p. 112 | Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 63. (12/23/1915)

Place in the Plan of Salvation

By ELBRIDGE M. ADAMS

The Holy Spirit — No. 3

Place in the Plan of Salvation

ELBRIDGE M. ADAMS

ALTHOUGH the Holy Spirit is so very important to us in all that pertains to life and spirituality, its identity has not been revealed. “It is not essential for us to be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Spirit is the Comforter, ‘the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father.’ It is plainly declared regarding the Holy Spirit, that in his work of guiding men into all truth, ‘he shall not speak of himself.’”

“The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them; but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden.”—The Acts of the Apostles, pages 51, 52. “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, ‘that we may do all the words of this law.’” Deut. 29:29.

But though we do not know its nature, we may know the part it acts in the redemption of our souls and in the work of saving others. “The office of the Holy Spirit is distinctly specified in the words of Christ: ‘When he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.’”—Id., page 52.

Two things Jesus has left us to do. One is to purify our own lives, and the other is to preach the gospel of the kingdom to all the world. No argument is necessary to convince us that to overcome sin in our hearts is no little task. And when we get a view of the world with its millions in darkness and its hindrances to the preaching of the gospel, together with the few who are thus engaged, we almost feel that we are facing a work that is impossible of accomplishment.

Paul tells us that our warfare is not waged against flesh and blood, but “against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Eph. 6:12, R. V. The thought of meeting in battle the wicked spirits—those whom we cannot see, and yet who are possessed of supernatural power—would be disheartening in the extreme, did we not have the promise of supernatural help. God knows our utter weakness, and has told us, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.” Of the disciples we read in The Desire of Ages, pages 410, 411, trade edition: “They are to contend with supernatural forces, but they are assured of supernatural help. All the intelligences of heaven are in this army. And more than angels are in the ranks. The Holy Spirit, the representative of the Captain of the Lord’s host, comes down to direct the battle. Our infirmities may be many, our sins and mistakes grievous; but the grace of God is for all who seek it with contrition. The power of Omnipotence is enlisted in behalf of those who trust in God.”

It is sometimes painful to think that all our sins, selfishness, and infirmities are known to God, and that nothing is hid from him. But it is well for us that our God is perfectly acquainted with us. He takes no advantage of this knowledge. He does not laugh at our weaknesses, nor expose them unnecessarily to others. But he looks in pity upon us, extending his strong arm to lift us up. He has admonished us to ask help of him. But he does not leave us to do even this in our own strength. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” “The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God. In order to serve him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will purify the heart and renew the mind, giving us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us a willing obedience to all his requirements. This is true worship. It is the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit every sincere prayer is indited, and such prayer is acceptable to God. Wherever a soul reaches out after God, there the Spirit’s working is manifest, and God will reveal himself to that soul. For such worshipers he is seeking. He waits to receive them, and to make them his sons and daughters.”—Id., page 211.

The following words show the efficiency of the Holy Spirit, and to what extent we may expect its help. This promise ought to bring courage and hope to the weakest heart: “All who consecrate soul, body, and spirit to God, will be constantly receiving a new endowment of physical and mental power. The inexhaustible supplies of heaven are at their command. Christ gives them the breath of his own spirit, the life of his own life. The Holy Spirit puts forth its highest energies to work in heart and mind. The grace of God enlarges and multiplies their faculties, and every perfection of the divine nature comes to their assistance in the work of saving souls. Through cooperation with Christ they are complete in him, and in their human weakness they are enabled to do the deeds of Omnipotence.”—Id., page 993.

In the Bible we find many expressions similar to these: “He that abideth in me, and I in him;” “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” Now, the question may present itself, How does Christ dwell in us? This is the answer: “It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal.”—Id., page 454.

Has it ever occurred to you that the death of Christ on the cross would have been of no avail without the Holy Spirit? The following significant words are taken from The Desire of Ages, pages 802, 803:—

“In describing to his disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought that to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired his own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help he had provided for his church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that he could solicit from his Father for the exaltation of his people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given his Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress his own character upon his church.”

Now if Jesus himself relies on the Holy Spirit to make his great sacrifice really effectual in our lives, what may we expect to accomplish while endeavoring to preach the gospel without the presence of this same Spirit?

“The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit, will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the Word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken. No amount of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel of light without the cooperation of the Spirit of God. The sowing of the gospel seed will not be a success unless the seed is quickened into life by the dew of heaven. Before one book of the New Testament was

written, before one gospel sermon had been preached after Christ’s ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon the praying apostles. Then the testimony of their enemies was, ‘Ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.’”—Id., pages 803, 804.

