“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Ex. 20:3. The directness with which the Lord enters into the matter, as well as the language employed in this command, shows a recognition of the fact that man is a worshipful being—that he will have some god and worship it.
This has been found to be true of all men from the beginning down through all the ages, civilized or uncivilized. Whether in the densest ignorance and degradation or in the most enlightened state, whether in the grasp of the most debasing heathenism and barbarity or on the pinnacle of the highest intellectual and spiritual development, all men have had, and will continue to have and to pay homage to, some sort of god. Even those who claim “there is no god,” and indignantly refuse to have one “foisted” upon them, will and do worship an idea, and make that a god; for whatever is first in one’s esteem, and to which he is heartily devoted, becomes to him a god.
Thus the very disclaimer of the atheist, and his repudiation of any god, and his devotion to the idea, are his god, and he pays homage thereto in spite of himself; for they are first and foremost to him, enshrined in his heart and vehemently proclaimed to the world by him. See how he will endure social ostracism and risk business interests for adherence to, and advocacy of, his idea in sections where it is not popular. It is very much akin to that condition and spirit that Macaulay speaks of when he says: “The only good experience of many ages proves that men may be ready to fight to the death and to persecute without pity, for a religion whose creed they do not understand, and whose precepts they habitually disobey.”
Paul says, “There be gods many, and lords many,” and speaks of those “whose God is their belly.” Phil. 3:19. If one can make this part of his anatomy and the appetite it stands for his god, he can certainly make an idea his god.
It is plain that all men, consciously or unconsciously, have—and God knew from the beginning that they would have—a god, and worship the same. It is a need of man’s being. It is inherent in his nature. Being a created intelligence, the workmanship of Another, the product of a force and power outside of himself, and not the originator of his own being, he is a dependent creature. As he arrives at the years of rational meditation, he becomes conscious of this fact, and feels the need of a power above himself. Thus naturally he turns to what he conceives to be god, for the help he needs.
It is no argument against this universal recognition of man’s need and his attempts to have that need supplied, that some untutored peoples worship certain animals, the chieftain of their tribes, the Great Spirit, or unknown forces. In this they are but worshiping that which they consider superior to themselves, and so their conceptions of God, but a god which can not meet the needs of their natures. None but the true God, the author of their being, can do this. Hence the command, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
It should be taken into account that God’s prohibition in this command against having other gods, rests not alone upon his right to our service and worship to the exclusion of any other being. Surely no one will deny his right in the matter. He is the author of our being, and has the right to demand our whole-hearted service, which he does. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matt. 22:37. He who constructs a machine has a right to the service of that machine. But God’s demand in this matter, as in all things, is not simply because of his right to make the demand, which no one could call in question, but because it is for man’s good. This has ever been true of all the demands the Lord has ever made of mankind. “And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always.” “To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good.” Deut. 6:24; 10:13. It was because he alone, of all the gods that were in the world, or ever would be, could meet man’s needs, that he gave the command, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”
And it should be remarked that this command does not mean that we may have other gods also, provided we put the giver of this precept first; for, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve,” is a command of the same God, and equally obligatory upon his creatures. The language, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” does not mean, “Thou mayest have other gods after me.” To change but a word without violence to the thought, the command may be taken to read, “Thou shalt have no other gods but me.”
Keene, Tex.
What Are We Going to Do?
By G. B. Thompson
G. B. THOMPSON
In India there are three hundred million souls to whom the gospel is to be carried. There are more than this number in China. To all these we are debtor to give the gospel. We have preached for years that the end is near, and we believe it is. This is our faith; it is our hope. Remove, or in anywise change, this glorious truth, and our hope is lost, our faith is vain.
We are face to face with a stupendous problem. I ask, What do we propose to do about it? not, What are we to say, to sing, to feel, to pray about it? We have made a beginning in all lands. The message, thank the Lord, has girdled the globe. But what we see is only a beginning; a few pebbles have been gathered from the ocean of sin—from its deepest, darkest spots; but its mighty flood of humanity yet lies before us unexplored. What do we intend to do about it? Time is short, and the King's business demands haste; what is done must be done quickly; it must be done now.
