WHOM do you serve? There are two, and only two, great masters. We have the power to choose which of the two we will serve, and in this respect we are free moral agents. But we are not free to refuse allegiance to both. We are the servants of God or Satan, and one or the other we will and must obey. We may choose which, but right there our power of choice ends. It is then obedience of sin unto death, or of righteousness unto life. We are henceforth led by the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience, or we are led by the Spirit of God, and hence are the children of God.
If we put our wills on the Lord's side, and say we will serve God, then every day and continually, we choose to do His will, not ours, in all things. If we deliberately and knowingly choose our own way in anything, then by that we show that we are the servants of sin unto death, instead of the servants of righteousness unto life. He who has truly chosen the Lord for his master, will ever feel to say and to pray, Lord, not my will, but Thine, be done by me, at all times and in all things.
He who is a servant of God in very truth, only needs to know the will of God, and it is performed in love and with delight. As we become acquainted with God through His works, His Word, and His beloved Son, we will love Him more and more. God's love for us will beget and awaken love in us, and this is the only way that we can lovingly obey Him. Love is of God, for "God is love." The love that God plants in the soul, that is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost dwelling in us, is far higher, purer, and holier, than any love possessed by the servants of Satan. They love those only that love them. This is not self-renouncing love but selfish love. The great master spirit of evil possesses this kind of love. It is sensual, selfish, devilish, when standing alone.
God loves this world, filled tho it be with rebellious sinners. He loved us when we were enemies, servants of Satan. He so loved us that He gave Jesus, His beloved Son, to die, that we might have a choice to love and serve Him unto everlasting life.
The love of God toward man, and for man, was continually unfolding in the life of Christ on the earth. His example was one of continual love-service to His Father and to man.
The law of life for the universe is, By love serve God, and by love serve one another. When a human soul has attained this condition, then the power of God comes in to change the vile body and fashion it like unto Christ's glorious body. Then will the Lord Jesus have completed His good work in man's behalf, and there He will behold the travail of His soul, and be satisfied.
Reader, is this divine love yours, in actual possession? By it, are you being daily transformed into the divine image? Have you chosen the God of love for your master? and are you choosing to do His will, His good pleasure, in all your works and ways? When He whom you have chosen to serve says, "If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault, between thee and him alone," thus earnestly praying and seeking to gain thy brother, do you at once choose to obey Him whose servant you claim to be? Do you choose to pray for those who despitefully use you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil of you? When your enemy hungers, do you feed him? When he thirsts, do you give him drink? Do you watch for every opportunity to do good for evil, and by so doing heap coals of fire on the head of your enemy that you may gain him as your loving brother? Or do you call the Lord your master, and yet do not the things He commands? Do not forget that you are ever reckoned as the servant of him whom you obey. Obedience is the highest form of worship, and obedience in love is true worship.
If we choose to serve God, and put our wills wholly on His side, He will ever work in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. In this way we have our own way, and at the same time, it is the Lord's way. Happy servant is he who in such a posture is found when the Lord, our Master, comes to reward His servants. To all such He will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." And with everlasting joy upon their heads, they will enter the place prepared for them.
HAVING THE MIND OF CHRIST.
By Walter E. Gillis
BY WALTER E. GILLIS.
IN the primeval days of earth, when man first presumed to question his Creator's wisdom, and partook of the forbidden fruit, the direct circuit of life was broken. Man's only hope then lay in the mercy of God his Creator. In this he was not disappointed. But little he knew the throes of anguish his salvation would cause. The severed current of life could only be reunited through the tomb of the Son of God.
Since that day of disgrace man's natural mind has been reprobate and at enmity with God. Every thought of the carnal mind has been of carnal things and the exaltation of self, until God has declared of him that, in his unregenerate condition, 'it is impossible to please Him.' Rom. 8:8.
But a way of escape was found. The life of God was in His Son, and love for man induced Him to 'bring life and immortality' to light by being born of a woman, and, by a life of humility and a death of shame, to re-establish the life-current for man.
