A rational remedy is one that brings to the sick man the aid which he most needs, whether it be physical or spiritual. In general, sickness may be regarded as the result of a violation of nature’s laws. Man has wandered into by and forbidden paths, and sickness is sent as a warning voice, bidding him to return. In illness the mind is, in many cases, more or less in a state of discouragement and depression. Very often the poor sufferer, who is unable to interpret this handwriting of disease and affliction, begins to think that God is hiding His face from him; and so, in a double sense, sickness is always a call to prayer, for it is impossible fully to get the invalid back into the divine order as long as his mind is out of tune with the Infinite. In a similar way, every rational remedy has its object; that is, it helps in getting the various tissues of the body out of their unphysiological state into a physiological, or normal, condition. Prayer does not change the mind of God, but it does change the mind of him who prays in sincerity. Rational remedies do not change the laws of nature, but they do change the man, and assist in bringing him into that channel of harmony with nature which makes it possible for nature’s Author to cure him.
HOW GOD HEALS
There is no healing apart from God, for He “healeth all thy diseases.” Ps. 103:3. God is constantly at work day by day, healing the body through the blood. The blood is the life. It is the power of God that constantly cleanses the blood. Joel 3:21. Every few weeks the entire ten or twelve pounds of blood in the human body is renewed; it has all been re-created. Nature builds up blood from the food we eat; but God does not undertake to make pure blood out of impure food, for the Scriptures plainly declare: “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.”
It is presumption to ask God to cleanse our blood when we are daily putting into our stomachs food which would require the Lord to work a direct miracle to prevent its contaminating the blood. The Lord has said, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” and He can not consistently, without repentance on our part, arbitrarily or miraculously save us from the penalty of disobedience. The sufferer must begin to sow for good blood by eating good, pure food, before the prayer of faith can fully save him. And until he has become willing thus to co-operate with God in His efforts to cleanse the blood and heal the body, the so-called prayer of faith is only the prayer of presumption, and the prayer of presumption will never heal nor save the sick.
EXERCISE
Paul said, “I die daily,” and this is just as true in a physical sense as in the spiritual. Physically, we are constantly putting off (to death) the old man, and putting on the new man. There is not a tissue nor a cell in the body that is not constantly being torn down; and this process produces various waste products, which necessitate a constant rebuilding from the nourishment brought to the tissues by the blood. It is of the utmost importance that these broken-down tissues shall be quickly eliminated from the human system; otherwise they will accumulate, thus saturating the blood with their poisonous properties, and making it a veritable messenger of death, instead of a messenger of life. Vigorous physical exercise quickens the circulation of the blood, and, in addition, helps to transform into a more harmless state many of those harmful products of tissue breakdown.
Thus physical exercise becomes a most potent factor in our co-operation with God in the use of the cleansing and healing properties of the blood. When we refuse to take spiritual exercise,—when we neglect to work for the salvation of our fellow men,—then it is that the poisonous products of our carnal natures begin to accumulate in our spiritual experience, and we are ready to exclaim: “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Rom. 7:24. And so it is with the man who neglects to take physical exercise; the dingy eye, sallow skin, and contaminated breath, and the disinclination to perform any of life’s ordinary duties, are all symptoms which clearly indicate that the invalid could truthfully say of himself, physically, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Such a person’s blood needs to be cleansed, and God has promised to cleanse the blood; but the appointed way to accomplish this wonderful work is by means of thoroughgoing physical exercise, and the partaking of proper quantities of pure, wholesome food. And the patient who has strength and opportunity to utilize these heaven-sent agencies, and neglects to do so, is one of whom God is saying, as He did of Ephraim: He “is joined to idols: let him alone.” Hosea 4:17.
USE OF WATER
Every organ in the body has a corresponding area upon the surface of the skin, with which it is connected by means of the nervous system and blood vessels. Consequently, whatever happens to this skin area is whispered, as it were, to the internal organ. Who has not, on a hot day, experienced the refreshing effect resulting from bathing the face with cold water? This is because the skin of the face is connected by the nervous system and blood vessels with the brain. When the skin over the liver is bathed, there is practically the same refreshing effect experienced by that organ, although it has no nerves whereby it can convey its sense of satisfaction and appreciation to the brain.
