Earlier text: Gone Hath the SpringStudies in the Gospel Message
The subject of the Sabbath-school lesson for November 15 is, Changing the Law of the Kingdom. There are some simple facts concerning which it may be well to refresh our minds. Nearly twenty-five hundred years ago the Lord foretold through the prophet Daniel the rise of a power which should work against the establishment of his kingdom in the earth. After giving such particulars of time and circumstance as enable us to determine the time and place of the rise of this power, his work was spoken of in these words: “He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High: and he shall think to change the times and the law.” History furnishes the most convincing testimony that the power which has fulfilled this prophecy is the papacy. As an example of the extraordinary and audacious blasphemies which the papacy has uttered against God, we quote the following words of Pope Boniface VIII: “The pope is of so great dignity6 and excellence that he is not merely man, but as if God, and the vicar of God. The pope alone is called most holy, . . . divine monarch, and supreme emperor, and king of kings. . . . The pope is of so great dignity and power that he constitutes one and the same tribunal with Christ, so that whatsoever the pope does seems to proceed from the mouth of God. . . . The pope is as God on earth.” What could more accurately describe such claims than the words of the apostle Paul? “He as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” The record of the papacy in wearing out the saints of the Most High is well summarized in the following quotation: “Terribly as the saints suffered under the Cæsars of pagan Rome, they suffered far more terribly and far longer under papal Rome. Let the massacres of the Albigenses, the Waldenses, the Hussites, the Lollards, the massacres in Holland and the Netherlands, the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the massacre in Ireland in 1641, the tortures of the Inquisition, the fires of the stake kindled over and over in every country in Europe,—let these speak and testify to the fulfillment of prophecy. Yes; the papacy has made war with the saints, and overcome them, and worn them out, and would have totally crushed and annihilated them, but for the sustaining hand and reviving power of God. In its prolonged, cruel, and universal persecution of the saints, the papacy has fulfilled this solemn prophecy.” In this study, however, we wish to call special attention to the effort of the papacy to change the law of God; and in order that we may appreciate the full meaning of this effort it will be necessary for us to study the real nature of the law and man’s relation to it. When God created man in his own image, he gave him his law, not expressed in a code, but the law of his own being in the gift of his own life to him to be revealed in the flesh. In sharing with man his own nature of love, he wrote the law of God in the very being of man. Man was perfect in his being, and in harmony with God. His every impulse, growing out of his intimate fellowship with his Maker, prompted him to right conduct as the simple expression of the law of his life. His will was in perfect agreement with the will of God, and it was his delight to do his Creator’s will. The law of God was in his heart. And this law of love expressed itself in the service of love, and the law of self-renouncing love was the law of life for man. Thus man’s likeness to God revealed itself. By sinning against God, man repudiated this law of love as the law of his life, and adopted the principle of self-aggrandizement in place of the principle of self-renunciation. Instead of accepting the fact that he had been made in the likeness of God, he yielded to the suggestion that it was necessary for him to do something in order to be “as God.” But by this very act he lost his likeness to God. Thus it was that man, inspired by Satan, thought to change the law of God, and thus it was that sin with all its consequences found admittance to our world. The gospel is the provision which God has made that man may be created anew in the image of God, and that the law of love may again be written in his heart. In the gift of his own Son to our flesh, God again united the law of his being with the flesh, and thus opened the door of hope to man. By himself becoming an interpretation to the universe of the fullness of the meaning of his own law of self-renouncing love, he prepared the way that man himself might again become obedient to that same law. And man is asked to accept the fact that in the person of Christ humanity has been restored to the likeness to God, acknowledging that he cannot restore himself, and repudiating the law of self-aggrandizement for the law of self-renunciation. This is done by believing, by believing on Christ, by believing on him as the last Adam, the head of a new humanity, by submitting to the power of the endless life which he restored to humanity in his own person. This is the provision of infinite love and wisdom. Thus can God “be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” And so the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” and it cannot be the power of God to salvation to those who do not believe. On God’s part the provision for salvation is made by the gift of his Son. This provision becomes effective in each individual who accepts the gift. And this can be done by believing, but in no other way. Thus the broken law is kept again by faith. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Inasmuch as Satan led man into sin in the first instance by persuading him to doubt God, and to seek to uplift himself through some act of his own, it would be only natural to expect that he would attempt to thwart the plan for man’s salvation by the same method. And this is just what has been done. This counter-working of Satan has found expression in various ways among different peoples and in different times, but his crowning effort is “the mystery of iniquity.” In this masterpiece of deceit Satan has attempted to change the law of God, not by openly working against it, but by so completely perverting the principles of the gospel right in the church itself as to turn it into “the synagogue of Satan.” In this way the papacy has been built up, the fundamental axiom of which is that the pope is the vicar of the Son of God. In reality, however, as we have seen, the pope is the vicar of Satan, the visible agent through whom he works in his attempt to overthrow the government of God. Under the blasphemous claim that he was the special representative of God in the earth, and that all authority had been delegated to him as such, the pope as the head of the papacy has not hesitated to put his word above the word of God, and to add to, or subtract from, or change the word of God just as might best serve his own purpose. And he has met with an apparent success in this dreadful work because he has presented to men in the name of religion a system which professedly satisfies all the claims of God, while at the same time it does not demand a change of the heart. This is an appeal to the perverted natures of men. “What they desire is a method of forgetting God which shall pass as a method of remembering him. The papacy is well adapted to meet the wants of all these. It is prepared for two classes of mankind, embracing nearly the whole world,—those who would be saved by their merits, and those who would be saved in their sins. Here is the secret of its power.” To meet these demands the papacy has evolved a so-called system of religion which is the salvation of man instead of the salvation of God. It substitutes the human for the divine. It puts man’s word in the place of God’s word. It discards the divine method of justification by faith for the human method of justification by works. As a consequence it merely cloaks sin with a pretended garment of righteousness, rather than cleanses from sin. And as sufficient proof of its authority to do any of the lesser things in its perversion of God’s appointed means of salvation, it appeals to the change which it has made in that brief summary of the law of love,—the ten commandments. Of course it has not really changed God’s law, but it has thought to do so, and as a result many are ignorantly transgressing God’s holy law to-day. Having substituted salvation by merit for salvation by faith, the papacy has set aside the sign of God’s power to create, and therefore to save,—the Sabbath of the fourth commandment,—and has put forward in its place the sign of its merely human power—the spurious sabbath, the first day of the week. This is the supreme effort of Satan to overthrow the Lord’s plan to establish his kingdom in the earth, and to establish his own in its place. But the message of justification by faith as the preparation for the coming King is now sounding forth in the earth, and the unchanged and the unchangeable law of the kingdom of heaven—the law of7 self-renouncing love written in the heart—is being established in the experience of those whose eyes are being opened to see the attempted change of the law of the kingdom by the papacy. The result will be a people who “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Blessed law! Blessed are they who keep it. A National Crisis and One-Man Power
REV. NEWELL DWIGHT HILLIS, a prominent Brooklyn clergyman and orator, sees a national crisis pending in this country, which is likely to result in the establishment of a one-man power. He says:— Just now our country is entering upon a crisis that is to strain its institutions to the last point before breaking. A century ago the great figures of the community were the magistrate and the leading minister. In the middle of the last century the statesman and the politician were the outstanding figures representing weight of intellect, and those were the days of Daniel Webster and Henry Clay. Then came an era about five years ago when the statesman was submerged by the multi-millionaire. Wealth, riches, the love of gold and power control our statesmen now. Individuals representing hundreds of millions caused the politician to pass under an eclipse. This Croesus who once owned his private car and yacht, now owns his private governor, his private representatives, and last summer he owned his private Congress. Now has come a day when the multi-millionaire is powerless to control the treasury he has gained. The next stage is his submergence by the numbers of his workmen acting under the control of a single will. But the rule of the many because they have the votes and are needed by the governor who seeks re-election, is a rule of peril that threatens every institution that we love. Emperor William and the Catholic Church
By L. A. S.
