Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 3, 1903
Publishers' Page
By Editor
Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company
Special Sale of Slightly Damaged Books
Last week we offered some of our regular subscription books at a special price on account of their being slightly damaged. These books being well known to all our readers, we omit their description this week, and quote only their regular and reduced prices.
Desire of Ages
In the cloth binding, reduced from $3.50 to $2.60, postpaid.
Great Controversy
In the cloth binding, reduced from $2.75 to $2. Full morocco, from $4.50 to $3.30.
Patriarchs and Prophets
Cloth binding, reduced from $2.75 to $2.
Easy Steps in the Bible Story
Cloth binding, reduced from 50 cents to 35 cents.
Looking unto Jesus
The cloth binding, reduced from $1 to 75 cents.
Marvel of Nations
Cloth binding, reduced from $1.25 to 75 cents, postpaid.
Home Hand-Book
Cloth binding, reduced from $4.50 to $3.35; the library from $5.50 to $4.10, postpaid.
Ladies' Guide
Cloth binding, reduced from $3 to $2.25, postpaid.
Man, the Masterpiece
Cloth binding, reduced from $3 to $2.25, postpaid.
Prophecies of Jesus
Cloth binding, reduced from $1.75 to 85 cents; library, marble edges, from $3 to $1.40; Russia, $3.75 to $1.90.
Empire Series
Containing Empires of the Bible, Great Empires of Prophecy, and Ecclesiastical Empire
Reduced from $6 to $4, for the set.
All these books will be sent at the reduced prices quoted, postpaid. They are just as good for private use as the new books. The damage is very slight.
Other Damaged Books
The following books are only slightly damaged. The defect is scarcely noticeable on many volumes, yet the reduction in price is sufficient to cover far greater damages.
The Abiding Spirit
By Mrs. S. M. I. Henry. The presence, power, and ministry of the Holy Spirit as manifested in the most common, material things, and as needed in the performance of the most simple duties. The larger portion of the common religious perplexities are explained in this book, and the way opened for light upon their darkness.
The author had a long experience in, and a personal knowledge of, the constant, abiding Spirit, which filled her life full of Christian success, and rendered her competent to write this excellent volume, and to set therein the waymarks along life's path, so that the reader can find and possess the real presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Neatly bound in cloth, with plain edges, 316 pages. As good as new. Reduced from 40 cents to 30 cents, postpaid.
Here and Hereafter
By Uriah Smith. This book fully canvasses the nature of man, his here and his hereafter, and clearly answers the question, “Is man immortal?”
There is no religious subject at the present time more interesting to the public than the hereafter of man, and we do not know of any more important subject. This book defeats Spiritualism, which appeals to the popular view of the condition of man in death for the foundation of its claims, and reveals the teaching of the Scriptures so clearly that purgatory, saint worship, universalism, and a host of other errors which are based on the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, are shown to have no divine authority, and no Scriptural right to exist.
Neatly bound in cloth; 357 pages. Reduced from $1 to 75 cents, postpaid. Only good books will be shipped. The damage is scarcely noticeable.
Gospel Workers
Instructions for all gospel workers compiled from the “Testimonies for the Church” and from unprinted manuscript, together with Mrs. White's morning talks to the ministers at the General Conference of 1883. It contains 127 chapters, treating upon 400 important topics. The wide range of the practical truths on which instruction is given in this book renders it of importance to all workers.
Neatly bound in cloth; 480 pages. Reduced from $1 to 75 cents. As good as new.
The Nonsuch Professor
A wonderful book. Buy it for the young people. Every person should read it. It is designed alone for the real enlightenment of its readers. Notice the topics of Part I: Why Christians Should Do More than Others; Because More Is Done for Them than Others; Because He Is More Nearly Related to God than Others; Because He Professes More than Others; Because He Is Inwardly Conformed to the Redeemer More than Others; Because He Is Looked upon More than Others; Because if He Does Not More than Others, It Will Appear that He Is Not More than Others.
Neatly bound in cloth, with 367 pages. Price is reduced from $1 to 40 cents, postpaid.
Drummond's Addresses
A book for the young people. The chapter on “A Talk with Boys” is worth many times the original price of the book. In addition to this valuable chapter, it contains a Sketch of the Life of Drummond, “Love; the Supreme Gift, the Greatest Thing in the World;” “The Perfected Life; The Greatest Need of the World;” “Dealing with Doubt;” “Preparation for Learning;” “The Study of the Bible.”
