Earlier text: Our Publishing WorkThe Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollar Fund
By I. H. Evans
For Special Work at Home and Abroad A Suggestion for Thanksgiving
As business is generally suspended on Thanksgiving day, we have a suggestion to make for a very profitable use of the occasion in the interest of this message. * In the first place, as we consider the many encouraging tokens in connection with the cause of God, not only in the home field, but also in distant lands, we have great reason for thanking the Lord. Most cheering reports come from every foreign mission station. Japan, Korea, India, China, the Levant, darkest Africa, South America, the West Indies, and the islands of the Pacific, all send the cheering news of a large ingathering of souls, and general prosperity. A large number of workers have been selected by the Mission Board and sent abroad the past year. Various out-stations have been opened up in numerous mission fields, so that nearly every mail brings us the cheering report of advancement of the work in distant fields. Again, the tithes have greatly increased during the last year. The last statistical report we have for the year 1905 shows a marvelous increase in the tithes over that of the preceding year. Our schools are full almost to the limit. Some of them are even obliged to refuse to take more students, because there is not sufficient accommodations for all who desire to come. This is a very encouraging feature of our work; for many from this large army of young people will come from these schools to spread the third angel’s message. The health of those who have been directly engaged in the advancement of the work has been more than ordinarily good, and but few of our missionaries or leading men have fallen in death during the last year. This should be a cause for great gratitude to the Lord on our part. A spirit of unity and love seems to prevail throughout the field, such as has not been experienced before for many years. Most of the conferences are in a prosperous condition, and are enjoying a large measure of the blessing of God in the work that is being done throughout the field. A liberal attitude on the part of the various State conferences toward the denominational work in the donation of tithes from their State funds to the mission fields, gives indication of confidence and co-operation. During 1906 the various conferences in the United States have contributed to the mission fund from their tithe not less than $60,878.61. This is very encouraging indeed. On the part of the workers throughout the wide field there has never been, perhaps, in the history of our denominational work a time when there was a greater willingness on the part of the various laborers to go to any field to which they are called, than at the present. It is no longer difficult to find men who are willing to go to India, and China, and Africa. The camp-meetings the past year have been especially blessed with a large measure of the Spirit of God. Many conversions have been reported in almost every conference, and there is every indication that those who were in attendance at the meetings received much of the blessing of God. The offerings that have been given to foreign missions, and Sabbath-school and special donations, have been most liberal on the part of our people this year. We truly expect the year 1906 to be the banner year in our missionary work, not only in the prosperity that has attended the work in the foreign fields, but in the liberal donations on the part of those in the home land. These and many other reasons can be offered why it would be proper for Seventh-day Adventists everywhere to meet in their respective places of worship, and conduct a Thanksgiving service in honor of the God who has given us so many blessings. It has been thought proper by the officers of the General Conference to suggest that Thanksgiving day be set apart as a day when those who have not yet begun to raise the $150,000 fund should bring in their offerings. If all would respond to this call, there could easily be gathered in a large sum on this occasion. We would not be the poorer, and the institutions that are to receive the benefit of this donation would be greatly helped. The needs of these various institutions will be set forth from week to week in the columns of the REVIEW. We hope our people will carefully read all that shall be written concerning them. It has also been recommended that after we have taken our donation on Thanksgiving day, each member of the church, so far as willing, agree to lay aside at home a daily offering for the $150,000 fund, until the first day of January, 1907. This offering should be brought weekly to the church, and placed in the envelope, and properly marked, so it will go into the $150,000 fund. Then the church treasurer will forward these donations from week to week to the State conference treasurer. Is it not possible, if we should all take hold of this fund in a systematic, earnest way, that we should have our $150,000 raised by the first of January, 1907? This would enable us to go on with our usual work in behalf of foreign missions. We ask our people in each church throughout the field to consider this matter, where the conference has not yet made other arrangements, and see what can be done on this important occasion in the matter of making a large donation toward the $150,000 fund. For the Day of Death
By Arthur W. Spalding
LIETH a day all broken, broken,
Stained with the blood of mangled hearts,
Clasping a grief that can not be spoken,
Deep where the fount of anguish starts,
And the light of life departs. Cometh a day all glory, glory,
Fused with the light of the city of gold,
Rounding the tale of an old, old story
That can not for wonder be fully told
