INDIA is every day coming into closer touch with Western thought and learning. Having more than thirty thousand miles of railway reaching even to the furthermost corners of the empire, with well-organized postal and telegraph systems and hundreds of daily and weekly publications echoing constantly Western ideals and sentiment, new thought is coming in, old standards are waning, and India is reshaping her ideas in the light of opinions of the West.
She is not satisfied with the contracted and stupid teaching of her forefathers. A wave from the West is upon her shores, the light is shining, a new day has come—a time of times, which is surely God's time, to make known in India the riches of His grace in Christ.
The Opportune Time
Looked at from the map, India is but a small peninsula of Southern Asia; yet her territory embraces an empire containing one fifth of the human family. Lined up in the row of one billion and a half of humankind, one face in five bears the Aryan mark of Hindustan. An evolution among this sea of mankind is a fact of world-wide interest; and to the Christian believing in the soon coming of Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel to the world in this generation, it is surely a sign of the times, and an open providence into which the Christian church should enter with her strength. Never has there been a time more opportune, when forces and facilities seemed to conspire in making the present hour the time of great opportunity for the Gospel worker in India.
The great danger of the church at the present is the liability of closing her ears to the call of God now sounding in the East. To slacken the hand at this juncture and fail to fill in the gap, while Western agnosticism and infidelity are crowding in, is a failure to meet God's appointment and follow His open providences for the entrance of His Word.
God's children must not rest content. We have done no service and made no sacrifice in proportion to the present need in India. Christ could not remain in the bosom of the Father and redeem a lost world. Missionaries can not win the heathen and enjoy home comforts or surroundings, neither can they be rightly sustained and their work largely increased and maintained without the loving sacrifice of many friends and donors who are giving largely and freely of their means for God's kingdom in heathen lands.
Bathing on the Hooghly, Calcutta, India
A Stupendous Undertaking
Stop and consider. How shall the people of India, speaking one hundred and fifty different languages, divided by many beliefs and castes, be told of Jesus and His soon coming? It is a stupendous undertaking. Their minds have become ingrained with false and superstitious ideas of heathenism. The rudiments and fundamentals of Christianity must be taught the people. They do not know what sin is. Their consciences must be enlightened and a hatred of sin aroused. To do this—to erect the standard of Christian faith, and cry out God's message for to-day, and do it within the limits of this generation—may well tax the resources of God's people. So great an undertaking is surely a challenge to our faith.
We talk of sacrifice, and in our "ceiled houses" may really think we are sacrificing; but are we? Surely not in the light of the cross. As we read of Jesus, His place in heaven, His humiliation, His sacrificing life on earth and cruel death upon the cross, what have we done as compared with His sufferings for us? What are a few dollars for missions every year while we are living in comfort and oftentimes in luxury? What are small gifts while millions are hurrying on to Christless graves? Is it a time to settle back in our easy chairs and deceive ourselves into really thinking we are sacrificing to carry the Gospel to heathen lands?
KATHIAWAREE MEN AND WOMEN.
Booker T. Washington, in speaking of his work at Tuskegee, says, "We never talk about making a sacrifice;" nor can we who have answered God's call to present His last word to this generation. It is a menace to God's work in heathen lands for us to rest upon our oars and think we are sacrificing. The Christian church in America is giving of her abundance.
Are We Sacrificing?
We have by no means reached the point of sacrifice in our giving. Go with me to an Indian home, and there you can see the bareness of simple want. There are the coarse, bare mud walls, with earthen floor and thatched roof; no pictures on the walls, no table, no easy chairs, in fact no chairs at all. A few provisions, possibly a rope bed, a few clay pots, and nothing more, constitute the household furnishings. And yet these people give for the support of their heathen religion. They deny themselves even of the necessities of life, that they may obtain favor of the gods. By fasting, by pilgrimage, and by torturing their bodies, they hope to obtain salvation.
Friends, what ought we to do who have been blessed with the Gospel of Christ? "The lines have fallen unto us in pleasant places." "We have a goodly heritage." Should we not thankfully give more largely of our means for the support of mission work in such countries as India, where the people are so poor, with needs so great?
