One united body of people, of many lands and many languages, are giving their strength and their lives to the proclamation of “the third angel’s message.” To the German it is “die dritte Engel’s Botschaft;” to the French believer, “le message du troisième ange;” to the Danish, “den tredje Engel’s Budskab.” Whatever the tongue, it is a phrase dear to the Seventh-day Adventist heart.
The Last Message.—By this phrase Seventh-day Adventists mean the three-fold message of Revelation 14, the messages of the first and second angels of that chapter being gathered up by the third angel that “followed them,” combining in one the complete message of the “everlasting gospel” for these last days, with its cry to men that the judgment hour is come, that Babylon is fallen, that none should follow the Papacy or receive its mark, and calling all to the “commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” When this message ends its work, the next thing, according to the prophet’s view, is the coming of the Lord and the harvest of the earth.
One Complete Message.—Of this complete message, Elder R. F. Cottrell, in an early time when some were separating into factions, wrote in the REVIEW (Sept. 18, 1865):—
The message of the third angel is one message. And as it is the last step in the restoration of primitive Christianity, and the last merciful warning to prepare a people for translation, it will unite God’s people in one. It will not divide and scatter the flock of God, but will move on harmoniously, and accomplish its destined work. There is no danger that the ship will split upon some rock; for our Father is at the helm.
The first message did not finish the work, neither did the second; therefore they must be succeeded by the third. But there is no fourth message marked out by the Holy Spirit to correct the errors of those who should give the third—the third message finishes the work. It will not be corrected by another message.
What! do you believe that those who first preached the third message had no errors?
By no means. They have already discovered some of their errors and repudiated them. Men are not infallible, but the message is. What I mean to say, is, that the work will move on harmoniously till all the errors of God’s children will be corrected, and they stand without fault before the throne of God. This is the last message, and the Lord has set his hand to fulfil it; and those who will labor in harmony with it, may correct their own faults and those of others; but whoever attempts to reverse the engine will only switch himself off on some fallacious track. May God help me, and all my dear brethren, to work in harmony with the work of God.
The third angel’s message is a “firm platform” on which to plant the feet. It is standing on the eternal foundations. And “the foundation of God standeth sure.”
Timely Intervention
By W. A. S.
AFTER Brethren Stauffer, Snyder, and Nowlen had pioneered the way with English and German books in Brazil, it was decided to establish a depository in Rio de Janeiro. Accordingly in 1894 Elder W. H. Thurston landed, with his family, in that great city, to take up the work. Being insufficiently supplied with funds at the beginning, they saw some close times, and once again it was shown that “man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” At the General Conference in 1901, Elder Thurston related an experience of those first days in Brazil, as follows:—
The time came when we had nothing to eat in the house, and no money (I tell it to show how God will work for those who put their trust in him); so the next morning I told my wife I would go to the post-office to see if there was anything there. There was nothing. On my way back I met the missionary of the sailor’s home (this was Sunday morning), and he invited me to come to the mission and speak that night. I told him I should be pleased to do so, and went home. That evening I spoke to the sailors on the love of God, and our dependence upon him; but I made no reference whatever to our condition. At the close of the services, a man came to the desk and said, “See here, come to my room,” and turned squarely around and started off. He was a missionary who had a room in the mission building. I followed him to his room, and he said, “Here is a little money. I want you to take it and use it until I call for it,” and he handed me a little sack of money,—about seven or eight dollars. “Well,” I said, “I did not ask you for money.” “I know it,” he replied; “but every day I am gathering this in, and it is in my way. I want you to take this and use it; you may need it.” Then I told him we were out of money, and had nothing to eat, and it was just what we did need. We had a very enjoyable season there, and my wife and I went home and thanked the Lord.