Till the books of God unfold. Dawneth a day with rapture throbbing,
Banishing thought of Death’s alarms,
When babes for the breasts of mothers sobbing
(Last of the echoes of sorrow’s storms)
Shall burden the angels’ arms. Christian Liberality
By Ellen G. White
Under the Jewish system, God’s chosen people were required to cherish a spirit of liberality, both in sustaining his cause and in supplying the wants of the needy. At the harvest and the vintage, the first-fruits of the fields—corn, wine, and oil—were to be consecrated as an offering to the Lord. The gleanings and the corners of the fields were reserved for the poor. The first-fruits of the wool when the sheep were shorn, and of the grain when the wheat was thrashed, were to be offered to the Lord; and at the feast it was commanded that the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the strangers should be invited. At the close of every year all were required to make solemn oath whether or not they had done according to the command of God. This arrangement was made by the Lord to impress upon the people that in every matter he must be first. They were, by this system of benevolence, reminded that their gracious Master was the true proprietor of their fields, their flocks, and their herds; that the God of heaven sent them sunshine and rain for their seed-time and harvest; and that everything which they possessed was of his creation. All was the Lord’s, and he had made them stewards of his goods. The liberality of the Jews in the construction of the tabernacle evinced a spirit of benevolence which has not been equaled by the people of God at any later date. The Hebrews had just been freed from their long bondage in Egypt; they were wanderers in the wilderness; yet scarcely were they delivered from the armies of the Egyptians who pursued them in their hasty journey, when the word of the Lord came to Moses: “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.” His people had small possessions, and no flattering prospect of adding to them; but an object was before them,—to build the tabernacle of God. The Lord had spoken, and they must obey his voice. They withheld nothing. All gave with a willing hand, not a certain amount of their increase, but a large portion of their actual possessions. They devoted it gladly and heartily to the Lord. They honored him by so doing. Was it not all his? Had he not given them all that they possessed? If he called for it, was it not their duty to give back to the Lender his own? No urging was needed. The people brought even more than was required; and they were told to desist, for there was already more than could be appropriated. Again, in building the temple, the call for means met with a hearty response. The people did not give reluctantly; they rejoiced in the prospect that a building would be erected for the worship of God. They gave more than enough for the purpose. David blessed the Lord before all the congregation, and said, “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.” Again, in his prayer David gave thanks in these words: “O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own.” David well understood from whom came all his bounties. Would that those of this day who rejoice in a Saviour’s love could realize that their silver and gold is the Lord’s, and should be used to promote his glory, not grudgingly retained to enrich and gratify themselves. He has an indisputable right to all that he has lent his creatures. All that they possess is his. There are high and holy objects that require means; thus invested, it will yield to the giver more elevated and permanent enjoyment than if expended in personal gratification or selfishly hoarded for the greed of gain. When God calls for our treasure, whatever the amount may be, the willing response makes the gift a consecrated offering to him, and lays up for the giver a treasure in heaven that moth can not corrupt, nor fire consume, nor thieves break in and steal. The investment is safe. The money is placed in bags that have no holes. Can Christians who boast of a broader light than had the Hebrews, give less freely than they? Can Christians, living near the close of time, be satisfied with their offerings when not half so large as were those of the Jews? Their liberality was to benefit primarily their own nation; the work of God in these last days extends to the entire world. The message of truth is to go to all nations, tongues, and people; its publications, printed in many different languages, are to be scattered abroad like the leaves in autumn. It is written, “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind;” and again, “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Let us inquire, What would our Saviour do in our circumstances? what would be his efforts for the salvation of souls? This question is answered by the example of Christ. He left his royalty, laid aside his glory, sacrificed his riches, and clothed his divinity with humanity, that he might reach men where they were. He laid down his life for sinners. The spirit of liberality is the spirit of heaven. The spirit of selfishness is the spirit of Satan. Christ’s self-sacrificing love is revealed upon the cross. He gave all that he had, and then gave himself, that man might be saved. The cross of Christ appeals to the benevolence of every follower of the blessed Saviour. The principle illustrated there is to give, give. This, carried out in actual benevolence and good works, is the true fruit of the Christian life. The principle of worldlings is to get, get, and thus they expect to secure happiness; but, carried out in all its bearings, the fruit is misery and death. To carry the truth to the population of the earth, to rescue them from their guilt and indifference, is the mission of the followers of Christ. Men must have the truth in order to be sanctified through it; and we are the channels of God’s light. Our talents, our means, our knowledge, are not merely for our own benefit; they are to be used for the salvation of souls, and to elevate man from his life of sin, and bring him, through Christ, to the infinite God. We should be zealous workers in this cause, seeking to lead sinners, repenting and believing, to a divine Redeemer, to impress them with a sense of God’s love to man. