Review and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 50. (12/10/1901)

Review and Herald

Dec 10, 1901

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 10, 1901

MRS. E. G. WHITE

By Ellen G. White

ROBBING GOD.—No. 2.

MRS. E. G. WHITE

For our present and eternal good, God has given us temporal and spiritual blessings. He enjoins upon us to become servants of His love, to impart to others the grace He has bestowed upon us. We are to act as His helping hand. No narrow, indolent selfishness is to be cherished. We are to inquire, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Those who love Christ will love the souls for whom He gave His life, and will daily reveal this love. Let the members of the Church arouse. Let them not cherish a narrow, self-centered religion. Christ calls upon them to be earnest, energetic, persevering workers. Those who truly believe in Christ and truly love Him are drawn by Him to act a part in the great, grand work of heaven’s love, giving thanks to God for His unspeakable gift.

Think of God’s boundless compassion. He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Think of the Saviour’s matchless love. While we were yet sinners, Christ died to save us from eternal death. In return for the great love wherewith Christ has loved you, you are to bring to Him your thank offering. You are to make a gratitude offering of yourself. Your time, your talents, your affections,—all are to flow to the world in a tide of love for the saving of the lost. Jesus has made it possible for you to accept His love, and in happy co-operation with Him to work under its fragrant influence. He requires you to use your possessions in unselfish service, that His plan for the salvation of souls may be carried forward with power. He requires you to give your undivided energies to His work. To have your name on the church book does not make you a Christian. You are to bring your gifts to the altar of sacrifice, co-operating with God to the utmost of your ability, that through you He may reveal the beauty of His truth. Withhold nothing from the Saviour. All is His. You would have nothing to give, did He not first give to you.

Selfishness has come in, and has appropriated to itself that which belongs to God. This is covetousness, which is idolatry. Men monopolize that which God has lent them, as though it were their own property, to do with as they please. When their power to grasp wealth is gratified, they think that their possessions make them of value in the sight of God. This is a snare, a deception of Satan. What does outward pomp and show avail? What do men and women gain by pride and self-indulgence? “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Worldly treasure is fleeting. Only through Christ can we obtain eternal riches. The wealth that He gives is beyond all computation. Having found God, you are supremely rich in the contemplation of His treasure. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”

Ask yourself the question, What am I doing with the Lord’s talents? Are you placing yourselves where the words are applicable to you, “Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation”? We are living in a time of solemn privilege and sacred trust, a time in which our destiny is being decided for life or for death. Let us come to our senses. You who claim to be children of God, bring your tithes to His treasury. Make your offerings willingly and abundantly, according as God has prospered you. Remember that the Lord has intrusted you with talents, upon which you are to trade diligently for Him. Remember also that the faithful servant takes no credit to himself. All the praise and glory is given to the Lord: Thou deliverest unto me thy pound. No gain could have been made unless there had first been a deposit. There could have been no interest without the principal. The capital was advanced by the Lord. Success in trading comes from Him, and to Him belongs the glory.

Oh, if all who have a knowledge of the truth would only obey the teaching of this truth! Why is it that men, standing on the very threshold of the eternal world, are so blinded? There is not a dearth of means, generally speaking, among Seventh-day Adventists. But many Seventh-day Adventists fail to realize the responsibility which rests upon them to co-operate with God and Christ for the saving of souls. They do not show forth to the world the great interest God has in sinners. They do not make the most of the opportunities granted them. The leprosy of selfishness has taken hold of the Church. The Lord Jesus Christ will heal the Church of this terrible disease if she will be healed. The remedy is found in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah.

Let us work earnestly and unselfishly for God, “knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.”

To us has been given the greatest wealth of truth ever committed to mortals. God desires us to have a true understanding of the words, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.” Enlarge your hearts. Embrace more and still more of the heavenly goods.

What shall we render to God for all His benefits to us? Does the weight of your obligation to your Creator rest heavily upon you? Are you seeking to save the souls who are perishing in sin? Do you realize that now is the time to work for the Master, that now is the time to bring your tithes and offerings into the storehouse? Upon His people God has placed the solemn charge of representing Him in this world. “Ye are the light of the world,” He says to them. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If the truth is not carried into new territory, if the warning message is not given to those who are in darkness, the Church will be held responsible.

