Earlier text: LET US BE KINDThe Triumph of God's Purpose
THERE is nothing that can fill the Christian's heart with deeper gratitude and purer, more satisfying joy than the knowledge of the fact that when redemption's work is finished, man will be restored to the rights which he forfeited in the fall, and to the position which he had held up to that time. In that fact is the triumph of the purpose of God; and that is cause for satisfaction. But to man there must be a feeling of personal restoration; for through Christ he regains what he lost in the gamble with Satan. The deed to his birthright is placed once more in his hands. The mortgage is lifted, never again to encumber the inheritance; and once more he can look into the face of Him who made him, with no intervening veil of sin and its consequences to hang between. Out of rebellion into obedience, out of variance into harmony, out of separation into reconciliation, out of prodigality into sonship, out of slavery into freedom, out of poverty into everlasting riches, out of self and into Christ,—this, all this, comes in the restoration. Because of disobedience the right to partake of the fruit of the tree of life was taken from man, lest he should continue to eat, and so make sin perpetual. But in the restoration that right comes back to him. In Rev. 22:14 we read: "Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life." The King James Version has it, "That they may have right to the tree of life," etc. In the beginning mankind had right to the tree as well as the right to come to it. It was for the service of mankind, and man would always have had right to the tree—ownership in it—if he had not been disobedient. Week's translation has it, "That the right of the tree of life may be theirs;" and the Interlinear Literal Translation reads: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that shall be their authority to the tree of life." While the last translation would seem to make the keeping of the commandments a passport to the tree, all agree in the thought of the restoration to man of the right which he forfeited in Eden, the right to come to, partake of, and possess the tree of life. The food of immortality hangs on its boughs; and when redemption is finished, and the prohibition against partaking of that tree is removed, man is back again in full possession of his forfeited inheritance. What a transport of joy will thrill the souls of the redeemed when permission is once more given to eat of that tree! To that company salvation is a completed reality, and the stamp of immortality is set upon their being. But that work in its completeness does not stop with mankind. The earth has shared in the curse, and it, too, must undergo a renovation. "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." The prophet goes on to say: "The voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Isa. 65:17, 19. Sin brought sorrow and crying into the world. The restoration removes all cause for sorrow. How great must be the transformation from the old to the new when even the remembrance of the nightmare of sin shall be wiped from the thoughts of the redeemed! The apostles Peter and John refer to this same triumphant climax of the work of God when they say: "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth;" "for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. . . . There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1-5. That is the glorious consummation of the long, patient, loving work of God in the earth,—a work that not only removes sin, but removes the very possibility of another such sad experience in the universe of God. The redeemed hosts can then shout, "Home once more! back into Father's arms!" C. M. S. Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy
By William A. Spicer
The Hand of God in History — No. 22
Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy
The Era of Bible Circulation
It is roughly estimated that already ninety-five per cent of the earth's inhabitants might be reached by the gospel in the tongues in which some portion of the Bible has been translated. This is the Book that speaks for all mankind. "It claims no climate, shuns no race;
While centuries depart,
It finds a home in every place,
And speaks to every heart.
