It WEEK OF PRAYER NUMBER Vol. 36, No. 18 �Sydney, Monday, May 3, 1932 Registered at the General Post Oface, Sydney, for transmission by Post as a Newspaper <>10< Readings for the Week of Prayer To Be Read in All the Churches, May 14 to 21, 1932 (Reading for Sabbath, May 14) Watching Unto Prayer BY C. H. WATSON, President, General Conference nisingly, sought God for means and grace to send on the truth to all peoples in all places. In those days oppor- tunity had as yet opened but few doors for advancement to other parts of the earth. Even we who have been but a comparatively few years in the truth, can remem- ber well the fervour with which this people prayed God to open doors and speed on the glorious message of the coming Saviour. Great sections of the „heathen world were fast locked against the approach of. the Advent truth, and it seemed hopeless to seek to warn the whole world in the time allotted. Each year, howover, the Week of Prayer has continued to bring this people from all races and places to the throne of God in earnest en- treaty, and never has one of those occasions passed but the cry has reached heaven as the wish of a single heart, Open doors in every land, 0 God, and speed on Thy truth." And who will dare say that the Lord has r this cry ? One after another doors heralds of the message have passe places and new peoples. In land has been springing forth, and the darl whole church, especially and unitedly and almost ago-',deeding, until now the whole world is c " Prayer moves the arm of Omnipotence." WITHIN the memory of some still living, this denomination observed its first Week -of Prayer. The purpose of this annual appointment then was to place our whole membership in communion with God concerning very definite things. � First of all, it was intended to be an occasion when in our homes and in our churches we should give ourselves to seeking per- sonal preparation of heart to meet Jesus at His second coming. In those earlier years this meant close heart search- ing and self examination, to discover if anything was in possession of heart or habit that kept the blessing of God away from the life. It meant close examination of relationships in family and church. Believing that Jesus was soon coming, those earlier believers earnestly sought for grace and spiritual power to make them ready for that great event. Without question, much, very much, of the growth and accomplishment and victory and stability of the movement as we now have it, is due to the help which was extended by the Lord to His people in those bygone Weeks of Prayer. Then, too, the Week of Prayer was a time when the r 2 ATISTRALA.SIANRECORD 3/5/82 and the heathen have become our inheritance. Indeed, it would be impossible to measure the good that this annual experience of special communion with God has brought to individual souls and to the church in all places. And the same purpose still holds in the Week of Prayer. We yet meet year by year to seek grace and victory for ourselves and for each other, and we yet cry to the Lord, " Speed on Thy truth, 0 God, and finish Thy work in all hearts." Time has but emphasised our need. As doors have swung open and the work of the church has expanded, more of the grace and guid- ance of God has been given, and still more must be sought. As the end approaches, the need for constant and intimate communion with our Lord will become, not less, but far greater. We are not to expect a lighter burden. We should not look for a smoother way. The burden must of necessity grow heavier, the way must grow rougher. In the very nature of things the struggle must become more intense. As the peril of our time is becoming more terrifying, and the forces of earth are becoming more unyielding in their antagonism, we surely must give ourselves, not less, but more and more to prayer. Surely now our hearts must be turned more definitely toward God, and our interest and affections must be centred more undeviatingly upon the things of the kingdom. Exhortations to Watchfulness The Scriptures reveal clearly that the way of the remnant people will be beset with difficulty and danger. They show that God's people must suffer for their faith. But they also record that in this suffering, which is according to the will of God, we may commit the keep- ing of our souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. (See 1 Peter 4 : 19.) They admonish us, too, in view of the end, to be " sober, and watch unto prayer." 1 Peter 4 : 7. The great peril of the church just now is that it shall grow weary in waiting, and cease to " watch unto prayer." The spirit and mind of the world are seeking to impress God's people, and cause them to grow care- less in relation to the coming of Christ. Jesus fc,_3sa that this would be so, and has admonished us to " watch and pray." He has foretold that the " love of many shall wax cold ; " that, growing weary, they shall not endure. He has unfolded, too, the terrifying possibility that some of His ministers, impressed by the spirit of doubt and uncertainty, will be saying in their hearts, " My Lord delayeth His coming," and that they will be found standing with the world at the end, persecuting their former fellow servants in the message. (See Matt. 24 : 4=t,, 49.) Ih view of His infallible foreknowledge of our danger, Jesus has bidden us, " Watch ye therefore, and pray always." Luke 21 : 36. " Take ye heed, watch and pra r : for ye know not when the time is." " Watch ye efore : for ye know not when the Master of the h use cometh, . . . lest coming suddenly He find you slOeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all,. Watch." Mark 