If there is any theme that should stir the hearts of Seventh-day Adventists, it is that of foreign missions. We as a people have been raised up to give a warning message to the world, and as soon as it is closed, Christ will come and reap the harvest of the earth. It is the purpose of God that this work should be done in this generation.
Centuries ago he revealed this great threefold message and this time to his prophets. For at least a century God has been shaping the affairs of the world for the proclamation of this message to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people in this generation. One hundred years ago he brought to an end the supremacy of the papal church. That marked the beginning of the “time of the end,” and “the day of his preparation.” At that very time men began to explore, as never before in the history of the world, all the countries of the earth. This work, always attended with great expense, suffering, and loss of life, has been prosecuted with astonishing vigilance, until, at the present time, every habitable spot of the earth is known, and every nation has been brought into the full light, and under the searching gaze, of all civilized peoples.
At the same time that some men were seized with an uncontrollable and daring spirit to explore the world, the minds of others were turned to inventions and discoveries. These men have worked with the patient, persevering, penetrating research of invention that has entirely changed the conditions of all civilized nations. The marvelous changes wrought by the application of steam and electricity, the use of the printing-press and other modern inventions and discoveries, have enabled civilized nations to place themselves in close and sympathetic touch with every part of the earth.
And while explorers and inventors have been pressing forward with great energy in their lines of work, missionaries and translators have been following close upon them, entering the lands they have discovered, and using the facilities they have invented.
The explorer, the inventor, and the missionary constitute a wonderful combination. They have been mighty agencies in the preparation necessary to give this message as described in the book of Revelation. And this work is7committed to Seventh-day Adventists.
It was about twenty-five years ago when Elder J. N. Andrews—our first missionary to leave the United States—crossed the Atlantic for Europe, and located at Basel, Switzerland. He was soon followed by Elder J. G. Matteson, who went to Scandinavia. Not long afterward, Elder J. N. Loughborough went to Great Britain. In 1885 Elder S. N. Haskell sailed for Australia, and a year or two later Elder D. A. Robinson went to South Africa, and a few years later to India. In those early days, we as a people knew very little about the fields to which these missionaries were sent. Those who entered them had everything to learn on the ground. No one knew anything about us or our message. Consequently, no one asked for our services.
But a great change has taken place. We have become better acquainted with the world, and with the history and conditions of nearly all nations. We have placed living messengers in their midst. The message we have taken to them has touched responsive chords in the hearts of many. This has opened many avenues for service that we did not see when we entered these fields, and the result is that there are now most earnest and pressing calls for this message from every part of the globe.
The steps we have taken place us where we must take more. The messengers we have sent have created a condition which demands that many more be sent. This is true of almost every country outside the United States. What we have done in India lays upon us a fearful responsibility. We have there many open doors that must be entered. Bombay, Madras, Burma, and other parts of that great land must have help. Professor Shaw, who has charge of the work in India, sees the great need so clearly that he offers his salary to any one who will join him in prosecuting the work. What stronger evidence can we have of the desperate situation, than this? But the needs of India are not more pressing than those of many other countries. The Mission Board has recently taken up this question with great determination to send faithful laborers into those distant fields, and the Lord is adding his blessing to this effort. He is awakening the hearts of our people in America to the situation, and is making hundreds willing to go.
This is especially true of our young people, and it is to our young men and young women that we must look for the army of laborers required to finish the work. Our young people are strong, active, quick to learn, and they readily adapt themselves to new conditions. Our experience thus far in placing young men and young women in mission fields has been most encouraging. Many of them have developed into the strongest workers in our ranks, and they are to-day bearing the chief responsibilities connected with our missionary campaign. We believe there are scores of young people in the home land who are just as promising as those who have gone abroad, and have proved themselves most efficient and valuable workers.
Experience in our missionary operations has taught us some things of value. One of the most important lessons we have learned is how to establish small training-schools in mission fields. Twenty years ago Elder J. G. Matteson conducted such a school in a little room in Copenhagen. Among his students were young men who are now bearing weighty responsibilities in the Scandinavian department of our work. Elder Matteson had no regular schoolhouse, no faculty, and but few facilities. But he had the third angel’s message burning in his heart. He had some realization of the value of education, and knew how to lead these young men to obtain it. The results of his humble efforts were greatly blessed of God.
