Earlier text: THE CHURCH OF GOD“The Time Is Fulfilled” (Mark 1 : 15); a Notable Anniversary.
By Washington Morse
- (Walker's Point, Muskoka, Ontario.)*
The time here spoken of by our Saviour, doubtless was the sixty-nine weeks, or four hundred and eighty-three years of the twenty-three hundred years of Daniel 8 : 14. At the baptism of our Saviour he was made known as the Messiah. The time had come when he was to come and begin his work in accordance with the prophecies. And to-day we are forcibly reminded that this day is the fifty-sixth anniversary since the remainder of the twenty-three hundred years ended. And it is a fact that God then called out his chosen ones to proclaim to the world that the judgment would begin at the end of the twenty-three-hundred-year period; and for twelve years this important truth was heralded through the world in great power, based upon Rev. 14 : 7, showing that the hour of his judgment was the time following the expiration of the twenty-three hundred years of Dan. 8 : 14, then called the first angel’s message. The time had come that this message was due, and was to be given to the world. The doors of all Protestant churches were open to hear this truth until January, 1844. At that time there was a sudden change, and all who still held to that truth were greatly bound, and had no liberty to speak or pray in their meetings. The churches were closed against this truth, and showed much bitterness toward those who still adhered to their faith. In the spring of 1844 the second angel’s message began to be proclaimed, although many had severed their connection with the church to which they belonged. The time had come when the second angel’s message was due to the world, and we were forced to give it, and to come out of her. Under this message, during the summer of 1844, there were from fifty to one hundred thousand who came out of their respective churches. From July 15 to October 22, the midnight cry was given to the world in great power, as brought to view in Matthew 24. We had no light upon the Third Angel’s Message until after the ending of the twenty-three hundred years. Soon after that, we saw, by faith, that the temple was opened in heaven, and the Sabbath was discovered. Some of our brethren began to keep it. Brother Frederick Wheeler, of New Hampshire, kept the Sabbath three or four years before he began to preach it. Hence, at this date, Oct. 22, 1844, the Third Angel’s Message began to be given to the world; and it will reach to the end, as all who do not obey are threatened with the wrath of God, the seven last plagues, as brought to view in Revelation 16. I do not in these few lines aim to discuss these solemn truths; as only lately they have been ably and clearly brought out in the REVIEW AND HERALD, and made as plain as A B C. In the issues of September 25, and October 2 and 9, they are brought out so clearly that great effort should be made to circulate those copies far and wide. But especially should our people study these articles. To those who have had an experience in all these messages, it is clear that God has been and is leading out a people to prepare them for the glorious event of Christ’s soon coming. THE IMMENSE STATE OF TEXAS.
Texas is equal, in area, to the great States of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri combined, and enough territory over to make five such States as Connecticut, or ten the size of New Jersey, or eighteen the size of Rhode Island. A glance at the map of these five great States of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, all in a body, will show the magnitude of Texas. The State is seventh in population, third in railroad mileage, fourth in number of sheep, first in cattle, and first in the production of cotton by more than one hundred per cent over any other State. Now, of the one hundred and sixty-five million acres of land in the State of Texas, less than one eighth is in cultivation. LIFE-POWER
By Earnest A. Raymond
Before us lie some seeds, and bulbs, and tubers, with all their treasured possibility of future life. In harmony with the laws of nature, we place them under the conditions most favorable for the great awakening, and with interest await the result. Soon the tender shoots appear, so delicate and fragile as to be endangered by the slightest touch, yet each starts out with confidence on its little journey of life. How widely they differ in general appearance! Yet, as we watch their progress, all appear as if bound for the same goal line, by parallel routes. Each is making straight for the light, its whole being in harmony with its supply-current of life energy parallel to the light beams. We place some of the plants under different conditions, so the light from the sun can not reach them directly, but at widely varying angles. What do we see? No longer do they look directly to the original source of life-energy and strength. They cease to grow in harmony with and parallel to the rays of their only sun of righteousness. Toward the point of the light’s last deflection