Earlier text: PURE RELIGIONTHE SOURCE OF STRENGTH.
By Luella B. Priddy
Children as well as grown people have their trials, and the Lord is willing to help them bear them. Near us lives an aged woman, and two grandchildren who have been abandoned by their mother. The children have not had much care, and are therefore unruly, especially the boy. We were expecting them to visit us on a certain day. Our little adopted girl looked forward to their visit with a great deal of anxiety; for she feared the boy would destroy her playthings. Early on the morning of the day that we expected them to come, little Olive came to my room with a very sober face. “I was just thinking,” she said, “that we ought to have a little prayer for Bobby.” Then she knelt down at my knee, and in a few short sentences asked the Lord to help Bobby to be a better boy. At the conclusion of her prayer, she sprang to her feet, her face fairly radiant with joy, and in the next breath exclaimed, “Well, I don’t s’pose Bobby would have been so bad if he hadn’t just been born to it. His mother’s going off and leaving him when he was so young, it’s a wonder he isn’t worse than he is; I ’spect if you should go off and leave me, that I’d be ’bout crazy.” Then, assuming a thoughtful air, she continued, “Now, I’ll go and put my dolls away in the closet, and pick up my cards and things, so as not to temptation him too much.” And she tripped out of the room, singing merrily as she went about the house gathering up everything that she thought the boy would be likely to damage. Then she hastened to get her lessons,—“so’s to have plenty of time to play when the children come,” she said, and looked forward to their visit with actual pleasure. At last the visitors arrived, and the children played together pleasantly. I never heard a cross word or a complaint all day. This incident conveys its own lesson. This little child believed that prayer is an unfailing remedy for her troubles; and when she had done what she could to avoid difficulty, she cast her burden on the Lord, with no distrustful looking back to see if the burden was really gone. When Christ was on earth, He took a little child and set him in the midst of His disciples, and said, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 18: 3. Four quarts of corn cut off cob; one quart of barrel salt. Heat the corn by steaming or boiling to set milk; stir in salt, pack in a jar, putting on a cover and weight. Put to freshen the day before using, in afternoon, by pouring on boiling water, changing it. EXCELLENT! Earth's Smallest Deeds, Heaven's Brightest Jewels
“EARTH’s smallest deeds may be heaven’s brightest jewels.” “AND Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.” Matt. 24:4. Such was the admonition that the Saviour solemnly impressed upon the minds of His disciples. They had addressed to Him a question of the most weighty concern, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” He did not tell them that that was not a subject for them to inquire into, that no one could know anything about it, and therefore they should not trouble their minds in reference to it; but, on the other hand, He gave them most important instruction in the words quoted, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Through these first disciples, these words were spoken to His latest disciples upon the earth; for they must apply especially to the last generation, the ones on whom the end of the world is to come. The same admonition is repeated by the apostle Paul in reference to the same question. In 2 Thess. 2:3 he says: “Let no man deceive you by any means,”—as if various means would be resorted to, to mislead the people,—“for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” The mind of the reader is called to these plain texts in view of the many efforts put forth by religious teachers, both in the pulpit and through the press, to turn the attention of the people away from this subject, by declaring that the end will not come in their day, and that no man can know anything about it, anyway, and therefore they should not trouble themselves with it. If this is so, how can these admonitions by Christ and the apostles be heeded? The very language itself makes it certain that the subject will be agitated, and wrong views will be set forth, calculated to deceive and lead astray the people concerning the great question of the end of the world, the very question above all others on which all should be very careful not to be misled. And how can we escape being deceived by such teaching? We can escape only in one way, and that is by being, ourselves, thoroughly acquainted with the true teaching of the word of God on this subject, so that we can detect everything which does not agree therewith. Thus it is evident that the language puts every one upon his sacred honor to study carefully this question. How can we detect a counterfeit bill unless we are acquainted with all the points and features of the genuine? If one should tell us, Let no man deceive you in reference to counterfeit money, how could we heed and profit by that admonition only by carefully studying and acquainting ourselves with true money, till we knew all its features, and could detect any variation from them? And when Christ says, “Take heed that no man deceive you,” in reference to the important doctrine of the coming of Christ and the end of the world, it is the same as saying that the Lord has fully set forth the truth in His word on this subject, and that we must make ourselves so thoroughly acquainted with that, that we can detect any variation from it, and so not be