CANVASSERS' institutes are announced for Poplar Bluff, Mo., March 3-20, and St. Joseph, March 20 to April 1.
WRITING to the Nebraska Reporter, Brother J. J. Graf notes the addition of three members to the company at Norfolk.
THE addition of seven to the company at Goodwell, Mich., is reported in the Herald, by Brethren A. L. Evans and Wm. Drier.
DECEMBER 10, four candidates were baptized by Brother J. G. Wood, at Springfield, Ohio. Five members were added to the church that day.
DURING the week of prayer six members were added to the church at Cotton, Mo. Brother Lon Somers was present the last two days of the meeting.
AS A result of meetings held at Como, Texas, by Brother D. F. Sturgeon, six persons have taken their stand for "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."
IN a report to the Southwestern Union Recorder, Brother A. E. Field tells of the organization of a church of eight members at Merritt, Texas, and the baptism of eight candidates at Wagner, I. T.
THE Southern Publishing Association, headquarters at Nashville, Tenn., has established a branch at Fort Worth, Texas, for the better accommodation of its large southwestern constituency.
IN the Workers' Record Brother D. P. Ziegler reports the baptism of four candidates at Celt, Mo.; also that four others had accepted the faith. The brethren there have completed a new church building.
THE effort to place the Review in every Seventh-day Adventist home is meeting success in Missouri Conference. The record says that several churches are on the roll of honor. This is a striking omen of progress.
AT A certain place in Texas, where Brother Isaac Baker was holding meetings, a number of tobacco-steeped people became incensed at the truth he was presenting. They held that there is an outer man and an inner man, and if the inner man be kept clean the outer man can do as he pleases, and yet be saved. "Finally," reports Brother Baker, "they told a holiness preacher that they would give him a pig, if he would come there, and tear us all up. So he agreed to do so, but he obtained the pig before he came, and brought it along. He was to stay two or three nights, but one seemed to do him. He said that the law is not, and never was, binding on the Gentiles." Surely a pig was a fitting reward and a fit companion for such work.
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A LITTLE GIRL'S DREAM.
A TOUCHING story comes from San Francisco. In one of the stores in the city there is a bakery, grocery, and liquor business done. Into this store entered a poorly-clad child of ten years. "How's your mother?" asked the boy who came forward to wait on her. "Very ill, and ain't had anything to eat all day."
The boy was just then called to wait upon some men who entered the saloon, and the girl sat down. Wearied out, she fell asleep, holding her nickel in her hand. One of the men saw her as he came to the bar, and, after asking who she was, said: "I say, you drunkards, see here. Here we've been pouring down whisky when this poor child and her mother want bread. Here's a two-dollar bill that says I've got some feeling left." "And I can add a dollar," observed one. "And I'll give another." They made up a purse of five dollars and the spokesman carefully put the bill between two of the sleeper's fingers, drew the nickel away and whispered to his comrades: "Just look there—the child is dreaming!" So she was. A big tear had rolled out from her closed eyelid, but the face was covered with smiles. The men tiptoed out and the clerk walked over and touched the sleeping child.
She awoke with a laugh, and cried out: "What a beautiful dream! Ma wasn't ill any more, and we had plenty to eat and wear, and my hand burns yet where an angel touched it?" When she discovered that her nickel had been replaced by a bill,15a dollar of which loaded her down with all she could carry, she innocently said: "Well, now, but ma won't hardly believe me that you sent up to heaven and got an angel to come down and give me all this."—Selected.
COURAGE.
By John Brisben Walker
[John Brisben Walker, in the Cosmopolitan.]
It is a remarkable fact that the sportsman who comes from the jungle, where he has encountered, without a tremor, the deadliest animal foes, has been known, upon his return home with the trophies of his prowess, not infrequently to show himself a man who does not dare to oppose the wrong fad of an hour or a popular political belief.
In France, during the Revolution, we had another curious phase of courage. There were men, and many of them, who did not dare to set themselves in opposition to the dictates of their class, tho they might have saved France by a timely exhibition of their beliefs, who later on marched from the prison to the guillotine with a light-heartedness and insouciance that showed physical courage of the highest type. So confusing are these contradictions, that we come almost to wonder what the word courage really means.