or reflection the poor plants look, and in the forlorn hope of sustaining strength, extend their feeble, emaciated forms in the sadly diminished warmth. In vain they stretch out imploring arms in mute appeal, but no help comes, and they die a lingering death. To some the light must struggle around this obstacle, to others around that, and none develop symmetrically, nor bring forth fruit to perfection. Again: thinking to save some, we place them where only opportunity is afforded for the attainment of life’s perfection. Quickly they sense the genial warmth; the life current, with its heaven-directed impulse, forces its way along their intricate avenues of nourishment to the remotest cell and fiber; the plant, obedient to the impulse of the force working so mightily within, entirely submitted to its control, growing by its working, once more mounts up in harmony with the laws of its being and the life of God; for the life of God is the life of nature. Nature’s laws are perfect righteousness for every one of nature’s family; for God saw that all he had made was very good, and affixed his seal of perfection at their completion. The laws of our being are the laws of God; and the laws of man’s being, his unperverted nature, are the laws of God for him, and the only laws. Else, different laws being necessary, man, when seen of God to be perfect, was imperfect! Only by reason of transgression and sin and failure to recognize the laws of God written in nature’s book, came the law of the ten commands, written in characters, expressed in words, graven on tables of stone. Directed and warned by this chart and compass, we keep our bark of life in the open current, and are borne at last to the long-desired haven of perfect rest. Constantly, bringing nearer and nearer to the final goal of perfection, will the power of God, if we but trust and allow, write the law of righteousness in our minds, retrace it in our entire being, and demonstrate it in our lives. Nature’s perfection at last shall settle beyond controversy that righteousness is by faith. Righteousness, then, is perfect accord with the Creator’s original plan. All the powers of body and mind used as they were intended, the life of God unrestrained, undeflected, unhindered in any way, bring the human plant to the perfect development of every part. “There is no power but of God.” “In [or by] him we live, and move, and have our being.” “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Then in all places, at all times, under all circumstances, it is the energy, the life, of God that is manifested; and energy constantly flowing must have a current, and every current must have a direction. Then the life current, as it comes to each one of us from God, must have the direction of righteousness, for God could impart no other, constantly tending to bring our lives into harmony with his own, parallel with the life-current divine. Then the only thing for us to do is to let God’s life-energy work in us unhindered. Why not trust him to do it as it should be done? Moreover, “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Such is righteousness; such is faith; and such is righteousness by faith. Law makes plain the WHAT; gospel demonstrates the how. Only as the unregenerate mind impedes the current with its weight and bulk of inertia are the waters of life turned from their original course, and, flowing by strange and devious courses, are transformed into the dark waters of death. My brother, my sister, is it not exceedingly simple, this problem of righteousness by faith? Let it be demonstrated in our lives. What say you? “FAREWELL! farewell!” is often heard
From the lips of those who part:
’Tis a whispered tone— ’tis a gentle word,
But it springs not from the heart.
It may serve for the lover’s closing lay,
To be sung ’neath a summer sky;
But give to me the lips that say
The honest words, “Good-by!” “Adieu! adieu!” may greet the ear,
In the guise of courtly speech;
But when we leave the kind and dear,
’Tis not what the soul would teach.
Whene’er we grasp the hands of those
We would have forever nigh,
The flame of friendship bursts and glows
In the warm, frank words, “Good-by.” The mother, sending forth her child
To meet with cares and strife,
Breathes through her tears her doubts and fears
For the loved one’s future life.
No cold “adieu,” no “farewell,” lives
Within her choking sigh,
But the deepest sob of anguish gives,
“God bless thee, boy! Good-by!” Go, watch the pale and dying one,
When the glance has lost its beam;
When the brow is cold as the marble stone
And the world a passing dream;
And the latest pressure of the hand,
The look of the closing eye,
Yield what the heart must understand,
A long, a last, good-by. Awake to Life’s Realities
By PHILIP GIDDINGS.
AWAKE to the realities of life, eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness, nor wait till eternity breaks the slumber of the famished soul. Why labor and spend for that which is not your own? PHILIP GIDDINGS. ALCOHOL — WHAT IT IS, AND WHAT IT IS NOT: THE USE OF PLEDGES.
