“ONE shall chase a thousand, and two shall put ten thousand to flight.” Salvation embraces individuals gathered, one by one, from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Neither churches nor nations are saved as such, but a member of the true church is found wherever an individual accepts the Lord Jesus Christ, and dedicates himself and his all as an offering to be consumed upon the altar of service.
Neither is the work of God accomplished by great organizations alone. Much may be gained by organization, and any work may gather strength by the united efforts of God’s children; but the great work as a whole is actually done by individuals, many of them isolated in lonely places, who, under the direct leadership of the Master above, undertake his work and become co-laborers with him; and God has ever been pleased to honor these efforts of the individual. Even Jesus has been called “the Discoverer of the individual,” and the Gospel of John is largely made up of the sermons of Jesus to “audiences of one,” among which stand out most prominently the sermon to Nicodemus by night, and another to the woman of Samaria.
It is said of Jesus that “he went about doing good.” He lavished his love wherever he found a need, and the greater share of this work was personal effort with individuals. And he worked practically alone; for although he had a small following during the days of his earthly ministry, these were more as students receiving instruction than as co-laborers; and at last he trod the “wine-press alone,” and “of the people there was none” with him. Yet, single-handed, and even in the hour of his death, he fought the greatest battle that was ever fought, and gained a decisive victory over the most powerful foes ever assembled.
The most interesting, inspiring stories of Bible history are the simple record of God’s powerful working through individuals,—Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nehemiah, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul, and John, Jesus Christ being the one theme of them all.
The words of the text are not a figurative exaggeration. They contain a plain, literal statement of what God has been doing through all the centuries, and the Bible record of the works of men of God affords frequent illustrations of its plain truth. Solomon tells how the besieged city was delivered by “one poor man.” The chief miracle in the book of Jonah is not the story of Jonah swallowed whole by a great fish, and living to tell the tale. The object of the book of Jonah is to tell us the story of how one man with God’s commission besieged a high-walled city sixty miles in circumference with walls a hundred feet thick, and took it for God.
Samson, single-handed, slew a thousand men. Jonathan discomfited a host, aided only by his armor-bearer. Elijah, alone, withstood Ahab and all his hosts; and for the encouragement of those who feel lonely, and permit doubts to press in upon them, the Holy Spirit has recorded Elijah’s fears, and his complaint that he was all alone. But the Lord assured him that there were seven thousand others fighting that same battle, and conquering. And so to-day a thousand foes are being defeated here by one child of God, and there by another, and the blessed fact remains, notwithstanding our fears, that the hosts of evil are being terribly discomfited by this onslaught from individuals.
And later than Bible times, the whole story of the Reformation is a history of victories by one. Luther, who could defy all the powers of Rome, and withstand and assail the papacy until it was said that the ‘pope trembled upon his throne;’ Wesley, whose parish was the world; Knox, who could stand fearlessly before monarchs; Calvin and Bunyan, Huss and Jerome,—all these, with many others, are witnesses of single-handed victories over mighty hosts.
It has ever been God’s purpose thus to accomplish his mighty works through the most feeble agencies, that it might be evident that the glory was not of man, but of God. In this spiritual harvest-field, the most abundant sheaves are often garnered from the few good seeds that sift through our fingers while on our way to the great field to sow.
A Congregational church in New England many years ago lamented that one little boy was the sole visible result of a six weeks’ revival, but that boy was Adoniram Judson, the pioneer missionary to India and Burma, who gave to India a Bible which has never needed revision. And so that revival, in saving one, was the greatest revival the little New England church ever knew.
There was a year in the little church at Blantyre when but one convert, and that a mere boy, was added to their number; but that lad was David Livingstone, whose name has become an inspiration to all missionary effort, and whose consecration and achievements have furnished thousands of missionaries for the Dark Continent.
