Earlier text: The Law of GodUnion With Christ
By C. M. S.
THE union which Christ teaches us should exist between himself and his followers is comprehended in the one word, Love. Humanity had severed the cord that should have held it to the Heart of the universe, and infinite Love came down to join again the broken band. God was offering his grace to a world that was turning its back upon him, and he holds it forth still. There is infinite harmony in that union. Christ declares, “I and my Father are one;” and again, “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” “All mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” In that union with God through Christ there is no bitterness, no oppression, no envy, no malice, toward any. Christ illustrates that union by the vine and the branches. “I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.” In that union there is life. It flows from the vine to the branches, and they bring forth fruit as a result of that life union. Separated from it, the channel of that life stream is cut off. The branch withers, the fruit decays, and the keeper of the vineyard finds nothing but fuel for the flames where there might have been glorious fruit. In that illustration is the story of the gospel work and its results. There are the two classes, the one in union with God, bearing fruit to his glory; the other cut off from that union, withering into self and perishing. The union of the human with the human for the purpose of accomplishing selfish ends or forcing one selfish purpose against another, is for a fragment of time only, and when adhered to, the birthright of eternity is sold for a mess of pottage. It struggles for self, fights for self, exalts self to be its god, and then lies down in the ashes of its idol to wake no more forever. How insignificant, how worthless, how transient, are the fruits of such unions! In the working out, class is arrayed against class, company against company, hatred against avarice, man against man, to force the coffers of other men; and when it is worked out, all that might have been is lost, and the full coffers of eternity are bolted and barred against them. Is it worth it? How much better, how infinitely much better, is that union which Christ is instituting among men! Running all through it are the golden threads of love, and hatred and strife and accusation have no place. Selfishness is sacrificed; but in its place we have all working for the good of one another, and the hearts and interests of all twined and intertwined and woven into one harmonious web of love and peace, stretching out in undimmed and unending beauty as long as the universe holds and God lives; works of love and mercy here, and all the riches and blessings of eternal life when Christ shall come. That is a union which is God-ordained, a union which brings together heaven and earth, God and man; that mollifies the wounds that sin has made, and pours in the healing oil and wine. It brings back the lost sheep to the fold of eternal security. It puts the best robe on the shoulders of the prodigal, and makes him again the unquestioned member of his Father’s household. It puts joy in the place of sorrow, smiles in the place of tears, exultation in the place of despondency, life in the place of death, an eternal inheritance in the place of a forfeited estate, and in the day of God’s completed purpose it puts a loyal and united universe under the benign sway of the God of love. All that, and more which never has entered the mind of man, is wrapped up in that union with Christ which the Word teaches, and which he himself invites us to enjoy. Strange Gods of American Women
By F. M. Wilcox
UNDER this heading the Literary Digest of July 13 speaks of the great inroads being made by the religions and cults of the Orient in the United States. Annually the churches of this country are contributing about twenty million dollars for the extension of the gospel in heathen lands, but "from the very fields where all this money is garnered, the Eastern religions, against which these efforts are made, are gathering their harvest also." Mrs. Gross Alexander, in the Methodist Quarterly Review, says of this propaganda:— "Yoga" classes, which were first made fashionable by the society set, have become in many cities as popular as Browning and Shakespeare classes. Placing the Hindu scriptures above the Bible, many women to-day are studying8 these teachings who were formerly Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Catholics, and Jewesses. This woman, quoting another writer, Mabel Potter Daggett, charges that the influences of these Oriental beliefs have been attended by most evil results in many who have become their advocates. After citing a number who have become mentally unbalanced, and who are now confined in insane asylums, she says, "Many more examples could be cited of wrecked minds lost through the pursuit of this philosophy." Of the subtle ways in which these mystic teachings are presented, and of the manner in which they are linked with the Christian religion, the Digest quotes from the