Your ShelfYour Projects

Review and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 33.

In Twilight Fields

Review and Herald

Aug 14, 1913

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 14, 1913

In Twilight Fields

By L. M. Montgomery

L. M. MONTGOMERY
O’er dewy meadows, dim and gray, There comes a breath of balm, And winding slopes of far away Are wrapped in pensive calm. Afar the lustrous skies are deep, And crystal planets shine Where roaming winds have dropped asleep Among the hills of pine.
The daisies float above the grass, Like spirits of the dew, And low, sweet voices faintly pass The lush green thickets through. Slow fades the mellow sunset light, The dusker shadows creep; Beneath the soothing touch of night The world has found its sleep.
No echoes of the troubled day Can stir this wondrous hour; Noon’s feverish breath is far away, And care has lost its power. Lulled on her broad, maternal breast, Our kind earth-mother yields A deep, untainted peace and rest In tranquil twilight fields.
— Zion’s Herald.

TWO VALUABLE BOOKS

The PRINTING-PRESS AND THE GOSPEL

A Recruiting Agency for Gospel Workers, by E. R. Palmer. It is a record of the “courage and devotion, sacrifice and success, of the printers and colporteurs who have pioneered the way for other great religious movements,” and “an inspiration to those who are called of God to proclaim the gospel in its final setting.”
The book gives an outline of the history of printing from the invention of type to the time when Catholicism said, “We must root out printing or printing will root out us.”
From the revival of letters, and the illustrious battle waged by Luther with his mighty pen, the narrative takes us to the time when printing, “the engine of the Reformation,” had gathered to its standard Zwingli of Switzerland, Wyclif of England, the Huguenots of France, and the Waldenses of Italy, and with its powerful projectiles made breaches in the walls of Catholicism.
Leaving the strenuous days of the middle ages, we are taken by the author to the remote portions of the earth, where Morrison, Mackay, Judson, Moffat, Williams, and others blazed the way among heathen and barbarous tribes, and where missionaries of our day are traveling in comparative safety. Incidents in the lives of Christian workers, stories of God’s providences, and experiences, achievements, and successes of other servants of the Master occupy the latter portions of the book.
Thrilling in its narratives, fascinating in its descriptions, and inspirational in the lessons drawn from its illustrations, the book will be a valued addition to any library. It contains 274 pages, is printed from clear type on thin paper, and is bound in red flexible leather, stamped in gold. Price, 60 cents.

The CONFLICT BETWEEN CAPITAL AND LABOR

A fair, candid, and impartial treatment of the subject from a non-partizan and Christian standpoint, by E. T. Russell. One writer has well said, “The terrible struggles between capital and labor, with the appalling prospects of world-embracing organizations on both sides, are the darkest aspects of an irresistible tendency.”
This new book is brimful of the most interesting information regarding one of the greatest problems facing our country at the present time. What has led to the present strained relationship between employer and employee? What is the remedy? This is fully described in the volume “Capital and Labor.” Unlike other books on the same subject, which have been written by partizans of one class or the other, and which therefore have presented but one side of the subject, this book was written by a non-partizan from an unbiased standpoint, and points out not only the evils involved, but a remedy for those evils.
With hundreds of labor organizations championing the cause of their members, regardless of the merits of their cases, and with a thousand trusts operating in this country and others under consideration, the industrial problem must be a serious one, and demands the attention of every sober-minded person. Many valuable facts and figures have been collected for this book, which make it a volume not to be overlooked in the study of important present-day subjects.
The book contains 208 pages, 51 illustrations, besides tables and diagrams showing the production of gold; the increase of wealth; the formation and capitalization of various trusts; the strikes from 1881 to 1911, with the number of men involved, and the effects of these strikes upon the country in general. An emblematic cover design in four colors. Price, 75 cents.
Published by Review and Herald Publishing Assn., Washington, D. C.
ORDER FROM YOUR CONFERENCE TRACT SOCIETY

