Earlier text: Obtaining the VictorySo far as the records show, we believe, the first Seventh-day Adventist to report from a land outside of America, sent the message from the West Coast of Africa. It is of special interest to learn that the first light of the full third angel’s message kindled across the seas, shone out in a glimmering spark from one of the darkest corners of the Dark Continent. THIS first mission field report appeared in the REVIEW of March 29, 1864. The horizon of the believers was lifting, and the thought of the message going to other lands,—“to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,”—must have been borne in upon them more clearly by this first word from Africa. Under date of Jan. 2, 1864, Hannah More wrote from Cape Palmas, in Liberia:— “Thank God I now see clearly that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord my God, and am keeping it according to the commandment. Mr. Dickson also is keeping it. It is quite singular to keep it here. I do not know of any others on the coast who keep the seventh day. But that is no proof against its authenticity. I only wonder that many good people reject the commandments of God by their traditions.” Your people may now consider that you have whole-hearted Seventh-day Adventists here, waiting with you for that blessed appearing of Him whom we love and adore, and purpose to worship evermore. O, it will be delightful to see him as he is, to worship him aright, and cast our crowns at his feet! O, how sublime to see the time near, even at the door! So I will labor on and pray on, and may God’s special blessing attend and prosper my feeble efforts in his vineyard. I trust you will sympathize with me in these efforts to glorify God, and make ready a people prepared for his coming kingdom. How I would love to recount to you all the way the Lord has led me, and how wedded I was to the tradition I was educated in, of keeping the first day for the Sabbath! O, how hard I found it to decide against what good people had taught me, whose memories I still venerate! But all is over, and for some weeks I have been keeping with you the seventh day.” THE writer of this report was an American missionary. She came to this country to get acquainted with our people, and some years later died in Michigan. Evidently the little light in West Africa was suffered to go out after a time, in those early days. But now many lights are being kindled on that dark coast, and the call comes most earnestly for more workers and more means with which to follow the opening providences of God. THAT year, 1864, in which came this first report from across the sea, was also the year in which the Polish minister, M. B. Czechowski, in the service of the First-day Adventists, went over to Europe, there to teach what he had heard of the Sabbath truth to the Swiss believers who formed our first company in Europe. By the Hand of the Lord
By W. A. S.
THE work of God in the earth is closing with the manifest working of his mighty providences. Land after land has been opened by the breaking down of barriers, and the last message is sounding with power. The same God who wrought in Bible times, and in the powerful days of the Reformation, is leading the way in the Advent movement. The prayer that he puts into the mouths of the Advent people is a call for the mighty arm of the Lord to be made bare as in the days of old:— “Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old.” Isa. 51:9. The story of God’s dealings with his people in all the days that are past, is an inspiring exhortation to us in these last days to go forward in full assurance of his delivering mercies and sustaining grace. Here is a narrative of the Reformation times, taken from the life of Johannes Brenz, of Württemberg (1499-1570), being translated from the German:— Of the many persecutions which Brenz had to suffer from the emperor on account of his steadfastness in the Protestant faith, the most perilous one to befall him occurred while he was a guest of Duke Ulric at Stuttgart. The emperor had learned of the whereabouts of Brenz, and commissioned a colonel to produce him, dead or alive. The duke, being apprised of this, warned Brenz, and let him go with the consolation: “If God is pleased with you, he will deliver you.” Brenz, as if anticipating the peril, had already sent his four children to his friends. In the seclusion of his room he fell on his knees, and prayed to God for counsel and help. And he seemed to hear a voice saying: “Take a loaf of bread, and go up through the Birkenwald (the upper part of the city was so called at that time), and where you find an open front door, go in and hide yourself under the roof.” Brenz did so. All the doors in that part of the city were closed, until he came to the Landhouse (now the Reformed church). Here the door stood open. He entered without being seen by any one. Under the roof was a large pile of wood, behind which he hid himself. The next day the imperial officer, with his Spanish soldiers, arrived in Stuttgart. Soldiers were at once stationed at all city gates, even at the exit of the duke’s palace. They searched every house in the city, and finally the soldiers came to the Landhouse. Brenz perceived the clang of arms, and heard their loud talking and cursing as they went from room to room. They also came to his hiding-place under the roof, and thrust their spears through the wood-pile behind which Brenz lay. But they did not find him, and two weeks later they left Stuttgart. “Now they are gone, and, praise the Lord, they have not found him,”—thus Brenz heard the people talk on the street below. But how was Brenz able to sustain his life during that long time?—On the first day of his concealment, toward noon, about eleven o’clock, came a hen, and laid an egg behind the wood-pile. This she did every day till the end of his stay there. This egg served to quench his thirst, while the loaf of bread satisfied his hunger. The hen ceased coming on the day on which the soldiers departed. Here was manifested the same hand that fed Elijah by the ravens; and that is the same arm that is being made bare in the eyes of all the nations for the cutting short of the work of God in the earth. Well may we rejoice that the God of former days is our God, pledged to lead the remnant of his people in triumph over all the power of the enemy. The Free Gift of God
By C. M. S.
