Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jan 14, 1904
A Twelve-Ounce Bible
People who do not care for their Bible to contain several hundred pages of extra matter, or “Helps,” besides the Scriptures, but have all this matter in their libraries, will appreciate a Bible that weighs only 12 ounces, but has type large enough to be read easily by any one with fair eyesight. To such people, the Bibles which we describe here will appeal. We show herewith a full-page specimen of the type, and the printed page is only 4½ by 6⅞ inches, and the thickness of the book is but ¼ of an inch.
If you need a Bible, and can read the type readily, and do not care for your Bible to contain anything but the Scriptures and maps, then no long argument is necessary to interest you in this one.
Now as to the price. This also will fit your purse, whether you are able to pay for only the cheapest binding, or whether you wish yours bound in sealskin.
Each Bible described below is printed on India paper, famous for its thinness, and yet so opaque that the printing hardly shows through at all.
Style NO.—Thin leather, divinity circuit (overlapping edges), linen lined, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.65.
Style NO1.—Better leather, divinity circuit, leather lined, silk sewed, round corners, red under gold edges, $2.50.
Style NO2.—Levant morocco, divinity circuit, calf lined to edge, silk sewed, round corners, red under gold edges, $4.25.
Style NO3.—Sealskin leather, but otherwise same as style NO2, $4.50. A beautiful book, and a remarkably low price for such a fine binding.
We can furnish any kind of Bible; so if these are not what you want, send us a description of the one desired, and state about what price you are willing to pay, and we can surely please you.
The American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible
MANY of the readers of this paper have availed themselves of the opportunity of securing one of these Bibles. We feel confident that many others will appreciate this American Edition when once they have it for study.
To those who do not know about it, we will say that it is the Revised Version of the Bible as approved by the American Committee on Revision, and it has but recently been published.
Of its value, the editor of The Signs of the Times says: “The most perfect translation of the Bible into English there is in the world.” The Northwestern Christian Advocate says: “There can be no doubt that in this version we are nearer the thought, and therefore the spirit, of the Master than in any version now existing in English.”
REFERENCE BIBLE, BOURGEOIS TYPE
(same size of type as is used in this notice), American Standard Revised Version, with Scriptural references, topical headings, and marginal readings; size, 5½ by 8 inches. Will be sent post-paid at the following prices:—
Style R.—Black cloth, red edges, $1.
Style R1.—Leather, limp, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.75.
Style R2.—Leather, with overlapping edges (divinity circuit style), leather lined to edge, round corners, red under gold edges, $2.75.
Style R3.—Same binding as R2, but printed on the famous India paper, thus making the Bible very thin and light, $4.
TEACHERS’ EDITION.
A Teachers’ Edition of the American Standard Revised Bible has just been issued. It is printed in the same type as the above, and contains a concise Bible Dictionary of 118 pages, a new Combined Concordance of the Revised Version, 234 pages, besides Bible Atlas and 12 Maps. It is printed on India paper, and therefore only about 1¼ inches thick, weighs 1 pound and 9 ounces, and is furnished at the following prices:—
Style TR2.—Same binding as style R2, but on India paper, and with Teachers’ Helps as described above, $5.25.
Style TR3.—Better leather binding than style TR2, $6.25.
WITHOUT REFERENCES.
A new edition has just been issued in minion type (same size as used for obituaries in this paper, see page 23). It has no references, and is 4 by 6¼ inches in size. We can furnish it as follows:—
Style R10.—Leather, limp, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.40.
Style R11.—Leather, divinity circuit, round corners, red under gold edges, $1.60.
AMERICAN STANDARD REVISED NEW TESTAMENT.
In same size of type as style R10. It has no references, but is printed on a smaller page, the size being 3¼ by 4¼ inches.
Style R6.—Leather, limp cover, round corners, red under gold edges, 55 cents.
Style R7.—Leather, divinity circuit, round corners, silk book mark, red under gold edges, 70 cents.
Any of the above Bibles sent postpaid at prices given. Address State Tract Societies, Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich.; Review and Herald, Washington, D. C.; Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal.; Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Assn., Nashville, Tenn.
