THE German word “Friedensau” signifies a place of peace. This is the name given to the place selected by our brethren in Germany for the headquarters of their educational and medical work. Friedensau is in the country. It lies east of Berlin and south of Hamburg, in the vicinity of Magdeburg.
I believe that the enterprises established at this place, and the work they are doing for our cause in Europe, should be understood by all our people. Those who are acquainted with the small beginning of the undertaking, the many difficulties that have been met, the signal victories that have been gained, and the blessings that have been received by many of our fellow men in that part of the world, are able to appreciate the blessings of God which have attended the work from its inception.
In the fall of 1899 the brethren purchased a farm of some ninety acres, at a cost of about twelve thousand dollars. Most of the ground was then under cultivation, and had been for perhaps centuries. There were a few small ancient buildings on the place. One of these was a small brick mill that had been used for grinding grain. A pretty little stream flows through the place, and this supplied power for the mill.
It was my privilege to attend a camp-meeting at Friedensau in the autumn of 1900. At that time the brethren had just begun to develop the place. A school had been opened, and a small food factory had been started in the old mill. The school was under the direction of Professor Lupke, who has remained with the enterprise until the present time, and is still the head of the institution. When the school opened, there were no real school buildings. The classes were held in a part of the mill, and the students lived in the mill loft, and in temporary sheds called “barracks,” erected for the purpose.
THE FRIEDENSAU SCHOOL AND SANITARIUM
In the illustration accompanying this article there may be seen the school building now being used. This is a brick structure of three stories, with a good basement. The class rooms and chapel occupy the center of the building. The gentlemen’s dormitory is on the right, and the ladies’ is on the left. This building will accommodate nearly two hundred students on the plan of housing students in that country. The chapel will seat four hundred or more. It is a comfortable, practical, creditable building for school purposes.
The students who attend this school come from all parts of Germany, from German-Switzerland, Holland, Russia, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Syria, and Egypt. Every one who comes must present letters of commendation from some minister or church officer. Before they are admitted, the board of
directors pass upon all cases. It is the policy of the Board to secure the most promising young people in all the countries named above, and give them the education and training they need to fit them to labor for the extension of our cause in their native lands. One beautiful feature is the fact that poverty does not prevent any worthy and promising young person in those countries from attending this school and securing the very best that can be given. Provision is made by the establishment of varied industries for those without funds to pay their way, at least partially, by work. Then each year the Hamburg publishing house generously appropriates from three to five thousand dollars of its profits to the students’ aid fund. Thus provision is made for the young people of Russia and other countries where the young know nothing but the severest poverty, to rise to a place of
usefulness and honor in the cause of God. This is a grand, good work.
The sanitarium is only a few rods from the school. This institution will accommodate fifty or seventy-five boarding patients. Dr. Hoenes, who stands at the head of the medical work, is a member of the school faculty. The sanitarium is really a part of the educational enterprise. Those who are suited for the work are given instruction in nursing. As a result of this work, good nurses are being placed in Berlin and other large cities as medical missionary nurses. They are meeting with success as nurses, and are doing good missionary work as well.
The sanitarium has developed steadily and substantially from the first. At the time of my recent visit every room was occupied, and some were living in tents. No doubt other sanitariums will be established in different parts of Germany, but this institution will remain a valuable part of the educational work at Friedensau.
The food factory has done well from the start. At first our health foods were not known in Germany. The sales the first year were very small, but during 1904 they reached twenty-five thousand dollars. The manufacture and sale of foods representing this value provide employment for many of the students the entire year. The mill has been repaired, good machinery has been installed, and the factory now presents a busy, thrifty appearance.
In addition to these leading enterprises, there have been provided a steam laundry, a good dairy, an electric-lighting plant, water-works, and a fire station. The steam laundry has been fitted up with a full equipment of machinery. The dairy is a large concrete structure.7with modern sanitary arrangements. The electric plant provides light for all the buildings, and the water-works carries water of excellent quality secured from artesian wells, to the various buildings. The large vegetable garden will provide vegetables of every description for those at Friedensau.