From time to time, as I met this man on the street, he would hand me from five to twenty dollars, and say, “Here, take this; I have no use for it; I do not need it; take it and use it; you may need it. Keep it until I call for it.” It ran up to about one hundred or one hundred fifty dollars; and when I sent the money to this man, he said, “I never did such a thing before in my life as to hand money out and not have a scratch of the pen to show for it; but,” he said, “I know how it came; God told me to give you that money because you needed it.” Well, we thanked God for this experience, and took courage.
How well we know that there was nothing of chance or accident about such an experience as this. Only the special intervention of the Lord could have prompted the friend in need to act so abruptly and in so unusual a manner just at the time of necessity.
W. A. S.
“Fathers! Fathers!”
By William W. Prescott
This third angel’s message is a warning and a protest against the false doctrines and the unscriptural practices of the Roman Catholic Church — against the beast and his image. Those who believe it ought to repudiate in both theory and practise those wrong principles of the Papacy which have marked it as an apostasy. To do otherwise is to stand convicted of the most glaring inconsistency.
Fundamental to the very existence of the papal system of dogmas is the claim put forth concerning the pre-eminent authority of tradition and the opinions of the Fathers in establishing any doctrine. That the plain statements of the Scripture are entirely subordinate to these human interpretations is clear from these two paragraphs quoted from the creed of Pope Pius IV, “the best summary of the leading articles of the Roman faith,” which “must be confessed by all converts:” —
I most steadfastly admit and embrace apostolic and ecclesiastic traditions, and all other observances and constitutions of the same church.
I also admit the Holy Scriptures according to that sense which our holy mother church has held and does hold, to which it belongs to judge of the true sense and interpretation of the Scriptures; neither will I ever take and interpret them otherwise than according to the unanimous consent of the Fathers.
This exaltation of the words of men was carried to such an extent that it became an accepted teaching, established by the canon law, that the papal decretals were of the same authority as the Bible. In the Decretum of Gratian, issued about the middle of the twelfth century, a work which “displaced all the older collections of canon law, and became the manual and repertory, not for canonists only, but for the scholastic theologians,” is found this authoritative statement: —
The decretal epistles are to be reckoned among the canonical scriptures.13
In the same way tradition was regarded as “more clear and safe” than the Word of God. In order that we may present this matter impartially we quote from a Roman Catholic writer: —
Like two sacred rivers flowing from paradise, the Bible and divine tradition contain the word of God, the precious gems of revealed truths. Though these two divine streams are in themselves, on account of their divine origin, of equal sacredness, and are both full of revealed truths, still, of the two, tradition is to us more clear and safe.—“Catholic Belief,” by Very Rev. Joseph Faa Di Bruno, D. D.; Imprimatur, John Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop of New York, page 45.
This is a remarkable position for a church to occupy which professes to be established upon the Bible, but in view of the wide difference between Roman Catholicism and primitive Christianity such a dogma is a logical necessity, inasmuch as a reformation is rendered impossible by the claim of infallibility in teaching.
In this same book there is a practical example of the application of this principle in the attempt to defend the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. The first appeal is to the Fathers of the church. Here is the formidable array of such authorities: “The ancient writer ‘De Nativitate Christi’ found in St. Cyprian’s works;” “Theodoret, a Father who lived in the fifth century;” “St. Ephrem, a Father of the fourth century;” “St. Cyril of Alexandria, who lived in the beginning of the fifth century;” “St. Maximus, Bishop of Turin, a Father of the fifth century;” “St. Chrysostom, a Father of the fourth century;” “Theodore, Patriarch of Jerusalem.” Surely if these Fathers held this doctrine, all ought to accept it without further question. To believe anything different would be to show a want of respect for the views of these venerable men.
When an interpretation of a passage of Scripture was once adopted and taught by the Roman Catholic Church, it became of more importance to sustain this interpretation than to establish the truth by the testimony of the Bible. An illustration of this practise is found in the words of Faber, one of the enemies of the Reformation, who withstood the Reformers at the Diet of Spires: —
If we must choose between the Holy Scriptures of God and the old errors of the church, we should reject the former.—Cited in D’Aubigne’s “History of the Reformation,” Book XIII, chap. 5, par. 9.
