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Review and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 35.

The Bible Student's Library

Review and Herald

Sep 1, 1904

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Sep 1, 1904

The Bible Student's Library

By Editor

At different times we have advertised small assortments of tracts on various subjects. We have thought it well to publish for the benefit of the readers of the REVIEW a complete list of the Bible Student's Library, comprising the best series of tracts published by the denomination, and covering almost all the points of present truth.
In ordering, it is not necessary to write the name of each tract; simply give the number of the tract and the number of copies desired, thus: 50 No. 42; 100 No. 107, etc.
SPECIAL DISCOUNT: “Bible Students' Library” is put up in packages, fifty one-half cent or twenty-five one cent tracts in a package. By purchasing two packages of the one-half cent tracts or four packages of the one cent, or one of the former and two of the latter, a discount of forty per cent will be received. Two cents per package is to be added for postage when discount is allowed.
No.              Price
  1. Bible Sanctification ............ 10 cts.
  2. Scripture References ............ 2
  3. Samuel and the Witch of Endor ............ 2
  4. The Sufferings of Christ ............ 2
  5. Christ in the Old Testament ............ 1
  6. The Seventh Part of Time ............ 2
  7. The Sanctuary and the Judgment ............ 1
  8. The Sabbath in the New Testament ............ 1
  9. The Bible: Its Inspiration and Importance ............ 1
  10. The Present Truth ............ 2
  11. The Two Thrones ............ 2
  12. The Millennium ............ 1½
  13. The First Message of Revelation XIV ............ 1
  14. The Lost Time Question ............ 1
  15. Elihu on the Sabbath ............ 1
  16. Ten Commandments Not Revised ............ 1
  17. Without Excuse ............ ½
  18. Can We Know? ............ ½
  19. Why not Found out Before? ............ ½
  20. The Sabbath and the Law ............ 15
  21. Nature and Obligation of the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment ............ 10
  22. Matthew 24 or the Second Coming of Christ ............ 10
  23. The Sure Foundation and the Keys of the Kingdom ............ 1
  24. The Full Assurance of Faith ............ 1
  25. The Great Day of the Lord ............ 2½
  26. Bible Election ............ 1½
  27. The Old Testament in the New Dispensation ............ 1½
  28. “Jewish” Christians are Israelites Indeed ............ ½
  29. Immortality of the Soul ............ 2
  30. Righteousness, Where Is It, and How Obtained? ............ ½
  31. Christ and His Righteousness ............ 10
  32. The Counterfeit and the Genuine ............ 1
  33. Living by Faith ............ 1
  34. Bible Questions and Answers Concerning Man ............ 1
  35. The Talents ............ 1
  36. Baptism: Its Significance ............ 1
  37. Sunday: Origin of Its Observance in the Christian Church ............ 10
No.              Price
  1. God's Message for To-day ............ ½
  2. Angels: Their Nature and Ministry ............ 15
  3. Evidences of Acceptance with God ............ ½
  4. Justification, Regeneration, Sanctification ............ 1
  5. A Foundation Stone of the Temporal Millennium ............ ½
  6. The Bible Doctrine of the Trinity ............ 1
  7. Peter's Denial of Christ ............ ½
  8. From Sabbath to Sunday ............ ½
  9. The Sun of Righteousness ............ 10
  10. Prediction, Interpretation, Fulfilment ............ 1
  11. Seducing Spirits ............ ½
  12. The Rest that Remains for the People of God ............ ½
  13. Should Christians Be Members of Secret Societies? Mrs. E. G. White ............ 1½
  14. Justified by Faith. By Mrs. E. G. White ............ 1
  15. The Way to Christ. By Mrs. E. G. White ............ 1
  16. Who Changed the Sabbath? ............ 1½
  17. Life: Its Source and Purpose ............ 10
  18. Tormented Forever and Ever ............ 1
  19. Spiritualism: Its Source and Character ............ 1
  20. The Christian Sabbath ............ 2
  21. The Identical Seventh Day ............ 1
  22. Waymarks to the Holy City ............ 1
  23. Prophetic Lights (illustrated) 180 pp. ............ 30
  24. Christ Tempted as We Are ............ 1
  25. The Kingdom of Christ: Its Nature and Subjects. When and How Established ............ 1
  26. The Temporal Millennium ............ 1½
  27. Perfection of the Law of God ............ 1½
  28. Manner of Christ's Coming ............ 1
  29. The Privilege of Prayer ............ 1
  30. Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King ............ 1
  31. Christ Our Advocate, His Ministry in the True Tabernacle (illustrated) ............ 10
  32. The Sure Word of Prophecy (illustrated) ............ 10
No.              Price
  1. Righteousness ............ 1
  2. The Lord's Day the Test of the Ages (illustrated) ............ 10
  3. Honor Due to God (revised) ............ 10
  4. The Millennial Age ............ 1
  5. The New Testament Sabbath, Illustrated ............ 1
  6. America's Crisis (illustrated) ............ 2
  7. Saints' Inheritance ............ 10
  8. Truth for the Times ............ 1
  9. Eastern Question ............ 14
  10. Will a Man Rob God? ............ 10
  11. Rich Man and Lazarus ............ 1
  12. Home Missionary Work. By Mrs. E. G. White ............ 2
  13. From Glory to Glory ............ 1½
  14. Rome's Arraignment of Sabbath Breakers ............ 1
  15. The Alarm of War ............ 2
  16. Sabbath in the Greek ............ ½
  17. Wonders of the Nineteenth Century ............ 2
  18. Spiritual Gifts ............ 2½
  19. Seal of God and Its Counterfeit ............ 2
  20. Natural Food of Man ............ 25
  21. Christian Patriotism ............ 10
  22. Marshaling of the Nations ............ 10
  23. Glad Tidings (Study of Galatians) ............ 25
  24. Prophetic Gift in the Gospel Church ............ 15
  25. The Fulness of Jew and Gentile ............ ½
  26. Relation of the Law and Gospel ............ 1½
  27. Miracles and Delusions ............ 15
  28. Babylon Is Fallen ............ 1½
  29. An Appeal to Baptists ............ 1
  30. Catholic Doctrine. How I Found the True Faith ............ ½
  31. The Two Laws ............ 10
  32. We Would See Jesus ............ 1
  33. Signs of Our Times ............ 1
  34. Remedy for Present-Day “Isms” ............ 1
  35. What Do These Things Mean? ............ 1
  36. “Is Sunday the True Sabbath of God; Reply to Gamble.” ............ 10
  37. Perpetuity of the Law ............ 1
  38. Why the Earth Was Made ............ ½
  39. Suggestions for Missionary Conventions ............ 1½
  40. Modern Mysteries ............ 15

