Earlier text: WHEN THE DAY IS DONEW. H. BRANSON
By William H. Branson
“We stand at Armageddon,” was the declaration of one of the political candidates in this country only a few months ago. Probably the candidate who chose this motto for his battle-cry little realized the true import of the expression he was using. It is astonishing to note how the idea of Armageddon is taking hold of thinking people of every country, and how the world is awaiting with fear and trembling the great crisis that Armageddon stands for, and that is so sure and so soon to come. Notice some recent statements clipped from various papers and magazines on the subject:— “A telegraphic news item announces that while Turkey seeks a truce, she is patching up her defense with great zeal and heartiness. Turkey is not in this respect so much unlike the rest of the world as she is in other things. It is the accepted policy of the various powers, Christian and other, the United States among the number, to prepare for war at times of even the most profound peace. In fact, war seems to be an ever-present possibility with all of us, although most of us profess to be peace loving and to hold nothing but good will toward all men. Some years ago The Hague as an arbitral court had a great vogue as a mooted agency for maintaining peace, but even while we had our eyes directed heavenward, our hands were behind our backs signaling for the war preparations to continue unabated; and the building of war-ships and the organizing of fighting machines goes merrily on. In this connection it is noted that a bill is now pending to constitute the national guard an immediate part of the fighting force of the United States, to receive pay from the federal government, etc. Germany, England, France, in fact all the powers of the western world, and, now joined by the new Chinese republic, with the ‘little Japs’ always at work in the Orient, are yearly spending hundreds of millions of dollars upon war—like Turkey, as it were, improving their defenses during the armistice. Perhaps we are approaching Armageddon, which in the fulfilment of the scripture must be fought before the millennium will dawn.” —Editorial in the Chattanooga Times, Dec. 5, 1912. Speaking of the fact that retribution is sure to come to such cruel organizations as the Papacy and Mohammedanism, a leading weekly journal recently said:— “This coming retribution is the battle of Armageddon. All the world is moving to the conflict.” The Washington Post, speaking on the subject of war some time ago, made the following statement:— “War and justice joined issue when Cain slew his brother, and the quarrel is not yet composed, and perhaps the final adjudication will not come till Armageddon is fought.” In Everybody’s Magazine some time ago Mr. E. A. Powell, F. R. G. S., had an article on the situation in Europe, in which he said:— “To-day all Europe is divided into two armed camps, waiting breathlessly for the morrow, with its Armageddon.” In the London Contemporary Review, Mr. H. Newton Marshall says:— “The whole of Asia is in the throes of rebirth. At last we may see these three—the yellow race, the Indian race, and the Arab-Persian Mohammedan race. And all that is making for Armageddon.” In a review of the international situation the Washington Post has the following to say:— “It is one of the dire elements of the situation that a European war at the present time could not possibly be fought out between those two nations [England and Germany] without involving other nations, and so widely spread and intricate is this web of international alliance that it might easily throw practically the entire world into turmoil.” For sixty years and more Seventh-day Adventists have been telling the world that Armageddon would be fought before the coming of the Lord the second time, and that a time of trouble, such as never was, is soon to burst upon the world. This statement was based entirely upon the prophecy of the Bible. But how different is the outlook now than when we began to warn the world of its coming doom. Then the teacher of the prophecy was met with a scoff, but to-day men’s hearts are “failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” “The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecy of the eleventh chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfilment. Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place. ‘Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scatterest abroad the inhabitants thereof; . . . because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.’ . . . ‘I am pained at my very heart; . . . I can not hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled.’”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IX, pages 14, 15. God's Great Sacrifice
By C. C. Webster
Little do we realize the extent of the great sacrifice that God made in offering his Son for fallen humanity. Of all the offerings ever made only one has approached a shadow of similarity. Abraham was called to pass through the closest test that man was ever called to endure, and the sacrifice that he was asked to make gives us a faint idea of the wonderful sacrifice that God made for us. The birth of Isaac after a long life of waiting brought the fulfilment of Abraham's dearest hopes. He had now reached the age of one hundred twenty years, and was looked upon as an old man even in his generation. He not only regarded Isaac as the promised son and heir, but also as the one who would relieve him of his heavy burdens, and steady his faltering footsteps to the grave; but the commandment came, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering.” With a heart almost ready to burst, he goes to Isaac's couch where he was sleeping the sleep of innocence and youth. At last he awakens him, for the day is approaching and he must be on his journey to Mt. Moriah. How the father's heart was wrung when the son asked the question, “My father, . . . behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” After all the preparations were made, Abraham unfolded to his son the divine message. The young man might have escaped his fate, but he had been brought up to fear and reverence the commandments of God, and he only sought to lighten his father's grief, and encourage his shaking hand to bind the cords that should confine him to the altar. O, what a son! Abraham perhaps could have borne the loss had his son been stricken by sickness or accident; but now he must take his son's life with his own hand and offer him on the altar of sacrifice! It was only his love and reverence for God that gave him the strength to go on and make the sacrifice. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” He so loved that he gave that which he loved. O, what measureless love! What fathomless love! And he wants the same love in return; he wants the love that brings with it a willingness to sacrifice all. He wants us to fit our sons and daughters for, and then offer them to, foreign fields. He wants us to lay our means, yea, ourselves, upon the altar; and why should we not if we believe and love the truth more than anything else? Love and sacrifice are inseparable. The Character of God
By F. M. W.