A young Sunday-school teacher, a poor seamstress, was unable to secure pupils for her class, and in her desperate determination she gave a shilling to a street Arab to induce him to go to Sunday-school. That boy was Amos Sutton, who was converted, and went as a missionary to the Telegas, and after twenty-five years of labor ten thousand converts were won in a single year.
“There is no work so enormously productive of good results as the turning of a sinner from the errors of his ways, and winning one soul for God. One very stormy winter Sunday in New York Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, on entering his church to begin services, found that no one else had arrived. ‘I will wait awhile,’ he said. ‘Even through this dreadful snow God may send some man, woman, or child needing the gospel message.’ Scarcely had five minutes passed when in stepped a little girl. Big snowflakes lay thick upon Mary’s hat and jacket, but the pretty face was full of earnestness if not of deep, intense anxiety. With a very welcoming smile and with kind words, Dr. Tyng beckoned to her to come and sit down below the pulpit. ‘This child’s soul,’ he thought, ‘is more precious than millions of worlds,’ while most fervently he breathed the silent petition that God would win little Mary for himself.
“The informal service at once began. Quaintly, rather, the old voice and the young sang a hymn together. Then followed the simplest prayer and a chapter from the Bible. What the text was, I can not tell you. I only know that the sweet sermonette was full of Jesus, the child’s Saviour. What was the result?—God saved little Mary’s soul, and that one Sunday there was joy in the presence of the angels over one stray lamb led to the fold of the Good Shepherd. Often afterward did the doctor say that in the whole course of his ministry he had never been so grandly repaid; for the blessing spread on. In the parish, and especially in the Sunday-school, Mary became a most enthusiastic worker. In a few short years she had won no fewer than twenty-five young companions for the Saviour, including Dr. Tyng’s own boy. If we can not preach like Dr. Tyng, let us be as wise in winning souls as little Mary, going to them one by one.”
Much praise has been heaped upon Mr. Spurgeon for the great success of his tabernacle church in London, and much of this praise was justly due; but few are aware of the work of Mrs. Bradley, one of the teachers of a Sunday-school class in that church. In 1873 she had at that time been instrumental in bringing seven hundred men and women into the membership of the church. Her work continued for many years after, and no doubt she brought in “a thousand” before she died. And she was only a plain woman, such as may be found in every church, save in the one quality of enthusiastic consecration to the one great purpose of saving others.
When Mr. D. L. Moody visited Liverpool for the first time, he was instrumental in the conversion of a young man, who, as soon as he had found Christ, determined that he would bring a thousand other young men to hear the great revivalist; and he succeeded. Just as a politician would seek for a thousand votes, this young man sought for a thousand other young men, and brought them to hear the gospel from the lips of the great preacher.
“Many years ago an invalid lady, whose home was in the country, visited a large city near which she lived, on a sultry summer day. She had business in some of the small streets and alleys, and was appalled at the number of pale, puny, and sick babies in their mothers’ arms, who were literally dying for a breath of fresh air. What could she do? ‘I can not save all,’ she said, ‘but I may save one. There is room for a mother and a child at my home.’ She took one mother and her child to her country home and kept them for a fortnight, and then took them back and brought others. Her neighbors followed her example. The next summer the children entertained amounted to hundreds, the next, thousands. Another woman who lived in the city and had no money to give, was vexed that she could not help this most gracious charity. ‘I can at least tell others of it,’ she said. She wrote an account of it for a New York newspaper. A third woman possessed of great wealth sent one thousand dollars to the editor with the request that he open a fund for this noble purpose. The fresh-air charity was the result. The various organizations throughout the United States for the removal of poor children from the poisonous air of the cities to the country, have grown out of this first attempt of a single weak woman to save one baby.”
Indeed, “one shall chase a thousand;” and this simple prophecy has now passed into history which records triumphs and victories of the church in all ages by the achievements of individuals. Do not wait for other members of your family. Do not wait for other church-members, or even for your church officers. Do not wait until you see the great church of God moving in rank and file toward a single object. Begin just where you are. One lone worker in constant touch with the Captain of our salvation and under his leadership and inspiration can chase a thousand, and two such workers can put ten thousand to flight.