deceived by the false. Men may say, “Give no attention to these subjects; do not trouble your minds with them, for you can know nothing about them.” But Christ says, Study this question carefully, acquaint yourself with every feature of it; know all the truth upon it so that you can detect all wrong teaching concerning it. Then only can you be safe against deception. Which will you follow? “Take heed that no man deceive you.” In his unrepentant state, the sinner is wedded to his sin. More than this, his sin is like the dead body to which, according to the ancient manner of punishing criminals condemned to capital punishment, they were chained, and being unable to free themselves from the putrefying mass, they themselves finally fell in death. This is a figure of the bonds of sin. By a still more striking figure, sin is the deadly leprosy, which has diffused itself through all the system, tainting every drop of blood, till its victim likewise sinks in a loathsome death. To the anxious and awakened sinner release from this terrible burden is the greatest joy. And the distance to which the sin can be removed is the measure of his delightful anticipation. And how far does the Lord say He will remove our transgressions from us? By the psalmist He says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.” Ps. 103:12. Now, how far is the east from the west? From the standpoint of our earthly reckoning, it may be illustrated thus: If two persons, starting from a given point, should go east and west respectively, they would meet on the opposite side of the globe, the very farthest point from the place of beginning. If they then continued their journey, they would, from that, approach still nearer the point of departure, till they came together again at the place of starting. So the distance from the east to the west is the utmost distance a person can make between any two points on this globe. But this is only an illustration from a human point of view. We are not, however, to limit the expression to this little globe, but gauge it by God’s immensity and eternity. On that scale, how far would be the utmost distance between the east and the west?—A distance which would have no limit; an infinite separation, a distance which thought cannot measure, imagination cannot span. When thus separated, the sinner can bid a long farewell to the presence or thought of his sins; and even the Lord himself says He will forget them. “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 8:12. HARD NOW, BUT HARDER BY AND BY.
By L. A. S.
AMONG the signs which point to a coming change for the worse in the conditions affecting the progress of gospel work in the South, one of the most striking appears in the form of a book which we are told is selling rapidly throughout the South, written to prove that the negro does not belong to the human family, but is a beast. The book is quite pretentious in appearance, having three hundred and eighty-two pages, is well bound, and contains a number of illustrations. It is issued by the “American Book and Bible House,” St. Louis, Mo. From the title page we quote: “The Negro a Beast, but Created with Articulate Speech, and Hands, that He May Be of Service to His Master, the White Man. The Negro not the Son of Ham.” “By Chas. Carroll, who has spent fifteen years of his life and twenty thousand dollars in its compilation.” The book purports to discuss the question of the negro’s “relation to the human family” from the standpoint of the Bible and of science. The publishers announce that they are “convinced that when this book is read and its contents duly weighed and considered in an intelligent and prayerful [!] manner, it will be to the minds of the American people like unto the voice of God.” If the negro be a beast, it of course follows that he has no soul, in the ordinary sense of the word; and the author does not shrink from the appalling logic capable of deduction from his premise. On page 129 we find this: “‘But,’ says the enlightened Christian, ‘if a man is married to a negress, will not their offspring have a soul?’—No; it is simply the product resulting from God’s violated law, and inherits none of the divine nature of the man, but like its parent, the ape, it is merely a combination of matter and mind. ‘Then, if the half-breed marries a man, will not their offspring have a soul?’—No! ‘If the offspring of man and the negro was mated with pure whites for generations, would not their ultimate offspring have a soul?’—No!’” Of course it is all a waste of time to preach the gospel to creatures that have no souls. The author of this book declares that it is not only useless, but highly improper. It is casting pearls before swine. We will quote him once more (page 166): “The existence of this prohibitory statute [Matt. 7:6] demonstrates the existence of an animal which man, in his criminal ignorance of God’s plan of creation, might mistake for a man, and thus be misled into giving him the Bible with the view of conferring upon him the blessings of Christianity, which were intended alone for man. When we view this statute in the light of the sciences, and in that of Paul’s declaration that ‘there is one kind of flesh of man, another flesh of beasts,’ etc., it becomes plain that the dog, the swine, and the negro all belong to one kind of flesh—the flesh of beasts. The Scriptures are described as ‘holy.’ Rom. 1:2, etc. The kingdom of heaven is compared to ‘goodly pearls.’ Matt. 13:45, 46. Hence we are led to decide that ‘that which is holy,’ and which man is forbidden to ‘give unto dogs,’ is the Bible; and that the pearls which man is forbidden to cast before swine is the kingdom of heaven. This statute was evidently meant to confine the use of the Bible and religious worship to man, and excludes the lower kinds of flesh, which embrace the negro. Hence, if it is criminal to give the Bible to dogs, it is criminal to give it to the negro; if it is criminal to undertake to Christianize swine, it is criminal to undertake to Christianize the negro.” That great question, “Who was Cain’s wife?” is solved by the author of this book. He declares that Cain married outside the human family altogether, and explains this assertion by the statement that Cain’s wife was a negress.575 The significant thing about all this is not anything in the book itself, so much as the fact that it is, as we are informed by a Southern man, having a rapid sale throughout the South. Shallow as its arguments are, they are specious enough to deceive some thoughtless minds, and to inflame popular sentiment, already so strongly biased against according to the negro the rights of a human being, so as greatly to augment the difficulties under which gospel work for the negroes must be conducted in that section of the country. With such signs of the times before us, we can see very clearly the force and propriety of what has been said and is being said concerning the urgency of the work in the South. We can see the force of the statement we have often read, that “the work which we have neglected to do when times were favorable, will have to be done under the most forbidding circumstances.” Now is the most favorable time we shall have to push the work. L. A. S. In Ps. 103:1 David says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” “All that is within me” includes the entire being. Why are we to praise the Lord?—It is for blessings and benefits received. This, then, is an assurance that God has blessings and benefits for us, which are not limited in extent, nor confined to any one branch or feature of our organism. For David does not say, “Let my spiritual nature, alone, bless the Lord; for that is what alone receives benefits from Him;” or, “Let my mental nature bless the Lord, for that alone is what He cares for and sustains especially;” or, “Let my physical nature bless Him, for that alone can hope for help from Him;” but, “All that is within me, bless His holy name.” So we may go to Him with our sicknesses, our bodily infirmities, our spiritual and mental troubles and cares of every name and nature, as well as with our sins, and find such results as will lead us to bless His holy name. And all this ground David covers, when, in the verses which immediately follow, he gives the implied reason why we, and all that is within us, are to bless His holy name: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgiveth all thine iniquities; and healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Verses 2–5. Thankful for help promised that covers so much ground, let us give Him the praise that His wonderful goodness and benefits deserve. Editorial Notes.
By Editor
FOLLOWING the example set by other Southern States, the State of Virginia has signified its determination to debar the negro from the polls. A new constitution is to be submitted to the people for ratification, and it will be passed upon by whites only. The following dispatch from Richmond tells the story very plainly:— “RICHMOND, VA., Aug. 23.—The attitude of the majority of the Constitutional Convention on negro suffrage was plainly shown in the manner in which the speeches on this question were received on the floor to-day. Mr. O’Flaherty advocated the submission of the constitution to the electorate as at present made, and was listened to attentively, but in silence. “Captain Parks responded, and advocated an abridged electorate; he was applauded to the echo. He said: ‘When Thomas Jefferson wrote all men are created equal, he referred to the Aryan race, and never dreamed of negroes. I shall favor the submission of the constitution to an electorate created by this convention, and to that extent I shall vote to proclaim it.’ “This sentiment was received with pronounced demonstrations of approval.” The assertion that the Declaration of Independence has no reference to other than white men has been often heard in the North of late, in support of the policy of the national government; and now it is echoed in the South in justification of negro disfranchisement. The attitude of the national government has become one which furnishes encouragement and inspiration to those who seek to turn back millions of human beings to their “previous condition of servitude,” and undo the work in behalf of humanity that was accomplished only at the cost of the most terrible and sanguinary war of modern times. YOU will never get far toward the kingdom of God if you wait to be led there by some one else. The Christian’s only leader is Jesus Christ. YOU are not living the truly Christian life unless the unbeliever can see in your life something desirable that he does not have. THE great question in the Christian life is not that of how much the Lord can do for you, but of how much confidence you have in Him. It will be very poor consolation for you, if you come short at last, to reflect that you have been just as good as certain other church-members you know, who are likewise left out of the kingdom. THE papacy is the blossom and fruit borne upon the great taproot of human selfishness; and every selfish person, whatever his profession, is really identified with the papal system. “All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life.” RETURNING TO THE DARK AGES.
