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Review and Herald, Vol. 90, No. 49.

VALUABLE BOOKS

Review and Herald

Dec 4, 1913

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 4, 1913

VALUABLE BOOKS

SCHOOL-BOOKS

BIBLE NATURE STUDIES. By M. E. Cady. The aim of this volume is to illustrate the fact that the Book of books is the foundation of all true science. 267 lessons, classified in 16 leading chapters. Parents will find its use valuable in the home training of their children. Price, net, $1.00.
NATURE STUDY NOTE-BOOKS. By M. E. Cady. These are drawing-books used in connection with “Bible Nature Studies.” They will greatly aid teachers in conducting nature study with children of the fourth to the eighth grade.
No. 1, 112 pages, bound in heavy paper covers ................................40 cents
No. 2, 112 pages, bound in heavy paper covers ................................40 cents
No. 3, 112 pages, bound in heavy paper covers ................................40 cents
Complete book, 200 pages, bound in cloth ................................85 cents
BELL’S LANGUAGE SERIES. This series gives an outline study of the English language, adapted to the training of the child from the nursery till he is graduated from college. Bound in cloth.
Book 1, Primary Language Lessons From Life, Nature, and Revelation; 277 pages; price, 65 cents.
Book 2, Elementary Grammar; 224 pages; price, 65 cents.
Book 3, Complete Grammar; 281 pages; price, 80 cents.
Book 4, Rhetoric and Higher English; 375 pages; price, $1.25.
BELL’S GUIDE TO CORRECT LANGUAGE. This book is written in three parts, embracing practical grammar — grammatical laws; punctuation; and the use of capitals. 146 pages, 50 cents.
SPEAKER’S MANUAL OF PRONUNCIATION. Primarily a text-book on pronunciation and enunciation for class use or private study, but equally valuable to all who speak the English language, whether minister, lecturer, teacher, or student. Cloth, 25 cents; leather, 50 cents.
BIBLE LESSONS FOR THE CHURCH-SCHOOL.
Book 1, Creation to the death of Joshua; 294 pages; 90 cents.
Book 2, From Joshua to the restoration of Jerusalem; 292 pages; 90 cents.
Book 3, The life of Christ upon earth; 461 pages; $1.20.
Book 4, The acts of the apostles and doctrinal points; 433 pages; $1.20.

JUVENILE BOOKS

NEW TESTAMENT PRIMER. An attractive book for children, composed of simplified nature and Bible topics, and sparkling with bright two-color illustrations. The entire book is admirably adapted to attract and teach children.
Board, 25 cents; cloth, 50 cents.
Also published in German, Danish, and Swedish.
BEST STORIES FROM THE BEST BOOK. Designed with special reference to the needs of children. For this reason it has been profusely illustrated. Contains 200 large pages. Board covers, cloth back, 50 cents; red cloth, embossed, 75 cents.
GOSPEL PRIMER, NO. 2. The first pages are devoted to the alphabet, each letter of which is combined with some Bible scene. The remaining portion of the book is given to Bible stories, made so simple that any child can understand them. Contains many full-page illustrations.
English cloth, embossed cover, 50 cents.
LITTLE FOLKS’ BIBLE NATURE. A child’s book of simple graded lessons on Bible nature, beginning with light and continuing with the study of creation in the order of the Scriptures. Thirteen colored plates, 144 pages, beautifully bound.
Board, 25 cents; cloth, 50 cents.
EASY STEPS IN THE BIBLE STORY. A very entertaining and instructive volume for children. Beginning with the story of creation, a connected line of stories of special events and the lives of prominent characters down to the close of the life of Christ is told in a most charming way. 600 pages. Cloth, $3.00; half morocco, $4.00; full morocco, $5.00.
TIGER AND TOM AND OTHER STORIES. A book that will help boys to conquer many temptations and to be victorious over self. A very interesting and helpful book. 274 pages. Price, 75 cents.
UNCLE BEN’S COBBLESTONES. Familiar talks with boys and girls about the common articles of every-day use; such as air, water, sunshine, fire, smoke, glass, coal, paper, matches. Cloth, $1.00.
BIBLE CHILD LIFE. A biography of the children mentioned in the Bible, written especially for young people. The book presents, in simple narrative, Bible child life in a manner that charms and molds the lives of children. 144 pages, 22 full-page illustrations. Cloth, 50 cents.

