p. 8 | Review and Herald, Vol. 80, No. 6. (2/10/1903)

Earlier text: A Model of Solomon’s Temple

A Present Danger

By L. A. S.

The Lord does not ask any one to be a Christian independently of reason; he never treats man otherwise than as a reasoning being, for he himself endowed man with reason; but men are not to trust to reason for their salvation. Salvation comes through a higher source. The idea that everything pertaining to Christianity must be subjected to human reason, is a part of the old delusion that an individual must save himself. He who depends upon his reason alone is endeavoring to be his own savior. No man has any need of a Saviour who has that in him which will enable him to save himself.

The Word of God has been given to man for his salvation; but men have subjected that Word to their reason, and rejected as uninspired such portions of it as they saw fit. The Bible, they have said, is not itself the word of God, but it contains the word of God. They have accepted as inspired such portions of the Word as their reason approved, or as did not conflict with their ideas. That part is most readily accepted which is most nearly what they themselves would have written. Men are the most ready to accept a god which comes nearest to being like themselves.

But this is exactly the opposite of what men seeking for salvation ought to do. It must needs be that the Word of God should conflict with man's ideas; for man is human, all his faculties are limited, and his whole nature is perverted. He is not able by reason to find out God, or to discover the way of salvation, even were his nature unperverted. And a perverted nature distorts his views of right and truth, and gives a bias to his judgment. The reasoning faculties are very often employed not in an honest endeavor to discover the truth, but in the task of inventing a justification for the conclusion desired. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.” Spiritual truths must be received not through the channel of the carnal nature, but through the spiritual nature only.

And therefore, those who subject the Word of God to their reason, reject as uninspired the very portions which they most need to accept and incorporate into their lives. The very passages which are most contrary to their ideas are the ones which contain for them the most light and saving power. The Word of God, if it would save a man, must work in him not to confirm his own natural views of truth and duty, but to reveal to him and to teach him ways that are infinitely higher and different from his own. Salvation, to be salvation, must come from a source that is infinitely higher than the human.

The “higher criticism” rejects the narratives of the miracles. It declares that the miracles in the Bible record never could have happened; and the reason the higher critics think they never could have happened is that they are too unlike what we know of things that are natural. Anything so different from the ordinary course of affairs as that the earth should have been drowned by a flood, or that the Nile should have been turned to blood, or that the sun should have stood still in the heavens at the command of Joshua, or that Jonah should have been swallowed by a fish and cast out again alive, or that a dead person should be brought back to life, is considered to be unworthy of belief, for that reason. They are rejected as being a part of the revelation of God to man, because they reveal a God who is too unlike themselves. But the very God whom they need, the only God who can save them, must be altogether unlike themselves. The miracles are the very things which they most need to believe the very parts of God's Word which would bring to them salvation.

There can be no salvation without a miracle; for no miracle is greater than the miracle of the new birth. A god who cannot perform miracles cannot save; and without faith in the miraculous power of God there can be no new birth. Every true prayer to God for salvation is a prayer that he will perform a miracle. Hence in their rejection of the miraculous the higher critics reject salvation itself. They reject the very portions of God's Word which they most need to accept.

We may not belong to the higher critics who profess to know that portions of the Bible are not inspired, yet we may imitate their course by passing judgment upon the special instructions and reproofs which God is sending us through the spirit of prophecy. If we reject certain parts of these as being mere opinions, we may be sure that the portions we reject are the very ones that we most need to accept. God's ways are not our ways, else there would be no salvation for us. And the point in which his views differ most widely from ours, is the very point where we most need to be corrected.

Let us beware lest we fall into the error and the condemnation of those who would make God altogether such a one as themselves.

L. A. S.

A Lesson from Ancient Israel

By C. W. Flaiz

When the Lord had delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, and led them to the borders of the land of Canaan, he committed to them the work of driving out the six nations of the land. “And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.” Ex. 33: 2. Referring to Deut. 7: 1, we find seven nations are mentioned. The apparent discrepancy is explained in the fact that one of the nations—the Girgashites—was situated on the other side of Jordan, so that there were but six nations in possession of Canaan.

