Review and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 45. (11/8/1906)

Review and Herald

Nov 8, 1906

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 8, 1906

The Blessed Hope

By L. D. Santee

L. D. SANTEE

“The coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5 : 8.

The mourner’s sobbings reach the pitying skies; From darkened dwellings, tears and prayers arise To Him in whom the stricken heart can trust, To Him that watches o’er our precious dust.

Is there no sunrise on earth’s deepening gloom? Is there no Saviour that can ope the tomb? A whisper runs along the listening sky, “The coming of the Saviour draweth nigh.”

O wondrous coming! Darkened sun and moon Have told its nearness, and the old world’s doom. O grand event! The heavens and falling stars Herald the judgment and earth’s closing wars, And rich reward for all the pure in heart, Who for the truth have nobly borne their part; Soon shall they reach that paradise on high: “The coming of the Saviour draweth nigh.”

O Paradise of God! no pain nor sin Can mar the purity that reigns within; No tears are there, no tired or weary feet, But all the loved, around the throne shall meet. O heaven of God! my being longs for thee, Longs for the change to immortality. We watch with eager eyes earth’s changing sky, To greet that welcome coming, now so nigh.

Chicago, Ill.

Publishers' Page

Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Association

Tracts and Leaflets

As the writer of the notes for the Publishers' Page of this week's Review looks from the windows of our new building, the leaves are seen dropping in quick succession from the various kinds of trees. He is reminded of that expression which is familiar to all Seventh-day Adventists, that our publications should fall “like the leaves of autumn.” Although each leaf in itself is small, taken collectively they represent a great accumulation and cover the ground. The scene suggests the importance of scattering our publications broadcast, even though it be but a small tract of a few pages.

We have thought well to use the Publishers' Page this week in giving a list of small tracts and leaflets which may be scattered in large quantities at small expense.

Is the End Near?

The nature of this tract (W. T. S., No. 22) is a Biblical reply to the above question. It seems unnecessary to enter into further explanation, since it has had a circulation of hundreds of thousands, and many can testify to the good it has done. A new edition has just been printed. One order from a single individual calls for 25,000. Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

Can We Know?

This tract (W. T. S., No. 32) at once appeals to a certain class of persons who are ever ready to answer in the negative. As the leaves now falling indicate that winter is near, so the scriptures quoted must prove to any candid thinker that we may know when He is near, “even at the door.” Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

A Challenge to Protestants

The contents of this tract (W. T. S., No. 4) are selected from an article written by Father O'Keefe in the Catholic Mirror. Professed Protestants, who claim to take the Bible as their only rule of faith, are sharply taken to task for their practises, for which they must give credit to the Catholic Church, or repudiate them. This is a challenge which should make every true Protestant think. Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

The Civil Sabbath

History so clearly unfolds the evil which comes from religious legislation, that “Sabbath legislation” often seeks a disguise under the garb of a civil benefit. This has come to be a common tactic in appealing to the working classes for Sunday rest. It bears careful consideration. R. L. Leaflets, No. 4. Price, ¾ cent each; 60 cents a 100, post-paid.

Come, Lord Jesus

This tract (W. T. S., No. 14) is a ray of sunshine to the weary pilgrim on the dark roads of a desolate and sinful earth. It is based on the last verse of the Bible, wherein is the promise that He will come quickly; and the blessings of heaven, which are promised to those who choose to love and obey him, will be an incentive to others to join in the responding choir, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Price, ¼ cent each; 20 cents a 100, post-paid.

Important Questions on Great Events

This tract (W. T. S., No. 27) asks the reader, though he may not be a Bible student, to consider, if for nothing more than curiosity's sake, the questions asked and the answers given, which are taken from the Bible, believing that it will prove to any one that the Bible is an up-to-date book, dealing with current events, about which prophecy was written hundreds of years in the past. This is a tract of a few pages with volumes for study. Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

Principles Too Little Understood

In a demand for religious legislation, many persons are honest, but have not studied the principles underlying their demands, to know what the results will be when such legislation is broadened on the same principle. If such persons understood the principles involved in religious legislation, they would doubtless change their attitude toward it. Give them this tract, R. L. Leaflets, No. 1. Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

Candid Admissions

“Admissions in favor of truth from the ranks of its enemies constitute the highest kind of evidence,” and this little tract (W. T. S., No. 6) is filled with such admissions from great men and leaders in the different denominations. Persons who base their belief in Sunday sacredness on what “the minister says,” will find in this tract some startling statements. Price, ½ cent each, 40 cents a hundred, post-paid.

