Earlier text: THE OTHER SIDE“TELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the free woman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants. . . . Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” As Ishmael was born altogether of the flesh, without any promise of God, but from distrust and unbelief of the promise of God, so was the first covenant—the covenant from Sinai. And as Isaac was born altogether of the promise of God, solely from dependence upon that promise, so is the new covenant—the everlasting covenant. The first covenant rested upon the promises of the people, and depended solely upon the efforts of the people. The second covenant consists solely of the promise of God, and depends upon the power and work of God. The first covenant runs: “If ye will” do so and so. The new covenant has neither “if” nor any of men's doing, but is altogether the doing of the Lord. Look at them as they stand together:— “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people.” “Obey my voice, and do them, according to all which I command you: SO shall ye be my people, and I will be your God.” Ex. 19: 5, 6; Jer. 7: 23; 11: 4. “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 8: 10–12. Let us read the new covenant, beginning with an “If ye will,” etc.: “If ye will put my laws into your minds, and write them in your hearts, then I will be your God, and ye shall be my people.” “Put my laws in your minds, and write them in your hearts, that I may be your God, and ye may be my people.” If the new covenant read thus, how many persons could ever become the Lord's people? and of how many persons could he ever be the God?—None at all; because no person can write the law of God in his heart; no person can put the law of God into his473 mind; for “the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Nothing short of the power of God alone, through the eternal Spirit, can ever put the law of God in anybody's mind, or write it in his heart. Yet, to do just this, was practically what the people of Israel agreed to do at Sinai, in the old covenant. For they agreed to keep the law of God “indeed,” which no person can do without that law being put into his mind, and written in his heart. They agreed to keep the law of God “indeed,” so that, in order that, they could be his people, and he be their God. Their agreement, therefore, was plainly in effect that they themselves would put the law of God in their minds, and write it in their hearts: and this when, as yet, they knew only the birth of the flesh; when, as yet, they had only the carnal mind, which “is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Thus it was by their own efforts that they were to be righteous; and by this righteousness they were to make themselves God's people, and win him to be their God. Thus that covenant was altogether one of works; of righteousness by works; of winning the favor of God by works; of salvation by works. It was a covenant in which, because of their works, the reward was to be not reckoned of grace, but of debt. It was a covenant by which there was no such thing as the forgiveness of sins: it was of bondage, and gendered only to bondage. And this is why that covenant is brought into this letter of instruction to the Galatians. The Galatians were seeking righteousness by works, by their own efforts. They were seeking to be “made perfect by the flesh.” But whatsoever Christian seeks righteousness, or to be perfect, in that way, has fallen from grace. He has indeed forsaken grace; because “to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” And “if it be of works, then it is no more grace.” Rom. 4: 4; 11: 6. This was the position and the condition of “the Pharisees which believed,” who had led the Galatians astray. Into a system of righteousness by works, and of seeking to be made perfect by the flesh, the Pharisees that believed had turned everything that God had given them to save them from the bondage of self-righteousness and the works of the flesh; and they would even have perverted to that false system the very gospel of Christ itself. On the other hand, the new covenant is wholly of grace, and of the work of God by grace. It is a covenant in which the work is solely the work of God, and the righteousness is the righteousness of God. It is a covenant in which every one who shares it is born of the Spirit, and who thus receives a new mind and a new heart, in which mind the law of God is put, and upon which heart that law is written by the Spirit of the living God. It is a covenant in which, by the creative power of the promise of God, each one who submits to that promise is created a child of God. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2: 10. It is a covenant in which, solely because of the mercy of God, and by his promise, there is obtained forgiveness of sins, full and free: the sins and iniquities to be remembered no more forever. It is a covenant by which indeed forgiveness must be found for the sins of the people even under the first covenant. For “he [Christ] is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Heb. 9: 15. Note, again, that in the new covenant there is no mention of any doing on the part of the people. The doing is all of God: “I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts.” “I will be to them a God.” “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” In the new covenant it is God who is the worker. “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Phil. 