p. 15 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 21. (5/22/1901)

Genuine Elgin or Waltham

By Editor

GENTLEMAN’S WATCH

Solid silver case & Solid nickel works

Patent hair spring and balance. Fifteen jewels. Open face or hunting case, nicely engraved. Stem winding. Stem setting. Neat, handsome, and serviceable. A good timekeeper. FULLY GUARANTEED to be in PERFECT ORDER.

GIVEN FREE for 15 new subscriptions to the SIGNS OF THE TIMES at $1.50 each

LADY’S WATCH

of either of the same makes

Description exactly the same as above, except they have seven jewels and are even more handsome. Same guarantee.

GIVEN FREE for only 10 new subscriptions at $1.50

The Elgin and Waltham are too well known to need any recommendation. In the above offer, the publishers sincerely believe, is a rare chance to obtain good watches. We have examined them personally, and can recommend them as being first-class.

SEND FOR CANVASSING OUTFIT

Address, Signs of the Times, Oakland, California

EGGS

EACH VARIETY $1.00 AND $2.00 PER 15

Fancy Black Langshans, White Wyandottes and Barred Plymouth Rocks

Illustrated Price-list and Valuable Information free for stamp.

C. H. TYRRELL

SIOUX RAPIDS, IOWA

Subscriptions to the Signs

By Editor

We are receiving a very encouraging number of subscriptions to the SIGNS at the special terms as given above. Are there not many of our friends who could send a subscription at these favorable rates? It would encourage us to see new subscriptions come in with more of our renewals.

A schedule of rates showing the price of a club of SIGNS of any size for any length of time has been prepared, and will be sent free on request. Every church ought to have a club of SIGNS for missionary work, and this schedule will tell how much the club will cost. Send for it.

A sister at Springfield, Ohio, says:—

“Our work with the SIGNS was a good one. It opened the hearts of many to accept the truths of the third angel’s message. We do earnestly believe that the blessing of the Lord crowned our efforts with it.”

A sister in Oregon says:—

“I can’t do without the SIGNS; having taken it since it was first published.”

Back numbers of the SIGNS for distribution at 50 cents per hundred. Who wants them?

Back numbers of Our Little Friend of assorted dates, 125 for 25 cents.

Choose Ye This Day

Presents in an impressive manner the fact that it is ours to choose whom we will serve, and represents what will be the result of our choice. A. G. L. No. 14. 50 cents per 100.

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.

New York City Oakland, Cal. Kansas City, Mo.

The “Hub” Cordially Approves the New Century

By Thos. H. H. Knight

Girls’ High School, Boston, Mass.

United Typewriter & Supplies Co., Boston, Mass. April 24, 1900

Gentlemen: We have had ten of the New Century machines since last October, and thus far they have proved very satisfactory. They have required very little attention, and their special features make them attractive to the pupils.

Yours respectfully,

[SIGNED] THOS. H. H. KNIGHT Instructor in Typewriting

UNITED TYPEWRITER AND SUPPLIES COMPANY

316 Broadway, New York

SANTA FE ROUTE

ONLY LINE WITH ITS OWN TRACKS FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO CHICAGO

THE CALIFORNIA LIMITED

The Santa Fe new and sumptuous train, through to Chicago in 75 hours. Leaves every morning at 9 o'clock.

OVERLAND EXPRESS, with through Palace and Tourist Sleepers, to Chicago, every evening at 8 o'clock.

BAKERSFIELD LOCAL leaves every morning at 7.20, and STOCKTON LOCAL every afternoon at 4.20, giving best service through the San Joaquin Valley.

PERSONALLY CONDUCTED Tourist Excursions every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, in Vestibuled Tourist Cars.

The service on these Personally-Conducted Excursions, is all that counts for comfort and convenience. Clean linen and bedding, the proper lavatory and toilet accommodations are provided. The aisles are carpeted and the windows double, to keep out the dust, and wide to allow an unobstructed view of the scenery en route. Full information regarding the Santa Fe Route, with handsome folder and correct map of the section through which it runs, may be had at the Company's offices.

CALL OR WRITE

1118 BROADWAY, OAKLAND 641 MARKET ST., SAN FRANCISCO

Living by Faith

“Living by Faith.” (Spanish.) A translation of Bible Students’ Library No. 75; 16 pp.; price, 2 cents. Address, Pacific Press Publishing Co., Oakland, Cal.

The Overland Limited

When you go East, take

“The Overland Limited”

Via UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD

Less Than Three Days to Chicago

Four Days to New York

Leaves Oakland Daily at 10:36 A. M.

“The Fast Mail”

Three and One-half Days to Chicago

Both Pullman and Tourist Sleepers through to Denver, Kansas City, Omaha and Chicago Daily without Change. Leaves Oakland at 6:44 P. M.