BECAUSE of the promise made to the Eden household by Satan, and man’s acceptance of it, the days of human life were numbered, and that life was made dependent upon human effort for its sustenance. Obedience was the key to everlasting life; disobedience would open the gate of the tomb, and flood the world with misery, greed, and crime. But human effort can not bring everlasting life; it can not guarantee the prolongation even of this temporal life. Since the decree went forth in Eden, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,” man has waged a continuous warfare with the thistle and the thorn for the wherewithal to live. But this bread secured by human effort was not13 to be the Bread of Life. Men ate of it, and died. Men toiled for it for themselves and their families, till, bent and beaten in the struggle, they were laid away, and left the same heritage to their children. So mortal man has passed his little day, and fought his losing fight, in the battle for bread — and life. Into this whirlpool of stress and struggle and strife, of blasted hopes and blighted ambitions, there came one day the good news of deliverance — the Bread of Life had come. Moving among men as one of them was One to whom the Father had given “to have life in himself” sufficient for the needs of all the world. Man had been struggling to force the unwilling earth to yield him sustenance for his temporal life; but even this must come through the power and the merciful forbearance of God. But the life which Jesus Christ has come to give was the life of which sin had robbed the race, and that was life eternal. The bread that man had eaten in the sweat of his face was the bread that he had earned. It could sustain only for a time the life that God had put in man; so that man never could, through his own labors, “eat, and live forever”—never could win eternal life by works that he might do. That must be “the gift of God.” And so the record reads: “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23. That “gift” came in Christ, the Son of God, the Son of man, binding in one the attributes of both humanity and divinity, and so reconciling man to God. “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:11, 12. Blessed be that Bread of Life that satisfies the hunger of the soul! Mankind has eaten to the full of the “bread of affliction,” and struggled from the cradle to the grave for the bread of temporal sustenance; but now, out of the largeness of the abundance of the mercy of God comes the free gift of the Bread of Eternal Life, which, if any man eat, “he shall live forever.” We were shackled to sin; Christ has burst the shackles for us, and set us free. We were bound by transgression to the prison-house of the dead; but Christ is risen, and holds the keys of the grave, and will set at liberty every soul that has put his trust in him. We have eaten of the fruit of our labor that could not give us life; he has given us in its place the life of God, that makes eternity ours, and will permit our feet to tread this earth when sin has been consumed. All this has come — has come to us — through him who is the Bread of Life, the free gift of God. C. M. S. Securing Salvation
By F. M. W.
