Earlier text: MESSAGE-BEARING BOOKSRoman Idolatry in England
AN exchange expresses the belief that “the worst days of Roman idolatry are stealing over England again,” in support of which conclusion it quotes the following from a writer in the London Times:— The worst danger, at the present time, is the teaching given by advanced clergy to the children, who are encouraged to attend mass or holy eucharist. They are taught to interest themselves in the priestly vestments, and to learn their use, to pray to the Virgin Mary, to cross themselves, to bow, to the holy table, to pray for the departed, to surround themselves with sacred pictures and images, and to gain a knowledge of ritual. It seems also, according to the Watchword and Truth, that in village churches notices are posted offering as prizes to the children picture cards, crucifixes, and images directly calculated to lead them into the practise of idolatry. Corporate Power in Government
A RECENT statement by Mayor McClellan of New York City, accompanying a veto by him of a bill depriving the aldermen of that city of the power of granting franchises, gives an idea of the extent to which state government in this country has passed under the control of corporate power. A prominent railway corporation, wishing to obtain a franchise to operate its road in New York City, and failing to secure prompt and favorable action in the matter from the city board of aldermen, sought to gain its ends by going to the legislature with a bill taking the matter out of the hands of the aldermen. In referring to this action of the corporation, Mayor McClellan said:— The Pennsylvania Railroad Company but a few years ago acquired a foothold in this city, but it seems determined to exercise its power over public officials here, as it has elsewhere. It has already made plain to me its ability to crush all opposition to its plans. Its representatives have come to me in the mayor’s office to advise me that if I did not accept these measures, they would nevertheless be passed over my veto. I was urged, should I decide to reject the bills, to do so promptly, so as not to needlessly prolong the session of the legislature, which would not be permitted to adjourn until the bills were repassed. This corporation, which has so long dominated the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, should be taught that it can not grasp the government of New York, or take away or transfer power from public bodies, who, whether for good or bad motives, fail to do its bidding. Resistance to these measures on this ground is a public duty of the greatest importance. True to its word, the railway corporation secured the passage of its measure over the mayor’s veto. Thus a railway corporation enters the metropolis of the nation and exercises its will there against all the power and authority of the mayor and board of aldermen, who are supposed to constitute the governing power in the city under the American system of government. Lessons From the Second Chapter of Philippians
By Ellen G. White
Talk by Mrs. E. G. White, May 13, 1905 “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” I address those who have the light of the knowledge of Bible truth. Are you obeying the instruction given in the words I have read? Are you of one mind and one heart in Christ? There are many points that might be dwelt upon, but there is one that I wish to speak about especially. It is regarding the necessity of our working together in unity. One year ago I visited this ground. It was then a wilderness. You can all see what God has enabled the workers to accomplish because they were of one mind. Every one has done all in his power to lift. And our people in the different States have sent in their gifts for the establishment of the work in Washington. I well remember how, when we were living in the Carroll House, near the water-tower, the young men working on the school land would meet together in a large room in this house at half-past five every morning for family worship. As we worshiped God together, we knew that the Holy Spirit was among us. We sought the Lord with the whole heart, and he came very near to us. We presented the promise, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Is not this assurance strong enough? We took this promise with us into the place of prayer, asking the Lord to lead and direct in the work to be done here. Only one year has passed since then, and much has been accomplished. If there are any of you who have weak faith, remember that it is because you do not work on the affirmative side. It is of no use for us to think that we can carry forward the glorious work of God without strong, unfaltering faith. The world is fast becoming as it was in the days of Noah. Satan is working with intensity of effort, knowing that he has but a short time. Wickedness prevails to an appalling extent. God’s people are but a handful, compared with the ungodly, and we can gain success only as we co-operate with the heavenly angels, who will go before all who press forward to do that which God has said should be done. I thank the Lord for the privilege of speaking to so many at this meeting. When I think of all that God has done for us, I say, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.” As the work is opened up in the various places, may we ever remember that we are to draw in even cords. Those who have educated themselves to stand on the negative side should without delay repent and be converted. Let this conversion take place right on this ground. Remember that when you stand on the negative side, accusing and condemning, you make room for the agencies of the power of darkness. Precious time has to be spent in waging war against these