After the fire, aye, the fierce, awful fire,
Raging and burning and melting its way,
Making of heart-hopes a funeral pyre,
Crackling and dancing like demons at play,
Mad with the rage of the bottomless pit,
Darting and speeding its forked tongues of hell;
Mocking the stars in the night lurid lit,
Sweeping and swirling with maddening swell;
Treasures of years in its merciless maw,
Labors of lives in its ashes and smoke;
Mocking at sentiment, laughing at law,
Smiting the heart with a death-dealing stroke.
After the fire! It is ashes and dust;
Over the ruins men wander half dazed;
Buildings of men have passed as the gust;
Hearts are aweep, and souls stand amazed.
After the fire! Is the character burned?
Do hopes of the years lie in ashes to-day?
Have we lost the lessons of life we have learned?
Are the dust and the ashes the end of the way?
After the fire! with hearts humbled low
At the feet of the Master who reigneth above
The quake and the fire, His covenant bow
Shineth bright by His throne alight with His love.
After the fire spake the quiet, small voice,
God's voice of pleading and peace to the soul,
Rejected, destruction; accepted, rejoice,
And its life power of God makes thee every whit whole.
Out of the fire! No fierce flames of earth,
Burn they so deeply or climb they the sky,
Burn they can not that of heavenly birth,
Burn they can not what is rooted on high.
Out of the fire! Shall it purge thee of sin?
The dross from the gold, the false from the true?
In all of thy life shall God enter in,
A merging with Him who our souls shall bedew
With the water of life? No fire can withstand it,
In its flood-tide from God our souls grow apace,
And, soul, it is free; did not He command it—
The flood-tide of glory, the flood-tide of grace?
Out of the fire of the earth's desolation
The city and land of our God shall arise,
And the souls shall come forth who are heirs of salvation,
The joy of His heart and the light of His eyes.
Forever shall stand that city eternal,
Forever shall live all her citizens pure;
Established of Him in glory supernal,
No fire can destroy; they forever endure.
W.
Oxford Bibles
Oxford Bibles have been received since the fire, and orders can be promptly filled.
Books in the Spanish Language
Books in the Spanish Language.—"Christ Our Saviour" has been published in Spanish, and quantities have already been shipped. The price of this is 50 cents, board cover; 75 cents, cloth. Steps have been taken to bring out an edition in the East of "Steps to Christ." The price of this is 50 cents, cloth.
Heralds of the Morning
By Editor
"Heralds of the Morning," an edition of 25,000 of which was burned, was immediately placed with a firm in Kansas City; it will soon be out. The International Publishing Association of College View, Neb., will do the type work and make the plates of the same book in German, Swedish, and Danish. To this we may add that we now have Spanish tracts on hand and are prepared to fill orders.
The Third Angel’s Message Reaches Bombay
From a letter to the West Michigan Herald from Brother C. A. Hansen and wife, we take these encouraging words: “At last the Third Angel’s Message has reached Bombay. . . . We are scattering our literature, and mean to press the truth into every corner, so that the work in this quarter will not hinder the Lord’s coming in this generation. . . . While we are far from home and friends, and are often sick, yet we feel that here is a work for us to do; and whether the result seems small or great we will fight on by God’s grace.”
Alberta Mission Field Organized as Conference
At the third annual session of the Alberta (Canada) Mission Field, held in July, that field was organized into a conference. The following officers were elected: President, C. A. Burman; Vice-president, J. W. Boynton; Secretary and Treasurer, Stella B. Lowry; Field Secretary, W. O. James; Secretary of Sabbath-school and Young People's work, Leona Burman; Conference Committee, C. A. Burman, J. W. Boynton, A. C. Anderson, Henry Block, and C. L. Holderman. A legal organization was incorporated for the purpose of holding church and conference property. Steps were also taken to organize a sanitarium and benevolent association, which will continue the sanitarium work already started at Edmonton by private parties. At this meeting six persons were baptized.
Forth from Its Baptism of Fire
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Enters upon a New Era
IT WILL NOTE the passing events of momentous importance in the daily-making history of the world.
It will have qualified correspondents in all parts of the world.
It will show the trend of great movements in Church and State.
What Means the Great Advance of Socialism?