A Simple Way to Use Tracts

It is said that time and tide wait for no man. Nevertheless men must wait for one another, be it at the railway station, doctor's or dentist's office, barbershop, hotel, etc., and the curiosity of persons compelled to stop at such places will invariably lead them to inspect the surroundings. Why not, therefore, place tract racks in these places where they will come under their notice? You will do a double good: make the time pass quickly and introduce the reader to “present truth.” This tract rack is made of strong oak-grained straw board in imitation of wood and folds up so that it can be sent safely by mail. By simply folding in the ends and fastening with two pins it is ready for use. It is sufficiently large to accommodate a quantity of from four to six different kinds of tracts—sufficient to place in any one place.
The Simplicity Tract Rack, 20 cts. each, postpaid.
REVIEW AND HERALD PACIFIC PRESS SOUTHERN PUBLISHING ASSN

Editorial

By Editor

It Will Stand

THE foundation which was laid with much prayer and earnest study of the Word of God in the early days of this message will stand the test. When the time came for the closing work of the gospel, and for the final warning to be given, the Lord revealed the truth to those whom he raised up to lead out in this movement. They did not follow “cunningly devised fables.” The main positions then taken have endured the scorn and bitter opposition of more than fifty years, and they were never so clear as to-day. The light has increased, and the breadth and fulness of the message have been perceived with greater distinctness, but the essential features of the truth, as brought out by the pioneers of this denomination, have remained unchanged. Those who have been connected with this movement from the beginning know that this is true. At the same time this message is not a mere creed handed down to us by those who made it. The truth lives and grows, and by its own inherent power it is winning victories in every land, but it is the same threefold message of the everlasting gospel as was committed to this people in the early days. There will be an experience of further light and greatly increased power for us, but it will not be brought in by discarding the fundamental doctrines which have made us what we are, and by adopting the philosophy of modern times. We can safely build upon the old foundation, “Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner-stone.” It will stand the test.