These the children of Israel were commanded to dispossess and drive from the land. The Lord gave special instruction regarding the thoroughness with which the work was to be prosecuted, and also the consequences resulting from a failure to comply with the instruction given. “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures; and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: and ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.” Num. 33: 51-53.

But the Lord particularly commanded them to make no covenants with these nations, and to contract no marriages; “for,” said he, “they will turn away thy sons from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” Deut. 7: 1-4.

“But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.” Num. 33: 55, 56.

With the blowing of trumpets Israel crossed over into the land of Canaan, and began the work of dispossessing the people of the land, but soon they forgot the instruction upon which their very existence depended, and formed covenants and contracted marriages with the people, and Israel’s troubles immediately began. The people of the land became snares and traps unto them,—thorns in their sides, and pricks in their eyes,—and their troubles never ceased until they perished miserably, and lost their inheritance in the land. They were instructed to drive out those six nations. They were not to permit them to remain within their borders. As long as a single one remained, the work would be incomplete, and Israel would be subject to calamities which the Lord said would surely come as a consequence of disregarding the principle of implicit obedience.

Many illustrations of this principle are found in the Scriptures. Through his prophet Samuel, the Lord instructed Saul to “go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” The instruction was explicit, but Saul and the people spared Agag, the king, and the best of the sheep and the oxen, and the Lord immediately said of him: “He is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.” Saul tried to justify himself, but his kingdom was taken from him, and he was fairly started on the downward course that ended in a violent death at his own hands—a victim of despondency, brought on by his failure to follow God-given instruction.

There is in all this a lesson for modern Israel. When the Lord commits to his people a special work, and gives them a plan by which it is to be accomplished, he will in no wise hold them guiltless unless the work is completed according to the specifications given.

Let us apply this principle to the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” The Lord has given us a special work. We are to roll away the reproach of a $300,000 debt by the sale of this book. Every member of the church was to have a part in this work. This was God’s plan. He himself gave it to us. Estimating the membership of the denomination in the United States at 50,000, and the debt upon the schools at $300,000, it can readily be seen that each member would be responsible for the sale of six books. It will soon be two years since we began the work of putting out these six books, and it is proper for us to inquire as to the progress made. A little more than 160,000 books have actually been sold, and the money turned over to the schools, leaving 140,000 still in the hands of the people. Now what are we doing with these 140,000 books?

Are we doing everything we can to place them where they will be a blessing to the people? It is not probable that any of us would calmly study the situation, and deliberately decide to let them remain in our possession in disobedience to the Lord’s express instruction that they should be sold, but we just as truly thus decide by a course of sinful inactivity that produces the same result.

God is surely testing his people. Let every conference president, every laborer, and every member of every church see to it that they stand in this hour of test. Get out those books, my brethren, my sisters, and hasten them to the world before it is too late. Soon it may be said, Let him alone; he is joined to his idols. It has been proved over and over that the books can be sold. It is being proved at the present time in various portions of the United States. The world needs them, and our people greatly need the experience that results from taking this book to the people. The books that remain in the hands of the brethren at the close of this campaign will be snares and traps unto them—scourges in their sides, and thorns in their eyes, and shall vex them in the denomination in which they dwell.

C. W. Flaiz.

A New Theory of Life’s Origin

A new theory of the origin of life has been brought forward by a professor at Yale University, Dr. J. F. Wortman. This theory, which was outlined by him in a recent lecture at Yale, is described as “upsetting both orthodoxy and former scientific beliefs.” These former “scientific beliefs” which “overthrew” orthodoxy when they came to the front, are now in turn overthrown by this new theory. The professor says that after having devoted years of careful research to the subject, he has arrived at the conclusion that all life began at the north pole; that the apes who lived at the north pole were the ancestors of man, and that the evolution from apes to men took place largely on account of the discovery of fire. The “veteran scientists” who were present at the lecture where these discoveries were elucidated, says a press dispatch, “burst into a round of spontaneous applause when the young scientist finished the elaboration of the argument which overthrew their time-honored theories.”

Certainly it is just as well to hold on to the Scriptural view of man's origin until “science” has conclusively established a different view, as to surrender the Bible view for something that will be overturned by a later discovery. At the last it will be discovered that God's Word concerning them is true, and that from it was obtained the only real knowledge of the origin of human life that man possessed.

