“If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes . . . because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.” Luke. 19: 42-44. Opportunities may be repeatedly given, but there comes a last chance, a last day, when on a thought, an act, a word, hangs our destiny for eternity. Not what we have done, always, but what we have not done, what we have left unaccomplished, decides our future for weal or woe.
To-day is the day of our visitation. The Spirit of God is being withdrawn from the world. Earthquake, fire, and flood, social and national intensity and perplexity, the decay of the old faith in God, corruption on every hand,—all declare that our last opportunity for labor has almost, if not quite, arrived, and we should step into the openings for labor, for giving, for using every means within our reach to push this work to quick completion.
The time to step in is when the waters are troubled. In the matter of raising this $150,000, the time has come to raise the largest sum ever attempted in the briefest time ever known in the history of our work. Who stands back indifferently and carelessly at this time will lose a great blessing. A daily offering until the whole fund is raised can be given by all our people. With many quite an amount daily could be laid aside for this work. With others a smaller sum, as God has prospered.
This is not a matter to be acted upon with indifference. It means much to our work, but it means more to those who give. The test of loyalty to the work and to the message affects not so much the work of the message,—for, if necessary, the very stones will cry out and proclaim the truth,—but it means life or death to us; and the careless indifference of the moment may be the point where we shall turn by degrees, and finally wholly, from the ranks. We are in the final death-grip of the struggle of the ages. Who will be loyal and true now? O that all may know the day of visitation! J. S. WASHBURN.
The West Indian Training-School
By I. H. Evans
FOUR thousand dollars of the $150,000 fund was appropriated to the West Indian Union Conference, for its school work in Jamaica and the publishing house in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The school committee has purchased about sixty-five acres on the island of Jamaica, about twenty miles from Kingston. The land has a good elevation, with fertile soil, which the brethren believe will be very helpful in a financial way to the maintenance of the school in that island. No buildings have been erected on this school site as yet. It is expected that work will be begun immediately.
Elder George F. Enoch and Brother S. A. Wellman have been raising money in the States to assist in carrying forward this enterprise in the West Indian field. Many of our brethren have given liberally. The plan of the school building has not been perfected as yet.
There is a constituency in this West Indian Union Conference of about thirty-three hundred Sabbath-keepers. They are scattered throughout the various islands adjacent to the Caribbean Sea, British Guiana, and Central America. For all these Sabbath-keepers, there has never yet been a school established. Most of the public schools in the territory of this union conference are conducted either by the Anglican or Catholic Church, so that our youth are compelled to attend schools under the control of other denominations. It is not for the best interest of the students that they attend our schools in the States. Conditions here are such that they receive a wrong idea of life, and are loath to return to their native home land, to undergo inconveniences and hardships through which they have to pass.
VIEW ON THE WEST INDIAN SCHOOL FARM, JAMAICA
We believe this school will be one of the greatest blessings that has ever come to the West Indian field.
I. H. EVANS.
The $150,000 Fund
Is it not worth while that every worker in our ranks set himself to raising what money he can in the locality where he is working? And when this large sum is raised, we shall be better able to undertake and accomplish still greater things.
The raising of the $150,000 fund is not the end, but only the beginning of work that must be accomplished for the Lord before Christ shall come. Indications on every hand show us that the end is near. No one can doubt this who is giving time to the study of God’s Word.
Unity of Effort in Warning the Cities
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
More and more, as the days go by, it is becoming apparent that God's judgments are in the world. Yet God is not executing his wrath without mercy. His hand is stretched out still. And in this time, when the cities of the nations are being visited with judgments, God's people have a special opportunity to give the last warning message to the inhabitants of these cities. Long have we neglected these centers, and now we must labor earnestly to redeem the time. The people must be shown how it is possible for God, by a touch of his hand, to destroy the property they have gathered against the last great day.
In connection with the proclamation of the message in large cities, there are many kinds of work to be done by laborers with varied gifts. Some are to labor in one way, some in another. The Lord desires that the cities shall be worked by the united efforts of laborers of different capabilities. All are to look to Jesus for direction, not depending on man for wisdom, lest they be led astray.
The Lord has given to some ministers the ability to gather and hold large congregations. This calls for the exercise of tact and skill. In the cities of to-day, where there is so much to attract and please, the people can be interested by no ordinary efforts. Ministers of God's appointment will find it necessary to put forth extraordinary efforts in order to arrest the attention of the multitudes. And when they succeed in bringing together a large number of people, they must bear messages of a character so out of the usual order that the people will be aroused and warned. They must make use of every means that can possibly be devised for causing the truth to stand out clearly and distinctly. The testing message for this time is to be borne so plainly and decidedly as to startle the hearers, and lead them to desire to study the Scriptures.
