Earlier text: DWELL DEEPNotes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy
By W. A. S.
The Hand of God in History — No. 17
Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy
The Triumph of the Two Witnesses
It came about according to the prophecy:— "The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them [the two witnesses], and shall overcome them, and kill them. . . . And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry." Rev. 11:7, 10. All are familiar with the facts of the national denial and repudiation of the God of the Holy Scriptures and the setting up of "the worship of reason" in France. Hebert voiced the awful heights of blasphemy when he declared in the National Convention: "God does not exist. I demand that the worship of reason be substituted in his stead." The Papacy had exalted itself in the place of God through the centuries, and had wrought its persecutions and iniquities in the name of God; and in seeking to strike down oppression, deluded men struck at the God of heaven himself. Atheism was supreme. Not only did it turn upon Romanists, but upon French Protestants as well, a remnant of whom had outlived the persecutions of the papal rule. Those who were known to stand loyally for the religion of the Bible were marked for death. Lorimer says:— Indeed the Protestants who would not go the length of the Revolutionists were subjected to the cruelest treatment. In the department of Gard alone the slaughter was wide-spread. During the Reign of Terror the Protestants were as much oppressed and persecuted as the Catholics. . . . Out of one hundred fifty guillotined in the district of Gard [in a given time], one hundred seventeen were Protestants.—Historical Sketch of the Protestant Church in France, page 531. The warfare was carried on against every outward badge of religion; and the Holy Scriptures were put to the flames. Joseph Galloway, of London, watching events at the time with other Bible students, wrote in 1802:— That the prophecy respecting the conquest and death of the two witnesses might literally as well as figuratively be fulfilled, the commissioners of the convention dressed up an ass, and loading it with the symbols of Christianity, led it in mock procession with the Old and New Testaments tied to its tail, and burned them to ashes amidst the blasphemous shouts and acclamations of the deluded multitude.—Commentaries, Vol. I, page 113. Lorimer describes a similar scene at Lyons. There was great rejoicing over this repudiation of God and his Holy Word. Festivals were instituted to celebrate the triumph of reason, and ballrooms and theaters were crowded with those who were making merry because the reproving witness of Christianity had been put away. The prophecy had declared the next step in the story:— "And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves." Outside influences, according to this, were to be raised up to restrain the fury let loose from the bottomless pit. The nations round about looked on with horror at the outbreak of lawlessness in those days of the Terror. A league was formed7 by various governments to resist the spread of disorder. Whatever the mixed motives of this league, the attitude of the nations caused the French leaders to set themselves to check the most frenzied excesses of impiety. Within a few weeks after the wild scenes attending the establishment of the worship of reason, Robespierre laid before the National Convention an address to the people of Europe in reply to a manifesto of the kings representing the league. He declared:— They represent us as a mad and idolatrous nation. They lie. The French people and their representatives respect all forms of religious worship and do not proscribe any.—Record of the Convention for Dec. 5, 1793. Thus the force of outside public opinion restrained the hands lifted against divine revelation just as the prophecy concerning the slaying of the two witnesses had foretold. The prophecy continues:— "And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. . . . And the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven." According to the constant use of the day for a year in symbolic prophecy, this three days and a half signifies three years and a half, the time assigned to this proscription of the two witnesses. In a history of Europe covering this period, W. H. Hutton says:— On Nov. 26, 1793, the convention, of which seventeen bishops and some clergy were members, decreed the abolition of all religion.—The Age of Revolution, page 256. Allowing the few days necessary for this decree to be published in the provinces, it was three and a half years later that Camille Jordan, in the National Convention, made his speech for complete reversal of policy (June 15, 1797). W. M. Sloane says of this speech:— Declaring that religion should no longer be proscribed, but protected, he reiterated the solemn promise that worship should be free in France. In his peroration he called for the restoration of all the outward symbols of faith.