At the present time an important school is being held in London. It is a training-school for Christian workers. There are seventy students in attendance. Sixteen of these are young people who have gone from America to that country since last August. Some of these are putting in what would have been their last year in Union College. Others are adding a year to their school course. While attending this school they are becoming acquainted with the customs, manners, and dispositions of the British people. This is an invaluable part of their education. When the school closes, they will be much better prepared to work in Great Britain than they were when they arrived in England.
A similar school, although much smaller, is being held in Paris, France. It is the policy of the Mission Board to have such schools established in India, Japan, China, Italy, Egypt, and other countries. Men are being placed in charge of these fields who have been connected with our educational institutions. It is believed that they will prize education, and know how to develop its interests.
A. G. DANIELLS.
Jesuits Readmitted to Germany
The Jesuits are to be readmitted into Germany. This is the news brought by recent press dispatches from Berlin, and it means an important victory for the papacy in that country.
Regarding the means by which this triumph of papal diplomacy was won, we note the following statements in the Catholic Mirror, the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons:—
The German government has decided to advocate the readmission of the Jesuits, who, since July, 1872, have been excluded from Germany.
Chancellor von Buelow, in the Reichstag, February 3, said he would use his influence to instruct the Prussian members of the Bundesrath to support the repeal of the anti-Jesuit law so far as to permit individual German and foreign Jesuits to reside in the country, but not to allow the founding of Jesuit chapters, which, the chancellor believed, the confederated governments would not accept.
The chancellor's announcement caused a sensation among the members, though it was not unexpected, in view of the cabinet's negotiations with the majority parties over the passage of the tariff bill.
It was reported early in December last that the government had promised the leaders of the Center party that it would no longer oppose the readmission of the Jesuits, provided that party supported the government's tariff bill.
Herr Spahn, one of the Center party leaders, after the chancellor had made the statement, thanked him in behalf of the party.
Herr von Vollmar, a socialist, said the socialists believed the anti-Jesuit law should be entirely repealed.
The majority of the Reichstag undoubtedly will support the readmission of the Jesuits when the Bundesrath submits the necessary bill.
A Catholic party in Congress corresponding to the Center party in the German Reichstag, may well be a project included in papal plans for supremacy in this country. The “Catholic federation,” about which we have heard of late, will no doubt be used to bring political pressure to bear upon the government, and the advantages gained will be followed up until political parties will defer to the papacy here as they do in the Old World governments.
Church Allegiance and Good Government
The Christian Work and Evangelist (New York City) advocates driving the State of Utah out of the Union, and reducing it to its former territorial condition, to prevent the seating of Mormons like “Apostle” Reed Smoot in the United Senate than for objecting to a Catholic son for objecting to a Mormon in the Senate than for objecting to a Catholic in the like position. It is said that Mr. Smoot’s voice and vote in Congress will be controlled by the Mormon hierarchy at Salt Lake; that he will set the interests of his church above the interests of the government. But if this is true, as it probably is, it is no worse than to have in the Senate a man whose actions are dictated by the church hierarchy at Rome; and neither is it any worse than to have in the national legislature a man whose voice and vote have been sold to the money power in Wall Street. It is true, as The Independent observes, that every Christian recognizes and obeys a higher power than the federal government; but there is a vast difference between working for the setting up of God’s kingdom in the hearts of men, and working for the earthly aggrandizement of a visible church organization. No person who aims to exalt his church into a position of worldly authority and power can be a friend of good government.
My Jesus Knows It All
By J. E. Rankin, D. D.
My Jesus knows it all!
I tremble on grief’s brink;
It shall not me appal,
Nor shall my spirit shrink.
The tide may ebb or flow,
On him for help I call,
I fear not overthrow—
My Jesus knows it all.
My Jesus knows it all!
Of burdens that I bear,
Of woes that thick befall,
He takes his royal share:
Within his cloven side,
Made by the Roman’s spear,
My guilty soul I hide,
Nor cherish doubt or fear.
