The Review and Herald, Review and Herald, Vol. 47, No. 9.
SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE, OR THE BIBLE PLAN OF SUPPORTING THE MINISTRYPage 1
Earlier text: SYSTEMATIC BENEVOLENCE, OR THE BIBLE PLAN OF SUPPORTING THE MINISTRYThe mining interests of the United States have become an eminent part of the national wealth. The extraction of lead, iron, copper, and the precious metals, and coal from the bosom of the earth, is a business that has almost wholly grown up within the last hundred years. In 1754 a lead mine was worked in Southwestern Virginia; and in 1778, Dubuque, a French miner, worked lead ore deposits on the western bank of the Upper Mississippi. The Jesuit missionaries discovered copper in the Lake Superior region more than two hundred years ago, and that remains the chief source of our native copper ore. That metal is produced in smaller quantities in other States, chiefly in the West and Southwest. A lust for gold, and the knowledge of its existence in America, was the chief incentive to emigration to these shores. But within the domain of our republic very little of it was found, until that domain was extended far toward the Pacific Ocean. It was unsuspected until long after the Revolution. Finally gold was discovered among the mountains of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and in Georgia. North Carolina was the first State in the Union to send gold to the mint in Philadelphia. Its first small contribution was in 1804. From that time until 1823 the average amount produced from North Carolina mines did exceed $2,500 annually. Virginia's first contribution was in 1829, when that of North Carolina, for that year, was $128,000. Georgia sent its first contribution in 1830. It amounted to $212,000. The product so increased that branch mints were established in North Carolina and Georgia in 1837 and 1838, and another at New Orleans. In 1848, gold was discovered on the American fork of the Sacramento river in California, and soon afterward elsewhere in that region. A gold fever seized the people of the United States, and thousands rushed to California in search of the precious metals. Within a year from the discovery, nearly 50,000 people were there. Less than five years afterward California, in one year, sent to the United States mint full $40,000,000 in gold. Its entire gold product to this time is estimated at more than $800,000,000. Over all the far western States and Territories the precious metals—gold and silver—seem to be scattered in profusion, and the amount of mineral wealth yet to be discovered there seems to be incalculable. Our coal fields seem to be inexhaustible; and out of the bosom of the earth, in portions of our country, flow millions of barrels annually of petroleum or rock oil, affording the cheapest illuminating material in the world. Mineral coal was first discovered and used in Pennsylvania at the period of the Revolution. A boat load was sent down the Susquehanna from Wilkes-Barre for the use of the Continental works at Carlisle. But it was not much used before the war of 1812; and the regular business of mining this fuel did not become a part of the commerce of the country before the year 1820, when 365 tons were sent to Philadelphia. At the present time the amount of coal sent to market from the American mines of all kinds is equal to full 15,000,000 tons annually. The commerce of the United States has had a wonderful growth. Its most active development was seen in New England. British legislation imposed heavy burdens upon it in Colonial times, and, like manufactures, it was greatly depressed. The New Englanders built many vessels for their own use, but more for others; and, just before the breaking out of the Revolution, there was quite a brisk trade carried on between the English-American Colonies and the West Indies, as well as with the mother country. The Colonists exported tobacco, lumber, shingles, staves, masts, turpentine, hemp, flax, pot and pearl ashes, salted fish in great quantities, some corn, live stock, pig-iron, and skins and furs procured by traffic with the Indians. Whale and cod fishing was an important branch of commerce. In the former, there were 160 vessels employed at the beginning of 1775, and sperm candles and whale-oil were exported to Great Britain. In exchange for New England products, a large amount of molasses was brought from the West Indies and made into rum to sell to the Indians and fishermen, and to exchange for slaves on the coast of Africa. The entire exports of the Colonies in the year 1770 amounted in value to $14,262,000. At the close of the war, the British government refused to enter into commercial relations with the United States government, believing that the weak league of States would soon be dissolved; but when a vigorous national government was formed in 1789, Great Britain, for the first, sent a resident minister to our government, and entered into a commercial arrangement with us. Meanwhile a brisk trade had sprung up between the Colonies and Great Britain, as well as with other countries. From 1784 to 1790 the exports from the United States to