According to assertions put forth by the leading organs of the papacy in Europe, the Catholic Church is soon to receive no less an accession than Emperor William of Germany. It is declared that the emperor’s sympathies are being won over to this church in various ways, and that he will at no distant day boldly declare himself as its adherent and supporter. Two reasons are assigned for this expectation. First, the “center,” or Catholic, party in the government has stood by the emperor in supporting every measure devised by the latter for the furtherance of his imperial ambitions, and has likewise joined with him in opposing the social-democratic party, and supported his claim to rule by divine right. This has drawn the emperor to that party, and to the church which it represents. Second, the emperor wishes to maintain religion among the people, and as Protestantism is evidently falling into decay, it must be the Catholic religion to which he must lead the people. On this point a German Catholic paper says:— Emperor William has a lucid mind. He is perspicacious enough to be aware of the ever divine and living power of the Catholic Church in the face of the impotence and weakness of Protestantism, which is dying of decay. There is every reason to believe that the emperor has made or will make this observation, which is a thing self-evident, and that he will have the courage to give his support, in every German Protestant state, to the Catholic Church, and to bring all Germany back to the old mother church; that is, to Catholicism. He would thus give to Germany a splendor and a power known to her only in the days of Charlemagne. The emperor, as he says himself, wishes to maintain religion among the people. Now that can only be the Catholic religion; for Protestantism can be sustained no longer. It is suffering from inward ruin, it is stricken with consumption. Hence it can be said that the emperor, in his speech at Aix-la-Chapelle, spoke as a Catholic emperor. It is no doubt true that “Protestantism” in Germany, as represented by the state church and by German “rationalism” and the “higher criticism” is “stricken with consumption,” and that, as compared with the Catholic religion, it is much inferior in vitality and in power to hold the people. And this is no doubt plain to the mind of the emperor. This is a fact which is working powerfully in other countries where a like state of things exists, to win religiously minded people over to the Catholic Church, and no doubt it has its effect upon the mind of the German emperor. As regards the work of the Catholic party in the Reichstag, it may be said that for many years the pope, through this party, which is strong enough to hold the balance of political power in Germany, has been securing concessions from the German government which have brought that country more and more under the influence of the papacy. So that on the whole, there seems much reason to believe that in this matter the Vatican organs have not spoken far short of the truth. L. A. S. CONTRARY to predictions made by opponents of the French law against the Catholic schools, the course of the French premier in closing these schools is sustained by public sentiment in France, and the law continues in full force. Replying to an attack on this point, Premier Combes said, in the Chamber of Deputies: “We have reached a turning point in our history. The country would perish if we yielded to the congregations. We wish to arrest the monastic invasion, and depend on the support of the chamber.” The suppressed schools were not merely religious schools, but were avenues through which Rome constantly sought to get control of the affairs of the nation. The Perils of Trashy Literature
THAT it is very essential for parents to know the nature of the books which come into their children’s hands, and to guard them with all care against the pernicious influence of modern trashy literature, is a truth often forced upon public attention by tragic occurrences. An instance of this kind is reported in a press telegram from a New Jersey town near Atlantic City. Lloyd Hammell, a thirteen-year-old lad, disappeared, and a search made by his father and some neighbors resulted in the discovery of his body hanging by the neck from a tree. “Upon inquiry it was learned that the lad was a member of a boys’ club that met nightly in a corn patch, and discussed heroic deeds as portrayed in the blood-and-thunder novels which they exchanged at their nocturnal gatherings. A search of his school desk discovered several books of wild tales. The boy’s teacher said that he had told her that his ‘time was up on Wednesday.’ It is suspected that lots were drawn, and that the boy was hanged by his playmates.” THE Rev. Robert Paddock, of New York City, who at a recent, session of the Southern New York Baptist Association gave an address on the relation of the church to the people, said on that occasion that it is the duty of the church to educate young men in politics. “The failure of the church to do this, he said, was the cause of the elevation of unprincipled men into positions of political power. It is very natural for a certain class of clergymen to talk in this way, and this is not the first instance in which the idea of the church as the fountain head of politics has been advocated from the pulpit in this country. Indeed, powerful organizations exist for the purpose of making this idea a reality in State and national politics. But the idea is one of the delusions of these last days. The Christian church was instituted not to make men a power in politics, but to conserve their efficiency in the cause of the kingdom of God. The Christian is above the world, and the power of Christianity is manifested not where the Christian stands at the polls, on a par with the worst sinner, having one vote each at their command, but where one chases a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. For the Christian’s weapons of warfare are not those employed by the world, but are from the armory of heaven, and are “mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.” Christians are the “salt of the earth,” but they do not save it by their votes. The sinners can always vastly outvote the saints. The churches cannot agree as to what is the true way of salvation—the question which they are especially commissioned to make plain. How then can they be accepted as a safe guide in politics, with which they have properly nothing to do? Anywhere, My Saviour
By E. C. Ellsworth
ANYWHERE, my Saviour, lead my willing feet,
Only let me clasp thy hand, feel thy presence sweet;
Thorns may pierce and snares beset, I still will follow thee,
Anywhere, my Saviour, if thou leadest me. Anywhere, my Saviour, only on me smile;
Strengthen, guard, and comfort me, let not sin beguile;
Dark and toilsome though my way, I will never fear,
Anywhere, my Saviour, if thy presence cheer. Anywhere, my Saviour! only this I pray.
