Earlier text: The Faith of Our FathersLessons from Sister Henry’s Death
In many of the letters that have been received since Sister Henry’s death occur expressions like the following:— I think we have imposed burdens on Sister Henry by asking questions that we ought to have been able with God’s word to answer ourselves; so the Lord has cut off our dependence upon her, and permitted her to fall asleep. It is hard to see the hand of the Lord in the death of our dear sister, but I know it must be his doings; for she was indeed his own child. Our elder remarked that he had noticed by the letters of inquiry coming from mothers, as answered in the Woman’s page in the REVIEW, that they were depending too much upon her, almost making her to be conscience for them. This is a glorious work, and the Lord will accomplish it if we will let him into our hearts to dwell there by his blessed Spirit. I shall miss Sister Henry’s counsel, breathing as it always did the faith and courage born of long experience in entire consecration to the right; but we each have much earnest work to do, and I feel that we all ought to put our shoulders to the burden, and, pressing close together, fill as far as possible the gap made in our ranks. Another sister who was in great distress over domestic relations, and had written to Mrs. Henry about the time of her death for advice in regard to abandoning her home, but whose letter came too late to receive the answer desired, writes as follows:— After sending my letter to Sister Henry, what was my consternation on opening the REVIEW to see the notice of her death. What a sorrow it is to me! My first thought was, What will the cause do without her? It does seem as if her work could not go on just the same, but, in her own words in a late report, “The work is God’s, and there are no discouraging features.” Now about my trouble. After I read of dear Sister Henry’s death, I read over some of her writings concerning the family, studied my Bible, and prayed to be led aright; and a great burden came to me for the salvation of my husband. I took my Bible and spread it out on my bed, and, opening it, my eyes fell on the words, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” I claimed the promise. My husband came home penitent and broken down, and said that if I did not forgive him, he could not live. He got down on his knees and begged God to forgive him his sin to me, and I knew that if I did not forgive him, I could not go to God and ask forgiveness for my sins. I don’t think there has ever been a time before when I would have forgiven him; but I have been led to a deeper consecration than ever before, and I believe one family has been saved from being broken up. I shall plead for my husband every day, with God’s promise before me, till he yields all to God. This is the general trend of the letters, and surely indicates the leading of the Spirit with reference to the work. “Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You can not burden him, you can not weary him. No calamity can befall the least of his children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our Heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which he takes no immediate interest. The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul for whom he gave his beloved Son.” This is the instruction from the Spirit of Prophecy. The many responses from the sisters, indicating their renewed sense of responsibility in the work, and expressing their earnest desire that it shall continue, are very gratifying; and it is well for us, as sisters, to bear one another’s burdens, and share with one another in the experiences of life; but our recognized leader must be He who has promised to give wisdom liberally to all who lack, and to grant the petitions that we ask of him. Our motto should be,— “Cut off our dependence vain
On the help of feeble man;
Every arm of flesh remove,
Stay us only on thy love.”
EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
I FOUND the passage in Jeremiah to which you referred the sister a special help to me yesterday. I had a difficult task to perform, and I made the promise mine, and found help. I can truly say, May the Lord bless this work. My heart was touched with the first appeal, in the REVIEW AND HERALD of December, 1898, and I have been trying to do my duty ever since. I have found a new meaning to life. I have a work to do in my home. The Lord is good, and his ways are past finding out. One of my boys has been sick for over two years. The doctors said there was no help for him; but the Lord has helped him, and he is getting better. To the Lord be all the praise. The following is an extract from a letter written by a sister nearly seventy-four years old, who is visiting among relatives not in the truth:— I spoke at their meeting last Sunday, with the applause of all. I spoke praises to the Saviour, and touched lightly upon what sin is, and the laws of life and answers to prayer. They stand on the same Bible, without creed, that we do. If I can walk before them without exciting their prejudice, I may be a benefit to them. Yesterday I went to a rag-bee, to piece carpet rags, and read to the sisters “What and How to Answer,” by Mrs. S. M. I. Henry. I have read the leaflet entitled “A Woman-Ministry” to a neighbor across the way, with much pleasure to myself, and, I think, to the listener. If I could sell some of our smaller publications, I should be happy. I married young, and for twenty-five years have chafed under the yoke of a disappointed life, failing to see that perhaps this was the only way the Lord could save me. I have often told the Lord to bring anything upon me necessary to fit me to dwell with him, and then, when trials came, have I murmured and complained. I wonder how the Lord could have so much patience with me. But I am glad I am letting him teach me through his word and through his servants. I have been appointed secretary of the Woman’s Gospel Work at this place, and also have been chosen to visit among the sick and needy. I have not much time to do the work, but the other members have each promised to visit as many as they can, and report to me each week; so I shall be able to make a report of the work that is being done. We are very much scattered, living from six to fifteen miles apart; but we have plenty of room for each to do a great deal of work, and so reap a bountiful harvest. My duties at home prevent me from doing much except among my near neighbors; and all the summer I did little except pay them a friendly call, offer a helping hand, or say an encouraging word whenever I could. This winter I was impressed to begin a little work among the children, who know but very little, if anything, about Jesus and his love, as most of the neighbors are not professors of religion. I at once sent for Scripture text cards, two copies of our Sabbath-school song book, solicited several weekly copies of Our Little Friend and of the Youth’s Instructor. I then visited each family, and found them glad to have their children come. They said they could not afford to dress them well enough to go to the churches. So now I have a Sunday-school class of eleven, and realize the blessing that comes in the effort to do for others. I can not refrain from writing to you, and thanking you for ever opening up a Woman’s page in the REVIEW AND HERALD. Words are inadequate to express the amount of good I am getting out of it. I never have taken part in it because of lack of an education, but I do praise the Lord for the help and courage he gives us in the experience of others. Many times I have thought that no one had an experience quite so trying as mine. I have had experiences when it seemed as if reason would be dethroned, and, as one sister expressed it, it was enough to turn one’s hair gray in a night. I have thought that if this summer’s experiences did not purify me, or kill me, nothing ever would. It seemed one day as if the Lord gave me my choice—I could let it kill me or purify me, just as I liked; and to-night I rejoice in the refining process that is going on in my life. One of our boys was keeping company that was not the best, and it seemed as if I could say nothing to cause him to see his condition. My husband, being a man of the world, had no desire to help in teaching principles of religion in our family, and I, having become discouraged, had discontinued family worship. I thought it was best not to keep it up, as I was the only one who seemed interested in it. My son’s course troubled me so that I became ill; and as I lay on my bed pondering what I should do, the Spirit of the Lord impressed me to get up and read and pray in my family, and to return thanks at the table, and that if I did this, the cloud of discouragement would break. I did so, and found the Lord true. I still have family worship night and morning, and find myself strengthened, and I can see that the enemy is making tracks to get away from my house; and from my children. There are so many helpful things to do
Along life's way
(Helps to the helper, if we did but know),
From day to day.
So many troubled hearts to soothe,
So many pathways rough to smooth,
So many comforting words to say
To hearts that falter along the way! Here is a lamp of hope gone out
Along the way.
Some one stumbled and fell, no doubt—
But, brother, stay!
Out of thy store of oil refill,
Kindle the courage that smolders still,
Think what Jesus would do to-day
For one who had fallen beside the way. How many lifted hands still plead
Along life's way!
The old, sad story of human need
Reads on for aye.
But let us follow the Saviour's plan,—
Love unstinted to every man!
