Earlier text: “Let Both Grow Together”R. D. QUINN
By R. D. Quinn
The Spirit and Power of Elijah — No. 2
“It came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself still, unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth, . . . And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” 1 Kings 18. Then Elijah called for a great convocation of all Israel and of all the false prophets, on Mt. Carmel, that a test might be made of the rival systems of worship, and the God that answered by fire could was to be acknowledged the true god. The prophets of Baal chose their bullock and laid it on their altar, and cried aloud and cut themselves with knives from morning until noon, and from noon until the time of the evening sacrifice, saying, “O Baal, hear us.” But “there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.” Then Elijah said unto all the people, “Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. . . . And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood.” Elijah was triumphant in the midst of that unbelieving host. He was more than conqueror. When all was ready, he called three times for four barrels of water to put on the wood and the sacrifice. By his mighty faith he even piled up difficulties in the way of God. Instead of trying to make it as easy as possible for his prayers to be answered, he soaked the wood and the sacrifice and filled up the trench around about his altar with water. “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” God more than met Elijah’s faith on this occasion. Not only was the sacrifice consumed, but also the wood and the stones and the dust, and the very water that was in the trench. Immediately following this remarkable demonstration of God’s power, Elijah took the false prophets down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. There was no compromise with sin. That was the secret of his power. This is where King Saul had failed in his war with Amalek. God had told him to “go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” 1 Sam. 15: 3. But Saul spared Agag and the best of the sheep. Some one has aptly remarked that if we save our only Agags, when we would be at our best in some great crisis (as when Samuel went out to meet Saul) there will be the bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen just when we would have them keep still, and it will be to our utter chagrin and undoing. “Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. . . . And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.” 1 Sam. 15: 32, 33. Let us slay utterly, and give heed to the admonition, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” Rom. 13: 14. We are reminded just here of that significant passage in Joshua 17: 12, 13, where it is said that the children of Israel could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, “but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.” The whole story of their subsequent failure and captivity is told in that one brief sentence, “The Canaanites would dwell in that land.” But they had no kind of right to dwell there. They were dispossessed. The cup of their iniquity was filled up, and God had said, “I will drive them out.” But they would dwell there; that is to say, they wanted to, and so Israel let them; a compromise was formed, and Israel did not utterly drive them out. Let us apply these same principles to our spiritual warfare. Have there not been in all our lives all these years those besetting sins of fleshly lusts that would dwell with us, and in some instances have held their own, notwithstanding we have known that they had neither part nor lot with the soul redeemed by Jesus Christ? Let us not condemn too strongly ancient Israel, lest we condemn ourselves. Surely the words of Joshua are as applicable to us as to them: “How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you?” Joshua 18: 3. Returning again to the scene of Elijah’s triumph over the prophets of Baal and their false system of religion, we find him saying to Ahab, “Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.” What was it that Elijah heard that to him was a sound of abundance of rain? Surely it was not the rumbling of the great thunderstorm that was soon to break upon them. For after this he went up on top of the mountain and cast himself down on the ground, and prayed seven times before there was seen even a cloud as large as a man’s hand. 1 Kings 18: 42-44. The preceding verses tell us that when all the people saw the manifestations of God’s power in the consuming of the sacrifice, they said, “The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.” Their hearts had been turned back to God again. This to Elijah was the sound of abundance of rain. The apostasy of the people of God was the thing that had shut up the heavens, and their return to God was the only thing that would open them. And so it is in our own day. If we are walking in dry places, it is because we have departed from God. If we would enjoy the copious showers of the latter rain, we must repent of our back-slidings and turn again to God with all our hearts. Then we shall receive largely of his Spirit,
South Lancaster, Mass. W. S. CHAPMAN
By W. S. Chapman
The Laodicean Message—No. 3