The Triumphs of Faith

“What will ye that I should do unto you?” said Jesus to the blind men of Jericho. “Lord, that we may receive our sight,” was the reply. “Believe ye that I am able to do this?” was the inquiry. “Yea, Lord,” was the answer. And he said, “According to your faith be it done unto you,” and immediately they received their sight.
In this answer to the blind men, Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, laid down, not the logical definition of faith, but the law of faith for the Christian. “According to your faith be it done unto you.” Christian experience governed by faith, Christian experience dependent upon faith, the measure of Christian experience dependent upon the measure of faith, obstacles met and overcome according to faith, victories gained according to faith,—“According to your faith be it done unto you.” And nowhere in the Scripture, so far as I know, do we have what might be termed a logical definition of the nature of faith, an analysis of faith in the abstract; but we do have a very direct statement concerning faith in experience, and it is that familiar scripture, the first verse of the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews:—
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proving [or test] of things not seen.” Things hoped for,—faith is the assurance of such things; the unseen,—faith is the conviction or the test, the proving, of them.
That is to say, as by touch or by sight we convince ourselves of the reality of things seen, so faith is that spiritual sense by which we convince ourselves of the reality of things unseen. As with these senses we deal with the things that are seen, by this sense of faith, this spiritual sense, we deal with the things that are unseen. As we prove to our mind’s satisfaction the existence, the reality, of things seen, because we can touch, we can see, we can examine them, so faith convinces the mind of the reality of things unseen, and enables us to deal with the unseen things with the same assurance as these other senses enable us to deal with things which are seen.
Faith brings assurance of things notyet fully realized. Faith brings to us the proof, the test, of things unseen. So faith is that sense through which we deal, as it were at long range, with things yet future, and with things near at hand, yet unseen. Faith is not merely imagination. There is a vast difference between that vivid imagination which sees many things, and that genuine faith which sees unseen things which really do exist.
Faith deals not with unreal things, but with real things revealed through the Word. What God says, faith accepts. The unseen things which are revealed in the Word of God, faith deals with, as being real; and the Christian is therefore able to deal with two worlds. He is none the less able to deal with the things that are seen; rather he is better fitted to deal intelligently with them. The Christian, believing the Word, resting upon the revelations which God has given, deals with the same assurance with the things unseen as with the things seen; and because all things unseen, both of the past and of the future, are so intimately associated with the present, in the experience of men, faith teaches us better how to deal with things in the present, because it brings to our understanding things that are past and things that are future; that is, faith gives us God’s standpoint from which to view things. Faith deals with things in the light of truth, when all the glories that are to be revealed shall be revealed; when everything is judged in the light of God and the future world, rather than in the light of man and the present world.
And having given to us in this first verse such a brief statement concerning the experience of faith, this chapter then illustrates this by dealing with various cases. Note the catalogue in this whole chapter: “By faith we understand.” We must understand through faith, not through sight. But the particular thing is that the world was made of things which do not appear; but the Christian understands through the Word of God things incapable of being understood without the Word of God.
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice.” “By faith Enoch was translated.” “By faith Noah, being warned of God concerning things not seen as yet, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.” “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out unto a place which he was to receive for an inheritance.”
How he obeyed is particularly set forth: “He obeyed to go out.” But that one thought should be emphasized: “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out.”
This suggests the thought that the victories of faith, the triumphs of faith, are inseparably connected with obedience. All these illustrations of faith in this whole chapter, when examined, will be found to rest upon the direct instruction which God had given to these men. God commanded, they obeyed: God told them what to do, they followed his instruction; they lived by faith, they obeyed by faith, their obedience was the obedience of faith; and their obedience to God’s command, even when it seemed contrary to human reason, opened the way for these triumphs of faith that are recorded here.
When Abraham was called to leave kindred, home, all, and go out into a place which he knew not, he obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went, only knowing that it was God who called him to go.
So with Noah when he was commanded to build an ark in the face of ridicule and unbelief; when he was told to build an ark for the saving of his house, he obeyed, and in obeying he became a preacher of righteousness; in obeying, he condemned the world, and saved his own house, who believed with him.
So by faith Abraham when he was called, obeyed. And so the catalogue goes on: “By faith even Sarah;” “by faith Isaac;” “by faith Jacob;” “by faith Joseph.”
Now, we come to a special experience to which I wish to direct more than passing attention. “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a goodly child; and they were not afraid of the king’s commandment. By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; choosing rather to be evil entreated with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; accounting the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: for he looked unto the recompense of reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the first-born should not touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were swallowed up. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been compassed about for seven days. By faith Rahab the harlot perished not with them that were disobedient, having received the spies with peace.”
You recall the record of which this is a mere brief outline. You remember it is simply a record of experience. It does not tell us there of the faith of those who had these experiences. It merely gives us the record of the experience. It remains for this chapter to tell us that all that was the experience of faith.
Now, as these experiences were in themselves types of our individual experience, written for our instruction, and especially as this whole chapter on faith is introduced by the exhortation not to cast away our confidence, in view of the near coming of our Lord, I wish to call your attention somewhat particularly to this brief catalogue.
Begin with the experience in leaving Egypt. What did it mean to Moses when he decided not to take the throne that was coming to him, but rather chose to go out with his brethren, as the record says?
Moses, the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, was only one step from the throne. The children of Israel were a race of slaves in bondage; Moses turned his back upon the throne of Egypt, that he might join himself with those who were the slaves of the king of Egypt. And why?—The record gives very briefly, but in a very full sense, the real meaning: “Choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God.” Why did he go out unto his brethren?—Because his brethren, although they were the slaves of the king, were the people of God. Why did he turn his back upon the prospects in Egypt, to join himself to the people of God?—Because when he joined himself with the people of God, through faith in God he joined himself with God. It means, then, that Moses chose rather the service of God than the service of the king of Egypt. It means that he chose the kingdom of God rather than the kingdom of Egypt. But that which enabled him to do so, which enabled him to see in the despised people the people of God, and that enabled him to see in the outcome of their experience the triumphs of the kingdom of God, was his faith in God. And so it was faith that led him to choose what faith could enable him to see; that was the unseen kingdom of God rather than the seen kingdom of Egypt. He counted the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. A reproach was on one hand, the treasures of Egypt on the other; and Moses, the man of God, chose reproach. Why?—Because the reproach was the reproach of Christ, and because by accepting the reproach of Christ, he accepted all that belonged with Christ; because with the reproach of Christ he gained the whole treasure of the kingdom of Christ.
But what enabled him to see in that time, in the reproach of Christ, the fulness of the blessing of Christ?—Only faith, which enabled him to deal with the unseen; for he looked unto the recompense of reward.
(To be continued)