agencies, because there were those who refused to stand on the affirmative side. Is it not best to be in harmony with the God of heaven? When you see your brethren striving to press the battle to the gates, is it not best to say, “Advance, advance. Carry the work forward with greater power than ever before”? “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.” Satan is behind all strife and vainglory. Let us get out of his company, and stand with those who say, “Victory is for us, and we will cling to the arm of infinite power.” “In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” If we would obey these words, we should find our work easier. We should find that we could accomplish very much more than we can when hindered by strife and discord. “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Do not try to gain every advantage for yourselves. I thank God for the evidence that our people are unselfishly trying to help in the establishment of the work in Washington. I am thankful that the school buildings are so nearly completed, and that we now have an institution in this place in which students may be trained for service. I pray that from this school young men and young women may be prepared to go forth into the world as consecrated missionaries. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Laying aside his royal robe and kingly crown, Christ clothed his divinity with humanity, that human beings might be raised from their degradation, and placed on vantage-ground. Christ could not have come to this earth with the glory that he had in the heavenly courts. Sinful human beings could not have borne the sight. He veiled his divinity with the garb of humanity, but he did not part with his divinity. A divine-human Saviour, he came to stand at the head of the fallen race, to share in their experience from childhood to manhood. That human beings might be partakers of the divine nature, he came to this earth, and lived a life of perfect obedience. There is no need for the world to be as it is to-day—filled with war and bloodshed, violence and crime. Christ has made provision for the salvation of every soul. He gave his life for the life of the world, and John declares, “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” This is the gift of heaven to all who truly believe. In view of these things, how can men and women choose to receive the father of lies, and to cherish his spirit? It is because human beings have chosen to listen to the tempter that we see men and women partaking of that which robs them of their reason. In our large cities there are saloons on the right hand and on the left, tempting passers-by to indulge an appetite which, once established, is exceedingly hard to overcome. The youth should be trained never to touch tobacco or intoxicating drink. Alcohol robs men of their reasoning powers. Watch that man entering the saloon. His eye is bright, and his step steady. Watch him as he comes out. The brightness has gone from his eye, and as he walks, he staggers from side to side. He is drunk,—a specimen of the work done by the saloon. The home of a drunkard tells the sad story of the evil wrought by the use of strong drink. Wretchedness and destitution reign, and often the wife and children suffer from cold and hunger. And yet the liquor traffic is legalized. Heaven sees it all. God keeps a record of the men robbed of their reason, and the homes made wretched, by the use of alcohol. In that great day when every man will be judged according to the deeds done in the body, what will those who have legalized the liquor traffic say in excuse for allowing these places of death to be kept open? God grant that we may be wide-awake to this awful evil. May he help us to labor with all our power to save men and women and youth from this effort of the enemy to ensnare them. We do not take into the church those who use liquor or tobacco. We can not admit such ones. But we can try to help them to overcome. We can tell them that by giving up these harmful practises, they will make their families and themselves happier. Those whose hearts are filled with the Spirit of God will feel no need for stimulants. The Lord is high and lifted up, and his train fills the heavens. Those who are overcomers here will one day see him as he is; for we read, “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” They will sing the song of redemption in the heavenly courts. Here in this world we are to gain a preparation for a life in the kingdom of God. Our youth must be trained to habits of strict temperance and self-denial. May God help us to stand in unity,9 warring against the powers of darkness that are pressing in on every side. Christ has done everything in his power to redeem human beings. In our behalf he made an infinite sacrifice. For our sake he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. Enduring riches, an eternal weight of glory, is the boon he offers to those who will accept him. Is it not a sufficient inducement? Will man strive against his Maker? May God help us at this meeting to be converted. You may say, If we are church-members, that does not belong to us. But does it not? What are you doing to lift up those who are fallen? There ought to be a thousand where now there is but one trying to prepare the way of the Lord, to make straight in the desert a highway for our God. We have great light. “Ye are the light of the world,” Christ declared. It is by letting our light shine that we are to glorify God. Clear and distinct the light of present truth is to shine forth from God’s people, piercing the darkness that envelops the world. It is that light may shine forth that we are establishing institutions here. The school buildings are almost