The people who are to have a part in the closing work of the third angel's message will be a truly converted people having a deep sense not only of the importance, but of the vast scope of the message. “The remnant people of God must be a converted people. The presentation of this message is to result in the conversion and sanctification of souls. We are to feel the power of the Spirit of God in this movement. This is a wonderful, definite message; it means everything to the receiver, and it is to be proclaimed with a loud cry. We must have a true, abiding faith that this message will go forth with increasing importance till the close of time.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. IX, p. 154. They will be a people with an eye single to God's service, having an over-mastering burden for souls, and an intense longing for a convincing power to attend their work. We read:— “A deeper and wider experience in religious things is to come to God's people. Christ is our example. If through living faith and sanctified obedience to God's word, we reveal the love and grace of Christ, if we show that we have a true conception of God's guiding providences in the work, we shall carry to the world a convincing power. . . . Through the faith that his people exercise in him, God will make known to the world that he is the true God, the God of Israel.”—Id., p. 274. To perfect such a people he tests them over and over again, “until his servants are so humbled, so dead to self, that, when called into active service, their eye will be single to his glory.”—Id., Vol. IV, p. 86. For this people the Laodicean message is to accomplish four things: Bring them to a realization of their backslidings, lead them to a zealous repentance, bring Jesus into their hearts, and enable the latter rain to fit them for giving the loud cry.11 Much misconception exists as to when and why the latter rain is to descend upon God's people. The impression seems to be quite general that the latter rain is the power which is to cleanse the people from sin, in preparation for giving the loud cry. Cleansing from sin is an individual work, and under the gospel God has but one method through which it is to be accomplished,—by repentance and confession,—bringing pardon and acceptance, changing the position of the sinner into that of a child of God. This is a work to precede the bestowal of the latter rain. The former rain fell upon the disciples after they had so cleansed themselves that they stood before the Lord blameless in his sight. The former rain was the power of God given to enable them to accomplish the work they had to do. So it will be in the bestowal of the latter rain. God will thus strengthen his saints after their conversion, for their final work, then seal them for eternity. In the conversion of this people the putting away of sin comes first. To this end the servant of the Lord said, “Every church needs a clear, sharp testimony, giving the trumpet a certain sound.”—Id., Vol. VI, p. 375. “I was shown that if God's people make no efforts on their part, but wait for the refreshing to come upon them and remove their wrongs and correct their errors; if they depend upon that to cleanse them from filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and fit them to engage in the loud cry of the third angel, they will be found wanting. The refreshing, or power of God, comes only on those who have prepared themselves for it by doing the work which God bids them; namely, cleansing themselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”—Id., Vol. I, p. 619. “The people of God must see their wrongs, and arouse to zealous repentance, and a putting away of those sins which have brought them into such a deplorable condition of poverty, blindness, wretchedness, and fearful deception. I was shown that the pointed testimony must live in the church. This alone will answer to the message to the Laodiceans. Wrongs must be reproved, sin must be called sin, and iniquity must be met promptly and decidedly, and put away from us as a people.”—Id., Vol. III, p. 260. “As a people professing to be reformers, treasuring the most solemn, purifying truths of God's Word, we must elevate the standard far higher than it is at the present time. Sin and sinners in the church must be promptly dealt with, that others may not be contaminated. Truth and purity require that we make more thorough work to cleanse the camp from Achans. Let those in responsible positions not suffer sin in a brother. Show him that he must either put away his sins or be separated from the church.”—Id., Vol. V, p. 147. This testing work is for eternity. None will be left in the ranks but those who are going through to the kingdom. In 1870 the servant of the Lord made this statement:— “I have tried in the fear of God to set before his people their danger and their sins, and have endeavored, to the best of my feeble powers, to arouse them. I have stated startling things, which, if they had believed, would have caused them distress and terror, and led them to zeal in repenting of their sins and iniquities. I have stated before them that, from what was shown me, but a small number of those now professing to believe the truth would eventually be saved,—not because they could not be saved, but because they would not be saved in God's own appointed way.”—Id., Vol. II, p. 445. Few stood the test in Christ's day. “Christ sifted his followers again and again, until, at one time, there remained only eleven and a few faithful women to lay the foundation of the Christian church.”