Earlier text: THE REVIEW AND HERALDTHE KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENTS
When the Lord visited and redeemed His people, to take them into the land of promise, the land which He sware to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give to them; when He took them unto himself to serve Him only, in the keeping of His holy law, He said, first of all: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” etc. Israel missed God’s call: they believed Him not, and therefore could not enter into His rest. These fell in the wilderness. And the generation that went into the land of Canaan did not in that go into “the land” and the “rest” to which the Lord would have taken the people when they first left Egypt, had they only believed. They drifted further and further away from God until they actually rejected Him, that they might be like the nations. And they became like all the nations. They failed exactly as had their fathers before them. For, in the days of David, the Lord said still: “To-day if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness; when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.” Heb. 3:7-11; 4:7, 8. But still they hardened their hearts, and went further away from the Lord, until they got into such darkness that it was the very darkness of “the shadow of death,” which is “darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.” And there the people sat, when there shined unto them a “great light,” even the light of God, in which darkness itself is light. Isa. 9:2; Job 10:21, 22; Matt. 4:16. Christ came. Again God visited to redeem His people, to make them not simply servants, but sons of God, that we “might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.” And at that time again God said: “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” Why was it necessary that the infant Jesus should be taken into Egypt at the time of the slaughter of the innocents by Herod? It was not alone to escape the decree of Herod, that Jesus was taken into Egypt; for that decree could have been easily escaped by a much shorter journey. This was done to teach all people forever the deep spiritual lesson of the true deliverance from Egypt. Jesus came into the world to take the place of man, to be our substitute and surety. Mankind is overwhelmed in the darkness and bondage of sin—Egyptian darkness, a darkness that may be felt. He was made to be sin; upon Him was laid the iniquity of us all; He was numbered with the transgressors; He was made in all things like those whose substitute He became. Therefore He was taken into Egypt, and was brought out again, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son;” and that by this object lesson there might be emphasized anew, and forever, the great lesson taught from of old to all people, the great truth that men become the sons of God only by their being called out of Egypt. The Ten Commandments express the whole duty of man. All that ever a man can do, in deed, word, or thought, in righteousness, is covered by the Ten Commandments. All man’s service to God is in the keeping of this His Law. And when it was written of Christ, and it was fulfilled in Christ, as the Example of all mankind, that “out of Egypt have I called my Son,” this was simply speaking anew to all mankind the words which, that great day, God spoke from heaven, as the preamble to the whole Ten Commandments and their keeping: “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” This is the universal lesson: that no man can serve God, that no man can keep a single one of the Ten Commandments, except he is first delivered, by the power of God, from the darkness of Egypt, from the darkness of the shadow of death, from the realm and bondage of sin. This is the lesson of the whole Bible. Look, for instance, at Eph. 2:1-10: how men are dead in trespasses and sins, in the darkness of this world; walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the ruler of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12), the spirit that works in the children of disobedience. But God, who is rich in mercy, has quickened us together with Christ, and has raised us up together with Him, to live and walk with Him. And this He did, not by our works, nor because of our works, but of His own mercy and grace; “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Thus is the lesson taught, that no man can do good works except he is created unto it by the power of God. How strongly this lesson is emphasized in the book of Galatians, which is just now the subject of the Sabbath-school studies. What are generally regarded as the practical things of the Christian life are not mentioned until the end of the book—brotherly kindness; bearing one another’s burdens; communicating in all good things; the sowing and the reaping, whether to the flesh or to the Spirit; doing good to all men, especially to the household of faith. These things come only in the few verses of the very last chapter. After men have been delivered from this present evil world, into the glorious liberty of the children of God, and are standing fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,—the liberty by love to serve one another,—filled with the Spirit, so that all the fruits of the Spirit are shining in the life, reflecting the sunshine of righteousness,—only THEN it is that the generally considered practical things of the Christian life are enjoined. Why is this? It is the same universal, divine lesson, that no man can do good works, no man can possibly do the “practical things of the Christian life,” who has not first the Christian life as a practical thing. And, therefore, it is made perfectly plain that deliverance from the darkness and bondage of sin; the finding of the sonship of God; the ability to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free; the receiving of the fullness of the Spirit of God in the life,—these things are the practical things of Christianity, equally with the others. Indeed, in a sense these are the more practical things; because so certainly must these precede the others that, without these, the other practical things of the Christian life can never be seen at all. Therefore when, from Mount Sinai, God would speak, with a voice that shook the earth, the practical things of the life of man, He spoke first of all this original practical thing of the life of man—deliverance from the realm and bondage of sin:— “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Ex. 20:2. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Yet this is not the preamble of only the first commandment, but of the whole law, as if it were as follows:— “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Thou shalt not kill.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Thou shalt not steal.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.” Exodus 20. And since, when He sent His only begotten Son to redeem us indeed, He renewed and emphasized this preliminary thought, in the words, “Out of Egypt have I called my Son,” it is as if this were the preamble and the whole law—is expressed in the great thought of the whole law of God. And all of it—the preamble and the whole law—is expressed in the great thought of the Third Angel’s Message: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” WHAT ARE YOU STUDYING?
