*Send comfort down from Thy right
hand
To cheer me in this barren land,
Great God, or I shall die!*
*’Tis not enough to know that Thou
In heaven’s courts art seated now,
While I here prostrate lie.*
*Prone on earth, oppressed by care,
By grief beyond my strength to bear,
Behold Thy follower, Lord.*
*In pain I strive on Thee to lay
The burden of each weary day,
And trust Thy promised word.*
*Too weak my faith; too faint my
heart;
Although with it I’d gladly part;
The load remains the same.*
*Like stricken deer I fain would hide
From all the prying world outside
What I alone must bear.*
*No human heart to share my woe,
No love to soothe to gentler flow
These bitter, scalding tears,*
*The sleepless anguish of my breast,
The cruel pain, the drear unrest,
The torture of my soul*
*Is known to One—and only one!—
To Jesus, God’s beloved Son,
To whom for help I cry.*
*Send comfort down from Thy right
hand
To cheer me, in this barren land,
Dear Lord, or I shall die!*
*When all earthly helpers fail me,
Thou, O God, wilt still befriend;
And though sorrows keen assail me,
Thou wilt bring them to an end.*
*Nothing earthly lasts forever;
Even time will soon be o’er;
Wilful sin alone can sever
Me from Him whom I adore!*
*Blessed Lord, then let me feel Thee—
Present in both heart and home;
Sweeter, dearer,—yes, and nearer,—
Till the day that Thou dost come!*
The Empire Series
By Alonzo T. Jones
BY A. T. JONES.
In 1896 “The Empires of the Bible,” the first volume of the Empire series, was published; the second volume, “The Great Empires of Prophecy,” in 1898; and the third volume, “Ecclesiastical Empire,” in 1901. These are three very important books, and should be carefully studied by every member of every church.
The Empires of the Bible
“The Empires of the Bible” traces the history from the origin of nations to the captivity of Judah, and carefully reveals the causes of the rise and the fall of these early peoples. The Biblical records, together with secular history and modern research, establish the manner of the development of the great empires of Egypt and Assyria, and the founding of the races from which the great nations of later times developed.
The reader is greatly assisted in the study of this work by the twenty-one colored maps made especially for this book. There are 410 large pages. Bound substantially in cloth. Price, $1.50, postpaid.
The Great Empires of Prophecy
“The Great Empires of Prophecy” is a history of the great nations of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. Gleanings of the most important and interesting histories are herein compiled, to set forth the real influences that caused the prosperity and the decay of each of these great nations. On account of the great number of noted historians quoted in this work, it might be appropriately termed a cyclopedia of history, and a ready book of reference.
It contains 712 pages and 22 full-page colored maps. Nicely bound in cloth. Price, $2, postpaid.
The Desire of Ages
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE
An interesting, instructive, and thrilling volume on the life of Christ, magnifying the truth that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.”
The purpose of “The Desire of Ages” is to set forth Jesus Christ as the one in whom every longing may be satisfied, to present the life of God as revealed in his Son, and the divine beauty of the life of Christ, of which all may partake; not to satisfy the desires of the merely curious nor the questionings of critics.
The work will interest all classes; for they were all represented in the various individuals who received help and encouragement from the great Consoler while he was here upon the earth.
It contains nearly 900 pages, beautifully illustrated, and substantially bound in the following styles: Popular edition, thin paper, $2.50; cloth, marbled edges, $3.50; cloth, gilt edges, $4.25; library, marbled edges, $5; full morocco, gilt edges, $7.
Daniel and the Revelation
BY URIAH SMITH
“Daniel and the Revelation” is a verse-by-verse study of the prophecies recorded in the books of Daniel and the Revelation of the Bible.
These books of the Bible have been considered difficult to understand; but this book is a key which makes plain what was before dark and obscure. It follows the correct rule of interpretation, which has guided every reformer in the past from darkness to light. The field of history is carefully scanned, and the emphatic response it gives in thrilling confirmation of the voice of prophecy is shown to be clear and beyond dispute. A prophecy fulfilled is a most powerful antidote against skepticism. The book of Daniel reveals many prophecies fulfilled, and cites others still future. It also gives scenes of the most startling nature which are yet future, and should be understood.