—Id., Vol. V, p. 130. It will be a “remnant” who finish the work. Rev. 12:17. However, few as they will be comparatively, their work will rouse the world. The day is quickly coming, indeed has begun, when the public estimation concerning Seventh-day Adventists will undergo a decided change:— “Our people have been regarded as too insignificant to be worthy of notice; but a change will come. The Christian world is now making movements which will necessarily bring commandment-keeping people into prominence. . . . The lawmaking powers will be against God's people. Every soul will be tested.”—Id., p. 546. “A storm is arising that will wrench and test the spiritual foundation of every one to the utmost. Therefore avoid the sand bed; hunt for the rock. Dig deep; lay your foundation sure. Build, oh, build for eternity! Build with tears, with heartfelt prayers. Let every one of you, from henceforth, make your life beautiful by good works.”—Id., pp. 129, 130. “The crisis will be reached when the nations shall unite in making void God's law. The days will come when the righteous will be stirred to zeal for God because of the abounding iniquity.”—Id., p. 524. In vision the servant of the Lord saw this uprising:— “Hundreds and thousands were seen visiting families and opening before them the word of God. Hearts were convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, and a spirit of genuine conversion was manifest. On every side doors were thrown open to the proclamation of the truth. The world seemed to be lightened with the heavenly influence.”—Id., Vol. IX, p. 126. In another vision the servant of the Lord saw the saints of God laboring in the closing work of the message. In describing the scene, she says: “The people of God are sighing and crying for the abominations done in the land. With tears they warn the wicked of their danger in trampling upon the divine law, and with unutterable sorrow they humble themselves before the Lord on account of their own transgressions. . . . The faithful, praying ones are, as it were, shut in with God. They themselves know not how securely they are shielded. . . . While Satan was urging his accusations, and seeking to destroy this company, holy angels, unseen, were passing to and fro, placing upon them the seal of the living God.”—Id., Vol. V, pp. 474-476. Christian people declare the Bible to be their only rule of faith and practice, yet in the matter of Christian finance many have ignored its plain teachings, and have tried every substitute that man has devised. As a result, every department of Christian activity is suffering for lack of funds. The Old Testament contains the best system of church support ever devised. God has revealed no other financial plan than the payment of the tithe as an expression of our debt to him, and freewill offerings expressing our love and gratitude. God’s laws are universal. They apply to all times and all places. They are equally binding upon the Gentile and the Jew, the Roman and the American, the African and the Chinese. These laws do not create duties, they define them. They are the very essence of justice, kindness, and good will toward men. The more we study them, and the better we understand them, the more fully do we realize that they are enacted for our best good and highest development, physically, morally, and spiritually. The great God, our Father, who created us, who loves us, and who understands what is best for us, asks for one seventh of our time and one tenth of our income. . . . It is a well-recognized principle of law that when a law has once been in force, and the conditions which called it forth still exist, the law is binding till it is repealed. The law of tithing has never been repealed, and was never in greater demand than at the present time. The law of the tithe, like the law of the Sabbath, was not instituted for the benefit of others, but for ourselves. God does not require the tithe just to keep the treasury full, but to win us from selfishness and covetousness, which were the bane of the church in both the Old and the New Testament times. In the ten commandments covetousness is ranked with theft, murder, and adultery. Paul classes this sin among the vilest of sins. In writing to Timothy, Paul warns him against the sin of covetousness, saying, “The love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have . . . pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Judas, being covetous, betrayed our Lord for thirty pieces of silver, then went out and hanged himself. The supreme purpose of the tithe is to develop character and test our loyalty to God. The payment of the tithe when12 there is no compulsion and no pressure brought to bear, when it is a matter of a clear conscience between yourself and God, will develop in you those sterling qualities that will make you worth while in the kingdom. The Bible designates two sources of revenue, tithes and freewill offerings. The tithe is the Lord’s, whether we keep it or pay it to him. The tithe is our just debt to God, and should be paid promptly and cheerfully, like any other debt. God has no need of our money, for all is his; but he requires his share just to remind us that we are in partnership with him. Just as the tribute money paid to Cæsar was a recognition of his authority, so the tithe is the recognition of God’s interest in every dollar we receive. God has furnished us all the capital, has given us health, strength, and