By Editor
EDITORS OF THE REVIEW AND HERALD: The members of our Sabbath-school have been studying, or trying to study, the book of Galatians all through the quarter, and do not know what we have been studying about. Some of us think we have studied both laws together; others think we have studied the moral law; while others say it is the ceremonial law all through the book of Galatians, and nothing else. Now I wish you would tell us what law we have studied this quarter. Please answer through the REVIEW. We publish this letter and answer it in the REVIEW, because it is a sample of a number that we have received; and we fear that it tells the experience of a great many persons, and, indeed, a good many whole Sabbath-schools throughout the United States. The letter asks us to tell what law these folks have studied the past quarter, in the Sabbath-school lessons. We can not tell. For when they themselves can not tell what law they have been studying, who are the very ones who have been doing the studying, how can we be expected to tell, when we were not there at all to know what they were studying? Perhaps even if we ourselves had been among them, it would have been as difficult for us to tell what law they were studying, as it is for them to tell. One thing we do know; that is, that no law at all has been the subject of study in the Sabbath-school lessons themselves; but the gospel only. We know that in the Sabbath-school lessons as written and as published in the Sabbath-school lesson books, papers, etc., the sole subject for study, from the first verse of Galatians unto the last one that has been before the schools, and even to the end of the book, has been and is the gospel, and the gospel only. It could not be otherwise, and be a study of the book of Galatians; for the gospel is the only subject of the book. This is made plain at the very outset of the book itself. The very first words of actual address in the book are: “Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” And that is the gospel, and the gospel alone. The very next words of the book are: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” That shows emphatically that the only subject that was in the mind of the writer of the book of Galatians, is the gospel. There is, indeed, a question as to whether it is the true or the false gospel, the genuine gospel or the perverted gospel; yet, for all that, the only subject is the gospel. The following verses in the first chapter (11-14) show that the subject is still the gospel; that the gospel is received by the “revelation of Jesus Christ,” and that it delivered Paul from the false gospel, the traditions of the Jews’ religion. The next verses (15, 16) still emphasize the fact that it is only the gospel that is treated, showing how the revelation of that gospel is Christ in you the hope of glory: “It pleased God . . . to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen.” And that is the gospel. The narrative of Paul’s experience, in the remaining part of the first chapter and the greater part of the second chapter, is all given as a means of demonstrating how he stood firmly, and even alone, and alone against even Peter himself, for “the truth of the gospel,” and in order that “the truth of the gospel might continue with you.” Then the book takes up the thought of what this gospel is, and demonstrates by every possible consideration, with all the intensity of the Spirit of God, that it is righteousness by faith—justification, salvation, redemption, sanctification, by faith of Jesus Christ and the power of the Spirit of God. And so it continues throughout the whole book. There is no other subject, there is no other thought in the whole book, than the gospel, and “the truth of the gospel,” and the salvation that is wrought in those in whom that “truth of the gospel” shall find a place. We say that the letter at the beginning of this article is a sample. And, indeed, it is only a fair sample of a number of letters that have come to this Office, with respect to the Sabbath-school lessons of the book of Galatians. But what a sad story it tells: that there are people, professing to be Christians, who are studying Sabbath after Sabbath, and week in and week out, for six months, and more, a book of the Bible that deals wholly with the gospel, and yet have not been able to find any gospel at all! but only questions, disputations, and strivings about some law, or what law! This is astonishing, and as painful as it is astonishing. We are exceedingly sorry to have to print such a letter. And if this had been the only one, or a sample of only two or three, or half a dozen, we should not have printed it. But when it is only a fair sample of a considerable number, and simply reveals a condition that, though indeed not general, is far too widespread, it is only proper that it should be printed, and that some endeavor be made to better the condition. We are glad to say that we do not believe that this condition is general. We know that there are thousands upon thousands of persons who, in the study of the Sabbath-school lessons, have found, from the