Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 30. (6/17/1915)

Review and Herald

Jun 17, 1915

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 17, 1915

The Judgment of Babylon

Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. . . .

For, lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country: and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken: their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain. . . .

Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of Mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls; . . .

Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate: every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.

Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about: all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows: for she hath sinned against the Lord.

Shout against her round about: she hath given her hand: her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down: for it is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance upon her; as she hath done, do unto her. . . .

Come against her from the utmost border, open her storehouses: cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly: let nothing of her be left. . . .

Call together the archers against Babylon: all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; let none thereof escape: recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done, do unto her: for she hath been proud against the Lord. . . .

A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: a sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be dismayed. . . .

A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols.

As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbor cities thereof, saith the Lord; so shall no man abide there, neither shall any son of man dwell therein. . . .

Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. . . .

And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling place for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant. Jeremiah 50 and 51.

Now Ready

By Editor

The John Huss Number of the “Protestant Magazine”

The five hundredth anniversary of the martyrdom of John Huss will be celebrated in July by the Protestant churches throughout the United States.

LEADING ARTICLES

“John Huss and His Times”

A sermon by Rev. Wallace Radcliffe, of Washington, D. C. This is a wonderfully interesting and instructive discourse, and well worth the price of the magazine.

“The Burning of John Huss”

“Lessons From the Life of Huss”

“Keeping Faith With Heretics”

Minutemen Wanted to sell this issue. It will be a live topic everywhere. Churchgoers will buy it. All others can be influenced to buy it.

Rates in Quantities

5 to 40 copies, 5 cents each; 50 or more copies, 4 cents each, postpaid.

Order today from your State tract society

The preceding appeal from the editor of the Protestant Magazine appeared on the first page of the June issue of that magazine. It will be of equal interest to the readers of the “Review,” and we trust will receive earnest consideration.

"The Shadow of the Bottle"

A COMPANION volume of "The World's Crisis." The story of crime, misery, bloodshed, and wretchedness resulting from the liquor traffic as told by the cartoonist, statistician, and lecturer.

A Live Book

Printed on good paper, 128 pages, 64 cartoons, and a two-color cover.

Paper .....25 cents Cloth .....50 cents

Order of your tract society.

The Present Truth Series

THOUGH the Present Truth Series was not launched until January this year, it now has a subscription list of 60,000 copies, besides having orders for copies in bulk totaling nearly one-quarter million copies a month. Up to June 1, only five numbers had been printed, with a total of 1,064,000 copies.

The Present Truth Series is a babe as yet in the family of periodicals, but its possibilities in the finishing of the work are limited only by the missionary efforts of our churches. It was born only in January this year, yet 1,064,000 copies have been printed to date, and nearly all are in circulation. The series is young, but great. The one-topic plan of this series seems to produce better results than a variety of subjects in one issue. It is not so confusing to those who are unfamiliar with the subjects under consideration.

Methods Used in Circulation of Present Truth Series

The following report is from one of our local ministers in Florida who has used the Present Truth Series in connection with a tent effort, and is adopting the series in preparing the communities for other evangelical work, as well as in developing the missionary spirit in our churches:—

“Your letter in regard to the Present Truth Series received. We are through with our winter tent effort. Thirty have been baptized, and twenty others are keeping the Sabbath, and will unite with the church as soon as they are thoroughly instructed on special points of present truth.

“Through our tract society we are sending an order for 500 copies of each number of the P. T. S. Each member is becoming responsible for a certain district, and will place the series with the same people each month. I think it is a capital plan to develop new members into real missionaries. We shall follow up the interested ones with Bible readings. I am more than pleased with the numbers that have thus far come to hand.”

A Personal Appeal

By M. M. Pincott

DURING the whole six years of the existence of this magazine I have not made a personal appeal to its readers for their assistance in extending its circulation. I have felt that perhaps my work on the magazine was the best appeal and that it would be better for me to make no other.

The intensity of the present situation has moved me to change my mind and to call for help. “We are certainly facing what Dr. Lynch has been pleased to call ‘an acute crisis.’” Romanism was never more aggressive, never more determined than now; the evidences of this appear on every hand; the dominating influence of Rome in the large cities; the agitation for a division of the public school funds; the long-continued campaign for legislation establishing a censorship of the press; the growth of the great Roman Catholic organizations under the absolute control of the hierarchy; the announced purpose to make America Catholic, followed by a large increase in the number of missions to non-Catholics—these are some of the ways by which Rome is seeking to advance her interests in the United States.