“Nineveh, That Great City”

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE
AMONG the cities of the ancient world, one of the greatest was Nineveh, on the fertile bank of the Tigris, over two hundred miles to the northward of Babylon. Founded about the time of the dispersion from the tower of Babel, it had become “an exceeding great city of three days’ journey.” Jonah 3: 3. In the days of divided Israel it was the capital of the Assyrian realm.
Nineveh, in the time of its greatest temporal prosperity, was a center of crime and wickedness. Inspiration declared it to be “the bloody city . . . full of lies and robbery.” Nahum 3: 1. Those in a position to know, acknowledged that one of the leading characteristics of its inhabitants was violence. Jonah 3: 8. In figurative language the prophet Nahum compared the Ninevites to a cruel, ravenous lion, who “did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.” Nahum 2: 12. “Upon whom,” the prophet inquired, “hath not thy wickedness passed continually?” Nahum 3: 19.
Notwithstanding this prevalence of iniquity, He who is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10: 34) perceived in that city many who were reaching out after something better and higher, and who, if granted opportunity to hear messages of warning and entreaty, would gladly put away their evil deeds, and turn to the living God. And so in his wisdom he revealed himself to them in an unmistakable manner, to lead them, if possible, to repentance.
The instrumentality chosen of God for this work was Jonah, the son of Amittai, to whom came “the word of the Lord . . . saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it: for their wickedness is come up before me.” Jonah 1: 1, 2.
As the nature of this commission, with all its difficulties and seeming impossibilities, loomed up before Jonah, he began to question the wisdom of the call. As he questioned, he forgot that the God whom he served was all-wise and all-powerful, and he began to doubt whether he should undertake to carry out such a commission. While he hesitated, still doubting, Satan overwhelmed him with discouragement. Seized with a great dread, he “rose up to flee unto Tarshish.” Going down to Joppa, and finding there a ship ready to sail, “he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish.” Jonah 1: 3.
The responsibility placed upon Jonah, in the charge given him to warn the inhabitants of Nineveh, was indeed great; yet he who had bidden him go was well able to sustain his servant and give him success. Had he obeyed unquestioningly, he would have been spared many bitter experiences, and would have been abundantly blessed. However, the Lord did not desert him in this hour of fearful despair, but led him through a series of trials that revived his confidence in God’s power to save, and renewed his determination to obey at any personal sacrifice.
“The Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep. So the shipmaster came over to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.
“And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?
“And he said unto them, I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land.
“Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
“Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
“So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging.
“Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.
“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly, and said,— “I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, And he heard me; Out of the belly of hell cried I, And thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; And the floods compassed me about: All thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; Yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: The depth closed me round about, The weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; The earth with her bars was about me forever: Yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: And my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities Forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.” Jonah 1: 4-17; 2: 1-9.
At last Jonah had learned that “salvation belongeth unto the Lord.” Ps. 3: 8. “Truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.” Jer. 3: 23. Men have sold themselves to the enemy of all righteousness. They cannot redeem themselves. Only by accepting Christ as a personal Saviour can human beings be delivered from the power of the enemy.
Man’s pride would lead him to seek for salvation in some other way than that devised by God. He is unwilling to be accounted as nothing, unwilling to recognize Christ as the only one who can save to the uttermost. But of Christ it is written, “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” “In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.” The one word written above the life that Christ lived in this world in behalf of the fallen race, is “Salvation.”
With penitence and a recognition of the saving grace of God, comes deliverance. Jonah was released from the perils surrounding him in the mighty deep, and cast upon the dry land.
(To be concluded)

