Earlier text: SAVED BY FAMILIESTHE “RETURN OF THE JEWS.”
“For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.” It will be of interest to notice the scriptures which discuss the great truth that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile. Here is one passage of divine argument as to the relative standing, and the true standing, of the Jews and the Gentiles:— “Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God? for the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. “For circumcision [being a Jew] verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision [the Gentile] keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision [the Gentile] which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee [the Jew], who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Rom. 2 : 17–29. Now, how would it be possible more forcibly to show that there is not, and can not be, any sort of difference between Jew and Gentile; for the whole question of the relation of either to God, turns upon character. “There is no respect of persons with God;” there is respect of character. And the sole standard of character is the righteousness of God, which is expressed in his law. And when a Jew disregards the law of God, in character he is a Gentile, and in person he is as a Gentile. And when a Gentile keeps the righteousness of the law, and so fulfills the law, he becomes in character a true Jew, and in person is as a Jew. This because being truly a Jew consists altogether in character, in the true circumcision “of the heart, in the spirit,” which is, indeed, “the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh,” and having the love of God shed abroad in the heart, which love is manifested in the keeping of his commandments. Since, then, when a Jew according to the flesh, wanders from God, and by transgression of the law of God his circumcision is made uncircumcision, and he becomes a Gentile in character, and as a Gentile in person; and when a Gentile comes to God, and his uncircumcision becomes circumcision, and he becomes in character truly a Jew, and in person is as a Jew, what is this but a return—a true return—of the Jew? And even so says the Scripture, in another place: “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. “That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” Rom. 9 : 6–8,137And, “WE, brethren [Galatians—Gentiles], as Isaac was, are the children of promise. “But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” Gal. 4 : 28–30. And when the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman, how much less shall he be heir above the son of the freewoman, as the theory of the “Return of the Jews” represents him! And all this is simply to say again that the only way of return for the Jews is the way of the faith of Jesus Christ, the way of the truth of the one gospel of Christ, the way of return of all sinners alike: even as is demonstrated over and over in the books of Galatians, Romans, and Hebrews especially, as it is also in the other books of the New Testament, as well as in the very essence of the whole plan of the gospel itself. WHAT ARE WE TO DO BY FAITH?
By Uriah Smith
According to the Scriptures, everything. One passage says, “We walk by faith;” another says, “Now the just shall live by faith;” and of the ancient worthies it is recorded, “These all died in faith,” or, as the margin reads, “According to faith;” and to live, walk, and die covers pretty much all the ground. “Now,” says the apostle, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” This is the Bible’s brief and comprehensive definition of faith; and this has called forth some thoughts on the subject from devout men, which are worthy of consideration. A. Vinet, D. D., and E. M. Goulbourn, D. D., have spoken most instructively on this subject. Mr. Vinet says: “The first of the gifts of the new covenant is faith. The property of faith is to attach itself before all and above all, to what God has said, be it command, instruction, or promise. To believe is to repose entirely on the infallibility and faithfulness of God. It is to place his testimony above all kinds of certainty or guarantee. It is to regard every word proceeding from his mouth as more substantial and real than the reality itself. It is, in practice, to regard duty, in the form in which God has enjoined it, as the clearest and most imperative of all obligations. It is, consequently, to go forward with unflinching eye, and meet the coming events as we would meet God himself. It is to renounce the tyrannical domination of the senses, and uniformly look to the foundation, the very essence of the truth, instead of looking to the external accidents or signs. It is to prefer the invisible, which is eternal, to the visible, which passes away; and the possession of the sovereign good to the sensible signs of its presence.” Mr. Goulbourn, in his “Pursuit of Holiness,” speaking of the supreme reason we have to exercise faith in God, says: “Throw into one great sum total, all that you have ever experienced, or can conceive of, of wisdom and power, the most far-sighted discernment of results, with most absolute control over them, the keenest intuition into character, with every conceivable influence for molding it,—think of a providence not of this earth, which no opposition can surprise, and no device counterplot, calmly and serenely evolving its designs from the perverse agencies of man, and turning the very arm which is raised to defeat it, into a minister of his will,—imagine a being so wonderfully endowed that the whole keyboard of nature, providence, and the human heart, lies under his hand, and, smitten by his mystic fingers, gives forth the harmony which pleases him; and then invest him, in your conception, with an intensity of love which is not discouraged by the deepest moral degradation in its object, and which clings to the person of the sinner, with unchilled devotion, even while it condemns his sin with an abhorrence no less than infinite,—imagine such a being, and imagine him accessible to man, and you imagine one to whom, in their hour of need, all the world, unless, indeed, the spell of some deadly fascination were laid upon them, would be resorting continually for guidance, help, and comfort. But this is no imagination; it is a reality. God is such a Being as we have labored to describe. He not only permits but invites, not only invites but commands, the approach to him of every comer.” The