Earlier text: Pioneering in Northern IndiaThe Sabbath of the Lord
By F. M. W.
A General Survey of the Sabbath Institution
At the present time a great controversy is engaging the attention of the Christian world regarding the Sabbath institution. Earnest efforts are being put forth to secure on the part of Christian peoples a more careful regard for Sunday observance. There exists, however, a wide divergence of opinion as to which day of the week is the Sabbath. Thousands of earnest Christians recognize the seventh in place of the first day of the week as holy time. Upon which side of the question does the burden of proof rest? Our stand on this question cannot be based upon the opinions of men. These, as has been stated, are widely at variance. What say the Scriptures of Truth? The Word of God is the standard by which every religious doctrine must be tested. Isa. 8: 20. Christ the Author of the Sabbath
In the Scriptures of Truth Jesus Christ is set forth as the creator of the world, as the author of eternal salvation. See Col. 1: 15-18; Heb. 12: 2. He was in the beginning with God, the Father, and shared with him in the great creative act. John 1: 1-3. As a fitting complement to the creation of this earth, with its myriad forms of life, and of man in his image, Christ made the Sabbath institution, that through its weekly observance the attention of man might continually be called to the Creator, giving to him the honor which is his due. By three distinct acts the Sabbath was made: 1. Out of the weekly cycle God chose the seventh day as his Sabbath of rest. It thus became the Lord’s rest day. 2. He honored this day above all its fellows, by placing upon it his divine blessing because he had rested upon it. This made the seventh day holy time. 3. After having thus honored the day himself in resting upon it and blessing it, he sanctified it, or set it apart for the use of the human family. Gen. 2: 1-3. Therefore the Sabbath, created by Christ Jesus, was distinctly and emphatically a Christian institution, and as heaven’s blessed heritage to man was dedicated to the use of the whole human family. Mark 2: 27. Early History of the Sabbath
There is evidence to show that the seventh-day Sabbath, as a part of the divine law, was observed by Adam and his posterity throughout the patriarchal dispensation (Gen. 4: 3, 7); that Abraham, the father of the faithful, with Isaac and Jacob, observed the holy rest day (Gen. 26: 5); that through Joseph and his father and brethren a knowledge of it was carried to the Egyptians, and that when, in after years through hard bondage, the Israelites became lax in Sabbath observance, the preparation for deliverance from Egyptian bondage was a signal for them to return to the observance of the Sabbath of the Lord. Ex. 5: 1-12. That the Israelites were fully conversant with the nature of the Sabbath institution is made evident by the record of the miracle of the manna. For six days the bread from heaven fell in the fields, a fresh supply to be gathered every morning for each day’s needs. On the sixth day a double portion fell, to provide for the needs of the seventh day, when the regular order was suspended and manna could not be obtained. When some of the Israelites went out on the seventh day to gather it, the Lord charged them with having long refused to obey his laws. Read Ex. 16: 14-30. The Character of the Sabbath
The character of the Sabbath institution was clearly indicated when the law was given from Mount Sinai, where, amid thunders and lightnings, with his own voice, God spoke the law of ten commandments. In the very bosom of this moral law, buttressed before and behind as if to shield it from the assaults of error, the Sabbath commandment was placed, showing unmistakably that it partakes of the same moral character as the other nine. Ex. 20: 8-11. The commandment states emphatically that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” The moral character of the Sabbath institution is shown further in the fact that God has made it the sign of sanctification. Ex. 31: 12-17. It stands as a memorial of the creative power of God in calling the material world into existence, and as a sign of the work wrought through the Holy Spirit by the same creative power in the sanctification of the believer. Throughout the Levitical priestly dispensation, during the forty years’ wandering in the wilderness, in the reign of the judges and the kings, the seventh-day Sabbath was observed by the chosen people of God. Repeatedly, when there developed a tendency to depart from its holy requirements, the people were called back to its observance. God promised Israel of old that if they would observe his Sabbath and refrain from carrying burdens in and out of Jerusalem on that day, he would exalt the city and cause it to stand forever. Jer. 17: 21-27. He also threatened that in the event of their failure to do this, he would bring about the destruction of their chosen city. This threatened judgment was literally fulfilled in the destruction visited upon Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 2 Chron. 