Keep me in the narrow path, never let me stray;
Sin may plead with siren voice, help me answer, Nay;
Kept by thee, my Saviour, I will hold my way.
— E. C. Ellsworth. “If Ye Know These Things, Happy Are Ye If Ye Do Them”
By Ellen G. White
CHRIST'S last great struggle with the power of darkness should ever be kept fresh in the minds of all who believe in him as the propitiation for the sins of the world. God would have us study the lesson taught by the experience of the children of Israel, when they were bitten by serpents. Those bitten were directed to look at the brazen serpent which had been uplifted in the camp, and those who looked in faith lived. To-day we are standing in a position similar to that of the children of Israel. As we look upon the world in its moral defilement, we see the poisonous serpents abroad, ready to sting us to death. To the cross of Calvary, bearing a dying Saviour, we must look. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” Only the Lamb of God can take away our sins. We should think more of this than we do. Our eternal interests demand that we show faith in Christ. In the words spoken by Christ when he gave a representation of true humility by washing the feet of his disciples, I would appeal to all who name the name of Christ: “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” Do you see the uplifted Saviour? Do you know that it was for your sins that he suffered and died? Do you do his will? Knowing is only a part of our duty. Our eternal interests demand that we do also. But to many who have had great light the words of Paul are sorrowfully appropriate: “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” Though Christ had been set forth among the Gentiles, they had not had a personal sight of the divine Sufferer, enduring the weight of the sins of the world. Christ crucified is to be presented by those who preach the word. The last scenes of his life, in which he achieved a victory for the world, are not to be set forth in a tame, listless manner, but earnestly, and by those who feel constrained to keep the memory of these mighty deeds from growing old. The past should be made a living reality, as if being transacted before us. But this cannot be done by human ability. Those who preach Christ must have the help of God's Spirit. Christ is our advocate in the heavenly courts, and he presents in our behalf the sacrifice he offered on Calvary. This we are to present to others. In this way we are to perpetuate the memory of the crucifixion. When this is done, heavenly instrumentalities work at the same time upon the hearts of the hearers. A power independent of human effort is felt. The speaker does not labor in his own unaided strength. He is endued with a power that is wholly from above. As the words flow from his lips, the Holy Spirit co-operates with him; and the hearers are impressed, as though Jesus were in reality before them. Through the preaching of the word and the administration of the sacramental service, Christ has been set forth among us. The Lord's supper was ordained by Christ shortly before his death, and the ceremony of feet washing was instituted just prior to the Lord's supper. As we celebrate these ordinances, we are to remember that Christ is present, making the occasion one of great interest. Thus it will be to all who have a true sense of the situation. We should search our hearts, and confess the sins that we have cherished. If we are guided by the Holy Spirit, our thoughts will not be thoughts of self-exaltation, but of severe self-censure and humiliation. Selfishness, evil speaking, and evil thinking will be put away. We shall remember Christ's action, as he girded himself with a towel. While the dispute as to who should be greatest was still fresh in the minds of the disciples, Christ humbled himself, and washed their feet, wiping them with the towel wherewith he was girded. After Christ had washed their feet, he said unto them, “Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” During this ceremony, the Holy Spirit was impressing the hearts of the disciples, sweeping away the selfishness that they had shown in their dealings with one another. Not long before, some of them had been offended because their brethren sought the highest place. All this now appeared so insignificant, the mountain was reduced to such a molehill, that shame took the place of disputing. “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant,” declared Christ. He that doeth service will humble himself, and in so doing, he will be placed where the Lord can safely honor him, because he has the Spirit of Christ. The Object of the Passover and of the Lord's Supper
The Jews had been strictly enjoined to celebrate the Passover. This had been instituted at the time of their deliverance from Egypt. Then the children of Israel ate the Passover supper in haste, with their loins girded, and with their staves in their hands, ready for their journey. The manner in which they celebrated this ordinance harmonized with their condition; for they had been thrust out of the land of Egypt, and were about to begin a painful and difficult journey through the wilderness. But in Christ's time this position had been changed. In harmony with the rest that had been given them, the people partook of the Passover supper in a reclining position. By God's direction, wine was drunk; but this was not fermented wine; it was the pure juice of the grape. The Passover was ordained as a commemoration of the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. God had directed that when their children asked the meaning of this ordinance, the history was to be repeated, that the wonderful deliverance from bondage might be kept fresh in the minds of all. The ordinance of the Lord's supper was given to the disciples to be celebrated till Christ should come the second time, with power and great glory. It is the means by which he designs that the great deliverance wrought out for us as the result of his sacrifice shall be kept fresh in our minds. “When the ordinances are celebrated as the Lord has commanded, messengers