Great Britain amounted to $33,000,000, and the imports from Great Britain to $87,000,000. At the same time several new and important branches of industry had appeared and flourished with great rapidity. From that time the expansion of American commerce was marvelous, in spite of the checks it received from British jealousy, wars, piracies in the Mediterranean Sea and elsewhere, and the effects of embargoes. The tonnage of American ships, which, in 1789, was 201,562, was in 1870 more than 7,000,000. The exports from the United States in 1870 amounted to about $464,000,000, and the imports to about $395,000,000 in gold. The domestic commerce of the United States is immense. A vast sea-coast line, great lakes, large rivers, and many canals, afford scope for interstate commerce and with adjoining countries, not equalled by those of any nation. The canal and railway systems in the United States are the product chiefly of the present century. So also is navigation by steam, on which river commerce chiefly relies for transportation. This was begun in the year 1807. The first canals made in this country were two short ones, for a water passage around the South Hadley and Montague Falls, in Massachusetts. These were constructed in 1792. At about the same time the Inland Lock Navigation Companies, in the State of New York, began their work. The Middlesex Canal, connecting Lowell with Boston harbor, was completed in 1808, and the great Erie Canal, 363 miles in length, was finished in 1825, at a cost of almost $8,000,000. The aggregate length of canals built in the United States is 3,200 miles. The first railway built in the United States was one three miles in length, that connected the granite quarries at Quincy, Massachusetts, with the Neponset River. It was completed in 1827; horse-power was used. The first use of a locomotive in this country was in 1829, when one was put upon a railway that connected the coal mines of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company with Honesdale. Now railways form a thick network all over the United States east of the Mississippi, and are rapidly spreading over the States and Territories beyond, to the Pacific Ocean. To these facilities for commercial operations, must be added the Electro-Magnetic Telegraph, an American invention, as a method of transmitting intelligence, and giving warning signals to the shipping and agricultural interests concerning the actual and probable state of the weather each day. The first line, forty miles in length, was constructed between Baltimore and Washington, in 1844. Now the lines are extended to every part of our Union, and all over the civilized world, traversing oceans and rivers, and bringing Paris and New York within one hour's space of intercommunication. Banking institutions and insurance companies are intimately connected with commerce. The first bank in the United States was established in 1781, as a financial aid to the government. It was called the Bank of North America. The Bank of New York and Bank of Massachusetts were established soon afterward. On the recommendation of Hamilton in 1791, a national bank was established at Philadelphia, with a capital of $10,000,000, of which sum the government subscribed $2,000,000. Various banking systems, under State charters, have since been tried. During the civil war a system of national banking was established, by which there is a uniform paper currency throughout the Union. The number of national banks at the close of 1863 was 66; the number at the close of 1874 was not far from 1,700, involving capital to the amount of almost $500,000,000. Fire, marine, and life insurance companies have flourished greatly in the United States. The first incorporated company was established in 1792, in Philadelphia, and known as the “Fire Insurance Company of North America.” Another was established in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1799, and another in New York, in 1806. The first life insurance company was chartered in Massachusetts in 1825, and the “New York Life Insurance and Trust Company” was established in 1829. All others are of recent organization. As a rule, the business of insurance of every kind is profitable to the insurers and the insured. The amount of capital engaged in it is enormous. The fire risks alone, at the close of 1874, amounted to about $200,000,000. Our growth in population has been steadily increased by immigration from Europe. It began very moderately after the Revolution. From 1784 to 1794 the average number of immigrants a year was 4,000. During the last ten years the number of persons who have emigrated to the United States from Europe is estimated at over 2,000,000, who brought with them, in the aggregate, $200,000,000 in money. This capital and the productive labor of the immigrants, have added much to the wealth of our country. This emigration and wealth is less than during the ten years preceding the civil war, during which time there came to this country from Europe 2,814,554 persons, bringing with them an average of at least $100, or an aggregate of over $281,000,000. THE DOCTOR'S DILEMMA.
By D. T. T.