Sunday Laws—Their Origin, Nature, and Object

This tract (R. L. Leaflets, No. 2) is a direct consideration of Sunday laws, and enters into the origin of such laws, dealing with their outcome in the past, and showing the result of parallel legislation to-day. After considering the subject, it adds a few terse statements from prominent men, to the effect that no proof exists in the Bible for Sunday sacredness, and closes with an example of Sunday enforcement as proposed by one class of “reformers.” Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

The Logic of Sabbath Legislation

Coming to the real gist of the matter, serving the state in its jurisdiction is civil duty; serving God according to the dictates of conscience, without infringing upon the rights of others, is a religious duty. What shall be the attitude of the state toward the religious duties of man? A logical consideration of this subject will be found in R. L. Leaflets, No. 4. Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

An Appeal to the Clergy

This little tract which, during a few months of 1905, reached a circulation of about half a million copies, was prepared by the Seventh-day Adventist ministers of Washington, D. C., and addressed to the Protestant clergy. Having been written by ministers, and addressed to ministers, it is only reasonable to believe that this tract should be an able and authentic treatise of the subject in hand. It deals with the Sabbath question, as to which day really is the Sabbath, and why religious legislation in favor of any day is iniquitous. W. T. S., No. 43. Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

Is Sunday the Sabbath?

The title of this tract (A. G. L., No. 76), of course, reveals its nature. It is a direct reply to the question involved, and as it has been in the hands of our people for a long while, and many have been circulated, it needs but little introduction. The Biblical consideration of the subject is clear and convincing. Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

Which Day Do You Keep, and Why?

This little tract (A. G. L., No. 75) asks of the reader an important question, and at once proceeds to answer the question as to which day should be observed as holy according to God's Word. It is a good tract to have on hand, ready both to ask and to answer the question in meeting friends and neighbors. Price, ½ cent each; 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

Thoughts for the Candid

To suggest to a bereaved friend that the deceased one sleeps, takes away the soothing, erroneous sensation experienced from the belief that such a one has gone immediately to glory and is with the angels. What says the Bible? You will be pleased to see how kindly the subject is treated by Elder J. N. Andrews in this tract (B. S. L., No. 47). Your friends, now and in time of bereavement, should know of that glorious day when the dead in Christ and the righteous living shall ascend together to meet the Lord in the air. Price, 40 cents a 100, post-paid.

Signs of the Times Leaflet Series

A series of sixteen leaflets, covering vital phases of Bible truth for this time. These leaflets contain only two pages each. The titles are as follows:—

The Sure Word of Prophecy.
Prophetic History of the World.
Second Coming of Christ.
Signs of Our Times.
The Sanctuary.
The 2300 Days.
The Law of God.
The Sabbath of the Bible.
The First Day in the Bible.
Who Changed the Sabbath?
The Great Threefold Message.
The Seal of God and Mark of the Beast.
Church and State.
Life and Immortality.
The Great Judgment Day.
The Home of the Saved.

These tracts are sold only by the package. 100 tracts of any one kind, per package. $.15, post-paid. 1000 tracts (any ten packages) $1.30, post-paid. 1600 tracts (one package of each kind) $1.95, post-paid. 1 pound of these tracts, assorted, about 300 tracts, $.50, post-paid.

Moral Tone

By Editor

Editorial

It is a good time to emphasize the warning that we should not be “carried about with every wind of doctrine.” Those who are established in the truth by a plain “Thus saith the Lord” ought to be able to discern between the light of the third angel’s message and the will-o’-the-wisps of fanciful interpretation. Because we have been willing to give up error for truth, it should not follow that we are equally ready to give up that truth for some other error, even though that error be presented to us by one who claims to be a Seventh-day Adventist. Willingness to receive the genuine light of truth does not mean that we should become more rainbow chasers. “Be ye steadfast, unmovable.”