2: 13. It is “through the blood of the everlasting covenant” that “the God of peace” makes “you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ,” who is the “surety” of this “better testament.” Heb. 13: 20, 21; 7: 22. The only way in which the people come into this covenant is passively: they must submit themselves unto the righteousness of God. Rom. 10: 3. They “yield” themselves unto God, and their “members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” Rom. 6: 13. Thus, whosoever is partaker of this covenant in any way whatever, is partaker of it wholly by the promise of God; and so becomes, “as Isaac was,” a child of promise. There is no other way to be a partaker of the new covenant than by the promise of God; for there is nothing in the covenant but the naked promises of God. There is no way to be a child of God, but by the promise of God: that promise accepted by faith. Our sins are forgiven, our unrighteousness is pardoned, because God says it; and by the word of that promise we know it. He who accepts and depends only on the promise of God is of the people of God, because God has said it. God is his God, because God has said it. The law of God is in his mind, and is written upon his heart, because God has promised that he will put it in his mind and write it on his heart; and he has submitted himself to God to have it done by God. And having so submitted himself to the righteousness of God, he rests securely in the promise of God in Christ, who is the mediator and the surety of the new covenant. And “this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The old covenant consisted, and ever consists, of the promises and the works, of the righteousness, of people who know only the birth and the mind of the flesh. The new covenant consists forever of the promises and the works of righteousness of God in those who know the birth of the Spirit by the promise of God. THE KEYSTONE OF ENGLISH STYLE.
Under the foregoing heading the place of the Bible in English literature is most excellently described, by Mr. J. H. Gardiner, in the Atlantic Monthly for May, as follows:— In all study of English literature, if there be any axiom which everyone has accepted without question, it is that the ultimate standard of English prose style is set by the King James Version of the Bible. For examples of limpid, convincing narratives, we go to Genesis, to the story of Ruth, to the quiet earnestness of the Gospels; for the mingled argument and explanation and exhortation in which lies the highest power of the other side of literature, we go to the prophets, and still more to the epistles of the New Testament; and for the glow of vehemence and feeling, which burns away the limits between poetry and prose, and makes prose style at its highest pitch able to stand beside the stirring vibrations of verse, we go to the psalms or to the book of Job or to the prophecies of Isaiah, or to the triumphant declaration of immortality in the epistle to the Corinthians. If one were to figure the whole range of English prose style in the form of an arch, one would put the style of the Bible as its keystone; and one would put it there not only because it is the highest point and culmination of prose writing, but also because it binds the whole structure together. On the one side would be the writing, which tends more and more to the colloquial, which, beginning with such finished and exquisite talk as Dryden crystallized in his writings, runs off into the slack and hasty style of journalism; on the other side, such more splendidly and artfully colored prose as Sir Thomas Browne's or the ponderous weight of Dr. Johnson, degenerating in the hands of lesser men into precocity or pedantry. And with such explanations we fold our hands in the comfortable feeling that here, at any rate, is one question of literature settled for good; the standard of English prose style is the standard of the authorized version of the Bible; that style is so clear and so noble that there is nothing more to be accounted for. “Now” means “at the present time; at this juncture.” It excludes the past and the future. It is the present instant in the act of passing. It marks the entrance of the next thought to be evolved, the next breath to be drawn, the next step to be taken. Everything that pertains to the “now” is “present truth.” It is the important crisis in all human affairs, in all religious experiences: it is the instant when decisions are made, far reaching as life and eternity; when the switch is turned, which shapes the future course of our lives to prosperity or adversity, to gain or loss, to victory or defeat, to the happy destiny of the saved or the perdition of ungodly men. Of this important, decisive “now,” the Bible has much to say: warnings to ring in our ears, exhortations to persuade our hearts. Two striking instances the apostle Paul brings to view, in Rom. 13:11: “Now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” An imperative duty, and the imperative reasons for it, are here brought to view. The reason is, “Our salvation is nearer than when we believed;” and “when we first believed,” as it is almost invariably quoted. But the apostle is comparing consecutive events, some of which take place in advance of others; and with the lapse of time, the critical nature of the situation increases. There had been a time when the truth first came to the knowledge of those whom he addresses; and they were persuaded, and believed. The subject of belief was the coming of the day of “salvation.” “Now,” says the apostle, that day “is nearer” than it was then. That day has great and decisive blessings to bring; but these are all suspended upon conditions. But if our salvation is nearer, what have we to do, but to sit down and wait for it, and enjoy it when it comes? But that is not it. Salvation independently, indiscriminately, and absolutely, is not nearer, but the time is nearer when salvation will be conferred upon those who are ready for it, and when those who are not ready for it will be passed by forever. And what are these conditions?