Those who do the work of the Lord in the cities must put forth calm, steady, devoted effort for the education of the people. While they are to labor earnestly to interest their hearers and to hold this interest, yet at the same time they must carefully guard themselves against everything that borders on sensationalism. In this age of extravagance and outward show, when men think that it is necessary to make a display in order to gain success, God's chosen messengers are to show the fallacy of expending means needlessly for effect. As they labor with simplicity, humility, and graceful dignity, avoiding everything of a theatrical nature, their work will make a lasting impression for good.
There will be necessity, it is true, for expending money judiciously in advertising the meetings, and in carrying forward the work solidly. Yet the strength of every worker will be found to lie not in these outward agencies, but in trustful dependence on God, in earnest prayer to him for help, in obedience to his Word. Much more prayer, much more Christ-likeness, much more conformity to God's will, is to be brought into the Lord's work. Outward show, an extravagant outlay of means, will not accomplish the work to be done.
God's work is to be carried forward with power. We need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We need to understand that God will add to the ranks of his people men of ability and influence, who are to act their part in warning the world. All in the world are not lawless and sinful. God has many thousands who have not bowed the knee to Baal. There are God-fearing men and women in the fallen churches. If this were not so, we should not be given the message to bear, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. . . . Come out of her, my people.” Many of the honest in heart are gasping for a breath of life from heaven. They will recognize the gospel when it is brought to them in the beauty and simplicity with which it is presented in God's Word.
Of equal importance with special public efforts, is house-to-house work in the homes of the people. As the result of the presentation of truth in large congregations, a spirit of inquiry is awakened; and it is specially important that this interest be followed up by personal labor. Those who desire to investigate the truth need to be taught to study diligently the Word of God. Some one must help them to build on a sure foundation. The Word of God is to be their counselor. At this critical time in their religious experience, how important it is that wisely directed Bible workers come to their help, and open to their understanding the treasure-house of God's Word.
A well-balanced work can be carried on best when a training-school for Bible workers is in progress while the public meetings are being held. Connected with this training-school, or city mission, should be experienced laborers of deep spiritual understanding who can give the Bible workers daily instruction, and who can also unite whole-heartedly in the general public efforts being put forth. And as men and women are converted to the truth, those standing at the head of the city mission should, with much prayer, show these new converts how to experience the power of the truth in their hearts. This united effort on the part of all the workers would be as a nail driven in a sure place.
When personal work is neglected, many precious opportunities are lost, which, were they improved, might advance the work decidedly. In our efforts in behalf of the multitudes dwelling in cities, we must strive to do thorough service. The work in a large center of population is greater than one man can successfully handle. God has different ways of working; and he has workmen to whom he entrusts varied gifts. In a large city, there are certain classes that can not be reached by public meetings. These must be searched out, as the shepherd searches for his lost sheep. Diligent, personal effort must be put forth in their behalf. Let no one feel, when another worker is sent to the place where he is working, that the efforts of one will be counterworked by the efforts of the other. Some will reject the truth as it is presented by one laborer, only to open their hearts to God's truth as it is presented in a different manner by another laborer. A Paul may plant, an Apollos may water, but God gives the increase.
The Lord desires his chosen servants to learn how to blend together. A decided influence for good is to be brought to bear on the inhabitants of the world. It may seem to some workers that the contrast between their gifts and the gifts of a fellow laborer is too great to allow them to unite in harmonious effort. But when they remember that there are varied minds to be reached, and that the Lord is their helper, they will labor together in unity. Their talents, however diverse, may all be under the control of the same Spirit. In every word and act, kindness and love will be revealed. And as each worker fills his appointed place faithfully, the prayer of Christ for the unity of his followers will be answered, and the world will know that these are his disciples.
A little longer will the voice of mercy9be heard; a little longer will be given the gracious invitation, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.” God sends his warning message to the cities everywhere. Let the messengers whom he sends work so harmoniously that all will take knowledge of them, that they have learned of Jesus.
“God So Loved the World”
By Charles Pelmulder
CHARLES PELMULDER
Faith
I know whom I’ve believed;
In him my faith abides;
When sinners, undeceived
By the eternal tides,
Shall see the things that be,
In one tumultuous hour
Cast in oblivion’s sea
By God’s almighty power,
Through fear their hearts will fail,
While I through faith prevail.