This advent movement is in itself a sign of the end. The history of God’s dealings with the world shows that a message has always been sent to prepare the way for any great event. So it was before the flood. “A hundred and twenty years before the flood, the Lord by a holy angel declared to Noah his purpose, and directed him to build an ark. While building the ark he was to preach that God would bring a flood of water upon the earth to destroy the wicked. Those who would believe the message, and would prepare for that event by repentance and reformation, should find pardon and be saved.” Noah’s message was a sign of the coming flood. In the same way the message of John the Baptist was a sign of the first advent of our Lord. The very work of making ready a people prepared for the Lord witnessed to the fact that the coming of the Lord was at hand. The same principle applies in our day. In no other generation since the ascension from Olivet has there been a world-wide movement carrying the good news to every land that Jesus is about to come to take his people to the mansions which he went to prepare. This movement is the fulfilment of prophecy, and is itself a prophecy. Every true Seventh-day Adventist is a living sign-board.

The highest possible exaltation for man is found in glorifying God. The lowest possible degradation for man is found in glorifying himself. But he who attempts to glorify God in order to exalt himself will neither glorify God nor exalt himself. The heavenly principles of the divine philosophy will not lend themselves to further the schemes of a worldly ambition. Sincerity of soul, honesty of purpose, and singleness of heart are essential to a successful application of these heavenly principles in daily life. What seems paradoxical to merely worldly wisdom is a matter of common experience to the one who exercises a simple faith in God. “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.”

Moral Tone

There is the moral tone of the individual, and there is the moral tone of companies of individuals. The latter is a kind of general average of the former. This moral tone determines the general plane of thought and action of each one or of each community, and is itself determined by the attitude of each person toward the divine standard in morals. He who repudiates God’s standard of rightness of character and the divinely ordained means of attaining to that standard of rightness, or righteousness, may be an earnest advocate of every reform movement, and may devote his energies and his means to the most approved philanthropic and sociological efforts for the betterment of mankind, but he will be unable to maintain his own moral tone or to raise the moral tone of his community if we judge by the true standard. A high degree of civilization, a passionate devotion to literature and art, and a world-wide grasp of power are all compatible with a low moral tone. History bears testimony to this fact, and the present condition of things emphasizes it. The contempt which has been shown toward God’s law during the present generation by the professed conservers of Christianity, and the refusal to accept that law as the standard of righteousness, have led to a lowering of moral tone, as is being plainly manifested in an alarming manner. The enemy of truth and righteousness, who has plotted to bring about this very situation, now takes advantage of it to redouble his assaults and to press his temptations with satanic skill. Future efforts are being made to stay the tide of evil by seeking the power of the state as a substitute for the power of the Spirit in the heart, and by attempting to erect the standard of human law in the place of the divine law. It will be impossible, however, to accomplish a reformation by these means, or to renovate society as a whole, and the only hope for individuals will be found in stimulating the moral tone by applying the gospel remedy—the law of God written in the heart through faith in the operation of the Holy Spirit. It is the mission of this advent movement to furnish this remedy.

The Christ of the Prophets

GENUINE Christianity is a personality. Men may devise systems of morals, more or less feeble imitations of the Biblical code, but there has been only one incarnation. Paganism may have its priests, but there is only one priest who has been made “after the power of an endless life.” Many creations of the human mind may be venerated as deities, and there may be a plenty of so-called mediators, but Christianity knows only one true God, and his Son as the only mediator. “For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth; as there are gods many, and lords many; yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.” “There is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus.”

As there is the one God and the one way of salvation in contrast with the many, so there is the true Christ in contrast with false Christs. Jesus himself said, “Many shall come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and, ‘There shall arise false Christs.’”

How, then, shall we distinguish between the genuine and the counterfeit, the true and the false?

