting his ordinances, making war on the saints, and wearing them out with over twelve hundred and sixty years of bloody persecutions, would be shorn of its strength, and how soon it would collapse before the everlasting gospel of the kingdom, with which this people are now seeking to evangelize the world in this generation.
The reader has of course noticed the report, in the last REVIEW, of the defection of some brethren in Holland, based on an extreme view of an important Bible doctrine,—namely, that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost,—but so adapted and mystified as to destroy the force and significance of one of the main pillars in the beautiful temple of “Present Truth;” to wit, that doctrine which is the citadel and center of the work of our great High Priest in the temple above. There is no way possible to set forth more beautifully and impressively the great work of mediation for a lost world, in a manner to thrill, and captivate, and melt all hearts, than is set forth in the sanctuary subject as presented in the Scriptures. If our eyes could look upon the scene held up before us in the sacred record, what man in this mortal frame could catch even one view of the prospect, and endure for a moment? If only one angel on his mission to call the Son of God from the grave, caused the powerful and robust guards to fall to the ground as dead men (Matt. 28: 2–4), what power could enable us to look upon more than two hundred million of such beings, with all the attendant glory, and not sink into utter annihilation?
In view of such a scene, what should be our conception of Christ’s work in heaven? John was permitted to behold it. Looking into the first apartment of the sanctuary on high, he beheld Christ in his work of mediation, in company with his assistants. These assistants he describes as “many angels,” to the number of “ten thousand times ten thousand,” which amounts to one hundred million; and then, as though computation failed, he names at least as many more in the words, “and thousands of thousands.” What must be our conception of this one compartment of the heavenly temple, containing the throne of Jehovah, that of his Son Jesus Christ, and this company of celestial ministers, whom Paul well calls “an innumerable company of angels”? Heb. 12: 22.
While we give full force and significance to Paul’s expressions about our bodies being “the temple of the living God,” and “the temple of the Holy Ghost,” let us not discount nor ignore those scenes of the heavenly world which have reference to the modus operandi of rescuing the lost world from sin. And while we attach all importance to keeping our bodies in a healthy state, to the glory of God, let us not fall into the extreme of supposing that by that means we can become our own saviors, and fortify ourselves against the seven last plagues. Christ, by his divine power, can alone accomplish this for us.
Other important truths enter into the make-up of what we call the “present truth;” such as, the messages; the two-horned beast, which involves the great Western-world issue of the last conflict of the church with the powers of earth, and its deliverance from the same; the Eastern question, which brings us to the “standing up of Michael,” and the deliverance from the great final time of trouble. Dan. 12: 1.
These are some of the “foundations” which the psalmist says we should not suffer to “be destroyed.” U. S.

Storming the Last Ramparts

By William Ambrose Spicer

THIS missionary spirit that is stirring conference after conference to do more, as conferences, in sharing laborers and means with the great mission fields, has deep meaning for those who watch the signs of the times.
The call of the hour is to world-wide missionary service that shall finish the work. God’s own Spirit is sounding the call, and laying the burden upon the hearts of the brethren everywhere.
The forbidding ramparts of Catholicism and heathenism are to be stormed ere the battle is won. Latin Europe, and Latin America, which means all America from the Rio Grande to Cape Horn, and the vast fields of heathen Africa and Asia, loom up before us.
But, thank God! the very last line of the enemy’s redoubt is soon to be carried. “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished,” was the pledge of Heaven. The sounding of the seventh angel began in 1844, with the rise of the third angel’s message. Then the books were opened, and the judgment began in heaven. The voices were heard from the throne, saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
Now it is for us to rise up and take possession for God, occupying every stronghold until he come whose right it is to rule. Into every land we are to press, lifting up the standard, “the ensign for the nations,” round which the final gathering of God’s people is to be “from the four corners of the earth.”
Before the final attack upon a fortress, when infantry and artillery have pressed the center of battle to the very citadel, the heavy siege guns are brought up to make the breaches for the final assault.
For years we have been pressing the battle in the fields. By the increasing gifts for missions, year by year, we have been extending the line of advance into every continent. Now God’s own providence sounds the trumpet call to sweep forward unto victory. And God’s Spirit is preparing the forces for the final conflict. The older conferences are stepping forward to throw large contributions of workers and of means into the missionary campaign. Thus the heavy artillery, the siege guns, are being brought into action. The conferences, with thousands of Sabbath keepers, are rallying to make ready for the last charge which is to carry every rampart of the enemy.
Let the people respond by faithfulness in tithe paying and offerings, by readiness to bear the witness at home, by cheering on the advancing line. As conference laborers go forth, others will spring forward to take their places. As the funds are shared with the mission fields, God will open larger resources.
The work can quickly be done as a whole people rise and lay all upon the altar of service. The time has come for the mystery of God to be finished, and “THERE SHALL BE DELAY NO LONGER.”
W. A. S.

