SUNDAY, April 15, the beautiful buildings and grounds of the Loma Linda Sanitarium were solemnly dedicated to the service of God.
The exercises of the day meant much to those who had made many personal sacrifices in order to help secure the institution and set it in operation. During the forenoon, the friends of the sanitarium began to come in from Los Angeles and its vicinity, and from Riverside, Redlands, San Bernardino, and other places in the beautiful valley, in the heart of which is Loma Linda. The morning hours were spent in looking over the property that has so providentially come into our possession. At noon, a lunch was served on the lawn.
Early in the afternoon the people gathered for the dedicatory exercises. Seats had been placed on a gentle sloping lawn, under the shadow of a beautiful grove of evergreen pepper-trees. In front was a large improvised platform, on which were seated the speakers and the singers. The congregation numbered about five hundred. Among those present were several physicians and other leading men from the surrounding cities.
During the exercises, the people were told of the remarkable providences that had attended every step taken to secure the property. The purpose we have in view in the establishment of many sanitariums was also dwelt upon. I was present at the meeting only a portion of the time, and spoke with freedom for nearly half an hour on the advantages of outdoor life in the treatment of disease.
I tried to make it plain that sanitarium physicians and helpers were to co-operate with God in combating disease not only through the use of the natural remedial agencies he has placed within our reach, but also by encouraging their patients to lay hold on divine strength through obedience to the commandments of God.
In Deuteronomy we read: “Harken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live.” And when Moses, just before his death, had repeated the statutes of Jehovah in the hearing of all Israel, he declared: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live.”
Again he pleaded: “I have set before you life and death; . . . choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days.”
In his closing admonitions, Moses once more exhorted Israel to observe “all the words” of God’s law. “It is not a vain thing for you,” he declared; “because it is your life: and through this thing [through obedience] ye shall prolong your days.”
Physicians and ministers are to unite in an effort to lead men and women to obey God’s commandments. They need to study the intimate relationship existing between obedience and health. Solemn is the responsibility resting upon medical missionaries. They are to be missionaries in the true sense of the term. The sick and the suffering who entrust themselves to the care of the helpers in our medical institutions, must not be disappointed. They are to be taught how to live in harmony with heaven. As they learn to obey God’s law, they will be richly blessed in body and in spirit.
The advantage of outdoor life must never be lost sight of. How thankful we should be that God has given us beautiful sanitarium properties at Paradise Valley and Glendale and Loma Linda! “Out of the cities! out of the cities!”—this has been my message for years. We can not expect the sick to recover rapidly when they are shut in within four walls, in some city, with no outside view but houses, houses, houses—nothing to animate, nothing to enliven. And yet how slow some are to realize that the crowded cities are not favorable places for sanitarium work!
Even in southern California not many years ago, there were some who favored the erection of a large sanitarium building in the heart of Los Angeles. In the light of the instruction God had given, we could not consent to the carrying out of any such plan. In the visions of the night, the Lord had shown me unoccupied properties in the country, suitable for sanitarium purposes, and for sale at a price far below the original cost.
It was some time before we found these places. First, we secured the Paradise Valley Sanitarium, near San Diego. A few months later, in the good providence of God, the Glendale property came to the notice of our people, and was purchased and fitted up for service. But light came that our work of establishing sanitariums in southern California was not complete; and on several different occasions Testimonies were given that medical missionary work must be done somewhere in the vicinity of Redlands.
In an article published in the REVIEW of April 6, 1905, I wrote:—
“On our way back to Redlands, as our train passed through miles of orange groves, I thought of the efforts that should be made in this beautiful valley to proclaim the truth for this time. I recognized this section of southern California as one of the places that had been presented to me with the word that it should have a fully equipped sanitarium.
“Why have such fields as Redlands and Riverside been left almost unworked? As I looked from the car window, and saw the trees laden with fruit, I thought, Would not earnest, Christlike efforts have brought forth just as abundant a harvest in spiritual lines? In a few years these towns have been built up and developed, and as I looked upon their beauty and the fertility of the country surrounding them, there rose before me a vision of what the spiritual harvest might have been had earnest, Christlike efforts been put forth for the salvation of souls.