The book contains 757 octavo pages, exclusive of sixty-six full-page illustrations. It is beautifully and substantially bound in the following styles: cloth, marbled edges, $2.25; cloth, gilt edges, $2.75; library, marbled edges, $3; full morocco, gilt edges, $4.50.
Bible Readings for the Home Circle
“Bible Readings for the Home Circle” contains three thousand questions and answers on practical, prophetic, and historical subjects. It contains a vast collection of pearls from the mine of sacred truths. It is the first work of the kind ever issued. It presents a systematic arrangement of Bible subjects with illustrations, and gives brief, pointed answers to the questions, quoting directly from the Scripture, from history, and the writings of eminent commentators of modern times. It gives 162 readings, contributed by ministers, practical Bible students, temperance and social purity workers, and considers themes of the deepest interest especially to those who desire a better knowledge of the Scriptures.
It contains 600 octavo pages, thoroughly illustrated, and bound in the following styles: cloth, marbled edges, $2; cloth, gilt edges, $2.50; library, marbled edges, $3; half morocco, marbled edges, $3.50; morocco, gilt edges, $4.25.
Standard Works
The Pillars of Our Denominational Literature
THE following list of books contains the principal standard works that have been, and are still, giving the message in all its phases:—
Patriarchs and Prophets
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE
A commentary on the principal Bible subjects from Adam to the death of David, including an exhaustive study of the sanctuary and its services, the exodus, the law, the giving of the manna, the Sabbath, etc.
The life of each of the patriarchs from Adam to King David is thrillingly portrayed; and from each a lesson is drawn, pointing out the consequences of sin, and bringing vividly to mind Satan's studied plan for the overthrow of the race. It traces the great conflict between good and evil from its inception down through the centuries to the time of David's death, and reveals God's wonderful love for mankind by his dealings with "holy men of old." The book is written in plain, simple style, yet in such a manner as to stir the soul of the reader, and awaken the emotions of the mind.
The work contains 760 large octavo pages. Thoroughly illustrated with beautiful engravings, more than half of which are full page. Cloth binding, gilt, $2.50; full morocco, gilt, $4.50. The work is also issued in the Danish, Swedish, German, and Dutch languages at the same prices.
The Great Controversy
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE
A valuable work upon the great controversy between Christ and Satan during the Christian dispensation. It is a companion volume to "Patriarchs and Prophets." The book contains the most intensely interesting history that has ever been written on the great conflict between Christianity and the powers of darkness as illustrated in the lives of Christian martyrs and reformers on the one hand, and wicked men and persecuting powers, on the other. Beginning with our Lord's great prophecy given while viewing Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, this book outlines the history of the whole dispensation down to the time of the end, when God's entire universe is clean, and the great controversy is forever ended.
The work contains 700 pages, and is appropriately illustrated, handsomely printed, and bound in the following styles: cloth, marbled edges, $2.25; cloth, gilt edges, $2.75; library, marbled edges, $3; half morocco, gilt edges, $4.50. Published also in Danish, Swedish, German, and French at the above prices.
Order the Review & Herald
Order of Review & Herald, Washington, D. C.; Battle Creek, Mich.; Pacific Press, Mountain View, Cal.; Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Assn., Nashville, Tenn.; or your State Tract Society.
Ecclesiastical Empire
"Ecclesiastical Empire" contains the account of all the principal events that have affected the civil governments and tended to the establishment of ecclesiastical authority, from the time of the fall of Rome to the publishing of this book. It contains a good history of the Reformation, a compendium of the principles of true Christianity, the reason for our national apostasy, and a full treatise upon the union of church and state.
This book contains 874 pages. Substantially bound in cloth. Price, $2.50, postpaid.
This series contains 1,996 pages of the most important historical matter, especially prepared and condensed for the use of those who do not have access to the original histories, and who have not the time to search out these facts had they the books. The combined price of the full set of these volumes is only $6, postpaid.