Honest, Loving Obedience

“ONE piece of honest, loving obedience is worth all the study and speculation of an unloving heart when the question is, ‘How are we to see Christ?’”

Studies in the Gospel Message

THE subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for December 20 is The Two Mysteries.
The greatest fact in the world is Christianity. This is “the mystery of godliness.” Next to Christianity, the greatest fact in the world is the papacy. This is “the mystery of iniquity.” The mystery of godliness is God manifest in sinful flesh. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” The mystery of godliness becomes personality in him who is both Son of God and Son of man, the Messiah. The mystery of iniquity is “the god of this world” manifest in the flesh, “setting himself forth as God.” “We read but once of the ‘mystery of godliness,’ and but once of the ‘mystery of iniquity.’ They are the two pre-eminently grand mysteries of revelation. . . . Just as the ‘mystery of godliness’ is not merely the manifestation of the system of godliness, but the manifestation of God himself, so the ‘mystery of iniquity’ is not merely the manifestation of the system of iniquity, but the manifestation of the person or author of iniquity. The prophecy brings before us two mysteries, the one the counterfeit in all points of the other. We have an invisible agent, even God, beneath the one; we have an invisible agent, even Satan, beneath the other. . . . There is as real an incarnation of the spirit and mind of Satan in the ‘mystery of iniquity,’ as there is of the spirit and mind of God in the ‘mystery of godliness.’” Christ is “the mystery of godliness,” and Christianity is the revelation of Christ in the flesh. Satan is “the mystery of iniquity,” and the papacy is the revelation of Satan in the flesh. These are the two mysteries. We shall now consider their development and their outcome.
Sin found its origin in the ambition of Lucifer, the anointed cherub, to be equal with God the Father and his only begotten Son. “Not content with his position, though honored above the heavenly host, he ventured to covet homage due alone to the Creator. Instead of seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of all created beings, it was his endeavor to secure their service and loyalty to himself. And coveting the glory with which the infinite Father had invested his Son, this prince of angels aspired to power that was the prerogative of Christ alone.” This led to the expulsion of Satan and his angels from heaven.
The same wicked ambition prompted Satan to tempt our first parents to become disloyal to God and to yield themselves to his dominion. Thus he became the “prince of this world,” and sought to establish his government here in open defiance of the government of God. Thus the reign of death was introduced. “But ‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ O, the mystery of redemption! the love of God for a world that did not love him! Who can know the depths of that love which ‘passeth knowledge’? Through endless ages, immortal minds, seeking to comprehend the mystery of that incomprehensible love, will wonder and adore. God was to be manifest in Christ, ‘reconciling the world unto himself.’”
From that time the enemy of God and man set himself to defeat this plan for the salvation of man. Through the sanctuary and its services God was revealing the provision which he had made in the gift of his Son as the Redeemer from sin; but during all the centuries previous to the first advent, “Satan was seeking to shut out from men a knowledge of God, to turn their attention from the temple of God, and to establish his own kingdom. His strife for supremacy had seemed to be almost wholly successful. . . . Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen had lost a knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works, lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now become the principle of the Jewish religion. Satan had implanted the principle. Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.”
Then through the coming of Jesus in our flesh was wrought out “the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.” This is “the mystery of godliness; He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory.” That which prophets had seen from afar was now an accomplished fact. By the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus, the God-man, humanity was lifted to a place on the throne of the universe, and the believers in Jesus were raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The secret is now revealed.