Rightly appreciate the gifts of influence and property. Rightly estimate the value of the capital intrusted to you. It places you where you are held responsible to see and relieve the needs of God’s cause. Labor for the advancement of the interests which are dearest to the heart of God. With your money, your time, your strength, your influence, work for the upbuilding of these interests. The Lord God of Israel needs the

co-operation of every soul, because there is a large field to be worked. Hasten, my brethren and sisters, to bring to God a faithful tithe, and to bring Him also a willing thank offering. There are many who will not be blessed till they make restitution of the tithe which they have withheld. God is waiting for you to redeem the past. The hand of the holy law is laid upon every soul who enjoys God’s benefits. Let those who have kept back their tithe make an accurate reckoning, and bring to the Lord that of which they have robbed His work. Make restitution, and bring the Lord peace offerings. “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” If you acknowledge that you have done wrong in misappropriating His goods, and freely and fully repent, He will forgive your transgression.

In heaven the angelic beings delight to do the will of God. On earth shall we be backward? God is waiting for you to bring your means to His treasury, that there may be meat in His house. First consecrate yourselves to Him; then bring to Him your gifts.

Wonderful blessing attended the liberality of the early Christian Church. Paul writes, “Our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation. . . . Ye also helping together by prayer for us, that for the gift bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many in our behalf. For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.” “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that we, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work; . . . being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God.”

Unselfish liberality threw the early Church into a transport of joy. The members knew that thus the power of God was being borne to the needy. Their benevolent energy testified that they had not received the grace of God in vain. What could produce such liberality but the sanctification of the Spirit through the word? In the eyes of believers and unbelievers it was a miracle of grace.

We too often fail to tell of God’s faithfulness in rewarding those who obey Him. By murmuring and complaining we darken our own pathway and the pathway of others. It is to be regretted that the Church to-day feels so little inclination to express thanksgiving to the Lord for enriching her with His grace, for giving her His talent of means, that she may have wherewith to supply His treasury.

The barren portions of the Lord’s vineyard cry to God, saying, “Men have neglected to care for me.” By allowing their fellow beings to remain in the bondage of want and degradation, men and women allow Satan to reproach God for permitting His children to suffer for the necessaries of life. God is insulted by the indifference of those to whom He has intrusted His goods. His stewards refuse to notice the distress which they might relieve. Thus they bring a reproach upon God.

Let no one trifle with his responsibilities. If you are not trading upon dollars, but only upon cents, remember that the blessing of God rests upon unwearied diligence. He does not despise the day of small things. A wise use of the littles will bring a wonderful increase. One talent wisely used will bring two to God. Interest is expected in proportion to the intrusted capital. God accepts according to what a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

God calls for what you owe Him in tithes and offerings. He calls for consecration in every line of His work. Act faithfully your part at your appointed post of duty. Work earnestly, remembering that Christ is by your side, planning, devising, and constructing for you. “God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” Give cheerfully, gladly, willingly, thankful that you are able to do something to advance God’s kingdom in the world. Empty the heart of selfishness, and brace the mind for Christian activity. If you are in close connection with God, you will be willing to make any sacrifice to place eternal life within the reach of the perishing.

In the name of the Lord, I beseech my brethren and sisters, at this crisis in our work, to come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Withholding from God always brings a curse. Spiritual prosperity is closely bound up with Christian liberality. Hunger only for the exaltation of imitating the divine beneficence of the Redeemer. You have the precious assurance that your treasure is going before you to the heavenly courts. Would you make your property secure? Place it in the hand that bears the nail prints of the crucifixion. Retain all in your possession, and it will be to your eternal loss. Give it to God, and from that moment it bears His inscription. It is sealed with His immutability. Would you enjoy your substance? Then use it to bless the suffering. Would you increase your possessions? “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”

If all will act their part, the barrenness of the Lord’s vineyard will no longer speak in condemnation of those who profess to follow Christ. Medical missionary work is to open the door for the gospel of present truth. The Third Angel’s Message is to be heard in all places. Economize! Strip yourselves of pride. Give to God your earthly treasure. Give what you can now, and as you co-operate with Christ, your hand will open to impart still more. And God will refill your hand, that the treasure of truth may be taken to many souls. He will give to you that you may give to others.

RAISE THE SONG OF HARVEST HOME.

Come, ye thankful people, come, Raise the song of harvest-home: All is safely gathered in, Ere the winter storms begin; God, our Maker, doth provide For our wants to be supplied; Come to God's own temple, come, Raise the song of harvest-home.