beginning, and have studied from the beginning, that which is the true subject of the book, and of all the studies—the gospel, “the truth of the gospel.” And we know that these have been made glad with the joy and the fullness of the great salvation that is revealed in that gospel, as it is in this precious book of Galatians. These have found a great improvement and a general advancement in their experience in Christ and the power of the gospel. But what can be done for these others who have wholly missed the subject of the lessons, from beginning to end? What can be done to help these who have been studying the gospel for more than six months, and yet “do not know what we have been studying about”? The studies in this book are almost ended; there remain but four lessons. And since these have gone through the whole series of more than six months without discovering the subject, and, so, without having really studied the lessons at all—how can these now be helped to find it, and to have the benefit of it? We know what will supply this loss: we know what will accomplish in these the purpose of the book of Galatians. It is this: Let each one read, carefully and prayerfully, the book of Galatians THROUGH, each day, praying constantly: “Lord, show me thy gospel, the true gospel, the truth of the gospel.” Put away forever all discussions and “strivings about the law,” even as saith the Scripture: “Avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.” Titus 3:9. Ask only for the gospel, study only for the gospel. And once find in your life the revelation of that gospel; and, in one minute, by that revelation, you will know ten thousand times more about the law and all laws than you could ever possibly know, to all eternity, by any questions, discussions, and “strivings about the law,” or as to which law, or whether it is one law or another, or whether it is all together. It is not the law at all, but the gospel, that saves, and that gives light on all the law. “The kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” THE EARNEST OF OUR INHERITANCE
By Uriah Smith
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory.” Eph. 1:13, 14. Heaven is ours by inheritance; it is not purchased by merit, nor won by strength, but is obtained by birthright. But what are we to do? for flesh and blood can not inherit this possession; the natural life, which is of the earth, earthy, can not lay claim to it. This we are to do: The rule of the inheritance is, “Ye must be born again”—born into a new life, a new nature, a new relationship. The inheritance rests upon the promises; and by the promises we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4), and are thus brought into the family of God, and “through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Heb. 6:12. Of that inheritance we have an earnest, or foretaste, here. The “earnest of our inheritance” means “the experience of it, in some measure, beforehand,” until the time when, redemption completed, it shall be held in actual possession. And this earnest is of the nature of a pledge, or guarantee, that we shall come into literal and actual possession of the full inheritance by and by. The Holy Spirit is this “earnest” of our inheritance. 1. It brings joy. This, next to love, is the leading fruit of the Spirit. It is a joy to have this earnest of the inheritance in anticipation of the glory of soon possessing the inheritance itself. 2. The Holy Spirit is not only the pledge of eternal bliss, but is itself a foretaste of that blessed state. Thus the entrance of the Spirit into the soul brings with it that same life which, when the purchased possession is fully redeemed, becomes, in its continuity, everlasting life. 3. The Spirit abiding in us consecrates to the same purpose to which we shall be devoted throughout the ages of eternity; namely, the service of the Lord our God. 4. The work of the Spirit in us creates the same holiness in us which is essential to the enjoyment of heaven. 5. The influence of the Spirit over us brings us that same communion with God which we shall enjoy forever in heaven. To the same extent, then, that we have the presence and communion of the Holy Spirit, to that same degree we have the dawn of glory in our hearts. Verily, it is a blessed thing to have with us the earnest of our inheritance, till the redemption of the purchased possession. The presence of the Holy Spirit brings to us many things that are blessed foretastes of the heavenly inheritance promised. Prominent among these is rest. “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matt. 11:28, 29. To a happy degree we have this rest in the present tense. Another blessing it brings to us is delight in the service of the Lord. We walk in the ways of the Lord with delight and gladness, more and more, the more largely we drink into His blessed Spirit. The more of the Lord’s Spirit we have, the more we rejoice over the repentance and conversion of sinners. This we can in large measure attain unto now, and so begin to enter into the joy of our Lord, whose chief joy in His work for the rescue of the world from ruin, is to see weary souls turning their loving10 footsteps toward their Father’s house, and escaping from the destruction to which sin is driving them. The only way we can enter into the joy of our Lord is to have contributed our part toward the salvation of others. The more the Spirit dwells in our hearts, the more we enjoy the communion of saints. How sweet is that communion, even in this imperfect state; and what, then, must it be, when the redemption of the purchased possession has come? By this possession of the Holy Spirit, this earnest of our heavenly inheritance, we gain an enlarged knowledge of God and all divine things. The way in which these things are revealed unto us, says the apostle, is by God’s Spirit. “But God hath revealed them unto us, by His Spirit.” 