What Means the Mighty Progress of Roman Catholicism, which a generation ago was thought by many Protestants to be a dying power in enlightened lands?
What Means the World-wide Agitation for a Union of Church and State?
What Is the Cause of the Wave of Lawlessness, Crime, Fraud, Graft, Robbery, Violence, which is engulfing the nations?
Why the Agitation in All Christendom over the Question of the Sabbath Day?
What Is the Meaning of the Tremendous Growth of the Cults of Spiritism, Theosophy, New Thought, Christian Science, etc.?
What Is Bible Christianity?
ALL THESE QUESTIONS will be considered in THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES, not from the view-point of human philosophy or theological theorizing; but in the light of
God's Book
THE "MORE SURE WORD OF PROPHECY"
THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES stands for the Christianity which makes and remakes men,—the religion of justice, of honesty, of righteousness, of kindness, of truth, in the world, in the home, in private life. It stands for the rights of the individual of whatsoever creed he may be. Whether you believe with us on many of these great questions or not, you need the paper. Its price is only $1.50 a year. :: :: :: ::
BROOK AND BLESSING.
The Brook Jabbok.
NOT an inviting name is Jabbok, meaning outpouring, or emptying. Not a beautiful picture is the rough woodcut on this page. But the suggestive lesson of the swift-flowing Jabbok is of tremendous interest and vital importance to the Christian pilgrim. The Jabbok was a little river which flowed through Gilead on the east of Jordan, emptying into the latter river midway between the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. At times it was a rushing, roaring torrent. In dry weather the upper part of the bed was dry, while the lower part flowed sluggishly.
AFTER the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, the Jabbok divided between Israel on the north and Amnon on the south. It thus became a dividing line between loyalty and disloyalty, between a people God-led and a people who knew not Jehovah nor cared for Him. On one side was the world; on the other the promised land.
BUT more than this the river Jabbok suggests. It is memorable for a struggle which, in its typical significance, is of more consequence than all the great battles of earth, fought with carnal weapon. This battle by the brook was a conflict of character, which has altered the face of the earth and given hope to the halting and trembling.
ISAAC had two sons, Esau and Jacob. To the elder belonged the birthright and the father's blessing. The birthright included the double portion of inheritance, the priesthood of the family, and the pre-eminence, or rulership. With these went the blessing of the first-born by the old patriarch. The birthright was despised by Esau in comparison to a life of ease and pleasure. He could come in from his hunting, weary and hungry, longing for a dish of Jacob's savory pottage. He childishly complains that he will die if he does not get it. Jacob, ever ready to drive a bargain, demands Esau's birthright for the food, and Esau sells it for the sake of a mere lust of appetite. Even so men are now selling eternal birthrights for messes of the world's pottage.
The Coveted Blessing.
THE RIVER JABBOK
THE next step is the coveted blessing. Isaac, old and blind, is about to die. He would bless Esau before he died. He loved his son Esau more ardently because he ate of his venison. He told Esau to take his bow, go forth into the fields, and secure game and prepare him a savory dish, that he might bless him before he died. Esau went forth, knowing of naught between him and the ancestral blessing. But Rebekah, who read character better, knew that Jacob was more deserving, knew God's design as regards the boys, and felt that she must interfere to secure to Jacob that which God had promised. With the co-operation of Jacob, she deceives her blind old husband; Jacob obtains the blessing; Esau is enraged, and swears vengeance. Jacob is forced to flee, and separates from his mother forever, a direct consequence of his selfish course.
JACOB, "the supplanter," flees to Laban, his uncle, in Syria. There he works fourteen years for his two wives, and meets the same ungenerous treatment from Laban that he had accorded Esau. But with humble heart he bears it, still longing for God's blessing, without which all the gatherings of the years are worthless. Jacob means to do God's will, but he does it in his own way, and always seeks to do it to his own advantage. How many Jacobs there are now among God's people!
BUT the time of crisis, of trial, of victory, draws near. The Lord speaks to Jacob and tells him to return to his own land and He will bless him and be with him. Little does Jacob know what must meet him before the blessing. He starts with his wives and children and flocks and herds. Some of Esau's roving followers hear of Jacob's mighty caravan, and they carry the tidings to their chief. The spirit of revenge is roused in the red chieftain, and mad with cherished hatred and hungry for plunder, he starts with four hundred armed men to meet Jacob.