The Destruction of Sin

By A. T. Robinson

(Concluded)
A. T. ROBINSON
That the presence of the holy God consumes everything with which sin is connected is clearly shown by the following passages: “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him [Moses] in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses, . . . draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Ex. 3: 2-5.
Had Moses disregarded this merciful warning and carelessly approached the burning bush, he would have been quickly consumed by the glory of the divine presence. “And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.” Lev. 10: 1, 2.
God’s presence with the Israelitish hosts during the wilderness wanderings was manifested by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.” Ex. 13: 21. The consuming power and glory of the divine presence was manifested in awful grandeur at Mt. Sinai. “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And Mt. Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. . . . And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. . . . Let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Lord, lest he break forth upon them.” Ex. 19: 17-24. “And the glory of the Lord abode upon Mt. Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. . . . And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Ex. 24: 16, 17.
The glory of the divine presence witnessed by Moses in the burning bush; the revelation of that glory in awful grandeur when the Lord came down and abode for a time on Mt. Sinai; the manifestation of that glory in the destruction of Nadab and Abihu and of the two hundred and fifty princes, men of renown in Israel, who offered strange fire before the Lord, will be manifested in all its consuming power and splendor at the second coming of Christ, and every person who is then found with sin upon him will be consumed by the spirit of his mouth and destroyed by the brightness of his coming.
For the same reason that the burning bush was not consumed by the glory of God’s presence; for the same reason that Moses “endured, as seeing him who was invisible,” the one hundred and forty-four thousand will be able to endure the matchless glory and splendor that will be revealed when he shall come “in his own glory, and in his Father’s,” “and all the holy angels with him.” Luke 9: 26; Matt. 25: 31.
The apostle gives us a vivid description of how the second coming of Christ will affect both classes who will be living and witness that sublime event. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, 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: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.” 2 Thess. 1: 7-10. “But who may abide the day of his coming?” asks the prophet, “and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver.” Mal. 3: 2, 3.
When the church of Jesus Christ shall have put on the wedding garment, the robe of Christ’s righteousness, when she shall be in readiness to meet her returning Lord, the sinners and hypocrites will have left the church. The prophet, foreshadowing that time, says: “The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites.” Inspiration has put this solemn question in the mouth of God’s people at that time: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire [the glory which devours the wicked]? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” Isa. 33: 14.
When sin shall have been eradicated from the lives of God’s remnant people, “when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning,” there will then be so much of the divine presence in the church of Christ that it will not be a desirable place for sinners and hypocrites, and no longer will church discipline be needed to get them out.
God has many faithful men and women in his church today who are so fully walking with God that he could trust them with the fulness of the outpouring of his Holy Spirit. This great promised blessing, which is due in this time is withheld from the church, first, because of those who are “at ease in Zion” (Amos 6: 1), and secondly, because of wicked men in the church who are practising iniquity under a cloak of falsehood. Jer. 5: 24-26. Men may be as corrupt as Satan himself among the nominal professors of religion without their iniquity coming to light, but not so under the blazing light of that message which is to prepare a people to “stand when he appeareth.” The fact that such cases occasionally come to light is an evidence that we are nearing the time when the power of God’s presence in his church will be so manifest that the sinners in Zion will be afraid, and fearfulness will surprise the hypocrite.
When the power of the Spirit of the living God comes into his church as it will come before the work closes, it will be as it was in the time of Ananias and Sapphira, when “great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. . . . And of the rest durst no man join himself to them.” And when that blessed state is again reached by the church, it will be as it was then, “and believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.” Acts 5: 11-14. The prophet foresaw such a time, and gave utterance to these inspiring words: “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.” Isa. 52: 1.
Dear reader, before you and I can live a sinless life in the flesh, the dominion of sin in our lives must be terminated. Sin must come to an end in our lives. Actually come to an end — cease. There will still remain the “motions of sin,” striving for the mastery, just as the “motions of sin” did strive for the mastery in the “sinful flesh” of Jesus Christ, but —
“As surely as he overcame And triumphed once for you, So surely you who love his name Shall triumph in him, too.”
College View, Nebr.