Note and Comment

In a recent issue of the British Weekly (London), the secretary of the Baptist Union, Rev. J. H. Shakespeare, summarizes the objections which English non-conformists have to the educational bill so much discussed in England and in America, and which has now been passed by Parliament. He says: “It is opposed to the religious convictions of half the nation. It was introduced without a mandate, and has been closured through in compartments; it throws the cost of the schools (apart from the rent of the buildings) upon the public purse without giving public control; it drives Free Church children in single-school districts into a Romanizing atmosphere; it excludes Free Church teachers from state schools in which the full share of all teachers’ salaries is paid by Free Churchmen; it affronts even the conscience of the man of the world. It is a measure which barters away our birth-right of a truly national education.” It is reported that public indignation against the act runs very high in some parts of England, and the opponents of the measure are being persuaded in many places to refuse to pay church rates. One result of its passage is an increased agitation for the disestablishment of the English state church.

Facts in Favor of Prohibition

The following facts in favor of the prohibitory method of dealing with the drink problem, under conditions such as those prevailing in Kansas, are given by a leading New York journal, The Independent:—

“Prohibition by constitutional amendment has been in force, more or less, in Kansas for twenty-one years, which is time enough to test its value. The statistics which have been gathered are full of interest. In five of the one hundred and five counties the prohibitory law is not enforced. These five counties have seventeen per cent of the population, and furnish over thirty per cent of the crime. The population in these twenty-one years has increased from 996,616 to 1,470,495, while the number of prisoners has decreased from 917 to 788. That prohibition is generally enforced appears in the fact that the United States collects in Kansas only $7,700 for each 100,000 inhabitants, while in Nebraska, not a prohibition State, it collects $252,000. In the last ten years Kansas has gained three cities of over 10,000 inhabitants, while Nebraska has lost three. Kansas, while purely an agricultural State, is one of the most prosperous in the Union, and can afford to spend $2,000,000 annually on her schools. She saves it in beer and whisky.”

Examples of Assertive Ignorance

The following examples of assertive ignorance are given by The Independent as coming under the designation “bumble-puppy,” which, as that journal says, is a “needed word.” The literature of “science falsely so called” affords many such.

The first, which is credited to Grant Allen, is this: “Life . . . is due essentially to the secondary action of radiated solar energy intercepted on the moist outer crust of a cooling and revolving planet.”

As nobody knows or can know from observation anything about the effect, primary or secondary, of radiated solar energy “intercepted on the moist outer crust of a cooling and revolving planet,” such assertions can be put forth without fear of scientific disproof; otherwise their authors would not dare risk their reputation in such a way. The vagueness and obscurity of their definitions and ideas lend to their statements an appearance of deep wisdom, and their baseless theories are accepted by many as demonstrations.

Another example is the following definition of life given by Carl Snyder: “Physiology’s present answer to the old riddle is very simple—Life is a series of fermentations.”

Such “definitions” add absolutely nothing to any one’s knowledge of the things to which they are applied; they are capable only of detracting from the knowledge that is given to mankind through divine revelation.

Our Battle with Evil

By Ellen G. White

Mrs. E. G. White

The will of man is aggressive, and is constantly striving to bend all things to its purposes. If it is enlisted on the side of God and right, the fruits of the Spirit will appear in the life; and God has appointed “glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good.”

When Satan is permitted to mold the will, he uses it to accomplish his ends. He often works under cover as an angel of light. He has synagogues for worship, and a multitude of followers. But with all his high professions, he is at enmity with God. He instigates theories of unbelief, and stirs up the human heart to war against the word of God. With persistent, persevering effort, he seeks to inspire men with his own energies of hate and antagonism to God, and to array them in opposition to the institutions and requirements of heaven and the operations of the Holy Spirit. He enlists under his standard all evil agencies, and brings them into the battlefield under his generalship to oppose evil against good.

It is Satan’s work to dethrone God from the heart, and to mold human nature into his own image of deformity. He stirs up all evil propensities, awakening unholy passions and ambitions. He declares, All this power, these honors, and riches, and sinful pleasures will I give thee; but his conditions are that integrity shall be yielded, conscience blunted. Thus he degrades the human faculties, and brings them into captivity to sin.