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” What an incomparable love is this! a theme for the most profound meditation! the amazing love of God for a world that did not love him! The thought has a subduing power upon the soul, and brings the mind into captivity to the will of God. Men who are crazy for gain, and are disappointed and unhappy in their pursuit of the world, need the knowledge of this truth to quiet the restless hungering and thirsting of their souls. Missionaries for God are wanted to carry light to those who sit in the shadow of death. Experienced hands are needed, in the meekness of wisdom and the strength of faith, to lift weary souls to the bosom of a compassionate Redeemer. O, selfishness! what a curse! It prevents us from engaging in the service of God. It prevents us from perceiving the claims of duty, which should set our hearts aglow with fervent zeal. Ours is a great work. Yet how many9who profess to believe these sacred truths are paralyzed by the sophistry of Satan, doing nothing for God, but rather hindering his cause! When will they act like those who wait for the Lord? When will they show a zeal in accordance with their faith? Many who are able to give liberally when the cause is in need, selfishly retain their means, and soothe their conscience with a plan for doing some great thing for the cause of God after their death. They make a will, giving a large sum to the church and its various interests, and then settle down with a feeling that they have done all that is required of them. Wherein have they denied self by this act? They have, on the contrary, revealed selfishness. When they have no further use for their money, they propose to give it to God. But they will retain it as long as they can, till they are compelled to relinquish it by a messenger that can not be turned aside. God has made us all his stewards, and in no case has he authorized us to neglect our duty or leave it for others to do. The call for means to advance the cause of truth will never be more urgent than now. Our money will never do a greater amount of good than at the present time. Every day of delay in rightly appropriating it, is limiting the period in which it will do good in the saving of souls. If we leave others to accomplish that which God has left for us to do, we wrong ourselves and him who gave us all we have. How can others do our work of benevolence any better than we can do it ourselves? So far as practicable, God would have every man an executor of his own will in this matter, during his lifetime. Adversity, accident, or intrigue may cut off forever intended acts of benevolence, when he who has accumulated a fortune is no longer by to guard it. It is sad that so many neglect the golden opportunity to do good in the present, but wait to be cast out of their stewardship before giving back to the Lord the means which he has lent them to be used for his glory. One marked feature in the teachings of Christ is the frequency and earnestness with which he rebuked the sin of covetousness, and pointed out the danger of worldly acquisitions and the inordinate love of gain. In the mansions of the rich, in the temple, and in the streets, he warned those who inquired after salvation: “Take heed, and beware of covetousness.” “Ye can not serve God and mammon.” It is this increasing devotion to money getting, the selfishness which the desire for gain begets, that deadens the spirituality of many in the church, and removes from them the favor of God. When the head and hands are constantly occupied with planning and toiling for the accumulation of riches, the claims of God and humanity are forgotten. If God has blessed us with prosperity, it is not that our time and attention should be diverted from him and given to that which he has lent us. The giver is greater than the gift. We have been bought with a price; we are not our own. Have we forgotten that infinite price paid for our redemption? Is gratitude dead in the heart? Does not the cross of Christ put to shame a life of selfish ease and indulgence? What if Christ had left his work, becoming weary in consequence of the ingratitude and abuse that met him on every side! What if he had never reached that period when he said, “It is finished!” What if he had returned to heaven, discouraged by his reception! What if he had never passed through that soul-agony in the garden of Gethsemane that forced from his pores great drops of blood! Christ was joined to his plan of labor to work out redemption for the race, by a love that is without parallel and an unswerving devotion to the Father’s will. He toiled for the good of man up to the very hour of his humiliation. He spent his life in poverty and self-denial, for the degraded sinner. In a world that was his own he had no place to lay his weary head. We are reaping the fruits of this infinite self-sacrifice; and yet, when labor is to be done, when our money is wanted to aid the work of the Redeemer in the salvation of souls, many shrink from duty and pray to be excused. Ignoble sloth, careless indifference, and wicked selfishness seal the senses of many to the claims of God. O, must Christ, the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, bear the heavy cross, and wear the thorny crown, and drink the bitter cup, while we recline at ease, glorify ourselves, and forget the souls he died to redeem by his precious blood? No; let us give, while we have the power. Let us do, while we have the strength. Let us work, while it is day. Let us devote our time and our means whole-heartedly to the service of God, that we may have his approbation, and receive his reward. The Burdens to Be Lifted