A Little Hindu Orphan’s Prayer
A MISSIONARY lady had a little Hindu orphan named Shadi living with her. She had taught him about Jesus, and one night, when he was six years old, she said to him: “Now pray a little prayer of your own.” And Shadi’s prayer was this, “Make me what you were like when you were six years old.”
— Child’s Gem.
The Need of the Hour
By W. A. SPICER
W. A. SPICER
A FEW scriptures, and extracts from the spirit of prophecy, will set before us the need of this hour as we face the opening of the special missionary campaign.
There is strength in united action on a given plan of campaign. Most is done when altogether we rally at the same time, and bend our energies to the same end. It is written, “One shall chase a thousand.” It shows how strong against forces of evil the Lord is ready to make the one believer. God grant that the “isolated ones” may realize this. One loyal soul can do more for the truth than a thousand can do against it.
But while one can chase a thousand, “two shall put ten thousand to flight.” This shows what multiplied power there is in union in the work. It is a grand thing to think of the whole church of the third angel’s message, of many languages and tribes, stepping forward together, taking hold of a common plan, every one doing his utmost in every way and on every side to “belt the world” with this message. It is to be a reading of the literature ourselves, and a studying of the truth till our hearts are full of the burning message God has given11us. Then, it is to be a scattering of the literature on the right hand and on the left, talking with the people, giving Bible readings, ministering to the physical needs of the suffering, and in every way that the earnest, tactful love of Jesus can suggest, letting all within reach of our effort know that this third angel’s message does us good, makes us kind and helpful, and stirs our souls to go out to prepare others for the great day of God now breaking upon the world. We see the sword coming. Woe be to us if we give not the warning.
There is action and a sound of sturdy conflict in the description that Inspiration gives of the force that brought David to his throne. Of those who came to David’s help we read in the twelfth of First Chronicles: “They were armed with bows, and could use both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow.”
Think of a band like that going into action, using both hands, all kinds of weapons, dealing blows right and left! The weapons of our warfare are different, but the Lord would have us turn the hand to anything and everything that helps on the conflict of truth. We are to be “instant in season, out of season,” “by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left.”
There was not a sluggish, lazy soul among David’s band. They were “men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains.”
Like Christ we must set our faces like a flint Zionward. We can not drift through the conflict before us and into the kingdom. We must settle it that this cause means warfare against evil, and conflict for the good; and we must overcome our natural timidity and inclination to hold back from personal work for sinners. We must break away from all this. Let us have the same energy and determination and industry and “grit” that pushes men on successfully in business dealing with their fellows, and consecrate it all to God’s service for him to sanctify and use to the salvation of souls. Every face like the face of a lion, every foot swift as the roe upon the mountains—what a missionary campaign that would mean with a force of Seventh-day Adventists seventy-five thousand strong!
Such were the men raised up by the call of the hour in that time of Israel’s crisis, who came day by day unto David “until it was a great host, like the host of God.” There were men who “had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” They could all “keep rank; they were not of double heart.” “All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king.”
It will be the same just before Christ Jesus takes his kingdom. The message that prepares the way is to be borne by a united band, rallying under the message of Revelation 14, until every nation, kindred, tongue, and people hears the warning. We shall learn to step together, and to carry through the plans of campaign formulated, by one united, mighty effort. “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.” Says the Testimony:—
“All heaven is represented to me as watching the unfolding of events. A crisis is to be revealed in the great and prolonged controversy in the government of God on earth. Something great and decisive is to take place, and that right early. . . . One word has justice to speak, and there will be terrific representations upon earth of the wrath of God. . . . Every movement in the universe of heaven is to prepare the world for the great crisis. Intensity is taking possession of every earthly element.”
