Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 9. (2/17/1916)

Review and Herald

Feb 17, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 17, 1916

Paul's Financial Plan

I Cor. 16: 1, 2

Periodic Upon the first day of the week Worshipful Habitual Prayerful Cheerful

Personal let each one of you Each Man Each Woman Each Boy Each Girl

Provident lay by him in store Forehanded Deliberate Thoughtful Intelligent

Proportionate as he may prosper Generous Careful Responsible Faithful

Preventive that no collections be made when I come No Deficit No Worry No Loan Interest No Retrenchment

— Men and Missions.

What has been Accomplished?

This is the question which thousands are asking as they view the present situation in Europe after eighteen months of bloody warfare. The small advantage gained by any one of the belligerent nations affords slight compensation for the terrible loss in life and property suffered by each. In a statement issued by the International News Service, and published in the daily papers of January 30, the following picture of war conditions and results is presented:—

The European war will have lasted eighteen months tomorrow,—the blackest eighteen months known to the modern world! What has been accomplished? No European country has been benefited, nor has human liberty advanced at any point, nor has any great moral principle triumphed in any place or on any battlefield. The net result has been 2,990,000 men in the very prime of life killed; more than 2,200,000 made prisoners, and more than 9,830,000 wounded and maimed, many crippled for life.

Bloodshed the Heaviest Toll

This measureless bloodshed and suffering, making millions widows and many more millions orphans, has been the heaviest toll of the war. Next, the money loss — $10,862,000,000 borrowed for war by Germany, Austria, and Hungary; $16,199,000,000 borrowed for war by France, England, Russia, and Italy; a grand total of $27,061,000,000 spent in making war.

Waste of Money Stupendous

The mind cannot grasp such stupendous figures or such wastage. It means a sum equal to the entire savings or increase in capital of the entire world for ten years. It means a debt of about $360 for every family in all belligerent countries — more than the total income of a year of every European peasant family or unskilled laborer in Europe. It means tax burdens for this generation and for generations yet unborn that will make the burdens of life greater than ever before for all.

No Decision Yet Reached

What has been accomplished? The Allies have failed utterly to penetrate or even seriously to weaken Germany. Germany has failed utterly to strike a decisive blow at any of her four chief enemies.

The Franco-Prussian War was fought in 47 days, when the French army surrendered at Sedan and the emperor Napoleon was made prisoner. Now, at the end of 547 days, there are two battle lines, 1,950 miles long, deadlocked at every point. Nowhere a decision. All the nations bleeding to death, none able to strike a decisive blow. The Germans have shown a power of organization at home and a military power in the field that the combined armies of Britain, France, Russia, and Italy cannot break. England has the command of the sea. And in all history sea power has never yet been beaten. Where does any possible hope lie, save in exhaustion, or the benevolent intervention of neutral powers to restore peace?

The Baptist Program

THE Baptist churches of America have entered upon what is called the Five-Year Program. This program calls for the following:—

A million additions to our churches by baptism.
A missionary force of 5,000 men and women in America and the non-Christian world.
Two million dollars of endowment for the Ministers’ and Missionaries’ Benefit Board.
Twenty-five student pastors in universities, 1,000 Baptist students in theological seminaries, 15,000 students in colleges and universities, and $6,000,000 for additional endowment and equipment at home and abroad.
An annual income of $6,000,000 for missions and benevolence.

In order that the goal of this program may be attained the following suggestions are made to each church:—

One new follower of Christ annually for every eight members.
One minister or missionary produced from its membership during the five-year period.
One of its young people in college for every 100 members or major fraction thereof.
Gifts by individuals (in addition to church offerings) and legacies or annuities for Baptist missionary, benevolent, and educational work.
A fifteen-per-cent increase each year in offerings to missions and benevolences.

The situation which exists in the world at the present time is making stirring appeal to the Protestant churches of America. There is a general feeling that a crisis has been reached in the history of the church, and many devout men in different denominations are making earnest effort to stir the members of their churches to greater activity. Surely the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church should feel the responsibility and the burden of the work which has been committed to them. Of all the churches in the world we who are looking for the speedy return of the Lord, and who realize that there has been committed to us a message regarding his soon coming, should put forth every effort within our power to speed the message to earth’s remotest bounds. God will bless us in this endeavor.