There is a great lack of information among Protestants as to the teaching and the present activities of the Roman Catholic Church. This generally leads to a feeling of indifference toward the whole situation. I have tried to make this magazine a channel for conveying reliable information upon the controversy with Rome, avoiding the publication of mere rumors and not exploiting the misdeeds of individual Roman Catholics, but giving the most significant facts. Many readers appreciate this editorial policy.

Now I ask that those who believe in this magazine should do something definite toward enlarging its circle of readers. Order twenty copies (at a cost of $1.00) and distribute them among friends and neighbors; then try to secure a few subscriptions. As a special inducement the magazine will be sent for the remainder of the year, and the issues for May and June will be included as long as they last, for fifty cents.

I wish to add that this appeal does not involve any financial benefit to myself, and that the magazine has been published at a loss since it was established.

How many will respond to my first appeal for cooperation? Remember the motto, “Do it now.”

Yours for the advancement of genuine Protestantism,

M. M. Pincott

Circulation of Extras and Present Truth Series

The following table gives the number of REVIEW Extras together with the Present Truth Series Extras that have been printed to date. With the exception of No. 7, Present Truth Series, which is not yet due, but printed, the stock is limited.

War Extra ................ 1,496,110 Eastern Question Extra ..... 1,300,000 P. T. S. No. 1 ............. 185,000 No. 2 .................... 165,000 No. 3 .................... 150,000 No. 4 .................... 137,650 No. 5 .................... 127,650 No. 6 .................... 150,000 No. 7 .................... 150,000 Total ...................... 3,861,410

“Songs of Zion”

This new evangelistic songbook will be appreciated not only by evangelists and music directors and choirs, but every lover of sacred music will be glad to possess a copy.

Hundreds of dollars have been expended for the right to use some of the newest and best songs of well-known music composers. These new songs will be greatly enjoyed as well as the old songs that “never grow old.”

The book contains 128 pages and 192 songs. It is issued in two styles of binding: flexible Manila tag, 15 cents; full cloth covers, 30 cents.

Ready for circulation June 10.

Order from your conference tract society.

Hope for the Heathen

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

Throughout his ministry, Isaiah bore a plain testimony concerning God’s purpose for the heathen. Other prophets had made mention of the divine plan, but their language was not always understood. To Isaiah it was given to make very plain to Judah the truth that among the Israel of God were to be numbered many who were not descendants of Abraham after the flesh. This teaching was not in harmony with the theology of his age; yet he fearlessly proclaimed the messages given him of God, and brought hope to many a longing heart reaching out after the spiritual blessings promised to the seed of Abraham.

The apostle to the Gentiles, in his letter to the believers in Rome, calls the attention of Christendom to this characteristic of Isaiah’s teaching. “Esaias is very bold,” Paul declares, “and saith, I was found of them that sought Me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.” Rom. 10: 20.

Often the Israelites seemed unable or unwilling to understand God’s purpose for the heathen. Yet it was this very purpose that had made them a separate people, and had established them as an independent nation among the nations of the earth. Abraham, their father, to whom the covenant promise was first given, had been called to go forth from his kindred, to the regions beyond, that he might be a light bearer to the heathen. Although the promise to him included a posterity as numerous as the sand by the sea, yet it was for no selfish purpose that he was to become the founder of a great nation in the land of Canaan. God’s covenant with him embraced all the nations of earth. “I will bless thee,” Jehovah declared, “and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Gen. 12: 2, 3.

In the renewal of the covenant shortly before the birth of Isaac, God’s purpose for mankind was again made plain. “All the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him” (Gen. 18: 18), was the assurance of the Lord concerning the child of promise. And, later, the heavenly visitant once more declared, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” Gen. 22: 18.

The all-embracing terms of this covenant were familiar to Abraham’s children and to his children’s children. It was in order that the Israelites might be a blessing to the nations, and that God’s name might be made known “throughout all the earth” (Ex. 9: 16), that they were delivered from Egyptian bondage. If obedient to his requirements, they were to be placed far in advance of other peoples in wisdom and understanding; but this supremacy was to be reached and maintained only in order that through them the purpose of God for “all nations of the earth” might be fulfilled.