Sometimes we are almost ready to say, If it is a matter of so great importance, why does not God give us his Spirit in greater measure? But we must find the cause of failure in ourselves.

“The lapse of time has wrought no change in Christ’s parting promise to send the Holy Spirit as his representative. It is not because of any restriction on the part of God that the riches of his grace do not flow earthward to men. If the fulfillment of the promise is not seen as it might be, it is because the promise is not appreciated as it should be. If all were willing, all would be filled with the Spirit. Wherever the need of the Holy Spirit is a matter little thought of, there is seen spiritual thought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death. Whenever minor matters occupy the attention, the divine power which is necessary for the growth and prosperity of the church, and which would bring all other blessings in its train, is lacking, though offered in infinite plenitude.”—The Acts of the Apostles, page 50.

Shall we not, brethren, give the Holy Spirit its place? There is nothing else in the world that we need so much.

“Since this is the power by which we are to receive power, why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, and preach concerning it? The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to those who serve him than parents are to give good gifts to their children. For the daily baptism of the Spirit, every worker should offer his petition to God. Companies of Christian workers should gather to ask for special help, for heavenly wisdom, that they may know how to plan and execute wisely. Especially should they pray that God will baptize his chosen ambassadors in mission fields with a rich measure of his Spirit. The presence of the Spirit with God’s workers will give the proclamation of truth a power that not all the honor or glory of the world could give.”—Id., pages 50, 51.

Musical Lives

By J. W. McCord

SET your life to music, brother, Don't leave out the minor key; Sorrow's touch is skillful, brother, Striking chords of sympathy. Joy and sorrow have their pleasure, Both possess some magic power; Learn the secret of their treasure, It will cheer some lonely hour.

Set your life to music, brother, Knowing, ere you touch a key, That the Christian only, brother, Truly sings life's melody. Tears and laughter, joy and pleasure, In love's setting, sweetly lay; Life becomes a golden measure When music crowns the pilgrim's way.

— J. W. McCord.

Nazareth, South India

By E. D. THOMAS

E. D. THOMAS

THE twenty-first of February, 1915, we opened a series of meetings in our school building. We printed some notices announcing our meetings, and had them circulated among the people in the near-by villages. Different phases of the truth were presented night after night; and we had a fairly good attendance at nearly all our services.

Just as soon as certain ones in the community found that some were becoming interested in what we preached, they began to teach them many false things concerning us as a denomination and as individuals. We paid little attention to all these false rumors, for we all knew that they could do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. We have the assurance that the power of the Spirit was manifested in all the services. Many obtained victories over bad habits and sins, and are determined to have a closer walk with the Saviour. As a result of this effort, many honest ones are interested in the message. On the first of this month, it was my privilege to bury nine persons with their Lord in baptism, two of whom are Malays. These are the first fruits from that part of our field.

A good interest is still being manifested here, and we are hoping that some others will become obedient to the truth in a short time. I feel grateful to all my fellow workers at this station, who have helped me in many ways to make this work a success.

On the third of May, our first Ingathering service for the year was held, in which 195 rupees in offerings and tithes were given. Both these services were blessed occasions.

We are of good courage, and are pressing the battle forward. We desire an interest in the prayers of God's people.

Itinerating Under Difficulties

By B. A. MEEKER

B. A. MEEKER

It was Brother Ham’s desire that I accompany him to Kongmoon. The trip occupied the most of one day. In the section between Canton and Kongmoon one may see thousands of acres which have been flooded. The rice fields have been totally destroyed, and the water is still unusually high. In many places the farmers are unable to plant new crops.

When we reached Kongmoon, we found that much of the city was flooded. We took off our shoes and waded through the water. The attendance at the Sabbath service was not good because of the flood, but we experienced God’s blessing, and felt encouraged at the prospects for real missionary work in that large city.

Brother Ham spoke to the people concerning the worship of false gods. He called their attention to the one true God. The texts that he read were very plain. It seems that wherever one goes it would not be amiss to emphasize the fact that the God whom we serve is the Creator of heaven and earth. This statement of truth seems to make a deep impression upon the Chinese mind.

In the afternoon we went to a city about five miles from Kongmoon. Here we had an interesting Bible study with a family of three adults and several children. There was good attention paid, and a profitable hour was spent. This family are deeply interested in gospel work, and for some years have had services in their home. They have a little chapel, and have invited our evangelist to hold studies with them. They have fully decided to obey the truth, and are

asking for baptism. We feel much encouraged to see them so earnest in the service of God.