By L. A. S.
It is provided in the Constitution of the United States that “cruel and unusual punishments” shall not be inflicted upon any person under the laws of this country. That provision was made by men who stood but a little removed from the shadow of the Dark Ages, when men had been the victims of gross cruelties inflicted to satisfy the vengeance of governmental despots. The hearts of right-minded people the world over had sickened at the spectacle of oppression and suffering those times had afforded, and as the dark cloud of religious and civil despotism was lifted by the Reformation, men hailed the dawning of a better day in which man’s inhumanity to man was to give place to the reign of justice and respect for human rights. Our forefathers who framed the Constitution knew well the evils of government where the people were subjected without legal remedy to the cupidity and malice of those in positions of power, and sought here to erect a government in which the rights of the people should be safeguarded by plain provision in the fundamental law. Accordingly it was provided, among other things, that no person, of whatever crime convicted, should under this government be punished in a cruel manner. But to-day, at the opening of the twentieth century, we note a startling change in the order of things established at the close of the eighteenth century. We are coming back to the dark era of cruel and inhuman punishments. And we do not say this ourselves; we only repeat what is being exclaimed by others who are taking note of the signs of the times. What could be more significant of this than the heading of an editorial which we note in the New York Sun of August 27: “The Revival of Burning at the Stake”? Under this heading the Sun says: — “Here is what happened last Sunday, the day of Christian peace and rest and worship, in the town of Chester in the Christian State of Tennessee: — “The mob then took him to the nearest tree. A chain was fastened to his body, and then wrapped around the tree. A young man holding a two-gallon can then poured oil upon him, saturating his clothes from head to foot, and the match was applied. “The flames leaped high above the man’s head, and as the fire reached his flesh, he began uttering heartrending appeals to the mob, but they were replied to with more oil and the piling of more brush around his body until he was almost buried beneath burning debris. After an hour nothing was left of the negro save small parts of his shoes. After the burning, the mob dispersed. “The man burned was a negro, of course. He had murdered a white woman, but had been arrested for the crime, and was in jail awaiting speedy trial and sure conviction, when a mob of one thousand people, ‘mostly farmers from the region,’ broke into the jail and carried him off to the stake, in spite of persuasions to desist, from officers of the law and other ‘well-known citizens.’ “To-day, very likely, we shall read of another burning at the stake; but if it does not come to-day, it will come soon, and will be followed in quick succession by many more. The horrible punishment will stimulate the mania that leads to the crime of the victims, and the savagery of the lawless vengeance will still further brutalize mobs, so that they will demand more burnings to satisfy their mad passions. “Burning at the stake has been revived as a distinguishing popular American institution. Now, negroes are the victims; but who will come next?” And this last question is worthy of repetition and solemn consideration. “Now, negroes are the victims; but who will come next?” The way is being prepared for victims of a different color and race, and for the fulfillment of prophecies that from the standpoint of republican government are so strange as to be incredible. L. A. S. [Designed for the consideration of such questions as will be of interest and profit to the general reader. All correspondents should give their names and correct post-office address, that queries not replied to here may be answered by mail.] 826.— Receiving the Holy Ghost.
