REPORTS from the Samoan Islands, in the South Pacific, state that the authorities there have decided on a change in the reckoning of the days of the week, the Western instead of the Eastern reckoning being hereafter to be followed. The Eastern reckoning being one day in advance of the Western, this means that the week there will begin one day later, the former Sunday becoming Saturday, Monday Sunday, etc.
Samoa lies to the east of the day line, and is therefore, as regards this line, situated in that part of the world in which the Western reckoning properly prevails. The Eastern reckoning became established there without reference to the position of the day line, and now this position is to be taken into account, and a change instituted accordingly. We have not yet learned just what reasons may have influenced the minds of the Samoan authorities in the matter.
The New York Independent, in making mention of this proposed change in Samoa's week, is moved to make some peculiar comments on the Sabbath as related to the week. It says:—
If what was Saturday now becomes Sunday, why cannot the Jews and the Seventh-day Baptists still call it Saturday, while the Christians call it Sunday, and both rest and worship on the same day by this perfectly proper convention? Or, indeed, why should not our American Jews send their chief rabbis on a tour around the world, in the right direction, and have them come back to find that their seventh day is our first day? We cannot see that it really makes any real difference where in the week you begin to count from, nor indeed that there is any beginning to the week. The entire difference as to the Sabbath day is a mere conventional formalism that has no inherent importance; and if any one thinks it has, let him take a trip around the world, and come back in line with other people.
No Jewish rabbi, of course, or other sane individual, would take a trip around the world merely to get “in line with other people.” The change necessary to conform with popular custom in the matter of Sabbath observance could be made without involving the trouble and expense of a twenty-four-thousand-mile journey. Such a trip would make no difference whatever with the right or wrong of the point in question. Going around the world does not change one day of the week into another. The days remain the same, and if an individual in traveling around the world finds himself at the end of his journey one day ahead of or behind those whom he left when he started out, the error is his and not theirs, and he must change his reckoning accordingly.
The Independent in stating its view arrives at the surprising conclusion that there is no beginning to the week at all; and if the week has no beginning, of course it has no end, for the end would mark the place of a new beginning; and so, having neither beginning nor end, there can be no week at all, and what we have called the week is a mere piece of imagination! And how surprising that sane people should have believed all along that there are fifty-two periods of time in the year, each one having neither beginning nor end!
This surprising conclusion, however, is strictly logical and necessary to one starting out with the assumption that it makes no difference whether he calls the first day of the week the seventh, or the seventh day the first. For if the week can begin just as well on one day as on another, then no day of the week can mark its beginning, for if it could, it would differ from the other days in this respect; so, since no day can be the beginning of the week, it can really have no beginning at all, and the Independent was logically bound to arrive at the absurd position which it stated. And as this line of reasoning, strictly followed from the premise first laid down, leads inevitably to the absurd conclusion that the week is not real, but only imaginary, reason dictates that this original premise—that it is proper to call Sunday the seventh day, or Saturday the first day, etc.—is altogether wrong, and must be rejected.
The Creator made the week. He fixed its beginning and its end, and man has simply to take the week as he received it from its divine Author. The seventh day—the Sabbath—marks the end of the week as God established it. We know which day is the seventh day, for it has been observed from the beginning by God's people, and that observance has never ceased from that time to this. Nowhere on the earth are the people in doubt as to which day of the week they are observing—the seventh day, the sixth day, or the first. When the seventh day comes, it is the duty of7the individual, wherever on the earth he may be, to observe it, in harmony with the directions given in the fourth commandment.
The editor of the Independent believes that Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, and observes the day for that reason. But the position the paper takes when it would persuade Jews and other seventh-day people to call Sunday the seventh day, and come into line with the majority, is fatal to the only reason it has for Sunday keeping. For if the week really has no beginning, as it says, then plainly Christ could not have risen from the grave on the first day of the week, any more than on the second day, the fourth day, or the seventh day. The argument against the definite seventh day is really a no-Sabbath argument, and, if followed out to the logical end, would destroy all Sabbath observance from off the earth.