—French Revolution and Religious Reform, page 229. In this speech all penal laws against religious profession and exercise were abrogated. The open Bible was free to bear its witness in France. The blessed Word of God could not be destroyed. It "liveth and abideth forever." The two witnesses were exalted only the more gloriously, even to the heavens, before the eyes of the people. Many believers saw in these events the fulfilment of prophecy. Skepticism and unbelief were for the moment, at least, affrighted. From that same time, the providence of God began in a special manner to raise up agencies for the spreading abroad of his Holy Word as never before. The Scottish author, Lorimer, who wrote not many years after the Revolution, tells how an overruling Providence caused the wrath of man to praise him, and wrought "glory to the God of heaven" out of these events:— Infidelity, produced in a great measure by the unfaithfulness of the church, is pictured forth in blood before her eyes. The event is sanctified to many. Thousands begin to turn to God for safety, and to think seriously of religion. . . . The consequence is, that at the very time when Satan is hoping for, and the timid are fearing, an utter overturn of true religion, there is a revival, and the gospel expands its wings and prepares for a new flight. It is worthy of remembrance that the year 1792, the very year of the French Revolution, was also the year when the Baptist Missionary Society was formed, a society which was followed during the succeeding, and they the worst, years of the Revolution, with new societies of unwonted energy and union, all aiming, and aiming successfully, at the propagation of the gospel of Christ, both at home and abroad. What withering contempt did the great Head of the church thus pour upon the schemes of infidels. And how did he arouse the careless and instruct his own people, by alarming providences, at a season when they greatly needed such a stimulus.—Historical Sketches of the Protestant Church in France, page 522. The ending of the great prophetic period of the 1260 years saw the Word of God exalted, and the Papacy stricken a deadly blow which advertised the ending of its long reign of special supremacy. The world entered a new era. The Teachings of Jesus
By C. M. S.
CONCERNING the teachings of Jesus the higher criticism puts forth the proposition that they were molded by the customs and the prevailing thought of his time. It is one of the most groundless charges that has ever been made against the person and work of Jesus, and in view of the divinity of the person against whom it is made, we may say that it is one of the most blasphemous. The purpose of the proposition is to rob him of his divinity, to rob his teachings of their influence upon human hearts, to hide the Saviour from a perishing world, and to blind men’s minds even to the need of a divine sacrifice for them. If they can prove that Jesus thought after the manner of his time, they make him a mere human, and himself in need of a savior. If they can prove that he saw "with the eyes of his age," they make him one who could not even interpret aright the law of God, much less exemplify its teachings in his life. If he thought and taught after the manner of his times, he never could have been the power that he was and has been to lift men out of their surroundings, out of the teachings of their times—out of themselves. Because he did not so teach, he has become the magnet that has lifted souls out of the most adverse conditions, and enabled them to perfect characters reflecting the glory of God. Because he did not so teach, his teachings have so laid hold of the hearts of men and women, and even children, that they have faced threatened death in multitudinous forms rather than turn aside from the living pathway of eternal truth. But, turning aside from an argument of contingencies, let us listen to the teachings of Jesus himself in this regard, and also note whether he reflected the customs and the teachings of his times. He says of his teachings: "The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me." John 14:24. Then are the words of the Father also tinctured with the human teachings of the times of Christ? It would have to be so if Jesus’ teachings were tinctured with the thought and teaching of his time; for he was teaching the very words of the Father. Surely, not even a higher critic will be so bold as to make such a terrible charge. Nevertheless, it is all involved in the charge they bring against Jesus and his work. Again he says: "I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." And he reiterates it: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." John 17:14, 16. How much does this passage teach that either Jesus or his followers were conforming to the world, or teaching as the world taught? The world hated them because they were not doing as it did and teaching as it taught. If the charge of the higher critics were true, the opening clause of the last quotation should have read: "I have given them my own words, modified by their own thoughts and teachings." He also should have said: "The world loves them, because they are conformed to it and molded by its thought. . . . They are of the world, even as I am of the world, and influenced by its thought and customs." The whole animus of such teachings is directly contrary to the character, the business, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Had Jesus been teaching in harmony with the teachings of those times, or had he been influenced by them, his teachings would have created neither stir8 nor astonishment. But what is the fact in the case? "When Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching: for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." Matt. 7:28, 29. This shows that there was a direct opposition between his teachings and the teachings of his time. It was this very fact that filled the scribes and Pharisees with hatred against him; and it was this fact that inspired them to persecute his followers, dispersing them from Jerusalem, and following them even beyond the boundary of Palestine. Christ could have escaped the cruel death he suffered, and his followers could have escaped their persecutions, had they been willing to conform to the teachings and the customs of their time. The Record declares concerning Christ that he "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." Now the query arises, Having emptied himself, by whom or by what was he filled? If his teachings were in consonance with, and molded by, the teachings and the customs of his time, then it was with the teachings and the customs of his time that he was filled, rather than with the words and the will and the instructions of the Father. Concerning this, the Word declares of Christ: "Lo, I am come; in the roll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." Ps. 40:7, 8. That purpose to do the will of the Father, without any regard whatever to other influences, filled the entire life of Jesus Christ. "I am come down from heaven," said Jesus, "not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." John 6:38. Filled with this fulness, and maintaining this uncompromising attitude, Jesus Christ went about the mission which brought him to this world. He healed the sick; he raised the dead to life; he cast out demons; he cast out from the temple of God those who would turn it aside from the purpose God designed it should accomplish. Teaching as he did, living as he did, and dying as he did, he became the long-looked-for Redeemer of the race. Emptied of self, he was filled with the fulness of God, and we are complete in him, and in him alone. To have professed Christians teaching such a proposition as that herein referred to, is one of the master-strokes of Satan reserved for the last days, the crisis of the conflict. It is a challenge to Heaven, and yet it goes forth from the very altar of buildings dedicated to God's service. It comes from those purporting to be the exponents of the inspired Word, and yet it robs that Word of its inspiration, and makes the Son of God indebted to men for the message he gave to perishing humanity. In fact, there is, according to that interpretation of the gospel, no such thing as "perishing humanity;" but divinity in humanity, working out its own salvation and working upward to the skies. Such is the challenge that Satan has flung out to the last generation; and like a cancerous growth it is spreading through the living tissue of the church body, eating away at the vitals of professed Christianity, and sealing the doom of thousands of its individual members. While paganism, Catholicism, Christian Science, and Spiritualism are attacking the gospel message from without, higher criticism attacks it from within. Is it any wonder that our Saviour asked: "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" A Protestant Awakening
By Editor
The Herald of Gospel Liberty takes issue with the charge made by Roman Catholics that Catholicism is succeeding where Protestantism is failing. It believes that there is coming into the Protestant church a great awakening, at least with respect to the danger of Romanism. As quoted by the Herald and Presbyter of July 10, 1912, it says:— In recent tilts between Roman Catholics and Protestants we have observed a tendency on the part of Catholics to declare the failure of Protestantism: by every innuendo and insinuation they seem to be saying all the while, "We are succeeding; the Protestants are failing." No doubt they wish it that way, but wishing it will not make it so. If Protestants will be true to their Heaven-given mission, all Catholicism can not destroy it; and we are glad to say that within the limits of the last year there has been a mighty awakening among the Protestants to the dangers of Catholicism. At this time the tide of opposition is rising, till it looks as if it may be a repetition of the resistance in other countries, if not as it was in the days of Luther. Note and Comment
By Editor
According to the Jewish Criterion of June 28, 1912, the salaries of ministers in the United States average as follows:— The average salary of all ministers of all denominations in the United States is $1,223 for cities over 300,000 population; $1,110 for cities of 100,000 to 300,000; $1,063 for cities of 50,000 to 100,000; $972 for cities of 25,000 to 50,000; and $573 for all other places. Changing Denominations
By Editor