"Time's finger can not dim its page,
No foe can cloud its light;
The ages pass; from age to age
It shines more clear, more bright." Dr. Henry van Dyke has given us this beautiful paragraph:— Born in the East, and clothed in Oriental form and imagery, the Bible walks the ways of all the world with familiar feet, and enters land after land to find its own everywhere. It has learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of man. It comes into the palace to tell the monarch that he is a servant of the Most High, and into the cottage to assure the peasant that he is a son of God. Children listen to its stories with wonder and delight, and wise men ponder them as parables of life. It has a word of peace for the time of peril, a word of comfort for the day of calamity, a word of light for the hour of darkness. Its oracles are repeated in the assembly of the people, and its counsels whispered in the ear of the lonely. The wicked and the proud tremble at its warnings, but to the wounded and penitent it has a mother's voice. The wilderness and the solitary place have been made glad by it, and the fire on the hearth has lighted the reading of its well-worn page. It has woven itself into our deepest affections, and colored our dearest dreams; so that love and friendship, sympathy and devotion, memory and hope, put on the beautiful garments of its treasured speech, breathing of frankincense and myrrh. Above the cradle and beside the grave its great words come to us uncalled. They fill our prayers with power larger than we know, and the beauty of them lingers on our ear long after the sermons which they have adorned have been forgotten. They return to us swiftly and quietly, like birds flying from far away. They surprise us with new meanings, like springs of water breaking forth from the mountain beside a long-forgotten path. They grow richer, as pearls do when they are worn near the heart. No man is poor or desolate who has this treasure for his own. When the landscape darkens and the trembling pilgrim comes to the Valley named of the Shadow, he is not afraid to enter: he takes the rod and staff of Scripture in his hand; he says to friend and comrade, "Good-by; we shall meet again;" and comforted by that support, he goes toward the lonely pass as one who climbs through darkness into light.—Century Magazine. The preaching of the gospel is the preaching of the word. "And this is the word," said Peter, "which by the gospel is preached unto you." The Word of God has done the transforming work in all the missionary enterprise that has marked the last century. And the missionary has been the translator. Some of our own Seventh-day Adventist missionaries have had a small part in this work at this late day. It is a wonderful thing when a tribal tongue begins to utter for the first time the words that are spirit and life.8 An Indian veteran missionary, William Arthur, pays this tribute to the noble army of missionary translators of the Holy Scriptures:— To a student fresh knowledge is always sweet; to a linguist a new word is always musical; . . . but to a missionary, as he consciously surmounts the difficulties of a heathen tongue, all the pleasures of gain, of improvement, and of learning are fused into one feeling of ardent happiness. His acquirements are not hailed by the noisy admiration of the crowd, nor by the stately approval of academic tribunals; but they are hailed by the warm voice of the angel who hath the everlasting gospel to preach. In gaining every additional word, or phrase, or idiom, he grows richer; and seems to draw nigher to the ascending Redeemer, that he may hear again his last command, that command which is at once the missionary's warrant and the world's hope. In conquering every difficulty, he uncoils golden wires; and in securing each new word, he sets another string necessary to complete the tones of the harp on which, before the heathen, he will celebrate Him who loved him and washed him from his sins in his own blood. . . . I can not utter, nor yet repress, the veneration with which such a boon to mankind inspires me. He that benefits his species is greater than he that pleases or astounds them. But to be the benefactor of millions, and that to the end of time, is a dignity conferred on few. Let others pay their honors where they will. The profoundest reverence, the liveliest thanks I may offer to creature, shall be reserved from genius, grandeur, heroism, but cheerfully rendered to him by whose godly toil a wide-spoken tongue is first made to utter the words whereby my Redeemer may be known, my fellow sinners may be saved. The deed is too vast for the chronicles of earth, too pure for the praise of men. Every letter of its record will be a regenerated soul, every stone of its testimonial a redeemed family, every note of its paean an angel's joy. He who can pursue the sunbeams, and trace, without one omission, every lineament of beauty they pencil on tree, and flower, and living thing, may tell the blessings that accrue when the light of life is flung on the pathway of millions, whom the darkness bewildered and destroyed.—'A Mission to the Mysore.' In many instances the translator has had first to reduce the language to written form, only a spoken language being known among the people. More than two hundred languages have been thus put into writing for the first time, during the century, in order that the Bible might speak its message of salvation. In 1804, when the first Bible society was founded, "there was not in any language a chapter of the Word of God which the blind could read for themselves." Now thirty-three different languages have portions of the Scriptures, printed in the embossed, or raised-letter, style, which the blind can read with the fingers. The reports of a hundred years and more supply many appealing stories of the way the Bible came to peoples and tongues that had been without it. It has come into communities like the arrival of a visitor from heaven. The first issue of the British society—appropriately enough—was the Welsh New Testament. The first shipment of five hundred was ordered sent to Mr. Charles, of Bala, the place where Mary Jones had wept her tears of grief and then of joy. The news that the books were coming spread through the valleys:— By the Thursday week, the whole country was wild with excitement, and people began to pour into Bala from the neighboring villages and hill slopes at an early hour. When the time came for the carrier to be at no great distance from the town, the people went out in crowds to meet him; the old mare, which had ever before been obliged to struggle with her load as best she could, was now relieved of it, and muscular farm servants pushed themselves into the shafts. Ropes were adjusted and manned and maidened, and the cart was literally swarmed on all sides; then the joyful procession proceeded toward the town, where they were hailed by crowds which blocked up the streets.—'Life of the Rev. Thomas Charles,' Vol. III, page 68. In 1810 the Moravian missionary, Benjamin Kohlmeister, returned to the bleak coast of Labrador, with the first Scripture portion, the Gospel of John. The little kayaks, or canoes, filled with men, women, and children, crowded about the ship, and with tears and shouts of joy the missionary and his Book were welcomed home:— The books were distributed in the winter, when all had come home from their hunting excursions; and as they were given only to those who could read, considerable progress was made by scholars of all ages. The people took 'St. John' with them to the islands when they went out in search of fish or game, seals, wild geese, or berries; and in their tents or snow houses they spent the evenings reading by the glimmer of the moss in their lamps of soapstone. But most they liked to gather in some large dwelling at nightfall, when they returned from the sea or the hunting-ground, and hear the Word of God read by some one, child or adult, who had been taught in the schools of the mission.—W. Canton, in 'Little Hands and God's Book,' page 44. The End of the Great Controversy
By C. M. S.