By Kate Lindsay, M. D.
Alcohol, the chemist tells us, is a product of fermentation whereby sugars are decomposed, and alcohol and carbonic acid are formed from the rearrangement of the original elements,—carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen,—which form what are called the carbohydrate foods, commonly known as the starches and sugars. The sugars contain the same elements as the starches, but in a more soluble form. The ultimate natural transformation of starch is either into some of these more soluble forms of matter for use as food, or else into cellulose, gums, and woody fiber, as in the growing tree. In fruit and many vegetables, like the beet, it changes into sugar. From this we see what useful elements oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen are when arranged as nature intended they should be for the good of man. In starch and sugars, they are the foods from which much of the heat and working energies of the body are derived. Even the infant’s food is composed of more than half the solids, in the form of sugar of milk. In the adult also, the most needed and abundant food elements are the carbohydrates. At any age of life much more of the food consumed by the body is used up in forming heat and working energy than in tissue building and repair. From all forms of sugar subjected to fermentation, alcohol can be made. The effect of the action of yeast ferment on these sugars is to decompose, or disarrange, the elements of which they are made up, and form alcohol,—a substance from which the body derives neither working energy nor heat, and which acts as an irritant poison, causing, even in moderate doses, a lowering of bodily temperature, and loss of physical strength, as well as degeneration of all the tissues of the body, especially of the brain and nervous system. In plain words, this rearrangement of these food elements by fermentation, or decomposition, produces a poison from what nature had intended for a food. I do hereby solemnly affirm that, with the help of God, I will totally abstain from the voluntary use, as a beverage, or in any equivalent manner, of all liquids or substances containing alcohol, The Anti-Whisky Pledge, of the International Health and Temperance Association, known as the first pledge of that society of temperance workers, is a promise and resolution to abstain from imbibing this poison. Many object to the signing of a pledge, because they feel that it means the surrendering of personal liberty and freedom, and the entering into a sort of self-imposed slavery. The young man boasts that he can “either take liquor or let it alone.” He finds that the repeated taking of alcohol in any form, and under whatever name the liquor may be known, soon creates an appetite for the poison, so that he is impelled to take the drug, even against his best and strongest resolutions. He awakes to the painful fact that he is a slave indeed, impelled by an irresistible impulse to swallow the poison, but powerless to resist strong drink, even though he is aware that it is destroying his body and debasing his mind. Taking this pledge, and with the help of God living up to its principles, will not abridge personal liberty, but extend its power over the appetites, so that reason, not impulse, shall dictate what is to be eaten and drunk for the health and comfort of the body, and the strength and soundness of the mind. It is a step in the direction of making him the great ruler spoken of in Prov. 16: 32; “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” The lesson of life is to attain this control of self, which means the truest freedom, and makes man supreme among his fellow men. It was this power, so plainly exemplified in the life of the Saviour, which made him our great example. “Get thee behind me, Satan,” was always how he met and vanquished the enemy. So must weaker man conquer with His help the lust of the flesh. Then shall he be a freeman indeed and in truth, and no pledge to abstain from sin will be to him a yoke of bondage, but rather a badge of freedom, an example of the greatest liberty man can attain on this earth,—the ability to resist the evil and to choose the good. TEACHING THE CHILDREN.