My soul’s Physician he!
Who gathers Gilead’s balm,
Who soothes grief’s agony,
Speaks troubled souls to calm:
There is one single sign
That marks the pathway sore,
And shows it all divine—
He’s trod this path before!
My Jesus knows it all!
The bliss within the veil,
No foe can it forestall,
No jot of it shall fail.
’Tis written in his book,
’Twas purchased by his blood;
I would not prying look,
But he will make it good.
— J. E. Rankin, D. D.
“Take Heed to Thyself”
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
There are many who desire to command before they have learned to obey. The first lesson they need to learn is the lesson of submission,—submission to Christ. God bids me say to ministers, teachers, and leaders in every department of his work: You must be Christians in word and act, or you will fail of gaining entrance into the city of God. It is because of a neglect to heed the instruction given in the first six verses of the eighteenth chapter of Matthew that many of those who ought to conduct themselves as in the presence of Christ are making themselves obnoxious to him. To the members of our churches, from the oldest to the youngest, Christ says:—
“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
“Whoso shall offend one of these little ones,”—not only those young in years, but those young in experience and weak in faith. To him who fails to help and bless these “little ones,” who does not treat them tenderly and courteously, but harshly and unkindly, discouraging and disheartening them, God says, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Workers who do not heed the instruction so plainly given in the Word of God, who do not adorn the doctrines of Christ by a well-ordered life and a godly conversation, be they teachers in our schools, directors in our publishing houses, or physicians in our sanitariums, should not be retained in their position of trust, unless they repent, and change their attitude. Those who teach others must themselves learn daily in the school of Christ, that they may know how to reveal the love and tenderness of the great Teacher.
Christ’s life of holiness is our textbook. The question that ministers and people must answer is, Am I eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God? Am I making his words a part of my daily experience. Were God’s people molded and fashioned by the Spirit of Christ, they would constantly act out his words in their service for him. And so plainly would the Saviour be revealed, that many souls would be won to him.
Are we Christians,—Christlike in spirit, in word, in disposition,—or are we falling continually under the temptations of the enemy, with no power to escape from his snare? Every life is a sermon, telling either for good or for evil. A true, noble life tells more for Christ than do the most powerful discourses.
One of the chief reasons that so few sinners are won to Christ is that so much of self mingles with the words and acts of his professed followers. Their daily life witnesses against him; therefore sinners are not converted. Actions speak louder than words, and the actions of many of Christ’s followers reveal self, self, self. Every day the Saviour is grieved by their misrepresentation of him. In spirit and word and manner they say of him, “I know not the Man.” The sermons preached against him by their lives counteract the influence of the sermons preached for him in the pulpit.
The Saviour is grieved by the dissension, the lack of love, seen among his people. He says to them, You have left your first love, and unless you repent, unless you humble yourselves as a little child, and seek my guidance, I will come unto you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of its place.
“Thou hast left thy first love.” This is the secret of the lack of power in our churches. If those who have received such great truth would live this truth, they would have no time to quarrel, no time to do that which bears the testimony, “I know not the Man.”
My brethren, be whole-hearted Christians, or else make no profession of Christianity. To many the words are spoken, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” Their conduct is not in harmony with God’s holy law. They present before the world a life of selfishness, corrupted by sin. They do not love Christ; if they did, they would love their brethren. They do not bear witness by unity and unselfish love for one another that God sent his Son to save sinners, to put the impress of divinity on all who believe on him. Ignorant of their true spiritual condition, they place a high estimate on themselves and their efforts. Boastingly, they say, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” But God says to them, “Thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”
These words describe the condition of many among the people of God. How much longer will they venture to delay, to remain in ignorance regarding their failure to reach God’s standard of holiness? Will they not receive the message of warning? Will they not repent and be converted? Christ declares, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.”