THERE is a striking significance in the fact that those who are redeemed out of this world will sing the song of victory over Satan and his hosts in the presence of God and around the throne of God. The rebellion in heaven was directed against the government of God, whose center is the throne of God, and therefore against the law of God, which is the basis of God's government. The rebellion in this world was also against the government of God because it was against the law of God, the basis of his government. There is a divine fitness, therefore, in having men and women who are redeemed out of this rebellious world, who have achieved the victory over him who is the chief of rebels against God, sing the song of loyalty to God and of victory over God's chief enemy in the immediate presence of God and around the throne of God before the assembled millions of loyal angels. That will be the crowning day of the great victory; and happy beyond words to express will be those who have a part in the singing of that song. But they whose feet stand upon that sea of glass and whose feet tread upon the ashes of sin in this world when Christ returns with his chosen will be they whose feet have trodden upon sin itself in this present life. So if we hope to have a part in that song of victory around the throne of God, and to have the experience of treading upon the ashes of sin when the universe is finally rid of sin, we must have now, and from now on, the experience of putting sin daily and hourly under our feet. The first three verses of Malachi are not a call to repentance; they are a statement of an accomplished work. The message has been given, the line has been drawn, and the two classes have ranged themselves on either side of it according to their choice. The wicked have heard the message and rejected it, and their lives have gone out in the darkness of eternal night; the other class have heard the message and accepted it, and their lives go on and on forever. Our divine Lord says, " For judgment came I into this world." John 9:39. And when he speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit, he says:— " And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye behold me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged." John 16:8-11. Inspiration caused Paul to write of the universal judgment pending (Rom. 3:19), and caused even proud Felix to tremble at the thought of that tribunal when " we shall all stand before the judgment-seat of God." It is a part of the program in the closing of the conflict in the universe of God between the rule of love and the rule of doubt, suspicion, and hate. Every one, from the least to the greatest, has a case pending there; and the decision of the case determines whether he will be a victor, or whether he will be ashes under the feet of those who are victors.9 There is no question as to how the conflict will be decided. The question for us to consider with the utmost care is this: When it is decided, which side will it find me on? The day is coming, it is near at hand, when God and those who are his will look upon the finish of the tragedy of sin and upon a completed redemption, upon a universe clean throughout, where the ugly visage of sin will nevermore be seen. As surely as God is, so surely will that be. Now where are we going to spend eternity, — under the feet of the saints, or among the saints in the presence of God, helping him to work out his beneficent design concerning his creatures? To help us decide that question, all that is good in God's universe is pitted against all that is bad. It is in no sense a haphazard campaign on either side; and as the campaign draws near its close, we see all the elements of darkness and deceit and doubt and immorality lining up like trained soldiers in the final onslaught upon the forces of truth and righteousness. Not only has Satan marshaled all the forces of doubt, infidelity, and wickedness in general, but he has planned to carry the campaign into the church, and fight religion in the uniform of religion and in the very buildings dedicated to religion. In the persons of doubt-disseminating clergymen, he stands in many of the pulpits of the Christian world, and sows broadcast the baneful seeds of skepticism, where they find lodgment and often fruitful soil in the minds and hearts of young and old. Now God has sent the gospel into the world in order that man might choose for himself whether he would serve God or whether he would serve the enemies of God. The kingdom of righteousness can be maintained only upon the principle of the complete liberty of the individual to choose his master. God wants only willing service; any other brings him no honor; and if made a part of his program, there would be planted in the hearts of his subjects a seed of rebellion to plague his kingdom throughout eternity. Because of that fact, God has given no countenance to the idea of forcing men to be religious or to act as if they were. Force in religion is a travesty on religion, and in the last analysis is an insult to God. When men attempt to accomplish God's design for him by forcing other men to do as they do, they virtually declare themselves more potent than God himself in bringing about the establishment of God's kingdom among men. The policy of