from the throne of God are present, listening to the words of confession and forgiveness. The Holy Spirit quickens the sensibilities of those who thus obey Christ, and turns their thoughts into spiritual channels. As the disciples of Christ, they seem to be passing through the garden consecrated by the agony of him who bore the sins of the world. They witness the struggle by which our reconciliation with God was obtained. Reconciliation one with another is the work for which the ordinance of feet washing was instituted. By the example of our Lord and Master, this humiliating ceremony has been made a sacred ordinance. Whenever it is celebrated, Christ is present by his Holy Spirit. It is this Spirit that brings conviction to hearts. As Christ celebrated this ordinance with his disciples, conviction came to the hearts of all save Judas. So we shall be convicted as Christ speaks to our hearts. The fountains of the soul will be broken up. The mind will be9 energized, and, springing into activity and life, will break down every barrier that has caused disunion and alienation. Sins that have been committed will appear with more distinctness than ever before; for the Holy Spirit will bring them to our remembrance. The words of Christ, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them,” will be clothed with new power. “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” Christ said to his disciples, “He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. . . . He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. . . . He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.” After Judas went out to do the mission of Satan in the streets of Jerusalem, he was no longer favored by God, but abandoned. He found the council of Christ's enemies, and completed the work he had begun. After he had gone, Christ's countenance assumed a more cheerful aspect. The presence of the traitor had placed him under a painful restraint. His last interview with his disciples was sacred; but while Judas was there, he could not express his feelings. His utterances revealed this restraint. “Ye are not all clean,” he said. “I speak not of you all.” Now the restraint was removed. “Now is the Son of man glorified,” Jesus said, “and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.” Christ's face seemed radiant, so clearly was divinity seen. He spoke to his disciples with the tenderest affection. He wasted no words over the traitor's departure; he did not speak of the dreadful ordeal through which he must pass. He must endure his suffering alone. He seemed like an irrepressible, living spring of water. The disciples looked upon Christ with admiration and love. Divinity was seen in humanity. He was transfigured, and exalted above everything earthly. He was about to be separated from his disciples in a way that they did not expect. But they caught the bright beams reflected from him, and lost all thought of contention or desire to be first. Every word Christ uttered impressed them with a sense of their co-partnership with him. It was at this time that Christ gave his disciples the precious instruction found in the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth chapters of John. He knew that they must have special instruction; for unless divine power were combined with human effort, their future work would prove a failure. He was about to be separated from them. They would no longer have him as their visible counselor, to take the responsibility in all matters. They must be instructed; for were they to leave the divine agency out of their efforts, they would not accomplish the work he had appointed them to do. In all their ministry, upon which they should enter to bless humanity, they must build upon a divine Christ. To-day a great work is to be done. The Holy Spirit is to work through human agencies. A partnership between God and the workers must be maintained. Man works because God works in him; all the efficiency and power is of God. Yet God has so arranged that all the responsibility rests with the human instrument. These are the appointed conditions of partnership. Men are required to move among men, doing a divine work. God designs that they shall have power from on high, but if they fail to seek for this power, if they neglect to improve the facilities which God has provided whereby they may reach the highest standard, they fail to uplift fallen humanity. The Gospel Shall Be Preached to All People
By H. R. Johnson
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come,” said Christ. When the apostle John was shown in vision the finishing up of the mystery of God in the earth, he saw the message go “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” God has ever had in mind the proclamation of his eternal truth to all people. When the humble men of Galilee were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they spoke in at least eighteen different tongues, “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” This wonderful demonstration by the Spirit filled those present on that memorable occasion with astonishment. They said one to another, “What meaneth this?” When Peter heard some mocking this working of God’s Spirit, he rose up to show that the Spirit-filled linguists were not drunken, as was supposed. “This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel,” he exclaimed. Of course, the Spirit of promise would do many other wonderful things, but causing men to speak with other tongues was the all-important question with the people just then. The prophet Joel declares: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” Acts 2:17-21. “But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.” 