farewell address delivered by one of the Hindu priests, Baba Bharati. He says:— It has been my privilege these five years past to preach to you your own Christ, even as much as my god Krishna. I came not here to thrust my religion upon you, but to help you to understand your own God and your own religion. If I have talked of Krishna and of the Vedas and Hindu philosophy, it was only to illuminate the teachings of your own Christ, to present him before you in the limelight of the Vedas, and the X-ray of your scientific philosophies. There is another form of Oriental philosophy practised in many cities of the United States; namely, the teaching and practise of sun-worship. Regarding this Mrs. Daggett is quoted as saying:— At least fourteen thousand Americans are joining daily in this worship of the Lord Mazda and the daily adoration of the sun. There are Mazdazan centers in thirty cities of the United States, as well as in Canada, South America, England, Germany, and Switzerland; and they are all the remarkable growth of the past ten years. It was about 1901 that "His Humbleness, the Prince of Peace," appeared in Chicago. His largest temple is located there on Lake Park Avenue, while his lesser one stands on the lawn of Dr. Hilton's residence, in Lowell; and ground has been consecrated for a third temple in Montreal. That the sun may do its perfect work, the cult encourages the wearing of as little clothing as the law allows. When we come to consider some of the cults and systems of American origin, it can not be considered so strange after all that there should be found in this country those who take up with the Oriental philosophies. It is no more strange that professed Christians should turn from the Bible and Bible doctrines to Hindu philosophy than that they should accept the vagaries of Christian Science or fall into the delusive snares of Spiritualism, both of which are products of Western thought. They all show, however, the sad degeneracy which is creeping into the so-called Christian church. Like the Athenians of old, men to-day are continually seeking to search out some new thing. Human reasoning and idle philosophical speculation are supplanting Christian faith and simplicity. The remedy is to be found in a return to simple Bible faith and practise; in the church of God girding on the sword of the Spirit, and going forth to withstand these evil influences that are threatening her destruction. . . . F. M. W. Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy
By W. A. S.
The Hand of God in History — No. 16
Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy
The "Two Witnesses" (Concluded)
"THAT is the book that makes heretics," said the Oxford priests to William Tyndale, the English tutor, as they saw him earnestly studying the Greek New Testament, just issued by Erasmus. They were right. Tyndale found the saving grace of the Lord Jesus in the Sacred Book. The witness of divine truth in his soul led to the resolve: "If God spares my life, I will, before many years have passed, cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than the priests do." Driven to the Continent, he began in seclusion and quiet to print the New Testament in English, shipping the books to faithful agents in London, who scattered them abroad. He worked as under sentence of death. But before he could be brought to the stake, the witnessing of the word had marked England for the Reformation. "Rome thundered death, but Tyndale's dauntless eye
Looked in Death's face and smiled, Death standing by.
In spite of Rome, for England's faith he stood,
And in the flames he sealed it with his blood." The agents might perish, but the witness of the Scriptures themselves could never be suppressed. "The Scriptures sowed the seed in England," says Wylie, "and the blood of martyrs watered it." Brave Anne Askew, who went to the stake in London with "an angel's countenance and a smiling face," as an eyewitness bore record, made her last confession of faith in the living Word as the everlasting light: "Therefore look; what he hath said unto me with his own mouth in his holy gospel, that have I, with God's grace, closed up in my heart; and my full trust is, as David saith, that it shall be a lantern to my footsteps." And "after the death of Anne Askew," says Foxe, proclamation was made (July 8, 1546):— First, from henceforth no man, woman, nor person, of what estate, condition, or degree soever he or they be, shall, after the last day of August next ensuing, receive, have, take, or keep in his or their possession, the text of the New Testament of Tyndale's or Coverdale's translation in English, nor any other than is permitted by the act of Parliament made in the session of the Parliament holden at Westminster in the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth year of His Majesty's most noble reign; nor after the said day shall receive, have, take, or keep, . . . —"Acts and Monuments," Vol. V, page 565. All copies of the forbidden books or portions were ordered delivered to the authorities to be "openly burned." What a hunger for the life-giving