Content if, at most, the world should say,
“He helped his brother along the way.” — Selected by a correspondent. The wife of one of our ministers, who has been a co-laborer with her husband in all his work, requests prayer that her failing health may be restored, so that she can continue in the work of saving souls. Pray for a young man, an only son, who is a slave to the cigarette habit. He wishes to be free; has tried medicine, but with no avail. The nerves are shaken; the eyes dull, and portions of the body are the color of the paper used to make cigarettes. I have an unconverted husband, and had almost given him up in despair, but my faith has been strengthened as I have read of others whose husbands have been converted through our united prayers, and I send in a request for you to pray for my husband. He is quite bitter, but pray, pray, pray. Surely it is not the will of the Lord that my husband should perish. A wife and mother requests prayer for the healing of her husband, who she fears is being attacked by consumption. She writes: “We are Seventh-day Adventists, and have been for nearly seven years. I have read and heard of miracles that the Lord has wrought in answer to prayer, and I believe that the earnest, effectual prayer of the righteous availeth much; and I believe that in union there is strength. Now I ask that you set apart a time for prayer by all our people for the recovery of my husband’s health if it is the Lord’s will. We have two children, who need a father’s care and support.” Of course the healing must come in response to the faith of this brother; but we can unitedly pray for him and his family, that the Lord will sustain them in this trying time, and clearly make known what is his will concerning them. GOD MEETS US WHERE WE ARE.
By Mrs. H. W. Pierce
PERHAPS we are not where he wishes us; for although we have given ourselves to him, and professed a holy profession, yet it may be that he discerns in us self-love rather than the image of his dear Son. Nevertheless, “God takes men as they are, with the human elements in their character, and trains them for his service, if they will be disciplined and learn of him.”—Desire of Ages, page 294. “In order to reach all classes, we must meet them where they are.”—Id., page 152. I shall never forget the bitter experience through which I passed when God taught me this lesson. Our only daughter had gone from us. We had given her in marriage, and knew that she was engaged in the Lord’s work. But some mothers will understand me when I say there was an aching void in my heart. I often wept when alone. Finally I said, This will never do. We will adopt a young girl who needs a home. She shall be to me as my own dear daughter. I will be to her a loving mother. Thus, with God’s help, we will be a blessing to each other. We did not send off for a child well recommended, but took the first one that came in our way. A friend near by had taken a little girl of ten years from a children’s home, and after keeping her a short time, had sent her back. The child, having become somewhat acquainted with us, longed to come to us, and prayed every night that we would take her. After a few weeks we did so, adopting her, and changing her name, which greatly pleased her. But, alas for human frailty! I was not inexperienced in dealing with children; but the words of a friend who said to me, “I guess you have your hands full this time,” proved true. Whenever the child could not have her own way, all manifestation of love and tenderness toward her was distasteful, and only rendered her more rebellious. This grieved me much, and I often wept. We loved her, and had made her our own daughter; so the obligation could not be easily put aside. Sometimes I queried if there was not some way of escape. But when I carried it to God in prayer, I found no freedom in praying for a separation. Still I was unreconciled to her conduct. How could I endure to have my daughter act that way? After a while it seemed unbearable, and I begged the Lord to take away the sting. Almost immediately he answered my prayer. As if by accident, my eye rested on a story in an old copy of the Signs of the Times. It helped me to see that my greatest sorrow came from being unreconciled to meet her where, and accept her just as, she was, and trust God’s power and love to bring about the desired improvement, not all at once, but as the unsightly plant by culture and careful pruning develops grace and beauty. Thus God would use me to cultivate this neglected parcel of human life, and would have me trust him for the final result. My husband, although away much of the time, assisted all he could to inculcate in her right principles, and to win her with love to a more unselfish disposition. Gradually she recognized and despised the ugliness of her former ways, and came truly to desire that loveliness of Christian character which she did not possess. A few years later she gave herself fully to the Lord, and willingly took up every cross. She now sleeps in Jesus, and I am indeed thankful that I was not left to myself to rebel against my God-given privilege. I will just add that our daughter’s own grandmother, a conscientious Sabbath-keeper, had offered many prayers for this dear child, when to human appearance there was no prospect that she would ever have the advantage of a Christian home. Thus God uses some of his children to answer the prayers of other of his little ones, though they often never know each other in this life. Dear sisters, if any of you are having a similar experience, be patient; endure as seeing Him who is invisible, and you shall reap the reward of your labor. How would it fare with us if God did not meet us where we are, and choose us to work with him, not because of our imperfections, but notwithstanding them? How careful we ought to be lest we refuse the self-denial necessary to enable us to be workers with Christ, and so fail to be partakers in the glory that shall be revealed. “I AM HUNGRY.”