On account of this arrangement it is very easy for us, by means of intelligent applications of water of various temperatures, as well as by means of electricity, massage, etc., to exert a most direct and powerful influence upon the activity of the various vital organs of the body. In a certain sense, the surface of the body bears the same relation to the internal organs that the keyboard of a piano does to its internal mechanism. The skilled musician brings out beautiful harmonies by his intelligent touch upon the keyboard. And it is our privilege to learn how to apply nature’s own remedies to the surface of the body so that we shall secure not only an increased but a harmonious action of every organ within the human form divine. If applying cold water to one square foot of skin upon the surface of the face produces such gratifying results, how much more good must result from the free and intelligent application of water to the more than seventeen square feet of body surface?
Just as the musician can produce from the piano almost any sound he may choose, so it is possible by the simple application of water, at proper temperatures, to the surface of the body,149to produce almost any physiological result desired. Is the patient excited, nervous, unstrung? Is his nervous system keyed to the highest tension? Then immerse the body in a full bath, whose temperature is practically that of the skin, from 94° to 96°; in a few minutes the agitated and irritated nerves are relieved of their tension. The whole body becomes conscious of a most delightful sense of repose and restfulness, and often the patient drops asleep in the bath.
If one feels relaxed, and has a sort of instinctive longing for “spring tonics,” or some other stimulating patent medicines, which generally owe their delusive virtues to the amount of bad whisky they contain, let him take a cold spray, a cold hand bath, or a momentary plunge into a tubful of cold water, and he will then appreciate how nature has responded to his effort by increasing all the vital activities of mind and body. Is the body, or some part of it, convulsed with pain? Are some of the muscles in contortions with cramps? Then apply water as hot as can be borne, and the pain will in most cases disappear as if by magic.
While it is God himself who converts and transforms the soul, no one for a moment supposes that the working of this remarkable miracle will relieve the converted man of the necessity of daily studying his Bible or engaging in earnest prayer. Likewise, although it is God who always heals the sick, yet the working of this remarkable miracle does not in any wise relieve the person of the responsibility of utilizing every rational and natural remedy, which his judgment and experience have shown him will assist nature in the work of increasing the healing and life-giving possibilities of the body.
What is true of diet, exercise, and the intelligent application of water, is just as true with reference to having an abundance of pure air, of properly attiring the body with suitable clothing, as well as of carefully guarding the mind itself from all sources of contamination and pollution. God works the miracle of growing the potato in the ground, and He has also created the wonderful mechanism of digestion and assimilation, which enables us to convert the potato into blood, and flesh, and thought; but as long as we have the means at our disposal which enables us to take the potato from the ground, we have no right to expect, or to ask, God to miraculously dig our potatoes, just to save us the trouble, annoyance, or expense of digging them ourselves. This is equally true of the miracle of health, which God is so willing to work for the soul who is willing to live in harmony with His laws, but in the working of which it is decreed that man shall act the part of co-operator. This is why so many efforts fail to gain health from the so-called channels of divine healing. “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:3.
THE POWER THAT DRAWS
The Examiner
“AND I, if I be lifted up,” said our Lord a few hours before His death, “will draw all men unto me.” We are greatly troubled in these days over the indifference of multitudes to the services of the Church, and many are the devices resorted to for the purpose of persuading the people, and especially men, to attend them. But all these devices — which we need not here particularize, for they are known to all — are ephemeral in effect, because, however ingenious and pleasing at first, they soon pall upon the taste. The only attractive power that has never yet failed, and never can fail, is the uplifted Christ. The preachers who to-day are most faithfully holding up the crucified Lord as the sinner’s only hope are those whose ministry is most effective in winning the attention of the people, and in persuading men to be reconciled to God. This is the method prescribed by divine wisdom, and no device of man can improve upon or successfully supersede it.