word is revealed in the wonderful and yet cheering story of those days. "God's Holy Word was prized when 'twas unsafe to read it." Here are several items from among many copied out by John Foxe from just one episcopal register, that of Longland, bishop of Lincoln (for the years 1518-21). Indictments were found against Bible lovers as follows:— Against John Barret—"because he, John Barret, was heard in his own home, before his wife and maid there present, to recite the epistle of St. James, which epistle with many other things he had perfectly without book." "John Newman was impeached because he was present in the house of John Barret, at the reading of Scripture." Wm. Haliday "was detected for having in his custody a book of the Acts of the Apostles in English." One Fredway and several others because they were heard "to recite the ten commandments in their house in English." John Butler, carpenter, and others, because they sat "reading all the night in a book of Scripture." John Littlepage, "because the said John was said to have learned the ten commandments in English." Robert Colins, for reading to a friend "in a certain thick book of Scripture in English." One Durant, because, after sending a servant out of the room where he was sitting at table with his wife and children, he "did recite certain places unto them out of the epistles of St. Paul and of the Gospels." Agnes Ashford had taught one James Morden to recite the beatitudes and several other portions of the sermon on the mount. "These lessons the said Agnes was bid to recite before six bishops, who straightway enjoined and commanded her that she should teach those lessons no more to any man, and especially not to her children."—"Acts and Monuments," Vol. IV, page 221. Let these few names stand for unnumbered multitudes whose names are written in heaven, who loved and heeded the voice of the Two Witnesses through the long night of papal supremacy. The record of this history corresponds to the striking figure of the prophecy, which represented the Two Witnesses of9 Jesus bearing their testimony clothed in sackcloth, while the apostasy trampled the truth under its feet and persecuted the saints to the death. It was of this time of tribulation to the church, foretold through Daniel, that Christ said,— "Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Matt. 24: 21, 22. The persecutions of the 1260 years were cut short by the rise and influence of the great Reformation of the sixteenth century. For the elect's sake the days were shortened. And it was by the witnessing power of the translated Word of God that the work was done. Rome could not hold its old-time power before the open Bible. Providence raised up agents who wrought simultaneously in many lands to give the Word to the people. Professor Gaussen gives the dates of various Bible translations:— The whole Bible was translated into Flemish in 1526; into German, by Luther, in 1530; into French, by Olivetan, in 1535; into English, by Tyndale and Coverdale, in 1535; into Bohemian, by the United Brethren, ever since 1488; into Swedish, by Laurentius; into Danish, in 1550; into Polish, in 1551; into Italian, by Bruccioli, in 1532, and by Teofilo, in 1550; into Spanish, by De Reyna, in 1569; into French-Basque, by order of the queen of Navarre, in 1571; into Slavonian, in 1581; into the languages of Carniola, in 1581; into Icelandic, in 1584; into Welsh, by Morgan, in 1588; into Hungarian, by Caroli, in 1589; into Esthonian, by Fischer, in 1589. Thirty versions may be counted, it is said, for Europe alone—"Canon of the Holy Scriptures," par. 643. With the witnessing of the Old and New Testaments in the vernacular, the tide of reform swept over northern Europe. The hour had struck for the promised shortening of the days of papal supremacy. The Papacy could no more stay the movement when the time for it came than could human hands hold back the ocean tides. "The entrance of thy words," says the psalmist, "giveth light." In another paragraph Professor Gaussen records the historic and blessed results of this entering of the word:— Those effects were immediate. Scarcely had the Flemish Bible, Luther's Bible, Tyndale's Bible, Olivetan's Bible, issued from the tomb, but directly the angel of the Reformation made his powerful voice from God heard throughout all Europe. It came from heaven, sudden, unexpected, by the most humble instruments, and at once the astonished world felt itself shaken to the foundations. Everything indicated an agency from on high. At the end of a few months, in Germany, in Switzerland, in France, in Flanders, in England, in Scotland, and soon afterward in Italy, and even in Spain, the sheep of Jesus had heard his voice and followed. Thus the testimony of the Two Witnesses was shaping events toward the ending of the 1260 years of the special papal supremacy. But just at the close of this period, according to the further prophecy of Revelation 11, a fierce onslaught upon the divine witnesses was to be made. This came just at the time indicated, as the history will show. Did Christ Change the Sabbath?