Hopeless without God.
JACOB, with his great defenseless family, hears of Esau's coming. He knows that his case is hopeless. He knows that he has done wrong in the treatment of his brother. He knows that by no device of his can he now stay the avenger's hand or escape his anger. He is no physical coward. For twenty years he has met with the Syrian wolves and fiercer beasts of the desert in defense of his flocks. He has met the robbers of the wilderness as they came to plunder. But now, after years, he is about to meet the growing results of a sowing of sin in the wrath of an offended brother, and the strong man trembles. He must have more than mortal help to gird him for that meeting, and, therefore, he stays behind to plead with God. "O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Jehovah, who saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good; I am not worthy of the least of all Thy loving-kindness, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies. Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children. And Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which can not be numbered for multitude." Gen. 32: 9-12.
CLEARER light shines upon the "supplanter" after that prayer. He will seek to make amends for his wrongs. He will, if possible, ameliorate the wrath of the4offended one. So he sends forward two hundred and twenty goats, two hundred and twenty sheep, thirty milch camels and their colts, fifty head of cattle, twenty asses and ten colts, a princely present for a man having a family like that of Jacob, worth perhaps in our money now about $10,000. He sends this in four droves in the hand of trusted servants, with a goodly space between them. As each meet Esau, and he inquires its meaning, each servant is to answer, "They are thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my Lord Esau. . . . Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me." There is no more deception. His motive is as open as the day.
The Night Struggle and Victory.
JACOB remains that night with his own, still unsatisfied. He wants the assurance of God. He can not rest. He rises in the night, sends his family over the stream, and he remains alone to plead with God. He is seized with strong hands. Jacob feels that his assailant is a robber. He wants the time for prayer; but he is spending it in an effort to overcome a robber and save his property. All the rest of that night he struggles as only a plainsman can. The morning begins to break. Neither seems to have conquered. Then his assailant reveals His superhuman power. He touches the hollow of Jacob's thigh, and the sinews are strained. Jacob knows now who it is, the Angel of the covenant. "Let me go," said the Mighty One, "the day breaketh." And Jacob having found God, as he could not find Him before in all his years of wandering, replies, I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me."
No uneasiness nor pain must keep him back from the divine assurance.
God can not deny such pleading faith. "In his [Jacob's] manhood he had power with God; yea, he had power over the Angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto Him." Hosea 12:3, 4. The Angel asked him, "What is thy name? And he said, Jacob [Supplanter]. And He [the Angel] said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed." Gen. 32: 24-28. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, "the face of God," for he said, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."
JACOB—Supplanter! Israel—the Upright, Prevailer with God! It was not a new name that God gave His servant. Before man was created, God wrote the characters chosen for them in the book of life. And the name of the family was Israel. "God made man upright," literally made man Israel. Eccl. 7:29. That was God's purpose; He had no other for man. Man unmade himself. He became Jacob, a supplanter. He walked in his own way. He perverted God's way. Yet ever God calls him back to be Israel. By kindness, by love, by tribulation, by trial, by affliction, by struggle, God calls him. He may refuse the messages God may send, one and all. He may sell his birthright for a mess of pottage and die with the world. Or he may accept God and live. But then he must meet the trial. He must come to the ford of Jabbok and there plead with God till He who is his Adversary because of sin, becomes his Helper because of self-abasement and faith. Let us take home to our hearts the lesson of the brook Jabbok, and the lonely night of wrestling on its banks.
OUR DIVINE, HUMAN PRIEST
III. WHAT IS THE SANCTUARY AND ITS CLEANSING?
The True Center and Sacrifice of Acceptable Worship.
THE work of the little horn of Daniel 8 is specially directed against the people of God and their service to Him. His aim is to "destroy the mighty and holy people" by craft, subtlety, and violence. From the Prince of Princes to His humblest subject, all come within the scope of Rome's attack; for it is Rome that the little horn symbolizes. Its special effort is to give both the sanctuary and the host to life-union between God and His children. One holy being inquires, for the benefit of Daniel and God's people, "How long shall be the vision concerning the continual, and the transgression that maketh desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?" The little horn "took away from Him"—"the Prince of the host," Christ—the continual, and cast down the place of His sanctuary and His truth. How long should that continue? The answer is, "Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings and mornings, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed."