Perhaps its vagaries are best exhibited in that cartoon of Life, which shows a lion-tamer, who has returned at a late hour, and fears to encounter his spouse, going into the cage of the lion for his night's rest, and being discovered presently, the woman looking through the bars, and exclaiming, 'O! you coward!' And this cartoon is founded upon not rare idiosyncrasies of courage.
We then reach a point where we ask ourselves:
Am I a brave man, or am I a coward?
If brave, to what extent, in what direction?
For instance, does my courage extend to the point of telling the truth, when I lose advantage by such a course, or do I prove myself a liar through cowardice?
If I see a fellow man drowning, am I sufficiently brave to risk my own life in his rescue?
If I am in a society where an opinion that I hold to be based on truth is vigorously denounced, have I the courage to defend it?
Or do I slink? Slink is a good word, tho not a very nice one. It is not pleasant to imagine oneself as a slinker.
And if a fire were occurring in the adjoining house, would I be willing to incur the risks of suffocation in order to rescue a woman who might otherwise perish?—and if I did this, would I on the next day give a smiling assent to the suggestion of my employer that I should vote a ticket which I believed to be not for the best interests of the community?
If I have a long-founded belief, which has been disturbed by argument, am I of the mental caliber which bravely goes to meet a demolition of my views, preferring to encounter a shock to these conceptions? Or do I mentally slink, and carefully run away from disturbing thought?
In other words, am I a coward?
No man can be truly a gentleman, if a coward. He may have the exterior marks of a gentleman—the veneering—but at heart he lacks, if he lacks courage.
There can be no such thing as true manliness, or true womanliness, if there is lack of courage.
Courage is the first component of character.
Courage is an essential of successful business life.
Courage is an essential in the administration of a household—the government of servants. If a mistress is cowardly, her servants quickly discover her weakness, and trample upon it.
What Courage Does.
Courage makes the difference between the clergyman, noble, devoted, and useful, and the mere time-server—that most pitiful of professional men, who draws a salary for rendering services to his fellow men, and slinks through life avoiding his responsibilities.
Courage not only marks the great editor of a great newspaper, but its absence kills the investment of the stockholders in that newspaper, so subtle is the public mind with reference to the characteristic of courage, and so instantly does it discover whether a man, set over a great journal to guard the public interest, has the courage necessary, or whether he is slinking along trying to avoid every important issue.
Courage equally distinguishes the man in public life, and makes of him the personage; or, in its absence, allows him to dwindle into an unrespected obscurity.
Courage in a wife rouses her to meet the greatest emergencies of life. She becomes a heroine in the face of unexpected calamity, before the loss of fortune. It puts her upon a pedestal above the ills and losses of life, where her husband and children may worship; or, for the lack of it, allows her to dwindle into the slattern.
Courage distinguishes the young boy just entering upon his career, and marks him out for promotion. He has the courage to stay by duty until performed, to speak the truth, to sacrifice pleasure to his mental and business development.
Courage enables the man in any one of the great stresses which come in life to every human being, to put aside temptation.
It is courage that prompts a man to seek the welfare of his fellow men, rather than his own.
Courage—nerve, some young men call it! But that is a less discriminating word.
Yet I do not know of any course on courage that is given in the public schools. I do not know of any text-book on courage. I do not know of any book that has gathered together the great examples of moral courage which have been given to the world by its heroes.
Physical courage we lay stress upon.
Physical courage is told of in books.
But physical courage is so common in form as to be almost unworthy of notice. In some, it is a form of hysteria. In a thousand instances it has been known to be a lack of moral courage. The man touching elbows and going unflinchingly into battle, we speak of as exhibiting courage. Yet it may be merely that he fears to incur the criticism of his companions.
From the Iliad down, we have had much talk of this kind of courage. It is trifling. It is unimportant. It means very little. But moral courage—why have we no books which explain to the young the thousand ways in which moral courage may be cultivated, and how much it means in each man's or woman's success?
One additional thought in this connection:
Courage gives the man or the woman power to consider facts upon their merits. It is the coward who, in the face of a fact, is side-tracked because the popular, known feeling has been in a certain direction. The man of courage will consider a fact upon its merits. He will investigate. He will analyze, and so obtain the truth. And this power of obtaining the truth—truth obtained through a courageous mind—is most valuable in every pursuit of life.
