Review and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 3.
Jesus, Lead OnPage 1
Earlier text: Divine EquipmentTurning a New Leaf
By C. M. S.
IN many things we are all prodigals. We have taken that with which our Father has endowed us, and have used it for our own purposes. Then, when failure comes, when the frosts of adversity sear and burn the tender shoots of our selfish hopes, we “come to ourselves;” we resolve to “turn over a new leaf.”13 That is what the prodigal did, when he “came to himself.” He acknowledged his wrong; and, as soon as he did, he began to yearn for the better way. But, in turning over that new leaf, he did not stay where he was. He said, “I will arise, and go to my father.” It was the doing of that that made his turning a success; that brought joy to his father’s heart; that brought him back again into the estate of manhood. It is right there that so many fail in their good resolutions. They stay right where they were; they forget to go to Father’s house, where there is “bread enough and to spare” to keep their souls from famishing. They depend upon their own efforts right in the enemy’s country, where they met all their disaster. The enemy surrounds them on every side, and soon they are his again. In fact, they remained his so long as they remained away from Father’s house, and they had no strength to resist the powers of his chosen minions. It does no good to turn over a new leaf unless you go to the Source of power and wisdom for that which will enable you to write on that new page a record that will not shame you at the year’s end and at your life’s end. Feeding husks to swine is no business for the Christian to be engaged in. It is better to be in that place where you can draw from Father’s house that bread of life which is designed to feed the hungry souls of men and women, and will feed your own soul, also. No matter in what thing we have shown ourselves prodigals in the past, and let us arise and go to our Father’s house. He is waiting for us with a heart filled with the most loving tenderness; he will give us glad welcome; he will own us as his; he will keep us from falling, not only through the year, but through all the time, and make us children of his household forever. IT was a time of rejoicing in the early church when news came of the conversion of others than Jews to the faith of Jesus. THE work begun at Jerusalem spread forth to the Samaritans; then Romans, of Cæsarea, believed; and next came the word from Antioch that many Greeks were also obedient to the faith. The church at Jerusalem sent forth Barnabas to follow up this movement among other nationalities; and the record tells us that as Barnabas came to Antioch, and saw “the grace of God” among the Gentiles, he “was glad.” The message was beginning to spread to the world. So, also, it was a time of rejoicing in the early days of our own work when the message began to reach other nationalities than the English. At the College View council of the General Conference Committee, a year or more ago, Elder O. A. Olsen told us of the rejoicing that was felt among the little handful of Scandinavian believers in Wisconsin when the first report from a Scandinavian laborer appeared in the REVIEW. Well he remembered just how the report looked on the page, and how he held it up for his father to see, saying, “Look at this; now we have a minister to preach the message to the Scandinavians!” THAT first report from Elder J. G. Matteson was in the REVIEW of July 5, 1864. Before this, a few Scandinavian believers had been reached by English preaching. In June, 1858, Elder W. Phelps had reported the baptism of six Norwegians, adding: “What a pity some of our publications are not translated into the Norwegian language!” In that year our first Scandinavian church was established, in Oakland, Wis. These new believers earnestly prayed the Lord to raise up some one to lead out in giving the message to the Scandinavians in their own tongue. And the Lord answered in sending us Elder Matteson to be our pioneer laborer for the Scandinavian peoples of this country and Europe. ELDER MATTESON accepted the message through the work of Elder P. H. Cady, near Poy Sippi, Wis. He was in charge of a Danish Baptist congregation; and as he preached the new-found truths to them, a good proportion followed with him. In this first report—to which Elder Olsen referred—he told of their joy in having found the message, and said:— We want to move in harmony with the body, and to join our State association at the first opportunity. It is our desire to go with the remnant of God's people to Mount Zion, and to give all the praise to the Lamb of God in his glorious kingdom forever.
Since those times, the numbers of Scandinavian believers have grown into thousands, marching shoulder to shoulder with believers of all other nationalities toward the goal of the finished work. Not Delaying His Coming
By W. A. S.