Truth a Mighty Weapon

By M. G. Huffman

M. G. HUFFMAN
PILATE, as Jesus stood before him, inquired, “Art thou a king?” Mark the answer: “To this end . . . came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?” At another time Jesus answered the question by saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
What a mighty weapon is truth! Who can stand against it? There is no power that can overcome it; no power can thwart its purpose. God’s word is truth, and it “liveth and abideth forever.” It has gone out of his mouth, and it shall not return unto him void, but shall accomplish that which he pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto he sent it.
In consequence of the lie Satan introduced in the garden of Eden, and by which he decoyed our first parents into transgressing God’s holy law, man lost his dominion, and was separated from his beautiful Eden home.
The great arch-deceiver has introduced another falsehood: he has established a rest day to usurp the place of the rest day God instituted, designating it as the Lord’s day, and has succeeded in getting nearly the whole world to believe that the rest day he instituted is the Sabbath. But, praise the Lord, the true servants of God are meeting this error with the sole weapon of truth,—the same weapon that has been wielded for the last six thousand years,—and today the honest-hearted all over the world are being brought to see, and by the Spirit of God are being impressed to accept, the truth, and are thus preparing to meet the Author of truth.
The Sabbath institution is perpetual. “Think not,” said Christ, “that I am come to destroy the law. . . . I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Thus all can see that this law, of which the Sabbath is a part, is perpetual, unchangeable, from the fact that the Sabbath is of divine origin. It was instituted to supply a perpetual moral need of man. For “the Sabbath was made for man,”—man in the broadest sense of the word,—for all men in all ages. The very nature of the law establishes the Sabbath a perpetual institution. The universal acceptance of the Sabbath idea proves that it is recognized by all denominations as a perpetual institution. The Sabbath was made for all men of all ages. It cannot be abrogated.
God does not, and could not, abrogate the law of the Sabbath and still remain the God of Israel, who “inhabiteth eternity” and is from “everlasting to everlasting,” who changeth not, but is “the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Hence the Sabbath is of perpetual obligation. The Sabbath was made before man sinned, and therefore the seventh-day Sabbath institution was made and kept before the time of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. The Sabbath was given to ancient Israel as a perpetual covenant, and comes from them to us.
We are told that Christ abrogated the ten commandments, and then reenacted all the law except the Sabbath. Christ did no such thing, for the law has never been abrogated nor repealed. All Christ did was to rid the Sabbath of the Jewish traditions, that it might appear in its original purity, for a blessing to all mankind. The Sabbath is a part of God’s eternal purpose, and constitutes a sign between man and his Creator, that man may know that the Lord is God, and there is none else.