36: 14-21. The Jewish people learned some severe lessons in their captivity, one of which was to pay scrupulous regard to the letter of Sabbath observance; but while doing this, they failed to appreciate and observe the spirit of the divine institution; they made Sabbath observance burdensome through their many traditions. When Christ came to earth, he sought to restore the Sabbath to its rightful place in the regard and observance of his chosen people. He taught that the institution is designed as a joy rather than a burden; that while the commandment requires men to cease from their own works, the day should be used in the ministry of love and good will to men; that on that day relief should be carried to the sick, and even suffering animals should receive necessary attention. In other words, that it is lawful, or in harmony with the divine law, to do good on the Sabbath day. Matt. 12: 1-12. It was customary for Christ himself to take part in religious services on that day. Luke 4: 16. He employed the day in ministry to those who came to him. Those disciples most intimately connected with the blessed Master continued to observe the seventh-day Sabbath after his decease. On that eventful crucifixion day, preceding the Sabbath of the Lord, after they had laid the body of the Master in the tomb, they returned to their homes to prepare spices and ointment for his anointing. Unable to complete these preparations before the beginning of the Sabbath, they rested from their labors until the Sabbath was past. Luke 23: 56. Early on the morning of the first day of the week they went to the tomb to perform for the Lord the service which they would not do on the holy day. Luke 24: 1. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, some years after the passion of our Saviour, observed the seventh-day Sabbath in a manner similar to that followed by the Lord. At Thessalonica he entered8 the synagogue, as his manner was on this day, and for three Sabbaths preached to the assembled people the gospel message. Acts 17: 1-3. Later at Corinth, where he spent a year and six months, “he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and Greeks.” Acts 18: 4, 11. And it was his custom to meet not only with the Jewish congregations on this day, but with the Gentiles as well. See Acts 13: 42-44. In contrast with this special regard for the seventh day, we have the striking fact that not a single intimation is given in the New Testament scriptures that the first day should be observed as a sabbath. The first day is never called a holy day, or Sabbath day, nor is any sacredness whatever attached to it by any of the Bible writers. That Christ and his disciples should thus regard the Sabbath of the Lord was made a subject of prophecy years before the first advent. The Spirit of God, speaking through the psalmist, declares of Christ’s attitude toward the law: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Ps. 40: 8. The prophet Isaiah bears this witness of the relationship which Christ would sustain to the law of the ten commandments: “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isa. 42: 21. That Christ regarded the law in his heart and expressed it in his life, the Gospels abundantly testify. He himself declares:— “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 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. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5: 17-19. The apostle Paul bears similar testimony as to the relationship faith sustains to the law of God: “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3: 31. Surely in this agreement of witnesses we have positive evidence that Christ wrought no change in the law of God with reference to the Sabbath commandment. But as neither Christ nor his apostles changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, who has wrought this change? This likewise has been made a subject of prophecy. Two witnesses definitely state that there would arise a power that would seek to bring about a change in the Sabbath institution; that would presume to do what Christ, the author of the law, never attempted. In Dan. 7: 25 there is brought to view a power which is clearly Rome in its papal form. This power Daniel declared should “think to change the times and the law.” Dan. 7: 25, A. R. V. It would not be thought strange, nor considered a matter for remark, for a power to change the law of a conquered enemy. Without question reference is here made to the law of God. The apostle Paul referred to the work of this same system. He declared that there would come in the church a falling away; that there would develop a power that would oppose and exalt “himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped: so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Has there arisen in the world a power which meets these specifications of the prophecy? What authority has presumed to stretch forth its hand and effect a change in the law of God, and to exalt itself above God in setting aside his precepts? We have not far to search to find a fulfillment of the prophecy, nor are we left in doubt as to the credibility of the proofs in the matter. Papal Rome answers to the fulfillment of the prophetic delineation, and this power, far from denying that she is responsible for it, candidly and plainly admits that she has done the very thing which the prophecy said she would do. In other words, this power is responsible for the change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. In the “Abridgment of Christian Doctrine,” by Rev. Henry Tuberville, D. D., of Douay College, France (1649), page 58, occurs the following question and answer:— Question.—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holydays? Answer.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feast days commanded by the same church. The Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, in its issue of Sept. 23, 1893, declares:— The Catholic Church . . . by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday. “The Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine,” by Rev. Peter Geiermann, C. SS. R., page 50, third edition, 1913, a work which received the “apostolic blessing” of Pope Pius X, Jan. 25, 1910, contains the following statements:— Question.—Which is the Sabbath day? Answer.—Saturday is the Sabbath day. Ques.—Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Ans.—We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (A. D. 