opportunity to use it, has allowed us ninety per cent of all the profits for ourselves; but in our selfishness we have overlooked the fact that he has reserved one tenth for the express purpose of financing his kingdom on earth. We all acknowledge that God has placed on this globe a kingdom called the kingdom of heaven. Is it conceivable that he has brought such an organization into existence and has never thought about financing it, but has thrown it out into the world a waif to be sustained or neglected as men see fit? If God does not require the tithe to be paid into his treasury, then it follows that the kingdom on earth has no financial foundation at all; it is just left to our impulse and feeling in the matter. Where the tithe system is ignored, a few devoted members give liberally, but the majority do little if anything to carry on the work. The church is poor, the Sabbath school is without sufficient supplies, the missionary societies are hampered; all the benevolences of the church languish, because God’s people either spend the tithe on themselves or scatter it over a wide list of charities. The tithe is not for any and every good cause, but is sacred to the great purpose of the extension of the kingdom at home and abroad. The church, the bride of Christ, should be the dispenser of religion and a ready source of help to the needy. Instead she is a beggar. Her frantic efforts to raise money are distressing. Her credit is poor; her revenue uncertain; her debts are multiplied. Until her membership return to God’s financial system, she must always be a beggar appealing for alms. God is not honored by the money given at church fairs, bazaars, and suppers. He is honored only by the voluntary offerings of his people. The world does not read the Bible, it reads Christians, and judges Christianity by its followers. Concerts, oyster suppers, and all such “catch-penny methods” are belittling to the church, dishonoring to God, and contemptible in the eyes of the world. The church wrongs the world by courting it for gain. The usual deserters of wife and children are the nonsupporters of their families. It is easy for a man to desert his family when he is not supporting them; he feels little responsibility; he knows he will not be missed. The Christian who gives little or nothing to the cause of Christ finds it easy to evade his responsibility, and also finds that any excuse will do for nonattendance at church and Sabbath school. The best evidence of the divine origin of the church is that it is able to stand such methods of support, and that it still survives. Imagine the President of the United States and the Committee of Ways and Means sending out little jugs and barrels with slots in them, mite boxes, buttons with their pictures on them, to catch pennies to meet the fiscal needs of the government of United States. Imagine the different States and counties holding fairs, festivals, apron sales, concerts, and ice cream socials, with women asked to cook and sew, that each community might get enough money to pay its regular expenses. Such methods would disgrace any State or county, they are belittling and shameful. Yet this is the way many Christians are trying to finance the kingdom of God on earth. The kingdom of God is more glorious than all earthly kingdoms; its purposes and appointments are all harmonious and dignified; its scope is world-wide. It has a greater work than any nation ever had to do, with tasks more delicate than any civil government ever considered, with conquests to make more extensive than any earthly king ever dreamed of. The tithe system is the only one spoken of in the Bible. It is worthy of God, of Christ, and the nature of the kingdom. Its history is dignified. It is found in the law, the prophets, and the gospel. It has God, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Reformers and prophets of the Old Testament, and Jesus and the apostles of the New Testament as its indorsers. In the words of Bishop McCabe, “Other systems may succeed, God’s cannot fail.” Tithing establishes equality among God’s people. The smallest weekly offerings of the poor are just as highly valued in God’s sight as the large gifts by the rich. No excuse can free a man from his obligation. Tithing leaves no ground for excuse. It has the fullest regard for the man of limited income, and simply asks that he tithe as he receives. He who gives when he has little will give more when he has much, for the principle and the habit have been established. The rich often find it a severer test of their loyalty to tithe out of a large income than the poor do out of a small income. Tithing compels system in finance, and saves its cost by cultivating thrift and economy. Another effect is that a man conducts his business in a different spirit; and with a loftier motive his companionship with God becomes more real. No one should wait for his neighbor to act, but each one, realizing his personal responsibility to God, should begin at once to tithe his income. The faithful among the Jews tithed everything, even the garden seeds, mint, anise, and cummin. Tithe your sales, tithe your wages, tithe the milk, eggs, and butter, the sheep and cattle; tithe your income from every legitimate source. If the tithe is the Lord’s, what shall we do with it? Why, pay it to him as soon as possible, and get our unworthy hands off of it. The spent dollar is the one that is hard