HYMNS AND TUNES

By Editor

At a recent meeting of the California-Nevada Conference and camp-meeting, the following resolution was passed with reference to the use of “Hymns and Tunes” in our church services:—
“Believing in the injunction that we should sing with the spirit and with the understanding, and believing that this message should be expressed more fully than it is in many of the popular songs of today, therefore,—
“Resolved, That we as a conference urge the use of ‘Hymns and Tunes’ in all our churches.”
Doubtless many of our churches throughout the land have missed the singing of the good old advent hymns that are found in “Hymns and Tunes.” At the General Conference held four years ago it was voted that “Hymns and Tunes” be revised. This action caused many of our people to cease purchasing the book, waiting for the revised edition. Considerable time was spent in studying the revision, but the committee appointed to do this finally concluded that it would be impracticable, for many reasons, to undertake a revision of the book. The good, stirring, advent hymns which were an inspiration to our song services for twenty years or more are just as inspiring today as at any time since they were written. “Hymns and Tunes” will not be revised, and we suggest that our churches make use of this book regularly in their Sabbath services. Prices and bindings are as follows:—
Full cloth, plain edge, 75 cents    Half leather - $1.50    Russia - - - $2.00 Turkey morocco        $2.25     Levant flexible - $3.25

ORDER FROM YOUR TRACT SOCIETY

Grace Abounding

By Arthur W. Spaulding

ARTHUR W. SPAULDING
Not worthy, Lord, to touch thy garment's hem! Not worthy that thy power shouldst thrill me through! How should I feel the pulse of life anew, Whom life hath looked on only to condemn?
Not worthy, Lord, that thou shouldst pass my door! My craft hath led me with the violent; Apart from thee my youthful strength was spent; And now for others can I ask for more?
Not worthy, Lord, that thou shouldst call my name! Thine own, I once professed, I have profaned; The ardor of my early love hath waned; Not favor, Lord, is due to me, but blame.
But ah, that touch, that look, have healed my soul! That word, far speeding, hath its wonders wrought! That honor given, all my powers hath bought! Not half, as once, dear Lord; I give the whole!
Sanitarium, Cal.