“The signs that show His coming near
Are fast fulfilling year by year.” IT is the evil servant, in our Lord’s parable of this waiting time, who says in his heart, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” The servant thinks he sees evidence of this; but the evidence is all in his own unbelieving heart, and “the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him.” Matt. 24: 48-50. The watchful, longing heart sees in the events of every flying year the signs that the Lord is hastening the fulfilment of his word. As the prophet says:— “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord.” Zeph. 1: 14. This voice comes nearer and nearer every day, sounding louder and louder. We can see that the winds of strife are being held; and every gust of war and revolution that breaks loose warns us to hasten on with the message while yet there is comparative quiet. When troubles and outbreaks come, in whatever part of the world, our own work is directly touched now. These fulfilling signs mean more, and come closer home to us, than ever before. For instance, the cable brought news a little time ago of revolution in Uruguay. Mail now brings word of momentary interruption of our work by it, one worker being prevented from attending a general meeting by the necessity of going into hiding to escape revolutionary press-gangs. We heard through the newspapers of trouble brewing between Peru and Ecuador and Bolivia. A few years ago it would have been to us only a symptom of the world’s fever of unrest. But the last mail brings word from Elder A. N. Allen:— A revolutionary outbreak is on in the northern part of Peru, and a battle has just occurred between Peruvian and Bolivian soldiers. One of our best book men is having to return to Lima on account of the outbreak. And now Honduras is in the throes of revolution, the attacking forces having occupied the Bay Islands, where our cause in that country is most largely represented. The work is done only with great difficulty amid such conditions; and as these things increase, the voice of the day of God calls loudly to us to hasten on through unwarned fields while yet there is time. The world is not standing still. Prophecy is fulfilling. Last week vast regions of Turkestan were shaken with a mighty earthquake. Much damage was done over an area said to be a thousand miles square, and many lives were lost. This is in the same region where our message has recently gained a foothold. A fresh outbreak of the plague is reported in northern India; and we hear that this may make necessary the modification of some of the plans for the work in that region made at the recent Lucknow council. No longer do the names of places mentioned in press despatches have a far-away sound to our ears. Our work has spread into all quarters of the earth; and as these alarms and groanings of creation’s latter day increase, we thank God that so often our brethren are on the ground to proclaim the warning message that tells what these things mean. The church and state forces have made long strides this year in America. Significant moves are reported from more than one land in the direction of effort to block the progress of the message. But these things invariably hasten on the work of God, much as they may add to our hardships and difficulties. There is a crisis preparing. When once the witnesses are placed and ready,—it is a solemn thought,—how quickly, even suddenly, “the voice of the day of the Lord” can make itself heard in tones understood of all the peoples of the earth, and the work be finished! The end is not delaying. “It is near, even at the doors.” An Experience in Tithe-Paying
“PROVE me now herewith, saith the Lord,” speaking of the bringing in of the full tithe. How one family proved the Lord in this matter is told by Brother C. P. Michaels, of Australia, in the Australasian Union Conference Record:— An elderly lady and her two daughters attended one of our Melbourne churches for several years. They were in harmony with our faith, but had never paid tithes. On visiting that church one Sabbath, I presented the tithing question, and after the service walked part of the way home with them. After a little conversation one of the daughters asked me how they could possibly pay tithes. They were in receipt of a pension, and it was barely enough to support them. How could they live if they paid tithes? I asked them if they thought the tithing principle was right. They said that they fully believed that the Bible taught tithing, but they could not see how they could possibly pay out of their limited income. I drew their attention to the promise of the Lord, and his invitation to prove him in this matter, and asked them if they thought God was able to fulfil his promise. I told them that I could not tell how the Lord could do it, but I believed that what he said he would carry out in some way, and advised them to test the Lord in the matter. To them it seemed impossible that their limited income could be increased by any means. But after a few days I met one of them, and she said that they had made up their minds to pay the tithe, and trust the Lord to help them as he had promised. On visiting the church about a fortnight later, I could see by their faces that the Lord had blessed them, and after the service they gladly related how marvelously the Lord had worked. Just two days after they had paid the tithe, they received notice from the government that they had been examining the pension list, and had found that they were entitled to an increased amount a week, and that future payments would include this extra amount. For ten years they had been receiving this pension. Why was the mistake not found out before? Why was it found out as soon as the tithe was paid? Usually a discovery of this sort leads to a reduction, not an increase. They were quite convinced that the hand of the Lord was in it, and that he had fulfilled his promise. Clerical Infidelity
By F. M. W.