That word was given some years ago, and still it stirs to action, for the intensity of the time has but increased, and we hear not the mutterings only, but the roar of the coming storm. And here is the word from the last volume of the Testimonies, showing how the battlefield appears from heaven’s point of view just now. We are all of us somewhere on the field within the range of this vision of conflict, bearing the standard forward, or lagging in the rear and trailing it in the dust:—
“In vision I saw two armies in terrible conflict. One army was led by banners bearing the world’s insignia; the other was led by the blood-stained banner of Prince Immanuel. Standard after standard was left to trail in the dust as company after company from the Lord’s army joined the foe, and tribe after tribe from the ranks of the enemy united with the commandment-keeping people of God. An angel flying in the midst of heaven put the standard of Immanuel into many hands, while a mighty general cried out with a loud voice: ‘Come into line! Let those who are loyal to the commandments of God and the testimony of Christ now take their position. . . . Let all who will, come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.’”
“The battle raged. Victory alternated from side to side. Now the soldiers of the cross gave way ‘as when a standard-bearer fainteth.’ Isa. 10:18. But their apparent retreat was but to gain a more advantageous position. Shouts of joy were heard. A song of praise to God went up, and angel voices united in the song, as Christ’s soldiers planted his banner on the walls of fortresses till then held by the enemy. The Captain of our salvation was ordering the battle, and sending support to his soldiers. His power was mightily displayed, encouraging them to press the battle to the gates. He taught them terrible things in righteousness as he led them on step by step, conquering and to conquer.”
“At last the victory was gained. The army following the banner with the inscription, ‘The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,’ was gloriously triumphant. The soldiers of Christ were close beside the gates of the city, and with joy the city received her King.”
Truly it must be because we are close beside the gates of the eternal city that the conflict deepens now, and that God’s providence sounds as never before for every soul to come into line in these missionary campaigns that are never to cease until the victory is won. This is a people’s war. Every soul must bear the arms of the holy warfare. This same Testimony closes:—
“It is not alone by men in high positions of responsibility, not alone by men holding positions on boards or committees, not alone by the managers of our sanitariums and publishing houses, that the work is to be done which will cause the earth to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This work can be accomplished only by the whole church acting their part under the guidance and in the power of Christ.”
Lord, we hear, and we respond. Let the promise be fulfilled: “Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchman shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. . . . The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” Isa. 52:6-10.
What Has Been Done; What Is to Be Done
By H. H. HALL
H. H. HALL
Those who took a bird's-eye view of the campaign last fall had much to encourage them. Two sisters were here visiting every home in an entire county, leaving in each a set of The Signs of the Times or a message-filled tract. An aged brother and his wife were there, driving over mountainous roads to the scattered homes of a large district, leaving in each a reminder of our Saviour's soon coming. They saw the members of Young People's Societies sending literature and writing letters to every family in certain out-of-the-way villages. They saw others procuring tracts and papers in the language of each family in their vicinity, that they might pass no one by in their house-to-house visitation. They saw families gathered in cottage meetings; they saw Bible readings being given to, and personal efforts being made for, those who had become interested through the work with literature. But above and beyond all these things, they saw by the eye of faith the names of scores being recorded in the Lamb's book of life.
Those interested in figures will be glad to know that the circulation of our good12church paper, the REVIEW, was increased by nearly four thousand copies, that the subscription list of Life and Health was largely augmented, that almost a half-million copies of the Gospel Series of The Signs of the Times, 120,000 copies of the Watchman, 116,000 copies of foreign papers, and 200,000 copies of special tracts were circulated, and that a large work was done with forty-per-cent books.
But this phase of the campaign which was to be a continuous one, has passed. Our people are largely engaged in agricultural pursuits; so for months they have been working early and late, sowing and gathering in their crops. While we wish more might have been done, even during these busy times, yet all will agree that we should now enter upon the work with renewed courage and fresh energy. And notice, please, how clearly, how definitely, the work is laid out before us:—
The Program
The REVIEW AND HERALD in every Sabbath-keeping home.