Power for Victory

THE gospel of Christ is distinguished from every false gospel and from every mere system of ethics by the fact that it is itself power to the man of faith,—“the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” In behalf of fallen humanity this power was revealed in the flesh in the person of Jesus, Son of God and Son of man, in order that it might be revealed in the flesh of every one who is willing to receive it and submit to its working. “He came to the world to display the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power. God was manifested in him that he might be manifested in them. Jesus revealed no qualities, and exercised no powers, that men may not have through faith in him. His perfect humanity is that which all his followers may possess, if they will be in subjection to God as he was.” What a wonderful provision is this! Did Jesus say at the close of his earthly experience, “I have overcome the world”? His victory made the same victory possible for the humblest member of the human family who will lay hold upon it with an unflinching faith. O soul, weary and tempest tossed, the sport of the enemy, understand the glorious privilege provided for you in the gift of Jesus! Do you lack wisdom to make the daily choices in a life of perplexity? Ask for it in faith. “Those who decide to do nothing in any line that will displease God, will know, after presenting their case before him, just what course to pursue.” Do you lack the power necessary to carry out the choice which you have already made? To those who desire power for victorious service the promise is, “Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be my witnesses.” It is through faith that we receive, and it is through faith that we retain, this power for victorious service.
“Against the foe in vales below, Let all our strength be hurled; Faith is the victory, we know, That overcomes the world!”
“Faith is the victory, O, glorious victory! That overcomes the world.”