The marvelous providences connected with Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage and with their occupancy of the Promised Land, led many of the heathen to recognize the God of Israel as the Supreme Ruler. “The Egyptians shall know,” had been the promise, “that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Ex. 7: 5. Even proud Pharaoh was constrained to acknowledge Jehovah’s power. “Go, serve the Lord,” he urged Moses and Aaron, “and bless me also.” Ex. 12: 31, 32.

The advancing hosts of Israel found that a knowledge of the mighty workings of the God of the Hebrews had gone before them, and that some among the heathen were learning that he alone was the true God. In wicked Jericho the testimony of a heathen woman was, “The Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” Joshua 2: 11. The knowledge of Jehovah that had thus come to her, proved her salvation. By faith “Rahab perished not with them that believed not.” Heb. 11: 31. And her conversion was not an isolated case of God’s mercy toward idolaters who should acknowledge his divine authority. In the midst of the land a numerous people—the Gibeonites—renounced their heathenism, and united with Israel, sharing in the blessings of the covenant.

No distinction on account of nationality, race, or caste is recognized by God. He is the Maker of all mankind. All men are of one family by creation, and all are one through redemption. Christ came to demolish every wall of partition, to throw open every compartment of the temple courts, that every soul may have free access to God. His love is so broad, so deep, so full, that it penetrates everywhere. It lifts out of Satan’s influence those who have been deluded by his deceptions, and places them within reach of the throne of God, the throne encircled by the rainbow of promise. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free.

In the years that followed the occupation of the Promised Land, the beneficent designs of Jehovah for the salvation of the heathen were almost wholly lost sight of, and it became necessary for him to set forth his plan anew. “All the ends of the world,” the psalmist was inspired to sing, “shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.” Ps. 22: 27. “Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.” Ps. 68: 31. “The heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.” “This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; when the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.” Ps. 102: 15, 18-22.

Had Israel been true to her trust, all the nations of earth would have shared in her blessings. But the hearts of those to whom had been intrusted a knowledge of saving truth, were untouched by the needs of those around them. God’s purpose was lost sight of, and the heathen came to be looked upon as beyond the pale of his mercy. The light of truth was withheld, and darkness prevailed. The nations were overspread with a veil of ignorance; the love of God was little known; error and superstition flourished.

Such was the prospect that greeted Isaiah when he was called to the prophetic mission; yet he was not discouraged, for ringing in his ears was the triumphal chorus of the angels surrounding the throne of God, “The whole earth is full of his glory.” Isa. 6: 3. And his faith was strengthened by visions of glorious conquests by the church of God,

when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isa. 11: 9. “The face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations” (Isa. 25: 7), was finally to be destroyed. The Spirit of God was to be poured out upon all flesh. Those that hunger and thirst after righteousness were to be numbered among the Israel of God. “They shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses,” said the prophet. “One shall say, I am the Lord’s; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.” Isa. 44: 4, 5.

To the prophet was given a revelation of the beneficent design of God in scattering impenitent Judah among the nations of earth. “My people shall know my name,” the Lord declared; “they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak.” Isa. 52: 6. And not only were they themselves to learn the lesson of obedience and trust; in their places of exile they were also to impart to others a knowledge of the living God. Many from among the sons of the strangers were to learn to love him as their Creator and their Redeemer; they were to begin the observance of his holy Sabbath day as a memorial of his creative power; and when he should make “bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations,” to deliver his people from captivity, “all the ends of the earth” should see of the salvation of God. Isa. 52: 10; Ps. 98: 4. Many of these converts from heathenism would wish to unite themselves fully with the Israelites, and accompany them on the return journey to Judea. None of these were to say, “The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people” (Isa. 56: 3), for the word of God through his prophet to those who should yield themselves to him and observe his law, was that they should thenceforth be numbered among spiritual Israel—his church on earth.

“The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.” Isa. 56: 6-8.

