Earlier text: HIS DAY IS MARCHING ONReceiving the Truth
By CARRIE B. BAILEY
The occasion was an outing. The talk had drifted to religious subjects, and an acquaintance had remarked, “Have you been to those tent-meetings down on M— Street? The people holding them keep Saturday instead of Sunday.” “They are Jews?” “No.” “Keep Saturday, and not Jews! Why is that?” “Because they believe the Bible teaches it.” “Well, that is very strange; I should like to know just why they do that. I am going to hear them.” And I went. They were not foreigners, as was to be expected from followers of such peculiar doctrine; for who had ever heard of such a thing in this country? In spite of the feeling of pity which possessed me,—pity that they should waste their time on such error,—I could but admire them for their respectable appearance and evident intelligence. It was very near the close of a series of lectures. That probably accounts for the fact that the idea that the faithful, in some very happy place of reward, would grow up to a stature beyond that of mortals of the present age, was unintelligible to me. But the solemnity of one song left its impression, the first I ever heard sung by Seventh-day Adventists:— “In the glad time of the harvest,
In the grand millennial year,
When the King shall take his scepter,
And to judge the world appear,
Earth and sea shall yield their treasure,
All shall stand before the throne;
Just awards will then be given,
When the King shall claim his own.”79
Lack of time prevented another visit. But very soon afterward my brother came home with the information that a large tent was being pitched on a lot near by. Instantly came the thought, Those people again! “Are there any small tents?” “Yes.” “They surely are the same people; now I shall know why.” Later in the day investigation brought the inquirer face to face with a large bulletin-board announcing that a lecture would be given that evening on Daniel 2. How that lecture was enjoyed! How plain! How full of fascination was the thought that the Word of God contained prophecies bringing us down to the very end of time! Yet how very, very strange that in years of attendance at Sunday-school and church no such teachings had been received. There would be a talk on the seventh chapter of Daniel the next night. Surely it would be worth hearing. Again I went, and there was no disappointment in store. Night after night the audience was given an insight into what had hitherto been mysteries. At first some of those “unorthodox” ideas seemed almost unbelievable; but sober thought convinced of their correctness. Everything became plainer and plainer, and the Bible was a new book. Once in the Sunday-school class I had questioned somewhat after this manner: “If at death one goes either to heaven or to the place of torment, why should Christ have raised any to life? Why should the widow’s son have been called from the reward of the righteous to a life again on earth? Or why should he be separated from punishment with the wicked, to have another probation here?” The teacher had replied, “It must be that on restoring him to life, Christ took from him all knowledge of his enjoyment or suffering after death.” Now I knew the teaching of Scripture as to the state of the dead. It had always seemed inexplicable, too, that the Jews—God’s own chosen people, to whom he had given his law—should, after so many centuries, still be observing the sunset-to-sunset seventh-day Sabbath. But those tent lectures threw light on that subject. The things presented were so wonderful that not one talk must be missed. Even on Wednesday nights I must hear just as much as possible, allowing barely enough time to reach the meeting-place of our loved secret order, and fulfil my duties there as an officer. Then there was that never-to-be-forgotten stormy evening—the disappointment on arrival of finding that no others had ventured out. But there were the minister and his wife, and an invitation was extended to enter one of the small tents. Questions were asked and answered. The conversation was a profitable one, and a soul was one step nearer the kingdom, although not realizing it. An invitation to attend the Sabbath-school and church was accepted. The day I chose to go proved to be the Sabbath of the quarterly service. How strange to see the ordinance of humility performed! and yet how impressive! But I could never bring myself to take part in it. Although assenting to the truth of the things heard, I did not look forward to see where they might lead, and it was not until the closing night of the meetings that I saw clearly that they had a binding force. Yet I did not then respond to the call to unite with those who observed the Sabbath of the Bible and believed in the near coming of their Redeemer. But on reaching home, the question was weighed. Back and forth traveled the balance between the world and truth, between duty and the inconvenience and unpopularity of being connected with a sect so out of harmony with all others. But I thank God that the passing of that one almost-sleepless night found me determined to link myself with him and his Word, to obey even in so peculiar a matter as the keeping of the seventh day. A few days later, with fourteen others, I received the rite of baptism at the hands of the one who so untiringly had labored to make plain the Word of God. The Perfect Way
By Louise Sparks
SATAN has a great many ways in which he is deceiving the people. He does not care how religious they may seem or how charitable their deeds are, so long as they have not been washed in the blood of Jesus. Some think that the different religions and religious beliefs are all branch roads to heaven, and that they will somewhere meet and enter the pearly white city. But to their sad disappointment they will find that they have walked through this world deceived by Satan, and have missed that eternal life which Jesus died to give them. The Word tells us that “there is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Prov. 14: 12. No one need be deceived, for Jesus will give any honest seeker the true light. There are many so-called ways to heaven, but only one way that will ever lead you there, and that is the perfect way that Jesus marked out while on earth. Time is as the shadow of a bird flying across your pathway, in comparison with eternity. It will not pay to choose your own course in this world, and in the end be banished unto outer darkness and eternal death. Reader, give this matter a serious thought. Be sure that you are in God's perfect way. Which Is the Truth?