13 : 33, 35-37. Two opposite things are here brought to our notice by the Saviour,—sleeping and watching. Let us con- sider for a moment the sense in which these two words are used. The application is a spiritual one. The possibility of sleeping spiritually, instead of watching, should terrify us. It means nothing less than an un- prepared condition of life. It means that the salvation of God has been neglected. It means that forgiveness of sin has remained unsought, and the righteousness of Christ has remained unreceived or unretained. It means that faith has given place to doubt, that con- fidence has weakened, that hope has diminished. It means that to be found sleeping spiritually when the Master comes, is to be lost. On the other hand, to watch spiritually is to be con- stantly ready. To watch in this sense means to keep our sins all washed away in the precious blood of the Saviour. It means to have the righteousness of Christ our own, and to cherish it above all worth. It means to have faith and hope and confidence all centred in the glorious appearing of the Saviour. It means to be diligent about the Master's business till He comes. Surely, dear brethren and sisters, we need to pray that God will awaken us from sleep and keep us spiritually watchful. Surely we must be stirred to put away sin and to receive the righteousness o our blessed Lord. We have but to look about us to find on every hand evidence, almost without measure, of the near approach of the coming of Jesus. The conclusion is inescapable that it is we, the remnant people, who are admonished to " watch unto prayer." The Danger of Unbelief And our own sense of need assures us that this is necessary. The peril of our time is without parallel in church history. The world in which we live is about to be shipwrecked. Sin is fast compassing its utter de- struction. Men are becoming openly defiant of God. Truth is unwanted. The currents of worldly life are set to sweep us away from God. We must have deliver- ance from their power, and be given strength to go up- stream. Those who at this time would live for God must " watch unto prayer." Millions are yielding to the power of unbelief, and are goirs* down to death. We must find grace to be different from the crowd, and be given strength of character to keep us moving in the opposite direction. These can come to us only in response to our own heart's longing and constant cry to God. For deliver- ance from worldly influences we must " watch unto prayer. In the long ago it was unbelief that shut God's people out of the Promised Land and kept them wan- dering in the wilderness forty years. The same spirit is seeking diligently to overturn the faith of the rem- nant people. So far as we give it place in our lives, it will produce the same sad results as those that obtained with the children of Israel ; and, sad to say, some have already gone the way of the doubting. The reality of our peril in this particular direction is difficult to overstate. Unbelief is seeking to enter the hearts of God's people by all avenues. It is attacking truth at every point, and is seeking its overthrow at all points. It is presenting itself in most specious forms, and often is discovered in garb that presents it as some superior kind of faith. But by whatever avenue or " There is nothing more needed in the work than the practical results of communion with God." 3/5/32 -44 A- ATISTRALA.SIAN RECORD 3 form or appearance or agency it gains entrance to the human heart, its effect is ruin and death. In this time of almost universal unbelief we need to watch and pray, lest our Master, coming suddenly, find us sleeping. The thing of paramount importance to the Advent believer is to be ready for his Lord at His coming. The heart that doubts is not ready for its Lord, and must be delivered from its unbelief. We must, therefore, seek God to keep us from every tendency to doubt. Prayer for Extension of God's Work There is need, too, that we pray for God's great work. Its expansion has been so wonderful in these later years that we now are faced with great problems in supporting its growth. We truly rejoice as we mark its victories and its extent ; but hard times have come upon the world, and the means needed to carry forward the work-are falling short of requirements. The mis- sionaries, many of whom are suffering for the work's sake, are looking to us for an increase of means. This situation is a serious call to the whole church to pray the Lord of the harvest to raise up labourers and send them into the harvest. There never has been in the history of our work so great need of the earnest, prayerful, believing co-opera- tion of every church member, as that which now faces us. Pray, dear brethren and sisters, that the Lord will be near to bless His workers and His people as they seek to make Him known to men. The labouring forces of this movement stand in great need of the prayers of the church at this time. In the home field, amid diffi- culties that are new and very perplexing, there needs to come to us all a new experience of consecration and a new power in service. This is needed in our leadership. It is needed, too, in our ministry. Will not the church remember its leaders and ministers at this prayer season, and "watch unto prayer" on their behalf ? The missionaries, too, need our special remembrance at this time. These men and women have gone out from their homeland and friends to earth's uttermost parts. They meet the foe where the battle rages most fiercely. Many of them experience keenly the depres- sion of spirit that comes with life among people in the darkness of