Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 1. (1/7/1915)

Review and Herald

Jan 7, 1915

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1915

Be Strong and of Good Courage

How rapidly the years pass! But twelve short months ago we wrote for the first time 1914. But now 1914 has gone never to return. The sweep of relentless time has brought us to 1915. It, too, will soon pass in its turn, and thus year will succeed year until the sum total of earth's history is complete. We cannot stay the hands on the dial of time's great clock; we would not if we could. God's great purposes must be wrought out. The gospel message must do its appointed work. Out from among all the nations of earth Christ is gathering a people for his kingdom; and when that has been accomplished, time as reckoned by the calendars of men will be no more. The darkness of earth's night will give place to the brightness of eternal day. The reign of sin will be succeeded by the benign rule of the Prince of Peace. For sorrow we shall have joy; for mourning, laughter. Pleasure will supplant pain. Eternal confidence and peace will take the place of anxiety and unrest. “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” This time of gladness will soon be ushered in. “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Another year is given in which to prepare for this blessed state. Let us make it count in the heavenly race. Let us make it a year of victory over sin, of earnest service in the cause and work of the Master. This new year will come weighted with trials, lightened with blessings, filled with opportunities, charged with solemn responsibilities. We shall need heavenly wisdom and divine power to enable us rightly to relate ourselves to its manifold ministry in working out God's purpose in our lives. But we shall live but one day at a time. Moment by moment we may experience the keeping power of the Infinite One. He will hold our weak hands in his strong and mighty grasp. He will go with us in every experience. His admonition for this new year is, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

THE WORK AND THE WORKERS

By Editor

DID you read “How Two Clergymen and a Noted Evangelist Became Interested,” on page 2 of last week’s REVIEW?

AN Ohio business man has just sent in eleven subscriptions for Life and Health. He now desires to sell the magazine regularly.

OUR magazine department is receiving many subscriptions for Life and Health, Liberty, and the Protestant Magazine these days; also for club No. 13, which includes the above and also the Signs Magazine and the Watchman, all for $3.25 — regular price, $4.35.

Photo by Underwood & Underwood, New York

START the year 1915 right by subscribing for Life and Health. Special offer: 15 months for $1.00 — the October, November, and December, 1914, issues being thrown in FREE with 1915 subscription.

ROBERT H. HUGHES, editor of the Pacific Christian Advocate, Portland, Oregon, writes to Brother S. H. Carnahan, Cuba: “We are very glad to get a copy of the magazine Liberty which you are sending. We also wish to say that we get the Protestant Magazine regularly, and enjoy it very much. It is all that you say it is. Again thanking you.”

SEND $1.95 for the Protestant Magazine and the Christian Herald for one year. Regular price, $2.50. The “Christian Herald Almanac” cannot be included as heretofore, inasmuch as the edition is exhausted.

SPEAKING of Sunday laws, or any other laws, we should remember the following words of Abraham Lincoln: “He who molds public sentiment, goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or pronounces decisions. He makes statutes and decisions POSSIBLE or IMPOSSIBLE to be EXECUTED. PUBLIC SENTIMENT IS EVERYTHING. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.” To mold public sentiment, use Liberty magazine. It will accomplish wonders in behalf of religious freedom. Try it. Send $1.00 for 20 or $2.00 for 50 copies of the latest issue, just off the press,—the “European War,” “Peace Movement,” “National Sunday Law,” and “Church and State” number.

ON Tuesday, December 22, Brother E. R. Button, field missionary agent of the District of Columbia Conference, appeared before that splendid musical organization, the United States Marine Band, accompanied by Brother C. Oliveri, who had been identified with the band for twenty-five years. The members were presented with free copies of Life and Health, Liberty, the Protestant Magazine, the Watchman, and the Signs Magazine. The presentation of these magazines was prefaced by a few remarks concerning the need that each one understand the many perplexing problems that are clamoring for solution,—problems that are so ably discussed in these publications, most of which deal with the situation in the light of Bible prophecy. The magazines were received most cordially, even eagerly. Announcement was then made that at a future time opportunity will be given every member to receive regularly one or all of these magazines into their homes.