finished, and soon a sanitarium must be erected, to which we can bring the sick and afflicted, and tell them of Christ and his power to save. We should every one stand where we can uplift and bless. We are to speak words that will comfort and encourage. Brethren and sisters, train yourselves to speak in pleasant, agreeable tones. It does no harm, but good, to speak kindly, but to speak discourteously and roughly drives the holy angels away in sadness. May God help us all to take a right position. May he help us not to spoil our lives and the lives of others by being unconsecrated. May he help us to conquer the inclination to follow the impulses of the unsanctified heart. We can not afford to follow these impulses. We are to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. Being found in fashion as a man, Christ “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name that is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” We are to confess Christ before the world because he gave his life for us. He died that we might receive strength to stand against the temptations by which we shall be beset. Those who receive Christ are made heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ to an immortal inheritance. We have only a little while in which to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have not a moment to lose. We need to begin at once to gain a preparation to enter the courts above. God will help all who will help themselves. But if you sit down under Satan’s shadow, and let him tempt you to look on the objectionable side, and to weaken the hands of those who are trying to carry forward the work of the Lord, how can you hope to gain the victory over temptation? You can not be a joint heir with Christ unless you have his spirit, and are determined to gain heaven at any cost. Those who, regardless of all else, place themselves in God’s hands, to be and do all that he would have them, will see the King in his beauty. They will behold his matchless charms, and, touching their golden harps, they will fill all heaven with rich music and with songs to the Lamb. I am glad to hear the musical instruments that you have here. God wants us to have them. He wants us to praise him with heart and soul and voice, magnifying his name before the world. I thank God that there are those here who have had an experience in self-denial and sacrifice. They know what it means to be counted fools for Christ’s sake. But in heaven their names are recorded as those who love God and keep his commandments. “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.” God would have us help one another to be of good cheer. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. By beholding, you will be changed into the same likeness, from character to character. “Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.” God wants you to praise him far more than you do. Read the Psalms, and you will see that by offering praise you glorify God. Educate the voice to offer him thanksgiving. Thus you will bring strength and courage to those around you. I pray that at the very beginning of this meeting the salvation of God may be revealed. Brethren and sisters, open the door of the heart and let the Saviour in. Then you will praise God with heart and soul and voice. I thank God that it is our privilege to use our voices in this service, to speak words in season to those that are weary. While on my way to this meeting, I had the privilege of speaking to some of the Saviour’s love. I asked one young man to give up the use of tobacco. “I can not,” he said; “it is so soothing.” “But,” I said, “it is robbing you of your sense of right and wrong. You say that you are teaching in a Sunday-school. What influence do you think your example of smoking has on the members of your class?” Before we left the car, he came to me, and told me that I must not be surprised to hear that he had given up the use of tobacco. I gave this young man a copy of “Steps to Christ,” and he seemed much pleased with it. God wants us to work for humanity. We have an onward work to do. Let us put on the whole armor of righteousness, revealing Christ in thought, word, and deed. Let us remember that we are laborers together with God. Brethren and sisters, let self be crucified, and let Christ live in you, the hope of glory. Keep reaching forward. Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The work of righteousness is to be wrought in you through the mighty power that God has given. When in weakness and feebleness you say, “Lord, I lay hold upon thee,” power from above will be given you. “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” What were the words spoken as you took part in the solemn rite of baptism? “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” You were buried with Christ in baptism, and raised to newness of life. And the three great powers of heaven pledged themselves to co-operate with you in your efforts to live the new life in Christ. Then should we not praise him with every breath? Let us cast aside all murmuring and repining, and be filled with the spirit of praise. Let us draw in even cords with Christ. He is coming soon, and we must be ready to meet him in peace. Let us repent and be converted. Let us place ourselves on the altar of service. I beg of you, my brethren and sisters, to bring Christ into your hearts and into these meetings. Then there will be rejoicing such as you have never before heard, and you will be gaining a fitness for the heavenly home, where God’s redeemed ones will sing the song of victory. Biennial Report of the Atlantic Union Conference
By H. W. Cottrell