All these enterprises represent an investment of about one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars. This entire amount has been furnished by our people in that part of the field. No loans nor contributions have been made by our people in America, unless it may be a small amount from the sale of German “Christ’s Object Lessons” in America. If I am not mistaken, the indebtedness on the entire enterprise is about fifty thousand dollars. This is being paid off quite rapidly, now that the building operations are finished, and the required facilities are provided.
The best part of Friedensau can not be expressed in writing, nor understood by reading. That is the personal experience of the founders, directors, students, workmen, and patients. This part of the movement can be known only by experience, and this is for those only who go there. But all are able to see that God has done great things for our people in Germany. We can see that he is still able to spread tables in the wilderness, and is doing it. We can rejoice with our brethren across the sea, and pray for the continued prosperity of Friedensau, that it may be a great blessing to our fellow men until our work is finished.
A. G. DANIELLS.
Our Work at Washington, D. C.
By A. G. Daniells
On returning to Washington after spending the summer with our brethren in Great Britain and on the Continent, I am pleased to find the various departments of the work at our headquarters making progress. The building being erected for the General Conference offices is enclosed, and is nearly ready for the plasterers. This is a plain, substantial, creditable building. It will provide light, well-ventilated rooms for the officers of all the departments of the General Conference who may be located here. As soon as the building is finished, a photograph will be taken for the REVIEW, so that our people may get some idea of the structure.
The Review and Herald building is being pushed to completion as rapidly as possible. The frame of the structure is up, and the work of enclosing is progressing nicely. The cut of this building which appeared in the REVIEW some weeks ago, has given our brethren some idea as to the general appearance of the new Review and Herald Publishing office.
The three school buildings erected last winter are now entirely finished. They look very neat and inviting. The second year has opened, and teachers and students are hard at work. The attendance is not large, but those who have come to the school are of mature age, and are here to fit themselves for work in God's cause.
Work has not yet been begun at the sanitarium building. The chairman and several other members of the Board have been absent from the city all summer. Now that the members are all here, plans are being worked out, and it is hoped that ere long the building operations will be commenced.
In the meantime medical work is being carried on in our rented buildings in the city. We find that the work being done at this sanitarium, and the circulation of our medical journal, Life and Health, are calling attention to this branch of our work, and a favorable impression is being made. Plans are being laid to do a larger work this winter.
Dr. G. A. Hare, who was called to Washington two years ago to aid in starting the medical work here, has requested to be relieved. Dr. G. T. Harding, Jr., has been chosen to fill his place, and Dr. Patience Bourdeau-Sisco has been added to the medical staff as lady physician. These new physicians come to us well recommended by those with whom they have been associated. Now that the heat of the summer is over, and Washington is filling up, our patronage is increasing. We have reason for planning for a good attendance as soon as Congress convenes.
The evangelistic work being carried on in the city during the summer has borne good fruit. We are earnestly praying that our entire work at headquarters shall be presided over by the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus has sent to take his place in his church.
A. G. DANIELLS.
Note and Comment
A NEW alignment of the powers of Europe is in progress, following the political upheaval caused by the Russo-Japanese War. A Paris dispatch states:—
The various proposed re-alignments of European powers are divided into three main movements: first, British inclination toward an accord with Russia; second, a German movement for an alliance offsetting the Anglo-Japanese alliance; and third, Russo-German overtures to induce France to join the latter group.
A significant feature of the prospective rapprochement between Great Britain and Russia, as reported, is that the former is willing to withdraw much of her opposition to Russia's progress along the Bosporus and toward Constantinople. Heretofore England has been the chief obstacle in the way of Russia's advance toward this coveted goal.