By Mrs. P. Alderman
No OTHER WORK brings such large returns. “To teach a child is like inscribing on marble.” Every lesson lives in the mind, and is not forgotten like the teachings of after-years. If we did but rightly estimate the privilege of teaching a child even one good thought, of making one good impression, which would help to mold the character, should we not be more anxious to do it? If we give the children words of love, and show an interest in their welfare, we almost always find a ready response. A young business man from New York was visiting in the family yesterday. I had lost sight of him for years; but he remembered me, and said that, when he was a little boy, I took him on my lap and told him a Bible verse—“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” I was glad. Let us be ready to instruct children while their young minds are reaching out for knowledge, before the enemy sows the tares. And none can know how far reaching the work may be. This molding of character is largely the mother’s work, and so the mothers make the world. EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
There is so much to do that I hardly have time to put it on paper. A few of us are visiting the county jail. We have made two missionary reading-racks,—one for the jail, and one for the hotel. When we first put the rack up in the jail, the place was so dirty that it seemed unsafe to stay there even an hour; but yesterday we found it cleaned up, and looking like another place. We found some of the prisoners reading the literature we had left, and one seemed especially interested. I find that going from house to house with the kindergarten plan is a good way to interest both old and young. Your letter found me taking care of a sick woman and five children. I wish I could tell you all I have done since I sent in those cards. Not that I wish to boast, but I did not think I ever could do half what I have done. My daughter lost her husband about a year ago, and I took her four children home with me. I was canvassing and doing missionary work, but the Lord saw fit to give me other work. I will soon be fifty-nine years old. The Lord has blessed me since I have been keeping his commandments, has healed me twice, and I have better health than when I was younger, for which I praise his holy name. About ten years ago my daughter and I started a Sunday-school here. We used our lessons and the Youth's Instructor. The Lord blessed our efforts, and soon one of the teachers began to keep the Sabbath. Others took hold with us, and we soon turned the Sunday-school into a Sabbath-school. Some who accepted the truth through the influence of our Sabbath-school have gone away, some have given up the truth, and others are working for the Master. We praise God for what he has done for us, and do not feel discouraged because we are few in numbers. I think this is one way in which our sisters can do acceptable work, if they are cautious not to excite prejudice. One evening a neighbor of mine was taken very ill. She and her little girl were alone, and she sent immediately for me. Before I got to the house, I could hear her groaning; and when I reached her, she was turning blue, and her eyes were sinking in her head. I began at once to apply fomentations to the seat of pain, and sent for the doctor. She was feeling better when he came, but he said she had been a very sick woman, and I had done just the right thing. She told all her friends that I saved her life. I do not know why she sent for me, as there were nearer neighbors, and I am a colored woman. I prayed earnestly to the Lord to help me: for I knew that if she died, people would say, “That negro killed her.” I had faith to believe that the Lord would help her; but faith without works is dead, so I worked as hard as I could. Since then my husband and I have held Bible readings with this family, and have aroused their interest to know more about the truth. A girl fifteen years old, who is practically in charge of the home on account of an invalid mother, and whose father does not have much faith in religion, writes:— Papa is so good! and when the house is well cared for, it pleases him ever so much. It is not so much what he says, but the way he beams on everyone when he comes home very tired. During the next week I am going to arrange for a reading-rack to be filled with Seventh-day Adventist reading-matter in our depot. I will take it as my charge, and try to keep it well supplied. There are many more tired fathers, and perhaps brothers, who would be induced to “beam” upon the home folks if the right preparation was made for their nightly homecoming, and much fault-finding and many angry looks would be prevented. There are many more young girls who could take it upon themselves to keep a reading-rack filled with literature in the depot, and thus act an important part in scattering the truth. We hope that many others will follow this young girl's example, and we feel sure that this will lead those who are not Christians to realize the powerful influence of a Christian life. The members of our little church are few in number, but they are faithful workers, and it is through their faithfulness in handing out their reading-matter that my mother, my husband, my brother, and I have come into the true light. My husband, who was formerly preaching for the First-day Adventists, is now preaching for the Seventh-day