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Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 40.

OUR SAVIOUR KNOWS
Earlier text: OUR SAVIOUR KNOWS

Statement of Twenty-Cent-a-Week Fund for Six Months Ending June 30, 1915

ATLANTIC UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Eastern New York 859 $4466.80 $4378.78 $88.02
Greater New York 1255 $6526.00 $6888.72 $362.72
Massachusetts 1312 $6822.40 $8504.54 $1718.14
Maine 427 $2220.40 $2589.38 $368.98
Northern New England 530 $2756.00 $2780.50 $24.50
Southern New England 436 $2267.20 $1664.00 $603.20
Western New York 872 $4534.40 $4791.54 $257.14
Totals 5691 $29593.20 $31633.46 $691.22 $2731.48

EASTERN CANADIAN UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Maritime 233 $1211.60 $779.45 $432.15
Ontario 551 $2865.20 $1568.22 $1296.98
Quebec 155 $806.00 $605.06 $200.94
Newfoundland 61 $317.20 $166.42 $150.78
Totals 1000 $5200.00 $3119.15 $2080.85

CENTRAL UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Colorado 1761 $9157.20 $4990.51 $4166.69
Kansas 2118 $11013.60 $6859.99 $4153.61
Nebraska 2103 $10935.60 $4429.77 $6505.83
Missouri 1226 $6377.20 $4345.69 $2029.51
Western Colorado 470 $2444.00 $1394.49 $1049.51
Wyoming 526 $2735.20 $2175.74 $559.46
Totals 8204 $42660.80 $24196.19 $18464.61

COLUMBIA UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Chesapeake 690 $3588.00 $2274.33 $1313.67
District of Columbia 825 $4290.00 $3072.89 $1217.11
Eastern Pennsylvania 1168 $6073.60 $4166.15 $1907.45
New Jersey 810 $4212.00 $2588.68 $1623.32
Ohio 2007 $10436.40 $7323.01 $3113.39
Virginia 583 $3031.60 $1119.08 $1912.52
West Pennsylvania 721 $3749.20 $2986.40 $762.80
West Virginia 200 $1040.00 $643.79 $396.21
Totals 7004 $36420.80 $24174.33 $12246.47

LAKE UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
East Michigan 1674 $8704.80 $6699.67 $2005.13
Indiana 1611 $8377.20 $4626.72 $3750.48
Northern Illinois 1460 $7592.00 $5599.48 $1992.52
North Michigan 795 $4134.00 $1972.74 $2161.26
Southern Illinois 696 $3619.20 $2557.05 $1062.15
West Michigan 2485 $12922.00 $8277.73 $4644.27
Wisconsin 2543 $13223.60 $8262.05 $4961.55
Totals 11264 $58572.80 $37995.44 $20577.36

NORTHERN UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Iowa 2382 $12386.40 $10487.10 $1899.30
Minnesota 1700 $8840.00 $11120.66 $2280.66
North Dakota 1227 $6380.40 $5052.33 $1328.07
South Dakota 948 $4929.60 $4246.79 $682.81
Totals 6257 $32536.40 $30906.88 $3910.18 $2280.66

NORTH PACIFIC UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Montana 432 $2246.40 $2964.14 $717.74
Southern Idaho 693 $3603.60 $2231.73 $1371.87
Southern Oregon 645 $3354.00 $1737.63 $1616.37
Upper Columbia 2181 $11341.20 $6631.80 $4709.40
Western Oregon 2017 $10488.40 $7608.47 $2879.93
Western Washington 1705 $8866.00 $4943.01 $3922.99
Alaska 4 $20.80 $14.30 $6.50
Totals 7677 $39920.40 $26131.08 $14507.66 $717.74

PACIFIC UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Arizona 304 $1580.80 $1051.95 $528.85
California 1620 $8424.00 $5791.58 $2632.42
Central California 1322 $6874.40 $3348.45 $3525.95
Northern California 1617 $8408.40 $2296.30 $6112.10
Northwestern Cal. 1261 $6557.20 $4517.20 $2040.00
Southern California 2163 $11247.60 $5921.36 $5326.24
Southeastern California 1645 $8554.00 $5138.36 $3415.64
Utah 192 $998.40 $460.67 $517.73
Nevada 158 $821.60 $328.43 $493.17
Totals 10282 $53446.40 $28854.30 $24592.10