THE organization of what is now known as the Atlantic Union Conference was effected at the General Conference, April 16, 1901. It embraces the local conferences of Maine, Vermont, Central New England, Southern New England, Greater New York, New York, New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania, Chesapeake, Virginia, and West Virginia. Its area is 248,778 square miles; its population is 26,300,754; and its denominational constituency is 8,516. Every phase of our work is supposed to be evangelical, and is prosecuted in various ways. The evangelical minister, with Bible in hand, takes his position on the frontier in the open field. The Bible worker goes from home to home, planting seeds of truth, which alone can endure the spiritual dearth of this age. Everywhere, like leaves of autumn, the canvasser and colporteur scatter the printed page containing the10 message, while the publishers continue to supply the demand made upon them for the gospel literature. The Sabbath-school, the day-school, and the young people’s work are important departments of the one great whole for fitting the young for service in the message. The sanitariums, treatment rooms, and hygienic restaurants in the conference are in position to do noble work as entering wedges, by breaking down prejudice, restoring many to physical health, and giving the vast throng of people who visit them an opportunity to hear the third angel’s message. While we, together with others, have found and accepted the Lord’s ideal message for the last generation of men, we can but report that the Lord’s high spiritual ideal is not seen in its fulness, but the body of believers as such, by way of individual connection with the divine One, are treading the path of the just, which “is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” The legal organization of the conference which was incorporated Jan. 9, 1902, under the laws of the commonwealth of Massachusetts, known as the Atlantic Union Conference Association of Seventh-day Adventists, has done much good work during the biennial term in making safe to the cause of the Lord, at the request of various property holders, real estate and other property. In the year 1901 five thousand dollars of the General Conference Association indebtedness was apportioned to the Atlantic Union Conference Association. For this amount the latter conference executed an interest-bearing note in favor of the General Conference Association, to run ten years from March 2, 1902. We are glad to be able to state that the principal of this note has been paid to approximately seven hundred and fifty dollars, with interest paid up to April 26, 1905. We are making a strong effort to collect the unpaid amount due from local conferences, and we hope and confidently expect soon to be able to pay the remainder due on the note. There are 299 regularly organized churches, with a membership of 7,898, besides forty-two companies of believers with a membership of 300, which have not yet been organized into churches, and 318 isolated Sabbath-keepers. The total number of adherents to the faith is 8,516, a gain of 151, despite the apparent falling off in the church lists, revealed in recent years by the apportionment of the book, “Christ’s Object Lessons.” During the conference term the actual increase in the church-membership by new converts to the faith has been several hundred, but this does not appear in the report on account of the former condition of the local church records. There are 343 Sabbath-schools, with a membership of 6,956. A large number of this band are active Bible students, and many of them through this means, will be fitted to fill important places in the Master’s work. The general financial condition is good, and the policy safe, for it is cash. However, there are some departmental financial conditions that should be greatly improved. The people gladly share in the financial burdens to the extent of their ability, but the large majority of the people stand strongly for a clean financial sheet, and a safe, aggressive policy in every branch of our work. TITHE PER CAPITA
Atlantic Union Conference ........$ 9 27
Central New England Conf. ....... 10 43
Chesapeake Conference ........... 5 70
Eastern Pennsylvania Conf....... 10 95
Greater New York Conference..... 16 14
Maine Conference ................ 6 68
New Jersey Conference ........... 12 31
New York Conference ............. 7 22
Southern New England Conf....... 12 60
Vermont Conference .............. 7 11
Virginia Conference ............. 5 87
West Virginia Conference ........ 4 93
Western Pennsylvania Conf...... 11 42 The question may be asked: Is the tithe per capita as large as it should be in view of the great work before us as a people? To this I must answer: I think that it is not; for there are people who do not return to the Lord his own; and, further, if each paid a tithe of his income, there would be an abundance of money in the treasury to carry forward every department of the work of the Lord to a successful end, even if there were no income from any other source. The people should be more fully educated on the subject of the privilege of paying tithe to the Lord, and thus acknowledge in God’s material way that we are in partnership with the Lord in soul saving. The total number of ordained ministers who receive credentials is seventy-two. Nine receive ministerial license. There are thirty-seven licensed Bible workers and ninety-two canvassers. These make a total of two hundred and fifty active gospel workers. The Vermont Conference supports Elder W. A. Westworth in Scotland and the New York Conference, B. E. Connerly in Porto Rico. Total amount of tithe received ........$162,751 88
Total amount of tithe received previous term .... 149,296 58
Net gain ..........$ 13,455 30
Per cent of gain 9 8-10.