heaven is, " Choose you this day whom ye will serve;" and the promise is, " If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." There is no promise nor place in the economy of God's government for any service but willing service, nor for any other attitude toward him than whole-souled obedience. Forced obedience brings no reward, either to the one who obeys in that manner or to the one who compels him thus to obey. Compulsion in religion helps no one, but hinders every one; and there is no " Well done " promised for any one who submits to compulsion in that matter, nor for any one who does the compelling. God recognizes no service as service save only the service of choice. Right upon that principle is the great issue of all issues in this world joined. The kingdom of righteousness and the kingdom of iniquity stand face to face, in battle array, upon that principle. It is the question of questions, not for this world only, but for the entire universe of God. It has been the conflict of the ages; and when it is settled, all other controversies will be settled in that settlement; for out of that controversy all other controversies have grown, all sin has sprung, and in the conception of that controversy all the sorrow and misery and woe and death in this world were conceived. Force in religion is Satan's caricature of God's government. Now, with that religion of choice goes naturally the keeping of the law of God. The Saviour, who is the very embodiment of that religion, says of himself, " I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." There is willing and glad choice; and the thing chosen is God's will, his law. Because that is a fact, Satan has aimed at that law his most powerful weapons. The conflict between light and darkness will be fought out right there, and they who will align themselves with God and his law, and will stand loyally for the principle of religion by choice, will be as much the objects of attack as is the law of God itself. Ever since Cain killed Abel, the forces of oppression have been tremendously busy. We see this manifest all through the varied experiences of the children of God in the old dispensation. Satan brought that spirit into the very house of Judah itself in the days when our Lord was here in person upon the earth, and Jesus went down in death under the application of that principle of force in religion; and that spirit which hounded him to his death has been following his followers from that day unto this, and will follow them to the end of the controversy. Witness that spirit in the days of Nero and Decius; then witness it coming into the church itself when apostasy was in full flower, and when paganism baptized with " holy water " had taken the place of a Christian church baptized with the Holy Spirit. In view of the fact that that principle of oppression in religious things has been manifested in every age of this world, it ought not to surprise us if it is found working in our day. It ought not to surprise us if we find it not only working, but working over a wider field and under more perfect organization than at any other time in the history of the world. We do find it, and we find it thus working. A system has been perfected which ramifies every continent, and every nation that has an organized government, save Abyssinia and Tibet. A plan is being perfected by which all the mission territory of the world will be districted, and each denomination will be given a portion and be prevented from entering the portion allotted to any other denomination. Such an arrangement adhered to would make it impossible for any denomination to give a world-wide message, no matter how much time were given in which to do it. But God has entrusted a world-wide message to his people, to be given to every race upon the earth, — a time message, a message proclaiming the coming of the day of the Lord. Only one denomination in all the world professes to be giving that message or to know anything about such a message. So this systematic division of the mission world is a direct blow not only at that particular denomination, but at the message which it is seeking to give to all the world. It can be nothing else than a plan of the adversary to hinder the proclamation of that world-wide message, thus holding back the coming of the great day of God, which event waits upon the proclamation of that message. That plan of operation not only aims at the holding back of this message of the third angel, but it aims to bring under one control all the religions of Christendom, so that the time may the more speedily come when the unchaste " woman " of the apocalypse can say, " I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shalt in no wise see mourning." The Catholic Church, with its all-absorbing purpose to " make America Catholic " and through America's influence to bring all the world to the feet of the pope-king, is working to that end with marvelous zeal; and every other church which refuses to keep the commandments of God and turns against those who do, is helping toward that consummation — is opposing the real work of God for this particular age, and is helping forward the hindering work of God's adversary. Now, the time is not far distant when that beast power will both " speak, and cause