DOUBT and distrust of God often come through ignorance of what he is. To know God aright is to know the source of all power, comfort, and encouragement. True, we can never fathom nor comprehend so much as one attribute of his nature in its depth and fulness. The more we think of his power, the more mighty will it appear. The longer we gaze, the more radiant and resplendent will become the divine effulgence of his glory. And thus it is and ever will be with every phase of his character. Devotion of time and study will serve to reveal deeper and hidden springs of wealth and beauty; and while we never can possess a perfect knowledge of the character of God, we can approach nearer and nearer the divine glory, and view, if necessary, from distant heights the broad expanse of his eternal unbounded fulness. In this we may find encouragement, and will find our faith and confidence increasing at every new manifestation of the divine character. Of the many attributes composing the character of God, there are three, it appears to us, which lie at the very foundation of his existence, and furnish to the Christian a special guaranty of keeping and redeeming power. These three,—his power, his wisdom, and his love,—each and all infinite in their nature, furnish for trust and confidence a foundation both sure and steadfast. Consider these in order:— 1. Infinite power. By that power God called his universe into existence. “He spake and it was; he commanded, and it stood fast.” That same power upholds it to-day. Heb. 1:3. It is God “who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance.” “Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.” Isa. 40: 12, 15. God's power is infinite. He possesses all power in heaven and in earth. There are no conquests for him to gain, no new acquisitions to make. He possesses all power, and he can never possess more; for there is none, nor can there ever be any power but what already exists in him. In the contemplation of this attribute alone, there is much comfort and encouragement; for in possessing such unlimited power, majesty, and might, God is able to do for us “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” But infinite power alone would not constitute a perfect guaranty for the repose of confidence and trust. There must accompany that power a knowledge to rightly direct and govern its exercise. This would require,— 2. Infinite wisdom. And these two attributes, power and wisdom, are inseparable. One is the complement of the other. In God both exist in infinite degree. It required infinite wisdom to formulate the laws which govern so perfectly the intricate workings of the machinery of the universe, quite as much as it required infinite power to make these laws effective. Before man was created, God knew the history of the human race, and the detailed history of every individual composing the race from Adam to the end of time. God knows our secret thoughts and inmost motives. Says Job: “I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.” Chapter 42: 2. David says, “Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.” Ps. 139: 2. And the Lord through Isaiah (chapter 46: 9, 10) thus proclaims his wisdom: “I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” God can not gain more power, neither can he gain more wisdom. He knew all things six thousand years ago, and he knows no better to-day. He can not learn by experience, for his wisdom is infinite, perfect, absolute. This absolute wisdom insures the perfection and infallibility of every plan. Were the wisdom of God progressive, it might appear ages hence that some of his past plans were unwise, and therefore imperfectly suited to the accomplishment of his purposes. This would entail a change in his character, a revolution in his universe. Comfort may we draw from the thought that God, in the exercise of his absolute and unlimited power, can make no mistake. His aim is unerring and his judgment unimpeachable. 3. Infinite love. Is it possible to conceive of a being all-powerful and all-wise and yet not possessing the perfect complement of these graces—infinite love? Such an existence is unthinkable. Infinite love is the offspring of infinite wisdom. These three combined make up and constitute the perfect Godhead. The remembrance of the cost of our salvation supplies the proof that infinite love is an attribute of our Heavenly Father, and of his Son, Jesus Christ. “God is love,” and “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” to die for a race of rebels. To Moses the Lord proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” In these three attributes of God's character is found a basis for trust and confidence as broad and deep as the eternal ages. Did God possess but the first, he would have power, but neither the love to enlist nor the wisdom to direct its exercise. Did he possess power and wisdom alone, love would still be lacking to call these attributes into existence. But possessing all three, each in an infinite and incomprehensible degree of fulness, the foundation for trust and confidence is most complete and assuring. He has power to do, wisdom to guide, and love as the prompting motive. We can never float beyond the ocean of his love. We can never sink beneath the reach of his power. Environments of sin can never be so intricate but that his wisdom can unravel and loosen their grasp. He is too wise to err, too good to be unkind. We may not at all times be able to discern the workings of his providence, but in the darkest gloom and greatest danger we may rest securely in his love, and wisdom, and power, knowing that he knows best, and has in view our highest good and perfect final happiness. “Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” Youthful Criminals
By C. M. S.