SPEAKING of the great religious unrest that is sweeping men away from the old-time standards of faith, the Cumberland Presbyterian Banner says:— The immigration of Methodist ministers to other churches has been very pronounced of late. In a recent Congregational installation service of Spokane, Wash., it is said that seven of the nine Congregational pastors present were former Methodists. In other parts of the country the same movement has been noticeable. It is not a healthy sign when ministers are at unrest, and are so easily changing their denominational relations. Of the danger of the church entering into the competition with the world and worldly organizations, the Methodist Recorder says:— There has not been a period in the history of the Christian dispensation when there were so many efforts to induce the church to enter into competition with other organizations as now. It is a moment of crisis. If the church can be kept to its own mission, then her victory is assured. If she answers the many voices that are now calling to her, and goes out into the world to compete with all sorts of human organizations in all sorts of work, then her power is declining, and will decline till she be brought back to her Lord's own appointed way and work. SPEAKING of the question, which is being raised in many quarters, "Is America to become Catholic?" the Christian Witness and Advocate of Bible Holiness says:— It is undoubtedly a danger which threatens our nation. Indeed, it is more than a hope upon the part of the Catholic Church itself; it evidently is purposing to make the United States of America "the first Catholic nation of the world." This paper, however, feels that there is little to fear from this danger. It adds:— If the American Protestant church will welcome back the Holy Spirit, she can easily reach these Romanists who have come to our shores; in any case she can take care of our own home-born people, and save the balance of power to God and the true church. All depends on the attitude of the church to God. This is indeed true. If the great Protestant church would be true to its profession, if it would cry out against Roman abuses as it did in the days of Luther, if it would hold aloft the banner of the cross of Christ and proclaim the liberty there is in him, there would be very little danger that America would become Catholic. But with a lowering of the old-time standards of Christianity, with a lessening of spiritual power, with a truckling to Roman principles and patronage, Protestantism itself is becoming the prey of its erstwhile enemy. It can not give to others what it does not possess itself. The giving of God's message for to-day, as found in Rev. 14:6-14, will bring healing to the church. This is the work to which God calls it. God's ear is ever open the faintest call to hear;
Then do not be disheartened when trials hard appear.
Though you are weak and failing, God's word is always sure,
And trusting him, he'll give you the faith that will endure. The work of many shows us the Lord can use the weak;
He helps the faint have courage, the slow of speech to speak. Wherever you are working, the Lord has angels still;
And if you stand like Daniel, they'll help you do His will.
God says success is certain to those who with him work,
Not now and then, but "all the time," and never duty shirk. God's work will surely triumph. Let's trust him then, and say,
"I'll trust him though he slay me." Let self die every day. The Lord says, "I am with thee," "Fear not," "I am thy God;"
"I'll help thee, and uphold thee;" "I all the path have trod."
Then do not be discouraged, though oft the way is drear;
He'll lead his own to victory. He says, "Be of good cheer." "Unto the Uttermost Part of the Earth"
By J. N. Anderson
IT is fully nineteen hundred years since Jesus gave his command to carry the gospel of divine love and salvation to "all the world." Then, as now, it could be said that "the field is the world," though with this difference, the entire world was then foreign mission territory. About one hundred years ago the era of modern missions began. Europe and America had become nominally Christian; Africa and Asia and the islands of the Pacific remained heathen and untouched. A mighty missionary impulse suddenly seized the entire Protestant church to send the living missionary with the Bible in the vernacular into every nook and corner of heathendom. This was the birth of the world missionary movement of to-day. As the correlative of this missionary movement, the advent movement set in about six decades ago, animated by the same spirit and identical in scope. The preaching of the gospel in the whole world is the sign and the condition of Christ's coming and kingdom. When the message of "repentance and remission of sins," and the "all things" enjoined by Jesus, shall have been preached in the "uttermost part of the earth," then it will be both possible and necessary for God to send "Jesus: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things." The present is a fitting time to review the past, to take an inventory of missionary achievements in relation to the masses of humanity, and thus get a clear and intelligent conception of the unfinished part of the task laid upon us by our Lord. We believe the present is the eleventh hour of human history, and that the last and final hour will strike when the gospel has gone to all