(To be concluded)

Our Camp Meetings

By G. W. WELLS

G. W. WELLS

THE times in which we live are filled with intense excitement. The pleasure lovers are on the increase; the world is absorbed in money-making and selfish gratification. Satan knows his time is short, and he has set his agencies at work to delude, deceive, and entrance the mind, until probation shall end and the door of mercy close forever. We need to work wisely and earnestly, to arrest the attention of the world-mad masses as they rush on to destruction, but we are powerless to help them if we ourselves are not overcomers.

One object of our camp meetings is to promote spiritual life among our own people. We need to see anew the beauty, the holiness and loveliness of divine truth. The character of these meetings will be determined very largely by the purpose, desire, and spirit of those who attend. If we come with an earnest longing in our hearts for a deeper spiritual reviving, a burning desire for the forgiveness of all our sins, we may rest assured that our God will not disappoint us, but breathe upon us his Holy Spirit. The success of the meeting depends on the presence and power of the Spirit of God. Let us not think that it is possible for the ministry unaided to bring about a strong spiritual, uplifting, and refreshing camp meeting. It is necessary to have sympathetic cooperation on the part of the brethren in attendance. If we indulge in critical words and evil speaking, if we permit envy, jealousy, evil surmising, or sin of any character, to have place in our hearts, it will effectually bar the door against the Holy Spirit's work.

We must not overlook the fact that in all these gatherings there are two forces at work. A battle unseen by human eyes is going on; but it will be the privilege of each one in attendance to array himself on the side of right and gain a rich experience. There will be those present who are unacquainted with the devices of Satan, and in the conflict will doubtless be wounded, discouraged, and led astray, unless those who have been enlightened, and have tasted the love of a sin-pardoning Saviour, come close to such ones, and in the spirit of tenderness and love speak words which reveal the beauty of Christ's character, and thus win them from the enemy.

At these gatherings we must 'take time to be holy,' take 'time for heart searching, for soul culture.' 'Methods must be adopted, plans must be carried out, whereby the standard shall be uplifted, and the people shall be taught how they may be purified from iniquity and elevated by adherence to pure and holy principles.' We need more personal piety, more heart holiness, a clearer conception of spiritual things, a greater reverence for the Word of God, more respect for the gospel ministry, stronger, firmer, and purer love for each other. Let us pray that God may have access to our poor, hard hearts, making them tender and very susceptible to divine impressions. Let us earnestly pray for the ministers, that they may be consecrated and true-hearted men, and may have a message that will enlighten, instruct, and lift us into a higher experience. Pray that the simple gospel truths they present may be as sharp arrows piercing the heart, bringing conviction to the inmost soul.

Fathers and mothers, let us bow before God with contrition of soul, and say, with Moses of old, 'We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, . . . for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.' Brethren, let us go to the camp meeting and endeavor to take the unconverted in our homes and churches with us, seeking the Lord for his special blessing, and by God's grace and Spirit lead them to the Master.

Minneapolis, Minn.

Importance of Studying Prophecy

By Stephen N. Haskell

S. N. HASKELL

The prophet Amos declares, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7. The first announcement of the gospel contained a wonderful prophecy extending over a period of seven thousand years. It reads as follows: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Gen. 3:15. From that day to the present, the crushing of the serpent’s head has been a symbol of the fate of Satan.

Christ was the seed that brought salvation to the human family. As he entered upon his mission, he said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1:15. The life and death of Christ was a literal fulfillment of more than forty prophecies. The gospel message, as given by the Saviour himself, was based on the prophecies previously given. The “time” that Christ declared to be fulfilled was the sixty-nine prophetic weeks which the angel Gabriel made known to Daniel. “Seventy weeks,” said the angel, “are determined [or cut off] upon thy people.” That is, 490 years were given to the Jews as a people, after which the gospel would go to the Gentiles. Sixty-nine weeks extended to Messiah the Prince. Messiah means anointed (John 1:41, margin), and Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost and with power when he was baptized. Luke 3:21, 22. Seven years more reached to the stoning of Stephen, when the disciples who “were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” Acts 8:4. The time when these events took place is given in the margin of the Bible as A. D. 27 and A. D. 34, as foretold by Daniel. Dan. 9:26, 27.