1 Cor. 14:3. Joel’s prophecy spans the whole new dispensation. It takes in the time known as “the time of the latter rain.” In this time there will be another powerful manifestation of God’s Spirit. The gospel of the kingdom shall then be preached in all the world; for God by his Spirit will cause it to go to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” God will never forget the promise which he has made, that the gospel shall go to every tongue. To Abraham he said, “In thee shall all nations be blessed.” We have two striking incidents on record which prove that God is ever mindful of this promise. The first is recorded in Acts 2. On the day of Pentecost the disciples preached the word to representatives “of every nation under heaven.” The Holy Spirit assisted them in doing this work. The second incident was seen in the great advent movement prior to 1844. History gives us every reason to believe that the message of the first angel went to all peoples of the world. By his Spirit, God declared through the apostle John that it should be so. See Rev. 14:6. There is one very interesting fact in connection with the preaching of the gospel of Christ by the first angel, which shows God’s care in getting the truth before all nations. Satan had been scheming to keep the gospel of salvation out of Sweden, as out of other nations. The law of the state forbade all preaching that was considered dangerous to the state church, or that would cause division in it. “The preaching of the first message in Sweden excited much opposition.” Through arrests and imprisonments the work was largely hindered in its progress. Then God moved upon several children to give the message. “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come,” was spoken with a power, dignity, and boldness that clearly demonstrated that God was in the movement. God will also carry the last warning message to all the world; and we may be his co-workers. The third angel’s message began to be preached in the United States, where nearly every nation under heaven is represented. This was, no doubt, God’s planning. Those of these representatives who receive the truth, will, in turn, communicate it to others, especially to their own nationality, and to the countries they represent. This is as it should be. They are debtors to do this; and woe be to them if they do not communicate the intrusted gospel message. All believers in Christ are placed in a solemn, responsible position. Being led by the Spirit of God, which takes all nations into account, that it may minister grace unto all, we shall consider our calling, and plan to discharge our duty faithfully. The Spirit will move upon each one to perform that work which he is best qualified to do, and in which he can best glorify his Maker. No one has a right to choose that field or that work which may best please his fancy. Paul was called to work for a people and in places of God’s choosing. Paul submitted. Peter had a similar experience. At this time, when the message is going to all nations, what is the duty10 of every foreign-speaking missionary worker? Does this question need a reply?—It would seem not. But it is nevertheless a fact that many of the foreign-born people find it quite difficult to speak their native tongue. Some do not speak nor read it at all. Then there are also some who were born in foreign countries, and once spoke their native language fluently, but who now find it difficult to speak their mother tongue. This barrier seems to hinder many from taking hold of the work as they ought. An excuse on that score will not be accepted by God, I believe. When God called Moses to deliver Israel, he pleaded this point as an excuse for not going. He said, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue.” “He had been so long away from the Egyptians that he had not so clear knowledge and ready use of their language as when he was among them.”—“Patriarchs and Prophets,” page 254. The Lord assured Moses of divine aid: “Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” When God calls to the work, every excuse falls to the ground; for who dares to say that God cannot work in and through whomsoever he calls? Balaam tried to curse Israel; but he could not, for God put a word of blessing for his people into Balaam’s mouth. The disciples spoke in different tongues on the day of Pentecost, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The untrained child-preachers in the advent movement spoke with power and wisdom. Does not the promise in Joel’s prophecy still hold good? The time of the latter rain is upon us. Will the Spirit not aid in proclaiming the last warning message in every tongue? God can do wonders through consecrated souls. The Spirit can call to our remembrance expressions in language that may have been forgotten, as well as remind us of the word of truth. It must be the duty of every conference and every church, especially of officers, to encourage every foreign-born missionary worker to labor for his own people as far as it is consistent. None of these foreign-speaking workers ought to be burdened with work that would hinder them from devoting as much of their time as possible to labor for their own people. Can it be in keeping with the Spirit of God to do otherwise? If we are led by the Spirit of God, shall we not work in God’s lines? Think on these things. “But,” says some one, “is there a demand for foreign workers in this country? Do not the majority of the foreigners speak the English language?”—Yes, a majority, perhaps, can speak the English language quite well. Many will say that they can speak it well, when the facts are they speak it very poorly. Many foreigners can speak and understand the daily, common conversation quite well; but when it comes to an understanding of the preaching of the word, they do not get the sense of it as they would if it were spoken in their own tongue. This I know to be true. Being a Scandinavian myself, I speak from observation and experience. But what about the hundreds of thousands who do not speak the English tongue at all? Who will bring the last message of mercy to them? May God help us to study the story of Pentecost day, and more fully to believe the sermon of Peter, based on Joel’s prophecy. When the Spirit of God shall be poured out as on the day of Pentecost, there will be tongues loosed to speak, as the pen of a ready writer, the wonderful things of salvation. Then the gospel will be preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.