Of Rehoboam the Word says, “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord.” A study of his record will show that he failed utterly. 2 Chronicles 12.
Not so with Jehoshaphat. We are at once struck with the contrast. To him the Lord’s prophet said: “There are good things found in thee, in that thou hast . . . prepared thine heart to seek God.”
The word “prepared,” as used in these texts, means set, or established. “For the Scriptural definition of ‘established’ we turn to Acts 16:5, where Luke says of the churches in Syria and Cilicia, “And so were the churches established in the faith,” which is equivalent to the statement, The churches were confirmed, or solidified, in the truth. In order to be established, belief is required; for, “If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.” Isa. 7:9. And Jehoshaphat, in addressing the Israelites as they went forth to battle against the enemy “from beyond the sea on this side Syria,” said, “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established.”
Evidently this belief consists in accepting and submitting to what God says; for Jehoshaphat “sought the Lord God of his father, and walked in his commandments.” He walked in righteousness; he believed God; he had the mind of Christ—was solidified in the faith. And in studying Jehoshaphat’s reign, it is found that, while his heart was established, he invariably gained victories over his enemies, and glorified God.
The requirement of the Christian in this day is that same perfection of heart that Jehoshaphat had. God’s commandments—the express perfection of his mind—have not changed. To accept and walk in them has the same significance as in days of old. As in that time, to forsake the law of the Lord and prepare not the heart could result only in failure, while to walk in his commandments assured success and victory, so it is with every one now. “Be thou prepared” (Eze. 38:7) is the injunction of God. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him,” is the promise.
It now rests with each one to determine for himself whether he will be among those who draw back into perdition, which can only bring spiritual ruin and eternal loss, or whether he will accept the injunction, prepare his heart, and press forward to eternal life—the reward that God himself has placed at the goal, for those whose hearts are perfect toward him.
By the help of the Lord, our Creator and preserver, may we each be able to say: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.”
The Fear of the Lord
“THE fear of the Lord tendeth to life; and he that hath it shall abide satisfied.”
SOWING FOR PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL HEALTH
By David Paulson; W. S. Sadler
David Paulson ✠ W. S. Sadler
FOOD FOR SOUL AND BODY.
There is a physiology of the soul as well as a physiology of the body, and the same great principles govern the nourishment, growth, and disease of both.
Just as surely as there are proper and improper foods for the physical organism, so there is nourishment, both suitable and unsuitable, for the mind and soul. A poorly nourished body will eventually result in an impaired mind, while an impoverished mental diet will have a decidedly reflex influence upon bodily health and vigor. Hundreds of the many thousands of the inmates of insane asylums are there largely as the result of the unhealthful, unnatural, and exciting physical and mental diet upon which they have tried to subsist.
INTOXICATING LITERATURE.
There is “intoxicating literature” for the mind of man, just as there are intoxicating drinks and stimulating foods that act upon the physical nature. Fictitious, flashy, and sensational literature has the same effect upon the mind that alcohol, stimulating foods, etc., have on the body. This sort of mental food leads a man to exhibit symptoms of mental intoxication and moral derangement.
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him,” is a trait of the divine character which is beautifully illustrated in every morsel of good food we eat; for just as a kind mother puts up for her child a lunch which, in her eyes, is the best that can be procured, each article being wrapped separately, so God has stored away each little particle of nutriment in a grain of wheat, in separate cells, dividing them by the finest tissue, providing in this way the daintiest and most ideal food for man. In the same manner God has stored away in the Bible the most ideal food for mind and soul: the Bible is the great standard of mental and moral food. That is not saying, however, that we are never to partake of any mental food that is not found within the covers of the Bible. On the other hand, all literature that does not conform to the Bible standard can not be regarded as the best and most suitable food for mind and soul.
THE BIBLE THE STANDARD OF PHYSICAL FOOD.
Inspiration is the standard by which all other literature should be judged. In the physical realm we may be guided by principles equally sure and certain. The foundation principles of the diet question are enunciated in Prov. 23:1: “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee.” If we learn what principles should guide us when we sit down to eat with a ruler, it will not be difficult to determine how we should be guided at all times; for what is good at the king’s table is equally good at the board of the humble peasant. “Consider diligently what is before thee.” This does not mean merely a casual glance at the thickness or the size of the bread slices, or at the ornamental frosting of the cake. Yet this is usually the extent of the consideration given the food by those who sit at the table.