THE way of righteousness is the way of simple faith. How blessed that this is the case! God does not require wealth, fame, worldly position, or great scholarship as a condition of salvation; if he did, the great mass of humanity could never hope to gain eternal life. Instead, he makes the conditions so simple that the little child, equally with the wisest philosopher, the servant in the field as well as the king on his throne, rich and poor, learned and illiterate,—all alike must come in the same way, and in a way so simple that all may come. This is the blessed part of it. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Israel of old sought, through the works of the law, by their own wisdom, and through human effort, to make themselves righteous. They signally failed in all their efforts. Says the apostle: “But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law.” Seeking righteousness by faith, however, involves something more than mere mental assent to the fact that we are sinners, and that Christ is our Saviour. It means the forsaking of sin, a surrender of the will to God. Surrender of the will does not mean that there must be no exercise of the individual mind; it is the placing of the will on the side of God’s will. Says the Scripture: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” The child of God after his conversion still possesses mind, intellect, ambitions, aspirations, will-power, etc. He still possesses his individuality. He is still a free moral agent. The difference after his conversion is that his ambitions are subordinated to God; he lays his plans daily at the feet of Jesus, to be given up or carried out as his Spirit shall indicate. His highest aspirations are found in copying in his life the perfect Pattern; his will-power is used to work the works of God instead of the works of sin; and the motive power in it all is simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit. He loves God because God first loved him. He prays because he loves to commune with his new-found Master; he studies the Scriptures of truth because he finds in them a message of love from his dearest Friend. He labors, sometimes in weariness, in painfulness, when the flesh itself is weak and faltering, rejoicing because his life’s service is a service of love,—love for him who has become in his affections the Chiefest among ten thousand, and the One altogether lovely. To this experience of Christian love and service every soul may attain. If one finds himself weak through inheritance, or through environment, there will be given him, if he has a willing mind and a heart fully set on doing his Master’s will, added grace to enable him to come off more than conqueror in Christ Jesus. God is no respecter of persons. We are assured that in every nation, he that worketh righteousness is accepted by him. Dear reader, whatever may be your name, your nationality, your environment, even though you live in a place as wicked as Nazareth of old, out of which Nathanael thought no good thing could come, God stands ready to prove your deliverer. If you will open your heart to receive his grace, if you will reach up your weak, feeble hand and implore his help, his strong and mighty hand will be reached down to save. He will take your feet from the miry clay, and set them upon the solid rock; he will take away the lusts of the flesh, the old desires for sin, and put within your heart a new song, even praise unto our God. This is the attitude of God toward every one of his creatures. This he will do for every willing soul. The willingness must be of us; the power is of God. All heaven desires our salvation; let us heartily unite with the heavenly agencies in securing its accomplishment. The Camp-Meeting Season
By F. M. W.
THE wide extent and strength of this Advent movement is indicated in some degree by the large list of camp-meetings published on another page. During the present summer season more than threescore camp-meetings and conferences will be held by the people in the different States and countries of the world. The smallest of these will be attended by from one to two hundred persons, and from this number the attendance will run up, at some of the larger meetings, into the thousands. The good which will be accomplished by these gatherings is incalculable. The work of God will be revived in many hearts. Many will find deeper experience in a new overcoming, keeping power. Backsliders will be reclaimed; many, we hope, will find the Lord for the first time. All of these meetings will affect the destiny of souls. Decisions for eternity will be made. Surely prayers should arise from every heart and home that God will work in mighty14 power at our camp-meetings during this coming summer. Let these important gatherings be remembered at the family altar. Pray that God will mightily endow his ministering servants with the power of the Holy Spirit. Pray that a spirit of consecration and devotion may take possession of the heart of every one attending the meetings. Pray for the youth, for the children; pray that from these gatherings there may go forth such a spirit as will lead unbelievers, and those who know not the truth for this time, to recognize that God is leading in this movement. It is time for God to work with mighty power. The time for the visitation of his Holy Spirit in the outpouring of the latter rain has come. That, we believe, which prevents the fulfilment of the promise to Israel is the indifference among God's people. O, we need to awaken to our blessed privilege in God! We need to lift our hearts and our hands to Heaven, to cry mightily to God for deliverance from sin, for freedom from the spirit of slothfulness and indifference. We need to place our all upon the altar of God's service, to consecrate our possessions, our families, our lives, to his call and bidding. This call of surrender and supplication, God will heed. He will look upon his inheritance, and copious outpourings of his Spirit will fall in refreshing showers into the parched and thirsty hearts of the believing ones. Let there be on the part of the church of God a great forward movement. With one heart let the believers seek the Lord for the power of overcoming grace, for keeping power from sin, for baptism for service. Then will the Lord be gracious. He will respond to the desires of his children, and we shall see the mighty revelation of his power in the speedy completion of his work in the earth. A Religious Institution
By C. M. S.