'Now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.' For in His life He ever lived above the carnal mind, giving voice to the most generous and unselfish precepts, and at last forever settling the dispute by slaying the enmity upon the cross. Eph. 2:13-16.
The Christ-man had come to demonstrate the possibility of living the life of the Spirit in habiliments of flesh. For thirty years the mind of the flesh battled with the mind of the Spirit. Eternal vigilance and unfaltering faith made possible complete victory over foes within; and the foes without yielded the victor's palm to the dying Christ on Calvary's cross.
No more is it possible to say that God requires more than man can give. For 'God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself;' and now the invitation is freely given to all mankind, 'Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.'
This mind which was in 'the Man Christ Jesus' delighted to do the will of God. And so it was written of Him, 'Lo, I come. . . . I delight to do Thy will, O My God; yea, Thy law is within My heart.'
The love which wrought out a way of escape for man withheld no gift, but freely gave the best. As if in fear that some gift might escape, the Lord said, 'Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.' Phil. 2:5. And then to close up every avenue of loss, He declares, 'If any man have not the Spirit [or mind] of Christ, he is none of His.' Rom. 8:9.
Therefore, 'LET this mind be in you.'
And then shall we 'with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.'
Mountain View, Cal.
"IF THE LORD BE GOD, FOLLOW HIM."
By E. H. Rees
BY E. H. REES.
IN I Kings 18:21 we read these words: "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him." We also read in the Holy Scriptures the promise of another like Elijah, who was to come before our Lord. See Mal. 3:1. And there is a like promise to those now living, which is found in Mal. 4:5. These promises are both of the same nature, and we shall see, as we read, that one has been fulfilled, and that the other is in process of fulfilment.
Now, as these messages are alike, the only thing necessary for us to know what the present message should be, is to study what the first one was, and the reason why they are both referred to as the messages of Elijah. The reason why it is so important at the present time that we fully understand the message is, that we, as the people had in Elijah's time, have reached a crisis in the message. In the days of Elijah the people were following the customs brought in by their leaders, who had gradually separated from God, so that they had lost sight of His mighty power, and blindly followed their leaders into idolatry. So it was that when there arose a man who stood up and advocated following the Lord God, regardless of any man, "the people answered him not a word." Thus they showed that they were perfectly indifferent as to whether their leaders were following the instructions of the prophet of God, or not; they only looked to their customs and leaders.10And now, in the crisis which we have reached, we may know how God will regard us, in case we do as they did about making our decision. In a work entitled "Testimonies for the Church," Volume 3, page 281, there occurs this passage: "If God abhors one sin above another, of which His people are guilty, it is that of doing nothing in case of an emergency. Indifference and neutrality in a religious crisis is regarded of God as a grievous crime, and equal to the very worst type of hostility against God." These are words of truth. See Judges 5. In view of these things, it behooves us to acquaint ourselves with the former message, that we may know how to decide quickly, and thus not hinder the cause of God. Then we will not be regarded of God as the worst of hostile enemies to His cause, while professing to love and work for its advancement.
The fulfilment of the first promise of Elijah was met in John the Baptist; for Jesus says of him (Matt. 11:10), "This is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, which shall prepare Thy way before Thee." Also in verse 14: "And if ye will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come." Now when John himself was asked if he was Elijah, he said, "I am not." John 1:21. At first sight there would seem to be a discrepancy in these statements; for how could Jesus say of John, "This is he," and John say, "I am not," and yet both be true statements? We shall find the solution in Luke 1:17: "And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." So then we have the statement plainly made that the spirit and power of Elijah is what constitutes the Elijah of the promises in the prophecy of Mal. 3:4.
Now let us examine the message found in Matthew 3: "In those days came John the Baptist, . . . saying, Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet." Thus we see that the very beginning of the message was a time message, and that it was based upon the prophecies. And furthermore, it was an announcement of the nearness of the coming kingdom. The call to repentance was to repentance for sin, and sin, being "the transgression of the law," was a call for a reform on the part of the people with reference to the law of God.