Elijah the Tishbite

By Ellen G. White

A Call to Repentance

MRS. E. G. WHITE
Ever since the death of Solomon the evil of idolatry had been spreading among the Israelites. The glory of the earlier years of Solomon's reign had made a profound impression on the heathen world, and many had been led to worship Jehovah. But the apostasy that followed the division of the kingdom caused the name of the God of Israel to be dishonored in the eyes of the heathen. In the days of Ahab the tide of corruption threatened to overflow the land like a flood. No barrier, it seemed, could prevail against its ruinous influence or prevent the torrent of idolatry from sweeping all before it.
By the adoption of the shameless worship of Baal and Ashtoreth in the time of Ahab, the chosen nation forfeited all claim to the protecting care of Jehovah. In every direction they had reared the altar of profanity, before which prophets and loyal men, servants of the God of heaven, had poured out their blood. The moral atmosphere was clouded with the smoke of national idolatry. So deep, so widespread was the apostasy that only by means of terrible judgments could the purposes of God for Israel be fulfilled.
It was at this time that Elijah was sent, as God's chosen messenger, to the people of Israel. Elijah was not called from a high station in life or from a city of renown, to take his place in the work of God. He was born among the mountains of Gilead, east of the Jordan, and came from a nation that was overspread with the abominations of the Amorites. But he entered upon his work with the word of faith and power on his lips, and his whole life was devoted to the work of reform. His was the voice of one crying in the wilderness to rebuke sin and press back the tide of evil. And while he came to the people as a reprover of sin, his message offered the balm of Gilead to the sin-sick souls of all who desired to be healed.
As Elijah saw Israel going deeper and deeper into idolatry, his soul was distressed and his indignation aroused. God had done great things for his people. He had delivered them from the Egyptians, and brought them through the Red Sea and the wilderness into the promised land. As the prophet beheld the wide-spread unbelief that was fast separating the chosen people from the Source of their strength, he was overwhelmed with sorrow. In anguish he besought God to arrest them in their wicked course, to bring upon them, if need be, the judgments of Heaven, that they might be led to see in its true light their departure from Heaven. He longed to see them brought to repentance before they would go to such lengths in evil-doing as to provoke the Lord to destroy them utterly.
Elijah's prayer was answered. Appeal, remonstrance, and warning had failed to bring Israel to repentance. The time had come when God must speak to them by means of judgments. The worshipers of Baal claimed that the treasures of heaven, the dew and the rain, came not from Jehovah, but from the ruling forces of nature. The priests of Baal taught that it was through the creative energy of the sun that the earth was enriched and made to bring forth abundantly. That Israel might be shown the folly of trusting to the power of Baal for temporal blessings, the curse of God was to rest heavily upon the polluted land. Until Israel should turn to him with repentance, and acknowledge him as the source of all blessing, there would fall upon the land neither dew nor rain.
To Elijah was entrusted the mission of delivering to Ahab Heaven's message of judgment. He did not seek to be the Lord's messenger; the word of the Lord came to him. And jealous for the honor of God's cause, he did not hesitate to obey the divine summons, though to obey seemed to invite swift destruction at the hand of the wicked king. The prophet set out at once, and traveled night and day until he reached Samaria. On reaching the palace, he solicited no admission, nor waited to be formally announced. Clad in the coarse garments usually worn by the prophets of that time, he passed the guards, apparently unnoticed, and stood for a moment before the astonished king.
Elijah made no apology for his abrupt appearance. A greater than the ruler of Israel had commissioned him to speak, and lifting his hand toward heaven, he solemnly affirmed by the living God that the judgments of the Most High were about to fall upon Israel. “There shall not be dew nor rain these years,” he declared, “but according to my word.”
It was only by the exercise of strong faith in the unfailing power of God's word that Elijah delivered his message. Without implicit confidence in the One whom he served, he would never have appeared before Ahab. On his way to Samaria, he had passed by ever-flowing streams, hills covered with verdure, and stately forests that seemed beyond the reach of drought. Everything on which the eye rested was clothed with beauty. Elijah might have wondered how the streams that had never ceased their flowcould become dry, or how the hills and valleys could be burned with drought. But he gave no place to unbelief. He fully believed that God would humble apostate Israel, and that through judgments they would be brought to repentance. The fiat of Heaven had gone forth, God's word could not fail; and at the peril of his life Elijah fearlessly fulfilled his commission.
Like a thunderbolt from a clear sky the message of impending judgment, so unexpected, so terrible, fell upon the ears of the wicked king. He was paralyzed by its suddenness. Before he could recover from his astonishment or frame a reply, Elijah disappeared, taking with him the key of heaven.
Without waiting to see the effect of his message, Elijah went as suddenly as he had come. His it was to utter the word of woe; this accomplished, he immediately withdrew. His word had locked up the treasures of heaven, and his word only could open them again.
No sooner had Elijah left the presence of Ahab than the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee.”
Ahab did not realize that the prophet had left his presence unrebuked until the man of God had gone beyond recall. He made diligent inquiry concerning Elijah, but the prophet was not to be found. When Ahab told Jezebel of the message of Elijah, she was very angry, and lost no time in conferring with the priests of Baal, who united with her in cursing the prophet of Jehovah and defying the wrath of Heaven. The tidings of Elijah's denunciation of the sins of Israel, and his prophecy of swift-coming punishment, spread throughout the land, arousing the fears of some and the scorn and ridicule of many.
(To be concluded)

The World's Armageddon Battle in Prophecy

By R. C. Porter

  • (Concluded) *
R. C. PORTER

Where and When Will the Armageddon Battle Be Fought?

ARMAGEDDON is north of Jerusalem, in the Holy Land. It is situated near Mt. Megiddo, from which its name is derived. Speaking of this battle in which the kings of the earth and the whole world are to share, the Scriptures declare: “And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Rev. 16:16. The prophet Joel says, “Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat.” Joel 3:12. The valley of Jehoshaphat is also situated in the Holy Land. Ezekiel refers to some of the combatants as follows: “Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.” Eze. 38:2, 3; 39:1, R. V. Rosh is Russia. See Gesenius, Smith’s Bible Dictionary, and McClintock and Strong. Russia, coming from the north with a mighty army, is to join in this last-day battle in the land of Israel. Eze. 38:15, 16. God will overthrow this army upon the mountains of Israel with the plagues of his last-day judgments. Eze. 38:21-23; 39:2-4.