EVERY DAY IN THE YEAR

PERSONALLY-CONDUCTED TOURIST EXCURSIONS TO THE EAST EVERY WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY EVENINGS

Steamship Tickets to and from all points in Europe by all trans-Atlantic steamship lines

H. V. BLASDEL, Passenger Agent

1160 Broadway, Oakland, Cal.

BAPTISM: Its Significance, Its Nature, and the Necessity for It.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

By E. J. Waggoner. Bible Students' Library, No. 79. Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. 16 pp.; 2 cents.

News and Editorial Notes

The General Conference has changed the address of the Foreign Mission Board and the International Tract Society from 150 Nassau street, New York, to the following: “Mission Board of Seventh-day Adventists, Battle Creek, Mich.” All correspondence and contributions should be addressed accordingly.

It is not against the fact that the Hague Conference was a meeting for peace that most of the powers that signed its conventions are engaged in war. It simply shows that where the peace of Christ does not rule in the hearts of men, all agreements for peace are subject to violation at any time that selfish interest demands.

It looks as tho Great Britain had found a rival in the money-lending business. In her new loan of the vast sum of £500,000,000, one-sixth was negotiated in this country, and that was subscribed many times over. Really, the American subscription to the loan is given as $750,000,000. These are days of revolution and rapid change.

What a faith-killer evolution is! Not that it destroys the faith of Jesus as such; for that will live forever. But wherever it is given place in a heart, it destroys faith in Christ in that heart. Once, we so believe it, B. Fay Mills and George D. Herron had faith in Jesus Christ. Now they are both unbelievers in Christ’s creative, regenerative power, and one is hoping in evolution thru higher culture, the other in evolution thru social democracy. In neither is Christ Jesus.

How shall we reach the masses? is a question that is continually being asked by those who stand as pastors to the people. Theories upon this question would be useless. The world is full of such already. What we need is some facts; and they are not hard to find. It is a fact that Christ reached the masses. The people thronged to hear Him. He not only had large audiences by day, but people came to Him by night. He not only had large audiences on special occasions, but every day was a special occasion so far as the size of His audiences was concerned. He not only worked to help these large audiences, but He did work between meetings for the lone individuals. When the people came to Him, day after day, they got something. The thing they got was so good that they wanted to come the next day and get more. And not only did He give them good things in His teachings, but He went about doing good. He was not ministering to Himself, but was continually ministering to all the people just the help that they needed. Now these things are facts that any one can learn who will take the pains to study the life of Christ. If we will study and apply these facts and principles, will they not teach us how to reach the masses?

What Makes a Day?

A tract comes to our table declaring that the only Bible day is the light part of twenty-four hours, and that hence the Sabbath day includes only the light part of the day, from sunrise to sunset. Of course every Bible student will know this to be folly, yet one correspondent at least is troubled thereat. Well, what is a day? The word day has three meanings in Scripture: (1) A period of twenty-four hours, consisting of evening and morning, night and day; (2) the light part of this period; (3) an indefinite period of time of a definite character, as the day of salvation, day of judgment, etc. All these uses of the word occur in the first two chapters of Genesis. The word rendered “evening” and “even” is also translated night. Ps. 30:5. The candlestick of gold in the temple with its lamps was lighted to burn every evening, that is, during the night (2 Chron. 13:11), or at least to far in the night (1 Sam. 3:3). The night was counted part of the day. “Day and night seven days,” each day including night and day. Lev. 8:35. The opposite order is often seen, “night and day.” I Kings 8:29; Isa. 27:3; Jer. 14:17; Mark 5:5. “Fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day.” Esth. 4:16. “That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice.” Mark 14:30. The angels who came at night sang, “Unto you is born this day.” Luke 2:8, 11. The Sabbath, like the other days of the week, begins with the evening, the dark part of the day. “From even unto even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath.” Lev. 23:32. The Sabbath began when the deep, heavy shadows from the wall began to fall. Neh. 13:19-21. The Jews, bound by a wrong conception of God, would not come to Jesus to be healed till even, after the Sabbath closed. See Luke 4:31, 38, 40; Mark 1:32; Matt. 8:16. All of which and more shows that the Lord’s own day is in length of time like the others, beginning at sunset of the previous day and ending when its own sun sets twenty-four hours later.

Pushing the Lord’s Business

It depends a great deal how one takes hold of a business, doesn't it? For instance, there are the push-cart merchants of New York, about 7600 of them, mostly working on commission. One association handles 400 of these carts, handles $2200 worth of goods a day, or $686,000 a year. These men have no rights on the street except to keep moving, and are hampered more or less by policemen. Yet about ten per cent. is made on the goods, the men who push the cart making about one dollar each a day. If men would push the business of the Lord this way, there would be fewer failures. Earnestness, tact, organization for work is greatly needed in Christ’s cause.