All the world is God's own field, Fruit unto His praise to yield; Wheat and tares together sown, Unto joy or sorrow grown; First the blade, and then the ear, Then the full corn shall appear; Lord of harvest, grant that we Wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come, And shall take His harvest home; From His field shall in that day All offenses purge away; Give His angels charge at last In the fire the tares to cast, But the fruitful ears to store In His garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come To thy final harvest-home: Gather thou thy people in, Free from sorrow, free from sin; There forever purified, In thy presence to abide; Come with all thine angels, come, Raise the glorious harvest-home.

— Selected.

THE JUDGMENT.

By B. L. Howe

ELDER B. L. HOWE.

(Honolulu, H. I.)

THE prophetic message that announces the entrance of Christ upon the atonement work, as represented in the cleansing of the sanctuary, is called the judgment message. Judgment is defined as “the act of judging; the mental operation by which facts are weighed, comparisons and deductions made, and conclusions reached; the faculty by the exercise of which deliberate conclusion is reached. Psychologically considered, it is the process or form of comparison in which conceptions or notions are compared, and their logical agreement or disagreement apprehended, and mentally asserted.”

By these definitions it is evident that the term judgment is not, as it has come to be theologically considered, merely the rendering of a decision, but it has in it the thought of a progressive work, in which facts are considered, evidences are studied, testimony is weighed, and conclusions are reached, preparatory to the rendering of a final decision, which brings us to the definition of the term as used in law.

When the Lord decided that the earth should be overflowed by water, He centered all the energies of heaven in the work of warning the people and preparing a way of escape. He connected every faithful man and woman with Him in this work.

When the time came for the revealing of God in Jesus Christ to the world, the angel came to Mary and said, “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.” When Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, a multitude of the heavenly host came to make it known. The shepherds spread the tidings abroad.

When Jesus was baptized, the Father spoke from heaven, “This is my beloved Son.” All heaven was doing everything in its power to turn the thoughts of the people on earth to the subject in which it was interested.

The time came for the judgment message to go to the world. The prophet Daniel had a view of the opening of the judgment. The Father and Christ were both engaged in the work, and—not a multitude of the heavenly host, but the entire host—“ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands.” Every one in heaven is interested in the judgment work. All have a part to act in it.

This wonderful interest in heaven does not, however, satisfy the mind and purpose of God. The exile on Patmos saw a mighty angel flying through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” This time was reached in the fall of 1844. The judgment was set, the books were opened, and every member of the family in heaven was concerned about the work. But the work of the judgment especially concerned the people on earth. The cases of the dead were to be investigated, but it was the travelers, somewhere on the road between birth and the grave, that the Lord was especially anxious to have connected with the work of the judgment. God is now holding an open court into which He invites all. So the call to come into court is sent down from heaven. It travels by land and by sea, and through the day and night the cry sounds, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” At the going forth of this message a solemn earnestness settled down upon the people everywhere. In the places where the older people were not allowed to preach the message, the Spirit of God came upon the children, and they preached with such power that backsliders returned to the Lord, and sinners were converted.

In the type every one who was called under the name of Israel was interested and had a part to act in the service of the day of atonement. Although the decision was not reached until the close of the day, every individual had a part to work out for himself, from the beginning to the end of the judgment day. So the work of the final judgment is not all in the decree which says that every man must remain just as he is.

The hour of God’s judgment came at the conclusion of the prophetic period of twenty-three hundred days, in the fall of 1844, and every one who has heard the certain sound of the trumpet since that time, and has accepted the message, has become a living, active part of that open court, which the Judge of all is conducting.

The Judge and all His associates in heaven are devoting their thought and energy to weighing the evidences for and against the applicants for eternal life. Are we overcoming, or are we being overcome? Are our sins all confessed, and pardon written over against the very last one? We need not concern ourselves as to whether the judgment has begun with the living. If we are living this side of 1844, we cannot be living in any other time than the time of the judgment.

The work of the day of atonement in the type demanded the most solemn service and best energies of all the living people; so the judgment

message for to-day is sent to living, active people, that they may know, and live, and act as though standing before the throne of the Eternal. Only those who receive this message as a living reality, and walk with God, as Enoch did, will meet their Lord at His coming without tasting death.

We now have a case in the open court of heaven, for the Lord has raised us up together with Christ, and we are sitting with Him, in the sanctuary, in heavenly places. “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.” Blessed life! hidden with Christ in God, nothing is seen but God’s own life.

With what earnestness, with what gladness, we should press forward, for the glad day is just about to be ushered in, in which the last foul stain of sin is to be forever blotted from the universe.

