Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 49. (10/5/1916)

Review and Herald

Oct 5, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 5, 1916

A Place for You

EVERY day of toil along the weary path of life, every sore conflict with the trials and temptations of the world, every feeling of faintness and exhaustion under the burden of earthly care and responsibility, is appointed to teach us what the Bible means when it speaks of heaven as a state of rest. While your heart is all intent and your hands are all engaged in securing the most permanent and desirable residence in this world, you will give little heed to the word when told that earth has no home for the weary soul. But let poverty come upon you like an armed man, let calamity sweep away your possessions as the whirlwind sweeps the withered leaves of autumn, let misfortune make you a wanderer without a house or a home in the wide world, and then you will listen with tearful eyes and throbbing heart to the words of Jesus, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: . . . I go to prepare a place for you.”—Daniel March.

Special Mention

By S. N. Haskell

Calebs and Murmurers

The progress of God’s cause in the earth is a work of faith; and as individuals have different degrees of faith, there have always been among the people of God persons who have questioned every advance move. They were anxious to see the cause of God prosper; but instead of moving because the Lord had commanded to move forward, they wished to see some human reason for advancing.

Every advance move made by the children of Israel in the wilderness developed the murmurers. When the pillar of cloud, God’s own presence, led them to the shore of the Red Sea, they complained and said, “It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians.” After the Lord had led them through the sea, and they began to journey into the wilderness, this same element forgot former victories and sighed for the fleshpots of Egypt, because they could not understand how they were going to be fed in the wilderness.

The great advance reforms among the remnant have been directed by the Spirit of prophecy, and those who have gone forward, have done so because they had faith in the light that was leading the people.

At each advance step there have always been those who murmured and produced many human reasons why we should not follow the light given. My mind goes back to the time when it was first decided to organize a legal corporation to hold the Review and Herald property. Some of our brethren thought it unnecessary. They said, “Why cannot Elder James White hold the property as he has in the past?” They argued that the Lord was coming too soon to form legal corporations.

It was my privilege to help raise the money to build our first college at Battle Creek, and I shall never forget the earnestness with which many of our people argued that we were too near the borders of the promised land to be spending thousands of dollars in building a college; that the Lord would come before the young people could receive a college education.

Soon light was revealed to us that there should be a printing establishment on the Pacific Coast. Again the murmurers were heard saying, “If they wish to print a little local paper in California, that is all right; but this denomination cannot support two large publishing houses.”

The same cry was made when our large sanitariums were built: “Time is too short to put so much money into big buildings to be burned up when the Lord comes.” But these same good brethren did not think time was too short to have thousands of dollars invested in farms and comfortable homes.

I have kept the Sabbath for sixty-three years, and have heard the murmurs raised against every advance move. A few years ago when the Spirit of prophecy said there should be a publishing house in the South, the same voices were heard, “If they wish to print the Watchman as a local paper in the South, that is all right; but this denomination cannot support three large publishing houses.” The work moved on. The Watchman found its place, and the third publishing house has had plenty of work to do.

The medical school is an advance move; and as in every advance since the message started, the murmurers are on hand. We hear the old familiar sound, “Time is too short fully to equip a medical school. This denomination cannot support a medical school,” etc.

If we had allowed the murmurers to direct the work in the past, this movement would have died in its infancy, instead of encircling the globe. The murmurers base their conclusion on human policy, but the man of faith says, “Let us know what God says should be done, and in his strength we will go forward and do it.” God has never left his people in the dark; he has always given them light.

“But,” says the murmurer, “has Sister White said there should be a hospital built in Los Angeles?” In the Medical Evangelistic Library, No. 6, pp. 30, 31, we read: “The light given me is, We must provide that which is essential to qualify our youth who desire to be physicians, so that they may intelligently fit themselves to be able to stand the examinations essential to prove their efficiency as physicians. They are to be prepared to stand the essential tests.” This necessary equipment is to be provided so that our medical students “will not need to connect with worldly medical schools conducted by unbelievers.”