heathenism. Often they labour alone under circumstances of great discouragement. Some of them are sick. They will be greatly cheered and blessed by your earnest prayers just now. Will you not pray that the Lord will sustain and bless them all, and make them more and more fruitful in all places ? Our fellow believers in some countries are being sorely tried by persecution. We learn of colporteurs being frequently thrown into prison and beaten. We hear of believers imprisoned and exiled for their faith. We are told of ministers being driven from their work and forbidden to preach Christ. We know of families ruthlessly broken and scattered. A time of sore trouble has come to our people in one great Division. We are helpless to aid them but by way of the throne of God. Will you not " watch unto prayer " on their account at this time ? Our Personal Relationship with God We are told by the Lord that " no man is safe for a day or an hour without prayer."—" The Great Con- troversy," p. 530. And again, that " prayer is heaven's ordained means of success in the conflict with sin and the development of Christian character."—" The Acts of the Apostles," p. 564. We surely have reached a time when God's help must be brought to our aid. As the perils of these last days thicken around us and we find the way growing harder, it is vitallynecessary that we depend far less upon self and give our hearts much to prayer, the means that heaven has ordained for our success. If as parents we were more prayerful, we would be more successful in the training of our children. If as Christians we were given more to prayer, we would be more successful in home and church and personal ex- perience. To become godly we must spend time with God in prayer that " engages the energies of the soul and affects the life." We need the blessing of God continually, or we are sure to fail. We need it just now in an unusual way to made us ready for the coming of our Lord, and to keep us ready till the moment of His coming. We need it to help us live apart from the world, and unto God. We are conscious of the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult to do this. The world is rapidly departing from God, and growing godless. � Yet it is in this wicked world that our lives must be prepared for the eternal kingdom. We need to pray, for prayer brings the bless- ing of God. Prayer unites us one to another and to God. Prayer brings Jesus to our side. Standing where we do in relation to Christ's second coming, there is nothing that can take the place of prayer. In " Steps to Christ " we read : " The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin ; and it is all because they do not make use of the privileges that God has given them in the divine appointment of prayer. . . . Without unceasing prayer and diligent watching, we are in danger of growing careless and of deviating from the right path. The adversary seeks continually to obstruct the way to the mercy seat, that we may not by earnest supplication and faith obtain grace and power to resist temptation."—Pages 94, 95, pocket edition. It is wonderful that we may keep our wants, our cares, our sorrows, our fears, continually before the Lord, and yet never burden or weary Him. Nothing of our burdens is too great for Him to bear. Again we are told : "Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read ; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of His children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He take no immediate interest. `He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.' The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son."—Id., p. roo. There can be no " watching unto prayer" in the sense of Peter's admonition, without perseverance. In everything we are to let our requests be made known to the Lord. We are to be " instant in prayer." We are to " continue in prayer, and watch in the same." To be prayerless, or even casual in prayer, is to be unwatchful, for the watchful soul is that one which keeps itself in constant communion with the Lord. When we open our eyes from sleep, our hearts should commune with " At this very hour His Spirit and His grace are for all who need them and will take Him at His word." 4 � -ATISTRALASIAN RECoRD � 3/5/32 God. When we go to our daily'labour;4:we may lift our hearts to the Lord. " There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God. There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up our hearts in the spirit of earnest prayer."—Id., p. 99. In the midst of home duties or business activity, as we engage in the daily routine of affairs or walk by the way, we can send our petitions to the throne above, and in all need and under all circumstances, we can com- mune with God and have His divine guidance. Were we to examine ourselves, it is quite possible that we would find a great deal of superficiality and life- less formality connected with our prayer habits. Through the Spirit of Prophecy the Lord has told us : " Many, even in their seasons of devotion, fail of receiving the blessing of real communion with God. They are in too great haste. With hurried steps they press through the circle of Christ's loving presence, pausing perhaps a moment within the sacred precincts, but not waiting for counsel. They have no time to remain with the divine Teacher. With their burdens they return to their work. . . . Not a pause for a moment in His presence, but personal contact with Christ, to sit down in com- panionship with Him, this is our need."