the world. The Scriptures so testify, and in the very nature of things it must be so. The bringing in of the kingdom is the blessed goal of missions, of Christianity, of Christ's soul travail, of God himself in his eternal purpose for man. For this consummation every Christian, especially if he believes in the near approach of the advent, devoutly prays and labors. But what are the actual facts as to the status of world missions to-day? Among the great mass of Christians the belief prevails that the entire round world has been entered and quite fully occupied. Foreign missions (Protestant) to-day are represented by a force of about 23,000 foreign missionaries, 88,542 native workers located at 49,579 stations and out-stations, seconded by a body of 2,304,318 communicant members and an approximate body of 5,000,000 adherents. This force of living power is well distributed in all the main divisions of the non-Christian world, yet the pathetic fact remains that the heart of the two greatest continents (Asia and Africa), together with a score or more of smaller fields or sections of fields, is still untouched. These unreached portions of the earth are, as a matter of course, the most inaccessible physically, intellectually, and morally in the world-field, the very citadel of Satan's kingdom because of the prevailing moral degradation and spiritual darkness. These vast stretches in the heart of the two greatest continents are left out of the count by most persons, largely because they are unknown geographically, and because politically and commercially the outside world has little dealing with them. Central Asia, known as the "roof of the world," the watershed of the largest continent, is a great region of country lying between the Nearer and Farther East, with India on the south and the Siberian steppes on the north. Three great empires, India, Russia, and China, meet here. "Less known than Central Africa and in some places less thoroughly explored, it constitutes a vast area of ghastly deserts and fertile oases, of parched plains and navigable rivers, of perpetual snow and perpetual drought." The population is a great medley of races and tribes whose moral and spiritual degradation is appalling. The religion of the false prophet dominates that whole section, except Tibet, socially, intellectually, and spiritually, as absolutely as it does North Africa. The following survey of this region, given in the Report of the World Missionary Conference (1910), is a graphic picture of its vastness and its need of the gospel:— "Starting in Manchuria at approximately 125° east latitude, the province of Hilung-Chiang contributes 1,500,000 who are without any missionary provision whatever. Moving westward, the needs of at least 2,500,000 of nomad Mongols come into view, who live in the desert of Gobi and the stretches of Mongolia. Still westward lies the Chinese province of Sin-Kiang, including Chinese Turkestan, Kulja, Sungaria, and outer Kan-su, with a population of over 1,000,000. The establishment of three small mission outposts within this vast territory, at Yarkand, Kashgar, and Urumtsi, alone prevents its entire inclusion in this vast sweep of unrelieved darkness. Southward, through Kan-su, Tibet is reached. Here there are about 6,000,000 persons as yet wholly destitute of missionary ministrations. Westward is Afghanistan, with 4,000,000, and north of Afghanistan, Bokhara and Khiva, which, together with the Mohammedans of Russian Turkestan and Russia proper, represent a population of at least 20,000,000, all of them without a missionary." Here, then, is a population of 35,000,000 scattered over an area fully equal to that of the entire United States, which, with the exception of the three small missionary outposts, is not only unentered, but outside the scheme of actual and immediate plans and hopes of all Protestant missionary societies. There are, indeed, many physical difficulties to oppose the missionary pioneers into this unreached stretch of territory, yet on the other hand there are large sections of it where the march of Western civilization has made ready the highways of the King by the construction of railways, telegraph lines, and military preparations. Caravan routes are common, and in some places up-to-date steamboat service is available. Nor is this all; their physical destitution and misery is a door of entrance for the gospel of spiritual healing. The following utterance is to the point: "One remark is applicable to all the tribes that lie beyond the Indian frontier, to the Mohmands and Shinwaris, to the Kohistanis and the Chitrals, to the inhabitants of Swat and Dir, of Hunza and Yasin, that they are all to-day without the help of medical science and skill, and would hail with uncommon thankfulness the arrival of10 the medical missionary with his dispensary and hospital, for the sake of which they would tolerate his Bible and listen to his exhortations, and learn to love the Saviour of all mankind." These facts, surprising as they may be, are not presented to discourage or unnerve, much less to weaken the faith of God's people, but rather that we may "look on the fields," and so become intelligent as to the actual missionary situation, and