Intelligent human beings often manifest no more real judgment in the selection of their food than do some of the lower animals, who sniff various articles, finally choosing that which promises to yield the greatest gratification to the sense of taste. With most persons it is by far a greater question to determine what articles of diet will appeal the strongest to the palate, rather than to ascertain those containing the most strength and nourishment. The area of taste is about four inches long, but people never stop to consider how the food will suit the rest of the alimentary canal. The nutrition and digestibility of both spiritual and physical food is a question largely ignored to-day, by even the most intelligent persons.
PERVERTED TASTE AN UNSAFE GUIDE.
In the popular mind, the whole diet question has virtually resolved itself into the question, How will the food taste while passing over the first four inches of the alimentary canal? It is true that if man were in the natural state, these four inches ought to be able to determine what should enter the stomach; but the human appetite has become so perverted and depraved that the sense of taste can no longer be regarded a reliable judge of the nature and quality of the food we eat. The first question traveling men ask when they get off the train at the station is, “Where is the best eating-house?” They do not make this inquiry in order that they may obtain food that is the most nutritious, but that they may learn where such dishes as tickle the palate will be provided. Ninety-nine per cent of the people who consider at all what they eat, do so in a very superficial manner. Even a drunkard holds the glass of wine up, and notices how it sparkles, and wonders what its flavor will be.
“Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.” The Jews’ translation reads: “Thou puttest a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to a craving desire.” We have reached a time when the world is full of persons who are almost wholly controlled by their desires. Instead of normal appetites, they possess insatiable longings for things that are not bread. When you see a man who has a “craving desire” that is greater than his self-control, you see a man who is “putting a knife to his throat.” Both the Bible and human experience demonstrate the terrible consequences of slavery to appetite. Paul said, “I keep my body under.” If such a man as Paul had continually to fight his perverted physical tendencies, how necessary it is that every Christian should be on the alert not to transgress in even the slightest degree.
We often find men who, while they themselves smoke and drink, would be horrified at the thought of their promising sons or tender daughters following in their steps. A man should do nothing that he would not be perfectly willing for his son, his daughter, or his sister to imitate.
ONLY THE INJURIOUS ENSLAVES.
The only things to which we become slaves are the things that injure us. God has put up in the little lunch baskets, before spoken of, all the necessary nutriment required by the human system. Nature provides us food in such forms as are best adapted to nourish mind and body. Nature’s food sustains and strengthens both brain and muscle, instead of stirring up “craving desires” and producing perverted appetites. We can well substitute some other article of food for our fruits, or grains, or breads, but those who are slaves to the use of tea, coffee, and flesh-foods do not feel satisfied if these articles fail to constitute a considerable portion of the menu of each meal. Unnatural and stimulating food for the mind acts in identically the same manner. For instance, here is a girl, who, while she thinks she can get along well without reading her Bible each day, will sacrifice principle, duty, and almost anything for an opportunity to slip away by herself to read some cheap novel. The Bible, like a kernel of wheat, contains the highest and most ideal form of nutriment; but it is cast aside in the search for something that will stimulate and excite the emotions of the soul.
MORAL CONDIMENTS.
The average mind of to-day craves something that is seasoned with moral pepper and spread with spiritual mustard, otherwise it is “too tame and tasteless” to suit its pampered and perverted mental and moral appetites. If such persons would take more spiritual exercise, engage in some form of moral gymnastics, the appetite for this cheap, trashy literature would soon disappear, to be replaced by a desire for something more nutritious and wholesome—the word of God. You have no doubt seen young persons who could read a religious novel all night without any apparent fatigue, yet they could not, or would not, read such wholesome things as the story of Joseph, or the Acts of the Apostles, on the pretext that these are too “tame”—too dry and uninteresting. Paul, as well as the writer of the Acts of the Apostles, could do things to stir the whole world; while the authors of many of the popular religious novels of to-day, after all their philosophy, have been unable to accomplish even their own reformation. The mind must be fed on something better than what is being dished out from many of the modern pulpits as religion, even as we must feed our bodies on something better than what is being served in modern hotels and restaurants as food.
“Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.” Prov. 23:3. There is no excuse for our being disappointed by the use of deceitful meats when the Creator has supplied us with such a variety of wholesome and strength-giving foods. Neither is there a reason for starving the mind and soul with cheap and harmful literature when we have before us an open book filled with the principles of life, and light, and health.
Copyrighted, 1900, by David Paulson and W. S. Sadler.
God’s Will Is Sweetest
“He always wins who sides with God;
To him no change is lost:
God’s will is sweetest to him when
It triumphs at his cost.
“All that God blesses is our good,
And unblessed good is ill;
And all is right that seem most wrong
If it be his sweet will.”
Testing Fish for Freshness
An easy way to test fresh fish is to try to bend them just above the tail. If they bend easily, they are probably a little stale; but if rigid, they are certainly fresh. However, a far better test is to let them entirely alone.
IN THE AIR.
By Lucy Larcom
The scent of a blossom from Eden!
The flower was not given to me.
But it freshened my spirit forever
As it passed on its way to thee.
In my soul there is lingering music:
The song was not meant for me,
But I listen, and listen, and wonder
To whom it can lovelier be.
The sounds and the scents that float by us—
They can not tell whither they go;
Yet, however it fails of its errand,
Love makes the world sweeter I know.
I know that love never is wasted,
Nor truth, nor the breath of a prayer;
And the thought that goes forth as a blessing
Must live as a joy in the air.
— Lucy Larcom.
MENU OF THE SAINTS OF BIBLE TIMES.
By Mrs. S. N. Haskell
MRS. S. N. HASKELL.
How many varieties did Abraham set before the angels? Gen. 18 : 6–8.
What varieties are mentioned in Gen. 25 : 34? Esau thought this meal of more value than his birthright. What kind of lentils were used? — Red, or Egyptian, a variety quite different in appearance and flavor from the brown, or German, lentils.
Of what did the meal consist that won the blessing for Jacob? Gen. 27 : 17.
What did the wealthy Boaz regard a good meal for himself and workmen? Ruth 2 : 14.
How many varieties of food did David set before a hungry man? 1 Sam. 30 : 11, 12.
What did Elijah and the widow’s family live upon a full year? 1 Kings 17 : 13–16, margin.
What had the Saviour provided for the disciples when he invited them to come and dine? John 21 : 9, 12.
While reading these scriptures, has it dawned upon your mind why our sisters have so little time to read their Bibles, and why dyspepsia is destroying the vitality of so many persons? We have departed from the simplicity of the Bible menu. Indulging in a great variety of food, and spending a large amount of time preparing it, has always been a sign of departing from God.
When Israel had a king, then they patterned after the world, and had many to prepare food. 1 Sam. 8 : 13.
The dainties of the rich are deceitful. The Lord wishes us to consider what is set before us. Prov. 23 : 1–3.
If you carefully read the menu of the meals already referred to, you will notice that bread, grains, and fruits were used often, and formed a large proportion of their diet.
The prophet understood the value of grain when he said, “Corn shall make the young men grow.” Zech. 9 : 17, margin.
How many varieties of grains and fruit did Abigail send David? 1 Sam. 25 : 18.
Would not the variety mentioned in 2 Sam. 17 : 28 be a good one for us to keep in our pantries?
When Solomon’s wives induced him to follow heathen customs, we find more meat and less fruit and grains in the lists of provisions given. 1 Kings 4 : 22, 23.
We need to watch and pray that we be not found overcharged with surfeiting when probation closes. Luke 21 : 34–36.
How many varieties of food does God promise us in the time of trouble? Isa. 33 : 15–17.
Would it not be well for us to simplify our menu so that we shall be prepared for what is coming on the earth? This will give us more time to study our Bibles, and to prepare for the time when our names will come up in the final judgment.
DISINFECTION AND DISINFECTANTS.