W. C. T. U. Resolutions
At the thirteenth annual convention of the W. C. T. U. of the District of Columbia, which closed October 4, a resolution was passed protesting against making Sunday a holiday, after the manner of the “European sabbath,” and also one calling upon Congress to provide an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting polygamy. As regards the Sabbath, the W. C. T. U. would do well to consider whether anything else but a holiday or a working day can be made out of Sunday, there being no act of God by which that day was made either a rest day or a holy day. If God has not sanctified the day, it can not be made holy by any act of man. As regards polygamy, there is reason for believing that the worst form of this evil is what has been termed “consecutive polygamy”—the product of the divorce courts and of the “pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness” of the moneyed class. The Mormon menace lies not so much in the tendency to practise polygamy, as in the move to obtain political control in the northwestern States, and thus to send a strong Mormon delegation to the national Congress.
War Fever in Europe
By L. A. S.
THE restlessness of the nations, stirred by the war spirit which springs from jealousy, ambition, and greed of conquest, is becoming a subject of frequent comment in the secular press. The following is from a London dispatch to the Washington Times of September 25:—
Europe just at present seems to be suffering from an attack of war fever, and an epidemic of international quarrels is sweeping over the Continent. No less than ten countries are engaged in making war grimaces at one another, and in some of the quarrels there is an element of seriousness that might lead to unpleasant results.
Germany and France have not been in accord over the Moroccan question, and while apparently a final settlement has been reached, diplomats consider that there is more or less seriousness in the situation. Russia and Finland are quarreling over the methods which the bureaucracy has adopted dealing with the grand dukes, and Austria and Hungary have apparently reached a crisis in their dispute over the subject of whether the Hungarian language shall be used in giving commands to the Hungarian soldiers.
At the same time Servia and Turkey have a dispute of their own arising from the raids made by Turkish troops into Servian territory.
Rumania and Greece are at odds over the attacks made by Rumanians upon Greek subjects.
L. A. S.
Order and Organization
By Ellen G. White
Lessons From the Life of Solomon—No. 5
Order and Organization
MRS. E. G. WHITE
OUR God is a God of order. Everything connected with heaven is in perfect order; subjection and thorough discipline mark the movements of the angelic host.
The Jewish Economy
During the days of Moses, the government of Israel was characterized by the most thorough organization, wonderful alike for its completeness and its simplicity. The order so strikingly displayed in the perfection and arrangement of all God’s created works was manifest in the Hebrew economy. God was the center of authority and government, the sovereign of Israel. Moses stood as their visible leader, by God’s appointment, to administer the laws in his name. From the elders of the tribes a council of seventy was afterward chosen to assist Moses in the general affairs of the nation. Next came the priests, who consulted the Lord in the sanctuary. Chiefs, or princes, ruled over the tribes. Under these were “captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens;” and, lastly, officers who might be employed for special duties.
Reorganization at the Beginning of Solomon’s Reign
In planning for the administration of the affairs of the kingdom, after David abdicated in favor of Solomon, the aged king and his son and their counselors regarded it as essential that everything be done with regularity, propriety, fidelity, and dispatch. So far as possible, they followed the system of organization given Israel soon after the deliverance from Egypt. The Levites were assigned the work connected with the temple service, including the ministry of song and instrumental music, and the keeping of the treasures.
The men capable of bearing arms and of serving the king were divided into twelve courses of twenty-four thousand each. Over every course was a captain. “The general of the king’s army was Joab.” “The courses . . . came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year.” Thus every group of twenty-four thousand served the king one month during each year.
David appointed Jonathan, his uncle, as “a counselor, a wise man, and a scribe;” Ahithophel also was “the king’s counselor. . . . And after Ahithophel was Jehoiada . . . and Abiathar.” Hushai was “the king’s friend.” By his prudent example, the aged king taught Solomon that “in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”
The thoroughness and completeness of the organization perfected at the beginning of Solomon’s reign; the comprehensiveness of the plans for bringing the largest number possible of all the people into active service; the wide distribution of responsibility, so that the service of God and of the king should not be unduly burdensome to any individual or class,—these are lessons which all may study with profit, and which the leaders of the Christian church should understand and follow.