Then came the masterpiece of Satan’s deception in his effort to pervert this revelation of the gospel by keeping the names and the forms of Christianity, but substituting himself for God in these names and forms. All this was foretold in Paul’s prophecy. “Let no man beguile you in any wise: for it [the day of the Lord] will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshiped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God.” Satan substitutes himself for God as the object of worship in the very temple of God, so that the homage due to God, and which men may honestly suppose they are giving to God, is in reality offered to Satan. The scheme or organization through which this purpose has been accomplished is known in history as the papacy; and just as the church of Christ is the body of Christ, the mystery of godliness, so the papacy is the body of Satan, the mystery of iniquity. “This counterfeit church has its high priest,—the pope,—who blasphemes the royal priesthood of Christ. . . . This counterfeit church has, too, its sacrifice,—the mass,—which blasphemes the sacrifice of Christ. . . . This church has, moreover, its Bible, which is tradition, which blasphemes the Word of God. . . . Thus has popery counterfeited, and, by counterfeiting, set aside, all that is vital and valuable in Christianity. . . . The forms of Christianity have been faithfully copied; its realities have been completely set aside.” The basis of this whole system is self-salvation, salvation by works instead of by faith, and there is therefore in it no defense against sin. It provides the forms of salvation, but it does not save. Herein is the mystery of iniquity.
The Reformation of the sixteenth century was an attempt to give to men the reality of salvation from sin, in the place of the mere form. It gave to Christ and his sacrifice for sin, and to the Bible, their proper place. It taught men to accept salvation as the gift of God rather than to attempt to purchase it. It set forth justification by faith as the only way of salvation, instead of justification by works. It restored Christ to his rightful place as Head of his church, and dispensed entirely with the need of any so-called vicegerent of God and vicar of Christ. It was an effort to replace the mystery of iniquity with the mystery of godliness.
The next move of the arch-enemy was to pervert this reformation. The same tactics were again employed. Man was put in the place of God. Men were led to look to Luther instead of to God. The Bible was interpreted in the light of the teachings of Luther, and the reformation of Luther was largely checked. Later, others took up the work with more or less success; but by rejecting the clear light which came to them concerning the second advent of Christ, all these churches turned their faces Romeward. Apostate Protestantism became one in principle with Romanism. The mystery of iniquity seemed to be again in the ascendency.
Then it was that a new reformationbegan. The proclamation of the great advent message was a distinct call to apostolic Christianity. The exceeding sinfulness of sin as the transgression of God’s holy law, the free pardon for sin through faith in the merits of a crucified Redeemer, and the gift of Christ’s righteousness as the wedding garment in preparation for the soon coming “marriage supper of the Lamb” were presented to the people with convincing power. God wrought with his servants, and a world-wide testimony was borne to the truth. The mystery of godliness was again revealed.
But even this closing message has lost some of its original power, and its sharpness has been somewhat dulled by a compromise with wrong principles. We are now in the final struggle between the two mysteries. We are now in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, and the word of the Lord is that “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God.” We may expect that Satan will now work “with all power and signs and lying wonders” to overthrow this message, and to keep his place in the temple of God. Just now our only safety is in that faith which keeps us in the closest fellowship with the work of Jesus, our High Priest, as he ministers for us in the heavenly sanctuary. This work, and the great danger of the present hour, are well set forth in the following extract from “Early Writings:” “I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and the most of those who were bowed down arose with him. . . . He stepped into the chariot, and was borne to the holiest, where the Father sat. . . . Those who rose up with Jesus would send up their faith to him in the holiest, and cry, ‘My Father, give us thy Spirit.’ Then Jesus would breathe upon them the Holy Ghost. In that breath was light, power, and much love, joy, and peace. I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, ‘Father, give us thy Spirit.’ Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace. Satan’s object was to keep them deceived, and to draw back and deceive God’s children.”
In this hour of God’s judgment we must by faith enter in with Jesus into the most holy place, and accept his ministry there for the cleansing of the sanctuary. This ministry provides “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” It brings to us the experience of righteousness by faith. This is our protection against the subtle effort of Satan to substitute the mystery of iniquity for the mystery of godliness in the very message which we are proclaiming. May God save his people from deception in this supreme hour.