then pray, and plan, and labor with our minds full of information and our hearts touched with sympathy for the unreached masses in those distant lands of spiritual darkness. As a people, our cardinal doctrine of faith is that the gospel of the soon coming of Christ will be preached in all the world. What is the significance of the foregoing figures and facts in so far as our missionary hopes and plans are concerned? What bearing have they on our missionary giving? What have they to do with the education and training of the large number of young people among us who are soon to be the bearers of the message to all the nations? And what is still more vital, what do the unreached 35,000,000 of Central Asia have to do with us in the matter of the special preparation of missionaries? Would it not be a cause for rejoicing if we had a company of at least fifteen stalwart young men preparing to enter in among those needy millions? Why should it not be so? Washington Foreign Mission Seminary. Experiences Among Mohammedans in Turkey
By Mrs. A. I. Girou
ON my last trip from Smyrna to Constantinople, just after the war between Italy and Turkey had begun, I had the privilege of talking with a theological professor of a Mohammedan school in Arabia. The circumstances were these:— An ex-officer from Smyrna met this professor on board the ship, and was anxious to get some information about the political situation. He tried very hard to express himself in the few Arabic words he knew. Although against the etiquette of Turkey (I being a young unmarried woman at that time), I offered my services as an interpreter for the ex-officer, praying at the same time that this might be a chance for me to drop some spiritual seed into the hearts of these men. After a long interview with the ex-officer on political matters, the professor turned to me and inquired how I had happened to learn the Arabic. I told him that I also was in a theological school to interpret for our professors, and explained the work of our message. He was much astonished, and several times told me that all my knowledge of Arabic would be in vain if I failed to accept the religion of Mohammed. Again and again he invited me to accept this only true religion. How wonderful! I felt and expressed the same feelings for him, and from that minute promised my Lord to put forth all my efforts in a special way for the Mohammedans if he would open the way for me. As another helper for the Turkish field, Brother A. I. Girou was sent to Constantinople last September, to work mostly among the French-speaking foreigners. But the way opened for him also to hold a series of meetings among the pure Mohammedans. These meetings were begun by Dr. V. Pampaian, but were continued by Brother Girou, and with the efforts of some good colporteurs over forty Mohammedans were coming twice a week. Among them were hodjas, mollahs (different degrees of D. D.), writers, several students of right, medicine, etc. A latter-day prophet also should not be forgotten. I considered this an answer to my prayer, for I was employed to interpret for Brother Girou (now my husband). Although no decided fruit of these meetings has been seen, still good testimonies came from many of the hearers who saw that God is revealed in the Bible, and that that Book is the only guide of life. O dear readers, pray for these, that the fear of losing their temporal life may be taken away, and that liberty of conscience may soon be granted to this nation, so that they may serve the Son of God. We are glad to read in the REVIEW the testimonies frequently given of answered prayers, and I shall mention also our humble experience, hoping others may be encouraged. About two months ago, my husband began another series of meetings in the Asiatic part of the country, Scutari, for the Armenian-speaking people. These meetings were well attended, between 150 and 300 being present. The audiences consisted largely of young men, some of whom were great mockers. The schools are taught by materialists, and as a result, many are becoming infidels. In his first lectures my husband tried to show the errors of the theories of the evolutionists, taking them upon their own ground; that is, showing the true science against the hypothesis of the evolutionists. This did not please the students, and they asked for a meeting in which to present their views. My husband consented, with the condition that they rent a hall and pay expenses. This meeting took place on the evening of May 4, after the Sabbath, in the grand hall of Berberian College. That Sabbath all the brethren and sisters made special request before the throne of grace that the cause of God might triumph. And these prayers were heard. At the meeting, the president introduced a gentleman, a stranger to my husband, as the representative of the young students, who had felt rather weak to present themselves before the public. The representative himself was an evolutionist, an Armenian writer, and also a delegate of the patriarchy to the Turkish government for the political affairs of the Armenian nation. My husband then asked them for an interpreter, as I was feeling very tired that night. And what do you think? the most unique thing was