By Frederick M. Wilcox
The Lord Jesus Christ stands as man’s perfect example. It is therefore proper in every relationship of life to consider what Christ would do. What relationship did Christ sustain to the law of God and to the Sabbath commandment? Did he by word or act during his earthly ministry indicate that any change had been made in the Sabbath institution? or that its sacredness had been transferred from the seventh to the first day of the week? Surely the determination of this question is one of great moment, which should settle for all time, in the mind of every disciple, the Sabbath controversy. As to the attitude Christ would sustain during his earthly ministry toward the law of God, inspired witnesses many years before his incarnation clearly testified. The Spirit, through David, in the fortieth psalm, represents Christ as proclaiming the position he would take: "Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart." Verses 7, 8. The observance of the law of God on the part of Christ was not forced observance. Religion with him did not consist, as with many of the Jews, in obedience to set forms and ceremonies. He loved the law of God. It was written in his heart, in his very nature. The righteousness of his life was but the outward expression of that which existed within. This will be true in the case of his followers. Those who have entered into the new covenant relationship, who have had the law of God written in their minds and in their hearts (Heb. 8: 10), will bear in their lives the same testimony as did Christ to the claims of that law. The highest expression of love is obedience. Obedience to the law of his Father demonstrated Christ’s love for his Father, and Christ applies the same test to his disciples when he says: "If ye love me, keep my commandments." The prophet Isaiah bears this testimony concerning the relationship which Christ should sustain to the law of God: "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable." Isa. 42: 21. Instead of minimizing the law, or abrogating its claims, or abolishing it in whole or in part, Christ, by every word and act, would seek to magnify and make it honorable. He could make it honorable only by honoring it in his own life, by demonstrating the authority of its claims in his own experience. In his own life he magnified its divine principles. By beholding Christ we see the law of God drawn out in living character. We see what otherwise would appear as dead forms and stern commands manifested as living, holy, concrete truths. We come now to inquire whether the testimony of Christ’s own message and life was in harmony with these two prophecies which we have cited. In his beautiful sermon on the mount, as recorded in the fifth chapter of Matthew, the Saviour declares that he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it, or accomplish it. Matt. 5: 17-20, A. R. V. Not until heaven and earth pass away shall one jot or tittle of the law of God fail. It stands as the foundation of God’s government; and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of abrogating its claims, served only to establish and confirm its authority. Faith Establishes the Law
Says the apostle Paul, "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Rom. 3: 31. How does the death of Christ and faith in his atonement establish the law? Christ died for sinners. Sin is the violation of the law of God. Rom. 7: 7. The fact that it required the death of the Son of God to meet the demands of the law in order that the sinner might be redeemed, proves that the law was something that could not be set aside. How unreasonable to suppose that the great Jehovah should require the death of the Son of God in place of the sinner to meet the demands of the broken law, and then count the law of so little consequence as to annul or abolish it! Why should not the loving Father have set aside the law before the death of Christ, thus sparing the agony of his beloved Son? The fact that Christ died to meet the claims of the divine constitution is an argument forever as to its immutability. Christ’s Regard for the Sabbath
We come now more directly to the inquiry as to whether Christ wrought any change in the Sabbath. What was his own practise with reference to Sabbath observance? In Luke 4: 16 we have pointed out the fact that Christ went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and "stood up for to read." The evangelist states that he did this "as his custom was." It was no unusual act on his part, but was his weekly practise.10 In his controversy with the Jews regarding the healing of the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day, Christ declares, "It is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." If it was lawful to do well on the Sabbath day then, it was in harmony with the law. By this statement and by this miracle Christ clearly shows that he recognized the existence of the law of God, and of the Sabbath as a part of that law, and that his keeping the Sabbath on that occasion was in harmony with the true spirit of Sabbath observance. Read Matt. 12: 1-12. According to the Commandment