This picture of a great and mighty nation living in simplicity and comfort in rural homes, every person rendering willing and unsalaried service to God and the king for a portion of each year, that is one from which we may gather many helpful suggestions.
Order in the Christian Church
There was order in the church when Christ was upon the earth, and after his departure, order was strictly observed among his apostles. And now in these last days, while God is bringing his children into the unity of the faith, there is more real need of order than ever before; for, as the Lord unites his people, Satan and his evil angels are very busy to undo this unity and to destroy it.
It is Satan’s studied effort to lead professed Christians just as far from heaven’s arrangement as he can; therefore he sometimes deceives even the professed people of God, and makes them believe that order and discipline are enemies to spirituality; that the only safety for them is to let each pursue his own course. But if we see no necessity for harmonious action, and are disorderly, undisciplined, and disorganized in our course of action, angels, who are thoroughly organized and move in perfect order, can not work for us successfully. They turn away in grief, for they are not authorized to bless confusion, distraction, and disorganization.
All who desire the co-operation of the heavenly messengers, must work in unison with them. Those who have the unction from on high, will in all their efforts encourage order, discipline, and unity of action, and then the angels of God can co-operate with them. But never, never will these heavenly messengers place their indorsement upon irregularity, disorganization, and disorder. All such evils are the result of Satan’s studied effort to weaken our forces, to destroy courage, and to prevent successful action. God desires that his work shall be done with system and exactness, in order that he may place upon it the seal of his approval.
The Result of Organized Effort
It is nearly half a century since order and organization were established among us as a people. I was one of the number who had an experience in laboring for their establishment. I know of the difficulties that had to be met, the evils that organization was designed to correct, and I have watched its influence in connection with the growth of the cause. At an early stage in the work, God gave us special light upon this point; and this light, together with the lessons that experience has taught us, should be carefully considered.
From the first our work was aggressive. Our numbers were few, and mostly from the poorer classes. Our views were almost unknown to the world. We had no houses of worship, but few publications, and very limited facilities for carrying forward our work. The sheep were scattered in the highways and byways, in cities, in towns, in forests. The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus was our message.
“Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,9not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: that no flesh shall glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
Our numbers gradually increased. The seed that was sown was watered of God, and he gave the increase. At first we assembled for worship, and presented the truth to those who would come to hear, in private houses, in large kitchens, in barns, in groves, and in schoolhouses; but it was not long before we were able to build humble houses of worship. As our numbers increased, it was evident that without some form of organization, there would be great confusion, and the work could not be carried forward successfully. To provide for the support of the ministry, for carrying the work in new fields, for protecting both the churches and the ministry from unworthy members, for holding church property, for the publication of the truth through the press, and for many other objects, organization was indispensable.
Yet the feeling against organization was very strong among our people. The Adventists generally, who had withdrawn from the churches of the various denominations under the call of the second angel’s message to come out of Babylon, opposed organization, and many Seventh-day Adventists were fearful that church organization would bring us under condemnation. We sought the Lord with earnest prayer that we might understand his will, and light was given to us by his Spirit, that there must be order and thorough discipline in the church,—that organization was essential. System and order are manifest in all the works of God throughout the universe. Order is the law of heaven, and it should be the law among God’s people on the earth.
We had a hard struggle in establishing organization. Notwithstanding that the Lord gave Testimony after Testimony upon this point, the opposition was strong, and it had to be met again and again. But we knew that the Lord God of Israel was leading us, and guiding us by his providence. We engaged in the work of organization, and marked prosperity attended this advance movement.
As the development of the work called us to engage in new enterprises, we were prepared to enter upon them. The Lord directed our minds to the importance of educational work. We saw the need of schools, that our children might receive instruction free from the errors of false philosophy, that their training might be in harmony with the principles of the Word of God. The need of a health institution had been urged upon us, both for the help and instruction of our own people and as a means of blessing and enlightenment to others. This enterprise also was carried forward. All this was missionary work of the highest order. Our work was not sustained by large gifts and legacies; for we have few wealthy men among us.