Alcohol and Crime

To what extent was alcohol responsible for crimes committed during Christmas week? The temperance society of the Methodist Church, desiring an answer to this question, sent out requests to seventeen thousand Methodist ministers, asking them to make report of the crimes in their neighborhoods which they personally knew to be traceable to the use of strong drink. Everything of a doubtful nature or minor consequence was to be eliminated. The following figures are the result of this investigation, extending over a period of one week: Number of murders, including children, 77; suicides, 18; wounded, 155; dead by accident or exposure, 31; wounded by accident, 13; criminal assault, on children in two cases, 3; child victims of drink, 18; miscellaneous cases, 285.

And this record we are convinced is by no means a complete one. Strong drink must bear the responsibility for a very large percentage of all crimes that are committed. It is gratifying that so many in the United States are awakening to the true character of this terrible evil, and are taking measures to bring it to an end.

Note and Comment

Spiritless Preaching

Of the spirit which should characterize the preacher and the message he delivers, the Word and Way of June 17, 1915, says this:—

No half-hearted propaganda ever yet moved the world. No milk-and-water gospel will ever save men. No bloodless Christianity proclaimed by anemic preachers will ever stir the red blood of strong men; no apologetic religion will at all impress the age in which we live; no gospel of compromise will grip the heart and set the will aflame.

Are You a Christian?

By F. M. W.

THIS is a personal question. It is a question which we wish to address to each one of our readers. It is a question which involves your present relationship to God. Perhaps you will answer, “I am a church member.” It is well that you should belong to the church. Church membership, we believe, is not only helpful but necessary in the development of Christian experience. But it is not safe for you to conclude that because you are a member of the church you are therefore a Christian, because the whole history of the church shows that many have formally enrolled under the banner of Christ who knew but little of his saving power in their lives.

You may say, “I hold credentials from the conference,” but this does not prove that you are a Christian. Your brethren in ordaining you to the gospel ministry may have mistaken your call to this sacred office. The Lord may have been pleased to work through your instrumentality for the salvation of others, while you yourself are unsanctified, even as he spoke his word through Balaam; even as Judas went forth with his companions preaching the gospel of the kingdom. It is possible, as stated by the apostle Paul, for one to preach to others, and yet be a castaway himself.

You may answer that you are president of the conference, or that you occupy some other high official position. The position which one occupies in the church does not necessarily determine his character. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were leaders in Israel; so were the two hundred and fifty princes who joined the rebellion, men of renown in the congregation. But the positions they occupied were not a guaranty of their Christian integrity.

Do you observe the Sabbath, pay tithes into the church treasury, and give liberally to foreign missions? You may do all this, and yet fail of being Christlike in character. Israel of old, according to the confession of Christ, were zealous for the law, earnest in missionary labor according to their own standard, scrupulous in the payment of tithes, and yet the Lord declares to them that they were hypocrites ; that they “omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.” Matt. 23: 23. Is your life devoid of these Christian graces? The apostle Paul declares that though he were to speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and that though he had the gift of prophecy and understood all mysteries, and though he should bestow all his goods to feed the poor and give his body to be burned; yet if love did not prompt this service, these attainments and this sacrifice would be in vain.

To be a Christian one must be Christlike. The great test of Christianity is in the home and in the everyday life. The best human judges of our Christianity are the members of our own families, our neighbors, those with whom we do business. If your wife, your husband, your children, were to express their honest sentiments as to your Christianity, what would be their verdict?

Reader, are you a Christian? Face yourself with this simple, direct question. Consider it in the light of what you know to be Christian duty. Consider it not from the standpoint of your reputation, of what your brethren think you are, but from the standpoint of what you know you are, of what God knows you are. Gauge your answer by what you know to be the motives and purposes ruling your life. It is from this standpoint that you will have to answer the question sometime. Why not consider it now?