to give to God. . . . “How much owest thou my Lord?” If you have been honest with every one but your Creator; if you have failed to pay your tithes; if you have money and property that rightly belong to the kingdom, ask God to guide you in making the restitution. Ask him to give you the love and the courage without further delay to use “in the service of the King.” God will respect you for an honest Christian, and you can respect yourself. Many Christians lack the training and the ability to make good preachers or missionaries, but they may share in this great work by supporting the workers, and also have a share in the harvest that is to be. After all, the highest compensation from tithing is spiritual; when you have paid your tithe, your mind is free from all doubt on the subject, and your heart is free to engage in other forms of Christian service. All of God’s promises are conditional. When you are living right before God in other matters, and are paying your tithe cheerfully and regularly, you know you are doing your duty, meeting the conditions, and can rely on the promise. “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the Most High: and call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” Ps. 50: 14.—C. Vernon Fox, M. D., in leaflet by Methodist Book Concern. THIS present year has witnessed many floods in different portions of the world, and they still continue. From the public press of last month we learn that the waters of the Nile reached such a high level that it was necessary for the government to enforce the decree of 1887, which empowers the government to call on any able-bodied man to assist in work for the protection of threatened regions, under penalty of imprisonment or fine. Within a day or two of this word from Egypt, news comes of a flood in China, inundating an area of seven thousand square miles, and rendering a million persons homeless. The lamentable thing in this case is that the flood has occurred in the very region in which the American Red Cross Society had already spent $600,000 for flood protection, and where a $30,000,000 loan was being used in reclamation work which was postponed by the war. Thus even the poor Chinese suffer because the European war made the flood-protection plans impossible to carry out. Coimbatore, South India
By G. G. Lowry
I am sure the readers of the REVIEW would be made happy if they could have the privilege of visiting the training school at Coimbatore, and of seeing the class of earnest boys and girls who are here preparing themselves for service in the Master's vineyard. Thirty-five students are enrolled this year. Most of these have been converted and baptized. A number of those who have not yet publicly taken their stand for the truth are planning to be baptized soon. One of the boys who has just come to us from the Malayalam field came to me a few days ago and said: “Sir, ever since I came to this school, I have felt that there is something in this mission that I have not seen anywhere else. Although I am a born Christian, yet I never felt the need of a Saviour until I came here. My sins seem like a great burden upon me, and I want to get rid of them in some way. I cannot sleep sometimes for thinking of my sins.” I gladly taught him how he could be freed from sin. He will be baptized next month. Our Sabbath school and young people's society are doing active work. Almost every day some of the boys are out with tracts and papers, visiting and talking with the people of the town. We also give them two or three days' leave each month for missionary work. On these days we usually go out in a group to the surrounding villages to preach and do colporteur work. We have good experiences with the people. There are always some who are interested in what we have to say, and with such we leave literature that will increase that interest. We feel that there is a bright future for the work in this part of India. At present we have workers in three of the six language areas of South India, and are publishing literature in four of these languages. The message is finding its way into the dark corners of the field through our literature. Much larger results would be seen if we had workers to follow up the interests thus created. It is to supply this great need that the training school at Coimbatore is maintained. As the students go out from this school into the work, their influence and effort will surely be seen in souls saved. Several persons in the homeland are supporting students in this school, and I wish to say for their benefit that I believe they could not make a better investment. The students whom they are supporting will soon be out in the field doing aggressive work for the Master. There is room for many more such students in the school, but because of the lack of means we have to turn down the many applications which come to us from time to time. It costs only about forty dollars to support a boy or a girl for a year in the school. Are there not others who would be glad to pay the expenses of one or more students in the school until they are ready to go out into the work? Seeking Where to Begin
By G. F. Jones
Pioneering Experiences in the Solomon Islands — No. 5