Editorial
By Editor
So High and So Nigh
JESUS is in the highest heaven, and yet he is in the heart of the true believer. He “is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” And yet his promise is, “Lo, I am with you always.” He is with God on his throne in heaven, and he is with us on his throne in our hearts. “Jesus is exalted above all, that he may fill us with his power and love. He is high above us, that, looking unto him, the author and finisher of faith, unto him who through the cross entered into glory, seeing him constantly above us, the Lamb in the midst of the throne, we may run with patience the race set before us. With all the holy angels and all the saints of God we look unto him, we worship and rejoice; as an old father of the German church says, ‘Jesus is in heaven; therefore it is easy for a poor sinner to have his heart in heaven. Let Jesus dwell in the heart, and then heaven will be in the heart.’”
Motes and Beams
SIN and selfishness distort our mental vision to such an extent that we become blind to our own most serious failings, but quickly discern the slightest departure from perfection in others. “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” This is simply the revelation of the spirit of “the accuser of our brethren . . . who accuseth them before our God day and night,” although he himself is the very incarnation of evil and the instigator to all the sin which has cursed our world. It was not this spirit which brought Jesus from heaven to die for our sins. Even for his murderers he prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” When the spirit of the crucified One rules in our lives, we shall not call sin righteousness, but we shall not indulge in the accusing spirit nor seek to magnify the faults of others, who are possibly copying our example. “There can be no spirit of criticism or self-exaltation on the part of those who walk in the shadow of Calvary’s cross.” It may be that we need to confess and forsake the very sins which seem so flagrant to us in others.
“Search thine own heart; what paineth thee
In others, in thyself may be;
All dust is frail, all flesh is weak;
Be thou the true man thou dost seek.”
What It Means
ONE short verse of Scripture gives the inspired characterization of those who accept the threefold message for the last generation: “Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The divine standard of character could hardly be expressed in fewer words. Jesus, who was “God with us,” “who did no sin,” condensed his whole experience into this one statement: “I have kept my Father’s commandments.” The message which will “make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him,” a company of saints to be translated to the heavenly city without seeing death, accomplishes its work by developing a church of commandment keepers. Their righteousness is “witnessed by the law and the prophets,” and they “have boldness in the day of judgment,” because as Christ is, even so are they in this world. Thus it will be manifested in this last generation, when iniquity abounds and sin becomes a science, what it means for men to keep the commandments of God,—“that it is a reproduction in themselves of the character of Christ.” And yet those whose beautiful motto is “Back to Christ” will bring the charge against these commandment keepers that they have gone back to Moses and to Judaism, and that they are not orthodox. Thus is Christ again wounded in the house of his friends. So wide is the difference between churchianity and Christianity. The true test of Christianity in this judgment-hour period is the keeping of the commandments of God—the revelation of the character of Christ. This is what the third angel’s message means in personal experience.
“Sabbath and Sunday”
By Editor
IN an editorial in its issue of Dec. 28, 1904, with the title quoted above, the Washington Post gives some attention to the subject which is now being agitated in this city as the result of the proposed campaign by the Protestant ministers of Washington in behalf of “Sabbath observance.”
Some of the admissions and statements in this article are worthy of consideration. The Post says truly that “the contention that Sunday is not the original day of rest specified in the Bible is so well established as to be beyond further dispute. Sunday is a modern institution, comparatively speaking.” In view of the recently invented fiction, now so persistently advocated by some who are demanding Sunday laws, that Sunday is the original seventh-day Sabbath, this frank admission, so abundantly justified by the facts in the case, does credit both to the research and to the candor of the editor of the Post.
Again it says: “It was common, at first, when the Jewish element was strong in the Christian church, to observe both Saturday and Sunday.” This is a more candid admission of the record of history than is usually found in the discussion of this question. The truth is, however, that the seventh day was the only day observed as a sabbath in the early church, and that was due not to the Jewish element in the church, but to the fact that they were Christians. Sunday, “the wild solar holiday of all pagan times,” was brought into the Christian church by a gradual process, and was established by both civil and ecclesiastical law as the direct result of the union of the professed Christian church and the pagan state in the fourth century. The general situation of that period is well set forth by Neander, the church historian, as follows: “The vast numbers who, from external considerations, without any inward call, joined themselves to the Christian communities, served to introduce into the church all the corruptions of the heathen4world. Pagan vices, pagan delusions, pagan superstition, took the garb and name of Christianity, and were thus enabled to exert a more corrupting influence on the Christian life.”