The Coming of the Seed
“It Is of Faith”
In all the provision which has been made for the restoration of man, and in all the promises which have been made to man in presenting to him the fulness of the meaning of the gospel of God's grace, the central figure is Christ, and the central thought is the gift of Christ. The essence of every promise is Christ. The fulfilment of every promise is accomplished through Christ. To lose sight of Christ in the promises of God is to pervert the essential idea of the promise. To expect the fulfilment of the promises of God apart from Christ is to pervert the whole purpose of God, and to frustrate his plan of salvation as revealed in the gospel.
When God declared that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, he gave the assurance of the union of divinity with humanity in the person of his Son, through whom victory would be gained over Satan and sin; but the power for the fulfilment of this promise in the triumph over evil was not in the flesh. All the power was in the Word who became flesh, and thus provided for the power in the flesh to meet and overcome the enemy. To rest confidence in the flesh, instead of in Christ, the power of God revealed in the flesh, would mean inevitable failure. The flesh is visible, but the power is invisible. The things which are seen do not have in them any power to save and to deliver. The gospel teaches us how to deal with the invisible power of the Eternal, appropriating it for our salvation through the faith which is itself the gift of God. And even when that power is revealed in the flesh, all confidence must be in the invisible power, and not in the flesh. The word of power must be the basis of faith.
When God promised Abraham that he would give the land to his seed, there was involved in the promise, and as the essential part of the promise, the whole provision of the gospel for the restoration of man to his place as ruler of the world. The redemption of the earth, the resurrection of the dead, the extinction of evil, and the eternal reign of righteousness, all to be accomplished through the coming of the promised Seed in the flesh, were bound up in the promises made to Abraham. The promise of the land, which as interpreted through the apostle Paul was a promise of the world, the world made new4after the resurrection, as was revealed to Abraham in the announcement of his own death, was the promise of a redeemer of the world who would be born of the flesh in the line of Abraham's family. Only through that redeemer could the redeemed possession be obtained. Only through that redeemer could the redeemed possession be retained even after it had been obtained. The essential thing in the promise was the redeemer, to whom and through whom the land would be given. The faith for the fulfilment of the promise was the faith which laid hold upon the coming Seed, to whom the promise was made.
The manner of the birth of Isaac, the child of promise, was a divine object-lesson to teach that there did not reside in the flesh any power to accomplish that which was included in the promise of God. And even when the word of power begins to make visible the results of its working, still faith must rest upon the invisible word of promise rather than upon visible results. This is shown in the test of Abraham's faith. After the word of promise had brought Isaac in the flesh, in whom the seed was to be called, faith must still look to Isaac in the promise, and not to Isaac in the flesh, inasmuch as the promised Seed, the Redeemer, was still in the promise, and not in the flesh. This was Abraham's faith. He rested wholly upon the promise, and not upon any outward appearances, and obeyed God even when that obedience seemed to destroy all hope of the fulfilment of God's promise to him, “being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform,” and he left the responsibility for its performance wholly with God. Such faith was counted for righteousness.
When the Lord promised to David that his seed and his throne should be established forever, it was a promise that death should be destroyed, and that the dominion should be taken from the prince of this world and restored to man. But the power to accomplish this was not in the flesh of David nor in the armies of David. The power was in that blessing of God which was sent to the world in the gift of his eternal Son to become one with the human family, and to bring deliverance from sin and death. And the faith which would bring the accomplishment of this promise must rest wholly in the invisible God and the invisible power of his word, and not in any outward circumstance or appearance.
Now as the descendants of Abraham and of David, the heirs of the promises, lost their close connection with God, they turned to the outward and the visible as the ground of their confidence in the fulfilment of those promises, and lost sight of the essential thing, the coming of the Seed. They interpreted their own possession of the land of Canaan to be the meaning of the promise of the land, and
they limited the promise to David to be fulfilled in the king on the throne at Jerusalem. In the same way they made their sacrifices and offerings a means of salvation, and thus perverted that which was intended to be a means of revealing Christ to them into a round of fleshly works which hid Christ from their eyes. They turned from the invisible to the visible, they discarded faith for sight, and rested upon their own works for the fulfilment of God's promises to them, rather than upon the faith which Abraham exercised. Thus they laid hold upon the mere shell of the promises, the outward forms, and lost the real kernel of life and power. In this way their connection with heaven was broken, and they shut themselves away from the divine power. Their religious service became a sham, a fleshly performance in which there was no revealing of Christ to the sinner, and sin ran riot in their lives.