SOUTHEASTERN UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Cumberland 563 $2927.60 $1866.63 $1060.97
Florida 744 $3868.80 $4680.32 $811.52
Georgia 557 $2896.40 $1707.27 $1189.13
North Carolina 625 $3250.00 $1121.84 $2128.16
South Carolina 353 $1835.60 $564.10 $1271.50
Totals 2842 $14778.40 $9940.16 $5649.76 $811.52

SOUTHERN UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Alabama 460 $2392.00 $1148.32 $1243.68
Kentucky 426 $2215.20 $1056.35 $1158.85
Louisiana 387 $2012.40 $988.45 $1023.95
Mississippi 311 $1617.20 $690.98 $926.22
Tennessee River 699 $3634.80 $1909.06 $1725.74
Totals 2283 $11871.60 $6693.16 $5178.44

SOUTHWESTERN UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Arkansas 302 $1570.40 $870.65 $699.75
New Mexico 260 $1352.00 $716.10 $635.90
North Texas 1252 $6510.40 $2319.60 $4190.80
Oklahoma 1860 $9672.00 $4393.12 $5278.88
South Texas 388 $2017.60 $1228.92 $788.68
West Texas 247 $1284.40 $409.11 $875.29
Totals 4309 $22406.80 $9937.50 $12469.30

WESTERN CANADIAN UNION

Conference Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Alberta 606 $3151.20 $2112.27 $1038.93
British Columbia 426 $2215.20 $1651.91 $563.29
Manitoba 228 $1185.60 $810.96 $374.64
Saskatchewan 405 $2106.00 $2488.75 $382.75
Totals 1665 $8658.00 $7063.89 $1976.86 $382.75

Union Summary

Union Membership Amt. at $5.20 Per Member Amount Received Amount Short Amount Over
Atlantic 5691 $29593.20 $31633.46 $691.22 $2731.48
Eastern Canadian 1000 $5200.00 $3119.15 $2080.85
Central 8204 $42660.80 $24196.19 $18464.61
Columbia 7004 $36420.80 $24174.33 $12246.47
Lake 11264 $58572.80 $37995.44 $20577.36
Northern 6257 $32536.40 $30906.88 $3910.18 $2280.66
North Pacific 7677 $39920.40 $26131.08 $14507.66 $717.74
Pacific 10282 $53446.40 $28854.30 $24592.10
Southeastern 2842 $14778.40 $9940.16 $5649.76 $811.52
Southern 2283 $11871.60 $6693.16 $5178.44
Southwestern 4309 $22406.80 $9937.50 $12469.30
Western Canadian 1665 $8658.00 $7063.89 $1976.86 $382.75
Totals 68478 $356085.60 $240645.54 $122364.21 $6924.15
Net amount short $115440.06 $115440.06
$356085.60 $356085.60 $122364.21 $122364.21

Mission Offerings

By W. T. Knox

THE accompanying report of our mission receipts for the first six months of 1915 discloses a shortage of $115,440.06, and the fact that of the seventy-two conferences and mission fields but nine have paid in to the General Conference treasury, the amount required. The total receipts from these nine conferences have been $6,924.15 in excess of their portion for the period covered, while the remaining sixty-three conferences of North America show a deficit of $122,364.21.
This showing will without doubt be favorably affected by the Midsummer Offering received during the last of July; but notwithstanding this, it is with utmost concern that the officers of the General and Division Conferences contemplate the condition of these funds.
The readers of the REVIEW have not failed to notice the reports coming to us from the foreign fields, especially those from the pen of Elder Daniells, which show such urgent need of larger appropriations for these distant lands. The situation thus revealed prohibits our contemplating anything but advancement in our mission operations, but expansion of our mission operations can only be made possible by increased liberalities on the part of our people. The publishing of this report at this time is therefore with the earnest hope that its effect upon all the readers of the REVIEW will be increased effort on their part to provide larger gifts for the cause of God both at home and abroad.
W. T. KNOX.