Formerly it was supposed that disbelief in God and in the Scriptures of truth as his revealed will, belonged to the infidel element entirely, outside of, and separate from, the professed church of Christ. However, the times have changed. It does not call forth any great surprise, and is hardly occasion for remark, that men occupying leading positions as clergymen should voice the sentiments of infidel skeptics. At a meeting of the house of deputies of the Episcopal General Convention, held in Music Hall, Cincinnati, recently, A. A. Morrison, a minister of that church, declared his belief that “the Bible is not the Word of God.” According to the Cincinnati Times Star, this “assertion was made in the course of the discussion of the acceptance of the preamble to the constitution of the church at the convention held three years ago, which declares that the Scriptures are the Word of God.” Mr. Morrison declared— that the adoption of the proposed preamble would place us in such position in the scholastic world that it would be impossible to induce men of education to enter the ministry and subscribe to our doctrines. Such an assertion in the preamble would be out of accord with this age of scholarship. J. H. MacIlvaine, another minister, from Pittsburg, explained why the preamble had been drawn:— The idea of the preamble was to get a little religion into the constitution of the church. There is nothing in the constitution that says whether we are a Christian, a Mormon, or a Buddhist church. The word “God” appears only in quotation marks, and the name of Christ is omitted. In the Constitution of the United States the name of God was unfortunately omitted, and there is nothing to signify that we are a Christian nation. I expect to see the oath abolished in a few years in the procedure of our courts. It is not so surprising, perhaps, that occasionally there should be found a minister in any church who should so far depart from the sacred character of his work as to question the source of his call and the foundation of his authority. In every age of the world, men have departed from the faith. Judas fell away from the truth, even while associated with the Lord Jesus. But that which does occasion not alone surprise but grief as well, is that there should be found in some of the great churches at the present time an increasing number of men who openly express such sentiments, and these men are still retained in their sacred work, and are held as representatives of the denomination and of its advanced religious thought. A deathly indifference is benumbing the moral sensibilities of the great church of God. A subtle and wide-spread infidelity is being diffused among her membership. This is a sad, sad situation, a rapidly growing tendency of present-day Christianity. May God arouse faithful men to stem, so far as possible, the great current, and save the honest in heart from going down the great maelstrom of unbelief of the Word, and rejection of its divine Author. Chaff or Wheat
By C. M. S.
In these times when the tendencies of education are so strong toward mythology and “light literature,” it is well to give heed to the admonitions of the Lord in reference to the proper food for the spiritual needs of the child. Even periodicals that pose as Christian are often found advising the reading of fiction by the young. The Lord’s instruction to parents is this: “But teach them [that is, teach God’s law and the story of his dealings with his people] thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.” Deut. 4:9, 10. “And ye shall teach them [that is, God’s words] your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Deut. 11:19. Is this narrowness? If so, it is the narrowness of infinite wisdom. There are some things that are better narrow than broad; as, for instance, a leak in14 a dyke, a break in a dam, or the spaces between the bars of a tiger’s cage. It is the very essence of wisdom to be narrow toward evil; it is the sum of foolishness to be narrow toward God. But he who fills his mind with the folly of this or ancient times is broadening toward the evil, and narrowing toward the good. God makes no provision, he sets apart for us no time, for the study of the foolish and frivolous things of the age in which we live. One prominent religious journal recommends for the children a list of books of fiction which it plainly states is composed of books whose contents would be a senseless jumble to the adult mind; but whatever they appear to the healthy adult mind, that is what they are; and the one who places before his child a senseless jumble, instead of that which the Lord has directed, is guilty before God. He is not only starving the intellect of the child, but he is turning the intellect of that child away from the love of God and the love of the truth to the love of the unreal, the unsatisfying, the foolish. Upon every parent rests a weighty responsibility in this matter; it is not the responsibility of seeing that these channels of folly are led into the home to flood the soul, and drown its longings for God and the good—it is the responsibility of seeing to it that there is a strong barrier set up against any such invasion. The wise parent will give to his child that which is “meat in due season;” for “what is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” C. M. S. Babylon Is Fallen
By F. M. W.