L. A. S.
Note and Comment
Is crime on the increase in this country? It is often said that only the pessimist holds the affirmative view on this point, yet we often note comments on the increase of crime from sources that cannot be regarded as biased in that direction. For instance, we find the Chicago Tribune of November 9 saying editorially that “that week is now the exception in New England when the newspapers do not report murders of a mysterious kind. . . . Three such cases are now engaging public attention in that section.” After some further reference to these cases, the Tribune says:—
New England is not the only scene of these brutal crimes. There is scarcely a day in New York in which some cruel and mysterious murder, often of a peculiarly revolting kind, is not reported. The prevalence of murders has aroused considerable discussion, but as yet none of the students of sociology and criminology have been able to give a satisfactory explanation. One alienist who has examined insane cases for years declares that insanity has nothing to do with the increase of murders, and that it is only in extreme cases of dementia that there is a desire to commit murder, and that patients are always placed in asylums before they reach that stage. Dr. Parkhurst, in this connection, hits pretty near the mark when he says that the increase of crime is due to the decrease of respect for authority, beginning in the home and showing itself in disobedience to home laws, which leads to contempt for the laws of the country. He says further: “We become habituated to the things we talk about and read about. Hence it has come to pass that even in polite society men and women—good men and women they are, too—fail to experience any but the mildest sort of a shudder upon learning of the most atrocious crimes, and that the late recruits to the ranks of the murderers are not altogether from the lower classes.” Jane Addams, the other day, expressed a similar sentiment, attributing the increase of crime to the lack of respect for public authority and to the failure to enforce laws. Some day the public will have to give heed to these real warnings. The crime of murder is increasing not only in New England and New York, but all over the country. The record for 1902 will show a larger number of murders than the record for many years past, the total being out of all proportion to the increase of population.
To understand the meaning of these things it is only necessary to know that we have reached the closing days of earth’s history, when opposition to the law of God is proclaimed even in the pulpit, and evil men are waxing worse and worse, as prophecy has foretold.
Ritualism in the Episcopal Church
The growth of ritualism in the Episcopal Church, which marks the return to Rome of that branch of the Protestant church in this country, and of the “high-church” party in the Church of England, is a thing which frequently attracts attention by its rapid progress. The following comments on this subject were made recently by the New York Sun, on the occasion of the opening of the new church of St. Ignatius (Episcopal) in New York City, “high mass” being celebrated before a large and “apparently sympathetic” congregation:—
The services approached closely the ritual of the Roman Catholic Church. The robes of the priests, the incense, the sanctus bell, and the genuflexions suggested Catholicism, and the preacher, the rector of the extremely ritualistic and exceedingly prosperous Church of St. Mary the Virgin, proclaimed with emphasis that “the church is a part of the Catholic Church, and not a part of the Protestant sect,” “is the church of the worshipers in the catacombs and who through the Middle Ages to to-day,” “is of the church authorized by Christ through St. Peter.” He promulgated the doctrine of the real presence, defended “the right of the priest to grant, through the confessional, absolution according to the warrant of the Gospels,” and contended that this faith and these practices “are growing all over the land” in the Episcopal Church.
It cannot be denied by any one familiar with the development of that church in this country that the preacher had reason for this exultation. The most aggressive party in the Episcopal Church is now the High-church party, and it is steadily pressing ahead to further extremes in ritualism, toward medievalism, sacramentarianism, and sacerdotalism. “The priests of the church for the last fifty years,” said the preacher, “have been cleaning out the wells; do not let the wells fill up again with rubbish and prejudice.” And they have done the work very thoroughly. High-churchism, both here and in England, has advanced far beyond the dreams of the most enthusiastic leaders of the Oxford movement at its beginning in 1833.
Even a generation ago, Episcopalians would have been horrified by the “Romanism” of the service and the sermon at this opening of an Episcopal church last Sunday, no matter if they had been included in the High-church party as it then was. But now the teaching of the real presence and of confessional absolution in an Episcopal Church produces no alarm, no unusual sensation, though we observe that Bishop Potter was not present at St. Ignatius’s to celebrate “high mass,” but that a ritualist bishop from a Western diocese was called in for the purpose.
Meantime, the Roman Catholic rejects the right of the Church of St. Ignatius to call itself a “Catholic” church, refuses to recognize the validity of its clerical orders, looks on its priests as mere laymen, and regards its “high mass” as an idle or impious ceremony. No matter how near Episcopal ritualism gets to Rome in its forms, it is still classed by Rome with Protestantism and heresy, as a body without true churchly authority.
What Rome is demanding and waiting for is a full return to corporate union with the papacy, and the complete abandonment of any separate organization or name. To this point, in another step, this ritualistic church party will logically come.