to see his opponent advancing and offering himself as interpreter! The speaking lasted for about one and one-half hours, before an audience of two hundred or more. When the lecture was finished, and the time was given to the opponent, he took out his watch, and turning to my husband, said: "It is now late, and I had not thought that interpreting would tire me so much," after which he went to his seat. The students, of course, were not in favor of his excuse, and urged him to say something anyway, to which he replied, "But what can I say? How can I answer?" Finally he stood up and talked for about ten minutes, expressing his wonder that Mr. Girou was fighting against the evolutionists. To this my husband answered that it was because he was sure of the errors of the evolutionists, as well as those of the materialists, and because he was convinced of the truthfulness of Christianity. The president then closed the meeting with very nice words of approval of the faith that he had seen lying behind the words of my husband, and expressed himself in such a kind way that a stranger would have taken him for an Adventist minister or a colaborer. We acknowledge that it is neither our own science nor knowledge that turned this meeting for the glory of our Heavenly Father. It had been called in order to put the humble servants of God to confusion, but God, in answer to our fervent prayers, turned it into a victory through his Holy Spirit. To him be all glory. I may add also that several families in Scutari are interested in the truth. We have a good brother, a Bible worker, who is working hard with them, and we hope to see good results. Please pray for us. Australia—No. 1
By Morris Lukens
At every stop on our way from America to Australia, we were met and kindly entertained by some of our people. At Vancouver, from which port we sailed, Prof. K. R. Haughey, the principal of the Manson Industrial Academy, and E. R. Potter, field missionary agent of the British Columbia Conference, showed us many of the beautiful things to be seen in that city. After spending seven days on the Pacific Ocean, we were much pleased to find Elder and Sister C. D. M. Williams awaiting us on our arrival at Honolulu, and we were soon made comfortable in their hospitable home, where we enjoyed the good dinner prepared in a healthful and homelike way. Leaving Honolulu on Friday, Aug. 18, 1911, our next stopping-place was Suva, Fiji, where we arrived Monday, August 28. During these ten days we had cool, refreshing breezes, which made our journey while crossing the equator very pleasant.11 When we landed at Fiji, we were met by Elder G. G. Stewart and three native teachers, who took us over to their mission station at Suva Vou in a rowboat. Here we first saw a native village, where we have about fifty Sabbath-keepers. The chief of this village, with his wife, is now rejoicing in this message, and is one of our teachers there. One can not but be impressed by the extreme friendliness of these natives. Their countenances are expressive of happiness and peace, and they greatly love the missionaries who have brought to them the light of the gospel. Elder Stewart and his wife had just returned from a trip among the islands, and during the month they were away, Sister Stewart had not seen one white woman. How little we know the sacrifices that enter into a missionary's life! Not many years ago the inhabitants of this fair isle were cannibals in the very worst sense of the word; even now, there are living among our own people persons who well remember those dark days, and who themselves have eaten human flesh. With the entrance of the Word of God a flood of light has penetrated the dense darkness that so long enshrouded this group of islands, and many lives have been transformed. We have about four hundred Sabbath-keepers on these islands. We arrived in Sydney, Australia, Monday, September 4. The next day the union conference council convened. As the seasons here are just the reverse from what they are in America, this was spring-time; and it was pleasant indeed to be surrounded by flowers of every description, and by orange and mandarin groves laden with fruit, as was the case in Wahroonga, a suburb of Sydney, where our sanitarium and union conference offices are located. Among these beautiful surroundings our union conference council was held. Then came a visit to the Avondale school, where Prof. B. F. Machlan and his corps of teachers are instructing two hundred seventy-five students to become missionaries in the great island mission field belonging to this union conference. After spending about two weeks at the Avondale school, where it was my privilege to address the students many times, we were asked to assist at the New South Wales camp-meeting, held at Newcastle, in that state. Much of the presence of the Lord was felt at this meeting. From the first, the Spirit of God was manifest in the camp. A large number came forward at the revival services of both Sabbaths, seeking to obtain victories over besetting sins, and praying earnestly for ability to lead a better life, and live nearer to God. The reports from the various departments and from the laborers during this meeting, showed progress.