What Is the Sanctuary?
Go back to Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage. God had redeemed them with a mighty hand. Their hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. They must have a great, multiple object-lesson which by various forms and rites would comprehend in its teaching the great plan of salvation. Therefore God instructs Moses to ask of the children of Israel free-will offerings of all that would be used in building, and "let them make Me [God] a sanctuary that I may dwell among them." Ex. 25:1-9.
Then follows the directions for building and the description of the marvelously beautiful structure (see Exodus 25-40), to build which He specially endowed His workmen. Ex. 31:1-11. The pattern was divine, given of God to Moses in the mount. Ex. 25:25-40; Heb. 8:5.
What It Was Like.
In brief, the sanctuary was of rectangular shape, thirty cubits long by ten wide and ten high, made of acacia wood boards set in sockets of silver, and overlaid with beaten gold. Ex. 26:15-30. Over it were spread four sets of curtains—fine linen, goats' hair, ram skins dyed red, and seal skins. The fine linen was embroidered with figures of cherubim in gold. The building was divided into two parts in the proportion of two-thirds and one-third. Ex. 26:1-14. The first apartment, always facing the east, was the larger, 10x20 cubits.
On the right, as one entered, was the table of presence- or show-bread, placed there fresh every Sabbath, typical of God's bread of life, His Word. Ex. 25:23-30. On the left was the seven-branched candlestick, beaten out of one piece of solid gold, in which were lamps kept constantly burning, a symbol of the seven-fold Spirit of God. Ex. 25:31-39; Rev. 4:5. In the end opposite the entrance was the altar, upon which incense was daily offered, mingling with the prayers of God's priests and people, typical of God's grace and love, which made the prayers of the humblest acceptable. Ex. 30:1-10; Rev. 8:3. This apartment was known as the holy place.
Dividing between the two apartments was a heavy embroidered veil, similar to the ceiling overhead. Ex. 26:31-35. Beyond the veil was the most holy place, in dimensions a perfect cube of ten cubits. In the most holy place was one article of furniture, the ark of God, made of acacia wood and inlaid and overlaid with gold. Ex. 25:10-15. In this ark was the holy law of God, the standard of all human character, the detector of sin, the approver of righteousness; and over it was the mercy-seat, between the cherubims, where constantly abode the shekinah of God's presence. Ex. 25:16-22; 31:18; Heb. 9:1-10.
Surrounding the sanctuary was a court, within the court on the east was the laver and the altar of burnt-offering, by which was shed the blood of the victims, representing the sinner and the sinner's sacrifice, "the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." John 1:29.
The center of all this service was the ark and law of God. That law man had transgressed, and hence was shut away from God's glory. To reconcile him to God, God gave His Son, the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." He took the sinner's place, the Innocent for the Guilty, the Just for the Unjust, that He might bring us to God. The Father "made Him [the Son] to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Cor. 5:21. "All we like sheep have gone astray; . . . and the Lord hath laid [made to light] on Him the iniquity of us all." Isa. 53:6.
When the sinner came to the door of the sanctuary, he brought his offering of a lamb or goat, placed his hand upon its head and confessed his sin, devoting it to death, and thereby saying that he was guilty of5death; but he embraced God's Substitute for himself, of which that offering was the type. The blood of that offering, representing the life, was borne by the priest into the sanctuary, before the veil. In other words, the sin was transferred from the repentant sinner to the sanctuary on high. This went on for every day in the year till the last. All the sins of the repentant among God's people had been in type transferred to the sanctuary and there forgiven. The last day of the year was a judgment day in which the sins of the faithful were forever removed, and the sins of the unfaithful were retained by themselves.
The Day of Atonement.
The record of this is found in the sixteenth chapter of Leviticus. Two goats were on that day brought to the sanctuary. Upon them lots were cast, one lot for Jehovah; one for Azazel. Verse 8. The goat for Jehovah was slain, its blood taken into the sanctuary by the high priest, even into the most holy place, and sprinkled before and upon the mercy-seat; "and he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins." For all the furniture and sacred vessels of the sanctuary he made atonement. "And when he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat; and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a man that is in readiness [appointed] into the wilderness; and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a solitary land; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness." Verses 15-22.