Total amount of Sabbath-school offerings received..$ 11,923 23
Annual offerings to foreign missions ............ 12,571 41
Weekly offerings ................................. 8,385 28
Miscellaneous .................................... 5,369 49
Sabbath-school offerings to missions ............ 7,099 12
Total amount of offerings $ 33,425 30
Tithes appropriated outside conference .... 11,963 32
Total amount of offerings during term ....$ 45,388 62 Total amount of tithes and offerings received in the union conference during term ........$196,177 18
Tithe retained ............ 150,788 56
Sabbath-school offerings retained ............ 4,824 11
Total amount of tithe and offerings retained during term ................ 155,612 67
Retail value of books sold .. 73,841 61 There is one academy and twenty church-schools, with thirty-two instructors, and a total enrolment of four hundred and sixty-six students. The academy has done most excellent work during the term of two years. We have erected a boys’ dormitory in connection with the academy during the term, at an expense of ten thousand dollars, which was paid for in cash solicited for that purpose. The total number of copies of “Christ’s Object Lessons” sold to conferences and individuals for the financial relief of schools was 31,691. Value, $38,973.93. Cash received, $43,537.48. Expenses in freight and postage, $1,983.03. Discounts allowed, $439.95. Remainder due the academy from conferences, $4,316.22. The value of “Christ’s Object Lessons” sold during the term was $6,723.00. The remaining liability on the old debt account is $22,785.31. Some of the conferences have long since sold their entire quotas, and I am sure the remainder of books could be readily sold if those in each conference would take hold of the work with a will to see it accomplished. Plans are in operation to close out the present academy stockholders’ corporation, and to form one strictly denominational, that the property may always be held and the work directed by the denomination, and it is hoped to complete this work in the near future. The Melrose Sanitarium met a great calamity by fire, destroying the larger part of the building. Although the structure was only a shell, it will take a considerable sum of money to supply a similar number of rooms. The building was carrying a small insurance, which was collected. A new building is greatly needed that the work may be successfully carried forward. It has been decided by the sanitarium corporation to close out the present one, and re-incorporate, and thus connect the institution directly with denominational, conference work. They have an obligation of forty-five thousand dollars. The Philadelphia Sanitarium Board came to the conclusion that their former building on Wallace Street was not sufficiently large to enable them to meet its current expenses, so they have secured a larger building, where they hope to be enabled to care for a richer class of patients, as well as a large number of those in ordinary circumstances, and thus make the institution self-supporting, as every institution should be. Their assets, including real estate, furniture and equipment, and accounts receivable, are approximately $63,250; liabilities, including11 mortgages, accounts and bills payable, $61,650. The Buffalo Sanitarium is reported as self-supporting, and is doing good work. The policy that should be adopted in this conference, and vigorously carried forward in each local conference in its territory during the coming term, is a return to the “first love,” that enjoyed by the early promotors of the faith, when the laborers, and even believers in the third angel’s message, were few; we should go with faith to the people, declaring in no uncertain tones the clear, plain truths of the message, preaching it in its simplicity as it is written in the Word, and leaving the speculative idea and the questioning about words for such persons to handle as have no message to preach. We should “preach the word.” This sort of preaching is what brought you and me into the truth, and established the many churches of the denomination, and if entered into again with vigor, and in the spirit of Christ, will greatly multiply our constituency and glorify our Heavenly Father. The Lord entrusted us with this solemn message of truth that we might preach it. The way to accomplish in the shortest time the work he has entrusted to us is to preach the message. The character and spiritual life of each supposed promotor of the message should be in actual accord with the character and spirit of the message itself. The Lord in his mercy has enabled us to see and accept the truths of the third angel’s message. The mind to give that was in the Master should be in us: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” He gave us the message, and in it, for it is the “everlasting gospel,” he gives himself. He gave all. When we give ourselves to Christ, we give all, and when this condition is met in our lives as Christians, the entire financial problem that is so distressing to-day will be solved. On account of the great need of the work in fields beyond, it is my opinion that such sums of money as have heretofore been appropriated by the union conference to assist local conferences in the union, should hereafter be appropriated to the Mission Board for the extension of the work in distant fields. H. W. COTTRELL,
President.