We see frequent reference in the press of the day to conditions that are fulfilling the predictions of God's Word, but which, nevertheless, are not recognized by those who comment upon them as having anything to do with the fulfilment of the inspired prediction. For example, the Christian Observer of Jan. 1, 1913, speaks thus of “Youth and Crime:” — One of the saddest commentaries on the apparent decline of morality is found in the fact of the universal increase of crime among children and youth of tender age. Complaints of this character come from nearly every European country as well as from various directions at home.129 In Germany the reports indicate a steady and alarming increase of all kinds of crimes and misdemeanors of this kind. In 1909 this increase was 8.9 per cent, the next year 3.2 per cent, and so on; and this in the face of the fact that the general increase of crimes against the law was only .4 per cent. Last year the increase of youthful crimes was eight times greater than that of crimes in general. The Rundschau, Monatsschrift der Jünglingspflege, und Jungmaenner Mission points out that the solution of the riddle may lie in the fact that the courts usually punish first offenses of this character with an admonition, so that it has become common to say, “The first theft of youth goes scot-free.” It is a well-known fact that the “Apaches” of France are in the main recruited from the ranks of mere youths. Some of the most revolting crimes of Paris are committed by boys in their teens. Said one of these young criminals recently to the judge, who was about to sentence him for a cold-blooded murder of an aged apple-woman, from whose dead body he had taken fifty centimes (less than ten cents): “We work at all prices, your honor.” In England the same condition prevails, and the Christian press and Christian benevolent associations are all the time discussing the question how to change this sad condition of affairs. Nor is the situation different at home. Our great cities are breeding-places of youthful criminals, who recklessly commit all manner of crimes, not even stopping at murder. We recall the recent execution of a youthful quartet of murderers in Chicago, who had ruthlessly slain a vegetable pedler for a paltry sum of money. And the oldest of the quartet, if we remember rightly, was only nineteen years of age. Where are we to find the true cause of this thing? Who will give us the key to its solution? The answer will differ according to the angle of view, of the one who gives it. Some will find it in the spirit of revolution which is in the air, others in the lack of training at home, others again in the condition of our schools. In England the universal unrest and the decline of the simple faith of the past has undoubtedly much to do with this moral decadence of the youth of the land. In Germany the old ideals are passing away, the absolute discipline of the domestic and school life, the stern methods of the past, are slowly making place for so-called modern ideas and methods, . . . and the reverence for law and authority has sadly declined. In France atheism is everywhere in evidence. The schools are its hotbeds. Like a pall, it covers the whole people. And where God is forgotten, what remains of the sense of moral responsibility? And are not these same dangers threatening at home? Is it not the universal complaint in the American church that our family altars have been thrown down, that our family piety is sadly declining, that our churches are poorly attended, that our schools are more and more secularized, that in many instances they have even left the path of neutrality, to assume an open inimical attitude to the things of old held so dear? What we sow we must reap; that is the unbreakable law of life, the life of the individual, the life of the home, the life of the nation. And we should not be surprised when this law forces itself upon our attention. What we need is an open eye to the danger that is menacing us, and the courage to apply the remedy. These conditions are not overdrawn. In fact, they are barely touched. They constitute one of the most striking signs of our times which indicate that we are living in the last days. The Observer states the conditions now existing. The following scripture pictured them more than nineteen hundred years ago:— “In the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” 2 Tim. 3: 1-4. “Evil men and impostors shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” Verse 13. The Observer, like many another today, thinks there is a remedy for these conditions which will bring back again the simplicity and the charity and the reverence and the better ways of former days. Those who hold to such a hope are optimists in spite of Inspiration. The scriptures already quoted forbid such a hope. They declare that these conditions are the conditions of the last days. The only remedy is the gospel applied to individual cases. The conditions will not be altered for the better; but individual souls, through acceptance of the gospel, will be saved out of this world in spite of the conditions. That is the only hope there is. But the Observer concludes:— What we need at home, what they need abroad, is a return to civic righteousness, founded on the acknowledgment of the