THERE are two Babylons brought to view in the Scriptures of truth: (1) The ancient monarchy, with its pagan gods and goddesses, its heathen temples and priests and worship, with all their mystic rites and ceremonies; (2) the Babylon of the apocalypse, representing primarily the Roman Catholic system of worship as the mother, and the daughters, those churches which have followed in her steps. In a general sense the New Testament term applies to fallen and apostate Christianity, especially in the last days. To the church God sends a message declaring to it the fact of its great moral fall, its departure from truth and simplicity. This message is found in Rev. 14:8 and in Revelation 18. Of the application of this scripture to our own day, we see indications on every side, not in any one church, but too greatly and generally in all the great churches of the land. Religious faith has been corrupted; simplicity has been sacrificed. The spirit of the world is entering the church, and the line of demarcation between it and the world has been well-nigh obliterated. The apostle declares that the church during this time should be “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” The extent to which this spirit has entered into some of the churches of the land is strikingly illustrated in a recent church carnival held in Walla Walla, Wash. The Morning Union of December 15, published in that city, gives the following as some of the attractive features:— From the moment one enters the door — it and kisses the Blarney (two well-known society women, of which you have a choice between the blonde and brunette at ten cents per), until the Japanese bazaar is reached, a continual round of pleasure and thrills is experienced at very nominal cost considering the enjoyment and merriment received. The amusement features are unique. By paying ten cents one can climb a step-ladder to a platform above, on which sit two well-known society women of the town with ready lips. This was one of the biggest drawing cards of the carnival last night. By paying a small sum, one can have his past, present, and future read by most alluring gipsies in fantastic costumes and languid poses, under shady cozy corners. Another feature is the dances given on a raised platform on one side of the hall, which is also drawing large crowds. The fishing-pond, conducted by several ladies, assisted by their Chinese protectors, catches many a sucker. What excuse can any local church give for its existence when it indulges in affairs of this sort? Indeed, what is the difference between those in the church who do such things and those out of the church who follow the same practises?—The only difference is in the profession, not in the life and character. And how can the blessing of God be expected upon money for church activities raised in such ways as this? The church of God can never convert the world by descending to the world's level. It must take its stand upon the pure principles of the gospel of Christ, and by the aid of the divine Spirit bring man up to this high and holy standard. Thus only can it be the power in the world which God designed it should be in the conversion of mankind. That Ancient Deception
By C. M. S.