For a long time we have contended that it is the purpose of the National Reform Association to unite church and state in this country. They have disclaimed the contention, as so worded, although the entire program of the organization looks in that direction. A recent statement of one of the oldest leaders in that movement lays the purpose bare in no uncertain language. Rev. J. M. Foster, for many years field secretary of the organization, after setting forth certain unwholesome conditions existing in this country, such as the multiplicity of divorces, murders, suicides, railroad accidents, cormorant trusts, and soulless corporations, laid the blame for all this upon the secular Constitution of the nation, thus:— A secular Constitution makes a secular government. A secular government makes a secular nation. And a secular nation, which is a godless nation, is the object of God's wrath. The secular Constitution will ruin the United States. The land can not remain part secular and part religious. It must become all religious, or it will become all secular. Either cast out the fatal germ or lose the nation's life. The opposite of secular is religious, and the wording of the excerpt shows that that is what Mr. Foster means. The purpose of that organization is to put a religious Constitution in the place of the present Constitution, and so make of this government a religious government, and of this nation a religious nation. It follows, then, that all the laws enacted by such a government would be religious laws. All its legislation would be religious legislation. When it is pointed out that the legislation which the organization is seeking now (such as laws for the observance of Sunday and for the amendment of the Constitution so that it shall recognize God and the Lord Jesus Christ) is religious legislation, the organization's representatives protest that the legislation they seek is not religious legislation, but civil only; that the regulations which they are asking are police regulations merely. But how will it be possible for a religious government to enact anything but religious laws? or for a religious nation to enforce upon its people anything that is not religious? This proposition to make the nation “all religious,” and to do it by metamorphosing the nation's fundamental law, shows as plainly as words can that the fundamental purpose of that organization is a union of church and state, with the state saddled and bridled, and the church in the saddle. Such an institution would be a religious institution,—in form,—and the form made compulsory; and true religion would be hunting the caves and mountain fastnesses as it did in the days of pagan and papal Rome and of the Scotch Covenanters. C. M. S. Unwise Investments
By F. M. W.
THIS is an age of wild speculation. Fortunes are made and lost in a day. The spirit of intensity which fills the hearts of men leads them to cast aside judgment, and permit impulse and caprice to influence decision. Many, not content with earnest, faithful plodding from year to year, in gaining a livelihood or securing a competence, seek for quicker methods and more speedy results. In every section of the country are those seeking to entrap the unwary and inexperienced, and secure from them money for the promotion of questionable enterprises. Land schemes, mining stocks, oil-wells, and scores of other enterprises are promoted, and strong appeals are made to the public to purchase gilt-edged stock, and thus take advantage of the opportunity of a lifetime to secure large returns from their investments. Not all of these enterprises are operated by dishonest men. Many promoters, no doubt, are truly seeking to carry on their business on an honest basis, and occasionally the investor realizes large profits; but the great majority meet with bitter disappointment, losing in the end the money which they have invested. Seventh-day Adventists, above all others, should be most careful of the investment of the money of which God has made them stewards. They should not permit the enemy of their souls to mislead their judgment, and entrap them in some enterprise which will prove a source of discouragement, and rob them of the blessed privilege of doing for the cause of God what the Master desires them to do as his stewards. From time to time, warnings have been given our people against unwise investments. The last one comes from Elder W. A. McCutchen, president of the Texas Conference. He advises our brethren and sisters to be exceedingly careful about investing in Texas land without such careful and personal investigation as will satisfy them of the safety of the enterprise. It is poor business judgment, to say the least, to invest any considerable amount of money upon the representations of others, without a personal investigation. Surely the very least our brethren can do in matters of this kind is to correspond with the president of the conference, or with some responsible brother known to them personally, and make definite inquiry with reference to the business advertised. In this time of need, when the cause of God affords such blessed opportunity for the investment of means,—investment which, if it does not bring returns in this life in dollars and cents, will bring blessed results in soul-saving,—let none recklessly invest money in questionable enterprises. The cause of God and the institutions connected with this work afford safe investment for the loaning of money or as places of deposit. The movement represented by the third angel's message is safer than any bank. In the use of idle money, seeking a place of deposit, and above all in our gifts and donations, let us remember the crying needs of our denominational work, both at home and in the regions beyond. F. M. W. “Did you ever get into a place out of which God alone could bring you? And did God then hear your cry and bring you out? Be ashamed, then, to be untrue to him anywhere.” The Sanitarium Relief Campaign
