DISCOURAGEMENT often arises from the fact that, after beginning a new life, we often fall. Roots of pride, jealousy, hatred, strife, and impatience have been placed by Satan all along the way, and he rejoices when we fall.
The world also is watching our progress, and every deviation from the right path is noticed and commented upon. Our failures are used as stumbling-blocks for others, who seem to forget that we are only mortal, and that naturally we have the same evil tendencies as they. Besides, as soon as we accept Christ, Satan uses every artifice conceivable to cause our downfall. Forces are brought to bear on us that they know nothing of; so they stand at one side, and look at our faults through Satan’s magnifying glass. They seek to cover their sins with our failures; but every sin will be uncovered in the day of judgment, and “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
All this leads to discouragement. We know that we fall, often; and we are hurt by it. We feel sad because of it. Nevertheless, we need not despair; for there is One watching us with tender pity. “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” Why? — “For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.”
This assurance that we have one pitiful, loving Friend, though all others fail, is indeed comforting. We may always find a balm for every wound, if we turn to the word of God. We may also find a preventive. Job says, “Thy words have upholden him that was falling, and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees.” Peter says, “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall.” The Lord says through His prophet Isaiah, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. . . . For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”
The great trouble is we think of the Lord as one far away, about whom we have read and heard a great deal, but have never had a close, personal acquaintance with Him. Let us accustom ourselves to the thought that He is close by our side; that we are never one moment alone. When we feel the need of help, He is ready to protect us. Let us place our hand confidently in His, and walk with Him. No matter how rough the way may be, we can safely follow Jesus. He has trod the way before. He knows where all the protruding roots, thorns, and briars may be found; and He will help us through all the difficult places if we let Him.
“Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him.” He was translated. We who are hoping for translation when Jesus comes must, before that time, have learned to walk with God.
We ourselves can do nothing. Often Satan allows us to gain a few victories to establish confidence in self; but no sooner do we begin to feel confident of success, than our confidence is terribly shaken by a fall. Let us surrender self “unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”
Saviour, let me walk with thee;
Strengthen thou the feeble knee,
That I fall not by the way;
Hold my trembling hand, I pray.
The Daily Life of a Good Man
THE daily life of a good man is a fountain which enriches and refreshes all that come near.
— Daniel March, D. D.
GOD-GIVEN OPPORTUNITIES.
By David Paulson
DAVID PAULSON, M. D.
(Concluded.)
This can be done without taking the least advantage of the efforts that others have made to gather in the people. Here is the place to let the truth shine out in the life rather than by words, unless we can consistently speak words that will cheer some of the earnest souls in the good work they are trying to do.
There are thousands of ministers in other denominations whom God loves for their work’s sake. They are sincere, praying men, and have love for humanity in their hearts. Instead of avoiding these men, let us seek to become personally acquainted with them, inviting them to our firesides. The following words ought to bring this home to our hearts with special force: “Our ministers should seek to come near to the ministers of other denominations. Pray for and with these men, for whom Christ is interceding. A solemn responsibility is theirs. As Christ’s messengers, we should manifest a deep, earnest interest in these shepherds of the flocks.” — “Testimonies for the Church,” page 78.
There are multitudes of solid, substantial business men who are both earnest and upright, and who have secured the position which they now maintain because they possess clear brains and sound business sense. Many of these men, when they discover that the love of humanity really pulsates in our being, and that we are helping others in a practical and sensible manner, will take hold to assist us in a substantial way. It will, however, take something besides talk to impress them favorably, for the world is full of that, and they have no reason to believe that our talk is any better than that of others. They must see the life of Christ acted out.
How beautifully our duty is expressed in the following quotation: “Those who bear heavy responsibilities in public life, physicians and teachers, lawyers and judges, public officers and business men, should be given a clear, distinct message. . . . Thousands of wealthy men have gone to their graves unwarned, because they have been judged by appearance, and passed by as hopeless subjects. But, indifferent as they may appear, I have been shown that most of this class are soul-burdened. There are thousands of rich men who are starving for spiritual food. Many in official life feel their need of something which they have not. Few among them go to church; for they feel that they receive no benefit. The teaching they hear does not touch the soul. Shall we make no personal effort in their behalf? Some will ask, Can we not reach them with publications? There are many who cannot be reached in this way. It is personal effort that they need.” — Id. This shows plainly that if we depend exclusively upon our literature to do all our missionary work for us, some of the choicest element in society will never be reached. With lives overflowing with the love of Christ, we must come in touch with them through some of the other channels; and when we are apparently accomplishing the least, we shall often be doing the most.