WITHIN the last few years there have sprung into being many teachers and many periodicals whose purpose is to teach men to think themselves gods or a part of God. That was an ancient plan, conjured in heaven by one who chose the worship of self above the worship of him through whom he had his being. It proved the angels’ deception in heaven; it proved man’s deception in the earth. It was a generic falsehood; for from it have sprung a great crop of other falsehoods and false systems of worship. That teaching in the garden of Eden was the fountainhead of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul; for it was coupled with, and had in it the essence of, that other statement, “Ye shall not surely die.” The tree which sprung from that seed-lie has been dropping down fruit that had in it inherently the essence of death. That teaching which was the foundation of all heathenism has not been left to the heathen world—it is with us yet, clung to, and propagated by, much of the professed Christian world. The Word of God teaches this truth, that he who is made a new creature in Christ Jesus has Christ in him, “the hope of glory.” It teaches men also to let the mind of Christ be in them, that it may direct them in the ways that are in harmony with the law of God; but the doctrine of that ancient error teaches Christ or God incarnate in our flesh. The ideas may seem to some akin, if not in harmony; but they are as far apart as light and darkness, as life and death, as far apart as the poles of the heavens. The one exalts man, and brings in as a natural consequence the worship of self; the other exalts Christ, and puts away from us every form of worship save the worship of God; the one is the counterfeit, the other is the genuine; the one turns men into the ways of destruction, the other leads them by the straight path up to the throne of God; the one must explain away all scripture that is not in harmony with it, the other takes the Word of God and hews itself to the line of that Word, “bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Satanic in its inception, that doctrine of deception can end only in the destruction which uproots every plant that has not been planted by the eternal God. Satan said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: . . . I will be like the Most High;” and that is the doctrine which he preached to the angels. It is the first doctrine which he preached to the innocent pair in Eden, for them to believe and work upon for their own self-exaltation. In this New Thought, this New Theology, which is new only in its metamorphosis into a sort of Christian ethics stage, man is declared to be able to compass his own salvation, to be his own savior, able to liberate himself from sin and its consequences, having within himself the power to cure himself of sickness and all the ailments of the flesh, and being in himself “the highest expression of God.” In this not only is God’s Word utterly discredited, but the plan of redemption,15 all that God has done for man, is flatly denied, cast aside, trampled underfoot; and then man is put in the place of God, to do for himself that which only God can do for him. Some time ago there sprang up in this country a society whose express purpose was the exaltation of man, the setting forth of his divinity and his all-sufficiency in himself. That society has many supporters now in the journals that are devoting their strength and influence to the propagation of that very idea. Books are multiplying rapidly which advocate the same ideas, the pith of which is contained in this expression: “Man will yet fling his form into the heavens, and root himself in God.” That is what Satan tempted Eve to attempt to do; that is what the builders of the tower of Babel tried to do. The same idea is voiced in these presumptuous words: “Order is our only savior, and, like the picture in the soul of the artist, it lies within us, waiting to be revealed.” In other words, we are in need of no Saviour but ourself. This all works toward the exaltation of self and the worship of self. It is man’s attempt to do in the earth what Satan attempted to do in heaven, and the two things are branches from the same evil root. That one subtle purpose has run through the work of Satan from the day he conspired against his Maker, even down to the present day, and will continue thus until his last victim has been ensnared. His power over those who have not the mind of Christ will continue unto the end, and increase as it continues. The subtlety of his sophistry will continue to grow keener unto the end. The rapid increase of these teachings of heathenism to which we have referred proves this to be so. There has been an awakening among the adherents of these teachings in the lands that have been longest enslaved and darkened by them, and they are now rapidly spreading in the lands that had not known them hitherto. They are even permeating the pulpit orations of Christian churches, and are winning their disastrous way wherever the power of God has not come in to dominate the life. The harvest of the earth is almost ready for the sickle—the weeds as well as the wheat. It is time to seek God, “to watch unto prayer,” that the overspreading delusions of the last days may not reckon us among their victims. China's Fight Against Opium