Our Forces Should Be Increased
Our mission has thus far opened up mission work in eight languages, at fourteen mission stations; but what are they as we look at the people of India as a whole? In the languages already entered we have scarcely made a beginning. With scores of tongues unentered, and whole nations numbering many millions still unknowing of the soon coming of Christ, the need and the auspicious time of entrance appeal to us, and we can but call out to the Christian army at home and urge an immediate advance. We should double and treble our forces in the field. There are hundreds of openings for mission stations, for Christian teachers of village schools, and medical missionaries13to treat the sick. The printing-press has before it no light undertaking. To provide manuscript, to translate it rightly into different vernaculars, to provide type of so many characters, and facilities such as printing-presses and other machinery necessary for printing the same, and then to circulate the word of truth among the masses, is no ordinary undertaking. It is altogether beyond our small force and few facilities in the field. We can but view the need, send back the word, and continually call on God for help. Surely He has the forces for the accomplishment of His work, and in His way and by His means the light of the Gospel will shine forth until Hindu and Mohammedan, Buddhist and Jain shall know of Jesus and salvation in His name. May His servants at home, with those in the field, do their part until the work is done.
J. L. SHAW.
Mussoorie, India.
Christ
By Anonymous
Great Prophet of our God,
Our tongues shall bless Thy name;
By Thee the joyful news
Of our salvation came—
The joyful news
Of sins forgiven,
Of hell subdued,
And peace with heaven.
Jesus, our great High Priest,
Has shed His blood and died;
Our guilty conscience needs
No sacrifice beside;
His precious blood
Did once atone,
And now it pleads
Before the throne.
—Anonymous.
Our Work and Workers
By Editor
SEVENTEEN converts are reported at Hove, England.
FIVE converts are reported at Cowra, New South Wales.
FOUR more souls have been baptized at Shaffer, Kansas.
NOT long ago eighteen souls in Manila, P. I., were baptized.
A SABBATH-SCHOOL has been organized at Lead, South Dakota.
AT Murgon, Queensland, ten young persons have received baptism.
FOUR more at Traverse City, Michigan, have accepted this truth.
FOUR persons at Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, have requested baptism.
DURING the first half of 1911, 107 baptisms were reported in Korea.
THREE persons have lately been baptized at Tacoma, Washington.
TWO Sabbath-schools have been organized in Indianapolis, Indiana.
IN South Kavirondo, British East Africa, sixteen were recently baptized.
SEVEN at Omega, Ohio, have united with us as a result of a tent effort there.
A SABBATH-SCHOOL of sixteen members has been organized at Bancroft, Iowa.
DURING the year 1911, 757 conversions were reported in the Central Union Conference.
THREE at Lents, Oregon, have yielded their hearts to Christ, and wish to join the church there.
SIXTEEN at Wenatchee, Washington, have expressed themselves as believing the message.
AT Fallon, Nevada, two have been added to the church, and a number more are awaiting baptism.
WE receive word of a number of conversions in different places in the West Michigan Conference.
EIGHT souls at Oakwood, Oklahoma, have surrendered themselves to this message, and others are interested.
BAPTISM was administered to thirty students of Union College, at College View, Nebraska, early in January.
A SABBATH-SCHOOL has been organized at Brownsboro, Oregon, where fifteen persons have recently accepted the truth.
FIVE persons at Magherafelt, Ireland, have been baptized. A number more are obeying the Gospel who will be baptized later.
THE results of the past season in the tent work in the Atlantic Union Conference are the conversion of about three hundred persons to this truth.
WORD comes from the Tamil mission station, India, of the conversion and baptism of nine persons, and others are preparing for that step.
A FAMILY of three in Surabaya, Java, have recently identified themselves with this people, and a number of others are on the point of deciding.
NINE persons in Richmond, Virginia, have recently embraced the truth, through the labors of Elder W. D. MacLay, and others are deeply interested.
ANOTHER mission field has been entered,—the New Hebrides Islands, by Mr. and Mrs. Stanley McCoy, of Norfolk Island. We wish them success in their new field.
AT Cliff Island, Maine, seventeen went forward in baptism on Sabbath, December 30. These, with three others, received the ordinance in the baptistery of the Portland church.
ON Sabbath, December 23, a new church was dedicated at Butte, Montana. A family of six at Shirley are obeying the truth, as a result of meetings held in that neighborhood during the last month.