Notice, we are to provide all the essential equipment, that our physicians may be able to pass the State examinations. The laws of the land require that the medical students shall spend much of the last half of their course in hospital work, where there are many poor, that they may have the necessary practice in treating the actual sick before they are prepared to be accredited physicians. In order to do this, we must have a hospital.

“But,” says the murmurer, “why not let them get this instruction in large worldly hospitals?” We are instructed that the young people while taking the medical course are to be guarded religiously, and that we are to provide what is necessary so they “will not need to connect with worldly medical schools conducted by unbelievers.”

Again the murmurer asks, “How can the hospital be built in Los Angeles when the servant of the Lord speaks of the Loma Linda medical school?” We are told “we must provide that which is essential,” etc. A hospital in a large city where there are many poor is one of the essential things required by the laws of the land, and as we are told we must provide it, we are building it in Los Angeles, the nearest large city. Loma Linda is out in the country. The hospital will be built in the nearest place it can be built and meet the demands of the law.

The first two years of laboratory and book work will be spent by the medical students in the quiet country, away from the allurements of the city. The last two years of their course will be spent in Los Angeles in our own hospital, under the instruction of our own godly physicians.

Now the murmurer comes in with the assertion, “It will weaken the school to have the first two years of laboratory work at Loma Linda, and the last two years of clinical work in Los Angeles.” If so, then some of the best medical schools in our country are weak, for they have their clinical work separate from their laboratory work, the same as our school. But it will not weaken it. Loma Linda, a quiet country place, was chosen by the instruction of the servant of the Lord for our medical school, and no mistake has been made in the matter.

God-fearing men who believe what has been said in regard to Loma Linda are willing to make a sacrifice to help carry out the instruction given. One has left a lucrative position to work for the ordinary wage paid the teachers, another one turns over a large paying practice to help carry out the mind of the Lord in regard to our medical school.

“What we need now is Calebs, men who are faithful and true.” “Calebs are the men most needed in these last days.” “It was Caleb’s faith in God that gave him courage; that kept him from the fear of man, even the mighty giants, the sons of Anak, and enabled him to stand boldly and unflinchingly in defense of the right.” “We want Calebs now, who will press to the front,—chieftains in Israel who with courageous words will make a strong report in favor of immediate action. When the selfish, ease-loving, panic-stricken people, fearing tall giants and inaccessible walls, clamor for retreat, let the voice of the Calebs be heard, even though the cowardly ones stand with stones in their hands ready to beat them down for their faithful testimony.”

“While the cowards and murmurers perished in the wilderness, faithful Caleb had a home in the promised Canaan. ‘Them that honor me I will honor,’ saith the Lord.” — “Testimonies for the Church, Vol. V, pp. 134, 130, 378, 383, 304.” S. N. HASKELL.

Saved by His Life

By F. M. W.

THE death of Christ justifies us for the sins of the past. It is his indwelling life that saves us from the commission of sin. Rom. 5: 8-10. Many have sought justification repeatedly, day after day, from the time of their first acceptance of the Lord until the present moment. They go to him for forgiveness of sins, for justification through his blood. They claim by faith his imputed righteousness, but, oh, how few there are who go a step farther and take hold by faith of the life of Christ which he promises to every believer,—that indwelling life which affords victory over sin and keeps the believer from falling back into the sins from which he has been justified through the blood! Paul knew this life. He says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Christ desires to impart this life to every believer. He seeks admission to every heart. He says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock.” He seeks by the divine influence of his Holy Spirit to draw all men to the Father. He exhausts the resources of heaven in his efforts to save men. This is his part, but man has a part to act also. The Master declares, “If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me.” Heeding this divine summons—opening the door of the heart and inviting the Saviour to come in, and by faith claiming the divine promise that he will enter in—effects this union with the divine power. The apostle expresses this as his great desire for the church at Ephesus:—

“That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” Eph. 3: 16-21.

This life of Christ in the soul is the power of the Holy Spirit which the Master desires to impart to the believer. Says the servant of the Lord:—

“The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. Those only who are thus taught of God, those only who possess the inward working of the Spirit, and in whose life the Christ-life is manifested, can stand as true representatives of the Saviour.”—Gospel Workers, p. 285.

