Review and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 9. (3/2/1911)

Review and Herald

Mar 2, 1911

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 2, 1911

The Lesson of the Sea

By Elizabeth E. Marcy

Go thou unto the sea, O finite man, And mete its measures with thy feeble span! Mark thou Who holds it on His open palm,— Who hurls its tempests, Who commands its calm, Who speaks above its wild, tumultuous waves, Who calls the dead from out its hidden caves. Frail, puny man, the waif of wind and tide, Lay thou thy hand in His to guard and guide.

Go thou unto the sea, God's marvelous sea; Mark thou the billowy depths' immensity: From the horizon's verge afar, afar, The mustering hosts swift gathering for war; The storm-tossed waves that mock thy puny hand, Whose foaming courses charge the trembling strand: Limitless, compassless, vast, unfathomed, free, Go stand, O puny man, beside the sea!

Go thou unto the sea; behold, behold, The priceless treasures that its caverns hold; Cities submerged, once famed in classic lore, Great ships engulfed with all their priceless store, Where rosy morn, nor yet meridian day, Find in its silent depths no answering ray; The deep, dark sea, unknown to human sight, The rayless region of perpetual night.

The great, wide sea, beyond whose frozen bars Alone in silence watch the patient stars, Beyond the reach of earth's echoing sound, The din and swirl of time's most dismal round; Shall He not compass all thy little life? Shall He not say, above its stress and strife, Who spake above the roaring, restless sea, “Peace, peace; be still, and find thy rest in Me”?

— Elizabeth E. Marcy, in Northwestern Christian Advocate.

The Temperance Instructor

By Editor

FOR 1911 IS NOW READY

Is It Needed?

Let the misery, the moral, physical, financial waste, and the shocking loss of life in all lands, caused by intemperance, answer.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS ISSUE IS TO INVITE ALL TEMPERANCE PEOPLE TO JOIN

UNCLE SAM in a Thorough House Cleaning

The startling fact that enough money is spent every year, for drink alone, in the United States to buy the $91 worth of groceries shown in the above cut for 16,239,797 families, ought to be enough to impel every lover of temperance to put forth his best efforts to suppress this individual, home, and national enemy.

Last Year's Circulation of the Temperance Number Was 210,000 Copies. Is 500,000 Copies too Many for This Year?

Prices Same as Last Year

Order Through Conference Tract Societies

All Things Are Now Ready

By T. M. French

T. M. FRENCH

[SINCE this article was written, the writer of it, as we learn by cable, has been called to lay away his companion, on the African West Coast.—ED.]

“A great work is before us,—the closing work of this world's history. Solemn indeed is the time in which we are living, and heavy are the responsibilities resting upon us as a people. The third angel's message is now to be proclaimed, not only in far-off lands, but in neglected places close by, where multitudes dwell unwarned and unsaved. Our cities everywhere are calling for earnest, whole-hearted labor from the servants of God.” These words recently sent to us through the spirit of prophecy seem to indicate that we are nearing the close of the proclamation of the message: “Come, for all things are now ready.” Luke 14:17.

This call to enter the “cities everywhere” and the “neglected places” is but the culmination of the great invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb. For more than half a century the invitation has been proclaimed throughout Christendom, and the guests bidden to the great supper; but “they all with one consent began to make excuse.” Business enterprises have stood in the way of some, social relations have hindered others, until the supper is unfurnished with guests. Nor have Seventh-day Adventists been wholly free from these hindrances. Worldly ambition and secular enterprises have often had the first place in the hearts of the specially bidden guests, and worldly pleasures have many times darkened the eternal hope, until many have said in their hearts, “I pray thee have me excused.” But the divine plan of God is not to be thus baffled. The message comes: “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;” and again: “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”

This last commission to enter the cities and highways and hedges is to be a quick work. We are admonished to “go out quickly.” The fact that all things are now ready, and that those who were bidden refused to come, gives the work at this time a compelling nature. We have not now years in which to finish our work. We are on the borders of the eternal world. All heaven is now waiting to co-operate with human agencies in the closing work. May the Lord give us grace to turn from the many allurements of this world, and consecrate ourselves, our means, our all, to the giving of the message: “Come, for all things are now ready.”

Axim, Gold Coast, West Africa.

The Gospel in Samaria

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

After the death of Stephen, there arose against the believers in Jerusalem a persecution so relentless that “they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.” Saul “made havoc of the church,” entering into every house, seizing men and women and committing them to prison. Of his zeal in this cruel work, Saul said at a later date: “I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison. . . . And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities.” That Stephen was not the only one who suffered death may be seen from Paul’s own words: “And when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.”