A PROMINENT Philadelphia attorney writes: “Your Protestant Magazine is conducted on a much higher plane than are most of the other anti-Catholic publications. Some of these papers, if not all of them, may have done a certain amount of good, and perhaps there is a class of people to whom they may appeal, but I can only regret their vulgarity and vituperation. I do not think that they help the cause of Protestantism in the long run. I inclose herewith $1.00 for subscription for the year 1915.”

SEND $1.70 for any two, $2.40 for any three, or $3.00 for any four of the following monthly magazines FOR ONE YEAR: Life and Health, Protestant Magazine, Signs Magazine, Watchman. Regular price of EACH, $1.00 a year. Add 25 cents to any club, for Liberty, a quarterly magazine, for one year. The magazines may all be sent to different addresses if desired.

Christ All and in All

By T. M. FRENCH

T. M. FRENCH

THERE is a striking lesson of self-abnegation in the example of John the Baptist that should characterize the lives of workers in the proclamation of the second advent message. “And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.”

These words were doubtless designed to stir up that selfish ambition, that jealousy, which would have proved ruinous to the very work that John had begun. But, no, this plain, humble man of God immediately took in the situation. This was just that for which he had been laboring and praying, that Christ might be given his rightful place, and in the contemplation of this, great theme, self was lost sight of. Hear his noble reply: “Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. . . . He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3: 28-30.

In like manner, we who are sent before him who is “to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe,” preparing the way for that glorious event, should bear the same unselfish, humble, and effective witness. Thus we may turn all men to him who is to be all and in all in that great day.

Grimsby, England.

God’s Part and Man’s in Rewriting the Law

By James G. White

J. G. WHITE

God gave Moses’ two tables of stone of his own workmanship, upon which with his own finger he had written his perfect law. This was his gift to Moses, to Israel, and to the world.

Moses by one hasty act broke the tables of stone, destroyed the sacred writing thereon, and ruined the priceless gift.

That God’s plan shall still be fulfilled, he required Moses to hew the stones this time. Do you know why? Moses could do that. He could not restore the writing which was done by the finger of God, but he could furnish the stones. It was required of Moses to make restoration for his sin as far as possible.

God gave a precious gift to man, a pure heart all written with his perfect law. This gift was the workmanship of God.

Man by his sin effaced the writing, ruined the heart, and spoiled the gift.

That God’s plan may still be fulfilled, that his law may be rewritten, the gift restored, he now commands that we furnish the stone — the tables of the heart. We cannot restore the writing, but we can furnish the heart. God does not do that which we can do. “Son, give me thine heart.” He is waiting for the heart that he may rewrite his law there by his Holy Spirit. Heb. 8: 8-12.

Melrose, Mass.

My Brother and I

By Daniel Nettleton

DANIEL NETTLETON

“AND there was a strife between the herdmen of Abraham’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.” Gen. 13: 7, 8. Abraham and Lot were not only related as uncle and nephew, but were bound by the stronger tie of “brethren”—sons of God. The one great reason given by Abraham why they should not strive was, “We be brethren.” Incidentally another reason is given in verse 7: “The Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.” They had unconverted neighbors. The people living all about them were strangers to the covenant of promise, having “no hope, and without God in the world.” Abraham and Lot were missionaries. Their business as stock men was only incidental—secondary. Their principal business was to give a knowledge of the true God by their righteous lives and testimony. Abraham saw that if they should quarrel about the pasture for their cattle, it would have a bad effect on their neighbors.

Similarly we are God’s children, and the “Canaanite” dwells in our land. If we are selfish, and strive for our rights and get into trouble with the brethren, what effect will it have on our unsaved neighbors? Will they take knowledge that we have been with Jesus? Abraham showed a true Christian spirit when he surrendered his right and let Lot take the best pasture, the beautiful valley of Jordan, while he quietly retired to the hills.