NINE young persons recently united with the Claremont, South Africa, church; and twenty-eight at Fish River, Africa, have given their hearts to God, and identified themselves with this message.
EIGHTY new believers in Newbern, North Carolina, are rejoicing in the truth. Besides these, seventy have been baptized in that conference since their camp-meeting in August, and have united with our churches there.
PASTOR W. G. Kneeland reports the baptism of three persons at Plainfield, New Jersey, and the organization of a church of thirteen members. He also reports four or five other persons deeply interested in the truth.
A GENERAL meeting and Bible institute in China was appointed to convene on January 25, 1912, which all our workers from that field, as well as workers from the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, and Korea, were invited to attend.
TWO sisters were recently baptized in the uplands of Peru, South America, fourteen thousand feet above the sea, in the hot springs of the Yauli. During the first eight months of last year forty-one converts went forward in baptism in that mission field.
THE rite of baptism was administered to four souls on a Sabbath in last November, at Quorn, South Australia; to six at Ballarat, seven at Costerfield, and four at Shepparton, Victoria. A church of nineteen members was organized at the last-named place.
THERE comes to us a new periodical, entitled "Gospel Medical Messenger," published bimonthly by the Virginia Conference. As its name indicates, its object is to report progress in work done in that conference in the combination of these two lines of effort—the evangelical and the medical.
A NEW church building was dedicated on December 17 at Hotchkiss, Colorado, free from debt. On December 24 three members were added to their church. Three at Cripple Creek were buried in baptism on January 2. Still others are convinced of the truth, who it is hoped will later come into its full light.
AT Fernando, California, twenty-six young persons followed their Lord in baptism, on a recent Sabbath. Eight were baptized at Fresno, fourteen at Hanford, and five at Eureka. Three more at Eureka are awaiting baptism. Four at Modesto have commenced to obey the message, two of whom have already been baptized.
A CHURCH of fourteen members was organized at Hollister, California, on December 30 and 31, 1911. A number at that place are deeply interested in the message, who it is hoped will take a definite stand later. Three souls at San Pedro have taken their stand, while others are interested. A Sabbath-school of ten members has been organized at Cedarville.
A CHURCH of fourteen members was organized at Ogdensburg, New York, in the last week in December, six of whom are new members, and others who are from other churches joined by letter or profession of faith. Several are observing the principles of the message who will unite later; and still others are interested. A number of new converts were baptized at Troy on a recent Sabbath.
THE good news comes to us from Germany that one of our brethren who had been condemned to seven and a half years' imprisonment for refusing service in the army on the Sabbath day, has been granted his freedom. This was brought about through the personal application of the prison inspector to the emperor himself. By this pardon from the emperor, our brother has escaped two and a half years' confinement, having already for conscience served five long years.
Wanted
By Editor
Clean copies of S. D. A. periodicals for missionary purposes, by R. E. Williams, 213 Madison St., Macon, Georgia.
By James Harvey, 1373 Grove St., Oakland, California, S. D. A. papers and tracts.
By Miss Pearl Wright, 222 S. 15th St., Griffin, Georgia, a continuous supply of SIGNS OF THE TIMES, other periodicals, and tracts on the Sabbath and the second coming of Christ.
For Sale
Modern residence, 8 large rooms, large pantry, plenty of extra large closets. Two screen porches, one for outside bedroom. Front porch 9 x 32 feet. Two stories; built for two families. Good, large, dry basement. Cement sidewalk from front to back. One acre of ground, abundance of blackberries and raspberries. Plenty of alfalfa for cow or horse and chickens. Chicken yard and house. Ideal climate.
House practically as good as new. Cost $3,000 to build. Lot on each side valued at $1,000.
Will sell for $2,750 on account of sickness, $1,500 cash, balance on easy terms.
Address J. M. Benedict, Mountain View, California.
For Sale
Place of one hundred and sixty acres. House, barn, windmill, small vineyard and family orchard. About three miles from Pacific Union College. Price, $2,500. S. J. Blower, R. R. No. 1, Santa Rosa, California.
Free Sample of E-Z Washing Tablets
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You will say the same if you try it. Send your name and address on a postal and receive a free sample. Address Alfred Mallett, 721 H St., Sacramento, California.