The reason many do not receive this divine power is clearly pointed out:—

“There are many who profess to believe and claim the Lord’s promises; they talk about Christ and the Holy Spirit; yet they receive no benefit, because they do not surrender their souls to the guidance and control of divine agencies.

“We cannot use the Holy Spirit; the Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in his people ‘to will and to do of his good pleasure.’ But many will not submit to be led. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for his guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and he is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive.”—Id., pp. 284, 285.

The Lord would not have us continue in the experience of sinning and repenting, but would have us go on unto perfection. See Heb. 6: 1-3. We can no longer afford in our experience to play with sin, to dally with it, to continue in its service. The apostle inquires, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” To this he gives the emphatic answer, “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

The Master has called us to a better experience. He desires to take us out of the bondage of sin and self-serving, into his own blessed service of light and liberty. He has opened the prison doors and bidden us go free. Shall we not accept the liberty he offers us? Shall we not take hold by living faith of his own blessed life, of the power of his Holy Spirit, refusing to be turned back again to the beggarly elements of the world, refusing to come again under the dominion of fleshly lusts which war against the soul, maintaining through the daily exercise of living faith the freedom which his indwelling Spirit will impart?

F. M. W.

Look and Live

By G. B. T.

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” Isa. 45: 22. Salvation comes to the soul by looking to Jesus. We look and live. The look of faith delivers us from the bondage of sin. It is not something we do. Realizing our helplessness, we look to the Saviour, and cry to him for help. This cry of faith brings freedom to the soul. The very simplicity of this transaction seems to hinder our taking part in it and experiencing the great deliverance. We hesitate to accept deliverance from the slavery of sin on such easy terms.

In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3: 14, 15. In the journey of Israel from Egypt to Canaan, because of their rebellion and unbelief the protecting hand of God was withdrawn from them in a measure, and terror and confusion spread through the camp, caused by the death-producing attacks of poisonous serpents which infested the wilderness. The stillness of the night was often broken by a piercing scream which told the story of another victim. Many who were bitten died of their wounds.

“Moses was divinely commanded to make a serpent of brass resembling the living ones, and to elevate it among the people. To this, all who had been bitten were to look, and they would find relief. He did so, and the joyful news was sounded throughout the encampment, that all who had been bitten might look upon the brazen serpent and live. Many had already died, and when Moses raised the serpent upon the pole, some would not believe that merely gazing upon that metallic image would heal

them; these perished in their unbelief. Yet there were many who had faith in the provision which God had made. Fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters were anxiously engaged in helping their suffering, dying friends to fix their languid eyes upon the serpent. If these, though faint and dying, could only once look, they were perfectly restored.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 430.

Perfectly restored by merely looking! What a wonderful miracle of God! Here is a man, bitten by one of these poisonous serpents. The circulation of his blood carries death to every part of his body. His eyes are drooping, his body is swollen, and the cold hand of death is upon him. In a few brief moments life will be extinct.

But now his friends gather around him, and tell him about the wonderful provision made for the healing of those who are bitten. Yonder is a serpent of brass on a pole. He does not need to climb the pole and touch the serpent, but merely to look and be healed. Hope enters his heart. He turns his languid eyes and looks in faith. Suddenly a marked change is seen. The patient is better. The fever is gone; new life is seen in the eyes. The friends rejoice, for the victim of the poisonous serpent is healed; he is well. He arises from his bed, and goes forth into the camp. His friends are astonished at the marked change, and marvel that he who was stricken with death is now well and strong.

They press about him and ask what he did. He tells them he did nothing. He merely looked at the serpent and was made perfectly well.

Again we read: “The lifting up of the brazen serpent was to teach Israel an important lesson. They could not save themselves from the fatal effect of the poison in their wounds. God alone was able to heal them. Yet they were required to show their faith in the provision which he had made. They must look, in order to live. It was their faith that was acceptable with God, and by looking upon the serpent their faith was shown. They knew that there was no virtue in the serpent itself, but it was a symbol of Christ; and the necessity of having faith in his merits was thus presented to their minds. Heretofore many had brought their offerings to God, and had felt that in so doing they made ample atonement for their sins. They did not rely upon the Redeemer to come, of whom these offerings were only a type. The Lord would now teach them that their sacrifices, in themselves, had no more power or virtue than the serpent of brass, but were, like that, to lead their minds to Christ, the great sin offering.”—Ib.