Our work has steadily advanced. What is the secret of our prosperity?—We have moved under the orders of the Captain of our salvation. God has blessed our united efforts. The truth has spread and flourished. Institutions have multiplied. The mustard seed has grown to a great tree. The system of organization has proved a grand success. Systematic benevolence was entered into according to the Bible plan. The body has been “compacted by that which every joint supplieth.” As we have advanced, our system of organization has still proved effectual.
In some parts of the work, it is true, the machinery has been made too complicated; especially has this been the case in former years in the tract and missionary work; the multiplication of rules and regulations made it needlessly burdensome. An effort has been made to simplify the work, so as to avoid all needless labor and perplexity.
The business of our conference session has sometimes been burdened with propositions and resolutions that were not at all essential, and that would never have been presented if the sons and daughters of God had been walking carefully and prayerfully before him. The fewer rules and regulations that we can have, the better will be the effect in the end. When they are made, let them be carefully considered, and, if wise, let it be seen that they mean something, and are not to become a dead letter. Do not, however, encumber any branch of the work with unnecessary, burdensome restrictions and inventions of men. In this period of the world’s history, with the vast work that is before us, we need to observe the greatest simplicity, and the work will be stronger for its simplicity.
Let none entertain the thought, however, that we can dispense with organization. It has cost us much study, and many prayers for wisdom that we know God has answered, to erect this structure. It has been built up by his direction, through much sacrifice and conflict. Let none of our brethren be so deceived as to attempt to tear it down, for you will thus bring in a condition of things that you do not dream of. In the name of the Lord, I declare to you that it is to stand, strengthened, established, and settled. At God’s command, “Go forward,” we advanced when the difficulties to be surmounted made the advance seem impossible. We know how much it has cost to work out God’s plans in the past, which has made us as a people what we are. Then let every one be exceedingly careful not to unsettle minds in regard to those things that God has ordained for our prosperity and success in advancing his cause.
The work is soon to close. The members of the church militant who have proved faithful will become the church triumphant. In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what God has wrought, I am filled with astonishment and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and his teaching in our past history.
General Articles
By Henry Mills
“Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Phil. 4:8.
“I Shall Be Satisfied”
Not here! not here! not where the sparkling waters
Fade into mocking sands as we draw near,
Where in the wilderness each footstep falters:
I shall be satisfied—but O! not here.
Not here! where every dream of bliss deceives us,
Where the worn spirit never gains its goal,
Where, haunted ever by the thoughts that grieve us,
Across us floods of bitter memory roll.
There is a land where pulses will be thrilling
With rapture earth’s sojourners may not know;
Where heaven’s repose all hearts will then be stilling,
And peacefully life’s time-tossed currents flow.
Far out of sight while yet the flesh enfolds us,
Lies the fair country where our hearts abide,
And of its bliss is naught more wondrous told us
Than these few words, “I shall be satisfied.”
Satisfied! satisfied! the spirit’s yearning
For sweet companionship with kindred minds,
The silent love that here meets no returning,
The inspiration which no language finds,—
Shall they be satisfied? the soul’s vague longing,
The aching void which nothing earthly fills?
O, what desires upon my soul are thronging
As I look upward to the heavenly hills!
Thither my weak and weary steps are tending,
Saviour and Lord! with thy frail child abide!
Guide me toward home, where, all my wanderings ended,
I shall see thee, and “shall be satisfied.”
—Henry Mills.
The Law and the Sabbath
By C. E. RENTFRO
C. E. RENTFRO
In a work loaned me by a friend here in Lisbon, I found some interesting statements which I wish to pass along. The title of the book is “Elements of Christian Theology,” by George Tomline, D. D., F. R. S., Lord Bishop of Lincoln,—Volume II, edition of 1815,—printed by Luke Housard and Sons, on the thirty-nine articles of the Church of England’s creed.