After his people had refused his reproof and instruction through the prophets, there was only one course left for the divine Instructor to follow in order that he might bring his people back to a simple faith in the power of God and to confidence in the coming of the Seed as the only hope for the fulfilment of the promises,—they must eat of the fruit of their own doings, and reap the results of their own persistent perversion of the truth and of their misplaced confidence in the flesh; and this experience came to them in due time.
A Conquering Church
By Editor
Editorial
A Conquering Church
In the first view of the church militant given to John in vision he saw “a white horse, and he that sat thereon had a bow; and there was given unto him a crown: and he came forth conquering, and to conquer.” At that time the church was few in numbers, and possessed practically none of those modern agencies now considered so essential to the success of gospel work, but it had a mighty faith in its invisible Head, and kept itself unspotted from the world. Under these conditions the Lord could work mightily to his own glory. There was a direct connection between Jesus on the throne of infinite power and his representatives on the earth. This experience is thus described: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken unto them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed.” The same Jesus sits in the same place of power to-day, and is just as willing now as then to work with his church, and to lead it from victory to victory. The same spirit of repentance for sin, of distrust of self and fleshly power, of humble dependence upon the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, will certainly bring to the church of the latter days the same experience that was found in the church of the early days. Is it not needed to-day? “Wherefore should the nations say, Where is now their God?” O for a return of those days when the word was spoken with convincing power, and when those who heard the pointed testimony of humble men “took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” When the church again takes the place of privilege which belongs to it, then it will again be a conquering church. May that day be hastened.
“Giving Thanks Always”
THE unnumbered blessings of God flow to us in a continuous stream. These unmerited gifts call for a continuous giving of thanks. We have nothing which is not given to us from God. “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” He “giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” His only begotten Son is the gift of his love to a world perishing in sin. Through this gift of gifts come all other blessings. The common mercies of life, those blessings which sometimes seem to be expected as a matter of course,—food, raiment, shelter, strength for service, the ability to plan and to execute,—all these are the direct gift of God, and are the constant testimony to his tender mercy toward us. To receive these gifts without recognizing God by giving thanks is to follow in the way of the heathen. The trouble with them was that “knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks.” One of the counts in the indictment against those who have merely the “form of godliness” in the “perilous times” of “the last days” is that they are “unthankful.” The unthankful heart soon becomes the rebellious heart, and is filled with accusations against God. To save us from all this the Lord has often reminded us of the privilege and duty of giving thanks. Again and again do we find the exhortation, “Give thanks unto the Lord.” In a single psalm occur these calls to thanksgiving: “Oh give thanks unto Jehovah.” “Oh give thanks unto the God of gods.” “Oh give thanks unto the Lord of lords.” “Oh give thanks unto the God of heaven.” There is no experience of life in which we may not give thanks. This is the application of the instruction given through the apostle Paul, a man who suffered many things for the sake of the gospel: “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” He who gives thanks in everything will have many things for which to give thanks, for the thankful man can be trusted with an increase of blessings.
The Faith of Jesus
By L. A. S.
Of those whom God recognizes as his people in this closing period of time, it is written, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12. They have not merely faith in Jesus, but the faith of Jesus.
Jesus, as the son of Joseph and Mary, lived by faith. Through the sorrows and trials of his earthly life he was sustained by the joy that was set before him. He perceived this joy by faith. He knew what the reward would be at the end of the race in no other way than we know it,—by faith in the word of God.
But Jesus passed through hours of darkness, when temptations assailed him. Even to him, perfect as he was in character, there came a time when to his view the outcome of his great contest with the powers of evil was shrouded in obscurity. It was his faith that held him to God in the hour of trial. The following description from “Desire of Ages,” chapter “Calvary,” presents before us the occasion when “the faith of Jesus” was put to the severest test:—
Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to him his coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God, that their separation was to be eternal. . . .