“The great day of the Lord is near, it is near and hasteth greatly.” God help us all, and make us stand now, that we may stand then.

I KICKS AGIN IT, SAH.

By A. J. Gordon

DR. A. J. GORDON.

Such was the vehement exclamation of Brother Moses. My first acquaintance with Moses began thus:—

Soon after the close of the war a neighbor said to me one day: “I wish you would call in and see my colored man, who has recently come to me from the South. I assure you he is a character.”

I called one morning according to request, and after a pleasant introduction, I said: “Brother Moses, I wish you would tell me your Christian experience, if you can spare time for it.”

“I allers has time enough for dat, sah,” he replied. “It was on the sixth day of October, 1853, at three o’clock in de mornin’, in massa’s cornfield in ole Virginny, dat de Lord spoke peace to my soul.”

“I had been a-mournin’ for weeks, yet all de while more or less confidential in myself, and settin’ store by de heaps of good works and prayers and repentins I’d done. But at last dese deceitful refuges began to gib way, and de foundations of de great deep broke up in my soul, and for three days and nights I could neither eat, drink, nor sleep, a-mournin’ and a-wailin’ for my sins.”

“At last, nigh sunrise, in de third day, out in de cornfield, I says: ‘Lord, you must save dis despairin’ sinner, or he’ll die. I know I’s wicked, and vile, and rebellious, but den you’s all-merciful and forgivin’.’”

“He reached out His hand edgeways toward me; and if dat hand had been a sharp, two-edged sword, it wouldn’t cut me open quicker’n it did, separatin’ de joints and de marrer, and layin’ bare de corruption of my heart. I never dreamed what a heap of blackness dar was in dat heart till dat mornin’. Den, quicker’n I can tell, He reached out His hand agin, so kinder soft and tender, and closed me up, and didn’t leave a rent or a scar or a sore place in my heart, and He says to me, ‘Son, dy sins, which is many, is forgiben dee.’”

“Den I know’d I’d been born agin; dat old things had passed away, and all things had become new. From dat day I’s been surer dat I’s born’d agin than I am dat I was born’d de first time. Dat’s my experience. Some folks don’t believe it, but I knows it, for it’s what I’s tasted and seen.”

“Have you any special religious interest in your church?” I asked Moses.

“No room for any interest,” he replied. “De church is so lumbered up wid fairs, and festivals, and jollifications, dat de Sperit’s got no chance to work among us. Leastwise dats my solemn ’pinion, dough some says I’s heady and setful. But I’s sick of it, sah! I goes to church Sunday, and de fust thing de minister gets up and reads a long program of de worldly doin’s and goin’s for de week—de music and de supper, and de grammatic readings, and what not—twenty-five cents admission, and all must come. I tell ye, I kicks agin it, sah, and will, long’s I hab bref in my body.”

“What do you mean by saying you kick against it?” I asked.

“I rebukes it, sah, in de name of de Lord. Last Sunday I spoke out in meetin’ and said, ‘Breddren, what ye been redeemed for, and brought into de church? Didn’t de Lord tell you dat you’s to be de light of de world and de salt of de earth? Well, when I sees how much time some of you gibs to fairs and festivals, and den you can’t come to de prayer-meeting ’cause you’s so busy,’ I says, ‘if you ever was de Lord’s true salt, you’ve lost your flavor; and if you don’t look out, you’ll be cast out, trodden under foot of men.’”

“But, Brother Moses,” I asked, wishing to draw out further wisdom from this deep fountain, “don’t you think these things are necessary for making the church attractive to the masses, and inviting to the young?”

“No, sah;” he replied, with great warmth. “No, sah; Christians is de salt of de world, and dey is put into de world to preserve it from corruption. But some’s got de idee dat you must bring corruption into de church so’s to preserve de salt, as dough de gospel is goin’ to die out unless it’s sugared and seasoned wid carnal ’musements. Dat’s de poplar notion. But I kicks agin it, sah.”

“Yes; but the people say there is no harm in a social gathering and a plain supper, and a little music and reading for entertaining the people,” I continued.

“Well, dat’s de question,” replied Moses. “I takes de Scriptures for my standpoint of faith and practice, and I have searched in vain to find where de ’postels and elders ever got up suppers of turkey, and chickens, and sandwiches, and cold tongue, and den invited de breddren to come to church and eat ’em at twenty cents a head. No, brudder, ’musements in de church is unsanctifying, howsomever folks may think ’bout it.”