When we went to our boat, we waded through water up to our knees. If the water had not been so deep, we could have met more people, but we feel that as it was, our trip was not in vain. This work of carrying God’s sunshine to darkened hearts is the most precious employment in which man may engage. Let us be always in his service.

Love That Never Faileth

By J. R. Miller

We set out in the morning with purposes of usefulness, of true living, of gentle-heartedness, of patience, of victoriousness; but in the evening we find only fragments of these good intentions wrought out. But God's intentions are all carried out. No power can withstand him or balk his will. It was in this thought that Job found peace in his long, sore trial. All things were in God's hands, and nothing could hinder his designs of love. Our God is infinitely strong. In all earthly confusions, strifes, and troubles, his hand moves, bringing good out of evil for those who trust in him. He can execute all his purposes of good. He is never hindered in blessing his children.—J. R. Miller.

The Malaysian Mission

By F. A. DETAMORE

F. A. DETAMORE

On July 4 I left Singapore for Sandakan, British North Borneo, where Elder R. P. Montgomery and his wife live, the only foreign workers in Borneo. It is an eight days' journey, and the boat service is very poor, so that it was quite a tedious trip.

Brother Montgomery went to Borneo about two years ago, and now we have thirty-five members there, which shows that the Lord has gone before us. We have believers in Labuan, Jesselton, and Sandakan; but the greater part of our effort has been at the last-named place. Here we have a good Sabbath school and church, and the believers rejoice in the message. A school of about twenty pupils is in operation, and is almost self-supporting.

We have a Chinese worker in Jesselton, and an interest is being awakened. About five miles from this town there is a large settlement of emigrants from China, living on farms. Not being satisfied with their religious teaching, some of them have made request that we send them a worker. In fact, they asked us to build a church and place a minister in charge of it. We decided to build a bamboo house and test the interest. It was not long before a number publicly professed their belief in present truth, some of whom have since been baptized. We hope our work is permanently established there.

Elder R. C. Porter met with us in council at this place, and also at Sandakan, and we greatly appreciated his help and his words of encouragement. While he was with us at Sandakan, we looked for land on which to build a home for our workers. At present they are in small quarters above the meetinghouse, wedged in between native families that are anything but clean. They have no front room, so they cannot invite people to visit them. Their health is not good, and they must take a furlough soon. We hope to hear that a family has been selected to go to Borneo to join these workers, and we trust we shall have the privilege of erecting healthful homes for them, so that their health may not be constantly in jeopardy.

Our training school in Singapore is doing well, and God is sending us young native students from sources that we knew not of before. They are taking right hold of their studies, and some of them will soon be ready for service. Recently we had baptism in Singapore, five out of the seven baptized being from the school. Four were young men who came from Battakland, and have been in the school for a number of months. They are preparing for the work. One is a Tamil from Kuala Lumpur, who was not keeping the Sabbath when he started to school. Thus the school is not only a training center, but an evangelizing agency as well.

We shall be able to start the publishing work in the near future. All we lack is the facilities, after the editor and the bookman arrive. We have experienced native printers who will be able to carry the work forward. Our Malay paper has done well, and now we must get out cheap books and small tracts as fast as we can. This will do much to advance our work. Wherever the printed page has gone, interests have sprung up.

Thus far this year we have baptized thirty-five, and still a large number expect soon to take the step. From every mission station the good news comes of interested ones and of those who wish to be baptized. Pray for us.

Itinerating in Barotseland

By S. M. KONIGMACHER

S. M. KONIGMACHER

I HAVE just returned from a very interesting trip to the Zambesi River, during which I held fifty-five village meetings and eight lantern services.

When I was ready to start on my trip, I sent a boy out to find carriers. He came in with three boys from a near-by kraal. One was too small for the three-hundred-mile walk, part of the distance being in the hills; the other two were accepted, and they said they would go home to their village and get their blankets and return.

Toward evening I tied up my loads and waited, but no boys appeared. As night drew on, I went out and found them sitting around a fire. One said he had work, and the other refused to go, though he gave no reason for refusing or for coming in the first place. Just then one of our old teachers came up and said he would go with me, and after finding a strong man to take the place of the boys who refused, we were ready to start.

It was moonlight, and we slept that night under the starry sky, in a village about two miles from home. We were still one carrier short, but I was successful in finding one at Chitonga’s village. We carried with us a supply of coarse salt, which is more useful in some places than money, for buying native foodstuffs.