Patterns of Things in the Heavens.
All this—the sanctuary and its holy service—was that of "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things." Heb. 8:5. The holy places below were copies of holy places above. Heb. 9:9, 24. The cleansing, or justification of the earthly sanctuary from sin was a type of the cleansing or justification of the heavenly sanctuary from the sin recorded there. "It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these [that is, the blood of beasts]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." Heb. 9:23.
The Divine Summary.
"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat also to offer. For if He were on earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law; who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle; for, See, saith He, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount. But now he hath obtained a more excellent ministry." Heb. 8:1-6. "For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son [a priest], who is consecrated forevermore." All the types of the sanctuary of old pointed to the complete antitype of the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
The true spiritual service of the past was not dependent on the ceremonials and forms, save as it used them in expression for that time. The vital part of the service suffered no breach on the part of faithful souls. The center of worship moved from the sanctuary below to the sanctuary above. The onward-looking sacrifice of the lamb gave place to the Lord's Supper, which is both a remembrance of His death and a closing call to the hope of His second coming. But the continual service abides in simple faith in divine redemption through the God-ordained means, and obedience to all of God's requirements. On God's part, this was complete and continuous. On man's part, it rested in his faith.
When John was permitted to look into heaven, he saw there the heavenly sanctuary where Christ ministers. Revelation, chapters 4, 5, 8. Later on in a vision of the closing of earth's scenes, the judgment scene appears, and through the open door the prophet sees the ark of God's testament, the receptacle of His holy law. Rev. 11:18. Daniel's vision of the sanctuary, therefore, took in the whole sweep of human redemption till our Lord closes His work. The time of the vision—the 2,300 days—will be considered in our next.
GIVE GOD THE GLORY.
JESUS CHRIST "went about doing good." He did good in a practical way, always considering the manifest temporal needs of suffering humanity. He healed all manner of afflictions, whether mental or physical, even in a miraculous way feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. But all this had an ulterior purpose which was paramount to everything else. The prime mission of Jesus Christ to this world was to save sinners, and all the temporal relief work He did was a means to that end.
All charity work, or relief work, that has not in view the spiritual welfare of those who are assisted is work but partially done. Concerning the eternal welfare of the assisted one, such work may do more harm than good. It sometimes occurs that infidels will do relief work, will help the poor and relieve the suffering, and the one benefited will use that fact as an excuse for not accepting Christ as a Saviour. He has only in mind the necessities of this life, and, having received medical, or financial, or other needed assistance from men who were not Christians, he says, "I have no need of Christ; unbelievers have done more for me than Christians have done." Thus men may be carried away to final destruction by the very means that Christ would have used for their salvation.
Hence the great importance of doing good in the name of Christ, that some may thereby find relief for their souls as well as for their bodies. In this principle we have the example of Christ, who, when doing good works, gave all the glory to his heavenly Father, for the reason that they were the Father's works, and the Father had sent Him to do them. The one who does good works in his own name, or takes the credit to himself, or gives the credit to any worldly institution, robs God of the glory due to His name. For all the power to do good is of God.
God is always good and merciful and long-suffering, and is always testing His creatures by giving them opportunity and power to do good. Even Judas, whom Christ knew to be a thief, was given large opportunity in this way—having the power even to work miracles in the name of Christ. So it is possible to do relief work,—to give necessary things to those in need, to assist in building charitable institutions, and in various ways to do those things that are good or appear good, and yet do it all in a spirit of selfishness, with a view to personal glory and even material gain.
But to be actuated by the Spirit of Christ, and to do good for the glory of His name and for the furtherance of His cause, may produce the double effect of giving bodily relief and calling attention of the world to the great salvation for which the Son of God gave His life. "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him."
PROGRESS OF ROME'S RESTORATION.
By G.
TIME was when the Papacy controlled the world. Through excessive corruption it broke with its own weight, and reaction set in. The spirit of reaction and reform was started by the attention of isolated individuals being called to the Word of God. The Lord never had allowed Himself to be wholly without the witness of His Word. There were copies here and there, even in some of the monasteries. Through these the sparks of reformation were kindled in Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland, and various nooks and corners, until a flame of reformation broke out. Its luminous glare was seen, and the warmth of it was felt, throughout northern Europe.