Armageddon's Sequel

The Russian army becomes a part of the prey of this last-day conflict. Eze. 39:17-21; Rev. 19:11-21; Jer. 25:31-33.
The professedly Christian nations that gather at Jerusalem, in anticipation of reestablishing Christ’s kingdom of eternal peace by the sword of international conquest over the heathen nations, meet the same fate as Russia and the heathen nations, under God’s last-day judgments. Jer. 25:33-38; Isa. 2:1-21. Paul speaks prophetically of the sequel to the attempt of the nations to establish Christ’s kingdom of peace as follows: “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:1-4. There is deliverance for none but the children of light.
From the scriptures cited, it is unquestionable that Armageddon is this world’s closing conflict. It ends with the second advent of Christ. Rev. 6:12-17. The kingdom of God is not to be established by national conquest. If it were thus established, all nations would enter it in the last great battle with which the world’s history closes; for at that time it is said: “It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.” Does the Lord accept this attempt to reestablish the kingdom of Christ by the conquest of professedly Christian nations, and by their enforcement of a profession of Christianity? Let him answer. “Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people.” “And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.” Isa. 2:6, 9.
The kingdom of God is not established in that way. There is but one door into it. Christ said, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” John 10:9, 1. The pathway into the kingdom of God is by the new birth. Christ said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5. The new birth is individual. It can no more be accomplished now nationally than in the days of ancient Israel. By the new birth the law of the kingdom of God is reestablished in the heart of the penitent sinner. Heb. 8:10. A sinner is a rebel against the government of God. No rebel is ever reinstated as a citizen until he has ceased his rebellion, and sworn everlasting allegiance to the law of the government. So it is with the kingdom of God. When one is thus born by faith into the kingdom of God, Christ declares, “The kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21. Peter says: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
The attempt to establish the kingdom of God by the conquest of the sword is a scheme of Satan with which to ensnare and ruin the world in the last days. The end of that way is death, for Christ has said, “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.” Matt. 26:52. How thankful we should be that we may make our calling and election sure! In the face of the prevailing apostasy of the last days that shall bring trouble and unrest throughout the world, we may accept the invitation of Christ: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28.
The kingdom of God is not war and unrest. The kingdom of God is “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 14:17. In the midst of the world’s Armageddon, when there is to be “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation” (Dan. 12:1), the people of God will rest in peace, quietness, and assurance, as unshaken as the throne of God. Isa. 32:17-19. When the Armageddon conflict closes, God’s people will “be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Dan. 12:1. Reader, is your name written there? When the Armageddon battle comes, it is too late to have our names enrolled in the book of life. Probation has then closed. Probation closes before the beginning of the seven last plagues. Rev. 15:8. Armageddon takes place under the sixth plague. Rev. 16:12. The seventh plague brings the end. A voice from the throne announces, “It is done.” Rev. 16:17. Then follows the great earthquake that breaks down every city, and closes the Armageddon battle by depopulating the earth. Rev. 16:18-21; Jer. 4:19-26; 25:31-33.
While banished to the isle of Patmos, the sequel to the world’s Armageddon battle was graphically portrayed before John the beloved, in holy vision: “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of hiswrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:14-17.
Thus ends the awful last-day Armageddon tragedy for which the world, from the schoolboy of tender years to the man of gray hair and mature experience, is today in training. Each should stop and consider the harvest for which he is sowing. The question, Who shall be able to stand? which faces the participants in this last-day carnage in the blackness of despair, is answered by the prophet Daniel: “At that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Dan. 12:1.
Shanghai, China.