Our route was along the dry bed of the Lifue River. In some places the path led over rocky mountains, through river beds, and along beautiful rough cañons filled with great bowlders and sparkling water.

The great difficulty of a trek at this time of year is to get water, for many of the villages have to get their water by digging holes in the sand of the dry river beds, and the water is not always the best. At one large pool a number of baboons had dug a hole beside the pool, and were drinking the water as it filtered through the sand.

In many of the villages we found little archways built, which we learned were the shrines where the offering was made to the spirits. This is different than in Nyasaland, where the natives erect little huts for this purpose.

In many places the people were at first afraid to come to the service; but as we sang, and showed pictures of the Lord Jesus and his work, their fear vanished and they came quite close so as to be able to see well; and as the truth began to dawn on their darkened minds, we could see by their gestures and an occasional remark that they understood. At night we used the lantern to tell the story of Jesus and his love.

In some places we found the natives building new villages; but in others they were living in very poor, dirty huts, as they have to go a long distance to get trees, binding bark, grass, and water to make the mud walls.

As we approached the Zambesi, we observed that the villages were arranged differently than in the places where cattle raising is the chief occupation. Along the river we found grain bins built in the village, often two or three bins under one circular roof. These bins are sealed with mud, and the space which is not used for grain is used as a sitting room and kitchen combined. In some of the villages there is no shade from the merciless sun, except under the roof of these grain bins.

The people are of the Bawe tribe, and have had very little missionary work done among them. Consequently they are in great need of help. Among their evil habits is the smoking of African opium in pipes made from gourds,

drawing the smoke through the water in the gourd. Even the small children have their pipes also.

In some of the villages I saw great pots filled with a kind of bean that grows wild, while all along the river bank there are small gardens planted to green corn. But as I had little salt and no cloth, it was hard to buy food, for money is not wanted.

The river looked beautiful, after drinking from the water holes in the sand; but it was filled with crocodiles, and one evening a hippopotamus sported very near where we were camping. We did not dare to swim, but bathed in the shallow water near the bank. In one village where we stopped, we saw the natives climb into great high watch-houses when it came time to retire, while we had to sleep out in the open on the ground. They said there was nothing in the bush, and no wild animals had come into the village for a long time; but of course, if anything did come in the night, they were high and dry.

The head man of this district is a good chief, who wanted us to send him a teacher. About two years ago four schools were started along the upper Zambesi, and he had kept the books in good condition.

On Sabbath we spent the forenoon in village work, and the afternoon trying to keep cool, as the village was not along the river bank. Toward evening I was tempted to turn back, though we had only another day’s hard trek before I reached the end of my trip; but I called the boys together, had prayer, and then we pushed on. It was hard to get food for the five carriers, and an effort to keep them at work. I had no salt, no cloth, and no change; my stretcher was torn; the nails began to come through my shoes; and we had another long hard climb of three days and a half before we could get home.

But in the strength of the Lord, we pushed on, telling the glad tidings of his soon coming wherever we could persuade the people to listen as we passed through the villages. I arrived home safe, and was glad to find my loved ones well, though Mrs. Konigmacher had had fever in my absence. Two boys who had gone in another direction reported that they had held eighty-one services, and now two other boys are out working in still other villages. We look to God to bless the efforts made to carry to these people the good news of salvation.

Your Boy's Books

By Walter Prichard Eaton

If any apology were needed for reprinting, in the Home department of our church paper, the following stirring article by Walter Prichard Eaton, in a recent number of the Woman's Home Companion, it may perhaps be found in the fact that on a recent Sabbath afternoon the editor saw, in two Seventh-day Adventist homes, two volumes of one of the series referred to below. In one, the book was provided for a lad of fifteen; in the other, it was being eagerly read by a child of ten. Boys will read, and so will girls, and they will read what interests them. It is the part of wisdom for parents to recognize this fact, and not to miss the golden opportunity, which comes but once, of cultivating in their children a wholesome, happy taste in books, which will be at once a guide and a safeguard to them in all the days to come.

“You wouldn’t let your twelve-year-old boy read a nickel novel, one of those ‘yellow backs’ with pictures of Indians and ‘bad men’ on the covers, would you?—that is, not if you knew it. You wouldn’t give such a book to your Sabbath-school class of boys, would you? You would be ashamed of yourself, either as parent or teacher—ashamed and humiliated. Nevertheless, the chances are that as parent or teacher you may be doing just these things. Ignorantly, with the best of intentions, you are letting your boy read, or helping other boys to read, this cheap, sensational fiction, which is to good reading exactly what whisky is to milk. You are giving your boy, or somebody else’s boy, whisky instead of milk, poison instead of food.