that as many as should not worship the image of the beast should be killed." There is force in religion again, compulsion of conscience, a force and a compulsion that design to bring all religions in some measure under one control, and make death the penalty for all who will not acquiesce. That is the final challenge of the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. In that challenge Satan10 hurls defiance at God and his throne and all who will be his. But Heaven meets the challenge: " If any man worshipeth the beast and his image, and receiveth a mark on his forehead, or upon his hand, he also shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger." Rev. 14:9, 10. That brings to view the culmination of a world-wide work on the part of the agencies of both powers. The gospel of the kingdom, the third angel's message, will then have gone into all the world for a witness unto all the nations, to bring out of them the trophies of God's grace; and the advocates of religion by force will have so perfected their organization in all the world that they will have received " authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him [the beast], every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain." Rev. 13:7, 8. This decree is just as wide in its scope as the decree concerning the work of God for the last days—every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. That brings us to the culmination of the conflict. The two parties meet face to face, and the leader of each decrees death to the followers of the other. It must be so. Universe signifies all under one; and all can not be under one so long as there are two opposing forces. Thus the most important question in this world to-day for each one is that concerning where he is going to stand in that day, whether with God or with his enemies. Those who stand with God will not be standing idle. The wise man says: " The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that is wise winneth souls." And through the prophet Daniel we have this admonition: " They that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." In God's estimation, a man who stands faithful to him in such a time is more precious than the golden wedge of Ophir. It will be to the eternal glory of God that he was able to bring men and women out of such conditions and make them worthy of dwelling with him and sharing with him the eternal inheritance. The day of our deliverance is near; " but ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." " Let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation." 1 Thess. 5:4, 8. Therefore, ye who are children of the light, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," and " be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand." It is a wonderful privilege to live in the age when the long conflict between light and darkness is to terminate. That is the conflict now in process of culmination, and they who rightly relate themselves to it will have the blessed privilege of sitting down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and our Redeemer in that kingdom which will have no end, and where nothing that can give pain or sorrow can ever come. C. M. S. The General Conference Committee Council
By W. A. Spicer
EACH autumn it is necessary for the General Conference Committee to gather in council in order to receive the estimates and calls from the mission fields, and to make appropriations for the following year. The auditing of laborers' reports is also attended to, with such other business as naturally accumulates in the expansion of the work. The council opened in Takoma Park, Washington, D. C., September 18. It was agreed that efforts should be made to push the work to a close on the twenty-sixth. The meetings of the council were held in the chapel of the Foreign Mission Seminary. Members present: A. G. Daniells, L. R. Conradi, W. T. Knox, S. N. Haskell, E. T. Russell, H. S. Shaw, W. B. White, B. G. Wilkinson, C. B. Stephenson, M. N. Campbell, S. E. Wight, C. W. Flaiz, Allen Moon, E. E. Andross, G. F. Watson, Chas. Thompson, U. Bender, O. A. Olsen, W. W. Prescott, Dr. Geo. Thomason, M. E. Kern, H. R. Salisbury, A. J. Haysmer, N. Z. Town, C. H. Jones, E. R. Palmer, G. B. Thompson, W. A. Spicer. It will be noted that a majority of the members in North America were in attendance, and that L. R. Conradi, of the European Division, and U. Bender, president of the West Indian Union, were present from abroad. A meeting of the publishing-house managers at this time in Washington enlarged the attendance at the council, and conference brethren from near-by points also attended a portion of the time. In addition to the members of the committee, the following were listed as present:— G. A. Irwin, R. A. Underwood, M. C. Wilcox, R. Hook, F. F. Byington, W. W. Eastman, S. N. Curtiss, S. Kime, W. J. Stone, R. T. Dowsett, Meade MacGuire, T. E. Bowen, F. M. Wilcox, A. J. S. Bourdeau, D. W. Reavis, Joel C. Rogers, J. L. McElhany, W. L. Burgan, J. A. P. Green, Dr. H. C. Menkel, J. N. Anderson, I. G. Bigelow, I. A. Ford, C. M. Snow, C. Sorenson, A. R. Sandborn, F. C. Gilbert, F. W. Paap, H. E. Rogers, W. H. Green, W. H. Heckman, J. H. Schilling, C. S. Longacre, Dr. D. Paulson, Dr. D. H. Kress, Dr. H. N. Sisco, G. W. Chase, E. L. Richmond, R. T. Baer, L. A. Hansen. It