This has been the consistent course of the papal hierarchy from the time when it first refused to abandon its errors when confronted with the testimony of the Scriptures. True Protestantism absolutely rejects any such an assertion, and anything which savors of it, and exalts the authority of the Word of God above the authority of both the church and the Fathers.
The Reformation of the sixteenth century was a revolt against those perversions of the gospel of salvation which had been introduced by the hierarchy, and which were defended by tradition. In answer to the traditions of the church and all human authority in doctrine, the Reformers appealed to the Holy Scriptures. Here was the real ground of controversy.
Soon after Luther had posted his famous theses on the door of the church at Wittenberg, and after he had practically broken off his connection with Rome, he thus described his final step in this separation: —
I looked only to the Pope, to the cardinals, bishops, theologians, lawyers, monks, and priests. . . . It was from them I expected to witness the influence of the Spirit. However, after gaining the victory over all their arguments by Scripture, I at last surmounted through Christ’s grace, but with great anguish, toil, and pain, the only argument that still checked me; namely, that I should “listen to the church.”—Cited in D’Aubigne’s “History of the Reformation,” Book III, chap. 6, second par. from end.
In the disputation which soon followed between Luther and Sylvester Mazzolini of Prierio, a Roman Dominican, the latter advanced and defended this proposition: —
Whoever relies not on the teaching of the Roman Church, and of the Roman pontiff, as the infallible rule of faith, from which the Holy Scriptures themselves derive their strength and their authority, is a heretic.—Id., chap. 9, par. 6.
In combating this remarkable claim, Luther, according to D’Aubigne, laid down “the essential principles of the Reformation: the Word of God, the whole Word of God, nothing but the Word of God.”
When at the Diet of Worms Luther was asked the direct question, “Will you, or will you not, retract?” he made the famous reply: —
I can not submit my faith either to the Pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clearest reasoning,—unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted,—and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the Word of God, I can not and will not retract.—Id., Book VII, chap. 8, fifth par. from the end.
In perfect harmony with the principle here laid down, at a later date in a conference with two representatives of the Papacy, Luther said: —
I will never permit any man to set himself above the Word of God.
Another great Reformer, Zwingle, followed the same rule. Of him D’Aubigne says: — Holy Scripture, in his opinion, was the touchstone by which to test the holiest doctors themselves.
In replying to the book which was written against him by King Henry VIII of England, Luther first reproached him “with having supported his doctrines solely by the decrees and opinions of men,” and then continued: —
As for me, I never cease crying, The gospel, the gospel! Christ, Christ! And my adversaries continue to reply: Custom, custom! Ordinances, ordinances! Fathers, fathers! St. Paul says: “Let not your faith stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” 1 Cor. 2: 5. And the apostle by this thunderclap from heaven overthrows and disperses, as the wind scatters the dust, all the hobgoblins of this Henry. . . . To all the words of the Fathers and of men, of angels and of devils, I oppose, not old customs, not the multitude of men, but the Word of Eternal Majesty,—the gospel, which even my adversaries are obliged to recognize.
Thus the supreme authority of the Word of God above the opinions of men, even of the Fathers and doctors of the church, was the vital principle of the Reformation. It was for this principle that the Reformers contended against Rome, and adherence to this principle became a cardinal feature of Protestantism.
In teaching the threefold message for this generation, in which “the everlasting gospel” is to be restored to the people as the antidote for the errors both of Roman Catholicism and of apostate Protestantism, it ought to be perfectly plain that in establishing any doctrine the appeal should always be to the Word of God, and never to the Fathers. To insist that there shall be nothing held or taught contrary to the consent of the Fathers, is to adopt the purely papal principle set forth in the creed of Pius IV. To place any other writings on an equality with the Scriptures is to follow the Roman canon law as laid down by Gratian. To do either is to abandon the very principle for which the Reformers contended, and to discard the fundamental idea of Protestantism. We can not protest against the Papacy by adopting papal principles. W. W. P.