The Bible Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, was observed in the Christian church so long as it remained Christian, but when the Christian element was lost out of it, and paganism took its place, then naturally enough the pagan Sunday supplanted the true Sabbath.
After stating that “the action of Constantine in the year 321 was the earliest recognition of the observance of Sunday as a legal duty,” and that “upon his decree much of the Sunday legislation rests, not only as respects secular statutes, but also canonical and ecclesiastical law,” the Post observes: “There is, therefore, very considerable ground for the doubt which many people express concerning the necessity of observing Sunday as a day of holiness, but the trouble is that very few people who neglect Sunday are willing to be as consistent as the Seventh-day Adventists, and regard the Sabbath as sacred.” In all candor we ask, How can a Christian do otherwise than “regard the Sabbath as sacred” after reading the facts given by the Post in its editorial?
To increase this “doubt” to a certainty we need simply to give due weight to the following facts: The Lord of heaven and earth, “whose name is Holy,” and who alone has the power to make any day holy, has said, “In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” For this reason he has given the command, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Here is a most satisfactory basis for the necessity of observing the seventh day of the week “as a day of holiness.” In contrast with this divine institution of the Sabbath we have the law of Constantine, a pagan law enacted by a pagan emperor (for by the utmost stretch of the truth Constantine could not be regarded as a Christian at the time he issued this decree), upon whose decree, as the Post states, “much of the Sunday legislation rests,” as the basis of the Sunday institution. No human legislation, openly pagan or professedly Christian, can make a day holy; and as Sunday is not a holy day, there is plainly no “necessity of observing Sunday as a day of holiness.” If professed Christians do not have sufficient regard for the commandment of the Lord to keep holy the day which he has made holy, they can not atone for their sinful course by attempting to keep holy a day which has never been made holy. It is certainly a scathing indictment of present-day Christianity to say that “very few people who neglect Sunday are willing to be as consistent as the Seventh-day Adventists, and regard the Sabbath as sacred.”
The closing paragraph of the editorial in the Post sounds a mild note of warning which ought to be emphasized with a mighty emphasis. It says: “The only danger is that those who observe it [Sunday] will become intolerant of those who regard it more as a holiday than a holy day.” The voice of history declares that this “danger” is more than a theoretical one, and even in this country within the last ten years many men have been fined and imprisoned for no other crime than because they did not see and acknowledge “the necessity of observing Sunday as a day of holiness.” And bills are even now pending in Congress, with penalties of fines and imprisonment attached to them, requiring the residents of the District of Columbia to regard Sunday as a holy day, and not as a holiday. We heartily invite the Post to join us in the effort to avert this “danger.”
Christian Pantheism
THERE is really no such thing as Christian pantheism, but we use the expression to designate that philosophy which is the outgrowth of the effort to interpret the Christian religion in harmony with the pantheistic tendencies of modern science. One of the latest developments of this false philosophy is the interpretation given, in a recently published book, to the Bible doctrine of the Holy Spirit, which is called the doctrine “of divine immanence.” The author attempts to show the harmony between the doctrine of the Spirit and the scientific doctrine of evolution in the following declarations:—
The evolutionary hypothesis provides us with “a principle that is essentially religious,” for it is based upon the existence of a “Cosmic Force” or “Power,” which, so far as we can see, is omnipresent. It is resident in all events. It is immanent in all departments of life and experience. It is self-consistent in its working. It appears to be future-regarding and purposeful in a large and comprehensive sense. Its methods seem to be rational in that, as soon as discovered, they issue a direct and immediate challenge to the human intellect. All this is only to say that the principle whose working we term evolution is a personal power. This has always been the claim of religion. It will become, I believe, no less really the assertion of science; for science, with an ever-increasing certainty, proclaims the doctrine of one universal principle of being, life, and development. It is impatient of any theory which would separate effect from cause, or remove the principle of life and development out of the universe in which the manifestation of its powers appears, or make the processes of its powers fundamentally irrational.