right of God to rule in this world, and on the conception that aside from him such righteousness can not exist. It was when the church began to talk about “civic righteousness,” to abandon heart-searching evangelistic work, and to revise the Bible in harmony with the “findings of modern science,” that the church began to lose its grip on the souls of men, and crime of every description began to multiply by leaps and bounds. Civic righteousness and the higher criticism constitute the will-o'-the-wisp that is leading so large a portion of the professed church of Christ into the mire and quicksand of spiritual death. Out of that slough of despond comes the cry for civic righteousness, a revised Bible, and human laws to make men religious. The miasma of that delusion has deadened the sensibilities to the need of spiritual power. The remedy they seek but increases the disease by causing men to put their trust in what the human can do, and to lose their love and respect and reverence for the Word of God and the laws which God himself has given to the children of men. Infinitely better is it to see in these very conditions the fulfilment of the Word of God, to understand what that fulfilment means, and with loyal and loving obedience to every command of the Creator, shape our lives, by his help, in harmony with his purpose. C. M. S. "The Lord Went Before Them"
By William A. Spicer
WHEN we read this of the exodus movement, we think of the Lord actually leading and guiding his people in the way. He is the same living God in the advent movement. Years ago our Mission Board asked Brethren F. W. Bishop and T. H. Davis, of California, to go down into what was to us then the unknown regions of the west coast of South America. They were pioneer bookmen, the first heralds of the advent message to enter that country between the Andes and the sea. They came to Santiago, the capital of Chile. The first thing to do was to seek God to direct them in finding a room and in beginning their work. They were in a great Catholic city, full of churches and superstition. They could speak little Spanish, and knew not a soul. But God knew every heart in Santiago, and he had gone before them to prepare the way. This I learned from Elder V. E. Thomann, as we talked together in this same city of Santiago, where the last biennial meeting of the South American Union Conference was held. Elder Thomann told me an experience that came to him just before Brethren Bishop and Davis landed in that city. He was then a very young man, working in Santiago, every day passing to his work along the beautiful avenue called the Alameda. I set down his story as he told it to me:— One night I had a dream, in which I seemed to be walking in the Alameda. I met two men, strangers, one of whom said as I passed, “Bendice, alma mia, a Jehova” (“Praise the Lord, O my soul”). The dream made a deep impression upon my mind. A month passed, and as I walked along the street I often recalled the impression of the dream; but no one had spoken the words heard in the dream, and I began to think there was nothing special to it. But one day, as I passed along the avenue, I casually noticed two foreigners approaching, who were slowly walking, apparently studying from a Bible. At the moment I did not think of the dream. But as I passed them, one spoke aloud, reading the words, “Bendice, alma mia, a Jehova.” On hearing the words, I looked intently; and I recognized clearly in their appearance the same men that I had seen in my dream a month before. I turned at once and spoke with them.130 I could speak no English at the time, and they could not speak sufficient Spanish to carry on much conversation. But I invited them to come to my home to take some milk and bread and to give me opportunity to inquire as to their mission in Santiago. Though we were unable to converse much together, I learned that they were missionaries. From the dream I understood that they had a special message, and I wanted to learn what it was. I visited them at Mr. Balada’s house, where they had a room. Mr. Balada told me they were talking about the Sabbath. We were surprised. During the following week, my brother Edwardo and I gave earnest attention to the subject of the Sabbath and the advent, as also did Brother Balada and his wife, and others. The result was that the next Sabbath we met with Brethren Bishop and Davis to keep the day holy in worship and study,—twelve of us all together rejoicing in the truth. Out of this company, so quickly gathered to the standard of truth in the great city, three went into the work as preachers of this third angel’s message. Indeed there is a living God in heaven who is doing things on earth, whose angels prepare the way before the messengers as in olden times. It is our hope and comfort and assurance that the work will be done. W. A. S. HAVE YOU a library in your home? If so, what books does it contain? Is it composed largely of fiction, novels, story-books, etc., or does it contain food for sober thinking and Christian growth and development? Does it contain books suited to the needs of the various members of the family? Permit us to suggest some books which should be found in your home, and which would form the nucleus and foundation for a useful and practical family library:— 1. A good Bible containing the Oxford helps. The home should possess not one Bible only, but every member of the family should own a copy of this Book of books. 