—We must first “awake out of sleep,” we must “cast off the works of darkness,” we must “put on the armor of light,” we must “walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying,” but we must “put . . . on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” How sweeping and far reaching are these exhortations of the apostle! He is addressing Christians; and his words show that even they may be asleep, and asleep, too, in the time of the greatest peril and danger. Sleep is a state of unconsciousness and inactivity. But the sleep here charged upon the church is of a peculiar kind. Of some things they are not unconscious; for they know the time. “And that, knowing the time,” says Paul, “that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” This is a knowledge of the time that shows us that our salvation is nearer than at any epoch in the past. We know that we are in the last dispensation of earthly history; that division after division of the features of the great plan of salvation has been wrought out; that the incarnation of our Lord has taken place, and the foundation for redemption been securely laid; that the great agencies to play their part in the theater of prophecy have appeared, and performed their work; that the leading prophecies of God’s word, except the closing scenes, have been fulfilled; that the prophetic periods have all expired, without the failure of one specification; and that the closing picture of the condition of things at the end of time, in its political, social, religious, and10 physical features, is brought out in its most vivid and startling aspects: and we have reached the time described as a season of intense and peculiar peril; for influences hostile to the Christian profession and holy living, have been fostered for ages, till they are now almost all-powerful to hold, and mold, and sway the world. And right at this time, Satan, we are warned, has come down with great wrath, great intensity, and determination to work his work, knowing that his time is short. It is his studied and settled purpose to blind, lead away, and destroy mankind. We have seen the fierce and malignant spider weaving his toils around his victim, making the captive fast in his web. With what intenseness and energy he applies himself to the task! How quickly he jumps and springs about! With what lightning rapidity he weaves new lines to hold and make sure of his prey! In the same manner Satan is working upon the nations, upon society, and upon individuals. Think, then, of being asleep in such a time as this! unconscious of Satan’s wiles and power, and suffering him to bind us hand and foot, without any perception of his work, or efforts to escape it. In this case, what can we say for ourselves in the great day? To be unconscious of the movements of the nations, and what they signify, and ignorant of the working of Satan, who is weaving over a crazy world his appalling deceptions, is to surrender ourselves to be taken captive by him at his will. One who is not aware of these facts and conditions is asleep; and he who does not, in view of them, throw himself into a maelstrom of activity, to prepare for them, and to avoid them, is asleep. This is the sleep out of which the apostle says that it is now high time that we awake. And what the expression “high time” means, it is not difficult to tell. It means that the time is already past in which the work should have been done. It means that we have passed the “danger point” in the work we are pursuing. It means that there is now no time to lose in the accomplishment of what we have in view. If we were in a burning building, and saw the flames approaching an explosive magazine, which would destroy everything within its reach, we would shout that it was high time to get out of that place, or to remove the fire. The “high time” means to spring beyond the reach of danger and destruction. If, under urgent necessity, we were about to take a train of cars, and the time had already come when the cars should be at the station, we would say, It is high time that we were at the station. There would not be a moment to lose. So the apostle lifts to us a piercing note of warning in reference to the great dispensational events of our time: “It is high time to awake out of sleep.” The adage that “a miss is as good as a mile,” is all well enough when it refers to danger; but when it refers to salvation, a “miss” is just as disastrous and fatal as it would be to be a mile away. But we shall miss it, if we do not awake out of sleep; and the apostle says that it is now high time that we do this. What, then, is it to awake out of sleep?