Proving Our Love
By C. M. S.
The disobedience of God’s professed people has been the burden of every prophet’s cry. From Moses down to John the revelator, the story has been the same. “Precept upon precept, line upon line; . . . here a little, and there a little”—this has been the unvarying rule of God’s dealings with his people. God’s promise to one and all is this: “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land” (Isa. 1: 19); and there are no promises in the Bible to any but the “willing and obedient.” God has told us plainly enough what is the test of our love and loyalty to him;14it is obedience; not obedience to our own desires, to the traditions or commandments of men, but obedience to the law of God. That is his own appointed test of our love and loyalty. Jesus says, “Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” He did not recognize them as his while they refused to follow his commands. As he is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever,” we may know likewise, that he will never recognize us as his while we refuse obedience to his law.
In every age men have professed themselves lovers of God while walking at variance with the precepts of his law; but John, writing with the pen of inspiration, declares:—
“This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”
Then, as if foreseeing that men would accuse God of having given men a law to keep which was a yoke of bondage, he says:—
“And his commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5: 3.
There is the test,—a divinely appointed test,—and all can apply it for themselves to themselves. Do we love God? Look at the law of God, and see if we are following out its precepts—not four or six or even nine, but all of them. If we have found ourselves declaring that “the law is no longer binding upon men;” that “the law was abolished;” and so have found delight in what the law forbade; then we may know that it is not the love of God in our hearts that has been prompting our course. We may know, rather, that it is the spirit of enmity against God that has been directing; for he says:—
“The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8: 7.
We can not be God’s children, we can not be inhabitants of his kingdom, if we have a mind at enmity with him. That would bring rebellion a second time into the universe, and that God will not permit. So we can not be his, and heaven can not be ours, if it can be said of us that we are “not subject to the law of God.” It is an exceedingly serious matter for any professed Christian to declare against God’s law, or to declare himself out from under its obligations in any single precept. It means rebellion, disloyalty to the One whom we profess to love and serve. It is the very antithesis of the example of Jesus Christ. His attitude toward the law of God is thus expressed:—
“Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40: 7, 8.
One proof that this refers to Christ lies in his fulfilment of it in his attitude toward the law. Concerning this, he says:—
“If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” John 15: 10.
In that perfect submission of Christ to the will of God is our example. He could not have been our Saviour, had he assumed any different attitude. It was man’s transgression of God’s law that brought death; it is Christ’s obedience to that law which has purchased back the life man had forfeited. He lived upon this earth, “leaving us an example,” that we “should follow his steps.” I Peter 2: 21. “This is the love of God,” says John, “that we keep his commandments.” And Christ says to his followers: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14: 15.
Thus over and over it is declared to us that the test of our loyalty and love to God is in our attitude toward the law of God. It is a test to which our Saviour, our great Exemplar, willingly submitted; it is a test which will be brought to bear upon us, each and all, and our eternal destiny hangs upon how we stand the test.
Of his remnant, redeemed people the Lord declares: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” That can not be said of those who are found fighting against God’s law; and they who continue so to do can not be among that number. The only safe course is to come to Christ and ask him to take out of our hearts every vestige of the hate we have entertained toward his holy law, and then put its principles into our hearts, so that we can say with the psalmist: “O how love I thy law!” Then in his strength we will keep it and be recognized as his. Our attitude toward God’s law will testify before the world to our love of the Giver of that law, and the Lord Jesus Christ will confess us before his Father and before his angels. C. M. S.