This persecution was followed by great results. Success had attended the ministry of the word in Jerusalem, and there was danger that the disciples would linger there too long, forgetful of the Saviour’s commission to go into all the world. They began to think that they had a work to do in Jerusalem in shielding the members of the church from the snares of the enemy, forgetting that strength to resist temptation is best gained by active service. Instead of educating the new converts to carry the gospel to those who had not heard it, they were in danger of being satisfied with what had been accomplished. To scatter his representatives abroad, where they could work for others, God permitted persecution to come upon his church. Driven from Jerusalem, the believers “went everywhere preaching the word.” Thus began the fulfilment of the prediction of the Saviour, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

In Samaria the believers were not persecuted. Christ’s words to the Samaritan woman had borne fruit. After listening to his words, the woman went to the men of the city, and said, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” They went with her, heard Jesus, and believed on him. Anxious to hear more, they invited him to their city, and begged him to remain with them. For two days he remained in Samaria, and many believed on him.

Among these Samaritans the followers of Christ, at the time of the persecution, found a safe asylum. The Samaritans welcomed the Saviour’s messengers, and the disciples gathered a precious harvest from among those who had once been their bitterest enemies. “Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For unclean spirits . . . came out of many; . . . and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. And there was great joy in that city.”

While Philip was still in Samaria, a heavenly messenger was sent to him to show him his next work. The evangelist was directed to “go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza. . . . And he arose and went.”

“And, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.”

The Ethiopian could not understand the prophecy that he read, and the Spirit directed Philip to go and teach him, saying, “Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.” Angels of God were taking notice of this seeker for light, who was being drawn to the Saviour, and who did not make his position an excuse for refusing to accept the Crucified One.

As Philip drew near, he asked the eunuch, ‘Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him,’ and explain the Word of God to him. The scripture that he was reading was the prophecy of Isaiah relating to Christ: ‘He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: in his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.’

‘Of whom speaketh the prophet this?’ the eunuch asked Philip; ‘of himself, or of some other man?’

‘Then Philip . . . began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.’

‘And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.’

‘And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.’

‘But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Cæsarea.’

This incident shows the care that the Lord has for those who are seeking for truth. The Ethiopian was a man of good standing and wide influence, who, when converted, would give others the light. God saw that he would exert a strong influence in favor of the gospel, and by his Spirit he brought him into touch with one who could guide him into the light.

When God pointed out to Philip his work, the disciple did not say, ‘The Lord does not mean that.’ No; ‘he arose and went.’ He had learned the lesson of conformity to God’s will. He realized that every soul is precious in the sight of God, and that angels are sent to bring those who are seeking for light into touch with those who can help them.

To-day as then angels are waiting to lead men to their fellow men. An angel showed Philip where to find the Ethiopian, who was so ready to receive the truth, and to-day angels will guide and direct the footsteps of those workers who will allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify their tongues, and refine and ennoble their hearts. The angel sent to Philip could himself have done the work for the Ethiopian, but this is not God’s way of working. It is his plan that men are to work for their fellow men.

In the experience of Philip and the Ethiopian is presented the work to which the Lord calls his people. The Ethiopian represents a large class who need missionaries like Philip,—missionaries who will hear the voice of God, and go where he sends them. There are many who are reading the Scriptures, but who can not understand their import. All over the world, men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in.

The missionary spirit needs to be renewed in our churches. God designs that life-giving beams shall, through the individual members of the church, shine forth to the world. Receiving light from the source of all light, his people are to reflect that light to others. But this can be done only as the church draws near to God, and lives in close connection with the Giver of life and light. The purity and simplicity of Christ, revealed in the lives of his followers, will witness to the possession of genuine piety. The believer who is imbued with a true missionary spirit will be a living epistle, known and read of all men.

God’s workers must be ever on watch, ready to speak a word in season to those who are searching for truth. They must be wholly consecrated to the service of the Master, that they may be quick to understand what he wishes them to do. They must take advantage of every opportunity to win souls to the Saviour.

The Holy Spirit will guide and direct those who stand ready to go where God calls, and to speak the words he gives them. The humble, patient, Christlike worker will have something to show for his labors. Every one who goes forth seeking to do his best will have the support of the One who can supply all his necessities. The great Master worker will not leave him alone. The mightiest man on earth is the man who prays in sincerity of soul. Such a one grasps the arm of infinite Power. It is close communion with God that qualifies his messengers to subdue the opposition of the enemy. God calls for consecrated workers, who will be true to him—humble men, who see the need of evangelistic work, and do not draw back, but do each day’s work faithfully, relying upon the Lord for help and strength.