DEBASED MORAL STANDARD.

A MAN by the name of D. H. Lewis in Vergennes, Vt., wrecked the Farmers' National Bank in that place. For fourteen years he was systematically robbing the bank, so that no dividends were paid. It is said that on the very eve of exposure, after the reports of his roguery were abroad, he “not only took deposits, but solicited them.” But, according to the Springfield Republican, “Despite all this cold-blooded rascality, it is said that the cashier still retains the respect and sympathy of many of the men who have done business with him.” The moral condition of men who could thus look upon such conduct must indeed be at very low ebb. The Republican remarks, and the words are worth pondering:—

“It seems to be one of the penalties of this time of material domination, ruling all, inspiring all, and deadening the public conscience, that thieving is not so badly thought of. It is not yet quite true that the crime has come to consist in getting found out, but something akin to that might be truthfully said. When men of business, speculation, and politics come to talk in millions, whether in governmental affairs or in trade combinations, as the commonplace of the hour, the effect seems to be to daze the moral sense and to weaken the popular standards of common honesty. Little matters in stealing under or among the hundreds of thousands do not seem to count for much. That this fever to be rich that is sweeping the country from end to end is a great peril to trust funds and to moral standards, no sane observer will dispute. Human rights and property rights are in some confusion just now, and clear thinking and plain speaking are needed as at no previous period in the national experience.”

What this condition means, the Word of inspiration has told us in Isaiah 59. Read the entire chapter. It is a graphic picture of these days.

Sunday Closing in Kansas City

By Editor

Sunday closing is in agitation now in Kansas City. Effort is being made to close the saloons and theaters. Commissioner Ward says, as reported in the Kansas City Star of April 30: “Of course, I take it for granted that the churches are for Sunday closing. I have asked fifty business men what their views on the subject were, and have found that the subject is one of absolute indifference to them.” And we do not blame the people of the churches for wanting these things closed; we wish they were extinct wholly. But it is not Christian, nor is it American, to compel the closing of a theater or a saloon on Sunday which is permitted to run the rest of the week. The day it is open is not what gives character to the theater or church; it is what it is itself. The real reason on the part of some is that these places are too successful rivals to the church, and keep people away from their services. But in that case the church is not helped by force. The only right way to do is to have services so much better and more helpful that men will attend the church of choice. Commissioner Gregory says that if the saloons and theaters close, everything else must stop which is not a necessity, even the weeding of a garden by some quiet citizen. These are among the beautiful inconsistencies of religious legislation.

Read the General Conference Bulletin

By Editor

Have you seen the General Conference Bulletin? If you have seen it, have you also read it? The Bulletin gave a faithful report of our General Conference just closed, and the daily issues during that time are brimful of the most helpful and enjoyable matter. The reason why we can say this is because we have read it and speak from personal experience. The advancement and the needs of the work in all parts of the world are fully presented. The plans that are laid, and the work that is actually being set in operation, are a great source of inspiration to any one who is interested in the coming of the Lord. The sermons given at the conference were packed full of spiritual food, and as they are reported in the Bulletin, the opportunity to get the benefit of them is placed within the reach of all. Complete sets of all the numbers issued during the conference may still be had by addressing The General Conference Bulletin, Battle Creek, Mich. Twenty numbers have already been issued, and one or two more are still to come, making over 500 pages of the choicest matter. The price is fifty cents.

A Sure Shelter from Evil

The situation in all the world grows more and more stormy as the days go by, and the worst is not here by any means. Do you know that the Lord has provided a sure shelter for you from all this evil, and that He is longing for you to run into it and hide from the threatening danger? If you do not know this, it is nevertheless a fact that such is the case. The Word of God tells you all about it. Make that Word your constant and trusted companion. Anything based upon a less secure foundation will soon be broken to pieces.

Sunday Closing and Civil Support

The committee of ministers who opposed the opening of the Pan-American Buffalo Exposition will do all in their power to close the exposition by law. Sunday closing of theaters, drug-stores, and saloons has been ordered in Omaha. The Sunday question is blossoming into new life in many parts of the country. The moral proposition is very plain. If Sunday were a divine institution, it would demand no civil support. If its friends rightly knew Christianity, and believed it to be a Christian institution, they would demand no civil help.

The False Claim of Sufficiency

A lecturer announces his subject thus: “Sufficiency: I Do Not Want! I Am Health, Happiness, Success.” When man arrogates to himself the essential attributes of God, he is on the high road to destruction. God alone is “I Am,” and in Him alone is sufficiency. Nor does it make man more sufficient to proclaim it. The ultimate will find him altogether deficient.