Review and Herald, Vol. 89, No. 47. (11/21/1912)

Review and Herald

Nov 21, 1912

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 21, 1912

“They Call Us to Deliver”

By G. F. Jones

A Message for the Week of Prayer

A HUNDRED happy hearts in the Singapore company bear witness to the advancement of the threefold message of Revelation 14, and send joyful greetings from the leading city of the central Orient. Believers from this church have carried the light of present truth to many places in the Orient, far from their own shores,—to south India, China, Java, Sumatra, Dutch Borneo, British Borneo, Celebes, Malay states, etc. “I am sought of them that asked not for Me; I am found of them that sought Me not: I said, Behold Me, behold Me, unto a nation that was not called by My name.”

From British North Borneo the last word comes, “Send some one to teach us.” From Penang, the northern city of the Malay Peninsula, they inquire, “When are you coming?” From the Moluccas, the Spice Islands, the invitation is, “Here are converts, if you will only come.” From northeast Celebes the call is, “Come to Menado.” In all these places, and more also, living churches may and will be organized, from which intelligent converts must go forth through cities and villages, among the educated, the head-hunters, and the cannibals.

All in our Singapore church are eager missionaries, and are giving all they can, and are willing to go and risk their lives; but, brethren at home, if you have any treasures hidden in the earth, dig them up and send them along before the summer is ended and the harvest is past.

Singapore.

G. F. JONES.

A GOOD SELLER!

“Christmas,” “Headaches,” and “Children’s” Number

Headaches—How to Relieve Them Secret of Athletic Success Welfare Work for Children (Illustrated) The Christmas Dinner and Disease How to Care for the Baby—Its Clothes, Bath, Food, etc. What Is Alcohol? How to Cook Eggs Report of International Hygiene Congress Cotton Vs. Wool Undergarments Bad Teeth and Bad Health Getting Ready for the Scrap-Heap Use of Felt Shoes Questions and Answers (twelve replies)

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“HISTORY OF THE SABBATH”

“The Sabbath is one of the best and one of the most important institutions ever given by a wise Creator to man. It came from God with his blessing upon it, and was designed to be only a blessing.

“No other institution so forcibly or so constantly reminds man of the Creator; no other so plainly or so naturally suggests worship; no other so directly connects man with God.

“Had the Sabbath always been observed by all as God ordained it, there never would have been, there never could have been, an atheist, an infidel, an agnostic, or an idolater in the world; for, through its observance, all would have known and would have continued to know and worship the true and living God, the Creator of all things. In this alone may be seen the great importance of the Sabbath and its proper observance. From this also may be gathered the reason why the enemy of God and man has ever sought to induce men either to neglect and forget the Sabbath altogether or so to alter and pervert it as to vitiate it, and turn it aside from the high and holy purpose for which it was designed and instituted in the beginning.”

These are the opening paragraphs of the introductory chapter of the new Revised Edition of the “History of the Sabbath,” by J. N. Andrews and L. R. Conradi.

The hope and prayer of the publishers in bringing out this Revised Edition of one of the most interesting and important of our books, is expressed in the following closing paragraph of this same chapter:—

“That this volume, which is the result of many years of careful study and research, may bring light, good cheer, and hope to many, and thus help to prepare them for a place in the soon-coming kingdom, is the sincere wish of all who have had to do with its preparation.”

Every lover of the Sabbath truth should possess a copy of this book, not only for his own reading, but also to pass on to his friends and neighbors for them to read during the long winter evenings which are right at hand.

Bound in cloth, 864 pages ...............$1.50 India paper, flexible leather ............ 2.50

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Sunday in a Nutshell — A. G. L.	88	1
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“Bible on Romanism” and “Present Crisis” Number

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Peril of Neglecting Salvation

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

The more earnestly we apply our minds to the investigation of truth, the clearer will the evidence of truth appear; and the more closely we relate ourselves to the God of all wisdom, coming into communion with him who has created all things, the richer will be our knowledge, the more fully shall we comprehend divine truth. God has graciously endowed men with intellectual powers, and these powers are to be wisely improved, that men may have ability to search into and understand rich depths of knowledge in the character, word, and works of God. God will open the treasures of his love to the willing and obedient; he that willeth to do the will of God shall know of the doctrine. By communion with God we become refined, broadened, and elevated. To him who desires the knowledge of divine things, God will open hidden wonders, which are beyond the comprehension of those who are unenlightened by the Spirit of God. Those who hear the wonderful things opened to the Christian will be impressed with that which God can give to the consecrated and earnest soul.

Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, gave himself for a fallen world, and in him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. No greater gift can be bestowed upon man than that which is comprehended in Christ. And yet men wait, refusing to give to God the allegiance of the heart. But let the impenitent look to the plan of redemption, and ask themselves, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” It is perilous to neglect to render to God the full consecration of all our powers, for he has given them to man in trust. Will you not ask yourself, “How is it with my soul?” The great gift of salvation has been placed within our reach at an infinite cost to the Father and the Son. To neglect salvation is to neglect the knowledge of the Father, and of the Son, whom God hath sent in order that man might become a partaker of the divine nature, and thus, with Christ, an heir of all things. A neglect to lay hold of the priceless treasure of salvation, means the eternal ruin of your soul. The peril of indifference to God and neglect of his gift, is measured by the greatness of salvation. God has done to the uttermost of his almighty power. The resources of infinite love have been exhausted in devising and executing the plan of redemption for man. God has revealed his character in the goodness, the mercy, compassion, and love manifested to save a race of guilty rebels. What could be done that has not been done in the provisions of the plan of salvation? If the sinner remains indifferent to the manifestation of the goodness of God, if he neglects so great a salvation, rejects the overtures of divine mercy, refuses the gift of life purchased by the precious blood of Christ, what can be done to touch his hard heart? If the wonderful achievement wrought out by our Creator and Redeemer, into which he threw all his power and love, does not move the proud human heart, when man sees that his soul was thought of such value that the Son of the infinite God, the Majesty of heaven, was willing to lay down his life in order that he might be saved, then there is nothing that will move that man. Christ left the royal courts, and accepted a life of shame, reproach, and suffering, and did not shrink even from the death of the cross, in order that he might unite humanity with divinity. Are you so infatuated with the love of self, with the suggestions of Satan, that these considerations do not move you to a life of humility, and of submission to God? Will not the love and compassion of him who gave in one gift all that heaven afforded, awaken a response in your heart? “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”

Those who do neglect the great gift of salvation, will have no second probation provided for them, but will be left without hope. The Son of the infinite God was the author of our salvation. He covenanted from the first to be man’s substitute, and he became man that he might take upon himself the wrath which sin had provoked. The plan of redemption called forth the amazement of the heavenly hosts. The angels looked with wonder to see the mystery wrought out before them in the life of the Son of God. They saw the Redeemer take step after step down the path of humiliation. They saw him rejected, denied, insulted, abused, and crucified, and yet it was something beyond all finite intelligence to comprehend the full mystery of redemption.

(To be concluded)

The Eastern Question and the Sixth Trumpet of Revelation

By J. Vuilleumier

J. VUILLEUMIER

The sixth trumpet of Rev. 9:13-21 is a prophecy upon which there is very little if any difference of opinion among expositors. Its application to the Turks is universally admitted.

“The great river Euphrates” gives this power its unmistakable geographical location, as this river, one of the best known of ancient times, waters the first territory conquered by the Turks from the Arabs, in the eleventh century, by

Togrul Beg, and still possessed by them. Their innumerable “horsemen” and superior cavalry; the red, blue, and yellow of their uniforms and national colors; their use of firearms from horseback; the horsetail Turkish standard; the Turkish cruelty in war,—all these features make the identification easy and natural.

But the most fascinating part of this prophecy is the period of time allotted to the Ottoman power to conquer and oppress and kill. The prophecy reads thus: “Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.” Verses 14, 15.

The four angels, or messengers, are thought to designate the four sultanries, or governments, into which the Turkish power was divided from 1055: Persia or Bagdad, northern Syria or Aleppo, southern Syria or Damascus, Asia Minor or Iconium.

The four angels were in chains, and then were let loose. History recognizes a first and a second Turkish empire. The first empire, which began in 1050 and ended near 1300, caused Europe to tremble. Pope Urban, while preaching the first crusade, said: “The barbarian hordes of the Turks . . . threaten all Christian lands. If God himself . . . does not bar their triumphant march, what nation, what kingdom, can shut them the gates of the West?”—Raffy, Vol. I, page 268. But God did shut the gates of the West against them, and kept them “bound” by internal anarchy and by the crusades, which lasted from 1095 to 1270.

The second Turkish empire, started by Osman I in 1288, made many conquests in Asia Minor and around the Black Sea; but a terrific invasion of Mongols, from 1400 to 1450, again kept the Turks busy, or bound, in Asia. But now, by divine command, they were let loose.

