Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 3.
AS MUCH AS LIETH IN YOU, LIVE PEACEABLY WITH ALL MENPage 1
Earlier text: AS MUCH AS LIETH IN YOU, LIVE PEACEABLY WITH ALL MENA LETTER.
By Ida Carmichael
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS OF THE REVIEW FAMILY: I think you may be interested in the letters I send. Remember, the controversy between Christ and Satan is not yet over. Please do not lose your interest in my work. Give me your prayers, and material aid. I wish to encourage you by quoting from a letter lately received from my husband. Writing of the convicts, he said: “Fifty per cent of the men here are convinced of the Sabbath truth, and boldly say that if ever free, and connected with any religious body, it will be with the Adventist Church.” The following letter is from the men of that force:— DAWSON, TEX., Nov. 13, 1899. Mrs. A. L. Carmichael, Keene, Tex. DEAR MADAM: We, the prisoners under Sergeant W. F. Morton, beg leave to tender you our sincerest thanks for the Christian literature you have been so kind as to send us during this year; also for the kindly interest you have taken in our present deplorable condition and our future welfare. May you live to see many years of happiness, and may the cause for which you are so nobly working be crowned with success in the end. We assure you of our best wishes. Allow us, dear madam, to thank you again for your kindness. PRISONERS ON SERGEANT W. F. MORTON’S TRAIN. Early in November I received the following letter, which tells its own story:— DEAR MADAM: I saw your letter in the ADVENT REVIEW AND SABBATH HERALD of June 27, and I have been trying to get able to write to you ever since I read your letter. I am very poor, and have been sick a long time. I have had the most heartrending and humiliating trouble to bear that any mother ever had. I have a poor boy somewhere in Texas,—in prison, I have been told,—but I have not heard from him for a long time. He wrote to me last spring that he was in prison, but expected to be free soon. It seems as if I could never be well again. I have written to him several times, but my letters come back uncalled for. I have written to every person that I thought could give me any information, but I have heard nothing that I can believe to be true. You say that you are the prisoner’s friend. Will you please try to find my boy, and write to me? My poor, darling, precious boy! I do not know what he has done since he left me. He was always easily persuaded, but he was good and kind to mama, and to his little sister; and he loved us dearly. He went away to find work. I was in bed when he went. I had been in bed two months, but was getting able to sit up. He had been saying, “When mama gets able to sit up, I am going to Texas to make some money, and shall buy mama so many nice things.” Sunday he helped me up into the rocking-chair. Monday morning he came to me with his valise packed, and kissed me, and begged me not to cry. He said that he would be back in two months. He said he could make no money here—and I let him go. My poor boy! He was too young—that was two years ago last June, and how I have suffered God only knows. He wrote regularly every two weeks for a while. He sent me five dollars; then we heard no more for a long time. Then he wrote that he had had trouble, and had been sick. I am telling you all this because you are a woman, and I know that you have a heart, and I believe you will see how I am suffering. He wrote me last spring that he was in prison, but would soon be free. He told me to write to him, and address my letter to —. That is not my boy’s name. But will you find out if there is a — in the — prison, and write to me? My boy is twenty-two years old now. May God bless you. If you will only help me find him, and find out what can be done to get him free! We are very poor, and this is a backwoods country. Money is hard to get. But if I can find my boy, and can do anything in the world to help him, I will do it. Please answer my letter. God help you and bless you in your work. I answered her letter immediately, and told her that I would try to find her boy; and from the poor suffering soul I received the following letter. Read it:— MY DEAR MRS. CARMICHAEL: I received your letter yesterday evening. I wish I could find words to tell you what a pleasure it was to get your letter. I shed the first tears that I had shed in a long time. For several months I could only wring my hands and groan. I had tried to pray, but it seemed as if something came between me and my God. I have sat up in bed, and held my hands up toward heaven through the darkest hours of the night, but I could think of no words to say. After I read the words of sympathy you wrote me, I cried and cried, and I feel better. I feel relieved. Last night I got down on my knees, and prayed with all my heart for strength and knowledge to do God’s will. My poor boy never had any opportunity to get an education; but he knew how to work, and was not afraid to work. I hate to tell you—but his papa was not good to him. He is not good to any of us. He does not believe the Bible. And I have been a coward. I would always whisper my prayer so that he could not hear it. When putting my children to bed, I heard them say their prayers in a whisper. O my precious, darling boy! I did hope so much from him. If he had stayed at home, I am sure he would never have been in any trouble. If you ever find him, and let him know