The cowardly mind, standing before opinions heretofore in vogue, is frightened at any temerity of thought, is deterred from investigating; and going into the slough of the commonplace, loses the opportunity for that advance which, in modern life, means success.
It is not clearly understood how valuable is the adjunct of courage in the man or woman, nor that, if accompanied by good judgment, it is the most valuable of business assets.
HAPPINESS.
By Robert Pollok
TRUE happiness had no localities,
No tones provincial, no peculiar garb.
Where duty went she went, with justice went,
And went with meekness, charity, and love.
Where'er a tear was dried, a wounded heart
Bound up, a bruised spirit with the dew
Of sympathy anointed, or a pang
Of honest suffering soothed, or injury
Repeated oft, as oft by love forgiven;
Where'er an evil passion was subdued,
Or virtue's feeble embers fanned; where'er
A sin was heartily abjured, and left;
Where'er a pious act was done, or breathed
A pious prayer, or wished a pious wish;
There was a high and holy place, a spot
Of sacred light, a most religious fane,
Where happiness, descending, sat and smiled.
—Pollok.
LESSON 7.—FEBRUARY 12.—THE SECOND MIRACLE IN CANA
By Editor
The Sabbath-school lessons have been discontinued. The Lesson Quarterly may be obtained, containing three months' lessons and notes, for five cents. Address, Pacific Press, Mountain View, Cal. The Sunday-school lessons will continue.
INTERNATIONAL SERIES THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON 7.—FEBRUARY 12.—THE SECOND MIRACLE IN CANA.
(43) "And after the two days he went forth from thence into Galilee. (44) For Jesus Himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in his own country. (45) So when He came into Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also went unto the feast.
(46) "He came therefore again unto Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. (47) When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto Him, and besought Him that He would come down, and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. (48) Jesus therefore said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will in nowise believe. (49) The nobleman saith unto Him, Sir, come down ere my child die. (50) Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. The man believed the word that Jesus spake unto him, and he went his way. (51) And as he was now going down, his servants met him, saying, that his son lived. (52) So he inquired of them the hour when he began to amend. They said therefore unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. (53) So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house. (54) This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judea into Galilee."
Golden Text.—"The same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me." John 5:36.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) After leaving Sychar, where did Jesus go? Verse 43. Note 1. (2) In this connection what testimony did He give? Verse 44. Note 2. (3) How was He regarded by the Galileans? Why? How did they know of His works at Jerusalem? Verse 45. (4) To what city in Galilee did Jesus first come? What notable act had He performed there before? What prominent person is mentioned in this connection? Verse 46. (5) What did this man do when he heard of Jesus? What earnest request did he make? Verse 47. (6) How did Jesus reply to the man's appeal? Verse 48. (7) How did the nobleman reply to this apparent rebuff? Verse 49. Note 3. (8) Then what assurance did Jesus give the suppliant? How was the father affected by these words? Verse 50. Note 4. (9) Before the nobleman reached home, who met him? What news did they bring? Verse 51. (10) What inquiry did the nobleman then make? Verse 52. Note 5. (11) What then did the father know? And what was the result? Verse 53. Note 6. (12) How many signs, or miracles, had Jesus now worked in Galilee? Verse 54.
NOTES.
1. "Two days" after the occurrence at Jacob's well, noted in last week's lesson.
2. Because "a prophet hath no honor in his own country," Jesus did not return to Nazareth, where He had been rejected so summarily on a former occasion. See Luke 4:16-30. This declaration of Jesus "sets forth the natural reluctance which many people have to acknowledge any wonderfully admirable development in one who has unostentatiously lived in their midst, and whom they have intimately known from childhood. At the same time, these same persons might become wildly excited over the pretentions of a stranger and an adventurer."
3. Jesus was not indifferent to the appeal of the anxious father, as His reply might indicate. But He was paving the way for doing more for him than he asked. He wanted to have the nobleman exercise a deeper faith than that based on a miracle of healing. The man had come to Jesus because he had heard of His wonderful cures in Judea, and had Jesus not healed his son, he would not have believed on Him. And this is what Jesus plainly told him, and His words had the desired effect; the reading of his heart convinced him of the true character of Christ, and immediately his faith was fixed upon Him as the Son of God, and his appeal was repeated from that basis.