In the consideration of these topics there are some grand and noble sentiments expressed that would be of great service to our young people. The price, on account of the slight damage the books have sustained, has been reduced from 75 cents to 30 cents.
The Master's Greatest Monosyllables
The faith-maker and soul-winner. The book that has received a greater number of unsolicited personal recommendations than any other book we have published. A book that helps all classes. It contains the words of life, and imprints upon the heart the living truth that never dies. The books are nearly as good as new. Reduced from 50 cents to 35 cents, postpaid.
A Rare Opportunity
We have a few sets of the Prophetic Charts in series, which are not just perfect. These we propose to close out for $2.50 per set, postpaid. The regular price is $4. The charts are as good as new. Notice the design of the chart:—
They are seven in number, illustrating respectively the symbols of Daniel 2, 7, 8, Revelation 12, 13, etc., the three angels of Revelation 14, and the sanctuary, including also a Commandment Chart. They are beautifully lithographed on linen, without rollers, 32x44 inches. Each symbol in this series is so large that it can be distinctly seen at a distance of one hundred feet or more. As long as these Charts last, we will send them, postpaid, for $2.50 per set.
Facts for the Times
“Facts for the Times” is a volume especially designed to furnish a compilation of important facts in a compact and convenient form for reference. It contains accounts of remarkable fulfillments of prophecy; interesting comments upon different texts of Scripture from the ablest critics; past and present striking occurrences of natural phenomena; important facts in the development of our country; statistics concerning population, intemperance, war, crime, and the present state of the religious, political, and physical worlds, and many other important subjects. A compendium of important facts in a simple form for ready reference. It contains 329 pages, nicely bound in cloth. Price is reduced, on account of the slight damage of the book, from 75 cents to 50 cents.
Make all orders for the books described above, on the Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
“The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” Matt. 4: 16.
It has always been the policy of Christ, as the Leader of his people, to cause light to rise and shine upon them when they sought it from him in every-time of darkness and perplexity. The pillar of fire by night was a guide to Israel when they desired the Lord to lead the way. The disciples thought that all their hopes were ignominiously buried in the tomb of their crucified Lord. But Peter gives expression to the experience of the disciples, at that time, by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1: 3. This accords with the promise made by the psalmist, ages before: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” Ps. 97: 11.4
An experience similar to this was accorded to the Adventists, in their hour of bitterest trial. When the adventist hope was presented to them, and they were invited to take the little book, and eat it up, it was said to them that it should be in their mouth as sweet as honey, but afterward it should become exceedingly bitter. Rev. 10: 8–10. The thought of the blessed hope was the honey-sweetness of the little book. The expectation of meeting him whom their soul loved, of seeing him coming in his glory, and being made like him, was almost too much for human nature to bear. And after all the trials, ills, and disappointments of this mortal state, to feel that the warfare was ended and the victory gained, made them impatient for the day to arrive. But they did not then understand their situation. They did not know that the greatest disappointment that ever fell to the lot of man lay right before them. But so it was. Though in the mouth the little book was as sweet as honey, in the stomach it was to be, as some translations read, like picra. The day passed by. Their hope was not fulfilled. Instead of entering the joy of their Lord, they were left still in this mortal state, to meet the jeers and scoffs of bitter enemies. Unbelievers, meeting the crushed and dispirited Adventists on the morning after the tenth day of the seventh month, would pause, and in the most grotesque and taunting manner, exclaim, “O, where did you come from? I thought you were going up. O, you haven’t gone up yet?” etc.
With the “midnight cry” the loud voice of the first message to the world ended. Meanwhile the second message, “Babylon is fallen,” coalescing with the first message, came to an end also. The earnest work under the “midnight cry” brought a crisis in the religious world on the question of the second coming of Christ, and though the evidence was so apparent that a work of revival would follow the proclamation of the advent doctrine, and would remedy the low spiritual condition the world was in, had it been freely and fully accepted, it was shut out by the popular churches of the land, which said, by word and action, We will have no more of that doctrine preached to us. This was under the state of the church called Sardis. Rev. 3: 1–6. And because they could not freely talk of their blessed hope, in the churches to which they belonged, about fifty thousand members withdrew from those churches, not from any animosity of feeling against the members, but because they could not cherish and speak of their new hope. It was therefore rejected. Adventists felt that they were shut out from those who so persistently rejected the doctrine. This was the origin and occasion of what is called “the shut-door doctrine,” or no mercy for sinners since 1844, over which such an ado has been made. The churches shut the door against themselves, and consequently met with a moral fall. The development of the prophecy in this line, and the action of believers upon it, tended to strain still more the relation between Adventists and other professors, and increase the antagonism between them.