God calls upon men to oppose the powers of evil. He says, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin; but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”

The Christian life is a warfare. But “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” In this conflict of righteousness against unrighteousness we can be successful only by divine aid. Our finite will must be brought into submission to the will of the Infinite; the human will must be blended with the divine. This will bring the Holy Spirit to our aid; and every conquest will tend to the recovery of God’s purchased possession, to the restoration of his image in the soul.

The Lord Jesus acts through the Holy Spirit; for it is his representative. Through it he infuses spiritual life into the soul, quickening its energies for good, cleansing it from moral defilement, and giving it a fitness for his kingdom. Jesus has large blessings to bestow, rich gifts to distribute among men. He is the wonderful Counselor, infinite in wisdom and strength; and if we will acknowledge the power of his Spirit, and submit to be molded by it, we shall stand complete in him. What a thought is this! In Christ “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him.” Never will the human heart know happiness until it is submitted to be molded by the Spirit of God. The Spirit conforms the renewed soul to the model, Jesus Christ. Through the influence of the Spirit, enmity against God is changed into faith and love, and pride into humility. The soul perceives the beauty of truth, and Christ is honored in excellence and perfection of character. As these changes are effected, angels break out in rapturous song, and God and Christ rejoice over souls fashioned after the divine similitude.

It is by contemplating Christ, by exercising faith in him, by experiencing for ourselves his saving grace, that we are qualified to present him to the world. When the soul is renewed through the truth, and brought into harmony with God, the Lord will accept us as workers together with himself for the salvation of others. Jesus will be our theme; his love, burning upon the altar of our hearts, will reach the hearts of the people. The truth will be presented, not as a cold, lifeless theory, but as a living force to change the life. But the power is of God through his Spirit, which works effectually on heart and mind. When Jesus left to his disciples the work that he had begun, he charged them: “Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” And he promised, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” And the disciples “all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,” waiting for the fulfillment of the promise.

We should pray as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Spirit as the disciples prayed on the day of Pentecost. If they needed the Spirit’s power at that time, we need it more to-day. All manner of false doctrines, heresies, and deceptions are misleading the minds of men; and without the Spirit’s aid, our efforts to present divine truth will be in vain.

The warfare between good and evil has not grown less fierce than it was in the days of the Saviour. The path to heaven is no smoother now than it was then. All our sins must be put away. Every darling indulgence that hinders our spiritual progress must be cut off. The right eye or the right hand must be sacrificed, if it causes us to offend. Are we willing to renounce our own wisdom, and to receive the kingdom of heaven as a little child? Are we willing to part with our self-righteousness? Are we willing to sacrifice the approbation of men? The prize of eternal life is of infinite value. Are we willing to welcome the Holy Spirit’s aid, and co-operate with it, putting forth efforts and making sacrifices proportionate to the value of the object to be obtained?

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Our Plain Duty

By A. E. Lemon

A. E. Lemon

In every critical time our people instinctively look to the spirit of prophecy for some revelation. And as no time has ever come in our work more critical than the present, the question of what we ought to do comes to every one.

There is no doubt that the present condition of the world, and its urgent need of the last warning message, demand that every Seventh-day Adventist be wide awake and hard at work.

“And how shall the message be given? What has the Lord said? May we not see in the light already given, a plan by which the work may be accomplished,

if followed up in the strength of God? Let us read:—

“We are nearing the end of this earth’s history, and God calls upon all to lift the standard bearing the inscription, ‘Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ He calls upon his people to work in perfect harmony. He calls upon those engaged in our medical work to unite with the ministry; he calls upon the ministry to co-operate with the medical missionary workers; and he calls upon the church to take up their appointed duty, holding up the standard of true reform in their own territory, leaving the trained and experienced workers to press on into new fields.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, page 292.

When this testimony is carried out, we shall have two important things: (1) complete union: all our forces will be united for work. The great burden of Christ for his followers was that they might be one; (2) laborers for the fields beyond. The people in our churches will carry on the work in their own territory, and leave the trained workers, ministers and all, to carry the message to new fields. See Vol. VI, page 30. This would at once furnish trained workers for the Mission Board, so that the many urgent calls for help from every foreign field could be supplied. And the same means that it takes to support these workers in the home field, would go to support them in foreign fields.