Great Efforts From Great Motives
“GREAT efforts from great motives is the best definition of a happy life. The easiest labor is a burden to him who has no motive for performing it.”
DOUBTING
The King's Messenger
UNBELIEF is sin; distrust brings death; worrying is disobedience, and — to doubt is to be doomed. Sadness, sorrowing, sickness, and sin are the fruits of doubting. The taproot of trouble is doubt. The source of joy is trust. Belief in God scatters trouble, removes the blues, and brings in the light. The reason of the lack of success of life and power in the Church, in the individual, is simply the lack of faith—not faith in doctrine or dogma, but faith in God. We believe man, but we doubt God, and doubting, we disobey.
“Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” Ye shall receive power, the Holy Ghost coming upon you. We doubt. We do not desire Him. We seek joy, happiness, safety, holiness, usefulness—but not Him. We accept legal and moral precepts and theological beliefs in place of the personal Holy Spirit, and we doubt His presence and abiding power. We ostracize and deny Him. We grieve Him by our distrust of Him, and He is not permitted to enter our hearts to control our lives; and, therefore, we are weakness and not strength; doubt has the supremacy, and sin reigns.
Received by faith, and He will energize our entire being; will turn profession into practice, and make us temples for His indwelling, while we walk in the light as He is in the light; for in Him is no darkness at all. Doubt is dark. Faith is light.
Have faith in God. Faith is the gift of God.
MANHATTAN A CENTURY AGO
HERE is some condensed history from the New York World:—
The city was lighted only “in the dark of the moon,” by flickering whale-oil lanterns placed one hundred and fourteen feet apart. Wood was the common fuel.
Along Broadway the houses were built of brick; elsewhere they were made of wood, and painted.
The average merchant lived over his store. Business began at 9 A. M.; and closed at 9 P. M.
Streets were swept by the householders every Saturday morning. Brick sidewalks were general.
Dancing schools were numerous; the cotillion and minuet were the favorite dances.
Pumps supplied all the drinking water. Fires were put out by volunteer “bucket brigades.”
There were no bath-rooms, and there was only one public bath, on Chambers Street. Rooms were uncarpeted, and lighted with candles.
Popular amusements were bull-baiting and lotteries.
Hogs and cows roamed through the public streets.
Men wore mustaches, but not beards.
Smoking was regarded as an Indian habit, and was not common.
Sherry was the favorite wine. Whisky was drunk in Baltimore, but not in New York.
Milk was brought from New Jersey, and peddled from door to door by women.
There were but two theaters, and they were poorly supported.
The favorite walk of the young people was to the Battery and back or across to the ferry to Hoboken.
There was not a light to guide vessels from Sandy Hook to the Battery.
Philadelphia was thirteen hours distant by stage, Buffalo four days, and Montreal three days.
Mail was carried by postboys on horseback. One mail a day passed between New York and Washington.
Books were rare. The Bible and “Pilgrim’s Progress” were in every home.
Workmen wore leather breeches, coarse shirts, and flannel jackets.
THE CHICKEN'S MISTAKE
By Phoebe Cary
A little chicken one day
Asked leave to go in the water,
Where she saw a duck, with her brood at play,
Swimming and splashing about her.
“Indeed,” she began to peep and cry,
When her mother wouldn't let her,
“If the ducks can swim there, why can't I?
Are they any bigger or better?”
Then the old hen answered: “Listen to me,
And hush your foolish talking;
Just look at your feet, and you will see
They were only made for walking.”
But Chicky wistfully eyed the brook,
And didn't half believe her;
For she seemed to say, by a knowing look,
Such stories couldn't deceive her.
And, as her mother was scratching the ground,
She muttered lower and lower:
“I know I can go there and not be drowned,
And so I think I'll show her.”
Then she made a plunge where the stream was deep,
And saw too late her blunder;
For she had hardly time to peep
When her foolish head went under.