The starting point of the seventy weeks, as given in Dan. 9:24-27, was “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” This was in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, or 456½ B. C. Ezra 7:7, 8. This date was established by more than twenty eclipses, as well as by the New Testament chronology. The time of the crucifixion was foretold even more definitely than this. “The midst” of the seventieth week marking the time of the crucifixion would be half of seven years, or three and one-half years. The month and the day were predicted by Moses

more than fifteen hundred years before—the fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings. Compare Ex. 12:1-8 (margin); Matt. 27:46. God is particular in fulfilling his word.

For fifteen hundred years the Passover was celebrated, and every Passover was a prophecy pointing to the death of Christ; but the Jews as a people failed to recognize the time and manner of this event. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem to be crucified, he uttered the following solemn words: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”

The destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army, and the scattering of the Jewish people from one end of the earth to the other, is a commentary on the preceding scripture. If the destruction of the Jewish nation and its city is the result of not knowing the time and manner of the first advent of Christ, as foretold in the prophecy of the seventy weeks, then how will it be with the Gentile Christians who know nothing of the period in Dan. 8:14, from which the seventy weeks were cut off? The 2300 days, or years, extend 1,810 years this side of the time the gospel went to the Gentiles. The prophecy reads, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” If so much depended upon Israel’s recognizing the events that fulfilled the prophecy of the first 490 years of this great prophetic period, how important that God’s people at the present time be familiar with the events that fulfill the prophecy relating to our time. The Jews were busy with a form of worship, but they failed to look for the fulfillment of the prophecy due in their day, and thus were cast off from being God’s peculiar people. In like manner if we fail to have our attention centered on the fulfillment of the portion of the great prophetic period due in our day, we shall fail to “watch,” and the close of probation will come as a thief to us, and we be lost.

“Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to be best acquainted. The archdeceiver hates the great truths that bring to view an atoning sacrifice and an all-powerful Mediator. He knows that with him everything depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and his truth. . . . The subject of the sanctuary and the investigative judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God. All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their great High Priest. Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to exercise the faith which is essential at this time, or to occupy the position which God designs them to fill.” —“The Great Controversy,” page 488.

The typical sanctuary was cleansed by the blood of beasts, but the heavenly sanctuary will be cleansed by the precious blood of Christ. See Heb. 9:11-24. The cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, or the antitypical day of atonement,—the time of the investigative judgment,—is one of the most important prophecies to which our attention can be called at the present time. Our salvation depends as much upon a knowledge of this subject as did the Jews’ upon a knowledge of the time and manner of Christ’s first advent.

The nations are angry. Earthquakes are in divers places. Every characteristic of the condition of society given in the Word of God as a sign of the last days, is seen wherever we turn. While we do not know the day or the hour either of the ending of probation or of the second coming of Christ, we do know that we are in the last days of the last generation of men.

The Voice of the Soul

By J. S. WASHBURN

J. S. WASHBURN

The tenderest, sweetest emotions of the soul are expressed in music as they can be in no other way. Preeminently are love and joy expressed by music. Courage and hope speak through its strong, swift, rhythmic major chords, while the pathos of sorrow weeps like wailing autumn winds through its mystic minor harmonies. In danger, martial strains nerve men to dare to die. At the funeral of loved ones, music that softly steals into every darkened chamber of the soul brings healing and balm.

O music, sweetest of the divine gifts, without thee the world would be a weary, barren, cheerless waste. It is true that music is used at times to express folly, lust, hate, madness, and despair. But this is Satan’s perversion of God’s gift, which was to be his voice of love to us, and the medium of communicating our praise and joy to him. It was intended to bring to us healing and hope and joy and light and life.

The man in whose soul is no music, lacks the gentlest qualities, and needs a new creation, a new soul. Many who have apparently but little musical talent, love music and are moved and touched by it. When such people become true Christians, their love for music is increased. When the soul is awakened, love for music awakens. It is the soul much more than the voice that sings.

A poor voice and a great soul is a much better combination than a fine voice and a small soul. Mr. Sankey, the famous evangelistic singer, though he did not have a remarkable voice, sang from his great tender heart, from his very inmost soul, and his singing reached the souls of many and saved them.

Music that is mechanical, lifeless, expressionless, soulless, is absolutely worthless, no matter how skillfully rendered. Music that is affected, or performed for the exhibition of self, is worse than useless ; it is wearisome, disgusting. Let God give you a true, noble soul, then your music will win and save.