An All-Sufficient Word
By Francis M. Wilcox
NOTHING is more reasonable than that God should give a revelation of his will to his children. Creating the human family through no will or volition of man's, it would be expected that the divine Being would reveal to his creatures his purpose concerning them, and a knowledge of the relationship which he designed them to sustain to himself and to one another. The Scriptures declare themselves to be this revelation of the divine will. Repeatedly in the messages which have come from the prophets of the Word, they declare themselves as expressing the sentiments and purposes of the divine mind. But even aside from what the Bible writers say of their own writings, we have much other contributory evidence that the Scriptures are indeed the word of God to the human family. A few of these we might enumerate:—
1. The answer of history to prophecy. Even the skeptic must admit that in this there is a remarkable coincidence which can not be explained. Long years, sometimes centuries, before events took place, they were clearly portrayed by sacred writers. The rise and fall of nations have been predicted; the page of history gives a record of Babylon, Media, Persia, Grecia, Rome, and many other kingdoms, in exact fulfilment of these predictions. To claim that these prophecies were mere guesswork, the idle predictions of pretenders, is to deny the logic, not of one single incident, but of a concert of evidence.
2. Archeological research. Excavations among the old ruins of the East, with the unearthing of tablets and the deciphering of hieroglyphics, have opened a vast storehouse of information, and serve very fully to corroborate the Scriptural data. Repeatedly when men have denied the existence of some ancient city or personage or event, the findings of the archeologist have given effectual denial to every skeptical assumption.
3. The endurance of the Word. The Word of the Lord abideth forever, and like walls of adamantine rock they have withstood the assaults of the ages. Rome has proscribed the Word and burned it at the stake. Infidel France, so far as her influence extended, sought to destroy its influence among men forever. It has been the subject of the scoffer's jest and the infidel's cavil, but still it lives, and works effectually and mightily in the hearts of those who still receive it in deed and in truth as the Word of the living God.
Its influence among men, however, stands in greater peril to-day than ever before; not so much from the assaults of its avowed enemies, as from the insidious, undermining attacks of its professed friends who seek to interpret its spirit and construe its teaching in harmony with their own perverted ideas of God and his revelation.
4. Its mysteries. That there are in the Scriptures things which man can not fully fathom is an evidence of their divine authorship. The Scripture deals with great principles. Some of its simplest expressions reveal great and mighty truths. The fact that we can not fully fathom these in all of their significance, shows a great Master-mind operating in and through the revelation.
5. Its impartiality. So far as the human family is concerned, the Bible brings to view no heroes or heroines. It does not unduly exploit virtues, nor gloss over sins. It records the foolishness of Solomon, the weakness of David,15the failure of Moses, and the fickleness of Peter. It exalts God, and not man, and sets character before the individual.
6. The unity of the Scriptures shows that a great Master-mind controls the wills and expressions of the Bible writers. What a marvelous book it is! what a wonderful compendium of moral philosophy! with its sixty-six different volumes written by more than half a hundred writers, men who wrote in different ages of the world, under different national and social influences, occupying different stations in life, from the king on his throne to the humble herdsman of Tekoa; yet all bearing the same universal testimony of concerted, united, harmonious teaching. This of itself is truly a remarkable fact.
7. Its universal adaptation. In every age of the human family, to every tongue in which the work has been translated, it has proved of general application. It carries comfort to the mourner, hope to the oppressed, strength to the weary, and light to those in darkness, as well as conviction of sin, admonition and rebuke to men of every degree and every-nation. It meets and supplies the needs of the great human family.
8. And finally: the simplicity and yet withal the dignity characterizing the Scriptures show them to be the revelation of the Infinite. In them is nothing of the superficial. We find nothing of cheapness. The words of God are expressed in a style so simple, and yet so dignified, that they may be understood by the humblest, and yet they commend themselves to the highest intelligence.