What more efficient plan could we expect the Lord to lay before us? Of course it means a cross for all to bear. But if we cheerfully bear the cross, the crown is ours forever. Let us not be hearers only, but doers of the word. Let us walk in the light, and press on to victory.

Day by Day

By Conder

Day by day the manna fell; O, to learn this lesson well! Still by constant mercy fed Give us, Lord, our daily bread.

“Day by day,” the promise reads; Daily strength for daily needs: Cast foreboding fears away; Take the manna of to-day!

Lord, our times are in thy hand; All our sanguine hopes have planned To thy wisdom we resign, And would mold our wills to thine.

Thou our daily task shalt give; Day by day to thee we live; So shall added years fulfill Not our own, our Father’s will.

O, to live exempt from care, By the energy of prayer, Strong in faith, with mind subdued, Glowing yet with gratitude!

— Conder.

Ready to Distribute

By John Norton Loughborough

J. N. Loughborough

“Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” 1 Tim. 6: 17-19.

There are several distinct and emphatic statements in this scripture that demand our serious attention. Those who are especially spoken of are called “rich in this world.” Who are the rich in this world? we inquire. Fifty years ago a man owning eighty acres of farming land, with a comfortable house, barns, orchard, and stock, all free from debt, and valued at three or four thousand dollars, was called “a well-to-do farmer.” One who had one hundred and sixty or two hundred and forty acres, valued at ten thousand dollars, was spoken of as “a rich man.” In these days of gold and silver mining, oil stock speculation, forming of trusts of various kinds, with their immense dividends, only those having their hundreds of thousands or their millions of dollars are now classed with the rich.

If we appeal to the lexicons, we have this definition of the word “rich:” “Having large possessions of money, goods, land, or other valuable property.”—Standard Dictionary. Those who, through covetousness or the love of property, seek to excuse themselves from the liberality which the Scriptures enjoin, may say: “This scripture does not apply to me; I am not rich. It applies to those who have great possessions—large sums—the millionaires.”

One thing is certain, and that is this, the Lord never designed that one portion of the people of this world should amass a great amount of gold and silver, and possess immense tracts of land, to the injury of the less fortunate. This thought is clearly brought to view in the regulations concerning the distribution and land holding among Israel in the land of Canaan. Anything like “land monopoly” was then safely guarded, and if a possession had been sold, it must revert in the year of jubilee to the original possessor.

A few scriptures will illustrate that it is not in harmony with the Lord’s instruction that vast fortunes, undistributed to the needy, should be accumulated. As expressed in Proverbs, chapter 23: 4, 5, “Labor not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” The words of our Saviour are, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” Matt. 6: 19. “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 16: 26.

Our Saviour’s parable of the rich man is direct and to the point. The rich man said, “I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul [life] shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?” The Lord said of this course, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12: 19-21.

The apostle Paul, speaking of worldly riches, rendered this decision: “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.” 1 Tim. 6: 7-9.

Solomon made a comparison of the final standing of those who in this life have lived for themselves, and those who have sought out and aided the needy, in these words: “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing; there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” Prov. 13: 7. Paul, speaking of the latter class, says of them, “As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” 2 Cor. 6: 10. They may be poor in this world’s goods, and yet be instruments in God’s hand of leading souls to Christ, who become “rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him.” James 2: 5. They, having accepted Christ, become joint heirs with him [Rom. 8: 17] whom God “hath appointed heir of all things.” Heb. 1: 2. Indeed it can be said of such converts, “All things are yours” (1 Cor. 3: 21), as they have become heirs of the “true riches” (Luke 16: 11), which are to be possessed in the “everlasting habitations” (Luke 16: 9); that is, the “everlasting life”—the final reward—spoken of in the initial text of this article. In the Revised Version it is called “the life which is life indeed.” In Dean Alford’s Testament it is called “the true life.”