Now, in this generation, the same spirit came upon the servants of the Lord, and sent them out with the same startling message to all the world, "The kingdom of heaven is at hand," and with the same admonition, "Repent ye." Then, in verse 4, we are shown John's plainness of life; so we know that the very spirit of the message calls for a reform in manner of life. For he whom the Spirit would use must be holy. By his abstemious life John was to rebuke the excesses of his time. A lesson in temperance was given to us, through the directions to John's parents by an angel from heaven.
Again, in Matt. 3:6, 11, we have baptism as a part of the message; and in verses 7 to 9 is found the denunciation of the fallen and confused (Babylon) condition of the popular churches, with the call, "Come out of her, My people." In verses 10-12 the annihilation of the wicked is taught. In verse 11 the gift of the Spirit and spiritual gifts are brought to light; and in verse 12, the saints' inheritance. Thus we can make no mistake by holding fast the old message; for this is exactly what it is, and always has been. It was given by John, and is being given now, for the express purpose of "making ready a people prepared for the Lord."
Now let us study the "spirit" and "power" briefly. In the days of Elijah apostasy was so widespread that the prophet thought himself to be the only one in all the nation who was loyal to God. "And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Thy covenant, thrown down Thine altars, and slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away." 1 Kings 19:10. The Spirit, then, is one which will cause a person to cling to the message, when, to all appearance, the whole church, leaders included, have ceased to obey the messenger of God, and have apostatized from the message; when, to all appearance, the people, without exception, regard the servant of the Lord as the one in the wrong; when he must stand alone, and rebuke wrong and apostasy in leaders and people alike.
The power of the message is the same as was possessed by Elijah. And we read of him that he "was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months, and he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain." There is another time recorded when he prayed, and God answered by fire. These prayers were for no other purpose than to save souls, and to vindicate the cause of God. Being unselfish prayers of faith, God could answer them; and, when they were answered, and God had vindicated Himself, Elijah did not become exalted. He remained humble under all circumstances.
Dear reader, are you so filled with the spirit and power of Elijah which is in this message, that you can stand alone, if every leader and all the people should be "shaken out"? Can you so lay hold of God as to lose sight of self, and, no matter how or by whom the different phases of the message have been or may be brought to the front, you can go with it to triumphant victory and translation? May the Lord grant you His grace, that it may be so. "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him."
Nashville, Tenn.
SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?
By Elizabeth White Hull
BY ELIZABETH WHITE HULL.
"SHALL man, here dying, live again?"
Asked the Idumean prince;
And anxious souls, in search of life,
Have asked it ever since.
"Yea, live again?" when breath is spent,
And the flesh is a useless thing?
Can he come again from the low, green tent?
Whose doors ne'er outward swing?
"Shall he live again?" A word so old
That it came with time's fresh dawn
Says he shall live; and the hope is told
In the ear of the child unborn.
He will live again: O sweet the dreams
That the olden story brings,
Of a sylvan land with silvery streams,
Enriched with unspeakable things.
Yea, he shall live—a wonderful thing—
Not knowing that glory yet;
And the price He paid that gift to bring
We will never, no never, forget.
Onarga, Ill.
MAJORITY OR MINORITY.
A Splendid Statement of a Great and Important Truth.
THE chief value of the unguided opinion of the majority on any subject is as a warning rather than as a guide. The majority of persons will not agree with this statement of truth, which is only additional evidence of its truth. But a careful investigation of the facts as they are to-day, and as they have been throughout history, back to the time when error so overbalanced truth that only a flood could give truth a fair start again, and to the Garden of Eden itself, when there were two to one against Adam, will reveal, not to the majority, but to the few who are willing to know and to live the truth at any cost, that in such striving they must not expect sympathy or approval from the many.
The recognition of this truth shows a clean-cut line of division between two great classes of persons in the world, and on one or the other side of that line every individual stands. It is the line that divides those who take their marching orders from the crowd, as over against those who deliberately and of set purpose intend to do differently from the crowd. The former class finds its recruits in nine men out of every ten. The tenth man stands by himself in the latter class; somewhat lonely, sure to be sneered at and condemned as "different," but as sure to win in the long run rewards that are utterly beyond the reach of the crowd, as the trained athlete is foreordained to distance the average man in feats that call for skill and endurance.