—"Edutation,"pp. 260, 261. Whatever might have sufficed for. Christians of the past, nothing less than this will meet our need at the pres- ent hour. We do not have sufficient strength to bear our burdens over a way so rough as that yet to be travelled to the city of God, and there is no place in all this wide world where we may be relieved of them but in the presence of Jesus. It is He who has borne all our burdens and carried all our griefs. He is delighted to receive them from us and bear them for us. It is quite unnecessary for any of us to walk in the way alone and unaided. It is to our shame that we remain burdened. The steepness and roughness of the way are unnoticed if we but walk it with Jesus. The burden has no power to crush when it is borne by Him. We need the help that comes by constant com- munion with our Lord. To keep our feet from slipping, to keep love for the truth aflame in our hearts, to keep us happy, earnest, hopeful Christians, to keep us watch- ful for the coming of the Lord, and to keep us ready for that great event, we must watch unto prayer. " The end of all things is at hand," but, dear brethren and sisters, let your hearts be cheered by the knowledge that you are coming to One who " is able to make all grace abound toward you ; that ye, always having all suffi- ciency in all things, may abound to every good work." 2 Cor. 9 : 8. (Reading for Sunday, May 15) The Great Commission BY I. H. EVANS, Vice-President, General Conference OUR Saviour had finished His work on earth. Hi ministry and teachings, His miracles and healing, His agony in the garden, His mockings and scourging, His condemnation and crucifixion, and His glorious res- urrection were all in the past. The disciples, according to His appointment before His death, had gone to Gali- lee to meet the Lord. On this important occasion it was reasonable to expect Christ to give to His disciples what to Him would be the most important message for them to receive. He had no plan to let them work for a time, and then appear among them in this same visible manner to check up their labours and correct their weak- nesses. Henceforth they were to represent Him on earth ; they were to be ambassadors for His kingdom ; they were to build His church. And what He says to them on this occasion are not words for the disciples alone ; they are for all His peo- ple till He comes again in glory. These wonderful words are a message of love and service. According to the brief record by Matthew, He said : " All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye there- fore, and teach all nations, baptising 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." This is the great commission given by Christ to His children, and is to constitute their work to the end of time. No one who fails to comply with this command is filling his place in the plan of God ; for no other work is assigned to the church by Him. The marginal reading in the Authorised Version for " teach all nations " is " make disciples, or Christians, of all nations." This is a plain duty couched in lan- guage that we all understand. Your work, my work, both singly and collectively, is to make Christians. It is not to administer, it is not to control, but it is to be the chief concern of every Christian to go and make Christians. The church is to multiply and increase its members, and to raise up new churches. The church is a living entity, drinking from the living fountain the waters of life, drawing its nourishment and life from above. The present membership must set it- self the task not only of holding its own, but also of increasing the membership of the church by bringing new converts into it. A sleeping, inactive church is dead or dying. Living things move. Living plants throw out new roots and take on new growth. So with a living church—it grows, it works, it makes Christians. We Are Made Debtors We are debtors to every sinner in this world to bring to these lost and perishing ones the saving gospel. Mrs. White makes this clear : "Every one who has been made a steward of the manifold grace of God, is called upon to impart to souls in ignorance and darkness, even as, were he in their place, he would desire them to impart to him. The apostle Paul said, ' I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.' By all that you have known of the love of God, by all that you have received of the rich gifts of His grace, above the most benighted and degraded soul upon earth, are you in debt to that soul to impart these gifts unto him."—" Mount of Blessing," P. 193. " From every church, prayers should ascend to God for an increase of devotion and liberality." Natives at Port Resolution, Tanna, New Hebrides, Waiting for Us to Commence Work among Them. We have secured a piece of property on the island behind the canoes. r____ 3/5/n � AUSTRALA SIAN RE CORDt. -n 5 Effective Personal Ministry Perhaps you will say, " I am not qualified to do such work as did Paul. To win souls is the minister's work. I am only a layman, wholly unfitted to speak in public." But it is not necessary that you should be a public speaker in order to win souls. Personal work wins more souls than we can ever know. Sometimes just a word results in conversion. Sometimes a tract or a lent book or paper, will bring the joy of redeeming love into some life. One never knows what the results will be of this gospel seed sowing. " We are workers to- gether with God," who works in and through men to bring sinners to Christ. No one is qualified of himself to do this soul-winning work ; but we have a Helper who has promised, " Lo, I am with you alway." This lays the burden of bringing men to Christ upon the laity as well as upon the ministry. The debt we owe equals the sum