By O. A. JOHNSON
“Curse God, and die.” Job 2:9. “Bless God, and die.”—Danish translation. “Say farewell to God, and die.”—Norwegian translation. “Renounce God, and die.”—American Revised Version. It is a well-known fact that a word often has more than one meaning, hence the meaning must many times be determined by the context in which it is found. Concerning the Hebrew, Prof. W. R. Harper says, in his preface to the “Elements of Hebrew Syntax:” “The Hebrew is more dependent upon the context for the precise determination of the meaning than is either of these [Latin and Greek] languages.” The Hebrew word Bah-rach, translated “curse” in Job 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9, occurs 324 times in the Old Testament. It is translated in fourteen different ways,—“bless” about 300 times, “curse” and “salute” four times each, “kneel” three times, “blaspheme” and “altogether” twice each, and the following words once each: “congratulate,” “thank,” “praise,” “abundantly,” “greatly,” “indeed,” “still,” and “at all.” Now the question naturally arises, How can it be that it is translated “curse” only in Job 1:5, 11; 2:5, 9, and not “bless” as in so many other places in the Bible? Why do some translators prefer “renounce” or “farewell” instead of “curse” or “bless”? The Hebrew word Bah-rach could hardly mean the same in the above references in Job as it does in so many other places; for example, God “blessed the Sabbath;” God “blessed” Abraham; Jacob “blessed” Joseph’s sons, etc.; nor could it mean to “salute” a person upon meeting him, as in 1 Sam. 13:10. The word bless is also used in the sense of farewell when some one leaves or departs. “Jacob blessed Pharaoh” and departed. Gen. 47:10. The people “blessed the king, and went unto their tents.” 1 Kings 8:66. The following in Gesenius’s Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament is to the point; under his definition of Bah-rach, 4, he says: “Some interpreters, as Schultens, are not fully satisfied that the sense of cursing belongs to this verb; they therefore derive from the idea of bidding farewell a significance to deny, to renounce, which they apply in the passages above cited.” By considering the context in which the word curse of Job 2:9 is found, it will be seen readily that renounce God and die, or say farewell to God and die, certainly expresses the idea intended. It is evident from the context that Job had been greatly blessed and prospered in serving God. But God had permitted reverses, losses, and great trials to come upon him. Everything seemed to go against him, while he was faithfully serving God. Now comes the test: Will Job still be loyal and faithful to God, who permitted Satan to rob him of all his earthly possessions and his children, and finally to plague him with boils till he wished that he could die? Will Job still retain his hold upon God, or will he forsake him? That is the question his wife put to him: “Dost thou still retain thine integrity?” She thought it was folly for him to continue to serve God, since God had permitted so many trials to come upon him, and she therefore advised him to “renounce God, and die.” To this he replied, “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” But Job was loyal to God, and remained faithful to him under all his trials, in which his patience was tried to the utmost. How many there have been who have begun to serve God, and were faithful to him as long as they prospered, and as long as no great opposition or severe trial came to them; but as soon as adversity came or trials beset them, they renounced God; they said farewell to him, and gave up serving him. All the trials and adversities that God permits to come upon us are for our good. We may not see the resulting good, but we must leave that to God; for he knows the blessings that will come, if we only look upon such adversities and afflictions as Job did. We ought to remember “that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom. 8:28. Never renounce God! Never say farewell to him! Friendly Eyes, Hands, and Hearts
“WITH friendly eyes, salute God's world each day; with friendly hands, help lift the ones who fall; with friendly thoughts, speak words of truth; with friendly hearts, believe there's good in all; with honest soul, seek friendship with thy God.” Are We Losing Our Christian Simplicity?