declaration that “the just shall live by faith,” is called “the great Pauline watchword;” and as the eleventh of Hebrews is the great mine from which we draw examples of the workings and the results of faith, let us glance briefly at the record, and note the variety and extent of its operations. To the Hebrews, to whom Paul wrote, these heroes and martyrs to whom the apostle refers, were a pride and glory; and to turn it all to good account, Paul had only to show that their fortitude and heroism were but the outcome of their faith; and as the same conditions exist to the end of time, we can make these same examples an inspiration to ourselves. Faith, or this firm confidence of which the apostle speaks, makes that which is desired and hoped for, the same as if, in actual substance, it was already present. Out of the midst of the present, faith10reaches over into the future; from the seen over to the unseen; and the unseen becomes so sure, on God’s authority, that those things stand out before us, palpable and real, and become as influential upon our affections and movements as are the material objects of our senses. Such faith can not be called fancy; it is self-evidence. By faith we lay hold of the great facts of creation, and understand that the things which our senses apprehend were not made out of themselves; that is, the world was not made out of matter that had pre-existed from all eternity. But the matter itself was then brought into existence by the fiat of the Almighty. How this thought must elevate and enlarge every one’s ideas of the creative power. By faith we learn how to worship; how to look upon sacrifices, as illustrated in the course of Abel. There is no object nor efficiency in sacrifices, except as they show forth the Mediator, through whom, as slain, we draw nigh to God. This is why Abel’s offering was acceptable to God, and Cain’s was not. Abel’s offering contained blood, without which is no remission, and pointed forward to the Lamb that was in due time to be offered for the sins of the world. Cain’s offering could just as well have been made while the world was in a state of innocence. It recognized no guilt, and hence no need of a mediator. It was a daring act of unbelief, and opposition to God, and was doubtless so designed. Abel took God at his word, perceived the awful breach made by sin; and so he brought a sacrifice adapted to make atonement, thus offering, through faith in the unseen Lamb, a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. Faith gives a tongue to righteous example for all coming time; and so Paul adds that Abel, though “dead, yet speaketh.” Faith has to do with our separation from the world, as in the case of Enoch. It leads us to make preparation for judgments to come, as in the case of Noah. It leads us to forsake, if need be, home and kindred, and go forth, not knowing whither, as in the case of Abraham, who thus became not only the father of the faithful, but the father of the missionary spirit and movements. It teaches us to have no object of affection above God, but to be willing to surrender all to the Lord, as when the patriarch, prefiguring the action of the Father in the gift of his Son, offered up his only son, Isaac. It moves us to transfer our hopes, interests, affections, and treasures to a land that is described as a “better country,” where the eye of faith beholds “a city which hath foundations,” whose builder and maker is the One whose hand fashioned the world itself. In the light of this faith the future absorbs all the expectations of the soul, attracts all the gaze. There faith locates the coveted blessings, as in the case of Jacob blessing the children of Joseph: it enters the domestic circle, and leads to the protection and care of infants, as in the case of Moses; decides our choice between the world and greatness that belongs to the world, on the one hand, and poverty and reproach with the people of God on the other, as in the case of this same Moses when he had come to years, and made his own choice in reference to his future course. It leads men to brave the wrath of the mightiest earthly powers, when those powers stand in the way of God’s work, as Moses withstood the power and wrath of Egypt when it said No to the deliverance of the Hebrew people. It leads persons to have a care and regard for the servants of the Lord, as in the case of the woman who sheltered the spies who came from the camp of Israel, and gave them directions that enabled them to evade their enemies. And it fortifies men and women against disaster and defeat, and the pains and sufferings of torture and death, because what it holds out as the ultimate prize is so much greater than all that can be balanced against it that there is no ground for doubt in regard to the choice that should be made. So, in the smallest as well as in the greatest things of life, faith enters in, and should be given control. Faith is the most useful of all the graces for the welfare of man; for without it, it is impossible to please God. It is the root from which springs all living and lasting obedience. “Faith is higher than sight; for it is sight become creative. It sees in darkness, is certain of impossibilities, grapples with, and forces, the blank, dark, empty nothingness, into substance, and consistency, and reality, and life. It is the reflection, almost too bright for frail human nature, of the divine power that can create ex nihilo.”—Illingworth, Sermons. Faith implies an effort, a movement of the will toward God. It is not idle, but active. It asks, “What wilt thou have me to do?” Praise is valueless except it express faith; and in every act of worship and service “whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” U. S. “WHEREFORE then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions.” From the evidences presented in last week’s study in Galatians it is perfectly plain that the law of God, the ten commandments, in written form, both on tables of stone and as drawn out in its principles in the statutes and judgments of the “additional directions given to Moses,” was spoken, was given, was added, because of the transgressions of men. As men went further into darkness, the Lord followed them with added efforts, and with further details, to bring them to the light. Indeed, they went so far into transgressions and darkness that the Lord actually followed them so far as to give them “statutes that were not good.” The whole story is told in the following passage:— The law of God existed before man was created. The angels were governed by it. Satan fell because he transgressed the principles of God’s government. After Adam and Eve were created, God made known to them his law. It was not then written, but was rehearsed to them by Jehovah. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment was instituted in Eden. After God had made the world, and created man upon the earth, he made the Sabbath for man. After Adam’s sin and fall, nothing was taken from the law of God. The principles of the ten commandments existed before the fall, and were of a character suited to the condition of a holy order of beings. After the fall, the principles of those precepts were not changed, but additional precepts were given to meet man in his fallen state. Adam taught his descendants the law of God, which law was handed down to the faithful through successive generations. The continual transgression of God’s law called for a flood of waters upon the earth. The law was preserved by Noah and his family, who for right-doing were saved in the ark by a miracle of God. Noah taught his descendants the ten commandments. The Lord preserved a people for himself from Adam down, in whose hearts was his law. He says of Abraham, He “obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” . . . If the descendants of Abraham had kept separate from other nations, they would not have been seduced into idolatry. . . . There were but a few families that first went down into Egypt. These increased to a great multitude. Some were careful to instruct their children in the law of God; but many of the Israelites had witnessed so much idolatry that they had confused ideas of God’s law. . . . To leave them without excuse, the Lord himself condescended to come down upon Sinai, enshrouded in glory, and surrounded by his angels, and in a most sublime and awful manner made known his law of ten commandments. He did not trust them to be taught by any one, not even his angels, but spoke his law with an audible voice in the hearing of all the people. He did not, even then, trust them to the short memory of a people who were prone to forget his requirements, but wrote them with his own holy finger upon tables of stone. He would remove from them all possibility of mingling with his holy precepts any tradition, or of confusing his requirements with the practices of men. He then came still closer to his people, who were so readily led astray, and would not leave them with merely the ten precepts of the decalogue. He commanded Moses to write, as he should bid him, judgments and laws, giving minute directions in regard to what he required them to perform, and thereby guarded the ten precepts which he had engraved upon the tables of stone. These specific directions and requirements were given to draw erring man to the obedience of the moral law, which he is so prone to transgress. If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved in the ark by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a token or pledge, they would never have gone into idolatry, nor been suffered to go down into Egypt; and there would have been no necessity of God’s proclaiming his law from Sinai, and engraving it upon tables of stone, and guarding it by definite directions in the judgments and statutes given to Moses. Moses wrote these judgments and statutes from the mouth of God while he was with him in the mount. If the people of God had obeyed the principles of the ten commandments, there would have been no need of the specific directions given to Moses, which he wrote in a book, relative to their duty to God and to one another. The definite directions which the Lord gave to Moses in regard to the duty of his people to one another, and to the stranger, are the principles of the ten commandments simplified and given in a definite manner, that they need not err. The Lord said of the children of Israel, “Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.” Because of continual disobedience, the Lord annexed penalties to the transgression of his law, which were not good for the transgressor, or whereby he should not live in his rebellion. By transgressing the law which God had given in such majesty, and amid glory which was unapproachable, the people showed open contempt of the great Lawgiver, and death was the penalty.—“Spirit of Prophecy,” Vol. I, pages 261-265. See also “Patriarchs and Prophets,” chap. 32, pars. 1-4. It is true that the sacrificial system was also given, added, because of transgressions. This is true as to the sacrifices originally, with Adam and Abraham: it is also true of the Levitical system given to Israel in the wilderness. This is also stated in a passage quoted in previous studies, as follows:— A system was then [“after the fall”] established requiring the sacrificing of beasts, to keep before fallen man that which the serpent made Eve believe, that the penalty of disobedience is death. The transgression of God’s law made it necessary for Christ to die a sacrifice, and thus make a way possible for man to escape the penalty, and yet the honor of God’s law be preserved.—“Spirit of Prophecy,” Vol. I, page 261. The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters, the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service. After the completion of the tabernacle, he communicated with Moses from the cloud of glory above the mercy seat, and gave him full directions concerning the system of offerings, and the forms of worship to be maintained in the sanctuary. The ceremonial law was thus given to Moses, and by him written in a book. But the law of ten commandments spoken from Sinai had been written by God himself on the tables of stone, and was sacredly preserved in the ark.—“Patriarchs and Prophets,” pages 364, 365. Thus, of either the moral law or the ceremonial law it is true that it was given, added, because of transgressions. The question then is, Which one is the law pre-eminently referred to in this clause in Gal. 3: 19? And from the specifications already noticed, as to this law having been “ordained . . . in the hand of a mediator,” and the direct association of this text with the speaking of the law of God in Heb. 12: 20 and Deut. 5: 22, it certainly must be the truth that the law which in this passage is pre-eminently intended, is the law of God, the ten commandments, in written form on tables of stone and in the Bible. PLAIN LIVING INSURES GOOD HEALTH IN BABYLON.