By A. T. Robinson
Whenever a work of reform ceases to be aggressive, it loses its power and vitality, and settles down to a round of forms and ceremonies. This has been the outcome of every great religious movement in the past. We profess to be engaged in the last great religious reformation that will ever be carried forward in this world. This movement is destined to prepare a people for the second coming of the Saviour. In the very nature of such a movement, it must never cease to be aggressive. In the very words of the message for this time, it must continue to be aggressive until it shall have reached earth’s remotest bounds; until it shall have been proclaimed to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” So long as a religious reformation continues to be an aggressive movement, constantly becoming more and more world-wide in the scope of its operations its needs must ever increase, and its demands upon those charged with the responsibility of carrying forward the work must ever increase. We can never, in this movement, look forward to some point of time beyond which we may expect the calls for means to carry forward the work to become less frequent or less urgent. Unless we shall prove traitors to our Commander, we are enlisted in this warfare until the conflict is ended, and the glorious, eternal victory is won. To the full extent of the talents entrusted to us, we are indebted to a world in perishing need of this message. Let us turn our thoughts for a moment to the calls for the present hour. One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollar Fund
After a careful study of the immediate demands on our work in the great Southern fields, the completion of the work at Washington, D. C., the work of the Pacific Press of California, and some pressing demands on the work in foreign lands, it was at first decided that a call must be made for not less than two hundred thousand dollars. At the recent session of the General Conference Committee and presidents of conferences, held at Washington, D. C., the estimates were carefully revised, the corners were cut at every point where any reduction seemed possible, and the decision was arrived at to make a call for one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Here is a call which demands that every true-hearted believer in our ranks shall put his shoulders squarely beneath the load and lift every pound he can lift, and then ask the Lord for strength to lift again. We are within a few short weeks of the time for our annual offerings for foreign missions. Can we be content to think that our annual offerings to foreign missions will be less this year because of these other calls? Before deciding thus, let us think what this would mean to our hundreds of workers in far-away lands, who receive their support for quite a portion of the year from the money contributed in annual offerings. It seems imperative that our annual offerings this year be made on even a larger scale than heretofore. Surely the work of the third angel’s message has reached gigantic proportions. Instead of pointing out on the map of the world, as we did a few years ago, a few places where the message has been planted, we can now point to but few places where a beginning has not already been made. There is no stopping place now. There is no place where we can say to the Mission Board, You must retrench. We must meet the issue. We must bear the burdens and responsibility resting upon us. We must put our backs to the load to be lifted this year, that we may thus gain added strength for the heavier load of next year, and thus go on from strength to strength as the years go by, until the task is performed, and the Master shall say, ‘It is finished.’ Modern Biblical Criticism and Missions
By Arthur T. Pierson
LET us, from a higher point of view, and surveying a wider horizon, calmly but candidly consider whether the departures from the faith once delivered to the saints are already so radical as not only to upset the traditional notions that have gathered about Christianity, but to endanger its essentials, and practically to weaken, or even undermine, its noblest evangelistic enterprises. It was but twenty-five years ago, when, in 1881, the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland deposed the professor of Hebrew in the Church College at Aberdeen, Wm. Robertson Smith, because of his “higher criticism” of the Old Testament Scriptures. The novelty and freedom of his criticisms called forth strong animadversion, and, despite his eminent learning and ability as an Arabic scholar and Biblical teacher, he was removed from his chair, by a vote so emphatic as to leave no doubt that his divergence from orthodoxy was considered by the vast majority of free churchmen as destructive of evangelical faith. Yet the fact is astounding, whatever be its significance, that if, to-day, Robertson Smith were living, and held as conservative views as at that time, he would not only be left undisturbed in his chair, but would be ranked as a leader among the conservative and orthodox party! Since his day, the assault on the supernatural element in the Bible has rapidly grown bolder, and now is, in some cases, recklessly arrogant and defiant. As the whole history of this critical movement is reviewed, we note several marked steps and stages in its progress:— - Disputing the Mosaic origin and authenticity of the Pentateuch.