“We had a festival in our meeting-house two weeks back. I looks in a few minutes, and sees de crowd dere and de doin’s. Fust the pianny and de fiddle strikes up, and den all de young folks’ feet begin to shuffle and scrape under de seat, like de unthinkin’ horse rushin’ into battle, and sez I, ‘Take off the ’straint and how long ’fore dis whole company’d be a dancin’ and a waltzin’ in de house of God?’”

“Den dey had de guess cake, and de waffles, and waffled off a calico quilt to de one dat drawed de prize; and sez I, ‘What’s dis but eddicating people to gamblin’ and lotteries?’ Den de grammatic reader comes on, all dressed up wid ribbons an’ furbelows. Sez I again, ‘What’s dis but jus’ nussin’ our young ’uns for de stage and de theater?’ I tell you, I kicks agin it, sah, and allers shall.”

“Well, next night was prayer-meetin’; only twenty out, an’ all as mum as if de Lord had never opened their mouths; and when I warns ’em about it, dey says, ‘Brudder Moses, de Spirit didn’t move us.’ I’s prayin’ ’bout it night and day. It’s ’cause de Lord’s children don’t think, dey does so. You remember how He says, ‘My people do not consider.’”

Reader, Moses is a real character, and not a myth. He was born in slavery, and if he is able to read, it is only a recent acquirement. But his mind is saturated with the Scripture as he has caught its phraseology from the rude preachers of his race. May it not be that he is one of the “babes” to whom the Father has revealed some things which He has hid “from the wise and prudent”?

THE VOICE IN THE STORM.

Not always under calm and sunny skies The Lord doth meet us, though we seek Him there, Eager to hear Him talk of lilies fair, And utter parables that make men wise.

Nor do we find the One whose word we prize Always at feasts, though He doth love to share Our social joys; and when we feasts prepare, 'Tis He with better wine our want supplies.

But sometimes on the wing of storm He comes, In the deep midnight of our black despair; 'Mid raging waves and winds that never cease, When the helm fails us, and the cold benumbs Our helpless hands,— then, as we lift our prayer, He speaks, and lo! our hearts are filled with peace.

— Springfield Republican.

A Little Thing That Turns Sighs to Song

“Oh, what a little thing can turn A heavy heart from sighs to song! A smile can make the world less stern, A word can cause the soul to burn With glow of heaven, all night long.”

LET HER ALONE.

By T. E. Bowen

T. E. BOWEN.

JESUS was at the home of Simon. This man professed to be a follower of God, but he had committed grievous sins. Yet Jesus came into the world to save sinners, so He accepted Simon’s invitation to dine with him. While those at the table were conversing, a timid woman, unobserved, stole into the room, and broke upon the Saviour’s feet from behind (the custom then being to recline at meals) an alabaster box of ointment, very precious, and began wiping His feet with her long flowing hair, the tears of gratitude falling fast as she reverently kissed the feet of her divine Lord. She purposed to remain unobserved, but the precious perfume filled the room.

She had heard rumors that Jesus might be taken away, and fearing she might not have another opportunity of showing her love and gratitude for the wonderful mercy shown her in the forgiveness of her great sins, she hastened to break the seal of her treasured box.

The spirit of criticism began to manifest itself. Judas ventured to suggest that it would have been far better to have sold this ointment and given the proceeds to the poor. Simon thought if Jesus was the Messiah, He would not have permitted this woman to touch Him, for he knew she was a great sinner. Jesus was unmoved by this censure. Turning to her accusers, He said: “Let her alone.” He said more, but ponder this statement: Let her alone. She took this way of manifesting her love for me. Let her alone.

How many acts of love have been frozen to death before they found expression, by some cold censure or criticism. Christ’s “Let her alone” applies to all such.

Some timid wife longs to invite a needy one to share the comforts of her home, but the husband inwardly or outwardly objects, and so the good deed is smothered. Some children long to give expression to their childish love for Christ, but for fear of censure restrain it. How much better it would be to let them alone.

Mary’s was the only precious box of ointment broken upon the Saviour while He was alive. Are you sorry she broke it?

Let us know that this cold, unfeeling spirit is not of heaven. It comes from beneath. We need to heed what the Saviour said in more ways than one, and let people alone. Let them follow the good promptings of the Spirit. God is able also to guide them. Much more might be done for God, would all heed these words to them of old, “Let her alone.”

Service Born of Love

“THERE is no service like his who serves because he loves.”

Continue reading: BABYLON AND THE LOUD CRY