1 Cor. 2:10. Here we know in part, and see through a glass darkly. But we shall see, by and by, face to face, when the time comes that that which is in part is done away, and we know as we are known. 1 Cor. 13:9-13. Victory over sin, and Satan, and the world is another blessing, which the Holy Spirit brings to us. Who could imagine one enjoying an “earnest” of his heavenly inheritance, and being at the same time a slave of sin, a captive of Satan, and a friend of the world? This is to be, according to the verdict of the Scriptures, an enemy of God. By the working of the Holy Spirit in us, we are made one with Christ. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. . . . And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” Rom. 8:14, 17. With this Spirit, which is an earnest, we are sealed. Sealing implies the direct contact of the seal with the thing sealed, and embodies the idea that the consequence of the sealing is the impression, on the thing sealed, of the device engraved on the seal; and the purpose of the sealing, of which Paul speaks in Eph. 1:13, is security and safety. The thought is this: God’s Holy Spirit comes into real contact with our nature, and there stamps and impresses on our character the character and copy of the Spirit’s own likeness; and these godlike desires, feelings, emotions, thoughts, the whole reflected character of the divine majesty, are mirrored and molded in our believing hearts. This becomes the pledge of our security, and of the certainty that we shall be kept in the way in which we go. “If you take that,” says A. Maclaren, “for your doctrine of final perseverance, there is no fear of its ever being turned to anything but the noblest purpose, or being found to contain anything but the mightiest of inducements to walking in the divine life, and to seeking to possess the mirrored image of the divine Word.” These are the windows by which we look through, and get a glimpse of “the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” But there is another side, a dark and foreboding contrast, to this pleasing scene. For if the presence of the Holy Spirit confers such great and priceless blessings, the loss, or absence, of Him, entails, in equal proportion, the absence or loss of the blessings and good secured on the other hand, and leaves a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation; the “earnest” on this side, presaging, instead of inheritance, coming calamity and death. The Holy Spirit is a sensitive and tender power, which can easily be grieved, and even quenched. Hence the many exhortations in the Scriptures, to us, to deal carefully and tenderly with that Spirit. “Quench not the Spirit,” is the admonition of the apostle. 1 Thess. 5:19. Again he says, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph. 4:30. “To quench the Spirit,” says Bishop Temple, “to go on, disobeying the calls of our own hearts, to stifle the perpetually repeated warnings that recall us from sin and folly, to persist in sins which we know to be sins, to seek temptations which we know to be temptations, to harden our hearts when we feel that they are softening, to let pride uphold us in evil, to let indolence and appetite seduce us from good,—these are as much a sin now as when Saint Paul warned his converts against them, and are liable to the same condemnation. Great bursts of sin, sudden and unexpected falls, giving way to some torrent of temptation,—this is terrible; and this, when it happens, costs us bitter tears, and most painful repentance. But much more dangerous is the habit of disobedience, which marks the soul with a slight mark each day, and heaps those marks one upon another, till the whole soul is stained unawares.” The apostle sends us a solemn warning in reference to the time in which we are now living: “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17. Who can depict the danger and the folly of turning away from the wooings of the Holy Spirit, and trampling underfoot the earnest and pledges of the inheritance we might by and by possess? Talmage, speaking of this kind of folly, thus describes it: “Here is a man who has been all his life among Bibles, and churches, and Christians. He knows his duty. Christ has been presented before him, in all the loveliness of His life; in all the appealing, and constraining love of His sacrifice and death. Heaven has been opened before him in all its inviting beauty and glory; and he has been invited, nay, urged, to enter—but here he sits unmoved! He has had the opportunity for fifty years to save his soul; and all his opportunities and privileges he has abused. What shall we say of such a man?” We can only say of him, as Peter said, “What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” and leave it for the Judgment to declare. But let us rather give diligence to make our “calling and election sure.” 2 Peter 1:10. U. S. TWO VALUABLE BOOKS