Therefore it is no small matter that one should make a life-choice in this thing; and, having made the choice that puts him in the minority, prayerfully bring that decision to bear upon every debatable course of action, day by day, that confronts him. For until one has squarely faced this particular truth, he is not likely to realize its daily bearing upon his life. Its greatest value, indeed, is likely to come from its application to what the wrong majority call the "trifles" of life. It is harder to be "different," when we ought to be, in some of the smaller details of business and social and home life, than in a crisis which, by its very challenge, summons into action the best there is in us. But the principle is as big in the one case as in the other, and the effect of its observance or ignoring is in inverse ratio to the majority's opinion of that effect.—Sunday-School Times.
COMFORT FOR THE SAD, SICK, AND WEARY.
By Daniel Nettleton
BY DANIEL NETTLETON.
JESUS cast out devils by His word. We read (Luke 13:10-16) that Satan had bound a woman by a physical infirmity for eighteen years, but Jesus healed her by laying His hands on her and saying, "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity." Jesus has power even over death.
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. 2:14, 15.
O, how glad we ought to be! How thankful that all power in heaven and in earth is given unto Jesus! Jesus is our Friend. When He went back to His Father, to be our advocate in the heavenly sanctuary, He gave to His disciples the power He exercised for suffering humanity. He expects His church to go forward and complete the work He began. See John 14:12. "He came to the world to display the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. God was manifested in Him that He might be manifested in them. Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in Him. His perfect humanity is that which all His followers may possess if they will be in subjection to God as He was."—Desire of Ages, page 795. He said, "I can of mine own self do nothing, the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works."
But with Him we can do something. Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth Me." Phil. 4:13. He also prays this prayer for us: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be11strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Eph. 3:14-21. This is an inspired prayer. All that is asked for in this prayer may be ours, if we will unite in the petition, and by faith receive these blessings.
It is our privilege to pray. "The prayer of the righteous is His delight." God loves to have us pray. He says, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
But sin must be confessed and put away. If we regard iniquity in the heart, the Lord will not hear us. The Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it can not save us, but known and unconfessed sin separates from God. We should confess and forsake our sins; then believe the promise, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. We should also co-operate with God in the use of those means which He may appoint for our restoration.
Praying for the sick is a most solemn thing, and we should not enter upon this work in any careless, hasty way. Examination should be made as to whether those who would be blessed with health have indulged in evil-speaking, alienation, and dissension. Have they sowed discord among the brethren and sisters in the church? If these things have been committed, they should be confessed before God and the church. When wrongs have been confessed, the subjects for prayer may be presented before God in earnestness and faith, as the Spirit of God may move upon you. But it is not always safe to ask for unconditional healing.
Jesus prayed, "O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt." Matt. 26:39.
And He taught us to pray, "Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth."
When the leper came to Jesus for healing, he said, "Lord, if Thou wilt Thou canst make me whole." God is too wise to err and too good to withhold any good thing from His children.
Prayer.
"Lord, what a change within us one short hour
Spent in Thy presence will avail to make!
What heavy burdens from our bosoms take!
What parched* grounds refresh us with a shower!
We kneel, and all around us seems to lower;
We rise, and all, the distant and the near,
Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear.
We kneel—how weak! We rise—how full of power!
Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong,
Or others—that we are not always strong;
That we are overborne with care—
That we should ever weak or heartless be,
Anxious or troubled—when with us is prayer;
And joy, and strength, and courage are with THEE?"
And now remember this: God is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. We shall soon be in that land where the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. And there will not be anything to make us sad or weary.
"And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isa. 35:10.
CARELESS READING.
By B. E. Fisk
BY B. E. FISK.
MANY erroneous views of scripture teaching are held as the result of carelessness in reading texts or from failure to notice the connection in which they are used.