“I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. . . . Repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place.” Return to your first experience, when your soul was filled with love for Christ. Gather to your heart the obedience of a faith that works by love and purifies the soul. Obedience to the law of the Lord makes men pure, holy, undefiled. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” And this law is contained in two great principles,—love to God, and love to man. “A new commandment I give unto you,” Christ said to his disciples, “That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
O that there might be seen among our people a deep and thorough work of repentance and reformation! O that they would fall on the Rock, and be broken! Let us crucify self, that in our hearts may grow up a strong love for Christ and for one another. Let us bring into the daily experience the instruction contained in the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. Self must be surrendered to God before there can take possession of the life that strong,9steady belief in the truth that is broad and comprehensive; that casts out from the heart all enmity, all petty differences, and transforms coldness into Christlike affection.
Why should not believers love one another? It is impossible to love Christ, and at the same time act discourteously toward one another. It is impossible to have the Christ-love in the heart, and at the same time draw apart from one another, showing no love or sympathy. The deeper our love for Christ, the deeper will be our love for one another.
“God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” “If any man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.”
Principles of Organization of the Pacific Union Medical Missionary Association
By Alonzo T. Jones
ALONZO T. JONES
The principles that were developed and adopted in the organization of the Pacific Union Medical Missionary Association were considered and approved by the council of responsible brethren held in Battle Creek in November, 1902; and it was directed that an account of this organization be written out and published in the REVIEW AND HERALD for the consideration of our workers and people generally.
This organization was effected at the St. Helena Sanitarium, California, June 19, 1902. The following-named persons were present and took part in the work of organization: Elders W. T. Knox, J. N. Loughborough, A. T. Jones, J. O. Corliss, W. C. White, N. C. McClure, M. C. Wilcox, M. E. Cady, H. A. St. John, W. S. Sadler, B. F. Richards, Drs. W. R. Simmons, A. N. Loper, G. H. Heald, G. A. Droll, W. H. Jones, R. A. Buchanan, Brethren E. E. Parlin, A. Boeker, Wm. Saunders, C. H. Jones, L. C. Nelson, T. T. Heald, J. J. Ireland, W. D. Hicks, Z. Thorp, H. H. Haynes, L. M. Bowen, Jesse Arthur, and Sisters Gotzian and Sadler and others.
Preliminary to this matter of June 19, there had been elected at the Pacific Union Conference held at Portland, Ore., Feb. 28 to March 10, 1902, a Board to take charge of the medical missionary work in the Pacific Union Conference.
The election of this Board was the result of a long and earnest study of the medical missionary work, in principles and operation, by a large committee appointed for this purpose by the Pacific Union Conference in session. The Board was elected, not only to take charge of the medical missionary work in the Pacific Union Conference, but also to effect the permanent organization of the medical missionary work in this conference, into a Pacific Union Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association. The Board that was elected consisted of the following-named persons: A. T. Jones, A. N. Loper, W. R. Simmons, W. T. Knox, T. S. Whitelock, A. Boeker, E. E. Parlin. The Board organized at Portland by electing A. T. Jones, President, and W. R. Simmons, Secretary.
The circumstances and the purpose of the appointment of this Board made its work of more than ordinary importance. The Testimonies had lately, repeatedly, and strongly indicated that the form of organization of the medical missionary work was in certain vital points defective. This required that this Board should search for original principles, as the basis of the organization that it was appointed to effect. The study of the question by the large committee at Portland had developed indications of the general direction to be taken; and in God's evident working in the reorganization of the General Conference, begun in Battle Creek, Mich., in the General Conference of 1901, there seemed certainly to be indications that it would be safe to follow in the organization or reorganization of the medical missionary work.
In a word, the principle of reorganization of the General Conference is the principle of self-government. The General Conference pushes back to union conferences all that can be done by union conferences; the union conferences push back to the respective conferences all that can be done by the individual conferences; the conferences push back to the respective churches all that can be done by the individual churches; the churches push back to the individual Christians all that can be done by individual Christians; and the individual Christian pushes back to God all that can be done in and through the individual Christian by God. Thus this order of things finds in God with the individual Christian, its source of life and energy; and so of organization.