Why not make a special note of the names of certain ones, and then present them daily at the throne of grace, and seek every way that we can to be a real help to them? God would bless us in this work. A certain amount of effort at the right time and in the right place will be a hundredfold more effective than if performed in the wrong manner, at the wrong time, and in the wrong place.
The following quotation shows us plainly that we are not continually to remind people that they are wrong, even if it is so: “The Lord wants His people to follow other methods than that of condemning wrong, even though the condemnation be just. He wants us to do something more than to hurl at our adversaries charges that only drive them farther from the truth. The work which Christ came to do in our world was not to erect barriers, and constantly thrust upon the people the fact that they were wrong.” — Id., page 121. May the Lord help us to heed this suggestion. We have so great a work to perform that we cannot afford to erect barriers that God has not bidden us to rear between us and the people.
There is an extensive work to do in medical missionary lines. In view of the following words it is incomprehensible how any one can be tempted to believe that this branch of the work has been overdone: “In every city where we have a church, there is need of a place where treatment can be given.” And why should we not have a church in every city? “A place should be provided where treatment may be given for common ailments. . . . It is the Lord’s purpose that in every part of our world health institutions shall be established as a branch of the gospel work. These institutions are to be His agencies for reaching a class whom nothing else will reach.” — Id., page 113.
What are you personally doing to encourage our young people to secure such a training as will prepare them to lead out in planting some of these new enterprises? Many of them are training themselves to engage in purely worldly enterprises, instead of putting all on the altar of service.
There are some who imagine that because the end is near, we ought not to have established and properly equipped our medical missionary college; that we ought not to establish any more medical institutions, or to plant any new missionary enterprises. But if such would simply take one broad view of the field, and see how little has yet been accomplished, they would readily recognize that the fact that the end is near is the best possible reason why we should do these things, and do them speedily. Upon this point nothing is so helpful as these words: “A great work must be done all through the world, and let no one conclude that because the end is near, there is no need of special effort to build up the various institutions as the cause shall demand. . . . When the Lord shall bid us make no further effort to build meeting-houses and establish schools, sanitariums, and publishing institutions, it will be time for us to fold our hands, and let the Lord close up the work; but now is our opportunity to show our zeal for God and our love for humanity. . . . Institutions for the treatment of the sick must be established in foreign lands, and medical missionaries must be raised up who will be self-denying, who will lift the cross, who will be prepared to fill positions of trust, and be able to educate others.” — Id., page 440.
There are many who fail to recognize the extensive educational work that is required to counteract the great tide of evil habits that is bearing humanity down, and they think that this whole work can be accomplished without connecting with it definite and positive instruction and definite and positive work. Those who are actually at the front of the battle will appreciate the force of the following quotation: “Use your means to create, rather than your influence to diminish, agencies for good. Let no one listen to the suggestion that we can exercise faith, and have all our infirmities removed, and that there is therefore no need of institutions for the recovery of health. Faith and works are not divorced. Since the Lord is soon to come, act decidedly and determinedly to increase the facilities, that a great work may be done in a short time.” — Id., page 441.
Another great opportunity that we have, and one which has been strangely neglected, is the State, county, and city prisons all over our land. There are many excellent men in these prisons, and the Lord will open up the way for us to come in contact with them if there has already been created in our hearts a genuine desire to do for them what society is not willing to do, that is, to extend to them a helping hand as they leave the prison doors. The number of wicked men outside of prison walls is far larger than is the number confined within the prisons.
Our experience in dealing with prisoners has impressed us again and again with the fact that there are many whom the Lord was unable to impress with the gospel before they got into prison, but their experience while there was such as to bring them into a state of mind in which they could be reached by the gospel.
The Lord has signally blessed the Life Boat in prison work. It has received the unqualified indorsement of prison officials all over this broad land. Why should not our churches everywhere see that the smaller prisons are supplied, first with this paper, and then with other publications as the way may open, and then follow that with personal work and gospel meetings as providence may indicate?
May the Lord help us speedily to become a people who have a realizing sense of our God-given commission, and a sanctified eyesight to recognize our God-given opportunities.
DECEMBER STUDY OF THE FIELD.
Articles on Palestine, India, Jamaica, Northern Russia, Matabeleland, and Letters and Reports in the December issue of the Missionary Magazine.