DURING the summer of 187—, I met a friendly clergyman, Rev. A. W., on board the steamboat on lake C——, when the conversation, cordially opened between us, presently ran on to the discussion of the state of the dead by the Methodist ministers of New York city, in which Doctor True had openly advocated the doctrine of the sleep of the dead. My friend—an ardent Methodist and a presiding elder—strongly dissented from an unconscious death-sleep before entering upon a celestial life. He gave his reasons, running over and quoting the scriptures usually supposed to sustain the consciousness of man in death. He believed the pious dead were now with Christ in Heaven—it must be so, he affirmed. “Well,” said I, when he was through, “whatever be the condition of the dead, we must concede that the Scriptures teach their detention in what is by the pen of inspiration denominated Hades; this abode, place, or state, being constantly referred to both in the Old and the New Testament as the abode of all the dead, both good and bad. Can’t we agree here?” Eld. W. was a D. D., He paused to refresh his learning and memory, then immediately added, “Yes, that is true; it is the general receptacle of the dead.” “Very well,” I replied. “Then, doctor, will you please inform me how the pious dead can now be with Christ in Heaven? Are Hades and Heaven the same? Is Christ now in Hades?” My opponent in an instant dropped his head, turned on his heel, and, without saying a word, walked thoughtfully to the other end of the cabin. Our conversation was not resumed. His dilemma was complete, and there was no way to extricate himself from it. Unquestionably all created things die in Hades. It is even deadlier than Thanatos. Only once the omnipotent Spirit is declared to be present in that dismal abode. Ps. 139: 6. I take this as asserting God’s power over it, and as a pledge of the resurrection of its captives. Rev. 20: 13. “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against” the elect. Matt. 16: 18. God took his Son out of Hades. Acts 2: 27, 31, 32. God will take his church out of Hades. But as Christ went to Hades in death, but escaped from it as from a dungeon at his resurrection, and after, and not till after, went to his Father in Heaven, a whole solid acre of doctors of divinity could not tell how the dead can be in Hades and yet be with Christ in Heaven at the same time. The fact is, even the pious dead are yet held in the hadean prison, and will be until the Lord comes again.—D. T. T., in Bible Banner. No pleasanter sight is there than a family of young folks who are quick to perform little acts of attention toward their elders. The placing of the big arm chair in a warm place for mamma, running for a footstool for aunty, hunting up papa’s spectacles, and scores of little deeds, show unsuppressed and loving hearts. But if mamma never returns a smiling “thank you, dear;” if papa’s “just what I was wanting, Susie,” does not indicate that the little attention is appreciated, the children soon drop the habit. Little people are imitative creatures, and quickly catch the spirit surrounding them. So, if when the mother’s spool of cotton rolls from her lap, the father stoops to pick it up, bright eyes will see the act, and quick minds make a note of it. By example, a thousand times more quickly than by precept, can children be taught to speak kindly to each other, to acknowledge favors, to be gentle and unselfish, to be thoughtful and considerate of the comfort of the family. The boys, with inward pride of their father’s courteous demeanor, will be chivalrous and helpful to their own young sisters; the girls, imitating their mother, will be gentle and patient, even when big brothers are noisy and heedless. In the home where true courtesy prevails, it seems to meet you on the very threshold. You feel the kindly welcome on entering. No angry voices are heard up stairs. No sullen children are sent from the room. No peremptory orders are given to cover the delinquencies of housekeeping or servants. A delightful atmosphere pervades the house—unmistakably yet undescribably. THE UNIVERSITY OF HARD KNOCKS.
A great deal of useless sympathy is in this day expended upon those who start life without social or monetary help. Those are most to be congratulated who have at the beginning a rough tussle with circumstances. John Ruskin sets it down as one of his calamities that in early life he had “nothing to endure.” A petted and dandled childhood makes a weak and insipid man. You say that Ruskin, just quoted, disproves the theory. No. He is showing in a dejected, splenetic, and irritated old age the need of the early cudgelling of adversity. He seems fretting himself to death. A little experience of the hardship of life would have helped to make him gratefully happy now. There is no brawn of character without compulsory exertion. The men who sit strong in their social, financial, and political elevations are those who did their own climbing. Misfortune is a rough nurse, but she raises giants. Let our young people, instead of succumbing to the influences that would keep them back and down, take them as the parallel bars, and dumb-bells, and weights of a gymnasium, by which they are to get muscle for the strife. Consent not to beg your way to fortune, but achieve it. God is always on the side of the man who does his best. God helps the man who tries to overcome difficulties.—Christian at Work. The Ten Commandments Are One Law
By D.
PEOPLE talk about the ten commandments as though they were ten laws. They are one law—the law of God. The minute you have broken one of them you have broken the law of God. Suppose I am hanging by a chain from the wall; if a single link in the chain breaks, I fall.—D. THE SANCTUARY.