A New Era in the Advancement of the Message

By L. L. Caviness

God is planning that his message is to go to the world in the immediate future with such rapidity as has never been seen in the history of the denomination. The unparalleled opportunities which now are offered for the preaching of the gospel in the Orient have brought a great burden of soul on Elder Daniells. Since his return from his extended travels in the East, as he goes from place to place and presents the needs as he himself has seen them, God's Spirit witnesses to the words spoken, and brings a conviction that much more must speedily be done, or God will hold his people responsible for the souls that might have been saved if these God-given opportunities had been used.
God has set his hand to prepare the necessary workers. The hearts and the minds of the young people in our schools have been turned in a marked way toward the work in the fields beyond. While the Foreign Mission Band is not a recent development in our advanced schools, its purpose has now become more definite, and the number of the young people planning definitely on work in foreign fields has greatly increased even in the last year. While in 1913-14 there were 245 such Foreign Mission Band members, the numbers for the school year just past (1914-15) increased to 509.
The great work just ahead of the young people requires greater consecration and greater efficiency. It is certainly, therefore, in the providence of God that a series of educational and Missionary Volunteer conventions are being held. Not only the motto but the very keystone of these conventions is expressed in the two words, consecration and efficiency. Both the Educational and the Missionary Volunteer Departments are planning to win next year, under God, more young people to Christ and to train more for service than in any year in the past; and with God's help they will.
Any great increase in the numbers of our foreign workers will require an increase in the funds of the denomination; and God seems about to bless in this respect also. In the past the work of the denomination has been crippled by institutional debt. The last year has seen a great movement to wipe out these debts. Some have been entirely paid, and others are being rapidly decreased. With the burden of debt removed, how much easier it will be to raise the means to support a great and immediate advance throughout the world.
With unparalleled opportunities in the unentered fields, a great increase in the number of young people definitely planning for foreign service, a rapid development in the efficiency of the Educational and Young People's Missionary Volunteer Departments, and the phenomenal movement for the rolling away of debt, it is unmistakably evident that God has set his hand to finish his work in the earth, and to finish it very quickly. God grant that we all triumph with it.
L. L. CAVINESS.

A New Submarine

THE public press reports the completion of an American submarine whose tests prove it has a cruising radius of more than 6,000 miles, making it possible for the boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean and return without stopping. This is perhaps but the first step toward the improvement of the navy, so as to meet the requirements of modern warfare. Another indication that this nation is preparing for war is the recent appointment of Thomas Edison as chairman of an advisory bureau of engineering experts.
From the standpoint of the statesman, it may seem indeed advisable that the country prepare for war, but from the standpoint of the Christian it is but another indication of the great battle of nations which Biblical prophecy shows will take place at the close of this world's history.

The Frailties of Humanity

By C. H. Bliss

C. H. BLISS
“LORD, teach me to know how frail I am.” This prayer, when answered, taught the ancient prophet to say, “I am a worm, and no man.” There are people who are proud of their beauty, their intellect, or their talent. They love to look into their mirror — not the mirror of God’s law, which reveals the true character, but the one they have made. But when the Holy Spirit comes as a reprover of sin, and they see themselves as God sees them, they cry out in the language of the prophet, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” Even after a long life of Christian service, a true child of God will see so many failures that he will realize that all boasting is vain. Like Paul, he will say, “I am the least” of all.
After years of service in the cause of God I cannot see one act on which I can depend for reward or merit. Every work seems marred with sin. While my will was submissive to God, my flesh rebelled. But God be praised, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are told, “It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.” It is God who justifies and sanctifies and glorifies. He takes us as we are.
“Just as I am, without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me.”
On man’s part, it is faith and trust and submission to God. We are clay in the hands of the potter, so that from first to last, from the beginning of this life to the end, God is all in all. And when the end of life comes, we can only say, “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and “Save me by thy grace, for I put my trust in thee.”
Peoria, Ill.