1. RELATE some of the experiences in beginning the work in Palestine. How did our laborers gain access to the homes of the people?
2. Why was it necessary to open treatment rooms? Tell how the people live in Palestine.
3. How had the Lord gone before the laborers in preparing a place for this work? What success has attended the efforts in Jaffa?
4. Describe the opening of the same kind of work in Jerusalem, and its success. What religious conditions in Palestine make the work difficult?
5. How many women are there in India? Tell something of their condition.
6. How many workers have we had devoting their entire time to them? Through whom must these women hear the last message of mercy?
7. Describe the progress of the work in north-eastern Jamaica. What circumstance has spread a knowledge of the message?
8. How many Sabbath-keepers are reported? What can you say of the condition of this field?
9. When was the message first carried into northern Russia? What step was recently taken to organize this work? How many nationalities are represented?
10. What is the membership of the north Russian mission field? Tell something of its financial condition.
11. Locate on the map some of the important cities. What appeal is made for this field?
12. Describe the plan of the school at the Mission Farm in Matabeleland. What success has attended it?
13. Locate the new out-station. What other openings could be occupied?
14. How many new Sabbath-keepers are reported in the Missionary Magazine this month? How many churches and Sabbath-schools have been organized? Mention some of the appeals that are emphasized in this number.
HOME-KEEPING
By O. M. Hayward, M. D.
O. M. HAYWARD, M. D.
There are many who have educated abilities, whose sole excuse for not doing aggressive work for God and the advancement of His truth is that they “have a home to keep.” Enslaved by “home duties” and “domestic cares,” they spend their precious energies without stint, not even allowing themselves a little quiet time to pray. Feverish and fretful, they struggle on, unsatisfied and unhappy because of a constant failure to reach their ideal; and as one that beats the air, they have frequently to acknowledge that it is all in vain.
They may take courage, and try again by introducing new regulations, or bringing some untried plan or system into the home life. This strengthens hope, and they feel better for a time; but their renewed energies are soon spent, and they are drinking again of the bitter cup of disappointment. The more completely these people become engrossed in their efforts at home-making, the greater investments they find to be necessary, of time and strength and money. To them home becomes the end and object of existence. Everything centers there. It is the hub of their world of activity. All else must bend to its advantage. Some one outside may be shelterless, may freeze or starve, and souls around may perish; but the sacred precincts of that home must not be entered, its rhythm disturbed, or its machinery interfered with.
In all the great, wide world there is nothing good, nothing worth while, nothing to be looked upon with favor, that cannot be bent to the advantage of the narrow sphere of such a home. Guests are not to be invited nor entertained according to their needs, but according to the supposed interests of the place. Can Christians be happy in this kind of home-making?—Not while the word of Christ in Luke 14: 26-33 stands as a part of the Holy Scriptures, or Matt. 10: 37, 38, sets forth the test of discipleship and the exalted plane of true Christian living.
To make home the chief aim of life is idolatry, and the struggling, disappointed home-maker may expect to perish with his idol when the earth melts with fervent heat, and the works that are therein are burned up.
The truly happy home is the mission home—the home that has a mission. This home exists for a purpose. It is a means rather than the end of life. It is a means of imparting light and life and joy, not to its inmates only, but to all who come within the range of its influence, and that will be many. Kept by faithful stewards of the grace and goodness and good things of God, this home will not be a cross and a burden to its keepers, but a delight, a rest, a factor of importance in Christian growth, and a means of dispensing Heaven’s blessings, which is union with Christ. See “Healthful Living,” par. 1154. These home-keepers will not be slaves to home cares, but as Christ’s free men and women, will be ever ready for whatever work the Master has for them to do. The whole secret is told in Luke 18: 29, 30. I wish you would turn and read it. Read it carefully, and understand its meaning; it is worth your while.
There are to be no selfish homes among those who are preparing for the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham, and who look “for a city which hath foundations,” in which Jesus is now preparing mansions for those who are faithful in the use of the homes He gives them here. As a lighthouse on a rocky, wave-lashed coast, as a beacon on shoals of sand, every Christian home is to be kept, not for personal pleasure or gratification of selfish wish, but to point a way of safety to passing mariners, in storm and in calm; and to offer shelter and refuge to those who are “ready to perish.” Christian homes are the lights along the shore of the dark, wild ocean of this sinful age.