At the ninth hour the darkness lifted from the people, but still enveloped the Saviour. It was a symbol of the agony and horror that weighed upon his heart. No eye could pierce the gloom that surrounded the cross, and none could penetrate the deeper gloom that enshrouded the suffering soul of Christ. The angry lightnings seemed to be hurled at him as he hung upon the cross. Then “Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, . . . My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” As the outer gloom settled about the Saviour, many voices exclaimed, “The vengeance of heaven is upon him. The bolts of God’s wrath are hurled at him, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” Many who believed on him heard his despairing cry. Hope left them. If God had forsaken Jesus, in what could his followers trust? . . .
Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours he had relied upon the evidence of his Father’s acceptance heretofore given him. He was acquainted with the character of his Father; he understood his justice, his mercy, and his great love. By faith he rested in him whom it had ever been his joy to obey. And as in submission he committed himself to God, the sense of the loss of his Father’s favor was withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor.
“The faith of Jesus” is faith that holds the soul to the right in the hour of darkness. And that hour will come to the followers of Christ, as it did to him. The tempter and enemy of souls will not allow our faith to go untested. We need not expect to escape by keeping in the Christian pathway; it is when we are in it, that the devil assails us most fiercely. The hosts of evil will press in darkness upon the mind, darkness that comes from the very depths of the bottomless pit; and with that darkness will come the temptation to doubt, perhaps to doubt the very things we have believed most, and then to distrust God and murmur against him. And in that hour the faith of Jesus, if we have it, will save us from falling; and that alone will be the anchor of the soul. We are human, and “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
In the climax of the great controversy that has now come, in the hour of temptation that shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth; in the time when the great adversary shall work with “all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness,” we shall be kept only by the faith of Jesus, which held on to God when all was darkness, and his Father appeared to have forsaken him. Let us be sure that we have indeed “the faith of Jesus.” L. A. S.
Holding the Winds
LOOKING at the situation from a merely human standpoint, and interpreting the indications according to the accepted standards of worldly wisdom, there would seem to be strong probability of a war which would be likely to involve the great nations of the earth. The leading political prophets of both continents are freely predicting that this will come before the close of the year upon which we are just entering. This shows that according to the best judgment of those who are accustomed to study national problems, all the conditions exist which are necessary to bring on such a general conflict. If the great nations of to-day do not soon muster their armies and navies against one another, it will not be for lack of such reasons as are usually considered sufficient to precipitate war.
But in the face of all this we venture to express the belief that this great last-day battle will not be fought this year. It is true that we are facing the time when the nations are angry, and if they were left to their own unrestrained passions and plans, we should doubtless soon see them engaged in deadly warfare with one another, but it is equally true that God rules in the kingdom of men, and that his purpose is supreme. There is a work to be done in offering the gospel of peace to the world before the winds of strife will be let loose. A call is to go forth to every nation, to gather out and seal for the heavenly kingdom those who place loyalty to God and obedience to his law above every other consideration. The winds are held until this work is accomplished. Here is the scripture which throws light upon our present situation: “After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”
The message of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus must be proclaimed to this last generation, and every one will be called upon to make his choice between allegiance to the law of God and allegiance to the commandments of men. The test will come directly and specifically over the fourth commandment, that seal of the law in which is found the full name of the Creator and Father. Those who through repentance and faith become truly obedient to the law of God are those on whose foreheads the name of the Father is written, and who are thus prepared to stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion. This sealing work is accomplished as the closing part of the threefold message which is to prepare the way for the coming of the Son of man on the white cloud. It is therefore clear that while the nations are ready for the last great conflict, the people of God have not completed their work, and are not ready. In great mercy the divine command is given to hold the winds that time may be given to extend the last call to loyalty to the King of heaven, and to prepare a people to stand in the day of wrath.
Here is where we find ourselves when we take our bearings by the aid of the prophetic word. What, then, do these indications of war mean to us? Are they merely matters of speculative interest and discussion? Are they merely a general sign of the times? Are they not rather a very special and emphatic reminder of a work not yet done, and a trumpet call to take up neglected duty with a most earnest spirit of consecration? The world is needing this message, and God by special interposition is keeping the way open that his people may be free to enter all the fields with the gospel of the soon-coming kingdom. The situation ought to arouse the most sluggish, and fire a whole people with holy zeal. The end may come as soon as we are willing to bring it. We may see our Lord as soon as we have announced his coming to all the world. Then let every energy be devoted to the work while the winds are being held.