An assuring and satisfying answer to this question may be found by considering it in the light of some experiences at the time of the first advent of our Lord. There was nothing in the mere outward form or appearance of Jesus of Nazareth which would indicate to the unspiritual observer that he was the incarnate Son of God. His neighbors therefore said, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him.” Again we read: “The Jews therefore murmured concerning him, because he said, I am the bread which came down out of heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how doth he now say, I am come down out of heaven?” To what was the appeal made in order to satisfy the people of that time and of all time that this Jesus of Nazareth was God manifest in the flesh? It was to the fulfilment of prophecy. The true Christ must be the Christ of the prophets. The Word made flesh must be the embodiment of the written Word. “He who understands not the election of Abram, the exodus of Israel, the Angel of Jehovah, the types of the tabernacle, the high priest, and the sacrifices, the meaning of the shepherd-king, the son of Jesse, and of the sure mercies of David, must find insuperable difficulties in the life of Christ. All attempts to understand Jesus Christ, separate from the Old Testament, are most unphilosophical, and can tend to no satisfactory result. For Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of Moses and the prophets.”

It will be helpful to notice how completely the evidence of the Messiahship of Jesus was based upon the fulfilment of definite prophecies. The time of the advent was announced through the prophet Daniel: “Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Messiah, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.” And when Jesus began to preach after his baptism, he declared, “The time is fulfilled.”

After setting forth the circumstances of Jesus’ birth the gospel writer says: “Now all this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel; which is, being interpreted, God with us.” Thus were the specifications of Isaiah’s prophecy fully met.

The place of the birth of the true Christ was foretold by a prophet. When, therefore, Herod inquired of the chief priests and scribes “where the Christ should be born,” they replied: “In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written through the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, land of Judah, art in no wise least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come forth a governor, who shall be shepherd of my people Israel.” And even the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem, that terrible effort to cut off the dreaded king of the Jews, was written in prophecy. “Then was fulfilled that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet, A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachael weeping for her children; and she would not be comforted, because they are not.” Furthermore, the flight into Egypt and the place of his residence after his return was a part of the biography of Jesus which was recorded by the prophets: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt did I call my son.” And he “dwelt in a city called Nazareth; that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets, that he should be called a Nazarene.”

And so, after his crucifixion and resurrection, when he walked with the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, he did not assert on his own authority that he was the very one “who should redeem Israel,” but he appealed to the prophets as the witnesses to his experience, and said: “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”

From these quotations and others which might be made it is perfectly clear that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ of the prophets. Those who did not fulfil the prophetic declarations were false Messiahs.

We may apply these same principles in seeking a test for the true Christ of the present generation—the Christ who is to come with power and great glory. The prophecies concerning the second advent are to be fulfilled just as completely as were those concerning the first advent. And inasmuch as the prophecies indicate plainly that this is the generation in which the Son of God is to return to this earth to reap the fruit of his sacrifice and his priestly ministration, the true Christ will now be proclaimed as the coming Saviour. The conclusion which follows from this statement is startling, but true: it will soon be a fact that any preaching of Christ which does not emphasize his coming in the clouds of heaven as an impending event will be the proclamation of a false Christ who is not the Christ of the prophets.

During the last quarter of a century the higher critics have made havoc with the Christ of the Scriptures. They have denied the virgin birth; they have repudiated the claim that he was the Son of God in any unique sense; they have rejected the teaching of the apostles concerning his death and resurrection; they discredit the account of his appearances among his disciples after the resurrection and of his ascension; they refuse to believe in the efficacy of the atoning sacrifice; and, with all the rest, they of course do not accept the plain teachings of prophets and apostles concerning our Lord’s second advent. What conclusion must we draw? Is it not clear that those who have set aside the Christ of the prophets, and are proclaiming a Christ who is the product of a merely human philosophy, have betrayed their Lord, and are the heralds of a false Christ? Listen to the teaching of one of these modern interpreters of a new theology, and judge:—

Popular presentations of the remission of sins by faith in the finished work of Jesus are untrue, unethical, and contradicted by the facts of every-day life. In proportion as a selfish man becomes loving, the life of God enters into and possesses his soul. . . . What popular theology says of the person of Jesus is true of the ideal humanity which is ever in the heart of the Father. The uniqueness of Jesus consists in the fact that in him the life of God was manifested for the world to see. That is the life which we are called to live as truly as he was. Faith in him is faith in God, faith in love, faith in the ideal within ourselves, and faith in the great atonement of the race with God.

In plain terms, this means that Jesus was an example for us, but not a power within us, and that we are to attain unto our salvation from sin, which is defined to be “offense against the God within,” through faith in ourselves, rather than through faith in the work of Jesus. Such teaching as this is a travesty on revelation, a complete rejection of the Christ of the prophets, and puts man in the place of God.