FERRY'S SEEDS Good gardeners are those who raise good flowers and vegetables. Good flowers and vegetables come from good seeds. We produce good seeds—the inference is obvious. For sale everywhere. 1912 SEED ANNUAL Free on Request D. M. FERRY & CO. Detroit, Mich.
Housekeeper Wanted for Adventist Family
Will some kind sister take a position as housekeeper for an Adventist family of two? For particulars address Lock Box 41, Kelseyville, Lake Co., California.
HOME AND FIRESIDE
By J. N. Loughborough
Young Old Age
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Ps. 90:10.
HE first part of this text was verified in David's life, as he reached the threescore and ten mark; for "David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years." 2 Sam. 5:4. He experienced, also, in the continuance of his life beyond seventy, the statement of the last part of this scripture: "Now King David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat." 1 Kings 1:1.
Some Long-Lived Ancients
When we examine the Bible record of men's lives, even in the same period of the world's history, we note quite a difference in their ages. When Jacob was asked by Pharaoh, "How old art thou?" he replied, "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage." Gen. 47:8, 9. This is apparent from the record of their demise. "These are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years [175]." Gen. 25:7. "And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years [180]." Gen. 35:28. Of him it was said he was "old and full of days." Verse 29. "And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years." Gen. 47:28. The last seventeen years of peace added to his life.
Looking still further down the stream of time, we have other remarkable cases of longevity. "And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." Deut. 34:7. "Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being an hundred and ten years old." Joshua 24:29. And Caleb, when he made application for the privilege of taking possession of his inheritance, said: "I am this day fourscore and five years old [85]. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now." Joshua 14:10, 11.
Wonderfully Made
David, when speaking of the Lord's doings, said, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Ps. 139:14. One celebrated writer of the past century, contemplating the same, said, of the life of mankind, it was wonderful that "a harp of a thousand strings should keep in tune so long." The actual appearance of age in individuals is not always indicated by the number of years they have lived. David said, "Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days." Ps. 55:23. This shows that the manner of one's life has a great bearing on the length of the same. Physicians tell us that "age in reality is not indicated by the number of years that a man has lived, but in the condition of his blood-vessels, and his thyroid gland, and his liver. A man at sixty may be younger than one at forty if his arteries are soft and his thyroid gland working properly."
— George Thomason, M.D., lecture at Boston, Massachusetts, November 16, 1911.
To Those Advancing in Years
This statement shows the importance, to those advancing in years, of taking a reasonable amount of daily physical exercise, to promote blood circulation and prevent the arteries from too rapid shrinkage. Elderly persons who conclude that their days are about numbered, and who sit in the chimney-corner inactive and melancholy, do not long survive such treatment of their bodies. Not only is it well to favor an active life, but as has been well expressed, "It is a grand thing to grow old gracefully." That is, to maintain a cheerful, hopeful, calm state of mind. As expressed by another: "Sickness of the mind prevails everywhere. Nine tenths of the diseases from which men suffer have their foundation here. Perhaps some living home trouble is like a canker eating to the very soul, and weakening the life forces."
— Mrs. E. G. White, in "Testimonies," No. 32.
Again, "God is our refuge in sickness as in health; but many do not leave their cases with Him; they encourage weakness and disease by worrying about themselves."
— Ibid.
Pastor John N. Loughborough, 80 years young, and still in the service
Solomon must have thought of the bearing of the mind upon the bodily condition when he wrote, "Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones." Prov. 16:24. And, "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Prov. 17:22. With this we may couple some of the grand instruction given through the prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul. "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength." Isa. 30:15. "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6, 7. "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19.
There is a heart that feels, a hand we can not see. We have always been provided for, and we shall always be.
The Effect of Worry
It is truthfully said, "It is worry that kills, instead of work." "The continual worry is wearing out the life forces. Our Lord desires them to lay aside this yoke of bondage. He invites them to accept of His yoke. He says, 'My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.' Worry is blind, and can not discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. 'No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly.'"
— "Healthful Living," page 43. When trials come, do not worry about them, but rather sing:
Afflictions may press me, they can not destroy;
One glimpse of His love turns them all into joy.
And the bitterest tears, if He smile but on them,
Like dew in the sunshine, grow diamond and gem.