By California State Board of Health
DISINFECTION is the destruction of the poisons of infectious or contagious diseases. Deodorizers, or substances which destroy smells, are not necessarily disinfectants, and disinfectants do not necessarily have an odor. Disinfection can not compensate for want of cleanliness or of ventilation.
DISINFECTANTS TO BE EMPLOYED.
Roll sulphur (brimstone), for fumigation; this is a cheap and efficient substance for fumigating rooms; it is positively destructive to disease germs, when efficiently used.
Sulphate of iron (copperas), dissolved in the proportion of one and a half pounds to the gallon of water, is a cheap and reliable deodorizer and antiseptic for closets, cesspools, sewers, etc.
Sulphate of zinc, in the proportion of four ounces of sulphate and two ounces of common salt to the gallon of water, is efficient and harmless for clothing, bed linen, blankets, etc. It should be used boiling hot, and the articles to be disinfected should be plunged into it and thoroughly boiled.
Corrosive sublimate, in the proportion of a quarter of an ounce to the gallon, is an unsurpassed germicide and disinfectant, but has the disadvantage of being excessively poisonous, and therefore dangerous for general use.
Carbolic acid is of uncertain strength, is expensive, and experience has shown that it must be employed in comparatively large quantities to be of any use. It is also liable, by its strong odor, to give a false sense of security.
HOW TO USE DISINFECTANTS.
1. In the Sick-Room.—The most available agents are fresh air and cleanliness. The clothing, towels, bed linen, etc., should, on removal from the patient, be placed in a tub of the zinc solution, boiling hot, if possible. All discharges from the patient should either be received in vessels containing the copperas or corrosive sublimate solution, or if this is impracticable, should be covered with the solution. Unnecessary furniture, especially that which is stuffed, carpets, and hangings, should be removed from the room at the outset, if possible, otherwise they should remain for fumigation and treatment.
2. Fumigation with sulphur is the only practicable method of disinfecting the house. For this purpose the rooms to be disinfected must be vacated. Heavy clothing, blankets, bedding, and other articles which can not be treated with the zinc solution, should be opened and exposed during fumigation, as directed below: Close the rooms as tightly as possible, stopping up every crevice and keyhole; place the sulphur in iron pans supported upon bricks placed in wash-tubs containing a little water, set it on fire with alcohol or kerosene sprinkled upon it, and allow the rooms to remain closed twenty-four hours. For a room ten feet square at least two pounds of sulphur will be required; for larger rooms proportionately larger quantities will be necessary.
3. Premises, cellars, yards, stables, gutters, privies, cesspools, water-closets, sewers, drains, should be liberally treated with the copperas solution; it is cheap and effective, and may save your life. The copperas solution may be easily prepared by hanging a basket containing about sixty pounds of copperas in a barrel of water.
4. Body and Bed Clothing.—It is best to burn all articles which have been in contact with persons sick of infectious or contagious diseases. Articles too valuable to be destroyed should be treated as follows: Cotton, linen, flannels, blankets, etc., should be treated with the boiling-hot zinc solution; introduce piece by piece; secure thorough wetting, and boil for half an hour. Furs, silks, heavy woolen clothing, bed covers, and beds, which can not be thus treated with the zinc solution, should be hung in the room during fumigation, their surfaces fully exposed, and their pockets turned inside out; afterward they should be hung in the open air—beaten and shaken. Pillows, beds, stuffed mattresses, upholstered furniture, etc., should be cut open, the contents spread out, and thoroughly fumigated. Carpets are best fumigated on the floor, but should afterward be removed to the open air, and thoroughly shaken and beaten.
5. Corpses should be washed thoroughly with the zinc or corrosive sublimate solution, then wrapped in a sheet wet with the solution, and buried at once. Metallic or metal-lined coffins should be used when possible, and always when the body is to be transported for any considerable distance.
If these notes of warning and guides to action are heeded, and fear does not usurp the place of common sense, we have little to dread from cholera personally. It is the unthinking multitude, the selfish egotist, the “wait-until-it-comes” people, that we have to fear. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” and there is no disease to which this aphorism so aptly applies as cholera.—California State Board of Health.