total of all we have received. Have you knowledge ? You owe that knowledge to all who do not have it. Have you light ? Put it not under a bushel, but send its rays everywhere. You owe to every soul who does not have that light a debt equal to all the light you have. The debt must be paid in kind ; that is, in what you have received. Christ says in ef- fect : " Go, and make Christians of the people about you. I will go with you to the end. Speak in My name. Go to all nations. This is your work. As I have loved you, you must love these people till you have won them to love Me." Solomon, who had tasted every earthly pleasure and pomp and power, and had riches in abundance, wrote in one of his proverbs, " He that winneth souls is wise." Why ? Because every earthly thing, —gold and silver and riches, works of art and books and marble palaces, ivory thrones, and shining jewels,—all will be consumed in the day of God's avenging wrath, and will be reduced to ashes. Nothing will be saved out of the wreck- age of those consuming flames, except the souls of those who have been redeemed. They will live eternally and shine as jewels in the crowns of the saints. " They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament : and they that turn many to righteous- ness as the stars forever and ever." What a reward! No one ever reached such a pinnacle of earthly fame and glory as to shine like the stars of the firmament. Consider the eternity of this reward—" forever and ever." Contrast the glory of Paul, that mighty soul- winner, with that of Nero, who was emperor of all the Roman world during a portion of Paul's lifetime. Nero had pomp and riches and every earthly honour and glory ; ruins of his " golden house " are pointed out to the visitor in Rome to this day ; he had unlimited power over the lives and destinies of his subjects. But nearly every one either feared or hated Nero; few loved him. He lived his brief day, and it is supposed that he was still on the throne while Paul was a prisoner in Rome and when he was beheaded. Long, long, both have been dead,—Nero, wicked, cruel, proud, a tyrant, gone to a hopeless grave ; Paul, who spent his life in suffering and poverty, labouring for the souls of men, and who, facing the ignominy of disgraceful martyrdom, could triumphantly write, " Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the right eous Judge, shall give me at that day." When Paul comes forth from the grave, he will be crowned with glory ; when Nero comes forth, there awaits him the lake of fire. Nero will suffer eternal loss, but Paul will shine as the stars forever and ever. A poor old woman, feeble and near her end, was ap- proaching her church when she saw a young man stand- ing idly by a lamp-post. She did not know him, nor had she any memory of having seen him before ; never- theless she spoke to him, saying, " Good morning, young man. I want you to go to church with me." He re- plied, " I have never been inside a church; why should I go with you, a stranger? " She took him by the hand, and said, " You come and sit beside me. I'll be so happy to have you sit with me." He went with her, and in the sermon there was a message that touched his heart, and he was converted. An old Christian woman in London, so the story is told, knew that she must die soon, for her years were many. Her great sorrow was that she was uncon- scious of ever having led one soul to Christ. She prayed again and again that God would give her one soul before she died. One morning, as usual, after pleading with tears for just one soul, she went to a near-by shop to buy a little food, and took some tracts along to give to those who would receive them. On her way, she saw a noted infidel coming toward her, in whose writings she had read about the wicked- ness of slavery. She took a tract by Taylor, dropped it on the walk behind her, and went on. Wilberforce "Those who have the deepest experience in the things of God are the farthest removed from pride or self-exaltation." 6 A1447:-(04'ALISTRALASIAN RECORD 3/5/32 picked it up when he reached the place, and began read- ing it. That simple message led him to Christ. And it was this man, more than any other, who, led by the Spirit of God, persuaded the English people to put a stop to slavery in their colonies in the West Indies. Through his ministry and that of those he won to Christ, tens of thousands found Jesus as their Saviour. God was with this woman. What a reward awaits her ! Through Our Gifts We May Share in Soul Saving It may be in the liberal sharing of your means to support those who are trained and strong and can do a work that you cannot do, that your service will reach and win souls. Are you not a sharer in that brother's work whom you help support by your toil and by the giving of your money ? Are not the souls he leads to Christ partly yours ? Two brothers desired to be missionaries, and go to a foreign field. But both could not go, for there were their aged father and mother for whom some one must care. So the elder brother said to the younger, "John, you go to the mission field. I will stay and care for father and mother, and I'll send you all we can save to help you." When the brothers were about to part, John to go to a far-away land, he said, " William, I give you half of all the souls I ever win for your crown of re- joicing. We will share half and half. Pray for me." Is that not right? 