Christians, “let the lower lights be burning” as long as “He gives to us the keeping of these lights along the shore.” “Whoso . . . seeth his brother have need,”—need of food, shelter, sympathy, home cheer, comfort, good books, prayers, education,—“and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” And because that love does not dwell in them, many of our dear Adventist home-keepers are withering and drying up, to be swept away as thrashing-floor chaff when the great Winnower garners His harvest. As lighthouse watchmen we are not only to keep the lights burning, but ever to scan the raging seas around, and whenever we see a soul in danger, or one cast upon our strip of coast, go out and bring him in.
To be happy home-keepers we must be generous home givers.
WHEN THE CHILDREN COME HOME.
By S. Frances Gilbreath-Ingersoll
S. FRANCES GILBREATH-INGERSOLL.
(Middlefield, Ohio.)
She sits in the twilight, dreaming,—
Wrinkled, and old, and gray,—
And the shadows upon the hearthstone
Are those of a by-gone day.
The years are dropped as a garment;
And down through memory's hall
She hears the patter of footsteps,
And voices of children call.
Brave Martin, the brown-haired laddie;
Sweet May, like a springtime bloom;
Wee Daisy, with heart full of sunshine,
Are all in the little room.
A tiny white stone in the churchyard
Reads, “Benny—a year and a day.”
But he nestles to-night in her bosom,
And watches the children play.
The pathway of life has been rugged;
Oft bruised were the patient feet;
And now, near the end of her journey,
She comes where the two ways meet.
Though hers trends down to the “valley,”
And theirs to the mountain height,
She heeds neither chill nor “shadow”
As she dreams they are here to-night.
There's a smile on the lips so silent;
The hands are folded in rest;
The heart, with its unfilled longing,
Lies silent within her breast.
In the sleep that knows no waking
Till the Lord in His glory shall come,
She waits the glad dawn of the morning,
When the children shall all come home.
SOME HOMEMADE NUT FOODS.
By Winnie L. Kelsea
WINNIE L. KELSEA.
The call from “W. C.,” of Virginia, which was printed in the Review of November 12, brought down from our kitchen shelf a number of recipes collected when on a similar search for substitutes for the more expensive health foods.
Much has been said concerning the use and abuse of the roasted peanut,—some claiming that peanuts prepared in that manner were practically indigestible, producing in the system large quantities of uric acid, followed by all its attendant evils. It was therefore with much relief that I read in the November Good Health, under “answers to correspondents,” the following: “Do peanuts baked in a slow oven until they are a dark-yellow color make healthful nut butter?—Ans. Peanuts may be baked in an oven, if care is taken to avoid a temperature sufficiently high to burn the nuts or to produce a dark-brown color. It is a good precaution to put a large pan of water in the oven with the nuts.”
Granting that nuts prepared in this manner are healthful, it remains to get them into the more usable form of nut butter. I have tried different ways, but have found none so satisfactory as that of browning the nuts, and grinding them through a nut butter mill, advertisements of which have appeared from time to time in our periodicals. Before grinding the nuts, the skins should be removed by rubbing the nuts between the hands, or better, by rubbing them briskly over a coarse sieve.
The recipes here given are not original, but have been culled from various sources, tried, and found good. The following makes a pleasing substitute for nuttose: Take three cups of strong caramel-cereal, strained, two cups of nut butter, one cup of cornstarch, and one teaspoonful of salt. Combine the ingredients by mixing the cornstarch, butter, and salt first; then put in the coffee, adding a little at a time, and mixing until smooth. Put in a can or dish with a tight-fitting cover, and cook in a closed steamer for from three to five hours. The contents of the can will be firm when cooked, and may be cut in slices, or used in many of the ways in which meat is served.
Another: Two cups nut butter, one and one-half cups of water, three tablespoonfuls of cornstarch, three-fourths teaspoonful of finely powdered sage, and one teaspoonful of salt. Prepare in the same manner as the foregoing recipe.
These substitutes for nuttose mold quickly in warm weather, but will keep for a week or more during winter, if kept in a cool place.
As these recipes are written for the benefit of those to whom all articles from the food factories are unavailable, it may be suggested that any coffee made from parched or roasted grains may take the place of caramel-cereal. A good coffee is made from equal parts of wheat, oats, and barley, browned in the oven like ordinary coffee, and ground.
Another way would be to take three quarts of the best bran, one quart of cornmeal, and three tablespoonfuls of molasses; mix and brown in the oven like ordinary coffee.