2. The nine volumes of the “Testimonies for the Church,” “Patriarchs and Prophets,” “Great Controversy,” and “Desire of Ages.” 3. A good Bible concordance. This will aid greatly in the study of the Scriptures by enabling you to bring together various references on the same subject. 4. A good Bible dictionary. 5. A good dictionary, preferably an unabridged edition, of the English language. 6. A comprehensive encyclopedia. 7. Denominational books, such as “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation,” “Bible Readings for the Home Circle.” 8. Books of history, travel, missionary biography, science, and books of a general character. Some of the excellent books recommended by the Missionary Volunteer Department should be incorporated for the benefit of the younger members of the family. Many families are not able to purchase large libraries, and for this reason the books that are purchased should be of a lasting character; books that will be found useful not for a day or a week, but for years, and during the entire life. Let us seek to place before our families wholesome, substantial food to supply the demands of their intellectual natures, books which will have a molding influence for good on the hearts and lives of our children. The Proper Disposition of Property
By W. T. Knox
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” Matt. 6:19. Thus the Lord instructs his people concerning their stewardship, how it is to be exercised, and how he wishes his entrusted substance invested, not in the building up of earthly possessions to be subject to earth’s corruption and loss, but for his eternal, abiding kingdom. All we have is his. In its daily use and final disposition, therefore, the necessities and interests of God’s cause must always be considered. In every dispensation, from Adam’s time to ours, God has claimed the property of man, saying, I am the rightful owner of the universe; therefore consecrate to me thy first-fruits, bring a tribute of loyalty, surrender to me my own, thus acknowledging my sovereignty, and you shall be free to retain and enjoy my bounties, and my blessing shall be with you. “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase.” God’s requirements come first. We are not doing his will if we consecrate to him what is left of our income after all our imaginary wants have been supplied. Before any part of our earnings is consumed, we should take out and present to him that portion which he claims. In the old dispensation, an offering of gratitude was kept continually burning upon the altar, thus showing man’s endless obligation to God. If we have prosperity in our secular business, it is because God blesses us. A part of this income is to be devoted to the poor, and a large portion to be applied to the cause of God. When that which God claims is rendered to him, the remainder will be sanctified and blessed to our own use. But when a man robs God by withholding that which he requires, his curse rests upon the whole. God has made men the channels through which his gifts are to flow, to sustain the work which he would have carried forward in the world. He has given them property to be wisely used, not selfishly hoarded, or extravagantly expended in luxury and selfish gratification either in dress or in the embellishment of their houses. He has entrusted them with means with which to support his servants in their labor as preachers and missionaries, and to sustain the institutions he has established among us.—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IV, page 477. Evidently, then, it is the duty and privilege of every man during all his life to honor the Lord with his substance and with the first-fruits of all his increase, to bestow liberally upon the cause of God; but the responsibility of stewardship for many extends even beyond this life. As the Lord claims as his own all our possessions, he must be concerned in the final disposition of our means. If a child of God would stand clear, he must so arrange his affairs that even after death has closed his active stewardship, the Lord shall still be honored by his substance. In other words, as far as is in our power, we must make such final disposition of our property interests as will be to the glory of God. Proper provision should, of course, be made for those who are dependent upon us; but the Lord will not be honored by having our means fall into the hands of those who do not need it, nor of those who would use it in an unwise and harmful manner. We are, to a certain extent, responsible for how our means will be used after our death, and we should, in view of this, now while we have the opportunity and the power, by a properly executed will or otherwise, arrange for such a final disposition of our stewardship as will be in keeping with the will of God. Many have fully planned to do this soon, definitely determining that the cause of God should be benefited by all or a part of their possessions after their death, but because of delay and carelessness in carrying out what they recognized as duty, death has overtaken them unprepared in this important matter, with