And now I hope her fate will show
The child my story reading,
That those who are older sometimes know
What you will do well for heeding:
That each content in his place should dwell,
And envy not his brother;
And any part that is acted well
Is just as good as another.
For we all have our proper sphere below,
And this is a truth worth knowing:
You will come to grief if you try to go
Where you were never made for going.
— Phoebe Cary.
THE RUSSIAN RELIGION
By Geo. B. Morrison
GEO. B. MORRISON
(Eagle Corners, Wis.)
Vladimir, third son of Svatoslaf, grand prince of Russia, received one third of the kingdom at his father’s death, his brothers having received the remainder. In their lust for power, the brothers soon made war upon one another, and the result was that Vladimir, by killing both brothers, became ruler of all the Russias. He then made war upon those around him, thereby greatly enlarging his dominions.
He, being a pagan, supposed, on account of his success, that the gods were on his side, and so he prepared to do them great honor. He ordered splendid memorials to various deities to be erected throughout the country, especially honoring Perune, the father of the gods, for whom he provided a pair of golden whiskers. In one instance he offered a human sacrifice, selecting a Christian youth of the capital, who, together with his father, was slain for that purpose. He also gave large sums of money and rich presents to religious establishments; and for this reason the Jews, Mohammedans, Catholics, and Greeks each sought to win him to their respective Church.
After appointing a commission to look into the merits of each of these religions, he finally decided to become a Greek “Christian.” He rejected the Jewish religion because it was a homeless religion; and the Mohammedan religion because it forbade the use of wine; and the Catholic because the pope would be his superior, and this he could not consent to. There was no change of heart in the matter at all; for he was just as thirsty for blood, and delighted in war just as before. This is not strange, however, for the desire of the churches for his conversion proceeded from motives purely selfish.
The first thing Vladimir did after he was baptized was to issue a decree that since he had changed his religion, all his people must do the same. This he compelled them to do.
He became Vladimir the Great, and after his death the Greek Church made him a saint. So it is with the “Christianity” of force to-day. Those who rule by force are great in the eyes of the world, and in the eyes of the world they may be saints; but those whom God calls His saints must be saints before death, and must be made so by the Lord, not by a deluded people. In the eyes of the world the true saints are despised and rejected; but the Lord calls them blessed. “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
TEMPERANCE
By A. M. WINEGAR, M. D.
A. M. WINEGAR, M. D.
(Concluded.)
EVERY mother may be a mighty power in bringing about reformation, not by leaving her own home and working for those who have already fallen, but by caring for and properly training the children in her own home.
Not only should the food be of proper quality, but it should be most thoroughly and carefully prepared. Great care should be taken in the training of cooks. They should be trained in cookery as a science, and should have a thorough knowledge of the nutritive values of the various foods, of proper food combinations, and of the best manner in which to prepare foods to make them palatable as well as wholesome. The mothers themselves must take this in hand, and raise the standard of cookery until such work will not be regarded by young women as drudgery.
The mothers of our land, and those who have the guiding of our girls, are largely responsible for the condition of the present day. Young women are seeking other employment, and few are found who are willing to devote their time to cooking. Mothers should take an interest in the preparation of the food in their own homes, and when selecting a cook should choose one who has ability to prepare nourishing foods in a way that is pleasing to the taste, rather than one who can do fancy cooking. The cook should be made to feel that her calling is a high and noble one. There is no calling more noble than that of the cook who prepares the food which is to build up the bodies of those who are most dear to us.
The food taken into the body has not only to do with the development of the physical being, but of the character as well. This organization can have no greater work before it than to train young women to fill this important position, by training them in their own homes, or by organizing cooking schools in different localities, where young women can be trained in scientific cookery, and where they can be taught the importance of the position. It rests with you who are before me to-day to remove the stigma that has so long rested upon cookery in the home, and which has caused many young women to choose a life of shame rather than to engage in the drudgery of the kitchen.