was agreed that the daily program should be as follows: 9:15 A. M. to 12 M.; 3 P. M. to 6 P. M.; 7 P. M. to 8:30 P. M.; the time between sessions being open for committee work. Recommendations of the council concerning various items of general interest may be reported as follows:— The location of the next General Conference came up for first consideration, and information was set before the council concerning the facilities offered in various places, with invitations from the Columbia, Southern, Southeastern, Lake, and Central Union Conferences. As a result of the study of this question, the following action was taken:— Voted, That it is the sense of the council that the next General Conference be held in Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. As to the time of the next General Conference, it was voted that the dates should be from the evening of May 15 to June 8, 1913. The importance of the coming week of prayer season, and arrangements for it, were discussed, and it was voted that the readings for the week of prayer should be published in the REVIEW. The following address to the brethren and sisters concerning this important occasion was adopted by the council:— Our week of prayer is to be held this year December 9-16. What will it be to us? 1. We need not say that God will not keep that appointment with his people, or that appointment which his people make with him. It is his own commandment to his children to seek his face, and it is his own word that where two or three meet together in his name, there he will be in their midst. 2. Our need demands the seeking of God. We are utterly lost without him. Many of our people are drifting into sin. The spirit of commercialism, pleasure, and worldliness, is crowding out the Spirit of God. We are a weak people, and few. Our learning, our wealth, our numbers, our organization, anything that we are of which we fain would boast, commends us not to him; but our great need does appeal to his heart of infinite pity. He asks us to do a great work. His must be the power, as is his the glory. Let us ask great things of God; let us expect great things from him. 3. We need God ourselves to lift the cloud of condemnation, that the sunlight of his love may shine into our sin-cleansed hearts. Our families need him. Some of many families are out of God's ark of safety. Among these may be our own children, our own wives and husbands, our own fathers and mothers, our brethren's children. Let us seek God for them. It11 may be the last opportunity for many of us thus to seek him. It may be the last opportunity for many of them to make him their choice. Our neighbors need him. Their souls may be demanded of us in the great day of reckoning. Seek God for them. The great world needs God; and we are its debtors, debtors to the Jew and the Greek, to the American and the Chinese, to the Japanese and the East Indian. How shall we discharge this awful responsibility to God without his help? 4. What a demand is all this for separation from sin and separation unto God! What a demand for consecration, whole-hearted consecration of self for the sake of our loved ones, our relatives and neighbors, the world's burden of dying souls,—a consecration for Christ's sake. 5. While our God always hears the sincere prayer of the individual heart, he has ever especially honored with great blessing the united and whole-hearted seeking of Israel. Before united prayer, the hosts of Moab and Ammon were overthrown, and the plea for succor was turned into songs of praise. 2 Chronicles 20. Before the earnest pleading with God, Sennacherib, with his mighty army, despite his proud boasting, was turned back to destruction. 2 Kings 19. By fasting and prayer by the river Ahava, the helpless band of Israelites passed safely through the dreaded land of robbers. Ezra 8. "The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him. So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us." It is his word to the remnant, "Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, . . . seek righteousness, seek meekness." 6. Let us seek God that his exceeding great and precious promises may be fulfilled in us. He waits to be gracious. Do not disappoint him. Let conference officers, union and local, the "ministers of our God," and church elders, unitedly do all in their power to make this week of prayer all that God wishes it to be to his people. "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you." The council gave some time to a discussion of the lessons of the camp-meeting season just past. The following action was taken:— Voted, That a committee of three be appointed to prepare a specific statement on the arrangement and conduct of camp-meetings, to be presented in printed form at the next General Conference for consideration by that body. F. M. Wilcox, G. B. Thompson, and R. A. Underwood were named as this committee. W. L. Burgan, secretary of the Press Bureau, made a report as to the splendid work done since the organization of this department in getting reports of meetings into the public press, and in keeping before the people general information concerning the progress of our work. Various members spoke of the importance of this work. By means of the press, the facts presented in a meeting attended by only a few persons may be spread before millions of readers. It was,— Voted, That we invite each union to designate some person as press agent within its territory, not necessarily to give all the time to press work, but to keep in touch with the General Conference Press Bureau, working under direction of the union. The treasurer, W. T. Knox, presented the financial statement of the General Conference for 1911, as follows:— Financial Statement of the General Conference for Year Ending Dec. 31, 1911