It is well for us occasionally to put to ourselves this question. Around us in the world evil is rampant. Even in the great Christian church we see a wide departure from the standards and ideals of the past. The line of demarcation between the average church-member and the worldling is well-nigh obliterated. While the church for the most part does not ape the grosser evils of worldliness, yet there are very many who seem to go just as far as it is possible and still avoid the final plunge into the vortex of worldly dissipation. It must be confessed that this loss of simplicity is apparent among members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. To some among our people the spirit of worldly pleasure is making a strong appeal. We find some of our boys and girls, some of our young men and young women, some of our mature brethren and sisters in the church, yielding to this spirit. Some of the great national sports, moving-picture shows, and resorts of this character find among their devotees members of this church. We do not say that a large number attend, but it is to be sadly regretted that any of those who are looking for the coming of the Lord should find pleasure in ways of this kind. The plainness of dress that once characterized Seventh-day Adventists is not so clearly evident as it was some years ago. Much money is spent for show and ostentation. In some of our churches there is a display of more or less jewelry, rings, and valuable pins. Perhaps, after all, it does not do so much good to continually preach against these abuses. The work should go deeper than this. Seventh-day Adventists who find their pleasure in worldly sports, in following the fashions of the world, need one of two things — either instruction or conversion. Some we are inclined to believe have been received into the church without proper instruction. Others who have once recognized right principles have grown careless. It is not a condition calling for harsh measures or even unkind criticism, but one for prayerful, kindly labor. We are surrounded on every side by these disintegrating, antichristian influences. Association with evil makes it become common in our eyes. Its entrance into the church is insidious. Sometimes we come into conditions unconsciously, and before we are aware of the drift of the current, we are being carried down the stream. Hence it is the church itself that needs to awake to a realizing sense of the great temptations that beset our people, and especially our young people, on every side. We need, even more than exhortation from the desk, to exalt the standard, and in our lives and by our example day by day to place before the younger members of the Lord’s family a proper and consistent example. It will hardly do for one to raise his voice against the wearing of rings when at the same time he displays an unnecessary pin; to speak against the unnecessary ornamentation of the hats of his sisters when by the display of useless ornaments in his own dress he acts quite as inconsistently; nor to protest against theatergoing when at the same time he is carried away by the spirit of the great national games of baseball and football; nor to protest against our boys and girls attending the circus when he is a frequent visitor at the moving-picture shows. There is a consistency in Christian example. We need to preach the truth of God to-day fearlessly and plainly, and at the same time kindly and sympathetically. But above this we need to place before our friends an example in our own lives of the power of Christian living. Our example will preach more powerfully than our words. We may well bemoan the loss of simplicity which we see in some of our friends, but in seeking to stem the current and set ourselves against the rising tide of worldliness, let us see to it that we ourselves, in our own deportment, are the exponents of a consistent Christian standard. F. M. W. The Christian's Duty to Know
By C. M. S.
