[Outlook, February 18, 1913 par. 1] Outlook - The Central Union Outlook February 18, 1913 A Delightful Time "Dear Brethren:--I welcome you to 'Elmshaven,' the refuge that I found prepared for me on my return from Australia. I hope you will enjoy your visit, and that you may come again. In your prosperity and welfare I am deeply interested. Your house is the world. Your light must not be put under a bushel or under a bed, but on a candlestick. The press is a powerful instrumentality, which God has ordained, to bring the truth before all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people. Pray, O pray, for a deeper experience. Go forth with your hearts softened and subdued by a study of the precious truths God has given us for this time. God will then give you wisdom to impart aright." {Outlook, February 18, 1913 par. 1} [Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 1] Christian Education - Christian Education September 1, 1909 The Intermediate School ［COMPILED FROM MANUSCRIPT OF MAY 17, 1903.］ Its Aim It is not wise for a new school to lift its banner and promise a high grade of work before it has proved that it is fully able to do preparatory work as it should be done. It should be the great aim in every intermediate school to do most thorough work in the common branches. {Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 1} [Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 2] In every school that is established among us, the teachers should begin humbly, not grasping the higher rounds of the ladder before they have climbed the lower ones. They are to climb round after round, beginning at the bottom. They are to be learners, even as they teach the common branches. When they have come down to the simplicity of true education, they will better understand how to prepare students for advanced studies. Teachers are to learn as they teach. Advancement is to be made, and, by advancement, experience is to be gained. {Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 2} [Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 3] Industrial Work The Word of God is to lie at the foundation of all the work done in these schools. And the students are to be taught the true dignity of labor. They are to be shown that God is a constant worker. Let every teacher take hold heartily with a group of students, working with them, and teaching them to work. As the teachers do this, they will gain a valuable experience. Their hearts will be bound up with the hearts of the students, and this will open the way for successful teaching. {Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 3} [Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 4] Our teachers are not to think that their work ends with giving instruction from books. They should devote several hours each day to working with the students in some line of manual training. This should in no case be neglected. {Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 4} [Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 5] In every school there should be those who have a store of patience and disciplinary talent. It should be the part of these to see that every line of work is kept up to the highest standard. Lessons in neatness, order, and thoroughness are to be given to the students. They are to be taught to keep everything in the school and about the grounds in perfect order. {Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 5} [Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 6] Relation to the Training-School Many workers, after studying for a time in the field, will feel the need of further study, and, with the experience gained in the field, will be prepared to value school privileges and to make rapid advancement. Some will desire an education in the higher branches of study. For these our colleges have been established. {Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 6} [Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 7] It would be a sad mistake for us to fail to consider thoroughly the purpose for which each of our schools is established. This is a matter that should be faithfully considered by our responsible men in each union conference. All the different educational interests should be given careful consideration, and then each school should place its work on a proper basis. Mrs. E. G. White. {Christian Education, September 1, 1909 par. 7} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 1] Christian Educator - The Christian Educator August 1, 1897 True Education. Education, as it is conducted in the schools of today, is one-sided, and therefore a mistake. As the purchase of the Son of God, we are his property, and every one should have an education in the school of Christ. Wise teachers should be chosen for our schools. Teachers have to deal with human minds, and they are responsible to God to impress upon those minds the necessity of knowing Christ as a personal Saviour. But no one can truly educate God's purchased possession unless he himself has learned in the school of Christ how to teach. {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 1} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 2] I must tell you from the light given me by God, I know that much time and money are spent by students in acquiring a knowledge that is as chaff to them; for it does not enable them to help their fellow men to form characters that will fit them to unite with saints and angels in the higher school. In the place of crowding youthful minds with a mass of things that are distasteful, and that in many cases will never be of any use to them, a practical education should be given. Time and money are spent in gaining useless knowledge. The mind should be carefully and wisely taught to dwell upon Bible truth. The main object of education should be to gain a knowledge of how we can glorify God, whose we are by creation and by redemption. The result of education should be to enable us to understand the voice of God. {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 2} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 3] The earth is corrupt and dark and idolatrous, but amid the darkness and corruption a pure, divine light, the word of God, is shining. But although we have known the truth for many years, little advancement has been made by those who have been given light. Whose plan was it to produce that class of books that have been patronized in our schools? It was largely the plan of men who did not have the experience of Moses and Joshua and Daniel, and the other prophets and apostles, who endured the seeing of Him who is invisible. Seeing God by faith, gives a conception of the divine character, the perfection of heaven. But to place in our schools the books that have been placed there as standard books, is an offense to God. In this age, as never before, when the two great forces of the Prince of Heaven and the prince of hell have met in decided conflict, our youth need instruction in Bible principles. Like the branches of the True Vine, the word of God presents unity in diversity. There is in it a perfect, superhuman, mysterious unity. It contains divine wisdom, and that is the foundation of all true education; but this book has been treated indifferently. {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 3} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 4] Now, as never before, we need to understand the true science of education. If we fail to understand this, we shall never have a place in the kingdom of God. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." If this is the price of heaven, shall not our education be conducted on these lines? Christ must be everything to us. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." What a foundation is here laid for the faith of those who shall live in all ages. When Christ ascended to heaven, he ascended as our advocate. We always have a friend at court. And from on high Christ sends his representative to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. The Holy Spirit gives the divine anointing to all who receive Christ. {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 4} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 5] This is the great subject that underlies all true, sanctified education. When this is made the theme of our conversation, no idle, common talk will fall from our lips. Jesting and joking are heard because the soul temple is unsanctified and unholy. {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 5} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 6] God, the everlasting Father, gave his only begotten Son to the world that all who come to him might have everlasting life. And in this gift he opened to us a channel of the richest and most inexhaustible treasures. This sacred theme should be the food of our minds. With this bread of life we should satisfy our soul-hunger. If we do this, we cannot hunger for worldly excitement or grandeur. Our religious experience is of exactly the same quality as the food we give our minds. . . . {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 6} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 7] The truths contained in the Scriptures are grand, elevating, uplifting, ennobling. If the lost image of God is restored in this world, these truths must be cherished. They are graced with such simplicity that they could not possibly have originated in any human mind. A sower from a higher world went forth to sow the world with the seeds of truth. Only this higher phase of education is able to prepare students for the higher school, where Christ and God will be the teachers, and where, throughout eternity, we shall learn how best to magnify and glorify God's name. {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 7} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 8] Men who are not burdened to learn Greek and Latin may yet possess a most earnest zeal to prepare in this life to receive life eternal, and enter the higher school, taking with them the result of their studies in this world. When they reach the heavenly school, their education will have advanced just in proportion as in this world they strove to obtain a knowledge of God and the world's Redeemer. And just in proportion to the advancement they have made in seeking God and his righteousness will they be rewarded in the future immortal life. {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 8} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 9] The scheme of redemption is not a common study. Had it been so, many souls would not have been disloyal to God. Commencing with the apostasy and the gospel presented to Adam and Eve in Eden, and tracing down prophetic history, the word of God unfolds the plan of redemption, gathering fresh and increased evidence, until the fulness of the time came, and then Christ made his advent into the world. In Christ the deity was represented. He was the great instructor in divine philosophy. He came without display, having no outward glory to stimulate mere admiration, and possessing no earthly riches. . . . {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 9} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 10] But as a golden treasure, truth was entrusted to the Jewish nation. The Jewish economy, bearing the signature of heaven, was instituted by the great teacher, Jesus Christ. In types and shadows, important truths and mysteries that needed an interpreter, were veiled. The shadow pointed to the substance; and when Jesus came to our world, it was to let spiritual light shine forth. Hear, O heavens! and be astonished, O earth! The appointed instructor was no less a personage than the only begotten Son of God. God was revealed in Christ. He made plain the treasures of truth. He displaced the rubbish that had been piled on the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, declaring himself the Lord of the Sabbath. He who made the world and made man, also made the Sabbath, and gave it to man to keep holy. . . . {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 10} [Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 11] God's standard of character is his law. Satan said, I will tear down this standard, and will plant my own standard in its place. This he has tried and is still trying to do, that God's standard may be eclipsed or seen through a glass darkly. The Jews did not see it, and that is why they crucified Christ. The Christian world do not see it, and that is why they refuse to acknowledge the law of God. In so doing they make themselves accountable for the sins that destroyed the inhabitants of the old world by a flood, that brought fire and brimstone upon Sodom, and that destroyed the Jewish nation. Shall those to whom God has given wonderful opportunities and great light follow in the tread of those who rejected light to their ruin? Shall those to whom God has entrusted wonderful truth remain on the low level of the teachers of this generation? Mrs. E. G. White. - {Christian Educator, August 1, 1897 par. 11} [Christian Educator, November 1, 1897 par. 1] November 1, 1897 The Duty of Home Discipline. Parents should feel the responsibility of educating their children. Mothers are not to be given up to the following of fashion, but to be queens in their households. They are to train their children to be obedient to all the statutes and commandments of the Lord, keeping before their tender minds the fact that the sin of Adam and Eve opened upon our world the flood-gates of disappointment, sorrow, and suffering as the result of disobeying God's requirements. {Christian Educator, November 1, 1897 par. 1} [Christian Educator, November 1, 1897 par. 2] In the old dispensation the significance of the typical sacrifices was often brought before the minds of the children, for they prefigured the great sacrifice that was to be made for the redemption of man. The same lessons are essential in our time, that a foundation may be laid for prosperous households. "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." {Christian Educator, November 1, 1897 par. 2} [Christian Educator, November 1, 1897 par. 3] If parents had always followed the directions of God, and had aimed to reach the high standard of life and character which is presented in the law of God, we should have altogether a different world, and should breathe in a holier, purer atmosphere. Parents should educate their children, teaching them that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, that each member of the household might say, "I will walk in mine house in a perfect way, I will behave myself wisely." The reason why the world is so wicked, and the earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, is that there is so little respect for the law of the Lord. The reason there is so little respect for the Lord God of Hosts is that children are brought up to have little respect for their parents. All family government is to be shaped after the direction given by Jesus Christ through Moses to the heads of households. In homes where children and parents are followers of Jesus Christ there will be the doing of his word, that they may receive the blessings promised to the obedient, and avoid the curse that is the sure result of disobedience. If there is not a law in the household after the similitude of the law of God, there will be dissension, selfishness, and unhappiness. The Lord will work with parents as they work with him to be doers of his will. {Christian Educator, November 1, 1897 par. 3} [Christian Educator, November 1, 1897 par. 4] There should be no disorder, no haphazard work in the family; for those who profess to be followers of Christ are to reveal the fact to the church, to the world, and to the heavenly universe. There are a great many families under the displeasure of God, because they follow their own imperfect way, and do not obey the words of Christ given for the instruction of parents in the Old Testament. "That thou mightest fear, the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thine house, and on thy gates." Mrs. E. G. White. - {Christian Educator, November 1, 1897 par. 4} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 1] October 1, 1898 Practical Missionary Work, a Branch of True Education. Bible study is to lie at the foundation of all true education, but more, far more, than a mere theoretical knowledge of Bible truth is required. It is not enough to fill the minds of our students with precious lessons of the deepest importance, and then leave lesson after lesson unused. Missionary work should be done by suitable ones, that they may learn to impart that which they have received. Those to whom light has been given are not to seal up the precious ointment, but are to break the bottle and let the fragrance be shared by all around. There are those among our students who have precious talents. Our Counselor says, "Let the talents be put out to usury." {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 1} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 2] It is necessary to the best education that we give the students time to do missionary work, time to become acquainted with the families among whom they live. They should not be loaded down with all the studies they can carry, but should be given time to use the knowledge they have acquired. They should be encouraged to do faithful missionary work, by becoming interested in those who are in the darkness of error, taking to them the truth where they are. With all humility of heart, seeking knowledge from Christ, praying, and watching unto prayer, they may make known to others the truth that is placed before them day by day. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 2} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 3] Those who do this work will find many, both old and young, who are full of hereditary prejudice, who hate the truth because of a misconception of its character. As these become acquainted with those who know and practise the truth, they will see their own errors, and though wrath and spiteful passions may appear to be cherished, friendly intercourse will change these feelings. A thick veil of prejudice blinds many minds. They need love and pity and the holiness of truth. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 3} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 4] The teachers and students in our schools need the divine touch. God can do more for them than he has done, but in the past his way has been restricted. If a missionary spirit were encouraged, even though it took some hours from the program of study, if there were more faith and spiritual zeal, more of a realization of what God will do, much of heaven's blessing would be given them. There are holy chords yet to be touched. Teachers as well as students need to show greater teachableness. Just in proportion to the true missionary spirit that is brought into the education and training of the youth, will be the blessing bestowed. Students should begin to work in missionary lines, they should learn to take hold of Christ, while connected with persons of broad experience, with whom they may counsel and advise. As they do this, they will not only advance in knowledge and intellectual power, but will learn how to work, so that when the school term is ended, and they are separated from teachers and experienced advisers, they will be prepared to engage in earnest missionary labor, working under the direction of the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. It is as essential that they should know how to communicate, as that they should receive, a knowledge of the truth. The practise of telling others about Christ, of reading and explaining his word, will stamp that word on the mind, and make the truth their own. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 4} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 5] "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . and thy neighbor as thyself." This is God's command. Jesus has given an additional requirement. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." Man never knew the strength of that love until Christ came to this earth and gave his life for sinners. "Greater love hath no man than this, That a man lay down his life for his friends." We are not merely to love our neighbor as ourselves; we are to love one another as Christ has loved us. "As the father hath loved me, so have I loved you," he declared, "continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another as I have loved you." {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 5} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 6] The students and also the teachers in our schools need to take time to become acquainted with the members of the community in which they live. The love that Christ has manifested toward us, we must cultivate for others. The truth will not long remain in the heart unless it works by love to save souls that are ready to perish. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 6} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 7] God does not want our schools to be conducted on stereotyped, human plans, as many are now being conducted. He would have us beware of human precision, of making a line on which every one must tread. A different element must be brought into our schools. Wrong maxims and methods of teaching, which have been looked upon as wholly essential, have been followed. Those who are connected with our schools must penetrate deeper than their own habits or opinions, which have been esteemed as good authority. There must not be so many studies and duties placed on the students that they will neglect to talk with the great Teacher, the Lord Jesus Christ, and let into their hearts the softening, subduing influence that dwelt in him. It is essential that students be taught, not only by pen and voice, how to do missionary work, but also by working with them in various missionary lines. All about us there are persons who need to be taught how to cook and how to treat the sick. By engaging in these lines of work, we practise the truth as it is in Jesus. Teachers and students need to study how to engage in this work. The teachers should take students to places where help is needed, giving them practical instruction in how to care for the sick. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 7} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 8] The teachers must draw from the deep, central source of all moral and intellectual power, asking the Lord to give them the mind that was in Christ Jesus, that every case that calls for sympathy and help, in physical as well as spiritual lines, may receive their attention. Teach the students to make a practical application of the lessons they have received. As they witness human woe, and the deep poverty of those whom they are trying to help, they will be stirred with compassion. Their hearts will be softened and subdued by the deep, holy principles of the word of God. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 8} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 9] The great Physician co-operates with every effort made in behalf of suffering humanity, to give light to the body, and life and restoration to the soul. And why is this? Satan came into our world, and led men into temptation. With sin came sickness and suffering, for we reap that which we sow. Satan afterward caused man to charge upon God the suffering which is but the sure result of the transgression of physical law. God is thus falsely accused, and his character misrepresented. He is charged with doing that which Satan himself has done. God would have his people expose this falsehood of the enemy. To them he has given the light of the gospel of health, and as his representatives they are to give the light to others. As they work to relieve suffering humanity, they are to point out the origin of all suffering, and direct the mind to Jesus, the great Healer of both soul and body. His heart of sympathy goes out to all earth's sufferers, and with every one who works for their relief, he co-operates. As with his blessing health returns, the character of God will be vindicated, and the lie thrown back upon Satan, its originator. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 9} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 10] We must give the Lord a chance to do his work, his great work for the soul. Christ is our sufficiency. Each one of us must understand what it means to have the word of God fulfilled in us. As Christ was in this world, so we are to be. If in this life we are like him in character, we shall in heaven have his likeness. If there is no likeness between Christ and us in this world, there can be no fellowship between us when he shall come in his glory and all the holy angels with him. As religious teachers, we are under obligation to teach our students how to engage in medical missionary work. Those who do this work have many opportunities to sow the seeds of truth in a way that will be successful. A heart full of gratitude to God can pray, "Teach me thy way, O God, lead me in a plain path because of mine observers." {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 10} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 11] There is a work to be done all about our schools. If we are light-bearers to the world, we are pledged to teach the students how to communicate light, and to give them an opportunity to work. We are to give the invitation to the supper, for it is glad tidings for all people. Let all who are qualifying themselves for this work spend much time in prayer. Let them contemplate their duty in the light of the word of God. We must now see what can be done to educate the students in practical missionary work, so that they can impart to others that which they have received. Who will devote a portion of his time to this work? Remember, Christ is the Prince of life, the rightful Sovereign of all the byways and hedges, and he knows what they need. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 11} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 12] God has placed on us a burden of responsibility that we do not recognize . We must learn deeper lessons in the school of Christ. We can do much in his strength. He would have us teach the students how to take up the work he has left them to do, that they may not lose the spirit of the work by too close an application to the theory of the truth. It is an intelligent knowledge made perfect by practise that makes an efficient worker. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 12} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 13] "This gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations: and then shall the end come." "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," Christ declares. This power he is ready to transfer to those who will co-operate with him in self-denial and self-sacrifice. We must without delay open a way that this branch of education may be developed. The students must be given special opportunities to do missionary work, that they may place themselves in the channel to receive and impart light. They must make known the truth that has made them children of God. {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 13} [Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 14] If we believe the word of God, our greatest aim and object should be to educate and train young men and women to go forth and do missionary work. Thus they can use the truth that has been so faithfully presented to them. As they visit families, the precious truths they have heard, the drill they have had on Bible themes, will be brought to their minds. As they read and explain the word, "the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you." In this way not only will those who know not the truth be encouraged, but those who are telling the preciousness of Christ will be greatly blessed. Ellen G. White. - {Christian Educator, October 1, 1898 par. 14} [Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 1] April 1, 1899 God and Nature. Mrs. E. G. White. The most difficult and humiliating lesson that man has to learn, if he is kept by the power of God, is his own inefficiency, and the sure failure of his own efforts to read nature correctly. Sin has obscured his vision, so that, of himself, man can not interpret nature without placing it above God. He is in the same position as were the Athenians who erected their altars for the worship of nature, upon which they might well inscribe, "To the unknown God." Nature is not God, and never was God. The voice of nature testifies of God, declaring his glory; but nature itself is not God. As God's created work, it but bears a testimony of his power. {Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 1} [Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 2] The ancient philosophers prided themselves upon their superior knowledge, but God has said of them: "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever." In their human wisdom, the wise men of the world, knowing not God, foolishly deify nature and the laws of nature. Those who have not a knowledge of God by their acceptance of the revelation God has made of himself in Christ, will obtain only an imperfect knowledge of God in nature. Those who think they can obtain a perfect knowledge of God, aside from the Representative whom the Word declares is the "express image of his person," will need to become fools in their own estimation before they can be wise. This knowledge, so far from giving elevated conceptions of God, so far from elevating the mind, the soul, the heart, and bringing the whole being into conformity to the will of God, will make men idolaters. {Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 2} [Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 3] Though it is impossible to gain a perfect knowledge of God from imperfect nature; yet the things of nature, marred though they be, inculcate truths regarding the skillful Master Artist. One omnipotent in power, great in goodness, in mercy, and love, has created the earth; and even in its blighted state, much that is beautiful remains. Nature's voice speaks, saying that there is a God, the Creator of nature. Nature in its imperfections can not fully represent God; it can not reveal the character of God in his moral perfection. {Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 3} [Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 4] Those who have a true knowledge of God will not become so infatuated with the laws of matter and the operations of nature as to overlook or to refuse to acknowledge the continual working of God in nature. Deity is the author of nature. The natural world has in itself no inherent power but that which God supplies. How strange, then, that so many make a deity of nature! God furnishes the matter and the properties with which to carry out his plans. Nature is but his agency. {Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 4} [Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 5] The hand of God is continually guiding the globe in its continuous march around the sun. The same hand which holds the mountains, and balances them in position, guides and keeps in order the respective planets. All the wonderful glories in the heavens are but doing their appointed work. Vegetation flourishes because of the agencies employed by the great and mighty God. He sends the dew and the rain and the sunshine that verdure may spring forth, and spread its green carpet over the earth; that the shrubs and the fruit-trees may bud and blossom and bring forth fruit. It is not to be supposed that a law is set in operation for the seed to work of itself,--that the leaf appears because it must do so of itself. It is through the immediate agency of God that every tiny seed breaks through the earth, and springs into life. Every green leaf grows, every flower blooms, through the working power of God. {Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 5} [Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 6] Idolatry of nature is a farce; it is the invention of men who know not God, and who are trying to keep out of sight a knowledge of the true God. The words of Holy Writ say nothing of the independent laws of nature. They teach us that God is the superintendent as well as the Creator of all things. The divine Being is engaged in upholding the things which he has created. God has laws which he has instituted; but they are only his servants, through which he effects results. It is God who calls everything into order, and keeps all things in motion. {Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 6} [Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 7] We may look up, through nature, to nature's God. The beautiful things of nature have been given us for our pleasure. Then let us not turn our blessings into a curse by being led away from God in the worship of the creature rather than the Creator. Let nature's beautiful ministers of love answer the purpose of God, drawing our hearts to him to adore his goodness, his compassion, his inexpressible love, and to be filled with the beauties of his character. {Christian Educator, April 1, 1899 par. 7} [Bulletin, March 3, 1899 par. 1] Bulletin - Church and Sabbath School Bulletin March 3, 1899 A Letter Hamilton, Newcastle, Dec. 26, 1898. Dear Brother and Sister Haskell. Since coming here we have had a rather trying experience. Sarah and I came on the ground Friday. The day was very oppressive. In the afternoon there was a smart shower and a high wind. On Sabbath I attended morning meeting at six o'clock. Quite a large number were present. I felt the spirit of prayer. I arose and spoke. I did not know that I spoke, but they say I did. I seemed to be elsewhere. All through the night I had seemed to be in meetings, presenting the subject of the reception of the Holy Spirit. This was my burden in laboring somewhere, I can not tell where. The whole subject was the opening of our hearts to the Holy Spirit. I was trying to present to those who were there the great necessity of receiving the Spirit. Christ told the disciples. "I have many things to say unto you, but ye can not bear them now." Their own limited comprehension put a restraint upon him, so that he could not open to them the things he longed to unfold; for it would be labor lost. {Bulletin, March 3, 1899 par. 1} [Bulletin, March 3, 1899 par. 2] On the Sabbath, Elder Starr spoke in the forenoon. In the afternoon I spoke from John 15. I sought to impress upon the people the lesson of that wonderful parable of the vine and the branches. John 15:1-6. There are two kinds of connection between the branches and the vine; the one is deceptive, superficial. The crowd pressing upon Christ had no living union with him by genuine faith; but a poor woman, that had been many years a great sufferer, and had spent all her living upon physicians, but was made no better, but rather worse, thought if she could get within reach of him, -if she could only touch the hem of his garment, - she would be made whole. Christ understood all that was in her heart, and he placed himself where she could have the opportunity she desired. He would use that act to distinguish the touch of genuine faith from the casual contact of those who were crowding about him from mere curiosity. When the woman reached forth her hand, and touched the hem of his garment, she thought that this stealthy touch would not be known by any one; but Christ recognized that touch, and responded to her faith by his healing power. She realized in a moment that she was made whole, and the Lord Jesus would not let such faith pass unnoticed. He turned about him quickly, and said, "Who touched me?" "And the disciples were pressing close around him, and Peter said, The multitude throng thee and press thee, and askest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue hath gone out of me. When the woman saw that she was not hid, she came tremblingly, and cast herself at his feet," telling the whole story. For eighteen years she had been afflicted; but as soon as her finger touched the hem of his garment, she was made whole. Jesus said to her, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. Go in peace." The mere touch of faith brought its reward, and how then can we doubt God? (Continued next week.) ［The next issue is not known to be extant.］ {Bulletin, March 3, 1899 par. 2} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 1] Gazette - The Church Officers' Gazette September 1, 1914 Consecrated Efforts to Reach Unbelievers Those who claim to be looking for the return of the Saviour should bring into active service all the powers of their being. The church on earth is to be the light of the world. God designs that through the individual members of his church, life-giving beams shall shine forth into the dark places of earth, and into the heart of every benighted soul. Thus the whole earth is to be lighted with his glory. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 1} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 2] In all the relationships of life, whether in the intimacy of the home circle or in the business and social world, there are many ways in which Seventh-day Adventists may acknowledge their Lord, and win souls for his kingdom. We are living in the closing years of this earth's history, and it is especially important that we lose no time in acquainting others with the precious truth that will prepare them to stand blameless before God in the day of judgment. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 2} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 3] In the providence of God, those who are bearing the burden of his work have been endeavoring to put new life into old methods of labor, and also to invent new plans and new methods of awakening the interest of church members in a united effort to reach the world. One of the new plans for reaching unbelievers is the Harvest Ingathering campaign for missions. In many places, during the past few years, this has proved a success, bringing blessing to many, and increasing the flow of means into the mission treasury. As those not of our faith have been made acquainted with the progress of the third angel's message in heathen lands, their sympathies have been aroused, and some have sought to learn more of the truth that has such power to transform hearts and lives. Men and women of all classes have been reached, and the name of God has been glorified. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 3} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 4] In years past, I have spoken in favor of the plan of presenting our mission work and its progress before our friends and neighbors, and have referred to the example of Nehemiah. And now I desire to urge our brethren and sisters to study anew the experience of this man of prayer and faith and sound judgment, who made bold to ask his friend, King Artaxerxes, for help with which to advance the interests of God's cause. Let all understand that in presenting the needs of our work, believers can reflect light to others only as they, like Nehemiah of old, draw nigh to God, and live in close connection with the Giver of all light. Our own souls must be firmly grounded in a knowledge of the truth, if we would win others from error to truth. We need now to search the Scriptures diligently, that, as we become acquainted with unbelievers, we may hold up before them Christ as the anointed, the crucified, the risen Saviour, witnessed to by prophets, testified of by believers, and through whose name we receive the forgiveness of our sins. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 4} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 5] As we exalt the cross of Calvary before others, we shall find that it exalts us. Let every believer now stand in his lot and place, catching the inspiration of the work that Christ did for souls while in this world. We need the ardor of the Christian hero who endures to the end, ever beholding him who is invisible. Our faith must have a resurrection. Wherever we are, and whatever our opportunities, whether limited or extended, we are to exert a positive influence for good. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 5} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 6] In order to fulfill the purpose of God as laborers together with him, it is not necessary that all believers work in the same manner or along similar lines. No precise lines are to be laid down. Let the Holy Spirit direct each worker: and let each be willing to listen to the counsel of those who have been chosen to lead out in the various activities of the church. Thus the truth will ever stand on vantage ground. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 6} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 7] Some can best recommend the truth, not by argument or talk, but by living the principles of truth, by leading a modest, humble life as consistent disciples of the meek and lowly Christ. Especially is this true of those who are unable to give an intelligent reason for their faith, and of those who have a zeal not according to knowledge. Such believers should talk less in vindication of our faith, and study their Bible more, letting their deportment bear eloquent testimony to the power for good which the truth exercises in heart and life. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 7} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 8] "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." The fear here spoken of does not mean distrust or indecision, but with due caution, guarding every point, lest an unwise word be spoken, or excitement of feeling get the advantage, and thus leave unfavorable impressions upon minds, and balance them in the wrong direction. Godly fear, humility, and meekness are greatly needed by all, in order to represent correctly the truth for this time. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 8} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 9] God desires every believer to be a soul winner; and he will bless all who look to him in confidence for wisdom and guidance. As they move guardedly, walking in wisdom's way and remaining true to the Lord God of Israel, the purity and simplicity of Christ, revealed in the life practice, will witness to the possession of genuine piety. In all that they say and do, they will glorify the name of him whom they serve. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 9} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 10] The believer who is imbued with a true missionary spirit, is a living epistle, known and read of all men. The truth goes forth from his lips in no feigned words. His piety and zeal and consecrated judgment grow with the passing days, and the unbelieving world sees that he is in living communion with God, and is learning of him. The words spoken by converted lips are accompanied by a power that touches the cold hearts of unbelievers; for even those who know not God are enabled to distinguish between the human and the divine. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 10} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 11] My brethren and sisters, do you feel the sanctifying power of sacred truth in heart and life and character? Have you the assurance that God, for the sake of his dear Son, has forgiven your sins? Are you striving to live with a conscience void of offense toward God and man? Do you often plead with God in behalf of your friends and neighbors? If you have made your peace with God, and have placed all upon the altar, you may engage with profit in soul-winning service. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 11} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 12] In following any plan that may be set in operation for carrying to others a knowledge of present truth, and of the marvelous providences connected with the advancing cause, let us first consecrate ourselves fully to him whose name we wish to exalt. Let us also pray earnestly in behalf of those whom we expect to visit, by living faith bringing them, one by one, into the presence of God. The Lord knows the thoughts and purposes of man, and how easily can he melt us! How his Spirit, like a fire, can subdue the flinty heart! How he can fill the soul with love and tenderness! How he can give us the graces of his Spirit, and fit us to go in and out, in laboring for souls! The power of overcoming grace should be felt throughout the church today; and it may be felt, if we take heed to the counsels of Christ to his followers. As we learn to adorn the doctrine of Christ our Saviour, we shall surely see of the salvation of God. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 12} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 13] To all who are about to take up special missionary work with the paper prepared for use in the Harvest Ingathering campaign, I would say: Be diligent in your efforts; live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Add daily to your Christian experience. Let those who have special aptitude, work for unbelievers in the high places as well as in the low places of life. Search diligently for perishing souls. O, think of the yearning desire Christ has to bring to his fold again those who have gone astray! {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 13} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 14] Watch for souls as they that must give an account. In your church and neighborhood missionary work, let your light shine forth in such clear, steady rays that no man can stand up in the judgment, and say, "Why did you not tell me about this truth? Why did not you care for my soul?" {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 14} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 15] We have no time to lose. Then let us be diligent in the distribution of literature that has been carefully prepared for use among those not of our faith. Let us make the most of every opportunity to arrest the attention of unbelievers. Let us put literature into every hand that will receive it. Let us consecrate ourselves to the proclamation of the message, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 15} [Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 16] Divine and human instrumentalities are to unite for the accomplishment of one great object. Now is the day of our responsibility. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Ellen G. White. Elmshaven, June 5, 1914. {Gazette, September 1, 1914 par. 16} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 1] College Record - (Battle Creek) College Record January 1, 1878 "The Fear of the Lord Is the Beginning of Wisdom." - By Mrs. E. G. White. - If those who attend our College would become men of influence and power, they must learn to reverence and honor their Creator; if they would obtain a thorough education, they must become acquainted with the Book of all books. This volume contains the jewels of truth that are able to make them wise unto salvation. Concerning this book, the Majesty of Heaven, who left his royal throne and stooped to the level of humanity that he might elevate the fallen race, has given the injunction: "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 1} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 2] Our College is not only a literary institution, where minds are to be educated, but it is a place where character is to be molded. The student should not feel, that, in order to improve his time to the best account, his mind must be exclusively devoted to the study of the sciences. This is but one branch of education. All the powers of mind and body should be trained to accomplish the greatest amount of good. The student should see and feel the importance of building upon the right foundation. He should commence with the fear of the Lord, and be guided by his just and righteous laws. Jesus is the perfect pattern. His example in a pure and spotless life should be continually presented as a model for the youth. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 2} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 3] Let none of our students who have learned to love and fear God, undervalue the acquisition of this knowledge; for the pen of inspiration has declared that the fear of the Lord lies at the very foundation of all knowledge. He who fears and loves God, and is making it his aim in the strength of God to be brave to duty, will exemplify in his religious life the love, the wisdom, and the power of God. The Pharisaical religionist, whose life contradicts his profession, will be disliked and shunned by those who admire truth, honesty, and integrity; but he who has indeed learned of Jesus, and who manifests in his life the meekness of humility, will, by his deportment and religious life, exert a winning influence upon his associates. No one should feel that in becoming an acknowledged follower of Christ he has taken a position to be ashamed of, or that he should wish to hide. This would evidence weakness of moral character, and cowardice. To be connected with the God of Heaven is to be allied to the richest and mightiest sovereign that ever held a scepter. To be sons and daughters of the Almighty, is to bear relationship to the King over all kings, the Monarch of the heavens and the earth. This is the highest exaltation. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 3} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 4] The young should not be left to themselves, to think and act independently. They should be guided by the counsel of those of experience. The youth are every day sowing seed in the field of life; and what will the harvest be? All are weaving for themselves a web of habits, which, when once formed, will task the strength to break. How important, then, that the influence exerted over the youth be such as will promote health, prosperity, and peace of mind. Many a youth has, in a critical moment, balanced in the wrong direction for want of kindly sympathy and encouraging words. There is, with almost every youth, a turning-point in life, from which he will either rise in moral worth or sink to a low level. The influence thrown around youth at these critical points in life, determines the character which they shall develop for time; and their destiny for eternity. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 4} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 5] If the youth choose the society of those whose characters have been cast in an inferior mold, if they indulge in the reading of the cheap sensational stories and impure books which are scattered through the land like autumn leaves, their minds will have the inferior, impure cast of that upon which they feed. Impure objects and impure thoughts will exert a blackening influence upon the soul. This class may repent, they may deeply mourn over their past education, but marks of the stain will be left upon the character; unhallowed thoughts once cherished cannot be entirely banished at will. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 5} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 6] Thorough education comprises not only literary attainments, but a knowledge of proper behavior. Students who leave their homes to attend school should not cast off all feeling of restraint, because no watchful parental eye is upon their going out and coming in. They should feel that self-control is even more necessary than when at home, and that they must have maturity of judgment with regard to the propriety of their acts. As they progress in knowledge, they should cultivate refinement of manners. Those who are satisfied with a knowledge of the sciences merely, are obtaining a one-sided education. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 6} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 7] The sons of the wealthy are generally more difficult to restrain than the sons of poor men. Rich men's sons frequently say, by their deportment, "You must be careful how you deal with me. I am a rich man's son, and shall do as I please." But in reality those students who feel that their importance is increased by the money and lands of their fathers, are continually developing the fact that they need an education in refinement and common politeness. Money, houses, and lands cannot purchase for them well developed, refined characters, which will raise the possessors in moral value in society, and elevate them in the estimation of God. It is not wealth nor standing that makes the man; it is moral worth. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 7} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 8] Many of the colleges in our land are places where, by association with fellow-students, the youth are in danger of becoming immoral and depraved. The mind that is left open to temptation is not in a fit condition to reach high attainments in intellectual culture. Youth who are restless and dissatisfied unless they can be engaged in frivolous and delusive pleasure, use their God given capabilities in a manner that will never bring them returns of good; for the end will be mental imbecility. Those who allow the lower passions, appetite, selfishness, and pride, to govern them, will violate every law of their natures, and sink lower and lower in moral degradation. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 8} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 9] God forbid that Battle Creek College should retain this class of students. One person of this stamp would demoralize scores of youth, and would be a blot upon the school. Youth are sent from the parental home to our College to be so educated and disciplined that they may come forth with well-balanced minds as well as intellectual culture; that the moral and spiritual nature may be enlightened and elevated by the discipline of intellectual studies, and the influence of the religious helps which surround them at Battle Creek. This is the work which our College is designed to accomplish. We are willing that the whole world should know, not only that our youth are educated in the sciences, but that they have continually kept before them the importance of obtaining a knowledge of the laws of God, and of rendering obedience to them. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 9} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 10] Proper associations are of the highest importance to the youth. They should not be left to choose associates who will lower their standard of integrity. The friendship of such has a stealthy influence assimilating to their own deficient characters those who associate with them. On the other hand, if the associates of our youth are persons of good minds and sound principles, they will, by their conscious and unconscious influence, greatly benefit those brought in contact with them. The powers of the mind will be invigorated. Pure thoughts, words, and actions will have a telling influence, elevating in its tendency. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 10} [College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 11] Good habits are of untold value to young men and women. Their circumstances may be ever so lowly, but if they grow up thoughtful, industrious, virtuous, and discreet, their course will be steadily upward. They will be useful in society, trustworthy, and honorable; they will not be easily beguiled from the path of uprightness. The valuable habits which they have formed will bring around them friends whose influence will strengthen the bonds of virtue and principle. Youth who have made good habits the foundation-stone of character will not be rocked by the storms of temptation. They may be chaste like Joseph, meek like Moses, and have the wisdom possessed by Solomon. They will be safe anywhere, in city or country, counting-room or college. They may be and accomplish anything; for they are connected with the Mighty One, the Source of all wisdom and all strength. {College Record, January 1, 1878 par. 11} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 1] Visitor - The Columbia Union Visitor October 2, 1912 From Strength to Strength Life is a mysterious and sacred trust. Precious are its opportunities, and faithfully should they be improved. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 1} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 2] God desires the youth to stand in that position where they can honor him all the time. They cannot afford to go on to Satan's ground every now and then, but must press steadily forward to the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Only as they place themselves under the broad shield of Omnipotence, can safety be assured to them in the hour of temptation. Only there as they work out their salvation with fear and trembling, can God work through them to will and to do of His good pleasure. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 2} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 3] Our youth need to have a clearer understanding of what it means to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. They need to learn, as they follow on to know the Lord, that His going forth is prepared as the morning. You have watched the rising sun, and the gradual breaking of day over the earth. Little by little the light increases until the world is flooded with the full light of day. This is a beautiful illustration of what God desires to do for His children in the perfection of Christian character. Only by making constant advancement can the youth fulfill God's purpose for them. As opportunities multiply and are improved, the experience will enlarge, and knowledge increase. The youth will become strong to bear responsibility, because they are constantly growing in happiness, in holiness, in usefulness. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 3} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 4] The enemy well knows that no other class can do so much good as young men and young women who are consecrated to God's service. Therefore he makes every effort to lead them to find their happiness in worldly amusements, and to justify themselves by endeavoring to show these amusements are harmless, innocent, and even necessary to physical well-being. He presents the path of holiness as hard and thorny, while declaring that the paths of worldly pleasure are strewn with flowers. In false and flattering colors, he arrays the world with its pleasure before the youth, and many are led to destruction by his deceptions. Those who learn to love amusement for its own sake open the door to a flood of temptations. They are led on from one form of dissipation to another until they lose the desire for a life of usefulness in God's cause. Their higher aspirations are chilled; their spiritual life is darkened. Finding their pleasures in the world, and the things of the world, they become strangers to the Father and to the graces of His Spirit. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 4} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 5] There are others whom Satan is binding to the world by love of gain. He is employing all his ingenuity to lead the youth to become so absorbed in the pursuit of worldly power and wealth that they can give no heed to a "Thus saith the Lord." Thus he leads them to give their lives to self-serving, and they develop, not the attributes of good, but the attributes of evil. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 5} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 6] If our characters are to meet the approval of God we must fashion the life according to the perfect pattern. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; . . full of grace and truth." The followers of Christ are to represent him in all that they do and say. They are to live His life. The principles by which He was guided are to shape their lives and mould their characters. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 6} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 7] The youth should keep ever before them the course that Christ followed. It was a course of constant overcoming. He wrestled with temptations greater than any you will be called to meet; and he stood the test. He refused to yield to temptation. Though physical strength failed, His faith did not fail. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 7} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 8] It was not only on the cross that Christ gave Himself for humanity, not only in the wilderness of temptation and in Gethsemane that He overcame in our behalf. Every day's experience was an outpouring of His life; every day he learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And because the life of Jesus was a life of perfect trust His service for heaven and earth was without failure or faltering. He met and resisted all the temptations that man must meet because in his humanity he relied upon divine power. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 8} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 9] The life of Christ reveals what every youth may accomplish through His grace. As the enemy worked to overcome the Saviour, so he works against God's children today. There will come to you, as there came to Christ times of special difficulty and need. But in every trial and difficulty know that Christ has passed this way before you. And He who came forth from the most severe test without one stain of sin, stands ready to strengthen all who struggle with Him against the powers of evil. He understands every difficulty. He waits to hear and answer prayer. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 9} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 10] Satan is striving to mould us into his likeness. Christ waits to give us power to resist the enemy's temptations. With deepest interest the universe of heaven watches the conflict between Christ, in the person of his saints, and the great deceiver. Dear youth, you cannot afford to make mistakes in this conflict. Guard your spirit, guard your words, guard your actions. Open heart and mind to the impressions of the Holy Spirit, and be determined to stand for truth and righteousness. He who knows your weakness will impart to you strength; angels will work in your behalf, enabling you to stand firm for God. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 10} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 11] Every day you are to prepare for the coming of Christ by every day having an increased faith, a fuller and deeper experience in the things of God. Put away foolishness from the life. This is not a time for trifling. Believers and unbelievers need the help of your influence. All around you are those who need to know the transforming power of truth; and they will know it only as it is revealed to them in Christlike lives. Will you not help these to obtain joy and peace in Christ? If you will put self out of sight, and come into right relation to God, you will learn to manifest a spirit that will make you a blessing to all with whom you associate. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 11} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 12] The Lord wants you to help another. You should lay hold of every possible advantage, that you may be trained for efficient service. Every capability and power you possess should be regarded as a sacred trust, to be used in making known the saving power of grace. This is your business--your chief business. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 12} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 13] The Saviour revealed a wonderful love, a wonderful earnestness when He gave His life that we might be cleansed from iniquity. He is the pattern to be followed by all who have named His name. The shortness of time, and the responsibilities resting upon us as sons and daughters of God should lead us to ask ourselves at every step if we our following His example. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 13} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 14] "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant." Notwithstanding all that was His by right Christ yielded it all up, that He might give you life, and teach you how to live for Him. Do not disappoint Him. Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good? Then tell of His goodness. You owe it to God to reflect the light you have. Work for Him in simplicity, pleading daily for power to make your work effectual. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 14} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 15] In your contact with friends and associates, do you keep your lips closed regarding the truth for this time? Do they receive no help from you as to the best way to serve and glorify God? You have brothers, sisters, friends, acquaintances. To each of these you should be giving an example that will honor the truth you profess. By patience and forbearance in your dealings with them, you may teach them to be patient under test and trial. When in the kingdom of God you meet those whom you have sought to influence for right, will you not be abundantly rewarded for any effort, any sacrifice, you may have made? {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 15} [Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 16] Is there at this meeting, a turning to the Lord with full purpose of heart? Are you encouraging one another to consecrate heart and life to God. A little longer, and the meeting will close. As you return to your homes, will you put away from your thoughts the truths you have heard here, or will you make prayerful earnest endeavor to carry out these truths in the daily life? If you will set yourself to the work of pressing back the powers of darkness and advancing constantly toward the light, you will gain wonderful victories. Determine to make this effort, dear youth, and God will surely help you. Angels of heaven will work in your behalf, enabling you to be true to God and to your associates. I pray that these words may make a deep impression on your minds, leading you to form right habits, and to make a record in your future experience that you will not be ashamed to meet in the judgment. Mrs. E. G. White. {Visitor, October 2, 1912 par. 16} [DS, January 24, 1846 par. 1] DS - The Day-Star January 24, 1846 Letter from Sister Harmon. Portland, Me., Dec. 20, 1845. Bro. Jacobs:-- As God has shown me in holy vision the travels of the Advent people to the Holy City, and the rich reward to be given those who wait the return of their Lord from the wedding, it may be my duty to give you a short sketch of what God has revealed to me. The dear saints have got many trials to pass through. But our light afflictions which are but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. I have tried to bring back a good report, & a few grapes from the heavenly Canaan, for which many would stone me, as the congregation bade stone Caleb and Joshua for their report, (Numbers 14:10.) But I declare to you, my brother in the Lord, it is a goodly land, and we are well able to go up and possess it. While praying at the family altar the Holy Ghost fell on me and I seemed to be rising higher and higher, far above the dark world. I turned to look for the Advent people in the world, but could not find them, when a voice said to me, Look again, and look a little higher. At this, I raised my eyes and see a strait and narrow path, cast up high above the world. On this path the Advent people were traveling to the City, which was at the farther end of the path. They had a bright light set up behind them at the first end of the path, which an angel told me was the Midnight Cry. This light shone all along the path and gave light for their feet so they might not stumble. And if they kept their eyes fixed on Jesus, who was just before them, leading them to the City, they were safe. But soon some grew weary, and said the City was a great way off, and they expected to have entered it before. Then Jesus would encourage them by raising his glorious right arm, and from his arm came a glorious light which waved over the Advent band, and they shouted, Hallelujah! Others rashly denied the light behind them, and said that it was not God that had led them out so far. The light behind them went out which left their feet in perfect darkness, and they stumbled and got their eyes off the mark and lost sight of Jesus, and fell off the path down in the dark and wicked world below. It was just as impossible for them to get on the path again & go to the City, as all the wicked world which God had rejected. They fell all the way along the path one after another, until we heard the voice of God like many waters, which gave us the day and hour of Jesus' coming. The living saints, 144,000, in number, know and understand the voice, while the wicked thought it was thunder & an earthquake. When God spake the time, he poured on us the Holy Ghost, and our faces began to light up and shine with the glory of God as Moses did when he came down from Mount Sinai, (Exodus 34:30-34.) By this time the 144,000 were all sealed and perfectly united. On their foreheads was written, God, New Jerusalem, and a glorious Star containing Jesus' new name. At our happy, holy state the wicked were enraged, and would rush violently up to lay hands on us to thrust us in prison, when we would stretch forth the hand in the name of the Lord, and the wicked would fall helpless to the ground. Then it was that the synagogue of Satan knew that God had loved us who could wash one another's feet, and salute the holy brethren with a holy kiss, and they worshipped at our feet. Soon our eyes were drawn to the East, for a small black cloud had appeared about half as large as a man's hand, which we all knew was the Sign of the Son of Man. We all in solemn silence gazed on the cloud as it drew nearer, lighter, and brighter, glorious, and still more glorious, till it was a great white cloud. The bottom appeared like fire, a rainbow was over it, around the cloud were ten thousand angels singing a most lovely song. And on it sat the Son of Man, on his head were crowns, his hair was white and curly and lay on his shoulders. His feet had the appearance of fire, in his right hand was a sharp sickle, in his left a silver trumpet. His eyes were as a flame of fire, which searched his children through and through. Then all faces gathered paleness, and those that God had rejected gathered blackness. Then we all cried out, who shall be able to stand? Is my robe spotless? Then the angels ceased to sing, and there was some time of awful silence, when Jesus spoke, Those who have clean hands and a pure heart shall be able to stand, my grace is sufficient for you. At this, our faces lighted up, and joy filled every heart. And the angels struck a note higher and sung again while the cloud drew still nearer the earth. Then Jesus' silver trumpet sounded, as he descended on the cloud, wrapped in flames of fire. He gazed on the graves of the sleeping saints then raised his eyes and hands to heaven & cried out, Awake! Awake! Awake! ye that sleep in the dust, and arise. Then there was a mighty earthquake. The graves opened, and the dead came up clothed with immortality. The 144,000 shouted, Hallelujah! as they recognized their friends who had been torn from them by death, and in the same moment we were changed and caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. We all entered the cloud together, and were 7 days ascending to the sea of glass, when Jesus brought along the crowns and with his own right hand placed them on our heads. He gave us harps of gold and palms of victory. Here on the sea of glass the 144,000 stood in a perfect square. Some of them had very bright crowns, others not so bright. Some crowns appeared ［heavy］ with stars, while others had but few. All were perfectly satisfied with their crowns. And they were all clothed with a glorious white mantle from their shoulders to their feet. Angels were all about us as we marched over the sea of glass to the gate of the City. Jesus raised his mighty glorious arm, laid hold of the gate and swung it back on its golden hinges, and said to us, You have washed your robes in my blood, stood stiffly for my truth, enter in. We all marched in and felt we had a perfect right in the City. Here we see the tree of life, & the throne of God. Out of the throne came a pure river of water, and on either side of the river was the tree of life. On one side of the river was a trunk of a tree and a trunk on the other side of the river, both of pure transparent gold. At first I thought I ［saw］ two trees. I looked again and ［saw］ they were united at the top in one tree. So it was the tree of life on either side of the river of life. Its branches bowed to the place where we stood. And the fruit was glorious, which looked like gold mixed with silver. We all went under the tree, and sat down to look at the glory of the place, when Bro. Fitch, and Stockman, who had preached the gospel of the kingdom, whom God had laid in the grave to save them, came up to us and asked us what we had passed through while they were sleeping. We tried to call up our greatest trials, but they looked so small compared with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that surrounded us, that we could not speak them out, and we all cried out Hallelujah, heaven is cheap enough, and we touched our glorious harps and made heaven's arches ring. And as we were gazing at the glories of the place, our eyes were attracted upwards to something that had the appearance of silver. I asked Jesus to let me see what was within there. In a moment we were winging our way upward and entering in. Here we saw good old father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Noah, Daniel, and many like them. And I saw a veil with a heavy fringe of silver, and gold as a border on the bottom. It was very beautiful. I asked Jesus what was within the veil. He raised it with his own right arm, and bade me take heed. I saw there a glorious ark, overlaid with pure gold, and it had a glorious border resembling Jesus' crowns. On it were two bright angels; their wings were spread over the ark as they sat on each end, with their faces turned towards each other and looking downward. In the ark, beneath where the angels wings were spread, was a golden pot of Manna of a yellowish cast, and I saw a rod, which Jesus said was Aaron's, I saw it bud, blossom, and bear fruit.--And I saw two long golden rods on which hung silver wires, and on the wires most glorious grapes. One cluster was more than a man here can carry. And I saw Jesus step up and take of the manna, almonds, grapes, and pomegranates, and bear them down to the city, and place them on the supper table. I stepped up to see how much was taken away, and there was just as much left, and we shouted Hallelujah. Amen. We all descended from this place down into the city, and with Jesus at our head we all descended from the city down to this earth, on a great and mighty mountain, which could not bear Jesus up, and it parted asunder, and there was a mighty plain. Then we looked up and saw the great city with twelve foundations, twelve gates, three on each side, and an angel at each gate, and all cried out the city, the great city, it's coming, it's coming down from God, out of heaven, and it came and settled on the place where we stood. Then we began to look at the glorious things outside of the city. There I saw most glorious houses, that had the appearance of silver, supported by four pillars, set with pearls most glorious to behold, which were to be inhabited by the saints. In them was a golden shelf, I saw many of the saints go into the houses, take off their glittering crowns and lay them on the shelf, then go out into the field by the houses to do something with the earth, not as we have to do with the earth here; no, no. A glorious light shone all about their heads, and they were continually shouting and offering praises to God. And I saw another field full of all kinds of flowers, and as I plucked them, I cried out, well they will never fade. Next I saw a field of tall grass, most glorious to behold. It was living green, and had a reflection of silver and gold as it waved proudly to the glory of King Jesus. Then we entered a field full of all kinds of beasts; the lion, the lamb, the leopard and the wolf, altogether in perfect union. We passed through the midst of them, and they followed on peaceably after. Then we entered a wood, not like the dark woods we have here, no, no; but light, and all over glorious. The branches of the trees waved to and fro, and we all cried out, we will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in this woods. We passed through the wood, for we were on our way to Mount Zion, as we were traveling along we met a company who were also gazing at the glories of the place: I noticed red as a border on their garments. Their crowns were brilliant--their robes were pure white. As we greeted them, I asked Jesus who they were? He said they were martyrs that had been slain for him. With them was an innumerable company of little ones, they had a hem of red on their garments also. Mount Zion was just before us, and on the Mount sat a glorious temple, and about it were seven other mountains, on which grew roses and lilies, and I saw the little ones climb, or if they chose use their little wings and fly to the top of the mountains, and pluck the never fading flowers. There were all kinds of trees around the temple to beautify the place. The box, the pine, the fir, the oil, the myrtle, the pomegranate and the fig tree, bowed down with the weight of its timely figs that made the place look all over glorious. And as we were about to enter the holy temple, Jesus raised his lovely voice and said, only the 144,000 enter this place, and we shouted Hallelujah. Well bless the Lord, Bro. Jacobs, it is an extra meeting for those who have the seal of the living God. This temple was supported by seven pillars, all of transparent gold, set with pearls most glorious. The glorious things I saw there, I cannot begin to describe. O, that I could talk in the language of Canaan, then could I tell a little of the glory of the upper world; but if faithful you soon will know all about it. I saw there the tables of stone in which the names of the 144,000, were engraved in letters of gold.--After we had beheld the glory of the temple, we went out. Then Jesus left us and went to the city. Soon we heard his lovely voice again, saying: Come my people; you have come out of great tribulation, and done my will, suffered for me; come in to supper, for I will gird myself, and serve you. We shouted Hallelujah, glory, and entered into the city, and I saw a table of pure silver, it was many miles in length, yet our eyes could extend over it. And I saw the fruit of the tree of life, the manna, almonds, figs, pomegranates, grapes, and many other kinds of fruit. We all reclined at the table. I asked Jesus to let me eat of the fruit. He said, not now. Those who eat of the fruit of this land, go back to earth no more. But in a little while if faithful, you shall both eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and drink of the water of the fountain, and he said, you must go back to the earth again, and relate to others, what I have revealed to you. Then an angel bore me gently down to this dark world. Sometimes I think I cannot stay here any longer, all things of earth look so dreary. I feel very lonely here, for I have seen a better land. O, that I had wings like a dove, then would I fly away, and be at rest. Ellen G. Harmon N.B. This was not written for publication; but for the encouragement of all who may see it, and be encouraged by it. E. G. H. {DS, January 24, 1846 par. 1} [DS, March 14, 1846 par. 1] March 14, 1846 Letter from Sister Harmon. Falmouth Mass., Feb., 15, 1846. Bro. Jacobs:-- My vision which you published in the Day-Star was written under a deep sense of duty, to you, not expecting you would publish it. Had I for once thought it was to be spread before the many readers of your paper, I should have been more particular and stated some things which I left out. As the readers of the Day-Star have seen a part of what God has revealed to me, and as the part which I have not written is of vast importance to the Saints; I humbly request you to publish this also in your paper. God showed me the following, one year ago this month:--I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. I gazed on Jesus' countenance and admired his lovely person. The Fathers person I could not behold for a cloud of glorious light covered him. I asked Jesus if his Father had a form like himself; He said he had, but I could not behold it; for, said he, if you should for once see the glory of his person, you would cease to exist. Before the throne was the Advent people, the Church, and the world. I saw a company bowed down before the throne, deeply interested while most of them stood up disinterested and careless. Those who were bowed before the throne would offer up their prayers and look to Jesus, then he would look to his Father and appeared to be pleading with him. Then a light came from the Father to his Son and from him to the praying company. Then I saw an exceeding bright light come from the Father to the Son and from the Son it waved over the people before the throne. But few would receive this great light. Many came out from under it and immediately resisted it. Others were careless and did not cherish the light and it moved off from them. Some cherished it and went and bowed down before the throne with the little praying company. This company all received the light, and rejoiced in it as their countenances shone with its glory. Then I saw the Father rise from the throne and in a flaming chariot go into the Holy of Holies within the vail, and did sit. There I saw thrones which I had not seen before. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and most of those who were bowed down rose up with him. And I did not see one ray of light pass from Jesus to the careless multitude after he rose up, and they were left in perfect darkness. Those who rose up when Jesus did, kept their eyes fixed on him as he left the throne, and led them out a little way, then he raised his right arm and we heard his lovely voice saying, wait ye, I am going to my Father to receive the Kingdom. Keep your garments spotless and in a little while I will return from the wedding, and receive you to myself. And I saw a cloudy chariot with wheels like flaming fire. Angels were all about the chariot as it came where Jesus was; he stepped into it and was borne to the Holiest where the Father sat. Then I beheld Jesus as he was before the Father a great High Priest. On the hem of his garment was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate. Then Jesus shewed me the difference between faith and feeling. And I saw those who rose up with Jesus send up their faith to Jesus in the Holiest, and praying, Father give us thy spirit. Then Jesus would breathe on them the Holy Ghost. In the breath was light, power and much love, joy and peace. Then I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne. They did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne and pray, My Father give us thy spirit. Then Satan would breathe on them an unholy influence. In it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy and peace. Satan's object was to keep them deceived and to draw back and deceive God's children. I saw one after another leave the company who were praying to Jesus in the Holiest, go and join those before the throne and they at once received the unholy influence of Satan. {DS, March 14, 1846 par. 1} [DS, March 14, 1846 par. 2] About four months since, I had a vision of events, all in the future. And I saw the time of trouble, such as never was,--Jesus told me it was the time of Jacob's trouble, and that we should be delivered out of it by the voice of God. Just before we entered it, we all received the seal of the living God. Then I saw the four Angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and sword, nation rose against nation, and the whole world was in confusion. Then we cried to God for deliverance day and night till we began to hear the bells on Jesus' garment. And I saw Jesus rise up in the Holiest, and as he came out we heard the tinkling of bells, and knew our High Priest was coming out. Then we heard the voice of God which shook the heavens and earth, and gave the 144,000 the day and hour of Jesus' coming. Then the saints were free, united and full of the glory of God, for he had turned their captivity. And I saw a flaming cloud come where Jesus stood and he laid off his priestly garment and put on his kingly robe, took his place on the cloud which carried him to the east where it first appeared to the saints on earth, a small black cloud, which was the sign of the Son of Man. While the cloud was passing from the Holiest to the east which took a number of days, the Synagogue of Satan worshiped at the saints feet. Ellen G. Harmon {DS, March 14, 1846 par. 2} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 1] Banner - East Michigan Banner January 18, 1905 The Church and its Mission No. 1. The mission of the church of Christ is to save perishing sinners. It is to make known the love of God to men, and to win them to Christ by the efficacy of that love. The truth for this time must be carried into the dark corners of the earth, and this work may begin at home. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 1} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 2] The followers of Christ should not live selfish lives; but, imbued with the Spirit of Christ they should work in harmony with him. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 2} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 3] God's Plan All Sufficient He has given his people a plan for raising sums sufficient to make the enterprise self sustaining. God's plan in the tithing system is beautiful in its simplicity and equality. All may take hold of it in faith and courage, for it is of divine origin. In it are combined simplicity and utility, and it does not require depth of learning to understand and execute it. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 3} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 4] All to Act a Part All may feel that they can act a part in carrying forward the precious work of salvation. Every man, woman, and youth may become a treasurer for God; and there would be no want of means with which to carry forward the great work of sounding the last message of warning to the ［world］. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 4} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 5] The treasury will be full if all adopt this system, and the contributors will be left none the poorer. Through every investment made they will become more wedded to the cause of present truth. They will be "laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 5} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 6] No Empty Treasury If the plan of systematic benevolence was adopted by every individual and fully carried out, there would be a constant supply in the treasury. The income would flow in like a steady stream constantly supplied by overflowing springs of benevolence. Alms-giving is a part of gospel religion. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 6} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 7] Tithing Founded on Principle. The special system of tithing was founded upon a principle which is as enduring as the law of God. This system of tithing was a blessing to the Jews, else God would not have given it to them. So also will it be a blessing to those who carry it out to the end of time. Our heavenly Father did not originate the plan of systematic benevolence to enrich himself but to be a great blessing to man. He saw that this system of beneficence was just what man needed. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 7} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 8] Its Effect on the Church. Those churches who are the most systematic and liberal in sustaining the cause of God are the most prosperous spiritually. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 8} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 9] Priority of God's Claims All should remember that God's claims upon us underlie every other claim. He gives to us bountifully, and the contract which he has made with man is that he is to return to him the tenth of his possessions. God graciously entrusts his stewards with his treasures, but he lays his hand upon the tenth, saying, "This is mine." Just in proportion as God has given his property to man, so man is to pay a faithful tithe of all his substance. This distinct arrangement was made by Jesus Christ himself. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 9} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 10] Eternal Results This work involves solemn and eternal results, and it is too sacred to be left to human impulse. We should not feel free to deal with this matter as we may choose. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 10} [Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 11] Reserve Fund In answer to the claims of God, regular reserves should be set apart as sacred to his work. Besides the tithe God demands the first fruits of our increase as his. These he has reserved, in order that his work may be amply sustained, and that his servants may not be limited to a meager supply. The Lord's messenger's should not be handicapped in their work of holding forth the word of life. As they teach the truth they should have means which they can invest for the advancement of the work which must be done at the right time, in order to have the best and most saving influence. Deeds of mercy must be done; the poor and suffering must be aided. Gifts and offerings should be appropriated for this purpose. Especially in new fields, where the standard of truth has never yet been uplifted, this work must be done. Mrs. E. G. White. {Banner, January 18, 1905 par. 11} [Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 1] February 1, 1905 The Church and its Mission. No. 2. Full Treasury. If all, both old and young, would do their duty, there would be no dearth in the treasury. If all would pay a faithful tithe, and devote to the Lord the first-fruits of their mercies, there would be a full supply of funds for his work. {Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 1} [Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 2] A Want and Why But the law of God is not respected or obeyed, and this has brought a pressure of want. All the good that man enjoys comes because of the mercy of God. He is the great and bountiful giver of good. His love is manifest to all in the abundant provision which he has made for man. He has given us probationary time in which to form characters that will fit us for the courts above. And it is not because he needs anything that he asks us to reserve part of our possessions for him. {Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 2} [Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 3] A Lesson from Eden The Lord created every tree in Eden, pleasant to the eyes and good for food, and he bade Adam and Eve freely enjoy his bounties. But he made one exception. Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they were not to eat. This tree God reserved as a constant reminder of his ownership of all. Thus he gave them an opportunity to demonstrate their faith and trust in him and their perfect obedience to his requirements. So it is with God's claims upon us. He places his treasures in the hand of humanity, but requires that one-tenth shall be faithfully laid aside for his work. He teaches us the lesson that he requires this portion to be placed in his treasury. It is to be rendered to him as his own: it is sacred, and is to be used for sacred purposes, for the support of those who carry the message of salvation to all parts of the world. He reserves this portion, that means may be flowing into his treasure-house, and that the light of truth may be carried to those who are nigh and those afar off. By faithfully obeying this requirement, we prove that we realize that all belongs to God. And has not the Lord a right to demand this much of us? Did he not give us his only begotten Son because he loved us and desired to save us from death? And shall not our gratitude offerings flow into the Lord's treasury, to be drawn therefrom to advance his kingdom in the earth? God is the owner of all our goods, and shall not gratitude to him prompt us to make free-will offerings and thank offerings thus acknowledging His ownership of soul, body, spirit, and property? {Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 3} [Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 4] Why are Means not Abundant Had God's plan been followed, means would now be flowing into his treasury: and funds to enable ministers to enter new fields, and workers, to unite with ministers to lift up the standard of truth in the dark places of the earth, would be abundant. {Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 4} [Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 5] No Excuse. Why? It is a heaven-appointed plan that men should return to the Lord his own; and this is so plainly stated that men and women have no excuse for misunderstanding or evading the duties and responsibility God has laid upon them. Those who claim that they cannot see this to be their duty, reveal to the heavenly universe, to the church, and to the world, that they do not want to see this plainly stated requirement. They think that if they followed the Lord's plan, they would detract from their own possessions. In the covetousness of their selfish souls, they desire to have the whole capital, both principal and interest, that they may use it to their own benefit. {Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 5} [Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 6] God lays his hand upon all man's possessions, saying, "I am the owner of the universe, and these goods are mine. {Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 6} [Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 7] Terrible Responsibility "The tithe you have withheld I reserved for the support of my servants in their work of opening the Scriptures to those who are in the regions of darkness, who do not understand my law. In using my reserve fund to gratify your own desires, you have robbed souls of the light which I made provision they should receive. You have had opportunity to show loyalty to me, but you have not done so--you have robbed me: for you have stolen my reserve fund." "Ye are cursed with a curse." {Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 7} [Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 8] An Appeal Let the neglected tithes be now brought in. Let the new year (shall we not say a quarter?) open upon you as men honest in their deal with God. Let those who have withheld their tithes, send them in before the year 1904 shall close, that they may be right with God, and never, never again run any risk of being cursed by God. Mrs. E. G. White. (To be Continued.) - {Banner, February 1, 1905 par. 8} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 1] March 1, 1905 The Church and it's Mission. No. 3. One More Chance. The Lord is long-suffering and gracious, and he gave those who have done this wickedness another chance. "Return unto me," he says, "and I will return unto you." But they say, "Wherein shall we return?" Their means have been made to flow in channels of self-service and self-glorification, as if their goods were their own, and not lent treasures. Their perverted consciences have become so hard and unimpressible that they do not realize what great wickedness they have done in so hedging up the way that the cause of truth could not advance. Man, finite man, through using for himself the talents which God has reserved to publish salvation, to send the glad news of a Saviour's love to perishing souls, and hedging up the way by his selfishness, inquires: {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 1} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 2] Robbing God. "Wherein have we robbed Thee? God answers, "In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." The whole world is engaged in robbing God. With the money he has lent them they indulge in dissipation, in amusements, reveling feasting, and disgraceful indulgences. {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 2} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 3] To Judgment. But God says, "I will come near you to judgment." The whole world will have an account to settle in that great day when every one shall receive sentence according to his deeds. {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 3} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 4] A Blessing Pledged. God pledges himself to bless those who will obey his commandments. "Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruits before the time in the field, saith the Lord of Hosts." {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 4} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 5] Does This Mean You? With these words of light and truth before them, how dare men neglect so plain a duty? How dare they disobey God when obedience to his requirements mean prosperity in temporal and spiritual things and disobedience means the curse of God? Satan is the destroyer. God cannot bless those who refuse to be faithful stewards. All ［he］ can do is to permit Satan to do his destroying work. We see calamities of every shape and in every degree coming upon the earth, and why,--The Lord's restraining power is not exercised. The world has disregarded the word of God. They live as though there were no God. Like the inhabitants of the Noachic world, they refuse to have any thought of God. Wickedness prevails to an alarming extent, and the earth is ripe for the harvest. "Your words have been stout against me, saith the lord. Yet ye say, what have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedly are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered." {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 5} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 6] Who Complain. Those who withhold from God his own, make these complaints: The Lord asks them to prove him by bringing their tithe into his store-house, and to see whether he will not pour them out a blessing. But they cherish rebellion in their hearts, and complain of God, and at the same time they rob him, and embezzle his goods. When their sin is presented to them, they say, "I have had adversity; my crops have been poor; but the wicked are prospered. It does not pay to keep the ordinance of the Lord." But God does not want any to walk mournfully before him. Those who thus complain of God have brought their adversity on themselves. They have robbed God, and his cause has been hindered because the money which should have flowed into his treasury, was used for selfish purposes. {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 6} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 7] Disloyalty Shown. They showed their disloyalty to God by failing to carry out his prescribed plan. When God prospered them, and they were asked to give him his portion, they shook their heads and could not see that it was their duty. They closed the eyes of their understanding, that they might not see it. They withheld the Lord's money, and hindered the work which he designed should be done. {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 7} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 8] Cause of Failure. God was not honored by the use of his entrusted goods. Therefore he let the curse fall upon them, permitting the spoiler to destroy their fruits and to bring calamities upon them. {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 8} [Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 9] Faithful Record Possible. No one can excuse himself from paying his tithes and offerings to the Lord. Another year has nearly passed into eternity, with its burden of record. Let us look over the past year, and if we have not done our full duty willingly, heartily unto the Lord let us come up to the new year in making a faithful record to our God. Mrs. E. G. White. (To be Continued.) - {Banner, March 1, 1905 par. 9} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 1] March 15, 1905 The Church and its Mission. No. 4. Honest Tithing. Not only does the Lord claim the tithe as his own, but he tells us how it should be reserved for him. He says, "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of thine increase." This does not teach us that we are to spend our means on ourselves, and bring to the Lord the remnant, even though it should be otherwise an honest tithe. Let God's portion be first set apart. 1 Corinthians 16:2, applies also to tithing. {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 1} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 2] Solemn Appeal. There is a work to be done in the churches. A different testimony must go forth. I am terribly alarmed. Throughout the churches there is selfishness and sin, dishonesty, unbelief, criticism and fault-finding. It is high time to wake out of sleep. You who have long lost the spirit of prayer; pray, pray earnestly. Pity thy suffering cause; pity the church; pity the individual believers, thou Father of mercies. Take from us everything that defiles, deny us what thou wilt; but take not from us Thy holy spirit. {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 2} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 3] The Church's Needs The churches need to be impressed that it is their duty to deal honestly with the cause of God, not allowing the guilt of the worst kind of robbery to rest upon them--that of robbing God in tithes and offerings. Instead of bringing the work down to a low figure, it is your duty to bring the minds of the people to understand that "the laborer is worthy of his hire." {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 3} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 4] Shall it be Small Pay? When settlements are made with the laborers in his cause, they should not be forced to accept small remuneration because there is a lack of means in the treasury. Many have been defrauded of their just dues in this way, and it is just as criminal in the sight of God, as for one to keep back the wages of one who is employed in any other regular business. It is the worst kind of generalship to allow a conference to stand still or to fail to settle its honest debts. There is a great deal of this done, and whenever this is done, God is displeased. {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 4} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 5] There has not been money in the treasury to supply ministers for the service of God. {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 5} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 6] Why should ministers be half-paid and at the same time talk so begrudgingly of that which they do receive? When this work shall cease in our churches, a living testimony will go forth from human lips, under the operation of the Holy Ghost. {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 6} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 7] Minister's Work. The auditing committee has not always tried with most humble prayer for guidance, to act in every case towards the servants of Jesus Christ as they would toward the person of Christ, or as they themselves would wish to be treated. But said Christ, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." It is a very serious matter that men by the word of their mouth, and some in a hardened sang-froid manner, have decided that means shall go to the workers in the field. I will give you a chapter in my experience. We have found it necessary to build a home, and have hired carpenters, painters and others to do the several portions of the work. The master workman has two dollars per day, working eight hours only. As soon as the eight hours are over, the tools are laid aside and work ceases. {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 7} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 8] These men do not receive according to the amount of work done, but according to the hours worked. If a man is not an apt, quick workman, but loiters over his work, that is the loss of the one who pays him. Another may be a much quicker workman, showing that he has intelligence and can use it; his aptitude and correct judgment may be a treasure to him and a satisfaction to his employer, but he may receive only the same wages. After the week's work is done and payment made, the amount of work done has nothing to do with the sum received. A slow unprofitable man never thinks it his duty to make up for his want of sharp thought, but receives his pay as his right. These men have not the burden of dealing with human minds. Senseless material and building materials are all they are dealing with. They can hammer just as loud and energetic as they please, and it hurts not the soulless material. {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 8} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 9] But God's shepherds who are to watch as well as to labor for souls, as they that must give an account, can not work in this way, The chosen missionary must go forth under all circumstances, moving his family from place to place, and from country to country. This moving is expensive. In order to exert a good influence, the wife of the missionary must set a proper example in neat and tidy dress. Her children must be trained and educated with much painstaking effort, for everything must be made to tell in missionary lines. The laborer who represents Christ must dress plainly and yet properly, as becoming a minister of Christ. The ministers of our conference cannot say they have a home, for they are sometimes in this country and sometimes in that. The people for whom they labor are poor, but Christ came to preach the gospel to the poor. This is the work the Lord's shepherds are to do. {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 9} [Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 10] Money is consumed in traveling from place to place, in settling and unsettling every few months, in buying household goods and selling them again or venturing transportation. The entire family have no release from their efforts; for they must always appear cheerful and fresh, that they may bring sunshine into the minds of those who need help. Mrs. E. G. White. (To be Continued.) {Banner, March 15, 1905 par. 10} [Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 1] March 29, 1905 The Church and its Mission. No. 5. The question has been asked me: "Are you employed by the General Conference?" I am. "How many hours do you give?" Hours? God's servants keep no record of hours. We think not of counting our labor by hours. We must be ready in season and out of season to speak to this young man and that young woman, to write letters to those in peril and to hold interviews requiring the most earnest, anxious labor, praying for and with the erring and the tempted. {Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 1} [Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 2] Those who write, as well as talk the truth, have double labor. The eight hour system finds no place in the program of the minister of God. He must watch his chance to minister; he must be ready to entertain visitors. He must keep up life and energy of character; for he cannot exert a pleasing, saving influence if he is languid. If he occupies responsible positions, he must be prepared to attend board and council meetings, spending hours of wearisome brain and nerve taxing labor, while others are asleep, in devising and planning with his co-laborers. Who among God's workers counts his hours of labor as do mechanics? Yet this kind of labor taxes the mind, and draws upon every fiber of the being in such a way as the common laborer cannot appreciate. "When do you find opportunity to throw off care and responsibility?" I am asked; and I answer, "At no period of time can I lay down the burden." {Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 2} [Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 3] I wish my brethren to take this as a representation of the truth, and no fiction. Those who have a due appreciation of service, are God's minute men. He cannot say I am my own; I will do what I please with my time. No one who has given his life to God to work as his minister, lives unto himself. {Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 3} [Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 4] Will my brethren consider these things which the Lord has brought before my mind, in a most impressive manner? Will those who have never carried the burden of such work, and who suppose the chosen and faithful ministers of God have an easy time, bear in mind that the sentinels of God are on duty constantly? Their labor is not measured by hours. {Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 4} [Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 5] Rights to be Respected. When their accounts are audited, if selfish men shall, with voice or stroke of pen, limit the worker in his wages, they discourage and depress him. Every minister must have a salvage to work upon, that he may have something with which to lead out in good enterprises, pushing the work with zeal. He tells us, "thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn." This is a figure of those who work under the eye of God to advance his cause in lifting the minds of men from the contemplation of earthly things to heaven. These God loves, and he would have men respect their rights. {Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 5} [Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 6] Duty Clear. If the presidents and other laborers in our Conferences impress upon the minds of the people the character of the crime of robbing God, and if they have a true spirit of devotion and a burden of the work, God will make their labors a blessing to the people, and fruit will be seen as the result of their efforts. {Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 6} [Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 7] Terrible Failure. Ministers have failed greatly in their duty to so labor with the churches. There is an important work to be done aside from preaching. Had this work been done as God designed it should be, there would have been many more laborers in the field than now are. And had the ministers done their duty in educating every member, whether rich or poor, to give as God has prospered him, there would be a full treasury from which to pay the honest debts to the workers; and this would greatly advance missionary work in all their borders. God has shown us that many souls are in danger of eternal ruin, through selfishness and worldliness; and the watchmen are guilty, for they have neglected their duty. This is a state of things Satan exults to see. {Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 7} [Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 8] The light which the Lord has given me on this subject is that the means in the treasury for the support of the ministers in the different fields is not to be used for any other purpose. If an honest tithe were paid, and the money coming into the treasury was carefully guarded the ministers would receive a just wage. Mrs. E. G. White. (To be Continued.) - {Banner, March 29, 1905 par. 8} [Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 1] April 12, 1905 Evangelical. The Church and its Mission. No. 6. Situation Not Appreciated. The auditing committee has often been composed of men who were farmers. These could dress in coarse clothing appropriate for the work they were doing. They raised all they needed as a family to subsist upon, and they knew not what the outlay of a minister must necessarily be when he goes out into a new field to labor for perishing souls. The minister must labor and pray. He must visit the different families. Frequently he finds the people so poor that they have little to eat, and no room in which to sleep. Often means have to be given to the very needy to supply their hunger and cover their nakedness. Then what injustice to have a company of men as auditing committee who by a dash of the pen will disappoint a distressed minister who is in need of every cent that he has been led to expect. The minister who labors should be sustained. But notwithstanding this, those who are officiating in this work see that there is not money in the treasury to pay the minister. The tithe money must be kept sacred. There are ministers who receive nothing for their labors; for there was no money to pay them. This I saw would be; for the management is wrong. {Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 1} [Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 2] A Neglect. Many presidents of State conferences do not attend to that which is their work, --to see that the elders and deacons of the churches do their work in the churches by seeing that a faithful tithe is brought into the treasury. This principle needs to be often brought before the men who are lax in their duty to God, and who are negligent and careless in bringing in their tithes, gifts, and offerings to God. "Will a man rob me?" "Wherein have we robbed thee?"--is a question asked by the unfaithful stewards. The answer comes plain and positive, "In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation," Please read this whole chapter and see if words could be spoken that would be more plain and positive than these. {Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 2} [Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 3] No Excuse. They are so positive that no one who desires to understand his whole duty to God, needs to make any mistake in the matter. If men offer any excuse as to why they do not perform this duty, it is because they are selfish, and have not the love and fear of God in their hearts. Those who plead that they cannot understand this plain and decisive statement--which if they are obedient, means so much to them, in blessings which will be received, when even the windows of heaven will be opened, and blessings poured out to overflowing--are not honest before God. Their excuse that they do not know the will of God, will be of no avail for them in the great day of judgment. {Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 3} [Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 4] A Call to Duty. Presidents of our conferences, do your duty; speak not your words, but a plain thus saith the Lord. Elders of churches, do your duty. Labor from home to home that the flock of God shall not be remiss in this great matter, which involves such a blessing or such a curse. {Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 4} [Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 5] Every man who bears the message of truth to our churches must do his duty by warning, educating, rebuking. Any neglect of duty which is a robbery toward God, means a curse upon the delinquent. {Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 5} [Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 6] A Word to Ministers and Elders The Lord will not hold guiltless those who are deficient in doing the work that he requires at their hands,--in seeing that the church is kept wholesome and healthy spiritually, and doing all their duty; in allowing no neglect which will bring the threatened curse upon his people. A curse is pronounced upon all who withhold the tithe from God. {Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 6} [Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 7] This is not a request of man; it is one of God's ordinances, whereby his work may be sustained and carried on in the world. God help us to repent. Mrs. E. G. White. (Concluded.) - {Banner, April 12, 1905 par. 7} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 1] September 29, 1909 God's Just Claim Upon the Wealth of the World The Example of Nehemiah Letters of inquiry have come to me regarding the advisability of carrying out the Harvest Ingathering plan. In answer, I would refer all to the example of Nehemiah. When about to journey to Jerusalem with the hope of restoring the walls about the stricken city of his fathers, he frankly told King Artaxerxes of the work he contemplated doing, and requested help to insure the success of the enterprise. He obtained a letter to the keeper of the king's forest in the mountains of Lebanon, directing him to furnish such timber as would be needed for the wall of Jerusalem, and the buildings that were to be erected. And the means which he lacked, he solicited from those who were able to bestow. {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 1} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 2] The Lord still moves upon the hearts of kings and rulers in behalf of his people. Those who are laboring for Him are to avail themselves of the help that He prompts men to give for the advancement of His cause. The agents through whom these gifts come, may open ways by which the light of truth may be given to many benighted lands. These men may have no sympathy with God's work, no faith in Christ, no acquaintance with His Word; but their gifts on this account are not to be refused. {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 2} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 3] Divine Ownership Some may question the propriety of receiving gifts from unbelievers. Let such ask themselves: "Who is the real owner of our world? To whom belong its houses and lands, and its treasures of gold and silver? {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 3} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 4] Although now almost wholly in the possession of wicked men, all the world, with its riches and treasure, belong to God. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof." "The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the Lord of hosts." "Every beast of the forest is Mine, and all the birds of the mountains; and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry I would not tell thee; for the world is Mine and the fulness thereof." {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 4} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 5] God has an abundance in our world, and He has placed His goods in the hands of all, both the obedient and disobedient. He is ready to work upon the hearts of worldly men even idolaters, to give of their abundance for the support of His work; and He will do this as soon as His people learn to approach these men wisely and to call their attention to that which it is their privilege to do. If the needs of the Lord's work were set forth in a proper light before those who have means and influence, these men might do much to advance the cause of present truth. God's people have lost many privileges of which they could have taken advantage, had they not chosen to stand independent of the world. {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 5} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 6] Why Not Ask? The people of the world have had the use of the Lord's vineyard and have brought in little in return. Why not ask them for assistance? I have received instruction that there are men and women in the world who have sympathetic hearts, and who will be touched with compassion as the needs of suffering humanity are presented before them. {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 6} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 7] There are many of every nationality who have wealth and intellectual powers. It is the Lord Jesus who has given them their ability and wealth. These gifts are a trust wherewith the Lord's vineyard is to be worked. We would that their souls might be drawn out in liberality to aid us in our Christian endeavor work. They should be invited to second our efforts in seeking to save that which is lost. It will do no harm to let them know that you expect them to co-operate with you, and that you expect them to give joy to the heart of Christ by using every one of His gifts in honoring His name. {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 7} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 8] A Good Exchange The Lord has placed His goods in the hands of unbelievers; all may return to Him His own for the doing of the work that must be done for a fallen world. As long as we are in this world, as long as the Spirit of God strives with the children of men, so long are we to receive favors as well as to impart them. We are to give to the world the light of truth, as revealed in the Scriptures; and we are to receive from the world that which God moves upon them to give in behalf of His cause. {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 8} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 9] How to Make Haste The end is near, stealing upon us stealthily, imperceptibly, like the noiseless approach of a thief in the night. May the Lord grant that we shall no longer sleep as do others, but that we shall watch and be sober. The truth is soon to triumph gloriously, and all who now choose to be laborers together with God will triumph with it. The time is short; the night soon cometh when no man can work. {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 9} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 10] A few faithful missionaries are even now planting the standard of truth in fields far away. Publications are multiplying in many languages. These silent messengers are enlightening thousands. But as a people we come far short of moving forward as fast as the providence of God open the way. Our General gives the command, "Go forward." Thousands are thirsting for living truth. The Macedonian cry is coming to us from every direction, "Come over and help us." We look about us, and inquire, "Who will go?" O that every follower of Jesus might respond: Send me. I long to do something for my Master." {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 10} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 11] Soul Famine Across the Seas Time and again I have had presented before me a vision of people across the broad ocean, standing in perplexity, and pale with anxiety, earnestly inquiring, "What is truth?" They say, "We want the bread of life. Our churches are backslidden from God. We want to find the old paths. We want to come back to the simplicity of the gospel religion." My tears flow as I see this picture rising vividly before me. The voice from heaven pleads, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." While so great a work needs to be done, shall not we, as Christ's followers, arouse to a sense of our God-given responsibility, and be active in doing our part? {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 11} [Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 12] Let those who are rejoicing in the light of present truth, now make haste to impart the truth to others. The Lord is inquiring, "Whom shall I send?" Those who wish to sacrifice for truth's sake, are now to respond. "Here am I, Lord, send me." Ellen G. White. {Banner, September 29, 1909 par. 12} [Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 1] Echoes - Echoes From the Field June 21, 1905 The Use of the Tithe. - "Thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring thee pure olive oil, beaten, for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. This was to be a continual offering that the house of God might be properly supplied with that which was necessary for his service. The people today are to remember that the house of worship is God's property and that it is to be scrupulously cared for. But the funds for this work are not to come from the tithe. The tithe is to be used for one purpose--to sustain the ministers whom the Lord has appointed to do his work. It is to be used to support those who speak the words of life to the people, and carry the burden of the flock of God. {Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 1} [Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 2] But there are ministers who have been robbed of their wages. God's provision for them has not been respected. Those who have charge of our church buildings are to be supplied with the means necessary to keep these buildings in good repair, but this money is not to come from the tithe. {Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 2} [Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 3] A very plain, definite message has been given to me to give to our people. I am bidden to tell them that they are making a mistake in applying the tithe to various objects, which, though good in themselves, are not the object to which the Lord has said the tithe is to be applied. Those who make this use of the tithe are departing from God's arrangement. God will judge for these things. One reasons that the tithe may be appropriated for school purposes; still another would reason that canvassers and colporteurs should be supported from the tithe, but a great mistake is made when the tithe is withdrawn from the object for which it is to be used--the support of the ministers. There should today be in the field one hundred well qualified laborers where now there is one. God cannot look upon the present condition of things with approval, but with condemnation. His treasury is deprived of the means that should be used for the support of the gospel ministry in fields nigh and far off. Those who proclaim the message of truth before great congregations, and who do house to house work, are doing double missionary work, and in no case are their salaries to be cut down. The use of the tithe must be looked upon as a sacred matter by our people. We must guard strictly against all that is contrary to the message now given. {Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 3} [Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 4] There is a lack of ministers because ministers have not been encouraged. Some ministers who have been sent to foreign lands, to enter fields never before worked, have been given the instruction, "You must sustain yourselves. We have not the means with which to support you." This ought not to be if the tithe, with gifts and offerings, was brought into the treasury. When a man enters the ministry, he is to be paid from the tithe enough to sustain his family. He is not to feel that he is a beggar. The impression is becoming quite common that the sacred disposition of the tithe no longer exists. Many have lost their sense of the Lord's requirements. The tithe is sacred, reserved by God for himself. It is to be brought into his treasury to be used to sustain the gospel laborers in their work. For a long time the Lord has been robbed because there are those who do not realize that the tithe is God' reserved portion. {Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 4} [Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 5] Many ministers are lying in their graves, brought there by sorrow and disappointment, and by the hardship brought upon them because they did not receive sufficient for their labors. {Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 5} [Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 6] Let us remember that God is a God of justice and equity. There would today be many more ministers in the field, but they are not encouraged to labor. Many workers have gone into the grave heart-broken because they had grown old and could see that they were looked upon as a burden. But had they been retained in the work, and given an easy place, with a whole or part of their wages, they might have accomplished much good. During their term of labor these men have done double labor. They felt so heavy a burden for souls that they had no desire to be relieved of overwork. The heavy burdens borne shortened their lives. The widows of these ministers are never to be forgotten, but should, if necessary, be paid from the tithe. {Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 6} [Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 7] Read carefully the third chapter of Malachi, and see what God says about the tithe. If our churches will take their stand upon the Lord's word, and be faithful in paying their tithe into his treasury, his laborers will be encouraged to take up ministerial work. More men would give themselves to the ministry were they not told of the depleted treasury. There should be an abundant supply in the Lord's treasury, and there would be if selfish hearts and hands had not made use of the tithe to support other lines of work. God's reserved resources are to be used in no such haphazard way. The tithe is the Lord's and those who meddle with it will be punished with the loss of their heavenly treasure unless they repent. Let the work no longer be hedged up because the tithe has been diverted into various channels other than the one to which the Lord said it should go. Provision is to be made for these other lines of work. They are to be sustained, but not from the tithe. God has not changed. The tithe is to be used for the support of the ministry. The opening of new fields requires more ministerial efficiency than we now have and there must be means in the treasury. Ellen G. White. {Echoes, June 21, 1905 par. 7} [Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 1] Educational Messenger - The Educational Messenger July 31, 1908 Home Schools Ellen G. White As church schools shall be established in the future, there is a class of work to be done in connection with them that has not been done in the past. All who can should have the privileges of a home church school. It would be well if several families in a neighborhood would unite to employ a humble, God-fearing teacher to give the parents the help that is needed in educating their children. This will be a great advantage, and a plan more pleasing to the Lord than the one that has largely been followed of removing the youth from their homes to attend one of our larger schools. The church members, uniting, could erect an inexpensive building, and secure a wise teacher to take charge of the school. {Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 1} [Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 2] Our small churches are needed. And the children are needed in their homes, where they may be a help to their parents when the hours of study are ended. The Christian home is the best place for young children; for here they can have parental discipline that is after the Lord's order. God would have us consider these things in all their sacred importance. It is the precious privilege of the teachers and parents to co-operate in teaching the children how to drink in the gladness of Christ's life by learning to follow His example. The Saviour's early years were useful years. He was His mother's helper in the home; and He was just as verily fulfilling His commission when performing the duties of the home, and working at the carpenter's bench, as when He engaged in His public work of ministry. {Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 2} [Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 3] It is not required that all the youth rush off from home responsibilities to seminaries or higher schools in order to reach the highest round of the ladder. It should be remembered that right in the home there are generally young children to be instructed. The elder should ever seek to help the younger. Let the elder members of the family consider that this part of the Lord's vineyard needs to be cultivated, and resolve that they will put forth their best capabilities to make home attractive and to deal patiently with younger minds. {Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 3} [Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 4] There are young persons in our homes whom the Lord has qualified to give the knowledge they have to others. Let these strive to keep spiritual lessons fresh in the mind that they may impart the knowledge they have gained. If these elder members of the family would become learners with the children new ideas would be suggested and the hours of study would be a time of decided pleasure as well as profit. {Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 4} [Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 5] The tender years of childhood are years of sacred responsibility to fathers and mothers. Parents have a sacred duty to perform in teaching their children to help bear the burdens of the home, to be content with plain and simple food and neat and inexpensive dress. The requirements of the parent should always be reasonable; kindness should be expressed not by foolish indulgence, but by wise direction. {Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 5} [Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 6] Parents are to teach their children pleasantly, without scolding, or fault finding, seeking to bind the hearts of the little ones to them by the silken cords of love. Let all, fathers and mothers, teachers, older brothers and sisters, become an educating force to keep up every spiritual interest, and create a wholesome atmosphere in the home and school life that will train the younger children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. {Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 6} [Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 7] Our children are the Lord's property; they have been bought with a price. This thought should be the mainspring of our labors for them. The most successful method of assuring their salvation, and keeping them out of the way of temptation, is to instruct them constantly in the Word of God. And as parents become learners with their children, they will find their own growth in a knowledge of the truth more rapid. Unbelief will disappear; faith and activity will increase; assurance and confidence will deepen as they thus follow on to know the Lord. Their prayers will undergo a transformation, becoming earnest and sincere. Christ is the head of His church; the dependence of His people; He will give the needed grace to those who seek Him for wisdom and instruction. {Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 7} [Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 8] I speak to fathers and mothers: You can be educators in your home churches; you can be spiritual missionary agencies. Let fathers and mothers feel the need of being home missionaries, the need of keeping the home atmosphere free from the influence of unkind and hasty speech, and the home school a place where angels of God can come in and bless and give success to the efforts put forth. Let parents unite in providing a place for the daily instruction of their children choosing as teacher one who is apt to teach, and who as a consecrated servant of Christ will increase in knowledge while thus imparting instruction. The teacher who has consecrated self to the service of God will be able to do a definite work in missionary service, and will instruct the children in the same lines. Let fathers and mothers co-operate with the teacher, laboring earnestly for the salvation of their children. If parents will realize the importance of these small educating centers, co-operating to do the work that the Lord desires to be done at this time, the plans of the enemy for our children will be frustrated. {Educational Messenger, July 31, 1908 par. 8} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 1] September 4, 1908 Words of Exhortation and Warning Ellen G. White This message has been given me for our teachers gathered in institutes, and for the young men and women who shall assemble at our colleges and training schools:-- {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 1} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 2] You need to understand the significance of the teachings of the apostle Peter, as recorded in the first chapter of his first epistle: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ: grace unto you, and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 2} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 3] "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom, having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 3} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 4] Why should we not study this chapter frequently? Here are presented to us through the inspiration of the Spirit of God, most precious promises, the foundation for large expectations, if we will act upon the instruction given. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 4} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 5] If we would escape from the sickly experience we now have we must begin in earnest to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. There are many who give no decided evidence that they are true to their baptismal vows. Their zeal is chilled by formality, worldly ambition, pride, and love of self. Occasionally their feelings are stirred, but they do not fall on the Rock Christ Jesus. They do not come to God with hearts that are broken in repentance and confession. Those who experience the work of true conversion in their hearts, will reveal the fruits of the Spirit in their lives. O that those who have so little spiritual life would realize that eternal life can be granted only to those who become partakers of the divine nature, and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 5} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 6] The Lord foresaw the unbelief that would prevail in our world at the present time, and through His servants He sent messages of comfort and assurance that would confirm the faith of His children who should live in the end of time. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 6} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 7] When the disciple John was banished from those he loved in the faith to the lonely isle of Patmos, the Lord met with His faithful witness, and there revealed to him the future of His church as he had not revealed it through any other. We read the opening words of that wonderful book: "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show His servant things which must shortly come to pass, and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John, who bare record of the Word of God, and of the Testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw." {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 7} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 8] There are weighty reasons why we should study the revelation that God gave to John. "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written therein; for the time is at hand." With such testimony as this, and seeing as we do the fulfillment of this prophecy, we are without excuse if we remain in ignorance of those things which must "shortly come to pass." {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 8} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 9] A solemn responsibility rests upon those who know the truth, that their works shall correspond with their faith, and that their characters shall be refined and sanctified, and they be prepared for the work that must rapidly be done in these closing days of the message. The words should come to us now with impelling earnestness, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." There are many among us who are deficient in spirituality, and who, unless they are converted, will certainly be lost. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 9} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 10] A Message to Parents Let our ministers and teachers bear this message to parents: We need religion in the home. Fathers and mothers, are you satisfied with the advancement you are making in the divine life? Do you testify in words and acts that you have experienced the new birth? Do you earnestly ask yourselves the question, "Can I in my present condition be called an overcomer?" Begin, O, begin now, to make a change. Throw off the lethargy that is upon you. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 10} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 11] Pride and weakness of faith are depriving many of the rich blessings of God. There are many who unless they humble their hearts before the Lord, and arouse to their solemn responsibilities, will be surprised and disappointed when the cry is heard, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh! They have the theory of the truth, but they have no oil in their vessels with their lamps. Our faith at this time must not stop with belief in the theory of the third angel's message. We must have the oil of the grace of Christ that will feed the lamp and cause the light of life to shine forth, showing the way to those who are in darkness. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 11} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 12] Missionary Activity Urge every Seventh-day Adventist family to awaken, and to become the Lord's missionaries. Consider the books that the Lord has placed in your possession for the relief of our schools and sanitariums. Many opportunities have been given you to show that you appreciated the truths revealed in these books. If these precious volumes are appreciated as they should be, self-denying efforts will be made to bring them to the notice of the people. Let brethren and sisters encourage one another to become acquainted with their neighbors. Tell them the story of the gift of these books for the support of our institutions, and tell them of your own interest in seeking to place them in the hands of acquaintances and friends. Tell the story to the wealthy. Men, women and children can engage in this work. We have yet to learn of persons who after reading the book have expressed unfavorable opinions regarding it. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 12} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 13] Golden opportunities for missionary labor are offered to those who will take hold of this work, and rich blessings will come to the people who purchase the books and study their teachings. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 13} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 14] The sale of the book Ministry of Healing will bring in means for the help of our health institutions, and for the aid of those sick ones who could not, unaided, get the benefits of our sanitarium treatments. Now let those of our people who wish to help our schools and sanitariums, unite in the work of circulating these books as far and as fast as possible. As the Lord's missionaries, we may take a special interest in this work, and help to get the precious light before the people. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 14} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 15] Those who engage in this line of work should first give themselves unreservedly to God. They should place themselves where they can learn of Christ, and follow His example. Angels are commissioned to go forth with those who take up this work in true humility. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 15} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 16] Our educational institutions can do much toward meeting the demand for trained workers for the mission fields. Wise plans should be laid to strengthen the work done in our training-centers. Study should be given to the best methods for fitting consecrated young men and young women to bear responsibility, and to win souls for Christ. They should be taught how to meet the people, and how to present the third angel's message in an attractive manner. And in the management of financial matters, they should be taught lessons that will help them when they are sent to isolated fields where they must suffer many privations and practise the strictest economy. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 16} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 17] The Lord has instituted a plan whereby many of the students in our schools can learn practical lessons needful for success in after life. He has given us the privilege of handling precious books that have been dedicated for the advancement of our educational and sanitarium work. In the very handling of these books, the youth will meet with many experiences that will teach them how to cope with problems in the regions beyond. During their school life, as they handle these books, many will learn how to approach people courteously, and how to exercise tact in conversing with them on different points of truth. And as they meet with a degree of success financially some will learn lessons of thrift and economy which will be of great advantage to them when they are sent out as missionaries. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 17} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 18] The students who take up the work of selling Christ's Object Lessons and Ministry of Healing will need to study the book they expect to sell. As they familiarize their minds with the subject-matter of the book in hand, and endeavor to practise its teachings, they will develop in knowledge and spiritual power. The messages in these books are the light that God has revealed to me to give to the world. The teachers in our schools should encourage the students to make a careful study of every chapter. They should teach these truths to their students, and seek to inspire the youth with a love for the precious thoughts the Lord has entrusted to us to communicate to the world. {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 18} [Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 19] Thus the preparation for handling these books, and the daily experiences gained while bringing them to the attention of the people, will prove an invaluable schooling to those who take part in this line of effort. Under the blessing of God, the youth will obtain a fitting for service in the Lord's vineyard. (To be Concluded) - {Educational Messenger, September 4, 1908 par. 19} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 1] September 11, 1908 Words of Exhortation and Warning Ellen G. White (Concluded) Beware of Ambition and Self-exaltation Satan is the leader of every species of rebellion today, as he was the originator of rebellion in the courts of heaven. Standing next to Christ in power and honor, yet he coveted glory that belonged to the Son. He desired to be equal with God. To carry out his purpose he concealed his true designs from the angels, and worked deceptively to secure their allegiance and honor to himself. By sly insinuations, by which he made it appear that Christ had assumed the place that belonged to himself, Lucifer sowed the seeds of doubt in the minds of many of the angels; and when he had won their support, he carried the matter before God, declaring that it was the sentiment of many of the heavenly beings that he should have the preference to Christ. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 1} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 2] We will not at this time follow the immediate results of Satan's rebellion and his expulsion from heaven, but let us consider how his deceptive work is being continued today among those who profess to be the loyal people of God. In the hearts of many church members there is being carried on today the same work of rebellion and disaffection, and the result is injury and weakness to the church. There are Sabbath-keepers who have been counted true and loyal, who are giving loose rein to their ambitions and desires, and are uniting with the work of the arch deceiver, and imperilling the prosperity of the cause of God. The artful foe has found a place in many hearts that should have no room for the selfish, ambitious principles that are being promulgated. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 2} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 3] Satan is Christ's personal enemy. He is the originator of every contention that is manifesting itself in Battle Creek, and he is seeking to imbue with his spirit every church in our ranks. He knows that the time is short, and he seeks to gain the victory over every one possible. Long has he deceived mankind, and great is his power over the human family; and his rage against the people of God increases as he finds that the knowledge of God's requirements is extending to all parts of the world, and that the light of present truth is shining to those who have long sat in darkness. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 3} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 4] There are those among us who claim to believe the truth, yet who refuse to be sanctified through the truth. When reproved for a wrong course, self immediately rises up, and they stubbornly follow the devisings of the enemy. Through their long opposition to the testimonies of the Spirit of God, they are working out a species of the rebellion that has hindered the advancement of the kingdom of God in the earth throughout the ages. There are those who are ever seeking to have their own way, and to follow the leadings of their own disposition. The result of all this is weakness and confusion, evil surmisings and evil devisings. Those who continually work on Satan's side of the question will carry out the plans of the deceiver until they find themselves wholly departed from the faith. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 4} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 5] We receive many letters from our brethren and sisters, asking for advice on a great variety of subjects. If they would study the published Testimonies for themselves, they would find the enlightenment they need. Let us urge our people to study these books, and circulate them. Let their teachings strengthen our faith. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 5} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 6] Let us study more diligently the Word of God. The Bible is so plain and clear that all who will may understand. Let us thank the Lord for His precious Word, and for the messages of His Spirit that give so much light. I am instructed that the more we study the Old and New Testaments, the more we shall have impressed on our mind the fact that each sustains a very close relation to the other, and the more evidence we shall receive of their divine inspiration. We shall see clearly that they have but one Author. The study of these precious volumes will teach us how to form characters that will reveal the attributes of Christ. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 6} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 7] It is fully time that every responsible worker should take his stand firmly on the Word of God. This Word is to be our defence when Satan works with such lying wonders that if it were possible he would deceive the very elect. It is then that those who have not stood firmly for the truth will unite with the unbelieving who love and make a lie. When these wonders are performed, when the sick are healed and other marvels are wrought, they will be deceived. Are we prepared for the perilous times that are right upon us? or are we standing where we will fall an easy prey to the wiles of the devil? {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 7} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 8] I am instructed to speak plainly concerning these deceptions that are arising. The Word of God points out our peril: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter days some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils: speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron." {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 8} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 9] "They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 9} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 10] "But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 10} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 11] "I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Jesus Christ, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment, without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 11} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 12] "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so-called; which some professing have erred from the faith." {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 12} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 13] "If ye then be risen with Christ," the apostle exhorts, "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 13} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 14] "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience; in the which ye also walked sometime, when ye lived in them. But now ye therefore put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 14} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 15] "Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him; where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free: but Christ is all and in all. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 15} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 16] "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 16} [Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 17] "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom; teaching and and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him." - {Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908 par. 17} [Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 1] September 25, 1908 A Broader View Mrs. E. G. White In carrying forward the Lord's work at home and abroad, those in positions of trust and responsibility must plan wisely, so as to make the best possible use of men and of means. The burden of sustaining the work in many of the foreign fields must be largely borne by our conferences in the homeland. These conferences should have means with which to assist in opening new fields, where the testing truths of the third angel's message have never yet penetrated. Within the past few years, doors have been thrown open as if by magic, and men and women are needed to enter these doors, and begin earnest work for the salvation of souls. {Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 1} [Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 2] There is a special work to be done for our young people by those bearing responsibility in local churches throughout the conferences. When the church officers see promising youth who are desirous of fitting themselves for usefulness in the Lord's service, but whose parents are unable to send them to school, they have a duty to perform in studying how to give help and encouragement. They should take counsel with parents and youth, and unite in planning wisely. Some youth may be best fitted to engage in home missionary work. There is a wide field of usefulness in the distribution of our literature, and in bringing the third angel's message to the attention of friends and neighbors. Other youth should be encouraged to enter the canvassing work, to sell our larger books. Some have qualifications that would make them valuable helpers in our institutions. And in many instances, if promising youth were wisely encouraged and properly directed, they could be led to earn their own schooling by taking up the sale of Christ's Object Lessons or Ministry of Healing. {Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 2} [Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 3] In selling these books, the youth would be acting as missionaries; for they would be bringing precious light to the notice of the people of the world. At the same time they would be earning money to attend school, where they could continue their preparation for wider usefulness in the Lord's cause. In the school, they would receive encouragement and inspiration from teachers and students to continue their work of selling books, and when the time came for them to leave school, they would have received a practical training fitting them for the hard, earnest, self-sacrificing labor that has to be done in many foreign fields, where the third angel's message must be carried under difficult and trying circumstances. {Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 3} [Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 4] How much better is this plan, than for students to go through school without obtaining a practical education in field work, and, at the end of their course, leave under a burden of debt, with but little realization of the difficulties they will have to meet in new and untried fields! How hard it will be for them to meet the financial problems that are connected with pioneer work in foreign lands! And what a burden some one will have to carry until the debts incurred by the student have been paid! {Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 4} [Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 5] On the other hand, how much might be gained, if the self-supporting plan were followed! The student would often be enabled to leave the educational institution nearly or wholly free from personal indebtedness; the finances of the school would be in a more prosperous condition; and the lessons learned by the student while passing through these experiences in the home field would be of untold value to him in foreign fields. {Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 5} [Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 6] Let wise plans now be laid to help worthy students to earn their own schooling by handling these books, if they so desire. Those who earn sufficient means in this way to pay their way through a course at one of our training schools, will gain a most valuable practical experience that will help fit them for pioneer missionary work in other fields. {Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 6} [Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 7] A great work is to be done in our world in a short time, and we must study to understand and appreciate, more than we have in past years, the providence of God in placing in our hands the precious volumes, Christ's Object Lessons and Ministry of Healing, as a means of helping worthy students to meet their expenses while in training, as well as a means of liquidating the indebtedness on our educational and medical institutions. {Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 7} [Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 8] Great blessings are in store for us, as we wisely handle these precious books given us for the advancement of the cause of present truth. And as we labor in accordance with the Lord's plan, we shall find that many consecrated youth will be fitted to enter the regions beyond as practical missionaries; and, at the same time, the conferences in the home field will have means with which to contribute liberally to the support of the work that shall be undertaken in new territory. Sanitarium, California, April 17, 1908. {Educational Messenger, September 25, 1908 par. 8} [Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 1] October 2, 1908 Sanctified Teachers Ellen G. White Teachers should not be employed to train the youth who will not maintain the simplicity of Christ's methods. His teachings contained the very essence of sanctified simplicity. {Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 1} [Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 2] Those teachers who present matters to the students in an uncertain light are not fitted for the work of educating the youth. No man is qualified for this work unless he is daily learning to speak the words of the Teacher sent from God. Now is the time to sow the gospel seed. The seed to sow must be clean and pure, and that which will produce the choicest fruit. We have no time to lose. The work of our schools is to become more and more in character like the work of Christ. Only the power of the grace of God working on human hearts and minds will make and keep the atmosphere of our schools and churches clean. {Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 2} [Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 3] There have been teachers in our schools who could pass well in a worldly institution of learning, but were unfitted for the training of our youth because they were ignorant of the truths of the gospel of Christ. They were unable to bring the simplicity of Christ into their labors. It should be the work of every teacher to present these truths that have called us out to stand as a peculiar people before the world, and which are able to keep us in harmony with heaven's laws. In the messages that have been sent to us from time to time, we have truths that will accomplish a wonderful work of reform in our characters, if we will give them place. They will prepare us for entrance into the holy city of God. It is our privilege to make continual advancement to a higher grade of Christian living. {Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 3} [Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 4] One night I was awakened and instructed to write a straight testimony regarding the work of our school at Loma Linda. By that school a solemn and sacred work was to be done. The teachings of health reform were to stand out clearly and brightly that all the youth in attendance might learn to practise them. All our educators should be strict health reformers. The Lord desires that genuine missionaries shall go out as pioneers from our schools. They are to be fully consecrated to the work, as laborers together with God, daily enlarging their sphere of usefulness, and becoming more and more fully sanctified through the truth. The influence of a consecrated medical missionary teacher in our schools is invaluable. {Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 4} [Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 5] I have been instructed to present these things before our teachers. We need to be converted from our faulty lives to the faith of the gospel. Christ's followers have no need to try to shine. If they will behold constantly the life of Christ, they will be changed in mind and heart, into the same image. Then they will shine without any superficial attempt. The Lord asks for no display of goodness. In the gift of His Son He has made provision that our inward lives may be imbued with the principles of heaven. It is the appropriation of this provision that will lead to a manifestation of Christ to the world. {Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 5} [Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 6] When the people of God experience the new birth, their honesty, their uprightness, their fidelity, there steadfast principles, will unfailingly reveal it. O, what words were spoken to me! What gentleness was recommended through the grace abundantly given. The greatest manifestation that men and women can make of the grace and power of Christ, is made when the natural man becomes partaker of the divine nature, and through the power that the grace of Christ imparts, overcomes the corruptions that are in the world through lust. - {Educational Messenger, October 2, 1908 par. 6} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 1] March 19, 1909 Our School Work Mrs. E. G. White Economy in regard to the outlay of means should be practised in our school in Cooranbong. This must be done, or the same mistakes will be made here that have been made in our schools in America. Those who stand at the head of the schools here need to guard carefully every point and bind about every needless expense, that the burden of debt may not fall upon the school. As co-laborers with Christ, every student who loves God supremely will help to bear responsibility in this matter. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 1} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 2] Self-indulgence is a great evil and must be overcome. Those who have been educated in this line can demonstrate in precept and example to those with whom they come in contact the principles taught by our self-denying Redeemer. He says to all, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Then the conditions are stated, from which there can be no departure, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 2} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 3] There is far less earnest, whole-souled study of the truth as it is in Jesus than there should be. There should be connected with our school, those who are strong-minded and whole-souled Christians, who receive and believe in Christ as the Alpha and Omega. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 3} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 4] In acquiring an education, many have made a mistake by not plowing deep enough. They have thought a knowledge of books the principal thing. But young men and young women must learn sometime that in order to do the highest service for God, they must closely investigate the Scriptures and learn how to do God's will. As they study this Word, they will see in it heights and depths that they have not reached. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 4} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 5] When students refuse to make the Word of God their study, and take as their instructors books written by infidels, Satan is close by, to make his impression on their mind. Everyone who allows himself to have respect for infidel authors is in danger. Why?--Because he sees no God, and with all his educators, he does not recognize Jesus Christ as the Teacher sent by God. He does not look upon Him as the Bread sent down from heaven, of which he must eat; and therefore his experience is not composed of that which makes him one with Christ. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 5} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 6] The Bible is a treasure house of knowledge, and all who make this book their study, sinking the shaft deep in the mine of truth, will exclaim, "I behold wondrous things out of Thy Word." The incarnation of Christ is but dimly appreciated by many students who have studied long in our schools. This subject should be and will be better understood by all who in truth love truth, and walk in the way of the Lord. The experimental knowledge of this is as essential to sanctify daily, as to redeem. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 6} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 7] Light has been given you in clear lines in regard to the mistakes made in the education of teachers. The education which teachers might gain many regard as non-essential. They do not gain a knowledge of practical life, a knowledge of how to work as well as of how to study. This mistake must not be allowed to influence the youth who attend the school we are trying to establish. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 7} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 8] Many look upon books as the principal purpose of their scholastic life. They know very little of practical business management and are therefore one-sided. Their faculties have not been developed proportionately. They have not plowed deep, to understand the weak points in their character building, and they do not realize their deficiency. They start wrong. They feel too unconcerned in regard to becoming involved in debt. They do not look critically at the outcome of this. What is faith?--True faith takes in the whole man, it enables the soul to rise out of an imperfect, undeveloped state, and to understand what true wisdom is. See Proverbs 8. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 8} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 9] If education has been carried on in accordance with the mind and will of God, the dark shadow of heavy debt would not today be hanging over our institutions. If the students had developed brain, bone and muscle harmoniously, they could have studied better. But many students have followed their own idea as to what constitutes education, and therefore they have not placed themselves where their determination was to be self-made men and women. Many have failed because they have not reasoned from cause to effect. They are contented to be carried rather than to work their own way. And many follow their example. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 9} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 10] When students are carried through years of study on the means of others they lose that experience of practical life that will be difficult for them to recover. One who has often appeared as my instructor, placed his hand on the shoulder of a young man, and said, "You have yet to sink the shaft deeper if you obtain the heavenly treasure. You must learn to cling to the truth by faith in Jesus Christ. Associate with men of experience, who have been taught by God, and who have experimental knowledge of saving faith." {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 10} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 11] Notwithstanding all that has been written in regard to God's plan for the education of our schools, this subject has not fully been taken in. It is today as it was in the days of Christ. The sayings of the priests and rabbis were then frequently brought forward as if they were truth and light. Their words were repeated with assurance, because they had been handed down from rabbi to rabbi. Men departed from the Word of God. False theories, which were received as truth because they came from the lips of rabbis were exalted above the words of God. Christ said to these teachers, "Ye are both ignorant of the Scriptures and of the power of God." {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 11} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 12] Thus it is in our day. Darkness hath covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. Students have left our schools with a deficient education. Some think that they know all that is worth knowing, and that they are qualified to manage institutions. But they have much to unlearn and much to learn. They must know more of God. They must realize their deficiency. They must know what constitutes true Christianity. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 12} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 13] Nothing can elevate man, nothing can make him pure and keep him pure but believing in and practising the truth. He must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God. This is the lesson all should learn. They should see that to be sanctified means more than to have a theoretical knowledge of the truth. They must have living faith. They must do more than denounce wrongs in others; they must fight it in themselves. They must be whole-souled Christians possessing the earnestness and living energy derived in Christ. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 13} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 14] The youth should be taught to look upon physiology as one of the essential studies. They should not be satisfied with the mere theory; they should practise the knowledge obtained from books on this subject. This matter has not been patiently and perseveringly worked out. Those who neglect this branch of study which comprehends so much, will make haphazard work in attempting to teach the youth. They are not qualified to direct in our schools, because the way of the Lord must be learned in order to be practised. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 14} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 15] Many go from our schools with some knowledge, but without that all-round harmonious character that would enable them to be teachers or principals. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 15} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 16] The principles of true education, that will fit students to be practical business men have been very poorly carried out. This class of education is needed in all our missionary enterprises; and if teachers in our schools did their duty, according to the "It is written," they would send forth from school men who would know how to take hold of the work in a new field, and use their brain, bone, and muscle in making it a harmonious whole. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 16} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 17] Many who have been educated in our schools are heedless. They do a little somewhere else, but they show they have not been educated for practical work. Students should remember that the first interest is to make themselves practical, all-round, useful men and women, who, in an emergency, can do the work necessary to be done. When students are given this kind of education, it will not be necessary to spend money to transport men thousands of miles to plan schools, meeting-houses and colleges. Students should be encouraged to combine mental and physical labor. The physical powers should be developed in proportion to the mental faculties. This is essential for an all-round education. They will then be at home in any place. They should be prepared to teach others how to build, how to cultivate the soil. A man may have a brilliant mind, he may be quick to catch ideas; but this is of little value to him and to others if he has no knowledge of practical work, if he does not know how to put his ideas into execution. Such a one is only half educated. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 17} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 18] A teacher who has an intelligent knowledge of the best, and who can not only teach the theory, but can show by example how things should be done, will never be a drug in the market. Young men should not always be as servants who must be told what to do, and who, when one job is done, have no perception to look around and see what more needs to be done. They should look the situation squarely in the face, saying, "This will not do. Unless I learn how to work, how to manage difficult problems, how to wrestle with difficult problems, I will be of no practical value. I must and will rise. I will mount from the lowest to the highest round on the ladder." He who manifests this determination will make a trustworthy worker; for his aim is to advance in knowledge and increase in understanding. He can be depended on as thoughtful and caretaking. There are those who are quick to see and grasp ideas in advance. But they do not weigh every point and apply their ideas in a way that produces the best results. They are heedless; they do not work in the wisdom of God. Such need to make haste slowly in forming their opinions, lest they should be obliged to retrace their steps. If they are not careful, their course will be uneven and uncertain. They will fail to make straight paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. They will surely lead away those who admire their flashes and brilliancy, unless they determine to know why they know the things they claim to know. They should be careful how they order their steps. They should pray much, fearing to make mistakes. Unless they walk guardedly, they will be losers. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 18} [Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 19] God's holy Word gives us the principles that form the standard of correct management in temporal as well as spiritual things. God's will is to be made the will of the human agent, and this will is to be kept prominent. Men are not to act as though there were one rule for the master and another for the servant. Christ was a servant. He lived not to please Himself, and by His life of service He has exalted all service. {Educational Messenger, March 19, 1909 par. 19} [Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 1] Tidings - Field Tidings June 8, 1910 Work in the South IN A TALK GIVEN BY SISTER WHITE AT COLLEGE VIEW, NEBR., SEPTEMBER 25, 1904, SHE MADE THE FOLLOWING SIGNIFICANT STATEMENTS REGARDING THE WORK IN THE SOUTH. {Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 1} [Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 2] "I must speak in behalf of the work in the Southern field. The message of a soon coming Saviour must go to all its cities. We must wake up and consider what this means to us individually in the matter of consecrated effort. {Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 2} [Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 3] "Some have been working and stirring continually to learn how we should enter the various and important fields, and how the work can be done to the glory of God. But I can assure you that we have put none too much labor into this field. We have given none too much money to it. We have put none too much talent into it. {Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 3} [Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 4] "There are many present who have been much interested in missionary work in the South. To these I say, "Rejoice that the Southern field is being worked. Today I desire to leave this impression upon the mind of every one that is here, that the Southern field is to be thoroughly worked. This burden, as God has laid it upon us as a people, has been kept before us for many years. And the question for each individual is, What am I to do? To every man God has appointed his work. If we would only remember this, and seek humbly and perseveringly to know and to do our appointed work, guidance and grace would be given us to meet the trials and hardships of the way. {Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 4} [Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 5] "When the Jews asked Jesus 'What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?' He replied, 'This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.' His disciples are commissioned to 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.' {Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 5} [Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 6] "You have neighbors. Will you give them the message? You may never have had the hands of ordination laid upon you, but you can humbly carry the message. You can testify that God has ordained that all for whom Christ died shall have everlasting life if they believe on Him." {Tidings, June 8, 1910 par. 6} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 1] FPR - Forest Park Reporter March 30, 1879 Christian Temperance -------- Synopsis of a lecture delivered by Mrs. E. G. White, at the tent in Forest Park. -------- "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." Romans 12:1, 2. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 1} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 2] The mercies of God, here brought before us, are innumerable; and the greatest of these is the gift of His Son. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God! therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." The Lord has claims upon us that we do not appreciate. We are under obligation to our Creator to preserve to ourselves the very best condition of health, that the object of our existence may be answered. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 2} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 3] There is an abundance in our world to supply the necessities of every human being, were the gifts of God put to the best use. If those who have an excess would not be prodigal of their means and of their time, there would be none crying for hunger, and none destitute of clothing; for our Heavenly Father has made abundant provision to satisfy all the real wants of His children. Hunger, cold and nakedness need not exist in our world if man loved God and his neighbor. To man, God has entrusted much. He has given him talents of means, and talents of intellect; and his lineage is from God. His Maker designs that man shall exemplify the dignity of his nature by preserving to himself the very best condition of physical strength and power of intellect, that these may be devoted to His service, not degraded and brought into slavery to perverted appetite. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 3} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 4] Men were not created to be subject to poverty, disease and suffering, not for thoughtless inattention to their physical and spiritual wants, but for dignity, purity and elevation of character in this life, and for joy unspeakable and full of glory in the future immortal life. The mercies of God are distributed and diversified throughout the earth; and if man would be obedient to nature's laws there would not be a tithe of the misery which now exists. Health and life are imperiled by the indulgence of appetite. Our woes more frequently spring from the improvident use of the abundance than from scarcity. Young men in our cities and towns are surrounded with temptations to indulge in perverted appetite. Vice is gilded over; like apples of Sodom, it appears beautiful without, but is ashes within. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 4} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 5] Health is essential, not only to our own happiness, but to the happiness, of those with whom we associate. Health, strength and longevity depend upon immutable laws. The woes and sufferings of humanity are charged upon Providence, when Providence would have men peaceful, healthful and happy. Our first parents by their disobedience opened the floodgates of woe to the race, and notwithstanding we have before us their sad experience in transgression, and the terrible result, we do not cease to sin; but while we deplore the sin of Adam, which was attended with such fearful consequences, we follow in the same course and realize the penalty of our own sins; for which suffering we alone are accountable. The providence of God is not responsible for the woes of man; his own course of action brings the sure result. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 5} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 6] The Christian world are insensible to the result of their course. It is sinful indulgence that has produced degeneracy of the race, until at the present time, as we look upon the pale, sickly, deformed and imbecile specimens of humanity, they seem almost valueless. And yet Christ has died to redeem them from the thralldom of sin, and the oppressive power of Satan. By His own example He has shown us how to overcome the power of appetite. Man may, through the merits of Jesus Christ, become elevated and noble; he may possess moral value with God. It is difficult to conceive what a man may be and what he may do through the power and grace of God. The law of God requires that he should love the Lord with all his heart and soul and mind and strength, and his neighbor as himself. How important, then, that he preserve himself in the very best condition of health, that he may have physical, mental and moral power with which to glorify his Creator. God has given to us a habitation to care for and keep pure and holy, to be devoted to His service. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 6} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 7] Many greatly abuse the body in transgressing nature's laws by their pet indulgences, the use of tobacco and liquor. Even professed Christians indulge in what they call the social glass, and in the use of tobacco. This class, many of them, claim to love God with the whole heart, might, mind and strength; but their works speak louder than words, and testify that the noxious weed, or the stimulating draught, comes first; they love it better than the hour of prayer, better than religious service. It is, in short, their idol. To this shrine, physical, mental and moral health is sacrificed. It is impossible for a tobacco devotee to love God supremely, or his neighbor as himself. While indulging in either the use of liquor or tobacco he is debilitating his powers, both physically and mentally, so that he has but a limited ability to give to God; whereas, if he, through denial of perverted appetite, would enthrone God in his heart, loving Him supremely and serving Him with his entire being, he would have continually increasing powers with which to serve his Creator. While the animal part of our nature controls the moral and spiritual, man cannot serve God acceptably. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 7} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 8] Wherever we may look, there are temptations for men of weak principles. Many a man who enters our cities is induced to spend a few spare dollars in sensual pleasure, and the hard-earned money that could have been invested in the Lord's treasury, succoring the distressed, reclaiming the guilty, and reforming the dissipated, goes to fill the till of the liquor seller, while the spender's powers are enfeebled by his eating and drinking and dissipation. The reaction is sure to come. He loses precious years of probationary time, if not his own soul, through indulgence of appetite. The continual transgression of nature's laws is a continual transgression of the laws of God. The present weight of suffering and anguish which we see everywhere, the deformity, decrepitude, disease, and imbecility, making our world one vast hospital, enfeebling mental, moral and physical powers, --all this misery, accumulated from generation to generation, exists because fallen man will break the law of God; for sins of the greatest magnitude are committed through the indulgence of perverted appetite. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 8} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 9] The effort made to create taste for the disgusting, filthy poison, tobacco, leads to the desire for stronger stimulus, as liquor, which is used on one plea or another, for some imaginary infirmity or to prevent some possible disease. Thus there is created an unnatural appetite for these nerve and brain destroying stimulants, an appetite which strengthens with every repeated indulgence until the shackles of habit bind the victim in the veriest bonds of slavery. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 9} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 10] The Bible declares that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God. What then of the drunkard-maker, who places the bottle to his neighbor's lips? Tobacco and liquor stupefy the brain and defile the user, but the evil does not end here. Fathers transmit to their children their own irritable temper, polluted blood, and enfeebled physical, mental, and moral powers; and their own vitiated appetite, intensified, is reproduced in the children. Thus the father of dissipated habits, makes himself accountable for the mold of character he gives his children. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 10} [FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 11] Intemperance of any description is the worst kind of selfishness. How can any man or any woman keep the law of God requiring man to love his neighbor as himself, and indulge intemperate appetite, which benumbs the brain, weakens the intellect, and fills the body with corruption and disease? Those who pursue this course are in a fair way to lose both worlds. Christ came to our world to give to man moral power, that he might, through the mercies of Christ, combined with his human effort, present his body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is his reasonable service. {FPR, March 30, 1879 par. 11} [GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 1] GCB - The General Conference Bulletin February 4, 1895 Extracts "From recent writings of Sister White" The holy convocations of our people are meetings of great importance to all who shall assemble. Our Conference meetings, in which business relating to the cause is transacted, are special seasons when the heavenly counsels are made known to those assembled. Those are no commonplace things that are considered in these meetings. The ministers and officers of the church and their wives who are in attendance at these meetings should be present at these Conference meetings if their health will not suffer thereby. {GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 2] At our Conference meetings all should have the same spirit as did Cornelius and his household, who said, "Now are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God." Those not of our faith will mark the indifference as well as the whole-souled interest that is manifested in our Conference meetings. {GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 3] Those who love God will not, even in their appearance, exert an influence upon others to lessen their appreciation of the sacred character of these meetings. While words are being spoken which shall affect the interest of the cause of God, the minds of all should be uplifted to God in earnest prayer for spiritual eyesight to discern the great things of God, that Satan shall not steal away the very things they should bear in mind. All should pray that the Lord will give light and knowledge in these meetings, that they may know how to engage in the great work intelligently. {GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 4] Those who are associated with the work need to learn much more in regard to the different lines of the work. The earnest words spoken, the encouraging features presented, as well as the failures which cause unavailing regrets, all are lessons teaching the worker to shun certain methods, to reform in the practical working. He will see the changes that are necessary in order to avoid failures, and the high and holy purposes that will be crowned with success. Ministers all need to understand more than they now do, of the practical working of the cause in its various branches. In these matters where eternal interests are involved, ignorance is sin. {GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 5] Women who are connected with the work in a greater or less degree, need a much more intelligent knowledge of the workings of 3 the cause than they now have. It is essential for them to understand the practical working of the machinery and the spirit and grace required to keep all parts working harmoniously. Each should realize that a divine hand is moving to bring order out of confusion, that every line of the work may bear the divine impress. When women who are in any way connected with this work treat it as a common matter which does not particularly concern them, their influence tends to cheapen the work in the estimation of believers and unbelievers. They belittle that which heaven recognizes as of great importance. They treat lightly subjects that are taken up in the councils of heaven. {GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 6] Heavenly intelligences preside in every business meeting. Members from the royal assemblies of the heavenly courts are present to listen to every plan under consideration, and to imbue the minds of those who see the necessities for the time, and lay out the lines of work to be done. Holy angels impart wisdom, they inspire minds, and aid in working up plans, that the message of warning may go to the regions beyond. They bring before the workers the evangelical and eternal principles that must characterize the work,--principles that will impart greater moral power, and give the work greater importance and efficiency, that in all its features it may bear the divine similitude. {GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 7] The direction of Christ to Moses was, "Make all things according to the pattern shown to thee in the mount." Did you ever think of it in this connection? Well, God has a pattern for his work, and it is for you and me to follow that pattern. Only when we do this, will our work be acceptable to God. {GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 8] The truth in its sanctifying power is to go to the world; prophecy must be fulfilled. All the aspirations, all the motives and power of influence, every jot and tittle, is to make a place for itself, and find its proper, dignified position. Never in any sense is it to be brought down to a low level, becoming mingled with common things. There are some who, through the impression of the Holy Spirit of God, have had glimpses of the holy character of the work and the necessity of its standing in its sacred dignity before the world. These laborers are struggling with all their power to arouse the human instruments to look heavenward, to catch the divine inspiration, to realize that they may represent the purity, the virtue and holiness of a work that is under the supervision of God himself. All who do appreciate these things will make every effort in their line of work, that they may have the co-operation of God and of angels to carry the work forward and upward, every year reaching greater and more perfect success according to the counsels of heaven. {GCB, February 4, 1895 par. 8} [GCB, February 8, 1895 par. 1] February 8, 1895 Extracts From a Letter Dated Aug. 3, 1894 If one undertakes the canvassing work, and is not able to sustain himself and family, it is the duty of his brethren, so far as lies in their power, to help him out of his difficulty, and disinterestedly open ways whereby this brother may labor according to his ability and obtain means honestly to sustain his family. {GCB, February 8, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 11, 1895 par. 1] February 11, 1895 "For the last forty years ..." For the last forty years the Lord has been revealing to me the necessity of harmony of action on the part of ministers and the presidents of Conferences. The president of a Conference should be careful to give respect to all who are laborers together with God. One man's mind and judgment is not to control. The ministers who are connected with him in the work are to be respected and loved; criticism should have no room to work. Let envy and evil-surmising be expelled from the soul. Nothing can grieve the Spirit of God more than dissension and depreciation of brethren. In order to have prosperity in labor, there must be confidence in and union with our brethren, who are laboring just as earnestly and disinterestedly as we are. There are those who do not possess a harmonious character in all respects, yet God has accepted them as laborers together with Christ. Then, how out of place it is for one to stand apart from another because their ideas and judgment do not in all things agree. {GCB, February 11, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 1] February 15, 1895 Extracts From Communications Dated July 30, 1894 and Feb. 6, 1894 I would that every soul who sees the evidences of the truth would accept of Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour. Those who thus accept of Christ are looked upon by God, not as they are in Adam, but as they are in Jesus Christ, as the sons and daughters of God. The Lord will no more cast off the humblest, lowliest believer in Jesus, than he will demolish his throne. We are accepted in the Beloved. {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 2] We are members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 3] The church of God upon the earth is one with the church of God above. Believers on the earth, and those who have never fallen in heaven, are one church. Every heavenly intelligence is interested in the assemblies of the saints, who on earth meet to worship God in spirit and in truth, and in the beauty of holiness. In the inner court of heaven, they listen to the testimonies of the witnesses for Christ in the outer court on earth. And the praise and thanksgiving that come from the church below, are taken up in the heavenly anthem, and praise and rejoicing resound through the heavenly courts because Christ has not died in vain for the fallen sons of Adam. {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 4] While angels drink from the fountain head, the saints on earth drink from the pure streams flowing from the throne of God, making glad the city of God. Oh, that we could all realize the nearness of heaven to earth! When the earth-born children know it not, they have the angels of light as their companions; for the heavenly messengers are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. A silent witness guards every soul that lives, seeking to win and draw it to Christ. The angels never leave the tempted ones a prey to the enemy who would destroy the souls of men if permitted to do so. As long as there is hope, until they resist the Holy Spirit to their eternal ruin, men are guarded by heavenly intelligences. Let us all bear in mind that in every assembly of the saints below, are the angels of God, listening to the thanksgiving, the praise, the supplication that is offered by the people of God in testimonies, songs, and prayers. Let them remember that their praises are supplemented by the choir of the angelic host above. {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 5] The image of Christ engraved upon the heart is reflected in character, in practical life, day by day, because we represent a personal Saviour. The Holy Spirit is promised to all who will ask for it. When you search the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is by your side, personating Jesus Christ. {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 6] If we will open the door to Jesus, he will come in and abide with us. Our strength will always be reinforced by his actual representative, the Holy Spirit. 183 {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 7] The truth is a living principle made to shine in precious clearness to the understanding, and then, O then, it is time to speak words from the living Christ. "Ye are laborers together with God." {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 8] Under the showers of the latter rain, the inventions of man, the human machinery, will at times be swept away, the boundary of man's authority will be as broken reeds, and the Holy Spirit will speak through the living, human agent with convincing power. No one will then watch to see if the sentences are well rounded off, if the grammar is faultless. The living water will flow in God's own channels. . . . I am sure that there is a heaven full of the richest, enduring treasures to be freely given to all who will appropriate them to themselves, and becoming enriched, thereby, will impart freely to others. I know this to be the truth. {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 8} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 9] We need to obtain a rich, daily experience in prayer; we should be like the importunate widow, who, in her conscious need, overcame the unjust judge by the bare force of her determined pleadings. God will be inquired of to do these things for us; for this is giving depth and solidity to our experience. The soul that seeks God will need to be in earnest. He is a rewarder of all those that seek him diligently. . . . {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 9} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 10] We want the truth spoken to human hearts by men that have been baptized with holy love for Christ, and for the purchase of his blood, men who are themselves thoroughly impressed with the truth they are presenting to others; and who are practicing the same in their own life. The word of God is sure, and every speaker should seek to link the hearers to Christ. {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 10} [GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 11] Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Sythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering: forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Co. 3:9-15. {GCB, February 15, 1895 par. 11} [GCB, February 22, 1895 par. 1] February 22, 1895 Extracts From "a communication recently received" "Every true believer catches the beams from the Morning Star, and transmits the light to those who are in darkness. Not only do they shine in their own neighborhoods, but as a church they go forth to regions beyond. {GCB, February 22, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 22, 1895 par. 2] "To every converted soul He says, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature'." 308 {GCB, February 22, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, February 22, 1895 par. 3] "If those who claim to have a living experience in the things of God, had done their appointed work as God ordained, the whole world would have been warned, and the Lord Jesus would have come to our world with power and great glory." {GCB, February 22, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 1] February 25, 1895 Extracts From "Life of Christ" It is true that Christ at one time said of himself, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." John 14:30 Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foot hold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 2] Some sinful desire ［with us］ is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But he could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. Jesus did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought could he be brought to yield to the power of temptation. 332 {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 3] In order to carry out the great work of redemption, the Redeemer must take the place of fallen man. Burdened with the sins of the world, he must go over the ground where Adam stumbled. He must take up the work just where Adam failed, and endure a test of the same character, but infinitely more severe than that which had vanquished him. It is impossible for man fully to comprehend Satan's temptations to our Saviour. Every enticement to evil which men find so difficult to resist, was brought to bear 333 upon the Son of God in as much greater degree as his character was superior to that of fallen man. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 4] When Adam was assailed by the tempter, he was without the taint of sin. He stood before God in the strength of perfect manhood, all the organs and faculties of his being fully developed and harmoniously balanced; and he was surrounded with things of beauty, and communed daily with the holy angels. What a contrast to this perfect being did the second Adam present, as he entered the desolate wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength, and deteriorating in moral worth; and in order to elevate fallen man, Christ must reach him where he stood. He assumed human nature, bearing the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He humiliated himself to the lowest depths of human woe, that he might sympathize with man and rescue him from the degradation into which sin had plunged him. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 5] "For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." Hebrews 2:10. "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." Hebrews 5:9. "Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted." Hebrews 2:17, 18. "We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Hebrews 4:15. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 6] It is true that Christ at one time said of himself, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me." John 14:30. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But he could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. Jesus did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought could he be brought to the power of Satan's temptations. Yet it is written of Christ that he was tempted in all points like as we are. Many hold that from the nature of Christ it was impossible for Satan's temptations to weaken or overthrow him. Then Christ could not have been placed in Adam's position, to go over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell; he could not have gained the victory that Adam failed to gain. Unless he was placed in a position as trying as that in which Adam stood, he could not redeem Adam's failure. If man has in any sense a more trying conflict to endure than had Christ, then Christ is not able to succor him when tempted. Christ took humanity with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man with the possibility of yielding to temptation, and he relied upon divine power to keep him. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 7] The union of the divine with the human is one of the most mysterious, as well as the most precious, truths of the plan of redemption. It is of this that Paul speaks when he says, "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." 1 Timothy 3:16. While it is impossible for finite minds fully to grasp this great truth, or to fathom its significance, we may learn from it lessons of vital importance to us in our struggles against temptation. Christ came to the world to bring divine power to humanity, to make man a partaker of the divine nature. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 1] February 25, 1895 Communication From Mrs. E. G. White - (Read before the ministers, Sabbath, Feb. 23.) Last night in my sleeping hours I seemed to be in meeting with my brethren, listening to One who spoke as having authority. He said: "Many souls will attend this meeting who are honestly ignorant of the truths which will be presented before them. They will listen and become interested, because Christ is drawing them. Conscience tells them that what they hear is true, for it has the Bible for its foundation. The greatest care is needed in dealing with these souls. Do not at the outset press before the people the most objectionable features of our faith, lest you close their ears to which these things come as a new revelation. Let such portions of truth be dealt out to them as they may be able to grasp and appreciate; though it should appear strange and startling, many will recognize with joy the new light that is shed on the word of God, whereas if truth were presented in so large a measure that they could not receive it, some would go away, and never come again. More than this, they would misrepresent the truth. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 2] "Present the truth as it is in Jesus. There must be no combative or controversial spirit in the advocacy of the truth. Those who study the manner of Christ's teaching and educate themselves to follow his way, will attract and hold large numbers, as Christ held the people in his day. The Saviour is our example in all things. His love abiding in the heart will be expressed in words that will benefit the hearers, and win souls to him. When the truth in its practical character is urged upon the people because you love them, souls will be convicted, for the Holy Spirit will convict of the truth. Satan will be on the ground to intercept every ray of light that would shine into the soul, but the great message is to be given as it is in Jesus. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 3] "There is necessity for individual effort. Give opportunity for all who are in any way troubled to speak of their difficulties, for they will have them. Arm yourselves with humility, pray that angels of God may come close to your side to impress the minds--for it is not you that works the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit must work you. There is a winning, compelling power in the gospel of Christ; it is the Holy Spirit that makes the truth impressive. The truth as it is in Jesus will subdue the most powerful opponents bringing them into captivity to Jesus Christ. Christ will take men who possess the strongest spirit of opposition, and if they will submit to him, he will connect them with himself in his work. Thus the truth is presented so as to win a decided victory. Keep practical truth ever before the people." {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 4] After these things were spoken, I heard men conversing together in a discouraging way. Poverty was, they thought, the greatest obstacle to the advancement of the work. Their words were more negative than positive, expressing little faith, hope, or courage. All admitted that the field was a hard one to be worked with so little means and so few workers. Then the teacher said that these were not the most disheartening features; the most weighty difficulty is that unless imbued with the Spirit of God, you will be inclined to allow your natural temperament to shape the work, and will leave Jesus out of the conflict. You have neglected to cherish love for one another, and it has not been strengthening in the heart. Criticism is the school that some have been educated in. Who are feeling a burden 338 to come into perfect unity? Who will deny self, and make any and every sacrifice to his own ideas and preferences, that he may be in harmony with his brethren? It is the lack of the grace of the Holy Spirit which makes the professed followers of Christ so decided and unyielding, so determined to please themselves. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 5] "Rebuke not an elder ［a man older than yourself］, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity. Honor widows that are widows indeed." "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." "Charity ［love］ suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 6] The great obstruction to your work will be the disregard of the tenderness of Christ in dealing with one another, because self is seeking the supremacy. Self loves to vaunt itself, and those who present a spirit unlike Christ's cannot discern what manner of spirit controls them. They speak and act like sinners, while they profess to be Christians. They more readily express their own will than the will of God, yet they are very strenuous to have their will regarded as the will of God. Satan is urging his attributes into the very midst of us; he is seeking to destroy our love for and confidence in each other; and the lack of confidence which brethren in the ministry repose in their fellow laborers is easily read in the rules and regulations, concerning even the details of the work, which are imposed upon them. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 7] When men will show confidence in their fellowmen, they will come much nearer to possessing the mind of Christ. The Lord has revealed the estimate that he places upon men. 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." But some minds are ever seeking to reshape the character of others according to their own ideas and measure. God has not given them this work to do. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 8] Self will ever cherish a high estimate of self. As men lose their first love, they do not keep the commandments of God, and then they begin to criticise one another. This spirit will be constantly striving for the mastery to the close of time. Satan is seeking to foster it, in order that brethren in their ignorance may seek to devour one another. God is not glorified, but greatly dishonored; the Spirit of God is grieved. Satan exults because he knows that if he can set brother to watch brother in the church and in the ministry, some will be so disheartened and discouraged as to leave their post of duty. This is not the work of the Holy Spirit; a power from beneath is working in the chambers of the mind and in the soul temple to place his attributes where the attributes of Christ should be. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 8} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 9] He who has paid the infinite price to redeem men, reads with unerring accuracy all the hidden workings of the human mind, and knows just how to deal with every soul; and in dealing with men, he reveals the same principles that are manifest in the natural world. The beneficent operations of nature are not accomplished by abrupt and startling interpositions; men are not permitted to take her work into their own hands. God works through the calm, regular operations of his appointed laws. So it is in spiritual things. Satan is constantly seeking to produce effects by rude and violent thrusts; but Jesus found access to minds by the pathway of their most familiar associations. He disturbed as little as possible their accustomed train of thought by abrupt actions or prescribed rules. He honored man with his confidence, and thus placed him on his honor. He introduced old truths in a new and precious light. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 9} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 10] Jesus assumed humanity that he might treat humanity. He brings men under the transforming power of truth by meeting them where they are. He gains access to the heart by securing sympathy and confidence, making all feel that his identification with their nature and interest is complete. The truth came from his lips beautiful in its simplicity, yet clothed with dignity and power. What a teacher was our Lord Jesus Christ! How tenderly did he treat every honest inquirer after truth, that he might gain admission to their sympathies, and find a home in the heart! {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 10} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 11] The laborers in Christ's cause are far from being what the Lord would have them be. The attributes of the enemy of God and man too often find expression in their spirit and attitude toward one another. They hurt one another, because they are not partakers of the divine nature; and thus they work against the perfection of their own character. They bring trouble to themselves, and make the work hard and toilsome, because they regard their spirit and defects of character as precious virtues, to be clung to and fostered. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 11} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 12] Jesus points the highest minds as well as the lowest to the lily, in the freshness of the dew of morning, and bids us "consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all 339 his glory was not arrayed like one of these." And he impresses the lesson: "If God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 12} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 13] Men make the work of advancing the truth tenfold harder than it really is, by seeking to take God's work out of his hands into their own finite hands. They think they must be constantly inventing something to make men do things which they suppose these persons ought to do. The time thus spent is all the while making the work more complicated; for the great Chief Worker is left out of the question in the care of his own heritage. Men undertake the job of tinkering up the defective character of others, and only succeed in making the defects much worse. They would better leave God to do his own work; for he does not regard them as capable of reshaping character. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 13} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 14] What they need is to be imbued with the Spirit of Christ. If they take hold of his strength, they will make peace with him; then they will be in a fair way to make peace with their fellow-laborers. The less of the meekness and the lowliness of Christ the human agent has in his spirit and character, the more he sees perfection in his own methods, and imperfection in the methods of others. Our only safety is to watch unto prayer, and to counsel together, believing that God will keep our brethren as well as ourselves, for there is no respect of persons with him. God will work for us when we are faithful students, and the doers of his words. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 14} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 15] But when there is on the part of the laborers so manifest a disregard of Christ's express command that we love one another as he has loved us, how can we expect that brethren will heed the commandments of finite men, and the regulations and specifications as to how each shall labor? The wisdom that prescribes for us must be supernatural, else it will prove a physician that cannot heal, but will only destroy. We would better seek God with the whole heart, and lay down self-importance; for "all ye are brethren." {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 15} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 16] Instead of toiling to prepare set rules and regulations, you might better be praying and submitting your own will and ways to Christ. He is not pleased when you make hard the thing he has made easy. He says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." The Lord Jesus loves his heritage; and if men will not think it their special prerogative to prescribe rules to their fellow laborers, but will bring Christ's rules into their life, and copy his lessons, then each will be an example, and not a judge. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 16} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 17] Christ's most favorite theme was the paternal character and abundant love of God. The curse of every church today is that men do not adopt Christ's methods. They think that they can improve on the rules given in the gospel, and so are free to define them, hoping thus to reform the churches and the workmen. Let God be our one Master, our one Lord, full of goodness, compassion, and love. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 17} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 18] God gives knowledge to his workmen, and he has left on record for us the rich, full promise: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." Is it not best to obtain wisdom individually by going to God, and not to man? What saith the great Teacher?-- "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world." {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 18} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 19] There is among us an evil that needs to be corrected. Brethren feel free to look at and speak of the supposed defects of others, when that very liberty reveals a decided defect in themselves. They make it manifest that they are wise in their own conceits, and God cannot give them his special blessing; for they would exalt themselves, and hurt the precious cause of truth. When the world was destitute of the knowledge of God, Jesus came to impart this inestimable blessing,--a knowledge of the paternal character of our Heavenly Father. This was his own gift to our world, and this gift he committed to his disciples, to be communicated by them to the world. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 19} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 20] All the wisdom that men possess is God's gift, and he can and will impart wisdom to every man who asks it of him in faith. Solomon sought wisdom from God, and it was given him in large measure. But how did the universe of heaven look upon him when he perverted that wisdom, and employed God's great and holy gift to exalt himself? God chose him to build the temple, but how he perverted the sacred trust! He leagued himself with idolatrous nations. Thus he who at the dedication of the temple had prayed that their hearts might be undividedly given to the Lord, himself began to separate his heart from God. He imperiled his soul's interest by the formation of friendships with the Lord's enemies. What carefulness should be exercised in the formation of friendship! Companionship with the world will surely lower the standard of religious principle. Solomon's heathen wives turned away 340 his heart from God. His finer sensibilities were blunted, and he became hard-hearted, for he lost his sympathy for man and his love to God. His conscience was seared, and his rule became tyranny. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 20} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 21] Solomon prepared the way for his own ruin when he sought for wise men from other nations to build the temple. God had been the educator of his people, and he designed that they should stand in his wisdom, and with his imparted talents should be second to none. If they had the clean hands, the pure heart, and the noble, sanctified purpose, the Lord would communicate to them his grace. But Solomon looked to man instead of God, and he found his supposed strength to be weakness. He brought to Jerusalem the leaven of the evil influences which were perpetuated in polygamy and idolatry. It was no question as to who made Israel to sin. Although Solomon afterwards repented, his repentance could not abolish the idolatrous practices which he had brought into the nation. {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 21} [GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 22] We shall individually transmit an inheritance of either good or evil. The silver of Tarshish and the gold of Ophir were obtained by Solomon at a terrible expense, even the betrayal of sacred trusts. The evil communications with heathen nations corrupted good manners. When the Lord's people turn from the God of all wisdom, and look to men who love not God, in order to obtain wisdom and arrive at decisions, the Lord will allow them to follow that wisdom which is not from above, but from beneath. Camp-ground, Ashfield, N.S.W. - {GCB, February 25, 1895 par. 22} [GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 1] February 27, 1895 Dear Brethren Dear Brethren: I would address to you words of counsel. I have received a letter in reference to changes which it is proposed to make in the publication of our periodicals. Questions are asked in reference to these matters. One is, "Shall our periodicals be combined in one paper or magazine?" The writer further says: "Some suggest that the Review, Home Missionary, and Sabbath-School Worker be combined in one paper to be used as our regular church paper, having the Review enlarged to thirty-two pages, and divided up into different departments covering the different lines of work. All three of the papers are designed especially for our own people, and I am not sure but this combination could be effected. Some have thought that the Instructor and Little Friend could also be combined in our church paper. Another suggestion is that the Signs of the Times and the American Sentinel be combined in one pioneer missionary paper." {GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 2] I cannot see the wisdom in the policy of having all our periodicals combined into one paper or magazine. Each of our periodicals has it own place, and is to do a specific work. Let our brethren inquire, Has the necessity of this work and its object changed? If you think so, then wherein? {GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 3] The second proposition is that the Review, Home Missionary, and Sabbath-School Worker be combined in one paper, to be used as our regular church paper. It is proposed that the Review be enlarged to thirty-two pages, and be divided up into different departments, covering the different lines of work. I cannot see wisdom in this. The Review is already large enough for one weekly paper; it carries a precious amount of food to our churches. To unite it with the Home Missionary and Sabbath-School Worker would make it too bulky. The small papers, each having its own field, are far more convenient for the use of those who conduct the different lines of work, than one large journal would be. The change would be regretted and after a trial it would be necessary to return to the present size of the Review. The Lord has given special light in reference to those periodicals and the work they are to accomplish in the church and in the missionary field. Let each journal fill its own place in the great work. Let our brethren put all the tact and wisdom possible into carrying out the very principles which God has made known as those that should control the work. When in all their councils and Conference meetings they give 373 evidence that selfishness is dead, and their life is hid with Christ in God, then they will see success in wise undertakings. I have anticipated that changes would be proposed that are not wise, and which would create perplexity and confusion. {GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 4] I have much to say, but have little time in which to write and prepare matter for this month's mail. I wish it to be distinctly understood, however, that I have no faith in consolidating the work of publication, blending into one that which should remain separate. The blending of the Signs and Sentinel will not be in the order of God. Each has its distinctive work to do. The Signs is a pioneer paper to do a special work. {GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 5] The work of publication was presented to me by the figure which Christ used,--the vine. In the different branches of this great work, as in the branches of the vine, there is to be unity in diversity. This is God's plan, the principle which runs through the entire universe. In God's wise arrangement there is diversity, and yet he has so related each part to others, that all work in harmony to carry out his great plan in extending the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. However there may appear to be dissimilarity, the work is one great whole, and bears the stamp of infinite wisdom. God and Christ are one, Christ and his disciples are one, we in Christ, and Christ in God. The Lord designs that his work shall move forward in perfect harmony without friction. Jesus said: "I am the vine, ye are the branches." The branches are many and diverse, yet all are united in the parent stock, and every branch, although separate, draws its sustenance from the vine stock. "I am the vine, ye are the branches." Jesus Christ is in God, the great Masterpiece of infinite wisdom and power and sufficiency, from whom all the diversity springs. Each branch bears its burden of fruit, and altogether make a harmonious whole, a complete, beautiful unity. This is harmony according to God's order. {GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 6] The work has been presented to me, as, at its beginning, a small, a very small, rivulet. The presentation was given to the prophet Ezekiel of waters issuing "out from under the threshold of the house eastward . . . at the south side of the altar." Please read Ezekiel 47. Mark especially verse 8: "Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed." This work was presented to me as expanding to the east, and to the north, and to the islands of the sea, and to all parts of the world. As the work increases, there will be a great and living interest to be managed by human instrumentalities. The work is not to be centered in any one place, not even in Battle Creek. Human wisdom argues that it is more convenient to build up interests where they have already obtained character and influence. Mistakes have been made in this line. Individuality and personal responsibility are thus repressed and weakened. The work is the Lord's and the strength and efficiency are not all to be concentrated in any one place. Ellen G. White. {GCB, February 27, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, February 28, 1895 par. 1] February 28, 1895 Extracts From Recent Testimonies Not only is man forgiven through the atoning sacrifice, but through faith he is accepted through the Beloved. Returning to his loyalty to God, whose law he has transgressed, he is not merely tolerated, but he is honored as a son of God, a member of the heavenly family. He is an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. 399 {GCB, February 28, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, February 28, 1895 par. 2] February 28, 1895 Extracts From Recent Testimonies The descent of the Holy Spirit upon the church is looked forward to as being in the future; but it is the privilege of the church to have it now. Seek for it, pray for it, believe for it. {GCB, February 28, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, March 1, 1895 par. 1] March 1, 1895 Extract From Testimony Dated Oct. 27, 1894 The only true knowledge of the message of the righteousness of Christ, the only true test, is personal acceptance of it. The effect will be vitalizing to the human soul. By poor, misguided agents, the messenger of truth may be regarded as infallible; by human minds that think themselves wise, he may be placed where God should be, and be left to reveal that he is not infallible. Then the ones who have looked for something to condemn, feel a triumph in iniquity, and those who exalt the human agent may be just as willing to turn against him. {GCB, March 1, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, March 1, 1895 par. 2] But there is the message all the same; it is not changed; it trembles not from any shock it may receive. The men who have been lauded and exalted may reveal the weakness of humanity, because they did begin to think that they were more than common humanity; but what then? Will they adhere to error? Here is the test; If, when they see the danger, they flee from it, they show to the world, to angels, and to men, that the citadel of the heart is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and that they will in no case harmonize with selfishness of any description. {GCB, March 1, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 1] March 4, 1895 Extract From a Testimony In these times of special interest, the guardians of the flock of God should teach the people that the spiritual powers are in controversy. It is not human beings that are creating such intensity of feeling as now exists in the religious world. A power from Satan's spiritual synagogue is infusing the religious elements of the world, arousing men to decided action to press the advantages Satan has gained, by leading the religious world in determined warfare against those who make the word of God their guide and the sole foundation of doctrine. Satan's masterly efforts are now put forth to gather in every principle and every power that he can employ to controvert the binding claims of the law of Jehovah, especially the fourth commandment, that defines who is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. {GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 2] The man of sin has thought to change times and laws; but has he done it? This is the great issue. Rome and all the churches that have drunk of her cup of iniquity, in thinking to change times and laws, have exalted themselves above God, and torn down God's great memorial, the seventh-day Sabbath. The Sabbath was to stand representing God's power in his creation of the world in six days, and his resting upon the seventh day. "Wherefore he blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it," because that in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made. The object of the masterly working of the great deceiver has been to supersede God. In his efforts to change times and laws, he has been working to maintain a power in opposition to God, and above him. {GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 3] Here is the great issue. Here are the two great powers confronting each other,--the Prince of God, Jesus Christ; and the prince of darkness, Satan. Here comes the open conflict. There are but two classes in the world, and every human being will range under one of these two banners,--the banner of the prince of darkness, or the banner of Jesus Christ. {GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 4] God will inspire his loyal and true children with his Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the representative of God, and will be the mighty working agent in our world to bind the loyal and true into bundles for the Lord's garner. Satan is also with intense activity gathering together in bundles his tares from among the wheat. {GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 5] The teaching of every true ambassador for Christ is a most solemn, serious matter now. We are engaged in a warfare which will never close until the final decision is made for all eternity. Let every disciple of Jesus be reminded that we "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." O, there are eternal interests involved in this conflict, and there must be no surface work, no cheap experience, to meet this issue. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. . . . Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord." {GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 6] The Lord would have every human intelligence in his service withhold all severe accusations and railings. We are instructed to walk with wisdom toward them that are without. Leave with God the work of condemning and judging. 446 {GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 7] Christ invites us, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Every one who heeds this invitation will yoke up with Christ. We are to manifest at all times and in all places the meekness and lowliness of Christ. Then the Lord will stand by his messengers, and will make them his mouthpieces, and he who is a mouthpiece for God will never put into the lips of human beings words which the Majesty of heaven would not utter when contending with the devil. Our only safety is in receiving divine inspiration from heaven. This alone can qualify men to be co-laborers with Christ. {GCB, March 4, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 1] March 5, 1895 Extracts From "Life of Christ" The Jewish leaders refrained from associating with any class but their own. They held themselves aloof, not only from the Gentiles, but from the majority of their own people, seeking neither to benefit them nor to win their friendship. Their teachings led the Jews of all classes to separate themselves from the rest of the world in a manner which tended to make them self-righteousness, egotistical, and intolerant. This rigorous seclusion and bigotry of the Pharisees had narrowed their influence, and created a prejudice which the Saviour desired to remove, that the influence of his mission might be felt upon all. This was the purpose of Jesus in attending this marriage feast, to begin the work of breaking down the exclusiveness which existed with the Jewish leaders, and to open the way for their freer mingling with the common people. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 2] The Jews had so far fallen from the ancient teachings of Jehovah as to hold that they would be righteous in the sight of God, and receive the fulfillment of his promises, if they strictly kept the letter of the law given them by Moses. The zeal with which they followed the teachings of the elders gave them an air of great piety. Not content with performing those services which God had specified to them through Moses, they were continually reaching for rigid and difficult duties. They measured their holiness by the number and multitude of their ceremonies, while their hearts were filled with hypocrisy, pride, and avarice. While they professed to be the only righteous nation on the earth, the curse of God was upon them for their iniquities. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 3] They had received unsanctified and confused interpretations of the law given them by Moses; they had added tradition to tradition; they had restricted freedom of thought and action, until the commandments, ordinances, and services of God were lost in a ceaseless round of meaningless rites and ceremonies. Their religion was a yoke of bondage. They were in continual dread lest they should become defiled. Dwelling constantly upon these matters had dwarfed their minds, and narrowed the orbit of their lives. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 4] Jesus began the work of reformation by bringing himself into close sympathy with humanity. He was a Jew, and he designed to leave a perfect pattern of one who was a Jew inwardly. While he showed the greatest reverence for the law of God, and taught obedience 471 to its precepts, he rebuked the Pharisees for their pretentious piety, and endeavored to free the people from the senseless exactions that bound them. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 5] Jesus rebuked intemperance, self-indulgence, and folly; yet he was social in his nature. He accepted invitations to dine with the learned and noble, as well as with the poor and afflicted. On these occasions his conversation was elevating and instructive. He gave no license to scenes of dissipation and revelry, but innocent happiness was pleasing to him. A Jewish marriage was a solemn and impressive occasion, the joy of which was not displeasing to the Son of man. The miracle at the feast pointed directly toward the breaking down of the prejudices of the Jews. The disciples of Jesus learned a lesson of sympathy and humility from it. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 6] At that time the Israelites had come to regard the sacrificial service as having in itself virtue to atone for sin, and thus had lost sight of Christ to whom it pointed. God would teach them that all their services were as valueless, in themselves, as that serpent of brass, but were, like that, to lead their minds to Christ, the great sin-offering. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 7] Sinful though she was, this woman was in a more favorable condition to become an heir of Christ's kingdom than were those of the Jews who made exalted professions of piety, yet trusted for their salvation to the observance of outward forms and ceremonies. They felt that they needed no Saviour and no teacher; but this poor woman longed to be released from the burden of sin. . . . {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 8] Jesus was a Jew, yet he mingled freely with the Samaritans, setting at naught the customs and bigotry of his nation. He had already begun to break down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and to preach salvation to the world. At the very beginning of his ministry, he openly rebuked the superficial morality and ostentatious piety of the Jews. . . . {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 8} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 9] In the temple at Jerusalem there was a partition wall, separating the outer court from the apartment of the temple itself. Gentiles were permitted to enter the outer court, but it was lawful only for the Jews to penetrate to the inner enclosure. Had a Samaritan passed this sacred boundary, the temple would have been desecrated, and his life would have paid the penalty of its pollution. But Jesus, who was virtually the originator and foundation of the temple, drew the Gentiles to him by the ties of human sympathy and association, while his divine grace and power brought to them the salvation which the Jews refused to accept. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 9} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 10] The stay of Jesus at Samaria was not alone to bring light to the souls that listened so eagerly to his words. It was also for the instruction of his disciples. Sincere as they were in their attachment to Christ, they were still under the influence of their earlier teachings,--of Jewish bigotry and narrowness. They had felt that in order to prove themselves loyal to their nationality, it was incumbent upon them to cherish enmity toward the Samaritans. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 10} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 11] They were filled with wonder at the conduct of Jesus, who was breaking down the wall of separation between the Jews and the Samaritans, and openly setting aside the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 11} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 12] The disciples could not refuse to follow the example of their Master, yet their feeling protested at every step. The impulsive Peter, and even the loving John, could hardly submit to this new order of things. They could scarcely endure the thought that they were to labor for such a class as those Samaritans. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 12} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 13] During the two days while they shared the Lord's ministry in Samaria, fidelity to Christ kept their prejudices under control. They would not have failed to show reverence to him; but in heart they were unreconciled; yet it was a lesson essential for them to learn. As disciples and embassadors of Christ, their old feelings of pride, contempt, and hatred must give place to love, pity, and sympathy. Their hearts must be thrown open to all, who like themselves, were in need of love and kindly, patient teaching. . . . {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 13} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 14] Jesus did not come into the world to lessen the dignity of the law, but to exalt it. The Jews had perverted it by their prejudices and misconceptions. Their meaningless exactions and requirements had become a by-word among the people of other nations. Especially was the Sabbath hedged in by all manner of senseless restrictions. It could not then be called a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; for the scribes and the Pharisees had made its observance a galling yoke. A Jew was not allowed to light a fire upon the Sabbath, nor even to light a candle upon that day. The views of the people were so narrow that they had become slaves to their own useless regulations. As a consequence, they were dependent upon the Gentiles for many services which their rules forbade them to do for themselves. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 14} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 15] They did not reflect that if these necessary duties of life were sinful, those who employed others to do them were fully as guilty as if they had done the act themselves. They thought that salvation was restricted to the Jews, and that the condition of all others being entirely hopeless, could neither be improved nor made worse. But God has given no commandment which cannot be consistently kept by all. His laws sanction no unreasonable usage nor selfish restrictions. . . . {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 15} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 16] The simplicity of his teachings attracted the multitudes who were not interested in the lifeless harangues of the rabbis. Skeptical and world-loving themselves, these teachers spoke with hesitancy when they attempted to explain the word of God, as if its teaching might be interpreted to mean one thing or exactly the opposite. . . . Both by his words and by his works of mercy and benevolence, he was breaking the oppressive power of the old traditions and man-made commandments, and in their stead presenting the love of God in its exhaustless fullness. . . . {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 16} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 17] The Sabbath, instead of being the blessing it was designed to be, had become a curse through the added requirements of the Jews. Jesus wished to rid it of these incumbrances. . . . {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 17} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 18] The Old Testament Scriptures, which they professed to believe, stated plainly every detail of Christ's ministry. . . . But the minds of the Jews had become dwarfed and narrowed by their unjust prejudices and unreasoning bigotry. . . . {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 18} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 19] The Jewish leaders were filled with spiritual pride. Their desire for the glorification of self manifested itself even in the service of the sanctuary. They loved the highest greeting in the marketplaces, and were gratified with the sound of their titles on the lips of men. As real piety declined, they became more jealous for their traditions and ceremonies. 472 {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 19} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 20] These admonitions had effect, and as repeated calamities and persecutions came upon them from their heathen enemies, the Jews returned to the strict observance of all the outward forms enjoined by the sacred law. Not satisfied with this, they made burdensome additions to these ceremonies. Their pride and bigotry led to the narrowest interpretation of the requirements of God. As time passed, they gradually hedged themselves in with the traditions and customs of their ancestors, till they regarded the requirements originating from them as possessing all the sanctity of the original law. This confidence in themselves and their own regulations, with its attendant prejudices against all other nations, caused them to resist the Spirit of God, which would have corrected their errors, and thus it separated them still farther from them. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 20} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 21] In the days of Christ these exactions and restrictions had become so wearisome that Jesus declared: "They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders." Their false standard of duty, their superficial tests of piety and godliness, obscured the real and positive requirements of God. In the rigid performance of outward ceremonies, heart-service was neglected. - {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 21} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 22] In all his lessons, Jesus presented to men the worthlessness of merely ceremonial obedience. . . . The Jews had become earthly, and they did not discern spiritual things. And so when Christ set before them the very truths that were the soul of all their service, they, looking only at the external, accused him of seeking to overthrow it. . . . He knew that they would use these works of mercy as strong arguments to affect the minds of the masses, who had all their lives been bound by the Jewish restrictions and exactions. Nevertheless he was not prevented by this knowledge from breaking down the senseless wall of superstition that barricaded the Sabbath. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 22} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 23] His act of mercy did honor to the day, while those who complained of him were by their many useless rites and ceremonies themselves dishonoring the Sabbath. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 23} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 24] The Jews accused Christ of trampling upon the Sabbath, when he was only seeking to restore it to its original character. The interpretations given to the law by the rabbis, all their minute and burdensome exactions, were turning away the Sabbath from its true object, and giving to the world a false conception of the divine law, and of the character of God. Their teachings virtually represented God as giving laws which it was impossible for the Jews, much less for any other people, to obey. Thus in their earthliness, separated from God in spirit while professedly serving him they were doing just the work that Satan desired them to do,--taking a course to impeach the character of God, and cause the people to view him as a tyrant; to think that the observance of the Sabbath, as God required it, made man hard-hearted, unsympathetic, and cruel. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 24} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 25] Christ did not come to set aside what the patriarchs and prophets had spoken; for he himself had spoken through these representative men. He himself was the originator of all truth. Every jewel of truth came from Christ. But those priceless gems had been placed in false settings. Their precious light had been made to minister to error. Men had taken them to adorn tradition and superstition. Jesus came to take them out of the false settings of error, and to put them into the framework of truth. 474 {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 25} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 26] At that time the Israelites had come to regard the sacrificial service as having in itself virtue to atone for sin, and thus had lost sight of Christ, to whom it pointed. God would teach them that all their services were as valueless in themselves as that serpent of brass, but were, like that, to lead their minds to Christ, the great sin-offering. Whether for the healing of their wounds or the pardon of sin, they could do nothing for themselves but to manifest their faith in the remedy which God had provided. They were to look and live. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 26} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 27] There are thousands in the Christian age who have fallen into an error similar to that of the Jewish people. They feel that they must depend on their obedience to the law of God to recommend them to his favor. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 27} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 28] The nature and importance of faith have been lost sight of, and this is why it is so hard for many to believe in Christ as their personal Saviour. 475 {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 28} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 29] There are thousands in the Christian age who have fallen into an error similar to that of the Jewish people. They feel that they must depend on their obedience to the law of God to recommend them to his favor. The nature and importance of faith have been lost sight of, and this is why it is so hard for many to believe in Christ as their personal Saviour. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 29} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 30] When they are bidden to look to Jesus by faith, and believe that without any good works of their own he saves them, solely through the merits of his atoning sacrifice, many are ready to doubt the question. They exclaim with Nicodemus, "How can these things be?" {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 30} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 31] Yet nothing is more plainly taught in the Scriptures. Than Christ "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. Man has nothing to present as an atonement, nothing to render to divine justice, on which the law has not a claim. If he were able to obey the law perfectly from this time forward, this could not atone for past transgression. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 31} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 32] The law claims from man entire obedience through the whole period of his life. Hence it is impossible for him by future obedience to atone for even one sin. And without the grace of Christ to renew the heart, we cannot render obedience to the law of God. Our hearts are by nature evil, and how, then, can they bring forth that which is good? "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." Job 14:4. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. Therefore he who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. True, man cannot be saved in disobedience, but his works should not be of himself. Christ must work in him to will and to do of his own good pleasure. If man could save himself by his own works, he might have something in himself in which to rejoice. But it is only through the grace of Christ that we can receive power to perform a righteous act. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 32} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 33] Many err in thinking that repentance is of such value as to atone for sin, but this cannot be. Repentance can in no sense be accepted as atonement. And, furthermore, even repentance cannot possibly be exercised without the influence of the Spirit of God. Grace must be imparted, the atoning sacrifice must avail for man, before he can repent. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 33} [GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 34] The apostle Peter declared concerning Christ, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Acts 5:31. Repentance comes from Christ just as truly as does pardon. The sinner cannot take the first step in repentance without the help of Christ. Those whom God pardons, he first makes penitent. {GCB, March 5, 1895 par. 34} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 1] April 1, 1895 Instruction With Reference to Meeting Opponents. - I seemed to be in an important council-meeting. There was a solemn season of prayer, which was followed by silence for some minutes. Then there was heard a voice from one who spoke with gentleness, yet with dignity and authority. I will present briefly the principles that were laid out before us. {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 2] The speaker said: You are now placed in a most trying position; but ever bear in mind that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." See Ephesians 6:10-18. {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 3] The speaker continued: Your opponent is the adversary of truth; his inspiration is from beneath. He is a sharp debater, and will employ every device to stir you up, so that you shall lose your self-control. If you appear sharp, and say unwise things, words which show that you are sensitive and easily irritated, the host of hell will triumph. You have not always been self-controlled and wise in contending for the truth with wily opponents; for this reason you have lost victories. {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 4] The enemies of the truth know that they have not strong arguments to sustain their position; therefore they will try the ［mettle］ of the one who presents the truth. In the position where you are placed to vindicate the truth, keep self out of sight, make no boast of knowledge, place your feet upon the word, the eternal truth. Make no reference to any sly thrusts of your opponent. Do not manifest a spirit of retaliation; but ever maintain the gentleness of Christ. Put on Christ. Your physical infirmities urge you to hasty feelings and hasty words, which give your opponent an advantage. Abide in Christ. For the truth's sake, for Christ's sake, preserve the dignity, the elevated and ennobled character of the truth. Your zeal will need to be controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, lest it quicken into impatience as you see the Scriptures wrested, and fables and human assertions presented as truth. Men who know that they have the truth can have power only as they present the truth as it is in Jesus. {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 5] If men who know that they are on the side of God, of Christ, and of the holy angels, possessed the gentleness of Christ, they would express themselves in language which would show up the opponent's reasoning in a manner to multiply a hundred fold the force of truth against the sophistries and commandments of men. Let the truth out; keep self out of sight. You are in danger of permitting egotism to weaken the effect of truth upon the minds of others. If your opponent can, in any way, make apparent your personal defect of a hasty, inflammable spirit, it will tend greatly to destroy 502 the force of your strongest arguments. Will you bear in mind to put on the whole armor of God? {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 6] Cities, nations--a world, are ignorant of the truth; they are deceived and deluded by false shepherds. Let not the truth be brought into disrepute by being handled unskillfully. You have had too much self-confidence; now hide in Jesus; let not self appear; speak in the simplicity of Christ. Souls are now in the valley of decision, and Satan sees that for him the time for determined action has arrived. God alone must be your trust; nothing less than a divine agency will be able to counter-work the power of Satan. {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 7] You are not in one instance to use the same weapons as to your opponents. If you do, they will turn against the truth. You are to act on principles directly opposite to those held by men who are seeking to make of no effect the law of God,--the great standard of character. You love the truth, you love God; but you must more fully learn of Jesus his meekness and lowliness of heart. A great work is to be done in our cities, and the fields are all ripe for the harvest. Our attention will be called in every direction, for repentant souls in both Christian and heathen lands will lift up their voices for help. There must not be one particle of lifting up of self; your only safety is to trust in God. While you walk in humility, you walk safely. {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 8] Dwell as little as possible upon your opponent's objections, but press in the truth, new and convincing, to cut away and undermine error. Keep your own spirit calm, even against personal abuse. Never retaliate. Let the spirit of kindness, Christian courtesy, rule your every action. The Holy Spirit will help your infirmities. People will pass judgment upon the men. Those in error have learned that their strength is to maintain self-control, while the fires of hell may be stirring every fiber of the being. Your opponent will say words which will irritate a sensitive mind. Pass these by unheeded. Do not once forget that you are speaking for God's truth. Your spirit, if kept gentle under provocation, will speak louder than any force of argument. Do not imperil the truth by an unwise word. Remember how, when provoked, Moses spoke unadvisedly, and dishonored God. You need larger experience as a student in the school of Christ, in copying his meekness and lowliness. {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 8} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 9] The universe of heaven will be comprised in your audience. Bear this in mind. God has given you talents of influence; he has let his light, in clear distinct rays, shine upon your pathway, he has greatly blessed you; now let your disinterestedness, your self-consecration, do honor to God. If you look to, or trust in, your own ability, you will destroy the effect of actual effort. God alone can give the victory, and he will vindicate the truth, if men will not take credit to themselves; God will do honor to those who live not to self, but to him. {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 9} [GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 10] Seek God most earnestly. Your brethren should seek the Lord with you. From communion with God, come before the people, imbued with the Holy Spirit. Exalt the word, exalt Jesus; in all humility of mind, crowd in important, soul-testing truth. Let the glorious conceptions of God possess your mind. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, is willing to shine in your hearts, who give the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ. You weaken the truth when, in the least degree, you extol self. Hide in Jesus; without his presence and power you can do nothing. Ellen G. White. - {GCB, April 1, 1895 par. 10} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 1] December 1, 1895 The Prodigal Son. ［EXTRACTED FROM THE CHAPTER ON "THE PRODIGAL SON," IN SISTER WHITE'S FORTHCOMING "LIFE OF CHRIST," AND FURNISHED BY THE AUTHOR FOR THIS PRESENT WEEK OF PRAYER. IT IS REQUESTED THAT THIS ARTICLE BE NOT PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE.］ - Reading for Thursday, December 26. - The parables of the lost sheep and the lost piece of silver represent the attitude of God toward the sinner. The parable of the prodigal son also represents the attitude of the sinner toward God. While one presents the divine, the other gives also the human aspect of redemption. "A certain man," said Jesus, "had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country." This younger son desires to have his own way. There is in his heart no response to his father's love, no gratitude for the years of care and tenderness that have been his. Having obtained his patrimony, he goes into "a far country," away from his father's home. With money in plenty, and liberty to do as he likes, he flatters himself that the desire of his heart is reached. He has no one to say, "Do not do this, for it will be an injury to yourself;" or "Do this because it is right." Evil companions help him to plunge deeper and deeper into sin, and he "wastes his substance in riotous living." {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 2] The Bible tells of men, who, "professing themselves to be wise, became fools" (Romans 1:22); and this is the history of the young man of the parable. The wealth which he selfishly claimed from his father he squanders upon harlots. The treasure of his young manhood is wasted; the precious years of life, the strength of intellect, the bright visions of youth, the spiritual aspirations,--all are consumed in the fires of lust. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 3] A great famine arises, he begins to be in want, and he joins himself to a citizen of the country, who sends him into the fields to feed swine. To a Jew this was the most menial and degrading of employments. The youth who had thought to make the world his servant, now finds himself its slave. The glitter and tinsel that enticed him have disappeared, and he feels the cruel burden of his chain. He has boasted of his liberty, but he is the servant of corruption. He is in the worst of bondage,--"holden with the cords of his sins." Proverbs 5:22. Sitting upon the ground, in that desolate and famine-stricken land, with no other companions than the swine, he would fain have filled himself with the husks on which the beasts were fed. Among all the gay companions who flocked about him in his prosperous days, and ate and drank at his expense, there is not one left to befriend him. Where now is his riotous joy? Stilling his conscience, benumbing his sensibilities, he thought himself happy in scenes of revelry; but now, with money spent, with hunger unsatisfied, with pride humbled, with his moral nature dwarfed, with his will weak and unreliable, with his finer feelings seemingly dead, he is the most wretched of mortals. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 4] What a picture here of the sinner's state! Notwithstanding that we are surrounded with the blessings of his love, there is nothing that the sinner desires so much as separation from God. Like the ungrateful son, he claims the good things of God as his by right. He takes them as a matter of course, and makes no return of gratitude, 628 renders no service of love. He will not wait for the future to receive his inheritance. His thoughts are centered on the present. He will enter into his kingdom now. Present enjoyment, selfish indulgence, is his aim. As Cain went out from the presence of the Lord to seek his home; as the prodigal wandered into the "far country," so do sinners seek happiness in forgetfulness of God. They do not like to retain God in their knowledge. Romans 1:28. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 5] Whatever the appearance may be, every life is squandered that is centered in self. Whoever attempts to live his life apart from God, is but wasting his substance; he is squandering the precious years, squandering the powers of mind and heart and soul, and working to make himself bankrupt for eternity. The man who separates from God that he may serve himself, is the slave of mammon. The mind that God created for the companionship of angels, has become degraded to the service of that which is low and earthly and bestial. For this is the end to which self-serving tends. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 6] Yet the hunger of the soul is unsatisfied. You would fain feed on the husks that the swine do eat. You try to content yourself with that which ministers to the carnal and earthly nature, but you know that you are spending money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfies not. Alone in the far country you feel your wretchedness, and in despair you cry, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Romans 7.24. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 7] The prodigal son in his wretchedness "came to himself." The deceptive power that Satan had exercised over him was broken; he saw that his misery was the result of his own folly, and he said, "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, while I perish with hunger! I will arise, and go to my father." {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 8] As the youth with weary and painful steps pursues the toilsome way, he knows not that one is even now waiting his return. And when he is yet "a great way off," the father discerns his form. Love is of quick sight, and not even the degradation of the years of sin can conceal the son from the father's eyes. "He had compassion on him, and ran, and fell on his neck," in a long, clinging, tender embrace. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 8} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 9] The youth has trusted his father's love, and love shall work his rescue. No contemptuous eye shall mock at his misery and tatters. The father takes the broad, rich mantle from his own shoulders, and wraps it around the wasted form, and the youth sobs out his repentance, saying, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight. I am no more worthy to be called thy son." The father holds him close to his side, and brings him home. No servant he, but a son of the house, who shall be honored with the best the house affords, and whom the waiting men and women shall respect and serve. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 9} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 10] The father said to his servants, "Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring forth the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and make merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry." (R.V.) {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 10} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 11] In his wild, restless youth, the prodigal looked upon his father as stern and severe; how different his conception of him now! So the heart that is deceived by Satan looks upon God as hard and exacting; his law is regarded as a restriction upon men's happiness, a burdensome yoke, from which they are glad to escape. But he whose eyes have been opened by the love of Christ, will behold God as full of love and compassion. He does not appear as a tyrannical, relentless being, but as a father longing to embrace his repenting son. The sinner will cry with the psalmist, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." Psalms 103:13. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 11} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 12] In the parable of the father and the son, there is no taunting, no casting up to the prodigal of his evil course; the boy feels that the past is forgiven and forgotten,--blotted out forever. And so God says to the sinner, "I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins." "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Isaiah 44:22; Jeremiah 31:34. "Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." "In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found." Isaiah 55:7; Jeremiah 50:20. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 12} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 13] What assurance here of God's willingness to receive the repenting sinner! Have you, reader, chosen your own way? Have you wandered far 629 from God? Have you sought to feast upon the fruits of transgression, only to find them turn to ashes upon your lips? And now, your substance spent, your life-plans thwarted, and your hopes dead, do you sit alone and desolate? Now that voice which has long been speaking to your heart, but to which you would not listen, comes to you distinct and clear, "Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction." Micah 2:10. Return to your Father's house. He invites you, saying, "Return unto me: for I have redeemed thee." Isaiah 44:22. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 13} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 14] Do not listen to the enemy's suggestion to stay away from Christ until you have made yourself better; until you are good enough to come to God. If you wait until then, you will never come. When Satan points to your filthy garments, repeat the promise of Jesus, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. Tell the enemy that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. Make the prayer of David your own. "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Psalms 51:7. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 14} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 15] Arise, and go unto your Father and say, "I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight. I am no more worthy to be called thy son." (R.V.) He will meet you a great way off; he will give you his love and compassion; he will clothe you with the garments of salvation, and cover you with the robe of righteousness. "Though ye have lain among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." Isaiah 61:10; Psalms 68:13. He will bring you into his banqueting house, and his banner over you shall be love. Song of Solomon 2:4. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 15} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 16] In the beautiful parabolic prophecy of Zechariah, the high priest Joshua, standing clothed in filthy garments before the angel of the Lord, represents the sinner. And the word is spoken by the Lord, "Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." "So they set a fair mitre upon his head and clothed him with garments." Then was given the promise of restoration to the father's house: "If thou wilt walk in my ways, . . . I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by,"--even among the angels that surround the throne of God. Zechariah 3:4, 5, 7. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 16} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 17] "As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." "He will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." Isaiah 62:5; Zephaniah 3:17. And heaven and earth shall unite in the Father's song of rejoicing; "For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found." {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 17} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 18] Thus far in the Saviour's parable there is no discordant note to jar the harmony of the scene of joy; but now Christ introduces another element. When the prodigal came home, the elder son "was in the field; and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant, and he said unto him thy brother is come, and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in." It is evident that this elder brother has not been sharing in his father's anxiety, and watching for the one that was lost. He knows not of the wanderer's return, and when he hears the sound of rejoicing, it kindles no gladness in his heart. He does not enter into the joy of the household. He inquires of a servant the reason of the festivity, and the answer only irritates his jealous disposition. He will not go in to welcome his lost brother. The favor shown the prodigal he regards as an insult to himself. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 18} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 19] When the father comes out to remonstrate with him, the pride, envy, and malignity of his nature are revealed. He dwells upon his own life in his father's house as a dreary round of unrequited service, and then places in mean contrast the favor to the son just returned. He shows that his own service has been that of a servant rather than a son. He has worked, not from love to his father, but for gain to himself. He has found no joy in his father's presence. He shows that in heart he looks upon the young brother's riotous life as one of greater pleasure than his own. He has foregone all this enjoyment for the sake of reward; and now if his brother is to share equally in this reward, he counts that he himself has been wronged. He has judged his father by his own grasping spirit; he has not claimed the privileges that were freely his in his father's house, but has depended upon what he could earn for himself, and now in the same spirit he grudges his brother the love and favor shown him. He plainly reveals that had he been in the father's place, he 630 would not have received the prodigal. He does not even acknowledge him as a brother, but coldly speaks of him as "thy son." {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 19} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 20] Yet, notwithstanding his expressions of contempt and arrogance, the father deals patiently and tenderly with him. "Child," he says, in sorrowful surprise, "thou art ever with me, and all that is mine is thine." (R.V.) The father, in his love for his eldest son, counted that to him as to himself the privilege of companionship, the daily association of the home, was the highest joy. He poured out his heart's love upon his sons, and love gives all. Everything that could minister to their happiness or blessing was freely theirs. The son need have no question of gift or reward. "All that is mine is thine." You have only to believe my love, and appropriate the gift that is freely given. One son had for a time cut himself off from the ministry of love, misinterpreting the father's heart. But now he has returned, and the flood-tide of joy sweeps away every disturbing thought. "This thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found." {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 20} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 21] Was the elder brother brought to see his own mean, ungrateful, and unloving spirit? Did he come to see that though his brother had done wickedly, he was his brother still? Did the elder son himself repent of his jealousy and hard-heartedness, and his lack of filial love? Did he ask his Father's forgiveness for so misrepresenting him? Concerning all this, Jesus is silent. For the parable was still enacting, and it rested with his hearers to determine what the outcome should be. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 21} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 22] By the elder son were represented those unrepenting Jews of Christ's day, and also those Pharisees in every age, who look with contempt upon the publicans and sinners. This class consists of those who do not go to great excesses in vice, and because of this they are filled with self-righteousness. Jesus met these cavilers on their own ground. Like the elder son in the parable, they had enjoyed special privileges from God; but while they claimed to be sons in God's house, they had the spirit of an hireling. They did not know and believe the love that God hath to us. 1 John 4:16. They were working, not from love, but from hope of reward. In their eyes, God was an exacting taskmaster; for they made him out to be altogether such a one as themselves. They saw Christ inviting the publicans and sinners to come as children to the father's house, to receive freely the rich gift of his grace,--the gift which the rabbis hoped to secure only by toil and penance,--and they were offended. In their apparently zealous service, they had been working for self, not seeking to save the lost. The prodigal's return, which filled the father's heart with joy, only stirred them to jealousy. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 22} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 23] The father's remonstrance to his elder son was heaven's tender appeal to the Pharisees, taking them for what they claimed to be. "All that is mine is thine," (R.V.) not as a wage earned by your own efforts, but as a gift which you can receive only as the prodigal receives it, the free, unmerited bestowal of your Father's love. Your self-righteousness not only leads you to misrepresent God by your false conceptions of him, but makes you cold-hearted and critical toward your brethren. You are constantly questioning, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? . . . He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:6-8. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 23} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 24] This is the service that God has chosen,--"to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke, . . . and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh." Isaiah 58:6, 7. When you see yourselves as sinners, saved only by the unmerited love of your heavenly Father, you will have tender pity for others who are suffering in sin. You will no longer meet misery and repentance with censure, with suspicion, and jealousy. When the iron of selfishness is melted from your souls, you will be in sympathy with God, and will participate in his joy in the saving of the lost. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 24} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 25] It is true that you claim to be children of God; but if this claim be true, it is "thy brother," who was "dead, and is alive again, and was lost, and is found." He is bound to you by the closest ties; for God acknowledges him as a son. Deny your relationship to him, and you reveal that you yourselves are but hirelings in the household, not sons in the family of God. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 25} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 26] Though you will not join in greeting to the lost, the rejoicing will go on, the restored one will have his place by the Father's side, and in the 631 Father's work. He that is forgiven much, the same loveth much. But you will be in the darkness without. For "he that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love." 1 John 4:8. E. G. White. - {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 26} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 1] December 1, 1895 Seeking the Lost. ［FROM SISTER WHITE'S FORTHCOMING "LIFE OF CHRIST," AND FURNISHED BY HER FOR THIS WEEK OF PRAYER OCCASION. IT IS REQUESTED THAT THIS ARTICLE BE NOT PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE.］ - Reading for Sabbath, December 28. - As Jesus was teaching, the publicans and sinners continued to gather about him, as in his earlier ministry in Galilee, and the same murmur of discontent was heard from the scribes and Pharisees,--"This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them." {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 1} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 2] By this accusation they thought to make the false impression that Jesus loved the association of those who were sinful and vile, and was insensible to their wickedness. The rabbis were disappointed that one who pretended to the world so lofty a character, did not mingle with them and follow their methods of teaching, rather than go about in so unpretending a manner, working among all classes of people. It angered those decorous guardians of society that He with whom they felt themselves continually in antagonism should meet, in such apparent sympathy, with publicans and sinners. It angered them also that these outcast classes, who manifested only contempt for the rabbis, and who were never seen in the synagogues, yet flocked about Jesus, and listened with rapt attention to his words. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 2} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 3] While the scribes and Pharisees felt only condemnation in that pure presence, how was it, they questioned, that publicans and sinners were attracted to him? They knew not that the explanation lay in the very words they had uttered as a scornful charge, "This man receiveth sinners." It was because the souls who came to Jesus, however sinful, felt that he offered them hope. In his presence they felt that even for them there was escape from the pit of sin. While the Pharisees had only scorn and condemnation for them, Jesus greeted them as children of God. And their very misery and sin made them only the more the objects of his compassion. The farther they had wandered from him, the more earnest the longing and the greater the sacrifice for their rescue. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 3} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 4] All this the teachers of Israel might have learned from the sacred scrolls of which it was their pride to be the keepers and expounders. Had not David written,--David, who had fallen into deadly sin,--"I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant." Psalms 119:176. Had not Micah revealed God's love to the sinner, saying, "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy." Micah 7:18. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 4} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 5] Jesus did not, however, remind them of the words of Scripture. He appealed to the witness of their own daily experience, that even in this world, men put forth greatest effort and manifest most solicitude for that which is in danger of harm and loss. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 5} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 6] The wide-spreading table-lands on the east of Jordan afforded abundant pasturage for flocks; and through the gorges and over the wooded hills had wandered many a lost sheep, to be searched for and brought back by the shepherd's care. In the company about Jesus there were shepherds, and also men who had money invested in flocks and herds; and all could appreciate the illustration he used when he said, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?" {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 6} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 7] These souls whom you despise as worthless, said Jesus, are the property of God. They are his by 637 creation and by redemption, and they are of value in his sight. They are the objects of his care and love. As the shepherd loves his sheep, and cannot rest if one be missing, so, in an infinitely higher degree, does God love every outcast and wandering soul. Men may deny the claim of his love, they may wander far from him, they may choose for themselves another master, yet are they God's, and he longs to recover his own. And he says, "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." Ezekiel 34:12. O soul lost in sin, however far you have wandered, into whatever depths of degradation and misery you have sunken, God recognizes you as his own, precious to his heart of love. You cannot be safe or happy without him, and he cannot be satisfied without you. Amid the angels that surround the throne, he still yearns to recover you. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 7} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 8] The sheep that has strayed from the fold, is the most helpless of all animals. If the wanderer is not sought for by the compassionate shepherd, it will not find its way back. The shepherd must take it in his arms, and himself bear it to the fold. So with the soul that has wandered away from God. He is as helpless as the poor lost sheep; and unless divine love had come to his rescue, he would never find his way to God. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 8} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 9] The shepherd who discovers that one of his sheep is missing, does not look carelessly over his flock, and say, "I have ninety and nine, and it will cost me too much trouble to go and search for the straying one. Let him come back, and I will open the door of the sheep-fold that he may come in; but I cannot go after him." No sooner does the sheep go astray, than the countenance of the shepherd is filled with grief and anxiety. He counts and recounts the flock; and when he is certain that one sheep is lost, he slumbers not. He leaves the ninety and nine within the fold, and goes forth in search of the straying sheep. The darker and more tempestuous the night, the more perilous and unpleasant the way, the longer and more tedious the service, the greater the shepherd's anxiety, and the more earnest his search. He does not weary, he does not falter until the lost is found. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 9} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 10] Often when the bewildered sheep hears the shepherd's call, it flees from the one who is trying to effect its rescue. But the true shepherd wearies not; with assuring words he pursues the wandering one, and when at last he comes upon it in a thicket or a treacherous swamp, he does not beat it as it frantically struggles to get free, but with careful hand he parts the briers or pulls it from the slough; with tender caress he calms its fears. He encircles the trembling, exhausted creature in his strong arms, he lays it upon his shoulder, and with gratitude that his search has not been in vain, he bears the wanderer back to the fold. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 10} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 11] Thank God, there is no picture presented to our imagination, of a sorrowful shepherd returning without the sheep. Here is the divine guarantee that not even one of the straying sheep and lambs of God's fold is overlooked, and not one is left unsuccored. Every one that will submit to be ransomed, Jesus will rescue from the pit of corruption, and from the briers of sin. Let every desponding, distrustful soul take courage, even though you have done wickedly. You are not to think that perhaps God will pardon your transgressions, and permit you to approach into his presence; but you are to remember that it is God who has made the first advance, that he has come forth to seek you while still you were in rebellion against him. With the tender heart of the shepherd he has left the ninety and nine, and gone out into the wilderness to seek his wandering one. The soul, bruised and wounded and ready to perish, he encircles in his arms of love, and joyfully bears it to the haven of safety. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 11} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 12] It was taught by the Jews that before the favor of God is extended to the sinner, he must first repent. In their view, repentance is a work which men are to accomplish of themselves, by which to earn the favor of heaven. And it was this thought that moved the Pharisees to exclaim in astonishment and anger, "This man receiveth sinners." According to their ideas he should permit to approach him those only who had repented of their sins. But Jesus teaches that salvation does not come through our seeking after God, but through God's seeking after us. Repentance is born in the heart by beholding the love of Christ, who gave his life to save the sinner. It is the goodness of God, manifested in Christ, that softens the heart. It is the virtue that goes forth from Jesus that inspires the purpose of the soul to turn away from sin. We do not repent in order that God may love us, but God reveals his love to us that we may repent. Thus repentance is not the ground of God's love toward us, but the fruit of that love. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 12} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 13] When the straying sheep is at last brought home, the shepherd's gratitude finds expression in melodious songs of rejoicing, and he calls upon his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, "Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost." So when a wanderer is found by the great Shepherd 638 of the sheep, heavenly choirs respond to the Shepherd's note of joy. When the lost is found, heaven and earth unite in thanksgiving and rejoicing. "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 13} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 14] You, Pharisees, said Jesus, regard yourselves as the favorites of heaven. You feel that you need no repentance. Know, then, that if you have no need, my mission is not to you. I have come to seek and to save that which was lost; and these poor souls who feel their poverty and sinfulness, are the very ones whom I have come to rescue. Angels of heaven are interested in these lost ones whom you despise. You complain and sneer when one of these souls joins himself to me; but know that angels rejoice, and the song of triumph and gladness rings through the courts above. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 14} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 15] The rabbis had a saying that there is rejoicing in heaven when those who have sinned against God are destroyed. But I tell you, said Jesus, that to God the work of destruction is a strange work. That in which all heaven delights is the restoration to God's own image, of the souls whom he has made. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 15} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 16] When a soul that has wandered far in sin, seeks to return to God, he will encounter the criticism and distrust of those who are always ready to censure and accuse. They will doubt whether his repentance is genuine, or will whisper, "He has no stability; I do not believe he will hold out." These men are doing, not the work of God, but the work of Satan, who is the accuser of the brethren. Through their criticisms, the enemy of our souls hopes to discourage these wandering ones, and to drive them still farther from hope and from God. Let the troubled and sin-sick soul contemplate the rejoicing of heaven over the return of the one that was lost; let him rest in the love of God, and in no case be intimidated by the indifference, the contempt and scorn of the scribes and Pharisees. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 16} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 17] The rabbis understood Christ's parable as applying to the publicans and sinners; but it has also a wider meaning of which they had no conception. By the lost sheep, Christ represents, not only the individual sinner, but the one world that had apostatized and had been ruined by sin. The inhabitants of all other worlds are loyal and true to God; but he will not permit this one lost sheep to perish. The God of heaven is not unmindful of the world and its concerns. Jesus in heaven, one with God, the loved Commander in the heavenly courts, had stooped from his high estate, laid aside the glory that he had with the Father, in order to save the one lost world. For this he left the sinless worlds on high, the ninety and nine that loved him, and came to this earth, to be "wounded for our transgressions," and "bruised, for our iniquities." "But none of the ransomed ever knew How deep were the waters crossed, Or how dark was the night that the Lord passed through, Ere he found his sheep that was lost." {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 17} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 18] "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us." "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And Jesus says, "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world,"--to "fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ, . . .for his body's sake, which is the church." 1 John 3:1; John 3:16; 17:18; Colossians 1:24. To every soul whom Christ has rescued from the pit of sin, be he old or young, parent or child, he has committed a trust to work in his name for the saving of the lost. This work had been neglected in Israel, even by the shepherds of the flock. Is it not neglected today among those who profess to be followers of Christ? {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 18} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 19] How many of the wandering and lost have you, O reader, sought for and brought back to the fold? When you turn away from those who seem unpromising and unattractive, do you realize that you are neglecting souls for whom Jesus is seeking? Perhaps at the very moment when you have turned from them, they were in the greatest need of your tenderness and compassion. Many who appear hard and reckless are allowed to drift on to ruin, for the want of a helping hand stretched out to save them. Had these erring, neglected ones received the same advantages that others have had, they might have revealed far more nobility of soul, and greater talent for usefulness than do many who have been watched over day and night with gentlest care and overflowing love. Angels pity these wandering ones; angels weep, while human eyes are dry, and human hearts are closed to pity. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 19} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 20] O, there is a lack of deep, earnest, soul-touching sympathy and love for the tempted and the erring. We need far more of Christ's Spirit, and far less of self. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 20} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 21] When a human life is in danger, what sacrifices men are ready to make! They stop at no risk, they grudge no effort and no cost that will save the imperiled life. Of how much more value is that life which measures with the life of God! If we are Christians, and not mere pretenders, shall we not be 639 far more earnest and interested to rescue the soul than to save the body? {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 21} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 22] Who can estimate the value of a soul? Go to Gethsemane, and there watch with Jesus through those long hours of anguish when he sweat as it were great drops of blood; look upon the Saviour uplifted on the cross; hear that despairing cry, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Look upon that wounded head, the pierced side, the marred feet. Remember that Christ risked all; "tempted like as we are," he staked even his own eternal existence upon the issue of the conflict. Heaven itself was imperiled for our redemption. At the foot of the cross, remembering that for one sinner Jesus would have yielded up his life, we may estimate the value of a soul. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 22} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 23] If you are in communion with Christ, you will place his estimate upon men; you will feel for others the same anxiety, the same deep love that he has felt for you. Then you will be able to win, not drive, to attract, not repulse, the souls for whom Christ died. You will guard and care for the sheep and lambs of his fold. Not one soul would ever have been brought back to the fold, if Christ had not made a personal effort to save that which was lost; and it is by this personal effort that you can rescue souls. If they stray, you will not, cannot rest in quiet indifference and ease. You will leave the ninety and nine that are within the fold, and will go out to seek the lost. You will work with the same tender care, the same untiring energy that the Master showed. The greater their sin and the deeper their misery, the more earnest and tender and determined will be your efforts for them. Every earthly and selfish interest will be swallowed up in the longing to rescue these souls. You will discern the need of those who are suffering, who have been sinning against God, and who are oppressed by a burden of guilt. Your heart will go out in sympathy for them, and you will reach out a helping hand to lift the poor souls out of the slough of despair in which their feet are sinking. In the arms of your faith and love, you will bear them back to the fold. You will watch over and encourage them, and your sympathy and confidence will make it hard for them to fall from their steadfastness. All heaven is ready to cooperate with you in this work. The salvation of the lost is the object of most intense interest to the heavenly hosts, and the angels will aid you in your efforts to reach the hearts of the most careless and the most hardened. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 23} [GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 24] And when the lost is found and brought back to the fold, your songs of joy will unite with the rejoicing of the family above. "While all through the mountains, thunder-riven, And up from the rocky steep, Shall rise the cry to the gate of heaven, 'Rejoice, I have found my sheep!' And the angels echo around the throne, 'Rejoice, for the Lord brings back his own!'" E. G. White. {GCB, December 1, 1895 par. 24} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 1] October 1, 1896 "O, why do they delay?" and "Will the presidents of conferences..." "O, why do they delay? Why are they not seized by a terrific fear that it will be too late, too late? No oil in their vessels with their lamps! The end is near. We are on the very borders of the eternal world; and, O, how tardy, how dilatory to secure the oil of grace to replenish the lamps that are going out! God help the sinners in Zion!" {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 1} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 2] "Will the presidents of conferences and the ministers of the people seek the Lord earnestly, put away their sins, empty their souls of their idols? Or will they continue to go on half-hearted, neglecting solemn duties, while Satan triumphs, whispering to his evil angels, and to his human confederacy in evil, 'Hopeless, Irredeemable Bankruptcy'?" {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 2} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 1] October 1, 1896 Our Duty and Responsibility. ［First Reading for Sabbath, November 28.］ The present duty of every true child of God is to wait patiently, to watch vigilantly, to work faithfully, until the coming of the Lord, that we may be prepared for the solemn event. The characteristics of the true follower of Christ, the perfect man in Christ Jesus, will be manifested in working, watching, and waiting for the Lord. He will not be wholly given up to contemplation and meditation, or be so engrossed in some busy works, that he will neglect the exercise of personal piety; but in the symmetrical Christian, personal devotion will be blended with earnest work, and the follower of Christ will be "not slothful in business;" but "fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." The lamps must be kept trimmed and burning, that they may send forth bright rays of light into the moral darkness of the world. Every facility must be brought into play, so that spiritual declension may not take place, and that the note of warning may be sounded, lest the day of the Lord overtake you as a thief in the night. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 1} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 2] The Lord is soon coming, and for this very reason we need our schools, not that we may be educated after the order of the world, but that our institutions of learning may be more like the schools of the prophets,--places where we may learn the will of God, and reach to the very highest branches of science, that we may better understand God and his works, and the character of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. The Lord requires that there shall be faithful work done in his household day by day. The people of God must be gaining more and more skill and experience; for there will be increased work for all, and especially for men in positions of trust. As we near the end, Satan will be moved to make a desperate effort to overthrow all those who dispute his claim to supreme authority on earth, and the people of God must be prepared for the struggle. God requires the full exercise of all the ability he has given to men, that they may do to the extent of their natural and cultivated powers, all that is possible for them to do. Every agency is to be quickened, that the great work may be accomplished, and we must work with an intensity that we have never felt before. No man can leave his post of duty without betraying sacred trusts, without endangering the salvation of his own soul and the souls of others. You are to be true to your entrusted work, and not to be seeking after something new and strange. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 2} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 3] As Christ opened before the disciples the great work that was to be done, and promised to them the gift of the Holy Spirit, they were anxious to know if they should then see the fulfilment of their long-cherished hope. They asked, "Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" The Lord rebuked their curiosity, and said, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." There was one thing that they might understand, and that was that they were to receive power after that the Holy Ghost should come upon them, and that they were to be witnesses of Christ. All this itching curiosity to know the set time, is rebuked. This has not been given to man to know, and we are not to feel anxious about these things which the Lord has never committed to us, but has kept in his own possession, unrevealed. But the endowment of his Spirit is for us; this we may confidently expect, and freely receive; for we can do nothing for the salvation of souls without this heavenly agency. Because of the shortness of human life, every event should be made an occasion for enriching souls with the truths of the gospel. As time is fast closing, we should keep before the mind the spirituality of the law, and the utter worthlessness of a formal, ceremonial obedience to the commandments, involved in a legal religion. The external principles of truth should be extolled. The holy and paternal character of God should be presented to men. Our obligation in our daily actions should be laid bare, that we may understand our relation to God and to each other; for we are to watch for souls as they who must give an account. We must present to the people, not the imaginations of men, not their schemes and conclusions but the grace of God in the gift of his only begotten Son, that 765 whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. We are to lift up Jesus, that he may draw men unto himself. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 3} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 4] How hard it is for Christ to get the correct idea of the spiritual nature of his kingdom, into the minds of his disciples. How hard for them to realize the necessity of constant prayer, of sincere repentance, of attaining to more and more perfection of character, which is the salt of Christian experience, and the evidence of the operation of the Holy Spirit on the heart. The Holy Spirit is to enlighten, renew, and sanctify the soul. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 4} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 5] If it is possible, Satan will cause that the professors of religion shall be borne off on some tangent of fanaticism, that they may take extreme positions, and bring reproach on the cause of the Master; and then how he exults; for he can present to the world the inconsistency of those who claim to be led by Christ, and charge their wild and inconsistent positions and measures upon the truth which they believe. "Here," says the enemy, "is what results from believing the doctrines of Seventh-day Adventists. See their inconsistency!" The soul needs to be guarded by the strongest fortifications. The knowledge of the Scriptures must preserve the soul in its balance, by supplying the mind with solid principles of faith and truth. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 5} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 6] The Lord is coming. "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh." The warning has been given, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord," and it is to be given until every one who professes to be a follower of Christ shall be called upon to sound the note of warning and invitation. The half-hearted Christian needs to awake, and put the armor on. But while we are to let our light shine before men, we are not to erect false lights to mislead the soul. All are to be sound in the faith, not vacillating and uncertain, not allowing their imaginations to lead them into forbidden paths until their own faith is unsettled and others are confused by their spasmodic experiences; for those who follow their imagination, are first in the fire and then in the water; but make your movements with deliberation, with candor, considering the subject from all sides, lest you be led into some inconsistency, and souls be turned from the truth in consequence. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 6} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 7] Let every one now do his duty, laboring actively with Jesus Christ. Represent Jesus by your example of Christian piety, that the grace of Christ may appear as it is,--beautiful, attractive, harmonious, and always consistent. A life beautified with holiness is not a life of idle contemplation; but a life filled up with earnest work for the Master, whose light shineth more and more unto the perfect day. As Seventh-day Adventists, we have a work to do in witnessing for Christ. If indeed the Lord is coming, it is time to sell what you have and give alms. It is time to put out your money to the exchangers, time to place every dollar you can spare, into the treasury of the Lord, that institutions may be erected for the education of workers, who shall be instructed as were those who attended the school of the prophets. If the Lord comes and finds you doing this kind of work, he will say, "Well done, good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." The spell that enthralls minds, and makes them the bond-servants of Satan, must be broken. Christ's lessons must be enforced, they must be impressed upon the mind and heart. On young and old should come a realization of the great love wherewith he hath loved us. We have none too many institutions. Let your means be used to create, rather than have your influence used to diminish these agencies for good. Let no one yield to the suggestions of the enemy of all righteousness, and think that because we are near the end of all things, we can have faith, and have all our infirmities removed, and that there is no need for institutions for the recovery of health. Faith and works are not dissevered. If the Lord is soon to come, begin to act decidedly and determinedly, and with intense interest to increase the facilities, that a great work may be done in a short time. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 7} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 8] Those who have been allied to the world should heed the invitation of the Lord. He says: "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." For "though ye have lien among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness are to shine upon you, that you may be beautified with holiness. 766 {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 8} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 9] Shall we now say there is no need of facilities? that faith is all we need? Genuine faith is a working principle, and works will appear as a proof of this agent in the soul. You should redouble your efforts, redouble your working forces. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 9} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 10] Fathers and mothers, make haste. Your children are to be objects of your solicitude. Principles are to be kept before your children that will exert a heavenly influence over life and character. By every means at your command, you are to teach them that they are not to pattern after the world's plan of education; but the truth must be impressed upon their hearts and minds. The truths that Satan had concealed by his hellish shadow, the truths that he had misinterpreted, and misapplied, and disconnected from the Lord of Glory, are to be reset, opened and explained, and made to appear in their heavenly beauty, to be seen as truths that shall stand fast forever. They are to be re-established in the minds of men by the living agents whom God hath appointed, and error is to be revealed in its true character by the light of truth. The Lord Jesus has moved upon human minds, that they may become his living agents to do a special work in recovering the old truths from their old forms, that they may rid them of the traditions and maxims of men, and give them to the world in their native purity, in their original splendor, freshness, and force. This is our work, brethren and sisters, in this waiting, watching time. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 10} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 11] Look at the picture that is drawn of the faithful and wise steward. The Lord says. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household?" The Son of Man is represented as one taking a far journey, who gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work. Do we comprehend this? Do we act upon it? Do we realize that to every one of us is given a work to do? The work is not all left to those who hold official position, nor to the ministers, but to every member of the church Christ has given his work. There are to be no indolent ones; and yet how many ignore all spiritual responsibility. There are do-nothings. The pages of the book of God reveal a mournful blank. They are trees in the vineyard of the Lord, but they bear no fruit; they are cumberers of the ground. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 11} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 12] I was shown the danger that will threaten the church, because here and there persons will be rising up, proclaiming that they have new light. They may be those who have been regarded as humble Christians, and very conscientious in all their doings, but they do not have a good conscience. Reason and common sense are laid aside, and they become fanatical. Religious fanatics will certainly appear among us, and they will cause much care and much grief to those who have the honor of the cause of God at heart. They will not consider it their duty to counsel with their brethren. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 12} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 13] There is danger on every side, danger of restricting operations for the benefit of the church and the world, and danger of carrying these operations too far. There is danger of establishing schools at a large outlay of means, when if these matters were prayerfully considered, they would see that it was not wise to go to so great an expense; for in building on so large a scale, heavy demands must be made on the conference, loans must be secured from every available source, and a great burden must be laid upon the cause to carry the enterprise through. This means that other projects of as great importance cannot be carried along in equal proportion. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 13} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 14] There is great need of sanctified judgment in order that the work of God shall advance to occupy the many fields that are opening for its entrance. A large work is to be carried forward in our world, and in no one place should there be a large expenditure of means and ability, when it will cut off the building up of interests that are equally important. In all the work of building our institutions, the superscription of the Master should be seen, and not the mold of man. It is a mistake for an enterprise of this character to be carried forward in such a way that a large debt is accumulated. The managers of these interests greatly need the endowment of the Holy Spirit, in order that through the influence of ambition they may not be led to do some great thing, and swallow up a great proportion of the means that should be more widely distributed. It is not in God's order that one interest should be strengthened while another is left to languish and die. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 14} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 15] There is great need of taking wide, extended views of the work, and then of carefully computing 767 the means, that one interest may not flourish at the expense of another. There is need of so dividing the means that it will meet proportionately all the necessities in every direction. Human pride is to have no encouragement in these enterprises. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 15} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 16] A great work must be done all through the world, and let no one flatter himself that because the end is near, there is no need of making special efforts to build up the various institutions as the cause shall demand. You are not to know the day or the hour of the Lord's appearing, for this has not been revealed, and let no one with an ingenious mind endeavor to seek out such a matter, and speculate on that which has not been given him to understand; but let every one work upon that which has been placed in his hands, doing the daily duties that God requires. The Lord has entrusted his servants with his household goods, with the investment of his capital, and he expects them to be diligent and active, looking out for the interests of his kingdom. All are to be workers; but the heaviest burden of responsibility rests upon those who have the greatest talent, the largest means, the most abundant opportunity. We are to be justified by faith, and judged by our works. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 16} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 17] When the Lord shall bid us to lay off the armor, and to make no further effort to establish schools, to build institutions for the care of the sick, for the shelter of the orphans and the homeless and for the comfort of the worn-out ministers, it will be time to fold our hands and let the Lord close up the work; but now is our opportunity to show our zeal for God, our love for humanity. The church is now militant, not triumphant. The members of the church are to invest every particle of physical, intellectual, and moral vigor that they possess, that they may be wise stewards of the manifold gifts of God. With the light shining upon our pathway, who will dare to trifle with his moral responsibility? Happy are those who, from the very beginning of their religious life, make a surrender of themselves and their all to God, and are true to the unerring dictates of the Spirit of God. Happy are they who make Christ and him crucified, their only hope. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 17} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 18] Close the door, block the way to the advancement of the spiritual upbuilding of the Master's kingdom, and piety wanes. Men and women deprived of helping others, become straightened, bigoted, unsympathetic, and hard, because they become self-centered, engaged in their own personal affairs. It is because of the Lord's mercy that men are permitted to have a part in the work of salvation, and be colaborers together with Christ, in caring for the souls for whom he died. It is by engaging in this work that we are enabled to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we are Christlike, we shall be large of heart, and sympathetic in disposition. We are to become identified with our Saviour in all his plans, triumph in his victory, and share in his glory at last. We are to be partners in the work of God in all parts of the world; wherever there are souls to be saved, we are to lend our help, that many sons and daughters may be brought to God. Christians cannot neglect this great work and be guiltless before God. The end is near, and for this reason, we are to make the most of every entrusted ability and every agency that shall offer help to the work. The workers for God, in the field or at home, are to be self-denying, bearing the cross, restricting their personal wants, that they may be abundant in good fruits. Those who prize the light of saving, precious truth, will not hesitate in regard to doing their God-given duty, but will gather up the rays of divine light, that they may diffuse them to those that are in darkness. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 18} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 19] Time is short, and we have not a moment to lose. The "Pitcairn" has been fitted up to visit the islands of the sea, and bear the message that God would have the people hear in these far-off places. If this vessel should meet with accident, or become unseaworthy, there would be an immediate call for means, that another vessel might go forth to do this work. There is need that every man, woman, and child employed in our institutions, should carry a burden for the souls of those who are in darkness. By the means of ships, more can be done for the salvation of souls than has been done. There is a class for whom little is being done, and that is the seamen. {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 19} [GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 20] Schools must be established, that the youth may be educated, that those engaged in the work of the ministry may reach higher attainments in the knowledge of the Bible and the sciences. Institutions for the treatment of the sick must be established in foreign lands, and medical missionaries 768 must be raised up, who will be self-denying, who will lift the cross, who will be prepared to fill positions of trust, and be able to educate others. And besides all this, God calls for home missionaries. Let every soul deny self, lift the cross, and expend far less means for the gratification of self, that there may be living, working agents in all the churches. A faith that comprehends less than this, is one that denies the Christian character. The faith of the gospel is one whose power and grace are of divine authorship. Then let us make it manifest that Christ abides in us, by ceasing to expend money on dress and on needless things, when the cause of Christ is crippled for want of means, when debts are left unpaid on our meeting-houses, and when the treasury is empty. "By their fruits ye shall know them." Shall we not follow the example of Him who for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich? Mrs. E. G. White. North Fitzroy, Australia, Jan 21, 1892. - {GCB, October 1, 1896 par. 20} [GCB, January 1, 1897 par. 1] January 1, 1897 The line of demarcation The line of demarcation between the professed commandment-keeping people of God and the world, is not as distinct as it once was. Those who are walking in harmony with God will not be found taking part in political gatherings. Those who do this give evidence that they are not faithful servants of Jesus. They have handled common fire so long that their discernment is lost. There is a people who have enlisted to stand under the banner of Jesus. They are Christ's army. They have pledged themselves to come out from the world, and be separate. They have pledged themselves to use the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, to make aggressive warfare against sin and all iniquity. We are to show our loyalty. {GCB, January 1, 1897 par. 1} [GCB, January 1, 1897 par. 2] January 1, 1897 The line of demarcation We are to show our loyalty to our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle James declares: "Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." And the beloved John, the disciple in spirit most like Jesus, has given the warning, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." No man will find 54 happiness in following the example of Adam, and wandering away from his Maker. {GCB, January 1, 1897 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 1] April 1, 1897 Extracts from Testimonies "Watchman, What of the Night?" "Satan is constantly seeking to cast his hellish shadow about these messages, so that the remnant people of God shall not clearly discern their import, their time, and their place;" {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 2] April 1, 1897 Extracts from Testimonies "What of the night? Do I discern the import of these messages? Do I understand the place they occupy in the closing work of the great remedial system? Am I so familiar with the 'sure word of prophecy' that I can see in the events transpiring around me positive evidence that the coming King is even at the door? Do I sense the responsibility that rests upon me, in view of the light God has given? Am I using every talent entrusted to me as his steward, in well-directed effort to rescue the perishing? or am I lukewarm and indifferent, partly mixed up with a wicked world, using the means and ability God has given me, largely in self-gratification, caring more for my own ease and comfort than for the advancement of his cause? Am I by my course strengthening 'the conviction that has been gaining ground in the world that Seventh-day Adventists are giving the trumpet an uncertain sound, and are following in the path of worldlings'? {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 3] "We hear the footsteps of an approaching God to punish the 79 world for their iniquity." "The end of time is close upon us. The world's inhabitants are being bound in bundles to be burned. Shall you be bound up with the tares?" "Do you realize that every year thousands and thousands and ten times ten thousand souls are perishing, dying in their sins? The plagues and judgments of God are already doing their work, and souls are going to ruin because the light of truth has not been flashed upon their pathway." {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 4] "O, if those who profess to know the truth had the spirit of Christ, the self-sacrificing Redeemer, who gave up his riches, and splendor, his high command, and did all that a God could do to save souls, they would deny self, lift the cross, and follow Jesus. How will you who love worldly treasure answer to God in the great day of judgment for your feeble and sleepy efforts to send the truth to regions beyond? The money expended in bicycles and dress, and other needless things, must be accounted for. As God's people, you should represent Jesus; but Christ is ashamed of the self-indulgent ones. My heart is pained, I can scarcely restrain my feelings, when I think how easily our people are led away from practical Christian principles to self-pleasing. . . . I would ask all who have means to remember that God has entrusted this means to them to be used in the advancement of the work which Christ came to our world to do. The Lord tells every man that in the sight of God he is not the owner of what he possesses, but only a trustee. Not thine, but mine, saith the Lord. God will call you to account for your stewardship. Whether you have one talent, or two, of five, not a farthing is to be squandered on your own selfish indulgences. Your accountability to heaven should cause you to fear and tremble. The decisions of the last day turn upon our practical benevolence. Christ acknowledges every act of benevolence as done to himself." {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 1] April 1, 1897 The Human vs. the Divine. Sabbath, May 29.--Part II. The privilege bestowed upon us in doing service for Christ is the highest exaltation that can be given to the human agent. And God desires that man shall choose him as the portion of his soul. Without this decided acceptance of the heavenly gift, in preference to any other that the world can give, Christ's followers can never be one with him as he is one with the Father. . . . {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 2] Consider the wondrous power of our God, and then call to mind his love for fallen man. He "so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." How can man, for whom God has done so much, for whom Christ has given his life, continue in his perversity? Can we wonder that at the close of the thousand years, all who have refused to accept him shall be destroyed with fire from heaven outside of the city of God? God declares that this shall be so. He says, "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. . . . And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 3] I love Jesus. I tremble at the word of God. I am seeking to hide myself in the cleft of the rock, that I may behold his holiness of character. God has a people, and I want to be among them. I want, too, that you shall be among them. And if you will, without any reservation, give up your way and will to God, you may. The spirit calls today. There is hope still. {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 4] The church of God, enfeebled and defective though it is through yielding to temptation, is the only object upon earth on which he bestows his supreme regard. His interest, with all the interest of the heavenly host, is all with his people, who, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, are to shine as lights in the world. His Holy Spirit is giving rich and constant supplies of grace for every emergency. Not one needs to stumble, for Christ has said, "He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 5] Satan has a church upon the earth which out-numbers the church of Christ. Christ calls it the "Synagogue of Satan," because its members are the children of sin and transgression. They have ceased to honor God, they have cast his divine law aside, they have confounded the distinction between good and evil. But the world's Redeemer will have a church in which these essential differences will be made apparent, where the character of God will be represented. In marked contrast to the character of Satan, the beauty of holiness will be exemplified, the loveliness of truth shine forth in life and practise. Its members will honor, love, and glorify God whom the world has despised. These are the fruits by which they are known to the world; these will have the superscription of heaven by which all men may know that they are Christ's disciples. {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 5} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 6] Through Jesus Christ God has made every provision that his people may connect with divine agencies, and that these agencies may co-operate with human instrumentalities. They may reveal to a world that is dead in trespasses and sins, the power and sufficiency of Christ. They will present before the world another world of higher, holier laws than worldly wisdom can invent, or earth obey, a purer happiness and joy than earth can give to its votaries, coming through a service that is independent of all human inventions. . . . {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 6} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 7] There must be no human calculations. God will have only those as workers who will be laborers together with him, who will yoke up with Christ, and learn of his meekness and lowliness of heart. His directions are, Make everything according to the pattern shown thee in the mount. Then a temple of heavenly design will be presented to the world, where the divine presence is manifested, and to which is affixed God's seal. . . . {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 7} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 8] Like Christ, every man has had offered to him the kingdoms of this world if he will acknowledge the supremacy of Satan. And how many are doing this before the universe of heavenly intelligences, before God their Creator, and Jesus Christ their Redeemer? But suppose all of Satan's alluring temptations were just as he represents them, will you, even if you know that by 81 assenting to them you would gain the whole world, be so infatuated, so bewitched, as to sacrifice your hope of heaven, your spiritual and immortal interests, for mere worldly advantages? {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 8} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 9] You have another life than that which you live in this world. You are to consider this, and live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Happiness and success are the prospects presented before you if you will work in Christ's lines. But how many are saying, "I will not accept the conditions; I will have my own way and will in the matter"! I warn you that if you keep on in this course, you will have all your own way, with all that it implies. This is nothing less than the loss of your soul. But for all who for their Saviour's sake will make any and every sacrifice, even to want, and hunger, and death, there awaits the crown of eternal life that Paul was seeking for, and an eternal weight of glory. . . . {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 9} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 10] God declares, "Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways." "Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee." Here is the condition. God has made the promise. He calls to all. Will you hear his voice? Sin not against the Holy Spirit. I want you to be saved; your soul is precious. Jesus loves you. He has created you. You are in his possession, not only by creation, but by redemption. If those who loved you best would give their own life for you, it would not save your soul. Jesus has died that life and immortality might be brought to light, and be comprehended by every son and daughter of Adam. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 10} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 1] April 1, 1897 The Duty and Privilege of Giving. Sunday, May 30.--Part II. The Lord has made men his agents, and with hearts filled with the love of Jesus, they are to cooperate with him in turning men from error to truth. God blesses the earth with sunshine and showers. He causes the earth to bring forth its plenteous treasures for the use of man. The Lord has made man his almoner to dispense his heavenly gifts by bringing souls to the truth. Will my brethren in America inquire how the precious, saving truth reached them when they were in darkness? Men and women brought their tithes and offerings unto God, and as means filled the treasury, men were sent out to advance the work. This same process must be repeated if souls in darkness are reached in this day. - {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 2] The necessities of the work now demand a greater outlay than ever before. The Lord calls upon his people to make every effort to curtail their expenses. Again I plead that instead of spending money for pictures of yourself and your friends, you should turn it into another channel. Let the money that has been devoted to the gratification of self, flow into the Lord's treasury to sustain those who are working to save perishing souls. Let those who have houses and lands give heed to the message, "Sell that ye have, and give alms." "Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 3] The Lord is soon to come. We must work while the day lasts; for the night is coming, in which no man can work. O, many, many have lost the spirit of self-denial and sacrifice. They have been burying their money in temporal possessions. There are men whom God has blessed, whom he is testing to see what response they will make to his benefits. They have withheld their tithes and offerings until their debt to the Lord God of Hosts has become so great that they grow pale at the thought of rendering to the Lord his own,--a just tithe. Make haste, brethren, you now have opportunity to be honest with God; delay not. For your soul's sake no longer rob God in tithes and offerings. - {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 4] As the plan of redemption begins and ends with a gift, so it is to be carried forward. The same spirit of sacrifice which purchased salvation for us, will dwell in the hearts of all who become partakers of the heavenly gift. Says Peter, "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." Said Jesus to his disciples as he sent them forth, "Freely ye have received; freely give." - {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 5] Let every one do all in his power to help, both by his means and by his prayers, to carry the burden for souls for whom the ministers are laboring. Earnest prayers sent up to God for his blessing upon the laborers in the field, should follow the laborers as sharp sickles into the harvest field--Mrs. E. G. White. {GCB, April 1, 1897 par. 5} [GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 1] July 1, 1897 The Tithe; Its Use and Abuse. - "The light which the Lord has given me on this subject, is that the means in the treasury for the support of the ministers in the different fields is not to be used for any other purpose. If an honest tithe were paid, and the money coming 87 into the treasury were carefully guarded, the ministers would receive a just wage. . . . {GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 2] "The minister who labors should be sustained. But notwithstanding this, those who are officiating in this work see that there is not money in the treasury to pay the minister. They are withdrawing the tithe for other expenses,--to keep up the meeting-house necessities or some charity. God is not glorified in any such work. We have to raise our voices against this kind of management. . . . {GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 2} [GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 3] "Those who have used the tithe-money to supply the common necessities of the house of God, have taken the money that should go to sustain ministers in doing his work, in preparing the way for Christ's second appearing. Just as surely as you do this work, you misapply the resources which God has told you to retain in his treasure-house, that it may be full, to be used in his service. This work is something of which all who have taken a part in should be ashamed. They have used their influence to withdraw from God's treasury a fund that is consecrated to a sacred purpose. From those who do this, the blessing of the Lord will be removed. {GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 3} [GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 4] "The tithe-money must be kept sacred. There are ministers who receive nothing for their labor; for there was no money to pay them. This I saw would be; for the management is wrong. . . . {GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 4} [GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 5] "Then talk not of appropriating the tithe that is to send forth ministers to preach the Word. . . . {GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 5} [GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 6] "There should be workers in Michigan, and yet men are questioning in regard to using the tithe for other purposes than that which the Lord has specified." {GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 6} [GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 7] "Why does it allow the treasury which should be kept for the purpose of sustaining the ministry, to be drawn upon, and diverted to common things? Why should it permit its ministers to be half paid, and at the same time talk so begrudgingly of that which they do receive? When this work shall cease in our churches, a living testimony will go forth from human lips, under the operation of the Holy Ghost. {GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 7} [GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 8] "Burdens have been borne, projects have been entered into, and time has been given to matters that God never intended any of you to study upon, or to undertake. Now, for Christ's sake, change the order of things." {GCB, July 1, 1897 par. 8} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 1] October 1, 1897 The Work for Today. - Why has it not been understood from the word of God that the work being done in medical missionary lines is a fulfillment of the scripture, "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind." "The servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 1} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 2] This is a work that the churches in every locality, North and South, East and West, should do. The churches have been given the opportunity of answering to this work. Why have they not done it? Some one must fulfill the commission. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 2} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 3] A work which should have been done has been left undone. Those who have been engaged in the medical missionary work have been doing the very class of work the Lord would have done. If these workers will give themselves to the work, the Lord will accept them. But the churches, who feel no burden to obey the word, are meeting with great loss. The work may apparently seem uninviting, but it must be done. The churches are doing so very much less than the Lord has appointed them to do, that the medical missionary work done by others seems in every way disproportionately large. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 3} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 4] O how much, how very much, remains to be done; and yet how many that might use their God-given talents aright are doing almost nothing besides caring for and pleasing themselves. But the hand of the Lord is stretched out still, and if they will work today in his vineyard, he will accept their service. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 4} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 5] The work of the apostle Paul was a wonderful work. The Holy Spirit wrought on his mind, showing him that the gifts of God come straight from God to all who seek him with a whole heart, the circumcised and the uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, bond and free. Paul held to his inspired truth, and taught it to others, opposed as he was by the apostles who ought to have upheld him. He took his position against Peter, who was one of the pillars of the church and his companion in labor, and against Barnabas, the first one to honor him with the right hand of fellowship when all his Christian brethren were afraid of him, and questioned and doubted his fitness for the work because he had persecuted the church. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 5} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 6] But the Lord had worked for Paul, and had given him increased light. He who had persecuted Christ in the person of his saints was touched and made tender by the Spirit of God. The work done for him by God placed him under the control of God. He realized that he must himself be taught by God, and then firmly resist any approach to bind unnecessary burdens upon the Gentile Christians. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 6} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 7] Paul's brethren withstood him. Those whom the Lord had used as his witness protested against him, and declared that he was advocating theories that were contrary to the fundamental 142 principles which they had been taught. But Paul firmly held his ground. He had dedicated himself and all his powers, his talents, and his ability to God, and by God he was taught the truths of the gospel, which are able to make men wise unto salvation. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 7} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 8] Today these human, living agencies who have a vital connection with God are not to be reproved and handicapped by the prejudices of their fellow men. The events which concern Christ's kingdom on this earth are not to be under the control of any human power. The salvation of man is to be achieved. The traditions and maxims of men must not be cherished as golden grains of truth. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 8} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 9] Paul was compelled to stand alone, looking constantly to God, and obtaining his orders from him. He was to make no concessions. The burden was heavy, but he brought freedom to the churches. It was no longer considered duty to teach and practise painful rites. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 9} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 10] The Lord chose Joseph, through much affliction to him, to carry a heavy burden in an idolatrous nation. He was to work in the line God had chosen for him, that the knowledge of God might shine forth in the kingdom of Egypt. Joseph did not betray his sacred trust. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 10} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 11] A great mistake has been made by men trusting in man, and making flesh his arm. Methods and plans will be devised to hedge about the work that should be done. Men trust in human strength and do not come to Christ; and they are strengthless. Distinct plans must be laid, but they must not be of that character that will place man under the control of man. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 11} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 12] The Lord will raise up men and place his Spirit upon them, and prepare them for the work which must be done. He himself, the God of truth, will qualify them to bear a fresh, living testimony for him. They will be witnesses for God. They will not spring up from their own prompting; they will be constrained by the Spirit of God to volunteer to advocate truth. God will maintain them. He sees what is needed, and year by year he arranges for his plan of operation. ［He］ will not allow men to drift as they choose. If men will be men, God will work in and through them. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 12} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 13] The standard-bearers are falling, and young men must be fitted up as workers that the people may be reached. The aggressive warfare is to be extended. Time, money, and labor are not to be so largely expended on those who know the truth. God's servants are to go into the dark places of the earth, calling perishing souls to repentance. {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 13} [GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 14] Events of great importance are coming upon the earth. Men must not depend on men, but on Jesus Christ. He says, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not." O why do we not show actual, living faith? Why do we not, in this period of the earth's history, come directly to him who says: "I am the bread of life." "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, October 1, 1897 par. 14} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 1] April 1, 1898 Educational Work "Now, as never before, we need to understand the true science of education. If we fail to understand this, we shall never have a place in the kingdom of God." {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 2] . . . . . {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 3] "Our schools should be after the order of the schools of the prophets." "The schools of the prophets were founded by Samuel, to serve as a barrier against the wide-spread corruption, to provide for the moral and spiritual welfare of the youth, and to promote the future prosperity of the nation by furnishing it with men qualified to act in the fear of God as leaders and counselors. . . . The pupils of these schools sustained themselves by their own labor in tilling the soil or in some mechanical employment. In Israel this was not thought strange nor degrading; indeed, it was regarded a crime to allow children to grow up in ignorance of useful labor. By the command of God, every child was taught some trade, even though he was to be educated for holy office. Many of the religious teachers supported themselves by manual labor. Even so late as the time of the apostles, Paul and Aquila were no less honored because they earned a livelihood by their trade of tent-making." {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 4] "We are to have teachers who will keep their souls in the love and fear of God. Teachers are to educate in spiritual things, to prepare a people to stand in the trying crisis before us." {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 5] "God would not have us, in any sense, behind in the educational work, and our colleges should be far in advance in the highest kind of education." "The youth should be taught the importance of cultivating their physical, mental, and moral powers, that they may not only reach the highest attainment in science, but, through a knowledge of God, may be educated to glorify him; that they may develop symmetrical characters, and thus be fully prepared for usefulness in this world, and obtain a moral fitness for immortal life." {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 5} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 6] "Our school was established, not merely to teach the sciences, but for the purpose of giving instruction in the great principles of God's word, and in the practical things of every-day life." {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 6} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 7] "The highest class of education is that which will give such knowledge and discipline as will lead to the best development of character, and will fit the soul for that life which measures with the life of God. Eternity is not to be lost out of our reckoning. The highest education will be that which will teach our children and youth, our teachers and educators, the science of Christianity, that will give them experimental knowledge of God's way, and impart to them the lessons which Christ gave to his disciples, of the paternal character of God." {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 7} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 8] "As a people who claim to have advanced light, we are to devise ways and means by which to bring forth a corps of educated workmen for the various departments of the work of God. . . . As a church, as individuals, if we would stand clear in the judgment, we must make more liberal efforts for the training of our young people, that they may be better fitted for the various branches of the great work committed to our hands. As a people who have great light, we should lay wise 208 plans, in order that the ingenious minds of those who have talent may be strengthened, and disciplined, and polished, after the highest order, that the work of Christ may not be hindered by the lack of skilful laborers, who will do their work with earnestness and fidelity." {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 8} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 9] "There should be schools established wherever there is a church, or company of believers. Teachers should be employed to educate the children of Sabbath-keepers. . . . In all our churches there should be schools, and teachers in those schools who are missionaries. It is essential that teachers be educated to act their important part in educating the children of Sabbath-keepers, not only in the sciences, but in the Scriptures. These schools, established in different localities, and conducted by God-fearing men and women, as the case demands, should be built on the same principles as were the schools of the prophets. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 9} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 10] "Special talent should be given to the education of the youth. The children are to be trained to become missionaries, and but few understand distinctly what they must do to be saved. Few have the instruction in religious lines that is essential. If the instructors have a religious experience themselves, they will be able to communicate to their students the knowledge of the love of God they have received. These lessons can be only given from those who are themselves truly converted; and this is the noblest missionary work that any man or woman can undertake. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 10} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 11] "Children should be educated to read, to write, to understand figures, to keep their own accounts, when very young. They may go forward, advancing step by step in this knowledge. But before everything else they should be taught that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. They may be educated line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; but the one aim ever before the teacher should be to educate the children to know God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 11} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 12] "Teach the youth that sin in any line is defined in the Scriptures as 'transgression of the law.' Sin originated with the first great apostate. He was a disobedient subject. He led the family of heaven into disobedience, and he and all that were united with him were cast out of the paradise of God. Teach the children in simple language that they must be obedient to their parents, and give their hearts to God. Jesus Christ is waiting to accept and bless them, if they will only come to him and ask him to pardon all their transgressions, and take away their sins. And when they ask him to pardon all their transgressions, they must believe that he will do it. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 12} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 13] "God wants every child of tender age to be his child, to be adopted into his family. Young though they may be, the youth may be members of the household of faith, and have a most precious experience. They may have hearts that are tender, and ready to receive impressions that will be lasting. They may have their hearts drawn out in confidence and love for Jesus, and live for the Saviour. Christ will make them little missionaries. The whole current of their thought may be changed, so that sin will not appear a thing to be enjoyed, but to be shunned and hated. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 13} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 14] "Small as well as older children will be benefited by this instruction; and in thus simplifying the plan of salvation, the teachers will receive as great blessings as those who are taught. The Holy Spirit of God will impress the lessons upon the receptive minds of the children, that they may grasp the ideas of Bible truth in their simplicity. And the Lord will give an experience to these children in missionary lines; he will suggest to them lines of thought which the teachers themselves did not have. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 14} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 15] "The children who are properly instructed will be witnesses for the truth. Teachers who are nervous and easily irritated should not be placed over the youth. They must love the children because they are the younger members of the Lord's family. The Lord will inquire of them as of the parents, 'What have you done with my flock, my beautiful flock? {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 15} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 16] "It is surprising to see how little is done by many parents to save their own children. Every family in the home life should be a church, a beautiful symbol of the church of God in heaven. If parents realize their responsibilities to their children, they would not under any circumstances scold and fret them. This is not the kind of education any child should have. Many children have learned to be fault-finding, fretful, scolding, passionate children, because they were allowed to be passionate at home. Parents are to consider that they are in the place of God to their children, to encourage every right principle and repress every wrong thought. . . . {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 16} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 17] "In educating the children and youth, teachers 209 should never allow one passionate word or gesture to mar their work, for in so doing, they imbue the students with the same spirit which they themselves possess. The Lord would have our primary schools, as well as those for older persons, of that character that angels of God can walk through the room, and behold in the order and principle of government, the order and government of heaven. This is thought by many to be impossible; but every school should begin with this, and work most earnestly to preserve the Spirit of Christ in temper, in communications, in instruction, the teachers placing themselves in the channel of light where the Lord can use them as his agents, to reflect his own likeness of character upon the students. They may know that, as God-fearing instructors, they have helpers every hour to impress upon the hearts of the children the valuable lessons given. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 17} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 18] "The Lord works with every consecrated teacher, and it is for his own interest to realize this. Instructors who are under the discipline of God do not manufacture anything themselves. They receive grace and truth and light through the Holy Spirit to communicate to the children. They are under the greatest Teacher the world has ever known, and how unbecoming it would be for them to have an unkind spirit, a sharp voice, full of irritation. In this they would perpetuate their own defects in the children. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 18} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 19] "O, for a clear perception of what we might accomplish if we would learn of Jesus! The springs of heavenly peace and joy, unsealed in the soul of the teacher by the magic words of inspiration, will become a mighty river of influence, to bless all who connect with him. Do not think that the Bible will become a tiresome book to the children. Under a wise instructor the work will become more and more desirable. It will be to them as the bread of life, and will never grow old. There is in it a freshness and beauty that attract and charm the children and youth. It is like the sun shining upon the earth, giving its brightness and warmth, yet never exhausted. By lessons from the Bible history and doctrine, the children and youth can learn that all other books are inferior to this. They can find here a fountain of mercy and of love. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 19} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 20] "God's holy, educating Spirit is in his word. A light, a new and precious light, shines forth upon every page. Truth is there revealed, and words and sentences are made bright and appropriate for the occasion, as the voice of God speaking to them. {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 20} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 21] "We need to recognize the Holy Spirit as our enlightener. That Spirit loves to address the children, and discover to them the treasures and beauties of the word of God. The promises spoken by the Great Teacher will captivate the senses and animate the soul of the child with a spiritual power that is divine. There will grow in the fruitful a familiarity with divine things, which will be as a barricade against the temptations of the enemy. . . . {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 21} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 22] "Let all to whom these words may come, be melted and subdued. Let us, in our educational work, embrace far more than we have done, of the children and youth, and there will be a whole army of missionaries raised up to work for God. I say again, establish schools for the children where there are churches,--those who assemble to worship God. Where there are churches, let there be schools. Work as if you were working for your life to save children from being drowned in the polluting, corrupting influences of this life. . . . {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 22} [GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 23] "There are places where our schools should have been in operation years ago. Let these now be started under wise directors. The youth should be educated in their own churches. . . . It is a grievous offense to God that there has been so great neglect to make provision for the improvement of the children and youth when Providence has so abundantly supplied us with facilities with which to work." - {GCB, April 1, 1898 par. 23} [GCB, July 1, 1898 par. 1] July 1, 1898 "I am commissioned to say ..." "I am commissioned to say that the piety and spiritual discernment and righteousness of those who profess to believe the present truth must be pure and holy. Their characters must be entirely transformed, else they will never see the kingdom of God. They will perish with the wicked."--MS. {GCB, July 1, 1898 par. 1} [GCB, March 16, 1899 par. 1] March 16, 1899 Extract From a Testimony "A grave mistake has been made in allowing engrossing business matters to burden the ministers who are handling sacred things, so that their sense of the sacred becomes dim, and mingled with the common, crushing out godliness from the soul." {GCB, March 16, 1899 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 1] April 1, 1899 Following Christ ［THIS WAS WRITTEN APRIL 7, 1899, BEFORE THE BULLETIN WAS RECEIVED, GIVING ACCOUNT OF DONATIONS FOR AUSTRALIA.］ - For the joy that was set before him, Christ endured the cross, despising the shame, and is forever set down at the right hand of God. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for the world, and through this sacrifice comes the greatest blessing that God could bestow,--the gift of the Holy Spirit. This blessing is for all who will receive Christ. The fallen world is the battle-field for the greatest conflict the heavenly universe and earthly powers have ever witnessed. It was appointed as the theater on which would be fought out the grand struggle between good and evil, between heaven and hell. Every human being acts a part in this conflict. No one can stand on neutral ground. Men must either accept or reject the world's Redeemer. All are witnesses, either for or against Christ. Christ calls upon those who stand under his banner to engage in the conflict with him as faithful soldiers, that they may inherit the crown of life. They have been adopted as sons and daughters of God. Christ has left them his assured promise that great will be the reward in the kingdom of heaven of those who partake of his humiliation and suffering for the truth's sake. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 2] The cross of Calvary challenges, and will finally vanquish, every earthly and hellish power. In the cross all influence centers, and from it all influence goes forth. It is the great center of attraction, for on it Christ gave up his life for the human race. This sacrifice was offered for the purpose of restoring man to his original perfection; yea, more. It was offered to give him an entire transformation of character, making him more than a conqueror. Those who in the strength of Christ overcome the great enemy of God and man, will occupy a position in the heavenly courts above angels who have never fallen. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 3] Christ declares, "I, if I be lifted up, . . . will draw all men unto me." If the cross does not find an influence in its favor, it creates an influence. Through generation succeeding generation, the truth for this time is revealed as present truth. Christ on the cross was the medium whereby mercy and truth met together, and righteousness and peace kissed each other. This is the means that is to move the world. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 4] In the plan of God, all the riches of heaven are to be drawn upon by men. Nothing in the treasury of divine resources is deemed too costly to accompany the great gift of the only begotten Son of God. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Christ was empowered to breathe into fallen humanity the breath of life. Those who receive him will never hunger, never thirst; for greater joy than that found in Christ there can not be. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 5] Study the words spoken by the Saviour from the mount of blessing. How the divine nature shone through his humanity as his lips uttered the benedictions upon those who were the objects of his mercy and love. He blessed them with a fulness that showed that he was drawing from the inexhaustible store of the richest treasures. The treasures of eternity were at his command. The Father committed the riches of heaven to him, and in the disposal of them he knew no bound. Those who accept him as their Saviour, their Redeemer, the Prince of Life, he acknowledges before the heavenly host, before the worlds unfallen, and before the fallen world, as his peculiar treasure. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 5} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 6] The Lord Jesus has summoned the world to hear. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Let all listen with submissive, reverent attention. He repeats the words given him by the One who said. "This is my beloved Son; . . . hear ye him." Who is listening to the words which are light and life to all who receive them? Will men and women consider how God regards the creatures he has made? He formed man's mind. We do not think one noble thought that does not come from him. He knows all the mysterious workings of the human mind; for did he not make it? God sees that sin has debased and degraded man, but he looks upon him with pity and compassion; for he sees that Satan has him in his power. The demon of appetite in the intoxicating cup has robbed thousands of their reason. Still the Lord draws, draws, draws. 34 Who will draw with God, seeking to set in operation a restoring power that will obtain the mastery over sin? Those who will not fail nor become discouraged in this work, who will venture to take hold of the wretchedness they see around them, cooperate with their Redeemer. Thus we may show our gratitude to God. Our sympathies are wrought upon by the Holy Spirit; and in the heart of the one who is helped gratitude springs up, and he gathers hope to lay hold upon the hand of divinity, and to realize that God is seeking to save him from sin and degradation. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 6} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 7] The knowledge of God has been lost from a large number of minds, not alone from the minds of those who have debased themselves to the lowest depths, but from the minds of kings, princes, and emperors, from men of high estate the world over. God called one man a fool because of this forgetfulness. This man had been blessed with great treasure, so that he had no place in which to store it. He thought he must be better than the generality of men, or he would not have been thus favored. He consulted his own soul, and did not consult God at all. He did not take the Lord into his heart. The Giver of all his treasure was the last one to be thought of. But he talked with his soul as though it were his God, declaring, "I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry." His blessings had received his worship. A love for gain had become all-absorbing, and had obtained the ascendency over him. His mind was thus brought into bondage. The poor and needy, the widow and orphan, did not so much as enter his mind. The Lord saw this. He read the heart of the one who had been so greatly favored, and he said to him, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 7} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 8] This man is represented as one no longer fit to live in the world, as a fruitless tree which should be cut down. He was not worthy to be recognized among men blessed with life and capable of seeking for immortality and securing eternal life. His separation from God was complete. His life could benefit no one. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 8} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 9] Christ recognizes no caste, no nationality. He holds it as his prerogative, divine and incommunicable, to work after his own might and pleasure. The compassionate Redeemer, he labored among all classes. When the paralytic was let down through the roof at his feet, he saw at a glance the trouble of the sufferer, and he immediately exercised his power as a sin-pardoning Saviour. "Be of good cheer;" he said, "thy sins be forgiven thee." At this, some of the scribes said within themselves, "Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?" How astonished they were to have their unspoken thoughts opened before them. "Why reason ye these things in your hearts?" Jesus said. "Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 9} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 10] Christ changed the relation of the sinner toward God, taking the guilt from the inmost soul. The rich fool died in his bloated wealth; but the helpless sinner was brought to Christ, and manifesting his belief that Christ could heal him, he was not disappointed. His diseased mind was first cured, and then the Great Physician cured his bodily infirmities. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 10} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 11] Thus Christ drew the people to him. He was unfolding truths of the highest order. The knowledge he came to impart was the gospel in all its richness and power. The sin-bearer, he is alive to all the horrors which sin brings upon the soul; and he came to this world with a message of deliverance. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 11} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 12] What is Christianity?--God's instrumentality for the conversion of the sinner. Jesus will call to account every one who is not brought under his control, who does not demonstrate in his life the influence of the cross of Calvary. Christ should be uplifted by those whom he has redeemed by dying on the cross a death of shame. He who has felt the power of the grace of Christ has a story to tell. He seeks to put in operation methods of work which will diffuse the gospel of Christ. Humanity, drawing its efficiency from the great source of wisdom, is made the instrumentality, the working agency, through which the gospel exercises its transforming power on mind and heart. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 12} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 13] Under the inspiration of the Spirit, the apostle Paul represents Christians as those who have purified their souls in obeying the truth. Just in accordance with the faith and love we bring into our work will be the power brought into it. No man can create faith. The Spirit operating upon and enlightening the human mind, creates faith in God. In the Scriptures faith is stated to be the gift of God, powerful unto salvation, enlightening the hearts of those who search for truth as for hidden treasure. The Spirit of God impresses the truth on the heart. The gospel is called the power of God unto salvation, because God alone can make the truth a power which sanctifies the soul. He alone can render the cross of Christ triumphant. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 13} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 14] Everything that Satan can devise to divert the mind of man from its accountability to God he will devise. Look at the many amusements and pleasures he has set in operation to keep men from thinking, How is it with my soul? He leads men to wish to forget the law of God. There must be some agency to call this law to their remembrance. The talent of speech was given to convey the truth to the ear. By this talent God designs to impart the knowledge that the soul needs. By his words Christ communicated knowledge of the very highest order, telling men what they must do to be saved. Every minister is first to receive grace from God, and then to administer grace to his hearers. In the pulpit and out of the pulpit he is to minister. His speech is always to be seasoned with grace, in harmony with sacred truth. Wherever the believer is, he has the word of God which contain spiritual life; and it is his duty to learn the way of communicating truth so that it will have a convincing power. Man has an important part to act in the work of saving the souls who are in need of being converted without delay, or Satan will control them as his property. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 14} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 15] To every man God has given his work. Every soul has been given his post of duty, his sphere of action. It is for his present and eternal interest to find out his work by inquiring, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Each person forms a link in the chain of responsibility which binds man to his fellow man. In their service men are to be linked with one another and with God. Each man is to act his 35 part in the program of life. Each is to exert an influence for good. All are to work together to make a complete whole. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 15} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 16] All our powers are to be used for Christ. This is the debt we each owe to God. In forming a relationship with Christ, the renewed man is but coming back to his appointed relationship with God. He is a representative of Christ, and he is ever to pray and watch unto prayer. His duties lie around him, nigh and afar off. His first duty is to his children and his nearest relatives. Nothing can excuse him from neglecting the inner circle for the larger circle outside. In the day of final reckoning fathers and mothers will be required to answer in regard to their children. Parents will be asked what they did and said to secure the salvation of the souls they took upon themselves the responsibility of bringing into the world. Did they neglect their lambs, leaving them to the care of strangers? Fathers and mothers, are you allowing your children to grow up in impurity and sin? A great good done for others will not cancel the debt you owe to God to care for your children. The spiritual welfare of your family comes first. Take them with you to the cross of Calvary, laboring for them as those that must give an account. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 16} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 17] Parents should seek to gain the cooperation of their children. Thus children can become laborers together with God. Some households have a little church in the home. Mutual love binds heart to heart, and the unity that exists among the members of the family preaches the most effectual sermon that could be preached on practical godliness. As parents faithfully do their duty in the family, restraining, correcting, advising, counseling, guiding,--the father as a priest of the household, the mother as a home missionary,--they are filling the sphere God would have them fill. By faithfully doing their duty in the home, they are multiplying agencies for doing good outside the home. They are becoming better fitted to labor in the church. By training their little flock discreetly, binding their children to themselves and to God, fathers and mothers become laborers together with God. The cross is erected in their home. The members of the family become members of the royal family above, children of the heavenly King. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 17} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 18] The tenderness of Christ is to be brought into the daily life of his followers. His character is to be reproduced in them. The disinterested benevolence shown by him is to be shown by them. His love for souls should be cultivated by practise. Humble, wrestling prayer will soften and subdue hearts. Christ's servants can and should be able to meet and overcome every temptation. They should say, "I am not my own; I have been bought with a price. By the infinite sacrifice Christ has made for me, he has put it out of my power to give him more than he demands. All is his. He has purchased me, body, soul, and spirit. He calls for all my time, all my capabilities." Thus we may show that we are abiding in Christ and that Christ is abiding in us. Christ accepts no divided service. His followers are to shine as lights in the world. "Come out of the world, and be ye separate," is the message which comes sounding down along the line to our time. Love not the world, neither the things of the world. Set your affections on things above, and not on things below. Those who heed this message will find that Christ's yoke is easy and his burden light. Mrs. E. G. White. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 18} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 1] April 1, 1899 The Work in Australia. - "Sunnyside," Cooranbong, N.S. W., Australia, April 26, 1899. Dear Brethren in America: We feel deeply grateful to our heavenly Father that the Holy Spirit has moved your hearts to action in regard to the work in Australia. The school work here is advancing. The first term of this year is now closing, the second term commencing. We humbly acknowledge the Lord as the first great cause, standing behind the work which has been going on in Battle Creek. The Lord is the source of all power, all strength, all sufficiency. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 2] We see a great work to be done. We find no place where we can sit down and fold our hands. There are many places to be worked. Every town or village on the railway is to have the message the Lord has given us. We can not stop to rejoice over a few victories. We must press the battle to the very gate. The Lord has never left himself without a witness. The truth must be presented in the different suburbs of Newcastle. At times we may have to speak in the open air. I have done this on two Sunday afternoons, with good results. Last Sabbath I spoke to a goodly number under the tent at Newcastle. The Lord gave me much freedom. On Sunday I spoke in Wallsend, a suburb ten miles from Newcastle. Notice had been given that I would speak there. A goodly number were present, and the Lord gave me a message for them. The people seemed to rejoice that they could feed upon the word. This suburb has eight thousand inhabitants. Newcastle has only begun to be worked. We have not sufficient workers to take hold of the work. We are hoping and praying and waiting for earnest, devoted men and women. The work has been going forward in Hamilton and Newcastle, and most marked reformations have taken place. We are now planning to begin work in a different part of Newcastle. God will help us by raising up laborers for this field. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 3] Our brethren desired me to go to Newcastle last week to make a beginning in Wallsend. It was a question whether to commence the work there; but the people are intensely interested, and have been saying, "We want meetings held at Wallsend." This place is nearer Cooranbong by ten miles, and although the road is a mountainous one, we can reach it best with our horses and carriage. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 4] Then there is Auburn, a place eight miles from Cooranbong, where they have secured a church in which I am to speak as soon as I can find time, which will be next Sunday, or one week from Sunday. If they had not given us permission to speak in the church, we should have held a meeting in the open air. Then there is Toronto, a pleasure resort. These places are all within ten or twenty miles of Cooranbong, and must be entered as soon as we can find consecrated families whom we can locate there to hold the interest awakened. All these fields are white for the harvest; but we can do nothing without devoted workers, who can enter, and arouse and hold an interest. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 5] We look to God to lead us on. We need to feel a sense of dependence which will drive us to prayer. We shall then have the experience that the Lord is the rewarder of all them that diligently seek him. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 5} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 6] When this ground was first brought to our notice, I was shown that there was a large work to be done in and 36 around Cooranbong. Repeatedly companies had been presented to me, reaching forth their hands in supplication, and saying, "We are as sheep without a shepherd; come and open to us the word of God." This means much to us. God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent, are to be kept before the people. The Lord designs that a new revelation shall come to them in the opening of his word, showing his dealings with the world and with individuals in the working out of his great plan. He would have them realize man's accountability and responsibility in view of the future judgment. Then our Redeemer and Advocate will be our Judge. We have a great work before us, and men and women must be prepared to communicate the knowledge they have of the infinite wisdom, love, and power of God. He who died to make it possible for the world to be cleansed from sin, and keep the commandments of God, would have believers meet and work harmoniously,--one in the unity of faith, bound up with God, one with Christ as he is one with the Father. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 6} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 7] We must work our way very carefully in order to remove the prejudice we find in every place. We must have places in which the people can meet to worship God. Wherever a company is raised up, a chapel must be erected. Many of the people are quite poor. The indolent, the tobacco devotees, and liquor drinkers are many. But the truth must go to them. It has worked wonders in this very place, and will still do great things. Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in present truth must not abide alone with those who receive Christ. Christ died to save the world, and we are to work more zealously in acting our part. We are to look upon fallen humanity as our field. God cares for them. They have been bought with a price. They are his special property, and upon every true believer in Christ rests the solemn responsibility of being a laborer together with God, of speaking the truth as it is in Jesus. All are to become messengers to proclaim the truth. Through the power and work of Satan, the world has mistaken and forgotten God, and is living in sin. Man's influence works against God. His knowledge of God and his word is perverted. His understanding is darkened. But the Lord speaks through his delegated servants. Not one soul is to be left in darkness. The Lord is not careless in regard to his work. He will not look upon the peril of men, and remain silent. He sends his warnings, and we must voice his words, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 7} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 8] In this new world we feel intensely. We thank God every day for the increasing light. As we follow on to know the Lord, we shall know that his goings forth are prepared as the morning. The world is hearing its last message of mercy. This is a solemn thought. All must be willing now to take their place in the vineyard, and cultivate every neglected corner. All our consecrated influence is needed. Every soul is to stand in his appointed place. There are to be no idlers. God calls for workers, for means, for men and women who will give the word of life to those who are starving for food. The knowledge of God has long been perverted, and there must be no limit to our labor. There is nothing that will bring vitality into the church like the earnest work of those in the church. Those whose duty calls them to tarry by the home, to be home missionaries, revealing the truth in the character, are doing faithful work, and will be rewarded by God. But there is to be a much wider influence go forth from every true believer, who is a representative of the faith, and therefore a representative of Christ. He is to do the work that Christ did when he was in the world. Every self-sacrificing worker will have the witness in himself that there is a God, and that God is his God, his Father, his Helper, his Friend. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 8} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 9] "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." The Spirit of God within me draws my heart out in praise and thanksgiving because of the help we expect from America. We hope it will not be diverted into other channels. We must have the sanitarium here erected. This will give character to the work. We are working toward this. There is nothing that converts the people like the medical missionary work. This work makes the path straight before us, and bears the impress that it is of God. Jesus is in the work, and he can not be hidden. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 9} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 1] April 1, 1899 Words of Gratitude. - I feel very grateful to my Lord for his great goodness. For some days, yes, for some weeks, we have been so crowded with responsibilities that we have not known which way to turn, or how to take up those things which needed to be done first. The great dearth of means has been a great hindrance to our advance; but last week on Wednesday, we received encouraging letters from Dr. J. H. Kellogg, and the next day came the Bulletin with account of donations for this field. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 2] The news came none too soon. Elder A. G. Daniells had left Cooranbong to go out among the churches to obtain the money pledged to the school. There has been much praying and seeking the Lord most earnestly to understand what we must do. The word had been, "Go forward," and yet not a thing could be done to hire money from the banks, or to raise it in any other way. Some who had loaned money to the publishing house in Melbourne were calling for their loan. Everything seemed to hedge us in. We looked to the Lord to help us, and prayed most earnestly. The particulars I have not time to write now; but we are greatly relieved. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 3] Last Sabbath a portion of the special Bulletin was read in the church, and Brother E. R. Palmer gave a little history of our difficulties and struggles for the past few months. In the afternoon there was a service of praise to the Lord. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 4] At the morning meeting I spoke for a short time, giving some items of our past history in the establishment of the work in different lines; what experiences we had in the commencement of the work in Battle Creek and California. Now we are going over the ground in Australia. The different chapters in the history of these Christian missions, the efforts made in lifting and planting the standard of truth in regions beyond, are similar in nearly all parts of the Lord's great missionary vineyard. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 5] The spiritual wants in this country have been brought to light, and pressed upon our souls. We have felt that the time has now come to work. The opening fields have been brought before us much faster than we with our present force of workers and our limited means could supply them. We are very thankful for that which has been done, but the prospect before us in the fields of labor yet 37 untouched, is without a limit. To raise the standard and plant it firmly means work, activity. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 5} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 6] In some places where we have been brought into a pressure, those not of our faith have all unexpectedly come forward with their gifts of money. This has been the case in Brisbane, Queensland. We thank the Lord for this. A meeting-house, which was a positive necessity, has been erected there. Elder S. N. Haskell has labored hard in Brisbane, and souls still continue to embrace the truth in that portion of the Lord's vineyard. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 6} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 7] Every year there must be more than one or two neglected fields occupied and developed. We need more consecrated laborers to be set to work in these fields. The churches need care and encouragement, yet our work must largely be to lift the standard in new fields, where the truth has not yet come to the people. The most promising fields we have found have been those which we supposed would be the most difficult to work. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 7} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 8] All who present the truth in the love of it have all the zeal that they can endure. They feel such love for the souls whom they see in ignorance of the truth, that often they are carried beyond their power of endurance. We have constantly to remind them that they are mortal, and must care for their bodies. In their great interest to draw souls to Christ, opening to them the treasures of the word of God, they themselves catch the inspiration of his Holy Spirit, and they endure taxation and labor in a way that is surprising. Thus it has been with Elder Haskell. Thus it was with Elder Wilson, who died at his post of duty, and thus it has been and is with other faithful workers. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 8} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 9] As soon as a field is entered, the educational work begins, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. It is not the preaching that is the most taxing; it is the labor from house to house, reasoning from the word, explaining the word. It is the earnest travail of souls that will not yield to obstacles nor be discouraged. Over and over again the same things must be repeated, and the dependence of the worker must be wholly upon God. And what rich experiences the teacher obtains in educating those in the darkness of error! He is a learner, and sees wonderful things in the word of God. Ever and ever, as he attempts to explain the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is working with his own mind and in his own heart. He is receiving the holy oil from the two olive branches, which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves. These olive branches are the two anointed ones, who stand by the Lord of the whole earth. All who engage in the work of winning souls will themselves be constantly educated by the Holy Spirit to a clearer understanding of the word, as they communicate to others the light God has given them. The gracious utterances of the word are the holy golden oil, emptied from the two olive branches into the hearts of all who are prepared as vessels, cleansed to receive the heavenly treasure. There is infinite consolation for all who are laborers together with God. The requirements of the word impose most weighty obligations upon every steward entrusted with light and knowledge. The Bible teaches the whole will of God concerning us, and the Bible is to be not only read, but is constantly to be our rule of life, the foundation of our faith and practise. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 9} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 10] We need truly converted workers, those who are converted every day. Every worker must be supplied with the golden oil. We may have it, we must have it, and then there will be success in the work. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 10} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 11] We see so many places to be worked, and in the name of the Lord we call for workers, earnest workers, for this field. We do not ask for men who are wedded to their own ways, but for those who are wedded to Christ and his ways. We pray that there will be men and women who will be stirred by the Spirit of the Lord to come to this country to settle in different places, and work, and have a holding influence. We need you, O so much we need you. In every place opened there should be families, true missionaries, settled, those who will use their knowledge and experience to serve others. As they communicate, God will communicate to them. We can not draw from the treasury to support these families in this new field. There is so much of the field unworked that all the means we can command will be required. We see no limit. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 11} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 12] The words of Christ are very impressive. He said, "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 12} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 13] I have a request to make: Let all that love the Lord who gave his life for them, make returns to Him who has bought them with a price. Through your own self-denial and self-sacrifice return to God your offerings, to be used in opening new fields and planting the standard of truth in places that have never been worked. First give yourselves to the Lord as a consecrated offering, and then in your practise heed the words of Christ, "if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 13} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 14] The word comes to every believer, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." Economize in your expenditure of means upon yourself. The first step of self-denial is generally the most difficult, but begin without delay. Your self-denying offerings shall be used in this field to supply workers to give the last message of mercy to a fallen world. There will be in your hearts such a sacred kindling of love for God and zeal for the truth that you will realize indeed the truth of the words, "We are laborers together with God." {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 14} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 15] From the light given me of God, I make this call to young and old, men and women and children. God calls upon you to do your best. Practise self-denial in order to bring the truth before thousands who have never heard it. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 15} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 16] The missionary spirit needs to be revived in our churches. We want you to show your active zeal in doing something, and doing it now. Let there be planning of sacrifices for God in order to advance the work in the very places where it is most needed. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 16} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 17] There is a great work to be done in England. The light radiating from London should beam forth in clear, distinct rays to regions beyond. God has wrought in England, but his English-speaking world has been terribly neglected. You that have the cause of God at heart, bear in mind the great work to be done in London and all through the cities of England. {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 17} [GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 18] We want to push the triumphs of the cross in Australia, right where we are. New fields are opening, and the work must not be hindered. Maitland and Singleton and other 38 towns and cities must be warned. The Lord is coming. Prepare to meet thy God. Every place not entered, not worked, has its own claims. The anticipation, the prospect of working these fields, must give place to the grave, decided, self-sacrificing reality of hard work itself. Anticipate all you please in regard to regions beyond, but go to work now. Every Christian is bound to be a Bible worker, to do something in imparting to others the great present truth for this time. Communicate what you do know. Tell it, sing it, pray it. Work while it is day; for the night cometh, in which no man can work. God help you, is my most earnest prayer. Mrs. E. G. White. April 11, 1899. - {GCB, April 1, 1899 par. 18} [GCB, October 1, 1899, Art A, par. 1] October 1, 1899 "While it is called today ..." "While it is called today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. It may be you will never hear the invitation again. A mere answer in the affirmative is not sufficient. We are to repent and forsake every sin, and work the works of righteousness." {GCB, October 1, 1899, Art A, par. 1} [GCB, October 1, 1899, Art B, par. 1] October 1, 1899 Christ Our Example. - Reading for Sabbath, December 30. - God saw that the world was destitute of true knowledge, and he sent Christ into the world to live the law and represent him. This was the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. The knowledge of God was the chief treasure Christ brought to man. It was his prerogative to impart this knowledge, and he gave it to his disciples to be given to the world. Christ gave lessons that men might be impressed with his justice, condescension, and love. To the just and the unjust he gives a distinct representation of the divine goodness God has manifested in their behalf. He leads men abroad into the open field of nature, and touching the eyes of their senses he shows them the hand that sustains the world, the power ever working in behalf of human beings, good and evil. He spreads before them the beautiful flowers, the lily of the valley, the fragrant pinks and roses, delicately tinted by the great Master Artist, and he declares: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. . . . Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" {GCB, October 1, 1899, Art B, par. 1} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 2] Jesus gave his life to make it possible for men and women to secure eternal life. The Father appreciates every soul whom his Son has purchased by the gift of his life. Every provision has been made for us to receive divine power, which will enable us to overcome temptations. Through obedience to all God's requirements the soul is preserved unto eternal life. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 2} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 3] The dumb animals have no souls, yet God cares for them. "Are ye not much better than they?" Christ asks. "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 3} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 4] This lesson is given to all who love God and keep his commandments. The One who gave his life that we should not perish is the divine Teacher, and he appeals to every blessing of the natural world, the showers that fall upon the earth, the dew, the glorious sunlight, given alike to thankful and unthankful. The bounties of God's providence speak to every soul, confirming Christ's testimony to the supreme goodness of his Father. The Lord would have his people realize that the blessings bestowed upon any object of creation are proportionate to the place that object occupies in the scale of creation. If even the wants of dumb animals are supplied, can we appreciate the blessings which God will bestow upon the beings formed in his image? {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 4} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 5] Christ would elevate and refine man's mind, purifying it from all dross, that he may appreciate the love that is without a parallel. He leads them up to the higher grade, unfolding before them the treasures of eternity. He opens before them the volume of his providence, and bids them, as far as possible, take in the whole revelation. He tells them that in this book is written the name of every individual, that in the page assigned each individual is written every particular of his history, even to the numbering of the hairs of the head. He leads the human agent to think of the 100 love of God manifested by giving his only begotten Son to die for the world. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Thus God showed his love for man. With Christ he gave all heaven, that the moral image of God might be restored in man. Our part is to appreciate the means provided, and in harmony with the divine mind work out our salvation. God could do no more to express his love. His gift could not be greater; for it embraces infinity. His grace in all its vastness is provided for all. There is no excuse for any to retain selfishness. In the hearts of all who receive him, Christ will be formed, the hope of glory. The Saviour says to every one for whom he has died, You must receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of adoption. You must become so united with God that you will impart the grace you have received. Thus you become a living channel, by which God can communicate his light to the world. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 5} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 6] God can not approve our work while it has in it one thread of selfishness. It was apparently a small transgression that closed the gates of paradise against Adam and Eve. But ever since then sin has been increasing in volume and prevalence, and it is still increasing. But notwithstanding this, the divine benevolence has not been cut off. God's love and care still flow earthward. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 6} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 7] This should make man afraid of his littleness, of his sin-loving propensities. God calls upon us to receive and impart the love which passeth knowledge. He is looking upon his prostrate law, upon his Sabbath trampled under foot by a race of rebellious subjects. He could have come forth out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity. He could have swept them away by a flood, as he did in Noah's day. But he did not do this. He has spared them because of the covenant made with Noah. The Lord God is full of compassion, mercy, and love. When his servants, the stewards of his business misrepresent him, and act contrary to his arrangements, they greatly dishonor him. History will testify against them. Those who are in the service of God, who profess to believe the truth, should closely examine themselves, to see whether they are in the faith, whether they are using sacred or common fire. At the death of Nadab and Abihu, Moses declared to Aaron, "This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified." Let all who name the name of Christ depart from iniquity. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 7} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 8] The Lord Jesus Christ, when in human flesh, successfully resisted every temptation of the enemy. His efforts of superhuman love, made to save the race, were successful. From him men and women may receive power to overcome, if they will consent to cease from sin. Christ gave every son and daughter of Adam unmistakable evidence that through the provisions God has made they may overcome. Each one must rely on the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. He takes every repenting soul into covenant relation with himself. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 8} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 9] Christ regarded the enemies of the human race as his enemies. In our behalf he overcame Satan, gaining an everlasting victory for all who will receive him. He engaged in the warfare, and did not give up, but resisted even unto death; and in dying he gained the victory for which he came to our world. Before he died he cried out, "It is finished." "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." To his disciples he said, "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." Christ has left us a perfect, sinless example. His followers are to walk in his footsteps. If they are not transformed in character, they can never dwell with him in his kingdom. Christ died to elevate and ennoble them, and those who retain hereditary tendencies to wrong can not dwell with him. He suffered all that it is possible for human flesh to suffer and endure, that we might pass triumphantly through all the temptations Satan may invent to destroy our faith. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 9} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 10] In Christ is our only hope. God has daily victories for his people to gain. After his resurrection Christ said to his disciples: "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 10} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 11] The very ones who had rejected Christ were to hear his message. Those who had lived in close alliance with the leaders of rebellion were to bear to them a message of pardon and 101 forgiveness. Some who had been united with those who had planned and compassed Christ's death, who had said, "This is the heir; come, let us kill him," were to be reclaimed from disobedience and apostasy. "Ye have not chosen me," Christ said, "but I have chosen you." The Lord forgave them; for they had not known what they were doing; and he sent them forth to proclaim a risen and ascended Saviour. They published the truth that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 11} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 12] By his heavenly gifts the Lord has made ample provision for his people. An earthly parent can not give his child a sanctified character. He can not transfer his character to his child. God alone can transform us. Christ breathed on his disciples, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." This is the great gift of heaven. Christ imparted to them through the Spirit his own sanctification. He imbued them with his power, that they might win souls to the gospel. Henceforth Christ would live through their faculties, and speak through their words. They were privileged to know that hereafter he and they were to be one. They must cherish his principles and be controlled by his Spirit. They were no longer to follow their own way, to speak their own words. The words they spoke were to proceed from a sanctified heart, and fall from sanctified lips. No longer were they to live their own selfish life; Christ was to live in them and speak through them. He would give to them the glory that he had with the Father, that he and they might be one in God. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 12} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 13] The Lord Jesus is our great High Priest, our Advocate in the courts of heaven. The solemn position in which we stand to him as worshipers, is not appreciated. For our present and eternal good we need to understand this relation. If we are his children we are bound together in the bonds of Christian brotherhood, loving one another as he has loved us, united in the sacred relation of those washed in the blood of the Lamb. Bound up with Christ in God, we are to love as brethren. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 13} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 14] Thank God that we have a great High Priest, who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. Christ has not entered into the holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. By virtue of his own blood he entered in once for all into the holy place above, having obtained eternal redemption for us. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 14} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 15] Now is the time for us to make sure work for eternity. Christ is pleading in our behalf. Shall we offer ourselves as a free, acceptable sacrifice? Shall we cover up our sins, or shall we confess them, that we may find mercy and grace to help in every time of need? While Christ is pleading in our behalf, shall we not put away and loathe the sins that caused the Son of God such great suffering and death? While Jesus is showing compassion for us, shall we not have compassion for ourselves? Shall we not pour out our souls in repentance and contrition, and receive the promise of a new heart? God says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us." {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 15} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 16] If you are violating the law in the least, you stand under the wrath of an offended God. You may have the mercy of God. If you plead for it, you will obtain it. Cast yourself just as you are upon his mercy and compassion. Lay hold of him by faith. Put away all selfishness, all covetousness. By faith in the blood of Jesus cleanse your soul from moral defilement. Full and free salvation is offered to every one who will fall on the Rock and be broken. There are many who are saying, Lord, Lord, but they trust to their own self-righteousness. Every day they are practising sin. They are no honor to God; for wherever they go they are like evil leaven. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 16} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 17] Why do you not cease from sin? You may overcome if you will cooperate with God. Christ's promise is sure. He pledges himself to fill the office of personal Intercessor, saying, "I will pray the Father." He who could not see human beings exposed to destruction without pouring out his soul unto death to save them from eternal ruin, will look with pity and compassion upon every soul who realizes that he can not save himself. He will see no trembling suppliant without raising him up. He who through his own atonement provided for them an infinite fund of moral power, will not fail to employ this power in their behalf. He will impute to them his own righteousness. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 17} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 18] Christ accepts the surrender of the soul. He has pledged himself to be our substitute and surety, and he neglects no one. There is an inexhaustible fund of perfect obedience accruing from his obedience. How is it that such an infinite treasure is not appreciated? In heaven the merits of Christ, his self-denial and self-sacrifice, are treasured up as incense, to be offered up with the 102 prayers of his people. As sincere, humble prayers ascend to the throne of God, Christ mingles with them the merits of his life of perfect obedience. Our prayers are made fragrant by this incense. Christ has pledged himself to intercede in our behalf, and the Father always hears his Son. Pray then; pray without ceasing; an answer is sure to come. But let me speak in warning. If any man regard iniquity in his heart, the Lord will not hear him. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 18} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 19] It is our privilege to avail ourselves of Christ's mediatorial influence. Let us then increase in wisdom and knowledge by praying much, being instant in prayer at all times, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. The name of Jesus must be in our hearts and fall from our lips. The eye of faith must behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 19} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 20] According to justice and retribution God might have placed in the hands of his angelic ministers the vials of his wrath, to be poured out upon a rebellious world, to punish the inhabitants for their treatment of the Prince of heaven. But he did not do this. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Isaiah tells us who and what our Redeemer is: "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Christ had two natures, the nature of a man and the nature of God. In him divinity and humanity were combined. Upon his mediatorial work hangs the hope of the perishing world. No one but Christ has ever succeeded in living a perfect life, in living a pure, spotless character. He exhibited a perfect humanity, combined with deity; and by preserving each nature distinct, he has given to the world a representation of the character of God and the character of a perfect man. He shows us what God is, and what man may become--godlike in character. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 20} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 21] Christ is our example. He placed himself at the head of the human family to accomplish a work the importance of which men do not comprehend because they do not realize the privileges and possibilities before them as members of the human family of God. We may understand the subject of the work of Christ. His object was to reconcile the prerogatives of justice and mercy, and let each stand separate in its dignity, yet united. His mercy was not weakness, but a terrible power to punish sin because it is sin; yet a power to draw to it the love of humanity. Through Christ Justice is enabled to forgive without sacrificing one jot of its exalted holiness. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 21} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 22] Justice and Mercy stood apart, in opposition to each other, separated by a wide gulf. The Lord our Redeemer clothed his divinity with humanity, and wrought out in behalf of man a character that was without spot or blemish. He planted his cross midway between heaven and earth, and made it the object of attraction which reached both ways, drawing both Justice and Mercy across the gulf. Justice moved from its exalted throne, and with all the armies of heaven approached the cross. There it saw One equal with God bearing the penalty for all injustice and sin. With perfect satisfaction Justice bowed in reverence at the cross, saying, It is enough. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 22} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 23] By the offering made in our behalf we are placed on vantage-ground. The sinner, drawn by the power of Christ from the confederacy of sin, approaches the uplifted cross, and prostrates himself before it. Then there is a new creature in Christ Jesus. The sinner is cleansed and purified. A new heart is given to him. Holiness finds that it has nothing more to require. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 23} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 24] The work of redemption involved consequences of which it is difficult for man to have any conception. There was to be imparted to the human being striving for conformity to the divine image an outlay of heaven's treasures, an excellency of power, which would place him higher than the angels who had not fallen. The battle has been fought, the victory won. The controversy between sin and righteousness exalted the Lord of heaven, and established before the saved human family, before the unfallen worlds, before all the host of evil workers, from the greatest to the least, God's holiness, mercy, goodness, and wisdom. Christ's sacrifice exalted the law, proving that it was from the beginning, and would be through all eternity, from everlasting to everlasting. {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 24} [GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 25] Satan, the first apostate, looked upon the fruit of his apostasy in the vast army under his banner, and his mind was made to comprehend the meaning of warfare against God and his Son. He saw how many he had by his subtlety led away from God, from happiness and holiness. 103 The truth of his position and his efforts to overthrow God and assume his place, when he took with him vast numbers of angels who might have been a happy family in heaven, flashed over him. Never had the arch-deceiver such an appreciation of God and his throne, his holiness, his justice, his goodness, his amazing love, as when Christ hung on the cross. Mercy and Truth had met together; Righteousness and Peace had embraced each other. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, October 1, 1899 par. 25} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 1] January 1, 1900 Extracts From Testimonies "We must let the great principles of the third angel's message stand out clear and distinct. The great pillars of our faith will hold all the weight that can be placed upon them." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 1} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 2] "The Lord has a special message for us to bear to the world, even the third angel's message. The first and second angel's messages are bound up with the third. The power of the proclamation of the first and second messages is to be concentrated in the third. 'And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.' 'After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.' {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 2} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 3] "We are in danger of giving this message in so indefinite a manner that it does not impress the people." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 3} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 4] "So many other interests are brought in that the very message which should be proclaimed with power becomes tame and voiceless. At our camp-meetings a mistake has been made. The Sabbath question has been touched upon, but has not been presented as the great question, the test for this time. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 4} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 5] "While the churches profess to believe in Christ, they are violating the law which Christ himself proclaimed from Sinai. The Lord bids us, 'Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.' The trumpet is to give a certain sound. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 5} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 6] "At our camp-meetings, when you have a congregation before you for only two weeks, do not defer the presentation of the Sabbath question until everything else is presented, supposing that you are paving 109 the way for it. Lift up the standard, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Make this the important theme. Then by your strong arguments wall it in, and make it of still greater force. Dwell more on the Revelation. Read, explain, and enforce its teachings. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 6} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 7] "Our warfare is aggressive. Tremendous issues are before us, yea, and right upon us. Let our prayers ascend to God that the four angels may be commissioned to hold the four winds, that they may not blow to injure or destroy until the last warning has been given to the world. Then let us work in harmony with our prayers. Let there be nothing in any of our institutions that will lessen the force of the truth for this time. Present truth is to be our burden. A great work is to be done. The third angel's message must do its work of separating from the churches a people who will take their stand on the platform of eternal truth. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 7} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 8] "Our message is a life and death message, and we must let it appear as it is, the great power of God. We are to present it in all its telling force. Then the Lord will make it effectual. It is our privilege to expect large things, even the demonstration of the Spirit of God. This is the power that will convict and convert the soul." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 8} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 9] "The Sabbath question is a test that will come to the whole world. We need nothing to come in now to make a test for God's people that shall make more severe for them the test that they already have. The enemy would be pleased to get up issues now to divert the minds of the people, and get them into controversy." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 9} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 10] "The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the test for this time, and therefore all connected with this great memorial is to be kept before the people." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 10} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 11] "We have now the most solemn, important test given to us from the Word of God for this special period of time. This test is for the whole world. The Lord does not require that any tests of human inventions shall be brought in to divert the minds of the people or create controversy in any line. . . . God's tests are now to stand out plain and unmistakable. There are storms before us, conflicts of which few dream. Nothing should come in to divert our minds from the grand test which is to decide the eternal destiny of a world,--the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 11} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 12] "The Lord has a church upon this earth. He has a people who are working with an undivided interest, a people who are dear to his heart because they are consecrated to him. There are also men whose names are on the church books who are not serving God, who are robbing him by withholding the tithes and offerings which he, as the householder, requires as his portion. But because there are tares among the wheat, shall we demerit the church of God?--Never! 110 We may demerit ourselves, but never demerit those who are striving amid temptation and trial. These are the ones whom God loves." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 12} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 13] "The time is coming when those who have wanted their own way, who have refused to wear the yoke of Christ, will see that they have failed to find the rest that Christ gives; but it will then be too late." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 13} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 14] "Those who present the idea that the blind, the deaf, the lame, the deformed, will not receive the seal of God, are not speaking words given them by the Holy Spirit. There is much suffering in our world. To some suffering and disease have been transmitted as an inheritance. Others suffer because of accidents. Cause and effect are always in operation in our world, and always will be. The Lord has afflicted ones, dearly beloved in his sight, who bear the suffering of bodily infirmities. Their trials will not be greater than they can endure." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 14} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 15] "There are living upon our earth men who have passed the age of four score and ten. The natural results of old age are seen in their feebleness. But they believe God, and God loves them. The seal of God is upon them, and they will be among the number of whom the Lord has said, 'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.' With Paul they can say, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.' There are many whose gray hairs God honors because they have fought a good fight and kept the faith. . . . We need, in this age of error, of day-dreaming and reverie, to learn the first principles of the doctrine of Christ." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 15} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 16] "There are those who need in their hearts the touch of the divine Spirit. Then the message for this time will be their burden. They will not search for human tests, for something new and strange. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the test for this time, and therefore all connected with this great memorial is to be kept before the people. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 16} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 17] "I am pained beyond what any language can express. Irreverence is coming in apace. I have words to speak to the young men who have been teaching the truth. Preach the word. You may 111 have inventive minds. You may be expert, as were the Jewish teachers, in getting up new theories; but Christ said of them, 'In vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.' They presented traditions, suppositions, and fables of all kinds to the people. The forms and ceremonies they enjoined made it simply impossible for the people to know whether they were keeping the word of God or following the imaginations of men." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 17} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 18] "It is not our service to pray that colored hair shall become black, or that gray hair, which God pronounces honorable, shall become black. Those who set their minds laboring in this direction are not following on to know the Lord. They are starting in a course which will lead to the greatest, most God-dishonoring fanaticism. Our work is to form new habits of thought. Through faith in Christ we can do this. Natural propensities are to be controlled. Selfish inclinations are to be denied. Again and again something hostile to grace and reform will start into life. Again and again we shall be called into the conflict to fight against hereditary tendencies to wrong. What shall ministers teach the people?--Certainly not fables. Certainly not their own foolish imaginings, which would put a yoke grievous to be borne upon the necks of poor souls. Such a yoke Christ has not formed." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 18} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 19] "If Satan can work to turn the whole current of the waters of life into the most polluted channels, it is the very work he would rejoice to see the whole Seventh-day Adventist people engaged in. He desires to use up in this way all the available means, so that there is nothing left to sustain foreign missions or to send the gospel to the world. But God wants his work to go in the very way he has ordained for it to go. He has not inaugurated a new plan or arrangement to save the world." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 19} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 20] "God says, 'Begin in the highways; thoroughly work the highways, prepare a company who in unity with you will go forth to do the very work that Jesus did in seeking and saving the lost.' This is the kind of work that I have ever seen should be done. We are not to strain every spiritual sinew and nerve to descend to the lowest depths, and make that work the all and in all, neglecting to bring to the Master others who need the truth, who are bearing responsibilities, and who will work with all their sanctified ability for the high places as well as for the low places." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 20} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 21] "Satan has a scheme to corrupt through the association, work called rescue work, the sight of the eyes, the hearing of the ears--the association and impressions made by Satanic agencies--that will be used to the very uttermost of Satan's power. Through his deceptive workings, the administration of the powers of Satanic agencies, many who have given themselves to the work of rescue will drown their own souls, and will under doubts and difficulties need a similar work done for them. They may go beyond remedy. The Lord does not want the work of the message of the third angel to be retarded. The most solemn message of mercy is to be given to a fallen world. Any kind of influence, any kind of sympathy, created by pen or voice to gather the facilities of means, as has been done, and invested in this class of work, that the foreign missionary work shall be in the situation it is in today, is not the work of God." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 21} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 22] I understand from the report, that the foreign missionary donations have fallen off the past year upward of $20,000. My soul is burdened that we as a denomination of people, and as individuals, stand by the work of God today as it has been outlined in 112 the past messages; and that we live so close to him, and so carefully study his word and the experiences of the past, that when these new things come in, these strange things, something devised by some inventive mind, to create sensation or something of that kind, we will be so firmly rooted in the faith that we will not be moved from our moorings, but go straight forward; and instead of letting the enemy come in and getting the church all absorbed in that, may our whole energies be given to the third angel's message,--the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Let us lift up the message as it was preached in the early days, and it will be a cleaver to separate the honest from the people of the world, and fit them for translation. We are living in perilous times. If there ever was a time when there should be a voice sounding somewhere, that the poor, deluded sheep that have no shepherd might hear the true voice, that time is now. Brethren, may God help us to preach the message in its purity, that the sound may go to earth's remotest bounds, and souls be gathered out, such as shall finally be saved with us in his eternal kingdom. - {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 22} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 1] January 1, 1900 Perilous Times. ［TESTIMONY DATED COORANBONG, N. S. W., AUSTRALIA, MARCH 9, 1897.］ - "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men are fully set in them to do evil." The means which the Lord has employed in the gracious provision of his mercy, to soften and subdue the objects of his love, has, through the workings of Satan, encouraged the depraved and hardened hearts in perversity, resistance, and transgression, that even as far back as the days of David led him to exclaim, "It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 1} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 2] O that all might consider before it is everlastingly too late, that there are limits to the mercy and forbearance of God! There are those who by their impenitence under the beams of light that have shone upon them are very near the line where the forbearance of God is exhausted. In mind and heart they are saying, "The Lord delayeth his coming," and they are eating and drinking with the drunken. But God declares of such that "swift destruction cometh upon them," "and they shall not escape." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 2} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 3] At this time, when great light is shining forth from the Word of God, making dark mysteries plain as day, is the day of mercy, of hope, of joy and assurance to all who will be benefited thereby, to all who will open their minds and hearts to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. But there is an opposite class to this,--those who will not come to the light, who despise the truth because it opposes error and transgression and sin, and as a result, depravity and boldness in transgression is becoming all-pervading. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 3} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 4] There are diligent students of the word of prophecy in all parts of the world, who are obtaining light and still greater light from searching the Scriptures. This is true of all nations, of all tribes, and all peoples. These will come from the grossest error, and will take the place of those who have had opportunities and privileges and have not prized them. These have worked out their own salvation with fear and trembling, lest they shall become deficient in doing the ways and will of God, while those who have had great light, through the perversity of their own natural heart, turned away from Christ because displeased with his requirements. But God will not be left without witness. The one-hour laborers will be brought in at the eleventh hour, and will consecrate their ability and all their entrusted means to advance the work. These will receive the reward for their faithfulness, because they are true to principle, and shun not their duty to declare the whole counsel of God. When those who have had abundance of light throw off the restraint which the Word of God imposes, and make void his law, others will come in to fill their place, and take their crown. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 4} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 5] While many have reduced the word, the truth, the holy law of Jehovah, to a dead letter, and by their example testify that the law of Jehovah is a hard, rigorous burden; while they say, "We will lay off this yoke; we will be free; we will no longer remain in covenant relation with God; we will do as we please," there will be men who have had very meager opportunities, who have walked in ways of error because they knew not any other or better way, to whom beams of light will come. As the word from Christ came to Zacchaeus, "I must abide at thy house," so the word will come to them. And the one supposed to be a hardened sinner will be found to have a heart as tender as a child's, because Christ has deigned to notice him. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 5} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 6] Great is the work of the Lord. Men are choosing sides. Even those supposed to be heathen will choose the side of Christ, while those who become offended, as did the apostles, will go away and walk no more with him; and others will come in and occupy the place they have left vacant. The time is very near when man shall have reached the prescribed limits. 113 He has almost now exceeded the bounds of the long-suffering of God, the limits of his grace, the limits of his mercy. The record of their works in the books of heaven is, "Weighed in the balances, and found wanting." The Lord will interfere to vindicate his own honor, to repress the swellings of unrighteousness and bold transgression. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 6} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 7] What effect will the attempt of men to make void the law of God have upon the righteous? Will they be intimidated because of the universal scorn that is put upon the holy law of God? Will the true believers in the "Thus saith the Lord" become wavering and ashamed because the whole world seems to despise his righteous law? Will they be carried away by the prevalence of evil?--No; to those who have consecrated themselves to God to serve him, the law of God becomes more precious when the contrast is shown between the obedient and the transgressor. In proportion as the attributes of Satan are developed in the despisers and transgressors of the law of God, to the faithful adherent the holy precept will become more dear and valuable. He will declare, "They have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold." It is the one who has been a faithful steward of the grace of God whose love of God's commandments grows with the contempt which all around him would put upon them. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 7} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 8] Wicked men and the church harmonize in this hatred of the law of God; and then the crisis comes. Then we see the class specified in Malachi 3:13-15: "Your words have been stout against me. . . . Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered." Here are a company of disaffected professed Christians whose chief business is to murmur and complain and accuse God by accusing the children of God. They see nothing defective in themselves, but very much to displease to others. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 8} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 9] But while they are murmuring and complaining and falsely accusing, and doing Satan's work most zealously, another class is brought to our notice: "Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 9} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 10] This subject is urging itself upon my mind. Consider it; for it is a matter of vast importance. With which of these two classes shall we identify our interest? We are now making our choice, and we shall soon discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Read the fourth chapter of Malachi, and think about it seriously. The day of God is right upon us. The world has converted the church. Both are in harmony, and are acting upon a short-sighted policy. Protestants will work upon the rulers of the land to make laws to restore the lost ascendency of the man of sin, who sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. The Roman Catholic principles will be taken under the care and protection of the State. This national apostasy will speedily be followed by national ruin. The protest of Bible truth will be no longer tolerated by those who have made not the law of God their rule of life. Then will the voice be heard from the graves of martyrs, represented by the souls which John saw slain for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ which they held; then the prayer will ascend from every true child of God, "It is time, Lord, for thee to work: for they have made void thy law." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 10} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 11] When our first parents fell from their high estate through transgression, God's law was made void. Then Christ entered upon his work as a Redeemer, and probation was granted to the inhabitants of the world. In Noah's day, men disregarded the law of God until almost all remembrance of him had passed away from the earth. Their wickedness reached so great a height; violence, crime, and every kind of sin became so intensely active, that the Lord brought a flood of water upon the world and swept away the wicked inhabitants thereof. But mercy was mingled with judgment. Noah and his family were saved. In the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, we see that the Lord will interfere; fire came down from heaven and destroyed these wicked cities. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 11} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 12] From time to time the Lord has made known his manner of working. He is mindful of what is passing upon the earth. And when a crisis has come, he has revealed himself, and has interposed the working of Satan's plans. He has often permitted matters with nations, with families, and with individuals to come to a crisis, that his interference might become marked. Then he has let the fact be known that there is a God in Israel who would sustain and vindicate his people. {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 12} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 13] When the defiance of the law of Jehovah shall be almost universal, when his people shall be pressed in 114 affliction by their fellow men, God will interpose. The fervent prayers of his people will be answered, for he loves to have his people seek him with all their heart, and depend upon him as their Deliverer. He will be sought unto to do these things for his people, and he will arise as the protector and avenger of his people. The promise is, "The Lord will avenge his own elect, which cry unto him day and night." {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 13} [GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 14] The Protestant governments will reach a strange pass. They will be converted to the world. They will also, in their separation from God, work to make falsehood and apostasy from God the law of the nation. In the place of those who have the light of truth allowing jealousy and evil surmisings to come in and weaken their love and union one with another, their united prayers should ascend to heaven for the Lord to arise and put an end to the violence and abuse which is practised in our world. More prayer and less talk is what God desires, and would make his people a tower of strength. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, January 1, 1900 par. 14} [GCB, April 1, 1900 par. 1] April 1, 1900 Extract From Testimony Dated Jan. 22, 1900 "The schools must be helped. Let all lift harmoniously and help as much as they possibly can. Great blessings will come to those who will take hold of this matter just now. Let no discouragement be offered by our ministers, as though it were not a proper thing to do. They should take hold of this work. If they do it aright, cheerfully, hopefully, they will find it a very great blessing. The Lord does not force any man to work, but those who will place themselves decidedly on his side, he will give a willing mind. He will bless the one who works out the spirit which he works in. God will make the movement for the help of our schools a success if it is made in a free, willing spirit, as to the Lord. Only in this way can be rolled back the reproach that has come upon our schools all over the land. If all will take hold of this work in the spirit of self-sacrifice, for Christ's sake and for the truth's sake, It will not be long before the Jubilee Song of Freedom can be Sung throughout Our Borders." {GCB, April 1, 1900 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 1] July 1, 1900 Unity Among Believers. - I speak to those who are acting as stewards in the cause of God. In your work for the advancement of the cause, act in such a way that the truth will be properly represented in all its lines. The ministry is not to be given an inferior position. Those who disparage the gospel ministry give sure evidence that they have lost their spiritual discernment. They need a better understanding of the claims of God. The Lord's servants are to be given ample room to do their appointed work. As teachers of men, women, and children, they are to see and understand the work for this time. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 2] We are all workers for the Master. The instruction given in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew shows how his work is to be done. Self is to be kept under the control of the great Teacher. Study your Bibles. I have been charged to tell you all to study your Bibles with an intense interest. Practice its teachings. When this is done, less human wisdom will be seen, and more of the wisdom of God. A large amount of time and strength will be saved. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 2} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 3] The world by wisdom knew not God. The men and women of the world do not realize that they are daily deciding their own destiny, and that it becomes them to walk very softly before God. Immortality -- a life that measures with the life of God -- is not obtained through human beings, but through Christ, "who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in welldoing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 3} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 4] Christians will discern Christ in their fellow men. They will not pull apart. Strife for the supremacy is after the working of Satan. Satan was the most beautiful angel in the heavenly courts, the most highly gifted, the most richly endowed. But he fell through jealousy and selfish ambition. Why, I ask, are men not afraid of themselves? Why are they so anxious to do something wonderful, something that will lead people to say, "This is the work of a great man" This is all vanity. Of ourselves we are weak and helpless. If the Lord has intrusted us with capabilities, let us remember that our gifts come from God. They are lent to us by him, that thus he may test and try us. Let those who desire to win God's approval walk humbly before him. Remember that you are only one among the Lord's agents. There are others whom he recognizes, and whose work he indorses. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 4} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 5] Our institutions will be safely conducted only when those who are carrying the responsibilities in them fear their own weakness. Let them not feel highly exalted because they receive praise from men who do not see the truth in the living oracles of God. Those who know the truth should show these commandment-breakers that they regard the law of God as a savor of life unto life. All who know the truth are to honor the truth. God says, Them that honor me I will honor. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 5} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 6] We are to respect God's faithful servants, who preach his Word, and who seek to win souls to the truth. Let us not link up with unbelievers, giving them honor because we suppose that they have great wisdom. Let us not cherish their words of praise in our hearts, while at the same time we show disrespect for the Lord's chosen instruments, regarding their counsel as unworthy of our notice. Association with those who believe not the truth will prove in time of temptation a savor of death unto death. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 6} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 7] Those who claim to believe the truth should obey the Word of God just as it reads, practicing its instruction. Remember that those who love not their brethren, deny the faith. Many, because their brethren do not follow their leading, manifest toward them a spirit of hatred. God has never bidden us follow the leading of any man, and he has said, "He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." Can we not see from this what it means to be at variance? {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 7} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 8] Christ declares, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." This light is all contained in the great commandment of love. "A new commandment I give unto you," Christ said, "That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 8} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 9] The union between Christ and his people is to 155 be living, true, and unfailing, resembling the union that exists between the Father and the Son. This union is the fruit of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. All true children of God will reveal to the world their union with Christ and with their brethren. Those in whose hearts Christ abides will bear the fruit of brotherly love. They will realize that as members of God's family they are pledged to cultivate, cherish, and perpetuate Christian love and fellowship, in spirit, words, and action. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 9} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 10] To be children of God, members of the royal family, means more than many suppose. Those who are accounted by God as his children will reveal Christlike love for one another. They will live and work for one object, -- the proper representation of Christ to the world. By their love and unity they will show to the world that they bear the divine credentials. By the nobility of love and self-denial, they will show those around them that they are true followers of the Saviour. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 10} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 11] In the Old Testament are recorded the laws which God gave for the guidance of his people. He would have his people today study these laws. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy. . . . When ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather the gleanings of thy harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God. Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. . . . Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor. Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor: I am the Lord. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 11} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 12] Christ is deeply grieved when his professed followers, his disciples, neglect to cultivate Christian love, when they act in a way that causes pain to the hearts of their brethren in the faith. They injure their religious experience, laying stumbling-blocks in their own way and in the way of others. They dishonor the truth they claim to believe. By their passionate words and overbearing actions in dealing with their brethren, they show that they are controlled by the spirit of the enemy of all righteousness. They use common fire in the place of the sacred. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 12} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 13] The most powerful evidence a man can give that he has been born again and is a new man in Christ Jesus, is the manifestation of love for his brethren, the doing of Christlike deeds. This is the most wonderful witness that can be borne in favor of Christianity, and will win souls to the truth. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 13} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 14] In his prayer for his disciples, Christ said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 14} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 15] Christ brings all true believers into complete oneness with himself, even the oneness which exists between him and his Father. The true children of God are bound up with one another and with their Saviour. They are one with Christ in God. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 15} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 16] "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love 156 wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 16} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 17] These are indeed wonderful words. They need to be thought of, studied, and brought into the practical life. They are to be lived out in the daily experience. Only thus can the result for which Christ prayed be produced. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 17} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 18] The Spirit of Christ never leads those of the same faith to separate into distinct, independent parties. When such a separation takes place, an impression exactly opposite from that which Christ prayed, is given to the world. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 18} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 19] Why do those who profess to believe in Christ, who profess to keep the commandments, make such feeble efforts to answer the Saviour's prayer? Why do they seek to have their own way, instead of choosing the way and will of the Spirit of God? Those who do this will one day see the harm done to the cause of God by pulling apart. Instead of co-operating with Christ, instead of laboring together with God, many who occupy positions of trust are working in opposition to Christ. The Lord has presented this to me in a most decided manner to present to his people. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 19} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 20] If God's followers would seek to answer Christ's prayer, revealing by the transformation in their lives the power of the truth, what a wonderful testimony would be borne to the world. How powerfully the character and work of Christ would be made known, and the glory of God made known! {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 20} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 21] It is our God-given duty to love one another as Christ has loved us. The performance of this duty brings with it the blessedness of peace and quietude in the Lord and the ennobling and uplifting of the whole being. Those who neglect this duty can never reach perfection. Those who love as Christ loved are born of God, and are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 21} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 22] "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. . . .Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 22} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 23] I am instructed to say to our people, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." There are many who are unprepared to meet Christ. "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 23} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 24] A sacred relationship exists between Christ our Saviour and the believer. He says, "I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord." "Thou shalt know." Is not this the desire of the soul? There are many who ridicule the idea of there being any certainty in religious experience. Some can not bear to hear sanctification and the higher attainments spoken about. But the Word says, "Thou shalt know the Lord," and this means holiness and sanctification. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 24} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 25] How may we know God?--By doing his word. We have the assurance of this. Read the first chapter of second Peter. The entire chapter is an assurance to the true believer. "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 25} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 26] We must work upon the plan of addition, adding to our character the graces here mentioned. 157 {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 26} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 27] "If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and can not see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." This is our life insurance policy. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 27} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 28] "That by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." The lust here mentioned does not only mean a perverse, base passion. It includes an unholy desire for riches, for praise, for the possession of power. To fear God and obey his word is the only way to gain true exaltation. But forgetting this, man presumptuously craves more and still more worldly power and honor. He devises and plans in every way to accomplish certain results, losing sight of justice and equity and love for God and his brethren. With a perversity that is blind to results, he sacrifices his peace of mind, his assurance of knowing God and Christ. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 28} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 29] "When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died. And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsman: . . . therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God but me: for there is no Saviour beside me." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 29} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 30] "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help." "Return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously. . . . I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon... Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 30} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 31] The Lord is infinitely merciful and gracious. He is waiting for us to repent and turn to him with humble confession, saying, We will take thy way, O Lord; we will no longer walk in the way of our own counsels. Have mercy on us and save us and those who have erred in following a path not cast up for the ransomed of the Lord. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 31} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 32] The time has come for the renunciation of all self-confidence. The time has come to follow the Lord's way. He has given instruction for all who will be guided by him, who have faith in his word, and courage to go forward. God calls upon those who have walked in paths of their own choosing to return to him. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 32} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 1] July 1, 1900 "Be Ye Therefore Perfect." - Reading for Monday, December 24. - The Lord estimates as of supreme value the holiness of his people, and he permits reverses to come upon individuals, upon families, and upon churches, that his people may see their danger, and humble their hearts before him in repentance. He will treat his backslidden ones with tenderness. He will speak pardon to them, and clothe them with the garments of Christ's righteousness. He will honor them with his presence. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 2] In this, the great day of atonement, it is our duty to confess our sins and acknowledge God's mercy and love in pardoning our transgressions. Let us thank the Lord for the warnings he has given to save us from our perverse ways. Let us witness to his goodness by revealing a change in our lives. If those to whom the Lord has sent reproof, warning them that they are not walking in his way, will repent, and with humility and contrition of heart make confession, the Lord will surely receive them again into favor. If they will honor God by obeying his commandments, they will be exalted by him. He will teach them what constitutes true honor and strength and victory. Those who despise the word of the Lord, who, although they have the oracles of God to reprove wrong and encourage righteousness, continue to walk in their own way, indulging their desire for self-exaltation, and leading those who have confidence in them into wrong paths, will, unless utterly forsaken by God, become weary of themselves. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 2} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 3] God chastens his people, with the hope of saving their souls. The defections among God's people are keenly felt by Him who died to ransom them from Satan's power. The church is burdened and saddened. A cloud hangs over her. Let every soul seek God, inquiring, "Lord, is it I who have brought this discouragement upon thy people? Is it because of my perversity that Zion is burdened? Have I given occasion for our enemies to triumph? If so, Lord, have mercy upon thy sinful child, and save me for thy mercy's sake." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 3} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 4] Let there be a close examination of self. Do not seek to hide yourself under your citizen's dress, saying that you are doing as others do, and therefore you can not be far out of the way. Yes, you may do as many apostates who live today have done. Some are even now traveling over this ground. But is the picture a pleasant one? If, with the experience of others before us, we walk contrary to the way of the Lord, and are punished, whom have we to blame but ourselves? {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 4} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 5] O that a deep realization of the importance of these things may come to the people of God! O that all departure from the narrow path of obedience and holiness may be seen as it is! O that men and women may seek the Lord as they have never done before! {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 5} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 6] A season of great trial is before us. It becomes us now to use all our capabilities and gifts in advancing the work of God. The powers the Lord has given us are to be used to build up, not to discourage and to tear down. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 6} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 7] Those who are ignorantly deceived are not to remain in this condition. The Lord says to his messengers, Go to them, and declare unto them what I have said, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. "Thou shalt speak my words unto them," God said to the prophet, "whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 7} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 8] There are those claiming to be children of God, whose course of action the Lord does not justify. Faithful work is to be done in giving reproof, as well as in giving encouragement. The cross is not to be shunned. No unchristlike course of action is to be justified. The time is right upon us when persecution will come to those who proclaim the truth. Those who teach the truth, opening the word of God to others, must surrender self entirely to God. To them the truth will bring its own reward, filling the soul with joy. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 8} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 9] Will the people of God now humble their hearts before God, confessing and forsaking their sins, that they may receive the forgiveness and favor of God, and come into complete harmony with him? It is not because of a lack of evidence that sinners perish, but because of their unwillingness to appropriate the means whereby God designs they shall learn his will. The ignorance of many is voluntary and inexcusable. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 9} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 10] The outlook is not flattering, but notwithstanding this, let us not give up our efforts to save those ready to perish, for whose ransom the Prince of Heaven offered up his precious life. When one means fails, try another way. Our efforts must 162 not be dead and lifeless. As long as life is spared let us work for God. In all ages of the church God's appointed messengers have exposed themselves to reproach and persecution for the truth's sake. But wherever God's people may be forced to go, even though, like the beloved disciple, they are banished to desert islands, Christ will know where they are, and will strengthen and bless them, filling them with peace and joy. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 10} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 11] Soon there is to be trouble all over the world. It becomes everyone to seek to know God. We have no time to delay. With earnestness and fervor the message must be given: "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." "Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 11} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 12] God's love for his church is infinite. His care over his heritage is unceasing. He suffers no affliction to come upon the church but such as is essential to her purification, her present and eternal good. He will purify his church even as he purified the temple at the beginning and close of his ministry on earth. All that he brings upon the church in test and trial comes that his people may gain deeper piety and more strength to carry the triumphs of the cross to all parts of the world. He has a work for all to do. There must be constant enlargement and progress. The work must extend from city to city, from country to country, and from nation to nation, moving continually onward and upward, established, strengthened, and settled. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 12} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 13] "By their fruits ye shall know them." The inward adorning of a meek and quiet spirit is priceless. In the life of the true Christian the outward adorning is always in harmony with the inward peace and holiness. Thus in the righteousness of the members shall the church be established. God's people are to show a faith steadfast and immovable. The Bible is their standard. Rich currents of grace from heaven will produce light in them, which they are to impart to others. In all its power the truth is to be proclaimed. Those who faithfully do this work, keeping the commandments of God in deed and in truth, will be acknowledged as laborers together with God. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 13} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 14] "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever." From the beginning to the end of the history of the church, Christ will be to his people all that these words express, if they will heed the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Christ is to his people life and strength, efficiency and power, wisdom and holiness. When we realize this as we should, the prayer will go forth from unfeigned lips, "The Lord is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. . . . The sinners of Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his water shall be sure. Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 14} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 15] The Regions Beyond. Our world is a field of missionary toil. We are to present before the people the love of God, not only as the motive of effort, but as the model of all our plans. We must work in the way he worked. His example is to be our pattern. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 15} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 16] The Lord has given men and women capabilities 163 and tact and skill, to be used to his name's glory. When sincere, earnest efforts are put forth to win souls to God, we shall see of the salvation of God. Those who claim to be Christians should make an unreserved surrender of all they have to the Lord. Their time, their substance, and their influence are required of them by Him who willingly gave himself to save to the uttermost all who come to him. Those who claim to be children of God should throw the whole weight of their influence on the side of Christ, for his sake practicing self-denial and self-sacrifice. There is need of close communion with God and entire conformity to his will. This is the secret of gaining the power that will convict and convert sinners. The church has failed because she has not come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty influences of the Satanic force. Church members have not as they should, pressed back the powers of darkness. This is the reason of the deficiency in the church today. The quickening power of God is needed. Men and women who love God supremely and their neighbors as themselves, are needed, men and women who crave the power of God, that they may bear witness to the love of Jesus. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 16} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 17] Church members are to be God's instruments in seeking to save those ready to perish. Be they many or few, they are to confer together, laying before one another their designs and plans, and obtaining the benefit of one another's perception and foresight as to the best plans for securing success in the work. There are to be found no separate parties, who shall supply themselves with all the facilities for ensuring success, at the same time leaving those who should have equal encouragement, and means with which to carry on the work, with nothing with which to do the work which means the adding of new territory to the Lord's kingdom. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 17} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 18] The many fields in the Lord's vineyard which have not been touched, call upon the places in which institutions are already established, to understand the situation. Let men curtail their ambition to branch out in a field which by God's appointment has already been worked. Let there not be on the part of churches, families, or individuals any withholding of the means needed to furnish God's servants with facilities for doing the work in regions beyond. Let not those in the fields where the work is established think of the great things they can do, and continue to expand self to large proportions, while other portions of the Lord's vineyard are destitute of the advantages by which the work might be properly done. This is a religion of selfishness, and is offensive to God. It is a selfish ambition which leads men to call for more facilities in a field already possessing ample facilities, while missionary fields are in need of the advantages which these worked fields have in abundance. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 18} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 19] The Lord's work in new territories is to be carried forward to a successful accomplishment. In this work God's plan is to be followed, not the inclinations of those who would gather into the section over which they have supervision, every possible advantage, "to give," as they say, "character to the work," while the utter destitution of other parts of the Lord's vineyard is forgotten. Every work will be tested by God. Every thread of selfishness drawn in will be drawn out. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 19} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 20] After nine years of struggling, we begin to see some signs of success in this country. But the advancement has been made under the most trying circumstances. In order to advance the work we have been obliged to borrow thousands of dollars. I tell you in the name of the Lord that this need not have been. If our institutions, our sanitariums and publishing houses, had bound about their desire for more facilities, and had shown an unselfish interest in the work so constantly set before them, the cause in foreign fields would certainly have made much more advancement, and marked success would have attended the business of which they were stewards. The selfish desire which some have shown, to use all the means to enrich one portion of the Lord's vineyard, reveals unfaithful stewardship; and I am charged to make this appeal to God's people. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 20} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 21] The great Head of the church has given talents to the company of believers. He has given his Word to mold the character, and his Spirit to bring all things to their remembrance. He desires his people to bring into their work the true principles of missionary effort. Many of the Lord's servants are numbered with those of whom John wrote, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." Those who are left to plant the standard in new places are to have a keen, sanctified interest in every plan which is related, 164 directly or indirectly, to the great work of warning the world. Those who have stood in positions of trust, faithful men who have been led and guided by God, are to thank him for his molding, fashioning power. They are to carry his work onward and upward to perfect accomplishment. They are to move with careful, prayerful consideration, lest they mar the influence of the work by changing the order which the Lord has said should be followed. As they advance, step by step, they are to mind the same things, to advance in the same lines, that the truth may never be dishonored or lose its sacred, holy influence in the sight of the world. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 21} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 22] As those who took up the work at the beginning of the message have advanced by self-denial and self-sacrifice, God has given them his blessing. They have had much to learn, they have made mistakes, they have needed continual guidance and counsel; but they have had reason for constant gratitude, because the work has gone forward in spite of poverty and a lack of facilities. They strained every nerve to make the work a success, to establish those buildings which were necessary for the proper development of the work; and under all circumstances the Lord guided them. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 22} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 23] Those who enter the work later, to find things ready to their hand, should at least attempt to pay the debt they owe the Lord, and the workers who went before them, by carrying the truth into new territories, until it has gone to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. In every country men and women are to be raised up to carry forward the very work begun by those who have been laid away to rest. The memory of those pioneer workers is to be guarded, and from their treasure of experience, the workers of today are to learn to pass from one line of advanced work to another, following the methods declared by the Holy Spirit to be in the order of God, asserting the principles enjoined in the Word, carrying the aggressive warfare into new fields. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 23} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 24] Home and foreign missions are to share equally of God's trust money. In planning for the work, the difficulties to be met in foreign fields are to be considered. Let not those who have every advantage be niggardly in appropriating means for the advancement of the work in mission fields. For Christ's sake, willing support is to be given to the work of the gospel, which is to be carried to all parts of the world. And by the work of the press the work is to be established and confirmed. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 24} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 25] Christ should never again be dishonored, and his cause put to shame by a lack of the true missionary spirit. A great mistake has been made. In their selfishness men have grasped means and advantages for their own field, though knowing the need of help in new fields. They have not supplied that which was necessary for the progress of the work. They have not helped their brethren fight the battle which once had to be fought in the fields they now occupy. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 25} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 26] The work all over the world is to receive consideration. New fields are to be entered. Let those at the heart of the work remember that much means and much hard labor is required to accomplish the work in new fields. Let them be faithful stewards of the Lord's goods. Let them not feel that they are rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, but let them practice true, Bible religion, which enjoins self-sacrifice at every step. They are to closely examine the needs of the work, reviewing the needs of all the fields; for they are God's agents set for the extension of the truth, in all parts of the world. They are not excusable if they remain in blindness and ignorance regarding the needs of the work. They are to know the advantages and defects of each field, and then with a true spirit of unselfish interest they are to work for the accomplishment of the work as a whole. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 26} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 27] In this work all the churches which have been established are to act a part, according to their several ability. If difficulties come up in missionary fields, let investigation be made without delay, lest the path of duty be hid or made obscure. As these questions come up before those who are wise in God's wisdom, examination will be united with the exercise of prudence. By using the knowledge God has given them, men will gain a clear, sharp experience. By exercising their God-given ability in helping to plant the standard of truth in new territory, they will receive great blessing. After they have unselfishly tried to gain a right understanding of the situation, they are to approach the mercy-seat asking for clear intuition and an unselfish purpose, that they may see the necessities of far-off fields. As they ask the Lord to help them to advance the work in regions beyond, they will receive grace from on high. Never will they seek the Lord in vain. 165 {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 27} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 28] But when men close the eyes of their understanding, lest they shall see and the sympathies of their hearts be awakened, lest they shall feel and be obliged to act, they become hardened and selfish, unfitted to serve God in any capacity. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 28} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 29] America was long the field of missionary conflict. God has prospered the work in that country. If those there had cherished the spirit of self-sacrificing missionary effort, fewer unnecessary buildings would have been erected, and the kingdom of Christ would have been extended to many regions. There would have been shown a missionary zeal which has not yet been developed by those whose duty it is to carry the needs of the work on their souls. Much more would have been done to plant the standard in other places besides America. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 29} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 30] But selfishness, so abhorrent to God, came in. The work was neglected, when there was plenty of means to send missionaries abroad to preach the gospel, raise up churches, and erect meeting houses. If men had worked actively on the Lord's plan, laboring earnestly and unselfishly to impart what God had given them, churches would have been established in many places. The standard would have been planted in new fields. Witness would have been borne to the truth in many more cities. God's memorial of creation, the seventh-day Sabbath, would have been honored. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 30} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 31] The great Head of the church permitted a parable to be enacted in your midst at the last General Conference. You were led to expect, from one claiming to be converted, a large donation, pledged to different branches of the work. Apparently the one who was to have made this donation was as sincere as any man in the Conference, but he disappeared, and all came to nothing. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 31} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 32] Just in this way has God been disappointed in his people, whom he has enriched abundantly with all good things, but who have failed to fulfill his expectations. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 32} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 33] A straightforward plan is to be followed in dealing with believers in home and foreign fields. An unselfish equality is to be maintained among the working forces. Money is to be provided to support missionaries. An agent should be appointed to investigate the situation in foreign countries and to report. Those in the places where the work has been established should bind about their supposed wants, that the work in foreign fields may go forward. In the institutions which have been established there will be a desire to grasp more and still more advantages. But the Lord declares that this should not be. The means in his treasury is to be used in building up the work in the places where there are no conveniences. The workers in foreign fields should not be left to beg. The condition of every new mission field should be examined, that there may be equality in the distribution of means. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 33} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 1] July 1, 1900 Extracts From Testimonies "These chapters are a dead letter to the larger number of those who claim to be Seventh-day Adventists." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 2] "I am directed to point you to these scriptures and to the seventh chapter of Matthew. You need to study every word as for your life." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 2} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 3] "My brother, there is danger of those in our ranks making a mistake in regard to receiving the Holy Ghost. Many suppose an emotion or a rupture of feeling to be an evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. There is danger that right sentiments will not be understood, and that Christ's words, 'Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you,' will lose their significance. There is danger that original devisings and superstitious imaginings will take the place of the Scriptures. Tell our people, Be not anxious to bring in something not revealed in the Word. Keep close to Christ. Remember his words: 'Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' He is with us as we teach the words he spoke in the Old Testament as well as in the New. He who gave commandment in the New Testament 178 is the one also who gave the instruction contained in the Old Testament. The Old and New Testaments are both sacred; for they both contain the words of Christ. All communication from heaven to earth since Adam's fall has come through Christ. He who believes the instruction contained in the New Testament and in the Old, doing those things which Christ has commanded therein, has the Saviour always with him." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 3} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 4] "The apostles and prophets and holy men of old did not perfect their characters by miracles, by some wonderful and unusual demonstration; but they used the ability given them by God, trusting alone in the righteousness of Christ. And all who will use the same means may secure the same result." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 4} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 5] "Satan is willing that every transgressor of God's law shall claim to be holy. He is satisfied when men rest their faith on spurious doctrines and religious enthusiasm; for he can use such persons to good purpose in deceiving souls." 179 {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 5} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 6] "The great day of God which is right upon us, awakens neither alarm nor rejoicing in the heart." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 6} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 7] "It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are prepared to close their earthly history, and would be as verily without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner. They are professedly serving God, but they are more earnestly serving mammon." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 7} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 8] "There are many who are unprepared to meet Christ, because they are not doers of the Word." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 8} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 9] "The standard of the golden rule is the true standard of Christianity. Anything short of it is a deception." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 9} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 10] "When those who profess the name of Christ shall practice the principles of the golden rule, the same power will attend the gospel as in apostolic times." {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 10} [GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 1] July 1, 1900 Extract From Testimony Dated Aug. 8, 1899 We are instructed not to "invest our money in buildings, or in any way tie it up so that it can not be used for the advancement of the work of the Lord in our world. It is too late now to build houses which consume the means which the cause of God needs so much. Put your means where it can be used in the Lord's work. This is what the Lord would have you do."--Unpublished MS., Aug. 8, 1899. {GCB, July 1, 1900 par. 1} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 1] April 2, 1901 The Proper Relation to Commercial Work "God would have his people use all their powers in his service, and if the world choose to give their work to the office, let it come; for this is one means of keeping in touch with the world." {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 2] "When business men seek the office with work to be done, tell them that you will do it for them if it can be done without neglecting the work of giving the truth to the world by publishing tracts and pamphlets and small and large books. But nothing should be introduced into the office that will lower its dignity, and place the work done on a level with cheap, fictitious literature. The Lord would have every one connected with the office an earnest, eager candidate for the treasures that are enduring." {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 3] "The Lord is our instructor. Should the office divorce the commercial business from its work, and give itself wholly to the publication of our own literature, the atmosphere pervading the office would not be any more spiritual than it is now. Continuing or discontinuing the publication of proper business matters will not make any difference religiously." {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 4] "Daniel was a statesman in Babylon. He was engaged in a work that kept idolatrous literature and practices constantly before the people. Yet he did not lose his knowledge of God and his interest in the religion of the Bible. By his faithful service he taught those in Babylon that his God was a living God, not an image such as they worshiped." {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 5] "In like manner the Lord means that Seventh-day Adventists shall witness for him. They are not to be hidden away from the world. They are to be in the world, but not of the world. They are to stand distinct from the world in their manner of dealing. They are to show that they have purity of character, that the world may see that the truth which they conscientiously believe makes them honest in their dealings; that those with whom they are connected may see that believers of truth are sanctified through the truth, and that the truth received and obeyed makes the receivers as sons and daughters of God, children of the heavenly king, members of the royal family, faithful, true, honest, and upright, in the small as well as the great acts of life." {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 6] "The Lord means that his people shall perfect a Christian character. If they have any connection with the world, it is that they may leaven the world by correct principles, not be leavened by the evil in the world. God does not require us as a people to seclude ourselves from the world. {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 7] "In all business transactions, we are to let the light shine decidedly. There is to be no sharp practice. Everything is to be done with the strictest integrity. Better consent to lose something financially than to gain by sharp practice. We shall lose nothing in the end by fair dealing. We are to live the law of God in the world, and perfect a character after the divine similitude. All business, with those in the faith and those not in the faith, is to be transacted on square, righteous principles. Everything is to be seen in the light of God's law, everything done without fraud, without duplicity, without one tinge of guile. A great work is to be done in our world, and every talent is to be used in accordance with righteous principles. {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 8] "The Lord would have the office stand as a living witness for the truth; this is why the commercial work should not be cut away. It would be a mistake for the office to build up a barrier to exclude all work from the outside; for this would close the door against the rays of light and knowledge that should be given to the world." {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 1] April 2, 1901 Extracts From a Recent Testimony "Our power and efficiency as Seventh-day Adventists is largely dependent on the literature which comes from our presses." {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 2] "The proper circulation and distribution of our publications is one of the most important branches of the present work." {GCB, April 2, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 1] April 3, 1901 Address by E. G. White I feel a special interest in the movements and decisions that shall be made at this Conference regarding the things that should have been done years ago, and especially ten years ago, when we were assembled in Conference, and the Spirit and power of God came into our meeting, testifying that God was ready to work for this people if they would come into working order. The brethren assented to the light God had given, but there were those connected with our institutions, especially with the Review and Herald Office and the Conference, who brought in elements of unbelief, so that the light that was given was not acted upon. It was assented to, but no special change was made to bring about such a condition of things that the power of God could be revealed among his people. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 2] The light then given me was that this people should stand higher than any other people on the face of the whole earth, that they should be a loyal people, a people who would rightly represent truth. The sanctifying power of the truth, revealed in their lives, was to distinguish them from the world. They were to stand in moral dignity, having such a close connection with heaven that the Lord God of Israel could give them a place in the earth. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 3] Year after year the same acknowledgment was made, but the principles which exalt a people were not woven into the work. God gave them clear light as to what they should do, and what they should not do, but they departed from that light, and it is a marvel to me that we stand in as much prosperity as we do today. It is because of the great mercy of our God, not because of our righteousness, but that his name should not be dishonored in the world. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 4] In the thirty-first chapter of Exodus God says: "Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 5] It is not for men in any part of the world, in any line of his work, to depart from God's principles in any business transaction. God wants the world to see that business can be carried on in accordance with the principles that mark the character of God in Christ. What are God's commandments?--They are the wall which is built round his people. There is to be no departure from his principles, no bringing in of worldly policy principles. No worldly customs or practices are to be brought in for this people who are to be representatives of Christ to follow. When we keep the commandments of God, we are in touch with God, and he is connected with us. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 6] We read in the first chapter of first Peter: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Capadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." To gain this inheritance, you must be incorruptible and undefiled. You are not to be perverted in any way from the straight lines which God has laid down. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 7] "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." We are living in the last time. We are standing as it were on the very borders of the final conflict. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 8] "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in 24 heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Think of this, brethren. Consider it. There are thoughtful men here, and they need to think. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 9] "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now you see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable, and full of glory." This is the standard that God wants us to reach. "Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of God which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow; unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into." {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 10] Every soul in every Conference, in every part of the Lord's vineyard, has the privilege of knowing the truth. But truth is not truth to those who do not practice it. Truth is only truth to you when you live it in the daily life, showing the world what those people must be who are at last saved. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 11] "Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 12] Why, I ask you, are men who have not brought self into subjection allowed to stand in important positions of truth and handle sacred things? They have grown to the stature of men, but they have brought with them their childish tendencies. God does not want any such thing. He has made provision for all to have in them the grace of Christ. No others will enter heaven. There has been one rebellion there, and there will not be another. We have been given an opportunity to get rid of every kind of rebellion. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 13] "As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." When you leave this meeting and go to your homes, be quick to hear and slow to speak. Keep yourselves under subjection to the Spirit of God. At the last Conference which I attended here, there was gossiping and controversy in every house. If the people had prayed instead of gossiping, if they had talked with God, the condition of things would have been very different. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 14] Many of you have been educating yourselves to talk with human beings instead of talking with God. You have built up barriers against the principles which should have been carried into every part of the Lord's vineyard. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 15] Slow to speak, slow to wrath. It only takes a word to fire up a man who has not made a practice of talking with God. This spirit is as contagious as the leprosy. One and another catch it, and thus dissension and strife and commotion are brought in. God is not in any of this work. Brethren, before we have finished, we shall know whether or not God is handling this Conference. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 16] "As he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." You may be exalted to heaven as far as position is concerned, but position does not make the man. Do you obey the commandments of God? Are you one with God? Are you sanctified by the Spirit of God? Those who fill positions in the Conference must have the righteousness of Christ. This gives a man a power in his work. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 17] "And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." Do not exalt self. Christ has said. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 18] "Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; forasmuch as ye know that ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold." If you depart from the principles that are to live through the eternal ages, and bring common things into God's service, he will scatter your work to the four winds. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 19] "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers." There are those here that have traditions, and they stand just as the Pharisees stood. Notwithstanding they may say that unity and love, compassion and tenderness are correct principles, yet in their own line of practice they cling to the old traditions. "You are to stand by the old traditions," they say. But what we want is God's traditions. We want to have the living principles of heaven brought into our lives. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 20] You are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without blemish and without spot. And what were you redeemed from? Let me read it again. "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth" -- it means everything whether you are bound up with God by the truth, or whether you are not. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." Think of this. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 21] "Being born again." You see, if we do these things, we are born of the Spirit. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." We want you to do all these things. Here are men, sober and right-minded men, who are occupying influential positions on committees, and are handling sacred things, things connected with the service of God. These individuals have been called to bear responsibilities, to carry an influence in the work of God, and the work has been increasing, and ought to increase to fourfold of what it is. Some of those engaged in the work have their intelligence sanctified, and others are unsanctified, but everything will be revealed; for "by their fruits ye shall know them." {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 22] Now, whatever the work done by men in responsible positions, its character 25 will be testified to by its fruits. In the office of publication, the light that God has given me for years is that those in positions of responsibility there are to gather in the youth, to talk to them, to train them for the Lord's service. Do not indulge a spirit of combativeness. Keep the unsanctified tongues under control. Do not blame and censure. Act just as you would want the overseers to act toward you were you in the position of these young people. God wants every individual in his service to represent him. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 23] The men who have woven their own human passions into life and character, who have nurtured self all the way along, are not to think that they are qualified to deal with human minds. God wants every person to begin at home, and there live the Christ-life. In the church and in every business transaction a man will be just what he is in his home. If he submits to the Holy Spirit's guidance in the home, if he understands his responsibility to deal with minds there, then when in responsible positions he will pursue the same course. Remembering the tenderness of Christ toward him, he will manifest the same love and tenderness toward others. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 24] All who are educated in the office of publication should see there exemplified the principles of heaven. I would rather lay a child of mine in his grave than have him go there to see these principles mangled and perverted. The principles of heaven are to be carried out in every family, in the discipline of every church, in every establishment, in every institution, in every school, and in everything that shall be managed. You have no right to manage, unless you manage in God's order. Are you under the control of God? Do you see your responsibility to him? If you do realize this responsibility, you will realize that you are to mold and fashion minds after the divine similitude; and then those in the different institutions here, who are being trained and educated to become workers, will work for God, to hold up the standard of righteousness. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 25] O, my very soul is drawn out in these things! Men who have not learned to submit themselves to the control and discipline of God, are not competent to train the youth, to deal with human minds. It is just as much an impossibility for them to do this work as it would be for them to make a world. That these men should stand in a sacred place, to be as the voice of God to the people, as we once believed the General Conference to be,--that is past. What we want now is a reorganization. We want to begin at the foundation, and to build upon a different principle. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 26] The institution under the management of Dr. Kellogg has done a great work for the education of the youth. It has sent forth more workers in the cause in medical missionary gospel lines than any other agency I know of among our people throughout the world. And I ask, How have you treated the matter? Have you felt that you were to honor God by respecting and honoring the work that has been done in his name for the upbuilding of his cause. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 27] The principles of health reform have been proclaimed by us as a people for thirty years. And yet there are among us ministers of the gospel and members of the church who have no respect for the light that God has given upon health reform. They eat as they please, and work as they please. God calls for a straight testimony to be given to those who claim to believe that we are living in the last days of this earth's history. A line of distinction must be drawn between those who serve God, and those who serve him not. God calls upon his people to put away self-pleasing. When in body, soul, and spirit they will dedicate themselves to God, his power will be revealed in a remarkable manner. Here are men who are standing at the head of our various institutions, of the educational interests, and of the Conferences in different localities and in different States. All these are to stand as representative men, to have a voice in molding and fashioning the plans that shall be carried out. There are to be more than one or two or three men to consider the whole vast field. The work is great, and there is no one human mind that can plan for the work which needs to be done. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 28] There are those who always take a negative position. This counts nothing toward building up the work. What has been done here in Michigan? What has been done in America, in the fields that have needed laborers and efficient helpers? I ask you what field where the people have never heard the truth, has been searched out and worked? Who has been preparing men to take hold of the field? And yet upon us rests the responsibility of fulfilling Christ's command, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." After Christ's baptism he preached the gospel to the cities that were round about. He was working and healing--the medical missionary work was bound up with the preaching of the gospel. I am so thankful for the medical missionary work, carried in gospel lines. It is to be taught, it is to be carried forward; for it is the very work that Christ did when on this earth. He was the greatest missionary the world ever saw. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 29] You may say: "Why not, then, take hold of the work, and heal the sick as Christ did?"--I answer, You are not ready. Some have believed; some have been healed; but there are many who make themselves sick by intemperate eating or by indulging in other wrong habits. When they get sick, shall we pray for them to be raised up, that they may carry on the very same work again? There must be a reformation throughout our ranks; the people must reach a higher standard before we can expect the power of God to be manifested in a marked manner for the healing of the sick. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 30] We talk of the Holy Ghost; we preach of the Holy Ghost; but we need to understand better what the office of the Holy Ghost is. We need to understand that we must co-operate with God in every sense or God can not co-operate with us. "We are laborers together with God." {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 31] According to the light that has been given me--and just how it is to be accomplished I can not say--greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the Conference. But this will not be done by intrusting responsibilities to men who have had light poured upon them year after year for the last ten or fifteen years, and yet have not heeded the light that God has given them. The word of God is to be our guide. Have you given heed to the Word? The Testimonies are not by any means to take the place of the Word. They are to bring you to that neglected Word, that you may eat the words of Christ, that you may feed upon them, that by living faith you may be built up from that upon which you feed. If you live in obedience to Christ and his word, you are eating the leaves of the tree of life, which are for the healing of the nations. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 31} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 32] Here are the very words that we want to bring into our life practice. The men that have long stood in positions of trust while disregarding the light that God 26 has given, are not to be depended upon. God wants them to be removed. He wants a new life element brought into the publishing institutions. There are those who have stood as managers and yet have not managed after God's order. Some have served on committees here and committees there, and have felt free to dictate just what the committee should say and do, claiming that those who did not carry out these ideas were sinning against Christ. When the power of God is manifest in the church and in the management of the various departments of his work, when it is evident that the managers are themselves controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, then it is time to consider that you are safe in accepting what they may say, under God. But you must know that you are guided by the principles of the Word of the living God. The Great General of armies, the Captain of the Lord's host, is our leader. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 32} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 33] The children of Israel thought that if they should have a king and be like the other nations, they would be a wonderful people. God directed his servant Samuel to tell them what would be the result if their desire were granted. He told them what kings would do. Nevertheless, they said, we will have a king to reign over us. They had a king, and to their sorrow they learned of how little avail was an earthly ruler when God went not forth with their armies. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 33} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 34] Now I want to say, God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to control it in every line. Here is a vineyard presenting its barren places that have received no labor. And if one should start out to till these places in the name of the Lord, unless he should get the permission of the men in a little circle of authority he would receive no help. But God means that his workers shall have help. If a hundred should start out on a mission to these destitute fields, crying unto God, he would open the way before them. Let me tell you, if your heart is in the work, and you have faith in God, you need not depend upon the sanction of any minister or any people; if you go right to work in the name of the Lord, in a humble way doing what you can to teach the truth, God will vindicate you. If the work had not been so restricted by an impediment here, and an impediment there, and on the other side an impediment, it would have gone forward in its majesty. It would have gone in weakness at first, but the God of heaven lives; the great Overseer lives, the One who knew where Cornelius lived, and who appeared to him as an angel, and declared to him, Your prayers and your alms have come up as a memorial before God. And now do you send men for one Simon, whose surname is Peter, who lives with one Simon a tanner. And he told him the very place where Simon the tanner lived. Then the angel of the Lord went to Peter, and prepared his mind for the reception of the men. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 34} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 35] Our God knew about the Ethiopian who was in his chariot studying the prophecy of Isaiah concerning Christ, and he sent Philip to meet that Ethiopian, and the Ethiopian asked him to come and sit in his chariot, and there Philip proclaimed the truth to him more fully. And he said, Here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? And he was led down and baptized, because he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 35} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 36] The Lord enters into every house, into every office, into every room, where his work is done. Angels of God are passing and repassing through these offices, and there is a record kept of everything that is done in these places. By this record the workers are to be judged. "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned;" every word and action. God is watching, and every one will be rewarded according as his works have been. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 36} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 37] The time has come when this people are to be born again. Those that have never been born again, and those that have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins, and can not see afar off, and have practiced their old habits of talking, prejudicing others, hindering the work, and being generally in the way of its advancement, would better be converted. God wants you to be converted, and may he help, that this work may go forward. He is a power for his people when they come into order. There must be a renovation, a reorganization; a power and strength must be brought into the committees that are necessary. Let every one of you go home, not to chat, chat, chat, but to pray. Go home and pray. Talk with God. Go home and plead with God to mold and fashion you after the divine similitude. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 37} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 38] Let us right here at this meeting see that the converting power of God is essential. If we will take hold of the Master, take hold of all the power he has given us, the salvation of God will be revealed. Let me tell you that the sick will be healed when you have faith to come to God in the right way. We thank God that we have the medical missionary work. Wherever we carry the gospel, we can teach the people how to take care of themselves. This is our pioneer work. The medical missionary work gives us access to places where otherwise we could not enter, where the people would not give us a hearing. We have been in the field. We have been over the ground. We know what this means. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 38} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 39] There are places in the South to be worked. God will help us all to act our part if we will only have the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice. In the name of the Lord we call for men to build up and strengthen this work; but they themselves need to be built up in the most holy faith, that they may work in the different Conferences, that there may be a healthy, holy influence circulating through each Conference, and that there shall be a supply in any case where God calls for men to enter missionary fields. There is a great work to be done, and my heart is panting and longing for the salvation of souls. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 39} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 40] God wants us to love one another. He says, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another," "as I have loved you; that ye also love one another." This is the new commandment. It was new because Christ had not, before it was spoken, given the evidence of how much he loves us. "As I have loved you,"--that makes it a new commandment. He wants you to consider his love, manifested in dying for our sinful race; and consider what you can do in order to extend the knowledge of that love. Every believer in the truth has a relation to another soul, and that soul to still another, and through these lines of influence we may extend the blessings of God's grace. Thus we may diffuse heaven's atmosphere in place of the malarious atmosphere which has surrounded so many souls; and by means of which God's work has been hindered and his name dishonored. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 40} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 41] Brethren, remember that you are dealing with sacred things. Again I urge you to go home and pray. I have many things as they were written out in my diary ten years ago; I shall have these things copied that I may read them to you. I shall read you what God 27 expects of his people, who believe the grandest truth ever given to our world. We have a whole treasure house of truth, and if you will become familiar with the truth while here, you can bring from the treasure house things new and old, and you will be able to help the people wherever you may go. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 41} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 42] In this city there are many in the school, many in the publishing house, and many training for the medical missionary work. And on every hand there is work to be done. There is work in the regions right around us, and a wide field for work in the regions beyond. God help us to stand prepared for the battle, having on the whole armor, and our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That is what you need. Be at peace among yourselves. When you do that, you are educating character. You are forming characters for the future, immortal life. I want to have a home with the blessed, and I want you to have a home there. I want to work in harmony with you, and I want that every one who has an impetuous temper, that will flare up and lead him to act like a frantic man--I want him, as he begins to speak in this way, to remember Christ, and sit right down and hold his peace. Say not a word. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 42} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 43] God help us to restrain our tongues. The voice is a precious talent, and it is to be used to a purpose. It is not lent to you that you may swear; but every one, who gives way to an unholy temper might just as well swear. God help us to submit to Jesus Christ, and to have his power right here and now. 29 {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 43} [GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 44] Mrs. E. G. White: I want to speak a word now, as I have spoken before. I want every one to be careful how he throws in a block--"Not now, wait, wait, wait, wait." We want to know what the right thing is, and move right away. We ask you to pray to God, and we ask you to take your stand, that God can come into this meeting, and that you can come right to the point. {GCB, April 3, 1901 par. 44} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 1] April 4, 1901 Our Supply in Christ. Mrs. E. G. White, in Early Morning Meeting, April 3, 1901. I thank the Lord that so many have come out to this early morning meeting to worship God. I desire that my heart shall be drawn out to God. It is our privilege to feel the deep movings of his Spirit. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 2] We read in James: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." This is a wonderful position. And it is our privilege to occupy this position. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 3] "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted; but the rich, in that he is made low; because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth; so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 4] Let us take in the idea of the privilege we have. There are so many who, when they are in trouble, forget the invitation God has given, and begin to look for human help. They go to human beings for aid, and this is the way in which their experience becomes feeble. In all our trials we will seek the Lord most earnestly, remembering that we are his property, his children by adoption, and we shall receive help. We are his by creation, we are his by redemption. By the cords of divine love we are bound to the Source of all power and strength. If we will only make God our dependence, asking him for what we want as a little child asks his father for what he wants, we shall obtain a rich experience. We shall learn that God is the source of all strength and power. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 5] If, when you ask, you do not immediately feel any special exercise of feeling, do not think that your prayer is not answered. The One who says, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened," will hear and answer you. Let us, then, ask and seek, and have the privilege of finding. Christ says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,"--the yoke of restraint and obedience,--"and learn of 36 me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." We are to find rest by wearing his yoke and bearing his burdens. In being co-workers with Christ in the great work for which he gave his life, we shall find true rest. When we were sinners, he gave his life for us. He wants us to come to him and learn of him. Thus We are to find rest. He says he will give us rest. "Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." In doing this you will find in your own experience the rest that Christ gives, the rest that comes from wearing his yoke and lifting his burdens. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 6] God has been greatly dishonored by his people leaning upon human beings. He has not told us to do this. He has told us that he will teach us, he will guide us. We may come to him and receive help. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 7] I can not tell you how many letters came to me across the broad Pacific when I was in Australia, asking for counsel. What did Christ promise his disciples if they would believe in him as their personal Saviour? "Lo, I am with you alway," he said, "even unto the end of the world." Again he says, "I am at thy right hand to help thee." Think of how many promises he has given us, which we may grasp by the hand of faith. When we go to the Source of power, we know that we shall receive that intelligence and wisdom which comes from a pure source, which is not mixed with anything of humanity. As we pray, it is our privilege to know that God wants us to pray, to ask him for help. He wants us to become acquainted with him, to speak to him, to tell him of our difficulties. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 8] Christ took humanity upon himself. He laid aside his royal robe and kingly crown, and stepped down from his high command in the heavenly courts. Clothing his divinity with humanity, he encircled the race with his long human arm. He stands at the head of humanity, but not as a sinner. It is because there is no spot nor stain of sin upon him that he can stand there. Because he is sinless, he can take away our sins, and place us on vantage-ground with God. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 9] When I open a letter beginning, "I am sorry to trouble you, Sister White, but I am in trouble, and I wish to know about something in regard to my family and in regard to myself," I feel sad at heart. When it is essential for you to know, God will let you know. He has promised that if you ask wisdom from him, he will give it to you. But it is not always essential for us to know all the why's and wherefore's. We dishonor God by striving to get some one whom we think understands our case to help us. Is not Christ close beside us, and will he not give us the help we need? His word repeats the promise over and over again. "If ye ask anything in my name, I will do it," he says. "If ye love me, keep my commandments." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 10] It is no marvel to me that at the present time there is so much weakness where there should be strength. The reason of this is that instead of drinking of the pure water of Lebanon, we are seeking to quench our thirst from cisterns in the lowlands, which contain not the water of life. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 11] I want to tell you, dear friends, that we have done great dishonor to our Master. Shall we continue to cherish the sin of unbelief, which doth so easily beset us, or shall we cast away this weight of unbelief, and go to the Source of strength, believing that we shall receive pity and compassion from the One who knows our frame, who loves us so well that he gave His own life for us, who bore in His own body the strokes which fell because of our transgression of the law of God. All this He did that we might be prisoners of hope. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 12] We are not polite to Christ. We do not recognize his presence. We do not realize that he is to be our honored guest, that we are encircled by his long human arm, while with his divine arm he grasps the throne of the Infinite. We forget that the threshold of heaven is flooded with the glory proceeding from the throne of God, that the light may fall directly on those who are seeking the help Christ alone can give. He said to the woman of Samaria, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. . . . Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 13] We are to recognize Christ. He does not want us to be as a band of mourners in a funeral train, bearing upon us the marks of care and perplexity. He wants us to commit the keeping of our souls to him. He wants us to put our trust in the naked promise. But, you say, I do not feel like it. Tell me what value there is in feeling! Is feeling stronger than the faith which it is your privilege to exercise in God? Feelings change with almost every circumstance; but the promises of the Eternal are as solid rock. Let us build our house upon the sure foundation, and rivet our souls to the eternal Rock, the Rock of Ages. If we do this, we shall find that it will become habitual for us to remember that we have a Companion. Wherever we are, we are to talk with God. This is the way Enoch walked with God. He talked with him. He recognized the Divine Presence. And in the days of Enoch the world was no more favorable for the perfection of Christian character than in 1901. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 14] There is no dependence to be placed in humanity. Where do you get your mental food. Do you get it from the newspapers of today, which are filled with the most disgusting and horrible representations? We have something better than this, and we are to show to the world that we know the source of power and efficiency and comfort. The grace of God, which passes knowledge, is imparted to us. It is free. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 15] The Lord can take every one of us in his embrace; for his arm encircles the race. Let us remember this, after Christ had taken the necessary steps in repentance, conversion, and faith in behalf of the human race, he went to John to be baptized of him in Jordan. "John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" Jesus answered, "Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." When he came up out of the water, he knelt down on the banks of the Jordan, and offered a prayer such as had never before entered heaven. While he was praying, the heavens opened, and the glory of God, in the form of a dove of burnished gold, rested upon him, and from the highest heaven was heard the voice of the infinite One, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 16] Have you thought of what this means to us;-- that in this prayer is included every son and daughter of Adam, who will believe in Christ as a personal Saviour, and take the requisite steps in repentance, conversion, faith, and baptism? We are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three great, infinite powers are unitedly pledged to work in our behalf 37 if we will co-operate with them. We are buried with Christ in baptism as an emblem of his death. We are raised from the water as an emblem of his resurrection. We are to live as new-born souls, that we may be raised at the last great day. You are to live in newness of life; for you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." This is where you are to place your treasure. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 17] Christ's prayer on the banks of the Jordan includes every one who will believe in him. The promise that you are accepted in the Beloved comes to you. God said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This means that through the dark shadow which Satan has thrown athwart your pathway Christ has cleaved the way for you to the throne of the infinite God. He has laid hold of almighty power, and you are accepted in the Beloved. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 18] In every respect you are to honor God. But there is not in our experience that pleasantness and joyousness that there should be. Christ says that if he is in us, our joy will be full. Let us be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Let us not, by living inconsistent, earthly, sensual lives, heap reproach upon Christ. Let us rise above the malarious atmosphere that pervades the world, and breathe the breath of God. Let us feed upon the bread of life. Christ declares that if we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we shall have eternal life. His word will be to us as the leaves of the tree of life. If we eat the bread that came down from heaven, we shall have a connection with God. We shall bring eternity into our reckoning. We shall live as in the presence of the whole heavenly host. The angels are watching and guarding us. God loves us, but we fail to cherish that love. God wants us to recognize his ownership in every human being. They are mine, he says. I have bought them with a price. "Ye are not your own. . . . Therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 19] Shall we not take hold of our privileges? Let us not dwell upon the dark side of the picture, saying that we do not know how things are coming out; that everything seems to be torn up and broken to pieces. It is not so. We may place ourselves under the molding hand of God. He will make of us vessels unto honor, if we are willing to be made thus. God wants us to expect large things, to remember that the prayer which ascended to heaven at the Saviour's baptism embraces every one of us. We are accepted in the Beloved. Christ has pledged himself to keep us. Then commit the keeping of your souls to him, as unto a faithful Creator. Repeat the words aloud, "I will commit the keeping of my soul to him." We would better talk with God, even though our words are heard by others. When there are those around you who are stirred by passion, do not retaliate to their hasty words, but repeat the words of Scripture. Supposing you should do this in your dealing with your brethren and sisters. When untrue words are spoken about us, shall we flare up? Were not a great many untrue things spoken concerning the Saviour, and did He retaliate? God wants us to stand in moral dignity, recommending the divine power that enables us to possess our souls in patience. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 20] God wants his people to show to the world that they have opened the windows of the soul heavenward, that the Sun of Righteousness is shining into the soul-temple, and that the windows are closed earthward. We need an increase of faith and confidence in God. To the poor souls who have been leaning on the broken staff of humanity I would say, O that God would show you that there is a power above the power of humanity! May God help every one of us to work on the plan of faith, believing that the Lord wants to be represented in our world, that he wants his power to be revealed in his people. He will reveal his power through you if you will only place yourselves where he can give you this power. You may have hope and joy and strength. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 21] The love of God in your heart will lead you to love your brethren. God wants you to manifest his love, that your life may be hid with Christ in God. The Father loves you as he loves his Son, because his Son has averted the sword of justice by offering himself as a sacrifice. Christ purchased you at an infinite cost, and he wants you to show that you appreciate what has been done to place you on vantage-ground. He says to the Father. "Here is a poor sinner I have given my life for him. He is saved by my grace. Receive him as your child." Do you think the Father will refuse? {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 22] Let us at this Conference make it an individual work to seek God with all the heart, that we may find him. Do not hunt up the sins some one else has committed. God has not made any one of you a sin-bearer. You can not even bear your own sins. Christ must take your sins and the sins of every other mortal. Let us show that we appreciate his sacrifice in our behalf. Let us reveal in our lives the fragrance of his character. Be fragrant in your words. Remember that you are either a savor of life unto life or of death unto death. Let us be as fragrant flowers. Let the love of Christ pervade your lives. Let your words be such that they will be as apples of gold in pictures of silver. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 23] This is the work the Lord wants us to do. Can not you think of enough to praise the Lord for? Can not you praise him because he died for you, because he has spared you for so long, because you have his word, which is so full of precious promises? He offers you the bread of life. He says, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." Eat his word, search it, dig deep for the hidden treasure. Do not talk. We have always had so much to say. God says, "Be still, and know that I am God." Be still long enough to know that God is God. Remember that you are to help every one around you. Forget yourself, your bruises and wounds and difficulties. Praise God, and he will receive you. Because he lives, you may live also. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 1] April 4, 1901 Extracts From Testimonies "Ye churches of the living God, study this promise." "Thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward." "Ye servants of God, study this promise, and consider how your lack of faith, of spirituality, of divine power, is hindering the coming of the kingdom of God. Were every one of you living missionaries, the gospel would be speedily proclaimed in all countries, to all peoples, nations, and tongues. This is the work that must be done before Christ shall come in power and great glory." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 2] "If God's people had the love of Christ in the heart; if every church member were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of self-sacrifice; if all manifested a thorough earnestness, there would be no lack of funds for home and foreign missions; our resources would be multiplied; a thousand doors of usefulness would be opened, and we would be invited to enter. Had the purpose of God been carried out by his people in giving the message of mercy to the world, Christ would have come to the earth, and the saints would, 48 ere this, have received their welcome into the city of God." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 3] "We must devise and plan wisely, that the people may have an opportunity to hear for themselves the last message of mercy to the world. The people should be warned to make ready for the great day of God, which is right upon them. We have no time to lose. We must do our utmost to reach men where they are. The world is now reaching the boundary line in impenitence and disregard for the laws of the government of God." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 4] "We have just come from Europe, where we have been laboring for two years. We saw there on every side fields which needed to be entered and worked. The people were softened and subdued by the Spirit of God." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 5] "The people were softened and subdued 49 by the Spirit of God, and were longing for spiritual food." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 6] "They called for books and papers and for the living preacher. All was done for them that could be done. We knew that nothing more could be done unless hearts were awakened to see the necessity of the work and the need of means to be used in sending those calling for help not only the books, but the living preacher. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 7] "The work is to be made a living, breathing, vital power all over the world." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 8] "There is a great work to be done in England. The light radiating from London should beam forth in clear, distinct rays to regions beyond. God has wrought in England, but the English-speaking world has been terribly neglected. You that have the cause of God at heart, bear in mind the great work to be done in London and all through England." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 9] "It is essential that men be raised up to open the living oracles of God to all nations, tongues, and people. Let the brethren in America consider that the Lord expects them to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Jesus." {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 10] "Thousands of places are to be worked. Let there be no parleying with flesh and blood. {GCB, April 4, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 1] April 5, 1901 Remarks by Mrs. E. G. White That is the right principle. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 2] Mrs. E. G. White: Amen! It is the Lord's money. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 3] Mrs. E. G. White: I am thankful that there is to be a time when the mists will be cleared away. I hope that this time has begun here. We want the mists here to be cleared away. I want to say that from the light given to me by God, there should have been years ago organizations such as are now proposed. When we first met in Conference, it was thought that the General Conference should extend over the whole world. But this is not in God's order. Conferences must be organized in different localities, and it will be for the health of the different Conferences to have it thus. This does not mean that we are to cut ourselves apart from 69 one another, and be as separate atoms. Every Conference is to touch every other Conference, and be in harmony with every other Conference. God wants us to talk for this, and he wants us to act for this. We are the people of God, who are to be separate from the world. We are to stand as representatives of sacred truth. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 4] While on my journey to Battle Creek, as I have visited different places, I at Los Angeles, asked, Why do you not do this? and, Why do you not do that? And the response has been, "That is what we want to do, but we must first get the consent of the Board, the members of which are in Oakland." But, I asked, have you not men here with common sense. If you have not, then by all means transport them. You show great deficiency by having your Board hundreds of miles away. That is not the wisdom of God. There are men right where you are who have minds, who have judgment, who need to exercise their brains, who need to be learning how to do things, how to take up aggressive work, how to annex new territory. They are not to be dependent on a Conference at Battle Creek or a Board at Oakland. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 5] At the Health Retreat at St. Helena there was something which greatly needed to be done, and I called the leading men together, and urged upon them the importance of doing this thing. But they said, "We have no authority to act. We must first communicate with the Board." "What do you mean," I asked, "by acting in such a childish manner? Have you no men here who can be put in a position of responsibility, to decide such questions? If you have not, then do your best at once to find those who can fill such places here. We must have some one right at hand to whom we can speak. The Board must not be at San Francisco or Oakland, but here. They must be where we can counsel with them at once, in cases of necessity. Here is something that must be done immediately, and even if you have no official authority, take off your coats, and go to work to do that which must be done for the health of the institution." I relate this to show you how foolish it is to have a Board miles and miles away, instead of close at hand. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 6] In regard to the work in the South, the arrangements which are being made for that field are in accordance with the light which has been given me. God desires the Southern field to have a conference of its own. The work there must be done on different lines from the work in any other field. The laborers there will have to work on peculiar lines, nevertheless the work will be done. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 7] The Southern field must be organized into a Conference. The lack of interest that has been manifested in that field has made it doubly sure that it must be thus. The Lord is going to enter the South; he is going to work there. His salvation is to be revealed, and the very places in which it has been most difficult to make advancement, are to be the places where the angels of the Lord will go before us. The Lord told the children of Israel that they should have gone up and possessed the land, and he would have given them possession. So he says to us. We are to enter every place in which we can find standing-room. There we are to plant the standard of truth. There we are to leave a monument which every week will proclaim. "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." The Lord declares that when we diligently observe his Sabbath, it is a sign between him and us, that we may know that he is the Lord that doth sanctify us. This knowledge is of more value to us than gold or silver or precious stones. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 8] The workers in the South are not to depend upon the Conference at Battle Creek. They are to hang their helpless souls on Jesus Christ. God can work for men today as he worked for Daniel. He gave Daniel and his companions wisdom and understanding, and he will give wisdom and understanding to the workers who, with clean hands and willing minds, with self-denial and self-sacrifice, go into the Southern field to clear the King's highway, to take up the stumbling blocks, and prepare the way for the Lord's work to be done. If they will seek for the wisdom of God, if they will cling in humility to the mighty One, they will receive heaven's blessing. I said to my son, "If you will only work in and through the Holy Spirit, you will have a Comforter with you all the time. It does not matter what this one or that one may say. You are not amenable to any man. You are amenable to God. He has given you your work, and he is making a way for you so that you can work in his name." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 9] When I was in Vicksburg, I was so pleased to see in the congregation which assembled on the Sabbath, men of intelligence and real moral worth. I wanted to leave the room; for I felt that I should have to weep. I seldom shed a tear, not even when my dead are before me. Their work is done, and they are at rest. But when I see something that makes my heart glad, the tears will come. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 10] I want to tell you that I feel hopeful in God regarding this proposition concerning the Southern work. There is to be a great work done in the South. For several years I have been waiting and watching for this work. It has been delayed, but now it has been started, and I believe that it has been started right. And to those who do not believe this, I would say, Do not talk unbelief. Put on your armor; put on the gospel shoes; and go to the South and see the work that is being done. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 11] My heart is greatly encouraged in God. I have rolled off the burden that was upon my soul. I feel, brethren and sisters, that we are going to take hold together in the name of the Lord, and seek with all our power to restore, to heal the wounds which have been inflicted on the cause, by a deficient knowledge of what God is to us, and of our relation to him. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 12] We want to understand that there are no gods in our Conference. There are to be no kings here, and no kings in any Conference that is formed. "All ye are brethren." Let us work on the platform of humility, seeking the Lord earnestly that his light may shine into our hearts, and that the arrangements we make may be after God's order. I thank God that we are today in the presence of the whole heavenly universe. While we are making these arrangements, all heaven is witnessing to them. If the veil could be removed, if our ears could be opened, we would see the holy angels and hear a song of triumph ascending to God, because advance is to be made in the Southern field. This field, because it is a hard one, has stood with little help and with little sympathy. Those who work there must put on the righteousness of Christ. He says, My righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall be your rearward. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 13] New Conferences must be formed. It was in the order of God that the Union Conference was organized in Australasia. The Lord God of Israel will link us all together. The organizing of new Conferences is not to separate us. It is to bind us together. The Conferences that are formed are to cling mightily to the Lord, so that through them he can reveal 70 his power, making them excellent representations of fruit-bearing. "By their fruits ye shall know them." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 14] O, if ever there was a people who needed to be imbued with the Spirit of the living God, we need to be. At this time we must see something done which we have not seen for a long time. There must be a scattering from Battle Creek. Those who are here should learn all they can, so that when they go to other places, they can work for the Lord. He has wisdom for you, even as he had for Daniel. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 15] The Lord wants to bind those at this Conference heart to heart. No man is to say, "I am a god, and you must do as I say." From the beginning to the end this is wrong. There is to be an individual work. God says, "Let him take hold of my strength that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 16] Remember that God can give wisdom to those who handle his work. It is not necessary to send thousands of miles to Battle Creek for advice, and then have to wait weeks before an answer can be received. Those who are right on the ground are to decide what shall be done. You know what you have to wrestle with, but those who are thousands of miles away do not know. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 17] It is best for us to put our trust in the God of Israel. We are to feel that it is time for us to possess new territory, time for us to feel that we must break the bonds which have kept us from going forward. Young men, young women, there is a work for you to do. Just as surely as you do this work will you see the salvation of God. Close the windows of the soul earthward, and open them heavenward, and you will receive the rich blessings of heaven, and will at last gain a crown of immortality. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 18] Mrs. E. G. White: I want to say a word. As it has been presented before me, the Southern field has been so long neglected that the cries of distress have gone up to heaven, and there never can be a clearance of our people until that field shall have fourfold more than any other field should have. They must have it, because they have nothing with which to carry forward their work. From the light that God has given me, our people will never stand as they should stand before Him, until they redeem the past. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 1] April 5, 1901 In the Regions Beyond. By Mrs. E. G. White, 9 a.m., April 4. The Lord is our helper, and in humility of soul we should send to heaven our most earnest petitions, asking him to mold and fashion us in accordance with his character. We can not depend upon others to do this work for us. We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Angels of God are round about us, ready to help every one who will walk carefully and prayerfully and in humility before the Lord God of Israel. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 2] We have a large field to work. To the disciples the Lord Jesus gave the commission, "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," and he added, "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." He will be with us to the very end. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 3] Our mission is a very sacred and important one, but we have come to place more confidence in human judgment than in the Lord God of Israel. Therefore God says, I am afraid of you. He desires his work to move harmoniously. There is a great work to be done. Before I left my home in Cooranbong there were many nights when it was impossible for me to sleep. The burden upon my soul was very great. I did not want to leave my home unless I had a special assurance that the Lord God of Israel was my Helper and my God. I have had this assurance. On my journey to this place from California the Lord was especially near me, and notwithstanding my feebleness and suffering, I filled every appointment save one. I am more thankful to God than I can express that he has so graciously protected me. Since I have come here he has given me strength, and I put my dependence upon him. I have no strength in myself. I desire to move in the counsel of God. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 4] This meeting will determine the character of our work in the future. How important that every step taken is taken under the supervision of God. This work must be carried in a very different manner to what it has been in the past years. There is a great work to be done in all fields. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 5] When we come into the congregation here at Battle Creek, we see large numbers. In the night seasons One was standing among us, saying, Who sent you here? From what place did you come? What are you doing to remedy the congested state of things in Battle Creek? {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 6] There is a world to save. What are you doing to save that world? From Australia I have tried to send over the word that God wants every one to stand at his post, working out the divine will in the saving of souls. There are those who need to know the truth. From the light given me, there are those who are gathering up the tithe and using it to do work; but where is the fruit? And yet the message is sent to Australia that the work there has received more than its share of help. In establishing the work there we had everything to do. Here in America were great institutions. Building after building was erected. We were thankful when we succeeded in building a little meeting-house, of the simplest style, in Cooranbong. In erecting this building, the best workmen labored for a dollar and a half a day, and then gave half of that to help in the work. Some of these were men who had newly come into the truth, and we were thankful that they were willing to make this sacrifice. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 7] In the work in Australia, we have exercised the strictest economy, that we might place the work on vantage ground. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 8] From the light God has given me, there must be a decided change in the management of things at the heart of the work. There are unworked fields all around us. Who has entered these fields? Who has carried the burden of them? Who has been striving to annex new territory? When workers sent by God have entered the darkest and most unpromising places, have not stones been placed in the way of their progress? Have not efforts been made to tie their hands, so that they could do nothing? God declares that when he sends workers to any place, they are under his supervision. It is not in his order that two or three men shall plan for the whole Conference, and decide how the tithe shall be used, as though the tithe were a fund of their own. Let men be careful how they shall put their hands upon the work, and say, We can not help. In the night season I have been in congregations where appeals for help were made. The people were ready to help, but those leading out in the work spoke words of caution, saying, We shall need that means. Thus the help that would have been given was not given. If those who spoke the words of caution had known how the workers in new fields, where there are no buildings, no institutions, had spent hours in earnest prayer before God, asking for help to meet the responsibilities coming upon them, they would not have spoken as they did. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 9] Then, too, from some quarter comes the report that the workers in Australia are doing just as has been done in Battle Creek. But those who go to Australia know better than this. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 10] God wants men to come to their senses. When they do this, they will have the mind of Christ. They will understand that there is a great work to be done, that there are other places besides America in the world. Those who have worked upon wrong principles are amenable to God for the condition of the work in foreign fields. We in Australia could not press the work there as it should have been pressed. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 11] I pledged myself that if I came to America, I would speak the truth in California and in Battle Creek. My husband and I were the pioneers in the work in Battle Creek, and in connection with 84 Elder Loughborough we established the work in California. In the starting of the work in Oakland, we came to the place where we must have means; and we did not know what to do. My husband was sick and feeble, and very busy. I said, "Will you let me go to Battle Creek to try to raise some money for the work here." "How can you go?" he said. "I am overwhelmed with responsibility. I can not let you go." "But God will take care of you," I said. We held a meeting in an upper room of a house in Oakland, where prayer was wont to be made. We knelt down to pray, and while we were praying, the Spirit of God like a tidal wave filled the room, and it seemed that an angel was pointing across the Rocky Mountains to the churches in this part of America. Brother Tay, who is now sleeping in Jesus, rose from his knees, his face as white as death, and said, "I saw an angel pointing across the Rocky Mountains." Then my husband said, "Well, Ellen, I shall have to let you go." I did not wait for another word, but hurrying home, put a few gems in a basket, and hastened to the cars. I made very little preparation, for I had just time to get to the cars. Weeping like a child, my husband said, "If I had not said you could go, I do not think I could say it now, but I have said it, and I will not take it back." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 12] I went alone, and at that time it took us eight days to go across the continent. I went to the different camp-meetings and bore my testimony, calling for means to establish the work in Oakland and California. We were not disappointed. I obtained means, and then returned to California to build up the work. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 13] I told the Lord that when I came to Battle Creek this time, I would ask you why you have withheld means from the work in Australia. The work there should have been pressed with ten fold greater strength than it has been, but we have been hindered on the right hand and on the left. And then they say, You have had more than your proportion of help. Who told you so? Did the Lord? The people would have given of their means if men had not hedged up the way. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 14] Why am I telling you this? Because we desire that at this meeting the work shall be so established that no such thing shall take place again. Two or three men, who have never seen the barren fields where the workers have had to wrestle with all their might to advance an inch, should not control matters. They know nothing of our experience in Australia. There I could not appeal to large congregations. I could not go for help to places where my husband and I labored earnestly to establish the work. If I had not a right, in the name of the Lord, to call for means, I ask you who had a right? {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 15] There are many barren places in America, many places that have not been worked. What is the matter with the church here? It is congested. This is the reason why there is so little of the deep moving of the Spirit of God. There is a world perishing in sin, and again and again the message has come to Battle Creek, God wants you to move out into places where you can labor for the salvation of souls. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 16] If we had been given help, we could have done much more work in Australia. But this work takes means. To whom does the means belong? Where does it come from? It comes from those who believe in Christ, and who are willing to give of their substance to help forward his work. But two or three men have controlled in the use of this means. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 17] It is not that I regret that I went to Australia. I am glad that I went; for God has given us access to the people. Eleven meeting-houses have been built since we went there. In every place where camp-meetings have been held a church has been built. From these churches workers are going about among the people. There have been Bible-workers. After the camp-meeting a mission is established, and continues its work till a church is organized. In the mission are Bible workers, who do missionary work from house to house. Sister Wilson, after she had laid her husband in the grave, took up this work, going from house to house, walking five or six miles to her readings. When she found those who were sick, she would minister to their necessities, and thus she won the love of the people. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 18] Thus by hard wrestling we have found our way to the hearts of the people, and I thank God that we have been enabled to do this. There are many places right here in America that have not been worked. What efforts have been made for them? What self-denial has been practiced? Where are our ministers? Have they been following in the tracks of their brother-ministers in working for the churches? They have done this in California, and when I spoke of the fields which are destitute, which need help, the excuse was made, "Some of these young ministers went out into these places; but they did not arouse much interest, and they did not think it best to go out again." The Lord pity our faith! If you do not gain access in one place, go to another, and when you go out as medical missionaries to help the sick and suffering, or as canvassers, you are doing evangelistic work, which is just as important as the ministry. The canvassing work should now be pushed forward with vigor; for the time is coming when we shall not be able to travel over the country as freely and easily, or get access to the people as readily as we do now. The books that have been circulated and that can be circulated speak for God. They are silent witnesses for him. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 19] I can not tell how many hundreds of dollars I spent while in Australia in giving away my own books to those who I thought would read them, and as a result many have been brought into the truth. There was one man whom with his whole family, we highly prized. He is a reading man, and has a large farm, on which grow the choicest of oranges and lemons, with other fruit. But he did not in the beginning fully take his position for the truth, and went back. They told me about this. In the night season the angel of the Lord seemed to stand by me, saying, "Go to Brother-----, place your books before him, and this will save his soul." I visited with him, taking with me a few of my large books. I talked with him just as though he were with us. I talked of his responsibilities. I said, "You have great responsibilities, my brother. Here are your neighbors all around you. You are accountable for every one of them. You have a knowledge of the truth, and if you love the truth, and stand in your integrity, you will win souls for Christ." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 20] He looked at me in a queer way, as much as to say, "I do not think you know that I have given up the truth, that I have allowed my girls to go to dances, and to the Sunday-school, that we do not keep the Sabbath." But I did know it. However, I talked to him just as though he were with us. "Now," I said, "We are going to help you to begin to work for your neighbors. I want to make you a present of some books." He said, "We have a library, from which we draw books." I said, "I do not see any books here. Perhaps 85 you feel delicate about drawing from the library. I have come to give you these books, so that your children can read them, and this will be a strength to you." I knelt down and prayed with him, and when we rose, the tears, were rolling down his face, as he said, "I am glad that you came to see me. I thank you for the books." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 21] The next time I visited him, he told me that he had read part of "Patriarchs and Prophets." He said, "There is not one syllable I could change. Every paragraph speaks right to the soul." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 22] I asked Brother--which of my large books he considered the most important. He said, "I lend them all to my neighbors, and the hotel-keeper thinks that 'Great Controversy' is the best." "But," he said, while his lips quivered, "I think that 'Patriarchs and Prophets' is the best. It is that which pulled me out of the mire." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 23] But suffice it to say, he took his position firmly for the truth. His whole family united with him, and they have been the means of saving other families. So you can see that our books are of importance. They must be published and circulated. We have a great deal to do in the issuing of our publications. I want to say that I have not come here to feel under obligation to any one because means has been sent to Australia. The money which was sent was God's money. It was paid by God's people in tithes and donations. I send my thanksgiving to God for it, and I thank the people who have opened their hearts to help us. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 24] And I want to say now, When workers go into the barren parts of the earth, do not do to them as you would have done to us. Money has been sent to us in Australia, but no more than we ought to have had. It was not your means that you were handling, but you sent it as though you had created it, as though it were your own, as though you had a right to hold it, and those out of America had no claim on it. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 25] When God sends his messengers to foreign fields, as he sent me, old as I am, to Australia, what right have you to hedge up their way? Had means been allowed, I could have gone from field to field, from post to post, carrying the message. We tried to open the fields just as fast as we could. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 26] Brethren, if God calls you to go to a certain place, and if, when you lay the situation before those who are handling God's money as trustees and stewards, they refuse to aid you because they think a little money is going to be expended and that it is coming out of the treasury, do you go forward in the name of the Lord, and call upon the people to help you in your field. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 27] The people in Battle Creek are dying of inaction. What they need is to impart the truth which they believe. Every soul who will impart will receive from God more power to impart. This is what we are in the world for--to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. Before the way is hedged up, it is for every one to realize his accountability to proclaim the message that God has given him. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 28] I am glad that the work has been opening in the South. I want to tell you that there are among the colored people persons with talent, and we must search them out. But there are men who are still diverting the very means which should go to these destitute fields to advance the work there. The Lord desires us to do all we can for these fields. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 29] There is New Orleans. What men have you working there? What have you done with your workers and with your means to annex new territory, to plant the standard of truth in new places, to establish monuments for God. Where, I ask you, are the laborers? What laborers are there in Memphis? There are two sisters working there. Across the street from the two rooms which they have hired in which to live is the little meeting-house which the believers in Memphis have bought. Until a few months ago they had no place in which to meet for worship. They bought a little meeting-house for a thousand dollars, and then they had two hundred left with which to furnish it. I thank God for this meeting-house. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 30] When I look at the piles of buildings there are here, I feel sad at heart. If you had the missionary spirit, if you had gone out in accordance with the largeness of the message, in accordance with its breadth and importance, you would not have erected one half of the buildings you have here. You would have made plants in city after city, and God would have approved of your work. He does not like your administration. He does not like your nearness of sight. He wants you to open new fields, and for years he has been calling upon you to do this. This takes money and laborers; but I read in Daniel that they which turn many to righteousness shall shine forever and ever. We want to be in that company. We want to be among the shining ones in the kingdom of God. There we shall want to see those for whom we have prayed and worked. God help us. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 31] Brother Kilgore, you are acquainted with the South. Will you help in the work there? Will you go there to stand at the head as their president, to rescue souls? You are better acquainted with the work in the South than many are. Will you go there? ［Bro. Kilgore: Yes.］ {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 31} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 32] We determined to visit the South, and I went in my feebleness. I was very sick, but I did not allow my sickness to hinder me. I went to Vicksburg, and what did I see there? Just as pretty a little church as we have built at Cooranbong. In the basement of this meeting-house a church school is held. Besides the church in Vicksburg a mission house of two stories has been built, with another house of four rooms. This is the beginning. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 32} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 33] I spoke to the people on Sabbath morning, and as I saw the congregation, mostly composed of black people, bright and sharp of intellect, I felt that if I had dared, I should have wept aloud. As the people sat before me, I never felt more pleased to break the bread of life, and to speak comforting words to a people. My soul longed after them. When the old meeting-house in which they had met was sold, and was being torn down, the hopes of the people seemed to fall to the ground. They did not know what to do. Their enemies said, They have sold the meeting-house, and now they are going to leave you. But they were assured that a better house was to be built. Then their courage rose at once. When I heard them singing in the meeting, I thought, It is not only they who are singing. Of those who are saved it is ［said］, God himself will rejoice over them with singing. If there was not on that Sabbath singing in the heavenly courts, then I am mistaken. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 33} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 34] While many of you had stood back and made discouraging reports about the work in the South, the work has been going on, and something has been done. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 34} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 35] Now I wish to say, We want the people to take hold of the work with interest. In every Church where there is a minister, he is to be a shepherd, not hovering over those in the Church, but taking workers with him, he is to go into the places around. 86 {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 35} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 36] While in Vicksburg I made my home on "The Morning Star," and I looked to see the great extravagance which I had heard had been manifested by my son Edson in the preparation of this boat as a house to live in, as a meeting-house to which he could call the people to hear the truth as he went up and down the river. What did I see? I saw the plainest little rooms, some merely lined with plain boards. There was not one extravagant thing in the boat. Now to those who are troubled about the wrongs done in these missionary fields, I would say, Why don't you have interest enough to go there, and see what is being done, before you nourish your prejudices? why do you not interest yourself enough in the field to become acquainted with it? to prove all things. Then you will testify that the work being done is right and good. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 36} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 37] The work is one. Do not think that because you are here in Battle Creek, God is not supervising the work in any other parts of the field. The world is the field; the world is the vineyard; and every spot must be worked. God desires every soul to put on the harness. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in dark places. Wherefore take unto ［you］ the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." How?--In God's strength--minute men, waiting to hear what he will say next. What we need is living faith in the invisible instrumentalities that are arrayed against the powers of darkness. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 37} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 38] The great army of evil is constantly working to gain the victory for Satan. The synagogue of Satan has come out to contest every step made in the advancement of truth. Will those who profess to believe the truth join the powers of darkness? You have done it, but not all. I thank God that He has honest believers and laborers in the field, but they need to be educated. They need to be disciplined. They need to be taught how to work. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 38} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 39] Just as soon as the workers in California stop doing aggressive work, and hover over a few churches, treading on one another's heels, their light will go out. If you wish to retain the tithe in California, not using it in foreign fields, you must do aggressive work at home. You are not to be merely consumers, but producers. You should not merely absorb. You should sustain the work in every part of the world. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 39} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 40] There is the work in London. The workers are struggling with nothing to do with. There are hardly any laborers, and here in Battle Creek a great congregation assembles Sabbath after Sabbath to hear the Word of Life. What account will you give to God for all the opportunities and privileges He has given you that you may work for Him? To those who have gone out into hard fields, which you have made as hard as possible, you have not given much encouragement. The workers in the South have had very little encouragement, where my own son has been striving to push the work. And if I had opened my lips to encourage him, it would have been said, "Oh, it is because it is her son." {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 40} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 41] In Nashville what did I find? There I found that a building had been purchased very cheaply, and the workers there are preparing to manufacture health foods. A printing office is in operation, and it is needed. Now they can publish papers and small books and perhaps larger books, reducing the price as much as possible. These books, can be used in the work of teaching the people to read. Many of the people will have to be taught to read, and the white and black teachers must unite in counsel. Then the white teachers will work for the white people, and the colored teachers for the colored people. The white people, as well as the colored, need to be saved. Many of the white people in the South are as ignorant and degraded as the colored people. God wants to save them. He wants to see a company raised up in the southern States to work for Him. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 41} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 42] God told me that I was to enter into no strife with men, that I was to go straight forward in His name, and appeal to the people to come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 42} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 43] If our ministers, instead of hovering over the churches to keep the breath of life in them, would go forth to work for those outside the fold, those in the churches would receive the vital current from heaven as they hear that souls were drawn to the Lamb of God. They would pray that God would give power to the workers, and their prayers would be as sharp sickles in the harvest fields. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 43} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 44] The Lord desires His people to arouse. Word came from Colorado, asking me if the Southern field was closed. It was said, Word has come that the field is closed, and that we need send no more money there. But the evidence is that more means than ever should be sent there. The report that the work in the South was closed was started by the enemy. He saw what was going on, that work was being done for Christ in the South, and he stirred up his human agencies to hinder the work in one place. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 44} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 45] When Christ was upon earth, He told us just what to do when persecution arises. He says, When you go to one place, and they will not hear you, go to the next place, and when they persecute you there, go to the next place. You will not have gone over all the cities of Israel until the Son of Man be come. These are the directions which have been given us. One place closed does not close the Southern field. An army for Christ is to be raised up there. And I believe Brother Kilgore consented to go there. God desires him to go because he understands the field, and can strengthen the work there. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 45} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 46] There is work to be done in many hard places, and out of these hard places bright workers are to come. In some places in the South it is impossible for white laborers to labor for the colored people. The work is going to be managed so that colored laborers will be educated to work for their own people. There are colored people who have talent and ability. They can work in the saving of souls, and God will work with them, and give them the victory. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 46} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 47] I promised the Lord that if I ever stood before the congregation in Battle Creek again, I would speak the truth just as it is. I might write it, and have written it, but it was like water spilled upon a rock. Now that I am here, I intend to keep the matter before you day by day during this conference. If there is any power that can raise the missionary spirit in you, God will speak to you. I believe God will pour out His Spirit on those that are here, so that they will come up to His help. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 47} [GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 48] Have I not said enough for this time? I know there is much unsaid which I shall say later. I want to keep your minds stirred up by way to remembrance. Everything is being decided for life or death. We are working for eternity. The Lord is coming. I mean to bear a clean-cut testimony, and to bear it to all who have lost their bearings. I want them to know just where I stand. Everything that I have goes into the cause. All is God's, and if I can see souls saved, that is all I ask. {GCB, April 5, 1901 par. 48} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 1] April 8, 1901 Will a Man Rob God? Talk by Mrs. E. G. White in the Tabernacle, April 6, 1901. I solicit the prayers of this people. I want everyone to realize that an individual responsibility rests upon him to hear with faith and understand what we have to say, because it is the word of the living God. Pray for me; pray for yourselves individually. You have a personal Saviour, and the Lord wants every one of you to be saved in his kingdom. He wants you to have a crown of life, and you want it. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 2] "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 3] Stop and consider what that means. Fuller's soap makes a garment shrink into a much smaller compass. We want to stand in that position of humility where the life is hid with Christ in God. We claim him; he is our Righteousness; therefore if our lives are hid with Christ in God, we shall not shrink into nothingness. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 4] "And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and they that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye have gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?" As though they had no knowledge but that they had been doing just the best thing, and were living as well as they could. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 5] Now the explanation comes,--"Will a man rob God?" Would you do it? The 125 Bible speaks of this as if it were an impossibility that any man should venture to do such a thing. "Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 6] Now everyone ought to know ［what］ the system of tithing which is here brought out, means. I shall not go into the explanation of this; for we take it for granted that we all understand it. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 7] "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 8] This is a representation of the result of faithfulness in returning to the Lord his own. The Lord saw just how it would be when the world was filled with inhabitants, and therefore he makes a covenant with his people that they should give him their tithes and offerings, according to the arrangement which he has made. This is his. It does not belong to any of you. God has made this arrangement with you, that you may show that you realize your dependence and accountability to God by returning to him his portion. If you do this, his blessing will come upon you. All that we have is the Lord's, intrusted to us as his stewards. That which we hand back to him he must first give to us. The Lord is trying and testing us by every dollar that comes into ［our possession, to see if we will］ acknowledge him. How? -- By appearing before the world as the people who acknowledge their accountability to God by giving him all they possess. Thus you may bear witness that God is the possessor of all that you have, even yourselves. "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price," even the precious blood of the only begotten Son of God. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 9] All the sufferings, all the distress that came to him who was equal with the Father, was born that he might bring a people to himself. For this purpose he laid off his royal robe, his royal crown, laid aside his high command, and stepped down to humanity. He who was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, died for sinners. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 10] We breathe because God takes charge of the human machinery. Day by day he keeps it in working order, and he wants us to think of the infinite sacrifice he has made for us in suffering with One equal with himself, -- his only begotten Son. He consented to let him come to a world all seared and marred with the curse of sin, to stand at the head of humanity as a sin-bearing, sin-pardoning Saviour. God has pledged himself to receive sinners; for he "so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Everlasting life,--this is what we want. Shall we be satisfied to live in this poor world without a hope of a better life? God forbid. Let us lay hold of the power that has been provided for us to make it possible for us to gain eternal life. Let us take hold of the blessings heaven has given us that we may fit ourselves for the higher grade, fit ourselves for the mansions which Christ is preparing for us. He said, "Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 11] To us has been given the work of preparing ourselves for the mansions. And this we can do through the help that is waiting for us. When God gave his Son to our world, he gave all heaven, all the facilities and powers of heaven. Those who fail to improve the glorious opportunities granted with the gift of God's Son will be without excuse. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 12] Christ declared that all power in heaven and earth has been given to him, and he gives this power to those who truly believe on him, to his disciples, that they may go forth to proclaim the message of hope and salvation to a fallen race. He takes his position at the head of humanity, covering humanity with divinity. In him humanity and divinity are combined, and he can accomplish for the human race all that is necessary to enable them to overcome as he overcame, and to sit down with him in his Father's throne. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 13] The battle is before us. We can come off victorious; for through Christ we can be partakers of the divine nature, having "escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." How glad I am that this is so! How glad we all should be! When we had nothing to recommend us to God, Christ gave his life for us. With his long human arm he encircles the race, while with his divine arm he grasps the throne of the infinite. Thus finite man is united with the infinite God. The world, divorced from God by sin, has been restored to favor by the sacrifice of his Son. With his own body the Saviour has bridged the gulf that sin has made. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 14] In the first chapter of second Peter we read, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 15] By reading this chapter you will see that we have been given a sum to work out. We are to work on the plan of addition. "Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 16] From this we can see that there is to be a co-operation between God and man. We are to act our part. It is of no use for us to say, "I believe in Christ," while we fail to practice his lessons. God wants every one of us to rise to the emergency. We are to be witnesses for Christ. He wants us to grasp all the blessings he has brought to us. God gave all heaven to his Son to give to us. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 17] In the chapter from which I have been reading in Malachi, God declares that he will abundantly bless those who are faithful in bringing him their tithes and offerings, but that the curse of Heaven will rest upon those who are dishonest in this matter. God forbid that the curse of heaven should rest upon this congregation because of dishonesty toward the Lord. God forbid that any one of us should fail of gaining the precious boom of eternal life. Do not rob God. Walk honestly before him. All 126 is his. He has intrusted goods to his agents for the advancement of his work in the world. They are to bring to his treasury a faithful tithe and besides this, they are to bring gifts and offerings as the cause shall demand. God does not propose to do the work which he has intrusted to us. We are to do our part in carrying out the plan of redemption provided for the human race at an infinite cost. God desires us to realize our accountability to him, and act as his helping hand. The medical missionary work, which has been so clearly and definitely established here in Battle Creek, is to be recognized. God desires us to realize that heaven has been brought near to earth. Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 18] Just think of it! These angels are ministering to us today. They are all through this congregation. But there is also an opposing element here. On every such occasion the enemy comes in with his power and his invisible army. Therefore we may know that there are two parties in this house, those who are ministering to the human race, and those who are working counter. One power is trying to bring in everything possible to divert the mind, but the Lord God of heaven has given power to the heavenly agencies, and they are working. Satan is seeking to throw his hellish shadow across our pathway to eclipse the view of God's glory. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 19] Christ wants you to bring eternity into your reckoning. "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" We do not want you to think that the work of bringing all these people into the gospel of Jesus Christ costs nothing. We have missionaries in many places, but there have not been so many as there should have been. Now, dear friends, a new chapter is to open from the time of this large gathering here. We have set our whole hearts with a determination that the work shall be carried with much greater strength than it has hitherto been carried, and we want the help of everyone to advance the work of God. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 20] We have taken up the work in the foreign fields, where the people have never heard the truth, but the missionary work has not been advanced as it should have been. We could not go very far, because we had not the means. All that I have received from the royalties of the books I have written, I have invested in the work, and then I have said to my brethren, by faith, "Lend me your means, I will pay you the interest, but the work can not stop here." I have tried to carry forward the medical missionary work and the gospel. These two are united, and should never be separated, because Christ did not separate them. Some institutions have been established in Australia, but not half what there ought to be, nor what there will be. After we had erected, with what help we could get there, eleven meeting-houses, and organized eleven churches, then the work was just taken hold of with the ends of our fingers. What was the matter?--There was no money in the treasury. We had no means to handle. I never want men sent to missionary fields with nothing to work with, as we were sent to Australia. They have sent some money to that field, and this is no more than they should have done. It was God's money. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 21] Christ took humanity upon his divine soul, and in the wilderness of temptation he overcame in behalf of humanity. For forty days and forty nights he was tempted of the enemy. He traveled the path which everyone of us must travel. The question for us to solve is whether we will be overcomers or be overcome. Christ was an overcomer. He met the devil with, "It is written." He entered into no argument. When Satan tempted him to make the stones bread, he said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Then Christ was tempted in regard to ambition. Satan placed him upon a pinnacle of the temple, saying, "Cast thyself down." He could tell what was written. "It is written," he said, "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." But Satan did not tell the whole. He left out the words, "To keep thee in all thy ways." There was a way in which Christ was to do his work, but not in a presumptuous manner. He was to be an example to humanity. He was not to show his glory by throwing himself from a dizzy height. "It is written," he said, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 22] Then Satan took the Saviour to the top of a high mountain, and presented to him all the glory of the world. All this, he said, will I give thee. It is mine. I will give it to thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Christ had come to a point then where divinity must flash through humanity, even in his starving condition. What did he say?--"It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. . . . Get thee hence." Satan could not stand after the "Get thee hence" had come. A power superior to the power of darkness was revealed. Christ gained the victory, even in his weakness. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 23] So Satan went away. Christ was left fainting on the battlefield. Where was the hand to be put beneath his head? Where was the bosom upon which he could lean? It was ready. An angel of God ministered unto him. Angels of God gave him food, and supported the fainting head. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 24] All this Christ did for us . For us he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. He shares the sufferings of human beings. His help will be given them in their emergencies. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 25] A letter comes over to Australia, asking if Mrs. White is a millionaire. I would like everyone to become a millionaire as I have done. Nothing which I possess is my own. When I came back from Australia, I had nothing, not even to purchase a home. But we made some arrangements for the first payments, by selling some of the land. To be a millionaire in this world is no temptation to me. We see millionaires made very poor in a moment. Or they die, and leave their treasures for their heirs to quarrel over. I want something more than this. I want to become a member of the royal family. If I can be a child of the Heavenly King, I am more than a millionaire. God has declared that there is an eternal weight of glory laid up for those who are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 26] I am using in the work all the means I have. I am seventy-three years old, and I frequently think when I enter the pulpit that I may die there, or on my knees in prayer. But this does not trouble me. I have hid my life, hid it with Christ in God. I desire to overcome, even as Christ overcame; and I desire you also to overcome. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 27] Why are some of you so afraid to trust the Lord? He had not where to lay his head, and yet he was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. My heart is drawn out in sympathy for you. I greatly desire that you shall feel that you can take hold of Jesus Christ. I want you to be co-laborers with him in the work of saving souls. As you work with means and voice to sustain the cause of God, you may know that you are following 127 in the footsteps of your Redeemer. He says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 28] I wish to say to you who are in this meeting, We are to organize here for a great work. We want all who possibly can to help us to carry the load. There are some whom we need as personal laborers in the field. If God has given you intelligence and a knowledge of the truth, then I ask you, Why are you not working for him? How long will your soul be kept fresh and fruit-bearing if you live only for self? You can grow in grace only as you impart to others the grace given to you. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 29] The work in America has not gone forward as it should have done, because self-sacrifice and true devotion have not been manifested. The people of God have not moved forward in strong lines. How long will it be before you understand that to every man God has given his work? The talents which he has intrusted to his people are to be sacredly improved. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 30] "Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength; let them come near; let us come together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, and called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him ruler over kings? Who gave them as dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow? He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generation from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and the last; I am he. The isles saw it and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 31] "They helped everyone his neighbor; and everyone said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friends. Thou whom thou hast taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 31} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 32] God will work for us if we will stand in our lot and in our place. If you will do cheerfully the work apportioned you by the Master, he will work with you. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 32} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 33] "Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee. They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I, the Lord, thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new, sharp thrashing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thrash the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 33} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 34] Medical missionary workers, listen to these words. God has a great army for the protection and strength of those who work as his helping hand. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 34} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 35] "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 35} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 36] We are running a race for the crown of life. Let us run with patience, laying aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset. Then we shall obtain the crown of life. But we can not expect to gain the victory if we sit down in Battle Creek and fold our hands, doing nothing for the Master. There is a dearth of workmen. Put on the armor, and let your feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Just as soon as God sees that you are ready for work, he will work with you. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 36} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 37] I believe there is one here in this congregation, Shireman by name, who has established church after church; and how did he establish them? He went into a field where there was nothing. He was a carpenter. He would build his house, and then call in the people, and hold Bible readings. There he would work till a good, strong church was established. Then did he stand and say, Look at the good work I have done?--No; he would go to another place, and repeat the same thing. This he did over and over again. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 37} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 38] Where did this brother get his education?--I will tell you. He got it in the same manner that John the Baptist got his education, when he went into the desert and into the wilderness. The priests and rulers were so troubled and distressed because John did not walk according to the old, regular order in getting his education. Yet Jesus said there was not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 38} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 39] We do not say that you should go nowhere or anywhere to get an education, but we do say that every man is not dependent upon a school or college education to do work for the Master, if he is converted to God, soul, body, and spirit. He is in connection with the great Teacher, the greatest Missionary that the world ever knew. We are to feel no sufficiency in ourselves; for the Lord God of heaven is our wisdom, our sanctification, our strength, and our righteousness. If we realize our dependence, and hang our helpless souls on Jesus, we shall find that the waters of life will flow into the soul, and it will be as Christ said to the Samaritan woman, "A well of water, springing up into everlasting life." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 39} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 40] Now, brethren, we want more of God and less of self. When we get the education that is needful, we should impart it. It is an honor to Christ to trust in him. He says, I am at your right hand to help you. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 40} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 41] We want every soul to see God as he is. He is the Majesty of heaven. He is the great Teacher. We want you to believe that he will give wisdom and counsel and judgment. He will prepare the way before you, if you will come before him praying and watching unto prayer. Remember that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, "but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We have to meet invisible foes, therefore we should not send, as many have, across the waters of the Pacific, to ask counsel as to what shall be done. You have a Counselor right by your side. Do not dishonor him. How many have been left destitute of wisdom because they persisted in asking counsel from human agencies, when 128 Christ, full of comfort, grace, and love, was longing to bestow it. All heaven is longing to help those for whom Christ has died. {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 41} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 42] I will give you a recipe against depending upon man. In the first chapter of second Peter there is recorded the plan of addition, upon which we are to live, and then the apostle says, "If these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and can not see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." How many here have forgotten to pay God his tithe? How many are robbing God, and at the same time expecting his blessing, wondering why they do not have more vitality and power and grace? How many have forgotten that God will purge us from the sin of covetousness? {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 42} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 43] "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 43} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 44] This is our life insurance policy. Those who enter the kingdom of God must first co-operate with him in the saving of their own souls and the souls of others. May God help us to go to work. To you who have been robbing God in tithes and offerings I would say, Do not think that you can come here to his house and receive his blessing. No; you will begin to murmur and complain, wondering why you are not exalted as others are. But of those who serve him in sincerity the word says, "They that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name." {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 44} [GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 45] Read the third chapter of Malachi, and think whether you wish to be found robbing God. God is in earnest with us. He expects us to help in planting his standard in places which have never heard the truth. He calls upon you to practice self-denial, that the work in foreign fields may go forward. From all over the world, calls for help are coming. Lay out no money unnecessarily. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow the Master. You can never give him as much as he has given you. He gave his life for you. What have you given for him? {GCB, April 8, 1901 par. 45} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 1] April 10, 1901 The Need of Missionary Effort. Early Morning Talk by Mrs. E. G. White, April 9. I thank the Lord that he is working in our midst. When we come to the Lord in humility of mind, and seek to unify as far and as fast as we can, the God of heaven puts his indorsement upon our work. But when we draw apart, each seeking to bring in something different, so that the work is prolonged and nothing accomplished, we can not receive the blessing of God. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 2] There seems to be in this meeting an endeavor to press together. This is the word which for the last fifty years I have heard from the angelic hosts,--Press together, press together. Let us try to do this. When in the spirit of Jesus we try to press together, putting ourselves out of sight, we shall find that the Holy Spirit will come in, and the blessing of God will rest upon us. Enough dissension will come in from outside. That which Christ declared would arise in the last day will come. The people of God are to walk in the light of heaven, not in the light of the sparks of their own kindling, or in the light of the sparks which the enemy will kindle for them. He will make fires enough to lead us astray if we will be led. We must place ourselves in that position where we reach the highest standard of truth and righteousness, equity and judgment. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 3] There is a great work to be done in our world. Last evening the question came up in regard to our Scandinavian brethren. It was asked whether they should divide into different sections, according to their nationalities. I was in Europe for two years, and two or three times I visited the various places where our work had been established there. Some such questions as this came up before us then, and the light that was given me was that the different nationalities were not to divide up into separate companies, but were to press together just as much as possible. God wants unity to be seen among these different nationalities. Each should try to learn the language of the other, so that they can all assemble in conference, and understand what is said. Should they divide into different companies, making no effort to unify, there would be little prospect of their being able to meet together at general meetings. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 4] The Lord wants us to help one another. We have largely lost sight of this. He wants us to use the powers he has given us in strengthening and blessing one another, not in condemning and destroying. We are to be a blessing to those whom Christ has purchased with his own blood. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 5] Brethren and sisters, we would be glad of the privilege of having separate seasons of prayer together. But this is such a large meeting that it is impossible. But each one of us has a God. Press close to the bleeding side of the Son of God. He is the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. He is the Source of our power, our strength, our efficiency, and if we will keep close to his side, the Holy Spirit will impress our hearts, and we shall work in Christ's lines. We shall be influenced by the Holy Spirit, and then we can not draw apart from one another. We shall 183 have one mind, one judgment, and the blessing of God will rest upon his people. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 6] There has been a great burden on my mind in regard to the present situation of the work in Scandinavia. From the light God has given me, in no case is his name to be dishonored by the institutions which have been established there to build up his work, to stand against the customs and practices of the world, being allowed to pass into the hands of unbelievers. I want you to remember this. There is a vast company of people gathered here, and if everyone of them will take hold and do what he can, the institutions in Scandinavia will be lifted out of their embarrassment, and placed on vantage-ground, where no reproach will rest upon the cause of God through them. These institutions need not have been in the position in which they are, and they would not have been in this position had our brethren in America done what they should have done years ago. An experienced man of business, with a practical knowledge of bookkeeping, should have been sent to Europe to superintend the keeping of the accounts in our institutions there. And if this work had demanded more than one man, more than one man should have been sent. Thus thousands and thousands of dollars would have been saved. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 7] Such men as this should be employed in our work in America. They should be men who are devoted to God, men who know what the principles of heaven are, men who have learned what it means to walk with God. If such men as this had superintended the financial business of our Conferences, there would today be plenty of money in the treasury. A few men in our institutions would not have grasped all they could in wages. Our institutions would now stand as God declared they should stand, helping the work by self-denial and self-sacrifice. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 8] The brethren in Scandinavia should be helped by their brethren in America. If, years ago, when money was brought into the treasury because the people had confidence in the leaders, believing that the means would be properly handled, the work had been carried forward in even lines, if the money had been used in foreign fields, the work in Europe would not be where it is today. The institutions in Scandinavia would not be where they are. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 9] In England there is a large field, a field which we have touched only with the tips of our fingers. If the importance of this field had been realized, money would have been sent there, and the work today would have been in a flourishing condition; for the field is ripe for the harvest. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 10] A much larger company should be gathered for the Lord from the different countries of Europe. Brother Conradi has stood in that field with very few to help him. I thank God that his blessing has accompanied the efforts of those who have been working for him in foreign fields. We see that the salvation of souls does not depend on the number carrying the message. God himself works with his faithful laborers, be they many or few. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 11] Just as soon as God sees that men will handle means in his fear, realizing that it is his money, that it comes from his people, he will co-operate with their efforts. Some of those from whom this money comes are poor. They have just enough to live on, but they bring their tithes and offerings to the Lord, longing to see his work advancing. When a few men, steeped in selfishness, work from selfish purposes, the whole cause is swayed in selfish lines. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 12] We need to return to God's plan, to the place where the Spirit of God can dwell among us. I believe we are reaching the right platform, and I thank God with all my heart. God wants to teach us a lesson. He wants us to hang our helpless souls upon Christ, not upon humanity. He wants his servants to stand where they will maintain the righteous principles of heaven whatever may be the consequences. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 13] The debt must be lifted from our institutions in Scandinavia. If all who are here this morning will do something, you will never feel it, only as you receive the blessing of God, and I think that is something you will all welcome. Do something. Let our institutions in Scandinavia stand in freedom. As you read the eighth and ninth chapters of second Corinthians, you will find out how to assist. May God enable you to fill up the gap, to come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 14] God lives, and I am so glad of it. Our Saviour is not in Joseph's tomb. He has risen, and has proclaimed over the rent sepulchre, "I am the resurrection and the life." Let us show by our actions that we are living by faith in him. We can call upon him for assistance. He is at our right hand to help us. Each one of you may know for yourself that you have a living Saviour, that he is your helper and your God. You need not stand where you say, "I do not know whether I am saved." Do you believe in Christ as your personal Saviour? If you do, then rejoice. We do not rejoice half as much as we should. This entire congregation should be filled with rejoicing because of the way in which God has been revealing himself in this meeting. God's power has been seen, and his salvation is still to be revealed to his people. I see in Jesus a wonderful power and strength, and I want you to see this. Then your hearts will be as humble as the heart of a little child. Then you will not quarrel over who shall have the highest place or the highest wages. Your question will be, "How can I best serve my Lord?" {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 15] I thank God that the work in the South has been started. There is a great deal to be done in that field, and I thank God that a beginning has been made. In the present arrangements I can see that there is room for Christ to enter and manifest his power in that poor, neglected, suffering field. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 16] And there is New York, that great and wicked city. Who has carried the burden for that field? Who has felt the necessity of denying self that the work in that city may be carried forward? It is indeed a wicked city, but God had a Lot in Sodom, and he has a people in New York, who, as the hart panteth after the water brooks, are panting after the pure waters of Lebanon. New York is ready to be worked. When I was last there, just before leaving this country for Australia, the Lord showed me that his work should be established in New York. He showed me what could be done there if everyone would come up to his help. The power of God is to carry the truth in this city. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 17] There is not a dearth of means among our people any more than there has been in the past. There is certainly not a dearth of means among our people in California. But in spite of this, the great field of New York is left untouched, while week after week, a large congregation meets here in the Tabernacle. The people ought to feel that the rebuke of God rests upon them because they are not working for him in places which know not the truth. If they had the spirit of the pilgrim 184 fathers, they would go forth to work for God in the waste places of the earth. The pilgrim fathers started out in their poverty. Some died on their voyage over from England, and others died when they reach America. But they accomplished what they had purposed. God wants his people today to feel the same spirit of self-denial. He wants them to put ［on］ every piece of the armor, and go forth to let the light of heaven shine into the hearts of those who are in darkness. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 18] My dear brethren and sisters, do not spend in selfishness one dollar of the Lord's money. You have no money but his. All you have is the Lord's. You have been bought with a price, therefore you are bound to enter the service of your Redeemer. You must give an account to God of all that you have. At the last great day, God will ask, "What did you do with the money I intrusted to you." {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 19] Look at the unworked fields. Is there not enough to call for self-denial and self-sacrifice? I do not know what will stir your hearts if they are not stirred as you look at the fields which have hardly been touched. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 20] God calls for workmen. He wants those who have gained an experience in the cause to enter the work in America. He wants them to take up the work in New York and in other cities where iniquity prevails. He wants them to start the work in his fear. Just as soon as possible let schools be established and workers educated to do medical missionary work. This work is the right hand of the body. It is bound up with the ministry of the gospel. God lives and reigns, and he desires those who have opposed health reform, who have worked against it by their influence, by their actions, by their sarcastic remarks, to make a thorough change. Do not longer divorce yourselves from the medical missionary work. Dr. Kellogg has been driven almost to despair as he has sought for some way in which he could bring the truth more prominently before the world. Let every minister of the gospel heed the words of Paul: "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others I myself should be a castaway." God wants you to observe the strictest principles of temperance. He wants you to stand in a position of sacred nearness to him, where you can ask and he will hear, where you know that he will always be with you. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 21] We have been becoming as salt which has lost its savor. Many are in this position because they have resisted light. Christ says to us, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." What is the house. It is God's vineyard, the world. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 22] The most selfish thing mortals can do is to establish centers, neglecting to plant the seeds of truth in the destitute portions of the vineyard. There are in our work today congested centers, while the field stands before us as a barren waste. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 23] God is going to help us to change this order of things. This is what we are trying to do here. We have a work to do in the cities of America, where, had the light of heaven been followed, there would now be monuments erected for the Lord, from which light would radiate to the regions around. Thus it would have been in the Southern field, had the will of the Lord been done. The work would have been established before the animosity now aroused had been kindled. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 24] God wants those who have been working against the seventh-day Sabbath to receive his truth. He wants his people to let the light of heaven shine forth to them. Many of those who in the past have placed themselves on the side of the one who instituted a spurious restday, will accept the truth. We need to be very careful of what we say and what we do. We need to stand where we represent Christ by our meekness and lowliness. No one among God's people is to try to gain the highest place. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 25] If the counsel of God had been followed, the waving field all around us would have been harvested. Monuments to the Creator would have been raised in many places. Let us from this time follow the divine guidance. Let not one word of contention be spoken. Let us unify in the work of serving God, feeling our need of the wisdom that comes from above. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 26] When the word comes from God that a work is to be accomplished, have means ready for the workers. Yesterday I had an interview with an Indian chief who had accepted the truth. He is trying to place the truth before his people, and is endeavoring to build a little meeting-house. We must help him. Do not spend one dollar needlessly. Do you not want to see souls clothed with the righteousness of Christ? Do you not want to see a people standing in such living connection with God that they will give the trumpet a certain sound? I am glad that God has brought this brother into connection with his truth. Let us encourage him in his work. It is much more important to use means in this way than to use it in this place. We have a standing here. When a man is raised up to give the trumpet a certain sound, as I believe this Indian brother has been, I beg of you to help him. Bring your tithes and offerings into the treasury of the Lord, that the blessing, and not the curse, of Heaven may rest upon you. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 27] God calls upon us to take hold of his work intelligently, and I hope that a beginning is to be made at this meeting. Remember that Battle Creek is not the whole world. No, indeed. We have a world to save, and upon every one of us rests a most solemn responsibility. Let us stand in the counsel of God, in our lot and place, ready to help wherever help is needed. Your money is the Lord's. Use it to build up, not to tear down. When under the direction of God, men say, "I wish to open the work in that field," do not say, We have no means to help. That is a terrible thing for the angels to hear you say. God wants you to get to work. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 28] What does it mean that so many of our large cities are unworked? Have you been learning at the footstool of Jesus? Have the workers in our institutions been doing their duty? Have they been trying to advance the work of the Lord? {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 29] I will tell you of a place where the workers labor on economical lines, where they may be even too economical. This is at the Sanitarium. The workers there work very hard, and for very low wages. Again and again the need of self-denial has been presented to them, and they have worked to the utmost of their ability, cheerfully accepting low wages. Let there be more equality. Let those in the Sanitarium receive higher wages, and let those who occupy high positions in the work show more of a spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice. Let us see if matters can not be evened up. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 30] I might say more, but I will stop now. I thank the Lord that he has given me strength to speak to you this morning, and I thank you for your respectful attention. {GCB, April 10, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 11, 1901 par. 1] April 11, 1901 Extract From a Letter From E. G. White "Keep your work and its needs before the General Conference. Write them freely." {GCB, April 11, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 11, 1901 par. 2] "Better train laborers on the spot if possible. They can do a work among their own people that we can not. Then with some help from America who can do some work that they can not, the cause advances." {GCB, April 11, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 1] April 12, 1901 Remarks by Mrs. E. G. White Mrs. E. G. White: I have been given light all along the way in regard to the workings of the cause, and last night some things in regard to the medical missionary work were brought more especially before me. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 2] When health reform was first brought to our notice, about thirty-five years ago, the light presented to me was contained in this scripture. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because 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, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in 203 Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations." {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 3] In the light given me so long ago, I was shown that our own people, those who claimed to believe the present truth, should do this work. How were they to do it? In accordance with the directions Christ gave his twelve disciples, when he called them together, and sent them forth to preach the gospel. "When he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease. . . . These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils; freely ye have received, freely give." {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 4] In the light given me so long ago, I was shown that intemperance would prevail in the world to an alarming extent, and that everyone of the people of God must take an elevated stand in regard to reformation in habits and practices. At that time I was eating meat two or three times a day, and I was fainting away two or three times a day. The Lord presented a general plan before me. I was shown that God would give to his commandment-keeping people a reform diet, and that as they received this, their disease and suffering would be greatly lessened. I was shown that this work would progress. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 5] Then, in after years, the light was given that we should have a sanitarium, a health institution, which was to be established right among us. This was the means God was to use in bringing his people to a right understanding in regard to health reform. It was also to be the means by which we were to gain access to those not of our faith. We were to have an institution where the sick could be relieved of suffering, and that without drug medication. God declared that he himself would go before his people in this work. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 6] Well, the work has been steadily increasing. The way was opened for our churches to take hold of it. I proclaimed health reform everywhere I went. At our camp meetings I spoke on Sunday afternoons, and I proclaimed the message of temperance in eating, drinking, and dressing. This was the message I bore for years before I left for Australia. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 7] But there were those who did not come up to the light God had given. There were those in attendance at our camp meetings who ate and drank improperly. Their diet was not in harmony with the light God had given, and it was impossible for them to appreciate the truth in its sacred, holy bearing. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 8] So the light has been gradually coming in. Over and over again instruction was given that our health institutions were to reach all classes of people. The gospel of Jesus Christ includes the work of helping the sick. When I heard that Dr. Kellogg had taken up the medical missionary work, I encouraged him with heart and soul, because I knew that only by this work can the prejudice which exists in the world against our faith be broken down. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 9] In Australia we have tried to do all we could in this line. We located in Cooranbong, and there, where the people have to send twenty-five miles for a doctor, and pay him twenty-five dollars a visit, we helped the sick and suffering all we could. Seeing that we understood something of disease, the people brought their sick to us, and we cared for them. Thus we entirely broke down the prejudice in that place. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 10] Here is Battle Creek, with a large church, the members of which are called upon, in the name of the Lord, to go out into the field and help their fellow beings, to bring joy to those in sorrow, to heal the sick, to show men and women that they are destroying themselves. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 11] Medical missionary work is the pioneer work. It is to be connected with the gospel ministry. It is the gospel in practice, the gospel practically carried out. I have been made so sorry to see that our people have not taken hold of this work as they should. They have not gone out into the places round about to see what they could do to help the suffering. Dr. Kellogg has been carrying too heavy a load, and our own people have been standing by, warring against him. His work has been made heavier and harder because of the lack of sympathy shown by those who ought to have seen the importance of the work he was doing. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 12] Cautions were given Dr. Kellogg, showing him that his work was to reach the higher classes by maintaining the very highest standard in the Sanitarium. This is the only way in which the higher classes can be reached; and I felt that our people ought to feel highly honored because God had placed among us an instrumentality that could reach the higher classes. I saw that these would come to the Sanitarium, and would receive help from the treatment. They would see and be charmed by the spirit pervading the institution. They would feel full of peace and rest as prayer was offered at their bedside. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 13] This is the work which is to interest the world, which is to break down prejudice, and force itself upon the attention of the world. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 14] I encouraged Dr. Kellogg all I could, and cautioned him when I saw that he was bearing too heavy a load; for what would the work do were he to drop out? As he labored with all his skill in the most difficult cases in the institution, the responsibility upon him was heavy enough. He did not need any of your discouragement. The responsibility of the lives in his hands was enough. As he prayed about his work, and then took up the most difficult cases, where if the knife had slipped one hair's breadth, it would have cost a life, God stood by his side, and an angel's hand was upon his hand, guiding it through the operation. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 15] All human beings are of value in the sight of God, because they were purchased by the blood of his only begotten Son. He wants everyone to stand in close connection with him. The medical missionary work is doing this, and it should have the support of every one of you. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 16] When the Sanitarium Hospital was to be built, there was so much opposition to this move that in duty bound I had to stand before the people, and say, "From the light that has been given me, this building should be erected." Soon after the building was finished, I came to Battle Creek, and Dr. Kellogg said, "You shall be the first to occupy it." He gave us rooms there, and we thought we should occupy them for the winter. But the sick came till room after room was occupied. I saw the situation, and I said, "I can not stay here any longer; for those who wish to be relieved of their suffering are crowding 204 in, and the rooms I have will be needed. The doctor begged me to stay, but I told him that I could not. I hired a house. And it was not long before the hospital was full of patients. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 17] Thus the work has moved on. And I have seen that all heaven is interested in the work of relieving suffering humanity. Satan is exerting all his powers to obtain control over the souls and bodies of men. He is trying to bind them to the wheels of his chariot. My heart is made sad as I look at our churches, which ought to be connected in heart and soul and practice with the medical missionary work. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 18] In Australia we have been wrestling to get a sanitarium established, and a building is now in process of erection, though not yet completed. The sanitarium work was started in a private dwelling-house, and the one in charge of it devoted part of his time to Conference work and part of his time to medical work. He was afraid that it would not be possible to pay the rent of the house which had been hired; so in order to help, I rented one room, and Brother Baker rented two. But these rooms were soon needed for patients, and the work has grown so that at the present time several houses are rented for the sanitarium patients and nurses. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 19] Through this work many souls have accepted the truth. A minister from Tasmania, a wealthy and educated man, came to the Sanitarium for treatment, and while there, became interested in the truth. He soon began keeping the Sabbath, and he at once began to help the work with his means. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 20] Whole families have commenced keeping the Sabbath through some of the members coming to the Sanitarium for treatment. But I need not say more about this; for you know it. You are not ignorant of it. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 21] I wish to tell you that soon there will be no work done in ministerial lines but medical missionary work. The work of a minister is to minister. Our ministers are to work on the gospel plan of ministering. It has been presented to me that all through America there are barren fields. As I traveled through the South on my way to the Conference, I saw city after city that was unworked. What is the matter? The ministers are hovering over churches, which know the truth, while thousands are perishing out of Christ. If the proper instruction were given, if the proper methods were followed, every church member would do his work as a member of the body. He would do Christian missionary work. But the churches are dying, and they want a minister to preach to them. They should be taught to bring a faithful tithe to God, that he may strengthen and bless them. They should be brought into working order, that the breath of God may come to them. They should be taught that unless they can stand alone, without a minister, they need to be converted anew, and baptized anew. They need to be born again. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 22] The barren fields in America have been presented to me. In every city in Michigan there should be a monument erected for God. You have been long in the truth. Had you carried the work forward in the lines in which God intended you to, had you done medical missionary work, trying to heal soul and body, you would have seen hundreds and thousands coming into the truth. But this will not be seen while you crowd into Battle Creek, leaving unworked the places which should have the truth. The Lord has said to his people; "Get out of Battle Creek. Work for souls ready to perish," and they should get out of Battle Creek. Go to places where the people have not heard the truth, and live before them the gospel of Jesus Christ. Do among them practical missionary work. Thus many souls will be brought to a knowledge of the truth. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 23] You will never be ministers after the gospel order till you show a decided interest in medical missionary work, the gospel of healing and blessing and strengthening. Come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty powers of darkness, that it be not said of you, "Curse ye Meroz, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord." {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 24] I was troubled before leaving California. I did not want to come to Battle Creek. I was afraid the burdens I would have to bear would cost my life. I knew that every church in Michigan needs the sanctification of the Spirit of God. I knew that the ministers laboring with those who know the truth, tending them like sick sheep, should be out in the field, planting the standard of truth in new places, bringing the sick to their houses, and clothing the naked. Christ says that his righteousness will go before those who do this work, and that the glory of God will be their rereward, But this work is not done by our churches, and the ministers are preaching to those who know the truth, when there are thousands who know nothing of the third angel's message. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 25] I said that I could not go to Battle Creek. The weather was too severe for me to make the journey. The Conference was appointed to be held in Oakland. But night after night I was speaking to a congregation like the one now before me. Then I would wake up and pray saying, "Lord, what does this mean?" I thought that I could not go to Battle Creek; but when I found that my mind was there, and that in the night season I was working there, I said, "I think I will have to go to Battle Creek, notwithstanding the fact that the Conference has been appointed to be held in Oakland." {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 26] Then came the difficulty of where I would stay while in Battle Creek. No matter with whom I should stay, it would be said, "Some one has been talking with Sister White, telling her about the state of the church. This is why she talks as she does." {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 27] Dr. Kellogg has kindly invited me to make his house my home, but I had decided that I could not do this. One Friday night at our season of prayer, while I was asking the Lord to guide me and show me what to do, the Spirit of God came in, and a holy, solemn awe fell upon us. A voice said to me, "Respect the courtesy of Dr. Kellogg. I have appointed him as my physician, and I will be his helper if he will trust wholly in me. You can encourage him." With the voice there came a fragrance as of beautiful flowers; and though none of the family saw what I saw, or heard what I heard, yet they felt the influence of the Spirit, and were weeping and praising God. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 28] Then, of course, I accepted Dr. Kellogg's invitation. It is because of the direction of the Lord that I am staying there. There I can find retirement. I thank the Lord that I am there. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 29] It is because of the directions I have received from the Lord that I have the courage to stand among you and speak as I do, notwithstanding the way in which you may look at the medical missionary work. I wish to say that the medical missionary work is God's work. The Lord wants every one of his ministers to come into line. Take hold of the medical missionary work, and it will give you access to the people. Their hearts will be touched as you minister to their necessities. As you relieve 205 their sufferings, you will find opportunity to speak to them of the love of Jesus. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 30] I am ready to say to you today that I am in harmony with the resolution. Many who have been more or less out of line since the Minneapolis meeting will be brought into line. God will help those who love the truth, who give themselves, heart and mind and strength, to him. God will work mightily with his ministers when their hearts are filled with love for the poor lost sheep of the house of Israel. Hunt up the backsliders, those who once knew what religion was, and give them the message of mercy. The story of Christ's love will touch a chord in their hearts. Christ draws human beings to himself with the chord which God has let down from heaven to save the race. The love of Christ can be measured only when this cord is measured. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 31] God wants every soul to be imbued with the Holy Spirit. He wants those who have felt it their duty to circulate disparaging reports about Dr. Kellogg and the medical missionary work to be converted. Take hold of the gospel ministry as it really is. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 31} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 32] I am fully in favor of this resolution, because I know that medical missionary work is the gospel, in practice, and, as the Lord has declared, is never, never to be separated from the gospel ministry. If the workers in California and Michigan, the two great centers of our work, would become converted and stand before the Lord as little children, the salvation of God would be revealed. What we need is to seek earnestly for kindness and humility. Our hearts need to be cleansed from all that has led to separation, to the speaking of words which would not have been spoken if men had sincerely tried to see what the medical missionary work is really doing. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 32} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 33] Medical missionary work, ministering to the sick and suffering, can not be separated from the gospel. God help those whose attention has been aroused on this subject to have the mind of Christ, the sympathy of Christ. God help you to remember that Christ was a worker, that he went from place to place healing the sick. If we were as closely connected with Christ as were his disciples, God could work through us to heal many who are suffering. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 33} [GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 34] The Lord bless his people, and enable them to come to a right understanding of his will. {GCB, April 12, 1901 par. 34} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 1] April 14, 1901 Remarks by Mrs. E. G. White Mrs. E. G. White: That comes out of the sum that you have stated? 212 {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 2] Mrs. E. G. White: I wish to read this morning from Testimony No. 34:-- {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 3] The Relief of Our Schools. "When the Lord invited Israel to contribute for the building of the tabernacle 213 in the wilderness, there was a hearty response. The people 'came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation.' They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted. Men came with their gifts of gold and silver, choice fabrics, and valuable wood. The rulers brought precious stones, costly spices, and oil for the lights. 'And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun.' They brought 'free offerings every morning,' till the report was given to Moses, 'The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord commanded to make.' Exodus 35:21-25; 36:3, 5. This generous-hearted, willing service was pleasing to God; and when the tabernacle was completed, he signified his acceptance of the offering. 'A cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.'" Exodus 40:34. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 4] Akin to this example of willing service has been the work done in behalf of our schools in the publication and sale of "Christ's Object Lessons." We rejoice that so large a number of our people have given themselves to this work, and that their efforts are proving so successful. We rejoice that our Conference and tract society officers have given their influence and energy to this grand enterprise; and that ministers, Bible workers, colporteurs, and church members have engaged so heartily in the special effort for the speedy relief of our schools. The generous, whole-hearted way in which our publishing houses and our brethren and sisters in general have taken hold of this enterprise is well pleasing to the Lord. It is in accordance with his plan. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 5] The Lord's Plan. "There are, in the divine providence, particular periods when we must arise in response to the call of God and make use of our means, our time, our intellect, our whole being, body, soul, and spirit, in fulfilling his requirements. The present is such a time as this. The interests of God's cause are at stake. The Lord's institutions are in peril. Because of the terrible burden of debt under which our schools are struggling, the work is hindered on every side. In our great necessity God has made a way through the difficulty, and has invited us to co-operate with him in accomplishing his purpose. It was his plan that the book, 'Christ's Object Lessons,' should be given for the relief of our schools, and he calls upon his people to do their part in placing this book before the world. In this he is testing his people and his institutions, to see if they will work together, and be of one mind in self-denial and self-sacrifice. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 6] "All to Co-Operate. "A good beginning has been made in the sale of 'Christ's Object Lessons.' What is needed now is an earnest, united effort to complete the work that has been so well begun. In the Scriptures we read, 'Not slothful in business: fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.' Romans 12:11. Every branch of God's cause is worthy of diligence: but nothing could be more deserving than this enterprise at this time. A decided work is to be done in accomplishing God's plan. Let every stroke tell for the Master in the selling of 'Christ's Object Lessons.' Let all who possibly can, join the workers. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 7] "From the success of the efforts already made, we see that it is far better to obey God's requirements today than to wait for what we might think a more favorable season. We must become men and women of God's opportunity, for great responsibilities and possibilities are within the reach of all who have enlisted for life service under Christ's banner. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 8] "God calls us to action, that our educational institutions may be freed from debt. Let God's plan be worked out after his own order." {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 9] Debt should never have been allowed to accumulate on our schools. The rate of tuition in our schools has in the past been too low. Christ declared that he who builds a tower must first sit down and count the cost, to see if he be able to finish. This those in charge of our schools should have done. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 10] Because of the example set by the school in Battle Creek, the same mistake has been made by our school in Cooranbong. Students have been admitted to the school at so low a figure that the school has not paid expenses. This is not right. When managers of a school see that the school is running behind, let them call a halt. Let them go to the people, and tell them the situation. It costs too much to incur debt. Not only the debt, but the interest on the debt must be paid. This places a tremendous load upon the teachers and managers. How much better it would be to raise the tuition. How much better it would be to let a family here and a family there pay a little more than to place the tuition so low that the school is placed under the burden of debt. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 11] At every step we take we should move intelligently, understanding what is best to do. I was decidedly opposed to the idea advanced by some that the prices charged to students in Australia should be the same as those charged in Battle Creek. I know that a reform must be made, that the school must be placed on a platform where its reputation would not suffer. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 12] In the future, men should be employed to visit our schools in the different places for the purpose of examining the accounts and ascertaining the financial standing of the schools. If they are in debt, some method should at once be devised to lessen the debt. These men should see that there is an efficient bookkeeper in each school, so that the accounts may be kept correctly. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 13] It is because of the importance of the accounts being correctly kept that I have been pleading for years with our people to see the necessity of making bookkeeping an important part of our school work. The work is to be carried forward solidly. No haphazard movements must be made in any of our institutions. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 14] "The present is an opportunity which we can not afford to lose. We call upon all our people to help to their utmost of their ability just now. We call upon them to do a work that will be pleasing to God in purchasing the book. We ask that every available means be used to assist in its circulation. We call upon the presidents of our Conferences to consider how they can forward this enterprise. We call upon our ministers, as they visit the churches, to encourage men and women to go out as canvassers, and to make a decided forward movement in the path of self-denial by giving a part of our earnings for the help of our schools." {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 15] When my husband and I were laboring together in camp-meetings and tent-meetings, we would take with us our books on present truth, and sell them to the people. This same work should be done today. Give notice that after the discourse, books dealing with the subjects presented will be offered for sale. Ask the people to purchase these books, telling them they need the truth, and you need the money. They might as well know what you are trying to do. 214 Tell them of the effort that is being made to free our schools from debt. Everything that can be done must be done to advance the work of God. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 16] "A general movement is needed, and this must begin with individual movements. In every church let every member of every family make determined efforts to deny self and help forward the work." {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 17] If God has ever spoken by me, it will be for the best interest of every family among us to take up the work of self-denial and self-sacrifice. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 18] "Let the children act a part. Let all co-operate. Let us do our best at this time to render to God our offering, to carry out his specified will, and thus make an occasion for witnessing for him and his truth in a world of darkness. The lamp is in our hands. Let its light shine forth brightly. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 19] "Young men, you who think of entering the ministry, take up this work. The handling of the book placed in your hands by the Lord is to be your educator. In proving this opportunity you will certainly advance in a knowledge of God and of the best methods for reaching the people. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 20] "The Lord calls for young men and women to enter his service. The youth are receptive, fresh, ardent, hopeful. When once they have tasted the blessedness of self-sacrifice, they will not be satisfied unless they are constantly learning of the Great Teacher. The Lord will open ways before those who will respond to his call. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 21] "Bring into the work an earnest desire to learn how to bear responsibilities. With strong arms and brave hearts go forth into the conflict which all must enter, a conflict which will grow more and more severe as we approach the closing struggle. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 22] "Preparation for the Work. "Those who engage in this work should first give themselves unreservedly to God. They should place themselves where they can learn of Christ and follow his example. He has invited them: 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' Matthew 11:28-30. Angels are commissioned to go forth with those who take up this work in true humility." {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 23] Recently I have been shown again and again that it is the angels of God who make the impression on human hearts. It is the angels of God who go before the workers. In the night season I was laboring with the problem of the relief of our schools, not knowing how to answer the letters written to me regarding the situation. I fell asleep, and the angel of God seemed to stand beside me, saying, "Donate to the cause of education the book 'Christ's Object Lessons.'" This so startled me that I at once awoke. And O, I was so grateful to the Lord for the light he had given me regarding what I could do to help to free our schools from debt! It was only twelve o'clock, but I could stay in bed no longer. I rose, and began writing something of what must be done. And I wish to say now that much more has been done with the book than I flattered myself could be done. I feel like shedding tears of joy when I think of what God has permitted me to do for the schools. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 24] "We are to pray without ceasing, and we are to live our prayers." {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 25] This is a lesson we need to learn. We are to live our prayers. Some say, "I do not know that the Lord hears me." Do not know! What do you mean? Do you mean to say that you do not believe the word of the One who had such an interest in you that he gave his only begotten Son to secure your salvation? Do you mean to say that you do not believe your Redeemer, who left the heavenly courts, and came to this earth to suffer and die for you? He says to you, "Come unto me, . . .and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." What makes the yoke easy and the burden light?--Our willingness to wear it, our gladness in being able to do something for the Saviour. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 26] Let us yoke up with Christ. Let us practice self-denial and self-sacrifice. May God help us to do all we can for his work. He will hear our prayers. Let us believe in him. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Remembering this, let our faith cleave the dark shadow which Satan has thrown across our pathway. Looking into the face of Jesus Christ, let us say, "He is the hope of my calling." Let us believe in him, irrespective of feeling. Feeling has nothing to do with faith. It is as distinct from faith as the east is from the west. We have the word of the living God. In that let us trust. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 27] "Faith will greatly increase by exercise. Let those who are canvassing for 'Object Lessons' learn the lessons taught in the book for which they are working. Learn of Christ. Have faith in his power to help and save you. Faith is the very life-blood of the soul. Its presence gives warmth, health, consistency, and sound judgment. Its vitality and vigor exert a powerful though unconscious influence." {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 28] You do not know how much influence the Lord places behind this book. You do not know how he speaks through it to the hearts and minds of men and women. But you may know that you are doing the work he wishes you to do. I know that I did what he wanted me to do in giving this book to our schools, and I have been happy ever since. You will be happy if you do his will. You will find that his yoke is easy, and his burdens are light. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 29] "The life of Christ in the soul is as a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life. It leads to a constant cultivation of the heavenly graces, and to a kindly submission in all things to the Lord. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 30] "I speak to the workers, young and old, who are handling our books, and especially to those who are canvassing for the book that is now doing its appointed errand of mercy: Exemplify in the life the lessons given by Christ in his sermon on the mount. This will make a deeper impression and have a more lasting influence upon minds than will the sermons given from the pulpit. You may not be able to speak eloquently to those you desire to help, but if you speak modestly, hiding self in Christ, your words will be dictated by the Holy Spirit; and Christ, with whom you are co-operating will impress the heart." You do not make the impression. It is Christ, with whom you are a co-worker, who impresses hearts. We are laborers together with God. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 31] "Exercise that faith which works by love and sanctifies the soul. Let none now make the Lord ashamed of them because of their unbelief." Let us not get into the habits of manifesting this miserable thing--unbelief. "Sloth and despondency accomplish nothing. Entanglements in secular business are sometimes permitted by God, in order to stir the sluggish faculties to more 215 earnest action, that he may honor faith by the bestowal of rich blessings. This is a means of advancing his work." This is doing work for the Master. And when you see how unbelievers appreciate the work, it will make your heart leap for joy. It will make the yoke easy and the burden light. God will help you to work intelligently. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 31} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 32] "Looking unto Jesus, not only as our example, but as the author and finisher of our faith. Remember this. As at our baptism we pledged ourselves to him, and received the ordinance in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, these three great powers of heaven pledged themselves to work in our behalf, not only to begin, but to finish our faith. I am so glad that we have the promises of God. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 32} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 33] "Let us go forward, having confidence that he will supply strength for every duty. . . . {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 33} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 34] "The work for the relief of our schools should be taken up by our people in all countries. Let it be entered upon by our churches in Australasia. Our school there is in need of help, and if our people will take hold of the work unitedly, they can do much toward lifting the burden of debt; they can encourage the hearts of those who are laboring to build up this, the Lord's instrumentality; and they can aid in extending its influence of blessing to far heathen lands, and to the islands of the sea." {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 34} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 35] In Australia we realized the blessing of God in the establishment of a school on right principles. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 35} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 36] "Results of the Work. "Through the work for the relief of our schools a fourfold blessing will be realized,--a blessing to the schools, to the world, to the church, and to the workers themselves. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 36} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 37] "While funds are gathered for the relief of the schools, the best reading-matter is being placed in the hands of a large number of people, who, if this effort had not been made, would never have seen 'Christ's Object Lessons.' There are souls in desolate places who will be reached by this effort. The lessons drawn from the parables of our Saviour will be to very many as the leaves of the tree of life. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 37} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 38] "It is the Lord's design that 'Christ's Object Lessons,' with its precious instruction, will unify the believers. The self-sacrificing efforts put forth by the members of our churches will prove a means of uniting them, that they may be sanctified, body, soul, and spirit, as vessels unto honor, prepared to receive the Holy Spirit. Those who seek to do God's will, investing every talent to the best advantage, will become wise in working for his kingdom. They will learn lessons of the greatest value, and they will feel the highest satisfaction of a rational mind. Peace and grace and power of intellect will be given them. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 38} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 39] "As they carry this book to those who need the instruction it contains, the workers will gain a precious experience. This work is a means of education. Those who will do their best as the Lord's helping hand to circulate 'Christ's Object Lessons' will obtain an experience that will enable them to be successful laborers for God. Very many, through the training received in this work, will learn how to canvass for our larger work, which the people need so much. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 39} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 40] "All who engage in the work aright, cheerfully and hopefully, will find it a very great blessing. The Lord does not force any to engage in his work, but to those who place themselves decidedly on his side he will give a willing mind. He will bless all who will work out the spirit which he works in. To such workers he will give favor and success. As field after field is entered new methods and new plans will spring from new circumstances. New thoughts will come with the new workers who give themselves to the work. As they seek the Lord for help, he will communicate with them. They will receive plans devised by the Lord himself. Souls will be converted, and money will come in. The workers will find waste places of the Lord's vineyard lying close beside fields that have been worked. Every field shows new places to win. All that is done brings to light how much more still remains to be done. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 40} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 41] "As we work in connection with the Great Teacher, the mental faculties are developed. The conscience is under divine guidance. Christ takes the entire being under his control. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 41} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 42] "No one can be truly united with Christ, practicing his lessons, submitting to his yoke of restraint, without realizing that which he can never express in words. New, rich, thoughts come to him. Light is given to the intellect, determination to the will, sensitiveness to the conscience, purity to the imagination. The heart becomes more tender, the thoughts more spiritual, the service more Christlike. In the life there is seen that which no words can express,--true, faithful, loving devotion of heart, mind, soul, and strength to the work of the Master." {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 42} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 43] Our institutions have made and will make sacrifices, and we wish to say, Do not be weary in well-doing. The most precious work is yet before us. Our camp-meetings will soon open; and if every one will put on the armor, and work intelligently, the blessing of God will come to us. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 43} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 44] The light that has been given me is that Battle Creek has not the best influence over the students in our school. There is altogether too congested a state of things. The school, although it will mean a fewer number of students, should be moved out of Battle Creek. Get an extensive tract of land, and there begin the work which I entreated should be commenced before our school was established here,--to get out of the cities, to a place where the students would not see things to remark upon and criticise, where they would not see the wayward course of this one and that one, but would settle down to diligent study. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 44} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 45] Every term of school which we have held at Avondale has resulted in the conversion of nearly every student in the school. In some terms this has been the case without exception, and in others there have not been more than two or three exceptions. Business men have brought their children from Newcastle to our school in Avondale, so that they would not be tempted as they would be in the public schools, which they declared were corrupted. Our schools should be located away from the cities, on a large tract of land, so that the students will have opportunity to do manual work. They should have opportunity to learn lessons from the objects which Christ used in the inculcation of truth. He pointed to the birds, to the flowers, to the sower and the reaper. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 45} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 46] In schools of this kind not only are the minds of the students benefited, but their physical powers are strengthened. All portions of the body are exercised. The education of mind and body is equalized. The body needs a great deal more care than it gets. There are men here who are suffering, O so much, because they are not faithful stewards of their bodies. God wants you to use every means in your power to care for the wonderful machinery which he has given 216 you. Let no part of it rust from inaction. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 46} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 47] When students study the popular literature of the present day, evil will be sure to crop out. When young ladies read novels, they are led away from the living experience which they should gain in the truth. Instead of preparing themselves for missionary work, they pore over novels, by which they are made just as drunk as is a drunkard by the liquor which he drinks. Thus the mind is impaired, and they are made unable to study. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 47} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 48] Students should have manual work to do, and it will not hurt them if in doing this work they become weary. Do you not think Christ became weary?--Indeed he did. Weariness injures no one. It only makes rest sweeter. It will not hurt the students to deny appetite, and live on a simple diet of fruits and grains. This will help them. It will strengthen and bless them. It is a meat diet, and a great variety of food, which is ruining the digestive organs. None of our schools are to indulge in these harmful things. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 48} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 49] The young men, as well as the young women are to be taught how to cook; and the young women, as well as the young men, are to take a part in outside work. When this is done, there will be found in our schools in America as healthy a class of students as is found in our school in Cooranbong, where there are few of the students whose health has not been improved by correct habits of life. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 49} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 50] God wants the school to be taken out of Battle Creek. Let us take away the excuse which has been made for families to come into Battle Creek. They must get away from Battle Creek; for God does not want them here. Day after day the question is put to individuals, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" Who sent you here? God did not send Elijah into the wilderness; he went of himself. God did not send you to Battle Creek. He has a work for you to do in his vineyard. Put on the armor, and go forth into places where you can raise up churches, where you can establish humble institutions, where you can work in medical missionary lines. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 50} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 51] God wants the perceptive faculties of his people to be clear and capable of hard work. But if you are living on a flesh diet, you need not expect that your mind will be fruitful. The thoughts must be cleansed; then the blessing of God will rest upon his people. We want the pervading truth of God's word to get hold of every one of our people before this Conference is over. We want them to understand that the flesh of animals is not the proper food for them to eat. Such a diet cultivates the animal passions in them and in their children. God wants us to educate our children in right habits of eating, dressing, and working. He wants us to do what we can to repair the broken-down machinery. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 51} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 52] Some may be stirred about the transfers of the school from Battle Creek. But they need not be. This move is in accordance with God's design for the school before the institution was established. But men could not see how this could be done. There were so many who said that the school must be in Battle Creek. Now we say that it must be somewhere else. The best thing that can be done is to dispose of the school's buildings here as soon as possible. Begin at once to look for a place where the school can be conducted on right lines. God wants us to place our children where they will not see and hear that which they should not see or hear. God wants his church to take up the stones, to remove the rubbish, to clear the highway for the coming of the Lord. He wants them to prepare to meet their God. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 52} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 53] I shall at another time have more to say on the subject of education of children in the school and in the family. Oh, with what sadness God looks upon the neglect of fathers and mothers. This neglect is registered in the books of heaven. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 53} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 54] Let the work of relieving our schools go steadily forward. Work to the point, and the blessing of God will rest upon you. And when the debt is lifted, still continue the work; for a fund should be raised to send to school students who can not pay their own way. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 54} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 55] Parents should be willing to pay a little higher tuition, that our schools may not again fall into debt. It is the duty of those who sent their children to school when the tuition was too low to help in lifting the debt on the schools. God will bless them in the performance of this duty. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 55} [GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 56] In our camp-meetings let a thorough work be done in selling, not only "Object Lessons," but all our books. Let not one minister think that to sell our books is too humiliating a work. Too humiliating a work! Not at all. God wants every line of his work to be carried forward intelligently, in the name of the Lord God of Israel. A sermon is of tenfold more value than it would otherwise be if, after it is delivered, books treating upon the subject presented are sold to the hearers. Let us push with all our might the work of selling our books, and God will bless us in this effort. This is not a work of which any of us should be ashamed. By this work the light of truth is shed abroad in the world. {GCB, April 14, 1901 par. 56} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 1] April 16, 1901 An Appeal to Our Ministers. Talk to Ministers by Mrs. E. G. White April 15, 1901. There is much that must be considered, which can not be touched this morning, and I hardly know what to bring before you, because there is so much to say. The light that has been given me for the past fifteen years has been a representation of the great responsibility which is attached to the work of the ministry. The work of the minister should be regarded in a far higher light. It is the low estimate placed on this work that leaves our Conferences in such a weak, feeble condition. We can not afford this. Those ministers who place a low estimate on the work intrusted to them neither do justice to themselves or to the church. Just as long as our ministers fail to feel a sense of responsibility proportionate to the greatness of their work, there will be a deficiency in our Conferences. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 2] We can not, as a people, allow things to go on in this way. Those who are placed in charge of Conferences should be men who understand the movements of the Spirit of God upon the human heart, so that when the Spirit is absent they will know that something is wrong. Before they give the word of God to the people, they are to understand what it means to talk with God. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 3] In many minds principles have become so confused that it is difficult for them to grasp correct principles. So great is the dullness of conception that many know scarcely anything of what it means to be witnesses for Christ in these last days. If they only knew, if they only understood, if they could only see what might be in comparison with what is, there would be such an awakening, such a breaking down before God as we have never seen before. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 4] There is a great necessity for individual examination. You may very intelligently examine your brother-ministers and very closely judge them, while you yourself are in far more need of closer examination and judging than you bestow on them. Many lay burdens on their brethren, weakening and discouraging them by their criticism, instead of uplifting and strengthening them. God wants us to take ourselves in hand. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith or not. Prove your own selves. Just as soon as you fasten the mind on Jesus Christ, the Saviour who made a complete sacrifice for every one; just as soon as you see that you must be a complete man because he has made a complete sacrifice for you, you will seek earnestly for help from above to overcome your own failings. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 5] I am not going to specify any one in particular as being in the wrong. There should be a general reformation, a closer examination of self. Ask yourselves the question, "What should I be?" Christ says, "Without me ye can do nothing." {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 6] My heart has been filled with sadness as I have looked over the field and seen the barren places. What does this mean? Who are standing as representatives of Jesus Christ? Who feels a burden for the souls who can not receive the truth till it is brought to them. Our ministers are hovering over the churches, as though the angel of mercy was not making efforts to save souls. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 7] God holds these ministers responsible for the souls of those who are in darkness. He does not call you to go into fields that need no physician. Establish your churches with the understanding that they need not expect the minister to wait upon them and to be continually feeding them. They have the truth; they know what truth is. They should have root in themselves. These should strike down deeply, that they may reach up higher and still higher. They must be rooted and grounded in the faith. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 8] Very many will get up some test that is not given in the word of God. We have our test in the Bible, -- the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus." This is the true test, but many other tests will arise among the people. They will come in in multitudes, springing up from this one and that one. There will be a continual rising up of some foreign thing to call attention from the true test of God. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 9] These things make it necessary that the minister who meets these tests should have a discerning mind, that he may not give credence to any false doctrine. Voices will be heard, saying, Lo, here is Christ, when there is no Christ there at all. It is some human notion which they wish men to accept and believe. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 10] But the saddest thing is that principles become perverted. Not that there is no one who tries to carry out principle, but that principle has become so daubed with untempered mortar that it will need the closest investigation from the word of God to see if all is in accordance with the principles of true godliness, founded upon a "Thus saith the Lord." {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 11] God wants those who have come to this Conference to wake up, that they may not be sleeping on the walls of Zion. There should be an investigation of self. When you begin this work, you will find that you have your hands full. Too many who have entered the ministry have not had that thorough, cleansing, refining influence upon mind and character that takes away the chaff, enabling them to bring to the foundation Stone only gold and silver and precious stones. Here is the great need, the great lack. God wants us to come to him just as we are, throw our helpless souls upon Jesus Christ, and be born again. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 12] The fact is, many have entered the ministry with a babyish, childish, pettish, and self-willed spirit, just as their mothers allowed them to grow up. This is why I am speaking so often to fathers and mothers about realizing the great 268 responsibility that rests upon them. Every particle of this childishness must be left behind. You have grown to the full stature of men, therefore the childish things you entertained, the disagreeable traits of character which you know are not after Christ's order, your impetuous words, must be put away. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 13] Words are a talent, and you have no right to use God's talents in any way but for his glory, for the benefit of every one around you. There must be a thorough conversion of the soul, that there may be a conversion of the tongue and lips. Then the treasure house of the soul will be full of precious truths, because Christ's character is studied. Then you will be blessed as overseers and shepherds. And when you as shepherds, exemplifying the traits of Christ's character, come before the flock, they will see the importance of having practical religion, practical godliness, not merely the accepting of a form or a theory. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 14] Some think that they must be so wonderfully orthodox, but they are not orthodox at all after Christ's order. They catch some little point and dwell upon it, magnifying it above all else. Of those who do not see as they do they say, "We do not want this man to preach because he does not see this point," and, "We do not want that man to preach because he does not see that point." But they do not know what they are about. Leave that man with God. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 15] It is not for you to dissect the ideas of this one and that one. We served our time at this at Minneapolis. Let there be no more of it in the work of God. God wants us to realize that judgment is right upon us. Let us beware lest before we are aware of it, the thief comes upon us with stealthy tread. Let us stand where we look not at the defects and errors of others, but at Jesus, saying, "I have an individual case pending in the heavenly courts. It means everything to me whether I shall be weighed in the balances of the sanctuary and found complete in him, or whether I shall be found wanting." {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 16] Provision has been made for every one of us to be saved. Those who do not accept the provision made by the shedding of the blood of the Son of the infinite God place their minds on little items, to the neglect of the great truths essential for salvation. They are diverted from the great Pattern, diverted from the study of the character of Christ. Failing to see him, they are not changed from glory to glory, from character to character. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 17] God wants us to look to Jesus. But we are not Bible-keepers. We do not obey the commandments of God. A lawyer came to Christ with the question, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Knowing what was in the mind of the lawyer, Christ placed upon him the burden of the answer. "What is written in the law?" he asked. "How readest thou?" I wonder whether you do not need your attention called to this. "How readest thou?" {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 18] The question asked by the lawyer is a decided one, and with the answer comes sounding down along the line to our time. The lawyer answered, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." This includes the whole man. The powers of the body as well as of the mind are to be used in the work of God. The whole being is to be consecrated to the service of the Master. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 19] There are many things I wish to say which I shall touch at another time. I want now to say to you, Look unto Jesus, and see in him what you should be. In order to have eternal life we must love God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves. On these two great arms hang all the law and the prophets. These principles take in the entire Bible. We may have faith, hope, and confidence; but these will do us no good unless we have the love of Christ in the soul. The love that the Saviour has expressed for us we are to express for our brethren. This love will exert a vivifying influence upon the life and a reformative influence upon the character. This is what God wants to see. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 20] As I have seen the fields ripe unto the harvest, and as I have seen the lack of interest manifested in them, I have wondered how you could do as you have done. I can not understand it. If you are connected with him who gave his life to save the world, how can you see the purchase of his blood perishing in their sins without making any efforts to save them? Christ says, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." We are not to give the call to those who have received the truth and understand it, to whom it has been repeated over and over again till some one thinks he must bring in something original. He brings in little fables which are not worth a straw. These he brings forward as tests God has given, when Satan has originated them to divert minds from the true tests God has given. Thou shalt love supremely the God of heaven. This is your first work. And when you do this, you will love your neighbor as yourself. You will treat human beings as souls Christ died to save. Put away all pettishness and fretfulness. All these things are to be purged from the heart. You are to be purified through belief in the truth. God wants us to have the sanctification of the Spirit. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 21] The truth is to be borne to those who know it not. Labor for souls as they who must give account to God. Every one of you will be called to account for what you ought to have done and did not do. God wants you to be faithful stewards. He wants you to seek for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he wants you to be hunters and fishers for souls. He wants to see manifested in you the living faith which knows how to labor for souls. He will use men who will seek earnestly for sinners, who will get down on their knees and pray with them. God wants you to make more earnest efforts than ever before to go into the regions beyond, then when the next Conference is held, it will be found that churches have been established in many places. Angels of God are waiting for an opportunity to work with you. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 22] Christ came to save that which was lost, and he calls you to go forth to labor for those who know not the truth, instead of only sermonizing and doing a little work for the churches. You would then do fifty times as much in encouraging the churches and setting them a right example. God wants you to know how to wrestle, to know what it is to labor for souls, and to carry the burden of souls on your heart. When you are educating them, Christ is educating you. When you are giving them lessons, Christ is giving you his lessons, and these are of the greatest value. To those who have placed stumbling-blocks in the way of their brethren, who have felt it their solemn duty to hold back men who have the truth, and who could give the trumpet a certain sound, I would say, Take your hands off quickly. Feel that you have a work to do for your own souls, and that it is best for you to be about it, lest you lose the 269 chance of so growing up into Christ and be complete in him. {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 23] This is all I feel it my duty to say this morning. This is all you can work upon at present. I have other things to say later on. I will only add, Let us seek the Lord, and let us confess our sins. - {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 1] April 16, 1901 Extracts From Testimonies "A crisis in missionary effort is upon us." "The churches are withering up because they have failed to use their talents in diffusing the light of truth to others." "Well-organized work must be done in the church, that its members may understand the manner in which they may impart light to others, and thus strengthen their own faith and increase their knowledge." "Let the distinct message for this time be sent from watchman to watchman on the walls of Zion." Can not we do more for the churches, that they may be aroused to act upon the light already given?" 274 {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 2] April 16, 1901 Extracts From Testimonies "Many have embraced the truth, and yet they have not been educated as to how they may serve the cause of God, and thereby grow in spiritual muscle and sinew." "The love of the truth is dying out of their hearts." {GCB, April 16, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 19, 1901 par. 1] April 19, 1901 Extracts From Testimonies "Young men and young women, can you not form companies, and as soldiers of Christ enlist in the work, putting all your tact and skill and talents into the Master's services, that you may save souls from ruin? Let there be companies organized in every church to do this work. Young men and women, come to the work in the name of Jesus." Let them unite together upon some plan and order of action." "Let there be a company formed, somewhat after the order of the Christian Endeavor Society." {GCB, April 19, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 1] April 22, 1901 The Work in England (W.W. Prescott and E. G. White) Mrs. E. G. White: It seems to me that the necessity of the work in England is a very important question to us in this country. We talk about China and other countries. Let us not forget the English-speaking countries, where, if the truth were presented, many would receive and practice it. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 2] Why is it that more work has not been done in England? What has been the matter? The workers could not get means. Does not this speak to us of the necessity of economy in every line? Does it not speak to us of the necessity of guarding against wasting the money the Lord has placed in our hands to help forward his cause? {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 3] London has been presented to me again and again as a place in which a great work is to be done, and I have tried to present this before our people. I spent two years in Europe, going over the field three times. And each time I went, I saw improvement in the work, and the last time a decided improvement was manifest. And oh, what a burning desire filled my heart to see this great field, London especially, worked as it should be. Why have not workers been sent there, men and women who could have planned for the advancement of the work? I have wondered why our people, those who are not ordained ministers, but who have a connection with God, who understand the Scriptures, do not open the word to others. If they would engage in this work, great blessing would come to their own souls. God wants his people to work. To every man--and that means every woman, also--he has given his work, and this work each one is to perform according to his several ability {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 4] Let no one suppose that the work in London can be carried forward by one or two. This is not the right plan. While there must be those who can 397 oversee the work, there is to be an army of workers striving to reach the different classes of people. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 5] House-to-house work must be done. This work we have done in Australia, and we have seen the salvation of God as this work has been carried forward. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 6] Those who have means are to help the work with the money the Lord has intrusted to them. And God wants men and women who are willing to give themselves entirely to him, even as Elisha did, when as he was plowing, Elijah came to him, and bade him follow him. Elisha obeyed, and we read that his first service was to pour water on the hands of the prophet. He willingly took up the work of ministering to him, and thus he became acquainted with the work in which he was afterward to have a leading part. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 7] Elisha's work was not the same as Elijah's, yet they were both working for the Lord. Let no one, when asking for help for a place, say what help they want and what help they do not want. God knows what they need. No human being can know just what help is needed for any field, but God knows. It is not God's plan for us to establish ourselves in a certain place, and then specify just what kind of help we are willing to accept. This is not the right way. Say, Lord, we need help. Send us those who will best help to advance the work. Let not those who are managing the work in the different parts of the field, say, "I can not accept this man. I am afraid something will come in that will throw the work into perplexity." God knows what is best for his people, and he will help them when they fall into difficulty. We wish we had heaven here below, but we have not. The church militant is not the church triumphant. The church militant must wrestle and toil. She must strive against temptations and fight severe battles, because Satan is not dead. His agencies are much more active in his work than are the agencies of God in the work of their Leader. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 8] God calls upon his people to awake. There is much work to do, and no one is to say, "We do not want this one. He will stand in our way. He will hinder us." Can not God take care of that? Are there not those in this congregation who will settle in London to work for the Master? Are there not those who will go to that great city as self-supporting missionaries? But while missionaries are to do all they can to be self-supporting, let those who remain here, who Sabbath after Sabbath come to the Tabernacle to hear the word of God, who have every convenience and advantage, let them beware how they say to those they send to foreign fields, destitute of every facility and advantage, "You must be self-supporting." {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 9] Those who go to foreign fields will always find themselves placed in awkward places at first. They will find that they have many things to correct in their manner of work. But if they persevere, they will gain the ability to take up the work and carry it forward successfully. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 10] God wants his workers to stand together in perfect unity. One worker is not to measure another worker, trying to find out how high or how broad he is spiritually. If you think your fellow worker is not all he ought to be, try to show him where he is lacking. Those who are new in a field can not be expected to possess the experience of those who have been in the field for years. They are to be trained and educated, learning, lesson after lesson, how to do the work. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 11] To those in America who all their lives have indulged themselves God says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up the cross and follow me." The one we are told to follow is the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, who, in his great love for the human race, laid aside his royal robe and kingly crown, and came to this earth to show men how to live Christian lives. He tells us that self-denial is the evidence of discipleship. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 12] Could the curtain be rolled back, you would today see that the angels of heaven are looking with sadness upon our terrible neglect. All heaven is waiting to give God's sufficiency to those who will consecrate themselves unreservedly to the Master's service. Let us remember the words, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 13] God wants his people to come into working order. He calls upon them to stand in such a position that he can work through them. What is the work of the right hand? It is to open doors for the entrance of the body. This work the medical missionary work is to do for the message. God wants every one of us to be his helping hand. The medical missionary work is to be carried forward in every field. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 14] The Lord wants his people to die to self and live in him. Are we willing to do this? Are we willing to say, I will give myself to the work, not to require the highest wages, but to do the best I can for God? {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 15] We need now to open the door to the work in London. This door has long been closed, but it must now be opened. Brother Prescott is fully capable of organizing schools in that field, but means must be provided for this work. Think of the little help England has had. How do we stand before God as regards the work there? Job declared that the things he knew not he searched out. God wants you to search out the things you do not know. He wants you to set the work in England in operation in such a way that he can co-operate with you for its advancement. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 16] The European field must receive the attention it must have. And we are not to forget the needy fields close at hand. Look at New York! What representation for the truth is there in that city. How much help has been sent there? Our education and health work must be established there, and this work must be given financial aid till it is self-supporting. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 17] In Europe there are outsiders who have money. Let men who have tact go to these people, and tell them what is being done to help the people of all denominations. Tell them that you are desirous of establishing a sanitarium, where all classes of people can be helped; that you want to establish a school where the Bible will be used as the basis of all the work, where the youth can be educated in Bible lines. There are those who, if approached in the right way, will give of their means to help in this work. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 18] The Lord wants every one who goes to London to stand where he can say, We are brethren. I am willing to learn every day, that I may be so educated that it may at last be said of me, "Ye are complete in Christ." God wants those at the heart of the work to practice self-denial and self-sacrifice. Do not look over to London and say, "Be ye warmed and be ye clothed and be ye fed," while neglecting to do those things which will relieve their necessities. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 19] God does not want you to measure men, to cherish your peculiar impressions of what men should be in order to be accepted by God. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 20] There is a work to be done in London. I have been given light that this work can be done, and that help will come from outside. Those who have money 398 will give of their means. You need not be delicate about asking them for money. Whose money is it?--The Lord's. All is mine. Why then can not you ask men to give the Lord a little of their means, and thus lay up for themselves a treasure in the heavens? Can not you do it? When I was collecting money to establish the work in San Francisco, I was appealing to men whom I knew had means; but when I asked for pledges, they did not stir. A man arose and said, "Do you milk the goats over the fence? Because here is some money I wish to give, though I am not a Seventh-day Adventist." {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 21] God wants the work to go forward in New York. There ought to be thousands of Sabbath-keepers in that place, and there would be if the work were carried on as it should be. But prejudices spring up. Men want the work to go in their lines, and they refuse to accept broader plans from others. Thus opportunities are lost. In New York there should be several small companies established, and workers should be sent out. It does not follow that because a man is not ordained as a preacher, he can not work for God. Let such ones as these be taught how to work, then let them go out to labor. On returning, let them tell what they have done. Let them praise the Lord for his blessing, and then go out again, and encourage them. A few words of encouragement will be an inspiration to them. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 22] If you see things to find fault with, remember that Christ said to his disciples, "Come ye apart and rest a while." And in this place of retirement they told him all about their labor, and Christ instructed them how to work. They said, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us." And Jesus said unto them, "Forbid him not; for he that is not against us is for us." {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 23] We need to come in closer touch with humanity. We need to put away our wrong preconceived opinions. Among those who are standing at the head of the work there is too much prejudice. The feeling is too prevalent, "I am perfect. I do not need any simmering down at all." If Christ should come, as represented in Malachi, the fuller's soap might make us a good deal less than we are. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 24] What we need is to hear the Lord's call to work. Instruct men in every line. You have a whole corps of workers in this place. It is time that you stopped taking the measurement of every man who comes in here. It is God who is to measure the men, and place them where they can be learning from those who have had experience. He does not send them forth without educating them, without his training them to do his work. But you must take inexperienced men and work with them. When you see them working and speaking, and they do not say just what you would say, do not groan, as though they were spoiling the whole work. Sit still; be quiet; and tell them afterward how they can improve in their manner of work. Never discourage them God desires us to come into working order, and to stand in that position where we will heed counsel. Every one of the young men are to heed counsel. They are not to set up their own opinions, as though there were no way but theirs. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 25] The field in New York is ripe unto the harvest, and if Elder Haskell and his wife feel that it is their duty to go there and work for the people, I believe that God will greatly bless them, enabling them to bring from the Lord's treasure-house things new and old. And he will bless Brother Prescott and Brother Waggoner, as they take up the work in England in which they have labored so hard. The Lord desires that men and women strong in the faith be sent there to work by their side. Men are needed there who can take financial management of the work. Help is needed in every line, and as workers go forth to labor in this field, God will strengthen them. Angels from heaven will stand beside them, as they strive to teach others the truths for this time. Let this work be taken hold-of in earnest. Let plans be made for its advancement, and a different report will be brought in at the next General Conference, if time lasts long enough for us to hold one. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 26] Let those who have money help the work in England with their means. The work there has had very little help in this line. God forgive and pardon us for not making plants all over Europe and in the great city of London and its suburbs. God grant that men and women will go there who are willing to sacrifice for him, who in their homes will exert an influence that will tell in favor of the truth, who will hold Bible readings with their neighbors, bringing the third angel's message to their personal attention. We can not hide ourselves away from the multitude and expect them to hunt us up. God wants us to make ourselves known. The third angel's message is to go with a loud cry. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 27] Brother Conradi has carried a very heavy burden of work in Europe. Brother Conradi, God wants you to have laborers to stand with you, and he wants you to give them all the encouragement you can. He wants the work you are doing to go with strength and with power. You have been doing the work of several men. God has greatly blessed your labors. The angels of God have done this work, not Brother Conradi. He has opened doors for the angels, and they have entered. And if you will all open doors for the angels and give God an opportunity to work, let me tell you that he will set in operation that which will carry forward the work with a strength you do not dream of. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." God wants us to work by faith. Put away all criticism, all unbelief, all desire to measure your fellow-worker, who perhaps has not had one hundredth part of the opportunity you have had. The Lord desires you to work and pray in all simplicity. He told Nicodemus that unless he were born again, he could not see the kingdom of heaven. We must be born again. We must leave behind us all our inherited and cultivated tendencies to wrong. We must talk and walk and work with Jesus, taking him with us everywhere we go. What we need is heart-religion. We need to sit low at the feet of Jesus Christ, where we can learn the precious lessons he is waiting to teach us. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 28] The power of God means everything to us. God will make the impression on hearts if self is taken out of the way. Let the angel of God place his stamp on the message you bear. God help us to work in Christ's lines as we seek to give to the world the last message of warning. {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 29] Let the name of the Lord be magnified. We want the truth to triumph, and it is going to triumph in every respect. Let every one pray in faith. Let every one talk in faith. Let every one inspire the next one. Do not begin to pull each other down, or speak disparagingly of one another. Let all fix their eyes upon Christ, not upon man. Let us educate men who are under the influence of the Spirit of God, and we shall see that one can chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. The 399 powers of darkness can not withstand God or the angels who do his will. Let us work intelligently, in solid lines, and we shall see the salvation of God. - {GCB, April 22, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 1] April 23, 1901 "Blessed are the pure in heart." Regarding the Late Movement in Indiana. Article Read by Mrs. E. G. White before the Ministers, April 17, 1901. Instruction has been given me in regard to the late experience of brethren in Indiana and the teaching they have given to the churches. Through this experience and teaching the enemy has been working to lead souls astray. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 2] The teaching given in regard to what is termed "holy flesh" is an error. All may now obtain holy hearts, but it is not correct to claim in this life to have holy flesh, The apostle Paul declares, "I know that in me ［that is, in my flesh］ dwelleth no good thing." Romans 7:17. To those who have tried so hard to obtain by faith so-called holy flesh, I would say, You can not obtain it. Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on the earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 3] If those who speak so freely of perfection in the flesh, could see things in the true light, they would recoil with horror from their presumptuous ideas. In showing the fallacy of their assumptions in regard to holy flesh, the Lord is seeking to prevent men and women from putting on his words a construction which leads to pollution of body, soul, and spirit. Let this phase of doctrine be carried a little further, and it will lead to the claim that its advocates can not sin; that since they have holy flesh, their actions are all holy. What a door of temptation would thus be opened! {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 4] The Scriptures teach us to seek for the sanctification to God of body, soul, and spirit. In this work we are to be laborers together with God. Much may be done to restore the moral image of God in man, to improve the physical, mental, and moral capabilities. Great changes can be made in the physical system by obeying the laws of God and bringing into the body nothing that defiles. And while we can not claim perfection of the flesh, we may have Christian perfection of the soul. Through the sacrifice made in our behalf, sins may be perfectly forgiven. Our dependence is not in what man can do; it is in what God can do for man through Christ. When we surrender ourselves wholly to God, and fully believe, the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin. The conscience can be freed from condemnation. Through faith in 420 his blood, all may be made perfect in Christ Jesus. Thank God that we are not dealing with impossibilities. We may claim sanctification. We may enjoy the favor of God. We are not to be anxious about what Christ and God think of us, but about what God thinks of Christ, our Substitute. Ye are accepted in the Beloved. The Lord shows, to the repenting, believing one, that Christ accepts the surrender of the soul, to be molded and fashioned after his own likeness. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 5] In his life on earth, Christ could have made disclosures which would have eclipsed and assigned to oblivion all human discoveries. He could have opened door after door to mysterious things, and many revelations of eternal realities would have been the sure result. He could have uttered words which would have been as a key to unlock mysteries that would have captivated the minds of generations to the close of time. But Christ does not open the numerous doors at which human curiosity has been striving to obtain entrance. He does not spread for men a feast that would prove deleterious to their highest interests. He came to plant for men, not the tree of knowledge, but the tree of life. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 6] Adam's transgression of God's law involved the entire future of the human family. All nature is confused; for God forbade the earth to carry out the purpose he had originally designed for it. Let there be no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord. The curse of God is upon all creation. Every year it makes itself more decidedly felt. But God is moving slowly in his great purpose, for the benefit of the righteous. Soon the vials of his wrath will be poured out. If but ten righteous persons had been found in Sodom, God would not have devoted the city to destruction. Let us see that our hearts are right with God, and he will be our defense in the time of trouble. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 7] "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God: let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering (for he is faithful that promised); and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Hebrews 10:19-25. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 8] I have been instructed to say to those in Indiana who are advocating strange doctrines, You are giving a wrong mold to the precious and important work of God. Keep within the bounds of the Bible. Take Christ's lessons, and repeat them over and over again. Remember that "the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruit, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." James 3:17, 18. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 9] When human beings receive holy flesh, they will not remain on the earth, but will be taken to heaven. While sin is forgiven in this life, its results are not now wholly removed. It is at his coming that Christ is to "change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." Philippians 3:21. When Christ shall come with a great sound of a trumpet, and shall call the dead from their prison house, then the saints will receive holy flesh. Then this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruptible shall put on incorruption. Then Christ will be admired in all them that believe. He will see of the travail of his soul, and will be satisfied. Then will break forth from immortal beings the song of triumph, "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 10] "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which can not be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear; for our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:28, 29. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 11] Those who meet Christ in peace at his coming must in this life walk before him in humility, meekness, and lowliness of mind. It becomes every human being to walk modestly and circumspectly before God, in harmony with the great testing truths he has given to the world. But the late experience of brethren in Indiana has not been in accordance with the Lord's instruction. I have not during this Conference held conversation with any one in regard to this matter, but the Lord has given me a definite testimony that a strange work is being done in Indiana, the results of which are not after his order. This phase of religious enthusiasm is a dangerous delusion. The sentiments and exercises are not prompted by the Holy Spirit. They have led to very sad results. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 12] Again and again in the progress of our work, fanatical movements have arisen, and when the matter was presented before me, I have had to bear a message similar to the message I am bearing to my brethren from Indiana. I have been instructed by the Lord that this movement in Indiana is of the same character as have been the movements in years past. In your religious meetings there have been exercises similar to those I have witnessed in connection with those movements in the past. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 13] In the period of disappointment after the passing of the time in 1844, fanaticism in various forms arose. Some held that the resurrection of the righteous dead had already taken place. I was sent to bear a message to those believing this, as I am now bearing a message to you. They declared that they were perfected, that body, soul, and spirit were holy. They made demonstrations similar to those you have made, and confused their own minds and the minds of others by their wonderful suppositions. Yet these persons were our beloved brethren, and we were longing to help them. I went into their meetings. There was much excitement, with noise and confusion. One could not tell what was piped or what was harped. Some appeared to be in vision, and fell to the floor. Others were jumping, dancing, and shouting. They declared that as their flesh was purified, they were ready for translation. This they repeated again and again. I bore my testimony in the name of the Lord, placing his rebuke upon these manifestations. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 14] Some who had engaged in these movements were brought to their right mind, and saw their delusion. Some had been excellent, honest people, but they thought that sanctified flesh could not sin, and thus they had been taken in Satan's trap. They had carried their strong ideas so far that they became a reproach to the precious cause of God. These sorely repented, and some were afterward among our most reliable men and women. But there were others who ever after walked in sadness. We could not at any time make them feel that they were worthy to work for the Master, whose precious cause they had so greatly dishonored. 421 {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 15] As the result of fanatical movements such as I have described, persons in no way responsible for them have in some cases lost their reason. They could not harmonize the scenes of excitement and tumult with their own past precious experience; they were pressed beyond measure to receive the message of error; it was represented to them that unless they did this they would be lost; and as the result their mind was unbalanced, and some became insane. These things bring a reproach upon the cause of truth, and hinder the proclamation of the last message of mercy to the world. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 16] The manner in which the meetings in Indiana have been carried on, with noise and confusion, does not commend them to thoughtful, intelligent minds. There is nothing in these demonstrations which will convince the world that we have the truth. Mere noise and shouting are no evidence of sanctification, or of the descent of the Holy Spirit. Your wild demonstrations create only disgust in the minds of unbelievers. The fewer of such demonstrations there are, the better it will be for the actors and for the people in general. Fanaticism, once started and left unchecked, is as hard to quench as a fire which has obtained hold of a building. Those who have entered into and sustained this fanaticism, might far better be engaged in secular labor; for by their inconsistent course of action they are dishonoring the Lord and imperiling his people. Many such movements will arise at this time, when the Lord's work should stand elevated, pure, unadulterated with superstition and fables. We need to be on our guard, to maintain a close connection with Christ, that we be not deceived by Satan's devices. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 17] The Lord desires to have in his service order and discipline, not excitement and confusion. We are not now able to describe with accuracy the scenes to be enacted in our world in the future; but this we do know, that this is a time when we must watch unto prayer; for the great day of the Lord is at hand. Satan is rallying his forces. We need to be thoughtful and still, and to contemplate the truths of revelation. Excitement is not favorable to growth in grace, to true purity and sanctification of the spirit. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 18] God wants us to deal with sacred truth. This alone will convince the gainsayer. Calm, sensible labor must be put forth, to convince souls of their condition, to show them the character-building which must be carried on if a beautiful structure is raised for the Lord. Minds that are awakened must be patiently instructed if they rightly understand and duly appreciate the truths of the word. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 19] God calls upon his people to walk with sobriety and holy consistency. They should be very careful not to misrepresent and dishonor the holy doctrines of truth by strange performances, by confusion and tumult. By this, unbelievers are led to think that Seventh-day Adventists are a set of fanatics. Thus prejudice is created that prevents souls from receiving the message for this time. When believers speak the truth as it is in Jesus, they reveal a holy, sensible calm, not a storm of confusion. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 20] At our camp-meetings we are to preach the word, defending the reasons of our faith. God will give us the rich endowments of his grace in proportion to our knowledge and practice of the truth as it is in Jesus. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 21] There are few who really taste the sweetness of communion with the risen Saviour. All are too largely occupied with the things of this earth. Worldly things are too much thought of and talked of. We are too well satisfied with breathing the atmosphere of earth. Self is too often consulted, and it sways the perception and judgment into wrong channels. There must be more beholding of our Saviour and more talking of heavenly things. Our secular work must be done, but every business transaction needs the closest criticism, else we shall find interwoven with it threads of selfishness, and it will become a snare to our feet. The Lord will not serve with our sins. There is no virtue in judging others. Our time and work are too important for this. "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates." 2 Corinthians 13:5. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 22] "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." James 1:19-27. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 23] Brethren from Indiana, the word of the Lord to you and to all who are misled by your influence is: "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace." "Let not then your good be evil spoken of; for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; for he that in these things serveth Christ, is acceptable to God and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another." Hebrews 13:9; Romans 14:16-19. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 24] "I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him; rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principalities and powers." Colossians 2:1-10. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 25] "Speak thou the things which 422 become sound doctrine: that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. . . . Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that can not be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you." Titus 2:1-8. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 26] The work of self-examination must go forward. When Christ is enshrined in our hearts, we have reached the position which God desires us to occupy. The example and lessons of Christ are to be our study; for in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we are to move onward and upward. And who can describe the benefits of appreciating Him who is invisible? "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,--from character to character,--even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 27] We need to contemplate Christ and become assimilated to his image through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. This is our only safeguard against being entangled in Satan's delusive snares. - {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 1] April 23, 1901 His Wonderful Love. Mrs. E. G. White, Sabbath, April 20. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law. And we know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 2] I desire to call your attention to the first verse of the scripture I have read. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 3] John tried to describe the love of God, but language failed. He could only call on us to behold it. We must behold this love for ourselves. We must strive to understand as far as possible the love the Father has bestowed on us. Let no one feel that he is stepping down in becoming a child of God. It was the only begotten Son of God who stepped down. He gave himself for us. Leaving his splendor, his majesty, his high command, and clothing his divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity, and divinity lay hold upon divinity, he came to this earth, and in our behalf suffered the death of the cross. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 4] In the words I have read, our possibilities and probabilities are opened before us. It is possible for every son and daughter of Adam, through belief in Christ, to be cleansed from sin. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Our part is to receive and believe on Jesus Christ. Of him on whom we are asked to believe, it is written, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of man. . . . That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 5] It is our privilege to walk in the light as Christ is in the light. We need not groan and murmur because the path heavenward is not a smooth one. Our part is to believe, to try to understand the words, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we might be called the sons of God," The assurance is, "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Do we believe on his name? {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 6] Christ has made an infinite sacrifice. He gave his own life for us. He took upon his divine soul the result of the transgression of God's law. Laying aside his royal crown, he condescended to step down, step by step, to the level of fallen humanity. He hung upon Calvary's cross, dying in our behalf, that we might have eternal life. Why is it that we are so indifferent to this great sacrifice. Does it seem a small thing that he should endure all this, that we might be called the sons of God. Does it seem a small thing to you to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, partakers of an immortal inheritance? Is it a small matter to become heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ? What sacrifice have we made in response to this infinite sacrifice? {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 7] Would you grasp the things of the world? The world knoweth not God. 423 Give yourselves to the world, and you will not know God; you can not know him. We need to behold him. We need to purify our souls by obeying the truth. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 8] "It doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." And we shall be among that number who can say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us." That salvation is worth striving for. Will we accept the privilege of becoming co-laborers with Jesus Christ, co-operating with him in building a pure and holy character, separating from us all that will make us impure and unclean in his sight? Will we accept immortal life? {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 9] Do you feel that you are taking a step down, that it is humiliating to be a follower of Jesus? Ever since I was eleven years old, I have felt that the greatest thing I could think of, and that I could strive to obtain, was the forgiveness of my sins. I believed that I would receive pardon from the One who promised it to me. And he is ready to pardon every one of you. Christ has promised to take away our sins, if we will come to him in faith. His pardon is for us. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 10] No one can serve God by proxy. There are so many who seem to think that there is some one in this world stronger than Christ, upon whom they can lean. And instead of coming right to Christ, just as they are, giving themselves unreservedly to him, they reach out for human help. God wants us to have an individual experience, to form characters after the divine similitude. I can not work out a character for you, and you can not work out a character for me. We are to stand before God in our individuality, and know for ourselves what it means to have the light and comfort and love of God in our hearts. The Lord wants us to take him at his word. He desires every one of us to reveal his character to the world. If all would accept the righteousness of Christ, we would not see so much sickness in our world. Everyone would strive to take care of the house he inhabits. He would purify his soul by obeying the truth. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 11] Consider Jesus Christ, our Sacrifice. He came into this world of sorrow, seared and marred with the curse. He lifted from us the curse that came upon the world because of the transgression of God's law. I am glad that it is our privilege to receive the truth; it is our privilege to receive Jesus Christ, and to trust in him at every step. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 12] Have we a right hold upon our Redeemer? Have you a right hold from above? If you have a happy feeling here, this is no proof that you are in connection with God. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Have we that living faith that takes God at his word? He has told us that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Are we striving for that life? Are we putting away everything that will weaken our mental powers, that will confuse our idea of what Christ is to us, and what we may be to Christ? {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 13] God has a people upon this earth. Who are they? They are those who will purify their souls by obeying the truth as it is in Jesus. Those who have the hope of everlasting life, will purify and cleanse the soul temple, that it may be a place where God can dwell. Then they can reveal to the world what great things he is willing to do for his children. He has told us of his matchless love. He has told us that if we receive his strength, we shall make peace with him. Shall we take hold of the strength of the infinite One? {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 14] God tells us that he wants our joy to be full. John writes, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life; . . . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that our joy may be full." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 15] God wants us to lead those with whom we are associated, to trust in him, not in human beings. He wants us to be joyful in him. Why is it, I ask, that the song of praise and triumph does not arise from our lips, as we think of what God has done for us? {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 16] "It doth not yet appear what we shall be," but by rightly representing what the truth has done for us, by showing that we have been born again, we can make this appear tenfold more than we do. There will always be those who will present in the worst light, those who are trying to serve God, and to purify their souls through obedience to the truth. Thus Satan seeks to discourage and hinder. God's people are to stand where they will know who are of God and who are not of God. They are to stand in his strength, believing in him, and revealing to the world the power of his grace. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 17] We read in Zechariah, "He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto him, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 18] Joshua represents the people of God. When Satan accused him, the Lord rebuked him, and spoke to those that stood before him, saying, "Take away the filthy garment from him, and unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with a change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair miter upon his head. So they set a fair miter upon his head, and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the Lord stood by." Satan tries to bring reproach against those who are trying to serve and honor God. He presents them in a questionable light, as those who are clothed with filthy garments. God says, "Take away the filthy garments. You have no right to put them upon them. Take them away. My people may have imperfections of character. They may fail in their endeavors, but if they repent, I will forgive them." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 19] This word of assurance is given to all who have faith in God. Receive this wonderful promise. It is not a human being who is speaking. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 20] Among these that stand by,--the hosts of the enemy, who are trying to bring God's people into disrepute, and the hosts of heaven, ten thousand times ten thousand angels, who watch over and guard the tempted people of God, uplifting and strengthening them. These are they who stand by. And God says to his believing ones. You shall walk among them. You shall not be overcome by the powers of darkness. You shall 424 stand before me in the sight of the holy angels, who are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 21] Let us think of the great sacrifice Christ has made in our behalf. For us he endured insult and mockery. He was tempted in all points like as we are, that he might be able to succor those that are tempted. There is joy for the believer in the promises of God. Let us make these promises the foundation of our faith. If we receive Christ as a personal Saviour, his power will keep us from falling. Here is the word of the Lord in our behalf. "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him; and he can not sin; because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil; whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 22] God wants us to be a help and strength to one another. He wants us to speak words of hope and courage. He is light. Open the windows of the soul toward heaven, and let the sunlight of God enter. The threshold of God is flooded with his glory, glory which is for every one who will receive the light. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 23] Temptations and trials may come, but that is not an evidence that you are not a child of God. He wants you to pray. Take hold of him for strength and comfort. When we are in trial, when we are opposed and in difficulty, when reports are made in regard to us, as they were in regard to Christ, when it was said, "He hath a devil," we should stand where we shall not retaliate, but reveal Christ. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 24] When Christ was leaving his disciples, he said, "Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 25] Now there is a promise. Do you believe it? I do. I believe in a soon-coming Saviour. Let us prepare ourselves for his coming. Let us take fast hold upon the power that God gives us, and in his strength keep his commandments. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 26] God will help every one who will take hold to co-operate with him. How shall we do it? Shall we sit here in the great congregation that generally assembles in Battle Creek, expecting the Lord to pour his grace and light upon us. "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." He calls upon you to bring to the foundation stone gold and silver and precious stones. What is more precious in the sight of God and the whole heavenly host than his church on this earth? What can be more precious? {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 27] There is a great work to be done. How shall we reveal Christ? I know of no better way to reveal him than to go forth as missionaries to our world. I know of no better way than to take hold of the medical missionary work in connection with the ministry. Wherever you go, there begin to work. Take an interest in those around you who need help and light. You may stand and preach to those here who know the truth, you may preach sermon after sermon to them, but they do not appreciate it. Why?--Because they are inactive. Every one who is able to go out and work should bring to the foundation stone, not hay, wood, or stubble, but gold, silver, and precious stones. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 28] We ought to be at work in the dark corners of the earth. We have tried this in Australia. The Lord has revealed himself, and we have built meeting-house after meeting-house, as we have gone to places where the people have never heard anything about the truth. I have frequently stood in the open air to speak to companies gathered to hear me. I have seen women with children in their arms standing for an hour to listen to me. There were men and women all around me. I have asked them, "How many of you have an intelligent faith in Jesus Christ? How many are Christians? Those who are, hold up your hands." Not a hand would be raised. Did they not need Christ? Did they not need a knowledge of the truth? Did they not need to learn lessons of temperance? Indeed they did. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 29] God wants us to stand where we can warn the people. He desires us to take up the temperance question. By wrong habits of eating and drinking men are destroying what power they have for thought and intelligence. We do not need to take an ax and break into their saloons. We have a stronger weapon than this,--the word of the living God. That will cleave its way through the hellish shadow which Satan seeks to cast athwart their pathway. God is mighty and powerful. He will speak to their hearts. We have seen him doing this. We have seen souls brought to the truth. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 30] In Australia, I met a man considered free from everything like intemperance, except for one habit. He used tobacco. He came to hear us at the tent, and one night after he went home, as he afterward told us, he wrestled against the habit of tobacco using, and obtained the victory. Some of his relatives had told him that they would give him fifty pounds if he would throw away his tobacco. He would not do it. "But," he said, "when you present the principles of temperance before us as you have done. I can not resist them. You present before us the self-denial of One who gave his life for us. I do not know him now, but I desire to know him. I have never offered a prayer in my house. I have cast away my tobacco, but that is as far as I have gone." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 31] We prayed with him, and after we left him, we wrote to him and later visited him again. He finally reached the point where he gave himself to God, and he is becoming the very pillar of the church in the place where he lives. He is working with all his soul to bring his relatives to a knowledge of the truth. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 31} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 32] The Lord wants plants made in the dark places of the earth. There are many, many souls in our world who are hungry for the truth. Let us seek to understand how to reach the people. There is no better way to do this than to be compassionate and sympathetic. If you know of those who are sick and in need of assistance, help them, try to relieve them in their distress. As you do this work, the power of the Lord will speak through it to the soul. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 32} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 33] God has given us talents to use for him. To one he gives five talents, to another two, and to another one. Let not him who has but one talent think to hide it from God. The Lord knows where it is hidden. He knows that it is doing nothing for him. When the Lord comes, he will ask his servants, What have you done with the talents I intrusted to you? And as he who received five and he who received two tell him that by trading they have doubled their talents, he will say to them, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler over many things . . . Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Thus he will say also to him 425 who has improved the one talent lent him. But to him who has hidden his talent, failing to improve it, he will say, "Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reaped where I sowed not, and gathered where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury." {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 33} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 34] Many today are hiding their talents. To him who has but one talent I would say, Do you know that one talent, rightly used and improved, will bring to the Lord one hundred talents? How? you ask. Use your gift in the conversion of one man of intellect, who sees what God is to him, and what he should be to God. Let him place himself on the side of the Lord, and as he imparts the light to others, he will be the means of bringing many souls to the Saviour. Through the right use of one talent, one hundred souls may receive the truth. It is not to those who have the greatest number of talents to whom the "Well done" is spoken, but to those who in sincerity and faithfulness have used their gifts for the Master. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 34} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 35] We understand the truth as it is in Jesus. Do we not want others to understand this truth? There is a great work to be done in our world, and we are accountable for every ray of light that shines upon our pathway. Impart that light, and you will receive more light to impart. Great blessing will come to those who use their talents aright. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 35} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 36] There is a world to be warned. What are we doing for the men and women who are in the darkness of error? Are we putting on the armor of God? Are we standing where we can resist the temptations of the enemy? "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." Will you show your appreciation of this love? Will you try to be a blessing to those who are out of Christ? You can no longer find time to spend in criticism and fault-finding. We do not believe that you will do this after the light you have received at this meeting. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 36} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 37] The Lord is not pleased with his people when they neglect to criticise their own soul, criticising others instead. This is Satan's work. When you do this work, remember that the enemy is using you as a means of tempting others, in order that those who should be united in harmony and joy, building up one another in the most holy faith, shall be warring and complaining because some one else is sinning. Christ has not made you a sin-bearer. You can not even bear your own sin. Therefore be very careful not to take up any reproach against your neighbor. God wants his people to be free. He has been binding them together at this Conference, for which I feel very grateful. Shall we not let praise flow forth from our lips? Shall we not remember that by the words we speak we may either wound or heal? Shall we not remember that as we judge, so we shall be judged, we who perhaps have had many more opportunities than those whom we judge. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 37} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 38] Our hearts must be melted into tenderness and love for one another. We may criticise ourselves just as severely as we please. The one who criticises another gives evidence that he is the very one who needs to criticise himself. Pray God to show you what you must remove from yourselves in order that you may see the kingdom of God. I want to see Jesus. I love him, and I want to behold his matchless charms. So do you. Let us show to the world that there is joy in believing in Christ that his joy is in us, and our joy is full. When we consider Jesus, the propitiation for our sins, shall we let him plead with us in vain?" Shall we refuse to deny self. We should preserve every power of mind and body, to work to his name's glory. There is a crown for the overcomer. Do you want it? Do you want to run the race with patience? Then do not seek to find something to condemn in your neighbor, but look right to Jesus Christ. Behold his purity, and you will be charmed and will reflect his likeness. That is what God wants us to do. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 38} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 39] Will you lay hold of the hope set before you in the gospel? God wants you to have eternal life. He does not mean to cast you aside. Why are you so doubtful? Come to Christ in your weakness and infirmity, saying, Dear Lord, there is no physician like thee. I want you to heal me, soul and body. Is there any one here who will not come to him just as he is? {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 39} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 40] So many are weighed down with the cares and disappointments and troubles of this life. Carry these troubles to Jesus, He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," Rest.-- this is what you want. It is found only in Jesus. "Take my yoke upon you." One says, "I should not think there is much rest in that. But there is, because it is heaven's plan, and there is rest in carrying out this plan. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. He says, "I will give you rest;" but there is something more for us. We have a lesson to learn. "Learn of me," how to find rest. It is in our meekness and lowliness, it is in denying self and following Christ, that we find rest. Do you think it is a terrible burden to follow Christ? He says, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." What makes the burden light? -- Because you are yoked up with Christ. What makes the yoke easy? -- Because he lifts with you, and you are co-operating with him. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 40} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 41] "We are laborers together with God." "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Then do not go to human beings for relief. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 41} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 42] Letters have come to me across the broad waters of the Pacific, asking for our prayers. Christ was close by the writer, and they did not recognize him. Why can not they recognize the One who gave his life for them? Will he readily give you up to perish? Will he cast you off, after what he has endured for you? He hung upon the cross, and his last words were addressed to his Father, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" Why did God forsake him? Because every sinner is to be forsaken by God unless his sins are forgiven by Jesus Christ, who took the sin of the world upon himself. He bore it that sinners might have the very probation you have today. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 42} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 43] God wants every one of you to take steps in advance. He wants you to come out from the world and be separate. If you will give your life to him, he will make it a life of happiness, that his joy--and his joy is worth something--may be in you, and your joy may be full. This is the privilege of every one of us. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 43} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 44] As you work for others, as you tell them the story of Jesus, words will be given you. Words are a power. Speech is a wonderful talent, but it is a very dangerous use of this talent to speak discouraging words, or to be cross and fretful in the home. Just what you are in the home you are in the church, and just what you are in the church you are before God." God wants us to speak words of hope to those who need comfort 426 and strength. He desires us to go out into the fields which are everywhere opening to the truth. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 44} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 45] When Christ comes, he will say, What have you done with the talents I gave you. Did you hide them in the earth? He is represented in the parable as calling the one who buried his talent, a wicked and slothful servant. Are there slothful ones here, who have not worked for the Master? God help us to save ourselves from the sloth that is eating out the very vitals of godliness. At the last great day, if our characters are in harmony with the character of God, we shall be caught up to heaven to see the King in his beauty, there to sing the praise of our Creator through the ceaseless ages of eternity. - {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 45} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 1] April 23, 1901 A Testimony Given to the Ministers at General Conference, April 17. I want to say a few words. God has left a few of the old pioneers who know something of the fanaticism which existed in the early days of this message. Here is Brother Prescott; he knows something about it. He is acquainted with phase after phase of the fanaticism which has taken place. Here is Brother Haskell. He knows something about it, and there are various ones of our older brethren who have passed over the ground, and they understand something of what we have had to meet and contend with. Then there is Brother Corliss; I speak of him because he knows something about fanaticism, not only in the early days, but in our later experience. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 2] Let every one of us remember the men of gray hairs. Do not set them back in a corner, and say, We do not need you, because you are too old to be active workers. If on only one occasion these men of experience can stand and tell you what the right way is, it is worth to the cause of God more than you would pay a dozen laborers who have had little or no experience in this work. God wants us to come to our senses. I thank God that there are a few who know what we have passed through in the beginning of the history of this work; God wants you to cherish them, and I want you to cherish them. God wants you to feel that it is a sacred duty to look after them, and not to ignore them or put them out of sight. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 3] You may think that they have made mistakes. Have you made any? May God let his melting Spirit come into our hearts. May God come to us with his comforting power. What we want is not hearts of steel, but hearts of flesh. I hope that not a soul will go away from this meeting until he can say for himself, I know that I am Christ's in God. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 4] When persons are in our midst who are moved by the Spirit of God, through whom the great treasures of his word are unfolded to us, increasing in every phase, let us not take the position that we know all that is worth knowing, and what we do not know is not worth knowing, hindering the very ones who are digging for the truth as for hidden treasure. The word of God is opening more and more to us. Just as long as we live on the earth, we shall be able to find a whole treasure house of beautiful things. Some will see beauty in one truth, some in another, and some will look at it in another way. We are not all constituted alike. But some think that what they have is all there is to acquire. They say of others, Do not let him come unto our meetings; we do not want him here. He does not believe as we do. I wish to say, Hands off. Let God work through human instrumentalities according to his will. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 5] Read the seventeenth chapter of John, and you will see that God has given us the privilege of being united in Christian love, brethren with brethren, all being bound together by the golden chain of love which has been let down from heaven to unite the believers. God wants you to be like himself. He wants to keep you unspotted from the world, to forgive your sins, and to draw you to himself, that you may step off the ladder into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 6] I wish to say to you today, The Lord wants you to be converted. At great expense to myself, in sickness and feebleness, I have come a long way to bear this testimony before the congregation which was presented to me before I left Cooranbong. If this had not been presented to me, I should not have been here today. But I am here, in obedience to the word of the Lord, and I thank him that he has given me strength beyond my expectations to speak to the people. I want you all, for Christ's sake, to heed his injunction to love one another. Thus you will bear witness to the world that God sent his Son to save sinners. Let not the enemy come in to break up the unity which should exist between brethren and sisters. Christ wants his people to be one. Why?--That the world may see that God loves his people even as he loves his Son. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 7] Let us at this meeting humble our hearts before God. Night after night since coming here, I have been unable to sleep past one o'clock. I have pleaded with God to enter among us and work mightily upon hearts and minds. He is willing to do this. He declares, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." If he does not enter, it is because the door is closed against him. Shall we not let him in, that we may enjoy a heavenly feast with a heavenly Guest? God grant that at this meeting you may so consecrate yourselves to his service that you may go forth as did the disciples, bearing the message with such power from on high that thousands will be converted. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 8] "Get ready," is the word sounded in my ears. "Get ready, get ready. He that is to come, will come and will not tarry. Tell my people that unless they improve the sacred opportunities given them, unless they do the work I have given them, Satan will come upon them with the stealthy tread of a thief, to deceive and allure them." God wants us to be wide awake, that when he shall come, we shall be ready to say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us." He is coming to us by his Holy Spirit today. Let us recognize him now; then we shall recognize him when he comes in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. God calls upon you to get ready to meet him in peace. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 9] I leave this message with you, asking you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to love one another as he has loved you. Thus the world will see and recognize the amazing power of redeeming grace. {GCB, April 23, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 1] April 24, 1901 Instruction Regarding the School Work. Article Read by Mrs. E. G. White, April 22, 1901. I have an intense interest in our school work. To discard many of the worldly text-books will not lower the standard of education, but will raise it to a higher plane. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, 453 thoroughly furnished unto all good works." If this is the breadth and depth of the Scriptures, shall we not lift the standard by making the word of God the foundation of our system of education? {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 2] Changes will have to be made. But it is hard to break away from old habits and practices; and there are those who have felt inclined to stubbornly resist everything in this line. I am glad to say that Brother Magan and Brother Sutherland have made advancement in reform. The question has arisen in regard to Brother Magan connecting with Brother Daniells in his work. I asked Brother Magan if he felt called by God to take this position. He said, No. He said that he was satisfied that God wanted him to remain in the school, where he had been working. I told him that this was in accordance with the light and evidence given me on the subject. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 3] I would say to Brother Magan and Brother Sutherland, You are not to think that you have made a failure in the school. Circumstances have been of a character to cause some misunderstanding. I wish now to present the matter as it was presented to me in my home at Crystal Springs, Cal. There should be in the school the same faculty that has been there in the past. The members of this faculty have been getting hold of right methods, and they are coming to see eye to eye. In a large degree they have learned how to work with unity of effort, and the school needs their talent and ability. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 4] It has taken much determination and firm purpose to accomplish the work that has been done in regard to "Christ's Object Lessons." The Lord has manifested his approval of this work. It would be a mistake for those who have been carrying forward this effort to separate and scatter to one place and another, to engage in other lines of work. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 5] To seek to combine new elements in the school faculty at this time would not be for the educational interests of the students. Those who are now connected with the school have been learning and practicing their lessons in jots and tittles. Their self-denial, their example of individual consecration, is having an influence to make the school approach to what it should be. To take one and another teacher out of the school now would be a mistake. Let the workers blend together. Let all the strength of their united ability be exerted to draw in even cords, to carry the school forward according to the directions given by the Lord. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 6] There has been much prejudice indulged in regard to those who stand at the head of the school. But these teachers are not to be moved by that which has been reported, much of which is untrue. The talent of voice and words needs to be refined, sanctified, ennobled, that it may be used to the glory of God. Our brethren are to go right along in the work, and let all see that God is working with them, giving them, as his agencies, varied experiences. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 7] New workers could not advance the work as it should be advanced. They would have a new and untried experience. Under their management the school would not be as successful as if the same teachers, the same counselors, were to hold their position and work to the point, making an object lesson of this school, according to the pattern God has given. God will work through those now in positions of trust in the school if they continue to work, and seek wisdom from him. If there is need of more teachers to work in other lines, let these be added. But do not break up the faculty of the school, when the very strongest force is necessary. Let workers be selected as the Lord may appoint, but let not the ones who have been united and adopted to labor together in the school be separated, because of the prejudice which has been created against them. Let not the impression be given that they must separate from the school because of the misjudging of those who have not known the true facts in the case. If those who will talk do not care to send their children to the school, because they suppose that mistakes have been made, they themselves must suffer the consequence. God has pointed out errors in the school that need to be corrected, and when an effort was made to do this, there were those who saw not the evils or dangers; they saw no necessity for departing from the old plan. It was not an easy matter to do the work that needed to be done in seeking to correct existing evils, against the influence of many who desired to let things run in the same lines which they had been running. This jot and that tittle, growing by being often repeated, made it very hard for the ones who were trying to make the changes which they saw needed to be made. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 8] It is the Lord who has worked out matters in this Conference in regard to the medical missionary work and the ministry and the Lord will manifest himself to his people, who have tried to place themselves in line. He will work for them if they are fully set to make him their trust, and to link together in harmonious action. They should seek to the utmost of their ability to qualify students for different lines of work. We are not to have all study nor all work. Work is to be conducted as nearly as possible as we have conducted it in Australia. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 9] Those now in charge of the school work here have their hearts blended in unity of purpose to accomplish the thing which God has designated as the right thing to do. They have undertaken this work irrespective of the opposition that has come up, and the strife of tongues. These men have a grip on the work. They have been learning, and have plans to establish industrial schools out of the city, where a large space of ground can be secured. These men have a strong determination to succeed. They mean to be heroic reformers, to adopt solid, intellectual methods. Their thoughts and plans have been maturing, and now they are prepared for decided action. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 10] It would be a mistake to take Brother Magan from the school work to engage in another line. It would be a mistake to separate Brother Sutherland from the school, because he has a spiritual hold upon educational lines of work. With the help of God he can act his part in making the school a success. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 11] Do not hinder those who have been trying to reach the place where the Lord desires them to stand. Do not tear them to pieces. Let them stand in the strength they have obtained, and let them press the battle to the gates. We must be strong in the strength of the Lord. The light of heaven is to shine through God's instrumentalities. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 12] Some will place stumbling-blocks in the way of attacking errors which are hoary with age. It is well to be consistent in all our movements, but we may quietly step over the stones which are thrown in the way of the work of reform. The objections need not be heeded. Prudence and God-fearing discretion are needed; for God wants every one to reveal the divine likeness. But timidity and cowardice are not to be shown by the followers of Christ. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 13] The gospel of Christ lies at the foundation 454 of all true education. Time is fast passing. The great work to be accomplished now is to establish schools that will prepare the youth for the mansions Christ is preparing for all who do their best in this life to perfect themselves in the knowledge of the word of God. In a spirit of kindness and love reforms are to be carried forward to victory. Every reform is to be based on the unerring word, the judgment of inspiration. Reformers are not destroyers; they seek not to ruin, but to save. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 14] Reformers of this age of the world must be resolute and unflinching, but never allow firmness to take the form of determined obstinacy. Some have fallen into this error in their educational work. Sternness and severity are not proper, nor in any way advisable. Teachers best maintain true dignity by revealing the gentleness of Christ. They are then prepared to do a good and successful work. Teachers must not exhibit a censorious spirit. The faults of a student must not be exposed before the whole school. This never reforms, never converts. It leaves a student with a sense of injustice, the memory of which he will ever carry with him. Let the faults of students be dealt with privately, lest the soul is hurt beyond remedy. Let teachers do all in their power to gain the confidence and love of their students. Then they can do with them what they please. Let teachers conduct themselves in accordance with the example of the great Teacher. Then students may say, "Thy gentleness hath made me great." The King of Glory has left us an example of how to deal with human minds. Shall we not honor and adore him, and practice his words? {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 15] Teachers, from the highest to the lowest, are ever to keep before their sight the longsuffering of Jehovah. As you do your work, remember that you are laborers together with God to save the souls of the students. Treat every student as you would could you with your natural eyes see God standing before you. Remember his forbearance toward you, who are so often inattentive, and let this lead you to be gentle with your students. Is it not surprising that the Lord continues to bestow his love and favor upon those who are so undeserving? Let those who are supposed to be yoked up with Christ deal with human minds according to his methods of government. Let them cultivate meekness and lowliness of heart. Mildness is not weakness. It is an evidence of power. To refuse to yield an opinion when it is best to yield is not an evidence of strength, but of selfishness and weakness. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 16] We are living in a most solemn period of this earth's history, and God calls upon every human being to co-operate with him. Every effort made for the conversion of souls must he made in the spirit of the great Teacher. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 17] Christ came to this earth to bring a new order of things. For many years his people had been departing from the principles of the Scriptures. He did not spare the leaders, but by withering rebukes made plain their dishonest practices. He knew the hearts of all, and understood what was beneath the surface. They richly deserved his awful denunciations. They had closed their eyes that they should not see their corrupt motives, and their ears that they should not hear the glorious truths the Saviour had brought them. They made their voice heard in sounding forth their own traditions, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. They contended vehemently for Moses and Abraham, whose words they did not heed or practice. They brought forward these men for the purpose of ignoring Christ. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 18] The ceremonial institutions which Christ himself has established were to pass away when type met antitype in the death of the great sacrificial offering. But the Jewish leaders, selfish and corrupt, were blind to the love of God. They were not prepared to receive the declaration of the new and better, covenant they refused the greatest gift ever sent from heaven to earth. They turned away from the richest proclamation of salvation ever made to man. They scorned the undeserved message of mercy. These men had position and influence. They were not ignorant. They had been given abundant opportunity to know the way of the Lord, but they were content with the established order of things. If they had received the message from the heavenly courts they would have united with Christ in changing this order. This acceptance of the truth of heavenly origin, the transformation of their methods, would have brought all nations under the banner of Jesus Christ. But this was not to be. The great men of the Jewish nation had no sympathy with Christ. They had no disposition to make changes. They stood opposed to gospel reform. Refusing to enter the kingdom of heaven themselves, they locked the door so that others should not enter. They tried in every way to roll back the tide of human progress. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 19] These men were the objects of Christ's tender solicitude. O that they would cease to obstruct his path. He alone could save them from bringing upon themselves the terrible punishment which must always follow the cherishing of unrighteous principles. He yearned over these men with boundless solicitude and tender compassion. He saw the terrible retribution they were bringing upon themselves, a calamity they could only avert by accepting God's gift to them. Looking upon the city of Jerusalem in its unsurpassed glory, Christ saw also the destruction that was coming upon it, and he wept over the contrast. Seeing what Jerusalem then was and what it would be a few years in the future, he exclaimed, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 20] The age in which we are living calls for decided reforms. Christ has declared that all who will be his disciples must turn away from self-indulgence, and with self-denunciation bear the cross and follow in his footsteps. "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Those who come out from the world, from its policies and its confederacies, and attempt to carry forward the work of reform, will need the help of the Spirit of God. Having determined what true reform is, carry it forward with earnestness and perseverance, determined not to fail or be discouraged. Every one who carries forward reformatory action will meet with apparent losses in some lines and decided victories in other lines. No educational institution can place itself in opposition to the errors and corruptions of this degenerate age without receiving threats and insults. But time will place such an institution upon an elevated platform. Having the assurance of God that they have acted right, the managers can say, "It is no disgrace to us if others are unable to understand our motives; for they judge us from their own standpoint." {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 21] The Lord is pleased with the effort 455 that is being made to carry forward our school work on right lines. I believe that the meetings we have been holding will have an influence upon the minds of our people all over the world. Let us from henceforth be careful of our words. God is preparing a people to meet him in peace. By the mighty cleaver of truth he has separated us from the world, and has placed us in his workshop to be hewed and polished and made fit for a place in his temple. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 22] There is a right side and a wrong side. Shall we not stand on the right side? We are thankful that an interest is being shown in the work of establishing schools on a right foundation, as they should have been established years ago. If the proper education is given to students, it is positive necessity to establish our schools at a distance from cities, where the students can do manual work. Great blessing will come to them as they exercise brain and body proportionately. From the things of nature they will learn lessons that will help them to work for the Lord. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 23] This is what we have been trying to teach in Australia. I am very thankful that such steps are being taken by this Conference. God will prosper such plans. Although there may be few students at first, do not be discouraged. The school will win its way. Introduce the medical missionary work. Some of the students are to be educated as nurses, some as physicians. It is not necessary for our students to go to Ann Arbor for a medical education. They may obtain at our schools all the education that is essential to perform the work for this time. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 24] It will take some time to get a right understanding of the matter, but just as soon as we begin to work in the lines of true reform, the Holy Spirit will lead us and guide us if we are willing to be guided. It is a delicate matter to deal with human minds, and no one should engage in this work without the aid of the Holy Spirit. All must place themselves under the influence of this Spirit. When they place themselves under the direction of the Spirit, they will accommodate themselves to Bible lines. When the word of God take possession of the minds of teachers, then they are fitted to deal with the education of others. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 25] Teachers are to so learn of Christ that they will remain converted from day to day. Then they will so labor for the students that they too will be converted. The angels of God will walk in their midst, beholding their order and diligence. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 26] The word of God is to stand at the foundation of all education. It is to be made the basis of all the schools that we shall establish. Following "Thus saith the Lord," brings the schools into close connection with heavenly intelligences. The Lord has been greatly dishonored because his holy word, which will accomplish so much, has been placed in the background, while books which do not contain the highest instruction in regard to practical life and true science of eternal things have been brought to the front. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 27] God's commands must settle all matters for us. That which his word advises and demands is to be strictly enforced. His word is to be plainly and earnestly opened before the students. This word will give spiritual health and strength. The instruction of the Bible, the wisdom of God, is to be brought into all business transactions. Selfishness will ever meet the disapproval of God. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 28] God's dealings with his people are to be our guide in all educational advancement. His glory is to be the object of all study. Those who are being trained as medical missionaries are to realize that their work is to restore the moral image of God in man by healing the wounds which sin has made. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 29] I would say to Brother Sutherland and Brother Magan, Go forward in the name of the Lord God of Israel, and the righteousness of God will go before you, and the glory of God will be your reward. God can make the feeblest strong. He can give power to the weak. He can lighten the burdens of the heavy laden, and comfort those that are oppressed. He will help us to educate young men and young women to enter his work. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 30] Brethren, shall we not help one another? Shall we not take hold of the Lord's work, not to tear one another to pieces, but to help one another? This is what God desires us to do. Some supposed that we were coming to this Conference to gather up the mistakes which had been made in the ministry, in the medical missionary work, and in the publishing and educational work. But we know that the Lord has another work for us to do. We are to bury the mistakes which have been made in the depths of the ocean. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 31] Let us blend together as brethren. God will bind us together, heart to heart, with the golden chain of love. To this Conference I wish to say, My heart, my soul, my interests are with you. The Lord is going to do something more for us than we have been willing to have done. Just as soon as men submit to God, his salvation will be revealed. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 31} [GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 32] The Lord will co-operate with those who are striving to advance his work. I am glad to know that even though I may not live long, God will carry on his work. God will hold up our hands. He will work with those who are carrying forward the school work. He will be with the teachers and the students. {GCB, April 24, 1901 par. 32} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 1] April 25, 1901 Remarks by Mrs. E. G. White Mrs. E. G. White: I know what it means to leave home and friends, and I would say to those who are going forth to foreign fields, You have a Helper who will always be with you. I have been reading in Isaiah some words which I wish to read to you:-- {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 2] "Lift up your eyes on high and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he called them all by names by the greatness of his might: for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary; and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 3] "Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing; 462 and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee; they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 4] I feel the strongest assurance that all who go forth in the name of the Lord will be blessed and sustained. Remember that if you hang your helpless soul on Jesus Christ, you will constantly have his divine efficiency and sufficiency. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 5] God said to Abraham, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee." Abraham heard and obeyed; and as he journeyed, he built altars and offered sacrifice to God, that those who afterward passed by that way might know that he had not forgotten God, that as he went forth from his home, he held communion with his Maker. He sought the Lord, and God met with him and was his friend. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 6] And God will be a friend to every one who goes from this Conference to foreign fields. He will be your Helper, your front guard and your rereward. Do not feel that as you go away you will be severed from God. Remember that the closer you keep to him, the more successful your work will be. Cling to the mighty One. Do not allow the enemy to interpose between you and your God. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 7] I earnestly hope that those laboring in the fields to which you are going will not think that you and they can not labor together, unless your minds run in the same channels as theirs, unless you view things exactly as they view them. This is a very wrong idea. Are there any two leaves on a tree alike? You can find no two precisely alike? So it is with us. None of us have exactly the same experience, and yet each one of us may have a very precious experience. Let each worker remember that he has an individuality of his own, and that this individuality is not to be submerged in any other human being. That individuality is to be sanctified, purified, refined, but it is not to be lost in the individuality of some one else. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 8] Christ compares his followers to the branches of a vine. "I am the vine, ye are the branches," he says. In the branches of a vine there is diversity, and yet in this diversity there is unity. Every branch is united to the parent stalk. Every branch draws its nourishment from the same source. When we are branches of the true Vine, there will be no quarreling among us, no strife for the supremacy, no disparaging of one another. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 9] Let not those who go forth to work for God measure their fellow workers with their human measurement, to see if they are in all things as they think they ought to be. God alone is able to measure men. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 10] Christ compared the kingdom of heaven to a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers. In the morning and at different hours through the day he hired men and sent them into his vineyard. "And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive." {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 11] And at even, when the laborers came for their wages, they all received the same. Those who had labored all day were paid the same amount as those who had worked but one hour. Thus God would teach us that during the time that we work, we are to do our very best, be that time long or short. We are to serve him to the best of our ability. He will reward all who work faithfully for him, those who have labored but one hour, as it were, as well as those who have labored all the day. This is the spiritual lesson we are to learn from this parable. Let us remember it. Let those who audit the accounts of the workers in the field gain as clear an understanding as possible of each individual case. God desires them to learn what is right to do, and then do it. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 12] Some men in our Conferences have not had the advantages of education that others have had. Shall the Auditing Committee measure their work by the number of sermons they have preached? {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 13] One man has gone into a new place, where the work had to be started. He has worked with his hands in erecting buildings. He has labored hard, under great difficulties, and he has souls to show for his labor. He has erected buildings where those who have accepted the truth can meet to worship God. And then the question may be asked him by the Auditing Committee, "How many sermons have you preached?" The sermons are counted up, and he is paid accordingly. But every blow he struck in constructing buildings was a sermon. Not only did he work with his hands,--he prayed as he labored, and this does far more to fasten the truth in the minds of the people than if he had merely stood in the desk and sermonized. There are several such laborers as this, and we would like to see thousands more of them. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 14] As men go out into new fields, the Spirit of God will indicate the way in which they should work. They will visit, they will hold meetings, but their usefulness is not to be measured by the number of sermons they preach. From the light God has given me, if our ministers would preach about one quarter as many sermons, and devote their energies more to perseveringly educating and training young workers, opening the Scriptures to them, showing them just what they need to do, thus fitting them to take a place in the ranks of God's army, more would be accomplished. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 15] We shall see things that are wrong, things that we want to correct. Ask yourself whether you can do this discreetly. There is a better way of correcting errors than by rebuking them abruptly. Some persons are so sensitive in regard to being in any way reproved that you will need to be very careful. Do not feel that it is your special duty to criticise. That is a mean business. Do not take it up. Leave it for Satan. He delights in such work. If you think a person is in error, and wish to tell him, go to him in love and tenderness. Speak to him kindly, and in this way you will help him. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 16] We need an abiding Christ. The angels of God are near us to help us in our work. We are co-laborers with God, and we need the Spirit of Christ. Let us walk with Christ, and then we shall always be in connection with heaven. The sweet Spirit of the Saviour will fill our hearts, enabling us to help one another. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 17] You need not think you can convert the young by trying to impress them with this dignity, making them feel that they must give you all the attention, while you give them no special attention. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 18] The Lord has given every one of us a sense of self-respect, and this must not be opposed too abruptly. God wants us to respect ourselves. In our families, 463 and in the church, we too often seek to destroy self-respect. Do not do it. Do not do it in our schools. Do not do it in our offices. The Lord has said that every one of these institutions are to be educational in character. The students and workers will follow the example set by those who have charge over them. The teacher is to be a pattern to the learner. If he wants the youth to respect him, he must respect them. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 19] When the youth do wrong, do not be rough with them. Take them apart. Christ did not correct his disciples before the multitude. He said, "Come ye apart." They had just returned from their first missionary tour, and had made many mistakes. They came to him and told him what they had done. One said, "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us." Christ told him that that was not the way to do. "Forbid him not," he said; "for he that is not against us is for us," although he may make no definite profession. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 20] Keep your hands off one another. Examine yourselves just as closely as you please. When night comes, talk of where you have failed through the day, and repent that you have given an example to the youth that you would not wish them to follow. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 21] When a student has erred, think of how you wish God to deal with you when you err, and how you wish your brethren to treat you when you have done wrong. Deal with the student accordingly. By harsh words, or by taking pains to make his deficiency known to every one else, you may turn his head from you, and drive him from Jesus Christ. If a student acknowledges his fault, the teacher has no right to make that fault known to a single soul. God does not want wrong to be magnified and the enemy glorified. When you proclaim a wrong, Satan says, That is just as I want it to be, just as I would have it. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 22] Wrongs--serious wrongs--have been committed in Battle Creek. I did not know how we would get along at this meeting. The Lord gave me instruction regarding this. I was referred to an incident in the life of the prophet Elisha. The prophet was in Dothan, and thither the King of Syria sent horses and chariots and a great host, to take him. "And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not; for they that are with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 23] "And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha. And Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city; follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria. And it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said unto Elisha, when he saw them, My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them? And he answered, Thou shalt not smite them: wouldest thou smite them those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow? set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master." {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 24] God presented this to me, and I did not know what it meant. I did not understand it. I pondered over it, and then, as the lesson was fulfilled, I began to grasp its meaning. I do not know that I would ever have seen the significance had it not been fulfilled right here. Who do you suppose has been among us since this Conference began? Who has kept away the objectionable features that generally appear in such a meeting? Who has walked up and down the aisles of this Tabernacle?--The God of heaven and his angels. And they did not come here to tear you in pieces, but to give you right and peaceable minds. They have been among us to work the works of God, to keep back the powers of darkness, that the work God designed should be done should not be hindered. The angels of God have been working among us. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 25] If any people have reason to praise God, we have. Angels of God have been at work here. The Lord knew our needs, and sent us food which has given spiritual strength and light, showing us how we should work. We have been trying to organize the work on right lines. The Lord has sent his angels to minister unto us who are heirs of salvation, telling us how to carry the work forward. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 26] Remember that there is a much better way to get along than to have controversy. When I was upon the waters of the Pacific amidst the confusion and noise, the Lord spoke to me: Do not enter into any controversy. Speak to the people that they be of one mind. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 27] When you are all in Christ, there can be no variance. Your brother may not have just the same manners and ways of speech as you have, but God does not require this of him. He may be able to reach a class that you can not reach. The very word which you wish he had not spoken may be the word which will bring conviction to hearts. Christ has made none of you church tinkers. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 28] My brethren and sisters who are going to foreign fields, perhaps you will be connected with those whose habits and customs are not like yours. Do not let this hinder your work for the Master. Do all in your power to come into Christian relation with those for whom you shall work. May it not be that your ideas need changing? Remember that there is as much room in the world for one as for another. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 29] Let us every one strive to be assimilated to the likeness of Christ. There are those in the church who have made mistakes. But because of this, do not tear yourselves apart from them. Where is Brother Henry today? Who during this meeting has labored for him? Who has gone to him as a friend and brother, and endeavored to remove from his mind the wrong impression he has had regarding his brethren? I hope some one has done this work. I wish to ask, "Is it not best for us to do all in our power to heal the souls that are wounded nigh unto death. Is it not best for us to try to prevent the enemy from gaining the victory over those for whom Christ died? Shall we not do the work Christ did?" He said, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." If any of you should have a sheep, and it should fall into a hole, would you not take it out, even on the Sabbath day? And shall we not think as much of a man as we do of an animal? {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 30] The moral image of God is to be restored in man. It was to make it possible for this to be done that Christ came from the heavenly courts to this 464 earth, full of heaven's compassion and heaven's love, to stand at the head of humanity. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 31] Christ was ever kind and merciful, but he gave the most scathing rebukes to the hypocritical Pharisees. I hope that such rebukes as these will never have to fall on our leaders. Let these men remember the temptations which come to the young, and do all in their power to help them. Christ is spoken of as a tender Shepherd, who lovingly cares for the young, carrying them in his arms. If one hundred times more of this work were done by our leading men, they would be carrying out the plan of God. And by this work, the rough edges would be removed from their characters. They would be polished after the similitude of a palace. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 31} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 32] After this meeting has closed, and we have separated, Satan will come to you with his temptations. He will bring up before you the errors and mistakes that have been made in the past. Remember that God has buried these, and he does not want you to think any more about them. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 32} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 33] I was never more astonished in my life than at the turn things have taken at this meeting. This is not our work. God has brought it about. Instruction regarding this was presented to me, but until the sum was worked out at this meeting, I could not comprehend this instruction. God's angels have been walking up and down in this congregation. I want every one of you to remember this, and I want you to remember also that God has said that he will heal the wounds of his people. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 33} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 34] Press together, press together. Let us be united in Christ. God is dishonored by disunion. I shall not keep you much longer, but I wish to say a few more words; for I feel that perhaps I shall never again see those who are going from us. I want to read you a few words, that you may see what God is willing to do for his people. Christ is praying to his Father, and he says, "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. . . . They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. As thou has sent them into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; and that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 34} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 35] Is this possible? It must be, or Christ would not have said it. He is ready to give us all the preciousness there is in the virtue of his character. There is joy in the Lord, joy in sanctification, in unity, receiving Christ as our Saviour. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 35} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 36] To those who are about to take up the work in new fields, I would say, Remember that Christ is by your side. He says, My right hand will uphold you. His blessing will rest upon you. If you will walk in the light of his countenance, you will be lights in the world. Regarding this, Christ says, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light to all ［that］ are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 36} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 37] You are going forth to carry the torch of truth. Kindle your taper from the divine altar, and bear the truth to those who are in darkness. You may be sure that angels of God will be round about you. As you impart to others, you will realize that the life of Christ in you is as a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 37} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 38] The word of God is to be your daily food. Christ says, "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." Talk the truth wherever you go. There is more power in visiting families, talking to them of the truth and praying with them, than there is in all the sermons that can be given. This does not mean that you are not to speak from the desk. You are; but you are to take time also for house-to-house labor. As you do this work, angels of God will be by your side and will give you words to speak. Thus you will become all-round, efficient gospel workers, of whom people will say, "They have nothing but the truth on their lips." God help us to be Christians in every sense of the word. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 38} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 39] I may never meet you again on this earth. I feel that my life is almost over. I may meet you again; God knows; I do not. But if we meet no more here below, God grant that we may meet around his throne, each wearing on his brow a crown of immortality. O, what a time of rejoicing that will be, and we tell the story of our trials and difficulties on this earth--tell it, not with sorrow, but with joy. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 39} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 40] God knows that we have only just begun the study of his Word. He knows that many have only a surface knowledge of the truth. When in the redeemed family above we follow him whithersoever he goeth, he will open to us the mysteries of his word. When this mortal shall put on immortality and this corruptible shall put on incorruption, he will say, "Child, come up higher." We shall be caught up to meet our Lord in the air. The Saviour will welcome us with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,"--the joy of seeing souls redeemed. Then he will lead us by the living waters and escort us through the paradise of God. He will show us the beauty and loveliness of his word, which now we do not half understand. Then we shall cast our glittering crowns at his feet, and touching our golden harps, fill all heaven with rich music, singing, "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb, who died, and who lives again, a triumphant conqueror." {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 40} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 1] April 25, 1901 The Work in the South (J. E. White and E. G. White) Mrs. E. G. White: I feel an intense desire that those who claim to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, shall take advance steps as reformers, as a people who have the most sacred truth ever committed to mortals. I greatly desire that they shall do honor to the truth which as a mighty cleaver has separated them from the world and put them in God's workshop, to be prepared to shine as living stones in the temple of the Lord. They are to stand before the world in uprightness and sincerity, showing what the truth has done for them. When they do this, they will not only profess to have advanced light in regard to the perils that are coming upon the world; they will bear a living testimony by their consistent lives to the power of saving grace. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 2] God desires his people to practice self-denial and self-sacrifice. He desires them to remember that at immense cost to heaven Christ clothed his divinity with humanity, and came to this earth to live the life of obedience God requires us to live. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 3] I know not how to describe the way in which the Southern field has been 482 presented to me. In this field thousands and thousands of people are living in wickedness and corruption, and they are right within the shadow of our doors. That field bears testimony to the neglect of a people who should have been wide awake to work for the Master, but who have done scarcely anything in this field. A little work has been done there, we have touched the field with the tip ends of our fingers, but not one-thousandth part of the work has been done that should be done. God calls upon his people to stand in a right position before him, to heed the light given ten or fifteen years ago--that the abused, down-trodden people of the South were to be labored for and helped. We have tried to lay this burden upon our people. But they need not carry it all themselves. There are many not of our faith who will willingly help a work for the uplifting of humanity. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 4] The time is coming when the Southern field will be closed, locked up. But this is not yet the case. One place where the work was commenced was closed against the workers; and because of this the word went forth, The Southern field is closed. No more money will be needed for that work. But is this the way in which the Saviour worked? When one city was closed against him, did he say that his work on earth was done? Had he done this, what would have become of us? When he was driven from one place, he went to another, and he has left us the direction, "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another." When your life is in danger, go to another city, and when they persecute you there, go to yet another place; "For verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come." Shall we not take this advice? {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 5] I thank the Lord that he has given us the power of discernment. We must educate the heart, the mind, and every capability which God has given us. We need not be afraid of rising too high. It is but little we can do at the best, but we can improve the talents God has given us. We will never have too much ingenuity, too much power, to use in the work of God. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 6] That God who heard the cries of the children of Israel in their distress, and came to their help, will come to the help of his children today. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 7] In the providence of God I came round through the Southern field on my way here from California. I could not describe what I saw, which must have been very limited, but what little I did see filled my heart with pain and distress. I thought of how much might have been done if some of the money that has been invested in Battle Creek had been invested in the Southern field. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 8] When I came to Vicksburg, I went on board my son's boat, "The Morning Star." From the reports I had heard, I thought to find that boat fitted up very extravagantly. I found nothing of the kind. I want all to understand this. My son and his workers have lived on this boat, because they could not get a house suitable to dwell in. The rooms on this boat are fitted up in the very simplest way. Look at your own homes, and ask yourselves what they cost. No one can work in the Southern field without some facilities with which to work. Those who take hold earnestly in the hardest fields should be provided for above those who have all conveniences. These destitute fields need help. Because one child is weak and sick, will you turn your face away and give all your attention to the healthy members of the family. That is not the way to do. The very hardest fields must be worked. The gospel is to be preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 9] On Sabbath I went to the little church at Vicksburg, which has been represented to you. There I saw the buildings which have been erected, neat and clean, without any extravagance,--nothing but what should be where the work is established in new places. I saw the mission house, a two story building, neat and pleasant, where two families live. Then there is another small dwelling house for the colored workers. The meeting house is just as nice a building as I could wish to see in a new place. It reminded me of our church in Cooranbong. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 10] When we talked of building a meeting-house in Cooranbong, the brethren said that all we would be able to do would be to erect a very small, rough building, and that they did not think we could even do that much for a while. But in the night season the word of the Lord came to me, "Arise and build. Make of the building of this meeting-house an object-lesson." When I told this to the brethren, unbelief came in, and they said, "We can not do it, we can not do it." I said, "We can do it," and we did. Soon after that we received in a letter from Africa a gift of one thousand dollars to help in the building of our meeting-house. This gave our brethren hope and courage. The workmen labored at half price, and in a very short time our meeting-house was erected. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 11] This experience rose up before me when I looked at the church in Vicksburg; for the two buildings are somewhat alike. The church at Vicksburg is a neat, commodious building, and the audience who gathered to hear me speak on the Sabbath morning was composed of neatly dressed men and women, with bright, intelligent faces. I was glad to hear them sing; for I knew that the angels of God were joining with them. O, it was good singing. It filled my heart with grateful praise. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 12] From Vicksburg I went to Nashville, where I saw the different interests which have been started in that city. I wish to say there is great need for a sanitarium in Nashville, where the sick and suffering can be relieved. Such an institution would exert a far-reaching influence. The people would see that we have something they have not. As men and women are brought into connection with those who walk and talk with God, do you not think they will be deeply impressed? {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 13] Are there not those here who will help the work in the South? While I was in Australia, I helped this work all I could, besides doing all in my power to answer the calls that came from the needy field in which I was laboring. I thought that if those in this country, in sight of the Southern field, could only feel the burden that rested on me night and day for that field, they would certainly have done something to prevent the work dragging as it has done. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 14] Think of New Orleans, Memphis, and many other large cities in the South, in which little or no work has been done to give the people the light of present truth. What excuse will those who have crowded into Battle Creek give to God for their silence and activity, when he asks them why they did not, by their strength, ability, and means help the people who so greatly needed help? The colored people of the South are diseased, soul and body, but still they are God's children. There are among them those to whom he has intrusted talents, and he calls upon us to awaken to the responsibility resting upon us to bring them to a knowledge of the truth. 483 {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 15] If it were possible, I would invest means in the Southern field, but I have no money to invest. I have put all I have into the work in various parts of the field. If I had money, I can assure you that it would be at once invested in the work in the South. In the name of the Lord I ask those who have means to do what they can to advance this work. In all the large cities in the South there ought to be places where the sick can be cared for, where the people can be taught to care for themselves. The people need sympathy and tenderness. In clear, simple lines the truth must be presented to them. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 16] And those who go to the South to labor must go determined to stay. Too many have gone there, who, not finding the field pleasant, have come back. God help us to remember that Christ came to this world, even though it was all seared and marred with the curse, and here lived a man among men, working out for those who accept him a perfect character. He gave his life that we might have life. What are we giving for him? He says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 17] God help us to wipe out the terrible stain that is upon our work because of the neglect of the Southern field. Ten years ago the money that should have been sent to that field was withheld from it. What account will those give to God who have closed their eyes that they should not see and their ears that they should not hear. Our brethren should repent of that sin before God. We should enter the large cities in our country. Move out from Battle Creek, and make plants in other places. Lift up God's memorial,--the Sabbath of the Lord, in every city in this country. God will help you to do this. Then you will hear from his lips the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." The angelic hosts will help you in the work; as you impart to others, they will impart to you. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 18] I do not know what more I can say, what greater appeal I can make. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock:" Christ says, "If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." There are places which should be entered. What will you do? May God move upon heart and mind, leading you to carry out the work he desires to have done for the most needy fields upon this earth. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 19] We need schools in the South. They must be established away from the city, in the country. There must be industrial and educational schools, where the colored people can teach colored people and schools where the white people can teach the white people. Missions must be established. Are there not those in this house who can go and take hold of the work where nothing has been done, and build it up, as Brother Shireman has done? You have just as good a field before you as he had. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 20] God grant that instead of preaching, preaching, we may see some doing. May the Lord help us, may he help this people to work with the Spirit of self-denial. May he give them clear perception and intelligence, that they may obey the call of God. I beg of all for Christ's sake to work while the day lasts. Will you work? I believe that you will. {GCB, April 25, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 1] October 1, 1901 Our Duty. - Reading for Tuesday, December 24. - In the invitation to the gospel supper, the Lord Jesus has specified the work to be done--the work that the churches in every locality, north, south, east, and west, should do. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 1} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 2] The churches need to have their eyes anointed with the heavenly eyesalve, that they may see the many opportunities all about them to minister for God. Repeatedly God has called upon His people to go out into the highways and hedges, and compel men to come in, that His house may be full; yet even within the shadow of our own doors are families in which we have not shown sufficient interest to lead them to think that we cared for their souls. It is this work lying nearest us that the Lord now calls upon the church to undertake. We are not to stand, saying, "Who is my neighbor?" We are to remember that our neighbor is the one who most needs our sympathy and help. Our neighbor is every soul who is wounded and bruised by the adversary. Our neighbor is every one who is the property of God. In Christ the distinctions made by the Jews as to who was their neighbor are swept away. There are no territorial lines, no artificial distinctions, no caste, no aristocracy. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 2} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 3] Think it not lowering to your dignity to minister to suffering humanity. Look not with indifference and contempt upon those who have laid the temple of the soul in ruins. These are objects of divine compassion. He who created all cares for all. Even those who have fallen the lowest are not beyond the reach of His love and pity. If we are truly His disciples, we shall manifest the same spirit. The love that is inspired by our love for Jesus will see in every soul, rich or poor, a value that cannot be measured by human estimate. Let your life reveal a love that is higher than you can possibly express in words. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 3} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 4] Often the hearts of men will harden under rebuke, but they cannot withstand the love expressed toward them in Christ. We should bid the sinner not to feel himself an outcast from God. Bid the sinner look to Christ, who alone can heal the soul leprous with sin. Reveal to the desperate, discouraged sufferer that he is a prisoner of hope. Let your message be, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 4} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 5] I have been instructed that the medical missionary work will discover in the very depths of degradation, men who, though they have given themselves up to intemperate, dissolute habits, will respond to the right kind of labor. But they need to be recognised and encouraged. Firm, patient, earnest effort will be required in order to lift them up. They cannot restore themselves. They may hear Christ's call, but their ears are too dull to take in its meaning; their eyes are too blind to see anything good in store for them. They are dead in trespasses and sins. Yet even these are not to be excluded from the gospel feast. They are to receive the invitation, "Come." Though they may feel unworthy, the Lord says, "Compel them to come in." Listen to no excuse. By love and kindness lay right hold of them. "Ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference; and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire." Jude 20-23. Press home upon the conscience the terrible results of the transgression of God's law. Show that it is not God who causes pain and suffering, but that man through his own ignorance and sin has brought this condition upon himself. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 5} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 6] This work, properly conducted, will save many a poor sinner who has been neglected by the churches. Many not of our faith are longing for the very help that Christians are in duty bound to give. If God's people would show a genuine interest in their neighbors, many would be reached by the special truths for this time. Nothing will or ever can give character to the work like helping the people just where they are. Thousands might today be rejoicing in the message, if those who claim to love God and keep His commandments would work as Christ worked. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 6} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 7] When the medical missionary work thus wins men and women to a saving knowledge of Christ and His truth, money and earnest labor may safely be invested in it; for it is a work that will endure. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 7} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 8] Every church member should feel it his special duty to labor for those living in his neighborhood. Study how you can best help those who take no interest in religious things. As you visit your friends and neighbors, show an interest in their spiritual as well as in their temporal welfare. Present Christ as a sin-pardoning Saviour. Invite your neighbors to your home, and read with them from the precious Bible and from books that explain its truths. This, united with simple songs and fervent prayers, will touch their hearts. Let church members educate themselves to do this work. This is just as essential as to save the benighted souls in foreign countries. While some feel the burden of souls afar off, let the many who are at home feel the burden of precious souls around them, and work just as diligently for their salvation. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 8} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 9] We are to be channels of light to the world, imparting to others the light we receive from the great Light-bearer. The words and works of all men are to be tried. Let us not be backward now. That which is to be done in warning the world must be done without delay. Let not the canvassing work be left to languish. Let the books containing the light on present truth be placed before as many as possible. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 9} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 10] The presidents of our conferences and others in responsible positions have a duty to do in this matter, that the different branches of our work may receive equal attention. Canvassers are to be educated and trained to do the work required in selling the books upon present truth which the people need. There is need of men of deep Christian experience, men of well-balanced minds, strong, well educated men to engage in this work. The Lord desires those to take hold of the canvassing work who are capable of educating others, who can awaken in promising young men and women an interest in this line, leading them to take up the book-work and handle it successfully. Some have the talent, education, and experience which would enable them to educate the youth for the canvassing work in such a way that much more would be accomplished than is now being done. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 10} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 11] Those who have gained an experience in this work have a special duty to perform in teaching others. Educate, educate, educate young men and women to sell the books which the Lord by His Holy Spirit has stirred His servants to write. God desires us to be faithful in educating those who accept the truth, that they may believe to a purpose, and work intelligently in the Lord's way. Let inexperienced persons be connected with experienced workers, that they may learn how to work. Let them seek God most earnestly. These may do a good work in canvassing if they will obey the words, "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine." 1 Timothy 4:16. Those who give evidence that they are truly converted, and who take up the canvassing work, will see that it is the best preparation for other lines of missionary labor. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 11} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 12] There is no higher work than evangelistic canvassing; for it involves the performance of the highest moral duties. Those who engage in this work need always to be under the control of the Spirit of God. There must be no exalting of self. What have any of us that we did not receive from Christ? We must love as brethren, revealing our love by helping one another. We must be pitiful and courteous. We must press together, drawing in even cords. Only those who live the prayer of Christ, working it out in practical life, will stand the test that is to come upon all the world. Those who exalt self place themselves in Satan's power, preparing to receive his deceptions. The word of the Lord to His people is that we lift the standard higher and still higher. If we obey His voice, He will work with us, and our efforts will be crowned with success. In our work we shall receive rich blessing from on high, and shall lay up treasure beside the throne of God. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 12} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 13] A great and important work is before us. The enemy of souls realizes this, and he is using every means in his power to lead the canvasser to take up some other line of work. This order of things should be changed. God calls the canvassers back to their work. He calls for volunteers who will put all their energies and enlightenment into the work, helping wherever there is opportunity. The Master calls for every one to do the part given him according to his ability. Who will respond to the call? Who will go forth to labor in wisdom and grace and the love of Christ for those nigh and afar off? Who will sacrifice ease and pleasure, and enter the places of error, superstition, and darkness, working earnestly and perseveringly, speaking the truth in simplicity, praying in faith, doing house-to-house labor? Who at this time will go forth without the camp, imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit, bearing reproach for Christ's sake, opening the Scriptures to the people, and calling them to repentance? {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 13} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 14] God has His workmen in every age. The call of the hour is answered by the coming of the man. Thus when the divine voice cries, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" the response will come, "Here am I; send me." Isaiah 6:8. Let all who labor effectually in the canvassing field feel in their hearts that they are doing the work of the Lord in ministering to souls who know not the truth for this time. They are sounding the note of warning in the highways and byways to prepare a people for the great day of the Lord, which is so soon to break upon the world. We have no time to lose. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 14} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 15] We must encourage this work. Who will go forth now with our publications? The Lord imparts a fitness for the work to every man and woman who will co-operate with divine power. All the requisite talent, courage, perseverance, faith, and tact will come as they put the armor on. A great work is to be done in our world, and human agencies will surely respond to the demand. The world must hear the warning. When the call comes, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" send back the answer clear and distinct, "Here am I; send me". {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 15} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 16] God's people have a mighty work before them, a work that must continually rise to greater prominence. Our efforts in missionary lines must become far more extensive. A more decided work than has been done must be done prior to the second appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's people are not to cease their labors until they shall encircle the world. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 16} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 17] The vineyard includes the whole world, and every part of it is to be worked. There are places which are now a moral wilderness, and these are to become as the garden of the Lord. The waste places of the earth are to be cultivated, that they may bud and blossom as the rose. New territories are to be worked by men inspired by the Holy Ghost. New churches must be established, new congregations organized. At this time there should be representatives of present truth in every city, and in the remote parts of the earth. The whole earth is to be illuminated with the glory of God's truth. The light is to shine to all lands and to all peoples. And it is from those who have received the light that it is to shine forth. The day-star has arisen upon us, and we are to flash its light upon the pathway of those in darkness. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 17} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 18] Certain countries have advantages that mark them as centers of education and influence. In the English-speaking nations and the Protestant nations of Europe it is comparatively easy to find access to the people, and there are many advantages for establishing institutions and carrying forward our work. In some other lands, such as India and China, the workers must go through a long course of education before the people can understand them, or they the people. And at every step there are great difficulties to be encountered in the work. In America, Australia, England, and some other European countries, many of these impediments do not exist. America has many institutions to give character to the work. Similar facilities should be furnished for England, Australia, Germany, and Scandinavia, and other continental countries as the work advances. In these countries the Lord has able workmen, laborers of experience. These can lead out in the establishment of institutions, the training of workers, and the carrying forward of the work in its different lines. God designs that they shall be furnished with means and facilities. The institutions established would give character to the work in these countries, and would give opportunity for the training of workers for the darker heathen nations. In this way the efficiency of our experienced workers would be multiplied a hundredfold. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 18} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 19] There is a great work to be done in England. The light radiating from London should beam forth in clear distinct rays to regions beyond. God has wrought in England, but this English-speaking world has been terribly neglected. England has needed many more laborers and much more means. London has been scarcely touched. My heart is deeply moved as the situation in that great city is presented before me. It pains me to think that greater facilities are not provided for the work throughout Europe. I have sore heartache as I think of the work in Switzerland, Germany, Norway, and Sweden. Where there are one or two men struggling to carry forward the different branches of the cause, there should be hundreds at work. In the city of London alone no fewer than one hundred men should be engaged. The Lord marks the neglect of His work, and there will be a heavy account to settle by and by. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 19} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 20] If the workers in America will impart to others of their great mercies, they will see prosperity in England. They will sympathize with the workers who are struggling with difficulties there, and will have the heart to say, not only in word, but in action, "All ye are brethren," Matthew 23:8. They will see a great work done in London, all through the cities of England, and throughout the different European countries. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 20} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 21] God calls upon us to push the triumphs of the cross in Australia. New fields are opening. For want of workers and money the work has been hindered; but it must be hindered no longer. Of all countries, Australia most resembles America. All classes of people are there. And the warning message has not been presented and rejected. There are thousands of honest souls praying for light. God's watchmen are to stand on the walls of Zion, and to give the warning, "The morning cometh, and also the night,"--the night wherein no man can work. While the angels are holding the four winds, the message is to enter every field in Australia as fast as possible. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 21} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 22] The strengthening of the work in these English-speaking countries will give our laborers a hundredfold more influence than they have had to plant the standard of truth in many lands. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 22} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 23] While we are trying to work these destitute fields, the cry comes from far-off countries, "Come over and help us." These are not so easily reached, and not so ready for the harvest, as are the fields more nearly within our sight; but they must not be neglected. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 23} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 24] Our brethren have not discerned that in helping to advance the work in foreign fields, they would be helping the work at home. That which is given to start the work in one field, will result in strengthening the work in other places. As the laborers are freed from embarrassment, their efforts can be extended; as souls are brought to the truth, and churches are established, there will be increasing financial strength. Soon these churches will be able not only to carry on the work in their own borders, but to impart to other fields. Thus the burden resting on the home churches will be shared. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 24} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 25] The home-missionary work will be farther advanced in every way when a more liberal, self-denying, self-sacrificing spirit is manifested for the prosperity of foreign missions; for the prosperity of the home work depends largely, under God, upon the reflex influence of the evangelical work done in countries afar off. It is in working actively to supply the necessities of the cause of God that we bring our souls in touch with the Source of all power. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 25} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 26] An American business man, who was an earnest Christian, in conversation with a fellow-worker, remarked that he himself worked for Christ twenty-four hours of the day. "In all my business relations," he said, "I try to represent my Master. As I have opportunity, I try to win others to Him. All day I am working for Christ. And at night, while I sleep, I have a man working for Him in China." {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 26} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 27] Why should not the members of a church, or of several small churches, unite to sustain a missionary in foreign fields? If they will deny themselves of selfish indulgences, dispense with needless and hurtful things, they can do this. Brethren and sisters, will you not help in this work? I beseech you to do something for Christ, and to do it now. Through the teacher whom your money shall sustain in the field, souls may be saved from ruin, to shine as stars in the Redeemer's crown. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 27} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 28] Let us rejoice that the work which God can approve has been done in these fields. In the name of the Lord, let us lift up our voices in praise and thanksgiving for the results of the work abroad. {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 28} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 29] And still our General, who never makes a mistake, says to us, "Advance. Enter new territory. Lift up the standard in every land. 'Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.'" {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 29} [GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 30] Our watchword is to be, Onward, ever onward. The angels of God will go before us to prepare the way. Our burden for the "regions beyond" can never be laid down until the whole earth shall be lightened with the glory of the Lord. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, October 1, 1901 par. 30} [GCB, January 1, 1902 par. 1] January 1, 1902 "Talk no words of censure..." "Talk not words of censure. Lay not the blame upon this one or that one. It is a fact that there is now need of the help which all can bring to heal the breach that has been made. Do it cheerfully. Do it nobly. Come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Redeem at once the institution that is in great peril. This can be done if all will take hold interestedly, and redeem this heavily debt-burdened institution; and in doing this the blessing of the Lord will be upon you. It can be done; and in the name of the Lord lay hold of it. Let all work with courage and with cheerfulness and with joy, and this very work will prove a great blessing in the experience of all who lay hold of it and carry it through successfully." {GCB, January 1, 1902 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 1] July 1, 1902 Take Time to Talk with God. By Mrs. E. G. White. Special instruction has been given me in regard to our ministers. It is not the will of God that they shall seek to be rich. They should not engage in worldly enterprises; for this disqualifies them for giving their best powers to spiritual things. But they are to receive wages enough to support themselves and their families. They are not to have so many burdens laid upon them that they can not give proper attention to the church in their own home. It is their duty to train their children for the Lord. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 2] It is a great mistake to keep a minister constantly at work in business lines, going from place to place, attending board meetings and committee meetings, sitting up late at night. This brings to him weariness and discouragement. Ministers should have time to rest, to obtain from God's word the rich nourishment of the bread of life. They should have time to drink refreshing draughts of consolation from the stream of living water. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 2} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 3] Let ministers and teachers remember that God holds them accountable to fill their office to the best of their ability, to bring into their work their very best powers. They are not to take up duties that conflict with the work that God has given them. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 3} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 4] When ministers and teachers, pressed under the burden of financial responsibility, enter the pulpit or the schoolroom with wearied brain and over-taxed nerves, what else can be expected than that common fire will be used instead of the sacred fire of God's kindling. The strained, tattered efforts disappoint the listeners and hurt the speaker. He has had no time to seek the Lord, no time to ask in faith for the unction of the Holy Spirit. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 4} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 5] In order for the efforts of God's workers to be successful, they must receive that grace, that efficiency, which He alone can give. "Ask, and ye shall receive," is the promise. Then why not take time to ask, to open the mind to the impressions of the Holy Spirit, that the soul may be revived by a fresh supply of life? Christ himself was much in prayer. Whenever He had opportunity, He went apart, to be alone with God. As we bow before God in humble prayer, He places a live coal from His altar on our lips, sanctifying them to the work of giving Bible truth to the people. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 5} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 6] I am instructed to say to my fellow workers, If you would have the rich treasures of heaven, you must have secret communion with God. Unless you do this, your soul will be as destitute of the Holy Spirit as were the hills of Gilboa of dew and rain. When you hurry from one thing to another, when you have so much to do that you can not take time to talk with God, how can you expect power in your work? {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 6} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 7] The reason so many of our ministers preach tame, lifeless discourses is that they allow a variety of things of a worldly nature to take their time and attention. Unless there is constant growth in grace, we shall be wanting in words suitable for the occasion. Commune with your own heart, and then commune with God. Unless you do this, your efforts will be fruitless, made thus by unsanctified hurry and confusion. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 7} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 8] Ministers and teachers, let your work be fragrant with rich spiritual grace. Do not make it common by mixing it with common things. Move onward and upward. Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 8} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 9] We need to be converted daily. Our prayers should be more fervent; then they will be more effectual. Stronger and stronger should be our confidence that God's Spirit will be with us, making us pure and holy, as upright and fragrant as the cedars of Lebanon. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 9} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 1] July 1, 1902 A Ministry of Helpful Service. - Reading for Thursday, December 25. - Christ is our example. Of His work we read: "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. . . . They brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them." {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 2] Christ healed the people, and then to those whom He healed and to those who had witnessed His healing, He preached the gospel of the kingdom. This is the work outlined before those who have in trust the greatest wealth of truth ever committed to mortals. The question for us to answer is, "Are we willing to leave self out of the consideration? Are our energies spent in the Master's service? Are our voices often raised in earnest supplication for power from on high? Is our faith pure and strong? Have we put away all prejudice all evil thinking and evil speaking? Are our affections set on things above, or are they twined about the things on this earth? Are our eyes open to see the needs of those around us? Can God call us faithful watchmen? {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 2} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 3] Christ's life was one of constant self-sacrifice. His work was not confined to any time or place. It was bounded only by His love and sympathy for the souls for whom He was soon to give His life. His compassion knew no limit. On so large a scale did he conduct His work of healing and teaching that there was no building in Palestine large enough to hold the multitudes that thronged to Him. In every town and village through which He passed was to be found His hospital. On the hillsides of Galilee, in the great thoroughfares of travel, on the seashore, in the synagogues, in every place where there were hearts ready to hear His message, Jesus healed the people, and pointed them to their Heavenly Father. In the evening, after the hours of toil were over. He talked with those who through the day must work to earn a pittance for the support of their families. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 3} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 4] If we only realized how earnestly Jesus worked to sow the gospel seed, we would not confine our efforts to attending Sabbath services. We would labor untiringly to give the bread of life to perishing souls. God calls upon His people to break the bands of their precise, indoor service. He would have hundreds in our cities doing the work He did while on this earth. He calls upon His church to do this work, and He declares that He will give them power as they go forth in obedience to His command. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 4} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 5] Brethren and sisters, arouse, and show a living interest in the unworked portions of the Lord's vineyard. Consecrate yourselves unreservedly to the work of giving the rich treasures of truth to those in darkness. Care for the sick, and prepare their minds to hear the words, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 5} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 6] No one need wait until called to some distant field before beginning to help others. Wherever you are, you can begin at once. Opportunities are within the reach of every one. Take up the work for which you are held responsible,-- the work that should be done in your home and in your neighborhood. Wait not for others to urge you to action. In the fear of God go forward without delay, bearing in mind your individual responsibility 665 to Him who gave His life for you. Act as if you heard Christ calling upon you personally to do your utmost in His service. Look not to see who else is ready. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 6} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 7] All can do something. In an effort to excuse themselves, some say, "My home duties, my children, claim my time and my means." Parents, your children should be your helping hand, increasing your power and ability to work for the Master. Children are the younger members of the Lord's family. They should be led to consecrate themselves to God, whose they are by creation and redemption. They should be taught that all their powers of body, mind, and soul are His. They should be trained to help in various lines of unselfish service. By helping others they increase their own happiness and usefulness. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 7} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 8] The Lord has appointed the youth to be his helping hand. If in every church they would consecrate themselves to Him, if they would practice self-denial in the home, relieving the care-worn mother, the mother could find time for neighborly visits, and, when opportunity offered, they could themselves give assistance by doing little errands of mercy and love. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 8} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 9] Healthful living must be made a family matter. Parents should awake to their God-given responsibilities. Let them study the principles of health reform, and teach their children that the path of self-denial is the only path of safety. The mass of the inhabitants of the world by their disregard of physical law are destroying their power of self-control, and unfitting themselves to appreciate eternal realities. Willingly ignorant of their own structure, they lead their children in the path of self-indulgence, thus preparing the way for them to suffer the penalty of the transgression of nature's laws. This is not taking a wise interest in the welfare of their families. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 9} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 10] I can not too strongly urge all our church members, all who are true missionaries, all who believe the third angel's message, all who turn away their feet from the Sabbath, to consider the message of the fifty-eight chapter of Isaiah. The work of beneficence enjoined in this chapter is the work that God requires His people to do at this time. It is a work of His own appointment. We are not left in doubt as to where the message applies, and the time of its marked fulfillment, for we read: "They that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." Verse 12. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 10} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 11] God's memorial, the seventh-day Sabbath, the sign of His work in creating the world, has been displaced by the man of sin. God's people have a special work to do in repairing the breach that has been made in His law; and the nearer we approach the end, the more urgent this work becomes. All who love God will show that they bear His sign by keeping His commandments. They are the restorers of paths to dwell in. The Lord says: "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, . . . then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth." Verses 13, 14. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 11} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 12] Thus genuine medical missionary work is bound up inseparably with the keeping of God's commandments, of which the Sabbath is especially mentioned, since it is the great memorial of God's creative work. Its observance is bound up with the work of restoring the moral image of God in man. This is the ministry which God's people are to carry forward at this time. This ministry, rightly performed, will bring rich blessings to the church. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 12} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 13] The great crisis is just before us. To meet its trials and temptations, and to perform its duties, will require persevering faith. But we may triumph gloriously; not one watching, praying, believing soul will be ensnared by the enemy. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 13} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 14] In the time of trial before us, God's pledge of security will be placed upon those who have kept the word of His patience. Christ will say to His faithful ones, "Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." Isaiah 26:20. The Lion of Judah, so terrible to the rejecters of His grace, will be the Lamb of God to the obedient and faithful. The pillar of cloud which speaks wrath and terror to the transgressor of God's law, is light and mercy and deliverance to those who have kept His commandments. The arm strong to smite the rebellious, will be strong to deliver the loyal. Every faithful one will surely be gathered. "He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew 24:31. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 14} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 15] Brethren, to whom the truths of God's word have been opened, what part will you act in the 666 closing scenes of this world's history? Are you awake to these solemn realities? Do you realize the grand work of preparation that is going on in heaven and on earth? Let all who have received the light, who have had the opportunity of reading and hearing the prophecy, take heed to those things that are written therein; "for the time is at hand." Let none now tamper with sin, the source of every misery in our world. No longer remain in lethargy and stupid indifference. Let not the destiny of your soul hang upon an uncertainty. Know that you are fully on the Lord's side. Let the inquiry go forth from sincere hearts and trembling lips, 'Who shall be able to stand?' Have you, in these last precious hours of probation, been putting the very best material into your character-building? Have you been purifying your souls from every stain? Have you followed the light? Have your works corresponded to your profession of faith? Is the softening, subduing influence of the grace of God working upon you? Have you hearts that can feel, eyes that can see, ears that can hear? Is it in vain that the declaration of eternal truth has been made concerning the nations of the earth? They are under condemnation, preparing for the judgments of God; and in this day, which is big with eternal results, the people chosen to be the depositaries of momentous truth ought to be abiding in Christ. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 15} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 1] July 1, 1902 The Definite Aim in Service. - Reading for Sabbath, December 27. - (From manuscript prepared for a forthcoming volume on Education, by Mrs. E. G. White.) - Life's Great Aim. Success in any line demands a definite aim. He who would achieve true success in life must choose and keep steadily in view the aim worthy of his endeavor. Such an aim is set before the youth of today. The Heaven-appointed purpose of giving the gospel to the world in this generation is the noblest that can appeal to any human being. It opens a field of effort to every one whose heart Christ has touched. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 1} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 2] God's purpose for the children growing up beside our hearths is wider, deeper, higher, than our restricted vision has comprehended. From the humblest lot, those whom He has seen faithful have in times past been called to witness for Him in the world's highest places. And many a lad of today, growing up as did Daniel in his Judean home, studying God's Word and His works, and learning the lessons of faithful service, will yet stand in legislative assemblies, in halls of justice, or in royal courts, as a witness for the King of kings. Multitudes will be called to a wider ministry. The whole world is opening to the gospel. Ethiopia is stretching out her hands unto God. From Japan and India and China, from the still-darkened lands of our own continent, from every quarter of this world of ours, comes the cry of sin-stricken hearts for a knowledge of the God of love. Millions upon millions have never so much as heard of God or of His love revealed in Christ. It is their right to receive this knowledge. They have an equal claim with us on the Saviour's mercy. And it rests with us who have received the knowledge; with our children to whom we may impart it, to answer their cry. To every household and every school, to every parent, teacher, and child, upon whom has shone the light of the gospel of the Son of God, comes at this crisis the question put to Esther the queen at that momentous crisis in Israel's history, "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 2} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 3] God's Participation in Suffering. The result of hastening or hindering the gospel, we think of, if at all, in relation to ourselves and to the world. Few think of its relation to God. Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ's agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that sin, from its very inception, has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from the right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach God's ideal, brings grief to Heaven. When there came upon Israel the calamities that inevitably followed separation from God, -- subjugation by their enemies, oppression, cruelty, and death, -- it is said of God, that "His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel." Judges 10:16. "In all their affliction He was afflicted;... and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old." Isaiah 63:9. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 3} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 4] His Spirit "maketh intercession for us with groanings, which cannot be uttered." Romans 8:26. As the "whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in pain" (Romans 8:26, 22), the heart of the infinite Father is pained in sympathy. Our world is a vast lazar-house, a scene of misery that no pen can picture, misery that we dare not allow even our thoughts to dwell upon. Did we realize it as it is, the burden would be too terrible. Yet God feels it all. In order to destroy sin and its results He gave His best Beloved, and He has put it in our power, by co-operation with Him, to bring this scene of misery to an end. "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matthew 24:14. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 4} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 5] Mistakes in Education. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," is Christ's command to His followers. Not that all are called to be ministers or missionaries in the ordinary sense of the term; but all may be workers with Christ in giving the "glad tidings" to their fellow men. To all, great or small, learned or ignorant, old or young, the command is given. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 5} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 6] In view of this command, can we educate our sons and daughters for a life of respectable conventionality, a life professedly Christian, but lacking His self-sacrifice, a life on which the verdict of Him who is truth must be, "I know you not"? 670 {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 6} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 7] Thousands are doing this. They think to secure for their children the benefits of the gospel, while they deny its Spirit. But this can not be. Those who reject the privilege of fellowship with Christ in service, reject the only training that imparts a fitness for participation with Him in His glory. They reject the training that in this life gives strength and nobility of character. Many a father and mother, denying their children to the cross of Christ, have learned too late that they were thus giving them over to the enemy of God and man. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 7} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 8] Training in Service. He who came from heaven to be our example spent nearly thirty years of His life in common, mechanical labor; but during this time He was studying the word and the works of God, and helping, comforting, teaching all whom His influence could reach. When His public ministry began, He went about healing the sick, comforting the sorrowful, and preaching the gospel to the poor. This is the work of every one of His children. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 8} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 9] "He that is greatest among you," Christ said, "let him be as the younger, and he that is chief as he that doth serve. For... I am among you as he that serveth." Luke 22:26, 27. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 9} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 10] Personal love and loyalty to Christ are the spring of all true service. In the heart touched by His love, there is begotten a desire to work for Him. Let this desire be encouraged and rightly guided. Whether in the home, the neighborhood, or the school, the presence of the poor, the afflicted, the ignorant, or the unfortunate, should be regarded, not as a misfortune, but as affording precious opportunity for service. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 10} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 11] Skill in this work, as in every other, is gained in the work itself. It is by training in the common duties of life and in ministry to the afflicted and suffering, that efficiency is assured. Without this the most sincere purposes and efforts are often useless, and even harmful. It is in the water, not on the land, that men learn to swim. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 11} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 12] Church Relationship. There is another obligation, too often lightly regarded, which to the youth awakened to the claims of Christ, needs to be made plain,--the obligation of church relationship. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 12} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 13] Very close and sacred is the relation between Christ and His church,--He the bridegroom, and the church the bride; He the head, and the church the body. Connection with Christ, then, involves connection with His church. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 13} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 14] The church is organized for service; and in a life of service to Christ, connection with the church is one of the first steps. Loyalty to Christ demands the faithful performance of church duties. This is an important part of one's training; and in a church imbued with its Master's life, will lead directly to effort for the world without. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 14} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 15] Young People's Societies. There are many lines in which the youth can find opportunity for helpful effort. Let them organize into bands for Christian service, and the co-operation will prove an assistance and an encouragement. Parents and teachers, by taking an interest in the work of the young people, will be able to give them the benefit of their own larger experiences, and can help them to make their efforts effective for good. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 15} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 16] Foreign Missions. It is acquaintance that awakens sympathy, and sympathy is the spring of effective ministry. To awaken in the children and youth sympathy and the spirit of sacrifice for the suffering millions in the "regions beyond," let them become acquainted with these lands and their peoples. Instead of dwelling on the exploits of the Alexanders and the Napoleons of history, let the pupils study the lives of such men as the apostle Paul and Martin Luther, as Moffat and Livingstone and Carey, Judson, and Williams, and Morrison, and the present daily-unfolding of history of missionary effort. Instead of burdening their memories with an endless array of names and theories that have no bearing upon their lives, and to which, once outside the schoolroom they rarely give a thought, let them study all lands in the light of missionary effort, and become acquainted with the people and their needs. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 16} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 17] Workers from the Common People. In this closing work of the gospel there is a vast field to be occupied; and more than ever before, the work is to enlist helpers from the common people. Both the youth and those older in years will be called from the plow, from the vineyard, and from various other branches of labor, and sent forth by the Master to give His message. Many of these have had little opportunity for education. To human wisdom the outlook for them would seem discouraging. But Christ sees in them qualifications that will enable them to take their place in His vineyard. If they put their hearts into the work, and continue to be learners, He will fit them to labor for Him. 671 {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 17} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 18] He who understands the terrible depths of the world's misery and despair, understands by what means to bring relief. He sees on every hand souls in ignorance and darkness, bowed down with sin and sorrow and pain. But He sees also man's possibilities, the height to which he may attain. Even though human beings have abused their mercies, wasted their talents, and lost the dignity of God-like manhood, the Creator is to be glorified in their redemption. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 18} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 19] The burden of labor for these needy ones in the rough places of the earth Christ lays upon those who can feel for the ignorant and for such as are out of the way. He will be present to help those who are susceptible to pity though their hands may be rough and unskilled. He will work through those who can see mercy in misery, and gain in loss. When the Light of the world passes by, privilege will be discerned in hardship, order in confusion, success in apparent failure. In calamities will be recognized disguised blessings; in woes, mercies. Laborers from the common people, sharing the sorrows of their fellow men as their Master shared the sorrows of the whole human race, will by faith see Him working with them. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 19} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 20] "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly." Zephaniah 1:14. And a world is to be warned. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 20} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 21] With such preparation as they can gain, thousands upon thousands of the youth and those older in years should be giving themselves to this work. Already many hearts are responding to the call of the Master Worker; and their numbers will increase. Let every Christian educator give such workers sympathy and co-operation. Let him encourage and assist the youth under his care in gaining a preparation to join the ranks. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 21} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 22] Results of True Service. There is no line of work in which it is possible for the youth to receive greater benefit. All who engage in ministry are God's helping-hand. They are co-workers with the angels; rather, they are the human agencies through whom the angels accomplish their mission. Angels speak through their voices, and work by their hands. And the human workers, co-operating with heavenly agencies, have the benefit of their education and experience. As a means of education, what "university course" can equal this? {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 22} [GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 23] With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end come,-- the end of suffering and sorrow and sin. How soon, in place of a possession here, with its blight of sin and pain, our children might receive their inheritance where "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away." Revelation 21:4. E. G. White. {GCB, July 1, 1902 par. 23} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 1] March 30, 1903 Lessons from the Sending Out of the Spies Sermon by Mrs. E. G. White, Sabbath, March 28, 11 A. M. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. . . . And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan. . . . So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron. . . . And they came unto the brook of Eschol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. The place was called the brook Eschol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 2] Thus far their words had been spoken in faith; but see what followed. After describing the beauty and fertility of the land, all but two of the spies enlarged upon the difficulties and dangers that lay before the Israelites, should they undertake the conquest of Canaan. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 3] "The people be strong that dwell in the land," they said, "and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan." 8 {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 4] Their unbelief cast a gloomy shadow over the congregation. A wail of agony arose, and mingled with the confused murmur of voices. Caleb comprehended the situation, and did all in his power to counteract the evil influence of his unfaithful associates. He did not contradict what had been said. The walls were high and the Canaanites strong. But God had promised the land to Israel. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 5] "Let us go up at once, and possess it," urged Caleb, "for we are well able to overcome it." But the ten, interrupting him, pictured the obstacles in darker colors than at first. "We be not able to go up against the people," they declared, "for they are stronger than we. . . . And all the people we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 6] It is right that human beings should be considered as grasshoppers when compared with the Lord God of Israel. But it showed a lack of faith for the spies to speak of the Israelites thus in comparison with the people they had seen in Canaan. The children of Israel had on their side the mighty powers of heaven. The one who, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, had led them through the wilderness, was fighting for them. They had seen His power displayed at the Red Sea, when at His word the waters parted, leaving a plain path for them through the sea. Nevertheless, when the spies saw the walled cities in the promised land, they allowed unbelief to enter their hearts, and returned to the congregation with a faithless report. By the words they spoke, they leavened the minds of the people with unbelief. The record tells us what effect their murmuring had. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 7] The Fruit of Unbelief "And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 8] This shows us to what desperation unbelief will bring people. My brethren and sisters, when thoughts of unbelief and distrust come to you, remember that silence is eloquence. Speak no word of unbelief; for such words are as seeds that will spring up and bear fruit. There is among us altogether too much talking and too little praying. We think and speak of the difficulties that exist, and forget to trust the Lord. God's Spirit would work mightily in behalf of His people, if they would give Him opportunity. What they need to do is to open the door of the heart and let Jesus enter. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 9] After the children of Israel had begun to murmur, they began to question God's wisdom. "Wherefore hath the Lord brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?" they said. "Were it not better for us to return to Egypt?" So weak was their confidence in God, notwithstanding the miracles He had wrought in their behalf. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 10] As the complaints of the people arose on every side, Caleb and Joshua attempted to quiet the tumult. "The land, which we passed through to search it is an exceedingly good land," they cried. "If the Lord delight in us, then He will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us; their defense is departed from them, and ［the Lord is with］ us: fear them not." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 11] "But all the congregation bade stone them with stones." They stood with stones in their hands, ready to throw at Caleb and Joshua, as they stood in defense of the truth, declaring that the Lord was with them, and that with His strength they could go up and possess the land. In a few minutes these faithful men would have been killed, but "the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel." God was watching their plottings, and He delivered His servants from their hands. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 12] "And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have showed among them. I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and make of thee a greater nation, and mightier than they." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 13] What a temptation this was! But Moses said, "Then the Egyptians shall hear it (for Thou broughtest up this people in Thy might from among them); and they will tell it to the inhabitants of the land; for they have heard that Thou Lord art among this people, that Thou Lord art seen face to face, and that Thy cloud standeth over them, and that Thou goest before them, by daytime in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if Thou wilt kill all this people as one man, then the nations which have heard the fame of Thee will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which He sware unto them, therefore He hath slain them in the wilderness." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 14] "And now I beseech thee, let the power of My Lord be great, according as Thou hast spoken, saying,"--and then he repeated the Lord's own words; and this it is our privilege also to do. We can cite His promises. "According as Thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech Thee, the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness of Thy mercy, and as Thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned, according to thy word; but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Because all those men which have seen My glory, and My miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not harkened to My voice; surely, they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it. . . . Tomorrow turn ye you, and get you into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 15] The Lord had fulfilled the word that He spoke to Abraham when He declared that after the children of Israel had been in bondage four hundred years, He would deliver them. He visited Egypt with fearful judgments, and brought His people forth. And when the Egyptian host pursued the Israelites, He destroyed Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea. Yet here, on the border of the promised land, they dishonored Him by giving way to unbelief. 9 {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 15} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 16] Trust and Obey We shall be brought into strait places; but we do not want to wait until then before we learn to trust and obey. Now, just now, is our day of opportunity and privilege. When the light of truth is shining upon us, we are to learn the lesson. Let us plead with God to give us a true conception of His character and a willingness to obey Him. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 16} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 17] We are to stand in the strength and power of Israel's God. Shall we do it, brethren? Or shall we murmur and complain, looking at the obstacles in the way, and making a mountain out of a mole-hill? Today God gives His people, to confirm their faith, evidences of His power such as He gave to Israel. Will they make these evidences of no effect? Will they act as if God had not wrought in their behalf? The Lord wants us to acknowledge His power and His grace and His great salvation which He has brought us at an infinite cost,--in the death of His only-begotten Son. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 17} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 18] We are living in a day of trial, a day of probation, a day of test. God is proving His people, to see whether He can work in their behalf. He can not work for them if they open their hearts to the impulses of the enemy. He can not cooperate with them if they trust in men in the place of looking to Jesus, and rejoicing in His goodness and His love. He wants to make of us a people through whom He can reveal His grace, and He will do this if we will only give Him opportunity, if we will open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward, against human rabble, against murmuring, complaining, and fault-finding. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 18} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 19] But just as surely as we fail to heed the messages that for the last fifty years the Lord has been giving, just as surely as we turn from these messages to human impulses and human science, framing laws that are directly opposed to God's Word, so surely will we reap the consequence. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 19} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 20] "And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against Me. I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel which they murmur against Me." Those who today murmur against God's appointed agencies, weakening the confidence of the people in them, are doing the same work that the children of Israel did. The Lord hears every murmuring word. He hears every word that detracts from the influence of those whom He is using to proclaim the truth that is to prepare a people to stand in the last days. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 20} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 21] "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation? . . . Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so will I do unto you: your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old, and upward, which have murmured against Me, doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware unto you to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 21} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 22] "And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know My breach of promise. I the Lord have said, I will surely do it unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against Me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed. and there they shall die. And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the Lord. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly?" {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 22} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 23] The lesson of this record is for us. The Lord had prepared the way before His people. They were very near the promised land. A little while and they would have entered Canaan. They themselves delayed the entering. In the first place, it was they who requested that spies should be sent up to search the land. Rehearsing to them the history of the unbelief and the trouble that it brought to them, Moses said, "And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 23} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 24] The request that the spies be sent into Canaan showed a lack of faith: for God had told the people plainly that they were to take possession of the land. Why then did they need to send spies to search it? Had they put their trust in God, they could have gone straight in. God would have gone before them. He knew the best way in which to lead them through their difficulties. But they wanted to know what was before them, and when Moses took their request to the Lord, He told him to let them have their own way. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 24} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 25] Brethren and sisters, from the light given me, I know that if the people of God had preserved a living connection with Him, if they had obeyed His Word, they would today be in the heavenly Canaan. Oh, how sad it makes me to see the way hedging up before us, and to know that it is becoming more and more difficult to carry the message to the people! We have not done a hundredth part of the evangelical work that God desires us to do among our neighbors and friends. In every city in this land there are those who know not the truth. There are many new fields in which we must plow the ground and sow the seed. God says to us: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." We are to make known to the men and women of the world what God's test is, that if they will they may refuse to receive the seal of the Papacy. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 25} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 26] God told the people that for forty years they were to wander in the wilderness. But they were determined to enter Canaan. "Lo, we be here," they said, "and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised; for we have sinned." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 26} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 27] "And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper. Go not up, for the Lord is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword; because ye turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you. But they presumed to go up to the hilltop; nevertheless the ark of the 10 covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites, which dwelt in that hill, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah." {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 27} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 28] When we see what God can and will do for us, when we know that His church is the supreme object of His regard in this world, why are we not willing to believe His Word? The powers of darkness will assail us, but we have a God who is above all. He can take care of His people. He can make a refuge for His people wherever they are. What He wants us to do is to stand where He can reveal His glory through us, that it may be known that there is a God in Israel, and that in behalf of His people He will manifest His power. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 28} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 29] I look at these flowers, and every time I see them I think of Eden, They are an expression of God's love for us. Thus He gives us in this world a little taste of Eden. He wants us to delight in the beautiful things of His creation, and to see in them an expression of what He will do for us. He wants us to live where we can have elbow room. His people are not to crowd into the cities. He wants them to take their families out of the cities, that they may better prepare for eternal life. In a little while they will have to leave the cities. These cities are filled with wickedness of every kind,- with strikes and murders and suicides. Satan is in them, controlling men in their work of destruction. Under his influence they kill for the sake of killing, and this they will do more and more. Every mind is controlled either by the power of Satan or the power of God. If God controls our minds, what shall we be?-- Christian gentlemen and Christian ladies. God can fill our lives with His peace and gladness and joy. He wants His joy to be in us, that our joy may be full. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 29} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 30] If we place ourselves under objectionable influences, can we expect God to work a miracle to undo the results of our wrong course?--No, indeed. Get out of the cities as soon as possible, and purchase a little piece of land, where you can have a garden, where your children can watch the flowers growing, and learn from them lessons of simplicity and purity. "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Parents, point your children to the beautiful things of God's creation, and from these things teach them of His love for them. Point them to the lovely flowers,--the roses and the lilies and the pinks,--and then point them to the living God. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 30} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 31] The Work Before us God wants to work for His people and for His institutions--for every sanitarium, every publishing house, and every school. But He wants no more mammoth buildings erected; for they are a snare. For years He has told His people this. He wants plants made in many places. Let the light shine forth. Do not try to show what great things you can do. Let God work through you. Do all in your power to establish a memorial for God in every city where such a memorial has not been established. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 31} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 32] God wants the Southern field worked. He wants this work taken up in earnest. All the means in the treasury is not to be sent into foreign lands. In our own land there is a field and a people needing help. The barrenness of this field, the ignorance and destitution of the people, rise as a reproach against us. And yet we profess to be serving the God of heaven. The Lord calls upon every man to do his appointed work. He calls upon us to stand in the place where He can use us as His instruments. He wants us to go to Him for help. We are not to lean upon human beings, but upon the living God. Our question is to be, What can I do to proclaim the third angel's message? Christ came to this world to give this message to His servant to give to the churches. It is to be proclaimed to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. How are we to give it? If we can not gain entrance to the churches, we must give the message in our camp-meetings. The distribution of our literature is another means by which the message is to be proclaimed. Let the workers scatter broadcast tracts and leaflets and books containing the message for this time. We need men who will stand with unswerving faith in Israel's God. We need colporteurs who will go forth to circulate our publications everywhere. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 32} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 33] The Lord needs printing offices. But He has shown us that He is not pleased with the way in which the work has been carried forward. Something is wrong. He wants to bring us into the place where we can understand His will concerning us. He is speaking to us. Let us strive to understand what He wants us to do. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 33} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 34] Brethren and sisters, we have no time to dwell on little differences. For Christ's sake, to your knees in prayer! Go to God, and ask Him to give you a clean heart. Ask Him to help you to stand where He wants you to be. Labor in harmony with one another, even though you are not alike. Do you not know that of the leaves on a tree there are no two exactly alike? From this God would teach us that among His servants there is to be unity in diversity. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 34} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 35] Bring all the pleasantness that you can into your lives. Do not make your mind a depository for the enemy's rubbish. Do not let trifling differences destroy your fellowship with one another. Do not say that because your brethren differ with you in some particular you can not stand by their side in service. They do not differ with you any more than you differ with them. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 35} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 36] We are commanded to love one another as Christ has loved us. So great was His love for us that He willingly gave His life for us. And our love for one another is to make us willing to sacrifice our feelings and ideas, if by so doing we can help them. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 36} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 37] Are we standing on the platform of eternal truth? Are we giving the message that is to prepare a people to stand in the day of trial before us? God is calling upon every one of us to stand in his lot and in his place. He is calling upon us to plant the standard of truth in the places that have not heard the message. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 37} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 38] For years the word has been coming to this people telling them what to do. In every city in America the truth is to be proclaimed. In every country of the world the warning message is to be given. Remember that when churches are raised up in America, there are brought into the truth those who can enter God's service as workers. When the work is done that should be done in America, there will be brought into the truth those who will help with their talents of intellect and with their means to carry forward the work for these last days. 11 {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 38} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 39] Centralizing in Battle Creek, putting up so many buildings there, has robbed other places of light. Means has been used in this way that should have been used in proclaiming the truth in other cities, thus raising up workers of talent and ability. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 39} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 40] Brethren, shall we have faith in God? Shall we make an individual preparation to meet Him in peace, or shall we spend our time looking for defects in our fellow-workers? When self is crucified, when the heart is purified from all dross, the words and actions will be as pure gold. During this meeting, instead of going to one and another and talking unbelief, will you not speak when God tells you to speak, and then hold your peace? Will you not ask, as Moses did, for a revelation of God's character. "Show me Thy glory," he pleaded. And God granted his request, and made all His goodness pass before him. When you catch a glimpse of the goodness of God, you will have a tongue of wisdom. You will have words to speak in season to those that are weary. You may never have learned the different languages of this earth, but God will teach you the language of heaven. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 40} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 41] My brethren and sisters, humble your hearts before God. You have reason to. His work is hindered. As yet, it has been established in a few places only, and God declares that it is to extend over the whole world. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 41} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 42] I ask you to do all that you can for the work in America. In this country workers are to be raised up who will help with their means and their talents to carry forward the work of God. I pray that there will be brought into the truth those who will refuse to be moulded by the spirit of covetousness and pride and self-sufficiency that has been coming in. God's rebuke is upon this spirit. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 42} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 43] In the church of God there is to be done a work of cementing heart to heart. It is the divisions among us that stand in the way of our advancement. God calls upon us to come into line. To every man is given his work. But though our work is different, we need the help of one another. No one is to gather around him a party of men who will think as he thinks, and say, Amen, to everything that he says. God uses different minds. What one mind lacks will be made up by what another mind has. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 43} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 44] My brethren and sisters, think of these things. Seek the Lord with the whole heart, that you may find Him. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Humble your hearts before Him, and pray more than you do. Pray for the impartation of the Holy Spirit. When this Spirit fills the heart, the praise of God will be in the congregation, and it will be reflected from your faces. Love for God will be shown by your love for one another, and this will give you power for service. Let your hearts break before God. Repent that you have so poorly glorified Him. Bear witness to the truth. If you had been in the habit of doing this, it would have removed many difficulties. Begin to work in right lines, and God will help you. - {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 44} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 1] March 30, 1903 Five Extracts Not the laws of the impulsive tongue or hand, but the loving pulsations of the converted heart, are from God. "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." He sets forth love as a rule of life in still another way: "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful." Luke 6:36.--Testimony. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 2] Oh, that God's people had a sense of the impending destruction of thousands of cities, now almost wholly given to idolatry! But many of those who are acquainted with the truth are busy about things here and there. Their first work is to pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as the disciples prayed for it after the ascension of Christ.--Testimony. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 3] God's encouraging message of mercy should be proclaimed in the cities of America. Men and women living in these cities are rapidly becoming more and still more entangled in their business relations. They are acting wildly in the erection of buildings whose towers reach high into the heavens. Their minds are filled with schemes and ambitious devisings. God is bidding every one of His ministering servants: "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins."--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 4] Some have so long sacrificed principle that they can not see the difference between the sacred and the common. Those who refuse to give heed to the Lord's instruction will go steadily downward in the path of ruin. The day of test and trial is just before us. Let every man put on his true colors. Do you choose loyalty, or rebellion? Show your colors to men and angels. We are safe only when we are committed to the right. Then the world knows where we shall be found in the day of trial and trouble.--Testimony. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 5] A man can not be a happy Christian unless he is a watchful Christian. He who overcomes must watch; for with worldly entanglements, error, and superstition, Satan strives to win Christ's followers from Him. It is not enough that we avoid glaring dangers and perilous, inconsistent moves. We are to keep close to the side of Christ, walking in the path of self-denial and sacrifice. We are in an enemy's country. He who was cast out of heaven has come down with great power. With every conceivable artifice and device he is seeking to take souls captive. Unless we are constantly on guard, we shall fall an easy prey to his unnumbered deceptions.--Testimony. {GCB, March 30, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, March 31, 1903 par. 1] March 31, 1903 "The Lord God of heaven..." The Lord God of heaven is constantly at work for us. His angels minister to all who will receive their guardianship. Human impulse will try to make us believe that it is God who is guiding us when we are following our own way. But if we watch carefully, and counsel with our brethren, we shall understand; for the promise is, "The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way." Psalms 25:9. We must never allow human ideas and natural inclinations to gain the supremacy.--Testimony. {GCB, March 31, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1903, Art A, par. 1] April 1, 1903 Lessons from Josiah's Reign Talk by Mrs. E. G. White Night before last, the experiences and the work of Josiah, the king of Israel, as recorded in the thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth chapters of 2 Chronicles, and the twenty-second and twenty-third chapters of 2 Kings, were presented to me as a lesson that I should bring to the attention of this Conference. {GCB, April 1, 1903, Art A, par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 2] "Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem. . . . And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And it came to pass in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, that the king sent Shaphan, . . . the scribe, to the house of the Lord, saying. Go up to Hilkiah the high priest, that he may sum the silver which is brought into the house of the Lord, which the keepers of the door have gathered of the people; and let them deliver it into the hand of the doers of the work which is in the house of the Lord, to repair the breaches of the house, unto carpenters, and builders, and masons, and to buy timber and hewn stone to repair the house. Howbeit there was no reckoning made with them of the money that was delivered into their hand, because they dealt faithfully." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 3] This record contains precious instruction for us. Born of a wicked father, surrounded with temptations to follow in his father's steps, with few counselors to encourage him in the right way, Josiah was true to the God of Israel. He did not repeat his father's sin in walking in the way of unrighteousness. Although he had not the advantages of the Christian parental influences that many of us have had, he determined to climb upward, instead of descending to the low level of sin and degradation to which his father and grandfather had descended. Warned by their errors, he chose to walk in the right way, and, though surrounded by wickedness, he pressed in the upward path. His course of obedience made it possible for God to graft him from a wild olive tree to a good olive tree, giving him grace to do that which was right in the Lord's sight. Thus he became a chosen vessel. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 4] Josiah "turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." As one who was to occupy a position of trust, he resolved ever to honor God, to obey the instruction that He had given. The only safety for every one in attendance at this Conference, is to determine that he will walk uprightly before God. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 5] In the eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, God chose him to superintend the repairing of the temple. It was as this work was being done that the book of the law was found. Through some mismanagement it had been lost, and the people had been deprived of its instruction. Brethren, have any of you lost the book of the law? Have not many of us lost sight of the precepts that are in the holy Book? {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 6] Upon finding this book, "Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan, the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. . . . And Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath delivered me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king. And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 7] The reading of the book of the law, so long forgotten, made a deep impression upon the king's mind. He realized that something must be done to bring this law to the attention of the people, and to lead them to conform their lives to its teachings. By his own course of action, he designed to show his respect for the law. He humbled himself before God, rending his clothes. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 8] In his position as king, it was the work of Josiah to carry out in the Jewish nation the principles taught in the book of the law. This he endeavored to do faithfully. In the book of the law itself he found a treasure of knowledge, a powerful ally in the work of reform. He did not lay this book aside as something too precious to be handled. Realizing that the highest honor that could be placed on God's law was to become a student of its precepts, he diligently studied the 30 ancient writing, and resolved to walk in the light it shed upon his pathway. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 9] When the law was first read to him, Josiah had rent his clothes to signify to the people that he was much troubled because he had not known of this book before, and that he was ashamed and painfully distressed because of the works and ways of the people, who had transgressed God's law. As he had in the past seen the idolatry and the impiety existing among them, he had been much troubled. Now as he read in the book of the law of the punishment that would surely follow such practises, great sorrow filled his heart. Never before had he so fully realized God's abhorrence for sin. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 10] Josiah's sorrow did not end with the expression of words of repentance, or with outward demonstrations of grief. He bowed his heart in great humiliation before God, because he knew the anger of the Lord must be kindled against the people. He rent his heart, as well as his garments, for the dishonor shown to the Lord God of heaven and earth. He realized what the outcome must be; that God's displeasure would come upon His people. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 11] An Investigation Instituted The king did not pass the matter by as of little consequence. To the priests and the other men in holy office he gave the command, "Go ye, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not harkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that is written concerning us." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 12] Josiah did not say, "I knew nothing about this book. These are ancient precepts, and times have changed." He appointed men to investigate the matter, and these men went to Huldah, the prophetess. "And she said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell the man that sent you unto Me, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah hath read: because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched. But to the king of Judah, which sent you to inquire of the Lord, thus shall ye say to him. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, As touching the word which thou hast heard, because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me: I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold, therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place. And they brought the king word again." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 13] In Josiah's day the Word of the Lord was as binding, and should have been as strictly enforced, as at the time it was spoken. And today it is as binding as it was then. God is always true to His Word. What should we do, we who have had great light? The law has been kept constantly before us. Time and again we have heard it preached. The Lord's anger is kindled against His people because of their disregard of His Word. Conviction of soul should send us in penitence to the foot of the cross, there to pray with the whole heart, saying, "What shall we do to be saved? Wherewithal shall we come before the Lord?" My brethren, inquire quickly, before it is too late. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 14] Josiah sent as messengers to the prophetess, the highest and most honored of the people. He sent the first men of his kingdom,--men who occupied high positions of trust in the nation. Thus he conferred honor upon the oracles of God. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 15] Apostasy must be Punished God sent Josiah the word that Jerusalem's ruin could not be averted. Even if the people should humble themselves before God, they could not escape their punishment. So long had their senses been deadened by sinning against God, that if the judgments had not come upon them, they would soon have swung back into the same sinful course. But because the king humbled his heart before God, he received from Huldah the prophetess the word that the Lord would acknowledge his quickness in seeking God for forgiveness and mercy. Still, the king must leave with God the events of the future; for he could not change them. The provocation had been too great for the punishment to be averted. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 15} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 16] The king, on his part, left undone nothing that might bring about a reformation. With the hope that something might be done to turn aside the judgment that was to be sent because of the leaven of evil permeating the principles and morals of the whole nation, he summoned a general assembly of the elders of the people, the magistrates, the representatives of Judah and Jerusalem, to meet him in the house of the Lord, with the priests and the prophets, and others engaged in various parts of the Lord's service. All joined in the deliberations of the assembly. In the place of making a speech to the people, Josiah ordered that the book of the law be read to them. So earnest did he feel that he himself read the law aloud. He was deeply affected, and he read with the pathos of a broken heart. His hearers were greatly affected by the intensity of feeling expressed in his countenance. They were impressed by the fact that the king, notwithstanding his high official position, cast himself wholly on the Lord, trusting in the strength and wisdom of the King of kings, rather than in his human wisdom. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 16} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 17] If those occupying positions of responsibility were as fully resolved to obey God's law as they are to make laws for governing those in their service, our institutions would be managed along right lines. Those who occupy positions of trust are to make it their highest aim to know God, as revealed in His Word; for to know Him aright is life eternal. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 17} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 18] Josiah proposed that those highest in authority unite in solemnly covenanting before the Lord to cooperate with one another in bringing about a reformation. "The king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all their heart and all their soul, which affirmed the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made 31 for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them without Jerusalem, in the fields of Kedron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 18} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 19] Like unto Josiah "was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him. Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of His great wrath, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked Him withal." It was not long before Jerusalem was utterly destroyed. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 19} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 20] Lessons for Us to Learn Today God is watching His people. We should seek to find out what He means when He sweeps away our sanitarium and our publishing house. Let us not move along as if there were nothing wrong. King Josiah rent his robe and rent his heart. He wept and mourned because he had not had the book of the law, and knew not of the punishments that it threatened. God wants us to come to our senses. He wants us to seek for the meaning of the calamities that have overtaken us, that we may not tread in the footsteps of Israel, and say, "The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are we," when we are not this at all. When we reach the mark of our high calling in Christ, the protecting arm of God will be with us. We shall have a covert from the storm. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 20} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 21] We have many lessons to learn. May God help us to learn them. Let us ask ourselves, Am I keeping the law of the Lord? Do I bring its principles into my home? Do I reverence God's Word? {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 21} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 22] I felt so thankful when the college in Battle Creek was moved from there to Berrien Springs. This was a right move. If there had been a further carrying out of the principles that God has laid down,--the instruction that He has given to make centers in many places,--His salvation would have been revealed. A wrong policy has been followed in centering so much in Battle Creek. The Lord has told us that His work is to be established all over America. In every city a memorial for Him is to be established. Are we ready for this work? "Lo," said Christ, "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, speaking the things I have commanded you." We are to proclaim to all the world the truths by which every one is to be judged. When this gospel of the kingdom shall have been preached to every nation and kindred and tongue and people, the Saviour will come. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 22} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 23] A Reformation Needed In every institution among us there needs to be a reformation. This is the message that at the last General Conference I bore as the word of the Lord. At that meeting I carried a very heavy burden, and I have carried it ever since. We did not gain the victory that we might have gained at that meeting. Why?--Because there were so few who followed the course of Josiah. There were those at that meeting who did not see the work that needed to be done. If they had confessed their sins, if they had made a break, if they had taken their stand on vantage ground, the power of God would have gone through the meeting, and we should have had a Pentecostal season. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 23} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 24] The Lord has shown me what might have been had the work been done that ought to have been done. In the night season I was present in a meeting where brother was confessing to brother. Those present fell upon one another's necks, and made heart-broken confessions. The Spirit and power of God were revealed. No one seemed too proud to bow before God in humility and contrition. Those who led in this work were the ones who had not before had the courage to confess their sins. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 24} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 25] This might have been. All this the Lord was waiting to do for His people. All heaven was waiting to be gracious. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 25} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 26] God is in earnest with us. If the heart is pure, there will be purity of action and nobility of purpose in all the work done. Every mind is to be cleansed, every heart purified. All are to understand that sin is not to be tolerated by the people who have received the most precious light ever given to mortals. Only a little while, and He who shall come will come, and will not tarry. Those who choose to cleave to their sins must perish. But God will have compassion on all who will make thorough work for eternity. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 26} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 27] I wish to say that the work that is to be carried on by our people is becoming less and less appreciated by many--not by all. Many of us do not realize the covenant relation in which we stand before God as His people. We are under the most solemn obligations to represent God and Christ. We are to guard against dishonoring God by professing to be His people, and then going directly contrary to His will. We are getting ready to move. Then let us act as if we were. Let us prepare for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him. Let us stand where we can take hold of eternal realities, and bring them into the every-day life. We are to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 27} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 28] A Great Work to be Done The Lord has a great work to be done. If this meeting is a success, the laborers will go from it to open up the work in new places. The salvation of God will be revealed. I am thankful that during the past year something has been done in Southern California. I praise God for what has been accomplished there. It is hard work to press the battle to the gates, but this must be done. God calls upon every one of us to take hold in earnest. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 28} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 29] Here is the medical missionary work,--a wonderful work. God gave us this work thirty-five years ago, and it has been a great blessing. It is to be to the third angel's message as the right hand is to the body. The gospel and the medical missionary work are one. They can not be divided. They are to be bound together. Medical missionary workers should be encouraged and sustained. And let them remember that they are working for the Master. Unless they do this, they can not exert a strong influence for good in the world. And they must ever keep clear and distinct the line of demarcation between worldlings and those who are carrying the gospel of the kingdom to the world. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 29} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 30] In the place of erecting large sanitariums, we should establish smaller sanitariums in many places. A few patients in a small institution can be helped and educated to much greater advantage than a large number gathered together in a large institution. God help us to let the light shine forth. It must shine forth, and God will make us channels of light, if we will let Him. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 30} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 31] The Southern field needs our help. I have carried this field on my heart 32 for many years. I have tried to make known its needs, and yet it has scarcely been touched. God has given me encouragement for the workers there, and I have followed them step by step in their work. There are those who say that mistakes have been made by the workers in the Southern field. Do you ever make mistakes? My husband and I used to grieve when we made mistakes. But often we found that in His providence God had permitted us to do as we had done, that we might understand what He wanted us to understand. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 31} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 32] God does not cast us off because we make mistakes. Of Ephraim He says: "I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms. . . . I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 32} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 33] The Spirit of Criticism to be Banished My brethren, if you stand before God as true Christians, you will do in the year before us a work different from that which has been done in years past. Your wicked criticism is a sin in the sight of God. By it you are weakening the hands of God's servants. This criticism is as a root of bitterness, whereby many are defiled. Let us come to the Lord in penitence, and ask Him to forgive us for not keeping His law, for not obeying the command to love one another as Christ has loved us. He says to us, "You have left your first love, and, unless you repent, I will remove your candlestick out of his place." "Be watchful," He pleads, "and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 33} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 34] Speech is a precious talent. It is the means by which we communicate with one another. The man who, though professing to be a Christian, allows himself to speak angrily because his will is crossed, needs to go apart and rest awhile. Let him go to God, and tell Him that he is sorry for what he said, and that he is ashamed of himself. Let him not try to vindicate himself. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 34} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 35] Those who criticize and condemn one another are breaking God's commandments, and are an offense to Him. They neither love God nor their fellow-beings. Brethren and sisters, let us clear away the rubbish of criticism and suspicion and complaint, and do not wear your nerves on the outside. Some are so sensitive that they can not be reasoned with. Be very sensitive in regard to what it means to keep the law of God, and in regard to whether you are keeping or breaking the law. It is this that God wants us to be sensitive about. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 35} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 36] If it were not for the burdens that rest so heavily on my soul, I could do tenfold more than I do. But night after night I am unable to sleep, because so many of the people of God act like quarrelsome children. My brother, my sister, when trouble arises between you and another member of God's family, do you follow the Bible directions? Before presenting to God your offering of prayer, do you go to your brother, and in the spirit of Christ talk with him. Christ says, "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." Then you can offer it with a clear conscience; for you have cast out the root of bitterness. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 36} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 37] There is much to be done at this meeting. But I do not feel depressed by the outlook. At times I do feel depressed, but I struggle against the feeling. I know that God wants His joy to be in us, that our joy may be full. He has a heaven full of blessings, and these blessings He will give to us, if we will take them. Our Father has an abundant treasure, but you do not want it. If you did, you would have it. You let so many things come between you and God! Your individuality is spotted and stained. It needs to be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 37} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 38] The judgment is right upon us. We can not afford to spend our time quarreling over little things. There is a great work before us. My brethren, we must wake up to the issues which face us, and that before this meeting closes. Heart must be cemented to heart. Pray for this; labor for it. Do not, I beg of you, allow differences to come in. May God help you to gather up the divine rays of light, and flash them across the pathway of others. May He help you to love one another as Christ has loved you. "By this," He says, "shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 38} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 39] There is power with Christ to heal; there is power with Him to save to the uttermost all who come to Him. But we must be willing to be saved. We must put aside all self-sufficiency. We must be in spirit as little children, or we shall never see the kingdom of heaven. Our measurement of ourselves is too large. We are but little children. We have not attained to the full stature of men and women in Christ. There is much matured intelligence for us yet to gain. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 39} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 40] We must overcome the pride that leads us to prefer to work by ourselves, rather than with a fellow-laborer, lest he rob us of glory. God wants us to press close together, that we may help one another. In Australia a minister was asked by a brother minister to leave the pulpit. "I want the people to see no one but me," he said. And they did indeed see no one but him. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 40} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 41] God calls for volunteers who will say. "I will do the very best I can." God pities us as He sees the wickedness all around us. But He declares that we are not to be wicked. Though we are in the world, we are not to be of the world. The Lord desires His institutions to stand as educational powers in the world. Everything connected with them is to bear the seal of God. Every worker is to be sanctified, body, soul, and spirit. No coarse, rough words are to be spoken; no action that shows a grasping spirit is to be performed. In thought and word and act the workers are to represent Christ. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 41} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 42] The Advent Message to be Given Those who stand as teachers and leaders in our institutions are to be sound in the faith and in the principles of the third angel's message. God wants His people to know that we have the message as He gave it to us in 1843 and 1844. We knew then what the message meant, and we call upon our people today to obey the word, "Bind up the law among My disciples." In this world there are but two classes,--the obedient and the disobedient. To which class do we belong? God wants to make us a peculiar people, a holy nation. He has separated us from the world, and He calls upon us to stand on vantage ground, where He can bestow on us His Holy Spirit. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 42} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 43] Soon will come the time of which John writes: "I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven 33 fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 43} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 44] How prone we are to look to human beings for help, to listen to their opinions, to rely upon them for sympathy, succor, and counsel! When in trouble, we should shut ourselves up with God. How many there are who realize no refreshing because they have forsaken the living waters, and have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns, which can hold no water! When men do this, what can we expect but barrenness of soul? {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 44} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 45] "Thus saith the Lord: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Let us rely on God. He never fails a trusting soul. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 45} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 46] From the moment of our conversion till the close of our earthly history, our lives are to be characterized by a spirit of true, intelligent service. Only thus can we be true to our covenant with God. He who is daily converted has crossed the boundary line that separates the children of light from the children of darkness. But he who professes to believe the truth, and acts as a sinner, will be treated by God as a sinner, and, unless he repents, will be punished as a sinner, only with many stripes, because he was given great light. - {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 46} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 1] April 1, 1903 "God calls ..." God calls upon His servants to reveal a spirit of unvarying kindness and love. Nothing is gained by harsh denunciations and bitterness of spirit. To be harsh in trying to correct wrong is to commit sin in reproving sin. True reformers are not destroyers. They never seek to ruin those who do not harmonize with their plans. Reformers must advance, not retreat. They must be firm, decided, resolute, unflinching. But firmness must not be allowed to degenerate into an overbearing spirit. God would have those who serve Him as firm as a rock to principle, and yet meek and lowly, like Christ. Abiding in Christ, they can do the work that He would do were He in their places.--Testimony. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 1] April 1, 1903 Two Extracts God says, "Go work today in My vineyard. Get away from the places where you are not needed. Plant the standard of truth in towns and cities that have not heard the message. Prepare the way for My coming. Those in the highways and hedges are to hear the call." {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 2] God will make the wilderness a sacred place as His people, filled with the missionary spirit, go forth to make centers for His work, to establish sanitariums, where the sick and afflicted can be cared for, and schools, where the youth can be educated in right lines.--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 3] The people of God need now to pray and humble their hearts before the Lord. Then they will see all things clearly. It is heart humiliation that is needed by those who have in trust so great and so important a truth,--a truth which, if received and believed, will purify the life from all selfishness, all emulation. Let the Lord's people draw near to Him, and let them love one another as brethren. A guilty world is going to destruction; and if Satan can keep at variance those whose hearts should be full of tenderness and love, on whose lips there should ever be the law of kindness, how pleased he is!--Testimony. {GCB, April 1, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1] April 2, 1903 How to Receive God's Blessing Talk by Mrs. E. G. White, Tuesday Morning, March 31 "Harken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2] In order for the blessing of God to rest upon us, we must not only hear His Word; we must carry it out in the daily life. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3] "Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal Peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord are alive every one of you unto this day." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4] "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5] You may think that it shows great wisdom to associate closely with worldlings, that you may receive their favor. But we can not afford to do this. The world will discern the wisdom and the understanding possessed by those who keep all God's commandments, and will say, "Surely this is a wise and understanding people." It is in this position that God has always wanted us to stand. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 6] "For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for." If we will draw nigh to God, He will draw nigh to us, and His glory will go before us. He will indite our petitions, teaching us to ask for the very things that He has pledged Himself to bestow on us. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 7] "And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" Shall we heed this law? Or shall we cover up the message, and hide the law of Jehovah? God forbid! {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 8] "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently." I spoke yesterday of the individuality that we must maintain. It must be a sanctified individuality. Take heed to thyself. Do not talk of the faults of others. If you have anything against any one, go to him, and tell him all about it. Pray with him and for him. If all would do this, how many souls would be saved to the work of God! {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 9] "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen." God has sent us reproofs and warnings. Forget not the things that you have seen. Forget not the history of the past, when God revealed His power and His grace, giving victory after victory, when He let His blessing and mercy rest upon us, and when He reproved our errors and our wrongs. Do not repeat the wrongs that He has reproved. Do not wait for Him to tell you every day what you must do. When He commands you once, it is forever. Establish your confidence in God. Come to Him with a living faith. He has said to you, "Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 10] Moses spoke of the day when the people stood before God in Horeb, when He said, "Gather Me the people together, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 11] My brethren and sisters, what is the matter with your children? Why is it that they do not obey God? It is because you yourselves do not obey Him. You hurry here and you hurry there; and your attention is so taken up with common things that you have no time to pray, no time to train your children. This is the way that it is in our institutions. Those in positions of trust in our publishing houses and our sanitariums have no time to educate the youth connected with these institutions as they should be educated. These youth are to be trained by precept and example to work for God. Do not speak to them harshly. You can not afford to do this. When you speak harshly or discouragingly, Satan is speaking through you. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 12] Place yourselves in right relation to God. Ask Him to cleanse you from all iniquity, and to heal you of your backsliding and your forgetfulness of Him. He says, "Draw nigh to Me, and I will draw nigh to you." He asks you to teach His lessons to your children. This is your work. Your children are God's property. He sent His Son to die for them. He has redeemed them. He wants you to begin to work for the church in your own house. Teach your children to keep the way of the Lord, to walk humbly before Him. Teach them to be His missionaries in the church and in the world. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 13] "Confess your Faults One to Another." Brethren and sisters, do not let this meeting pass by this morning without doing the work that God wants you to do. If there are any differences between you and your brethren, for Christ's sake clear them away. Take up the stumbling-blocks. Clear the King's highway. If you have done your neighbor a wrong, go to him, and try to make the matter right. Talk with God, and when you have done this, you will be able to talk in a Christlike manner to your brother. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 14] If you have made mistakes or errors in judgment or in speech, or if you have used the precious talent of speech to proclaim the wrong-doings of others, may God help you to make a change. Humble your hearts before the Lord. Do not feel that your brethren will 56 lose confidence in you if you make confession of sin. We are all finite. We are God's little children. Do not feel that it would lower your dignity to confess your sins. Christ says, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." We have separated ourselves from God. Let us draw near to Him. Let us confess our sins, and let us be sure that we go to the bottom, and make thorough work for repentance. Will you do this? Will you prepare the way for God to bless you? Shall we not see of the salvation of God in this meeting? We may see it; we may have it. Let us not do anything that will hinder it from coming to us. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 15] Do not use the talent of speech to talk of your troubles and difficulties or of the wrong that some one has done you. Live in the confidence and love of Christ. He is with you. He will give you strength. Remember that when you are irritated, silence is eloquence. Keep still. The strongest rebuke that you can give to a faultfinder is to return no answer to his criticism. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 15} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 16] May the salvation of God be manifest among us this morning. May the Lord help us all. I felt thankful that God gave me strength to talk to you yesterday. Then I thought, What good has it done? I felt a wave of discouragement coming over me. But I said, No, I can not afford that. I have done my duty, and I leave the result with God. I slept for about fifteen minutes, and when I awoke, it seemed as if the glory of God was all around me. My heart was filled with praise and thankfulness. And I feel thankful this morning. Oh, shall we not clear away the rubbish that is filling our hearts, and invite Christ to enter as an abiding Guest? Then He will richly bless us, and we shall receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. - {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 16} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1] April 2, 1903 A Prayer for Pardon and Help Prayer Offered by Mrs. E. G. White, Tuesday Morning, March 31 Our heavenly Father, we come to Thee this morning just as we are, needy and wholly dependent upon Thee. Help us to have a clear knowledge of what we must be, and of the characters that we must form, in order that we may be prepared to unite with the heavenly family in the city of our God. We ask Thee that Thou wilt remove the reproach that has come upon Thee through the neglect of those who profess to be Thy people, but who have not walked in Thy counsel. Lord, help us to understand our individual responsibilities, that our hearts may be worked by the Holy Spirit. We ask Thee that Thou wilt open blind eyes, that they may see; to enlighten the darkened understanding, that all may understand that there must be a reconversion, that hearts must break before God. Give us hearts of repentance, hearts of humiliation. O my Father, how can we proclaim Thy goodness, and Thy mercy, and Thy love, unless we cherish them in our own hearts, and reveal them in our own experiences? Thou knowest how Thou hast presented this matter to Thy servant. Thou knowest what a dishonor it has been to Thee because Thy people have failed to come to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus, and to obey Thy commandments. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2] Let not Thy wrath come upon Thy people while they are in their sins, unconverted and unsaved. Here are Thy ministers, whose work it is to proclaim Bible truth. I ask Thee that they may have a clear realization of the responsibilities that rest upon them as guardians and as shepherds of Thy flock. Roll upon them the burden that they should bear for those who are out of the truth. Let them understand their own weakness, and may the sanctification of the Spirit come to them. May there be a purifying of character and a breaking of heart before God. Thou canst show them that while they cherish their own dispositions and temperaments, Thou canst not work through them by the Holy Spirit, because they would become lifted up. Thou canst show them that there is a work to be done in their own hearts. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3] Here are those who bear responsibilities in our institutions. Thou hast signified that Thou hast been displeased with their ministration. They have not in their dealings given a right example to the world. They did not realize that men were taking knowledge of them, to see whether they were sanctified by the truth. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4] Oh, pardon our transgressions, and forgive our sins! Show us where we have come short. Let Thy Holy Spirit descend upon us. The world is perishing in sin, and we ask Thee to roll the burden upon us at this meeting. We desire to be weighted down with the Holy Spirit. We desire to stand where Thou canst reveal Thyself to us. Take away our hardness of heart, and give us softened hearts. I ask Thee, for Christ's sake, that Thou wouldst give understanding, that Thou wouldst give spiritual knowledge, that Thou wouldst give sensitive hearts, that all may see that it is high time to open the door of the heart to Jesus. Thou hast said that Thou hast heard the many words of complaint, and faultfinding, and murmuring, brother against brother, and friend against friend. Thou hast heard these words, and they are written in Thy book. They have stood as a block against the wheel of salvation, hindering its advancement. Convert Thy people in this the day of Thy preparation, that the time may not come when they will say, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5] Thou hast opened these things before me, and Thou alone canst prepare minds and hearts to hear the message that unless those who have left their first love shall return to recognize the work that needs to be done in their individual hearts, Thou wilt come quickly and remove the candlestick out of his place. Open the eyes of Thy people that they may see their deficiencies. We do not want one to be separated from the work. We do not want one to perish. We ask Thee that Thou wilt move upon hearts by the quickening influence of Thy Spirit, that there may be a break in this meeting such as has not been before. Oh, the break must come, if the Spirit of God shall take hold of hearts! {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 6] O my Father, shall this meeting close and we go back to our places with the same hard hearts? We must be reconverted, sanctified, and made fit to bear the message of the Lord. Cleanse the vessel, that the message that shall be given shall not taste so strongly of the dish that those to whom it is given shall have no appetite to partake of it. Let Thy melting mercy come upon us. Work in the midst of us with Thy power and with Thy love and with Thy majesty and glory. Put to shame the listlessness of those who have not come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Sweep back the cloud of darkness and unbelief. 57 Let the Holy Spirit come into our hearts and break down every barrier. Thou King of glory, look upon Thy people in these closing scenes of this earth's history. It seems as if nothing could arouse many of them to realize that they are on the very eve of the day of God, that His judgments are in the land. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 7] With Thou hear our petition! Wilt Thou answer our petition! Wilt Thou reveal Thyself to us! May we behold Thy glory, and be changed into Thine image. We thirst for the waters of Lebanon, and we hunger for the bread of life. We ask Thee to break our hearts today. We ask Thee to help us to put away our sinful thoughts, our disparagement of one another, and to seek the Lord while He may be found. My Father, break down the barriers, that confessions may be made, from heart to heart, from brother to brother. May the Spirit of God come in; and Thy blessed name shall have all the glory. Amen. - {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1] April 2, 1903 Another Earnest Prayer Heavenly Father, Thou hast said, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Heavenly Father, we need Thy Holy Spirit. We do not want to work ourselves, only as we work in unity with God. We want to be in a position where the Holy Spirit of God shall be upon us with its reviving, sanctifying power. Wilt Thou manifest Thyself unto us this very morning! Wilt Thou sweep away every mist and every cloud of darkness! {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2] We come to Thee, our compassionate Redeemer; and we ask Thee, for Christ's sake,--for Thine own Son's sake, my Father, that Thou wilt manifest Thy power unto Thy people here. We want wisdom; we want righteousness; we want truth; we want the Holy Spirit to be with us. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3] Thou hast presented before us a great work that must be carried forward in behalf of those that are in the truth, and in behalf of those that are in ignorance of our faith; and O Lord, as Thou hast given to every man his work, we beseech of Thee that the Holy Spirit may impress the human mind in regard to the burden of work that shall rest upon every individual soul, according to Thine appointment. We want to be proved; we want to be sanctified through and through; we want to be fitted up for the work; and here, right here in this session of the Conference, we want to see a revelation of the Holy Spirit of God. We want light, Lord,--Thou art the Light. We want truth, Lord,--Thou art the Truth. We want the right way,--Thou art the Way. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4] Lord, I beseech of Thee that we may all be wise enough to discern that we must individually open the heart to Jesus Christ, that through the Holy Spirit He may come in to mold and fashion us anew, in accordance with the divine image. O my Father, my Father! melt and subdue our hearts. We desire this morning to make an entire surrender to Thee; we desire to give up our will, our way, our course of action that has not been in harmony with the way and the will of God; we desire to accept the Lord's way, the Lord's will, the Lord's counsel. Come, oh, come into the midst of us this very morning, and move upon hearts, young and old. In a special manner move upon the hearts of those who are handling gospel truths, that they may all be lighted up with the bright beams which Thou dost permit to shine upon Thy Word, in order that Thy instruction may come to the human understanding with the power and the Spirit of the living God. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5] We acknowledge before Thee that we have not honored Thy name as we should. We acknowledge before Thee that we need to be broken in heart. We desire just now to be reconverted; we desire just now to realize what Christ is to us, and what we are and can be to Him as His coworkers,--"laborers together with God." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 6] O my Father, let every soul that is confused, every soul that can not understand and see the way, have the way presented before him so clearly that the mist will be removed, and that the cloud will pass, so that the Sun of righteousness may shine into the chambers of the mind and into the soul-temple. Wash us, and we shall be clean, Lord. Let melting mercy, mercy from Thee, come into every heart; and then, when we realize the melting mercy of a compassionate and loving Saviour, our hearts, once more united, will beat in unison, and all will stand shoulder to shoulder in advancing this great work. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 7] We can not afford to be indifferent, Lord, we can not afford to work contrary to one another. We must trust in Thee; and we ask, this very morning, that Thou shalt let the Holy Spirit descend upon us. We are ready to receive the Comforter; we open the door of the heart, and invite the Saviour in. We love Thee, dear Saviour; Thou knowest that we love Thee. We see in Thee matchless charms, and we desire that every soul shall constantly look unto Thee,--Thou who art the Author and the Finisher of our faith. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 8] Come, Lord Jesus, come and take us as we are, and put upon us the robe of Thy righteousness. Take away our sins. Our Saviour, Thou didst come to the earth to do this. We repent of wrong-doing; we are sorry for every departure from Thee; and we ask Thee to pardon our transgressions, that we may show to the world that we have a Saviour who is able to take away our sins, and to impute unto us His own righteousness. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 9] Lord, we accept Thee now; we receive Thee now; we believe in Thee now; and we ask Thee to let Thy Holy Spirit rest upon us just now. Just now walk through this house, we pray Thee; and may the angels accompanying Thee go around to every seat, and to every heart; and may every person have a realization of what "I" should do. May every one look not to man, but to Christ,--to Him who has died to save us. We are saved by Thee, Lord; we look to Thee, Lord. Oh, let Thy power come upon us, to tell us that our sins are pardoned. Thou hast promised, "A new heart will I give thee." We desire to have our hearts renewed, Lord; we long for this. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 10] Bless our ministering brethren. Bless all those who are in office in our institutions. We do not want Thee to destroy these institutions; we do not want to see their influence wiped away. We want that Thou shouldst simply take away everything that is wrong in the heart, the life, the character, of each worker, so that Thou canst use every institution of Thine own planting to glorify Thy name. We need every one of them. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 11] O my Saviour, Thou who hast shown compassion to us all, again we ask Thee 58 to grant unto us a rich portion of Thy mercy, Thy fulness, Thy compassion, Thy everlasting love. Come, Lord Jesus, and make us partakers of Thy divine nature, that we may overcome the corruption that is in the world through lust. Oh, may the Spirit of Christ, the love of God, comfort every heart this morning! Banish darkness, turn away the deceptive powers of the enemy, and let Thy voice and Thy Spirit and Thy love come into our souls, that we may sit together in heavenly places with Christ Jesus; and Thy name shall have all the glory. Amen. - {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1] April 2, 1903 Unity of Effort Morning Talk by Mrs. E. G. White, Wednesday, April 1, 1903 I know that the Lord means us good. I know that we are our worst enemies when we listen to the suggestions of the enemy. Let us not allow the truth, the precious, sanctifying truth of God, to pass by without our laying hold upon it. We are to be sanctified by the truth. The Lord will help us if we will but humble our hearts before Him, and accept Him as our personal Saviour. Only the living, acting power of our Redeemer can save us from the wiles of the enemy. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2] The Word declares, "Ye are God's husbandry." But can He work upon our hearts unless we are willing to be worked? "Ye are God's building." He is willing to build up in each one of us a symmetrical character,--a character after the divine similitude. But He must have our cooperation. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3] We do not reach high enough. We do not come to God with the faith that will not be denied. He says: "If any of you lack wisdom, let Him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven of the wind, and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." We must lay hold of the promises, saying, "I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me." And when you receive the blessing, you will carry it to others. The atmosphere of heaven will surround your soul, because Christ will be with you. He says, "Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4] Let us not allow the enemy to gain the victory. We are sorry that we are not standing on vantage ground, that we have not been standing there ever since the last General Conference. We are sorry that we did not make diligent work unto repentance; sorry that we did not cease our complaining and fault finding, and that we did not overcome the inclination to press others to the wall. My brethren, crowd yourselves into as small a compass as you please, but let your brethren alone. Do not try to press them into hard places. Place yourselves where God can give you the presence of His Spirit in your work. If your brethren see from your life that this Spirit is abiding in your heart, they will be led to go for help to the same source that you did. They will be led to obey the word. "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich: and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5] My brethren, clear your souls before God. Cease your criticizing and fault-finding. Satan will keep you at this till the Lord comes, if he can. He knows that thus he can most effectually hinder the Lord's work. Backbiting is cannibalism. God calls upon His people to have nothing to do with it, but to come to Him, that they may have light and life and salvation. We need the wisdom that comes from above. Pure, this wisdom is, "peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated." If it were not, the love of the Father would not have been so constantly exercised toward us. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 6] Again and again God has pardoned our transgressions. Now there are steps that we must take. And what are they? Let us try to understand. You will remember the time that the news came from Europe regarding the financial embarrassment of the publishing house in Christiania. Some in this country said that we ought to let the institution go; that the managers ought to have known better than to get so heavily in debt; that they had no right to be in such a situation. But had such advice been followed, would it have placed the workers in the publishing house in Norway on vantage ground, where they could carry on their work for the Master? Light was given me that the institution was to be placed where it could do its work. But the workers there could not do this without help. Their brethren in other lands were to help them, standing with them shoulder to shoulder, making their interests and their loss their own. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 7] And let me say that God does not design that the sanitarium that has been erected in Battle Creek shall be in vain. He wants His people to understand this. Now that the building has been put up, He wants this institution to be placed on vantage ground. He does not want His people to be looked upon by the enemy as a people that is going out of sight. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 8] We are now to make another effort to place our institutions on solid ground. Let no one say, because there is a debt on the sanitarium in Battle Creek, "We will have nothing more to do in helping to build up that institution." The people of God must build that institution up, in the name of the Lord. It is to be placed where its work can be carried on intelligently. One man is not to stand at its head alone. Dr. Kellogg has carried the burden until it has almost killed him. God wants His servants to stand united in carrying that work forward. Because one man is one-sided, and another man is one-sided, this does not show that the work of God is to be one-sided. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 9] God's people are to place the sanitarium in Battle Creek on vantage ground. How is this to be done?--I can not tell you. But I know that just as soon as the Holy Spirit shall come upon hearts, there will be unity in voice and understanding; and wisdom will be given us. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 10] I have given you these thoughts as suggestions, trusting that they will have some influence upon you in your councils and in the movements that you will make. It is not only for that little corner in Battle Creek that we are laboring. We must stand on vantage ground before our own people and before world. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 11] God calls upon us to seek Him with the whole heart, and He declares that when we do this, He will be found of us. Shall we do it? In order to find Him, we must seek Him with every power of the being. A lawyer came to Christ with the question, "Master, what 59 shall I do to inherit eternal life?" Knowing that he had been sent by the Pharisees, Christ laid upon him the burden of answering his own question. "What is written in the law? how readest Thou?" He asked. And the lawyer answered. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 12] These principles are the foundation of Christian life. When we receive them into our hearts, when we live by them, we shall see the salvation of God. Then will His power rest upon His work as it has not rested since the first days of the message. Then we knew what it meant to see the salvation of God. We understood what God told us. God lives, and He calls upon us to come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty powers of darkness. "Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord, against the mighty." God forbid that these words should be spoken of us! {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 13] Because men have made mistakes, they are not to be uprooted. The blessing of God heals; it does not destroy. The Mighty Healer, the great Medical Missionary, will be in the midst of us, to heal and to bless, if we will receive Him. John said of Him, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." He is waiting to come to us, to take away our sins, and fill us with His Spirit. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 14] A mighty host is arrayed against us. But God is on our side, and He has all power. He has separated us from the world for Himself, and He declares that we are to be a peculiar people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. He tells us not to rely upon men, but to put our trust in the Lord God of Israel. Then we shall gain the victory. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1] April 2, 1903 Four Extracts We are living in the time pointed out in this scripture. God has a great work to do in the earth, and Satan will strive with all his power to prevent the accomplishment of this work.--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2] It is not the largeness or the grandeur of an edifice that impresses hearts, but the principles of righteousness, of justice and equity, practised within. Pronounced Bible principles must prevail in every one of the Lord's institutions. Thus those who are handling sacred responsibilities will reveal that their characters are sanctified by the truth that they claim to believe.--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3] Christ is pleading the case of every tempted soul; but while He is doing this, many of His people are grieving Him by taking their stand with Satan to accuse their brethren, pointing to their polluted garments. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4] Let not the criticized ones become discouraged; for while their brethren are condemning them, Christ is saying of them, "I have graven them upon the palms of My hands. By creation and redemption they are Mine."--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5] Make no man your king. Who is your King?--He who is called, "Wonderful, Counselor. The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" He is our Savior, our King. To Him you may always go with your burdens. However great your sins, you need have no fear of repulse. If you have injured your brother, go to him, and confess the wrong you have done him. Clear away the difficulty that exists between you and him. When you have done this, you may come to your King, asking Him for pardon. He will never take advantage of your confessions. He will never disappoint you. He has pledged His word to forgive your transgressions and to cleanse you from all defilement. The names of all His people are written in His book of life.--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 2, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 6] April 3, 1903 Four Extracts The words spoken by our Instructor impressed me deeply. Of those who led tried and tempted lives, the question was asked: "How do you deal with your difficulties? Do you harness yourself for an encounter with trial and temptation? And then do you lay hold on these temptations, as you suppose you must, while your spirit is hot within you, and wrestle with them, quite sure that this is what you ought to do? As you battle with your covetousness and uncharitableness on their own ground, do you come out victor?--No; you come out discouraged, bruised, and wounded, bound and enfeebled spiritually. {GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 7] "What should you do? Simply put your whole trust in the One who understands your temptations and trials, the One who alone can master temptation. If you had not been premature in your efforts, you need not have fought so terrible a battle; for the Captain of your salvation was at work for you, ready to do for you that which you can not do for yourself, and to leave you free to do that which He has told you to do,--learn of Him His meekness and lowliness. He has been tempted in all points 'like as we are' and He knows how to succor those who are tempted. Had you first talked with God in prayer, by faith grasping His promises, you would have received strength for the conflict."--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 8] Man's ingenuity, his judgment, his power to execute, all come from God. To God's service all should be devoted. The principles of the Bible are to control the Lord's servants. His workers are ever to do justice and judgment, steadfastly keeping the way of the Lord. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness." Make this the point round which your life centers, and then all things needful will be given you. Put the Redeemer's interests before your own or those of any other human being. He has bought you, and all your powers belong to Him.--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 9] Of the high priest of Israel we read: "And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually." What a beautiful and expressive figure this is of the unchanging love that Christ has for His people! Our great high Priest, of whom Aaron was a type, bears His people upon His heart. His earthly ministers should have this lesson graven upon mind and heart. As they labor in connection with one another, they are to follow the example of Christ, cultivating His tenderness, revealing His kindness, His courtesy, His love.--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 10] Unless the soul-temple is daily emptied of self, and prepared for the reception of the Holy Spirit, self will rule the entire being. The words and acts will be tarnished with selfishness. Christ will not appear in the life. There will be seen a self-confidence that is wholly unappropriate.--E. G. W. {GCB, April 3, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 1] April 6, 1903 Our Duty to Leave Battle Creek Talk by Mrs. E. G. White, Friday Morning, April 3 It will be impossible for me to do justice to the question before us unless I take some time. The question is one that should be clearly and distinctly understood by us all. Few of our people have any idea of how many times light has been given that it was not in the order of God for so much to be centered in Battle Creek. Much was gathered there; many meetings were called there. A school, and a sanitarium, and a publishing house were there. These institutions had an influence upon one another. If this influence had always been good, more of a missionary spirit would have been developed. There would have been a clearer understanding of what must be done in the various cities of America. It would have been seen that in every 85 city the standard must be planted and a memorial for God established. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 2] It is God's design that our people should locate outside the cities, and from these outposts warn the cities, and raise in them memorials for God. There must be a force of influence in the cities, that the message of warning shall be heard. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 3] For years the warning has been given to our people, Get out of Battle Creek. But because of the many interests established there, it was convenient to remain, and men could not see why they should move. At last Brother Magan and Brother Sutherland began to think of the advisability of moving from Battle Creek. They came to me, asking what they should do. I said: Take the school out of Battle Creek, if you can possibly do so. Go out into a place where there are no people who believe as we do, and there establish the school on a location with plenty of land, that the students who come may be educated in right lines. They obeyed the instruction given. This was the first move made. It has been a success. God has been pleased with it. He endorsed the effort made to get away from the congestion of Battle Creek. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 4] For the last fifteen or twenty years, light has been given that our people, by crowding into Battle Creek, have been leaving their home churches in a weak state. Some seemed to think that when they reached Battle Creek, they would be near heaven, that in Battle Creek they would not have many temptations. They did not understand the situation; they did not know that it was in Battle Creek that the enemy was working the hardest. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 5] Again and again testimonies were given in regard to the principles that were coming in to leaven the publishing house. And yet, though the messages kept coming that men were working on principles which God could not accept, no decided change was made. The apprentices in the office were not given the advantages that they should have had. They were not being prepared to go out as missionaries into various places as they might be called. They were not being prepared to stand as God's representatives. The influence of the office was not what it should have been. God declared that this institution should be a sacred place, that angels of God were walking up and down through it. The words of contradiction spoken in the office, and the general irritation shown, were condemned. He designed that it should be a school where workers should be trained to uphold the principles that God had ordained should ever be maintained by His people. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 6] Before the fire came which swept away the Review and Herald factory, I was in distress for many days. I was in distress while the council was in session, laboring to get the right matter before the meeting, hoping, if it were a possible thing, to call our brethren to repentance, and avert calamity. It seemed to me that it was almost a life and death question. It was then that I saw the representation of danger,--a sword of fire turning this way and that way. I was in an agony of distress. The next news was that the Review and Herald building had been burned by fire, but that not one life had been lost. In this the Lord spoke mercy with judgment. The mercy of God was mingled with judgment to spare the lives of the workers, that they might do the work which they had neglected to do, and which it seemed impossible to make them see and understand. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 7] Notwithstanding the condition of things at the publishing house, a suggestion had been made to bring still more of our work to the Review Office, still more power into Battle Creek. This greatly alarmed me, and when the fire came, I breathed easier than I had for a long time. We were thankful that no lives were lost. There was a large loss of property. Again and again the Lord had shown me that for every dollar that was accumulated by unjust means, there would be ten times as much lost. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 8] God desired that every movement should be in accordance with Bible principles. There was to be no sharp dealing. But there has been sharp dealing, and God has been displeased. For the last twenty years God has been sending reproofs and warnings regarding this. The very worst thing that could now be done would be for the Review and Herald Office to be once more built up in Battle Creek. The way has been opened for it to break up its association there,--association with worldly men, which ought to be broken. Unjustifiable commercial business has been carried on, because the money that it brought in was needed. I saw One of undisputed authority go into the office and look over the accounts, with the leading men, noting how much had been taken in for the publication of matter that should never have seen the light of day. He asked, "How much do you gain on this work?" When the answer was given, He said, "The outlay necessary to do this work is larger than you estimate; but were your estimate correct, the loss in spirituality far out-weighs the estimated gain." Pernicious matter has been published right in our office, and if some part of the work had to be delayed, it was the work on the books containing the light of truth. This was greatly displeasing to the Lord. The apprentices were being educated in the false doctrines contained in the matter brought in. And the Review and Herald presses were sending these false doctrines out to the world. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 9] When the printing office was first established, in a little wooden building, the Lord showed me that its presses were to be used to send forth to the world the bright rays of truth. They were consecrated to the Lord. Light was to shine all through the office, which was to be a school of training for workers. But as the result of association with the world, many in the office grew worldly, and worked more and more on plans of worldly policy, and neither the discipline nor training of the youth employed in the office were as they should be. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 10] I must say to our people that the Lord would have that institution established in an entirely new place. He would have the present influences of association broken up. Will those who have collected in Battle Creek hear the voice speaking to them, and understand that they are to scatter out into different places, where they can spread abroad a knowledge of the truth, and where they can gain an experience different from the experience that they have been gaining? {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 11] In reply to the question that has been asked in regard to settling somewhere else, I answer, Yes. Let the General Conference offices and the publishing work be moved from Battle Creek. I know not where the place will be, whether on the Atlantic Coast or elsewhere. But this I will say, Never lay a stone or a brick in Battle Creek to rebuild the Review Office there. God has a better place for it. He wants you to work with a different influence, and 86 connected with altogether different associations from what you have had of late in Battle Creek. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 12] There has been an anxiety to adopt a worldly policy. Warnings and reproofs and entreaties--you would be astonished to know how many--have been sent in regard to this. But they have not been heeded. Many have come to the place where they do not care to follow the directions that the Lord sends. They have walked in their own counsel, until the Lord has come near by judgment, and swept away the printing plant. Will you build up again in the same place that you were before? I ask you, brethren, shall we, because our books and papers have long borne the imprint of Battle Creek, again lay the foundation in the very place where our work has been destroyed by fire? Will it make a confusion to move? Better to have a little confusion. Let us have another imprint. Let us see if we can not make a reformation. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 13] The Sanitarium I need not speak any more on this point. I wish to speak now in reference to the sanitarium in Battle Creek. Our brethren say: "Sister White has confused us. She said that we must not let this sanitarium go into the hands of worldlings. And she said also that we must try to place the sanitarium upon a right foundation." Yes, this I did say. Now I repeat it. For years light has been coming to me that we should not center so much in one place. I have stated distinctly that an effort should not be made to make Battle Creek the sign and symbol of so much. The Lord is not very well pleased with Battle Creek. Not all that has been done in Battle Creek is well pleasing to Him. And when the sanitarium there was burned, our people should have studied the messages of reproof and warning sent them in former years, and taken heed. That the lives of patients and helpers were spared was a providence for which every one of us should praise God with heart and soul and voice. He gave them an opportunity to live, and to study what these things mean. I had many things written out, but I thought, I will not say a word to condemn any one. I will keep quiet. When the planning for the new building was taken up, I think there were no questions or propositions sent to me about it, from those in charge. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 14] It has been stated that, when the sanitarium was first established in Battle Creek, my husband and I endorsed it. Certainly we did. I can speak for my husband as well as for myself. We prayed about the matter a great deal. So it was with the printing office, which was first established in a little wooden building. As the work grew, we had to add to it, and later, when ambitious men came in to take part in the management, more additions were made than should have been made, because these men thought that the buildings would give character to the work. That was a mistake. It is not buildings that give character to the work of God, but the faithfulness and integrity of the workers. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 15] The sanitarium grew, and, in 1887, Dr. Kellogg talked with me in regard to the necessity of having a hospital. I said, "Some months ago I was shown that we must have a hospital." Our brethren did not know what had been presented to me about this, and the opposition came hard and strong. They sat right down upon Dr. Kellogg. I took my position close by his side, and told them that the light God had given me was that we should have a hospital in Battle Creek. The hospital was erected, and it was soon full of patients. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 15} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 16] Understand, brethren, that at that time we had not numerous sanitariums, as in later years we came to have. The Battle Creek Sanitarium was almost our only place for the care of the sick. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 16} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 17] After a time the question came, "Shall we build a small, neat chapel in which the patients and helpers can assemble to worship God?" As soon as I possibly could, I sent off a letter, saying, Yes. Wherever there is a sanitarium, there should be a church, to which the patients can go to hear the word of life, and God will soften their hearts, leading many to accept Christ as the Healer of the soul. I was in perfect union with this move. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 17} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 18] But of late some things have been brought in that I could not endorse, and one of these is the attaching of many enterprises and lines of medical work to the medical association in Battle Creek. The Lord showed me that this should not be done. Many here know what I said to them,--that we must not center so much in Battle Creek; that if we did not take heed, God's judgments would visit Battle Creek. When I saw such an earnestness on the part of the leaders to connect all branches of the medical work with the association at Battle Creek, I told the brethren that the instruction given me was that they should not make the scratch of a pen to bind themselves to the restrictions of the rules and regulations that were arranged for them to come under. God wants His institutions to stand in fellowship with one another, just as brethren in the church should stand in fellowship. But they are never to be bound by written contracts to any one man or any group of men. They are to stand in their own individuality, accountable to God. The Lord of heaven is to be the Leader and Guide and Counselor of His people. His institutions are to be managed under His theocracy. His people are to act as a chosen people, a people who are to do a sacred and an unselfish work. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 18} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 19] When one institution gathers a large amount of responsibility and a large number of guests, the religious part of the work is in danger of being neglected. The managers of the Battle Creek Sanitarium have done nobly in the past in regard to trying to maintain a right religious influence in the sanitarium. For a long time there were men connected with the institution whose work it was to hold Bible-readings with the patients, as the way opened Dr. Kellogg fully accorded with this. After the meeting at Minneapolis, Dr. Kellogg was a converted man, and we all knew it. We could see the converting power of God working in his heart and life. But as the institution has grown in popularity, there has been danger that the reason for which it was established would be lost sight of. Repeatedly I have given the instruction that was given to me,--that this institution should not be conducted after the manner in which worldly medical institutions are conducted; that pleasure-loving, card-playing, and theatrical performances should find no place in it. True piety was to be revealed in the lives of physicians and helpers. Everything connected with the institution was to speak in favor of the truth, and the truth in regard to the Sabbath would come to the patients. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 19} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 20] It was the piety of the workers, not the largeness of the buildings, that was to bring conviction to hearts. Many souls have been converted; many wonderful cures have been wrought. The Lord stood by the side of Dr. Kellogg 87 as he performed difficult operations. When the doctor was overwrought by taxing labor, God understood the situation, and He put His hand on Dr. Kellogg's hand as he operated, and through His power the operations were successful. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 20} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 21] I wish this to be understood. Over and over again I have encouraged Dr. Kellogg, telling him that the Lord God of Israel was at his right hand, to help him, and to give him success as he performed the difficult operations that meant life or death to the ones operated upon. I told the doctor that before he took up his instruments to operate upon patients, he must pray for them. The patients saw that Dr. Kellogg was under the jurisdiction of God, that he understood His power to carry on the work successfully, and they had more confidence in him than in worldly physicians. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 21} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 22] God has given Dr. Kellogg the success that he has had. I have tried constantly to keep this before him, telling him that it was God who was working with him, and that the truth of God was to be magnified by His physician. God will bless every other physician who will yield himself wholly to God, and will be with his hand when he works. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 22} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 23] This was the light given. God worked that the medical missionary work might stand on the highest vantage ground; that it might be known that Seventh-day Adventists have a God working with them, a God who has a constant oversight of His work. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 23} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 24] God does not endorse the efforts put forth by different ones to make the work of Dr. Kellogg as hard as possible, in order to build themselves up. God gave the light on health reform, and those who rejected it rejected God. One and another who knew better said that it all came from Dr. Kellogg, and they made war upon him. This had a bad influence on the doctor. He put on the coat of irritation and retaliation. God did not want him to stand in the position of warfare, and He does not want you to stand there. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 24} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 25] Those who have turned away from the Battle Creek Sanitarium to get worldly physicians to care for them did not realize what they were doing. God established the Battle Creek Sanitarium. God worked through Dr. Kellogg; but men did not realize this. When they were sick, they sent for worldly physicians to come, because of something that the doctor had said or done that did not please them. This God did not approve. We have the authority of the Bible for our instruction in temperance. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 25} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 26] But God has nothing to do with making every institution amenable in some way to the work and workers in Battle Creek. His servants should not be called upon to submit to rules and regulations made there. God's hand must hold every worker, and must guide and control every worker. Men are not to make rules and regulations for their fellow-men. The Bible has given the rules and regulations that we are to follow. We are to study the Bible, and learn from it the duty of man to his fellow-man. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 26} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 27] You were surprised to hear me say that we are not to let the Battle Creek Sanitarium go into the hands of the world; that we are to make another effort to place our institutions on solid ground. If you will trust in the Lord, this institution can be placed on vantage ground. When the sanitarium is placed on its proper foundation; when our people can see it as it was when it was first established; when they can understand that the institution belongs to the work of the Lord, and can see that no one man is to have the control of everything in it; then God will help them all to take hold with courage to build it up. Today you do not know just where it is. God wants us to know every timber of the foundation, where it is, and what it is; then He wants us all to put shoulder to shoulder, and labor understandingly. The Lord wants us to do our duty. He wants us to understand that Dr. Kellogg shall not be pushed out of his place, but that he shall stand acknowledged and supported in his God-given work. This he will be if his feet are planted on the truth of the living God. If they are not planted on this truth, specious temptations will come in, through scientific problems and scientific theories regarding God and His Word. Spurious scientific theories are coming in as a thief in the night, stealing away the landmarks and undermining the pillars of our faith. God has shown me that the medical students are not to be educated in such theories, because God will not endorse these theories. The most specious temptations of the enemy are coming in, and they are coming in on the highest, most elevated plane. These spiritualize the doctrines of present truth until there is no distinction between the substance and the shadow. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 27} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 28] You know that Satan will come in to deceive if possible the very elect. He claims to be Christ, and he is coming in, pretending to be the great medical missionary. He will cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men, to prove that he is God. We must stand barricaded by the truths of the Bible. The canopy of truth is the only canopy under which we can stand safely. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 28} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 29] Our leading brethren, the men in official positions, are to examine the standing of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, to see whether the God of heaven can take control of it. When, by faithful guardians, it is placed in a position where He can control it, let me tell you that God will see that it is sustained. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 29} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 30] God wants His people to place their feet on the eternal Rock. The money that we have is the Lord's money; and the buildings that we erect with this money, for His work, are to stand as His property. He calls upon those who have received the truth not to quarrel with their brethren, but to stand shoulder to shoulder, to build up, not to destroy. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 30} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 31] God would not have let the fire go through our institutions in Battle Creek without a reason. Are you going to pass by the providence of God, without finding out what it means? God wants us to study into this matter, and to build upon a foundation in which all can have the utmost confidence. He wants the interests started to be conducted in such a way that His people can invest their means in them with the assurance that they are part of His work. Let us labor intelligently and understandingly. There is altogether too little humiliation of soul. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 31} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 32] The crisis is coming soon in Battle Creek. The trades unions and confederacies of the world are a snare. Keep out of them and away from them, brethren. Have nothing to do with them. Because of these unions and confederacies, it will soon be very difficult for our institutions to carry on their work in the cities. My warning is: Keep out of the cities. Build no sanitariums in the cities. Educate our people to get out of the cities into the country, where they can obtain a small piece of land, and make a home for themselves and their children. When 88 the question arose in regard to the establishment of a sanitarium in the city of Los Angeles, I felt that I must oppose this move. I carried a very heavy burden in regard to the matter, and I could not keep silent. It is time, brethren, that we heeded the testimonies sent us in mercy and love from the Lord of heaven. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 32} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 33] Our restaurants must be in the cities; for otherwise the workers in these restaurants could not reach the people and teach them the principles of right living. And for the present we shall have to occupy meeting-houses in the cities. But erelong there will be such strife and confusion in the cities that those who wish to leave them will not be able. We must be preparing for these issues. This is the light that is given me. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 33} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 34] May God help you to receive the words that I have spoken. Let those who stand as God's watchmen on the walls of Zion be men who can see the dangers before the people,--men who can distinguish between truth and error, righteousness and unrighteousness. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 34} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 35] The warning has come: Nothing is to be allowed to come in that will disturb the foundation of the faith upon which we have been building ever since the message came in 1842, 1843, and 1844. I was in this message, and ever since I have been standing before the world, true to the light that God has given us. We do not propose to take our feet off the platform on which they were placed as day by day we sought the Lord with earnest prayer, seeking for light. Do you think that I could give up the light that God has given me? It is to be as the Rock of Ages. It has been guiding me ever since it was given. Brethren and sisters, God lives and reigns and works today. His hand is on the wheel, and in His providence He is turning the wheel in accordance with His own will. Let not men fasten themselves to documents, saying what they will do and what they will not do. Let them fasten themselves to the Lord God of heaven. Then the light of heaven will shine into the soul-temple, and we shall see the salvation of God. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 35} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 1] April 6, 1903 A Call to Repentance Talk by Mrs. E. G. White, Sabbath, April 4, 11 A.M. "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." These are the words that Christ gave to John for us. "Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 2] In view of this instruction, how important it is that we do not devote our time to faultfinding, or criticizing, but that we receive the divine truth into our hearts, that they may break before God! The broken heart, and the contrite spirit, God will receive. We must not base our salvation upon supposition; we must know of a surety that Christ is formed within, the Hope of glory. We must know for ourselves that the Spirit of God is abiding in our hearts, and that we can hold communion with God. Then if He should come to us quickly, if by any chance our life should suddenly be ended, we should be ready to meet our God. Now, while it is called today, let us set our house in order. "Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation." Because of their unbelief of God's Word, the children of Israel who left Egypt perished in the wilderness. God grant that we may not through unbelief fail of entering into the promised land. Let us keep step with Jesus Christ. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 3] "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard." You have received something; you have heard something. Do not forget the dealings of God, and the light that He has sent you. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 4] "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments." Thank God, He can keep His people in a place where they shall not defile their garments. If we submit to Christ, we shall be kept unspotted from the world. "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord, that His goings forth are prepared as the morning." We are to follow on. We are not to rest content with the capabilities and the knowledge of today. All the inhabitants of the universe are watching, as in these last days God is preparing a people to stand in the judgment. Let us ask God to clothe us with the robe of Christ's righteousness, that we may be prepared for the coming of the Son of man. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 5] Of those who have not defiled their garments, Christ says, "They shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy." Through infinite sacrifice made in our behalf, we may have an abundance of grace. God has a whole heaven full for us. All He asks is that by living faith we receive His promises, saying: "I do believe. I do accept the blessings which Thou hast for those who love Thee." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 6] A Precious Assurance "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not" -- Oh, how precious is that "not"!--"I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels." When the gates of the city of God swing back on their glittering hinges, and the nations who have kept the truth shall enter in, Christ will be there to welcome us, to call us the blessed of the Father, because we have overcome. He will welcome us before the Father, and before His angels. As we enter the kingdom of God, there to spend eternity, the trials and the difficulties and the perplexities that we have had here will sink into insignificance. Our life will measure with the life of God. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 7] There is before me a large congregation. How many of you are confessing Christ before the world? He will confess before His Father and before the holy angels the names of those who confess Him here. Then confess Him in your words. Do not find fault with one another. God has not put the work of judgment into your hands. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 8] Who is Ready? Suppose that today Christ should appear in the clouds of heaven, who of this congregation would be ready to meet Him? Suppose we should be translated into the kingdom of heaven just as we are. Would we be prepared to unite with the saints of God, to live in harmony with the royal family, the children of the heavenly King? What 89 preparation have you made for the judgment? Have you made your peace with God? Are you laboring together with God? Are you seeking to help those around you, those in your home, those in your neighborhood, those with whom you come in contact, that are not keeping the commandments of God? "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Then let us receive it into our souls, giving it a willing obedience. Let us honor God's law by obeying it precepts. But remember that profession is worthless without a practise that enters into the daily life. God knows whether we are keeping His law in truth. He knows just what we are doing, just what we are thinking and saying. Are we getting ready to meet the King? When He comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, will you be able to say, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us"? To those who can say this, Christ will say: "Come up higher. Upon this earth you have loved me. You have loved to do My will. You can now enter the holy city, and receive the crown of everlasting life." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 9] If it were possible for us to be admitted into heaven as we are, how many of us would be able to look upon God? How many of us have on the wedding-garment? How many of us are without spot or wrinkle or any such thing? How many of us are worthy to receive the crown of life? {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 10] Remember that just as you are in your family, so will you be in the church. Just as you treat your children, so will you treat Christ. If you cherish an unchristlike spirit, you are dishonoring God, no matter how high your position, whether you are ministers or presidents of conferences. Position does not make the man. It is Christ formed within that makes a man worthy of receiving the crown of life, that fadeth not away. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 11] When you are tempted to speak cross words, pray for grace to resist the temptation. Remember that your children will speak as they hear you speak. By your example you are educating them. Remember that if you speak cross words to fellow church-members, you would speak the same kind of words in heaven, were you permitted to enter there. But you never will be unless you change. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 12] Now is the Time This is our washing and ironing time,--the time when we are to cleanse our robes of character in the blood of the Lamb. John says, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." I thank Thee, my heavenly Father, I praise Thee, that Thou hast given us Jesus, to take away our sins. Shall we not let Him take them away? Shall we not let our sins go? {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 13] Christ says to us, as He said to Nicodemus. "Ye must be born again." It is here, in this world of test and trial, not in heaven, that the new birth is to take place. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 14] I entreat you, brethren and sisters, to labor earnestly to secure the crown of everlasting life. The reward will be worth the conflict, worth the effort. Paul compares those in the Christian warfare to the runners in a race. In the races which he uses as an illustration, only one could receive the prize. In the race in which we are running, every one may receive the reward offered,--a crown of everlasting life. I want this crown; I mean by God's help to have it. I mean to hold fast to the truth, that I may see the King in His beauty. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 15] "He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things saith He that is holy, He that is true: He that hath the key of David; He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." Since our Saviour is so powerful, why do you lean so heavily upon human beings? Why do you go to them for help and strength, pouring your troubles into their ears? Take your minds off human beings. They are finite, erring. We are only little children, in comparison with God. From Him, as little children, we must learn our lessons. He wants us to humble our hearts before Him, in submission and contrition. He wants us to speak kind, tender, compassionate words to one another. Educate yourselves to speak such words. Be polite to God and to one another. Remember that He wants you to have the best of manners, that you may glorify Him before the world. He desires you to live in unity with one another, and to love one another. Remember that if you love one another here, you will live with the redeemed through the ceaseless ages of eternity. Oh, think of these things! May God stir your hearts today as they never have been stirred before. May He lead you to heed the words, "Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 15} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 16] A Ruler, Yet Understood Not Nicodemus, to whom these words were spoken, was a ruler of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin, a man highly honored in the nation. Yet he could not understand the meaning of the Saviour's words. "And Christ said to him, Art thou a master in Israel, and knowest not these things?" Ministers, presidents of conferences,--no matter who you are or what you are,--you are under the eye of Jehovah, and it becomes you to find out whether your ways please the Lord. We are getting ready, preparing for the last change. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 16} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 17] "He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." The work is in the hands of God. Let us be sure that our own souls are receiving the refining of which the Lord speaks when He says: I "will try them as gold is tried." "I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir." Since God can thus refine us, let us place ourselves in His hands. Let us stand, where we are working for Him, against anything that may come to hinder, and He will give us strength and grace and power, and we shall see the salvation of God. His grace will be given to us, and God will help us to impart it to those around us, in pleasant words and kindly deeds. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 17} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 18] Duties of Parents Parents, work for the church in your home. Remember that there the education of your children begins. The father is to be the priest of the household, and the mother the teacher. She is to train and educate her children, helping them to form characters that will gain for them admittance into the kingdom of God. Parents, study your children, that you may understand their different dispositions. If you speak to them harshly and cruelly, you will develop in them a harsh and cruel spirit. As you deal with your children, remember that you are dealing with Christ in the person of His little ones. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 18} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 19] After the family, then comes the church. The influence of the family is to be such that it will be a help and a blessing in the church. Never speak a word of complaint or faultfinding. 90 There are churches in which the spirituality has been almost killed, because the spirit of backbiting has been allowed to enter. Why do we speak words of blame and censure? To be silent is the strongest rebuke that you can give to one who is speaking harsh, discourteous words to you. Keep perfectly silent. Often silence is eloquence. My brethren, you will never enter heaven with a spirit of faultfinding. I ask you to get rid of this spirit before you leave this meeting. Do not take it back with you to your home churches. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 19} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 20] "Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the Word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." God has told us of the trials that are coming upon us, and He has told us that He will keep us by His power. Shall we not accept His promise? {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 20} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 21] "Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. He that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down from My God; and I will write upon him My new name." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 21} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 22] When you are tempted to criticize and to make difficulty, let your mind dwell on this scripture. The melting mercy of God will come into your heart, and you will know how to work for God's little children. As you work for those around you, setting them an example of righteousness, you will receive the commendation of the Master. But many of us act like quarrelsome children. May God help you to put this spirit away. Do not keep up your quarreling until you lose out of your lives the Holy Spirit. God wants us to be Christians, and it is time that we were. Let us bring the fragrance of His Spirit into our lives. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 22} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 23] Neither Cold Nor Hot "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And unto the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 23} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 24] When the mercy and love of God are cherished in our hearts, we shall not manifest a cold, hard spirit in the home and in the church toward those who do not agree with us in every idea that we hold. We all believe that the Word of God is true. Then let us, by a careful study of this Word, find out how to remove the differences existing among us. God will speak to us through His Word, and will reveal His salvation to us. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 24} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 25] May God help us not to be a disturbance in His church. He has never commanded us to carry on a disturbing work. Brethren, I beseech you not to leave Oakland to go to your home churches until you can leave behind all your hard-heartedness, all your complaining, all your criticism. These act as the leaven of evil. One man in an institution with an unamiable spirit causes contention that leaves the whole institution with the same spirit. It is God's desire that in all our institutions there shall be perfect harmony and agreement, that from them the light of heaven may be reflected. Open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward, that the bright rays of the glory of God may shine into your hearts. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 25} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 26] When Jesus was on earth, and saw a scene of contention and strife, He would raise His voice in the notes of a melodious song, praising God. The presence of God would be felt; the hearts of those who had been contending would respond to the influences of the Spirit; and they would unite in the song. When some one comes to you with an evil report of some one else, do not take up the reproach and talk it over, either in the family or in the church. Do not add your complaints to those of others. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 26} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 27] When I see the work that lies before us, and when I see how poorly we comprehend what God requires of us, I am in an agony of distress. Here is the Word of God. Will you take it? Or will you be rejected by the Lord because, though professing much, your spirit and words and actions are void of the warmth of His Spirit? A lifeless profession is nauseating to God. Christ can not present before the Father those who are lukewarm. He declares: "So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"--Are you going to live so that, when Christ comes, you will be among the number of whom He says, "And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"? May God awaken us, and break our hearts of stone, is my prayer. We need to feel His converting power. His praise should fill our hearts and lips. The fragrance of Christ's life is to be brought into our life. Then we can represent the great I AM. The Lord wants to work with us. He wants us to know just where we are standing. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 27} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 28] "I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne, even as I also overcame; and am set down with My Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 28} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 29] Make a Covenant with God My brethren and sisters, you who have heard the words that I have spoken to you today, and who desire to hear the commendation of Christ, will you make a covenant with God, consecrating your lips and your tongue to Him, and asking Him to sanctify them. Speech in a precious talent. God wants you to use it in His service. He desires to train your lips so that you can speak to His praise. Then your words and actions will be of that character that by them witness will be borne to the world that God sent His Son to save sinners. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 29} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 30] I call upon you, in the name of the Lord God of Israel, to stop the work that has placed our churches where 91 they do not know where they are. There has been much talking against one another. Talk about yourselves before God. Tell Him how wicked you are. Tell Him how you are tempted to hurt and wound your brother, and to tear him down, because you fear that he will have more influence than you have. Who is there here today that will make a covenant before God that from this time they will seek Him with all the heart, that they may overcome the inclination to think and speak evil, and to err on other points, so that they will not leaven the church by a wrong influence. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 30} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 31] "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Do you fear lest by your spirit and your words you shall offend God? "It is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure." "Ye are God's husbandry; ye are God's building." The sanctuary, built by the church in the wilderness, according to the directions given to Moses in the mount, was an object-lesson of what their characters should be in simplicity, in beauty, in harmony. Part fitted perfectly to part. When the congregation moved from one place to another, the tabernacle was taken apart and carried with them, and when they encamped, it was erected again. In this work, different tasks were assigned to different ones. Each one had a specified task. There was no discord; for each one had his work. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 31} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 32] We are to labor in perfect unity with God and with one another. "Ye are God's building." Christ is the foundation upon which we are to build. What are we bringing to the foundation? Are we bringing that which is represented in the Word of God as wood, hay, and stubble,--a careless deportment, unchristlike words and actions,--or that which is represented as gold, silver, and precious stones,-a Christian character, words and acts that God can approve? {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 32} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 33] Need to Come to the Saviour You can not afford to speak hasty words, or to cherish a harsh, unforgiving spirit. From the light given me of God, you need to come to the Saviour, and ask for forgiveness of sin. He will cleanse you and purify you; for He is a loving, compassionate Saviour. He says, "Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me." He will accept you. He will lift you up. But if we refuse to come to Him, if we refuse to see that we have defects of character, He can not help us. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 33} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 34] I ask you,--those who realize they have erred; those who realize what they must be in order to see the King in His beauty, in order to behold the face of God; those who are willing to lay hold of the help that the Lord has given in His Word, and together to wrestle to overcome,--to rise to your feet. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 34} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 35] (The whole congregation then rose, and while they were standing, Sister White said:--) {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 35} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 36] "We have made a covenant with God. And now I want to offer a word of prayer. As I pray, will you send up your petitions to God. I feel an intense desire that you shall begin to work as you never have worked before to bring to the foundation gold, silver, and precious stones. If you will do this, we shall see the salvation of God revealed in all the churches among us. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 36} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 37] (Sister White then offered a most earnest prayer.) {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 37} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 38] The Prayer My heavenly Father, we come to Thee at this time as children dependent upon Thee. We are weakness itself. In us there is no strength, no comeliness. But we come to Thee as Thy little children. We want special help from Thee at this time. Thou hast promised in Thy Word that Thou wilt sanctify those who keep Thy Sabbath. We want the sanctification of the Holy Spirit upon our hearts, upon our characters. O my Father, for Christ's sake wilt Thou pardon our transgressions and our sins. Wilt Thou give us clear spiritual eyesight, that we may discern what we should be, and what we must be, if we are granted entrance into the kingdom of God, if we hear the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 38} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 39] Thou hast given us much encouragement, but we have been so earthly, so careless in our words and deportment, that we have become blind to the riches of the glory of God. O my Father, I ask Thee to rebuke every one here who would stand in stubbornness. Let Thy melting mercy fall upon Thy sons and daughters here today. Encircle us with the arms of Thy mercy. Let Thy grace be upon us, and may we see Thy salvation in this Conference. May angels of God walk through our assemblies. Manifest Thy power unto us, as Thou dost not unto the world. Commune with Thy people. Let their hearts break here today, and let them see how they grieve the Spirit of God. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 39} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 40] I ask Thee that Thou wilt keep in the minds of this people the covenant they have made with Thee to put away the sins that have closed the door of the heart against the Spirit of God. On the lips that have uttered words of criticism and faultfinding, I ask Thee to put songs of thanksgiving and rejoicing. Help this people to see that, until they put away every sin, they will not be ready for Christ's coming. O my Father, there are here those who are desponding, those who are in trial, who hardly know what to say or do. Deliver them this very hour, I pray Thee. Break the bondage that is upon them, and let the grace of God come into their hearts, that they themselves may realize that a holy hand has been upon them, to sanctify them and prepare them for the courts above. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 40} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 41] My Saviour, we open the door of the heart, and we say, Come in and take full possession. . . . {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 41} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 42] Take us just as we are. Wash us in Thy blood, and put upon us the robe of Thy righteousness. Help the sick and the afflicted ones. Take us all into Thy compassionate arms, and speak pardon to us today. Be with us and help us, and Thy name shall have all the glory. Amen. - {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 42} [GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 1] April 6, 1903 "Let human beings ..." Let human beings, subject to temptation, remember that in the heavenly courts they have a high Priest who is touched with the feeling of their infirmities, because He Himself was tempted in all points like as they are. And let those in positions of responsibility, especially, remember that they are subject to temptation, and wholly dependent on the merits of the Saviour. However sacred the work to which they may be called, they are still sinners, who can be saved only by the grace of Christ. One day they must stand before the throne of God, saved by the blood of the Lamb, or condemned to the punishment of the wicked.--Unpublished Testimony. {GCB, April 6, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 1] April 7, 1903 The Work Before Us Talk by Mrs. E. G. White, Sunday Morning April 5 I have been carrying a very heavy burden. For the last three nights I have slept very little. Many scenes are presented to me. I feel an intense interest in the advancement of the work of God, and I say to our leading brethren, As you consider the questions that shall come before you, you are to look beneath the surface. You are to give careful consideration to every question discussed. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 2] There is need of means in foreign missionary work and in missionary work in America. It is a painful fact that, although we have had a special message for the world for so many years, there are many, many cities in which we have done nothing to proclaim this message. In the calamities that have befallen our institutions in Battle Creek, we have had an admonition from God. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 3] An Admonition from God Let us not pass this admonition carelessly by without trying to understand its meaning. There are those who will say, "Of course the Review Office must be rebuilt in Battle Creek." Why did the Lord permit Jerusalem to be destroyed by fire the first time? Why did He permit His people to be overcome by their enemies and carried into heathen lands? -- It was because they had failed to be His missionaries, and had built walls of division between themselves and the people round them. The Lord scattered them, that the knowledge of His truth might be carried to the world. If they were loyal and true and submissive, God would bring them again into their own land. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 4] We have a great work before us. The needs of the field demand that there shall be liberality on the part of the people of God. I point you to the city of New York. One hundred workers might be laboring there where now there is but one. How many of you have taken a practical interest in the work in this city? We have scarcely touched this field with the tips of our fingers. A few faithful workers have been trying to do something in this great, wicked city. But their work has been difficult, because they have had so few facilities. Elder Haskell and his wife have labored faithfully. But who has felt the burden of sustaining them in their labors? Who among our leading men have visited them, to learn the needs of the work, and have then gone forth to raise means for its advancement? {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 5] Who has visited the Southern field to do something to build up the work there? Who has gone there to study its needs? Some have allowed their minds to be leavened by prejudice and distrust. Some have tried to put blocks before the wheels of progress, though again and again our brethren have been warned against doing this. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 6] Our Means Not to be Tied up in Bonds A proposition has been made that our people purchase sanitarium bonds. But light has been given me that means is not to be thus drawn from our people. Last night, place after place that is still unworked was presented before me. These places are all ripe for the harvest. They are calling for workers, and the means of our people is not to be tied up so that it can not be used in this work. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 7] If all our people paid a faithful tithe, there would be more means in the treasury to support the laborers already in the field, and to send forth still more laborers into the fields that are ripe for the harvest. One of authority, who pointed out these fields to me, asked the question, Who will go forth to proclaim the message in these places? Christ's commission is, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 8] There is a great and solemn work to be done by Seventh-day Adventists if they will only be converted. The great trouble is the lack of unity among them. This is a sin in the sight of God, -- a sin which, unless God's people repent, will withhold from them His blessing. There are those who are ready to die, those who are without God and without hope in the world. These need to be sought out and labored for. We may endeavor to be faithful in our own little compass, but this is not sufficient. We are to have a faithfulness that goes outside our little compass to the needy fields beyond. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 9] God is not pleased with the present showing. Our means is not to be bound up for years where it is not available for missionary work. This God forbids. He sees the great work to be done in various places throughout the world. He sees the cities in which memorials for Him are to be established, to proclaim the truth for this time. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 10] Regarding investment in bonds, I am instructed to say farther that if no voice were raised against this arrangement, if our people should tie up their money in such investment, when it became necessary to call for means for aggressive missionary work, it would be found that there was a greater dearth of means among us than there is now. Plans may be started that at the beginning seem very promising, but often the foresight would be much more pleasant than the aftersight, were these plans carried out. I have been commissioned to instruct our people to be economical, and always ready to give of their means to the Lord's work. If you have a thousand dollars to spare, God wants it; it belongs to Him. If you have twenty dollars to spare, God wants it. His vineyard is waiting to be worked. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 11] The light that God has given me is that there are proper ways that the Conference shall devise to help the sanitarium in Battle Creek. I wish that a portion of the work of this institution had been taken elsewhere. But the sanitarium has been erected in Battle Creek, and it must be helped. God will institute ways and means by which it can be helped. But He does not wish His people to invest their money in bonds. 105 {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 12] There is a great field to be worked. God wants us to labor intelligently. We are not to grasp every advantage that we can for the part of the field in which we are laboring. We are to do for those working in hard, needy fields just what we would like our brethren to do for us were we placed in similar circumstances. There are small sanitariums to be established in various places. Medical missionary work is the helping hand of God. This work must be done. It is needed in new fields and in fields where the work was started years ago. Since this work is the helping hand of God and the entering wedge of the gospel, we want you to understand that you are to have a part in it. It is not to be divorced from the gospel. Every soul before me this morning should be filled with the true medical missionary spirit. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 13] I present this matter before you that you may understand that our people are not to be encouraged to tie up their money for years by the purchase of bonds. I have nothing to say in regard to the sale of these bonds to the people of the world. It is in regard to our people tying up their money that I speak particularly. It is said that only a few of our people would take the bonds. But how long would it be before the few would increase to many. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 14] No; God wants His people to look upon the world as their great harvest field, and to use their resources in working this field. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 15] More must be done to sustain the work in the Southern field. There are ministers there who are not properly paid, who are suffering for the comforts of life. I know this to be so. The Lord has kept the needs of this field before me all these years. He has shown me what should be done, and I dare not hold my peace. Do not all who have heard the truth belong to God? Did He not purchase all with the blood of His only-begotten Son? Did not Christ die for all? Would you wish to come into judgment having done no more than you have for the colored people? Ever since their release from slavery, God has been appealing to you to help them. Yet how little has been done for them! {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 15} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 16] Earnest efforts must be put forth to raise means to sustain our workers. God does not approve of sending men to the most difficult fields, and then not giving them enough to sustain them. God calls for equality. The workers in our institutions have no right to grasp for high wages while there are those laboring in the field who are suffering because there is not sufficient money in the treasury to sustain them. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 16} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 17] The question has been asked, "Would it not be well to pay men of ability wages that are in accordance with their experience and ability, so as to secure the very best talent?" The most valuable workers that can be secured for service in the cause of God are those who understand and obey the word, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." Justice, mercy, and the love of God are to be brought more decidedly into our work. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 17} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 18] God bids me to say to this people, "You have left your first love. You have left many fields unworked, and yet you appear to feel perfectly at ease." Will you heed the instruction that God is sending you, and will you work upon it? God desires His work to be carried forward on solid lines. He does not want one part of His vineyard to be left destitute of facilities, while to another part many facilities are gathered. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 18} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 19] Standing of Sanitarium to be Examined All that is done is to be carefully done. The standing of the sanitarium is to be carefully examined. God's people are to understand just how it is to be conducted. It is to be managed by men whose feet are firmly planted on the platform of eternal truth, so that the helpers connected with the sanitarium shall be taught how to present the gospel to people in their words and deportment. If the workers believe the truth and are in living connection with the God of heaven, Christ will appear in their lives, and souls will be won to Him. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 19} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 20] We need to understand what our Conferences are held for, whether to talk over a few preliminaries, or to set our souls in order before God, that when we return to the work, we may carry right principles into our churches and institutions. When we remember constantly that God has taken us into covenant relation with Himself, our work in connection with His churches and institutions will be of such a character that He can say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Do we not all want to hear these words? {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 20} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 21] We are not to tie up our means so that it can not be used in missionary enterprises. We are to help the fields in which the people know nothing of the truth. Those who go to these fields are to be missionaries in every sense of the word. No one man is to carry the work by himself. The different workers, with their varied gifts, are to be linked together. Let none say, We can not do anything, because a certain brother is determined to do a special work. We are not all to take hold of the same lever. There are many different levers to be worked. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 21} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 22] God wants us to receive the holy oil from the two anointed ones, "which through the two golden branches empty the golden oil out of themselves." And as we receive the holy oil, we are to go forth for the saving of those who are ready to die. But let us not forget that different methods are to be employed to save different ones. "Of some have compassion, making a difference; and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 22} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 23] When the work is done that should be done in our cities, we shall not have to present the needs of this work before every Conference that assembles. You will have a wonderful testimony to bear regarding the way the Lord has blessed you as you have tried to follow His instructions. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 23} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 24] These things are before me day and night. I pray that our conference presidents shall be very careful how they sanction this move or that move, until they are sure that it is according to the will of the Lord. If you are not sure whether by sanctioning these moves you are helping or hindering the work of God, I beg of you to fall on your knees before God in prayer, and seek Him until you find out. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 24} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 25] Deal Gently with All Do not cut any man's hands. I once read of a drowning man who was making desperate efforts to get into a boat close beside him. But the boat was full, and as he grasped the side, those in the boat cut off one of his hands. Then he grasped the boat with the other hand, and that hand was cut off. Then he grasped it with his teeth, and those inside had mercy on him, and lifted him in. But how much better it would have been if they had taken him in before they had cut off his hands! {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 25} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 26] My brethren, do not cut a man to pieces before you do anything to help 106 him. God wants us to have hearts of pity. He wants us to have reason and judgment and the sanctification of His Spirit. He is in earnest with us. We are but His little children, and we should ever be learning of Him. Do not stand in the way of others. Do not lose your first love. You may have much knowledge and much intelligence, but if the love of God is lacking, you are not prepared to enter heaven. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 26} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 27] I have given you the instruction that has been presented to me. I felt constrained to speak these words this morning. I beg of you, for Christ's sake, to remember the words, "Ye are laborers together with God." Alone you can do no good thing. Let the Spirit of God guide and control you, and you will be rich in thoughts and suggestions. You will know how to plan and work intelligently. "Ye are God's husbandry; ye are God's building." Then act as if you were. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 27} [GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 28] These are the words that last night I was speaking to the people. May God give us a fresh baptism of His Holy Spirit. {GCB, April 7, 1903 par. 28} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 1] April 10, 1903 Extracts From Testimonies "It is not wise to choose one man as president of the General Conference;" "Never should one mind, or two minds, or three minds, or four minds, or a few minds, I should say, be considered of sufficient wisdom and power to control and mark out plans, and let it rest upon the minds of only one or two or three in regard to this particular part of the field that we have." 152 {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 2] "The state of things that has existed in the Conference is not clearly understood by some who occupy positions in the Conference or by others who bear responsibilities in other lines of the work. The work has been increasing; it has been growing. The light that I have had from the Lord has been expressed over and over again, not to as many as there are here today, but to different individuals. The plans upon which God wishes us to work have been laid down. Never should the mind of one man, or the minds of a few men, be regarded as sufficient in wisdom and power to control the work and say what plans shall be followed. The burden of the work in this broad field should not rest upon two or three men." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 3] "Over and over again men have said, 'The voice of the Conference is the voice of God; therefore everything must be referred to the Conference. The Conference must permit or restrict in the various lines of work.' As the matter has been presented to me, there is a narrow compass, and within this narrow compass, all the openings to which are locked, are those who would like to exercise kingly power. But the work carried on all over the field demands an entirely different course of action. There is need of the laying of a foundation different from the foundation which has been laid in the past. We have heard much about everything moving in the regular lines. When we see that the 'regular lines' are purified and refined, that they bear the mold of the God of heaven, then it will be time to endorse these lines. But when we see that message after message given by God has been received and accepted, yet no change has been made, we know that new power must be brought into the regular lines. The management of the regular lines must be entirely changed, newly organized. There must be a committee, not composed of half a dozen men, but of representatives from all lines of our work, from our publishing house, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening. {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 4] "I have been shown the fields which should have been opened in America. But where in California or Michigan, the two great centers of the work, is aggressive work being done? Where is seen the wrestling in new fields? {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 5] "God desires that His work shall be a rising, broadening, enlarging power. But the management of the work is becoming confused in itself." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 6] "Not that any one wishes to be wrong or to do wrong; but the principles are wrong." "These principles are so foreign to God's principles that God can not bless those who work upon them. What must be done is to bring in other minds. Those who have been at work in the same channels for years have been discouraged and confused. We can not entrust to such as these the tremendous responsibilities which are now to be handled." 154 {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 7] "To the leaders in the medical missionary work I must say that no one is to claim kingly power over God's heritage in the medical missionary work." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 8] "The Lord knows the future. He is the One to lead, and trusted in to guide, to guard, and direct in the future development of the various branches of His work. For several years. I have been warned that there is danger, constant danger, of men looking to men for permission to do this or that, instead of looking to God for themselves." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 9] "The Lord can impress minds and consciences to do His work under bonds to God, and in a brotherly fraternity that will be in accordance with His laws." "Each institution is to stand in its own responsibility." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 10] "They will increase in strength and influence if they follow the light God has given. . . . It is best for every sanitarium to stand in its own responsibility." "The kingly power formerly exhibited in General Conference is not to be perpetuated." 155 {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 11] "The kingly power formerly exhibited in the General Conference is not to be perpetuated. The publishing work is not to be a kingdom in itself. It is essential that the principles that govern in General Conference affairs should be maintained in the management of the publishing work and the sanitarium work." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 12] "The division of the General Conference into District Union Conferences was God's arrangement. In the work of the Lord in these last days there should be no Jerusalem centers, no kingly power. And the work in the different countries is not to be tied up by contracts to the work centering in Battle Creek, for this is not God's plan. Brethren are to counsel together; for we are just as much under the control of God in one part of His vineyard as in another. Brethren are to be one in heart and soul, even as Christ and the Father are one." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 13] "The kingly power formerly exhibited in the General Conference at Battle Creek is not to be perpetuated. The publishing institution is not to be a kingdom of itself. It is essential that the principles that govern in General Conference affairs shall be maintained in the managements of the publishing work and the sanitarium work. No one is to consider that the branch of the work with which he is connected is of vastly more importance than other branches." 160 {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 14] "It is not wise to choose one man as president of the General Conference. The work of the General Conference has extended, and some things have been made unnecessarily complicated. A want of discernment has been shown. There should be a division of the field, or some other plan should be devised, to change the present order of things. The president of the General Conference should have the privilege of deciding who shall stand by his side as counselors." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 15] "The system of organization has proved a grand success. Systematic benevolence was entered into according to the Bible plan. The body 'has been compacted by that which every joint supplieth.' As we have advanced, our system of organization has still proved effectual. In some parts of the work, it is true, the machinery has been made too complicated." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 15} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 16] "The business of our Conference sessions has sometimes been burdened down with propositions and resolutions that were not at all essential." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 16} [GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 17] "Let none entertain the thought, however, that we can dispense with organization. It has cost us much study, and many prayers for wisdom 161 that we know God has answered, to erect this structure. It has been built up by His direction, through much sacrifice and conflict. Let none of our brethren be so deceived as to attempt to tear it down; for you will thus bring in a condition of things that you do not dream of. In the name of the Lord, I declare to you that it is to stand, strengthened, established, and settled. At God's command, 'Go forward,' we advanced when the difficulties to be surmounted made the advance seem impossible. We know how much it has cost to work out God's plan in the past, which has made us as a people what we are. Then let every one be exceedingly careful not to unsettle minds in regard to these things that God has ordained for our prosperity and success in advancing His cause." {GCB, April 10, 1903 par. 17} [GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 1] April 11, 1903 Extracts From Testimonies "Phariseeism in the Christian world today is not extinct. The Lord desires to break up the course of precision which has become so firmly established, which has hindered instead of advancing his work." {GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 2] "He desires His people to remember that there is a large space over which the light of present truth is to be shed. Divine wisdom must have abundant room in which to work. It is to advance without asking permission or support from those who have taken to themselves a kingly power. In the past one set of men have tried to keep in their own hands the control of all the means coming from the churches, and have used this means in a most disproportionate manner, erecting expensive buildings where such large buildings were unnecessary and uncalled for, and leaving needy places without help or encouragement. They have taken upon themselves the grave responsibility of retarding the work where the work should have been advanced. It has been left to a few supposed kingly minds to say what fields should be worked and what fields should be left unworked." {GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 3] "A few men have kept the truth in circumscribed channels, because to open new fields would call for money. Only in those places in which they were interested have they been willing to invest means. And at the same time, in a few places, five times as much money as was necessary has been invested in buildings. The same amount of money used in establishing plants in places where the truth had never been introduced would have brought many souls to a saving knowledge of Christ. {GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 4] "For years the same routine, the same 'regular way' of working has been followed, and God's work has been greatly hindered. The narrow plans that have been followed by those who did not have clear, sanctified judgment have resulted in a showing that is not approved by God." {GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 5] "God calls for a revival and a reformation. The 'regular lines' have not done the work which God desires to see accomplished. Let revival and reformation make constant changes. Something has been done in this line, but let not the work stop here. No; let every yoke be broken. Let men awaken to the realization that they have an individual responsibility. {GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 6] "The present showing is sufficient to prove to all who have the true missionary spirit that the 'regular lines' may prove a failure and a snare. God helping His people, the circle of kings who dared to take such great responsibilities shall never again exercise their unsanctified power in the so-called 'regular lines.' Too much power has been invested in unrevived, unreformed, human agencies." {GCB, April 11, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 1] April 14, 1903 The Southern Work "Nashville as a Center" "Many have asked the question, Why did our brethren select Nashville as a center for work? I answer, Because the Lord in His wisdom directed them to this place. It is His purpose that light shall shine forth from memorials established for Him in and near Nashville. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 1} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 2] "There is no place in the South better suited than Nashville for the carrying forward of the publishing work. It is the best place in which to do the work that has been started here. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 2} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 3] "There is not in Nashville the bitter opposition to the work for the uplifting of the downtrodden colored race that exists in many other cities of the South. Much work is being done there to uplift the colored people, and the sentiment in favor of these efforts will be a security to our people in their work. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 3} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 4] "There are in Nashville large educational institutions for the colored people. In these institutions much excellent work has been done and is being done. The teachers and students in these institutions are to be given the privilege of hearing the message of present truth. It is for this reason that God directed that different interests for the advancement of our work should be established in Nashville. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 4} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 5] "The truth is also to be brought before those who have given of their means and influence for the benefit of the colored race. Some have taken a noble stand for the uplifting of this people. Their efforts put to shame the efforts made by Seventh-day Adventists. They should be put in possession of the most valuable truth ever given to mortals. We are to do all that we can to remove the prejudice that exists in their minds against our work and against the Bible Sabbath. If the efforts that we put forth are in accordance with God's will, if we move under the Holy Spirit's guidance, many among them will be converted. The Lord causes light to shine on the pathway of those who are seeking for light." {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 5} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 6] We must try to remove their prejudice against the Bible Sabbath. And never must we say to them, "You must work on Sunday." At one time, while I was in Australia, those in charge of our school at Avondale came to me, saying: "What shall we do? The officers of the law have been commissioned to arrest those working on Sunday." I said: "It will be very easy to avoid that difficulty. Give Sunday to the Lord as a day for doing missionary work. Take the students out to hold meetings in different places, and to do medical missionary work. They will find the people at home, and will have a splendid opportunity to present the truth. This way of spending Sunday is always acceptable to the Lord." {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 6} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 7] I wish to say that it is necessary to use the greatest caution in working for the colored people. The efforts put forth must be such as will not arouse the prejudice of the white people. By the work of the steamer "Morning Star" much has been accomplished that otherwise could not have been done. Thus the workers have been enabled to reach places that otherwise they could not have reached. The boat served as a home for them, and as a place to which to invite those interested in the truth. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 7} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 8] In writing in regard to the Southern field, I have said, "The Southern work," supposing that our people would certainly understand that I meant especially the work for the colored people. I wish it now to be understood that this is what I have meant. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 8} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 9] Let families settle in the South, and work on the land, at the same time becoming acquainted with the people and 203 the field. Thus real advancement will be made. Those who go to the South must be very careful of what they say. Let them not criticize the white people in regard to the way in which the colored people have been treated. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 9} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 10] Many, many years during which we ought to have been working for the colored people have passed into eternity, and now the field, in all its barrenness, stands before the world as an open rebuke to those who could have helped. When the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, their cry of suffering came up to God, and He delivered them with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. He delivered the colored people from slavery, and then He placed upon the people of this nation the responsibility of uplifting them, of placing them in a position where they could help themselves. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 10} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 11] You say that the colored people are depraved and wicked, that their standard of morality is very low. Who made them wicked? Who spoiled their morals? I want you to think of this, and of the burden that rests upon the white people to help the colored people. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 11} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 12] Few realize how difficult is the work for the colored people, and how greatly they need help. My heart has been made sick and sore as I have seen the situation. Why do not our people take hold of the work? Why do they find fault and criticize the laborers there, because they do not work just as they think they ought to? Why do they, when mistakes are made, make a mountain out of a mole-hill? Why do not those who find fault go themselves to some unworked portion of the field, and there demonstrate how much better they can do than those whom they criticize? {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 12} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 13] "The Lord has a great work to be done in the Southern states of America. It was in accordance with God's purpose that the publishing work was started in Nashville. In His providence, He has brought together in this place a company of workers who are to act their respective parts in the publishing house, standing as representatives of Christianity. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 13} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 14] "A sanitarium should be established in a favorable location outside the city of Nashville. A school for colored people should be established outside the city, on land that can be utilized for industrial purposes. These institutions will give character to our work in the South. They will be instrumental in establishing the faith of many in Bible truth. God Himself has wrought to bring together in Nashville workers who are especially fitted to reach the colored people, and raise them from their degradation. This He will help them to do if the work is not hindered and blocked by ministers and workers in other places. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 14} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 15] "In every place those who accept the truth are to be a light to those around them. The Lord says to us: "Ye are the light of the world. . . . Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.' {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 15} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 16] "The Work in Graysville and Huntsville "Nashville is within easy access of Graysville and Huntsville, where a beginning of great value to the work in the South has been made. God has answered the many prayers offered in behalf of these two places. By the work in Nashville, the work in Graysville and Huntsville is to be confirmed, strengthened, and settled. Graysville and Huntsville are near enough to Nashville to strengthen the work there and to be strengthened by it. But it must be understood that we are to put forth special efforts to help the colored people. No longer is our indifference in this respect to continue. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 16} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 17] "The schools in Graysville and Huntsville were established in the order of God. They are to do a work for Him. They are to become self-supporting, by making the best use of their land, by raising those products best suited to the climate and soil of their locality. Various industries are to be established. The Lord will greatly bless these industries if the workers will walk in His counsel. If they will look to Him, He will be their wisdom and their righteousness. His wisdom will be seen in the work of those who follow His directions. He will teach all who will learn of Him His meekness and lowliness." {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 17} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 18] The workers in the school at Huntsville are to have our tender sympathy and our practical aid. Do not let them suffer for the lack of facilities, for they are trying to educate the colored people. The school at Huntsville is in positive need of our care and our donations. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 18} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 19] "The interests in Graysville and Huntsville will grow into usefulness, If the believers there will do their very best in the Lord's way. Let each one connected with the schools in these places remember that on him rests the responsibility of reflecting light to those in darkness. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 19} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 20] "A Call to our Publishing Houses and Sanitariums "God has given our publishing houses opportunity to cooperate with Him by assisting the newly-established publishing house at Nashville. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 20} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 21] "When a publishing plant is established in a new field, it must receive help and encouragement from the various plants already in operation, that it may develop into a strong, influential institution. Every new institution is to be regarded as a sister-helper in the great work of proclaiming the third angel's message. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 21} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 22] "The publishing house in Nashville is now in need of several thousand dollars to establish its business on a firm basis, and to enable it to do without delay the work that is to be done in its territory. We are instructed by the Lord to call upon the long-established houses to favor the Nashville publishing house as they were favored years ago when in straitened circumstances. They are to act toward the Nashville institution the same part that was acted toward them in their early history. God expects them to help their sister institution by gifts and offerings. They now have opportunity to show their repentance for past neglect." {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 22} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 23] My husband and myself, under the direction of God, established the publishing houses in Battle Creek and Oakland, and I know how we worked. God instructed me that I must go to the camp-meetings, and ask for means, and I went, just as He told me. I went alone, for my husband was sick. I went from camp-meeting to camp-meeting, calling for means; and I feel that I now have a right to call upon these publishing houses to help in establishing similar institutions. - {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 23} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 24] "God has given our sanitariums an opportunity to set in operation a work that would be as a stone instinct with life, growing as it is moved by an invisible hand. Let this mystic stone be set in operation. If ever a place needed medical missionary work, it is the 204 Southern field. Had this work been done for the colored people immediately after the proclamation of freedom, how different would be the condition of the Southern states today! Medical missionary work has not yet been done as God requires it to be done in this needy field. Sanitariums should have been established in many places. This would have opened doors for the entrance of Bible truth. It would have removed much of the prejudice existing against those who look upon the colored people as having souls as well as the white people. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 24} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 25] "To many of the colored people God has given rare and precious talents. Many will be brought to a knowledge of present truth. But it will take untiring effort and God-given wisdom to break down the barriers that have been erected against the education of the colored race,--barriers that for years have been growing stronger. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 25} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 26] "The Work Before Us "'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.' is the commission Christ has given us. This is our great missionary charter, and the Saviour has declared: 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' 'All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations'. Success will reward obedience to this command. Go just where the Lord sends you, to bear His message and do His work. Souls are to be saved. How?--By being brought to a knowledge of the truth. 'Sanctify them through Thy truth.' the Saviour prayed. Acquaintance with God's truth is the only means of sanctification. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 26} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 27] "During the time of the end the activity of Satan's servants will greatly increase. The activity of God's servants is to increase proportionately. Christian is to unite with Christian, church with church, in the accomplishment of God's work, and all are to be under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 27} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 28] "Angels are ascending and descending the ladder of shining brightness, arrayed for the defense of God's people. They are commissioned to draw nearer and still nearer to those who are fighting in defense of their faith. Will you seek to pull the weapons out of the hands of those who are fighting in the warfare? Will you hinder them because they are not doing just exactly what you think they ought to be doing? {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 28} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 29] "A good beginning has been made in the Southern field. Impressions favorable to the truth have been made, and prejudice has been removed. In the forward march of events, the Lord has wrought wonderfully for the advancement of this work. Battles have been fought and victories won. The work is to be supported and vindicated, for God is in it. By His blessing many will see that it is being done in fulfilment of His purpose, and will say, It is of God. Let us not be found fighting against Him. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 29} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 30] "When God's people are willing to follow the path of providence where Christ leads the way, their numbers will increase and their boundaries will be greatly enlarged. But as yet the reformation that God requires has not taken place. The Lord has gone before His people, but unbelief has pressed in on every side. Not one-thousandth part of the work has been done that should have been done for the colored people, who need help more than any other people in America. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 30} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 31] "What excuse can be given to God for the awful condition of the colored race! God asks, "Why are those living in this part of My vineyard left to become the sport of Satan's temptations?' He calls for united action. But no blind zeal is to be shown. Nothing is to be done in defiance of law; but the truth is to be proclaimed and lived. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 31} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 32] "Angels have hushed the music of their harps as they have looked upon a people unable, because of their past slavery, to help themselves. And yet those who have the torch of truth kindled from the divine altar have not carried the light to this sin-darkened field. There are those who have turned from the work of rescuing the downtrodden and degraded, refusing to help the helpless. Let the servants of Christ begin at once to redeem their neglect, that the dark stain on their record may be wiped out. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 32} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 33] "Let the work in the Southern field go forward. Let no one say: 'Money is not needed in this field. It is needed more in my part of the vineyard.' Let God's people begin at once to redeem their neglect. Let the gospel message ring through our churches, summoning them to universal action. Let no one look upon the work that has been done for the colored people as of no account, for the Lord has said, 'I accept it.' {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 33} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 34] "Those who place themselves under God's control, to be guided and controlled by Him, will catch the steady tread of the events ordained by Him to take place. A holy, consuming emulation will take possession of them. Let the church have increased faith, catching zeal from their unseen, heavenly allies, from the knowledge of their exhaustless resources, from the greatness of the enterprise in which they are engaged, and from the power of their Leader. Let them gain from God strength for the accomplishment of the great work to be done for the most needy people in this Christian nation. Let no man lay his hand upon the means and resources, saying, 'They are more needed somewhere else.' {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 34} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 35] "When God's people heed a 'Thus saith the Lord,' the dearth of means brought about by transactions that do not bear the stamp of divine approval will be removed. When they catch the Spirit of Him who gave His life for the life of the world, they will no longer stand still in impotency, pointing to what they can not do, and forbidding others to work. Putting on the armor of Christ's righteousness, they will go forth into the warfare, willing to do and dare for God, knowing that in His omnipotence He will supply their need." {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 35} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 36] Brethren, shall not the work for the colored people go forward? Will you not say, "Amen," to this? (Congregation: Amen.) When my son Edson has written to me about the difficulties that the workers had to meet, I have written back to him, over and over again: "Do not fail or become discouraged. Hold fast to the work." And his reply has been: "We are doing it. But it seems sometimes as if the work would slip out of our hands." {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 36} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 37] The Lord has put His approval upon the work done in the Southern field. Mistakes have been made; but have not mistakes been made in every field where work has been started? When you watch for mistakes, and put out your hand to discourage where God approves, you are working and talking against the Master. God is very much displeased with every one who has placed any hindrance in the way of the advancement of the work for the colored people. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 37} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 38] Let us take hold of the work in the 205 Southern states intelligently. I rejoice that Brother Butler is with us in this work. I have known that the time would come when he would again take his place in the work. I want you to appreciate the trials that he has passed through, and to help him all you can. God desires the gray-haired pioneers, the men who acted a part in the work when the first, second and third angels' messages were first given, to stand in their place in His work today. They are not to drop out of sight. We commit Brother Butler to you, in the name of the God of Israel, asking you to help him all you can. And Elder Butler must plan to have others share his burdens. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 38} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 39] I commit my son, James Edson White, to you. He has nearly lost his life in trying to bring the work in the South to its present point of advancement. How little some appreciate the efforts that he has put forth! But God knows the work that has been done. He knows of the struggles and the sacrifices of the workers, and of their attempts to accomplish something for the Lord. Brethren, do not do anything to weaken Edson White's hands. There is enough in the work itself to distress his soul and to wear him out. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 39} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 40] I have felt reluctant to have Edson stay in the South, fearing that he would lose his health, and perhaps his life. Christ said, If they receive you not in one place, go into another. He was referring to the persecution that would come. But His words would apply also to a worker whose health was breaking down under labor in an unhealthful climate. Brother Butler should have periods of rest, and Edson White should have an occasional rest. And the other workers in the field must guard their health carefully. God is jealous of His servants. He desires that they shall place themselves where they can best preserve their mental and physical powers, because if these are not preserved, the spiritual powers will be so weakened that the work will suffer much. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 40} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 41] I have said to my son, "Come to us, and help me to get out books for the people," But he has always answered: "No; I can not come. I can not leave my work." {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 41} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 42] I have tried to help him. He has written to me, saying: "People are coming into the truth, but they are in need of food and clothing. What shall we do?" I have sent him help from time to time, as I could. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 42} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 43] God lives and reigns, and if you take hold of His work cheerfully and willingly, He will bless and sustain you. When you are tempted to murmur and complain, keep your mouth closed. Remember that at such times silence is eloquence. Speak no words that you will not be willing to meet in the judgment. And remember that, when God sends His servants to do a hard work in a hard field, He does not want you to make their work harder by criticism and faultfinding. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 43} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 44] The Southern work is before you, as it has been presented to you this morning. A good work has been done, and it has been done in the face of the most trying circumstances. The Lord calls upon us to come up to His help in this needy field. You remember the words, "Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 44} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 45] Christ loved us so much that He gave His life for us. He died on the cross to give us an opportunity to gain the crown of eternal life. Shall we allow those around us to perish in their sins without making an effort to help them? Shall we try to hinder the workers who are seeking to save souls? We want you to help in the Lord's work, that God may not be disappointed in you. We want you to have hearts that are sensitive to others' needs, hearts that are tender, full of pity for the infirmities of those around you. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 45} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 46] The Lord is good. He is merciful and tender-hearted. He is acquainted with every one of His children. He knows just what each one of us is doing. He knows just how much credit to give to each one. Will you not lay down your credit list and your condemnation list, and leave God to do His own work? You will be given the crown of glory if you will attend to the work that God has given you. {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 46} [GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 47] Let us help one another all we can. Let us speak words of kindness, words that will be a blessing, not a curse. We are living in the great day of atonement. We are now to confess and forsake our sins, that we may be saved. Let us humble our hearts before God, that we may go from this meeting shoulder to shoulder, full of faith and confidence. The lives of many have been filled with talk and doubt and suspicion. There is hardly a brother who has confidence in a brother, or a brother who has the confidence of the members of the church. My brethren, clear away the rubbish from the door of the heart, and let Jesus come in and talk with you. Let Him sit upon the throne of the heart. If ever a people needed the purifying, sanctifying influence of the truth of the living God, it is the Seventh-day Adventists. I pray that we may all be found in the kingdom of God. But in order to be there, we must here below sit together in heavenly places in Christ. May God help us so to live that we may sing the song of triumph in the city of God. - {GCB, April 14, 1903 par. 47} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 1] May 17, 1909 Abiding in Christ Sermon by Mrs. E. G. White, Sabbath Morning, May 15, 1909. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 2] When the purging comes, we frequently feel that the Lord is against us. Instead of this, we should look to ourselves, and see if there is not something we have left undone, or something we need to take away from our lives, before we can stand in right relation to God. We should let nothing interpose between us and the beams of light that will come to every one of us if we will comply with the conditions specified. We do not want to be the branch that shall be taken away, but the branch that shall produce fruit. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 3] "Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch can not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." It is for our present and eternal interest that we understand these words. Do we let our petitions come up before God daily? Do we realize that we must have an abiding Christ if we would represent Christ to the world in our speech, in our characters, and in all our dealings with our fellow men? When this is our experience, we shall not be found fruitless. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 4] "I am the vine," the Saviour continues, "ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 5] How important it is that we so relate ourselves to our Creator and to our Redeemer that the influence we exert shall represent Christ and represent the Father. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that those who abide in Christ might become the sons of God. Everything is at stake here. What will you do about it, my brethren and sisters? Are you going to let worldly ideas, worldly customs and practises, come into your lives and characters? Are you going to study what this one or that one will say? Or are you looking to the One who so loved the world that he did not withhold from us his only begotten Son? God gave Christ to the world to reveal to men that humanity united with divinity could overcome the temptations that are in the world through lust. This union we must experience. We must be living branches of the True Vine, daily laying hold of our Redeemer, that we may bear the fruits of a Christian character. Christ is our only hope. "I am the vine," he declares, "ye are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 6] "I in him." It is of the greatest importance that you abide in Christ, and that in your humanity you lay hold upon divinity. Unless you take hold by living faith of his divine power, you will miss that life that measures with the life of God. We can not afford to miss that life. We can not afford to live careless, indifferent, selfish lives; for such God can not accept. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 7] God has given Christ as a pattern of what our lives should be. Do you see him walking in the streets, and looking upon and pitying the sick? His heart is drawn out in compassion for them. He weeps for the afflicted and the suffering. He draws them close to his heart of love, and heals them. Consider the great company that on one occasion followed him, growing in numbers until there were five thousand men, besides women and children. There was such attraction in his words that they could not leave him. Finally, turning to his disciples, he says to them, These are weary; they must rest; and bids that the company sit down on the greensward. He says to the disciples, Have you something for them to eat? One replied, "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes; but what are they among so many?" The Saviour bade the disciples bring the food to him, and breaking it into pieces, he gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the hungry multitude. They ate and were satisfied. Then "he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten." {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 8] This was the work of our Lord upon the earth. He could do these miracles because his humanity was united to divinity. What we need in all our sanitariums is a faith that abides in Christ, that lays hold upon his power, that is obedient to him, and that leads us to take up the cross of self-denial and self-sacrifice. This unites the soul to Christ, and makes us one with him. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 9] To every one of us the Lord holds out this privilege if we will cut away our own wrong habits and practises. There are many who think that they can retain their wrong habits, their perverted appetites and passions, and at the last get into a condition of self-denial. But the longer selfishness is practised, the harder it is to break away from it. What the Lord wants now is men and women who have the missionary spirit, who understand why Christ gave his life, why he laid off his royal robe and kingly crown, and came to the world as a little child, to be brought up in poverty. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 10] The Lord has the power to forgive the sins of every soul in this congregation, if you will repent of your backslidings, if you will turn to the Lord, and will cut away from your lives wrong habits and dispositions and your hardness of heart. What you need is the humanity that was in Christ Jesus, that laid hold upon divinity. Take hold upon that divinity, and bring it into your life, and you will be a savor of life unto life. Every one of us should stand in that position where we can receive a commission from God. Will you not come into that place? Will you not humble your souls before God, that you may comprehend and respond to the immense sacrifice that has been made in your behalf? 38 {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 11] "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you," the Saviour said, "ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love." There is peace to be found in continuing in Christ's love, and in daily carrying out the conditions upon which our salvation depends. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 12] What can you do in the work of saving the lost unless Christ imbues you with his divine power? A little is being done in our world; but O, that the good work might spread abroad and reach every needy soul! O that the present truth might be proclaimed in every city! This great need is kept before me night and day. Some nights I can not sleep. I seem to be proclaiming to companies as large as this the great salvation, the great power of God, the great glory to be obtained by the exercise of a living faith. We need to lay hold of Jesus Christ, that we may have the power to become the sons and daughters of God. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 13] There is something for each one of us to do. It is no use to talk of being Christians if we leave unhelped those who are perishing all around us. To me has been presented something of the great needs of the people. On this journey to Washington I did not expect to speak in many places, but when I got within reach of the people, I could not help doing all I could. My soul was so drawn out with earnest hope, with confidence that they would receive the message, that I spoke the word to the white people and to the colored people whenever opportunity was given me. I thank God that I did not neglect the colored people. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 13} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 14] "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be my disciples." It is fruit that Christ wants. When we are willing to practise self-denial and self-sacrifice, as Christ practised it in his life, we shall bear fruit to God's glory. Often after a day of toil, although tired and worn with labor, while his disciples were sleeping, his voice could be heard all through the night pleading with the Father that he would clear the highway, that the words of the living God might reach the multitudes, and that they might lay hold of the truth. Such labor as this costs something. It does not mean the making of a little sacrifice. It costs much to be men and women of God. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 14} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 15] Men and women are going forth more and more to carry the gospel message. We thank God for this, but we need a greater awakening. We slide back into self-indulgence; we do not exercise to the utmost power the virtues that Christ has promised if we ask for them in faith. That which we receive from Christ we must give to others. Just as surely as we receive, so surely we must give. None who receive the grace of Christ can keep it to themselves. As soon as Christ becomes an abiding presence in the heart, we shall not be able to see souls perishing in ignorance of the truth, and be at rest. We will make any sacrifice that we may reach them; and there are none of us so poverty-stricken but we can make sacrifices for Christ daily. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 15} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 16] It is our privilege to see the work of God advancing in our cities. Christ is waiting, waiting for places to be entered. Who are preparing for this work? We will not say that we are destitute of laborers. We are glad that there are some; but there is a greater, a far greater, work to be done in our cities. Far greater self-denial is to be practised in order that the word of life may be carried from place to place. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 16} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 17] On my journey to Washington I had some experience in going not only to the highways, 'but also to the hedges. I saw something of the work that is being done in the mission schools near Nashville. Little companies of workers are going out into the mountains and laboring for those who have not heard the message, and here and there little companies of believers are being raised up. Who would dare to put their hand on such workers and say, You must not labor thus; it costs too much. Can it cost anything that will begin to compare with the sacrifice that Christ made in order to save perishing souls? My brethren and sisters, I ask you in the name of Jesus of Nazareth to take your light from under the bushel, and let it shine forth, that others may be profited. We must let our light shine forth in our actions. If we will seek to do this, the light of heaven will surely abide with us, and we shall stand on vantage ground. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 17} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 18] It is worth everything to be where you can reach out the hand of faith, and say, Lord, lead me; guide me; direct me in every place where I shall go. It is the duty of every soul to look to God for guidance, to be taught of God, to be led by God, and to do the work of God intelligently. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 18} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 19] The Saviour declares, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." He compares himself and his work and experience of abiding with the Father with the experience and work to which he has ordained us, because he represents humanity and divinity combined. It is our privilege to lay hold of the divine nature and say, Lord, you promised it. We ask thee to give us a spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice. Help us to understand what it means to abide in thee. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 19} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 20] To abide in Christ means that you shall be a partaker of the divine nature. Humanity lays hold upon divinity, and you have divine power. But if you cling to old habits and practises of self-indulgence, and refuse to carry the burden of souls, you will lose your own soul. You will not value your own soul highly, and you will not carry on a straightforward work. It is the privilege of every believer to purify his soul, that he may have the life that measures with the life of God in the kingdom of glory. This is what we all desire -- to live through the ages of eternity in the kingdom of glory. But we can never do it if we continue to follow our own habits and inclinations. O, that this burden might be rolled upon souls, and that they might realize that if they will be overcomers, they can help others to overcome. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 20} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 21] "These things have I spoken unto you," the Saviour said, "that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." The work of overcoming is not a joyless work; no, indeed. It means communication with heaven. You can go to God in prayer; you can ask, and receive; you can believe, hanging your helpless soul on Christ. It means that humanity can work the will and ways of God. Humanity and divinity are combined for this very purpose. O, what a different world we should have if every professed Christian would come to Christ just as he is, practise self-denial, permit the fruitless branches to be cut away, and the good branches to be improved. Such an experience of constantly abiding in Christ would result in souls being brought to a knowledge of the truth. Let the petition come up before God, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do today? Let thy light shine upon me. Terrible trials are to come upon our world, and the world is preparing itself for this. We, too, must be prepared, that we may have the protection of our Heavenly Father. And if we lose our life in the conflict, let us have faith to believe that it will be restored to us again. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 21} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 22] "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. . . . Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another." {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 22} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 23] This was the purpose for which Christ came into the world. Read of his sufferings, of what he bore in order that we might have eternal life. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might have eternal life. That "whosoever" is firm and sure and broad. He who will follow on to know the Lord shall know that his goings forth are prepared as the morning. My brethren and sisters, let the world see the love of Christ manifested in your lives. This will have a tremendous influence, and souls will take knowledge of you that you have been with Jesus and learned of him. Do not feel that you must follow the world's fashions, and copy its indifference. Lay hold upon the Mighty One. Consider the work to be done for the souls that are perishing all around us. Heaven will unite with you in working for them. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 23} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 24] "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Why this hatred? -- Because by your consistent life, you condemn the worldling's course of action. He wants to act like the world, to serve the world; and you are serving God. Your life is a reproach to him, and therefore your influence is hated. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 24} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 25] "Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin." {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 25} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 26] The unity existing between Christ and his followers is to be as much greater than now exists as you can possibly comprehend. When you have that unity, you will have power. Angels will minister through your words and through your works in every place where you are. There will be revealed a living connection 39 with the living God who rules in heaven and in earth. He wants you to come into right relation to him. Here is the Word, my brethren ［holding up the Bible］. Open this Word to your children; present it in your schools; present it, I beseech you, wherever you are; and live by the Word of God. Here is life; here is salvation. Take your light from under the bushel, and give life and light to the world. God help us that we may arouse from our state of stupor. {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 26} [GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 27] O, that at this meeting we might seek the Lord most earnestly, and that the great blessing of God might come upon each one of us! Make a covenant with God by sacrifice. You may feel that you make sacrifices; but if you go where I have been, in the highways and hedges, your compassion will be stirred by what you see. May God help us, that we may work to the point. We need to pray, and to pray in faith. We need to carry forward the work that God has given us to do. Our children are to be saved; our neighbors are to be labored for; and we are to act as if eternal life meant something to us. Let us labor unitedly, that the joy of the Lord may be in our souls. Amen and amen. - {GCB, May 17, 1909 par. 27} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 1] May 18, 1909 A Call to Service By Mrs. E. G. White May 17, 8 A. M. God has given his people a great work to do in the world, and every soul who professes to be a son or daughter of God should give evidence that his heart is being impressed by the Holy Spirit. This will mean everything to the success of his labors. The Lord has placed various gifts in the church that we may appreciate these gifts, and act our part in the grand finishing-up work of this earth's history. Let us understand our need of communion with God. We are to experience the sanctifying power of his grace on the human heart. We are to be submissive to the will of God, and willing to engage in the work that he has appointed his servants to do. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 2] We can not afford to lose any more time than we have already lost. We can not afford to be careless. We need the wisdom that cometh from God, and not that wisdom which is natural to the human heart. We need to study the word of the living God, and to be sanctified through the truth. When the truth sanctifies the receiver, he will carry the light of truth to others. And when the worker is placed in a position where he is required to bear a straight testimony, God will inspire that testimony. Those who have no disposition to learn of Jesus, and who think they know all that is worth knowing, will be indifferent to the communication that God sends; but it will impress the hearts of those who are humble enough to learn of Christ. 57 {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 3] Last night there was represented to me the danger there is that those who are assembled here will cherish their human traits of character. There is danger of their failing to see the need of individually humbling themselves before God each day, and several times each day, and of asking him for the spiritual help they must have if they are to serve faithfully and acceptably in any office. They may be engaged in the publishing work, or in some line of medical work, or in the school work; but whatever our work for human beings may be we must perfect a Christian character, or we shall miss the mark. If we neglect to humble our hearts before God, we shall fail of gaining all that we might gain. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 4] I was instructed that a deeper work must be carried on in the hearts of those who have assembled here to worship God. We can not afford during this meeting to have a cheap experience; we can not afford to speak idle words; we can not afford to lose the spirit of intercession that God will let his blessing rest upon us in rich measure. Let us at this meeting make a business of seeking the Lord. Wherever we are, even if we are walking the streets, we can lift up heart and mind and soul to him who bids us, "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Let us bring these three promises to the Lord, saying, "Lord, here I am in this great assembly; keep me from doing anything that will make a wrong impression on the people." {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 5] Here are workers who have come from foreign countries. They have come to see and to understand. They are determined to improve every privilege that they may go back to their fields of labor with a renewal of grace and the power of the Spirit of God. As teachers and leaders in the work, they are to gather precious truths which they will if faithful present to their fellow laborers who are working in many places and in various ways to bring souls to a knowledge of the truth. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 6] My brethren, in your field of labor, you may be surrounded by unfavorable circumstances; but the Lord knows all about this, and he will supply your lack by his own Holy Spirit. We need to have much more faith in God. Very soon the strife and oppression of foreign nations will break forth with an intensity that you do not now anticipate. You need to realize the importance of becoming acquainted with God in prayer. When you have the assurance that he hears you, you will be cheerful in tribulation; you will rise above despondency, because you experience the quickening influence of the power of God in your hearts. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 7] What we need is the truth. Nothing can take the place of this,--the sacred, solemn truth that is to enable us to stand the test of trial, even as Christ endured. Early in his ministry the disciples wanted the Saviour to go up to Jerusalem and show himself there. "If thou be the Christ," they said, "show thyself to the world." Christ was doing this very thing, but he was doing it in a way they did not perceive. Speaking to the people on the streets, and healing the sick, Christ was working to make impressions that would arouse the sensibilities of the people. Even to the last he exercised his miracle-working power. These were the very deeds he came to the world to do. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 8] We each need to experience a thorough conversion. Many of us take so much of self along with us that we fail entirely of representing Christ. We can not afford to have such an experience as this; for the eyes of the world are upon us. My brethren, when you speak to others, and they reply in a way that is not pleasant, do not allow yourselves to be aroused. Remember that Jesus was met in the same way. His precious words of truth were met with scorn. But did he cease his work because of this?--No; he would continue his work until he had gathered about him a multitude of hearers. The Saviour would have us study our words and actions, and follow his example. Let us not, when we meet with insults and taunts, take up these things, and try to answer them. Let us rather go right on as though they had not been spoken. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 9] Often as you seek to teach the present truth, opposition will be aroused; and if you seek to meet the opposition with argument, you will only multiply it, and that you can not afford to do. Hold to the affirmative. Angels of God, are watching you, and they understand how to impress those whose opposition you refuse to meet with argument. If Christ had not held to the affirmative in the wilderness of temptation, he would have lost all that he desired to gain. Christ's way is the best way to meet our opponents. We strengthen their arguments when we repeat what they say. Keep always to the affirmative. It may be that the very man who is opposing you will carry your words home, and be converted to the sensible truth that has reached his understanding. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 10] In Europe and in Australia I said to our brethren, "Your opponents will make statements about your work that are false. Do not repeat their statements, but hold to your assertions of the living truth, and angels of God will open the way before you. We have a great work to carry forward, and we must carry it in a sensible way. Let us never get excited or allow evil feelings to arise. Christ did not do this, and he is our example in all things. For the work given us to do, we need much more of heavenly, sanctified humble, wisdom, and much less of self. We need to lay hold firmly of divine power." {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 11] The work to be done in the warning of our cities has been presented to me over and over again; yet very little has been accomplished in the warning of these cities. We need to work more in Christ's lines, to pray more. We need to exercise our faith until we can grasp the hand of Omnipotent power. Then we shall be able to carry the message of present truth to the multitudes who are ignorant of it. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 12] Those who have departed from the faith will come to our congregations to divert our attention from the work that God would have done. You can not afford to turn your ears from the truth to fables. Do not stop to try to convert the one who is speaking words of reproach against your work; but let it be seen that you are inspired by the Spirit of Jesus Christ; and angels of God will put into your lips words that will reach the hearts of opposers. If these men persist in pressing their way in, those who are of a sensible mind in the congregation will understand that yours is the higher standard. So speak that it will be known that Jesus Christ is speaking through you. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 13] This morning I read the following words, and was comforted and encouraged. The words are not spoken to those who seek the Lord occasionally, but to those who "follow after righteousness." "Harken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. . . . For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord." When the Lord comforts you, you will speak that comfort to others. You will choose to speak words of comfort rather than blame. When the Lord makes your wilderness like Eden, you will want to go forth to the people. You will want the light that is so precious and glorious to you to shine upon their pathway. "Joy and gladness shall be found therein; thanksgiving and the voice of melody." {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 13} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 14] "Harken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished." {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 14} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 15] This is the salvation that we need. Let us seek for it, pray for it. Let us confess our sins one to another, and clear the King's highway. Let us present to our Saviour all our difficulties, and receive his help and encouragement, that we may learn how to be a blessing to the world. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 15} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 16] The prophet continues, verse 11, "The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." God is not glorified when his professed people mourn and groan as though they had no helper; and there are many who act as though they had no help in God. This dishonors our Redeemer. "Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads," the Lord declares; "they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Those who do not fear God have not before them this hope of entering with joy and gladness into the city of God. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 16} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 17] "I have put my words in thy mouth," God declares; "I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people." O, if we would only lay hold of these assurances by living faith in the One who has abundance of comfort and encouragement for us all. Then we would praise the Lord in the morning and at noon and at night. We would have a message of mercy to carry to others. The Lord of heaven wants us to have an advanced experience. Will you study these words? Will you accept them? Will you be sanctified by the truths they teach? {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 17} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 18] My brethren and sisters, when you follow out the principles of the Word of God, your influence will be of value to any church, any organization. There is 58 a world to save. You can not afford to waste any time. Every one who professes to have a connection with God has responsibilities resting upon him for which he must answer to God. You are to come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. All frivolous words, all lightness and trifling, are enticements of the devil to deprive you of spiritual strength. Brace yourselves against this evil in the name of the God of Israel. If you will humble your souls before God, he will give you a message for our churches. He will give you a message for those in the highways and in the hedges, and for those in foreign countries who need your help. Trim your lamps and keep them burning, that wherever you go you may reveal, in speech and actions, precious rays of light. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 18} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 19] Let there be no scolding, no fretting in the home. Exact obedience in your family; but while you do this, seek the Lord with your children, and ask him to come in and rule. Your children may have done something that demands punishment; but if you deal with them in the Spirit of Christ, their arms will be thrown about your neck, they will humble themselves before the Lord, and will acknowledge their wrong. That is enough. They do not then need punishment. Let us thank the Lord that he has opened the way by which we may reach every soul. {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 19} [GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 20] My brethren and sisters, seek the Lord while he may be found. There is a time coming when those who have wasted their time and opportunities will wish they had sought him. I see before me men who have no reason for doubt and hesitancy. God has given you reasoning faculties. He wants you to keep in the line of reason, and in the line of labor. He wants you to go forth to our churches to labor earnestly for him. He wants you to institute meetings for those outside of the churches, that they may learn the truths of this last message of warning. There are places where you will be gladly received, where souls will thank you for coming to their help. May the Lord help you to take hold of this work as you have never yet taken hold of it. Will you do this? Will you here rise to your feet and testify that you will make God your trust and your helper? ［Congregation rises.］ ［Praying］ I thank thee, Lord God of Israel. Accept this pledge of this thy people. Put thy Spirit upon them. Let thy glory be seen in them. As they shall speak the word of truth, let us see of the salvation of God. Amen. - {GCB, May 18, 1909 par. 20} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 1] May 21, 1909 The Work Before Us Wednesday, May 19, 9:15 A. M. By Mrs. E. G. White There is a very great and important work for our conferences in America to do. We are to carry the work in America in such a way that we shall be a strength and help to those who are proclaiming the message in distant countries. Every nation, tongue, and people is to be aroused and brought to a knowledge of the truth. Something is being done, but there is much yet to be done, much to be learned right here at this Conference, in order that the work may go forward in a way that will honor and glorify God. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 2] My soul has been so burdened that I have not been able to rest. What line can we dwell upon that will make the deepest impression upon the human mind? There are our schools. They are to be conducted in such a way that they will develop missionaries who will go out to the highways and hedges to sow the seeds of truth. This was the commission of Christ to his followers. They were to go to the highways and the byways bearing the message of truth to souls that would be brought to the faith of the gospel. I felt deeply in earnest as I saw how much needs to be done in the places I have recently visited. We must stand in the strength of God if we are to accomplish this work. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 3] In his labors each worker is to look to God. We are to labor as men and women who have a living connection with God. We are to learn how to meet the people where they are. Let not such conditions exist as we found in some places when we returned to America, in which individual church members, instead of realizing their responsibility, looked to men for guidance, and men to whom had been committed sacred and holy trusts in the carrying forward of the work, failed of understanding the value of personal responsibility and took upon themselves the work of ordering and dictating what their brethren should do or should not do. These are things that God will not allow in his work. He will put his burdens upon his burden-bearers. Every individual soul has a responsibility before God, and is not to be arbitrarily instructed by men as to what he shall do, what he shall say, and where he shall go. We are not to put confidence in the counsel of men and assent to all they shall say unless we have evidence that they are under the influence of the Spirit of God. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 4] Study the first and second chapters of Acts. Light has been given me that our work must be carried forward in a higher and broader way than it has ever yet been carried. The light of heaven is to be appreciated and cherished. This light is for the laborers. It is for those who feel that God has given them a message, and that they have a sacred responsibility to bear in its proclamation. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 5] The message of present truth is to prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. Let us understand this, and let those placed in responsible positions come into such unity that the work shall go forward solidly. Do not allow any man to come in as an arbitrary ruler, and say, You must go here, and you must not go there; you must do this, and you must not do that. We have a great and important work to do and God would have us take hold of that work intelligently. The placing of men in positions of responsibility in the various conferences, does not make them gods. No one has sufficient wisdom to act without counsel. Men need to consult with their brethren, to counsel together, to pray together, and to plan together for the advancement of the work. Let laborers kneel down together and pray to God, asking him to direct their course. There has been a great lack with us on this point. We have trusted too much to men's devisings. We can not afford to do this. Perilous times are upon us, and we must come to the place where we know that the Lord lives and rules, and that he dwells in the hearts of the children of men. We must have confidence in God. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 6] Wherever you may be sent, cherish in your hearts and minds the fear and love of God. Go daily to the Lord for instruction and guidance; depend upon God for light and knowledge. Pray for this instruction and this light until you get it. It will not avail for you to ask, and then forget the thing for which you prayed. Keep your mind upon your prayer. You can do this while working with your hands. You can say, Lord, I believe; with all my heart I believe. Let the Holy Spirit's power come upon me. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 7] If there were more praying among us, more exercise of a living faith, and less dependence upon some one else to have an experience for us, we would be far in advance of where we are today in spiritual intelligence. What we need is a deep, individual heart and soul experience. Then we shall be able to tell what God is doing and how he is working. We need to have a living experience in the things of God; and we are not safe unless we have this. There are some who have a good experience, and they tell you about it; but when you come to weigh it up, you see that it is not a correct experience, for it is not in accordance with a plain Thus saith the Lord. If ever there was a time in our history when we needed to humble our individual souls before God, it is today. We need to come to God with faith in all that is promised in the Word, and then walk in all the light and power that God gives. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 8] I felt very deeply when our brethren who have come from foreign fields told me a little of their experiences and of what the Lord is doing in bringing souls to the truth. This is what we want at this time. God does not want us to go on in ignorance. He wants us to understand our individual responsibilities to him. He will reveal himself to every soul who will come to him in all humility and seek him with the whole heart. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 9] There are schools to be established in foreign countries and in our own country. We must learn from God how to manage these schools. They are not to be conducted as many of them have been conducted. Our institutions are to be regarded as God's instrumentalities for the furtherance of his work in the earth. We must look to God for guidance and wisdom; we must plead with him to teach us how to carry the work solidly. Let us recognize the Lord as our teacher and guide, and then we shall carry the work in correct lines. We need to stand as a united company who shall see eye to eye. Then we shall see the salvation of God revealed on the right hand and on the left. If we work in harmony, we give God a chance to work for us. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 10] In all our school work we need to have a correct understanding of what the essential education is. Men talk much of higher education, but who can define what the higher education is? The highest education is found in the Word of the living God. That education which teaches us to submit our souls to God in all humility, and which enables us to take the Word of God and believe just what it says, is the education that is most needed. With this education we shall see of the salvation of God. With the Spirit of God upon us, we are to carry the light of truth into the highways and the byways, that the salvation of God may be revealed in a remarkable manner. {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 11] Will we carry forward the work in the Lord's way? Are we willing to be taught of God? Will we wrestle with God in prayer? Will we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit? This is what we need and may have at this time. Then we shall go forth with a message from the Lord, and the light of truth will shine forth as a lamp that burneth, reaching to all parts of the world. If we will walk humbly with God, God will walk with us. Let us humble our souls before him, and we shall see of his salvation. - {GCB, May 21, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 1] May 24, 1909 A Risen Saviour By Mrs. E. G. White Sabbath, May 22, 1909 For a Scripture reading the speaker read in a solemn and impressive manner from the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 17, 26, 27, and 28. At one point in the reading, the speaker paused for a few minutes while a male quartette sang, "The Dream of Pilate's Wife." {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 2] If any of you think you suffer more than Christ has suffered, that you have to pay a higher price for your faith than Christ paid for you, your soul will be blessed by a faithful study of the Gospels. The Lord of glory made infinite sacrifices in our behalf. If he could suffer all this that he might open for us a way whereby we might be saved, should any of us feel that we are paying too high a price for our salvation? What does this salvation mean to us? It means a life that measures with the life of God. If we are not willing to make special sacrifices in order to save the souls that are ready to perish, how can we be counted worthy to enter into the city of God? {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 3] Let us come into right relation to God at this meeting. Let us humble ourselves before him, and obey his commandments. If you do not feel that it is an honor to be a partaker of the sufferings of Christ, if you feel no burden of soul for those who are ready to perish, if you are unwilling to sacrifice that you may save means for the work that is to be done, there will be no room for you in the kingdom of God. We need to be partakers with Christ of his sufferings and self-denial at every step. We need to have the Spirit of God resting upon us, leading us to constant self-sacrifice. {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 4] There is an individual work to be done for each one of us. I know there are many who are placing themselves in right relation to Christ, whose one thought is to bring the message of present truth before the people of the world. They stand continually ready to offer their services. But my heart aches when I see so many who are satisfied with a cheap experience, an experience that costs them but little. Their lives say that for them Christ has died in vain. {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 5] Behold our cities and their need of the gospel. The need for earnest labor among the multitudes in the cities has been kept before me for more than twenty years. Who is carrying a burden for our large cities? Some will say, We need all the money we can get to carry on the work in other places. Do you not know that unless you carry the truth to the cities, there will be a drying up of means? When you carry this message to those in the cities who are hungry for truth, and they accept the light, they will go earnestly to work to bring that light to others. Souls who have means will be brought into the truth, and will give of their means to advance the work of God. {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 6] But how can you expect means to come to the support of the cause from the cities where you are doing but very little to bring the light to the people? I have been instructed that there is much means in the cities that are unworked. God has interested people there. Go to them; teach them as Christ taught; give them the truth. Many will receive it. There are honest souls in the cities who should have had the message more than twenty years ago. Had this work been done, churches would have been raised up in many fields whose members would now be laborers together with God. {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 7] What is being done in the Eastern cities where the advent message was first proclaimed? The cities of the West have had advantages, but who in the East have been burdened to take up the work of going over the ground that in the early days of the message was baptized with the truth of the Lord's soon coming? The light has been given that the truth should go again to the Eastern States where we first began our work, and where we had our first experiences. We must make every effort to spread a knowledge of the truth to all who will hear, and there are many who will listen. All through our large cities God has honest souls who are interested in what is truth. There is earnest work to be done in the Eastern States. "Repeat the message, repeat the message," were the words spoken to me over and over again. "Tell my people to repeat the message in the places where it was first preached, and where church after church took their position for the truth, the power of God witnessing to the message in a remarkable manner." {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 8] The Southern States are to have the light of present truth. Do not say, "Our printing-offices and our churches need more help. We need all the means we can get to carry on the work we have in hand." Let your standard be raised higher; then those who take hold of the truth will understand that they have a work to do. In this way the means for the carrying on of the work will be always increasing. One after another has shut the door to certain lines of missionary work for fear that this work will consume means. My brethren, you need the Spirit of Christ; then you will understand what the salvation of the human race has cost. You need to come into right relation to God; you need to humble your souls before him. {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 9] Let us begin to work for those who have not had the light. "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth," the Saviour declared; "and, lo, I am with you alway." What we need is a living faith, faith to proclaim over the rent sepulcher of Joseph that we have a living Saviour, one who will go before us, and who will work with us. God will do the work, if we will furnish him the instruments. There needs to be among us a great deal more of prayer, and much less of unbelief. We need to lift up the standard higher, and still higher, before the people. We need to remember that Christ is always to our right hand as we proclaim liberty to the captives, and deal the bread of life to hungry souls. When we keep before our minds the urgency and importance of our work, the salvation of God will be revealed in a remarkable manner. {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 10] To the workers in our printing-offices I would say, Consecrate yourselves to God. Let the whole heart be converted to him. Let the practises of your life reveal that you are converted. Whatever business you have to do, do it in the name of Jesus. Then you will proclaim that Christ is the resurrection and the life. We want this truth to resound to all parts of the world,--Christ is the resurrection and the life. We thank God that so many are gathered here. Let us each dig deep, laying our foundation firmly upon the Rock. Then, when the storms shall come and beat upon our house, it will not fall; for it is founded on a Rock that will not give way. {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 11] I thank God for the excellent meetings you are having. Let us praise his holy name for every evidence of his love. We want to see the salvation of God revealed in the lifting up of men from their low estate, from low ideas, to take part efficiently in the great work before us. Let us draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to us. Let us humble our souls before him, and we shall find grace and salvation. 137 {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 12] God help us to put on the armor, and to act as if we were in earnest, as if the souls of men and women were worth saving. Let us seek a new conversion. Let us seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near. We need the presence of the Holy Spirit of God with us, that our hearts may be softened, and that we may not bring a harsh spirit into the work. I pray that the Holy Spirit may take full possession of our hearts. Let us act like children of God who are looking to him for counsel, ready to work out his plans whenever presented. God will be glorified by such a people, and those who witness our zeal will say, Amen and amen. - {GCB, May 24, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 1] May 30, 1909 A Lesson in Health Reform May 26, 9:15 A. M. By Mrs. E. G. White "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 2] "And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; children in whom was no blemish but well favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank; so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 3] "Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 4] "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favor and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 5] "Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom 214 the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat; and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 6] "As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm." {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 7] This record contains much of importance on the subject of health reform. In the experience of the four Hebrew children a lesson is given regarding the need of abstaining from all spirituous liquors, and from indulgence of perverted appetite. The position taken by these Hebrew youth was vindicated, and at the end of ten days they were found fairer in flesh and better in knowledge than all the rest whom the king was proving. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 8] In this our day, the Lord would be pleased to have those who are preparing for the future, immortal life follow the example of Daniel and his companions in seeking to maintain strength of body and clearness of mind. The more careful we learn to be in treating our bodies, the more readily shall we be able to escape the evils that are in the world through lust. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 9] There are many who believe that in order to be fitted for acceptable service, they must go through a long course of study under learned teachers in some school of the world. This they must do, it is true, if they desire to secure what the world calls essential knowledge. But we do not say to our youth, You must study, study, keeping your mind all the time on books. Nor do we say to them, You must spend all the time in acquiring the so-called higher education. Let us ask, What is the object of true higher education? Is it not that we may stand in right relation to God? The test of all education should be, Is it fitting us to keep our minds fixed upon the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus? {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 10] What is needed by our youth is an education like that which Daniel and his three companions gained. These faithful Hebrews were in important positions. They were placed where they must be careful to observe every principle of righteousness in order to bring others to an understanding of the principles of righteousness. It would not do for them to be lax. They could not afford to indulge appetite. They were to stand where they could, by their example, give proof of the importance of strict adherence to the principles of right living. To do this they were willing to place themselves under test and trial. Ten days was sufficient to prove that the diet they chose was a wholesome one, and that in adopting it they had made no mistake. The evidence which this experience gave to the authorities led them to have a higher opinion of these youth than of all the other students under their care. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 11] We are to learn how to equalize the labor done by brain, bone, and muscle. If you put to task the faculties of the mind, loading them with heavy burdens, while you leave the muscles unexercised, this course will tell its story just as surely as the wise course of the Hebrew youth told its story. Parents should follow a consistent course in the education of their children. Our youth should be taught from their very childhood how to exercise the body and the mind proportionately. It is not wise to send the children to schools where they are subject to long hours of confinement and where they will gain no knowledge of what healthful living means. Place them under the tuition of those who respect the body and treat it with consideration. Do not place your children in an unfavorable position, where they can not receive the training that will enable them to bear test and trial. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 12] With all the precious light that has continually been given to us in the health publications, we can not afford to live careless, heedless lives, eating and drinking as we please, and indulging in the use of stimulants, narcotics, and condiments. Let us take into consideration the fact that we have souls to save or to lose, and that it is of vital consequence how we relate ourselves to the question of temperance. It is of great importance that individually we act well our part, and have an intelligent understanding of what we should eat and drink, and how we should live to preserve health. All are being proved to see whether they will accept the principles of health reform or follow a course of self-indulgence. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 13] Let no one think he can do as he pleases in the matter of diet. But before all who sit at the table with you, let it appear that you follow principle in the matter of eating, as in all other matters, that the glory of God may be revealed. You can not afford to do otherwise; for you have a character to form for the future, immortal life. Great responsibilities rest upon every human soul. Let us comprehend these responsibilities, and bear them nobly in the name of the Lord. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 13} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 14] To every one who is tempted to indulge appetite I would say, Yield not to temptation, but confine yourself to the use of wholesome foods. You can train yourselves to enjoy a healthful diet. The Lord helps those who seek to help themselves; but when men will not take special pains to follow out the mind and will of God, how can he work with them? Let us act our part, working out our salvation with fear and trembling-- with fear and trembling lest we make mistakes in the treatment of our bodies, which, before God, we are under obligation to keep in the most healthful condition possible. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 14} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 15] We desire that the meetings which are held during the General Conference shall have a telling influence on every soul. Let us prove ourselves worthy of being trusted by God,--worthy of his confidence in our determination that we will not betray our sacred trust. Let us open the way for the light of God to shine into the chambers of the mind. Thus we shall be prepared to help others. To those who appreciate the truth as it is in Jesus, and who desire to reveal the truth in its beauty, its power, and its sanctifying grace, God will give strength to stand against temptation. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 15} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 16] Intelligence is a gift of God,--one that he desires us to use to his glory. Students need not talk of their attainments in the so-called higher education if they have not learned to eat and drink to the glory of God, and to exercise brain, bone, and muscle in such a way as to prepare for the highest possible service. The whole being must be brought into exercise if we would secure a healthy condition of mind; the mental and the physical powers should be used proportionately. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 16} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 17] To those who are desirous of being efficient laborers in God's cause, I would say, If you are putting an undue weight of labor on the brain, thinking you will lose ground unless you study all the time, you had better change your views and your course of action. Unless greater care is exercised in this respect, there are many who will go down to the grave prematurely. This you can not afford to do; for there is a world to be saved. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 17} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 18] A great work is to be done,--a work that we have scarcely begun as yet. Everywhere, everywhere the truth is to stand forth in its glorious power and in its simplicity. Do not boast of what you know, but take your case to God. Say to him, I comply with the conditions. Now, Lord, as I educate my appetites and tastes, so that a healthful current of blood may flow through my veins, wilt thou sustain me? Teach me how to use my powers in presenting the most precious truths that have ever come to mortals for the fitting up of character for the future, immortal life. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 18} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 19] Fathers and mothers, you have a solemn work to do. The eternal salvation of your children depends upon your course of action. How will you successfully educate your children? Not by scolding; for it will do no good. Talk to your children as if you had confidence in their intelligence. Deal with them kindly, tenderly, lovingly. Tell them what God would have them do. Tell them that God would have them educated and trained to be laborers together with him. When you act your part, you can trust the Lord to act his part. Be strong in faith, and teach your children that we are all dependent upon God. Read to them the story of the four Hebrew children, and impress their minds with a realization of the influence for good that was exerted in Daniel's time because of strict adherence to principle. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 19} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 20] In connection with your home, have a garden if possible, where your children can work and where you can work with them. So instruct them and so arrange their work that their spare time will not be spent in idleness. Give them something definite to do, and let them feel that they are doing something to help father and mother to sustain the family. Let the older ones feel the responsibility of giving a right example to the younger children. Let all act a part according to their years. When the children thus trained attend school, 215 they will have clear minds. They will be able to reason for themselves, and will not accept that which this one says or what that one says without some proof. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 20} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 21] I wish to say to every father and mother, If you have a hasty temper, seek God for help to overcome it. When you are provoked to impatience, go to your chamber, and kneel down and ask God to help you that you may have a right influence over your children. Your children are God's children; they are to have a life that measures with the life of God. Can you comprehend it?--a life that measures with the life of God. It was to give them this that God sent his Son into the world. For this Christ laid off his royal robe and kingly crown and came to this sinful world as a helpless babe. He was educated under the supervision of heavenly angels. He worked at the carpenter's trade,--he who was the Prince of life, the Saviour of all that would believe in him. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 21} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 22] When Christ came to our world, in him were combined divinity and humanity. In his humanity he could lay hold of humanity; by virtue of his divinity he could bring power and health and grace to mankind. Thus he would make men and women partakers of the divine nature and able to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 22} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 23] To us is given the work of overcoming. This is no haphazard work. Only as we become partakers of the divine nature can we overcome our hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil. We must be trained to understand and follow Bible principles; we must learn of Christ the science of eating and drinking to the glory of God. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 23} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 24] The Lord desires that his people shall be a wise people, and carry a sensible influence wherever they go. He has given us capabilities, and a part to act in his work. Let us act our part as faithfully as the four Hebrew worthies acted theirs. Then angels of God will preside in our homes. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 24} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 25] You remember the story of the woman who was healed by touching Christ's garment when in the midst of a dense throng. Her disease was such that no earthly physician's power could help her. She saw Jesus healing the sick, and hope sprang up in her heart. She thought she would wait her opportunity, and when she got within reach of the Saviour, she put forth her finger and touched the hem of his garment; and immediately she was made whole. In this experience there was a lesson that Christ desired to impress on the throng about him. Humanity had connected with divinity, and the blessing had been received. {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 25} [GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 26] Christ came to the earth to bring divinity to humanity. We need that divinity; young and old need it. If you do not know anything about this power, I beseech you for Christ's sake to seek for it. Endeavor to live a consistent life. Take hold of Christ by living, active faith. Come to him just as you are, helpless and dependent, and say, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Help me to study thy life, thy self-denial and self-sacrifice; help me to become a Christian in every sense of the word. - {GCB, May 30, 1909 par. 26} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 1] May 31, 1909 Let Us Publish Salvation By Mrs. E. G. White May 27, 9:15 A. M. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?" {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 2] The prophet presents before us a people who are finding fault with the Lord because he does not give them all that they selfishly desire. The Lord in his answer to their complaints shows that they do not deserve all that thy require at his hands; for they have not dealt righteously. "Behold," he says, "in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord." {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 3] God desires his people to place themselves in right relation to him that they may understand what he requires of them. They are to be a commandment-keeping people wherever they are, at home or abroad, and to have the assurance that they are accepted as his children. They are to take their position in the world as a people whose righteousness goes before them, and whose rereward is the glory of the Lord. When we live before the world such consistent lives that it can be said of us that our righteousness goes before us, the glory of the Lord will surely be revealed. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 4] The special work of God's people for this time is brought before us in the words: "They that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: they shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father." {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 5] Our great need as a people is that we come into right relation to God. We can not afford to let one day pass in which we have not laid hold by living faith on the God of Israel. We need the clear light of the Sun of Righteousness to shine upon us. This light is given to those who keep holy the Lord's Sabbath: but we can not keep this day holy unless we serve the Lord in the manner brought to view in the scripture: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free; and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him? and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" This is the work that rests upon every soul who accepts the service of Christ. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 6] "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 7] The Lord is constantly working for us, and our eyes should be opened to understand and to know his ways. We are to come to him in living faith. His arm is not shortened, that it can not save; his ear is not heavy, that he can not hear. It is our iniquities that separate us from God. What we individually need is the living testimony in our souls that we are seeking God with the whole heart, that we are putting from our lives those things which God declares should not be found there. God desires that we shall stand before the world a holy people. Why?--Because there is a world to be saved by the light of present truth. As we give to the people the truth that is to call them out of darkness into God's marvelous light, our lives, sanctified by the Spirit of truth, are to bear witness to the verity of the message we proclaim. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 8] My active labors in this message began when I was sixteen years of age. At that time the word came to me, "Write out the instruction I give you for the people." I answered, "I can not write, Lord." Because of the accident which had nearly cost me my life, I had been feeble in health and unable to write, for my hand trembled so that I was forced after many efforts to give up the attempt to write. But one night the angel of the Lord came to my bedside and said to me, "You must write out the things that I give you." I said, "I can not write." Again the command was given, "Write out the things I give you." I thought I would try, and taking up a lapboard from the table, I began to write, and found that I could trace the words easily. The Lord had wrought a miracle upon me. Since that time, I have written thousands of pages, and I continue to write at the age of eighty-one. Through all these years the Lord has been my helper and preserver. Angels of God have protected me, guiding me and giving me strength to carry out the instruction of the Lord. Should I doubt the Lord now, and cast aside the evidences of his loving mercy and power? I thank his name that I have been kept from doing this. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 9] At times I have been sick nigh unto death. In Australia I was a great sufferer from rheumatism for eleven months, but I was not allowed to cease my public labors. The brethren would come to me and say, "We will carry you in a chair from your phaeton to the hall. You will not have to stand, but can speak while sitting in your chair." It was difficult for me to consent to this, but I did it, and the blessing of the Lord came upon me every time I spoke to the people. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 10] The work we have to do is a wonderfully great work. There is much for us to do besides gathering together for counsel. There is a world to be saved; there are souls to be labored for in the cities of the East in States where the message of the soon coming of the Lord was first preached. Who will give themselves to this line of missionary work? There are hundreds of our people who ought to be out in the field who are doing little or nothing for the 226 advancement of the message. Those who have had every advantage of knowing the truth, who have received instruction line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, have a great responsibility resting upon them in the souls who have never heard the last gospel message. Do we take into consideration the needs of these large Eastern cities? Do we not know that they must be warned of Christ's near approach? {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 11] As a people we must come into sacred nearness to God. We need the light of heaven to shine into our hearts and into the chambers of our mind. We need the wisdom that God alone can give if we carry the message to these cities with success. Let our churches everywhere come into line. Let none who have pledged themselves by baptism to live for the service and glory of God take back their pledge. There is a world to be saved. Let this thought urge us on to greater sacrifices and earnest labor for those who are out of the way. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 12] I was instructed only a few weeks ago that Portland must be given this last message to the world. Many of those who accepted the message under the labor of the early workers, now sleep in Jesus. And there are many more people in Portland now than in 1843, and this is another reason why it should be given faithful labor. In Portland and Boston we bore our testimony to the first and second angels' messages. Now we must bring to these same cities the glory of the third angel's message. Let us no longer neglect these cities. We have our periodicals containing the light of present truth; but who among us is trying to scatter the rays of light where the truth was so favorably received in the early days of the message? {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 13] The third angel's message has brought together here a great company of believers from all parts of the world. We need to experience just such a reformation as was experienced in the time of William Miller's preaching. Many, fearful that they would not get a seat, would come for miles, bringing their food with them, and would remain all day to the meetings. I want to see such days again. We have committed to us the proclamation of the third angel's message, the last message of mercy that is ever to be given to our world. I want a part in spreading the knowledge of this truth. I would be glad to go from this meeting to the Eastern States and help, by diligent searching, to find out how we can present the message to the people in such a way that it will be received by them. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 13} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 14] If ever there was a time when we needed workers, it is now. Let us dedicate ourselves and our means to God. Let us not spend money unnecessarily, but let us bind about our wants that we may send help to those places that are waiting for the message. Shall we not as a people arise and take up the work that needs to be done in our great cities? {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 14} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 15] At Melrose we have a beautiful sanitarium. And in other places in the East we have institutions for the promulgation of the message of present truth. At South Lancaster and other places we have large churches. I believe these churches will respond to the efforts that are made to open up work in the cities of the East. Let us give ourselves for service for the Lord, and he will instruct us what to do. Let us remember that if we will come into close relation with God he will walk with us. Let us not become so absorbed in self and self-interests that we shall forget those who are climbing the ladder of Christian experience, and who need our help. Let us take into consideration the work that is to be done in binding off this, the closing work of the message for these last days. May God help us to come near to him, and follow him so closely that we shall know his goings forth are prepared as the morning. Let us study to know what his message to us is, and determine to obey it, that the grace of God may rest upon us. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 15} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 16] "Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. . . . How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 16} [GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 17] "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God." - {GCB, May 31, 1909 par. 17} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 1] June 1, 1909 God's Plan Read to the Conference By Mrs. E. G. White May 30, 9:15 A. M. God would have his people an understanding people. He has so arranged matters that chosen men shall go as delegates to our conferences. These men are to be tried and proved. They are to be trustworthy men. The choosing of delegates to attend our conferences is an important matter. These men are to lay the plans that shall be followed in the advancement of the work; and therefore they are to be men of understanding, able to reason from cause to effect. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 2] "And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and all the people stood by Moses from the morning until the evening. And when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto eve? And Moses said unto his father-in-law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God: when they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them to know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses' father-in-law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it alone. Harken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: and thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so it shall be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 3] "If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 4] "So Moses harkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves." {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 5] In the first chapter of Acts, also, instruction is given regarding the choosing of men to bear responsibilities in the church. The apostasy of Judas had left one place vacant in the ranks of the apostles, and it was necessary that another be chosen to take this place. Speaking of this, Peter said:-- {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 6] "Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 7] From these scriptures we learn that the Lord has certain men to fill certain positions. God will teach his people 237 to move carefully, and to make wise choice of men who will not betray sacred trusts. If in Christ's day the believers needed to be guarded in their choice of men for positions of responsibility, we who are living in this time certainly need to move with great discretion. We are to present every case before God, and in earnest prayer ask him to choose for us. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 8] The Lord God of heaven has chosen experienced men to bear responsibilities in his cause. These men are to have special influence. If all are accorded the power given to these chosen men, a halt will have to be called. Those who are chosen to bear burdens in the work of God are not to be rash or self-confident or selfish. Never is their example or influence to strengthen evil. The Lord has not given men or women liberty to advance ideas that will bring commonness into his work, removing the sacredness that should ever surround it. God's work is to become increasingly sacred to his people. In every way we are to magnify the exalted character of the truth. Those who have been set as guardians of the work of God in our institutions are ever to make the will and way of God prominent. The health of the general work depends upon the faithfulness of the men appointed to carry out the will of God in the churches. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 9] Men must be placed in charge who will obtain an enlarged experience, not in the things of self, but in the things of God, an enlarged knowledge of the character of Christ. The more they know of Christ, the more faithfully they represent him to the world. They are to listen to his voice and give heed to his words. - {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 10] "Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida; for if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 11] "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the day of judgment, than for thee. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 12] "At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 13] "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 13} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 14] It is always safe to be meek and lowly and tender hearted, but at the same time we are to be as firm as a rock to the teachings of Christ. His words of instruction are to be strictly heeded. Not one word is to be lost sight of. The truth will abide forever. We are not to place our trust in any lie or pretense. Those who do this will find that it has been done at the loss of eternal life. We are now to make straight paths for our feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. When the lame are turned from safe paths, who is accountable but those who have misled them? They set at naught the counsel of the One whose words are life eternal, for the works of deception originating with the father of lies. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 14} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 15] I have words for all who may suppose that they are safe in obtaining their education in Battle Creek. The Lord has blotted out two of our largest institutions, which were established in Battle Creek, and has given warning after warning, even as Christ gave warning to Bethsaida and Capernaum. There is a necessity of giving earnest attention to every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. There can be no sinless departure from the words of Christ. The Saviour urges the erring ones to repent. Those who humble their hearts and confess their sins will be pardoned. Their transgressions will be forgiven. But the man who thinks that should he confess his sins, he would show weakness, will not find pardon, will not see Christ as his Redeemer, but will go on and on in transgression, making blunder after blunder, and adding sin to sin. What will such an one do in the day that the books are opened, and every man is judged according to the things written in the books? {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 15} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 16] The fifth chapter of Revelation needs to be closely studied. It is of great importance to those who shall act a part in the work of God for these last days. There are some who are deceived. They do not realize what is coming on the earth. Those who have permitted their minds to become beclouded in regard to what constitutes sin, are fearfully deceived. Unless they make a decided change, they will be found wanting when God pronounces judgment upon the children of men. They have transgressed the law and broken the everlasting covenant, and they will receive according to their works. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 16} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 17] "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair; and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 17} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 18] "After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. . . . These are they which have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 18} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 19] In these scriptures two parties are brought to view. One party permitted themselves to be deceived, and took sides with those with whom the Lord has a controversy. They misinterpreted the messages sent them, and clothed themselves in robes of self-righteousness. Sin was not sinful in their eyes. They taught falsehood as truth, and by them many souls were led astray. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 19} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 20] We need now to take heed to ourselves. Warnings have been given. Can we not see the fulfilment of the predictions made by Christ, and recorded in the twenty-first chapter of Luke? How many are studying the words of Christ? How many are deceiving their own souls, and cheating themselves out of the blessings that others might secure if they would believe and obey? Probation still lingers, and it is our privilege to lay hold of the hope set before us in the gospel? Let us repent, and be converted, and forsake our sins, that they may be blotted out. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things, and to stand before the Son of man." {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 20} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 21] Shall the warnings given by Christ be passed by unheeded? Shall we not make diligent work for repentance now, while mercy's gracious voice is still heard? {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 21} [GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 22] "Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Ellen G. White. {GCB, June 1, 1909 par. 22} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 1] June 3, 1909 A Plea for Medical Missionary Evangelists Read to the Conference by Mrs. E. G. White June 1, 9:15 A. M. Importance of the Work The end of all things is at hand. The signs foretold by Christ are fast fulfilling. The nations are angry, and the time of the dead has come, that they should be judged. There are stormy times before us, but let us not utter one word of unbelief or discouragement. Let us remember that we bear a message of healing to a world filled with sin-sick souls. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 2] May the Lord increase our faith, and help us to see that he desires us all to become acquainted with his ministry of healing and with the mercy-seat. He desires the light of his grace to shine forth from many places. We are living in the last days. Troublous times are before us. He who understands the necessities of the situation arranges that advantages should be brought to the workers in various places, to enable them more effectually to arouse the attention of the people. He knows the needs and the necessities of the feeblest of his flock, and he sends his own message into the highways and the byways. He loves us with an everlasting love. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 3] There are souls in many places who have not yet heard the message. Henceforth medical missionary work is to be carried forward with an earnestness with which it has never yet been done. This work is the door through which the truth is to find entrance to the large cities, and sanitariums are to be established in many places. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 4] Sanitarium work is one of the most successful means of reaching all classes of people. Our sanitariums are the right hand of the gospel, opening ways whereby suffering humanity may be reached with the glad tidings of healing through Christ. In these institutions the sick may be taught to commit their cases to the Great Physician, who will co-operate with their earnest efforts to regain health, bringing to them healing of soul as well as healing of body. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 5] Christ is no longer in this world in person, to go through our cities and towns and villages, healing the sick. He has commissioned us to carry forward the medical missionary work that he began; and in this work we are to do our very best. Institutions for the care of the sick are to be established, where men and women suffering from disease may be placed under the care of God-fearing physicians and nurses, and be treated without drugs. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 6] I have been instructed that we are not to delay to do the work that needs to be done in health reform lines. Through this work we are to reach souls in the highways and byways. I have been given special light that in our sanitariums many souls will receive and obey present truth. In these institutions men and women are to be taught how to care for their own bodies, and at the same time how to become sound in the faith. They are to be taught what is meant by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. Said Christ, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 7] Our sanitariums are to be schools in which instruction shall be given in medical missionary lines. They are to bring to sin-sick souls the leaves of the tree of 292 life, which will restore to them peace and hope and faith in Christ Jesus. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 8] Let the Lord's work go forward. Let the medical missionary and the educational work go forward. I am sure that this is our great lack,--earnest, devoted, intelligent, capable workers. In every large city there should be a representation of true medical missionary work. Let many now ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" It is the Lord's purpose that his method of healing without drugs shall be brought into prominence in every large city through our medical institutions. God invests with holy dignity those who go forth farther and still farther, in every place to which it is possible to obtain entrance. Satan will make the work as difficult as possible, but divine power will attend all true-hearted workers. Guided by our Heavenly Father's hand, let us go forward, improving every opportunity to extend the work of God. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 9] The Lord speaks to all medical missionaries, saying, Go, work today in my vineyard to save souls. God hears the prayers of all who seek him in truth. He has the power that we all need. He fills the heart with love, and joy, and peace, and holiness. Character is constantly being developed. We can not afford to spend the time working at cross purposes with God. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 10] There are physicians who, because of a past connection with our sanitariums, find it profitable to locate close to them; and they close their eyes to the great field neglected and unworked in which unselfish labor would be a blessing to many. Missionary physicians can exert an uplifting, refining, sanctifying influence. Physicians who do not do this, abuse their power, and do a work that the Lord repudiates. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 11] The Training of Workers If ever the Lord has spoken by me, he speaks when I say that the workers engaged in educational lines, in ministerial lines, and in medical missionary lines, must stand as a unit, all laboring under the supervision of God, one helping the other, each blessing each. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 12] Those connected with our schools and sanitariums are to labor with earnest alacrity. The work that is done under the ministration of the Holy Spirit, out of love for God and for humanity, will bear the signature of God, and will make its impression on human minds. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 13] The Lord calls upon our young people to enter our schools, and quickly fit themselves for service. In various places, outside of cities, schools are to be established, where our youth can receive an education that will prepare them to go forth to do evangelical work and medical missionary work. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 13} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 14] The Lord must be given an opportunity to show men their duty, and to work upon their minds. No one is to bind himself to serve for a term of years under the direction of one group of men or in one specified branch of the Master's work; for the Lord himself will call men, as of old he called the humble fishermen, and will himself give them instruction regarding their field of labor and the methods they should follow. He will call men from the plow and from other occupations, to give the last note of warning to perishing souls. There are many ways in which to work for the Master, and the Great Teacher will open the understanding of these workers, enabling them to see wondrous things in his Word. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 14} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 15] Nurses to be Evangelists Christ, the great Medical Missionary, is our example. Of him it is written that he "went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." He healed the sick and preached the gospel. In his service, healing and teaching were linked closely together. Today they are not to be separated. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 15} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 16] The nurses who are trained in our institutions are to be fitted up to go out as medical missionary evangelists, uniting the ministry of the Word with that of physical healing. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 16} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 17] We must let our light shine amid the moral darkness. Many who are now in darkness, as they see a reflection of the Light of the world, will realize that they have a hope of salvation. Your light may be small, but remember that it is what God has given you, and that he holds you responsible to let it shine forth. Some one may light his taper from yours, and his light may be the means of leading others out from the darkness. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 17} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 18] All around us are doors open for service. We should become acquainted with our neighbors, and seek to draw them to Christ. As we do this, he will approve and co-operate with us. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 18} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 19] Often the inhabitants of a city where Christ labored wished him to stay with them and continue to work among them. But he would tell them that he must go to cities that had not heard the truths that he had to present. After he had given the truth to those in one place, he left them to build upon what he had given them, while he went to another place. His methods of labor are to be followed today by those to whom he has left his work. We are to go from place to place, carrying the message. As soon as the truth has been proclaimed in one place, we are to go to warn others. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 19} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 20] There should be companies organized, and educated most thoroughly to work as nurses, as evangelists, as ministers, as canvassers, as gospel students, to perfect a character after the divine similitude. To prepare to receive the higher education in the school above, is now to be our purpose. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 20} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 21] From the instruction that the Lord has given me from time to time, I know that there should be workers who make medical evangelistic tours among the towns and villages. Those who do this work will gather a rich harvest of souls, both from the higher and the lower classes. The way for this work is best prepared by the efforts of the faithful canvasser. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 21} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 22] Many will be called into the field to labor from house to house, giving Bible-readings, and praying with those who are interested. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 22} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 23] Let our ministers, who have gained an experience in preaching the Word, learn how to give simple treatments, and then labor intelligently as medical missionary evangelists. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 23} [GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 24] Workers -- gospel medical missionaries -- are needed now. We can not afford to spend years in preparation. Soon doors now open to the truth will be forever closed. Carry the message now. Do not wait, allowing the enemy to take possession of the fields now open before you. Let little companies go forth to do the work to which Christ appointed his disciples. Let them labor as evangelists, scattering our publications, and talking of the truth to those they meet. Let them pray for the sick, ministering to their necessities, not with drugs, but with nature's remedies, and teaching them how to regain health and avoid disease. {GCB, June 3, 1909 par. 24} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 1] June 4, 1909 The Loma Linda College of Evangelists (Manuscript read before the delegates, with remarks, by Mrs. E. G. White.) June 1, 9:15 A. M. While attending the General Conference of 1905 at Washington, D. C., I received a letter from J. A. Burden, describing a property he had found about four miles from Redlands. As I read his letter, I was impressed that this was one of the places I had seen in vision, and I immediately telegraphed him to secure the property without delay. Later, when I visited the property, I recognized it as one of the places I had seen nearly two years before in vision. How thankful I am to the Lord our God for this place. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 2] One of the chief advantages of Loma Linda is the pleasing variety of charming scenery on every side. The extensive view of valley and mountain is magnificent. But more important than magnificent scenery and beautiful buildings and spacious grounds is the close proximity of this institution to a densely populated district, and the opportunity thus afforded of communicating to many, many people a knowledge of the third angel's message. We are to have clear spiritual discernment, else we shall fail of discerning the opening providences of God that are preparing the way for us to enlighten the world. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 3] With the possession of this place comes the weighty responsibility of making the work of the institution educational in character. Loma Linda is to be not only a sanitarium, but an educational center. A school is to be established here for the training of gospel medical missionary evangelists. Much is involved in this work, and it is very essential that a right beginning be made. The Lord has a special work to be done in this field. He instructed me to call on Elder and Mrs. Haskell to help us in getting properly started a work similar to that which they had carried on at Avondale. Laborers of experience have consented to unite with the forces at Loma Linda to develop the school that must be carried on there. As they go forward in faith, the Lord will go before them, preparing the way. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 4] In regard to the school, I would say, Make it especially strong in the education of nurses and physicians. In medical missionary schools, many workers are to be qualified with the ability of physicians to labor as medical missionary evangelists. This training, the Lord has specified, is in harmony with the principles underlying true higher education. We hear a great deal about the higher education. The highest education is to follow in the footsteps of Christ, patterning after the example he gave when he was in the world. We can not gain an education higher than this; for this class of training will make men laborers together with God. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 5] To have the higher education is to have a living connection with Christ. The Saviour took the unlearned fishermen from their boats and their fishing nets and connected them with himself as he traveled from place to place, teaching the people, and ministering to their needs. Sitting down on a rock or on some elevated place, he would gather his disciples about him and give them instruction, and before long, hundreds of people would be listening to his words. There are many men and women who suppose that they know all that is worth knowing, when they greatly need to sit humbly at the feet of Jesus and learn of him who gave his life that he might redeem a fallen world. We all need Christ,--the One who left the royal courts, laying off his kingly robe and crown and his majesty in the heavens, and clothing himself with humanity. The Son of God came as a little babe, that he might understand the experience of humanity and know how to deal with them. He knows the wants of the children. In the days of his earthly ministry he would not allow them to be forbidden to come to him. "Send them not away," he said to his disciples; "for of such is the kingdom of heaven." {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 6] In the work of the school, maintain simplicity. No argument is so powerful as is success founded on simplicity. You may attain success in the education of students as medical missionaries without a medical school that can qualify physicians to compete with the physicians of the world. Let the students be given a practical education. The less dependent you are upon worldly methods of education, the better it will be for the students. Special instruction should be given in the art of treating the sick without the use of poisonous drugs and in harmony with the light that God has given. In the treatment of the sick, poisonous drugs need not be used. Students should come forth from the school without having sacrificed the principles of health reform or their love for God and righteousness. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 7] The education that meets the world's standard is to be less and less valued by those who are seeking for efficiency in carrying the medical missionary work in connection with the work of the third angel's message. They are to be educated from the standpoint of conscience, and, as they conscientiously and faithfully follow right methods in their treatment of the sick, these methods will come to be recognized as preferable to the method to which many have become accustomed, which demands the use of poisonous drugs. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 8] We should not at this time seek to compete with worldly medical schools. Should we do this, our chances of success would be small. We are not now prepared to carry out successfully the work of establishing large medical institutions of learning. Moreover, should we follow the world's methods of medical practise, exacting the large fees that worldly physicians demand for their services, we would work away from Christ's plan for our ministry to the sick. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 9] There should be at our sanitariums intelligent men and women who can instruct in Christ's methods of ministry. Under the instruction of competent, consecrated teachers, the youth may become partakers of the divine nature and learn how to escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. I have been instructed that we should have many more women who can deal especially with the diseases of women, many more lady nurses who will treat the sick in a simple way without the use of drugs. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 10] It is not in harmony with the instruction given at Sinai that gentleman physicians should do the work of midwives. The Bible speaks of women at childbirth being attended by women, and thus it ought always to be. Women should be educated and trained to act skilfully as midwives and physicians to their sex. This is the Lord's plan. Let us educate ladies to become intelligent in the work of treating the diseases of their sex. We ought to have a school where women can be educated by women physicians to do the best possible work in treating the diseases of women. Among us as a people, the medical work should stand at its highest. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 11] In Loma Linda we have an advantageous center for the carrying on of various missionary enterprises. We can see that it was in the providence of God that this sanitarium was placed in the possession of our people. We should appreciate Loma Linda as a place which the Lord foresaw we should need and which he gave us. There is a very precious work to be done in connection with the interests of the sanitarium and school at Loma Linda, and this will be done, 309 when we all work to that end, moving unitedly in God's order. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 12] The Word of God is to be our lesson book. The Lord is our helper and our God. Let us look to him to open the way for the carrying out of our plans. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 13] At Loma Linda many can be educated to work as missionaries in the cause of health and temperance. Teachers are to be prepared for many lines of work. Schools are to be established in places where as yet no efforts have been made. Missionaries are to go to other States where little work has been done. The work of promulgating the principles of health reform must be accomplished. God help us as a people to be wise. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 13} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 14] I feel a deep interest that careful study shall be given to the needs of our institutions at Loma Linda, and that right moves shall be made. In the carrying forward of the work at this place, men of talent and decided spirituality are needed. The best teachers are to be employed in the educational work, men and women who will walk circumspectly, depending wholly upon the Lord. If the teachers in medical lines will stand in their place in the fear of God, we shall see a good work done. With Christ as our educator, we may reach a high standard in the knowledge of the true science of healing. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 14} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 15] That which is of most importance is that the students be taught how to represent aright the principles of health reform. Teach them to pursue this line of study faithfully, combined with other essential lines of education. The grace of Jesus Christ will give wisdom to all who follow the Lord's plan of true education. Let the students follow closely the example of the One who purchased the human race with the costly price of his own life. Let them appeal to the Saviour and depend upon him as the One who heals all manner of diseases. The Lord would have the workers make special efforts to point the sick and suffering of the Great Physician who made the human body. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 15} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 16] It is well that our training-schools for Christian workers should be established near to our health institutions, that the students may be educated in the principles of healthful living. Institutions that send forth workers who are able to give a reason for their faith, and who have a faith which works by love and purifies the soul, are of great value. I have clear instruction that, wherever it is possible, schools should be established near to our sanitariums, that each institution may be a help and strength to the other. He who created man has an interest in those who suffer. He has directed in the establishment of our sanitariums, and in the building up of our schools close to our sanitariums, that they may become efficient mediums in training men and women for the work of ministering to suffering humanity. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 16} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 17] Let Seventh-day Adventist medical workers remember that the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Christ was the greatest physician that ever trod this sin-cursed earth. The Lord would have his people come to him for their power of healing. He will baptize them with his Holy Spirit, and fit them for a service that will make them a blessing in restoring the spiritual and physical health of those who need healing. - {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 17} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 18] Now that I have finished reading this manuscript, I desire to say a few words regarding the cities in the South and the East and the West. The Lord God of Israel will hold the men and women who are intelligent in regard to the truth for this time, accountable for those cities that are left without warning. The instruction has been given me, Work the cities; work the cities where the first and second angel's messages were proclaimed. The work of warning the cities has been kept before us for more than twenty years; but who has felt a burden for this work? Who has done real missionary work among them? We are bidden to go to those cities and preach the gospel and heal the sick. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 18} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 19] Do not expect that men will come to you and say, If you will come and work in our cities, we will support you. You are to go into these cities and begin work in a humble way. If we had faithfully followed from the first the instruction regarding city work, means would have come in for us to establish in these places schools and small sanitariums where we could treat the sick, and preach the gospel, and educate the people in Bible truth. We would have had means to sustain all the enterprises for missionary work that we could carry forward. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 19} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 20] God has not left the Southern field. There are precious souls there, and there are precious souls in other places that I have mentioned to you here. The Lord wants us to wake up, and to take hold of seeming impossibilities, trusting him for success. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 20} [GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 21] If we will do our best, if we will pray and believe and trust in the Lord, we shall see of the salvation of God. Brethren, where is your faith? Why are you not working in the difficult places? Here are missionaries from foreign countries who, under every discouragement, are trying to press into missionary fields. Will you not go into the cities and try to get hold of the people? May God help us to see our duty, and to do it, is my prayer. {GCB, June 4, 1909 par. 21} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 1] June 6, 1909 Get Ready! By Mrs. E. G. White Sabbath Morning, May 29 "And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write: These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 1} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 2] What a word of caution is this! How many of us can comprehend what it means? All through the Word of God cautions are given and instruction is imparted that point out to us the Way, the Truth, and the Life. "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis," the Word continues, "which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy." Who of this company gathered here today will be among those "few names"? Here is brought to view a little company that is confessed before the throne of God as "worthy." They have not had a hit-and-miss religion, but an experience that has proved them as true to principle as the compass to the pole. Of such the Lord declares. "The same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 2} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 3] "Unto the angel of the church of the 345 Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 3} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 4] In the words spoken to the Laodicean church we can see the sure result of half-hearted service. There are many who claim to believe the truth, who do not obey the truth in a way that the world can take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus and learned of him. This condition of lukewarmness is a pitiable condition in which to be. "I would thou wert cold or hot," the Lord declares; "so then, because thou are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see." {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 4} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 5] Let none think that their understanding of the Scriptures, their knowledge of the truth for this time, will suffice to save them. Let none take the position before God that was taken by the people spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, who offered to God only outward service. "Wherefore have we fasted," they said to God, "and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?" God showed this people that their worship was unacceptable to him because it lacked heart service. "Behold, in the day of your fast," he said to them, "ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high." {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 5} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 6] The Lord shows that there is something better for his people than mere outward worship. He demands of them a pure and undefiled religion. The gold he bids them buy of him is the gold of character. The eyesalve is obtained by earnest seeking of the Lord. We are to come to God confessing our sins and humbling our hearts before him. If ever there was a people who needed to pray most earnestly to God, if ever there was a people who needed to strip themselves of everything that is offensive to him, it is this people who profess to keep the commandments of God and to have the faith of Jesus. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 6} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 7] The next words present something to be done. There are confessions to be made to one another and to God, and unless these confessions are made, we reveal that the door of the heart is closed. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." My brethren and sisters, I ask you, who among us is humbling the heart before God? Who is purifying the soul by obedience to the truth. Let us study this chapter on our bended knees, asking God to reveal to us our true character, and to impress our mind with what we should do lest we stand in the way of sinners and exert an influence that will be a hindrance to the work. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 7} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 8] A View of Christ's Sufferings Last Tuesday this scripture was impressed upon me in a wonderful manner. I was awakened from sleep, and given a view of the sufferings of Christ for men. His sacrifice, the mockery and derision he received at the hands of wicked men, his agony in the garden of Gethsemane, his betrayal and crucifixion, -- all were vividly portrayed before me. Three times the scenes passed before me. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 8} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 9] I saw Christ in the midst of a large company of people, a company much larger than we have here this morning. He was seeking to impress their minds with his teachings, but he was despised and rejected by them. Men were heaping upon him abuse and shame. My distress was very great as I looked upon the scene. I pleaded with God, What is to be done with this congregation? Will none give up their exalted opinions of self, and seek the Lord as little children? Will none break their hearts before God in repentance and confession? {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 9} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 10] There was presented to me Christ's agony in the garden of Gethsemane, when the mysterious cup trembled in the Redeemer's hand. "Father, if it be possible," he prayed, "let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." As he pleaded with the Father, great drops of blood fell from his face to the ground. The elements of darkness were gathered about the Saviour to discourage his soul. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 10} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 11] Rising from the ground, Christ went to the place where he had left his disciples, bidding them watch and pray with him lest they be overcome by temptation. He would see if they understood his agony; he needed their human sympathy; but he found them sleeping. Three times he went thus to them, and each time they were asleep. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 11} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 12] Three times Christ prayed, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me." It was here that the destiny of a lost world hung in the balance. Should he refuse to drink the cup, the result would be eternal ruin to the human race. But an angel from heaven strengthened the Son of God to accept the cup and drink its bitter woe. What if his request had been granted, and the cup had passed from him? The scene that was presented before me as the result of such a decision made me for a time lose all consciousness. When I aroused the scene was presented to me again and again until it had passed before me three times. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 12} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 13] For whom was all this agony and shame endured? It was for those who claim to be leaders in the church, those who claim to have an experience in religious lines, as well as for the open sinner. How few there are who realize that all this was borne for them individually! how few who say, It was for me, that I might form a character for the future immortal life! As these things were presented to me so vividly, I thought, I shall never be able to present it before the people as it is; and I have given you only a faint representation of what was shown me. As I have thought of that cup trembling in the hands of Christ; as I have realized that he might have refused to drink it and left the world to perish in its sin, I pledged that every energy of my life should be devoted to Christ, that I may win souls to him. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 13} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 14] The Great Need for This Time We can not afford in the few days that we have here on earth to spend our time in trifling and nothingness. We can not afford to waste our means in the multiplying of pictures. We need to have our souls humbled before God, that every heart may drink in the truth and let it work in the life a reformation that will convince the world that this is indeed the truth of God. Let the life be hid with Christ in God. Only when we seek the Lord as little children, when we cease picking flaws in our brethren and sisters, and in those who are seeking to carry faithfully the responsibilities of the work, and seek to get our own hearts right with God, can he use us to the glory of his name. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 14} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 15] When I think of the great work there is to be done, and see how few there are who realize the magnitude and importance of the work, and the shortness of time in which to do it, I feel that I must get right out as I did in my younger days. Then I labored when I was no stronger than I am now, and I saw the power of God revealed in a remarkable manner. I have seen the room in which we were gathered filled with the glory of God, not one sitting in his seat, but all lying prostrate upon the floor. And when they were able to speak, the glory of God shone in their faces and the praise of God was upon their lips. It is not always the brightest talent that accomplishes the most for the cause of God. God can speak through a humble mind if that mind is consecrated to him and to his service. When we catch the spirit of the message which is to lead souls to choose between life and death, we shall see a work done that we do not now dream of. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 15} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 16] We are to consider the needs of the cities of the East, where the first and second angels' messages went with such power. The Lord wrought mightily in these places for rich and poor. I am made sad when I see those who have had such great light question whether they can send the light into the large cities. Do you not know, my brethren, that angels of God are promised to go with you in every undertaking for the spread of gospel truth? Go and speak the truth in its simplicity, and God will send power, and the truth will affect hearts, and many, many souls will come to a knowledge of its saving grace. In the place of stopping to question let us consider the wide field for labor before this people. There are thousands who have never heard the message -- not any part of the message. The delegates who are present -- I am so thankful when I consider that they come from almost all parts of the world -- are to remember that there are many other workers to be raised up to take a part in the work. {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 16} [GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 17] We all need to come into a self-sacrificing position before God if our work is to be accepted by him. We need to trim our lamps and keep them burning. There are none of us but has an accountability before God. Let us remember that profession is nothing unless we have the truth in the heart. We need the converting power of God to take hold of us that we may understand the needs of a perishing world. Who among us is humbling the heart before God? Who are washing their robes and making them white in the blood of the Lamb? Let 346 us awake from sleep, and pray as we have never prayed before, that the burden of souls may rest upon us. The burden of my message to you is, Get ready, get ready to meet the Lord. Trim your lamps, and let the light of truth shine forth into the byways and hedges. There is a world to be warned of the near approach of the end of all things. - {GCB, June 6, 1909 par. 17} [GCB, May 16, 1913 par. 1] May 16, 1913 Words of Greeting Related by W. C. White I BRING YOU GREETINGS FROM MOTHER, AND FROM HER FAMILY, AND FROM HER HELPERS. HER LAST WORDS TO ME WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONFERENCE WERE: "TELL OUR BRETHREN TO BE OF GOOD CHEER. TELL THEM TO HAVE FAITH IN GOD AND TO EXPECT GREAT THINGS, TO UNDERTAKE GREAT THINGS, AND IN HIS STRENGTH TO GO FORWARD. TELL THEM NOT TO FEAR OR TO LOOK BACK. MY PRAYERS WILL BE WITH THEM. TELL OUR BRETHREN I FEEL PERFECTLY CLEAR THAT IT IS GOD'S WILL 6 THAT I SHALL REMAIN AT HOME AND RESERVE WHAT STRENGTH I HAVE TO HELP IN THE WORK OF BRINGING MY WRITINGS INTO BOOK FORM, SO THAT THEY CAN BE PUBLISHED FOR THE PEOPLE." {GCB, May 16, 1913 par. 1} [GCB, May 16, 1913 par. 2] AS FATHER'S AND MOTHER'S NAMES HAVE BEEN MENTIONED HERE SEVERAL TIMES THIS MORNING, I THOUGHT IT PROPER TO BRING YOU THIS WORD OF GREETING, AND TO ANSWER THE QUESTION WHICH A THOUSAND WILL ASK ME, "HOW IS SISTER WHITE'S HEALTH?" MOTHER IS EIGHTY-FIVE YEARS OLD. SHE FEELS THE INFIRMITIES OF AGE, BUT SHE IS NOT SUFFERING WITH SICKNESS. SHE IS COMFORTABLY WELL. ALMOST EVERY PLEASANT DAY SHE RIDES OUT FOR AN HOUR OR TWO. USUALLY SHE DEVOTES AN HOUR OR TWO TO READING AND WRITING, FROM DAY TO DAY. VERY FREQUENTLY, AS I VISIT HER IN THE MORNING, I FIND THE REVIEW IN HER HANDS, AND SHE SAYS, "WHAT A WONDERFUL PAPER! WHAT AN INTERESTING REPORT OF OUR WORK!" AND IN CONNECTION WITH VARIOUS REPORTS IN THE REVIEW SHE OFTEN COMMENTS ON THE PROGRESS OF THE WORK IN MANY LANDS. {GCB, May 16, 1913 par. 2} [GCB, May 16, 1913 par. 3] MOTHER'S COURAGE IS GOOD. SHE HAS NO FEAR OF THE FUTURE. SHE EXPECTS TO REST IN THE GRAVE A LITTLE WHILE BEFORE THE LORD COMES, BUT SHE HAS NO DREAD. HER ONLY ANXIETY IS TO USE DAY BY DAY WHAT STRENGTH GOD GIVES HER, IN A WAY MOST ACCEPTABLE TO HER MASTER. {GCB, May 16, 1913 par. 3} [GCB, May 16, 1913 par. 4] AGAIN I SAY, BRETHREN AND SISTERS, I THANK GOD FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF MEETING WITH YOU ONCE AGAIN. {GCB, May 16, 1913 par. 4} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 1] June 1, 1913 CONFIDENCE IN GOD W. C. WHITE MAY 30, 8:30 A. M. I DESIRE YOU TO STUDY WITH ME SOME MESSAGES FOUND IN THE PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH, WHICH HAVE BEEN RECORDED FOR OUR ENCOURAGEMENT. WE READ: "O LORD, THOU ART MY GOD; I WILL EXALT THEE, I WILL PRAISE THY NAME; FOR THOU HAST DONE WONDERFUL THINGS; THY COUNSELS OF OLD ARE FAITHFULNESS AND TRUTH." "THOU HAST BEEN A STRENGTH TO THE POOR, A STRENGTH TO THE NEEDY IN HIS DISTRESS, A REFUGE FROM THE STORM, A SHADOW FROM THE HEAT, WHEN THE BLAST OF THE TERRIBLE ONES IS AS A STORM AGAINST THE WALL." ISAIAH 25:1, 4. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 1} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 2] AGAIN WE READ: "IN THAT DAY SHALL THIS SONG BE SUNG IN THE LAND OF JUDAH: WE HAVE A STRONG CITY; SALVATION WILL GOD APPOINT FOR WALLS AND BULWARKS." ISAIAH 26:1. WHAT A COMFORTING STATEMENT! AND HOW TRULY HAVE WE SEEN THIS EXEMPLIFIED IN OUR INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE, IN OUR EXPERIENCES AS FAMILIES, IN OUR WORK AS A CHURCH, AS A CONFERENCE, AS LABORERS IN THE MISSION FIELD! WHEN IN OUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WE FEEL THAT THE ENEMY IS COMING IN LIKE A FLOOD, WHEN HE IS PRESSING US WITH TEMPTATIONS SORE, APPROACHING US FROM SOME UNEXPECTED QUARTER IN AN EFFORT TO ENSNARE AND DISHEARTEN, O, HOW MUCH WE NEED HELP! AND AS WE LOOK ABOUT US, AS WE APPEAL TO MEN FOR SYMPATHY AND COUNSEL, HOW INADEQUATE THE RESPONSE! BUT, O, THERE IS A SOURCE OF HELP, OF UNFAILING STRENGTH; AND WHEN WE PROSTRATE OURSELVES BEFORE GOD, AND CONFESS OUR SINFULNESS, OUR ERRORS, OUR IGNORANCE, AND PLEAD WITH HIM FOR WISDOM, FOR STRENGTH, FOR FORGIVENESS, FOR SALVATION, O, HOW SWEET IS SUCH COMMUNION WITH OUR GOD; AND THERE IS SO MUCH FOR US TO ENJOY, SUCH TREASURES OF GRACE FOR US ALL, IF WE WOULD BUT COME TO THE SAVIOUR MORE SIMPLY, MORE FREQUENTLY, MORE TRUSTINGLY. 219 {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 2} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 3] "OPEN YE THE GATES," THE SCRIPTURE SAYS, "THAT THE RIGHTEOUS NATION WHICH KEEPETH THE TRUTH MAY ENTER IN. THOU WILT KEEP HIM IN PERFECT PEACE, WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON THEE: BECAUSE HE TRUSTETH IN THEE. TRUST YE IN THE LORD FOREVER: FOR IN THE LORD JEHOVAH IS EVERLASTING STRENGTH." VERSES 2-4. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 3} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 4] NOW, LET US PASS TO THE TWENTY-SEVENTH CHAPTER OF ISAIAH: "IN THAT DAY SING YE UNTO HER, A VINEYARD OF RED WINE. I THE LORD DO KEEP IT; I WILL WATER IT EVERY MOMENT: LEST ANY HURT IT, I WILL KEEP IT NIGHT AND DAY." WE HAVE BEEN PICTURING THE WORK OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. WHILE HER WORK IS GLORIOUS, HER MEMBERSHIP IS WEAK. GOD, IN HIS INFINITE PLAN, HAS ARRANGED THAT A PERFECT WORK SHALL BE DONE BY A COMBINATION OF IMPERFECT PEOPLE. BUT, BRETHREN, THE LORD WANTS US TO LOOK UPON THE CHURCH AS HE REGARDS IT, AND SING ITS PRAISES, FOR HE SAYS, "I THE LORD DO KEEP IT; I WILL WATER IT EVERY MOMENT: LEST ANY HURT IT, I WILL KEEP IT NIGHT AND DAY. . . . LET HIM TAKE HOLD OF MY STRENGTH, THAT HE MAY MAKE PEACE WITH ME; AND HE SHALL MAKE PEACE WITH ME. HE SHALL CAUSE THEM THAT COME OF JACOB TO TAKE ROOT: ISRAEL SHALL BLOSSOM AND BUD, AND FILL THE FACE OF THE WORLD WITH FRUIT." VERSES 2, 3, 5, 6. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 4} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 5] AS WE ATTEND THE COUNCIL OF OUR MISSIONARIES DAY BY DAY IN THE EARLY MORNING, WE CAN SEE THAT GOD HAS BESTOWED A GREAT BLESSING UPON THEM IN ENABLING THEM TO COME TOGETHER AT THIS MEETING AND COMPARE EXPERIENCES, THAT THEY MAY BE BETTER PREPARED TO GO OUT AGAIN AND GATHER IN SOULS. AND THIS IS OUR PRIVILEGE IN OUR CHURCH, IN OUR HOME TOWN, TO "FILL THE FACE OF THE WORLD WITH FRUIT." CHRIST'S HEART IS LONGING FOR FRUIT. HE LONGS TO SEE FRUIT-BEARING IN YOU AND IN ME AND IN EVERY MEMBER. EVERY BRANCH IS TO BEAR FRUIT FOR HIM. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 5} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 6] I TURN NOW TO ANOTHER PROMISE, IN THE FORTY-THIRD CHAPTER. THE QUESTION COMES UP IN THE MINDS OF OUR PEOPLE, "YES, THE LORD IS BLESSING OUR MISSION WORK, BUT, O, WHAT ABOUT THE WEAKNESSES, WHAT ABOUT THE SHAKING? IS THERE GOING TO BE A GREATER SHAKING THAN WE HAVE HAD? MY ANSWER IS, HAVE CONFIDENCE IN GOD! ［MANY AMENS.］ THE KNOWLEDGE ON YOUR PART AND MINE THAT THE GOD OF HEAVEN KNOWS US INDIVIDUALLY, THAT HE HAS PLANNED FOR US, AND FOR THE WHOLE PEOPLE; THE SIMPLE CONFIDENCE THAT THE LORD IS GOING TO DO FOR US TOMORROW WHAT HE DID FOR US YESTERDAY,--THAT IS WHAT WILL HOLD US STEADY WHEN THE SHAKINGS COME. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 6} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 7] HERE IS WHAT THE PROPHET SAYS WITH REFERENCE TO THE EXPERIENCE OF THE CHURCH IN TIME OF TROUBLE: "THUS SAITH THE LORD THAT CREATED THEE, O JACOB, AND HE THAT FORMED THEE, O ISRAEL, FEAR NOT: FOR I HAVE REDEEMED THEE, I HAVE CALLED THEE BY THY NAME; THOU ART MINE. WHEN THOU PASSEST THROUGH THE WATERS, I WILL BE WITH THEE; AND THROUGH THE RIVERS, THEY SHALL NOT OVERFLOW THEE: WHEN THOU WALKEST THROUGH THE FIRE, THOU SHALT NOT BE BURNED; NEITHER SHALL THE FLAME KINDLE UPON THEE. FOR I AM THE LORD THY GOD, THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL, THY SAVIOUR." VERSES 1-3. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 7} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 8] IN THE LIGHT OF THIS ENCOURAGEMENT, BRETHREN, SHALL WE NOT SAY, IN THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET, "THE LORD GOD WILL HELP ME"? ISAIAH 50:7. SHALL WE NOT MAKE THIS OUR WATCHWORD? SHALL IT NOT BE OUR MOTTO? WILL HE HELP US, BRETHREN, AS HE HAS PROMISED? HAS HE DONE IT IN THE PAST? WILL HE DO IT TODAY? WILL HE DO IT TOMORROW? HE SURELY WILL. "THE LORD GOD WILL HELP ME; THEREFORE SHALL I NOT BE CONFOUNDED: THEREFORE HAVE I SET MY FACE LIKE A FLINT, AND I KNOW THAT I SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED." {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 8} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 9] BRETHREN, LET US LIVE IN THE LIGHT OF THESE PROMISES, THESE EXHORTATIONS, THESE PICTURES OF WHAT GOD WANTS OUR EXPERIENCES TO BE IN SERVING HIM AND IN STANDING FOREVER AS A COVENANT BEFORE AN UNBELIEVING WORLD THAT THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE AFFAIRS OF MEN; THAT THERE IS A PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD WHO BELIEVE THERE IS A GOD, A PEOPLE WHO KNOW HIM, WHO HEAR HIS VOICE, WHO SPEAK HIS WORDS, AND WHO STRIVE TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS, AND TO CONTINUE TO DO IN THIS OLD, WICKED WORLD THE WORK THAT HE DID WHEN HE WAS HERE. BRETHREN, THIS IS OUR CONFIDENCE, THIS IS OUR STRENGTH. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 9} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 10] NOW, IT HAS BEEN A PART OF MY PLAN THIS MORNING TO ANSWER OR TO SPEAK OF SOME OF THE QUESTIONS AND SOME OF THE PERPLEXITIES WHICH ARE IN THE MINDS OF OUR PEOPLE REGARDING OUR FUTURE WORK, AND PARTICULARLY REGARDING THAT PART OF THE WORK WITH WHICH I AM MOST INTIMATELY CONNECTED, THAT IS, THE WORK OF SISTER WHITE. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 10} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 11] WHAT WOULD BE THE INFLUENCE UPON OUR WORK IF SISTER WHITE SHOULD DIE? ［VOICE: GOD LIVES!］ HAS THE LORD MADE KNOWN TO HER WHO IS TO BE HER SUCCESSOR? --NO. THE LORD HAS NOT TOLD HER HOW LONG SHE WILL LIVE. HE HAS NOT TOLD HER IN A POSITIVE WAY THAT SHE IS TO DIE; BUT SHE EXPECTS TO REST IN THE GRAVE A LITTLE TIME BEFORE THE LORD COMES. ABOUT FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, IN ONE OF HER NIGHT VISIONS, SHE CAME OUT OF A VERY DARK PLACE INTO THE BRIGHT LIGHT, AND FATHER WAS WITH HER. WHEN HE SAW HER BY HIS SIDE HE EXCLAIMED IN GREAT SURPRISE, "WHAT, HAVE YOU BEEN THERE TOO, ELLEN?" SHE ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD THAT TO MEAN THAT THE LORD WOULD LET HER REST IN THE GRAVE A LITTLE WHILE BEFORE THE LORD COMES. SHE HAS BEEN TRYING TO WORK WITH REFERENCE TO THAT. OFTENTIMES SHE HAS HAD MESSAGES TO HASTEN HER WORK,--THE WORK OF PREPARING HER BOOKS,--BECAUSE SHE HAD BUT A SHORT TIME IN WHICH TO WORK. SHE HAS BEEN ENDEAVORING TO GET HER WRITINGS INTO BOOK FORM, SO THAT THEY MAY BE OF SERVICE TO THE CHURCH. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 11} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 12] DOES SHE KNOW WHO WILL BE HER SUCCESSOR?--NO. REPEATEDLY PEOPLE WRITE TO HER, AND SOME COME LONG DISTANCES TO VISIT HER, AND SOME BRING THEIR FRIENDS TO HER, WITH THE BELIEF AND CONFIDENCE THAT GOD HAS SELECTED THEM OR THEIR FRIENDS, AS THE CASE MAY BE, TO TAKE UP THE WORK WHICH THE LORD HAS COMMITTED TO HER, WHEN SHE LAYS IT DOWN. SOME THINK THAT THEY ARE TO TAKE IT AT HER DEATH; OTHERS THINK THAT THE TIME HAS COME ALREADY, AND THEY HAVE FULL CONFIDENCE THAT WHEN THEY COME INTO HER PRESENCE, SHE WILL RECOGNIZE THEM, AND THAT SHE WILL TELL THEM THAT THE LORD HAS SHOWN HER THAT THEY ARE THE ONES. BUT IN EVERY CASE SHE HAS BEEN OBLIGED TO TELL THEM, "THE LORD HAS GIVEN ME NO SUCH COMMANDMENT." {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 12} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 13] I DO NOT KNOW AS I CAN DO BETTER IN GIVING A MORE FULL ANSWER TO SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS THAN TO READ EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS WHICH SHE HAS WRITTEN AT VARIOUS TIMES IN ANSWER TO QUESTIONS ALONG THIS LINE. HERE IS ONE WRITTEN JULY 8, 1906:-- {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 13} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 14] "DEAR BROTHER: THERE ARE SOME WHO THINK THEY ARE ABLE TO MEASURE THE CHARACTER AND TO ESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK THE LORD HAS GIVEN ME TO DO. THEIR OWN MIND AND JUDGMENT ARE THE STANDARD BY WHICH THEY WOULD WEIGH THE TESTIMONIES. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 14} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 15] "MY INSTRUCTOR SAID TO ME: 'TELL THESE MEN THAT GOD HAS NOT COMMITTED TO THEM THE WORK OF MEASURING, CLASSIFYING, AND DEFINING THE CHARACTER OF THE TESTIMONIES. THOSE WHO ATTEMPT THIS ARE SURE TO ERR IN THEIR CONCLUSIONS. THE LORD WOULD HAVE MEN ADHERE TO THEIR APPOINTED WORK. IF THEY WILL KEEP THE WAY OF THE LORD, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO DISCERN CLEARLY THAT THE WORK WHICH HE HAS APPOINTED ME TO DO IS NOT A WORK OF HUMAN DEVISING.' {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 15} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 16] "THOSE WHO CAREFULLY READ THE TESTIMONIES AS THEY HAVE APPEARED FROM THE EARLY DAYS, NEED NOT BE PERPLEXED AS TO THEIR ORIGIN. THE MANY BOOKS, WRITTEN BY THE HELP OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD, BEAR A LIVING WITNESS TO THE CHARACTER OF THE TESTIMONIES. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 16} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 17] "IN THE EARLY DAYS OF OUR EXPERIENCE IN THE MESSAGE, THE SPIRIT OF GOD OFTEN CAME UPON A FEW OF US AS WE WERE ASSEMBLED, AND I WAS TAKEN AWAY IN VISION. THE LORD GAVE SUCH LIGHT AND EVIDENCE, SUCH COMFORT AND HOPE AND JOY, THAT HIS PRAISES WERE UPON OUR LIPS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 17} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 18] "WHILE MY HUSBAND LIVED, HE ACTED AS HELPER AND COUNSELOR IN SENDING OUT THE MESSAGES THAT WERE GIVEN TO ME. WE TRAVELED EXTENSIVELY. SOMETIMES LIGHT WOULD BE GIVEN TO ME IN THE NIGHT SEASON, SOMETIMES IN THE DAYTIME BEFORE LARGE CONGREGATIONS. THE INSTRUCTION I RECEIVED IN VISION WAS FAITHFULLY WRITTEN OUT BY ME, AS I HAD TIME AND STRENGTH FOR THE WORK. AFTERWARD WE EXAMINED THE MATTER TOGETHER, MY HUSBAND CORRECTING GRAMMATICAL ERRORS AND ELIMINATING NEEDLESS REPETITION. THEN IT WAS CAREFULLY COPIED FOR THE PERSONS ADDRESSED, OR FOR THE PRINTER. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 18} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 19] "AS THE WORK GREW, OTHERS ASSISTED ME IN THE PREPARATION OF MATTER FOR PUBLICATION. AFTER MY HUSBAND'S DEATH, FAITHFUL HELPERS JOINED ME, WHO LABORED UNTIRINGLY IN THE WORK OF COPYING THE TESTIMONIES, AND PREPARING ARTICLES FOR PUBLICATION. BUT THE REPORTS THAT ARE CIRCULATED, THAT ANY OF MY HELPERS ARE PERMITTED TO ADD MATTER OR CHANGE THE MEANING OF THE MESSAGES I WRITE OUT, ARE NOT TRUE. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 19} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 20] "WHILE WE WERE IN AUSTRALIA, THE LORD INSTRUCTED ME THAT W. C. WHITE SHOULD BE RELIEVED FROM THE MANY BURDENS HIS BRETHREN WOULD LAY UPON HIM, THAT HE MIGHT BE MORE FREE TO ASSIST ME IN THE WORK THE LORD HAS LAID UPON ME. . . . {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 20} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 21] "IT REQUIRES MUCH WISDOM AND SOUND JUDGMENT, QUICKENED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, TO KNOW THE PROPER TIME AND MANNER TO PRESENT THE INSTRUCTION THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN. WHEN THE MINDS OF PERSONS REPROVED ARE UNDER A STRONG DECEPTION, THEY NATURALLY RESIST THE TESTIMONY; AND HAVING TAKEN AN ATTITUDE OF RESISTANCE, IT IS DIFFICULT FOR THEM AFTERWARD TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN WRONG. . . . {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 21} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 22] "I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT MANY WHO GIVE HEED TO THE FALSE SCIENCE OF THE ENEMY WOULD DENOUNCE MY WORK AS THAT OF A FALSE PROPHET, AND WOULD PLACE UPON THE TESTIMONY SUCH INTERPRETATIONS AS TEND TO CHANGE THE TRUTH OF GOD INTO A LIE. SATAN IS ON THE ALERT; AND SOME WHO IN THE PAST HAVE BEEN USED BY THE LORD IN DOING HIS WORK, BUT WHO HAVE PERMITTED THEMSELVES TO BE DECEIVED, WILL BE STIRRED UP TO MAKE AN IMPROPER USE OF THE MESSAGES GIVEN. BECAUSE THEY DO NOT WISH TO LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF REPROOF, BECAUSE THEY WILL NOT HEAR COUNSEL, AND IMPROVE THEIR COURSE OF ACTION, AND 220 DO THEIR APPOINTED WORK, THEY WILL MISCONSTRUE THE MESSAGES TO THE CHURCH, AND CONFUSE MANY MINDS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 22} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 23] "NEVERTHELESS, I AM TO BEAR THE MESSAGE THAT IS GIVEN ME TO BEAR, SO LONG AS THE LORD SHALL CHOOSE. HE HAS NOT GIVEN ME THE WORK OF SETTLING ALL THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS THAT ARE CHERISHED IN HEARTS OF UNBELIEF. JUST AS LONG AS A DOOR IS OPEN TO RECEIVE THE TEMPTER'S SUGGESTIONS, DIFFICULTIES WILL MULTIPLY. THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO WILL NOT COME TO THE LIGHT ARE OPEN TO UNBELIEF. IF MY TIME AND STRENGTH ARE CONSUMED UPON SUCH MATTERS, THIS SERVES SATAN'S PURPOSES. THE LORD HAS SAID TO ME: 'BEAR THE TESTIMONIES. YOUR WORK IS NOT TO SETTLE DIFFICULTIES; YOUR WORK IS TO REPROVE, AND TO PRESENT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST.'" {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 23} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 24] I WILL NOW READ A PORTION OF ANOTHER LETTER, WRITTEN OCT. 23, 1907:-- {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 24} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 25] "DEAR BROTHER: I RECEIVED AND READ YOUR RECENT LETTER. REGARDING THE SISTER WHO THINKS THAT SHE HAS BEEN CHOSEN TO FILL THE POSITION THAT SISTER WHITE HAS OCCUPIED, I HAVE THIS TO SAY: SHE MAY BE HONEST, BUT SHE IS CERTAINLY DECEIVED. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 25} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 26] "ABOUT A YEAR AFTER THE DEATH OF MY HUSBAND, I WAS VERY FEEBLE, AND IT WAS FEARED THAT I MIGHT LIVE BUT A SHORT TIME. AT THE HEALDSBURG CAMP-MEETING, I WAS TAKEN INTO THE TENT WHERE THERE WAS A LARGE GATHERING OF OUR PEOPLE. I ASKED TO BE RAISED UP FROM THE LOUNGE ON WHICH I WAS LYING, AND ASSISTED TO THE SPEAKER'S PLATFORM, THAT I MIGHT SAY A FEW WORDS OF FAREWELL TO THE PEOPLE. AS I TRIED TO SPEAK, THE POWER OF GOD CAME UPON ME, AND THRILLED ME THROUGH AND THROUGH. MANY IN THE CONGREGATION OBSERVED THAT I WAS WEAK, AND THAT MY FACE AND HANDS SEEMED BLOODLESS; BUT AS I BEGAN SPEAKING, THEY SAW THE COLOR COMING INTO MY LIPS AND FACE, AND KNEW THAT A MIRACLE WAS BEING WROUGHT IN MY BEHALF. I STOOD BEFORE THE PEOPLE HEALED, AND SPOKE WITH FREEDOM. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 26} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 27] "AFTER THIS EXPERIENCE, LIGHT WAS GIVEN ME THAT THE LORD HAD RAISED ME UP TO BEAR TESTIMONY FOR HIM IN MANY COUNTRIES, AND THAT HE WOULD GIVE ME GRACE AND STRENGTH FOR THE WORK. IT WAS ALSO SHOWN ME THAT MY SON, W. C. WHITE, SHOULD BE MY HELPER AND COUNSELOR, AND THAT THE LORD WOULD PLACE ON HIM THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND OF A SOUND MIND. . . . {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 27} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 28] "THE ASSURANCE WAS GIVEN ME: 'YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THE WORK THE LORD HAS CHOSEN YOU TO DO. YOU WILL BE TAUGHT OF GOD HOW TO BRING THE TRUTH IN ITS SIMPLICITY BEFORE THE PEOPLE. THE GOD OF TRUTH WILL SUSTAIN YOU, AND CONVINCING PROOF WILL BE GIVEN THAT HE IS LEADING YOU. GOD WILL GIVE YOU OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT, AND HIS GRACE AND WISDOM AND KEEPING POWER WILL BE WITH YOU. . . . {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 28} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 29] "'THE LORD WILL BE YOUR INSTRUCTOR. YOU WILL MEET WITH DECEPTIVE INFLUENCES; THEY WILL COME IN MANY FORMS, IN PANTHEISM AND OTHER FORMS OF INFIDELITY; BUT FOLLOW WHERE I SHALL GUIDE YOU, AND YOU WILL BE SAFE.' . . . {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 29} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 30] "THIS WORD WAS GIVEN ME IN 1882. . . . MORE RECENTLY, IN A TIME OF PERPLEXITY, THE LORD SAID: 'I HAVE GIVEN YOU MY SERVANT, W. C. WHITE, AND I WILL GIVE HIM JUDGMENT TO BE YOUR HELPER. I WILL GIVE HIM SKILL AND UNDERSTANDING TO MANAGE WISELY.'" {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 30} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 31] W. C. WHITE: SOME OF THIS MAY SEEM TO BE QUITE PERSONAL, BUT, BRETHREN, I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO BRING BEFORE YOU THE INSTRUCTION THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN MOTHER WITH REFERENCE TO THE HANDLING OF HER WORK, WITHOUT PRESENTING IT TO YOU IN THE CONNECTION IN WHICH IT HAS BEEN WRITTEN. SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME IF IN READING THIS, I AM PRESENTING SOME THINGS THAT IT MIGHT SEEM BETTER FOR ME NOT TO PRESENT. I WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT HAS BEEN PRESENTED TO MOTHER AS THE BASIS OF HER CONFIDENCE REGARDING THE FUTURE AND THE BASIS OF HER PLANS REGARDING THE HANDLING OF HER MANUSCRIPTS AND HER BOOKS. I CONTINUE READING:-- {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 31} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 32] "THE LORD HAS GIVEN ME OTHER FAITHFUL HELPERS IN MY WORK. MANY OF MY DISCOURSES HAVE BEEN REPORTED, AND HAVE BEEN PUT BEFORE THE PEOPLE IN PRINTED FORM. THROUGH NEARLY THE WHOLE OF MY LONG EXPERIENCE I HAVE ENDEAVORED, DAY BY DAY, TO WRITE OUT THAT WHICH WAS REVEALED TO ME IN VISIONS OF THE NIGHT. MANY MESSAGES OF COUNSEL AND REPROOF AND ENCOURAGEMENT HAVE BEEN SENT OUT TO INDIVIDUALS, AND MUCH OF THE INSTRUCTION THAT I HAVE RECEIVED FOR THE CHURCH HAS BEEN PUBLISHED IN PERIODICALS AND BOOKS, AND CIRCULATED IN MANY LANDS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 32} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 33] "AS THE WORK HAS GROWN, THE NUMBER OF MY HELPERS HAS INCREASED. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 33} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 34] "SISTER MARIAN DAVIS WAS A GREAT HELP IN COPYING MY TESTIMONIES, AND IN PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION THE MANUSCRIPTS WHICH I PLACED IN HER HAND. I APPRECIATED HER HELP VERY MUCH. SHE NOW SLEEPS IN JESUS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 34} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 35] "FOR ELEVEN YEARS MISS MAGGIE HARE WAS AMONG MY WORKERS. SHE WAS A FAITHFUL AND TRUE HELPER. SHE RETURNED TO NEW ZEALAND. ［SHE AGAIN CONNECTED WITH THE WORK IN 1911.］ {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 35} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 36] "RECENTLY MISS MINNIE HAWKINS, OF HOBART, TASMANIA, WHO WAS ONE OF MY COPYISTS IN AUSTRALIA, HAS JOINED MY STAFF OF WORKERS. ［THIS COMMUNICATION FROM WHICH I AM READING, YOU WILL BEAR IN MIND, WAS WRITTEN IN 1907.］ {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 36} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 37] "DURING THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1901, BROTHER C. C. CRISLER WAS IMPRESSED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD THAT I NEEDED HIM IN MY WORK, AND HE OFFERED HIS SERVICES. I GLADLY ACCEPTED HIS HELP. HE IS A FAITHFUL, EFFICIENT, AND CONSCIENTIOUS WORKER. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 37} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 38] "DORES ROBINSON HAS ASSISTED IN COPYING MY TESTIMONIES, AND HE HAS BEEN DILIGENTLY PREPARING 'LIFE INCIDENTS' FOR PUBLICATION. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 38} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 39] "HELEN GRAHAM IS A GOOD STENOGRAPHER, AND HELPS SISTER SARA MCENTERFER AND W. C. WHITE IN THEIR WORK OF CORRESPONDENCE. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 39} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 40] "SISTER SARAH PECK WAS MY BOOKKEEPER AND HELPER FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. SHE HAS LEFT US TO ENGAGE IN SCHOOL WORK AT COLLEGE VIEW. WE NOW HAVE AS BOOKKEEPER, BROTHER PAUL C. MASON. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 40} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 41] "SISTER MCENTERFER IS MY TRAVELING COMPANION, NURSE, AND HELPER IN MANY WAYS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 41} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 42] "SISTER MARY STEWARD AND HER MOTHER ARE WITH US NOW; AND MARY, WHO FOR MANY YEARS HAS SERVED AS PROOF-READER IN THE OFFICES AT BATTLE CREEK AND NASHVILLE, HAS UNITED WITH MY WORKERS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 42} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 43] "THE WORK IS CONSTANTLY MOVING FORWARD. WE ARE MAKING EARNEST EFFORTS TO PLACE MY WRITINGS BEFORE THE PEOPLE. WE HOPE THAT SEVERAL NEW BOOKS WILL GO TO PRESS SHORTLY. IF I AM INCAPACITATED FOR LABOR, MY FAITHFUL WORKERS ARE PREPARED TO CARRY FORWARD THE WORK. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 43} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 44] "ABUNDANT LIGHT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO OUR PEOPLE IN THESE LAST DAYS. WHETHER OR NOT MY LIFE IS SPARED, MY WRITINGS WILL CONSTANTLY SPEAK, AND THEIR WORK WILL GO FORWARD AS LONG AS TIME SHALL LAST. MY WRITINGS ARE KEPT ON FILE IN THE OFFICE, AND EVEN THOUGH I SHOULD NOT LIVE, THESE WORDS THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO ME BY THE LORD WILL STILL HAVE LIFE AND WILL SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE. BUT MY STRENGTH IS YET SPARED, AND I HOPE TO CONTINUE TO DO MUCH USEFUL WORK. I MAY LIVE UNTIL THE COMING OF THE LORD; BUT IF I SHOULD NOT, I TRUST IT MAY BE SAID OF ME, "BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHICH DIE IN THE LORD FROM HENCEFORTH: YEA, SAITH THE SPIRIT, THAT THEY MAY REST FROM THEIR LABORS; AND THEIR WORKS DO FOLLOW THEM.' {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 44} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 45] "THE LORD JEHOVAH IS THE ONE TO SPECIFY HOW THE WORK SHALL BE CARRIED ON UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES. W. C. WHITE HAS HIS COMMISSION. I HAVE INSTRUCTED HIM TO LABOR UNTIRINGLY TO SECURE THE PUBLICATION OF MY WRITINGS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FIRST, AND AFTERWARD TO SECURE THEIR TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION IN MANY OTHER LANGUAGES. . . . I REJOICE THAT WITH THE FAITHFUL HELPERS THAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME, I AM ABLE TO CARRY FORWARD, IN ITS MANY VARIED LINES, THE WORK GIVEN ME TO DO. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 45} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 46] "BOTH OF MY SONS ARE ENGAGED IN GIVING THIS PRESENT TRUTH TO THE WORLD. I AM GLAD THAT THEY ARE BOTH CONNECTED WITH THE PUBLISHING WORK. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 46} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 47] "I THANK GOD FOR THE ASSURANCE OF HIS LOVE, AND THAT I HAVE DAILY HIS LEADING AND GUIDANCE. I AM VERY BUSY WITH MY WRITING. EARLY AND LATE, I AM WRITING OUT THE MATTERS THAT THE LORD OPENS BEFORE ME. THE BURDEN OF MY WORK IS TO PREPARE A PEOPLE TO STAND IN THE DAY OF THE LORD. THE PROMISE OF CHRIST IS SURE. THE TIME IS NOT LONG. WE MUST WORK AND WATCH AND WAIT FOR THE LORD JESUS. WE ARE CALLED UPON TO BE STEADFAST, UNMOVABLE, ALWAYS ABOUNDING IN THE WORK OF THE LORD. ALL OUR HOPES HAVE THEIR FOUNDATION IN CHRIST." {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 47} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 48] IT MAY BE INTERESTING TO YOU TO KNOW THAT MOTHER'S CORPS OF WORKERS HAS CHANGED VERY LITTLE SINCE THE COMMUNICATION THAT I HAVE JUST READ TO YOU WAS WRITTEN, NEARLY SIX YEARS AGO. THE SAME ONES ARE WITH HER NOW, WITH A BROADENED EXPERIENCE; FOR WE ARE LEARNING BETTER EVERY DAY WHAT OUR DUTY IS IN CONNECTION WITH THIS WORK. AND GOD HAS BLESSED IN THE PREPARATION OF BOOKS. YOU HAVE SEEN SOME OF THE MORE RECENT ONES,--THE "ACTS OF THE APOSTLES," AND POSSIBLY THE BOOK JUST FROM THE PRESS, "COUNSELS TO TEACHERS." THE LATTER IS MADE UP OF A PORTION OF TWO VOLUMES OUT OF PRINT, THE OLD "CHRISTIAN EDUCATION," AND THE SMALLER VOLUME ENTITLED "SPECIAL TESTIMONIES ON EDUCATION," TOGETHER WITH CONSIDERABLE NEW MATTER; AND IT HAS BEEN PREPARED WITH REFERENCE TO THE NEEDS OF PARENTS AND STUDENTS, AS WELL AS OF TEACHERS. WE TRUST IT WILL BE A STEADYING INFLUENCE, AND AN ENCOURAGEMENT, IN OUR SCHOOL WORK, AS LONG AS WE SHALL HAVE TO CONDUCT SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES IN THIS WORLD. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 48} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 49] OUR WORKERS ARE NOW GATHERING TOGETHER MATERIAL FOR A NEW EDITION OF "GOSPEL WORKERS." WE ARE ALSO GATHERING INTO CHAPTERS WHAT MOTHER HAS WRITTEN ON OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. PROBABLY NINE TENTHS OF THIS WORK IS ALREADY DONE, AND WE HOPE THAT THE BOOK MAY BE PUBLISHED BEFORE CHRISTMAS. SOME OF THIS MATTER WAS ABOUT READY, WE THOUGHT, TO PLACE IN THE PRINTERS' HANDS, WHEN MOTHER, UPON GOING OVER SOME OF THE CHAPTERS, EXPRESSED HERSELF AS NOT FULLY SATISFIED. SHE THOUGHT THERE WERE OTHER THINGS SHE HAD WRITTEN THAT WE HAD NOT YET FOUND, AND SHE DESIRED THAT THESE BE SEARCHED OUT, IF POSSIBLE, AND INCLUDED. SO WE HAVE LAID THE MANUSCRIPT AWAY IN OUR FIRE-PROOF VAULT, AND AFTER THIS CONFERENCE PROBABLY FOUR DIFFERENT PERSONS WILL SPEND SIX OR EIGHT WEEKS IN READING 221 THROUGH THE THOUSANDS OF PAGES OF MANUSCRIPT IN THE FILE TO SEE IF WE CAN FIND THE ADDITIONAL MATTER THAT SHE THINKS IS IN EXISTENCE. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 49} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 50] IT WOULD BE COMPARATIVELY EASY TO HASTEN ALONG THE PREPARATION OF THESE MANUSCRIPTS FOR PUBLICATION IN BOOK FORM, IF WE WERE TO WRITE IN A LITTLE HERE AND THERE WHERE SHE HAS WRITTEN ONLY A PORTION OF THE STORY ON CERTAIN TOPICS AND HAS LEFT A PORTION INCOMPLETE. I SAY, IF HER SECRETARIES WERE AUTHORIZED BY GOD TO DO THAT WORK, AND COULD WRITE IN THE CONNECTIONS, THE BOOK COULD BE PREPARED FOR THE PRINTER MUCH FASTER. BUT THIS CANNOT BE DONE; WE CAN DEAL ONLY WITH THE MATTER WHICH WE HAVE IN HAND. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 50} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 51] FOR THIS REASON, WHEN YOU GET THE BOOK ON OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY, YOU WILL FIND THAT THERE ARE SOME STORIES PARTLY TOLD, AND NOT FULLY COMPLETED. YOU WILL FIND THAT THERE ARE MANY THINGS YOU HOPED TO READ ABOUT, THAT ARE NOT MENTIONED. MOTHER HAS WRITTEN QUITE FULLY ON SOLOMON, SOMETHING ON THE DIVIDED MONARCHY, A LITTLE ABOUT ELIJAH AND ELISHA, QUITE FULLY ABOUT DANIEL, EZRA, AND NEHEMIAH; AND WE ARE GATHERING THIS AND OTHER MATTER AND GROUPING IT INTO CHAPTERS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 51} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 52] YOU MAY SAY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THIS "GATHERING"? DID NOT SISTER WHITE SIT DOWN AND WRITE OUT QUITE FULLY AND CONNECTEDLY THAT WHICH SHE HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE CONTROVERSY, ABOUT JEROBOAM AND REHOBOAM, ABOUT JEREMIAH AND ISAIAH AND OTHER OLD TESTAMENT CHARACTERS?--NO; NOT ON ALL THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS. HER LIFE HAS BEEN A BUSY ONE. SHE HAS BEEN KEPT CONSTANTLY AT THE FRONT, SPEAKING TO THE PEOPLE, MEETING EMERGENCIES. SOME OF THE MOST PRECIOUS THINGS SHE HAS WRITTEN ABOUT OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT CHARACTERS WERE WRITTEN FIRST IN LETTERS TO INDIVIDUALS. SOME OF THE MOST PRECIOUS PARAGRAPHS IN "DESIRE OF AGES," PASSAGES DESCRIBING CHRIST CONTROVERSIES WITH THE PHARISEES AND THE HERODIANS, WERE WRITTEN UNDER CIRCUMSTANCES LIKE THESE:-- {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 52} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 53] AT ASHFIELD, NEW SOUTH WALES, ELDER CORLISS AND SOME FAITHFUL HELPERS HAD BEEN PRESENTING THE TRUTH UNTIL THERE WAS A GROUP OF ABOUT THIRTY PEOPLE KEEPING THE SABBATH, READY TO BE BAPTIZED AND ORGANIZED INTO A CHURCH. THE CAMPBELLITES COULD NOT BEAR TO SEE THAT DONE. A BITTER OPPONENT CAME AND CHALLENGED OUR BRETHREN PERSONALLY AND THROUGH THE PAPERS. THIS WAS IGNORED AS LONG AS IT COULD BE. FINALLY, OUR FRIENDS, THOSE IN THE TRUTH, DEMANDED THAT THERE BE A DISCUSSION. SO A DISCUSSION WAS ARRANGED FOR. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 53} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 54] IN THE NIGHT SEASON THIS MATTER WAS LAID BEFORE MOTHER. SHE HAD NEVER SEEN THE CAMPBELLITE CHAMPION; BUT THE MAN WAS SHOWN TO HER--HIS SPIRIT, HIS METHODS, HIS TACTICS. HE HAD NOTHING TO LOSE IN THAT COMMUNITY; AND IT WAS PRESENTED TO MOTHER THAT HIS PLAN WOULD BE TO ENDEAVOR TO IRRITATE ELDER CORLISS, AND GET HIM TO SAY THINGS THAT WOULD DISCREDIT HIM BEFORE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE EMBRACING THE TRUTH. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 54} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 55] DURING THE PROGRESS OF THAT DISCUSSION, MOTHER WROTE TO ELDER CORLISS, STATING THAT IT HAD BEEN PRESENTED TO HER THAT HIS OPPONENT IN THE DISCUSSION WOULD WORK ON CERTAIN LINES, AND THAT HE MUST TAKE SUCH A COURSE AS TO DISAPPOINT THE ENEMY. AS SHE WROTE THESE CAUTIONS, HER MEMORY WOULD BE REVIVED AS TO WHAT HAD BEEN PRESENTED TO HER ABOUT THE WORK OF CHRIST, AND HOW THE PHARISEES AND THE SADDUCEES AND THE HERODIANS HAD FOLLOWED HIM WITH ACCUSATIONS AND QUESTIONS, ENDEAVORING TO DISCREDIT HIM BEFORE THE PEOPLE. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 55} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 56] WHEN WE CAME TO MAKE UP THE CHAPTERS FOR "DESIRE OF AGES," WE FOUND IN THOSE LETTERS THE MOST VIVID DESCRIPTION OF THOSE EXPERIENCES, THAT SHE HAD WRITTEN ANYWHERE. AND WE FOUND OTHER MOST PRECIOUS PASSAGES THAT HAD BEEN WRITTEN FIRST IN LETTERS TO MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE COMMITTEE, AND TO CONFERENCE PRESIDENTS, REGARDING SITUATIONS WHICH WERE ILLUSTRATED BY THE EXPERIENCES OF THESE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT CHARACTERS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 56} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 57] BEING WRITTEN IN THIS WAY, IT TAKES MUCH TIME TO SEARCH THROUGH THE WRITINGS AND FIND THESE PASSAGES, AND BRING THEM TOGETHER INTO MANUSCRIPTS. AFTER THESE ARE GATHERED, AND GROUPED INTO CHAPTER FORM, THE MANUSCRIPT IS ALWAYS SUBMITTED TO MOTHER. SHE READS IT OVER CAREFULLY. UP TO THE PRESENT TIME EVERY CHAPTER OF EVERY BOOK, AND ALL THE ARTICLES FOR OUR PERIODICALS-- UNLESS THEY HAPPEN TO BE REPRINTS--HAVE PASSED THROUGH HER HANDS, AND HAVE BEEN READ OVER BY HER. SOMETIMES SHE INTERLINES; SOMETIMES SHE ADDS MUCH MATTER; SOMETIMES SHE SAYS, "CAN NOT YOU FIND MORE ON THIS SUBJECT?" AND THEN, WHEN MORE HAS BEEN FOUND, AND ADDED, THE MANUSCRIPT IS RECOPIED, AND HANDED BACK TO HER AGAIN FOR EXAMINATION. AND WHEN SHE FINALLY SIGNS IT AND RETURNS IT TO US WE ARE PERMITTED TO SEND IT OUT. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 57} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 58] SOME CRITICISM HAS BEEN MADE BECAUSE LETTERS ARE SENT OUT WITH A RUBBER-STAMP SIGNATURE. WE FEEL THAT IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO ASK MOTHER TO SIGN SEVERAL COPIES. IT IS HER CUSTOM TO SIGN THE ORIGINAL COPY, AND OUR WORKERS CLAIM THAT IT IS THEIR RIGHT TO KEEP THIS SIGNED COPY ON FILE IN OUR OFFICE, SO THAT IF ANYBODY SHOULD CHALLENGE ITS AUTHENTICITY, WE HAVE ON FILE THE COPY SIGNED WITH HER OWN HAND. THE OTHER COPIES ARE USUALLY STAMPED WITH A RUBBER STAMP. I MERELY MENTION THIS IN PASSING, THAT ALL MAY KNOW HOW MUCH REASON THERE IS IN ANY CRITICISMS THAT ARE MADE ABOUT "RUBBER STAMP TESTIMONIES." {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 58} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 59] WHILE GATHERING THE MATTER FOR "THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES," DAY AFTER DAY BROTHER CRISLER AND HIS ASSOCIATES IN THE WORK WOULD PASS IN TO MOTHER THE CHAPTERS AS THEY WERE PREPARED, AND SHE WOULD READ THEM. SOMETIMES SHE WOULD PASS THEM BACK WITHOUT COMMENT. PERHAPS FOR THREE DAYS IN SUCCESSION THEY WOULD BE PASSED BACK WITHOUT A WORD OF COMMENT; AND THEN SHE WOULD SAY, WHAT ABOUT SUCH A SUBJECT? WHERE IS THE DESCRIPTION OF THIS? OR OF THAT? AND SHE WOULD NAME THE DIFFERENT MATTERS SHE HAD IN MIND. IN HIS EXPLANATION BROTHER CRISLER MIGHT SAY, "THE FIRST MATTER YOU HAVE MENTIONED IS DEALT WITH FULLY IN A CHAPTER YOU READ SOME TIME AGO; THE SECOND YOU INQUIRE ABOUT IS TO BE DEALT WITH IN A CHAPTER TO BE PREPARED LATER; AND AS TO THE OTHER MATTER THAT YOU WISH TO HAVE INCORPORATED, WE HAD NOT THOUGHT OF THAT. WE WILL SEARCH THE FILE, AND SEE IF WE CAN FIND ANYTHING THAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN ON THAT POINT." {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 59} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 60] AT ONE TIME SHE SAID TO HIM: "THIS BOOK WILL BE READ BY THE SAME CLASSES OF PEOPLE THAT THE APOSTLES WERE TRYING TO REACH IN PAUL'S DAY. TAKE GREAT PAINS TO GATHER JUST AS FULLY AS YOU CAN WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN REGARDING PAUL'S APPEALS TO THE HEATHEN. THE ARGUMENTS THAT LED THE HEATHEN TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUE GOD IN THE DAYS OF THE APOSTLES, WILL APPEAL TO THE HEATHEN IN MANY LANDS IN OUR DAY. THESE ARGUMENTS WERE INSPIRED OF GOD, AND IN THEM THERE IS CONVICTING POWER. WE MUST MAKE THE MOST OF THEM IN TELLING THE STORY OF THE LABORS OF THE APOSTLES." {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 60} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 61] AT ANOTHER TIME SHE SAID: "HAVE YOU MADE A CAREFUL STUDY OF WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT THE JEWS? THE GOSPEL MUST BE PREACHED TO THE JEWS TODAY. THE APPEALS THAT WERE MADE TO THEM BY THE APOSTLES, WILL HAVE GREAT WEIGHT NOW. THIS BOOK SHOULD BE OF VALUE TO THE JEWS, AND TO THOSE WHO ARE WORKING FOR THE JEWS, AND ALSO TO THOSE WHO OUGHT TO BE WORKING FOR THE JEWS. TAKE PAINS TO GATHER CAREFULLY WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT PAUL'S WORK IN APPEALING TO THE JEWS." {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 61} [GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 62] THESE DIRECTIONS THAT SHE GIVES US HAVE LARGELY TO DO WITH THE VALUE OF OUR WORK IN THE PREPARATION OF MATTER FOR THE PRESS. OF COURSE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK ON EACH BOOK, WE TALK OVER THE PLAN, AND SHE GIVES GENERAL DIRECTIONS; AND THEN SHE GIVES COUNSEL AS THE WORK GOES FORWARD. ALTHOUGH MOTHER IS DOING ONLY A LITTLE WRITING NOW, AND ALTHOUGH SHE ATTENDS ONLY A FEW PUBLIC MEETINGS, YET HER COUNSELS, AND HER DIRECTIONS TO HER WORKERS, ARE OF GREAT VALUE TO THIS PEOPLE, AS FOUND IN THE COMPLETENESS OF HER PUBLISHED WORKS. {GCB, June 1, 1913 par. 62} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 1] June 2, 1913 ON THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY W. C. WHITE JUNE 1, 8:30 A.M. THE APOSTLE JOHN, IN HIS FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CHURCH GENERAL, WRITES THESE WORDS: "THAT WHICH WAS FROM THE BEGINNING, WHICH WE HAVE HEARD, WHICH WE HAVE SEEN WITH OUR EYES, WHICH WE HAVE LOOKED UPON, AND OUR HANDS HAVE HANDLED, OF THE WORD OF LIFE; (FOR THE LIFE WAS MANIFESTED, AND WE HAVE SEEN IT, AND BEAR WITNESS, AND SHOW UNTO YOU THAT ETERNAL LIFE, WHICH WAS WITH THE FATHER, AND WAS MANIFESTED UNTO US;) THAT WHICH WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD DECLARE WE UNTO YOU, THAT YE ALSO MAY HAVE FELLOWSHIP WITH US: AND TRULY OUR FELLOWSHIP IS WITH THE FATHER, AND WITH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST. AND THESE THINGS WRITE WE UNTO YOU, THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL." VERSES 1-4. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 1} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 2] IT WAS THE BLESSED PRIVILEGE OF THE APOSTLES TO TESTIFY OF WHAT THEY HAD SEEN AND HEARD, ESPECIALLY THE PRIVILEGE OF JOHN, WHO LIVED LONGER AND TESTIFIED, PERHAPS, MORE THAN ANY OTHER. AND THE SAME MOTIVE THAT WAS IN HIS HEART TO GIVE TO HIS HEARERS THE BENEFIT OF ALL THE ENCOURAGEMENT, ALL THE COUNSEL, ALL THE JOY THAT HE WAS ABLE TO CONVEY TO THEM, THIS SAME MOTIVE SHOULD PROMPT US IN THE WORDS WE SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER. AND IT IS BECAUSE OF OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE AT GENERAL MEETINGS TO STRENGTHEN THE FAITH AND CONFIDENCE OF ONE ANOTHER, THAT SUCH GATHERINGS AS THESE ARE A BLESSING TO THE CHURCH. WE ASSEMBLE HERE AND UNITE IN PRAYER, UNITE IN STUDY, UNITE IN SEEKING SPECIAL HELP FROM GOD, AND BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT HE IMPRESSES HEARTS. AND IT IS HIS WILL AND PURPOSE THAT WE SHALL CHERISH THE SPIRIT OF THIS MEETING, THAT WE SHALL REMEMBER THE BLESSED THINGS HEARD AS EXPOUNDED FROM THE WORD OF GOD, AND THAT WE SHALL PRAY TO GOD TO HELP OUR MEMORIES, AND TO BLESS OUR TONGUES AND OUR LIPS AS WE RETURN HOME, THAT WE MAY CARRY THESE MESSAGES TO OUR FRIENDS AND BRETHREN. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 2} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 3] IT IS MY DESIRE THIS MORNING TO SPEAK OF SOME THINGS CONNECTED WITH A VITAL INTEREST OF THIS WORK ABOUT WHICH THERE ARE QUESTIONS, ABOUT WHICH WITH SOME THERE IS UNCERTAINTY AND PERPLEXITY. IT IS MY HOPE THAT I MAY THIS MORNING PRESENT TO YOU SOME STATEMENTS WHICH WILL CONFIRM YOUR FAITH, AND WHICH, REPEATED BY YOU TO OTHERS, WILL STRENGTHEN THEIR FAITH IN THE SOLIDITY OF THIS MOVEMENT, IN THE CLEARNESS AND CONSISTENCY OF THE INSTRUCTION WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN US FROM TIME TO TIME THROUGH THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. MY OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO YOU THIS MORNING HAS COME BECAUSE THE ONE WHO WAS APPOINTED WAS CALLED AWAY UNEXPECTEDLY; THEREFORE, I HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO GIVE AS MUCH STUDY TO THE LOGICAL PRESENTATION OF MATTERS AS I MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE GIVEN. I FEEL THAT YOU ARE ALL MY FRIENDS, AND THAT YOU WILL VALUE THE THINGS I READ, WITHOUT CRITICIZING MUCH THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY MAY BE PRESENTED. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 3} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 4] I WILL BEGIN TO READ THIS MORNING JUST WHERE I LEFT OFF A FEW DAYS AGO, BY READING A STATEMENT WRITTEN BY MYSELF IN ANSWER TO INQUIRIES AND QUESTIONS REGARDING THE INFLUENCE OF SISTER WHITE'S HELPERS OVER THE TESTIMONIES. I READ AS FOLLOWS:-- {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 4} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 5] "THE SUPPOSITION THAT THOSE WHO ARE CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH SISTER WHITE HAVE A POTENT INFLUENCE OVER THE CHARACTER AND CONTENTS OF THE MESSAGES THAT SHE SENDS TO THE PEOPLE, IS NOT A NEW THOUGHT. IN THE DAYS OF JEREMIAH, THE PRINCES QUESTIONED BARUCH THE SCRIBE AS TO HOW HE RECEIVED AND WROTE THE WORDS OF JEREMIAH. THEY EVIDENTLY SUSPECTED THAT HE HAD BROUGHT IN SOME OF HIS OWN IDEAS. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 5} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 6] "FOR MANY YEARS THERE HAS BEEN BROUGHT AGAINST THE TESTIMONIES TO THE CHURCH THE CHARGE THAT SOME ONE HAS INFLUENCED SISTER WHITE TO WRITE AS SHE HAS DONE. REFERRING TO EARLY EXPERIENCES, MOTHER WROTE, JUNE 20, 1882, AS FOLLOWS:-- {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 6} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 7] "'MANY EXCUSED THEIR DISREGARD OF THE TESTIMONIES BY SAYING, "SISTER WHITE IS INFLUENCED BY HER HUSBAND; THE TESTIMONIES ARE MOLDED BY HIS SPIRIT AND JUDGMENT." OTHERS WERE SEEKING TO GAIN SOMETHING FROM ME WHICH THEY COULD CONSTRUE TO JUSTIFY THEIR COURSE, OR TO GIVE THEM INFLUENCE.' {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 7} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 8] "IN THE EARLY DAYS OF OUR DENOMINATIONAL WORK, THIS EXPERIENCE WAS OFTEN REPEATED. ELDER JAMES WHITE, IN HIS PREACHING, BROUGHT OUT NEW EXPOSITIONS OF SCRIPTURE, AND NEW THOUGHTS REGARDING THE BEST WAY TO ADVANCE THE CAUSE OF PRESENT TRUTH; AND SHORTLY AFTERWARD, SISTER WHITE, IN HER TESTIMONIES TO THE CHURCH, ADVOCATED THE SAME DOCTRINE AND POLICIES. THEN THE CRITICS CRIED OUT, 'IS IT NOT EVIDENT THAT SHE IS FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF HER HUSBAND'S MIND?' {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 8} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 9] "BUT THE TRUE EXPLANATION OF THIS WAS NOT DIFFICULT TO FIND BY THOSE WHO SOUGHT IT. THE FACTS WERE THESE: THE LORD HAD GIVEN TO SISTER WHITE CLEAR LIGHT REGARDING DOCTRINES AND POLICIES. AS THIS NEW LIGHT WAS GIVEN HER, IT WAS MOST NATURAL THAT SHE SHOULD FIRST TELL IT TO HER HUSBAND. THUS HE LEARNED ENOUGH ABOUT WHAT HAD BEEN REVEALED TO HER TO GIVE A NEW ZEST AND DIRECTION TO HIS STUDIES, AND A NEW MOLD AND INCREASED POWER TO HIS DISCOURSES, AND FRESH VIGOR AND GREATER BREADTH TO HIS PLANS. LATER ON, WHEN SISTER WHITE FOUND TIME TO WRITE OUT HER VIEWS FOR PUBLICATION, THEY MUST NECESSARILY AGREE WITH THE TEACHINGS AND PLANS OF HER HUSBAND, SO FAR AS HIS TEACHINGS AND PLANS HAD BEEN INFLUENCED BY WHAT HE HAD LEARNED FROM HER. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 9} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 10] "IT WAS MOST NATURAL THAT JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE SHOULD DISCUSS FREELY AND INTERESTEDLY BETWEEN THEMSELVES, PLANS AND METHODS AND WAYS AND MEANS FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE PUBLISHING WORK AND THE WORK OF THE MINISTERS IN THE FIELD, AND THAT SHE SHOULD TELL HIM OF THE VIEWS GIVEN HER REGARDING THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHODS OF LABOR. AS A RESULT, HE WOULD SHAPE HIS PLANS TO HARMONIZE WITH THESE VIEWS. OFTEN HIS BRETHREN WOULD CRITICIZE THESE PLANS, WHICH SEEMED TOO BROAD, AND URGE OTHER POLICIES. THEN WHEN SISTER WHITE WAS APPEALED TO, AND IT WAS SEEN THAT HER TESTIMONY WAS IN HARMONY WITH THE PLANS AND TEACHINGS OF HER HUSBAND, SOME SAID, 'SHE IS INFLUENCED BY HIM, HER TESTIMONY IS A TRANSCRIPT OF HER HUSBAND'S MIND.' {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 10} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 11] "AS JAMES WHITE GAINED EXPERIENCE AND CONFIDENCE AS A LEADER, HE SOMETIMES MADE PLANS AND INAUGURATED POLICIES THAT WERE NOT IN HARMONY WITH INSTRUCTION GIVEN TO HIS WIFE. BUT WHEN REPROVED OR INSTRUCTED, THROUGH THE TESTIMONIES TO THE CHURCH, FOR HIS ERROR, HE WAS QUICK TO RESPOND TO COUNSEL OR REPROOF, AND HEARTY IN HIS CONFESSION OF ERROR. . . . {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 11} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 12] "FROM 1903 TO 1909 THE THOUGHT WAS ENTERTAINED BY SOME THAT SISTER WHITE'S MOVEMENTS, HER TESTIMONIES, AND HER ATTITUDE TOWARD CERTAIN MEN AND ENTERPRISES, WERE LARGELY INFLUENCED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE, AND BY THE EDITOR OF THE REVIEW. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 12} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 13] "THE FACTS REGARDING THIS MATTER ARE THAT THE VIEWS OF THESE MEN, AND THE VIEWS OF MANY OF THEIR ASSOCIATES, HAVE BEEN LARGELY INFLUENCED BY THE WRITTEN TESTIMONIES WHICH THEY HAVE RECEIVED AND READ, AND BY THE ORAL MESSAGES GIVEN THEM, IN WHICH THEY WERE WARNED OF PERILS THAT THREATENED THE CHURCH OF GOD, AND WERE CHARGED IN THE MOST SOLEMN MANNER TO STAND AS FAITHFUL SENTINELS AND WIDE-AWAKE WATCHMEN, GUARDING, WARNING, AND PROTECTING THE CHURCH AGAINST THE MANY WILY ATTACKS OF THE ENEMY. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 13} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 14] "MANY TIMES I CARRIED MESSAGES FROM SISTER WHITE TO ELDER DANIELLS, TO ELDER PRESCOTT, AND TO OTHER BRETHREN IN LEADING POSITIONS OF RESPONSIBILITY, ASKING THEM TO VISIT HER, AND I HAVE BEEN PRESENT AS A LEARNER AND AS A WITNESS AT THE INTERVIEWS. DURING THESE INTERVIEWS, SHE WOULD QUESTION THEM REGARDING THEIR PLANS AND POLICIES, AND WOULD RELATE TO THEM WHAT THE LORD HAD SHOWN TO HER 234 REGARDING THE WORK TO BE DONE, AND THE DANGERS AND PERILS THAT SURROUNDED THE CHURCH, AND THE DIFFICULTIES THAT CONFRONTED THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF ITS WORK. OFTEN HAVE I HEARD THESE MEN WARNED OF THE SUBTLE AND SECRET WORKINGS OF THE ENEMY TO UNDERMINE THE FAITH OF OUR PEOPLE IN THE PECULIAR TRUTHS WHICH MAKE US SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, AND OF HIS EFFORTS TO BRING IN DISCORD THAT WOULD ROB THE CHURCH OF ITS STRENGTH. I HAVE REPEATEDLY HEARD THE CHARGE MOST SOLEMNLY GIVEN TO ELDER DANIELLS AND ELDER PRESCOTT, THAT THEY MUST STAND IN DEFENSE OF THE TRUTH, AND MUST DO ALL IN THEIR POWER TO SAVE THE PEOPLE FROM DECEPTION. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 14} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 15] HAVING HAD THIS EXPERIENCE, IT SEEMS TO BE PLAINLY MY DUTY TO TESTIFY THAT THESE MEN HAVE NOT, AS SOME HAVE SUPPOSED, LED SISTER WHITE TO TAKE STRONG POSITIONS TO HARMONIZE WITH THEIR MINDS AND THEIR VIEWS; BUT THAT THEY WERE LED TO TAKE STRONG POSITIONS BECAUSE THEY HEARD AND HEEDED THE SOLEMN MESSAGES BORNE TO THEM BY HER. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 15} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 16] "I HAVE KNOWN OF MESSAGES OF WARNING BEING SENT TO THESE MEN, POINTING OUT THAT IN THEIR CONFERENCE CONNECTION WITH AMBITIOUS LEADERS IN CERTAIN BRANCHES OF THE WORK, THERE WERE DANGERS THAT THEY HAD NOT DISCOVERED. I HAVE SEEN THEM READ REPROOFS TO THEMSELVES AND TO OTHERS, REGARDING THE POPULAR AND ACCEPTED POLICIES FOR THE CONDUCT OF THE PUBLISHING WORK AND THE MEDICAL WORK, AND I HAVE KNOWN OF THE STRUGGLE IT COST THEM TO DECIDE THAT THEY WOULD ACT UPON THE COUNSEL RECEIVED. I HAVE KNELT WITH THEM IN PRAYER, AND HAVE HEARD THEIR HUMBLE PLEADINGS FOR GRACE TO GIVE UP THEIR WILL AND WAY, AND FOR STRENGTH AND WISDOM FROM ON HIGH TO FOLLOW THE COURSE MARKED OUT FOR THEM. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 16} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 17] "REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR INSTITUTIONAL WORK IN WASHINGTON, D.C., IT IS MY DUTY TO TESTIFY THAT I HAD ABUNDANT OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW THAT SISTER WHITE'S VISITS TO WASHINGTON, HER INTEREST IN THE INSTITUTIONS THERE, AND HER ANXIETY THAT THE SANITARIUM AND THE NURSES' TRAINING-SCHOOL SHOULD BE QUICKLY PUT UPON A STRONG FOOTING, WERE THE RESULT OF REVELATIONS FROM GOD AND NOT THE RESULT OF THE INFLUENCE OF MEN." {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 17} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 18] REGARDING THE INTEREST THAT SISTER WHITE FEELS FOR THE WORK IN THE SOUTHERN STATES, IT CAN TRULY BE SAID THAT THE INTENSE INTEREST WHICH SHE MANIFESTED IN THE UPBUILDING OF THE NASHVILLE PUBLISHING HOUSE, THE GRAYSVILLE SCHOOL, THE GRAYSVILLE SANITARIUM, THE HUNTSVILLE SCHOOL AND SANITARIUM, THE NASHVILLE SANITARIUM, AND IN THE MADISON SCHOOL, WAS THE RESULT OF REVELATIONS FROM GOD, AND NOT, AS SOME WOULD SAY, ENTHUSIASM AROUSED BY APPEALS AND REPRESENTATIONS OF MEN. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 18} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 19] BUT THE QUESTION WILL BE RAISED, HAS NOT SISTER WHITE CHANGED IN HER ATTITUDE TOWARD SOME OF OUR EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS? HAS SHE NOT CHANGED IN HER ATTITUDE TOWARD SOME OF THOSE SANITARIUMS?--NO, I KNOW OF NO CHANGE. HAVING LOVED OUR INSTITUTIONS, SHE LOVES THEM TO THE END. "HOW IS IT, THEN," SOME HAVE ASKED ME, "THAT THERE ARE PLANS FOR CLOSING SOME OF THEM THAT ARE NOT SUCCEEDING FINANCIALLY? WE HEAR THAT SOME OF THEM ARE TOTTERING, AND WILL BE CLOSED UNLESS THE DENOMINATION PUTS ITS STRONG ARM UNDERNEATH TO SUSTAIN THEM. WHY IS THIS? {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 19} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 20] NOW, BRETHREN, LET ME ILLUSTRATE BY THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM. YOU WHO HAVE READ THE EARLY TESTIMONIES KNOW VERY WELL THE CLEARNESS, THE STRENGTH, THE EARNESTNESS OF THE APPEALS GIVEN TO THIS PEOPLE TO ESTABLISH A MEDICAL INSTITUTION WHERE THE SICK COULD COME TO BE HEALED, AND, WHILE RECEIVING THE CARE OF THE MOST SKILFUL PHYSICIANS AND NURSES, BE BROUGHT IN DAILY CONTACT WITH MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE STRONG FAITH IN GOD, AND WHO MANIFEST BY THEIR LIVES THAT THEY HAVE A HOLD UPON HEAVEN, PEOPLE WHO WILL LEND THEIR INFLUENCE TO ENCOURAGE THESE PATIENTS TO LAY HOLD ON GOD. YOU KNOW THE STRENGTH OF THESE APPEALS, AND ALSO THAT ELDER LOUGHBOROUGH AND MY MOTHER AND FATHER AND OTHERS PUT THEIR WHOLE HEART INTO THE WORK OF ESTABLISHING THAT INSTITUTION. AS IT GREW, DEMANDS CAME FROM THE PATIENTS FOR MORE ROOM AND BETTER ACCOMMODATIONS. THEN, WITHOUT FULLY COUNTING THE COST, MEN BEGAN A NEW BUILDING. IT WAS A GOOD PLAN, AND WOULD HAVE BEEN A VERY GOOD BUILDING IF COMPLETED; BUT WHEN IT WAS PARTIALLY COMPLETED, THERE CAME ONE OF THOSE CRISES WHICH SOMETIMES MANIFEST THEMSELVES IN OUR WORK. THE WORK OF BUILDING STOPPED. AS MY FATHER AND OTHERS STUDIED THE FINANCIAL SITUATION, THEY SAID, "IT IS HOPELESS TO UNDERTAKE TO ERECT SUCH A LARGE BUILDING." AFTER ONE OR TWO YEARS, FATHER CALLED FOR WORKERS TO COME WITH THEIR PICKAXES, CROWBARS, AND SHOVELS, AND TO TEAR THAT STRUCTURE DOWN. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 20} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 21] IT WAS NOT MORE THAN A YEAR AFTER THIS THAT MY FATHER SAW HIS MISTAKE, AND FELT DEEPLY TO REGRET THAT HE HAD LIFTED HIS HAND TO UNDO THAT WHICH HAD BEEN BEGUN. I HAVE OFTEN HEARD HIM SAY, "IF I HAD ONLY WAITED; IF I HAD ONLY TAKEN A BROADER AND BRIGHTER VIEW; IF I HAD ONLY HAD MORE FAITH THAT GOD WOULD SEND US A STRONG MANAGEMENT, I NEVER WOULD HAVE LIFTED MY HAND TO TEAR DOWN THAT BASEMENT." {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 21} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 22] AFTERWARD, ON THE SAME GROUND, A LARGER BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED, AND A GREATER WORK WAS DONE. THIS, IN MY MIND, IS A LESSON WITH REFERENCE TO OTHER INSTITUTIONS THAT MAY BE IN FINANCIAL PERPLEXITY. LET US HAVE FAITH IN GOD, AND LET US HOLD ON TO THAT WHICH IS MOST VALUABLE. THE MOST VALUABLE THING OF ALL IN AN INSTITUTION OF THIS CHARACTER IS THE GOOD WILL AND CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE. LET US HOLD ON TO THE GOOD WILL OF THE PEOPLE. AND IF, BECAUSE OF LACK OF MEN TO FURNISH STRONG MANAGEMENT AND EFFICIENT WORKERS, WE HAVE TO CLOSE SOME OF THEM FOR A TIME, LET US WAIT PATIENTLY UNTIL GOD GIVES US THE MEN TO OPEN THEM AGAIN. LET US NOT TEAR THEM DOWN, OR GIVE THEM AWAY, OR SELL THEM. SUCH IS THE LESSON FROM THE EARLIER HISTORY OF THE BATTLE CREEK SANITARIUM. I THINK OF IT OFTEN IN CONNECTION WITH SOME THINGS WE HEAR REGARDING THE NECESSITY OF CLOSING SOME OF OUR INSTITUTIONS. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 22} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 23] HAS SISTER WHITE CHANGED IN HER INTEREST IN THE GRAYSVILLE SCHOOL? NO! IN THE GRAYSVILLE SANITARIUM? NO! HAS SHE LESS INTEREST IN THE SUCCESS OF THE NASHVILLE SANITARIUM--NO! HAS SHE CHANGED HER VIEWS REGARDING THE NECESSITY AND VALUE OF SUCH AN INSTITUTION?--NO, NOT AT ALL! IT MAY HAVE BEEN SAID BY THOSE WHO ARE PERPLEXED OVER THE GREAT EFFORT WE ARE MAKING TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE HOME AND FOREIGN MISSION WORK THAT IF SISTER WHITE SAW THINGS THEN AS SHE SEES THEM NOW SHE WOULD NOT HAVE WRITTEN AS SHE DID ABOUT THE MADISON SCHOOL AND OTHER SCHOOLS OF THAT CHARACTER. THIS IS ONLY A SUPPOSITION. WE HAVE NOTHING FROM HER PEN, OR FROM HER, TO INTIMATE ANY SUCH THEORY. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 23} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 24] HAVE SISTER WHITE'S VIEWS CHANGED REGARDING OUR SCHOOLS BECAUSE SOME SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN LOCATED UNFORTUNATELY; BECAUSE SOME HAVE BEEN BUILT WHERE THEY ARE NOT NEEDED?--NO. SHE IS SORRY FOR EVERY MISTAKE THAT WASTES THE RESOURCES AND MARS THE REPUTATION OF GOD'S CAUSE. BUT HER VIEWS ARE NOT CHANGED WITH REGARD TO THE GREAT WORK WE ARE DOING IN EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN AND TRAINING THEM TO ENTER THE GREAT ARMY OF GOD'S MISSIONARIES GOING TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 24} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 25] HAVE SISTER WHITE'S VIEWS CHANGED WITH REGARD TO THE VALUE OF ESTABLISHING SCHOOLS IN THE CENTRAL AMERICAN REPUBLICS AND OTHER CHILD NATIONS WHERE EDUCATION IS NECESSARY AS A BASIS FOR SUCCESSFUL EVANGELIZATION? HAVE SISTER WHITE'S VIEWS CHANGED BECAUSE OF SOME SAD EXPERIENCES LIKE THAT IN SPANISH HONDURAS?--NO! NO! SHE IS SORRY FOR THE MISTAKES THAT MORTAL MAN MAKES IN CARRYING ON GOD'S WORK, BUT HER VIEWS OF GOD'S WORK HAVE NOT CHANGED. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 25} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 26] SHE HAS NOT CHANGED HER VIEWS WITH REGARD TO THE NECESSITY OF ENCOURAGING MEN AND WOMEN IN DIFFERENT STATES TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES AND GO OUT INTO THE UNOCCUPIED PARTS OF THEIR OWN STATE, OR OF OTHER STATES WHERE THERE ARE NO SABBATH-KEEPERS, AND STARTING INTERESTS IN THESE LOCALITIES. WE MAY HEAR FROM OUR CONFERENCE OFFICERS THAT THERE ARE FIFTEEN OR TWENTY COUNTIES IN THEIR FIELDS WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN WORKED. WHY DO WE NOT GET MEN TO GO WITH THEIR FAMILIES INTO THOSE UNWORKED SECTIONS AND HOLD ALOFT THE TORCH OF TRUTH? OUR TIME TO WORK IS GROWING SHORT. GOD HELP US TO HAVE LARGENESS OF HEART, AND ENCOURAGE THE SOWING BESIDE ALL WATERS. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 26} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 27] THERE IS ONE QUESTION THAT A GOOD MANY MINISTERS AND SOME LAYMEN PRESENT TO ME: "IS EVERYTHING THAT SISTER WHITE SAYS OR WRITES, INSPIRED? IS EVERYTHING THAT SHE WRITES IN HER ARTICLES, REVELATION?" NOW I MIGHT SAY MUCH ABOUT THIS, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE OF MORE VALUE TO YOU, FOR ME TO READ TO YOU SOME THINGS SHE HAS WRITTEN. I HOLD IN MY HAND A LETTER ADDRESSED TO A PHYSICIAN, BEARING DATE OF JUNE 14, 1906:-- {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 27} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 28] "DEAR BROTHER: YOUR LETTER CAME TO ME WHILE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. FOR SOME WEEKS THE CONSIDERATION OF MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR SANITARIUM WORK, AND THE WRITING OUT OF THE VIEWS GIVEN ME REGARDING THE EARTHQUAKE AND ITS LESSONS, HAVE TAKEN MY TIME AND STRENGTH. BUT NOW I MUST RESPOND TO THE LETTERS RECEIVED FROM YOU AND OTHERS. IN YOUR LETTER YOU SPEAK OF YOUR EARLY TRAINING TO HAVE IMPLICIT FAITH IN THE TESTIMONIES, AND SAY: 'I WAS LED TO CONCLUDE AND MOST FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT EVERY WORD YOU EVER SPOKE IN PUBLIC OR PRIVATE, THAT EVERY LETTER YOU WROTE UNDER ANY AND ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, WAS AS INSPIRED AS THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.' {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 28} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 29] "MY BROTHER, YOU HAVE STUDIED MY WRITINGS DILIGENTLY, AND YOU HAVE NEVER FOUND THAT I HAVE MADE ANY SUCH CLAIMS, NEITHER WILL YOU FIND THAT THE PIONEERS IN OUR CAUSE EVER MADE SUCH CLAIMS. IN MY PREFACE TO `GREAT CONTROVERSY,' YOU HAVE NO DOUBT READ MY STATEMENT REGARDING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS AND THE BIBLE, WHICH SHOULD HAVE HELPED YOU TO A CORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF THE MATTER UNDER CONSIDERATION. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 29} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 30] HERE IS THE STATEMENT. PLEASE DO NOT FORGET WHAT I AM READING. MOST OF YOU HAVE "GREAT CONTROVERSY" IN YOUR HOMES. YOU WILL FIND THIS STATEMENT IN THE INTRODUCTION. THAT INTRODUCTION IS WORTHY OF MUCH MORE STUDY THAN IT HAS RECEIVED. CAREFULLY STUDIED, IT WILL ANSWER 235 MANY OF THE QUESTIONS THAT ARISE OVER THIS SUBJECT. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 30} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 31] QUOTING FROM THIS INTRODUCTION TO "GREAT CONTROVERSY," SHE WROTE:-- {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 31} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 32] "THE BIBLE POINTS TO GOD AS ITS AUTHOR; YET IT WAS WRITTEN BY HUMAN HANDS; AND IN THE VARIED STYLE OF ITS DIFFERENT BOOKS IT PRESENTS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SEVERAL WRITERS. THE TRUTHS REVEALED ARE ALL 'GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD;' YET THEY ARE EXPRESSED IN THE WORDS OF MEN. THE INFINITE ONE, BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT, HAS SHED LIGHT INTO THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF HIS SERVANTS. HE HAS GIVEN DREAMS AND VISIONS, SYMBOLS AND FIGURES, AND THOSE TO WHOM THE TRUTH WAS THUS REVEALED HAVE THEMSELVES EMBODIED THE THOUGHT IN HUMAN LANGUAGE. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS WERE SPOKEN BY GOD HIMSELF, AND WERE WRITTEN BY HIS OWN HAND. THEY ARE OF DIVINE, AND NOT HUMAN, COMPOSITION. BUT THE BIBLE, WITH ITS GOD-GIVEN TRUTHS, EXPRESSED IN THE LANGUAGE OF MEN, PRESENTS A UNION OF THE DIVINE AND THE HUMAN. SUCH A UNION EXISTED IN THE NATURE OF CHRIST, WHO WAS THE SON OF GOD AND THE SON OF MAN. THUS IT IS TRUE OF THE BIBLE, AS IT WAS OF CHRIST, THAT 'THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, AND DWELT AMONG US.' WRITTEN IN DIFFERENT AGES, BY MEN WHO DIFFERED WIDELY IN RANK AND OCCUPATION, AND IN MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL ENDOWMENTS, THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE PRESENT A WIDE CONTRAST IN STYLE, AS WELL AS A DIVERSITY IN THE NATURE OF THE SUBJECTS UNFOLDED. DIFFERENT FORMS OF EXPRESSION ARE EMPLOYED BY DIFFERENT WRITERS; OFTEN THE SAME TRUTH IS MORE STRIKINGLY PRESENTED BY ONE THAN BY ANOTHER. AND AS SEVERAL WRITERS PRESENT A SUBJECT UNDER VARIED ASPECTS AND RELATIONS, THERE MAY APPEAR TO THE SUPERFICIAL CARELESS, OR PREJUDICED READER, TO BE DISCREPANCY OR CONTRADICTION, WHERE THE THOUGHTFUL, REVERENT STUDENT, WITH CLEARER INSIGHT, DISCERNS THE UNDERLYING HARMONY. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 32} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 33] "AS PRESENTED THROUGH DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS, THE TRUTH IS BROUGHT OUT IN ITS VARIED ASPECTS. ONE WRITER IS MORE STRONGLY IMPRESSED WITH ONE PHASE OF A SUBJECT. HE GRASPS THOSE POINTS THAT HARMONIZE WITH HIS EXPERIENCE OR WITH HIS POWER OF PERCEPTION AND APPRECIATION; ANOTHER SEIZES UPON A DIFFERENT PHASE, AND EACH, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, PRESENTS WHAT IS MOST FORCIBLY IMPRESSED UPON HIS OWN MIND; A DIFFERENT ASPECT OF THE TRUTH IN EACH, BUT A PERFECT HARMONY THROUGH ALL. AND THE TRUTHS THUS REVEALED, UNITE TO FORM A PERFECT WHOLE, ADAPTED TO MEET THE WANTS OF MEN IN ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND EXPERIENCES OF LIFE. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 33} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 34] "GOD HAS BEEN PLEASED TO COMMUNICATE HIS TRUTH TO THE WORLD BY HUMAN AGENCIES, AND HE HIMSELF, BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT, QUALIFIED MEN AND ENABLED THEM TO DO THIS WORK. HE GUIDED THE MIND IN THE SELECTION OF WHAT TO SPEAK AND WHAT TO WRITE. THE TREASURE WAS ENTRUSTED TO EARTHEN VESSELS; YET IT IS NONE THE LESS FROM HEAVEN. THE TESTIMONY IS CONVEYED THROUGH THE IMPERFECT EXPRESSION OF HUMAN LANGUAGE; YET IT IS THE TESTIMONY OF GOD; AND THE OBEDIENT, BELIEVING CHILD OF GOD BEHOLDS IN IT THE GLORY OF A DIVINE POWER, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH." {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 34} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 35] IT IS MY BELIEF, BRETHREN, THAT IF WE FAITHFULLY STUDY THESE STATEMENTS REGARDING THE METHOD BY WHICH GOD COMMUNICATES TO HIS SERVANT, AND THE METHOD OF WRITING OUT THE LIGHT IMPARTED, THAT WE WILL FIND AN ANSWER TO MANY OF OUR QUESTIONS REGARDING THE CHARACTER OF THE WRITINGS OF MRS. WHITE. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 35} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 36] (PROCEEDING WITH THE LETTER): -- {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 36} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 37] "IN PERFECT HARMONY WITH THIS, ARE MY STATEMENTS FOUND IN THE ARTICLE, 'THE TESTIMONIES SLIGHTED,' WRITTEN JUNE 20, 1882, AND PUBLISHED IN 'TESTIMONIES FOR THE CHURCH,' VOL. V, NO. 31, PAGES 62-84. FROM THIS I QUOTE, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, SEVERAL PARAGRAPHS:- {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 37} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 38] "'MANY EXCUSE THEIR DISREGARD OF THE TESTIMONIES BY SAYING, "SISTER WHITE IS INFLUENCED BY HER HUSBAND; THE TESTIMONIES ARE MOLDED BY HIS SPIRIT AND JUDGEMENT." OTHERS ARE SEEKING TO GAIN SOMETHING FROM ME WHICH THEY COULD CONSTRUE TO JUSTIFY THEIR COURSE, OR TO GIVE THEM INFLUENCE. IT WAS THEN DECIDED THAT NOTHING MORE SHOULD GO FROM MY PEN UNTIL THE CONVERTING POWER OF GOD WAS SEEN IN THE CHURCH. BUT THE LORD PLACED THE BURDEN UPON MY SOUL. I LABORED FOR YOU EARNESTLY. HOW MUCH THIS COST BOTH MY HUSBAND AND MYSELF, ETERNITY WILL TELL. HAVE I NOT A KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE OF THE CHURCH, WHEN THE LORD HAS PRESENTED THEIR CASE BEFORE ME AGAIN AND AGAIN FOR YEARS? REPEATED WARNINGS HAVE BEEN GIVEN, YET THERE HAS BEEN NO DECIDED CHANGE.' {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 38} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 39] "'YET NOW WHEN I SEND YOU A TESTIMONY OF WARNING AND REPROOF, MANY OF YOU DECLARE IT TO BE THE OPINION OF SISTER WHITE. YOU HAVE THEREBY INSULTED THE SPIRIT OF GOD. YOU KNOW HOW THE LORD HAS MANIFESTED HIMSELF THOUGH THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE HAVE PASSED BEFORE ME. I HAVE BEEN SHOWN FACES THAT I HAD NEVER SEEN, AND YEARS AFTERWARD I KNEW THEM WHEN I SAW THEM. I HAVE BEEN AROUSED FROM MY SLEEP WITH A VIVID SENSE OF SUBJECTS PREVIOUSLY PRESENTED TO MY MIND; AND I HAVE WRITTEN AT MIDNIGHT, LETTERS THAT HAVE GONE ACROSS THE CONTINENT, AND, ARRIVING AT A CRISIS, HAVE SAVED GREAT DISASTER TO THE CAUSE OF GOD. THIS HAS BEEN MY WORK FOR MANY YEARS. A POWER HAS IMPELLED ME TO REPROVE AND REBUKE WRONGS THAT I HAD NOT THOUGHT OF. IS THIS WORK OF THE LAST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS FROM ABOVE, OR FROM BENEATH? {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 39} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 40] "'WHEN I WENT TO COLORADO, I WAS SO BURDENED FOR YOU THAT, IN MY WEAKNESS, I WROTE MANY PAGES TO BE READ AT YOUR CAMP-MEETING. WEAK AND TREMBLING, I AROSE AT THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING TO WRITE TO YOU. GOD WAS SPEAKING THROUGH CLAY. YOU MIGHT SAY THAT THIS COMMUNICATION WAS ONLY A LETTER. YES, IT WAS A LETTER, BUT PROMPTED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, TO BRING BEFORE YOUR MINDS THINGS THAT HAD BEEN SHOWN ME. IN THESE LETTERS WHICH I WRITE, IN THE TESTIMONIES I BEAR, I AM PRESENTING TO YOU THAT WHICH THE LORD HAS PRESENTED TO ME. I DO NOT WRITE ONE ARTICLE IN THE PAPER, EXPRESSING MERELY MY OWN IDEAS. THEY ARE WHAT GOD HAS OPENED BEFORE ME IN VISION -- THE PRECIOUS RAYS OF LIGHT SHINING FROM THE THRONE.'" {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 40} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 41] I WILL NOT READ FURTHER, AS TIME IS PASSING. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 41} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 42] FROM MY CONVERSATIONS WITH MEN AND WOMEN, I HAVE LEARNED THAT MANY UNDERSTAND THIS LAST STATEMENT TO MEAN THAT EVERY ARTICLE, EVERY TESTIMONY, IS THE WRITING OUT OF A PRESENTATION GIVEN JUST THEN AND THERE; AND THEREFORE SOME CONCLUDE THAT BECAUSE THEY CONTINUE TO SEE ARTICLES IN THE PAPERS, MOTHER IS WRITING TODAY JUST AS MUCH AS SHE USED TO WRITE YEARS AGO. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 42} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 43] THE FACTS ARE THESE: AT THE PRESENT TIME MOTHER IS WRITING VERY LITTLE. BUT DURING MANY YEARS OF SERVICE, HER WORK WAS DONE ON THIS WISE: OFTENTIMES MOTHER'S MIND WAS DIRECTED IN THE EARLY MORNING TO SOME PARTICULAR SUBJECT. SOMETIMES THE ANGEL WOULD AWAKEN HER AS IF SOME ONE TOUCHED HER, AND THE MESSAGE WOULD BE GIVEN, WRITE WHAT I REVEALED TO YOU AT SUCH AND SUCH A TIME REGARDING SUCH AND SUCH A CHURCH OR CONFERENCE OR MOVEMENT. SHE WOULD QUICKLY ARISE AND DRESS, AND UNDERTAKE THE WRITING WITHOUT DELAY. AS SHE BEGAN, THE MATTER WAS ALL FRESH IN HER MIND, JUST AS IT HAD BEEN PRESENTED YEARS BEFORE; AND SHE WOULD WRITE ON, PAGE AFTER PAGE, AND PAGE AFTER PAGE. GROWING WEARY, SHE WOULD STOP AND REST, SOMETIMES SITTING IN HER CHAIR, WAITING A FEW MINUTES, THINKING OF WHAT WAS TO FOLLOW. THEN AGAIN ANOTHER VIEW WAS FLASHED UPON HER MEMORY, AND SHE WOULD WRITE ON AND ON UNTIL SHE BECAME WEARY, AND RESTED FOR A TIME; OR PERHAPS SHE WOULD WRITE UNTIL THE SUBJECT WAS ENTIRELY FINISHED. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 43} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 44] AT OTHER TIMES LETTERS CAME STATING CONDITIONS IN CERTAIN CONFERENCES OR CHURCHES OR INSTITUTIONS; AND THESE BROUGHT TO HER MEMORY THAT WHICH HAD BEEN REVEALED TO HER SIX MONTHS BEFORE, OR THREE YEARS BEFORE, OR SIX YEARS BEFORE, AS THE CASE MIGHT BE, REGARDING THE FUTURE OF THAT CONFERENCE OR CHURCH OR ENTERPRISE. IN MANY OF THE VIEWS, IT HAD BEEN PRESENTED BEFORE HER THAT IF THE BRETHREN WOULD TAKE SUCH AND SUCH A COURSE, CERTAIN RESULTS WOULD FOLLOW; AND THAT IF THEY WOULD TAKE ANOTHER COURSE, OTHER RESULTS WOULD FOLLOW. UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES, SHE WOULD WRITE OUT FROM MEMORY THE INSTRUCTION THAT HAD BEEN GIVEN HER YEARS BEFORE. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 44} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 45] WITH REFERENCE TO HER RECENT ARTICLES, I MAY SAY THAT ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO, WHEN HER ACTIVITIES IN TRAVELING AND IN HOLDING MEETINGS WERE GROWING LESS, SHE DEVOTED MUCH TIME TO THE READING OF WHAT HAD BEEN WRITTEN IN FORMER YEARS. WHEN WE COPY HER WRITINGS, WE PLACE ONE COPY IN THE OFFICE FILE, AND ONE COPY WE BIND UP AND PLACE IN HER ROOM. DAY AFTER DAY, AND WEEK AFTER WEEK, SHE WOULD TAKE THOSE BOUND VOLUMES OF MANUSCRIPTS, AND SEARCH THROUGH THEM, AND MARK CERTAIN ARTICLES, SAYING, "THIS MUST BE PUBLISHED." SOME PAGES SHE WOULD INTERLINE, AND TO SOME ARTICLES SHE WOULD ADD PAGES OF MANUSCRIPT, AND THEN PASS THEM OUT TO US WITH INSTRUCTION THAT THEY SHOULD FIND A PLACE IN OUR PAPERS AS SOON AS WE COULD COPY THEM AND THEY WERE FOUND TO BE NEEDED. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 45} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 46] AS HER STRENGTH HAS GROWN LESS, SHE HAS DEPENDED MORE UPON HER HELPERS IN THE MATTER OF SELECTING MATERIAL. SHE GIVES GENERAL INSTRUCTION, "FIND WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN ON SUCH AND SUCH SUBJECTS, AND OFFER IT TO THE REVIEW." OR, "FIND WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN ON SUCH AND SUCH SUBJECTS, AND OFFER IT TO THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES." AND SO, AS HER STRENGTH IS LESS, SHE DEPENDS MORE THAN FORMERLY UPON HER WORKERS TO MAKE THE SELECTION OF MATERIAL. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 46} [GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 47] SOMETIMES THE EDITORS OF OUR PAPERS FEEL THE NEED OF ARTICLES ON CERTAIN SUBJECTS, AND THEY WRITE TO US, "MAY WE FEEL FREE TO REPRINT WHAT APPEARED IN THE REVIEW (OR SIGNS OF THE TIMES) YEARS AGO?" WE USUALLY REPLY, "YES; USE YOUR JUDGMENT." AT OTHER TIMES THEY TELL US WHAT THEY THINK IS THE NEED OF THE PEOPLE, AND WE SEARCH IN THE MANUSCRIPT FILES AND FIND SOME PRECIOUS DOCUMENT THAT CONTAINS THE VERY WARNING AND COUNSEL THAT IT IS FELT THE PEOPLE NEED. THIS IS PREPARED FOR PUBLICATION IN ARTICLE FORM, AND SENT FORWARD. THUS THERE IS A HARMONY OF PLAN AND A HEARTY COOPERATION IN THE WORK, AND WE WHO ARE HELPERS IN THIS WORK FIND THAT IT IS A BLESSED PRIVILEGE TO HAVE A PART IN IT. {GCB, June 2, 1913 par. 47} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 1] June 6, 1913 Communication From Mrs. E. G. White Sanitarium, Cal., Feb 20, 1913. To the workers in the message,-- Last night I seemed to be in earnest conversation with some of our brethren who seemed to be unable to take a broad view of the work that God desired them to do. Some in their efforts were going beyond that which was wise and prudent, while others were falling short of that which was required of them. I was trying to make these brethren understand the necessity of carrying the work forward intelligently, so that one worker would not tear down the work that another was endeavoring to build up. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 1} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 2] This morning after dressing, I began to look over a collection of manuscripts that lay on my office table. The first on which my eye fell was one in which were laid down principles that lie at the foundation of all successful efforts for souls,--principles that every worker needs prayerfully and carefully to study. Again and again I have been impressed to write that which, if studied under the direction of the Holy Spirit would enable our brethren to take right views of their privileges and responsibilities. But unless these principles are so studied, they cannot be worked out in the experience. Unless there is a united drawing with God, unless those in positions of leadership lift up their hearts to heaven, confessing their defects of character, and pleading for help to reach a higher standard, they will not discern their own spiritual needs, or strive successfully for higher attainments. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 2} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 3] Because a worker does not see the importance of a fellow worker's efforts, he should not pull back and make the work go hard. Every laborer should now be working with zeal and energy, pressing onward and upward. There should be no such thing as backsliding from the light that has guided us for so many years. God is calling upon his people to reach a higher standard of spirituality, to work unitedly. Much of the work being accomplished in the cause of present truth would require not more than half the labor that it now demands if the workers would come unitedly to the help of the Lord, lending their courage and zeal, their faith and influence, to the building up of whatever enterprise is called for. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 3} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 4] A sad mistake is made when workers take up some work that God has not set them, and carry it forward as if that were the plan of the Lord. The result is disappointment; and when the realization comes that they have been in error, it is often the case that the workers fall into discouragement, and go off on a line that leads directly away from the reformations that God desires to see wrought. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 4} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 5] There is a great work to be done, and we do not half realize its sacredness, or appreciate its uplifting influence on the lives that are yielded to its fashioning. We are to learn to take God at his word, for thus only can we carry out his purposes. There should be no holding back on the part of any. With all the light that has been given us, we cannot truthfully say. "We did not understand his will." Let there be a drawing together, every one lifting in spiritual lines. Let us manifest a godlike earnestness of purpose instead of taking an attitude of careless indifference. The indifference manifested by some discourages those who are trying to do faithful work. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 5} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 6] Not all are pursuing a course of indifference. There are some who are reviewing their past mistakes, and are learning from these mistakes the lessons that God would teach them. They are making close examination of self. These workers are studying their own lives in the light of Christ's perfect example, and are becoming changed into the same image. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 6} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 7] Our ministers have some experiences to gain that have not yet been gained, standards to reach higher than those yet attained. They have lessons to learn of personal ministry for souls. There is a special work to be done for the newly converted. Do not think when these have embraced the doctrines of the message, that you can leave them there. Many have thus been left in spiritual darkness; they know not how to go forward. Go to these souls; pray with them; lift them up. Do not rest until you see that they are striving to reach the standard that God's Word sets for his children. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 7} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 8] We talk much about the truth; but unless we live the truth, unless we ourselves are reaching its standard, and helping others to reach it, our work will not have the approval of Heaven. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 8} [GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 9] We do not realize how untiring are Satan's efforts to sap our spirituality. He is working mightily that the people of God may be only half converted. Then self will swell to large proportions, and there will be no revelation to the world of the transforming power of God. If this power does not rest upon God's people and move them to sanctified action, they cannot do the work in the earth that has been shown us must be done. Without this power, they will not realize their responsibility as his representatives in a world of unbelief. Ellen G. White. {GCB, June 6, 1913 par. 9} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 1] GCDB - General Conference Daily Bulletin March 20, 1891 Home Missionaries Needed. ［DELIVERED TUESDAY FORENOON, MARCH 17, 1891.］ - By Mrs. E. G. White. - Dear Brethren and Sisters: I have had a burden in regard to Battle Creek and the places surrounding it, and other places in Michigan. From time to time, light has been given me with reference to the duty of many of our people to leave this place, and go where they can spread the knowledge of the truth. Testimony on this point was given years ago, and why the people have been so backward in heeding it has been a mystery to me. Here is a testimony that was given June 12, 1868:-- {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 1} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 2] I was shown that a great work might be accomplished in bringing souls to the knowledge of the truth, were proper exertions made. In every town, city, and village there are persons who would embrace the truth if it were brought before them in a judicious manner. Missionaries are needed among us, self-sacrificing missionaries who, like our great Exemplar, would not please themselves, but live to do others good. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 2} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 3] I was shown that as a people we are deficient. Our works are not in accordance with our faith. Our faith testifies that we are living under the proclamation of the most solemn and important message that was ever given to mortals. Yet in full view of this fact, our efforts, our zeal, our spirit of self-sacrifice, do not compare with the character of the work. We should awake from the dead, and Christ will give us life. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 3} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 4] With many of our brethren and sisters there is a strong inclination to live in Battle Creek. ［Many think they are getting the next door to heaven, if they get into Battle Creek. Thus they have expressed it to me again and again.］ Families have been coming from all directions to reside here, and many more have their faces set that way. ［We can well testify of that, by the inflowing since the last Testimony was given.］ Some who have come to Battle Creek, held offices in the little churches from which they moved, and their help and strength were needed there. When such arrive at Battle Creek, and meet with the numerous Sabbath-keepers there, they frequently feel that their testimonies are not needed, and their talent is therefore buried. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 4} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 5] Some choose Battle Creek because of the religious privileges it affords, yet wonder that their spirituality decreases after their sojourn there a few months. Is there not a cause? The object of many has been to advantage themselves pecuniarily,--to engage in business that will yield them greater profits. Their expectations in this particular may be realized, while they have dearth of soul, and become dwarfed in spiritual things. They take no special burden upon themselves, because they think they would be out of place. They do not know where to take hold to labor in so large a church, and therefore become idlers in their Master's vineyard. ［NOW MARK!］ All who pursue this course only increase the labor of those who have the burden of the work in the church. They are as so many dead weights. There are many in Battle Creek who are fast becoming withered branches. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 5} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 6] Some who have been workers, and who have an experience in the cause of present truth, move to Battle Creek and lay off their burden. Instead of feeling the necessity of double energy, watchfulness, prayer, and diligent performance of duty, they do scarcely anything at all. Those who have burdens to bear in the Office, and have not time for duties aside from their work, are obliged to fill responsible positions in the church, and to perform important, taxing labor, which if they do not do, will remain undone, because these others will not take the burden. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 6} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 7] Brethren who wish to change their location, who have the glory of God in view, and feel that individual responsibility rests upon them to do others good, to benefit and save souls for whom Christ withheld not his precious life, should move into towns, and villages where there is little or no light, and where they can be of real service, and bless others with their labor and experience. Missionaries are wanted to go into towns and villages and raise the standard of truth, that God may have his witnesses scattered all over the land that the light of truth may penetrate where it has not yet reached, and the standard of truth be raised where it is not yet known. The brethren should not flock together because it is more agreeable to them, but should seek to fulfill their high calling to do others good, to be instrumental in the salvation of at least one soul. But more may be saved than one. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 7} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 8] The sole object of this work should not be merely to increase our reward in heaven. Some are selfish in this respect. In view of what Christ has done for us, and what he suffered for sinners, we should, out of pure, disinterested love for souls, imitate his example by sacrificing our own pleasure and convenience for their good. The joy set before Christ, which sustained him in all his sufferings was the salvation of poor sinners. This should be our joy, and the spur of our ambition in the cause of our Master. In so doing we please God, and manifest our love and devotion to him as his servants. He first loved us, and withheld not from us his beloved Son but gave him from his bosom to die that we might have life. Love, true love for our fellow-men, evinces love to God. We may make a high profession, yet without this love it is nothing. Our faith may lead us even to give our bodies to be burned, yet without self-sacrificing love, such as lived in the bosom of Jesus, and was exemplified in his life, we are as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 8} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 9] It is not merely the ministers who are missionaries; every soul who has given himself to God is a missionary. Every one ought to feel that he is under obligation to God to win souls to Christ. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 9} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 10] Many of the ministers that labor in different places have little success in winning souls to the truth. What is the reason of this lack?--They have not the living faith that takes God at his word. Those who have this vital connection with God, labor for the one object,--to save souls. They do not merely preach a sermon, but they feel that there is earnest work for them to do. They go to the houses of the people and sit down with the families, taking the Bible with them, and they become missionaries in the home, and wherever they are. 182 {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 10} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 11] There are some who need to cultivate adaptability,--they need to adapt themselves to the situation,--and then they can do more good in families than they can while spending so much time in sermonizing. God wants you to take hold of the work, and act like men who carry the burden of souls continually. Then you will work earnestly to bring sheaves to the Master. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 11} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 12] There are families right here in Battle Creek who should be in other places, working for the salvation of souls. Are you not servants of God? Have you not professed to be his servants, the soldiers of the cross of Christ? But whom are you serving? Where are your conflicts? Where are your trials? Where do you meet with opposition? In meeting opposition you are driven to the Lord of heaven for strength and support; you are driven to the gate of heaven, that the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness may shine into your hearts. Then you will not merely tell what the requirements of God are, but you will tell of his grace and love, of his mercy and joy and peace, which lift you above the temptations that will assail you in every place. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 12} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 13] Here in Battle Creek the church is large, and people cannot be looked after individually as in the smaller churches. Then how important that all who come here should decide not to be a dead weight, a burden, but to catch every ray of light from the throne of God, and to educate, educate, EDUCATE themselves, that they may educate others. In doing this, it becomes evident that they are not dead,--they are alive. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 13} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 14] And those who are connected with our institutions here can obtain a deeper experience, through earnest prayer and vital connection with God, that they may distinguish the temptations of the enemy amid the common duties and the business of life. Unless they feel the importance of making the improvement that is essential in their characters in order to be better men every day, and thus be enabled to carry the responsibilities that rest upon them, they will be found on the losing side. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 14} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 15] The church, too, should be a living, active, working church. The members should not lay their weight upon others, but each should carry his own burden, and fill his allotted place as a worker together with God. What are you doing? God has given every man his work, and you are not to look to others; you are to look to your Master,--to him who has called you to his service. You are to do his will, notwithstanding that infirmities may be upon you. For we have infirmities, and defects of character, and therefore need the grace of God all the time. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 15} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 16] If this church becomes a living, active church, its members will have a tender care for the youth among them; they will be looking after those whose hands are hanging down, whose feet have gone astray from the true, safe path. They will not stand idle, not knowing what is the matter with their brother or sister. They will have a living interest in the momentous issues that are before us for this time, and there will be a self-sacrificing people here. That is what God wants us to be. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 16} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 17] But some have drifted into Battle Creek whom God has not sent here. If he should speak to them, methinks he would say, as he did to his prophet of old, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" In these words the Lord virtually said to Elijah, "I sent you to Ahab with a message, and how is it that you have strayed away here? Was it because Jezebel threatened to take off your head for bearing the living testimony which resulted in the death of the priests of Baal? What sent you here?" Elijah heard the threats of Jezebel, but he did not wait to hear what God had to say. He fled for his life, and hid in a cave. But God did not leave him there. No, he called him out of the cave, and bade him stand with God upon the mount, and listen to his word. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 17} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 18] Have the members of the Battle Creek church the true missionary spirit? Are they following the example of Christ? He did not remain in the pleasant courts of heaven and leave the world to perish. Do we see his example followed among us? Where are our home missionaries? May the Lord awaken an interest in the hearts of those who are guiding this work, that light may shine in the darkened places. Those who are content to sit under the clear light of truth from Sabbath to Sabbath, and do nothing to diffuse the light, will after a time lose it themselves. If we would keep the light, we must be constantly giving it to others. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 18} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 19] Jesus did not neglect the villages. The record declares that "he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, . . . which ministered unto him of their substance." These accompanied Christ for the purpose of doing something. I want to know how the people who gather here from Sabbath to Sabbath are going to stand when the judgment shall sit, and the books shall be opened, and every one shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body? I want to know how we shall meet those souls unsaved whom we might have helped and blessed. To God the souls of all are alike precious; there is no respect of persons with him. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 19} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 20] The apostle Paul said, "The love of Christ constraineth us." It was this that impelled him to his arduous labors and burden-bearing in the cause of Christ. Thus he was constrained to carry the light of truth to those that were in darkness. And there 183 is just as much necessity for us to bear burdens, and to feel that we are constrained. The same love that impelled Paul should impel us. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 20} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 21] Are there not families here who will uproot from Battle Creek and go out to settle in some of the adjoining towns and villages, and there exert a saving influence? At first the people of these places may despise the truth, for they have heard much that is false and objectionable in regard to Sabbath-keepers. Now is it not the duty of some who are standing idle here, to go where they can represent Christ and his precious truth. Jesus might have stayed in the courts of heaven till today. He might never have come to our world, but he chose to do it. And why? Because he loved us. He gave his life for us; and what does he say in the word?--"Love one another as I have loved you." {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 21} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 22] When I was at Otsego, I asked the brethren if there were any Sabbath-keepers in the towns and villages around them. They said, not that they were aware of. I answered, "Then there is one thing that I would be aware of. I would see that the light of truth was shining in these places." Let a family move into each place,--a family whose members love Jesus, and who will walk with the cross of Calvary in view, who will lie low at the feet of Christ, because the more humble they are, the clearer will be their views of Christ and his matchless loveliness, and the great sacrifice that he has made to save perishing souls. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 22} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 23] Jesus left the courts of heaven, he laid off his royal robes and his royal crown, to undertake the salvation of the world, to bring many sons and daughters to God. He clothed his divinity with humanity. That was a humiliation; but he came still lower. He was poor; he worked at the carpenter's trade with his father, and in this act gave honor to all labor and to all honest poverty. So let no one, whatever his position, feel at liberty to despise or oppress the poor, or to treat any soul with harshness; for Christ humbled himself to save all. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 23} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 24] No matter where it is,--in the Sanitarium, the publishing house, the College, or any other department,--you are not at liberty to cherish a feeling of envy or jealousy, or to speak harshly or impatiently. If we are Christians, Christ dwelling in us will lead us to represent him in character; and when the love of Jesus lives in the soul, let me tell you that your harsh spirit, your haughty independence, your authoritative manner, will all be laid aside. You will then feel that you are yourself a sinner, in need of the grace of God, and that he has borne with you, and borne with you long and patiently. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 24} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 25] O, How long he has suffered us! How patient he has been with our mistakes! and yet many of us will do just as the man did who was forgiven the great debt, who went out and took his neighbor by the throat, saying, "Pay me that thou owest!" Such a man fails to remember how much he was forgiven, and he will act out his own impetuous, wicked disposition, and make offenders feel that they are in his power. There is a great deal of this work here in Battle Creek, but we want all who indulge this spirit to understand that unless they are converted, they will never see the kingdom of heaven. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 25} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 26] What is our work in this world?--To win souls to Christ. Hence we are to study the life of Christ, for he is our example. At some of our camp-meetings I have seen men strolling around on the outside of the ground during the time of service. I asked, "Why are you here, instead of listening to the discourse?" "I know all about that subject; I have heard it several times," was the answer. "How do you know," I said, "but that God has given his messenger a word for you?" Such ones are in the position of the rich young man who came to Christ, saying, "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The answer was, "Keep the commandments." But he rejoined, "All these things have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet?" {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 26} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 27] Thus many will say, "I have done the best that I knew." Then you should learn of Christ how to do better. If you are doing the best you know, then, for Christ's sake, put yourselves in the channel of light, where the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness will shine into the heart, and you will know how to do better. God wants us to improve all our powers, and to make use of all the opportunities he has given us for soul-culture. He wants us to learn every day in the school of Christ. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 27} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 28] Every one in the Office of Publication, needs, moment by moment, to receive wisdom from above. If there is light anywhere that he can get, he should be where he can receive it. And when the workers there feel as they should the responsibility of their position, it will make them solemn and prayerful in the doing of the work. They will do their best all the time. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 28} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 29] Now we want light, and we may have it on this occasion if we will open our hearts to receive it. When we have done that, we shall understand that Battle Creek is missionary ground, and we are laborers together with God. We want to understand better how to work for souls. Right around us there are many, both young and old, that need our help. You can engage in missionary work right here, and thus be learning how to work for others; then you will be prepared to go out of Battle Creek to labor. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 29} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 30] You are not here to gather around you a select few of your favorites, who virtually say, "You praise me, and I will praise you; you help me, and I will help you." In doing this you will leave a large 184 class uncared for,--souls for whom you are responsible before God. When you place yourselves where you should be in order to hear the voice of God, you will come before him every day, saying, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord will give you a burden for souls, and will touch your lips as he did those of Isaiah, with a live coal from off his altar. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 30} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 31] There are fields for labor opening everywhere, and calls for schools in every direction. Right in our own State are most favorable openings for missions, places where churches should be built, and the light of truth shine forth. But where is the means to sustain the work? {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 31} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 32] There is just as much self-denial required now as when we first started in the work, when we were only a little handful of people, when we knew what self-denial meant, what self-sacrifice meant, when we tried to get out the little papers, little leaflets, that should go to those who were in darkness. There are a few connected with the Office today who were with us then. For years we received no wages, except barely enough to furnish us with the plainest food and clothing. We were glad to wear second-hand clothes, and sometimes we had hardly food enough to sustain our strength. Everything else was put into the work. After a time my husband received six dollars a week, and we lived on that, and I worked with him in the cause. Others labored in a similar way. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 32} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 33] Brethren, one after another of the old standard-bearers has fallen, and others have entered into their labors. We do not want you to forget that those men who have grown gray in the cause of God, and still survive, are not to be neglected or ignored. They should be highly esteemed for their works' sake. Those that have come in to take up the work, after it has been made a success, should walk very modestly. They should manifest the spirit of self-sacrifice. God means that the institutions here shall be carried on by self-sacrifice, just as the foundation was laid. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 33} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 34] God wants every one here to receive of his Spirit. He wants to give us of his power. He wants us to acknowledge his dealing with us in the past. We are not to discredit or despise it and go to work in a different way. It is best for us to work where God works, and to recognize his leadings all the way along, from the time when the mighty cleaver of truth took us out from the world and made us a separate people. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 34} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 35] I repeat that we should be missionaries; we want to "hold the fort." Wherever we can find among us men of ability, we should endeavor to bring them in and connect them with the work; but if they will not seek in every way to catch the light from heaven, that they may know how to lead the people in the right way, God can do without them. He is not dependent upon any human being or human ability. Your ability will never give you an entrance into heaven. The question is, Are you walking with God? Is Christ abiding in your heart? Does the law of kindness proceed from your lips? Do you feel the necessities of those who need encouragement and help? Those who represent the cause must stand high before the people in order to win their confidence; and when; standing in God, you have the confidence of the people, the cause will be built up. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 35} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 36] The God of heaven is the ruler over all. No man or set of men can rule in these institutions in Battle Creek. We want you to know, brethren, that God stands at the head. He will take charge of his own work. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 36} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 37] God has chosen us to be a peculiar people among the nations of the earth, and through us he desires to send the light of truth to all the world. Are you doing your part in the work? God help you to feel that you are to deny self, to sacrifice self, remembering that Jesus for our sake became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. Christ is coming, and he is coming to investigate the work of every one,--to see whether it is wrought in God and in an unselfish way, or the opposite. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 37} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 38] God does not want any to engage in this work except those who have the spirit of sacrifice, and who feel that God is with them, and that he has called them to share in the sacred work for this time. I want to see the blessing of God, the dews and the showers of grace, come upon his people in rich measure. Remember, he bids you to bring all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse, and he promises that if you do this, you shall have his blessing; that he will open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing so great that there shall not be room enough to receive it. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 38} [GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 39] When I see so little of the spirit of self-sacrifice manifested among us, I wonder if our people believe that Christ is soon coming. Do you believe it? A man will act out all the faith he has. We used to say so in 1843 and 1844. Brethren, do you now believe that the Lord is coming? Do you believe it in your hearts, or is it a mere theory, without any real faith or power? The world will present its proposals to draw you away from the work, and Satan will tempt you to accept them. If you can be easily divorced from the work, you may depend upon it the bribe will come, because Satan wants every soul that he can lead. Now, brethren and sisters, we want to know who are on the sacrificing side; we want to know who will be on the side of God, the side of heaven, the side of eternal life. {GCDB, March 20, 1891 par. 39} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 1] April 13, 1891 Our Present Dangers. ［DELIVERED TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 24, 1891.］ - By Mrs. E. G. White. - Brethren and sisters, I appeal to you as Seventh-day Adventists to be all that this name signifies. There is danger of departing from the spirit of the message, and adopting measures that will imperil the work of God. As the Lord has presented these things before me at several times and in different places, I have been brought into your assemblies where articles were read and statements made which were false in principle and dangerous in their tendency. I was shown that those who advocated these sentiments were not following the counsel of God, but were bringing in that which would surely lead souls away from safe ground, away from the third angel's message, into wrong paths, to a careless disregard of the injunctions of God, thus imperiling their own souls and the souls of others. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 1} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 2] In your councils, how little experience many of you have in humbling the heart before God! How little you know of striving in prayer that you may enter in at the strait gate! The question of highest importance to you is, "Do I have an experimental knowledge of God? Am I ready to believe what he tells me, to do what he bids, instead of following my own judgment? Am I drawing nearer to God?" The Scripture says, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned." If your hearts are not fully surrendered to God, if you do not submit your will to his, you will devise and plan without the 257 guidance of Him who is mighty in counsel. Some have manifested a spirit of Pharisaic prejudice and criticism. As soon as this is indulged, the holy angels depart from you; for they cannot administer to sin. You possess in a large degree the same spirit that was revealed in the Conference at Minneapolis. The deception that was upon minds there still exists. Some have not been willing to see and acknowledge their errors, and their blindness of mind remains. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 2} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 3] You who have been educating yourselves and others in a spirit of criticism and accusing, remember that you are imitating the example of Satan. When it suits your purpose, you treat the Testimonies as if you believed them, quoting from them to strengthen any statement you wish to have prevail. But how is it when light is given to correct your errors? Do you then accept the light? When the Testimonies speak contrary to your ideas, you treat them very lightly. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 3} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 4] It does not become any one to drop a word of doubt here and there that shall work like poison in other minds, shaking their confidence in the messages which God has given, which have aided in laying the foundation of this work, and have attended it to the present day, in reproofs, warnings, corrections, and encouragements. To all who have stood in the way of the Testimonies, I would say, God has given a message to his people, and his voice will be heard, whether you hear or forbear. Your opposition has not injured me; but you must give an account to the God of heaven, who has sent these warnings and instructions to keep his people in the right way. You will have to answer to him for your blindness, for being a stumbling-block in the way of sinners. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 4} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 5] "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Even the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart is to be tested by the word of God. The Spirit which inspired the Scriptures, always leads to the Scriptures. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 5} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 6] "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." The True Witness says of the church, after enumerating many virtues, "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." The prevailing idolatry and iniquity have had a paralyzing, deadening influence upon piety and godliness. There is distrust, selfishness, and suspicion. A few hold fast their profession of faith. Others have been leaving the simplicity of the faith, and as the result they are now treading on the border-land of skepticism. They are spiritually beclouded; and thus many are holding serious errors. Some sit in judgment on the Scriptures, declaring that this or that passage is not inspired, because it does not strike their minds favorably. They cannot harmonize it with their ideas of philosophy and science, "falsely so called." Others for different reasons question portions of the word of God. Thus many walk blindly where the enemy prepares the way. Now, it is not the province of any man to pronounce sentence upon the Scriptures, to judge or condemn any portion of God's word. When one presumes to do this, Satan will create an atmosphere for him to breathe which will dwarf spiritual growth. When a man feels so very wise that he dares to dissect God's word, his wisdom is, with God, counted foolishness. When he knows more, he will feel that he has everything to learn. And his very first lesson is to become teachable. "Learn of me," says the Great Teacher; "for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 6} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 7] Would that the spiritual eyesight of all the workers might be clear to distinguish the sacred from the common. Blinded by self-love, many lose sight of the claims of others, and also of the glory of God. When you see yourselves as you really are, and see God as he wants you to see him, you will feel deeply your need of Jesus, and will seek him with contrite hearts. Then he will be found of you. You will seek for his heavenly treasure of graces as one seeks for precious pearls; and when you find it, there will be no doubt on the minds of your brethren but that you have found the pearl of great price. You will have the mind of Christ; you will work and speak as Christ did. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 7} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 8] The people of God are not to be guided by the opinions or practices of the world. Hear what the Saviour said to his disciples, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 8} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 9] The word of God plainly declares that his law is to be scorned, trampled upon, by the world; there will be an extraordinary prevalence of iniquity. The professed Protestant world will form a confederacy with the man of sin, and the church and the world will be in corrupt harmony. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 9} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 10] Here the great crisis is coming upon the world. The Scriptures teach that popery is to regain its lost supremacy, and that the fires of persecution will be rekindled through the time serving concessions of the so-called Protestant world. In this time of peril we can stand only as we have the truth and the power of God. Men can know the truth only by being themselves partakers of the divine nature. We have need now for more than human wisdom in reading and searching the Scriptures; and if we come to God's word with humble hearts, he will raise up a standard for us against the lawless element. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 10} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 11] It is difficult to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end; and the difficulty increases when there are hidden influences constantly at work to bring in another spirit, a counter working element, on Satan's side of the question. In the absence of persecution, there have drifted into our ranks some who appear sound, and their Christianity unquestionable, but who, if persecution should arise, would go out from us. In the crisis, they would see force in specious reasoning that has had an influence on their minds. Satan has prepared various snares to meet varied minds. When the law of God is made void, the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now anticipate, will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Instead of being strengthened when brought into strait places, many prove that they are not living branches of the True Vine; they bore no fruit, and the husbandman taketh them away. 258 {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 11} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 12] But when the world makes void the law of God, what will be the effect upon the truly obedient and righteous? Will they be carried away by the strong current of evil? Because so many rank themselves under the banner of the prince of darkness, will God's commandment keeping people swerve from their allegiance? Never! Not one who is abiding in Christ will fail or fall. His followers will bow in obedience to a higher authority than that of any earthly potentate. While the contempt placed upon God's commandments leads many to suppress the truth and show less reverence for it, the faithful ones will with greater earnestness hold aloft its distinguishing truths. We are not left to our own direction. In all our ways we should acknowledge God, and he will direct our paths. We should consult his word with humble hearts, ask his counsel, and give up our will to his. We can do nothing without God. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 12} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 13] There is the highest reason for us to prize the true Sabbath and stand in its defense, for it is the sign which distinguishes the people of God from the world. The commandment that the world makes void is the one to which, for this very reason, God's people will give greater honor. It is when the unbelieving cast contempt upon the word of God that the faithful Calebs are called for. It is then that they will stand firm at the post of duty, without parade, and without swerving because of reproach. The unbelieving spies stood ready to destroy Caleb. He saw the stones in the hands of those who had brought a false report, but this did not deter him; he had a message, and he would bear it. The same spirit will be manifested today by those who are true to God. The psalmist says, "They have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold." When men press close to the side of Jesus, when Christ is abiding in their hearts by faith, their love for the commandments of God grows stronger in proportion to the contempt which the world heaps upon his holy precepts. It is at this time that the true Sabbath must be brought before the people by both pen and voice. As the fourth commandment and those who observe it are ignored and despised, the faithful feel that it is the time not to hide their faith but to exalt the law of Jehovah by unfurling the banner on which is inscribed the message of the third angel, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 13} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 14] Let not those who have the truth as it is in Jesus give sanction, even by their silence, to the work of the mystery of iniquity. Let them never cease to sound the note of alarm. Let the education and training of the members of our churches be such that the children and youth among us shall understand there are to be no concessions to this power, the man of sin. Teach them that although the time will come when we can wage the war only at the risk of property and liberty, yet the conflict must be met, in the spirit and meekness of Christ; the truth is to be maintained and advocated as it is in Jesus. Wealth, honor, comfort, home,--everything else,--is to be a secondary consideration. The truth must not be hid, it must not be denied or disguised, but fully avowed, and boldly proclaimed. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 14} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 15] The Lord has faithful watchmen on the walls of Zion to cry aloud and spare not, to lift up their voice like a trumpet, and show his people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. The Lord has permitted the enemy of truth to make a determined effort against the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. He designs by this means to awaken a decided interest in that question which is a test for the last days. This will open the way for the third angel's message to be proclaimed with power. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 15} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 16] Let not one who believes the truth, be silent now. None should be careless now; let all urge their petitions at the throne of grace, pleading the promise, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do." It is a perilous time now. If this land of boasted liberty is preparing to sacrifice every principle which enters into her constitution, making decrees to suppress religious freedom, and for the enforcing of papal falsehood and delusion, then the people of God need to present their petitions in faith to the Most High. There is every encouragement, in the promises of God, for those who put their trust in him. The prospect of being brought into personal danger and distress, need not cause despondency, but should quicken the vigor and hopes of God's people; for the time of their peril is the season for God to grant them clearer manifestations of his power. We are not to sit in calm expectancy of oppression and tribulation, and fold our hands, doing nothing to avert the evil. Let our united cries be sent up to heaven. Pray and work, and work and pray. But let none act rashly. Learn as never before that you must be meek and lowly in heart. You must not bring a railing accusation against any, whether individuals or churches. Learn to deal with minds as Christ did. Sharp things must sometimes be spoken; but be sure that the Holy Spirit of God is abiding in your heart before you speak the clear-cut truth; then let it cut its way. You are not to do the cutting. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 16} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 17] There is to be no compromise with those who make void the law of God. It is not safe to rely upon them as counselors. Our testimony is not to be less decided now than formerly; our real position is not to be cloaked in order to please the world's great men. They may desire us to unite with them and accept their plans, and may make propositions in regard to our course of action which may give the enemy an advantage over us. "Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy." While we should not seek for controversy, and should not needlessly offend, we must present the truth clearly and decidedly, and stand firm to what God has taught us in his word. You are not to look to the world in order to learn what you shall write and publish or what you shall speak. Let all your words and works testify, "We have not followed cunningly devised fables." "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place." {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 17} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 18] The apostle Paul tells us, "After that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." This was the carrying out of God's plan for the conviction and conversion of men, who are constantly tempted to magnify their own powers. The Lord would make it manifest whether men by their own finite wisdom could acquire a knowledge of the truth, whether they could know 259 God, their Creator. When Christ came to our world, the experiment had been fully made, and it proved the boasted wisdom of men to be but foolishness. Finite wisdom was utterly unable to come to right conclusions in regard to God, and therefore man was wholly incompetent to judge in regard to his law. The Lord has allowed matters in our day to come to a crisis, in the exaltation of error above truth, that he, the God of Israel, might work mightily for the greater elevation of his truth in proportion as error is exalted. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 18} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 19] With his eye upon the church, the Lord has again and again allowed matters to come to a crisis, that in their extremity his people should look alone for his help. Their prayers, their faith, together with their steadfast purpose to be true, have called for the interference of God, and then he has fulfilled his promise, "Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am." His mighty arm has been stretched out for the deliverance of his people. God reserves his gracious interposition in their behalf till the time of their extremity; thus he makes their deliverance more marked, and their victories more glorious. When all human wisdom fails, the Lord's interference will be more clearly recognized, and he will receive the glory that is his due. Even the enemies of our faith, persecutors, will perceive that God is working for his people in turning their captivity. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 19} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 20] What is needed in this, our time of danger, is fervent prayer, mingled with earnest faith, a reliance upon God when Satan casts his shadow over God's people. Let every one bear in mind that God delights to listen to the supplications of his people; for the prevailing iniquity calls for more earnest prayer, and God has promised that he will avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 20} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 21] Men are prone to abuse the long suffering of God, and to presume on his forbearance. But there is a point in human iniquity when it is time for God to interfere; and terrible are the issues. "The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked." The long-suffering of God is wonderful, because he puts constraint on his own attributes; but punishment is none the less certain. Every century of profligacy has treasured up wrath against the day of wrath; and when the time comes, and the iniquity is full, then God will do his strange work. It will be found a terrible thing to have worn out the divine patience; for the wrath of God will fall so signally and strongly that it is represented as being unmixed with mercy; the very earth will be desolated. It is at the time of the national apostasy, when, acting on the policy of Satan, the rulers of the land will rank themselves on the side of the man of sin -- it is then the measure of guilt is full; the national apostasy is the signal for national ruin. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 21} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 22] God has thrust his people into the gap, to make up the hedge, to raise up the foundation of many generations. The heavenly intelligences, angels that excel in strength, are waiting, obedient to his command, to unite with human agencies; and the Lord will interpose when matters have come to such a pass that none but a divine power can counteract the satanic agencies at work. When his people shall be in the greatest danger, seemingly unable to stand against the power of Satan, God will work in their behalf, Man's extremity is God's opportunity. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 22} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 23] Now is the time when the loyal and true are to arise and shine; for the glory of the Lord is risen upon them. It is no time now to hide our colors, no time to turn traitors when the battle presses sore, no time to lay aside our weapons of warfare. Watchmen on the walls of Zion must be wide awake. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 23} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 24] I am so thankful at this time that we can have our minds taken off from the difficulties that surround us, and the oppression that is to come upon the people of God, and can look up to the heaven of light and power. If we place ourselves on the side of God, of Christ and the heavenly intelligences, the broad shield of Omnipotence is over us, the mighty God of Israel is our helper, and we need not fear. Those who touch the people of God, touch the apple of his eye. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 24} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 25] Now the great question is, Are we Bible Christians, -- doers of the word? I have been astonished beyond measure as light has been presented to me again and again concerning the difficulties and dissensions that exist in our churches. What does it mean? With the teachings of the Bible before them, how dare they be in such disunion, apparently not caring to answer the prayer of Christ that his disciples might be one, as he is one with the Father. How dare they set up their will, and imperil the cause of God in order to carry things on in their own way? {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 25} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 26] The spirit of self-sufficiency and selfish independence that has for years been coming into the hearts of our people is the work of the enemy, that he may cause our feet to slide; and we cannot afford to indulge it. May God help us to put it away! Begin right in your own homes; begin there to be truly courteous, as Christ was; be kind; live not to please yourselves. Then if you are Christians at home, you will carry the same spirit into the church. You will carry it into your councils, and will have evidence that Jesus is indeed your helper, your stronghold, your front guard and your rear-ward. The righteousness of Christ will go before you, and the glory of God will be your rear-ward. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 26} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 27] Brethren, will you carry the spirit of Christ with you as you return to your homes and churches? Will you put away unbelief and criticism? We are coming to a time when, more than ever before, we shall need to press together, to labor unitedly. In union there is strength. In discord and disunion there is only weakness. God never designed that one man, or four, or twenty, should take an important work into their own hands, and carry it forward independently of other workers in the cause. God wants his people to counsel together, to be a united church, in Christ a perfect whole. The only safety for us is to enter into the counsels of Heaven, ever seeking to do the will of God, to become laborers together with him. No one company is to form a confederacy, and say, "We are going to take this work, and carry it on in our own way; and if it does not go as we want it to, we will not give our influence to have it go at all." This is Satan's voice, not God's. Do not obey such suggestions. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 27} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 28] What we want is the spirit of Jesus. When we have this, we shall love one another. Here are the credentials that we are to bear: "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love 260 one to another." We need to pray more; and when we have Christ abiding in the soul, his spirit in me will harmonize with his spirit in you; and he who controls our minds, controls also the heavenly intelligences, and they co-operate with us. Then in every council you will have the presence of One mighty in counsel. Jesus will be there. There will be no contention, no strife, no stirring up of the worst passions of the heart. What we want is to find refuge in Jesus. What we want is to be converted; and O, how I have longed for the converting power of God to go through our assemblies! {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 28} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 29] I fear that some will never be converted. Not because God is not willing to convert them; but because they have eyes, and yet see not; ears have they, but they hear not; they have understanding, and yet understand not. They are too proud to acknowledge their errors, and in contrition of heart seek God in repentance. Now shall we put away this impenitent spirit? Shall we fall on the Rock and be broken? Jesus is soon coming in the clouds of heaven. What is he doing now?--He is testing a people here upon the earth, to see if they can live in harmony, without revolt, in heaven. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 29} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 30] Do you think he will take those who are indulging skepticism and infidelity, who, when he sends a message, stand back and refuse to accept it? Yet many have done this. When we speak of the grace of God, of Jesus and his love, speak of the Saviour as one who is able to keep us from sin, and to save to the uttermost all who come unto him, many will say, "O, I am afraid you are going where the holiness people go. I am afraid you are doing after the Salvation Army." Brethren, you need not be afraid of the plain teachings of the Bible. Do not fear to go where the voice of Jesus is heard saying, "Follow me;" for this will lead you right. Do not let any man or woman, or any council or party, lead you to suppress the precious light that God has permitted to shine from heaven in regard to the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus. You need more, much more, of the Spirit of Christ, to take the coldness and iron out of your hearts. Jesus humbled himself. His whole life was one of humiliation and suffering. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. And all this he bore, that sinners might be redeemed. This is the spirit that must dwell in our hearts. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 30} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 31] The object of our faith, hope, and love, should be Jesus,--Jesus always, Jesus only. A mere profession of faith will not save us; we must have real faith in Christ. Then the heart will be renewed; we shall be born again. Christ takes our sins upon himself, and imparts to us his righteousness. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 31} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 32] In the revival work that has been going forward here during the past winter we have seen no fanaticism. But I will tell you what I have seen. I have seen men who were so lifted up in themselves, and so stubborn, that their hearts were enshrouded in darkness. All the light that Heaven graciously sent them was interpreted to be darkness. When the enemy presents a device of his own, some are ready to accept that; but they have been so very cautious that they would not receive the light which would have made them wise unto salvation. The mission of God's servants was to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God. The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, if received, would have illuminated the soul-temple, and driven out the buyers and sellers, the pride of opinion and the lust of the flesh. But there are some who have criticised and depreciated, and even stooped to ridicule, the messengers through whom the Lord has wrought in power. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 32} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 33] But, thank God, there are many who have been listening to his word and feasting upon it. What does Christ say?--"Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." Then let us feast upon Christ. Let us enjoy his love, and praise God for this great salvation. Then we shall come together, heart to heart. When we shall subdue our pride, when we shall pluck from the garden of the soul every fiber of the root of bitterness, our hearts will flow together as the heart of one. And the Saviour's promise is, "If any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." Then, I ask, Where is our power?--It is in the sincere prayers going up to heaven continually that Christ will reveal himself to us. And he will do it. The light and glory of God will rest upon his people. And then the world will see, and will say, "Behold, how these brethren love one another." Then all this heart burning and distrust will cease, and in place of it, there will be love and union, courtesy, kindness, and tenderness. The very countenances will shine with the glory of God. We shall all see eye to eye. We shall speak the same things, and be of the same judgment. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 33} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 34] Suppose we labor to this end the coming year. Suppose we try daily to have our hearts united in the bonds of Christian love. "I have somewhat against thee," says the True Witness, "because thou hast left thy first love." And he says, "Except thou repent," "I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place." Why?--Because in our separation from one another we are separated from Christ. We want to press together. O, how many times, when I have seemed to be in the presence of God and holy angels, I have heard the angel voice saying, "Press together, press together, press together. Do not let Satan cast his hellish shadow between brethren. Press together; in unity there is strength." {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 34} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 35] I repeat the message to you. As you go to your homes, be determined that you will press together; seek God with all the heart, and you will find him, and the love of Christ, that passeth understanding, will come into your hearts and lives. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 35} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 36] I tell you, we have enough to do. There is no time to lose in doubt and darkness and inactivity. Your attention has been called to the need of missionary work in almost all parts of the world. Today I would present before you the Southern field. How many missionaries are now ready to take hold of the work to be done among the colored people in our own country? Where are the men and women who will go in among the thousands upon thousands of these people in the South, and in a patient, humble way, seek to educate and train them? O, there is so much to do! We cannot afford to spend our time in manufacturing yokes to put upon our own necks or the necks of others. We want to go out as missionaries for God. We want to awake from the 261 dead, and Christ will give us life. There are souls to be saved for whom Christ has paid the purchase money of his own blood, and I want you to feel that if souls of the colored race shall go down, unwarned, to destruction, there are those who have the light and have feasted upon it from week to week and from year to year, who will have to give an account to God; for the blood of souls will be upon their garments. Brethren, we cannot afford this. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 36} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 37] May God help us to awake to our duty! If you have hold of the work of God, I beseech you, for Christ's sake, do not let go. If God sees that your souls are in danger, he will send reproof to you. Do not rise up against it. Say, "I will seek God, I will find him, and will be converted." The True Witness says, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." Yes, repent. It is not for you to be jealous of the reprover. It is not for you to dissect or discount the message that God may send you. It is for you to receive it, and reform, and be thankful that the Lord has not left you to blindness of mind and hardness of heart. May God help you to be converted. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 37} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 38] I beseech you to take Christ with you as you go to your churches. "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." Many are unwilling to have their way crossed. Now, it is not by following your own way that you will enter heaven; it is by choosing God's way. Will you take it? It is not your spirit that is going into heaven; it is Christ's spirit. Will you have it? Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Then I ask, How is it that so many of you are saying you do not know whether you are accepted of God or not; that you want to find Jesus? Don't you know whether you have opened the door? Don't you know whether you have invited him in? If you have not, invite him now. Don't wait a moment. Open the door, and let Jesus in. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 38} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 39] There are important interests at stake in Battle Creek, where so many of our institutions have been planted. As we were planning for the establishment of these institutions, how we prayed, and sought God day and night. Before the College was established here, my husband would say to me in the night season "What shall we do about establishing a school here? Let us get up and pray." Long before this, we used to pray about establishing the printing-office. Then it was the Sanitarium. Prayer was interwoven with our very life experience. Day by day our petitions ascended to heaven, and God heard us. Now let us continue to pray. If we needed to pray about the establishment of these institutions, how much more do we need to pray for God to keep them as guardians of the truth. They are not to lift up any false standard. They are not to be false signposts for the people. Wherever you are, pray that God will keep these institutions. If your united prayers ascend to heaven in their behalf, God will hear; and if the men who are there prove unfaithful, he will remove them, and will put others there who will be true to him. God is not at a loss for means. If men will only respond to his call, all will be well. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 39} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 40] Now let us take Christ's yoke upon us, and learn of him. He says his yoke is easy, and I believe it. He says the burden is light, and I believe that, too. When you are wearing Christ's yoke, all your complaining and dissension will cease. When Christ's disciples fell into controversy by the way, he asked them. "What was is that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. . . . And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and I whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me." Now let us be like children before God. Let us be teachable, willing to learn, and then the Spirit of God will cement our hearts together, and we shall be one in Christ Jesus. Then the Father will love us, even as he loves his Son. Let this thought fill the soul with thankfulness, and go on your way to Zion, making melody in your hearts to God. You are called out of darkness to show forth his marvelous light. Go forward, rejoicing in the righteousness of Christ. {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 40} [GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 41] At the morning meetings I have enjoyed hearing the testimonies of those who came here to learn,--testimonies of how they have learned to believe that Christ has forgiven their sins. It is very late--the eleventh hour--to learn that. But, thank God, it is not too late, even at the eleventh hour, for wrongs to be made right. If we learn what is to be the joy of our calling, we shall praise God with heart and soul and voice. And at last we shall have a glorious triumph when our captivity shall be turned, and our mourning and tears shall be forever past. What a shout of praise will then go forth from human lips! Shall we begin it here? God grant that we may! God help you to put away every fiber of the root of bitterness that has been planted in so many hearts. May you put it away, so that it shall never bud nor blossom from this time. Let Christ kill it by His Holy Spirit in every heart. God grant that the root of bitterness may die! - {GCDB, April 13, 1891 par. 41} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 1] January 28, 1893 Dear Brn-Srs. in Battle Creek Melbourne, Dec. 21, 1892. Dear Brethren and Sisters in Battle Creek:-- I feel deeply over our situation here in this new country, where, against many difficulties, the cause of present truth is struggling for standing room and existence. I feel it my duty to ask you to consider our situation. Advanced moves must be made, if these fields are properly worked. Workers will have to be sent from America to these cities, to labor from house to house in giving Bible readings, canvassing, and in other ways presenting the truth to these vast populations, as Providence opens the way. The people are calling for the living preacher to open to them the words of truth. But where are the men for the work, and where is the money to sustain them? {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 2] We are on the ground, and I fear we have not said one half that we should have said concerning the urgent needs of the work here, else many in America would be moved to do something, and do it now. The work has not advanced in the cities of Australia as it should. How shall we, here in this far-off country, speak to you in America so that you will hear and understand what we say in the name of the Lord? {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 3] We mean, while here, to do our best; but we are burdened as we see how much more might be done, if we had the funds and if those who have a knowledge of the truth would come to this field as consecrated missionaries. We want men and women who will give themselves to God to do real service for Christ. Such laborers can find abundance of work. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 4] I ask of you at the heart of the work in Battle Creek, while you have felt it a necessity to add to your facilities, expending large sums of money in various enterprises, have you considered that the Lord has in these countries a people who are just as precious to him as you are? All over the world there is great destitution of the knowledge of the truth. If the Lord is no respecter of persons, what, I inquire, is your responsibility, as churches and as individuals? Is it not to deny yourselves daily, to lift the cross, and follow Jesus where he has led the way? No means should be expended unnecessarily in dress, in houses, or in any other line; many supposed wants may be denied, and desired conveniences dispensed with, and God will bless you in your self-denial. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 5] In our work here the study has to be, How shall we bind about our wants so as to have money to spend for the one great purpose of enlightening the world? How much can be done by the most judicious use of our means for the advancement of the cause of God? Everything in connection with the school expenses is carefully studied. We consider the need of broadening the work, and make special efforts to educate the youth, which must be done in order to give character to the work. We talk of some plan that seems to be desirable, but the impossible stares us in the face. There is no money. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 6] If ever in any place there was need of workers and means, it is in this country. We would have felt it a necessity to hold a conference here in Melbourne, the center of the work, and call in the brethren from 13 the churches to gain a more perfect knowledge of the truth and of what the Lord expects of us; but "Too poor" confronts us. Again, we have no place in which to hold such a meeting. We had to give up the idea, and fall back and narrow down, requesting that only a few delegates be sent to the Conference. How can the work advance as it should with this poverty-stricken condition of things? {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 7] In all Australia we have but one meeting house where we can worship God. This one has been erected in Parramatta, a town near Sydney, where a company has recently been raised up to obey the truth. All our other churches are dependent upon hired halls in which to hold their meetings. In winter these are so cold and damp that I am unable to meet with the churches, and I know that many endanger health and life in these places. During the winter they are not safe for even the Australians themselves. Some who are full of blood in good circulation may endure this tax with no special ill effects, but for women and children and those who are rheumatic or have lung difficulties, it is presumption to remain in these places during divine services. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 8] And such halls are far from being suitable places for meeting at any season. The hall in which I spoke last Sabbath cannot be properly ventilated; it is completely surrounded by other rooms, and is lighted only from the roof. The air was so impure as to be really sickening. A curtain stretched across the end of the hall, back of the platform, separates this apartment from the next, but there is such a draft that the speaker's stand has been removed from this platform and placed upon a lower one made for the purpose. Notwithstanding this precaution, the draught was so strong that I had to keep a heavy shawl drawn close about my neck while speaking. Now my lips are swollen and painful from the effect of the cold and the foul air. Last Sabbath the hall was full; it is narrow and long, and in our social meetings on the Sabbath it is very difficult to hear what is said. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 8} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 9] The halls are used for all kinds of gatherings, and many say that it is impossible for them to teach their children or themselves to regard the place of meeting as a place where God is to be worshipped. Many will not come to a religious meeting in such a place. They feel that it is irreverent and almost sacrilegious to attempt to worship God amid such surroundings. But with present prospects it will be simply impossible for this people to purchase land or put up the plainest kind of a house of worship. Ought we to be thus situated? And how long shall this state of things continue? We have changed about from hall to hall, with little benefit; we must have a meeting house. We need a school building also, but the meeting house must come first. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 9} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 10] I hear that in Battle Creek you talk of purchasing a pipe organ for the tabernacle. Do you think this is more essential than to help our brethren in foreign countries to erect churches that they may have suitable places in which to worship God? After the appeals that I have felt it my duty to make, entreating you to bind about your inclinations, can you feel that in this plan you are moving in the order of God? I warned you against investing means freely to enlarge and improve that which you were especially interested in, without a thought of the terrible struggles being made to erect the standard of truth in foreign countries. Your lavish expenditure makes it difficult, if not impossible for you to aid your brethren in erecting churches where they are so much needed. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 10} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 11] The influence of a house of worship is greatly needed, not only in Melbourne, but in our other churches. A plain, neat, commodious building, of proper dimensions, would fill their hearts with gratitude, and would give those not of our faith an opportunity to come into our assemblies, and hear the words of life. There need be no costly organ, nothing for mere display; what is wanted is a house that can be dedicated to God, to which the people can come as their home, where there would be extempore preaching and prayer, and singing in which all the congregation would join, and where the surroundings would be entirely in harmony with the faith we profess. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 11} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 12] In some places the truth has been introduced, and souls have taken hold of it, but they are in limited circumstances, and can do but little toward securing advantages that would give character to the work. This renders it hard to extend the work to new fields. When the truth is presented, and persons become interested, they are told by the ministers, and it is echoed by the church members, "This interest will all die down; you will give up these new ideas about the seventh-day Sabbath and the coming of the Lord. This people have no church, and you have no place of worship. You are a small company, poor and illiterate, there are few talented men among you." Can we expect that this will bring no temptation to those who see the reasons of our faith and feel the conviction of the Spirit of God in regard to the Bible truth presented? It has to be often repeated that from a small beginning large interests may grow. If wisdom and sanctified judgment and skillful generalship are manifested by us as a people, in building up the interests of our Redeemer's kingdom in the world, humble sanctuaries will be erected, where those who lift the cross in obeying the truth may find a home, a place in which they can worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 12} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 13] Those who are accounted by the world as illiterate, 14 may by connecting themselves with the God of wisdom, have the divine enlightenment to work on mind and heart. "The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding to the simple." Who are those that are here called the simple? Those who are deficient in intellect or good sense? No indeed; but those who are not so self satisfied, that they will not take the trouble to search the Scriptures. The Bereans were called "more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so." God is drawing those who listen to conscience, take counsel with right reason and with God, and surrender their will, their entire prospects, with the whole heart to God. It is then, and then only, that the human agents learn how wayward is the heart, and how unwilling to give up all for Jesus. But if they walk in the light while they have the light, they soon receive another kind of knowledge; they learn how mighty is the grace of God to subdue selfishness, and expel it from the soul. Truth has the ascendency. There is a sense of spiritual freedom, they rejoice in the glorious liberty of the sons and daughters of God. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 13} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 14] And now opposition has to be encountered. In the world they were gliding along peaceably, but now they have to stem the current of popular opinion. As they turn from the maxims and customs of popular professors of religion, the conflict begins in earnest. They must contend for the faith once delivered to the saints, or be carried away from light, away from truth, into error and darkness, to final ruin. What is it that causes this contention? It is the collision of error against truth. The tyrant is seeking to oppress man's conscience, that Christ has made free. Persecution will come more definitely and decidedly upon the people of God, because the godly are seeking for uprightness and holiness, and the disobedient are in sin. The sin-loving do not choose the way of God; and the obedient, in their character and course of action, are a constant rebuke to the sinful. When the truth finds access to the heart, it must fight every inch of the way. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 14} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 15] Now those who have recently come to the faith in new fields have strong opposing influences to meet. As these light bearers present the truth to others who are in worldliness and sin, some souls will be converted. Then the collision comes, then comes the warfare; and if the heart has yielded to Jesus in obeying the commandments of God, there is a jealous contest, error rising up to condemn truth, and in its God-given principles setting strongly against error. This is the experience the world over. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 15} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 16] The only way in which men will be able to stand firm in the conflict, is to be rooted and grounded in Christ. They must receive the truth as it is in Jesus. And it is only as the truth is presented thus that it can meet the wants of the soul. The preaching of Christ crucified, Christ our righteousness, is what satisfies the soul's hunger. When we secure the interest of the people in this great central truth, faith and hope and courage come to the heart. If God has given his Son to die for sinners, he means to counteract sin. He has made the great gift because of his love for sinful, fallen man. We must make it plain that he is able and willing to save all who come unto him and believe in him as their personal Saviour. Present this again and again, until the mind can take it in. Let every teacher put his whole heart, his whole mind and soul, into this work, lifting up Jesus, and bidding the people look and live. Let the sinner fix his eyes on Jesus, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world. As he looks to Christ, he will feel the power of God. He must not devote the precious time to deploring his sinfulness, looking upon the wounds and bruises he has received in the services of Satan. By faith carry the mind up within the vail to view Christ as our intercessor before the mercy-seat. Let the sinner behold Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, and his soul will be open to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 16} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 17] The transforming influence of truth sanctifies the soul. He loves the commandments of God. His fear and condemnation are gone. The love of Christ, expressed in his great sacrifice to save man, has broken every barrier down. The love of God flows into the soul, and gratitude springs up in the heart that was as cold as a stone. Christ crucified, Christ our righteousness, wins the heart and brings it to repentance. This theme is so simple that children can grasp it, the wise and learned are charmed with it, while they behold it in its depths of wisdom, love, and power which they can never fathom. We want to present this precious truth to the people who are bound in sin. Let all see that Christ was slain for their transgressions, that he desires to save them. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 17} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 18] Brethren and sisters in Battle Creek, who have had those precious truths set before you, I ask you to think of the many, many souls who need to hear the message of redeeming love. Jesus said unto the woman of Samaria, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him, shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life." While you at Battle Creek have the privilege of receiving from Jesus the living water, will you let these opportunities and gracious invitations and promises all be given and you receive no benefit? 15 Will you feast your souls upon the riches of his marvellous love and grace, and yet feel no special burden for those who are still in darkness and error? I ask you to present some tangible proof that you appreciate the love of God in sending his Son into the world, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 18} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 19] We want to know if you will love your neighbor as yourself? Will you make any personal sacrifice that these saving truths may go to the destitute regions, where the people are perishing for the bread of life? Are you disciples of Christ? Are you living as seeing him who is invisible? Are you abiding in Christ, and becoming fitted for any work that the Master calls you to do? "Ye are laborers together with God." You are not to wear a yoke of your own manufacture. Christ says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart." Are you willing to walk in humility, to lift and carry the cross, and follow the Master? Are you willing to deny self daily, for Christ's sake? Will you co-operate with Jesus? If you appreciate the truth, wherein do you earnestly labor that it may be carried to others? {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 19} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 20] How can those who have been long in the faith, as at Battle Creek, expend more and more upon their own enjoyment, when they know, by actual representation of the case, the great necessities of the work in foreign countries? Must the truth be kept in a very narrow compass because a portion of those who claim to believe it use their means to gratify themselves, while there are so many who are pressed and crippled and distressed for want of the very means which God has placed in the hands of stewards to be used in extending the truth to others? We envy not the position of these self-seeking ones in the judgment, when all will be tried by God's measurement, not by their own standard. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 20} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 21] The matter of purchasing a pipe organ for the tabernacle at Battle Creek was placed before me by Brother Barnes and others; I told them that as God had presented before me the necessities of the missionary work, the great need of sending men and means to carry the truth into new fields, I could not for a moment give the least encouragement to this piece of extravagance. Those who have felt so great a desire for this extra indulgence in our church at Battle Creek have a lethargy upon them that paralyzes their senses and blinds them to the real poverty in our missionary fields. My heart is sick and sad and sore. Pride and selfish gratification on the part of churches and individuals is keeping the word of God from thousands who might sing the songs of Zion; many harps that have been hung upon the willows might be taken down and made to give forth sweet music, if every one would have a true missionary spirit to work in love, as Christ worked, to save the lost. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 21} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 22] I can only wish that you who want everything you can get to minister to your pride, might in the providence of God be placed for a few years in some new field, and have the burden of souls upon you. Then you would see how much might be done in a humble way, to exalt the truth and save the lost. As your interest should be drawn out for others, your humble songs, coming from pure hearts, and poured forth in reverent strains, would call forth joy from angel choirs. But the songs coming from hearts where selfishness reigns, will not blend with angels' songs. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 22} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 23] As you meet from Sabbath to Sabbath, you need no expensive organ in order to sing praises to Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Let the heart's adoration be given "Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood." Let the love of Christ be the burden of the minister's utterance. Let it be expressed in simple language in every song of praise. Let the inspiration of the Spirit of God dictate your prayers. From Sabbath to Sabbath let the song of gratitude, the fruit of the lips, ascend from the family altar, let it be heard from the pulpit, and echo through the aisles and galleries of the church. As the minister speaks to you the words of life, let your heartfelt response testify that you receive the message as from heaven. This is very old fashioned, I know, but it will not be praise to the minister, but a thank-offering to God for the bread of life he has given to feed the hungry soul. This response to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit will be a strength to your own souls, and an encouragement to the assembled congregation. It will give some evidence that there are in God's building living stones that emit light. Will not this be more acceptable to God than the sounds you may produce from the most costly instrument of music? {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 23} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 24] The instrument you now have will serve the purpose as an aid to your voices. You might invest many hundreds or thousands of dollars in an instrument of music that would produce pleasing sounds but it would be to you an idol. It would not be an agency to convict and convert souls. The human voice that sings the praises of God from a heart filled with gratitude and thanksgiving is far more pleasing to him than the melody of all the musical instruments ever invented by human hands. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 24} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 25] Our probation is about ended. Can you not wait a little for the gratification of your desires? Deny self, walk in the light while you have the light, and then if you are saved in the kingdom of God, there will be the richest music of heaven for you through the ceaseless ages of eternity. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 25} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 26] Brethren and sisters, would that I might say 16 something to awaken you to the importance of this time, the significance of the events that are now taking place about us. I point you to the aggressive movements now being made for the restriction of religious liberty. God"s memorial has been torn down, and in its place a false Sabbath stands before the world; while the powers of darkness are stirring up the elements from beneath, the Lord God of heaven is sending power from above to meet the emergency by arousing his living agencies to exalt the law of heaven. Now, just now, is our time to work in foreign countries. As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the Papacy in forcing the consciences of men to honor the false Sabbath, the people of every country on the globe will be led to follow her example. Our people are not half awake to do all in their power with the facilities within their reach, to extend the message of warning to the world. New churches must be built, new congregations organized. Let the light shine to all lands and all people. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 26} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 27] The whole earth is to be lightened with the glory of God's truth. The Lord will not close up the period of probation until the warning message shall be more distinctly proclaimed. The trumpet must give a certain sound. The law of God is to be magnified, its claims must be presented in their true, sacred character; that the people may be brought to decide for or against the truth. Yet the work will be cut short in righteousness. The message of Christ's righteousness is to sound from one end of the world to the other. This is the glory of God which closes the work of the third angel. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 27} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 28] Are the people in Battle Creek asleep? Are they paralyzed? Will the light that has been shining in new and clear rays, beam after beam, move them to action? You have long expected the wonderful startling events that are to take place just prior to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Now I ask, Are you prepared to give the trumpet a certain sound? Do you know that you are connected with God, and living in the light of his countenance? Who feels day by day that he belongs to the great co-partnership for honoring Christ by working out the Lord's plan for the redemption of men? The best way to keep your own souls in the love of God is to become diligent workers for the salvation of others. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 28} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 29] The Lord is coming; the scenes of this earth's history are fast closing, and our work is not done. We have been waiting in anxious expectancy for the co-operation of the human agency in advancing the work. All heaven, if I may use the expression, is impatiently waiting for men to co-operate with the divine agencies in working for the salvation of souls. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation." Who will arise and shine because the light has come, and the glory of the Lord hath risen upon them? Who have joined themselves to the Lord in holy covenant to become channels for the communication of heaven's light and grace to our world. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 29} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 30] Unworthy as we all are, God has granted to us his forgiving mercy; undeserving as we are of the least of his favors, he has poured rich blessings upon you in Battle Creek and throughout America. The more unworthy the receiver, the more glorious the mercy of God, and the more earnestly should we show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light. Meditate upon the mercy of God, and praise him for his wonderful, pardoning love. Cherish the lessons of Christ upon the grace of humility and meekness and self-sacrifice. Let every one draw nigh to God, exercise faith in him, and tear every idol from the soul. Meet every temptation of Satan with "It is written, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." God is our strength. Through Christ we can do all things. Let it be the ambition of the church at Battle Creek to walk humbly with God, that the Lord may work in and through them by his Holy Spirit for the salvation of souls. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 30} [GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 31] The great day of God is at hand. "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever." Ellen G. White. {GCDB, January 28, 1893 par. 31} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 1] January 29, 1893 "Formality, not Organization, an Evil," Evil does not result from organization, but because of making organization everything, and vital godliness of little moment. When form and machinery take the pre-eminence, and a laborious task is made of carrying on the work that should be done in simplicity, evil will result, and little will be accomplished in proportion to the effort put forth. The object of organization is just the reverse of this; and should we disorganize, it would be like tearing down that we might build up. Evil results have been seen both in the Sabbath-school work and in the missionary society because of making much of machinery, while vital experience was lost sight of. In many of the imagined improvements that have been brought in, the mould of man has been placed upon the work. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 2] In the Sabbath-school men and women have been accepted as officers and teachers, who have not been spiritually minded, and have had no live interest in the work committed to their care; but matters can be set in order only through the aid of the Holy Spirit. The same evil has existed for years as now exists in our churches. Formality, pride, and love of display have taken the place of true piety and humble godliness. We might see a different order of things should a number consecrate themselves wholly to God, and then devote their talents to the Sabbath-school work, ever advancing in knowledge, and educating themselves so that they would be able to train others as to the best methods to employ in the work; but it is not for the workers to seek for methods by which they can make a display, consuming time in theatrical performances, and musical display; for this benefits no one. It does no good to train the children to make speeches for special occasions. They should be won to Christ, and instead of expending time, money, effort to make display, let the whole effort be made to gather sheaves for the harvest. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 3] Many seem to have thought that all that was essential in Sabbath-school work was to organize the school, and drill the scholars so that they would act in harmony with a set of ceremonies and forms, and that if persons could be secured as teachers, the Sabbath-school would run itself. Teachers are often secured who cannot lead souls to Christ, because they know not what it is to find him precious to their own souls; but all those who do not value the soul so that they will work as Christ would have them, will scatter away from Christ. "He that ［mark these words］, gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad." If teachers have no burden to lead souls to Jesus, they will grow indifferent to the truth, they will become careless, and the atmosphere with which they surround their souls will work to scatter away from Christ. And with such elements in the Sabbath-school, there will be perpetual conflicts with difficulties; for when the teachers engage in the work and have no interest in it, the pupils will partake of the same spirit. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 4] But although these difficulties exist, will it abolish them to put an end to organization? I am sure that the Lord has wrought in the organization that has been perfected, and the fact that there are discouraging features in the work, should not be thought a sufficient reason for disorganization. Much light was given to us in reference to the organization of churches, but the victory was gained at last, and now shall the church be disorganized because of indifference, formality and pride? Shall we go back to disorder because unconsecrated members of the church have placed upon the church the mould of man, and sought to fashion the church to meet a popular standard?" {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 1] January 29, 1893 Dear Brethren of the General Conference Melbourne, Victoria, Dec. 19, 1892. Dear Brethren of the General Conference:-- I learn that it is proposed by some of our brethren to do away with the organization of some at least of the branches of our work. No doubt what has led them to propose this step is that in some of our organizations the machinery has been made so complicated as really to hinder the work. This, however, is not an argument against organization, but against the perversion of it. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 2] It is nearly forty years since organization was introduced among us as a people. I was one of the number who had an experience in establishing it from the first. I know the difficulties that had to be met, the evils which it was designed to correct, and I have watched its influence in connection with the growth of the cause. At an early stage in the work, God gave us special light upon this point; and this light, together with the lessons that experience has taught us, should be carefully considered. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 3] From the first our work was aggressive. Our numbers were few, and mostly from the poorer class. Our views were almost unknown to the world. We had no houses of worship, but few publications, and very limited facilities for carrying forward our work. The sheep were scattered in the highways and byways, in cities, in towns, in forests. The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus was our message. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 4] "Ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise: and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 5] Our numbers gradually increased. The seed that was sown was watered of God, and he gave the increase. At first we assembled for worship, and presented the truth to those who would come to hear, in private houses, in large kitchens, in barns, in groves, and in school houses; but it was not long before we were able to build humble houses of worship. As our numbers increased, it was evident that without some form of organization, there would be great confusion, and the work would not be carried forward successfully. To provide for the support of the ministry, for carrying the work in new fields, for protecting both the churches and the ministry from unworthy members, for holding church property, for the publication of the truth through the press, and for many other objects, organization was indispensable. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 6] Yet there was strong feeling against it among our people. The First-day Adventists were opposed to organization, and most of the Seventh-day Adventists entertained the same ideas. We sought the Lord with earnest prayer that we might understand his will, and light was given by his Spirit, that there must be order and thorough discipline in the church, that organization was essential. System and order are manifest in all the works of God throughout the universe. Order is the law of heaven, and it should be the law of God's people on the earth. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 1] January 29, 1893 We had a hard struggle "We had a hard struggle in establishing organization. Notwithstanding that the Lord gave testimony after testimony upon this point, the opposition was strong, and it had to be met again and again. But we knew that the Lord God of Israel was leading us, and guiding by his providence. We engaged in the work of organization, and marked prosperity attending this advance movement. As the development of the work called us to engage in new enterprises, we were prepared to enter upon them. The Lord directed our minds to the importance of educational work. We saw the need of schools that our children might receive instruction, free from the errors of false philosophy, that their training might be in harmony with the principles of the word of God. The need of health institutions had been urged upon us, both for the help and instruction of our own people and as a means of blessing and enlightenment of others. This enterprise also was carried forward. All this was missionary work of the highest order. Our work was not sustained by large gifts and legacies: for we have few wealthy men among us. What is the secret of our prosperity? We have moved under the order of the Captain of our salvation. God has blessed our united efforts. The truth has spread and flourished. Institutions have multiplied. The mustard seed has grown to a great tree. The system of organization has proved a grand success. Systematic benevolence was entered into according to the Bible plan. The body "has been complicated by that which every joint supplieth." As we have advanced, our system of organization has still proved effectual. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 2] "In some parts of the work it is true, the machinery has been made too complicated; especially has this been the case in the tract and missionary work; the multiplication of rules and regulations made it needlessly burdensome. An effort should be made to simplify the work, so as to avoid all needless labor and perplexity. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 3] "The business of our Conference session has sometimes been burdened down with propositions and resolutions that were not at all essential, and that would never have been presented if the sons and daughters of God had been walking carefully and prayerfully before him. The fewer rules and regulations that we can have, the better will be the effect in the end. When they are made, let them be carefully considered, and, if wise, let it be seen that they mean something, and are not to become a dead letter. Do not, however, encumber any branch of the work with unnecessary, burdensome restrictions and inventions of men. In this period of the world's history with the vast work that is before us, we need to observe the greatest simplicity, and the work will be stronger for its simplicity. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 4] "Let none entertain the thought, however, that we can dispense with organization. It has cost us much study, and many prayers for wisdom that we know God has answered, to erect this structure. It has been built up by his direction, through much sacrifice and conflict. Let none of our brethren be so deceived as to attempt to tear it down, for you will thus bring in a condition of things that you do not dream of. In the name of the Lord, I declare to you that it is to stand, strengthened, established, and settled. At God's command, "Go forward," we advanced when the difficulties to be surmounted made the advance seem impossible. We know how much it has cost to work out God's plans in the past, which has made us as a people what we are. Then let every one be exceedingly careful not to unsettle minds in regard to those things that God has ordained for our prosperity and success in advancing his cause. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 5] "The work is soon to close. The members of the church militant who have proved faithful will become the church triumphant. In reviewing our past history, having travelled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what God has wrought, I am filled with astonishment and with confidence in Christ as Leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and his teaching in our past history. We are now a strong people, if we will put our trust in the Lord; for we are handling the mighty truths of the word of God. We have everything to be thankful for. If we walk in the light as it shines upon us from the living oracles of God, we shall have large responsibilities, corresponding to the great light given us of God. We have many duties to perform, because we have been made the depositories of sacred truth to be given to the world in all its beauty and glory. We are debtors to God to use every advantage he has entrusted to us to beautify the truth of holiness of character, and to send the message of warning, and of comfort, of hope and love, to those who are in the darkness of error and sin. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 6] "Thank God for what has already been done in providing for our youth facilities for religious and intellectual training. Many have been educated to act a part in the various branches of the work, not only in America but in foreign fields. The press has furnished literature that has spread far and wide the knowledge of the truth. Let all the gifts that like rivulets have swelled the stream of benevolence be recognized as a cause of thanksgiving to God. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 7] "We have an army of youth today who can do much if they are properly directed and encouraged. We want our children to believe the truth. We want them to be blessed of God. We want them to act a part in well organized plans for helping other youth. Let all be so trained that they may rightly represent the truth, giving the reason of the hope that is within them, and honoring God in any branch of the work where they are qualified to labor. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 8] "We are still free to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience. As the disciples of Christ it is our duty to diffuse light which we know that the world has not. Let the people of God be "rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." Ellen G. White. {GCDB, January 29, 1893 par. 8} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 1] January 30, 1893 Extracts from Testimonies "A responsibility to spread the knowledge of hygienic principles rests upon all who have enjoyed the benefits of health reform. This responsibility rests upon every man and woman who claims to be a Seventh-day Adventist, and much more by those who are connected with our health institutions. All should realize that this is an important part of the Lord's great work for the salvation of souls. Let it be the aim of all to be laborers together with God for the uplifting of humanity. All should be educators by precept and example. They should feel a personal responsibility to send forth fully instructed men and women who shall exert a direct and saving influence in the homes, the communities, and the churches to which they go. This would be the very best advertisement that any of our institutions could have." {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 2] "God's blessing will rest upon every effort made to awaken an interest in health reform; for it is needed everywhere. There must be a revival in regard to this matter; for God purposes to accomplish much through this agency. Present temperance, with all its advantages in reference to health. Educate people in regard to the laws of life, so that they may know how to preserve health. The efforts put forth at the present time are not meeting the mind of God. Drug medication, as it is generally practiced, is a curse. Educate away from drugs. Use them less and less, and depend more upon hygienic agencies, then nature will respond to God's physicians,--pure air, pure water, proper exercise, a clear conscience. Those who persist in the use of tea, coffee, and flesh meats will feel the need of drugs, but many might recover without one grain of medicine if they would obey the laws of health. Drugs need seldom to be used." {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 3] "My mind is much perplexed, my soul is burdened, because I discern many things which our brethren do not see in regard to the prosperity of our institutions. The medical branch of the work is the most difficult matter now before us. I have received letters from Presidents of Conferences and from men of property, and have also had interviews with these brethren, in reference to establishing health institutions in different States. I could not encourage this without a careful consideration of the wants of the cause of God in every branch. I have brought before their minds the difficulties we have had to meet in the institutions already established, the discouragements that came in because there was such a dearth of men of piety, of principle, of unswerving integrity, of well balanced minds, of unselfish interest,--men who were wholly consecrated to God. Men of this character are the only ones that should have a controlling power in our institutions. {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 4] "I have been shown that the matter of establishing and conducting health institutions should come under the supervision of the General Conference. Such institutions should be established, only when after careful and prayerful consultation it is decided to be essential for the advancement of the work of Bible hygiene and temperance, for the good of suffering humanity. {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 5] "Our schools are under the supervision of the General Conference. This body decides as to the advisability of establishing new schools, as to how much means it is wise to invest, and also as to the educational force to be employed. Our medical institutions should stand in the same relation to the General Conference and the great whole. The establishment of a health institution is too important a matter to be left to the independent management of a few interested individuals. If the enterprise is under control of the General Conference, the way is open for deliberate counsel and a careful consideration of the matter, and if it is undertaken, there will be a united force to give it influence and standing, and this will contribute largely to its success. Under such management, a class of workers could be enlisted that otherwise could not be secured, and thus the enterprise would prosper when it would prove a failure in ordinary hands. And furthermore, there must be an authority to guard such an institution, so that persons who are not qualified shall not be allowed to grasp responsibility through selfish ambition in their professional line as physicians. {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 6] "The Christian physician cannot maintain a supreme regard for his own individuality, acting in his profession without reference to his fellow-physicians, and indifferent or careless in regard to his accountability to God, or the relation he sustains to the cause of God at large. He should not enter upon important enterprises, such as the establishment of a Sanitarium upon his own independent judgment, pleading his desire to serve the cause of God, but in his works serving himself." 37 {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 7] "I have been shown that the physicians in our health institutions should feel that they are under the same obligation to follow Christ in all their devising, and in their connection with their medical line of work, as are the workers in our colleges or publishing houses. Not the least selfishness should be practiced in any one of these instrumentalities of God. Human reason and the world's customs are not to be followed. {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 8] "Men who are controlled by selfish desires should not remain connected with our institutions, and their course of action would better be exposed, that every church of Seventh-day Adventists may know what principles govern these men. This would be a wise and just precaution; for through their medical profession this class take advantage of interests which the Conference has built up at great labor, and sustained at great expense. Under the name of Seventh-day Adventists they establish themselves among our people, and represent themselves as working for the good of the cause. They are accepted as Christian physicians, and there is need that men and women should go forth into these various places, and act as missionaries in the capacity of Christian physicians; but they should be under the direction of the Conference. The people are so anxious to have institutions established, that they may encourage men who come among them to take upon them the responsibility of building institutions. But there are many who are practicing physicians who do not work with an eye single to the glory of God, but for the sake of gain to themselves." {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 8} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 9] "I am much perplexed in regard to many matters concerning the education of men and women to become medical missionaries. I could wish that there were one hundred nurses in training where there is one. It ought to be thus. Both men and women can be so much more useful as medical missionaries than as missionaries without the medical education. I am more and more impressed with the fact that a more decided testimony must be borne upon this subject, that more direct efforts must be made to interest the proper persons, setting before them the advantages that every missionary will have in understanding how to treat those who are diseased in body, as well as to minister to sin-sick souls. The double ministration will give the laborer together with God, access to homes, and will enable him to reach the higher classes of society. An intelligent knowledge of how to treat disease upon hygienic principles, will gain the confidence of many who otherwise would not be reached with the truth. {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 9} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 10] "I have been surprised at being asked by physicians if I did not think it would be more pleasing to God for them to give up their medical practice and enter the ministry. I am prepared to answer such an inquirer: 'If you are a Christian and a competent physician, you are qualified to do tenfold more good as a missionary for God than if you were to go forth merely as a preacher of the word. I would advise young men and women to give heed to this matter.' {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 10} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 11] "Guilt rests upon us as a people who have had much light, because we have not appreciated or improved the light given upon health reform. Through misunderstanding and perverted ideas many souls are deceived. Those who teach others and who should be shepherds of the flock will be held accountable for their willing ignorance and disregard of nature's laws. This is not a matter to be trifled with, to be passed off with a jest. As we approach the close of this world's history, selfishness and violence and crime prevail as in the days of Noah, when the old world perished in the waters of the flood. As Bible believers, we need to take our position for righteousness and truth. {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 11} [GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 12] "As a people, we are not doing one fiftieth of what we might do as active missionaries. If we were only vitalized by the Holy Spirit, there should be a hundred missionaries where there is now one. In every city there should be a corps of organized, well disciplined workers; not merely one or two, but scores should be set to work. . . . More attention should be given to training and educating missionaries with special reference to work in cities." {GCDB, January 30, 1893 par. 12} [GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 1] January 31, 1893 Remarks at Parkville, Michigan JAN. 12, 1861, JUST THREE MONTHS TO A DAY BEFORE THE FIRST GUN WAS FIRED ON FORT SUMPTER, THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MEETING-HOUSE IN PARKVILLE, MICH., WAS DEDICATED. AT THE CLOSE OF A DISCOURSE BY ELDER WHITE, SISTER WHITE GAVE A STIRRING EXHORTATION, AFTER WHICH SHE TOOK HER SEAT IN A CHAIR. IN THIS POSITION SHE WAS TAKEN OFF IN VISION. THE HOUSE WAS CROWDED WITH PEOPLE, AND IT WAS A MOST SOLEMN PLACE TO BE IN. AFTER COMING OUT OF THE VISION, SHE AROSE, AND LOOKING ABOUT THE HOUSE SHE SAID:-- {GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 2] "There is not a person in this house who has even dreamed of the trouble that is coming upon this land. People are making sport of the secession ordinance of South Carolina, but I have just been shown that a large number of States are going to join that State, and there will be a most terrible war. In this vision I have seen large armies of both sides gathered on the field of battle. I heard the booming of the cannon, and saw the dead and dying on every hand. Then I saw them rushing up engaged in hand-to-hand fighting ［bayoneting one another］. Then I saw the field after the battle, all covered with the dead and dying. Then I was carried to prison, and saw the suffering of those in want, who were wasting away. Then I was taken to the homes of those who had lost husbands, sons, or brothers in the war. I saw there distress and anguish." {GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 3] Then looking slowly around the house she said:-- {GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 4] "There are those in this house who will lose sons in that war." {GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 1] January 31, 1893 Extract From Testimony dated Aug. 30, 1892 "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.' The chosen people of God have lost their first love. Without this all their profession of faith will not save a soul from death. Suppose the attention should be turned away from every difference of opinion, and we should heed the counsel of the True Witness. When God's people humble the soul before him, individually seeking his Holy Spirit with all the heart, there will be heard from human lips such a testimony as is represented in this Scripture,--'After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.' There will be faces aglow with the love of God, there will be lips touched with holy fire saying, 'The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.'" {GCDB, January 31, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 1, 1893 par. 1] February 1, 1893 "Jesus longs to bestow ..." "Jesus longs to bestow the heavenly endowment in large measure upon his people. Prayers are ascending to God daily for the fulfillment of the promise, and not one of the prayers put up in faith is lost. ［Prayers are ascending daily for it. Are your prayers amongst them?］ Christ ascended on high, leading captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. When after Christ's ascension, the Spirit came down as promised, like a rushing, mighty wind, filling the whole place where the disciples were assembled, what was the effect? Thousands were converted in a day. We have taught, we have expected that an angel is to come down from heaven, that the earth will be lightened with his glory. Then we shall behold an ingathering of souls similar to that witnessed on the day of Pentecost. {GCDB, February 1, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 1, 1893 par. 2] "But this angel comes bearing no soft, smooth message, but words calculated to stir the hearts of men to their very depths. That angel is represented as crying mightily with a strong voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.' 'Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.' Are we indeed as human agencies, to co- operate with the divine instrumentalities in sounding the message of this mighty angel who is to lighten the earth with his glory?" {GCDB, February 1, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 2, 1893 par. 1] February 2, 1893 "I saw that the truth ..." "I saw that the truth should be made plain upon tables, that the earth and the fullness thereof is the Lord's and that necessary means should not be spared to make it plain." {GCDB, February 2, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 2, 1893 par. 1] February 2, 1893 Extracts From Testimony dated Nov. 7, 1892 "Much has been lost in many ways in the past history of Seventh-day Adventists, in not heeding the Testimonies given them of God for the last thirty years, that parents should, in the education and training of their children, keep before them that they are God's property and are to be educated to devote all their ability of talent to God who has entrusted them with capabilities and talents for wise improvement. This should be the subject of thought and of conversation." {GCDB, February 2, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 1] February 4, 1893 "I feel deeply ..." "I feel deeply over the little burden many carry for the missionary work in the foreign fields and in the home missions. There are thousands of places to be entered where the standard of truth has never been raised, where the proclamation of the truth has never been heard in America. And there are thousands who might enter the harvest field who are now religiously idle, and as a result, go crippling their way to heaven, expressing their doubt whether they are Christians. Their need is a vital union with Jesus Christ. Then it can be said of them, 'Ye are laborers together with God.' I want to say to many, You are waiting for some one to carry you to the vineyard and set you to work or to bring the vineyard to you, that you will experience no inconvenience in labor. You will wait in vain. If you will lift up your eyes you will see the harvest ripe, ready for the sickle, whichever way you may look; you will find work close by and far off. But of how many will Christ say in the judgment, 'Good and faithful servants'? I think how the angels must feel seeing the end approaching, and those who claim to have a knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, huddle together, colonize, and attend the meetings, and feel dissatisfied if there is not much preaching to benefit their souls and strengthen the church, while they are doing literally nothing. If they are branches, really and truly, of the True Vine, nourished by the sap which flows from the vine to the branches, they are indeed partakers of the divine nature. They have moral power from Christ to overcome Satan, to hate sin; and these cannot be silent. Souls are perishing for the light and knowledge of the truth which these have. It is their duty to put that knowledge to use to save souls. If their temporal, financial prospects are not as prosperous by moving to localities where the truth has not been proclaimed, or where there has been but a glimmering of light, will they not be doing just the work that Jesus has done to save them? {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 2] "I do not urge any one to change their location to please their own ideas, for Christ lived in our world, all seared and marred with the curse, that humanity might touch humanity, to save souls from eternal ruin. Jesus did not leave the royal throne, the royal crown, and his high command, and come to our world to please himself. "For our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich." What is the character of these riches? Is it houses and lands and bank stock in this world? Or is it that the unsearchable riches of Christ may be presented before their minds, that they shall attract them, their hearts, that they shall accept them, and shall count all things but loss and dross that they may win Christ? We join the Lord's army, fight the battles with the power of darkness, set up the standard of the cross of Calvary in every place where we can possibly find access. My heart is pained when I think how little our churches sense their solemn accountabilities to God. It is not ministers alone, but every man and woman who have enlisted in Christ's army, are soldiers; and are they willing to receive a soldier's fare, just as Christ has given them an example in his life of self-denial and sacrifice? What self-denial have our churches as a whole manifested? They may have given donations in money, but have withheld themselves. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 3] "The heavenly agencies are waiting to co-operate with human agencies in the grand work of reflecting light to the world. Wherever there is even one soul converted on the earth there is a response of joy circulated through heaven. Wherever one soul is snatched from Satan's hand and given as a trophy to Jesus Christ, there is joy in the presence of God, Jesus Christ and the holy angels, because the lost is found. I send my appeal to the churches to 'rise and shine; the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee. 'Ye have not,' said Christ, 'chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth much fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name he may give you.' What depth of meaning in 132 these words. We can say from the heart, Truth, Lord. We are not the ones to make the first movement toward Christ; it was our Redeemer who made the first movement toward us. 'And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.' He touched your hearts by his grace, you responded and drew toward Jesus. Man could not make the first movement. Christ was lifted up on the cross. It was his love that brought him to our world. His love that is expressed for fallen man, that led him to make an offering of his soul for sin. And as the heart responds in gratitude for this unspeakable love, the language of the soul is, 'Thy gentleness hath made me great.' {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 4] "What, then, is the duty of every enlightened soul? How should he feel as he looks upon the infinite sacrifice of the only begotten Son of God, 'that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life'? What are you doing by personal effort to lead souls to believe? There are not many ordained ministers; this makes it necessary for you to deny self, lift the cross, and carry the burdens of Christ. Have you tasted of the powers of the world to come? Have you been eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God? Then if ministerial hands have not been laid upon you in the world, Christ has laid his hands upon you and said, 'Ye are my witnesses; go trade on the talents I have given you. Ye are the light of the world. A city set upon a hill cannot be hid; let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.' There will be an antagonism between the church and the world, but the church is to shine. Let yourselves become the consecrated living channels of light to the world, whatever may be the consequences to you financially. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 5] "Let those who truly love God step out from where there are large churches of Sabbath-keepers, and the cause they knew not be searched out. There is work to be done by every branch that has a vital union with the living vine. 'Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.' Where is the fruit borne by the branches in these large churches? 'Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away. . . . If a man abide not in me he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.' Does not this statement from the lips of the Great Teacher alarm you who have taken such an easy position, having no burdens, gratifying self, lifting no cross, and not following Jesus? {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 6] "Let us ask why there are so few martyrs now? What is the reason that Christians and the world confederate together in confidence? Has the world become converted, or has the church lost her peculiar and holy character, and assimilated with the world? They do not come out and separate from the world, and do not maintain her high and holy character. Many of the professed followers of Christ feel no more burden for souls than do the world. The lusts of the eye, and the pride of life, the love of display, the love of ease, separates the professed Christians from God, and the missionary spirit in reality exists in but few. What can be done to open the eyes of these sinners in Zion, and make hypocrites tremble? The spirit of truth must become a living principle in the soul. 'What shall we do that we might work the works of God?' is asked by many souls today. The answer comes, 'This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.' When you have true faith this will be evidenced, for your works will testify of the fact; you will be one with Christ as he was one with the Father. You will constantly be drawing near to Christ; exercising your minds to hear, devising means to save perishing souls. You will cultivate love, you will deny self, because you love Jesus who died for you; you will love your neighbor as your own self, and you will shine as lights in the world; if you have eternal light you will diffuse light. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 7] "I have been alarmed for some years as I have seen the line of demarkation between the church and the world almost obliterated. The design of God in the formation of the church was that the very action of the separation from the world would itself be sufficient to attract attention. Their formation in church capacity has a meaning in it which the world can read. They are formed into a distinct power. They are to consider themselves a peculiar people of God, an object to be rendered conspicuous, detached from other objects, standing apart. Believers are to be one, as Christ is one with the Father. The sons and daughters of God are to stand a distinct, pure, holy people from the world. And if these signs are not seen in the members of the church, it is the duty of the church faithfully to investigate the matter, for if there is not a decided transformation of character from a life of sin to a life of holiness, then why? For if sin is practiced in daily life, there is no real value in all their profession, and they will not act in harmony with God as his agents in the regeneration of the world. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 8] "The children of God will not answer the purpose of God, unless they are united as the branches to the parent stalk; so will the divine branches be centered in Jesus Christ, combining their influence with the conversion of sinners. All believers in truth will shine as lights in the world, in union with Christ, and oneness with him. All the works are wrought in God, and they really believe in him whom the Father hath sent. All ye are brethren, and individually we carry with us in all communication with the world an influence and atmosphere that is surrounding the soul which is distinct from the world, and in every way superior to it. Whatever influence for good as followers of Christ, as believers in the truth, they may have to improve, refine, and elevate the world in their association with it, and personal effort put forth, will depend upon their vital connection with the breadth and distinctness of the line of demarkation which characterizes them as separate from the world, and the perfection of contrast to the world which they reveal in spirit, in words, in works, from the world. The world loves not God, the world is disobedient to God, the world is selfish and acts without feelings of dependence on God's will, without reverence and respect to God's commandments. If the professed followers of Christ, even in part, act the same as the world, they may have their names on the church books, but when joined to the church they are not joined to Christ. Therefore the same spirit has to a limited or large degree a controlling power upon the minds, heart, will, and temper. Their stand in the church is what Christ named hypocrites,--a stone of stumbling to those who but for them would have an altogether higher idea, and a sanctified effect on the character. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 8} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 9] "Christians in deed and in truth will have the spirit of Christ, they will naturally develop the mind and spirit which dwelt in Christ. They will consecrate the solemn import of the words of Christ, 'He that will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me, and so shall he be my disciple.' It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are prepared to close their earthly history, and would be as verily without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner. They are professedly serving God, but they are more earnestly serving mammon. This half-and-half work is a constant denying of Christ, rather than a confessing of Christ. So many have brought into the church their own unsubdued spirit, unrefined; their spiritual taste is perverted by their own immoral, debasing, corruptions, symbolizing the world in spirit, in heart, in purpose, confirming themselves in lustful practices, and are full of deception through and through in their professed Christian life. Living as sinners, claiming to be Christians. Those who claim to be Christians and will confess Christ should come out from among them and touch not the unclean thing, and be separate. 133 {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 9} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 10] "The work of every Christian parent has ever been to sprinkle the door-posts with blood, gather his children into his house with him, that the destroying angel might see the mark of God pointing to the only begotten Son of the Father; for whoso believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. But the end is near. Every soul will have in the judgment exactly the character of morals he cultivated in this life. Every soul will have in the judgment just such a spirit and character as he cherished in his home life, in association with his neighbors and with members of his family. And according as he has appreciated the words of Christ and has obeyed them, will be the judgment pronounced upon him by that man Jesus who came into the world and gave his life a sacrifice for him. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 10} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 11] "I lay down my pen and lift up my soul in prayer, that the Lord would breathe upon his backslidden people, which are as dry bones, that they may live. The end is near, stealing upon us so stealthily, so imperceptibly, so noiselessly, like the muffled tread of the thief in the night to surprise the sleepers off guard and unready. May the Lord grant to bring his Holy Spirit upon hearts that are now at ease, that they may no longer sleep as do others, but watch and be sober. Who will consent even now after wasting much of his lifetime, to give his will as clay into the hands of the potter, and co-operate with God in becoming in his hands molded a vessel unto honor? O, how must the clay be in the hands of the potter, how susceptible to receive divine impressions, standing in the bright beams of righteousness. No earthly, no selfish motives should be suffered to live, for if you give them place, you cannot be hewn into the divine image. The spirit of truth sanctifies the soul. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 11} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 12] "When the greatness of this work is comprehended, it will bring even the thoughts into captivity to Christ. This is beyond our private comprehension, but thus it will be. Then is it wisdom on our part to put dependence on our own works? We must let God work for us. Is there any excellency that appears in our characters or our conduct? Does it originate with finite human beings?--No; it is all from God, the great center of expression of the power of the potter over the clay. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 12} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 13] "Oh, that those whom the Lord has blessed with the treasures of truth would awake and say from the heart, "Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" Light is increasing to enlighten every soul who will diffuse the light to others. God will have his witnesses. We want men and women to settle in Australia who have a solid, Christlike influence. The burden of this work should not rest upon the Conference wholly. Many can come to this missionary field and improve in health, not by following the customs of the people here, but by being careful and prudent, and sensible, respecting, and acting in reference to, the laws of life and health; and at the same time they can be educating others, and can have a molding influence. Oh that many may be uprooted from where they are to become workers with Jesus Christ. {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 13} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 14] "What can be done to make every believer feel that the heavenly intelligences are working for the consecration of the human living agents to carry the truth of God where it is not known? {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 14} [GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 15] "Unbelief, like the pall of death, is surrounding our churches, because they do not exercise the talents God has given them, by imparting the light to those who know not the precious truth. The Lord calls for the pardoned soul, those who rejoice in the light, to make known the truth to others. The living agents are needed to communicate the light of truth, and the result will be those who are now ignorant of the truth, will, through the grace of Christ, become precious in the sight of the Lord, and will exert an influence to the glory of God. I trust you will keep this matter agitated. Those who wish to sacrifice for the truth's sake, let them answer to the call, 'Whom shall I send?' 'Here am I, send me.' The truth is soon to triumph gloriously, and all who will triumph with it must be laborers together with God. The time is short, the night cometh when no man can work. We must do what is possible for us to do now in earnest determined effort. A city set upon a hill cannot be hid. We not only have lessons to learn for our own benefit, but in our improvement of the talent entrusted to us, and the privileges and opportunities granted us, we are helping others to follow our example." {GCDB, February 4, 1893 par. 15} [GCDB, February 5, 1893 par. 1] February 5, 1893 "To him who is content ..." "To him who is content to receive without deserving, who feels that he can never recompense such love, lays all thoughts and unbelief aside, and comes as a little child at the feet of Jesus, all the treasures of eternal love are the free and everlasting gift." {GCDB, February 5, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 5, 1893 par. 1] February 5, 1893 Extract From "Temptations of Christ" "Many hold that from the nature of Christ it was impossible for Satan's temptations to weaken or overthrow him; then Christ could not have been placed in Adam's position to go over the ground where Adam stumbled and fell; he could not have gained the victory that Adam failed to gain. If man has in any sense a more trying conflict to endure than had Christ, then Christ is not able to succor him when tempted. Christ took humanity with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man capable of yielding to temptation and with the same aid that men may obtain, he withstood the temptations of Satan and conquered the same as we may conquer. . . . For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in size and physical strength and deteriorating in moral worth, and in order to elevate fallen man Christ must reach him where he stood. He assumed human nature, bearing the infirmities and degeneracy of the race. He humiliated himself to the lowest depths of human woe, that he might sympathize with man and rescue him from the degradation into which sin had plunged him. It is not true that humanity has trials to bear which the Son of God has not experienced. Christ's victory may be ours, by faith we conquer in him." {GCDB, February 5, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 1] February 6, 1893 Unpublished Testimony Relative to City Missions "Missions are essential as the foundation of missionary effort in our cities; but unless those standing at the head of these missions make strenuous efforts to guard every post, so that Satan shall not control, losses will be sustained. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 2] February 6, 1893 Unpublished Testimony Relative to City Missions "Young men and women should receive a training and an education in these lines that will qualify them to work for the Master. But if they do not possess solidity of character, and a spirit of consecration, all efforts to fit themselves for the work will prove a failure. None should be connected with the mission who do not give evidence that they possess these essential qualifications. The same is true of the older workers. Unless they have the truth sanctifying soul, body, and spirit, they will not do the right kind of work; they cannot exert a saving influence in the canvassing field, or in any other branch of the cause. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 3] "Without a high sense of propriety, sobriety, the sacredness of the truth, and the exalted character of the work, how can men in any way represent Christ? How can they be a savor of life unto life? {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 4] "The Lord has many precious souls in our large cities, who should be reached by the special truths for this time. But the course pursued by young men and young women connected with the mission is frivolous, degrading the work, and demoralizing the mission. Such defective characters separate God from the mission-rooms. It does not require weeks or months to read the character of many of the workers. Their conduct is an offense to God. There are wrongs existing in society which Christians will not practice, but abhor. Let those who are frivolous and carnally minded be placed in our missions, and their influence tends to lower everything connected with the mission. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 5] "There should be connected with the mission married persons who will conduct themselves with the strictest propriety. But the danger is not alone from youth, but from married men and women; workers must build up the walls of modesty and virtue about themselves, so that women will not allure men, and men will not allure women, from strict propriety. 'Abstain from even the very appearance of evil.' {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 6] "Lovesick sentimentalism prevails. Married men receive attention from married or unmarried women; women also appear to be charmed, and lose reason and spiritual discernment, and good common sense; they do the very things that the word of God condemns, the very things that the testimony of the Spirit of God condemns. Warnings and reproofs are before them in clear lines, yet they go over the same path that others have travelled before them. It is like an infatuating game at which they are playing. Satan leads them on to ruin themselves, to imperil the cause of God, to crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. There is no safety for any man, young or old, unless he feels the necessity of seeking counsel of God at every step. Those only who maintain a close communion with God will learn to place his estimate upon men, to reverence the pure, the good, the humble the meek. The heart must be garrisoned as was that of Joseph. Then temptations to depart from integrity will be met with decision: "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God." The strongest temptation is no excuse for sin. No matter how severe the pressure brought to bear upon you, sin is your own act. The seat of the difficulty is the unrenewed heart. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 7] "A man who claims to have believed present truth for years and is counted worthy by his brethren to fill positions of trust, in missions or in our institutions, may become careless when a change of circumstances brings him into temptations, and in his time he may tempt others. His case is sad indeed, for he reveals the workings of a corrupt heart, a want of that principle which every Christian should possess. When one who is entrusted with great responsibilities betrays his sacred trust and gives himself into the hands of Satan as an instrument of unrighteousness to sow the seeds of evil, corrupting the hearts and minds of others, he is a traitor of the worst type. From one such tainted, polluted mind the youth often receive the first impure thoughts that lead to a life of shame and defilement. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 8] "If men placed at the head of a mission have not firmness of principle that will preserve them from every vestige of commonness, and unbecoming familiarity with young girls and women, after the light which has been so plainly given, let them be discharged without a second trial. There is a depravity of the soul which leads to these careless habits and practices, and which will far overbalance all the good such persons can do. We are living in an age of moral debasement; the world is as a second Sodom. Those who look for the coming of the Son of man, those who know that they are right upon the borders of the eternal world, should set an example in harmony with their faith. Those who do not maintain purity and holiness are not accepted of God. The true children of God have deep-rooted principles which will not be moved by temptations, because Christ is abiding in their hearts by faith. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 8} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 9] "A second trial would be of no avail to those whose moral sense is so perverted that they cannot see their danger. If after they have long held the truth, its sanctifying power has not established the character in piety, virtue and purity, let them be disconnected with the missions without delay: for through these Satan will insinuate the same lax sentiments in the minds of those who ought to have an example of virtue and moral dignity. Anything that approaches lovesick sentimentalism, any intimation of commonness, should be decidedly rebuked. One who is guilty of encouraging this improper familiarity should not only be relieved of responsibilities which he was unworthy to bear, but should be placed under censure of the church, and that censure should remain upon him, until he give evidence in spirit and deportment, that he sees his sinfulness and heart corruption, and repents, like any other guilty sinner, and is converted. Then God for Christ's sake will heal him of his transgression. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 9} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 10] "Even though the men and women at the head of our missions are in character as pure as fine gold, they need constant connection with God in order to keep themselves pure and to know how to manage the youth discreetly, so that all shall keep their thoughts untainted, uncorrupted. Let the lessons be of an elevated, ennobling character, that the mind may be filled with pure and noble thoughts. "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he (God) is pure." As God is pure in his sphere, so man is to be pure in his. And he will be pure if Christ is formed within, the hope of glory; for he will imitate Christ's life and reflect his character. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 10} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 11] "When a Conference selects young men and women, and aids them in obtaining an education for the canvassing field or any other branch of the work, there should be an understanding as to what they propose to do,-- whether they design to engage in courtship and marriage, or to labor for the advancement of the cause of truth. It is no use to spend time and money in the education of workers who will fall in love before they complete this education, and who cannot resist the first temptation in the form of an invitation to marriage. In most cases the labor spent on such persons is wholly lost. When they enter the marriage relation, their usefulness in the work of God is at an end. They increase their family, they are dwarfed and crippled in every way, and cannot use the knowledge they have obtained. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 11} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 12] "Before persons are admitted to our mission training schools, let there be a written agreement that after receiving their education 163 they will give themselves to the work for a specified time. This is the only way that our missions can be made what they should be. Let those who connect themselves with the missions be straightforward, and take hold of the work in a business-like manner. Those who are controlled by a sense of duty, who daily seek wisdom and help from God, will act intelligently, not from selfish motives, but from the love of Christ and the truth. Such will not hesitate to give themselves unreservedly, soul, body, and spirit, to the work. They will study, work, and pray for its advancement. I repeat, do not enter into a marriage engagement, unless there are good and sufficient reasons for this step,--unless the work of God can be better advanced thereby. For Christ's sake deny inclination, lift the cross, and do the work for which you are educating yourselves. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 12} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 13] "Many of the marriages contracted in these last days prove to be a mistake. The parties make no advancement in spiritual things; their growth and usefulness ended with their marriage. There are men and women throughout the country who would have been accepted as laborers together with God if Satan had not laid his snares to entangle their minds and hearts in courtship and marriage. Did the Lord urge them to obtain the advantages of our schools and missions, that they might sink everything in courtship and marriage, binding themselves by a human band for a lifetime? By accepting the work of rearing children in these last days of uncertainty and peril, many place themselves in a position where they cannot labor either in the canvassing field or in any other branch of the cause of God, and some lose all interest to do this. They are content with a common, low level, and assimilate to the position they have chosen. The bewitching power of Satan's deceptions wrought within the human heart its evil work. Instead of candidly considering the time in which we live, and the work they might do in leading others to the truth, they reason from a selfish standpoint, and follow the impulse of their own unconsecrated hearts. "The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh." The natural appetites and passions become a controlling power, and the result is that spiritual growth ceases; the soul is, as it were, paralyzed. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 13} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 14] "Let none who dedicate themselves to the work of God be discouraged at the outlook, but let them strive to be faithful in the work committed to them. Live wholly for God; put your life, your energies, your soul, into your work, not knowing which shall prosper, this, or that. Go forth to your canvassing work, or other lines of labor, knowing that there is a witness, an angel, by your side. If you are careless and inattentive, reckless of your words, reckless in spirit, your character is thus portrayed by the recording angel. As the polished plate of the artist produces your features, so will the books of records reflect your words, your works, your character. If you cease to do evil, if you learn to do well, through the grace given for you, the golden harvest of infinite blessedness is growing, and as a laborer together with God you are preparing to be a reaper. Yield not to indolence, give not up to discouragement, be not weary in well doing, for you will reap, if you faint not. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 14} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 15] "Let every soul bear in mind the words of Jesus, 'Without me ye can do nothing.' We are wholly dependent upon the Holy Spirit for fitness to do the Master's work; we must rely upon him for Christian fortitude, perseverance and grace. 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' Your words, your character, your conduct, your spirit, reveal the character of the tree, for these are the fruits you bear. The sinful nature is to be kept under the control of the Spirit of God. The transforming grace of Christ will bring the will into harmony with the will of Christ. The more closely we are brought into unity with Christ, the more clearly we shall discern the defects of our character. It is marvelous how deceptive is the human heart, how easily self-deluded, how easily led into sin. Be jealous of yourself, never become puffed up, never flatter yourself or accept flattering from any man or woman. When persons attempt to flatter you, tell them they are giving voice to the temptations of Satan. {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 15} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 16] "He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.' Every one is sowing some kind of seed, the fruit of which will be a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death. Young men and women, what kind of a harvest are you preparing to garner? Are you sowing unto eternal life, or unto wretchedness and corruption? On the decision of this momentous question depends your happiness or misery for eternity." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 16} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 1] February 6, 1893 Extracts From an Unpublished Testimony "It is sin in some form that brings variance and disunion. The affections need transforming, a personal experience of the renewing power of Christ must be obtained. 'In whom we have 168 redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.' The apostle, speaking to Christian believers, called by God's grace, says: 'If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin.' Here are conditions plainly stated. If we walk in the light as he is in the light, the sure result will follow; we shall have fellowship one with another. All jealousies, and envyings, and evil surmisings will be put away. We shall live as in the sight of a holy God." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 2] "It has become altogether too common to indulge our hereditary tendencies and natural inclinations, even in our religious life. These can never bring peace and love into the soul; for they always lead us away from God, away from his light. 'He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.' When differences arise among brethren as to the understanding of any point of truth, there is one Bible rule to follow. In the spirit of meekness and love for God and one another, let brethren come together, and after earnest prayer, with sincere desire to know God's will, study the Bible with the spirit of a little child, to see how closely they can draw together, and not sacrifice anything but their selfish dignity. They should regard themselves as in the presence of the whole universe of God, who are watching with intense interest as brother tries to see eye to eye with brother, to understand the words of Christ, that they may be doers of the word, and not hearers only." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 3] "When you recall the prayer of Christ, that his disciples may be one as he was one with the Father, can you not see how intently all heaven is beholding the spirit you manifest toward one another? Are those who claim to be saved by the righteousness of Christ, seeking with all their entrusted capabilities to answer the Saviour's prayer? Will they grieve the Holy Spirit of God by indulging their own unconsecrated feelings, struggling for supremacy, and standing as far apart as possible? . . . The solemn, important hours intervening between us and the judgment are not to be employed in warfare with believers." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 4] "The solemn, important hours intervening between us and the judgment are not to be employed in warfare with believers; this is Satan's work; he began it in heaven, and he has with unabated energy kept it up ever since his fall. 'But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.' Let there not be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. The time has come when the cry of the faithful watchman is to be heard, calling to his fellow-watchman, 'What of the night?' to be answered, 'The morning cometh, and also the night.'" {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 5] "Would it not be well for us individually to examine closely our own position before God in the light of his holy word, and see our own special peril?" {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 6] "God does not separate from his people, but his people separate themselves from God by their own course of action. And I know of no sins greater in the sight of God than those of cherishing jealousy and hatred toward brethren, and turning the weapons of warfare against them." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 7] "I point my brethren to Calvary. I ask you, What is the price of man? It is the only begotten Son of the infinite God. It is the price of all the heavenly treasures." 169 {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 8] "Evil is ever warring against good. And since we know that the conflict with the prince of darkness is constant, and must be severe, let us be united in the warfare." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 8} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 9] "Cease to war against those of your own faith. Let no one help Satan in his work. We have all that we can do in another direction." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 9} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 10] "A passive piety will not answer for this time; let the passiveness be manifested where it is needed, in patience, kindness, and forbearance. But we must bear a decided message of warning to the world. The Prince of Peace thus proclaimed his work, 'I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.' Evil must be assailed; falsehood and error must be made to appear in their true character; sin must be denounced; and the testimony of every believer in the truth must be as one. All your little differences which arouse the combative spirit among brethren, are devices of Satan to divert minds from the great and fearful issue before us." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 10} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 11] "The true peace will come among God's people when through united zeal and earnest prayer the false peace, that exists to a large degree, is disturbed. . . . Those who are under the influence of the spirit of God will not be fanatical, but calm, steadfast, free from extravagance. But let all who have had the light of truth shining clear and distinct upon their pathway, be careful how they cry, Peace and safety. Be careful how you make the first move to suppress the messages of truth. Be careful what influence you exert at this time. Those who profess to believe the special truths for this time need to be converted and sanctified by the truth. As Christians we are made depositaries of sacred truth, and we are not to keep the truth in the outer court, but bring it into the sanctuary of the soul. Then the church will possess divine vitality throughout. The weak shall be as David, and David as the angel of the Lord." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 11} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 12] "One question will be all absorbing,--Who shall approach the nearest to the likeness of Christ?" {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 12} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 13] "Who shall do most to win souls to righteousness? When this is the ambition of believers, contention is at an end; the prayer of Christ is answered." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 13} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 14] "When the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the early church, 'The whole multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.' The Spirit of Christ made them one. This is the fruit of abiding in Christ. But if dissension, envy, jealousy, and strife are the fruit we bear, it is not possible that we are abiding in Christ." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 14} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 15] "Jesus longs to bestow the heavenly endowment in large measure upon his people. . . . How great and widespread must be the power of the prince of evil which can be subdued only by the mighty power of the Spirit. Disloyalty to God, transgression in every form, has spread over our world. Those who would preserve their allegiance to God, who are active in his service, become the mark of every shaft and weapon of hell." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 15} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 16] "If those who have had great light have not corresponding faith and obedience, they soon become leavened with the prevailing apostasy; another spirit controls them. While they have been exalted to heaven in point of opportunities and privileges, they are in a worse condition than the most zealous advocates of error." 170 {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 16} [GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 17] "There are many who have thus been preparing themselves for moral inefficiency in the great crisis." {GCDB, February 6, 1893 par. 17} [GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 1] February 7, 1893 Extracts From Testimonies "The sins of Israel must go to judgment beforehand. Every sin must be confessed at the sanctuary, then the work will move, it must be done now. The latter rain is coming on those that are pure--all, then, will receive it as formerly. None receive the latter rain but those who do all they can. Christ will help us. All could be overcomers by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus. All heaven is interested in the work. Angels are interested. {GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 2] "God can make them a host against their enemies. Ye give up too quick. Ye let go too soon, that arm! The arm of God is mighty. Satan works in different ways to steal the mind off from God. Victory, victory! We must have it over every wrong. A solemn sinking into God. Get ready. Set thine house in order." {GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 1] February 7, 1893 Extracts From Testimonies "They are wavering and undecided. Others who have not had so great light, who have never identified themselves with the truth, will under the influence of the Spirit respond to the light when it shines upon them. Truth that has lost its power upon those who have long slighted its precious teaching, appears beautiful and attractive to those who are ready to walk in the light." {GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 1] February 7, 1893 Extracts From Testimonies "The false ideas that were largely developed at Minneapolis have not been entirely uprooted from some minds. Those who have not made thorough work of repentance under the light God has been pleased to give to his people since that time, will not see things clearly, and will be ready to call the messages God sends, a delusion." {GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 2] "We should be the last people on the earth to indulge in the slightest degree the spirit of persecution against those who are bearing the message of God to the world. This is the most terrible feature of unchristlikeness that has manifested itself among us since the Minneapolis meeting. Sometime it will be seen in its true bearing, with all the burden of woe that has resulted from it." {GCDB, February 7, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 11, 1893 par. 1] February 11, 1893 "No greater contempt ..." "No greater contempt can be shown to the Creator than the contempt manifested for the day which he has sanctified and blessed." {GCDB, February 11, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 11, 1893 par. 1] February 11, 1893 "And as Satan ..." "And as Satan with his human agents pushes the warfare against God by leading man to trample on the Sabbath, the few who do honor God should be aroused to greater zeal and earnestness in his defense." {GCDB, February 11, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 13, 1893 par. 1] February 13, 1893 Extract From "Life of Christ" "Jesus did not repress ［suppress］ one word of truth. But in his intercourse with the people he exercised the greatest tact and thoughtful attention. He was never rude; never needlessly spoke a severe word; never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity, but tears were in his eyes as he uttered his scathing rebukes." ［I tell you, nothing short of that same spirit dwelling in our hearts will enable us to follow that example in the plain message which we have to give.］ "He wept over Jerusalem, the city he loved, who refused to receive him, the way, the truth, and the life. They had rejected him, the Saviour, but he regarded them with pitying tenderness and sorrow so deep that it broke his heart. His life was one of self-denial and constant care for others. He never made truth cruel, but manifested a wonderful tenderness for humanity. Every soul was precious in his eyes. He always bore himself with divine dignity, yet he stooped with the tenderest compassion and regard to every member of the family of God. In all he saw fallen souls whom it was his mission to save." {GCDB, February 13, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 1] February 17, 1893 Extracts From a Letter Dated Sept. 16, 1892 "I am much perplexed in regard to many matters concerning the education of men and women to become medical missionaries. I could wish that there were one hundred nurses in training where there is one. It ought to be thus. Both men and women can be so much more useful as medical missionaries than as missionaries without the medical education. I am more and more impressed with the fact that a more decided testimony must be borne upon this subject, that more efforts must be made to interest the proper persons, setting before them the advantages that every missionary will have in understanding how to treat those who are diseased in body, as well as to minister to sin-sick souls. This double ministration will give the laborer together with God access to homes, and will enable him to reach the higher classes of society. An intelligent knowledge of how to treat the sick upon hygienic principles will gain the confidence of many who otherwise would not be reached with the truth. {GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 2] "As religious aggression subverts the liberties of our nation, those who would stand for freedom of conscience will be placed in unfavorable positions. For their own sake they should, while they have opportunity, become intelligent in regard to disease, its causes, prevention, and cure. And those who do this will find a field of labor anywhere. There will be suffering ones, plenty of them, who will need help, not only among those of our own faith, but largely among those who know not the truth. {GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 3] "I have been surprised at being asked by physicians if I did not think it would be more pleasing to God for them to give up their medical practice and enter the ministry. I am prepared to answer such an inquirer, 'If you are a Christian and a competent physician, you are qualified to do tenfold more good as a missionary for God than if you were to go forth merely as a preacher of the world.' I would advise young men and women to give heed to this matter. Perilous times are before us as a people. The whole world will be involved in perplexity and distress; diseases of every kind will be upon the human family, and such ignorance as now prevails concerning the laws of health would result in great suffering and the loss of many lives that might be saved. {GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 4] "While Satan is doing his utmost to take advantage of men's ignorance, and to lay the foundation of disease through improper treatment of the body, it is best for those who claim to be the sons and daughters of God to avail themselves while they can, of the opportunities now presented to gain a knowledge of the human system, and how it may be preserved in health. {GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 5] "If we would elevate the moral standard in any country where we may be called to go, we must begin by correcting their physical habits. {GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 6] "In almost every church there are young men and women who might receive education, either as nurses or physicians. They will never have a more favorable opportunity than now. I would urge that this subject be considered prayerfully, that special efforts be made to select those youths that give promise of usefulness and moral strength. Let these receive education at our Sanitarium at Battle Creek, to go out as missionaries wherever the Lord may call them to labor. {GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 7] "Workers are needed now. The very many who might work, but who do not seek to obtain knowledge that they may impart it are not the ones who will receive the benediction from him who has purchased man at an infinite cost: 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'" -- Extracts from a letter from Sister White, dated Sept. 16, 1892. - {GCDB, February 17, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, February 20, 1893 par. 1] February 20, 1893 Extract From a Communication From Sister White "O what a vast number of people have never been warned, and until there is a company of workers, instructed to labor, not in a fitful manner, but after Christ's order, who will not fail or be discouraged, but little can be done. But very little has been done in educating and training of workers, for the reason there are not the kind of educators in this missionary field. Is it all right that such a superabundance of opportunities and privileges should be provided for the work in America, while there is such a destitution of the right kind of workers here in this field? Where are God's missionaries? Where are the men who will go without the camp and bear the reproach which Jesus has borne for them? . . . {GCDB, February 20, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 20, 1893 par. 2] "There is home missionary work that is to be done, and we hear the plea, so long as there is so much sin and such need of labor in our own country, why manifest such zeal for foreign countries? I answer, our field is the world, wickedness abounds to an alarming extent everywhere; the Saviour directed the disciples to begin their work in Jerusalem, and then pass on through Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Only a small proportion of the people accepted the doctrines; but the messengers bore the message rapidly from place to place. Passing from country to country, lifting the standard of the gospel in all the near and far off places of the earth. But there was a preparatory work; the Saviour's promise was, 'But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be 294 witnesses unto me.' Those who will not follow their own wills and desires, but seek counsel of the Lord, will not be dull scholars, for the Lord will teach them. {GCDB, February 20, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 20, 1893 par. 3] "Although thousands at home neglect this great salvation, and prove themselves unworthy of eternal life, let zealous efforts be put forth, for those who are in midnight darkness. God will speak to the unenlightened. This light is to shine amid the moral darkness. 'I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldst be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.' While there are so many to be sought for, so many that are in gross darkness, shall we not cry aloud and spare not? How much more is needed, how much wise well-planned efforts to send the truth by publications and the living preacher?" {GCDB, February 20, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 1] February 27, 1893 Dear Brethren of the General Conference General Conference Proceedings. - Eleventh Meeting. - "George's Terrace, St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Dec. 23rd 1892. "Dear Brethren of the General Conference:-- "I am rejoiced to report to you the goodness, the mercy, and the blessing of the Lord bestowed upon me. I am still compassed with infirmities, but I am improving. The great Restorer is working in my behalf, and I praise his holy name. My limbs are gaining in strength, and although I suffer pain, it is not nearly as severe as it has been during the past ten months. I am now so far restored that by taking hold of the balusters I can walk up and down stairs without assistance. All through my long affliction I have been most signally blessed of God. In the most severe conflicts with intense pain, I realized the assurance, "My grace is sufficient for you." At times when it seemed that I could not endure the pain, when unable to sleep, I looked to Jesus by faith, and his presence was with me, every shade of darkness rolled away, a hallowed light enshrouded me, the very room was filled with the light of his divine presence. {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 2] "I have felt that I could welcome suffering if this precious grace was to accompany it. I know the Lord is good and gracious and full of mercy and compassion and tender, pitying love. In my helplessness and suffering, his praise has filled my soul and been upon my lips. My meditation has been so comforting and so strengthening as I have thought how much worse condition I should be in without the sustaining grace of God. My eyesight is continued to me, my memory has been preserved, my mind has 408 never been more clear and active in seeing the beauty and preciousness of truth. {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 3] "What rich blessings are there! With the Psalmist I could say, 'How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee,' These last words express my feelings and experience. When I awake, the first thought and expression of my heart is, 'Praise the Lord! I love thee, O Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. Precious Saviour, thou hast bought me with the price of thine own blood. Thou hast considered me of value, or thou wouldst not have paid an infinite price for my salvation. Thou, my Redeemer, hast given thy life for me, and thou shalt not have died for me in vain. I will give that life to thee to co-operate with thee in the saving of my soul.' {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 4] "Since the first few weeks of my affliction, I have had no doubts in regard to my duty in coming to this distant field; and more than this, my confidence in my heavenly Father's plan in my affliction has been greatly increased. I cannot now see all the purpose of God, but I am confident it was a part of his plan that I should be thus afflicted, and I am content and perfectly at ease in the matter. With the writings that shall go in this mail, I have since leaving America written twenty hundred pages of letter paper. I could not have done all this writing if the Lord had not strengthened and blessed me in large measure. Never once has that right hand failed me. My arm and shoulder have been full of suffering, hard to bear, but the hand has been able to hold the pen and trace words that have come to me from the Spirit of the Lord. {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 5] "I have had a most precious experience, and I testify to my fellow-laborers in the cause of God, 'The Lord is good, and greatly to be praised.' I testify to my brethren and sisters that the church of Christ, enfeebled and defective as it may be, is the only object on earth on which he bestows his supreme regard. While he extends to all the world his invitation to come to him and be saved, he commissions his angels to render divine help to every soul that cometh to him in repentance and contrition, and he comes personally by his Holy Spirit into the midst of his church. 'If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning.' 'Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.' {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 6] "Ministers and all the church, let this be our language, from hearts that respond to the great goodness and love of God to us as a people and to us individually, 'Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth forever.' 'Ye that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, praise the Lord; for the Lord is good; sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.' Consider, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord has a people, a chosen people, his church, to be his own, his own fortress, which he holds in a sin-stricken, revolted world; and he intended that no authority should be known in it, no laws be acknowledged by it, but his own. {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 7] "Satan has a large confederacy, his church. Christ calls them the synagogue of Satan because the members are the children of sin. The members of Satan's church have been constantly working to cast off the divine law, and confuse the distinction between good and evil. Satan is working with great power in and through the children of disobedience, to exalt treason and apostasy as truth and loyalty. And at this time the power of his satanic inspiration is moving the living agencies to carry out the great rebellion against God that commenced in heaven. {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 8] "At this time the church is to put on her beautiful garments,--'Christ our righteousness.' There are clear, decided distinctions to be restored and exemplified to the world in holding aloft the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The beauty of holiness is to appear in its native luster in contrast with the deformity and darkness of the disloyal, those who have revolted from the law of God. Thus we acknowledge God, and recognize his law, the foundation of his government in heaven and throughout his earthly dominions. His authority should be kept distinct and plain before the world; and no laws are to be acknowledged that come in collision with the laws of Jehovah. If in defiance of God's arrangements the world be allowed to influence our decisions or our actions, the purpose of God is defeated. However specious the pretext, if the church waver here, there is written against her in the books of heaven a betrayal of the most sacred trusts, and treachery to the kingdom of Christ. The church is firmly and decidedly to hold her principles before the whole heavenly universe and the kingdoms of the world; steadfast fidelity in maintaining the honor and sacredness of the law of God, will attract the notice and admiration of even the world, and many will by the good works which they shall behold be led to glorify our Father in heaven. The loyal and true bear the credentials of heaven, not of earthly potentates. All men shall know who are the disciples of Christ, chosen and faithful, and shall know them when crowned and glorified as those who honored God and whom he has honored, bringing them into possession of an eternal weight of glory. {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 8} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 9] "The language of the Psalmist may be adopted by the commandment keeping people of God: 'Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.' 'Thy hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding; that I may learn thy commandments.' {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 9} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 10] "The Lord has provided his church with capabilities and blessings, that they may present to the world an image of his own sufficiency, and that his church may be complete in him, a continual representation of another, even the eternal world, of laws that are higher than earthly laws. His church is to be a temple built after the divine similitude, and the angelic architect has brought his golden measuring rod from heaven that every stone may be hewed and squared by the divine measurement, and polished to shine as an emblem of heaven, radiating in all directions the bright clear beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The church is to be fed with manna from heaven, and to be kept under the sole guardianship of his grace. Clad in complete armor of light and righteousness, she enters upon her final conflict. The dross, the worthless material, will be consumed, and the influence of the truth testifies to the world of its sanctifying, ennobling character. {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 10} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 11] "'The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; my Spirit that is upon thee, and my word which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth.' 'Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.' {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 11} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 12] "God has in training a people chosen, elect, precious. They were once the children of disobedience, disloyal to God. But now "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who 409 hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. The Lord Jesus is making experiments on human hearts through the exhibition of his mercy and abundant grace. He is effecting transformations so amazing that Satan with all his triumphant boasting, with all his confederacy of evil united against God and the laws of his government, stands viewing them as a fortress impregnable to his sophistries and delusions. They are to him an incomprehensible mystery. The angels of God, seraphim and cherubim, the powers commissioned to co-operate with human agencies, look on with astonishment and joy, that fallen men, once children of wrath, are through the training of Christ developing characters after the divine similitude, to be sons and daughters of God, to act an important part in the occupations and pleasures of heaven. {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 12} [GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 13] "To his church, Christ has given ample facilities, that he may receive a large revenue of glory from his redeemed, purchased possession. The church, being endowed with the righteousness of Christ, is his depository, in which the wealth of his mercy, his love, his grace, is to appear in full and final display. The declaration in his intercessory prayer, that the Father's love is as great towards us as toward himself, the only begotten Son, and that they shall be with him where he is, forever one with Christ and the Father, is a marvel to the heavenly host, and it is their great joy. The gift of his Holy Spirit, rich, full, and abundant, is to his church as an encompassing wall of fire, which the powers of hell shall not prevail against it. In their untainted purity and spotless perfection Christ looks upon his people as the reward of all his suffering, his humiliation, and his love, and the supplement of his glory,--Christ the great center from which radiates all glory. 'Blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' Ellen G. White." {GCDB, February 27, 1893 par. 13} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 1] February 28, 1893 Testimony Dated Jan. 9, 1893 George's Terrace, St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Jan. 9, '93. The time of peril is now upon us. It can no longer be spoken of as in the future. And the power of every mind, sanctified to the Master's work, is to be employed, not to hedge up the way before the messages God sends to his people, but to labor unitedly in preparing a people to stand in the great day of God. It is not the inspiration from heaven that leads one to be suspicious, watching for a chance and greedily seizing upon it to prove that those brethren who differ from us in some interpretation of Scripture are not sound in the faith. There is danger that this course of action will produce the very result assumed; and to a great degree the guilt will rest upon those who are watching for evil. Had our brethren been free from prejudice, and walking in humility, they would have been ready to receive light from whatever source; recognizing the Spirit of God and the grace of Christ, they would be indeed channels of light, and their long experience would make them counsellors, men of sound judgment. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 2] The opposition in our own ranks has imposed upon the Lord's messengers a laborious and soul trying task; for they have had to meet difficulties and obstacles which need not have existed. While this labor had to be performed among our own people, to make them willing that God should work in the day of his power, the light of the glory of God has not been shining in clear concentrated rays to the world. Thousands who are now in the darkness of error, might have been added to our numbers. All the time and thought and labor required to counteract the influence of our brethren who oppose the message has been just so much taken from the world of the swift coming judgments of God. The Spirit of God has been present in power among his people, but it could not be bestowed upon them, because they did not open their hearts to receive it. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 2} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 3] It is not the opposition of the world that we have to fear; but it is the elements that work among ourselves that have hindered the message. The efficiency of the movements for extending the truth depends upon the harmonious action of those who profess to believe it. Love and confidence constitute a moral force that would have united our churches, and insured harmony of action; but coldness and distrust have brought disunion that has shorn us of our strength. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 3} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 4] The Lord designed that the messages of warning and instruction given through the Spirit to his people should go everywhere. But the influence that grew out of the resistance of light and truth at Minneapolis, tended to make of no effect the light God had given to his people through the Testimonies. "Great Controversy," Vol. 4 has not had the circulation that it should have had, because some of those who occupy responsible positions were leavened with the spirit that prevailed at Minneapolis, a spirit that clouded the discernment of the people of God. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 4} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 5] The work of opponents to the truth has been steadily advancing while we have been compelled to devote our energies in a great degree to counteracting the work of the enemy through those who were in our ranks. The dullness of some and the opposition of others have confined our strength and means largely among those who know the truth, but do not practice its principles. If every soldier of Christ had done his duty, if every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. What account will be rendered to God for thus retarding the work? {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 5} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 6] While the angels were holding the four winds that they should not blow, giving opportunity for every one who had light to let it shine to the world, there have been influences among us to cry peace and safety. Many did not understand that we had not time or strength or influence to be lost through dilatory action. While men slept, Satan has been stealing a march upon us, working up the advantages given him to have things after his own order. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 6} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 7] The Lord has revealed to us that the Laodicean message applies to the church at this time, and yet how few make a practical application of it to themselves. God has wrought for us; we have no complaint to make of heaven, for the richest blessings have been proffered us, but our people have been very reluctant to accept them. Those who have been so stubborn and rebellious that they would not humble themselves to receive the light of God sent in mercy to their souls, became so destitute of the Holy Spirit that the Lord could not use them. Unless they are converted, these men will never enter the mansions of the blest. Some have been preaching the word whose labors have been tainted with impurity and licentiousness. They have done far more harm than good. Unless they shall turn from their evil ways, they will perish with 420 the wicked. Others have carried the truth in a very indifferent manner; they have had no real burden of the work; they have gone backward rather than forward. It is high time for these to retrace their steps; for they have lost their first love. The Lord's injunction to them is:-- {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 7} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 8] "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 8} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 9] A great work is before us. There are a few who carry the heavy burden of responsibility. They feel that God has committed to our American churches a solemn trust in the messages of truth to be given to the world. From all nations the Macedonian cry is heard, "Come over and help us." God in his providence has opened fields before us, and if the human agents co-operate with the divine agencies, many souls may be partakers of a pure and saving faith. For years the appeal has been made, but the Lord's professed people have been sleeping over their allotted work, and it remains almost untouched. God has sent message after message to arouse our churches to do something, and to do it now. But to the call of God, "Whom shall I send?" there have been few voices to respond, "Here am I, send me." Through this neglect, many souls will lose the opportunity the Lord desired to give them. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 9} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 10] "A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them, I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. So that servant came, and showed his Lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant, said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those which were bidden shall taste of my supper." {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 10} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 11] When the message of God is brought to them, many will thus excuse themselves. But the work must be pressed wherever there is an opening. Men and money are needed to carry it forward. Still there is opportunity for us to share the Saviour's self-denial and sacrifice for the salvation of souls. The necessities of the work now demand far greater outlay than ever before. The Lord calls upon his people to make every effort to curtail their expenses. Again I plead that instead of spending money for pictures of yourself and your friends, you should turn it into another channel. Let the money that has been devoted to the gratification of self flow into the Lord's treasury to sustain those who are working to save perishing souls. Let those who have houses and lands give heed to the message, "Sell that ye have, and give alms." "Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 11} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 12] The Lord is soon to come. We must work while the day lasts; for the night is coming, in which no man can work. O, many, many have lost the spirit of self-denial and sacrifice. They have been burying their money in temporal possessions. There are men whom God has blessed, whom he is testing to see what response they will make to his benefits. They have withheld their tithes and offerings until their debt to the Lord God of hosts has become so great that they grow pale at the thought of rendering to the Lord his own,--a just tithe. Make haste, brethren, you have now the opportunity to be honest with God; delay not. For your soul's sake, no longer rob God in tithes and offerings. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 12} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 13] The Lord calls for every talent and ability to be put to use. When the reproach of indolence and slothfulness shall have been wiped away from the church, the Spirit of the Lord will be graciously manifested; divine power will combine with human effort, the church will see the providential interpositions of the Lord God of hosts, the light of truth will be diffused, the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. As in the apostles' time, many souls will turn unto the Lord. The earth will be lighted with the glory of the angel from heaven. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 13} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 14] If the world is to be convinced of sin as transgressors of God's law, the agency must be the Holy Spirit working through human instrumentalities. The church needs now to shake off her death-like slumber; for the Lord is waiting to bless his people who will recognize the blessing when it comes, and diffuse it in clear, strong rays of light. "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. . . . And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes." If the wilderness of the church is to become as a fruitful field, and the fruitful field to be as a forest, it is through the Holy Spirit of God poured out upon his people. The heavenly agencies have long been waiting for the human agents, the members of the church, to co-operate with them in the great work to be done. They are waiting for you. So vast is the field, so comprehensive the design, that every sanctified heart will be pressed into service as an agent of divine power. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 14} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 15] At the same time there will be a power stirring everything from beneath. The working of evil angels will be manifest in deceptions, delusions, in calamities, and in casualties and crimes of no ordinary character. While God employs the angels of mercy to work through his human agents, Satan sets his agencies in operation, laying under tribute all the powers that submit to his control. There will be lords many and gods many. The cry will be heard, "Lo, here is Christ" and "Lo, he is there." The deep plotting of Satan will reveal its workings everywhere, for the purpose of distracting attention from present duty. The appearance of a false christ will awaken delusive hopes in the minds of those who will allow themselves to be deceived. The church members that are awake will arise to the emergency, and manifestations of satanic power are to be presented in their true light before the people. There will be signs and wonders in the world of nature. The powers of earth and hell will manifest a terrifying, destructive activity. But the eye of faith will discern in all these manifestations harbingers of the grand and awful future, and the triumphs that will surely come to God's people. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 15} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 16] Let all who believe the truth for this time put away their differences; put away envy and evil speaking and evil thinking. Press together, press together. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 16} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 17] Work, O work, keeping eternity in view. Bear in mind that every power must be sanctified. In yourselves you are powerless to do anything good. Christ declares, "without me ye can do nothing." Becoming partakers of the divine nature, you can do all things. Through Christ you can have power with God and with man. A great work is to be done. Let the prayer go forth from unfeigned lips, "God be merciful unto us and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon the earth, thy saving health among all nations." Our God is waiting to be gracious. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." Will the church give to the world the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ? 421 Shall the light shine forth to all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples? {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 17} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 18] There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How, then, shall they call upon him, in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher; and how shall they preach except they be sent? as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things." "For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth." {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 18} [GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 19] "But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest." Our work is plainly laid down in the word of God. Christian is to be united to Christian, church to church, the human instrumentality co-operating with the divine, every agency to be subordinate to the Holy Spirit, and all to be combined in giving to the world the good tidings of the grace of God. Ellen G. White. {GCDB, February 28, 1893 par. 19} [GCDB, March 7, 1893 par. 1] March 7, 1893 "We have not time ..." "We have not time to confer with flesh and blood. The power of Satan is apparently in the supremacy. He is seeking to convert all things in the world to his purpose: to imbue human beings with his own spirit and nature. The conflict will be terrible. The minds and hearts of men seem surcharged with hostility against divine revelation. The passions are stirred with envy against purity and holiness, and devotion to God and his requirements. The will is set like granite against all that is called God, or that is worshiped." {GCDB, March 7, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, March 26, 1893 par. 1] March 26, 1893 "I saw in Europe ..." "I saw in Europe just as things were moving to accomplish their desires, there would seemingly be slacking up once or twice, thus the hearts of the wicked would be relieved and hardened, but the work would not settle down (only seem to), for the minds of kings and rulers were intent upon overthrowing each other, and the minds of the people to get the ascendency." {GCDB, March 26, 1893 par. 1} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 1] February 12, 1897 Extracts From Testimonies "If the Lord is in the midst of your councils, beholding your order and love and fear, and your trembling at his word, then you are prepared to do his work unselfishly." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 2] "Man's way is to devise and scheme. God implants a principle." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 3] "Circumstances cannot work reforms. Christianity proposes a reformation in the heart. What Christ works within will be worked out under the dictation of a converted intellect. The plan of beginning at the outside and trying to work inward, has always failed and always will fail." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 4] "God's way is to give man something he has not." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 5] "God's way is to make man something that he is not;" {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 6] "Man's way is to get an easy place, and indulge appetite and selfish ambition. God's way is to 4 work in power. He gives the grace if the sick man realizes that he needs it. Man is too often satisfied to treat himself according to the methods of quackery, and then vindicate the manner of his working as right." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 7] "Day by day men are revealing whether the kingdom of God is within them. If Christ rules in their hearts they are gaining strength of principle, power, ability to stand as faithful sentinels, true reformers; for there can be no reformation unless there is a thorough co-operation with Jesus Christ. Through the grace of Christ men are to use their God-given faculties to reform themselves. By this self-denying action, which the Lord of heaven looks upon with approval, they gain victories over their own hereditary and cultivated tendencies; then, like Daniel, they make impressions upon others that will never be effaced. The influence will be carried to all parts of the earth." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 7} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 8] "Many of the men who have acted as councilors in board and council meetings need to be weeded out." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 8} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 9] "Other men should take their places, for their voice is not the voice of God. Their plans and devices are not in the order of God. The same men have been kept in office as directors of boards, until under their own management and their own ways, common fire is used in the place of sacred fire of God's own kindling. These men are no more called Israel but supplanters." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 9} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 10] "Changes should have been made long ago. God would have the church roll away her reproach." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 10} [GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 11] "The same men are not to compose your board year by year; changes should have been made long ago. God would have the church roll away her reproach; but as long as men who have felt fully competent to work without accepting counsel of God are kept in office year by year, this cannot be done. This state of things is leavening every branch of the work, because men do not feel their need of the guidance of the Holy Spirit." {GCDB, February 12, 1897 par. 11} [GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 1] February 15, 1897 Extracts From the Testimonies "Day by day men are revealing whether the kingdom of God is in them. If Christ rules in their hearts, they are gaining strength of principle, power, ability to stand as faithful sentinels, true reformers; for there can be no reform unless there is a thorough co-operation with Jesus Christ. Through the grace of Christ men are to use their God-given faculties to reform themselves ［not to reform others, but to reform themselves］; by this self-denying, action, which the Lord of heaven looks upon with approval, they gain victories over their own hereditary and cultivated tendencies. Then, like Daniel, they make impressions upon other hearts that will never be effaced. The influence will be carried to all parts of the world." {GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 2] I read of one whose "example has done much to unsettle confidence in the Testimonies." {GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 3] "He himself has walked directly contrary to the light which God has given." {GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 4] "The reproofs and warnings from the Lord have been evaded and interpreted and made void by the devices of men." {GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 5] "Why did you frame flimsy excuses?" "O, how ashamed should those be who have turned away from the counsel of God, and have tried to cover up the impression God would have made." {GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 6] They put their own construction upon them, saying that they did not mean to do so." {GCDB, February 15, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 1] February 17, 1897 Political Controversy - (Special Testimony.) In the meantime when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples, first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. {GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 2] There were a great number who wanted to hear Jesus. They were attracted to him; for his teachings were simple and plain. Searching truths were spoken. Our Saviour presented before the people of that time the character of their sins. His plain words aroused the consciences of the hearers, but Satan's counterworking agencies were seeking for a place for their theories, to attract minds from the plainly spoken truth. As the great Teacher would speak impressive truth, the scribes and Pharisees, under pretense of being interested, would assemble around the disciples and Christ, and divert the minds of the disciples by starting questions to create controversy. They pretended that they wanted to know the truth. {GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 3] Christ was interrupted on this occasion as on many similar occasions. And he wished his disciples to listen to the words he had to say, and not allow anything to attract and hold their attention. Therefore he warned them, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisee, which is hypocrisy." They feigned a desire to get as close as possible to the inner circle. As the Lord Jesus presented truth in contrast to error, the Pharisees pretended to be desirous of understanding the truth, yet they were trying to lead his mind in other channels. Hypocrisy is like leaven, or yeast. Leaven may be hidden in the flour, and its presence 59 is not known until it produces its effect. By insinuating itself, it soon pervades the whole mass. Hypocrisy works secretly, and if indulged, it will fill the mind with pride and vanity. There are deceptions practiced now similar to those practiced by the Pharisees. When the Saviour gave this caution, it was to warn all who believe in him to be on guard. Watch against imbibing this spirit, and becoming like those who tried to ensnare the Saviour. {GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 4] A man who had a dispute with his brother, supposing that the brother would not do him justice, presented the case to Jesus, saying, "Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me." Jesus said, "Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?" Jesus could have told this man just what was right. He knew the right in this case, but the brothers were in a quarrel because both were covetous. Jesus virtually said, It is not my business to settle controversies of this kind. He came for another purpose--to preach the gospel, and so to arouse men to a sense of eternal realities, that they might not lose eternity from their reckoning. So it is not the work of a minister to settle the temporal affairs of the people. Christ gives men an example, that his work and that of his followers is to persuade souls to be reconciled to God. Many things will arise to divert the mind from God and the truth for this time; but we are not to enter into the controversies that are coming to the front. They are started in the councils of hell, and the children of God are not to turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Let them press on their way, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. {GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 5] The Lord Jesus is disappointed in his people. He is the Captain, they are to file under his banner. They have no time, wisdom, or strength to spend in taking sides with political parties. Men are being stirred with an intense activity from beneath, and the sons and daughters of God are not to give their influence to this political strife. But what kind of a spirit takes hold upon our people, when those who believe we are now under the third angel's message, the last message of mercy to the world, brothers in the same faith, appear wearing the badges of opposing political parties, proclaiming opposite sentiments and declaring their divided opinions. {GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 6] Watchmen upon the walls of Zion, the people are asking you, What of the night? Can you tell them with assurance and authority, The morning cometh, and also the night? God is our Father, Christ is our Saviour. (See 2 Peter 1:16-21.) {GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 7] There is danger, decided danger, for all who shall link themselves up with the political parties of the world. There is fraud on both sides. God has not laid upon any of our people the burden of linking up with either party. We are under Christ's banner, and every one who names the name of Christ is to depart from all iniquity. Sorrow and trial will come. The faith of every one is being tested. But our Lord is truth, he is love, and his scepter stretcheth over the universe. Surprises await every one. We know not what political crisis will come next. But in regard to the political agitators, the word of the Lord to us is, "Go not ye after them." True wisdom will not lead us to follow the example of the foolish rich man of the parable. True wisdom is revealed in seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Ellen G. White. - {GCDB, February 17, 1897 par. 7} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 1] February 18, 1897 God in Nature. Men are naturally disposed to measure divine things by their perverted conceptions: they dwell upon infinite benevolence, but try to disbelieve in infinite justice. They grasp human assertions that the judgment executed against sin is contrary to right ideas of God's benevolent character, and they put his word into the background, and men's opinions in the front. Spiritual things are spiritually discerned. Those who have no vital connection with God are swayed this way and that, ever grasping the opinions of learned men who sit in judgment upon God and his works and ways. Weak, finite minds weigh God's Word with men's balances. The wisdom of these so-called great men is foolishness with God. They are blinded by the god of this world. Those only who are willing to be accounted fools in the eyes of these very worldly-wise men, will have the wisdom which is divine. God will not dwell with those who reject his truth; for all who disregard truth, disregard its Author. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 2] Of every house that has not Jesus for an abiding guest he says when he withdraws his presence, "Your house is left unto you desolate." How can those who are destitute of divine enlightenment have correct ideas of God's plans and ways? They either deny him altogether, and ignore his existence, or they circumscribe his power by their own finite, worldly-wise views and opinions. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 3] That which I have seen of eternal things, and that which I have seen of the weakness of men, as God has presented the matter before me, has deeply impressed my mind, and influenced my life and character. I see nothing wherein man should be exalted or praised or glorified. I see no reason why the opinions of learned men, and the so-called great men should be trusted in and exalted. Those who are connected with the infinite God are the only ones who make a proper use of their knowledge or of the talents entrusted to them by the omniscient Creator. No man can ever truly excel in knowledge and influence unless he is connected with the God of wisdom and power. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 4] The real evidence of a living God is not merely in theory; it is in the conviction which God has written in our hearts, illuminated and explained by his words. It is the living power in his created works, seen by a sanctified eye. The precious faith inspired of God gives strength and nobility of character. The natural powers are enlarged because of holy obedience. All the philosophies of human nature have led to confusion and shame when God has not been recognized as all in all. The life which we live by faith on the Son of God is a series of triumphs not always seen and understood by the interested parties, but with results reaching far into the future, where we shall see and know as we are known. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 5] The most profound intellects of the world, when enlightened by God's Word, become bewildered and lost while trying to investigate the matters of science and revelation. The Creator and his works are beyond his finite comprehension, and they conclude that because they cannot explain the works and ways of God from natural causes, the Bible history is not reliable. Many are so intent upon excluding God from the exercise of sovereign will and power in the established order of the universe, that they demean man, the noblest of his creatures. The theories and speculations of philosophy would make us believe that man has come by slow degrees, not merely from a savage state, but from the very lowest form of the brute creation. They destroy man's dignity because they will not admit God's miraculous power. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 6] God has illuminated human intellects, and poured a flood of light on the world through discoveries in art and science. But those who view these from a merely human standpoint will most assuredly come to wrong conclusions. The thorns of error, skepticism, and infidelity are disguised by being covered with the garments of philosophy and science. Satan has devised this ingenious manner of winning souls away from the living God, away from the truth and religion. He exalts nature above nature's Creator. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 7] The only safety for the people now is to feel the importance of combining religious culture with general education, that we may escape the curse of unsanctified knowledge. Every effort should be made in the education of youth to impress their minds with the loveliness and power of the truth as it is in Jesus. When the vail shall be removed which separates time from eternity, then will come to many minds the clear perception of the policy of human wisdom in comparison with the sure word of prophecy. All true science leads to harmony with, and obedience to God. When that which has seemed incomprehensible is seen in the light shining from the throne of God, it will fill the soul with the greatest astonishment that it was never seen and comprehended before. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 7} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 8] Christ and the Father are continually working through the laws of nature. Those who dwell on the laws of matter and the laws of nature, in following their own limited, finite understanding, lose sight of, if they do not deny, the continual and direct agency of God. Many express themselves in a manner which would convey the idea that nature is distinct from the God of nature, having in and of itself its own limits and its own powers wherewith to work. There is with many a marked distinction between natural and supernatural. The natural is ascribed to ordinary causes, unconnected with the interference with God. Vital power is attributed to matter, and nature is made a deity. Matter is supposed to be placed in certain relations, and left to act from fixed laws, with which God himself cannot interfere; that nature is endowed with certain properties and placed subject to laws, and left to itself to obey these laws, and perform the work originally commanded. This is false science; there is nothing in the Word of God to sustain it. God does not annul his laws, but he is continually working through them, using them as his instruments. They are not self-working. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 8} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 9] God is perpetually at work in nature. She is his servant, directed as he pleases. Nature in her work testifies of the intelligent presence and active agency of a Being who moves in all his works according to his will. It is not by an original power inherent in nature that year by year the earth produces its bounties, and the world keeps up its continual march around the sun. 74 The hand of infinite power is perpetually at work guiding this planet. It is God's power momentarily exercised that keeps it in position in its rotations. The God of heaven is constantly at work. It is by his power that vegetation is caused to flourish, that every leaf appears and every flower blooms. It is not as the result of a mechanism, that, once set in motion, continues its work, that the pulse beats and breath follows breath. In God we live and move and have our being. Every breath, every throb of the heart, is the continual evidence of the power of an ever-present God. It is God that maketh the sun to rise in the heavens. He openeth the windows of heaven and giveth rain. He maketh the grass to grow upon the mountains. "He giveth snow like wool, and scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes." "When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures." Although the Lord has ceased his work in creating, he is constantly employed in upholding and using as his servants the things which he has made. Said Christ, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 9} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 10] Men of the greatest intellect cannot understand the mysteries of Jehovah as revealed in nature. Divine inspiration asks many questions which the most profound scholar cannot answer. These questions were not asked, supposing that we could answer them, but to call our attention to the deep mysteries of God, and to make men know that their wisdom is limited, that in the common things of daily life there are mysteries past the comprehension of finite minds; that the judgment and purposes of God are past finding out, is wisdom unsearchable. If he reveals himself to man, it is by shrouding himself in the thick cloud of mystery. God's purpose is to conceal more of himself than he makes known to man. Could men fully understand the ways and works of God, they would not then believe him to be the infinite One. He is not to be comprehended by man in his wisdom, and reasons, and purposes. "His ways are past finding out." His love can never be explained upon natural principles. If this could be done, we would not feel that we could trust him with the interests of our souls. Skeptics refuse to believe, because with their finite minds they cannot comprehend the infinite power by which God reveals himself to men. Even the mechanism of the human body cannot be fully understood; it presents mysteries that baffle the most intelligent. Yet because human science cannot in its research explain the ways and works of the Creator, men will doubt the existence of God, and ascribe infinite power to nature. God's existence, his character, his law, are facts that all the reasoning of men of the highest attainments cannot controvert. They deny the claims of God, and neglect the interest of their souls, because they cannot understand his ways and works. Yet God is ever seeking to instruct finite men that they may exercise faith in him and trust themselves wholly in his hands. Every drop of rain or flake of snow, every spire of grass, every leaf and flower and shrub, testifies of God. These little things so common around us, teach the lesson that nothing is beneath the notice of the infinite God, nothing too small for his attention. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 10} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 11] God is to be acknowledged more from what he does not reveal of himself, than from that which is open to our limited comprehension. If men could comprehend the unsearchable wisdom of God, and could explain that which he has done or can do, they would no longer give him reverence, or fear his power. In divine revelation God has given to men mysteries that are incomprehensible, to command their faith. This must be so. If the ways and works of God could be explained by finite minds, he would not stand as supreme. Men may be ever searching, ever inquiring, ever learning, and yet there is an infinity beyond. The light is shining, ever shining with increasing brightness upon our pathway, if we but walk in its divine rays. But there is no darkness so dense, so impenetrable, as that which follows the rejection of heaven's light, through whatever source it may come. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 11} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 12] Can men comprehend God?--No. They may speculate in regard to his way and works, but only as finite beings can. The question is asked by the Lord through his prophet, "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then, will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? . . . Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown; yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth; and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 12} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 13] "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; 75 and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not be faint." {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 13} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 1] February 18, 1897 Extracts From Testimonies The Creator of man has arranged the living machinery of our bodies. Every function is wonderfully and wisely made. And God has pledged himself to keep this machinery in healthful action, if the human agent will obey his laws, and co-operate with God. Every law governing the human machinery is to be considered just as truly divine in origin, in character, and in importance, as the Word of God. Every careless, inattentive action, any abuse put upon the Lord's wonderful mechanism, by disregarding his specified laws in the human habitation, is a violation of God's law. We may behold and admire the work of God in the natural world, but the human habitation is the most wonderful. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 2] Those who perceive the evidence of God's love, who understand something of the wisdom and beneficence of his laws, and the blessings that result from obedience, will come to regard their duties and obligations from an altogether different point of view. Instead of looking upon an observance of the laws of health as a matter of sacrifice or self-denial, they will regard it as it really is--an inestimable blessing.-- {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 3] It is just as much sin to violate the laws of our being as to break one of the ten commandments; for we cannot do either without breaking God's law. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 1] February 18, 1897 "Organization is a good thing ..." Organization is a good thing. I have the word of the Lord plain and decisive that all who see the necessity of organization must themselves become an example by being organized, and carrying out to the letter the principles of organization in their life practice. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 2] Organization, carried out in the life as God means that it shall be, brings to every soul who is engaged in the work of God his submission to the divine will. It leads them to give themselves to God, to be worked by his Holy Spirit. Any who suppose that it does not mean this, are no longer to stand in responsible positions, having voice to control in the great closing work of these last days. {GCDB, February 18, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, February 22, 1897 par. 1] February 22, 1897 A Letter to the Conference. ［READ AT THE OPENING MEETING.］ - Sunnyside, Cooranbong, N.S.W., Jan. 10, 1897. Greeting to the Conference: I am praying for you, that the enemy will be defeated. The Lord would have his people labor for unity, and to answer the prayer of Christ. Here is our greatest hindrance. When we read, "The whole multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one mind," we understand that the agency of the Holy Spirit was doing its work on human hearts. Until the Holy Spirit is accepted and allowed to do its office work upon the heart, each individual will strive to become a center of influence for himself. But we know in our experience, that harmonious subordination to the Spirit of God is rest, and peace, and joy. Then think of the positive necessity of coming under this molding, transforming power, in order to enjoy heaven in this life, and eternal blessing in the future life. {GCDB, February 22, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 22, 1897 par. 2] We are never to get above the simplicity of the work. It is a power in its simplicity. A consistent life, a fervent zeal, a meek and quiet spirit, mingled with a heart overflowing with love for perishing souls, is Bible religion. We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. The Lord help us all to follow Jesus. He will teach us the art of overcoming obstacles, of supplanting rivals, and winning hearts. I am sure we need Jesus at every step. {GCDB, February 22, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, February 22, 1897 par. 3] I am sure Satan with his hellish agencies, is striving his best to dishearten and discourage; but we must not be discouraged, neither must we fail. We must suffer loss and be spoken against; and have false witness borne against us, and take it patiently, for Christ's sake. One thing is sure--God is true. We may lean heavily upon him, and we shall not become confused amid the Babel of voices. We must put the armor on, and keep it on. Then what?--Fight manfully the battles of the Lord, and having done all, stand ready for another conflict. We must keep in harmony, taking the whole armor of God. We must have increased faith, and move forward, carrying this banner of truth--the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. We must not think that we are the generals, but that we are under the mighty General of armies. O let us pray as never before. Let us believe with heart and soul the words of John, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." It is a poor time when in the fierce conflict, to show one particle of cowardice. We have a General who never lost a battle. Have faith in God, and we shall gain the victory. {GCDB, February 22, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, February 22, 1897 par. 4] Our Saviour is the Restorer. How he longs to gather his children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. "O that his people had hearkened unto him, and Israel had walked in his ways." It is blinding unbelief and self-sufficiency that will not permit those that are in error to know him. Then they would not crucify to themselves the Lord of glory, and put him to an open shame. We must cultivate faith. We must believe at every step, and talk courage and hope. Light, precious light, is for the people of God who will see it. In love, E. G. White. {GCDB, February 22, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, February 25, 1897 par. 1] February 25, 1897 "Thousands might be getting ..." "Thousands might be getting a practical education in the work by personal labor. Scores of men should be prepared to spring into action should 148 an emergency occur which demanded their help." {GCDB, February 25, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 1] February 26, 1897 "Prayer for the Sick:"-- In this matter of praying for the sick, I could not move in exactly the same lines as my brethren. I have been considering many things that have been presented to me in the past in reference to this subject. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 2] Suppose that twenty men and women should present themselves as subjects for prayer at some of our camp-meetings. This would not be unlikely, for those who are suffering will do anything in their power to obtain relief, and to regain strength and health. Of these twenty, few have regarded the light on the subject of purity and health reform. They have neglected to practice right principles in eating and drinking, and in taking care of their bodies, and some of these who are married have formed gross habits, and indulged in unholy practices while of those who are unmarried some have been reckless of life and health, since in clear rays the light has shone upon them; but they have not had respect unto the light, nor have they walked circumspectly; yet they solicit the prayers of God's people, and call for the elders of the church. Should they regain the blessing of health, many of them would pursue the same course of heedless transgression of nature's laws, unless enlightened and thoroughly transformed. They solicit the prayers of God' people, and call for the elders of the church. But little is known of their home or private life. Sin has brought many of them where they are,--to a state of feebleness of mind and debility of body. Shall prayer be offered to the God of heaven for his healing to come upon them, then and there, without specifying any condition? I say, No, decidedly no. What then shall be done? Present their cases before Him who knows every individual by name. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 3] Present these thoughts to the persons who come asking for your prayers: We are human, we cannot read the heart, or know the secrets of your life. These are known only to yourself and God. If you now repent of your sin, if any of you can see that in any instance you have walked contrary to the light given you of God, and have neglected to give honor to the body, the temple of God; but by wrong habits have degraded the body which is Christ's property, make confession of these things to God. Unless you are wrought upon by the Spirit of God in a special manner to confess your sins of a private nature to man, do not breathe them to any soul. Christ is your Redeemer, he will take no advantage of your humiliating confessions. If you have sin of a private character, confess it to Christ, who is the only mediator between God and man. "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous." If you have sinned by withholding from God his own in tithes and offerings, confess your guilt to God and to the church, and heed the injunction that he has given you,--"Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it." {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 4] Praying for the sick is a most solemn thing, and we should not enter upon this work in any careless, hasty way. Examination should be made as to whether those who would be blessed with health have indulged in evil speaking, alienation, and dissension. Have they sowed discord among the brethren and sisters in the church? If these things have been committed, they should be confessed before God and the church. When wrongs have been confessed, the subjects for prayer may be 169 presented before God in earnestness and faith, as the Spirit of God may move upon you. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 5] But it is not always safe to ask for unconditional healing. Let your prayer include this thought: "Lord, thou knowest every secret of the soul. Thou art acquainted with these persons; for Jesus, their Advocate, gave his life for them. He loves them better than we possibly can. If, therefore it is for thy glory, and the good of these afflicted ones to raise them up to health, we ask in the name of Jesus, that health may be given them at this time." In a petition of this kind no lack of faith is manifested. There are cases that are clear, and the Lord works with his divine power decidedly, in their restoration. The will of God is evidence too plainly to be misunderstood. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 6] The Lord "doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men." "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him; for he knoweth our frame: he remembereth that we are dust." He knows our heart, for he reads every secret of the soul. He knows whether or not those for whom petitions are offered would be able to endure the trial and test that would come upon them if they lived. He knows the end from the beginning. Many will be laid away to sleep in Jesus before the fiery ordeal of the time of trouble shall come upon our world. This is another reason why we should say after our earnest petition: "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, O Lord, be done." Such a petition will never be registered in heaven as a faithless prayer. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 7] The apostle was bidden to write, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors: and their works do follow them" From this we can see that every one is not to be raised up, and if they are not raised to health, they should not be judged as unworthy of eternal life. If Jesus, the world's Redeemer, prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me," and added, "Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt," how very appropriate it is for finite mortals to make the same surrender to the wisdom and will of God. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 7} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 8] In praying for the sick, we are to pray that if it is God's will that they may be raised to health; but if not that he will give them his grace to comfort, his presence to sustain them in their suffering. Many who should set their house in order, neglect to do it when they have hope that they will be raised to health in answer to prayer. Buoyed up by a false hope, they do not feel the need of giving words of exhortation and counsel to their children, parents, or friends, and it is a great misfortune. Accepting the assurance that they would be healed when prayed for, they dare not make a reference as to how their property shall be disposed of, how their family is to be cared for, or express any wish concerning matters of which they would speak if they thought they would be removed by death. In this way disasters are brought upon the family and friends; for many things that should be understood, are left unmentioned, because they fear expression on these points would be a denial of their faith. Believing they will be raised to health by prayer, they fail to use hygienic measures which are within their power to use, fearing it would be a denial of their faith. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 8} [GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 9] I thank the Lord that it is our privilege to co-operate with him in the work of restoration, availing ourselves of all the possible advantages in the recovery of health. It is no denial of our faith to place ourselves in the condition most favorable for recovery. {GCDB, February 26, 1897 par. 9} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 1] March 1, 1897 Extracts From Recent Testimonies The church of Christ has been organized on earth for missionary purposes, and it is of the highest importance that every individual member of the church should be a sincere laborer together with God. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 2] To his church God has committed the work of diffusing light and bearing the message of his love. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 3] God has given every man a work to do in connection with his kingdom. Each one professing the name of Christ is to be an interested worker, ready to defend the principles of righteousness. The work of the gospel is not to depend solely upon the ministers; every soul should take an active part in advancing the cause of God. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 4] The Lord God of heaven would have the entire church devising ways and means whereby high and low, rich and poor, may hear the message of truth. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 5] Why do not the overseers of the church have councils to devise ways whereby young men and women may be trained to put to use their entrusted talents? {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 6] The home missionary work, this home field, has been shamefully neglected, and it is time that divine resources and remedies were presented, that this state of evil may be healed. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 7] Our sisters, the youth, the middle-aged, and those of advanced years, may act a part in the closing work for this time. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 7} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 8] We are years behind. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 8} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 9] Not one-hundredth part has been done by the members of the church that God requires of them. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 9} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 10] Let the church awake; let every member take up his individual work, and vindicate the name of the Lord by which he is called. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 10} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 1] March 1, 1897 Testimony Dated Jan. 11, 1897 I was awakened at 11:30 last night, and commenced writing. We were in meeting where important instruction in many lines was being given. Among those assembled were physicians, editors, publishers, ministers, and a large number of other persons. We were considering many things in regard to health reform. The matters of exercise, and reformatory methods in regard to the foods we eat were under discussion. Some were advocating a flesh-meat diet. Speaking in support of this diet, they said that without it they were weak in physical strength. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 2] But the words of our Teacher to us were, "As a man thinketh, so is he." The flesh of dead animals was not the original food for man. Man was permitted to eat it after the flood because all vegetation had been destroyed. But the curse pronounced upon man and the earth and every living thing has made strange and wonderful changes. Since the flood, the human race has been shortening its period of existence. Physical, mental, and moral degeneracy is rapidly increasing in these latter days. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 3] The educational work in the medical missionary line is a great advance step toward awakening man to his moral responsibilities. Had the ministers taken hold of this work in accordance with the light that God has given them in various lines, there would have been a most decided reformation in eating, in drinking, and in dressing. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 4] But there are those who have stood directly in the way of the advance of health reform. They have held the people back by their indifference or depreciatory remarks, and their supposed pleasantries and jokes. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 5] They themselves, and a large number of others have been sufferers, even unto death, but all have not yet learned wisdom. 186 {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 6] The Lord would vindicate the word he has given to his servants. Had all united to walk in the light from the time the light was first given on this subject, there would have been an army of sensible argument's employed to vindicate the work of God. But it has been by the most aggressive warfare that any advance has been made. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 7] The souls and bodies of the people have been fast becoming corrupted, a mass of disease. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 7} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 8] The souls and bodies of the people have been fast becoming corrupted, a mass of disease. This would not have been the case if those who claimed to believe the truth had lived out its sacred principles in their lives. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 8} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 9] But these were unwilling to deny self, unwilling to yield their mind and will to the will of God; they were determined to have their own way, and they have realized in their sufferings the sure results of such a course. God has claims upon all who are engaged in his service. He desires that every power and endowment shall be under the divine control, and that they shall be as healthy, as careful, strictly temperate habits can make them. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 9} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 10] We are under obligations to God to make an unreserved consecration of ourselves to him, body and soul, with all the faculties appreciated as God's entrusted gifts, to be employed in his service. 187 {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 10} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 11] All our energies and capabilities are to be constantly strengthened and improved during this period of probationary time. But those who have occupied positions of influence have not appreciated the work which has been so long neglected. They have not become interested and diligent students of the building which God has made for his habitation. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 11} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 12] They consider it far more important to become learners upon subjects of less consequence to the human agent. Thousands upon thousands know nothing of the body, and how to care for it. David declared, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." And when God has given us such a habitation, why should not every apartment be critically examined? The chambers of the mind and the heart apartments are most important. Why should men and women continue in ignorance, and live in the basement of the house ［Somebody has called this (the abdominal cavity) the basement of the house. Here (referring to the head) is the upper room, where we ought to live］ enjoying sensual and debasing pleasures? 188 {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 12} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 13] Eating merely to please the appetite is a transgression of nature's laws. Often this intemperance is felt at once in the form of headaches and indigestion and colic. A load has been placed upon the stomach that it cannot care for, and a feeling of oppression comes. The head is confused, the stomach is in rebellion. But these results do not always follow overeating. In some cases the stomach is paralyzed. No sensation of pain is felt, but the digestive organs lose their vital force. The foundation of the human machinery is gradually undermined, and life is rendered very unpleasant. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 13} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 14] By indulging in a wrong course of action in eating and drinking, thousands upon thousands are ruining their health. And not only is their health ruined, but their morals are corrupted, because diseased blood flows through their veins. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 14} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 15] Great care should be taken when the change is made from a flesh-meat diet to a vegetarian diet, to supply the table with wisely prepared, well-cooked articles of food. 189 {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 15} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 16] Great care should be taken when the change is made from a flesh-meat diet to a vegetarian diet, to supply the table with wisely prepared, well-cooked articles of food. So much porridge-eating is a mistake. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 16} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 17] The dry food that requires masticating is far preferable. The health food preparations are a blessing in this respect. Good brown bread and rolls, prepared in a simple manner yet with painstaking effort, will be healthful. {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 17} [GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 18] Good brown bread and rolls, prepared in a simple manner yet with painstaking effort, will be healthful. Bread should never have the slightest taint of sourness. (To be continued.) {GCDB, March 1, 1897 par. 18} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 1] March 2, 1897 Testimony Dated Jan. 11, 1897 Bread should never have the slightest taint of sourness. It should be cooked until it is most thoroughly done. Thus all softness and stickiness will be avoided. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 2] For those who can use them, good vegetables, prepared in a healthful manner, are better than soft mushes or porridge. Fruits used with thoroughly cooked bread, two or three days old, which is more healthful than fresh bread, with slow and thorough mastication, will furnish all that the system requires. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 3] "As a man thinketh, so is he." If the appetite is allowed to rule, then the mind will be brought under its control. When the stomach is educated to discard that which will prove only an injury to it, the simplest kinds of food will satisfy the hunger. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 4] It is not well to take a great variety of foods at one meal. When fruit and bread, together with a variety of other foods that do not agree, are crowded into the stomach at one meal, what can we expect but that a disturbance will be created? {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 5] The mixing largely of white or brown flour bread with milk in the place of water, is not a healthful preparation. If the bread thus cooked is allowed to stand over and is then broken open, there will be frequently seen long strings like cobwebs; and this, in warm weather, soon causes fermentation to take place in the stomach. 195 {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 6] Milk should not be used in place of water in bread-making. All this is extra expense, and is not wholesome. The taste may be educated so that it will prefer bread prepared in this way, but the more simple it is made, the better it will satisfy the hunger, and the more natural will be the appetite to enjoy the plainest diet. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 7] Every housekeeper should feel it her duty to educate herself to make good, sweet bread, and in the most inexpensive manner; and the family should refuse to have upon the table bread that is heavy and sour; for it is injurious. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 7} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 8] There are a large number of poor families who buy the common baker's bread, which is often sour, and is not healthful for the stomach. In every line of cooking, the question that should be considered is, How shall the food be prepared in the most natural and inexpensive manner? And there should be a careful study that the fragments of food left over from the table be not wasted. Study how that in some way these fragments of food shall not be lost. This skill, economy and tact is a fortune. In the warmer part of the season prepare less food. Use more dry substances. There are many poor families who, although they have scarcely enough to eat, can often be enlightened as to why so many jots and tittles are wasted. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 8} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 9] The meat diet is the serious question. Shall human beings subsist on the flesh of dead animals? The answer, from the light that God has given, is, No; decidedly no. Health reform institutions should educate on this question. Physicians who claim to understand the human organism ought not to encourage their patients to subsist on the flesh of dead animals. They should point out the increase of disease in the animal kingdom. The testimony of examiners is, that very few animals are free from disease, and that the practice of eating largely of meat is contracting diseases of all kinds,--cancers, tumors, scrofula, tuberculosis, and numbers of other like affections. If man would subsist upon the food which God has so abundantly provided, without having it first pass into the animal organism and become sinew and muscle, and then take it second-hand by eating of the corpse, his health would be much better insured. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 9} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 10] The ministers in our land should become intelligent upon health reform. They need to become acquainted with the science of physiology. They will be intelligent in regard to the laws that govern physical life, and their bearings upon the health of mind and soul. They will be able to speak correctly upon this subject. In their obedience to physical laws, they are to hold forth the word of life to the people, and lead up higher and still higher in the work of reform. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 10} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 11] "'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.' 'Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles; that, whereas, they speak against you as evil doers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.' All who claim to be teachers should urge, both by precept and example, the necessity of abstaining from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 11} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 12] "What shall arouse those who claim to be walking in the light that is shining upon the people of God in these last days? A lethargy of unconscious sensualism through indulgence of perverted appetite, a constant submitting of soul and body and spirit to moral defilement, is upon the people. Under the marriage vow, which our Creator has instituted, appetite has been perverted and indulged. And these lustful appetites, with their destroying power, has been transmitted from parents to children, and so intensified that their names are recorded in the books of heaven as transgressors of God's law. Upon their very countenances is imparted the sin of Sodom. And continuance in these sins will bring the sure and terrible results. They will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. They will receive the sentence, 'He that is unjust, let him be unjust 196 still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.' {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 12} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 13] "This is the final judgment. Let the senses of all be aroused: for many whose names now appear on the church books are not the children of God. In the books of heaven it is recorded of them. 'Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.' Let every church in our land arouse to the importance of studying the Word of God, and with much earnest prayer, not stand afar off, but 'draw nigh to God.' The promise is, 'He will draw nigh to you.' Then you may keep life in your souls, and obtain a sound experience. Then you will not be of that class of whom it is written, 'And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.' {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 13} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 14] "Let the Lord Jesus come into your houses and into your hearts. Every talent entrusted to us is to be used and approved in accordance with the will of the Giver. Days, months, and years are added to our existence that we may improve our opportunities and advantages for working out our own individual salvation, and promoting the well-being of others by our unselfish life. Thus may we build up the kingdom of Christ, and make manifest the glory of God. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 14} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 15] "Human exertion, physical and intellectual ability, will be taxed to the utmost to keep the feet of the youth in the path where we can trace the footprints of Jesus. The young have not had all the attention that they should have had in order to develop their talents. The arrangements made in the missionary line of work are far in the rear. Councils have been corrupted, and board meetings have been conducted by inefficient members who felt not the necessity of having the constraining power of the Holy Spirit upon the youth, to help them to choose the illumination from above. The youth need sanctified example, an acknowledgment of Omnipotence in the grand work of becoming home and foreign missionaries. They need to behold in the cross of Christ the only true power to sustain the human agent in his continuous struggle against temptation, amid disappointments and reverses. How many of the General Conference have said, 'Go,' but have left many to make brick without straw, have given them no facilities or help. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 15} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 16] "The malarious, poisonous atmosphere which surrounds the souls of those who are dead in trespasses and sins, is causing us to become like the inhabitants of the Noachian world, who, because they chose to follow the imaginations of their own corrupt minds, and dishonor God by their wicked inventions, became corrupt in body and soul, and hated the God who made them. God sent them a message that they should not live, but should be destroyed because of their wicked works. And whole families today are in need of being terribly alarmed. They have been, and still are, corrupting their way before God. They are so steeped in licentiousness that they do not discern the difference between the pure affection given them of God, the attributes of human nature, and the destructive lusts which by indulgence and wicked inventions, make them as sinful as were those before the flood, and the inhabitants of Sodom. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 16} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 17] "In assuming human nature, that he might reach to the very depths of human woe and misery and lift man up, Christ has shown what estimate he places upon the human race. In this work everything was at stake. Satan claimed to be the lawful owner of the fallen race; and with what persistent effort did he seek to overthrow Christ through his subtilty! It was only by the most desperate conflict with the powers of Satan that Christ could accomplish his purpose of restoring the almost obliterated image of God in man, and place his own signature upon his forehead. It was a desperate battle; for Satan had so long worked in league with human intelligencies as to almost completely intercept every ray of light shining from the throne of God upon the human mind. The cross of Calvary alone could destroy the works of the devil. In that wondrous sacrifice all eyes were called to 'behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.' The love of Christ kindles in the heart of all who continue to behold him. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 17} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 18] "Satan's ear caught the words spoken by John the Baptist,--'Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,'--and he determined to unite all the power of his army, and of the human beings with himself, to accomplish the ruin of the race. He would commence with the appetite. He would bring his temptation to bear upon this point, and by a perverted appetite destroy the mental and physical force, and make man appear a revolting, polluted being before his Maker. And Satan has carried out his purpose. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 18} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 19] "All nature makes manifest the work of God. Man is fearfully and wonderfully made, and if man had obeyed the laws of Jehovah in his natural laws, the image of God would have been revealed in him. But by sinning against his own body; by indulging his natural appetite and disturbing the action of the human machinery; by the use of alcoholic drinks, narcotics, and the flesh of diseased animals, man has distorted and crippled the Lord's divine arrangements. Nature does her best to expel the poisonous drug, tobacco, but frequently she is overborne. She 197 gives up her struggle to expel the intruder, and the life is sacrificed in the conflict. Every pernicious drug placed in the human stomach, whether by prescription of physician, or by man himself doing violence to the human organism, injures the whole machinery. Every intemperate indulgence or lustful appetite is at war with natural instinct, and the healthful condition of every nerve and muscle and organ of the wonderful human machinery which through the Creator's power possesses organic life. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 19} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 20] "Nature would do her work wisely and well if the human agent would, in his treatment of the body, co-operate with the divine purpose. But how Satan and his whole confederacy rejoice to see how easily his power of deception and art can persuade man to form an appetite for most unpleasant stimulants and narcotics. And then when nature has been overborne, enfeebled in all her working force, there is the drug medication to come from the physician, to kill the remaining vital force, and leave men miserable wrecks of suffering, of imbecility, of insanity, and of loathsome disease. God is hidden from the human observation by the hellish shadow of Satan. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 20} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 21] "In Luke 4:16-19, Christ announces his mission and work for the world: 'And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.' Jesus himself became man's ransom, his liberator from the oppressive power of Satan. 'Ye are not your own,' he says, 'for ye are bought with a price.' We are bought from a power whose slaves we were. And the price our ransom cost was the only begotten Son of God. His blood alone could ransom guilty man. 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 21} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 22] "O, if every one could discern these matters as they have been presented to me, those who are so careless, so indifferent in regard to their character-building; those who plead for indulgence in a flesh-meat diet, would never open their lips in justification of an appetite for the flesh of dead animals. Such a diet contaminates the blood in the veins, and stimulates the lower animal passions. It enfeebles keen perception and vigor of thought to the understanding of God and the truth, and a knowledge of themselves. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 22} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 23] "Christ gave his life a ransom for many. Christ was to come under the cruel power of Satan. Satan hoped if he could once gain the supremacy he would overcome Christ. He had obtained mastery over the human family, and through disobedience to God's holy law, had brought them under his jurisdiction. He unjustly claimed them as his own subjects. But Christ takes the prey from the enemy. Satan was to be overcome by the Son of Man. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 23} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 24] "Christ removed every obstruction that man might return to his allegiance to God. Christ became subject to suffering in behalf of man. And yet man, by his selfish indulgence, is willing to place himself in slippery places, and through unnatural appetite obliterate the moral image of God. Man, who has been endowed with physical, mental, and moral power, has placed himself where he is a weakling. Satan knows that he cannot overcome man unless he can control his will. He can do this by deceiving man so that he will co-operate with him in transgressing the laws of nature in eating and drinking, which is transgression of the law of God. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 24} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 25] Here is where the subject of intemperance grows into importance. Here is where Satan works to so confuse minds by a perverted appetite that man cannot discern sacred things from common. Cheap things are placed on a level with the sacred. Animalism is strengthened, the higher powers weakened. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 25} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 26] "God calls for reform in our churches. Satan is playing the game of life for every soul. He is seeking to brutify humanity whom God values. But when the appetite is held under the control of an intelligent, God-fearing mind, there will be a cultivation of pure, spiritual attributes. There will be a refusal to be led into a slavery that kills both physical, mental, and moral worth, and leaves the human agent, for whom Christ has paid so high a price, crippled, worthless, and tossed about with temptation. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 26} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 27] "Benumb not the faculties that God has given for wise improvement, by intemperate habits. Touch not, taste not, handle not spirituous liquors in any form. But intemperance does not stop there. There are manufactured appetites which the Author of our being has never created, and every departure from the simple natural laws which he has established in our being, is a departure from the law of God. This law embraces the treatment of the entire being. Every nerve and fiber and muscle of the body has been constructed by God, and so arranged as to minister happiness to the human agent. But man has sought out many inventions. He has treated the body as if its laws had no such thing as penalty, and in this sin against the body he has dishonored his Maker. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 27} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 28] Satan has carried out his plans in this respect. Man's appetite has become perverted, his organs and powers enfeebled, crippled, and diseased. And these results which he has through his 198 vicious temptations brought about, he uses to taunt God with. He presents before God the appearance of a human being which God has purchased as his property. And what an unsightly representation he is of his Maker. God is dishonored, because man has corrupted his ways before the Lord. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 28} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 29] "The Creator of man has arranged the living machinery of our bodies. Every function is wonderfully and wisely made. And God has pledged himself to keep this machinery in healthful action, if the human agent will obey his laws and co-operate with God. Every law governing the human machinery is to be considered just as truly divine in origin, in character and importance, as the work of God. Every careless, inattentive action, any abuse put upon the Lord's wonderful mechanism, by disregarding his specified laws in the human habitation, is a violation of God's law. We may behold and admire the work of God in the natural world, but the human habitation is the most wonderful. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 29} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 30] "From the first dawn of reason, the human mind should become intelligent in regard to the physical structure. Here Jehovah has given a specimen of himself; for man was made in the image of God. It is Satan's determined work to destroy the image of God in man. He would make the intelligence of man, his highest, noblest gift, the most destructive agent, to pollute with sin everything he touches. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 30} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 31] "Not only the human, but the brute creation are made to suffer through Satan's attributes brought out through the human agent. One human being becomes Satan's co-partner to tempt, allure, and deceive his fellow-men to vicious practices. And the sure result is diseased bodies, because of the violation of the moral law. 'Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.' It is Satan's determined purpose to deceive the human family to such an extent that he can bring them as a mass on his side to work with him in making man believe that the law of God is no longer obligatory upon the human race. Then he will find agencies which will multiply his efficiency in leading man to ignore the law of God. When they do this, then he rules them with a rod of iron. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 31} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 32] "The only definition of sin given in God's Word, is transgression of the law. It is not excusable, and has no defense or justification. It will be the final and eternal condemnation of the originator of sin, and all the angels who united with him in the heavenly courts, who joined the confederacy of evil, identifying themselves with the great apostate. When the question comes, 'Why have ye done thus?' every tongue will be silent; the rebellious world will stand speechless before God. Of Satan, God has said, 'Thou wast perfect in all thy ways from the day that thou wast created, until iniquity was found in thee.' {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 32} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 33] "Sin entered the world by the defection of one who stood at the head of the holy angels. What was it that wrought so great a change, transforming a royal, honored subject into an apostate? The answer is given, 'Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.' Had not the Lord made the covering cherub so beautiful, so closely resembling his own image; had not God awarded him special honor; had anything been left undone in the gift of beauty and power and honor, then Satan might have had some excuse. But God declares: 'Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering. . . . Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 33} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 34] "'Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.' {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 34} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 35] "Why, O why, cannot the world see where they are drifting, and the sure result! The Lord has wrought in sending the living preacher with the word of life. It is the Word of God to a people who through Satan's devices know him not. When the Lord's ministers in sincerity hold forth the word of life, there should be those connected with him to help him in his work. The sowing of the gospel seed will not be a success unless the seed is quickened into life by the dew of heaven. {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 35} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 36] "Before one book of the New Testament was written, the Holy Spirit came upon the praying apostles, and the testimony of their enemies was, 'Ye have filled all Jerusalem with your doctrine.' {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 36} [GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 37] "The teacher himself must be the living embodiment of truth. His self-denial and charity is his witness that he bears the message of heaven. He has himself eaten of the flesh and drank of the blood of the Son of God, and this is eternal life. Taught by the Spirit, he will not be satisfied with less than the salvation of souls." {GCDB, March 2, 1897 par. 37} [GCDB, March 3, 1897 par. 1] March 3, 1897 Extracts From Testimonies It is not the highest work of education to communicate knowledge merely, but to impart that vitalizing energy which is received from the contact of mind with mind, of soul with soul. It is only life that can beget life. {GCDB, March 3, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, March 3, 1897 par. 2] In the educational system ［that is, in the time of Christ］ there was no place for that personal experience in which the soul learns for itself the power of a "Thus 224 saith the Lord," and gains that reliance upon the divine word which alone can bring peace and power with God. Busy with the round of forms, students in these schools found no quiet hours in which to commune with God and hear his voice speaking to their hearts. That which the rabbis regarded as superior education was, in reality, the greatest hindrance to true education. It was opposed to all real development. Under their training, the powers of the youth were repressed, and their minds were cramped and narrowed. {GCDB, March 3, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, March 3, 1897 par. 3] Teachers, trust in God, and go forward. My grace is sufficient for you, is the assurance of the great Teacher. Catch the inspiration of the words, and never, never talk doubt and unbelief. Be energetic. {GCDB, March 3, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, March 3, 1897 par. 4] Let me tell you ［speaking of the time when the Spirit of God manifested itself in power in Battle Creek College］ what I know of this heavenly Guest. That heavenly Visitor would have opened the understanding, would have given wisdom and knowledge in all lines of study, that would have been employed to the glory of God. {GCDB, March 3, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, March 4, 1897 par. 1] March 4, 1897 Extracts From Testimonies The ministers in our land should become intelligent upon health reform. They need to become acquainted with the science of physiology. If they will be intelligent in regard to the laws that govern physical life, and their bearings upon the health of mind and soul, then they will be able to speak correctly upon this subject. {GCDB, March 4, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, March 4, 1897 par. 2] The need of healthful habits is a part of the gospel which must be presented to the people by those who hold forth the word of life. The importance of the health of the body is to be taught as a Bible requirement. {GCDB, March 4, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, March 4, 1897 par. 3] This is a subject which needs to be presented to the people. The question of health reform is not agitated as it must and will be. 246 {GCDB, March 4, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, March 4, 1897 par. 4] The impurities of the body, if not allowed to escape, are taken back into the blood and forced upon the internal organs. Nature makes an effort to free the system, and the effort produces fever and what is termed disease. {GCDB, March 4, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 1] March 8, 1897 Extracts From Testimonies Let there be in every church, well organized companies of workers to labor in the vicinity of that church. . . . By kindness to the poor, the sick, or the bereaved, we may obtain an influence over them, so that divine truth may find access to their hearts. . . . {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 1} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 2] Have you looked after the fatherless and the widow? . . . What have you done for the widows, the distressed, who call upon you to aid them in educating and training their children or grandchildren? . . . have you turned them away with unfeeling, unsympathetic refusals? If so, may the Lord pity your future; for "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again." Can we be surprised that the Lord withholds his blessing, when his gifts are selfishly perverted and misapplied? . . . {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 2} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 3] There are youth in our churches who could be educated to do a work for the Master in visiting the sick, in running on errands of mercy. This work has not been done, because no attention has been given to the matter. Let the missionary meeting be turned to account in teaching the people how to do missionary work. Put work into their hands, and let not the youth be ignored, but let them come in to share in the labor and responsibility. Let them feel that they have a part to act in helping bless others. Even the little children should be taught to do some little errand of love and mercy for those less fortunate than ourselves. . . . He bids us to interest ourselves in every case of suffering or need that shall come to our knowledge. . . . Jesus says, "Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good." The want and wretchedness in the world are constantly appealing to our compassion and sympathy. . . . Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. How many are there who claim to be followers of Christ, yet who do not follow him in truth. They do not manifest the sympathy and love of Christ by being merciful and compassionate. They do not make the widow's heart sing for joy; they treat the fatherless with coldness, indifference, or contempt. 293 {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 3} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 4] "I was a father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not I searched out." This was an evidence that Job had the righteousness that was after Christ's order. . . . Faith works by love and purifies the soul. Faith buds and blossoms and bears a harvest of precious fruit. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 4} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 5] How surprised and gladdened will be the hearts of the lowly among the nations, and among the heathen, to hear from the lips of the Saviour, "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink," etc. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 5} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 6] The voice of God is speaking to us in clear, distinct utterances. He would see the works of righteousness in our lives. Instead of pleasing ourselves, the Lord would have us to do deeds of mercy, manifest tender forethought to those who are pressed down with burdens, cramped with poverty, who are hungry and naked and destitute. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 6} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 7] If we fail in doing works of mercy, in manifesting true love and sympathy, in helping and blessing others, whatever else we may do, we shall fail of pleasing God. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 7} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 8] But to those who regard every Christian duty, and manifest kindness and love to the sorrowing, the poor, the afflicted for Christ's sake, the promises are rich and abundant. Isaiah 58:8-11. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 8} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 9] In the judgment every case will be decided by what was done, or what was not done in this life. . . . Jesus will say, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 9} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 10] Our characters may become fragrant with good works, for by practice the living principles of righteousness will pass into the character, and unfold in beauty and purity of life. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 10} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 11] We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves. This command is not that we shall simply love those who think and believe exactly as we do. Christ illustrated the meaning of the commandment by the parable of the good Samaritan. But how strangely these precious words are neglected, and how frequently men oppress their fellow men and lift up their souls unto vanity. . . . {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 11} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 12] It would be well if every church would read in its assemblies from the Old Testament the lessons which Christ gave to the people. . . . {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 12} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 13] The lessons he had taught to Israel in the Old Testament he repeated in the New Testament. He enjoined upon them the exercise of mercy, compassion, and love toward all with whom they came in contact. . . . "When thou cuttest down thy harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.". . . {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 13} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 14] If Israel had carried out the will of God that had been made known unto them, the blessed promise to the pure in heart would have rested upon them. They would have seen God, and by beholding him would have become like him in character. 294 {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 14} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 15] To leave the suffering neighbor unrelieved, is a breach of the law of God. God brought the priest along that way in order that with his own eyes he might see a case that needed mercy and help; but the priest though holding a high office, whose work it was to bestow mercy and to do good, passed by on the other side. His character was exhibited in its true nature before the angels of God. For a pretense he could make long prayers. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 15} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 16] Guilt rests upon us as a people who have had much light, because we have not appreciated or improved the light given upon health reform. Through misunderstanding and perverted ideas many souls are deceived. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 16} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 17] Those who teach the truth to others, and who should be shepherds to the flock, will be held accountable for their willing ignorance and disregard of Nature's laws. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 17} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 18] This is not a matter to be trifled with, to be passed off with a jest. As we approach the close of this earth's history, selfishness and violence and crime prevail as in the days of Noah, when the Old World perished in the waters of the flood. As Bible believers, we need to take our position for righteousness and truth. 311 {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 18} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 19] "The Lord does not give light on health reform that it may be disregarded by those who are in positions of influence and authority. The Lord means what he says." {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 19} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 20] "And he is honored in what he says." {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 20} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 21] The ministers in our country should become intelligent on health reform. They ought to become acquainted with the science of physiology. None can understand the subject thoroughly unless they understand something about physiology, and this is a subject which everybody ought to understand. It has not received the attention in our schools that it ought to have received. The philosopher remarked years ago that the deepest study of mankind is man. How much we neglect this study. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 21} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 22] "Thus they will become intelligent in regard to the laws that govern the physical health, and their bearing upon the health of mind and soul." 312 {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 22} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 23] "They will then be able to speak correctly upon this subject." {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 23} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 24] "In their obedience to physical laws, they are to hold forth the word of life to the people, and to lead up higher and still higher in the work of reform." {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 24} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 25] The lethargy of unconscious sensualism through indulgence of perverted appetite; the constant submitting of the soul and body and spirit to moral defilement, is upon the people. 313 {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 25} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 26] Men are taking sides according to their choice; those that are feeding on the Word of God will show this by their practice. They are on the Lord's side, seeking by precept and example to reform the world. All that have refused to be taught of God hold to the traditions of men; they at last pass over on the side of the enemy against God and are written antichrist. 309 {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 26} [GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 27] Guilt rests upon us as a people who have had much light, because we have not appreciated the importance of the light given upon health reform. {GCDB, March 8, 1897 par. 27} [GCDB, February 17, 1899 par. 1] February 17, 1899 "It should be the aim ..." and "At the same time ..." "It should be the aim of our schools to provide the best instruction and training for Bible workers. Our conferences should see that the schools are provided with teachers who are thorough Bible teachers, and who have a deep Christian experience. The best ministerial talent should be brought into our schools, and the salaries of these teachers should be paid from the tithe." {GCDB, February 17, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, February 17, 1899 par. 2] "At the same time the churches have a part to act. They should see that those who ought to receive its benefits attend the school. They should assist worthy persons who have not the means to obtain an education." {GCDB, February 17, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, February 17, 1899 par. 1] February 17, 1899 "If education had been carried ..." "If education had been carried on in accordance with the mind and will of God, the dark shadow of heavy debt would not today be hanging over our institutions." "Shun the incurring of debt as you would shun leprosy." "Owe no man anything." {GCDB, February 17, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 1] February 20, 1899 Extracts From Testimonies "The conviction is gaining ground that Seventh-day Adventists are giving the trumpet an uncertain sound; that they are following in the path of worldlings." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 2] "The proclamation of the third angel's message--the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus--is the burden of our work." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 3] "The mustard-seed has grown to a great tree." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 4] "There must be a well-balanced, symmetrical development of the work in all its parts." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 5] "What is the secret of our prosperity?--We have moved under the order of the Captain of our salvation. God has blessed our united efforts. The truth has spread and flourished. Institutions have multiplied. The mustard-seed has grown to a great tree. The system of organization has proved a grand success." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 6] "An army in battle would become confused and weakened unless all worked in concord." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 7] "If soldiers should act out their own impulsive ideas, without reference to each other's position and work, they could not do the work of an organized body. So the soldiers of Christ must act in harmony." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 8] "They must not stand apart. A spirit to act independently and alone must not be cherished. If they do this, the Lord's people, in the place of being in perfect harmony, of one mind, one purpose, and consecrated to one grand object, will find their efforts fruitless, their time and capabilities wasted. Union is strength. A 38 few converted souls acting in harmony, acting for one grand purpose, under one head, will achieve victories at every encounter." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 9] "I am very sorrowful when I see things that I can not indorse, and I feel pained over the matter. I begin to be afraid. Some have entertained ideas, and without waiting to bring these before a council of brethren, have agitated strange theories. They have brought before some of the people, ideas in regard to organization that ought never to have had expression. I supposed that the question of organization was settled forever with those who believed the Testimonies. Now if they believe these matters, why do they work contrary to them? {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 10] Satan's angels are wise to do evil, and they will create that which some will claim to be advanced light, and will proclaim as new and wonderful things; while in some respects the message is truth, yet it will be mingled with men's inventions, and will teach for doctrine the commandments of men. If there ever was a time when we should watch and pray in real earnest, it is now. There may be supposable things that appear as good things, and yet they need to be carefully considered with much prayer; for they are specious devices of the enemy, to lead souls in a path which lies so close to the path of truth that it will be scarcely distinguishable from the path which leads to holiness and heaven. But the eye of faith may discern that it is diverging from the right path, though almost imperceptibly. At first it may be thought positively right, but after a little while it is seen to be widely divergent from the path of safety,--from the path that leads to holiness and heaven. My brethren, I warn you to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 11] "We sought the Lord with earnest prayer, that we might understand his will, and light was given by his Spirit, that there must be order and thorough discipline in the church, that organization was essential. System and order are manifest in all the works of God throughout the universe. Order is the law of heaven, and it should be the law of God's people on the earth." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 11} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 12] "Let none entertain the thought, however, that we can dispense with organization. It has cost us much study, and many prayers for wisdom that we know God has answered, to erect this structure. It has been built up by his direction, through much sacrifice and conflict. Let none of our brethren be so deceived as to attempt to tear it down, for you will thus bring in a condition of things that you do not dream of." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 12} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 13] "In the name of the Lord, I declare to you that it is to stand, strengthened, established, and settled. At God's command, 'Go forward,' we advanced when the difficulties to be surmounted made the advance seem impossible. We know how much it has cost to work out God's plans in the past, which has made us as a people what we are. Then let every one be exceedingly careful not to unsettle minds in regard to those things that God has ordained for our prosperity and success." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 13} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 14] "You must never, never seek to lift one pin, remove one landmark, that the Lord has given to his people as truth." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 14} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 15] "There is to be no change in the features of our work. It is to stand as clear and distinct as prophecy has made it. We are to enter into no confederacy with the world, supposing that by so doing we could do more work." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 15} [GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 16] "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and his teaching in our past history. We are now a strong people, if we will put our trust in the Lord; for we are handling the mighty truths of the word of God. We have everything to be thankful for. If we walk in the light as it shines upon us from the living oracles of God, we shall have large responsibilities, corresponding to the great light given us of God. We have many duties to perform, because we have been made the depositaries of sacred truth to be given to the world in all its beauty and glory. We are debtors to God to use every advantage he has entrusted to us to beautify the truth of holiness of character, and to send the message of warning and of comfort, of hope and of love, to those who are in the darkness of error and sin." {GCDB, February 20, 1899 par. 16} [GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 1] February 23, 1899 Extracts From Testimonies "I have been deeply stirred during the night season. I was in a meeting where were present men to whom had been entrusted large responsibilities. I can not now write as fully as I would like to, because I have not the strength, but I have words to say that I dare not leave unsaid. One stood in our midst, and said: "There is a large work to be done, in lines that the Lord has laid out before you,--a work that has yet scarcely been touched. I have sent my message to you; and what have you done for the Southern field,--for the colored people? What have you done with the means solicited for that field? You have robbed this destitute field of the means that God designed should come into it.'" 63 {GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 2] "The money brought in in response to the appeals made in behalf of the Southern field was just as much set apart for that work as is the tithe for the support of the ministers." {GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 3] "Mismanagement, wrong methods, ill-advised, movements have brought a reproach upon the work and cause of God, and these matters need to be adjusted. The book work needs to be cleansed of every artful intrigue. Those who have stood at the head of this unjust dealing will never be clean in the sight of God until they restore that which they have taken away. They are held responsible for the work that might have been done, but is not." {GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 4] "The use of means in lines that will make a good showing is right, but not until you have done the work the Lord has appointed you to do in the field that has been so manifestly neglected. The Lord says, Their suffering, their poverty, their degradation, has come up before me. I have heard their cries. I have seen their neglect. I have called your attention to the field. But the means you should have used to advance the work there, you have appropriated to more pleasing work, to more promising fields,--fields that have not such necessities and will reveal no better results." {GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 5] "There need be no dearth of means today for the advancement of the work, but the Lord has no pleasure in his people, because pride and selfishness have expelled mercy, and the love of God and for their fellow-men from their hearts. Wrong actions are clothed with a pretense of righteousness,--that which the Lord calls dissembling, false weights, unjust balances, and fraud." {GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 6] "There have been dishonesty, fraud, the turning away of a man from his rights, and disregarding the principles of the commandments of God. You have had men, schemes, and devising of plans with the idea that you could as a board have power to do anything that would serve the conference, and bring in a revenue. But it was more grievous in the sight of God, because you there were covering the dishonest practises, saying The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we. Yes; but that temple was just as much in need of cleansing as the temple courts in the days when Christ was upon the earth. The Lord hates the mixture he saw in the earthly temple. Unholy bartering in the temple courts brought forth the righteous indignation of an insulted God." {GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 7] "Wrong actions are clothed with a pretense of righteousness and fraud. This is the iniquity of the people of God. They have not restored the pledge, or brought back that which they have taken away. Truth has fallen in the street, and equity can not enter. The deepest humility should be felt by those who have the privilege of enlightenment and education in missionary lines." {GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 8] "The Lord God of heaven, by whom all actions are weighed in the golden balances of the sanctuary, looks upon the thousands of colored people, our neighbors, who, in their destitution, are spreading their cases before the Giver of all mercies and blessings. These people are perishing in their sins. As a people they are ignorant, many knowing nothing of purity and godliness and elevation. But among them are men and women of quick perceptions, excellent talents, and these will be revealed when once the Spirit of God shall turn their attention to the Word." {GCDB, February 23, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 1] February 24, 1899 Extracts From Testimonies "This condition of things has been created in our conferences and churches. {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 2] "The evil is not with one man, or with two; it is the whole that needs the cleansing and setting in order." {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 3] "It has been some years since I have considered the General Conference as the voice of God." {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 4] "In order to save money, camp-meetings have been held over and over in the same place. They should have been held in new places, that the standard of truth might be lifted, and the message proclaimed, The Lord is coming, and the end of all things is at hand. But unconsecrated hearts and unsanctified counsel have used the means necessary to do this, in other directions, to gratify selfish ambitions. God is not pleased. There is a dearth of means, and there will be a dearth of means just as surely as those who are connected with the work of God neglect to humble their hearts before God. They must fall on the Rock, and be broken, or that Rock will fall on them, and grind them to powder." . . . . {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 5] "This evil has been done in united action. Men do not well to try to shield themselves, and fasten their guilt upon one or two. Their hearts must change." {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 6] "Every page of that dark history is written in the books of heaven, to react upon every soul who has engaged in these schemes, unless they shall repent with that repentance that needeth not to be repented of. The Lord can not tolerate any such transactions as those that have been professedly done in his name. He abhors all such satanic principles. What shall be done in the future? THAT IS THE QUESTION NOW. {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 7] "What shall be done in the future? Lest you offend God, place no responsibility upon any man who has become leavened by connection with this work, unless he shows that he has a sense of the evil practises, and separates them from the institution,--unless he condemns all that savors of injustice, overbearing, or lording it over God's heritage. There has been a betrayal of sacred trusts. The work of God has been abused, and covered up with men's unsanctified attributes, and God says, 'Shall I not judge for these things?' It is for such working as these that Christ says, 'I came not to send peace, but a sword.' May God grant that never again shall this policy exist in our institutions; that no events, or combination of events, shall lead men to repeat the past. There is a work to be done that has not yet been done. The temple courts are not yet cleaned as they must be before the work which Christ did after the cleaning of the temple can be done. Then all the sick were brought to him, and he laid his hands upon them, and healed them all." {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 8] "The opinion of those handling sacred things has been that God did not expect them to be too liberal in business deal. The income must be brought into the work and the cause of God; therefore scheming and artful presentation and false representation have been made." {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 9] "And if it is never revealed in this time of probation, the future will show accounts standing in the books of heaven that reveal dishonesty, sharpness in business deal." {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 10] "These can never be washed away by the blood of the Lamb, until full repentance and restitution show a conversion of the soul from the sinful practises to righteousness." {GCDB, February 24, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, February 27, 1899 par. 1] February 27, 1899 Extracts From Testimonies "As the Lord's workman, you are to open your plans to one another. These plans must be carefully and prayerfully considered, because those who do not this the Lord will leave to stumble in their own supposed wisdom and superior greatness." {GCDB, February 27, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, February 27, 1899 par. 2] "He has brought before some of the people ideas in regard to organization 92 that ought never to have had expression. I supposed that the question of organization was settled forever with those who believed the Testimonies given through Sister White. Now if they believe these matters, why do they work contrary to them? Why should not my brethren be prudent enough to place these matters before me, or at least to inquire if I had any light upon these subjects? . . . O, how Satan would rejoice to get in among this people, and disorganize the work at a time when thorough organization is essential. --MS., Jan. 14, 1894. {GCDB, February 27, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, February 27, 1899 par. 3] "I learn that it is proposed by some of our brethren to do away with the organization of some at least of the branches of our work. No doubt what has led them to propose this step is that in some of our organizations the machinery has been made so complicated as really to hinder the work. This, however, is not an argument against organization, but against the perversion of it."--Unpublished Testimony. {GCDB, February 27, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 1] February 28, 1899 Extracts From Testimonies "Now as never before we need to understand the true science of education. If we fail to understand this, we shall never have a place in the kingdom of God." {GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 2] "The work that lies next to our church-members is to become interested in our youth." 106 {GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 3] "Through a vital connection with God, men and women may quickly gain a knowledge of that great text-book, the word of God, and go forth to impart what they have received." {GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 4] "Let workers enter the field without going through many preliminaries. Teach them that they are to walk humbly with God, and to begin labor just where they see it is needed. Thus our working force may be greatly increased." "A great work is being done in medical missionary lines, and its necessities are constantly being felt; but this work need not absorb the funds required in other lines. The medical missionary work, if rightly managed, may be made largely self-sustaining. Let our conferences and churches see that our youth are educated in the Scriptures; for the gospel is the power of God unto salvation." {GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 5] "Let us in our educational work embrace far more than we have done of the children and youth, and there will be a whole army of missionaries raised up to work for God." {GCDB, February 28, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 1] March 2, 1899 Extracts From "Home Missionary Work" and the Testimonies "Think of the necessities of our mission fields throughout the field. The London mission is in distress and need of help. There is a most solemn and important work to be done in that vast city. We have able workmen there, but God designs that they shall have advantages to do the same work that Christ did when he was a minister to this world. So in Scandinavia and in the Central European fields. Means are required to advance the work in its different lines. There is altogether too much spasmodic work. In India and in many other countries, much hard labor is required, in order for the people to understand the minister, or the minister to understand the people. In those countries where there are the fewest impediments, where the people speak our own language, be sure that the needed facilities are provided. In England and Australia the truth can be carried by those who speak English. Then let these countries have educational advantages, and means to advance the work, and train the workers to carry the truth into darker heathen nations. God requires that every institution in America shall assist in providing these facilities." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 2] "By building up the institutions in the English-speaking countries, they will have several plants constantly increasing in usefulness and facilities. Thus the work may be done far more rapidly. The Lord has sent to these places his servants who have had experience, and who can carry forward their several branches of the work. To withhold means from them is to neglect the Lord's direct requirements. Not one hundredth part of the work has been done that would have been accomplished if the workers in America had imparted to others of their great mercies." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 3] "They would have seen prosperity in England; they would have sympathized with the workers who are struggling with difficulties there, and would have had the heart to say, 'All ye are brethren.' The strengthening of the work in English-speaking countries would have placed them where they would have had twenty-fold more influence than they have had to plant the standard of truth in many places." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 4] "God requires things to be set in order. He calls for men of decided fidelity. He has no use in an emergency for two-sided men. He wants men who will lay their hand upon a work, and say, This is not according to the will of God. It is this miserable thing in dealing with wrongs that God has condemned. The work that will meet the mind of the Spirit of God has not yet begun in Battle Creek. When the work of seeking God with all the heart commences, there will be many confessions made that are now buried. I do not at present feel it my duty to confess for those who ought to make, not a general, but a plain, definite confession, and so cleanse the Lord's institutions from the defilement that has come upon them. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 5] . . .Unless there is a thorough reformation and turning unto the Lord, he will surely turn his face from his institution, the publishing house." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 6] "It is these things that turned the face of God from the Review and Herald Office." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 7] "Unless there is a thorough reformation and turning unto the Lord, he will surely turn his face from his institution, the publishing house." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 8] "It is these things that turned the face of God from the Review and Herald Office." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 9] "Take no false panacea for wounds and bruises. Go to Jesus. Tell him that you must be cleansed and restored. There is not one beyond hope if you will come just as you are. You may put on counterfeit garments of righteousness. You may smile, and say that all these little difficulties are made up of little or nothing. But God says to you in Battle Creek, 'Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 10] "Reformation has not yet begun in Battle Creek. Changes in places and positions have been made, but the hearts of those who have not been molded after the divine similitude, are not changed. They see not, nor understand, over what they have stumbled. God would have the office of publication kept pure and clean by righteous principles." "Then he will advance his work through consecrated workers." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 1] March 2, 1899 The Work for This Time. We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecies are fulfilling. The last great conflict will be short, but terrible. Old controversies will be revived. New controversies will arise. The last warnings must be given to the world. There is a special power in the presentation of the truth at the present time; but how long will it continue?--Only a little while. If ever there was a crisis, it is now. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 2] Decided efforts should be made to bring the message for this time prominently before the people. The third angel is to go forth with great power. Let none ignore this work, or treat it as of little importance. The truth is to be proclaimed to the world, that they may see the light. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 3] This is our work. The light that we have upon the third angel's message is the true light. The mark of the beast is exactly what it has been proclaimed to be. All in regard to this matter is not yet understood, and will not be understood until the unrolling of the scroll; but a most solemn work is to be accomplished in our world. The Lord's command to his servants is, "Cry aloud; spare not; lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 4] There is to be no change in the features of our work. It is to stand as clear and distinct as prophecy has made it. We are to enter into no confederacy with the world, supposing that by so doing we could accomplish more. If any stand in the way, to hinder the advancement of the work in the lines that God has appointed, they will displease God. No line of our faith that has made us what we are, is to be weakened. We have the old landmarks of truth, experience, and duty, and we are to stand firmly in defence of our principles, in full view of the world. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 5] It is essential that men be raised up to open the living oracles of God to all nations, tongues, and peoples. Men of all ranks and capacities, with various gifts, are to stand in their God-given armor, to co-operate harmoniously for a common result. They are to unite in the work of bringing the truth to all nations and peoples, each worker fulfilling his own special appointment. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 6] There is a wide field of action, and in their plans and devising, all need to consider the result. Everything is to move according to the divine plan. The whole body must be fitly joined together, that each member may promote the designs of Him who gave his life for the life of the world. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 7] As the work advances, dangers arise that need to be guarded against. As new enterprises are entered upon, there is a tendency to make some one line all-absorbing; that which should have the first place becomes a secondary consideration. The church needs fresh power and vitality; but there is great danger of taking on new lines of work that will waste their energies instead of bringing life into the church. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 8] The Work for the Outcasts. Of late a great interest has been aroused for the poor and outcast classes; a great work has been entered upon for the uplifting of the fallen and degraded. This in itself is a good work. We should ever have the spirit of Christ, and we are to do the same class of work that he did for suffering humanity. The Lord has a work to be done for the outcasts. There is no question but that it is the duty of some to labor among them, and try to save the souls that are perishing. This will have its place in connection with the proclamation of the third angel's message and the reception of Bible truth. But there is danger of loading down every one with this class of work, because of the intensity with which it is carried on. There is danger of leading men to center their energies in this line, when God has called them to another work. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 9] The great question of our duty to humanity is a serious one, and much of the grace of God is needed in deciding how to work so as to accomplish the greatest amount of good. Not all are called to begin their work by laboring among the lowest classes. God does not require his workmen to obtain their education and training in order to devote themselves exclusively to these classes. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 10] The working of God is manifest in a way which will establish confidence that the work is of his devising, and that sound principles underlie every action. But I have had instruction from God that there is danger of planning for the outcasts in a way which will lead to spasmodic and excitable movements. These will produce no real beneficial results. A class will be encouraged to do a kind of work which will amount to the least in strengthening all parts of the work by harmonious action. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 11] The gospel invitation is to be given to the rich and the poor, the high and the low, and we must devise means for carrying the truth into new places, and to all classes of people. The Lord bids us: Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. He says: Begin in the highways; thoroughly work the highways; prepare a company who in unity with you can go forth to do the very work that Christ did in seeking and saving the lost. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 11} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 12] Christ preached the gospel to the poor; but he did not confine his labors to this class. He worked for all who would hear his word,--not only the publican and the outcast, but the rich and cultivated Pharisee, the Jewish nobleman, the centurion, and the Roman ruler. This is the kind of work I have ever seen should be done. We are not to strain every spiritual sinew and nerve to work for the lowest classes, and make that work the all in all. There are others whom we must bring to the Master, souls who need the truth, who are bearing responsibilities, and who will work with all their sanctified ability for the high places as well as for the low places. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 12} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 13] The work for the poorer classes has no limit. It can never be got through with, and it must be treated as a part of the great whole. To give our first attention to this work, while there are vast portions of the Lord's vineyard open to culture and yet untouched, is to begin in the wrong place. As the right arm is to the body, so is the medical missionary work to the third angel's message. But the right arm is not to become the whole body. The work of seeking the outcasts is important, but it is not to become the great burden of our mission. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 13} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 14] The Gospel Wagon. In our efforts to reach the people, there is danger of adopting methods that will not produce the best results. Plans may be followed which seem to excite much interest for the time; but the effect proves that the work is not abiding. The use of the gospel wagon may accomplish some good; but in most cases the after-results will be disappointing. People will be attracted by the music, and will listen to the addresses and appeals that are made. But the workers pass rapidly from place to place, and there is not time for persons to become established in the faith. The impressions made are soon effaced. Little seed has been sown that springs up and bears fruit. When the season is ended, there will be few sheaves to be gathered. Experience will show that the results are not proportionate to the expenditure. The work is too much like that of carrying a torch through a district in the night. The places where the torch-bearer goes are light; but not many tapers are kindled from his torch, and when he has gone his way, the darkness is almost as great as before. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 14} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 15] In this manner of working there is danger of depending too much on outward display to attract the people. The mission of Christ was not conducted in this way. Outward display is not to characterize our work. We must not give the impression that we link amusement with the solemn work for this time. If the workers have a real love for souls, they may find more effective methods of labor. Other plans could be devised which would be less expensive, and would have a much better after-influence. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 15} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 16] And this method of working will not have the best effect upon the workers themselves. Outward attraction and display encourage sensational ideas by which some of the workers may be spoiled for any effective service. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 16} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 17] In this manner of life they are likely to obtain a shifting, changeable experience. Plans should be followed by which each working force may know what kind of work it is doing, and may be able to gather up the sheaves. Expend your money in a work in which each worker may be able to see something of the results, and know that God was with him. We want to have daily an individual experience in the things of God. And each laborer should be learning to build up the work, so that it shall be solid and abiding. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 17} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 18] Camp-Meetings. In contrast with the use of the gospel wagon, another work has been presented to my sight. Tents were being taken to different places during suitable seasons of the year. Camp-meetings were being held in many localities. These were conducted by able, God-fearing men, assisted by suitable helpers. Children's meetings were held, and revival meetings, to bring the people to take their stand for the truth. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 18} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 19] In many places it is next to impossible to find entrance to any house of worship. Prejudice, envy, jealousy are so strong that often we can find no place in which to speak to the people the word of life. If camp-meetings can be held in different places, those who wish to hear can have the opportunity. Souls that are starving for the bread of life will be fed. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 19} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 20] Instead of having mammoth camp-meetings in a few localities, more good would often be done by having small meetings in many places. Let these be held in cities and towns where the message of present truth has not been presented. Help those who are interested to attend, if necessary providing them with food and lodging. And let the meeting continue two or three weeks. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 20} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 21] This should be followed up by a tent-meeting and Bible work. Experienced laborers with their assistants should remain in the field to search out all who are interested. They should work as if searching for the lost sheep. Many who come to the camp-meeting merely to hear or see some new thing, will be impressed by the truth, and some will take their stand to obey. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 21} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 22] All this will require consecrated, self-sacrificing labor. At a camp-meeting it may sometimes be difficult to hold the principal speakers for several weeks to develop the interest that has been awakened. It may be impossible for all our people to remain till the close of the meeting, and it may involve considerable expense to retain the ground, and keep standing a sufficient number of family tents to maintain the appearance of a camp-meeting. It may be at a sacrifice that families remain camping on the grounds to assist the ministers and Bible workers in visiting and Bible study with those who come on the ground, and in visiting the people at their homes, telling them of the blessing received at the meetings, and inviting them to come. No doubt it will be difficult to secure a sufficient number of workers to carry forward the work successfully after the meeting. But the result will justify the effort. It is by such earnest, energetic efforts as these that some of our camp-meetings have been instrumental in raising up strong working churches; and it is by just such earnest work that the third angel's message must be carried to the people of our cities. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 22} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 23] In these meetings we should not at first present doctrinal subjects, of which the hearers have no understanding. Hold the attention of the people by presenting the truth as it is in Jesus. The very first and most important thing is to melt and subdue the soul by presenting our Lord Jesus Christ as the sin-pardoning Saviour. Keep before the people the cross of Calvary. What caused the death of Christ?--The transgression of the law. Show that Christ died to give men an opportunity to become loyal subjects of his kingdom. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 23} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 24] Let the truth be presented, not in long, labored discourses, but in short talks, right to the point. Educate, educate, in regard to thorough, whole-souled service. Thorough consecration, much prayer, an intense earnestness, will make an impression; for angels of God will be present to move upon the hearts of the hearers. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 24} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 25] Let there be singing and instrumental music. Musical instruments were used in religious services in ancient times. The worshipers praised God upon the harp and cymbal, and music should have its place in our services. It will add to the interest. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 25} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 26] Let there be personal labor for the unconverted. Invite all who are not satisfied that they are prepared for Christ's coming, and all who feel burdened and heavy laden, to come apart by themselves. Let those who are spiritual converse with these souls. Pray with them and for them. And do not let the work stop here. Visit them at their homes. Let much time be spent in prayer and close searching of the word. Let all obtain the real facts of faith in their own souls through belief that the Holy Spirit will teach them because they have a real hungering and thirsting after righteousness. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 26} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 27] In this way the right kind of education is given to the people in religious 129 exercises, and there is presented also the discipline of organization and order. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 27} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 28] Meeting-Houses and Church Schools. When a company of believers is raised up, careful provision should be made for the permanence and stability of the work. A house of worship will be needed, and a school where Bible instruction may be given to the children. The workers should not leave their field of labor until a meeting-house has been built, and a school room and teacher provided. Here is a channel in which the means invested in gospel wagons might be used to secure far greater and more permanent results for good. All this has been presented before me as a panoramic view. I saw workmen building humble houses of worship. Those newly come to the faith were helping with willing hands, and those who had means were assisting with their means. In the basement of the church, above ground, a school room was prepared for the children. Teachers were selected to go to this place. The numbers in the school were not large, but it was a happy beginning. I heard the songs of children and of parents: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Praise ye the Lord; praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live will I praise the Lord. I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 28} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 29] The establishing of churches, the erection of meeting-houses and school buildings, was extended from city to city, and the tithe was increasing to carry forward the work. There was a plant; not only in one place, but in many places, and the Lord was working to increase his forces. Something was being established that would publish the truth. That is the work to be done, not only in Australia, but in the cities of America as well. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 29} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 30] In this work all classes will be reached. When the Holy Spirit works among us, souls who are unready for Christ's appearing are convicted. Many come to our meetings and are converted who for years have not attended meetings in any church. The simplicity of the truth reaches their hearts. The tobacco devotees sacrifice their idol, and the liquor drinker his liquor. They could not do this if they did not by faith grasp the promises of God for the forgiveness of their sins. The truth as it is in the word comes before high and low, rich and poor, and those who receive the message become workers with us and with God, and a strong force is raised up to labor harmoniously. This is our work. It is not ［to be］ neglected in any of our camp-meeting labor. It is a part of every gospel mission. Instead of setting every talent to work for the lowest outcasts, we should seek in every place to raise up a company of believers who will unite with us in uplifting the standard of truth, and working for rich and poor. Then as churches are established there will be an increase of helpers to labor for the destitute and the outcasts. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 30} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 31] The Relation of the Ministry to the Medical Missionary Work. Both home and foreign missions should be conducted in connection with the ministry of the word. The medical missionary work is not to be carried forward as something apart from the work of the gospel ministry. The Lord's people are to be one. There is to be no separation in his work. Time and means are being absorbed in a work which is carried forward too earnestly in one direction. The Lord has not appointed this. He sent out his twelve apostles and afterward the seventy to preach the word to the people, and he gave them power to heal the sick and to cast out devils in his name. The two lines of work must not be separated. Satan will invent every possible scheme to separate those whom God is seeking to make one. We must not be misled by his devices. The medical missionary work is to be connected with the work of the third angel's message, as the hand is connected with the body; and the education of students in medical missionary lines is not complete unless they are trained to work in connection with the church and the ministry. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 31} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 32] There are in the ministry men of faith and experience, men who can say: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; . . . that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you." These men are to instruct others. The plan of calling workers away from their fields of labor to attend ministerial institutes is not as a rule the best for this time. Let men be trained by actual labor, under the instruction of experienced workers. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 32} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 33] The medical missionary work is not to take men from the ministry, but to place them in the field. Wherever camp-meetings are held, young men who have received an education in medical missionary lines should feel it their duty to act a part. They should be encouraged to speak, not only on these special lines, but also upon the points of present truth, giving the reasons why we are Seventh-day Adventists. These young men, given an opportunity to work with older ministers, will receive much help and blessing. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 33} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 34] In following up the interest after a camp-meeting, helpers are needed in various lines, and these occasions should be as a training-school for workers. Let young men work in connection with experienced laborers who will pray with and for them, and patiently instruct them. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 34} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 35] There must be no belittling of the gospel ministry. No enterprise should be so conducted as to cause the ministry of the word to be looked upon as an inferior matter. It is not so. Those who ignore the ministry are ignoring Christ. The highest of all work is the ministry in its various lines, and it should be kept before the youth that there is no work more blessed of God than that of the gospel minister. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 35} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 36] Let not our young men be deterred from entering the ministry. There is danger that through glowing representations some will be drawn out of the path where God bids them walk. Some have been encouraged to take a course of study in medical lines who ought to be preparing themselves to enter the ministry. The Lord calls for more men to labor in his vineyard. The words were spoken, "Strengthen the outposts: have faithful sentinels in every part of the world." God calls for you, young men. He calls for whole armies of young men who are large-hearted and large-minded, and who have a deep love for Christ and the truth. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 36} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 37] The measure of capacity or learning is of infinitely less consequence than the spirit with which the work is done. It is not great and learned men that the ministry needs, it is not eloquent sermonizers. God calls for men who will give themselves to him to be imbued with his Spirit. The cause of Christ and humanity demands sanctified, self-sacrificing men, those who can go forth without the camp, bearing the reproach. Let them be strong, valiant men, fit for worthy enterprises, and let them make a covenant with God by sacrifice. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 37} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 38] The ministry is no place for idlers. God's servants are to make full proof of their ministry. They will not be sluggards, but as expositors of his word they will put forth their utmost energies to be faithful. They should never cease to be learners. They are to keep their own souls all alive to the sacredness of the work and to the great responsibilities of their calling, that they may at no time or place bring to God a maimed sacrifice, an offering which cost them neither study nor prayer. The Lord has need of men of intense spiritual life. Every worker may receive an endowment of strength from on high, and may go forward with faith and hope in the path where God bids him walk. The ［word］ of God abideth in the young, consecrated laborer. He is quick, earnest, powerful, and he has in the counsel of God an unfailing source of supply. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 38} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 39] God has called this people to give to the world the message of Christ's soon coming. We are to give to men the last call to the gospel feast, the last invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thousands of places that have not heard the call are yet to hear it. Many who have not given the message are yet to proclaim it. Again I appeal to our young men: Has not God called upon you to sound this message? - {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 39} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 40] The Effective Use of Means in Missionary Fields. It is the very essence of all right faith to do the right thing at the right time. God is the great Master-worker, and by his providence he prepares the way for his work to be accomplished. He provides opportunities, opens up lines of influence and channels for working. If his people are watching the indications of his providence, and stand ready to co-operate with him, they will see a great work accomplished. Their efforts, rightly directed, will produce a hundred-fold greater results than can be accomplished with the same means and facilities in another channel where God is not so manifestly working. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 40} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 41] Our work is reformative, and it is God's purpose that the excellence of the work in all educational lines shall be an object-lesson to the people for the consummation of the last great work to save the perishing. In entering new fields, it is important that the work be so established that a correct representation of the truth shall be given. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 41} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 42] In all our plans for missionary operations these principles should be considered. Certain countries have advantages that mark them as centers of education and influence. In the English-speaking nations it is comparatively easy to find access to the people, and there are many advantages for establishing institutions and carrying forward our work. In other lands, such as India and China, the workers must go through a long course of education before the people can understand them, or they the people. And there are great difficulties to be encountered at every step of the work. In America, England, and Australia, many of these impediments do not exist. America has many institutions to give character to our work. Similar facilities should have been furnished for England and Australia. In these countries the Lord has able workmen, laborers of experience. These can lead out in the establishment of institutions, the training of workers, and the carrying forward of the work in its different lines. God designs that they shall be furnished with means and facilities. The institutions established would give character to the work in these countries, and would give opportunity for the training of workers for the darker heathen nations. In this way the efficiency of our experienced workers would be multiplied a hundred fold. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 42} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 43] The duty of providing facilities for this work the Lord has in great measure laid upon the churches and institutions in America. These churches and institutions were built up by the labors and sacrifices of the Lord's servants. Large donations have been made to establish the institutions in Battle Creek, and in other places. Now God calls upon them to use some of the means in their hands to forward his work in other lands. It all belongs to God, every dollar is his, and he is not pleased with their neglect to do the work which so much needs to be done. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 43} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 44] By building up the institutions in the English-speaking countries, they would have several plants constantly increasing in usefulness and facilities. Thus the great work for this time might be far more rapidly accomplished. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 44} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 45] The Situation in Australia. When the General Conference sent me and my helpers to Australia, our people should have understood the situation, and should have provided us with means and facilities for establishing the work in this country. For seven years we have labored here; but except the publishing house in Melbourne, we have no institution that can give character to the work. In our school work something has been done; but we have not yet the means for erecting our main hall, which will contain the chapel and recitation-rooms. We have not means for the necessary improvement of the land and equipment of the buildings. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 45} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 46] The health work is in still greater need. We should have a sanitarium in some location near Sydney, with branches in Newcastle and in some city in Queensland. But we have made scarcely a beginning. The building at Summer Hill, which we are now using as a sanitarium, is in a good location; but it is not at all adapted for a health institution, and it has to be managed in a way that can not make a correct impression upon the minds of those who patronize it. We might have a much larger number of patients if we only had a suitable building. Wealthy men come to our sanitarium, look at the miserably constructed bath-rooms, and say, "I can never consent to take treatment in such a place," and in disappointment they leave the institution. But the place is the best we could provide with the means at our command. We have to pay a high rent, and this eats up the funds which we might otherwise use for needed facilities. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 46} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 47] Little help will be given us by the doctors in this country. There is occasionally one who appreciates the principles, and speaks well of our work; but the physicians generally do not want sanitariums established, and they will make it as hard for us as possible. The hospitals here are numerous, but the nursing is not on the best lines, and in some of them patients are roughly handled. We should have an institution which is a commendable example of right arrangements and right methods as well as of right principles. A good sanitarium here would count more in giving efficiency to our work than it could possibly do in America. But time is passing, and we have nothing to do with. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 47} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 48] In connection with the sanitarium in Sydney, a hospital is needed at Cooranbong. This would furnish a retreat for convalescents, and for a large class of 130 patients who need the benefit of country air and surroundings. And nothing could be a more effective help in medical missionary lines. There is no physician at Cooranbong, or in all the surrounding districts. In sickness the people have to send to Newcastle, twenty miles away, for a doctor, at the expense of $25 for a visit. The people are poor, and we are constantly called upon to give advice and treatment to the sick, and to minister to the needy and suffering in many ways. This work helpers connected with the hospital would be able to do. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 48} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 49] The hospital is needed at once. Dr. Kellogg has raised means for furnishing it, and we had hoped to erect it ourselves; but as yet we have not been able to accomplish this. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 49} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 50] Here we are in this new world, with only a very few churches, mostly composed of poor people, who are not prepared to give financial aid to the work. How can we meet the requirements in establishing churches, schools, and conferences, and in building up the medical missionary work? We have been straining every nerve to meet the most pressing demands of the work just now. Help must be furnished for the erection of a house of worship for the company of believers just raised up at Brisbane, and very soon a church must be built at Newcastle. The Health Food Company must have help to erect a building for the work they are about to establish in Cooranbong. The school is struggling to provide sufficient accommodation for its students for another term. And there is the work of helping the poor, lifting up the bowed down and oppressed, clothing the naked, and feeding the hungry, all of whom are just as precious in the sight of the Lord as the same class in America. So the work that we desire to do in erecting our hospital is still undone. Directions have come from Battle Creek to push forward the medical missionary work, to start a health institution, to put this work in the forefront. But we can not make brick without straw. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 50} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 51] The actual state of new enterprises is closely watched in this country. In medical and educational institutions, the value of the work is estimated by the moral, intellectual, and financial forces that are engaged for their advancement. The fact that men of ability are forced to work as we have been compelled to do here, determines in the eyes of the community the breadth and efficiency of the church that can permit such a state of things to exist. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 51} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 52] It was not the design of God that our work in this country should be so hard and advance so slowly. It is his purpose that there shall be a true pattern in Australia,--a sample of how other fields shall be worked. The work should be symmetrical, and a living witness for the truth. God would have us cherish a noble ambition. He desires that the character of our work shall be in harmony with the great truths we are presenting to the world. Everything that shall be done here should be solidly established, as an object-lesson to be applied to spiritual things. The work should be such as to inspire students and those who are to become missionaries with hope, zeal, and sanctified ambition, and put new life into the elements found in this new world. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 52} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 53] But men, if left to work at cross-purposes with God, will spoil the web. While we have been wading through difficulties, and constantly handicapped for want of means, large institutions in America are continually adding to their already abundant facilities. They are absorbing donations that are sorely needed in missionary fields, and are expending means in lines of work that will not accomplish one hundredth part of what might be accomplished with the same means and facilities in this country. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 53} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 54] Means has been absorbed in various impulsive movements that do no real good. But if for every expenditure you could show good results, that would not change the principles you should work upon. You were helped in raising funds to make a beginning, and now God requires you to restrict your supposed wants, and give of your abundance to start the work in this new world. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 54} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 55] A Contrast. While I was in Queensland, our present situation was presented to me by the figure of a building in process of erection. The builders were full of earnestness and determination to complete the work, putting into it their very best efforts. But the second time I came to look at the building, it was not half completed, yet the builders had gone to other work. I said, "What does this mean?" The answer was, "We began to build, but were not able to finish. We had no money with which to purchase material, and had to stop building." Again an illustration was presented before me. There were elaborate buildings, abundant facilities, and many plans for new improvements. I asked, "Who owns these buildings?" The answer was, "They are supposed to be the Lord's property." "Well, who owns that building not half yet completed?" "O, that, too, is the Lord's building; but the workers could not complete it; for they had nothing to build with." This represents the comparative situation of the work here and in America,--the great lack in one place and the superabundance in the other. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 55} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 56] My Teacher said, "This is chargeable to the devising of men, but no reflection should be cast upon God. The abundance in one locality was amply sufficient for completing the unfinished building, and providing facilities for carrying on the work in other localities. God is not partial. He does not work in this way. The stewards entrusted with the outlay of his means chose to build up that which was under their own supervision, but the same enterprise in the new world of Australia they leave in the condition represented by the unfinished building. Never should God's stewards show such marked selfishness and partiality. Such policy and principles are wholly worldly. They should find no entrance among God's people. The Lord is dishonored before the world and before the heavenly universe. That house must be built. The sanitarium in Sydney must be put in working order. The Lord never works capriciously. He designed that his work should stand before the world more evenly proportioned." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 56} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 57] At the Brisbane camp-meeting, and during our visit to Rockhampton, our brethren were raising money to carry on the work of building the college hall for the school at Cooranbong,--work which had come to a standstill for want of funds. Our brethren in Queensland are poor, and have large families to support. While they were being drawn upon to raise the amount apportioned to their colony, they were told of the promise made by the General Conference, that for every pound raised in this country, the conference in America would donate a pound. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 57} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 58] In the night season I found myself presenting these matters before our brethren in America. I told them what poverty existed in this country. I dreamed that one of our stewards brought in the amount collected from men, women, and children in Queensland. The promise of our American friends that we should receive pound for pound had encouraged these hard-working people in Brisbane to give to the very utmost of their ability. Then the responsible brethren in America turned to the ones who were so anxiously waiting, to see what they would do. They said: "We thought you understood that we can not now fulfil our promise to duplicate your gifts. Circumstances have made this impossible." I find myself waking up in the night, and crying, "O Lord! pity thy poor people, whose managers do not consider the wants of the cause in this land. They can not see afar off." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 58} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 59] God has waited for you in America to send your gifts where the fields are white for harvest. Should you not have some thought as to how you could gather from your conferences the means which you promised our school, giving us pound for pound, according to that which we could raise? Shall that agreement be broken when, by strong appeals, the means are gathered in here from those who are sacrificing almost the necessaries of life? Have our brethren no thought with reference to all these workers, so crippled and bound about? We can see the great harvest-field, but are almost without facilities for gathering in the sheaves. Shall the cold-hearted, unbrotherly neglect manifested by our American brethren continue? God has bidden us to call, and call again. He says, "Break up this calculating policy. The means is mine, the work is mine." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 59} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 60] Are our brethren afraid that we can not possibly use the means to such advantage as they can use it? Let them try us. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 60} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 61] The Lord's Instruction. I seemed to be in a meeting where our necessities were being reviewed. We were considering what should be done. One stood up among us, and the word of the Lord was spoken: "Those in America can relieve the situation here, and should have shared with you their abundance years ago. The sanitarium at Battle Creek has been blessed of God. He has imparted to it abundantly, and in its prosperity it might impart to the work he has signified should be done in Australia. The managers there could have done a large work in establishing and equipping a sanitarium in Australia, had they placed themselves in the situation of the workers in this field." I was bidden: "Bear the message clear and definite. God demands of them work which should have been done when I sent my workers to break new ground in Australia. While the aggressive warfare was being carried on, and the light given upon health reform, institutions should have been established to give character to the work. The sanitarium at Battle Creek could and should have given of her abundance to relieve the situation in Australia." The neglect to do this has placed us years behind. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 61} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 62] Of all countries, Australia most resembles America. It is her sister. All classes of people are here. And the truth has not been presented and rejected. There are thousands of honest souls praying for light. God's watchmen are called to stand on the walls of Zion, and to give the warning, "The morning cometh, and also the night,"--the night wherein no man can work. While the angels are holding the four winds, a message is to enter every field in Australia as fast as possible. There is no time to be lost. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 62} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 63] The Lord says to his people in America: "When I send my servants to establish my work in a new field, and build up the interests essential to give it character, I call upon my people to sustain that work with their prayers and with their means. Because they have neglected to do this, the appearance presented by the health institution in Australia is objectionable. It is not a proper object-lesson; for it is no just representation of the truth. The medical missionary work in that country, which should have been a noble work, is a work of which God is ashamed. The testimony borne by such meager representation brings the most sacred truth into disrepute; it dishonors God. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 63} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 64] "When my servant whom I have called to make known my will was sent to Australia, you in America should have understood that you had a work to do in cooperation with her. Who was it that carried out my directions in laying the foundation of the institutions in America, which have grown to such large proportions? And when my servant was sent to establish the work in a new field, could you not see that he who owns all the gold and silver was calling for your co-operation? You had obtained a standing fully abundant and ample. And when the work was to begin in another field, I would be with my servant to indicate the work; and you should have been ready to aid in lifting up the standard of truth by precept and example in a way that would recommend it to a gainsaying world. My watchmen are to call upon all to come to the gospel feast, to do high service for the Master. Could you not discern that when the same work was entered upon in Australia, it required means? The God of heaven has been dishonored. You have found a place to invest means in various enterprises, as if it was a virtue to leave my work in other lands to struggle in poverty and nakedness. You have not shared your abundant facilities as you might and should have done, even though the sacrifice required might appear large to you. If you have a share in the world's redemption, you must consider the workings of God. In Australia it has required a great sacrifice to establish the medical work even in a meager way, while you have had everything, and yet continue to purchase that which you could do very well without. Place your money where the work of God demands help, that the medical missionary work in that new field may be made a success. The work in Australia should have been placed on such a basis that after a time it might become self-sustaining. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 64} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 65] "Upon whom has the Lord for so many years laid the burden and travail of soul for the work in America? Who has borne the burden and wretchedness of the people who are constantly working at cross-purposes with God? The needs and errors of the laborers in responsible positions have called for a heavy, soul-wearing work. Did you suppose that any amount of wages could be a recompense for this? Nothing that earth can give is sufficient value to recompense the travail and burden of soul, the agony of mind, that have been felt in seeing the people endangering the work of God, and making it necessary for him to withdraw his prospering hand from the publishing association and from the conference. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 65} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 66] "Then the test came upon the sanitarium. God has given them prosperity,not to be a means of self-exaltation, but that they might impart of their substance. When my servants were sent to Australia, you should haveunderstood that God would work through them, and you should have exercised liberality in apportioning means to advance the work. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 66} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 67] "The medical missionary work should ere this have been established upon a solid foundation. There should be no withholding of means. The Lord has let his chastening hand fall upon the Review and Herald office, because they would not heed his voice. Self-sufficient managers hedged up the way, that his work should not advance. The Lord now calls upon 131 the Battle Creek Sanitarium to extend their work, and to assist in placing the health institution in Australia upon a proper basis, and make it a signal to exalt the truth." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 67} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 68] The time has come when no physical, mental, or moral power is to be wasted or misapplied. The Lord would have you no longer confine to a few places at home all the great facilities that concern the moral and spiritual advancement of his work. The word of command is: "Go forward. You to whom I have given much are called upon to impart. Place your means where it will help now in giving light to darkened nations and to the islands of the sea." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 68} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 69] Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "I have spared your life to do my work; and wherever I send you, go, and I will send my angel with you. In no case should you be feeble in your request for the advantage of means. Wherever I send you, go, and speak my words. I will be thy mind, I will be thy judgment. All the advantages are mine. The means and facilities are mine, and there should be no withholding. But selfishness, a desire to control, has kept the advantages in one place, so that everything is overbalanced. Call for the means God designed you to have long ago. Hold up my banner. Give honor to no human instrumentality, but to God, that my name may be a praise in the earth. The Lord, he is God, and before him there is no other. My work in Australasia has been greatly hindered. Money has been used unwisely in America, in the great centers, so that there is distress for means to build up the work in new places. But go not forth in hesitancy. I will be with you. Ask of my people the means that should have gone to advance the work in the Australasian field, the new world to which I have sent you. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 69} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 70] "Those who stand in responsible places in the work need wisdom in regard to the best methods of proclaiming the last message of mercy to the world. I have a work to be done in Victoria, in New South Wales, in all the Australasian fields. Call for the means which ought to have been flowing there, where there are so few facilities to build up my kingdom, where it will tell the most in magnifying my name." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 70} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 71] Again the light given me is: "The Lord has sent you to take hold of this work. What you have done in America under the direction of God is to be done in planting the standard of truth, and building up the work in Australia. In America they should know that you need to be supplied with the means required for the work. You have been too slow in calling for the help that is essential." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 71} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 72] The work should be established in this country, and it will be; for thus the Lord has said. We might be years in advance if our brethren in America had stood unflinchingly to their duty, to hear and obey the word of the Lord. Let no more time be lost. You who have so many advantages, do your work unselfishly. It is God's work we are doing, and you will not find the work in your hands restricted, if you follow the will and word of God. Share your advantages with us in this field, that the work may stand on a true basis, and have the influence and character it should possess. Your minds may not now be prepared to see the importance of surrendering yourselves to do what ought to have been done when we were appointed to come to this field. You may not be able to see all the particulars involved in this request of God to impart. But the special work has been laid out, and you are called upon to do your God-given duty in our onward march in this country by furnishing us with facilities for our work. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 72} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 73] Christ's dignity and office work are in imposing such conditions as he pleases. His followers are to become more and more a power in the proclamation of the truth as they draw nearer to the perfection of faith and of love for their brethren. God has provided his divine assistance for all the emergencies to which our human resources are unequal. He gives the Holy Spirit to help in every strait, to strengthen our hope and assurance, to illuminate our minds and purify our hearts. He means that sufficient facilities shall be provided for the working out of his plans in this field. I bid you seek counsel from God. Seek him with the whole heart, and "whatsoever he saith unto you, do." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 73} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 74] "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." Ellen G. White. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 74} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 1] March 2, 1899 A Misapplied Message. A Misapplied Message. The message, "Sell that ye have, and give alms," is now to be given. But there are many who do not understand the object of this message. It is not the purpose of God that the revenues of the church shall be largely absorbed in the work for the poor and outcast classes. This work might be presented in such a way that every dollar would be drawn from our people, and there would be no resources left for aggressive warfare in new fields. But our brethren in America, who are engaged in medical missionary lines, can, by appealing to the people outside, obtain help, because theirs is not a denominational work. They should not draw their funds largely from our churches. The resources of the church are needed to support the gospel ministry, and to carry forward the work in new fields. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 2] The special work for this time is not to be restricted under the plea of giving to the poor. A lesson on this point is given in Christ's words to Mary at Simon's feast. In gratitude for her brother's restoration to life, and in full faith in Christ as his Saviour, Mary broke her alabaster box of precious ointment and poured its fragrant contents on the head and feet of her Lord. Indignation was expressed at the supposed waste. Some, even of Christ's own disciples, who ought to have known better, said, "To what purpose is this waste?" They thought that the ointment was thrown away when poured upon his head and his feet. "This ointment might have been sold for much," they said, "and given to the poor." When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, "Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you, but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 3] Was anything wasted in breaking their box of ointment as a gift to Jesus?--That gift was no waste. It is true that the ointment might have been sold for bread and clothing; thus a small number of destitute persons might have been fed for a short time; but it would have remained to be seen whether they would have been really benefited. Mary could not have bestowed that gift which to her seemed a faint representation of Christ's boundless love. Mary's act was immortalized; for it showed her love for her Saviour. Christ himself bound up that sacrifice of love with his own sacrifice, the greatest the world has ever seen. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 4] Mary represents the church, and her act has a lesson for the church in all ages. Christ has not bidden us bestow all our labor and all our gifts upon the poor. We have a work to do in behalf of those who are fulfilling his commission, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 5] The increase of the ministry will require an increase of means; for the laborer is worthy of his hire. Bear in mind, my brethren in America, that the Lord requires of you self-sacrifice. The sacrificing is not all to be done by one class. There is altogether too much spasmodic work. When you expend money, consider, "Am I encouraging prodigality?" When you give to the poor and wretched, consider, "Am I helping them, or hurting them?" {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 6] I understand that a plan has been thought of, for the erection of additional buildings in Battle Creek to accommodate the poor. God has not laid the burden of this work upon his people. The churches should not be sapped of their funds for such an enterprise. The special work to be done at this time, no interest must interpose to hinder. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 7] Think of the necessities of our mission fields throughout the world. The London mission is in distressing need of help. There is a most solemn and important work to be done in that vast city. God designs that his workmen there shall have advantages to do some of the same work which Christ did when he was ministering in this world. So in Scandinavia and in the Central European field, means are required to advance the work in its different lines. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 8] The Lord has presented to us that the enemy is still seeking with all his power to center the work in Battle Creek, contrary to the word of God. A movement to erect more buildings there, and to gather in more people who might better never see Battle Creek, will bring results for evil that are not now foreseen. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 9] Not all the institutions now at Battle Creek should have been there. Our people have found excuse after excuse for establishing new enterprises and erecting more buildings; but these excuses are no more valid with God than are those now urged for the enterprise contemplated; that is not the way of the Lord. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 10] Our churches are barely able to hold their ground against opposing forces. But they are told if they take hold of the work for the poorest classes, the Lord will bless them. But no blessing will come to any enterprise that has against it the Lord's plain. "Thou shalt not." And God has long been warning his people not to center any more responsibilities in Battle Creek. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 11] The present time is burdened with eternal interests. We are to unfurl the standard of truth before a world perishing in error. God calls for men to rally under Christ's blood-stained banner, give the Bible to the people, multiply camp-meetings in different localities, warn the cities, and send the warning far and near in the highways and byways of the world. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 11} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 12] Our brethren have not discerned that in helping us to do this work, they would be helping themselves. That which is given to start the work here, will result in strengthening the work in other places. As your gifts free us from continual embarrassment, our labors can be extended; there will be an ingathering of souls, churches will be established, and there will be increasing financial strength. We shall have a sufficiency, not only to carry on the work here, but to impart to other fields. Nothing is gained by withholding the very means that would enable us to work to advantage, extending the knowledge of God and the triumphs of truth in regions beyond. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 12} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 13] However large the income or the possessions of any person, any family, or any institution, let them remember that they are only stewards, holding in trust the Lord's money. All profit, all pay, our time, our talents, our opportunities, are to be accounted for to him who gives them all. The Lord would not have the first thread of selfishness woven into the fabric of his work: he is constantly proving us to see if our work is free from selfishness and pride. Those workers will have the richest reward, who prove that they love God supremely and their neighbors as themselves. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 13} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 14] The spirit of covetousness and selfishness, like threads drawn into the web, has been working in our American institutions, until the spirit that should control them has been lost sight of. This has deprived them of great blessings. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 14} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 15] If the workers in America had imparted to others of their great mercies, they would have seen prosperity in England. They would have sympathized with the workers who are struggling with difficulties there, would have had the heart to say, not only in a word, but in action, "All ye are brethren." The strengthening of the work in English-speaking countries, would have given our laborers a hundred-fold more influence than they have had to plant the standard of truth in many places. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 15} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 16] An Appeal for Help. Now at the beginning of the year 1899, seeing the work that might have been done in this field, and that is not done, and knowing the will of God in the matter, I appeal to my brethren in America. I can hold my peace no longer. I say to our churches, If you have property in lands or money consecrated to the work of God, we need a portion of it just now. I ask you to send us help without delay. Your gifts need not pass through any conference organization. The more the people in Battle Creek have had to work with, the more they have sought to gather, and the less they have felt the necessity of advancing the work in other English-speaking countries. The more these stewards can gather from the churches, the less they feel like sharing with the workers who have toiled faithfully in other fields. Let your liberalities come to us direct. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 16} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 17] You owe the Lord much, vastly more than you comprehend or can ever compute. Will you recognize this obligation? God will recognize every effort made to help us in lifting the standard of truth in every city and in every suburb. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 17} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 18] One of the most effective aids in bringing the light to the people here will be a well-equipped sanitarium. In this enterprise the boards and managers of our sanitariums in America have a special duty to help us. Let the help be given while there are those of experience here to manage the interests of the work. The Lord who has made you beneficiaries of his grace and recipients of his bounty now calls upon you to withdraw some of the means from the varied channels to which it is constantly flowing. Let it be put where it will make a showing, distinct and decided in this missionary field. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 18} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 19] The Battle Creek sanitarium has received thousands of dollars in donations which should be passed over to institutions in other countries, which are struggling for an existence. And more than this, the profits of the sanitarium should be largely used in helping similar institutions in needy circumstances. I am now directed by the Lord to call upon you to do something for us, and to do it without 132 delay. Some division of your funds must be made for this purpose. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 19} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 20] Is it not just as important that the half-finished building represented to me should have money and facilities to complete it, as it was that the institutions in Battle Creek should be built up? Have not I a right to demand in the name of the Lord that this should be done? Will you not help us to gain a foothold here, that we may stand as co-workers with you in America? {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 20} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 21] The enemy will invent every device in his power to prevent the light from shining in new places. He does not want the truth to go forth as a lamp that burneth. Will our brethren consent that he shall any longer succeed in his plans for hindering the work? {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 21} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 22] Time is rapidly passing into eternity. Will any one now keep back from God that which is strictly his own? Will any one refuse him that which, though it may be given without merit, can not be denied without ruin? The Lord has given to every man his work, and the holy angels want us to be doing that work. As you shall watch and pray and work, they stand ready to co-operate with you. When the understanding is worked by the Holy Spirit, then all the affections act harmoniously in compliance with the divine will. Then men will give to God his own, saying, "All things come of thee, and of thine own we freely give thee." May God forgive my brethren that they have not done this. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 22} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 23] The very being who fills all heaven with splendor, and who is worshiped by the heavenly host, came to our earth, humiliating himself as a man, that we might be exalted to share his glory. Shall not we also sacrifice that others may be lifted up? {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 23} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 24] I have tried to set things before you; but the attempt falls far short of the reality. Will you refuse my plea? It is not I who appeal to you; it is the Lord Jesus, who has given his life for this people. In my request I obey the will, the requirement of God. Will you improve this opportunity of showing honor to God's work here, and respect for the servants whom he has sent to do his will in guiding souls to heaven? {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 24} [GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 25] "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work (as it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor; his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness); being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the wants of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; whiles by the experiment of this ministration, they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them and to all men; and by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift!" Ellen G. White. {GCDB, March 2, 1899 par. 25} [GCDB, March 5, 1899 par. 1] March 5, 1899 "Some with the purest motives..." "Some with the purest motives make propositions that have no appearance of injustice toward any institution outside of Battle Creek, but the terms in which the propositions are made may mean much more than is apparent to the Pacific Press managers. . . . . From the light I have had, the Pacific Press has consented to accept propositions that will open the way for still others, and may bring results which its managers do not now foresee. I write this in order that no hurried motions should be carried through, but that every point may be carefully and prayerfully considered, with its probable result." {GCDB, March 5, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 1] March 6, 1899 Special Testimonies The True Relation of God and Nature. Since the fall of man nature can not reveal a perfect knowledge of God; for sin has brought a blight upon it, and has intervened between nature and nature's God. Had man never disobeyed his Creator, had he remained in his state of perfect rectitude, nature would never have been marred by sin, and it would thus have revealed to man the perfection of the character of God. But when man disobeyed God, when he ate of the tree of knowledge, he united with the apostate leader, and separated himself from the knowledge of God. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 2] When Adam and Eve listened to the voice of the tempter, they sinned against God. The light, the garments of heavenly innocence, departed from these deceived souls, and they drew about themselves the dark robes of ignorance of God. The clear and perfect light of innocence which had hitherto surrounded them had lightened everything which they approached; but deprived of that heavenly light, the posterity of Adam could no longer perfectly trace the character of God in his created works. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 3] After the fall, the things of nature could not fully teach the lesson of the great and marvelous love of God. Therefore the Father sent his well-beloved Son into the world, and declared him to be a perfect revelation of himself to man. In order that the world might not remain in darkness, in eternal, spiritual night, the God of nature met in Jesus Christ. He was "that true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 4] The most difficult and humiliating lesson that man has to learn, if he is kept by the power of God, is his own inefficiency, and the sure failure of his own efforts to read nature correctly. Sin has obscured his vision, so that, of himself, man can not interpret nature without placing it above God. He is in the same position as were the Athenians who erected their altars for the worship of nature, upon which they might well inscribe, "To the unknown God." Nature is not God, and never was God. The voice of nature testifies of God, declaring his glory; but nature itself is not God. As God's created work, it but bears a testimony of his power. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 5] The ancient philosophers prided themselves upon their superior knowledge, but God has said of them: "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever." {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 6] Christ came to the world as a personal Saviour. He represented a personal God. He ascended on high as a personal Saviour, and he will come again as he ascended to heaven,--a personal Saviour. We need carefully to consider this; for in their human wisdom, the wise men of the world, knowing not God, foolishly deify nature and the laws of nature. Those who have not a knowledge of God by their acceptance of the revelation God has made of himself in Christ, will obtain only an imperfect knowledge of God in nature. Those who think they can obtain a perfect knowledge of God, aside from the Representative whom the Word declares is the "express image of his person," will need to become fools in their own estimation before they can be wise. This knowledge, so far from giving elevated conceptions of God, so far from elevating the mind, the soul, the heart, and bringing the whole being into conformity to the will of God, will make men idolaters. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 7] Though it is impossible to gain a perfect knowledge of God from imperfect nature; yet the things of nature, marred though they be, inculcate truths regarding the skilful Master Artist. One omnipotent in power, great in goodness, in mercy, and love, has created the earth; and even in its blighted state, much that is beautiful remains. Natures voice speaks, saying that there is a God, the Creator of nature. Nature in its imperfections can not fully represent God; it can not reveal the character of God in his moral perfection. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 8] It was for the purpose of giving to man a perfect representation of the character of God that Jesus came to our earth. He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me. . . . Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork, but Philip could not accept nature as his God. "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." We are to behold the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. In the person of his only begotten Son, the God of heaven has condescended to stoop to our human nature. The Father in heaven has a voice and a person which Christ expressed. Those who have a true knowledge of God will not become so infatuated with the laws of matter and the operations of nature as to overlook or to refuse to acknowledge the continual working of God in nature. Deity is the author of nature. The natural world has in itself no inherent power but that which God supplies. How strange, then; that so many make a deity of nature! God furnishes the matter and the properties with which to carry out his plans. Nature is but his agency. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 9] The hand of God is continually guiding the globe in its continuous march around the sun. The same hand which holds the mountains, and balances them in positions, guides and keeps in order the respective planets. All the wonderful glories in the heavens are but doing their appointed work. Vegetation flourishes because of the agencies employed by the great and mighty God. He sends the dew and the rain and the sunshine, that verdure may spring forth, and spread its green carpet over the earth, that the shrubs and the fruit-trees may bud and blossom and bring forth fruit. It is not to be supposed that a law is set in operation for the seed to work of itself,--that the leaf appears because it must do so of itself. It is through the immediate agency of God that every tiny seed breaks through the earth, and springs into life. Every green leaf grows, every flower blooms, through the working power of God. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 10] The physical organism of God is under the supervision of God; but it is not like a clock that is set in operation, and must go of itself. The heart beats, pulse succeeds pulse, breath succeeds breath; but the being is under the supervision of God. Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. In God we live and move and have our being. Each heart beat, each breath, is the inspiration of that God who breathed into the nostrils of Adam the breath of life,--the inspiration of the ever-present God, the great I AM. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 11] Idolatry of nature is a farce; it is the invention of men who know not God, and who are trying to keep out of sight a knowledge of the true God. The words of Holy Writ say nothing of the independent laws of nature. They teach us that God is the superintendent as well as the Creator of all things. The divine Being is engaged in upholding the things which he has created. God has laws which he has instituted; but they are only his servants, through which he effects results. It is God who calls everything into order, and keeps all things in motion. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 11} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 12] We may look up, through nature, to nature's God. The beautiful things of nature have been given us for our pleasure. Then let us not turn our blessings into a curse by being led away from God in the worship of the creature rather than the Creator. Let nature's beautiful ministers of love answer the purpose of God, drawing our hearts to him to adore his goodness, his compassion, his inexpressible love, and to be filled with the beauties of his character. E. G. White. - {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 12} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 1] The Need of Reform in Our Educational Work. "And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations." "And thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in." These words of inspiration present before those who claim to believe present truth, the work that should now be done in educational lines. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 2] The Lord has thought it essential to give reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness on many things in regard to the management of schools among Seventh-day Adventists. It is the third angel's message that needs attention in our schools. The work for this time is increasing; for this is a world-wide message. All are to obtain a knowledge that will prepare them to be co-laborers with God in giving this last message to the world. Then let our lessons be appropriate for the day in which we live. . . . More earnest attention 158 must be given to that education which will impart a knowledge of salvation. The urgent necessities that are making themselves felt in this time demand a constant education in the word of God. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 3] Satan will get up every kind of theory to pervert the truth. The work will go hard; for since the fall of Adam, it has been the fashion of the world to sin. But Christ is on the field of action. The Holy Spirit is at work. Divine agencies are combining with the human in reshaping the character according to the perfect Pattern; and man is to work out that which God works in. Will the human agent do this God-given work? Will we carefully heed all the light that has been given, keeping constantly before us the one object of fitting the students for the kingdom of God? {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 4] A decided reform is needed in the lessons given to the children and youth in our schools. Students need lessons which they have not yet received. We are not at liberty to teach that which shall meet the world's standard or the standard of the church, simply because it is the custom to do so. The cross of Christ is to be the theme, revealing the lessons we must learn and practise in this life, that we may represent Christ in character. The lessons given in the Old and New Testaments should be carefully selected and arranged, so as to be interesting and attractive to the minds of the children. The lessons which Christ has taught are to be the standard. Jesus came to give the highest class of education in lessons adapted to the comprehension of humanity. The excellence of Christ is to be our study through time and eternity. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 5] The minds of children are easily impressed, and the impressions given should be of the right character. In every department we must move upward. Our Sabbath-schools give the youth instruction in regard to the truth, and then as they go to the day-school, books are placed before them which confuse the mind, and lessons containing falsehoods are given them to learn. These things need close criticism; for if the young are educated from books that contain a perversion of truth, how will the influence of this education be counteracted? The mind will be of the same character as the food upon which it feeds; the harvest, of the same nature as the seed sown. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 6] It is so easy to drift into worldly plans, methods, and customs, and have no more thought of the time in which we live, or of the great work to be accomplished, than had the people in Noah's day. Our institutions are in constant danger of traveling over the same ground as did the Jews, conforming to customs, practises, and traditions which God has not given. With tenacity and firmness, some cling to old habits and a love of various studies which are not essential, as if the salvation of both teachers and students depended upon those studies which for years have found a place in the schools. By doing this, they turn away from the special light God has given in the word, and give to the students a deficient education. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 7] Christ taught the people as one having authority, and not as the scribes. There was an uncertain hesitancy in their manner of teaching. Higher education did not come through their instruction; for they dwelt upon an endless round of trivial ceremonies, which were powerless to leave one correct impression upon the mind or character. These foolish religious ceremonies were confirmed by an authority which had not the least significance; for it did not proceed from God. If anything would exclude God from their hearts, it would be these outward observances. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 8] The teachings of Christ went to their hearts and consciences, showing them that they should be striving for immortality rather than dwelling upon trivialities unworthy of their attention. They were convinced that he spoke the truth, yet they would not give up their own traditions for the words of Christ, and this was their condemnation. All time devoted to that which does not cause the soul to become more conformed to the likeness of Christ, is so much time lost for eternity, and this we can not afford; for every moment is freighted with eternal interests. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 9] The Lord has signified that a reform must be made by those who have placed human wisdom in the place of the living oracles. Human wisdom is foolishness; for it misses the whole of God's providence, which looks into eternity. The word must be searched, yea, eaten, in order to purify and prepare men to become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. From the first, schools conducted by Seventh-day Adventists should take the word of God as their lesson-book; and in doing this, teachers and students will find hidden treasures, the higher education. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 10] That which the Lord has spoken concerning the instruction to be given in our schools is to be strictly regarded; for if there is not in some respects an education of an altogether different character from that which has been carried on in some of our schools, we need not have gone to the expense of purchasing lands and erecting school buildings. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 11] The Bible has been brought into our schools to some extent; but teachers and students have depended largely upon books containing ideas and sentiments that are misleading. When the light of truth for these last days came to the world in the proclamation of the first, second, and third angel's message, we were shown that a different order of things must be brought in; but it has taken much time to understand what changes should be made in the lines of study in our schools. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 11} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 12] It is most difficult to practise right principles after having been so long accustomed to the practises of the world; but reforms must be entered into with heart, and soul, and will. Errors may be hoary with age, but age does not make error truth, nor truth error. Altogether too long have the old customs and habits been followed. The Lord would now have every idea that is false put away from teachers and students. Above all other books, the word of God must be our study book, the basis of all our education, irrespective of previous habits and customs. Its living principles, woven into our lives like threads of gold, will be our only safeguard in trials and temptations; its divine instruction the only way to success. Teachers are to bring this instruction into their class work, yoking up with Christ, the great Educator. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 12} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 13] How this can be done has been the question of long-established schools. Efforts have been made; but so many doubtful questions have been asked, so many counsel meetings held, that every difficulty might be discerned, that reformers have been handicapped, and some have ceased to urge reforms. They seem unable to stem the current of criticism and of doubt. But if by faith they had advanced in the right way, following the great Leader, light would have shown along their pathway, removing the difficulties. The approval of God would have made them hopeful, ministering angels would have co-operated with the human agent, bringing light, and grace, and courage, and gladness. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 13} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 14] The work which God requires of his people in faithfully reforming their educational work has not been done. The first attempt to change the old customs and practises has brought severe trials upon those who would walk in the way which God has pointed out; but we must understand that a soldier's life is one of aggressive warfare, or perseverance and endurance. We are not engaged in mimic battles; we have to meet the most powerful adversaries; for "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We are to find our strength just where the early disciples found their strength. "These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. . . . And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul." {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 14} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 15] This is the work that needs to be done. Principals and teachers need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit. . . . All are now to obtain an experience which will establish their whole hope and faith and confidence in Christ, that when conflicts come which tear the soul asunder, they may have a refuge. . . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 15} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 16] We are living in the closing work of these perilous times, when "truth hath fallen in the street, and equity can not enter:" when "he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey." The great, grand work of preparing a people to stand in the day of the Lord, is to be accomplished. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 16} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 17] The truth is light and power; and to present it so that impressions should be made upon hearts, should be the work of our schools as well as of our churches, of the teacher as well as the minister. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 17} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 18] God expects his institutions to excel those of the world, for they are his representatives. Men truly connected with God will show to the world that a more than human agent is standing at the helm. Satan has used his most ingenious methods to weave himself in, and thus make of none effect the divine agencies. I tell you, in the fear of God, the standard of true education must not be lowered, but must be lifted higher and still higher, far above where it now stands. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 18} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 19] I call upon our school faculties to be philosophers, to work on a higher plane in educational lines. Our facilities for education must be purified of all dross. It is not men whom we are to exalt and worship; it is God, the only true and living God. . . . If man lays hold of the divine nature, working upon the plan of addition, adding grace to grace in perfecting a Christian character, God will work upon the plan of multiplication. "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you," he says, "through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." E. G. White. - {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 19} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 1] The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge. "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. . . . And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 2] It was not the will of God that the sinless pair should know aught of evil. He had freely given them the good, and had withheld the evil. But, contrary to his command, they ate of the forbidden tree. The disobedience to God's express command, opened the flood gates of woe upon our world. The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience and their love to God. Satan could have access to them only at the forbidden tree. Should they attempt to investigate its nature, they would be exposed to his wiles. They were admonished to give careful heed to the warning which God had sent them, and to be content with the instructions which he had seen fit to impart. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 3] Filled with enmity against God, Satan lurked in the forbidden tree, making it the field for carrying out his plan to ruin the human race. Appearing to Eve in the form of a serpent, he addressed the woman, saying: "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. . . . For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." By partaking of this tree, he declared they would attain to a more exalted sphere of existence, and enter a broader field of knowledge. He himself had eaten of the forbidden fruit, and as a result had acquired the power of speech. He insinuated that the Lord jealously desired to withhold it from them, lest they should be exalted to equality with himself. He said it was because of its wonderful properties for imparting wisdom and power, that he had prohibited them from tasting or even touching it: that God had been seeking to prevent them from reaching a nobler development, and finding greater happiness. Satan claimed to have received great good by eating of the forbidden fruit; but he did not let it appear that by transgression he had become an outcast from heaven. He concealed his own misery, in order to draw others into the same condition. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 4] Satan is still doing the same work begun in the garden of Eden. He is working vigilantly, that men may accept his assertions as proof against God. He is working against Christ's efforts to restore the moral image of God in man. By every species of deception, he is endeavoring to induce man to eat of the forbidden tree. He thus tempts man to disobedience by leading him to believe that he is entering a wonderful field of knowledge. But this is all a deception. Elated with his ideas of progression, man is setting his feet in the path that leads to degradation and death. Satan, in a deceptive garb, still lurks in the tree of knowledge. The words of God spoken at creation. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it," come sounding along the line of ages to us today, for "they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt: and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve." "If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him." {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 5] The garden of Eden was not only Adam's dwelling, but his school-room. As in that school, so in the school of earth today, two trees are planted,--the tree of life, which bears the fruit of the true education: the tree of knowledge yielding the fruit of "science falsely so 159 called." All who have a connection with Christ have access to the tree of life, a source of knowledge of which the world is ignorant. After sin entered this world, the heavenly Husbandman transplanted the tree of life to the paradise above; but its branches hang over the wall to the lower world. Through the redemption purchased by the blood of the Son of God, man may now partake of its life-giving fruit. The tree of knowledge has its roots in the earth--it is of the earth, earthy. All who have tasted of the heavenly fruit, the Bread of Life, are to be co-workers with God, pointing others from the tree of knowledge to the tree of life, that they also may partake of its fruits. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 6] Jesus Christ is to the world as the tree of life to which Adam and Eve had access in the garden of Eden. When, by disobedience, the fallen pair were deprived of the fruit of this tree, thy lost everlasting life. The tree of knowledge became a curse to them, not because of its poisonous qualities, but because of their act of disobedience. It was attractive to them; and in their great desire for it, they partook of it, and lost their purity and their allegiance to God. But Christ presents himself as the Life-giver, the tree of life for the world. By feeding upon his flesh, and drinking his blood, our spiritual life is perfected. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 7] Shall the education given in our schools be after God's order, or after the wisdom of this world which the Lord pronounces foolishness? Shall the hearts of the students become estranged from God by eating of the tree of knowledge, which hardens the heart into disobedience and administers to vanity and pride? Shall not the education given in our schools be of that character which will give a more decided knowledge of God's word, and which will bring the soul into a vital connection with God, keeping God before the mind's eye, and arousing every better feeling of the soul? This is the kind of education which is as enduring as eternity. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 8] There are many beliefs which the mind has no right to entertain. Adam believed the lie of Satan, the wily insinuations against the character of God. It is well and essential to obtain a knowledge of the world in which we live; but if we leave eternity out of our reckoning, we shall make a failure from which we can never recover. It will be as the knowledge gained by eating of the fruit of the forbidden tree. All the speculative opinions which, through the devising of Satan, have been brought into educational work, are to be separated from the truth. This was the work of the Redeemer in coming into the world. The opinions and speculations of men had become abundant; they occupied the ground with a multitude of theories which made it difficult to distinguish truth from error. In view of the near coming of him who is the Truth, now of all other times, we are to know the truth, and the truth is to make us free. Obedience to the commandments of God does not bring the soul into bondage. The sayings of Christ have a value above that of silver or gold. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 9] All who receive Christ in truth will believe him. They will see the necessity of having Christ abiding in the heart by faith. They will escape from the control of their hereditary and cultivated tendencies, their pride, vanity, self-esteem, worldliness, and every sin, and will reveal Christ in their lives. If God's word is eaten as the bread of life, they will become thoroughly aroused to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, knowing that it is God that worketh in them, both to will and to do his own good pleasure. Men must co-operate with God. By obedience to his laws, they must reveal the respect they have for his word. They will not then disobey the commandments of God, eating of the forbidden tree of knowledge. They will heed the requirements of God. In this they are eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God, who is represented by the tree of life. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 10] Age after age curiosity of man has led him to seek for the tree of knowledge; and often he thinks he is plucking fruit most essential, when, like Solomon, he finds it altogether vanity and nothingness, in comparison with that science of true holiness which will open to him the gates of the city of God. Human ambition has been seeking for that kind of knowledge that will bring self-exaltation and glory and supremacy. Thus Adam and Eve were worked upon by Satan, until God's restraint was snapped asunder, and their education under the teacher of lies began in order that they might have the knowledge that God had refused them,--to know the consequences of transgression. The sons of men have had a practical knowledge of evil; but Christ came to the world to show them that he had planted for them the tree of life, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 11] Satan is playing the game of life for every soul that is upon the earth. All who will study and obey the directions of God, will have the mind of Christ. Then all passions, all dissensions, will be put away. There will be a cultivation of the higher faculties of the mind. It is essential that we gain a knowledge of God, and of Jesus Christ whom he has sent. False religion and erroneous educational ideas and sentiments are prevalent. Because there is so little study of the word, there is with many scarcely any desire to know what saith the Lord. Errors have come in and usurped the place of truth. The wild branch has been grafted in, and has borne wild grapes. The result has been centuries of darkness and error. Men have introduced human theories, thinking as did our first parents when tempted by Satan to eat of the tree of knowledge, that they would thus become as gods. But these sentiments are not in harmony with the Word. They are false and ruinous theories. The one, the word of God, is the tree of life; the other is the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge, and all who pluck and eat of this possess a disorderly imagination. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 11} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 12] We can not, in this day of peril, accept teachers because they have been in school two, three, four, or five years. The question which should decide whether they are qualified for their work should be, Have they, with all their acquisition of knowledge, searched the Bible and dug beneath the surface for truth as for hidden treasures? or have they seized the chaff in the place of the pure wheat, thoroughly winnowed? Are they partakers of the fruit of the tree of life? We can not consent, at this period of time, to expose our youth to the consequences of learning a mixture of truth with error. The youth who come from school without feeling the importance of making the word of God the first study, the main study, above every science in educational lines, are not qualified in these days of peril to enter upon the work of the teacher. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 12} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 13] The question of how to obtain a knowledge of God is to all a life and death question. Read Christ's prayer to his Father, intended not merely as an important lesson in education for the disciples, but to come down through all time for the benefit of those who should read the inspired writings. "Father," he prayed, "the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee; as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is the life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 13} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 13] Christ promised his disciples that he would send them the Holy Spirit, who would bring all these things to their remembrance. All those who render obedience to God's commands will be given free access to Eden restored and to the tree of life. He who is the fountain of all knowledge has stated the condition of our fitness to enter the heaven of bliss, in the words, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." E. G. White. - {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 13} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 1] The Need of Church Schools. In all our churches, and wherever there is a company of believers, church schools should be established; and in these schools there should be teachers who have the true missionary spirit; for the children are to be trained to become missionaries. It is essential that teachers be educated to act their important part in instructing children of Sabbath-keepers, not only in the sciences, but in the Scriptures. These schools established in different localities, and conducted by God-fearing men and women, as the case demands, should be built upon the same principles as were the schools of the prophets. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 2] Special talent should be given to the education of the youth. Few have the necessary instruction in religious lines. Few understand distinctly what they must do to be saved. If the instructors themselves have a religious experience, they will be able to communicate to the students that knowledge of the love of God which they have received. These lessons can be given only by those who are themselves truly converted; and this is the noblest missionary work that any man or woman can undertake. Teachers must love the children because they are the younger members of the Lord's family. The Lord will inquire of them as of the parents, "What have you done with my flock, my beautiful flock?" {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 3] There is earnest work to be done for the children. Before the overflowing scourge shall come upon all the dwellers upon the earth the Lord calls upon all who are Israelites indeed to serve him. Gather your children into your own houses; gather them in from the classes who are voicing the words of Satan, who are disobeying the commandments of God. Get out of the cities as soon as possible. Establish church schools. Gather in your children, and give them the word of God as the foundation of all their education. Had the churches in different localities sought counsel of God, they would not need to be thus addressed on this point. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 4] When the children of Israel were gathered out from among the Egyptians, the Lord said: "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. . . . And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through and smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and thy sons forever." Any one of the children of the Hebrews who was found in the Egyptian habitations was destroyed. The blood upon the lintel of the door symbolized the blood of Christ, which alone saved the first-born of the Hebrews from the curse. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 5] We have a special work to do in educating and training our children that they may not, either in attending school or in associating with others, be influenced by those of corrupt habits. "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 6] The education that is generally given in the schools of the world is not that which can be accepted as true education. Educators of youth should be Christians, who are themselves under the discipline of God. They will then have a sense of their responsibility which, as Christians, they will maintain under all circumstances and provocations, never displaying a passionate or an arbitrary spirit. They will reveal sound principles unswerving integrity, pure sentiments. These are the high thoughts which will draw the youth to the higher education. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 6} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 7] Let us view the case correctly. Children are the heritage of the Lord, and are to be so educated that they may be the younger members of the Lord's family, prepared by proper instruction to serve the Lord in their childhood life. Shall the members of the church give means to advance the cause of Christ among others, and let their own children carry on the work and service of Satan? What the Lord Jesus expects in all believers is something besides being occupied and active; this activity should be trained in Christ's lines. God requires wholeness of service. For want of this, all things else are inferior. Children should have a moral fitness to do the work which is due their Redeemer. They should be fitted to witness, in a careless, Christless world, that their Saviour has not died for them in vain. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 7} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 8] God wants every child of tender age to be his child, to be adopted into his family. Young through they may be, the youth may be members of the household of faith, and have the most precious experience. They may have hearts that are tender, and ready to receive lasting impressions. Their hearts may be drawn out in confidence and love for Jesus, and they may live for the Saviour. Christ will make them little missionaries. The whole current of their thoughts may be changed, so that sin will not appear a thing to be enjoyed, but to be hated and shunned. . . . Children who are properly instructed will be witnesses for the truth. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 8} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 9] O, for, a clear conception of what we might accomplish if we would learn of Jesus! The springs of heavenly peace and joy, unsealed in the soul of the teacher by the magic words of inspiration, will become a mighty river of influence, to bless all who connect with him. Do not think that the Bible will become a tiresome book to the children. Under a wise instructor, the Word will become more and more desirable. It will be to them as the bread of life, and will never grow old. There is in it a freshness and a beauty which attract and charm the children and youth. It is like the sun shining upon the earth, giving light and warmth, yet never exhausted. . . . {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 9} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 10] We may bring hundreds and thousands of children to Christ if we will work for them. Let all who read these words 160 be melted and subdued. Let us in our educational work embrace far more of the children and youth than we have done, and there will be a whole army of missionaries raised up to work for God. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 10} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 11] I say again, Establish schools for the children wherever there are churches. Where there are those who assemble to worship God, let there be schools for the children. Work as if you were working for your life to save children from being drowned in the polluting, corrupting influences of this life. Schools should have been placed in different localities instead of centering so many large buildings in one vicinity. Various places should have representatives of the truth in their midst, that character might be given to the work of the Lord. We are far behind what the Lord would have us do in this matter. There are places where our schools should have been in operation years ago. Let these now be started under wise directors, that the children and youth may be educated in their own churches. It is a grievous offence to God that there has been so great neglect to make provision for the improvement of the children, when Providence has so abundantly supplied us with facilities with which to work. {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 11} [GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 12] Can we wonder that the children and youth drift into temptation, and become educated in wrong lines, when they are continually associating with other neglected children? These children are not wisely educated to use their minds and muscles to do a helpful work. There is a world to receive the light of truth, and workers must be educated. Schools which will provide for the education of children and youth must be opened in places where they are so much needed. In the last days, children's voices will be heard proclaiming the message. As Christ in the temple solved the mysteries which priests and rulers had not discerned, so in the closing work of this earth, children in their simplicity will speak words which will be an astonishment to men who now talk of "higher education." Then let the church carry a burden for the lambs of the flock in its locality, and see how many can be educated and trained to do service for God. E. G. White. - {GCDB, March 6, 1899 par. 12} [GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 1] March 7, 1899 Extracts From Testimonies "Cooranbong, New South Wales, Aug. 2, 1895. C. H. Jones: I beg of you and all the officials at the Pacific Press to know that every move you make is in the light of the counsel of God." "God has presented to me, which I have presented to you, that the Pacific Press should stand on its own individuality, relying upon God, doing its work in God, as his instrumentality - the human agent working with God, contrite in spirit, meek and lowly in heart, ready to be taught of God, but not subject to any earthly power that shall propose plans and ways that are not after the light God has given. Be on guard. Be on guard, and do not sell your religious liberty to any office, or to any man, or board, or council of men." {GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 1} [GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 2] "No proposition should be accepted, no matter whence it may come, unless it is definitely stated in writing, and a copy given to the managers of each institution. Then let several of the leading men together bring the matter before the Lord; spread out the writing before him, and with earnest prayer seek for clear discernment and sharp discrimination to decide whether the plans proposed are for the glory of God and the good of both institutions. From the light I have had, the Pacific Press has consented to accept propositions that will open the way for still others, and that may bring results which its managers do not now foresee. I write this in order that no hurried motion shall be carried through, but that every point may be carefully and prayerfully considered, with its probable results." {GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 2} [GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 3] "The greed of the moneyed men increases as it is indulged, and this spirit will rule the church unless its members are followers of Christ. 'Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.'" "This worldly policy has wrestled for the victory among Seventh-day Adventists, and the principles which should have been kept pure and unadulterated have been overcome, and selfishness has come into the very courts of the Lord." "The Lord has permitted those who did not love the light, who departed from a plain 'Thus saith the Lord,' to walk in the sparks of the fire of their own kindling; but he says, 'They shall lie down in sorrow.'" {GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 3} [GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 4] "This condition of things has been created in our conferences, and in our churches, under a religious cloak which has existed in the world. Confederacies have been formed to make their showing stand out as superior, and they have gained the name of having done a large work in their responsible positions of trust. They have flattered themselves that they were doing God service when they were establishing principles of robbery - rules that were not after God's order at all, but which revealed the very attributes of Satan." {GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 4} [GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 5] "'And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her ［the church who are obeying a "Thus saith the Lord"］ was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.' Why is this statement made that 'these are the true sayings of God?' Why is this statement made? - Because it is in contradiction to the statements made by the world that Christ changed the seventh-day Sabbath to the first day of the week. There are thousands upon thousands who bear aloft the standard of the world's sabbath, exalting the image of the papacy created by the man of sin. The church worship the image of the beast, and receive his mark, even as the inhabitants of Babylon worshiped the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar 179 set up in the Plain of Dura. The church of God was captive in Babylon, deeply tried, deeply humiliated. The glory had departed from Israel; the sons and daughters of Judah were captive; and the sacred vessels of the sanctuary had become the property of the spoiler. Their beautiful temple was in ruins, and Ichabod, Ichabod, the glory is departed from Israel,' was heard in songs of lamentation." "The outward ordinances had been allowed to take the place of God; ceremonial observances were worshiped, while Christ, the foundation of all their ceremonial service, was lost sight of." "Saith the Word, 'Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.' Notwithstanding the external disadvantages, there were those who in their captivity had songs to sing, in the night of discouragement. The Lord permitted them to be broken up until they should find in him their center of attraction." {GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 5} [GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 6] "If they would humble their proud hearts, and confess their sins, he would compensate them for the loss sustained." {GCDB, March 7, 1899 par. 6} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 1] GS - The Good Samaritan December 1, 1859 From My Diary. - I will copy a few items noted in my Diary. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 1} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 2] March 10th, Thursday afternoon. Sister I. came in from the country. She lives about ten miles from Battle Creek. She walked about three miles before she could get any opportunity to ride to Battle Creek. She looked sad, appeared chilled, and her sensitive heart was deeply affected as she thought of her errand--she had come for her daughter's wages. Stern necessity had compelled her to take that which she had previously earned, and now her only dependence was to get a few dollars from her daughter for bread. Her disagreeable errand sent the blood from the extremities. She appeared like a woman about to faint. Her teeth chattered, her whole frame shook. She had a husband at home dying with a lingering consumption, and she had four children to supply with bread. They were poor, suffering poor. Their daughter has worked with us ten weeks, and has deprived herself of suitable clothing to help her parents. I asked the mother in the daughter's absence how they were prospered. She said when she was at Battle Creek six weeks before, A. had given her her wages, and now she had come to ask her if she could let her have a little money to get some flour with. Said the mother, (while her heart seemed ready to burst,) "I hate to be compelled to ask her wages; it is more than ought to be asked of any child, but I know not what else to do." As the mother told A. her wants, A. informed her mother that her wages were all taken up in getting her brother a pair of boots. The mother was disappointed; she saw that there was nothing for her. Said she, "We could have done in some way without the boots; but breadstuff we must have." I stepped out of the house, leaving the distressed mother and daughter weeping. I related to my husband what was going on in the house. He entered into the matter with me, and we relieved their present necessities. Our little boys, H., E. and W., were moved at once. They begged the privilege of adding their mite, ten cents each. The mother's burden was lightened, and we all wept together as she expressed her gratitude. I shall ever remember these circumstances. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 2} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 3] March 17th. We rode out of the city to visit Bro. I.'s family, the daughter A. accompanying us. We found the mother had been absent. She had just returned from walking three miles and back, making six miles, to obtain help to put up a fence around a little spot of land they had cleared for the purpose of making a garden. She was disappointed, and her long walk amounted to nothing. We found her husband very low, and his difficulties aggravated by the inconvenience of the dwelling. It was a log house, unfinished. There was only one room, and a chamber which they used for a sleeping apartment by climbing a ladder. The steam of the cooking increased the sick man's cough, and the only relief he could obtain was to go out doors and cough in a painful, violent manner. They had one little son about ten years old, and small of his age. The labor of one nearly double his age came upon him. He seemed willing to do all he could. We had a praying season before leaving, and it was a solemn place; it was indeed the house of mourning. The daughter A. prayed for her father in an earnest, touching manner, and then for her sisters. As our petitions went up unitedly to God, there was weeping aloud for some time in the dwelling, and after we had risen from our knees we heard A. outside of the house pleading with her sisters to serve God, and all were weeping aloud. All felt that a sacred tie was about to be broken. Our visit was a profitable one, and we believe God approbated the efforts we had made to comfort the afflicted, suffering one, and ease his passage to the grave. The knowledge that there were those who would have a kindly care for the mother and children was a great consolation to him, for he knew that he must soon part with them. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 3} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 4] After we returned home we made the church acquainted with the situation of the afflicted family, and measures were immediately taken to relieve them. A little addition was put on to their log house for a cook-room, that the sick parent might be made more comfortable. A few weeks after this he fell asleep. He died, leaning upon the strong promises of God. Jesus was his friend, and all through his sickness he seemed to lean upon his bosom with assurance that he should come forth in the resurrection morn immortal. The family are now left without a husband and father. They must not want, they must be supplied with life's necessaries, if they are deprived of many of its comforts. And we believe it will be the highest pleasure for those who have abundance to help the poor who are needy. Especially should widows be taken care of. They should have our tenderest sympathy, prayers, and we should look after the interest of the fatherless children. Husbands and fathers, make their case your own, and have a care for them just as you would wish others to have a care for your companion and children if you should be called away from your families. This is a cold and selfish world. It is natural to look out for self, and neglect those who are pining for sympathy and consolation, and are suffering privation. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 4} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 5] It is no marvel to me that a tender husband and father's last hours are often embittered by thinking what will become of their companion and children. Must they be left to the mercies of a cold and selfish world? I have seen the dying father look tearfully around upon the family circle, and his eye rest upon the faces of every one of his dear children. I have seen the quivering lip, and could read the thoughts of that tender parent. He knew the peculiar temperament of every one of his loved ones, he knew they were illy prepared to endure hardship, privation and unfeeling coldness. No longer can a father shelter them in his dear arms, no longer can he soothe their troubled spirits, and quell the rising passion that is endangering the happiness of the child and parents. O, how would the bitterness of death be taken away if he knew there were unselfish hearts that would feel for their woes, and that would make the case of his desolate, sorrowful household their own, and that would exert a holy, salutary influence upon his children, and patiently aid the burdened mother to bear the double burden laid upon her--that of acting the part of a father and mother to the little fatherless flock. E. G. W. - {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 5} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 6] At a business meeting of the B. C. Church, Aug. 7th, 1859, it was {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 6} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 7] Resolved, That Srs. Uriah Smith, J. P. Kellogg, and Richard Godsmark, be a committee to receive donations of money or articles of apparel for the poor; and that Sr. Uriah Smith, as secretary of this committee, be designated as the person with whom those in different places interested in this benevolent object may correspond. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 7} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 8] We take the liberty to name the following sisters to act as agents in this benevolent cause in their several localities, to receive money or clothing for the poor. It may be well for these to correspond with Sr. Uriah Smith, and with each other relative to the interests of the enterprise, and where to appropriate free-will offerings. Some churches are passed by, not knowing who to appoint. They will please appoint soon. E. G. W. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 8} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 1] December 1, 1859 Friends In Michigan. - About seventy-five dollars has been advanced for the needy in this State since June, for the benefit of such as Sr. C. of Samaritan, No. 1, and Sr. I. of No. 2. It will be a pleasure for the sisters, and brethren too, in this State to send in their mites to meet this sum, and to supply the winter's wants. Address Mrs. Uriah Smith, Battle Creek, Mich. E. G. W. - {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 1} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 1] December 1, 1859 Aged Pilgrims. - We were much gratified to meet with our aged brother and sister Coburn at Buck's Bridge, N.Y. They are among the first who embraced the Sabbath in Vermont. They have taken a straightforward course, manifesting a true devotion to the cause of truth. They have been in humble circumstances, yet have always been ready to do their part to help the servants of God. We have sometimes thought they did more than was their duty; but they seemed to consider it so great a privilege that we could not hinder them, and deprive them of the blessing. The infirmities of age are upon them. They are poor, and obliged to use the strictest economy to procure the common necessaries of life. Yet we have ever found them ready with their donation. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 1} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 2] One year ago we met these aged pilgrims. Sister C. expressed fears that they could not do as much as they wished to. Their health was poor, and she feared she could not knit, and expressed great regret that they could not do more. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 2} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 3] But this last Fall as we met them, she handed me five pairs of well knit socks to be given to those who were poor, and who should need them. They had managed in some way to donate thus liberally. It was a sacrifice on their part, yet they gave as though they considered it a great blessing. They will not lose their reward. There are many families that are as well, if not better, situated than these aged pilgrims, who, instead of helping, would sooner expect to be helped. E. G. W. - {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 3} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 1] December 1, 1859 Money for the Poor. - M. Everts, A. W. Gould, A. J. Kellogg, E. B. Saunders, E. Wilcox, H. Place, M. Churchill, E. S. Hurlbut, E. I. Wilcox, M. North, J. Y. Wilcox, each $1,00. R. Sawyer, C. R. Austin, each $2,00. M. M. Buckland, F. Howland, each $0,50. C. Rice, E. Buckland, E. A. Preston, M. T. Landon, H. Belden, each $0,25. S. C. Tuttle, E. A. Tuttle, M. A. Graham, each $0,10. M. C. Cook $0,40. E. Saxby $0,30. C. Farnsworth $0,15. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 1} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 2] This amount was left for Bro. Czechowski in money, books, and clothes. - {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 2} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 3] Articles of Clothing. - Mary Cochran, a second-hand dress, 3 3/4 yards factory cloth. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 3} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 4] A. W. Gould, one sheet, one pair pillow-cases, three towels, one pair cotton socks, one pair cotton stockings, one pair mittens, one delain handkerchief. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 4} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 5] Sister S. Smith, two yards calico, one skein yarn. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 5} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 6] A. S. Wakefield, one pair pillow-cases, one towel. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 6} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 7] Anna Wakefield, one pair pillow-cases. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 7} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 8] Church in Ashfield, Mass., one dress, one pair shoes, two aprons, one pair pants, five shirts, two and one-quarter yards calico. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 8} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 9] Church in Bristol, Vt., &c., one shirt, stocking yarn, one towel, two yards factory cloth, outside of quilt and factory lining. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 9} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 10] M. B. Pierce, one pair socks, one pair stockings. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 10} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 11] D. Abbey, one factory garment, one pair cotton stockings. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 11} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 12] R. Abbey, two skeins of yarn, five yards of factory. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 12} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 13] J. Higley, one shirt, one pair of socks. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 13} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 14] E. B. Griggs, two pairs of children's cotton stockings. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 14} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 15] M. Higley, one pair of stockings. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 15} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 16] E. Hough, a bundle of necessary articles for poor. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 16} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 17] L. Hilliard, three cotton garments. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 17} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 18] Sister Coburn, four pairs of socks. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 18} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 19] L. Castle, one pair of stockings. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 19} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 20] H. H. Buck, one pair of mittens. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 20} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 21] Hannah Belden, two pairs of socks. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 21} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 22] M. A. Graham, nine yards calico. {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 22} [GS, December 1, 1859 par. 23] That portion of the above named articles which were collected East, were left in care of sister Whipple for the benefit of Bro. Czechowski. Those collected since are not yet appropriated. E. G. W. - {GS, December 1, 1859 par. 23} [GS, February 1, 1860 par. 1] February 1, 1860 Pure Religion. - Pure religion, and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James i, 27. {GS, February 1, 1860 par. 1} [GS, February 1, 1860 par. 2] We too often neglect the afflicted, the sorrowing, and choose to visit those who need not our sympathy and assistance. Do we live out our religion? Do we carry out our profession in our acts, in our works? Is there not a lack with some of bearing burdens? Is the duty all done when we hand of our abundance to relieve the pressing wants of others? The afflicted need words of comfort and tenderness. Then let your voice be often heard in prayer for the Lord to give strength and courage to the sick and afflicted, and that his light may cheer them in their suffering loneliness. Let every one of us think that we can do something to make the burden a little lighter for our brother or sister, who has more to bear and suffer than ourselves. Young and old, let your life be made up of good deeds and of kind acts. {GS, February 1, 1860 par. 2} [GS, February 1, 1860 par. 3] When we visit the afflicted we are not in so much danger of talking to no profit. But many of the young choose to be where there is no sorrow, no affliction, that with a light and trifling spirit they may indulge in speaking unrestrained, without care or forethought. Says the True Witness, "I know thy works." I would say to our young friends, You must have an experience in these things. You must bear burdens; encourage and cherish tender, pitiful feelings towards the suffering; study how you may be of use to others--do them good and make them happy. Do not be wrapt up in self and think merely of your own enjoyment. If there are poor, sick, and afflicted among you, do not wait to be invited to see them and have a care for them. Go to them at once. If there is an afternoon visit anticipated, deny your self the pleasure of joining your young friends in a social visit or chit chat, and go to the house of affliction. Set your young friends an example. They may be persuaded to follow you; and hours spent with the poor, the afflicted and distressed, are precious. Angels keep a faithful record of it all, and your own conscience will commend you. Right doing will not go unrewarded. Think of the self-denying, self-sacrificing life of Jesus our pattern, who went about doing good. Who imitates his example? It is time we were awake to our duty, and that we realized that it takes more than a name to make a Christian. It is to be Christ-like. We are to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. Reader, What kind of an account will be opened of your case? If you have cared only for yourself, God notices it if others pass it by. That which you sow, you will also reap. Embrace every opportunity that presents itself for doing good. Have your life dotted all through with bright spots where self has been denied, and others benefitted. Let your experience be interwoven with acts of benevolence, and you cannot fail to be happy while you are making others happy; and you will finally receive the reward to be given to those who have "well done." E. G. W. - {GS, February 1, 1860 par. 3} [GS, February 1, 1860 par. 1] February 1, 1860 Western Missionary Field. The cause of present truth arose in the East, and at first had but few friends to sustain it, and they were poor. They felt a deep interest that others should have the truth set before them, and cheerfully bore the burden. Their hearts and purses were devoted to the work. Some even sold their houses and their lands. Means that was earning interest was called in, that it might be ready at any hour to use in the cause. They did not then think that even the principal must be kept good. Yet we have not heard them complain or regret the past. Many times have I thought, where would the cause in the West now be, if these efforts had not been made by self-sacrificing men. Those who supported the cause in its first rise suffered many trials. Through many discouragements they persevered, with the fire of fanaticism on the one hand, and cold formality on the other. They held fast the truth, and when news reached them, that even one in the West had embraced the truth it caused them great joy. The truth is now made so plain, and the friends of the cause are so numerous, that those who now embrace the truth can have but little idea of the reproach and trials those endured who first embraced and supported the third angel's message. {GS, February 1, 1860 par. 1} [GS, February 1, 1860 par. 2] I am acquainted with widows who took up their carpets and sold them to advance the cause. When Bro. Bates made his first visit to Vermont, he had no means, and was intending to go on foot with his carpet-bag in his hand. I knew a sister who learned of his intentions, and borrowed five dollars, which she put in his hands, and then worked five weeks very hard as a kitchen girl to earn the money. {GS, February 1, 1860 par. 2} [GS, February 1, 1860 par. 3] By such efforts the cause has been sustained, and by privation, toil and suffering, our publications have been sustained, and those West can now have the truth in a clear manner placed before them. Do they realize that these truths cost hard study and toil, mingled with earnest, agonizing prayer to God for light, while evil men, and Satan and his angels were warring against them? {GS, February 1, 1860 par. 3} [GS, February 1, 1860 par. 4] On our last journey East, we saw many who felt the deepest interest for the cause West. And we saw poor brethren and sisters coming forward with their donations of from 25 cts. to $1, which they had dedicated to God. We learned that they were very poor. Mothers and daughters were making heavy coats for 75 cts. each, and by going poorly clad, they save a mite to put into the missionary fund. We told them we thought they needed the means themselves, but they seemed to consider it so great a privilege to do something for the spread of the truth West, we could not hinder them. We looked at these pale mothers and daughters who are destitute, and then thought of those brethren who possess large, rich farms West. If these western brethren had the interest in the cause that God requires them to have, and were willing to sacrifice or give of their abundance to sustain the truth in their own western country, others would not be burdened and they eased. {GS, February 1, 1860 par. 4} [GS, February 1, 1860 par. 5] While in Dartmouth, Mass., I was shown the East and the West. I saw that God had regarded the efforts of those East to sustain the cause West. The brethren East have acted well their part. When many of their preachers were called from the eastern fields to labor in the West, instead of selfishly retaining their means to be used expressly for the eastern States, they have sent it where it could accomplish the most good. I have been shown the great lack in the brethren West. They do not realize that God has claims upon them. They should be willing to venture out on the result and success of this message. They should fully and cheerfully sustain the work in their own western field. Missionaries should be sent into new fields. Minnesota should be visited, and persevering labor spent there. God is bringing out souls into the truth West, and they have a lesson to learn. Every one of them will be tested and proved. I saw that those West knew but little yet of the spirit of sacrifice; that messengers who labor in western fields should faithfully teach the brethren their duty in sustaining the cause. They should patiently, prayerfully, and earnestly set this part of present duty, to sustain the cause of present truth, before believers. "Preach the word, . . . . reprove, rebuke, exhort, with All Long Suffering and Doctrine." E. G. W. {GS, February 1, 1860 par. 5} [GH, May 1, 1898 par. 1] GH - The Gospel Herald May 1, 1898 Selections From Letters Selections From Letters From Mrs. E. G. White. The Cross of Sin. "If any man love Me, let him take up my cross." I have heard this enlarged upon as if it meant the troubles and persecutions we bring upon ourselves by confessing Jesus. But surely this is a narrow thought. The true cross of our Redeemer was the sin and sorrow of this world. That was what lay heavy on his heart, and that is the cross we should share with Him. That is the cup we must drink with Him if we would have any part in that divine love which is one with his sorrow. {GH, May 1, 1898 par. 1} [GH, May 1, 1898 par. 2] Satan's Throne and the Cross of Christ. The throne of Satan is in this world. But Christ has said, "Where stands the throne of Satan shall stand my cross." Satan shall be cast out, and I will become the center of attraction in a redeemed world. I will engage every holy agency in the universe to cooperate with Me in the plan of salvation. I will summon every heavenly power. Angels that excel in strength shall unite with humanity, sanctified to my service to uproot evil. The depravity of man requires all this expenditure of heavenly power, that man may be sanctified through the grace of God. Jesus said, "I will redeem my people from the earth. The perishing shall be rescued." {GH, May 1, 1898 par. 2} [GH, May 1, 1898 par. 3] How to Help the Erring. We live in a hard, unfeeling, uncharitable world. Satan and his confederacy are trying their every art to seduce and entrap the souls for whom Christ has given his precious life. And every one who loves God in sincerity and truth will love the souls for whom Christ has died. If we wish to do good to souls, our success with these souls will be in proportion to their belief in our belief and appreciation of them. Respect shown to the human, struggling soul, is the sure means through Christ Jesus, of the restoration of the self-respect the man has lost. Our advancing ideas of what he may become is a help we cannot appreciate. . . . Treat them you may as they deserve. What if Christ had treated us thus? He the undeserving was treated as we deserve. While we are treated by Christ with grace and love as we do not deserve, but as He deserved. Treat some characters as you think they richly deserve, and you cut off from them the last thread of life, spoil your influence, and ruin the soul. Will it pay? No! I say, No! A hundred times. No! Bind these souls, who need all the help it is possible for you to give them, close to a living, sympathizing, pitying heart, overflowing with Christ-like love, and you will save a soul from death and hide a multitude of sins. {GH, May 1, 1898 par. 3} [GH, May 1, 1898 par. 4] Practice Love. There is nothing in Christianity that is capricious. If a man will not exercise his arm it becomes weak and deficient in muscular strength. Unless the Christian exercises his spiritual powers he acquires no strength of character, no moral vigor. Love is a very precious plant, and must be cultivated if it flourishes. The precious plant of love is to be treated tenderly. If practiced it will become strong and vigorous and rich in fruit-bearing, giving expression to the whole character. A Christ-like nature is not selfish, is not unkind, will not hurt the souls of those who are struggling with satanic temptations. Enter into the feelings of those who are tempted, that the trials of temptations shall be so managed as to bring out the gold and consume the dross. {GH, May 1, 1898 par. 4} [GH, May 1, 1898 par. 5] Rejoiceth Not in Iniquity. For want of patience, kindness, forbearance, unselfishness, and love,--the revealings of the opposite traits flash forth involuntarily, when off guard, and unchristian words and unchristian exhibitions of character burst forth, sometimes to the ruin of a soul. "Rejoiceth not in iniquity;"--mark it, the apostle meant that where there is a cultivation of genuine love for precious souls it will be exhibited for those most in need of that patience which "suffereth long and is kind," and which will not be ready to magnify a small indiscretion or direct wrong into large, unpardonable offenses--will not make capital out of others' misdoings. The love for souls for whose salvation Christ died, will not do that which will expose the errors and weaknesses of the erring before others. {GH, May 1, 1898 par. 5} [GH, July 1, 1898 par. 1] July 1, 1898 Selections from Letters From Mrs. E. G. White Dealing With the Erring. For want of patience, kindness, forbearance, unselfishness, and love,--the revealings of their opposite trait-flash forth involuntarily, when off guard, and unchristian words and unchristian exhibitions of character burst forth, sometimes to the ruin of a soul. "Rejoiceth not in iniquity;--mark it, the apostle meant that where there is a cultivation of genuine love for precious souls it will be exhibited for those most in need of that patience which "suffereth long and is kind," and which will not be ready to magnify a small indiscretion or direct wrong into large, unpardonable offenses -- will not make capital out of born, strikes deeper than the surface, "Love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up." Fortified with the grace of Christ, love "doth not behave itself unseemly." {GH, July 1, 1898 par. 1} [GH, July 1, 1898 par. 2] He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God. God is love. It is better not to live than to exist day by day devoid of that love which Christ has revealed in His character and has enjoined upon his children, "Love one another as I have loved you." {GH, July 1, 1898 par. 2} [GH, July 1, 1898 par. 3] We have need of the rich grace of God every hour--then we will have a rich, practical experience, for "God is love." "He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God." Give love to them that need it most--the most unfortunate. Those who have the most disagreeable temperament, those who try our patience most, need our love, our tenderness, our compassion. {GH, July 1, 1898 par. 3} [GH, July 1, 1898 par. 4] "Enmity." It is God alone that can continually put enmity between the seed of the woman and the serpent's seed. After the transgression of man his nature became evil. Then was peace between Satan and fallen man. Had there been no interference on the part of God, men would have formed an alliance against heaven, and, in the place of warfare among themselves, carried on nothing but warfare against God. There is no native enmity between fallen angels and fallen men. Both are evil, and that through apostasy, and evil, wherever it exists, will always league against good. Fallen angels and fallen men join in companionship. {GH, July 1, 1898 par. 4} [GH, July 1, 1898 par. 5] The wise generalship of Satan calculated that, if he could induce men as he had angels to join in rebellion, they would stand as his agents of communication with their fellow men to league in rebellion against heaven. Just as soon as one separates from God he has no power of enmity against Satan. {GH, July 1, 1898 par. 5} [GH, July 1, 1898 par. 6] The enmity on earth between man and Satan is supernaturally put there. Unless the converting power of God is brought daily to bear upon the human heart there will be no inclination to be religiously inclined, but men will choose to be the captives of Satan rather than to be free men in Jesus Christ. I say God will put enmity. Man cannot put it. When the will is brought into subjection to the will of God, it must be through man's inclining his heart and will to be on the Lord's side. - {GH, July 1, 1898 par. 6} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 1] August 1, 1898 Faith in God. ［A COPY OF A LETTER WRITTEN BY MRS. E.G. WHITE FROM COORANBONG, NEW SOUTH WALES, TO ELD. S. N. HASKELL, WAS RECENTLY RECEIVED BY THE EDITOR. THE WORDS OF INSTRUCTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT ARE SO IMPORTANT THAT IT HAS BEEN THOUGHT BEST TO GIVE THEM TO OUR READERS.］ {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 1} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 2] I received your letter last evening. Thank you for writing. All has been done that we can do, and yet it seems difficult for the people at Cooranbong to exercise faith. I do not think any of us are where we ought to be in this matter. Unbelief seems to be the obstacle in the way of advancement spiritually. We all need to pray, "Lord, increase our faith." {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 2} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 3] I spoke last Sabbath at three o'clock. We encouraged old and young, believers and unbelievers, to come to the meeting in the morning. Lunch was provided for them, and about forty ate their dinners under the trees. They had a pleasant time in every way. There was a meeting in the forenoon and also in the afternoon on Sunday. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 3} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 4] On Monday we commenced our morning prayer meetings at six o'clock. Seventeen were present. I talked to them on faith, after which nearly all bore testimony, acknowledging that they saw their deficiencies in not exercising faith in God and putting their entire trust in Him,--in not taking Christ as their personal Saviour. I am sure some began to understand what it means to believe. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 4} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 5] At the Sunday evening meeting we had a full house. My horses and carriages do good service on Sunday and Sabbath, bringing the people to meeting. The meeting on Sunday evening was reported to be a success. Many outsiders were present. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 5} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 6] Tuesday morning early we were again in meeting, with a larger number out, and I had freedom in prayer and in speaking upon the subject of entire consecration to God and the exercise of faith in Christ's power and his willingness to impart to us his richest blessings, as soon as we prepare the way to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Again testimonies were borne which evidenced that some were obtaining a better knowledge of the science of faith. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 6} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 7] At nine o'clock on Monday morning I spoke to a full room, on the subject of the improvement of the talents which God has entrusted to every human being, of their obligation to improve these talents by use, and thus gain others to render back to the Giver. I read something upon this subject, and I know an impression was made upon many minds. There was a good spirit in the meeting. Many hearts were softened and subdued by the Spirit of God. Many testimonies were borne by the students, both young and old. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 7} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 8] Meeting was held in the afternoon in the church. I attended, and engaged in prayer. I talked to them a short time upon faith, and told them my experience in the night season. I was before a company talking with them upon faith, and trying to make them understand that they were far behind in this respect. I was showing them because of this, they had not advanced spiritually, that they had a deficient experience in the knowledge of God and their Redeemer. I was trying to show them that they must be able intelligently to voice the words of John, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," that they must behold Him as the sin- bearer. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 8} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 9] Then the word of God was opened before me in a beautiful, striking light. Page after page was turned, and I read the gracious invitations and words of entreaty to seek God's glory and God's will, and all other things would be added. These invitations, promises, and assurances stood out in golden letters. Why do you not grasp them, I said. Seek first to know God before every other thing. Search the Scriptures. Feed on the words of Christ, which are spirit and life, and your knowledge will enlarge and expand. Study not the philosophy contained in many books, but study the philosophy of the word of the living God. Other literature is of little consequence when compared with this. Do not crowd into your minds so many things that are cheap and unsatisfying. In the Word of God is spread before you the richest banquet. It is the Lord's table, abundantly provided, whereof you may eat and be satisfied. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 9} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 10] The promises of God stood out clear and distinct, as though placed in letters of gold. Why, oh why are they not appreciated? Why is not the heart filled with thanksgiving and praise? Why are your tongues so silent? Where are the words that express thanksgiving and praise to God for all his benefits? The talent of speech is misappropriated. Let the talent of choice words be given to God in thanksgiving and rejoicing, and this will glorify his name. Surrender self entirely to God. "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, and be ye thankful." After I had given my message to the people, I left, and others carried on the meeting. Three times I spoke that day. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 10} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 11] Tuesday we assembled again for worship. My heart was drawn out in supplication to God, that the deep things of God might be opened to the minds of those present, and that they might understand what it means to serve Him in love, and the language of the heart be, "I delight to do thy will, O my God, thy law is within my heart." It was when the heart of David was enlarged that he would run in the way of the commandments of the Lord. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 11} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 12] At nine o'clock I again spoke to the students in the chapel of the school building. I read something more in regard to the use of the talents. I had freedom in presenting before them the rich grace prepared for them, if they would only receive and appreciate the heavenly gift. Then they would rejoice in the Lord in humble obedience to his requirements. Many testimonies were borne by the young men and young women. If they will only receive the truth as it is in Jesus, what light will shine forth from them to the world. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 12} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 13] The Lord is waiting to bless them, if they will open the door of the heart, but they must do this individually. I shall continue to labor as the Lord shall strengthen and bless me. My trust is in the Lord; He is my portion forever. We shall do all we possibly can on this occasion, and with the co-operation of God we hope to see an advancement in spiritual lines. {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 13} [GH, August 1, 1898 par. 14] I am so thankful to our heavenly Father that souls are still coming to the knowledge of the truth. We must keep drawing with Christ, and draw hard and continuously. We need faith, acting faith. The power of the Holy Spirit will work all who will be worked. We need the Lord Jesus with us every moment. Our soul should pant after Him as the ［hart］ panteth after the water brooks. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GH, August 1, 1898 par. 14} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 1] September 1, 1898 Lessons from the Past. Mrs. E. G. White. ［From a personal letter to the Editor.］ Our lives in this world are as a voyage. We have storm and sunshine, but we are to consider that we are nearing the desired harbor. We shall soon be beyond the storms and tempests. Our present duty is to hearken to the voice, "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart." We must catch this invitation daily. {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 1} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 2] The past is contained in the book where all things are recorded. We cannot blot out the record, but we can learn many things from our past experience; therefore the past should teach its lessons. As we make the past our monitor, we may make it our friend also. As we call to mind the errors and disagreeable things of the past, let them teach us not to repeat them. Let nothing be traced in the future which will bring regret in the bye-and- bye. We may now avoid a bad showing for the future. {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 2} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 3] We are making our life history every day we live. Today ［is ours, yesterday is］ beyond our amendment or control. Today will soon be yesterday. If we make mistakes and grieve the Spirit of God today, it will be yesterday on the morrow, and the record will be engraved on the books of heaven. {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 3} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 4] The invitation is made to us today: "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest." Christ has rest to give us if we will wear his yoke and learn his meekness and lowliness. In this lesson is restraint and obedience and the finding of rest. {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 4} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 5] Thank God that in humility and obedience are found just what we all need so much--rest in faith, and confidence in perfect trust. In this we have not manufactured an oppressive yoke for our own necks. We have taken the yoke of Christ in entire obedience and He can then give us rest. We find in obedience that peace, that grace, and that assurance which make the reality ours. We have found rest in Jesus. "Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee." {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 5} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 6] Jesus Christ has plentiful help and grace for all who will appreciate it. The Lord is our helper. "With the Lord is forgiveness." He alone can blot out the sins of the past. He can strengthen the mind in the contemplation that the past is no more our enemy, but a friend to warn us off from the ground we should not approach. Thus the past becomes our true friend. {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 6} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 7] "As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." This is the yoke of Christ that He invites us to wear--the yoke of obedience. What is the result? "Learn of Me, . . . and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 7} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 8] "These things have I spoken unto you, that ［through your perfect obedience］ my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you." The conscience bears its testimony of approval, that in sincerity, and the simplicity of true godliness, we have walked in his footsteps and not in the sparks of human wisdom and devising. {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 8} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 9] We can make the past to be not a burden, but a constant true friend and guide for the future. The present is that with which we have to do. One moment of time and then another fills up our one day of test and trial, and then it becomes yesterday. We must educate by precept and example, to make the most out of the present. Gather all the fragrance possible from the roses and the lilies and the pinks, and do not let us bruise our hands by grasping the thorns and letting them bruise us. This is what Satan would have us do. {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 9} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 10] "Learn of Me," saith the greatest Teacher the world ever knew," and ye shall find rest unto your souls." It is the practical living out of the meekness and lowliness of Christ that ensures the finding of the rest and peace which He alone can give. {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 10} [GH, September 1, 1898 par. 11] The past which has gone into eternity is in one sense to be our teacher, that we shall never repeat its failures and errors. The present is the period to reap advantages from the past. Let not the present be a time of brooding over past failures. Let us act in the living present, communing oft with God. He is everything to us. We are now making history. Let it not be of a character to harass us when it becomes past. The future holds its treasures for us. - {GH, September 1, 1898 par. 11} [GH, January 1, 1899 par. 1] January 1, 1899 Selections from Letters From Mrs. E. G. White. Work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit alone is able to develop in the human agent that which is acceptable in the sight of God. {GH, January 1, 1899 par. 1} [GH, January 1, 1899 par. 2] Study the Character of Christ. The Lord of glory stepped down from his throne, laid aside his kingly crown, his royal robe, and clothed his divinity with humanity, that divinity might touch humanity, that humanity might lay hold of divinity. Look at Christ's life, and make it, your study. For your soul's sake study the character of Christ. For our sakes He became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. This condescension on the part of Christ, was in the plan to redeem and restore the moral image of God in man, and to leave an example of self-denial and self-sacrifice, that the poor might not be despised on account of their poverty, and that the rich might know that earthly wealth will never secure to any soul eternal riches and an immortal inheritance in the kingdom of God. {GH, January 1, 1899 par. 2} [GH, January 1, 1899 par. 3] Following Christ. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." All who have a deep and living experience will understand the import of these words. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth, . . . . And of his fulness have we received, and grace for grace." Christ said to his disciples, "He that will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Those who drink of the cup of Christ's sufferings, must meet the temptations that Christ met, and overcome in his name. And every trial endured will add to the weight of their eternal glory; every faithful discharge of duty, every act of charity in the name of Christ, every word of encouragement and consolation spoken, will bring to them according to their works. They will be acknowledged before the assembled universe as co-laborers with Christ to save a perishing world. {GH, January 1, 1899 par. 3} [GH, January 1, 1899 par. 4] No Time for Idlers. We have no time to lose. We are to form characters that will stand the test of the judgment. Satan is playing the game of life for souls. Build upon the Rock, the eternal Rock. Remember that Christ, the world's Redeemer, came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. In his manhood He made Himself servant of all. Christ worked at the carpenter's trade, and helped to support the family, and in this He has forever set his seal that work is a blessing. Useful employment of all the physical powers is essential for health. It is honorable, praiseworthy, approved and blessed of God. To every man God has given his work. No one is to be idle, for this invites the enemy to tempt him. God has assigned to every one his work. {GH, January 1, 1899 par. 4} [GH, January 1, 1899 par. 5] Developing Power of Truth. The truth if received, is capable of constant expansion and new developments. It will increase in brightness as we behold it, and grow in height and depth as we aspire to grasp it. Thus it will elevate us to the standard of perfection, and give us faith and trust in God as our strength for the work before us. We need the truth as it is in Jesus. As his representatives and witnesses, we need to come to a full understanding of the saving truth which we must know by an experimental knowledge. {GH, January 1, 1899 par. 5} [GH, January 1, 1899 par. 6] The Sons of God. The character of Christ is an infinitely perfect character. The Word declares Him. He is lifted up, and proclaimed as the One who gave his life for the life of the world. We have not the least right to trust in any man, or to make flesh our arm. Christ gave his own life, that all the disloyal and disobedient might realize the truth of the promise given in the first chapter of John: "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Tell it over and over again. We may become the sons of God, members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. All who accept Jesus Christ and hold the beginning of their confidence firm to the end, will be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ to "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." - {GH, January 1, 1899 par. 6} [GH, March 1, 1899 par. 1] March 1, 1899 An Appeal to the Sisters in the United States "Brethren, you have a work to do which you have left undone. A long neglected field stands out in plain view before God to shame the people who have light and advanced truth, but who have done so little to remove the stones and the rubbish that have been accumulating for so long a time. Those who have enjoyed every privilege and blessing have passed by on the other side. As a Christian people, God has called you to prepare the way of the Lord in this unpromising field." {GH, March 1, 1899 par. 1} [GH, March 1, 1899 par. 2] "The use of means in lines which will make a good showing is right, but not until you have done the work the Lord has appointed you to do, in the field that has been so manifestly neglected. The Lord says: 'Their suffering, their poverty, their degradation, have come up before Me. I have heard their cries, I have seen their neglect. I have called your attention to the field; but the means you should have used to advance the work there, you have appropriated to more pleasing work, more promising fields,--fields that have not such necessities, and will reveal no better results.'" {GH, March 1, 1899 par. 2} [GH, March 1, 1899 par. 3] "The Lord now calls upon you to do more than begin where you ought to have begun years ago." {GH, March 1, 1899 par. 3} [GH, March 1, 1899 par. 4] "God's people need now to arouse and redeem their sinful neglect and indifference of the past. These obligations now rest heavily upon the churches, and God will graciously pour out his Spirit upon those who will take up their God-given work." {GH, March 1, 1899 par. 4} [GH, August 1, 1899 par. 1] August 1, 1899 Need of Caution "There must be laborers in the South who possess caution. They must be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. All who engage in this work should be men who have their pen and tongues dipped in the holy oil of Zechariah 4:11-14. An unadvised word will stir the most violent passions of the human heart and set in operation a state of things that will close the way for the truth to find access to the field now in such great need of workers. {GH, August 1, 1899 par. 1} [GH, August 1, 1899 par. 2] "It is not ministers that can preach that are needed so much as men and women who understand how to teach the truth to poor, ignorant, needy, and oppressed people. And as to making it appear that there is not need of caution, it is because those who say such things do not know what they are talking about. It needs men and women who will not be sent to the Southern field by our people, but who will feel the burden to go into this neglected portion of the vineyard of the Lord.--Men, while their hearts burn with indignation as they see the attitude of the white people toward the black, will learn of the Master, Jesus Christ, that silence in expression regarding these things is eloquence. They all need the intelligence that they may learn of Jesus Christ and the simplicity of how to work. {GH, August 1, 1899 par. 2} [GH, August 1, 1899 par. 3] "The cultivation of the soil is an excellent arrangement, but it is not by the Northern people grouping together in a community that will accomplish the work they imagine will be a success. Hot tempered men better remain in the North. Men and women who possess the true Christ-like spirit of ministry may do excellent work among the Southern colored people. Make no masterly efforts to break down the prejudices of the Southern people, but just live and talk the love of Jesus Christ. There cannot be any greater harm done to the Southern colored people than to dilate on the harm and wrongs done them by white Southerners. Just keep the lips closed although there cannot but be the burning indignation that longs to express itself." {GH, August 1, 1899 par. 3} [GH, August 1, 1899 par. 4] "There is a work to be done in opening schools to teach the colored people alone, unmixed with whites, and there will be a successful work done in this way. The Lord will work through the whites to reach the black race, -- many of them through white teachers, but it needs the man and his wife to stand together in the work. More than one family of white teachers should locate in a place. Two or three families should locate near each other, not huddled together, but at a little distance apart, where they can consult together, and unite in worship of God together, and work to strengthen each others' hands to raise up colored laborers to work in the South." {GH, August 1, 1899 par. 4} [GH, August 1, 1899 par. 5] "The Lord is testing you, my brethren, to see if you will heed his counsel, and take up your long neglected work. I am now urged to set this matter in its true bearing before you. The Spirit of God is upon me, and I dare not hold my peace. Time is passing. How long do you calculate to wait before you heed the word of the Lord? If the utmost caution is not used, there is danger that the Southern field will be closed. {GH, August 1, 1899 par. 5} [GH, August 1, 1899 par. 6] "God has warned his people not to become absorbed in politics. We cannot bear the sign of God as his commandment-keeping people, if we mingle with the strife of the world. We are not to give our minds to political issues. God's people are walking contrary to his will when they mix up with politics, and those who commence this work in the Southern States reveal that they are not taught and led by God, but by that spirit which creates contention and strife and every evil work. We are subjects of the Lord's kingdom, and we are to establish that kingdom in righteousness. 1 Peter 1:13-28." - {GH, August 1, 1899 par. 6} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 1] October 1, 1899 Medical Missionary Work "Ever since we came into this missionary field we have been engaged in the work truly called Medical Missionary work. In this work we have seen the marked working of the Holy Spirit of God in the restoration of the sick. We have seen the wonderful works of God upon the hearts of men who were using tobacco and drinking liquor. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 1} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 2] "We have seen the power of God accomplishing the transformation of character, and individuals have been tested and proved and brought out of bondage into the liberty of the Gospel, and they are converted men and women. They find in Christ Jesus all that is satisfying. We see such great things accomplished that our hearts are humbled before God. The redemption and restoration of the soul is not our work but the Lord's work. It is the work of Jesus Christ, the Life-giver. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 2} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 3] "The cause we knew not we have searched out. There are whole families that this work has been instrumental in saving. This is Medical Missionary work. We had no hospital, but we used our own home as a place to which could be taken the sick and suffering, that they might be restored and saved. We have used our means to aid these people to get homes -- a piece of land, and a house to live in. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 3} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 4] "In one case there was a family at Parametta, consisting of father and mother and ten children. The father was a mechanic and came to work upon the meeting house and school building and brought his three eldest boys. The wife and mother remained at home taking care of seven children until a place could be made for her. We let them occupy a small house of mine, which we furnished, so that they could keep house for themselves. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 4} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 5] "One of the boys who came with the father was a cripple, using crutches, and he cooked while the others worked. This boy is thirteen years old, and had been troubled with a knee-swelling for five years. For eleven months he was confined to his bed under the care of a physician. Sister McEnterfer had treated him with water compresses and pulverized charcoal, until the inflammation had been relieved. He was so much better that he laid aside his crutches, and attended to the cooking, as has been mentioned. But this was too much, and the knee troubled him again. It was necessary to give him a thorough course of treatment, so we took him into my own house and gave him constant care. There was a large swelling under the knee, which he called his 'egg.' This swelling was opened and discharged freely, and from it were taken pieces of bone. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 5} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 6] "What power there is in water! He improved rapidly, and he was given light work,--copying letters in the letter-book, learning to write on the type-writer and other things. We now send him to school. We board and clothe him and his father pays his tuition. We keep him for the benefit we may do the boy and he is good material to work upon. The father and mother cannot express their gratitude; for physicians, who had previously examined and treated the boy, had told them that he would be a cripple for life. The parents now look upon the boy--active and healthy, and you can judge how they feel. This is our field for missionary work. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 6} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 7] "We have helped them to get a piece of land, and the family is now united, rejoicing in a home of their own. They have a temporary house composed of a tent, the bark of trees, and corrugated iron roofing. They will soon be able to build a humble cottage of their own. The father is a carpenter, and the two eldest sons work with him. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 7} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 8] "The mother, discouraged and overworked, had given up trying to be a Christian, but her heart has broken before God, because we have brought hope and courage to the whole family. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 8} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 9] "This boy is the third case of terribly injured limbs which have been cured by simple remedies. In each case they have been pronounced incurable by physicians. These cases have been maltreated, and it was thought that blood-poisoning had set in, in two cases. Sister McEnterfer took these cases and treated them with great pains-taking effort for weeks. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 9} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 10] "In one case we made a hospital of our home, taking care of the boy and his aunt who came with him, while the case was being treated. Sister McEnterfer accepts nothing for her labor, for I want all to know that we do this for the love of God. Case after case has received relief where physicians have failed, after charging enormous sums for their services, sometimes twenty-five and fifty dollars for a visit. In their extremity these poor souls have sent for Sister McEnterfer, and days and nights she has been five and six miles on horse-back, in the bush, where no carriage could go. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 10} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 11] "I might tell of reformations in families. The history of breaking off from tobacco and tea and coffee. I could tell of many instances where such have been truly converted, and are now standing firm for health reform. One, a fisherman and boat-maker, smoked his pipe and drank his tea even after he went to bed. He was a tea-inebriate. It took time; but he was converted. He listened to Bible readings given in certain houses and learned the truth from the Bible. The health-reform was taught and he was lead along step by step. The man carries the unmistakable marks that the Lord has wrought in his behalf. Many families have cast away tobacco and tea and coffee and liquor, and the ministry of the Word has been brought home to their hearts and convicted them of sin and righteousness and judgment. {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 11} [GH, October 1, 1899 par. 12] "One man, who, in prosperous times, was a well-to-do livery-man, became sick and poor, and the whole family, numbering eight, were all sick with influenza. A young man who had learned lessons in the Health Home, nursed the father, and Sister McEnterfer cared for the mother and the children, and all recovered. The father and mother came to our meetings, were convicted, and both were converted; and the father threw his pipe into the fire. When his wife saw this she cried most heartily. 'Are you feeling bad because I broke my pipe?' She said, 'Oh, no; but I thought when my family was supported by the washings I was taking from place to place, I had to give of my little to buy tobacco. Why did you not do this before' Said he, 'Wife, I was not before understanding the sinfulness of tobacco using, and liquor and tea drinking; but I will not grieve you any more. If Brother and Sister White will give me work to do I will earn money now to support my wife and children.' He has worked steadily for one year, and he says, 'I look at my self and say: Is this Hungerford? I really scarcely know myself, -- eating proper food and enjoying physical strength,--I am coming up from being sick and discouraged, and work like a strong man.'" {GH, October 1, 1899 par. 12} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 1] December 1, 1899 Spiritual Food. It is the privilege of every soul to reach the highest standard. Stop at no low standard in your experience. Beware of admitting any worldly or selfish motives whatever in the settlement of the great question between God and your soul. The Lord requires all that there is of you through constant improvement of every talent, that you may make a success in the formation of Christian character. By faith let the Holy Spirit instruct you, that you may not only receive but impart the heavenly grace. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 1} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 2] All is to be surrendered to Christ. There must be no reservation. God expects more of us than we give him. It is an insult to Jehovah to claim to be Christians and yet speak and act as worldlings. We can not yield the smallest place to worldly policy. We need to be sanctified every hour through the belief of the truth. It is not safe for one day to neglect putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. We can make no compromise. We do not want to make extra efforts for a more tasteful development of Christianity. We want Christ formed within, the hope of glory. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 2} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 3] Catch the divine rays of light from Christ and you need not try to shine; for you will reflect his image, which is formed within. You can not help shining. Others will see the Christ side of the character revealed. There is a great deal of rough work to do, but the grace of Christ will be revealed in spirit, in speech, in experience. The salvation of souls is the grand object to be kept before us, and mental and spiritual improvement will be seen in all our ways, habits, and practises. They will be fragrant with the atmosphere which surrounds Jesus Christ. We all have now, and ever have had, the sympathies of the divine intelligences. Heavenly beings co-operate with us in the battle as we advance against fallen angels and fallen men to press the battle into new territories, even where Satan's seat is. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 3} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 4] Young men who have little experience in the self-denial that Christ practised, will be constantly urging the necessity of a more tasteful development of Christianity than we are wont to meet with, even among those who have long known the truth. I agree that there is need of sanctified refinement. There is need of an emptying of self, and an opening of the heart to an abiding Christ. But my heart has been much pained by the introduction among us of certain forms that ape worldly customs and fashions. In connection with the most precious sentiments of truth there is brought in an outside polish, a regard for that which is called taste, which has little of the true element which works by love and sanctifies the soul. That quality of refinement which is esteemed by the world is of little value with God. In every day life we must have an abiding Christ, who is working constantly to conform all our attributes to the image of the divine. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 4} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 5] That surface religion talked of so glibly by the tongue that prates of the beautiful, I have learned the value of to my sorrow. Many who with flippant words are ever ready to speak of elevation and refinement do not act as if they had any practical knowledge of that which their tongues express. Their poetical religion is not the religion that will stand test and trial. I have learned to my sorrow that they have little respect for true Christ-like piety, little desire for the sanctification of the Spirit of God unto true holiness. To exalt a theory which will exalt self is their great ambition. To conform to the divine plan does not suit their frothy ideas. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 5} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 6] O, what deceptions are upon those who are looking for the beautiful and poetic in their speculations. They hear not the voice of the One who gave his life to self-denial, to humiliation, to suffering and a cruel, ignominious death to make it possible for human beings to keep the law of God. They can do this only by heeding the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." These are the lessons the great Teacher has given us. We are to take his yoke of submission, restraint, and obedience, in meekness and lowliness of heart. Those who yoke up with Christ will find rest and peace. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 6} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 7] Exhibitions of self, strife for the supremacy, putting the false in the place of the true, will be developed in a certain class. In theory they represent the God of the beautiful, the divine author of the material world. They observe the beautiful representations in his operations and plans, and they weave into poems a sentimentalism that tells for nothing in making their own character-building symmetrical. Their work is not in harmony with the plan of God for fitting men to unite with the angelic family and to become children of the heavenly King. All these soaring ideas God counts as nothingness. There is a supposed inspiration which is modified by hereditary taste and by education and temperament. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 7} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 8] Let us hear what Christ has to say. "He that will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." To follow in the footsteps of Christ is to practice true godliness. All who are partakers with Christ of his humiliation and self-sacrifice will be constantly learning how to lay upon the foundation-stone "gold, silver, precious stones," not the material represented as "wood, hay, and stubble," which will perish in the fire of the last days. We want true sanctification, true wholeness to God. We would not encourage the soaring element in the make-up of character, but we would encourage true solidity. What is the chaff to the wheat? The world is not to be saved through the divine songs and melodies of even the angelic host in heaven. These angels have their appointed work to do on earth. They find a world in gross darkness as to what constitutes sin, which is the transgression of the law of God. Darkness, vice, deception, prevarication, dishonesty, exist among those who profess godliness. And there is a call made, "Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, as a people that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God." {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 8} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 9] What have God's people to learn? "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double minded." There is work, solid work, to be done for every soul that shall stand in the great day of the Lord. "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, and, behold, all things are become new." {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 9} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 10] The one in whose heart the grace of Christ abides is daily undergoing a transformation of character. He is preparing for the higher school, where all characters blend in a perfect whole. The divine harmonies of the heavenly intelligences would be out of place in the world. They would not be understood. For the world knoweth not God nor Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. Sin and violence are in the land. In transgression of the law of God, fallen men with their sinful tempers, appetites, tastes, and attributes have arrayed themselves in hostility to God. They resemble the inhabitants of the Noatic world. He who would be an effective co-worker with God in his broad vineyard must do most diligent, earnest, hard work; he must meet the people where they are. If they will not come to the gospel feast to which the call of Christ invites them, then God's messengers must accommodate themselves to the circumstances, and bear the message to them in house to house labor, thus extending their ministry to the highways and by ways, giving the last message to the world. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 10} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 11] It is of no use for men to purchase large volumes of history, supposing that by studying these they can gain great advantage in learning how to reach the people at this stage of the earth's history. As I see the shelves piled up with ancient histories and other books that are never looked into, I think, Why spend your money for that which is not bread? We do not need ancient lore to tell us the things that we must know now, just now. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 11} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 12] The sixth chapter of John tells us more than you can find in these books. There is a history in this chapter. Christ says, "I am the bread of life." "Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This (myself) is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread is my flesh that I will give for the life of the world." Read on to the sixty-third verse, "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 12} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 13] The motive of those who study these many books is not so much to obtain light or spiritual food. It is an unsanctified ambition to become acquainted with philosophers and theologians, a desire to present Christianity to the multitude in learned terms and propositions. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 13} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 14] God calls for those who would be laborers together with him to yoke up with Christ. "Learn of me," said the greatest Teacher the world ever knew. "Take my yoke upon you," and come down to learn my meekness and my lowliness. Your intellectual pride will not aid you in the work of communicating with souls perishing for the bread of life. Your devotion to the study of these books is taking the place in mind and heart of the practical lessons you should be learning from the great Teacher. The multitude are not fed. The Holy Spirit is not dependent on the work of human agents. They want to work themselves. Very little of the money invested in piling up volumes for study and research, which is wearying to the brain, furnishes anything that will make one a successful laborer for souls. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 14} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 15] The men who have devoted their lifetime to common work need words as simple as Christ gave in his lessons, words which are easily understood. Christ said, "I came to preach the gospel to the poor." Our brethren who are teaching the truth for this time need a deeper insight into the lessons Christ has given. We can not do better than to heed the words Christ has spoken: "He that will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." At every step we advance in any service for Christ, self-denial and the cross lie directly in the path. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 15} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 16] The words of the living God are the science of all education. The studied phrases designed to please the taste of the supposed-to-be refined, fall short of the mark. Our ministering brethren need to eat the bread of life. This manna will give them spiritual sinew and muscle; then they will not be as weak as babies when any crisis comes. Baptized with the Holy Spirit, they will be prepared to meet all classes of men. The candlestick will be placed where it will give light to all that are in the house. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 16} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 17] The piety, the spiritual energy, of the church is sustained by feeding on the bread which came down from heaven. The rich and the poor alike meet together, and take sweet counsel of God. At the feet of Jesus we are to learn the simplicity of true godliness. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 17} [GH, December 1, 1899 par. 18] We need now to strip ourselves for the race, to harness ourselves for the battle. The time of trouble is upon us. Let the ponderous volumes of history and the variety of other books be exchanged for the simple lessons of Christ. He says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart." Why do not all who believe in Christ do all that He told them to do? Why do they worry and perplex their souls with reading that will not do one twentieth part for them that Christ's words will do. Much reading is spoiling some of our ministers, so that they know not how to feed the flock of God with Spiritual food. God help us to understand what it means to learn of Christ. Mrs. E. G. White. {GH, December 1, 1899 par. 18} [GH, January 1, 1900 par. 1] January 1, 1900 Individual Responsibility. The following selections are from a private letter written on the camp ground at Maitland, New South Wales, Australia, Nov. 6, 1899: {GH, January 1, 1900 par. 1} [GH, January 1, 1900 par. 2] "How little we can do in our own power to help the people that are misled by the false theories that are ever kept before them by their false shepherds. Our earnest cry to God is, "It is time, O Lord, for thee to work: for they have made void thy law. Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.' We are in the midst of troublous times. Catholicism is making sure and decided inroads, embracing in its cruel arms the Protestant world. In disloyalty, men and women are making void the law of God, and he will punish them for their iniquity. The earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.' The Lord is slow to anger and great in power: and will not at all acquit the wicked; the Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.' {GH, January 1, 1900 par. 2} [GH, January 1, 1900 par. 3] "If ever there was a time when those who claim to be Christians should be all that the name comprehends, it is now. Are we following Christ in very reality? As Seventh-day Adventists we must be on watch, guarding every point lest the enemy shall set up his standard among us. There is not one semblance of an excuse for our churches to be indifferent and careless. If ever there was a time when the members of our churches should see if they have oil in their vessels with their lamps, it is now, just now, without a moment's hesitancy or delay. This is an individual work. We are to look earnestly to our own standing and accountability. While the Protestant world is being led by the wily sophistry of Catholic doctrines, while the mystery of iniquity is gathering to itself the world of professed Christians, what are we about? Are those who know the truth for this time anchored in Bible doctrine? Are our weapons, 'Thus sayeth the Lord: 'It is written?' Is our anchor cast within the vail? Are we individually rooted and grounded in gospel truth, so that we may be established, strengthened, and settled in the faith? Are we, as those who have the knowledge of the mysteries of God, those to whom God has committed the living oracles, loyal and true to our stewardship? Those who are truly converted will reveal, as missionaries for God, what the truth means to them in its transforming efficiency and sanctifying power. If we are weighted with the treasures of eternal truth, we shall proclaim to a world perishing in sin what it signifies to have the sanctifying, redeeming love of Christ in the soul. . . {GH, January 1, 1900 par. 3} [GH, January 1, 1900 par. 4] "The world would not be what it now is if professed believers in Christ were receivers of his divine nature. It is the example of men who claim to believe the truth, but who do not practice the truth, that detracts from the influence of Christianity. They hold the truth as a theory, but unrighteousness surely characterizes their course of action. Many reveal that they are far away from Christ, because they are destitute of Christianity. Please read the ninth and tenth chapters of Ezekiel. Should we not seek to understand the work which God requires us to do? Its results are sacred and awful. If one thread of selfishness is woven into God's service, He is greatly dishonored. Unless those who have knowledge of the truth are sanctified through the truth, their profession counts for nothing, and their condemnation will be proportionate to the light granted them, which they have not honored by walking in the light as Christ is in the light. Truth as it is in Jesus is the creating power of Christ. Those who claim to have advanced light must reveal the influence of that light in their words, their deportment, their voice, their actions, at all times and in all places. {GH, January 1, 1900 par. 4} [GH, January 1, 1900 par. 5] The first work of teachers, physicians, directors, is to submit themselves to the yoke of Christ. They must obey the words, 'Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me.' This is the result of keeping self under the sanctification of the truth. Our first business, and that which should always be made the highest, is to expel from the soul-temple everything that will not harmonize with Christ. His Spirit must abide in us by faith. We are to keep the heart with all diligence, 'for out of it are the issues of life.' Then pleasant words will be spoken, notwithstanding that temptations are pressing in to occupy the soul-temple. The devil is not dead." Mrs. E. G. White. - {GH, January 1, 1900 par. 5} [GH, March 1, 1900 par. 1] March 1, 1900 Selections from Recent Letters From Mrs. E. G. White. The Work for this Time. The Lord has a special message for us to bear to the world, even the third angel's message. The first and second angels' messages are bound up with the third. The power of the proclamation of the first and second messages is to be concentrated in the third. {GH, March 1, 1900 par. 1} [GH, March 1, 1900 par. 2] "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." Revelation 14:9, 10. {GH, March 1, 1900 par. 2} [GH, March 1, 1900 par. 3] "After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Revelation 18:1-5. {GH, March 1, 1900 par. 3} [GH, March 1, 1900 par. 4] We are in danger of giving this message in so indefinite a manner that it does not impress the people. . . . Our warfare is aggressive. Tremendous issues are before us, yea, and right upon us. Let our prayers ascend to God that the four angels may be commissioned to hold the four winds, that they may not blow to injure or destroy until the last warning has been given to the world. {GH, March 1, 1900 par. 4} [GH, March 1, 1900 par. 5] Work for the Fallen. God is now working for his people; but how many do not recognize between the work of God and a strange work. Drawing aside the veil which conceals the glory of God, it shows Him in his place, high, and holy, and lifted up; not in a state of solitude, but surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, of holy, happy beings, every one waiting to hear the message and to do his bidding. All heaven is in active communication with every part of the universe through a variety of channels, and that Holy One is actually stooping, bending from his throne, listening to every sound uttered, observing the movements of every earthly power. It is the highest Being condescending to the lowliest, approving or condemning every action which is developed. He is interested in the oppressed, and sends messengers to engage in the work in connection with the gospel for the beings who have corrupted their whole mind and thoughts. Thus they are placed in connection with truth and righteousness; but unless they become righteous themselves, they will contaminate others. {GH, March 1, 1900 par. 5} [GH, March 1, 1900 par. 6] There is a work to be done for our world, but if the way of the Lord is not distinctly followed, to put them in the way of life through conversion, there is reason to be afraid lest Satan shall introduce himself to work the abandoned ones that our institutions undertake to help. Satan in playing a game of life for the souls of men and women for whom Christ has died. In our zeal to do a work for the Lord we must be sure we are not going before Christ, in the place of following after Christ. {GH, March 1, 1900 par. 6} [GH, March 1, 1900 par. 7] The Love of God. Human love is weak and changeable, but God's love is full and deep and unchangeable. Why then are not our souls aglow as we contemplate this love? Why do we close our eyes to it? God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, will shine into the hearts of all who believe, to give the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." O what amazing love. Language can not measure it. It is without a parallel. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things." - {GH, March 1, 1900 par. 7} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 1] July 1, 1900 Education. By Mrs. E. G. White. ［The following extracts are from private letters recently received by the editor.］ {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 1} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 2] How pleased I am that the work of the Southern field is advancing. My prayer is, Let it advance, deepen, widen, enlarge, until it shall be a part of the vineyard no longer neglected, but under cultivation. May it be a fruitful garden of the Lord. This can only be done by educating the colored people to read. Then the Word of God, the Bible, placed in their hands, even though unexplained by human agencies, will be made plain and applied by the Holy Spirit. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 2} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 3] The apostle Paul considered that the Jew had a great advantage above the Gentile, "because unto them had been committed the oracles of God." This is the highest commendation or testimony as to the value of the Bible. Every effort should be made to have the sacred book containing the whole of the revelation of God, placed in the hands of all nations, tongues, and people. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 3} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 4] If the mere possession of the Bible is an advantage, how much greater is the privilege of knowing how to read and study its pages. All who wish to understand the Word are stewards of God as verily as those who have been entrusted with riches. Earthly possessions are talents to be imparted to others to advance the work of righteousness in the world. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 4} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 5] The Bible is becoming more and more an educating lesson book for children and for youth, giving to the young and to those of mature age, and the aged of every nation, the instruction of truth in heavenly things, which is the higher education. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 5} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 6] A writer says, "We always refer with delight to the testimony of a deist, who after laboring to disprove Christianity, and bringing the Scriptures into contempt as a forgery, was found instructing his children from the New Testament. When taxed with the inconsistency, his only reply was, that it was necessary to teach the child morality, and that nowhere was morality to be found such as was in the Bible. We thank the deist for the confession." {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 6} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 7] Teach the colored people to read the Word of God, and it will have a transforming power upon their life, upon their character, give vigor to the intellect, and as the principles contained in the Word of God are sent home by the power of the Holy Spirit, they will work a positive reformation in the human minds of all who will receive the Word. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 7} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 8] Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, that something is being done for the Southern field! Character will be transformed where the Bible is reverenced as the Word of the Living God. The promises of God can be repeated over and over again and with every repetition light comes to the mind. The entrance of thy Word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple. The Word of God is to be an educating book, giving knowledge of what true faith is. It should be impressed upon the minds of all, that God stands back of every promise. To claim these promises is our privilege. They are given to all who claim them by faith and appropriate them, which is eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 8} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 9] Especial promises are given to all who shall be instrumental in turning souls from sin to righteousness, converting the sinner from sin to truth, from darkness to light. Ever bear this in mind and teach it to others. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 9} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 10] "And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. . . . Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand." Daniel 12:3, 10. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 10} [GH, July 1, 1900 par. 11] We have every encouragement that the Lord hears us and will work for all who are meek and lowly of heart. The work of all who engage to improve the condition of the fallen race will meet with singular resistance, because Satan would make sorry the heart of Christ, by working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, to hedge up the way that the Lord would long to have made plain and distinct. {GH, July 1, 1900 par. 11} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 1] August 1, 1900 Christian Workers A Christian is one who follows Christ through evil as well as good report. Christian discipleship in regard to business matters means more than many realize. Our Lord said, "I must be about My Father's business." If we follow in His footsteps, we must as His human agents, copy His divine example. We must be faithful financiers for the Father. True Christians will follow in Christ's footsteps. If into the business connected with the cause and in our dealing with our brethren we do not bring the principles of the teaching of Christ, if we fail to obey the instruction He has given us, in the Old Testament as well as in the New, we are not true followers of Him. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 1} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 2] We have a most important work to do, the work of obeying Christ and bearing witness of Him. He said to his disciples, "And ye also shall bear witness of Me, because ye have been with Me from the beginning." The disciples were to be honored by bearing witness concerning Christ's mission. They had been with Him constantly and had gained a most valuable knowledge to impart to others. We can not be with Christ in person as were His first disciples, but He has sent His Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, and through this power we too can bear witness for the Saviour. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 2} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 3] The union of the branch to the vine is no more essential to the life and fruitfulness of the branch than a union with Christ is essential to the life and fruitfulness of the believer. Receiving Him by faith and trusting in Him, true believers become partakers of the divine nature. They not only bear testimony for Him with their lips; they witness for Him by their works. "If ye abide in Me, and I in you," He says, "ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 3} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 4] "Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." No one is to work evil to his brother's interest with the excuse that it is to help in a certain line of the work of God. In doing that certain work he places his brethren in a position where they are hindered from doing the work the Lord would have them do in behalf of truth and righteousness. The Lord will not accept such an offering. It is gained by robbery, and He says, "I hate robbery for burnt offering." {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 4} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 5] No man will be condemned for not accepting light he has never received, or for violating a law he never heard. But when light comes to him from the word of God, and he neglects to live by it, but in his business transactions in connection with the work and cause of God, and in his dealing with his brethren, uses oppression, because he supposes he has power to oppress, he does himself great harm. He will not receive from his injustice and oppression the advantage he expects to receive. "I hate robbery for burnt offering." A plea that it is to do good will not justify a man for working on wrong principles. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 5} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 6] God will not endorse one act of selfishness, one unrighteous deed. Men may claim high honor for their labor in God's service, but the way in which they accomplish their work testifies to their value. If they obey the law of Jehovah and co-operate with Him, witness is borne of them before the heavenly universe that they are true workers. God's ordinances and work are given to man to promote holiness of heart and purity of life. If this result is not seen, the object sought for by God is not accomplished. However zealous men may be in certain lines of work, which receive praise from men, God reads beneath the surface, and if the work is not such as He can approve, the workers are not accepted by Him. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 6} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 7] Sharp, critical self-examination is needed. Worldly principles are not to be woven into the web and made a part of the fabric. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 7} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 8] So close is the union between Christ and the Father that as men treat Christ so they treat the Father. The greater the light and evidence God has given men regarding His character and will, the greater will be their guilt and condemnation if they do not love and obey Him. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 8} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 9] "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil ye My joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 9} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 10] The gospel inculcates universal humility and benevolence. It produces the virtues of Christ's character in all who savingly accept it. Christ made the sacrifice of Himself to furnish man with grace and power. All who receive His spirit become sons of God, one with Christ in God. Those who attain to eternal life must overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. In order to be saved men must work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, revealing a faith which works by love and purifies the soul. Love for God and man has been enjoined upon every human being. God works by His Holy Spirit in those who believe in Christ as their personal Saviour. He helps them to work out their own salvation, giving them grace for the grace which they impart to others. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 10} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 11] The ministers of God, by the holy example they set, are constituted messengers of righteousness, and they should receive love and respect from those who co-operate with them. Let him who cherishes a spirit which leads him to accuse his fellow-workers, who are proclaiming the message the Lord has given them, beware, for he is treading on holy ground, and might better take his shoes from off his feet. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 11} [GH, August 1, 1900 par. 12] God chooses his agents, and gives each an individual trial. He allows His workers to be tempted; thus He proves them to see whether they are building on the right foundation, whether they are doing what they know Christ would do under similar circumstances. Those whose lips are sanctified will utter no witticism or sarcasms to hurt the Lord's purchased possession. Men and women are the Lord's heritage, and no man on the face of the earth has the shadow of a right to oppress those whom God has redeemed. Christ shed His blood to make it possible for them to be partakers of the divine nature. Human beings are very dear to God's heart of love, and when He makes up His jewels He will gather to Himself those who love Him and believe in Him. In that great day when every case is settled forever, He will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. His chosen ones, who appreciate the value of redemption, will live through all eternity with Him whom they have served faithfully on this earth. Mrs. E. G. White. {GH, August 1, 1900 par. 12} [GH, September 1, 1900 par. 1] September 1, 1900 From a Personal Letter. The apostle Paul said, "I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." See 1 Corinthians 2:2-14. {GH, September 1, 1900 par. 1} [GH, September 1, 1900 par. 2] We have a message to bear to the world. "We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth: comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." It is for the interest of all to know this great lesson. We are to work vigilantly in prospect of the solemn event of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and if we are waiting and watching and working, we shall speak sound words among those who, like ourselves, are waiting and watching. There is work to be done. The piles of rubbish that have been accumulating need to be removed. How? "Cleanse yourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord." Cultivate personal piety. God would have us inquire, "Who hath known the mind of the Lord?" that He may instruct us, and that we may be able to say, "We have the mind of Christ." Then all the rubbish of evil words will be removed. May the Lord imbue us with His Spirit, and touch our lips with a burning coal from the altar. Earnestly, vigilantly watching and waiting and working, we are to be, "not slothful in business, fervent in spirit serving the Lord." {GH, September 1, 1900 par. 2} [GH, September 1, 1900 par. 3] The church is the one object of Christ's intense interest in this world, and for which He has unceasing care. This church is engaged in securing the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life to all who receive it. In every soul God looks for stable principles revealed in word and action. Then they will bring from the treasure house words weighted with the principles of eternal truth. We have no time to praise the devil, no time nor voice to criticise. We are to show that the grace of Christ is abiding in our hearts. Its influence will be revealed, whatever company we are in, by words of deepest importance, involving consequences as enduring as eternity. {GH, September 1, 1900 par. 3} [GH, September 1, 1900 par. 4] At this period of the earth's history we cannot afford to weaken one another's influence. The Christian warfare is close and severe. We have to meet and battle with unseen foes, and we must be in harmony with the heavenly agencies, who are seeking to cleanse us from the inclination to criticise our brethren, to pass judgment on them. The Lord desires us to stand under the yoke of Christ. Labor in God. Toil does not hurt half as much as worry and perplexity. It is because we have so little genuine sympathy that the battle goes so hard. If we become so active that we have not time to pray, we have not put on the whole armor of righteousness. Paul enjoined Timothy, "Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine." The soul must be purified and made ready to receive the golden oil which the two olive branches, through the two golden pipes, pour into vessels cleansed to receive it. In turn the vessels are to empty themselves of the treasures of truth, bringing from the treasure house things new and old. Heavenly messengers, the anointed ones, supply the living agencies, that they may impart. {GH, September 1, 1900 par. 4} [GH, September 1, 1900 par. 5] The Lord has rich stores, and He desires men to enjoy His blessing. Had men in the beginning rightly appreciated and appropriated the talents God gave them, the earth would not have been cursed by a flood. And we see the work of destruction still going on, and why? Because there has been a national apostasy. The world has thrown off the law of God, and has legalized transgression and sin. The people of God must now show their colors. There must be no drawing back. The very best credentials we can carry is love for one another. All strife, all dissension, are to cease. God will not accept the talents of the smartest, the most eloquent man, if the inner lamp of the soul is not trimmed and burning. {GH, September 1, 1900 par. 5} [GH, September 1, 1900 par. 6] There must be a consecrated heart, a consecrated surrender of the soul. We are justified by faith and judged by works. The Lord calls. Shall we hear his voice? Shall we by diligent trading place our means where the Lord can co-operate with us in their use? Let us work on, doing our best in all meekness and humility of mind, and we shall be more than conquerors through Him who hath loved us. {GH, September 1, 1900 par. 6} [GH, September 1, 1900 par. 7] How few are willing to suffer reproach and shame for Christ's sake. His word is our testimony. We are to believe and love the truth for Christ's sake. We must rise higher and higher in purity and knowledge. We are Christ's witnesses. Then let us not talk of difficulties or ponder over our trials, but come close to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith. By beholding Him, studying and talking of Him, we become transformed into His image. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GH, September 1, 1900 par. 7} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 1] January 1, 1901 Our Influence. The following is from a private letter from Mrs. E. G. White, written Jan. 2, 1901. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 1} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 2] I have been sorely tried with affliction. Last Sabbath I spoke to the San Francisco church, which was heated by two stoves, and in which the ventilation was very imperfect. So greatly did I feel the effects of the poison in the air that although I stayed in the church only fifteen minutes, I feared that it would cost me my life. Our churches need to reform in the matter of ventilation. It is dangerous for those whose hearts are weak to speak in churches in which the air is poisoned by the exhalations from human bodies. Our churches should be well ventilated, that the air breathed by those who sit in them for two hours at a time may be as pure as possible. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 2} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 3] After this experience I was so exhausted that on Wednesday, Dec. 26, I thought that my only safety would be in going home the next day. My heart was very weak and my brain was tired. I was unable to converse with any one. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 3} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 4] During the night I tried to cast my helpless soul upon Christ, and I decided to remain in Oakland till after the Sabbath. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 4} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 5] On Sabbath I spoke to about six hundred people in the large room in the basement of the Oakland church. The adjoining rooms were thrown open, and additional seats were brought in. The people kept coming till every seat was filled. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 5} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 6] I was still weak, and as I looked over the sea of heads before me, I feared that I would not be able to make my voice heard. I asked the people to pray to the Lord to give me strength, and He heard their petitions. As I advanced, my strength increased. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 6} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 7] I spoke from the second chapter of first Corinthians. This chapter had been impressed upon me with great power, and I presented it verse by verse. I felt deeply in earnest. I longed to see the members of the church doing the work the Lord has made it possible for them to do if they will take hold of His strength and make peace with Him. He gave His life that they might be sanctified through the truth. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 7} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 8] We have been given great light in regard to God's law. This law is the standard of character. To it man is now required to conform, and by it he will be judged in the last great day. In that day men will be dealt with according to the light they have received. He who knew his Lord's will, and did it not, will be beaten with many stripes; he who knew it not, yet committed things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. The number of talents expected will determine the returns expected. The sinner's guilt will be measured by the opportunities and privileges which he failed to improve. He will not be punished merely for his own rejection of the offer of salvation. He will be called to account for the influence he has exerted in encouraging others in sin. He was given abilities to use for the Lord. He was given opportunity to co-operate with his Redeemer. Had he been true and faithful to Him who gave His life for him, he would not only have won eternal life for himself, but would have drawn others in to the kingdom. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 8} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 9] Those who reject Christ place themselves on the side of the great Apostate. Those who do not accept the invitation to receive Christ show open contempt for the offer of salvation, and their conduct makes others more bold and defiant. The punishment of the sinner will be measured by the extent to which he has influenced others in impenitence. His wrong influence on others is the aggravation of his guilt. He refused to wear the yoke of Christ himself, and kept others from becoming laborers together with God in the work of saving souls. By his refusal to wear the yoke of restraint and obedience, to surrender all to God, he placed himself on the side of the enemy of Christ. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 9} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 10] On Sunday I spoke from Ephesians 6:10-17. By heart-searching and many prayers we may be more than conquerors through Him who has loved us. Self-reformation is all-essential. Step by step we must advance heavenward, leading others in safe paths. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 10} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 11] I have not time to give full particulars of this meeting, which was a very important one. Oh, how my heart yearned for those before me. I discerned the presence of Christ and the heavenly angels in the assembly as clearly as though they had stood before me in visible form. I closed my discourse with a feeling of sacred awe; for I knew that we were in the presence of Jesus and the ministering angels. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 11} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 12] Opportunity was given for testimonies, and one after another in quick succession, one hundred people spoke. At times several were standing on their feet at once. We asked those who wished the work of grace to be carried forward in their heart to arise. Among those who responded were some outsiders, who had never made any profession of religion. Those who rose were requested to come forward to the front seats. Nearly all of these bore testimony. The meeting closed with prayer. We had been together for three hours, and the Lord came very near us. The deep moving of His Holy Spirit was felt in the meeting. The good work is going forward as never before among the office employees. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 12} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 13] On Sunday morning we assembled in the office chapel. The room was crowded with office hands, some being unable to find seats. After a hymn was sung, Elder Daniells offered prayer, and we felt the presence of the Lord. God strengthened me to speak for over an hour. I presented to those assembled some things which it was essential for them to hear. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 13} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 14] I was pleased with the company of fine-looking men before me, to whom the Lord has given the talent of intelligence. I thought of how noble their life-work will be if they truly connect with the Source of all power. I know that they can gain a full complement of influence if they follow on in the path of self-denial and cross-bearing. I prayed that the rugged path trodden by the Savior might be followed by the men whose countenances possess a deep interest for me because Christ has graven their names on the palms of His hands. The question is, Will these men meet the high standard of Christian excellence? Will they consecrate themselves to God as vessels into which the heavenly treasures can be received, and from which they can flow forth in rich currents to souls who are starving for an example of righteousness. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 14} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 15] When the mind, instead of being centered upon self, is occupied in seeking to enrich poverty-stricken souls, the treasure of God's love--the golden oil from the two olive trees--is poured into the heart. Those who impart to others of the riches of the grace of heaven will be themselves enriched. This blessed experience all can obtain who will be channels through which God can impart his grace. It is for all who will dare to be a Daniel, dare to stand alone in Jesus Christ. The ministering angels are waiting, longing for channels through which they can communicate heavenly treasures. Men and women can reach the highest stage of mental and moral development only by co-operating with Jesus Christ, by learning his methods, by accepting His Holy Spirit, by laboring together with Him. The intellect is never so truly enriched as when we are trying to enrich others. E. G. White. St. Helena, Cal. - {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 15} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 1] January 1, 1901 What Is the Bible Interpretation of God? From Mrs. E. G. White, in letter to the editor. "What is the Bible interpretation of God? --God is love. By giving Christ to our world, God manifested His love for mankind. 'God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Yes, everlasting life. This is the love which is the fulfilling of the law. Only he whose heart is filled with compassion for fallen man, who loves to a purpose, showing his love by the performance of Christlike deeds, will be able to endure the seeing of Him who is invisible. He only who loves his fellow men to a purpose can know God. He who loves not those for whom the Father has done so much, knows not God. This is the reason there is so little genuine vitality in our churches. Theology is valueless unless it is saturated with the love of Christ. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 1} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 2] "God is supreme. His love in the human heart will lead to the doing of works that will bear fruit after the similitude of the character of God. {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 2} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 3] "In the thirteenth chapter of first Corinthians the apostle Paul defines true, Christ like love. It would be well to print this chapter in small type in every paper issued from our presses. Put it in the Gospel Herald that it may preach its living sermon wherever the paper may go. This chapter is an expression of the obedience of all who love God and keep His commandments. It is brought into action in the life of every true believer." {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 3} [GH, January 1, 1901 par. 1] January 1, 1901 On What Do We Stand? "I have received the last two copies of the 'Gospel Herald.' I have been expecting things to go as they have done in the Southern field, and I have felt intensely that decided work should be done. You must not fail or be discouraged. The Lord understands all about the difficulties. Try to do your very best. This is all the Lord requires of you. He has accepted your labors of love for the down-trodden African race; and if the fields you have tried so hard to work have been closed to you, may the Lord have compassion upon those who have given the work so little attention, except to criticise. They closed their eyes to the situation, after the warning was distinctly given that things would be as they are now. The only thing now to be done for the closed field is for those who have refused to be impressed with their duty, to change this terrible phase of their conduct. It is possible that something may yet be done. Those who have passed by on the other side might better do their duty now in regard to the Southern field. The light given me is that had they at the right time done the work the Lord gave them to do for the class in such great need of help, the voice of entreaty and instruction from the Lord would have been heard, and the showing in the Southern field would be very different from what it now is." {GH, January 1, 1901 par. 1} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 1] March 1, 1901 Trust in God. Talk given by Mrs. E. G. White to the church for the colored in Vicksburg, Sabbath, March 16, 1901. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 1} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 2] I will present to you this morning the instruction contained in the fourteenth chapter of John. Christ was about to leave His disciples to enter upon His great trial, which to them would be a terrible test. He knew the temptations they would meet, the grief and discouragement that would come to their hearts as they saw Him, their Teacher, the Son of God, as they believed, treated with contempt and abuse, He saw that they were in trouble, and He said to them, "Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions." {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 2} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 3] Think of this. Here we have no homes, or very poor ones. Christ says to us, "In My Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." We believe these words. We are looking forward to the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 3} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 4] Christ was to suffer in our behalf, standing at the head of humanity as representative of the race. He was to work out the character which every follower of His is to work out, through the provision He has made,--His infinite sacrifice, His life and death on earth. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 4} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 5] Christ sought to guard His disciples against becoming discouraged after He should leave them, when the powers of darkness, evil agencies, the synagogue of Satan, should array themselves against them. He spoke to them words of comfort, assuring them that He would come again and take them to Himself. He knew that they would remember these words after His trial and after His resurrection and ascension. These events were to impress them with the power of truth, leading them to realize that Christ is the foundation of faith, the corner stone of the building of truth. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 5} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 6] "And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know." Thomas, always inclined to unbelief, said doubtingly, "Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." These words are for you. When you are in perplexity, go right to the word of God. Read about Christ, His character, His work; and do as He would were He in your place. Christ could not, in word or practice, testify to wrong; for He is truth itself. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 6} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 7] "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also; and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him." Then Philip asked, "Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Grieved at His disciple's lack of faith, Christ answered, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayst thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself; but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the very work's sake." {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 7} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 8] "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father." Christ desired the disciples to understand that they were not to be bereft of power because He was going to His Father. The promise He made to them is for us. If we will take it just as it reads, we shall feel such confidence and such trust in God and the truth that He will be able to reveal His power through us. By our good works we shall show our faith. We can receive power and grace from Christ to enable us to work the works of God. And let us ever remember that we are never to take any credit to ourselves for the work we do. There is nothing good in us; therefore we should not seek to glorify ourselves. God is to receive all the glory. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 8} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 9] We are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God which worketh in us. Constantly we are to strive to elevate ourselves and others, in accordance with the directions of the Word of God. With all the power we have we are to seek to reach the standard of character Christ has set before us. This is what God wants us to do. When in humble faith we rely on Christ as our sufficiency, our strength, our all and in all, then it is that the power of God rests upon our work. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 9} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 10] Christ's words show that there is a close connection between heaven and earth; that to those who believe in the power of truth God manifests Himself as He does not to the world. There are those who seem to think that if the minister leaves them, they will be stranded. Why do they not hang their helpless souls on Christ? Why do they not believe that although they have no minister, Jesus is with them. Let them follow the minister into the field with their prayers. Christ has told them that the works that He has done they may do also. He says, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in His Son." But He does not say this to those who do not abide in Him. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 10} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 11] Do not depend upon human beings for spiritual help. Resist the temptation to make flesh your arm. Look to God as children look to an earthly Father. Believe that He loves you and that He will help you, even as He has promised. If you will believe, you will have confidence, trust, reliance, and rich blessings, because you will realize that Christ is the foundation of your faith. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 11} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 12] "If ye love Me, keep My commandments." Obedience is the test of true love. "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever." Although I am going away, My Representative will still be with you. He will never leave you. "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 12} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 13] This promise God has made to you. When you get discouraged, do not depend upon human beings for aid. Christ declares, The comforter shall be with you. Go right to God in prayer. Bow before Him, saying, "Lord, help me; for I am in difficulty, and I do not know what to do. You have promised to give your children what they ask in your name. We ask for strength to resist the temptations of the enemy." {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 13} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 14] Thus you will obtain a most valuable experience. As you follow on to know the Lord, you will know that His goings forth are prepared as the morning. And when you receive help and comfort, sing to the praise of God. Talk with God. Thus you will become a friend of God. You will rely on Him. You will obtain a faith that will trust whether you feel like trusting or not. Remember that feeling is not an evidence that you are a Christian. Implicit faith in God shows that you are His child. Trust in God. He will never disappoint you. He says, "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me; because I live, ye shall live also." We do not see Christ in person. It is by faith that we behold Him. Our faith grasps His promises. Thus it was that Enoch walked with God. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 14} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 15] "Yet a little while, and the world seeth Me no more; but ye see Me; because I live, ye shall live also." Over the rent sepulcher of Joseph Christ proclaimed, "I am the resurrection and the life." Because He lives, His children shall live. "At that day, " He says,"ye shall know that I am in My Father, and He in Me, and I in you." {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 15} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 16] "He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me, and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." Many set aside their Saviour, and write to me to know whether they have any evidence that they are Christians. They do not put confidence in God. They ought to sing and rejoice in the love of their Saviour; but they say, I do not feel like it." Has not Christ said, "He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him." {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 16} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 17] Why tell human beings about your soul-trouble. They cannot take the place of God. Why put Christ in the back-ground. He wants us to believe in Him as children believe in an earthly Father. He can give us peace that the world can neither give nor take away. This is the hope of the Christian. Trust not in feeling. If your faith is wavering, remember that Christ is not lying in the tomb, but is making intercession for you in the heavenly courts. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 17} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 18] "Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love Me, he will keep My words, and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him." He in whose heart Christ abides is not one day on the mountain top, and the next day in the shadow. He has a calm, trusting faith in the Redeemer's love. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 18} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 19] "He that loveth Me not keepeth not My sayings, and the word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me." Look into the mirror of God's law, and see whether you are conforming to the divine requirements. If you see that your character is defective, do not go away and forget what manner of person you are. Strive earnestly to overcome your faults. As you do this, the joy of heaven will fill your heart. There is strength in the Saviour. He wants His children to banish all selfishness from the heart, that He may enter as an abiding guest, that His righteousness may go before them, and the glory of God be their rearward. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 19} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 20] "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance." You are the children of God. He has adopted you, and He desires you to form characters here that will give you entrance into the heavenly family. Remembering this, you will be able to bear the trials which you meet here. In heaven there will be no color line; for all will be as white as Christ himself. Let us thank God that we can be members of the royal family. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 20} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 21] "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father; for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe." {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 21} [GH, March 1, 1901 par. 22] I want you to realize that Christ is a personal Saviour. Show to the world what He can do even through the weakest of human beings. Work out before the world the principles of righteousness. Obey the commandments. Demonstrate the power of truth. This is the most powerful witness you can bear in favor of the truth. But you are not to do this in your own strength. You are to work in the strength and grace that God gives. Thus you can walk in His footsteps. Cling to the mighty Redeemer, who is also your Elder Brother. God desires us to seek earnestly for a place among the number who will stand around His throne. To every sincere follower, white or black, He will say, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Whatever you may be called upon to suffer, remember that Christ has said, "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." Have faith in God, and day by day He will give you the victory. {GH, March 1, 1901 par. 22} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 1] December 1, 1901 Making Wills By Mrs. E. G. White The making of wills is a matter that we should consider carefully. We should not treat it as a delicate question that should not be introduced, fearing to create nervousness with feeble persons whose span of life is nearly run out. Those having means should consider all the probabilities regarding life, and the proper use of their means, and make everything right, clear, and thorough as the Lord's responsible agents. All that you and I possess of talents is loaned us on trust that we may trade with it. By improving these talents we acquire more talents to invest for the Lord. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 1} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 2] Time is short. I have a message to my brothers and sisters, whose life history must soon close; is it not best to set your house in order? Look well into these matters. What disposition are you making of the Lord's capital of means? Consider, What shall I do with my responsibilities of houses and lands or of my effects? God help you in this decision. Now, while you have your reason, work carefully that God's cause shall have placed to its advantage all the means that can be properly devoted to it. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 2} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 3] Decisions for All Time. Relatives have a fair chance to live by their own industry. Do not spoil them by throwing responsibilities upon them, in the will that you make, that they know not how to manage. You are now making decisions for all time in reference to the future good of the Lord's grand gospel missionary work, that even after you are dead, your entrusted means may be at work in carrying the message into new places, thus adding new territory to the Lord's kingdom. You must now, while alive, make diligent, faithful work, that after your death gifts and offerings may come into the treasury of the cause of God. By making this provision you express your interest in the work of God, which must be sustained and the standard of truth lifted in new places. Your treasure is loaned to you in trust and is the Lord's. Now, you are to select stewards of God to pass the same along. Your helping hand may be still in death, yet your works follow you through living, faithful stewards as your representatives, and you are thus fulfilling your appointed work. Said Christ to John, "Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them." {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 3} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 4] With Christ everything was made subordinate to His Father's kingdom and the great, grand work of saving souls. Redemption was the key note. He left His royal throne, laid aside His royal crown, laid off His royal robe, and submitted to a life of humiliation. "For your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." And the same devotion, the same subjection of every social relation and endearment, is to be ever paramount in His disciples. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 4} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 5] Trust Funds. He that loveth God supremely will not because of that love his parents or other relatives less. The love of Christ leads His disciples to carry out the will and ways of God expressed in the wills of His servants that are dead, waiting for the morning of the resurrection. Our capital, entrusted of God, is not to be recklessly signed away to men and women who would serve themselves and not the Lord. "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." This caution is not designed to lead us to disregard relatives or friends, yet the test comes to every soul, Will you receive Christ and acknowledge Him as your Redeemer. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 5} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 6] Some relative, father, or mother, or friend, may say, "You can no longer call me father, or mother, or friend, if you accept Jesus of Nazareth." This very test did come to many, and at the sacrifice of even the dearest friends they could but say, "He gave His life for me. He died that I might live." What a scene was represented at the cross! What an example to the beloved disciples of filial affection! "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home." {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 6} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 7] We are now in a special period of the earth's history. Let every one look unto Jesus and copy the example that He has given us. Means must come into the work just now when doors stand open on every side, and the voice is heard, "Come over and help us." Shall the higher classes that are now interested be left without light, because it takes money to work in the large cities? The higher class halls are very expensive; the coal bill to heat a house or hall in winter is large: but shall lands be left unsold; shall the houses which could be sold beside the one we live in be retained? Shall it be left until the sweet voice of Mercy is no longer heard, and the door is shut? Now, we are to let our light shine forth to the world, opening the way. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 7} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 8] Give To God His Own. The Medical Missionary work is the helping right hand of the Gospel; therefore when the gospel is preached there must be a most thorough effort made to establish sanitariums. As people accept the truth they will feel called out to labor for souls, making plain and distinct God's plan of salvation. Then as souls decide for the truth and become willing to come out from the churches, meeting houses must be built. Where are the men who have means to help? See the requirement in Luke 12. Sell that ye have and give of God's own property, that of which He has made you stewards. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 8} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 9] It is now time to work to set in order the things that need to be done. "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 9} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 10] An Appeal to the Aged. We wish that all who are becoming old and feeble would make a wise disposition of their means, giving freely back to God that which is His own. Some need the interest on their money to support them while they live. These can lend their money at reasonable interest to our publishing or medical institutions, and make arrangements that it shall be used in missionary work after their death. Wise and faithful men should be chosen as their stewards, and clear and thorough work done to ensure the use of their means in the very way that they wish. Then they will know that their treasure is to be used to warn the world of its coming doom. We have no time to delay. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 10} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 11] To those who have purchased lands which have increased in value, I am commissioned to say, Will you now show your appreciation of the truth, your appreciation of the value of souls, by disposing of these lands and using the proceeds to furnish facilities for the working of our cities? In very truth those lands belong to Him who made heaven and earth, and you are His stewards, "Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful." {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 11} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 12] God has men of opportunity ready to work in the cities if the way is opened before them. Thousands are hungering and thirsting for the Word of Truth; let it come to them; let your gifts and offerings flow into the treasury to sustain the work, and God will send the workmen. There have been presented to me many in the cities who are praying for light, and a knowledge of gospel truth. May the Lord impress upon us all the importance of making the advancement of the last gospel message our very first business. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 12} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 13] My heart aches as I consider all the beautiful and proud possessions of the wealthy men of our great cities. These great establishments, with all their earthly equipments, will soon become worthless heaps of rubbish, consumed by the fires of the last day. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 13} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 14] None of us can purchase Heaven. Not one can use anything which he claims as his possession, to make reconciliation with God for his sins or for the sins of others. None can purchase favor in that time when "the earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall and not rise again." {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 14} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 15] Consecrate All to God. The atonement of Christ makes all who will be saved His own chosen. All that stand as Christ's faithful soldiers will consecrate themselves and all their small and their large possessions to the Lord, to advance His work in this world. Their humble homes, and necessary equipments for business will be used as lent of God. Surplus property will be disposed of for Him. God's full sovereign grace is exercised to save to the uttermost all who shall come to Him. The divine honor is most jealous and uncompromising. "By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God." {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 15} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 16] God calls upon men of tact and ability to present the message of His unbounded love to a fallen world. The rich men of the world may now give themselves to Jesus Christ. "A city that is set on a hill can not be hid." The Lord calls for speakers,--He calls for men who can present the science of salvation in the most clear, winning, and convincing manner. The men who have gifts are now to use them. The workers must begin in decided earnest and create an interest in the teeming population of our cities. Every thing upon the earth is to be revolutionized. Great cities are to hear. The Greater New York is to be worked. The neglected Southern States are to be worked. Foreign fields must be entered and faithfully worked. Immense responsibility rests upon the monied men. A message from God's word needs to come to all the Christian churches of our land. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 16} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 17] God will guide His messengers in the adoption of new methods to arrest the attention of men, and convince their judgment. He will give skill and understanding in the use of effective illustrations to arrest the attention of the people. {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 17} [GH, December 1, 1901 par. 18] Who will come to the front to assist in this great work? Who will dispose of houses and lands now? Who will bring forward their hidden treasures? Who will draw from their bank accounts? Who will provide means for the workers who are willing to enter the great cities of our world? {GH, December 1, 1901 par. 18} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 1] April 16, 1902 "Do All in the Name of the Lord Jesus." Mrs. E. G. White. I am pleased with the Gospel Herald, and should be glad to see it have a large circulation. {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 1} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 2] I am intensely interested in the Southern field. Especially am I interested in the salvation of those who know not their Saviour. Patient labor should be bestowed upon those who have been the most unfortunate. The ignorant are in need of wise instruction. The Lord desires that many should be awakened to act a part in this work. {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 2} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 3] All who love and serve the Lord Jesus, all who have a knowledge of the truth, are anxious to help their fellow men. They heed the charge that God has given them through the apostle Paul: "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity ［love］, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him". Colossians 3:12-17. This scripture points out an excellent way by which man may learn to be an overcomer. {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 3} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 4] I address every professing Christian, and especially the young men and the young women: Will you prove the Lord? Will you put into practice these words so full of grace and power? Will you, as the "elect of God, holy and beloved," open the door of the heart, and "put on" the graces of the Holy Spirit? Will you cherish and cultivate the Christian graces, that in this world you may be Christ's representatives? If you individually choose to follow the instruction given in this scripture, you will ever be doing a class of work that will constitute you co-workers with Jesus Christ, and that will secure for you the confidence and the esteem of those with whom you associate. {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 4} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 5] I wish you to consider what opportunities you have for helping others to maintain integrity and steadfastness of purpose, and for teaching them ever to be kind, honest, and just. Live out the teachings of this scripture yourself. By your godly example lead others not only to esteem you, but to be encouraged to believe that they, too, can do the same good works. Thus every, young man and every young woman can exert a saving influence. {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 5} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 6] 'Let the peace of God rule in your hearts." His peace is waiting to gain an entrance into the heart. Let it come in. "And be ye thankful." How much better it is to be thankful, as enjoined in this scripture, than always to be surmising and speaking evil! And have you not every reason to be thankful? {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 6} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 7] "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom." It is the privilege of every one to be ready and willing to help those in need of help. Meet together for prayer and mutual encouragement. Let your hearts be bound together by one common interest -- the saving of souls. Let your words be well chosen. In the place of speaking foolishly and unwisely, speak words that are a savor of life unto life, even life eternal; "teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 7} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 8] My brother, my sister, will you begin the good work of doing all that you possibly can to advance the interests of the cause in the Southern field? You are to reflect the light of the Sun of Righteousness both upon those who know the truth and upon those who know it not. Do the good works that the Lord is pleased to have all his children do. If you pray and watch unto prayer, you will surely gain precious victories. Faithfully, earnestly strive to win souls to Christ. The winning of one soul to him is of far more consequence in his estimation than is the acquirement of great earthly riches. Let every believer be the Master's helping hand, working for the salvation of perishing souls. The faithful laborer will be richly rewarded. {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 8} [GH, April 16, 1902 par. 9] "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ." {GH, April 16, 1902 par. 9} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 1] April 23, 1902 The Cause of Perplexity. By Mrs. E. G. White. The reason why so many are in perplexity is because they take their cases into their own hands, and manufacture yokes that are not pleasant for them to wear. They worry and plan and devise, when Christ stands inviting, "Take my yoke." {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 1} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 2] If you have not found the rest that Christ has offered to give you upon condition that you learn of him who is meek and lowly of heart, would you not better without delay yoke up with Christ, bear only his burdens, and not pile upon your shoulders burdens that weigh you down to the earth? All your trouble comes because you are so anxious to run things yourself that you do not wear the yoke of Christ, which he declares is easy. The yokes of your own manufacturing gall the neck that wears them. Christ says, Try my yoke, it is easy; lift my burdens, for they are light. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 2} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 3] Christ gives rest to all who receive him by faith. You are not to conjure up a variety of things that you are to enter into in order to find rest, assurance, confidence. Just leave that work, which not even the wisest of the human family can do, and put your trust in One who has promised rest to your soul. Do just what he has told you to do, and be assured that God will do all that he has engaged to do. The invitation is, Come unto me, and I will give you rest. Have you come to him, renouncing all your makeshifts, all your unbelief, all your self-righteousness? Come just as you are, weak, helpless, ready to die. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 3} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 4] What is the "rest"? It is the consciousness that God is true, that he never disappoints a soul who comes to him. His pardon is full and free, and his acceptance of you means rest to your soul, rest in his love. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 4} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 5] But be sure that you act your part by cooperating with the One who has promised. By some the promise is grasped so eagerly that it becomes their own, and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost is their experience. Others suppose that they must wait to become worthy. Never, never will you become worthy, for if this could have been, the Prince of heaven would never have come to our world. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 5} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 6] "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." How is this done? Fear lest you shall weave into the fabric threads of your own selfishness; fear lest you shall err in choosing the timber for your character-building. God alone can supply the solid timber. Well may mortal man be afraid of weaving into his character the miserable threads of his own inherited and cultivated tendencies; well may he tremble lest he shall not submit all things to Him who is working in his behalf, that God's will may be done in him. God welcomes those who come to him just as they are, not building themselves up in self-righteousness, not seeking to justify self, not claiming merit for that which they call a good action, not priding themselves on their knowledge of what constitutes righteousness. Put on the wedding garment which Christ has prepared, and drop the citizen's dress; then you can sit down in heavenly places with Christ. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 6} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 7] While you have been walking in meekness and lowliness, a work has been going on for you, a work which only God could do, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And that good pleasure is to have you abide in Christ; rest in his love. You must not let anything rob your soul of peace, of restfulness, of the assurance that you are accepted just now. Appropriate every promise; all are yours on condition of your complying with the Lord's terms. Entire surrender of your ways, which seem so very wise, and taking Christ's ways, is the secret of perfect rest in his love. Giving up the life to him means much more than we suppose. We must learn his meekness and lowliness before we can realize the fulfillment of the promise, "Ye shall find rest unto your souls." It is by learning the habits of Christ that self becomes transformed,--by taking Christ's yoke and then submitting to learn. There is no one who has not much to learn. All must come under the training of Jesus. When they fall upon Christ, their own hereditary and cultivated tendencies are taken away as hindrances to their being partakers of the divine nature. When self dies, Christ lives in the human agent; the man abides in Christ, and Christ lives in him. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 7} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 8] Christ desires all to become his students. He says, Yield yourself to my training; submit your soul to me. I will not extinguish you, but will work out for you such a character that you shall be transformed from the lower to the higher grade. Submit all things to me. Let my life, my patience, my longsuffering, my forbearance, my meekness, my lowliness, be worked out in your character, as one that abides in me and I in him. Then you have power. Christ says not only, "I will give," but, "You shall find rest to your souls." {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 8} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 9] God calls for an entire surrender. You can not receive the Holy Spirit until you break every yoke of bondage, everything that binds you to your objectionable traits of character. These are the great hindrances to your wearing Christ's yoke and learning of him. The abiding rest--who has it? That rest is found when all self-justification, all reasoning from a selfish standpoint, is put away. Acquaintance with Christ makes you want to abide in him, and to have him abide in you. Entire self-surrender is required. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 9} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 10] In my dream last night a sentinel stood at the door of an important building, and said to every one who came for entrance, Have you received the Holy Ghost? A measuring line was in his hand, and only very, very few were admitted into the building. Your size as a human being is nothing; your size as the full stature of a man in Christ Jesus, according to the knowledge you have had, will give you an appointment to sit with Christ at the marriage supper of the Lamb, and you will never know the extent of the great advantages given you in the banquet prepared for you. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 10} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 11] You may be tall and well proportioned in self, but none such can enter here. None can be admitted who are grown-up children, with all the habits and customs, the disposition, the characteristics, which pertain to children. You have nurtured your suspicions, your criticisms, your bad temper, your dignity, and you can not be permitted to spoil the feast. All who enter through the door have on the wedding garment, woven in the loom of heaven. Your leaven of distrust, your want of confidence, your power of accusing, closes against you the door of admittance. Within this door, nothing can enter that can possibly mar the happiness of the dwellers here by marring their perfect trust in one another. Those who have educated themselves to pick flaws in the characters of others, have thus revealed a deformity of character which has made families unhappy, which has turned souls from the truth to choose fables. You can not join the happy family in the heavenly courts, for God has wiped all tears from their eyes. You can never see the King of beauty, if you are not yourself a representative of the loveliness of Christ's character. Abiding with Christ is choosing only the disposition of Christ, so that he identifies his interests with yours. When you give up your own will, your own wisdom, and learn of Christ as he has invited you to do, then you shall find entrance into the kingdom of God. Entire, unreserved surrender he requires. Give up your life for him to order, mould, and fashion. Take upon your neck his yoke, submit to be led and taught, as well as to lead and teach. Learn that unless you become as a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Abide in him, to be and do only what he wills. These are the conditions of discipleship. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 11} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 12] Unless these conditions are complied with, you can not have rest. Rest is in Christ; it can not be found as something he gives apart from himself. The moment the yoke is adjusted to your neck, that moment it is found easy; and the heaviest labor in spiritual lines can be performed, the heaviest burdens can be borne, because the Lord gives the strength and the power, and he gives gladness in doing the work. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 12} [GH, April 23, 1902 par. 13] Mark the points: Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart. Who is it that speaks thus?--The Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. He desires that your conception of spiritual things shall be purified from the fog of selfishness, the defilement of a crooked, coarse, unsympathetic nature. You must have an inward, higher experience. You must obtain a growth in grace by abiding in Christ. And when you are converted, you will not be a hindrance, but will strengthen your brethren. {GH, April 23, 1902 par. 13} [GH, May 14, 1902 par. 1] May 14, 1902 The Abiding Trust. By Mrs. E. G. White. Love and Confidence We must have the habit stronger and stronger to be always thinking of him who is our life, our crown of rejoicing. He has bought us with the price of his own blood. The Lord has a right to claim that all his disciples shall trust him. Let not a doubt be entertained that those who err can be Christ's; Jesus will be our all-sufficient helper, therefore we shall not remain erring, but be enabled to attain to that holiness to which we are called, through close communion with Christ. If we fall short, it will be through unbelief, and that is sin. With God there is no shortcoming in fulfilling his word. {GH, May 14, 1902 par. 1} [GH, May 14, 1902 par. 2] The Purpose of Christ. If our souls are saved at last, we must look to him who has given his rich and abundant promises to be our strength and our salvation. All his approaches to our hearts, all his blessed agencies within, are for our renovation. Thus he would uplift us, and restore in us the moral image of God. The Holy Spirit is promised to illuminate, purify, elevate, and transform all who believe, into the likeness of Christ. He finds in us the spirit of the world, selfishness, pride, and rebellion against God. The Lord Jesus would detach us from the world, and recall us to be his children, and as his children, to obedience, to be doers of his word and will. This is his purpose. {GH, May 14, 1902 par. 2} [GH, May 14, 1902 par. 3] The Will. Truth is omnipotent, but it does not work in the human agent in opposition to the human will. Here is the turning point of freedom and responsibility. {GH, May 14, 1902 par. 3} [GH, May 14, 1902 par. 4] God's Proving. All profit, all pay, our time, our talents, our opportunities, all are to be accounted for ［to］ him who gives them. He will have the richest reward who loves God supremely and his neighbor as himself. The Lord would not have the first thread of selfishness woven into the fabric of his work. He proves us, to see if our works are free from all selfishness and pride. {GH, May 14, 1902 par. 4} [GH, May 14, 1902 par. 5] The Crisis. We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecies are fulfilling. The last great conflict will be short, but terrible. Old controversies will be revived; new controversies will arise. We have a great work to do. Our ministerial work must not cease. The last warning must be given to the world. There is a special power in the presentation of the truth at the present time. How long will it last?-- Only a little while. If ever there was a crisis it is now. The inquiry of every one should be, What am I? To whom do I owe allegiance? Is my heart renewed? Is my soul reformed? Are my sins forgiven? Will they be blotted out when the time of refreshing shall come? {GH, May 14, 1902 par. 5} [GH, May 14, 1902 par. 6] The Leaven. When one soul is converted, he is the one particle of leaven introduced into the mass; and there should not be a withdrawal of the leaven, so that the mass shall be left without a correcting influence. The value of the consistent example of one truly converted soul, no human being can estimate. There is a moral power given by God, by which the lowest subject, if properly instructed, will become an instrument of righteousness. {GH, May 14, 1902 par. 6} [GH, May 14, 1902 par. 7] Both the understanding and the heart need to maintain the most intimate and conscious connection with the pure, sacred springs from which they derive their light and inspiration. {GH, May 14, 1902 par. 7} [GH, May 14, 1902 par. 8] Too Many Studies. Educate in such a thorough manner that students will have time to consult God, time to live in hourly, conscious communion with the principles of truth, righteousness, and mercy. It is not the right thing to do to crowd in all the studies possible in our schools, and glut the mind. In all our studies, eternity should be kept in our minds. At this time, straightforward investigation of the heart is essential. The student must place himself where he can draw from the deep resources of all moral and intellectual power. He must inquire into every cause which asks his sympathy and co-operation to have the approval of the reason which God has given him and the conscience which the Holy Spirit is controlling. He is not to perform an action which does not harmonize with the deep and holy principles of the word of God, which minister light to his own soul and vigor to his own will. Only thus can he do the living God the highest service. {GH, May 14, 1902 par. 8} [GH, May 28, 1902 par. 1] May 28, 1902 The Abiding Trust By Mrs. E. G. White. Spiritual Life. The Lord has need of men of an intense spiritual life. How are we prepared to work for time and for eternity? The Lord has declared the source of the strength of his people. "Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." {GH, May 28, 1902 par. 1} [GH, May 28, 1902 par. 2] Timothy. Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the gospel, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou, therefore, endure hardiness as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." {GH, May 28, 1902 par. 2} [GH, May 28, 1902 par. 3] These words were written to a youth. Paul tells Timothy that he is not to be a weakling, but strong in the grace of God; that it is his privilege to have power and grace. Timothy is to show that he has given attention to the things which have been communicated to him by his Father in the gospel. He is to treasure up these truths, and commit them to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. This was his charge. His special work was to gather up the fragments of all he heard, and commit them to others, that nothing be lost. {GH, May 28, 1902 par. 3} [GH, May 28, 1902 par. 4] Helping the Inexperienced. This Scripture is fraught with important meaning. It plainly shows us that our love will be tested and proved. In the providence of God, we shall be associated with those who are inexperienced. The humblest child of God, who needs the most help, may at times try the patience of those who are connected with him. Be careful, my brother; be careful, my sister. "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." {GH, May 28, 1902 par. 4} [GH, May 28, 1902 par. 5] Patience and Prayer. There must be a great deal of patience cultivated, a great deal of prayer. Christ met and worked with all classes of human beings, seeking to save that which was lost. Will you who shall connect with men of different organisms and different temperaments, put on Christ, and respect one another as you desire to be respected? {GH, May 28, 1902 par. 5} [GH, May 28, 1902 par. 6] The Wedding Garment. They must not put on their citizen's dress, but the wedding garment. They have been married to Christ, and the robe of his righteousness is to clothe them. The church is the bride of Christ, and her members are to yoke up with their Leader. God warns us not to defile our garments. {GH, May 28, 1902 par. 6} [GH, May 28, 1902 par. 7] Prayer That Is Answered. When a man breathes an intensely earnest prayer to God (Jesus Christ is the only name given under heaven whereby we can be saved), there is in that intensity and earnestness a pledge from God that he is about to answer that prayer exceeding abundantly, above all that we can ask or think. We must not only pray in the name of Jesus, but by the inspiration and kindling of the Holy Spirit. This explains what is meant when it is said, "the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which can not be uttered." The petitions must be offered in earnest faith. Then they will reach the mercy-seat. Unwearyingly persist in prayer. God does not say, Pray once, and I will answer you. His word is pray, be instant in prayer, believing ye have the things ye ask, and ye shall receive them; I will answer you. {GH, May 28, 1902 par. 7} [GH, May 28, 1902 par. 8] The Bible. The word of God is to be presented as it is in Jesus. It is not enough to present the Bible as other books are presented. That it may be understood savingly, the Holy Spirit must work upon the heart of the receiver. The same Spirit that inspired the Word must inspire the readers of the Word. Then we shall hear the voice of heaven in all its harmony, and impressions will be made and an intelligent knowledge attained. "Thy word, O God, is truth," will be the language of the soul. {GH, May 28, 1902 par. 8} [GH, June 11, 1902 par. 1] June 11, 1902 The Abiding Trust By Mrs. E. G. White. The Gospel The gospel -- what a treasure-house of knowledge! It is not as a pool that evaporates; not as a broken cistern that loses its treasure, leaving mud and decaying vegetation behind; not as a fountain that once sent forth a living, refreshing, cooling stream, but has ceased to send forth its cooling waters. Your life may be a living spring, that leaps from rock to rock, clear and sparkling with life, refreshing the weary, the thirsty, the heavy-laden. {GH, June 11, 1902 par. 1} [GH, June 11, 1902 par. 2] These promises are not made to a few, but to all who will come to the heavenly banquet that God has prepared in sending his Son to our world to die in our behalf, that through faith in him we should become one with God. The praise and glory of his grace, power, and wisdom is the effectual salvation of a peculiar people, zealous of good works. {GH, June 11, 1902 par. 2} [GH, June 11, 1902 par. 3] Predestination. Wonderful possibilities are provided for every one who has faith in Christ. No walls are built to keep any living soul from salvation. The predestination, or election, of which God speaks, includes all who will accept Christ as a personal Saviour, who will return to their loyalty, to perfect obedience to all God's commandments. This is the effectual salvation of a peculiar people, chosen by God from among men. All who are willing to be saved by Christ are the elect of God. It is the obedient who are predestinated from the foundation of the world. "To as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to as many as believed on him." {GH, June 11, 1902 par. 3} [GH, June 11, 1902 par. 4] Seal of God What is the seal of the living God, which is placed in the foreheads of his people? It is a mark which angels, not human eyes, can read; for the destroying angel must see this mark of redemption. The intelligent mind has seen the sign of the cross of Calvary in the Lord's adopted sons and daughters. The sin of the transgression of the law of God is taken away. They have on the wedding garment, and are obedient and faithful to all God's commands. {GH, June 11, 1902 par. 4} [GH, June 11, 1902 par. 5] The Church The Lord's church is to him the dearest object on earth. Creation itself was originated in the purpose of God that he might glorify himself in the redemption of his people. {GH, June 11, 1902 par. 5} [GH, June 11, 1902 par. 6] The Plan of Redemption By Christ the work upon which the fulfillment of God's purpose rests, was accomplished. This was the agreement in the councils of the God-head. The Father purposed in counsel with his Son that the human family should be tested and proved, to see whether they would be allured by the temptations of Satan, or whether they would make Christ their righteousness, keeping God's commandments, and live. God gave to his Son all who would be true and loyal. Christ covenanted to redeem them from the power of Satan, at the price of his own life. {GH, June 11, 1902 par. 6} [GH, June 11, 1902 par. 7] The Holy Spirit's Work When Christ ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit took his place, and was a perfect representation of him. It is the work of the Spirit to administer the richest grace, and make it effectual in the hearts of God's people, that the elect may be gathered into one family. We need more quiet, abiding trust in God, and then the very best and highest activities will be put forth. Not one false movement will be made. {GH, June 11, 1902 par. 7} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 1] December 10, 1902 Christ's Representatives. Much work remains to be done in proclaiming the third angel's message. Notwithstanding the great needs of the cause, there are many workers who are content to do for the Master but little in comparison with what he has done for them. Why, O why, is man willing to remain so inactive, so helpless, when he could be accomplishing a great work in saving souls? The Saviour is asking us, "Why stand ye here all the day idle?" We should engage in his service, however great a sacrifice this may at first appear. Poor deluded souls must be aroused from the fatal lethargy of sin. The power of sin over them must be broken, else it will grow stronger and stronger, and at last result in their ruin. {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 1} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 2] Every one who is truly converted has the spirit of service. When Christ is indeed formed within, the hope of glory, his Holy Spirit works through the human agent to save other souls for whom he has died. {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 2} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 3] God invites his workers to call upon him for help, and he promises to hear and answer them. As they take up the cross, fully resolved to do what they can, he gives them strength to bear the burden. Why do we not enlist the help of Omnipotence? In these precious days of probation, let every laborer reach forth the hand in faith for the help and strength that will enable him to be a strong worker, in the Lord's vineyard. Let him pray for soundness of judgment and for heavenly wisdom. God is a mighty Helper. He will sustain every one who trusts in him. He is a sure, tried Anchor, holding his children fast to himself amidst every storm of opposition, every tempest of trial and adversity. When the heavens seem dark, when the strength seems to fail, he will give light and confidence to all who believe in him. To every troubled heart he will speak peace. {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 3} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 4] The Lord hears and answers prayer. He lays upon us no burden greater than we can bear in his strength and by his grace. In every time of need he is a present help. O that we might have faith to ask him for strength according to our great need. Faith is the hand by which we grasp the hand of the mighty Helper. God's promises are sure. Why should we not take him at his word? "Jesus knows our every weakness; Take it to the Lord in prayer." {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 4} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 5] Will not the Lord be pleased to let the light of his countenance shine upon us? O that his arm of power might be revealed. {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 5} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 6] Faith is "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." But I fear that, with many of us, our faith does not reach any farther than our sight. Let no one allow his strength to be wasted by vain conflicts, or his heart wearied and saddened because of unanswered desires. Amidst the fiercest conflicts there is rest for every weary soul who trusts in Christ. To those who are afflicted with either physical or spiritual maladies, Jesus is saying, "Wilt thou be made whole?" He is ready and willing to do great things for those who trust in him. With tenderness and pity he is looking upon his children. He offers help to those who, doing the best they can, plead for capabilities that will enable them to do more for him. {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 6} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 7] O that I could impress the members of the church of Christ with the importance of using aright the talents that have been entrusted to them. O that I could make them see what an influence for good they might exert, if they would use their powers to God's glory. {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 7} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 8] We should not allow indifference or carelessness to mark our actions; for Satan is an untiring foe. Peter says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Of us is required the fullest consecration, the most earnest devotion. The world is to be warned. The masses of the people will not heed God's solemn warning; nevertheless his message must be proclaimed to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue." {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 8} [GH, December 10, 1902 par. 9] The greatest work, the noblest effort, in which man can engage, is to point his fellow-men to the Lamb of God. O let us urge the importance of this work with greater earnestness than we have manifested in the past. Let our church-members begin to work. Let them reveal Christ in every thought, word, and act. If they represent him aright, they will receive the reward of life eternal and a home in heaven. Mrs. E. G. White. {GH, December 10, 1902 par. 9} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 1] GH - The Southern Missionary January 1, 1903 "Endorsement." - Upon receiving from Elder Daniells the type-written copy of the article on the first page, entitled, "An Appeal and a Plan," the proofs of it and the article, "From Macedonia," were sent to Sister White, at St. Helena, Cal. The following endorsement has just been received:-- St. Helena, Cal., Nov. 13, 1903. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 1} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 2] "I heartily endorse the accompanying statement by Elder Daniells. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 2} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 3] "I recommend the use of the book, 'Story of Joseph,' as set forth in the article, 'From Macedonia.' {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 3} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 4] "I would encourage the women and children in our churches to undertake the sale of this book according to the same plan that has been and is being followed with 'Christ's Object Lessons.' {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 4} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 5] "Will our state officers, the Tract and Missionary officers, and the officers in our churches take an interest in this work, and promptly do what they can to make it an immediate success? {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 5} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 6] "It will be well for all our people to make a study of the Southern field, and become acquainted with its needs in missionary work, and especially among the colored people. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 6} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 7] "It is a good plan for those who can to make donations to be used in meeting the expenses of the publication of the book, 'Story of Joseph,' so that the entire sales of the book can be used in missionary work among the colored people. "Ellen G. White." {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 7} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 1] January 1, 1903 How We Can Help The Southern Work. By Mrs. E. G. White. St. Helena, Cal., Nov. 17, 1903. My Dear Brethren and Sisters Everywhere:-- I wish to ask if you would not regard it as a privilege to lay aside a certain sum weekly for the Southern field? Will you not put in a prominent place in your home a box with the inscription, "For the Work among the Colored People of the South?" Will you not ask your children to put into this box the money that they would otherwise spend for candy and other needless things? When visitors come to your home, they will see the box, and will ask in regard to it. Let the children tell the story of their effort to help a needy missionary field by denying self. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 1} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 2] The giving that is the fruit of self-denial is a wonderful help to the giver. It imparts an education that enables us more fully to comprehend the work of Him who went about doing good, relieving the suffering and supplying the needs of the destitute. The Saviour lived not to please Himself. In His life there was no trace of selfishness. Though in a world that He Himself had created, He claimed no part of it as His home. "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests," He said, "but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 2} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 3] I ask the children to show an unselfish interest in the work in the South. Will they not give their mites to help in this work? There are many ways in which they might earn money for this purpose. One of our brethren bought wall pockets, and sold them to our sisters at cost price. Those who bought them sold them to their friends and neighbors at an advance, and gave the proceeds to the Southern work. My son has often written me how much the means thus raised helped in the first establishment of the work. Can not the children make simple, useful household articles, and sell them, telling those to whom these things are offered of the work to which the money thus raised is to be devoted? {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 3} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 4] ［The book, "Story of Joseph," has been prepared for the children to use for this very purpose.--Ed.］ {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 4} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 5] Earnest, continuous effort in this direction will accomplish much. Every gift, however small, will help. Think of how much has been accomplished by the widow's mite. How many, by Christ's recognition of this gift, have been inspired with a determination to do something for the Lord, even though they were so poor that they could give but a small sum. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 5} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 6] Let those who are spending small or large sums for self-gratification ask themselves, Can I not, for Christ's sake, deny self? Are you using tea, coffee, or other harmful things? Will you not give up their use, and send the money thus saved to those who are trying to help the colored people? The good thus accomplished will be two-fold: you yourself, by giving up these harmful indulgences, will be helped mentally and physically; and by your gifts the needy colored people of the South will be helped. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 6} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 7] All Can Do Something. We are not to wait for something great to do. We are to perform faithfully the duty lying nearest us, small though it may be. Faithfulness in the performance of small duties fits us for the bearing of larger responsibilities. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 7} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 8] Have you only one talent? Put it out to the exchangers, by wise investment increasing it to two. Do with your might what your hands find to do. Use your talent so wisely that it will fulfill its appointed mission. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 8} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 9] You may be tempted to say, I will make no effort. What good could one talent accomplish? But do not yield to the temptation. Think of the punishment of the slothful servant, who, entrusted with one talent, refused to put it to use. "Take therefore the talent from him," was the command, "and give it unto him which hath ten talents." {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 9} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 10] Because you have but one talent, let your effort be all the more earnest. The Lord has given you a work as verily as He has given a work to the one who has five talents. If you trade wisely on the one talent entrusted to you, God will give you ability to use a larger number. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 10} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 11] Children To Be Missionaries. Fathers and mothers, teach your children how to exercise their physical and mental capabilities in useful work. How much better for them to be usefully employed than to be reading stories, preparing themselves to become mental inebriates. Teach them that God has a part for them to act in His great missionary work. Do not allow their physical, mental, or moral powers to be misdirected. Your children belong to God, and you are to teach them how to co-operate with Him, how to use the powers of mind and body in His service. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 11} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 12] The Lord will bless them as they work for Him. They can be His helping hand. As they do their work in the home with faithfulness, they are laboring in unity with Christ for the formation of Christ-like characters. They are helping to bear the burdens of the household, and the mother is not obliged to be a slave to the family. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 12} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 13] Children can be acceptable missionaries in the home and in the church. God would have them taught that they are in this world for useful service, not merely for play. They can be trained to do missionary work that will prepare them to fill wider spheres of usefulness. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 13} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 14] Parents, help your children to prepare for the mansions that Christ has gone to prepare for those that love Him. Help them to fulfill God's purpose for them. Let your training be such that it will help them to be an honor to the One who died to secure for them eternal life in the kingdom of God. Teach them to respond to the invitation, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 14} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 15] Let parents and children work earnestly to help others. Thus the good work will deepen and broaden. Higher education is that education which leads human beings to be laborers together with God, practising self-denial and self-sacrifice, revealing compassion and sympathy. Those who have gained such an education will be acknowledged by God in the heavenly courts, in the presence of Christ and the angels. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 15} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 16] An Opportunity to Co-operate with Christ. The Southern field is calling for the help that you can give. In this field there is need of schools, sanitariums, and meeting-houses. Without these facilities, the work cannot be carried forward as it should be. Will you not do what you can to place the work in this field on a solid basis? Will you not come up to the help of the Lord just now? There is not a moment to lose. Christ is asking for your co-operation. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 16} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 17] The "Southern Watchman" is an excellent paper, and one way in which you can help it is by getting subscriptions for it. I urge our church members to take this paper, and to ask others to take it. It contains reading matter that is just what is needed by those not of our faith. Show this paper to your friends and neighbors. Many will subscribe for it if it is brought to their notice. It will be to them as a messenger of the gospel. Are there not children who will try to get subscribers for The Watchman? {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 17} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 18] My brethren and sisters, will you not do your best at this time to help the Southern field, not only by making gifts, but by teaching your children to work for it. I have tried to keep this field before our people as a legacy from the Lord. It has been strangely neglected, and we are now to do all that we can to redeem the time. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 18} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 19] I hope and pray that the parents and children in our ranks will be led by the Holy Spirit so to work that the Lord can bestow on them the blessing that is for every true-hearted, consecrated missionary, be he old or young. I beg of you not to neglect this opportunity to be co-laborers with Christ. Work for God in whatever way may open before you. Help in the way that I have mentioned. Let parents and children unite in the effort that the Lord has shown me they can make for the advancement of His work in the South. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 19} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 20] Think of the many, many colored people who need to be taught to read the word of God. Think of the thousands who have not yet heard the message of salvation. Do you not desire to do something to advance the work of God among them? Think of how untiringly Christ worked when in our world! In the temple and the synagogues, in the streets of the cities, in the market-place, in the workshop, by the seaside, and among the hills He preached the gospel and healed the sick. His life was one of unselfish service, and it is to be our lesson book. The work that He began we are to carry forward. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 20} [GH, January 1, 1903 par. 21] I leave these words with you. May the Lord help you all to understand the urgency of the call for help. We have no time to lose. God will help you. His angels will be with you, as you do your part to advance His work. {GH, January 1, 1903 par. 21} [GH, January 1, 1904 par. 1] January 1, 1904 The Southern Work. In giving to our people a few facts regarding what has been accomplished during the last ten years by our workers in the South, I am endeavoring to do my part to undeceive minds regarding this work, and to arouse our people to a realization of their responsibilities. {GH, January 1, 1904 par. 1} [GH, January 1, 1904 par. 2] My heart aches as I look over the matter that has already been printed on this subject, but which upon many minds had no weight. Like the priest and the Levite, men have looked indifferently on a most pitiful picture, and have passed by on the other side. For years this has been the record. Our people have put forth only a hundredth part of the earnest effort that they should have put forth to warn the indifferent, to educate the ignorant, and to minister to the needy souls in this field. {GH, January 1, 1904 par. 2} [GH, January 1, 1904 par. 3] I cannot help being intensely interested in every movement made by the few who have undertaken work for the most needy ones in this field. For years I have kept pace with the advancement of the work. I have known of the struggles and make-shifts, the self-denial and self-sacrifice, of the laborers there, and have helped them as much as I could,. {GH, January 1, 1904 par. 3} [GH, January 1, 1904 par. 4] How little do we enter into sympathy with God on the point that should be the strongest bond of union between us and Him,--co-operation for depraved, guilty, suffering souls, dead in trespasses and sins! If men shared the sympathies of Christ, they would have constant sorrow of heart over the condition of thousands in the Southern field. {GH, January 1, 1904 par. 4} [GH, January 1, 1904 par. 5] Jesus wept over Jerusalem, because of the guilt and obstinacy of His chosen people. He weeps also over the hard-heartedness of those who, professing to be co-workers with Him, are content to do little or nothing. {GH, January 1, 1904 par. 5} [GH, January 1, 1904 par. 6] Some may say that the work in the Southern States is already receiving from the General Conference more than its share of attention, more than its proportion of men and means. But if the South were not a neglected, needy field, if there were not a pressing necessity for more work to be done there in many different lines, why should the Lord keep the question constantly before His people as He has done for so many years? We must redeem the time. Without delay this long-neglected field must be worked. {GH, January 1, 1904 par. 6} [GH, January 1, 1904 par. 7] A good beginning has already been made. With integrity and faithfulness a few have bravely borne the burden. They have shown what can be done in various lines, and a foundation has been laid for a work that will be as enduring as eternity. The work done amidst poverty and hardship has not been recorded in the books of heaven as a failure. In the courts above those who have done missionary work under the pressure of adverse circumstances are registered as truly successful. God says not always, "Well done, good and successful servant," but, "Well done, good and faithful servant." {GH, January 1, 1904 par. 7} [GH, January 1, 1904 par. 8] The Lord has been working with and for the tried laborers in the South. Many are preparing to put their shoulders to the wheel to help advance the work. The cloud of darkness and despondency is rolling back, and the sunshine of God's favor is shining upon the workers. The Lord is gracious. He will not leave our work in the South in its present condition. The ones living in this great field will yet have the privilege of hearing the last message of mercy, warning them to prepare for the great day of God which is right upon us. Now, just now, is our time to proclaim the Third Angel's Message to the millions living in the Southern States, who know not that the Saviour's coming is near at hand. Mrs. Ellen E. G. White. - {GH, January 1, 1904 par. 8} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 1] March 1, 1904 Courage Must Be Founded on Faith. I have just been reading The Watchman. I am much interested in the experiences of those who are working in the Southern field. We hope that all such experiences will be used in the paper. Those in charge of the paper should make the most of them. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 1} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 2] Be of good courage, the Lord is a present help in every time of need. I know that in the Southern field there are many perplexities, but you have a Helper who sees and knows all about the workings of the enemy. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 2} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 3] We must do our work with cheerfulness and hopefulness. We are in no case to become discouraged. Let us keep our eyes off the disagreeable parts of our experience, and let our words be full of good cheer. We can surround ourselves with a sunny atmosphere, or with an atmosphere charged with gloom. Let us educate ourselves to talk courage; let us learn lessons from the example of Christ. Not even His terrible humiliation at the hands of the Jews and the Roman soldiers, -- His mock trial and the cruel treatment that He received, --caused Him to become discouraged. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 3} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 4] After His resurrection, Christ met with His disciples in Galilee. At the time appointed, about five hundred disciples were assembled on the mountainside. Suddenly Jesus stood among them. No one could tell whence or how He came. Many who were present had never before seen Him; but in His hands and feet they beheld the marks of the crucifixion; His countenance was as the face of God, and when they saw Him they worshipped Him. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 4} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 5] But some doubted. So it will ever be. There are those who find it hard to exercise faith, and they place themselves on the doubting side. Those lose much because of their unbelief. If they would control their feelings, and refuse to allow doubt to bring a shadow over their own minds, and the minds of others, how much happier and more helpful they would be. They close the door to many blessings that they might enjoy if they would refuse to place themselves on the doubting side, and would, instead, talk hope and courage. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 5} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 6] "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." The conditions of the atonement had been fulfilled; the work for which Christ came to this world had been accomplished. He was on His way to the throne of God, to be honored by angels, principalities, and powers. Clothed with boundless authority, He gave His commission to the disciples, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, . . . baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 6} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 7] Do we believe these words? If we do, let us show our faith in them. Let us never forget the words, "all power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." Shall we act as if we had been left orphans in this world? Shall we not, rather, take God at His word, in every perplexity looking to Him for aid? Shall we not show our faith by our works? We have a right to claim the legacy that Christ has left us. He has promised power to every soul who works in faith and love and truth, believing the promise. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 7} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 8] When the time came for Christ to ascend to His Father, He led the disciples out as far as Bethany. Here He paused, and they gathered about Him. With hands outstretched in blessing, and as if in assurance of His protecting care, He slowly ascended from among them. "It came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven." {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 8} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 9] "And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God." {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 9} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 10] Read the account of Christ's ascension as given in the book of Acts. It is full of encouragement for us. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 10} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 11] "Being assembled together" with the disciples, Christ "commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 11} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 12] "And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And, while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 12} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 13] "Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren." {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 13} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 14] "And with his brethren." These had lost much because of their unbelief. They had been among the number who doubted when Jesus appeared in Galilee; but they now firmly believed that Jesus was the Son of God, the promised Messiah. Their faith was established. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 14} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 15] Notice particularly the sixth and seventh verses. "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power." It was not necessary for them to see farther into the future than the revelations of Christ enabled them to see. They were to proclaim the gospel message. But neither they nor those to whom they ministered would receive any benefit from dwelling on speculative theories. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 15} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 16] "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 16} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 17] These words, in all their solemn importance, come sounding down along the line to our time. God's people today are to seek for power from on high, that they may understand the breadth of their mission. May God help us to realize that the burden of our work is to bear witness to the truth. But the teachers of truth can do their work acceptably only as self is crucified, and selfishness is purged from their hearts. They are to purify themselves even as Christ is pure. When they understand fully the meaning of the prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John, they will be so closely united with Christ that there will be no place in their minds for the speculative theories that spring out of nothingness and end in nothingness. {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 17} [GH, March 1, 1904 par. 18] Our workers are not to spend their time in teaching what will be in the new earth. Let them devote every capability and power to the question, "What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life." Let them discard the cheap, foolish ideas which arise from curiosity, which Satan places in minds to lead to spiritual adultery. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GH, March 1, 1904 par. 18} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 1] June 1, 1904 The Huntsville School. An address delivered June 7, 1904, in the Huntsville School Chapel, by Mrs. E. G. White, at Huntsville, Alabama. I am so pleased to see the colored students who are here today. I wish that there were a hundred of them, as it has been presented to me that there should be. I wish there were many more here in training for service; for there is a large field to be worked among the colored people. To those who are here, I would say, "Seek to understand the Scriptures. God will help you. His eye is upon the colored race, and He will send His angels to open your understanding." {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 1} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 2] In regard to this school here at Huntsville, I wish to say that for the past two or three years I have been receiving instruction regarding it--what it should be and what those who come here as students are to become. All that is done by those connected with this school, whether they be white or black, is to be done with the realization that this is the Lord's institution, in which the students are to be taught how to cultivate the land, and how to labor for the uplifting of their own people. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 2} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 3] Those connected with the farm are to work with such earnestness and perseverance that it will bear testimony to the world, to angels, and to men, of the fidelity with which the land has been cared for. This is the Lord's land, and it is to bear fruit to his glory. Those who attend this school are to be taught in right lines, on the farm or in the school-room. They are to be taught how to live in close connection with God. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 3} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 4] The Lord says, "Work out your own salvation." How are you to do this? By doing the very things He wants you to do, that you may become intelligent in His service. He has given you talents to be improved. He has bestowed on the colored race some of the best and highest talents. He will bless in the work of transforming mind and character. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 4} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 5] Students, there is something for every one of you to do in God's service. The Lord wants you to be His helping hand in reaching souls in many places. He wants you to have an intelligence so sharp and clear that you can grasp the most precious truths, and in the simplicity of Christ present these truths to those who have never heard them. There is great need for colored workers to labor for their own people. You can labor in many places where others can not. White workers can labor for the colored people in some places. This is why we have established our printing office in Nashville. In and near Nashville there are large institutions for the education of the colored people. The men who established these institutions have opened the way for the light of the gospel to go to the colored people. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 5} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 6] We want every one who comes to this school, to try to get some other one to come. There should be one hundred students in attendance at the next session of the school. Will you not try in every way possible to swell the number to one hundred? And when the school year is over, these students should not be sent out to go where they please. They are to be trained and educated till they are able to go out into the field to work successfully for the Master. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 6} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 7] "Ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building." Do not bring to the foundation that which is represented as wood, hay, and stubble; for such material will be destroyed by fire. Bring the material that is spoken of in the word of God as gold, silver, and precious stones. This will stand the test. If you bring worthless material to the foundation, your work will be consumed. Could you be satisfied yourself to be saved, and have nothing to show for your life work? Would you work merely to save your own soul? {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 7} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 8] God desires you not only to save your own soul, but to bring others to Him. These ransomed ones, when the redeemed are gathered home, will be among those who will cast their glittering crowns at the feet of the Redeemer, and fill all heaven with rich music. They will exclaim, "Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and that lives again, a triumphant conqueror;" and then they will go to the ones who spoke to them the words which brought them into right relation to God and will say, "It was your influence, through Christ, that led me to accept the truth of heavenly origin." {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 8} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 9] "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure." You are to fear lest you make a mistake, and lead others to follow a wrong example. All that you do is to show the fidelity which God acknowledges. God has given to every man his work, and He puts His stamp on all work that is genuine. But spurious work is of no value in His sight. Everything is to be done with thoroughness. There is to be no sham work. If you will do thorough work here, your education will be worth double to you in after life than if you should leave school with a superficial education, not having done thorough work. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 9} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 10] I feel so grateful that we have this large farm on which to carry on our school work. I am so glad that it is productive land. But it can not be expected to bring forth fruit if it is left uncultivated, From this we may learn a spiritual lesson. "It is My Father's good pleasure," Christ says to His disciples, "that ye bear much fruit." But you can not bear much fruit unless you take out of your lives the weeds of selfishness and sin. We do not ask what your past life may have been. We ask you to take out of your hearts, now, the weeds of evil, and let the word of truth dwell in you richly, that your lives may produce the fruits of righteousness and holiness. If you will do this, you will see in the kingdom of God the result of what you have learned on this school farm. Pull up the weeds of evil in your hearts, and plant the seeds of truth. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 10} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 11] Every one before me is to be a missionary for Christ. Students, we want you to bring others to this school. And we want you to do your level best yourselves in gaining a fitness for service. You have precious opportunities here, and we want you to learn how to train the minds and hands of others, so that they in turn can lead still others to Christ, and receive a crown of rejoicing. You are to be patient, kind, gentle, and yet firm and strong for the right. You are to place your feet on the platform of eternal truth,--the platform that no storm or tempest can sweep away. Do you ask what this platform is? It is the law of God. He says that if you will love the Lord Jesus, and keep His commandments, you will be a kingdom of priests, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 11} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 12] God's eye is upon all. He wants the students in this school to make all they do a means of helping them to gain an education that will enable them to present the truth to their own people. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 12} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 13] I am speaking to the students here today because I want to encourage them. They have a battle to fight; they have a strong prejudice to work against. If they will do this righteously and patiently, not cherishing the feeling that they are misused, God will greatly bless them. Students, remember that Christ loves you; that God so loves you that He gave His only begotten Son to die for you, that you might be brought into the faith. "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 13} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 14] I say again, I am so glad that we have this farm. Not long ago one came to me, and said, "I think it is a mistake to keep that large farm. It is not half cultivated. I think they might better sell a portion of it." That night instruction was given me regarding the matter. It was God's purpose that the school should be placed here. He saw that the workers here would not have to fight every inch of ground in order to establish the truth, as the workers in some places have had to do. The instruction was given me, Never part with an acre of this land. It is to be used in educating hundreds. If those who stand here as teachers will do their part, if with courage they will take up the work appointed them, trusting in the Lord, sending their petitions to heaven for light and grace and strength, success will attend their efforts. The teachers are to be kind and tender, and at the same time very thorough in discipline. This is most essential. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 14} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 15] Minute-men are needed in this school,--men who have vitality and power, men who are prepared to use the capabilities of the whole being in active service, that everything about this school may be of a character to recommend it to angels and to men. Teachers and students will then have the satisfaction of knowing that the work is acceptable to the Lord. {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 15} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 16] Students, God will help you; but you must not think that you can retain the unchristlike traits of character that you naturally possess. You must place yourselves in the school of Christ. You must learn from the One who learned from His Father. Christ declared: "As the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do." In order that His Father might be glorified through the Son. Christ did what His Father had commissioned Him to do. How important that we do what Christ commissions us to do! {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 16} [GH, June 1, 1904 par. 17] We are preparing to enter the holy city. Keep this thought in mind all the time. There is a heaven of bliss before us. Keep thinking of this. And there is a joy that we may have in Christ even in this world. To those who keep His commandments He says, "My joy shall be in you, and your joy shall be full." Keep His commandments and live, and His law as the apple of thine eye. May God bless you all. If I never see you again on this earth, I hope that I shall see you in the kingdom of God. - {GH, June 1, 1904 par. 17} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 1] September 1, 1904 Our Duty Towards the Huntsville School. My visit to our school for the colored people, at Huntsville, Alabama, brought me great sorrow of heart. I had known that this institution was in pressing need of substantial help, but I had not understood fully the real condition of the school. That which I saw staggered me. I asked myself, "How can the brethren in the South, who have seen the needs of this school, remain silent? In what light does God regard their failure to bestir themselves in an effort to place this school on vantage-ground? How can He acquit the sight of their eyes? {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 1} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 2] The equipment of the Huntsville school is very incomplete. Even some of the most common necessities are lacking. There are no proper facilities for giving treatment to the sick. Those who attend this school have been getting along with crude makeshifts, hoping that in time some of the necessities would be supplied. {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 2} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 3] That which to me seemed the greatest mystery of all, was the striking contrast between ----- and Huntsville. At ----- the school and the sanitarium have been built up substantially by friends both in the North and in the South. The ----- brethren and sisters have given much toward the erection and equipment of good buildings. The ----- community has an appearance of thrift and prosperity. This is as it should be. But I could not understand how those there, who have known of the destitution of a sister institution at Huntsville, have been content to continue building up their home institutions, without doing something for the training-school for colored people. {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 3} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 4] How neighborly, how Christlike, it would have been for those at ----- to say: "We have been prospered in our efforts to establish institutions in this place. And while we are not planning the ----- work unwisely, nor building too substantially, yet, in consideration of the more urgent need of the institution at Huntsville, let us send on to our fellow workers there some of the means now flowing in to us." What an encouragement this would have been to the struggling teachers and students at Huntsville! How pleased the Lord would have been to see the needed facilities thus provided for! {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 4} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 5] I refer to the neglect manifested by the ----- church, simply to illustrate the spirit that has characterized other churches in the South and elsewhere. Those in charge of the work at Huntsville also failed of fulfilling their whole duty. They should have put forth every effort possible to place their needs before our people in the South. Earnest letters appealing to the generosity of Seventh-day Adventists throughout the South, should have been written and sent out freely. Hearts would have been touched by such appeals. {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 5} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 6] As the Saviour was teaching during His earthly ministry, "a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" The Saviour entered into no controversy. He required the answer from the questioner himself. "What is written in the law?" He asked, "how readest thou?" {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 6} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 7] The lawyer said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself." "Thou hast answered right," Christ said; "this do, and thou shalt live." {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 7} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 8] Unwilling to acknowledge the truth, the lawyer put another question, saying, "Who is my neighbor?" {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 8} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 9] Instead of entering into controversy, Christ answered this question by relating the parable of the good Samaritan. "A certain man," He said, "went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed leaving him half dead." {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 9} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 10] A priest and a Levite, coming that way at intervals, "passed by on the other side." But a Samaritan, traveling the same road, came to the wounded man, and "when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee." {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 10} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 11] The lawyer was convinced. When Christ asked him, "Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?" he answered, "He that showed mercy on him." {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 11} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 12] "Then Jesus said unto him, Go, and do thou likewise." {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 12} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 13] My dear brethren and sisters in the Southern field, let us learn anew the lesson taught by this parable. We are sometimes content to allow a brother or a neighbor to struggle unaided under adverse circumstances. The same heartless neglect is sometimes manifested toward institutions. The attitude of some toward the Huntsville school, so destitute of many necessities, has not been the attitude that we should reveal toward a neighbor in distressing need. {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 13} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 14] Had our people in the Southern States taken the interest in the Huntsville school that God would have been pleased to see them take, this institution would now be on high vantage-ground. Tried men should have gone from church to church in the Southern field, setting before our people the needs of this school. I have been burdened so heavily over this matter, that I have felt that if my strength would be sufficient to enable me to travel from place to place in the South, and arouse our people to fulfill their duty toward this school, I would then be willing to die. From the light given me, I know that God is in earnest with us regarding our neglect of duty toward this institution. {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 14} [GH, September 1, 1904 par. 15] Let us now redeem the time. The Lord has been calling upon His people in the stronger Conferences of the North to sustain the Huntsville school by liberal gifts. We pray that He will put it into their hearts to respond nobly. Shall not His people in the South act their part faithfully, by taking a neighborly, substantial interest in the welfare of an institution planted in their own field? The Lord will bless every unselfish effort put forth. Ellen G. White. {GH, September 1, 1904 par. 15} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 1] December 1, 1904 Encouraging Letter From California. A PRIVATE LETTER WRITTEN FROM LOS ANGELES, CAL., UNDER DATE OF NOV. 5 1904, GIVES THE FOLLOWING INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF THE WORK IN THAT PLACE:-- {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 1} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 2] For some time Elder Simpson has been holding tent meetings in a large tent, which is pitched near the business part of the city. On Sabbath morning I spoke in this tent. Notice had been sent to the churches near Los Angeles, and there were about a thousand people present. This was the Sabbath which had been set apart as a day on which a general collection should be taken up on our churches throughout America for the colored work in the South. I think that the contributions taken up after the morning service amounted to about seventy-five dollars. {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 2} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 3] Tomorrow afternoon I am to speak again in the tent, and I shall try to present the needs of the work that is being done for the colored people, and will give those present and opportunity to help forward this work. I am sure that those who are working for the colored people need all the means that can be sent them. I am glad that money is being raised by a general contribution; for this gives all the opportunity of receiving the blessing that comes from giving. {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 3} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 4] On Friday I went out to see the Glendale Sanitarium, which has recently been purchased for twelve thousand dollars. It is a good building, in a very favorable location. It is now being fitted up, and we hope that it will be ready for patients in a few weeks. {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 4} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 5] As a result of the tent meetings that have been held in Los Angeles during the past year, nearly a hundred souls have accepted the truth. A good company have taken their stand at Riverside, and small companies have been raised up in other places. In all, about two hundred have decided to obey the truth. Some of the new believers have given substantial help to the tent meetings by bearing part of the expense of getting out notices and leaflets. {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 5} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 6] Brother Simpson is doing a good work, and he takes wonderfully with the people. I pray that the Lord will preserve his health. The way in which the work is being done, and its results, give clear evidence of the presence of the living God. {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 6} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 7] On our way from St. Helena to Los Angeles, we spent three or four days in the Hanford-Lemore district, visiting old friends, and attending a missionary convention. I spoke several times, and tried to impress the hearers with the necessity of working earnestly to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. I spoke especially of the needs of the Southern field, and W. C. White also took great pains at each meeting to bring this work before the minds of the people. {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 7} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 8] Our churches in every place need to repent and be converted. There are many who have brought much wood, hay, and stubble to the foundation. They need to be refined, sanctified, purified. If all would humble themselves before the Lord, making it their first work to seek for the purification of His Spirit, a great reformation would follow. If God's people will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, all things needful will be added unto them. {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 8} [GH, December 1, 1904 par. 9] I have great hope that the work among the colored people will receive substantial help as the result of the contributions taken up today. I am working, praying, and hoping for this, and I shall leave the result with God. Ellen G. White. {GH, December 1, 1904 par. 9} [GH, March 1, 1905 par. 1] GH - The Gospel Herald March 1, 1905 Upward and Onward. We are Christ's witnesses, and we are not to allow worldly interests and plans so to absorb our time and attention that we pay no heed to the things that God has said must come first. There are higher interests at stake. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness: and all these things shall be added unto you." {GH, March 1, 1905 par. 1} [GH, March 1, 1905 par. 2] Christ gave Himself willingly and cheerfully to the carrying out of the will of God. He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. In view of all that He has done, should we feel it a hardship to deny ourselves? Shall we draw back from being partakers of Christ's sufferings. His death ought to stir every fibre of our beings, making us willing to consecrate to His work all that we have and are. As we think of what He has done for us, our hearts should be filled with gratitude and love, and we should renounce all selfishness and sin. What duty could the heart refuse to perform, under the constraining influence of the love of God and Christ. "I am crucified with Christ," the apostle Paul declared; "nevertheless I live: yet not I but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me". {GH, March 1, 1905 par. 2} [GH, March 1, 1905 par. 3] Let us relate ourselves to God in self-denying, self-sacrificing obedience. Faith in Christ always leads to willing, cheerful obedience. He died to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. There is to be perfect conformity in thought, word, and deed, to the will of God. Heaven is for those only who have purified their souls through obedience to the truth. It is a place where unsullied purity alone can dwell. "Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure." {GH, March 1, 1905 par. 3} [GH, March 1, 1905 par. 4] In perfect obedience there is perfect happiness. "These things have I spoken unto you," Christ said, "that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full." May the Lord bless us, and strengthen our faith, and lead us onward to the heights to which we have not yet ascended. He gave Christ to die for us, that we might be purified from all iniquity. He has promised to pour out His Spirit upon us, that we may be sanctified through the truth. He has given us His word, that through obedience to its teachings, we may be made holy. It is our privilege, our duty, to grow in grace. This is the will of God, even your sanctification. Mrs. E. G. White. - {GH, March 1, 1905 par. 4} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 1] April 1, 1905 Call for Colored Laborers By Mrs. Ellen G. White. Most decided efforts should be made to educate and train colored men and women to labor as missionaries in the Southern States. Christian colored students should be preparing to give the truth to their own race. Those who make the fear of the Lord the beginning of their wisdom, and give heed to the counsel of men of experience, can be a great blessing to the colored race, by carrying to their own people the light of present truth. Every worker, laboring in humility and in harmony with his brethren, will be a channel of light to many who are now in the darkness of ignorance and superstition. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 1} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 2] Instead of wondering whether they are not fitted to labor for white people, let our colored brethren and sisters devote themselves to missionary work among the colored people. There is an abundance of room for intelligent colored men and women to labor for their own people. Much work remains to be done in the Southern field. Special efforts are to be made in the large cities. In each of these cities there are thousands of colored people, to whom the last warning message of mercy must be given. Let the missionary spirit be awakened in the hearts of our colored church members. Let earnest work be done for those who know not the truth. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 2} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 3] To every colored brother and sister I would say, Look at the situation as it is. Ask yourself, "In view of the opportunities and advantages granted me, how much do I owe to my Lord? How can I best glorify Him, and promote the interests of my people in the Southern States? How can I use to the best advantage the knowledge God has been pleased to give me? Should I not open my Bible and teach the truth to my people? Are there not thousands perishing for lack of knowledge, whom I can help if I submit myself to God, so that He can use me as His instrument? Have I not a work to do for my oppressed, discouraged fellows?" {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 3} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 4] The Southern field is suffering for workers. Will you pass by your people on the other side, or will you with a humble heart work to save the perishing? There is work you can do if you will humble yourself before God. Trusting in Him, you will find peace and comfort; but following your own way and your own will, you will find thorns and thistles, and you will lose the reward. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 4} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 5] Time is short, and what you do must be done quickly. Resolve to redeem the time. Seek not your own pleasure. Rouse yourself! Take hold of the work with a new purpose of heart. The Lord will open the way before you. Make every possible effort to work in Christ's lines in meekness and lowliness, relying upon Him for strength. Understand the work the Lord gives you to do, and, trusting in God, you will be enabled to go on from strength to strength, from grace to grace. You will be enabled to work diligently, perseveringly, for your people while the day lasts; for the night cometh in which no man shall work. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 5} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 6] There is the greatest need for all kinds of missionary work in the South. Without delay workers must be prepared for this field. Our people should now be raising a fund for the education of men and women in the Southern States, who, being accustomed to the climate, can work there without endangering the life. Promising young men and young women should be educated to become teachers. They should have the very best advantages. Schoolhouses and meeting-houses should be built in different places, and teachers employed. In the small schools established, let colored teachers work for the colored people, under the supervision of well qualified men, who have the spirit of mercy and love. The white and the black teachers should unite in counsel. Then the white teachers are to work for the white people, and the colored teachers for the colored people. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 6} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 7] Those who for years have been working to help the colored people, are best fitted to give counsel in regard to the opening of such schools. So far as possible, these schools should be established outside the cities. But in the cities there are many children who could not attend schools away from the cities; and for the benefit of these, schools should be started in the cities as well as in the country. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 7} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 8] The children and youth in these schools are to be taught something more than merely how to read. Industrial lines of work are to be carried forward. The students are to be provided with facilities for learning trades that will enable them to support themselves. This work will require talent, wisdom, experience, and, above everything else, the grace of God. The colored youth will be far more difficult to manage than the white youth, because they have not been taught from their childhood to make the best use of their time. There are many of them that have had no opportunity to learn how to take care of themselves. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 8} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 9] Our churches in the North, as well as in the South, should do what they can to help support the school work for the colored children. The schools already established should be faithfully maintained. The establishment of new schools will require additional funds. Let all our brethren and sisters do their part whole-heartedly to place these schools on vantage-ground. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 9} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 10] In addition to engaging in this line of school-work, our colored brethren may do a good work by establishing Mission Sunday Schools and Sabbath Schools among their own people,--schools in which the colored youth may be taught by teachers whose hearts are filled with love for souls. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 10} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 11] Opportunities are continually presenting themselves in the Southern States, and many wise, Christian colored men will be called to the work. But for several reasons, white men must be chosen as leaders. We are all members of one body, and are complete only in Christ Jesus, who will uplift His people from the low level to which sin has degraded them, and will place them where in the heavenly courts they shall be acknowledged as laborers together with God. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 11} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 12] There is work to be done in many hard places, and out of these hard places bright laborers are to come. Let the work be managed so that colored laborers will be educated to work for their own race. There are colored people who have talent and ability. Let us search out these men and women, and teach them how to engage in the work of saving souls. God will co-operate with them, and give them the victory. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 12} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 13] The ear of the Lord is open to the cries of those who are in His service. He has promised, "I will guide thee with Mine eye." Walk humbly with God, and ask Him to make your course of duty plain. When He speaks of His representatives, and asks them to be laborers together with Him, they will do the same kind of work that Jesus announced as His work when He stood up to read in the synagogue at Nazareth. He opened the book of the prophet Esaias and read, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because 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." {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 13} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 14] The truth is now overcast in the world by the clouds of error that prevail on the right hand and on the left. He who can influence even the most lowly, and can win them to Christ, is co-operating with divine agencies in seeking to save that which is lost. In presenting to the sinner a personal, sin-pardoning Saviour, we reach a hand of sympathy and Christlike love to grasp the hand of one fallen, and, laying hold of the hand of Christ by faith, we form a link of union between the sinner and the Saviour. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 14} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 15] The end is near, and every soul is now to walk carefully, humbly, meekly, with Christ Jesus. Our precious Saviour, from whom all the rays of truth radiate to the world through His light-bearers, wants us to put not our trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help; but to lean wholly upon Him. He says, "Without Me ye can do nothing." We need to look to Jesus constantly, in order that He may impress upon us His own lovely image. We are to behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Then we shall reveal Christ to our fellow-men. - {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 15} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 1] April 1, 1905 Our Peril "Present to the churches the true state of the long-neglected field, the long-neglected portion of My vineyard. There are hearts that will be touched and will respond. Call for means to come directly to the workers in the Southern field. I will impress hearts." {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 1} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 2] "These instructions have not been revoked, and are still in force." {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 2} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 1] April 1, 1905 Timely Instruction By Mrs. E. G. White Taken from a Private Letter to James Edson White I am instructed, as the Lord's messenger, to tell you to make God your trust, and to leave your perplexities in His hands. He will bring to pass His will. Now is your time to find rest of soul. Let not your dependence be in man, but in God. You must every moment make Him your trust. You, and all the Lord's people, have a work to do. We are to build the old waste places, and raise up the foundations of many generations. The great issue regarding the law of God will soon be upon us. We are to work as those who are called and chosen of God. Our influence is to be united with that of the great Physician in repairing the breach and restoring paths to dwell in. We are to make a determined stand for the truth. Read the whole of the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 1} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 2] No one is to be idle now. Oh that those who have allowed continual differences to arise could see the loss they have thus sustained. Let us work on the plan given in the fifty-eighth of Isaiah. The instruction of this chapter shows what we are to do in co-operation with the great Master-worker. My son, do what you can to relieve the situation of the colored people of the South, and especially the situation of the colored people in Nashville. "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness; to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house; when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?" {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 2} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 3] This message is given to me to give to others everywhere. God abhors selfishness. Let every one of us abhor it. Let us deal justly and mercifully with every line of the work of God. Those who change the issue, as has so often been done, to shun the doing of the work laid out in this Scripture, will lose a most precious blessing. The Word of the Lord is sufficient. God calls us to action. Let us all take hold unitedly, with the will to do what God has said must be done. Success will attend those who co-operate with God all the time, not just once in a while, when it is for their advantage to do so. We are to regard it as a sacred privilege to work out the purposes of God. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 3} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 4] "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily, and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am." What does this mean but that obstructions will be placed in the way, to hinder the advancement of the work which has been kept before the Lord's people for many years. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 4} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 5] Are the souls for whom Christ has given His life cared for as they should be? Are those to whom He has entrusted His means moving consistently in relieving the oppressed? Are not the cries and complaints of the poor and needy entering the ears of the Lord God of hosts because His stewards are remiss in the work that they should do as His helping hand? Is not this evil in every church? "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice as a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." Let the present order of things be changed. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 5} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 6] "If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday." {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 6} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 7] God will not permit selfish adoration of some, while others, striving with all their capabilities, are left unhelped, and are deprived of the blessings that more favored ones have. I call upon all to arouse to their responsibilities. The Lord Jesus has said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." He takes observation, and writes in His book the deeds of His children here below. He sees when His faithful ones are put in the hardest places, and are permitted to do their God-given work under great disadvantages. He says, "Will I not judge for these things?" {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 7} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 8] "If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 8} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 9] "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 9} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 10] "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." The messenger must deal faithfully with the great deception. He must convince the people of their sins. They are called the people of God, the house of Jacob. They bear an honorable title, and because of the high privileges bestowed on them, they have become self-exalted. This is their danger. Flatter them not, but open before them their defects of character, their neglect to honor God by self-denial and self-sacrifice, their failure to follow the example set them by the Saviour. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 10} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 11] Said Christ, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work." "I seek not Mine own glory, but the glory of Him that sent Me." Let the people of God arouse to a sense of their deficiencies, and of the work that they must do. Let them break every yoke. Let them make their prayers practical. It is for the best good of the Lord's people that the sins and the defects caused by the enemy be plainly pointed out. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 11} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 12] So long have some exalted themselves as supreme in wisdom that their sins are deceptive and delusive. They have not on the robe of Christ's righteousness, but it is not yet too late for wrongs to be righted. Let them repent and be converted, and bring mercy and justice and judgment into their lives. If they would receive the message of God, and do the merciful acts of Christ, they would live a new life. They would cease all boasting, all falsifying, all evil speaking, and humble their hearts before God. They would obey the instruction given by Christ in the Old and New Testaments, remembering that in life and character they must be representatives of Christ. They would honor their Redeemer by daily living the new life,--a life hid with Christ in God. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 12} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 13] Practical Christianity means, not working for God now and then, but continuously. It means being laborers together with God. A neglect to reveal this practical righteousness in our lives is a denial of the faith and of the power of God, and makes of but little effect His principles of Godliness. Such negligent Christians become fault-finders, at discord with their brethren, and pronouncing judgment against many good works. They are spiritual paralytics. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 13} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 14] Those who thus refuse to exercise for Christ the capabilities and powers of the soul, are lukewarm Christians, neither cold or hot, and they are nauseating to Christ. He cannot endure their unsanctified traits of character. Their lives bear the evidence I do not care to confess. The confession may never be made until it is made in awful agony, when it is too late for wrongs to be righted. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 14} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 15] Those who allow themselves to be deceived by the enemy, are held accountable by God for failing in a faithful discharge of duty. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 15} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 16] These unfaithful stewards have aided in strengthening the deception that God designed should be broken. The testimony to be borne is, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." There are those who are self-deceived, yet, for fear of hurting their feelings, their brethren permit them to go on, though feeling that their course is not in harmony with the will of the Lord. These deceived ones commit sins that they will not acknowledge to be sins. They may appear to be reformed in some things, but they are not doing thorough work in confession and repentance. Those who might have saved them, but did not, become in turn like them. Sentiments of a misleading character are presented. Sins are committed that are not acknowledged as sins. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 16} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 17] God said to Isaiah, "Show My people their transgression." Let their sins appear as they are, whether or not they confess them, that the message of reproof sent them may be vindicated, and that God's faithfulness in warning them and condemning their wrong course of action may be shown. Evidence is to be given to the evil worker that the Lord knows the course followed by those who refuse to repent and be converted, that others may shun a similar course of affronting God and setting a wrong example. Those who make no difference between those who serve God with the whole heart, and those whom He has reproved, become a snare, and they lose their power of discernment. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 17} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 18] There are plain, decided testimonies to be born under the power of the Holy Spirit, to men who will not see their own sins. Such ones are a snare to others, setting them an example that leads them to do likewise. And when the word of the Lord comes to His messengers, as it came to Isaiah, then wrong must be called wrong, and the right must be presented as it is presented in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 18} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 19] The reproof is to be given with the earnestness and faithfulness represented in the words, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 19} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 20] "Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinance of justice; they take delight in approaching to God." God sends His message to lay bare the deception of these ones, lest others, and among them those entrusted with large responsibilities, shall become unworthy of their trust. The reproval, the messenger of God, must speak with earnestness, as to ears that are deaf, because those addressed do not want to be convinced. They want to stand as wise men, who make no mistakes. But they are under the power of the enemy, and bring in sentiments that are dishonoring to God. "Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and Thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and Thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 20} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 21] "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye brake every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 21} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 22] "If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not." {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 22} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 23] These rich promises are to be fulfilled. The Lord will co-operate with men in all their works of reform, but their salvation depends on their cutting loose from the scientific falsehood of Satan. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 23} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 24] "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in." The Christian world has been drawn into a fallacy, and has been led to trample upon the law of Jehovah. The message of the immutability of this law is to be proclaimed by all medical missionaries, and all ministers of the gospel. The foundation of many generations is the law of God, and in clear decided tones the message is to be given that the breach which has been made in the law of God is to be repaired. {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 24} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 25] "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shall honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 25} [GH, April 1, 1905 par. 26] The command concerning the observance of the Seventh-Day Sabbath is still binding upon all the inhabitants of this earth. God has set apart this day as a sign between Him and His people of their loyalty. God's commandments never change; they are as enduring as eternity. The Lord has His messengers whom He bids to proclaim His law as changeless in its character. Those who obey this law will bear the seal of the living God. There is no sanctity in the first day of the week. The Seventh Day was set a part as a memorial of the work of creation. Every one is to look to God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, for light and guidance, and Him alone are they to honor. - {GH, April 1, 1905 par. 26} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 1] May 1, 1905 California to Washington. - From a personal letter from Mrs. E. G. White. I send you from Washington the assurance that the protecting care of our Heavenly Father was over us during our long journey. I want you to know of the goodness and love of God. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 1} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 2] I stood the trip remarkably well, and was stronger when I left the cars at Washington than when I got on board at San Francisco. During the first part of the trip, the train moved very gently and quietly. It was a pleasure to be on something that moved, and yet did not annoy me in moving. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 2} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 3] I rested more during the journey than it would have been possible for me to rest in my own home; for had I remained at home, I fear that I would have been troubled by a constant regret that I had not exercised faith by starting out on the journey. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 3} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 4] We traveled under the escort of Mr. Phillips, a very pleasant and obliging young man, who did all in his power to make us comfortable. He seemed to watch for opportunities to suggest something for my comfort and convenience. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 4} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 5] All the way along through Texas and Louisiana the ground was brilliantly carpeted with wild flowers, and at every stop the train made some of the men would get out to gather flowers for those inside. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 5} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 6] On Sabbath we had a song service. Brother Lawrence, who is a musician, led the singing. All the passengers in the car seemed to enjoy the service greatly; many of them joining in the singing. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 6} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 7] On Sunday we had another song service, after which Elder Corliss gave a short talk, taking for his text the words. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed up on us that we should be called the sons of God." The passengers listened attentively, and seemed to enjoy what was said. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 7} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 8] On Monday we had more singing, and we all seemed to be drawing closer together. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 8} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 9] I dared not address the people, fearing that I would strain my vocal organs. I knew that I would have to speak often during the General Conference, and that I must be guarded, and get all the rest that I could beforehand. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 9} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 10] There was a larger number of passengers on the car than when we came East last year, but during the whole trip nothing occurred to mar the harmony. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 10} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 11] During the journey I gave away several of my books, and those to whom I gave them were very much pleased. I gave a copy of "Christ's Object Lessons" to Mr. Phillips, and he seemed to appreciate the gift very highly. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 11} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 12] On reaching Welch, La., we were met by about thirty of our people. In spite of the fact that the train stopped there for only a few minutes, several of the sisters pressed into the car, bringing me three boxes of beautiful flowers. I shook hands with the few who managed to get in, but how I did wish that the train would stop longer, so that I could have spoken to all who came. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 12} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 13] At Atlanta, Brother R. M. Kilgore and several others met us. They were expecting us to spend the day with them, but as matters turned out, we were unable to do this. It was very pleasant indeed to meet these friends along the way, and we were sorry that we could not stay longer at each place. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 13} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 14] We reached Washington at ten o'clock Tuesday morning. There was no one there to meet us; for our people had not been notified of our coming, so we went over to the Branch Sanitarium. Here we were given a hearty welcome. This Sanitarium is a beautiful place, in a very fine location. The building is rented furnished throughout, and the house and its appointments are just what is needed in a place like Washington. It is in the city, within easy access, and yet there is plenty of space on all sides. In front of the building, across the street, is a fine park, in which the patients can walk or sit, enjoying the precious sunshine. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 14} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 15] God can work wonders in preparing the way before us. I can but say, Praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name, for the love and care that He has shown in opening the way for me to come to this Conference. I have nothing but words of encouragement to write regarding my journey across the continent. I had opportunities to give away some of my books, and to speak to some of my fellow-passengers regarding the goodness and love of God. Those with whom I talked seemed eager for opportunities to hear more. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 15} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 16] There was one young man in our car with whom I became deeply interested. I made a strong effort to persuade him to give up the use of tobacco, and I have every encouragement to think that my effort was not in vain. I held myself in readiness to speak a word in season and out of season, here a little and there a little. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 16} [GH, May 1, 1905 par. 17] I can but feel that the Lord is in my coming to Washington at this time. I have a message to bear. God helping me, I will stand firm for the right, presenting truth unmixed with the falsities that have been creeping stealthily in. Those who are on the Lord's side will refuse to be drawn astray by false science, which makes a jingle of the true word of prophecy. May the Lord give me much of His grace, that in every word and act I may reveal the light of truth. {GH, May 1, 1905 par. 17} [GH, June 1, 1905 par. 1] June 1, 1905 Be on your Guard! The following paragraphs are taken from a private letter from Mrs. E. G. White, dated July 5, 1903. {GH, June 1, 1905 par. 1} [GH, June 1, 1905 par. 2] It has been presented to me that Satanic agencies are working in ways that man does not expect. At times he puts on the robes of an angel of light, and many receive him as such a being. If we will link ourselves closely with Christ, Satan will have no power to overcome us. As we draw near to God, He draws near to us, and lifts up for us a standard against the enemy. {GH, June 1, 1905 par. 2} [GH, June 1, 1905 par. 3] I have been shown that some, even of those who teach the word of God, would be in great danger of being overcome. I saw some linking their arms in the arm of Satan, while he talked most earnestly with them, telling them of the many things that needed to be changed in the church. Afterward his words were repeated by those to whom he had talked. They were delighted with what seemed to them to be a clearer perception and better methods of working. {GH, June 1, 1905 par. 3} [GH, June 1, 1905 par. 4] I say to all, "Be on your guard, for as an angel of light Satan is walking among every church, trying to win the members to his side." I am bidden to give to the people of God the warning, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." {GH, June 1, 1905 par. 4} [GH, June 1, 1905 par. 5] Christ explains in the parable of the Sower and the seed, the need of guarding against the enemy. "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not," He says, "then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away the seed which was sown in his heart." {GH, June 1, 1905 par. 5} [GH, June 1, 1905 par. 6] After one has heard the truth, he is in great need of personal labor. Questions arise in his mind. Satan is watching for an opportunity to lead him to doubt. The enemy chooses agents whom he sends to him to misstate the words of the one who gave the message. "Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in the heart." The tempted one opens his mind to the evil agencies, and yields to the tempter. Thus Satan turns the truth of God into a lie. The one that was convicted loses the blessed influence that if cherished would have meant eternal life to him. Satan takes possession of the heart, and it becomes hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. - {GH, June 1, 1905 par. 6} [GH, July 1, 1905 par. 1] July 1, 1905 An Earnest Appeal. By Mrs. E. G. White. I have been in the South for five weeks, going from place to place, viewing the work, and seeing the needs of the field, We are making special efforts to help forward the work among the colored people. {GH, July 1, 1905 par. 1} [GH, July 1, 1905 par. 2] Schools should be opened in many places, in which colored people can be educated to work for their own race. Mission Schools must be opened, in which old and young may be taught. {GH, July 1, 1905 par. 2} [GH, July 1, 1905 par. 3] Treatment rooms and small Sanitariums must be established: for the people must be taught how to live healthfully. There is much suffering amongst them. {GH, July 1, 1905 par. 3} [GH, July 1, 1905 par. 4] I present to you this portion of the Master's vineyard, which has been neglected, but which must be worked. I make an earnest appeal to all who love the Lord Jesus to do all they can to help at this important time. {GH, July 1, 1905 par. 4} [GH, July 1, 1905 par. 5] The Lord instructed me that much could be accomplished by placing Self-Denial Boxes in the homes of our people. I acted upon the light given. I am glad to learn that the love of Christ has moved many hearts, and that so large a number have responded. My heart says, Thank God for the good results that have been seen. The money sent in from these Self-Denial Boxes helps in the accomplishment of the great and good work that we desire to see done. {GH, July 1, 1905 par. 5} [GH, July 1, 1905 par. 6] Many should become interested in the work of placing these Boxes in homes. Ask old and young to aid the work for the colored people by placing these Boxes in every home possible. A blessing will surely follow the gifts of self-denial thus brought to the Master. {GH, July 1, 1905 par. 6} [GH, July 1, 1905 par. 7] Tell the little ones about the work that is being done for the colored children, who have been so greatly neglected. Tell them that the money they put into the Self-Denial Boxes is used in giving colored children some of the blessings white children are so abundantly provided with. Schools are started, in which the colored children are told of the love of Jesus. {GH, July 1, 1905 par. 7} [GH, July 1, 1905 par. 8] Invite those not of our faith to do all they can for the advancement of this work. The Lord has placed the responsibility upon them. He expects them to act their part. As they have received, so they are to impart. Nashville, Tenn., July 6, 1904. - {GH, July 1, 1905 par. 8} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 1] August 1, 1906 What is the Chaff to the Wheat? Mrs. E. G. White Religion in the heart, planted there by the Spirit of God produces beauty in the character. It is not as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. The Spirit of truth, the righteousness of Christ, produces beauty in the soul. It is that inward adorning of great price. The Spirit of holiness if received from God into the inner sanctuary of the soul, will, if it pervades the soul-temple, work outward, moulding and fashioning the character after the divine similitude. The Spirit, the life from Jesus Christ, flows from the soul. It is represented as a well of water, springing up unto everlasting life. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 1} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 2] Genuine faith and love, and the reverence and fear of God, will have a refining influence on the life. Spurious pretenses, emotional, fitful, religious experiences will also make themselves apparent in the life. Too often, for a time, these pass for genuine religion; but their influence is such that the question is forced upon those who have a knowledge of the fruits of righteousness, What is the chaff to the wheat? {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 2} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 3] Those whose religion depends on circumstances are altogether unreliable. Their experience being fashioned by their surroundings is fitful and unsafe, and misleading to themselves; and the atmosphere which surrounds their souls is misleading to others also. The high, ecstatic flashes that occasionally brighten up their experience are regarded by many as the inspiration of God; but it is simply the development of the natural phase of character. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 3} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 4] These two classes are represented in the fiftieth chapter of Isaiah: "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." And the warning is given to the other class, "Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow." {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 4} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 5] There is a marked contrast between the strange fire kindled by selfish human efforts and the sacred fire of God's own kindling. The one bears the decided imprint of humanity. Its fruit testifies to the character of the tree. "By their fruits ye shall know them." The souls that fix their attention on the fountain of truth and wisdom, who go straight to the source of true wisdom, will not be disappointed. "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not ［any man for his lack of knowledge］, but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed." To those who thus seek, it shall be given. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 5} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 6] The Holy One has presented his law to us as a standard of character. And the Lord is our judge, as well as our law-giver, and our king. There can be sinless human agents, who will not swerve from the strictest truth and honesty. Abraham was God's representative in his generation. God calls him the father of the faithful. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 6} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 7] And Christ says, "Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad." How could Abraham behold the plan of redemption? How could he comprehend the great and grand working out of this plan through the future ages? By faith. He saw the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star. He saw the one great anti-typical Sacrifice gracing the word with his presence, living the life of God in this sinful world: and his righteousness was going before him showing him the way, and the glory of the Lord was his reward. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 7} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 8] Abraham had a special interest in the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. To him it was revealed that in Christ his hopes of eternal life were centered. Through his sacrifice his salvation was complete, and Abraham's heart was filled with comfort, hope, and assurance, which was to him a firm foundation, a solid rock, upon which he rested in confidence that could not be shaken. The very truth that came down from heaven, was welcomed into his heart. He was not an occasional Christian, and an apparently devout worshiper. God said, "I know him." He could trust Abraham. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 8} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 9] Among his children God would have no tampering with the conscience of young or old, master or servant. There is to be no conniving at transgression. The ten holy precepts had not been written upon the tables of stone by the finger of God in Abraham's day. But Abraham was acquainted with them. They had been handed down from generation to generation; parents had taught their children the will of the Creator. Having educated himself to obey the law of God, the spirit of the commandments given in Eden was woven into the character of Abraham, fashioning his life after the divine pattern; and as a result his family was enlightened. He feared the Lord with all his house; for God's standard of holiness was made known by Abraham to both masters and servants. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 9} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 10] He who combines faith and works will command his household after him, and like Abraham, will fear the Lord with all his house. Of him God said, "I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken." He who is a true child of Abraham will cultivate home religion. It is the privilege of every one to walk in the light, if they will seek the Lord earnestly for wisdom. The word of the Lord was made known to Abraham direct by heavenly intelligences. The same word was made known to the following generations by the Old Testament Scriptures; and is now revealed in the New Testament gospel. The written word can be taken into every family. It should be opened before the members of the household as their guide book; to be studied and obeyed. In every difficulty that may arise, let all inquire, What hath God said in his word; for that is our directory, our rule of life? The word is the bread of life to the hungry soul; the water of life to the thirsty soul. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 10} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 11] David beheld the wondrous glory of Jesus Christ, "And while I was musing the fire burned; then spake I with my tongue." How could he keep silent? He must give utterance. He must tell of the grand scenes opened before him; the power, the majesty, the glory of Christ. Who can behold the glory of our Redeemer and not speak of it? Who, with the eye of faith, can see his beauty and not extol it? Who can taste of his love and not adore him, the Lord God of hosts is his name. Even the chosen of God cannot give expression to the glory of his goodness and love. Language fails to reveal it. Lost in wonder, one of old exclaimed, He is "the chiefest among ten thousand. . . . Yea, he is altogether lovely! He is my beloved, and I am his." In the 145th psalm David offers him beautiful tribute of praise, saying, "I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name forever and ever. . . . Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. . . . All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee." Unable to find words to express what was in his heart, John calls upon all to behold him: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God!" {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 11} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 12] "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life (for the life was manifested and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life ［Jesus Christ］, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us): that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 12} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 13] The golden chain binds the Old and New Testaments together. They both express the same thing; declaring unto humanity the living testimony of the King in his beauty. All the writers show forth the praises of him who hath called them out of darkness into his marvelous light. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 13} [GH, August 1, 1906 par. 14] We also are to open our lips in praises. From the heart subdued with his love, let expressions of adoration arise; tell of his goodness, tell of his loveliness; extol his grace; magnify his lovely character. To the true believer, he is more precious than gold, even the finest gold of Ophir; yea, more precious to me than life itself. {GH, August 1, 1906 par. 14} [GH, November 1, 1906 par. 1] November 1, 1906 From Sister White Referring to the Self-denial Boxes and their use Sister White says:-- {GH, November 1, 1906 par. 1} [GH, November 1, 1906 par. 2] "Fathers and mothers, teach your children lessons of self-denial, by encouraging them to unite with you in dispensing with the things we really do not need, and in giving to the colored work the money thus saved. Tell your children of the poor colored people and their necessities. Implant in each tender heart a desire to deny self in order to help others. Lead the children early to realize the close relationship existing between money and missions. {GH, November 1, 1906 par. 2} [GH, November 1, 1906 par. 3] "The fields are white for the harvest. Shall not the laborers have means for gathering in the precious grain? Will not those who know the truth see what they can do to help, just now? Will not every one cut off all needless expenditures? See what you can do in self-denial. Dispense with all that is not positively necessary. Come up to the measure of your God-given responsibility. Fulfil your duty toward the colored race. "Some may say: 'We are being drawn upon continually for means. Will there be no end to the calls?' We hope not, so long as there are in our world souls perishing for the bread of life. Until all has been done that you can do to save the lost, we ask you not to become weary of our repeated calls. Many have not yet done that which they might do, that which God will enable them to do if they will consecrate themselves unreservedly to him. {GH, November 1, 1906 par. 3} [GH, November 1, 1906 par. 4] "The Lord's servants are to feel a noble, generous sympathy for every line of work carried on in the great harvest field. We are to be interested in everything that concerns the human brotherhood. By our baptismal vows we are bound in covenant relation with God to make persevering self-denying, self-sacrificing efforts to promote, in the hardest parts of the field, the work of soul saving. God has placed upon every believer the responsibility of helping to rescue the most needy, the most helpless, the most oppressed. Christians are to enlighten the ignorance of their less favored brothers. They are to break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free from the power of vicious habits and sinful practices. By imparting the knowledge sent from heaven, they are to enlarge the capabilities and increase the usefulness of those most in need of a helping hand." - {GH, November 1, 1906 par. 4} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 1] October 1, 1907 A Message to Teachers By Mrs. E. G. White To our workers among the colored people, and especially to those who are teaching the children and the youth, I would say, Hold fast. Do not lose courage. We shall all be tried, to see of what material we are made. Work with an eye single to the glory of God. Labor to uplift and ennoble your students. They will be what you make them, largely. Teach them that their souls can be made clean in the blood of the Lamb. Hold up before them the hope that they can be Christians in thought, in word, in deed. Thus souls will be won to Christ. Tell them, oh, tell them of the love of Jesus, who taketh away the sin of the world. {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 1} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 2] Keep ever before your students the thought that they are in school to be fitted to act their part in helping others to prepare for a place in the family above. The Lord desires them to act kindly and courteously, because they are members of his family. Keep this before them always. Doing this, you cannot speak harshly to them, neither can you be coarse or rough, because this would not harmonize with the Bible principles that you are trying to teach them. {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 2} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 3] Teachers, keep heaven and the Saviour before your students. Impress their minds with the thought that they must do their very best; for God's eye is upon them. This teaching you may certainly class as a branch of higher education. {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 3} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 4] Teachers are to bring into the schoolroom a softening, subduing influence. In their daily habits they are to be an example of propriety. In their dress they are always to be neat and tidy. Children are naturally quick to imitate; and as they see habits of order and cleanliness, industry and Christian integrity, exemplified in the daily life of their teacher, their own lives will be powerfully influenced for good. Excellent results will appear. {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 4} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 5] The work done in the Huntsville school is to be an object-lesson of what can be done for the colored youth and children in every school, small or large, in providing advantages and surroundings that will tend to uplift and ennoble those who attend. The Huntsville school is to be a place where the standard is kept high. The teachers must be filled with a determination to teach the students, in connection with book-knowledge, practical lessons of neatness and refinement. Nothing coarse or slovenly is to be allowed in the dress of the students. Their deportment is to be above reproach. They are to be taught to be neat in their habits. And in all that pertains to the premises of the school, both inside the various buildings, and on the school-grounds and the farm, an object-lesson of orderliness and thrift is to be taught. {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 5} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 6] The Huntsville school is to exert a far-reaching influence for good. To the teachers in this school I am instructed to say, Encourage the students. Inspire them with the hope that they can work successfully for the Master. And as you labor, remember that your school is to be an example of what all other colored schools should be, with respect to carefulness of deportment and thoroughness of work. {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 6} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 7] In the smaller schools for colored pupils, there are promising youth who can be trained to enter the field as teachers. As these attend school, let them see that their teachers have confidence that they will become workers who will fill their appointed places in God's great plan. And let efforts be made to give those who have done faithful work, an opportunity to secure further training, if need be, at Huntsville. {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 7} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 8] Men and women from the colored race are to be educated to work as missionaries for their own people. This education and training is to be given them within their own borders. They are to be taught line upon line, precept upon precept: here a little, and there a little. This will require patient, earnest, persevering, judicious effort. But such effort is richly rewarded. {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 8} [GH, October 1, 1907 par. 9] Schools for colored children and youth are to be established in many different places in the Southern field. I am deeply interested in the maintenance of these schools. I have often spoken on the importance of this work. I desire to do my part in helping this branch of the Lord's cause in the Southern field. And I am calling upon my brethren and sisters in America to act their part. I am pleading with them to show by their works a firm faith in the power of God to gather out from the Southland a people who shall be a praise to his name, and who shall finally unite with the redeemed from among men in singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Ellen G. White. - {GH, October 1, 1907 par. 9} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 1] May 1, 1908 Medical Missionary Work Among the Colored People of the South Mrs. E.G. White When connected with other lines of gospel effort, medical missionary work is a most effective instrument by which the ground is prepared for the sowing of the seeds of truth, and the instrument also by which the harvest is reaped. Medical missionary work is the helping hand of the gospel ministry. So far as possible, it would be well for evangelical workers to learn how to minister to the necessities of the body as well as the soul; for in doing this, they are following the example of Christ. But intemperance has well-nigh filled the world with disease, and the ministers of the gospel cannot spend their time and strength in relieving all in need of help. The Lord has ordained that Christian physicians and nurses shall labor in connection with those who preach the Word. The medical missionary work is to be bound up with the gospel ministry. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 1} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 2] In no place is there greater need of genuine gospel medical missionary work than among the colored people in the South. Had such a work been done for them immediately after the proclamation of freedom, their condition today would have been very different. Medical missionary work must be carried forward for the colored people. Sanitariums and treatment-rooms should be established in many places. These will open doors for the entrance of Bible truth. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 2} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 3] This work will require devoted men and means, and much wise planning. Years ago we should have been training colored men and women to care for the sick. Plans should now be made to do a quick work. Let promising colored youth -- young men and young women of good Christian character -- be given a thorough training for this line of service. Let them be imbued with the thought that in all their work they are to proclaim the third angel's message. Strong, intelligent, consecrated colored nurses will find a wide field of usefulness opening before them. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 3} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 4] The Lord Jesus is our example. He came to the world as a servant of mankind. He went from city to city, from village to village, teaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing the sick. Christ spent more time in healing than in teaching. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 4} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 5] As our example, Christ linked closely together the work of healing and teaching, and in this our day they should not be separated. In our schools and sanitariums nurses should be trained to go out as medical missionary evangelists. They should unite the teaching of the gospel of Christ with the work of healing. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 5} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 6] The Lord has instructed us that with our training schools there should be connected small sanitariums that the students may have opportunity to gain a knowledge of medical missionary work. This line of work is to be brought into our schools as part of the regular instruction. Huntsville has been especially pointed out as a school in connection with which there should be facilities for thoroughly training consecrated colored youth who desire to become competent nurses and hygienic cooks. Let us rejoice that the managers of our Huntsville school are now planning to carry out this instruction without further delay. Let us help them make Huntsville a strong training center for medical missionary workers. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 6} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 7] The colored medical missionary worker stands on vantage ground. In the providence of God, a wide field of usefulness is open to him. He is permitted to enter where others are refused admission. In his consistent daily life of self-denial and self-sacrifice, he may exert a quiet yet far-reaching influence in behalf of the truth for this time. And he will not lack opportunity for testifying of the saving grace by which his life is being constantly transformed into the likeness of the great Medical Missionary. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 7} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 8] To many of the colored people, the difficulties against which they have to contend seem almost insurmountable. But there are those who will not give up. All who are conscientiously and in the fear of God trying to acquire an education are to be helped and encouraged. There is talent among the colored race, and this talent will be developed where least expected. Every advantage possible is to be given to the colored youth who are capable of becoming useful workers in the Lord's vineyard. There are those who with proper training can be prepared to conduct sanitariums for colored people. In all cases they will need, at times, the assistance of white workers, but their talents will tell greatly for the success of the work. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 8} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 9] O, that we might catch a glimpse of the work God desires us to accomplish for the colored people in the South! Could the vail be removed, could we but realize the distressing condition of thousands suffering from physical and spiritual maladies, how earnestly would we plan to train suitable colored workers to go forth to minister to the needs of their own race! How gladly would we come up to the help of the Lord, by giving freely of our means for the establishment and maintenance of training-centers, where colored youth could be fitted for helpful service as true medical missionary evangelists! May God enable us to discern the opportunities now afforded us to lay broad plans for carrying forward this line of work in a manner befitting its importance. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 9} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 10] Those who are able to relieve the sick of their temporal necessities, will often find ready access to hearts. Grateful for the loving ministry performed in their behalf, many will gladly listen to words of spiritual comfort and consolation. Their hearts will be susceptible to the influence of the Holy Spirit, as the consecrated medical missionary opens the Scriptures of truth and brings to their attention the special warning message for this time. Many will decide to yield their all to the Lord. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 10} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 11] Such a work as this is sadly needed in the cities of the South. Thousands of colored people have drifted into these congested centers. In many, many families, want and misery and deep spiritual poverty prevail. For such classes as these, the medical missionary evangelist is peculiarly fitted. But work of this character cannot be undertaken, unless the workers are first trained, and then supplied with needed facilities. Means is needed for the prosecution of such work. And in the privilege of contributing to the support of his cause in the earth, God has graciously given us opportunity to participate in the rewards of those who engage in this line of service. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 11} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 12] Soon the work of God in the earth will close triumphantly. Soon those who have remained steadfast unto the end, will be granted an abundant entrance into the kingdom of our Lord. As the opportunities for service are now presented, shall we not quickly respond, giving freely of our means for the support of the closing work? It is now our privilege to return unto the Lord his own, in free-will gifts and offerings; soon we shall receive the reward of the faithful. {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 12} [GH, May 1, 1908 par. 13] Of all the joys that await the redeemed in the earth made new, one of the highest will be the privilege of mingling our voices with the voices of those whom we have helped to save, in praise and adoration to the One who put into our hearts a desire to give. As God hath prospered us, let us now do all in our power to further the interests of his kingdom. Soon "the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." - {GH, May 1, 1908 par. 13} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 1] June 1, 1908 Treatment Rooms and Mission Home Colored, Nashville, Tenn. The last chapters of this earth's history are rapidly fulfilling. Our last great work is to be done. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins."--Testimony, Dec. 21, 1905. - {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 1} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 1] June 1, 1908 About the Self-Denial Boxes "As I have made acquaintance with the poverty of the Southern field, I have earnestly desired that some method might be devised by which the work for the colored people could be sustained. One night, as I was praying for this needy field, a scene was presented to me, which I will describe. {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 1} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 2] "I saw a company of men working, and asked what they were doing. One of them replied: 'We are making little boxes to be placed in the home of every family that is willing to practice self-denial in order that they may send of their means to help the work among the colored people of the South. Such boxes will be a constant reminder of the needs of this destitute race; and the giving of money that is saved by economy and self-denial will be an excellent education to all the members of the family.' {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 2} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 3] "Without delay I wrote to our brethren in the South to make little Self-Denial Boxes, and circulate them extensively, to be used as silent messengers in the homes of our people, -- to remind parents and children of their duty toward a neglected race. The Southern Missionary Society of Edgefield (now Madison) Tenn., took up this matter at once, and are now prepared to send the Boxes to all who desire to help in this way. {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 3} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 4] "Fathers, mothers, teach your children lessons of self-denial, by encouraging them to unite with you in dispensing with the things we really do not need, and in giving to the colored work the money thus saved. Tell your children of the poor colored people and their necessities. Implant in each tender heart a desire to deny self in order to help others. Lead the children early to realize the close relationship existing between money and missions. {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 4} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 5] "The fields are white for the harvest. Shall not the laborers have means for gathering in the precious grain? Will not those who know the truth see what they can do to help, just now? Will not every one cut off all needless expenditures? See what you can do in self-denial. Dispense with all that is not positively necessary. Come up to the measure of your God-given responsibility. Fulfil your duty toward the colored race. {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 5} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 6] "Some may say, 'We are being drawn upon continually for means. Will there be no end to these calls?' We hope not, so long as there are in our world souls perishing for the bread of life. Until all has been done that you can do to save the lost, we ask you not to become weary of our repeated calls. Many have not yet done that which they might do; that which God will enable them to do if they will consecrate themselves unreservedly to him. {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 6} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 7] "The Lord's servants are to feel a noble, generous sympathy for every line of work carried on in the great harvest field. We are to be interested in everything that concerns the human brotherhood. By our baptismal vows we are bound in covenant relation with God to make persevering, self-denying, self-sacrificing efforts to promote, in the hardest parts of the field, the work of soul saving. God has placed upon every believer the responsibility of helping to rescue the most needy, the most helpless, the most oppressed. Christians are to enlighten the ignorance of their less favored brothers. They are to break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free from the power of vicious habits and sinful practices. By imparting the knowledge sent from heaven, they are to enlarge the capabilities and increase the usefulness of those most in need of a helping hand." {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 7} [GH, June 1, 1908 par. 8] "I have written concerning these boxes, and the self-denial they will encourage, and I now ask if you will not accept the light that God has given to his people. These boxes should be used more than they have been, and let no one, either by pen or voice, hinder their circulation." {GH, June 1, 1908 par. 8} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 1] September 1, 1908 An Important Offering "The present is an opportunity we cannot afford to lose. We call upon all our people to help to the utmost of their ability." {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 1} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 2] "There should be a hundred workers where now there is but one." {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 2} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 3] "The Lord's treasures are at hand, entrusted to us for just such emergencies." {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 3} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 4] "The Lord calls upon his people to make offerings of self-denial. Let us give up something that we intended to purchase for personal comfort or pleasure. Let us teach our children to deny self, and become the Lord's helping hands in dispensing his blessings." {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 4} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 5] "The sums which you give may be small when compared with the necessities of the work," continues the Testimony, "but be not discouraged. Have faith in God. Hold fast the hand of infinite power, and that which seems hopeless at first will look different. The feeding of the five thousand is an object-lesson for us. He who with five loaves and two small fishes fed five thousand men, besides women and children, can do great things for his people today."--Vol. 6, p. 465. {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 5} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 3] "The work there needs means, God has given warnings, but they have not been heeded. Church-members in America who have pleasant homes and surroundings, should remember the Southern field. It is in need of special attention and support. . . . The work which should have been done in that field has not been done. {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 3} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 4] "Why do you neglect this work? God has made it your duty to deal with this poor, oppressed race as their circumstances demand. Let the work go forward. Encourage the people who are favorably situated to help in this field. {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 4} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 5] "There are men who will tell you that the work in the South has been misrepresented, that it is not so arduous as it is made to appear. Let no one suppose that the Southern field is an easy place to work: for it is the most difficult portion of the Lord's vineyard, and soon it will be even more difficult. The greatest wisdom must be exercised. All connected with the work must be as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves." {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 5} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 6] "I call upon every church in our land to look well to your own souls. 'Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?' God makes no distinction between the North and the South." {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 6} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 7] "Sin rests upon us as a church because we have not made greater effort for the salvation of souls among the colored people. Let us do what we can to send to this class laborers who will work in Christ's name, who will not fail nor be discouraged. We should educate colored men to be missionaries among their own people. We should recognize talent where it exists among that people, and those who have ability should be placed where they may receive an education. {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 7} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 8] "The converting power of God must work a transformation of character in many who claim to believe the present truth, or they cannot fulfil the purpose of God. They are hearers, but not doers of the Word. Pure, unworldly benevolence will be developed in all who make Christ their personal Saviour. There needs to be far less of self and more of Jesus. The church of Christ is ordained of God that its members shall be representatives of Christ's character. He says, 'You have given yourselves to me, and I give you to the world. I am the light of the world: I present you to the world as my representatives.' As Christ in the fullest sense represents the Father, so we are to represent Christ. Let none of those who name the name of Christ be cowards in his cause. For Christ's sake stand as if looking within the open portals of the city of God." {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 8} [GH, September 1, 1908 par. 9] This work "has been touched with only the tip ends of our fingers," compared with that which must be done, Is it not high time we were taking hold of it in a whole-hearted way, never to let go until the great Master himself says, "It is enough"? {GH, September 1, 1908 par. 9} [GH, November 1, 1908 par. 1] November 1, 1908 Extracts from a Testimony, Dated Oct. 19, 1908 "I am burdened, heavily burdened, for the work among the colored people. The gospel is to be presented to the down-trodden negro race. . . . For many years I have borne a heavy burden in behalf of the colored race. My heart has ached as I have seen the feeling against this race growing stronger and still stronger, and as I have seen that many Seventh-day Adventists are apparently unable to understand the necessity for an earnest work being done quickly. Years are passing into eternity with apparently little done to help those who were recently a race of slaves." {GH, November 1, 1908 par. 1} [GH, November 1, 1908 par. 2] "We should be deeply interested in the establishment of schools for the colored people. And we must not overlook the importance of placing the present truth before the teachers and students in the large colleges for colored people that have been established by men of the world." {GH, November 1, 1908 par. 2} [GH, November 1, 1908 par. 3] "Schools and sanitariums for colored people should be established, and in these the colored youth should be taught and trained for service by the very best teachers that can be employed." {GH, November 1, 1908 par. 3} [GH, November 1, 1908 par. 4] "The powers of hell are working with all their ingenuity to prevent the proclamation of the last message of mercy among the colored people". {GH, November 1, 1908 par. 4} [GH, December 1, 1908 par. 1] December 1, 1908 Price Per Year, 10 Cents A Testimony dated Oct. 19, 1908, says: "Years ago the truth should have been proclaimed from city to city in those fields where there are many colored people. In these cities sanitariums and schools are to be established, in suitable locations; and these institutions are not to be left barren of much-needed facilities, as the Huntsville School was left for years." {GH, December 1, 1908 par. 1} [GH, April 1, 1909 par. 1] April 1, 1909 Extracts "A school should be established near Nashville." {GH, April 1, 1909 par. 1} [GH, April 1, 1909 par. 2] "The Southern Missionary Society is not to be extinguished. It must exist to do a work that will be neglected unless it lives." {GH, April 1, 1909 par. 2} [GH, April 1, 1909 par. 3] "The Southern Missionary Society is a helping hand to do a work in the South that would otherwise be left undone." {GH, April 1, 1909 par. 3} [GH, April 1, 1909 par. 4] "According to the light given me, not a pillar of the Southern Missionary Society should be moved." {GH, April 1, 1909 par. 4} [GH, May 1, 1910 par. 1] May 1, 1910 Self-Denial Boxes My Dear Brethren and Sisters everywhere: I wish to ask if you would not regard it as a privilege to lay aside a certain sum weekly for the Southern field? Will you not put in a prominent place in your home a box with the inscription, "For the Work Among the Colored People of the South?" Will you not ask your children to put into this box the money that they would otherwise spend for candy and other needless things? When visitors come to your home, they will see the box, and will ask in regard to it. Let the children tell the story of their effort to help a needy missionary field by denying self. {GH, May 1, 1910 par. 1} [GH, May 1, 1910 par. 2] Every church-member should cherish a spirit of sacrifice. In every home there should be taught lessons of self-denial. Keep in your homes a self-denial box into which you can put the money saved by little acts of self-denial. {GH, May 1, 1910 par. 2} [GH, May 1, 1910 par. 3] Many should become interested in the work of placing these boxes in homes. Ask old and young to aid the work for the colored people by placing these boxes in every home possible. A blessing will surely follow the gifts of self-denial thus brought to the Master. Mrs. E. G. White. {GH, May 1, 1910 par. 3} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 1] August 1, 1910 Watch We are in the waiting time; let your loins be girded about, and your lights shining, that you may wait for the Lord when he returns from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks you may open unto him immediately. {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 1} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 2] Watch, brethren, the first dimming of your light, the first neglect of prayer, the first symptom of spiritual slumber. "He that endureth to the end shall be saved." It is by the constant exercise of faith and love that believers are made to shine as lights in the world. We are making but poor preparation for the Master's coming if we are serving mammon while professedly serving God. When he appears, you must then present to him the talents you have buried in the earth, talents neglected, abused, misused,--a divided love. {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 2} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 3] Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. There are stern battles to be fought. We should put on the whole armor of righteousness, and prove our selves strong and true in our Redeemer's service. God wants no idlers in his fields, but colaborers with Christ, vigilant sentinels at their posts, valiant soldiers of the cross, ready to do and dare all things for the cause in which they are enlisted. {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 3} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 4] In this age of corruption, when our adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour, I see the necessity of lifting my voice in warning. "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." There are many who possess brilliant talents, who wickedly devote them to the service of Satan. What warning can I give to a people who profess to have come out from the world, and to have left its works of darkness? to a people whom God has made the repositories of his law, but who like the pretentious fig-tree, flaunt their apparently flourishing branches in the very face of the Almighty, yet bear no fruit to the glory of God. Many of them cherish impure thoughts, unholy imaginations, unsanctified desires, and base passions. God hates the fruit borne on such a tree. Angels, pure and holy, look upon the course of such with abhorrence, while Satan exults. Oh, that men and women would consider what is to be gained by transgression of God's law. Under any and every circumstance, transgression is a dishonor to God and a curse to man. We must regard it thus, however fair its guise, and by whomsoever committed. {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 4} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 5] God is leading his people out from the abominations of the world, that they may keep his law; and because of this, the rage of "the accuser of our brethren" knows no bounds. "The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." The antitypical land of promise is just before us, and Satan is determined to destroy the people of God, and cut them off from their inheritance. The admonition, "Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation," was never more needed than now. We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were required to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life, should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin, and true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many of professed Christians must be put away. There is earnest warfare before all who would subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities in another. Though all nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet he will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth. Everyone must be tested, and found without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 5} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 6] Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing work of the atonement. Momentous are the interests involved therein. The judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above. For more than sixty years this work has been in progress. Soon--none know how soon--it will pass to the cases of the living. In the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review. At this time above all others it behooves every soul to heed the Saviour's admonition, "Watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is." "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 6} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 7] When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of all will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short time before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven. Christ in the Revelation, looking forward to that time, declares: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 7} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 8] The righteous and the wicked will still be living upon the earth in their mortal state--men will be planting and building, eating and drinking, all unconscious that the final, irrevocable decision has been pronounced in the sanctuary above. Before the flood, after Noah entered the ark, God shut him in, and shut the ungodly out; but for seven days the people, knowing not that their doom was fixed, continued their careless, pleasure-loving life, and mocked the warnings of impending judgment. "So," says the Saviour, "shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Silently, unnoticed as the midnight thief, will come the decisive hour which marks the fixing of every man's destiny, the final withdrawal of mercy's offer to guilty man. {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 8} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 9] "Watch ye therefore, . . . lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping." Perilous is the condition of those who, growing weary of their watch, turn to the attractions of the world. While the man of business is absorbed in the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure-lover is seeking indulgence, while the daughter of fashion is arranging her adornments,--it may be in that hour the Judge of all the earth will pronounce the sentence, "Thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting." {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 9} [GH, August 1, 1910 par. 10] "And what I say unto you I say unto all. Watch." Mrs. E. G. White. {GH, August 1, 1910 par. 10} [GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 1] GMM - Gospel Medical Messenger October 15, 1913 Our Duty to Our Children. ----- Christian Schools. The garden of Eden was not only Adam's dwelling, but his school-room. As in that school, so in the school of the earth, two trees are planted--the tree of life, which bears the fruit of true education, and the tree of knowledge, yielding the fruit of "science falsely so-called." All that have connection with Christ have access to the tree of life, a source of knowledge of which the world is ignorant. After sin entered this world, the heavenly husbandman transplanted the tree of life to the paradise above, but its branches hang over the wall to the lower world. Through the redemption purchased by the blood of the Son of God, man may now partake of its life-giving fruit. The tree of knowledge has its roots in the earth. It is of the earth, earthly. All who have tasted of the heavenly fruit, the bread of life, are to be co-workers with God, pointing others from the tree of knowledge to the tree of life, that they also may partake of its fruit. {GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 1} [GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 2] Shall the education given in our schools be after God's order, or after the wisdom of this world, which the Lord pronounces foolishness? Shall the hearts of students become estranged from God by eating of the tree of knowledge, which hardens the heart into disobedience, and ministers to vanity and pride? Shall not the education given in our schools be of that character which will give a more decided knowledge of God's Word, and which will bring the soul into a vital connection with God, keeping God before the mind's eye, and arousing every better feeling in the soul? This is the kind of education which is as enduring as eternity. {GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 2} [GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 3] We cannot consent, at this period of time, to expose our youth to the consequences of learning a mixture of truth with error. The youth who come from school without feeling the importance of making the Word of God the first study, the main study, above every science in educational lines, are not qualified in these days of peril to enter upon the work of the teacher. The question of how to obtain a knowledge of God is to all a life-and-death question. {GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 3} [GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 4] It is to fortify the youth against the temptations of the enemy that we have established schools where they may be qualified for usefulness in this life and for the service of God. The love of God imparts more than finite energy and qualifications for divine achievements. {GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 4} [GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 5] Whatever business parents may think suitable for their children, whether they desire them to be manufacturers, agriculturists, mechanics, or to follow some professional calling, they would reap great advantages from the discipline of an education. Your children should have an opportunity to study the Bible in the school. {GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 5} [GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 6] Shall members of the church give means to advance the cause of Christ among others, and then let their own children carry on the work and service of Satan? {GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 6} [GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 7] There are places where our schools should have been in operation years ago. Let these now be started, under wise directors, that the children and youth may be educated in their own churches. --Mrs. E. G. White. {GMM, October 15, 1913 par. 7} [GMM, November 5, 1913 par. 1] November 5, 1913 Need of Church Schools ----- Duty of Parents. ----- Can we wonder that the children and youth drift into temptation, and become educated in wrong lines, when they are continually associating with other neglected children? There is a work to receive the light of truth, and workers must be educated. Schools which will provide for the education of the children must be opened in places where they are so much needed. {GMM, November 5, 1913 par. 1} [GMM, November 5, 1913 par. 2] There is earnest work to be done for the children before the overflowing scourge shall come upon all the dwellers upon the earth. The Lord calls upon all who are Israelites indeed to serve Him. Gather your children into your own houses. Gather them in from the crowd who are voicing the words of Satan, who are disobeying the commandments of God. * * * Gather in your children, and give them the Word of God as the foundation of all their education. Had the churches in different localities sought counsel of God, they would not need to be thus addressed on this point. {GMM, November 5, 1913 par. 2} [GMM, November 5, 1913 par. 3] Any one of the children of the Hebrews who was found in the Egyptian habitations was destroyed. * * * We have a special work to do in educating and training our children, that they may not, either in attending school or in associating with others, be influenced by those of corrupt habits. {GMM, November 5, 1913 par. 3} [GMM, November 5, 1913 par. 4] Fathers and mothers, make haste! Your children are to be objects of your solicitude. Principles are to be kept before your children that will exert a heavenly influence over life and character. By every means at your command, you are to teach them that they are not to pattern after the worldly plan of education, but the truth must be impressed upon their hearts and minds. The truths that Satan has concealed by his hellish shadows, the truths he has misinterpreted and misapplied, and disconnected from the Lord of glory, are to be received, opened, and explained, and made to appear in their heavenly beauty, to be seen as truths that shall stand fast forever. They are to be re-established in the minds of men by the living agents whom God has appointed, and error is to be revealed in its true character by the light of truth. --Mrs. E. G. White. {GMM, November 5, 1913 par. 4} [GMM, November 19, 1913 par. 1] November 19, 1913 Need of Church Schools ----- In all our churches, and wherever there is a company of believers, church schools should be established, and in these schools should be teachers with a true missionary spirit, for the children are to be trained to become missionaries. It is essential that the teachers be educated to act their part in instructing children of Sabbath-keepers not only in the sciences, but in the Scriptures. These schools, established in different localities, and conducted by God-fearing men and women, as the case demands, should be built upon the same principles as were the schools of the prophets. {GMM, November 19, 1913 par. 1} [GMM, November 19, 1913 par. 2] Children are left to come up, instead of being trained up. * * * Parents stand in the place of God to their children, and they will have to render an account whether they have been faithful to the little few committed to their care. Parents, some of you are rearing children to be cut down by the destroying angel, unless you speedily change your course and be faithful to them. God cannot cover iniquity, even in children. He cannot love unruly children, who manifest passion, and he cannot save them in the time of trouble. Will you suffer your children to be lost through your neglect? Unfaithful parents! their blood will be upon you, and is not your salvation doubtful, with the blood of your children upon you? {GMM, November 19, 1913 par. 2} [GMM, November 19, 1913 par. 3] I say again, establish schools for the children wherever there are churches; where there are those who assemble to worship God let there be schools for the children. Work as if you were working for your life to save children from being drowned in the polluting, corrupting influences of this life. If people would encourage the church in which they are members, and establish small, humble school buildings, in which to do service for God, they would accommodate their own children within their borders. --Mrs. E. G. White. {GMM, November 19, 1913 par. 3} [GMM, December 3, 1913 par. 1] December 3, 1913 Christian Schools. ----- There should be a school established where there is a church or company of believers. Teachers should be employed to educate the children of Sabbath-keepers. In all of our churches there should be schools, and teachers of these schools who are missionaries. {GMM, December 3, 1913 par. 1} [GMM, December 3, 1913 par. 2] The Bible should not be brought into our schools to be sandwiched in between infidelity. The Bible must be made the ground-work and subject matter of education. It is true that we know much more of the Word of the living God than we knew in the past, but there is still much more to be learned. It should be used as the Word of the living God, and esteemed as first and last and best in everything. Then will be seen true spiritual growth. {GMM, December 3, 1913 par. 2} [GMM, December 3, 1913 par. 3] Used as a text-book in our schools, the Bible will do for mind and morals what cannot be done by books of science or philosophy. As a book to discipline and strengthen the intellect, to ennoble, purify, and refine character, it is without a rival. If there were not another book in the wide world, the Word of God lived out, through the grace of Christ, would make men perfect in this world, with a character fitted for a future immortal life. {GMM, December 3, 1913 par. 3} [GMM, December 3, 1913 par. 4] In localities where there is a church, a school should be established, if there are no more than six children to attend. A teacher should be employed who will educate the children in the truths of the Word of God, which are so essential in these last days, and which it is so important for them to understand. A great test is coming. It will be upon obedience or disobedience to the commandments of God. --Mrs. E. G. White. {GMM, December 3, 1913 par. 4} [GMM, January 7, 1914 par. 1] January 7, 1914 Jesus Forgives Only as We Forgive ----- Jesus teaches that we can receive forgiveness from God only as we forgive others. To cherish an unmerciful spirit toward others is to close the heart against the mercy of God toward us. {GMM, January 7, 1914 par. 1} [GMM, January 7, 1914 par. 2] As if this, above all others, was the sin that His followers needed to be warned against, the one through which they were in the greatest danger of shutting from their hearts the light and love and peace of Heaven, Jesus, after completing the Lord's prayer, added, "If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." {GMM, January 7, 1914 par. 2} [GMM, January 7, 1914 par. 3] He who is unforgiving cuts off the very channel through which alone he can receive mercy from God. We should not think that unless those who have injured us confess the wrong we are justified in withholding from them our forgiveness. It is their part, no doubt, to humble their hearts by repentance and confession; but we are to have a spirit of compassion toward those who have trespassed against us, whether or not they confess their faults. However sorely they may have wounded us, we are not to cherish our grievances, and sympathize with ourselves over our injuries; but, as we hope to be pardoned for our offences against God, we are to pardon all who have done evil to us. {GMM, January 7, 1914 par. 3} [GMM, January 7, 1914 par. 4] The atmosphere of selfish and narrow criticism stifles the noble and generous emotions, and causes men to become self-centered judges and petty spies. The Pharisees were of this class; they came from their religious services, not humbled with a sense of their own weaknesses, not grateful for the great privilege that God had given them. They came forth filled with spiritual pride, and their theme was, "Myself, my feelings, my knowledge, my ways." Their own attainments became the standard by which they judge others. Putting on the robes of self-dignity, they mounted the judgment seat, to criticise and condemn. --Mrs. E. G. White. {GMM, January 7, 1914 par. 4} [GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 1] GosHealth - The Gospel of Health June 1, 1897 Medical Missionary Work. Selections from Recent Letters and Publications By Mrs. E. G. White. I am deeply interested in the subject of medical missionary work and the education of men and women for that work. . . . I am more and more impressed with the fact that a more decided testimony must be borne upon this subject, that more direct efforts must be made to interest the proper persons, setting before them the advantages that every missionary will have in understanding how to treat those who are diseased in body, as well as to minister to sin-sick souls. This double ministration will give the laborer together with God access to homes, and will enable him to reach all classes of society. An intelligent knowledge of how to treat disease upon hygienic principles will gain the confidence of many who otherwise would not be reached with the truth. In affliction, many are humbled in spirit, and words in favor of the truth spoken to them in tenderness by one who is seeking to alleviate physical suffering may touch the heart. Prayer, short, weighted with tenderest sympathy, presenting the suffering one in faith to the Great Physician, will inspire in them a confidence, a rest, and a trust that will tend to the health of both soul and body. {GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 1} [GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 2] I have been surprised at being asked by physicians if I did not think it would be more pleasing to God for them to give up the medical profession and enter the ministry. I am prepared to answer such an inquirer: "If you are a Christian and a competent physician, you are qualified to do tenfold more good as a missionary for God than if you were to go forth merely as a preacher of the word." I would advise young men and women to give heed to this matter. Perilous times are before us. The whole world will be involved in perplexity and distress, disease of every kind will be upon the human family; and such ignorance as now prevails concerning the laws of health would result in great suffering and the loss of many lives that might be saved. {GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 2} [GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 3] While Satan is doing his utmost to take advantage of men's ignorance and to lay the foundation of disease by improper treatment of the body, it is best for those who claim to be the sons of God to avail themselves, while they can, of the opportunities now presented to gain a knowledge of the human system and how it may be preserved in health. . . . {GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 3} [GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 4] As religious aggression subverts the liberties of our nation, those who would stand for freedom of conscience will be placed in unfavorable positions. For their own sake, they should, while they have opportunity, become intelligent in regard to disease, its causes, prevention, and cure. And those who do this will find a field of labor anywhere. There will be suffering ones, plenty of them, who will need help, not only among those of our own faith, but largely among those who know not the truth. . . . {GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 4} [GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 5] In almost every church there are young men and women who might receive education either as nurses or physicians. They will never have a more favorable opportunity than now. I would urge that this subject be considered prayerfully, that special effort be made to select those youths who give promise of usefulness and moral strength. Let these receive an education at our Sanitarium at Battle Creek, to go out as missionaries wherever the Lord may call them to labor. It should ever be kept before them that their work is not only to relieve physical suffering, but to minister to souls that are ready to perish. It is important that every one who is to act as a medical missionary be skilled in ministering to the soul as well as to the body. . . . {GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 5} [GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 6] Holy and devout persons, both men and women, are wanted now to go forth as medical missionaries. Let them cultivate their physical and mental powers and their piety to the uttermost. Every effort should be made to send forth intelligent workers. The same grace that came from Jesus Christ to Paul and Apollos, which caused them to be distinguished for their spiritual excellencies, can be received now, and will bring into working order many devoted missionaries. . . . {GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 6} [GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 7] I am intensely interested in the education of medical students as missionaries. This is the very means of introducing the truth where otherwise it would not find an entrance. I can see in the Lord's providence that the medical missionary work is to be a great entering wedge, whereby the diseased soul may be reached. O what a field of usefulness is opened before the medical missionary! Jesus Christ was in every sense of the word a missionary of the highest type, and combined with his missionary work that of the great physician, healing all manner of diseases. . . . How essential that the living missionary should understand the diseases which afflict the human body, to combine the physician, educated to care for diseased bodies, with the faithful, conscientious shepherd of the flock, to give sacredness and double efficiency to the service! The Lord in his great goodness and matchless love has been urging upon his human instrumentalities that missionaries are not really complete in their education unless they have a knowledge of how to treat the sick and suffering. If this had been felt as an important branch of education in the missionary line of labor, many who have lost their lives might have lived. Had they understood how to treat the ailments of the body, and how to study from cause to effect, they could, through their intelligent knowledge of the human body and how to treat its maladies, have reached many hardened minds that otherwise they could not approach. . . . {GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 7} [GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 8] The truth expressed in living, unselfish deeds, is the strongest argument for Christianity. The relieving of the sick, the helping of the distressed, is working in Christ's lines, and demonstrates most powerful gospel truths representing Christ's mission and work upon earth. The knowledge of the art of relieving suffering humanity is the opening of doors without number, where the truth can find a lodgement in the heart, and souls be saved unto life -- eternal life. {GosHealth, June 1, 1897 par. 8} [GosHealth, October 1, 1897 par. 1] October 1, 1897 From a Recent Testimony 134 "Culture on all points of life will make the youth useful after they shall leave the school to go to foreign countries. They will not then have to depend upon the people to whom they go, to cook and sew for them, or to build their habitations. And they will be much more influential if they show that they can labor by the best methods and produce the best results. This will be appreciated where means is difficult to obtain. The laborers will reveal that missionaries can become educators in teaching how to labor. A much smaller fund will be required to sustain such missionaries, because they have put to the very best use their physical powers in useful, practical labor combined with their studies. And wherever they go, all that they have gained in this line will give them standing room." {GosHealth, October 1, 1897 par. 1} [GosHealth, October 1, 1897 par. 2] "It is also essential to understand the philosophy of medical missionary work. Wherever the student may go, he will need education in the science of how to treat the sick; for this will give him a welcome in any place, because there is suffering of every kind in every part of the world." {GosHealth, October 1, 1897 par. 2} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 1] November 1, 1897 Bible Temperance. By Mrs. E. G. White. It is necessary for every believer to be strictly temperate. The people in our world indulge pernicious habits, thus destroying their God-given susceptibility and the power of discerning sacred things. The moral sense of many of those living at the present day is clouded by wrong habits. With many, appetite is the law that governs. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 1} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 2] There is need of a better understanding of the principles of health reform. Temperance in eating, drinking, and dressing is essential. The advocates of temperance should place their standard on a broader platform. They would then be laborers together with God. With every iota of their influence, they should encourage the spread of reform principles. Let appetite rule instead of principle, and the whole human machinery will be implicated. The violation of physical law is a violation of the law of God. Those who eat too much, and whose food is of an objectionable quality are easily led into dissipation. In proportion to the darkness of their minds, will they give license to their appetites and passions. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 2} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 3] Tea and coffee are neither wholesome nor necessary. They are of no use so far as the health of the body is concerned. But practise in the use of these things becomes habit. When men and women are truly converted, they will conscientiously regard their habits of eating, drinking, and dressing. They will seek to avoid physical, mental, and moral feebleness. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 3} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 4] Tobacco produces an effect on the system fully as harmful as liquor. It stimulates for the time being, but when its immediate influence is gone, those who have used it sink as far below par as they have been elevated above it. All those who cling to this habit, who refuse to practise health reform by placing themselves on the platform of temperance in all things, must bear the consequences of their course of action. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 4} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 5] No man can be truly a minister of righteousness, and yet be under the inspiration of sensual appetites. He cannot indulge the habit of using tobacco, and yet win souls to the platform of true temperance. The cloud of smoke coming from his lips has no salutary effect upon a liquor drinker. The gospel sermon must come from lips undefiled by tobacco smoke. With pure, clean lips, God's servants must tell the triumphs of the cross. The practise of using liquor, tobacco, tea, and coffee must be overcome by the converting power of God. There shall nothing enter into the kingdom of God that defiles. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 5} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 6] The life that many live is not half what it ought to be. Light is shining upon the subject of temperance, and much labor has been put forth to instruct people upon this point, but the dietetic habits of those who live for selfish gratification, who do not wish to be corrected, and refuse to practise health reform, leave them diseased and enfeebled. They may ask the Lord to heal them; but will He who caused the light to shine out of darkness heal them of that which is the result of not heeding this light, but continuing to eat, drink, and dress unhealthfully? Shall we not seek to do all that it is possible for us to do by placing ourselves in the right relation to health reform? Then we can say, "Father in heaven, I have done all that I can to place myself in a correct position by denying appetite and following the light given in regard to health. Heal me of disease, that I may glorify thee." {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 6} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 7] It is labor lost to teach people to go to God as the healer of their infirmities unless they are educated also to lay aside every wrong practise, and cease to indulge perverted appetite. They must be taught to use the provisions God has given. To refuse the remedies which they may have as well as not, without paying a doctor's fee, and to neglect to let into every room in the house God's pure air and sunshine, show a lack of faith in him. Faith in God's power to heal infirmities is dead unless the one diseased improves the light God has given him by bringing his habits into harmony with right principles. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 7} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 8] The grace of God is always reformatory. Every human being is in a school, where he is to learn to give up hurtful practises, and obtain a knowledge of what he can do for himself. Those who ignore these things, who take no precautions in regard to getting pure air to breathe and pure water to drink, cannot be free from disease. Their systems are defiled, and the human structure injured. Such people are careless, reckless, presumptuous, and self-destroying. Knowledge is strewn along their pathway, but they refuse to gather up the rays of light, saying that they depend on God. But will God do those things that he has left for them to do? Will he supply their neglect to co-operate with him? Will he wink at their willing ignorance, and do great things for them by restoring soul, body, and spirit, while they ignore the most simple agencies, the use of which would bring them their health? While day by day they indulge their appetites by eating that which brings disease, can they expect the Lord to work a miracle to restore them? This is not the Lord's way of working. By doing this, they make the Lord altogether such an one as themselves. Faith and works go together. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 8} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 9] I beseech my brethren and sisters to lay aside their darling luxury of tea and coffee, the use of which creates an unnatural state of mind and body. "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments." How are their garments defiled? -- By eating of that which brings disease and infirmity. "And they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 9} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 10] All may become intelligent if they will. Those who worship God in the beauty of holiness will work in harmony with God by striving to supply the best conditions for worship. Says Christ: "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Those who follow God's directions will be prepared to receive the Heavenly Guest; for they have listened to the voice of God, speaking through his word and his messengers. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 10} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 11] But those who do not hear and obey the warnings and instructions of God cannot understand what sanctification of soul and body means. What word has God for those who ignore the light that is flashing around, and then ask to be prayed for, that they may be sanctified and healed? -- The same word that he had for Cain: "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 11} [GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 12] Let all examine their own hearts, to see if they are not cherishing that which is a positive injury to them, and instead of opening the door of the heart to let Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness in, are complaining of the dearth of the Spirit of God. Let these search for the idols and cast them out. Let them cut away every unhealthful indulgence in eating and drinking. Let them bring their daily practise into harmony with nature's laws. By doing, as well as believing, an atmosphere will be created about the soul that will be a savor of life unto life. Aug. 25, 1897. {GosHealth, November 1, 1897 par. 12} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 1] January 1, 1898 Faith and Works. By Mrs. E. G. White. Faith and works are the two oars with which we are to make our way in the Christian life. The Lord calls upon all who think they know what faith is, to be sure that they are not pulling with only one oar, and their little bark going round and round, making no progress at all. Faith without intelligent works is dead. Faith in the healing power of God will not save unless it is combined with good works. {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 1} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 2] Many are made sick by the indulgence of their appetite. They eat what suits their perverted taste, thus weakening the digestive organs, and injuring their power to assimilate the food required to sustain life. The stomach is often made to do at one meal the work of two or three meals. So many varieties are introduced into the stomach that fermentation is the result. This condition brings on acute disease, and death frequently follows. Sin indeed lies at the door, which is the mouth. {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 2} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 3] Let all heed the instruction which has been given on this subject. Let them strive to bring appetite under the control of reason. Mothers and fathers, God calls upon you to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. When you do for yourselves what as faithful servants of God you should do, you will be prepared to lead your children step by step in safe, healthful paths, and in ways of righteousness. Wake up to your responsibilities! {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 3} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 4] When speaking to persons on the subject of health, they often say, "We know a great deal better than we do." They do not realize that they are accountable for every ray of light in regard to their physical well-being, and that their every habit bears the inspection of God. He made the human body. We are his property, bought with a price -- and what a price! {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 4} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 5] Every organ, every fiber of our being, is to be sacredly guarded from every harmful practise, if we would not be among the number that Christ represents as walking in the same dishonorable path as did the inhabitants of the world before the flood. Those in this class will be appointed to destruction, because they have persisted in carrying lawful habits to extremes, and have created and indulged habits that have no foundation in nature, and that become warring lusts. {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 5} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 6] Our habits of eating and drinking show whether we are of the world or among the number that the Lord by his mighty cleaver of truth has separated from the world. These are his peculiar people, zealous of good works. {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 6} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 7] The mass of the inhabitants of this world are destroying for themselves the true basis of the highest earthly interest. They are destroying their power of self-control, and making themselves incapable of appreciating eternal realities. Willingly ignorant of their own structure, they lead their children in the same path of selfish indulgence, causing them to suffer the penalty of the transgression of nature's laws. They go to distant countries to seek a better climate, but their stomach will create for them a malarious atmosphere wherever they may locate. Thus they bring upon themselves sufferings that no one can alleviate. {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 7} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 8] God calls upon us to stand upon the broad platform of temperance in eating, drinking, and dressing. Parents, will you not awaken to your God-given responsibilities? Study the principles of health reform, and teach your children that the path of self-denial is the only path of safety. {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 8} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 9] Obedience to the laws of life must be made a matter of personal duty. We must answer to God for our habits and practises. The question for us to answer is not, "What will the world say?" but, "How shall I, claiming to be a Christian, treat the habitation God has given me? Shall I work for my highest temporal and spiritual good by keeping my body as a temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? or shall I sacrifice myself to the world's ideas and practises?" {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 9} [GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 10] It is our duty to study the laws that govern our being, and to conform to them. Ignorance in these things is sin. We cannot do as we please with our bodies; for they are God's property. "Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." {GosHealth, January 1, 1898 par. 10} [GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 1] March 1, 1898 Leaving Off Stimulants. A LETTER FROM MRS. E. G. WHITE RELATES AN INSTANCE OF CONVERSION WHICH RECENTLY OCCURRED IN AUSTRALIA. SHE SAYS: -- {GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 1} [GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 2] "A fisherman has recently been converted to the truth. Although a habitual user of the poisonous weed, he has, by the grace of God, determined to let it alone in the future. The question was asked him, 'Did you have a hard struggle in giving it up?' 