“The reason you are doing it—or, if not you, thousands and thousands of other American parents and teachers—is because the sales of the old-fashioned dime and nickel novel have fallen off below the margin of profit, and the publishers are now issuing these dime and nickel novels bound in boards, often pretty well printed, and are selling them from a quarter to as high as seventy-five cents, not so much directly to the boys, as of old, but to the parents. These ‘thrillers’ have now the external air of literary respectability, and because they are cheap, parents and teachers all over the land buy them without realizing their real content.

“I have on my desk at this moment a book which sells for a nickel, and would be burned in the stove by any careful parent. The volume is issued as a single number of a weekly periodical (‘an ideal publication for the American youth,’ it calls itself!), each number of this weekly being a book of cheap adventure written by the same author. On the back cover is a list of ‘some of the back numbers which can be supplied,’ and the list embraces between two and three hundred stories of adventure about two brothers. It is obvious on a moment’s reflection that any ‘author’ who can write hundreds of adventure stories about two boys has no regard whatever for the probabilities, or even the possibilities, of actual existence. Indeed, these lurid yarns have long been known for what they are by all who have investigated them.

“But also on my desk is a book of over three hundred pages, with a well-printed ‘jacket’ showing an attractive picture of boys playing football and baseball, and bearing inside the imprint of a Philadelphia publishing house. The type and paper are not bad. The whole get-up is sufficiently respectable to make the book physically desirable as a present, and the price is only fifty cents, which, of course, adds to the desirability.

“This book is by the very same author who supplies the material for the

‘weekly’ already mentioned, and the hero is the same hero. In short, this good-looking fifty-cent book is nothing more nor less than an old nickel novel in a dress suit. The hero, supposedly a student at Yale, still has the same procession of impossible and lurid adventures from one end of the continent to the other. The same pernicious elements of coarse language, cheap style, unguarded sex references, and impossible deeds of prowess fill it from cover to cover. It ought to go in the stove just as quickly as its nickel brother. Yet it is probably sold by bookshops that wouldn’t handle the cheap ‘yellow backs,’ and it is bought by heedless parents and teachers who wouldn’t dream of giving its prototype to their sons or pupils, any more than they’d give them cocaine or whisky.

“The other day, in Massachusetts, I went down to our local store where books are sold, and for twenty-five cents bought a neat volume called ‘Tom Swift and His Photo Telephone.’ The man who sold it to me wouldn’t dream of selling the nickel thrillers. Yet I discovered that the Tom Swift series is nothing but nickel thrillers in disguise.

“The author, in chapter two, leaves an aeroplane tangled on the roof, and thus clumsily interrupts his narrative:—

“And while preparations are under way to rescue the birdman from the roof, I will take just a few minutes to tell you something more about Tom Swift and his numerous inventions, as set forth in the previous books of this series.”

“We learn that Tom Swift—who is supposed, mind you, to be scarcely more than a boy—has made enough marvelous inventions to crowd Edison into the kindergarten class, and has had more adventures than Sinbad the Sailor. . . .

“To let boys read such impossible rubbish is nothing short of a crime. It destroys their sense of realism, it atrophies their powers of literary appreciation, it debauches their imaginations, it makes science contemptible.

“I could go on, enumerating and quoting from a host of boys’ books that I have read personally, all of which are nothing but dime or nickel novels in disguise, often written by the very men who used to write the yellow backs; but often, too, with the language toned down to a deceptive aping of literary models—being, therefore, all the more stiff and wooden—and with bits of moral sentiment tossed in here and there, perhaps to catch the eye of adult readers who might skim the pages as a precautionary measure. Many of these books are ‘boy scout’ stories; but needless to say no true scout master would buy them for his troop. In them boy scouts fly over the Rocky Mountains in aeroplanes as easily as a real scout rides his bicycle to school; they capture robber bands in Mexico; they range from the arctic ice to the jungles of the Amazon without the slightest trouble. . . .

“As I have hinted, the reason these books sell in such quantities is because they are cheap, and parents and teachers are careless. While it is no longer true that reprints of good books cannot be purchased for twenty-five or fifty cents, at the same time good new fiction for boys is usually sold at a higher price.