We turn to the Christian religion to inquire if there be any corresponding principle of power, immanent, resident, future-regarding, purposeful, and rational, working by means of imperfect instruments upon obdurate material for the attainment of large ends by means of a process of development. I believe that we find it in the often-misunderstood and generally neglected doctrine of the Spirit.
In order to get the full meaning of this quotation it may be necessary to clothe some of the statements in more simple forms of expression. We may summarize the positions taken somewhat as follows: the evolutionary hypothesis recognizes a Cosmic Force or Power. This is really the god of science, although it is not so stated. This god of science is omnipresent and immanent. This is the technical form of expression to convey the thought more familiar to us in the claim that God is in everything, the tree, the grass, the flower, etc. This god of science is a personal god, according to the scientific definition of personality, “a personal power,” but must not be assigned to any dwelling-place outside the actual phenomena of things and events. The god of science is Force or Causation, and there can be no place either in thought or in fact for such a god apart from observable effects. Such a god can not make himself known either by a written or a spoken revelation, but only by working as a Force in things or events. Man must become acquainted with this god of science through observation, and not through a written revelation. The apparatus of the laboratory and the latest text-book of science will take the place of prayer and the Bible in this scientific religion of evolution.
In order to make the connection between this conception of an essentially religious Power and the Bible doctrine of the Holy Spirit it is necessary to reduce the Spirit to a “principle of power, immanent, resident, future-regarding, purposeful, and rational.” The author declares this principle to be “a doctrine of universal religious application.” Of course this teaching either ignores entirely, or at best places wholly in the background, the idea of the actual being of God.
It is asserted in favor of this doctrine that “it exalts reason into its true place as a chief agent in revelation,” and in its application it brings about some “new harmonies of revelation,” such as “the fact that the source and ground of all knowledge is one, and that every increase in knowledge is a revelation; discovery and revelation being but different terms for different aspects of the same experience.”5
Evidently recognizing himself that this kind of harmony between science and the Bible really nullifies the whole Biblical revelation of the being of Jehovah, and substitutes in its place the pantheistic conception of an immanent Power, the author further says:—
Objection will be made that the endeavor thus to co-ordinate our thinking upon religion and science looks in the direction of pantheism; but it has already been noted that while pantheism as commonly understood practically denies personality, the doctrine of a resident and executive spiritual power [the conception of God in everything] makes personality fundamental.
The difference, however, between this modern pantheism of the West and the older pantheism of the East is simply in appearance, and not in fact. They are one in principle. They both acknowledge the personality of the Power working in things and events, but this is in no sense the Christian belief in God as a personal being. They are both philosophical perversions of the mystery of being of that eternal God who is actually found in one place in a sense in which he is not found in any other place, and yet is everywhere present by his Spirit. This scientific interpretation of God seems to make him very near, but really dissipates him into space, and renders it impossible for us to find him. “A personal power” does not hear and answer prayer.
But why is it worth our while to give any attention whatsoever to this pantheistic philosophy?—Because error is now being clothed in garments of light, in the very terms and phrases of Christianity, and we must learn to look beneath the surface before we can be sure of the real character of much of the professedly religious teaching of our time. Especially is this true of any teaching which emphasizes one of the multiform phases of the pantheistic doctrine of God in everything, in all men, in all things, and in all events; a God who is everywhere in general, and nowhere in particular. This is that snare of the last days which is being set in the path of the unwary. It exalts reason as in reality above revelation, and man as above God. The god of science has no right to be regarded the same as the God of the Bible. The religion of evolution is not the religion of the Bible. Pantheism is not Christianity.
To Mission Fields in 1904
By William Ambrose Spicer
WE have not a long list to present of missionaries sent abroad in 1904. It was early recognized by the General Conference Committee that the staff of workers could not be largely increased without considerable increase in mission gifts. Nevertheless the pressure outward has thrust forth a goodly little band, whose presence in the fields is an added incentive to faithfulness during the next year in the support of the spreading work of foreign missions.
Here is the list:—
Miss Ottena Jensen, February, Argentine Republic.
Mrs. A. J. Hetherington, February, Central America.
I. E. Moore and wife, May, Cuba.
Elder F. H. Westphal and family, June, Chile.