SPEAKING before a men's club in New York, a prominent minister is reported to have asked the question, “Is life worth living?” and then frankly admitted that he did not know. Now, it is the privilege of every one who has named the name of Christ to know that life is worth living and to know it profoundly and triumphantly. He who is out of Christ may wonder and question. He who is in Christ has no occasion for question — he knows. If the glorious hopes held out to man in the Word of God were based merely upon human wishes and suppositions, there would be reason to question; but they are the declarations of God himself, and it is the true Christian's blessed privilege to know that they are true. Unbelief whispers all manner of questionings, and when asked to give a reason for the hope that is within, has none to give, for it has no hope. The honest questioner comes to the doubting professor, receives a doubting answer, and becomes a doubting questioner. The melancholy questioner comes to the doubting preacher for hope and consolation, and the doubting answer doubles his gloom. How many such questioners there are only Heaven knows; but they number a mighty host. How disloyal to God to give a doubting answer to men when we might have set their feet upon the solid Rock! Of course, he who doubts can not do that; but the Christian has no business to doubt; he has no reason to doubt; if he is a true Christian, he can not doubt. He is set in the world for a light to lighten the pathway of those who have wandered from the fold, not for a snare to entrap them in their bewilderment; not for a fog to enshroud them on the precipice of ruin. It is the Christian's glorious privilege “to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” But how can we do it if we answer the questioner's question with a doubt? A doubting minister may be the devil's prime minister in the flesh. There is no need to doubt. The Word of God is verified by evidence both internal and external; and they who are Christ's have the witness of the Spirit, which no shadow of darkness can ever quench. The words of Peter are to the point, and they apply here: “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” The language of a great many suicides is, “I am going to end it all. I don't believe life is worth living.” It is the Christian's privilege to be able to answer, first, that this rash act does not end all; and, second, that the hope set before us is worth more than the greatest sacrifice ever made by man living on the earth. The glorious hope contained in the declaration, “I go to prepare a place for you,” outweighs the severest trials that man has ever been called upon to pass through. Then, for the sake of Him who died for you, do not allow yourself to add to the numbers of that melancholy army by not knowing9whether life is worth living. Do not be doing the devil's business while professing to be a follower of Christ. With a word so true to depend upon, with a promise so glorious held out before us, and with events on every hand fulfilling the predictions of the Word of God before our eyes, there is no reason to doubt or question or become discouraged. But, with the wicked devices of Satan multiplying on every side, it stands us in hand to keep in close touch with our Guide, depending upon God alone for power to keep us from the snares of the adversary, and for grace and wisdom to make us a blessing in the cause of the Master. C. M. S. One of the Lost Sheep Found
By W. A. S.
“I WILL seek that which was lost,” says the Good Shepherd, “and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken.” Eze. 34:16. Go where one may, to the uttermost parts of earth, and one finds the footprints of the tender Shepherd seeking the lost sheep. While asking questions of the workers in Montevideo, Uruguay, and listening to the recital of some of their experiences, Miss Frances Brockman gave me this incident of service in one of the Montevideo hospitals:— Sisters Frances Brockman and Meda Kerr—pioneers of our nursing sisterhood in Uruguay—were working in the hospital. They had been forbidden to speak of religion; for they were known to be Seventh-day Adventists. They had, however, refused to be bound by this prohibition, and had declared that they could work there only on condition that they should be free to speak of spiritual things to patients as might seem to them duty. So matters stood, rather undecided, for the hospital evidently desired the services of our workers. Just at this time a foreigner, a German who could speak but broken English and Spanish, was brought to the hospital, a hopeless case. His countenance showed the anguish and hopelessness of his spirit. Sister Brockman saw that the man was troubled. He knew that he had to die. As our sister ministered to him in his physical need, she felt she must speak to him of his soul and try to help him, even though she had been strictly ordered not to do so. So she spoke to the man of Christ and of his saving power. The man turned away the thought of salvation. “My mother was a Christian,” he said, “and taught us children; but I have been too wicked. God will not help me.” “But Jesus died for sinners,” Sister Brockman pleaded with him. And from time to time she would speak to him of the way of salvation. She repeated to him the parable of the prodigal son, and of the lost sheep, and of the lost piece of money, and told over and over how Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. “He listened eagerly to me,” she said, “and was glad to have me pray. I felt that this was his last night. From one to three o’clock in the morning he slept. Then he awoke, and I talked with him further, urging against all his fears that the father in the parable of the prodigal son went out to meet the son while he was ‘afar off.’ I told him how the woman who was seeking after the lost piece of money called her neighbors in to rejoice, and how there was rejoicing among the angels in heaven over one sinner that repented. “At last he was emboldened to pray himself. I could only watch the movement of his lips, as he was so weak I could not hear the words; but he prayed for himself, and a burden seemed lifted from his heart. His countenance changed. At eight o’clock that morning he fell asleep in death with a peaceful, satisfied look, as of a child at rest. I could not but believe that he had made his peace with God and found his Saviour in those last hours.” What a blessed thing to stand alongside a sinful soul on the verge of a hopeless eternity, and help that soul to lay hold on eternal life! W. A. S. The Time and the Work
By F. M. W.