These are days of peril and uncertainty. We know not what this year may bring to any of us. Today the Spirit of God appeals to us. Today we have the use of our reasoning faculties. Let us face this question, not in any sentimental way, but squarely and frankly. Wherein a close scrutiny of our lives reveals that we are not fully conforming to the divine standard, may God grant that while there is still opportunity we may avail ourselves of the cleansing blood of Christ, and by faith bring his life into our experience to keep us and to hold us from all the power of iniquity. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”

Marriage and Divorce

THE home relationship is a primary one. Wreck the home life of the people and every other human relationship is endangered. To the extent that lax ideas prevail regarding the sanctity of the marriage relationship, to that extent will the moral tone of society be lowered, the effectiveness of the church weakened, and the stability of the state threatened.

An article in a recent number of the Christian Statesman, by Attorney W. H. Thomas, judge of the superior court in the State of California, gives some enlightening statistics on this subject. He declares that “more divorces are granted in the United States than in all the rest of the Christian world, Protestant, Catholic, and Greek; more than in all Europe outside of the Balkan Peninsula, all civilized Australia and America.” He quotes the United States Census Bulletin No. 96 on “Marriage and Divorce,” stating that—

during the twenty years, from 1887 to 1906, an average of one marriage in twelve ended in divorce. If the number of divorces in proportion to the population had been the same in 1905 as it was in 1870, the number of absolute divorces reported in 1905 would have been only 24,000, whereas it was, in fact, 67,791. In 1906 the actual number was 72,062, while the ratio of 1870 would have resulted in only 24,398. From 1860 to 1870 there was one divorce to one thousand of our population. From 1870 to 1880 there were two divorces to each one thousand of our population. From 1880 to 1890 there were three divorces to one thousand of our population. From 1890 to 1900 there were four divorces to one thousand of our population. In 1905 there were three times as many divorces in proportion to the population as there were in 1870.

The editor of the Christian Statesman adds:—

This condition is more pronounced today than ever before in history. It is appalling, even of contemplation, when confronted with the figures, to be compelled to admit the inroads of this cancer in the body of the American family, for these figures not only indicate but they show that should the increase of the recent past continue for one hundred years, more marriages would end by divorce than by death.

As regrettable as these conditions are, and as greatly as we desire that they might be otherwise, we must recognize them as the fulfilment of the prophetic

Word. The Scriptures of Truth liken the last days to the days of Noah and Lot, when the hearts of men were set upon buying and selling, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. See Luke 17:26-30. Marriage is an ordinance after God’s order. Into this holy estate it is entirely proper for men and women to enter so long as they do so in the fear of God. It is the hasty, unwise unions which constitute the menace, unions formed from caprice rather than from love. Out of these unions the majority of divorce cases grow. Let us exalt in our teaching and by our example the sacred relationship of the marriage ordinance. Let us teach our youth that it is not merely a civil or social compact, but a union into which they should enter in the fear of God and from motives of truth and purity.

F. M. W.

Ancient and Modern Spiritualism

The essential claim of Spiritualism is its assertion of power to hold communication with the spirits of the dead; rather, it claims to have demonstrated that really there is no death.

“There is no death; What seems so is translation.”

The late Prof. Alfred Russell Wallace, the English scientist, said of Spiritualism:—

It demonstrates, as completely as the fact can be demonstrated, that the so-called dead are still alive.—“Miracles and Modern Spiritualism, page 219.”

First Declaration of the Doctrine

In the first chapters of Inspiration is found a similar teaching: “Ye shall not surely die.”

But this declaration, while recorded in the Scriptures, is not the word of God. The Lord had declared to man that disobedience would bring death. But Satan, as the tempter in Eden, caused the woman to doubt the word of God:—

“The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” Gen. 3: 4.

Having drawn man on to disobey, so bringing death into the world, what more natural, in the course of deception, than to endeavor to persuade the human family that, after all, there is no death; that what appears so is only introduction to fuller life and activity? “Ye shall not surely die.”

As mankind fell away from the knowledge of God, dead heroes were deified as gods, and much of the pagan worship consisted in sacrifices to the spirits of the dead, supposed to be living still and concerned with affairs in the land of the living. When Israel fell away from God and joined the Moabites in the worship of Baal-peor, the record says of the nature of the service:—

“They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.” “Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils.” Ps. 106: 28, 37.

Instead of dealing with the spirits of the dead, the idolatrous worshipers were really putting themselves in direct touch with the agencies of Satan, the fallen angels.