By Mary N. Bradley
Did you ever suffer the pangs of hunger? I have. I have been so hungry that I could not sleep at night, and too weary to do my work in the morning. I have been so hungry that I would have given fifty dollars for a pound of the right kind of nourishing food, and would have walked miles to obtain it, had the money been available. So, when I hear the cries of the poor starving souls of heathen lands, my heart aches for them so much that I can not help giving all my money to buy food for their hungry souls. My Lord provides for my physical needs, but man can not live by bread alone. My soul gets so hungry for Christian fellowship—for the communion of the saints—that I can not sleep. Why don’t I go to church and get refreshed? — Well, maybe I am a poor, lone missionary, many miles from any of the Lord’s people, trying to win souls for him. How glad I would be to see the dear, familiar face of a brother or sister once more! How I’d love to talk over the happy times when we used to go to meeting together, and drink to our fill of the blessed Holy Spirit’s presence. Maybe I am one of those lonely persons who live so many miles from the church that I can not go unless some kind brother takes me; but no one cares “to be bothered.” Maybe I am that poor invalid pauper who rejoiced in the Lord’s goodness, several years ago, when some of his dear saints came to my house and preached the gospel, and then left the field to others who did not think my soul worth the effort to try to save. Maybe I am that rich man’s wife whom the church inwardly regards a hypocrite, and does not care to visit, because I do not take part with them, although they have told me my faults, and asked me to attend services, and urged me to help them in the good work. Maybe they do not think Matt. 7:1 is applicable in my case.215 They have not seen the work the left hand kept concealed, nor the work the right hand failed to record. Maybe they don’t know that rich men sometimes keep their accounts in their own names, and grudgingly dole out to their families just enough to keep them from taking the heavenward (?) journey. Maybe they don’t know that some church-members’ companions subscribe for such worldly newspapers as they wish, buy their children’s shoes and school-books, and pay the family grocery bill every month, and somehow their wives can not manage to swap old, made-over clothes (all that they possess) for a year’s subscription to the church paper. Maybe they do not know that their stay-at-home neighbor is literally starving for a sight of their faces, or even a glimpse of the dear old Signs of the Times or the REVIEW AND HERALD. No; they don’t know it; but that lonely, starving soul who saw an angel one day, many years ago, in the dear, unselfish, consecrated canvasser who came with the blessed gospel to her door, where she stood frying doughnuts, knows it. She is used to being hungry and lonely and neglected and misunderstood. She does n’t tell strangers all about her private affairs; so they think she stays away from meeting because she wishes to, and they do not take the trouble to go and see whether she has food for her soul or not. If they did, they might get the best meal set before their poor, shrunken, half-fed souls that they have tasted in many a day; for sometimes hungry folks have plenty to eat; and sometimes stay-at-home persons have a supply of good religious thought, just longing to find an outlet where it can help some one more needy than themselves. There are two kinds of hunger, and both need to be appeased. There are two kinds of starvation, and the Lord included both when he said, “Feed my sheep.” There are two kinds of shepherds, and the Lord told them to feed two kinds of sheep—the grown ones and the lambs. There are poor, hungry, starving sheep and lambs out in the lonely mountain or desert, who will rejoice when the Good Shepherd comes to take them home. HARK!
By Ellen Knight Bradford
Would you like to know what I hear, dear heart,
When the snow is melted away,
And I lay my ear to the soft warm ground
On a sunny April day! I hear the rootlets running along,
Bringing little garments rare
To clothe the flowers that have hurried up
To breathe the sweet spring air. One carries a hood for the Violet dear,
Lest the air should give her chills;
And one a hat for the Dandelion,
All trimmed with golden quills; Another brings a bunch of caps
Of pink and blue and white,
And under each little Hyacinth chin
They're fastened snug and tight. And I hear a rustle like dainty silks
As the tiny waists are made
That over the forms of the Tulips fair
And the Crocus are tenderly laid. And then I hear them scamper away
To the hills where the brooklets run,
And, filling their buckets, they hasten back
With a drink for every one. O dear little flowers, for you and for me
There are caretakers hidden from sight,
Who work in the dark our whole lives through
That we may have sweetness and light!