Not only was the Lord himself particular to show his regard for the Sabbath of the Lord, but his most intimate disciples, with their religious convictions strengthened, their spiritual vision clarified, and their consciences tendered by their association with the divine Master, showed their own particular regard for the same day observed by Christ. The time came when the Lord of life and glory was crucified. Before the Sabbath began, his body was taken from the cross and placed in Joseph's new tomb. His most intimate earthly associates, including those who had sat at his feet to receive his most particular instruction, prepared spices and ointments for the anointing of his body. But the Sabbath drew on, and this day they counted even too sacred for the prosecution of such a work as that in which they were engaged. The record is, "They . . . rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23: 56. If these intimate disciples of the Lord rested on the Sabbath day "according to the commandment," then they must have rested on the day enjoined by the commandment, namely, the seventh day of the week; for we find that "upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared" (Luke 24: 1), to complete the work which they had refrained from doing on the seventh day on account of the sacred character of that day. The Lord declared in his expiring agony, "It is finished," indicating that his sacrifice was complete. He closed the labors of his earthly life with the laboring portion of the week, and rested in undisturbed sleep and repose in the tomb on the seventh day. Upon the first day of the week he was awakened to a new life, and resumed the ministry of his earthly experience. The Spirit of the Lord, recording the history of Christ's earthly life, declares again and again and again, three times, that the Sabbath had just passed when the first day of the week dawned, showing that God, through his Spirit, recognized no other day than the seventh as the Sabbath of the Lord. Matt. 28: 1; Mark 16: 1, 2; Luke 23: 56 and 24: 1. Thus we find that Christ and his most intimate followers recognized throughout his earthly ministry the seventh day of the week, the Sabbath observed by the Jews, as the Sabbath of the Lord. No word does he utter regarding the abrogation of the Sabbath institution nor the sacredness of another day. Nor from the record can any other inference be drawn than that he held as sacred the day which he made holy and set apart for the benefit of man in the beginning. Therefore in answer to the inquiry at the head of this article, we may say emphatically and without a single reserve, Christ made no change in the Sabbath institution. His relationship to it indicates the relationship to be regarded by his disciples. "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." 1 John 2: 6. Note and Comment
By Editor
THE Herald and Presbyter of July 10, 1912, devotes considerable space to the consideration of the new patriotic organization known as the Guardians of Liberty. In speaking of the attitude of the Roman Catholic journals toward this organization, it quotes the Christian Herald as follows:— Catholic journals have attacked the Guardians of Liberty on the ground that the new organization is a revival of Knownothingism. Nothing could be farther from the fact. But Rome is afraid of the new organization, knowing that her own methods of political and ecclesiastical campaigning in this country will not bear the searchlight. Her truckling with presidential candidates; her arrogant claim of equality with royalty for her cardinals at public functions; her attitude toward civil marriage, and her imposition of the ban of illegitimacy on ecclesiastical marriages between Catholics and Protestants; her wide-spread interference in politics, and her dictation to the "bosses;" her declaration that "the church will not come to her own until there are more Catholics in Congress;" and her demand, reiterated in her church organs throughout the country, that American Catholics should work together "to make of the United States, according to a dream that is no longer visionary, the first Catholic nation in the world,"—these are among the reasons why the free and independent American people must jealously guard their privileges against a power which has been repudiated in every country in Europe, with one solitary exception. The Herald and Presbyter feels that the whole Roman situation is put in a nutshell by the editor of Zion's Herald, whom it quotes as follows:— Unless all signs fail, the last stand of the Roman Catholic Church for supremacy is to be made here. . . . This is the explanation of recent events that have found their way into public print. Rome is determined to conquer in the United States. Her power in the Old World is all but gone. France has left her, Portugal has repudiated her. Spain has broken with her, Italy openly defies her. What is there left? Austria?—Yes, but hardly anything else. If Rome is to continue a power, then she must be supreme on this side of the Atlantic. And here in the United States is to be made the last stand. . . . Do we want a Roman Catholic America? If not, we must be prepared to meet the challenge of the present. To this the editor of the Herald and Presbyter adds:— For Rome, as such, within its own rightful bounds, there is no thought or purpose of opposition. To it, as the enemy of civil and religious liberty, there must be steadfast and persistent antagonism. The Guardians of Liberty intend to shoot just where the Roman hierarchy is trying to put itself. If it persists in pushing itself there, it will certainly be hit by something. The Enemies of Christianity