Human Governments and Their Decline
We note in the Cincinnati Post of recent date the following words of dissent from the popular opinion that human nature and human governments are progressing toward a state of peace and perfection. The dissenter is the Rev. S. E. Bowdle, who, after setting forth the retrograde tendency of all human governments which appears “at periods of prodigal prosperity” and “riotous power,” and is an “infallible, persistent, and historic symptom of the retrograde movement of man, nationally considered,” says:—
Reader, how many men do you know who are above the corrupting influences of vanity, ambition, and the love of money? Blush, and honestly answer this question, and then behold in your answer the simple reason of the decline and fall of popular government. Behold a race of men, afflicted with the leprosy of self-interest, from which it can in no wise cleanse itself. Here lies the staggering difficulty, unsolvable by man; a difficulty in whose presence nineteen centuries of education stand confounded. Behold the race with teeth and claws of avarice and self absolutely unaffected by the vaunted educational processes of centuries. And in your despairing perplexity read the forty-fourth verse of the second chapter of Daniel, for there is the solution. This race has reckoned without Jehovah. It must shortly reckon with him.
Seeing God Through Faith
“If you want the eye of the soul to be opened, you must shut the eye of sense. And the more we turn away from looking at the dazzling lies with which time and the material universe befool and bewilder us, the more shall we see Him whom to see is to live forever.”
A Message to the Church
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
Last night I had a wonderful experience. I was in an assembly where questions were being asked and answered. At one o'clock I awoke, and arose. For a time I walked the room, praying earnestly for clearness of mind, and for strength to write the words that must be written. I entreated the Lord to help me to bear a testimony that would arouse his people before it should be forever too late.
My soul was drawn out in the consideration of matters relating to the carrying forward of God's work. This work is to be carried forward without outward display. In establishing institutions we are never to compete with institutions of the world in size or splendor. We are to enter into no confederacy with those who do not love or fear God. Those who are unable to endure the seeing of him who is invisible, are weak, surrounded with spiritual darkness that is as the darkness of midnight. Within, all is dreariness. They know not the meaning of joy in the Lord. They take no interest in eternal realities. Their attention is engrossed with the trifling things of earth. Having forsaken God, the fountain of living water, they hew out for themselves broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Let it not be thus with those who have tasted the power of the world to come.
In establishing the work in new places, we are to economize in every way possible. The work of soul saving must be carried forward in the way that Christ marked out. He declares, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Only by obeying this word can we be his disciples. We are striving for a kingdom and a crown. We shall obtain both by following Christ's example.
We are nearing the end of this earth's history, and the different departments of God's work are to be carried forward with much more self-sacrifice than has yet been practiced. The work for these last days is a missionary work. Present truth, from the first to the last letter of its alphabet, means missionary effort. The work to be done calls for sacrifice at every step of advance. The workers are to come forth from trial, purified and refined, as gold tried in the fire.
Wearing Christ's Yoke
The Lord calls upon men and women to unite with Christ by wearing his yoke. But he tells them that they are to refuse the yoke which human hands would place on them; for this yoke would be galling and oppressive. There are those who refuse to wear the yoke of Christ, and yet would place upon others a yoke of human manufacture. What a terrible deception! It is as night amid the full blaze of gospel light. Such ones are not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can they be, until they pass through the death struggle, and are born again. All through their experience are woven the threads of worldly wisdom. They look upon their work as meritorious, but in the day of judgment they will learn—unless they learn it before—that they are corrupted with selfishness. They have barred their hearts against Christ's entrance, and unless they repent and open to him, they must one day hear the words, “Depart from me.”
God's Purpose for His Church
Filled with the knowledge of the will of God in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might by his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness,—such were the early disciples. They sought above all things to know the will of God. But do these words describe the church in its present condition? Many who claim to believe the truth are far from practicing its principles. The church is weak and inefficient because many of its members follow their own impulses, refusing to do the will of God. Not by the Spirit of God, but by another spirit, are they led. They know not the meaning of the written Word. When they bring into the daily life the principles of God's law, they will be able to say from experience, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.”
In the hearts of many, God has a work to do, if they will allow him. They need a complete transformation of character. This is their only hope. Some now in the work will have to pass through the furnace of affliction before they will see the need of having all dross burned away from the religious experience.
The church must and will shine forth “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.” God's servants must, by laboring together with Christ, roll away the curse that has made the church so lukewarm. “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints,” writes the great apostle to the Gentiles, “is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When these words are believed and lived, the church will have a heaven below to go to heaven in.