“The Lord would have brave, earnest men and women take up his work in these places. The cause of God is to make more rapid advancement in southern California than it has in the past. Every year thousands of people visit southern California in search of health, and by various methods we should seek to reach them with the truth. They must hear the warning to prepare for the great day of the Lord, which is right upon us. . . .
“We are called upon by God to present the truth for this time to those who year by year come to southern California from all parts of America. Workers who can speak to the multitudes are to be located where they can meet the people, and give them the warning message. Ministers and canvassers should be on the ground,8watching their opportunity to present the truth and to hold meetings. Let them be quick to seize opportunities to place present truth before those who know it not. Let them give the message with clearness and power, that those who have ears to hear may hear.”
These words were written before I had learned anything about the property at Loma Linda. Still the burden of establishing another sanitarium rested upon me. In the fall of 1903 I had a vision of a sanitarium in the midst of beautiful grounds, somewhere in southern California, and no property I had visited answered to the presentation given in this vision. At the time, I wrote about this vision to our brethren and sisters assembled at the Los Angeles camp-meeting early in September, 1903.
While attending the General Conference of 1905, at Washington, D. C., I received a letter from Elder J. A. Burden, describing a property he had found four miles west of Redlands, five and one-half miles southeast of San Bernardino, and eight miles northeast of Riverside. As I read his letter, I was impressed that this was one of the places I had seen in vision, and I immediately telegraphed him to secure the property without delay. He did so, and as the result, Loma Linda is in our possession.
Later, when I visited this property, I recognized it as one of the places I had seen nearly two years before in vision. How thankful I am to the Lord our God for this place, which is all prepared for us to use to the honor and glory of his name!
Loma Linda cost us forty thousand dollars. The original cost was over three times this sum. There were seventy-six acres of land in the tract, and thirty have been added since. As a sanitarium site, the property is a valuable one. The grounds have been carefully laid out, at great expense to the original owners, and are beautified by well-kept lawns and flower gardens. The extensive view of valley and mountain is magnificent. One of the chief advantages of situation at Loma Linda is the pleasing variety of charming scenery on every side.
But more important than magnificent scenery and beautiful buildings and spacious grounds, is the close proximity of this institution to a densely populated district, and the opportunity thus afforded of communicating to many, many people a knowledge of the third angel’s message. We are to have clear spiritual discernment, else we shall fail of understanding the opening providences of God that are preparing the way for us to enlighten the world. The great crisis is just before us. Now is the time for us to sound the warning message, by the agencies that God has given us for this purpose. Let us remember that one most important agency is our medical missionary work. Never are we to lose sight of the great object for which our sanitariums are established,—the advancement of God’s closing work in the earth.
Loma Linda is to be not only a sanitarium, but an educational center. With the possession of this place comes the weighty responsibility of making the work of the institution educational in character. A school is to be established here for the training of gospel medical missionary evangelists.
Much is involved in this work, and it is very essential that a right beginning be made. The Lord has a special work to be done in this part of the field. He instructed me to call upon Elder and Mrs. S. N. Haskell to help us in getting properly started a work similar to that which they had carried on in Nashville and at Avondale. They came, and are now laboring with all the powers of their being to do a solid work. They conduct classes regularly in the institution, and have established a Bible training-school at San Bernardino, from which center is extending an influence throughout this district. Prof. W. E. Howell and his wife have consented to unite with the forces at Loma Linda in an effort to develop the school that must be carried on there. As they go forward in faith, the Lord will go before them, preparing the way.
The One Hundred and Forty-four Thousand
By John Norton Loughborough
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH
(Concluded)
In “Early Writings,” pages 27, 28, we read: “I saw the sword, famine, pestilence, and great confusion in the earth. The wicked thought that we had brought the judgments upon them, and they rose up and took counsel to rid the earth of us, thinking that then the evil would be stayed.”