The General Conference having pushed back to the union conferences all that can be done by union conferences; and the Pacific Union Conference, after an extended study by a large committee, having appointed a Board to effect an organization of the medical missionary work in this union conference, this seemed to this Board to be an indication that the General (the International) Medical Missionary Association should push back to union associations all medical missionary work that can be done by union medical missionary associations; that the union associations should push back to State or conference associations all that can be done by such associations; that the State or conference associations should push back to local associations all that can be done by such associations; that the local associations should push back to individual Christians all the medical missionary work that can be done by the individual Christian with God as his recognized Source of life and energy.
With this principle as their guide, the Board canvassed the subject quite fully, and arrived at what seemed to them clear conclusions, which they submitted to this meeting for consideration, to be adopted, modified, amended, or rejected, as by further thought and discussion might be thought best. These, as formulated, were read one by one with explanatory remarks by the president of the Board as follows:—
The Principles of Organization of the Medical Missionary Work
1. “Where the burden of labor rests, there rests the weight of control.
2. “The weight of endeavor should be always, as a principle, to have every work start and develop as self-supporting, by local resources, local energy, and local control.
3. “Under present circumstances general control of local enterprises is in operation; but whenever any enterprise becomes strong enough to go alone, it should be turned over by the general to local control.
4. “It is possible that instances may occur in which the great importance of establishing the work at some pivotal or strategic point may require the establishment of an institution before there is a sufficient local constituency for efficient control. In such cases there should be general effort and general control until there is developed local constituency sufficient for local control.”
PRESIDENT OF BOARD: Here arose the question, we considered it, it is now before you, and it is one of the vital questions: What shall be the constituency of the local medical missionary enterprise? Where shall we find the constituency? Of what shall it be composed? In the California association as it has stood there is no such thing as any local constituency; all enterprises are conducted by one Board and from one center, merely as branches from that one center.
JUDGE ARTHUR: There are only two sanitariums that would be embraced in this union association, that are organized and have any connection with the International Association. These are at Spokane and Portland; and I reorganized both of them two or three years ago. I then strongly advocated the organization of an association independent of the other, and I suggested this very plan of operation. At that time I believe it was talked among the brethren here, and afterward abandoned. But I was satisfied that the time would come when you would find that it was the scheme.
PRESIDENT OF BOARD: So the question before this Board was, How shall the constituency of local enterprises be obtained and composed? In following out the principles with which the Board started, we answered it thus:—
5. “The constituency of a local enterprise shall be the church well instructed and in active co-operation in the principles of health and medical missionary work.”
QUESTION: That would be the local church?
ANSWER: Yes. The membership of the local church where the medical missionary enterprise is to be established, shall be the constituency of that enterprise.10Yet bear in mind the distinct proviso: “The church well instructed and in active co-operation in the principles of health and medical missionary work.” Not otherwise.
6. “This church constituency of local enterprise shall elect its own medical missionary Board of management, including at least one member of the State Board.”
This, so as to make and keep a connection all the time, and by their own choice, with the State Board. According to the old way, the central Board makes this connection, by itself, or by its appointment. But as here proposed, the people who establish and conduct the enterprise make the connection with the State Board by their own choice, and of such member or members of the State Board as they choose to choose.
QUESTION: Would it be out of harmony with the general principle, to have the local church concerned choose from its membership a smaller number than the whole membership of the church as a constituency or electorate to elect the local board of control? Would not this be an advantage, especially where the church is large?
ANSWER: Such an arrangement would not be at all a violation of the principle: it would be simply a variation in the manner of applying the principle. As suggested, I think myself that it would be a distinct advantage where the membership of the church is large.
It was then moved and seconded and unanimously carried that Article 6 be amended so as to read:—
6. “This church constituency of local enterprise shall elect or choose an electorate to elect its own medical missionary Board of management, including at least one member of the State Board.”
PRESIDENT OF BOARD: This amendment having been made, I will read it into the other articles where it is required, as I proceed.
7. “The whole number of local constituencies in annual conference compose the State constituencies, and elect or choose an electorate to elect the State Board, including at least two members of the Pacific Union Board.
8. “Delegates from the State constituencies in union conference assembled compose the union constituency, and elect or choose an electorate to elect the Pacific Union Medical Missionary Board.
9. “The bond of union and co-operation is loyalty to Christian principle in morals, in discipline, and in health and the treatment of disease.