WHEN, many years ago, China was compelled to admit opium from India, the cultivation of the poppy was encouraged at home to compete with the trade from abroad. Now, however, the Chinese government is making one of the greatest fights in history against a national vice. It is rapidly cutting down the production of the drug in China. Now the students of northern China are organizing a great protest against the importation of opium; and strong organizations in Great Britain are seeking to secure action on the part of the Indian authorities. Here are some lines from the Chinese students' appeal to the British nation:— For fifty years the opium trade has been bringing thousands of pounds of the black curse to China. This poison has brought sorrow, poverty, and death to millions of our people. Now our government and our people fully realize ,the danger, and have made strict laws to overcome this great evil. For three years the battle against the planting of opium has been going on, and the world can see that China is thoroughly in earnest because of what she has done. But still the opium continues to come in from abroad, and we can not stop it because of the treaty of fifty years ago. Alas! alas! how can we save China? As one editor has said, “Our country is burning up, and the English are furnishing the fuel.” We are deeply moved as we hear of so many of the English people who are praying and working that this trade may be speedily stopped. . . . The governor of the Canton province undertook severe measures to protect his people from the black poison from India. For several months the trade was demoralized, and the opium merchants of Hongkong appealed to the British minister. It was decided that China had no right to interfere with the trade. The viceroy has now resigned because he was not able to protect his people. . . . China has not the right to save her people from opium. Alas! is this indeed so? And is it the enlightened, Christian nation of England that has taken away this right? If so, we appeal to you to set us free. A Special Day of Prayer
By R. A. Underwood
A RECOMMENDATION from the finance committee came before the recent meeting of the General Conference Committee Council at Washington, and was adopted, to the effect that Sabbath, January 21, should be observed as a day of fasting and prayer. The reasons given why we should engage in this special season of prayer were: First, There is a great dearth and need of sufficient Spirit-filled laborers to enter the whitened harvest-field at home and abroad; and, second, there is a need of means to sustain the increasing number of laborers. The promise is, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Luke 11:9. Why, then, are we so negligent in prayer? Is it because we think we are “rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”? Or is it because we have become so paralyzed with the cares and bustle of this life that we neglect to pray as we should? “Steps to Christ,” page 108, raises this question: “Why should the sons and daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence?” When a key is freely offered to us that puts within our grasp the boundless resources of Omnipotence, why should we not avail ourselves of such infinite power? As I pen these lines, I can not but say, “Lord, forgive me for such negligence.” In all the history of the church and of individuals it has been prayer in the hand of faith that has won the victories. A woe is pronounced upon those who take away the key of knowledge to the things of God. Luke 11:52. Daniel and his companions found this key of knowledge through prayer (Dan. 2:16-23), and a mighty victory was the result. It was prayer that locked the mouths of the lions, and delivered Daniel when he was cast into the jaws of death. Dan. 6:10-22. It was the midnight prayers, mingled with songs of praise, that opened the prison doors and loosed the shackles from off the apostles, Paul and Silas, and set them free. Acts 16:25, 26. It was prayer and the confession of sin that brought the fulfilment of the promised descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and gave the disciples power to speak the word with boldness and success. Acts 1:5-14; 2:1; 4:29-33. We are bidden now to ask “of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain,” with the assurance that “the power of the Holy Spirit awaits our demand and reception.” Then why not use the key in the hand of faith that will bring these promised blessings? As a result of prayer, we see the gift of the Holy Spirit, love, and large benevolence. Acts 4:31, 32; 10:2. No wonder that Satan desires to keep God’s people from prayer. We should pray for definite things, and believe that our God will supply our need “according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Let us keep the two specific objects of this season of prayer before us: First, to pray that God will raise up men and laborers to carry the gospel to all the world in the old-time spirit and power of the apostolic days; and, second, that the Holy Spirit may move upon those of means to respond to the call of God to support more laborers at home and abroad. May this day be a profitable one for us as individuals, and mark a new experience in our personal communion with our God and Saviour. Our Publishing Work in China
By B. A. Roberts
We issue our literature in two dialects, or languages, to meet the needs of the people. One is the Wen-li, which is used in the south, and by the educated people, and the other is the Mandarin, which is used by the bulk of the people in China. We issue a monthly magazine in the Wen-li and one in the Mandarin. They both bear the same name and date, but as a rule the material in them is not the same. This year promises to be the best in our publishing work in China. We have printed three specials of our paper this year. Of the July special, we printed 22,000 copies, and of the September number, 20,500 copies. Each year we get out a Sabbath calendar in Chinese. Last year we sold 85,000 copies, and we shall surely double that this year. We feel a deep interest for the Chinese in foreign lands as well as for those who are in their native country. - During the first six months of this year, we doubled the edition of our Signs of the Times as compared with the first six months of last year. Counting our New-year’s special and the Nanking special, our average circulation has been 12,000 copies a month. The total number sold of our New-year’s special amounted to 22,000 copies. Besides this, we are getting out several tracts,—5,000 copies of a “Dialogue on the Sabbath,” in the Cantonese dialect; also 10,000 copies of “God’s Love for Man,” 5,000 of which were shipped to Java, along with 5,000 tracts, entitled, “In the Beginning.” During another month we shipped out 7,097 Wen-li tracts and 1,230 Mandarin tracts, a total of 8,327.