that you are his friend, I believe that he will talk to you about us. Oh, please tell him that you have heard from his mama and his little brothers and sister. Tell him — is a big boy now; and little — talks of him every day, and says he loves him and mama best of all yet. And if you find him, I will send you our pictures, for you to give to him. Oh, I pray and pray. His heart is not hardened. He was good and kind and such a comfort—but, poor boy! he had much to bear. I know God does all things well. If my boy could come home a Christian, true and brave, I could stand anything, I would be so happy. I fear I am wearying you, but your letter was such a comfort to me. I feel as if I was talking to a friend; and when I read the words in your letter, that you are my boy’s friend, firm and true, I shed tears of joy. I have felt that he was lost, and I could do nothing. Thank you a thousand times for your kindness. And I hope you will still remember me and my boy in your prayers. Sometimes I feel that I will not live long, but it seems as if I can not give up and leave my boy in prison. When he is free, that will be the happiest day in my life, if I live that long. Your letter has cheered me more than anything for many years. Oh, if I had a kind sister near me to give me advice! I believe you will find my boy, and you will talk kindly to him, and tell him to write to his mama. And I will pray every day that you may have peace and happiness while on earth, if it is denied me. Please write to me as soon as you can give me any information concerning my boy. Having read this poor mother’s letter to me, I know your hearts ache, and your tears flow; and as you look upon the faces of your own little innocent darlings as they lie sleeping safe in the home nest, you will pray for her and her son. But for how long a time are your sons thus secure? O my sisters, do you realize how Satan is striving to snatch our boys from us? Merciful Father, save! Help us to work as well as pray. I realize as never before what a great responsibility it is to be the mother, and especially in a divided household, of a growing son. Mothers, let us pray, at some stated hour of the day, for our own and one another’s sons. Do not think that I do not love the girls, too. But it seems as if much more is being done to save our girls than to save our boys. And if there are pure, noble boys, there will surely be pure, noble girls. I could go among the prisoners of this State, lecture, read, weep, and pray with them, if I had money, and consecrated help in my home. But I have not the money to devote to this purpose, nor the help at home. I can only send out the printed page (which is doubtless more effectual), and water the seed with my tears, and follow it with my prayers. Let any who have money to give send it to my address, given below. By the blessing of God, I found this poor mother’s boy. But oh, it was painful to be obliged to convey to her the word that he is in prison under sentence for eight years, with no hope of clemency; because he had escaped once, and had been recaptured. Mothers, I leave you to imagine that poor heartbroken mother’s sorrow when I passed on to her this sad confirmation of her fears. The news may have proved fatal. I have not heard from her since. I hesitated a while before sending her the letters received from the prison authorities: but she had to know. We can all pray the Lord to comfort and sustain her. I shall write to the boy, and try to reach him. I hope every mother who reads the REVIEW will pray for him. Women keep their parlors dark to keep out flies. If men and women were as wise as flies, they would keep out of dark rooms too, and have far better health than they now have. The pestilence “walketh in darkness.” Ps. 91:6. There can be no good health without sunshine. A potato vine grown in a cellar, and a woman living in a sunless kitchen, are much alike in color. Women set their flowerpots in the sunlight, and then seat themselves back in the shade. The flowers bloom, and the women fade. If the women would sit in the sun, and put the flowers back in the shade, they would soon grow radiant, while the flowers would fade and die. “Sun yourself,” says a writer in the Home. “Sleepless people should court the sun. The very worst soporific is laudanum; the very best is sunshine. Therefore it is plain that poor sleepers should pass as many hours of the day as possible in the sunshine, as few as possible in the shade. Many women are martyrs, and do not know it. They shut the sunshine out of their houses and their hearts; they wear veils, they carry parasols; they do all that is possible to keep off the subtlest, and yet the most potent, influence which is intended to give them strength and beauty and cheerfulness. Is it not time to change all this, to get roses and color in our pale cheeks, strength in our weak souls? Women are pale and delicate. They may be blooming and strong, and the sunlight will be a potent influence in this transformation.” “The Lord God is a sun.” Ps. 84:11. He would have us “walk in the light, as he is in the light;” for “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5, 7. Darkness and sin go together, and end in “outer darkness,” where there is “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 8:12, etc. The prince of darkness is “the god of this world,”37 “Trust for to-day;
Thou ownest no to-morrow,
That thou shouldst from its store or care or burden
borrow.