By S. H. Lane
DURING the last two years the Review and Herald Pub. Co. has published two books, which have sold fairly well, but would have sold much more rapidly had all been fully acquainted with their value. The books are “Empires of the Bible” and the “Great Empires of Prophecy.” These two books cover the entire history of ancient times and of the prophecy of Daniel and Revelation, to the fall of Rome and the rise of the ten kingdoms. The “Empires of the Bible” first introduces the origin of nations, notices the beginning of kingdoms, and traces the succession of empires to the fall of the Assyrian Empire and the captivity of Judah. It teaches in an entertaining way the part that God’s adopted people through Abraham acted in connection with these kingdoms. The “Empires of Prophecy” begins with the history of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, as introduced in prophecy in the book of Daniel, and traces the history through Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, bringing to view how accurately the history of the world shows the fulfillment of prophecy. It then follows the fourth kingdom, that wonderful, world-astonishing power down through its universal stage into its ten divisions. It chronicles not only the rise of the ten divisions, but, in connection with their religious and political affairs, the apostasy that crept into the Christian Church. These books are of rare merit, and should not only be in the home of every Seventh-day Adventist, but should be thoroughly studied. The writer is teaching a class of fully one hundred students in the Berean study, who have become intensely interested in the study of the book of Revelation, and he has found these two books to be valuable helps in teaching, as they are indeed not only histories, but text-books. Every minister, Bible worker, canvasser, and colporteur should study these books, as they are invaluable helps to one who is called upon to study the Bible with others. These books are fully illustrated with colored maps, showing at a glance the changes of the political world, as nation after nation arose to empire, and fell. The maps themselves are illustrated history, and alone are worth more than the price of the books. The price of “Empires of the Bible,” postpaid, is $1.50. The “Great Empires of Prophecy,” postpaid, is $2. Order of your tract society, or of the Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich. If you do not possess a copy, and have not read these books, order by all means, and read the same, and you will never regret the purchase price. We have reached stirring times, and every one should be fully posted in regard to the condition of nations. If one studies fully the history of the past, he is not slow in discovering that the present state of the world is not a mere happen-so; but is the result of repeating certain acts and combinations of the past, which must in the very nature of things combine in the marshaling of nations and the battle of Armageddon. S. H. LANE. OUR WEEKLY OFFERINGS
By Foreign Mission Board
While all heaven is interested in the last message of mercy, and holy angels would gladly have borne it to earth's remotest bounds, our Heavenly Father has conferred upon man this inestimable privilege. From the beginning, the history of God's work has been the history of sacrifice. As it was impossible for our Saviour to redeem the world without sacrifice, so we can not enter into His labors unless we are filled with the same spirit. The early Church counted no sacrifice too dear, if it enabled them to carry to their fellow men the good news of a risen Saviour. Of the believers in Macedonia, it is written that “the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For according to their power, . . . yea and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord.” 2 Cor. 8: 2, 3, R. V. This unselfish devotion will attend the closing work of the everlasting gospel, before it goes with that mighty power that will lighten every land with its glory. At first thought, it may seem strange that the progress of God's cause is so dependent upon money; nevertheless it is true. When the treasury is full, the work is prosecuted with vigor and earnestness; but when the gifts are withheld or offered sparingly, the workers are handicapped, and the stringent conditions are felt throughout the entire field. Constant advance is the law of missionary success. The work can no more stand still in foreign fields than at home. If we neglect to enter open doors, we may expect our work to languish, and possibly die. Already