The gospel message for to-day should exalt the Christ of the Scriptures as the coming Saviour, and should proclaim righteousness by faith as the only way of salvation. Any other message denies the Christ of the prophets.

Zinzendorf and the Sabbath

By W. A. S.

THE earnest zeal with which the Moravians prosecuted their work has furnished many lessons in missionary enterprise during the last two centuries. Their origin is found in the earlier Reformation, under Huss and Jerome, rather than in the later reform movements of Luther’s day.

“The Moravian doctrine,” says Goethe, “had something magical in that it appeared to continue, or rather to perpetuate, the condition of those first times [the apostolic times]. It connected its origin with them, and had never perished, but had only wound its way through the world by unnoticed shoots and tendrils, until a single germ took root under the protection of a pious and eminent man, once more to expand wide over the world.”

This man was Count Zinzendorf, who, in 1722, gave many of the persecuted Moravians a place of refuge on his estates in Saxony, and became their leader and organizer. Missionaries were sent to foreign lands, and through Count Zinzendorf’s personal influence they obtained from the English Parliament an act authorizing the establishment of Moravian missions in America.

In 1742 Zinzendorf visited America, and established congregations in Bethlehem and Nazareth, Pa. Speaking of his life there, a French biographer, M. Bovet, mentions an interesting fact. Some years ago Brother J. Vuilleumier, editor of our French paper, gave me this translation of M. Bovet’s account:—

In June, after the closing of the seventh synod, Zinzendorf went to Bethlehem. New recruits of one hundred and twenty brethren had just arrived from Europe. The count then gave to this colony a regular organization, nearly the same as that of the Moravian communities of Germany. This American community had, nevertheless, some institutions which were particular to itself; for instance, the celebration of the seventh day of the week as a day of rest. Zinzendorf had always as much as possible celebrated the Sabbath by abstaining himself from labor on that day, and devoting it to prayer. It was also that day that he used to choose in preference for the agape. That which in his own eyes was the particular value of the Saturday, was not the Mosaic commandment (for in this case he would have believed himself to be obliged to conform to other prescriptions of the Old Testament); it was the blessing placed upon this day by the Lord after the work of creation. Nevertheless, he differed from the English and American Sabbatarians in celebrating with the Christian church the first day of the week, as being the one of the resurrection of Christ.

In a word, he did not pretend to impose upon any one his opinion and his way relative to the rest of the seventh day. On the contrary, seeing the inconvenience that a respite of two consecutive days would bring to the men who were obliged to live by the work of their hands, he did not hesitate to express himself in the community of Bethlehem, declaring that every one was free to act in the matter as he liked. But for himself he continued all his life to celebrate the Saturday and the Sunday, with all his family. All this did not shelter him from the rigors of the American Puritanism. One Sunday evening, when he was occupied with his daughter, composing some hymns, the justice of the peace entered and summoned them in the name of the king, forbidding them to continue to write. The next day they were obliged to appear before the court, for this offense, and in spite of their defense were condemned to pay a fine of six shillings, each, as profaners of the sabbath [Sunday].

In considering the history of various early reform movements which have striven to pattern after the primitive faith and practise, we have frequently to record how such awakenings to Bible truth led individual believers to the keeping of the Lord’s Sabbath.

It is not surprising that, with his early training and the example of the religious world, Count Zinzendorf should also have recognized the Sunday. Not so great light was then shining in the world as to the origin of its observance; nor had that “time of the end” of Daniel’s prophecy been reached, which was to bring to the student of the Scriptures an understanding of those prophecies relative to the works of the man of sin in seeking “to change times and laws” of the Most High. But it is significant that the leader of the great missionary movement which prepared the way for the “century of missions,” was also ahead of most in his time in the recognition of the Sabbath truth, which is now being carried to all nations.

W. A. S.

A Fulfilment of Prophecy

By C. M. S.

The modern city is a fulfilment of prophecy. The days that were before the flood were a type of the days that would precede our Lord’s return to this earth. They were sinks of iniquity then; they are certainly nothing less than that at the present time. There may be cities in this world that are honestly ruled from highest officials down; but there are few who will dispute the statement that the municipal machine is operated for “graft” in the vast majority of cities.