0, there are percentages in these souls in foreign fields to reckon back as credits to those at home who have toiled and sacrificed in giving to sup- port the work of God ! No other work that mortal man has ever done or ever can do has so great a reward as that of soul-win- ning. Money-making is enticing, and has its days of pleasure ; one can become so absorbed in it as to for- get all else ; but death comes, and all is left behind, to be quarrelled over by interested friends. Social position may give a temporary satisfaction, but the flattery of the world soon dies away and returns no more. When the grim reaper calls, one who has put his trust in these things faces eternal loss under the dreadful sentence: " I know you not. . . . Depart from Me." But the death angel only brings the soul-winner nearer his Crew of the "Melanesia," Solomon Islands, Before Pastor Peacock Left eternal reward ; his treasure is laid up in heaven, and is his forever and ever. Perhaps of all the joys we shall experience, next to being saved ourselves, will be the joy of meeting those whom we have been instrumental in bringing to Christ. Is it objected that too much emphasis is laid upon the reward of the soul-winner ? Paul did not think so. He knew very definitely what he was after in his work,— the souls of men,—and he knew what they were to him. To win souls, Paul, a free and proud man, became as a servant ; to the Jews he became as a Jew, that he might gain the Jews ; to the weak he brought a message of hope because he made them understand that he knew weakness. " I am made all things to all men," he de- clares, " that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake." To know how Paul regarded the souls whom he had won for Christ, we have only to read his message to the Thessalonian church : " What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing ? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming ? For ye are our glory and joy." From the writings of Mrs. E. G. White we read : " This treasure, which Christ esteems as precious above all estimate, is `the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.' "—" Mount of Blessing," p. 134. " We are permitted to unite with Him in the great work of redemption, and to be sharers with Him in the riches which His death and suffering have won. . . . He who gives money or time for spreading the gospel, enlists his own interest and prayers for the work, and for the souls to be reached through it ; his affections go out to others, and he is stimulated to greater devotion to God, that he may be enabled to do them the greatest good."—Id., p.135. No other j-)y so sweet as this, That souls shall taste eternal bliss Through feeble efforts I have made, Sowing the seed, tending the blade, Till, fruitage ripened by His grace, With star-gemmed crown I see His face. Shall Come Rejoicing Through the Psalmist the Lord has given a comfort- ing assurance to the soul-winner : " He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." Not with lightness and frivolity will the soul-winner go to his work. Labour for souls must often be done with tears by one who carries on his heart a consuming de- sire to win men for the kingdom. The seed sowing must be done with prayer ; no man can be a great soul- winner who is not, like his Master and Pattern, much at the throne of grace ; for soul-winning is a holy work, a delicate work, the most important and precious work ever committed to man. Happy that worker for souls who keeps in communion with God, and goes to his task conscious of a new baptism of the Holy Spirit. Holy angels are about him ; he breathes the very atmosphere of heaven. To him the promise is a reality, " Lo, I am with you." Sometimes we feel that we should speak a word to some one, or do something for a neighbour or friend ; but timidity or fear restrains us, and we allow the op- portunity to slip, not thinking that the impulse may have been Heaven-sent. Sometimes our hearts smite us with a sense of our own failures and weaknesses, just " Our heavenly Father waits to bestow upon us the fullness of His blessing." ., A._A_ AT Is TRALASIAN RECORD 3/5132 7 when the Lord would use us to win a soul to Him. The fallow ground of some heart has been prepared by the Holy Spirit. God calls us to speak a word for Him ; but we are not ready to speak the word, or dare not ; the opportunity passes, and a soul may be lost as the result of our silence. How different the experience of those who improve every opportunity for sowing the gospel seed, and thus receive the reward mentioned by Isaiah, " Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters." Sad indeed is the loss that is ours when we fail to allow God to use us in winning some lost soul that is hungry for help ! Sin has dulled our senses ; neglect of holy living and carelessness in prayer have caused us to drift far from God ; worrying and fretting in our homes may have so hardened our hearts that we ourselves are indifferent in our Christian experience, and we feel al- most hopeless. Sin may have eaten all the threads of faith and hope till we are without God, and are deaf to His tender pleadings. Only when the soul is on fire with love for God and for our fellows are we able to speak a word in season. Then only is there joy in service. Opportunities are all about us to scatter the seeds of truth, but we must be able to see the opportunities if we would meet the mind of God, " In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand : for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." A young man bad resisted every effort of his Chris- tian father and mother to bring him to Christ. The ministers had tried, in vain to win him. In one of our schools which he attended, he obeyed its rules, but would never yield to any importunity to become a Christian. Daily his parents prayed for him, but