“Any good teacher or wise parent knows, of course, that mere prohibition is an ineffective and silly weapon. Not ‘Don’t’ but ‘Do,’ not prohibition but suggestion, is the method to apply. Give the young boy books, give him plenty of books, let him read and browse, and have his fill of adventure—but, see that those books are the right sort. Find out what they are like yourself before you put them into your son’s hands. They may be dynamite, as Franklin Matthews says, to blow your boy’s brains out. Don’t sacrifice his brains, his imagination, all his chances of future literary taste, sense of style, appreciation of good writing, for the sake of saving fifty cents.

“You can tell very easily whether the books are the right sort, simply by reading them. If the style is crude and coarse, if the plot and incidents are not conducted with that due regard to sequence and probability which characterizes the work of any genuine author, if the adventures are not within the possible powers of the boys in the story, and are not wholesome in their suggestion, if the manner of narration hasn’t ease and charm and the sense of good breeding and clean character behind it—throw the book into the fire. Let this be your motto: Read before you buy!”

Bibles Distributed Among Soldiers

THE British and Foreign Bible Society's output of Bibles and Testaments among soldiers is very large. Among Russian soldiers confined in Germany, the society has distributed over 450,000 Testaments, Gospels, and Psalters in the languages of the Russian Empire. About one half the cost of these has been furnished the society by the Sunday schools in America. Other soldiers have also been furnished large numbers of Scripture portions.

Conducted by Mrs. I. H. Evans, Takoma Park, Washington D. C

By Mrs. I. H. Evans; Miss Lora E. Clement

Assisted by Miss Lora E. Clement

Through the columns of this department, hints will be given on all matters pertaining to the home life. Short articles and letters are solicited from home makers, telling of their everyday experiences,—their joys and sorrows, their failures and successes.

Promises to Old Age

By Mary E. Mount

MARY E. MOUNT

E'en to your old age I am he, Jehovah is my name; Thee have I kept through all thy life, And I am still the same.

Oh, do not fear to trust in me! Though hoar hairs crown thy brow, Though poverty and care oppress, I'll not forsake thee now.

For I have made, and I will bear, And will deliver thee; Never will I forsake the soul That wholly leans on me.

Thou art engraven on my hands, Each faithful one I know; Far greater than a mother's love, My love to thee doth flow.

Yea, as the apple of mine eye I'll keep thee day and night; Ye are my chosen, faithful ones, And precious in my sight.

A Little Lesson in Obedience

By Flora Huntley

He was only eighteen months old, too young, the grandmother thought, to understand discipline except in its negative form. But his mother believed that he comprehended exactly what she wished. For some time he had been in the habit of carrying his father's slippers to the closet every morning while his mother tidied up the room. It finally came to be a regular morning task for Tommy to put away all the shoes or slippers that were in the room, and he apparently enjoyed it immensely.

One morning, when he delayed, his mother suggested that it was time to put away daddy's slippers; but Tommy was indifferent. Again she called his attention to the accustomed task, but there was no response. Having given a definite command, she felt that she must be obeyed, and she carefully explained to the baby what she wished him to do.

He picked up the slipper, took a few steps, and threw it down angrily. His mother then left the room, and told him he might come out as soon as he had put the slippers away.

For a full hour he struggled with himself, crying and picking up the shoes, only to throw them down. At last the mother heard the little feet moving slowly across the floor. Then they became more swift, and after two or three trips to the closet paused before the door. She opened it, and found Tommy smiling, with his task all completed.

It was a triumph for the baby as well as the mother, for he had learned self-control as well as obedience to a command. He is still a stubborn and independent child, but at four years old he has mastered a bad temper.—Flora Huntley.

Meddling

By Agnes Lewis Caviness

AGNES LEWIS CAVINESS

It is very easy for us to imagine our little folks are too young to understand many things we want of them. One eminent professor of child study has said, “You may be sure your year-old baby understands about three times as much as you give him credit for.” The sacredness of personal property is a lesson that must be learned early. We should leave as few perishable things as possible about to tempt little fingers; at the same time the home ought not to be turned over to playthings. I do not believe that seventeen months is too young for you to “spat the paddy” that takes mother’s things. Then, when the offense is repeated, one must take time to sit down and say, “Put it back, dear; you remember mother does not let you have that. You may have this [offering in exchange some unforbidden object], but you must put that away.” Then you will have to stay and see that you are obeyed. It will take time; and your beans may be burning at that minute; but run put more water on them, and come back to your lesson. Be in earnest, but do not scold. Meddling is an unlovely habit, but it can be overcome; and then your little daughter will understand the difference between her own things and mother’s, and will not feel hampered in respecting other people’s rights.

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