Will you please give us some light on Acts 8: 14-17? 1. Why was it necessary for Peter and John to be sent down to Samaria, in order that the new converts there might receive the Holy Ghost? Why was not Philip as able to administer this gift as were Peter and John, from the fact that he was full of the Holy Ghost himself; and verses 5-7 state that he performed miracles that convinced the people, and even astonished Simon the sorcerer, and healed many that were palsied and lame? 2. What is meant by being baptized in the name of Jesus only? Answer.—“When the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John.” This act seems to have been by the voluntary, unanimous consent of the apostles as to what was best to do under the circumstances. Certainly no one apostle appears here directing the others how to act, or exercising any lordship over them. There was no primacy among the apostles at this point. It is probable that the sending was simply an informal agreement that it was advisable to send these two apostles to see what could be done to help on the work which had been begun by one who was not an apostle, or at least who is not called such. As a first important step, on coming to Samaria, they prayed that the converts there might receive the Holy Ghost; for as yet the Holy Ghost had not fallen upon any of them. Then after prayer, they laid their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Ghost. From the records given respecting the giving of the Holy Ghost, it does not appear that there was any established program or any uniform custom concerning it. Sometimes it came without any preliminary action, as in Acts 10: 41-48; sometimes by prayer alone, as in Acts 4: 31; and sometimes by prayer and the laying on of hands, as in the case before us, in Acts 8: 17. But generally the Lord saw fit to work in this way through His apostles; and this is doubtless why it was thought best for Peter and John to go down to Samaria, when it was learned by the saints at Jerusalem that Samaria had received the word of God. 2. So in regard to baptism. It seems to have taken some time before all became established in a regular practice. At first they knew only John's baptism. Acts 19: 3. Then sometimes they baptized only in the name of Jesus. But at length the custom became established to use the whole formula of the commission, and baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Editorial Staff Changes at the Review and Herald
By Editor
The readers of the REVIEW have noticed the initials “L. A. S.” and “A. J. B.” attached occasionally of late to articles in the paper; and as all may not understand the arrangement, a word of explanation may be in place. When the request was presented that we resume our former position on the paper, we felt that it would not be reasonable, under the circumstances, to accept, only under the condition that suitable editorial help be provided to assist in the work. That help was found to be available, and has been obtained. Leon A. Smith, late editor of the Sentinel, had formerly acted as Assistant Editor of the REVIEW; and the Board signified their desire that he take the place again, which he has consented to do. Meanwhile there was another helper, Augustin J. Bourdeau, son of Elder D. T. Bourdeau, whose services were available, who had been connected with the Office, in the circulating department and in the editorial room, for about five years. He was in just the position to render further assistance, and has been engaged for that purpose. This furnishes a strong corps of helpers in all departments, properly to care for the contributions sent in, to answer correspondents, prepare editorial, condense and classify Progress reports, gather and edit News Notes, and look after other points which concern the success of the paper. Each helper on the paper intends to magnify his office, and serve the cause, and through the paper, the interests of the cause, to the best of his ability. But it must not be left to us alone. May we not count, faithful readers, on your cordial well-wishing and friendly help? And from henceforth we ask the prayers, good will, and co-operation of every reader of the REVIEW. THE EUROPEAN GENERAL CONFERENCE.
By Guy Dail
Delegates from the various fields in Europe assembled at Friedensau, Germany, to attend the first European General Conference, July 23-26. In connection with the German meeting, which began the 18th, two Union Conferences had been organized,—the German Union Conference, with L. R. Conradi as president, and the Scandinavian Union Conference, with P. A. Hansen as chairman. We have previously spoken of the former in our report of the German meeting. With reference to the latter, we might state that its territory includes the Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish Conferences, and the mission fields of Finland, Iceland, and Greenland; and its Committee will act as a board of council in things pertaining to the general interests of the work in Scandinavia. The European General Conference held its first session at 9 A. M., July 23. It proceeded at once to the business