Adventists, and there are several persons much interested. A young girl fourteen years old writes:— I went to a Baptist meeting a short time ago, and when opportunity was given to testify for the Lord, I gave in my testimony. When I sat down, a woman arose and said that she had never talked in public before, but that she could not sit still any longer when she had heard my testimony. So by the help of the Lord I can do some good wherever I am. I feel that I have a great deal to be thankful for, for three out of five children are with me in the truth. My two sons are indifferent; and as I look back over my life, I can see very plainly where I made the mistake that has led to the present condition, and I would like to speak of it as a warning to others. We were very poor, and when our boys got into their teens, we felt that they must do something to help themselves. We had the greatest confidence in our brethren, and we thought that our boys would be safe with any of them. So we found what we thought were good places, with our brethren, and the boys went away from home. But we soon discovered that they had lost their interest in the truth, and had taken up bad habits; and ever since that, our influence over them has been crippled. If I had it to do over again, I would rather live on a crust than let them go away from home. Never would I let them go, no matter how good a home was offered to them. But I believe that the Lord is able to overrule this mistake, and that I shall have my family united in the kingdom of God. The following is written by a girl fourteen years old, and should certainly call forth our prayerful interest, and lead those who are more favorably situated to a greater appreciation of blessings:— I thought I would write you in regard to Christian work. I live eight miles from any Adventists, or any Adventist church. I have been in the truth three years, and am the only member of our family who believes it. Father and mother are not Christians. Father drinks nearly all the time. I pray for them, and talk with them, but it does not seem to do any good. They do not want me to belong to the church, and try to make me work on the Sabbath in preparation for Sunday. I love my father and mother, but I can not obey them and God too in this matter, and I must obey God rather than man. Please pray for them, and also for me, for I have many trials and temptations. I do not take any Adventist papers, and so do not know much about my brethren and sisters unless I get a letter from them. TO EVERY one on earth
God gives a burden to be carried down
The road that lies between the cross and crown:
No lot is wholly free,
He giveth one to thee. Thy burden is God's gift,
And it will make the bearer calm and strong;
Yet, lest it press too heavily and long,
He says, “Cast it on me,
And it shall easy be.”
— Selected. OUR BEREAN CIRCLE STUDY.
By Evelyn M. Riley
“And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” The Lord is speaking to his church, telling them if they will but be taught of him, “great” shall be their “peace.” Who does not wish peace of mind and peace with God? It is the great need of the world. This hungry unrest is seen everywhere, and is an evidence of the lack of the word of God, the lack of the power which alone comes by filling the mind and soul with the ennobling, refining, and satisfying words of life and truth. To us God has made so easy the way to study the Bible, that there will be no excuse for us in that day when we shall stand before the great Judge, if we neglect this most important study. Our Berean lessons are one of the blessings God has placed in the hands of every Seventh-day Adventist. It is one of the means God wishes to use to cement us together. These lessons are taken up in a spirited and earnest way in California. All our churches have heartily entered into the study of them. One church says: “We have formed eleven circles,” and further on in the letter speaks of the good already accomplished by their studies. In our Oakland church, circles have been formed to accommodate all ages,—two for the youth, two for the young people, and several for the older members. We have only words of encouragement for the Berean lessons; and as we study in Revelation of the love of God for us, and of the trying ordeals his church will pass through before his coming, I am sure that we shall all be endued with a missionary spirit to do more than we ever have done before to witness for him. Our own hasty and uncontrolled tempers will be calmed and quieted by the gentle influence of his Spirit. We shall seek out the poor and neglected, and improve every opportunity for doing good. We shall wish all to have the same blessings we enjoy. Some one may say, “We don’t live near enough to any of our people to join a circle, or we would study too.” To such we would say, Form a circle in your own home. Could there be a more pleasing picture in the sight of Heaven than a father and mother with their children all gathered around a table, in the evening, studying the Bible together? It will bring union and harmony into your home, and will help you to govern the children more wisely, and will help them to see the wisdom of your commands. May hearts everywhere be gladdened by this study of the book of Revelation. “I wish to ask prayers for my husband, that he may accept the truth. It is much harder for a man to accept the whole truth than