WE live in the time of the end. Multiplying signs and fulfilling prophecies indicate that the coming of the Lord draws near. The work committed to us is to warn the world of the events that will soon take place, and prepare a people to meet the Lord. We need to recognize the time, in order that we may recognize the work for the time. But when once we have come to a full recognition of the period of the world's history in which we live, it would be useless to spend time in theorizing over the precise outcome of this or that of some detail of the time question. Satan would be pleased to see us do this, and so consume time and energy that should be devoted to doing the work God has committed to us. The early disciples were prone to make this mistake. Their attention was continually directed to the time to the exclusion of the work. Even after the resurrection of the Lord, the chief thought in their minds was just when he would change the existing order of things. They inquired, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” In his answer the Saviour sought to direct their minds first of all to the work he had given them to do: “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which and the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Having reached this generation in the world's history, it is proper that we should inquire as to the time of the setting up of the kingdom. The Lord has given us signs and prophecies by which we may know that the fulness of times has almost been reached. We must know the time in order to know the message appropriate for the time. But “knowing the time,” we should know also “that now it is high time to wake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” Rom. 13:12. The prophecies will meet their fulfilment. By what we may do, we can not change the course of human events. But one thing we may do, and that is hasten the coming of the Lord by hastening the warning message which must be preached to all the world as a witness to all nations. When this has accomplished its work, then shall the end come. Matt. 24:14. Let us not fall out by the way, or permit ourselves to be side-tracked. Theorizing and day-dreaming will never finish this work. We need to study, faithfully and earnestly and prayerfully. As never before the Scriptures of Truth should be made the man of our counsel. We should be fortified on every principle of truth, and ready to give to every one that asks us a reason for our hope and faith. Above all, we should seek the Holy Spirit's power to bring the Word into our own experience, feeding upon it, and permitting it to become the living bread of life to our souls. This will prove our only safeguard and our only keeping power. The time and the work,—let us recognize the time, and recognizing it, gird ourselves for the conflict, and go forth to witness for the Master. F. M. W. Fulfilling the Saviour's Word
By C. M. S.
MANY things have been foretold in the Scriptures for the purpose of enabling men to identify the last days of this world. When the disciples asked Christ for a sign that would identify the last days, he gave them many, among which was this one: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matt. 24:12. Some have limited this to Christian love in the church and love for God and his worship. It means that, no doubt, on the part of the many;82but it means more than that. It includes natural affection, which Paul declares (2 Tim. 3:3) shall be lacking in the last days, and whose lack would be one of the signs of the last days. The rapid increase in the number of divorces is an unmistakable evidence that this scripture is fulfilling before our eyes. A New York exchange contains the following, which is very pertinent in this connection: “All records were broken in the divorce division of the Supreme Court, this city, one day last week, when one hundred nineteen undefended divorce cases confronted the presiding judge. The highest number on the calendar previously was eighty-six. The decline of religion indicated by the disintegration of one hundred nineteen families means something, if we but think of it.” The fact that these were undefended cases shows that the desire for separation was, to a greater or less extent, mutual with the parties to the divorce proceedings. If guilt was charged as a reason for the separation and the defendant did not choose to defend the case, the inference is that the defendant was guilty. In most of the other cases each of the other parties must have been desirous of having the marriage tie sundered. But these facts are simply an indication of the world to-day. It is the condition that makes the facts possible; and this is the condition which the Saviour declared to his disciples would be one of the signs of the last days and of his soon coming. How literally are the words of the Saviour being fulfilled! Love, natural affection, is waxing colder and colder; the ties which have bound families together are becoming more and more slender; the other signs which the Saviour gave have either been fulfilled or are fulfilling; everything is focusing to the climax of the world's history. At the same time it is the purpose of the enemy to blind the eyes of the whole world, lest they should see what is coming, and flee from the destruction which is hastening on. It is possible, however, to escape the deception; for the Saviour says, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matt. 24:13. Free-Will Offerings