Refugees from Old World tyranny fled to the wilderness of America, that they might find freedom to worship God as conscience dictated. In time a government was founded upon the principle of civil and religious liberty, and the influence of it went back to Europe. Under this influence the grip of tyranny and intolerance was to a great extent slackened. Rome lost her hold upon the reigns of government—direct temporal sway being reduced to the few square miles comprised in the Vatican grounds.
But the prophetic Word has said that the power of the Papacy would be restored, and the process is also in operation, and, strange as it may seem and hard as it is to believe, the United States becomes the leader in the grand return march of nations. This country is really looked to by Rome as the one strong national arm on which she can mostly depend. Europe will follow, is following, her lead; but some of the countries are as yet far behind in the process of cutting loose and marching around the circle to renewed allegiance. England and Germany are close on the heels of the United States. France, as a political government, has just nominally cut loose from Rome, but most of the people are Catholic to the backbone; so that reaction is a question of a very short time. In fact, Rome's influence is dominant in all but political formality. Italy, as to political connection with the state, cut loose in 1870, but is making amends as fast as she can gracefully.
But poor Spain is almost in the rear of the procession. Being the country of the Inquisition, it was a long, hard road for her to the point of political severance from Rome. But she is now in the throes of making the breach. A Madrid despatch of the 10th inst. says:
"The government continues to maintain a firm attitude on the church-and-state question. A minister to-day declared that while the government was desirous of avoiding a breach with the Vatican, it had determined to defend the supremacy of the state. At the first sitting of Parliament the government will introduce a bill making the religious orders amenable to the law controlling industrial corporations, and will also introduce a bill providing that members of orders recently expelled from France will be required to become naturalized to leave Spain. The minister said that the cabinet was determined to carry these measures and did not fear papal excommunication."
As soon as Spain closes this formal separation she will fall in behind the procession around the circle on the return; and it is fair to assume that she will return in much greater haste6than she has shown in severing political allegiance. The rapid pace at which the United States and apostate Protestantism are making the round toward the embrace of Rome is telling with as wonderful effect upon the nations of Europe, as did their one-time influence in the other direction; and erelong those that are just now formally cutting the political ties will be doubling and trebling their efforts to regain favor at Rome.
The world is being greatly deceived by the action of such governments as France, Italy, and Spain in severing political allegiance with Rome. They imagine that it is evidence of a weakening influence of the Papacy. But they seem to overlook the conspicuous efforts of Great Britain, Germany, and the United States to curry favor with the Vatican—practically vieing with one another for first place in favorable consideration.
The restoration of papal power in the world does not require the formal temporal supremacy of the world, as a universal temporal kingdom. Prophecy represents the apostate church as being sustained by various nations all unitedly carrying out her will and contributing to her support. And the time is near at hand. See Revelation 18. Men are being deceived by a few apparent losses and temporary defeats that Rome is suffering. They note losses of membership here and there that go to the nominal Protestant churches, but they overlook the great fact that these same churches are themselves on the road to Rome, having adopted her specific mark of spiritual authority, the Sunday-sabbath. They overlook also that such European governments as are just now taking, or have recently taken, steps to separate politically from the Vatican do so against the conviction of the masses of the people, and will eventually be compelled to retreat in some form or other. The mouth of the Lord has spoken it that the restoration is coming, and "the Scripture can not be broken."
G.
Cash on Rebuilding Fund.
By Editor
Cash to date $306.00
Kathrina B. Wilcox $10.00
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General Collection Oakland Camp-meeting $606.57
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Chas. W. Peter and wife $10.00
A. C. Clawges $2.00
Mrs. H. J. Porr $2.00
Mrs. Lask $100.00
Mr. Bottscheider $10.00
L. D. Pfender $25.00
Miss Holland $5.00
Alphonzo Anderson $5.00
M. E. Rosenquest $5.00
H. A. Maynard $5.00
Captain Chittenden $5.00
M. D. $1.25
Mary H. Brown $1.00
Mrs. E. M. Smith $14.16
Clifford T. Schrammeck $10.00
Mr. and Mrs. Chas. H. A. Brooks $200.00
Total to date $1,753.89
Of these cash donations we are anything but sure they are correct. For instance, some of them have been taken from the back of an envelope handed to our treasurer. Are any of them included in the items of "General Collection" or "per T. A. Kilgore." We want the list absolutely correct. For instance, again, are F. H. Kropf in our cash list of last week and Mrs. H. F. Kropf in this week's list of pledges identical? Are M. E. Critchlow and E. M. Critchlow in this week's list of pledges the same? Help us to make the list correct.