By Uriah Smith
Ninth Paper.—The Commandment to Restore and Build Jerusalem.
As noticed last week, we must look to one, or all, of the decrees issued by Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, for the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. And the selection must be determined largely by a consideration of how much is embraced in the prophecy respecting the restoration of this city. The promise embraced the restoration as well as the rebuilding of Jerusalem. To restore and build, is more than simply to build. The rebuilding of its demolished palaces, the re-opening of its deserted streets, the re-erection of its leveled walls, and the setting up again of its broken gates, would not alone meet the provisions of the prophecy. There must be the forms and privileges of religious worship, the regulations of society, judges to interpret, and officers to execute, the laws, and the re-establishment of that civil polity which made Jerusalem what she was before her fall. The decree of Cyrus standing nearest to the prophecy respecting the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, naturally first engages our attention. Some have claimed that this decree of Cyrus must be the commandment in question, because God by the prophet Isaiah speaks of Cyrus as the one who should say to Jerusalem, “Thou shalt be built.” Isa. 44:28. But there are three conclusive objections to this view: 1. It is not Cyrus who, in the prophecy of Isaiah, says to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; but the Lord is the one who says this. See verses 26 and 27. 2. The decree of Cyrus pertained simply to the temple at Jerusalem: See Ez. 1:2. It did not even make provision for the building of the city, much less for those other provisions, which, as we have seen, must have been included in the prophecy. 3. From the date of this decree, B. C. 536, the sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years which were to extend to the Messiah the Prince, fall 53 years short of reaching even to the birth of Christ. An effort has consequently been made by those who take the decree of Cyrus to be the commandment in question, to change the date of that decree, placing it at a point late enough to harmonize with the prophecy respecting the Messiah. But this cannot be done, as we shall hereafter see. By these remarks we do not design in the least to rob the decree of Cyrus of any measure of its importance. It occupies a prominent place in connection with the history of Jerusalem’s restoration. The work which Cyrus did was given him of the Lord to do. He was called by name over a hundred years before his birth, and his work in a measure at least pointed out. And that which his decree granted was one of the first steps, and a very necessary step in the work of restoration; but its provisions were too limited to meet the specifications of the prophecy. Some things, to be sure, would follow as a necessary consequence, such as the building of houses for the workmen, the opening of worship, and the carrying on of some necessary traffic. But the decree did not provide for them. The decree of Darius stands next in order. It was occasioned by the following circumstances: The next year after the Jews had commenced the work under the decree of Cyrus, the enemies of the Jews made request that they be permitted to join them in the work. This the Jews refused, whereupon their enemies set themselves to work to trouble them in their building and to frustrate them in their purpose, “all the days of Cyrus, . . . even until the reign of Darius, king of Persia.” Ez. 4. Seven years after issuing his decree, Cyrus died, and was succeeded by Cambyses, called in Ez. 4:6, Ahasuerus, who reigned seven years and five months, and who was in turn succeeded by Smerdis the Magian, called in Ez. 4:7, Artaxerxes, from whom the enemies of the Jews obtained an edict prohibiting the further prosecution of the work at Jerusalem. Ez. 4:21–24. But the land being smitten with barrenness, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, having made known to the Jews the cause of this calamity, exhorted them to resume the work of building the house of God, which they accordingly commenced again B. C. 520. Again their enemies endeavored to hinder and stop them, and appealing to Darius who had now come to the Persian throne, he caused search to be made among the chronicles of the kingdom, and finding the decree of Cyrus, reaffirmed it, with some provisions of his own; and thus the work went forward prosperously again. Here was a second decree. It was however only seventeen years from the decree of Cyrus, and therefore does not meet the prophecy any better than the former, in the matter of dates. And further, it was but a reaffirmation of the decree of Cyrus, and was therefore too limited in its provisions to constitute the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem. But it was a second step in the work, and, adding somewhat to the decree of Cyrus, was some advancement toward the end in view. Third and last stands the decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus, as