“In the time of trouble, we all fled from the cities and villages, and were pursued by the wicked, who entered the houses of the saints with the sword. They raised the sword to kill us, but it broke, and fell as powerless as a straw. Then we all cried day and night for deliverance, and the cry came up before God. The sun came up, and the moon stood still. The streams ceased to flow. Dark heavy clouds came up, and clashed against each other, but there was one clear place of settled glory, whence came the voice of God like many waters, which shook the heavens and the earth. The sky opened and shut, and was in commotion. The mountains shook like a reed in the wind, and cast out ragged rocks all around. The sea boiled like a pot, and cast out stones upon the land. And as God spake the day and hour of Jesus’ coming, and delivered the everlasting covenant to his people, he spake one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with their faces fixed upward, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of the loudest thunder. It was awfully solemn. And at the end of every sentence, the saints shouted, Glory! Alleluia! Their countenances were lighted up with the glory of God, and they shone with the glory, as did the face of Moses when he came down from Sinai. The wicked could not look upon them for the glory. And when the never-ending blessing was pronounced on those who had honored God, in keeping his Sabbath holy, there was a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over his image.”
According to Rev. 15:2, 3, we see that those who sing the song of victory over the image, etc., sing also the song of Moses. But in chapter 14:3 we learn that none can learn that song but the one hundred and forty-four thousand. In “Great Controversy,” page 649, we read: “None but the one hundred and forty-four thousand can learn that song; for it is the song of their experience,—an experience such as none other company has ever had. ‘These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.’ These having been translated from the earth, from among the living [those who are raised in the partial resurrection of Dan. 12:1, 2 are surely among the living when the final translation comes], are counted as the “first-fruits unto God and the Lamb.” “These are they which came out of great tribulation;” they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation [the climax of that trouble among the nations is when, under the sixth plague, the nations are rallied to the great battle. Surely the resurrected ones see that]. They have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob’s trouble [let it be remembered that these resurrected ones saw the time of Jacob’s trouble]; they have stood without an intercessor through the final pouring out of God’s judgments, but have been delivered, for they have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [the final of God’s judgments is in the sixth and seventh plagues, and these resurrected ones will see that]. They have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat, and themselves have endured sufferings, hunger, and thirst.” They, even the resurrected ones, see the earth, as it has been brought into this condition by the things mentioned, and in fact have actually experienced a part of the very things that are mentioned.
Of the final translation of God’s people we read in “Great Controversy,” page 645, “At the voice of God they [the living saints] were glorified; now they are made immortal, and with the risen saints are caught up to meet the Lord in the air.” It was true of the resurrected ones in the time of trouble that at the voice of God they were glorified, but at the actual coming of Christ, they, with those then resurrected, are caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So in their final deliverance they are “redeemed from the earth,” and “redeemed from among men.”
From the Testimony cited in this writing, we see that in 1849 the sealing work was going on. Persons were then being sealed, and Satan was trying to hinder the work. National troubles commenced there that would soon have9brought the final conflict, but the four angels had their commission to “hold the winds” until the servants of God are sealed. How can we reconcile that with the idea (which some have taught) that none would be sealed until the last decree of the image of the beast—that the saints shall be killed—is passed?
Again, the expression connected with the third angel’s message, “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them” (Rev. 14:13), is something more than ordinary, for it applies especially to those who die in the Lord, under that message. Of the expression, “their works do follow them,” some have said, “It means if they have lived a holy life, and sought to do good, the influence of this will be left behind them.” That has been true of all God’s people. But there is a special blessing on those who die under the third angel’s message. Let us inquire, What works have they engaged in? And what has been their hope? Was it not that they might be alive to hail the Master at his coming? If raised in the time of trouble, glorified at the voice of God, and translated with the saints at Christ’s actual coming as living saints, do not their works follow them? Do they not get what they set out for?
Now as to Sister White’s own case. It is true she has intimated several times, in her talks in General Conferences, that she might be called to sleep before the end, but let us see what is said of her case as connected with the one hundred and forty-four thousand. In “Early Writings,” page 14, we read of her vision of the new earth, etc.: “Mount Zion was just before us, and on the mount was a glorious temple, and about it were seven other mountains, on which grew roses and lilies. . . . As we were about to enter the temple, Jesus raised his lovely voice and said, ‘Only the one hundred and forty-four thousand enter this place,’ and we shouted alleluia.” It seems from what follows that she entered the place, for she gave a description of what she saw in it, in these words: “This temple was supported by seven pillars, all of transparent gold, set with pearls most glorious. The wonderful things I saw there I can not describe. . . . I saw there two tables of stone in which the names of the one hundred and forty-four thousand were engraved in letters of gold. After we beheld the glory of the temple, we went out, and Jesus left us, and went into the city.” She “went out.” Then she will, as seen in the vision, “go into” that temple. But recollect, “none but the one hundred and forty-four thousand enter that temple.”