The comment on Article VII is: “No man whatsoever is free from the commandments which are called moral.”—Page 210. On the other hand, the moral precepts resting upon fixed and immutable principles, being founded in the essential difference between right and wrong, and being equally applicable to all persons at all times, will be binding upon every man to all eternity. And this, which appears from the whole tenor of the New Testament, is expressly asserted by Christ himself, in his sermon on the mount (Matt. 5:17, 18), in which declaration our Saviour evidently refers to the moral law; and all the moral precepts contained in the Old Testament are not only separately confirmed and enforced in the New, but many are extended to a greater degree of strictness and purity.
Another book loaned me, containing an exposition of the catechism, gives a few good statements. The title is, “A Practical Exposition of the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism,” by Henry Belfrage, D. D., minister in Falkirk, published by Wm. Oliphant, 1832, Edinburgh.
“Question 40: What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?
“Answer: The rule which God at first revealed to man for the rule of his obedience, was the moral law.”
Comment: “When it is said, in the answer to this question, that this was the rule which God at first revealed to man as the rule of his obedience, we must not suppose that it was either set aside afterward or is superseded by any other. The righteousness of God’s testimonies is everlasting. It was the vain boast of the laws of the Medes and Persians that they were unalterable, but they have passed away, as well as the thrones from which they issued, but no vicissitude can change Jehovah’s will, or modify or set aside the standard of10excellence, which he has framed. In the regeneration of the soul, the law is again written on the heart, but this is no new law, but is to be understood of the moral law, as exhibited to the mind in its purity, and engaging the love and homage of the heart by its excellence and power.”
Also, upon the question and answer concerning the fourth commandment, he gives the following: “The position of this commandment first claims our notice. It is placed at the close of the first table of the law, because in the observance of it, the best security will be found for the reverence of God’s name, and the most effectual preservative from idolatry and superstition. And standing as it does before the precepts of the second table, it intimates that in the united homage of this day, every kind affection will be cherished, and the worshiper will retire from the sanctuary disposed and strengthened for every social duty. Placed in the center of the commandments, it is like the heart in the human frame, from which the blood circulates over the body, and returns to it again, thus maintaining a connection with its upper and lower extremities, and influencing them all for their proper functions, and for the general good.
“The institution which this commandment respects is the most ancient in the world; it is as old as the creation, and was ordained for man, even in the state of innocence. It was intended to be the day of man’s brightest light, his most intense contemplation, and his unremitted praise. But while this day was thus originally set apart for the worship of innocency, it was destined to be the grand means of salvation to fallen men, a day above all others marked by the conversion of sinners, and by their advancement in knowledge, holiness, and peace. It is an institution which no policy nor power shall ever be able to set aside, and which, when earth and time shall pass away, shall issue in the rest, light, and sanctity of the heavenly state.
“The memento in the commandment of this commandment claims our notice also. The call to remember the Sabbath day intimates that this was no new institution, but the revival of one appointed long before, but which, during the bondage of Egypt, had been interfered with by the rigor of their taskmasters, or through their own degeneracy had fallen into neglect. It is the only commandment which hath this memento, and thus we are taught how prone men are to forget the Sabbath, and to appropriate that time to ourselves, which should be kept sacred to Jehovah.”
After a few arguments on one seventh of time, and a change to the first day, he says: “There is indeed no precept in the New Testament enjoining this change. . . . The last reason is his blessing the Sabbath day. And did he set apart that day for himself, and shall we break down the sacred enclosure which his hands have reared, and turn the hallowed spot into common ground? . . . And let us consider that for our treatment of this day we shall be called to account.”