The greatest enemies to-day of the Christian religion are by no means found in heathen lands or in the teachings of the out-and-out atheist. The conditions to-day which above all others palsy the arm of Christian effort are found not in the godless world, but in the professed Christian church. Of these conditions the Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness for June 27, 1912, quoting a "leading church paper," says:— A difficult problem confronts Christianity because of the prevalence of skepticism in the church. While many clergymen "stand fast in the faith," infidel notions (under the guise of modernism or liberalism) circulate extensively. Yet church leaders seem content with this condition, preferring to be "at ease in Zion," rather than to "fight the good fight of faith." Infidelity is taught in theological seminaries, in lesson commentaries, in books recommended by preachers, and is proclaimed from the pulpit. Even in some churches sound in belief, pastors feed out skepticism tactfully by suggestion. Indeed, in a Methodist Episcopal church in New England the pastor, in sermons, preaches negations; he does not believe in the Deity of Christ, the virgin birth, the resurrection, etc. Modern skepticism has reached an advanced stage where the object of attack is the divine character and work of Christ. The home also is invaded by similar teachings contained in certain popular novels, in church and religious journals, in lesson helps, and in articles from the pen of college and seminary professors. In the minister's study is found the Outlook, and the latest skeptical literature. . . . The fact that pastors also recommend such books to church-members indicates that many clerical consciences are in a serious moral eclipse. Progress in Nicaragua
By H. C. Goodrich
NICARAGUA has been a neglected field. More than two years ago I was at Point Limon, on my way to this field, but was driven back by the revolution that broke out just at that time. Again in March of last year, I got as far as Point Limon when I was called back by the fire of March 23, in which our mission house in Cristobal was burned down. During the year past, every effort has been directed toward the rebuilding of our mission house. This done, and our three families comfortably settled, I once more started for Nicaragua, arriving at Bluefields on February 26, leaving the next day for Pearl Lagoon, where I held meetings for a week among the Mosquito Indians. Brother Kayasso, who is part Indian, had received the Sabbath truth in Cahuita, where he had moved some years ago. Feeling that he must give this new-found truth to his people, he sold his house and returned to Pearl Lagoon. As a result of his work thus far, two have received the truth, and others are interested. These, with Brother Joseph Watson and his wife, will make a company of seven adults who are keeping the Sabbath at Pearl Lagoon. Five were baptized, and others we trust will soon be ready to follow them in this sacred rite. March 5 I returned to Bluefields, and had the privilege of visiting an American who was recovering from a painful surgical operation. He lived three days' journey up the Prinzapolka River among the Indians, and had an Indian wife. He seemed anxious to study the Bible, and we had several studies together while I was there. His nurse was an Adventist, who had been waiting two years for baptism. Sabbath morning we came down to the sea, where I spoke for about twenty minutes on the object and mode of baptism, after which I baptized Sister Omear. As a result, Brother Wright, who has lived here for many years, was asked by several to come and hold studies with them. Thus the way is opening in Bluefields after long years of patient seed sowing. March 11 I left Bluefields for Prinzapolka, ninety miles north, on the12 schooner "Wilhelmina," arriving next day, and had a preaching service that night, which was well attended. The next morning at seven o'clock, with two brethren to manage the canoe, I started for Wava River, thirty miles farther north. The sea was a little rough, but we arrived safely at 3 P. M., and started at once on our way up the river. We crossed a six-mile lagoon, went four miles up a creek, then took a walk of three miles, coming to Yulu, the home of Brother Brooks, who has lived six years in this place. He, too, is among those who have long waited for baptism. We found the people of Yulu nearly all Indians. Two of them had accepted the truth through Brother Brooks's efforts. These women, Brother Brooks, and one of the brethren who came with me made four who were baptized at Yulu. One evening while I was speaking on the signs of the times, a young Indian named William Bent, who spoke English well, and had at one time been secretary to a commission of his people and had visited England in the interest of his nation, became deeply interested in the subject; and as the one who interpreted was not an expert in the use of the Mosquito language, he stood up just as I was closing my discourse, and gave an excellent outline of the whole subject. Sunday morning we had baptism, and Mr. Bent—who takes charge of the Moravian meetings in the absence of the minister—dismissed his meeting, and advised all his people to go to witness the baptism, as it was the first one ever held there. Nearly the whole congregation (about fifty persons) went the two miles to the water with us. Here I spoke about twenty minutes through an interpreter, telling them the reason for being buried with Christ. And when I led the candidates down into the water and plunged them beneath its surface, many in the audience said, "That is right, that is the truth." Monday morning I had the most touching expression of devotion that I think I ever met. The Indian women carry all the burdens, whether wood, water, or provision. I have seen a strong young woman carry three bunches of bananas on her back at one time by a strap across her forehead. From Yulu we had to walk four and one-half miles to Wava River, then go ten miles up the river, and sixty miles across a barren plain with here and there a cluster of pine-trees, this last part of the journey to be made with horses. I had engaged an Indian to act as guide, and also to carry my baggage; but it was only just daylight when the two Indian sisters who had been baptized the day before came and asked to carry my baggage. When I told them I had a man, and that it would be too much for them, they said, "No, we want to carry it for minister." So with a strap across the forehead, each took a satchel, and without change or stop carried it four and one-half miles to the river. Barotseland Mission, South Africa