The principles of true temperance should be taught in every community. The dangers of wrong habits of living should be pointed out to the young, and the highest ideals set before them. Instruction should be given in the selection of proper foods, of food combinations, and the proper preparation of various foods. There are hundreds of girls to-day in our land who would be glad to engage in this work if they could see it in the proper light, if they could feel that they are thus doing a work for humanity, and that the cook has a grander mission than the minister in the pulpit or the teacher in the school.
We trust that the time will soon come when, in every large city, in every town and village, and even in the country places, schools, whether large or small, will be opened, with proper instructors, for the training of young women who are willing to devote their lives to this work. By beginning at the very foundation, those who are deeply interested in the temperance question may see results of their labors, and be led to rejoice that the Lord has opened the way whereby the young may be saved from the dangers that surround them on every hand, and that, having strong bodies, and consequently strong minds, they may be able to meet the great problems of life.
A LETTER
Feb. 22, 1901.
Dear Sister Irwin: I will send one dollar and a half, with which please have the REVIEW sent to the following-named persons: . . . I will send my copy to another address. I am one of many isolated Sabbath-keepers. My work is wherever I find an opening to do good; but mostly to help the poor or visit the sick. These three names make ten persons to whom I am sending the REVIEW. I also send tracts and other reading. I feel that my efforts are feeble, being alone; and yet we know that it is the Lord’s work, who says, Go work in my vineyard. While we can not preach or go out into the world, there are many ways in which we can be a help in spreading this truth. May the Lord work with us in all our gospel work, and may all be done according to His will! Thank you much for the blank pledges and reading-matter. I will try to make the best use of them. May the gospel workers remember one another at the throne of grace.
Yours in the blessed hope,
REQUESTS FOR PRAYER
“PLEASE remember my dear husband in prayer, that he may overcome the appetite for tobacco.”
“I ask your prayers for my husband, who is not a Christian, that he may be brought to the Lord, and for myself and little ones.”
“Will you allow me to ask an interest in your prayers for my dear father and brother, who know the truth, but the cares of this life keep them from living it?”
“I ask an interest in your prayers for my husband and two sons, who, though once members of the church, are not now living the truth, and are very careless and indifferent. Pray for me also, that I may live the truth before them. I feel encouraged to believe that the Lord will answer our prayers in their behalf.”
“I have three children who are not in the truth, and I earnestly request prayer for them,—a daughter who has never made a profession; one son, who belongs to the church, but uses tobacco; and a younger son, who has an evil temper. Pray that the appetite may be taken away, that the temper may be controlled, and that I may live right before my children.”151
A sister in the South, who has received a knowledge of the truth in a remarkable manner, requests prayer for her husband and two children,—a girl of fourteen and a boy of eleven years. She also requests prayer for herself, that she may have courage to take a bold stand for the truth. She thinks that unless there is a great change in her husband, her stand for the truth will mean a separation from her home and her children. She writes: “This is the greatest cross of my life, but God is able to do all things well if I have faith, and trust in Him. My trials are indeed great, and I feel the need of help. Pray that my husband may be impressed to listen to the truth and may be converted, and that I may have wisdom to guide me, and strength to bear all.”
The Deeds We Do Shall Meet Us
“THE deeds we do, the words we say,
Into still air do seem to fleet;
We count them ever past;
But they shall last;
In the dread Judgment they
And we shall meet.”
GRANOLA
TAKE 5 cups flour, 2 cups oatmeal, ½ cup corn meal, ½ cup rye meal or flour; mix with water into a stiff dough; roll thin; bake until dry enough to break into pieces, then grind. Coffee mills, peanut mills, or sausage grinders may be used for granola; if baked in long, narrow strips, it will feed a sausage mill best.
GRANOLA PIE CRUST
TAKE ½ cup cream, milk, or water, and ½ cup granola; salt to taste; mix quickly, and spread at once in a pan which has been oiled, using spoon to spread in pan. This crust should be dried in oven a moment or two before filling is added.
EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE
IN your letter you mentioned some new school books. I should like to have such a reader for my boy.