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday. Did space permit, many similar testimonies might be quoted from other standard Catholic works. We cannot take space to trace in detail the steps by which the change from the observance of the seventh day to that of the first day came about. It was the fruit of the workings of the mystery of iniquity, which the apostle Paul said had begun to manifest itself even in his day, and which afterward developed into the man of sin. The passing away of the early disciples of the church was the signal for subtle error to begin its deadly workings. Says Robinson, a Baptist historian:— Toward the latter end of the second century, most of the churches assumed a new form, the first simplicity disappeared, and insensibly as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts, both Jews and Gentiles, came forward and new-modeled the cause. “Opposition to Judaism,” a desire to gain influence with the heathen world, together with motives of “patriotism and expediency,” combined to place at a discount the Sabbath of the Lord and to exalt in its place the heathen festival of Sunday. Says Morer, a clergyman of the English Church, in his “Dialogues on the Lord’s Day,” pages 22, 23:— It is not to be denied but we borrow the name of this day from the ancient Greeks and Romans, and we allow that the old Egyptians worshiped the sun, and as a standing memorial of their veneration, dedicated this day to him. And we find by the influence of their examples, other nations, and among them the Jews themselves, doing him homage; yet these abuses did not hinder the Fathers of the Christian church simply to repeal, or altogether lay by, the day or its name, but only to sanctify and improve both, as they did also the pagan temples polluted before with idolatrous services, and other instances wherein those good men were always tender to work any other change than what was evidently necessary, and in such things as were plainly inconsistent with the Christian religion; so that Sunday being the day on which the Gentiles solemnly adored that planet, and called it Sunday, partly from its influence on that day especially, and partly in respect to its divine body (as they conceived it), the Christians thought fit to keep the same day and the same name of it, that they might not appear causelessly peevish, and by that means hinder the conversion of the Gentiles, and bring a greater prejudice than might be otherwise taken against the gospel. These changes were wrought slowly. For several centuries both days were observed in the Christian church. During this early period the title of Sabbath was not applied to the first day. It was regarded like other church festivals, the9 same as Good Friday, Christmas, etc., resting wholly on ecclesiastical authority. Nor was its observance based upon the instructions of the fourth commandment. The decree of Constantine, in A. D. 321, requiring its observance on the part of “judges and townspeople, and the occupation of all trades,” and the decree of the Council of Laodicea, in 364, ordering that “Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday, but shall work on that day; but the Lord’s Day they shall especially honor,” gave increased impetus to first-day observance. Says Lyman Coleman, in chapter 26 of his “Ancient Christianity Exemplified:”— Down even to the fifth century the observance of the Jewish Sabbath was continued in the Christian church, but with a rigor and solemnity gradually diminishing until it was wholly discontinued. To this testimony we add that of Prynne in his “Dissertation on the Lord’s Day Sabbath,” page 163:— The seventh-day Sabbath was . . . solemnized by Christ, the apostles, and primitive Christians, till the Laodicean Council did, in a manner, quite abolish the observation of it. . . . The Council of Laodicea [A. D. 364] . . . first settled the observation of the Lord’s Day. Many similar testimonies might be quoted showing the steps by which the first-day Sabbath supplanted the Sabbath of the Lord. As the controlling force in all these changes, we find the workings of the man of sin, the papal principle, which in thus seeking to tear down the Sabbath of the Lord exalted itself in an apostate, fallen church. When we come down to the closing days of earth’s history, where fulfilling signs in the political, social, religious, and industrial worlds clearly indicate that we are now living, the Scriptures of Truth indicate that there would go to the world a great reform message regarding the law of God, and particularly that part of the law relating to the Sabbath commandment. That message is now going by voice and pen to earth’s remotest bounds. The attention of the world is being called to the downtrodden Sabbath of the Lord. Rev. 7: 1-7; Isa. 56: 1-8. At the same time the Scriptures of Truth clearly show that in the last days of earth’s history an earnest effort will be made through legal enactment to force Sunday observance upon the nations of men. Rev. 13: 11-18. We see a literal fulfillment of that prophecy in the efforts which are now being made to secure the enactment of a Sunday law throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. But the Word of God gives positive warning that those who turn their back upon the Sabbath of the Lord, disregarding its holy requirements, and thus giving their allegiance to the counterfeit Sabbath, shall receive God’s everlasting displeasure. Rev. 14: 6-14. This controversy over the Sabbath of the Lord is one of the great controversies of the ages. It will prove a test of character to every believer. Dear reader, on which side of this controversy will you stand? Will you obey the law of the Lord Jesus Christ by following his example in keeping holy the day which he has ordained, or will you give your allegiance to the counterfeit sabbath which has been set up in the place of the Sabbath of the Lord? It is not a mere question of theological difference and discussion. It is a question of obedience to our Lord and Master. He says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14: 15. “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” 1 John 2: 6. Let us show our love for the Lord Christ, who died that we might live, by walking in his footsteps and doing as he did when he lived among men. To us as to his disciples of old he says, “Follow me.” Holding the Winds