By William Warren Prescott
Although the king of Babylon changed the name of Daniel, and gave him the name of Belteshazzar, according to the name of his god; yet Daniel's character remained unchanged, and he continued loyal to the King of heaven and the principles of that kingdom, as is shown by the record. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.” It is clear that Daniel understood the gospel of the kingdom, and how eating and drinking are related to it. He did not ask for a change of diet merely because the food provided for him was different from that to which he had been accustomed, nor because he wished something that would please his palate better. He was acting upon principle. He had learned that “the kingdom of God is within you,” that he was “the temple of the living God,” that “the Spirit [life] of God dwelleth in you,” and that “if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy.” Although he was a captive in the dominion of the king of Babylon, yet he did not forget that God was his king, and that the principles of his kingdom were still to control in his life. The test came upon the question of food and drink. Should he follow the diet prescribed by the king of Babylon, or that prescribed by the King of heaven? The basis upon which he rested his choice reveals the true relationship between food and character, and shows how we may work with God or against him in his plan to restore his image in us, and thus to place us again in dominion over the works of his hands. God created the body as the dwelling-place for the mind, a living temple, “wonderfully made.” The mind was to rule the body, using its members as its servants to do its bidding. Thus was the divine nature revealed in the flesh, and man shared in the dominion with the King of heaven, because he was a member of the royal family, and the royal blood (the life of the King) was in him. He was “crowned with glory and honor,” and was invested with the power of a king in the very character that was given to him. A scepter of righteousness was the scepter of his kingdom. Thus his dominion depended upon his character, and was not an arbitrary gift apart from it. Through the loss of character the dominion was lost; “for all have sinned, and come short of [lack] the glory [character] of God.” Rom. 3:23. And therefore “now we see not yet all things put under him;” Heb. 2:8. It is the work of the gospel to restore to man the kingly character, and thus bring him back to his place of dominion. This is accomplished by the gift of righteousness, the true scepter of the kingdom, “even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” But this righteousness is simply the Lord's own life in its purity, just as it was first imparted to man when God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” To accept the gift of God's righteousness by faith is therefore to accept his life, recognizing it as his life and submitting to it, so that it may be “God which worketh in you both to will and to do.” Now we may co-operate with God in his purpose by accepting this gift of his life as it comes to us in its full strength and purity, or we may work against this purpose by refusing the life altogether, or by putting various hindrances in the way of its working in us. We can not give life; but we can take it. We can not save ourselves; but we can effectually hinder the Lord from saving us. We can not put ourselves upon the throne again, but we can prevent the Lord from putting us there. The body, the home of the mind, “the temple of the Holy Ghost,” has been placed in our care with full instructions from the Creator as to the treatment that we are to give it. So close is the relationship between the mind and the body that they react upon each other, and the condition of one has a marked effect upon the other. In order, therefore, that the body, and the mind through the body, might be properly nourished, God himself in the beginning prescribed a diet, simple yet varied and satisfying, by means of which his own life might be imparted to man. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” Gen. 1:29. This diet is nourishing, but not stimulating; and although the curse of disease and death is upon all things in the earth, yet its effects upon the fruits and grains are so manifest, when they appear at all, that they may readily be avoided. Thus the diet prescribed by the King of heaven for those who are to share with him in the dominion is clean and pure, and can be kept so, even under the curse. It does not rouse nor feed the fires of passion, and thus make it harder to keep under the body and bring it into subjection. It does not impart a tainted life, nor load the system with poisons that have been generated in other living organisms filled with disease. It does not defile the temple of the body. Not so with the diet provided by the king of Babylon. His food is made up of “delicacies,” those mysterious and complicated dishes that tempt the appetite to overindulgence, and bring heavy burdens upon the delicate, living machinery. His wine, instead of being the pure blood of the grape, has been transformed into the fiery liquid that “biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” There is as wide a contrast between the two bills of fare as between the two kingdoms. Daniel understood all this, and so “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank.” Now comes the practical difficulty. In