before it. Elder O. A. Olsen was chosen chairman of the meeting. The constitution recommended in the General Conference Bulletin of April 22, 1901, was considered, and adopted, with the following slight modifications:— The Conference Committee will be thirteen, instead of nine; the basis of representation will be one delegate for every three hundred members,—three instead of five hundred, as originally provided,—and a new paragraph was added, stating that the funds of the European General Conference shall be a tenth of the tithes and offerings of the Union fields. There were some recommendations passed that may be of general interest. It was voted to invite the Mission Board to send a man to Rome, Italy, and to support him for a time, until the standard of truth be firmly planted in that great city. Basel, Switzerland, being a German city, has never been the most suitable place for the education of French workers; and now that Latin Europe has been organized into a separate field, it seems fitting that it should have a training-school of its own. As medical instruction will constitute an important part of the training given our workers, and as the medical missionary work in this field ought to be more fully developed, the Mission Board was asked to send a man to Paris, that he might gain a preparation to lead out in the medical work among those speaking the French language. Brother David Ostlund, of Iceland, was present, and spoke in behalf of that interesting mission. For three years he has been laboring there alone, and he greatly desires that some one be sent to assist him. It was decided to ask America to help support a colporteur in that island. The North Russian Mission is unable to support all its laborers, and thus far we have done nothing to properly establish the medical missionary work in Russia; therefore an appeal will be made for the Mission Board to pay the superintendent of the mission in northern Russia, and send and support a medical worker who shall devote his time to disseminating the glorious principles God has revealed to us concerning the care of our bodies. In Prague, Austria, we have a small company of Sabbath-keepers, and it is planned to permanently enter that field this year, and to ask the Mission Board to support one minister in that country. Two nurses have been selected for Palestine, a land in which they will have to receive outside help. In behalf of Sweden there was formulated an earnest call for assistance, to be forwarded to America by the Field Secretary upon his return. It was decided that the headquarters of the European General Conference be London, England, where are located the Secretary and the Treasurer. The European General Conference sustains the same relation to its five Union fields (the Scandinavian, the German, the British, the Latin, and the Oriental) as is sustained to the General Conference by the Union Conference and fields in America. Naturally, it will present to our brethren throughout the whole world, the needs of the cause within its own borders, and it will ever be glad to receive help to forward the gospel message among the millions who know not the saving power of Christ. The European General Conference Committee are L. R. Conradi, Chairman; O. A. Olsen, Secretary; W. C. Sisley, Treasurer; E. Lind, Auditor; E. J. Waggoner; P. A. Hansen; O. A. Johnson; Drs. J. C. Ottosen, A. J. Hoenes, and P. A. De Forest; B. G. Wilkinson; H. F. Schubert; and R. G. Klingbeil. There were four sub-committees or departments organized. Financial Department: L. R. Conradi, O. A. Olsen, W. C. Sisley, E. Lind, P. A. Hansen. Sabbath-school and Educational: O. A. Olsen, B. G. Wilkinson, O. A. Johnson, E. J. Waggoner, H. F. Schubert. Publishing: L. R. Conradi, J. C. Ottosen, E. J. Waggoner, O. A. Olsen, W. C. Sisley. Medical: J. C. Ottosen, W. C. Sisley, A. J. Hoenes, P. A. De Forest, L. R. Conradi. These are a few of the recommendations of the Conference that will be of general interest. As will be observed, this new organization has begun to lay plans for the extension of the work,—plans involving a greater outlay of means than can now be obtained in Europe; but we believe there are those among our people in other parts of the world who will esteem it a privilege to help publish the message in the regions beyond, and that they will remember Europe when they are considering the needs of the world's harvest field. Among those who attended the European General Conference, there was the greatest unanimity of feeling and action. All believed the time had fully come when we should take the steps we have taken. As they saw the work in Europe opening up, they appreciated more than ever the urgent demands for such an organization, and they left the meeting thankful for the privilege of being connected with the reorganization of the European field. We trust we shall ever have the hearty co-operation and sympathy of our brethren and sisters, the world over, and that the God of heaven may visit us with an abundance of His power and wisdom. To this end we shall work and pray. THE LORD'S PROMISE, AND HOW IT IS BEING FULFILLED.