The most unwise thing that Lot ever did was to separate from Abraham. He was blessed and prospered while he was associated with that righteous man. He lost everything he had, even his family, and, perhaps, eternal life, by his selfish choice, though the portion he chose was well watered everywhere, even as the garden of the Lord. What “though every prospect pleases, and only man is vile”? Lot was soon dwelling in the city, though “the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.” He exchanged the association of the “friend of God” for worldly gain, and chose for his companions and the associates of his family the corrupt, wicked people of Sodom; and though he was “vexed” at the first with their filthy conversation and unlawful deeds, yet the last acts of his life, as recorded in Genesis 19, showed the terrible effect of this association on himself and children. “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” The character of the daughters of Sodom is described in Eze. 16: 49, 50. They were proud, haughty, and committed abominations. And these were the chosen companions of Lot’s wife and daughters. All this came from his separating from righteous Abraham and from “pitching his tent toward Sodom.” It is better to be on the hills with God and have the blessing of Abraham than to be in the beautiful valley of the Jordan with the Sodomites. In this record, there is a lesson for God’s remnant people; for our Saviour, in giving instruction for those looking for his second coming, said, “Remember Lot’s wife.”

Jesus points to that sad story of Lot and his family as a warning to those who are tempted to leave the plain, humble people of God for the more pleasing and fascinating society of the “lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” “I had rather be a doorkeeper,” says David, “in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” The counsel of the spirit of prophecy is, “Press together, brethren.” “Two are

better than one,” says Solomon, and a “threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

Eve was instructed not to separate from her companion. She disobeyed, yielded to the tempter, and brought the fall, with all its sad results. Had she remained with her husband, she might not have been overcome. It was a great help for Moses, who said he was slow of speech, to have his brother Aaron, who could “speak well.” David was blessed in having Jonathan for a brother and companion. In 1 Samuel 18 it is said, “The soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. . . . Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.”

This blessed union of hearts, this tie of affection, was never broken. The knitting together of these two hearts never raveled out. David said, in his lament for Jonathan when the sad news came to him of his death, “How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.”

O for more love like this among us as brethren! The sweetness and the blessed influence of brotherly love is given in Psalm 133: “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore.”

Yes, God does command his blessing on brotherly kindness. There are some things God never forgets. He said he would blot out our sins and remember them no more, but acts of love and kindness to his children he will always remember. Do you know what Jesus said about giving even a cup of cold water to one of his disciples? Paul said, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” He also said he remembered without ceasing the Thessalonians’ work of faith and labor of love. This labor of love for his people Christ esteems as done to himself. “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” All the blessings of this present life, and my hope of eternal life, have come to me through the love of the people of God.

We are in the perils of the last days. Men’s hearts are failing them for fear, but our strong Elder Brother cries to us, “Lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Our work for this time is not only to give the gospel to the heathen world, but to “lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for our feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way: but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” It is these roots of bitterness that are making a “time of trouble” for God’s people. Jacob’s “time of trouble” was caused by his selfish, sinful dealing with his brother Esau. He took advantage of his brother’s weakness, and it caused a separation in the family, and many tears and sad heartaches. But finally by the grace and providence of God these estranged brothers were united. This was brought about by Jacob’s prayers and tears of repentance, as recorded in Genesis 32. The angel said to Jacob, “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [prince of God]: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Jacob overcame, and on his knees with strong crying and tears unto God won his angry brother, who was coming with four hundred men to destroy him and his family.

Jacob first obtained power with God, then he had power with men. Power with God is the only true way to have power with men. Jacob captured his brother by his own surrender to God. When he had fallen on the Rock and was broken, then he was ready to meet his brother. Esau met Jacob as a brother, and showed him all the kindness possible, and that is the way things go with men when they find power with God. O brother, the way to fix up all the trouble with the brethren is to fall on the Rock and be broken. It does not do any good to talk over the trouble. If Jacob and Esau had first met and talked over the matter of the “pottage” and “birthright,” they doubtless would not have been united. But as it was, first came the night of prayer and tears, then the happy meeting; for it says, Jacob “bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.”

The cause of all the trouble with the brethren is down deep, too deep for human skill and power, in the natural unsaved human heart. God is the only one who can change the heart. “Ye must be born again.” “When thou art converted,” said Jesus to Peter, “strengthen thy brethren.”

Unto us are given exceeding great and precious promises, that we might be partakers of the divine nature; and the divine nature is love. When we have this divine nature, we shall be all of one mind, having compassion one of another. We shall love as brethren. We shall be pitiful, courteous, not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing; knowing that we are thereunto called, that we should inherit a blessing. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from us with all malice, and we shall be kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven us. Let us pray as Paul wrote in Heb. 13: 1: “Let brotherly love continue.”

Port Townsend, Wash.