- Advancing the post-exilic theory of the Levitical system.
- Discrediting the historical narrative and inventing the mythical theory.
- Questioning the existence of any properly predictive element.
- Advocating rationalistic views of Old Testament inspiration.
- Attacking the authenticity and authority of the fourth Gospel.
- Denying New Testament unity of doctrine, and favoring schools—as Pauline, Petrine, Johannean.
- Modifying the previous views of the office and objects of Scripture.
- Advancing the Kenosis theory of the self-emptying of Christ; and hence,—
- Impugning his omniscience, infallibility, and essential Deity.
- Doubting, if not denying his miraculous incarnation and resurrection.
- Eliminating all that is distinctly supernatural in prophecy and miracle.
Thus, step by step, “criticism” has advanced, from the outposts to the very center of the Christian system, as though satanic malice were behind the whole movement, deliberately planning to wreck all faith of disciples in the Bible as a divine book and the final arbiter of truth and duty. Now as to the possible bearing of these doctrinal changes upon mission work, Dr. Alexander Duff’s famous motto, “The church that is no longer evangelistic will soon cease to be evangelical,” inverted, will be equally true: that the church which ceases to be evangelical will soon cease to be truly evangelistic. At the time of the Chicago Congress of Religions, in 1893, a veteran missionary, himself one of a great family that has given four generations to the mission work, distinctly predicted that such a congress would deal a more serious blow at missions than had been dealt in a century. He felt that to admit to that congress representatives of the false faiths of the world, on a platform of equality; to allow them to present their systems in their most seductive aspects without liberty of discussion, or even exposure of misstatements, falsehoods, and fallacies, would create a prepossession in favor of these antichristian religions and a corresponding prejudice against mission work from which the cause would at best slowly recover. He argued that it would be utterly incongruous to welcome these Brahman, Buddhist, Shintoist, Confucianist, and Mohammedan delegates to a common platform with Christians, as searchers after divine light and life, and thus accord to them an equal standing as representatives of truth and ethics; and then turn around and send to them Christian missionaries as refuters of their errors, antagonists of their teachings, and heralds of a gospel which declares Christ to be the one and only way of salvation. This forecast has not proved a mistaken one. The congress had scarcely closed before seductive speakers from India began courses of lectures in leading cities, setting forth the beauty of Brahmanism; and Moslem apostles began actually to organize followers of their cult in our land; and the period of joss-houses, Hindu temples and mosques began on American soil. A more serious result is that secret or open opposers of missions have developed in the churches themselves, whose plausible argument is that it is needless if not impertinent to send missionaries to proselyte Brahmans and Buddhists and Confucianists, whose systems in some respects rival if they do not surpass Christianity itself! And now the current of opposition to missions, or at least the stagnation of apathy, confronts the work from another and subtler source—the virtual if not actual denial on the part of Christian scholars of the distinctive facts and teachings of Christianity. First, hostile faiths get toleration as part of the process of evolution toward the final goal of perfection; and then the unique claims of Christianity are practically given up by not a few of its former advocates! One can not help asking: Whereunto will this thing grow? “If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?” Of course if these novel modern positions are sound and true, let us have truth at all costs. No rational disciple wishes to hug fast a delusion or take refuge in what Cyprian called “the antiquity of error.” But it may be worth while to stop and seriously consider whether there has not been undue haste in rushing to unwarranted conclusions, and lifting up the ax against the carved work of the sanctuary. It enters into the very marrow of our convictions that there has been a carelessness and hurry, akin to madness, in accepting positions which have a very suspicious origin in French infidelity and German neology. It is a grave evil to follow so-called “scholars” unintelligently and blindly. Hundreds of men who have conducted no original investigation bow to the dictum of a few leaders, whose utterances are ex cathedra, and who are supposed to know, their followers fearing to appear ignorant and not up to date if they venture upon dissent. For ourselves, we dare boldly to dispute the soundness of the major part of the conclusions so hastily adopted by modern higher critics, suspicious that the game found so quickly is more veal than venison. Dr. Orr’s late book on “The Problem of the Old Testament” marks possibly the beginning, not only of a decided reaction from those extreme and destructive views, but of an open and bold protest against them. Calmly and courteously, but with a sharp blade and a master hand, he dissects this whole critical system; and the candid reader closes his volume with the feeling that he has shown so many unsound and unsafe positions, as held by modern Bible critics, as to create a presumption against the whole body of their teaching; since one fundamental fallacy may turn a whole argument into sophistry. For example, one of the most dangerous modern assaults is that upon the reality of our Lord’s resurrection, which Paul himself admits is vital to the Christian system. 1 Cor. 15: 1-20. It has been plausibly argued that the resurrection is a myth, easily accounted for on four grounds:— - The expectation of the apostles that he would rise.