Hope
I know, should earth, our floor,
With its great tent of blue,
Dissolve and be no more
The ceaseless ages through,
Our house not made with hands
In heaven’s eternal sphere
Securely anchored stands.
Therefore we will not fear;
Faith changed to sight will be;
Hope, to reality.
Love
Since faith and love control,
I want Christ’s love, who died—
Who was (for love of souls)
In heaven not satisfied.
Myself, my all, I’ll give
That some lost soul may live.
And now abide these three—
Faith, hope, and charity;
Of these the greatest—love—
Brings joy to heaven above.
Grant City, Iowa.
help Rendered
By William Covert
The Spirit of God—No. 6
help Rendered
WILLIAM COVERT
1. To how many persons is the Spirit given, and for what purpose?
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” 1 Cor. 12:7.
2. What is said of God's power exercised toward us?
The Lord desires us to know “what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” Eph. 1:19-21.
3. How much can we do without him?
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5.
4. What can we do through him?
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Phil. 4:13.
5. How much are we encouraged to hope for in him?
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19.
6. Where is our source of knowledge to be found?
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Cor. 2:12.
7. What depth of understanding and richness of experience does the Spirit make possible for Christians to have?
“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:9, 10.
8. What does the Lord wish to accomplish through this mysterious power?
“I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Col. 1:25-28.
9. What is said of its influence upon the Christian worker?
“I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power, . . . that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.” Eph. 3:7-9.
10. What is stated relative to the strength of this spiritual power to keep the Christian and to work out God's purpose for him?
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages.” Eph. 3:20, 21.
11. What earnest entreaty for Christian believers is expressed by the apostle?
“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Col. 1:9, 10.
12. What is said of this Spirit as a teacher? and how much does it accomplish?
“But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” 1 John 2:27.
13. What mind is brought into the believer through this abiding Spirit?
“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. . . . Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 2:3, 5.
14. In view of the mind of Christ dwelling in us what are we exhorted to do?
“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.” Phil. 2:13-16.
15. Since all these things have been done for us, what should our attitude to this world be?
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Col. 3:1-4.
The Struggle for Religious Liberty in Peru
By Eduardo F. Forga
EDUARDO F. FORGA
(Concluded)
LA REFORMA has published nearly fifty thousand pamphlets, and altogether, with other publications, we have distributed nearly two million pages in the last two years. The fundamental idea of our propaganda has consisted in making the people see that the Roman Catholic Church and the gospel of Jesus Christ are opposite. This idea, which compelled me to combat the former, has made me feel the necessity of defending the liberty of thought, conscience, the free circulation of the Bible, and the separation of church and state. In different numbers of La Reforma we have reproduced the most notable writings of Peruvian10thinkers of the past and present generations in favor of liberty and in opposition to Rome. Some publications were especially dedicated to the radical policies of the French minister Combes, and the great conflict between church and state in France. La Reforma has also made a declaration of principles and fortified itself with strong testimony that it might be strengthened for a decisive battle.
The followers of Rome, exasperated by the flood of literature and by the unsuccessful attempt to imprison me and break the force of my pen, organized a laical religious society called “The Center of Catholic Action.” Their object was to fight, by means of the press, lectures, etc., the fearless advance of triumphant liberal unbelief and Protestant heresy, thus checking the growing animosity to the Catholic cause. The inauguration of this society was celebrated by processions in the streets, sermons in the churches, and ostentatious articles in the papers. The celebration took place at the University Hall of Arequipa, and was attended by the bishop of the diocese, who made a long speech appealing to his flock to defend the holy faith of the Roman Catholic Church, exterminate the heretics, Masons and Protestants.
In answer we published a pamphlet criticizing the actions of the clerical element in its diverse phases, and especially the lack of Christian spirit shown in the speech of the bishop. His arguments were refuted by historical, scientific, and Biblical argument, showing that the church had falsified God’s commandments and the teachings of Jesus, especially in Peru. This was a blow which powerfully represented the awakening national conscience, and brought consternation to the church in our nation.
Some time after this another misfortune overtook Romanism in the political field. It was the case where the president of the republic, Dr. José Pardo, as ordered from Lima, the capital, that the municipality of Arequipa should unite with the state government in renting a suitable building for a hospital, which the committee of physicians had delegated for that purpose, in order to prepare for the possible invasion of the bubonic plague, which was raging in Mollendo, the port of Arequipa. The silent house which was desired was in the suburbs of the city, and was church property. The bishop haughtily refused to obey the order of the government, in spite of the exigencies of the public health. Immediately the liberal element of the city gave a great anti-clerical demonstration, defending the civil power. In this meeting such opposition was made to the bishop and his church that he was compelled to submit to the government. With prestige gone, he resigned his office and left the city.