H. M. KELLEY

By H. M. KELLEY

The Faith of Jesus—No. 4

H. M. KELLEY

DOUBT, which is a phase of unbelief, is founded upon the ruins of faith. But it is only when the individual relinquishes his hold upon God that unbelief can get the supremacy. It is not safe to entertain doubt for a moment, and to do so is sin. It is Satan’s studied plan to create doubt in the minds of God’s people, and the success of his plan will destroy their experience.

“It is unsafe to cherish doubt in the heart even for a moment. The seeds of doubt which Pharaoh sowed when he rejected the first miracle, were allowed to grow, and they produced such an abundant harvest that all the subsequent miracles could not persuade him that his position was wrong. He continued to venture on in his own course, going from one degree of questioning to another, and his heart became more and more hardened until he was called to look upon the cold, dead faces of the first-born.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 274.

Sin, in all its different phases, is the outgrowth of one principle, which, according to Rom. 14:23, is unbelief. Take faith out of the drama of life, and all that remains is sin. The glittering tinsel of unbelief may appear innocent, but it is the venom of Satan, and will poison the soul. Whatever effect tinsel may have on our minds, it still remains gaudy; and however innocent we may believe sin to be, it remains dangerous. Such is not faith, but folly.

The Original Sin

Adam and Eve were told not to eat the fruit of a certain tree, lest they should die. Satan said, “Ye shall not surely die.” Faith in God’s commandment was the only barrier against the floodgates of evil. When Eve surrendered her faith, her case was lost. She could not believe Satan and at the same time believe God. Before Satan could get her to eat the fruit, it was necessary for him to destroy her faith in God. Faith, therefore, became the issue upon which hung the destiny of the world. The eternal happiness of Eve and her posterity rested upon her faith in God’s statement, “Thou shalt surely die.”

“While Satan claimed to have received great good by eating of the forbidden tree, he did not let it appear that by transgression he had become an outcast from heaven. Here was falsehood, so concealed under a covering of apparent truth that Eve, infatuated, flattered, beguiled

did not discern the deception. She coveted what God had forbidden; she distrusted his wisdom. She cast away faith, the key of knowledge.'—Education,' page 24.

Herrin, Ill.

The Call of God

By W. LETTERMAN SMITH

W. LETTERMAN SMITH

The Call of God the Son

“The Master is come, and calleth for thee.” John 11:28.

“Come unto me.” Matt. 11:28.

It is the voice of Jesus. It is a call to salvation. “There is none righteous, no, not one.” “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:10, 23-26. All! There is, then, no exception. Sin is a dreadful fact, and a universal experience. It is a personal offense against a personal God. Like smut, it is black, defiling, and sticks. The blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse from all sin.

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Eze. 18:20. God will destroy sin utterly and forever. It is because the sinner is joined to his sins that he is destroyed. Separated from his sins, he is safe forever. Can the sinner be separated and saved from his sins? “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Isa. 63:1. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Heb. 7:25. O, yes, Jesus is mighty to save, mighty to save even unto the uttermost, for he has made atonement for sin by his death on the cross.

Sincere repentance for sin, and simple trust in Jesus the Christ, will be accepted of God, and he will mercifully account the sufferings and death of his Son as a sufficient punishment for all sins that have been committed, and will pardon, accept, and save the sinner who so repents and believes, and will reckon to his account the perfect obedience and righteousness of Christ. Thus Jesus becomes the penitent sinner’s substitute, and his death the accepted sacrifice for the penitent sinner’s guilt. Repentance, faith—there is no other way of salvation from sin, eternal death, and hell.

“Come unto me.” The gracious, loving call of Jesus comes to every one who is unsaved. “Whosoever will” may come. The “whosoever” includes you. The invitation is for you. Will you come?

The Call of God the Holy Ghost

“Be ye holy.” 1 Peter 1:14-16.

It is the voice of the Holy Spirit. It is a call to holiness; to the higher, Christian life; to a life of whole-hearted consecration unto the Lord, and of devotion to his service, making God and his work first, always first.

It is a call to be crucified with Christ to all manner of sin and iniquity; to have Christ reign in the heart; to live not to the flesh, but “by the faith of the Son of God” (Gal. 2:20); to walk in the Spirit; to abound in good works unto the glory of God; to develop and perfect the fruit of the Spirit in character and life.