It is not enough to feel deeply over the matter. It is all right to feel, but feelings alone will not save souls. Had Jesus simply felt concerning the lost condition of man, the race would have been doomed. It took Calvary to save man. The Father had to give something. The Son had to give himself. This, and this only, will solve the mighty problem of warning the world in this generation.
One mission writer has truly said, “We must remember that it was not by interceding for the world in glory that Jesus saved it. He gave himself. Our prayers for the evangelization of the world are but a bitter irony so long as we give only of our superfluity, and draw back before the sacrifice of ourselves.”
Like the churches of Macedonia, we need to give ourselves to God, to be used as he may see fit. “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he can not be my disciple.” Here is God’s definition of a disciple. Are we truly his disciples? Let us study this scripture in the light of our duty to finish the work in this generation.
Calcutta, India.
Teaching Children How to Overcome Sin
By Luella B. Priddy
Child-Saving—No. 3
Teaching Children How to Overcome Sin
MRS. LUELLA B. PRIDDY
THE best theories of child culture sometimes fail, because the parent does not recognize the fact that the child is tempted to sin in just the same way as are his elders. There is a wily foe on our track, and we must watch and pray lest we enter into temptation; and the same tempter is seeking to ensnare the children.
The parent may have the privilege of exercising faith for the child until he is old enough to believe for himself. “Even the babe in its mother’s arms may dwell as under the shadow of the Almighty, through the faith of the praying mother. John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth. If we will live in communion with God, we may expect the divine Spirit to mold our little ones, even from their earliest moments.” — “Desire of Ages,” Trade Edition, page 609.
The child is influenced by the Spirit he sees manifested in his presence, even when he does not understand the reason.
A child’s fault can often be corrected best when he is in an agreeable frame of mind, if he is old enough to understand. We can talk matters over with him, and let him know that we have temptations too. Then we can tell him how we have won the victory, and he will be encouraged to conquer himself. In this way the heart of parent and child will be bound together.
A little girl of a lively disposition was reproved for her mischievous pranks. A neighbor remarked that she did not do that way when she was a little girl. The child concluded that she was not like other people, and not understanding what she had done that was wrong, concluded that the neighbor did not like her, or she would not talk that way. If we have not done just the thing that the child is doing, we have done other things that are sinful, and we would better acknowledge to them that we have had our faults also. Then we can point them to the only One who can take away sin.
A mother who had a child with a violent temper did everything she knew how to do to conquer her, but with little apparent success. The poor baby would kick and scream, and persist in not obeying. At last the mother dropped upon her knees, weeping, for she knew the child would be lost unless she overcame her sinful tendencies. She pleaded with the Lord to help the little child to do right. The screaming child became quiet, put up her lips for the kiss of reconciliation, and began laughing and crowing softly to herself, and saying, “I is a good baby now.” This mother learned to go to the Lord in prayer with the child when these outbursts of temper came, for her own failure had taught her where to find help.
It is in such scenes as this that the child learns to wrestle with God for himself. Often the Lord shows us our weakness, that he may reveal his strength. Happy is the man who can remember that sacred little corner in mother’s room, where she knelt with him, and taught him how to seek God for overcoming grace. The fragrance of that place will perfume all the years of his life.
We can not realize too clearly the importance of that self-discipline that enables us to turn our minds from the allurements of the tempter, and place them upon God and his truth. We can teach our children to do this, but it is a daily work. When their minds are bent upon foolish and trivial things, it is a good plan to start some good hymn in which they can join, and thus gently lead them to something better. Committing to memory texts of Scripture is another good practise.
If the open Bible is kept in a handy place, a pair of sharp eyes can read a text now and then. And while they are busy at their household tasks, let each try to repeat the text, until all have it “by heart,” as the children say. The hands will not work less swiftly because the mind is feasting on these good things, but the daily toil will seem lighter. It is possible to sow the seed of the good grain so thickly that many of the weeds are crowded out.
Christ said, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26. The Holy Spirit brings to our remembrance the texts that we know. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God; and there is no other weapon for the children to use than this. “Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children.” Deut. 6:7.
Markham, Ontario.
Headache and Headache Remedies
Dr. H. W. Wiley, chief chemist of the United States Department of Agriculture, utters a solemn warning, in The Ladies' Home Journal, against certain headache remedies extensively used in this country. The new Food and Drugs act requires that most of the drugs used in headache preparations be mentioned on the label of the bottle. But the fact remains that many will not know their significance. Caffein and antipyrin are frequent ingredients of headache powders, but they are not required to be mentioned by the act. The people have therefore only a partial protection.