We, too, have been bitten by the serpent, and eternal death has passed upon all. There is no earthly remedy. Yet we have but to turn our eyes and look in faith to Christ, to be made perfectly whole, and rejoice in the fulness of pardon and complete deliverance. We have only to look, and live.

What a blessed gospel! By faith we lay hold of the righteousness in Jesus Christ, and rejoice in the blessed knowledge of sins forgiven. “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Rom. 3: 24-26. G. B. T.

The Bible

By L. L. C.

The Invention of Printing

WHEN the Reformation had turned the minds of God’s people again to the study of the Scriptures, the time had come in the providence of God for the third step necessary to make the Bible the universal book. “The first step was,” as we have seen, “the invention of alphabetical writing. The second was the process of translation. The third was the invention of the art of printing.” Up to the time of this invention, all copies of the Bible had to be made slowly and laboriously by hand. Though John Wycliffe had already been instrumental in giving to England for the first time in history a complete version of the Scriptures in the English language, this version had to be circulated in the manuscripts copied by hand.

About fourteen or fifteen years after the death of Wycliffe there was born in Germany (at Mainz, it is supposed) a boy named Johannes Gensfleisch, who afterward adopted the name of Gutenberg, his mother’s birthplace. The story is told that one day, being left alone, the boy cut from the bark of a tree the letters of his name. By some accident while he was arranging them, one fell into a pot of boiling purple dye which stood near by. Without thinking, the boy reached for the letter, only to drop it from his scalded fingers to a white dressed sheepskin on a bench near by. As a result there appeared on the sheepskin a beautiful purple “h.” Somehow this image so wrought itself into the boy’s mind, we are told by Paterson Smythe, in “How We Got Our Bible,” page 74, that it resulted, years later, in his discovery of the art of printing.

Shortly after the middle of the fifteenth century Gutenberg’s printing press was at work in the city of Mainz. The first dated book which he published was the Psalter of 1457. Five years later he printed the first dated Bible. These were both in Latin.

The first person to take advantage of the art of printing to bring out an English Bible was William Tyndale, “to whom,” as Dr. B. F. Westcott says, “it has been allowed more than to any other man to give its characteristic shape to the Bible.”—History of the English Bible, London, 1905, p. 25. This version of the Bible was printed at Cologne, and the books were brought into England by every secret method that could be devised. Try as they would, the enemies of the Holy Scriptures could not keep them from the English people. The tide of public opinion set in strongly in favor of the Bible in the language of the people. But Tyndale himself did not live to see the full dawning of the day. Betrayed by pretended friends, he was arrested, and died a martyr at the stake. It is said that while dying he prayed, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.”

About sixty-seven years after this prayer was uttered, James I, king of England, desiring one uniform translation (a number had been made since Tyndale’s day by various persons), and professing that he had never yet seen a perfectly satisfactory English version, decided that this work could best be done by appointing learned men of the English universities to prepare a revision, which should then be reviewed by the bishops and chief learned men of the church, and presented to the Privy Council, and ratified by royal authority. Thus he hoped to have a Bible produced to which the whole church might be bound as to a final authority. The work of preparing this King James, or Authorized Version, was begun in 1604, but was not completed and published until 1611.

Almost two centuries went by, and though many copies of the Bible were printed, still God’s Word had not been circulated as widely as it was God’s plan that it should be. It was truly in the providence of God that a little over a hundred years ago, in 1804, the British and Foreign Bible Society was established. Twelve years later, in 1816, the American Bible Society was organized. These two societies have been largely instrumental in the wonderful circulation of the Scriptures during the last hundred years. The Bible has now been translated into almost five hundred languages, and is sold by the millions every year. There is no book published which has a larger sale than the Bible.