The Love That Fights Against Evil
By W. A. S.
SATAN strikes at the very heart of the plan of salvation when he attempts to substitute for the love of God his counterfeit of sentimentalism and false sympathy with evil. This counterfeit is sweeping over the world to-day, in Christendom and heathendom, with a philosophy that considers it uncharitable to discriminate sharply between good and evil. It substitutes the so-called broad platform of service for humanity for the service of God, which alone can help humanity.
The love that is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit is no species of mere refined sentimentalism. It is a positive, discriminating, keen-edged force. It is tenderness, but not softness. It is gentleness, but strength. Under its influence the character develops as the lily for purity and gentleness, but as the very cedar of Lebanon for gnarled and hardy strength to withstand all the opposing winds that blow.
This we see in the life of Jesus. Kind and gentle, he was, yet firm and unswerving for righteousness. Evil and pretense and deception never met so keen an edge as that which was wielded by the Saviour, whose heart was breaking for the love wherewith he loved men. In the day of God nothing will be so terrible to the lost as that loving face of the Saviour. They will cry to the rocks and the mountains to hide them from that face, from which shines undimmed the love of God for man.
There is nothing in the universe so intensely aggressive as the love of God. The love that poured itself out for the lost will fight for the sinner against all the powers of darkness. There is courage in this truth for every tried soul.
The Lord turns to the fiercest of animals when to find a figure by which to hint at the strength of the love that fights in the sinner’s behalf against evil. “For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem.” Isa. 31: 4, 5. As the hungry lion, tasting blood, fiercely clings to his prey, so the Lord by the strength of his love for his children, having tasted the joy of redeeming them, will guard them from evil influences. As the timid mother-bird would interpose her own life between her brood and a wild animal, the instinct of motherhood strengthening her to fight against any odds, so God’s love, so gentle and so sweet, has been the motive power for conflict with the forces of evil ever since the original rebellion in heaven. There was war in heaven because love could not compromise with evil, and Satan and his deceived followers were cast down.
There is nothing so finely discriminating as love. No eye is so quick to detect danger for the little one as the mother’s. The loving heart stands jealously on guard to save from wrong. It is the very opposite of love that lets down the barriers for evil to prey upon the flock. The true shepherd fights against the wolf, not because he hates the wolf, but because he loves the sheep. The shepherd who merely hated the wolf would very quickly flee and leave the sheep to be torn and mangled, when his own life or interests were threatened. Not so the true shepherd. His love for the flock detects danger where the hireling sees nothing. Wolves in sheep’s clothing, seductive errors clothed in the phrases or garments of light, are abroad in the world to-day. Now, more than at any time since the serpent persuaded man to taste of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we need to have the genuine love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, so that we may know how to meet and reject without hesitation the deceptive mingling of good and evil that would snare our souls.
This love saved the angels of heaven who did not rebel. They saw most mysterious6workings that they could not understand. On the supposition that Satan was telling the truth, something seemed to be wrong with the divine administration. It was loyalty born of the love of God that helped the greater number to penetrate the deception, and to see that he was working only to exalt self while professing loyalty to the best interests of heaven. This love understood the cruel charge against God and Christ involved in the suggestion that the angels were asked to submit to arbitrary power and possible slavery. At the same time the counterfeit of love, a false sympathy on the part of those under his control, strengthened Satan in his warfare against God, and enabled him to maintain the false issues raised to cover his plan of rebellion, until the leaven of sin had worked ruin in the hearts of a third of the angels.
From that day to this, love has been fighting uncompromisingly against sin, while Satan’s gospel of a counterfeit love has sought to stupefy the faculties of discernment until they can no longer distinguish between good and evil. The loving heart is surer guide in time of crisis than the clever head, and love is not a passive principle.