After this victory was written in the annals of the history of Peru, La Reforma threw itself more strongly into the struggle against the enemies of liberty and the republic. It appeared that the papal delegate, Bavona, a resident of Lima, came to Arequipa on his way to Bolivia, in order to investigate a scandal of a monastery, and especially to oppose the passing of a law establishing religious liberty. On that occasion there were published ten thousand leaflets showing the essential differences between Christ and the popes, and explaining that the papacy is the beast of Rev. 13:18, with the number 666. Declarations of eminent men were made against inquisitorial Rome, which has only succeeded in poisoning the source of national life by religious oppression,
A VIEW OF AREQUIPA (PERU), SHOWING MOUNT MISTI IN THE BACKGROUND
These leaflets, having fallen into enthusiastic hands, were posted throughout the city, on the street corners, church doors, stations through which the papal delegate passed from Lima, Peru, as far as the Congress Hall in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. The principal object of this campaign was to destroy, if possible, the stupid fear which many of the populace had of the papal officers and leaders.
Under such circumstances the clergy and Catholic press, overcome by the strength of the propaganda, chose to be silent; and if they preached or wrote, it was more of a lamentation over the unfortunate times and the prediction of a disastrous crisis for the interests of the church.
On the thirty-first of August of 1905, the year to which we have been referring, La Reforma addressed circulars to private citizens, societies, clubs, lodges, newspapers, evangelical churches, etc., asking them to send to Congress on September 20, the commemorative day on which Garibaldi’s capture of Rome took place and the pope’s temporal power fell, telegrams asking for the following laws:—
Religious Liberty.
Separation of Church and State.
Expulsion of Religious Congregations.
Prohibition of the Teaching of Religion in the Public Schools by Ecclesiastics.
The result of this movement caused very great surprise. On the day indicated, the Congress in Lima received large numbers of telegrams from all parts of Peru, asking for the passing of the four radical laws just mentioned. The Catholic clergy felt the ground moving from under their feet, and the government and men who were watching for the national welfare understood that the thorough sounding of public opinion just shown was a sign that the ship of state would be safely guided through the waters of Radical reforms, and would make a safe and sure advance.
Arequipa, Peru.
The Independent Church
By C. F. Wilcox
C. F. WILCOX
SATAN'S latest attack seems to be on organization. The position is taken that the local church is the highest body under the gospel plan. It must then follow that each church is to use its own tithes and offerings, support its own work, send out its own missionaries, and in general engage in the work of the gospel. Is this principle of independent action correct?
Let us look at the logic of the principle. If the individual church is independent of all other churches, or combinations of like churches, then may not the individual families of that church likewise claim individual rights of independence in all Christian work and effort?—Certainly they may. And if each family may thus act, then each person in each of these families has the same right to independent action.
This principle applied to church order is disunion and anarchy. There would be no union, no fellowship, no members one of another, no oneness, no submitting one to another.
The whole trend of the principle is exactly in line with Satan's first apostasy in heaven. He claimed that so high and exalted beings as himself and the angels should be absolutely free from all law, subject to no order, independent of all higher control. As the result, Lucifer and many of the angels left, or withdrew, from “their own habitation,” and were eventually expelled from heaven.
Then, here on the earth, this very principle was in operation from the gates of Eden to the flood. Every man was for himself, and against every other man.
The ripened fruit of this principle can be seen in the conditions just before the flood. There is no necessity of experimenting with this false principle in the remnant church. Order, system, joint action, union, organized planning, is the need of the hour in carrying forward the work demanded by the gospel.
Takoma Park, D. C.
God's Way of Prospering His Work
By J. MC AVOY
J. MC AVOY
The prophet Jeremiah foretold the seventy years' captivity in Babylon, which began 606 b. c. and ended 536 b. c. When the time came for Israel to return to their own land, God had his agent, Cyrus, ready, as foretold by the prophet in Isa. 44:28; 45:15, and the work of restoration was begun. But though they had the help of three great kings, and great zeal and devotion were manifest in their efforts, these are not said to be the source of their success. For they “builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo.” Ezra 6:14.