To-day hath in itself thy work, thy joy, thy sorrow;
Trust for to-day.” To the Giver of all blessings
Let our voices rise in praise,
For the joys and countless mercies
He hath sent to crown our days;
For the homes of peace and plenty,
And a land so fair and wide;
For the labor of the noonday,
And the rest of eventide. For the wealth of golden harvests;
For the sunlight and the rain;
For the grandeur of the ocean,
For the mountain and the plain;
For the ever-changing seasons,
And the comforts which they bring;
For thy love, so grand, eternal,
We would thank thee, O our King SPECIAL REQUESTS FOR PRAYER.
I wish especially to ask all our sisters to remember in prayer at the noontide hour, or at any other time when it is convenient to do so, a sister who is in the insane asylum. She herself sends the request. The letter containing her request says that she has been in confinement several years, but does not seem crazy, only at times she is peculiar, but never violent. She is extremely devout, and very anxious to attend church, but is not permitted to leave the institution. She is a sister of our faith, and it seems to me that there should go up an earnest volume of prayer for her, which will bring the answer which we are assured shall follow the fervent, effectual prayer of the righteous. I also ask you to remember the requests for prayer mentioned below. A condemned murderer, twenty-eight years old, who is sentenced to be hanged the 9th of February. The sister sending in his name says: “He takes the literature that we gave him, and seems grateful for our interest, but he is more indifferent as to his personal relation to God than any one I ever met. He does not think God is good enough to forgive him his awful sins.” A sister asks prayer for her husband, who has been a formal professor of Christianity, but with whom the Spirit seems to be striving at present; and also for a sister and three brothers, one of whom has fallen into intemperate habits. A special manifestation of the Spirit for healing, or divine leading as to how it shall be brought about, for two sisters in Ontario, who are seriously afflicted. They request the prayers of our sisterhood. Also for many who are investigating the truth, and are at the deciding point.39 God’s children are “illuminated.” Heb. 10:32. They “shine as lights in the world.” Phil. 2:15. Their bodies are “full of light.” Matt. 6:22. Their “inheritance” is “in light.” Col. 1:12. Their “sun shall no more go down.” Isa. 60:20. “There shall be no night there.” Rev. 21:25. It is best to come to the light here that we may dwell in the light hereafter. SAVED BY FAMILIES.
By S. M. I. H.