recorded in Ez. 7. This Artaxerxes was the Ahasuerus of the book of Esther, which will account for the remarkable favor he showed to the Jewish people. The decree which he issued was given to Ezra at the earnest solicitation of that man of God; for it is said that the king granted Ezra “all his request.” A mere perusal of this decree shows its full and ample provisions. It is drawn up in a formal manner. It is expressly called “a decree.” It is written, not in Hebrew, but in Chaldaic or Eastern Aramaic. “Thus,” says Prof. Whiting, “we are furnished with the original document, by virtue of which Ezra was authorized to ‘restore and build Jerusalem’; or, in other words, by which he was clothed with power, not merely to erect walls or houses, but to regulate the affairs of his countrymen in general, to ‘set magistrates and judges which may judge all the people beyond the river.’ He was commissioned to enforce the observance of the laws of his God, and to punish those who transgressed with death, banishment, confiscation or imprisonment. See verses 23–27.” No such ample powers as this decree conferred upon Ezra can be found in any previous or subsequent act of this kind. This, in connection with those which had been given before, contained all the provision that could possibly be made for any people who were still to be held tributary to the Persian throne. And we have in Ez. 6:14, a remarkable declaration showing that all three of these decrees are taken as the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem: “And they builded and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to THE COMMANDMENT of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes, king of Persia.” Here the decrees of these three several kings, are called “the commandment,” singular number, according to which the work in Jerusalem was finished. When therefore this last decree went forth from Artaxerxes, enlarging and completing all the provisions that had been made before, then the work was finished; and with the provisions of that decree carried out, the commandment “went forth” in the sense of the prophecy. We shall next show that this decree went forth B. C. 457, and then test its agreement with the remainder of the prophecy. U. S. DO AS THEY SAY, NOT AS THEY DO.
By R. F. Cottrell
“THEN spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not.” Matt. 23:1–3. It is safe to follow the teachings of the various Christian sects, in regard to the common practical duties of life. Even that church which all Protestants accuse of corruption teaches morals that none can object to. For example, on the commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” the Catholic church teaches as follows:— “Q. What is forbidden by this commandment? “A. All unjust taking away or keeping what belongs to others. “A. All manner of cheating in buying or selling, or any other way of wronging our neighbors. “Q. Must we restore ill-gotten goods? “A. Yes; if we are able, or else the sin will not be forgiven; we must also pay our debts.” This is but a sample of its doctrines on the ten commandments. Who teaches any purer doctrine? Yet Protestants inveigh against the corruptions of this church; and we do not object—we protest too. It is safe however to practice so well as they taught. And is not this the case with the mass of Christian teachers of the present day? All of the most popular churches, calling themselves orthodox and evangelical, teach the perpetuity and obligation of the ten commandments as the moral law of God. But do they keep the Sabbath day pointed out and described in the fourth commandment? They do not. The commandment requires the observance of the seventh day, the day on which God rested from the work of creation. They keep another day, and for another reason. The word of God is set at naught, and a tradition of men is kept in its stead. Still, it is right and safe to do as they say, and keep the commandments of God as they are. The rest-day and the resurrection day are two days—“the Sabbath day, according to the commandment,” is followed by “the first-day of the week.” Luke 23:56 and 24:1. The same commandment, without the least alteration, could not oblige the Jews to keep one day and Christians another; the one for the reason that the Creator rested on it, the other for the reason that Christ rose from the dead on it. And Jesus affirmed the unchangeableness of the entire code, in every jot and tittle—letter and mark. Matt. 5:17–19. But we are told, by way of excuse and self-justification, that any one day of rest after six of labor fully answers the demand of the law. If this is so, it is certainly safe to keep that one day which is mentioned in the commandment and described as the Sabbath of the Lord, the day on which he rested from his work. This was not only one day in seven, but the seventh of the seven. Men may deceive themselves by their sophistry, but God is not deceived; neither is it safe to mock him. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” Let those who would please God do as these teachers say, but not as they do. THE EASTERN QUESTION.