- The hallucination naturally born of such confidence.
- The honest persuasion of those who thought they saw him.
- The ready acceptance of such testimony as accordant with previous expectancy.
This sounds fair and possible, but at every point it contradicts the fact. Nothing is plainer than that the very apostles themselves did not expect Christ to rise. When he died, they buried not only his body, but their hopes, in Joseph’s tomb. They wound his body tightly in many yards of linen, nearly doubling its weight with the hundred pounds of spices; they made it humanly impossible for him to move, had he awakened from his death sleep, and came after the Sabbath to complete his embalmment. Even when he rose and showed himself alive,11they were incredulous. They could not believe the testimony of eye witnesses, or even ear witnesses, and distrusted their own senses. There is, in fact, no argument for the verity of his resurrection so conclusive as that it was an event so wholly without precedent and so incredible that one nailed to the cross, pierced to the heart, and giving up his very blood, and so wrapped as to be stifled had he yet been living, should, on the third day, rise to die no more, that, notwithstanding his own prophecy, they had no real thought of its being possible. It took forty days of contact, during which he showed himself to their vision, addressed their hearing, exposed himself to their touch, ate and drank with them, and appealed to their minds by the most unique teaching they had ever heard, even from his own lips, thus to make them certain that he had risen. And it was such facts as these that compelled the skeptics, Gilbert West and Lord Lyttleton, when they were investigating the New Testament with a view to its refutation, to confess that no historic event is better accredited than the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is only one specimen of this plausible, but utterly fallacious and false reasoning, yet which, being hastily adopted even by professed believers, discredits the central fact and truth around which the whole gospel of salvation crystallizes—to destroy which is to make “faith vain” and “preaching vain,” and leave us hopeless in our sins. For a crucified Saviour, if not also a risen and glorified Saviour, can not save at all. If he could not deliver himself from the bondage of death, he could not destroy him who had the power of death—that is, the devil—and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2. If evangelical faith declines, missions will either decline, or the basis of the whole work be laid anew, in a mere philanthropic purpose to carry whatever is helpful, improving, and uplifting in occidental civilization, to the less favored and enlightened peoples of the Orient. What is called the gospel will at best degenerate into the good news of a better way to educate and develop the individual, the family, and the state. We shall be “expurgating” the Bible as a famous missionary to China already advises, and then circulating its “safe” portions for whatever good they can confer, on the same principle as we encourage the introduction of modern inventions. It is worth while to stop and solemnly ask whether we are prepared to surrender the unique claims of Christianity, with its sacred Book and its divine Person, and substitute for them a purely humanitarian impulse and appeal—admitting all foreign faiths and cults to a common place with Christianity in the process of religious evolution, and encouraging a vague and shadowy “eternal hope” that out of all the chaos of human errors and evils somehow will at last be evolved a moral cosmos, a city of God, a commonwealth of man! If we surrender the stronghold of Christianity, its one and only divine Saviour and salvation, it may involve not only the world, but the church, in a disaster which is beyond repair. If the sayings of Christ are true, it is worth while to dig deep, get beyond the shifting quicksand of human opinion, and strike bed-rock; for there is a terrible ordeal ahead of us, and in that day if our mission work falls because its foundations were wrong, great will be the fall of it. For ourselves we choose to hold fast the faith once delivered to the saints, and at risk of seeming both antiquated and illiberal, preach the one Name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.—Dr. Arthur T. Pierson, in The Missionary Review of the World for November. Another Call
By L. N. Muck