Divine Warnings

This explains the severity of the divine warnings against the ancient practice of necromancy or mediumship. The Lord said:—

“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.” Lev. 19: 31.

“When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.” Deut. 18: 9-12.

The ancient séance, where the living sought unto the dead for knowledge, was described and denounced by the prophet Isaiah as follows:—

“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?” Isa. 8: 19, A. R. V.

“To the law and to the testimony!” the prophet cries. To seek to the dead for knowledge is to turn from the law and the testimony and to take the counsel of the direct agencies of Satan, the great deceiver.

Modern Spiritualism

What Spiritualism is may best be understood by the prophetic warnings concerning the revival of this great deception in the last days. The apostle Paul said that just before Christ’s second coming, the evil one would work with special power:—

“Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” 2 Thess. 2: 9.

In another place the prophecy was uttered:—

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” 1 Tim. 4: 1.

True to the sure word, now that the last days have come, there has arisen the movement of modern Spiritualism, with its signs and wonders, purporting to be wrought by the spirits of the dead. Professor Wallace says:—

Modern Spiritualism dates from March, 1848; it being then that, for the first time, intelligent communications were held with the unknown cause of the mysterious knockings and sounds similar to those which had disturbed the Mompesson and Wesley families in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.—“Miracles and Modern Spiritualism,” p. 152.

It was in Hydesville, N. Y., in the family of Mr. Fox, that the modern cult originated, it being found that by mysterious but clear sounds of knocking, unseen intelligences were able to communicate answers to questions asked. The rapidity of the spread of the great deception was remarkable. One of the Fox sisters, Mrs. A. Leah Underhill, wrote:

Since that day, starting from a small country village of western New York, Spiritualism has made its way—against tremendous obstacles and resistance, but under an impulse and a guidance from higher spheres—round the civilized globe. Starting from three sisters, two of them children, and the eldest little beyond that age, . . . its ranks of believers, privately or publicly avowed, have grown within thirty-six years to millions.—“The Missing Link in Modern Spiritualism,” Introduction.

Many at the time thought—as have many since—that the “rappings” with which the manifestations began were caused by some trickery on the part of the Fox sisters. But men of unimpeachable standing and intelligence certified to the contrary. Horace Greeley, famous editor of the New York Tribune, wrote in his paper that the sisters had visited him in his home and courted the fullest investigation as to “the alleged manifestations from the spirit world.” As the result of his observations, he wrote:—

Whatever may be the origin or the cause of the “rappings,” the ladies in whose presence they occur do not make them. We tested this thoroughly and to our entire satisfaction.—Id., p. 160.

It was no mere sleight of hand that launched this cult upon the world as the last days came. Beyond all the physical manifestations, the religious idea in Spiritualism has leavened the religious thought of millions. No one can deny that the basic idea is the one that the serpent promulgated in Eden: “Ye shall not surely die.”

Mrs. Emma Hardinge Britten, another of the Fox sisters, says of the discovery of 1848:—

On the thirty-first of March, 1848, we found, beyond a shadow of a doubt or peradventure, that death had no power over the spirit. . . . In a word, we found that our so-called dead were living.—“Nineteenth Century Miracles,” page 554. (Manchester, England).

Now the Scriptures teach plainly what the agencies in Spiritualism are not, and what they are.

1. What they are not.

They are not the spirits of the dead

communicating messages to the living.

In one of the earliest written portions of Holy Scripture, the Lord declared plainly that the dead have no knowledge of the living:—

“He passeth: thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Job 14: 20, 21.

The dead have no part in any communications with the living on earth:—

“Neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9: 6.

2. What they are.

Already we have told what they are in quoting the warnings of prophecy concerning the special deceptions of Satan in the last days.

“The working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” 2 Thess. 2: 9.

“Seducing spirits.” 1 Tim. 4: 1.

And as they were shown to the prophet John in a vision of the very end, he declared:—

“They are the spirits of devils, working miracles.” Rev. 16: 14.

These are the agencies through which come the supernatural manifestations of Spiritualism. It is a terrible deception that leads men and women to seek to satanic agencies, supposing that they are communicating with the spirits of their dead friends. Satan and his angels can readily simulate the personality of the dead, and so deceive those who disobey God in seeking to the dead for knowledge.