The fall of Constantinople into the hands of the Moslems just at this point (1453) marks in general history the end of the middle ages and the beginning of modern times. “Christendom had allowed its last bulwark to fall. At the noise of this great fall terror spread over Italy and over all Europe.” “The capture of Constantinople made the Turkish dominion in Europe secure. Notwithstanding their conquests, which extended as far as the shores of the Adriatic and the Danube, Constantinople was to them (the Turks) a continual menace. But this city having fallen into their hands, their establishment in Europe ceased to be a camping station which any storm might sweep away. . . . From now on, we shall see Mohammed II and his successors . . . threaten both Europe and Asia.”—Duruy, ‘Historie moderne,’ pages 7, 8, 74. The Turks were indeed “let loose.”

“The Moslems were like a formidable tide beating both shores at the same time.” In quick succession, we see falling under their power Athens, Corinth, Syria, Egypt, Algiers, Arabia, Hungary, Moldavia, and Esclavonie. Mohammed II took his immense cavalry as far as Italy, and swore that he would make his horse eat oats upon the altar of St. Peter at Rome. Solyman I besieged Vienna, and was planning to invade Germany. All Europe was trembling. At the same time, Algiers and Tunis—as Carthage had been in the days of Genseric—became the retreat of a multitude of pirates (corsairs), who banished all safety from the coasts of Spain and Italy.

Under Solyman, the sultan’s flags waved from the mouths of the Rhone to those of the Indus, and his authority extended from the Caucasus to the African Atlas. He called himself “the King of Kings.” From his time the Turks took their place among the nations of Europe, and had their share in shaping its destinies. And until the end of the seventeenth century, they held the first rank in eastern Europe. See Duruy, pages 76-81, 110-115, 360.

Verily “the four angels that were held in readiness . . . were let loose to destroy the third of mankind!” Verse 15.

About the destroying power of the Turks, suffice it to say here that no power known to have made war upon Europe ever exercised a more bloody savagery than the Turks. Their whole history is reeking with slaughter and blood.

The fearful scourge was to destroy Christendom for a specific period of time, given in the prophecy as an hour, a day, a month, and a year, prophetic time, or 391 literal years. (The Jewish or Bible year has 360 days, and the Bible month 30 days.) This definite prediction of time is more daring, and, if fulfilled, more marvelous than all that precedes or accompanies it. It is a solemn challenge to modern unbelief or indifference as regards prophecy. Did the Turkish supremacy over eastern Europe last exactly 391 years? If this prophecy is verified by history to the century, the decade, the year, what better proof does anybody want that this prophecy is from God, and that the whole Bible is inspired, is the revelation from God to man?

In order to find whether this prediction was fulfilled, we need but to look for the dates of the beginning and end of Turkish supremacy and autonomy in Europe. When did it begin? or, in other words, When were the Turks “let loose” upon Europe?

For the century and the decade, every one will look for the fall of Constantinople—the capital and last bulwark of the Greek empire—into the hands of Sultan Mohammed II. This event, as we have remarked, is placed by historians at the very threshold of modern history. Duruy makes it the event which decided Turkish rule in Europe. This was in 1453. But the fall of Constantinople and of the Eastern Roman empire had virtually taken place four years before, through a diplomatic circumstance which we shall proceed to relate.

John Palæologus, last emperor of Constantinople but one, died in 1448, leaving no sons. His two eldest brothers, Constantine and Demetrius, both desiring the throne, the choice was left to the people, who elected the elder as Constantine XIII. But before ascending his throne, this last successor of Constantine the Great thought it prudent to secure the confirmation of and consent to his election from Sultan Amurath II. A special envoy was therefore sent to Amurath, who received him with much grace, and sent him home with many presents. Maimbourg, a historian, says that this event “was a happy omen for the Turks, but a very unhappy one for the Greeks, as it showed that they would soon be the slaves of the former, who already disposed of the imperial crown as if it belonged to them.”

No one will dispute that this salient event marks the date from which the Turks were “let loose” upon the Greek empire. This was in the year 1449. Four years afterward, Constantinople became a Turkish city, and the Greek empire was no more.

Let us now look for the end of Turkish independence in Europe, and see if it comes exactly 391 years after 1449.

Speaking of the end of the eighteenth century, the historian tells us that “the Turks had good frontiers and beautiful provinces. But they had lost their warlike spirit. After one century of furious wanderings across Europe and Asia, this people had fallen into Oriental apathy. . . . They spent two centuries in losing their qualities, in increasing their vices, and, consequently, in diminishing their strength.”—Duruy, pages 506, 507. At the end of the eighteenth century, “the political outlook is dark indeed for the Turks. . . . Victory seems to have left the standard of the prophet forever.”—De la Jonquiere, page 389. “Their gradual decline, says another, dates from the last century.”—Tallichet.