The Bridegroom’s Voice

By F. D. STARR

F. D. STARR
“THE friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” John 3:29. At the time these words were spoken, John, the forerunner of Christ, was experiencing a severe test. As stated by himself, he was decreasing. But still his joy was full. It was such a delight to stand by and hear the Bridegroom’s voice! It was a very humble claim that he made for himself when he said he himself was a “voice,” as it were but the echo of the words of the prophet, spoken so long before. Now he is being superseded, his popularity is waning. But as the friend of the Bridegroom, his joy is on the increase. Soon he is to endure a test still more severe. Behind prison bars, his life of activity brought to an abrupt pause, he sends to inquire of the Master concerning his mission. The best consolation and assurance that could be afforded is sent to him: “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Instead of giving John assurance of being delivered from prison, or congratulating him on the great importance of his work and position, the Saviour gives him the proof that that wonderful voice is still having its effect on all classes of needy subjects. Even the dead hear the voice of the Son of God, and live.
“The disciples bore the message, and it was enough. John recalled the prophecy concerning the Messiah, ‘The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.’”—“The Desire of Ages,” page 217. Although his own prison door still remained unopened, he could rejoice that by that omnipotent voice other prison gates were being thrown open. Although as a poor captive he still languished in the dungeon, it did not cause him to doubt the power of the One who was preferred before him to proclaim liberty to those who are bound, or to discredit the report that this good work was actually performed for others.
Wonderful man! What was the secret of all this? He was the friend of the Bridegroom, and was charmed to listen to his voice. Are we the friends of the Bridegroom? Are the opportunities for others to hear our voices now greatly restricted? Is our joy consequently greatly diminished? Let us, then, stand and listen to that celestial voice. Can we say we do not have the chance John had to hear that voice—that the Bridegroom is taken away from us? But were we not singing so recently,—
“Hearing his voice in every line, Making each faithful saying mine”?
Ah, yes; in that Word that was “made flesh and dwelt among us,” we hear him speaking to us as of old: “This is the way, walk ye in it.”
“I heard a voice, the sweetest voice That mortal ever heard; O, how it made my heart rejoice, And every feeling stirred!”
“To many minds a deep mystery surrounds the fate of John the Baptist. They question why he should have been left to languish and die in prison. The mystery of this dark providence our human vision cannot penetrate; but it can never shake our confidence in God when we remember that John was but a sharer in the sufferings of Christ.”—Id., page 223. May the Bridegroom’s voice cheer us as it did John.

“One Is Your Master, Even Christ”