The world in the antediluvian days was teeming with vice and lawlessness; and while iniquity is abroad in the land to-day, it is found centralized in every large city. Whatever antediluvian cities were, the cities of to-day are; whatever was found in Sodom and Gomorrah seems to be indigenous to city life to-day. “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Every evil thing that has been turned into gold in days of old is making that same transformation to-day, only the transformation is accelerated by the impetus of the accumulated years and the educated keenness of experienced wicked men.

Statistics that are before us show that there is a much more rapid growth in the population of the cities than there is of rural communities; and as the strife for existence becomes more keen, meaner and more degrading and unlawful pursuits are engaged in. Children arrested for picking pockets accuse parents or guardians of teaching them to do that unlawful work. Common thievery is taught the young by those older in years and experience. Official statistics show that in many cases, in the Old World, parents dwelling in cities have compelled their own daughters to lead lives of shame to add to the family income.

Listen to this fearful arraignment of city life in New York by Jacob A. Riis:—

They [lawless landlords] have a grievance, for the law which they hate now puts a fine of a thousand dollars upon the tenement that harbors prostitution with the knowledge of the landlord. We have heard it until it has made our heart sick, how they traffic in virtue, these vultures, that their pockets may bulge and their diamonds blaze while mothers weep; how girls are snared for the bagnio, and sold by their seducers into a slavery from which death is the only escape; for while they live, they must help fill with the wages of their shame the bottomless coffers that buy elections and our liberties. There came in my mail to-day a reprint of a paper read before the American Medical Association by the assistant surgeon of the Good Samaritan Dispensary. It tells of the new horror of children of tender age coming to the hospital with unnamable diseases; and I know that it is all true, for I have seen it.

Mr. Riis declares that the political issue there should be whether New York shall continue to stand before the world as a silent partner of the most infamous conspiracy of any day, to which nothing is pure, nothing sacred; which drags down with one polluting hand innocent womanhood, and with the other collects blackmail impartially from “the prostitute it has made, the friendless peddler, the sweeper in the street, the policeman on his beat. On the very buttons on his coat they have set a price which he must pay, or pay the penalty.”

But New York City is not by any means alone in this. In some degree, and in a larger degree than realized, it is carried on in nearly all, if not all, the large cities, and in many of the smaller cities and villages. The growth of the cities at the expense of the rural communities is not imaginary, but is proved by statistics to be rapid and continuous; and with this increase, the distressful conditions also continue to increase. The soil which makes that increase possible is becoming more mellow and productive.

The Word declares that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived,” and this was to be in the last days. The records of these present days identify them as the days to which Inspiration refers. Wicked men and seducers are fulfilling that prophecy to-day as never before.

In view of these things are we not warranted in assuming, as many do, that there is a glorious temporal future before this and succeeding generations? If that assumption be true, God’s Word can not be. We see now the duplicate of those sin-breeding days of Noah’s generation, and by that sign know that we are in the days of “the coming of the Son of man.” We are living to-day in the most solemn hours of this earth’s history. The moral conditions of the world, together with what God has said concerning them, show beyond the shadow of a doubt that the time of Christ’s return is near at hand. The very wickedness of the world is a warning to its inhabitants that the end of sin’s dominion is near at hand. It is a sad fact that the great city so recently shattered by earthquake and seared by flame has risen up out of her ashes more wicked than before. We know that other cities will similarly suffer, and we have no reason to expect that they will remember the punishment long enough to practise the righteousness which it ought to teach.

The increase of wickedness will go on with the increase of city growth until the cup of this world’s iniquity is full; and the intensified workings of the mystery of iniquity and the renewed intensity of missionary zeal among the people of God are both indications that the day of Israel’s deliverance is near at hand.

C. M. S.

Note and Comment

There is an occasional illustration of the cruelty of religious bigotry which indicates what will happen when the restraint of law and public sentiment is removed. The following paragraph from The Signs of the Times gives the particulars of one such case:—

Brother G. W. Reaser, president of the Southern California Conference, reports a sad case of persecution that occurred in connection with meetings held in Pasadena by Elder W. Simpson. A woman of unusually brilliant mind came to the meetings from night to night, and finally decided to accept the truth. She expressed her convictions to her husband, who is a strong Roman Catholic. He told her that if she became a Seventh-day Adventist, he would have her placed in an insane asylum. True to his threat, through the influence of a relative who is a strong Catholic attorney in the State of New York, he has had his wife placed in close confinement in an insane asylum. People in Pasadena, and others who are acquainted with the lady, are ready to give evidence that she was a woman of unusual talent, and perfectly sane in mind.