Three Interesting Experiences
The other day we received a letter from an English-speaking student of a theological seminary in an inland province. Having read a copy of our Mandarin paper, which he received through the efforts of the brethren in Chang-sha, he writes: “I am searching for truth. I wish to find the real truth in the religious world. Is all the professed Christianity wrong? Am I mistaken in what I believe? I can not solve this problem without careful study.” Another man, a preacher of four years’ experience, received a copy of the paper through the efforts of the colporteur in Hankow, was convinced of the Sabbath, and began to obey in spite of opposition. He now writes inquiring as to the location of our nearest mission station. A Christian, returning from Canton to his home in Hong-kong, was invited to buy a copy of the paper. He says: “I was inspired by his [the colporteur’s] earnestness, and was convinced that God in his love had sent this man from the ‘Western country’ to give us the knowledge of the truth. When I read your paper, it satisfied me very much, and I beg you to send me each number in the future.” Chinese “Signs of the Times” Magazine
Our New-year’s special Signs of the Times for 1911 will be far ahead of anything we have yet had. We would like to see a copy of this special magazine put in the hands of every Chinese in America. The price will be as usual: Five to twenty-five copies, four cents each; twenty-five or more copies, three cents each; single copies, five cents. Our 1911 Chinese New-year’s calendar is printed on a heavy red paper, which is very pleasing to the Chinese. The size is 18 x 23 inches. There is nothing easier to sell to the Chinese than this calendar, especially to those Chinese living outside of China; for they have no way of knowing the Chinese dates unless they have a Chinese calendar. The price is fifty cents a hundred, or five dollars a thousand. By special arrangement with the General Conference, the Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View, Cal., has agreed to fill all orders from our people in America for Chinese publications. Those desiring the New-year’s special edition of the Chinese Signs of the Times, the Chinese New-year’s calendar for 1911, or any of our Chinese tracts, should order in the regular way, through their conference tract societies. Manager Chinese S. D. A. Mission Press, Box 993, U. S. P. A., Shanghai, China. Tent-Meeting in Japan
By H. Kuniya
Early in September we left our tent effort at Hiroshima and located at Nagasaki. Before coming here, we were told that there would be held a great festival, which would begin about the time we were planning to open our tent-meeting, and last until the tenth of October. Many thought that this festival, which originated hundreds of years ago, would interfere with our meetings, especially so as the main object of its celebration at this time was an effort on the part of the people to oppose Christianity. But what a different experience the Lord had for us! On account of the cold weather setting in, we could not wait until the festival was over, so we went ahead, trusting in the Lord. I pitched the tent about the middle of September, and began to preach the message. From the very first, the attendance was good, there being present from one hundred to one hundred fifty each evening. When the festival day came, we thought that those who had been attending our meetings would stop coming. But every day and night a thousand or more came to the tent, filling it to overflowing, many standing outside. We feared that the mob might interfere with the meeting. Accordingly, we arranged to have it protected, but the meeting was remarkably quiet during this time. Often a number of drunken men would come in, and act as if they intended to give us trouble; but the angel of the Lord, we believe, was present to direct and guard. These men did no harm, but listened intently to the sermons. When I had finished the discourse the first evening, some one said, “Is this all, or will there be other meetings? I want to hear more.” And, “Who is this man?” etc., was asked by the people. The daily paper gave favorable write-ups of the meetings, and many changed their ideas about Christianity, this favorable impression going so far that even other pastors apparently appreciated our work. We distributed many thousands of our Japanese paper among the people during this time of the festival. We hope that the seed thus sown will spring up and bear fruit. Before the new year, I plan to go farther south, hold a series of meetings, and if possible create an interest in the message in this new locality. My wife and two young men will accompany me. By what we have experienced in Japan this past season, we can hear the sound of a going in the mulberry trees, and we must follow as the Spirit guides. We earnestly pray that the Lord will direct us to just that place where he would have us, and give his truth the victory.