Now acetanilid, caffein, phenacetin, antipyrin, and the many derivatives of these, when not used under the direction of a competent physician, are dangerous, and their mixture is apt to be deadly. They depress the nervous system; they disturb the digestion; they interfere with natural sleep; they require to be used in increasingly larger quantities as the system becomes accustomed to them; they are almost without exception excreted by the kidneys, thus adding an additional burden to organs already badly overworked. They produce a habit of gaining relief which soon asserts itself completely and becomes irresistible.
This indictment does not lie against any one particular remedy, but against the whole system; and especially should we be on our guard against the manufacturer's and the druggist's practise of using fanciful names to cover up the sale of the drugs which enter into the composition of headache powders.
There is only one safe way to use a headache remedy, says Dr. Wiley. Go to a reliable physician and find out first from what kind of headache you are suffering, for it should be remembered that one kind of headache is caused by the eyes, another by the stomach, and still another by some other cause, and each requires a different treatment. In most cases of headache there is a congestion of the blood-vessels of the brain13and its membranes, and the natural remedial act to relieve pain would be to reduce the congestion. On the other hand, when a headache is caused by fatigue or lack of blood in the brain, just the opposite condition is present, and a stimulating treatment is indicated. Go directly to the root of the trouble, and let a physician discover where it lies. The headache remedy may be quicker in its results, but it is a poor result that alleviates a headache at the expense of the heart or the general health.—The Circle.
At the Set of Sun
At the set of the sun,
When our work is done,
With all its tangled web;
When the clouds drift low,
And the stream runs slow,
And life is at its ebb;
As we near the goal
When the golden ’bowl
Shall be broken at its fount;
With what sweetest thought
Shall the hour be fraught,
What precious most shall we count?
Not the flame of the sword,
Nor the wealth we have stored
In perishable things on earth;
Not the way we have trod
With the intellect broad,
Though that were of precious worth;
Nor the gain we achieved
Through the hearts we have grieved,
And left unhelped by the way;
Nor the laurel of fame,
When, for worldly acclaim,
We toiled in the heat and the fray.
Ah, no! ’tis not these
Will give our hearts ease,
When life sinks low in the west,
But the passing sweet thought
Of the good we have wrought,
The saddened lives we have blessed.
— Boston Transcript.
Homely Toys for Babies
By Caroline H. Paton
For the wee babies home-invented toys are far better than the fragile ones offered in the shops, and the demands of such little people are so simple that an intelligent mother will find it no difficult matter to supply them with occupation. I have seen the nine-months-old baby of a friend play for hours with a strong glass bottle, tightly corked and about half-full of water. The little lady would shake the bottle and turn it from side to side, never wearying of the mystery of the motion within it. A marble or a stick in a bottle also makes a good toy, and a rubber band stretched across the top of a chair will give the children an hour with music.
The possibilities of clothes-pins as toys are inexhaustible. With them you can make rail fences, log houses, dollies riding on horseback, and if you will tie a long string to the neck of a clothes-pin, by which to lead it, the child will hail it as any kind of an animal you may suggest, from a pet lamb to an elephant.
Old buttons can be sorted, strung in chains or sewed on bits of cloth, and if you will give the child a lot of old bottles or spools, he will find them to be a delightful lot of dollies with which to form an army or keep a school.—Caroline H. Paton.
Muck-Raking
By N. D. Hillis, D. D.
SLANDER is a species of murder. The whisperer is altogether contemptible. We revolt from cannibalism as to the body, but many men and some women can carve a neighbor’s reputation like a fowl. And yet no generation ever needed the warning more than ours. Just now it is popular to attack the newspapers for their personalities and harsh criticisms of public men. We must all confess to a shocked feeling when we find that all senators are accused of treason because two or three have betrayed their high office. Exaggeration, harsh criticism, the charge of crime first and the proof afterward—these are the order of the day. Many a man’s health has been ruined and his heart broken by a whispered slander that was afterward found to have no basis of truth whatsoever. Judgment begins at home. We all need to remember that man-formed souls alone love evil speaking; that the ideal man can not endure to read a slander or listen to it, much less to speak one. Great is the power of the tongue. It is a little member, but it is like the rudder, which turns the whole ship and controls the voyage. Therefore avoid harsh speech and unfair criticism.—N. D. Hillis, D. D.