These are good, sound statements of truth given early, in fact soon enough to have placed before the Church of England the privilege of giving the third angel’s message to the world. But another people has arisen to grasp the banner which began to trail in the dust, and to begin the march on the fortress. Yes, the last stronghold of the enemy, carrying on the warfare to a grand, victorious end. May the banner never be lowered until Jesus takes his people home.
Lisbon, Portugal.
The Eternal Word
By A. E. CHRISTIAN
A. E. CHRISTIAN
All things earthly are mutable. We pass away. Nations rise and decline. Art and literature have their periods of advance and retrogression. There is life and death on every hand.
Through the changes of time and environments “the word of the Lord endures forever.” It is his unchangeable truth. It is destined for all ages and adapted for all classes and conditions. No power on earth can supersede it or destroy it.
We now hear much about science. Many intelligent minds have used it to defy God's Word, while some tremble for the Bible with every new advance in scientific research. This fear is unwarranted. Nature and revelation have the same God, and there can be no conflict between them when rightly understood. God will see that his truth is vindicated. Researches in nature have developed no well-established fact to invalidate the Scriptures. It verifies the Word. Astronomical and geological records and explorations of Bible lands, have wonderfully corroborated the Scriptural accounts of the past. We need not be frightened by what skeptical scientists boastingly affirm. We should not be hostile to any true development of science. The more we know about God's laws in nature, the better we shall understand his Word.
This world has been subject to political changes and commotions for nearly six thousand years. But this does not affect the durability of the Word. Nations have changed their boundaries and forms of government, still the Word changes not. God says, “I will not . . . alter the thing that has gone out of my lips.” Many of these changes were plainly foretold in the prophetic word centuries before they came. These fulfilments are an undeniable evidence of the truthfulness of inspiration. Let us study it more.
Rapid and vast has been the advance of learning. Centuries ago the human race was steeped in ignorance. Knowledge was accessible only to a few. Now education is within the reach of all. Many and wonderful are the results of learning. Still it was not God's purpose that it should supersede his Word. Education is one means through which the gospel is to be carried to the regions beyond. It can act as a handmaid to religion, but can never take its place. There is a want in the human soul which nothing but the consoling influence of God's Word can satisfy.
The Bible still survives. Many a good cause has expired with its propagator. Others have been smothered by confinement in gloomy dungeons, by its persecutors. God's Word is independent of all human agents. It is still the grand, living Word of the unchangeable God. It works in its own time and way, winning victories when and where least expected.
Its vitality and immutability is very evident by the power to withstand all attacks of its enemies, pagan, Jew, or infidel. It has now won its way through scorn, contempt, and persecution, to earth's remotest bounds, and is lighting gloomy, godless homes in all heathen lands. It goes forth conquering and to conquer.
The Word of the Lord never fails; it invites our confidence, and guarantees our present and eternal happiness. Then, brother, sister, let us accept it as our guide and instructor.
Arvilla, N. D.
Faith
By J. F. BAHLER
J. F. BAHLER
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him.” Heb. 11: 6. We can not please God without living faith in him. A faith that will keep the commandments is the faith that is needed. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Rom. 3: 31. A faith that comes short of this is not a saving faith.
When justified by faith and through faith, we are made Christlike, because that justification embraces the keeping of Jehovah’s precepts. Faith never makes void the power of God’s word in our hearts, but it fixes, or establishes, the ten commandments in the heart of each child of God.
The Holy Ghost is a witness to the fact that God will put his law into our hearts, and sin shall have no more dominion over us, for the divine word shall control us, and thus our sins are remembered no more against us. “Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” Heb. 10: 15-17.
We should desire this holy condition, and should live and pray for it; for inspiration declares: “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11: 24.
Keene, Tex.
A Seed
“A WONDERFUL thing is a seed,
The one thing deathless forever;
Forever old and forever new,
Forever faithful and utterly true,
Fickle and faithless never.
“Plant lilies, and lilies will bloom;
Plant roses, and roses will grow;
Plant hate, and hate to life will spring;
Plant love, and love to you will bring
The fruit of the seed you sow.”