The Manner of His Coming

By L. L. C.

The Second Advent — No. 2

The Manner of His Coming

ALL who believe the Bible must believe that Christ is coming again; and, as Dr. Chapman says in Home Life for January, “As a matter of fact, the evangelical denominations are agreed as to his coming back again, but in the manner of his coming and the time, and the attendant circumstances concerning these things we differ.”

Our only authority in the matter of the manner of Christ’s coming is the testimony of the Bible itself. Christ seems to have anticipated that questions might arise concerning the manner of his coming, and that some might be led into erroneous belief on this point, for when he answered the disciples’ question concerning his coming, he said:—

“Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24: 4, 5, 23-27.

Christ will not come in the secret chambers of some Spiritualistic séance, but, “behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him,” even as the lightning which is seen by all.

Some have tried to see Christ’s coming in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, in the fall of Jerusalem, in the indwelling of the Spirit in the heart of the believer, or in the coming of the hour of death. But the second advent occurs in none of these ways. The witness of the angels given immediately after Christ’s ascension was:—

“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1: 11.

His departure was personal, and his return is likewise personal. This is well expressed by another:—

By personal is meant all that may be suggested by the words visible, bodily, local; and all that may be contrasted with that which is spiritual, providential, figurative. Of course, the spiritual presence of Christ is a blessed reality; one of the most comforting and inspiring of truths is the teaching that Christ does come to each believer, by his Holy Spirit, and dwells within, and empowers for service and suffering and growth in grace; but this is to be held in harmony with the other blessed truth that Christ will some day literally appear again in bodily form, and “we shall see him,” and shall then “be like him,” when we “see him as he is.”

Nor yet did that special manifestation of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost fulfil the promise of Christ’s return. Subsequent to Pentecost, Peter urged the Jews to repent in order that Jesus, whom for a time “the heavens had received,” might be “sent back again;” he wrote his epistles of comfort based upon the hope of a returning Lord, while Paul and other inspired apostles, long after Pentecost, emphasized the coming of Christ as the highest incentive for life and service.

According to the interpretation of others, Christ is said “to come” in various providential events of history, as notably in the destruction of Jerusalem. This tragedy of history is supposed by many to fulfil the prophecies spoken by Christ in his great discourse on the Mount of Olives, recorded in Matthew 24, and Mark 13, and Luke 21. When one combines these predictions, it becomes evident that the capture of the Holy City by Titus was a real but only partial fulfilment of the words of Christ. As in the case of so many Old Testament prophecies, the nearer event furnished the colors in which were depicted scenes and occurrences which belonged to a distant future, and in this case to “the end of the age.” When Jerusalem fell, the people of God were not delivered nor the enemies of God punished, nor did “the sign of the Son of man” appear in the heavens, as was predicted of the time when he comes again; and long after the fall of the city, John wrote in Gospel and Apocalypse of the coming of the King. . . .

More marvelous than the scenes at Pentecost, more startling than the fall of Jerusalem, more blessed than the indwelling of the Spirit, . . . will be the literal, visible, bodily return of Christ. No event may seem less probable to unaided human reason; no event is more certain in the light of the inspired Scripture. —Charles R. Erdman, D. D., in “The Fundamentals,” Testimony Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., Vol. XI, pp. 87-93.

Again: his coming is to be glorious. Our Lord himself predicted that he would return “in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels.” Luke 9: 26. He will then be revealed in his divine majesty. He will be seen “sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Matt. 26: 64.

As the Christian sees the sin and sorrow, sickness and death, all about him in this present world, he is constrained to pray in the words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” and to exclaim, as in the closing words of the last book of the Bible, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Rev. 22: 20. L. L. C.

The Sustentation Question in Various Denominations

By G. B. T.

THE question of securing proper support for aged and infirm ministers is now occupying the attention of the various Protestant denominations. One can scarcely help wondering why justice in this matter has been so long delayed. It would seem that some adequate plan would have been provided long since for caring for those who have given their lives to gospel work, most of whom do so at a rather moderate salary.