The Word of God is an all-sufficient guide. Every one who follows its instructions may become “perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Other books may throw light upon its sacred pages, may take some of its great principles and draw them out in detail, but no books and no writings can ever take the place of the Word of God, or form a substitute for, or an addition to, that Word. It is the standard by which Christian character will be tested, by which every spirit in the world will be proved. As well, it becomes the standard by which every other book and every other writing must be measured. In these days of moral degeneracy and spiritual declination, when many so-called Christians deny the power of the Word of truth and seek to explain its divine principles in harmony with their own perverted philosophy, let us exalt the Word. Let us make it the man of our counsel, the lamp to our feet, and the light to our path. By thus doing, we shall not walk in darkness, but shall have a light to guide us, and a foundation on which to stand securely in the evil times that are before us.
F. M. W.
Note and Comment
A Gentle Hint With Much in It
A SPECIAL cablegram from Rome, Italy, to the Washington Post, dated April 16, conveys to the American people a very significant hint. The wording of the despatch indicates that it was prepared with scrupulous care in the inner circles of the Roman hierarchy, and, if carried into effect, would be what the Vatican has been seeking for years to bring about—an exchange of diplomatic representatives between the United States government and the Vatican. Referring to the visit of Hon. William H. Taft (then governor of the Philippines) to Pope Leo XIII, the writer of the despatch says:
Who knows how things might have turned out if the present President of the United States and Cardinal Rampolla, then papal secretary of state, instead of being animated by the most cordial spirit, had come to a rupture? No one can even say that much more important problems than that may not arise in the future between the Papacy and the United States, now that the latter is the fourth Catholic power in the world, having over fifteen million Catholics at home, besides those of the Philippines, Porto Rico, Guam, and Hawaii.
It is pointed out here that in the near future the United States will, peaceably or otherwise, find itself face to face with the whole of Latin America, where the influence of the Roman Catholic Church is unquestionable. Is it therefore possible, it is asked, that what may be very important interests for the republic should be left to the mercy of possible incidents due to misunderstandings such as that which marred Mr. Roosevelt’s visit to the Eternal City?
What is the remedy? is again asked. And the answer comes that the only way to avoid such friction is to see that between the United States and the Vatican there is an exchange of diplomatic representatives. . . .
In the case of Mr. Roosevelt, Ambassador Leishman, with all his good will, could, considering his official position at the Quirinal, do little to smooth out things. Indeed his participation in the affair could not help arousing the distrust of the Vatican. . . .
If the United States had had a representative accredited to the Holy See, he would have seen, it is argued, that the conditions required by the Vatican for the audience were fulfilled without their taking the character of imposition.
He who reads these propositions needs not to be told the source from which the suggestions sprung; and the Fairbanks and Roosevelt incidents Rome will now turn to her account in an endeavor to secure the exchange of diplomatic representatives which she so urgently desires. There is good ground for the belief that the Vatican officials permitted the deadlock over the audience of these two Americans in order that the United States government might be impressed with the necessity of recognizing the Vatican court, and placing a representative there. After reading a second time the second paragraph of the above quotation, we can not help feeling that there is in it a covert threat that Latin America, through Roman influence, will attempt to force upon this country an exchange of diplomats with the Vatican. One thing is certain: the Roman hierarchy has very definite plans concerning the future of the United States, and is determined to carry them out through the powerful pressure of the numbers she is able to control. They who read aright the prophecies of God’s Word know what this means, and how it will end.
Church Comity
By Editor
CHURCH comity, the arrangement whereby mission territory is parceled out among various church organizations, and each is prohibited from entering the territory of any of the others, is called in question by the Herald and Presbyter.
Referring to a recommendation of a joint committee that “the denomination first in the field should have exclusive right to that field,” it says:—
The principle at the root of such a recommendation is an exceedingly dangerous one. The United Presbyterians would suffer from it, as our church has suffered. Denominational comity which forbids our church to enter fields where Congregationalists have churches implies an agreement, at least as to essential doctrine. In some cases there is such agreement, and in others there is not.