The Blessed Hope of Christ’s Appearing

“THE blessed hope of the second appearing of Christ, with its solemn realities, needs to be often presented to the people. Looking for the soon appearing of our Lord will lead us to regard earthly things as emptiness and nothing.”

A Dialogue

PANTHEIST.—Do you not believe that God is everywhere?
CHRISTIAN.—Are you speaking from the standpoint of the pantheist or from the standpoint of the Christian?
P.—What difference does that make?
C.—It makes much difference.
P.—Will you explain yourself?
C.—When the pantheist says, “God is everywhere,” he means that God is an essence pervading everything, and not a personal being with any definite dwelling-place. This is not the teaching of the Bible concerning the omnipresence of the true God.
P.—But if you believe in the omnipresence of God, do you not believe in the immanence of God?
C.—No, not in the sense in which that phrase “the immanence of God” is now used. It is now a technical expression in theological discussion to which a special meaning is attached.
P.—But in professedly Christian writings I have read about the Bible truth of the immanence of God.
C.—Very likely, but I am sorry to say that the essential principles of your pantheistic philosophy seem to have been accepted by some who profess to believe the Bible, and they have adopted certain phrases in which they express their so-called “New Thought.” This is greatly confusing the minds of those who do not carefully distinguish between the truth of the Bible and a speculative explanation of that truth.
P.—Then you do not believe in “the immanent God”?
C.—Most certainly not. But it does not follow that I believe in what some have called “an absentee God.” Neither of these phrases properly expresses the true teaching of the Bible concerning God and creation.
P.—But if you really believe in the omnipresence of God, you surely believe in the universal presence. Does not your Bible say that he is “all and in all”?
C.—Your quotation is not exactly correct. The statement of the Scripture is, “One God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.” Your way of quoting the text gives it a pantheistic turn which is not justifiable, although you use words found in the text. Furthermore, that expression, “the universal presence,” like the other expression, “the immanence of God,” has come to have a special meaning in recent discussions of this question, and it is therefore not the equivalent of “the omnipresence of God.” It is the half-way step between the Bible truth and the pantheistic idea that God is simply “a universal Presence.”
P.—Will you state then what you do believe about this matter?
C.—I believe the Bible revelation about God. He is represented as a personal being who has a dwelling-place where he is found in a sense in which he is not found in any other place. At the same time the Bible teaches that he is everywhere present. I accept both of these truths, but I do not dwell exclusively upon the idea of a definite dwelling-place in heaven so as to shut him away from the earth and make him “an absentee God,” neither do I dwell exclusively upon the idea of his omnipresence so as to make him an essence dissipated through all things, simply “a universal Presence.” He who accepts both of these truths and gives to each its due prominence will not regard creation simply as a vast machine under the control of unchangeable laws, apart from the direct control of God, neither will he regard God as simply the Power in nature.
P.—But you will certainly acknowledge that we can see the evidence of the presence of God all about us?
C.—Yes; “the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity.”
P.—And should we not worship God wherever we discern the evidence of his presence?
C.—Your question shows that you do not clearly appreciate the Christian conception of the worship of the God of the Bible. To worship God is to do more than to recognize the evidence of his presence. We should live in the constant recognition of his presence, but in the worship of God we must deal with a personal being in the revelation of himself which he has made in his Son Jesus Christ. “God’s handiwork in nature is not God himself in nature.” “As a personal being, God has revealed himself in his Son.” “Had God desired to be represented as dwelling personally in the things of nature,—in the flower, the tree, the spire of grass,—would not Christ have spoken of this to his disciples when he was on the earth? But never in the teaching of Christ is God thus spoken of.” But Christ said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” In Christ alone is the perfect revelation of God, and if our worship is acceptable to him, it must be directed to a personal God in his dwelling-place in heaven, and it must be offered in and through the merits of our personal mediator, Jesus the Son of God.
P.—Then you worship God as revealed in Christ.
C.—Yes.
P.—Then when you look for Christ in the flesh, Christ in the other man, will you not see him wherever you look, and will you not always be beholding him and worshiping him?
C.—You seem determined to give a pantheistic turn to the teaching of the Bible, but I can not accept your philosophy. In the first place, Christ is not revealed in every man so that I can behold him wherever I look, although he did identify himself with human nature; and in the second place, the only sufficient revelation of God for worship was made in Jesus of Nazareth, and not in any other man, even though Christ does dwell in the heart of that man.
P.—I think I understand your position more clearly as the result of our conversation. If all who claim to believe the Bible should hold to its teachings as you have presented them, I fear that we should not make so much headway in disseminating our doctrine among professedly Christian people.