This love of God we must hold in our hearts by the submission of every power of the being to his control. Then shall we be prepared to wrestle with the strong for the souls for whom Christ died. It will give definiteness to the aim and strength to the arm. The Christian soldier must know the order of battle, and the difference between the enemy’s standard and his own. The trumpet must be given a certain sound. The secret of it all is in the love of Jesus that can teach a little child to love righteousness and hate iniquity, even as Jesus did. And it will make men like little children with God, but hardy soldiers of the cross in meeting the brunt of the final clash of arms in the great controversy. This is the love that will make the weakest as David, and David as the angel of the Lord, in meeting the subtle working of Satan as he now comes to deceive if possible the very elect. W. A. S.
Shall We Continue to Work?
By Arthur G. Daniells
DURING the last few weeks the Seventh-day Adventists in America have been manifesting a deep, practical interest in the welfare of their fellow men. Many have been working hard with the Capital and Labor number of the Signs. In all parts of the world—in cities, towns, and country neighborhoods—they have tramped from door to door, selling this paper. More than half a million copies have been sent from the office, and still orders are coming in.
Now, when this special campaign is over, shall we not continue to work for this missionary paper? Every week it contains interesting articles, setting forth in clear statements the truths of this message for this hour. We can not ask that the same time and effort be given to every issue that is being given to this special number, but a reasonable effort on the part of all throughout the entire country would give this paper a great circulation among the people. They need it, and should have it.
While many have been working with the Signs, others, we are glad to know, have been selling “The Story of Joseph,” in behalf of the work of the colored people in the South. There is a great work to be done for this unfortunate race. It will require large sums of money. The General Conference Committee recognizes the South as one of the needy mission fields of the world, and has endeavored to make a fair appropriation of its receipts to the Southern field, but this help is far from meeting their great needs. It has grieved us much that we could not do more. But Brother J. E. White’s plan for the sale of “The Story of Joseph” makes it possible for this denomination to raise a large amount of money for the work among the colored people, without taxing itself beyond reason, and this plan will not draw all the missionary gifts of the denomination from other mission fields. The plan is simple. Sell “The Story of Joseph” for twenty-five cents a copy, and send the money to the Southern Missionary Society. Here is an opportunity for mothers and children to do valiant service for the Master.
This work can be kept up during the entire year. Without a great, rushing campaign, but by a steady, cheerful effort, a very large sum can be raised in this way. The result will be that thousands of children will get a book that will do them good; our people, old and young, who sell the book, will be blessed; and a splendid work will be done for the colored people in the South.
Shall not this good work be continued all through the year? Should not parents, church officers, Sabbath-school teachers, and ministers as well, look after this?
And there is still another line of work to be done; namely, to place our books of moderate size and price, in the hands of thoughtful men and women. We have canvassers selling our large subscription books, but a much larger distribution of our books should be made each year. Why should not thousands of our people place a book like “The Story of Daniel the Prophet” in the hands of their neighbors each year? This book sells for one dollar. Its simple story, scripture lessons in the margin, and the Bible studies at the close of the volume, covering every important fact presented in the book, would be read with interest and profit by thousands who do not know this truth, if we as a people would make the effort we should to place this book in their hands.
Dear brethren and sisters, we press the question at the head of this article,—Shall we continue to work? We are now making earnest efforts, and we have just made an annual offering to missions. Do we regret this? Is it a hardship? Few, if any, will admit this. We are being blessed in this service for God. Then let us keep at it through the year. If continued a little time, it will become our natural element, and then what a grand work will be done. The Lord’s coming will be hastened. Let us continue to work. A. G. DANIELLS.
Two Disasters Compared
By W. A. Colcord
Just one year to a day from the burning of the Review and Herald Office in Battle Creek—Dec. 30, 1902—occurred the awful Chicago Iroquois theater disaster,—Dec. 30, 1903,—the most destructive of life of its kind known in the history of this country.
When we read of the latter, we could not help comparing the two. In the former there was a property loss of about three hundred thousand dollars, but no loss of life. In the latter the property loss, though in a building costing half a million dollars, was only twenty thousand dollars, while in less than fifteen minutes nearly six hundred persons lost their lives. In one, the fire occurred when there were very few in the building; in the other, the building was nearly full of people. How easily the cases might have been reversed!