When once a theory is accepted, whether right or wrong, it is so natural to read through spectacles of that color, that the real truth of the word remains hidden for generations.
The writer once listened to a funeral discourse based on Rev. 14:13: "And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth," etc.
While the sermon contained many points of merit, the ideas advanced were more comforting than scriptural. The command given to John to write was used as if spelled right, and made to qualify the word blessed so that the dead who die in the Lord are more than ordinarily blessed. They are right blessed.
From the context it was clear that John was carried in vision down to a period in the world's history when a persecuting power would arise. This power is symbolized in chapter 13 under the figure of a beast which was to require all who live upon the earth to worship his image under penalty of death.
In Rev. 14:9, 10, is found a warning against such worship under pain of God's wrath. This clearly shows that the beast power is opposed to God. At that time true believers are placed in a dilemma equal to that imposed by Nebuchadnezzar upon the Hebrews in Babylon. See Daniel 3. In view of these trials the Spirit commanded the prophet to write, "Blessed [or happy] are the dead which die in the Lord." Their works are accepted; their names are registered in the book of life; and they have escaped the fiery trial which the remnant are called to pass through. But all this seemed to be unnoticed.
Another example of careless reading is illustrated by a religious paper which declared that its editor had been "translated" "and went to live with God last night."
No doubt it was intended to announce the death of the editor. But let us notice the two instances of translation spoken of in the scriptures and see if death and translation are synonymous terms.
In Heb. 11:5 we read, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him."
The expression "was not found" must mean that no lifeless body was found to be buried.
Should any question this conclusion, please notice the experience of Elijah as recorded in the second chapter of Second Kings. From verses 11 and 12 we learn that he was taken up bodily, and Elisha saw him go. Also from verse 17 we learn that fifty men searched for the absent prophet three days "and found him not."
God saw in these men a fitness for companionship with the holy angels; and, as a grand triumph over the power of death, He took them alive to His heavenly home.
And let us notice that the Bible speaks of no other way of going to live with God, save going alive. We can not go while dead. "The dead know not anything." Eccl. 9:5.
But when the last great trumpet shall sound, the sleeping saints will arise from their dusty beds, and, with new life, will go to the Father's house. In 1 Thess. 4:16 we read of the resurrection of the righteous dead. Then in verse 17 Paul refers to those who shall be translated, "caught up," as Enoch and Elijah were, together with those who have been dead but are now alive, all to meet the Lord at the same time in the air.
This is quite different from the idea that one by one at the call of death the righteous are translated.
And may we not suppose that such careless reading is the cause of many errors in doctrine and practise among those who claim the Bible as authority? A preacher of no mean ability, who boasted of having read the Bible through forty-three times by course, once asked this question: "If the Lord wanted us to keep the seventh day, why did He not say so?"
Now, as every Bible reader must know, Ex. 20:10 expressly states that the Sabbath which is to be kept holy is the seventh day. It is therefore evident that this person had read the Fourth Commandment forty-three times in a very careless manner.
Instances might be given touching nearly every fundamental Bible doctrine.
These are not referred to in a spirit of criticism, of controversy, but to call attention to a common error among believers. Why will we treat that which we profess to believe of greatest importance in such a trifling manner?
We would not do this in case of legal documents relating to worldly possessions. Every line would be studied and every word weighed in order to know just what rights and privileges were conveyed by them.
Our heavenly Father has outlined for us the great plan by which He is to bring His children back to the possession of the "first dominion." His directions are very minute as to where the heirs of the promise are to be found and what they are to be doing. It will not do to guess at these things or to say because some man has raised this or that standard we will go by that. It is the blessed privilege of all who read to gain such knowledge that they will not be found wanting when Christ makes up His jewels.
Richburg, N. Y.
The Fruits of Self-Indulgence
"LET not the self-indulgent man ask, Why have I failed? Men must reap what they sow, and failure is the legitimate fruit of self-indulgence."