The Home or the Club
IN these days when the club and the fashionable church entertainment are taking such heavy toll from the household, the example set by a true womanly housekeeper who knows her mission and does it is refreshing to the beholder. Such an example we give in the following extract from an article in the Christian Work and Evangelist:—
“Mrs. X. Y. Z. had been induced to render special aid at a great church supper. She was to act as matron at the chapel that night, several other capable women to assist her, and a bevy of fresh young girls to act as waitresses. Her husband, who had been absent a week, was to return the next day. Mrs. X. Y. Z. had been chosen as lady-in-chief of the evening because of her great skill as a housekeeper, also because of her superior bearing and always pleasing manners. At noon came a telegram saying her husband would return in time for dinner that evening, bringing with him a valued business friend to spend the night. The message ended with the significant words: ‘Nothing more needed.’ The wife at once interpreted their meaning. Her husband felt sure that the home, the dinner, his wife’s presence, would all duly and faithfully be awaiting him.
“When the matron-elect stated the case at the chapel, a mighty clamor arose. Could not the husband and his friend come to the chapel feast? If not, was it not the lady’s duty, that once, to let the servant serve a good dinner? Was it really necessary to disappoint so many just for the sake of pleasing one?”
“Mrs. X. Y. Z. raised her graceful hands: ‘My first duty, to-day and forever, is in my own home. Not for anything would I destroy or shake my husband’s faith in this matter. He wants the privacy and freedom of his own fireside after a week’s unavoidable absence; there are others who can abundantly fill my place, and I must go at once and prepare the dinner my husband is as sure of as he could be of anything.’”
“She went smilingly away. There were murmurs and complaints, until Mrs. A. B. C. said, resolutely: ‘She is right! She is right; there isn’t a happier household in this place than hers. Her husband adores her, and certainly the children are the very pictures of content. The case was just this: our lady was to do one of two things—disappoint her husband or disappoint us. I say, she was right; home first, and every time!’ And there wasn’t a dissenting word.”
“Women may be changing, but appeal directly and sensibly to the right kind of wives, mothers, and housekeepers, and regarding a plain duty there will not be a dissenting word.”
The Secret of Devotion
By Jane Howard Latimer
I KNOW a fortunate mother who has two splendid young sons, and who enjoys the most radiantly happy motherhood.
They are manly little fellows without the least suggestion of the mollycoddle in their composition. But no matter how busy they may be about their own concerns, there is one person whose welfare never appears to be out of their minds—mother.
If they are off for the day with their chums, they will manage to find a telephone, and over the wire will flit some such message as, “All right, mother? Thought we had better call up and see.”
The younger boy has a keen eye for beauty, and may quite often be found with a beautiful flower in his hand which he has purchased with his own pocket-money, or perhaps a handful of wild flowers picked during an expedition to the woods or the “swimmin’-hole.” Any one whom he happens to meet is entirely welcome to exclaim and admire, but the flowers do not leave the young knight’s hand until he presents them to his lady mother.
Curious to know the secret of this devotion — not exceptional, perhaps, but exceptionally expressed — I questioned this fortunate woman, and she said, smilingly: “It began when the boys were very small, when I tried to show them that these little attentions were necessary to my happiness. As they grew older, I never failed to express my appreciation of the little things they did for me. If it was a tiny shell from the beach, or a smooth stone from the road, or a field flower, I was always delighted with it, and so the giving has become a habit. It means a great deal to me; and I have no doubt some woman will thank me in the future. I have always felt,” she added, “that if my boys failed in their attitude to the women who came into their lives, it must not be my fault, so I am beginning early to be a good mother-in-law.”
Would there were more such wise mothers!—Jane Howard Latimer.
A Handsome Apology
NED and his grandmother are the best of friends, but sometimes the little boy’s tongue is too quick to please the old lady. Then Ned apologizes after a fashion of his own, which his grandmother approves.