On page 33 of the same volume, while viewing Saturn, she says: “I begged of my attending angel to let me remain in that place. I could not bear the thought of coming back to this dark world again. Then the angel said, ‘You must go back, and if you are faithful, you shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds, and viewing the handiwork of God.’” I never supposed that the decision of who should constitute the one hundred and forty-four thousand depended upon the possession of physical vitality sufficient to live without death until the Lord should make his second appearing. It would rather seem more in harmony with the Lord’s dealings with his people that those who sacrificed and earnestly labored in the beginning of the work, such persons as Elders Bates, White, Andrews, and Sister White, whose labors have been interwoven with the very life and progress of the message, should be a part of that company whose works follow them, and who will be a part of that grand triumphal company of the one hundred and forty-four thousand.
Then again, what you say of Ezekiel is all plain enough to me. As you quote, he “was left” by the men with the slaughter weapons. If some from the different ages of the world are in the company raised in the partial resurrection, how do we know but Ezekiel, the man who predicted the restoring of the breach and the seven last plagues, may be among those who stand in the last great test in the time of Jacob’s trouble, see the climax of the plagues, and himself “escape”?
Mountain View, Cal.
The Midsummer Offering
Suggestive Paragraphs by Various Writers
Have You Heard the Call?
As Dr. Barnardo, of London, the great philanthropist, was once standing in his front door on a bitter day in winter, a little ragged boy came up to him and asked for an order of admission into his house. To test the boy, he pretended to be rather rough with him. “How do I know,” he said, “if what you tell me is true? Have you any friends to speak for you?” “Friends,” the little fellow shouted. “No, I ain’t got no friends; but if these ’ere rags”—and he waved his arms about as he spoke—“don’t speak for me, then nothing else will.” So it is to-day. The great need of a perishing world, dying under its load of sin, and ignorant of the saving power of Christ, appeals to us for help.
God calls on us to-day to let our lives prove the truth of the message he has committed to our care to bear to the world. Shall one cry of despair pass unheard? Shall one appeal for help go unanswered? Shall the soul hungering for the “bread of life” be turned from our door as was Lazarus from the palace of Dives? “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord.” As God’s message for to-day is the grandest that was ever committed to men, so man’s need is the greatest that was ever known since sin entered this world. To the ancient seers it was given to bear many messages of love and reproof from God to the people; to John it was given to prepare the way of the Lord, as the sinner’s friend; the more joyous lot of the apostles was to declare his triumphant victory over death and the grave, but to us it is given to declare thrice glorious and most precious message of the Saviour’s soon return, and the consummation of the Christian’s hope. O brother, sister! does God’s approving smile rest upon us as he views our work at the close of each day, or must he sadly turn from us as from Jerusalem of old? May our money and our time be consecrated to this glorious work now, once for all, that we may hasten our Master’s coming. WM. GUTHRIE.
Our Present Duty
It is not by mere chance that this people has an existence. We are called forth from the world in response to prophecy to accomplish a definite work. Our mission is as extensive as this world that we inhabit. We must proclaim the everlasting gospel in this generation to every creature under heaven.
Each succeeding year the message has increased in magnitude, and missionaries are being located in the dark places of the earth. Macedonian calls are coming from land and sea, and we as a denomination are forced to respond to these calls, or else be recreant to duty. It is the demand of the hour, and we must, as a people, show our faith by our works. Not only should men be supplied for the needy fields, but means should also be furnished for their support. The laborers are worthy of their hire, and as this denomination hires them, upon it rests the responsibility of their support.
As the midsummer offering is for the extension of our missionary work, shall we not give liberally of our means for the spread of the truth? Every Sabbath-keeper should do his duty at this time. E. T. RUSSELL.