response to Daniel's request that he might not defile himself, the officer in charge says, “I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink.” The test is a plain one. The two kings and the two kingdoms are brought into direct opposition. The servant of the king of Babylon fears his lord the king, and the servant of the King of heaven fears his Lord the King. Shall the principles of the kingdom of Babylon prevail over the principles of the kingdom of heaven? Of course the officer, like many a modern advocate of “a liberal diet,” thinks that the effects of such a way of living as was chosen by Daniel would be very marked at once in faces that would be “worse liking” than the others; and thus he himself would be brought into trouble: for the temper of the king of Babylon is just what might be expected from the nature of his diet; and when he “loses his head” and becomes “angry and very furious,” an offending subordinate is likely to lose his head also. But the Lord has sent Daniel and his companions to Babylon that they might proclaim the gospel of139the kingdom of God in the court of the king, and thus “in all the world for a witness.” They were not arbitrarily chosen for this work. If all the people had been as true to principle as they were, it would not have been necessary to give Jerusalem into the hands of the king of Babylon in order that the gospel of the kingdom might be spread abroad. These young men had the kingdom of God within them, and they knew their King. They believed that the principles of the kingdom were true, and that they would justify themselves whenever they were given an opportunity. They were willing to accept the test suggested by the officer's objection, and to trust God for the result. “Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.” The food that this Hebrew captive asked for himself and his companions was practically what is now considered the proper diet for a prisoner when undergoing punishment—bread and water. Right principles were brought into “confusion” by the king of Babylon, and the best diet was provided for his prisoners when in disgrace; while that which was really the poorest, the most death-dealing, was supplied for his own table. Thus are men persuaded to choose death instead of life, and a stigma is placed upon that which is really good. But God sets his seal to his own principles of right and truth. Life in its simplicity and purity has a greater power to build up than when burdened with a weight of useless or poisonous additions. When the glory of God is had in view in the eating and the drinking, and faith in God and the principles of his kingdom controls the demands of a perverted appetite, then the way is open for the beauty of the Lord to appear upon us, as he works out in form and feature his original idea of a man—“the image of the invisible God.” But of course some will ask if this remarkable change in the appearance of Daniel and his companions was not miraculous rather than the natural result of their diet. But what is a miracle?—It is not the confusion of natural law, but simply the uncovering of natural law, with a more or less evident disregard of the element of time, in order that the working out of God's agencies may be clearly understood. Nature is not simply an impersonal force. Natural laws are only the observed method of God's usual and habitual action in bringing about definite results. When he would emphasize the fact that “power belongeth unto God,” and that he in his own person is behind what are called natural laws, then he sometimes draws aside the curtain, puts cause and effect in their true connection, regardless of the usual time limit, and we have what is termed a miraculous result. So in the experience of Daniel and his companions. The Lord gave the best diet to man in the beginning. The king of Babylon has not improved upon it. When received by faith as the free gift of God's own life, it is designed to make one “fairer and fatter in flesh” than all the children who partake of the Babylonish diet. And thus the gospel of health is preached. The whole question of the kingdom was brought to a test in this case in the matter of the true principles of eating and drinking. Daniel and his companions were steadfast in their loyalty to their King, and God honored their loyalty, and bore unmistakable testimony to the superiority of his own provision for sustaining the life of man over the perversion of that provision by the king of Babylon. The truth is eternal. This lesson is a present one. The failure of the first Adam was revealed in his accepting from the enemy as food that which the Lord had told him would cause death. The children of Israel failed in the same way on their way to the promised land. Christ conquered where man had failed, and thus has assured victory to everyone who will accept it. In these closing days, just before the coming of the King, we are warned against the danger of “surfeiting and drunkenness.” The true gospel of the kingdom is the power of God to give man victory over appetite, to give him self-control, and thus to make him a king indeed, even though he be for a time in the territory of the king of Babylon. The whole experience of Daniel, as recorded in this book that we are studying, grew out of his loyalty to the principles of the kingdom of God, as revealed in this chapter, and is an object lesson for all time. W. W. P. A TRIP THROUGH THE SOUTHERN FIELD.