The circulation of message-filled tracts by every Seventh-day Adventist.
A great campaign in behalf of our missionary periodicals.
Systematic work in behalf of our popular forty-per-cent books.
Holding Bible readings and cottage meetings, and the carrying on of missionary correspondence with those interested through other features of the campaign.
Will You Act Your Part?
Now, my dear brother or sister, have you the REVIEW? Have you supplied yourself with a quantity of message-filled tracts? and are you planning to circulate them in your vicinity? Have you secured, or will you secure, a liberal number of the Gospel Series of The Signs of the Times and Watchman, or copies of Life and Health, and a sufficient number of German, Danish, and Swedish papers to supply the families speaking these languages with whom you are or ought to be acquainted?
Then there are those who have formerly been successful house-to-house workers with our large books,—men and women who have drifted into other occupations. My dear brother, my dear sister, doesn't the Lord call upon you to once more unite with him and his angels in carrying this last warning message to the world?
Have you, my dear young brother or sister, consecrated your strength, enthusiasm, and powers of persuasion to the Lord, and have you asked him to direct you in using them in the circulation of the literature mentioned?
There is room, yes, large room, for the children, too. Let me read you a letter from one little eight-year old:—
"Signs of the Times,
Mountain View, Cal.
"DEAR EDITOR: I thought that I would write a little of my experience. The Lord does bless me in selling the Signs. Always before going out I kneel down and ask the dear Lord to help me to sell the paper, and that those who read it may receive the true light and walk in it. Some people buy the paper every week, and are glad to get it. Then there are some who slam the door in my face, and I just go on and ask the Lord to touch and tender their hearts.
"Another good thing I find, and that is giving away the leaflets. I take the money that I make off the Signs and use it to buy the leaflets. These I give away. I think this is doing the right kind of missionary work, don't you? Some will not take the Signs, but will take the leaflets all right. We do not know the good those leaflets will do.
"I am eight years old, and I want always to be doing something for the dear Lord."
Doesn't this sound like the days when children preached that the hour of God's "judgment is come"? It does to me.
The Program of Christianity
Now let us read what has been appropriately termed, "The Program of Christianity:"—
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound."
Some time ago I was asked by the family with whom I was stopping to lead in worship. I read the words just quoted, and then said to their ten-year-old boy, "Who is meant by this verse?" He promptly replied, "Jesus." I then said, "But Jesus is not here now. Who is to preach the gospel now? Who is to bind up the broken-hearted to-day? Who is to speak liberty to those who are in prison now?" He hesitated a moment, and then said, "We must." The dear little fellow was beginning to learn—and let us learn with him—that the "Program of Christianity" is,—
"Saved to serve in any station,
Saved to make his goodness known;
Saved to sing his great salvation,
Saved to live for him alone.
"Saved to show by loving-kindness
That his love is full and free;
Saved to lead from error's blindness,
With a tender sympathy.
"Saved to lift my lowest brothers,
As the Highest lifted me;
Crucified with him, that others
May have immortality."
Forget Not the Stranger
By W. C. WHITE
W. C. WHITE
IN our determined efforts to carry the glorious message of the soon coming of our Saviour, to every city, town, village, and hamlet in our land, we must remember that there are many thousands of homes in which the English language is not the native tongue, and where reading-matter in some other language would be more welcome.
Imagine yourself a sojourner in France, Germany, Scandinavia, or Italy. After several years’ residence, you might be able to converse quite freely, and read the newspapers of the land, and yet how dear to you would be fresh reading-matter in your mother tongue. If some one were to bring you an English paper or book, how much more welcome it would be than the same reading-matter in any other language.
There are thousands whom we meet from time to time, who have come to America from foreign lands. These may have learned the English language, and their speech may hardly remind us that they are foreigners, yet they would highly appreciate our thoughtfulness in providing them an opportunity to study present truth in their own language.