These words were spoken by our Instructor: “Some are reckless, insensible of the results of sin, heedless of warning. Soon the handwriting on the wall, now unintelligible to them, will be read. But it will then be too late for them to repent. Like Belshazzar, they seem unable to see their peril. A straight testimony must be borne to our churches and institutions, to arouse the sleeping ones.”
When the word of the Lord is believed and obeyed, steady advancement will be made. Let us now see our great need. The Lord cannot use us until he breathes life into the dry bones. I heard the words spoken: “Without the deep moving of the Spirit of God upon the heart, without its life-giving influence, truth becomes a dead letter.”
Let us from this time use our powers for God. Let us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that he works in us, to will and to do of his good pleasure. Let us humble ourselves before God. He is waiting for us to draw near to him, that our purposes may be more Christlike, that more of the purity and meekness and grace of the Redeemer may be brought into our work. We have walked in our own ways and followed our own counsel, as if we could counterwork the divine purposes. Let us now turn to the Lord. Let us seek him while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for9he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Yes, this is God's plan. Let us come to him just as we are, and he will fulfill his purposes for us.
The experience that I had last night has impressed me very deeply. I seemed to have Christ close beside me. I was filled with hope and courage and faith. I pleaded with God to sustain me, and he lifted me up, and made me to triumph in him. I know that the Lord will work for his people when they sanctify their souls by obeying the truth. Then the whole being, body, mind, and soul, will be in harmony with him. We shall possess a freedom crowned with glory.
With longing heart, I look to the skies, That shall sometime flame in glory, And I think of the sweet and the glad surprise, As I read the wondrous story Of the second coming of Christ sublime, And the endless life to be given, When we shall exchange the woes of time For the love and bliss of heaven.
The hands of earth wake not the chords That thrill with the hope of heaven, And worldly hearts are cold and hard, And believe not the promise given; The hopes of the world all center here, In the land of the sick and dying, While mine reach up to that pure sphere, Where is known no pain or sighing.
I think of Christ, who shall come again, The desire of all the ages; His coming inspired the prophets’ pen, And shines from the sacred pages. And smiles have beamed on the care-worn face, As the lips have told the story That Christ, with his love and tender grace, Would come in his Father’s glory.
He’ll come with the shining angel host, Arrayed in a wondrous brightness, Come to redeem the loved and lost, And clothe them in robes of whiteness. Every stain has been washed away, And every sin forgiven, And up to the shadowless gates of Will they go with their heaven.
Keep and Kept
By John Norton Loughborough
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH
“BECAUSE thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Rev. 3:10, 11.
Two keepings are here introduced. The one is on the part of God, the other is on the part of the believer in Christ—the follower of his word. This special time of keeping is near the time of Christ’s second coming.
The possibility of losing a crown is expressed by another in these words: “The crowns they might have worn, had they been faithful, are put upon the heads of those saved by the faithful servants whose means was constantly in use for God.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. I, page 198.
We read of the Lord as our keeper: “He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” Ps. 121:3–8.
The word of the Lord for his people through Jacob was, “I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest.” Gen. 28:15. Of Israel he said, “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way.” Ex. 23:20. The psalmist, when speaking of the Lord’s dealing with his people, says: “O how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.” Ps. 31:19, 20.
The psalmist, when speaking of the agency employed in this keeping process, says: “He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Ps. 91:11. And of the Lord’s keeping power the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isa. 26:3. And, when comparing the Lord’s people to a vineyard, the same prophet said, “I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” Isa. 27:3.
Jude wrote on this subject in these words: “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion, and power, both now and ever. Amen.” Jude 24. This text clearly implies that in order to have this keeping there must be on our part a recognition of the glory, majesty, dominion, and
power of the Lord. The apostle Peter speaks of such as being “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:5.
The Lord says of those whom he has promised to keep that they have kept something, and what is it?—“Thou hast kept the word of my patience” (Rev. 3:10) and, “Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” Verse 8. From this scripture it appears that, in the “hour of temptation,” just before the Lord’s coming, the tendency of the people will be to discredit the word of the Lord, and to set aside his name. At that same time the message by the Lord’s faithful people will be, “Behold your God.” This departure from the word is just what we begin to see in these last days, in what churchmen style “the higher criticism.” No marvel that the Saviour said, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8.