The Wealth of the World

By E. K. Slade

Gospel Finance—No. 4

The Wealth of the World

E. K. SLADE
IN our study of gospel finance, it will not be a serious digression to consider conditions relating to financial matters and how the wealth of the world is held and controlled in our time. As time advances, the seeds of sin and selfishness ripen into a harvest of extremes and perversions until we are permitted to see the full results of a reign of sin. This downward course, this departure from God, is becoming more apparent every day in the manifestations of evil of every sort. In the full revelation of the man of sin we may reasonably expect to see a more marked manifestation of departure from heaven’s ways in this one particular; and who can fail to find, with only a superficial investigation, a financial situation, a condition of extreme wealth and extreme poverty, that is positively perilous? The condition is such that it outweighs every other consideration in the minds of the world’s statesmen and legislators. Not only is the largeness of the possessions of a few and the extreme poverty of so many appalling, but the situation is much more appalling when there is taken into consideration how recently and how rapidly this state of things has developed.
One hundred years ago, very few if any could lay claim to possessing a million dollars. Fifty years ago but a small number of men had ever acquired that much wealth. The sinful nature had actuated men since the days of Adam, yet in this matter of possessions the most startling extremes and perversions have developed in recent years. In spite of all attempts at regulation by law, the thing goes on unchecked, and even with acceleration, the bulk of the wealth of the world being held by a few men and controlled by fewer, and the number of those in need of the common comforts and necessities of life ever increasing. Never was there anywhere nearly so much wealth possessed by humanity in any time as now; yet in no time has there been so large a class in poverty and need.
This condition of extreme poverty and extreme wealth is a last-day condition that the prophet points out as a way-mark indicating the nearness of the end of the gospel age; it is a distinct and definite sign. To us, in this study, it indicates that the nearer we are to the end and the more fully sin develops and ripens, the more striking the contrast between God’s perfect plan and the world’s way in the question under consideration. It helps to emphasize the importance and need of the gospel arrangement for man’s restoration as related to this question of ownership.
The Lord does not recognize the world’s standards. He counts as a fool the worldly wise. “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing.” The weak man is strong, the humble man is exalted. The primary purpose of gospel finance is to bring humanity to a point of recognizing, appreciating, and possessing true riches. The idolatry of covetousness prevails in the unregenerate heart, and is just as wicked in one who “would be rich” as in the one who becomes rich. The Lord’s kingdom is a commonwealth where ownership cannot be had on the world’s basis. We do not count it wrong to possess property here, neither do we advocate a commonwealth in the world or in the church until God places it there; but we do want to point out that every man and woman must have a preparation for the commonwealth which is to be wrought in us through the grace of God in the way the gospel provides that our possessions and earnings shall finance the gospel work. We want to make emphatic the thought that the spirit of the world in this matter is to be wholly overcome; and that if it is not, one cannot be safely admitted into the true commonwealth. The warning recently given us that “on this point many will fail” is significant. As we behold the extremes in the world that constitute a sign of the nearness of the end, shall we not permit it to bring us into full harmony with God’s plan and purpose in financing his work and fitting us for his kingdom?
Mount Vernon, Ohio.

God's Method of Saving

By G. B. Starr

G. B. STARR
Because of his great desire to save us, and because for our sakes he can find no just ground to save us, God has planned for his own sake to blot out our transgressions and save us. “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” Isa. 43: 25.
“For his sake” makes a sure ground of hope for every sinner. There is no room for doubt here. It depends not now upon our worthiness, but his; not upon our weak desire for salvation even, but upon his strong desire to save, his love that cannot let us perish. And in order to make a sure ground of salvation he has laid all our sins upon his own innocent, loving Son. “On him the iniquity of us all” has been made to meet. Isaiah 53. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2 Cor. 5: 21.
This is God’s sure method of dealing with sin,—to put it upon an innocent one, and destroy it, and put upon the sinner the righteousness of the innocent one. Wonderful redemption! How successfully great and grand, and how infinitely simple! Taken out of the hands of all who could only fail to achieve salvation and placed in the hands of one who could only succeed, and then presented as a free gift to us, this complete salvation!
“By faith I view my Saviour dying On the tree, on the tree; To every sinner he is crying, Look to me, look to me; He bids the guilty now draw near, Repent, believe, dismiss their fear: Hark! hark! what precious words I hear: Mercy’s free, mercy’s free. “Jesus, the Lord of life, hath spoken Peace to me, peace to me; Now all my chains of sin are broken, I am free, I am free. Soon as I on his name believed, His pardoning grace my soul received, And was from sin and death retrieved; Mercy’s free, mercy’s free.”
— “Christ in Song,” No. 83.
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Heb. 2: 9.
Do we, dear reader, see Jesus tasting death for us, personally? He tasted death for every man. Then it was for you, for me; in your stead and mine, he died, and it was by the grace of God that he died in our stead. Love, which planned our escape, put him where the arrow of death struck him in our stead. It is when we see and believe this that we are free. This is the ground of our emancipation. He signed our papers with his own blood, and we are free. Precious substitute! I love him, I love him!
At the late General Conference word came that a missionary (Lynn Bowen) had fallen in death at his post in Africa. Immediately another missionary (M. C. Sturdevant) arose in the great congregation and with broken utterance endeavored to tell us of his emotions. “Why,” he said, “that man died in my stead. He was filling my place while I came to this Conference.”
Another instance illustrating God’s method of saving, was related by Elder R. C. Porter in the closing Sunday night address. In France, in the time of Napoleon, a man was drafted for the war, but hired a substitute. In an engagement his substitute was killed. A few months later another draft was made, and this same man was again conscripted, but he refused to respond, either in person or by substitute, claiming that he was dead; that when his substitute died, he died, and so was free from the law. The military officers failed to see the force of this reasoning, and the case was appealed to Napoleon, who, after listening to the man’s argument, sustained him, and sent him homefree, stating that a man could die only once.
So we are free. We died upon Calvary, in the person of our Substitute. ‘Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.’ Safe from the attacks of Satan; safe, eternally safe!
Melrose, Mass.