May God bless richly the donors.
Pledges to the Rebuilding Fund.
(CONTINUED.)
G. H. McCoon $10.00
D. A. Hazelton $5.00
M. E. and L. A. Hazelton $10.00
H. E. Chapman $10.00
Maggie Colcord $5.00
Mrs. W. C. White $5.00
Mrs. E. J. Carlon $5.00
Mrs. E. E. Brown $10.00
A. Logan $10.00
Laura W. Smith $11.00
Mrs. Irene Griffith $5.00
Mrs. Lottie Briggs $5.00
Mrs. G. A. Briggs $5.00
Arthur A. Donaldson $5.00
A. S. Hickox $10.00
Wallace McBain $.50
Mrs. L. M. Maycock $5.00
Mrs. Elmira Vail $5.00
Mr. C. O. Blincoe $1.00
Mrs. Phebe Van Patten $3.00
James and Jennie Beal $10.00
F. O. Oakes $20.00
A. Cook $5.00
Sebe Ellysen $5.00
H. S. Carter $10.00
Mrs. H. F. Kropf $5.00
Isaac Morrison $5.00
Florence Hillard $5.00
Rillah Beauchamp $5.00
A. Beauchamp $5.00
Pearl Kivett $5.00
Peter Hersellund $10.00
Mrs. J. H. Smith $5.00
Prof. D. M. Lawrence $12.00
Mrs. Fannie Fenton $5.00
A. F. Dortch $2.00
W. A. Morris $10.00
A Friend $10.00
Mrs. N. E. Lillard $5.00
E. M. Critchlow $10.00
Mrs. M. Snook $10.00
Mrs. Vada Roberts $3.00
Samuel Zin $20.00
L. Filer $5.00
Frank E. Wood $1.00
F. S. Stafford $2.00
Mrs. J. S. Adams $5.00
D. E. Robinson $5.00
Helen Holland $10.00
M. S. Critchlow $5.00
J. P. Novak and daughter $1.00
J. G. Foster $5.00
Mrs. A. Ruoff $10.00
H. Haslam $5.00
Martin Bumgartner $10.00
Mrs. Ed. Menzel $10.00
Chas. Lindstrom $1.00
Morris Ress $5.00
Mrs. Cora Bunch $5.00
A. C. Mantor $5.00
B. B. Davis and wife $5.00
J. B. Eldridge $5.00
Mrs. Papworth $5.00
Mrs. Beckwith $2.50
Amy Kivett $5.00
These pledges, as stated last week, were taken on the Oakland camp-ground. They were written on slips under all sorts of difficulties, and mistakes may have been made in various ways. W. E. Whitman in our last should have been Whitmore. Any such errors we shall be glad to correct, and also to transfer to our cash list as rapidly as paid.
There were still other pledges in books for library, a gold ring, labor on Press building, proceeds from sale of a gun, a lot in Fresno; but these must be taken into account later.
DO YOU WISH TO HELP?
THE great argument which appeals to the heart of God is humanity's need. For that He gave His only beloved Son. He bestowed this wonderful gift, not because we were worthy, but because we were needy.
But He would make us worthy, and put the same spirit within us that actuated Him. Therefore He permits humanity to be in affliction, His own people and institutions to be in dire want and distress in order that the hearts of His people may not alone be moved to sympathy, but actuated to do; for merely to be moved to sympathy, however deeply, and not exercise benevolence if within our power, proves a curse instead of a blessing.
The Pacific Press is one of the Lord's institutions. He has signally blessed it in the past; there are greater promises of blessing in the future. Its need, its utter need, appeals to us all now, brother; and the investment is every way worthy. Some are giving dollars gladly where it seems that they could scarcely afford cents, and where others, to the blessing of God's cause and their own good, could give hundreds and thousands. Are there not many who will give thousands?