Saving Boys in Calcutta
By Editor
That burning question, “What shall we do with our boys?” is aflame in Calcutta. It is said that in that city 24,000 boys under fifteen years of age, and thousands more between fifteen and seventeen, are being taught to read and write. This, of itself, is a good report; but the rest is not so good. The majority of these boys are confirmed cigaret-smokers, and “so shameless are the snares to impurity that, in broad daylight, on their way from school, mere lads are haled by abandoned women.” Some of Brother Phelps’ little papers—Save the Boys—might do good over there. We suggest that it might be good missionary work to try a club. Just now he is accepting subscriptions at 20 cents a year. Address, Save the Boys, 118 W. Minnehaha Boulevard, Minneapolis, Minn
LOMA LINDA.
By Mrs. Emma H. Adams
A Brief Visit to the Great Sanitarium.
BY MRS. EMMA H. ADAMS.
LATE on Friday afternoon, September first, the writer, with the above famous locality inviting her away from the mountains of dust and the indescribable racket of the streets of Los Angeles, took seat on a train of the main line of the Southern Pacific Railway for the 150 minutes' ride eastward to this point, sixty-two miles from Los Angeles.
Alighting from the train, and passing through the verdant driveway, a distance of thirty rods or more, we stood at the base of imposing Loma Linda, and at the foot of the long double stairway leading to the sanitarium located far up its northern side amid a splendid ornamentation of trees, shrubs, and flowers.
The highly cultivated eminence, crowned by the stately sanitarium, and its cluster of pretty cottages, the sunlit valley with its miles of orange, lemon, olive, and apricot groves, together with the long lines of towering hills and mountains which frame all these things in, form an entrancing rural scene, one that can never be without charm and cheer for the invalid, and one of which the visitor fond of nature may never tire.
Loma Linda—the Spanish for beautiful hill—is a solitary eminence rising to a height of 200 feet near the center of the San Bernardino Valley. The altitude of the hill above the sea is 1,400 feet, an altitude considered especially favorable for many classes of disease.
And when to great beauty of scenery, and to faultless altitude, is added the subtle, life-giving influence of a pure atmosphere by night and by day, one can scarcely imagine a location more perfectly adapted to sanitarium purposes.
To have found, ready for immediate use, an institution so complete, and free from the perplexing labor of building and equipping, is certainly a piece of rare good fortune for the Adventist brethren in Southern California. Surely it evinces the favor with which God regards their efforts to give the great message to those who have not heard it.
An impressing feature of the five attractive cottages, and of the main building, with its three stories and sixty-four rooms, is the scope, the liberality, the amplitude, which speak out in their dimensions, furnishings, and provisions for light and heat. No where, in no thing, is there a suggestion of narrowness or of parsimony. To provide generously, to be humane, to meet need even before it is felt, seems to have been the purpose of the builders on Loma Linda.
The five cottages are so located that every room may have an unlimited supply of sunlight by day, and so furnished that there can be no stint of electric light by night. From broad, high windows in every room, the inmates may look upon delightful vistas of sky, mountains and valley, and upon charming garden effects at the very doors.
In all this graciousness the sanitarium itself does not fall behind. From its broad balconies, windows, and roomy fire-escapes, attached to the second and third stories, Colton, San Bernardino, Redlands, San Jacinto, with other near-by towns, invite to morning and evening drives full of charm, wrought out by trees, lawns, and flowers.
Then too, the great San Bernardino Valley is replete with historical stories and episodes, which invalids ethnologically inclined may find no slight pleasure in tracing. Representatives of three different races of men have flourished successively on its soil. Among them have figured leaders, strong, alert, ready for occasions of difficulty, and for splendid effort in times of great trial.
At this writing the institution is in the hands of care-takers, who are busy looking after the fowls, cows, horses, gardens, and many acres of fruit trees pertaining thereto.
However, settled occupation of the premises, and work along select, chosen, sanitarium lines will follow immediately. Elder J. A. Burden, now in charge of the sanitarium at Glendale, eight miles northwest of Los Angeles, will within the month enter upon his duties as manager at Loma Linda, and early in October the famed sanitarium will be opened to guests.