Elijah the Tishbite

By B. E. Connerly

B. E. CONNERLY
Of that long line of holy men who through the ages have kept open communication between earth and heaven, Elijah the Tishbite is one of the greatest. Though romantic in the extreme, there is nothing legendary or mythical in the sacred chronicle concerning this man who was so jealous for the honor of Jehovah—he was the man for his time. In his short career of thirteen years he manifested to Israel the faith of Abraham, the patience of Job, the judicial ability of Moses, the courage of Daniel, and the eloquence of Paul; but a less complete combination of Christian qualities could never have dominated the apostasy of Ahab and Jezebel’s day.
Though the humblest of earth, Elijah, of all humanity, has been most honored of heaven. Nearly a thousand years after he had finished his militant course his progeny still looked for his return to champion the cause of Judaism. It is significant that in Scripture there is only enough said of him to make us know that he was a man of God, and possessed all the qualifications for a prophet of Jehovah, with but one unhappy reminder that he “was a man subject to like passions as we are.” Inspiration’s simple record is that he was “Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead.” I Kings 17:1. Politically a subject of Ahab’s kingdom, but spiritually “an Israelite indeed,” he was a wilderness prophet, a true son of the desert.
Elijah gave apostate Israel as positive evidence of the genuineness of his call to the prophetic gift as the mysterious “King of righteousness” gave the father of the faithful that he was “priest of the Most High God;” and, if possible, the sacred chronologist has told less of the genealogy of the Tishbite than the patriarchs made known of the king of Salem.
Historically, Elijah stood at the central point of man’s conflict with sin, midway between Eden lost and Eden restored; and at a time when the world was filled with paganism, and the worshipers of Jehovah were on the verge of apostasy. The characteristics which made his name so prominent in the sacred canon were his fealty to Jehovah, zeal for his service, and, consequently, uncompromising hatred of idolatry.
Elijah was not a great leader, but he possessed a great mind and extensive knowledge. He knew his people and the social and moral conditions of his day. He knew, too, that a storm was gathering that he could not prevent, and he could only watch and prepare for the crisis. While Elijah’s life was a series of hopes deferred, there is not related in the annals of human affairs a more sublime story than the strangely unequal contest between that intrepid servant of Jehovah and the priests of Baal on Mt. Carmel; nor in the history of sacred worship is there found more thrilling experiences than surround the life of Elijah the Tishbite.
To many, that terrible denunciation of apostate Israel is only the prating of an overzealous enthusiast; but when better understood, it will reveal Jehovah’s response to the deepest plot ever laid for the ruin of Israel. For ten long years, from his retreat in Gilead, Elijah watched Jezebel, and her hierarchy of foreign priests; saw them invade his country with a doctrine more desolating for his people than the devastations of an armed host. He saw liberty betrayed, his people forsake Jehovah and throw down his altars—but Jehovah’s servant must wait for his casus belli.
Not Noah at the time of the flood, Abraham in Canaan, Moses in Egypt, David with Saul, John the Baptist at the annunciation, or Paul before the Roman tribunal acted more wisely than Elijah in opposing the scheme of Jezebel.
As Daniel knew by Jer. 25:11 when the Babylonian captivity would terminate, so Elijah knew by Deut. 11:16, 17, that national apostasy would be punished by national calamity; and Joshua 6:26 and I Kings 16:29-34 told him that his people and his country were under the interdiction of heaven. Thus by the Word of the Lord he knew that a famine was imminent, he knew that he was Jehovah’s messenger, and when his message of final denunciation came he could stand before Israel’s apostate king and declare that it was by his word that the heavens were shut up.
Though his heroic and dauntless courage was witnessed by Oriental Jews three millenniums ago, Elijah, preeminently, ministered to us; for the power and spirit by which he resisted apostasy will appear and reappear with increased intensity until the controversy between truth and error is finished. Just as the enforced idolatry of Jezebel’s day is a prophecy of a similar persecution on a grander scale in the last days, so will the zeal of Elijah be manifest, prior to the return of our Lord, in vigorous protests against civilly enacted ritualisms that are contrary to the Word of God.
In the Bible there is mentioned a line of men who have opposed the plan of God; such as, Pharaoh, Amalek, Balaam, Haman, Sanballat, Caiaphas, Simon-Magus, and Alexander the coppersmith; but Jezebel so far exceeded all of these in the art of deception that she has become the synonym for all that was perverse and wicked. The apostasy that she promulgated became national—Israel “forsook the Lord, and served Baal.”
The brave men who protested against all these apostasies are worthy of all honor, but Elijah, who denounced and defeated Jezebel, became the personification of loyalty and obedience. In Scripture his example still condemns those who would arise to draw away disciples after themselves.
As to the time when these two mighty characters will again dispute each other’s supremacy, we need not conjecture. Logically, it will be when the apostasy of all apostasies is enmeshing the church. Rev. 2:20 declares that Jezebel will again appear, and Mal. 4:5 says that the Lord will send Elijah the prophet. The grandeur of the latter prophecy and the sublimity of the subject carries us above and beyond all else but the time of the end and the second coming of Christ.
It is not that we expect a reincarnation of either the Tishbite or the high priestess of idolatry, but, we do expect that the conditions which prevailed then will be repeated when the time comes for the culmination of the controversy between righteousness and iniquity.
If we have correctly interpreted the prophecies and rightly applied the analogies, we are living in the times to which all these prophecies point, and again there is a storm gathering that none may prevent. Jezebel and Elijah are again gathering their forces for the final fray. Again an unscrupulous priesthood is making tentative proposals to the civil powers for a union that will easily develop an apostasy far greater than that which cursed Israel in the days of Jezebel. On the other hand, a mighty universal protest to a backslidden church is, “Ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord,” and have followed rites more pleasing and popular than the Baal worship which deluded Israel in the days of Elijah the Tishbite.
Ancon, C. Z.