MANY cannot understand what it would mean to start for a group of islands whose inhabitants were reputed for their fierceness, to have no knowledge of the navigable areas of the islands, to know no particular place where one could make his home, and to be landed among these strange people. This was our experience in entering the Solomon Islands. It seemed a risky undertaking, and the Australasian Union Conference evidently thought so too, for they were willing to supply us with everything we thought we needed—a good substantial motor vessel, a portable house, etc. They were anxious to know the outcome of this soul-hunting expedition, and they drew a breath of relief when in less than three weeks from our landing, we were able to report that we had actually begun clearing for the mission grounds. Their many earnest prayers were fully answered. It was five o'clock in the evening when we started on our wonderful trip, searching for a location. We had no fears, but were full of joy and expectation. The wind was fresh, and caused our little vessel to cut the waves as it plowed proudly along on the mission her name indicates—“Advent Herald.” After about two hours of this kind of sailing we entered a narrow channel, and with land on both sides there was no more rough sea. It was now night. For many miles we sailed under shelter of the land, with its odor of sweet tropical plants wafted across to us. The air was cool and pleasant, and everything was quiet except our high-tension engine, which was forcing us along rapidly. For four hours we sailed along near the land, but I have been told that not one native lived at any point where we passed. I have since learned that many a long sea trip has to be made to reach the different tribes. In some places we had to go slow or stop; bends had to be rounded and reefs avoided. Then we sailed up a very narrow channel of the sea, like a narrow canal; and when we got through it, we were in one of the loveliest of lagoons. We could go no farther that night, for we were now in the midst of shoals and dangers; so we dropped anchor close to a pretty, small island, and thanked God for the safe and pleasant first trip in the night, and in waters to us then unknown. We had entered the Rovian Lagoon, a large lagoon studded with pretty islets; the water is a bright green in some places, and in others a deep blue. The next day we continued our voyage. We steered clear of all green patches, and chose the deep-blue channels for safety. Two hours' sailing brought us to a trader's home and store, and close by was the headquarters of the Methodist Mission. Though this mission has been located here among the four or five hundred inhabitants of the lagoon for about fifteen years, not all the people have joined the mission. During our stay of one night in this lagoon I had the pleasure of getting these interested in our mission. The trader in the Solomons is like all traders. They are generally seafaring men of a daring and adventurous nature. There is nothing they like better than to make a raid on the natives for the least offense, and kill as many as they can. As a rule they hate missionaries, because, they say, they are hypocrites. So they do all they can to prejudice the minds of the natives against missionaries. But the trader and all the others befriended us, gave us reliable information, and welcomed us everywhere. “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” That same evening we sailed a little farther up the lagoon with a new crew borrowed from our friend the trader, and anchored close to a small island for the night. Some canoes, filled with natives, came off, and after a while we sang some of our good old advent hymns to them. They, in turn, sang their native airs. There seemed to be a mutual understanding between us that we were their missionaries, and they belonged to us. This was a heavenly binding, true and lasting. The old chief, who for years had resisted other missions, was that night conquered and won, and has been our stanch friend ever since. This was our first contact with the natives of the Solomon Islands. “We Acknowledge This Book as God's Book”
By T. E. BOWEN
Over in Madagascar, according to a report published in the August number of the Bible in the World, the people reverence the Bible. And this is true not only of the people on this island. Missionaries more and more are learning that the people regarded as heathen, whether in China, India, Africa, or in the islands of the sea, have a high regard for what the Great Book says. We quote the following incident concerning the Malagasy Christians in Madagascar:— “It is interesting,” says James Sibree, D. D., “to see what deference our14 Malagasy Christians pay to the authority of the Scriptures. One of my brother missionaries had occasion to reprove rather severely a village congregation in his district for certain conduct which he considered very reprehensible; so a day was fixed on which he was to go and meet the people and show them in what they had been wrong. On coming to the little chapel, he found the members all assembled, and before commencing the meeting the native pastor stood up and said: ‘We know, sir, that you have come out here to reprove us for that in which you think we are blameworthy.’ Then, pointing to the open Bible on the pulpit desk, he said, ‘We acknowledge this book as God's Word; and if you can show us clearly from the Bible that we are wrong, we will confess our fault and try to amend. If you can give us only your own opinion, well, we will argue it out with you, for you are a man like ourselves, and you may be mistaken. But prove us to be at fault by this Bible, and we will submit to your reproofs.’ That pastor in a little village thus showed a manly independence which we can admire, but yet acknowledged the Book as ‘the judge that ends the strife.’” We suppose the foreign pastor was able from the open Book of God on the pulpit desk to show those people their error; and most likely they acknowledged their wrong, and corrected their ways. But suppose, just for a moment, that he could not have found one word in that open Book to condemn their doings, what then? Would it not have been true that in such a case the people of that little chapel were entitled to their opinions equally with the pastor? The reason Seventh-day Adventists in all their mission work teach the sacredness of the seventh day is shown in the fact that this is the day that that open Book proclaims throughout all its sacred pages to be the Sabbath of the Lord our God. Parental Responsibility
By T. E. BOWEN
LAX family government is one of the characteristics of the last days. Petted and indulged children are making life in many a home miserable. And the individual home is not alone the sufferer. The evil spreads, affecting many lives outside. On the other hand, a well-ordered home, where the children are respectful and obedient, radiates blessings near and far. It becomes a little oasis in the desert. The parents may hold no official honors, but heaven regards them among its valued treasures. Petted and spoiled children will not be admitted into heaven. Its harmony and peace would be marred. Writing to a minister and his wife whose one child had been indulged until she was “guilty of acts of disobedience and passion” as many times in a day as her will was crossed, the Lord’s servant said: “Your child will never see the kingdom of God with her present habits and disposition. And you, her parents, will be the ones who have closed the gates of heaven before her.” Why this terrible condition? Mark well the reason: “In your blind and foolish fondness, you have both surrendered to your child. You have allowed her to hold the reins in her tiny fists, and she ruled you both before she was able to walk.” No doubt this is not an isolated case, or the Lord would not have caused it to be written out. It was written, that it might be known how God regards this unsanctified child-ruleership over parents. Instead of parents using the mature judgment God has given them in wisely ruling their households, they become the subjects, sitting by and allowing the reins of government to remain in “tiny fists.” These fists may be small at first, but by and by they become larger; and then these parents wake up to see that that which seemed “cute” at first, develops into a lordship which makes their lives miserable indeed. God wants us to love our children. He expects us to protect and care for them. It is the overindulgence, the failure to correct their imperfections, the failure to restrain and lead them into obedience, that the Spirit reproves. I once knew the mother of a large family who carried a strap fastened to her waist; and as the result of its often severe use, the repeated wail of the culprit, accompanied by the angry voice of the mother, was frequently heard by the neighbors. Her children did not respect, love, nor obey her. To beat her children into submission and compliance was not truly “commanding” her household after her. Again, I knew the only child in another family. He had been left quite largely to others to bring up, as the mother was called to the “larger work” of governing a school. This child’s voice might be heard nearly every night in a stubborn, wilful cry, as his wishes had been crossed in some manner. Perhaps his parents were guided by the modern maxim, “The child’s will must not be broken;” but during some fit of such stubborn, angry crying, the medicine of a tough little switch properly applied, not heeding the cry, would have been the very remedy to administer, and would have served to guide, bend, and direct the tender will of this three-year-old son into such shape that people might live with him in peace. To let such a disposition strengthen is a crime. And the responsibility to subdue it rests at the door of the parents. They have no greater task than this. “Do not feel that your own little one is more precious in the sight of God than other children.” This, however, is exactly what all overindulgent parents think, and herein lies the secret of their failure.15 The Father in heaven has given parents an example to follow. He sent his only begotten Son into the world. He was not spoiled in his bringing up. He learned obedience. He was permitted to suffer real hardships. He toiled as other young men must toil to help their parents. His path was rougher than that of any other. But did not the Father love him? Ah! his love was seen in all the experience he gave his Son. “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; and being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.” Children trained from early childhood in the way in which they should go, will not depart from it, the Book says, in after-life. Moses, Samuel, Timothy, and others are examples left us of such training. This training began in infancy. Many fail by not beginning soon enough. God never designed that the reins should be in “tiny fists,” and parents be ruled by their children before the little ones are able to walk.