Since God must have families that will illustrate and witness to his purpose, he has provided that, in answer to your faith and consecration, all that is lacking to make a family in your home shall be supplied out of himself. He would not have the father who, in his place in your home, is a misrepresentation of fatherhood, replaced by any other stick of human timber; but out of the cedars of his own Lebanon he would supply this very father that which is lacking. To you who may be worse than widowed he says: “Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.” Isa. 54:4–7. To the children who are left worse than fatherless comes the assurance that “God is a God of the fatherless.” He will supply fatherhood out of his own vast resources, and motherhood as well. “A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.” Ps. 68:5. “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” Isa. 66:13. All this, provided there is found enough faith and consecration in you to hang a promise on. Is it children who are lacking to make the family? God has plenty of them to give away. They are lying around in the slums of the city, heaps on heaps of them, in lonely and desolate places, waiting for fatherly and motherly hearts to gather up and teach and train for service in the kingdom. “God setteth the solitary in families.” Ps. 68:6. “Setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.” Ps. 107:41. These childish conductors from the great Reservoir, neglected though they may be, are yet open enough channels of the sweetness of the life of God to bring into your home a personal blessing. One of the things that has convinced me that this people is certainly the people of God, and will draw more and more from all peoples, is the fact that they recognize the obligation to bring the hungry, the naked, the desolate, into their homes. Let this law and gospel of love become more and more manifest among us. If it should be that because of past failures one of your very own has actually gone to ruin, as some have so sorrowfully confessed, then you are under a most sacred obligation to fill the place of the ruined child with one whom you can rear in the clearer light, and with a better understanding of what it means to train a child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. If your house has been left empty because your children have gone into the field of Christian labor, what a sacred privilege is yours to fill its solitary places with the Lord’s little ones, whom he will send you for the asking. EXTRACT FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
I THOUGHT I would write and ask you about the doctrine taught by some in our denomination,—that we should not live with our husbands as wives. I have been told that you taught it in the book entitled “The Abiding Spirit.” My husband is not in the truth; and if I should take such a step, it would cause a separation. Now is that a truth for these days? I do wish to live the life of Christ in my home, so as to bring all the members of my family into the kingdom. My whole desire is to live as my Saviour would have me to. I have been told that we are to refuse to live with our husbands as wives; and then, if the husband will depart, 1 Cor. 7:15 is quoted as applying in such a case. I have been told that no true Seventh-day Adventist will have children in these days. I am glad to receive your letter, since I have been misunderstood in the matter quoted. It is my firm conviction that among all the experiences that come to men and women, none are so salutary, so used of God as a means of salvation, as that of fatherhood and motherhood; and that up to the close of probation there will be many a man and woman who can never know enough about God to make salvation possible without those revelations of him that can come only through these channels. “She shall be saved in childbearing,” says Paul; and that childbearing shall be a means of salvation is certainly one meaning of these words, as has been demonstrated in the experience of every woman who has ever been a true Christian mother. She may have been a Christian before she was a mother, but her children have helped her to be a better one than she could ever have been without them; and the same is true of the father. If the children have not been a help, the parents need yet to know what it means to be born again. The point where there has been any possible question is not as regards the bringing of children into the world under proper conditions for their care, education, and training for immortality; but in the selfish yielding to appetite, which has been the curse of the marriage relation ever since sin came into the world; and from which the Lord’s people—those at least who are candidates for translation—must be delivered before the close of probation. It is in trying to make this point clear that I have been misunderstood. I refer every man and woman to the plain teaching of the word of God in 1 Corinthians 7, the entire chapter, and also Ephesians 5 and 1 Peter 3. But some may raise a question just here concerning the statement of our Lord as found in Matt. 24:19; to which I reply that a warning is not a prohibition. In the woe pronounced the Lord simply stated a difficulty which must be met by any woman under the conditions mentioned; but I am convinced that it is a perversion of the teaching to quote this as a prohibition against the bringing of children into the world at any time in its history. If people have children, they must provide for them. They must reckon with them in every experience which can come. If they bring hardship with them, or toil and sorrow, these things must be bravely met. If one is pursued, and must flee, the children must hinder; but in meeting and overcoming any difficulties, or enduring any adversity or labor for the sake of the little ones, any father and mother will learn more of how God deals with his children than they could ever learn through all the sermons they have ever heard. THERE are four sisters in our church who have unconverted husbands who must have meat, tea, and coffee: in fact, everything contrary to health reform. What should we do about our cooking? Concerning the food, and any indulgence required by your husbands, which you recognize as contrary to the principles of health and purity in life, the instructions contained in 1 Corinthians 7, Ephesians 5, and 1 Peter 3, will cover all points. You can not be a conscience for your husband. You can not compel him to obey in your place. Obedience is of the heart instead of the act; although the principle in the heart will, of course, determine the character of the act. God recognizes the true spirit of obedience in the heart even if, through ignorance, the conduct seems to be entirely contrary to it; so that if you are compelled to do things for your husband that you would never do for yourself, the spirit of self-sacrifice and loyalty in you is accepted of God; and that which, if done for your own sake, would be sin, is counted as obedience and righteousness in the sight of God, because of the motive in your own heart. This is plainly taught in 2 Kings 5:15-19. The Lord, through his prophet, excused Naaman for going through the forms of worship in the house of Rimmon when it was necessary for him in his duty to his master to appear to worship the idol, because his heart was true to the living God. In this there is plain instruction, as well as comfort, for those lovers of the truth who are in hard places in their domestic life. WHY-ARE WE STUDYING THE MESSAGE?