Have we not to a great degree forgotten that these strangers are among us, that in many cases their settling among us is in the direct providence of God, in order that they may receive the last gospel message, and send it to their friends in the countries from which they came? Have we not forgotten that their wants in the matter of books, tracts, and papers are not identical with our own?
The Lord says to us, “If a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself.” Lev. 19: 33, 34.
And he says again, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Matt. 7: 12.
Shall we not endeavor to follow the golden rule? Shall we not place the grand and glorious message of the gospel before our neighbors in the most attractive form? Shall we not love them as ourselves? Shall we not make a special effort in behalf of those who can not yet read our English literature, and also in behalf of those with whom we can not converse?
The Way Is Prepared
We have a wealth of literature in the foreign languages, which our American brethren can use to the saving of many souls. There are periodicals in the German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish, and many other languages. And there are tracts and books in more than twenty different languages. A special effort is being made by our brethren at College View to bring out special numbers of the German, Swedish, and Danish papers for use in the fall campaign.
Some of these are kept in the State tract depositories, but not all. Letters of inquiry addressed to our publishing houses in Washington, D. C.; Nashville, Tenn.; Mountain View, Cal.; College View, Neb.; Christiania, Norway; or Hamburg, Germany, will bring quick response, with full information.
Recently I have met Bible workers and canvassers who said, “In my work I meet Italians, and some ask for literature in their own language. Why do we not have papers and tracts in the Italian language?” When I told them13that we have a good list of Italian tracts and pamphlets, they were astonished. So it is with the Spanish language, and with many other languages.
The precious gospel message has been printed in many languages. Will you use it? Will you become acquainted with your foreign neighbors, learn what language they read best, and then place the message before them in that language?
“They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.” Dan. 12: 3.
F. H. WESTPHAL
By F. H. WESTPHAL
From the West Coast of South America
F. H. WESTPHAL
On the twenty-third of March Brother Carlos E. Krieghoff and I began meetings at Galvarino. The Lord opened the way for us, a business man in the village permitting us to hold meetings in his house. After holding services for nearly two weeks, Brother Krieghoff found it necessary to return home to get more books. When he was ready to start again for Galvarino, he was detained on account of the illness of his child, which resulted in its death. The parents mourn, but not as those who have no hope.
ARAUCANIAN INDIANS, CHILE
For nearly two weeks I was left to carry on the meetings alone. At the end of that time eight willing souls began to keep the Sabbath. We rejoice for this. Five or six Chileans living there are also observing the seventh day. They needed instruction on the sanctuary question, which we imparted; they are now taking their stand with us, although they were brought to the Sabbath light by the Cabanistas. You can see by this that even the Cabanistas have to serve in bringing people to the truth of the message.
When Brother Krieghoff returned, it was necessary for me to go home, on account of the sickness of our little daughter. Several times she nearly succumbed, but she recovered through careful treatment. We were very thankful to the Lord for his kindness in sparing the life of our daughter.
I met Brother Victor Thomann here also; he is on his way to begin a school among the Indians. In a week or so I shall visit him, and help in the establishment of the school. The poor Indians are to be pitied. There is quite a village of them at Galvarino. Most of them are Catholics; that is to say, they were baptized by a Catholic priest. At first the Indians refused to be baptized; but when the priest gave each Indian twenty cents who would submit, they consented to the ceremony. When he returned, after an absence of several weeks, he had the same number to baptize again. After he had baptized about seven or eight times as many as are known to live in that country, he refused to pay any more for the privilege of baptizing them. The Indians would receive the money and spend it for drink.
It is a pity to see how these people spend their money for that which is not bread. Men, women, and children come to the city, and get so drunk that it is necessary to take them home on carts.