RESOURCES
Cash on hand in bank . . . . . . $ 99095.43
Accounts receivable . . . . . . 10464.24
Bills receivable . . . . . . 7060.00
General Conference library. . . 1393.77
Tract society and conference. . 4933.39
Publishing houses . . . . . . 13399.00
Inventories . . . . . . . . . 2539.96
Correspondence School . . . . 1611.59
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . $140497.38 LIABILITIES
$300,000 Fund . . . . . . . . . $ 79384.48
Sustentation Fund . . . . . . 4393.28
Specific donations . . . . . . 1434.59
Trust funds in holding for mission work . . . . . . . . 3590.94
Mission fields on appropriation 2350.11
Gen. Conf. Association . . . . 11787.82
Gen. Conf. Corporation . . . . 17166.68
Accounts payable . . . . . . 2773.45
Treas. credit checks . . . . . 1812.33
Hunt estate . . . . . . . . . 2098.97
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . $126792.65 Resources in excess of liabilities . . . . . . . . . . $ 13704.73
1910 liabilities in excess of resources . . . . . . . . $ 9234.72
1911 resources in excess of liabilities . . . . . . . . 13704.73
Gain for 1911 . . . . . . . . . $22939.45 The report of the auditor was read, certifying to the accuracy of the statement, and the treasurer's report was adopted. The treasurer also set before the council a statement of various funds during the eight months of 1912 to August 31. The receipts and disbursements of the General Conference during the eight months showed $323,520 receipts, and $305,572 disbursements, leaving a surplus of $17,947 for the eight months. The autumn season is, however, the time for additional workers to be sent into the mission fields, and this extra expense will easily consume this surplus. A statement of the receipts and disbursements of trust funds for the eight months showed $166,132 received, and $106,697 disbursed, leaving $59,438 still to be passed on, the larger part of this being on the $300,000 Fund. By the end of the year this fund will be practically all passed on to the field, except possibly for Japan's portion, our brethren in Japan still being delayed in their plans while endeavoring to conclude arrangements with the authorities for holding properties on the basis desired. The treasurer read a statement of the eight months' receipts on the Fifteen-cent-a-week Fund, showing a total of $228,258. This is a most encouraging showing, making the highest mark ever reached; but it falls short of the full fifteen cents a week per member by $96,330. Two unions, however, have passed the fifteen-cent-a-week standard for the eight months' period, the North Pacific having exceeded that mark by $1,918, and the Western Canadian by $1,988. Representatives from all parts of the field spoke of the fifteen-cent-a-week mark as a point essential to reach in order to keep pace with the needs of the rapidly growing work, and the brethren believed that by united effort and agitation the goal would be achieved. A statement and appeal was adopted concerning this matter as follows:— As we are entrusted with giving the final gospel message to the world in this generation, and since urgent calls are being pressed continually upon us which can be answered only by sending more workers into the field, and as it will be impossible for the General Conference to supply the necessary funds with which to support them without increased liberality on the part of our people; therefore,— We urge all our people to remember the world-wide work by generous gifts; and we further urge conference and church officers to use great diligence in bringing these offerings up to an average each week of fifteen cents per member, by encouraging liberal Sabbath offerings, a general Harvest Ingathering rally, and generous gifts during the week of prayer and on other special occasions. Further report must be left over for next week. W. A. SPICER, Sec. Peace Negotiations Between Italy and Turkey
“In the unofficial negotiations for peace being held in Switzerland between Italian delegates and representatives of Turkey, little progress has been made. Italy insists upon holding fast to Tripoli and Cyrenaica, while Turkey refuses to yield this point. Italy promises to grant general amnesty to all Arabs who do not undertake reprisals against the Italian government, and also to respect the sovereignty of the calif in matters of religion. She also offers to reimburse the Porte to the amount of the value of government buildings and properties existing in Tripoli before the war; and to pay that part of Turkey’s debt guaranteed by Tripoli’s revenues, deducting from this sum the expenses of Italy in caring for Turkish prisoners. It is also proposed that Turkey readmit Italians to the Ottoman empire under the same conditions as those previous to the war.”