“I got tired lugging that wheelbarrow for grandmother while she was changing her plants,” Ned said to his mother, recounting the day’s events at bedtime, “and I said, ‘I wish there wasn’t another speck of this hateful dirt in all the world!’ But then, afterward, I ’pologized.”
“I am glad of that,” said his mother.
“Did you tell her you were sorry?”
“No, that is not the kind grandmother likes best,” said Ned. “I got another wheelbarrowful, and just said: ‘Don’t you want some more of this nice dirt, grandmother?’ And then we were all right again.”—Youth’s Companion.
Labors in China
By P. J. Laird
P. J. LAIRD
On Christmas eve we had hardly finished lunch when a familiar voice was heard at the front door. Going to answer the call, we found, as expected, that it was Liu Changshan, with his wife. This man was our first convert, a result of co-operating with the Lord at Yungchow, Hunan, some years ago. During his stay of three days at Changsha, we had many pleasant times together, reviewing past experiences, and recalling our fellowship in the gospel. Vividly the old scenes came to mind: the first visit to Yungchow from Heuilin; the persistency of the magistrate that I should be his guest during the brief visit; the crowds that flocked to hear the preaching, the one special subject of which was the blessings of the gospel, contrasted with those sought by the people. The natives could not await their turns, but had clutched madly at the sheet tracts which illustrated the theme. When leaving the city, presents had been many and varied—dried ducks, bacon, oranges, dates, mushrooms, rice, candies, eggs, vegetables, vermicelli, and bottles of wine. According to etiquette, many articles were returned, only to be brought to me again. The wine was refused on principle.
Having dispensed with chairs, my cook and I reached Kueilin footsore and weary. But our hearts were all aglow, because God had deigned to use his servants and answer their prayer. It had been decided to open Yungchow as a mission center. And the time before the Chinese New-year being so short, we had to set out quickly on the return journey. A few days out, a whole load of articles was stolen by an underling sent from the magistrate to care for us. Not until eight months later, and only after persistent dealing, were the articles recovered, and then only in part.
Eventually a chapel was opened. Then those who had professed themselves as friends, on finding their operations were being watched too closely, turned to be enemies and slanderers.
Students came in from the eight counties of Yungchow by the thousands, for the much-coveted first, or B. A., degree. Only one hundred and twelve of these were given. We held services almost continuously. Our books were exhibited, and found many purchasers among the crowds attending the examinations. To follow up the work, as well as to get acquainted with the district, Liu and I took some boxes of books, on an itinerating trip. What a glorious time we had! To me there was no work so entrancing.
Although we were the first foreigners most of the natives at Tao had seen, they made me stay at their own houses, rather than in an inn, according to custom. Then nothing would do but we must go to their ancestral village, and stay two nights. Not content with hearing themselves, they threw open their doors in the city and village, that the common people might hear the gospel. Numbers availed themselves of the opportunity.
The next stopping-place was Ningquan. We could not get books out fast enough, as the people clamored and pressed around us. Three times the boxes had to be visited, to replenish the stock. There is always the assurance in this country that most, if not all, literature will be read; and usually it will be kept. In vain we tried to get a good rest next day. The villagers would come, asking our business, and desiring to hear the message of salvation.
Kianghua and Yungming were visited in turn. The latter was not very good ground for seed sowing, but about a dollar's worth of Gospels and tracts was sold.
It would be difficult to estimate the thousands who must have read or heard the Word as a result of the distribution of reading-matter on this trip.
Brother Liu returned to Yungchow, to hold the fort, while I continued to Kueilin by a different route. On my next visit to the former place, a colleague accompanied me. The students were assembling there again, and the opportunity was embraced, as before. Nearly ten thousand Gospels and tracts were distributed among them, as they came away from the examination halls. Our greatest joy here was occasioned by the baptism of Liu Changshan, May 2, 1904.
The district through which the journeys already mentioned were made, and where the seed was sown, has remained untouched these three years. Hearing from the old mission of my arrival, dear Brother Liu came all the way from Yungchow to Changsha, to urge me to go up and help them to be more like Christ in conduct and example. This trip had meant seventeen days down the river. He told us it would take him a month on the return journey. All this was at his own expense. Moreover, he brought another baptized man, to emphasize the request. When he left, tears filled his eyes at the thought of returning without his old friend. O the disappointment to the heart of Jesus that people can hear the gospel only once in three years!