'I should think I did,' he answered, 'but I saw the truth as it was presented to me. I learned that tobacco was unhealthful, and prayed to the Lord to help me give it up; and he has helped me in a most marked manner. But I have not yet decided that I can give up my tea.' {GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 2} [GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 3] "The evils of tea-drinking were laid before him, and he was encouraged to try what giving up tea would do for him. Finally, he said, 'I will,' and in two weeks he bore this testimony in meeting: 'When I said that I would give up tea, I meant it. I did not drink it, and the result was a most severe headache. But I thought, "Am I to keep using tea to ward off the headache? Must I be so dependent on it that when I let it alone, I am in this condition? Now I know that its effects are bad. I will use it no more." I have not used it since, and feel better every day. My headache no longer troubles me; my mind is clearer than it was; and I can better understand the Scriptures as I read them.' {GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 3} [GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 4] "This man, poor as far as worldly possessions are concerned, had the moral courage to cut loose from smoking and tea-drinking, the habits of his boyhood. He did not plead for a little indulgence in wrongdoing. No; he decided that tobacco and tea were injurious, and that his influence must be on the right side. He has given evidence that the Holy Spirit is working on his mind and character to make him a vessel unto honor. {GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 4} [GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 5] "Shall those who have had more opportunities and much precious light, who enjoy the advantages of education, make the plea that they cannot cut away from unhealthful practises? Why do not those who have excellent reasoning powers reason from cause to effect? Why do they not advocate reform by planting their feet firmly on principle, determined not to take alcoholic drink or use tobacco? They are poisons, and their use is a violation of God's law. {GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 5} [GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 6] "Some say, when an effort is made to enlighten them on these things, 'I will leave off by degrees.' Satan laughs at all such decisions. He says, 'They are secure in my power; I have no fear of them on that ground.' But he knows he has no power over the man who, when sinners entice him, has the moral courage to say No, squarely and positively. Such a one has dismissed the companionship of the devil, and accepted that of Jesus Christ; and as long as he holds to Jesus, he is safe. He stands where heavenly angels can connect with him, giving him moral power to overcome. He can truly advocate temperance; for he will not urge a liquor drinker to abstain from alcohol with a tobacco pipe in his own mouth." {GosHealth, March 1, 1898 par. 6} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 1] April 1, 1898 Camp-Meeting Hygiene. By Mrs. E. G. White. Our yearly convocations are of importance. They cost something in time, money, and wearing labor. They are held for a special purpose. We meet for the worship of God, and to obtain spiritual strength by feeding upon the bread of life. We want to seek the Lord, and find him to the joy of our souls. To do this we must banish worldly thoughts and interests; we must lay aside our home and business cares. We must not give our time to visiting and feasting, nor to the gratification of pride, nor the pursuit of pleasure. The season we spend together should be devoted to heart-searching, to confession of sin, and to earnest prayer. Jesus is among us, to hear our prayers, to pardon our sins, and to give us his blessing. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 1} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 2] We know that time is short. Soon "our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people." Then shall we not improve all our opportunities in this day of grace, that we may be able to stand in that time when heaven and earth shall hear the voice of God calling to judgment? Is anything more worthy to engage our energies and occupy our time? {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 2} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 3] Pitching the Tents. Nothing should be neglected that would promote the success of these gatherings. The camp-ground should be made attractive. The ground should be carefully laid out, and some one who has good taste, and understands the pitching of tents, should oversee this part of the work. The directions which God gave to the Israelites when they lived in tents may be profitably studied. There was order in the arrangement of the camp; for the Lord is a God of order, and does not sanction any confusion in his work. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 3} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 4] Every precaution should be taken for the preservation of health. The tents should be securely staked. It is now customary to supply tents with a raised floor, which may be covered with a carpet, and made very neat and comfortable. This is an excellent plan, and should be followed wherever circumstances admit. When the meeting is held in a country where there is liability of rains, a trench should be dug around the tent to carry off the water. This should not be neglected, even though there has been no rain for weeks. Lives have been imperiled, and even lost, through neglect of this precaution. People in new countries sometimes become careless; but it should be the principle of all Christians to correct a tendency to slack, indolent habits. In many cases it is advisable that families provide stoves for their tents. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 4} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 5] Preparation for the Meeting. Many women spend a great deal of time and strength in sewing and cooking by way of preparation for the meeting. Much of this wearying labor is unnecessary; yet the things needful to comfort should not be neglected. As far as possible, every member of the family should be supplied with suitable clothing, sufficient for health and comfort in the changes of weather that are liable to occur. But often the work that consumes the time and energies of our sisters is done more for the gratification of pride than for the sake of providing neat, comfortable clothing. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 5} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 6] In the matter of cooking, if the meals are taken at the dining-tent, no preparation of food will be necessary. When families board themselves, far too much cooking is often done. Some have never attended a camp-meeting, and do not know what preparations are required. Others are liberal-minded, and want everything done on a bountiful scale. The food which they provide includes rich pies and cakes, with other articles that cannot be eaten without positive injury. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 6} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 7] It is not wise to make such great preparation. The task they take upon themselves is so heavy that these sisters come to the meeting thoroughly wearied in body and mind; and those for whom the work is done are not benefited. The stomach is overburdened with food which is not as plain and simple as that eaten at home, where a far greater amount of exercise is taken. As a result of overwork and bad food, much of the benefit of the meeting is lost. A lethargy takes possession of the mind, and it is difficult to appreciate eternal things. The meeting closes, and there is a feeling of disappointment that no more of the Spirit of God has been enjoyed. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 7} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 8] Nothing in the line of food but the most wholesome articles, cooked in a simple manner, should be taken to camp-meeting. Plenty of good bread with other necessary food may be provided without overtaxing the strength; and all, both those who cook and those who eat, will enjoy better health, be better able to appreciate the words of life, and be more susceptible to the influence of the Holy Spirit. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 8} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 9] My sisters, let the preparation for eating and dressing be a secondary matter; but let deep heart-searching begin at home. The great burden of the thoughts should be, How is it with my soul? When such thoughts occupy the mind, there will be such a longing for spiritual food -- something that will impart spiritual strength -- that no one will complain if the diet is simple. Pray often, and, like Jacob, be importunate. At home is the place to find Jesus; then take him to the meeting, and the hours you spend there will be precious. But how can you expect to realize the presence of the Lord, and to see his power displayed, when the individual work of preparation has been neglected? {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 9} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 10] The Dining-Tent. The arrangements for the dining-tent are very important; for on the cooking and serving of the food the health of the campers very largely depends. Those who have the responsibility of this department should be good cooks, who can be depended upon to do painstaking, skilful work. But on many occasions this has been overdone. Great care and thought have been given to the cooking, and the table has been supplied, not only with plenty of plain, substantial food, but with meat, pies, cake, and a variety of other luxuries. In this way precious time has been given to needless labor, merely for the gratification of appetite; and the faithful workers have had the privilege of attending but few of the meetings. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 10} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 11] This is unnecessary. The cooking may be so planned as to give the workers more advantages of the meeting than they have usually enjoyed, and on the Sabbath, in particular, their duties should be made as light as possible. We should have sympathy for those who are confined to the hot kitchen, engaged in the preparation of food, and should be willing to deny ourselves unnecessary luxuries for their sake. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 11} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 12] A few simple articles of food, cooked with care and skill, would supply all the real wants of the system. No greater luxuries are required than good wheat-meal bread, gems, and rolls, with a simple dessert, and the vegetables and fruits which are so abundant in most countries. These articles should be provided in sufficient quantity and of good quality, and when well cooked, they will afford a wholesome, nourishing diet. No one should be compelled to eat flesh meats because nothing better is provided to supply their place. Meat is not essential to health or strength; had it been, it would have been included in the bill of fare of Adam and Eve before the fall. The money that is sometimes expended in buying meat, would purchase a good variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains, which contain all the elements of nutrition. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 12} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 13] Unwise Hospitality. Some persons bring upon the camp-ground food that is entirely unsuitable to such occasions, rich cakes and pies, and a variety of dishes that would derange the digestion of a healthy laboring man. Of course, the best is thought none too good for the minister. The people send these things to his table, and invite him to their tables. In this way ministers are tempted to eat too much, and food that is injurious. Not only is their efficiency at the camp-meeting lessened, but many become dyspeptics. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 13} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 14] The minister should decline this well-meant, but unwise hospitality, even at the risk of seeming to be discourteous. And the people should have too much true kindness to press such an alternative upon him. They err when they tempt the minister with unhealthful food. Precious talent has thus been lost to the cause of God; and many, while they do live, are deprived of half the vigor and strength of their faculties. Ministers, above all others, should economize the strength of brain and nerve. They should avoid all food or drink that has a tendency to irritate or excite the nerves. Excitement will be followed by depression; overindulgence will cloud the mind, and render thought difficult and confused. No man can become a successful workman in spiritual things until he observes strict temperance in his dietetic habits. God cannot let his Holy Spirit rest upon those who, while they know how they should eat for health, persist in a course that will enfeeble mind and body. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 14} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 15] Preparation for the Sabbath. The Sabbath should be as sacredly observed on the camp-ground as it is in our homes. We should not let the bustle and excitement around us detract from its sacred dignity. No cooking should be done on that day. The instruction which God gave to Israel should not be disregarded: "Bake that which ye will bake today, and seethe that ye will seethe;" for "tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." Exodus 16:23. God meant what he said when he gave these directions; and shall we, who are presenting to the people the claims of the divine law, break that law ourselves, merely to please the appetite? -- God forbid. There has sometimes been almost as much cooking done on the Sabbath as on other days; and the blessing of God has been shut out by our failure to honor him in keeping the Sabbath according to the commandment. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 15} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 16] All needful preparation should be made beforehand. On Sabbath morning, if the weather is cool, let hot gruel, or something equally simple, be provided, and for dinner some kind of food may be warmed. Further than this, all cooking should be avoided as a violation of the Sabbath command. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 16} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 17] Personal Obligation. If all will exercise judgment and reasonable care in regard to clothing and diet, the blessings of the meeting may be enjoyed in health and comfort. The clothing should be varied according to the weather. During sudden changes and the chill of morning and evening, warmer garments and additional wraps are essential to health. The feet, in particular, should be well protected. Whatever the weather, they need to be kept warm and dry. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 17} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 18] In eating, errors in the quantity as well as the quality of food should be avoided. Eating too much of even a simple diet will injure the health, as will also irregular eating and eating between meals. All these abuses of the stomach cloud the mind and blunt the conscience. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 18} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 19] If right habits are ever observed, they certainly should be at these large and important meetings. Here, if anywhere, we want our minds clear and active. We should honor God at all times and in all places; but it seems doubly important at these meetings, where we assemble to worship him, and to gain a better knowledge of his will. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 19} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 20] One reason why we do not enjoy more of the blessing of the Lord, is that we do not heed the light he has been pleased to give us in regard to the laws of life and health. If we would all live more simply, and let the time usually given to unnecessary table luxuries and pride of dress, be spent in searching the Scriptures and in humble prayer for the bread of life, we should receive a greater measure of spiritual strength. We need to give less attention to our mere temporal wants, and more to our eternal interests. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 20} [GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 21] Let all who possibly can, attend these yearly gatherings. Return unto the Lord, gather up the rays of light that have been neglected, comply with the conditions laid down in the word of God, and then by faith claim the promises. Jesus will be present; and he will give you blessings which all the treasures you possess, be they ever so valuable, would not be rich enough to buy. A strong, clear sense of eternal things, and a heart willing to yield all to Christ, are of inestimable value; in comparison with these the riches and pleasures and glories of this world sink into insignificance. {GosHealth, April 1, 1898 par. 21} [GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 1] May 1, 1898 Sinful Indulgences. By Mrs. E. G. White. Christ removed every obstruction that would hinder man from returning to his allegiance to God. Christ became subject to suffering in behalf of man; and yet man, by his selfish indulgence, is willing to place himself in slippery places, and through unnatural appetite to obliterate the moral image of God. Man, who has been endowed with physical, mental, and moral power, has placed himself where he is a weakling. Satan knows that he cannot overcome man unless he can control his will; but by deceiving man so that he will transgress the laws of nature in eating and drinking, which is transgression of the law of God, he can gain control of the will, and thus overcome him. {GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 1} [GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 2] Here is where the subject of intemperance grows into importance. Here is where Satan works to confuse minds so that they cannot discern sacred things from common; cheap things are placed on a level with sacred; animalism is strengthened, the higher powers weakened. {GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 2} [GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 3] The physical and mental condition of parents is perpetuated in their offspring. This is a matter that is not duly considered. Wherever the habits of the parents are contrary to physical law, the injury done to themselves will be repeated in future generations. Satan knows this very well, and it is through this hereditary transmission that he is perpetuating his work. Those who indulge the animal passions and gratify lust will surely stamp upon their offspring the effects of their debasing practises, and the grossness of their own physical and moral defilement. Let the husband and wife in their married life prove a help and a blessing to each other. Let them consider the cost of every indulgence in intemperance and sensualism. These indulgences do not increase love, they do not ennoble and elevate. By physical, mental, and moral culture, all may become co-workers with Christ. Very much depends upon the parents. It lies with them to decide whether they will bring into the world children who will be a blessing or a curse. The father and mother who know no higher rule of life than selfish indulgence of lustful passions are not Christians. They are lowering the standard of intellectual and moral character, and are descending toward the brute creation, rather than ascending to work in harmony with Jesus Christ to restore the moral image of God in man. {GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 3} [GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 4] 83 There is a much higher standard to be reached in every family. All can rise. By drawing nigh to God, they will receive power to resist the devil; for the Spirit of God lifts up a standard for them against the enemy. Benumb not, by intemperate habits, the faculties that God has given for wise improvement. Touch not, taste not, handle not, spirituous liquors in any form. But intemperance does not stop here; there are manufactured appetites which the Author of our being has never created, and every departure from the simple, natural laws which he has established in our being, is a departure from the law of God. This law embraces the treatment of the entire being. Every nerve and fiber and muscle of the body has been constructed by God, and so arranged as to minister happiness to the human agent. But man has sought out many inventions. He has treated the body as if its laws had no penalty, and in thus sinning against the body he has dishonored his Maker. {GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 4} [GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 5] Satan has carried out his plans in this respect. Man's appetite has become perverted, his organs and powers enfeebled, crippled, and diseased. And these results, which he has through his specious temptations brought about, he uses to taunt God with. He presents before God the appearance of the human being whom Christ has purchased as his property. And what an unsightly representation he is of his Maker! God is dishonored, because man has corrupted his ways before the Lord. {GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 5} [GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 6] God calls for reform in our churches. Appetites are cherished that are low and debasing, and entirely unnatural. Satan is playing the game of life for every soul. He is seeking to brutify humanity, whom God values; but when the appetite is held under the control of an intelligent, God-fearing mind, there will be a cultivation of pure, spiritual attributes. There will be a refusal to be led into slavery that destroys physical, mental, and moral worth, and leaves the human agent, for whom Christ has paid so high a price, crippled, worthless, and tossed about with temptation. {GosHealth, May 1, 1898 par. 6} [GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 1] September 1, 1898 The Work for Today. Mrs. Ellen G. White. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the majesty of heaven, yet he came to our world as a physician, a healer of physical and spiritual maladies. What was his work? -- To do good. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." {GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 1} [GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 2] The Lord's people are mainly made up of the poor of this world -- the common people. Not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. God hath chosen the poor of this world. The poor have the gospel preached unto them. The wealthy are called, in one sense; they are invited, but they do not accept the invitation. In the large cities the Lord has many who are humble and yet trustful. Many of these the ministers of the gospel know nothing about. The churches do not know them, because while there are many professors, there are but few who minister. They are the Lord's lights, shining in lowly, miserable places. Patient, meek, gentle, suffering with nakedness, hunger, and cold, they are the Lord's martyrs. Angels visit them, and then bear to heaven the record that the Lord's capital, entrusted to human agents, is misappropriated; that the church is guilty of squandering the Lord's means. {GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 2} [GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 3] It was an insult to God when David numbered Israel. God's rebuke rested upon him; for he made himself as God, as though he could tell the strength of the armies of Israel by their numbers. "This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." God looks not to the numbers of Israel for the success of his work. His armies number thousands of thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. These co-operate with the men who will connect with God to be channels of light. {GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 3} [GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 4] There are in our cities thousands who have the fear of God before them, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. It is because so many of these are in lowly circumstances that the world does not notice them. But though hidden in highways and hedges, they are seeking God. {GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 4} [GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 5] It is because of poverty that many are sick, and because of sickness that there is so much poverty. Many, in their poverty, minister to others. The reward received by these will be proportionate to their willing obedience. Jesus saw how it would be, and he desires his servants to communicate with these suffering ones. The last gospel call is to be sounded, not only in the highways, but in the hedges. {GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 5} [GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 6] Jesus does not say to the Christian, Strive to shine; but, "Let your light so shine before men ［for it is God's gift］, that they may see your good works." Never shut in the light God has given you, by mist and darkness caused by ill-advised words, an impatient spirit, murmuring, or complaining. Wherever you are, let your light shine in clear rays. Do not hide your light under a bushel. You need not make extra exertions to shine, for light from the throne of God will shine. The reason for this is given in Isaiah: "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." {GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 6} [GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 7] Many voices will be heard inviting you to wrong. Heed them not. Open the Scriptures, and let God speak to you. The time is now very short; listen to his voice. "Prepare to meet thy God." Lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset, and run with patience the race set before thee. "What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." {GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 7} [GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 8] The time when Babylon is to come into remembrance before God, when he is to give her to drink of the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath, has come. The Lord will come out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. Who is on the Lord's side? Let each one take his position, truly, firmly, and wholeheartedly. {GosHealth, September 1, 1898 par. 8} [GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 1] November 1, 1898 Extracts from Recent Communications from Mrs. E. G. White. But very few know by experience the meekness and lowliness of Christ, and they will never know his fulness unless they change their habits and practises, and become acquainted with him who is eternal life to the receiver. ----- {GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 1} [GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 2] Let the whole burden of soul be to be just what Christ was in his work. We are to make no compromise with the habits and practises of the world. We are to stand upon the platform of eternal truth, -- pure, unadulterated truth. In this we may be considered singular, but this is the lot of all who make Christ their portion. Every worker in medical missionary lines is to make that work a success by living in connection with the great Worker. ----- {GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 2} [GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 3] In our connection with any line of God's work, we must use the sacred fire. Supposed human ability and efficiency is common fire, but this is unacknowledged by God. A decided position must be maintained upon the high platform of eternal truth. The time has come when all who work in Christ's lines will have the mark of God in words, in spirit, in character, in their honor of Immanuel. ----- {GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 3} [GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 4] A great responsibility rests upon all who in this age of the world's history claim to be followers of Christ. The example of Christ is before us. "For their sakes," he said, "I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." ----- {GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 4} [GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 5] The truth of God has not been magnified in his believing people, because they have not brought it into their personal experience. They conform to the world, and depend upon it for their influence. They allow the world to convert them and introduce the common fire to take the place of the sacred, that they may, in their line of work, meet the world's standard. There must not be these efforts made to ape the world's customs. This is common, not sacred fire. The living Bread must not only be admired, but eaten. That Bread that cometh down from heaven will give life to the soul. It is the leaven that absorbs all the elements of the character into a oneness with the character of Christ, and molds the objectionable hereditary and cultivated tendencies after the divine similitude. {GosHealth, November 1, 1898 par. 5} [GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 1] February 1, 1899 The Importance of Students' Caring for their Health. ［EXTRACTS FROM RECENT COMMUNICATIONS.］ By Mrs. E. G. White. I am pained as I have presented to me students who are being educated to work for the salvation of the souls and bodies of those perishing around them, but who will themselves perish before they can accomplish that for which they are striving so earnestly. Will all teachers and students learn, before they go any farther, how to treat themselves, that they may intelligently co-operate with God in bearing his message and doing his work, and not be cut off at the very time when they are most needed? ----- {GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 1} [GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 2] The laws of life and health must not be trifled with. Human beings must appreciate their God-given capabilities. They are required to study to obey the laws of God, to bring their bodies under intelligent restraint. This is a work they must in no wise neglect. They are not to be under any one's jurisdiction, to place themselves in a position where their health will be endangered. They must respect and care for the physical structure. They must have the best advantages for sleeping, and not feel that it is an indifferent matter what they eat, and how many studies they take. They should not exercise violently or for too many hours at a time. They should eat regularly. ----- {GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 2} [GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 3] Nature will not be imposed upon. She will not forgive the injuries done to the wonderful, delicate machinery. The pale, weak student is a continual reproach to health reform. Far better would it be for some to go outdoors and work in the soil. Exercise is good. God designs that all parts of the human machinery shall be used. There should be regular hours for working, regular hours for eating. Without studying the exact cost of every article of food and providing the cheapest kind, procure those articles that are best for making steam to run the living machinery. There is no extravagance in providing those articles of food that the system can best take in and digest, and thus send vitality to every part of the living organism. ----- {GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 3} [GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 4] If a worker becomes worn out and incapacitated with labor, we must respect human nature because of the sacrifice made on Calvary. Christ died to restore corrupted human beings, and he desires them to look to him and live. But many students who think they are fitting themselves to lay hold of and carry responsibilities, will make distressing failures because the laws of life, which, if observed, would have helped and aided them in the accomplishment of different results, were disregarded and neglected. Nature, abused or ill treated in any way, expresses her feelings like a faithful monitor, in aches and pains. {GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 4} [GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 5] Are we not children of one common Father, and are we not treated by him as such? Has not ample provision been made by the Lord God who rules in the heavens that man shall not be treated as a machine? At an infinite cost God has made provision to restore his moral image in man, that in our face and character Christ may discern his own image, which was effaced by transgression. Let us consider the possibilities and probabilities before each student who is placed under teachers to be instructed. {GosHealth, February 1, 1899 par. 5} [HR, August 1, 1866 par. 1] HR - The Health Reformer August 1, 1866 Duty to Know Ourselves. - By E. G. White. - Many have inquired of me, "What course shall I take to best preserve my health?" My answer is, Cease to transgress the laws of your being; cease to gratify a depraved appetite; eat simple food; dress healthfully, which will require modest simplicity; work healthfully; and you will not be sick. {HR, August 1, 1866 par. 1} [HR, August 1, 1866 par. 2] It is a sin to be sick; for all sickness is the result of transgression. Many are suffering in consequence of the transgression of their parents. They cannot be censured for their parents' sin; but it is nevertheless their duty to ascertain wherein their parents violated the laws of their being, which has entailed upon their offspring so miserable an inheritance; and wherein their parents' habits were wrong, they should change their course, and place themselves by correct habits in a better relation to health. {HR, August 1, 1866 par. 2} [HR, August 1, 1866 par. 3] Men and women should inform themselves in regard to the philosophy of health. The minds of rational beings seem shrouded in darkness in regard to their own physical structure, and how to preserve it in a healthy condition. The present generation have trusted their bodies with the doctors, and their souls with the ministers. Do they not pay the minister well for studying the Bible for them, that they need not be to the trouble? and is it not his business to tell them what they must believe, and to settle all doubtful questions of theology without special investigation on their part? If they are sick, they send for the doctor--believe whatever he may tell, and swallow anything he may prescribe; for do they not pay him a liberal fee, and is it not his business to understand their physical ailments, and what to prescribe to make them well, without their being troubled with the matter? {HR, August 1, 1866 par. 3} [HR, August 1, 1866 par. 4] Children are sent to school to be taught the sciences; but the science of human life is wholly neglected. That which is of the most vital importance, a true knowledge of themselves, without which all other science can be of but little advantage, is not brought to their notice. A cruel and wicked ignorance is tolerated in regard to this important question. So closely is health related to our happiness, that we cannot have the latter without the former. A practical knowledge of the science of human life, is necessary in order to glorify God in our bodies. It is therefore of the highest importance, that among the studies selected for childhood, Physiology should occupy the first place. How few know anything about the structure and functions of their own bodies, and of Nature's laws. Many are drifting about without knowledge, like a ship at sea without compass or anchor; and what is more, they are not interested to learn how to keep their bodies in a healthy condition, and prevent disease. {HR, August 1, 1866 par. 4} [HR, August 1, 1866 par. 5] The indulgence of animal appetites has degraded and enslaved many. Self-denial, and a restraint upon the animal appetites, is necessary to elevate and establish an improved condition of health and morals, and purify corrupted society. Every violation of principle in eating and drinking, blunts the perceptive faculties, making it impossible for them to appreciate or place the right value upon eternal things. It is of the greatest importance that mankind should not be ignorant in regard to the consequences of excess. Temperance in all things is necessary to health, and the development and growth of a good Christian character. {HR, August 1, 1866 par. 5} [HR, August 1, 1866 par. 6] Those who transgress the laws of God in their physical organism, will not be less slow to violate the law of God spoken from Sinai. Those who will not, after the light has come to them, eat and drink from principle, instead of being controlled by appetite, will not be tenacious in regard to being governed by principle in other things. The agitation of the subject of reform in eating and drinking, will develop character, and will unerringly bring to light those who make a "god of their bellies." {HR, August 1, 1866 par. 6} [HR, August 1, 1866 par. 7] Parents should arouse, and in the fear of God inquire, what is truth? A tremendous responsibility rests upon them. They should be practical physiologists, that they may know what are and what are not, correct physical habits, and be enabled thereby to instruct their children. The great mass are as ignorant and indifferent in regard to the physical and moral education of their children as the animal creation. And yet they dare assume the responsibilities of parents. Every mother should acquaint herself with the laws that govern physical life. She should teach her children that the indulgence of animal appetites, produces a morbid action in the system, and weakens their moral sensibilities. Parents should seek for light and truth, as for hid treasures. To parents is committed the sacred charge of forming the characters of their children in childhood. They should be to their children, both teacher and physician. They should understand nature's wants and nature's laws. A careful conformity to the laws God has implanted in our being, will insure health, and there will not be a breaking down of the constitution, which will tempt the afflicted to call for a physician to patch them up again. {HR, August 1, 1866 par. 7} [HR, August 1, 1866 par. 8] Many seem to think they have a right to treat their own bodies as they please; but they forget that their bodies are not their own. Their Creator who formed them, has claims upon them that they cannot rightly throw off. Every needless transgression of the laws which God has established in our being, is virtually a violation of the law of God, and is as great a sin in the sight of Heaven as to break the ten commandments. Ignorance upon this important subject, is sin; the light is now beaming upon us, and we are without excuse if we do not cherish the light, and become intelligent in regard to these things, which it is our highest earthly interest to understand. - {HR, August 1, 1866 par. 8} [HR, September 1, 1866 par. 1] September 1, 1866 Drug Medication. There is a disposition with many parents, to keep up a perpetual dosing of their children with medicines. They will always have a supply on hand, and when any slight indisposition is manifested, caused by overeating or exhaustion, the medicine is poured down their throats; and if that does not satisfy them, they send for the doctor. If he is an honest physician, and declines to give the child medicine because he is wise enough to know it will be for its hurt, the parents are offended and think the physician inefficient, and send for another, who is less conscientious, and who will give medicine to satisfy the parents, who were blinded by ignorance in regard to the real condition and need of their child. And not unfrequently parents are so anxious to do all they can to save their child, that they change physicians, having two or three to attend the same case. The child is drugged to death, and the parents console themselves that they have done all they could, and wonder why it must die when they did so much to save it. Upon the grave stone of that child should be written, Died, of drug Medication. {HR, September 1, 1866 par. 1} [HR, September 1, 1866 par. 2] Many parents substitute drugs for judicious nursing. I have seen parents in constant terror, lest a breath of air should come upon their children. They place them perhaps in a crib or cradle near a hot stove. Their faces are red from heat, and they are pressed for air, and almost gasping for breath. But the mother does not seem to understand their wants. She thinks her children sick, and runs for a cordial which only stupefies them, but makes them no better. The only cordial the suffocated, suffering innocent needed, was pure, fresh air. Several instances have come under my notice, where children were being murdered by inches by the mistaken kindness of parents. They deprived them of air as though it were a deadly poison. The rich blessing which Heaven has freely bestowed upon all, was not allowed to come to their children. I have stood by the cradle of these abused innocents thus unwisely nursed, and have felt indignant at the cruel course pursued with them. I have stripped the coverings from the cradle, and opened the window, and let in the richest of heaven's earthly blessing,--pure, fresh air,--to the immediate relief of the sufferers. {HR, September 1, 1866 par. 2} [HR, September 1, 1866 par. 3] Children also are fed too frequently, which produces fever and suffering in various ways. The stomach should not be kept constantly at work; it should have its periods of rest. Without it, children will be peevish and irritable, and frequently sick. The parents do not trace the existing effect to the true cause--a transgression on their part--but hasten for a doctor, expecting that he will set things all right. The mother abuses the laws which govern that child's life, and then commits another transgression by interfering with nature in introducing poisonous drugs into the system. Children who might have retained a good constitution, are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Many die prematurely, and others live to be life-long sufferers, a burden to themselves and to society. Who is to blame for all this weight of evil? not our kind Creator surely, for he does not take pleasure in seeing his creatures suffer. He wishes them to be healthful and happy. The parents and physicians are the instruments who have caused this weight of woe. They were ignorant of the terrible wake they left behind them. Ignorance is sin, when knowledge can be obtained. Parents should read and inform themselves in regard to the laws God has established in our beings. Instead of trying to allay with medicine every trifling complaint, they might trace the disturbance to some defect in their nursing, or a change made in their food, air, clothing, or exercise, and they would be rewarded for their investigation, by soon seeing a change for the better. {HR, September 1, 1866 par. 3} [HR, September 1, 1866 par. 4] Parents should give their children abundance of fresh air. If they have kept them smothered with flannels, with windows and doors closed, fearing they would get their death of cold, let them make haste and reform, if they would save their children. You have not given the body any chance to breathe through the millions of little mouths which nature has provided for it; and in consequence, these pores have become clogged, and cannot perform the task allotted them, and so the internal organs have a double task thrown upon them, and the whole system is deranged. But now the doctor must be sent for, and if the little patients live through the terrible ordeal he prescribes, the credit is given to his skill, when the only reason they lived was, because they had a stronger hold on life than most such small members of the human family have. E. G. White. - {HR, September 1, 1866 par. 4} [HR, October 1, 1866 par. 1] October 1, 1866 Parents Their Own Physicians. No woman should become a mother unless she is capable of being physician to her offspring. How can mothers turn over their tender children to the care of a strange physician, for him to dose them with drugs, the true nature of which she has no knowledge. Such a course is a sin in the sight of Heaven. Ignorance is no excuse for parents. Why do not those who take such responsibilities, educate themselves? They should read and investigate with a prayerful heart, until they can understand the wants of their children, and watch with jealous care, ［lest］ these little sunbeams, which are given them to lighten their pathway, be shrouded in darkness by disease and death. No stranger's hand should be trusted to perform those services for her dear ones, which a mother's affection alone can understand. Parents and children should educate themselves in all that concerns their life and health. When children understand the science of human life, then, and not till then, are they prepared to attend to the sciences as taught in the common schools. {HR, October 1, 1866 par. 1} [HR, October 1, 1866 par. 2] Parents have frequently told me that they knew nothing of the nature of disease, and were their children sick, they should not know what to do for them,--that they had always trusted to a physician. Mothers ought to know what to do in any common case of sickness of their children. It is a sin for them not to know. Who should better understand the wants of a sick child than its parents, especially the mother? And yet parents plead ignorance, and if their dear children are slightly indisposed, they do not know what to do, and send for the doctor, who deals out his concentrated poisons with a lavish hand. These lessen the child's hold on life, and if they do not actually cause its death, they obstruct nature's efforts, and break down some part of her fine machinery, which can never be repaired, and the victim is a sufferer as long as life lasts. {HR, October 1, 1866 par. 2} [HR, October 1, 1866 par. 3] In nine cases out of ten, the indisposition of children can be traced to some indulgence of the perverted appetites. Perhaps it is an exposure to cold, want of fresh air, irregularity in eating, or improper clothing; and all the parents need do, is to remove the cause, and secure for their children a period of quiet and rest, and abstain for a short period from food. An agreeable bath, of a proper temperature, will remove impurities from the skin, and then unpleasant symptoms may soon disappear; and all of this, too, without poisonous drugs, or having a doctor's fee to pay. {HR, October 1, 1866 par. 3} [HR, October 1, 1866 par. 4] Many parents, rather than to take the trouble to thoroughly investigate the cause of their children's indisposition, turn them over to the doctor, and administer anything he may choose to prescribe. If the anxious parent ventures to make an inquiry in regard to the drug, she is told it is "perfectly harmless;" that if it does them no special good, "it will not injure them." Concentrated poisons are dealt out, the names of which are concealed in some technical terms, which the parents know nothing of; and because of their inexcusable ignorance, the lives of their children are sacrificed, and the parents too frequently charge their afflictions to Providence. {HR, October 1, 1866 par. 4} [HR, October 1, 1866 par. 5] In such cases perhaps, if nature had been left to herself, she would have recovered the abuse the system had suffered, but she was not allowed the privilege. A poisonous drug is introduced into the system, binding down the efforts of nature, until she is compelled to give up the struggle. Do the parents then see their folly, and awake and investigate for themselves, feeling that their children are too dear to be trusted in a stranger's hands to receive any mixture he may please to deal out? No, they seem blinded, and infatuated; habits and customs, like iron bands, gird them about, and they make no effort to break them. If other loved ones are made sick by the wrong course pursued toward them, the doctor is again sent for to deal out his miserable drugs, which have so long cursed the human family and filled our graveyards, and the little life-forces left, are crushed out, and death closes the scene. {HR, October 1, 1866 par. 5} [HR, October 1, 1866 par. 6] I have known instances where two or three in the same family have died, one after another, and yet the same physician was summoned to attend them all. I had not a doubt but that careful nursing, letting alone drugs entirely, with a little moral courage and firmness, used by the parents to restrict the diet of their children, would have saved them. There never can be a better condition of things, until parents understand the obligations resting upon them to bring up their children healthfully. It is impossible to conform to the present customs of society and do this. There is need of reform. Parents should live more for their children, and not so much for visitors. It should not be their study how to furnish a luxurious table to please the appetites of visitors. By so doing, they tempt their children to eat things which will prove injurious to health, and which will encourage and strengthen the animal appetites, and have a direct influence to weaken and debase the higher faculties. {HR, October 1, 1866 par. 6} [HR, October 1, 1866 par. 7] Children, judging of the course pursued by their parents, take it for granted that the highest object in life, and that which yields the greatest amount of happiness, is to be able to prepare a table spread with luxurious food. They are taught that we "live to eat," instead of "eating to live." The time devoted in studying how to prepare food in a manner to suit the perverted appetite, is worse than lost. Such knowledge is a curse to parents and children; for they are only learning the most successful way to tear down and debase the physical, mental, and moral faculties, by gluttony. Then, as a natural result, comes sickness, and next the doctor and poisonous drugs. {HR, October 1, 1866 par. 7} [HR, October 1, 1866 par. 8] It is thus that the human family are successfully destroying themselves, and deteriorating the race, and then they lay the result of their sinful course to a "mysterious Providence." Time, strength and money, are devoted to the unworthy object of keeping pace with fashionable customs of society, and the health of the body and soul is sacrificed to this end. Yet those who are guilty in this respect, will tell you they do not understand how to take care of themselves or their children, when sick. How much better would it be for parents and children, if the time and means that are devoted to preparing food to suit the depraved appetite, were occupied in acquiring a knowledge of their physical being, and in learning how to take care of their own bodies, and in teaching their children the same. Children should be taught, by precept and example, that God did not design that we should live merely for present gratification, but for our ultimate good. God has formed laws which govern our constitutions, and these laws which he has placed in our being, are divine, and for every transgression there is affixed a penalty, which must sooner or later be realized. The majority of diseases which the human family have been, and still are suffering under, they have created by ignorance of their own organic laws. They seem indifferent in regard to the matter of health, and work perseveringly to tear themselves to pieces, and when broken down, and debilitated in body and mind send for the doctor and drug themselves to death. E. G. W. - {HR, October 1, 1866 par. 8} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 1] July 1, 1868 Exercise for Invalids. Invalids should have out-door exercise. That class of invalids, who have made themselves such by sedentary habits, or constant mental labor, should have a change. It is bad counsel that tells these persons to refrain from physical exercise. The brain-weary ones should, in a great degree, let the mental powers rest, while they, and also those whose habits of life have been sedentary, should stir the physical energies. A part of the prescription for every such patient should be light physical labor, pleasant employment out of doors. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 1} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 2] To merely engage in simple plays for amusement, cannot satisfy the conscientious, but will leave the impression upon the mind of the invalid that his life is useless. And if his life has been active, and he has taken pleasure in doing good, the influence of such amusements upon him will be bad. Let this class of sufferers have pleasant employment out of doors, suited to their several conditions, both as to the nature of the work, and the time they should be engaged in it. Let those who are able to take a light, well-polished hoe, and for a suitable number of hours, or minutes, institute a war of extermination upon unwelcome weeds among vegetables and small fruits. Let others, more feeble, use the garden trowel, rake, or hoe, a few moments each day among the plants and flowers, and let them feel that every weed they pull up they do some good. What if the sun does burn the face and hands brown? The sun and the air will do them more good than water baths can do without these blessings. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 2} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 3] Some who have broken down because of too much brain-labor, and not enough physical exercise, feel disinclined to enjoy out-door exercise. If they cease brain-work, they do not wish to do anything. And it is difficult for these to recover health, for the reason that it is nearly impossible to control their minds. Their active minds, when not otherwise engaged, will be dwelling upon themselves. The imagination is diseased, and they often think themselves in a deplorable condition when they are not. Give such suitable employment, and let them feel that their lives are not useless, but that they are doing some good, although it be but little, and they will be far less inclined to dwell upon themselves. Pleasing out-door labor is the grand remedy for such. Let their time be divided. Let them spend a portion of each day in pleasant in-door occupations, a portion out in the air and sunshine, working among vegetables, fruits, flowers and plants, and a portion in rest. This doing system is a great blessing to both body and mind. While doing something, the mind is diverted from self, and has something to do besides chasing after symptoms, aches and pains. And physical exercise will bring into use muscles and nerves that have been inactive, and have become weak for want of use. As these invalids exercise and strengthen their feeble, flabby muscles, the brain becomes less inclined to wearing activity. The work now becomes better divided between the organs of the system. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 3} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 4] I have noticed that those who have broken down because of too much brain labor, as they commence to improve, feel a special desire to engage in mental labor. They seem anxious to engage again in head-work. If such could be made to see that this is the wrong kind of employment; that healthful labor in the open air and in household duties, is what they need to give firmness to the muscles and healthful tone to the mind, they would no longer be anxious for that kind of labor which wearies the brain and gives no strength to the muscles or nerves of the body. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 4} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 5] Indolence is a great evil. Men, women and youth, by dwelling upon themselves, think they are in a much worse condition than they really are. They nurse their ailments, and think of them, and talk of them, until their usefulness seems to be at an end. Many have passed into the grave when they might have lived, and ought to have lived. Their imagination was diseased. Had they resisted the disposition to yield to infirmities and be overcome by them; had they summoned to their aid the powers of the will, they might have lived to bless the world with their influence. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 5} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 6] Females neglect to exercise their limbs in walking. Riding cannot take the place of walking. Many that are very feeble can walk if they only think so. They have not the disposition, and you will hear them plead, "Oh! I cannot walk. It puts me out of breath, I have a pain in my side, a pain in my back." Dear sisters, I wish you did not have these infirmities. But I know that yielding to them, and giving up to an inactive life, will not free you from them. Try to exercise moderately at first. Have rules to govern you. Walk! yes, walk! if you possibly can, walk! Try it a short distance at first, you that think walking is impossible. You will no doubt become weary. Your side may ache, your back give you pain, but this should not frighten you. Your limbs may feel weak. And no wonder when you have not used them much more than as if you had no limbs. You think you must take your seat in the carriage for a horse to draw you, if it is but for a few rods. If you would only walk, and possess a perseverance in the matter, you could accomplish much in the direction of recovery. Your sleep would be sweeter. At every trial, go a little farther. Do not go dragging yourself along as though weights were attached to your limbs. Do not employ your hands to hold up long, trailing dresses, or to hold a parasol. Let the motion of your arms assist you in walking. Walk with a cheerful mind. And as you walk, look at the beauties of nature, listen to the sweet songsters whose melody warbles forth in praises to their Creator. Be inspired by their happy gratitude. See all that you can that is beautiful, and good, and joyful, and let it enliven your steps, and live in your thoughts through the day. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 6} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 7] Continue this exercise, and let no one dissuade you from it. Use the limbs God has given you, and look to Him for strength to use them. You may pray for strength day after day, and yet realize no change until you exercise the strength you already have. Give the Lord a chance to do something for you, by beginning the work for yourself. Every day you will realize a change for the better, notwithstanding you feel a sense of weariness. Sleep will bring you all right again, and you can increase your effort, until you, who cannot now walk a few rods from your boarding place, or from home to church, may walk one mile, and perhaps two, without injury. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 7} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 8] As I have labored to impress upon females the necessity of walking, some have received my ideas, and determined to carry them out at once. And the first effort they walked, perhaps half a mile, became exhausted and really suffered so much that they decided that walking was not best for them. These went to an extreme. They could not bear so much walking at first without injury. Some are ever disposed to go to extremes. They can never come up to the mark, and then be content to stop. They go beyond. They fail to make the best use of the reason Heaven has granted them. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 8} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 9] I close by saying to the afflicted invalid, who has become such by reason of too much mental and too little physical labor, unless your case be such as to positively forbid it, you need physical, out-door, cheerful, useful, happy, well-directed exercise. Let no one deprive you of it, for your life is in it. In the matter "make haste slowly." {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 9} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 10] After writing the above, I turned to a leaf of Moore's Rural New-Yorker, which lay on the carpet near me, and read the following: {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 10} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 11] "RIGHT LIVING. "TO LOVE AND TO LABOR IS THE SUM OF LIVING, AND YET HOW MANY THINK THEY LIVE WHO NEITHER LABOR NOR LOVE. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 11} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 12] "WHAT A GEM-THOUGHT IT IS, SET IN THIS QUAINT OLD SAXON! THE FIRST PART OF THE SENTENCE IS A BEAUTIFUL TEXT FOR ONE'S LIFE, WHILE THE OTHER IS AN EQUALLY SAD COMMENTARY ON THE 'LIVING' OF A GREAT PORTION OF HUMANITY! AND ARE NOT THESE TWAIN, THE LOVING AND THE LABORING, THE ONE 'ROYAL LAW' OF THE BIBLE, AND DO THEY NOT BRING WITH THEM THEIR 'OWN EXCEEDING GREAT REWARD?' YE WHO SEEK AFTER HAPPINESS, BEHOLD, HERE IS THE KEY! {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 12} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 13] "THIS SITTING DOWN, FOLDING UP ONE'S HANDS, AND MOPING AWAY ONE'S LIFE IN VAIN YEARNING AFTER AFFECTION, WILL NEVER DO YOU ANY GOOD. JUST STEP OUT OF YOURSELF, AND LIVE FOR AND IN OTHERS. GO OUT WITH A BRAVE SPIRIT INTO THE WORLD, AND MINISTER TO THE WANTS OF HUMANITY. EVERYWHERE HANDS ARE REACHING OUT TO YOU FOR HELP; EVERYWHERE BLEEDING HEARTS ARE NEEDING THE BALM OF SYMPATHY AND TENDERNESS. THE LITTLE CHILDREN WANT YOUR SMILE, THE OLD PEOPLE WANT SOME COMFORTING WORD; AND THE STRONGEST AND THE BEST HAVE THEIR HOURS OF WEAKNESS AND OF NEED! {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 13} [HR, July 1, 1868 par. 14] "SO DON'T SIT STILL, WE PRAY YOU, FOR THIS IS NOT LIVING. BUT 'WHATSOEVER YOUR HAND FINDETH TO DO, DO IT WITH YOUR MIGHT,' WITH A TRUE, HONEST HEART AND PURPOSE; AND NO MATTER HOW HEAVY MAY BE THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT THROUGH WHICH YOU ARE WALKING, THE MORNING WILL RISE, THE FLOWERS WILL BLOSSOM, AND THE BIRDS SING ABOUT YOU."--ARTHUR'S MAGAZINE. ELLEN G. WHITE. Greenville, Montcalm Co., Mich., June 21, 1868. {HR, July 1, 1868 par. 14} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 1] August 1, 1868 The Dress Reform. An Appeal to the People in its Behalf. By Mrs. E. G. White. We do not wear the style of dress here represented, to be odd,--that we may attract notice. We do not differ from the common style of woman's dress for any such object. We choose to agree with others in theory and in practice, if we can do so, and at the same time be in harmony with the law of God, and with the laws of our being. We believe it wrong to differ from others, unless it be necessary to differ in order to be right. In bearing the cross of adopting the reform dress we are led by a sense of duty. And although it may appear objectionable to those who are governed by fashion, we claim that it is the most convenient, the most truly modest, and the most healthful style of dress worn by woman. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 1} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 2] We have counted the cost of appearing singular in the eyes of those who feel compelled to bow to fashion. And we decide that in the end it will pay to try to do right, though for the present we may appear odd in the eyes of those who will sacrifice convenience, comfort, and health, at the altar of fashion. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 2} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 3] We have also looked at the fact that our course in this matter of dress will cost our friends disagreeable feelings, and have taken into the account those things which excited their feelings of prejudice against the reform dress. When among strangers we are supposed to be Spiritualists, from the fact that some of that class adopt what is commonly called "the short dress." And the question is frequently asked, "Are you Spiritualists?" To answer this question, and to give the reader some of the reasons why we adopt so unfashionable a style of dress, is this article presented. We are well aware that some of those who espoused the cause of Spiritualism, over the moral worth of whom a shade of uncertainty has been cast, by the extravagances and immoralities among them, have adopted the short dress, and that their zeal in so doing, under the peculiar circumstances, could but disgust the people against anything of the kind. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 3} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 4] How could it be otherwise? The people are shut up to fashion. They do not understand the benefits of our style of dress. And it is all the more objectionable to them as it resembles in some respects that worn by some doubtful Spiritualists. We most certainly bid ladies who have embraced Spiritualism a hearty welcome to all the blessings and benefits of a convenient, healthful, and (being of a proper length, and neatly and properly fitted and made) truly modest dress, and wish they were as consistent and right in other respects. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 4} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 5] In the existing state of things the people may regard the adoption of our style of dress as a bold step on our part, showing more independence than good taste. They may censure us. They may deal in wit and sarcasm in reference to our dress. They may even utter bitter speeches on account of our course in this thing. But our work shall be, by the grace of God, to patiently labor to correct their errors, remove their prejudices, and set before them the reasons why we object to the popular style of woman's dress, also some of the reasons why we adopt ours. We object to the popular style of woman's dress, {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 5} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 6] 1. Because it is not convenient. In doing housework, in passing up and down stairs with both hands full, a third hand is needed to hold up the long skirts. See that lady passing up to her chamber with a child in her arms, and both hands full, stepping upon her long skirts, and stumbling as she goes. She finds the popular style of dress very inconvenient. But it is fashionable, and must be endured. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 6} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 7] If she goes into her garden to walk or to work among her flowers, to share the early, refreshing, morning air, unless she holds them up with both hands, her skirts are dragging and drabbling in dirt and dew, until they are wet and muddy. Fashion attaches to her, cloth that is, in this case, used as a sort of mop. This is exceedingly inconvenient. But for the sake of fashion it must be endured. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 7} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 8] In walking upon the streets, in the country, in the village, or in the crowded city, her long skirts sweep the dirt and mud, and lick up tobacco spittle, and all manner of filth. Careless gentlemen sometimes step on these long dresses, and, as the ladies pass on, tear them. This is trying, and sometimes provoking; and it is not always convenient to mend and cleanse these soiled and torn garments. But they are in harmony with fashion, and all this must be endured. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 8} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 9] In traveling on the cars, in the coach and omnibus, fashionable dresses, especially when distended by hoops, are sometimes not only in the way of the wearers, but of others; and we charitably think that were it not for the overruling power of fashion, measures would be taken to do away with their inconvenience. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 9} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 10] We object to the popular style of woman's dress, {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 10} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 11] 2. Because it is not healthful. To say nothing of the suicidal practice of compressing the waist, so as to suppress natural respiration, inducing the habit of breathing only from the top of the lungs; and not to dwell particularly upon the custom of suspending unnecessary weight upon the hips, in consequence of too many and too long skirts, there is much that may be said relative to the unhealthfulness of the fashionable style of woman's dress; but we suggest at this time only the following: {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 11} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 12] (a) It burdens and obstructs the free use of the lower limbs. This is contrary to the design of God in securing to woman the blessings of activity and health. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 12} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 13] (b) It frequently shuts her indoors when her health demands that she should enjoy exercise in the pure, invigorating air of heaven. If she goes in the light snow, or after a shower, or in the dews of the morning or the evening, she bedrabbles her long skirts, chills the sensitive, unprotected ankles, and takes cold, to prevent this she may remain shut up in the house, and become so delicate and feeble that when she is compelled to go out she is sure to take cold, which may result in cough, consumption, and death. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 13} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 14] It may be said that she can reserve her walks till the sun has gathered up all this dampness. True, she may, and feel the languor produced by the scorching heat of a midday's summer sun. The birds go forth with their songs of praise to their Creator, and the beasts of the field enjoy with them the early freshness of the morning; and when the heat of the sun comes pouring down, these creatures of nature and of health retire to the shade. But this is the very time for woman to move out with her fashionable dress! When they go forth to enjoy the invigorating air of the morning, she is deprived of this rich bounty of Heaven. When they seek the cooling shade and rest, she goes forth to suffer from heat, fatigue, and languor. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 14} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 15] (c) It robs her of that protection from cold and dampness, which the lower extremities must have to secure a healthful condition of the system. In order to enjoy a good state of health, there must be a proper circulation of the blood. And to secure a good circulation of the current of human life, all parts of the body must be suitably clad. Fashion clothes woman's chest bountifully, and in winter loads her with sacks, cloaks, shawls, and furs, until she cannot feel a chill, excepting her limbs and feet, which, from their want of suitable clothing, are chilled, and literally sting with cold. The heart labors to throw the blood to the extremities; but it is chilled back from them in consequence of their being exposed to cold for want of being suitably clothed. And the abundance of clothing about the chest, where is the great wheel of life, determines the blood to the lungs and brain, and produces congestion. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 15} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 16] The limbs and feet have large veins, to receive a large amount of blood, that warmth, nutrition, elasticity, and strength, may be imparted to them. But when the blood is chilled from these extremities, their blood-vessels contract, which makes the circulation of the necessary amount of blood in them still more difficult. A good circulation preserves the blood pure, and secures health. A bad circulation leaves the blood to become impure, and induces congestion of the brain and lungs, and causes diseases of the head, the heart, the liver, and the lungs. The fashionable style of woman's dress is one of the greatest causes of all these terrible diseases. {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 16} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 17] But the evil does not stop here. These fashionable mothers transmit their diseases to their feeble offspring. And they clothe their feeble little girls as unhealthfully as they clothe themselves, and soon bring them to the condition of invalids, or which is preferable in many cases, to the grave. Thus fashion fills our cemeteries with many short graves, and the houses of the slaves of fashion with invalids. O God, must this state of things continue? {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 17} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 18] We object to the fashionable style of woman's dress, {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 18} [HR, August 1, 1868 par. 19] 3. Because, under certain circumstances, it is, to say the least, not the most modest, on account of exposures of the female form. This evil is greatly aggravated by the wearing of hoops. Ladies with long dresses, especially if distended with hoops, as they go up and down stairs, as they pass up the narrow door-way of the coach and the omnibus, or as they raise their skirts, to clear the mud of the streets, sometimes expose the form to that degree as to put modesty to the blush. (To be continued.) - {HR, August 1, 1868 par. 19} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 1] September 1, 1868 The Dress Reform An Appeal to the People in its Behalf. (Concluded from last month.) Having noticed some of the wrongs of the popular style of woman's dress, we now wish to show in reference to the reform dress that-- {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 1} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 2] 1. It is convenient. No arguments are needed to prove that our style of dress is most convenient in the kitchen. In passing up and down stairs, the hands are not needed to hold up the skirts of our dresses. Being of a convenient length, they take care of themselves, while our hands are better employed. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 2} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 3] We can go out into the untrodden snow, or after a fall of rain, and, if our feet and limbs are entirely protected, all is dry and comfortable. We have no fears of taking cold as we trip along, unburdened by trailing skirts, in our morning walks. We can, in spring and summer, walk and work among our flowers without fear of injury from the dews of early morning. And then, the lower portion of our skirts, not having been used as a mop, are dry, and clean, and comfortable, not compelling us to wash and clean them, which is not always convenient when other important matters demand time and attention. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 3} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 4] In getting into, and out of, carriages, in passing old trunks, boxes, and other ragged furniture, and in walking over old, broken sidewalks, where nails have worked up an inch or two above the surface of the plank, our dresses are not exposed to a thousand accidents and rents to which the trailing dresses are fated. To us, this is a matter of great convenience. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 4} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 5] 2. It is healthful. Our skirts are few and light, not taxing our strength with the burden of many and longer ones. Our limbs being properly clothed, we need comparatively few skirts; and these are suspended from the shoulders. Our dresses are fitted to sit easily, obstructing neither the circulation of the blood, nor natural, free, and full respiration. Our skirts being neither numerous nor fashionably long, do not impede the means of locomotion, but leave us to move about with ease and activity. All these things are necessary to health. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 5} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 6] Our limbs and feet are suitably protected from cold and damp, to secure the circulation of the blood to them, with all its blessings. We can take exercise in the open air, in the dews of morning or evening, or after the falling storm of snow or rain, without fears of taking cold. Morning exercise, in walking in the free, invigorating air of heaven, or cultivating flowers, small fruits, and vegetables, is necessary to a healthful circulation of the blood. It is the surest safeguard against colds, coughs, congestions of the brain and lungs, inflammation of the liver, the kidneys, and the lungs, and a hundred other diseases. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 6} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 7] If those ladies who are failing in health, suffering in consequence of these diseases, would lay off their fashionable robes, clothe themselves suitably for the enjoyment of such exercise, and move out carefully at first, as they can endure it, and increase the amount of exercise in the open air, as it gives them strength to endure, and dismiss their doctors and drugs, most of them might recover health, to bless the world with their example and the work of their hands. If they would dress their daughters properly, they might live to enjoy health, and to bless others. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 7} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 8] Christian Mother: Why not clothe your daughter as comfortably and as properly as you do your son? In the cold and storms of winter, his limbs and feet are clad with lined pants, drawers, woolen socks, and thick boots. This is as it should be; but your daughter is dressed in reference to fashion, not health nor comfort. Her shoes are light, and her stockings thin. True, her skirts are short, but her limbs are nearly naked, covered by only a thin, flannel stocking reaching to her muslin drawers. Her limbs and feet are chilled, while her brother's are warm. His limbs are protected by from three to five thicknesses; hers, by only one. Is she the feebler? Then she needs the greater care. Is she indoors more, and, therefore, less protected against cold and storm? Then she needs double care. But as she is dressed, there is nothing to hope for the future relative to her health but habitual cold feet, a congested brain, headache, disease of the liver and lungs, and an early grave. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 8} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 9] Her dress may be nearly long enough; but let it sit loosely and comfortably. Then clothe her limbs and feet as comfortably, as wisely, and as well, as you do those of your boy; and let her go out, and enjoy exercise in the open air, and live to enjoy health and happiness. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 9} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 10] 3. It is modest. Yes, we think it is the most modest and becoming style of dress worn by woman. If the reader thinks otherwise, will he please refer again to the illustration, and then tell us wherein this style of dress is faulty or unbecoming? True, it is not fashionable. But what of that? Fashions do not always come from Heaven. Neither do they always come from the pure, the virtuous, and the good. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 10} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 11] It is true that this style of dress exposes her feet. And why should she be ashamed of her well-clad feet, any more than men are of theirs? It is of no use for her to conceal the fact that she has feet. This was a settled fact long before the use of trailing skirts distended by hoops, giving her the appearance of a haystack, or a Dutch churn. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 11} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 12] But does the popular style of woman's dress always hide her feet from the public gaze? See that lady passing over the muddy street, holding her skirts nearly twice as far from the ground as ours, exposing, not only her feet, but her nearly-naked limbs. Similar exposures are frequent as she ascends and descends the stairs, as she is helped into, and out of, carriages. These exposures are disagreeable, if not shameful; and a style of dress which makes their frequent occurrence almost certain, we must regard as a poor safeguard of modesty and virtue. But we did not design an exposure of this false modesty in relation to woman's feet, but simply a defense of the style of dress which we regard, in every way, truly modest. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 12} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 13] What style of dress can be neater, more becoming girls from the ages of five to fourteen years, than ours? Stand those girls of fashion beside these, and then say which appears most comfortable, most modest, and most becoming. The fashionable style is not as long as ours, yet no one laughs at those who follow that style for wearing a short dress. Their limbs are nearly naked, while modesty and health clothe the limbs of the others. Fashion and false modesty look upon these girls who have their limbs clad in reference to comfort, modesty, and health, with horror, but smile upon those whose dresses are quite as short, and whose limbs are uncomfortably, immodestly, and unhealthfully exposed. Here come the cross and the reproach, for simply doing right, in the face of the tyrant--Fashion. God help us to have the moral courage to do right, and to labor patiently and humbly in the great cause of reform. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 13} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 14] In behalf of my sisters who adopt the reform dress, Ellen G. White. Greenville, Montcalm Co., Mich. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 14} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 15] A Few Suggestions. 1. We recommend the reform dress to all. We urge it upon none. When Christian women see the wrongs of the fashionable style, and the benefits of ours, and put it on from a sense of duty, and have the moral courage to wear it anywhere and everywhere, then will they feel at home in it, and enjoy a satisfaction and blessing in trying to do right. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 15} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 16] 2. But those who adopt the reform dress should ever bear in mind the fact that the power of fashion is terrible; and that in meeting this tyrant, they need wisdom, humility, and patience,--wisdom to speak and act so as not to offend the slaves of fashion unnecessarily; and humility and patience to endure their frowns, their slight, and their reproachful speeches. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 16} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 17] 3. In view of existing prejudices against the reform dress, it becomes our duty in adopting it to avoid all those things which make it unnecessarily objectionable. It should reach to within eight or nine inches from the floor. The skirt of the dress should not be distended as with hoops. It should be as full as the long dress. With a proper amount of light skirts, the dress will fall properly and gracefully about the limbs. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 17} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 18] Anything eight or nine inches from the floor is not the reform dress. It should be cut by an approved pattern, and fitted and made by directions from one who has experience in this style of dress. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 18} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 19] 4. Taste should be manifested as to colors. Uniformity in this respect, with those who adopt this style of dress, is desirable so far as convenient. Complexion, however, may be taken into the account. Modest colors should be sought for. When figured colors are used, those that are large and fiery, showing vanity and shallow pride in those who choose them, should be avoided. And a fantastic taste in putting on different colors, is bad, such as white sleeves and pants with a dark dress. Shawls and bonnets are not in as good taste with the reform dress, as sacks and hats, and caps in winter. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 19} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 20] 5. And be right yourselves. Secure and maintain, in all the duties and walks of life, the heavenly adorning. The apostle speaks to the point: {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 20} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 21] "Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." 1 Pet. iii, 1-4. {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 21} [HR, September 1, 1868 par. 22] My dear sisters: Such an ornament, such a course of life and conduct, will give you influence for good on earth, and be prized in Heaven. Unless you can obtain and maintain this, I entreat you to lay off the reform dress. Do not disgrace it with a want, on your part, of neatness, cleanliness, taste, order, sobriety, meekness, propriety, modesty, and devotion to your families and to your God. Be a recommendation and an ornament to the reform dress, and let that be a recommendation and an ornament to you. E. G. W. - {HR, September 1, 1868 par. 22} [HR, November 1, 1870 par. 1] November 1, 1870 Creatures of Circumstance. While riding in the cars from Indianapolis to St. Louis, on our way to Kansas, a Chicago infidel, in conversation with my husband, asserted that he had no confidence in the Bible record. He believed that there was a God; but to charge upon him the evil that was seen in our world, made God to be a tyrant, in causing the misery of the beings he had created. He stated that we were creatures of circumstance. In a short time, three little girls, ranging from six to eleven years, came running by us. They were very pale. One of them in particular arrested my attention. She was very beautiful; yet disease was upon her, and, in my judgment, she was a victim of consumption. {HR, November 1, 1870 par. 1} [HR, November 1, 1870 par. 2] These little girls were dressed according to the fashions of this age. Their dresses reached only to the knee, and their limbs were unclothed, except by thin cotton stockings and thin, laced morocco shoes. Their dresses were trimmed tastefully, at the cost of money and time, and yet the bloom of health was absent. {HR, November 1, 1870 par. 2} [HR, November 1, 1870 par. 3] The mother of the pale-faced child seemed anxious in regard to her, fearing she would take cold and "have one of those dreadful coughing spells." I said to the infidel, pointing to the children, These are indeed creatures of circumstance. No doubt the mother is lamenting the providence of God in thus afflicting her precious child, but does not dream that herself is at fault for the poor health of her children. She is controlled by fashion; and as the result, her children are sufferers. Look at the tight-fitting waists of the dresses of these children. It is impossible for their lungs to have full action. The heart and liver cannot do their work, thus compressed. These children cannot take a full inspiration of air. Then look at their limbs, unclad except by the slight covering of cotton stockings. Over the vital organs are placed four or five coverings, while the limbs, remote from the great wheel of life, are left exposed. The air chills the limbs, and the life-current is driven back from its natural course, and the limbs are robbed of their proportion of blood. The blood which should be induced to the extremities, by their being properly clad, is thrown back upon the internal organs. There is too much blood in the head. The lungs are congested, or the liver is burdened. By interrupting the circulation of the blood, the entire system is deranged. More die as the result of following fashion, than from all other causes. That child will soon die, and the mother will probably bewail the providence of God which has robbed her of her treasure. The child is robbed of vitality in consequence of the inexcusable ignorance and vanity of the mother. She has probably been so busy in dressing her daughters to keep pace with fashion, that she has had no time to inform herself what course she should pursue to preserve to her daughters the best condition of health. Creatures of circumstance, in every sense of the word. {HR, November 1, 1870 par. 3} [HR, November 1, 1870 par. 4] The course parents generally pursue toward their children, while in their teens, is doing more to undermine their constitutions than any other thing. And then, when their course is followed by the sure result, dyspepsia, with its train of evils, and consumption, sapping away the life-forces, the parents bewail the dispensation of Providence, in robbing their children of health and life. It is a sin for mothers to remain in ignorance in regard to the physical organism, and the proper manner of dressing and feeding their children. They should become intelligent upon this important subject. {HR, November 1, 1870 par. 4} [HR, November 1, 1870 par. 5] The Lord has formed the limbs and feet with large nerves and large veins to contain a large portion of blood, that the limbs that are remote from the vital organs may be as warm as other portions, and thus the circulation of the blood be equalized. The heart is laboring to throw the blood to the extremities, but fashion, in clothing children, robs the limbs of their portion of blood, and the vessels contract, so that they cannot contain the proper amount of blood. Therefore the limbs and feet become habitually cold, and congestion of some of the internal organs is the result. {HR, November 1, 1870 par. 5} [HR, November 1, 1870 par. 6] You should clothe the limbs of your girls as warmly as you do your boys', thus inducing the blood to the extremities. They should be clothed with warm, lined pants, meeting the instep. In no case should the pants be formed so as to be pulled up out of sight by the children, leaving any part of their limbs exposed. I inquire, Is it reasonable, or even modest, to see the limbs of your daughters exposed, to the bend of the knee, without any covering, except a cotton stocking in summer, and flannel, in winter? Why should not mothers clothe their daughters sensibly, modestly, and healthfully, irrespective of prevailing fashions? Your children are what you make them by your own instruction and example. You are teaching them to be creatures of circumstance, by dressing them according to the customs and fashions of the day. As the result, you see them with minds querulous, peevish, ill-balanced, and they lacking physical, mental, and moral strength. Many die prematurely. Mothers, do not charge the result of your cruel work to Providence. You can, by properly instructing your children in regard to the relation their own habits of eating, dressing, and exercise, sustain to health, make them, not children of circumstance, but of God's gracious providence. The course professed Christians generally pursue, in following fashion irrespective of health and of life, brings upon them a train of evils which they charge back upon Providence, and place arguments in the mouths of infidels, wherewith to assail Christianity. Ellen G. White. - {HR, November 1, 1870 par. 6} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 1] December 1, 1870 Convenient Food. The prayer of Agur is instructive: "Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." Proverbs 30:8, 9. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 1} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 2] Among the evils of this life, are extreme poverty, and great riches; either frequently deprives men and women of convenient food. The poor sometimes suffer from want of the plainest bread; while the rich suffer more from the ruinous effects of the indulgence of appetite. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 2} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 3] The prayer of Agur should be our prayer. And as we pray, we should act our part in the answer of the prayer. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 3} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 4] I have traveled extensively, during the past season, east and west, from Kansas to the State of Maine. I have had an opportunity to see that but few understand how to take care of their bodies. I have seen many groaning under infirmities which they could not account for, only as they charged their sufferings to Providence. They seemed to console themselves with the thought that pain was the common lot of mankind, and they must be reconciled. But in nine cases out of ten, the afflictions we meet are in consequence of the continual transgression of the laws of life. The collision between nature and their habits, results in suffering and disease. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 4} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 5] While in the depot at Tipton, Indiana, I was a listener to the remarks of several who were conversing together in regard to a family then lying at the point of death, a few miles distant. The entire family, save one, had been poisoned by drinking Java coffee. The family physician had pronounced them to be in a critical condition, and their recovery very doubtful. The question may arise, How do they know that the coffee poisoned them? It was stated that they all partook freely of the coffee, except one child. She ate with the rest of the family, but could never be induced to taste coffee. While the rest, in a short time after their meal, were thrown into convulsions, the little girl was as well as usual. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 5} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 6] It has been no wonder to me that sickness and disease are so prevalent; but it has been a marvel why many live at all, under the abuses they put upon themselves. Every transgression of nature's laws will be followed by the penalty. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 6} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 7] While upon the cars, I heard parents remark that the appetites of their children were delicate, and unless they had meat and cake, they could not eat. When the noon meal was taken, I observed the quality of food given to these children. It was fine wheaten bread, sliced ham coated with black pepper, spiced pickles, cake, and preserves. The pale, sallow complexion of these children plainly indicated the abuses the stomach was suffering. Two of these children observed another family of children eating cheese with their food, and they lost their appetite for what was before them, until their indulgent mother begged a piece of the cheese to give to her children, fearing the dear children would fail to make out their meal. The mother remarked, My children love this or that, so much, and I let them have what they want; for the appetite craves the kinds of food the system requires. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 7} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 8] This might be correct if the appetite had never been perverted. There is a natural, and a depraved, appetite. Parents who have taught their children to eat unhealthful, stimulating food, all their lives, until the taste is perverted, and they crave clay, slate pencils, burned coffee, tea grounds, cinnamon, cloves, and spices, cannot claim that the appetite demands what the system requires. The appetite has been falsely educated, until it is depraved. The fine organs of the stomach have been stimulated and burned, until they have lost their delicate sensitiveness. Simple, healthful food, seems to them insipid. The abused stomach will not perform the work given it, unless urged to it by the most stimulating substances. If these children had been trained from their infancy to take only healthful food, prepared in the most simple manner, preserving its natural properties as much as possible, and avoiding flesh meats, grease, and all spices, the taste and appetite would be unimpaired. In its natural state, it might indicate, in a great degree, the food best adapted to the wants of the system. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 8} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 9] While parents and children were eating of their dainties, my husband and myself partook of our simple repast, at our usual hour, at 1 P. M., of graham bread without butter, and a generous supply of fruit. We ate our meal with a keen relish, and with thankful hearts that we were not obliged to carry a popular grocery with us to provide for a capricious appetite. We ate heartily, and felt no sense of hunger until the next morning. The boy with his oranges, nuts, pop-corn, and candies, found us poor customers. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 9} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 10] The quality of food eaten by parents and children, could not be converted into good blood, or sweet tempers. The children were pale. Some had disgusting sores upon their faces and hands. Others were nearly blind with sore eyes, which greatly marred the beauty of the countenance. And still others showed no eruption upon the skin, but were afflicted with cough, catarrh, or difficulty of throat and lungs. I noticed a boy of three years, who was suffering with diarrhea. He had quite a fever, but seemed to think all he needed was food. He was calling, every few minutes, for cake, chicken, pickles. The mother answered his every call like an obedient slave; and when the food called for did not come as soon as was desired, as the cries and calls became unpleasantly urgent, the mother answered, "Yes, yes, darling, you shall have it." After the food was placed in his hand, it was thrown passionately upon the car floor, because it did not come soon enough. One little girl was partaking of her boiled ham, and spiced pickles, and bread and butter, when she espied a plate I was eating from. Here was something she did not have, and she refused to eat. This girl of six years said she would have a plate. I thought it was the nice red apple I was eating she desired; and although we had a limited amount, I felt such pity for the parents, that I gave her a fine apple. She snatched it from my hand, and disdainfully threw it quickly to the car floor. I thought, This child if permitted to thus have her own way, will indeed bring her mother to shame. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 10} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 11] This exhibition of passion was the result of the mother's course of indulgence. The quality of food she provided for her child, was a continual tax to the digestive organs. The blood was impure, and the child sickly and irritable. The quality of food given daily to this child, was of that nature to excite the lower order of passions, and depress the moral and intellectual. The parents were forming the habits of their child. They were making her selfish and unloving. They did not restrain her desires, or control her passions. What can they expect of such a child, should she come to maturity? Many do not seem to understand the relation the mind sustains to the body. If the system is deranged by improper food, the brain and nerves are affected, and the passions are easily excited. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 11} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 12] A child of about ten years was afflicted with chills and fever, and was disinclined to eat. The mother urged her: "Eat a little of this sponge cake. Here is some nice chicken. Won't you have a taste of these preserves?" The child finally ate a large meal for a well person. The food urged upon her was not proper for the stomach in health, and should in no case be taken while sick. The mother, in about two hours, was bathing the head of the child, saying she could not understand why she should have such a burning fever. She had added fuel to the fire, and wondered that the fire burned. Had that child been left to let nature take her course, and the stomach take that rest so necessary for it, her sufferings might have been far less. These mothers were not prepared to bring up children. The greatest cause of human suffering is ignorance on the subject of how to treat our own bodies. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 12} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 13] The inquiry with many is, What shall I eat, and how shall I live, to best enjoy the present time? Duty and principle are laid aside for present gratification. If we would have health, we must live for it. If we perfect Christian character, we must live for it. Parents are, in a great degree, responsible for the physical health and morals of their children. They should instruct their children, and urge them to conform to the laws of health for their own sake, to save themselves unhappiness and suffering. How strange, that mothers should indulge their children, to the ruin of their physical, mental, and moral health! What can be the character of such fondness! These mothers make their children unfit for happiness in this life, and render the prospect of the future life very uncertain. {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 13} [HR, December 1, 1870 par. 14] As I saw the manner in which parents were treating their children in the cars, I thought, These poor children are indeed creatures of circumstance. Both parents and children were suffering the effects of eating irregularly, and of unhealthful food. As the result, there was a manifest lack of genuine affection with parents and children. All were sufferers. They were nervous, irritable, and desponding. The indulgence of appetite lessened their constitutional strength, as well as their mental and moral powers. Ellen G. White. - {HR, December 1, 1870 par. 14} [HR, January 1, 1871 par. 1] January 1, 1871 Will-Power. SICKNESS IS VERY LARGELY THE WANT OF WILL. EVERYTHING IS BRAIN. THERE ARE THOUGHT AND FEELING, NOT ONLY, BUT WILL; AND WILL INCLUDES IN IT FAR MORE THAN MENTAL PHILOSOPHERS THINK. IT ACTS UNIVERSALLY; NOW UPON THE MIND, AND THEN JUST AS MUCH UPON THE BODY. IT IS ANOTHER NAME FOR LIFE--FORCE. MEN IN WHOM THIS LIFE, OR WILL-POWER, IS GREAT, RESIST DISEASE, AND COMBAT IT WHEN ATTACKED. TO ARRAY A MAN'S MIND AGAINST HIS SICKNESS, IS THE SUPREME ART OF MEDICINE. INSPIRE IN MAN COURAGE AND PURPOSE, AND THE MIND-POWER WILL CAST OUT DISEASE. "NOTHING AILS HER. IT IS ONLY HER IMAGINATION," SAID THE NURSE ONE DAY. "ONLY" THE IMAGINATION?--THAT IS ENOUGH. BETTER SUFFER IN BONE AND MUSCLE THAN IN IMAGINATION. IF THE BODY IS SICK, THE MIND CAN CURE IT; BUT IF THE MIND IS SICK, WHAT CAN CURE IT? {HR, January 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1871 par. 2] As my eye traced the above lines, I felt the force of them. In journeying, I have met many who were really sufferers through their imaginations. They lacked will-power, to rise above and combat disease of body and mind; and, therefore, they were held in suffering bondage. A large share of this class of invalids is found among the youth. {HR, January 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1871 par. 3] I sometimes meet with young women lying in bed sick. They complain of headache. Their pulse may be firm, and they be full in flesh; yet their sallow skins indicate that they are bilious. My thoughts have been that, if I were in their condition, I should know at once what course to pursue, to obtain relief. Although I might feel indisposed, I should not expect to recover while lying in bed. I should bring will-power to my aid, and should leave my bed, and engage in active, physical exercise. I should strictly observe regular habits of rising early. I should eat sparingly, thus relieving my system of unnecessary burden, and should encourage cheerfulness, and give myself the benefits of proper exercise in the open air. I should bathe frequently, and drink freely of pure, soft water. If this course should be followed perseveringly, resisting the inclination to do otherwise, it would work wonders in the recovery of health. {HR, January 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, January 1, 1871 par. 4] I feel sad for those who are not only deceived themselves in thinking that they are sick; but who are kept deceived by their parents and friends, who pet their ailments, and relieve them from labor. If these were so situated as to be compelled to labor, they would scarcely notice difficulties, which, while indolent, keep them in bed. Physical exercise is a precious blessing for both mental and physical ailments. Exercise, with cheerfulness, would, in many cases, prove a most effective restorer to the complaining invalid. Useful employment would bring into exercise the enfeebled muscles, and would enliven the stagnant blood in the system, and would arouse the torpid liver to perform its work. The circulation of the blood would be equalized, and the entire system invigorated to overcome bad conditions. {HR, January 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, January 1, 1871 par. 5] I frequently turn from the bedside of these self-made invalids, saying to myself, Dying by inches, dying of indolence, a disease which no one but themselves can cure. I sometimes see young men and women who might be a blessing to their parents, if they would share with them the cares and burdens of life. But they feel no disposition to do this; because it is not agreeable, but is attended with some weariness. They devote much of their time in vain amusement, to the neglect of duties necessary for them to perform, in order to obtain an experience which will be of great value to them in their future battles with the difficulties of real life. They live for the present only, and neglect the physical, mental, and moral qualifications, which would fit them for the emergencies of life, and give them self-reliance and self-respect in times of trial and of danger. Ellen G. White. - {HR, January 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 1] February 1, 1871 Mothers and Their Daughters. Some mothers are at fault in releasing their daughters from toil and care. By so doing they encourage them in indolence. The excuse these mothers sometimes plead is, "My daughters are not strong." But they take the sure course to make them weak and inefficient. Well-directed labor is just what they require to make them strong, vigorous, cheerful, happy, and courageous to meet the various trials with which this life is beset. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 2] Mothers, labor will not injure your daughters so much as indolence will. Do they feel weary at the close of their day's duties? A night's rest will refresh and invigorate them, and in the morning they will be prepared to engage again in useful labor. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 3] Many mothers are too ready to shield their delicate, ease-loving, pleasure-seeking daughters from care and responsibility, as though they feared that a little care would injure them. These mothers make a sad mistake. In lifting responsibilities from their daughters, they make them inefficient for useful labor, and render them useless so far as practical life is concerned. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 4] Their education has a tendency to make them thoughtless of others. They are frivolous, and, perhaps, vain. Their minds are occupied with themselves. Their own amusements and selfish gratifications are their chief study. They become proud, unteachable, and unamiable. They fancy themselves delicate in health, when they have the powers within them, if called into exercise, to make useful, working women. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 5] Indolence is a curse to them. They learn the fashionable simpering and artificial lisping, so common with spoiled young ladies. Affectation is seen in almost every action. They are amused with themselves, and are thoughtless of others. They live upon the plenty which surrounds them in their parental homes, and depend upon the bounty given them of their parents. They lean upon parental strength, and fail to acquire the power of depending upon themselves. And those of this class are unprepared for the stern realities of life. They make no provision for the losses and disappointments of this inconstant life. They may be deprived of property, and of parents. What, then, will they lean upon? They have not acquired a principle of self- support, of noble independence and self-reliance, and they droop through murmuring, disappointment, and discouragement. They may then regret the defects in their education, and blame their mothers for them. These are some of the many fruits of a mother's mistaken fondness. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 6] Inactivity weakens the system. God made men and women to be active and useful. Nothing can increase the strength of the young like proper exercise of all the muscles in useful labor. But the indulgent mother frequently sacrifices her life in her misguided affection for her children. And are they, in any way, benefited by the great sacrifice of the precious strength of the mother? No; they are positively and permanently injured. They are taught to think and care only for themselves. "Just as the twig is bent, the tree inclines." {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 7] Especially is this the case with those daughters who are more directly under the influence of the mother. She should instruct her daughters not to yield to indispositions and slight ailments. If they complain of inability to labor, they should not be urged to eat. They should be taught that if they are unable to perform light labor, the system is not in a condition to take care of food. They should fast for one or two meals, and drink only pure, soft water. The loss of a meal or two will enable the overburdened system to overcome slight indispositions; and even graver difficulties may be overcome by this simple process. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 8] It is very injurious for persons in full flesh to lie in bed, simply because they feel sick. Some, even while thus inactive, eat regularly. The physical, mental, and moral powers are enfeebled by indolence. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 9] Mothers, if your daughters are surrounded with plenty, do not make this an excuse for neglecting to give them an education in the useful branches of household labor. Do not encourage in them indolence, or allow frivolous employment of their time. You should help your children to acquire a knowledge, that, if necessary, they could live by their own labor. You should teach them to be decided in following the calls of duty. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 10] Young friends, learn to lean upon divine strength. All other, in comparison with this, is feebleness. Although you may feel weak, you may look to God by faith, for energy to make your efforts efficient. In the strength of your Redeemer, you can follow in the path of duty. You can stand in his strength self-reliant, with noble independence, working with diligence to develop good physical, mental, and moral strength. You can do this while you depend upon the grace of your Redeemer to aid you in your efforts. Follow in the path of duty, and you may be assured that the dangers, trials, toils, and conflicts, of life, will never intrude their dark shadows in the mansions Christ is preparing for the faithful. {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, February 1, 1871 par. 11] "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things have passed away." Ellen G. White. - {HR, February 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 1] March 1, 1871 Spring Has Come. Spring has come again. The earth has thrown off her white shroud, and nature is waking to life. The birds are returning to cheer us again with their happy songs in the glorious sunshine. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 2] All, both young and old, should be in the open air as much as possible. Those who are in health should share the benefit of employment in the open air, in order to keep well. But above all, should invalids, who have been unable to breast the chill winds of winter, make the most of these spring days of beautiful sunshine, and be out of doors all that they can, and rejoice with the happy songsters in the prospect of approaching summer. Those who cannot walk without great fatigue should ride out. Those who can engage in light employment should do so; for the muscles will be strengthened by exercise. Work out of doors, you invalids that can. But at all events do not remain shut up in your houses. Walk out. Ride out. And if you can do no more, sit out in the open air, where heaven's breezes can come to you in their freshness, and where you can view the sunshine and shadow upon the face of nature. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 3] The trees, shrubs, and flowers, will soon be attractive to the eye, inviting all who delight in the beauties of nature to enjoy life out of doors. The flowers and green foliage have not appeared, but mother earth has thrown from her bosom her white mantle, and she even now bears a cheerful aspect in the bright sunshine and shadows. All should now seek employment some hours every day out of doors. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 4] We have not now the bracing air of winter to stimulate the system. Many will feel a sense of languor. They will feel indisposed to exercise, or to engage in labor which requires exertion, especially if their employment has been sedentary. Such need the vitalizing, out-of-door air. This will be a more safe and successful tonic than any drug that physicians may prescribe. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 5] Every family should have a plat of ground for cultivation and for beauty. Parents, a flower garden will be a blessing to your children. Your daughters would have better health in working a portion of each day upon the shrubs and flowers, than the delicate employment of embroidery and crochet, which confines them in doors. Your children need active exercise in order to be healthful and happy. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 6] Parents, it will pay to expend a small sum yearly in purchasing flower seeds and shrubs. We have purchased these of James Vick, Rochester, N. Y., and have ever felt more than satisfied with the means we thus invested. You should help your children to arrange their gardens tastefully, and then assist them in planting their seeds and shrubs. Fathers should take an interest in these things for the benefit of their children, if they themselves have not a natural love for them. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 7] My husband takes as great a pleasure in my flower garden as myself and my children do. Frequently, when he has had hired help, has he left his labor, and set all hands to work in preparing my plat of ground in order for my plants and seeds. This manifest kindness and interest have encouraged a love for flowers and plants in the minds of our children, and many hours have they devoted to the pleasurable exercise of the cultivation of these flowers, which they might have spent in exciting amusements and in questionable society. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 8] We can all take pleasure in beholding the many beautiful varieties of opening buds, and blossoming flowers, of every description and hue, which our Heavenly Father has created for the happiness and benefit of his children. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 9] It is God's design that we should love the beautiful in nature. He made a garden for our first parents, and there planted with his own divine hand the trees for usefulness and ornament, and the beautiful vines bearing fruit, and the lovely flowers of every variety and color. This was for the pleasure and happiness of man. If parents would more closely follow the example of their Creator in this respect, I believe they would have less trouble in bringing up their children to usefulness and happiness. If parents would encourage their children to love the beauties of nature, they would throw about them a safeguard to preserve them from iniquity prevailing among the youth. {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 10] Parents can associate God with the works of nature. While beholding his works, the beautiful trees, and plants, and flowers, they can awaken an interest in their young minds for the glories of Heaven. By making home and its surroundings attractive, they will lessen the desire for exciting pleasures and amusements which are injurious to the physical, mental, and moral health of children. You can beautify your homes with fruit trees, and shrubs, and flowers, and encourage in the minds of your children a love for these things. You can teach them in relation to the better life, by connecting the beauties of nature, so marred, and imperfect, and short-lived, with the never-fading and immortal beauties of Eden restored. You can unite with nature's your lessons of the love and mercy of our beneficent Creator, who has given them all these things for their happiness. You should seek to draw their hearts from nature up to nature's God, and connect the mercy of God with the morning light, and the glories of the setting sun. His mercy is seen in the musical, murmuring streams, and even in frowning storms. Direct their minds to the mercy of God in the summer's heat and winter's cold. We can trace before them the mercy and wisdom of God in the falling of the blessed rain to refresh and enliven the parched earth and vegetation, and direct them to a love and wisdom that is infinite. Young hearts will respond to such lessons as these, and parents will be blessed in seeing the fruit of their labor in the physical, mental, and moral improvement of their loved ones. E. G. W. - {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, March 1, 1871 par. 1] March 1, 1871 Tobacco Spitters in Cars. These spitters are a terrible annoyance to decent people. The following, stating some of the perils of travel in consequence of them, is to the point. The reform dress, however, makes these perils a little less perilous. I take with me into the cars a large amount of waste paper, with which to absorb this horrid liquid that I cannot avoid, and my husband takes pine wedges to fasten up the car windows, and so we enjoy some good air, and suffer what we cannot help. Thanks to the Interior for the following faithful picture. E. G. W. - {HR, March 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 1] April 1, 1871 Spring Has Come. April has come again. The sun shines gloriously, the grass is springing up everywhere, and the free little songsters of the wood and field contribute to the general joy. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 2] Who can but be joyous in the glad sunshine, beholding the beauties of nature, and seeing the evidences of the goodness and love of God, in the lofty trees, and the earth covered with its green carpet, and adorned with beautiful flowers of every hue? Our wise Creator loves to see his children healthful and happy. Should we not remember God as we look upon these evidences of his love? Would we not be very ungrateful if we did not acknowledge him in his creative works? It was the design of Heaven that we should look through nature up to nature's God, and should adore our Heavenly Father for the tokens he has given us that he wants us to be healthful and happy. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 3] Those who are old enough should every day that the weather will admit, have a portion of their work in the open air and sunshine. Children and women should not fail to spend some hours each day in exercise out of doors. This has proved a great blessing to me. When in very feeble health, I have occupied some time in my flower garden, and among the small fruits, doing light work, which has never failed to prove a success in recovering my health, and overcoming depression of spirits. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 4] There are but few who realize that, in order to enjoy health and cheerfulness, they must have an abundance of sunlight, pure air, and physical exercise. We pity little children who are kept confined in-doors when the sun is shining gloriously without. If parents would dress their children for healthfulness, instead of according to fashion, they would thoroughly clothe the limbs of their girls as they do those of their boys, and then let them out-doors in spring, summer, and fall, to sport and play, as free as the lambs. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 5] Do not close your blinds and have your windows draped with one or two curtains to shut out the beautiful sun that bears health and cheerfulness in its bright beams. Parents, do not close the pleasant rooms in your houses from your children, and open them merely to visitors. I have been in many houses where the best rooms were kept closed by blinds and curtains, so that not a ray of sunshine could brighten, gladden, and purify, the rooms, from the commencement of the week to the close. These choice, closed rooms, deprived of the health-giving rays of the sun, seemed like damp cellars. A chill seemed to penetrate me as I tarried even a short time in these beautiful rooms, held too precious from even the rays of the sun to be admitted. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 6] No room in the house should be considered furnished and adorned without the cheering, enlivening light and sunshine, which are Heaven's own free gift to man. If rooms are closed even one day, excluding these precious blessings, be they bedrooms or parlors, no one should be invited to occupy them until they have been thoroughly ventilated, and the rays of the sun freely admitted. This is the only way rooms can be kept free from impurities. The air in unoccupied rooms may be cold; but this is evidence that it is pure. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 7] I have visited in families where it would have been a pleasure for me to remain over night; but I could not do this without endangering my health. They did not feel the importance of ventilation and sunlight. The dread of being obliged to occupy a sleeping apartment that had been closed for days, not admitting these necessary blessings, has led me frequently to deprive myself of the privilege of remaining with dear friends any length of time. Windows and blinds have been closed, keeping out air and sunshine, until I have felt dizzy and faint, wholly unfitted to benefit the family, or to receive benefit. I have ventured to speak of the close, depressed air; but instead of opening a window and letting in the air, pure from the outside, a door has been opened leading to an unoccupied room, in which had been no fire, and which had not had the out-of-door air and sun, for weeks, and even months. This I considered a far greater evil than to have remained breathing the close air of the heated room. This cold, unpurified air contained more poisonous impurity than relief. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 8] One of the most beautiful adornments our rooms can have, is the cheering sunlight, gilding and glorifying everything it rests upon. Our children can but have discontented, unhappy, and homesick feelings, shut in by walls, with windows darkened, excluding the glad sunshine. Some mothers are so anxious to exclude the sun and air from their rooms that they will not allow more than half a window exposed, free from shades, to let in the light and sun. They shut out these blessings as though they were enemies to health and life. Their rooms have a dismal, lonesome appearance that children feel, though they cannot explain why they feel discontented, languid, and irritable. If the windows should be freed from blinds and curtains, and the air and sun be permitted to freely enter their darkened rooms, there would be seen a change for the better in the mental and physical health of their children. The pure air would have an invigorating influence upon them. And the sun that carries healing in its beams, would soothe and cheer, and make them happy, joyous, and healthful. We inquire, What is the use of building houses with windows in them, when these windows are not used, but kept closed and draped, to exclude the light and air? Why are not rooms made with one small window, according to the ideas of those who regard air and light as enemies? They could then have darkness, and as little air and sun as would please them, and could also save expense. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 9] When God had made our world, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, he said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good. Shall we close our houses, and exclude from them the light which God has pronounced good? Many deprive themselves of light and air, because they fear their picture frames or expensive furniture will be tarnished, and their lovely carpets faded. We may arrange our houses tastefully, and yet with simplicity, and have no fears of welcoming in the purifying air and glad sunshine. We had better dispense with costly furniture and expensive carpets, rather than with the sunlight, and the invigorating air of heaven. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 10] We cannot afford to darken and close our most pleasant rooms to our children, and make no practical use of them ourselves, that we may keep them nicely arranged for callers and visitors to look upon. Our principal study should be, how we can secure health and happiness, that we may be successful in perfecting Christian characters, and be qualified to answer the end of our being. God did not place us in this world to be butterflies of fashion; but to accomplish good, and to glorify his name. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 11] "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." God would have us enjoy the blessings he has given us. If we have been prospered of him in the things of this life so that we can build fine, airy rooms, it is his pleasure that we should enjoy them, and give a cheerful invitation to the blessed sunlight and the invigorating air of heaven, to enter them. We should let cheerfulness and joy be welcomed to our houses and hearts. If we do this, our health will be improved, and our lives of usefulness will be prolonged. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 12] THE HERALD OF HEALTH SAYS:-- {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 12} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 13] "IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE LADIES HAVE A PARTICULAR DISLIKE FOR THE SUNLIGHT, FOR THEY REMAIN MOST OF THE TIME SHUT IN FROM ITS INFLUENCE, WITH CURTAINS CLOSED TO KEEP IT FROM FADING THE CARPETS, WHILE FOR THE WANT OF IT THEY THEMSELVES FADE AND BECOME WEAK AND SICKLY, LIKE THE PLANTS WHICH GROW IN THE SHADE, AND ARE NEVER KISSED, AND COLORED, AND STRENGTHENED, BY THE LIFE-GIVING RAYS OF THE SUN. IF PERCHANCE THEY VENTURE OUT INTO THE OPEN AIR AND SUNLIGHT, THEY DARE NOT GO WITHOUT CARRYING A SHADE TO KEEP THE SUN FROM TANNING THEIR 'LILY-WHITE' CHEEKS, JUST AS THOUGH PALE AND SICKLY LOOKING COUNTENANCES WERE MORE BEAUTIFUL AND DESIRABLE THAN THOSE WHICH ARE EVER BLOOMING WITH THE FRESH, CLEAR, AND SPARKLING HUES OF HEALTH. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 13} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 14] "LADIES, IF YOU WISH TO BE STRONG AND HEALTHY, AND DESIRE TO POSSESS TRUE BEAUTY, AND NOT THE SENTIMENTAL SHADOW OF IT, SEEK THE GLORIOUS, GOD-GIVEN SUNLIGHT, AND BASK IN THE SMILES OF 'THE LIGHT AND LIFE OF THE WORLD;' LET IT ENTER FREELY INTO YOUR DWELLINGS, AND OCCUPY NO ROOM WHERE IT CANNOT AND DOES NOT ENTER; BE OUT OF DOORS ALL THAT YOU CAN EVERY DAY, AND ESPECIALLY WHEN THE SUN SHINES, AND FEAR NOT TO LOOK 'OLD KING SOL' IN THE FACE, INSTEAD OF COWARDLY SKULKING ALONG UNDER A PARASOL, AS THOUGH ASHAMED TO MEET HIS KEEN AND SEARCHING GLANCE. SUNLIGHT IS ONE OF THE BEST TONICS AND BEAUTIFIERS IN THE WORLD; THEREFORE, MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, ONE AND ALL, SHOULD SEEK IT AS ONE OF THE GREAT NATURAL AGENCIES WHICH HELP TO FORM THE 'ELIXIR OF LIFE.'" {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 14} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 15] These are very good and wholesome words. E. G. W. - {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 15} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 1] April 1, 1871 Children's Dress. The most of us wear clothing enough, but many fail to give every part of the body its due proportion. We agree with the writer of the following, that while over the chest and heart are placed more coverings than are actually needed for warmth and healthfulness, the limbs are not properly and thoroughly clothed. If any part of the body should be favored with extra coverings, it should be the limbs and feet which are at a distance from the great wheel of life, which sends the blood through the system. The limbs should ever be clothed with a warm covering to protect them from a chill current of air. The straight, lined pants, meeting the instep of the shoe, do this. If the feet are clothed with good-sized, thick-soled, warm boots or shoes, for comfort rather than for fashion, the blood will be induced to circulate freely in the limbs and feet, as well as in other portions of the body. We would protest against people's squeezing their feet to make them look small, and compressing the waist, making it impossible for them to fill the lungs with pure air. If we give the lungs and feet ample room to do the work God designed they should, we shall be rewarded with better health and a clearer conscience. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 2] We find the following sensible hints in relation to children's dress, in "Talks to my Patients," by Mrs. Gleason: E. G. W. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 3] SUCH IS THE STYLE OF DRESS FOR BOTH SEXES DURING THEIR EARLY YEARS, THAT THERE IS AN UNHEALTHFUL EXPOSURE OF THE LOWER LIMBS. THE SKIRTS ARE SHORT AND FULL, STANDING OUT FROM THE PERSON, SO AS TO AFFORD LITTLE PROTECTION BELOW THE HIPS; AND THE LIMBS INCASED IN BUT ONE THICKNESS OF COTTON, THAT FINE AND THIN, REACHING BUT LITTLE BELOW THE KNEE; AND FROM THENCE TO THE ANKLE ONLY A STOCKING, THAT OFTEN OF FINE TEXTURE. A MAN OR WOMAN WHO SHOULD GO ABROAD IN MIDWINTER DRESSED THUS, WOULD BE THOUGHT TO "DARE DEATH." WHEN FASHION SANCTIONS SUCH A SUIT, EVEN FOR THOSE WHO ARE STILL IN THEIR TENDER YEARS, CAN IT BE BORNE WITH IMPUNITY? DOES NOT THE FEARFUL MORTALITY AMONG CHILDREN SHOW THAT THERE IS "SOMETHING WRONG SOMEWHERE"? AND MAY NOT THE FAULT IN PART LIE HERE? COLDS, COUGHS, CROUP, AND INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, ARE FRIGHTFULLY FREQUENT DURING CHILDHOOD. THESE DISEASES DO NOT COME FROM WANT OF CLOTHING ABOUT THE CHEST; FOR ENOUGH AND MORE THAN ENOUGH IS USUALLY WORN THERE; BUT FROM THE EXTREMITIES' NOT BEING WELL CLOTHED. FASHION FURNISHES TO BOYS A FIRMER FABRIC FOR THEIR LIMBS MUCH EARLIER THAN TO GIRLS; THEY HAVE NO ALTERNATIVE TILL THEIR ENTRANCE INTO "TEENS" DEMANDS THE LONG SKIRTS. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 4] CHILDREN SHOULD BE CLAD WITH DRAWERS, AS WELL AS DRESSES, OF A MATERIAL SUITABLE FOR THE SEASON. BUT I SEEM TO HEAR ONE AND ANOTHER SAY THAT OUR LITTLE MISSES, CLAD THUS, WOULD ALL LOOK LIKE YOUNG SQUAWS. WELL, BE IT SO; THEY HAD MUCH BETTER, IN COLD WEATHER, WEAR FLANNEL THAN MUSLIN; FOR OF WOOL IT MAY IN TRUTH BE SAID, "NO MATTER IF IT IS COLD AND WET, IT IS ALWAYS WARM AND DRY." OF THIS MATERIAL WE HAVE NOW SUCH A VARIETY OF GOODS OF DIFFERENT TEXTURES, SHADES, AND COLORS, THAT IT WOULD SEEM THAT SOMETHING MIGHT BE SELECTED SUITABLE TO CLOTHE THE LOWER LIMBS OF YOUNG GIRLS AND LITTLE CHILDREN EVERY WAY BETTER THAN THE "THIN STUFF" THEY NOW WEAR. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 5] WE MIGHT AS WELL SEND OUR GIRLS FORTH IN THE WINDS OF WINTER CLAD IN THIN DRESSES AS THIN DRAWERS. IF THOSE OF MUSLIN ARE DESIRED, THEN DRAWERS OF WOOLEN OR COTTON FLANNEL SHOULD BE WORN UNDER, COMING DOWN INSIDE THE STOCKINGS. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 6] TO PREVENT PRESSURE OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD, CONGESTION OF THE THROAT AND LUNGS OR OTHER INTERNAL ORGANS, THE EXTREMITIES MUST BE KEPT WARM. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 7] CONSISTENCY IN CLOTHING IS A JEWEL MOST PRECIOUS BECAUSE OF ITS RARITY AS WELL AS REAL WORTH. - {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 1] April 1, 1871 Death In-doors. MULTITUDES OF PERSONS HAVE A GREAT HORROR OF GOING OUT OF DOORS FOR FEAR OF TAKING COLD; IF IT IS A LITTLE DAMP OR A LITTLE WINDY, OR A LITTLE COLD, THEY WAIT AND WAIT; MEANWHILE, WEEKS AND EVEN MONTHS MAY PASS AWAY, AND THEY NEVER DURING THAT WHOLE TIME BREATHE A SINGLE BREATH OF PURE AIR. THE RESULT IS, THEY BECOME SO ENFEEBLED THAT THEIR CONSTITUTIONS HAVE NO POWER OF RESISTANCE; THE LEAST THING IN THE WORLD GIVES THEM A COLD, EVEN GOING FROM ONE ROOM TO ANOTHER; AND BEFORE THEY KNOW IT THEY HAVE A COLD ALL THE TIME, AND THIS IS NOTHING MORE OR LESS THAN CONSUMPTION, WHEREAS, IF AN OPPOSITE PRACTICE HAD BEEN FOLLOWED, OF GOING OUT AN HOUR OR TWO EACH DAY REGARDLESS OF THE WEATHER, A VERY DIFFERENT RESULT WOULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE. THE TRUTH IS, THE MORE A PERSON IS OUT OF DOORS THE LESS EASILY DOES HE TAKE COLD. IT IS A WIDELY KNOWN FACT THAT PERSONS WHO CAMP OUT EVERY NIGHT, OR SLEEP UNDER A TREE FOR WEEKS TOGETHER, SELDOM TAKE COLD AT ALL. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 2] THE TRUTH IS, MANY OF OUR AILMENTS, AND THOSE OF MOST FATAL FORMS, ARE TAKEN IN THE HOUSE, AND NOT OUT OF DOORS; TAKEN BY REMOVING PARTS OF CLOTHING TOO SOON AFTER COMING INTO THE HOUSE, OR BY LYING DOWN ON A BED OR SOFA WHEN IN A TIRED OR EXHAUSTED CONDITION FROM HAVING ENGAGED TOO VIGOROUSLY IN DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENT. MANY A PIE HAS COST AN INDUSTRIOUS MAN A HUNDRED DOLLARS. A HUMAN LIFE HAS MANY A TIME PAID FOR AN APPLE DUMPING. WHEN OUR WIVES GET THROUGH WORK, THEY FIND THEMSELVES IN AN UTTERLY EXHAUSTED CONDITION; THEIR AMBITION TO COMPLETE A THING, TO DO SOME WORK WELL, SUSTAINS THEM UNTIL IT IS COMPLETED. THE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CONDITION IS ONE OF EXHAUSTION, WHEN A BREATH OF AIR WILL GIVE A COLD, TO SETTLE IN THE JOINTS, TO WAKE UP NEXT DAY WITH INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATISM, OR WITH A FEELING OF STIFFNESS OR SORENESS AS IF THEY HAD BEEN POUNDED IN A BAG, OR WITH A SORE THROAT TO TROUBLE THEM FOR MONTHS, OR WITH A LUNG FEVER TO PUT THEM IN THE GRAVE IN LESS THEN A WEEK. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 3] OUR WIVES SHOULD WORK BY THE DAY, IF THEY MUST WORK AT ALL, AND NOT BY THE JOB; IT IS MORE ECONOMICAL IN THE END TO SEE HOW LITTLE WORK THEY CAN DO IN AN HOUR, INSTEAD OF HOW MUCH. IT IS SLOW, STEADY, AND CONTINUOUS LABOR WHICH BRINGS HEALTH AND GOOD DIGESTION. FITFUL LABOR IS RUINOUS TO ALL.--HALL'S JOURNAL OF HEALTH. {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, April 1, 1871 par. 4] As I read the above, I involuntarily exclaimed, Good. At camp-meetings, we have tented out for weeks in succession, sleeping with the ends of the tent open to the air, and we have not suffered with colds. We have had better health when enjoying tent life than when living in doors. It is close confinement in doors that makes women pale and feeble, resulting in premature death. E. G. W. - {HR, April 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, May 1, 1871 par. 1] May 1, 1871 Beautiful May. May has come, with all her beauties of the sunshine, clothing nature with a glorious dress. Mother earth has laid off her brown mantle, and wears her cheerful robes of green. The trees and shrubs upon the lawn are decorated with their opening buds and flowers of varied tints. The peach and cherry are covered with blossoms of pink and white, and the pure music from a thousand of nature's happy and cheering songsters, unite to awaken joy and thankfulness in our hearts. {HR, May 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, May 1, 1871 par. 2] May is indeed here, to cheer and bless us. Let us, all who can, go out of doors, and be cheerful, happy, and healthy, as we behold the charming beauties of nature. We may look up through the attractive glories of nature, to nature's glorious God, and, as we read his love to man in nature, we may become cheerful, thankful, pure, and holy. {HR, May 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, May 1, 1871 par. 3] The feeble ones should press out into the sunshine as earnestly and naturally as do the shaded plants and vines. The pale and sickly grain-blade that has struggled up out of the earth in the cold of early spring, puts on the natural and healthy deep green after enjoying for a few days the health-and-life-giving rays of the sun. Go out into the light and warmth of the glorious sun, you pale and sickly ones, and share with vegetation its life-giving, healing power. Let what your ears hear of the music of the birds, and what your eyes see of the green grass, and shrubs, and trees, beautified with their fragrant blossoms, and God's precious flowers of every hue, lift that leaden weight off your spirits, and cheer that sad heart, and smooth that troubled brow. {HR, May 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, May 1, 1871 par. 4] Mothers, encourage the children to go out into the air and sunshine. What if they do tan, and exchange the pale, sallow complexion for the healthful brown? Let them have health and happiness, which are the only foundation of real beauty. Lovely May is here. Enjoy her, all you who can, while she is with us. Read what Fanny B. Johnson, in Laws of Life, says under the caption, {HR, May 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, May 1, 1871 par. 5] OUT OF DOORS. IN BEHALF OF OUR GOOD MOTHER NATURE, I HEREBY INVITE AND ENTREAT ALL HER CHILDREN WITHIN SOUND OF MY VOICE OR SIGHT OF MY PENTRACES TO COME OUT OF DOORS, AND TAKE PART IN THE GRAND ENTERTAINMENT WHICH SHE HAS GOTTEN UP WITH WONDROUS SKILL, TASTE, AND POWER. IT IS TO CONTINUE THROUGH EVERY DAY AND NIGHT OF THE SEASON, WITH INFINITE VARIATIONS IN PANORAMA OF SWELLING BUD AND BURSTING LEAF AND BLOSSOM, OF SPRINGING GRASS AND GRAIN, IN GRACEFUL, TASSELED HEADS, AND YELLOW, RIPENING SHEAVES, IN EVER-VARYING DEPTHS OF BLUE IN SKY, AND OF GREEN AND BROWN IN EARTH, IN SHIFTING CLOUD, IN ALL MOODS OF LAKE, AND STREAM, AND SEA, IN ROSY MORNINGS AND BRAZEN NOONS, AND GOLD AND PURPLE EVENINGS, AND HUSHED AND SOLEMN NIGHTS, IN MOONBEAM AND STARBEAM, IN SOFT AIRS AND SWELLING GALES AND WRACK OF TEMPEST, IN ALL MUSICAL SOUNDS, FROM BUZZ OF TINIEST INSECT-WINGS AND SONGS OF BIRDS, TO THE BOOMING OF OCEAN, AND BURST OF THE THUNDER CLOUD, IN THE BROAD SUNSHINE OF FIELD, AND PRAIRIE, AND DESERT, IN SHADE OF ROCK, AND TREE, AND FOREST. OH! THERE IS NO END TO THE VARIETY OF BEAUTY, AND SOUND, AND ODOR. AND WE ARE ALL INVITED! DO LET US GO OUT, AND FEAST AND REFRESH OUR SOULS, AND TAKE IN NEW LIFE AND INSPIRATIONS. {HR, May 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, May 1, 1871 par. 6] SOMETHING OF IT CAN BE CAUGHT THROUGH GLASS WINDOWS AND OPEN DOORS, BUT ONLY IN SUCH MEAGER MEASURE AS TO TANTALIZE, RATHER THAN SATISFY. THE SWEET INFLUENCES OF AIR, AND EARTH, AND SKY, ARE SHY OF THE INSIDE OF HOUSE ROOFS AND WALLS. THEY WILL ONLY EXERT THEMSELVES WHERE THERE IS FREE RANGE IN LARGE SPACE. NATURE DOES NOT PROPOSE TO BRING THEM TO US. WE ARE TO GO OUT TO HER, AND TAKE THEM AS SHE OFFERS. SO DO LET US GO. YES, I KNOW THERE IS THE SHOP, AND THE HOUSE-KEEPING, AND THE SEWING, AND THE MONEY-MAKING GENERALLY. AND IT IS ALWAYS THERE, AND ALWAYS WILL BE, AND IF WE ALLOW IT, WE WILL BE FOREVER BOUND DOWN TO IT, SOUL AS WELL AS BODY; AND THIS IS THE VERY REASON WHY WE SHOULD SOMETIMES GET AWAY FROM IT. DO COME, ALL YE WEARY ONES, WHOSE LIVES ARE SPENT IN SERVICE OF OTHERS, EITHER FOR LOVE'S SAKE OR FOR GAIN, COME AND FOR ONCE BE MINISTERED UNTO. MOTHER NATURE WILL TAKE YOU IN HER LAP, WILL WOO YOU WITH THE BREATH OF APPLE BLOSSOMS AND CLOVERS, WILL FAN YOUR CHEEK WITH PERFUME-LADEN AIRS, WILL SOOTHE YOU TO SLEEP WITH DROWSY HUM OF BEES, AND MURMUR OF STREAMS, AND RUSTLE OF MYRIAD FLUTTERING LEAVES, WILL WAKEN YOU WITH JOYOUS VOICES, WILL TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR SPIRITS THE PEEVISHNESS AND LITTLENESS THAT IS SURE TO GATHER IN A NARROW ROUND OF CARE, AND PUT IN THEIR PLACE SOMETHING OF HER SPIRIT OF CHARITY, AND LARGENESS, AND HARMONY, AND BRING YOU INTO SYMPATHY WITH THE DIVINE. THERE WAS NEVER BETTER CHANCE FOR POVERTY-STRICKEN, BURDEN-BEARING HUMAN BEINGS TO ESCAPE FROM THEIR CONDITION AND INDULGE IN LUXURIES FURNISHED WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT PRICE. I PROMISE YOU NATURE WILL SHOW NO FAVORS ON ACCOUNT OF WORLDLY DISTINCTIONS. SHE WILL MINISTER NO MORE GRACIOUSLY TO THE QUEEN OF A REALM THAN TO HER HUMBLEST MENIAL, PROVIDED THAT MENIAL BE LOYAL TO HERSELF. BUT TO THOSE WHO LOOK UPON HER WITH "LOVERS' EYES" SHE MUST OF NECESSITY BE PARTIAL. SHE SHOWS THEM WONDROUS THINGS IN HER PAGES, AND REVEALS HERSELF TO THEM AS SHE CANNOT TO OTHERS. {HR, May 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, May 1, 1871 par. 7] NONE OF US CAN AFFORD TO LIVE WITHOUT HER INSPIRATIONS. WE MAY AS WELL BE BRUTES AND DONE WITH IT, AND SINK UNDER THE SOD AND STAY THERE, AS TO TRY TO LIVE AND TAKE NO PART WITH GOD IN HIS WORKS AND WAYS. IF SO BE THAT OUR LIVES MUST BE SPENT IN HOUSEHOLD TOIL, WE CAN TAKE OUR WORK OUT OF DOORS, AND SO GET A GREAT DEAL OF GOOD. SPREAD A COMFORTABLE OR ROBE ON THE GRASS, AND TAKE OUT THE LITTLE CHILDREN AND SPEND AN AFTERNOON. IF THERE IS NO SHADE OF TREE NEAR THE DOOR, BUILD AN ARBOR, OR TWIST TOGETHER THE ENDS OF LITHE, TALL BIRCH, OR OTHER BRANCHES, AND SETTING THEIR BASE ENDS IN THE GROUND, PLANT AROUND THEM MADERIA VINES OR MORNING GLORIES, AND IN A FEW WEEKS THERE WILL BE FOUND A PLEASANT SCREEN FROM SUN AND OBSERVATION. LET THE POOR INVALIDS BE TAKEN OUT IN CHAIRS OR ON COUCHES, OR HUNG UP IN HAMMOCKS TO GET JUST AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE OF THE GOOD THINGS OF THE SEASON. ALAS! ALAS! FOR THE POOR PEOPLE WHO ARE SHUT UP IN STIFLED HOUSES IN CITIES, WHOSE WINDOWS OPEN ONLY ON DAMP COURTS, OR DINGY WALLS, OR BUSY STREETS. GOD PITY THEM, IF WE CANNOT HELP THEM, AND MAKE THEM FEEL HIS PITY. BUT LET US WHO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SPRING-TIDE OF LIFE AND BE CARRIED UP TO SERENER HEIGHTS, THAT WE MAY BE LET DOWN TO TRUER AND NOBLER LIVES. - {HR, May 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 1] June 1, 1871 June Has Come. Spring has gone, and summer opens before us. The fragrant blossoms, beautifying the boughs of the apple, peach, and cherry, no longer delight the eye, and their sweet fragrance is not borne to us on the breeze. These useful trees, although they now make no display, are not resting from their labor. They are preparing to adorn their branches with a rich harvest of fruit by and by, to reward our care and patience. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 2] Our flower gardens are now repaying us for the attention and labor we have bestowed upon them. The flowering shrubs that live through winter, are many of them pleasing the eye by putting out their buds and blossoms. The seeds we have carefully put into the earth are making their appearance, while others are thirsting for the gentle showers to awaken them to life. All the beautiful in nature seems to be upon a strife to see which can vie with the other in contributing to our pleasure and happiness, by their buds and blossoms of every hue. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 3] The merry birds are doing their part to cheer us with their varied voices. Many of these happy songsters are busy with domestic matters, yet have not become unhappy and gloomy while engaged in bearing their burdens of life, fulfilling the mission God has given them. We are often charmed with the free music from these merry songsters, which does not fail to awaken joy and gladness in our hearts, and instinctively carry our minds up to God with grateful thanks for his beautiful gifts. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 4] Everything in nature is diligent, and moving steadily onward, setting us an example. Notwithstanding the plants and shrubs are thirsting for showers, yet they cannot stop to complain, and cease their efforts to flourish. They obey nature's laws, to do the very best they can under every circumstance. They thirst to be refreshed with water, yet they strike their roots down deeper, reaching down far to gather the moisture, that they may retain life, freshness, and beauty. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 5] These things of nature teach us the useful lesson, not to be easily discouraged under disadvantageous circumstances, but to continue to put forth efforts, and to do the very best we can. Although vegetation is almost fainting for the summer showers, yet the good things of the vegetable kingdom do not decide to stand still, and do nothing, until everything is favorable. There is a power in nature which we can see, if we will, in vegetation. The shrubs and plants struggle to live under discouraging circumstances, and seem to be making the best of everything, and concealing every appearance of want and unhappiness, under a smiling, refreshing aspect, reflecting to us the beautiful in their opening buds and blossoms. If we would learn the lessons nature is teaching us we should be more hopeful and have less wearing anxiety and crushing care. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 6] In the lessons the divine Teacher gave to those who listened to his discourses, he frequently chose a place beautified with flowers, or surrounded with nature's varied scenery, such as, fields, well-cultivated, flourishing gardens, and corn fields, rich verdure, and fruitful trees, green hedges, orange, olive, pomegranate and fig trees, adorning the hills, while in contrast to this flourishing and beautiful scenery, would appear the white rocks and barren soil, while the birds of the air, with their varied music, charmed the ear as they were sporting in the air, or flitting from tree to flower. The majesty of Heaven uses these natural similitudes in representing the word sown in the human heart. He binds up his precious truths with the illustrations of nature that as his hearers shall ever after look upon the objects he has connected with his lessons, the heart will be impressed with the great truths he taught them. He anticipated the fears and anxiety of the listening multitude, and his calm and impressive voice is heard to encourage the flagging faith, and quiet the aroused, distrustful, murmuring fears of his disciples. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 7] Why take ye thought? Why be fearful and troubled about food or your raiment, or your life? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 8] God designs we should draw lessons from nature, and make a practical application of these lessons to our own lives. Although we may suffer under disappointments, reverses, and affliction, yet we cannot afford to fret, and walk under a cloud, and cast a shadow upon all with whom we associate. Invalids may imitate nature. They need not be like a withered, decaying branch. Let vegetation, that is clothed in cheerful green, cheer and comfort you, and suggest to you the happiness that you may reflect upon others, by presenting before them the aspect of freshness and cheerfulness, instead of complaints, sighs, and groans, and apparent languor in every step, and an appearance of inability in every move. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 9] Live, dear invalid friends, while you do live, and train yourselves to shed fragrance like the fresh flowers. If you are burdened and weary, you need not curl up like leaves upon a withered branch. Cheerfulness and a clear conscience are better than drugs, and will be an effective agent in your restoration to health. In order for you to be cheerful, you should have exercise. You should have something useful to do. Invalid sisters should have something to call them out of doors, to work in the ground. This was the employment given by God to our first parents. God knew that employment was necessary to happiness. You should have a spot of ground to claim as yours, to tend and cultivate. You may have a pride in keeping out every weed, and may watch with interest the beautiful development of every leaf and opening bud and flower, and be charmed with the miracles of God seen in nature. As you view the shrubs and flowers, remember God loves the beautiful in nature. As you watch the harmonious colors of the various beautiful-tinted flowers of June, bear in mind that God loves the beautiful in human nature formed in his image. A pure, harmonious character, a sunny temper, reflecting light and cheerfulness, glorifies God, and benefits humanity. Inspiration tells us that a meek and quiet spirit in the sight of God is of great price. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 10] As you cultivate your vegetables and flowers, and remove the weeds and prune from them the lifeless branches, bear in mind this is the work God is doing for you if he loves you. As you remove everything unsightly, and injurious to your plants, that nothing but the beautiful may appear, remember that just so God is doing with your human garden. He would discipline you, and would root out all the weeds, and all corruption and vileness, that you may possess a symmetrical character, and be free from evil habits, that you may not become sour, distrustful, and gloomy. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 11] God wants you, dear invalid friends, to be cheerful, and cherish a meek and quiet spirit. You may meet your friends with cheerfulness and true courteousness, and you may throw a ray of sunshine into their path; and will you be the worse for so doing? Oh, no! You will have every ray of light you shed, reflected back upon you again. You will be benefited with the effort you make to be cheerful. It will be for your benefit, my invalid friends, to do all that you can to forget your sufferings. Get out of doors as much as possible, and be benefited with the breezes and the blessed sunshine. Let the songs of the birds, and the beauties of nature, awaken holy and grateful feelings in your hearts, and lead you to adore your Creator who has anticipated your wants, and surrounded you with unnumbered tokens of his love and constant care. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 12] I wish to encourage my invalid friends to exercise; for this is necessary for the recovery of their health. Even those who attend a Water Cure should, many of them, exercise more out of doors. They would improve much faster. To be listless and indolent, will injure you. You want something to interest and engage the mind, and divert it from yourselves, and from your ailments. If invalids who can, would engage in light, useful labor in the open air a portion of each day, they would find physical exercise one of God's appointed agents for the benefit of man. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 12} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 13] Much of our suffering is unreal. We imagine trouble, and we gather clouds of darkness about us. We suffer as surely from imaginary troubles as though they were real. Physical exercise is the best remedy for this dreaded disease; for it occupies the mind and strengthens it to more healthful action, and employs the idle hands, and imparts strength and vigor to the muscles. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 13} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 14] Dear invalid friends, have an aim in life while you do live. Gather sunshine about you instead of clouds. Seek to be a fresh, beautiful flower in God's garden, imparting fragrance to all around you. Do this, and you will not die a whit sooner; but you will surely shorten your days by unhappy complainings, making your pains and ailments the theme of conversation. {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 14} [HR, June 1, 1871 par. 15] If you set any value upon your life, be cheerful, and subdue a querulous, whining, complaining spirit. Prune off every decaying leaf and withered branch, from your life, and manifest only freshness and vigor. You will be repaid tenfold in this life by cherishing a courteous spirit, being kind and respectful to all, even if it cost you an effort. Let the lessons of God's beautiful flowers soften, refine, and elevate your natures, and attract your hearts from the loveliness of nature to nature's God, and increase your love and reverence for your Creator. E. G. W. - {HR, June 1, 1871 par. 15} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 1] July 1, 1871 Christian Recreation. Christians should be the most cheerful and happy people that live. They may have the consciousness that God is their father, and their everlasting friend. But many professed Christians do not correctly represent the Christian religion. They appear gloomy, as if under a cloud. They often speak of the great sacrifices they have made to become Christians. They appeal to those who have not accepted Christ, representing by their own example and conversation that they must give up everything which would make life pleasant and joyful. They throw a pall of darkness over the blessed Christian hope. The impression is given that God's requirements are a burden even to the willing soul, and that everything that would give pleasure, or that would delight the taste, must be sacrificed. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 2] We do not hesitate to say that this class of professed Christians have not the genuine article. God is love. Whoso dwelleth in God, dwelleth in love. All who have indeed become acquainted, by experimental knowledge, with the love and tender compassion of our Heavenly Father will impart light and joy wherever they may be. Their presence and influence will be to their associates as the fragrance of sweet flowers, because they are linked to God and Heaven, and the purity and exalted loveliness of Heaven are communicated through them to all that are brought within their influence. This constitutes them the light of the world, the salt of the earth. They are indeed savors of life unto life, but not of death unto death. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 3] It is the privilege and duty of Christians to seek to refresh their spirits and invigorate their bodies by innocent recreation, with the purpose of using their physical and mental powers to the glory of God. Our recreations should not be scenes of senseless mirth, taking the form of the nonsensical. We can conduct them in such a manner as will benefit and elevate those with whom we associate, and better qualify us and them to more successfully attend to the duties devolving upon us as Christians. We cannot be excusable in the sight of God if we engage in amusements which have a tendency to unfit us for the faithful performance of the ordinary duties of life, and thus lessen our relish for the contemplation of God and heavenly things. The religion of Christ is cheering and elevating in its influence. It is above everything like foolish jesting and joking, vain and frivolous chit-chat. In all our seasons of recreation we may gather from the Divine Source of strength fresh courage and power, that we may the more successfully elevate our lives to purity, true goodness, and holiness. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 4] Even the great God is a lover of the beautiful. He has given us unmistakable evidence of this in the work of his hands. He planted for our first parents a beautiful garden in Eden. Stately trees were caused to grow out of the ground, of every description, for usefulness and ornament. The beautiful flowers were formed, of rare loveliness, of every tint and hue, perfuming the air. The merry songsters, of varied plumage, caroled forth their joyous songs to the praise of their Creator. It was the design of God that man should find happiness in the employment of tending the things he had created, and that his wants should be met with the fruits of the trees of the garden. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 5] God, who made the Eden home of our first parents so surpassingly lovely, has also given the noble trees, the beautiful flowers, and everything lovely in nature, for our happiness. He has given us these tokens of his love, that we may have correct views of his character. He has implanted in the hearts of his children the love of the beautiful. But by many this love has been perverted. The benefits and beauties which God has bestowed upon us have been worshiped; while the glorious Giver has been forgotten. This is stupid ingratitude. We should acknowledge the love of God to us in all his creative works, and our heart should respond to these evidences of his love by giving him the heart's best and holiest affections. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 6] God has surrounded us with nature's beautiful scenery to attract and interest the mind. It is his design that we should associate the glories of nature with his character. If we faithfully study the book of nature, we shall find it a fruitful source for contemplating the infinite love and power of God. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 7] Many extol artistic skill which will produce lovely paintings upon canvas. All the powers of the being are by many devoted to art, yet how far short do these come of the natural. Art can never attain to the perfection seen in nature. Many professed Christians will go into ecstacies over the painting of an evening sunset. They worship the skill of the artist; but they pass by with indifference the actual glorious sunset which it is their privilege to look upon every cloudless evening. Where does the artist obtain his design? From nature. But the great Master Artist has painted upon heaven's shifting, changing canvas the glories of the setting sun. He has tinted and gilded the heavens with gold, silver, and crimson, as though the portals of high Heaven were thrown open, that we might view its gleamings, and our imagination take hold of the glory within. Many turn carelessly from this heavenly wrought picture. They fail to trace the infinite love and power of God in the surpassing beauties seen in the heavens, but are almost entranced as they view and worship the imperfect paintings, in imitation of the Master Artist. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 8] The Redeemer of the world generally chose the open air in which to give his lessons of instruction, rather than to be inclosed in walls. He could make his teachings more impressive when surrounded with the beauties of nature. He chose the groves and the sea-side, where he could have a commanding view of landscape and varied scenery, that he might illustrate important truths of the kingdom of God, by the works of God in nature. He made use of the birds, caroling forth their songs without a care, and the lilies of the valley in their beauty, outrivaling Solomon in all his glory, and the lily, emblem of purity, reposing upon the bosom of the lake, the lofty trees, the cultivated lands, the waving grain, the barren soil, the tree that bore no fruit, the everlasting hills, the bubbling stream, the setting sun, tinting and gilding the heavens, to impress his hearers with divine truth. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 9] He connected the works of God's fingers in the heavens and upon the earth, with the words of life he wished to impress upon their minds, that as they should look upon the wonderful works of God in nature, his lessons would be fresh in their memories. He could extol the wisdom of God in his creative works, and could bind up his sacred lessons by directing their minds through nature up to nature's God. The landscape, the trees, the birds, the flowers of the valley, the hills, the lake, and the beautiful heavens, were associated in their minds with sacred truths, which would make them hallowed in memory, as they should look upon them after Christ's ascension to Heaven. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 10] As we are attracted to the beautiful in nature, and associate the things which God has created for the happiness of man with his character, we will regard God as a tender, loving Father, rather than merely as a stern judge. As the character of God thus bears the aspect of love, benevolence, beauty and attraction, the mind is drawn to him. The heart is quickened, and throbs with new and deeper love, mingled with awe and reverence, as we contemplate God in nature. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 11] It is for our health and happiness to go out of our houses, and spend as much of our time as possible in the open air. The mind of the invalid should be withdrawn from self, to the beautiful scenes in nature. We can but be cheerful as we listen to the music of the happy birds, and feast our eyes upon flourishing fields and gardens. We should invite our minds to be interested in all the glorious things God has provided for us with a liberal hand. And in reflecting upon these rich tokens of his love and care, we may forget infirmities, be cheerful, and make melody in our hearts unto the Lord. E. G. W. - {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 1] July 1, 1871 Florence Nightingale. Her Views of the Sick Room--Good and Bad Air--Dress. It is with pleasure that I copy the following good words from a large volume entitled, "Eminent Women of this Age." The historical sketch of Florence Nightingale is given by James Parton. Speaking of her book, entitled, Notes on Nursing, Mr. Parton says:-- {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 2] "THE CHIEF DUTY OF A NURSE," SHE SAYS, "IS SIMPLY THIS; TO KEEP THE AIR WHICH THE PATIENT BREATHES AS PURE AS THE EXTERNAL AIR, BUT WITHOUT CHILLING HIM." THIS, SHE INSISTS, IS THE MAIN POINT, AND IS SO IMPORTANT THAT IF YOU ATTEND PROPERLY TO THAT YOU MAY LEAVE ALMOST ALL THE REST TO NATURE. SHE DWELLS MOST FORCIBLY UPON THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY, AND WONDERFUL CURATIVE POWER, OF PERFECT CLEANLINESS AND BRIGHT LIGHT. HER LITTLE CHAPTER UPON NOISE IN, THE SICK ROOM, IN WHICH SHE SHOWS HOW NECESSARY IT IS FOR A PATIENT NEVER TO BE STARTLED, DISTURBED, OR FIDGETED, IS MOST ADMIRABLE AND AFFECTING. SHE SEEMS TO HAVE ENTERED INTO THE VERY SOUL OF SICK PEOPLE, AND TO HAVE AS LIVELY A SENSE OF HOW THEY FEEL, WHAT THEY LIKE, WHAT GIVES THEM PAIN, WHAT HINDERS OR RETARDS THEIR RECOVERY, AS THOUGH SHE HERSELF WERE THE INVALID WHOSE CASE SHE IS DESCRIBING. IF SHE HAD DONE NOTHING ELSE IN HER LIFE BUT PRODUCE THIS WISE, KIND, AND POINTED LITTLE WORK, SHE WOULD DESERVE THE GRATITUDE OF SUFFERING MAN. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 3] THE BOOK, TOO, ALTHOUGH REMARKABLY FREE FROM DIRECT ALLUSIONS TO HERSELF, CONTAINS MUCH BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL. WE SEE THE WOMAN ON EVERY PAGE--THE WOMAN WHO TAKES NOTHING FOR GRANTED, WHEN SOPHISTRY CANNOT DECEIVE, WHO LOOKS AT THINGS WITH HER OWN HONEST EYES REFLECTS UPON THEM WITH HER OWN FEARLESS MIND, AND SPEAKS OF THEM IN GOOD, DOWNRIGHT, NIGHTINGALE ENGLISH. SHE EVER RETURNS TO HER GRAND FUNDAMENTAL POSITION, THE CURATIVE POWER OF FRESH, PURE AIR. "DISEASE," SHE REMARKS, "IS NOT AN EVIL, BUT A BLESSING; IT IS A REPARATIVE PROCESS--AN EFFORT OF NATURE TO GET RID OF SOMETHING HOSTILE TO LIFE." THAT BEING THE CASE, IT IS OF THE FIRST IMPORTANCE TO REMOVE WHAT SHE CONSIDERS THE CHIEF CAUSE OF DISEASE--THE INHALING OF POISONOUS AIR. SHE LAUGHS TO SCORN THE IMPIOUS CANT, SO OFTEN EMPLOYED TO CONSOLE BEREAVED PARENTS, THAT THE DEATH OF CHILDREN IS A "MYSTERIOUS DISPENSATION OF PROVIDENCE." NO SUCH THING. CHILDREN PERISH, SHE TELLS US, BECAUSE THEY ARE PACKED INTO UNVENTILATED SCHOOL-ROOMS, AND SLEEP AT NIGHT IN UNVENTILATED DORMITORIES. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 4] "AN EXTRAORDINARY FALLACY," SHE SAYS, "IS THE DREAD OF NIGHT AIR. WHAT AIR CAN WE BREATHE AT NIGHT BUT NIGHT AIR? THE CHOICE IS BETWEEN PURE NIGHT AIR FROM WITHOUT, AND FOUL NIGHT AIR FROM WITHIN. MOST PEOPLE PREFER THE LATTER. AN UNACCOUNTABLE CHOICE! AN OPEN WINDOW, MOST NIGHTS IN THE YEAR, CAN NEVER HURT ANY ONE." "BETTER," SHE REMARKS, "SHUT THE WINDOWS ALL DAY THAN ALL NIGHT." SHE MAINTAINS, TOO, THAT THE REASON WHY PEOPLE NOW-A-DAYS, ESPECIALLY LADIES, ARE LESS ROBUST THAN THEY WERE FORMERLY, IS BECAUSE THEY PASS THE GREATER PART OF THEIR LIVES IN BREATHING POISON. UPON THIS POINT SHE EXPRESSES HERSELF WITH GREAT FORCE. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 5] "THE HOUSES OF THE GRANDMOTHERS, AND GREAT-GRANDMOTHERS OF THIS GENERATION (AT LEAST, THE COUNTRY HOUSES), WITH FRONT DOOR AND BACK DOOR ALWAYS STANDING OPEN, WINTER AND SUMMER, AND A THOROUGH DRAFT ALWAYS BLOWING THROUGH--WITH ALL THE SCRUBBING AND CLEANING, POLISHING AND SCOURING, WHICH USED TO GO ON--THE GRANDMOTHERS, AND, STILL MORE, THE GREAT-GRANDMOTHERS, ALWAYS OUT OF DOORS, AND NEVER WITH A BONNET ON EXCEPT TO GO TO CHURCH; THESE THINGS ENTIRELY ACCOUNT FOR A FACT SO OFTEN SEEN OF A GREAT-GRANDMOTHER, WHO WAS A TOWER OF PHYSICAL VIGOR, DESCENDING INTO A GRANDMOTHER, PERHAPS A LITTLE LESS VIGOROUS, BUT STILL SOUND AS A BELL, AND HEALTHY TO THE CORE, INTO A MOTHER LANGUID AND CONFINED TO HER CARRIAGE AND HER HOUSE, AND, LASTLY, INTO A DAUGHTER SICKLY AND CONFINED TO HER BED. FOR, REMEMBER, EVEN WITH A GENERAL DECREASE OF MORTALITY, YOU MAY OFTEN FIND A RACE THUS DEGENERATING, AND STILL OFTENER, A FAMILY. YOU MAY SEE POOR, LITTLE, FEEBLE, WASHED-OUT RAGS, CHILDREN OF A NOBLE STOCK, SUFFERING, MORALLY AND PHYSICALLY, THROUGHOUT THEIR USELESS, DEGENERATE LIVES; AND YET PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO MARRY AND TO BRING MORE SUCH INTO THE WORLD, WILL CONSULT NOTHING BUT THEIR OWN CONVENIENCE AS TO WHERE THEY ARE TO LIVE, OR HOW THEY ARE TO LIVE." AGAIN SHE SAYS, ADDRESSING PARENTS, "WHY MUST A CHILD HAVE MEASLES? IF YOU BELIEVED IN, AND OBSERVED, THE LAWS FOR PRESERVING THE HEALTH OF HOUSES, WHICH INCULCATE CLEANLINESS, VENTILATION, WHITE-WASHING, AND OTHER MEANS (AND WHICH, BY THE WAY, ARE LAW), AS IMPLICITLY AS YOU BELIEVE THE POPULAR OPINION (FOR IT IS NOTHING MORE THAN AN OPINION) THAT YOUR CHILD MUST HAVE CHILDREN'S EPIDEMICS, DON'T YOU THINK THAT, UPON THE WHOLE, YOUR CHILD WOULD BE MORE LIKELY TO ESCAPE ALTOGETHER?" {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 6] MISS NIGHTINGALE IS AN ENEMY OF CRINOLINE, THE WEARING OF WHICH SHE STYLES" AN ABSURD AND HIDEOUS CUSTOM." "THE DRESS OF WOMEN," SHE ADDS, "IS DAILY MORE AND MORE UNFITTING THEM FOR ANY MISSION OF USEFULNESS AT ALL. IT IS EQUALLY UNFITTED FOR ALL POETIC AND ALL DOMESTIC PURPOSES. A MAN IS NOW MORE HANDY AND A FAR LESS OBJECTIONABLE BEING IN A SICK ROOM THAN A WOMAN. COMPELLED BY HER DRESS, EVERY WOMAN NOW EITHER SHUFFLES OR WADDLES; ONLY A MAN CAN CROSS THE FLOOR OF A SICK ROOM WITHOUT SHAKING IT! WHAT HAS BECOME OF WOMEN'S LIGHT STEP--THE FIRM, LIGHT, QUICK STEP WE HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR?" {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 7] Many men and women have written independently, truthfully, wisely, and well, of the importance of correct habits in order for the recovery of the sick, and the preservation of health to those who are in the enjoyment of it. But, judging from the almost universal bad habits of the people, one might reasonably conclude that they did not read what had been well said on the subject of life and health, or if they did, what they read did not at all influence them in practical life. {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, July 1, 1871 par. 8] The truth is, the masses are led on blindly by popular physicians, who are the last men to engage in the work of informing the people. Their stronghold is in the superstitious confidence of the people, in their doses. Should they teach the people how to live so as to keep well, their practice would be ruined. But we rejoice to witness indications that many are awaking to the glad thought that it is their privilege to learn how to live so as to keep out of the doctor's hand, and that the pure air, pure water, quiet, abstinence from drugs, and a proper diet, are the best means that can be employed for the recovery of those who suffer from failing health. E. G. W. - {HR, July 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 1] August 1, 1871 Fashionable Life. A life of fashion takes from the simplicity and attractive beauties of nature. Our artificial habits deprive us from enjoying the natural, and unfit us for practical life. How can Christian mothers, in the education of their children, follow in the steps of the multitude, and bow at the shrine of fashion? {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 2] To live fashionably is an expensive, as well as thankless, life. Much time and means are squandered merely to create sensation in fashionable society, which the Master has intrusted to his professed people, with which to bless the needy, and to advance his cause. Garments are prepared with much labor and great expenditure of means, to beautify the person, and make the outward appearance beautiful; yet, notwithstanding all this artificial adornment, they poorly compare with the beauty of the simplest flower of nature. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 3] The Redeemer of the world, in giving his lessons of trust to his disciples, points them to the lilies of the field, and says, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." The great amount of needless toil to make the outward appearance attractive by artificial decorations is frequently at the sacrifice of health. After all the preparations that variety and pride can suggest, those who thus adorn themselves cannot bear comparison, in all their costly array, to the simple, natural lily of the field. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 4] I would impress upon Christian mothers the necessity of being awake to the fact that every act of their lives is telling upon the future of their children, and is forming their characters to be swayed by the customs of society, or is giving them correct views of truth and right principles, as the basis of their actions. Many Christian mothers feel compelled, through false views, to fall into the customs of society, and the tide of fashion. With their mature experience they may be better able to withstand the current of fashionable life, and avoid its downward and vicious tendencies; but in adorning their houses, and in arraying their children according to the custom of fashionable society, they are giving examples to their children, and surrounding them with an influence, that is calculated to foster pride, vanity, and selfishness, and they are swept in with the current of fashion, drifting, drifting, away from true goodness and away from God. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 5] How many precious hours are occupied by parents in the education of their children for fashionable miseries, for lives that are worse than lost. How much more profitable would be the lessons given to their children of the wonderful works of God in nature, seen in the simple, yet delicate, beautifully tinted flowers. Parents can teach their children that all the display and costly adornings cannot compare in beauty and glory to one of God's modest flowers. The minds of children should be led to see the hollowness of fashionable life. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 6] Parents should overcome desires of living for appearance. They should rather devote time to make their children happy at their homes, that they may love the society of their parents; making them their confidants and advisers, and enjoying useful employment, acquiring a taste for the natural, rather than the artificial. We should imprint upon our children's minds that they are not their own, to go, and come, and dress, and act, as they please. They are God's property, purchased by the sacrifice of the life of Christ; and their life is not to be idled away in indolence, or in seeking their own pleasures. If they possess personal attractions, and rare natural abilities, greater care should be taken in their education, lest these endowments be turned to a curse, and are so used as to disqualify them for the sober realities of this life, and, through flattery, and vanity, and love of display, unfit them for the better life. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 7] Our children should be carefully instructed in regard to their own being, and the obligations, relations, and duties, of life. They should be taught that their life is not to be wasted in vanity, folly, and pride; for God has given them life to be improved. They should teach them that they have a place to fill, a part to act, and object to gain. They should educate them not to be carried, but to bear burdens, to deny self, and to practice self-control. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 8] Mothers, the time devoted by many of you, with busy fingers and wearied eyes, diligently working in trimming, or in embroidering a skirt or dress, to attract admiration and envy by those who cannot have these extras, is poorly spent. In the end it will prove to you like the apples of Sodom, beautiful without, but ashes within. You are, in thus devoting time and means for display, teaching your children to love these things. "As the twig is bent, the tree inclines." As your sons and daughters become older, approaching manhood and womanhood, you mourn that their minds are frivolous, and absorbed in their pleasures, in fashionable dress, and outward display, while they have but little sense of their obligations to their parents, or to their God. They frequently have a positive disrelish for useful labor, or to lighten the burdens borne by their parents. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 9] The seed that the parents have sown in the hearts of their children has sprung up, and is yielding an abundant harvest. The lessons they have taught their children are put into practical use. They are what their parents made them. They do not possess moral worth, or noble independence. They follow in the wake of fashion, and live to be petted, and flattered, and admired. Outward show is the ambition of their worse than useless lives. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 10] Our children should be instructed that they may be intelligent in regard to their own physical organism. They can at an early age, by patient instruction, be made to understand that they should obey the laws of their being, if they would be free from pain and disease. They should understand that their lives cannot be useful, if they are crippled by disease. Neither can they please God if they bring sickness upon themselves by the disregard of nature's laws. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 11] Many professedly Christian parents follow the example of the multitude in their conformity to the world. Parents, you have taken the responsibility of bringing children into the world, without any voice of theirs, and you are responsible for the lives and souls of your children. They have the attractions of the world to fascinate and allure. You can educate them so as to fortify them against its corrupting influence. You can train them to bear life's responsibilities, and to realize their obligations to God, truth, and duty, and the bearing that their actions will have upon their future immortal life. Many needless things are made of the first importance, even by Christian parents, in the education of their children. A close investigation, enlightened by the Spirit of God, would reveal to these parents that a great share of the burdens and fatigue of life they suffer, God has not bound upon them; but they gather them upon themselves in doing the very things God has expressly forbidden them to do. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 12] "And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Many professed Christian parents, in order to gratify their children, labor, and expend means, wear away their strength, and even sacrifice their lives, in order to have their children keep pace with fashion. As I have seen these parents worrying, and complaining of trials, and temptations, and darkness, and gloom, fretting their way through life, carrying their unnecessary load of care, I have been reminded of the words of Christ to the Pharisees, "Ye tithe mint and rue, and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment, and the love of God." {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 12} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 13] There is a natural tendency with all to be sentimental, rather than practical. In view of this fact, it is important that parents, in the education of their children, should direct and train their minds to love truth, duty, and self-denial, and to possess noble independence, to choose to be right, if the majority choose to be wrong. Our children who are receiving an education at school, should become intelligent in regard to their own bodies, the habitation God has given them, and bring their knowledge to bear upon their every-day life, that they may become intelligent in regard to the relation their eating, dressing, and walking, sustain to life, health, and happiness. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 13} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 14] If they preserve to themselves sound constitutions and amiable tempers, they will possess true beauty that they can wear with a divine grace. And they will have no need to be adorned with artificials, for these are always expressive of an absence of the inward adorning of true moral worth. A beautiful character is of value in the sight of God. Such beauty will attract, but not mislead. Such charms are fast colors; they never fade. {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 14} [HR, August 1, 1871 par. 15] Parents, here is a work before you. You may preserve your health by being less anxious for the outward, beautifying the person with artificial adornings, and devote your precious time to the adorning and beautifying of the mind. You may, in the fear of God, take up your neglected duty, and train your children to form characters for Heaven. The inspired apostle contrasts the inward adorning with the outward, artificial display, and pronounces it not corruptible. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit he declares is of great price in the sight of God. If we are clearly told what God values, we shall be inexcusable if we continue to love display, to idolize our bodies, and to neglect to cultivate the inward adorning and perfect beautiful characters that God can approve. E. G. W. - {HR, August 1, 1871 par. 15} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 1] September 1, 1871 Words to Christian Mothers On the Subject of Life, Health, and Happiness.--No. 1. - By Ellen G. White. - I am sorry to say that there is a strange absence of principle which characterizes the professing Christians of this generation in regard to their health. Christians, above all others, should be awake to this important subject, and should become intelligent in regard to their own organism. Says the psalmist, "I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." If we would be able to comprehend the truths of God's word, and the object and purpose of our living, we must know ourselves, and understand how to relate ourselves rightly to life and to health. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 2] A diseased body causes a disordered brain, and hinders the work of sanctifying grace upon the mind and heart. The apostle says, "With the mind I myself serve the law of God." If then we pursue a course of wrong which weakens or beclouds our mental powers, so that our perceptions are not clear to discern the value of truth, we are warring against our eternal interest. Pride, vanity, and idolatry enslave the thoughts and affections, and blunt the finer feelings of the soul. These resist the sanctifying grace of God. Many do not realize their accountability as parents. A sense of their moral responsibility is not felt in the existence and education of their children who are the dearest objects of their affections. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 3] Children are often made objects of pride, rather than sanctified affection. Parents are not excusable if they do not seek knowledge in regard to the origin of human life, and understand what influence their living and dressing will have on their posterity. It is a crime for parents to pursue a course of life which will lessen physical and mental strength, and perpetuate their miseries for their children. If we do the work God would have us perform in this life, we must have sound minds in sound bodies. When wrong habits wage warfare against nature, we are warring against our souls. The Spirit of God cannot come to our help, and assist us in perfecting Christian characters, while we are indulging our appetites to the injury of health, and while the pride of life controls. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 4] Because it is the fashion, many females place over their breasts paddings, to give the form the appearance of well-developed breasts. These appendages attract the blood to the chest, and produce a dry, irritating heat. The veins, because of unnatural heat, become contracted, and the natural circulation is obstructed. These appendages, in connection with other bad habits of dressing and eating, result in obstructing the process of nature, making a healthy development of the breasts impossible. And if these become mothers, there cannot be a natural secretion of the fluids, to have a sufficient supply of nourishment for their offspring. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 5] Nature has provided means for the mother to perform this delicate and highly important office for her children. But in order to keep pace with fashion, nature has been abused, instead of being consulted. Mothers sometimes depend upon an hireling, or a nursing bottle must be substituted, for the maternal breast. And one of the most delicate and gratifying duties a mother can perform for her dependent offspring, which blends her life with its own, and which awakens the most holy feelings in the hearts of women, is sacrificed to fashion's murderous folly. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 6] There are mothers who will sacrifice their maternal duties in nursing their children simply because it is too much trouble to be confined to their offspring, which is the fruit of their own body. The ball room, and the exciting scenes of pleasure, have had the influence to benumb the fine sensibilities of the soul. These have been more attractive to the fashionable mother than maternal duties to her children. May be, she puts her children out to a hireling, to do those duties for them which should belong to herself exclusively. Her false habits make the necessary duties, which it should be her joy to perform, disagreeable to her, because the care of her children will interfere with the claims of fashionable life. A stranger performs the duties of the mother, and gives from her breast the food to sustain life. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 7] Nor is this all. She also imparts her temper and her temperament to the nursing child. The child's life is linked to hers. If the hireling is a coarse type of woman, passionate, and unreasonable; if she is not careful in her morals, the nursling will be, in all probability, of the same, or a similar type. The same coarse quality of blood, coursing in the veins of the hireling nurse, is in that of the child. Mothers who will thus turn their children from their arms, and refuse the maternal duties, because they are a burden which they cannot well sustain, while devoting their lives to fashion, are unworthy the name of mother. They degrade the noble instincts and holy attributes of women, and choose to be butterflies of fashionable pleasure, having less sense of their responsibility to their posterity than the dumb brutes. Many mothers substitute the bottle for the breast. This is necessary because they have not nourishment for their children. But in nine cases out of ten their wrong habits of dressing, and of eating from their youth, have brought upon them inability to perform the duties nature designed they should. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 8] Some mothers may be diseased so that they dare not nurse their children. All such females should not take upon themselves the responsibility of becoming mothers. It is criminal in the sight of Heaven for parents who are suffering themselves with disease, to risk the consequences of having children. Such should feel that they are excused from perpetuating their race. If reason and conscience controlled this matter, the world would not now be groaning under its weight of physical suffering, deformity, and imbecility. The world is no better for such additions. But this class do their part to hasten the degeneracy in the sinking standard of humanity. They are deficient in physical, mental, and moral worth, and are aiding in the depreciation of the race. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 9] It ever has appeared to me to be cold, heartless business, for mothers who can nurse their children, to turn them from the maternal breast to the bottle. In that case the greatest care is necessary to have the milk from a healthy cow, and to have the bottle, as well as the milk, perfectly sweet. This is frequently neglected, and as the result, the infant is made to suffer needlessly. Disturbances of the stomach and bowels are liable to occur, and the much-to-be-pitied infant becomes diseased, if it were healthy when born. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 10] Fashionable women, who live for dress and display, for visitors to admire their dress made after the latest style of fashion, and whose chief happiness is in attending parties, theaters, and balls, will have an account to render to their Maker for the responsibilities they assumed in becoming mothers, and then so lightly throw them off to be controlled by the tyrant fashion. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 11] Health, strength, and happiness, depend upon immutable laws; but these laws cannot be obeyed where there is no anxiety to become acquainted with them. The Creator has given us natural life, and physical laws, which relate to the preservation of the life he has given; and we are under most sacred obligations to become intelligent in regard to the laws of our being, lest we be found unwittingly transgressors, and be obliged to pay the penalty of our lawless course by disease and suffering. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 12] All who transgress physical law must sooner or later suffer the penalty of physical suffering. God has not changed, neither does he propose to change, our physical organism, in order that we may violate a single law, without feeling the effects of its violation. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 12} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 13] But many willingly close their eyes to the light. They do not wish to become intelligent on the subject of life and health, because they know that if they do become informed, and put that knowledge to a practical use, they have a great work to do. By indulging their inclinations and appetites, they violate the laws of life and health; and if they obey conscience, they must be controlled by principle in their eating and dressing, rather than be led by inclination, fashion, and appetite. Men and women cannot be practical Christians, and close their eyes to the light. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 13} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 14] Christians are required to love God with all their heart, with all their mind, with all their soul, and with all their strength, and their neighbors as themselves. The powers of the entire being God claims, to be devoted to his service. In how much higher degree we can render service to God in the vigor of health, than when palsied by disease. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 14} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 15] It is not only the privilege, but the sacred duty, of all to understand the laws God has established in their being, and to be so governed by these laws as to bring their habits into harmony with them. And as they more fully understand the human body, the wonderful work of God's hand, formed in the image of the Divine, they will seek to bring their bodies into subjection to the noble powers of the mind. The body will be regarded by them as a wonderful structure, formed by the Infinite Designer, and given in their charge to keep this harp of a thousand strings in harmonious action. By intelligence they may be able to preserve the human machinery as perfect as possible, that they "may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ." Here is the secret of true happiness. - {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 15} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 1] September 1, 1871 VOICE FROM DELAWARE. EDITOR OF HEALTH REFORMER, DEAR SIR: WHAT CHEER FROM OUR WESTERN FRIENDS? ARE THERE MANY OF THE TRUE AND FAITHFUL AMONG YOUR RANKS? WE FIND THAT ONLY THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO LIVE UPON A HIGH PLANE CAN STAND THE TEST WHICH TRUE HYGIENE APPLIES. IT TAKES MORAL COURAGE AND SELF-DENIAL TO ENABLE ONE TO MAKE A RADICAL CHANGE FROM THE ORDINARY HABITS OF LIFE. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 2] THE TIME OF CHANGE IS ONE OF COMMOTION AND DISTURBANCE IN THE SYSTEM, AND THE SUPERFICIAL OBSERVER ARGUES UNFAVORABLY FROM THIS, ESPECIALLY IF HE BE THE SUFFERER, FORGETTING THAT THE MORE OBNOXIOUS THE ARTICLE USED, THE MORE SEVERE THE DISTRESS UPON ABANDONING ITS USE. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 3] LET A PERSON BE HABITUATED TO THE USE OF OPIUM, AND UPON CEASING TO TAKE THE DRUG, HE SUFFERS INTENSELY. THE SAME WITH TOBACCO, ALCOHOL, COFFEE, TEA, FLESH-FOOD, SALT, &C., &C. BUT LET ONE ACCUSTOMED TO A HYGIENIC DIETARY CEASE TO USE ONE OR MORE OF THE ARTICLES TO WHICH HE IS HABITUATED, AND HE DOES NOT EXPERIENCE SUFFERING FROM THEIR DISUSE. THERE IS NO SURER TEST OF THE AMOUNT OF INJURY RECEIVED BY THE SYSTEM FROM THE USE OF A STIMULANT OR NARCOTIC THAN THE MEASURE OF SUFFERING OCCASIONED BY DISCONTINUING THE USE OF THE SAME. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 4] BUT IT TAKES A HERO TO SAY: "SINCE THE DISUSE OF COFFEE AFFECTS ME SO DISAGREEABLY, I MAY JUDGE OF THE HARM DONE TO MY SYSTEM BY USING IT, AND I WILL THEREFORE REFORM; I WILL NOT BE A SLAVE TO ANY HABIT." NEVERTHELESS, LET ANY HUMAN BEING SHOW SO MUCH COURAGE AS TO ABANDON FOREVER ANY INJURIOUS PHYSICAL HABIT, AND GREAT IS HIS REWARD. HE NOT ONLY FEELS GREATER SELF-RESPECT ON ACCOUNT OF HAVING BROKEN THE CHAINS OF AN ENSLAVING HABIT, BUT HIS PHYSICAL ENJOYMENT IS GREATLY ENHANCED. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 5] IT HAS BEEN VERY WISELY SAID: "THE WAY OF THE TRANSGRESSOR IS HARD;" IT IS NOT MERELY THE END OF TRANSGRESSION THAT IS SEVERE, BUT THE VERY WAY OR PATH OF THE EVIL-DOER THAT IS HARD. ONCE HABITUATED TO THE RIGHT PATH, WE FIND IT SO EASY AND PLEASANT THAT WE WOULD NOT FORSAKE IT IF WE COULD. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 6] OH! THAT WE COULD REACH THE HEARTS AND CONSCIENCES OF THE MASS OF THIS PEOPLE; WE WOULD NOT ONLY MAKE CONVERTS TO HYGIENE, BUT EXCHANGE SUFFERING AND DEBILITY FOR ENJOYMENT AND VIGOR. MARY H. HEALD, M. D. HYGIENIC HOME, WILMINGTON, DEL. - {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 7] The above good and cheering words from my esteemed friend, Mrs. Mary H. York, of Dansville, N. Y., memory, now Mrs. Heald, though addressed to my husband, have more than a welcome place in my department. {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, September 1, 1871 par. 8] In response to the inquiry as to the numbers of the faithful, I would say to my sister, Come and see. You will be made welcome at my home, and at our Institute. And you will find some faithful ones in the West battling for truth, cheered with the fact that numbers increase. E. G. W. - {HR, September 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 1] October 1, 1871 Words to Christian Mothers. On the Subject of Life, Health, and Happiness.--No. 2. Obedience to the laws of our being should be regarded of great importance, and to every individual, a matter of personal duty. Indifference and ignorance upon this subject is sin. The two great principles of God's moral government are supreme love to the Creator, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are under obligations to God to take care of the habitation he has given us, that we may preserve ourselves in the best condition of health, that all the powers of our being may be dedicated to his service, to glorify his name, whose we are, and whom we ought to serve. It is impossible to render to God acceptable service while we, through wrong habits, are diseased physically and mentally. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 2] We are also under obligation to ourselves, to pursue a course which will not bring unnecessary suffering upon ourselves, and make our lives wretched, we groaning under the weight of disease. If we injure unnecessarily our constitution, we dishonor God, for we transgress the laws of our being. We are under obligation to our neighbors to take a course before them which will give them correct views of the right way to pursue to insure health. If we manifest an indifference upon this great subject of reform, and neglect to obtain the knowledge within our reach, and do not put that knowledge to a practical use, we will be accountable before God for the light he has given us, which we would not accept and act upon. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 3] I have heard many say, I know that we have wrong habits that are injuring our health; but our habits have become formed, and it is next to impossible to change, and do even as well as we know. By hurtful indulgences these are working against their own highest interest and happiness in this life, and are, in so doing, disqualifying themselves to obtain the future life. Many who are enlightened still follow in a course of transgression, excusing themselves that it is very inconvenient to be singular. Because the world at large choose to war against themselves and their highest earthly and eternal interest, they who know better venture to do the same, disregarding the light and knowledge which hold them responsible for the result of their violation of nature's laws. God is not responsible for the suffering which follows the nonconformity to natural law and moral obligations to him. Enlightened transgressors are the worst of sinners, for they choose darkness rather than light. The laws that govern physical life, they may understand if they will; but the desire with them is so strong to follow popular, sensual indulgences of the day that are in opposition to physical and moral health, that they are insensible to its importance, and will not impress it upon others either by precept or example. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 4] Their neglect of this important subject exposes them to a fearful accountability. Not only are they suffering themselves the penalty of nature's violated law, but their example is leading others in the same course of transgression. But if men and women would act in reference to their highest temporal good, untrammeled by fashion, living naturally, we should see fewer pale faces, hear less complaint of suffering, and attend less death-beds and funerals. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 5] Because the majority choose to walk in a path which God has positively forbidden, shall all feel compelled to tread the same path? The question is not, What will the world do? but, What shall we as individuals do? Will we accept light and knowledge, and live simply and naturally, feeling that we are under obligation to society, to our children, and to God, to preserve health and a good constitution, serene tempers, and unimpaired judgment? We have a duty to live for the interest of others. In order to benefit others, many think they must conform to custom, or they will lose the influence they might have upon the world. But when they do this, their influence to reform and elevate is lost, and their example leads away from reform. They are on a level with transgressors, therefore, cannot elevate them while their own example sanctions the customs and enslaving fashions of this age. The only hope of benefiting society is in showing them a better way by proper instruction sustained by a correct course on our part. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 6] Those who have means at their command, can do a good work if governed by religious principles. They can demonstrate, if they will, to rich and poor, that happiness does not consist in outward adornings and needless display. They may show by their own simplicity of dress and unaffected modesty of manners that there are higher and nobler attainments than conformity to the latest styles of fashion. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 7] If we would have happiness in this life, we must live for it, and show to society that we can preserve firm principles in defiance of extravagant and injurious fashion. If we conform to the world and bring on disease by violating the laws of life and health, fashionable society cannot relieve us of a single pain. We shall have to suffer for ourselves, and if we sacrifice life, we shall have to die for ourselves. We should as individuals seek to do right, and to take care of ourselves by living naturally instead of artificially. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 8] We cannot afford to live fashionably, for in doing thus, we sacrifice the natural to the artificial. Our artificial habits deprive us of many privileges and much enjoyment, and unfit us for useful life. Fashion subjects us to a hard, thankless life. A vast amount of money is sacrificed to keep pace with changing fashion, merely to create a sensation. The votaries of fashion who live to attract the admiration of friends and strangers, are not happy--far from it. Their happiness consists in being praised and flattered, and if they are disappointed in this, they are frequently unhappy, gloomy, morose, jealous, and fretful. As a weather vane is turned by the wind, those who consent to live fashionable lives are controlled by every changing fashion, however inconsistent with health and with real beauty. Very many sacrifice comfort and true elegance, to be in the train of fashion. The most enfeebling and deforming fashions are now enslaving those who bow at her shrine. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 9] Fashion loads the heads of women with artificial braids and pads, which do not add to their beauty, but give an unnatural shape to the head. The hair is strained and forced into unnatural positions, and it is not possible for the heads of these fashionable ladies to be comfortable. The artificial hair and pads covering the base of the brain, heat and excite the spinal nerves centering in the brain. The head should ever be kept cool. The heat caused by these artificials induces the blood to the brain. The action of the blood upon the lower or animal organs of the brain, causes unnatural activity, tends to recklessness in morals, and the mind and heart is in danger of being corrupted. As the animal organs are excited and strengthened, the moral are enfeebled. The moral and intellectual powers of the mind become servants to the animal. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 10] In consequence of the brain being congested its nerves lose their healthy action, and take on morbid conditions, making it almost impossible to arouse the moral sensibilities. Such lose their power to discern sacred things. The unnatural heat caused by these artificial deformities about the head, induces the blood to the brain, producing congestion, and causing the natural hair to fall off, producing baldness. Thus the natural is sacrificed to the artificial. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 11] Many have lost their reason, and become hopelessly insane, by following this deforming fashion. Yet the slaves to fashion will continue to thus dress their heads, and suffer horrible disease and premature death, rather than be out of fashion. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 12] Pleasure-seeking and frivolity blunt the sensibilities of the professed followers of Christ, and make it impossible for them to place a high estimate upon eternal things. Good and evil, by them, are placed upon a level. The high, elevated attainments in godliness, which God designed his people should reach, are not gained. These lovers of pleasure seem to be pleased with earthly and sensual things, to the neglect of the higher life. The enjoyments of this life, which God has abundantly provided for them in the varied works of nature, which have an elevating influence upon the heart and life, are not attractive to those who are conformed to the fashions of the world. They rush on unmindful of the glories of nature, seen in the works of God's hands, and seek for happiness in fashionable life, and in unnatural excitement which is in direct opposition to the laws of God established in our being. The Marshall Statesman says:-- {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 12} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 13] "A PHYSICIAN, WRITING A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A SCHOOL-GIRL, DEVOTES ONE TO THE NICE KEEPING OF THE HAIR. AMONG OTHER DIRECTIONS HE REMARKS THAT MUCH IS SAID AGAINST WEARING SWITCHES, OR JUTES, OR CHIGNONS, BECAUSE THEY BREED PESTIFEROUS VERMIN, WHOSE LIFE IS FED BY THEIR DRAIN ON THE SMALL BLOOD-VESSELS OF THE SCALP; BUT ALL SUCH OBJECTIONS TO THESE MONSTROSITIES BECOME AS NOTHING COMPARED WITH THE OBJECTION WHICH ARISES FROM THE CONGESTED CONDITION OF THE BLOOD-VESSELS OF THE BACK BRAIN BY REASON OF THEIR USE. A SWITCH OR CHIGNON IS A SUBSTANCE WHICH, IN ITSELF, IS A GREAT CONDUCTOR OF ANIMAL HEAT. AS THE BACK OF THE HEAD HAS A GREAT DEAL OF BLOOD, AND A GREAT DEAL OF BLOOD HAS A GREAT DEAL OF HEAT IN IT, THE SURPLUSAGE OF THIS HEAT SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO PASS OFF OUTWARDLY. TO WEAR ONE OF THESE APPLIANCES IS TO KEEP THE HEAT IN, AND AS THE PART THUS DRESSED BECOMES EXCESSIVELY HEATED, DISEASE TAKES PLACE IN A LITTLE WHILE, AND THE WHOLE BODILY STRUCTURE BECOMES AFFECTED. IN WOMEN THERE IS SUCH AN INTIMATE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE BACK BRAIN AND THE REPRODUCTIVE STRUCTURE, THAT WHEN THE FORMER BECOMES ENFEEBLED THE LATTER INVARIABLY TAKES ON MORBID CONDITIONS." {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 13} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 14] God has surrounded us with his glories, that the natural eye may be charmed. The splendor of the heavens, the adornments of nature in spring and summer, the lofty trees, the lovely flowers of every tint and hue, should call us out of our houses to contemplate the power and glory of God, as seen in the works of his hands. But many close their senses to these charms. They will not engage in healthful labor among the beautiful things of nature. They turn from shrubs and flowers, and shut themselves in their houses, to labor and toil in closed walls, depriving themselves of the healthful, glorious sunlight, and the pure air, that they may prepare artificial adornments for their houses and their persons. They impose upon themselves a terrible tax. They sacrifice the glow of health God has given in the human face, the blended beauty of the lily and the rose, and tax the physical and mental in preparing the artificial to take the place of the natural. The beauty of the soul, when compared with outward display, is regarded almost valueless. In the anxiety to meet the standard of fashion, beauty of character is overlooked. A writer has well said:-- {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 14} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 15] "CURLS AND COSMETICS ARE ALL IN REQUISITION TO ENHANCE THE BEAUTY OF 'THE HUMAN FACE DIVINE;' BUT WHAT IS THE RESULT? YOUTH'S ROSES ONLY FLEE THE FASTER--OLD AGE WILL CREEP ON APACE; ROUGE CANNOT HIDE ITS WRINKLES, NOR CAN IT MAKE ANY FACE BEAUTIFUL. WE ARE DECIDED BELIEVERS IN THE OLD ADAGE, 'HANDSOME IS THAT HANDSOME DOES.' NO FACE HAS TRUE BEAUTY IN IT THAT DOES NOT MIRROR THE DEEDS OF A NOBLE SOUL. THERE IS NOT A THOUGHT, WORD, OR DEED, THAT DOES NOT LEAVE ITS AUTOGRAPH WRITTEN ON THE HUMAN COUNTENANCE; AND WE CARE NOT WHETHER KIND NATURE HAS GIVEN HER CHILD AN UGLY FACE OR A HANDSOME ONE, IF THE HEART THAT BEATS UNDERNEATH ALL IS WARM AND LOVING. AND IF THE SOUL THAT LOOKS OUT FROM THE EYES BE TRUE AND PURE, THE FACE WILL BE BEAUTIFUL ALWAYS, FOR IT HAS FOUND THE TRUE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH; AND THOUGH TIME MAY FOLD THE HAIR IN SILVER, AND FURROW THE BROW, YET THERE WILL EVER BE A BEAUTY LIGHTING IT UP THAT YEARS CANNOT DIM, FOR THE HEART AND SOUL NEVER GROW OLD." {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 15} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 16] Another writer says under the caption, {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 16} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 17] "DANGEROUS FASHIONS, "THE CRUELTIES THE TYRANT OF FASHION INFLICTS UPON HER SLAVES--WILLING THOUGH THEY BE--ARE INDEED APPALLING. JUST TO THINK OF LADIES UPON WHOM NATURE HAS LAVISHED HER CHARMS, SUBMITTING TO THE ENAMELING PROCESS ONLY TO BECOME SUBJECT TO PARALYSIS OR DROP DEAD FROM ITS EFFECTS. OTHERS, AGAIN, SEEKING TO BE FAIRER THAN THE FAIREST, ARE ALLURED BY THE GLARING WORDS, 'LAIRD'S BLOOM OF YOUTH,' AND SIMILAR POETIC PHRASES, AND EAGERLY SEIZE UPON THE POISONOUS COMPOUNDS, ONLY TO SUFFER THE EXCRUCIATING PAINS OF NEURALGIA OR BREATHE OUT A PAINFUL AND LINGERING EXISTENCE FROM THE EFFECTS OF SLOW POISON INTRODUCED INTO THE SYSTEM BY THEIR USE." {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 17} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 18] The majority of pleasure lovers attend the fashionable night gatherings, and spend in exciting amusements the hours God has given them for quiet rest and sleep in order to invigorate the body. Hours are spent in dancing. The blood becomes heated; the system is exhausted; and while in this feverish state of excitement, the late suppers are introduced, and the unnatural appetite is indulged, to the injury, not only of the physical, but the moral health. Those things which irritate and burden the stomach, benumb the finer feelings of the heart, and the entire system must feel it, for this organ has a controlling power upon the health of the entire body. If the stomach is diseased, the brain nerves are in strong sympathy with the stomach, and the moral powers are overruled by the baser passions. Irregularity in eating and drinking, and improper dressing, deprave the mind and corrupt the heart, and bring the noble attributes of the soul in slavery to the animal passions. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 18} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 19] Many in returning to their homes from these night scenes of dissipation, expose themselves to the damp, chilly air of night. They are thinly clad with thin slippers upon their feet, the chest not properly protected, and health and life are sacrificed. By the limbs and feet becoming chilled the circulation of the blood through the system is unbalanced. Very many have, by pursuing this course, brought upon themselves lung difficulties and various distressing infirmities, which have, in a few months, carried them to an untimely grave. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 19} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 20] Many are ignorantly injuring their health and endangering their life by using cosmetics. They are robbing the cheeks of the glow of health, and then to supply the deficiency use cosmetics. When they become heated in the dance the poison is absorbed by the pores of the skin, and is thrown into the blood. Many lives have been sacrificed by this means alone. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 20} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 21] The following selection we here insert hoping that it may arrest the attention of some of the votaries of fashion, and excite their fears, if it does not arouse their consciences, to put away the pride and sin which produces such dangerous results:-- {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 21} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 22] "THE FATAL EFFECTS OF PAINTING. "NO ONE CAN RIDE OR WALK THROUGH THE FASHIONABLE PORTION OF NEW YORK CITY, ATTEND ANY PLACE OF AMUSEMENT, OR GO TO ANY EVENING PARTY, WITHOUT BECOMING AWARE OF THE HORRIBLE FACT THAT MANY WOMEN OF WHOM BETTER THINGS MIGHT BE EXPECTED, HAVE FALLEN INTO THE PERNICIOUS HABIT OF APPLYING TO THEIR SKINS THE ENAMELS WHICH, UNDER VARIOUS ATTRACTIVE NAMES, ARE ADVERTISED AND SOLD IN ALL PARTS OF THE LAND. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 22} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 23] "NOT ONLY FADED FACES, BUT COUNTENANCES SO YOUNG, PLUMP AND PRETTY IN OUTLINE THAT THEY MUST IN THEIR NATURAL CONDITION BE ATTRACTIVE, ARE LACQUERED OVER WITH AN UNNATURAL POLISH OF FINE PORCELAIN, WHICH PRODUCES AN EFFECT SUCH AS ONE MIGHT IMAGINE IF A CHINA DOLL WERE AFFLICTED WITH THE CONSUMPTION. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 23} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 24] "THIS PRACTICE IS AS PERNICIOUS AS IT IS DISGUSTING--THE SEEDS OF DEATH OR PARALYSIS BEING HIDDEN IN EVERY POT AND JAR OF THOSE MIXTURES, WHICH ARE SUPPOSED TO BE NOT ONLY INNOCENT, BUT ALSO TO POSSESS THE VIRTUES OF THE UNDISCOVERED FOUNTAIN OF PERPETUAL YOUTH. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 24} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 25] SOME WHO USE THEM WILL SUDDENLY HAVE A SEVERE ILLNESS; AND RECEIVING A PRIVATE WARNING FROM THE FAMILY PHYSICIAN, WILL CEASE THE USE OF THE CAUSE OF THEIR DISORDER, AND RECOVERING, GO THROUGH LIFE WITH AN EXTREMELY BAD COMPLEXION, AS A REMINDER OF THEIR FOLLY. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 25} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 26] "OTHERS WILL DROP SUDDENLY, WITH THEIR FEATURES TWISTED ON ONE SIDE, AND PERHAPS DEPRIVED OF THE USE OF THEIR LIMBS. OTHERS WILL DIE OUTRIGHT, NO ONE GUESSING WHY. THE EFFECT ON ANY PARTICULAR PERSON CANNOT BE CALCULATED. WHAT ONE SUFFERS PARALYSIS FROM, MAY KILL ANOTHER OUTRIGHT. THE ONLY SAFETY IS IN HAVING NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY OF THESE BANEFUL PREPARATIONS." {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 26} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 27] If God had required of society so great a sacrifice for his sake, what mourning we should bear of the terrible burdens imposed upon those who follow Christ. But the slaves to fashion take these burdens upon themselves, and make their own life very wearisome with needless care, in their anxiety to keep pace with fashion. They lay upon the altar of fashion, health, happiness, life and Heaven. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 27} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 28] Christians cannot afford to make this great sacrifice. They cannot afford to sow to the flesh and reap corruption. That which ye sow ye shall also reap. Now is the sowing time. The reaping time hasteth. What will the harvest be? The inspired apostle addresses us, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 28} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 29] After completing the foregoing, I found the following. I have had some experience in using Mrs. S.A. Allen's World's Hair Restorative, also Hall's Vegetable Sicilian Hair Restorative. I have made applications of these preparations upon the head of my husband, to prevent the falling off of the hair. I observed that when using these preparations, he frequently complained of giddiness of the head, and weakness and pain of the eyes. {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 29} [HR, October 1, 1871 par. 30] In applying these preparations, my eyes, that were naturally strong, grew weak, and twice seemed to be greatly inflamed. Eruptions appeared upon the lids, and continued for weeks. I was convinced that I was poisoned by applying these preparations to the head of my husband. We discontinued the use of these altogether, and I have had no weakness of the eyes since. My husband has been free from the peculiar sensations he experienced while using these preparations, and my experience has been for twenty years, that pure soft water is best for my head and hair. E. G. W. - {HR, October 1, 1871 par. 30} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 1] November 1, 1871 Words to Christian Mothers On the Subject of Life, Health, and Happiness.--No. 3. Health is a great blessing, and can be secured only in obedience to natural law. Good health is necessary for the enjoyment of life. A calm, clear brain, and steady nerve, are dependent upon a well-balanced circulation of the blood. In order to have good blood, we must breathe well. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 2] Mothers are accountable, in a great degree, for the health and lives of their children, and should become intelligent in regard to laws upon which life and health depend. Their work does not end here. They should carefully educate their children upon this subject, that they may, by obedience to nature's laws, avoid disease, and secure health and happiness. It is not necessary that all mothers should teach their children all the details of physiology and anatomy. But they should avail themselves of all the means within their reach to give their children instruction relative to the simple principles of hygiene. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 3] It is well that physiology is introduced into the common schools as a branch of education. All children should study it. It should be regarded as the basis of all educational effort. And then parents should see to it that practical hygiene be added. This will make their knowledge of physiology of practical benefit. Parents should teach their children by example that health is to be regarded as the chiefest earthly blessing. They cannot do this while the love of money and of display is made of greater consequence than the health of their children. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 4] Mental and moral power is dependent upon the physical health. Children should be taught that all pleasures and indulgences are to be sacrificed which will interfere with health. If the children are taught self-denial and self-control, they will be far happier than if allowed to indulge their desires for pleasures and extravagance in dress. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 5] The great burden of life with very many is, What shall I eat? What shall I drink? And wherewithal shall I be clothed? Many mothers indulge in pride, and in many things which are hurtful to the health of the body, in order to be in fashion. What deplorable lessons are they giving their children in this respect. They do not, by precept and example, educate their children to practice self-denial as a sacred duty, in order to possess health, serene tempers, goodness, and true beauty. Good health, sound minds, and pure hearts, are not made of the first importance in households. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 6] Many parents do not educate their children for usefulness and duty. They are indulged and petted, until self-denial to them becomes almost an impossibility. They are not taught that to make a success of Christian life, the development of sound minds in sound bodies is of the greatest importance. The dear children should be taught to flee every taint of sin. In order to do this, they must separate from the hurtful fashions of the world. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 7] It is a sad fact that many, even professed Christians, make their pleasures, their amusements, the gratification of pride in dress, the gratification of appetite, almost everything; while the cross of Jesus Christ, and purity of heart and life, are left out of the question. God has claims upon them, but they do not, by their life, show that they have a sense of their duty to him. They acknowledge the claims of the world in their obedience to fashion. They devote time, service, and money, to its friendship, and, in so doing, prove themselves to be not the true friends of God. He demands of his people the first place in their hearts. He requires their best and holiest affections. The Christian religion invites, urges, and claims self-denial, and the bearing of the cross for Christ's sake. And the soul's interest should come first. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 8] The world may clamor for our time and affections, fashion may invite our patronage; but the words of the apostle should be enough to lead Christian mothers from the indulgence of pride in dress and demoralizing amusements. "Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" "Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God." {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 9] Christian mothers should take their position on the platform of truth and righteousness; and when urged to unite with the world in patronizing fashions which are health-destroying and demoralizing, they should answer, We are doing a great work, and cannot be diverted from it. We are settling the question of our everlasting destiny. We are seeking to develop in our children, sound and worthy and beautiful characters, that they may bless the world with their influence, and have immortal beauty and glory in the world to come that will never fade. If children had such an example from their parents, it would have a saving influence upon their lives. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 10] But it is a lamentable fact, that many professed Christian women, who are mothers, take the lead in patronizing the fashions, and those who make no pretensions to Christianity follow in the footsteps of professed Christians. Some who are in humble circumstances in life, in their efforts to keep pace with fashion, that they may retain their position in fashionable society, endure privation, and work far beyond their strength, that they may dress equal to the example given them by their more wealthy Christian sisters. Unless they can dress somewhat to compare with their more wealthy sisters, they have no desire to attend church, where there is such a display of costly adorning. The contrast is humiliating, say they, and they can only think of their humble dress. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 11] The temptation is so strong before some to come up to the standard of fashion that they are sometimes led into dishonesty and theft to gain their desired object. Others sell their virtue, that they may have the means to decorate themselves for display. They see this is the great aim of life with many who profess to be righteous. Professed Christians, whose example thus proves a stumbling-block to their weak sisters, will have a fearful account to meet in the day of final reckoning. They have, by their example, opened a door of temptation to the inexperienced, who are charmed with the respect paid to those dressed in fashionable style, and they became so infatuated that they at last sold honor and virtue, woman's greatest adornments, and sacrificed health and happiness for artificial decorations for display. I clip the following pointed remarks from the Marshall Statesman, under the caption of Fashionable Ruin: {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 12] "AT A FASHIONABLE PARTY IN FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, A FEW EVENINGS SINCE, A BEAUTIFUL YOUNG WOMAN TURNED SHARPLY UPON AN ELDERLY DOWAGER WHO WAS PROSING ABOUT THE MAGDALENS, AND THE HOPELESSNESS OF DOING ANYTHING FOR THESE 'LOST WOMEN,' WITH THE ASSERTION: 'I KNOW A CLASS MORE HOPELESSLY LOST THAN THEY. WE FASHIONABLES, WHO MURDER TIME AND SQUANDER MONEY, AND LEAD WOMEN TO BECOME MAGDALENS THAT THEY MAY DRESS LIKE US, WHY DOES NO BODY SEND MISSIONARIES TO US?' THE INTENSITY OF THE UTTERANCE WAS ELOQUENT OF BETTER POSSIBILITIES. NO DOUBT THERE ARE MORE WAYS THAN ONE OF BEING LOST. THE SYRENS ARE NOT ALL OF ONE CLASS, OR CONFINED TO ONE LOCALITY." {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 12} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 13] The apostle presents the inward adorning, in contrast with the outward, and tells us what the great God values. The outward is corruptible. But the meek and quiet spirit, the development of a beautifully symmetrical character, will never decay. It is an adornment which is not perishable. In the sight of the Creator of everything that is valuable, lovely, and beautiful, it is declared to be of great price. "Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel. But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner, in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands." 1 Peter 3:3-5. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 13} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 14] It is of the greatest importance that we, as Christian mothers, show, by precept and example, that we are cultivating that which the Monarch of the universe estimates of great value. In doing this, what an influence for good can we have upon our children; and how important we can make our lessons of instruction, that purity and holiness should be the great aim and object of their lives. The following should be read with attention: {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 14} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 15] "DRESS. "FEMALE LOVELINESS NEVER APPEARS TO SO GOOD ADVANTAGE AS WHEN SET OFF WITH SIMPLICITY OF DRESS. NO ARTIST EVER DECKS HIS ANGELS WITH TOWERING FEATHERS AND GAUDY JEWELRY; AND OUR DEAR HUMAN ANGELS, IF THEY WILL MAKE GOOD THEIR TITLE TO THAT NAME, SHOULD CAREFULLY AVOID ORNAMENTS, WHICH PROPERLY BELONG TO INDIAN SQUAWS AND AFRICAN PRINCESSES. THESE TINSELRIES MAY SERVE TO GIVE EFFECT ON THE STAGE, ON THE BALL-FLOOR, BUT IN DAILY LIFE THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CHARM OF SIMPLICITY. A VULGAR TASTE IS NOT TO BE DISGUISED BY GOLD OR DIAMONDS. THE ABSENCE OF A TRUE TASTE AND REFINEMENT OF DELICACY CANNOT BE COMPENSATED FOR BY THE POSSESSION OF THE MOST PRINCELY FORTUNE. MIND MEASURES GOLD, BUT GOLD CANNOT MEASURE MIND. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 15} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 16] "THROUGH DRESS THE MIND MAY BE READ, AS THROUGH THE DELICATE TISSUES OF THE LETTERED PAGE. A MODEST WOMAN WILL DRESS MODESTLY; A REALLY REFINED AND INTELLECTUAL WOMAN WILL BEAR THE MARKS OF CAREFUL SELECTION AND FAULTLESS TASTE." {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 16} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 17] A great amount of time and money is squandered upon needless adornments. Many inventions have been sought out in extra puffings, tucks, and trimmings, which have a direct tendency to lessen vitality and shorten life. Almost every conceivable style of dress may be seen in crowded cities, and upon the great thoroughfares of travel. There are customs and styles in dress current now, that a few years ago would have been looked upon by Christians as monstrosities. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 17} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 18] The corsets which are again being generally worn to compress the waist is one of the most serious features in woman's dress. Health and life are being sacrificed to carry out a fashion that is devoid of real beauty and comfort. The compression of the waist weakens the muscles of the respiratory organs. It hinders the process of digestion. The heart, liver, lungs, spleen, and stomach, are crowded into a small compass, not allowing room for the healthful action of these organs. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 18} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 19] The following item is clipped from the Herald of Health:-- {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 19} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 20] "A FEMALE SERVANT DIED SUDDENLY A SHORT TIME SINCE IN THE EAST. THE DOCTOR COULD NOT ACCOUNT FOR THE DEATH, AND MADE A POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION, WHICH SHOWED THAT THE STOMACH HAD BEEN REDUCED TO THE SIZE OF A CHILD'S, AND THE HEART PUSHED OUT OF ITS PROPER PLACE THROUGH TIGHT-LACING." {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 20} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 21] Where tight-lacing is practiced, the lower part of the chest has not room sufficient for action. The breathing, therefore, is confined to the upper portion of the lungs, where there is not sufficient room to carry on the work. But the lower part of the lungs should have the greatest freedom possible. The compression of the waist will not allow free action of the muscles. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 21} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 22] Alcohol and tobacco pollute the blood of men, and thousands of lives are yearly sacrificed to these poisons. Confinement indoors, shut away from the glorious sunshine, and deprived of the invigorating air of heaven, improper eating, with wrong habits of dressing, corrupt the blood of women. The compression of the waist by tight-lacing prevents the waste matter from being thrown off through its natural channels. The most important of these is the lungs. In order for the lungs to do the work God designed, they must be left free, without the slightest compression. If the lungs are cramped they cannot develop; but their capacity will be diminished, making it impossible to take a sufficient inspiration of air. The abdominal muscles were designed to aid the lungs in their action. Where there is no compression of the lungs, the motion in full breathing will be observed to be mostly of the abdomen. When lacing prevents this, the breathing is restricted to the upper portion of the lungs. Women's dress should be arranged so loosely upon the person, about the waist, that she can breath without the least obstruction. Her arms should be left perfectly free, that she may raise them above her head with ease. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 22} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 23] By lacing, the internal organs of women are crowded out of their positions. There is scarcely a woman that is thoroughly healthy. The majority of women have numerous ailments. Many are troubled with weaknesses of most distressing nature. These fashionably dressed women cannot transmit good constitutions to their children. Some women have naturally small waists. But rather than regard such forms as beautiful, they should be viewed as defective. These wasp waists may have been transmitted to them from their mothers, as the result of their indulgence in the sinful practice of tight-lacing, and in consequence of imperfect breathing. Poor children born of these miserable slaves of fashion have diminished vitality, and are predisposed to take on disease. The impurities retained in the system in consequence of imperfect breathing are transmitted to their offspring. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 23} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 24] Very many children are born with their blood tainted with scrofula through the wrong habits of the mother in her eating and dressing. The very many miscarriages that now occur may generally be traced to fashionable dress. Lacing causes displacements, and this character of disease is increasing with each successive generation. Many suffer years without making their condition known. They remain in ignorance of the causes of their difficulties, and endure sufferings, which it is impossible for language to express. Not a few women have strength sufficient to carry them through the period of child-bearing. Either her own life or that of her offspring is frequently sacrificed. If both live, she has not been able to give her offspring physical vitality sufficient to withstand accidents and prevailing epidemics. Any trifling cause may put out the feeble flame of existence. And the Christian mother tries to be resigned to her bereavement, which she believes to be in God's special providence. But could she look back, and trace in her life the true cause, and be convinced that her living and dressing fashionably had put out the life of her child, she might be wise, and repent of her murderous work. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 24} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 25] The following excellent remarks are from The Household: {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 25} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 26] "THE ORDINARY DRESS THAT MEN WEAR DIMINISHES THEIR BREATHING CAPACITY ONE-FOURTH; AND WHAT WOMAN WEARS HER CLOTHING SO LOOSE AS THAT? I CALL A DRESS TOO TIGHT THAT YOU HIT WHEN YOU DRAW IN THE FULLEST POSSIBLE BREATH. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 26} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 27] "'BUT MY WAIST IS NATURALLY SLENDER,' SAYS ONE WOMAN. SHE MEANS THAT SHE HAS INHERITED SMALL LUNGS. HER ANCESTORS, MORE OR LESS OF THEM, COMPRESSED THEIR LUNGS IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE DO, AND IT HAS BECOME IN HER CASE A CONGENITAL DEFORMITY. THIS LEADS US TO ONE OF THE WORST ASPECTS IN THE WHOLE MATTER -- THE TRANSMITTED RESULTS OF INDULGENCE IN THIS DEADLY VICE. AND IT SHOWS ITSELF IN DIMINISHED VITALITY AND IN LIABILITY TO TAKE ON DISEASE OF MANY KINDS. A MOTHER MAY EVEN MAKE HER CHILD SCROFULOUS BY HER IMPERFECT BREATHING DURING THE PERIOD OF GESTATION, AND MANY A MOTHER DOES SO. ALMOST ALL THE READING PUBLIC, VERY POSSIBLY ALL WHOSE EYES FALL UPON THESE LINES, HAVE BEEN TOLD AGAIN AND AGAIN HOW THE TIGHTNESS OF THE CLOTHING ABOUT THE WAIST AND ABDOMEN (PLEASE REMEMBER MY DEFINITION OF TIGHTNESS) DISPLACES THE YIELDING VISCERA WITHIN, PRESSING THEM UPWARD UPON THE LUNGS AND DOWNWARD UPON THE PELVIS, AND PRODUCES DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ALL THE FEMALE COMPLAINTS TO WHICH THE GENERATION IS SO LARGELY SUBJECT. ONE MEDICAL WRITER DECLARES THAT THIS INFLUENCE UPON THE ORGANS IN THE LOWER PART OF THE ABDOMEN IS SO GREAT THAT IT FURNISHES TO THE MEDICAL PROFESSION NEARLY HALF ITS BUSINESS,' NOTWITHSTANDING THE FACT THAT MANY WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS FROM NATIVE DELICACY KEEP THEIR SUFFERINGS TO THEMSELVES. THE VERY LIST OF THESE COMPLAINTS IS ALARMING, AND THERE IS NO QUESTION BUT THE PUBLIC AT LARGE, AND EVEN WOMEN THEMSELVES, HAVE VERY LITTLE IDEA HOW MUCH THEY SUFFER IN THIS WAY FROM THE EFFECTS OF TIGHT DRESS. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 27} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 28] "OF COURSE, IN THIS FORM IT DOES NOT END WITH THE INDIVIDUAL, UNLESS SHE DIES BEFORE MARRIAGE, OR SO UTTERLY DISABLES HERSELF THAT SHE CANNOT BEAR CHILDREN AT ALL, WHICH IS NOT UNFREQUENTLY THE CASE. IF NOT QUITE SO BAD AS THAT, SHE IS STILL OFTEN UNABLE TO COMPLETE HER TIME, AND THE LITTLE ONE FALLS OUT OF BEING FROM SHEER LACK OF THE VITALITY WHICH THE MOTHER HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO GIVE IT. SHE CANNOT TAKE NEARLY BREATH FOR ONE, MUCH LESS FOR TWO. A LARGE PROPORTION OF THE ALARMING NUMBER OF MISCARRIAGES IN RESPECTABLE SOCIETY IS DIRECTLY DUE TO TIGHT DRESSING. I MET A LADY A FEW DAYS SINCE WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN A BEAUTIFUL AND QUEENLY WOMAN BUT FOR THIS DEFORMITY (HER WAIST WAS LESS THAN HALF THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF HER SHOULDERS), AND I WAS NOT AT ALL SURPRISED TO LEARN THAT A FEW MONTHS BEFORE SHE HAD COME WITHIN A FEW MINUTES OF DEATH FROM THIS CAUSE. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 28} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 29] "IN MANY CASES WHERE THE CHILD LIVES, IT DRAGS OUT A FEEBLE EXISTENCE, READY TO BE SNATCHED AWAY BY ANY TRIFLING ACCIDENT, AND THE MOTHER PIOUSLY TRIES TO BE 'RESIGNED TO THE WILL OF PROVIDENCE.' SHE NEVER DREAMS THAT IT WAS THROUGH ANY FAULT OF HERS. 'I AM PERFECTLY HEALTHY' SAID SUCH A CHILDLESS MOTHER TO ME ONCE, AND THEN SHE WENT ON WITH A LIST OF THE UNTOWARD CIRCUMSTANCES THAT TOOK AWAY ONE LITTLE INNOCENT AFTER ANOTHER, WITHOUT A SUSPICION OF THE TRUTH THAT IF SHE HAD BEEN 'PERFECTLY HEALTHY,' SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE EACH CHILD SUCH VITALITY THAT IT WOULD HAVE BRUSHED ASIDE THESE ACCIDENTS AS TRIFLES LIGHTER THAN AIR. I DO NOT SAY THAT ALL SUCH TROUBLES ARISE FROM TIGHT DRESSING, BUT I DO SAY THAT SO FAR AS MOTHERS ARE CONCERNED, IT IS FAR THE MOST PROLIFIC SOURCE OF THEM. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 29} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 30] "AND THIS SORT OF THING WILL GO ON, I SUPPOSE, UNTIL OUR WOMEN ACQUAINT THEMSELVES WITH PRACTICAL PHYSIOLOGY, SO AS TO GET SOME IDEA WHAT IT MEANS TO BE 'PERFECTLY HEALTHY.' IT WILL BE ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, TOO, IN ORDER TO MAKE THEM COMPREHEND INTELLIGENTLY THE MISCHIEF OF TIGHT DRESS, THAT THEY SHOULD KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT THE INDIVIDUALITY OF THE ORGANS WITHIN, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF KEEPING THEM IN THEIR RIGHT PLACES." {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 30} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 31] Says the Western Rural: "I SAW A YOUNG LADY, NOT LONG SINCE, DRESSED FOR A PARTY. HER WAIST WAS INCASED IN CORSETS, LACED SO TIGHTLY THAT SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY DEFORMED, STILL IT WASN'T TIGHT (OF COURSE NOT; IT WOULD BE ABSURD TO IMAGINE IT WAS); AND FOR FEAR OF LOOKING STOUT, SHE WORE ONE THIN SKIRT ONLY. ON REMARKING IT, SHE DEMANDED TO KNOW IF ONE HADN'T A RIGHT TO LACE IF SHE PLEASED? NO, SAID I, EMPHATICALLY, ONE HAS NO RIGHT TO ENTAIL MISERY UPON HER OFFSPRING, NOR COMMIT SUICIDE, AND THEN UNJUSTLY ACCUSE THE LORD OF TAKING THEM OUT OF THE WORLD. {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 31} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 32] "BUT WHAT IS THE USE OF TALKING? IGNORANCE AND FOLLY GO HAND IN HAND, AND STRONGER BRAINS ARE WANTED BEFORE WE CAN HOPE FOR REFORM. THE DAY AFTER THE PARTY, THE YOUNG LADY MENTIONED WAS FORCED TO WEAR HER DRESS SEVERAL INCHES LOOSER THAN USUAL, WAS UNABLE TO TAKE A FULL INSPIRATION WITHOUT EXPERIENCING A SHARP PAIN IN HER SIDE, AND ENDURED THE TORTURE THROUGHOUT THE DAY FROM PAIN IN THE CHEST; AND I SUPPOSE THE HEROISM WHICH ENABLED HER TO ENDURE IT WAS SUBLIME." {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 32} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 33] While on a tour west, we spent some hours in Chicago, at the Massasoit House. Several young ladies waited upon the table, and all of them were deformed by tight lacing. My husband's hands could have spanned their waists. Their shoulders were broad, their hips were large. The artificial paddings over the chest, and the large appendages upon the back of the head, and upon the small of the back, made these girls appear anything but attractive. Their faces were pale, and they moved about languidly. There was nothing like sprightliness or gracefulness in their movements. Their vital organs were pressed in so small a compass that it was impossible for them to fill their lungs. They could not breathe naturally. They could only gasp. They could not walk naturally and gracefully. They wriggled in their walk, as though every step required an effort. Thought I, this is one of Dame Fashion's tortures. And these poor girls adopt her inventions, although in so doing they appeared like fools going to the correction of stocks. Read what Good Health says of {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 33} [HR, November 1, 1871 par. 34] "CORSETS. "AMONG THE CAUSES WHICH PREVENT MUSCULAR EXERCISE, THE COMPRESSION OF THE CHEST BY CORSETS IS THE MOST REMARKABLE. WHERE ON THE EARTH, OR UNDER THE EARTH, OR IN THE WATERS, OR IN THE AIR, IN THINGS ANIMATE OR INANIMATE, THIS FASHION FOUND ITS ORIGINAL MODEL, UNLESS IT BE IN THE VENOMOUS WASP, IT WOULD BE HARD TO DISCOVER. TRADITION INSISTS THAT CORSETS WERE INVENTED BY A BUTCHER OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY, AS A PUNISHMENT FOR HIS WIFE. FINDING NOTHING TO STOP HER LOQUACITY, HE PUT A PAIR OF STAYS ON HER TO TAKE AWAY HER BREATH, AND SO PREVENT HER FROM GOING ABOUT AND TALKING. THIS EFFECTUAL PUNISHMENT WAS INFLICTED BY OTHER CRUEL HUSBANDS, TILL AT LAST THERE WAS SCARCELY A WIFE IN ALL LONDON WHO WAS NOT TIED UP IN THIS MANNER. THE PUNISHMENT BECAME SO UNIVERSAL AT LAST, THAT THE LADIES, IN THEIR DEFENSE, MADE A FASHION OF IT, AND SO IT HAS CONTINUED TO THE PRESENT TIME. THE FORM GIVEN BY CORSETS TO THE FEMALE CHEST IS DIRECTLY OPPOSED TO GRECIAN AND ROMAN MODELS OF BEAUTY." - {HR, November 1, 1871 par. 34} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 1] December 1, 1871 Words to Christian Mothers On the Subject of Life, Health, and Happiness.--No. 4. I have conversed with many young ladies upon the sin of wearing corsets and tight dresses, and I have never found one ready to acknowledge that she laced. But I often hear young ladies exclaim, "Why, my dress is not tight; if I should wear it looser, I should feel that I was dropping to pieces." We want no better evidence that the dress is worn very much too tight than that as soon as the dress is loosened, the wearer feels as though dropping to pieces. The compressed muscles have suspended action in a great measure, and have become enfeebled, and partially paralyzed, so that when the pressure is removed, they cannot act their part in sustaining the system until they have time to recover from the abusive compression. And, again, the blood has been hindered in its flow through the veins, by the tight corsets. Remove the pressure, and nature makes an effort to force the blood into the contracted veins, which causes pain. The muscles and veins require time to recover from the abuse that has enfeebled them, and that nature may perform her work as she would have done had she been left to herself. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 1} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 2] Tight lacing forces the ribs out of their natural position, and crowds them upon the lungs. When the pressure is removed for any length of time, and the lungs are allowed to have room to be filled with air, the ribs are thrown out more to their natural position. This change, for the time being, causes pain. But if loose dresses are worn constantly, all these disagreeable sensations will disappear, and a wonderful sense of freedom and relief will be experienced. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 2} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 3] A writer in the Household says: "I WAS TALKING, SOME TIME SINCE, WITH A LADY IN RATHER DELICATE HEALTH, WHO HAS HAD THREE CHILDREN, AND LOST THEM ALL EARLY, AT DIFFERENT AGES. SHE OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN INTELLIGENT ON SUCH TOPICS, BUT SO FAR FROM HAVING ANY SHADE OF SELF-REPROACH, SHE BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT HOW SMALL HER WAIST WAS 'NATURALLY.' SHE WAS A TALL, BROAD-SHOULDERED WOMAN, BUT THE BELT OF HER WEDDING DRESS MEASURED ONLY ONE HALF A YARD! SHE HAD KEPT IT FOR THE ADMIRATION, IF NOT FOR THE EMULATION, OF OTHER GIRLS. 'AND MY SUSAN WAS JUST LIKE ME; SHE COULD LAP HER RIBS, TOO. SHE OFTEN DID IT FOR THE AMUSEMENT OF THE OTHER GIRLS, TILL SHE REALLY LOOKED AS IF SHE WOULD DROP IN TWO.' IT IS NOT WONDERFUL THAT 'SUSAN' DID NOT SURVIVE THE BIRTH OF HER FIRST CHILD. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 3} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 4] "WE HAVE NOT MUCH REASON TO SUPPOSE THAT DRESSMAKERS PAY ANY ATTENTION TO PHYSIOLOGY, BUT I GOT THE FOLLOWING ITEM FROM ONE SOME YEARS AGO. IT WAS WHEN THEY WORE THOSE CRUEL LONG WAISTS AND NO CORSETS: 'I ALWAYS GIVE PLENTY OF ROOM ABOUT THE LUNGS' (MEANING THE UPPER PART OF THE CHEST, WHICH SHE COULD NOT HAVE COMPRESSED MUCH IF SHE HAD TRIED), 'THAT IS IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW; BUT I DO NOT SUPPOSE IT MAKES MUCH DIFFERENCE HOW TIGHT YOU HAVE YOUR DRESSES HERE,' AND SHE PLACED HER HANDS UPON THE LOWER, FLOATING RIBS, WHICH YIELD TO ANY PRESSURE. THE LESS OF SUCH PHYSIOLOGY THE BETTER FOR ANYBODY." {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 4} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 5] In my early life, I was intimate with a near friend who persisted in lacing. There was not much said in those days condemning this health-destroying practice. I knew but little of the evils resulting from tight lacing. I was solicited, at one time, to lace the corset of this friend. I drew the strings as firmly as I possibly could, which started the blood from the ends of my fingers. But this did not satisfy her, and she declared that I did not know how to lace one. She called for a stronger person, who also worked to the best of her ability to get her form squeezed to the desired dimension. But she scolded, and declared that we did not half try. She even shed tears. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 5} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 6] She then thought of a plan that might bring more strength to bear. She fastened the strings of her corset to the bed-post, and then wrenched from side to side, gaining a little at each effort, while two of us held fast what she had gained, that the strings should not loosen when removed from the bed-post. She seemed satisfied that she had done all she could to lessen her size. Next came her shoes. They were a size and a half too small for her feet. And for the life of her, she could not bend her compressed form to put on her shoes, which we succeeded in doing, after repeated trials. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 6} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 7] This young lady was naturally a rare specimen of health. Her skin was clear, and her cheeks red as a rose. Her chest and shoulders were broad, and her form was well-proportioned, her waist corresponding with the healthy proportions of her body. She was a slave to the tyrant, fashion. She was literally deformed by lacing. Her broad shoulders and large hips, with her girded, wasp-like waist, were so disproportionate that her form was anything but beautiful. And the most of her time was devoted to the arrangement of her dress in keeping with fashion, and laboring to deform her God-given, healthful, and naturally beautiful, form. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 7} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 8] And this friend was naturally devotional. We attended meetings together, and she was several times deeply moved, and more than half persuaded to leave her false life, and become true to herself and to God. But the decision was finally made to live for this world. She thought she could not bear the cross of Christ; yet she daily imposed upon herself a ten-fold heavier cross than Christ ever requires his followers to bear for him. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 8} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 9] Jesus invites the restless, the murmuring, the oppressed and sorrowing, to come to him. He even invites this class of fashionable martyrs, who are heavily laden under their self-imposed burdens, to come to him, that they may find rest. He invites them to take his yoke upon them, which imposes no such sufferings as they subject themselves to endure in being the slaves of fashion. He presents his yoke in contrast to the galling one they have placed upon their own necks. He says: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Lowliness and meekness of mind, which ever characterized the life of the divine Son of God, possessed by his true followers, bring contentment, peace, and happiness, that elevate them above the slavery of artificial life. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 9} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 10] The result of my friend's self-imposed martyrdom was, the loss of health, peace of mind, and natural beauty. She suffered the penalty of her folly in shattered nerves, swollen joints, and deformed feet. The nails grew into her flesh and caused the most excruciating suffering. When I told her that this was in consequence of wearing small shoes, she would not admit it. She said that many of her acquaintance wore shoes closer than hers. She suffered a painful surgical operation in having the nails cut from the flesh of her toes. But this gave her no permanent relief. She finally married. Previous to the birth of her first child she was hardly a sane woman. Her imagination was diseased. In short, she was a marked case of fashionable ruin, with shattered nerves, and impaired mind. She is now the mother of children. What can be expected of her offspring? {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 10} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 11] The Christian mother, in order to mold her children for usefulness in this life, and for God and Heaven, must have health, calm nerves, rational and sound reflective and reasoning powers. These will give her gentleness and sweetness of character to reflect upon the minds and hearts of her children, and also give her that becoming dignity and independence necessary to her holy life-mission in training her children, and conducting her household. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 11} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 12] The heathen devotees sacrifice their lives to their gods. The car of Juggernaut crushes out the lives of many, and missionaries are sent to enlighten this benighted race. But why are not Christians aroused in our land of boasted light and Christianity, as they witness the daily sacrifice of health and life among women to follow slavish customs that actually destroy a greater number of lives than are sacrificed among the heathen, and this in a land where Christ is preached? And what is worse, professing Christians take the lead, and set the example. How many who minister in the sacred desk, in Christ's stead, and are beseeching men to be reconciled to God, and are exalting the free gospel, who are themselves slaves to appetite, and are defiled with tobacco. They are daily weakening their nerve-brain power by the use of a filthy narcotic. And these men profess to be ambassadors for the holy Jesus. And thousands of Christians are destroying their vitality by becoming fashionable slaves in point of dress. Fashion will not give them room to breathe, or freedom of motion, and they submit to the torture. They lay aside reason and noble independence, and submit to the martyrdom of fashion, sacrificing health, beauty, and even life itself. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 12} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 13] Home and Health well says that "THE FREE AND EASY EXPANSION OF THE CHEST IS OBVIOUSLY INDISPENSABLE TO THE FULL PLAY AND DILATATION OF THE LUNGS; WHATEVER IMPEDES IT, EITHER IN DRESS OR IN POSITION, IS PREJUDICIAL TO HEALTH; AND ON THE OTHER HAND, WHATEVER FAVORS THE FREE EXPANSION OF THE CHEST, EQUALLY PROMOTES THE HEALTHY FULFILLMENT OF THE RESPIRATORY FUNCTIONS. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 13} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 14] "STAYS, CORSETS, AND TIGHT WAISTBANDS, OPERATE MOST INJURIOUSLY, BY COMPRESSING THE THORACIC CAVITY, AND IMPEDING THE DUE DILATATION OF THE LUNGS, AND IN MANY INSTANCES THEY GIVE RISE TO CONSUMPTION. I HAVE SEEN ONE CASE IN WHICH THE LIVER WAS ACTUALLY INDENTED BY THE EXCESSIVE PRESSURE, AND LONG-CONTINUED BAD HEALTH, AND ULTIMATE DEATH WAS THE RESULT. ALLUDING TO THIS SUBJECT, MR. THACKERAY MENTIONS THAT MEN CAN EXHALE AT ONE EFFORT FROM SIX TO TEN PINTS OF AIR, WHEREAS IN WOMEN, THE AVERAGE IS ONLY FROM TWO TO FOUR PINTS. IN TEN FEMALES, FREE FROM DISEASE, WHOM HE EXAMINED, ABOUT THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN, THE QUANTITY OF AIR THROWN OUT AVERAGED THREE AND A HALF PINTS, WHILE IN YOUNG MEN OF THE SAME AGE HE FOUND IT TO AMOUNT TO SIX PINTS. SOME ALLOWANCE IS TO BE MADE FOR NATURAL DIFFERENCES IN THE TWO SEXES; BUT ENOUGH REMAINS TO SHOW A GREAT DIMINUTION OF CAPACITY IN THE FEMALE, WHICH CAN BE ASCRIBED TO NO OTHER CAUSE THAN THE USE OF STAYS." {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 14} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 15] "DR. HERBST SAYS THAT A MIDDLE SIZED MAN, TWENTY YEARS OLD, AFTER A NATURAL EXPIRATION, OR EMISSION, OF AIR, INSPIRED, OR TOOK IN, EIGHTY CUBIC INCHES WHEN DRESSED, AND ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY WHEN HIS TIGHT DRESS WAS LOOSENED. AFTER A FULL DILATATION OF THE CHEST, HE INHALED ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX INCHES WHEN DRESSED, AND ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX WHEN UNDRESSED. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 15} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 16] "ANOTHER YOUNG MAN, AGED TWENTY-ONE, AFTER A NATURAL EXPIRATION, TOOK IN FIFTY WHEN DRESSED, AND NINETY-SIX WHEN UNDRESSED. HAD DR. HERBST MADE HIS OBSERVATIONS ON SOME OF THE LADIES WHO CARRY THE USE OF CORSETS TO EXTREMES, WE APPREHEND HE WOULD HAVE OBTAINED RESULTS OF A NATURE REALLY ALARMING. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 16} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 17] "AT THE HOTEL 'DIEU,' THE GREAT HOSPITAL AT PARIS, A YOUNG GIRL OF EIGHTEEN LATELY PRESENTED HERSELF TO BRESCHET FOR HIS ADVICE. ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF HER THROAT, SHE HAD A TUMOR OF VARIABLE SIZE, BUT NEVER LARGER THAN ONE'S FIST. IT REACHED FROM THE COLLAR-BONE AS HIGH AS THE THYROID CARTILAGE. WHEN PRESSED DOWNWARD, IT WHOLLY DISAPPEARED; BUT AS SOON AS THE PRESSURE WAS REMOVED, IT WAS INDOLENT, SOFT, AND ELASTIC. IT WAS OBSERVED TO BE LARGEST WHEN THE CHEST WAS TIGHTLY LACED WITH CORSETS. IN SHORT, BY PLACING THE EAR ON IT, THE MURMUR OF RESPIRATION COULD BE HEARD IN THE TUMOR, WHICH PROVES THAT A PROTRUSION OF THE LUNGS HAD TAKEN PLACE, OR, IN OTHER WORDS, THAT THE POOR GIRL HAD BEEN LACED SO TIGHTLY THAT HER LUNGS, HAVING NO LONGER SUFFICIENT SPACE IN THEIR NATURAL POSITION, WERE SQUEEZED OUT OF IT, AND WERE FORCING THEIR WAY UP ALONG THE NECK." {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 17} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 18] Judging by their actions, women reflect upon their Creator in regard to their formation. They virtually say that God did not look far enough into the future to make provision for this age. They therefore seek to remedy the oversight of the Creator by artificial aids. The form the Creator has given woman is not after the present approved style of fashionable milliner's and mantuamaker's idea of graceful beauty; therefore, corsets are invented and recommended to be used, that the waist may be compressed into the least possible dimensions, for the form nature had given them was altogether too old-fashioned for this progressive age. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 18} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 19] The panniers worn by fashionable ladies, are a monstrosity, deforming instead of beautifying. These articles are composed of almost any material, according to the taste and circumstances of the wearer. Some are made of cotton, some of hair, others of newspapers, or cotton rags. Those who are wealthy purchase the beautifying adornment at the stores. Thus nature is deformed because fashion wills it, and the delicate organs, located near the small of the back, are injured by pressure and too great heat. These panniers are very inconvenient. They are made stiff, to retain their form of plumpness, and bound over the kidneys, and press upon the nerves and spine, retarding the free circulation of the blood, and inducing it to those parts which should be kept cool, and free from inflammation. In addition to this injurious arrangement, fashion binds upon women sashes and overskirts, with any amount of puffs, tucks, and ruffles. These all tend to burden the body, and create unnatural heat. The kidneys become irritated and do not perform their proper function, and the entire system becomes diseased by impurities being retained in the system. Nature cannot do her work while suffering such abuse. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 19} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 20] A dressmaker, while engaged in sewing at the Health Reform Institute at Battle Creek, was observed to sit without supporting her back against the chair. She showed signs of great weariness, and was asked to make her position more comfortable. She answered that she could not lean back against the chair, for the pannier that she wore would press upon her back and cause her great pain. The pads were examined and found to be hard and unyielding. They were made very stiff that they might not lose their form and bulk. This instrument of torture this lady wore over the kidneys and spine, and the pressure upon the nerves was so severe that it was almost beyond endurance. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 20} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 21] She also wore corsets, laced so tightly that she could not breathe freely, or have freedom of motion. She was reasoned with in regard to the sin of so injurious a practice which was destroying, according to her own admission, the healthy tone of the nerves. She answered that she must dress as the world dressed, although it exhausted her means to do so, and was robbing her of health. "What can I do?" was her inquiry. "If I did not keep up with the present styles I should not get employment. I live by my trade." Said she, "I would not adopt the reform dress if I knew my life would be lengthened several years by so doing." {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 21} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 22] She also stated that the artificial arrangements upon her head were most uncomfortable, and that she had heat and pain in her head nearly all the time, yet she said that she would not be singular in her dress if it would save her life. Here was a woman sacrificing comfort, happiness, and life, to the customs of society. Her lungs were so pressed that she could not take a full inspiration of air. Because of imperfect breathing and unbalanced circulation, caused by pads over the brain and the small of the back, her blood was being poisoned, and her vitality was being diminished, every day. Yet she unblushingly stated that she preferred to sacrifice years of her life rather than be out of the fashion. Here she exalted fashion above health and life. This is not a solitary case. The world is full of just such devotees to health-and life-destroying fashions. And we cannot expect a better state of things until Christian mothers have courage to dress comfortably and healthfully, independent of the tyrant fashion. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 22} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 23] The Herald of Health, under the caption of Tight Lacing and Torpidity of the Liver, asks: "HAS TIGHT LACING ANYTHING TO DO WITH TORPIDITY OF THE LIVER AND CONSTIPATION OF THE BOWELS, EXCEPT IN AN INDIRECT MANNER BY CONTRACTING THE LUNGS, DIMINISHING RESPIRATION, AND THUS WEAKENING THE ENTIRE SYSTEM? {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 23} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 24] "TIGHT LACING HAS A GREAT DEAL TO ANSWER FOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF THESE, AS WELL AS OTHER DISEASES. ITS INJURIOUS EFFECTS ARE PRODUCED IN TWO WAYS: FIRST, BY THE DIRECT PRESSURE UPON THE LIVER, CONFINING IT TO A SMALLER SPACE, COMPRESSING IT, AND THUS DIRECTLY PREVENTING ITS PROPER ACTION. LACE UP AN ARM OR A LEG IN THE SAME WAY, AND NOTICE HOW SOON THE CIRCULATION WILL DIMINISH, THE LIMB DECREASE IN SIZE, AND ITS STRENGTH WASTE AWAY. THE EFFECT OF CONTINUED PRESSURE UPON ANY ORGAN OR PART OF THE BODY IS THE SAME. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 24} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 25] "THE SECOND WAY IN WHICH IT PRODUCES INJURY IS, BY PREVENTING THE RIGHT MODE OF BREATHING. IN NATURAL RESPIRATION, THE DIAPHRAGM CONTRACTS AT EVERY INSPIRATION AND FORCES THE LIVER, STOMACH AND BOWELS, DOWNWARD AND OUTWARD, WHILE AT EACH EXPIRATION THE DIAPHRAGM RELAXES AND THE ABDOMINAL MUSCLES CONTRACT, FORCING THESE ORGANS TO BACK TO THEIR FORMER POSITION, THUS KEEPING THEM IN CONSTANT MOTION. THIS MOTION OF RESPIRATION IS NECESSARY TO GOOD DIGESTION, AND THE HEALTHFUL ACTION OF THE LIVER AND BOWELS. WITH TIGHT LACING THIS NATURAL MODE OF BREATHING IS IMPOSSIBLE, AND THE STOMACH, LIVER, AND BOWELS, BEING DEPRIVED OF THE NEEDED MOTION, BECOME TORPID AND INACTIVE. FROM INACTIVITY OF THESE ORGANS MANY OF OUR MOST DANGEROUS DISEASES ARISE." {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 25} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 26] It is no marvel that women are suffering invalids. The lower part of the lungs are compelled to suspend action for want of room. Enormous appendages are placed upon the back of the head and the small of the back. The spinal nerves, centering in the brain, are excited by the extras placed upon the head. The kidneys and spinal nerves are inflamed by the extras upon the back. The panniers upon the back incline the form forward. This, with compression of the waist, make it impossible for women to walk naturally and gracefully. They virtually say that God did not understand the philosophy of real symmetry when he formed Eve in the perfection of beauty. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 26} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 27] Christian mothers, shall we accept the plan of God and the sample he has given us of healthful beauty in the natural form? Or shall we go in for modern improvement upon his plan? Shall fashion, however injurious to health, natural beauty, and true modesty, be our standard? The masses of professed Christians hold themselves under obligations to follow changing fashion; as though they had no right to reason for themselves, and call in question its monstrosities, any more than they would the truth of the Bible or the existence of a God. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 27} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 28] Would God that Christian mothers would become intelligent in relation to the influence that fashionable styles of dress have upon their health and life. Before any permanent improvement can be expected, they must become intelligent in relation to the best manner of dressing so as to secure the healthy, well-balanced circulation of the blood in every part of the system and also the free and natural action of the lungs. {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 28} [HR, December 1, 1871 par. 29] Christian mothers, I close my appeal to you for this number, with the words of the apostle: "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." E. G. W. - {HR, December 1, 1871 par. 29} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 1] January 1, 1872 Words to Christian Mothers Treatment of Infant Children. The Medical Reporter, under the caption of "Dress of Children," has the following lucid and pointed remarks:-- {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 2] "THE CHIEF CAUSE OF INFANTILE MORTALITY IS NOT MORE THE WEATHER OR FOUL AIR THAN THE IGNORANCE AND FALSE PRIDE OF THE MOTHERS. CHILDREN ARE KILLED BY THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY ARE DRESSED, AND BY THE FOOD THAT IS GIVEN THEM, AS MUCH AS BY ANY OTHER CAUSES. INFANTS OF THE MOST TENDER AGE, IN OUR CHANGEABLE AND ROUGH CLIMATE, ARE LEFT WITH BARE ARMS AND LEGS AND WITH LOW-NECKED DRESSES. THE MOTHERS, IN THE SAME DRESS, WOULD SHIVER AND SUFFER WITH COLD, AND EXPECT A FIT OF SICKNESS AS THE RESULT OF THEIR CULPABLE CARELESSNESS. AND YET THE MOTHERS COULD ENDURE SUCH A TREATMENT WITH FAR LESS DANGER TO HEALTH AND LIFE THAN THEIR TENDER INFANTS. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 3] "A MOMENT'S REFLECTION WILL INDICATE THE EFFECTS OF THIS MODE OF DRESSING, OR WANT OF DRESSING, ON THE CHILD. THE MOMENT THE COLD AIR STRIKES THE BARE ARMS AND LEGS OF THE CHILD, THE BLOOD IS DRIVEN FROM THESE EXTREMITIES TO THE INTERNAL AND MORE VITAL ORGANS OF THE BODY. THE RESULT IS CONGESTION, TO A GREATER OR LESS EXTENT, OF THESE ORGANS. IN WARM WEATHER THE EFFECT WILL BE CONGESTION OF THE BOWELS, CAUSING DIARRHEA, DYSENTERY, OR CHOLERA INFANTUM. WE THINK THIS MODE OF DRESSING MUST BE RECKONED AS ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT CAUSES OF SUMMER COMPLAINTS, SO CALLED. IN COLDER WEATHER, CONGESTION AND INFLAMMATION OF THE LUNGS, CONGESTION AND INFLAMMATION OF THE BRAIN, CONVULSIONS, ETC., WILL RESULT. AT ALL SEASONS, CONGESTION, MORE OR LESS IS CAUSED, THE DEFINITE EFFECTS DEPENDING UPON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHILD, THE WEATHER, AND VARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 4] "IT IS PAINFUL, EXTREMELY SO, TO ANY ONE WHO REFLECTS UPON THE SUBJECT, TO SEE CHILDREN THUS DECKED LIKE VICTIMS FOR SACRIFICE, TO GRATIFY THE INSANE PRIDE OF FOOLISH MOTHERS. OUR MOST EARNEST ADVICE TO ALL MOTHERS IS TO DRESS THE LEGS AND ARMS OF THEIR CHILDREN WARMLY AT ALL EVENTS. IT WOULD BE INFINITELY LESS DANGEROUS TO LIFE AND HEALTH TO LEAVE THEIR BODIES UNCOVERED, THAN TO LEAVE THEIR ARMS AND LEGS AS BARE AS IS THE COMMON CUSTOM." {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 5] In this age of degeneracy, children are born with enfeebled constitutions. Parents are amazed at the great mortality among infants and youth, and say, "It did not use to be so." Children were then more healthy and vigorous, with far less care than is now bestowed upon them. Yet with all the care they now receive, they grow feeble, sicken, and die. As the result of wrong habits in parents, disease and imbecility have been transmitted to their offspring. And after their birth, they are made very much worse by careless inattention to the laws of their being. Proper management would greatly improve their physical health. But parents seldom pursue a right course toward their infant children. Their wrong course toward their children results in lessening their hold of life, and prepares them for premature death. These parents had no lack of love for their children; but this love was misapplied. One great error with the mother in the treatment of her infant is, she deprives it very much of fresh air, that which it ought to have to make it strong. It is a practice with many mothers to cover their infants' heads while sleeping, and this, too, in a warm room, which is seldom ventilated as it should be. This alone is sufficient to greatly enfeeble the action of the heart and lungs, thereby affecting the whole system. While care may be needful to protect the infant from a draught of air, or from any sudden and too great change, especial care should be taken to have the child breathe a pure, invigorating atmosphere. No disagreeable odor should remain in the nursery, or about the child. Such things are more dangerous to the feeble infant than to grown persons. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 6] Mothers have been in the habit of dressing their infants with reference to fashion instead of health. The infant wardrobe is generally prepared more for show than for convenience and comfort. Much time is spent in embroidering, and in unnecessary fancy work, to make the garments of the little stranger beautiful. The mother often performs this work at the expense of her own health, and that of her offspring. When she should be enjoying pleasant exercise, she is often bent over work which severely taxes eyes and nerves. And it is often difficult to arouse the mother to her solemn obligations to cherish her own strength, for her own good, as well as that of the child. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 7] Show and fashion are the demon altar upon which many American women sacrifice their children. The mother places upon the little morsel of humanity the fashionable dresses which she has spent weeks in making, which are wholly unfit for its use, if health is to be regarded of any account. The garments are made extravagantly long, and in order to keep them upon the infant, its body is girted with tight bands, or waists, which hinder the free action of the heart and lungs. Infants are also compelled to bear a needless weight on account of the length of their garments, and thus clothed, they do not have free use of their muscles and limbs. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 8] Mothers have thought it necessary to compress the bodies of their infant children to keep them in shape, as though fearful that without tight bandages, they would fall in pieces, or become deformed. Do the young of dumb animals become deformed because nature is left to do her own work? Do the little lambs become deformed because they are not girted about with bands to give them shape? They are delicately and beautifully formed. Human infants are the most perfect, and yet the most helpless, of all, and, therefore, their mothers should be instructed in regard to physical laws so as to be capable of rearing them properly. Mothers, nature has given your infants forms which need no girts or bands to perfect them. God has supplied them with bones and muscles sufficient for their support, and to guard nature's fine machinery within, before committing them to your care. The dress of the infant should be so arranged that its body will not be the least compressed after taking a full meal. Dressing infants in a fashionable manner, to be introduced into company for visitors to admire, is very injurious to them. Their clothing is ingeniously arranged to make the child miserably uncomfortable, and it is frequently made still more uneasy by passing from one to the other, being fondled by all. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 9] But there is an evil greater than those already named. The infant is exposed to a vitiated air, caused by many breaths, some of which are very offensive and injurious to the strong lungs of older people. The infant lungs suffer, and become diseased by inhaling the atmosphere of a room poisoned by the tobacco user's tainted breath. Many infants are poisoned beyond remedy by sleeping in beds with their tobacco-using fathers. By inhaling the poisonous tobacco effluvia, which is thrown from the lungs and pores of the skin, the system of the infant is filled with poison. While it acts upon some infants as a slow poison, and affects the brain, heart, liver, and lungs, and they waste away and fade gradually, upon others, it has a more direct influence, causing spasms, fits, paralysis, and sudden death. The bereaved parents mourn the loss of their loved ones, and wonder at the mysterious providence of God which has so cruelty afflicted them, when Providence designed not the death of these infants. They died martyrs to filthy lust for tobacco. Every exhalation of the lungs of the tobacco slave, poisons the air about him. Infants should be kept free from everything which would have an influence to excite the nervous system, and should, whether waking or sleeping, day and night, breathe a pure, cleanly, healthy atmosphere, free from every taint of poison. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 10] Another great cause of mortality among infants and youth, is the custom of leaving their arms and shoulders naked. This fashion cannot be too severely censured. It has cost the life of thousands. The air, bathing the arms and limbs, and circulating about the armpits, chills these sensitive portions of the body, so near the vitals, and hinders the healthy circulation of the blood and induces disease, especially of the lungs and brain. Those who regard the health of their children of more value than the flattery of visitors, or the admiration of strangers, will ever clothe the shoulders and arms of their tender infants. The mother's attention has been frequently called to the purple arms and hands of her child, and she has been cautioned in regard to this health-and-life-destroying practice; and the answer has always been "I always dress my children in this manner. They get used to it. I cannot endure to see the arms of infants covered. It looks old-fashioned." {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 11] These mothers dress their delicate infants as they would not venture to dress themselves. They know that if their own arms were exposed without a covering they would shiver with chilliness. Infants of a tender age cannot endure this process of hardening without receiving injury. Some children may have at their birth so strong constitutions that they can endure such abuse without its costing them life; yet thousands are sacrificed, and tens of thousands have the foundation laid for a short, invalid life, by the custom of bandaging and surfeiting the body with much clothing, while the arms which are at such distance from the seat of life, and for that cause need even more clothing than the chest and lungs, are left naked. Can mothers expect to have quiet and healthy infants, who thus treat them? {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 12] When the limbs and arms are chilled, the blood is driven from these parts to the lungs and head. The circulation is unbalanced, and nature's fine machinery does not move harmoniously. The system of the infant is deranged, and it cries and mourns because of the abuse it is compelled to suffer. The mother feeds it, thinking it must be hungry, when food only increases its suffering. Tight bands and an over-loaded stomach do not agree. It has no room to breathe. It may scream, struggle and pant for breath, and yet the mother mistrust not the cause. She could relieve the sufferer at once, at least of tight bandages, if she understood the nature of the case. She at length becomes alarmed and thinks her child really ill, and summons a doctor, who looks gravely upon the infant for a few moments, and then deals out poisonous medicines, or something called a soothing cordial, which the, mother, faithful to directions, pours down the throat of the abused infant. If it was not diseased in reality before, it is after this process. It suffers now from drug disease, the most stubborn and incurable of all diseases. If it recovers, it must bear about more or less in its system the effects of that poisonous drug, and it is liable to spasms, heart disease, dropsy of the brain, or consumption. Some infants are not strong enough to bear even a trifle of drug poisons, and as nature rallies to meet the intruder, the vital forces of the tender infant are too severely taxed, and death ends the scene. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 13] It is no strange sight in this age of the world, to view the mother lingering around the cradle of her suffering, dying infant, her heart torn with anguish, as she listens to its feeble wail, and witnesses its expiring struggles. It seems mysterious to her that God should thus afflict her innocent child. But she does not think that her wrong course has brought about the sad result. She just as surely destroyed her infant's hold on life as though she had purposely given it poison. Disease never comes without a cause. The way is first prepared, and disease invited by disregarding the laws of health. God does not take pleasure in the sufferings and death of little children. He commits them to parents, for them to educate physically, mentally, and morally, and train them for unselfishness here, and for Heaven at last. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 14] If the mother remains in ignorance in regard to the physical wants of her child, and, as the result, her child sickens, she need not expect that God will work a miracle to counteract her agency in making it sick. Thousands of infants have died who might have lived. They are martyrs to their parent's ignorance of the relation which food, dress, and the air they breathe, sustain to health and life. Mothers should be physicians to their own children. The time she devotes to the extra beautifying of her infant's wardrobe, she should spend in educating her mind with regard to her own physical wants, and that of her offspring. She should store her mind with useful knowledge in regard to the best course to pursue in rearing her children healthfully. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 15] Mothers who have fretful infants, should study into the cause of their uneasiness. By so doing, they will often see that something is wrong in their management. It is often the case that the mother becomes alarmed by the symptoms of illness manifested by her child, and hurriedly summons a physician, when the infant's sufferings can be relieved by taking off its tight clothing, and putting upon it garments properly loose and short, that it may use its feet and limbs. Mothers should study from cause to effect. If the child has taken cold, it is generally owing to the wrong management of the mother. If she covers its head, as well as its body, while sleeping, in a short time it will be in a perspiration, caused by labored breathing, because of the lack of pure, vital air. When she takes it from beneath the covering, it is almost sure to take cold. The arms being naked, exposes the infant to constant cold, and congestion of the lungs or brain. These exposures prepare the way for the infant to become sickly and dwarfed. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 15} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 16] Parents are accountable in a great degree, for the physical health of their children. Those children who survive the abuses of their infancy, are not out of danger in their childhood. Their parents still pursue a wrong course toward them. Their limbs, as well as their arms, are left almost naked. Mothers dress the upper part of their limbs with muslin drawers, which reach about to the knee, while the lower part of their limbs are covered with only one thickness of flannel or cotton, and their feet are dressed with thin soled gaiter boots. The extremities are chilled, and the heart has thrown upon it double labor, to force the blood into these chilled extremities, and when the blood has performed its circuit through the body, and returned to the heart, it is not the same vigorous, warm current which left it. It has been chilled in its passage through the limbs. The heart, weakened by too great labor, and poor circulation of poor blood, is then compelled to still greater exertion, to throw the blood to the extremities which are never as healthfully warm as other parts of the body. The heart fails in its efforts, and the limbs become habitually cold; and the blood, which is chilled away from the extremities, is thrown back upon the lungs and brain, and inflammation and congestion of the lungs or the brain is the result. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 16} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 17] God holds mothers accountable for many of the diseases their children are compelled to suffer. Mothers bow at the shrine of fashion, and sacrifice the health and lives of their children. Many mothers are ignorant of the result of improperly clothing their children. But should they not inform themselves, where so much is at stake? Is ignorance a sufficient excuse for you who possess reasoning powers? You can inform yourselves if you will, and dress your children healthfully. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 17} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 18] Parents may give up the expectation of their children's having health, while they dress them in cloaks and furs, and load down those portions of the body with clothing where there is no call for such an amount, and then leave the extremities, that should have especial protection, almost naked. The portions of the body, close by the life springs, need less covering than the limbs which are remote from the vital organs. If the limbs and feet could have the extra coverings usually put upon the shoulders, lungs, and heart, and healthy circulation be induced to the extremities, the vital organs would act their part healthfully, with only their share of clothing. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 18} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 19] I appeal to you, mothers; do you not feel alarmed at seeing your children pale and dwarfed, suffering with catarrh, influenza, croup, scrofula swellings appearing upon the face and neck, inflammation and congestion of lungs and brain? Have you studied from cause to effect? Have you provided for them a simple, nutritious diet, free from grease and spices? Have you not been dictated by fashion in clothing your children? Leaving their arms and limbs insufficiently protected has been the cause of a vast amount of disease and premature deaths. There is no reason why the feet and limbs of your girls should not be, in every way, as warmly clad as those of your boys. Boys, accustomed to exercise out of doors, become inured to cold and exposure, and are actually less liable to colds when thinly clad than the girls, because the open air seems to be their natural element. Delicate girls accustom themselves to live in-doors, and in a heated atmosphere, and yet they go from the heated room out of doors with their limbs and feet seldom better protected from the cold than while remaining in a close, warm room. The air soon chills their limbs and feet, and prepares the way for disease. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 19} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 20] Your girls should wear the waists of their dresses perfectly loose, and they should have a style of dress convenient, comfortable, and modest. In cold weather they should wear warm flannel or cotton drawers, which can be placed inside the stockings. Over these should be warm, lined pants. Their dress should reach below the knee. With this style of dress, one light skirt, or at most two, is all that is necessary, and these should be buttoned to a waist. The shoes should be thick-soled and perfectly comfortable. With this style of dress, your girls will be no more in danger in the open air than your boys. And their health would be much better, were they to live more out of doors, even in winter, than to be confined to the close air of a room heated by a stove. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 20} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 21] It is a sin in the sight of Heaven for parents to dress their children as some do. The only excuse that they can make is, it is fashion. They cannot plead modesty to thus expose the limbs of their children with only one covering drawn tight over them. They cannot plead that it is healthful, or really attractive. Because others will continue to follow this health-and-life-destroying practice, it is no excuse for those who style themselves reformers. Because everybody around you follows a fashion which is injurious to health, it will not make your sin a whit the less, or be any guarantee for the health and life of your children. E. G. W. - {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 21} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 1] January 1, 1872 Beware of the Spare Bed. In our itinerant life we have suffered much by sleeping in beds that were not daily used. Beds that are not daily exposed to the air and sunlight, will gather dampness. And there are but very few who understand the necessity of having the sun and air come freely into their sleeping rooms, that bed and bedding may be kept perfectly dry and free from impurities. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 2] Beds that have been left unused for days, and even weeks, in the damp season of the year are dangerous to the health and life of those who sleep in them. When visitors are expected, the parlor stove may be for the first time set up, and a fire kindled in it, and the parlor bedroom opened. And this is considered sufficient preparation to make the friends comfortable. But the bed and bedding, if not carefully separated and aired, are not safe for any one to use. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 3] I have had a very afflicting experience in sleeping in damp beds. I slept with my infant two months old in a north bedroom. The bed had not been used for two weeks. A fire was kindled in the room, and this was considered all that was necessary. Next morning, I felt that I had taken cold. My babe seemed to be in great pain when moved. His face began to swell, and he was afflicted with erysipelas of the most aggravating form. My dear babe was a great sufferer for four weeks, and finally died, a martyr to the damp bed. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 4] A few weeks later, I accompanied my husband to fill appointments in several places. In four of these places we had the misfortune to be assigned the spare bed in rooms opening from the parlor. The stove was set up in the parlor adjoining these bedrooms the very day we were expected. Dampness had entered every part of these unheated, unventilated rooms. The windows had not been raised, and were carefully covered with paper curtains, and outside of these drapery, and the blinds were carefully closed. The air had not been permitted to circulate freely through the house, and the precious sunlight was excluded as though it was an enemy. Why was there need of windows at all when they were not used? It would have saved expense to have made these houses without windows. Our good-hearted friends received us cordially, and we should have enjoyed our visit, had it not been for the dreaded spare bed. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 5] At the first two places we visited, we took severe colds by sleeping in their damp, unused beds, and we suffered greatly with rheumatism; but tried to fill our appointments. In the third damp bed, we lay nearly one hour trying to get warm; but the clothing was literally wet. We were under the unpleasant necessity of calling our friends; for we felt that it would be positively fatal to life and health to remain in that damp bed. Our friends cheerfully renewed their fires, and the bedding was removed from the bed and thoroughly dried. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 6] We returned home from that journey, and exposure, to suffer for months. I feared that I should be a cripple for life. My husband was afflicted with pain in the chest and lungs, and he had a severe cough for months. After three months of almost helpless suffering, and careful treatment, by the mercy of God, I was able to walk. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 7] We have been exposed on our late journey to "death in the spare bed." We have taken colds, which have settled upon the lungs, causing soreness of the flesh. Since our fears have been aroused, we have been careful, and have been under the necessity of close questioning in regard to our beds. In some cases, we have removed the bed clothing, and have dried it by the fire, before we ventured to sleep. This may have given the impression that we were very particular, and perhaps notional. We own that we are particular. We value life which God has preserved, by a miracle of his mercy, from the death in the spare, damp, and moldy beds. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 8] In the case of all these beds, where the air has not circulated through the rooms daily, the bedding should be removed and thoroughly dried by the fire, before being slept in. Sleeping rooms should have the windows raised everyday, and the air should circulate freely through the rooms. The curtains should be withdrawn from the windows. The blinds should be fastened back. And the blessed sunlight should thus be invited in, to brighten and purify every bedroom in the house. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 9] The Northwestern Christian Advocate speaks touchingly upon this subject under the caption of {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 10] "DEATH IN THE SPARE BED. "ON ONE OCCASION, HAVING NEED TO SEE A MINISTER EARLY THE MORNING AFTER CONFERENCE ADJOURNED, I WENT TO HIS BOARDING PLACE, ONE OF THE CHOICEST IN THE CITY. HE AND HIS ROOM-MATE WERE MAKING THEIR TOILET, AND REVEALED THEIR PRESENCE BY HOARSE AND ALMOST INCESSANT COUGHING. THEIR ENTERTAINMENT HAD BEEN MOST HOSPITABLE; BUT THEY HAD BEEN ASSIGNED TO THE 'SPARE ROOM,' IN THAT CASE AN ELEGANT APARTMENT, RESERVED FOR FAVORED GUESTS. THE SPACIOUS AND YIELDING BED HAD AN INVITING LOOK, BUT A DAMP AND MOLDY SMELL. INDEED, THE WHOLE APARTMENT REVEALED AN ALARMING UNFAMILIARITY WITH SUNSHINE. BUT IT WAS THE 'BEST ROOM,' AND ANY INTIMATION FROM THEM THAT BOTH ROOM AND BED WERE DAMP HAD SEEMED RUDE AND UNGRATEFUL. SO THEY OCCUPIED THE ROOM AND BED, AND CONTRACTED COLDS, FROM THE EFFECTS OF WHICH ONE HAS SINCE DIED, AND THE OTHER STILL SUFFERS. {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 11] "SAID A PALE AND HAGGARD SUFFERER NOT LONG SINCE, 'I THINK I SHOULD BE ABLE TO VISIT MY APPOINTMENTS AT LEAST A FEW TIMES MORE, IF FRIENDS WOULD NOT PERSIST IN PUTTING ME AWAY IN THEIR CHILLY SPARE ROOMS AND DAMP BEDS.' WHEN SUCH CASES HAVE RUN THEIR COURSE, DOCTORS MAY SAY, 'DIED OF HEPATIZED LUNGS;' BUT MORE WILL UNDERSTAND THEM IF THEY SAY, 'DIED OF SLEEPING IN SPARE BEDS.' {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, January 1, 1872 par. 12] "THE MOTIVES OF GOOD PEOPLE CANNOT BE QUESTIONED; BUT UNWITTINGLY THEY LITERALLY 'KILL WITH KINDNESS.' IN THE NAME OF THE BROTHERHOOD, I PROTEST IF WE ARE TO OCCUPY THE 'SPARE ROOM,' AND SLEEP IN THE 'SPARE BED,' THEY SHOULD BE DRY AND WELL AIRED. WE CERTAINLY DO NOT ELECT TO BE SUICIDES FROM COURTESY, AND YOU WOULD NOT GIVE US DEATH FOR A BED-FELLOW!" E. G. W. - {HR, January 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 1] February 1, 1872 Words to Christian Mothers.--No. 6. - My sisters, there is need of a dress reform among us. There are many errors in the present style of female dress. It is injurious to health, for females to wear tight corsets, or whalebones, or to compress the waist. The health of the entire system depends on the healthy action of the respiratory organs. Thousands of females have ruined their constitutions, and brought upon themselves various diseases, in their efforts to make a healthy and natural form unhealthy and unnatural. They are dissatisfied with nature's arrangements, and in their earnest efforts to correct nature, and bring her to their ideas of gentility, they break down her work, and leave it a mere wreck. {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 2] Many females drag down the bowels and hips by hanging heavy skirts upon them. These were not formed to sustain weights. In the first place, heavy quilted skirts should never be worn. They are unnecessary, and a great evil. The female dress should be suspended from the shoulders. {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 3] It would be pleasing to God if there was greater uniformity in dress among Christians. The style of dress formerly adopted by the Friends is commendable. Many of them have backslidden, and although they may preserve the uniformity of color, yet they have indulged in pride and extravagance, and their dress has been of the most expensive material. Still their selection of plain colors, and the modest and neat arrangement of their clothing, is worthy of imitation by all Christians. {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 4] The children of Israel, after they were brought out of Egypt, were commanded to have a simple ribbon of blue in the border of their garments, to distinguish them from the nations around them, and to signify that they were God's peculiar people. The people of God are not now required to have a special mark placed upon their garments. But in the New Testament we are often referred to ancient Israel for examples. If God gave such definite directions to his ancient people in regard to their dress, will not the dress of his people in this age come under his notice? Should there not be in their dress a distinction from that of the world? Should not the people of God, who are his peculiar treasure, seek even in their dress to glorify God? And should they not be examples in point of dress, and by their simple style rebuke the pride, vanity, and extravagance of worldly, pleasure-loving professors? God requires this of his people. Pride is rebuked in his word. {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 5] But there is a class who are continually harping upon pride and dress, who are careless of their own apparel, and who think it a virtue to dress without order or taste; and their clothing often looks as though it flew and lit upon their persons. Their garments are filthy, and yet such ones will ever be talking against pride. They class decency and neatness with pride. Had they been among that number who gathered around the mount to hear the law spoken from Sinai, they would have been chased from the congregation of Israel, because they had not obeyed the command of God-- "And let them wash their clothes,"--preparatory to listening to his law given in awful grandeur. {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 6] The ten commandments, spoken by Jehovah from Sinai, cannot live in the hearts of persons of disorderly, filthy habits. If ancient Israel could not so much as listen to the proclamation of that holy law, unless they had obeyed the injunction of Jehovah, and had cleansed their clothing, how can that sacred law be written upon the hearts of persons who are not cleanly in person, in clothing, or in their houses? It is impossible. Their profession may be as high as Heaven, yet it is not worth a straw. Their influence disgusts unbelievers. Better if they had ever remained outside the ranks of God's loyal people. If there are worthy persons who, with their whole heart would honor the Lord of the Sabbath, and the worship of God, and who cannot obtain a change of clothing, let those who are able, donate to such a Sabbath suit, that they may appear in the house of God with cleanly, fitting apparel. Those who expend means on costly apparel and extra fixings, can by a little self-denial exemplify pure religion, by simplicity of clothing, and then use the means they have usually expended needlessly in aiding the poor to obtain neat and modest apparel. {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 7] Some receive the idea that in order to carry out that separation from the world which the word of God requires, they must be neglectful of their apparel. This class, if they had an engagement to meet a friend honored by the world, and they wished to be especially favored by him, would exert themselves to appear in his presence with the best apparel that could be obtained; for this friend would feel insulted were they to come into his presence with hair uncombed, and garments uncleanly, and in disorder. Yet these persons think that it is no matter in what dress they appear, or what is the condition of their persons, when they meet upon the Sabbath to worship the great God. They assemble in his house, which is as the audience-chamber of the Most High, where heavenly angels are in attendance, with but little respect, or reverence, as their persons and clothing indicate. Their whole appearance typifies the character of such men and women. {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 8] The favorite theme of this class is pride of dress. Decency, taste, and order, they regard as pride. And according to the dress of these mistaken souls will be their conversation, their acts, and their deal. They are careless, and often low, in their conversation at their homes and before the world. The dress, and its arrangement upon the person, is generally found to be the index of the man or the woman. Those who are careless and untidy in dress are seldom elevated in their conversation, and possess but little refinement of feelings. They sometimes consider oddity and coarseness, humility. {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, February 1, 1872 par. 9] Christians should not take pains to make themselves gazing-stocks by dressing differently from the world. But if, in accordance with their faith and duty in respect to their dressing modestly and healthfully, they find themselves out of fashion, they should not change their dress in order to be like the world; but they should manifest a noble independence and moral courage to be right, if all the world differ from them. If the world introduce a modest, convenient, and healthful mode of dress, which is in accordance with the Bible, it will not change their relation to God, or to the world, to adopt such a style of dress. Christians should follow Christ, and conform their dress to God's word. They should shun extremes. They should humbly pursue a straightforward course, irrespective of applause or of censure, and should cling to the right because of its own merits. E. G. W. - {HR, February 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 1] March 1, 1872 Sentimentalism. - "Wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 2] Those who follow the path of wisdom and holiness will not be troubled with vain regrets over misspent hours, neither will they be troubled with gloom or horror of mind, as some are, unless engaged in vain, trifling amusements. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 3] Many cherish the impression that spirituality and devotion to God are detrimental to health. There are many professing Christians with diseased imagination who do not correctly represent the religion of the Bible. They are ever walking under a cloud. They seem to think it a virtue to complain of depression of spirits, great trials, and severe conflicts. The Saviour of men has said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." It is the duty of all to cherish the light, to walk in the light, and to encourage habitual cheerfulness of mind, that they may reflect light rather than shadows of gloom and darkness. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 4] We take the position understandingly that godliness and righteousness do not conflict with the laws of health; but are in harmony with them. Some may teach that vain amusements and cheap nonsense are needful to cheerfulness, and to keep above despondency. This may divert the mind for the time being; but after the excitement is over, and the mind reflects, conscience arouses, and makes her voice heard, that this is not the best way to obtain health, or true happiness. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 5] Amusements excite the mind; but depression is sure to follow. Useful labor and physical exercise will have a more healthful influence upon the mind, and will strengthen the muscles, improve the circulation, and will prove a powerful agent in the recovery of health. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 6] "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile; depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles." {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 7] The consciousness of right-doing is the best medicine for diseased bodies and minds. The special blessing of God resting upon the receiver, is health and strength. A person whose mind is quiet and satisfied in God is in the pathway to health. To have a consciousness that the eyes of the Lord are upon us, and his ears open to hear our prayers, is a satisfaction indeed. To know that we have a never-failing Friend in whom we can confide all the secrets of the soul, is a privilege which words can never express. Those whose moral faculties are beclouded by disease are not the ones to rightly represent the Christian life, or the beauties of holiness. They are too often in the fire of fanaticism, or the water of cold indifference, or stolid gloom. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 8] There are those who do not feel that it is a religious duty to discipline the mind to dwell upon cheerful subjects, that they may reflect light rather than darkness and gloom. This class of minds will either be engaged in seeking their own pleasure, in frivolous conversation, laughing and joking, and the mind continually elated with a round of amusements; or they will be depressed, having great trials and mental conflicts, which they think but few have ever experienced or can understand. These persons may profess Christianity, but they deceive their own souls. They have not the genuine article. The religion of Jesus Christ is first pure, then peaceable, full of righteousness and good fruits. Many have fallen into the sad error which is so prevalent in this degenerate age, especially with females. They are too fond of the other sex. They love their society. Their attentions are to them flattering, and they encourage, or permit, a familiarity which does not always accord with the exhortation of the apostle, to "abstain from all appearance of evil." {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 9] Some mingle with their religion a romantic, love-sick sentimentalism, which does not elevate, but only lowers. It is not their mind alone that is affected, but others are injured by their example and influence. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 10] Some are naturally devotional. If they would train their mind to dwell upon elevated themes which have nothing to do with self, but are of a heavenly nature, they could yet be of use. But much of their life has been wasted in dreaming of doing some great work in the future, while present duties, though small, are neglected. They have been unfaithful. The Lord will not commit to their trust any larger work until the work now before them has been seen and performed with a ready, cheerful will. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 11] Unless the heart is put into the work, it will drag heavily, whatever that work may be. The Lord tests our ability by giving us small duties to perform first. If we turn from these with dissatisfaction and murmuring, no more will be intrusted to us until we cheerfully take hold of these small duties, and do them well; then higher and greater responsibilities will be committed to us. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 12] We have been intrusted with talents, not to be squandered, but to be put out to the exchangers, that, at the Master's coming, he may receive his own with usury. God has not distributed these talents indiscriminately. He has dispensed these sacred trusts according to the known powers and capacities of his servants: "To every man his work." {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 13] He gives impartially, and he expects corresponding returns. If all do their duty according to the measure of their responsibility, the amount intrusted to them will be doubled, be it large or small. Their fidelity is tested and proved, and their faithfulness is positive evidence of their wise stewardship, and they can be intrusted with the true riches, even the gift of everlasting life. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 14] Many have a self-complacent feeling, flattering themselves that if they had an opportunity, or were circumstanced more favorably, they could and would do some great work. These do not view things from a correct standpoint. Their imagination is diseased, and they have permitted their minds to soar above the common duties of life. Day-dreaming and romantic castle-building have unfitted them for usefulness. They have lived in an imaginary world, and have been imaginary martyrs, and are imaginary Christians. There is nothing real and substantial in their character. This class sometimes imagine that they have an exquisite delicacy of character, and sympathetic nature, which must be recognized and responded to by others. They put on an appearance of languor and indolent ease, and frequently think that they are not appreciated. Their sick fancy is not helping themselves or others. Appropriate labor, and healthy exercise of all their powers, would withdraw their thoughts from themselves. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 15] Despondent feelings are frequently the result of too much leisure. The hands and mind should be occupied in useful labor, lightening the burdens of others; and in doing this, they will benefit themselves. Idleness gives time to brood over imaginary sorrows. If they do not in reality have hardships and trials, they will be sure to borrow them from the future. God, by his prophet Ezekiel, addresses Jerusalem thus: "Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness, was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 15} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 16] Invalids should not allow themselves to drop down into an inactive state. This is detrimental to health. The power of the will should be brought into action. And, even if some dread exercise, which involves responsibility, they should train their minds to it. Exertion is what they most need to recover health. They can never obtain health unless they overcome this listless, dreamy condition of mind, and arouse themselves to action. {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 16} [HR, March 1, 1872 par. 17] There is much deception carried on under the cover of religion. Passion controls the minds of many who have become depraved through perversion of thought and feeling. These deceived souls flatter themselves that they are spiritually minded, and especially consecrated, when their religious experience is composed of a lovesick sentimentalism, rather than of purity, true goodness, and humiliation of self. The mind should be drawn away from self, and exercised in blessing others, and being elevated by good works. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." True religion ennobles the mind, refines the taste, sanctifies the judgment, and makes its possessor partaker of the purity, and the influence of Heaven, brings angels near, and separates more and more from the spirit and influence of the world. E. G. W. - {HR, March 1, 1872 par. 17} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 1] April 1, 1872 Dress of Women. We object to the popular style of woman's dress because it is neither healthful nor convenient. The skirts generally rest upon the hips, which were not designed to sustain weights. Every article of clothing should be suspended from the shoulders. The habit of fastening the skirts about the body with bands, allowing the weight to rest upon the hips to keep them from slipping off is decidedly injurious to health. For exactly where these bands girt are nerves, and large blood-vessels, which carry the blood into the limbs. These veins and nerves should not be pressed, but allowed the most perfect freedom to fulfill the purpose for which nature designed them. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 2] I have heard young ladies complain of pain in the side when in a sitting position. I have found upon examination that the only cause was the tight bands pressing upon the tender nerves and veins, impeding the free circulation of blood. When the under clothing, as well as the dress waist, was made loose, and all the garments were suspended from the shoulders by straps, the pain disappeared. The skirts dragging upon the hips hinder the blood from being conducted freely to and from the limbs, and also prevent active exercise by impeding locomotion. The clothing should be worn so loose as to give the most perfect freedom of circulation, respiration, and the exercise of every portion of the body. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 3] The long dress skirt which fashion prescribes for women, is neither convenient nor healthful. The wearer is obliged to expend much more vitality than is necessary in performing her household labor. Her long dress is exceedingly inconvenient in passing up and down stairs, especially when her hands are not at liberty to hold up her dress, and she stumbles at almost every step by treading upon her long skirts. The fashionable dress hinders locomotion. For this reason, many women choose sedentary employment rather than to do house work, or to exercise in the open air in walking, or working among the flowers, or in necessary labor in taking care of small fruits. To be much in the open air is positively essential for health. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 4] There is no exercise that will prove so beneficial to every part of the body as walking. Active walking in the open air will do more for women to preserve them in health if well, than any other means. Walking is also one of the most efficient remedies for the recovery of health to the invalid. The hands and arms are exercised as well as the limbs, unless they are confined in a muff, which should never be. No lady can walk naturally and gracefully with her hands in a muff, for the hands need to be exercised in walking as well as the feet. If the hands are confined in holding a shawl together, or by being placed in a muff, the gait is not free and easy, but constrained and wriggling. My sisters, if necessary, wear fur mittens to keep the hands warm, but lay aside your muff to be used only when you are obliged to ride some distance. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 5] Hours should be spent each day in walking or in working in the open air when the weather will admit. I know not of one woman that can call herself perfectly healthy. Why is this general debility? I answer, The habits of women are in conflict with natural law. Women generally deprive themselves of the blessings which Heaven has richly provided for them in the precious, free gift of the glad sunshine, and the healthful breezes, and have exhausted their vitality by confinement in-doors, and are frequently engaged in sewing or fancy work, that they may meet the standard of fashion. They take upon themselves burdens that God has not laid upon them, which make life a weariness. These not only sustain great loss themselves, but they dishonor their Creator, in that they fail to answer the purpose of God in their lives. God gave them life for some valuable purpose--not to be sacrificed upon the altar of fashion. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 6] Many, in order to keep pace with absurd fashion, lose their taste for natural simplicity, and are charmed with the artificial. They sacrifice time and money, the vigor of intellect, and true elevation of soul, and devote their entire being to the claims of fashionable life. The more they indulge their pride and ambition in this direction, the more they are cultivating qualities of mind of a low order, which should be continually restrained and depressed, instead of strengthened by exercise. Pride and fashion, if not restrained, will finally become the overruling passion, controlling the entire being, bringing into abject slavery all the noble qualities of the mind. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 7] The long skirts, that fashion binds upon women, are inconvenient in walking or exercising. In the garden, they are decidedly in the way. The hands, which nature designed should be exercised when walking, or in useful labor, are required to take care of the dress, that she may not tread upon it, or that it shall not destroy the flowers, or that it shall not become fastened to bushes and rubbish. The mind, which might be meditating upon the glorious works of a divine Hand, as seen in nature, and that should be elevated to contemplate high and holy things, can scarcely rise higher than the inconvenient skirts, which she is obliged to hold up with both hands, to prevent their dragging and drabbling in the dirt and dew. The present style of fashionable dress, inclines women to prefer remaining in-doors, rather than to subject themselves to the inconvenience to which they are exposed, in spending a portion of their time out of doors, as God designed they should. Exercise in the open air, even in winter, is necessary for the healthful circulation of the blood. The pure, invigorating air of heaven is God's free gift to men and women, and it is impossible for them to be cheerful, healthful, and happy, unless they appreciate these rich bounties and allow them to answer the purpose for which they were designed. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 8] The long dress is very inconvenient in walking upon the streets in crowded villages and cities. The long skirts sweep up the tobacco spittle, and all manner of filth. In this case, fashion attaches to women cloth used as a mop. If she goes out after a shower, when all nature is refreshed and smiling in gladness, and the birds seem to be having a grand jubilee, and everything in nature is gloriously attractive, her thoughts are upon her dress. Both hands are required to elevate the dress, lest it becomes drabbled. And with her very best efforts, this is not prevented altogether. The wet clothing comes in contact with the sensitive ankles that are not suitably clothed, and the blood is chilled back from its natural course, and colds are taken, frequently attended with serious results, if not loss of life. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 9] It may be said that she can reserve her walks till the sun has gathered up all this dampness. True, she may, and feel the languor produced by the scorching heat of a midday summer's sun. The birds go forth with their songs of praise to their Creator, and the beasts of the field enjoy with them the early freshness of the morning; and when the heat of the sun comes pouring down, these creatures of nature and of health retire to the shade. But this is the very time for woman to move out with her fashionable dress! {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 10] When they go forth to enjoy the invigorating air of the morning, she is deprived of this rich bounty of Heaven. When they seek the cooling shade and rest, she goes forth to suffer from heat, fatigue, and languor. The slavery of fashionable dress robs her of that protection from cold and dampness which the lower extremities must have to secure a healthful condition of the system. In order to enjoy a good state of health, there must be a proper circulation of the blood. And to secure a good circulation of the current of human life, all parts of the body must be suitably clad. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 11] Fashion clothes woman's chest bountifully, and in winter loads her with sacks, cloaks, shawls, and furs, until she cannot feel a chill, excepting her limbs and feet, which, from their want of suitable clothing, are chilled, and literally sting with cold. The heart labors to throw the blood to the extremities, but it is chilled back from them in consequence of their being exposed to cold, for want of being suitably clothed. And the abundance of clothing about the chest, where is the great wheel of life, induces the blood to the lungs and brain, and produces congestion. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 12] The limbs and feet have large arteries, to receive a large amount of blood, that warmth, nutrition, elasticity, and strength may be imparted to them. But when the blood is chilled from these extremities, their blood-vessels contract, which makes the circulation of the necessary amount of blood in them still more difficult. A good circulation preserves the blood pure, and secures health. A bad circulation leaves the blood to become impure, and induces congestion of the brain and lungs, and causes diseases of the head, the heart, the liver, and the lungs. The fashionable style of woman's dress is one of the greatest causes of all these terrible diseases. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 13] The long, trailing skirts are frequently seen upon the streets wiping up the light snow mixed with dirt, until several inches of a dress of perhaps costly material are soiled and ruined. They endure all this trouble and waste to make a show. They weary themselves in carrying about these garments, made heavy with damp and dirt, because it is fashionable. To prevent this she may remain shut up in the house, and become so delicate and feeble that when she is compelled to go out she is sure to take cold. The long skirts are inconvenient in weight, they impede locomotion, and are always in the way going up and down stairs in a crowd. In walking the streets, they are liable to be trod upon by gentlemen and ladies, and frequently the wearer experiences great mortification in walking in the thoroughfares in a crowd. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 14] What I Saw In Boston. While passing through Washington Street, in Boston, I observed a lady dressed in the most fashionable style. Her dress was of expensive material. She carried her head erect, proudly trailing her long skirt, which reminded us of a peacock spreading his beautiful feathers. This lady's manners seemed to say: Just look at me. Please admire me. She walked very leisurely, switching her long trail from side to side. People were hurrying to and fro, crowding and jostling each other. Presently I heard angry exclamations from the fashionably dressed lady: "Careless, ridiculous; you have ruined my dress." The gentleman addressed was apologizing whenever he could get an opportunity to put in a word amid her indignant censuring. He accidentally stepped on her beautiful trail, and tore the dress badly. I had an opportunity to learn how gentlemen standing near regarded this peculiar fashion. They expressed themselves freely, saying: "Good! I wish all ladies who thus impose upon the public by walking the crowded streets with a trail dragging behind them would be served in a similar manner." This misfortune was certainly trying to the lady, for her dress was hopelessly ruined. It is not always convenient to mend and cleanse soiled and torn garments. But these inconveniences are endured with a heroism worthy a better cause. The devotees of fashion will endure any taxation upon purse and strength rather than to be out of fashion. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 15] "A YOUNG RUSSIAN RECENTLY HAD THE MISFORTUNE, WHILE PROMENADING THE STREET OF ST. PETERSBURG, TO STEP UPON A LADY'S DRESS, WHICH WAS TRAILING BEFORE HIM UPON THE WALK. THE WOMAN TURNED, AND IN LANGUAGE MORE STRIKING THAN ELEGANT, APPLIED THE TERMS 'CLUMSY,' 'LOUTISH,' TO THE YOUNG MAN. THE LATTER PRESERVED HIS POLITENESS, AND SOUGHT AS BEST HE COULD TO APPEASE HER WRATH, BUT IN VAIN. SHE WAXED MORE AND MORE ANGRY, AND APPLIED SUCH EPITHETS THAT HE FELT AT LAST OBLIGED TO REPLY TO HER IN HER OWN LANGUAGE, AND REMARKED THAT IF ANIMALS PERSIST IN DRAGGING THEIR TAILS UPON THE GROUND, THEY MUST EXPECT TO HAVE THEM TRODDEN UPON. THIS INFLAMED THE WOMAN TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT SHE DEMANDED THE WAY TO THE JUSTICE COURT, AND COMPELLED THE UNWILLING CRIMINAL TO ACCOMPANY HER. ONCE THERE, SHE DEMANDED ONE HUNDRED ROUBLES FOR THE INJURY DONE TO HER DRESS. IT WAS OBSERVED, HOWEVER, THAT THE DRESS WAS NOT VERY NEW, AND THAT FIFTY ROUBLES WOULD COVER THE ORIGINAL COST, AND THIS AMOUNT THE YOUNG MAN WAS SENTENCED TO PAY. THE WOMAN WAS WALKING OFF IN TRIUMPH, WHEN DOUBTLESS A REMEMBRANCE OF PORTIA AND SHYLOCK FLITTED ACROSS THE YOUNG MAN'S MIND, AND HE SAID: {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 15} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 16] "'WAIT A MOMENT, YOUNG LADY; YOU HAVE MY FIFTY ROUBLES IN PAY FOR YOUR DRESS, BUT THE ARTICLE ITSELF YOU HAVE NOT YET DELIVERED. WILL YOU HAVE THE GOODNESS TO HAND OVER ONE PART OR THE OTHER OF MY PROPERTY?' {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 16} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 17] "BLUSHES OF SHAME NOW OVERSPREAD THE COUNTENANCE OF THE FEMALE SHYLOCK, AND SHE TURNED AGAIN TO THE JUSTICE FOR ADVICE. THERE WAS NO HELP FOR HER THERE; THE YOUNG MAN'S CLAIM WAS GOOD, AND THE MONEY OR THE DRESS BELONGED TO HIM. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 17} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 18] "WITH COURAGE WORTHY OF A BETTER CAUSE, THE WOMAN SENT FOR A HACKNEY COACH, WENT INTO AN ADJOINING ROOM, REMOVED HER DRESS, AND AGAIN ATTEMPTED TO LEAVE AMID THE SHOUTS OF THE SPECTATORS. BUT HER OPPONENT WAS REMORSELESS. HE NOW INDICTED HER ON THE CHARGE OF FOUL AND ABUSIVE LANGUAGE ON THE STREET; THE FACTS WERE PROVED BY WITNESSES, AND THE UNHAPPY AND MORTIFIED CREATURE WAS SENTENCED TO PAY A FINE OF ONE HUNDRED ROUBLES. SHE GAVE BACK THE FIFTY LATELY RECEIVED IN TRIUMPH, AND ALL THE MONEY AND VALUABLES SHE HAD WITH HER, WITHHOLDING ONLY ENOUGH TO PAY HER COACH-FARE HOME." {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 18} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 19] I was once sitting in the depot with a large number of persons waiting for the cars. When the sound of the whistle was heard, there was a general rush. I observed a lady with a trailing dress making her way also to the cars. Both her hands were full, making it impossible to raise her dress. Several times her dress was stepped upon, pulling her back, and hindering her progress. I expected to hear some freedom of speech, censuring her tormentors as they apologized, but was surprised and pleased to hear her make an apology like a sensible woman. Said she, "I beg pardon of you, sir, for wearing a dress in a crowd which causes so much annoyance to others, as well as myself. My hands are engaged, and I cannot raise my dress." In traveling upon the cars, and getting in and out of coaches, these fashionable dresses are very inconvenient for the wearer, and were it not for the controlling power of fashion, women would feel that it was a burden grievous to be borne. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 19} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 20] FASHIONABLE TORTURE. AN EXCHANGE SAYS:--"IT MUST BE CANDIDLY CONFESSED THAT THIS LIGHT, SHALLOW EMPTINESS OF LIFE HAS REALLY NO CHARMS FOR A SENSIBLE MIND; AND EVEN TO THOSE VANITY-LOVING BUTTERFLIES WHO REGARD FLATTERY AND NOTHINGNESS AS ENTERTAINING, WHAT DELIGHT CAN THERE BE IN PASSING AN EVENING IN REAL PHYSICAL PAIN? OF COURSE, FASHION IS THE ALL-IMPORTANT OBJECT TO BE ATTAINED, AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE CAPRICE OF THE DAY DEPRIVE THE BODY OF ALL CASE AND FREEDOM. THE UNCOMFORTABLE ARRANGEMENT OF A STYLISH WARDROBE IS TOO WELL UNDERSTOOD TO REQUIRE MENTIONING. THE LONG, GRACEFUL TRAIL IS, OF COURSE, ALWAYS UPPERMOST IN THE MIND, FEARING EVERY MOMENT LEST SOME RUDE BOOT SHOULD PRESS THE DELICATE FOLD; OR THE EVENING IS PASSED IN AWFUL SUSPENSE FOR FEAR THE DAMP AIR WILL TAKE THE CRIMP FROM THE HAIR, WHILE ALL THE WHILE THE FACE MUST WEAR ITS MOST CHARMING SMILE, AND THE WEARY, ANXIOUS MIND BE EXERTED TO THE UTTERMOST TO SEEM AGREEABLE. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 20} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 21] "THIS IS WHAT I CONSIDER, FROM EXPERIENCE, TORTURE. THINK A MOMENT, AND I KNOW YOU WILL DECIDE WITH ME. REMEMBER THAT, OWING TO THE STYLE OF DRESS, YOU ARE IN THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATION POSSIBLE, WITH YOUR MIND FILLED WITH ANXIETY FOR THE WELFARE OF YOUR TOILET, AND PERHAPS MADE MORE UNCOMFORTABLE BY THE KNOWLEDGE THAT A.'S TRAIL EXCEEDS YOURS IN LENGTH ABOUT HALF AN INCH; AND THEN, IN THE PLACE OF A FROWN (WHICH UNDER THE PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD BE FAR MORE NATURAL), YOU MUST COMPEL YOURSELF TO SMILE, AND TALK VERY PRETTILY ON SOME SUBJECT IN WHICH YOU HAVE NOT THE SLIGHTEST INTEREST, ALL FOR APPEARANCE' SAKE. {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 21} [HR, April 1, 1872 par. 22] "AND WHEN ALL HAS PAST, OF WHAT AVAIL IS THE 'SOCIAL GATHERING?' WHY NOT ALL APPEAR NATURAL, CONVERSE ON SOME INTERESTING TOPIC, AND SPEAK YOUR HONEST THOUGHTS? THERE IS QUITE ENOUGH DECEPTION PRACTICED IN THE WORLD WITHOUT THE AID OF ALL THIS VAIN SHOW." E. G. W. - {HR, April 1, 1872 par. 22} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 1] May 1, 1872 The Reform Dress. - We are aware that as we speak and write upon the subject of woman's dress we have to stem the current of custom. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 2] It is manifest that most women do not think and act in reference to dress from reason and reflection. They accept, without questioning, that which society and fashion imposes upon them. Few have the moral courage to wear a dress in opposition to fashion, although it be modest and healthful. Christian women, with thoughtless indifference, encourage by their example dress that is not only extravagant, but destructive to health and life itself. They yield principle, sacrifice health, and bow in submission to the decree of fickle fashion, as though it were a crime to assert their independence in dressing physiologically. Practical, independent, reasoning minds are greatly needed to lead out in the work of dress reform. Women of Christian fortitude and becoming independence are wanted to stimulate others to break away from the slavery and oppression of fashion. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 3] Health cannot be enjoyed where there is not an equal circulation of the blood; therefore, the clothing should be so arranged upon the body that the blood will not be obstructed in its course from the heart and lungs to the extremities. But what is there in the reform dress which would shock the modesty of the most delicate and sensitive mind. We advocate that the limbs of women should not be exposed, but sensibly, neatly, and comfortably, clad. Is this immodest? Many say they have no objections to the length of the dress, but they could never put on the pants. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 4] They do not blush to witness the exposure of the almost naked limbs. But the limbs thoroughly dressed with warm pants shock their modesty. Such opposition to the pants, which are positively modest, and which protect the limbs from exposure and chilliness, should be supported by sensible reason. Many say, Oh! the pants look so singular! Everybody stares, and women nudge one another, and look so comical, and some laugh outright. Weighty reasons, these! It is not among the possibilities to get up anything so deforming and uncomfortable as the hump fashion places on the backs of women. This, and the looped, puffed, and ruffled overskirts are devoid of taste and beauty. But these things are tolerated because they are fashionable. How could these slaves of such hideous fashions reasonably laugh at any manner of dress they should behold? Our work shall be, by the grace of God, to preserve simplicity of dress, and stand with moral independence in defiance of fashions that have no regard for natural beauty or physical law. Home and Health well says:-- {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 5] "ALTHOUGH I HAVE NEVER WISHED TO BE ECCENTRIC, OR WEAR WHAT IS ABSOLUTELY TABOOED, I HAVE BEEN ABLE IN MY RETIREMENT TO BE MORE COMPACT IN MY DRESS, LESS BEFLOUNCED AND BEFURBELOWED, LESS HEELED AND LESS TRAINED, THAN THOSE WHOM FASHION (CIRCE AS SHE IS) THOROUGHLY INTOXICATES. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 6] "PURPOSING TO VISIT A FRIEND IN NEW YORK, I WAS ADVISED BY MRS. MODISH (A FRIEND JUST RETURNED FROM EUROPE) TO HAVE A COSTUME MADE ACCORDING TO CUSTOM, AND OBLIGINGLY DIRECTED BY HER TO A NEW DRESSMAKER, MRS. TRIM, WHO HAD JUST OPENED AN ESTABLISHMENT IN OUR VILLAGE. I WAS OBLIGED TO DELAY GOING FOR A FORTNIGHT, AS THE INNUMERABLE RUFFLES REQUIRED SO MUCH TIME. WHEN THE BILL WAS SENT, MY HEART DIED WITHIN ME, FOR, IN ORDER TO DISCHARGE IT, I WAS OBLIGED TO SPEND NEARLY ALL MY QUARTERLY ALLOWANCE AND DENY MYSELF THE PLEASURE I HAD ANTICIPATED OF BUYING PRESENTS IN NEW YORK FOR MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS. THE SUNDAY BEFORE I LEFT HOME, I PUT ON MY NEW DRESS AND WENT TO CHURCH. HAVING ALWAYS APPEARED IN A SIMPLE COSTUME, I MUST HAVE PRESENTED A RIDICULOUS APPEARANCE, FOR THE BOYS OF THE PLACE USED ME AS A WHET-STONE TO SHARPEN THEIR WITS UPON. AS WE NEARED THE SCHOOL-HOUSE, THEY RUSHED OUT FROM SUNDAY-SCHOOL, ONE CALLING OUT, 'HUMPTY DUMPTY;' ANOTHER, 'TAG, RAG, AND BOBTAIL.' ONE ASKED IF I HAD ESCAPED FROM THE MENAGERIE, WHERE DROMEDARIES AND ZEBRAS WERE EXHIBITED; AND TOM SMITH SANG IN A LOW VOICE, FOR FEAR OF HIS TEACHER, THE 'CAM［PB］ELLS ARE COMING,' WITH A WORLD OF MISCHIEF IN HIS EYE. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 7] "WHEN I RETURNED, MY COUSIN ASKED WHY I CHOSE A QUIET SUNDAY FOR BEING IN A BUSTLE; WHAT ANIMAL WAS MOST ACCUSTOMED TO BEARING PANIERS, AND WHY I SHOULD GO ON A BENDER. GRANDMAMMA DID NOT EVEN SMILE AT HIS VULGARITY, BUT SAID GRAVELY, 'MY DEAR SILICIA, WHY SHOULD WOMEN FOLLOW EXPENSIVE, ABSURD, AND UNWHOLESOME CUSTOMS? A DRESS TAKES TWICE AS MUCH MATERIAL AND MORE THAN TWICE THE TIME TO MAKE NOW AS WHEN I WAS YOUNG. THE SMALL, HIGH HEELS CRAMP THE MOVEMENT, INJURE THE CARRIAGE OF THE PERSON, AND OFTEN DEFORM THE FEET. THE BEND GIVEN TO THE BODY BY THE EXTREME FULLNESS OF THE SKIRT BEHIND IS VERY UNGRACEFUL. THERE IS NO BEAUTY IN THE PRESENT STYLE, AND LEAVING ASIDE THE AWKWARDNESS OF THE DESIGN, ONE WOULD SUPPOSE THE SHACKLING OF THE LIMBS AND THE OPPRESSIVE HEAVINESS OF THE DRESS, ON SO DELICATE A PART OF THE BODY AS THE SPINE, WOULD DETER WOMEN FROM SUCH FATUITY.' GRANDMA IS RATHER JOHNSONIAN. SHE TOOK FROM HER WRITING DESK A PAPER, SAYING, 'WHILE YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO A SERMON, FROM WHICH I WAS DEPRIVED BY INDISPOSITION, I HAVE BEEN WRITING ONE WHICH WAS, MY DEAR, SUGGESTED BY YOUR APPEARANCE.' THIS I WILL NOT SUBSCRIBE, FOR I WAS VERY MUCH MORTIFIED, PARTICULARLY WHEN SHE RANG THE BELL FOR BETTY, AND TOLD HER TO SWEEP UP THE DUST. 'LOOK AT YOUR TRAIN, SILICIA; YOU HAVE BROUGHT MORE DIRT INTO THE HOUSE THAN I HAVE SEEN FOR MONTHS.' I RETIRED TO SHAKE MY SKIRTS, EASE MY FEET, AND MAKE MYSELF COMFORTABLE. MY OLD DRESS SEEMED BY COMPARISON QUITE CHARMING. WHEN I CAME DOWN TO DINNER, MY DEAR OLD RELATIVE LOOKED AT MY SWOLLEN EYES WITH COMPASSION, AND SAID, 'DO NOT BE UNHAPPY, MY DEAR--YOU ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR WISHING TO BE IN FASHION, BUT I THINK YOU WILL ACKNOWLEDGE THE INCONVENIENCE OF GOING TO EXTREMES,' THEN TAKING OUT HER PURSE (WHICH WAS MUCH MORE WELCOME THAN HER SERMON), SHE GAVE ME THE AMOUNT OF THE DRESS, AND ADVISED ME TO LEAVE IT FOR THE FRENCH MAID OF MY COUSIN IN NEW YORK, WHEN I HAD FINISHED MY VISIT. I GAVE HER A HEARTY KISS, AND TOLD HER I SHOULD WRITE A SHORT ACCOUNT OF MY ADVENTURE AND LEAVE IT WITH HER TO PUT IN SHAPE FOR YOUR MAGAZINE. PLEASE OBLIGE BY PUBLISHING THIS. YOUR FRIEND AND READER, SILICIA MARSH. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 8] P.S.