By S. N. H.
During the last few weeks it has been our privilege to be in every Conference and mission field in the South. As we passed through the South, and became acquainted with the workers, as we did especially at Graysville, Tenn., where were workers representing the entire Southern field, we were deeply impressed with the thought that God has wrought in a marked manner for them, and that there is yet a great work to be done in this part of his vineyard. The Southern field includes nine States; namely, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The western half of Tennessee and Kentucky is formed into the Tennessee River Conference; and Florida is also an organized Conference. Neither of these Conferences is very strong, but both are self-supporting. The remaining territory is under the supervision of, and supported by, the General Conference. The Spirit of Prophecy has spoken several times during the last few years very pointedly concerning this field. It has been presented as the most difficult of any field in the world; yet it is also stated that “there is no more fruitful field than the South. It is the prejudice of the white against the black race that makes this field hard, very hard.” It is such fields that the heart of Christ is drawn out for. Our needs and hopeless condition were what brought him from the courts of heaven to this earth; and those who partake of this spirit most largely are those who are brought into closest fellowship with Christ. A detailed statistical report of the work in the South would be both interesting and profitable to study; but only a general summary of the work accomplished can be given at this time. For nearly twenty-five years the General Conference has been working in various portions of the South. During the last five years an average annual expenditure of over thirty thousand dollars for the mission fields in the South has been made by the General Conference. This may seem to our brethren to be a large sum to spend each year for the Southern field; but when we consider that the territory of the South is about one eighth of the entire country, and that it is a mission field lying within our own borders; and when we compare it with the labor and advance of our Northern Conferences, we are certain that none would conclude that the expense is great in proportion to the importance of the field. We can not see why this field should be passed by as unimportant compared with even foreign fields. The tithe received from the South by the General Conference last year amounted to $9,515.72. The tithe in the two State Conferences was about four thousand dollars. At the close of 1899, in the entire Southern field there were eighteen hundred Sabbath-keepers; fifty-nine churches; thirty-five companies; eighty-two paid laborers; about forty self-supporting workers; thirty-five church schools; and twenty-six church buildings. Of the membership, there are about three hundred and fifteen colored Sabbath-keepers: seven organized colored churches. The average tithe for each member, for the entire Southern district, notwithstanding their poverty, is greater than that of any other district except Australasia and the Pacific Coast; while the tithe per capita of the Cumberland Mission Field exceeds that of any Conference in America. The schools in the South, although working with fewer facilities than those in the North, are free from debt. In proportion to the membership, the South leads the rest of America in its number of church schools. In each State there are from one to five church buildings, free from debt, with scarcely an exception. It is thus seen that the work has gained a permanent foothold in every Southern State. Plans were laid at the district meeting held at Graysville, Tenn., at which over one hundred workers were present, to carry forward the work in the South still more vigorously. May the Lord abundantly bless the work and the workers in the South. Not the least interesting part of our trip through the South was our visit to the mission work being carried on by Elder J. E. White and his co-laborers in the western portion of Mississippi. After the meetings in Graysville, Tenn., and Huntsville, Ala., we came to Yazoo City, Miss., and took up our lodging on the steamer “Morning Star.” Here we were in the immediate field of Elder White. His “parish” extends about one hundred miles on both sides of the Yazoo River from above Yazoo City to the Mississippi River; and along the Mississippi River to Fort Gibson, thirty miles below Vicksburg. An interest has been created in various places along the route of the boat, and companies are situated at four or five places. Schools are established in Lintonia, Wilsonia, and Vicksburg. The work is soon to be placed on a still more permanent basis in this section of Mississippi, by the erection of several plain but commodious structures for the day-schools now established, and for meeting-houses. Our company on the steamer consisted of Elder J. E. White, captain of the boat, with his crew and workers, including Elder F. W. Halladay and his wife; and Elders G. A. Irwin, S. H. Lane, and N. W. Allee, Mrs. Haskell, and myself. We had a quiet, peaceful time. Brother White has secured some land by the riverside, where he cuts and stores his wood for the boat. While en route to Vicksburg, we stopped there to take on wood, and this gave each of the party exercise in carrying the large pieces down the steep bank to the boat. It was an enjoyable trip, and we felt loath to part, as duty made it necessary for us to do, when we reached Vicksburg. S. N. H.