10. “In short, the Medical Missionary Association shall be essentially of the church,—simply the church itself at work in medical missionary lines, just as schools and colleges represent the church at work in intellectual lines, and the churches and conference the church at work in evangelical lines. The sanitariums shall be instrumentalities of the church, just as are schools, tract societies, etc. The physicians, nurses, etc., shall be regularly licensed by the conference as church workers, the same as others.
11. “The funds of State organizations, at least for the present, shall be from the tithe of the income of the local enterprises, and from donations: of the Pacific Union, the tithe of the income of State organizations and from donations.”
(To be concluded.)
Christ's Coming in Glory
ISAIAH had identically the same message that John the Baptist had, and he was to proclaim it “until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.” Isa. 6: 11, 12. In the chapter where the work of John the Baptist is specially described; namely, the voice crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, we read, just following, “Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.” Isa. 40: 10.
From Matt. 11: 13, 14, we learn that John and his work are mentioned in Mal. 4: 5, 6, where we read, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse,” or, “with utter destruction.” This is the plainest possible statement of the fact that the work of John the Baptist extends until the coming of the Lord in glory. Unless we know this fact, we can not study the account of his work to any real profit; but when we know that his message is the message for our time, even until the last day of probation for sinners, then we shall know what there is for us to do, and how we are to do it.
— Present Truth.
Gethsemane
By Harry Armstrong
SUNLIGHT is fading,
Dark powers are shading;
The Man of sorrows
Weepeth in deep anguish.
Crushed with the world's despair,
Bearing our load of care,
Pleading with God in prayer—
Father, help thy Child.
Father, from thy high throne,
Come and protect thine own,
Forsaken, sad, and lone,
He longs thy face to see.
O dark Gethsemane,
Give, give thy sympathy;
Speak, speak, O speak to me,
And tell his agony.
Echo that voice divine,
Pleading before thy shrine,
Thy will, my God, not mine;
Now thy will be done.
Father in heaven, draw near,
Give me thy holy cheer;
All human ties so dear,
Know not Gethsemane.
O, thou Mount Calvary,
Dark is thy mystery:
Angels look down to see
Depths of humility.
Behold the cross draws nigh,
On which the Lamb must die,
As shouts of “Crucify”
Pierce his wounded heart.
“My God,” he cries in pain,
“Look on thine own again.
Let not sin's crimson stain
Hide thy face from me.”
Bright as the morning,
Up ’bove earth's scorning,
Jesus ascends—the King,
Victor o'er death's cold sting.
Heaven's gates are open wide;
He enters glorified;
Multitudes purified
Now join the angel throng.
Now from his Father's throne,
Jesus protects his own,
And while my sins are known,
He waiteth to forgive.
—Harry Armstrong.
Abiding in Christ
By J. A. Cross
To attempt to follow Christ without abiding in him is to assume the form of godliness without gaining its power. The one who abides in Christ is a new creature; his life is not spent in a continuous search for new ways in which to gratify the old nature, for that nature has become in him a thing to be opposed instead of gratified. He is not troubled by the vexed questions relative to the extent a Christian may engage in the follies of the world. He does not try to get as near the world as he can without being considered a worldling, for he is under the influence of a power that draws him in another direction. The Spirit within constrains him to a course of conduct which inevitably widens the gulf between his soul and things evil.
The secret of a happy life has been intensely sought in every age. Philosophy, ever in the search, has never found an answer to which the soul can fully respond. The pleasures of wealth and fame have ever failed to bestow contentment. Many will agree that the Christian life affords the only true happiness. This blessing, however, is not for the wavering Christian, but for him only who abideth. What declaration is more solemn or worthy of more careful thought than this, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered.”
How ought the professed followers of Jesus to live? “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” By what mark may believers be known?—“By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one for another.” Not only has the soul that abideth in Christ peace, joy, and abundant spiritual life, but the relationship with kindred souls is necessarily harmonious. Heaven is within the soul that abideth in Christ.—J. A. Cross.
Heaven Entering Us Here
By R. S. MacArthur
No man will enter heaven at the last except heaven enter him here. No man can be kept out of hell at the last except hell be gotten out of him here.—R. S. MacArthur.