The English Education Bill

The English Education bill has now reached a most interesting stage. It has commanded attention for months on both sides of the Atlantic. The world has been wondering what the House of Lords would do with the bill. As it had passed the House of Commons with a very strong majority, and as it was known that the House of Lords was strongly opposed to it, interesting times were looked for when the upper house should take action. The bill came before the House of Lords on October 29, and an amendment was offered which practically nullifies the whole intent and purpose of the proposed law. This amendment provides that religious education shall be made compulsory during a part of the daily school hours in all the public elementary schools. The amendment carried by a vote of two hundred and fifty-six to fifty-six. This stand sets the two houses against each other upon the most vital question that has arisen in England for many years. It also sets the House of Lords against the present administration, which is in favor of the passage of the bill. It is stated that when the bill again comes before the Commons, the obnoxious amendment will be stricken out, and the original bill will be passed again. It will then be laid once more before the upper house, and will probably be amended again. It is not possible to predict what course will be taken by the government and the Commons following the final refusal of the upper house to sanction the bill. Some suggest the dissolution of Parliament and an appeal direct to the people. It is even predicted that a bill may be passed by the lower house to abolish the House of Lords. Opposition to the bill has been strong among adherents of the established church and the Catholic Church, and some have even predicted the shedding of blood in the settlement of the matter. For years the English and Welsh non-conformists have been suffering in the matter of the payment of taxes to be used in teaching their children a form of religion in which they did not believe. The sentiment against the continuation of the injustice has been growing stronger during the past few years, and has been organized into a definite movement. Fines and imprisonments have been their portion for refusal to comply with a law which made such a thing possible. The present agitation and bitter feelings are the natural result of an attempt to combine the functions of the church and the state. Such a condition is a survival of medievalism, and is directly opposed to the principles of civil and religious liberty.

Torrey on the Sabbath Commandment

In one of the recent Torrey-Alexander revival meetings at Nashville, Tenn., Dr. Torrey read the first sentence of the fourth commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” and then said: “Right here I want to point out that that doesn’t mean Saturday, Sunday, or Monday.” If the commandment requires merely one day in seven to be observed, then those who keep the seventh day of the week are just as right as anybody else can be; if the commandment requires the observance of the seventh day of the week, just as it reads, then those who keep the seventh day are still right, while all others must be wrong. We therefore still think, even after reading Dr. Torrey’s illuminating comment, that it is advisable to rest “the Sabbath day according to the commandment,” following the example of those women who chose the day before the first day of the week as the one designated by the commandment.

The Sabbath Question Is a Large One

The larger part of the editorial space in a recent issue of The Sabbath Recorder is devoted to a suggestive consideration of the Sabbath question for the special benefit of those who may think of preaching upon that subject. The following titles will indicate the general ground covered: The Sabbath in the Bible, The Deeper Meaning of the Sabbath, The Sabbath Question a Religious One, The Sabbath in the Time of Christ, A Large Question. We quote one paragraph from what the Recorder said under the last title:—

We are satisfied that one element of weakness on the part of pastors and people is the mistaken notion that the Sabbath question is a minor one in extent and importance. Too many sermons treat it hastily and imperfectly, either because those who preach upon it are not so well informed as they should be, or because they fear that the people to whom they preach will become restless if the question is not treated briefly. Best results are lost when the question is considered in such a way. If the history of the Sabbath question—which is really a very important feature of the question in these days—be taken up in connection with the discussion of what the Bible teaches, not less than seven carefully prepared and elaborate sermons can cover the field. . . . No preacher, however able, can do anything like justice to the Bible, or to the Sabbath question, who attempts to crowd the whole matter into a single sermon. Four sermons, resulting from the work of months rather than hours, are requisite to a fairly adequate treatment of the Sabbath as it appears in the Bible.

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