An Index to Our Faith
The time for the midsummer offering to missions is fast drawing on, and who is there in the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists who does not look forward to this date with pleasure? God calls for his people to arise and finish the work. The offerings of that day will be an index to our faith in the finishing of the work in this generation.
We can see in the movements of nations and the devastations of earth that the words of the prophet are true, and soon the work committed to this people will be ended. Every true believer in the second advent will be more interested in spreading the third angel’s message, and thus hastening the coming of the King, than in any earthly pursuit. If we find no desire in our hearts to help in forwarding the cause of God with our means, it is because this world has more attraction than the kingdom to come. God makes it easy for the true believer in the third angel’s message to give to his cause, for his promises are painted in colors that glitter. Every dark corner of this earth not yet entered is a witness against us. S. E. WIGHT.
Days of Privilege
Of all the years that have passed in the giving of this last message, and of all the burdens and responsibilities that have been borne by the Seventh-day Adventist10people, the days in which we live are the grandest, the most momentous; the burdens the heaviest, though fraught with the greatest victories; the responsibilities more sacred, made so by the magnitude of the work and the short time we have to finish it.
We have reached a time in our work when we should have hearts of steel so far as the sophistries of men are concerned, but as tender as an infant toward this great work and its workers. So, beloved, let us who enjoy the blessings of this fair West come behind in no gift that will hasten the coming of our King, and put an end to sin. June 30 is the time set for the midsummer offering for foreign laborers. Let us give liberally of our means for their support. The Mission Board has this in hand, you may say; but we are the Mission Board, and the men we have chosen to act for us can only do as we place means in their hands to do with. Let us give them a plenty on June 30. G. F. WATSON.
Help Now
We can labor personally for those around us by sacrificing a portion of our time; and those of us who find pleasure in so doing, would labor for others in distant fields could we reach them personally; but as hindering causes prevent, we can aid those who can and will go if means are furnished them. The means raised during the last thirty-six years to open up our work have been abundantly blessed of the Lord, and a vast amount of good has already been accomplished, but not one-hundredth part has been done compared with what we shall yet see.
It cost but a few hundred dollars to place our first missionary worker, Brother J. N. Andrews, in a distant field in 1874. Those who gave then, now look back to it with pleasure. Many faithful servants of the Heavenly King have been giving ever since, and as the result, hundreds are now laboring in all parts of the world, in dreary deserts and crowded cities. It annually consumes thousands of dollars to support our missionaries in all the various lands. The sun never sets on our workers, for they have encircled the world. The support of these numerous workers devolves largely upon those in this home field. We are living in the garden spot of the world for prosperity. The Lord has greatly blessed this country; work is plenty, and the worker is well paid for his investment of time, and thus all who work have some money.
The regular semiannual collection for our missionary work in the fields beyond will be taken Sabbath, June 30. Shall we not give liberally this month? Two classes will finally share in the reward,—those who have carried the message, and those who have furnished the means that it might be carried,—and both classes will rejoice to see souls eternally saved by the Master, through the efforts of the messenger and those who supported him. S. H. LANE.
Another Offering; Another Opportunity
By E. W. Webster
E. W. WEBSTER
Wife.—Husband, I have seen the announcement of the midsummer offering for foreign missions. The time is almost here; what are we going to do about it?
Husband.—Well, these offerings come so thick and fast, there are so many, we can't give to all of them. So many will be giving at this time, that our little mite won't be missed; we can hand in something almost any time. We may have to let this one go, and get ready for a good big offering next Christmas.
W.—But somehow I feel rather troubled about this particular offering. You remember that Elder Daniells said in a recent REVIEW that all the funds the Mission Board had to depend upon, aside from the Sabbath-school and First-day offerings, with which to feed and clothe our faithful foreign missionaries for the rest of this year would be what is given at this time. I heard Elder Hopeful say one day that while he and his family were in the islands, he went a whole week with only one cent in his pocket, among strangers, and where mail came from the States only once or twice a month. Yes, the Lord provided for them; but I was thinking, If our own Mary and Henry, who are so anxious to go to the islands, were there now, what would we do to help support the foreign work at this time, and next winter too?
H.—That is so, wife; and while you were talking, I was thinking that these offerings are precious opportunities.