4. As quickly as Jesus had read the nobleman's condition of heart and merely selfish purpose, just as readily he noted the change of heart and recognized the prayer of faith. He would not prolong the sore anxiety a moment longer than was necessary. So He far more than made up the time by assuring the nobleman that his prayer was answered already without His waiting to travel the twenty or more miles to Capernaum. And He is always able and willing "to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." Eph. 3:20.
5. The nobleman did not reach home until the next day. When told by the servants that the boy had recovered, he eagerly asked when the change had taken place. This was a test of the Saviour's words and power. And when told that it was at the seventh hour (1 P.M.) yesterday, he knew that it was simultaneous with his interview with Jesus. Evidently one thing that had surprised the family was the fever's abating in the extreme heat of the day.
6. The knowledge that the child's recovery had occurred at the very time Jesus had said, "Go thy way, thy son liveth," greatly strengthened the father's faith. Even had the healing by the agency of Jesus been doubted, there was still His supernatural knowledge of events at a distance simultaneous with their occurrence, which could not be gainsaid. And the rehearsal of the story by the father was sufficient, under the Spirit's impression, to convert the entire household, which, in an oriental nobleman's house, would be a goodly number of persons.
SWALLOWING LAND.
BOB BURDETTE tells us how to swallow acres of dirt:
"My homeless friend with a chromatic nose, while you are stirring up the sugar in a ten-cent glass of gin, let me give you a fact to wash down with it. You may say you have longed for years for the free, independent life of a farmer, but you have never been able to get money enough to buy a farm. But there is where you are mistaken. For some years you have been drinking a good improved farm at the rate of one hundred square feet at a gulp. If you doubt this statement, figure it out for yourself. An acre of land contains 43,560 square feet; estimating, for convenience, the land at $43.56 an acre, you will see that it brings the land to just one mill per square foot. Now pour down the fiery dose and imagine you are swallowing a strawberry patch. Call in five of your friends and have them help you gulp down that 500-foot garden. Get on a prolonged spree some day and see how long it will take to swallow a pasture land to feed a cow. Put down that glass of gin; there is dirt in it—three hundred feet of good, rich dirt, worth $43.56 per acre."
BACK NUMBERS.
By Editor
We have printed a limited quantity of the SIGNS containing the articles on the "Sabbath." These commence with the issue of January 4. While these last, subscriptions will be commenced with them if desired.
We can not furnish Nos. 1 and 2 of the Gospel series. We have a very limited number of Nos. 3 and 4. If any of our readers have even small quantities of Nos. 1 and 2 that they would like to furnish us, we would be pleased to hear from them.
A LETTER.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES,
Gentlemen:
Will you please send to my address 50 copies of the Signs of the Times for one month. We have moved from Atlanta to this place, and as it is a new field, I thought there was no better way of getting acquainted with the people and getting them interested in the salvation of their souls than by using the Signs of the Times. I will try 50 copies, and if I find I can use more will order them later.
Yours truly,
Mrs. C. Willeford.
The Bookmen in Council.
By Editor
The special work of Seventh-day Adventists, being a work that demands constant energy, and, therefore, frequent revival of effort, calls for numerous convocations for council and mutual help on the part of the workers. So the idea of a bookmen's convention for the Pacific Union Conference was conceived, and carried out during the week beginning the 15th and ending the 22d ult., at the new home of the Pacific Press Publishing Co., Mountain View, Cal. It was a representative gathering, and apparently did much to instil new life and zeal in the workers, and, we trust, will give a new impetus to the circulation of the literature of which the world now stands in so much need. All the features of the Gospel bookseller's work were discussed in a manner to bring out points of interest, new and old. In fact, the convocation developed into a live missionary convention on all lines. Reminiscences of former days, when book-canvassing was at its height, seemed to stir up a spirit of emulation that augurs better days for the book work, and for the circulation of our literature in general. Time was also allotted to the consideration of the medical missionary work and to the educational work, in which our leading physicians and educators participated. The convention was also made the occasion for several important meetings of the union conference committee. From outside the union conference, there were present representative bookmen, Brethren S. N. Curtiss, manager of the Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C.; J. E. White, of the Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn., and James Cochran, manager of the Pacific Press Branch at Kansas City, Mo.