By A. C. Anderson

A. C. ANDERSON
THE Master is soon coming; and as ministers of his, we should ever keep the nearness of his coming before his people, and show them the great need of transferring their affections from earth to heaven.
We are told that “no man can serve two masters.” Christ does not say, “Ye ought not;” he says, “Ye cannot.” It is an absolute impossibility to serve God and Mammon. There can be but one true service rendered by each one of us. Yet many are foolishly attempting to achieve the impossible, even many who profess belief in his soon coming. The result will prove a miserable failure. The man who would serve two masters has no success or joy in either service; his life is like the barren fig tree that was cursed by the Master and withered away. He cannot serve God, for he is invaded and vexed by a host of foolish fancies and worldly cares and anxieties.
This great sin is everywhere leavening the churches. It is seen in the race for wealth, in the increase of covetousness, in the slavery to appetite and sensuous pleasure, and will end in bitter disappointment to all who pursue it.
“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Therefore if the treasure is on earth, the heart will dwell here; but if the treasure is in heaven, the heart’s affections will be transferred there. Our thoughts, our very selves, dwell with what we prize most highly. Thus only shall we be freed from contaminating affections.
The secret of true happiness is whole-heartedness. The only true joy and peace on earth is found in complete surrender to God as our one Lord and Master. He asks no impossibility, but he does require absolute submission of will, and he will give strength equal to the task. May the Lord help us to renew our vows and be more faithful in his service.
We see from the fulfillment of prophecy that the end is near “and hasteth greatly,” and we need to get ready for the coming conflict. We have been contending with “footmen,” but henceforth we must “contend with horses.” Well does the prophet inquire, “If in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?” Jer. 12: 5.
The times in which we live have no parallel in human history, and we must prepare for what is before us. The enemy will soon “come in like a flood;” but if we walk in all the light given, “the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Isa. 59: 19.
We are also told by the servant of the Lord that we are not ready for the crisis. Unbelief in the Testimonies increases as the people backslide from God. See “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, pages 76, 673. We are told in Vol. IV, page 390, that these writings should be in every Seventh-day Adventist home, and should be read and reread. But very few are found even in the libraries of our churches. We are told in “Early Writings,” page 270, that when we are led “to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth,” it will cause a “shaking among God’s people,” because “some will not bear this straight testimony.” “By aggressive warfare, in the midst of opposition, peril, loss, and human suffering, the work of soul saving is to be carried forward. At a certain battle, when one of the regiments of the attacking force was being beaten back by the hordes of the enemy, the ensign in front stood his ground as the troops retreated. The captain shouted to him to bring back the colors, but the reply of the ensign was, ‘Bring the men up to the colors.’ This is the work that devolves upon every faithful standard bearer,—to bring the men up to the colors. The Lord calls for whole-heartedness. We all know that the sin of many professing Christians is that they lack the courage and energy to bring themselves and those connected with them up to the standard.”—Vol. IX, pages 45, 46.
As ministers we should be examples to the flock, but we cannot be conscience for any. We have but one standard,—the law of God and the Testimonies,—and when we strictly adhere to that, we “shall prosper,” and we shall also hear the voice of “the dragon.” 2 Chron. 20: 20; Isa. 8: 20; Rev. 12: 17. “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Rev. 19: 10. Jesus is our pilot, the law and the testimony are our chart and compass. One writer has said that the scribes and the Pharisees “darkened the consciences of the people with casuistry.” That is, they so analyzed, explained, or determined what a thing meant that they made the commands of God of none effect. The same writer further says: “Better face a dark coast than the false lights of wreckers; better have no compass than one that will not point to the north; better be without a pilot than be steered by a pirate.” We are nearing the dark, rock-bound coast of the last days, and the false lights of the wreckers are seen on every hand. But our Pilot speaks to his people through his appointed channel, and his sheep hear his voice and follow him. “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness.” If we do not have too much of the fear of man in our hearts, the Lord can work good out of the most wretched woe that is in the world; and if we only let him, he will cause the wrath of man to praise him, and “the remainder of wrath” he will restrain. God has given “to every man his work.” May God help us to prove true to our calling.
“We have found the chart and compass, And are sure the land is near; Onward, onward, we are hasting, Soon the haven will appear; Let your voices Sound aloud your holy cheer.”

A Light in the Window up There

By Jennie Owen Mc Clelland

JENNIE OWEN MC CLELLAND
BRIGHT beautiful mansions in heaven above Our Saviour has gone to prepare; And when we are done with earth’s sorrow and strife, We’ll inherit forever, in newness of life, Those beautiful mansions up there.
I know that my Saviour has builded for me A mansion in heaven so fair; For he’s placed in the window his love as a light, To guide me in safety through doubt’s rayless night: My home light beams brightly up there.
No matter how darkly the storms beat around, Life’s tempests of sorrow and care, My light in the window shines bright as a star, And sheddeth its beams on my pathway afar, To guide me in safety up there.
When life’s weary journey is over at last, The joys of the ransomed I’ll share, Where never a shadow of sorrow can come; I shall dwell evermore in that beautiful home, In the light of his presence up there.
CHORUS:
A beautiful light in the window at night, For all who are lost in despair; Wherever I roam, I am led back to home, By a light in the window up there.