—In 1 Cor. 15:34 he says, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not.” The deadly lethargy of sin is the trouble. And in Eph. 5:14 he holds out encouragement: “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest! and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Now if we do not awake, and take up our duties, it shows that we do not believe the apostle’s words that it is now high time to do this. Well, how do we know that his words apply at this time, and that salvation is nearer than it was when we began to arouse to the time, and walk in our sleep in reference to the truth? Paul is speaking of consecutive events, and says, “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” The night is the night of sin; the day is the day to be ushered in by the morning of the resurrection; and the “salvation” is not to be taken in the general sense of salvation from ourselves, and the carnal obliquities of our own natures, which we enjoy here, but it refers to the great and definite future salvation, which the apostles, in their best religious estate hoped for in the future (2 Tim. 2:10); which Isaiah says, at a certain time, is “near to come” (Isa. 56:1); which Peter says will be revealed in the “last time” (1 Peter 1:5); a salvation which takes in the “redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23), that it may be fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body. Phil. 3:21. “The night is far spent.” That is why we know that salvation is now nearer, and that it is high time to awake out of sleep. The whole world has been explored. The gospel of the kingdom has gone to all the nations. “Then shall the end come.” “If the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would have come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.” The fact that he did not know the hour was the very reason why he should have watched. Earth’s tide of iniquity has reached the highest watermark; the world’s cup of wickedness is full; the elements for the struggle of Armageddon are developing, and the armies are in motion. It is high time that we awake out of sleep. We are not of the night, but of the day. We are to cast off the works of darkness; and there is an armor of light prepared for us to put on. In 1 Thess. 5:8 Paul tells us what the people of the day should do: “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” Then let us help him keep his appointment. Honest walk, as in the day, is the only walk that is allowable: no rioting nor drunkenness, no chambering nor wantonness, no strife nor envying, are to have any place among us. We are to put on the Lord Jesus, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof. The way is marked out; the program is given; the time-table is arranged. Not to heed those words of the apostle, and act upon them, we say again, is to show that we do not believe them. And then where are we?—Wrapped in slumber, fettered and absorbed in works of darkness, when, of all men who have ever lived in this world, we ought to be free and awake. And if not in the right position, we are hastening on to the doom of those who will sink at last in darkness and despair. But let us remember that “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” If we reach any different doom, it will be because we take ourselves out of his hands. “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” C. S. Christ’s Humanity and Heredity
Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin. Like every child of Adam, he accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity. What these results were is shown in the history of his earthly ancestors. He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations, and to give us the example of a sinless life.—“The Desire of Ages,” page 48. “IS THE CHURCH CHRISTIAN?”
The National Christian Citizenship League recently sent to a number of persons the following questions:— “Is the church Christian? Does she stand for the things for which Jesus stood, and teach the truths he taught?” Among the replies received was the following from the Rev. Dr. R. Heber Newton, rector of All-Souls Church, New York City:— “In answer to your question, Is the church Christian? I can at present give only a word. If by this is meant, Are there earnest Christian souls in the church, and hosts of them, seeking to follow the Master according to their light, no one can fail to answer Yes. If by the question, however, is meant, Is the church, as an organization, Christly, possessed of the spirit of Christ, and organized upon the principles of Christ? then, I am afraid, the answer must be No. The teachings of the church, for the most part, are far from following the teachings of Jesus; nay, they are far from recognizing what those teachings are. The organization of the church is planned and patterned upon a policy which is the very antithesis of a true society of Jesus. Commercialism dominates the organization, and conventionally tyrannizes the pulpit. The law of the market, rather than the law of the mount, is accepted by the church at large. Our Protestant churches are composed, for the most part, of a constituency drawn from the well-to-do classes, and they see nothing essentially unsound or unethical in the economic system of the day. The pulpit, therefore, is rarely free to deliver its soul, if it has one, upon the burning questions of our generation. Blind leaders of the blind—both seem hastening to fall into the ditch which lies before our civilization! And yet, within the Christian church is the very ideal that the world hungers for, the very law that it needs to apply to its economic problems. Infinitely pathetic the situation!” THE POWER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS DELIVERS FROM DEATH.