Because of the change which the English language had undergone in over two hundred and fifty years, and on account of the discovery of a number of important new Bible manuscripts,—the Sinaiticus and others,—it seemed best to bring out a revision of the King James Version. The men chosen for the revision committee were the most learned

Biblical scholars to be found, and the revision which they produced, while in some places seemingly lacking the majestic style of the Authorized Version, on the whole is more faithful to the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts as we now have them. The English revision was brought out from 1881 to 1885, and an American revision followed in 1901.

The work of the Bible societies seems to be bringing to a fulfilment that prophecy in Daniel, that in the last days “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Not only have travel and commerce been wonderfully developed during the last hundred years, and scientific and other general knowledge been increased, but the wonderful inventions of printing and of means of rapid transportation have made possible the greatly increased knowledge of the Scriptures. The Christian believer cannot suppose that all these things simply happened during the last hundred years, for he knows that it has all been in accord with God’s prearranged plan for a rapid work in the last days.

Let us appreciate the many wonders which have made possible the universal circulation of the Bible among all men, and in this appreciation let us study the Scriptures more.

L. L. C.

Hands Reaching Toward Us

By William Ambrose Spicer

Two letters just in from the fringes of civilization, in widely separated regions of the earth, have a few sentences that we must pass on at this Harvest Ingathering season.

If in every report they send for publication our missionaries repeated the call in words, “Send us help—more men, more means,” the words would become monotonous. But the appeal is there, in the facts of the situation, in every report. And our readers always hear the calls for help between the lines, we know.

Recently Brother F. A. Stahl, of the Peruvian Mission, by Lake Titicaca, wrote of their cry for workers, “Please do not become tired or impatient with us.” No, we say: not for an instant. What else can the workers do as they face the needs, than cry to the Lord of the harvest and to their brethren?

Here are the paragraphs from the two letters just in, picturing the hands stretched toward us. The first is from Elder C. V. Achenbach, with the Lake Titicaca Mission. He says:—

“The calls for more schools and missions are coming all the time. At present we have fifteen calls for schools, and no one to answer them. It is a pity to tell these people that we cannot send them a teacher. Last week a delegation came in for a teacher. They said they would build a schoolhouse and a house for the teacher. We went over to the place, and found three hundred families pledging themselves to stand by the school. What could we do? We finally decided to place a native teacher there until some one can come from abroad. As I write, a delegation of Indians from a place forty miles away are in to see Brother Stahl, and are asking for a teacher and a mission.”

From across the Pacific, in the East Indies, Elder F. A. Detamore writes of another trip into Battakland, which has long called to us for a foreign teacher. We are thankful that the August sailing of recruits included a teacher and his wife for Battakland. Brethren Detamore and Judge, who recently passed through that most inaccessible part of Sumatra, say:—

“Hundreds of natives surrounded us everywhere we went and begged us to open schools, and promised to attend. If we had the teachers, we could open schools in half a dozen places.”

It is no mere figure of speech to say that many, many hands are stretching toward us for help. We have what these people want. God has given it to us first that we may take it to them.

W. A. S.

A Real Sacrifice

By L. L. C.

A STORY which has recently come to our attention illustrates so well what real sacrifice means that we feel it should be told to our readers:—

Two men of good income were talking together and complaining of the constant demand made by the minister in their church for money for missionary work. They each decided that while he was glad to do what he could, there were many other things of which he must think. Some time later these two men decided to go on a trip around the world together. Being really interested in church work, although not giving so much toward the work as their income really made possible, they were curious to see what was being done by the missionaries in the various fields where their church had established stations.

When they came to Korea, they saw one day a large boy pulling a primitive plow, while the boy’s father held the plow handle. This amused our travelers so much that one of them took a kodak picture, saying that such a picture would be a great curiosity. He remarked to the missionary who was accompanying them that these persons must be very poor. The missionary answered that they were members of the Christian church of which he was a member, and that a short time before, desiring to make an offering but having nothing to give, they had sold their only ox and given the proceeds into the mission funds, and since then had been compelled to pull the plow themselves.