We will note one more case of longevity. It is that of Barzillai, who met David on his return from the rebellion of Absalom. "Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king with sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim [see 2 Sam. 17:27]; for he was a very great man." King David invited him to come with him to Jerusalem, and eat the rest of his life at the king's table. Barzillai replied: "I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women?" 2 Sam. 19:32, 35.
Now Fourscore
Like Barzillai I can say, "I am this day [January 26, 1912] fourscore years old." But I do not say, as did he, that sight, taste, and hearing have failed; but, thank the Lord, He has preserved these faculties for me. With peace, joy, and quiet trust in the Lord, I still follow the lines of health culture that tend to longevity. On January 22 Dr. Thomason declared that my arteries are "still soft." It is a joy to me, in this interesting time of the rapid spread of the third angel's message, which I have now proclaimed for nearly sixty years, to have strength still to take some humble part in the work.
The Bible the Book Wanted
By John Selden
You will want a book which contains not man's thoughts, but God's; not a book that may amuse you, but a book that can save you; not even a book that can instruct you, but a book on which you can venture an eternity; not only a book which can give relief to your spirit, but redemption to your soul; a book which contains salvation, and conveys it to you; one which shall at once be the Saviour's book and the sinner's.—John Selden.
Why You Should Have
By Editor
"The Acts of the Apostles"
The New Book by Mrs. E. G. White
Over 3000 Copies Already Sold
In the Pacific Union Recorder of January 11, 1912, Elder G. A. Irwin, president Pacific Union Conference, so interestingly outlines the new book "The Acts of the Apostles," in stating why he believes every Seventh-day Adventist family, and many others, should have it, that we pass it on. He says:
Having just finished the reading of "The Acts of the Apostles," Mrs. E. G. White's latest book, I feel constrained to speak a few words in commendation.
The Acts Historic and Prophetic
I have always believed that the book of Acts is both historical and prophetic: historical in that it gives the history of the rise and progress of the early Christian church, the opposition it encountered both from God's professed people and from heathenism; prophetic in that it portrays in advance the trials and conflicts through which the remnant church will pass in the final effort to set before the world the faith once delivered to the saints and prepare a people for the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
These two leading features of the book of Acts are so vividly brought out in "The Acts of the Apostles" that in perusing the book one can not help catching the spirit of those faithful men who stood so nobly in defense of the truth in their day.
Apostolic Days and Ours a Parallel
The book in its every detail brings out the parallel between their time and ours so clearly that one's confidence in the third angel's message and the foundation upon which it is based is greatly strengthened.
There were apostates then as there are now. There were false brethren then as there are now. There were false prophets then as now. There was fanciful interpretation of the Scriptures then as now. Men arose in the church speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them then as now. Unconverted men and women were found in the church then as now. Covetousness was manifest in church-members then as now. And yet, in spite of all these influences, the early church accomplished its mission, for inside of thirty years of its establishment the Gospel of a crucified and risen Saviour was preached to the then known world.
Victory Certain
Altho having the same hindering causes to contend against, the third angel's message will accomplish its mission inside of the generation allotted for its work.
In addition to the parallels of which I have spoken that are calculated to inspire confidence in the certainty and victorious triumph of the third angel's message, the book is full of practical lessons drawn from the experiences of those times, and made applicable to our time and needs.
While the book is especially helpful and valuable to Seventh-day Adventists, and should be in every Adventist home, at the same time it should have a place in the front rank of commentaries on the Holy Scriptures, and as such should meet with a large sale outside our ranks.
To those reading this article I would say, Purchase this book at your earliest opportunity, and read it carefully. And while the early influence produced by the book is upon you, speak of it to your friends and neighbors, and induce them to buy a copy, and thus increase its circulation, influence, and usefulness.
G. A. Irwin.
This beautiful book contains 630 pages, and comes in two styles of binding,—limp leather, printed on thin paper, at $2.00 post-paid; and cloth (durable for library), at $1.50,—prices which place it within reach of all. Church officers especially will appreciate the above clear setting forth of the value of this work, to assist them in encouraging every family to have it. As suggested, also, the book will be prized by all classes of religious people. Only a few days ago a patient at one of our sanitariums became so attached to the copy lent him that he sent to the office for five copies to send to friends. Do not delay your order. Send it to your tract society or the—
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(Entered Sept. 15, 1904, as second-class matter at the Mountain View, Cal., post-office, under Act of Congress of March 3, 1879.)
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