Wherein We May Save

By E. K. Slade

Gospel Finance—No. 18

Wherein We May Save

E. K. SLADE
In this age of intensity and extravagance we are liable to be misled in our estimation of what would be a proper standard in the expenditure of money and of that which may be legitimately required for the comforts and necessities of life. A consistent course is required of Christians in the use of money. There is a principle involved in the use of our means that is just as vital as that relating to tithes and offerings. It is no more important to use our ability to earn than it is to use economically and consistently that which we expend for our own necessities.
The proper practise of economy in the kitchen and about the house is a lesson that needs very much to be learned in many homes. The lavish way in which expensive materials are prepared and disposed of in some kitchens is shocking to those who have been more fortunately trained. Enough is wasted in some families who regret that they are not able to send a boy or a girl to college, to very nearly if not quite pay the tuition. Carelessness and lack of early training in this thing has led to a shameful leakage and loss, for which those who are at fault will be held responsible. Many times it occurs that those who seem always to be in need and never able to give much to advance the work, are guilty of great extravagance and wastefulness in the management of their homes.
Under the heading of this article it will be proper to give some facts and figures regarding a class of expenditures wholly unnecessary and unprofitable to any one. The following list indicates approximately what our country pays each year for some of the unnecessary things:—
Liquor .............. $1,750,000,000 Tobacco ............. 1,000,000,000 Confectionery ....... 200,000,000 Soft drinks ......... 125,000,000 Tea and coffee ...... 100,000,000 Condiments .......... 80,000,000 Patent medicines .... 80,000,000 Jewelry ............. 75,000,000 Drugs ............... 35,000,000 Chewing-gum ........ 20,000,000 Theaters and pleasure resorts .......... 135,000,000 Total ............... $3,600,000,000
There might be added to this list several other items of unnecessary expense, which would no doubt bring the total up to four billion dollars. According to these figures, which may come short of the actual amount spent for such things, the American people spend annually $3,600,000,000 for unnecessary things. This does not include lavish expenditures for food, furniture, and clothing, but it embraces only those harmful and unnecessary articles which are not supposed to be included among those things required for the necessities and comforts of life. Distributing this amount to the whole population of the United States, it would represent a sum of $36 spent by each person in one year for unnecessary and harmful things.
We as a people are not supposed to have any considerable part in spending this $3,600,000,000. Admitting that the above figures are correct, and granting that we have a membership of 65,000 in our churches in the United States, it would appear that we who do not have those expenses to meet, should be $2,340,000 better off financially at the end of each year than any other 65,000 people who spend money in that way. Should we give to the advancement of the cause proportionately as the people of this country give for these unnecessary things, it alone would amount to $2,340,000 annually. Providing we are exempt from these expenditures, we are actually saving that amount of money in this country each year. While it is true that the tithes and offerings, the support of our institutions, and the education of our children impose a large financial burden, it appears that our gifts to the cause do not exceed the amount that we save through eliminating the cost of selfish gratification from our expenses, which the remnant church should certainly do. As we more fully understand the nature and purpose of gospel finance, we shall more fully recognize our responsibility to save as well as to earn.
Mount Vernon, Ohio.

ARTHUR W. SPAULDING

By Arthur W. Spaulding

Consider

ARTHUR W. SPAULDING

Consider The lilies of the field, which do not spin, Yet clothed are; And God, who robes them, is our closest kin, Nor stands afar.
Consider The sparrows of the air, which sell for naught: Yet Who doth see Each one that lifeless to the ground is brought, Guards thee and me.
Consider That our true life is not the drink and food The Gentiles seek; But God, who loveth all, will give all good Unto the meek.
Hendersonville, N. C.