One man I met in Japan has accepted Jesus as the Saviour—the direct result of hearing the message in those days. How he pleaded with me that my lips should carry the “good tidings of great joy” to his father and family at Tao, as they had to his own. He even gave me a letter of introduction to his father.
Now a letter comes from Brother Liu, en route. He says he has met a friend from Tao, who gives us a hearty invitation to go and open up medical work there. This friend has a fine large house, which he will fit up as desired, without any cost to us. The rent will be but eighty dollars per annum. Would to God we had some keen, spiritually minded evangelists to send. The Lord speaks, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”
Notes From India
By G. B. Thompson
G. B. THOMPSON
JANUARY 28, in company with Elder W. W. Miller and Brother and Sister Burgess, I left Calcutta for Gopalgunj, in eastern Bengal. The first hundred miles of the trip was made by rail. Then we changed to a small steamer, which took us about forty miles up one of the large rivers that form the delta of the sacred Ganges. Here we made a change into a rowboat, and after a few hours' rowing against wind and tide, we reached our destination, and were very hospitably received at the home of our Indian worker, Babu A. C. Mookerjee.
This whole country is devoted to the raising of rice, and in the rainy season is completely inundated, so that traveling is done largely by means of boats. So far as agricultural implements are concerned, I was unable to discern that any improvement had been made over those which must have been used in the days of Abraham. The country swarms with Bengali-speaking people, all of whom live in villages. We passed many of these villages on the way, filled with people, intelligent looking, but ruined and benighted by sin and superstition. Surely this is a field for missionary work. It is beautiful here, but in the hot, rainy season, it is inclined to be malarial.
In the providence of God, the last message has gained a foothold in this out-of-the-way place. Elder Miller, Brother Mookerjee, and others have labored here, and I am told that at the present time there are about twenty-four adult Sabbath-keepers. After they have been more fully instructed, no doubt a church, composed entirely of Bengali-speaking people, can be organized. Those who embrace the truth are being tested. The land upon which they raise their “paddy” (rice) is controlled, to some extent, by one of the missionary societies working here for a number of years, and this society exacted an agreement from them that if they changed their faith, they must leave their land. Therefore, as soon as they receive the message and begin keeping the Sabbath, they are notified to leave. This means the giving up of all they have. It is shown, however, that this message is just as precious to an inhabitant of Bengal as to those of more favored, civilized lands; for some of them are keeping the Sabbath, regardless of all the consequences involved.
My sympathies were deeply touched15for this people. They seemed so kind, and so appreciative of our visit among them! How much I would have enjoyed speaking to them in their own language! My visit here convinces me that in order to carry the message to India, we must have laborers among all these tongues, familiarizing themselves with the language of the people. The people are strange; their habits and customs are strange, and we can not understand them as we ought until we can speak with them in their own language. There are about forty-seven million Bengali-speaking people in India. This is more than one half the population of the United States. God loves the humblest and most benighted coolie among this people as much as the more enlightened European. If we believe the Lord is coming in this generation, why should we have hundreds of laborers at home and only a very few here?
The night we were at Gopalgunj, there was an almost total eclipse of the moon. The Hindus of the village, who believed, I was told, that some monster was swallowing this orb of the night, made a great racket with tom-toms and various instruments of music, to frighten away this monster.
Near here is where Sadhan Chandra Sircar lives—the aged brother who, in answer to prayer, was healed of the leprosy over thirty years ago. From a child he had been a victim of that awful disease. For many years—nearly a half century—he had prayed to all the Hindu gods for deliverance from it, but no relief came. One day a godly missionary came to his home in a boat, told him about the true God, and left him a copy of the Gospel of Matthew. He read it, and learned that Jesus of Nazareth healed the leprosy. He began to pray to him, and for three days he and this faithful missionary sought the Lord in his behalf. God heard their cries, and he was healed. For thirty years he has stood before the world a living testimony of the power of Jesus to cleanse the leper. This brother was present at our recent conference in Calcutta, and bore his testimony. Parts of his hands and feet have been eaten away, as will be seen by the picture of him which accompanies this article, but there is no sign of leprosy.