CHILDREN AND DIRT.
The mother who would have her children healthy must not be afraid to have them occasionally dirty. While cleanliness is akin to godliness, there is a clean dirt that comes from contact with the sweet earth that is wholesome. Have the little ones bathed frequently, insist that they come to meals with immaculate hands and faces; but between meals have them so dressed that they will be free to run and romp as they will.
An overcareful mother of an only child complained to a physician that her baby was pale and delicate. He asked to see the child, and the nurse brought in the two-year-old from the veranda, where he had been seated on a rug,375looking at a picture-book. His dainty nainsook frock was spotless, as were also the pink kid boots and silk socks.
“What that child needs is wholesome dirt,” was the physician’s verdict. “Put a gingham frock and plain shoes on him, and turn him loose on the lawn or in the fresh earth. If he is not rosy and happy in a month, let me know.”
At the expiration of the prescribed time the baby was transformed. The eyes that had been heavy were bright, the skin had acquired a healthful glow, the arms and legs were plump, and the languid, tired little patient had become a rollicking boy. The freedom, fresh air, and clean dirt had, in a month’s time, wrought a greater change in the child’s system than all the skill of the medical fraternity could have effected.
Mothers who take their little schoolboys and girls away for vacation should let them romp at will out of doors, fish in the brook, ride on the hay, and wear strong shoes and clothing of which they need not be too careful. A child is much happier if untrammeled by too many “don’ts.” And the mother is happier if she need not say “don’t” every hour in the day.
— Harper’s Bazar.
MRS. GEO. A. IRWIN
By Mrs. Geo. A. Irwin
THE committee of five that was appointed by the General Conference Committee for the outlining and developing of plans for a woman's ministry, met recently in the office of the Woman's Gospel Work.
After a season of earnest prayer to God for wisdom, it was the mind of these sisters that efforts should be made to encourage a more careful and prayerful study of the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy; and that one means to this end would be to select and prepare matter for the Woman's page in the REVIEW AND HERALD.
There will be selections on the following subjects, a few weeks being devoted to each: Reading-matter for Young People, the Dress Question, Recreation, Economy in the Home, Family Worship, the Observance of the Sabbath.
We hope that our sisters throughout the length and breadth of the land will give these studies more than a casual reading, and will by the help of God seek to carry out right principles in their daily lives. The first article of this series of readings appears below.
MRS. GEO. A. IRWIN
SUITABLE READING FOR CHILDREN.
Mrs. E. G. White, in “Testimonies for the Church,”
Volume V, pages 316–320.
DEAR BROTHER E: I have just read your article giving a list of good books for our youth. I was much surprised to read your recommendation of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “Robinson Crusoe,” and such books. You are in danger of becoming somewhat careless in your writing. It would be well to give thought and careful study to whatever is to be immortalized in print. I am really surprised and alarmed to see that your spiritual eyesight is not more clear in the matter of selecting and recommending reading for our youth. I know that the recommendation . . . of such infatuating books as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” will in many minds justify the reading of other books which are nothing but fiction. . . . This recommendation will make taxing work for those who are laboring to persuade the youth to discard fictitious reading. I have repeatedly seen the evil of reading such books as you recommend. . . .
Be sure, my brother, not to lead away from the searching of the Scriptures. It has been revealed to me that the purchase and sale by our brethren of story-books such as are commonly circulated in Sunday-schools is a snare to our people, especially to our children. It leads them to expend money for that class of reading which fevers the imagination, and unfits them for the real duties of practical life. You may be assured that this recommendation of yours will be acted upon. The youth need no such sanction or liberty; for their taste and inclination are all in this direction. But I hope no more such recommendations will appear. You must be getting away from Jesus and his teachings, and do not realize it.
It is Satan’s work to present to our youth newspaper stories, and story-books that fascinate the senses, and thus destroy their relish for the word of God. . . . If you fancy that such reading will develop firm, unspotted principle, you are mistaken. . . .
There are many of our youth whom God has endowed with superior capabilities. He has given them the very best of talents; but their powers have been enervated, their minds confused and enfeebled, and for years they have made no growth in grace and in a knowledge of the reasons of our faith, because they have gratified a taste for story-reading.