They were called out of Babylon to restore that form of worship that was designed by God to point to the coming of Christ as the sin-bearing Saviour, and11to prepare for his reception; for the seventy weeks of Daniel connects the restoration of Jerusalem with the first coming of Christ. And their rejection of him when he came, brought the final destruction of Jerusalem; for he was the center of all her hopes, and the light of all her types, and when she rejected him, she rejected the object of her own existence.
The Word of God foretold another fall of God's people, and another Babylonian experience that resulted from the same cause—falling away from the truth of God to heathenism (2 Chron. 36:14; Rev. 2:20); and another call is going to the world to come out of Babylon, and restore the true worship of God that points to and prepares for the second coming of Christ. As heathen ideas confused the minds of the people of Israel concerning the first coming of Christ, so ideas of heathen origin have confused the minds of Christians concerning Christ's second coming. As the stones of the city of God had to be restored from “the heaps of rubbish” to prepare for his first coming, so the stones of God's temple of truth have to be restored from the heaps of human tradition to prepare the way for his second coming.
The two thousand three hundred days of Daniel connects these two epochs in the history of the work of God, beginning with the command to restore and build Jerusalem (457 B. C.), and reaching to the world-wide gospel movement of 1844, foretold in Rev. 14:6-12.
When the time came for the former work to begin, God had his agents ready, but the prophet saw Satan standing at their right hand to resist them. Zech. 3:1.
When the time came for the latter movement, God had his agents ready; but this time the prophet sees Satan wroth, making war on those who are working to restore God's down-trodden commandments. Rev. 12:17. His wrath is intensified by the knowledge 'that he hath but a short time,' and his arts of deception are increased by his long experience. As it took the guidance of the spirit of prophecy to lead God's people to victory against Satan's efforts in the former work, so the prophet sees the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy, guiding those who keep the commandments of God, in this latter movement; and as we are now living in the experiences of the latter, we can learn valuable lessons from the experiences recorded in Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.
We find from the fourth chapter of Ezra, that the adversaries succeeded in stopping the work. Then the prophets prophesied in the name of the God of heaven (Ezra 5:1), and the men who had ceased work began to build again, and the eye of their God was upon them, that their enemies could not cause them to cease. Verse 5. We learn that the real hindrance came from worldliness (Ezra 9:1), selfishness (Neh. 5:1), lack of consecration (Neh. 13:10, 15), and unbelief in the very work they had come out of Babylon to accomplish. Haggai 1:2.
The enemy opposed by mocking and by conspiracy (Neh. 4:2, 3, 8); by trying so to deceive God's people as to draw them away from their work; and by the work of false brethren. Neh. 6:3, 17. Haggai rebuked them for their unbelief and selfishness, and taught faith and vital godliness. And Zechariah showed them God's power over the world, and his purpose concerning it (Zech. 1:19, 21), and the intensity of his love for his people. Zech. 2:8. As their iniquities had caused their fall and had hindered their restoration, he showed them that it was Satan's plan to resist the work of their high priest and keep them in their iniquities. He then revealed to them God's purpose to rebuke Satan and remove their iniquities, and thus lead them to victory (Zechariah 3); and the people believed and obeyed, and thus under the guidance of the spirit of prophecy they labored and prayed and watched by day and by night, defending and building until every obstacle was overcome and the work finished. For they had the assurance of 'the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message' that the Lord was with them. Haggai 1:13.
Likewise in this last building and repairing and restoring (Isa. 58:12) for the second coming of Christ, 'the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message' brings the assurance that God is with this work; and when God's messages of reproof and instruction in godliness and warning against Satan's schemes are received and followed, blessing and success result. Many times and in many ways Satan tries to confuse God's work and lead it away from its definite lines; but the Spirit of God has raised up a standard against him, and we need not be surprised if fierce and unreasonable attacks are made on the person through whom this gift of God comes.
The definite work of the messengers of the gospel for this time is to carry to the whole world a message teaching true godliness and warning against the Babylonian apostasy, as outlined in Rev. 14:6-12. And the speed with which this is to be done is symbolized by flying angels. That this work has been greatly prospered and extended by changing the location of the center of the work, and by reorganizing and extending missionary efforts, and eliminating some circumscribed methods of human origin, is well known; and that this advance movement was guided by the spirit of prophecy is also well known.
It is inspiring to think of the souls who are now rejoicing in the blessed hope of the soon-coming Saviour as a result of thus moving in harmony with the directions of the spirit of prophecy. It was when Zerubbabel, the prince, and Joshua, the priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the instructions of the Lord's prophet that the Lord sent them the assurance that he was with them. Haggai 1:12, 13.