By Arthur G. Daniells
The history of the religious movement set on foot by the proclamation of the third angel’s message shows that the medical missionary work as a department of the whole movement is co-equal with the other parts thereof. The principles of a healthful dietary and of the rational treatment of disease were recognized and applied in conjunction with other special features of the message. For many years previous to the time when Joseph Bates began to keep the Sabbath, he had been an earnest temperance reformer. During the years from 1821 to 1843 he discarded all alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and flesh foods, and became an ardent vegetarian. From these facts it is plain, and significant as well, that the man who was led to the Sabbath truth under the light of the third angel’s message was also led at the very beginning of our work to adopt and establish the fundamental principles of health and temperance for which the medical missionary department of our cause stands. From this step, Joseph Bates and other pioneers of the message associated with him, steadily advanced toward the light until they came into possession of what we now have. Thus we see that this branch of the work is not an appendage to the message, but is an inherent part of it. It began with the movement, and has grown with it until the present time; and furthermore, the true medical missionary work of the third angel’s message will never be separated from the message. In 1865 the following instruction was given through the spirit of prophecy:— I saw that the health reform was a great enterprise closely connected with the present truth, and that Seventh-day Adventists should have a home for the sick, where they could be treated for their diseases, and also learn how to care for themselves so as to prevent sickness. I saw that our people should not remain indifferent upon this subject.
The following year, 1866, witnessed the establishment of our first sanitarium, called at that time the Health Reform Institute. This phase of our medical missionary work has gone steadily forward until at the present time we have over eighty sanitariums in different parts of the world, employing a total of about two thousand workers. The money invested in these sanitariums amounts to more than three million dollars. These institutions receive annually over twenty-five thousand patients and guests, many of whom become well acquainted with our work and principles of truth through associating with the workers, and also by attending services and reading our literature. Among those who visit our sanitariums are many persons of influence, such as lawyers, physicians, leading educators, congressmen, foreign ambassadors, justices of the supreme court, government officials, and prominent temperance workers, besides scores of other men and women of wealth. Generally, these receive favorable impressions of our work and its progress, and show a very friendly attitude toward us as a people. In the Testimonies we read that the “sanitarium work is one of the most successful means of reaching all classes of people.” We see this illustrated over and over in our sanitariums. But many of our sanitariums are very much hampered in their work by the heavy indebtedness which they are carrying. The reasons for this indebtedness have been set before the readers of the REVIEW very clearly during the last year or two. The plan that has been inaugurated to relieve this indebtedness is also well understood by our brethren. This plan was recommended by the General Conference Committee, and during the past year they have had a man in the field devoting his whole time to this work. Each church-member throughout the United States is asked to sell at least two copies of “Ministry of Healing” and five copies of Life and Health each year for a period of three years. This plan, if faithfully carried out, will bring in nearly five hundred thousand dollars for the relief of our sanitariums. Concerning these relief campaigns for our sanitariums, Sister White has written as follows:— The book “Ministry of Healing” may do the same work for our sanitariums and health institutions that “Christ’s Object Lessons” has done for our schools. This book contains the wisdom of the Great Physician. To me it has been a precious privilege to donate my work on these books. In the future there should be well-planned and persevering efforts made to increase their sale. Our brethren and sisters should not weary of this plan to erase the debts that have been accumulated.