It now remains that the passing of the time be explained, and why the “midnight cry” ended as it did, and on what ground the preaching of this gospel of the kingdom is still going forth to all the world with increasing power, urged forward with more hope, confidence, and courage than it ever has been before.
The great pillar in the time movement in the advent doctrine was the statement of Dan. 8: 14: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” The objective point to which the prophecy looks is the cleansing of the sanctuary; the time is twenty-three hundred days. This time was carefully figured out by both friend and foe; and it was agreed that the days would end in 1844 A. D., beginning in 457 B. C. But why did Adventists expect the Lord to appear at that date? — Because it had been too hastily assumed that the sanctuary which the prophecy said was to be cleansed, is the earth. Naturally enough, Adventists said this earth is to be cleansed by fire. To be sure, the earth is reserved unto fire, and the elements are to melt with fervent heat, but when Christ destroys this earth, he is revealed from heaven in flaming fire. Therefore it was held with all confidence that when the days ended, the Lord would appear to judge the world. Granted, then, these premises, could any conclusion be simpler and more direct than that, at the end of the days, the Lord was to appear in the clouds of heaven?
The trouble is the premises in this argument are sufficiently far enough from the truth to turn the whole conclusion aside from the facts; to cause an apparent failure of the argument, and bring a great and grievous disappointment to the most devoted class of Christians in the land. The simple fact is that the earth is not the sanctuary, nor any part of the earth, as, for instance, the land of Palestine, nor the church, nor any other object except a definite object, plainly called “the sanctuary,” in the great majority of the instances of its use in the Scriptures. So there was no failure of the prophecy in the matter. Adventists were not warranted to expect the coming of the Lord to this earth at the end of the days. With all the study that was bestowed upon the subject, it looks to us strange, now, that it was not discovered that a mistake had somewhere been made. They were not mistaken in the time. The time has been repeatedly re-calculated, but no flaw has yet been found in the argument on that point. But in the minds of some the mistake still is retained, and they do not come to the light. The mistake was in the event to take place at the end of the days, not in the time. It is strange that any one who was in that movement does not, or will not, see that the mistake was simply in the nature of the event to take place, not in what we mistakenly supposed was to take place. But truth is still going forward. Some First-day Adventists went so far as to admit that probably all that we were warranted to expect to take place, did occur on the tenth day of the seventh month. But they have not reached the light yet. Seventh-day Adventists alone can explain it. U. S.
A Hopeless Undertaking
It is of no use to try to reform people without their knowing it. If our message of reform is so thickly sugar-coated that there is no unusual flavor to it, we may well doubt whether any good will be accomplished by it. Genuine reformers, who have a real message of reform for the people, can be easily distinguished from the ordinary time-servers of the day. They do not expect the world to come to them and to welcome their message with open arms, but they expect to go to the world and to command attention by the very authority of their message. John the Baptist rebuked sinners, from Herod the tetrarch to the humblest peasant, and when he had delivered his message, the response was, “What shall we do then?” Luther rebuked sinners, from the pope in Rome to the ordinary listeners in Wittenburg. Thousands abandoned the papacy and its corruptions, and accepted forgiveness and salvation through their personal faith in Christ, because of his burning message of warning and encouragement. But people cannot be turned from darkness to light without facing the matter in a very definite way. Those who accept this reform message to-day must do so under a genuine conviction that it is the last message of warning and salvation to a world on the verge of eternity, or they will give it up in the hour of temptation which is just upon us. Instead of conforming to the world in order to get a hearing for our message, let us go to the world with the true authority of God’s Word, which will secure a hearing for itself, and will conform those who receive it to the heavenly standard of character. We may be “wise as serpents; and harmless as doves,” but this does not mean that we can expect to convert people by adopting the tactics of the serpent. Let us speak the truth in love.