By R. C. Porter
THE world has just witnessed the most marvelous transition from peace to general war in Europe that has ever been seen. For twenty-five centuries the prophets have been declaring that the history of the world would close with the Armageddon battle, which would involve the whole world in the most awful conflict ever known. The skeptical have asked in unbelief, How can such a condition of universal war be brought about? The general conflict in Europe, precipitated with such dispatch and assuming such vast proportions, is the answer. The time for Armageddon is not yet; but when the time is reached, with the same rapidity a world-wide conflict will develop. The European situation is a clear prelude to that great catastrophe that the prophets predict will just precede the close of the history of nations and the end of the world. These sudden and universal outbreaks show that the nations are angry, and unless restrained by divine agencies, the conflict would speedily break in Armageddon fury upon the world before it was prepared for the issue. It is now easy to see the significance of the following prophetic utterance:— “And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Rev. 7: 1-3. Unless the winds were held, the work of the reform movement which prepares the people to receive the seal of God, would be hindered. Hence the messenger from the throne of God commands the four angels standing at the four points of the compass, to hold the winds until the sealing work is finished. What intensity is now taking possession of the movements of organizations and nations! It is just such conditions that are foretold in the prophecy. Under these tense conditions the great world powers are restrained by the hand of Omnipotence for the definite purpose of making it possible that the message may finish its mission. What does the Lord expect of his people under these circumstances? He says, “Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” This done, the Master adds, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” Luke 14: 21-23. The forces of the nations are mobilizing for war, and the winds of strife are being held by the Lord’s command until the sealing message has finished its work. Under these conditions the Lord’s urgent commission is not merely to “go out quickly,” but go to bear a message of such convincing and convicting power and urgency that the honest will be compelled to accept it speedily. While the world is mobilizing its forces for war, he who still pleads for sinners before the mercy seat, is calling all his reserves into action for the finishing of his work before the winds are loosed. In the “eleventh hour” call, none are to wait because “no man hath hired us.” The Master’s call is unprecedented in its urgency at this time. Hear his appeal to all who are unemployed: “Why stand ye here all the day idle? . . . Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.” To remain idle in these times of stern and awful strife, while the Master holds the winds, is inexcusable. It is a plain declaration of neutrality in the world’s closing conflict. Only the laborers will be rewarded. He that is not with Christ is against him. The Lord is calling upon his people to go speedily to the whole world with the last invitation of the gospel of the kingdom. “Special Testimonies to Ministers,” No. 2, page 13, says:— The controversy between the two great powers of good and evil is soon to be10 ended; but to the time of its close there will be continual and sharp contests. We should now purpose, as did Daniel and his fellows in Babylon, that we will be true to principle, come what may. The flaming fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than it was wont to be heated, did not cause these faithful servants of God to turn aside from allegiance to the truth. They stood firm in the time of trial, and were cast into the furnace; and they were not forgotten of God. The form of the Fourth was seen walking with them in the flames, and they came forth not having even the smell of fire upon their garments. The den of lions did not deter Daniel from a steady adherence to duty. He did not hide his purpose nor lower his colors because death threatened him if he stood faithful to his God. Three times a day, in the face of the king’s decree, he sought his Lord in his chamber, with his window open toward Jerusalem. He was cast into the den of lions, but God delivered him. So now while by divine command the winds will be held for a little season for the finishing of the work of the third angel’s message, every believer in the message should spring into active service, placing life, property, and all at the disposal of him who is holding the winds that the warning message may finish its work. Anything less than whole-hearted consecration and complete surrender for service now is disloyalty. How must he who holds the winds view indifference to his call to service in this last closing hour of a lost world’s opportunity for repentance? Unless the eyes of indifferent Laodiceans are now anointed so that they may discern the meaning of these rapid and almost world-wide movements, the prelude to the soon-coming Armageddon; unless they read in the rapid movements of angry nations the signs of a soon-coming Saviour and the demand for a consecration that will insure a Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit for the finishing of the work, they will not share in its closing trials, its closing labors, its closing blessings, and its final triumphs. We should now lay plans for an aggressive campaign such as has never been seen in the history of our work. As the triumphs of Israel were seen when Joshua took all the people with him and organized them from least to greatest for the finishing of the conflict, so now a mighty missionary movement embracing every believer in the message, from the oldest pioneer whose faith still burns with the holy fire of consecration, to the little children who can give out a paper or a tract, will speedily finish this work, and bring its glorious consummation. God forbid that any should withhold his whole-hearted service in this hour of final labor and certain victory when the Lord is about to appear. Saved by a Hymn
By George B. Thompson
THERE is great power in a simple hymn sung from the heart. Many have been converted by the effective power of a song sung in the simplicity of a converted heart. Oratorios and anthems, be they ever so beautifully rendered, do not move the heart to consecration like the simple words of a hymn. It is related that a party was one night sailing on a steamer down the Potomac River. A gentleman on board had been entertaining and delighting the party by singing many beautiful hymns. Among others was “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” which he sang with such fervor and power that a deep hush fell upon all present. When the musical notes of the song had died away, a gentleman approached the singer and said:— “Beg your pardon, stranger, but were you actively engaged in the late war?” “Yes, sir,” the man of song answered, “I fought under General Grant.” “Well,” the first speaker continued with something like a sigh, “I did my fighting on the other side, and think, indeed am quite sure, I was near you one bright night eighteen years ago this very month. It was such a night as this. If I am not mistaken, you were on guard duty. We of the South had sharp business on hand, and you were one of the enemy. I crept near your post of duty, my murderous weapon in my hand—the shadows hid me. Your beat led you into the clear light.
“As you paced back and forth, you were humming the tune of the hymn you have just sung. I raised my gun and aimed at your heart, and I had been selected by our commander for the work because I was a sure shot. Then out upon the night floated the words,—
‘Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of thy wing.’” Your prayer was answered. I couldn’t fire after that. And there was no attack made upon your camp that night. I felt sure when I heard you sing this evening that you were the man whose life I was spared from taking.” The singer grasped the hand of the Southerner and said with much emotion, “I remember the night very well, and distinctly the feeling of depression and loneliness with which I went forth to my duty. I knew my post was one of great danger, and I was more dejected than I remember to have been at any other time during the service. I paced my lonely beat, thinking of home and friends and all that life holds dear. Then the thought of God’s care for all that he has created came to me with peculiar force. If he so cares for the sparrow, how much more for man created in his own image; and I sang the prayer of my heart and ceased to feel alone. “How the prayer was answered I never knew until this evening. My Heavenly Father thought best to keep this knowledge from me for eighteen years. How much of his goodness to us we shall be ignorant of until it is revealed by the light of eternity! ‘Jesus, Lover of My Soul,’ has been a favorite hymn; now it will be inexpressibly dear.” Those to whom God has given the talent of music, and who can render with a good voice the hymns of Zion, have indeed a great gift. There is no more effective agency by which to move the hearts of men to give themselves to Christ than the words of some simple melody, sung from a heart in which the love of God reigns. FROM the Religious Telescope of Sept. 2, 1914, we clip the following:— An interesting side light on the waning power of Roman Catholic intolerance is seen in a recent occurrence in Austria. An Austrian citizen, named Boruska, stood by the wayside while a religious cortège, headed by a priest bearing the Eucharist, passed by. Boruska did not kneel nor remove his hat, even after being reproved by the priest, whereupon he was taken by the priest before a magistrate and charged with irreverence and lack of conformity to the state religion. He was adjudged guilty and sentenced to prison. Appeal to the higher court of Vienna secured his release, on the ground that, as a Protestant, he could not be compelled to observe religious customs contrary to his conscience and will. It is said that some American soldiers in the Philippines have been compelled to attend mass, irrespective of religious belief. Our readers are at liberty to make their own comment. Red Cross Appeals for War Relief
ERNEST P. BICKNELL, national director of the American Red Cross, issued the following statement upon his return from Europe last week: “Let no man imagine that the American Red Cross can do too much or enough. Nurses and surgeons are needed more and more. Medical and hospital supplies are needed in such vast quantities that we can never hope to supply them. The deplorable truth is that over the vast stretch of country that has been laid waste by the appalling struggle, countless thousands of wounded men have been left helpless and dying. Many wounded, of course, have been gathered into trains by Red Cross surgeons and nurses and taken to hospitals in the larger cities. One by one the hospitals have been filled, the public and private buildings have been taken for hospitals, and still the wounded come in ever-increasing numbers. Still other thousands lie in the trenches and on the bleak battle fields, or crawl into the villages in such numbers that nothing can be done for them; and to these the end comes from thirst and exposure and uncared-for wounds.” The Punjab, India