Concerning the average salary of Protestant clergymen, we take the following from the Literary Digest of Dec. 4, 1915:—

It is continually asked, says Rev. J. T. B. Smith, editor of the Veteran Preacher (Methodist Episcopal, Chicago), “What is the average salary of an American minister, and why he cannot save sufficient money to take care of himself and family in his old age?” The average salary of the Protestant preachers is barely $1,000, according to Mr. Smith, and he states the average salaries in the various denominations as follows: “Unitarian, $1,221; Protestant Episcopal, $994; Universalist, $974; Lutheran, $744; Presbyterian, North, $977; Presbyterian, South, $857; Methodist Episcopal, $741; Northern Baptist, $681; United Brethren, $547; Disciple, $527; Southern Baptist, $334.” A Congregationalist authority places the average ministerial salary in his denomination under $800. These salaries, declares Mr. Smith, “conclusively prove that if the preacher were to save he would rob himself and family of the necessities of life, and cripple his own efficient services as pastor and preacher.”

Another journal calls attention to the need of providing for aged and infirm ministers in the following language:—

We pension the faithful railroad man and the superannuated of scores of industries. Eventually we will care for the broken-down minister who served nobly for precious little in the way of earthly compensation.

At a church congress held in San Francisco last summer the plan of pensioning retired preachers was indorsed, and the various Protestant churches are endeavoring to secure fifty million or sixty million dollars to be used in caring for the ministers and their families who are no longer able to engage in active work. The Detroit Free Press voices its approval of this plan:—

The adoption of a pension system would do much to attract more young men to the ministry, for no matter how strong the spiritual call a man feels, he cannot be blamed for hesitating to enter a profession which is so poorly paid, in general, that he cannot hope to provide for his old age and that of those dependent upon him.

The soul of the inadequately paid preacher, no matter how strong his faith, must be strangely perplexed when he contrasts the stately cathedrals built in honor of the God he preaches with the deprivations he endures in order to spread the gospel message. Less magnificent churches and better rewards to the humble toilers in the field would seem more befitting the spirit of Christianity.

The justice of this movement must commend itself to all. It is a source of some satisfaction that for several years we have had in successful operation a sustentation plan to care for not only ministers but faithful and efficient workers in other lines of gospel work. It is founded not simply on a fund secured from the offerings of the people, but on the tithing system. This plan permits those who have become incapacitated from active work through years of faithful service to still share in such portion of the tithe as may be necessary to keep them from suffering. If the various Protestant churches would adopt the tithing system as taught in the Scriptures, they would not only have ample funds to care for their ministry during the period of their activity, but plenty to provide a liberal pension for them when in the decline of life. G. B. T.

What do These Things Mean?

By Arthur G. Daniells

For years Seventh-day Adventists have been calling the attention of the world to certain perils that seemed to be gathering, and have repeatedly and earnestly asked the question, “What do these things mean?”

We have now come to a time and to conditions which should lead us to take that same question seriously to heart. We wonder if we as a people fully sense the meaning of what is taking place in the world at this time. Conditions surely seem strange, and dark, and perilous.

Thoughtful men throughout the world are beginning to realize this, and to feel and speak very apprehensively about both the present and the future. They are sorely perplexed. They can neither account for the present nor foretell the future. The editor of the North American Review calls this time the “modern twilight of the gods,” and adds that “in these last ten years a strange breath has passed over” the world.

Five years ago, Sir Edward Grey, addressing the members of the House of Commons, said:—

It is really as if, in the atmosphere of the world, there were some mischievous influence at work which troubles and excites every part of it. We are passing, this year, through a period of excitement; it is so still. Some countries are in revolution, others are at war; and in several countries which are neither in revolution nor at war, there are people who seem to delight in discussing how near they have been, or are, or are likely to be, either to revolution or to war in the past, the present, or the future. Really it is as if the world were indulging in a fit of political alcoholism; and the best that can be done by those of us who are in positions of responsibility is to keep cool and sober.

The editor of Hearst’s Magazine says, “The rulers of nations are stupid. It would seem that they are blinded by the gods. It is as if madness is upon them, a fatuity incurable, a mania, fatal, malignant, satanic.”

The Springfield Republican says, “Such popular fury for fighting as appears to pervade Europe just now, has the aspect of demoniacal possession.”

The present Pope of Rome is reported to have declared, “All civilization seems to have gone mad.”