By Mrs. L. Flora Plummer
At first thought it would seem unnecessary for a whole denomination to be called upon to unite in a study of the principles of the faith its members profess. Especially would it seem so when the faith professed is so unpopular as is that held by Seventh-day Adventists; for why would any one profess it who did not understand and believe it? Nevertheless, the people who are proclaiming the gospel in all the completeness of the third angel’s message have the most urgent need for a constant study of the principles of their faith. On page 213, “Testimony for the Church,” No. 32, these statements are made: “The people who claim to obey the truth are asleep. They could not be at ease as they are if they were awake. The love of the truth is dying out of their hearts.” With the double hope of reviving the love of the truth in the hearts that have lost it, and keeping other hearts from losing it, this study is urged upon all. More than this: We have a direct statement in “Testimony for the Church,” No. 33, page 235, concerning such study: “The Lord calls upon all who believe his word to awake out of sleep. Precious light has come, appropriate for this time. . . . This light should lead us to a diligent study of the Scriptures, and a most critical examination of the positions which we hold. God would have all the bearings and positions of truth thoroughly and perseveringly searched, with prayer and fasting. Believers are not to rest in suppositions and ill-defined ideas of what constitutes truth. . . . As a people, we are called individually to be students of prophecy.” And still more than this: It is not sufficient that we store our minds with a general knowledge of the points of our faith, but we must study the details so carefully and faithfully that we can put what we know into words, and thus bring it to the knowledge of other people. Just this instruction is given in “Gospel Workers,” page 170: “The minds of all should be stored with a knowledge of the truths of God’s word; that they may be prepared, at any moment when required, to present from the storehouse things new and old. Minds have been crippled and dwarfed for want of zeal, and of earnest, severe taxation. The time has come when God says, ‘Go forward, and cultivate the abilities I have given you.’” But especially applicable to our present study is the following, from one of the Special Testimonies: “The books ‘Daniel and the Revelation’ and ‘Great Controversy’ are the books which above all others should be in circulation now.” Another word from the same source is: “God has a special message of warning for this last generation, and he gave wisdom to his servants who studied the prophecies, and especially to Elder Smith, to write ‘Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation.’” It was the message for the time. Another extract, referring to the books mentioned above, says: “Of all the books that have come forth from the press, those mentioned are of the greatest consequence . . . at the present time.” Then, too, we have a suggestion for the present plan of the Reading Circle work, in the following from “Gospel Workers,” page 242: “When the harvest is gathered, and the sowing is over, it is a favorable season for religious work. During the long evenings the lessons of the Scriptures should be carefully studied. Precious opportunities may be improved in conversing and praying together, in relating experiences, in making diligent search of the Bible; by such Christian association we may build up one another in the most holy faith.” Surely no one who reads these extracts will now ask, “Why are we studying the message?” We now enter upon the study of the prophetic portion of the book of Daniel. The succeeding lessons will probably require a more careful study than the historical incidents of the preceding lessons. Remember always that prophecy is “a light that shineth in a dark place,” “whereunto ye do well that ye take heed.” Learn the essential historical points so thoroughly that you can cite the fulfillment of each specification of the prophecy. Try this many times; for it is only by constant repetition that we are enabled to do this clearly and intelligently. 1. Review the following topics of a former lesson: Define “prophecy.” Contrast symbolic with literal prophecy, citing illustrations of each. By what means is prophecy given? 2 Peter 1:21. To what is it compared? Verse 19. How “sure” is it? 2. Give Bible definitions of “winds,” “sea,” and “beasts,” as used in symbolic prophecy. 3. Describe the appearance of the first beast. What is signified by its peculiar characteristics? What kingdom was thus symbolized? 4. How was the second kingdom represented? What special features of this kingdom are revealed by the symbols? 5. By what beast was the third kingdom represented? What special characteristics are revealed by the symbols? Cite the historical fulfillment, in the history of Grecia. 6. Describe the appearance of the nondescript beast representing the fourth kingdom. Note the general characteristics of the kingdom thus symbolized. 7. What change did Daniel see take place in the horns of the fourth beast? What was the significance of each change? 8. Describe in detail the scene next presented before Daniel. 9. Note the difference in the manner of the ending of the first three kingdoms, and the ending of the fourth. 10. What truth is here taught concerning the end of probation? 11. Describe the giving of the kingdom to the Son of Man. 12. How was Daniel affected by the vision? 13. What encouragement is here given the people of God? 1. When and where was this prophecy given? About how long a time had passed since the events occurred which are recorded in the second chapter of Daniel? Cite other illustrations of the manner in which God anciently communicated with his people. 2. What reasons may be given for representing the history of this world to a heathen monarch by showing him a splendid image, and representing it to the prophet of God by wild beasts? 3. Compare the second and seventh chapters of Daniel, noting the additional information concerning the four kingdoms given in the seventh chapter. 4. Describe the scenes of the Judgment. THE PERFECT PLAYMATE.