You ask me about signing the pledge. I am glad that I can tell you that long ago I gave up the use of coffee, tea, and meats of all kinds. I am indeed glad that Jesus has been so good to me, and has given me help to overcome these things, for I could not have done so alone.
Seeing your request in the REVIEW, I will gladly remail my REVIEW to any sister who is not able to take it. It has been only a few months since I could have it myself, so I can appreciate the needs of others. My mother and I are the only Seventh-day Adventists in this place. We do what missionary work we can, but the harvest is great, and the laborers are few.
I feel that my home is the first place from which to clean out all intemperate things, and then I can tell others how much better I am without the use of them. A dear lady who is in poor health called to see me this morning, and I sold her a copy of Good Health, and gave her a glass of peanut meal, and advised her to get granose and use it. I see we must be careful how we put these things before the people.
My husband is good to provide, but he does not want me to have any money to use in the cause. Of course, you know that it is my object to work for the Lord, so I take in washing or some other work to get money for missionary purposes. You ask me if I take the REVIEW. Yes, indeed, I do, and the Woman's page is a great help to me. In fact, the whole paper is almost as good as a visit from a minister.
My heart often aches because I have nothing with which to answer the calls for help which I receive. We live on a small farm, and our neighbors are as poor as ourselves, so there is not much chance to work for others to earn anything. I am sure that I do not have more than twenty-five dollars in money in a year, but I manage to take the REVIEW, the Instructor, and the Life Boat, and I pay my tithe and give five cents each month to the Worthy Poor fund. Last year I gave a dollar to the school work, and this year I gave a dollar to the college debt, and also made a quilt, which I sent to the Life Boat Mission. Oh, how I wish I had more to give!
Later this sister writes:—
Since I wrote you last, I have been busy. I canvassed for the Signs two afternoons, and sold at every place at which I stopped. I even sold a copy to a man I met in the road. I urged those who bought the papers to give them a careful reading. I sold them for ten cents a copy. I have also sent for two copies of “Christ's Object Lessons,” and want to go out with them to my neighbors as soon as I study the book enough to present it in an intelligent manner.
The eighth chapter opens with silence in heaven for the space of half an hour, prophetic time, seven days. But one such time is mentioned when there are no angels in heaven singing praise and glory to God: this is when Christ comes to gather His saints. Verses 3–5 refer to the last work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. Four of the seven trumpets are mentioned in this chapter. These trumpets were fulfilled in the breaking up of the Roman Empire, and were judgments of God upon that nation because they rejected light and put to death the Son of God. The northern barbarians formed independent kingdoms in the territory of the Roman kingdom. Some of the leaders of the three tribes made their war almost exclusively upon land, while one was naval in his operations. In 330 A. D. the capital was removed from Rome to Constantinople. In 337, the three sons of Constantine took the three divided portions of the empire, and this explains the expression “third part.” The chapter closes by pronouncing three woes on the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the three voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to sound.
The ninth chapter is the historical account of the downfall of restored Persia and of the Mohammedans to the close of their independence. Their history may be divided into three parts. First, when they had no regular organization, but consisted of tribes and hordes, which made sudden dashes on what was the eastern portion of the Roman Empire, and then as suddenly retired. This history is given in the first four verses. Verses 5–12 give their history under an organized government, yet they were not able to overthrow the Greek Empire. Othman organized and founded what was known as the Ottoman Empire. He first entered the territory of Nicomedia, July 27, 1299. This state of things continued for one hundred and fifty years, during which time they tormented the Greek Empire. The figurative expressions, which speak of their warfare during this time, had their fulfillment both in their effect upon the people and in their mode of warfare. They were properly termed destroyers.