“The defeats of the Turks, the growing confusion of their administration, the desires for independence on the part of Greece and Servia, the continual rebellions of the pashas, everything was leading Europe to believe in the approaching end of the Ottoman dominion.”—Duruy, page 392.

Between 1821 and 1828, Greece made a desperate and successful effort in order to regain its freedom. The European powers having offered to help Turkey in putting an end to this conflict, the Sublime Porte haughtily refused. In 1831 the Egyptian pasha threatened to overthrow the sultan, who now accepted help from Russia, thus placing himself at the mercy of the czar. “The treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi (1833) annihilated the political independence of the Porte, by allowing a foreign power the right of interfering with the internal troubles of the empire.”—Id., page 483. This “political annihilation” was to become more complete in the near future.

In 1839, the war between the viceroy of Egypt and his master opened anew, with such crushing defeats for the sultan that Europe interposed again, this time with the consent of Turkey.

“The Eastern question, says the historian, was officially opened; at one time, it did seem as if it would bring about a universal conflagration. England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia signed with Turkey (July 15, 1840) a treaty by which the viceroy preserved the hereditary possession of Egypt and the life possession of Acco, on condition of leaving within ten days Arabia, Syria, Candia, etc. . . . In case of refusal, Mohammed Ali would be shorn of all his estates, and the four powers, acting as sheriffs, would attend to the execution of the sentence, which was the disgrace of the viceroy.” Mohammed Ali arrogantly rejected all propositions, threatened to set Europe on fire by calling on the Mohammedan world, and prepared to resist the coalition. He was defeated, lost Syria and Tripoli, and finally signed a declaration by which he submitted to the sultan.

Thus the interference of the powers was not only accepted in principle (as in 1833) but in fact. Turkey, by that very fact, had ceased to be an independent power. Prince Metternich remarked in 1840 that Turkey, “by accepting the right of interference and protection, lost thereby the flower of its independence.” “Since 1840, says a diplomat, the Ottoman administration has accustomed itself to yield to the interference of European representatives of all ranks in the internal affairs of the land.” Thus, what was said about 1833, when Russia’s interference was accepted, can be repeated with a fourfold emphasis of the event of 1840: “By allowing a foreign power the right of interfering with the internal troubles of the empire . . . the political independence of the Porte was annihilated.”

To sum up: In 1449, the Greek empire had placed itself at the mercy of the sultan; in 1840, the Ottoman empire placed itself at the mercy of the Western powers. In either case, this act marked the loss of political independence. These two dates then logically mark the beginning and end of the Turkish supremacy. The nineteenth century thus marks the century in which the 391 years are to end; the forties mark the decade; the year 1840 marks the very year; and behold! from 1449 to 1840 there are exactly 391 years!

But the conclusion of all this—one of overwhelming importance—remains to be noticed. It is found in Rev. 11:14, 15: “The second woe [the sixth trumpet] is past; and, behold, the third woe [the seventh trumpet] cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” From the study of the sixth trumpet, then, the second coming of Christ is at hand; it “cometh quickly.”

Another event, however, in connection with the Ottoman power, must take place before the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Jesus Christ. This constitutes the sixth plague:—

“And the sixth angel [of the seven angels having the seven last plagues in which is filled up the wrath of God, Rev. 15:1] poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates [the Turkish empire]; and the water thereof [its military power and political existence] was dried up [brought to an end], that the way of the kings of the [far] east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits, . . . spirits of devils, working miracles, [through spiritualism], . . . go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebreo-tongue Armageddon.” Rev. 16:12-16.

The events in the Balkans just now indicate clearly that if they are not to bring about the end of the “Sick Man of the East” within a few weeks, it is not because the last end of his long agony can be much longer deferred, but because God has yet a short work to perform in the earth.

Montreal, Canada.

The Work Is the Lord's

By C. P. Bollman

C. P. BOLLMAN

THE work is all the Lord’s, not mine; His blood alone can wash away The guilt and stains of inbred sin, And make me strong against “that day.”

There’s nothing, nothing I can do To earn his freely given grace; ’Tis his alone the work must be If e’er I see him face to face.

There is a fitness I must have That comes alone from Christ my Lord; He freely gives, while I receive By daily feeding on his Word.

I will to do his will, not mine; And in that will’s transforming power; ’Tis thus I grow to be like him, Who is my strong and mighty tower.

Nashville, Tenn.

Its Power

By R. A. Underwood

Prayer—No. 1

Its Power

R. A. UNDERWOOD

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1.