By W. T. KNOX
WHEN one has rendered to the Lord all the tithe, or a tenth of all his increase, has he then discharged all his obligation in the support of the work of God in the earth? The tithing system itself teaches that this is not so. It has been said that this regulation, among other things, teaches man God’s ownership; for if to the Lord belongs the right to reserve to himself a tenth of man’s substance, it is evident that he has the power to make reservation concerning a greater portion, or all. But it pleased him thus to reserve but a tenth. While he has done this, yet he tells us that all that the earth contains is his. “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are mine.” Ps. 50:10, 11. “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.” Haggai 2:8. And even that which man has of himself accumulated, the Lord reminds us has come from him, and he warns us against holding wrong ideas concerning it. “And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.” Deut. 8:17, 18. This shows that from the Lord’s standpoint the substance entrusted to man, and even his ability to get wealth, whether by the work of his hands or the fruit of his brain, are trusts to be used primarily in the establishing of God’s covenant in the earth; that man in these matters is to recognize himself as God’s trustee, or steward. This is in keeping with the teachings of Christ in the parable of the talents. “For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.” “After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.” Matt. 25:14, 15, 19. Whatsoever we possess, then, is of God, be it much or little, and there will come a time when we must render unto the Lord a reckoning concerning the goods, or the talents entrusted to us, and the use to which we have put them. The parable represents two of these servants so exercising their stewardship that upon the reckoning they were able to return to the lord his own with increase. The third is represented as hiding his talent in the earth. He may have made great increase of his talent in things that belong to the earth. He may have gathered treasure of gold and silver, houses and lands, and flocks and herds, but in the reckoning day, he had nothing to return to the Lord; no increase had been gained for the kingdom of heaven. He had “digged in the earth, and hid his Lord’s money;” he had failed to lay up, or invest, his treasure in heaven. We can even imagine that this unfaithful steward had paid into the treasury the tithe required of the Lord, yet he fell short because the remaining nine tenths had not been devoted to the work of establishing God’s covenant in the earth. The children of God are not only his servants, but he has given them the privilege of entering into partnership with him, of becoming associates with him in the greatest enterprise being carried on in the earth, of building up or establishing an eternal kingdom of righteousness. “We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” 2 Cor. 6:1. Who would not rather be a worker with him than simply a worker for him? But to be a partner with God carries greater responsibility than to be merely a servant. It is the grace of God that makes this privilege possible. But there is danger that this grace shall have been bestowed upon us in vain, so we are exhorted to receive not the grace of God in vain. What is the grace of God? In 2 Cor. 8:9 we are told: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” The grace of Christ, then, was giving up by him the infinite riches of heaven, and taking upon himself a poverty as great as any of us know,—or greater,—a poverty so absolute that from a human standpoint he had nowhere to lay his head, becoming a servant to the poorest of men, even to the most abject and degraded of slaves, so that we through his poverty might be rich, might become the sharers with him of riches such as “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man.” Now, the Lord is extremely anxious that we shall not receive this grace in vain. To receive his benefits in vain will be to relate ourselves to them as did the foolish servant of the parable,—to dig, or invest in the things of earth, and consume them upon ourselves. To receive them not in vain will be to consecrate ourselves with our all to him; to fill our hands with service to him; to be possessed with the spirit that actuated Christ, causing him to relinquish the riches of heaven for his poverty on earth—for the enrichment of the human family. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2:5. No stretch of imagination will warrant us in concluding that this has been accomplished when we return to the Lord the tithe. Why, when man has paid to the cause of God the whole tithe upon all his increase, even to the last penny, he has not in that contributed a single cent as an offering to the Lord, nor given anything for the building up of the kingdom of God. “The tithe is mine, saith the Lord.” Man can not give that which belongs to another, but the Lord through Malachi accuses men of robbing him in offerings as well as tithes. It must be,11then, that we are inclined to withhold from God’s work the substance he has entrusted to us, to that extent that he looks upon it as robbery. Some are surprised to see in the Word how prominent the instruction on offerings is made. The solution is evidently found in man’s natural tendency to consume upon himself all that he obtains, or to hoard it up for like selfish purpose. From Genesis to Malachi the Lord makes evident our duty and privilege in making offerings to him. Constantly, in different ways, we are exhorted not to appear before him empty-handed, but that always our offerings are to be of a free-will character. Nor is this a teaching peculiar to Old Testament writers. It is equally prominent in the teachings of Christ and all his apostles. Mr. Charles Stelzle is credited with the statement that in the United States there are 215,000 Protestant churches, and only 162,000 ministers. This leaves more than fifty thousand churches without direct pastoral oversight. It is believed that the small salaries paid and the high cost of living are largely responsible for this condition. THERE are more devices in existence at the present time for pandering to the gambling mania than at any previous time in this world's history. It is also true that more money is being wasted at the present time over the gaming-table than ever before. Fortunes are won and lost over a single table in a single night. The spirit to risk what one has in the chance of getting more is permeating almost every avenue of society, and is being fostered by those who ought to stand as a bulwark against its encroachments. We have seen from time to time unmistakable evidence of this spirit among both men and women. Deplorable as the fact is, it is a fact nevertheless, which must be admitted by all who read; and the paid guess is one of the principal members of the faculty in the gambling school. The great deceiver has set a fast and furious pace for the people of these days, and he is strewing the path with his victims on the right hand and on the left. The Christian can not afford to tamper with these pitfalls of the enemy, even though he find them built up in the church in the form of the grab-bag and other games of chance. The Christian's life is a serious business, and it is not worked out along any of these lines. America's Great Need
By Editor
THERE is much discussion to-day as to the great needs of the human family, and of the conditions that are making for spiritual degeneration among the masses. Many remedies are proposed. The phrase “civic righteousness” has become a popular one in speaking of the work of national regeneration which should be carried forward. Many methods are suggested for the regeneration of the body politic. Various measures are proposed, and with many of these we heartily sympathize, for the suppression of some of the great moral evils which in their cancerous and malignant growth are eating at the very vitals of social life. We favor the suppression of the liquor traffic; we are in accord with every effort made to suppress the so-called white slave traffic. We believe that the great moral lepers of society who by the sale of strong drink dethrone the reason or by seductive methods debauch virtue, should be taken severely to task for their evil and nefarious work in the destruction of their fellows. We sympathize with the spirit of some of the social settlement work being done, and the great philanthropies which seek the relief of the human family. These great movements afford palliative measures. They may bring relief from temporary suffering; but after all, they do not reach the root of the evil. What the masses need to-day, what the church of God needs to-day, is a revival of old-fashioned religion. This is emphasized by an article in the Religious Telescope of Dec. 18, 1912. We quote as follows:— What America needs more than railway extension, and Western irrigation, and a low tariff, and a bigger wheat crop, and a merchant marine, and a new navy, is a revival of piety, the kind mother and father used to have,—piety that counted it good business to stop for daily family prayer before breakfast, right in the middle of harvest; that quit field work a half-hour early Thursday night, so as to get the chores done and go to prayer-meeting. That’s what we need now to clean this country of the filth of graft, and of greed, petty and big; of worship of fine houses and big lands and high office and grand social functions.
Unsavory Factory Conditions
Much comment has been made of late on the investigations of Miss Mary Louisa Chamberlain, a graduate of Vassar College. Determining to learn something of the conditions prevailing in the canneries of New York State, she entered the employ of these factories, working for eight or ten cents an hour. Through this intimate association she was enabled to observe conditions which she has sedulously given to the public. She tells of children eight or ten years old working from 4:30 A. M. to 10 P. M., with only brief intermissions for meals. It is to be hoped that her intimate study of child labor, with what she has brought to light regarding the same, will prove of great assistance in bringing about legislation enforcing changed conditions in these factories. The Foolish Things of the World
“BUT God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.”