An Important Council

By A. G. Daniells

A very important council of the General Conference Committee was held in Battle Creek, Mich., November 10-25. All the members of the committee residing in the United States, except two, attended this council. These brethren left behind them the details of the work pertaining to their separate fields, and addressed themselves most earnestly to questions and problems of world-wide interest.
The report of the proceedings fill between fifty and sixty typewritten pages. A very brief statement of the proceedings is given elsewhere in this number of the REVIEW. Much of the valuable work done by the committee, can only be seen as the plans are worked out by the conferences and churches, and by the whole people.
Some of the recommendations which we print in this issue will, I feel sure, be studied with deep interest by many of our people. I refer especially to those dealing with the financial policy of the denomination, and also the plans to be followed by the Mission Board for the development and the progress of the work in all parts of the world.
Ever since the opening of the campaign for the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons” to pay off the debts of our educational institutions, there has been a constant and pressing demand on the part of our people generally to know whether or not this move would actually reduce our debts. Everywhere the question has been asked if the leaders, those who have been mainly responsible in the past in creating these debts, had really repudiated this unsound policy, or whether they would proceed to make new debts as fast as the old ones were paid off.
Having read what Sister White has written during the last two or three years about the reproach of debt, and the repeated warnings to shun them as we would shun disease, even leprosy, and having heard many earnest appeals from ministers, conference committees, and school boards to rise up and roll away the reproach, the people have justly demanded that the debt-making policy of the past be abandoned, and that from now on we proceed to raise the money to pay our way as we go. Officers of the General, union, and State conferences, and especially of our schools, have assured the people everywhere that this would be done. Nothing short of this assurance could have enabled us to do what has been done during the last two years in the work with “Christ’s Object Lessons.”
Feeling deep down in their hearts the sting of the reproach of our debts, and having some degree of assurance that the debt-making era of the denomination had closed, the people have been working loyally and courageously during the last two years to wipe out the debts of the denomination. They have raised over fifty thousand dollars for the Christiania publishing house. They have raised about fifty thousand dollars for the Material Fund of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” They have raised, by devoting time to the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons,” about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for our school debts. And they have assumed and distributed among themselves for payment, about one hundred thousand dollars of the General Conference Association’s debts. They have also paid off debts on various local institutions and enterprises.
All this has been done by our people during the last two years in addition to the regular donations to the Mission Board and to many new local enterprises. These latter gifts to the cause have probably been as large as ever before in our history during the same period of time. And it has been done cheerfully, with the hope that our debts were really being reduced, and not merely changed from our schools to other institutions.
But notwithstanding all that has been said and written about the evil of debts, notwithstanding the many promises to stop making debts, and notwithstanding the earnest, loyal efforts of our people to lift the great burdens resting upon them, there has been a strong tendency to go on making new debts. As far as this has been done and become known, it has discouraged the hearts of our people.
In view of the present situation, it is but just that the position and determination of the General Conference Committee should be clearly understood. Neither the committee as such nor any of its officers are responsible for any new debts that have been made during the last two years. They have resolutely adhered to the policy outlined in the recommendations of the recent council, and printed in another column. That policy is to conduct our work on a cash basis, pay off the debts already existing, and hereafter decline to become responsible for financial obligations which they have not created by their own action.
We are quite aware that it will not be an easy task to stand uncompromisingly by this policy. But it is right, and it is the only way we shall ever get free from the burden of debt now resting upon us. Therefore it must be maintained.
It should be understood that in no way are we casting reflections upon any one who has been responsible in past years for the obligations that rest upon us. None of us can cast stones, for we are all more or less guilty. But we have learned a more excellent way. We are reforming. We see as we never have before the evils of debts. We acknowledge the unfairness, the injustice, of one man, or a few men, creating obligations for others to carry without first obtaining their consent. We recognize the fairness of the proposition that those who are to pay debts must be consulted about making them, and that those who make them on their own responsibility should have the privilege of paying them.
But in our efforts to establish and maintain a cash policy, we must not abandon a progressive policy. We must not lose sight of the great work to be done for the world, and settle down to do nothing but pay our debts. This has not been done. As already pointed out, the contributions of our people to missions have been as large during the last two years as in any two preceding years in their history. The program as outlined by the recommendations which appear in the printed proceedings of the council will show that there is no intention that the cash policy shall lead us to take in sail, shut off steam, and do nothing but pay debts. We plan for a greater forward movement than we have yet seen. Hundreds of laborers and many thousands of dollars must be dedicated to the destitute, unworked countries.
In harmony with this policy is the recommendation to raise twenty thousand dollars for a sanitarium for Great Britain. This should be done in the early part of 1903. The British field has waited long for a sanitarium, but the brethren will not contract debt. They are now raising all the money they can. They will purchase property when they can pay for it. We shall take pleasure in helping them when an opportunity is given us to do so.
The committee has stated its position in plain terms in these recommendations to be published, that all the people may know where we stand, and the end for which we are working. Recent communications from the spirit of prophecy on this point are very plain and reassuring. The following is addressed especially to the General Conference Committee:—
“The Lord would not be glorified by your placing a yoke of debt upon the General Conference. In a special manner he has wrought to break from the necks of his people the binding yokes of debt which they have worn so long. The conference must not again tread the same path that they have trodden.”
In another communication a most emphatic warning is given as follows:—
“By working on wrong plans men have brought debt upon the cause. Let not this be repeated. Let those at the head of the work move carefully, refusing to bury the cause of God in debt. Let no one move recklessly, heedlessly, thinking, without knowing, that all is well.”
Comment regarding other parts of the proceedings with which this article deals must be reserved for another time.
A. G. DANIELLS.