all seemed hopeless. He left home and went into the world. One cold winter evening he was walking along a street, and he heard, from a little hall meeting, the hymn, " Just as I am." Many and many a time he had sung it in school, in the church, and at camp-meetings. He went inside and joined in the song. He had a fine tenor voice, and as he sang, many an eye glanced toward him to see who it was that sang so well. They were calling sinners to come to Christ. An old Christian came back to this young man, and stood beside him. When they paused for a moment at the close of the words, " Just as I am, and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot, To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, 0 Lamb of God, I come, I come," the old man turned to the youth, and with tears flowing down his cheeks, said, in a broken voice, " Will you not give your heart to God this night ? " The young man replied, " I will," and lie went forward then and there and confessed Christ. God can use every one of us in His world vineyard, if we are willing to be used. The field is white for the sickle. The Master needs reapers, and to us He gives the call : " Look on the fields ; for they are white already to harvest." Never has there been a time when peoples and nations were so ready to receive the gospel as now. Almost the whole earth has its doors open to the mis- sionary, permitting the preaching of the truth at the present time. " Come over and help us," is the prayer of many peoples. Reapers are needed now to harvest the sheaves Will you be one ? " While the souls of men are dying, And the Master calls for you, Let none hear you idly saying, `There is nothing I can do!' Gladly take the task He gives you, Let His work your pleasure be ; Answer quickly when He calleth, Here am I, 0 Lord, send me.'" (Reading for Monday, May 16) Our Blessed Hope BY FREDERICK GRIGGS, President, Far Eastern, Division W HEN these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21:28. These words of our blessed Lord were spoken in prophecy of His return as " King of kings and Lord of lords." His disciples had asked Him, " What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world? " In His answer He foretold most terrible events, " wars and rumours of wars." For " nation shall rise against nation," He said, " and kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places." It is a dreadfully dark picture that Christ drew of the terrors and troubles that were to foreshadow His coming. The people of God were to be afflicted and hated of all nations. Strife and bloodshed, insincerity, infidelity, and iniquity were to be rampant in the hearts of men. Sin was to run its wicked course, with its hatred and lusts to be poured out in full measure upon the world. But in the midst of this dreadful and dark picture, Jesus set this beautiful gem : " This gospel of the king- dom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come." These words are like a brilliant star shining forth on a dark night ! They are indeed the world's star of hope ! They light up all the rest of our Lord's prophecy. " This gospel "—this good story of salvation and peace— is to be given to every people and tongue in the world, and then shall the end come. 0 what a blessed hope ! And it is for every one. Well may the church of God sing in ringing tones to all the world : " There is a blessed hope, More precious and more bright Than all the j)yless mockery The world esteems delight." " Perfection of character cannot possibly be attained without self-sacrifice." A_T1STRALASIAN RECORD .07"*N.....".. • •••,• •-•••••••••10.4 8 3/5/32 Unto Them That Look for Him No subject, save that of the salvation offered by Christ, is mentioned more often in Holy Writ than that of His second coming. Nearly all Bible writers speak of it, some, such as Daniel and John the revelator, at great length. And now, thank God, it is right at hand. The cruel reign of Satan is about to end. Sickness and pain and death, with their attendant sorrow and grief, are about to cease forever. Indeed, " We are living, we are dwelling, In a grand and awful time." Men of all ages have looked to our day—the good, with hope ; the evil, with fear. We are not mistaken in our view that the same Jesus who walked here among men is about to return again in person to earth. Christ wants His people, with open minds and longing hearts, to be looking for Him. We are to search His Word daily for a fresh and growing understanding of the prophecies that point to His coming. We are to see and rejoice in their fulfilment. We are to walk and talk with our Saviour ; to become so well acquainted with Him that we shall have an overwhelming desire to see, in person, with our own eyes, Him whom we now see and know with the eye of faith. It is " unto them that look for Him " that He shall " appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Through daily Scripture study, meditation, and prayer are we to come to " look for Him." We are to school ourselves to be continually " looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith." Note that it is to " them that look for Him" that He " shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation." To those who are looking upon earthly things, centring their interests here, He cannot appear to their joy. Near, Even at the Doors Jesus very definitely pointed out the time when He would come and the world, as we now know it, would end. Not only did He speak of strife, trouble, and dis- asters on earth as signs, but also of signs in the heavens. He said that when the sun and the moon were darkened and the stars fell