By C. P. Bollman
When the work of establishing a publishing house in Nashville for the Southern field had been undertaken, the Lord sent a special message to those who were leading out in that movement, saying: “Go to the people, direct, for means. I will impress hearts.” In obedience to this definite instruction, an appeal was prepared and sent out; and hearts are being impressed. Indeed, the Lord is doing just what He said He would do, and we all feel that every dollar received in response to the call which He directed us to send out, is sacred. So far, the means to build and equip this publishing house has come largely from our poorer brethren and sisters. The sums received have been small. This we believe has been in the providence of God so that hundreds of hearts might share the blessing of being specially impressed by the Lord to contribute to this work. But larger donations are needed, and we believe the Lord will continue to impress hearts until, as was the case in the camp of Israel, proclamation shall be made saying that it is enough. The letters received have done all of us here so much good, that, wishing others to be blessed by them also, I take the liberty to make a few quotations quite at random from some of these letters. One good brother writes thus:— “I inclose a post-office money order for five dollars. I am building a house myself, and have to stop for means, but feel that the Lord's work is of more consequence than my house. I am a laboring man with not much of this world's goods, but love to see the cause of God prosper. May the Lord bless your efforts to advance His cause.” Another brother, writing from a distant State, but with a heart warm with the love of the truth, says:— “I received your kind and welcome notice of the need of means to complete the work you have started. I thank the Lord that I am privileged to help in this work, though it is but little. I will take one share of stock, for which I inclose five dollars. Brother — will also take one share. Sister — gives twenty-five cents to the building, and I also give two dollars to the Gospel Herald missionary fund. Brother — gives one dollar to the same fund. Now if you don't get enough to complete the building this call, don't be afraid to call again, and our hearts will respond. May the Lord greatly bless the work in the Southern field.” A sister in California sends this word of good cheer and encouragement:— “I received your kind letter, and am glad that I can have part in this grand work. I wish I could give more; but when we do the best we can, the blessing of Jesus will go with it. I am glad we may be co-laborers with our blessed Lord. I will subscribe for one share of stock, and can pay twenty-five cents per month.” Such letters make us think of the poor widow's two mites. Surely the blessing of God will go with money that is the fruit of real sacrifice, as much that is building up the work here certainly is. One brother's heart was so impressed that he could not sleep, and he had to rise in the night to send his donation to the publishing work. May the Lord greatly bless him, and make his sleep sweet and refreshing. Space will not permit further quotations from the many good letters that have come to us. But permit me to say that the Lord's blessing has rested upon the work here in a marked manner. Never before in the entire history of the denomination have such facilities for carrying on the publishing work been provided at such a small cost. The Lord is not only impressing hearts, but He is blessing the means given, and we believe that He will continue to bless. Several persons not of our faith have been impressed to assist in this work. One such, a lady, sent fifty dollars, and another, a gentleman, gave twenty dollars. We trust that this does not mean that those who know not the truth are more susceptible to divine impressions than are some of our own people. We who are on the ground, and who have been here for several months, can never tell how much we have for which to be thankful. We were told to “plan by faith, and work by faith,” but not to go into debt. The foundation for the building was begun when there was but little more than enough money in sight to buy the stone; but before the means then on hand was used up, more came in; and so it has been right along. We have never had much ahead. It has seemed at times that the work must stop, and once for a few days it did practically cease, but the Lord's promise has not failed. Hearts577 have been impressed, and the necessary means has come in, just as the money has been needed. We believe that this will continue, and that those who assist in this work will share in the blessing here and in the reward hereafter. We trust that our brethren whom the Lord has blessed with more of this world's goods than falls to the lot of most persons, will realize that they, too, have a duty to do in assisting in this work. More means is needed, and there is still opportunity to share the promised blessing. C. P. BOLLMAN. GO GATHER IN THE SHEAVES
By Carrie Butcher
Why sit ye there with idle hands?
O! hie ye now away;
The Master calls, entreats, commands:
“Go work for me to-day!” The harvest field of many a heart
Stands ready, waiting you;
And God will show you where to start,
And how your work to do. O bear in mind that while ye wait,
Away life's sands will run;
And by and by ’twill be too late,
The harvest will be done. If ye neglect your part to do,
Another will step in,
And reap the sheaves God means for you,
And thus your wages win. If comes a whisper, soft and low,
“There’s nothing you can do!”
O heed it not, but surely know
Temptation trieth you; For unto every child of God
Some special task is given;
And they must work who hope to wear
A starry crown in heaven. Flee often to the “secret place,”
And gather strength in prayer;
For Satan dare not Jesus face,
He’ll not molest you there. Time hurries by on rapid wing;
O toiler, do your best;
And when your work is ended, know
That God shall give you rest. This world's a grand old harvest field,
And precious souls the sheaves;
And we must toil, nor be content
With only “withered leaves.”