Plenty of Time
By Margaret E. Sangster
I HEAR you complaining, dearest,
You have ever too much to do;
Your temper is worn with trying
To make old things look like new
You sew for the little children,
You mend for the rollicking boys,
You were never a shirk, and you fret and
work
Till your life is shorn of joys.
If the day were longer, dearest!
If you never need go to bed!
But the time goes racing by you
Till the hurrying week has sped;
And your basket's overflowing,
And your tasks are never done.
Poor, weary friend, will they never end,
Till the sleep of death is won?
It's time you are needing, dearest;
Ah, yes! but there's time to spare
If you'd let our Father carry
One end of your load of care.
If you'd tell him all your trouble,
And ask from his tender hand
The gift of his peace, your pain would
cease;
His way you would understand.
There is time for loving, dearest,
If we take the time there is,
And fill that up with sweetness,
Whatever beyond we miss.
Let the little frocks be plainer,
Let the dust alone for a while;
Let the good man see how blithe it can
be,—
His home, in your tender smile.
Get out in the sunshine, dearest,
There is time for that be sure.—
If you'll only let the flowers
And the birds, your steps allure.
Go out in the sunshine, dearest,
And bring it back with you;
Don't sit in the gloom, when his lilies
bloom,
And his bending skies are blue.
— Margaret E. Sangster.
The Marriage Relation
By George C. Tenney
G. C. TENNEY
MARRIAGE as a divine institution is essentially and altogether another thing from merely human wedlock. In the latter the bond is self-interest, gratification or profit being the motive. In the former the union is approved of God, and is formed by his power. In such a case there is no place for strife or hatred or taking of personal advantage, because the twain have been made one flesh. And no man ever yet hated his own flesh. Many husbands and wives acknowledge that they should be one, but quarrel continually over which shall be the one. But neither is to be the one. It requires both to make one. Neither is to swallow up the other.
And yet, while this is true, every family should have one recognized head. To find this place the Bible as well as nature assigns the man. He is the house-band. His rightful place is over his house as Christ is over the church. This does not imply tyranny or lordly domination. It rather means a protector, provider, teacher, example, comforter, and counselor. In nothing does a true husband and father take so much satisfaction as in the purity and true dignity of his wife and children. They are his special treasure. How quickly would he resent any attempt on the part of another to bring shame or reproach upon them. Should he not be equally careful not to do so himself? There are many ways in which a man can humiliate his wife, and break the spirit of her womanly dignity and self-respect, which is the secret of true ladyhood. If a man desires to have a lady for a wife, it rests with himself to make and preserve her such. He must treat and regard her as a lady if he expects others to do so. It is nothing short of beastly baseness and cowardice to treat a wife in an impure, disrespectful, or inconsiderate manner, and then demand that she become a queen or a model in the presence of others. Let a woman know that she has the honor, love, and high esteem of her husband, and that very assurance, and that fact, with the consciousness of her acceptance with God, forms a sure foundation for true nobility in character and deportment. Deprive a wife of that great boon, and she becomes either a bold rebel against her cruel lot, or a servile slave without spirit or grace.
Then, as the church submits to her loving Saviour, so should the wife obey her husband. Neither the husband nor the wife has the least right to interfere with each other's relations to God. Differences of religious faith and practise should not separate hearts or cause persecution. There is no necessity for this. The duties we owe to God do not conflict with those we owe to our companions. The supreme love we owe to him does not detract a particle from the pure love we should bestow upon those who are our own flesh and bones. There should be no coercion on either side in religious matters, and the one who displays the most of Christ's tender love will stand the best chance of winning the other to his or her side.
Family union should include the purse and the bank account. It is pitiful to see the way some wives suffer in obtaining meager allowances of “change” from the lord of the pocketbook. It is impudent robbery to deny to the wife her share and say in money matters. Some women marry only the pocketbook, and care nothing for the man. Many women find out later that the pocketbook was not in the bargain at all. But all such arrangements are no marriage in his sight, who, in marrying men and women, makes them one flesh.