By William Warren Prescott
WHEN the three Hebrews were delivered in the burning fiery furnace by the presence of the Fourth with them, the mighty men who cast them into the flame were destroyed by the intense heat, thus showing to all that the deliverance was a genuine one. In a similar manner is testimony borne in this case that the escape of Daniel from death was not due to the gentle disposition of the lions. “And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.” How true it is that “the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.” “He dug a hole and scooped it out, and fell into the pit he made. His mischief shall return on his own head, on his own scalp shall his violence descend.” “Such, under the rule of the All-righteous, is the final issue of impenitent wickedness. Evil is made to recoil with ruinous force on the head of him who put it in motion. So it was with Absalom and Ahithophel. So it had been with Pharaoh. Must we not ascend higher yet? So it shall be with the arch-enemy. The heel which he wounds shall wound his head. His temporary triumph over man shall issue in his own utter and final discomfiture.” Since the kingdom of God was within Daniel, and the presence of the King of heaven was with him, he had the mastery over the lions, thus showing the place which God intended that man as his servant should occupy with reference to all the animal creation; but when his accusers were cast in among the same wild beasts, knowing no kingdom but the outward and the fleshly, and believing only in themselves, “the lions had the mastery of them.” Where Daniel lived, they perished. So “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” those who have known God and believed in him will say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” That “breath of his mouth” which is death to the wicked, is the breath of life to the righteous. “Then King Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” When Nebuchadnezzar was on the throne of the world, the King of heaven made known to him, through Daniel’s interpretation of his dream, that the kingdom of God was the only one which would “stand forever;” and now that “another kingdom” had succeeded Babylon, in harmony with that same475 interpretation the same truth was made known through Daniel’s experience. It was the power of the kingdom of God within which delivered and rescued Daniel. It was the power of the principles of this kingdom which kept him so that he did “no hurt,” and so the same power could be revealed in his behalf to deliver him “from the power of the lions,” so that “no manner of hurt was found upon him.” This was the convincing evidence to King Darius that the God whom Daniel worshiped was “steadfast forever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed,” or hurt: as the word here translated “destroyed” is simply another form of the word translated “hurt” in the other verses. The power of the kingdom working in Daniel kept him from being “hurt,” and gave him the mastery over the wild beasts. The same power of the kingdom will keep every one who believes in his God so that “nothing shall by any means hurt” him, and he “shall not be hurt of the second death.” The same power will cause the kingdom to “stand forever,” changing the nature even of the beasts so that “they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.” This is the everlasting gospel. The gospel is the gospel of deliverance. “He hath sent me . . . to preach deliverance to the captives.” And so in the great gospel object lesson the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, . . . and I am come down to deliver them.” So Nebuchadnezzar learned to know God as the One who “delivered his servants that trusted in him.” The same gospel of deliverance was preached in the kingdom of the Medes and Persians, and King Darius bore testimony to “the God of Daniel” that “he delivereth and rescueth; . . . who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” So we pray, “Deliver us from the evil one,” and should give thanks unto the Father, “who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” “Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. . . . Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.” In the first chapter it was stated that “Daniel continued,” and now it is added that “Daniel prospered.” He continued and prospered because he served God continually, and sought first the prosperity of the everlasting kingdom. And as “the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; . . . and his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand,” so it was with Daniel; but both these men met the test of maintaining their integrity under false accusations, and when they were captives in a strange land. Because they submitted to an undeserved punishment rather than “sin against God,” and thus sever their close union with him, the prosperity of the kingdom which was within them was soon revealed in their experience among men, and they were then recognized by the world as prosperous men. But Joseph in the prison and Daniel in the den of lions were prosperous men in the eyes of the Lord, because they had steadfastly maintained the principles of the kingdom of heaven, the law of their God. “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” For some time we have thought of placing the financial situation of the denomination before the readers of the REVIEW. It has been reported, time and again, and the report is true, that the denomination is deeply in debt; yet we hope that no one for a moment will entertain the idea that it is in a state of bankruptcy, or nearing that point. Our publishing houses and sanitariums are in debt, but none of them are so involved that they can not