It is the life of peace and satisfaction, of profit and service. It is the happy, the blessed life, the only life worth living.

“Be ye holy.” The call comes to every Christian. Will you live such a life of holiness unto the Lord?

The Call of God the Father

“Go work today in my vineyard.” Matt. 21:28.

It is the voice of the Heavenly Father. It is a call to service. “The fields . . . are white already to harvest.” John 4:35. Lift up your eyes and see. “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.” Matt. 9:37. The work is vast, the workers are few, and the night is swiftly hastening on. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work . . . in the grave, whither thou goest.” Eccl. 9:10. “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead.” James 2:17. Faith and good works are inseparably joined. What, therefore, God hath joined together let no man attempt to put asunder. Work that which is well pleasing in the sight of God.

“Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Luke 14:23. Constrain them by love and earnest appeal. This is at once a divine command and a divinely appointed method of procedure. Go! Compel! Today!

Souls are dying for want of Jesus, the bread of life. Care you not that they perish? “Give ye them to eat” (Matt. 14:16), says your Master. Set before these starving, dying souls Jesus Christ, the bread of life, the only Saviour. Won’t you? This is well pleasing in the sight of God.

“Go work today in my vineyard.” The call comes loudly and imperatively to every child of God. It is an urgent call to prompt, active, earnest, cheerful, faithful, persevering, prayerful service unto the Lord.

“I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Isa. 6:8. Is this your response to the call of your Heavenly Father?

The Call of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

“Give me thine heart.” Prov. 23:26.

It is the voice of the triune God. Father, Son, and Spirit unite in this earnest, pleading, loving call to men.

If you will but make the Lord God the king of your heart, the ruler of your life, then true pleasure, success, happiness, peace, joy, and hope will be yours; and you will be a king and a priest unto God forever, wearing the crown of perfect righteousness and of eternal life, and ministering unto the Lord forever in the heavenly kingdom above.

Respond to the tender, gracious call of God, and all will be yours to enjoy forever. Will you?

God’s Greatness and Our Incompleteness

God's greatness Flows around our incompleteness; Round our restlessness his rest. — Browning.

“He Arose and Departed”

By T. E. BOWEN

T. E. BOWEN

Jesus came into the world to prove that God loves sinners and can save them. Sin originated with Lucifer, not with God. God was and is in no way responsible for it. He hates it, he warned all against it, and yet it found existence. Jesus was manifested among men to destroy it, and to save the sinner.

One day a man sick of the palsy was brought to Jesus on a bed. Really he was dying. He could not walk. He was a sinner, and knew it. It was his sin-sick soul that gave him the most of his trouble. Could he be freed from his sins, what a burden would be rolled away! Jesus read his heart. He had power on earth to forgive sin. And when this helpless man was brought into his presence, Jesus’ words of greeting to him were like music to his soul, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven.”

One can imagine the expression of gladness upon the sufferer’s face at hearing these blessed words of assurance. But doubters were there; they are always present on such occasions. In their hearts they were saying, “Who is this man forgiving sins? No one but God can do that. This man is surely a blasphemer in thus making himself God.” These wicked thoughts Jesus read on their minds, and asked, “Which is easier, to say, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and walk?”

Now Jesus was either God or a blasphemer. And to prove that he was the former, and forever to settle it that he was not a blasphemer, the test was made. Upon his word this man’s sins were or were not forgiven. Surely it was one or the other. Nothing was seen only the gladdened face of the palsied man to prove that his sins had actually been forgiven. By faith he had believed the word of Jesus, and in actual fact his sins at that very moment were forgiven; he was as free from them as if he had never sinned. He knew it. Yet to prove this to the multitude looking on, Jesus went on, “But that ye [the doubters] may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (then saith he to the sick of the palsy), Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thy house.”

Suppose now that the sick man had not got up and gone home. What a signal victory this would have been for Satan! But, thank God, the palsied man picked up his bed, a well man, and with the dignified bearing of one in full possession of his restored manhood, he passed through the crowd, every step proclaiming to all who saw him, This man has power on earth to forgive sins.

And today the story tells you and me the same; so why should not we also “be of good cheer”? Jesus, though now in heaven, still has power on earth to forgive sins.

Continue reading: To the Fields in 1914