Pointed Preaching
There is a great difference between pointed preaching and preaching mere points of doctrine in an argumentative way. Pointed preaching is the clear presentation of a definite message of the gospel of salvation from sin. Pointed preaching is such a presentation of the gospel of salvation from sin as meets the actual need of the people at the time when the message is delivered. Pointed preaching gives clear instruction to the people concerning the actual dangers which threaten them, and the way of deliverance from the very latest of Satan’s deceptions. Pointed preaching deals with present truth. Pointed preaching gives a message warm from the throne. The central theme of the gospel is righteousness by faith,—“the just shall live by faith,”—but this theme can be talked about incessantly, and yet the preaching be very pointless. Pointed preaching presents this theme with a definite application to present circumstances and duty. Noah was “a preacher of righteousness,” but his preaching would have been utterly pointless if he had said nothing about the flood and the ark. It was prophesied of John the Baptist that his mission would be “to give knowledge of salvation unto his people in the remission of their sins,” but his preaching would have been utterly pointless if he had not said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We still have “the everlasting gospel” to preach, this same gospel of righteousness by faith, but our preaching will be tame and pointless if we fail to teach this glorious theme in the very setting which the prophecies have given to it for this time. Such a righteousness by faith is now to be preached as will reveal itself in obedience to all the commandments of God, enforced by the tremendous facts that “the hour of his judgment is come,” that the closing work in behalf of sinners is now being carried forward in the heavenly sanctuary, and that the generation now living upon the earth will witness the coming of the Son of man in glory. Preaching righteousness by faith in this way is preaching the message for this time. Let us have done with pointless preaching. Know the message and preach it. Let us have more pointed preaching.
The Old-Time Ring
By Editor
Editorial
The Old-Time Ring
The man who doubts the genuineness of the coin offered to him throws it upon the counter, and listens for its ring. There is the same ring to a dime as to a dollar. It is not a question of size, but of genuineness. We sometimes hear about the old-time ring to this message, and some who have been long in the way have been troubled because they have heard so little of it in recent years. There is a longing in many hearts for the old-time ring of the message. What gave the old-time ring? It was not simply the fact that the preachers had some new light for the people, neither was it the fact that they had all the light there was for the people. What gave, and will give, a ring to the message is the fact that those who teach it walk in sincerity in the light which they present to others. To talk about an advent message, but not really believe the advent message, is to become “sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.” There needs to be a revival of the heartfelt conviction, based upon a prayerful study of God’s Word, that this is the last generation, and that we who live are in sight of the end. This will lead to a burden of soul for sinners, and a waiting upon the Lord for such a personal experience as will enable us to rescue those in peril. A real sense of the time and its meaning will put a ring into the message of warning.
The Threefold Message Of Rev. 14:6-12 “Another Angel”
The introduction to the book of Revelation states the general nature of its contents. It is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John; who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw.” The book of Revelation is, then, a record of what John saw “in the Spirit.” The expressions “I saw,” “I looked,” and “I beheld” occur nearly fifty times in this book. And the different views have a close relation one with another. Taken together, they form connected lines of prophecy.
The keynote of this book is the coming of the Lord. It begins with this thought, and it ends with the same thought. “Behold, he cometh with clouds,” says the revelator at the beginning of his record, and after giving a prophetic view of the events from his own time until the saints enter upon their eternal reward in the paradise of God, he closes with this statement and petition: “He who testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly. Amen: come, Lord Jesus.”
The coming of the Lord is therefore the objective point in each line of prophecy. Again and again we are led up to this glorious event as we see what John saw. And each separate view has its definite place in the series of views which lead up to the coming of the Lord. To find this place is to determine the time when each view has its application.
The threefold message of Rev. 14: 6-12 is introduced by the statement, “And I saw another angel.” This view must therefore be connected with a view which has preceded it. And as this angel speaks “with a great voice,” we may naturally expect that the other angels in the same series will also speak in the same way. There are many angels mentioned in the book of Revelation, but some are distinguished from others by the fact that their message is delivered “with a great voice.” The next one of this class preceding the one in Rev. 14: 6 is mentioned in Rev. 10: 1-3. And this angel declares with a most impressive oath that “there shall be delay no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets.” The mystery of God is the gospel5of the incarnate Son. The finishing of the mystery of God will be the proclamation of the final offer of salvation before the coming of the Lord. This is the preparation for the sounding of the seventh angel in the series of the seven trumpets. Under the sounding of this angel come the downfall of the world and the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of God. “The seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign forever and ever.” And among the events mentioned by the four and twenty elders as taking place in connection with this announcement of the establishment of the Messiah’s kingdom is the time of the judgment. “And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged.” But the angel of Rev. 14: 6 makes the same announcement. “Fear God, and give him glory; for the hour of his judgment is come.” It is plain, then, that the message of Rev. 14: 6-12 is the closing work of the gospel, the judgment-hour message. The judgment, as described in Dan. 7: 9, 10, is actually going forward while this message is being given. This will bring us to the time when “the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High.”