The manner of Christ’s prayer impressed the disciples with the great need of entering into the audience-chamber of the Almighty to commune with their God. However, a form of words repeated does not constitute prayer. Who can estimate the value of prayer in the secret place, in the public congregation, in silence, and at the family altar?

Man in his insane revelry at times ridicules prayer, but human experience shows that all men at times pray. It may be in a great disaster, like the sinking of the “Titanic,” or it may be in the hour of helpless despair, that men call upon God. The Ruler of the universe invites man to come to him in prayer, with the assurance that whatsoever we ask in faith, in his name, we shall receive. John 14:13.

Prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse of almighty power. The man who walks with God will often be in the secret place communing with his Lord. John G. Paton, who gave thirty years of his life to carry the gospel to the cannibals of the South Sea islands, speaks of his godly father and of the effect produced on his own life by his father’s prayers in the closet, as follows:—

“We occasionally heard the pathetic echoes of a trembling voice pleading as for life, and we learned to slip out and in past that door on tiptoe, not to disturb the holy colloquy. Never in temple or cathedral, on mountain or in glen, can I hope to feel that the Lord God is more near, more visibly walking and talking with men, than under that humble cottage roof of thatch and oaken wattles. Though everything else in religion were by some unthinkable catastrophe to be swept out of memory or blotted from my understanding, my soul would wander back to those early scenes, and shut itself up once again in that sanctuary closet, and, hearing still the echoes of those cries to God, would hurl back all doubt with the victorious appeal, ‘He walketh with God; why not I?’”

Many of the readers of the REVIEW know by experience that God answers prayer. For our encouragement the Lord has given in the Bible many remarkable experiences in answer to prayer. I note a few of these:—

Through prayer, peace was made between two brothers. Gen. 32: 9-28; 33: 1-4.
Angels were commissioned to bring light and deliverance in answer to prayer. Dan. 2: 16-19; 9: 21-23.
Through prayer, the heavens were stayed from rain, and again rain descended in answer to prayer. I Kings 17, 18; James 5: 17, 18.
In answer to prayer, men were sent to minister to those who were seeking light. Acts 9: 10-17; 10.
The remarkable experience of Cornelius and Peter was in answer to the prayer of both Cornelius and Peter. Acts 10: 1-19, 30-33.
Peter was delivered from prison in answer to the prayers of the church. Acts 12: 5-12.
Prayer caused a mighty earthquake, and opened the prison doors to Paul and Silas; it was also the means of the conversion of the jailer and his family. Acts 16: 25-33.
The sick are healed in answer to the prayer of faith. James 5: 13-16.
Tabitha was raised from death in answer to prayer. Acts 9: 36-41.
The prayer of faith, with the confession of sins, brought the early rain on the day of Pentecost. Acts 1: 13, 14; 2: 1.
The latter rain that ripens the harvest comes as a result of prayer and the forsaking of sin. Zech. 10: 1; Acts 4: 31-33.

Public Prayer

“When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matt. 6:7, 8. Repetitions and long prayers are out of place in public and at the family altar. Children, men, and angels are wearied by them.

Two or three minutes is long enough for any ordinary public prayer. Christ’s public prayers were always brief and concise. There is but one place where long prayers are in place; namely, in the secret chamber where the soul is alone with God.

It was common for Christ to go “apart” into a “solitary place” to pray,

or to arise a great while before day to go into the mountains to pray. In these places he often continued all night in prayer to God. See Matt. 14: 23; Mark 1: 35; Luke 6: 12. If we prayed more in secret, like Jacob (Gen. 32: 24-28), our public prayers would not be so long, but more effectual.

Christ’s manner of prayer is given to us as an example. Let us examine one of Christ’s public prayers. The occasion was one of great sorrow. Christ had informed the disciples that Lazarus was dead, and that he was going to awake him from the sleep of death. Christ had often visited the humble home of Lazarus and his sisters. As he now approached the little village of Bethany, Martha met him with weeping, and said, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Amid the wail of mourning friends, Christ assured her that Lazarus should arise, and then made his way to the tomb. After requesting those standing by to roll away the stone from the mouth of the grave, Christ offered the following prayer: “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.” Then he called, “Lazarus, come forth.” John 11: 41-43.

This is a great prayer, but it occupies only a few seconds of time. However, it presents seven distinct essentials in prevailing public prayer:—

It begins with thanksgiving.
It gives expression to perfect, abiding faith.
It is offered for the sake of the people, that they might believe.
It is brief.
It makes a definite request.
It is concise, with no repetitions.
It was effectual in bringing results, even the raising of the dead.

Mesopotamia, Ohio.

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