To the Lord’s people in this time the admonition comes with force, “Keep yourselves in the love of God.” Jude 21. “This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” 1 John 5:3. The Saviour said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” John 15:10. In perfect accord with this same thought comes the admonition, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Prov. 4:23. “Keep himself [yourself] unspotted from the world.” James 1:27. “Keep thyself pure.” 1 Tim. 5:22. “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” Ps. 34:13.
How is all this keeping on our part to be done? Has not the Lord said, “The way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps”? (Jer. 10:23)—Yes! But he has just as surely said, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Prov. 3:6. While of ourselves we are weak, and separated from Christ can “do nothing,” it is for us to choose his service. The admonition to us is, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” Joshua 24:15. As expressed by the apostle Paul, “to will is present with me.” Rom. 7:18.
How this work is accomplished is so well expressed in the words of another that I will quote them here: “The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise. You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its affections; but you can choose to serve him. You can give him your will: he will then work in you to will and to do according to his good pleasure.
“The Spirit reveals to the mind the things of God; and to him who co-operates with God is the realization that a divine presence is hovering near.
“The Spirit of God is not commissioned to do our part of the work, either in willing or in doing. It is the work of the human agent to co-operate with divine agencies. As soon as we incline10our will to harmonize with God’s will, the grace of God is supplied to co-operate with our resolve.”—Apples of Gold Library, No. 17, pages 7, 4, 5.
From this we can see how it is that “he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” 1 John 5:18. As we choose the Lord’s will and way, trusting his power to work in us to will and to do, we share in the keeping he has promised now from day to day. Following the pathway of his truth and word, we shall be kept in that “hour of temptation” of which he warns us. Those who sense this great goodness of the Lord may indeed “be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4: 6, 7.
Are You Ready for Service?
By E. T. Russell
E. T. RUSSELL
The Lord has a great work to be accomplished, and his business demands haste. Are you ready for service? The fields are white already to harvest. He says, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Is this not true? Does not everything indicate that we are living in the world's harvest time, and that soon the Son of man will put in the sickle, and gather the fruit of the earth? Many signs foretell that the great day is almost upon us; but one of the most convincing signs of the speedy coming of Christ is the increased missionary activity among that people who look for the Saviour to appear in this generation.
Many have been carried by great ocean liners to different parts of the world to herald the message of his soon coming in fulfillment of the proclamation of the angel of Rev. 14: 6, 7. Conferences and individuals have given liberally of their means to the support of the workers in those fields; but there is need of more thorough work in the home field. There are unwarned souls all over around us. The responsibility of warning them rests on us, and we shall be held accountable if we do not act our part well. We cannot afford to remain inactive and let souls go down to ruin; for in so doing we ourselves shall suffer loss. The Lord has again and again urged us to greater diligence in missionary work, and has plainly told us that it is important that the publications containing present truth be placed in the hands of the people. He has told us that there should be one hundred canvassers where there is now one. Can he count on you as a recruit for this good work? His eye is upon us; he desires us to bear fruit, and we cannot afford to disappoint him, and be counted as cumberers of the ground. We have too long been idlers. Let us now enlist for active service until the Master comes.
Scattering and Withholding
By W. Jay Tanner
W. JAY TANNER
“THERE is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” Prov. 11:24.
The following circumstances were noted a few days ago while visiting a small company of believers. While the names are fictitious, the incidents are real, and require no comment.
Ebony Hill is a very ordinary district in one of the parishes of Jamaica. A few years ago two families in this district accepted the message for these times. Since then others have joined them, so that now the company there consists of twelve members. None of these are weighted down with the things of this world. That could hardly be with wages at from twenty-four to thirty-six cents a day, and bananas, the chief product, bringing twenty-four cents a bunch. As to property, Brother Down is the best off, with thirty acres of land, all of which is under cultivation; and Brother Champion comes next, with three acres. Both of these are industrious, hard-working men. Neither has any income save that which he receives from labor.
But, strange to say, Brother Down complains that times are so hard that he can scarcely pay his taxes, while Brother Champion has discharged, without complaint, this necessary duty to Cæsar.
Brother Down’s house is sadly in need of repair, while Brother Champion has just neatly painted his.
Yet Brother Down improves his time on “first days” by picking and preparing a little coffee, chocolate, etc., for export. Brother Champion, on the other hand, devotes that day to visiting and holding cottage meetings in neighboring districts.
Brother Down thinks he can keep the Sabbath at home as well as anywhere, consequently he seldom goes to church. Brother Champion is always at meeting.