The Greatest Religious Movement of the Ages; Another Pentecost Due

By G. W. Reaser

G. W. REASER
For fully threescore years and ten a series of great prophetic messages has been proclaimed to the world. This series of messages is fittingly called the Great Advent Movement. This movement is foretold in Revelation 10 and 14. If any class of events ought to be pre-announced in prophecy, we should naturally expect such announcement to be made of the world's greatest religious movements, as these are events in which all heaven is directly interested. The Great Advent Movement is the very last proclamation of “the everlasting gospel,” and reaches its focal point in the glorious event of the second coming of Christ. Rev. 14:14.
While we feel encouraged with the progress of our message, yet doubtless no believer in present truth is satisfied with the present rate of advancement, and but few persons can understand how our work can be accomplished in “this generation.” If the message is to be completed and our Lord is to return in this generation, what agencies will accomplish the awakening and the energizing of our people to a supreme effort in finishing our work,—the evangelization of the world,—and what agencies will attract the honest in heart to the truth, that they with us may find places in the ark of safety when mercy ceases to linger?
The purpose of the following lines is to supply from the Scriptures and from the spirit of prophecy, the answers to these vital questions.

A Patience-Testing Time of Waiting

We need not be disappointed that the giving of the message has required more time than we at first expected, for the very first specification of character development in those who become obedient to the truth in the last generation of men is expressed by the word patience (Rev. 14:12); and again, these words are addressed to God's children in the same generation: “Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Heb. 10:36. What is the promise? It is, “He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Verse 37. Thus we are forewarned that those who have embraced the promise—the hope of our Lord's return—must develop the grace of patience while waiting for the fulfilment of the promise. But will there come a time in the very near future when the message will speed on under “a new order of things,” hastening the coming of our King faster than any of us can appreciate? Are we warranted in expecting that our message will soon reach the zenith of power in—

The Mightiest Revival in All Earth's History?

In seeking to gain correct conceptions of the rapidity of progress to which it is possible for our message to attain, we may draw true conclusions by considering, in the light of Revelation and history, the following questions: First, What have been the agencies which have entered into all the great religious awakenings since the ascension of Christ to heaven? And, second, What elements, what energizing agencies must therefore enter into our message and our people to supply all the impetus, all the power, necessary to the completion of this message?
It must be evident to all thorough Bible students that every Heaven-appointed religious movement that has stirred the world possessed the following characteristics: First, every such movement was clearly a matter of prophecy, and when the time came for its accomplishment, heaven must cooperate for the fulfilment of the prophecy. Second, when the fulfilment of the prophecy was due, God had human instrumentalities ready, waiting, to give the message. Third, these human agents, being emptied of self and in accord with God and righteous men, were baptized with the Holy Spirit for the proclamation of their message, the fulfilment of the prophecy.
A review of the Heaven-appointed, world-wide religious movements from Pentecost to our own time will demonstrate whether our premises are true, and also enable us to discover what elements, what energizing influences, must enter into this message, this people, if the message is to attain a rate of progress that will finish the mystery of God in the earth in this generation.

What Agencies Produced the Results of the Day of Pentecost?