The Creator’s Remedies

By GEO. D. BALLOU

Mind Cure—No. 7

The Creator’s Remedies

GEO. D. BALLOU
As was stated in a former article, any basis for the permanent relief of mental ailments must be broad enough and stable enough to provide for all past, all present, and all future trouble. The first loss the human race suffered was the loss of confidence in God. This calamity has in its workings become the cause of every ill, both mental and physical, that ever has afflicted or ever will afflict the human race. The Creator has spoken to his offspring through prophets and teachers and apostles, and has sent his only Son properly to represent his character to the world, in order that man’s confidence might be restored in his Heavenly Father. This has ever been the aim of the gospel,—to heal that terrible death stroke inflicted by the enemy.
Let us for a moment consider how important is confidence even in the affairs of this life. Confidence is the basis on which the home is built. Destroy it, and the home disintegrates. Confidence holds the church together. When confidence is gone, everything good and permanent is jeopardized.
The civil community and state rest on the basis of confidence. If every man in a civil community had lost confidence in every other man, there would be a great scattering. The business world rests on confidence. Not a transaction can be arranged without it. Paul says (Heb. 11: 1), “Faith is the substance” (sub, under; stare, to stand)—the thing that stands under. It is the ground or support of all things we hope for. The Greek word for substance, hupostasis, means “the foundation, the underlying strata.”
So in God’s kingdom when confidence was lost, all was lost for man. When confidence is regained, all is won back again. Well-founded confidence lies at the basis of all success, physical, financial, and spiritual.
The apostle Peter assures us that God has left on record certain exceeding great and precious promises that will enable man to become a partaker of the divine nature; that is, have restored in himself once more the image of God. 2 Peter 1: 4. Man may thus have his spiritual nature restored if he will live by the words of confidence, courage, hope, good will, and joyful expectation found in Christ Jesus and his promises. Matt. 4: 4.
When a man makes great promises, we ask at once, Is he able to perform? And if it is demonstrated that he is able, the next question, Will he be true and honest and faithful? follows quickly. Being assured on these points, we trust implicitly.
The works of God on every hand speak of his infinite power, wisdom, and greatness. The man who spends a little time each day studying the power of the Creator as seen in our natural surroundings, will not doubt any of the promises of the Bible. The One who can transform sun energy, air, water, and earth into grains and fruits and vegetables, so that we see new creations taking place all about us daily, and can then transform these food substances into flesh and blood and bones, and into feelings, emotions, and thoughts,—such a God can raise the dead and do anything else he may choose to do. Those who are studying these things will never look with admiring astonishment upon the vagaries, mysticism, and occultism that are now being manifested in various cults that profess to be working with divine healing power.
He who can do the wonderful things we see about us, can also perform infinite things that have not yet entered human minds. God’s infinite power and divine nature are revealed in nature. Rom. 1: 20.
In the Bible is revealed a character of love and faithfulness with which no ranting infidel or atheist ever finds a word of fault. This character, seen in Jesus of Nazareth, was full of pity and compassion for sinners. It hated sin, and made the greatest sacrifice conceivable to separate man from his sinfulness and restore his confidence in the Creator. This character teaches forgiveness of sin, and mercy and good will toward all God’s creatures. This character is full of hope and joyful expectation concerning the outcome of God’s work in this earth. This character has labored and still is laboring to make friends of its enemies, to bless the undeserving and the unthankful. It is patient and long-suffering. By and by every being in the universe will bow in acknowledgment of the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. Phil. 2: 10, 11. Such a character will surely be faithful to keep every promise ever made by the Creator.
Is not the being in whom such power and character are combined, though unseen, to be honored, revered, trusted, and fellowshiped by every intelligence in the universe? The men and women who will study this power and character will find confidence taking the place of doubt; fear fleeing before courage; hope taking the place of despair; good will supplanting hatred, envy, and jealousy; and joyful expectation filling the void made by care, anxiety, and the agony of disappointment. It sweeps away every adverse mental mood, brings healing to soul and body, and secures sweet, sacred fellowship with him who is the Author of all things. Here is the perfect Christian Science of eternal things.
The modern healing cults deny the personality back of this eternal power, and ignore the distinctive features of the divine character. They do not teach love for one’s enemies, nor the forgiveness of sin. Rather they deny the existence of evil and sin, and call these things only undeveloped good.
If the eternal power and the divine character of the Creator were appreciated, there would be no taste for the vapid sleight-of-mind performances that are being foisted on the mystified multitudes. If men and women were studying the mighty things of God’s creation, they would not be attracted toward the artificial mysticisms.
There is life here and hereafter in this water of life which men receive from the divine Word. God has put his character in his Word. This character is translated into the life by those who appreciate the eternal power.
Those who do not appreciate the works of this power will not accept the character, and they will be lost. Ps. 28: 5. Those who receive the character will have all of life that this world can give, and all that the life to come can bestow. 1 Tim. 4: 7, 8. They have become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1: 4), and angel hands have written this divine-human character in heaven’s record. And in the great day when God’s work is finished and the Eden restored, the Creator will rehabilitate these characters in imperishable forms, and men who here are brought to that full state of confidence which Adam at first had, will live on to the unending ages of eternity, as Adam and his posterity would if he had retained his confidence in the Creator. This brief time of sin and wretchedness will be forgotten in the great, unending cycles that follow.
Thus may we see how confidence restored in the Creator through his works and character has in it the full remedy for the damage suffered on account of man’s original loss of confidence. Those who will thus have provision made for all past, all present, and all future trouble, will know fully and eternally what mind cure means. Those who will not be renewed in the spirit of their minds (Eph. 4: 23), and transformed by the renewing of their minds (Rom. 2: 12), must at last suffer the legitimate consequences of the adverse mental moods.
This is the mind cure minus all artificial mysteries. It reveals the sure consequences of mental causes. It shows the true mental remedy, in being connected with and drawing power from the great central dynamo of the universe instead of the dry-cell batteries of earth.
And for those who thus trust him, the Creator will work miracles when it is best. He will suspend or accelerate natural processes, or remove the legitimate consequences of the violations of natural law, when he sees that it will be best for the individual and for the honor of the Lord’s cause in the earth. Let us trust him.