The Nature of Meekness

The meek are those who are conscious of human littleness and divine greatness, sweetly reasonable with man, humbly reverent and obedient toward God, whose patience is the muffled gentleness of divine strength.—Dr. A. M. Fairbairn.

How the Work Is to Be Done

By William Ambrose Spicer

“Not by an army, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zech. 4:6, margin. The human factor is essential, the resources of men and of means; but we are to take the eyes off from the human and look to the divine.
The Mission Board is having to send the word to the regions beyond that the large number of missionaries sent out during 1913 suggests, from the natural viewpoint, that the fields cannot look for as many new recruits during 1914; for with the present income the mission treasury will be pressed to the limit by the work already undertaken. It might be supposed that the missionaries sent out this year would stop the gaps in the advancing line for the present, but it is far otherwise with this growing, spreading work. Thankful as the fields are for new recruits, the plea comes earnestly from many places for just one or two more.
Brother F. A. Stahl writes from among the Indians of the Lake Titicaca regions in Peru and Bolivia, reporting the safe arrival of the three new workers appointed by the General Conference. He says:—
It just seems to me that God favored us with these good workers. We need more of this same kind, as there are so many openings. The truth is, dear brethren, we cannot see how we can get along without them, that is, three more. I realize I am asking a great deal, but I cannot help it. God knows that we are in great need here.
China calls for just two more helpers at once, to fill in at places of urgent need,—one to join in opening up a far interior point where Sabbath-keepers have long been calling. “It does seem too bad,” Elder Porter writes, “to delay in opening up that great territory, and yet it does not seem proper to send one worker there to undertake the task alone.”
From Malaysia, one of the darkest corners of the earth, where heathenism and Mohammedanism mingle, Elder F. A. Detamore tells of urgent needs:—
We do need a man in the Battakland of Sumatra very much. A native worker has been there for months, and has quite a number keeping the Sabbath, though he was sent only to sell literature, the authorities having forbidden him to teach. All his literature has been taken from him by the officials, and he has been forbidden even to answer the questions of the people. I visited him last spring, and we decided that it would be best for him to apply for permission to teach there. If this is refused (which it will be unless the Lord especially intervenes in the matter), we can get permission to go to a place just beyond that point, where no one else is working as yet. We hesitate starting there, however, until we have a missionary to put in charge, for the place is far removed from other stations.
Thus it is at every point—the calls come as urgently as ever for workers. It must seem almost impossible to the little band of laborers in these fields to reconcile themselves to the thought that fresh recruits will not be coming in response to these calls. But even though the way is not opened for large numbers to go, there is much for every field in the promise of God that it is not by an army, not by the multitude of workers, not by the power of human resources, but by the Spirit of the living God that the work is to be done. The prayer of Asa, written down by inspiration, comes with special assurance for our own time as we face the vast work and these still unanswered calls:—
“And Asa cried unto the Lord his God, and said, Lord, it is nothing with thee to help, whether with many, or with them that have no power: help us, O Lord our God; for we rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude. O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee.” 2 Chron. 14:11.
Few though the workers are among the millions in the unevangelized fields at home and abroad, we need not for a moment feel that the ingathering of souls is to be limited according to the limitations of our own resources. So, while pleading with the Lord of the harvest to send forth more laborers into the harvest, may there be one united volume of prayer ascending from churches and believers, that the Lord may encourage the laborers already in the needy fields by manifesting the power of his word to break down barriers and win souls as never before. The workers must increase, and the means must increase, and every resource that the Lord gives to his believing children is to be devoted to service. But our eyes are not to be upon the human factor, after all, but upon the Lord of hosts. It is not in men to finish the work, but “he will finish the work,”.
We shall see the resources increasing and growing, and the new workers moving forward to the fields, for thus has the Lord chosen to work through his people in spreading the gospel through all the earth. In the matter of these calls for yet further recruits to follow on without delay, the text has its assurance. Not out of our humanly measured resources, but out of God’s great store of men and means subject to his call, will the deliverance come.
W. A. S.
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