How We Know God
To know God is eternal life, says the Saviour (John 17:3), and of old it had been said, "Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee." Job 22:21. How, then, shall we know Him, when His ways are so much higher than ours, and His thoughts higher than ours (Isa. 55:9)?—James gives us the key: "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you." But how can we draw nigh to One so far away?—Again the apostle tells us how: "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord [get lower in your own estimation], and He shall lift you up." Jesus Christ is the "way" (John 14:6), and "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them," Heb. 7:25.
Now let us note these simple tests, and all will be, or ought to be, plain: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death." 1 John 3:14. "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected; hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked" (chapter 2:3-6); and He kept His Father's commandments (John 15:10).
Happiness in Forgetting Self.
Happiness is not found by seeking it; for to seek happiness for ourselves is selfishness, and the selfish is never happy. Happiness is found when, in seeking to make others happy, we forget ourselves. In a recent letter from a dear fellow-worker, are these words:
Our best experiences are not found centered in or around self. Only when we forget ourselves in service to others, are we followers of Jesus. Some one was telling me the other day that the happiest Christmas he ever knew was when he had made up little presents, and trudged through blinding snow to carry them to those who were to receive them.
Let us forget ourselves in the service of God and humanity, and we shall find happiness.
COMFORT AND COURAGE.
By Augusta C. Bainbridge
Comfort for 1905.
Trials, seeming strange,
May press us sore;
But, He abides, no change;
Need we ask more?
Courage for 1905.
Victories are sure,
And sure reward;
For every ill, a cure.
Praise to the Lord!
Canada’s Anti-Cigaret Law
A most stringent anti-cigaret law is now before the Canadian Commons. If passed, it will prohibit the manufacture, or sale, or possession, or importation of cigarets, cigaret wrappers, or cigaret papers. The law strikes at one of the most debilitating, nerve and manhood-destroying evils of the present day, and it is to be hoped it may pass.
It Is Well Said.
By Editor
The editor of the California Christian Advocate, referring to Dr. Lyman Abbott's recent declaration of disbelief, well says: "It unmasks the whole school of evolutionary skeptics. . . . They want to eat the bread of the Bible, while they sow the fields with cockle and tares. . . . Rationalism begins mildly, and continues to widen its orbit until it breaks away from all standards and scatters into a meteoric shower. It usually denies, first, the miracles, then the authority of the Bible, then the divinity of Jesus Christ, and finally winds up its career in an atheistical display."
That is the unfailing trend of that egotistical system of Bible study which styles itself the "higher criticism;" and such pronouncements as that of Dr. Abbott's before the students of Harvard University, are the logical fruit of the system. They are not eating "the bread of the Bible" in a way that can satisfy soul hunger, or do them any lasting good. The attitude of such toward the Bible is fittingly described in the following words of Holy Writ: "Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have fed upon the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?" Eze. 34:18. When man takes it upon himself to enlighten his Maker, and rectify the work of His hands, there is no sacred apartment into which he will hesitate to go with his "strange fire" and foreign incense; and his course means just as certain destruction to himself finally, as did the action of Nadab and Abihu in the temple of old.
Miracles versus Righteousness
Miracles versus Righteousness.—Miracles are no evidence of truth; let the child of God remember it always. One of the special warnings God has given us in His Word is that just previous to Christ's coming, Satan will work "with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;" and that a class of people will be so deceived by him as to say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." In the first of these Scriptures it is declared that Satan will counterfeit the work of God. Wonderful power, and all manifestations of false signs and wonders will be revealed. Unrighteousness will be made to appear like righteousness; and every soul which does not love truth at whatever cost will be deceived. In the latter scripture, from Matthew 7, the Master draws the contrast, clear and forcible, between the miracles performed and the moral principles involved showing that above appearances God prizes conduct and character. What matters the prophesying in God's name, or the casting out of demons or the wonderful works when iniquity, lawlessness, is in the life? God wants righteousness above all things else. As individuals are qualified and able God will give them power to do wonderful things; but He demands righteousness of all, the righteousness which is in God's law, and which faith in Christ alone can apprehend.
Christ’s Kingdom Not of This World
Jesus rejected Satan's offer for the kingdoms of this world; He refused to allow the people to make Him a king; He expressly declared that His kingdom was not of this world, and as He walked, so were all those to walk who would be His disciples. How is it that so many of His professed followers are now clamoring for control in the governments of earth.