About a year ago he—now eighty years of age—received our Bengali tract, entitled “Christ and the Sabbath.” Being in charge of a mission, he studied the tract to refute it. But he learned that the same Jesus who healed him of the leprosy kept the seventh-day Sabbath, and he began keeping it also. This enraged the mission people, and they took his home from him, and sold his pony. But he remains true to the Sabbath of the Lord. It seems strange that persecution should come from professed Christians, rather than from benighted Hindus.
In all the villages among the jungles of India there are faithful souls like this, who are seeking for light. It is real missionary work to leave our pleasant homes and go and live among these people, study their language, and teach them the truth, but our reward in heaven will be very great. Our schools, academies, and colleges must train young men and women for this work. Those who consecrate all to him, God will qualify for it by the power of his Holy Spirit.
“Out of Weakness Were Made Strong”
By T. E. BOWEN
T. E. BOWEN
In talking with his disciples one day, Jesus said: “And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.” Jesus thus recognized that faithful men of God had been laboring for souls, and that that labor had in a great measure prepared the way for his own work. In these words are also expressed his appreciation of the value of this preparatory work of previous laborers.
SADHAN CHANDRA SIRCAR, THE HEALED LEPER
Thus it is now. Pioneer work, in countries where the dense darkness of heathenism prevailed, has been done the past few years by men specially raised up by the Lord, which, in a wonderful way, has prepared these difficult fields for the speedy proclamation of the last warning message. Prominent in this preparatory work is the translating of the Word of God itself into the languages of the people in these darkened lands. Men have endured no small amount of hardship in accomplishing these stupendous tasks.
An illustration of an instance of this kind is found in the brief sketch of the life work of Dr. S. I. J. Schereschewsky (pronounced Shĕrĕshĕfskī), who recently died at Tokyo, Japan, as published in a recent number of The Bible in All the World:—
“On October 15 there passed away at Tokyo a most gifted Bible translator, Dr. S. I. J. Schereschewsky, formerly missionary bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church of America. Born of Jewish parents at Tauroggen, in Russian Lithuania, in 1831, he was educated as a Jew in all the wisdom of the Jews; and was graduated at the University of Breslau. The study of a copy of the Hebrew version of the New Testament convinced him of the truth of Christianity, and soon afterward he made his way to the United States, where he was baptized by a Baptist minister, and trained at a Presbyterian theological college. In 1859, at New York, he received orders in the Episcopal Church, and at the end of the same year he landed in Shanghai as a missionary of that church. He removed to Peking in 1862, and became bishop in Shanghai in 1877.”
“His early training, whereby he came to know Hebrew better than any other language, specially fitted him to become a translator of the Old Testament. This peculiar fitness was soon recognized by his missionary colleagues, who about 1865 entrusted him with the translation of the Old Testament in Northern Mandarin. He also worked on the Peking Committee as a translator of the New Testament. His version of the Old Testament, first published by the American Bible Society in 1875, has since been repeatedly issued. A revised edition appeared in 1899. But a still greater work was his translation of the whole Bible into easy Wenli; he added the New Testament in this case, in order to secure uniformity; both Burdon and Blodget’s and Griffith John’s versions of the New Testament being in a somewhat different style. This Bible was published in 1902.”
“The significance of Bishop Schereschewsky’s achievements, however, lies not so much in their extent and scholarship as in their testimony to the indomitable courage of the man and his devotion to his work. Six years after his consecration as bishop he became paralyzed, and had to resign his episcopal jurisdiction. His malady increased till it left him with the use of only the middle finger of each hand. Fortunately his intellect remained unimpaired, and with these two fingers he was able to type out his manuscripts, which were afterward rewritten in Chinese characters by his secretary.
“But the toil was well worth while. To this man alone has it been granted to give to the two hundred and fifty million Mandarin-speaking Chinese, as well as to the mass of readers in China, the oracles of God as found in the Old Testament. Reviewing, therefore, his life in the light of these facts, we may surely trace the divine purpose in taking him from one task, for which a successor could without difficulty be found, and setting him free for another, for which16his whole previous life had been a unique preparation. As a translator his influence has been far wider than it could have been as a bishop, and Chinese Christians will ever remember, with gratitude to God, the great scholar who out of weakness was made strong—who laid so well and so truly the foundations of the Bible in their greatest vernacular, and in the more popular form of their written language.”