the servant of the Lord has said that “our foreign missions are languishing.” Note the reason: “The missionaries are not sustained as God requires they should be. For want of funds, workers are not able to enter new fields.” We are thankful to report that since these words were penned, there has been a material increase in the offerings to foreign missions; but what has been done is merely a beginning compared with what we may do if every member of this denomination simply carries out the suggestion of giving the regular weekly offering of at least ten cents, as has been recommended by the majority of our Conferences. Many, very many, can do much more than this, but there is a large number who can not give even ten cents a week; so that, in the aggregate, if an average of ten cents from each person is realized, some must do more. The report of our offerings for 1900 shows an increase of twenty-three thousand dollars over those of 1899. This is encouraging. It gives evidence that God's people are being touched as they see the situation in foreign fields, and that they are responding in a practical manner. Although in 1900 we gave one-third more than during the previous year, yet our entire offering amounted to very little over what it would have been during one quarter had each person averaged ten cents a week. During 1899, with seventy-eight thousand dollars, just about the amount we should realize quarterly from the ten-cent-a-week plan, between two and three hundred workers were supported in foreign fields. It can be readily seen that if all were to respond to this call, there might be four laborers91 where to-day we have one. How gladly these would be welcomed by those already on the grounds, who have so repeatedly called for help; and what a weight of responsibility it would lift from already overburdened shoulders! In many fields every additional worker could be used in entering openings that have been made. The Lord says that there should be one hundred workers where now there is one, and that “home missions and foreign missions are to share equally of God's trust money.” We see omens of this in the plan that has been inaugurated during the last two years; for it will ultimately lead to systematic, self-denying, and proportionate giving, and thus to the placing of a largely increased force of laborers in the field. We should not depreciate the larger gifts from those who love God's cause better than their possessions. Let them come, and come more abundantly. But we also need the regular weekly offering from the rank and file of our people. Shall we not give with the burden of the work upon our hearts, with our souls drawn out in prayer to the God of missions that His blessing may rest upon His people and His work? During the holidays, as at no other season of the year, the spirit of giving takes possession of every one, rich and poor alike. And at this time a large number remember the foreign mission work with a gift. To some extent this is true in other denominations, and is indeed commendable. Our annual offerings usually amount to about one-fourth of the entire contributions for the year, and, coming at a time when we are settling with our laborers, are an important factor in our work. In fact, it does not seem as if the work could be carried forward without them. But this is not enough. In the business world, there is always a reaction expected after the busy holiday season, and all sorts of ingenious plans are devised to induce the people to spend their money. A similar reaction is very likely to occur in our offerings, and as a result our missions suffer, unless this work occupies the most prominent place in our thoughts, our prayers, and our gifts, every day of the year. If you expect to help the cause of God this year, now is the time to begin. It is far easier, in almost all cases, to give a small sum each week than to make one large offering at the close of the year. Oftimes when it is left so long, one is not in a position to do as much as he had hoped, and a year of opportunities to help advance the work is forever lost. If you can not send your offerings regularly to your church or State tract society or to the Foreign Mission Board, do not neglect to lay them aside at your home. Have a receptacle in which they may be placed, and in a short time you will be surprised to see how much you have accumulated for the Lord's work. No other investment will yield larger returns. What we are permitted to see here fully repays for all sacrifices made, but the hereafter will reveal far more glorious and eternal results. As your offerings are made, let the work and the workers be remembered daily in your prayers. Pray for them by name around the family altar. Let the children become accustomed to hearing the progress of Christ's kingdom made a part of the daily worship. As most of our offerings are a sacrifice on our part, let them be followed with our prayers. We need to seek God for help to appreciate His work in all its magnitude, and our relation to it, and He will cause us to know the blessedness of being partakers with Him in sacrifice.