resultant loss to the cause of God. We have very definite instruction concerning this in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IV, pages 478, 479:— There are aged ones among us who are nearing the close of their probation; but for the want of wide-awake men to secure to the cause of God the means in their possession, it passes into the hands of those who are serving Satan. This means was only lent them of God to be returned to him; but in nine cases out of ten, these brethren, when passing from the stage of action, appropriate God’s property in a way that can not glorify him, for not one dollar of it will ever flow into the Lord’s treasury. In some cases these apparently good brethren have had unconsecrated advisers, who counseled from their own standpoint, and not according to the mind of God. Property is often bequeathed to children and grandchildren only to their injury. They have no love for God or for the truth, and therefore this means, all of which is the Lord’s, passes into Satan’s ranks, to be controlled by him. . . . Many manifest a needless delicacy on11 this point. They feel that they are stepping upon forbidden ground when they introduce the subject of property to the aged or to invalids in order to learn what disposition they design to make of it. But this duty is just as sacred as the duty to preach the word to save souls. Here is a man with God’s money or property in his hands. He is about to change his stewardship. Will he place the means which God has lent him to be used in his cause, in the hands of wicked men, just because they are his relatives? Should not Christian men feel interested and anxious, for that man’s future good as well as for the interest of God’s cause, that he shall make a right disposition of his Lord’s money, the talents lent him for wise improvement? Will his brethren stand by, and see him losing his hold on this life, and at the same time robbing the treasury of God? This would be a fearful loss to himself and to the cause; for, by placing his talent of means in the hands of those who have no regard for the truth of God, he would, to all intents and purposes, be wrapping it in a napkin and hiding it in the earth. Nothing is to be gained by delay, but on the other hand, much may be lost. The laws of some of the States will not recognize bequests made to religious or benevolent bodies where the will is made within a short time of the death of the testator. Careful thought should be given to this important question, and if there is any uncertainty as to how to proceed, proper counsel should be obtained, making sure that the requirements of the laws of the State are complied with, for much has been lost by wills that have been improperly drawn. The following skeleton of a form of will may be helpful to some:— IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN: I, ...................., of the city of ...................., county of ...................., and State of ...................., being now in good health, and strength of body and mind, but sensible of the uncertainty of life, and desiring to make disposition of my property and affairs while in health and strength, do hereby make, publish, and declare the following to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking and canceling all former wills by me at any time made. I direct the payment of all my just debts and funeral expenses. I hereby give and bequeath (using an additional article for each party to be benefited by the will, specifying the nature of the bequest). I hereby appoint ...................., of ...................., executor and administrator of this, my last will and testament. WITNESS my hand and seal this .................... day of ...................., in the year of our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and .................... .................... (SEAL) The foregoing instrument, consisting of .......... pages .......... including this page, was, at the date thereof, by .......... the maker thereof, signed in our presence, and in the presence of each of us, and at the time of his subscribing said instrument he declared that it was his will, and at his request and in his presence and in the presence of each other, we have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto. ............ residing at ............ ............ residing at ............ Many times the uncertainties and the heavy expenses and losses involved in probating a will may be avoided by our aged brethren’s adopting some other method, such as arranging with our conferences or institutions for annuity contracts, whereby they can make secure to the cause of God their means, and at the same time secure a proper income during their lives. Or if their property consists of real estate, a somewhat similar arrangement could be made by deed, and the receiving in exchange of a life lease upon the property at a nominal rental, thus retaining the use or rent of the property during their lives, but making it sure to the cause of God after their death, without the expense and trouble attending the probating of a will. Our ministers, and especially the conference officials, should in these matters recognize their responsibility and advise with those who need their assistance in these affairs. W. T. Knox.