Guarding Against Iniquity Among Us

ACCORDING to the Scripture the last days are to be days of abounding iniquity, and “because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” There is much said to-day about the iniquity that abounds in the world, and about the worldliness that has come into the churches. But this is not the iniquity that most concerns us and that we need to be most on our guard against. It is the iniquity that comes nearest us that is most apt to cause us spiritual injury. It is when we discover iniquity in some one we have had confidence in as a spiritual leader and teacher of the people, some one with whom we have been perhaps associated, and to whom we ourselves have looked, that our moral nature receives the severest shock, and the temptation comes to us to doubt that which before we held in unquestioning confidence. Such experiences have come to many among Seventh-day Adventists, and in many cases the cooling of their love for the truth has been the result, followed soon by its entire extinction.
We must be prepared in these days for the disclosure of iniquity where we least expect it. If we make any man our pattern and our guide, we shall sooner or later meet with an experience that will test the foundation on which we are standing. We must be sure that we are not depending on any human leader even unconsciously to ourselves. No one will ever lose his love and separate from the truth while he is looking wholly to Jesus as the author and finisher of his faith. He shall behold no unrighteousness, no hypocrisy, no inconsistency there. No one will be safe who holds the truth without holding Jesus as the truth. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Salvation can come to us only as followers of him.

Comfort In Need

By Anna D. Walker

WHEN doubts and fears upon me press, And care doth add her strain and stress, And they attend me, grief and woe, And creature comforts are laid low, I turn me to the book of life, Amid the heat of battle strife; And there with joyful hope I read, “God will supply your every need.”
At once I count the promise mine; It bids my heart to glow and shine; 'Tis written by the Almighty hand That doth the heaven and earth command; That keeps the planets in their course, And gives the sun his heat and force, And rules the raging, restless sea, And holds it in its boundary.
Now is my soul all hushed and still, My Promiser will sure fulfil: He has the will, he has the power, And he will keep me hour by hour— Will give me strength for all the way, Be light by night, be joy by day; How can I faint when this I read, “God will supply your every need”?
—Anna D. Walker, in Christian Work.