Should we not in this see the wonderful providence of God? Should we not in this see how merciful is our great High Priest, and how precious in his sight are his remnant, though erring, people? We are again forcibly reminded of the words that came to us soon after the destruction of the Review and Herald Office: “Let us praise the Lord that the lives of his children have been so precious in his sight. He might have cut off the workers in their heedlessness and self-sufficiency. But no! He says: ‘They shall have another chance. I will let the fire speak to them, and will see if they will counterwork the action of my providence. I will try them as by fire, to see if they will learn the lesson that I desire to teach them.’ When the Battle Creek Sanitarium was destroyed, Christ gave himself to defend the lives of men and women. In this destruction God was appealing to his people to return to him. And in the destruction of the Review and Herald Office, and the saving of life, he makes another appeal to them. He desires them to see that the miracle-working power of the Infinite has been exercised to save life, that every worker may have opportunity to repent and be converted. Let every one examine himself, and see whether he be in the faith. Let the people7of God repent and be converted, that their sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
Another lesson we may learn from this is the insecurity of all human devisings against danger and disaster when God's protection is withdrawn. The Iroquois theater building is reported to have been “absolutely fire-proof,” and to have been built “with safety as the first consideration.” And yet in almost the first play given in it this appalling disaster occurred. And here we are again reminded of the counsel and warning that has lately come to us: “Out of the cities, is my message. . . . The time is near when the large cities will be visited by the judgments of God. In a little while these cities will be terribly shaken. No matter how large or how strong their buildings, no matter how many safeguards against fire may have been provided, let God touch these buildings, and in a few minutes or a few hours they are in ruins. The ungodly cities of our world are to be swept away by the besom of destruction. In the calamities that are now befalling immense buildings and large portions of cities, God is showing us what will come upon the whole earth.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VII, page 83.
Surely we have reason to be grateful to God for his counsel, his mercy, and his protecting care. W. A. Colcord.
Islam’s Last Word to Europe
SHEIK ABDUL HAQ, of Bagdad, who is the head of a “Holy Islamic League,” an organization embracing all Moslem nations in its scope, and designed to guard and foster Mohammedan interests in general, has issued a document addressed to the Christian people of the world, which is in the nature of a Mohammedan declaration of war on Christianity. It bears the title, “Islam’s Last Word to Europe.” We quote a few characteristic statements from an English translation made for the Literary Digest:—
‘Christian Peoples! it is time that we should be heard. The hatred entertained by the people of Islam for Christianity is irreconcilable. After centuries of hard work spent in the attempt to make us friendly toward you, the only result has been that we now despise you more than was ever the case in the annals of history. . . . The whole structure of Mohammedan faith is based on the doctrine of the unity of the one God, who is absolute, without limitations or restrictions, eternal, who has never been begotten, and who has begotten none other. This article of our faith is in direct opposition to Christian teaching. Through this article the Christian dogma of a trinity becomes the sworn enemy of the god of Islam. The absolute hostility of these two fundamental doctrines is a cruel trial to the patience of every Mohammedan, . . . To this we must add a second indisputable point: Between our faith and yours there is an impassable and eternal gulf fixed, on account of your concept of the divinity of Christ. . . . Then, too, we have not forgotten the Crusades. These are being continued in a hundred accursed forms even now. You have contended against us and humiliated us with all your power. You have forced back the boundaries of Islam in all the corners of the globe; but what is left of the Mohammedan nations you are seeking to disintegrate through your diplomats and your missionaries. Your scheme has been systematically devised. You make no concealment of your intention to annihilate Islam. Instead of excusing yourselves for your aggressive and hostile policy, you boldly declare that we are rebels against your civilization. Yes, we are rebels, and we will remain rebels until death. . . .
Ye Christian conquerors, know well that no skill or science, no money or treasure, no miracle, will ever reconcile us to such a godless supremacy. Know ye that the very sight of your flags flying in our lands is a torment for the soul of a Moslem. . . . We now know that we are three hundred million strong. We have needed organization and concentration, and you have forced us to take these steps. Islamic unity is now becoming a reality from one end of the earth to the other, and a holy zeal is uniting us, and driving us to our inevitable destiny. We do not fear your threats or arms. What do we care for the things of this world? Victory or defeat are in the hands of God alone. It is our duty to die rightly, and the world has learned during the past thirteen centuries that the Moslem knows how to die.