The purpose of this threefold message, then, is to prepare a people for the judgment hour, to strengthen them to stand in the climax of the great controversy, and to present them faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. What a wonderful message! What a solemn time! What a privilege to have a part in such a message in such a time!
The closing work is now being done. The last warning and invitation are now being given. The judgment is in session. Soon the decree will go forth, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” The words of the angel have been taken up anew, “There shall be delay no longer.” The long, dark night of sin is almost ended. The morning begins to dawn. This generation will see the fullness of the day of the Lord. Longing souls are crying out, “We would see Jesus,” and their faith is grasping the fact that their desire may be satisfied without seeing death.
But the message of the angel must be given “unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people.” The gospel of the coming King must be made known to all nations, and then shall the end come. There is no other message to follow this threefold message. The very next view is thus described: “And I saw, and behold, a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped.” And from the words of the Master we know that “the harvest is the end of the world.”
Let us take up our heaven-appointed work, under the leadership of the angel with the great voice, and thus speedily prepare the way for the coming of our blessed Master.
Is This Message Needed?
What evidence have we that this special message is needed in the world in this generation? Some one may reply that there is certainly a need of telling the world that the coming of the Lord is near. But if that is all there is to this message, then there are thousands who are giving it who perhaps have never heard of Seventh-day Adventists. What is the real purpose of this special message? Is it not to prepare a people to meet the Lord? What kind of a people will be developed by this message? “Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God?” “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” In this time of the blotting out of sin in the heavenly sanctuary, there must be a special experience of salvation from sin among those who wait for the coming of the Lord. “While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14.”
There are in the world to-day many outward appearances of prosperity in the work of giving the gospel to the world. Very large sums of money are spent annually in the different departments of Christian effort. Costly places of worship are being built in Christian lands. Universities and colleges are being endowed by the wealthy. Auxiliary organizations of various kinds have been formed in order to strengthen the work of the church. What need is there, then, that another denomination should arise, without worldly treasure, without men of note as leaders of thought in the world, in order to give the gospel to the world?
It may help to answer this question in a clearer manner if we call to mind the times and the work of John the Baptist. Why was it necessary that an obscure man should come forward to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah? The elaborate ritual of the temple was being regularly performed. The words of the prophets were read “every Sabbath day.” There was a general expectation that the Messiah was at hand. The priests were exhorting the people to hold fast their confidence. From the human standpoint it would seem as though every preparation had been made for the coming of the Messiah. What need was there then of the work of John the Baptist? In the first place we may be sure that there was a need of his message, or the Lord would never have sent him to the world with it; but we can now see clearly the need of his message. “The words of the prophets were uncomprehended. To the masses of the people, death was a dread mystery; beyond was uncertainty and gloom. . . . In ‘the region and shadow of death,’ men sat unsolaced. . . . Through heathenism, Satan had for ages turned men away from God; but he won his great triumph in perverting the faith of Israel. By contemplating and worshiping their own conceptions, the heathen had lost a knowledge of God, and had become more and more corrupt. So it was with Israel. The principle that man can save himself by his own works, lay at the foundation of every heathen religion; it had now become the principle of the Jewish religion. Satan had implanted this principle. Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.” This is the explanation of the whole situation. With all their forms of religion men had no defense against sin, because they were seeking to save themselves by their own works of righteousness. The very service which the Lord himself had given to his people as a means of revealing to them the truth of the gospel of salvation from sin had been perverted into an excuse for sin. The prayers were long, and the widows’ houses were devoured. The phylacteries were broad, but the wearers made no effort to lift the burdens of men. The Messiah was looked for, but he was a Messiah who would serve their ambitious projects of political triumph over the hated Romans, rather than one who would lead them to regard sin as the most hateful thing in the universe, and deliverance from sin the greatest possible triumph. There was the greatest need that one should arise who would be a voice for the words of the prophets, and who should point out the Messiah as “the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.” The people needed a Saviour from sin. The false teaching of the scribes and Pharisees needed to be counteracted. The true light concerning the Messiah needed to shine.
We hardly need to draw the parallel. The great difficulty at the present time is that there is much form of Christianity, but great lack of the power. There is no sufficient barrier against sin even in the professed church of Christ. The strong tide of evil is sweeping before it the so-called pillars of the church. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many is waxing cold. There is the same need to-day that the message of John the Baptist be again taken up, and it should be said, with a loud voice, “Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away6the sin of the world.” And this should be done to prepare the way of the Lord.