Brother Down has been too busy to give any time on the building of their little chapel, and “too poor” to make a donation for that purpose; but Brother Champion not only gave the land, but also most of the cash and time.
Brother Down does not believe in the tithing system. Brother Champion is very particular to pay an honest tithe.
Brother Down thinks that no offerings should be asked for,—that ministers and missionaries should go out without “script or purse.” Brother Champion, as I was leaving the other day, said: “I have an offering that I wish you would hand to our treasurer for me. I have three pounds for this purpose.” He paused for a moment, and I thought his hesitation was because he had found that his generosity had overmatched his purse, and he felt badly because he could not make it the desired amount. Three pounds (nearly fifteen dollars) is a large sum to the average Jamaican cultivator. He finished what he had to say, with these words: “But the other day a circular came to me from the Mission Board telling their great needs, and I feel that I must make it five pounds.” I was astonished and touched, for it was evident that such a sacrifice required most heroic self-denial on the part of the entire family. I hope that I shall never forget the holy joy of that family as they gathered around the table while the husband and father counted out, one by one, one hundred hard-earned shillings.
It might be added in conclusion that within the past year Brother Champion has brought five or six precious souls into the fold, the most of whom are regular in attendance at meetings, and faithful in paying tithes and offerings. Brother Down has brought one as far as he himself has come; that is, his convert does not deem it important to attend meetings, and holds that the tithing system is not binding on Christians, and that times are too hard to make offerings.
Truly, “There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches.” Prov. 13:7.
The Abundant Life
By Maltbie Davenport Babcock
CHRIST said, “I am come that they might have life.” Life is back of love, back of believing, back of hoping, back of everything. Ezekiel in his vision of the “river of life” understood life; he knew what it meant; at first a little stream to the ankles, then, as he went farther on, it came to the knees, and then to the loins, and finally a wide, mighty river. That is life. Do you know what life is?—No; neither does anybody else. Life is indefinable; life is an ultimate; life is God; life is effectiveness; life is power. Adjustment to the things around you—correspondence to environment—that is life. The plodding man does not live. He goes out in the morning and hears the birds, the heralds of the spring, sweetly singing in the trees. The flowers are blooming in the fields, the whole world is full of music, it is everywhere; but the sweet primrose growing on the bank does not for him contain life and beauty and music—it remains a primrose still. Life is measured by the number of things you are alive to. The fullness of our life means what we are about to do. I must have a life that is more abundant than my own poor nature. I must take the power of Jesus, and have inside fellowship with him.—Maltbie Davenport Babcock, D. D.
Brotherly Love
By William Covert
WILLIAM COVERT
ALL may know the disciples of Jesus by the love they manifest for one another. John 13:35. Christian love emanates from the Spirit of Christ, which dwells within the soul. The life of Christ makes the willing heart a living channel through which flow kindly deeds and words giving happiness to many souls. All utterances of this love are pleasant and respectful. No rude or offensive word comes from this source. Brotherly love is strong, but always gentle. The gentleness of its author made him great (Ps. 18:35); and this same gentleness is offered to all his disciples, that they also may be great. The wonderful moral strength with which Jesus was girded was constantly manifested in gentle kindness, and by this his way was made perfect. There is in the spirit of divine love that which draws even the sinner to God, and through this attribute alone he is led to repentance.
Were a whole denomination wholly united in the principles of brotherly love, they would soon carry the Saviour to all the world. There would be with them no criticisms to mar their work, no selfishness to impede their progress. Cruelty and oppression are in this world of sin, but who is satisfied with these things? Here we see the rich taking advantage of the poor, and the weak and the unfortunate are crowded and crushed by the strong; but brotherly love reaches out a helping hand, and assists the needy to arise. The observing mind sees that life, where sin abounds, must meet with many a battle. It is during these conflicts that brotherly kindness can render the greatest help. It is then that a word of cheer inspires the fainting heart.
True brotherly love must come from the love of our Elder Brother. The heart must be made new by the Spirit, and filled with the Spirit, before it will yield the fruit of Christian gentleness. The tree must exist before the fruit can be borne upon it. Of course cultivation and co-operation are necessary, but the first essential is to yield the will to God, and keep the heart open to be wrought upon by the divine mind.
The spirit of Christlike gentleness must be possessed before the word of God can be obeyed, which says, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Eph. 4:31, 32. What Paul wrote to the Ephesians is written also to us. Shall we heed the admonition?