And the Western Recorder (Baptist), quoting the above remarks of the Presbyterian journal, makes the following pertinent comment:—
The above shows a healthy reaction against the sentimental finesse of the past few years. It required no prophet to foretell that this would be the inevitable conclusion of this crafty coquetry. The Presbyterians are, as a rule, an exceedingly sensible people; and though they sometimes stray, like chickens they generally come home “to roost.” In a little while, some of the leaders of this politico-religious conglomeration scheme will laugh at themselves, for their share in the pantomime performance. In the meantime, with Christ and conscience, we will content ourselves, even though we be charged with a lack of Christian comity.
To all of which we say, Amen. No consistent Baptist or Presbyterian or Seventh-day Adventist can consistently subscribe to any limitations which would circumscribe the free course of gospel truth as he sees and believes it. Denominations, the same as individual Christians, should exercise toward one another due Christian courtesy. This will do more for the promotion of the gospel and the cause of missions than any set of regulations the tendency of which would be to abridge Christian liberty of belief and practise.
Trinidad, West Indies
By Wm. F. Cozier
GWAICO.—As a result of my canvassing and holding Bible studies among the people here, three persons accepted the message and began the observance of the Sabbath. These were soon baptized, and the work has grown, until we now have an organized Sabbath-school of four families, with eleven members, who are making strenuous efforts to bring others to a knowledge of the truth. A great interest has been awakened here, and others are deciding to take their stand.
About eight miles from here, in Caijual, a district of Manzanilla, is another Sabbath-school, with an enrolment of seven. Two of the members have already been baptized, and others are awaiting the rite.
As I go in and out among the people with the books bearing the message for these last days, I am led most forcibly to see the importance of living the principles of the message. An overseer, who is much interested in us, and who has bought many of our books, offered me strong drink four times. Upon my last refusal, he himself ceased to drink, and now he is strongly advocating total abstinence. Others, through my advice, have rid themselves of their pipes and tobacco, never to use them again. The Holy Spirit is awakening souls to see their need of something higher, and while the Lord is thus working, I am striving to co-operate with him in bringing the truth before them. My prayer is that we may all be faithful in speeding the message to its glorious triumph, and be gathered into our everlasting home.
Wm. F. Cozier.
Australia
By C. H. Parker
NORTH FITZROY, VICTORIA.—Since my last report, our Victoria-Tasmania camp-meeting has been held. It was a good meeting, and some say it was the largest that has been held in the state. There were one hundred tents pitched, and more than three hundred fifty persons encamped on the ground. These, with those who took rooms in adjacent houses, would swell the number to about five hundred. A good spiritual tone characterized the entire meeting; many times the Spirit’s presence was forcibly felt, and on such occasions there was a great turning unto the Lord.
Much attention was given to the young people. This effort was under the direction of Elder L. A. Hoopes, and the Lord gave him a special unction from on high in service for them. There was a decided turning of the hearts of the fathers and mothers toward their children, and vice versa. Of late years the world has been adorning the bodies of many of our people here with things that God has forbidden. It was a beautiful sight to see the movings of the Spirit upon the hearts of these, and it is needless to say that, as the ax was laid to the root of the thing, the fruits of an amended life appeared.
The night and Sunday afternoon services were well attended from the outside, and our large tent, which holds about fifteen hundred, was inadequate to seat all, and many had to stand outside. At these meetings our people gave way to the public. Since the close of the meeting, services have been continued in a tent, which has been pitched close to where the camp-meeting was held. There has been a fair, growing interest, which we trust will deepen into a thorough transformation of many of the lives in that part of Melbourne. Quite a number came from the opposite side of the city. This shows a decided interest, as people will not travel far these days, unless there is something that is of special importance to them.
Three hundred pounds (about $1,450) of our surplus funds was voted to the union conference, and a like amount was contributed on the camp-ground. Three fourths of the Warburton tithe, which is about three hundred fifty pounds (nearly $1,700) was voted to the union conference, besides a second tithe for the General Conference. This means that something over thirteen hundred pounds ($6,305) will have been given by this conference for missions this year. This, of course, does not include Sabbath-school offerings, etc. There was no undue urging, but the people wanted to give. One man said, “It has always been a hardship for me to give a sixpence before, but it was easy for me to give five pounds [$25] to-day.” May the Lord always keep this spirit among these people. I believe that they have the message and its interests at heart, and it only needs to be set in the right way before them, and they will make any sacrifice to carry it forward.