--FINDING THIS NOT SENT ON MY RETURN, I WILL ADD THAT MY DRESS WAS NOT THOUGHT AT ALL FASHIONABLE IN NEW YORK, AND COMPARED SO ILL WITH MY COUSIN'S FRENCH DRESSES THAT I WAS ASHAMED TO OFFER IT TO HER MAID. I HEARD WHILE THERE THE EX-EMPRESS, AND THE MAN MILLINER, WORTH, CONTINUALLY QUOTED. WOULD POPE NOW SAY, {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 9] "WORTH MAKES THE MAN"? In order to maintain equal circulation, there should be an equal distribution of clothing, which will bring equal warmth to all parts of the body. The limbs that are the farthest from the vital organs, should be more thoroughly protected with warm coverings. The extremities should be carefully guarded from cold and chilliness by an additional amount of clothing. It is impossible for women to have, habitually, chilled limbs and cold feet, without some of the internal organs being congested. There is usually worn over the chest, where is the greatest amount of heat, from six to eight thicknesses. Over the lower part of the waist there is, in addition to the many coverings, bands and plaits which induce heat. Over the hips and back, fashion has introduced paniers and overskirts puffed and arranged in every conceivable shape to destroy the graceful beauty of woman's form, and to all these is added the sash, while the lower limbs are only furnished with one or two thicknesses of light material. The feet are frequently covered with cotton stockings and cloth shoes. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 10] With the present style of woman's dress, it is impossible to preserve an equal circulation of the blood. The limbs being left nearly naked, the cold contracts the minute blood-vessels, and the life-current is chilled back from its natural channel, while the many extra coverings over the chest and back, and lower part of the body, induce the blood to these parts, and the animal heat, thus retained, weakens and debilitates these delicate organs and congestion and inflammation is the result. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 11] We recommend to our sisters a reform dress that is in accordance with the laws of health, and which is becoming. This dress is from nine to ten inches from the floor, and when neatly and properly fitted is modest and becoming. We inquire, Why should not women clothe their limbs as thoroughly as men do theirs? Health and comfort are objects of sufficient importance to make a trial to gain. Artificial decorations can never take the place of the natural beauty health imparts. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 12] In order for women to be protected against the sudden changes of our variable climate, the feet and limbs must be equally clothed as other portions of the body. The arms and hands being near the heart will better take care of themselves, for they are not in as much danger as the lower limbs. The feet and limbs need especial care. With many, they have been so long neglected that the blood-vessels have not been filled, and because the circulation has been so feeble they have contracted and cannot contain the due proportion of blood nature designed they should, therefore they are always chilly. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 13] The limbs should be clothed with pants, always cut after an approved pattern, made tapering to meet the instep of the shoe. Custom and fashion will have their false standard of modesty, and will feign to blush and appear horrified to see women's limbs sensibly and healthfully dressed. We wish to have a sensible reason, if it can be given, for this blind opposition to the reform dress. Sneers, ridicule, and contempt, with some may be such convincing arguments that after they have adopted the modest and healthful short dress, when they meet opposition in this form, will retire from the ranks of dress reform, and no more advocate it, or have the courage to wear the reform dress. Sneers should be taken by sensible health reformers, who move from principle, for what they are worth. Ridicule and contempt cannot make one hair white or black. We want reason and intellect to take the field, and the will to be subjected to the control of enlightened conscience. We design to be true to God and to the right. If there are sensible and strong reasons which can be produced against the reform dress, we have yet to meet them. We are open to conviction. Until we see better arguments than, "Oh! it looks so to see women with pants!" "What will people say!" "I would die before I would wear them!" we shall continue to wear the reform dress. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 14] We do not adopt this style of dress to be odd, that we may attract notice. We do not differ from the common style of fashionable dress for any such object. We choose to agree with others in theory and in practice, if we can do so, and at the same time be in harmony with the law of God, and with the laws of our being. We believe it wrong to differ from others, unless it be necessary to differ in order to be right. In bearing the cross of adopting the reform dress, we are led by a sense of duty. And although it may appear objectionable to those who are governed by fashion, we claim that it is the most convenient, the most truly modest, and the most healthful style of dress worn by woman. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 15] We have counted the cost of appearing singular in the eyes of those who feel compelled to bow to fashion. And we decide that in the end it will pay to try to do right, though for the present we may appear odd in the eyes of those who will sacrifice convenience, comfort, and health, at the altar of fashion. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 15} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 16] It is not conducive to health to have many coverings over the abdomen and small of the back, while the extremities are left almost destitute of clothing. Reason teaches that the parts of the body which have the most clothing will have the greatest amount of heat. At every pulsation of the heart, the blood should be propelled to the extremities quickly and easily in order to have health. We plead for the warm, lined pants in winter, that the blood may be induced to the extremities, that they may not by scanty clothing be robbed of their due proportion of blood. The current of human life is struggling to go its accustomed rounds and should not be hindered in its circuit through the body by the imperfect manner in which women clothe their limbs. We cannot see wherein the reform dress we recommend is unbecoming. True, it is not fashionable. But what of that? Fashions do not always come from Heaven. Neither do they always come from the pure, the virtuous, and the good. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 16} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 17] It would indeed be a wonderful thing, if fashion would invent anything as modest, simple, and sensible, as the reform dress which is in harmony with physical law. Some say we do not think it is modest to expose the feet and the limbs as they must be exposed in wearing the short dress. This is the very thing we seek to guard against in adopting the reform dress. It is true that this style of dress exposes the feet. And why should woman be ashamed of her well-clad feet any more than men are of theirs? It is of no use for her to try to conceal the fact that she has feet. This was a settled fact long before the use of trailing skirts. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 17} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 18] We cannot, if we would, conceal the fact that women have feet and limbs that were made for use. But in regard to the exposure, this is on the other side of the question. We have traveled extensively the past twenty-five years, and have been eye-witnesses to many indecent exposures of the limbs. But the most common exposure is seen upon the streets in light snow, or wet and mud. Both hands are required to elevate the dress, that it may clear the wet and filth. It is a common thing to see the dress raised one-half of a yard, exposing an almost unclad ankle to the sight of gentlemen, but no one seems to blush at this immodest exposure. No one's sensitive modesty seems shocked for the reason that this is customary. It is fashion, and for this reason it is endured. No outcry of immodesty is heard, although it is so in the fullest sense. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 18} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 19] But does the popular style of woman's dress always hide her feet from the public gaze? See that lady passing over the muddy street, holding her skirts nearly twice as far from the ground as ours, exposing, not only her feet, but her nearly-naked limbs. Similar exposures are frequent as she ascends and descends the stairs, as she is helped into, and out of carriages. These exposures are disagreeable, if not shameful; and a style of dress which makes their frequent occurrence almost certain, we must regard as a poor safeguard of modesty and virtue. But we did not design an exposure of this false modesty in relation to woman's feet, but simply a defense of the style of dress which we regard, in every way, truly modest. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 19} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 20] No arguments are needed to prove that our style of dress is most convenient in the kitchen. In passing up and down stairs, the hands are not needed to hold up the skirts of our dresses. Being of a convenient length, they take care of themselves, while our hands are better employed. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 20} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 21] We can go out into the untrodden snow, or after a fall of rain, and, if our feet and limbs are entirely protected, all is dry and comfortable. We have no fears of taking cold as we trip along, unburdened by trailing skirts, in our morning walks. We can, in spring and summer, walk and work among our flowers without fear of injury from the dews of early morning. And then, the lower portions of our skirts, not having been used as a mop, are dry, and clean, and comfortable, not compelling us to wash and clean them, which is not always convenient when other important matters demand time and attention. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 21} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 22] In getting into, and out of, carriages, in passing old trunks, boxes, and other ragged furniture, and in walking over old, broken sidewalks, where nails have worked up an inch or two above the surface of the plank, our dresses are not exposed to a thousand accidents and rents to which the trailing dresses are fated. To us, this is a matter of great convenience. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 22} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 23] Our skirts are few and light, not taxing our strength with the burden of many and longer ones. Our limbs being properly clothed, we need comparatively few skirts; and these are suspended from the shoulders. Our dresses are fitted to sit easily, obstructing neither the circulation of the blood, nor natural, free, and full respiration. Our skirts being neither numerous nor fashionably long, do not impede the means of locomotion, but leave us to move about with ease and activity. All these things are necessary to health. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 23} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 24] Our limbs and feet are suitably protected from cold and damp, to secure the circulation of the blood to them, with all its blessings. We can take exercise in the open air, in the dews of morning or evening, or after the falling storm of snow or rain, without fears of taking cold. Morning exercise, in walking in the free, invigorating air of heaven, or cultivating flowers, small fruits, and vegetables, is necessary to a healthful circulation of the blood. It is the surest safeguard against colds, coughs, congestions of the brain and lungs, inflammation of the liver, the kidneys, and the lungs, and a hundred other diseases. {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 24} [HR, May 1, 1872 par. 25] If those ladies who are failing in health, suffering in consequence of these diseases, would lay off their fashionable robes, clothe themselves suitably for the enjoyment of such exercise, and move out carefully at first, as they can endure it, and increase the amount of exercise in the open air, as it gives them strength to endure, and dismiss their doctors and drugs, most of them might recover health, to bless the world with their example and the work of their hands. And if they would dress their daughters properly, they might live to enjoy health, and to bless others. E. G. W. - {HR, May 1, 1872 par. 25} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 1] June 1, 1872 Experience. - Genuine, or False, and its Bearing on Invalids. Experience is said to be the best teacher. Genuine experience is indeed valuable. But habits and customs gird men and women as with iron bands, and these false habits and customs are generally justified by experience, according to the common understanding of the word. Very many have abused precious experience. They have clung to their injurious habits, which are decidedly enfeebling to physical, mental, and moral health, and when you seek to instruct them, they sanction their course by referring to their experience. But true experience is in harmony with natural law and science. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 2] Here is where we have met with the greatest difficulties on religious subjects. The plainest facts may be presented, the clearest truths brought before the mind, sustained by the word of God; but the ear and heart are closed, and the all convincing argument is, my experience. Some will say, The Lord has blessed me in believing and doing as I have, therefore I cannot be in error. The experience is clung to, and the most elevating, sanctifying truths of the Bible are rejected for what they are pleased to style experience. Many of the grossest habits are cherished, with the plea of experience. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 3] Many fail to reach that physical, intellectual, and moral improvement it is their privilege and duty to attain, because they will contend for the reliability and safety of their experience, although that misjudged experience is opposed to the plainest revealed facts. But that which they term experience is not experience at all, but a course of habit, or mere indulgence, blindly, and frequently ignorantly, followed, with a firm, set determination, without intelligent thought or inquiry relative to the laws and causes at work in the accomplishment of the object and the result. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 4] Genuine experience is a variety of experiments entered into carefully, with the mind freed from prejudice and uncontrolled by previously established opinions and habits; marking the results with careful solicitude, anxious to learn, improve, and reform, on every or any habit, if that habit is not in harmony with physical and moral law. With some, the idea of others gainsaying that which they have learned by experience seems to them to be folly, and even cruelty itself. But there are more errors received, and firmly retained, under the false idea of experience, than from any other cause; for this reason, that which is generally termed experience is no experience at all, because there has never been a fair trial by actual experiment and thorough investigation, with a knowledge of the principle involved in the action. Men and women, with constitution and health gone, because of their wrong habits and customs, will be found recommending their experience, which has robbed them of vitality and health, as safe for others to follow. Very many examples might be given to show how men and women have been deceived in relying upon their experience. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 5] Persons who have been a long time feeble are in danger of imagining their cases far worse than they really are. Their fears are easily aroused. They have so long made their own cases subjects of thought that they really think they fully understand their own cases. If the counsel and judgment of physicians do not agree with their views of themselves they are set aside as of no account. "They do not understand my case" is often repeated. "They did not manage my case right." Invalids are generally poor judges of what they need. If they understand how to manage their own infirmities why have they not made a success of treating themselves so that they need no physician. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 6] There are men and women of peculiar traits of character who have determined wills, who are suffering from disease, which has had a tendency to make them notional. They form habits which become as second nature to them. Others can discern their peculiarities, and their dangers, when they may be blind to them, and think their peculiar habits are a necessity, and that they cannot change and live. Persons of this stamp of mind will be very slow to recover health. And they will frequently exhaust the patience and courage of their physicians who may be doing all in their power to help the invalid to health. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 7] But before it is possible to do this, their false habits must be broken up. But as the physicians try cautiously to do this, they have the strong, set will of the patient to meet, and he feels injured, thinking he is misjudged. He becomes vexed with his best friends, who are doing all they can to bring him back to health again. They want to get well, but desire to give especial information to the physicians just how their case must be treated. When they thus take the case into their own hands they show that they have not confidence in the physician. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 8] This class have diseased imaginations, which frequently lead them to the conclusion that they cannot exercise. It tires them to exercise, and they cease employment, and become restless. They will study their peculiar symptoms, which become greatly aggravated to their imagination by dwelling upon them, which frequently leads them to say and do many things which, should they see another do, they would at once see the inconsistency of such a course. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 9] Many invalids give up to inaction, which gives all the chance possible for the imagination to chase after symptoms. The worst thing the sick can do is to suspend all physical labor, supposing this the way to regain health. In thus doing, the will, which energizes the nerves and muscles, becomes dormant, and the blood circulates through the system sluggishly, and becomes more and more impure. And still the imagination takes the lead, and makes out the case worse than it really is. Indolence is helping on the matter, and produces the most unhappy results. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 10] Well-regulated labor gives the invalid the idea that he is not wholly useless in the world. This will afford him satisfaction, give him courage, and impart to him vigor which nothing else can. Some have received the idea that it is dangerous to exercise, because they are sick. Such ones cannot get well without exercise. God made man a moving, working machine. He designed that the muscles, and every organ of the body, should be put to use. But some, guided by their feelings, will tell you that they cannot walk, or exercise in labor. They will relate their experience, that when they have attempted to exercise it has greatly wearied them. Yet all the works of the human machinery were there. No organ was missing. Why, then, could they not be set in motion? The motive will-power was wanting. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 11] A diseased imagination, under the control of a strong will, held the machinery from action. These mistaken souls rely upon what they are pleased to term experience, which is nothing more nor less than pet notions, plans, and schemes of their own, which are not in harmony with physical law, but agree with their perverted judgment. These view their cases from the standpoint of diseased imagination. They will relate that they have tried this and that course to their entire satisfaction. Feelings have been their standard. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 12] Feelings are a poor criterion at any time, but especially when under the control of a diseased imagination and strong will. Invalids of this class are almost sure to continue to be invalids. They generally have some fault to find with the course of all who try to help them. They are seldom willing to be guided by the judgment of those who understand the human system and who have long experience in treating disease. Physicians cannot, by their counsel, or treatment, help the sick unless the invalids give them their confidence. If they take their cases into their own hands, and do not recover health, they should not charge the failure upon the physicians. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 13] Genuine experience is in harmony with the unchangeable principles of nature. Superstition, caused by diseased imagination, is frequently in conflict with science and principle. And yet the unanswerable argument is urged, "I must be correct, for this is my experience." There are many invalids today who will ever remain so, because they cannot be convinced that their experience is not reliable. The brain is the capital of the body, the seat of all the nervous forces, and of mental action. The nerves proceeding from the brain control the body. By the brain nerves, mental impressions are conveyed to all the nerves of the body, as by telegraphic wires, and they control the vital action of every part of the system. All the organs of motion are governed by the communication they receive from the brain. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 14] If invalids receive the idea that a bath will injure them, the mental impression is communicated to all the nerves of the body. The nerves control the circulation of the blood; therefore the blood is, through the impression of the mind, confined to the blood-vessels, and the good effect of the bath lost, because the blood is prevented by the mind and will from flowing readily, and from coming to the surface and stimulating, arousing, and promoting circulation. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 15] Invalids have frequently used water injudiciously, especially if they are extremists. They may not have a correct knowledge of the use of water. They may have used the water too warm, and not reduced the bath sufficiently with cold, to tone up the pores of the skin, which has a debilitating influence upon the system, or they may have used the water too cold, and driven the blood from the surface to the internal organs, producing congestion. They may have exposed themselves to cold air immediately after bathing. I have known persons to take cold, from which they have never recovered, by sitting in a room without a fire and becoming thoroughly chilled immediately after taking a bath. Many are not benefited by taking baths, because they do not practice lying down after a bath and giving nature time to react. If they cannot rest at least half an hour after a bath, they should exercise by walking or working to keep from a sense of chilliness, in order for reaction. Those who have taken baths carelessly, and have suffered in consequence, receive the impression that it was the bath which injured them, when it was their own injudicious management that produced the bad results. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 15} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 16] And when the physician prescribes baths for this class their will frequently rises against it. They think the bath will injure them. The brain sends this intelligence to the nerves of the body, and the blood-vessels, held in obedience to their will, cannot perform their office and react after a bath. There is no reason in science or philosophy why an occasional bath, taken with studious care, should do any one anything but real good. Especially is this the case where there is but little exercise to keep the muscles in action, and to aid the circulation of the blood through the system. Bathing frees the skin from accumulation of impurities which are constantly collecting, keeps the skin soft and supple, thereby increasing and equalizing the circulation. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 16} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 17] Persons in health should on no account neglect bathing. They should by all means bathe as often as twice a week. Those who are not in health have impurities of the blood, and the skin is not in a healthy condition. The multitude of pores, or little mouths, through which the body breathes, become closed and filled with waste matter. The skin needs to be carefully and thoroughly cleansed, that the pores may do their work in freeing the body from impurities; therefore, feeble persons who are diseased, surely need the advantages and blessings of bathing as often as twice a week, and frequently even more than this is positively necessary. Respiration is more free and easy if bathing is practiced, whether sick or well. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 17} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 18] By bathing, the muscles become more flexible, the mind and body are alike invigorated, the intellect is clearer, and every faculty is livelier. The bath is a soother of the nerves. It promotes general perspiration, quickens the circulation, overcomes obstructions in the system, and acts beneficially on the kidneys. Bathing helps the bowels, stomach, and liver, giving energy and new life. Digestion is promoted by bathing, and instead of the system being weakened, it is strengthened. Instead of increasing liabilities to cold, a bath properly taken fortifies against a cold, because the circulation is improved. The blood is brought to the surface, and a more easy and regular flow through all the blood vessels is obtained. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 18} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 19] The Lord made man upright in the beginning. He was created with a perfectly balanced mind. The size and strength of the organs of the mind were perfectly developed. Adam was a perfect type of man. Every quality of mind was well proportioned, each having a distinctive office, and yet dependent one upon another for the full and proper use of any one of them. Adam and Eve were permitted to eat of all the trees in the garden, save one. The Lord said to the holy pair, In the day that ye eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, ye shall surely die. {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 19} [HR, June 1, 1872 par. 20] Eve was beguiled by the serpent to believe that God would not do as he said he would. Ye shall not surely die, said the serpent. Eve ate, and imagined that she felt the sensations of a new and more exalted life. She bore the fruit to her husband, and that which had an overpowering influence upon him was her experience. The serpent had said that she should not die and she felt no ill effects from the fruit which could be interpreted to mean death, but just as the serpent had said, a pleasurable sensation, which she imagined was as the angels felt. Her experience stood arrayed against the positive command of Jehovah, and Adam suffered himself to be ruined by his wife's experience. - {HR, June 1, 1872 par. 20} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 1] July 1, 1872 Experience - Genuine or False, and its Bearing on Invalids.--Number Two. - The Lord surrounded Adam and Eve in Paradise with everything that was useful and lovely. God planted for them a beautiful garden. No herb, nor flower, nor tree, was wanting, which might be for use and ornament. The Creator of man knew that this workmanship of his hands could not be happy without employment. Paradise delighted their souls, but this was not enough; they must have labor to call into exercise the organs of the body. The Lord had made them for use. If happiness consisted in doing nothing, man, in his state of holy innocence, would have been left unemployed. But He who formed man knew what would be for his best happiness, and he no sooner made him than he gave him his appointed work. In order to be happy, he must labor. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 2] Those girls who shun care in their youth, and are not disposed to bear burdens, will not be qualified for useful wives, and for the responsible position of mothers. They will surely disappoint the men who marry them. Those who are inclined to lean upon others, rather than to depend upon their God given powers, are useless, so far as practical life is concerned. Had they in youth been disciplined to self-reliance and self-control, they would have had noble independence when they came upon the stage of action. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 3] How can any one say they have nothing to do in this world of want, sickness, disappointment, discouragement, and despair? Are there no hearts to bless with deeds of charity? no woes and griefs to share and to soothe by words of sympathy, and tender, holy cheer? The mind engaged in this good work will be invigorated. Feelings for others' woes will divert the mind from repining, and lead to the forgetfulness of real suffering. A cheerful temper, and a hopeful mind, will do much to cure the real diseases of the system; for a cheerful heart vitalizes, and imparts health to the entire system. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 4] Nothing to do should be regarded as a dreaded curse. Those who can eat regularly and heartily, and who have the use of their limbs, should not feel excused from useful labor. Many eat regularly, but are constantly complaining of indisposition and languor. Such need the advantages that regular employment gives, which will interest and engage the mind. By remaining inactive, they will have torpid liver, which obstructs the circulation of the blood. Those who are on the sick list, and yet indulge the appetite in eating liberally, while they neglect exercise, do great injury to themselves. They take more food into the stomach than the system can dispose of, and convert into good blood, while they remain inactive, and the vital forces are taxed to a much greater degree than if they were engaged in earnest labor. The brain nerve power is unduly taxed, by being called to share the labor of the burdened stomach. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 5] The inclination of some to neglect proper exercise, even when they feel indisposed, imposes a tax upon some organs, while others become feeble from inaction. The system becomes obstructed with waste matter, which it is impossible to throw off, and paralysis is frequently the result. Physical exercise is very essential for the healthful vigor of the organs of the body. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 6] Cheerful employment will, in many cases, prove more beneficial in the recovery of health than to be treated at a water cure, while the patient continues the same indolent habits which made him so feeble as to need treatment. Those who once really awaken to individual responsibility, and realize the blessings which result from having a purpose and aim in life, will find enough to do and cannot be induced, while they live, to be satisfied to simply eat, and breathe, and do nothing to make their lives a blessing to others. They will then dread indolence worse than disease. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 7] Those who can see nothing to live for, whose lives are aimless, and who move about mechanically, feel that labor is a burden. They lack spirit and energy. They cannot, while they feel thus, realize the healthful vigor exercise gives, and are inclined to have all their powers lost, so far as practical purposes are concerned, in dullness and leaden insensibility. The heavy torpor they experience could be overcome, if the mind-cure could reach them. They need the heart enlivened by the healthful vigor of exercise. Spare diet, having perfect control of the appetite, calling to the aid the will-power, and engaging in healthful labor, will indeed electrify the nerve-power to resist disease, which is often brought on and cherished by indolence and fashionable laziness. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 8] Christians should feel that they have no right to be anything but well, so far as lies in their power; for the health of the body has a direct bearing on the religious character. Weakness and lassitude, which come in consequence of over-taxation of any of the organs, or as the result of inaction of some or all of the organs, affect seriously the soul. Peevishness and selfishness take the place of cheerful, hopeful, religious faith. The higher qualities of the mind are dimmed, and strong impulses control the entire being, instead of calm reason, and sanctified judgment. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 9] Riding out in the open air, is beneficial, so far as it goes; for it is much better to be in the sunshine than to be inclosed in walls, deprived of the vitalizing air of heaven. Riding exercise is especially necessary for very feeble invalids, and persons who are crippled, or infirm from age, and who cannot engage in active exercise in walking or working. But many who have the use of their muscles and limbs, frequently allow their exercise to consist principally in riding. They depend upon the horse and carriage to go even a short distance, because they think they will become weary if they make the effort to exercise by walking. Here many deprive themselves of real benefit to their injury. The powers of motion they exercise in getting in and out of a carriage, and in going up and down stairs, could just as well be exercised in walking, and in performing the ordinary and necessary duties of life. Some will endure great taxation in riding almost any distance; but think they have not sufficient strength to engage in domestic duties. Their difficulty consists more in their imagination than in their inability to perform. They have strength that, if put to practical use, would accomplish much good, and make the members of the family more happy. Such do not come up to the point of physical strength it is their privilege, because they do not act on their part. God has given us a work to do which he does not propose to do for us. We should move from principle, in harmony with natural law, irrespective of feeling. Many will not be able to do this all at once, but they can work to the point gradually, in faith, believing that God will be their helper, and will strengthen them to perform. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 10] The knowledge obtained by experience that they can do some good, will give increased strength, courage, and vigor. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 11] Exercise, in order to be of decided advantage, should be systematized and brought to bear upon debilitated organs, that they may become strengthened by use. The movement cure is a great advantage to a class of patients who are too feeble to exercise. But for all who are sick to rely upon it, making it their dependence, while they neglect to exercise their muscles themselves, is a great mistake. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 12] Thousands are sick and dying around us who might get well and live if they would; but their imagination holds them, fearing they shall be made worse if they labor or exercise, when this is just the change they need to make them well. Without this, they never can improve. They should exercise the power of the will, and rise above their aches and debility, engage in useful employment, and forget they have aching backs, sides, lungs, and head. Want of exercise of the entire system, or neglecting to exercise a portion of the body, will bring on morbid conditions. Inaction of any of the organs will be followed by decrease of size and strength of the muscles, and cause the blood to flow sluggishly through the blood-vessels. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 13] Those who are feeble and indolent should not yield to inclination to be inactive and deprive themselves of air and sunlight, but should practice exercising out of doors, in walking or working in the garden. They will, without doubt, become very much fatigued; but this will not hurt them. They will experience weariness; yet this will not injure them, but rest will be the sweeter after it. Inaction weakens the organs. And when the muscles that have been idle are used, pain and weariness are experienced because they have become feeble. It is not good policy to give up the use of certain muscles because pain is felt when they are exercised. The pain is frequently caused by the effort of nature to give life and vigor to those parts that have become partially lifeless through inaction. The motion of these long disused muscles will cause pain because nature is awakening them to life. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 14] Walking, in all cases where it is possible, is the best exercise, because in walking, all the muscles are brought into action. Many who depend upon the movement-cure could, by exercise, accomplish more for themselves than the movements can do for them. There is no exercise that can take the place of walking. Want of exercise causes the bowels to become enfeebled and shrunken. Exercise will strengthen these organs that have become enfeebled for want of use. The circulation of the blood is greatly improved by the act of walking. The active use of the limbs will be of the greatest advantage to invalids. {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, July 1, 1872 par. 15] God has given us all something to do. In the discharge of the various duties which we are to perform, which lie in our pathway, we shall be happy, and our lives be useful. We shall not only be gaining physical strength by exercise, but the mind will be acquiring strength. The exercise of one set of muscles, while others are left with nothing to do, will not strengthen the inactive ones any more than the use of one of the organs of the mind, if continually exercised, will develop and strengthen those not brought into use. Each faculty of the mind and each muscle have their distinctive office, and all require to be equally exercised in order to become properly developed and retain healthful vigor. Each organ and muscle has its work to do in the living organism. Every wheel in the machinery must be an active, working wheel. Nature's fine and wonderful works need to be kept in active motion. All the faculties have a bearing upon each other, and all need to be exercised, in order to be properly developed. If one muscle is exercised more than another, the one used will become much the larger, and injure the harmony of the system. A variety of exercise will call into use all the muscles and aid in their perfect development, all having equal strength to perform the distinctive work for which God designed them. Then can we comply with the exhortation of the inspired apostle, "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." - {HR, July 1, 1872 par. 15} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 1] August 1, 1872 The Mother's First Duties. - Cleanliness, neatness, and order, are indispensable to the proper management of the household. But when the mother makes these the all-important duties of her life, and devotes herself to them, to the neglect of the physical development and the mental and moral training of her children, she makes a sad mistake. The Agriculturist speaks well upon this subject under the head of {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 2] "UNPRINCIPLED NEATNESS. "'CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS;' BUT LET US NEVER FORGET THAT GODLINESS IS THE FIRST THING TO BE SOUGHT, AND AFTER THAT CLEANLINESS TO ANY EXTENT. IF ANYBODY SUPPOSES THAT I MEAN THAT YOU ARE TO 'GET CONVERTED' IN THE ORDINARY SENSE OF THAT PHRASE, AND THEN GO ON SCRUBBING AND SCOURING WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT WITHOUT ANY APPLICATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO THESE WASH-BOARD AND DISH-PAN AFFAIRS, THAT PERSON HAS NOT MADE MY ACQUAINTANCE. THE 'FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT IS LOVE, JOY, PEACE,' ETC., AND BEYOND ALL PRICE; NEATNESS IS ONLY A SECONDARY MATTER. {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 3] "WE ARE PUTTING CLEANLINESS ABOVE GODLINESS IF WE BRUSH AND SCOUR UNTIL OUR NERVES ARE SO WEARIED THAT GOOD TEMPER BECOMES ALMOST A PHYSICAL IMPOSSIBILITY; OR IF WE KEEP OUR FRIENDS IN CONSTANT DREAD OF MAKING A SPECK OF DIRT UPON OUR PREMISES; OR IF WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE GREATLY PUT OUT BY ANY DISASTERS THAT HAPPEN TO OUR CARPETS OR TABLE-CLOTHS. IT IS HARD TO BEAR THESE THINGS, IF WE HAVE NOT ABUNDANT MEANS AND PLENTY OF ASSISTANCE; AND I DO NOT KNOW OF ANYTHING BUT A TRUE PHILOSOPHY, BELIEVED IN BY THE HEART, AS WELL AS BY THE INTELLECT, THAT WILL HELP US THROUGH. DO WE REALLY DESIRE TO LEAD TRUE LIVES, AND TO DO OUR DUTY BY OUR FAMILIES? THEN WE MUST SETTLE IN OUR MINDS WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS TO THIS END, AND RESOLUTELY MAKE OTHER MATTERS SUBORDINATE. {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 4] "IT IS NEATNESS WITHOUT PRINCIPLE THAT INSISTS UPON CLEAN APRONS AND POLISHED FACES FOR THE CHILDREN MORE THAN UPON GENTLE WORDS AND PATIENT SYMPATHY WITH THEIR PLANS AND PLEASURES, WHICH CONCERNS ITSELF MORE ABOUT FLIES AND DUST THAN ABOUT THE FAMILY HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. BRIGHT WINDOWS AND SPOTLESS PAINT AND WELL-SCOURED FLOORS ARE EXCELLENT THINGS IN THEIR WAY; BUT IF YOU CAN ONLY SECURE THEM BY A LOSS OF ALL TIME AND RELISH FOR READING AND OUT-OF-DOOR RECREATION, HAVE THE NOBLENESS TO BEAR WITH SOME DIRT AND RAGS, RATHER THAN SACRIFICE THE LIFE FOR MEAT OR THE BODY FOR RAIMENT. FOR THE SAKE OF ALL ABOUT YOU, AS WELL AS FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, SAVE YOUR NERVES FROM OVER-STRAIN, AND YOUR INTELLECTUAL LIFE FROM STARVATION. BUT NEVER SACRIFICE CLEANLINESS TO DISPLAY. THOSE CHILDREN ARE FORTUNATE WHO ARE KEPT SUPPLIED WITH WHOLE AND CLEAN CLOTHING; BUT NONE OF THESE THINGS CAN BEGIN TO COMPARE IN VALUE WITH A WISE MOTHER'S LOVE AND CARE IN RESPECT TO THE FORMATION OF CHARACTER AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SOUND MIND IN A SOUND BODY. A HUSBAND HAS SOMETHING TO SAY 'THANK YOU' FOR, WHOSE BUTTONS ARE NEVER MISSING, AND WHOSE DINNER IS ALWAYS IN GOOD TIME AND GOOD ORDER; BUT HE DESERVES TO MISS THE BEST GIFTS OF THIS LIFE WHO VALUES THESE THINGS ABOVE A WIFE'S COMPANIONSHIP AND INSPIRATION IN ALL THINGS MOST LOVELY AND OF GOOD REPORT." {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 5] I have seen a mother whose critical eye could discern anything imperfect in the matching of the wood-work of her house, and who was very particular to have her house-cleaning thoroughly done at the precise time she had set, and would carry it through frequently at the expense of physical and spiritual health, while her children were left to run in the street and obtain a street education. These children were growing up coarse, selfish, rude, and disobedient. The mother, although she had hired help, was so much engaged in household cares that she could not afford time to properly train her children. She let them come up with deformity of character, undisciplined, and untrained. We could but feel that the fine taste of the mother was not exercised in the right direction, or she would have seen the necessity of molding the minds and manners of her children, and educating them to have symmetrical characters and lovely tempers. {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 6] If the mother had let these things which she has allowed to claim her first attention come in secondarily, she would have regarded the physical, mental, and moral training of her children of almost infinite importance. Those who take upon themselves the responsibility of mothers should feel under the most solemn obligation to God, and to their children, to so educate them that they will have amiable and affectionate dispositions, and that they will be pure in morals, refined in taste, and lovely in character. {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 7] The mother loves her children. This is right. She cannot help it. But this love is frequently misapplied; for it leads her to indulge her children to their injury. {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 8] For years I have looked upon these children with feelings of sadness, sometimes repeating to myself these words. "That which ye sow, ye shall also reap." These children have needed the influence of a calm, well-balanced mind. The mother's time could not be more profitably spent than in seeking heavenly wisdom, and in studying how to train her children for God. If she would succeed, she should have a firm trust in God, and that cheerful, hopeful mind and peaceful temper which flow from pure, religious principles. Every effort made in this direction will repay her tenfold. {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 9] If mothers neglect to properly educate their children, their neglect is reflected back upon them again, making their burdens and perplexities harder than they would have been if they had devoted time and patient care in training their children to obedience and submission. It will pay in the end for mothers to make the formation of the characters of their children their first and highest consideration, that the thorns may not take root and yield an abundant harvest. God calls upon mothers to become co-workers with him in the formation of the character of their children, instead of wasting their time in needless labor to make display in their houses for the eyes of visitors, while their children are coming up with characters that are warped and deformed. They are not trained for usefulness, and their minds molded, that they may have self-denial and self-control, having beautiful characters, that angels can love. The inward adorning, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, God values. In comparisons with this, outward ornamentation is of but little consequence. {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, August 1, 1872 par. 10] Mothers have a sacred mission in directing and educating the minds of their children. They should not be so engrossed with the artificial and burdened with care that they cannot have time to educate their children from God's great book of nature, impressing their young minds with the beauties of opening buds and flowers. The lofty trees, the lovely birds, caroling forth their happy songs to their Creator, speak to their senses of the goodness, mercy, and benevolence of God. Every leaf and flower, with their varied tints, perfuming the air, teach them that God is love. All that is good and lovely and beautiful in this world speaks to them of the love of our Heavenly Father. The character of God they may discern in his created works. Parents should improve every opportunity to impress their children by connecting in their minds God with the things of nature, that they may look up through nature to nature's God. Lead your children to regard God as the Creator of all things, and to reverence and fear him who is exalted above the heavens, and to love him because he first loved them. The evidences of his love they have on every hand, speaking to them through the glories of nature. Your temporal matters may be neglected rather than the heart wants and culture of the minds of your children. E. G. W. - {HR, August 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 1] September 1, 1872 Proper Education. - It is the nicest work ever assumed by men and women to deal with youthful minds. The greatest care should be taken in the education of youth to vary the manner of instruction so as to call forth the high and noble powers of the mind. Parents, and teachers of schools, are certainly disqualified to educate children properly, if they have not first learned the lesson of self-control, patience, forbearance, gentleness, and love. What an important position for parents, guardians, and teachers! There are very few who realize the most essential wants of the mind, and how to direct the developing intellect, the growing thoughts and feelings of youth. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 2] There is a period for training children, and a time for educating youth. And it is essential that both of these be combined in a great degree in the schools. Children may be trained for the service of sin, or for the service of righteousness. The early education of youth shapes their character in this life, and in their religious life. Solomon says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." This language is positive. The training which Solomon enjoins is to direct, educate, and develop. In order for parents and teachers to do this work, they must themselves understand "the way the child should go." This embraces more than merely having a knowledge of books. It takes in everything that is good, virtuous, righteous, and holy. It comprehends the practice of temperance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love to God, and to each other. In order to attain this object, the physical, mental, moral, and religious education of children must have attention. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 3] In households, and in schools, the education of children should not be like the training of dumb animals; for children have an intelligent will which should be directed to control all their powers. The dumb animals need to be trained; for they have not reason and intellect. The human mind must be taught self-control. It must be educated to rule the human being, while the animal is controlled by the master. The beast is trained to be submissive to his master. The master is mind, judgment, and will, for his beast. A child may be so trained as to have, like the beast, no will of his own. His individuality may even be submerged in the one who superintends his training, and the will is to all intents and purposes subject to the will of the teacher. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 4] Children who are thus educated will ever be deficient in moral energy and individual responsibility. They have not been taught to move from reason and principle. Their will was controlled by another, and the mind was not called out, that it might expand and strengthen by exercise. They were not directed and disciplined with respect to their peculiar constitution and capabilities of mind, to put forth their strongest powers when required. Teachers should not stop here, but give especial attention to the cultivation of the weaker faculties that all the powers may be brought into exercise, and carried forward from one degree of strength to another, that the mind may attain due proportions. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 5] There are many families of children who appear to be well-trained, while under the training discipline. But when the system, which has held them to set rules, is broken up, they seem to be incapable of thinking, acting, or deciding, for themselves. These children have been so long under iron rule, not allowed to think and act for themselves in those things in which it was highly proper that they should, that they have no confidence in themselves to move out upon their own judgment, having an opinion of their own. And when they go out from their parents, to act for themselves, they are easily led by others' judgment in the wrong direction. They have not stability of character. Their minds have not been properly developed and strengthened by being thrown upon their own judgment, as fast and as far as practicable. So long have their minds been absolutely controlled by their parents that they rely wholly upon them. Their parents were mind and judgment for their children. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 6] On the other hand, the youth should not be left to think and act independent of the judgment of their parents and teachers. Children should be taught to respect experienced judgment, and be guided by their parents and teachers. They should be so educated that their minds will be united with the minds of their parents and teachers, and they be so instructed that they can see the propriety of heeding their counsel. And when they shall go forth from the guiding hand of their parents and teachers, their characters will not be like the reed trembling in the wind. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 7] The severe training of youth, without properly directing them to think and act for themselves, as their own capacity and turn of mind would allow, that by this means they might have growth of thought and feelings, of self-respect, and confidence in their own abilities to perform, will ever produce a class that are weak in mental and moral power. And when they stand in the world to act for themselves, they will reveal the fact that they were trained, like the animals, and not educated. Their wills, instead of being guided, were forced into subjection by harsh discipline of parents and teachers. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 8] Parents and teachers who boast of having complete control of the mind and will of the children under their care would cease their boastings, could they trace out the future life of these children who are thus in subjection by force and through fear. These are almost wholly unprepared to engage in the stern responsibilities of life. When these youth are no longer under their parents and teachers, and are compelled to think and act for themselves, they are almost sure to take a wrong course, and yield to the power of temptation. They do not make this life a success. And the same deficiencies are seen in their religious life. Could the instructors of youth have the future result of their mistaken discipline mapped out before them, they would change their plan of action in the education of children and youth. That class of teachers who are gratified that they have almost complete control of the will of their scholars are not the most successful teachers, although the appearance for the time being may be flattering. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 9] God never designed that one human mind should be under the complete control of another human mind. And those who make efforts to have the individuality of their pupils submerged in themselves, and they be mind, will, and conscience, for their pupils, assume fearful responsibilities. These scholars may, upon certain occasions, appear like well-drilled soldiers. But when the restraint is removed, there will be seen a want of independent action from firm principle existing in them. But those who make it their object to so educate their pupils that they may see and feel that the power lies in themselves to make men and women of firm principle, qualified for any position in life, are the most useful and permanently successful teachers. Their work may not show to the very best advantage to careless observers, and their labors may not be valued as highly as the teacher who holds the will and mind of his scholars by absolute authority; but the future lives of the pupils will show the fruits of the better plan of education. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 10] There is danger of both parents and teachers commanding and dictating too much, while they fail to come sufficiently into social relation with their children, or their scholars. They often hold themselves too much reserved, and exercise their authority in a cold, unsympathizing manner, which cannot win the hearts of their children and pupils. If they would gather the children close to them, and show that they love them, and manifest an interest in all their efforts, and even in their sports, and sometimes be even a child among children, they would make the children very happy, would gain their love, and win their confidence. And the children would sooner respect and love the authority of their parents and teachers. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 11] The principles and habits of the teacher should be considered of greater importance than even his literary qualifications. If the teacher is a sincere Christian, he will feel the necessity of having an equal interest in the physical, mental, moral, and spiritual education of his scholars. In order to exert the right influence, he should have perfect control over himself, and his own heart should be richly imbued with love for his pupils, which will be seen in his looks, words, and acts. He should have firmness of character, then can he mold the minds of his pupils, as well as to instruct them in the sciences. The early education of youth generally shapes their character for life. Those who deal with the young should be very careful to call out the qualities of the mind, that they may better know how to direct their powers, and that they may be exercised to the very best account. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 12] The system of education generations back has been destructive to health and even life itself. Five hours each day many young children have passed in school rooms not properly ventilated, nor sufficiently large for the healthful accommodation of the scholars. The air of such rooms soon becomes poison to the lungs that inhale it. Little children, whose limbs and muscles are not strong, and their brains undeveloped, have been kept confined in-doors to their injury. Many have but a slight hold on life to begin with. Confinement in school from day to day makes them nervous and diseased. Their bodies are dwarfed because of the exhausted condition of the nervous system. And if the lamp of life goes out, the parents and teachers do not consider that they had any direct influence in quenching the vital spark. When standing by the graves of their children, the afflicted parents look upon their bereavement as a special dispensation of Providence. By inexcusable ignorance, their own course had destroyed the life of their children. Then to charge their death to Providence is blasphemy. God wanted the little ones to live and be disciplined, that they might have beautiful characters, to glorify him in this world, and praise him in the better world. In order to be in accordance with fashion and custom, many parents have sacrificed the health and life of their children. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 13] Parents and teachers, in taking the responsibilities of training these children, do not feel their accountability before God to become acquainted with the physical organism, that they may treat the bodies of children and pupils in a manner to preserve life and health. Thousands of children die because of the ignorance of parents and teachers. Mothers will spend hours over needless work upon their own dress and that of their children, to fit them for display, who plead that they cannot find time to read up, and obtain information necessary to take care of the health of their children. They think it less trouble to trust their bodies to the doctors. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 14] To become acquainted with the wonderful organism, the stomach, liver, bowels, heart, bones, muscles, and pores of the skin, and to understand the dependence of one organ upon another, for the healthful action of all, is a study that most mothers have no interest in. The influence of the body upon the mind, and the mind upon the body, she knows nothing of. The mind, which allies finite to the infinite, she does not seem to understand. Every organ of the body was made to be servant to the mind. The mind is the capital of the body. Children are allowed flesh-meats, spices, butter, cheese, pork, rich pastry, and condiments generally. They are allowed to eat irregularly, and to eat between meals, of unhealthful food, which do their work of deranging the stomach, and exciting the nerves to unnatural action, and enfeeble the intellect. Parents do not realize that they are sowing the seeds which will bring forth disease and death. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 15] Many children have been ruined for life by urging the intellect, and neglecting to strengthen the physical. Many have died in their childhood because of the course pursued by injudicious parents, and teachers of the schools, in forcing their young intellect, by flattery or fear, when they are too young to see the inside of a school room. Their minds have been taxed with lessons, when they should not have been called out, but kept back until the physical constitution was strong enough to endure mental effort. Small children should be left free as lambs to run out of doors, to be free and happy, and be allowed the most favorable opportunities to lay the foundation for sound constitutions. Parents should be their only teachers, until they have reached eight or ten years of age. They should open before their children God's great book of nature as fast as their minds can comprehend it. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 15} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 16] The mother should have less love for the artificial in her house, and in the preparation of her dress for display, and find time to cultivate, in herself and in her children, a love for the beautiful buds and opening flowers, and call the attention of her children to their different colors and variety of forms. She can make her children acquainted with God, who made all the beautiful things which attract and delight them. She can lead their young minds up to their Creator, and awaken in their young hearts a love for their Heavenly Father, who has manifested so great love for them. Parents can associate God with all his created works. Among the opening flowers and nature's beautiful scenery in the open air should be the only school room for children from eight to ten years of age. And the treasures of nature should be their only text book. These lessons, imprinted upon the minds of young children, among the pleasant, attractive scenes of nature, will not be soon forgotten. {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 16} [HR, September 1, 1872 par. 17] In order for children and youth to have health, cheerfulness, vivacity, and well-developed muscle and brain, they should be much in the open air, and have well-regulated employment and amusement. Children and youth who are kept at school and confined to books, cannot have sound physical constitutions. The exercise of the brain in study, without corresponding physical exercise, has a tendency to attract the blood to the brain, and the circulation of the blood through the system becomes unbalanced. The brain has too much blood, and the extremities too little. There should be rules, regulating their studies to certain hours, and then a portion of their time should be spent in physical labor. And if their habits of eating, dressing, and sleeping, were in accordance with physical law, they could obtain an education without sacrificing physical and mental health. - {HR, September 1, 1872 par. 17} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 1] October 1, 1872 Moral and Physical Law. - Had men ever been obedient to the law of ten commandments, carrying out in their lives the principles of these ten precepts, the curse of disease now flooding the world would not be. Men and women cannot violate natural law in the indulgence of depraved appetite, and lustful passions, and not violate the law of God. Therefore, God has permitted the light of health reform to shine upon us, that we may see our sin in violating the laws God has established in our being. All our enjoyments or sufferings may be traced to obedience or transgression of natural law. Our gracious Heavenly Father sees the deplorable condition of men while living in violation of the laws he has established. Many are doing this ignorantly, some knowingly. The Lord, in love and pity to the race, causes the light to shine upon health reform. He publishes his law, and the penalty that will follow the transgression of it, that all may learn, and be careful to live in harmony with, natural law. He proclaims his law so distinctly, and makes it so prominent, that it is like a city set on a hill. All accountable beings can understand his law, if they will. Idiots will not be responsible. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 2] Adam and Eve fell, through intemperate appetite. Christ came, and withstood the fiercest temptation of Satan, and, in behalf of the race, he overcame appetite, showing that man may overcome. As Adam fell, through appetite, and lost blissful Eden, the children of Adam may, through Christ, overcome appetite, and, through temperance in all things, regain Eden. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 3] Ignorance now is no excuse for the transgression of law. The light shineth clearly, and none need to be ignorant; for the great God himself is man's instructor. All are bound by the most sacred obligations to God, to heed sound philosophy and genuine experience in reference to health reform, which he is now giving them. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 4] God designs that the great subject of health reform shall be agitated, and the public mind deeply stirred to investigate; for it is impossible for men and women, with all their sinful, health-destroying, brain-enervating habits, to discern sacred truth, through which they are to be sanctified, refined, elevated, and made fit for the society of heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 5] The inhabitants of the Noachian world were destroyed, because they were corrupted through the indulgence of perverted appetite. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed through the gratification of unnatural appetite, which benumbed the intellect, and they could not discern the difference between the sacred claims of God and the clamor of appetite. The latter enslaved them, and they became so ferocious and bold in their detestable abomination that God would not tolerate them upon the earth. God ascribes the wickedness of Babylon to her gluttony and drunkenness. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 6] The apostle exhorts the church: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Man, then, can make the body unholy by sinful indulgences. If unholy, they are unfitted to be spiritual worshipers, and are not worthy of Heaven. If man will cherish the light God in mercy gives him upon health reform, he may be sanctified through the truth, and fitted for immortality. If he disregards light, and lives in violation of natural law, he must pay the penalty. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 7] God created man perfect and holy. Man fell from his holy estate, because he transgressed God's law. Since the fall, there has been a rapid increase of disease, suffering, and death. Notwithstanding man has insulted his Creator, yet God's love is still extended to the race. And he permits light to shine, that man may see that, in order to live a perfect life, he must live in harmony with those natural laws which govern his being. Therefore, it is of the greatest importance that he have a knowledge of how to live, that his powers of body and mind may be exercised to the glory of God. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 8] It is impossible for man to present his body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, while he is indulging in habits that are lessening physical, mental, and moral vigor, because it is customary for the world to do thus. The apostle adds: "And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." Jesus, seated upon the Mount of Olives, gave instruction to his disciples of the signs that should precede his coming. He says, "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 9] The same sin exists in our day of carrying eating and drinking to gluttony and drunkenness, which brought the wrath of God upon the world in the days of Noah. This prevailing sin, of indulgence of perverted appetite, inflamed the passions of men in the days of Noah, and led to general corruption, until their violence and crimes reached to Heaven, and God washed the earth of its moral pollution by a flood. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 10] The same sin of gluttony and drunkenness benumbed the moral sensibilities of the inhabitants of Sodom, so that crimes seemed to men and women of that wicked city to be their delight. Christ warns the world. He says, "Likewise, also, as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 11] Christ has left us here a most important lesson. He does not in his teaching encourage indolence. His example was the opposite of this. Christ was an earnest worker. His life was one of self-denial, diligence, perseverance, industry, and economy. He would lay before us the danger of making eating and drinking paramount. He reveals the result of giving up to the indulgence of appetite. The moral powers are enfeebled, so that sin does not appear sinful. Crimes are winked at, and base passions control the minds, until general corruption roots out good principles and impulses, and God is blasphemed. All this is the result of eating and drinking to excess. This is the very condition of things he declares will exist at his second coming. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 12] Will men and women be warned? Will they cherish the light? or, will they become slaves to appetite and passion? Christ presents to us something higher to toil for than merely what we shall eat, and what we shall drink, and wherewithal we shall be clothed. Eating, and drinking, and dressing, are carried to such excess that they become crimes, and are one of the marked sins of the last days, and constitute a sign of Christ's soon coming. Time, money, and strength, which are the Lord's, that he has intrusted to us, are wasted in needless superfluities of dress, and luxuries for the perverted appetite, which lessen vitality, and bring suffering and decay. It is impossible to present to God our bodies a living sacrifice, when they are diseased by sinful indulgence. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 13] Knowledge in regard to how we shall eat, and drink, and dress, in reference to health, must be gained. Sickness is caused by violating the laws of health. Therefore, sickness is the result of nature's violated law. The first duty we owe to God, to ourselves, and to our fellows, is to obey the laws of God, which include the laws of health. If we are sick, we impose a weary tax upon our friends, and unfit ourselves for discharging our duties to our families and to our neighbors. And when premature death is the result of our violation of nature's law, we bring sorrow and suffering to others. We deprive our neighbors of the help we ought to render them in living. Our families are robbed of the comfort and help we might render them, and God is robbed of the service he claims of us to advance his glory. Then, are we not transgressors of God's law in the worst sense? {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 14] God, all-pitiful, gracious, and tender, accepts the poor offering rendered to him from those who have injured their health by sinful indulgences; and, when light has come and convinced them of sin, and they have repented and sought pardon, God receives them. Oh! what tender mercy that he does not refuse the remnant of the abused life of the suffering, repenting sinner. In his gracious mercy, he saves these souls as by fire. But what an inferior, pitiful sacrifice, at best, to offer to a pure and holy God. Noble faculties have been paralyzed by wrong habits of sinful indulgence. The aspirations are perverted, and the soul and body defaced. E. G. W. - {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 1] October 1, 1872 Mental Hygiene. - Those who engage in this work should be consecrated to God, and not only have the object before them to treat the body merely to cure disease, thus working from the popular physician's standpoint, but to be spiritual fathers to administer to minds diseased, and point the sin-sick soul to the never-failing remedy, the Saviour who died for them. Those who are reduced by disease are sufferers in more than one sense. They can endure bodily pain far better than they can bear mental suffering. Many bear a violated conscience, and can be reached only by the principles of Bible religion. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 2] When the poor, suffering paralytic was brought to the Saviour, the urgency of the case seemed to admit of not a moment's delay; for already dissolution was doing its work upon the body. Those who bore him upon his bed, when they saw that they could not come directly into the presence of Christ, at once tore open the roof, and let down the bed whereon the sick of the palsy lay. Our Saviour saw and understood his condition perfectly. He also knew that this wretched man had a sickness of the soul far more aggravating than bodily suffering. He knew the greatest burden he had borne for months was on account of sins. The crowd of people were waiting with almost breathless silence to see how Christ would treat this case, apparently so hopeless. They were all astonished to hear the words which fell from his lips, "Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." These were the most precious words that could fall upon the ear of that sick sufferer; for the burden of sin had lain so heavily upon him that he could not find the least relief. Christ lifts the burden that so heavily oppressed him: "Be of good cheer," I, your Saviour, came to forgive sins. How quickly the pallid countenance of the sufferer changes! Hope takes the place of dark despair, and peace and joy take the place of distressing doubt and stolid gloom. The mind being restored to peace and happiness, the suffering body can now be reached. Next comes from the divine lips, "Thy sins be forgiven thee; arise, and walk." Those lifeless, bloodless arms, in the effort to obey the will, were quickened, the healthful current of blood flowed through the veins, the leaden color of his flesh disappeared, and the ruddy glow of health took its place. The limbs, that for long years had refused to obey the will, were now quickened to life, and the healed paralytic grasps his bed, and walks through the crowd to his home, glorifying God. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 3] This case is for our instruction. Physicians who would be successful in the treatment of disease should know how to administer to a mind diseased. They can have a powerful influence for good, if they make God their trust. Some invalids need first to be relieved of pain before the mind can be reached. After this relief to the body has come, the physician can frequently the more successfully appeal to the conscience. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 4] Patients should be treated with the greatest sympathy and tenderness. And yet the physicians should be firm, and not allow themselves, in their treatment of the sick, to be dictated by patients. Firmness on the part of the physicians is necessary for the good of the patients. But firmness should be mingled with respectful courtesy. No physician or attendant should contend with a patient, or use harsh, irritating words, or even words not the most kindly, however provoking the patient may be. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 5] One object of our Health Institute is to direct sin-sick souls to the great Physician, the true healing fountain, and arouse their attention to the necessity of reform from a religious standpoint, that they no longer violate the law of God by sinful indulgences. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 6] If the moral sensibilities of invalids can be aroused, and they see that they are sinning against their Creator by bringing sickness upon themselves, by the indulgence of appetite and debasing passions, when they leave the Health Institute they will not leave their principles behind, but take them with them, and be genuine health reformers at home. If the moral sensibilities are aroused, patients will have a determination to carry out their convictions of conscience. They will have true, noble independence to practice the truths to which they assent. If the mind is at peace with God, the bodily conditions will be more favorable. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 7] The religion of the Bible is not detrimental to the health of the body or of the mind. The influence of the Spirit of God is the very best medicine that can be received by a sick man or woman. Heaven is all health, and the more deeply the heavenly influences are realized, the more sure will be the recovery of the believing invalid. At some Health Institutions, amusements, plays, and dancing, are recommended by the physicians to get up an excitement, to keep the patients from becoming gloomy, while they express many fears for the result of religious interest. Their theory in this respect is not only erroneous, but dangerous. Yet they talk this in such a manner that patients would be led to think that their recovery depended upon their having as few thoughts of God and Heaven as possible. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 8] It is true that there are persons with ill-balanced minds, who imagine themselves to be very religious, who impose upon themselves fasting and prayer to the injury of their health. These souls suffer themselves to be deceived. God has not required this of them. They have a pharisaical righteousness which springs not from Christ, but from themselves. They trust to their own good works for salvation, and are seeking to buy Heaven by meritorious works of their own, instead of relying, as every sinner should, alone upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Christ and true godliness, today and forever, will be health to the body and strength to the soul. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 9] Hygienic physicians should be men and women of faith and spirituality. They should make God their trust. There are many who have, by their own sinful indulgence, brought upon themselves disease of almost every type. This class do not deserve the sympathy that they frequently require. And it is painful to the physicians to devote time and strength to this class who are debased physically, mentally, and morally. But there is a class who have through ignorance lived in violation of nature's laws. They have worked intemperately, and have eaten intemperately, because it was the custom so to do. Some have suffered many things from many physicians; but have not been made better, but decidedly worse. At length they are torn from business, from society, and their families, and, as their last resort, go to a health institution with some faint hope that they may find relief. This class need sympathy. They should be treated with the greatest tenderness, and care should be taken to make clear to their understanding the laws of their being, that they may govern themselves, and avoid violating them, and thereby avoid suffering and disease, which is the penalty of nature's violated law. E. G. W. - {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 1] October 1, 1872 Ingratitude: - Physicians should not become discouraged and disgusted with sick and suffering patients. They should not lose their pity, sympathy, and patience, and feel that their life is poorly employed in being interested in those who can never appreciate the labor they receive, and who will not use their strength, if they regain it, to bless society, but will pursue the same course of self-gratification, if they regain health, that they did in losing health. They should not become weary, or discouraged. They should remember that Christ came in direct contact with suffering humanity. Although, in many cases, the afflicted brought disease upon themselves by their sinful course in violating natural law, yet Jesus pitied their weakness, and when they came to him with disease the most loathsome, he did not stand aloof for fear of contamination; he touched them, and bade disease give back. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 2] "And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go, show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found, that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, and go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 3] Here is a lesson for us all. These lepers were so far corrupted by disease that they had been restricted from society lest they should contaminate others. Their limits had been prescribed by the authorities. Jesus came within their sight, and they, in their great suffering, cry unto him who alone had power to relieve them. Jesus bade them show themselves to the priests. They had faith to start on their way, believing in the power of Christ to heal them. As they go on their way, they realize that the horrible disease has left them. But only one feels gratitude, and his deep indebtedness to Christ for this great work wrought for him. He returned, praising God on the way, and in the greatest humiliation falls at the feet of Christ, acknowledging with thankfulness the work wrought for him. And this man was a stranger. The other nine were Jews. For the sake of this one man who would make a right use of the blessing of health, Jesus healed the whole ten. The nine passed on without appreciating the work done, and rendered no grateful thanks to Jesus for doing the work. {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, October 1, 1872 par. 4] Thus will physicians have their labor and efforts treated. But if, in their labor to help suffering humanity, one in ten makes a right use of the benefits received, and appreciates the efforts in his behalf, physicians should feel grateful. If one life in ten is saved and, may be, one soul saved in the kingdom of God in one hundred, they will be amply repaid for all their efforts. All their anxiety and care are not wholly lost. If the Majesty of Heaven worked for suffering humanity, and so few appreciated his divine aid, physicians should blush to complain if their feeble efforts are not appreciated by all, and seem to be thrown away on some. E. G. W. - {HR, October 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 1] November 1, 1872 Degeneracy--Education. - The book of Genesis gives quite a definite account of social and individual life, and yet we have no record of an infant being born blind, deaf, crippled, deformed, or imbecile. There is not an instance upon record in that book, covering the period of twenty-five hundred years, of a natural death in infancy, childhood, or early manhood. There is no account of men and women dying of disease. Obituary notices in the book of Genesis run thus: "And all the days of Adam were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died." "And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died" Concerning others, the record states: "He lived to a good old age, and he died." It was so rare for a son to die before the father that such an occurrence was considered worthy of record: "And Haran died before his father Terah." Haran was a father of children before his death. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 2] God endowed man with so great vital force that he has withstood the accumulation of disease, brought upon the race in consequence of perverted habits, and he has continued for six thousand years. This fact of itself is enough to evidence to us the strength and electrical energy God gave to man at his creation. It took more than two thousand years of crime and indulgence of base passions to bring bodily disease upon the race to any great extent. If Adam, at his creation, had not been endowed with twenty times as much vital force as men now have, the race, with present habits of living in violation of natural law, would have become extinct. At the period of the first advent of Christ, so rapidly had the race degenerated that an accumulation of disease pressed upon that generation, bringing in a tide of woe and weight of misery inexpressible. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 3] God did not create the race in its present feeble condition. This state of things is not the work of Providence, but the work of man, brought about by wrong habits and abuses, by violating the laws God has made to govern his existence. Through the temptation of appetite, Adam and Eve first fell from their high, holy, and happy estate. Through the same temptation have the race become enfeebled. They have permitted appetite and passion to take the throne, and to bring into subjection reason and intellect. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 4] So long has the violation of physical law, and human suffering as the consequence, prevailed that men and women look upon the present state of sickness, suffering, debility, and premature death, as the appointed lot of humanity. Man came from the hand of his Creator perfect and beautiful in form, and so filled with vital force that it was more than two thousand years before the general violation of physical law was sensibly felt upon the race. More recent generations have been feeling the pressure of infirmity and disease still more heavily with every generation. The vital forces have been greatly weakened by indulgence of appetite and lustful passion. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 5] The patriarchs from Adam to Noah, with but few exceptions, lived nearly a thousand years. Since the days of Noah, the length of life has been tapering. Those suffering with disease were brought to Christ for him to heal from every town, city, and village; for they were afflicted with all manner of diseases. And disease has been steadily on the increase through successive generations since that period. Because of the continued violation of the laws of life, mortality has increased to a fearful extent. The years of man have been shortened, so that the present generation pass off to the grave even before the generations that lived the first few thousand years after the creation came upon the stage of action. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 6] Disease has been transmitted from parents to children, from generation to generation. Infants in their cradle are miserably afflicted because of the sins of their parents, which have lessened their vital force. Their wrong habits of eating and dressing, and their general dissipation, are transmitted, as an inheritance to their children. Many are born insane, deformed, blind, deaf, and a very large class deficient in intellect. The strange absence of principle which characterizes this generation, in disregarding the laws of life and health, is astonishing. Ignorance prevails upon this subject, while light is shining all around them. With the majority, their principal anxiety is, What shall I eat? what shall I drink? and wherewithal shall I be clothed? Notwithstanding all that is said and written with regard to how we should treat our bodies, appetite is the great law which governs men and women generally. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 7] The moral powers are beclouded, because men and women will not live in obedience to the laws of health, and make this great subject a personal duty. Parents bequeath to their offspring their own perverted habits, and loathsome diseases corrupt the blood and enervate the brain. The majority of men and women remain in ignorance of the laws of their being, and indulge appetite and passion at the expense of intellect and morals, and seem willing to remain in ignorance of the result of their violation of nature's laws. They indulge the depraved appetite in the use of slow poisons which corrupt the blood and undermine the nervous forces, and in consequence bring upon themselves sickness and death. Their friends call the result of their own course the dispensation of Providence. In this, they insult Heaven. They rebelled against the laws of nature, and suffered the penalty. Suffering and mortality now prevail everywhere, especially among the children. How great is the contrast between this generation and those who lived during the first two thousand years! {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 8] I am led to inquire if this tide of woe cannot be prevented, and something be done to save the youth of this generation from the ruin which threatens them. One great cause of the existing deplorable state of things is, that parents do not feel under obligation to bring up their children to conform to physical law. Mothers love their children with an idolatrous love, and they indulge their appetite when they know that it will injure the health of the children, and thereby bring upon them disease and unhappiness. This cruel kindness is carried out to a great extent in the present generation. The desires of children are gratified at the expense of health and happy tempers, because it is easier for the mother, for the time being, to gratify than to withhold that which her children clamor for. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 9] Thus mothers are sowing the seed that will spring up and bear fruit. The children are not educated to deny the appetite, and restrict their desires. And they become selfish, exacting, disobedient, unthankful, and unholy. Mothers who are doing this work of sowing will reap with bitterness the seed they have sown. They have sinned against Heaven and against their children, and God will hold them accountable. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 10] Had the system of education generations back been conducted upon altogether a different plan, the youth of this generation would not now be so depraved and worthless. The managers and teachers of schools should have been those who understood physiology, and who had an interest, not only to educate youth in the sciences, but to teach them how to preserve health, in order to use their knowledge to the best account, after they had obtained it. There should have been in connection with the schools establishments for various branches of labor, that the students might have employment and necessary exercise out of school hours. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 11] The students' employment and amusements should have been regulated in reference to physical law, and adapted to preserve to them the healthy tone of all the powers of the body and mind. Then their education in practical business could have been obtained while their literary progress was being secured. Students at school should have had their moral sensibilities aroused to see and feel that society had claims upon them, and that they should so live in obedience to natural law that they could, by their existence and influence, by precept and example, be an advantage and blessing to society. It should be impressed upon youth that all have an influence that is constantly telling upon society, to improve and elevate, or to lower and debase. The first study of youth should be to know themselves and how to keep their bodies in health. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 12] Many parents have kept their children at school nearly the year round. These children have gone through the routine of study mechanically, and they have not retained that which they learned. Many of these constant students seem almost destitute of intellectual life. The monotony of continual study wearies the mind, and they have but little interest in their lessons, and to many the application to books becomes painful. They had not an inward love of thought, and ambition to acquire knowledge. They did not encourage in themselves reflection, and investigation of objects and things. {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, November 1, 1872 par. 13] Children are in great need of proper education, in order that their lives should be of use in the world. But any effort that exalts intellectual culture above moral training is misdirected. Instructing, cultivating, polishing, and refining youth and children should be the main burden with both parents and teachers. Close reasoners and logical thinkers are few; for the reason that false influences have checked the development of the intellect. The supposition of parents and teachers that continual study would strengthen the intellect has proved erroneous; for it has had in many cases the opposite effect. E. G. W. - {HR, November 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 1] December 1, 1872 Proper Education. - In the early education of children, many parents and teachers fail to understand that the greatest attention needs to be given to the physical constitution, that a healthy condition of body and brain can be secured. It has been the custom to encourage children to attend school when they are mere babies, needing a mother's care. Children of a delicate age are frequently crowded into ill ventilated school rooms, to sit upon poorly-constructed benches, and the young and tender frames have, through sitting in wrong positions, become deformed. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 1} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 2] The disposition and habits of youth will be very likely to be manifested in the matured man. You may bend a young tree to almost any form that you may choose, and let it remain and grow as you have bent it, and it will be a deformed tree, and will ever tell of the injury received at your hand. You may, after years of growth, try to straighten the tree, but all your efforts will prove unavailing. It will ever be a deformed tree. This is the case with the minds of youth. They should be carefully and tenderly trained in childhood. They may be educated in the right direction or in the wrong, and they will in their future life pursue the course in which they were directed in youth. The habits formed in youth will grow with the growth and strengthen with the strength, and will generally be the same in after life, only continue to grow stronger. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 2} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 3] We are living in an age when almost everything is superficial. There is but little stability and firmness of character, because the training and education of children from their cradle is superficial. Their character is built upon sliding sand. Self-denial and self-control have not been molded into their characters. They have been petted and indulged until they are spoiled for practical life. The love of pleasure controls minds, and children are flattered and indulged to their ruin. Children should be trained and educated so that they may calculate to meet with difficulties, and expect temptations and dangers. They should be taught to have control over themselves, and to nobly overcome difficulties; and if they do not willfully rush into danger, and needlessly place themselves in the way of temptation; if they avoid evil influences and vicious society, and then are unavoidably compelled to be in dangerous company, they will have strength of character to stand for the right and preserve principle, and will come forth in the strength of God with their morals untainted. The moral powers of youth who have been properly educated, if they make God their trust, will be equal to stand the most powerful test. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 3} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 4] There is sufficient cause for mourning by fathers and mothers as they witness the steady and rapid increase of sins and crimes among children and youth of this age. The great proportion of sins and suffering of children and youth, proceed immediately from the appetites and propensities. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 4} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 5] Through the channel of appetite, the passions are inflamed, and the moral powers are paralyzed, so that parental instruction in the principles of morality and true goodness falls upon the ear without affecting the heart. The most fearful warnings and threatenings of the word of God are not powerful enough to arouse the benumbed intellect and awaken the violated conscience. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 5} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 6] The indulgence of appetite and passion fever and debilitate the mind, and disqualify for education. Our youth need a physiological education as well as other literary and scientific knowledge. It is important for them to understand the relation that their eating and drinking, and general habits, have to health and life. As they understand their own frames, they will know how to guard against debility and disease. With a sound constitution, there is hope of accomplishing almost anything. Benevolence, love, and piety, can be cultivated. A want of physical vigor will be manifested in the weakened moral powers. The apostle says, "Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 6} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 7] A solemn duty is resting upon parents in regard to their children. The exciting amusements of our time keep the minds of men and women, but more especially the youth, in a fever of excitement, which is telling upon their stock of vitality in a far greater degree than all their studies and physical labors, and have a tendency to dwarf the intellect and corrupt the morals. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 7} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 8] Many bemoan the disobedience of Adam, which resulted in bringing sin, suffering, and death, into the world. Surely, such should cease to transgress. But instead of doing better themselves than Adam did, they follow a course of transgression, thereby increasing the tide of woe. But let the children of Adam, who have the example of their father before them with all its terrible results, stop sinning, instead of complaining of their father, while they themselves are doing worse than he did. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 8} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 9] Men seem not to be satisfied with the result of Adam's trial in disobedience. While they bemoan Adam's weakness in yielding to temptation and breaking the Father's law, they defy the law of God in disregarding his prohibitions and follow in a course of disobedience to learn when too late that the wages of sin is death and that God means what he says. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 9} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 10] If we wish to manifest how much greater wisdom we should have shown were we in Adam's place, tempted as he was, we need not go back to occupy his position, to give evidence of our firmness and moral rectitude. We have ample opportunities to show our strength of moral power in resisting the temptations of our time. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 10} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 11] But few parents realize that their children are what their example and discipline have made them, and that they are responsible for the characters their children develop. If the hearts of Christian parents were in obedience to the will of Christ, they would obey the injunction of the heavenly Teacher: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." If those who profess to be followers of Christ would do this, they would give not only to their children, but to the unbelieving world, examples that would rightly represent the religion of the Bible. If Christian parents lived in obedience to the requirements of the divine Teacher, they would preserve simplicity in eating and in dressing more in accordance with natural law. They would not then devote so much time to artificial life in making cares and burdens for themselves that Christ has not laid upon them, but positively bade them avoid. If the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, were the first and all important consideration with parents, but little precious time would be lost in needless ornamentation of the outward, while the minds of their children are almost entirely neglected. The precious time devoted by many parents to dressing their children for display in their scenes of amusement might better, far better, be spent in cultivating their own minds, in order that they may be competent to properly instruct their children. It is not essential to the happiness of these parents to use precious probationary time God has lent them, in dressing, in visiting, and gossiping. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 11} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 12] Many parents plead that they have so much to do that they have not time to improve their minds, or to educate their children for practical life, or to teach them how they may become lambs of Christ's fold. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 12} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 13] Parents will never realize the almost infinite value of the time they misspend until the final settlement, when the cases of all will be decided, and the acts of our entire life are opened to our view in the presence of God, and the Lamb, and all the holy angels. Very many parents will then see that their wrong course determined the destiny of their children. Not only have they failed to secure for themselves the words of commendation from the King of glory, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord;" but they hear the terrible denunciation, Depart. This separates their children forever from the joys and glories of Heaven, and from the presence of Christ. And they themselves also come under his denunciation, Depart,"thou wicked and slothful servant." Jesus will never say, "Well done," to those who have not earned the well done by their faithful lives of self-denial and self sacrifice to do others good, and to promote his glory. Those who have lived principally to please themselves instead of doing others good are meeting with infinite loss. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 13} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 14] If parents could be aroused to sense the responsibility in the work of educating their children, more of their time would be devoted to prayer, and less to needless display. They should educate them to understand that health is indispensable to their usefulness and enjoyment in this life; and that health, strength, and their power to do good, depend upon their obedience to the laws of their being. Parents should reflect, and pray earnestly to God for wisdom and divine aid to properly train their children, that they may develop characters that God will approve. Their anxiety should not be how they can educate their children that they may be praised and honored of the world, but how they can educate them to form beautiful characters that God can approve. Much prayer and study are needed for heavenly wisdom to know how to deal with young minds; for very much is depending upon the direction parents give to the minds and wills of their children. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 14} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 15] In order to arouse the moral sensibilities of your children to the claims that God has upon them, you should imprint upon their minds and hearts how to obey the laws of God in their physical frames; for health has a great deal to do with their intellect and morals. If they have health and purity of heart, they are then better prepared to live and be a blessing to the world. To balance their minds in the right direction and at the right time is a most important work; for very much depends on the decisions made at the critical moment. How important, then, that the minds of parents should be as free as possible from perplexing, wearing care in needless things, that they may think and act with calm consideration, wisdom, and love, making the physical and moral health of their children the first and highest consideration. The inward adorning should be the great object for parents to attain for their dear children. Parents cannot afford to have visitors and strangers claim their attention, and rob them of life's great capital, which is time, making it impossible for them to give their children patient instruction, which they must have every day to give right direction to their developing minds. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 15} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 16] This lifetime is too short to be squandered in vain and trifling diversion, in unprofitable visiting, in needless dressing for display, or in exciting amusements. We cannot afford to squander time given us of God to bless others, and for us to improve in laying up a treasure for ourselves in Heaven. We have none too much time for the discharge of necessary duties. We should give time for the culture of our own hearts and minds, in order to qualify us for our life's work. To neglect these essential duties, in conforming to the habits and customs of fashionable, worldly society, is doing ourselves and our children a great wrong. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 16} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 17] Mothers who have youthful minds to train, and the character of children to form, should not seek vain excitement in order to be cheerful and happy. They have their important lifework. They and theirs cannot afford to spend time in an unprofitable manner. Time is one of the important talents which God has intrusted to us, and for which he will call us to account. A waste of time is a waste of intellect. The powers of the mind are susceptible of high cultivation. It is the duty of mothers to cultivate their minds, and keep their hearts pure, and improve every means in their reach for their intellectual and moral improvement, that they may be qualified to improve the minds of their children. {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 17} [HR, December 1, 1872 par. 18] Those who indulge a disposition to love to be in company will soon feel restless, unless visiting or entertaining visitors. The power of adaptation to circumstances, the necessary sacred home duties, will seem commonplace and uninteresting. They have no love for self examination or self-discipline. The mind hungers for the varying, exciting scenes of worldly life. Children are neglected for the indulgence of inclination. And the recording angel writes, "Unprofitable servants." God designs, that our minds should not be purposeless, but that we should accomplish good in this life. E. G. W. - {HR, December 1, 1872 par. 18} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 1] January 1, 1873 Education. - If parents would feel it a solemn duty that God enjoins upon them to educate their children for usefulness in this life, if they would adorn the inner temple of the souls of their sons and daughters for the immortal life, we would see a great change in society for the better. And then there would not be manifest so great indifference to practical godliness, and it would not be as difficult to arouse the moral sensibilities of children to understand the claims that God has upon them. But parents become more and more careless in the education of their children in the useful branches. Many parents allow their children to form wrong habits, and to follow their inclination, rather than to impress upon their minds the danger of their doing this, and the necessity of their being controlled by principle. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 2] Children frequently engage in a piece of work, and become perplexed or weary of it, and wish to change and take hold of something new, although they entered upon the work with enthusiasm. Thus they may take hold of several things, meet with a little discouragement, and give them up; and thus pass from one thing to another, perfecting nothing. Parents should not be so much engaged with other things that they have not time patiently to discipline those developing minds. They should not allow the love of change to control their children. A few words of encouragement, or a little help at the right time, may carry them over their trouble and discouragement, and the satisfaction they will have in seeing completed the task they undertook will stimulate them to greater exertion. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 3] Many children, for want of words of encouragement and a little assistance in their efforts in childhood and youth, become disheartened, and change from one thing to another. And they carry this sad defect with them in mature life. They cannot make a success of anything they engage in; for they have not been taught to persevere under discouraging circumstances. Thus the entire lifetime of many proves a failure because they did not have correct discipline. The education in childhood and youth not only effects their entire business career in mature life, but the religious experience bears a corresponding stamp. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 4] With the present plan of education, a door of temptation is opened to the youth. Although they generally have too many hours of study, they have many hours without anything to do. These leisure hours are frequently spent in a reckless manner. The knowledge of bad habits is communicated to one another, and vice is greatly increased. Very many young men, who have been religiously instructed at home, and go out to the schools comparatively innocent and virtuous, become corrupt by associating with vicious companions. They lose self-respect, and noble principles are sacrificed. Then they are prepared to pursue the downward path; for they have so abused their conscience that sin does not appear so exceeding sinful. These evils which exist at the schools conducted upon the plan they now are, might be remedied, in a great degree, if study and labor could be combined. In the higher schools, the same evil exists, only to a greater degree; for many of the youth have educated themselves in vice, and their consciences are seared. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 5] Many parents overrate the stability and good qualities of their children. They do not seem to consider the deceptive influences of vicious youth to which they are exposed. Parents have their fears as they send them at a distance from home to school, but flatter themselves that as they have had good examples and religious instruction they will be true to principle in their high-school life. Licentiousness exists in these institutions of learning, and many parents have but a faint idea to what extent. They have, in many cases, labored hard and suffered many privations for the cherished object of having their children obtain a finished education. And after all their efforts, many have the bitter experience of receiving their children from their course of studies, with dissolute habits and ruined constitutions. They are frequently disrespectful to their parents, unthankful and unholy. These abused parents, who are thus rewarded by ungrateful children, lament that they sent their children from them, to be exposed to temptations, and come back to them physical, mental, and moral wrecks. With disappointed hopes and almost broken hearts, they see their children of whom they had high hopes, follow in a course of vice, and drag out a miserable existence. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 6] But there are those of firm principles, who answer the expectation of parents and teachers. They go through the course of schooling with clear consciences. They come forth with good constitutions and pure morals, unstained by corrupting influences. But the number is few. Some students put their whole being into their studies, and concentrate their minds upon the object of obtaining an education. They work the brain, while the physical is inactive. The brain is overworked, and the physical is weak, because they have not exercised the muscles. When they graduate, it is evident they have obtained their education at the expense of their life. They studied day and night, year after year, keeping their minds continually upon the stretch, while they did not sufficiently exercise their muscles. They sacrificed all for knowledge of the sciences, and passed to their graves. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 7] Young ladies frequently give themselves up to study, to the neglect of other branches of education even more essential for practical life than the study of books. After they have obtained their education, they are frequently invalids for life. They neglected their health by remaining too much in-doors, deprived of the pure air of heaven, and the God-given sunlight. These ladies might have come from their schools in health, if they had combined with their studies household labor and exercise in the open air. E. G. W. - {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 1] January 1, 1873 Dress Reform. - I appeal to Christian mothers to exercise their reason and judgment in dressing their children in a manner to secure health rather than for display. The health of children and youth demand a complete revolution in female dress. The present style is contrary to the laws of health, therefore is not in accordance with the law of God. In consequence of following absurd fashions, health and life are sacrificed. If we pursue a course to lessen our vitality, and sickness and death are the result, it is a violation of the law of God. To shorten life by self-murder is a breach of the sixth precept of God's law. He has not granted us permission to commit suicide gradually any more than he has given us a permit to commit suicide suddenly. While one puts out existence at once, the other does the work according to approved fashion. The fashionable suicides, by wrong and sinful habits, commit suicide gradually, prolonging their own suffering, and casting a heavy burden upon sympathizing friends. Which is the greater sinner? {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 2] God has established the laws of health; the Paris milliner, the laws of fashion. Women generally choose and glorify the Paris milliner, rather than obey and glorify God by presenting to him their bodies a living sacrifice (not bodies filled with disease), holy and acceptable unto God, which is their reasonable service. The inspired apostle points out the duty of Christians in reference to their clothing. If Christian mothers would follow the direction of the apostle in regard to adorning themselves and their children, what an amount of God-given, probationary time, and what an amount of means that are now squandered upon extravagant dress for display, might be saved to bless the needy! Many lives that are now sacrificed needlessly might be saved. "Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves." {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 3] Mantuamakers and milliners tax their inventive powers to destroy modesty and simplicity in dress. They work with a diligence worthy of a better cause; not to improve and beautify the human form by preserving natural beauty, but to deform and detract from the loveliness of the symmetrical model God gave to Eve when he presented her to Adam in their Eden home. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 4] Mothers should improve the golden opportunities given them, in guiding their children in the way of knowledge, how they may preserve and improve their organism, that each particular faculty may be exercised and strengthened, and not abused and debilitated. Parents have no right to be ignorant of the great laws of life and health. They should teach their children from their cradle, by precept and example, the best means of preserving physical, mental, and moral health; for their happiness and usefulness in this life is dependent upon health. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 5] God himself has formed us with distinctive organs and faculties. These he designs should act together in harmony. If we injure one, all are affected. Parents come far short of their duty, if they do not arouse when light is shining all around them and become intelligent upon this important subject of how to treat themselves and their children in a manner to preserve life and health. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 6] The anxiety and burden of parents should not be to acquire riches for their children, so much as to teach them the right way to live and the best method of securing a capital of health and strength. This will be to them a most valuable treasure. It is the only foundation for virtuous and beautiful characters. Outward adorning can bear no comparison with this. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 7] The extravagant manner in which Christian mothers dress their children, without reference to the laws of health, is painful. Do these parents consider that they are accountable to God for encouraging pride and vanity in the hearts of their children? This they are doing in defiance of the laws of health. And they are leading them by their own instruction and example to disregard the law of God. If the precious time which is devoted to needless ornamentation in ruffles, tucks, puffs, and bows, was devoted to teaching their children, and training them to have moral courage to dress with becoming modesty and simplicity in accordance with the laws of health, they would be doing a work which the angels of God would approbate, and blessings would be reflected back upon them again; for their children would have a chance to live, and they would rise up and call them blessed. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 8] Christian parents, it is our duty to work from a high religious standpoint, rather than that of fashion. Health, happiness, and the lives of our children, are the objects worthy of our most earnest and candid consideration. To make our children invalids for life, in order that we may follow fashion in opposition to the law of their being, we disregard the law of God, and will have an account to settle with the Law-giver, whose law we have violated. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 8} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 9] Christian mother, why not clothe your daughter as comfortably and as properly as you do your son? In the cold and storms of winter, his limbs and feet are clad with lined pants, drawers, woolen socks, and thick boots. This is as it should be; but your daughter is dressed in reference to fashion, not health or comfort. Her shoes are light, and her stockings thin. True, her skirts are short, but her limbs are nearly naked, covered by only a thin, flannel stocking, reaching to her muslin drawers. Her limbs and feet are chilled, while her brother's are warm. His limbs are protected by from three to five thicknesses; hers, by only one. Is she the feebler? Then she needs the greater care. Is she in-doors more, and, therefore, less protected against cold and storm? Then she needs double care. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 9} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 10] Her dress may be nearly long enough; but let it fit loosely and comfortably, as do your boy's garments. Then clothe her limbs and feet as comfortably, as wisely, and as well, as you do those of your boy; and let her go out and enjoy exercise in the open air, and live to enjoy health and happiness. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 10} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 11] Children who are accustomed to remain in close, heated rooms cannot have health. They are like hot-house plants. Parents should give especial attention to their children's dress. They should clothe their limbs comfortably, and then should have them spend some time in active, cheerful exercise in the open air each day, in winter as well as in summer. Little girls should not be deprived of the means of health because they are girls. There is just as much necessity for your girls to have constant and abundant supplies of fresh air, in order to have good blood and a sound constitution, as your boys. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 11} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 12] Provide your little girls with sleds and with varied amusements which will encourage them to go out of doors. If parents or children sit long in rooms heated by air-tight stoves, they will be dull, stupid, and irritable. Children cannot explain why they feel peevish and unhappy; but let them go out into the fresh air, and, what a change! The querulous voice is exchanged for the merry laugh and joyous shout. All languor is gone, for the invigorating air with brisk exercise has quickened the sluggish blood, and sent it bounding through the veins, vitalizing the entire system. Money that parents now expend to clothe their children fashionably, which only results in sickness, and doctor's bills, and premature death, might be used in purchasing books for physical, mental, and moral improvement. Parents and children should become intelligent upon the subject of health, which bears so close a relation to their happiness in this life and their future immortal life. Your means could not be used to better advantage than in providing a workshop furnished with tools for your boys, and equal facilities for your girls. They can be learned to love labor. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 12} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 13] Mothers cannot employ their time better than in occasionally roaming over hill and dale with their children, to view the natural opening buds and blooming flowers, the lofty trees, and the variety of rich and beautiful productions of nature. This will give mother and children opportunities for exercise, and to become acquainted with God as seen in nature. God demands of parents that they do the important work he has intrusted to them in the education and formation of the characters of their dear children. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 13} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 14] Mothers who dress their children in accordance with fashion, endanger their health and life. Fashion leaves the limbs of children unclad, save with one covering, or, at most, two. If they are exposed to the chill autumn, spring and winter weather, their limbs are bathed in a current of cold air. Over the heart, where is the greatest amount of vitality, there are from four to eight coverings. These unclad limbs and feet become habitually cold. While traveling, it is customary to see little girls dressed fashionably, but not healthfully. The upper portions of the body are abundantly clothed with warm cloaks, and over these are furs, while the limbs are scarcely covered. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 14} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 15] In cold winter days even, the thin, muslin drawers do not always meet the stockings. There is a space of from one to three inches of naked flesh. My heart has been pained as I have seen the pale-faced, shivering little ones and heard their croupy cough. This manner of partly clothing children is tolerated simply because it is fashion. When their children become really sick, parents weep over their suffering, dying ones, and are ready to incur any expense to alleviate their pain. They would give all they possess if they could ransom them from the grave. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 15} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 16] If parents had taken one-fifth part of the trouble to teach these children the relation food and dressing have to health and life, they would have seen force in our Saviour's lesson, "Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?" The principal anxiety generally with mothers is for food and raiment. The fine externals are their burden, not health and life, until their poor children are unfitted for the development of healthful minds and bodies, and become sick unto death. They are killed in consequence of the ignorance of their parents. And yet mothers are slow to learn that the sufferings and death of their children is the result of their own course. They do not become intelligent upon the subject of how to live to prevent disease and premature death. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 16} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 17] What a thought! mothers are the murderers of their own children, and are mourning over their death, and are trying hard to be reconciled to Providence, which they think has bereaved them. They should not charge the result of their own sinful course upon our gracious and merciful Heavenly Father. He doth not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 17} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 18] Societies are formed in our cities for the prevention of cruelty to dumb animals. It would be well to go still farther, and, inasmuch as accountable intelligences, capable of obtaining life eternal, are of more value than the dumb beasts, there is greater need of societies to prevent the cruelty of mothers in dressing their darling little girls in a manner to sacrifice them at the shrine of cruel fashion. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 18} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 19] The Schoolcraft Dispatch contains the following properly headed article, "How to Kill Little Girls:" {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 19} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 20] "WARMLY AND FASHIONABLY DRESSED MOTHERS MAY BE SEEN ON THE STREET AT ALMOST ANY HOUR, LEADING THEIR SHIVERING LITTLE DAUGHTERS AROUND, WITH HARDLY ENOUGH CLOTHING ON THEIR LOWER EXTREMITIES TO PROTECT THEM FROM SIGHT, TO SAY NOTHING OF THE PIERCING BLASTS. AN EXCHANGE SAYS: 'YESTERDAY, WE SAW A LITTLE GIRL LED BY ITS MOTHER THROUGH THE STREET. HER LITTLE COLLAR, AND MUFF, AND HAT, WERE OF THE WARMEST FUR; AND WELL SHE NEEDED THEM, FOR IT WAS BITTER COLD, BUT HER LEGS, BARE AND BLUE BETWEEN HER STOCKINGS AND SKIRTS, TOLD A SHIVERING TALE.' WHO DOES NOT DAILY SEE THE SAME THING--LITTLE FRAIL GIRLS, WITH HEAD AND SHOULDERS BUNDLED IN UNNEEDED FURS, WHILE FROM THE FEET TO A POINT ABOVE THE KNEE THE LITTLE DARLINGS ARE ALMOST NAKED? OF COURSE, MOTHERS WHO THUS DRESS THEIR CHILDREN ARE VERY FAR FROM INTENDING TO KILL THEM OR RENDER THEM PERMANENT INVALIDS, BUT SUCH IS THE PROBABLE RESULT OF THEIR FASHIONABLE EXPOSURE. IT IS TRUE THAT MOST CHILDREN HAVE THEIR LIMBS WELL PROTECTED, BECAUSE MOST MOTHERS HAVE AN INTELLIGENT REGARD FOR THE HEALTH OF THEIR OFFSPRING; BUT THERE ARE MANY WHO ARE CLAD AS WE HAVE MENTIONED, AND TO THE MOTHERS OF THESE WE ADDRESS OUR APPEAL. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 20} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 21] "AS LITTLE GIRLS ARE NOW DRESSED, THEIR SKIRTS ARE NO PROTECTION AGAINST THE WIND OR COLD BELOW THE KNEE, AND WHAT DO THEY HAVE AS A SUBSTITUTE? LINEN DRAWERS, REACHING JUST BELOW THE KNEE, AND THERE MEETING THE TOP OF STOCKINGS WHICH USUALLY HAVE ABOUT HALF THE WARMTH POSSESSED BY MEN'S SOCKS. LET US COMPARE THIS ARMOR WITH THE CLOTHING OF BOYS AND MEN, WHO HAVE AT LEAST FIVE TIMES THE POWER OF ENDURANCE POSSESSED BY THE LITTLE GIRL. THE FATHER OF THIS SAME SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL WOULD CONSIDER HIMSELF COLDLY CLAD AND A CERTAIN CANDIDATE FOR RHEUMATISM IF HIS LOWER EXTREMITIES WERE NOT PROTECTED AGAINST THE WINTER BLASTS BY, FIRST, THICK WOOL SOCKS, REACHING MORE THAN HALF WAY TO THE KNEE; SECOND, WOOL DRAWERS, REACHING FROM THE WAIST TO THE FEET; THIRD, BOOTLEGS OF DOUBLE LEATHER, REACHING NEARLY TO THE KNEE; AND, FOURTH, THICK WOOL PANTALOONS, COVERING ALL ELSE AND REACHING TO THE FOOT. AND YET THIS SAME FATHER PERMITS HIS DELICATE BLUE-VEINED CHILD TO GO OUT IN WINTER WITH LEGS INCASED IN A SINGLE THICKNESS OF LINEN! HOW WOULD HE LIKE TO WALK THE WINTER STREETS CLAD IN LINEN PANTALOONS, AND NOTHING ELSE?" E. G. W. - {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 21} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 1] January 1, 1873 Earnest Words to Mothers. - The following excellent article from the Herald of Health, should be carefully read and thoughtfully pondered. E. G. W. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 2] I WRITE UNTO YOU, MOTHERS, THAT YOU MAY PURIFY THE WORLD. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 3] LET US LAY ASIDE FOR A TIME THE SUBJECTS OF "EQUAL RIGHTS," WOMAN'S CAPACITY FOR POLITICAL PRIVILEGES, AND THE GREAT NECESSITY FOR NEW AVENUES IN WHICH SHE MAY LABOR AND OBTAIN AN HONEST LIVELIHOOD--SUBJECTS WHICH ARE INSPIRING AND AGITATING SO MANY NOBLE HEARTS AND READY PENS, AND LOOK STILL DEEPER, INTO SOMETHING PERTAINING TO THE INNER SANCTITIES OF HOME-LIFE, THE FOUNTAIN FROM WHICH SHOULD ALWAYS FLOW PURE, SWEET WATERS, PREPARING AND STRENGTHENING ALL WHO TASTE THEM TO MEET AND OVERCOME LIFE'S TEMPTATIONS. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 4] I HAVE ADDRESSED MYSELF TO MOTHERS. MY WORDS SHOULD INTEREST ALL WHO HAVE CHARGE OF CHILDREN, BUT MOTHERS MORE PARTICULARLY, ON ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT AND LASTING INFLUENCES WHICH THEY EXERT UPON THE HEARTS AND CHARACTERS OF THOSE WHO LOOK UP TO THEM AS AN EMBODIMENT OF ALL THAT IS BEST AND DEAREST, AND BECAUSE THE DUTIES OF WHICH I AM TO SPEAK ARE INTRINSICALLY A MOTHER'S, AND SHOULD NEVER BE GIVEN UP TO, OR LEFT FOR, ANOTHER TO PERFORM. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 5] THERE IS A PAINFUL, AND REMARKABLE IGNORANCE AMONG YOUR GIRLS, AND MANY NOT YOUNG, WITH REGARD TO THEIR PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION AND DEVELOPMENT. THEY ARE TAUGHT MATHEMATICS, LANGUAGES, THE SCIENCES AND "ACCOMPLISHMENTS," AND PERHAPS SKIM OVER THE SURFACE OF PHYSIOLOGY, BUT HOW MANY OTHERS TEACH THEIR CHILDREN THIS MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL SCIENCES? HOW MANY EXPLAIN THE STRUCTURE, NATURE, AND FUNCTION OF EACH ORGAN, AND THE RELATION IT BEARS TO LIFE; THE RIGHT MANNER OF USE, AND THE TERRIBLE CONSEQUENCES OF ABUSE, AND SHOW THEM HOW TO LIVE SO THAT THEY MAY MAKE THE BODY A FITTING "TEMPLE OF THE LIVING GOD!" {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 6] I MAY OVERESTIMATE THIS IGNORANCE, BUT I KNOW VERY MANY GIRLS WHOSE ONLY KNOWLEDGE OF LAWS--A RIGHT UNDERSTANDING OF WHICH IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE, AND BEARS THE CLOSEST RELATION TO THEIR FUTURE HEALTH, HAPPINESS, AND USEFULNESS--HAS BEEN ATTAINED FROM SCHOOL-MATES, ALIKE DESTITUTE OF A MOTHER'S INSTRUCTION, OR FROM FORBIDDEN BOOKS. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 7] AND ARE THEY THANKFUL FOR THIS KNOWLEDGE? DO THEY FEEL THAT THEY HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING USEFUL AND BENEFICIAL? AH, NO! THE FRUITS OF DECEIT AND CONCEALMENT ARE A BURDEN, NOT A BLESSING. IT IS SOMETHING TO BE THOUGHT OF WITH BLUSHES, TO BE KEPT FROM A MOTHER'S EAR, TO BE TALKED OF IN SECRET PLACES, AND AS IF IT WERE IMPURE. {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 8] WHY IS THIS? IS IT BECAUSE THE LAWS WHICH GOVERN OUR BODIES, OUR WHOLE LIVES, ARE IMPURE, UNWORTHY TO BE STUDIED? DO WE THUS REGARD OUR HEAVENLY FATHER? SHOULD WE THUS DEGRADE HIS WORKS? {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 8} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 9] THESE LAWS ARE THE SAME AS THOSE WHICH GOVERN THE LIVES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS. CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT OF THOSE--TAUGHT TO LOOK WITH ADMIRATION AND DELIGHT AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOM FROM THE TINY GERM, AND ITS FINAL TRANSFORMATION INTO THE PERFECT FLOWER AND FRUIT, BUT OF THEMSELVES, GOD'S "NOBLEST WORK," THEY ARE LEFT IN IGNORANCE. BETTER, FAR, THAT AS LITTLE CHILDREN, THEY SHOULD BE TAUGHT OF THEIR OWN STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT, AS OF THE PLANTS AND TREES, AND TAUGHT TO TRACE IN IT GOD'S LOVING MIND AND HAND, THAN AT THE AGE WHEN THEY MOST NEED CARE AND SYMPATHY, WHEN MYSTERIOUS FEELINGS ARE PRESSING UPON THEM, AND THE GREAT QUESTIONS OF LIFE RISE BEFORE THEM, THAT THEY SHOULD BE FORCED TO LEARN FROM PLAYMATES, OR IGNORANT, PERHAPS VULGAR, SERVANTS, THOSE THINGS WHICH IT SHOULD BE A MOTHER'S PRIVILEGE TO TEACH, AND OF THE SACREDNESS OF WHICH THEY CAN NOT HAVE TOO HIGH A CONCEPTION! {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 9} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 10] "BUT," SAY SOME MOTHERS, "I TELL MY CHILDREN ALL THAT IS NECESSARY, THERE IS TIME ENOUGH." AND, "I CAN NOT SPEAK OF THESE THINGS, IT IS TOO EMBARRASSING;" "I DO IT, BUT IT IS MORTIFYING." (THESE ARE FROM LIFE.) {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 10} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 11] DO YOU TELL THEM ALL THAT IS NECESSARY? DO YOU KNOW ALL THAT YOU OUGHT OF THESE WONDERFUL MATTERS, THESE DAILY MIRACLES? HAVE YOU LABORED EARNESTLY TO INFORM YOURSELF CONCERNING THESE LAWS? DO YOU TELL YOUR DAUGHTERS, YES, AND YOUR BOYS, THAT "A CORRUPT TREE CAN NOT BRING FORTH GOOD FRUIT;" THAT OUR MORAL AND PHYSICAL QUALITIES ARE TRANSMITTED FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION, AND THAT WE ARE ALL MORE OR LESS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LIVES WHICH MAY SPRING FROM OURS; THAT ALL OUR ACTIONS, FROM CHILDHOOD UP, ARE LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS NOT ONLY OF OUR OWN CHARACTER, BUT OF "GENERATIONS YET UNBORN?" {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 11} [HR, January 1, 1873 par. 12] I KNOW GOOD, CONSCIENTIOUS MOTHERS, WHOSE CHILDREN HAVE SUFFERED YEARS OF SICKNESS AND PAIN FROM A MOST UNNECESSARY AND REALLY CULPABLE LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OF SIMPLE CAUSE AND EFFECT. IS THERE TIME "ENOUGH?" I KNOW YOUNG WIVES AND MOTHERS WHO HAVE ENTERED UPON MARRIED LIFE AS IGNORANT AND THOUGHTLESS OF ITS RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES AS CHILDREN. ONE SAID TO ME, "MY MOTHER DIDN'T TELL ME ANYTHING, I DON'T THINK IT IS RIGHT;" AND ANOTHER, ALMOST A CHILD, SUFFERING FROM HEREDITARY SCROFULA, "I AM AFRAID MY BABY WILL HAVE IT. I WISH HE HAD NEVER BEEN BORN. BUT I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THESE THINGS!" - {HR, January 1, 1873 par. 12} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 1] April 1, 1873 Proper Education. - Health is a great treasure. It is the richest possession we can have. Wealth, honor, or learning, is dearly purchased, if it be at the loss of the vigor of health. None of these attainments can secure happiness if health is wanting. It is a terrible sin to abuse the health God has given us. Every abuse of health enfeebles for life, and makes us losers, even if we gain any amount of education. {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 2] Parents who are wealthy, in many cases do not feel the importance of giving their children an education in the practical duties of life, as well as in the sciences. They do not see the necessity, for the good of their children's minds and morals, and for their future usefulness, of giving them a thorough understanding in useful labor. This is due their children, that, if misfortune should come, they could maintain noble independence, having a knowledge how to use their hands. If they have a capital of strength, they can not be poor, even if they have not a dollar. Many, who in youth are in affluent circumstances, may be robbed of all their riches, with parents and brothers and sisters dependent upon them for sustenance. Then how important that the youth be educated to labor, that they may be prepared for any emergency. Riches are indeed a curse when the possessors let them stand in the way of their sons' and daughters' obtaining a knowledge of useful labor, that they may be qualified for practical life. {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 3] Those who are not compelled to labor, frequently do not have active exercise sufficient for physical health. Young men, for want of having their minds and hands employed in active labor, will acquire habits of indolence, and will frequently be obtaining, what is to be most dreaded, a street education, lounging about stores, smoking, drinking, and playing cards. {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 4] The young ladies will read and excuse themselves from active labor, because they are in delicate health. Their feebleness is generally the result of their lack of exercising the muscles. They may think they are too feeble to do housework, but will work at crochet and tatting, and preserve the delicate paleness of their hands and faces, while their care-burdened mothers toil hard in washing and ironing their garments. These ladies transgress the fifth commandment. They do not honor their parents. But the mother is most to blame. She has indulged and excused her daughters from bearing their share of household duties, until work becomes distasteful to them, and they love, and enjoy, delicate idleness. They will eat, and sleep, and read novels, and talk of the fashions. Their lives are useless. {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 5] Poverty, in many cases, is a blessing; for it prevents youth and children from being ruined by inaction. The physical should be cultivated and properly developed, as well as the mental. The first and constant care of parents should be that their children may have firm constitutions, that they may be sound men and women. It is impossible to attain this object without physical exercise. Children, for their own physical health and moral good, should be taught to work, even if there is no necessity as far as want is concerned. If they would have virtuous and pure characters, they must have the discipline of well-regulated labor, which will bring into exercise all the muscles. The satisfaction children will have in being useful, of denying themselves to help others, will be the most healthful pleasure they ever enjoyed. Why should the wealthy rob themselves and their dear children of this great blessing? {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 6] Parents, inaction is the greatest curse that ever came upon you. Your daughters should not be allowed to lie late in bed in the morning, sleeping away the precious hours lent them of God to be used for the best purpose, and for which they will have to give an account to God. The mother is doing her daughters great injury in bearing the burdens the daughters should share with her for their own present good and future benefit. The course many parents have pursued in allowing their children to be indolent, and to gratify a desire for reading romance, is unfitting them for real life. Novel and story-book reading are the greatest evils that youth can indulge in. Novel and love-story readers always fail to make good, practical mothers. They live in an unreal world. They are air-castle builders, living in an imaginary world. They become sentimental, and have sick fancies. Their artificial life spoils them for anything useful. They are dwarfed in intellect, although they may flatter themselves that they are superior in mind and manners. Exercise in household labor will be of the greatest advantage to young girls. {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 7] Physical labor will not prevent the cultivation of the intellect. Far from this. The advantages gained by physical labor will balance them, that the mind shall not be overworked. The toil will then come upon the muscles, and relieve the wearied brain. There are many listless, useless girls who consider it unlady-like to engage in active labor. But their characters are too transparent to deceive sensible persons in regard to their real worthlessness. They will simper and giggle, and are all affectation. They appear as though they could not speak their words fairly and squarely, but torture all they say with lisping and simpering. Are these ladies? They were not born fools, but were educated such. It does not require a frail, helpless, overdressed, simpering thing to make a lady. A sound body is required for a sound intellect. Physical soundness and a practical knowledge in all the necessary household duties, are never a hindrance to a well-developed intellect, but highly important for a lady. {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 8] All the powers of the mind should be called into use, and developed, in order for men and women to have well-balanced minds. The world is full of one-sided men and women, because one set of the faculties are cultivated, while others are dwarfed from inaction. The education of most youth is a failure. They over-study, while they neglect that which pertains to practical business life. Men and women become parents without considering their responsibilities, and their offspring sink lower in the scale of human deficiency than they themselves. Thus we are fast degenerating. The constant application to study, as the schools are now conducted, is unfitting youth for practical life. The human mind will have action. If it is not active in the right direction, it will be active in the wrong. And in order to preserve the balance of the mind, labor and study should be united in the schools. {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 8} [HR, April 1, 1873 par. 9] There should have been in past generations provisions made for education upon a larger scale. In connection with the schools should have been agricultural and manufacturing establishments. There should have been teachers also of household labor. There should have been a portion of the time each day devoted to labor, that the physical and mental might be equally exercised. If schools had been established upon the plan we have mentioned, there would not now be so many unbalanced minds. E. G. W. - {HR, April 1, 1873 par. 9} [HR, May 1, 1873 par. 1] May 1, 1873 Proper Education - God prepared for Adam and Eve a beautiful garden. He provided for them everything their wants required. He planted for them trees of every variety, bearing fruit. With a liberal hand he surrounded them with his bounties--the trees, for usefulness and beauty, and the lovely flowers, which sprung up spontaneously, and flourished in rich profusion around them, were to know nothing of decay. Adam and Eve were rich indeed. They possessed beautiful Eden. Adam was monarch in this beautiful domain. None can question the fact that Adam was rich. But God knew that Adam could not be happy unless he had employment. Therefore he gave him something to do. He was to dress the garden. {HR, May 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, May 1, 1873 par. 2] The Creator of man never designed that he should be idle. The Lord formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. It was the law of nature, therefore the law of God, that brain, nerve, and muscle, should be in active motion. Young gentlemen and ladies that refuse to labor because they are not compelled to, and because it is not fashionable, are not guided and controlled by enlightened reason. Those who shun manual labor, cannot have physical stamina. In order for the young to enjoy perfect health and perfect happiness, every organ and function must be in perfect operation as God designed they should be. If all the organs act their natural part, life, health, and happiness, will be the result. Too little exercise, and staying in-doors too much, will bring on feebleness and disease of some one or more of the organs. It is sinful to impair or weaken one of the powers God has given us. The great Creator designed that we should have perfect bodies, that we might preserve them in health, and render to him the offering of a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. {HR, May 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, May 1, 1873 par. 3] Exercise in useful labor will be carrying out the original plan of God, when he bade Adam and Eve to dress the garden. Life is precious, and should be preserved intelligently by regarding the laws of our being. {HR, May 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, May 1, 1873 par. 4] Fashionable idlers, who have plenty of leisure, fail to attain happiness. They have been educated to regard honest labor as only fit for the poor, while it would degrade the wealthy. They rob the brain and nervous system, by fashionable indolence, of a supply of animal energy that keeps the machinery of the body in healthful activity. {HR, May 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, May 1, 1873 par. 5] In order for the brain to have clearness and strength of thought, retentive memory, and mental power, the muscles of the body should have exercise a portion of each day in order to preserve and improve health. {HR, May 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, May 1, 1873 par. 6] Adam was in glorious Eden. He was perfectly developed, and then set to work by his Maker that in exercise all his muscles should preserve their elasticity. Many young men and ladies are too proud, or too lazy, to engage in useful labor in the house or in the garden. {HR, May 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, May 1, 1873 par. 7] The world is full of women with but little vitality, and less common sense. Society is in great need of healthful, sensible young women, who are not afraid to work and soil their hands. God gave them hands to employ in useful labor. God did not give us the wonderful human machinery of the body to become paralyzed by inaction. The living machinery God designed should be in daily activity, and in this activity or motion of the machinery, is its preserving power. Manual labor quickens the circulation of the blood. The more active the circulation the more free will be the blood from obstructions and impurities. The blood nourishes the body. The health of the body depends upon the healthful circulation of the blood. If work is performed without the heart being in it, it is simply drudgery, and the benefit which should result from the exercise is not gained. {HR, May 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, May 1, 1873 par. 8] Toiling mothers, who have given their children the advantages of education, and have brought them up without disciplining them to self-denial and physical labor, and have given them liberty to follow their own pleasure, will not receive much happiness and comfort from these children. In my travels I have seen that those women who entered upon the married life wholly unprepared for domestic duties, were not happy. They did not receive the training and the education in their youth that fitted them for the responsible position they had by most solemn covenant agreed to fill. The parents had made a great mistake. When children, they were excused from exertion in order "to enrich the mind." They could play an instrument of music, but were not educated to take responsibility. They enjoyed burying their minds in novels, but had no love to keep their houses in order. They were as incompetent for the responsible position of mothers as a girl of fifteen years. Economy of means they knew nothing of, and yet these are the mothers that are bringing up children to take their place upon the stage of action, to act their part in the drama of life. The characters of youth should not be spoiled by over-fond mothers. Parents should consider that as they neglect to thoroughly educate their daughters in domestic labor and economy, they are giving characters to them which will make their future married lives miserable. There will be disappointed husbands, and neglected children, because of inefficient wives and mothers. E. G. W. - {HR, May 1, 1873 par. 8} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 1] June 1, 1873 Proper Education - Men and women of this age who have a large amount of earthly treasure may be estimated as wealthy. But their riches, in comparison with the paradise of wealth given the lordly Adam, are very insignificant. Yet the so-called wealthy sometimes regard it degrading for them and their children to engage in useful physical labor. Their views are not in harmony with God's original plans. They educate their children by precept and example that physical labor is beneath their exalted station, and, in order to be gentlemen and ladies, their hands must be unemployed, so far as useful labor is concerned. They are early sent to a boarding school or a seminary to obtain book knowledge, or they pass away their time in ornamenting their persons, or in gratifying their inclination for amusements. For this education, high and noble duties are neglected. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 2] We have no right, my Christian sisters, to waste our time, and give example to others who are less able than we to waste their time and energies, upon needless ornaments, upon dress or furniture, or to indulge in superfluities in food. We have religious duties to perform, and if we neglect these duties, and give our time to needless things, we will dwarf the intellect, and separate the affections from God. The Author of our existence has claims upon our time and our money. He has poor and suffering ones all around us that money may relieve, and cheering, encouraging words bless. Christ identifies himself with the wants of suffering humanity. As you neglected to visit the widow and orphans tried in the furnace of affliction, suffering want and privation, you did not realize that Christ would mark the circumstances against you in the book of records, as though you had neglected him. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 3] The impression that in order to be gentlemen and ladies the hands must be unskilled in useful employment, and delicate idleness be cultivated, is not in accordance with the Lord's plans in the creation of man. These false notions open a wide door for temptation. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 4] Many professed Christian parents show by their course of action that the main object of their lives is to secure their own enjoyment. They follow inclination and look for happiness in amusements. Happiness is not secured by depending on various gratifications within our reach. All who imitate the life of Christ, and conform their character to his, and engage in active, useful labor in self-denying benevolence, will have happiness. "For even Christ pleased not himself." He said, "I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 5] Inaction and delicate idleness is weakening the life-forces of young women. There are those who spend hours of precious time in bed, which is not blessing them with increase of strength, or relieving others from burdens, but is bringing upon them debility and confirming them in wrong habits. These hours idled away needlessly in bed can never be regained. The sin of time thus lost is marked in the book of records. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 6] There is enough to do in this busy world of ours. There are enough in God's great family who need sympathy and aid. If our own work does not demand our time, there are sick to be visited, the poor to be helped and encouraged. But while hours are being idled away, there is a pressure frequently of labor close at home. Rooms may need to be put in order, garments may need repairing, and there may be a variety of little duties that some one must attend to. There may be a necessity for careful oversight of provisions, that nothing may be wasted. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 7] I have observed a great deficiency in so-called educated ladies. They may have graduated with honors, but are shamefully deficient in the practical duties of life. They are destitute of the qualifications necessary for the proper regulation and happiness of the family. They may talk of woman's elevated sphere and of her rights, while they themselves sink far below the true sphere of woman. God designed that women should become intelligent in the most essential duties of life. But very many in the scale of knowledge and efficiency are even below their hired servants. It is the right of every daughter of Eve in our land to be thoroughly educated in household duties, having a knowledge of all the branches of practical life in domestic labor. She may preside in her family as queen in her domain, her household being her kingdom. She should be fully competent to direct her servants. It is woman's right to be qualified to direct the expanding minds of her children. It is her right to have an understanding of her own and her children's organisms, that she may know how to treat her children, and save them from the poisons of doctors' drugs. She may adore her gracious Creator as she contemplates how beautifully and simply nature carries on her work when she is not interfered with. She may be an intelligent nurse and physician of her own dear children, instead of leaving their precious lives in the hands of stranger physicians, to be drugged to death. It is woman's right to know how to regulate her own habits, and those of her children, in diet and dress, in exercise and in domestic duties, and employment in the open air in relation to life and health. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 8] Of all the living organisms that God has created, none rank in the scale of value with him anywhere near to man. And if human beings would become intelligent in regard to their own bodies, and understand their relation to life and health, and regulate their habits of eating, of dressing, of working and resting, their lives would be prolonged in health and happiness. Many mothers do not take half the interest in the constitutional wants of their children that the intelligent farmer shows to the brutes around him. It is woman's right to look after the interest of her husband, to have a care for his wardrobe, and to seek to make him happy. It is her right to improve her mind and manners, to be social, cheerful, and happy, shedding sunshine in her family, and making it a little heaven. And she may have an interest for more than "me and mine." She should consider that society has claims upon her. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 8} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 9] The false education of young ladies leads them to regard uselessness, frivolity, and helplessness, as desirable attainments. Many parents give their daughters the advantages of literary attainments, support them in amusement, and relieve them from the burdens of domestic care. They give them an abundance of time and nothing to occupy it. Flattery and the artificial, without an object or aim--nothing substantial to satisfy the mind and strengthen principle --leave empty nothingness. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 9} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 10] I copy the following appropriate paragraph from "The American Woman's Home," by C. E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe:-- {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 10} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 11] "OUR LAND IS NOW FULL OF MOTORPATHIC INSTITUTIONS, TO WHICH WOMEN ARE SENT AT A GREAT EXPENSE TO HAVE HIRED OPERATORS STRETCH AND EXERCISE THEIR INACTIVE MUSCLES. THEY LIE FOR HOURS TO HAVE THEIR FEET TWIGGED, THEIR ARMS FLEXED, AND ALL THE DIFFERENT MUSCLES OF THE BODY WORKED FOR THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE SO FLACCID AND TORPID THAT THE POWERS OF LIFE DO NOT GO ON. WOULD IT NOT BE QUITE AS CHEERFUL, AND A LESS EXPENSIVE PROCESS, IF YOUNG GIRLS FROM EARLY LIFE DEVELOPED THE MUSCLES IN SWEEPING, DUSTING, STARCHING, IRONING, AND ALL THE MULTIPLIED DOMESTIC PROCESSES WHICH OUR GRANDMOTHERS KNEW OF? A WOMAN WHO DID ALL THESE, AND DIVERSIFIED THE INTERVALS WITH SPINNING ON THE GREAT AND LITTLE WHEEL, DID NOT NEED THE GYMNASTICS OF DIO LEWIS, OR THE SWEDISH MOVEMENT CURE, WHICH REALLY ARE A NECESSITY NOW. DOES IT NOT SEEM POOR ECONOMY TO PAY SERVANTS FOR LETTING OUR MUSCLES GROW FEEBLE, AND THEN TO PAY OPERATORS TO EXERCISE THEM FOR US? I WILL VENTURE TO SAY THAT OUR GRANDMOTHERS WENT OVER, IN A WEEK, EVERY MOVEMENT THAT ANY GYMNAST HAS INVENTED, AND WENT OVER THEM WITH SOME PRODUCTIVE PURPOSE, TOO." {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 11} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 12] There are many popularly-educated women who have no love for domestic labor because they have cherished thoughts that their education placed them above household employment. Young women should be educated for their important life-work with the advantages of the highest moral and physical strength, and should receive the purest cultivation. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 12} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 13] God placed Adam and Eve in the garden to labor. They were both to unite their efforts in dressing and keeping the garden. If young women waste their time in uselessness, they are meeting with great loss. Their time should be employed in becoming rich in good works, and in this manner they are indeed cultivating the intellect for a purpose. The most essential education for youth is a knowledge of the branches of labor important for practical life. {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 13} [HR, June 1, 1873 par. 14] "THE AMERICAN WOMAN'S HOME" CONTINUES: "THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT DEAL OF CRUDE, DISAGREEABLE TALK IN THESE CONVENTIONS, AND TOO GREAT TENDENCY OF THE AGE TO MAKE THE EDUCATION OF WOMAN ANTI-DOMESTIC. IT SEEMS AS IF THE WORLD NEVER COULD ADVANCE, EXCEPT LIKE SHIPS UNDER A HEADWIND, TACKING AND GOING TOO FAR, NOW IN THIS DIRECTION, AND NOW IN THE OPPOSITE. OUR COMMON-SCHOOL SYSTEMS NOW REJECT SEWING FROM THE EDUCATION OF GIRLS, WHICH VERY PROPERLY USED TO OCCUPY MANY HOURS DAILY IN SCHOOL A GENERATION AGO. THE DAUGHTERS OF LABORERS AND ARTISANS ARE PUT THROUGH ALGEBRA, GEOMETRY, TRIGONOMETRY, AND THE HIGHER MATHEMATICS, TO THE ENTIRE NEGLECT OF THAT LEARNING WHICH BELONGS DISTINCTIVELY TO WOMEN. A GIRL OFTEN CANNOT KEEP PACE WITH HER CLASS IF SHE GIVES ANY TIME TO DOMESTIC MATTERS; AND ACCORDINGLY SHE IS EXCUSED FROM THEM ALL DURING THE WHOLE TERM OF HER EDUCATION. AS THE RESULT, THE YOUNG WOMEN IN SOME OF OUR COUNTRY TOWNS ARE, IN MENTAL CULTURE, MUCH IN ADVANCE OF THE MALES OF THE SAME HOUSEHOLD; BUT WITH THIS COMES A PHYSICAL DELICACY, THE RESULT OF AN EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE BRAIN AND A NEGLECT OF THE MUSCULAR SYSTEM, WITH GREAT INEFFICIENCY IN PRACTICAL, DOMESTIC DUTIES. THE RACE OF STRONG, HARDY, CHEERFUL GIRLS, THAT USED TO GROW UP IN COUNTRY PLACES, AND MADE THE BRIGHT, NEAT, NEW ENGLAND KITCHENS OF OLDEN TIMES--THE GIRLS THAT COULD WASH, IRON, BAKE, HARNESS A HORSE AND DRIVE HIM, NO LESS THAN BRAID STRAW, EMBROIDER, DRAW, PAINT, AND READ INNUMERABLE BOOKS--THIS RACE OF WOMEN, PRIDE OF OLDEN TIME, IS DAILY LESSENING; AND IN THEIR STEAD COME THE FRAGILE, EASILY-FATIGUED, LANGUID GIRLS OF A MODERN AGE, DRILLED IN BOOK LEARNING, IGNORANT OF COMMON THINGS. THE GREAT DANGER OF ALL THIS, AND OF THE EVILS THAT COME FROM IT, IS, THAT SOCIETY, BY-AND-BY, WILL TURN AS BLINDLY AGAINST FEMALE INTELLECTUAL CULTURE AS IT NOW ADVOCATES IT, AND HAVING WORKED DISPROPORTIONATELY ONE WAY, WILL WORK DISPROPORTIONATELY IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION." E. G. W. - {HR, June 1, 1873 par. 14} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 1] July 1, 1873 Proper Education - The prophet Ezekiel describes a class whose example Christians should not imitate. "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 2] We are not ignorant of the fall of Sodom because of the corruption of its inhabitants. The prophet has here specified the particular evils which led to dissolute morals. We see the very sins now existing in the world which were in Sodom, and which brought upon her the wrath of God, even to her utter destruction. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 3] It is important in the education and moral training of children and youth, to the formation of characters on which depend their own happiness and the happiness of those with whom they associate, that they are taught to cultivate habits of self-denial and a love to do good to others, as Christ in his life has given us an example. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 4] In all the teachings of Christ, he sought to impress upon the minds of his hearers that their happiness did not consist in self-gratification and amusements, but in the cultivation and exercise of useful lives in self-denying benevolence, as he was giving them an example in his own life. Idleness is sin in the wealthy as well as in those who are poor. Riches are a snare when their possession relieves from responsibilities which God designed we all should bear whether we are rich or poor. If God has intrusted to us riches, it is for the purpose of using his bounties to do good, to bless the needy, and thus glorify him. Said Christ, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" He expressly warned his hearers, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life ［health and happiness］ consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 5] The Lord illustrates how he estimates the worldly wealthy who lift up their souls unto vanity because of their earthly possessions, by the rich man who tore down his barns and built greater, that he might have wherewith to bestow his goods. Forgetful of God, he acknowledged not from whence came all his possessions. No grateful thanks ascended to his gracious Benefactor. He congratulated himself, "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink and be merry." The Master, who had intrusted to him earthly riches with which to bless his fellow-men and glorify his Maker, was justly angry at his ingratitude, and said, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall these things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." An extensive fortune, or any degree of wealth, will not secure the favor of God. All these bounties and blessings come from him to prove and develop the character of man. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 6] Men may have boundless wealth, yet if they are not rich toward God, if they have no interest to secure to themselves the heavenly treasure and divine wisdom, they are accounted fools by their Creator. Labor is a blessing. It is impossible for us to enjoy health without labor. All the faculties should be called into use in order to be properly developed, and that men and women may have well-balanced minds. If the young had been given a thorough education in the different branches of labor, and had been taught labor as well as the sciences, their education would have been of greater value to them. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 7] The rich have greater temptations to neglect the cultivation of the very things which are essential to their health and happiness in this life than their less wealthy neighbors. The wealthy are frequently led to encourage indolence and self-indulgence, and they fail to educate their children to develop valuable characters; such as God estimates, and which will give them moral worth fit for the society of the heavenly angels. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 8] I clip from an exchange the following on {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 8} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 9] "EVERY-DAY RELIGION. "WE MUST COME BACK TO OUR POINT, WHICH IS NOT TO URGE YOU ALL TO GIVE YOURSELVES TO MISSION WORK, BUT TO SERVE GOD MORE IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR DAILY CALLING. I HAVE HEARD THAT A WOMAN WHO HAS A MISSION MAKES A POOR WIFE OR A BAD MOTHER; THIS IS VERY POSSIBLE, AND AT THE SAME TIME VERY LAMENTABLE; BUT THE MISSION I URGE, IS NOT AT ALL OF THIS SORT. DIRTY ROOMS, SLATTERNLY GOWNS, CHILDREN WITH UNWASHED FACES ARE SWIFT WITNESSES AGAINST THE SINCERITY OF THOSE WHO KEEP OTHER VINEYARDS AND NEGLECT THEIR OWN. I HAVE NO FAITH IN THAT WOMAN WHO TALKS OF GRACE AND GLORY ABROAD, AND USES NO SOAP AND WATER AT HOME. LET THE BUTTONS BE ON THE SHIRTS, LET THE CHILDREN'S SOCKS BE MENDED, LET THE HOUSE BE AS NEAT AS A NEW PIN, AND THE HOME BE AS HAPPY AS HOME CAN BE. SERVE GOD BY DOING COMMON ACTIONS IN A HEAVENLY SPIRIT, AND THEN, IF YOUR DAILY CALLING ONLY LEAVES YOU CRACKS AND CREVICES OF TIME, FILL THEM UP WITH HOLY SERVICE. --SPURGEON." {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 9} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 10] I AM DELIGHTED TO FIND THE FOLLOWING IN THAT INVALUABLE WORK ENTITLED "THE YOUNG LADY'S COUNSELOR," BY REV. DANIEL WISE, A. M.; IT CAN BE OBTAINED AT ANY METHODIST BOOK ROOMS:-- {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 10} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 11] "PERMIT ME, BY WAY OF ILLUSTRATING ANOTHER FEATURE OF THIS QUESTION, TO LEAD YOU INTO THE SITTING-ROOM OF A RESPECTABLE AND PIOUS LADY. SHE IS NEATLY BUT PLAINLY ATTIRED, AND IS BUSY, WITH THE AID OF A SERVANT, DUSTING AND CLEANING THE ROOM. THE DOOR-BELL RINGS, AND THE GIRL HASTENS TO SEE WHO IS THE VISITOR. SHE FINDS THE LADY'S PASTOR AT THE DOOR, AND, WITHOUT CEREMONY, USHERS HIM INTO THE SITTING-ROOM. THE LADY'S FACE IS SUFFUSED WITH BLUSHES, AS SHE CONFUSEDLY LAYS ASIDE HER DUSTING-BRUSH AND OFFERS HER HAND TO THE MINISTER, SAYING, 'SIR, I AM ASHAMED YOU SHOULD FIND ME THUS.' {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 11} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 12] "'LET CHRIST, WHEN HE COMETH, FIND ME SO DOING,' REPLIES HER PASTOR. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 12} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 13] "'WHAT! SIR; DO YOU WISH TO BE FOUND IN THIS EMPLOYMENT?' EARNESTLY INQUIRED THE ASTONISHED LADY. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 13} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 14] "'YES, MADAM, I WISH TO BE FOUND FAITHFULLY PERFORMING THE DUTIES OF MY MISSION, AS I HAVE FOUND YOU FULFILLING YOURS.' {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 14} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 15] "AND WAS NOT THE MINISTER RIGHT? HE RECOGNIZED A GREAT, BUT A DESPISED, TRUTH. HE SAW AS HIGH A MORAL IMPORTANCE IN THE HUMBLE TASK OF THE LADY AS IN THE MISSIONS OF GABRIEL TO THE ANCIENT PROPHETS; FOR BOTH DID THE WILL OF GOD IN THEIR RESPECTIVE SPHERES, AND DIVERSITY OF SPHERE DOES NOT NECESSARILY INVOLVE REAL INFERIORITY IN THE EMPLOYMENT. THE LADY IN HER HOME COULD EXHIBIT AN AFFECTION AS TRUE, AND AN OBEDIENCE AS SINCERE, AS THE ANGEL IN HIS SPHERE. IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO SHOW WHEREIN HER EMPLOYMENT WAS MORALLY AND NECESSARILY INFERIOR TO HIS, INASMUCH AS THE CHARACTER OF AN ACT DERIVES ALL ITS MORAL GREATNESS, NOT FROM THE SPHERE OF THE ACTOR, BUT FROM ITS CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 15} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 16] "DO YOU PERCEIVE THE BEARING OF MY ILLUSTRATION UPON THE QUESTION OF WOMAN'S SPHERE? IT SHOWS YOU THAT YOUR SEX IS NOT NECESSARILY INFERIOR TO THE OTHER, BECAUSE IT IS CALLED, BY GOD AND NATURE, TO ACT IN A DIFFERENT SPHERE. YOUR EXCLUSION FROM THE STAGE OF PUBLIC LIFE DOES NOT IMPLY YOUR INFERIORITY--ONLY THE DIVERSITY OF YOUR POWERS, FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES. INDEED, IT WOULD DEFY THE LOFTIEST POWERS TO SHOW WHEREIN THE WORK, THE MISSION OF THE SPHERE OF WOMAN, IS A WHIT BENEATH THAT OF HER MORE BUSTLING AND PROMINENT COMPANION, MAN. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 16} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 17] "WHAT IS THE SPHERE OF WOMAN? HOME, THE SOCIAL CIRCLE. WHAT IS HER MISSION? TO MOLD CHARACTER, TO FASHION HERSELF AND OTHERS AFTER THE MODEL CHARACTER OF CHRIST. WHAT ARE HER CHIEF INSTRUMENTS FOR THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HER GREAT WORK? THE AFFECTIONS. LOVE IS THE WAND BY WHICH SHE IS TO WORK MORAL TRANSFORMATIONS WITHIN HER FAIRY CIRCLE. GENTLENESS, SWEETNESS, LOVELINESS AND PURITY ARE THE ELEMENTS OF HER POWER. HER PLACE IS NOT ON LIFE'S GREAT BATTLE FIELDS. MAN BELONGS THERE. IT IS FOR HIM TO GO FORTH ARMED FOR ITS CONFLICTS AND STRUGGLES, TO DO FIERCE BATTLE WITH THE HOSTS OF EVIL THAT THRONG OUR EARTH AND TRAMPLE UPON ITS BLESSINGS. BUT WOMAN MUST ABIDE IN THE PEACEFUL SANCTUARIES OF HOME, AND WALK IN THE NOISELESS VALES OF PRIVATE LIFE. THERE SHE MUST DWELL, BESIDE THE SECRET SPRINGS OF PUBLIC VIRTUE. THERE SHE MUST SMILE UPON THE FATHER, THE BROTHER, THE HUSBAND, WHEN, RETURNING LIKE WARRIORS FROM THE FIGHT, EXHAUSTED AND COVERED WITH THE DUST OF STRIFE, THEY NEED TO BE REFRESHED BY SWEET WATERS DRAWN 'FROM AFFECTION'S SPRING,' AND CHEERED TO RENEWED STRUGGLES BY THE MUSIC OF HER VOICE. THERE SHE MUST REAR THE CHRISTIAN PATRIOT AND STATESMAN, THE SELF-DENYING PHILANTHROPIST AND THE OBEDIENT CITIZEN. THERE, IN A WORD, SHE MUST FORM THE CHARACTER OF THE WORLD, AND DETERMINE THE DESTINY OF HER RACE. HOW AWFUL IS HER MISSION! WHAT DREAD RESPONSIBILITY ATTACHES TO HER WORK! SURELY, SHE IS NOT DEGRADED BY FILLING SUCH A SPHERE. NOR WOULD SHE BE ELEVATED, IF, FORSAKING IT, SHE SHOULD GO FORTH INTO THE HIGHWAYS OF SOCIETY AND JOSTLE WITH HER BROTHERS FOR THE OFFICES AND HONORS OF PUBLIC LIFE. FAME SHE MIGHT OCCASIONALLY GAIN, BUT IT WOULD BE AT THE PRICE OF HER WOMANLY INFLUENCE. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 17} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 18] "FANCY YOURSELF FAR OUT AT SEA, IN A NOBLE SHIP, CONTENDING WITH A FURIOUS STORM. 'BENEATH IS ONE WILD WHIRL OF FOAMING SURGES; ABOVE, THE ARRAY OF LIGHTNINGS, LIKE THE SWORDS OF CHERUBIM, WIDE BRANDISHED, TO REPEL AGGRESSION FROM HEAVEN'S GATES.' BEHOLD, AMIDST THIS SCENE OF GRANDEUR, THE STORMY PETREL GLIDING UP THE FACE OF A HUGE WAVE, DARTING ABOVE THE FOAM OF A BREAKER, OR SWEEPING ALONG THE WATERY VALLEYS AS COMPOSEDLY AND AS NATURALLY AS IT EVER SWEPT OVER THE SAME SEA IN AN HOUR OF CALM. BEHOLD, TOO, ANOTHER BIRD, WHIRLING AND DARTING ABOVE THE SPRAY WITH A CRY OF SEEMING DESPAIR; NOW FLYING BEFORE A MONSTER SEA, AND ANON STRUGGLING TO KEEP ITS WET AND WEARY WINGS FROM FOLDING INTO HELPLESS INACTION. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 18} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 19] "TELL ME, LADY, WHY THIS LITTLE TREMBLER IS IN SO PITIFUL A PLIGHT, WHILE THE STORMY PETREL GAMBOLS FREELY AMONG THE WAVES. YOU CANNOT ANSWER. THEN LISTEN. THE PETREL IS IN ITS APPROPRIATE SPHERE. THE LITTLE TREMBLER IS A LAND-BIRD, TEMPTED, AT FIRST, BY SUNNY WEATHER, TO WANDER AMONG THE ISLANDS, AND DRIVEN, AT LAST, BY A STRONG WIND TO SEA. HE IS OUT OF HIS SPHERE; AND HENCE HIS QUIET HAS FLED, HIS SONG IS SILENCED AND HIS LIFE ENDANGERED. GOD MADE HIM FOR THE LAND. THE GROVE IS HIS HOME, AND HIS SPHERE IS AMONG THE FLOWERS. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 19} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 20] "IT IS THUS WITH THE ENTIRE CREATION. EVERYTHING HAS ITS APPOINTED SPHERE, WITHIN WHICH ALONE IT CAN FLOURISH. MEN AND WOMEN HAVE THEIRS. THEY ARE NOT EXCEPTIONS TO THIS TRUTH, BUT EXAMPLES OF IT. TO BE HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS, THEY MUST ABIDE IN THEM. MAN IS FITTED FOR THE STORMS OF PUBLIC LIFE, AND, LIKE THE PETREL, CAN BE HAPPY AMID THEIR RUDEST SURGES. WOMAN IS FORMED FOR THE CALM OF HOME. SHE MAY VENTURE, LIKE THE LAND BIRD, TO INVADE THE SPHERE OF MAN, BUT SHE WILL ENCOUNTER STORMS WHICH SHE IS UTTERLY UNFITTED TO MEET; HAPPINESS WILL FORSAKE HER BREAST, HER OWN SEX WILL DESPISE HER, MEN WILL BE UNABLE TO LOVE HER, AND WHEN SHE DIES SHE WILL FILL AN UNHONORED GRAVE. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 20} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 21] "THAT GREAT PATRIOT, JOHN ADAMS, PAID A HIGH COMPLIMENT TO THE POWER OF YOUR SEX, WHEN, IN AN HOUR OF DEEP POLITICAL GLOOM, HE WROTE THE FOLLOWING LINES TO HIS WIFE. ALLUDING TO THE ATTACK OF THE BRITISH ON THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, HE SAYS: 'I BELIEVE THE TWO HOWES HAVE NOT VERY GREAT WOMEN FOR THEIR WIVES; IF THEY HAD, WE SHOULD SUFFER MORE FROM THEIR EXERTIONS THAN WE DO. A SMART WIFE WOULD HAVE PUT HOWE IN POSSESSION OF PHILADELPHIA A LONG TIME AGO.' {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 21} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 22] "THIS REMARK OF THE STATESMAN, PLAYFULLY AS IT IS EXPRESSED, WAS, NEVERTHELESS, THE OFFSPRING OF AN OPINION WHICH HE SERIOUSLY MAINTAINED CONCERNING THE INFLUENCE OF WOMEN. HE CONTENDED THAT MUCH OF THE MERIT OF THE GREAT MEN WHOSE NAMES ARE ON THE ROLL OF FAME, BELONGED TO THEIR SISTERS, WIVES AND MOTHERS. HENCE HE ATTRIBUTED THE FAULTS OF HOWE TO THE LACK OF HIGH MERIT IN HIS WIFE. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 22} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 23] "JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, THE 'OLD MAN ELOQUENT,' ONCE PAID THE FOLLOWING PRECIOUS TRIBUTE TO HIS MOTHER: 'IT IS DUE TO GRATITUDE AND NATURE THAT I SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE AND AVOW THAT SUCH AS I HAVE BEEN, WHATEVER IT WAS, SUCH AS I AM, WHATEVER IT IS, AND SUCH AS I HOPE TO BE IN ALL FUTURITY, MUST BE ASCRIBED, UNDER PROVIDENCE, TO THE PRECEPTS AND EXAMPLE OF MY MOTHER.' {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 23} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 24] "VERY SIMILAR IS THE CONFESSION OF THE CELEBRATED GERMAN PHILOSOPHER, KANT, WHO SAYS, 'I SHALL NEVER FORGET THAT IT WAS MY MOTHER WHO CAUSED THE GOOD WHICH IS IN MY SOUL TO FRUCTIFY.' {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 24} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 25] "NOR ARE THE PLEASURES OF SUCCESS LESS DELIGHTFUL IN A WOMAN'S BREAST BECAUSE SHE ATTAINS IT THROUGH ANOTHER. IF A RICH TIDE OF JOY FLOWS THROUGH THE BREAST OF AN APPLAUDED HERO, A TRIUMPHANT STATESMAN, OR A USEFUL PHILANTHROPIST, THERE IS ANOTHER EQUALLY DELIGHTFUL IN THE BOSOM OF THE WOMAN WHO IS CONSCIOUS THAT, BUT FOR HER, THE GREAT MAN WOULD NEVER HAVE MOUNTED THE PEDESTAL OF HIS GREATNESS. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 25} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 26] "AWAY, THEN, FROM YOUR HEART, YOUNG LADY, WITH ALL THE VAGARIES OF THESE PSEUDO REFORMERS! TREAT THEIR CRUDE OPINIONS WITH THE CONTEMPT THEY DESERVE. GLORY IN THE TRUE GREATNESS AND REAL SUBLIMITY OF THE SPHERE YOU ARE CALLED TO FILL. LABOR TO QUALIFY YOURSELF TO FULFILL YOUR MISSION WITH DISTINGUISHED SUCCESS. OBTAIN, BY PERSEVERING SELF-CULTURE, THOSE HIGH QUALITIES WHICH LIFT ONE MIND ABOVE ANOTHER. FOR YOU MUST NOT FAIL TO REMEMBER THAT YOU CANNOT COMMUNICATE HIGH QUALITIES AND NOBLE SENTIMENTS TO OTHER MINDS UNLESS THEY FIRST EXIST IN YOUR OWN. CULTIVATE, THEREFORE, THE LOFTIEST VIRTUES, THE HIGHEST ELEMENTS OF GREAT CHARACTER. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 26} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 27] "SUCH BEING YOUR SPHERE, WITH ITS WEIGHTY RESPONSIBILITY, YOU REQUIRE THE AIDS OF RELIGION TO FILL IT WITH PROPRIETY AND EFFECT. HIGH QUALITIES ARE NOT THE OFFSPRING OF AN UNGRACIOUS NATURE. THERE IS TOO MUCH OF THE MORAL WEAKNESS OF DEPRAVITY IN THE HUMAN SOUL TO PERMIT ITS HARMONIOUS AND USEFUL DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT THE RESTRAINTS AND AIDS OF GRACE. WHERE THE SPIRIT OF REVEALED RELIGION DOES NOT REIGN, THERE WILL BE MORAL DEFORMITY. SELFISHNESS WITH ITS FORBIDDING ASPECT, PRIDE, ENVY, HATE, DISCONTENT, FRETFULNESS, ILL-TEMPER, AND TROOPS OF KINDRED VICES, WILL WOUND AND SEAR YOUR CHARACTER, DIMINISH YOUR INFLUENCE, AND DISTURB YOUR PEACE. BUT, BY SURRENDERING YOURSELF TO THE CLAIMS AND INFLUENCES OF THE SAVIOUR, YOUR LIFE WILL BE AS A FRUITFUL BRANCH IN A BEAUTIFUL VINE. THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT WILL ADORN IT. CLUSTERS OF GRACES, SUCH AS LOVE, JOY, PEACE, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS AND MEEKNESS, WILL GIVE IT ATTRACTIVENESS. ITS BEAUTY WILL IMPRESS THE MINDS ABOUT YOU, AND ACT AS A MIGHTY RESTRAINT FROM SIN UPON THEM AS THEY WANDER OVER THE EARTH. YOUR IMAGE WILL STAND BEFORE A BROTHER, A HUSBAND OR A FATHER, AS A GOOD GENIUS IN HIS HOUR OF TEMPTATION, AND FORBID THE TRIUMPH OF THE TEMPTER. {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 27} [HR, July 1, 1873 par. 28] "TO IMPRESS SUCH AN IMAGE OF YOURSELF UPON SOME LOVED MIND WITHIN YOUR CIRCLE IS WORTH A LIFETIME OF EFFORT. AND YOU HAVE NO EFFECTUAL MEANS OF ACCOMPLISHING SO NOBLE A TASK BUT BY COMMUNING DEEPLY WITH THE SPIRIT OF JESUS. RESOLVE, THEREFORE, TO LIVE AT HIS FOOTSTOOL, AND HE WILL INSPIRE YOU WITH EVERY HIGH AND HOLY QUALITY NECESSARY TO ENABLE YOU TO FULFILL YOUR EARTHLY MISSION." E. G. W. - {HR, July 1, 1873 par. 28} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 1] August 1, 1873 Life in the Rocky Mountains. - Our journey from Denver, Colorado, to the mountains was pleasant. While in Iowa, we had suffered languor from the extreme heat. In Denver, we also found it uncomfortably warm. But as we passed through the narrow valleys, up the course of the winding streams, we were refreshed by a cool breeze, and felt invigorated. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 2] As we wound our way zigzag among wooded hills, and rocks, and mountains, we could frequently see no opening before us; but, as we moved on, a depression appeared, a mere pass, on either side walled in by huge rocks, piled one above another, rising almost perpendicularly, towering toward heaven, while mountain tops rose above mountains. There, barrenness is partially relieved by stunted shrubs, and vines which cling to every niche and crevice. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 3] We had peculiar sensations of awe mingled with delight at the grand and varied scenery. As we advance, the lower mountains are covered with evergreens and poplars, and are ornamented with rich flowers of varied beauty. From there, we could look down deep ravines, through which a swift rivulet was dashing madly over the rocks, in keeping with the wild, romantic scenery. The solemn notes of the mourning dove sounded with startling distinctness, breaking the silence which reigned around us. I was frequently reminded of the wilderness of temptation where our Redeemer overcame the powerful foe in man's behalf. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 4] The grandeur of the scenery viewed from different points as we moved forward, was itself worth all that journey. The solitude of the road was occasionally relieved by a house nestled close to the foot of some mountain, while around it, patches of the little valley were cultivated, giving the whole an air of civilization. Cattle were feeding high upon the steep mountains, and it was a question with us how they could retain their footing. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 5] We are now settled in our quiet and pleasant mountain home. Mr. Walling has furnished us with a comfortable house, situated at the foot of a little valley, surrounded by hills and mountains. Just before the door is a swift-running stream of the purest and coldest soft water, coming from the mountains. We have a full view of the Snowy Range, upon the top and sides of which the snow ever remains. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 6] The first day of July, the snow lay upon our piazza one inch in depth. The range was entirely covered with snow. The sun soon shone forth, dispelling the clouds, and next morning patches of green began to appear between the fields of snow. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 7] We have more bright, sunshiny days here than in any other place I have visited. And yet the weather is cool and agreeable. We have not had one entire day of cloudy weather since coming to Colorado. Clouds hide the sun for a few hours, and then he rides forth, shining again in all his glory. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 8] The mountains and valleys are thickly adorned with the fairest flowers of every tint and hue, giving the appearance of a flourishing flower garden. Upon the mountains and in the valleys, sweet-scented herbs and shrubs are interspersed among the flowers. The atmosphere is pure. I enjoy taking deep, full inspirations of the pure air. This is the most delightful country in which to enjoy sleep, for there is not that oppressive heat to provoke wakefulness. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 8} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 9] The face of nature possesses a charm for me. The naked, towering rocks, the mountains covered with noble evergreen trees, and beautiful with rich variegated flowers, make a lovely picture. The summer breezes move the lofty pines, swaying their branches, and bowing their tops as if in adoration of their Creator. These scenes display in a most impressive manner the love, power and glory of God in his created works. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 9} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 10] We are in this, our mountain home, reminded of the promise made to the children of Israel, that they should inherit a land of hills. I love the hills and mountains and forests of flourishing evergreens. I love the brooks, the swift-running streams of softest water which come bubbling over the rocks, through ravines, by the side of the mountains, as if singing the joyful praise of God. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 10} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 11] It is impossible for us to get lonely or homesick among the grand old hills and mountains. Our thoughts are company for us. We love to contemplate the works of God as seen in nature. Our Heavenly Father has spread out before us nature's beautiful scenery to charm the senses, leading us to associate the perfection seen in his created works with his love, goodness and glory. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 11} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 12] We have, here in the mountains, a view of the most rich and glorious sunset it was ever our privilege to look upon. The beautiful picture of the sunset, painted upon the shifting, changing canvas of the heavens by the great master Artist, awakens in our hearts love and deepest reverence for God. The surpassing loveliness of the blended colors of gold, silver, purple, and crimson, painted upon the heavens, seem to speak to us of the amazing glories within. As we stand almost entranced before this picture of nature's unsurpassed loveliness, contemplating the glories of Heaven of which we have a faint reflection, we repeat softly to ourselves, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 12} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 13] Movements. We take movements a portion of each day, that we may regain and enjoy health. In order to strengthen the arms and chest, we have taken excellent movements in scrubbing woodwork, sweeping floors, washing dishes, and washing clothing upon the old-fashioned rubbing board, which we would recommend as a far better instrument to strengthen the arms and chest than the backbreaking washing machines. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 13} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 14] We take movements to strengthen the ankles and muscles of the limbs in climbing the mountains, prospecting, and gathering flowers. And frequently we descend with our arms loaded with broken wood, which is scattered plentifully upon the mountains. We are becoming strong by healthful exercise. We enjoy physical exercise after close application to writing several hours each day. We sometimes become weary, but we rest and sleep well through the night, and in the morning feel fresh and ready for our day's duty. I have learned by experience that if we would have health, we must take a proper amount of active exercise. If we get into a perspiration, this will not injure us, if we are careful not to expose ourselves to a current of air. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 14} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 15] Proper exercise, daily, strengthens the muscles, aids digestion, and induces sleep. This, with taking full inspirations of good air, combined with plain, nourishing diet, free from grease and spices, avoiding pastry and unhealthy condiments, will do much to restore health to the invalid. Those who would enjoy the blessings of health and strength must have a proper amount of exercise daily. We should never be ashamed of labor. God has shown us that employment is ennobling, in that he gave the sinless representatives of the race something to do. They were to labor, to dress and keep the garden. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 15} [HR, August 1, 1873 par. 16] It is nature's law that different faculties of the mind, as well as the muscles, lose in a great degree their power if not exercised. We want exercise in the open air as well as in-doors. Nothing short of the pure, free air of heaven will answer the demands of the system. E. G. W. {HR, August 1, 1873 par. 16} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 1] September 1, 1873 Proper Education. - I have been led to inquire, Must all that is valuable in our youth be sacrificed, in order that they may obtain an education at the schools? The constant strain upon the brain, while the muscles are inactive, enfeebles the nerves, and students have an almost uncontrollable desire for change and exciting amusements. After confinement to study several hours each day, they are, when released, nearly wild. Some have never been controlled at home. They have been left to follow inclination, and the restraint of the hours of study is, they think, a severe tax upon them; and not having anything to do after study hours, they are tempted to engage in mischief, for change. Their influence over other students is demoralizing. Those students who have had the benefits of religious teaching at home, and who are ignorant of the vices of society, frequently become the best acquainted with those whose minds have been cast in an inferior mold, and whose advantages for mental culture and religious training have been very limited. And they are in danger, by mingling in the society of this class, and in breathing an atmosphere that is not elevating, but tending to lower and degrade the morals, of sinking to the same low level as their companions. It is the delight of a large class of students, in their unemployed hours, to have a "scrape." And very many of the young who leave their homes innocent and pure, by associations at school, become corrupted. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 1} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 2] If there had been agricultural and manufacturing establishments in connection with our schools, and competent teachers had been employed to educate the youth in the different branches of study and labor, devoting a portion of each day to mental improvement, and a portion of the day to physical labor, there would now be a more elevated class of youth to come upon the stage of action, to have influence in molding society. The youth who would graduate at such institutions would many of them come forth with stability of character. They would have perseverance, fortitude, and courage to surmount obstacles, and principles that would enable them not to be swerved by wrong influence, however popular. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 2} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 3] For young men, there should be establishments where they could learn different trades, which would bring into exercise their muscles as well as their mental powers. If the youth can have but a one-sided education, which is of the greatest consequence? the study of the sciences, with all the disadvantages to health and life? or the knowledge of labor for practical life? We unhesitatingly say, The latter. If one must be neglected, let it be the study of books. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 3} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 4] Physical health is essential for the development of moral and true Christian character. Intellectual and spiritual development is dependent upon a healthful constitution. In our schools, physical labor, study, and recreation should be alternated, and excesses avoided. If temperance in eating, and all the habits of youth, are carefully guarded with this object in view, to preserve sound physical constitutions for future usefulness, with proper physical labor, the young could bear considerable mental taxation without injury. But with intellectual culture there should be equal improvement of the physical, that all the faculties of both mind and body may be equally balanced. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 4} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 5] Those who combine useful physical labor with study have no use for the gymnasium. The benefits of physical labor in the open air have the advantage tenfold to that obtained within doors. The mechanic and the farmer may both labor hard, yet the farmer is the healthier of the two. Nothing short of nature's own sweet air will supply the demands of the system. We should consider that the organs of the body are not a lifeless mass, but the living, active instruments of the soul. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 5} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 6] The old-fashioned farmer, a tiller of the soil, has no need of the gymnasium, for he has all kinds of movements without it. His gymnasium is not confined within walls. His movement room is in the open air. The canopy of heaven is its roof, the solid earth its floor. Here he plows, plants, and hoes. He sows and reaps. In haying, he has a change of movements, he mows and rakes, pitches and tumbles, lifts and loads, throws off and treads down, stows away, and goes through a great variety of movements, which would look nonsensical if his business did not demand all these maneuvers. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 6} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 7] These various motions bring into action the bones, joints, muscles, sinews, and nerves of the body. His exercise makes full, deep, strong inhalations and exhalations necessary, which expand his lungs, purify the blood, sending the warm current of life bounding through arteries and veins. A farmer who is temperate in eating, drinking, and working, usually enjoys health. His tasks are pleasant to him. He has a good appetite. He sleeps well, and may be happy. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 7} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 8] Contrast the active farmer with the student who neglects physical exercise. He bends over his table or desk, his chest is contracted, his lungs crowded. He does not take full, deep inspirations of air. He sits working his brain in a close room, his body as inactive as if he had no particular use for it. His blood moves sluggishly through his system. His feet are cold; his head is hot. How can such have health? It is not the taxation of study that is destroying the health of students; it is the disregard of nature's laws. Physical exercise is essential; this, the farmer gets, but the student does not. Let the taxation come upon the muscles in well-regulated physical labor, which will make the student breathe deep and full, taking into his lungs plenty of the pure, invigorating air of heaven, and he is a new being. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 8} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 9] There should be experienced teachers to give lessons to young ladies in the mysteries of the kitchen. If mothers were what mothers used to be, the necessity would not be so great. Sensible mothers are wanted. A mother possessing good judgment, with force of character, with patience and decision, having skill fitted to train and mold the minds and characters of her children, is a great family blessing. If the destiny of the race is dependent upon the right kind of mothers, there are so few of the right stamp that the prospect is indeed discouraging. A knowledge of domestic duties is beyond all price to women. I have seen many families whose happiness was wrecked by the inefficiency of the wife and mother to superintend a household. In every situation in life, whether rich or poor, high or low, the knowledge of domestic labor is of the greatest advantage. In my travels, I see entire families suffering with sickness in consequence of poor cooking. Sweet, nice, healthful bread is seldom seen upon their tables. Yellow, saleratus biscuits and heavy, clammy bread are breaking down the digestive organs of tens of thousands. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 9} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 10] Again I repeat, good, old-fashioned mothers are wanted. It is not as essential that our children should learn how to embroider and do fancy work as to learn how to sew, knit, mend, and cook the food for the family in a wholesome manner. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 10} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 11] When a girl is nine or ten years old, she should be educated to take her regular share in household duties, as she is able, and to feel responsible for the manner in which she does it. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 11} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 12] A father, when asked what he intended to do with his girls, replied; "I intend to apprentice them to their excellent mother, that they may learn the art of improving time, and be fitted to become wives, and mothers, and heads of families, and useful members of society." {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 12} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 13] Washing clothes upon the old-fashioned rubbing board, sweeping, dusting, and a variety of duties in the kitchen and in the garden will be an excellent gymnasium for young ladies. This kind of useful labor will take the place of the croquet ground, of dancing, and other amusements which benefit no one. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 13} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 14] From Arthur's Home Magazine, I clip the following:-- {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 14} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 15] "TWO KINDS OF GIRLS. "THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF GIRLS; ONE IS THE KIND THAT APPEARS THE BEST ABROAD, THE GIRLS THAT ARE GOOD FOR PARTIES, RIDES, VISITS, BALLS, &C., AND WHOSE CHIEF DELIGHT IS IN SUCH THINGS; THE OTHER IS THE KIND THAT APPEARS BEST AT HOME, AND THE GIRLS THAT ARE USEFUL AND CHEERFUL IN THE DINING-ROOM, AND ALL THE PRECINCTS OF THE HOME. THEY DIFFER WIDELY IN CHARACTER. ONE IS OFTEN A TORMENT AT HOME; THE OTHER, A BLESSING. ONE IS A MOTH, CONSUMING EVERYTHING ABOUT HER; THE OTHER IS A SUNBEAM, INSPIRING LIFE AND GLADNESS ALL ALONG HER PATHWAY. NOW, IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY FOLLOW THAT THERE SHALL BE TWO CLASSES OF GIRLS. THE RIGHT EDUCATION WILL MODIFY BOTH A LITTLE, AND UNITE THEIR CHARACTERS IN ONE." {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 15} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 16] It is not necessary that a thorough knowledge in household labor should dwarf the intellect. If the intellectual and physical powers are equally exercised, the mind will have greater strength. All the faculties, being equally exercised, become equally strong. The healthful activity of all the organs reacts upon the mind, and imparts to it its proper spring and strength. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 16} [HR, September 1, 1873 par. 17] In our schools should be departments for the purpose of educating young ladies to cut and make garments, to cook, and become informed in all the branches of physical labor, as well as in the sciences, that they may understand the practical duties of life. E. G. W. {HR, September 1, 1873 par. 17} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 1] January 1, 1874 Fashion! Feebleness! Death! While journeying in a Western State, some things came under my observation which led to serious reflections in regard to the causes of so much sickness and suffering everywhere existing at the present time. The questions are often raised, "Why do the youth become invalids so young?" and, "Why do many die prematurely?" These questions I find answered as I journey in winter, and have an opportunity to observe more fully the habits and customs of the people who are in direct violation of the laws of life and health. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 2] While we were waiting at a railroad station, we had an opportunity to read the character and habits of those who were, like ourselves, waiting for the cars. We observe a young lady who looked faded and feeble. Bright red spots were upon her cheeks which at first sight appeared like the hectic flush indicating the advanced stage of consumption. She had a very aggravating cough. I entered into conversation with her in regard to the condition of her health. She told me she was not very sick, but was suffering from general debility. By closer observation, I saw that the bright spots upon her cheeks were not what I had supposed them to be. They were irritations of the skin, caused by the use of cosmetics. The entire skin of the face had lost its healthy, velvety smoothness, and showed an unnatural, disagreeable roughness. In the appearance of her face, thus marred by poisonous substances, and in the bright glow upon either cheek, giving such an unnatural appearance, we could trace causes for her ill health. Here was one of fashion's slaves who had sacrificed health and natural beauty in using poisonous preparations which had been taken up by the pores of the skin and diffused through the system. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 3] Our attention was next called to a little girl about ten years of age. It was one of the bitterest days of winter, and yet this little girl's limbs were naked for full half a yard, with the exception of flannel stockings. The upper portions of the body were abundantly clothed. She had a warm dress, a nice waterproof cloak and cape lined with flannel, a fur tippet over the cloak, and a muff for her hands. Her dress gave evidence of a tender, thoughtful mother's care, except the neglected limbs, that portion of the body of all the rest which needed the extra coverings because they were so far from the heart. This delicate, bright-eyed child was suffering with severe cold and cough. It was difficult for her to breathe because of catarrhal affection. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 3} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 4] Robust boys with coats and overcoats, and warmly lined pants protecting their limbs, were shivering with the cold and hovering about the only stove accessible; but the limbs of the delicate little girl were dressed after the most approved fashion, and hence exposed to the chill air of a January day. Her almost naked limbs could not but be chilled while bathed in a current of freezing cold air. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 4} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 5] The dress of this delicately organized child must be prescribed by fashion. She could not have the privilege of dressing comfortably like the robust boys. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 5} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 6] Health and life must be sacrificed to the goddess, fashion. The heart was laboring to do its work in propelling the blood to the extremities, while the fashionable mother, in exposing the lower extremities, was working against nature, in chilling back the life current, and thus breaking up the circulation and robbing the limbs of their proportion of blood. Over the vital organs, where there is naturally more warmth than in other portions of the body, there were no less than eight coverings. If some of these had covered her limbs to induce blood to the extremities, she would have been more sensibly clad. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 6} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 7] The many coverings worn over the heart, where is the greatest amount of natural heat, while the limbs are nearly naked, calls the blood from the extremities. The limbs being robbed of their due proportion of blood become habitually cold, while there is too much blood in other portions of the body. The vital organs are burdened with blood, while the unprotected limbs have not a sufficiency. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 7} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 8] I could not but look forward in imagination a few months, or years at most, when the little busy hands and feet would be still, and the little form clad in its burial shroud, while a mourning household, bereaved and afflicted, were almost murmuring at the providence of God which had robbed them of their darling treasure. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 8} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 9] The people, in their pride and ignorance, give God the credit of mysterious dealings in robbing parents of their precious jewels. If the facts were known, it would be seen that in dressing their children to keep pace with fashion, the life forces were weakened, and disease and death were the result. Most diseases have their origin in an unequal distribution of the blood. Parents who dress their children in a manner to expose their limbs to cold and chilliness, imperil their lives. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 9} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 10] The feet and limbs that are not sufficiently protected from cold by a proper amount of clothing, cannot have a proportionate amount of blood. The slender limbs of many children show that the blood has not nourished and vitalized them as the Creator designed it should; therefore the limbs are not naturally developed, being nearly fleshless. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 10} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 11] Chill back the current of blood from the extremities, and other portions of the body will be congested, while the extremities will be cold, feeble, and small. When too much blood is thrown upon the vital organs, the heart is overworked at every beat, in freeing itself from the blood carried to it. The heart labors to throw the life current to the extremities. And if the blood is hindered, because of insufficient clothing, from flowing freely to the limbs, double labor is thrown upon the heart. This organ becomes feeble, and there follow palpitation, pain in the heart, and general breaking down, and death. - {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 11} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 1] January 1, 1874 Children's Winter Dress. - There is a fashionable way and a healthful way to dress a child. Mothers generally pay more attention to the former than to the latter. It is doubtless very pretty and becoming to dress a little girl in short skirts, covering her daintily-shaped ankle and handsome limb with a thin, silken or cotton stocking, encasing her foot in a thin-soled and exquisitely shaped shoe, while her shoulders are loaded with cloak, furs, and scarf. She looks well--presents an elegant appearance, in fact, and the mother is pleased thereat. {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 2] It is really distressing to witness this manner of dressing children during the winter months. No grown person could be comfortable for a moment in such a rig, and it is only from constant exercise in running that children so clad can secure any degree of comfort while upon the street. Dressing their extremities so thinly is not only uncomfortable, but unhealthful as well. When they run, becoming heated in play, and then sit or stand in the open air, the blood is driven rapidly from the extremities to the trunk, exposing the little ones to congestion of the lungs and mucous surfaces, when they are said to have a "bad cold." {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1874 par. 3] See that your children wear snugly-fitting, woolen, or canton-flannel drawers next their skin; over this the stocking may be drawn, and, in the colder days, woolen leggings should be worn over all. Let their shoes be thick and covered by warm overshoes; their limbs may not look so neatly, but they will certainly be comfortable, and the corresponding improvement in the health of your children will more than repay you for your temporary mortification at their unfashionable appearance. - {HR, January 1, 1874 par. 3} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 1] February 1, 1874 That Spare Bed. - While traveling in the Eastern States we have experienced the results of sleeping in the spare bed, so that I have a terror of sleeping in rooms that have not been ventilated for weeks, and in beds that have not been used, but have been left until they have accumulated dampness and a moldy odor. We should visit many more families in our travels, if we were not fearful of being obliged to sleep in that spare bed. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 1} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 2] I cannot see why men and women who are intelligent upon other subjects do not understand the necessity of thoroughly ventilating their houses. It is at the risk of health and life itself to venture a visit among friends whose society we enjoy. We are often obliged to make careful inquiry in reference to the condition of their beds, and are frequently assured that all is right. But soon after retiring we are convinced that we are in a damp bed, taking cold. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 2} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 3] At times, when we desire above all others to be in the best health, with clearness of thought and healthful vigor, prepared for public labors, we are suffering with aching head for want of rest, and from the effects of cold by sleeping in that spare bed. Although unfitted to address the people, we cannot be excused. We must nerve ourselves for the task, and, by will power, rise above languor and depression, and do the best we can. The extra exertion we are obliged to make on a single occasion tells more upon our strength than to labor weeks free from the difficulties brought upon us by sleeping in that spare bed. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 3} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 4] Rooms that are not freely ventilated daily, and bedding that has not been thoroughly dried and aired, are not fit for use. We feel confident that disease and great suffering are brought on by sleeping in rooms with closed and curtained windows, not admitting the pure air and the rays of the sun. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 4} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 5] Some seem to think that rooms that have not been used, and daily ventilated, need only to have the windows raised a short time before the sleeping hour. The room may not have had a thorough airing for months, and has not had the advantages of a fire for weeks, if at all. It is dangerous to health and life to sleep in these rooms until the outside air shall have circulated freely through them for several hours, and the bedding shall have been dried by the fire. Unless this precaution is taken, the rooms and bedding will be damp. Every room in the house should be thoroughly ventilated every day, and in damp weather should be warmed by fires. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 5} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 6] I observe in California that many, during the rainy season, are suffering with colds, catarrh, sore throat, lung difficulties, neuralgia, and rheumatism. I can understand the reason of these maladies. The main parts of most of the houses are destitute of fire-places and stoves. In the rainy season dampness must affect rooms that have no fires. These sleeping apartments cannot be dried in continuous wet weather. The bedding must become damp, and will be musty unless dried before a fire. This is seldom done. In addition to this neglect of fires in sleeping apartments, air and light are generally excluded by closed windows and heavy curtains. But few seem to understand that the air in these closed rooms becomes impure and unfit for the lungs. Those who occupy such apartments cannot have health. The emanations from damp, moldy rooms and clothing are poisonous to the system. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 6} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 7] Many seem to think that if they exclude the air from their rooms because it is damp and foggy, they have an atmosphere in their houses perfectly safe to breathe. But we have to breathe in damp and foggy days as well as in pleasant, sunny weather. We must accept the air which God gives us, which is subject to atmospheric changes, sometimes dry and invigorating, while again it is damp, chill, and penetrating. We must meet these changes as they come, and make provision the best we can to guard ourselves from the effects of damp and chilly atmosphere, and not subject ourselves to a greater evil by breathing air over and over again that has lost its vital properties. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 7} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 8] I find it almost impossible to convince those who are accustomed to live in rooms from which the fresh air has been excluded, of the unhealthfulness of such rooms. Like faithful sentinels they guard windows and doors as if fearful the impure air would escape and fresh air take its place. When we enter such houses the confined air of unventilated rooms meets us with sickening odors of mildew and mold, and the impurities exhaled from its inmates. I could not live in such an atmosphere. It is painful for me to remain there even but a short time. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 8} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 9] During the rainy season in California, or anywhere else, when the sun does shine, we should make the most of it. Every room in our dwellings should be daily thrown open to the healthful rays of the sun, and the purifying air should be invited in. This will be a preventive of disease. We would say to our friends, If you think that clouds and rain bring dampness and endanger health, God sends to you his blessed, healthful sunshine, and pure, dry air. Will you welcome these great blessings by opening to these guests every room in your dwellings? If all would appreciate the sunshine, and expose every article of clothing to its drying, purifying rays, mildew and mold would be prevented. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 9} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 10] The idea that night air is unhealthful and must be excluded from our sleeping apartments, is a mistake. In the night God designed that we should breathe night air, for we have no other. Our Creator would not make night air dangerous to health and yet compel us to breathe it. Night air is as healthy for us to breathe in the night as day air is in the day. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 10} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 11] I plead for fresh air in the night--fresh air during the day--in storm as well as in sunshine. It is certainly more pleasurable to have days of sunshine than those that are damp and foggy. But we must breathe in damp, unpleasant weather as well as in sunshine. We should labor to have the air in our houses pure as possible. Even during the rainy season of California, I shall plead for fresh air, and to be excused from sleeping in the spare bed. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 11} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 12] Those who occupy the same beds every night near a fire cannot understand the dangers of that spare bed. If they think that there is needless fear of it, we propose that they take the spare bed, and let their visitors sleep in their beds, and thus test the matter. After they have tried this a few times, they may become enlightened in regard to the danger of that spare bed. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 12} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 13] My mind goes back to Oak Hill Cemetery in Battle Creek, Michigan. I see there two graves. My noble first-born son fills the long grave. Next comes a short grave where lies my darling babe, my last-born. The first died of inflammation of the lungs after a sickness of eight days, in consequence of thoughtlessly resting his head upon a pile of damp charts and falling asleep. The second died from sleeping in a room that had not been used for two weeks. A fire was kept burning for two hours in this room which was thought sufficient to warm it. The bed had accumulated dampness. Myself and child took cold; he was a great sufferer for four weeks, and died in consequence of that damp bed. - {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 13} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 1] February 1, 1874 Courtesy at Home. - Something is wrong in those families, says the Bazar, where the little courtesies of speech are ignored in the every-day home life. True politeness cannot be learned, like a lesson, by one effort, any time in one's life; it must be inbred. "Well meaning, but rough," is said of many a man; and too often the beginning of the difficulty lies with the parents in a family. Is it hard for the husband to give a smiling "Thank you" to his wife as she brings his slippers on his evening return home? Is it more difficult for the mother to say, "John, will you shut the door please"? than to use the laconic phrase, "Shut the door!" When Tom knocks over his sister's baby-house, why should not "Excuse me, I didn't meant to," be the instinctive apology? {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 1} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 2] Many who would not be guilty of discourtesy to a stranger, or to a friend in the world without, lay aside much, if not all, their suavity of manner on entering the home circle. The husband and wife dispense with those little graceful attentions which, though small, are never unimportant. The children are ordered hither and thither with crusty words; no "Thank you" rewards the little tireless feet that run on countless errands. The dinner is eaten in silence, broken only by fault-finding and reproof from the parents, and ill-humor and teasing among the children. In the evening, the father devotes himself to his newspaper, and the mother to her sewing, interrupting themselves only to give such peremptory orders as "Less noise, children;" "Stop quarreling;" and, finally, "Go to bed." {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 2} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 3] In many families, there is no positive rudeness among the members, only a lack of those simple, affectionate attentions which awaken a spontaneous return; a want of that consideration and gentleness of demeanor which are well-springs of comfort in every household. The well-bred host does not fail to bid his guest "Good night," and "Good morning;" why should not this simple expression of good feeling be always exchanged between parents and children? The kindly morning greeting will often nip in the bud some rising fretfulness; and the pleasant "Good-by," from old and young, when leaving the house for office, shop, or school, is a fragrant memory through the day of separation. When the family gather alone around breakfast or dinner table, the same courtesy should prevail as if guests were present. Reproof, complaint, unpleasant discussion, and scandal, no less than moody silence, should be banished. Let the conversation be genial, and suited to the little folks as far as possible. Interesting incidents of the day's experience may be mentioned at the evening meal, thus arousing the social element. If resources fail, sometimes little bits read aloud from the morning or evening paper will kindle the conversation. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 3} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 4] No pleasanter sight is there than a family of young folks who are quick to perform little acts of attention toward their elders. The placing of the big arm chair in a warm place for mamma, running for a footstool for aunty, hunting up papa's spectacles, and scores of little deeds show unsurpassed and loving hearts. But if mamma never returns a smiling "Thank you, dear," if papa's "Just what I was wanting, Susie," does not indicate that the little attention is appreciated, the children soon drop the habit. Little people are imitative creatures, and quickly catch the spirit surrounding them. So, if, when the mother's spool of cotton rolls from her lap, the father stoops to pick it up, bright eyes will see the act, and quick minds make a note of it. By example, a thousand times more quickly than by precept, can children be taught to speak kindly to each other, to acknowledge favors, to be gentle and unselfish, to be thoughtful and considerate of the comfort of the family. The boys, with inward pride in their father's courteous demeanor, will be chivalrous and helpful to their young sisters; the girls, imitating the mother, will be gentle and patient, even when big brothers are noisy and heedless. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 4} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 5] Scolding is never allowable; reproof and criticism from parents must have their time and place, but should never intrude so far upon the social life of the family as to render the home uncomfortable. A serious word in private will generally cure a fault more easily than many public criticisms. In some families, a spirit of contradiction and discussion mars the harmony; every statement is, as it were, dissected, and the absolute correctness of every word calculated. It interferes seriously with social freedom when unimportant inaccuracies are watched for, and exposed for the mere sake of exposure. Brothers and sisters also sometimes acquire an almost unconscious habit of teasing each other, half in earnest, half in fun. This is particularly uncomfortable for everybody else, whatever doubtful pleasure the parties themselves may experience. {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 5} [HR, February 1, 1874 par. 6] In the home where true courtesy prevails, it seems to meet you on the very threshold. You feel the kindly welcome on entering. No rude eyes scan your dress. No angry voices are heard up stairs. No sullen children are sent from the room. No peremptory orders are given to cover the delinquencies of house-keepers or servants. A delightful atmosphere pervades the house--unmistakable, yet indescribable. - {HR, February 1, 1874 par. 6} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 1] March 1, 1874 Fashionable Dress. - It is evident that fashionable ladies are losing the consciousness that true beauty of dress consists in its simplicity, rather than in ruffles, flounces, puffs, tucks, and elaborate embroidery. The arranging of jewelry, sashes, laces, and unnecessary ornaments upon their persons, alone must occupy a large share of their time. It is apparent that women professing godliness have their minds and thoughts absorbed with, "What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?" It really seems to be the mission and object of a large class of women to exhibit their wardrobe. Their burdens, trials, and perplexities, are mostly in regard to dress. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 1} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 2] The churches in our country when the congregations are assembled appear more like rooms for the exhibition of the fashions of the day than for the worship of God. How does the Savior of the world look upon this exhibition? The minds of a large number of those assembled are preoccupied, and there is no room for Bible truth. The six days have been devoted mostly to the preparation of dress, to make a sensation at church. And all this display in the house dedicated to the Lord! {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 2} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 3] Mothers sacrifice to fashion their God-given time, which should be devoted to the formation of the characters of their children. Health is sacrificed in bending over sewing, within doors shut away from the sunshine and open air. Opportunities are sacrificed that should be improved in educating the mind, and storing it with knowledge, that they may be qualified to instruct and train their children for usefulness in this world, and be fitted for the better world. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 3} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 4] Women are bending their shoulders to accept a cross heavy to bear. Should Christ demand of them to bear so heavy a cross, and make so great a sacrifice to be his disciples, they would feel that indeed the cross was heavy, and the burden unbearable. Christ requires none of his followers to bear so heavy a cross as they subject themselves to in being the slaves of fashion. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 4} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 5] If Christian women would lead out in the good work of reform, and set the example of dressing with neatness and simplicity, there would be a universal reform in dress. If they would work from a high and elevated standpoint, they would bring their eating and dressing into conformity with the laws of their being, and in obedience to their moral obligation to God. And there would be less money, less brain-nerve power, and less physical strength, squandered for artificial decorations to the sacrifice of natural beauty. We should then have more practical wives and mothers, and there would be a very happy change in many families that are now wretched because of their incorrect ideas of life. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 5} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 6] The apostle raises his voice against overdressing. He exhorts "that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works." There is enough for all of us to do in this working world, in benefiting others by acts of benevolence, visiting the widow and the fatherless in their affliction, and showing that we do love our neighbor as ourselves. Good works should not be wanting in the Christian. The great amount of time and labor expended in preparing needless things for ornamentation is just so much time we have stolen from God and our neighbor, to glorify ourselves. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 6} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 7] Christian parents should, by their example in dress, show to all that they feel under solemn obligation to God to train their children for usefulness and duty, rather than for display. They should educate them to love natural simplicity, rather than to cultivate in them pride and vanity. The hours that are spent in preparing ruffles, tucks, scallops, edging, and embroidery, are worse than lost. All this needless labor requires nervous energy, confinement in-doors, and wearisome care. And what do these devotees of fashion gain? Only the satisfaction of being admired, like a butterfly. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 7} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 8] Instead of laying up in store for themselves a stock of good works, in merciful attention to the poor and needy, seeking to bless those who are discouraged, and by their consistent life winning souls to Jesus, they have devoted time to pleasing themselves, and have brought condemnation upon their own souls. Our good works cannot atone for one sin. But Jesus knew this, and he came from Heaven to the earth to bring to us this divine help, that through his excellence of character, and through our faith in him, our human efforts would be acceptable with God, and we should finally be rewarded as our works have been. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 8} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 9] Fashion binds upon the heads of women needless appendages. It requires them to sacrifice the natural form and beauty of the head for artificial deformity. These have a direct tendency to induce blood to the brain, because overheated by artificial braids of hair, cotton, or jute. In order to conform to fashion's standard, the limbs are left nearly naked, with merely one thickness of woolen or cotton. When the air circulates about these unprotected limbs, the blood is driven from the extremities to the internal and more vital organs of the body. The result is congestion, to a greater or less extent, of these organs. It is painful to reflecting minds to thus see innocent children, as well as those of mature age, dressed like victims for sacrifice, in order to make a display. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 9} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 10] Women do not properly clothe their limbs, because it is not fashionable. For want of coverings, the blood is chilled back from the extremities, and the extra covering over the base of the brain attracts the blood to the head, and congestion of the brain is the result. The panniers, and extra coverings in overskirts worn over the sensitive organs of the back, induce heat, and cause inflammation. The walk of females thus dressed is awkward and painful. The limbs, which should have even more coverings than any other portions of the body, because farthest from the center of circulation, are chilled, because not suitably protected. These organs are robbed of their due proportion of blood, therefore cannot be properly nourished, and the result is, the almost universally slender, undeveloped limbs. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 10} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 11] Ladies expect, in walking in snow and mud, and in going up and down stairs, in getting in and out of carriages, to expose their limbs by raising their dresses. Some being ashamed of their slender limbs supply the deficiency by artificial calves. The votaries of fashion sell their birthright at the mart of fashion for a very poor equivalent. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 11} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 12] Certainly, these should be the last to profess to have their modesty shocked by seeing ladies with the reform dress, short enough to clear the snow and wet, mud and filth, ascend stairs, and get in and out of carriages, without requiring the use of the hands to elevate the dress. Their lower limbs are clothed as well as the arms. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 12} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 13] The slaves to fashion may say the feet and limbs are exposed. I beg pardon: the limbs are not exposed. It is true the reform dress reveals the fact that women have feet and limbs, and when they are modestly and sensibly clothed, making exposure impossible, she is not ashamed of the fact. But the fact that women have feet and limbs is not, as we have said, concealed by the length of the dress. We have decided that health and modesty require that women clothe their limbs as thoroughly as they do other parts of the body. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 13} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 14] Christian women have a higher and holier mission to perform. They should have their moral sensibilities fully aroused to see and feel the crime of following absurd fashions to the sacrifice of natural simplicity and beauty, and consequently to the sacrifice of health. The only excuse that Christian women can urge for wearing the uncomfortable and monstrous deformity upon their backs is, that it is fashion. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 14} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 15] It is impossible for those who wear them to walk naturally, or even sit in a natural position. The back cannot be supported against the back of the chair; for the large protuberance inclines them forward, which unnatural position cramps the lungs and chest. This heavy, deforming cross women submit to carry because fashion has prescribed it. If the votaries of fashion will sacrifice health and natural beauty to lift this cross that fashion has prepared for them, should not Christian health reformers have the moral courage to adopt the reform dress, which has so many advantages over the fashionable dress? This dress is both healthful and convenient, and lays the least tax on the physical strength. The only cross they lift in this case is, they wear a dress which fashion has not instituted. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 15} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 16] The Creator knew how to form the human body. He did not need to consult mantuamakers in regard to their ideas of beauty. God, who created everything that is rich, lovely, and glorious, in nature, understood how to make the human form beautiful and healthful. The modern improvements upon God's plan are insulting to the Creator. They deform that which God made perfect. Woman, as God made her, was a perfect and lovely image of the divine ideal of womanhood. Compare the modern taste with infinite wisdom, and what a contrast! How few preserve the original ideal! {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 16} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 17] If woman would answer the object of God in her creation she would claim the aid of divine grace, and by faithful improvement of every heavenly gift aim to high and harmonious development of physical, mental, and moral strength. {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 17} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 18] It is a sacred duty which woman owes to her Creator to become intelligent in regard to her own physical being, that she may understandingly guard the health God has given her. A diseased body affects the mind. How can the majority of professed Christians, who are following the modern fashions, obey the injunction of the inspired apostle, "I beseech you by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God"? {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 18} [HR, March 1, 1874 par. 19] We recommend to our Christian sisters a style of dress every way modest, convenient, and healthful, which, if conscientiously adopted, will prove a safeguard against health-and-life-destroying fashion. The fashionable dress, with its inconveniences, is in conflict with physical, intellectual, and moral health. We recommend, in contrast with the fashionable dress, the modest, convenient, healthful reform dress. Will my Christian sisters stand for the right, with moral courage, in the ranks of health reform? And will they see the work which is to be done, and, fully comprehending the difficulties in the way of its accomplishment, give their influence on the right side? {HR, March 1, 1874 par. 19} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 1] August 1, 1875 Power of Appetite. - By Mrs. E. G. White. - One of the strongest temptations to man is upon the point of appetite. Between the mind and the body there is a mysterious and wonderful relation. They react upon each other. To keep the body in a healthy condition, to develop its strength, that every part of the living machinery may act harmoniously, should be the first study of our life. To neglect the body is to neglect the mind. God cannot be glorified by his children's having sickly bodies or dwarfed minds. To indulge the taste at the expense of health is a wicked abuse of the senses. Those who engage in any species of intemperance in eating or drinking, waste the physical energies and weaken moral power. They will feel the retribution which follows the transgression of physical law. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 1} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 2] The Redeemer of the world knew that the indulgence of appetite would bring physical debility and deaden the perceptive organs so that sacred and eternal things would not be discerned. Christ knew that the world was given up to gluttony, and that this indulgence would pervert the moral powers. If the indulgence of appetite was so strong upon the race as to require a fast of nearly six weeks by the divine Son of God, in behalf of man, to break its power, what a work is before the Christian in order that he may overcome, even as Christ overcame. The strength of the temptation to indulge perverted appetite can be measured only by the inexpressible anguish of Christ in that long fast in the wilderness. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 2} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 3] Christ knew that in order to successfully carry forward the plan of salvation he must commence the work of redeeming man just where the ruin began. Adam fell on the point of appetite. In order to impress upon man his obligations to obey the law of God, Christ began his work of redemption by reforming the physical habits of man. The declension in virtue and the degeneracy of the race were chiefly attributable to the indulgence of perverted appetite. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 3} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 4] There is a solemn responsibility upon all, especially upon ministers who teach the truth, to overcome on the point of appetite. The usefulness of ministers of Christ would be much greater if they had control of their appetites and passions; and their mental and moral powers would be stronger if they should combine physical labor with mental exertion. They could, with strictly temperate habits, with mental and physical labor combined, accomplish a far greater amount of labor and preserve clearness of mind. If they should pursue such a course their thoughts and words would flow more freely, their religious exercises would be more energized, and the impressions made upon their hearers would be more marked. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 4} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 5] Intemperance in eating, even of food of the right quality, will have a prostrating influence upon the system, and will blunt the keener and holier emotions. Strict temperance in eating and drinking is highly essential for the healthy preservation and vigorous exercise of all the functions of the body. Strictly temperate habits, combined with the exertion of the muscles as well as the exercise of the mind, will preserve both mental and physical vigor, and give power of endurance to those engaged in the ministry, to editors, and to all others whose habits are sedentary. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 5} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 6] As a people, with all our profession of health reform, we eat too much. Indulgence of appetite is the greatest cause of physical and mental debility, and lies at the foundation of feebleness which is apparent everywhere. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 6} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 7] Intemperance commences at our tables in the use of unhealthful food. After a time, through continual indulgence, the digestive organs become weakened, and the food taken does not satisfy the appetite. Unhealthy conditions are established, and there is a craving for more stimulating food. Tea, coffee, and flesh-meats, produce an immediate effect. Under the influence of these poisons the nervous system is excited. In some cases, for the time being, the intellect seems to be invigorated and the imagination more vivid. Because this is the result of these stimulants, many conclude that they really need them, and continue the use of those things which produce for the time being such agreeable results. But there is always an after result. There is reaction. The nervous system has been unduly excited to borrow power from the future resources of strength for present use. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 7} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 8] All this temporary excitement of the system is followed by depression. In proportion as these stimulants temporarily excite the system, will there be a letting down of the power of the organs that have been thus excited, after the stimulus has lost its force. The appetite is educated to crave something stronger, which will have a tendency to keep up and increase the agreeable excitement, until indulgence becomes habit, and there is a continual craving for stronger stimulus, as tobacco, wines, and liquors. As the appetite is indulged, the demand will be more frequent, and the power of control more difficult. The more the appetite is indulged, the more the system becomes debilitated and unable to do without this unnatural stimulus, and the passion for these things increases until the will is overborne, and there seems to be no power to deny the unnatural craving for these indulgences. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 8} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 9] The only safe course is to touch not, taste not, and handle not, tea, coffee, wines, tobacco, opium, and alcoholic drinks. There is double necessity for the men of this generation to call to their aid the power of the will, strengthened by the grace of God, in order to withstand the temptations of Satan, and resist the least indulgence of perverted appetite. The present generation have less power of self-control than those who have lived several generations back. Those who have indulged the appetite for these stimulants have transmitted their depraved appetites and passions to their children, and greater moral power is required to resist the indulgence of intemperance in all its forms. The only perfectly safe course to pursue is to stand firmly on the side of temperance and not venture in the path of danger. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 9} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 10] The great end for which Christ endured that long fast in the wilderness was to teach us the necessity of self-denial and temperance. This work should commence at our tables, and should be strictly carried out in all the concerns of life. The Redeemer of the world came from Heaven to help man in his weakness, that he might become strong in the power which he came to bring him, to overcome appetite and passion, and might be victor on every point. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 10} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 11] Many parents educate the tastes of their children, and form their appetites. They indulge them in eating flesh-meats, and in drinking tea and coffee. The highly seasoned flesh-meats and tea and coffee which some mothers encourage their children to use are preparing the way for them to crave stronger stimulants, as tobacco; and the use of tobacco encourages the appetite for liquor. The use of tobacco and liquor invariably lessens nerve power. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 11} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 12] If Christians would have their moral sensibilities aroused upon the subject of temperance in all things, they could, by their example, commencing at their tables, help those who are weak in self-control, and almost powerless to resist the cravings of appetite. If we could realize that our eternal destiny depends upon strictly temperate habits, and that the habits we form in this life will affect our eternal interests, we should work to the point of strict temperance in eating and in drinking. By our example and personal effort we may be the means of saving many souls from the degradation of intemperance, crime, and death. Our sisters can do much in the great work of the salvation of others by spreading their tables with only healthful, nourishing food. They may employ their precious time in educating the tastes and appetites of their children, and in forming habits of temperance in all things, and encouraging self-denial and benevolence for the good of others. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 12} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 13] Notwithstanding the example Christ has given us in the wilderness of temptation by denial of appetite and overcoming its power, there are many Christian mothers who are, by their example, and in the education of their children, preparing them to become gluttons and wine-bibbers. Children are frequently indulged in eating what they choose, and when they please, without reference to health. There are many children who are educated gormands from their babyhood. Through indulgence of appetite they are made dyspeptics at an early age. Intemperance in eating and self-indulgence grow with their growth and strengthen with their strength. Mental and physical vigor are sacrificed through the indulgence of parents. A habit becomes established for certain articles of food from which they can receive no benefit, but only injury; and as the system is taxed, the constitution becomes debilitated. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 13} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 14] Ministers, teachers, and students should become intelligent in regard to the necessity of physical exercise in the open air. They neglect this most essential duty for the preservation of health. They closely apply their minds to books, and eat the allowance of a laboring man. Under such habits, some grow corpulent because the system is clogged, while others become lean, feeble, and weak, because their vital powers are exhausted in throwing off excess of food; the liver becomes burdened and unable to throw off the impurities in the blood, and sickness is the result. If physical exercise were combined with mental exertion, the blood would be quickened in its circulation, the action of the heart would be more perfect, impure matter would be thrown off, and new life and vigor would be experienced in every part of the body. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 14} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 15] When the minds of ministers, school teachers, and students, are continually excited by study, and the body is allowed to be inactive, the nerves of emotion are taxed, while the nerves of motion are inactive. The wear is all upon the mental organs, and they become overworked and enfeebled, the muscles lose their vigor for want of being employed, and there is not an inclination to exercise the muscles by engaging in physical labor because exertion seems to be irksome. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 15} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 16] As our first parents lost Eden through the indulgence of appetite, our only hope of regaining Eden is through the firm denial of appetite and passion. Abstemiousness in diet, and control of all the passions, will preserve the intellect so that men may have mental and moral vigor to bring all their propensities under the control of the higher power, and to retain clearness of intellect to discern between right and wrong, between sacred and common things. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 16} [HR, August 1, 1875 par. 17] The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have moral power to gain victory over every other temptation of Satan. But slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character. The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death, as its fruits. {HR, August 1, 1875 par. 17} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 1] September 1, 1876 Labor as a Blessing. - By Mrs. Ellen G. White. - Many look upon work as a curse, originating with the enemy of souls. This is a mistaken idea. God gave labor to man as a blessing, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. Adam toiled in the garden of Eden, and felt it to be one of the pleasures of his holy existence to do so. Later, when he was driven from his beautiful home, as the result of his disobedience, and was forced to struggle with a stubborn soil to gain his daily bread, that very labor, although far different from his pleasant occupation in the garden, was a relief to his sorrowing soul, a protection against temptation. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 1} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 2] Judicious labor is a healthful tonic for the human race. It makes the feeble strong, the timid brave, the poor rich, and the wretched happy. Our varied trusts are proportioned to our various abilities. Every man will be rewarded of God according to his individual capacity. He expects corresponding returns for the talents he has given to his servants. It is not the greatness of the talents possessed that determines the reward, but the manner in which they are used, the degree of faithfulness with which the duties of life have been performed, be they great or small. Where much is given much will be required. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 2} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 3] Whoever does his work conscientiously and well, whether in the shop, the field, or the pulpit, will be rewarded according to the spirit in which he has worked. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 3} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 4] Idleness is the greatest curse that can fall upon man; for vice and crime follow in its train. Satan lies in ambush, ready to surprise and destroy those who are unguarded, whose leisure gives him opportunity to insinuate himself into their favor under some attractive disguise. He is never more successful than when he comes to men in their idle hours. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 4} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 5] The greatest curse following in the train of wealth is the fashionable idea that work is degrading. "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her, and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy." Ezekiel 16:49. Here is presented before us the terrible results of idleness, which enfeebles the mind, debases the soul, and perverts the understanding, turning into a curse that which was given as a blessing. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 5} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 6] God designed that all should be workers, and upon those whose opportunities and abilities are greatest rests the heaviest responsibilities. The patient beasts of burden deserve more commendation than the indolent do-nothing who does not improve his physical and mental powers, refusing to do the tasks which God has set for his accomplishment. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 6} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 7] The indolence of the many occasions the overwork of the few earnest and devoted laborers. These are failing for want of recreation, sinking beneath the double burdens they are bearing. Their graves are way-marks along the upward paths of reform. This is because they are allowed to do the work of others in addition to their own. A large class refuse to think and act for themselves; they have no disposition to step out of the old ruts of prejudice and error; they block up the way of advancement with their indolence and perversity, and force the standard-bearers of the right to more heroic efforts in their march forward. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 7} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 8] The glory and joy of life is found only by the working man and woman. Labor brings its own reward, and the rest is sweet that is purchased by the fatigue of a well-spent day. But there is a self-imposed toil, utterly unsatisfying and injurious. It is that which gratifies unsanctified ambition, which seeks display or notoriety. The love of appearance or possession leads people to carry to excess what is lawful, to devote the entire strength of body and mind to that which should occupy but a small portion of their time. They bend every energy to the acquisition of wealth or honor; they make all other objects secondary to this; they toil unflinchingly for years to accomplish their purpose; yet when the goal is reached, the coveted reward secured, it turns to ashes in their grasp; it is a shadow, a delusion. They have given their lives for that which profiteth not. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 8} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 9] Yet all the lawful pursuits of life may be safely followed if the spirit is kept free from selfish hopes and the contamination of deceit and envy. The business life of the Christian should be marked with the same purity that held sway in the workshop of the holy Nazarene. It is the working men and women who see something great and good in life, those who are willing to bear its responsibilities with faith and hope. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 9} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 10] Patient laborers, remember they were sturdy working-men whom Christ chose from among the fishermen of Galilee and the tent-makers of Corinth, to labor with him in the work of salvation. From these humble men went forth a power that will be felt through all eternity. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 10} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 11] The angels are workers; they are ministers of God to the children of men. Those slothful spirits who look forward to a Heaven of inaction will be disappointed, for the economy of the Creator prepares no such place for the gratification of sinful indolence. But to the weary and heavy-laden rest is promised. It is the faithful servants who are welcomed from their labors unto the joy of their Lord. They will joyfully lay off the armor, and forget the noise of the battle in the peace that shall be the inheritance of the saints. {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 11} [HR, September 1, 1876 par. 12] The path of the Christian laborer may be hard and narrow, but it is honored by the foot-prints of the Redeemer, and he is safe who follows in that sacred way. - {HR, September 1, 1876 par. 12} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 1] October 1, 1876 Missionary Work at Home. - By Mrs. E. G. White. - Many are ever restless and disappointed, seeking for some greater work than that which now occupies them. Some mothers long to engage in missionary labor, while they neglect the simplest duties lying directly in their path. The children are neglected, the home is not made cheerful and happy for the family, scolding and complaining are of frequent occurrence, and the young people grow up feeling that home is the most uninviting of all places. As a consequence, they impatiently look forward to the time when they shall leave it, and it is with little reluctance that they launch out into the great world, unrestrained by home influence, and the tender counsel of the hearth-stone. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 1} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 2] The parents, whose aim should have been to bind these young hearts to themselves, and guide them aright, squander their God-given opportunities, are blind to the most important duties of their lives, and vainly aspire to work in the broad missionary field. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 2} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 3] As I have marked these unhappy, restless spirits, and deplored their power to shadow the lives of others, the thought would arise: What a fearful deception is upon them! How terrible a mistake they are making! {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 3} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 4] Some of this class pronounce the faithful Christian mother worldly, as they mark how attentive she is to the wants of her husband and children, how zealous in performing the sweet home duties. They sigh because of her lack of spirituality, thinking the labor wasted that goes to make home a place of comfort and happy rest. Their minds fail to understand how the performance of these humble tasks can satisfy the heart. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 4} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 5] Jesus made the lowly paths of human life sacred by his example. For thirty years he was an inhabitant of Nazareth. His life was one of diligent industry. He, the Majesty of Heaven, walked the streets, clad in the simple garb of a common laborer. He toiled up and down the mountain steeps, going to and from his humble work. Angels were not sent to bear him on their pinions up the tiresome ascent, or to lend their strength in performing his lowly task. Yet when he went forth to contribute to the support of the family by his daily toil, he possessed the same power as when he wrought the miracle of feeding the five thousand hungry souls on the shore of Galilee. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 5} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 6] But he did not employ his divine power to lessen his burdens or lighten his toil. He had taken upon himself the form of humanity with all its attendant ills, and he flinched not from its severest trials. He lived in a peasant's home, he was clothed in coarse garments, he mingled with the lowly, he toiled daily with patient hands. His example shows us that it is man's duty to be industrious, that labor is honorable. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 6} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 7] His life, written upon the pages of history, should encourage the poor and the lowly to perform contentedly the humble duties of their lot. Honorable work has received the sanction of Heaven, and men and women may hold the closest connection with God, yet occupy the humblest position in life. Jesus was as faithfully fulfilling his mission when hiding his divinity with the humble occupation of a carpenter, as when employed in healing the sick, or walking upon the white capped billows to the aid of his terrified disciples. Christ dignified the humble employments of life, by occupying a menial condition, that he might be able to reach the mass of mankind and exalt the race to become fit inmates for the Paradise of God. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 7} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 8] For a long time, Jesus dwelt at Nazareth, unhonored and unknown, that he might teach men how to live near God while discharging the humble duties of life. It was a mystery to angels that Christ, the Majesty of Heaven, should condescend, not only to take upon himself humanity, but to assume its heaviest burdens and most humiliating offices. This he did in order to become like one of us, that he might be acquainted with the toil, the sorrows, and fatigue of the children of men, that he might be better able to sympathize with their distresses and understand their trials. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 8} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 9] Those who divorce religion from their business are reproved by the example of Jesus. Hidden away among the hills of Nazareth, yet having such claims upon Heaven that he could command the entire angel host, he was a simple carpenter, working for wages, and living a godly life in the face of all discouragements. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 9} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 10] It requires much more grace and stern discipline of character to work for God in the capacity of mechanic, merchant, lawyer, or farmer, carrying the precepts of Christianity into the ordinary business of life, than to labor as an acknowledged missionary in the open field, where one's position is understood, and half its difficulties obviated by that very fact. It requires strong spiritual nerve and muscle to carry religion into the work-shop and business office, sanctifying the details of every-day life, and ordering every worldly transaction according to the standard of a Bible Christian. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 10} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 11] Jesus, in his thirty years of seclusion at Nazareth, toiled and rested, ate and slept, from week to week and from year to year, the same as his humble contemporaries. He called no attention to himself as a marked personage, yet he was the world's Redeemer, the adored of angels, doing, all the time, his Father's work, living out a lesson that should remain for humanity to copy to the end of time. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 11} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 12] This essential lesson of contented industry in the necessary duties of life, however humble, is yet to be learned by the greater portion of Christ's followers. If there is no human eye to criticise our work, nor voice to praise or blame, it should be done just as well as if the Infinite One himself were personally to inspect it. We should be as faithful in the minor details of our business, as we would in the larger affairs of life. {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 12} [HR, October 1, 1876 par. 13] God is testing and proving us by our daily lives, watching the development of our characters, weighing our moral worth. Those who slight the spirit of the Word of God in their business life, as carpenters, lawyers, and merchants, are unfaithful in matters of eternal interest, since it is the life that indicates the spiritual advancement, and registers upon the Book of God the unchangeable figures of the future. The angels are mournfully inscribing a fearful record of slighted duties and neglected opportunities against many who make exalted professions. Those who are unfaithful in little things, cannot be entrusted with the true riches of the kingdom. - {HR, October 1, 1876 par. 13} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 1] November 1, 1876 Damp Beds. - By Mrs. E. G. White. - We would suggest to the readers of the Reformer that their sleeping rooms need extra attention this damp November weather, and especially is this the case with the "spare bedroom," the curtains and blinds of which are too often closely drawn. Protect the lives of the friends who visit you, by giving proper attention to their sleeping apartments. It is some little sacrifice for them to be deprived of their customary room and bed; but, in addition to this, do not let them be haunted with a fear of the damp bed in "that spare room." You cannot be too careful in properly ventilating the room and in seeing that the bed and bedding are perfectly dry. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 1} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 2] Many are slow to become intelligent concerning the important matter of properly caring for the bedroom. It is not safe to sleep in a room that is seldom occupied and is not frequently heated, unless the bedding is first exposed to the sun for several hours, or, in case this should be impossible, subjected to artificial heat. Every article composing the bed should be perfectly dried. If these precautions are neglected, health and life itself are endangered. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 2} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 3] In our itinerant experience, we have suffered much from being assigned to rooms and beds not in common use, and not properly aired. It was unpleasant to dictate to our hostess concerning the room and bed we were to occupy, and from a fear of being judged notional, or too ready in making work for others, we often ran serious risks. Earlier in life we did not so fully realize the danger lurking in the damp "spare" beds of our friends, and the life of one of our little ones was sacrificed by sleeping in one that had not been previously used for several weeks. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 3} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 4] In the State of Maine we were once entertained by kind friends who seemed anxious to do all in their power to make us comfortable; but they did not see the importance of carefully attending to the bed in the "spare chamber." We had labored hard during the day in speaking to the people, and needed a good night's rest. But the room we occupied was cold, the bed was damp, and we became so thoroughly chilled that sleep was impossible. We substituted our large blanket shawl for the damp sheets, and finally put on the most of our garments, but we were too cold to sleep, and lay shivering through the entire night. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 4} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 5] In the morning courteous inquiry was made as to how we had rested during the night. In reply, we stated that the bed was damp. Our friends expressed profound astonishment at this, and assured us that we must be mistaken; but, upon investigation, we learned that the room and bed had not been used for weeks. The blinds had been closed, excluding the sun and air, and, there being no conveniences for lighting a fire in the room, it had gathered dampness for weeks; and yet it was difficult to convince the good people who entertained us that the room and bed were not just as they should be, and they could hardly account for our painful experience during the night. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 5} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 6] At another house we were entertained by friends whom we highly esteemed; but, in their anxiety to treat us with marked respect, we were, as usual, assigned to the "spare room," and the damp "spare" bed. The windows were draped with heavy curtains, and the blinds were tightly closed. The room was elegantly furnished, but as soon as we entered it we were greeted with a moldy smell and a cold, poisonous atmosphere that seemed to chill the blood in our veins. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 6} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 7] Upon examining the bed, we found it so damp that we dared not occupy it in that condition. Although it was late, we stated the case to our hospitable friends, and they immediately proceeded to correct the evil as far as possible. A rousing fire was built in the room adjoining ours, and the clothing was removed from the bed and hung before the fire to dry, and in that position drops of water actually formed upon the sheets. But when at a late hour we retired to rest, it was to occupy a dry bed in that "spare room." {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 7} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 8] We might relate many such incidents in our experience, but these are sufficient for the purpose. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 8} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 9] A family whom we highly respect moved from Maine to California, hoping that the mild climate of that State would improve the health of the wife and mother. She was greatly benefited by the change, and seemed in a fair way of recovering her full strength; but, a neighboring family being afflicted with sickness, she went, at the solicitation of her neighbor, to watch with and assist her. Toward morning she went to bed in the "spare room," which, unfortunately, was very damp. As a consequence, she contracted a severe cold which settled upon her lungs. She sank into a rapid decline and soon died, a victim to the damp "spare" bed. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 9} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 10] Illy ventilated rooms, from which the sunlight is excluded, and which are undried by fires, are fearfully destructive of life. So much is sacrificed every year through the influence of these damp rooms and beds that we cannot keep silent. We hope to arouse the people so that they will see the necessity of having conveniences for fires in their sleeping rooms, so that during the damp seasons of the year the room may be kept free from dampness and mold and the bedding dry. A little expense in this direction would save large sums in doctor's bills, and a great amount of suffering would be avoided. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 10} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 11] We appeal to every reader of the Health Reformer to open every room in the house to the purifying, rays of the sun and the sweet pure air. Open your shutters and remove your heavy curtains; they are unnecessary. Invite the sun and air as daily guests into your rooms, and you will be repaid in improved health and more cheerful spirits, and your guests will receive your courtesies unattended by the ghostly dread of that damp "spare" bed. - {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 11} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 1] November 1, 1876 Home Adornment. - By Mrs. Ellen G. White. - Many are unhappy in their home life, because they are trying so hard to keep up appearances. They expend largely of means and labor unremittingly to gain the praise of their associates--those who really care nothing for them or their prosperity. One article after another is considered indispensable to the household appointments, until many expensive additions are made that, while giving a momentary satisfaction to the eye, do not increase the comfort of the family one whit. At the same time, all these things have taxed the strength and patience, and consumed valuable time which might be expended in the service of the Lord. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 1} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 2] The precious grace of God is made secondary to matters of no real importance, and while collecting material for enjoyment, they lose the capacity for happiness. They find that their possessions fail to give the satisfaction they had hoped to derive from them. This endless round of labor, and unceasing anxiety to embellish the home for visitors and strangers to admire, never pays for the time and means thus expended. It is hanging about the neck a yoke of bondage grievous to be borne. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 2} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 3] In many households, there are four walls and costly furniture, velvet carpets and plateglass mirrors; and this place is wrongly named Home. That sacred word does not belong to the glittering mansion, where the joys of domestic life are unknown. There are spacious parlors, closed from the sweet sunshine and the life-giving air, for fear those choicest gifts of Heaven might tarnish the furniture and fade the carpets. Sunless and damp, these rooms are unlighted and unheated save when visitors are to be entertained. Then the doors are thrown open, and the treasures, too precious for the use and comfort of the family, are devoted to unsympathizing acquaintances. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 3} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 4] These rooms are altogether too fine for every-day use, and above all, the children must be strictly excluded from their precincts, for fear of soiling the furniture or curtains. In fact, the children are the last thought of in such a home. They are utterly neglected by the mother, whose whole time is devoted to keeping up appearances. Their minds are untrained, they acquire bad habits, and become restless and dissatisfied. Finding no pleasure in their own homes, but only uncomfortable restrictions, they choose to break away from the household as soon as possible. It does not require expensive furniture and costly tapestry to make children contented and happy in their homes; but it is necessary that the parents give them tender love and careful attention. It is for the parents to take the lead in habits of simplicity, drawing their children from the artificial to the natural life, and binding them to their hearts by the silken cords of affection. Gentle manners, cheerful conversation and loving words, will make home more attractive than any ornaments that can be bought or sold. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 4} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 5] There are but few true fathers and mothers in this age of the world, and this is on account of the artificial lives we lead more than from any other cause. We should not be so anxious for external appearances, but labor more for practical comfort throughout every room in the house. Less parade in the parlor, and more time devoted to the training of the children, and to the preparation of simple, wholesome food, and to the general economy and comfort of the household, would make happy hearts and pleasant faces in the home. We should live less for the outside world, and more for the members of our own family circle. There should be less display of superficial politeness and affectation toward strangers and visitors, and more of the courtesy that springs from genuine love and sympathy toward the dear ones of our own firesides. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 5} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 6] The very best part of the house, and the most comfortable furniture, should be for the use of the family, for the comfort of those who really live in the house. Such a home would be most attractive to that class of friends who really care for us, whom we could benefit, and by whom we could be benefited. But those guests who are attracted to us by the prospect of sumptuous dinners, and an extravagant luxury of style, are not the ones whose companionship will improve our minds or hearts. We have no moral right to lavish time and bounty upon such visitors, while our precious God-given children are suffering gross neglect. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 6} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 7] But it is so flattering to the pride of some persons to exhibit a certain style of living for the benefit of occasional guests that they are willing to sacrifice the daily peace and comfort of life for this empty gratification. The gorgeously embellished mansions, costly furniture and carpets, the toil in serving up dishes for epicurean appetites, the extravagant entertainments which swallow up thousands of dollars, and pompous equipages more for show than comfort, bring no peaceful contentment, because they have no connection with the real joys of life. {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 7} [HR, November 1, 1876 par. 8] As these extravagances fail to satisfy their possessors, they blindly seek to remedy the failure by adding new luxuries, with greater dissatisfaction, and an increase of care and anxiety as a result. Decorations of dress and of houses do not make happy people; but the lowliest dwelling may be beautified, and the poorest family be made rich, by the possession of meekness, kindness, and love. Pleasant voices, gentle manners, and sincere affection that finds expression in all the actions, make even a hovel the happiest of homes, upon which the Creator looks with approbation, unto which angels are attracted, the inmates of which, though they have not "that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel," have that which is far better, "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." - {HR, November 1, 1876 par. 8} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 1] December 1, 1876 Home Thoughts. - By Mrs. E. G. White. - Life is a disappointment and a weariness to many persons because of the unnecessary labor with which they burden themselves in meeting the claims of custom. Their minds are continually harassed with anxiety as to supplying wants which are the offspring of pride and fashion. Jesus, in his sermon on the mount, strikes a direct blow at this engrossing care for the things of this world. He says, "Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?" "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." All the efforts of humanity cannot approach the beauty of Nature. The simple flowers of the field put to shame the robes of royalty. And Fashion, with her endless changes and eccentricities, presents the very opposite of that simple loveliness with which the lilies of the field are clothed, and which Jesus declared exceeds the glory with which Solomon was arrayed. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 1} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 2] The expense, the care and labor, lavished on that which, if not positively injurious, is unnecessary, would go far toward advancing the cause of God if applied to a worthier object. People crave what are called the luxuries of life, and sacrifice health, strength, and means to obtain them. A lamentable spirit of rivalry is manifested among persons of the same class as to who shall make the greatest display in matters of dress and of household expenditure. The sweet word, Home, is perverted to mean something with four walls, filled with elegant furniture and adornments, while its inmates are on a continual strain to meet the requirements of custom in the different departments of life. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 2} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 3] It is necessary to give due regard to the clothing, to the table, and to the pursuits by which we gain a livelihood; but there is danger of carrying this zeal to an extreme. In the days of Noah they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, buying, selling, and building, till the flood came and destroyed the people who had been so overzealous in the things of this world that they forgot God, and became abominable in his eyes. It was lawful for men to eat and drink, plant and build, marry and give in marriage, in the days of Noah; but the sin was in carrying these lawful things to extremes, to utterly fill their minds with them to the exclusion of all noble thoughts. Depravity, violence, and all manner of sin was the result. The great danger of these days is in devoting too much time to merely temporal matters, and making it the great aim of life to provide for the temporal wants, many of which are perverted and unnatural. In order to gratify a weak and sinful pride, people sacrifice comfort, peace, and the love of God. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 3} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 4] Happiness is not found in empty show. The more simple the order of a well-regulated household, the happier will that home be. The courtesies of every-day life, and the affection that should exist between members of the same family, do not depend upon outward circumstances. Much of the restless longing and seeking for "that which profiteth not" is due to wrong training in youth. Each child in the family should have a part of the home burden to bear, and should be taught to perform his task faithfully and cheerfully. If the work is portioned out in this way, and the children grow up accustomed to bearing suitable responsibilities, no member of the household will be overburdened, and everything will move off pleasantly and smoothly in the home. A proper economy will be maintained, for each one will be acquainted with, and interested in, the details of the home. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 4} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 5] In some families there is too much done. Neatness and order are essential to comfort, but these virtues should not be carried to such an extreme as to make life a period of unceasing drudgery, and to render the inmates of the home miserable. In the houses of some whom we highly esteem, there is a stiff precision about the arrangement of the furniture and belongings that is quite as disagreeable as a lack of order would be. The painful propriety which invests the whole house makes it impossible to find there that rest which one expects in the true home. It is not pleasant, when making a brief visit to dear friends, to see the broom and the duster in constant requisition, and the time which you had anticipated enjoying with your friends in social converse, spent by them in a general tidying-up, and peering into corners in search of a concealed speck of dust or a cob-web. Although this may be done out of respect to your presence in the house, yet you feel a painful conviction that your company is of less consequence to your friends than their ideas of excessive neatness. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 5} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 6] In direct contrast to such homes was one that we visited during the last summer. Here the few hours of our stay were not spent in useless labor, nor in doing that which could be done as well at some other time; but were occupied in a pleasant and profitable manner, restful alike to mind and body. The house was a model of comfort, although not extravagantly furnished. The rooms were all well lighted and ventilated, and every one, including the bed-rooms, was furnished with an open grate that the occupants might enjoy the healthful warmth and glow of an open fire, which is of more real value than the most costly adornments. The parlors were not furnished with that precision which is so tiresome to the eye, but there was a pleasing variety in the articles of furniture: The chairs were mostly rockers or easy-chairs; not all of the same fashion, but adapted to the comfort of the different members of the family. There were low, cushioned rocking-chairs, and high, straight-backed ones; wide, capacious lounging-chairs, and snug little ones; there were also comfortable sofas; and all seemed to say, Try me, Rest in me. There were tables strewn with books and papers. All was neat and attractive, but without that precise arrangement that seems to warn all beholders not to touch anything for fear of getting it out of place. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 6} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 7] The proprietors of this pleasant home were in such circumstances that they might have furnished and embellished their residence expensively, but they had wisely chosen comfort rather than display. There was nothing in the house considered too good for general use, and the curtains and blinds were not kept closed to keep the carpets from fading and the furniture from tarnishing. The God-given sunlight and air had free ingress, with the fragrance of the flowers in the garden. The family were, of course, in keeping with the home; they were cheerful and entertaining, doing everything needful for our comfort, without oppressing us with so much attention as to make us fear that we were causing extra trouble. We felt that here was a place of rest. This was a Home in the fullest sense of the word. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 7} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 8] The rigid precision which we have mentioned as being a disagreeable feature of so many homes is not in accordance with the great plan of Nature. God has not caused the flowers of the fields to grow in regular beds, with set borders, but he has scattered them like gems over the greensward, and they beautify the earth with their variety of form and color. The trees of the forest are not in regular order. It is restful to eye and mind to range over the scenes of nature, over forest, hill and valley, plain and river, enjoying the endless diversity of form and color, and the beauty with which trees, shrubs, and flowers, are grouped in nature's garden, making it a picture of loveliness. Childhood, youth, and age can alike find rest and gratification there. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 8} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 9] This law of variety can be in a measure carried out in the home. There should be a proper harmony of colors, and a general fitness of things in the furnishing of a house; but it is not necessary to good taste that every article of furniture in a room should be of the same pattern in design, material, or upholstery; but, on the contrary, it is more pleasing to the eye that there should be a harmonious variety. {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 9} [HR, December 1, 1876 par. 10] But whether the home be humble or elegant, its appointments costly or the reverse, there will be no happiness within its walls unless the spirit of its inmates is in harmony with the Divine will. Contentment should reign within the household. - {HR, December 1, 1876 par. 10} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 1] January 1, 1877 Proper Dress. - By Mrs. E. G. White. - At this season of the year, particular attention should be given to the best manner of dressing ourselves and our children to secure physical health. This is necessary in obedience to the exhortation of the apostle to present to God our bodies holy and acceptable in his sight. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 1} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 2] It is not possible to render to God acceptable service while we are suffering under disease. Children need the daily lesson that life and health are not to be trifled with. These are blessings not to be abused. The mind should not be dwarfed to meet the common standard. We should strive to fulfill our mission according to the will of God, in blessing others and glorifying his name. Our Redeemer has bought us with a dear price. "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 2} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 3] In order to fulfill the claims that God has upon us, we should study his will more earnestly, and the approval of the world less. Many professed Christians are so absorbed in their efforts to gratify their children by dressing them in a manner to keep pace with fashion, that they have but little time or thought to devote to the inward adorning, or to the matter of dressing in a manner to meet the approval of God. {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 3} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 4] Christian parents have grave responsibilities resting upon them in training their children. They should impress them with a high sense of their obligations to God, and the bearing that their dressing and eating will have upon their lives. A careful consideration would reveal to parents the fact that much of the fatigue and labor, under which they are wearing and growing old, are not burdens that God has bound upon them, but which they have brought upon themselves by doing the very things the word of God has told them not to do. "Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 4} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 5] But few parents are educating their children by precept and example to form lovely characters and secure the inner beauty, the meekness and lowliness of Christ. {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 5} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 6] Many lives have been sacrificed in conforming to the demands of fashion. And few sense the fearful responsibility this incurs. When hoops were in fashion, we were pained to listen to the arguments of many professed Christian women for the necessity of wearing them for the health. They could walk better and work better. Little girls were seen imitating their mothers in fastening upon their little forms something to distend their dresses like hoops. The mothers argued their healthfulness, why should not they wear them? Children conformed to this fashion. The hoops distended the skirts that they could not fall naturally about the form and give warmth to the body. The extremities were chilled. Thousands of innocent victims were sacrificed to the hoop fashion. {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 6} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 7] True dress reform regulates every article of dress worn upon the person. In order to equalize the circulation of the blood, the clothing should be equally distributed upon the person, that equal warmth may be preserved in all parts of the body. The limbs, being remote from the vital organs, should have special attention. The extremities should be guarded from cold and chilliness by a bountiful amount of clothing. It is impossible for women or children to have health when their limbs and feet are habitually cold. If there is too little blood in the limbs, there will be a superabundance of blood in other portions of the body. There are usually worn over the chest, where there is naturally the greatest amount of heat, from four to six coverings. Over the lower part of the waist there are, in addition to these coverings, bands, plaits, overskirts lapped and puffed. All these extra coverings induce heat. The lower limbs are only furnished with two thicknesses of light material, while the feet are covered with thin flannel stockings, and cloth shoes. With the present style of woman's dress it is impossible to preserve an equal circulation of the blood. The limbs being insufficiently clad, the blood is not induced to the extremities. Our Creator has formed the limbs with large veins and vessels to contain a large proportion of blood, that the limbs may be sufficiently nourished and proportionately warm with other portions of the body. But fashion robs the limbs of coverings, and the life current is chilled from its natural channel and thrown back upon its internal organs. The many coverings over the chest and lungs induce the blood to these parts, and the animal heat thus retained weakens and debilitates these delicate organs, causing congestion and inflammation. The head, lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys have too much blood, while the limbs have not enough for warmth and proper development. The result is, the blood-vessels in the limbs contract because they are not filled and cannot contain the due proportion of blood which nature designed they should, and they are always chilly. Because this chilliness is habitual, it is not noticed by children who are thus unhealthfully dressed. These children, who are disciplined to conform to fashion, are not well proportioned. Their slender, fleshless limbs testify to the abuse they have suffered. Fashion has robbed their limbs of their natural plumpness. {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 7} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 8] The limbs of our children should be thoroughly and sensibly clad with as many coverings as other portions of the body. First should be the long under-drawers reaching to the ankle. Next the warm flannel stocking reaching to the knee, fastened by elastics to the waist. Over these should be the warmly lined pants made tapering, or gathered in a band at the bottom, and fastened about the ankle. Warm boots with thick soles should cover the feet. The limbs and feet of little girls should be as warmly and thoroughly clad as those of the boys, that they may exercise in the open air without running the risk of taking cold. {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 8} [HR, January 1, 1877 par. 9] I would appeal to parents to devote less time to ornamenting their children's clothing, which only fosters in them a spirit of vanity, and to so instruct them that they may secure good constitutions. And then they can dismiss doctors with their drugs, and see their children enjoy good health, sound morals, and standing independent for a sensible, healthful dress in defiance of the fashions of our times. - {HR, January 1, 1877 par. 9} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 1] February 1, 1877 The Follies of Fashionable Dress. - By Mrs. E. G. White. - Indifference and ignorance in regard to the laws which govern our being are sins so common that we have learned to look upon them with undue tolerance. But when we reflect that we are under obligation to God to care for the soul's habitation, that in order to properly fulfill the duties he has assigned us we should preserve ourselves in the best possible condition of health, then we begin to realize that attention to our physical health is a sacred duty which we owe to our Creator. If we pursue a course that weakens our strength, either physically or mentally, we cannot render perfect service to God; we fall short of the duties required of us by him, and thus rob him of his due. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 1} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 2] The violation of nature's laws results in disease; and the greater share of the ills of life might be avoided by conforming the habits to those divinely appointed rules. Women especially are the victims of various maladies which might be lessened, if not entirely prevented, by right habits of life. Half their sufferings may be attributed to their manner of dress, and the insane desire to conform to the fashions of the world, introduced as a system of speculation and profit, or for other and baser reasons. Every Christian woman should dress neatly, simply, and healthfully, whether the world approve or disapprove. This cannot be done in adopting the present style of dress. The full back skirts are burdensome, create undue heat in that portion of the body which they cover, and, together with the ridiculous fashion of pinning or tying back the outer drapery, impede the movements of the limbs, make it an impossibility to walk easily or naturally, or to engage with any degree of comfort in any active exercise or useful labor. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 2} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 3] The beauty of simplicity is lost and the graceful fall of the drapery broken up by manifold puffs, ruffles, plaits, and sashes. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 3} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 4] Time and money are thus expended, not to add to the convenience and healthfulness of the dress, but to render it ungraceful, untidy, cumbersome, and injurious; and all this is for the express purpose of conforming to a senseless fashion. The useless trimming and arranging of these dresses take a vast amount of time. This may not seem of so much consequence to the wealthier class, who hire all their sewing done, but to those of limited means it is a serious consideration. Yet, nevertheless, most of them endeavor as far as possible to meet the demands of fashion, and impose upon themselves a rigorous task in forming with their own hands the useless trimming and appendages thought necessary to complete a "stylish" costume. The purse is pinched, things needed for the comfort of the home are dispensed with, time which should be given to the family is wasted, poverty creeps in with extravagance and neglect; and wretchedness follows this blind, unreasoning effort to keep pace with the fashionable world. Happiness, health, and often life itself, are sacrificed on the altar of fashion. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 4} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 5] Even those who profess to be reformers in the matter of dress have imbibed narrow views of the subject and fail to consider it in the broadest and fullest sense. Many conceive of dress reform as consisting alone in a shortening of the dress to escape the floor by several inches, and, having effected this, they flatter themselves that they have done all that is necessary. Although the shortening of the skirts is well enough so far as it goes, yet their dress may still be unhealthful in many respects. The lungs may be compressed by tight-fitting bands, waists or corsets, which hinder the free flow of blood through the system. It is essential to health that the chest should have room to fully expand, so that the lungs may be enabled to take full inspirations of air. Many who have died of consumption might have lived their allotted term of life had they dressed in accordance with the laws of their being. The strength of the system is, in a great degree, dependent upon the amount of pure fresh air breathed. If the lungs are restricted, the quantity of oxygen received into them is also limited, the blood becomes vitiated, and disease follows. Confinement in-doors and consequent deprivation of the invigorating sunlight and the exhilaration of exercise in the pure open air, complete the ruin begun by wrong habits of dress; feebleness and premature death are the result. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 5} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 6] The dangers resulting from a compression of the waist are not realized by the majority of women, though many able pens have treated upon the subject. Many claim that tight lacing is now nearly or quite abandoned, and such may think these remarks are uncalled-for; but it is true today that the corsets and dresses of most women are worn too tight for the proper action of the vital organs. The lungs, heart, and liver are burdened in their work. Every article of clothing upon the person should be worn so loose that, in raising the arms, the clothing will be correspondingly lifted by the action. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 6} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 7] This brings us to another error in the dress of women at the present day: The under clothing is usually sustained by the hips alone. This heavy weight, pressing upon the bowels, drags them downward, and causes weakness of the stomach and a sense of lassitude which leads the sufferer to incline forward; this tends to farther cramp the lungs and prevent their proper action. The blood becomes impure, the pores of the skin fail in their office, sallowness and disease set in, beauty and health are gone. Ladies may resort to cosmetics to restore the tint of the complexion, but they cannot thus bring back the glow of healthful feelings to the heart. That which darkens and dinges the skin also clouds the spirits and destroys the cheerfulness and peace of the mind. Every woman who values health should avoid hanging any weight upon the hips. The shoulders should be made to sustain the weight of every article of clothing worn upon the person. This will relieve the bowels from undue pressure, and prevent that weakness of the stomach and bowels which is prevailing to an alarming extent. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 7} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 8] Every wrong habit which injures the health of the body, reacts in effect upon the mind. Many care-worn, nervous, anxious women are so because they cheat themselves of the pure air that makes pure blood, and the freedom of motion which sends that blood coursing through the veins and gives life, health, and energy. Women, of all persons, need strength of mind and body to grapple with the ills and anxieties of life; but most of them are so weak and nerveless that they are conquered and crushed by them instead. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 8} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 9] Thousands of women are today suffering from a painful relaxation of the system for want of vigorous physical exercise. They are rusting out their lives in inaction. Their present style of dress proves a hindrance to the free use of their limbs, and they gradually, almost unconsciously, give up healthful exercise, and surrender to a life of inactivity: Many of the women of the present time are only able to arrange their dresses, put them on and carry them about with their burden of over-skirts, puffing, plaiting, ruffling, trimming, bows, and buttons. After the dressing, ornamenting, and frizzling are accomplished, they feel wholly unable to go out in the open air and engage in exercise that would expand their lungs and give elasticity to their limbs; besides, such exercise would be likely to spoil their fine dresses. Therefore they indulge in sedentary habits at the expense of health, happiness, and even life. They are abject slaves to the tyrant, fashion. They deform the human form divine by the many inventions decreed by this monster. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 9} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 10] Jesus requires of none of his followers the sort of slavery that fashion demands. He would free them from this self-imposed thralldom. He pities them as he sees them sacrificing health and the best interests of life upon this unholy altar. He invites them: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." He presents his yoke in contrast with the galling one they have placed upon their own necks, and says, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Here is the secret of content and peace and happiness: obedience of the laws of nature and of God. The true Christian, possessing the meekness and lowliness of Christ, is content with plain, convenient, healthful garments, and seeks to live a life of usefulness and conform his habits to the example of Jesus. Such a one will find the truest happiness, the reward of well-doing. Such a one will be lifted above the slavery of an artificial life into the freedom and grace of Christ-like simplicity. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 10} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 11] But what account can those who follow the fashions and follies of the present day render to God for the use they have made of the time and abilities given them for wise improvement? Their minds, instead of being developed and strengthened by proper cultivation, have been dwarfed and crippled by being devoted almost entirely to the arrangement of the dress in accordance with the demands of fashion. This is the crying evil of our sex, and lies at the bottom of many of the failures and miseries of life. Many women who profess to be followers of Jesus Christ are servants to the fashions of the world, and delight to adopt new inventions in styles, constantly appearing out in new costumes and new deformities of dress. {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 11} [HR, February 1, 1877 par. 12] It would be well if a pledge of temperance in dress could be presented for our women to sign and to observe. The intoxicating influence of extravagance and display in dress has so degrading an effect upon the minds of many women that such a measure would seem justifiable and reasonable. Thousands are unfitted for the every-day duties of domestic life because of this mania for dress. Their children, who are a precious trust to them from God, are neglected, and grow up without proper care and attention, obtaining too often an education in vice. Prayer in the closet is abandoned, the Word of God is left unread, and there is no time nor aptitude for religious meditation. Said Christ, "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." Those who are attracted to Christ and who live for the future immortal life, will not be slaves of fashion. - {HR, February 1, 1877 par. 12} [HR, March 1, 1877 par. 1] March 1, 1877 The Duties of a Mother. - By Mrs E. G. White. - The Christian mother, to a very great extent, has it within her power to secure to her children good constitutions, sound morals, and correct views of the duties and responsibilities of life. Thousands of mothers are today ignorant of the laws of health and morality, and utterly reckless in the management of their children. Thousands are ruined for life and rendered worthless to society through neglect of proper training in early youth. A failure of health prevents the cultivation and development of the mental faculties, the talents lie dormant in consequence, and the world loses the benefit of them. A knowledge of, and obedience to, the laws of nature would have preserved the healthful action of body and mind and given to humanity the blessing of many a life now wasted in uselessness. Through the inefficiency of parents, much good is lost to the world, and God is robbed of the glory he should receive through the proper direction of youthful talent and energy. {HR, March 1, 1877 par. 1} [HR, March 1, 1877 par. 2] Mothers are not thoroughly qualified to discipline and educate the minds of the young, unless they have that knowledge of God by which they can conscientiously train their children for the highest usefulness in this life and for the future, immortal life. In the education of her children, the mother needs the wisdom which God alone can give her. She also needs health and its accompaniment of calm nerves, clear judgment, and sound reasoning powers. She will then have decision as well as gentleness, firmness as well as love, and will be able to hold the reins of guidance with a firm yet patient hand. She should cultivate that quiet dignity and independence of character which is necessary to her sacred life-work, and the proper conducting of her household. The customs and habits of the world in regard to the training of children should not turn a Christian mother from her course. In no case should she sacrifice her ideas of right because she sees many mothers yielding their scruples in order to gratify the inclinations of their children for questionable amusements, idleness, or a style of dress calculated to foster vanity and injure the health. {HR, March 1, 1877 par. 2} [HR, March 1, 1877 par. 3] Indulgence of wrong desires and gratification of the animal passions are the order of the day in this age of the world. Youth is surrounded with the fascinations of pleasure and the seductive temptations of sin. For these reasons a great and important responsibility rests upon the Christian mother. It is hers, in a measure, to rectify the growing evils of the world by rearing her children in such a manner that they will take a firm stand for the right and cast their influence on the side of virtue. But the mother who submits her God-given womanhood to the slavery of fashion wastes, in useless labor and frivolity, time and energy which should be devoted to her sacred calling. She cannot feel a sense of her solemn responsibility to God and humanity. Satan has invented manifold temptations to divert the minds of mothers from their most important work. The matter of dress holds the larger share of women in the veriest bondage. The study of fashion-plates is pursued with untiring zeal, and is followed up by an endless round of cutting, fitting, stitching, ruffling, pointing, and plaiting, to arrange for vain display. All this costs time, money, and concentration of mind, for which no equivalent is returned. The mental powers are dwarfed for want of proper cultivation, and wretchedly abused by being almost wholly bent upon the object of preparing raiment for the body, while their children are on the way to ruin. {HR, March 1, 1877 par. 3} [HR, March 1, 1877 par. 4] Many mothers are much more concerned as to the dress and adornment of their children than they are for their behavior and the proper direction of their minds. They will spend precious time in ruffling and trimming the garments of their little ones, while those who are to wear them are running in the streets, subject to the influence of vile associates and breathing in the atmosphere of vice. The hours that should be devoted to prayerful communion with them and a careful superintendence of their employments and amusements are worse than wasted in ornamenting the little suits which will serve to add the evil of vanity to the faults already acquired. A mother who prizes the approval of God and who is controlled by heavenly influences will not dare to waste her precious time, strength, and money, in arranging her own and her children's dress to meet the claims of custom. Fashion-loving mothers are daily giving their children lessons in devotion to dress, which they will never unlearn in afterlife. They are sowing seeds in those tender minds which will erelong bear fruit. "Sad will the harvest be!" "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." {HR, March 1, 1877 par. 4} [HR, March 1, 1877 par. 5] It is the mother's duty constantly to educate her mind and heart for the grave duties devolving upon her, that she may successfully meet her increasing family cares. She should study the peculiarities in the temperaments of her children, and vary her discipline to suit their different dispositions; thus she will be able to mold their minds in the right shape. The usual management of children at the present time tends to weaken their moral power. They are allowed to be idle, and their active young minds, seeking employment, stumble into evil ways. They are not taught self-denial and prompt obedience, therefore they grow up selfish and incapable of taking up the earnest work of life. The example of most parents is demoralizing to the children, who naturally look to them for a pattern. If the parents are swept into the strong current of the world and follow its practices regardless of right or wrong, time or expense, certainly no better can be expected of their children. The lessons of precept and example given by parents to their children should tend to fit their characters for the higher, immortal life. They are thus qualified also for the greatest usefulness in this world. God has placed us here not to live for our own amusement, but to do good, to bless humanity, to prepare for Heaven. Every violation of moral obligation, with its burden of result, must be met and accounted for hereafter. {HR, March 1, 1877 par. 5} [HR, March 1, 1877 par. 6] Especially are the mother's moments priceless; her work will be tested in the solemn day of accounts. Then it will be found that many of the failures and crimes of men and women have resulted from the ignorance and gross neglect of those whose duty it was to guide their childish feet in the right way. Then it will be found that many who have blessed the world with the light of genius and truth and holiness, owe the staunch principles and integrity that were the mainspring of their usefulness and success to the careful religious training of a praying Christian mother. - {HR, March 1, 1877 par. 6} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 1] April 1, 1877 The Primal Cause of Intemperance. - By Mrs. E. G. White. - Only one lease of life is granted us here; and the inquiry with every one should be: How can I invest my life that it may yield the greatest profit? Life is valuable only as we improve it for the benefit of our fellow-creatures and the glory of God. Careful cultivation of the abilities with which the Creator has endowed us will qualify us for elevated usefulness here and a higher life in the world to come. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 1} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 2] That time is spent to the very best account which is directed to the establishment and preservation of sound physical and mental health. The precious boon of health is too often illy appreciated by its possessor until the treasure is carelessly lost by transgression of nature's laws, and suffering and disease take its place. Riches cannot purchase health. Inspiration cites us to the case of a woman who had been afflicted for many years, and had spent all her living upon physicians, yet was made worse rather than better by their treatment. And had not the compassionate Saviour taken pity upon her and released her from her infirmity, she would soon have died. This case finds its parallel today in many who expend large sums in medical attendance, in the vain hope of inducing a return of their lost health. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 2} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 3] It is easy matter to lose the health; but it is difficult to regain it. One of the most fruitful sources of shattered constitutions among men is a devotion to the getting of money, an inordinate desire for wealth. They narrow their lives to the single pursuit of money, sacrifice rest, sleep, and the comforts of life to this one object. Their naturally good constitutions are broken down, disease sets in as a consequence of the abuse of their physical powers, and death closes the scene of a perverted life. Not a dollar of his wealth can that man take with him who has obtained it at such a terrible price. Money, palaces, and rich apparel avail him nothing now; his life-work is worse than useless. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 3} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 4] We cannot afford to dwarf or cripple a single function of the mind or body by overwork or abuse of any part of the living machinery. So sure as we do this we must suffer the consequences. Our first duty to God and our fellow-beings is in self-development. Every faculty with which the Creator has endowed us should be cultivated to the highest degree of perfection, that we may be able to do the greatest amount of good of which we are capable. In order to purify and refine our characters, we need the grace given us of Christ that will enable us to see and correct our deficiencies, and improve that which is excellent in our characters. This work, wrought for ourselves in the strength and name of Jesus, will be of more benefit to our fellow-creatures than any sermon we might preach them. The example of a well-balanced, well-ordered life is of inestimable value. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 4} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 5] Intemperance is at the foundation of the larger share of the ills of life. It annually destroys tens of thousands. We do not speak of intemperance as limited only to the use of intoxicating liquors, but give it a broader meaning, including the hurtful indulgence of any appetite or passion. Thousands today are suffering the torture of physical pain, and wishing again and again that they never had been born. God did not design this condition of things; but it was brought about through the gross violation of nature's laws. If the appetites and passions were under the control of sanctified reason, society would present a widely different aspect. Many things that are usually made articles of diet are unfit for food, and the taste for them is not natural, but has been cultivated. Stimulating food creates a desire for still stronger stimulants. Indigestible food throws the entire system out of order, and unnatural cravings and inordinate appetites are the results. "Touch not, taste not, handle not," is a motto that should be carried farther than the mere use of spirituous liquors. True temperance teaches us to abstain entirely from that which is injurious, and to use judiciously only healthful and nutritious articles of food. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 5} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 6] The first steps in intemperance are usually taken in early youth. Stimulating food is given to the child, which excites unnatural cravings of the stomach. These false appetites are pandered to as they develop. The taste continually becomes more perverted; stronger stimulants are craved and are indulged in till soon the slave of appetite throws aside all restraint. The evil commenced early in life, and could have been prevented by the parents. We witness wonderful struggles in our country to put down intemperance. But it is found a hard matter to overpower and chain the strong, full-grown lion. If half the efforts that are put forth to stay this giant evil were directed toward enlightening parents as to their responsibility in forming the habits and characters of their children a thousand-fold more good might result, than from the present course of only combating the full-grown evil. The unnatural appetite for spirituous liquors is created at home, in many cases at the very tables of those who are most zealous to lead out in the temperance campaigns. We bid all workers in the good cause God speed; but we invite them to look deeper into the causes of the evil they war against, and go more thoroughly and consistently into reform. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 6} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 7] Parents should so conduct themselves that their lives will be a daily lesson of self-control and forbearance to their household. The father and mother should unite in disciplining their children; each should bear a share of the responsibility, acknowledging themselves under solemn obligations to God to train up their offspring in such a way as to secure to them, as far as possible, good physical health, and well-developed characters. Upon the mother, however, will come the heavier burden, especially in the first few years of her children's lives. It is her duty to control and direct the developing minds of her tender charge as well as to watch over their health. The father should aid her with his sympathy and counsel, and share her burdens whenever it is possible to do so. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 7} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 8] Parents should not lightly regard the work of training their children, nor neglect it upon any account. They should employ much time in careful study of the laws which regulate our being. They should make it their first object to become intelligent in regard to the proper manner of dealing with their children, that they may secure to them sound minds in sound bodies. Especially should they spread their tables upon all occasions with unstimulating yet nourishing food. There are but few who carry out the correct principles of health reform in the furnishing of their tables. They are controlled by custom, to a very great extent, instead of sound reason and the claims of God. Many who profess to be followers of Christ are sadly neglectful of home duties; they do not perceive the sacred importance of the trust which God has placed in their hands to so mold the characters of their children that they will have the moral stamina to resist the many temptations that ensnare the feet of youth. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 8} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 9] We urge that the principles of temperance be carried into all the details of home-life that the example of the parents should be a lesson of temperance; that self-denial and self-control should be taught to the children and enforced upon them, so far as consistent from babyhood. And first it is important that the little ones be taught that they eat to live, not live to eat; that appetite must be held in abeyance to the will; and that the will must be governed by calm, intelligent reason. Much parental anxiety and grief might be saved if children were taught from their cradles that their wills were not to be made law, and their whims continually indulged. It is not so difficult as is generally supposed to teach the little child to stifle its outbursts of temper and subdue its fits of passion. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 9} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 10] Few parents begin early enough to teach their children obedience. The child is usually allowed to get two or three years the start of its parents, who forbear to discipline it, thinking it is too young to learn to obey. But all this time self is growing strong in the little being, and every day makes it a harder task for the parent to gain control of the child. At a very early age children can comprehend what is plainly and simply told them; and by kind and judicious management can be taught to obey. I have frequently seen children who were denied something that they wanted throw themselves upon the floor in a pet, kicking and screaming, while the injudicious mother alternately coaxed and scolded in the hope of restoring her child to good nature. This treatment only fosters the child's passion. The next time it goes over the same ground with increased willfulness, confident of gaining the day as before. Thus the rod is spared and the child is spoiled. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 10} [HR, April 1, 1877 par. 11] The mother should not allow her child to gain an advantage over her in a single instance. And, in order to maintain this authority, it is not necessary to resort to harsh measures; as firm, steady hand and a kindness which convinces the child of your love will accomplish the purpose. But let selfishness, anger, and self-will have its course for the first three years of a child's life, and it will be hard to bring it to submit to wholesome discipline. Its disposition has become soured; it delights in having its own way; parental control is distasteful. These evil tendencies grow with its growth, until in manhood supreme selfishness and a lack of self-control place him at the mercy of the evils that run riot in our land. {HR, April 1, 1877 par. 11} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 1] May 1, 1877 The Primal Cause of Intemperance - Second Paper. - By Mrs. E. G. White. - One who fills the sacred office of father or mother assumes the responsibility of teacher. Upon no account should the marriage relation be entered upon until the parties have a knowledge of the duties of a practical domestic life. The wife should have culture of mind and manners that she may be qualified to rightly train the children that may be given her. It should be the mother's aim to educate her precious charge to take a position in society to elevate the sinking standard of humanity; and for this reason there should be no more children in the family than can be properly cared for and educated. For the sake of their children, if for no other reason, mothers should cultivate their intellects, for they bear a greater responsibility in their work than does the king upon his throne. Few mothers feel the weight of the trust that is given them, or realize the efficiency they can attain for their peculiar work through patient, thorough effort in self-culture. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 1} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 2] And first, the mother needs to strictly discipline and cultivate all the faculties and affections of the mind and heart, that she may not have a distorted or one-sided character, and leave the marks of her deficiency or eccentricity upon her offspring. Many mothers need be roused to see the positive necessity of a change in their purposes and characters in order to perform acceptably the duties they have voluntarily assumed by entering upon the married life. The channel of woman's usefulness can be widened and her influence extended to an almost unlimited degree if she will give proper attention to these matters, which affect the destiny of the human race. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 2} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 3] The mother needs the most perfect self-control; and in order to secure this she should take all precautions against any physical or mental disorder. Her life should be ordered according to the laws of God and of health. As the diet materially affects the mind and disposition, she should be very careful in that particular, eating that which is nourishing but not stimulating, that her nerves may be calm and her temper equable. She will then find it easier to exercise patience in dealing with the varying tendencies of her children, and to hold the reins of government firmly yet affectionately. Children should virtually be trained in a home school from the cradle to maturity. And, as in the case of any well-regulated school, the teachers themselves gain important knowledge, the mother, especially, who is the principal teacher in the home, should there learn the most valuable lessons of her life. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 3} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 4] Well may the mother inquire with deep anxiety, as she looks upon the children given to her care, What is the great aim and object of their education? Is it to fit them for life and its duties, to qualify them to take an honorable position in the world, to do good, to benefit their fellow-beings, to gain eventually the reward of the righteous? If so, then the first lesson to be taught them is self-control; for no undisciplined, headstrong person can hope for success in this world or reward in the next. Children should be taught that they must not have their own way, but that the will of their parents must guide them. One of the most important lessons in this connection is the control of appetite. They should learn to eat at regular periods, and to allow nothing to pass their lips between these stated meals, which should be served twice or at most three times a day. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 4} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 5] For more than twelve years we have taken only two meals each day, of plain, unstimulating food. During that time, we have had almost constantly the care of children, varying in age from three to thirteen years. We worked gradually and carefully to change their habit of eating three times a day to two; we also worked cautiously to change their diet from stimulating food, as meat, rich gravies, pies, cakes, butter, spices, etc., to simple, wholesome fruits, vegetables, and grains. The consequence has been that our children have not been troubled with the various maladies to which children are more or less subject. They occasionally take cold by reason of carelessness, but this seldom makes them sick. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 5} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 6] We have, as an occasional experiment, changed the number of their daily meals from two to three; but the result was not good. In the morning their breath was offensive; and after testing the matter for a few weeks, we were thoroughly convinced that the children were better upon two meals a day than upon three; and we therefore returned to our former system, with marked improvement in the health of the children as a result. If tempted with the sight of food prepared for others, they incline to think they are hungry, but usually they do not miss or think about the third meal. Children reared in this way are much more easily controlled than those who are indulged in eating everything their appetite craves, and at all times. They are usually cheerful, contented, and healthy. Even the most stubborn, passionate, and wayward, have become submissive, patient, and possessed of self-control by persistently following up this order of diet, united with a firm but kind management in regard to other matters. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 6} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 7] Parents will have much to answer for in the day of accounts because of their wicked indulgence of their children. Many gratify every unreasonable wish, because it is easier to be rid of their importunity in this way than in any other. A child should be so trained that a refusal would be received in the right spirit, and accepted as final. Children are generally untaught in regard to the importance of when, how, and what they should eat. They are permitted to indulge their tastes freely, to eat at all hours, to help themselves to fruit when it tempts their eyes, and this, with the pie, cake, bread and butter, and sweetmeats eaten almost constantly, makes them gormands and dyspeptics. The digestive organs, like a mill which is continually kept running, become enfeebled, vital force is called from the brain to aid the stomach in its overwork, and thus the mental powers are weakened. The unnatural stimulation and wear of the vital forces make them nervous, impatient of restraint, self-willed, and irritable. They can scarcely be trusted out of their parents' sight. In many cases the moral powers seem deadened, and it is difficult to arouse them to a sense of the shame and grievous nature of sin; they slip easily into habits of prevarication, deceit, and often open lying. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 7} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 8] Parents deplore these things in their children, but do not realize that it is their own bad management which has brought about the evil. They have not seen the necessity of restraining the appetites and passions of their children, and they have grown and strengthened with their years. Mothers prepare with their own hands and place before their children food which has a tendency to injure them physically and mentally. Unwholesome diet makes a poor quality of blood. The appetite continually indulged is constantly craving something more stimulating; with the weakening of the moral powers bad associates are made, and the young man who has thus gone from bad to worse finds in the saloon that which meets the unnatural wants of his appetite. It then becomes a lion that can be tamed by no common means. Shame vanishes and manhood is sacrificed to an insatiate desire. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 8} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 9] There is a general mourning that intemperance prevails to such a fearful extent; but we fasten the primal cause upon fathers and mothers who have provided upon their tables the means by which the appetites of their children are educated for exciting stimulants. They themselves have sown in their children the seeds of intemperance, and it is their fault if they become drunkards. What account in the day of final Judgment will that father and mother give whose child has become corrupt and dissolute in life through their indulgence of his appetite, and neglect to cultivate the moral attributes of his mind! Parents see that something must be done, for anguish has entered their homes, so they attempt to seize the monster of intemperance and hold it with their feeble strength; but they find it too strong for their feeble hands to conquer. In their ignorance they nourished and strengthened it until it is beyond their control. Could parents realize the great responsibility resting upon them when their children are innocent babes in the home, much sin and misery might be averted; temperance would then be taught at the fire-side and the table would afford practical lessons repeated every day. Line upon line, precept upon precept, children should be taught the necessity of self-control and self-denial; and then true reform would make rapid progress. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 9} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 10] Parents may, by earnest, persevering effort, unbiased by the customs of fashionable life, build a moral bulwark about their children that will defend them from the miseries and crimes caused by intemperance. Children should not be left to come up as they will, unduly developing traits that should be nipped in the bud; but they should be disciplined carefully, and educated to take their position upon the side of right, of reform and abstinence. In every crisis they will then have moral independence to breast the storm of opposition sure to assail those who take their stand in favor of true reform. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 10} [HR, May 1, 1877 par. 11] Individual effort on the right side is needed to subdue the growing evil of intemperance. Oh! that we could find words that would melt and burn their way into the heart of every parent in the land! Mothers can do much toward sweeping away the cloud of darkness and iniquity that settles down over the earth like the pall of death. Mothers, can we not do our work better? Can we not labor more faithfully to bring up our children to real usefulness in the world? Let us teach the little ones to help us while their hands are small and their strength is slight. Let us impress upon their minds the fact that labor is noble, that it was ordained to man of Heaven, that it was enjoined upon Adam in Eden, as an essential to the healthy development of mind and body. Let us teach them that innocent pleasure is never half so satisfying as when it follows active industry. If we teach our children to be industrious, half the danger is over; for idleness leads into all manner of temptation to sin. Let us educate our children to be simple in manner without being bold, to be benevolent and self-sacrificing without being extravagant, to be economical without becoming avaricious. And above all, let us teach them the claims which God has upon them, that it is their duty to carry religion into every department of life, that they should love God supremely, and love their neighbor, not neglecting the little courtesies of life which are essential to happiness. {HR, May 1, 1877 par. 11}