For more than sixty-two years the third angel’s message has been proclaimed throughout these United States. It has been heralded until it has encircled the earth; and yet many have never heard of it. Why? There are in the United States eighty millions of people, and various means are employed to bring them to God. Many churches have sprung up, and missionary work is being carried on in the most isolated places. Printing houses have been established, and the country is flooded with literature containing the story of the cross. And yet two hundred thousand blind people are overlooked. They are groping their way in darkness, with few to extend a hand of sympathy to lift them up. What are the Adventists doing for the seeing? We have four large publishing houses,—the Review and Herald, the Southern Publishing Association, the Pacific Press Publishing Company, and the International Publishing Association. The various classes are provided for; but what are we doing for the blind? Two hundred thousand are anxiously appealing to the public for something to read. A great effort is being put forth by this denomination to grind out the printed page. Money is being raised to provide books and papers and tracts for the seeing; and while this is being done, very few stop to consider the needs of the unfortunate ones,—those who are in double darkness, those who can not read for themselves, those who are without means to buy the expensive literature,—and yet the great commission is given to us, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Again we beseech you, brethren, to “lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.” Consider the needs of this class; consider this large number of truth-loving men and women. The King’s command is to go out quickly and bring in the maimed, the poor, the halt, and the blind. Will you help us? Will you unite with us in carrying this gospel to them? They must be saved. Their souls are just as precious in the sight of God as those who see, and if we neglect to help them, we shall be held responsible in the judgment. I believe the time has come for us to rally to the support of the work for the blind. It needs your help, it needs your means. It can not be carried on in the same way as the REVIEW and The Signs of the Times. It is a missionary enterprise. It must be carried on by donations. The blind are too poor to buy literature; and yet bright minds are crying out everywhere, What must we do to be saved? We are told from excellent authority that there is another magazine entering the field. It is not to contain the third angel’s message, but current news, music, art; and it is intended to entertain. That is very good in its place. But unless we put forth an effort to place the Christian Record in the hands of the blind who can not pay for it, I fear that the work of the Christian Record will be handicapped. This new magazine is to be free to all the blind who desire to read it. Can we as believers of the third angel’s message keep silent? Do we dare let this work go down for lack of means? Dear brother, I beseech you in the name of Jesus to lift up your eyes and behold fields white already to harvest. Again I appeal to you to unite with us in bringing in the maimed, the poor, the halt, and the blind. Send all donations to Miss Katie Coleman, secretary of Christian Record, and the fund will be turned over to the Central Union Conference treasurer. SUCH words as these of Dr. H. A. Brown, one of the greatest men in the ministry, can not be read too often nor spoken too earnestly: “When one has realized the bitterness of sin, the emptiness of his own righteousness, and the futility of human help, he is prepared to appreciate the priceless blessing of salvation by grace alone. When one feels himself saved by grace alone, he has an ever-present barrier against self-exaltation. He remembers the pit whence he was digged, and the rock whence he was hewn. He does not forget that once he was a blasphemer and injurious. He magnifies the sovereign power that keeps him in a saved state. He finds fundamental truth echoed in his own personal experience. He speaks with confidence as to Christ’s power to redeem.” God in the Details of Creation
“I AM inclined to imagine that there are no little things with God. His hand is as manifest in the feathers of a butterfly’s wing, in the eye of an insect, in the folding and packing of a blossom, in the curious aqueducts by which a leaf is nourished, as in the creation of a world, and in the laws by which planets move.” A Little Child Shall Lead Them
By Rena H. Ingham
A LITTLE child walked by my side;
I had lost faith in God and man;
He prattled of his joys and hopes
As only little children can.
I did not try to blast his hopes,
I did not tell him of my pain,
And, somehow, when our walk was
done,
My shattered faith was whole again.
—Rena H. Ingham, in Congregationalist.