Ten were baptized at the close of the camp-meeting, and a number of others will be baptized in their home churches. The meeting was held at Coburga, a suburb of Melbourne, beginning February 3 and closing on the thirteenth. We believe that its results will be far-reaching for the message here and abroad. All have returned to their homes with a determination to work, for the night is close at hand, when no man can work.
Pastors J. E. Fulton, L. A. Hoopes, and A. H. Piper were the ministers from abroad, and their labors were much appreciated by one and all.
C. H. PARKER.
Wanted the Sacrament
By E. W. Webster
TROUBLE and reverses had come to a certain mission in the island. There had been a mission and chapel at ——, but owing to the sickness of some of the workers there, it had been deserted, and had dwindled down to seventeen members. One of them, a leper, had begun to keep the Sabbath through reading-matter sent him by some of our people.
To these islanders the “sacrament” is a very holy ordinance. They think they must have it once or twice a year anyway. As this company had been without it for over a year, they were getting very anxious. They held a council and decided to ask me to come and give them the sacrament. They sent a messenger fourteen miles to urge me to come to them.
“We decided,” he said, “to ask you to come. Some said you kept the Sabbath, and we did not want to get stirred up about that; but others said, ‘We won’t have to keep the Sabbath unless he shows it to us from the Bible.’ So we want you to come.”
I replied: “You know that the sacrament means communion, fellowship. Can we have fellowship of the Spirit and of faith if I do go? We all need to understand what it means. I will be glad to go and give you the sacrament; but would it not be best for us to have some lessons on it first, so that we can all enter into the spirit of it, and so have true fellowship? I will go and have a meeting with you.”
It was arranged, and I went and preached to them. But when I got to the17most interesting place in the lesson, the time was up, and we had to appoint another meeting. This was, apparently, unavoidably repeated several times. One point of truth led to questions and explanations of others. In this way several weeks passed, with no further inquiries about the sacrament. Within two months ten of this company received all the truth, were baptized and united with the church, had the sacrament, and began to work earnestly for others.
E. W. WEBSTER.
“My Grace Is Sufficient”
By Milton C. Wilcox
M. C. WILCOX
Thy grace sufficient is, my Lord,
Whate’er betide,
’Tis written in thy Holy Word,
’Twill e’er abide.
Though heritage of ages past
Of sin and crime, like mountains vast,
Their baleful shadows o’er me cast,
In thee I hide.
Though I have followed in the hire
Of sin and crime,
Though I have wallowed in the mire
With filth and grime,
Thy Word still stands, and stand it will
Till years the centuries fulfil;
God’s promise faileth not until
There’s no more time.
Thy grace sufficient pays the debt,
I say it now,
I say it when defeat has set
Heel on my brow.
Though passion’s power is o’er me thrown,
Though sin’s fierce blast is through me blown,
Though love and hope seem ever flown,—
I say it now.
Sufficient is for me thy grace
Though others fail,
And heap great wrongs, or smite my face,
And ’gainst me rail.
I need not fail, I need not fall,
He bore my sins, he bore them all;
His grace surrounds me like a wall,
I need not quail.
So though I meet defeat, my Lord,
I trust thee still;
Faith shall not fail me in thy Word.
Thou wilt fulfil
Thy promise; potency of grace
Shall change to pure the metal base,
Out of the depths to see thy face,
And learn thy will.
Thy grace sufficient is, my Lord,
’Tis mine to-night,
’Tis written in thy Holy Word,
Thy Word of might.
I hope in thee, thou canst not fail,
Before my foes I shall not quail,
In thy great grace I shall prevail,
In love, in light.