Wm. Steele and wife, June, Chile.
T. H. Davis and wife, July, Ecuador.
Prof. H. C. Lacey and family, August, England.
C. E. Rentfro and wife, September, Portugal.
Elder H. H. Votaw and wife, October, India.
J. C. Little and wife, October, India.
Elder E. W. Farnsworth and wife, October, England.
J. B. Stuyvesant and family, October, Panama.
Miss Maude Harvey, October, Japan.
Elder W. D. McLay and wife, November, Scotland.
Elder W. W. Miller and wife, November, India.
Miss Della Burroway, November, India.
Elder Daniel Isaac and wife, November, Germany.
Elder C. E. Peckover and wife, November, Panama.
Miss Effie Willson, November, Panama.
Elder H. H. Dexter and family, December, France.
John Lipke and wife, December, Brazil.
Miss Pearl West, December, South Africa.
O. L. Dart and wife, December, Cuba.
From points abroad workers have entered mission fields as follows:—
J. G. Teschner, of Germany, nurse, entered Jerusalem in January; died of fever in July.
Brethren Wunderlich and Langhoff and wives, of Germany, February, to the German East Africa.
W. B. Robinson and wife, of Wales, June, Spain.
C. N. Moulton and wife, of Jamaica, to Porto Rico.
G. F. Jones and wife, of Rarotonga Islands, to Singapore, October.
Robert Caldwell, of Australia, to Singapore, October.
Workers on furlough have returned to fields as follows:—
Elder J. E. Fulton and wife, from Australia to Fiji Islands, about July.
A. H. Piper and wife, from Australia to Rarotonga.
Mrs. Ida M. Fischer and daughter, from Porto Rico, returned in October.
John Lipke and wife, from Brazil, returned in December.
It is a formidable list, after all, for a quiet year in forwarding recruits. Counting the wives, but not the children, it represents a force of forty new workers sent out to the fields from America, besides a few returning after short furlough. In addition to these, fourteen workers already abroad entered new fields. We face the new year with everything to cheer us. Pray for these new laborers, and for the old, and let us expect great things from God in 1905.
W. A. S.
The True Basis for a Genuine Revival
By L. A. S.
THE Michigan Christian Herald says there is a deep and widespread conviction in religious circles that “a great revival is coming. The Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, the Christians, are all expecting it and planning for it.” The Herald hopes that the Baptists (for which church it speaks) will not be left behind in this work.
Truly, there is nothing more needed to-day than a great revival of genuine religion; but we may well inquire, Upon what foundation could such a revival, should it come, now rest in the popular churches? The foundation of former revivals, in those churches, now no longer exists. Have those who are expecting and planning for such a revival taken this fact into consideration? That is to say, the foundation of faith in the Bible as the infallible Word of God, upon which former genuine revivals have rested, and upon which every genuine revival of Christianity must rest, has been swept away in those churches by the “higher criticism.” A new theology has come in, so that, as one writer has expressed it, we now have “infallible scholarship, instead of an infallible Bible;” “modern thought,” instead of a “Thus saith the Lord;” “culture, instead of conversion;” “the natural in all things, the supernatural in nothing;” “a pantheistic god instead of a personal God;” “everybody coming out right anyhow, and nobody on the wrong track except those who cling to the faith once delivered to the saints.” No revival of Christianity upon such a foundation of belief as this is possible.
To have a real revival the churches must return to the old ground of absolute belief and confidence in the Bible as the infallible Word of God, and the all-sufficient rule of Christian faith. This means that they must accept what the Bible says without calling any statement an error, or a human idea, or spiritualizing it until it has no definite meaning. And this, in turn, means that they must accept the plain doctrine of the second literal coming of Christ, and its nearness as revealed by prophecy, the equally plain doctrine of the seventh-day Sabbath, and, in short, the whole reform message of Rev. 14:6-12,—the remaining part of the reformation from Rome which was not accomplished by Luther and his colaborers. They must6separate wholly from Rome, and come back over wholly to the ground of true Protestantism.
Upon that ground—the ground of the third angel’s message—a glorious and world-wide revival is now in progress.