Verses 13–21 contain an account of the sixth trumpet, which began to sound at the expiration of the fifth trumpet, July 27, 1449 A. D. It continued until Aug. 11, 1840. Their independency as an empire continued three hundred and ninety-one years and fifteen days. This brings us to the time referred to in chapter 10, when the mighty angel came down from heaven clothed with a cloud, having in his hand a little book opened. He bore the special message that time would be no more. This message was the prophecy of Daniel that had been sealed until the time of the end. Daniel 12. It went by land and sea. After the prophetic period passed, as they supposed, in the spring of 1844, there came the fulfillment of the experience recorded in Rev. 10:9, 10. Upon the re-examination of the prophetic period, they found that it continued six months into the following year; and while they looked forward to the tenth day of the seventh month, they enjoyed the sweetness of expecting their Lord; and when it passed, they experienced the bitterness.
At this time in the autumn of 1844 the seventh angel sounded, and the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in the temple the ark of His testament. Rev. 11:19. In this ark were the Ten Commandments, which are compared to the reed in chapter 11. This is to measure the temple of God and the altar, and those who worship therein. As the people applied it to their own character, they saw that they were breaking the Fourth Commandment. Upon examining the Scriptures, they found there was no foundation for First-day observance. This led them to confess their sins, which lodged upon this altar, and were forgiven by Christ in His last mediatorial work. The court is this world, which was not measured at the time the worshipers were measured.
There was now a resetting of the gospel truths to prepare the people for the second coming of Christ. The apostle then takes up the two witnesses, the Old and the New Testament. France, one of the ten kingdoms, rejected the light of the Reformation. The result was the French Revolution just before 1798. The period of time referred to by that terrible condition of things was three and one-half years. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Bible societies were organized, liberty of conscience was granted, and the light of the Bible has gone throughout the world. The seventh angel’s trumpet covers the entire period from the beginning of the investigative judgment until the establishment of the kingdom of God.
Chapters 12, 13, and 14 are intimately connected. These three chapters bring to view the dragon, the Beast, and the two-horned Beast, and the warning of the Third Angel’s Message against the worship of these powers. The first four verses of chapter 14 tell of the triumph of the people of God as they come out of this conflict and stand upon Mount Zion. The dragon, which is said to be Satan, was pagan Rome, which sought to destroy Christ: it was Satan who moved upon Herod to put Christ to death. Paganism was the chief agent to make war upon Christ and His people through the first centuries of the Christian era. Then it assumed the form of the papacy, and the work was carried forward. The Beast with the lamb-like horns also spoke like a dragon; he was seen coming up when the Beast went into captivity in 1798. He says to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an Image to the Beast that had a wound by a sword and did live. In enforcing this worship they not only worship the Beast before it, but they worship the dragon, which was merged in the first Beast. This worship is sun-worship. At a very early date, Satan began to turn the minds of the people to worship the sun, and for nearly six thousand years the sun has been worshiped in some form. But the message warns against the worship of the sun. Whether it be the worship of the Parsee, praying with his face toward the sun; the idolatry of paganism; or the worship of the Image representing the papacy, in observing the first day of the week as a day of worship in its honor,—all is forbidden. God’s people will keep His commandments and the faith of Jesus. Those who reject this warning will drink of the unmixed wrath of God.
THE RECORDING ANGEL
No TRANSACTION ’scapes His eye;
Not one sigh, or groan, or tear,
Not one idle word passed by,—
All must be recorded there.
No one kneels before the throne,
If his heart is far away—
Thus the record is set down,
Thus ’twill read at that great day.
Swearer, pause! that awful name,
Just about to leave thy tongue,
Will appear in words of flame,
When thy soul with fear is wrung.
Ye who to the poor deny
Of the plenty to you given,
Tremble; for that anguished cry
Is recorded high in heaven.
Though great power may here be gained
To defraud, and cheat, and wrong,
Trample on their fellow’s claim,
Still that pen is moving on;
Though the action may in part
Screen the thoughts that move them here,
Every motive of the heart
In that record will appear.
Sinner, pause! ah! pause with dread!
Let this question claim your care;
When the judgment books are read,
Will your name be mentioned there?
Solemn warning! solemn thought!
Sinks the heart in deepest gloom.
Mercy then can not be bought;
Fixed for aye the sinner’s doom.