By R. C. Porter
A Visit to the Out-Stations
ABOUT nine o'clock in the morning we reached the first out-school, and after breakfasting we visited with the teacher and his assistant and learned of their work. The Fubwa school, where the teacher lives, is small; but he goes into the villages and conducts schools in the native kraals as well, by arranging for different hours at the different places. In this way about twenty-five natives are receiving the benefit of an education, and the light of the gospel is shining amid the gross darkness of heathenism. The government is now grouping these scattered kraals into larger ones. This will be an advantage to the mission work, both for the school and for evangelistic effort. This out-station has a grant of one hundred acres of good land with plenty of water on it for stock. As it is not far from the mission, they have forty head of cattle and sixty head of sheep, which they keep for the mission. At 3 P. M. we were again inspanned for a half-way drive toward the Bwengua out-school. All passed off pleasantly until an hour after dark, when the leader-boy lost the way, and it was with difficulty that Elder W. H. Anderson, after a half-hour's search by the aid of a lantern, found a native path leading in the direction we were traveling. We again started, hoping to find the wagon road as we proceeded, but after driving for two hours we found that our path was taking us farther and farther into the bush. Brother Anderson inquired of the native driver where we were, and he replied, "We are lost!" Unwilling to give it up, Elder Anderson took the lantern, and walking ahead of the leader-boy, led the way for about two hours. One of our wheel-oxen, in an attempt to avoid falling into a hole, dodged under the wagon pole, and we were obliged to outspan and get him back in place. Next, the cart caught on a tree as we made a turn in the bush. The only way out was to cut down the tree, or outspan and pull off backward. We decided that the quickest way out was to cut down the tree. Again we pushed on until about ten o'clock, when we were confronted with a thick bush through which it was impossible to pass unless we should cut our road. We then became convinced that we were lost in the bush, and there was no other way but to camp and wait for daylight. As the Big Dipper was before us, and the Southern Cross in the rear, I assured them that we were between the north and south poles, but that was all I knew of our whereabouts. Knowing that we were in the lion district, we took good care to arrange our camp as compactly as possible, and sent out our native boys to gather dry branches and wood for the camp-fires. For the first time in my life I realized how one could lie down and sleep in the bush with little protection from camp-fires, trusting that angel sentinels would guard the camp. Weary and lost, we committed ourselves to that all-seeing One who never slumbers, and lay down and slept undisturbed until daybreak. As soon as it was light, we inspanned and changed our course from north to east. After trekking through the bush, and through grass from four to eight feet high for about four miles, we reached the road we had missed at the very point we had intended camping for the night. Here we outspanned and took breakfast, then inspanned at once to complete our journey to the Bwengua out-school. We had gone but a short distance when we saw a beautiful eland cow lying near our path. It had just been killed that morning by a lion. We halted and looked back through the tall grass where the lion had lain in wait by the path and sprung suddenly upon its unsuspecting prey. After slaying his victim, which weighed about seven hundred pounds, the lion had dragged it a distance of twenty-five rods to a large tree surrounded by tall grass. Here he had taken his first meal and left the rest in hiding, to be eaten as his appetite should demand. Obedience
By Chas. E. E. Sanborn
"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." Isa. 1:19. In your heart is there a longing
To be closer to your God,
To be nearer to the Saviour?
Would you walk the path he trod?
In your weakness would you see him,
Simple, true, divinely pure,
Strong, courageous, never failing
All temptations to endure? How can I come closer to him?
How can I his likeness share?
How can I be like my Master
In this world of sin and care?
Do these questions claim your notice?
Do you seek for higher ground?
Do you treasure heaven's blessings?
Do you hear the trumpet's sound? If these questions entertain you;
If your ears are tuned to love;
If your treasure is in heaven;
If your eyes are turned above,
There's a never-failing method;
Test it, and you'll find 'tis true,—
Just be willing and obedient,
And the rest your God will do. Condescend to let him lead you
In your joys, and sorrows, too;
Nothing else can bring the blessing
Of this fellowship to you.
Simply trusting him for guidance,
Though the way be dark and drear,
Just be willing and obedient;
He will make thy pathway clear. Eternal Rest
By John Francis Olmsted
WHAT sacred rest the Sabbath brings
To all who would recline
Upon the Saviour's arm of strength,
Who crave his care divine. Life's trials may have vexed the heart,
But rest e'er brings relief;
We gladly give our troubles o'er,
And turn away from grief. We seek that rest which heaven gives
E'en while we labor here;
We hail the Sabbath's sacred hours,
And trust its Author near. The Sabbath day a symbol is
Of joys and rest divine
In that enduring world to come,
Where truth shall ever shine.