One thought more. If this closing message is not so given that it brings into the lives of those who accept it a power which saves them from sin, there is something wrong. If this message of righteousness by faith is perverted into righteousness by works, by putting the keeping of the commandments as the means of salvation rather than the evidence of salvation, it will provide no barrier against sin, and the way of the Lord will not be prepared. In this day of great intellectual light many hearts have almost lost hope because sin has dominion over them. It is not oratory which is needed now. It is not the well-rounded sentence and the convincing logic for which the world is waiting. It is the gospel of Christ as the Saviour from sin for which the world is suffering. This is ‘the everlasting gospel’ of this third angel’s message. Let it be given to the world in its simplicity and power. It will prepare a people to stand in the day of God.
Information Wanted Concerning the British Sanitarium
We have laid before our people the proposition to purchase a sanitarium in England, and have asked them to assist our brethren in England in raising the money with which to pay for the property. We are now told by an esteemed correspondent that our people desire to know definitely whether the new institution will belong to the denomination, “or to an independent corporation, to the Catholics or anybody else,” and whether “it is to be under the control of the British Conference work instead of under independent medical missionary boards.” We are assured by our correspondent that the answers to these questions will have much influence in determining the amount donated by our people in the collection which has been appointed for next Sabbath, February 7.
We see no reason why our people should not have the clearest information upon these questions, and we feel perfectly free to answer them, stating the exact facts in the case. So much has been said of late about undenominational institutions, that it seems eminently proper that the status of this new institution should be clearly defined.
At the General Conference Committee Council, held in Battle Creek, Nov. 15-25, 1902, the action was taken upon which our call for donations is based. This action was printed in full in the Review of January 20. After recommending that funds be raised “for the establishment of a sanitarium in England,” it distinctly states who shall be responsible for the use of this money, in these words: “This sum to be expended under the direction of the British Union Conference Committee.” The sentiment of the General Conference Committee, as expressed in the discussion of the matter, was that the new sanitarium should be under the supervision of the British Union Conference Committee, and identified with the denominational work. We believe that this plan will meet with the hearty approval of the brethren in England.
When the first attempt was made to establish a health institution in England in 1899, the work was undertaken as a part of the regular conference work. The physicians were in the employ of the conference, and the whole movement was regarded as a factor in the organized effort to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. This method of conducting the work seems to us to be consistent with the idea that the health principles are an essential part of the truth to be taught in this closing work of the gospel. If they are just as much a part of this message as the Sabbath truth or the sanctuary truth, why should any effort be made to separate the work of giving them to the world from the work of giving the other truths to the world? Why should any effort be made to conceal the fact that the Lord has raised up this denomination to be his agency in giving a complete gospel to the world? The special significance of the revival of these health principles in this generation is that the “spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The advent message is a message for the whole man. And one part of this message need not be ashamed of any other part.
No recommendation was made by the General Conference Committee as to how the legal title to this property should be held. We know, however, that it is the desire of the committee that the title should be so vested that the property will be held secure to the denomination and its work, and not be under the control of a private corporation. In carrying out this idea, our brethren in England must, of course, act in harmony with the statutes of the country. We are certain that there will be no practical difficulty in arranging this matter. Our brethren over there are just as desirous as we are that the ownership of property purchased with funds donated by the brethren and sisters of this denomination shall be vested in the denomination. This is the only just and reasonable course to pursue.
Having thus stated the matter as clearly as we know how, we now make this last appeal for a liberal donation next Sabbath. We ask our brethren and sisters to consider the needs of the field, the providential opening which has been presented to us, and the advantage which will accrue from this advance move. In letters just received from England, our brethren express themselves as deeply thankful for the interest which is being shown in this matter, and for the effort being made to assist them in providing the required funds. They are putting forth the most vigorous effort to raise the proportion of the purchase price allotted to them, which we know is no small undertaking in view of their limited membership. We are confident that we on this side of the water can do our part without hardship to any one, if we can only secure united action on the part of all, each doing according to his ability. We are praying that the Lord will move upon the hearts of his people to respond cheerfully to this urgent call for help in establishing this new memorial for the truth in the English field.
Any who are so situated that it is more convenient for them to do so, may forward their donations direct to the treasurer of the Mission Board, H. M. Mitchell, Battle Creek, Mich.