The two travelers, much impressed, decided that these converted heathen had given an example of real sacrifice such as they had never seen at home. The impression was so deep and genuine that they not only recounted this story, with the result that many at home were led to increase their offerings, but they themselves never again complained that the demands for money were too many or too frequent.

Would that we all could learn this lesson of real sacrifice for God’s work! L. L. C.

War Preparation

By L. L. C.

As students of prophecy, we have long looked for preparations for war to be made on a scale such as has never been seen in the past. The Washington Post of September 5 says, editorially:—

“All the previous records of war have been shattered by the intensity and wide area of the European war. Not only have all the great battles of previous history been dwarfed by the scope of the struggle in Europe, but actual percentages and averages have been changed.”

Several points are brought out in the Post editorial, in which these records have been broken. The percentage of those killed in battle was formerly estimated as one in ten. This percentage is much greater now. Edwin Samuel Montagu, minister of munitions of Great Britain, has pointed out recently some new standards which prevail in war preparedness. He says that the production of heavy shells is ninety-four times as great as it was in 1914. In four days there is now produced as much howitzer munition as was produced during the whole of last year, while every month there are turned out as many heavy guns as were in existence when the English ministry of munitions was formed, about nine months after the beginning of the European war. It is expected that this number will soon be doubled, making the monthly output twenty-four times as great as in the early months of the war. The output of high explosives is sixty times as great as a year ago, and the amount required for fighting is twelve thousand times as great as at the beginning of the war. Thus the demand is more than keeping up with the supply.

In the closing paragraph the editorial says:—

“All the standards of previous wars have been wholly shattered, and what would have seemed excessive preparedness three years ago must now be regarded merely as adequate measures of safety.”

We may therefore well look for greatly increased national armament in the future, rather than the general disarmament, which some peace advocates are predicting.

L. L. C.

W. S. CHAPMAN

By W. S. Chapman

The Laodicean Message — No. 1

W. S. CHAPMAN

The peculiar wording of Rev. 3:14-18 implies that in the latter days there will be found a people claiming to be the people of God, and to have a special message to proclaim, who will, for a time, become so negligent and so unmindful of their calling that it will be necessary for God to send them a special warning and rebuke before they can be aroused to recognize their perilous condition.

Before attempting to analyze the statements made in what is known as the Laodicean message, it will be profitable to give attention to the purpose of the message, and the conditions under which it is to be given, as well as to the character and spiritual condition of the people who are to receive it.

The language used, the metaphors employed, presuppose a depth of knowledge of spiritual things among the people addressed. Startling statements are made, and solemn threatenings are employed with an evident unexplained depth of meaning that only persons of wide experience in the things of God could, with reason, be expected to comprehend. From the beginning to the end there is a ringing note of warning, as if a voice were constantly repeating, “Beware, beware!” the while it is accompanied by such pleadings from the Lord to this people, such loving, tender pleadings, as exceed in intensity anything presented elsewhere in the Scriptures. The key to the full meaning of this message and its application, is to be found in the Spirit of prophecy:—

“The message of the True Witness reveals the fact that a terrible deception is upon our people, which makes it necessary to come to them with warnings, to break their spiritual slumber, and arouse them to decided action. . . . The people slumber on in their sins. They continue to declare themselves rich, and having need of nothing. Many inquire, Why are all these reproofs given? Why do the Testimonies continually charge us with backsliding and with grievous sins? We love the truth; we are prospering; we are in no need of these testimonies of warning and reproof. But let these murmurers see their hearts, and compare their lives with the practical teachings of the Bible, let them humble their souls before God, let the grace of God illuminate the darkness, and the scales will fall from their eyes, and they will realize their true spiritual poverty and wretchedness.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. III, p. 254.

Looking back over Israel’s history, we find it ever the same: “The people murmured;” they would not receive correction. And we find the Lord giving as the reason for the fallen condition of his people in the latter days, the same explanation as of old: “The greatest reason why the people of God are now found in this state of spiritual blindness is, that they will not receive correction.”—Id., pp. 254, 255.

The history of God’s people all along the way reveals another startling fact,—they have never been able to stand prosperity. Under heavenly blessings they have always shown a tendency to relax in faithful labor and in the observance of God’s law, and to sit at ease in Zion, rather than to press on to further and higher victories.