— Ellen Knight Bradford. Choosing Soothing Lamp-Shade Colors
By J. O. Beard
THE use of red lamp-shades is very common. But no other color is so irritating to the eye as red. Green and blue are the most agreeable colors to the eye. God either made the grass and leaves green because that color is so agreeable to the eye, or he adapted the eye to green because there is so much of that color in the world. It makes no difference which way it was, the adaptation is perfect; and if you have been using a red lamp-shade, put a green one in its place, and observe what a soothing effect it has on the eyes. J. O. Beard. THE CARE OF FLOUR AND GRAINS IN THE TROPICS.
By Isadora Spies
(Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.) Very few persons here bake their own bread, because they think it must be made fresh every day. But I have no trouble in making good, sweet bread, which will keep one week at any time in the year. I recommend all to follow the instructions given in the REVIEW of December 12. And I would add that I have found it a good plan the first bright day after, or during, the rainy season (if it lasts two weeks, as it does sometimes), to spread the flour in the sun; or, if I have not a great quantity on hand, dry it in the oven. Corn meal will keep quite a length of time if sifted and slightly roasted before putting it away. It should be kept in a tin can. Rice and barley are also much better if slightly roasted. All grains, if put away without heating, will be found woven together in balls in a short time. Many of the farmers treat their beans to a thorough heating as soon as harvested. We found that graham flour is an unknown thing here. But at the flour mills we bought wheat; and, after a thorough heating, put it away in tin cans, to be ground in a hand mill when needed. Thus, with a little attention, bread, which should be the principal food in a vegetarian family, may always be nourishing and palatable. PROGRESS OF THE READING CIRCLE WORK.
A WORKER in Kansas writes thus:— We now have our prayer-meeting Tuesday evening, followed by the Circle study. Our interest was almost dead, but it is reviving as the study of the prophecies continues. From the first the attendance has increased. The secretary of one of our smaller Conferences writes:— Our Conference has about two hundred and fifty members, and eighteen companies have promised to carry on the Circle work. I have received several reports, and the omens are bright. Those who write, report great good received. God is with us, and the progress made is cause for rejoicing. An encouraging letter from a corresponding secretary is as follows:— On the whole, I feel much encouraged about the Reading Circle work in our State. At times I have thought it was not accomplishing all that we had hoped; but when a good letter would come from a distant, isolated person, telling how much help and strength this work was to him, I was encouraged to press on with the work. I am learning that we can not fully estimate how much good this work is accomplishing, from the replies received; so I have decided to stop trying to measure that, but leave the results with God, and work on. I have sent out three general circular letters, besides many personal ones. The reports coming in from these have been good so far. The president of our Conference in his work out in the field has opportunity to see some of the results, and he says that everywhere a different spirit is taking possession of the brethren and sisters, and that they are taking hold with new interest and zeal. He feels much encouraged. We have been emphasizing the fact that all the instruction and help provided in these good Circle lessons are for the purpose of a better fitting up for service. May the Lord use the humble efforts of the Reading Circle work to roll upon our brethren and sisters the burden to work. This will bring the power of the message; for the Spirit will work with workers who are true-hearted and earnest, wherever and whoever they may be. ORDER AND NEATNESS IN THE FAMILY.
By D. C. Elmer
In some homes, although there is only a small family, one or two children, almost everything is in an untidy, disorderly condition. In the sleeping apartment, where more than one third of the time is spent, all is in confusion and disorder. Children’s shoes and stockings and other garments are strewn over the floor; and although nearly one half of the day is gone, not a window has been opened to let in heaven’s pure air, a liberal supply of which should have been admitted through the entire night. On the other hand, here is a home where there is a large family of children, and but little of this world’s goods. But it does one good to step into their home. Everything is neat and orderly. Each child is taught to do his part of the work. Go in when you will, you will find the air pure, and the room swept and dusted. But who does this work — the tired mother? — No, the children seem to vie with one another in seeing who shall outdo the other in this good work. Cooling Bread After Baking
BREAD should not be covered with a cloth when taken from the oven, but should be laid on its side, and allowed to become perfectly cold. LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE.