W.—Yes. And each opportunity arises from a necessity, and they each come but once. The necessity of God's cause for that particular time passes, and the opportunity given to us by it is gone forever, and our reward is gone with it. Another necessity may arise, affording us another opportunity, but that other one is gone into eternity; and while we may have thought it not so important as the next one will be, the books, when opened, may reveal that we have missed the greatest opportunity of our lives.
H.—That is true, too. And I believe that it would be better for us to have a little part in each opportunity, rather than to have our offerings all piled upon one need. We shall then be sure not to miss having a part in each need and each opportunity; we shall not miss the pleasure and reward of any one of them, and in the end our help may amount to much more.
W.—Then, too, it seems dangerous to me, now at this late hour of the work, to miss improving a single opportunity, thinking to do more the next time. We may be disappointed, and have nothing at all to give next time. You know also, husband, that there will be many who will “plan to give next time” who will find that the very one they missed was the last opportunity God ever would give human beings to help his closing work, and they will wail because they missed it. I think we should improve each opportunity, even if we have but little to give to each.
H.—Now isn't that true? And how can we tell which opportunity comes from the greatest need? If others have been thinking as I began to think about this midsummer offering, then all might have misjudged the needs of this particular hour, and our dear missionaries in strange lands who are working so hard to warn the world as soon as possible of its coming doom and herald the coming of the blessed Saviour, without other means of support, might be left in want and distress, and the work be terribly crippled and retarded. We will give what we can this time, and next time, too; and we will pray that all our dear people may see it in this light, and do likewise; and we will follow our offerings with our prayers. Already I feel a new desire and determination to be more faithful, and also a greater interest in our foreign missions.
Greenville, S. C.
“The Ministry of Healing”
M. E. STEWARD
THIS volume is truly a treasure. We have read it through in the family, and half-way through again. It has been a constant surprise and pleasure to me. It shows thorough acquaintance with all our relations in life, both to God and to one another, advises on points that are overlooked by other writers, and gives such wise counsel that gratitude springs up involuntarily. No one can afford to miss a careful reading and study of these precious pages.
By the way, there is not a touch of an enfeebled mind about this very valuable book. Why should there be? God does not become demented by age, and his is the spirit of prophecy.
John was an old man when he wrote the Revelation, and still older when he penned his Gospel. There is not a weak point in either. Read the first chapter of John for sublime conception, or see the perfect adaptation of the imagery of Revelation to the objects represented, and then study John’s epistles for a reflection of the love and purity and loyalty of the spirit of Christ; yet John was between ninety and one hundred years of age when he wrote these excellent books. 2 Cor. 4:7, 16; Isa. 40:29-31.
“Ministry of Healing” is full of beautiful, sympathetic thoughts and passages, which cause one to feel that the writer knew perfectly well the subject under consideration. And such a range of subjects! The title of the book enlarges as one reads, and he realizes, as not before, that “ministry” is needed all the time, everywhere.
We are to remember that with God is eternal youth, infinite kindness, and perfect wisdom; and that his works, whether wrought through old or young, will ever bear the impress of his infinite mind, as we find it in “Ministry of Healing.”
Graysville, Tenn.
Doing Something
If you’re sick with something chronic,
And you think you need a tonic,
Do something.
There is life and health in doing,
There is pleasure in pursuing:
Doing, then, is health accruing;
Do something.
If you are fidgety and nervous,
Think you need the doctor’s service,
Do something.
Doing something will relieve you
Of the symptoms that deceive you;
Therefore, if these troubles grieve you,
Do something.
If you do not like the weather,
Don’t condemn it altogether;
Do something.
It will make the weather clearer,
Life will sweeter be and dearer,
And the joys of heaven nearer;
Do something.
And if you are seeking pleasure
Or enjoyment in full measure,
Do something.
Idleness! There’s nothing in it;
If you’re busy, don’t begin it,
’Twill not pay you for a minute;
Do something.
— Character Building.
Discipline
By L. A. S.