Writing of the devastating struggle now going on, Mr. Taft, ex-President of the United States, says, “Nothing like it has occurred since the world began. It is a cataclysm. The future looks dark indeed.”

Harper’s Weekly declares that “the most critical moment in the world’s history is upon us. That is the stark truth. . . . Events are transpiring to stun the stoutest mind. We are at time’s meridian.”

President Wilson says, “The world is on fire,” and that no man “knows what a single week or a single day or a single hour may bring forth.”

Of the present war Rudyard Kipling says, “This is not a war of victories, but a war of extermination. . . . Universal ruin awaits us.”

The situation we face leads the editor of the Springfield Republican to say, “Writers who can tell a stupefied world what this fearful portent means, who can throw light on the great fundamental problems of the race and give some hint as to its destiny will have an attentive and even anxious hearing.”

O that a stupefied world might understand that most reliable writers have already told what this “fearful import means”! Inspired writers have told it all in the pages of God’s message to the world. This day, this generation, the perils we face are clearly and accurately foretold in the Scriptures of Truth. They are also set forth in remarkable detail in the writings which have come to this people through the Spirit of prophecy. In 1890 the following graphic description of what was coming was given through this gift:—

The Lord will arise to shake terribly the earth. We will see troubles on all sides. Thousands of ships will be hurled into the depths of the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will be sacrificed by the millions. Fires will break out unexpectedly, and no human effort will be able to quench them. The palaces of the earth will be swept away in flames. Disasters by rail will become more and more frequent; confusion, collision, and death without a moment’s warning will occur on the great lines of travel. The end is near, probation is closing. Oh, let us seek God while he may be found, call upon him while he is near!

Surely these perils are upon us. “Destruction upon destruction” falls in swift succession upon a world that had well-nigh forgotten God. A “time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time,” is clearly in sight. The “distress of nations, with perplexity,” causing men’s hearts to fail them “for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth,” foretold by the Saviour,—this condition with its effects is certainly upon us.

It surely looks as if the world is beginning to go to pieces. What a change has come over the human family in less than two short years! Thrones have been overturned; kings have fled as fugitives to other kingdoms for protection. Millions who were enjoying the blessings of family and national life have been plunged into poverty, sorrow, and mourning. All the values of modern, civilized life have undergone an amazing change and shrinkage. The grip of the human race on the world has been greatly loosened. It is being broken.

Brethren, are we awake to the full meaning of this tremendous situation? Do we sense it as we should? Are our hearts touched as they should be with the grief that has come upon this lost world?

This is the hour of opportunity for God’s people to be the light of the world, the salt of the earth, a great blessing to hopeless men and women.

A. G. DANIELLS,

No Retreat in Christian Warfare

By H. H. Votaw

H. H. VOTAW

A LITTLE time ago there died in one of the provinces of France the last survivor of the French North African campaign of 1846. This veteran had been decorated by his government, and his countrymen delighted to show their pride in him. His townsmen were proud that he lived in their community.

What had he done? — In an engagement he had been taken prisoner by the Mohammedan tribesmen against whom he had fought. Some time later the French were again attacking, and their foes evidently were afraid. Thinking to aid their cause by trickery, our hero's captors brought him before their chief, who promised that his life would be spared and freedom given to him if he would sound the French signal for a retreat when bidden to do so. If he refused he would lose his life at once.

At a critical moment in the fighting he was bidden to blow, but instead of sounding a retreat he blew a charge. The French, believing this to be the command of their officers, stiffened their lines and charged to victory. Our friend was rescued.

Every one recognizes the valor this man displayed. He refused to accept personal safety at a risk to others. He refused to herald discouragement just because his own condition seemed discouraging.

Since reading the above incident there has come to my mind again and again a striking sentence from “Steps to Christ.” It is this: “When Satan tempts you, breathe not a word of doubt or darkness.” We may be passing through trying experiences. The way may be dark, and the future may seem to offer us little hope. But we never improve conditions by talking in a discouraging way. Such a course hurts both us and our neighbors. Our discouragement becomes contagious. Some weak brother, wavering in the face of the enemy, hears our note of retreat, and he turns to flee instead of bravely fighting. We may rise above our despair; let us never, never breathe a word of doubt.

* Washington Missionary College.

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