By L. Flora Plummer
A poor little Bible worker was once asked where she wished to go to labor. “Oh,” said she, “in the darkest part of the State; for there my little light will shine the brightest.” And she was right. A tiny ray of light, which would be lost amid the glow of many lights, or in the glare of a few brilliant ones, will shine out with remarkable force and power in the midst of the blackest darkness. This ought to be an encouragement to every one, no matter how unfavorable any one may regard his surroundings. The following description from the Spirit of Prophecy shows us the appearance of this world as it is in the eyes of Heaven, and should cause us each to ask the question, Is my light shining bright, or has it grown dim? Would that every one of you could have a view that was presented to me years ago. In my very girlhood the Lord saw fit to open before me the glories of heaven. I was in vision taken to heaven, and the angel said to me, “Look!” I looked to the world as it was in dense darkness. The agony that came over me was indescribable as I saw this darkness. Again the word came, “Look ye.” And again I looked intensely over the world, and I began to see jets of light like stars dotted all through this darkness; and then I saw another and another added light, and so through all this moral darkness the star-like lights were increasing. And the angel said, “These are they that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and are obeying the words of Christ. These are the light of the world; and if it were not for these lights, the judgments of God would immediately fall upon the transgressors of God’s law.” I saw then these little jets of light growing brighter, shining forth from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and lighting the whole world. Occasionally one of these lights would begin to grow dim, and others would go out; and every time this occurred, there was sadness and weeping in heaven. And some of the lights would grow brighter and brighter, and their brightness was far-reaching, and many more lights were added to it. Then there was rejoicing in heaven. I saw that the rays of light came directly from Jesus, to form these precious jets of light in the world. If the Missionary Reading Circle means anything at all, it means more than the mere study of the facts in these lessons. “It is a call from God to this whole people to awake and study these things, read the literature, and then spread it abroad to all people.” In every possible way let the Circle be made a training-school for workers. The instruction given to the leaders in our churches is this: “We must teach the members of the church how they may effectually minister to others.” If this is not done soon, when can it be done? 1. Review the principal events in the establishment of the papacy. 2. What prominent characteristics, both of the papacy and of the people of God, are revealed in verses 32 and 33? 3. Trace the history of the church as foretold in verses 34 and 35. 4. What three peculiar features must appear in the power next introduced in the prophecy? Give the substance of the historical quotations that identify this power. 5. What further points of identification are furnished in the fulfilment of verse 37? 6. Describe the introduction of the worship of the Goddess of Reason. 7. How was the expression, “shall divide the land for gain,” also fulfilled? 8. By whom and how was the Reign of Terror and the Infidel Revolution terminated? Suggestions for Review Meeting.
1. Give a brief history of the persecution of the people of God, as touched upon in the lesson. 2. Assign to a member the work of arranging a few texts on the subject of persecution, and drawing some practical lessons from the experiences of the early apostles. 3. Relate that portion of the history of France which is referred to in the prophecy. 4. What topics of the lesson would make interesting subjects of conversation? Study different methods of beginning such a conversation so as to arouse interest in the subject. APRIL STUDY OF THE FIELD: PART II.
“Outlines of the History of Mexico.”
(Text-book, April Magazine.) - NAME the two most important Indian tribes of Mexico before the arrival of the Spaniards.
- Tell all you can of the Toltecs.
- When did the Aztecs arrive? Speak of their government and religion, and overthrow by the Spaniards.
- Who is known as the “father of Mexican independence,” and what did he accomplish?
- When was the independence of Mexico established?
- What was the state of the country from that time until 1870?
- Mention the events that led to the coming of Maximilian. Why did the French withdraw?