it is for a woman, because of his responsibility to care for his family. But pray that my husband will see the importance of obeying God in everything.” “Please pray for the conversion of my husband. He has not attended religious services for a great many years, and his one thought is the gaining of more money each year. Also pray that I may be healed of nervous prostration, from which I have been striving to be free for two years. Each day, as soon as dinner is over I will go to my room for prayer for my own requests and others.” “I especially ask the prayers of the sisters for my family—my husband and five sons, who are unsaved. My only daughter has recently come into the truth, for which I am very glad. My boys are men, have excellent reputations, and seem to lack only the one thing needful—faith in Christ. My youngest son has been willing to go with me to church and Sabbath-school until lately, but now he does not wish to go any more. I can only trust them with the Lord.” We have sent letters to the following-named persons, to the addresses given, but the letters have been returned unclaimed. We should be glad to hear from these persons, or to know how we can reach them with a letter: Mrs. K. D. Fetterly, Gravenhurst, Ontario, and also Muskoka, Ontario; Miss Euphemia McWhorter, Belcher, Tex.; Frank Juers, Grafton, Tex.; Miss Josephine Lorne, Austin, Pa.; Mrs. E. E. Smith, Ritter, Ore.; Georgia May Pryor, Springfield, Ill. MRS. L. FLORA PLUMMER
By Mrs. L. Flora Plummer
The definition of the word “every” is given as the “separate individuals which constitute a whole, regarded one by one.” “Every one” admits of no exceptions. In Mark 13:34 we learn that God has given “to every man his work.” The following are expressions found in the Testimonies: “There is work for every one of us in the vineyard of the Lord.” “God has given to every man a work to do in connection with his kingdom.” “Every soul should take an active part in advancing the cause of God.” “Every follower of Christ is to do something in the work.” “Let every member take up his individual work.” “This is a time when every member of the church should be waiting, watching, and working.” “Were every one of you living missionaries, the gospel would be speedily proclaimed in all countries, to all peoples, nations, and tongues.” Similar statements are repeated again and again. Let us compare our excuses of “no time,” “no ability,” “no opportunity,” “no responsibility,” etc., etc., with these statements concerning what the Lord is expecting of every one. DAILY READING FOR DECEMBER 9–15.
Sunday, “Thoughts on the Revelation,” pages 435–439. Monday, “ “ “ “ pages 439–443. Tuesday, “ “ “ “ from page 443 to V. 4. Wednesday, “ “ “ “ Verses 4–13. Thursday, “ “ “ “ “ 13–17. Friday, article on “The Sealing Message,” page 771 of this issue. 1. What were the four angels commissioned to do? Read carefully The Sealing, pages 29–31, Experience and Views, “Early Writings.” 2. When were they commissioned to hold the winds? When did the sealing work begin? 3. Who cried with a loud voice to the four angels? What did he say? What is the significance of the words, “Ascending from the east”? 4. Give Scriptural proof that seal, sign, mark, and name of God, are the same? 5. What is the seal, or sign, of the living God? What is the significance of its being placed in the forehead? 6. Will the seal be visible to human eyes? 7. How many will be sealed? 8. Who compose the company that could not be numbered? V. 9. 9. What was said by this company? 10. How were the angels affected by this? 11. What did the angels join in saying? 12. What question was asked by one of the elders? 13. Give the answer to the question. V. 14. 14. Who will dwell among this company? V. 15. 15. Will God’s people suffer hunger and thirst? 16. What special honor will be conferred upon this company? V. 17. Reading Circle Study
By Editor
THE “Reading Circle Study” — the article that accompanies the Berean Lesson — this week is printed on the Sermon page. It was too long for this page. Be sure to read it. A SECRETARY writes: “I think that the plan of having but one Reading Circle lesson each week, is a good one. This work is truly important. The studies last year helped the brethren and sisters in many ways. The financial part of the work in tithes and offerings to missions, increased steadily during the entire year. There was an interest created in missions. I believe the Reading Circle work was used of the Lord to bring about this result. At our recent camp-meeting much was said concerning this part of the work.” Christianity and Love of the World
The Christian Advocate very appropriately remarks: “A multitude of professed Christians who have cheered themselves hoarse and spent days in drumming up voters, stirring up sluggards, convincing the doubtful, helping the hesitating to decide, and who were not ashamed to make the rafters ring with their jubilation over the victory, would be ashamed to be found making similar efforts to lead friends, neighbors, and strangers to choose Christ for their leader and the commandments of God for their platform.” All of this shows that they have just that much more interest in the things of this world than they have in the things of Christ and of God. And then where is their Christianity? “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” And “if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”