In preparing nut butter for the table, place the quantity desired for a meal in a bowl, add a little water, stir until smooth, then add a little more water, until the butter is of a consistency to spread smoothly. No more should be prepared than will be needed for the meal, as nut butter quickly ferments when water is added, but will keep indefinitely when placed in a covered dish just as it comes from the mill.
To those who are just beginning the use of nut butter, it may be well to add a word of caution: Avoid the too free use of it, bearing in mind that the peanut is highly nutritious, and should be eaten accordingly. Properly used, it forms a valuable addition to a vegetarian’s bill of fare.
WOMEN LOSING THEIR MODESTY.
By Max O’Rell
Max O’Rell, in Chicago American.
If women are becoming less modest, no doubt it is due to their emancipation and to the spreading of education. Outside of the peasantry of Continental Europe, a modest woman, as our grandfathers understood the epithet, is seldom to be met anywhere. The French girl of my boyhood, who never went further than uttering Oui, Monsieur, or Non, Monsieur, while in conversation with a man, is a thing of the past.
She is no longer advised by her mother as to what she will wear or what she will read. She wears and reads what she likes.
I cannot help thinking, however, that the modern craving for dress is the principal cause for the loss of modesty in women.
The streets of all the cities of the civilized world are paraded by crowds of overdressed women, whose sole preoccupation seems to be to take notice of one another’s frocks, and I will say this for them, that they also seem to be far more concerned with the kind of effect they are having on the members of their own sex than as to the figure they are cutting in the eyes of men.
I often wonder how such women look and carry themselves in their own households, before their fathers, husbands, or brothers. Those who have penetrated behind the scenes assure me that the difference is marvelous.
In any case, it has come to this, that the streets of London, Paris, New York, and hundreds of other cities are thronged with women concerning whom it would be impossible for the ordinary man to say whether they are or are not “improprieties.”
Of course, the evils growing out of this restless vanity of modern times, the craze for publicity and the constant desire to be talked about, have been pandered to and encouraged by the “society” papers and by the caterers to frivolity generally.
There is scarcely a paper published in any little town of England, America, and the British colonies that has not social columns in which it is recorded that “Miss Smith has come to town on a visit to Miss Jones,” or “Miss Robinson has left the city to go on a visit to Miss Brown,” or, again, Miss A. gave a tea party, or Mrs. B. an evening party, at which Mrs. C. looked beautiful in black, and Miss D. thrillingly lovely in electric blue.
Add to this the scandals that are related in the columns that are devoted in those papers to the so-called smart people, and which are read by women and girls of all ages, and I think you will agree with me in saying that the harm done to women by this modern literature is incalculable.
The constant increase of amusements also tends to make women more frivolous and less modest. At the root of the whole matter is the ever-increasing love of pleasure, dress, and publicity.
However, it would be unfair to contend that man has not contributed his share to this result. It is a case of action and reaction. Man has shown a growing tendency to find his pleasures outside his home. His facilities for so doing are vastly increased. Man is every year more and more ignoring the fact that a woman who properly orders and governs a house is doing more toward the common good of a household than the breadwinner in managing his business or following his trade.
I often ask myself whether men who talk so glibly about the domestic life and duties know the demand actually made by such life and duties on those conscientious women who still, under the altered conditions of these days, faithfully discharge the functions cheerfully performed by their grandmothers.
When a man goes wrong, the French say, “Cherchez la femme.” When women go wrong, I am always inclined to exclaim: “Cherchez l’homme.”
HOW TO TEACH THE LESSON.
By Ella King Sanders
For a limited time it is allotted to us to deal with the art of teaching, which has to do with the plan, the method, by means of which the science of teaching is put into practice.
First, let us ask, What is teaching?—It is helping one to know that of which he is ignorant, or, speaking figuratively, it is sowing seed.
If seeds are to be sown, the first, and one of the most important steps, is to prepare the soil. So in teaching, one of the most important steps is that the mind of the pupil be in a receptive condition. If there is whispering and disorder, the mind is unprepared for the lesson, and the teaching will be fruitless. Need we say, then, that discipline is the foundation of this preparation?
It is the work of the Sabbath-school teacher to impart knowledge. Every Sabbath-school pupil knows something, and the unknown is to be understood and grasped by the known.
Paul says, “The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.” This was the great Teacher’s method, as will be seen by a careful study of His teachings.