By John Harvey Waggoner
The question of the action of the nations, and especially of Russia, in regard to Turkey, known as the Eastern Question, is exciting very general attention. Statesmen ponder over it, the newspapers make frequent mention of it, and students of prophecy look toward it with much interest. To all classes it is becoming a subject of great anxiety. Turkey is one of the weakest of the nations. For thirty-five years her existence has been maintained by the united interference of the nations of Western Europe. These nations are professedly Christian, while Turkey persecutes Christians within her borders with unrelenting ferocity. There is not a feeling in common between Turkey and the nations which uphold her. She is far behind—and determinedly behind—the civilization of the nations by which she is surrounded, and on which she depends for her semblance of power. The only importance which Turkey possesses in the eyes of the nations is this: She occupies one of the strongholds of the world, if not the stronghold itself. Constantinople, in the possession of a nation which could make use of the advantages of her position, would be invulnerable. It affords a complete protection to a fleet of any size in the Black Sea, which might be thrown out when the most favorable opportunity offered. Napoleon I. called Constantinople “the key of the world.” Even in his day Russia had her eye on this point, and made its possession the condition of a treaty of friendship with him. Had he agreed to this, it would be impossible to conjecture where would be the lines of the map of Europe now. Besides this, Turkey nominally holds a jewel which has long been coveted by the nations, namely, Jerusalem. This is only of a traditional or imaginary value; like any other jewel, it is for ornament rather than use. The nations which uphold Turkey have no interest in her welfare, or her existence, only as they are jealous of each other. They are anxious that she should retain her stronghold, each fearing that if she should lose it, a stronger and a rival power might gain it. At the close of the “Crimean war,” a treaty was entered into by Russia, England, and France, by which Russia agreed not to create a war fleet in the Black Sea. This assured Turkey in the quiet possession of Constantinople; for the length and narrowness of the Straits and the swiftness of the currents, render it next to impossible to successfully attack it from below. A fleet for the conquest of Constantinople outside of these straits would be liable to attack at any time; but in the Black Sea it would be secure. Taking advantage of the late war between France and Prussia, Russia repudiated the treaty of 1855, and appealed to the judgment of the nations at large for the justness of her course. The powers at war could not resist her action, and England seemed fearful even to protest against it without being backed by other powers. And thus peaceably the treaty became a dead letter. The wonder was that Russia ever entered into a treaty which cut her off from her most available sea coast, and she would not, only that a heavy pressure was upon her. But this repudiation was really the death-knell of Turkey, and “the sick man,” as Turkey has long been called, was virtually given up by her doctors. Since that time Russia has been constantly extending her lines in Asia, not only threatening Turkey, but affecting the security of the British possessions. But England has purchased the Suez canal, thus securing control of an important passage to the far East. This is a matter of disappointment to all the world, for it was generally conceded that France had the first right to the Suez canal. Thus now stands the Eastern Question. To the nations it is constantly becoming more complicated and perplexing. It is safe to say that much of the present effort of the great European powers to arm themselves beyond all precedent is in view of the possible developments of this question. We think we have stated the importance and bearing of the question in their strongest light; and while we would not under-estimate its importance as a source of contention, or even as a cause for preparation of the nations for “the battle of the great day,” we do not hesitate to say there is great danger of our viewing the matter in a wrong light, and making it a detriment to us, as a people, as students of prophecy. We have several times been asked of late if we saw anything in the attitude of the nations to indicate that the end is very near. Our answer was, and is, that we are not looking in that direction for our evidence. Not that there is nothing ominous in the attitude of the nations. There certainly is. But we feel assured that they who look in that direction for their principal evidence of the near coming of the end, will become bewildered, and probably discouraged. We cannot wonder if they who reject the present truth of the third angel’s message take wrong views of our relation to the future action of the nations. But it need not be so with us. The light of present truth clearly outlines all these things, and it alone gives the relation of the several events which precede the battle of the great day of the Lord. Without regarding the order and relation of these events, we must become confused. “And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared.” Looking at the connection, we learn that this will take place just before the last battle; indeed it is the first movement in that great conflict. It is generally understood that “the great river Euphrates” represents that power which flourished in the country watered by that river, namely, the Mahometan power, of which the emperor of Turkey is the head. See Thoughts on Revelation, chapters 9 and 10. Therefore Rev. 16: 12, above quoted, describes the drying up of the power of Turkey. This is the issue of the Eastern Question. Now we are prepared to guard against erroneous views of this question. Many are looking to it as the deciding point of our message. They seem to think they must watch the progress of the nations, and that, when this question comes to a