The Huntsville School

By Ellen G. White

A Visit to the South—No. 4

The Huntsville School

MRS. E. G. WHITE
MONDAY morning, July 20, I went from Graysville to Huntsville. We found the school situated in a beautiful country place. In the school farm there are more than three hundred acres of land, a large part of which is under cultivation.
Several years ago Brother S. M. Jacobs was in charge of the farm, and under his care it made great improvement. He set out a peach and plum orchard, and other fruit trees. Brother and Sister Jacobs left Huntsville about three years ago, and since then the farm has not been so well cared for. We see in the land promise of a much larger return than it now gives, were its managers given the help they need.
Brother Jacobs put forth most earnest, disinterested efforts, but he was not given the help that his strength demanded. Sister Jacobs also worked too hard, and when her health began to give way, they decided to leave Huntsville, and go to some place where the strain would not be so heavy. Had they then been furnished with efficient helpers, and with means to make the needed improvements, the advancement made would have given courage to Brother Jacobs, to the students, and to our people everywhere. But the means that ought to have gone to Huntsville did not go, and we see the result in the present showing.
Recently the question was asked me, “Would it not be well to sell the school land at Huntsville, and buy a smaller place?” Instruction was given me that this farm must not be sold; that the situation possesses many advantages for the carrying forward of a colored school. It would take years to build up in a new place the work that has been done at Huntsville. The Lord’s money was invested in the Huntsville school farm, to provide a place for the education of colored students. The General Conference gave this land to the Southern work, and the Lord has shown me what this school may become, and what those may become who go there for instruction, if his plans are followed.
In order that the school may advance as it should, money is needed, and sound, intelligent generalship. Things are to be well kept up, and the school is to give evidence that Seventh-day Adventists mean to make a success of whatever they undertake.
The facilities necessary for the success of the school must be provided. At present the facilities are very meager. A small building should be put up, in which the students can be taught how to care for one another in times of sickness. There has been a nurse at the school to look after the students when they were sick; but no facilities have been provided. This has made the work very discouraging.
The students are to be given a training in those lines of work that will help them to be successful laborers for Christ. They are to be taught to be separate from the customs and practises of the world. They are to be taught how to present the truth for this time, and how to work with the hands and with the head to win their daily bread, that they may go forth to teach their own people. They are to be taught to appreciate the school as a place in which they are given opportunity to obtain a training for service.
Wise plans are to be laid for the cultivation of the land. The students are to be given a practical education in agriculture. This education will be of inestimable value to them in their future work. Thorough work is to be done in cultivating the land, and from this the students are to learn how necessary it is to do thorough work in cultivating the garden of the heart.
The man who takes charge of the Huntsville school should know how to govern himself and how to govern others. The Bible teacher should be a man who can teach the students how to present the truths of the Word of God in public, and how to do house-to-house work. The business affairs of the farm are to be wisely and carefully managed.
The teachers should constantly seek wisdom from on high, that they may be kept from making mistakes. They should give careful attention to their work, that each student may be prepared for the line of service to which he is best adapted. All are to be prepared to serve faithfully in some capacity. Teachers and students are to co-operate in doing their best. The constant effort of the teachers should be to make the students see the importance of constantly rising higher and still higher.
The leading, controlling influence in the school is to be faithfulness in that which is least. Thus the students will be prepared to be faithful in greater things. Each student is to take himself in hand, and with God’s help overcome the faults that mar his character. And he is to show an earnest, unselfish interest in the welfare of the school. If he sees a loose board in a walk or a loose paling on the fence, let him at once get a hammer and nails, and make the needed repairs. Nothing in the house or about the premises is to be allowed to present a slack, dilapidated appearance. The wagons and harnesses should be properly cared for and frequently examined and repaired. When harnesses and wagons are sent out in a dilapidated condition, human life is endangered.
These little things are of much more importance than many suppose in the education of students. Business men will notice the appearance of the wagons and harnesses, and will form their opinions accordingly. And more than this, if students are allowed to go through school with slack, shiftless habits, their education will not be worth half as much as it would be if they were taught to be faithful in all they do. “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.” Little things needing attention, yet left for days and weeks, until they become an unsightly neglect, teach the students lessons that will cling to them for a lifetime, greatly hindering them in their work. Such an example is demoralizing, and students whose education is after this order are not needed in the world.
Should not our God be served most faithfully? We are called upon as teachers to rise up with firm purpose of heart, and discipline ourselves with sternness and vigor to habits of order and thoroughness. All that our hands find to do is to be well done. We have been bought with a price, even the blood of the Son of God, and all that we do is to honor and glorify our Redeemer. We are to work in partnership with Christ, as verily as Christ works in partnership with the Father. We are to lay aside every weight, “and the sin that doth so easily beset,” that we may follow our Lord with full purpose of heart.
The soul suffers a great loss when duties are not faithfully performed, when habits of negligence and carelessness are allowed to rule the life. Faithfulness and unselfishness are to control all that we do. When the soul is left uncleansed, when selfish aims are allowed to control, the enemy comes in, leading the mind to carry out unholy devices and to work for selfish advantage, regardless of results.
But he who makes Christ first and last and best in everything will not work for selfish purposes. Unselfishness will be revealed in every act. The peace ofChrist can not abide in the heart of a man in whose life self is the mainspring of action. Such a one may hold the theories of truth, but unless he brings himself into harmony with the requirements of God’s Word, giving up all his ambitions and desires for the will, and way of Christ, he strives without purpose; for God can not bless him. He halts between two opinions, constantly vacillating between Christ and the world. It is like some one striving for the mastery, yet cumbering himself by clinging to heavy weights.
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