While in this condition, some sing, others cry, and still others bellow. I have seen mothers, with their little ones tied to their backs, lying on the ground, not able to walk or talk. The little ones were crying, but the mothers were not able to sense the fact. How often they lie thus in the rain part of the night, and in the heat of the sun at midday. Do you not think that the cries of those little ones have come to the ears of the Lord against those who manufacture and sell alcoholic drink? It seems to me that I should not like to settle their bill in the day of judgment.
When the white people first came here, the Indians were quite numerous; but they have wonderfully diminished in numbers during the last twenty years, all on account of alcoholic drinks sold them by those who ought to be representatives of the Master. The government finally had to prohibit the sale of liquors to them, but it permitted the sale of fermented wines. The Indians become very intoxicated on the wine, and sacrifice their lives and their money. This shows that wine is a mocker.
Some of the people here who know that it is wrong to manufacture and sell strong drink and fermented wine, and that it is wrong to do common labor on the Sabbath, try to substitute for Sabbath-breaking and the wrong of producing and selling fermented wines, the sacrifice of not selling wine on Sunday. What a substitute is this! The Lord can never accept such a substitute. How miserably people treat the Lord! If you remonstrate with them, they feel very much offended, and sometimes insulted.
Nevertheless the work of the Lord is onward in this country. From Peru14Brother Espinoza reports that his meetings are attended by almost twice as many people as they were a short time ago. From Ecuador Brother Davis reports large sales of books that contain the third angel’s message. From Iquique I received a letter from a young man I met on the boat coming to Chile, containing the following:—
“MY DEAR FRIEND: I received your nice and welcome letter. It pleased me very much to get an answer to mine so soon, for you must at times be so much engaged that you can hardly find time to answer all the correspondence which is before you. I must thank you very much for your trouble, and for your interest in my behalf, in sending the reading-matter I received from your office in Valparaiso. I want you to tell me in your next letter how much the price is per annum for The Signs of the Times, as I indeed find very much pleasure in reading the few sent me so kindly through your influence. I have read some parts two or three times. I think they are good.”
There are jewels to be gathered for the Master in all parts of this world. We need now to be on the alert, and do all we can to find the scattered flock. We shall all rejoice together in that great day when the Master shall come to bring his people home.
Missionary Work Among Japan’s Islands
CAPTAIN BICKEL, of the Baptist missionary ship on the Inland Sea of Japan, visits about four hundred small islands where no other Christian work is being done. Among the million of souls found in those islands, Buddhist influence is strong, and filth and immorality abound.
A Church Built in Madagascar
In Madagascar a poor community connected with the Paris Missions has lately built a church. At the dedication an aged Malagasi minister began his prayer thus: “O Lord, thou hast chosen to astonish us in this village to the end of our days! With a people who have nothing thou hast created a church building; on this land, where our fathers offered their senseless worship, thou hast built thy temple! We, the aged ones among the people, have seen many surprising things, but we never dreamed that we should see this!” In every mission field retrospect gives reason for similar astonishment at what the Lord has done.
The Saving Blood and Gospel Opportunity
THE rabbis have a legend that on the passover night, when the Israelites were waiting a signal for their departure from Egypt, there was in one of the Jewish homes a sick girl, who asked her father repeatedly if the blood had been sprinkled on the lintel of the door. Not being satisfied with his oft assurances that it had been properly attended to, she begged him for her sake to go and see. He went outside the door and looked, and no blood was there. He made haste to bring the basin with the branch of hyssop, and had just sprinkled the lintel when a shadow fell upon him. He looked up, and lo! the destroying angel was passing by. The destroying angel is hovering over the lands which have not yet accepted the way of salvation, and over the Christless millions in our own America. But few of these millions have had the saving blood of Jesus sprinkled upon their hearts. What if even one of these precious souls should be lost because you failed to do your part toward making known to him the way of escape? The door of opportunity to give the gospel to the spiritually needy still stands open to you. Will you not enter? Or will you pass it by, waiting for "a more convenient season" that may never come to you? — Selected.