- State the conditions of Mexico under the presidency of Diaz.
THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE.
In our studies of the Third Angel's Message in its phase of Babylon Fallen, we found that the Beast was the result of a falling away from the truth of the gospel in the first ages of the church; and that the Image of the Beast is the result of a falling away from the truth of the gospel in the last days of the church. That woman designated as “Babylon the mother,” which resulted from the “falling away” in the first days of the church, was seen seated “upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked [“gilded,” margin] with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.” Rev. 17:3, 4. In the first days of the church, the course of this apostasy from its inception is described in the word of the Lord to “the seven churches.” This subject of the seven churches is, indeed, the word of the Lord to his church in the seven distinctive phases of her existence, from the first advent of Christ to his second. In the first four stages, the development of this harlot, and her connection with that Beast, are portrayed in his counsel to his true church, warning her of the evils that threatened her, and the dangers that beset her. The first of “the seven churches” is the church in its first stage, which, by this word itself (Rev. 2:2), is shown to have been in the days of the apostles. While there was much that he commended, yet there was this one thing in which he was compelled to speak to that church otherwise: “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.” This being the church in its first stage, this “first love” was the first love of the church. The first love of the church was the love of Christ as revealed to his church at the first. And in leaving that first love, the only possible way that the church could go was to go away from it. And thus is marked, in the words of Christ, the beginning of that “falling away.” The next phase of the church is her time of persecution, which ended in the ten years of terrible persecution, in the time of Diocletian, referred to in the words, “Ye shall have tribulation ten days.” Rev. 2:10. Those ten years expired A. D. 312. Then, in the next stage of the church, the Lord commends his faithful ones who dwelt “where Satan's seat is,” and who had held fast his name, and had not denied his faith, “even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr.” This word “Antipas” is not a person's name, but is a term characteristic of the times. It is composed of two words,—ἀντί anti, and πάππας pappas. ἀντί anti signifies against, and πάππας pappas, papa, which is our English, and also the universal, word for “papa.” And this word “papa” is the original of the word “pope.” Therefore this word “Antipas”—“against pappas”—shows the growth of the papacy in the period immediately following A. D. 312. This was the period of Constantine, and onward, in which the papacy itself was distinctly made, and began openly to assert its authority. And, in that time, the history records that while other principal bishops of the church bore the title of “patriarch,” “the bishop of Rome studiously avoided the title of ‘patriarch,’ as placing him on a level with other ‘patriarchs.’ He always preferred the title of ‘papa,’ or ‘pope’ (Schaff); and this, because ‘patriarch’ bespeaks an oligarchical church government, that is, government by a few; whereas ‘pope’ bespeaks a monarchical church government, that is, government by one.”—“Two Republics,” page 485. Thus the history and the word of the counsel of Christ, unite in marking as the characteristic of that phase of the church the formation of the papacy, and the assertion of the authority of the pope. Then, in the very next phase of the church, the Lord, in his counsel to his faithful ones, is compelled to make this statement: “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess.” Rev. 2:20. As all know, in the history and time of ancient Israel, Jezebel is that heathen woman who came into Israel, bringing with her her heathen worship and practices; and above all, the sun worship; and by persecution unto the death, compelled all to bow to her will in enforcing the worship of Baal. Thus, in this gradation of descent in the “falling away” from the “first love” of the church, we find her brought to the condition of that wicked woman Jezebel, holding under her control the world-power—the power of the State—as the implement in her hands to enforce her wicked will upon all the people, and especially upon the saints of God. And thus it is that that great harlot was seen “sitting upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” And now these two portions of Revelation—that gradation in the falling away marked in the second chapter, and this full development of it as pictured in the seventeenth chapter—are united in the prophecy of the thirteenth chapter, which pictures the Beast. So that the Beast is the symbol, in the book of Revelation, which marks the union of the elements pictured in the second of Revelation and the seventeenth of Revelation. This can readily be seen now by the mere reading of Revelation 13. “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name [“names,” margin] of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue [“make war,” margin] forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:1, 2, 5-8.