Singing With the Spirit

By J. S. Washburn

J. S. WASHBURN
“I WILL sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” The Spirit of God speaks through all true music. Not only did music originate with the eternal Father and come to us through Christ, but music is in a wonderful and a special way the voice of the Holy Spirit.
When at the beginning, earth was chaos, disorder, without form and void, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. “By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens.” Through the Spirit, order and beauty came. Where there is disorder, there can be no music, for music is absolutely mathematical. And as by the Spirit order came, so with order, in the angels’ song of joy over creation, came glorious music.
How often in the Scriptures and today are music and the Holy Spirit closely associated! Music was used by the Lord as a means of converting King Saul and making him a prophet. “Thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy. And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.” I Sam. 10:5, 6.
A few years later, when Saul had departed from the Lord and an evil spirit troubled him, David, the sweet singer, had, “took an harp, and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.” I Sam. 16:23. With music the Holy Spirit and came upon Saul, and now by music the evil spirit was driven from him.
We may be sure the music played by David on his harp was not the light music that appeals to the feet rather than to the heart. But those harmonies, so soothing yet so mighty, came by inspiration. Thus: “The sweet psalmist of Israel said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” That was inspired music breathed by the Holy Spirit, the music through which the mighty Spirit of God spoke with such power that evil spirits were banished, as they were in later years by the singing of the Youth of Nazareth, Jesus the Son of David, whose sweet song “seemed to banish the evil angels, and like incense fill the place with fragrance.”
The great prophet Elisha proved the close connection between the Holy Spirit and music, when he said, “Bring me a minstrel.” “And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.” 2 Kings 3:15.
A mighty combination of nations had sent a vast army against Judah. A strange weapon won a great victory for Israel. Righteous Jehoshaphat “appointed singers unto the Lord, . . . that they should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and Let . . . say, Praise the Lord; for his mercy endureth forever.” And when they began to sing and to praise, the enemy was smitten, and the Holy Spirit through music won a glorious victory for God’s people. What a mighty weapon is music when God’s people “sing with the spirit”!
Many, many times has the melting, blessed Spirit of the Lord come into our hearts when God’s people have sung together tender, sweet hymns of the love and forgiveness of God, and of home and heaven.
At midnight, while in the Philippian dungeon, with feet fast in the stocks, lying upon their bleeding backs, Paul hath and Silas “prayed, and sang praises unto the God: . . . and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” Music, God’s music, brings to prophets the Holy Spirit, banishes devils, conquers armies, frees the captives, and bursts asunder prison walls. In the last great crisis facing men and demons, the people of God will raise their voices in the triumphant song: “God is our refuge and strength.”
To the accompaniment of sacred song, the divine power, the mighty Spirit of God, wins the final, eternal victory for God’s people.

The Effects of Impatience

“IMPATIENCE dries the blood sooner than age or sorrow.”
Continue reading: In the Punjab, North India