crisis, it will be time for us to arouse, for the close of our work will be approaching. But not so. It is under the sixth plague that this matter comes to a crisis; that is, after the work of probation is finished, and after five of the plagues of the unmixed wrath of God are poured out upon the world. They who reject the warning of the third angel’s message cannot locate these plagues; they have never been able to explain their meaning or give their place. Hence they are liable to mistake the chronology of the culmination of the Eastern Question. But not so with us. We know that the wrath of God threatened in the third angel’s message is that contained in the seven last plagues; and we know that these plagues are poured out after probation ends—after our High Priest has finished his work in the heavenly sanctuary, and the unjust must remain unjust still. Comp. 1 Kings 8: 10, 11, Rev. 15: 8, and 22: 11, 12. Therefore to watch the Eastern Question as giving evidence69 of the termination of our work, is to follow a false light, and, as a consequence, to be led into confusion and darkness. Brethren, keep your eyes on the third angel’s message. The Eastern Question is a question for the nations to work out when probation is ended and the restraining influence of the Spirit of God is withdrawn from them. The third angel’s message is our work—the work of God for this time—to prepare us to stand in the battle of the day of the Lord. The nations will soon fulfill their destined work when the servants of God are sealed for translation. See Rev. 7. Let us see to it that we fulfill ours. This is the work in which Heaven is specially interested. On this work all other questions hinge. Do not lose sight of this for anything else. We cannot refrain from expressing our gratitude to God who has given us a truth which so fully explains all these things. They who reject this light and watch the nations for the evidence of the coming of the end, will not know when probation is closing, and that day will come upon them as a thief. “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” A light shines upon our pathway, guiding us in regard to the perplexities of the future, and its impending perils. Truly the word of prophecy is a light shining in a dark place. What so dark as the future, when we know not even what a day may bring forth. But the prophetic word, rightly read, lights up the future, and gives assurance as we tread the dangerous way. Only let us heed the admonition:— “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” Luke 21: 34.—J. H. WAGGONER, in Signs. “I MAGNIFY MINE OFFICE.”
By H. A. ST. JOHN
“For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.” Rom. 11:13. Thus wrote the great and good apostle Paul. From a Jewish stand-point, perhaps no more degrading position could be thought of than that of being a servant or minister to the Gentiles. But the apostle Paul, feeling that he was called of God to this office, could say from a full heart, “I magnify mine office.” Of late, while trying in great weakness to fill a very responsible place in the cause of God, and while endeavoring to impart instruction and encouragement to others called to fill official positions, I have been forcibly impressed with the above statement of the apostle. Without doubt, very many persons are puffed up with vanity, and spoiled, by being called to responsible places, and all are in danger. I am satisfied that the danger is not properly or wisely avoided by carelessness or negligence in the performance of duty. I would understand the apostle that the right way is to magnify the office we are called to fill, by exerting ourselves to the utmost to be diligent and faithful. Our duties and responsibilities should so fill our souls and hands that we should hardly think of ourselves. Mark, the apostle does not say that he magnified himself, but he magnified his office. Quite a difference, certainly. As we look abroad in this world of sin and vanity, we think we see many persons who magnify themselves in their office, with only occasionally one who magnifies his office. What a pitiful spectacle is that of a man so puffed up and swelled out with his office, that the real duties, and importance of the work belonging to him are almost entirely lost sight of in the man. But I will come to the cause and church of God. Here are offices of trust and labor, from the evangelist all the way down to the local church clerk and s. s. treasurer. But it is a sad fact that, with many, instead of their offices having looked large and important, they have grown small and insignificant. How many clerks and treasurers, and others, too, who, instead of learning and inquiring, and being exceedingly anxious to do their work well, and better, and still better, have let it go down, down, down, until it has dwindled to almost nothing. Such persons have not magnified their office, but just the contrary. That person that will let even a partial list of his duties pass by without noting them, can hardly be said to magnify his office. Shall we awake to the importance of this matter? Do you say that your office is a small one? You should remember that it is small things that more especially require the magnifying glass, and that in little things there is the greatest danger of being negligent, and if we are careless in small matters, we are almost certain to be in things of greater importance. It is only by little victories that we gain the great victory at last. It is very gratifying to see a spirit of inquiry arising among church officers. “How shall I do this?” and “How shall I do that?” is beginning to be heard. To me, it is a very encouraging and hopeful omen, and I desire that it may become more general and more intense. One s. s. treasurer came to me after having made his first entry in his new book, to see what I thought of it, and when answered that it was well done, his very countenance told me that he was going to magnify his office. May the Lord richly bless both reader and writer, enabling us to be small in our own estimation while we greatly magnify our office.
H. A. ST. JOHN.