By H. L. Ricardo
In a far away country, so long ago,
The boys and girls of that older time
Had the very best playmate that ever was known,
Better, I’m sure, than yours or mine. His face grew sad for another’s woe,
Or was wet with tears for another’s pain;
But never a blow nor an unkind word
Was answered by him with its kind again. A gentle, warm-hearted, generous boy —
The one perfect pattern for you and me.
Let us try this year to grow more like him —
This perfect playmate of Galilee.
— H. L. Ricardo. London Wedding Cakes Aged Before Sale
It is said that the best London wedding-cake bakers advertise that all their cakes are a year old; no baker in London sells a wedding cake under two months. A cake baked in July will be ripe for a November wedding. JANUARY STUDY OF THE FIELD: PART III.
- (Text-book, January Magazine.)*
“The Work in Nice;” “Among the Waldenses.” 1. Give the location of our one organized effort in France. 2. Describe this city. What is its population? 3. Why is it a good center for missionary work? 4. When was the third angel’s message first carried to this place? What was the nature of the work? 5. How many laborers are now situated there? 6. Why is this a difficult field? What makes medical missionary work among the poor especially hard? 7. What results are already reported? What re-enforcements have been made recently to the corps of laborers there? 8. Tell what you can of the Waldenses. 9. Locate and describe the Waldensian valleys. What is the population? 10. How do the people live? 11. How extensively has the Bible been circulated among them? What hindrance is there to a more general understanding of the Scriptures? 12. How early did this people hear the doctrine of the second coming of the Lord? When was the third angel’s message first preached in this field? 13. How widely has our literature been circulated there? 14. Where have meetings frequently been held? 15. Are the laborers restricted here in any way? 16. What reasons can you give why the message has not made more rapid progress among the Waldenses? State some of the needs of this field. THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE: WHAT IS IT IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH?
ALL that is accomplished by this great threefold message is done in view of the fact that “the hour” of God's “judgment is come.” Therefore the one great object of the Third Angel's Message is to prepare the world for the judgment: to prepare to stand in the judgment all who receive the message; and to ripen the world for the judgment in all who, by refusing the message which will prepare them to stand in the judgment, subject themselves to the judgment itself, in all its terror. The word of the message itself is that “the hour of his judgment is come,” not that it will come, but that it “IS come.” To every one, therefore, who receives this message, the judgment of God becomes an ever-present reality. All these stand always before the judgment seat, and put themselves voluntarily under all the tests of the judgment. This is so in the very nature of belief of the message; for when a message of God declares that “the hour of his judgment is come,” what can such a message amount to in the belief of a person to whom it is not a present reality that “the hour of his judgment is come”? And when it is held by the believer that it is the truth that “the hour of his judgment is come,” what can such a belief amount to if that person does not place himself in the very judgment itself, as a present thing, and does not willingly subject himself to all the searching realities of that judgment? This is emphasized by the further fact that this message is to make ready a people prepared to meet the Lord when he comes in the clouds of heaven,—a people who will be alive on the earth when the Lord comes, and who will be translated without seeing death. And all those who will be ready must be “accounted worthy to escape” all the evils that come upon the earth, and “to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:36. They must be accounted worthy before that coming occurs, or else they will not be worthy at his coming, and, therefore, can not be saved by him at his coming. And in this counting of each person worthy, or otherwise, the decisive word is, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22:11. Thus, by the very nature of the decision of the judgment in the cases of these living ones, in the time of the message that “the hour of his judgment is come,” it is evident that there is no long process of examination and of balancing of accounts one against another; but that it is simply the recognition of the condition of each person, according as that condition is by his own choice. Just what he is at the moment when the crisis of the decision in his case is reached, that he forever remains. If he is