Philadelphia, Pa.

The Healing

By L. Adelaide Sherman

AMONG the crowd that thronged the Master’s way, As slowly waned the glowing Syrian day, There came a woman, weary, faint, and weak, With faltering steps, pale lips, and hollow cheek. Long had she suffered, long had sought for health,— In the vain search had lavished all her wealth,— Yet from these efforts no relief she gained. Failing in each, one hope alone remained.

In her despair strange rumors she had heard Of One who cleansed the leper with a word; From power of evil set demoniac free, And caused the deaf to hear, the blind to see. She said, “This Prophet strength and health can give; I need but touch his garment’s hem, and live.”

She watched his coming — waited for the hour; For one last effort rallied all her power; And as the fast-increasing crowd passed on, She with them stood, unnoticed and unknown, Drew near to him, amid the throng and press, Raised her thin hands, and touched his seamless dress.

A sudden thrill ran all her pulses through, Her languid body throbbed with life anew, In her pale cheek the roseate blush grew bright, Her eye, long dimmed, beamed with her soul’s delight; In all her limbs the healthful current’s swell Proclaimed to her the truth that she was well.

Yet timid, shrinking, fearing to be seen, Knowing herself impure, her touch unclean, And daring not to breathe her cure aloud, She sought again concealment in the crowd, Yet sought in vain — he, who had power to heal, Knew all the truth, which she would fain conceal.

His voice restrained her, when she would have fled; She scanned his face, saw nothing there to dread, And at his feet, in gratitude and fear, Sobbed forth her story, in his pitying ear. This let me come to thee, thou Crucified, In trust sincere, when life’s great ills betide; And when the heaviest burdens on me press, O, give me faith to touch thy seamless dress!

— L. Adelaide Sherman, in Zion’s Herald.

Bible Study

By F. D. STARR

F. D. STARR

BIBLE study is best pursued by making the Bible first in all our investigation, effort, and experience. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.” As the Bible is the unerring guide to the kingdom, and in it is revealed the righteousness of God, it obviously follows that the study of the Bible is to be made first in all the business of life. Elder Uriah Smith, whose memory will ever be cherished by those who knew him, in giving advice on this subject, said: “Give the Bible the first place in the morning. Before taking up any other literature, read from God’s Holy Word.” We defraud ourselves of the spiritual nourishment we need for growth when we allow the daily papers or any other secular literature to take from us the early morning moments. Such reading should be given a secondary place.

It is an excellent plan to read the Bible through every year. If some other system is preferred, one should at least read enough daily to equal the amount of the entire volume in a year. The neglected marginal references should be utilized. By their aid we may compare scripture with scripture, and gain a much clearer understanding of the meaning. When a text comes to your mind, and you do not know where to locate it, go to the concordance, or get assistance in some way, and do not be satisfied until you do know where that scripture is. “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,” it is taken by conquest, and here is a strategic point to win.

When quoting scripture by pen or voice we should be careful to be accurate. Some expressions are commonly accepted as Scripture which are not found in the sacred canon. Paul is sometimes quoted as saying, “The things I once hated, I now love; and the things I once loved, I now hate.” Those who undertake to find the chapter and verse where this imaginary scripture is found will cease using it.

Much help is often gained by consulting the Revised Version, and there are other translations that help to a better understanding. Rotherham’s “New Testament Critically Emphasized” is an excellent work. Do not avoid commentaries. They are not absolutely necessary, yet one may often gain from some of them much assistance in ascertaining the meaning of some passage hard to be understood.

Those who read the New Testament in the original Greek, will find it to their advantage to read the Septuagint. Many texts and expressions will thus be made more clear. The perusal of “Patriarchs and Prophets,” “The Great Controversy,” “The Desire of Ages,” and other such books, greatly increases the ability to comprehend the Bible, and makes one feel much more familiar with it.

The Bible must not be read in a careless, prayerless manner. He who inspired those writings has promised to give wisdom to those who ask for it, that they may comprehend what he says to them. Above all, we should be doers of the Word. Nothing impresses the practical teachings of the Bible upon the mind like living them out in our daily conduct. If sufficient time is devoted to this study there will be none for novel reading and idle gossip.

Continue reading: Favorable and Adverse Mental Conditions