Many of our conferences have taken hold of this campaign nobly, and the work is going forward with some success. As a result, some of our needy institutions are already being relieved financially. A still greater blessing is being received by those who get the books, and by the brethren and sisters who engage in the work of carrying them to the people. But this endeavor now being made to assist our sanitariums is worthy of greater interest and zeal than it is receiving. Some are working beyond their ability, but what is needed is an effort on the part of all. A small amount done by each believer will bring great results. It should be clearly understood that in doing this work we are helping to build up and advance the great advent movement with which we are connected, and which we so much desire to see triumph throughout the world. In closing, I appeal to conference officers, ministers, and all the people just now to give a lift to this effort being made in behalf of our sanitariums. The plan we are working out is a good one. Brethren, let us push it to a successful termination. A. G. DANIELLS. THE publication in Germany of the recent decrees of the Vatican is just now a subject of absorbing interest. The Papal See considers itself at liberty to regulate the affairs of its subjects in all countries, without regard to how this may affect the people of those countries as subjects of president, king, or emperor. The Vatican’s most recent decrees regarding Modernism affect the liberty of German educators of the Catholic faith who are professors in German educational institutions. The German government very naturally feels that in forbidding German instructors to pursue investigations along certain lines, the Vatican is overstepping its bounds, and interfering with the rights of German subjects and with the prerogatives of the German government. In a speech in the upper house of the Prussian Diet on April 15, Count Yorck von Wartenburg said:— When Roman Catholic professors and teachers are required to abjure what non-Roman Catholics consider to be purely scientific knowledge, there arises an antagonism between them and non-Roman Catholic investigators and teachers which must render difficult their common work in the higher educational establishments and universities. . . . If this policy be continued by the papal chair, I am convinced that it will result in the introduction into this country of the problem of the separation of church and state. That the Roman Catholics of Germany are expected to stand by the instruction from Rome on this point was made plain by Cardinal von Kopp, prince bishop of Breslau, who stated that the papal decrees contained nothing but what “every Roman Catholic must be prepared to subscribe to.” Professor Kuster, of Marburg University, in reply to the prince bishop, declared that “through the attitude of the Vatican, relations between the two faiths [Protestantism and Romanism] are becoming worse from year to year.” The Prussian16 minister for ecclesiastical and educational affairs also made reply to the prince bishop in these significant words:— Whether it will be possible to avoid collisions between the authorities of state and church, and whether difficulties will not arise, is a moot question. We certainly have no security for the future. Count Yorck has with perfect justice pointed to the danger that the whole affair may ultimately result in the separation of church and state, which would be exceedingly deplorable. The government will use its utmost endeavor to maintain peace between the two faiths, but on the other hand it will defend the interests of the state with all possible energy and resolution. The possibility of the separation of church and state in Germany is thus publicly suggested in parliament, and the Kölnische Zeitung declares that, while the separation of church and state is not yet the object of a popular movement, “one does not need to be a prophet to see that the situation in Germany is untenable.” And that is true of every country in the world where a union of these two institutions exists, and always has been true and always will be. Tsungwesi (South Africa) Mission
By M. C. Sturdevant
We are still greatly pleased with our location here, and are already prospering in our school work. Our school is as full as we care to have it until we are better prepared. The time for building has not come, so we have no houses for many of the boarding-students. Eight natives are now staying at the home, besides the family I brought with me. We are preparing the new site as fast as we can. The land is most excellent, well watered, wooded, grassy, only seven miles from the railroad siding, and in reach of many natives. Every time I go out of the door, raising my eyes to glance over this beautiful valley and on to the lovely hills and mountains, I breathe a prayer of gratitude. The site is far beyond any I ever hoped to secure. The scenery will never become old at this station, nor the ground get too poor to cultivate, nor the wood and water fail, until the earth is visited with the final curse. As to our experienced helpers who came with us from Solusi, I have been greatly disappointed and brought to grief. Our strongest native girl died, having been here only about six weeks. This started all to trembling, and some thought I had brought them into the wilderness to die. Soon one woman fled; and just this last week, two men and two women went back; so six out of my first twelve are gone. However, another young man and wife came three days ago to help fill up the gap. We ask an interest in your prayers. The Wonderful Way of the Lord Among the French in Canada
By G. G. Roth