“When the Israelites entered Canaan, they did not fulfil God’s purpose by taking possession of the whole land. After making a partial conquest, they settled down to enjoy the fruit of their victories. In their unbelief and love of ease, they congregated in the portions already conquered, instead of pushing forward to occupy new territory. Thus they began to depart from God. By their failure to carry out his purpose they made it impossible for him to fulfil to them his promise of blessing.

“Is not the church of today doing the same thing? With the whole world before them in need of the gospel, professed Christians congregate where they themselves can enjoy gospel privileges. They do not feel the necessity of occupying new territory, carrying the message of salvation to regions beyond. They refuse to fulfil Christ’s commission, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’ Are they less guilty than was the Jewish church?”—Id., Vol. VIII, p. 119.

We point with pride to the advance of our missionary work in foreign fields, and, with some satisfaction, to the amount contributed to support that work. But contributions to foreign work, alone, will never save a soul. “Go ye,” is the command, and it is those who do the Father’s will who will enter the kingdom. Many cannot labor in a foreign field, but all about us in our own native land are hundreds and thousands of precious souls who never heard this truth, and who are dying, many of them as they have lived, just as truly without hope as are the savages in heathen lands, while we sit at ease, unmindful of our duty.

There is a great work about to open before the people of God, and it is to be the finishing work in a doomed world. Only those who have perfected a character and are endued with the Spirit of God will be permitted to have a part in that work. The foolish virgins will awake to find themselves destitute of the oil that made their lamps available, and will remain outside in the darkness of their own choosing. Character is built up through faithfulness in details. It is a slow process, as is the growth of the oak. God is merciful, and does not press his people; he leads them. This is why he bears with the Laodicean church.

“God will prove his people. Jesus bears patiently with them, and does not spew them out of his mouth in a moment. Said the angel, ‘God is weighing his people.’ If the message had been of as short duration as many of us supposed, there would have been no time for them to develop character.” “I was shown that the testimony to the Laodiceans applies to God’s people at the present time, and the reason it has not accomplished a greater work is because of the hardness of their hearts. But God has given the message time to do its work. The heart must be purified from sins which have so long shut out Jesus. This fearful message will do its work. . . . I saw that this message would not accomplish its work in a few short months. It is designed to arouse the people of God, to discover to them their backslidings, and to lead to zealous repentance, that they may be favored with the presence of Jesus, and be fitted for the loud cry of the third angel.”—Id., Vol. I, pp. 186, 187.

“God’s work of refining and purifying must go on until his servants are so humbled, so dead to self, that when called into active service, their eye will be single to his glory.”—Id., Vol. IV, p. 86.

It is self-evident that there is a great reformatory movement ahead of the people of God. Compare the condition of the churches with the description given above of the character of those who are to coöperate with the Lord in giving the closing message, and also see how your own character compares with that description? Then try to appreciate the immensity of the separating gulf.

Is it not time to cry aloud, to lift up the voice, and to show the people their sins? Who can doubt it? Who can fail to realize the great loss and the sure condemnation for every day that we remain in the slothful condition now prevalent?

The only hope for the Laodiceans is a clear view of their standing before God, a knowledge of the nature of their disease. They are neither cold nor hot; they occupy a neutral position, and at the same time flatter themselves that they are in need of nothing. The True Witness hates this lukewarmness. He loathes the indifference of this class of persons. Said he, ‘I would thou wert cold or hot.’ Like lukewarm water, they are nauseous to his taste.”—Id., pp. 87, 88.

The Lord always comes suddenly to his people (Mal. 3:1-3), and it will be so in the call under the loud cry. “The Lord is soon coming. The watchmen on the walls of Zion are called upon to awake to their God-given responsibility. God calls for watchmen who, in the power of the Spirit, will give to the world the last warning message; who will proclaim the time of night. He calls for watchmen who will arouse men and women from their lethargy, lest they sleep the sleep of death.”—Id., Vol. VIII, p. 304.

St. Petersburg, Fla.

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