That all this might be accomplished in and for us, we read of Christ, “Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” 2 Cor. 8: 9. If through his grace we obey the command, “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” and like Christ, go about doing good, and “look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Phil. 2: 4), we may be instrumental in leading many to the “true riches,” although counted poor by the world.

Those who make the great object of life the gathering of this world’s goods, living for themselves only, will find in the great day of final settlement that they have “nothing.” When then aroused to the fact that they have no title to “eternal life,” what would they not give to change their condition? All the titles of earth which they held here are then considered as naught if they could but gain the “soul” life—the eternal state that is being awarded as a free gift to the joint heirs with Christ. Alas! those who were esteemed “rich” in this world are then the “poor” indeed.

This world, in its present state, is not treated in the Scriptures as an object for our affections. This world is our training ground, in which we are to prepare for a “better country.” As stated of Abraham, “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country.” Heb. 11: 9. David said, “I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.” Ps. 39: 12. Again, “We are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.” 1 Chron. 29: 15. Of all these ancient worthies we read that they “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is,

an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Heb. 11: 16.

The admonition of the apostle Peter to the Lord’s people is, “Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” 1 Peter 1: 17. And again, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2: 11.

(To be concluded)

From the Far North

By Guy Dail

Guy Dail

Things which are unknown to us, or which are but partially comprehended, often excite our curiosity and interest. This seems to be especially so with reference to the northlands. The imagination converts these arctic regions of snow and ice and darkness, peopled by a strange and curious race, into a kind of wonderland. Perhaps this tendency is most noticeable in the younger members of the household. However, to the readers of the Review there is something other than a mere idle curiosity connected with the home of the Eskimo; for to this race, also, must come the glad tidings of the soon-coming kingdom.

For a long time Brother D. Ostlund labored alone in Iceland. He visited the European General Conference in Friedensau during the summer of 1901, and asked that a helper be sent him. He was promised an assistant, but not until last autumn was a man found who seemed to be fitted for the place, Brother Nils Andersson, of Sweden. In a letter recently received, written from Seydisfjord, Iceland, November 16, we find the following: —

“I am happy to tell you that I safely reached Brother David Ostlund, at Seydisfjord, the 14th inst. We set out from Copenhagen the 30th of October. I was not well at first, but when I got more used to the sea, I felt better. Brother Ostlund heartily welcomed me at the steamer. His publishing and printing work is moving along nicely. We now have in the Icelandic language, ‘Steps to Christ,’ the first part of ‘Prophecies of Jesus,’ some tracts,— ‘The Second Coming of Christ,’ ‘The Sabbath of the Lord and Its Observance,’ ‘What We Believe,’—and some other literature. The Icelandic paper, Fraekorn, has a circulation of 1,000; this is quite well for a population of only 75,000. Next year it is expected that 1,500 copies will be printed monthly. Four or five Sabbath keepers live in Reykjavik, and some in other places, so we have many friends; however, it is not easy to work here; but we believe that God will help, and that the seeds of truth will spring up in due time. I hope you will pray for this country, and for the work here. I am glad that Jesus will soon come.”

The 16th of December, Elder Ostlund wrote us, and his letter made a remarkably quick journey, being received a little more than two weeks later. Brother Ostlund had been ill, but was much better. He stated that Brother Andersson had already begun the study of the language, and had spoken in public several times, Elder Ostlund translating for him. He writes thus of an Icelander, who had received some of our literature: —

“Some weeks ago I received a letter from an Icelander, although he is unknown to me. He says that he has been receiving our literature and the Fraekorn, which some one here had been sending to him. He says that he likes this literature, and that he wishes to become one of us, and conform himself to our manner of living. He asked if any of our people lived in Reykjavik, stating that if there were, he would move to that place to find them, and if there were none in the capital city, he would come here to Seydisfjord next summer. This letter was a cause of great joy to me.”

Thus the work spreads from place to place, from village to village, and from country to country. Iceland is a small field when compared with some of the thickly inhabited portions of the globe; but God wants every part of the world to be enlightened by the glorious gospel message for this time, and every honest effort put forth in his name and prompted by his love, for the furtherance of his work, is blessed of him, and will bring forth fruit in the kingdom of our Father. May we ask that our brethren remember Iceland also in their sympathies and prayers?

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