When He wished to teach His disciples His great work for the children of men, He took the sower in the field as an object lesson,—something with which they were familiar, something right before their eyes. The stony ground, the birds to catch away the seeds, and the weeds to choke out the life of the tender plants, were all before their eyes. With these things, so well known to them all, He sought to teach the great unknown truth of His mission on earth.
Nicodemus thought he understood the things of God. How did Jesus teach him that he did not?—He took the wind, the effects of which Nicodemus well knew; but just as its source was a mystery, so is the working of the Spirit of God.
Recall how He taught the people that He had power to forgive sins. He said to the palsied man, “Arise and walk.” By the known, they were to see and understand the unknown.
Another point in the method of the great Teacher was the simplicity of His language. With teachers of little ones especially, we plead that they speak in a known tongue. Look at things and speak from the child’s standpoint. Recall how vague and unsatisfactory were many of your ideas received in childhood.
A friend told me of her experience when a child in understanding the Fourth Commandment: “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.” She understood it to be “all that in the miz.” So everything that she did not understand thereafter was in the “miz,” that is, a mystery.
A teacher once told a class of boys that the children of Israel worshiped God “through the golden calf.” Afterward when the boys were talking about the “golden calf,” they concluded that it must have been hollow, for the children of Israel worshiped God through it. We need to be plain and simple in our language.
Had these children been taught to read the Word for themselves, they would have understood these lessons much more readily.
Right here let us plead for a reformation in the study of the Sabbath-school lessons. Let them be studied from the Bible by old and young. Lesson helps are good and useful, but we all need to go to the fountain head—the Bible. Even the little ones may be taught to read the lesson right from the Bible. Each day of the week let there be an earnest effort on the part of the parents to prepare the soil by helping the children to read the lesson from the Bible. Let the blessed Book be opened with reverence, and with a deep and hallowed consciousness of the presence of God.
We often hear it said that the lesson goes in at one ear and out at the other. Well, suppose we send the message to the soul, direct from the source, through the eyes. That is, let the child read for himself the pure words. Then use the other senses to impress the lesson.
The psalmist says, “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Think how eager little hands are to touch that they may know. Yes, and even older ones are inclined that way. This is evident from the necessary signs in museums, “Hands Off.”
Objects, pictures, and blackboards are indispensable in making the lessons impressive and lasting, but let there be the constant use of the Bible.
Here are some steps for each lesson which may help some:—
1. Preparation; that is, questioning on things known, arousing old ideas, thus producing a condition of thoughtfulness.
2. Presentation; that is, taking up the new lesson.
3. Summary, the gathering up of the central truths of the lesson.
4. Application, the bringing out of the lessons to be carried into every-day life.
The first step might be said to be the creating of an intellectual appetite. It prepares the child’s mind for the assimilation of the new knowledge.
In each lesson, ask yourself the question, What is there in nature, pictures, or blackboard exercise by which I can better impress this lesson upon the minds of my pupils?
Simply telling the story is not teaching the lesson, or simply asking the questions on the lesson sheet is not teaching it.
Questions are to stimulate mental action. They should be simple and clear, but seldom so worded that the answer may be yes or no. To illustrate: “Did Abraham show faith in God when he offered up Isaac?” “Were Joseph’s brethren angry when they sold him?” Such questions do not stimulate mental action.
To hold the attention of all the class, it is better that no pupil knows to whom the question is to be put. Hence, ask the question before calling the name.
If a pupil is listless, do not say, “We would like the attention of John,” or “Mary,” but put some interesting question to that pupil, thus arousing his interest.
Speak distinctly, and let the pupils understand that questions are not to be repeated. Repeating questions only encourages the habit of inattention.
One of the most important requisites in teaching is that questions be asked with animation, not loud and noisy, but with a pleasing, spirited manner. Dull, slow questioning wearies pupils.
When a teacher says he is prepared to teach a lesson, to our mind that means he has so mastered it that his attention will not be divided between his pupils and his lesson sheet. The pupils are worthy of all his attention.
Here is still another very important part of teaching the Sabbath-school lesson,—the bringing out of the practical lessons to be carried into daily life. Instruction should generate knowledge that incites to action. No superficial, careless study will bring out these lessons so as to make lasting impressions. The utmost tact and skill are needed in this part of the work. The divine Teacher alone can give the needed wisdom.
This brings us to the question, Can we teach what we do not know? If we do not know God, can we help others to know Him? The aim of the Sabbath-school is the salvation of its pupils. They must know God and the power of His salvation.