They have as much difficulty to control the appetite for such superficial reading, as the drunkard has to control his appetite for intoxicating drink. These might to-day be connected with our publishing houses, and be efficient workers, to keep books, prepare copy for the press, or to read proof; but their talents have been perverted until they are mental dyspeptics, and consequently are unfitted for a responsible position anywhere. The imagination is diseased. They live an unreal life. They are unfitted for the practical duties of life; and that which is the most sad and discouraging is, they have lost all relish for solid reading. They have become infatuated and charmed with just such food for the mind as the intensely exciting stories contained in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” That book did good in its day to those who needed an awakening in regard to their false ideas of slavery; but we are standing upon the very borders of the eternal world, where such stories are not needed in the preparation for eternal life.
The only safety for any of us is to be thoroughly converted, and to be conversant with the truth as it is revealed in the word of God, that we may be able to give to every man that asks us a reason of the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear.
The special effort of ministers, and of workers all through our ranks, for this time should be to turn away the attention of the youth from all exciting stories, to the sure word of prophecy. The attention of every soul striving for eternal life should center upon the Bible.
It seems wonderfully strange to me, considering all I have written in regard to the reading of exciting stories, to see a recommendation from your pen to read “Robinson Crusoe,” “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and “Æsop’s Fables.” My brother, you made a mistake. . . . If these books are among those which you have for sale, I beg of you never to offer them again to our youth. It is your duty to call their attention to the Bible; do not become their tempter by offering to them attractive story-books, which will divert their minds from the study of the Scriptures. We must ourselves be drinking of the water of life, else we will be constantly hewing out for ourselves broken cisterns which can hold no water.
There are a thousand ways and plans that Satan has of creeping in to unsettle the minds of youth; and unless the soul is firmly and fully stayed upon God, and conscientiously guarded upon the very point of keeping the mind employed in searching the Scriptures, and becoming grounded in our faith, they will surely be ensnared. We can not be off guard for a moment. We can not allow ourselves to move from impulse. We must set a guard about our minds, and the minds of our children, that they may not be allured by Satan’s temptations.
OUT IN THE FIELDS.
The little cares that fretted me,
I lost them yesterday
Among the fields above the sea,
Among the winds at play,
Among the lowing of the herds,
The rustling of the trees,
Among the singing of the birds,
The humming of the bees.
The foolish fears of what might pass,
I cast them all away
Among the clover-scented grass,
Among the new-mown hay,
Among the hushing of the corn,
Where drowsy poppies nod,
Where ill thoughts die, and good are
born —
Out in the fields with God!
— St. Paul's.
JUNE STUDY OF THE FIELD: PART IV.
(June 17–23.)
“A Trip through Fiji;” “A Jamaican Dedication;”
“A Missionary Tour in Uruguay.”
(Text-book, June Magazine.)
1. How did Elder E. H. Gates’s second trip to Fiji compare with the one of 1892?
2. What fruits did he see as a result of his first visit?
3. Mention some of the interests developed in this tour.
4. What plans were laid for the advancement of the work in the Fiji Islands?
5. What is the membership of the church at Waterloo, Jamaica? By whom, and at what time, was the work first opened there?
6. Tell what you can of the progress of the work at Mahogany Grove. Why was this dedication of particular interest to the people of this locality?
7. Locate the republic of Uruguay. Give its area and population.
8. In what does its wealth consist?
9. Describe the trip of our missionaries from Buenos Ayres to Helvetia. Why is this place of interest in connection with the message in Uruguay?
The Invention of Steel Pens
It is said that “a working jeweler in Birmingham, England, Joseph Gillott, accidentally split one of his fine steel tools, and, being suddenly called on to sign a receipt, used the split tool as a substitute for a mislaid pen. This led to making pens of metal.”
Science Reveals God's Wisdom
“ALL true science is but an interpretation of the handwriting of God in the material world. Science brings from her research only fresh evidences of the wisdom and power of God. Rightly understood, both the book of nature and the written Word make us acquainted with God by teaching us something of the wise and beneficent laws through which he works.”