Though you may be weak, erring, sinful, the Lord holds out to you the offer of partnership with himself. He invites you to come under divine instruction. Uniting with Christ, you may work the works of God. ‘Without me,’ Christ said, ‘ye can do nothing.’ Through the prophet Isaiah is given the promise, ‘Thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.’

Ye churches of the living God, study this promise, and consider how your lack of faith, of spirituality, of divine power, is hindering the coming of the kingdom of God. If you would go forth to do Christ’s work, angels of God would open the way before you, preparing hearts to receive the gospel. Were every one of you a living missionary, the message for this time would speedily be proclaimed in all countries, to every people, nation, and tongue. This is the work that must be done before Christ shall come in power and great glory. I call upon the church to pray earnestly, that you may understand your responsibilities. Are you individually laborers together with God? If not, why not? When do you mean to do your Heaven-appointed work?

Marrying Unbelievers

By George B. Thompson

G. B. THOMPSON

A MOTHER writes: “Can not something be said in the REVIEW that will warn our young people concerning the terrible mistake of marrying unbelievers? One of my daughters, the pride of my life, whom I hoped to see become a missionary, has committed this blunder, and another is contemplating the same step.”

Some years ago I was riding to the railway station with a good brother. As we neared the town, he said: “This is the most unhappy hour of my life. My daughter, whom I have educated at great expense to be a worker for this blessed truth, is returning home to-day to be married to a man who is not a Christian. My hopes and her prospects are ruined. I would feel no worse were I expecting to convey her dead body from the station to my home.”

This young lady was married as represented, and to-day is not a Sabbath-keeper. Why do young people of both sexes make this fatal experiment, and bow down their own and their parents’ heads with sorrow? I am personally convinced that the enemy is ruining the usefulness of more of our young people in this way than perhaps in any other. If he can not lead them away from the Sabbath, or hinder their securing a training for missionary work, he will endeavor to bring about some matrimonial alliance which will forever put an end to all plans for active work in the vineyard of the Lord, and make the proper observance of the Sabbath difficult.

Knowing the evil which would result from such worldly alliances, the Lord has given the most explicit warnings against them.

“When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them: neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.” Deut. 7: 1-4.

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with

unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?”

These prohibitions are not against marriage, for “marriage is honorable in all.” The marriage relation was established by the Lord, and, like the Sabbath, comes down to us from sinless Eden. But these scriptures do lay an eternal prohibition in the way of Christians of either sex marrying unbelievers; and this prohibition can never be disregarded except at the peril of the soul. Having knowingly violated the clear warning of the Lord, and grieved his Holy Spirit, those who enter such unions place their feet on a precipice over which they will probably be drawn. This step has been the spiritual ruin of many. “For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods,” saith the Lord. The Lord said that intermarrying with the unbelieving nations, instead of bringing these nations into the truth, would turn away the hearts of his people from the true God. It is the same to-day. When a Sabbath-keeper marries an unbeliever with the hope of bringing him into the truth, it usually turns out the other way. Read prayerfully the following:—

“It is a dangerous thing to form a worldly alliance. Satan well knows that the hour that witnesses the marriage of many young men and women closes the history of their religious experience and usefulness. They are lost to Christ. They may for a time make an effort to live a Christian life; but all their strivings are made against a steady influence in the opposite direction. Once it was a privilege and joy to them to speak of their faith and hope; but they become unwilling to mention the subject, knowing that the one with whom they have linked their destiny takes no interest in it. As the result, faith in the precious truth dies out of the heart, and Satan insidiously weaves about them a web of skepticism.”

“Hundreds have sacrificed Christ and heaven in consequence of marrying unconverted persons. Can it be that the love and fellowship of Christ are of so little value to them that they prefer the companionship of poor mortals? Is heaven so little esteemed that they are willing to risk its enjoyments for one who has no love for the precious Saviour?”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IV, pages 504, 505, 507.

To those who are contemplating marriage the following instruction is given:—

“Let those who are contemplating marriage weigh every sentiment and watch every development of character in the one with whom they think to unite their life destiny. Let every step toward a marriage alliance be characterized by modesty, simplicity, sincerity, and an earnest purpose to please and honor God. Marriage affects the after-life both in this world and in the world to come. A sincere Christian will make no plans that God can not approve.