L. A. S.
DISCIPLINE is in the highest degree essential to success in life, and must include discipline of the spiritual as well as of the physical being. It is discipline that enables one to produce desired results. It is always discipline that enables a person to excel in any vocation. The skilled workman is one who has trained his hand, his eye, and his mind in his line of work by long and patient practise. The violinist has trained his arm and his fingers in like manner. Without such training, in the place of the most inspiring music there would be only rasping discords. With no skilled workmen, we should possess only the crude implements and dwellings of savages. All this reveals the value of discipline.
It is the disciplined army that wins battles and accomplishes the aims of its commander. A small body of disciplined troops can easily overcome a vast undisciplined mob.
Is it surprising then that discipline of the heart and soul should be appointed us by an all-wise Creator in this life? Is it surprising that discipline, severe and trying, should be necessary to fit us for the service of God? It is the disciplined souls through whom God accomplishes results. And those who refuse to submit to discipline, God can not use for his purpose. Therefore it is written: “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”
“No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” “The peaceable fruit of righteousness”—that is the result God has in view, and it is attained through discipline. Without discipline we could produce nothing pleasing to God; we could render no acceptable service. The hewing and polishing of the stone is disagreeable, but without this there is no place for it in the heavenly temple.
“Let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” This is a most essential part of soul discipline. “In your patience possess ye your souls.” It is through patience that we endure trial. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” “Here is the patience of the saints.”
Plowing Around a Rock
“I HAD plowed around a rock in one of my fields for five years,” said a farmer to a writer in The Advance, “and I had broken a mowing-machine knife against it, besides losing the use of the ground in which it lay, because I supposed it was such a large rock that it would take too much time and labor to remove it. But to-day, when I began to plow for corn, I thought that by and by I might break my cultivator against that rock; so I took a crowbar, intending to poke around it, and find out its size once for all. And it was one of the surprises of my life to find that it was little more than two feet long. It was standing on its edge, and was so light that I could lift it into the wagon without help.”
“The first time you really faced your trouble you conquered it,” I replied aloud, but continued to enlarge upon the subject all to myself, for I do believe that before we pray, or better, while we pray, we should look our troubles square in the face.
“Imagine the farmer plowing around that rock for five years, praying all the while, ‘O Lord, remove that rock!’ when he didn’t know whether it was a big rock or a little flat stone!”
“We shiver and shake and shrink, and sometimes do not dare to pray about a trouble because it makes it seem so real, not even knowing what we wish the Lord to do about it, when if we would face the trouble and call it by its name, one half of its terror would be gone.”
“The trouble that lies down with us at night, and confronts us on first waking in the morning, is not the trouble that we have faced, but the trouble whose proportions we do not know.”
“Let us not allow our unmapped trouble to make barren the years of our lives; but may we face it, and with God’s help work out our own salvation through it.”
Many a Christian has been plowing around a duty, a cross, a bad habit, and we know not what, for more than five years, afraid to touch or examine it, and it stands in the way to-day as it did at first. Rout it out, man! it is an easy job when you once take hold of it.—Selected.
For Mothers
By D. McLeod
CHILDREN need models more than criticism.
To bring up a child in the way he should go, travel that way yourself.
The sooner you get a child to be a law unto himself, the sooner you will make a man of him.
We can never check what is evil in the young unless we cherish what is good in them.
Stories first heard at a mother’s knee are never wholly forgotten, a little spring that never dries up in our journey through scorching years.
Line upon line, precept upon precept, we must have in a home. But we must also have serenity, peace, and the absence of petty faultfinding, if a home is to be a nursery fit for heaven’s growing plants.
There are no men or women, however poor they may be, but have it in their power by the grace of God to leave behind them the grandest thing on earth, character; and their children might rise up after them and thank God that their mother was a pious woman, or their father a pious man.— D. McLeod.
Jesus, the Hope of the Hopeless
THIS world is full of hopeless people. You would not think so to look at them. They try to keep up appearances, to have a cheerful countenance, but down in their hearts it is all darkness, and when they open their hearts to us, as sometimes they do, they tell us that there is no hope in them. That is right; there is no hope in yourselves, no hope in anything that any man or any woman can do for you. But Jesus is able to turn defeat into victory, darkness into brightness, gloom into sunshine, and loss into salvation. First of all, Jesus is able to forgive everybody’s sins. Just as surely as Jesus gets into any home, the neighbors will find it out.—Selected.