By F. H. Loasby
As we have now been a little more than a year in India, we feel that it is well for us to take a retrospective glance over our labors of the past year. When we first arrived, we were expecting to devote the whole of our time to the study of the vernacular. It soon became apparent, however, that in the mission field one cannot always do as he would like, for our workers are often few and far between, and one has to fit in where he is most needed. Brother G. W. Pettit was the first worker we met when we arrived in Bombay, and we found that he was looking for assistance for the opening of the English work in the great city of Bombay, the “Gate of India.” He at once desired us to unite with him in this work. This was finally decided, and also that I should have three hours each day for the study of the Urdu, also the services of a munshi. We enjoyed our part in the English work. I had the privilege, on Thursday evenings, of giving lantern lectures on the prophecies and various points of our faith. Like most English people, the people here do not always receive the new doctrines so quickly as in some countries. However, we were all greatly rejoiced at the close of the effort to see quite a good company who had decided to walk in the light. What is very encouraging, these people are all studying their Bibles, and are also desirous that their friends may know the truth for this time. I shall tell of the many pleasant occasions we spent at Lonovla, in the Western Ghats. Here we have a stanch little company raised up by the labors of Brethren G. F. Enoch and S. A. Wellman. I think that we shall always remember our first trip up the ghats (the mountain ranges) that separate the narrow strip of coast land from the great plains of the Deccan. The monsoon (yearly rain) had broken about two weeks before, and the mountains were deluged with the rain that falls in great sheets and gives to this vicinity about two hundred and ten inches of water in three or three and a half months. This water brings new life to the parched and gaping soil, and as it rushes down the side of the rugged mountains, forms hundreds of waterfalls and rushing streams. As we make our way up the side of the mountain on the splendidly built double-track railway, cut through the solid rock in many places, and pass in and out of the twenty-one tunnels on the way up, it is a wild picture of steaming mountains, valleys over which black and bursting clouds hover, and dashing streams that look as if they must burst in volume upon our train as it fights its way up between the rugged overhanging stone walls. The valleys that two weeks ago were scorched brown by nine months of burning sun, have sprung into a wealth of green that excites our admiration and makes us rejoice with the grateful soil. By and by we reach the reversing station seen in the picture. The ascent has become so steep that it cannot be attempted on a straight course, therefore we go up in a zigzag fashion. At this point two engines are used in the ascent. Most of the people at Lonovla (where we came to labor) are engaged on the railway, and are acquainted with our work. It was a great pleasure for us, from time to time, to conduct the Sabbath services with our little company here, and to hold lantern lectures, to which some not of our faith came and heard the message. We find the same smile of welcome here, the same desire “to give the truth to others,” as well as the faithful payment of tithe and giving to missions. The new view of life is plainly felt with all those things which stamp the man or the woman an Adventist the same here as elsewhere. As we had been asking for some time to be allowed to enter the native work, and our first year's labor had come to an end, it was decided that we should be transferred to that great province of India, the Punjab, the land of the Five Rivers, there to begin native work in a part of India heretofore unentered by our mission. It was decided that in company with Brother S. A. Wellman, I should look over the new field and find a house in which to live. Accordingly, I set out for Lahore, the capital of the Punjab, early in May. Lahore is nearly 1,500 miles from Bombay by rail. The trains make regular trips to this city, even going farther north, to Peshawar. It took me only a little more than thirty-six hours to travel this distance; and as we missionaries travel, it cost only a little more than fourteen rupees, or less than five dollars. Surely these are the days of running to and fro, and of the preaching of the gospel to all the world. During the first month that I was in Lahore, Mrs. Loasby was at Kalyan, near Bombay, assisting in the dispensary there while Mrs. Wood was away in the hills on a much-needed vacation. After looking over our new field of labor, we believe that there are splendid prospects for a strong work in the Punjab. What we need is more men and more money in order to get among the people. We are glad to be getting hold of the language. I expect to take my first year's examination in a few weeks. We feel grateful to God for the good measure of health and strength he has given to us during the past year. Lahore is one of the hottest places in India. The temperature ranges from 117 to 120 in the shade in the summer time, and for about a week just recently it held the record for all India. We trust that we may continue in good health so that we may be able to remain long in service in India among its teeming millions.