“If you are blessed with God-fearing parents, seek counsel of them. Open to them your hopes and plans, learn the lessons which their life experiences have taught, and you will be saved many a heartache. Above all, make Christ your counselor. Study his Word with prayer.

“Under such guidance let a young woman accept as a life companion only one who possesses pure, manly traits of character, one who is diligent, aspiring, and honest, one who loves and fears God. Let a young man seek one to stand by his side who is fitted to bear her share of life’s burdens, one whose influence will ennoble and refine him, and who will make him happy in her love.”—“Ministry of Healing,” page 350.

Unbelievers are compared to tares; believers, to the wheat. How sad to see the tendrils of the wheat entwining around the tares, clinging with the most ardent affection of the heart to that which, unless a change is wrought, must be cast at last into the fire to be burned! It is well for those contemplating marriage to prayerfully think of this. Better to think it over now than later, with a sad and broken heart, to weep over a wrong step which can never be retraced.

Writing counsel to one who was contemplating marriage with an unbeliever, the servant of God said: “My sister, unless you would have a home where the shadows are never lifted, do not unite yourself with one who is an enemy of God.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 363.

A home “where the shadows are never lifted”! What a home! And for life! God intended home to be the sweetest place on earth. To take a step which may darken it with shadows forever is a fearful thing to do. To do this in the face of repeated warnings from the Lord involves a terrible risk. That some risks turn out all right does not alter the principle. That a person, in the face of warnings, may walk a rope stretched across Niagara Falls, without injury or loss of life, does not in any way minimize the danger nor constitute a proper example for others to follow.

Before marriage many good promises are made, perhaps in good faith. The unbelieving companion says, “I will never stand in your way; you can believe and worship as you choose.” But it is impossible to keep such a promise. Clouds can not but obscure the rays of the sun. The heart remains unchanged, and is enmity to God. The desires and purposes of the husband and the wife are different. One is seeking the things of this world, the other the things of the world to come. One is walking in the path that leads to heaven and unending bliss; the footsteps of the other are tending toward destruction. Truly this is an unnatural and grievous yoke.

Then when the home is established, and life’s real journey together begins, there will be shadows. One believes in the coming of Jesus, and loves to talk about this glorious event. The work of the message and its progress in the earth, one has loved and watched perhaps from childhood, but the companion chosen for life neither knows nor cares about the message. Commercial enterprises interest him more. He is more interested in the price of grain or the advance in real estate than in the salvation of sinners. A trashy novel is often more interesting to him than the Bible, the REVIEW, or other good reading-matter. And if this is distasteful to the wife, whom he has solemnly promised to love and protect, he tells her he will find company for the evening which will be congenial, and where the conversation will not be about heaven, but concerning things he loves and understands. The natural heart rules, and the promises made before marriage are forgotten.

In every home the altar of prayer should be reared. But when the hour of morning and evening worship comes, when God’s Holy Book should be read, and together husband and wife should bow before the Lord and pray, one longs to do this, but the other does not. He has never learned to pray; he does not love this sweet communion with his Maker. Then the one must either omit worship or engage in it alone, while the other is absent, or present as a spectator, and sometimes to sneer. Unless the heart is strong in the love of God, the painful ordeal will soon be omitted. But few stem the current, and maintain a firm hold on the truth. The vast majority drift into the open sea of unbelief. Other religious duties are neglected. The precious truth is less and less spoken of, the prayer-meeting is not attended, the heart grows cold, and the shadows in the home deepen as the weeks and months pass.

When the holy Sabbath comes, the heart of the believing one in the home turns toward the house of God,—to the Sabbath-school and the services which may follow,—but the heart of the unbeliever to the things of the world. One goes to his secular work, while the other goes alone to divine services. All this, with the general atmosphere of the home, is not conducive to making the Sabbath what the Lord intended it to be.

It is true that the truth of God divides homes after marriage. The gospel at times sets at variance father and son, mother and daughter, husband and wife. But this is a very different matter than deliberately choosing for life a companion who is an unbeliever, or who differs widely from one in religious practise or belief.

A Christian young man, contrary to the advice of his parents and brethren, married a pleasure-loving young woman. Her influence silenced his prayers, estranged him from the house of God, and led him into pleasure. When on his death-bed, with remorse and agony of soul, and a fearful eternity to face as a lost sinner, he gazed upon his wife, and exclaimed, “O Rebecca! Rebecca! you are the cause of my eternal damnation,” and died. What terrible words are these! May they never be wrung in despair from the heart of any of our youth.

Takoma Park, D. C.

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