It is clear that this mighty movement was a definite and literal fulfilment of prophecy, for Peter's answer to those who heard the apostles “speak with other tongues” and made the accusation, “These men are full of new wine,” was, “These are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, . . . and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” Acts 2:13-18. Christ had also foretold this event, charging his apostles, before he was parted from them, to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until they were endowed with power from on high. Luke 24:49-51. Thus the premier requisition for a mighty, world-wide, Spirit-filled religious movement is that it shall be appointed of Heaven, through the spirit of prophecy.
The second essential to a mighty, world-wide religious movement, was met in the fact that, walking by faith in God's word and waiting for the fulfilment of the promise, “they [the disciples] were all with one accord in one place” (Acts 2:1); and the third essential was abundantly supplied when “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Verse 4.
As a partial result of this Pentecostal movement three thousand souls were converted in a single day (verse 41); and the gospel of a crucified and risen Saviour was soon spread abroad to all the civilized world, for “there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (verse 5), who acted as messengers to spread the glorious news everywhere.
Praise our God, he can organize and carry forward a mighty world movement with a handful of consecrated men from the humbler walks of life, when in his great plan the time is ripe for such a movement. And, renewed praise to him, the time is almost ripe in this generation for the mightiest Spirit-filled movement of all the ages.
Phœnix, Ariz.
(To be continued)

What Makes Us Rich, Strong, and Wise

“It is not what we earn, but what we save, that makes us rich. It is not what we eat, but what we digest, that makes us strong. It is not what we read, but what we remember, that makes us wise. It is not what we intend, but what we do, that makes us useful. It is not a few faint wishes, but a lifelong struggle, that makes us valiant.”

Weaving in Shadow

In one of the famous lace-shops of Brussels there are certain retired rooms devoted to the weaving of the finest and most delicate lace patterns. These rooms are altogether darkened, save for the light from one small window falling directly upon the pattern. There is only one lace-maker in the room, and she sits where the narrow stream of light falls upon the thread she is weaving. “Thus,” you are told by your guide, “do we secure our choicest products. Lace is always more delicately and beautifully woven when the worker is in the dark and only her pattern is in the light.”
Does not the same beautiful and mysterious result appear in work of any kind, when surrounding shadows compel the toiler to fix his attention solely upon the task in hand—the task upon which falls the concentrated light of life? When a soul finds itself shut in by disappointments, trials, bereavements, disciplines, or physical limitations to its divinely appointed task, the one thing it is best fitted to do or teach in this world, how marvelously the pattern is wrought! What new power and beauty appear in both work and character! That one small window through which falls the light of heaven full upon our task is, how often, the essential condition of highest achievement!—The Continent.

The Personal Touch

By Editor

Editorial

The Personal Touch

How much of so-called missionary and philanthropic work done by professed Christians is carried on by proxy? Comparatively by far the larger part of the work done by Seventh-day Adventists is done in this way. We pay our tithe for the support of conference laborers. We give of our means to send missionaries to other lands as our representatives. We encourage faithful brethren and sisters to go out and sell publications. All this is very good, and an irreparable loss would come to the church if this kind of work should cease. In fact, it is through these means of missionary effort largely that this movement has attained its present growth. But there is great danger that we shall content ourselves with doing missionary work by proxy, and fail to gain that personal experience in direct personal contact in labor for souls that is really necessary to the fullest development of Christian life.
We find pleasure in rendering to God his own. There is joy in giving for the support of the needy cause of missions, but O, this joy is as nothing compared to the joy of personal soul-saving service! To reach down the hand and lift up a fallen fellow; to point the repentant sinner to the Lamb of God that died to save him; to speak words of comfort to the broken-hearted; to feel the thankful hand-clasp; to see the gratitude in the eyes that speaks louder than words; to hold the consciousness in your own soul that you are a laborer with the Lord Jesus Christ; to close your eyes in sleep at night feeling that through God's grace you have made some life purer and nobler and stronger, that you have uttered a word, given a smile, which has brought hope and courage and cheer,—in this experience is more satisfaction and joy than can come to us in any other service. This is the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ,—the joy which he must experience even now during his ministry as high priest above,—the great joy he will have when he “shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied,” in the last great day.
Are any who read this word strangers to this joy? Have we put forth for those in our own family, for our neighbors and our associates, earnest, persevering, prayerful labor? Have we made to the Lord definite requests for the salvation of definite men and women, presenting their cases by name and pleading for their salvation? And then have we sought to cooperate with God in bringing an answer to our prayer by personal labor in their behalf? If we know the joy that comes in this service, we do not need urging to continue it. If we have not experienced it, let us enter upon its quest, and we shall be surprised at the revelation that awaits us.
In seeking to help others we ourselves shall be warmed with new zeal for the Master, and that which we impart by his grace will return with sevenfold blessing into our own hearts. Let us seek the personal touch with the Lord Jesus Christ, and then pass on this personal touch to others needing our help.
Continue reading: The Great Undertow