Note and Comment

THE greatest need of the hour is the need of a religious revival. As the greatest need of the sick man is health, so the greatest need of a sin-stricken world is a springing up of life where sin has spread spiritual disease and death. A sense of the awful dearth that has settled upon the religious world, which only an old-time awakening of the dormant consciences of men can remove, is felt and expressed by the editor of the United Presbyterian. He says:—
There is great need of a revival. We hear it on every side. Conferences discuss the subject. Ministers preach upon it. Churches lament small attendance and low spiritual activity. Services are held with accustomed regularity, but they are cold and unresponsive. The evening service is poorly attended, the prayer meeting is but a small fraction of the membership. There is activity; missionary enterprises are undertaken, large gifts are made, but the power is lacking. Wickedness abounds; worldliness rules. The thoughtful and devout pray for a revival, and wait for it.
We need more than a revival; we need an awakening that will move the whole people. We have evangelists and special meetings with good results; but results that lie on the surface. The crowded meetings are largely composed of church goers who find in this a pleasurable diversion, and soon fall back into the old lethargy. The depths are not moved. The men are not converted, and the world-force is unchecked.
Look at the average congregation; it is composed largely of women. The prayer meeting is very much a woman’s meeting. The pastor visits the homes, but the men are not there. Missionary activities are relegated to the women of the church. The Sabbath school is, in like manner, conducted largely by women. There seems to be a line of separation,—men for business and politics; women for religion. We need the awakening of men to their duty, to new life; to godliness and the active service of God. A century ago there was such an awakening. The fear of God fell upon men. There was little heard about the church or about Christian activities, but there was a tremendous amount heard about God, righteousness, and judgment to come. Men heard and trembled; they heard and forsook their sins. Society was moved to its foundations. All classes felt the new power. The Spirit of the Lord breathed upon the people, and they lived. There was a regeneration of which the effects remain until this day. We are in a period of like sinfulness and worldliness, and a like awakening is our great need.
Let us have, then, “the preaching of the word of God in its simplicity and fullness,” and let us believe that the Word means what it says. It is for just this that the Seventh-day Adventist movement has stood from the first.
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