righteous, the judgment recognizes it, and pronounces the word, “Let him be righteous still.” And this word is so pronounced at that moment simply because he was already what this says that he shall be “still.” If he is unjust, then the word of the judgment is, “Let him be unjust still;” and this is so said simply because that is what he is at the moment, whether the judgment were pronounced or not; and the judgment, coming to his case just at that moment, finds it so, and recognizes it, and says, “Let him be unjust still.” And why should it not be thus? Here is a message of God proclaimed to every nation and kindred, and tongue and people, saying to all, “Fear God, and give glory to him,” especially because “the hour of his judgment is come.” On one hand, here are the people who have received the message. That message has in it all the divine power of the everlasting gospel fully to fit them for the judgment; and their very acceptance of the message is a confession that they recognize the fact that “the hour of his judgment is come,” and that they are in this “hour.” And if, in spite of this, any of them lives as if he were not in “the hour of his judgment,” and so shall be unprepared for the blessed word to be pronounced, “Let him be righteous still,” and is prepared for the awful word, “Let him be unjust still,” surely none but himself can be in any wise to blame for that. The decision is as it is because of his disregard of the very thing that he professed to hold, and the very thing that had called him to the profession which he holds. On the other hand, here is a message, proclaimed to all the world,—to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people,—saying, with a loud voice: “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” And here are vast multitudes of people who refuse to believe that there is any truth in the statement that “the hour of his judgment is come.” They, therefore, go on in their way, utterly regardless of the truth that they are in the presence of the judgment. Then, when the case of any individual among these is reached, and the word must be, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still,” this also is simply because of his own decision: the judgment pronounced is simply a recognition of the condition in which he is, and which he himself has fixed by his disregard of the message that would have altogether changed his condition, and fitted him for that other word, “He that is righteous, let him be righteous still.” A number of letters have been received at this office, within the last few weeks, asking whether it is true that word had come by the Spirit of Prophecy that the judgment has already begun upon the living. As to that, we know of no word that has expressly said so. But why should any believer of the Third Angel's Message be asking any such question? Does not the very message itself—the message which he professes to believe—say to him plainly, as plainly as the Lord can speak, “The hour of his judgment is come”? Has not this message said the same thing to every Seventh-day Adventist from the day that he first heard it? This being so, is it possible that any Seventh-day Adventist has not yet learned that “the hour of his judgment is come,” when that very word is what he heard, and has professed to believe from the day he heard it? And if any professed believer of the Third Angel's Message does not believe this word of God, which, all this time, he has professed to believe, when it tells him that the hour of God's judgment is come, then would he believe it if the Lord should tell him again? Is it possible that any one has lived under a profession of belief of this message, even for a day, and yet has not placed himself in the presence of the judgment, and has not subjected himself to all the searching tests of the judgment? Is it possible that any one of these professing to believe the word that “the hour of his judgment is come,” has not believed it at all, and has been acting all the time as he would not act if he did believe in reality that “the hour of his judgment is come”? So far as concerns every believer of the Third Angel's Message, each individual has fixed it that, with himself, the judgment has begun upon the living; for he is alive, and has accepted a message from God which declares to him that the hour of God's judgment is come. Being alive, and having accepted such a message from God, by the very force of his profession, simply by the virtue of his belief, he enters alive, hourly, into the judgment. He lives in the presence of the judgment. He opens his life to all the searching tests of the judgment. And this being so with him, he will never have any inquiry to make as to whether any word has come that the judgment has begun upon the living. There will be yet more on this; for this is the Third Angel's Message.