Two skilled physicians, and the necessary force of nurses and helpers will also be on the ground.
Thereafter the high endeavor of the management will be to carry out at Loma Linda a system of treatment and of living for the sick which shall be conducive in the highest degree, not merely to the physical healing, but also to the mental and spiritual welfare of all sojourners at the institution. And this means, simply, that a noble example of living on a high plane will be the steady, powerful object-lesson at Loma Linda.
The writer is loath to close this paper without brief reference to the unique but very enjoyable services held on the lawn at Loma Linda, on the Sabbath, September 2. The "Lawn" is a charming green space at the rear of the sanitarium and is shaded by wide-branching pepper trees.
The scene presented, when the people were convened for the Sabbath-school, and were awaiting the first hymn, was an exceedingly impressive one. Radiant sunlight flooded the hill-top and the picturesque valley. A brisk breeze bringing perfume from fragrant flowers and aromatic trees cooled our warm faces and swayed the graceful pepper sprays.
Happy birds, listened while we sang inspiring hymns.
Most of the company had driven over from Riverside, seven miles distant, and from Redlands, Colton, and San Bernardino, four and five miles away.
After the Sabbath-school service, Mrs. E. G. White, who had passed some two weeks among the delights of Loma Linda, addressed the assembly. She spoke for a half hour or more in a line very instructive and helpful. An interesting meeting, conducted by Elder Burden, was held in the afternoon at 2:30, and was full of uplift and profit.
CONCERNING THE PHILIPPINES.
According to the latest government report, while the density of population on the mainland of the United States is 26 to the square mile, the density in the Philippines is 67. The 342 islands of the archipelago have a total of 7,635,426 inhabitants. As the wild tribes constitute only 9 per cent. of the population, 7,000,000 of the people are classified as civilized. Practically all of the civilized peoples belong to the Roman Catholic Church, and of the 647,740 who are classed as non-Christian, some have no religion, while two-fifths, belonging to the Moro tribe, are Mohammedans.
The only incorporated city in the Philippines is Manila, with 219,928 inhabitants, but there are four towns in the archipelago with over 10,000 inhabitants each, thirty-five with over 5,000, and 13,400 barrios or villages, with an average population of 500. Only about 44 per cent. of the people of school age can read a little, usually in their own dialects, and only about 25 per cent. of those of school age can both read and write, while but 10 per cent. can read Spanish or English. Thanks to the United States, 37 per cent. of all the children of school age are going to school. Of the Filipinos 43.5 per cent. of all the civilized people are engaged in gainful occupations, against 36 per cent. in the United States. The surprisingly-large Filipino percentage is due to the fact that women and girls, who weave beautiful fabrics at home, are generally engaged in some small industry.
The average size of the Filipino farm is only about eight acres, and the farmer usually owns his land. Pauperism is unknown, because very little effort produces the necessaries of life. The average age of the natives is nearly 24 years, which is above the average age of negroes in the United States, and nearly two and a half years less than that of the white American. The young Filipinos are exceedingly eager to learn to read and write, and very quick to learn. The workers in the field of education predict that within a few years practically all the youth in the archipelago will have a fairly good elementary education; and then the next problem for their American tutors is to make them all as dissatisfied as possible with their present elementary state of bliss, so that they will go out and work, that they may be able to buy cotton cloth, dollar watches, and other products of American mills.—Christian Work
THY WILL BE DONE.
By John Hay
Not in dumb resignation we lift our hands on high;
Not like the nerveless fatalist, content to do and die;
Our faith springs, like the eagle's, who soars to meet the sun,
And cries exulting unto Thee, "O Lord, Thy will be done!"
Thy will! It bids the weak be strong; it bids the strong be just;
No lips to fawn, no hand to beg, no brow to seek the dust.
Whenever man oppresses men beneath the liberal sun,
O Lord, be there; Thine arm made bare, Thy righteous will be done.
—Hon. John Hay.
A Day Lost
"Count that day lost whose low, descending sun
Views from thy hand no worthy action done."