meet their obligations. They have properties more than enough to cover the debts; and should these properties be sold at a fair price, the balance left would exceed their debts by thousands of dollars. So our institutions are not insolvent; they are fully capable of meeting any obligation for which they are responsible. In this article, however, we wish to speak more especially of the General Conference Association. It is the financial arm of the General Conference. It is solvent; and were its properties sold for anything near what they are worth, its debt could be settled, with quite a sum left. The association holds the deeds of Union College, Walla Walla College, the Graysville Southern Industrial School, the Keene (Tex.) Academy, the Huntsville (Ala.) Industrial School, and has obligations upon some of our other institutions for nearly fifty thousand dollars, besides owning several properties outside of our institutions. Should these institutions and properties be sold, and the proceeds applied upon the debt, it could soon be swept away, and a surplus left. But no one who knows the value of these institutions, can think for a moment of disposing of them for a money consideration. Therefore, as these institutions are necessary, and the advancement of the cause of present truth requires their existence, the only consistent course is to raise the money and pay the debt. To build these institutions and to advance the work in other countries, the association has borrowed money. Whether this method was the most judicious one, it is not our province to discuss in this article. Those who borrowed the money and expended it were indeed sincere and perfectly honest in the moves that they made, and the cause has been benefited by their thus doing. A part of the amount borrowed was secured from persons who wished their money to be used in the work of God, and not feeling able to give it all, loaned it at a low rate of interest, expecting that, unless circumstances extraordinary should arise, they would never draw this money out; and quite a number, under those circumstances, have taken notes of the association bearing no interest. Thus their money is now invested in our institutions and in extending the work in different fields, and is accomplishing much good. Others have not felt able to loan their money without interest, and have taken notes bearing a low rate of interest; a majority of them bearing four per cent, some three per cent, and in a very few instances five per cent; but, as we have just said, the great bulk of the debt is drawing but four per cent interest. Several years ago some persons in South Africa came into possession of a fortune. The Lord moved upon their hearts to give liberally to his cause; and besides doing this, one of them loaned nearly seventy-five thousand dollars. Interest, at four per cent, has been paid on this sum for several years. This money was expended for the advancement of the work in various parts of the field; and had no money been secured, the work would not, seemingly, have advanced to its present stage of success. This amount, nearly seventy-five thousand dollars, has been partially paid. We are now owing this person nearly fifty-seven thousand dollars. He needs the money, and requests us to pay it back by the first of next January. This we shall endeavor to do; but in order to do so, we must secure the money, and we now ask our brethren throughout the United States to aid us. Aid us, first, by contributions to meet this obligation. You can help us, secondly, by loaning us money without interest, on as long time as you deem practicable to your own interests. Thirdly, if you are not able to give or to loan us money without interest, we shall be glad to secure money at a low rate of interest. If you can not afford to loan at a less rate, we will give you four per cent interest, giving you the note of the General Conference Association for one or more years. We lay these facts before you as they are, and ask you to aid us, and we shall appreciate it very much if you will do so. We have paid interest promptly whenever requested to do so, and expect to be able to do so in the future. The signs of the times indicate that the end of all things is near. The state of the nations at large, and of society everywhere, should teach us that making investments in worldly schemes is very unreliable, indeed positively dangerous. The love of gain is causing many to make unwise investments; and should a money crisis take place,—and one is liable to come at any time,—banks would be unsafe. Indeed, the safest place to deposit money is in the cause of God, to help on the work of the message. There is a spirit of liberality coming into our ranks, and plans are being made, and steps are being taken, to free our institutions from debt; and it will be a happy day when this is accomplished; but in the present case we are in need of money, for which we are willing to pay interest, as we have said; and we now ask you, brethren and sisters throughout this country, to send us money, with or without interest. If you can send it immediately, please do so. If you can not, write to us, telling us at what time you can send it. Should more be received than is necessary to meet the demand already spoken of, there are institutions in Australia that will be glad to receive money at four per cent. We are not borrowing money to run into debt, but simply to take the place of some that we have borrowed, and that must now be paid. Who will respond? Let us hear from you after you have thought the matter over fully. Address General Conference Association, care of the Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich. Please write soon. S. H. LANE, Pres. Gen. Conf. Ass'n.