Here is a thought from the pen of another: “Lessons should be taught in the Sabbath-school that will shed light into the chambers of the heart and mind; and that this may be accomplished, the teacher must be under the influence of the Holy Spirit.”
If we walk with Jesus, He will teach us as He did the disciples on their way to Emmaus. Then shall we be able to lead others to the fountain of life.
Mrs. Ella King Sanders.
REQUEST FOR PRAYERS.
By Mrs. J. C. Call
I ASK the prayers of the sisters for my husband, that if it is God's will, he will be restored to health and strength again, in mind and body.
MRS. J. C. CALL.
Edgerton, Wis.
The Spread of Evil
You can't isolate yourself, and say that the evil in you shall not spread. Men's lives are as thoroughly blended with each other as the air we breathe. Evil spreads as necessarily as disease. Every sin brings suffering to others besides those who commit it.—Eliot.
DO YOU KNOW?
By Editor
A CORRESPONDENT has sent us a little seven-page leaflet containing fifty-four questions, in brief paragraphs, each one of which begins with the question, in bold type, “Do you know?” Some of these questions are put in such a way that “No” could be the only answer to them according to the Scriptures.
For instance, question number four reads:—
“Do you know that, according to the Scriptures, ‘the time of the end’ above mentioned, began in A. D. 1799, and will continue till A. D. 1915?”
We answer, No, we do not; but we do know that, according to the Scriptures, “the time of the end” began at the end of the 1260 years of papal supremacy, in 1798 (Dan. 12:40), and will continue till “all these things shall be finished.” Dan. 12:6, 7. We do not find any prophecy of the one hundred and sixteen years that are thrown in here to extend the period from 1799 to 1915. This we suppose to extend to the coming of Christ; but this would be setting a time for that event. This, according to Rev. 10:6, cannot be; for when verse 6 is fulfilled (and we are past that time now), there is to be no further movement based on prophetic time, which has entered so largely into our work in the past.
Our views on the subject of the sanctuary also cut off all future setting of time for the end, or the coming of Christ; for though a prophetic period was given to mark the beginning of the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14), the time covered by that work is left altogether indefinite, as “the patience of the saints.” Moreover it is expressly affirmed, over and over again, that the cleansing of the sanctuary will be brought to an end when no man is aware of it, or is expecting it; and so with the utmost intensity it is enjoined upon us to be on our watch continually, lest that day come upon us and find us “sleeping.” Mark 13:35, 36.
In question 19 reference is made to the “times of restitution” spoken of in Acts 3:19, 21; and then follows question 20:—
“Do you know that St. Peter there declares that these times of blessing will not precede, but will follow, the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ?”
We answer, No; we do not know any such thing; but we know that the text represents the blessings there promised, as introduced by the coming of Christ, not following that event. Of course that part of the restitution that is dependent on the coming of Christ for its accomplishment will follow that event; but there is an important event specified which must precede that coming, which is beginning to be too largely and dangerously overlooked in the religious world to-day.
We refer to what is stated in verse 19: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ,” etc. This reads, “When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” In the Greek this passage reads, “so that,” or “in order that,” “the refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and He shall send Jesus Christ.” This latter statement refers beyond question to the second coming of Christ, and what is stated before must precede that event. And what are these things? “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” This puts the coming of the refreshing before the coming of the Lord; and this must be preceded by the blotting out of sins. But this blotting out of sins is the closing up of the cleansing of the sanctuary and the finishing of the work of Christ as mediator for mankind; but this is the close of probation; and this is the point we wish to make and emphasize; that is, that there can be no probation extended and no offers of forgiveness of sin held out to the world after Christ comes. This is a very seductive but appalling error largely held out to men at the present time. We feel bound to do all in our power to disabuse men’s minds of that idea.
But what about the refreshing? Do we get none of that before Christ comes and probation ends?—Undoubtedly we do; for the outpouring of the Spirit, the latter rain, which must be included in the “refreshing,” is necessary to prepare us for the crisis and test we are then to meet. But the full extent and glorious reality of the promised refreshing we shall not probably experience before Christ appears. There will be much to be fulfilled to us, and enjoyed by us, after that event, but all that we receive before will be necessary to prepare us for His coming. But let no one get the idea that there will be probation and hope of forgiveness of sin and salvation after the coming of Christ. Secure forgiveness by repentance and confession before that time comes.
“Now, as never before, is to be sounded the invitation, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.’”