While visiting the scattered groups of French believers in Canada, I found away up in the mountains at Namur, Quebec, a company of nine believers, not including some ten children and young people, ranging from three to twenty years of age. They heard the truth ten years ago through the efforts of Elder D. T. Bourdeau, who for a few months held tent-meetings among them and baptized them. But since this time they have had no opportunity to celebrate the ordinances of the church, and have at times been nearly led astray through lack of a French worker to look after them. Nevertheless they have continued to send in their tithes to the conference. It is really wonderful, when we know the story of their struggles, that they have stood so firm for the truth, with so little opportunity to be instructed in it. Turning my steps in another direction, I next visited two Sabbath-keeping families near Valleyfield. For six years they have observed the Bible Sabbath, though having no relations with our people. When the last census records were published, these French families were listed under the peculiar religious name of “Sabbatiste.” Some of our brethren noticed this record, and called the attention of the conference workers to it, with the result that they were soon visited, and their story was thus learned. Ten years ago they left the Catholic Church and were drifting into infidelity, when a Bible colporteur came to one of them, and sold a Bible. As they studied it, their interest deepened into belief in its teachings, and soon they began to obey. Arriving at the law, they saw clearly that they should keep the Sabbath, which they at once started to do. When they became aware that they had really found the pearl of great price, the father decided to go twenty miles to his relatives to make known the truth to them. On the journey he found himself confronted by a forest fire, which so delayed him that he did not reach his destination until after midnight. It was very dark, and for some reason no lamp could be found in the house, until after long search they managed to find one which gave a tiny flame. Gathering the family around this little light, he read to them from his precious Book until morning, when he had to return home. Soon they also were keeping the Sabbath. I spent many days there, and was really astonished to see how well they had come to understand the Scriptures with no human help, and thinking themselves the only ones of like faith in the world. Speaking of baptism, the mother told me that for a long time she had desired that she, with all her family, might be baptized in the river which flows near their house. One interesting feature is the fact that when they came to understand the holiness of the law of God, the father desired to bear public witness to his regard for it. So he purchased two large white marble slabs, and upon them had engraved in French the ten commandments. These he set upon the front of his house. I am now in Montreal for a few weeks. Here also the French work is very encouraging. On Sabbath, April 1, five precious souls were baptized and united with the Montreal church; one was also received upon profession of faith, having been previously baptized in another church. Others will follow later, and the interest is good. We should have here one or two permanent French workers, but where can we get them? When I see the great need of workers for these millions of French in the United States and Canada, and hear the urgent calls that come to us, I am glad to know that the General Conference is working to establish a French school, or a special French department in one of our academies. We have, in Canada and the United States a number of French young people. These should have the opportunity of receiving instruction17 to fit them for the Lord’s work; but many of them have not the money to pay for their education. Among this number are some five or six substantial, mature young men and women. These give good promise of making workers, and should and must come to the school. Who will esteem it a privilege to help them? Next fall we expect that the Lord will give us a French school. He has already given us the scholars, and we trust that the much-needed means will come also, so that when we present to the General Conference our good prospects for attendance, we may also have some promises of financial aid to present at the same time. Please think of this seriously before the Lord, brethren and sisters, and act as the Spirit of the Lord leads you. Remember that most of the French people are Catholics, and therefore special efforts will be required to take the message to them. What a pleasure it will be to us, and what a joy to Heaven, when we hear many say, “We are coming with our means, which God has given us, to help you sound the last call of mercy among the French.” Let us all pray together that the Spirit of the Lord may find an entrance to many hearts. Christ Alone in the Loneliness of Sin
“BEHIND the veil, where every man is alone with his sin and his God, Christ only can help. My brother, in the loneliness of sin, on the battle-ground of temptation, we know how very far away the crowd feels; how utterly irrelevant our brother’s merit; how hopeless our brother’s love. It is just here that Christ penetrates and proves himself divine. Of our guilt he tells us, I have borne it, and stand by thee; of our sin, This is my charge; of our weakness, My grace is sufficient for thee; of our shame, I love thee, the Father hath forgiven thee; of our hopelessness, I will trust thee with my work, with my interests. Be of good cheer.” Christ’s Sympathy in Sorrow
“Ofttimes our rarest visions of Him come in hours of deep trial and sorrow. He answers our great needs in a great and adequate way. The rainbows play on falling rain, and our brightest halos glow about the Master as we see him through falling tears. There’s many another garden besides that of Bethany, where he has wept in sympathy with his friends.” Looking Out for Number Two
“THE rule of the world is, ‘Look out for number one.’ Nothing could be more antagonistic than this to the teachings of Christ. His greatest doctrine, the underlying principle of all his works and deeds, was that of self-sacrifice, looking out for number two. Therefore he has given the plain message that to save our lives we must sacrifice them for the salvation of others.”