from heaven, we were to know for a certainty that His coming was " at the doors." These great events took place decades ago. Moreover, before He came the first time, and after- ward, Christ inspired holy men to prophesy of His second coming. Among the many prophecies of this coming may be mentioned that of the 2,300 days (years) given through Daniel. It points definitely to God's final judgment, and like many of the other prophecies, is established on absolutely certain dates. This great prophecy, beginning with the decree of the Persian king Artaxerxes in 457 B.C. " to restore and to build Jeru- salem," brings us to the beginning of the final judgment, opening in 1844. And this " judgment must begin at the house of God." For eighty-seven years this solemn work of examining the life records of all those claiming to be God's people—both dead and living—has been go- ing forward. It is now nearly completed. Soon each of us will be summoned to hear our sentence. It may be a sentence of inexpressible joy, which may God grant ; or of awful misery, which God forbid. We choose our future each day. May our choice be like Joshua's, " As for me!ancl'my house, we will serve the Lord." Then shall we hear from our Saviour the gracious words, " Well done." Lovers of Pleasure But the evidences that Christ's coming " is at the doors " are not alone to be found in the physical signs seen in earth and sky, nor in the tumult and distress of nations. It is also witnessed by the changes rapidly be- ing wrought in the minds and hearts of all men. The world is being divided into two very distinct classes. One class believes in a just, loving God, who made and up- holds all things. They believe that He so loved this world, lost in sin, that He gave His Son to save every one who would come unto Him. This class is few in numbers when compared with the other. The second class, a rapidly growing one, is composed of those who are indifferent to God and religion. They are lovers of pleasures. They not only put God out of their thoughts, but many even deny His existence. By them Jesus Christ is at most simply a good man, not an atoning Saviour. In a realistic manner is this prophecy being fulfilled : "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God ; having a form of godliness, but denying the power there- of : from such turn away." 2 Tim. 3:1-3. This is descriptive of the larger class, the majority of mankind. This class has always been in the world, but during the past few years it has notably increased. How have moral standards been lowered, pleasure seek- ing increased, and religion indeed become but a form of godliness, with multitudes of professed Christians during the past few years ! A New York Baptist recently stated that in a centrally located section of that city, composed of one hundred blocks, there is in the nineteen churches a seat- ing capacity of 16,400, as compared with 78,027 found in the forty-five theatres. He said that on a certain Sunday evening there were in actual attendance at all religious services only 1,817 persons. While on the same evening in the same district there were about 75,000 present in the theatres and moving picture houses. This pleasure-mad condition of- the world is another very definite sign of Christ's soon coming. How earnestly, at this time, should the church seek to preach the pure gospel ! This Gospel Shall Be Preached Of all the prophecies of Christ's soon coming, none is more definite than the preaching of the gospel. Not only is this sign definite, but it is a very cheering one. The gospel of Christ brings hope to the hopeless, rest to the weary, comfort to the mourners, and joy to the sad- dened. It is for the poor ; it is to heal the broken- hearted, to bring deliverance to the captives, sight to the blind, and liberty to the bruised. 0, what a blessed work this good story of salvation is doing all over this worn-out, sin-saddened earth ! What a contrast is this sign to many others given in the Word of God ! In the fulfilment of this sign, it is to be noted that " Now, just now, is our time to work in foreign countries." 3/5/32 =4:440-6--' AUSTRALASIAN RECORD � 9 with the discovery of America began an era of explora- tion which has made the entire world known. And with the invention of the printing press at about the same time, came a great means of making the gospel known. With the invention of steamboat and railway locomotion came the means of carrying gospel workers and literature to all the earth. The telegraph, telephone, radio, motor car, and aeroplane are all for the purpose of making possible the preaching of this blessed gospel. God did not give men inventive genius for selfish gain and pleasure, but that His gospel of the kingdom might be preached in all the world. Daniel the prophet said that in the time of the end many should run to and fro, and knowledge should be increased. He is not referring altogether to the spread of scientific knowledge, but to the increase in knowledge of the Word of God. How strikingly have his words been fulfilled ! The Bible in whole or in part is now published in more than 800 languages. It is estimated that 95 per cent of all the people of the earth today have God's Holy Word speaking to them. It is a long stride from Guten- berg's printing press, upon which the Bible was first printed, one sheet at a time, in 1450-55, to one of the great modern printing presses that, at the rate of 216 miles an hour, runs eighteen tons of paper through its types, producing 300,000 eight-page newspapers. And it is another long stride from the early, slow-going steam- boats and railway trains to the modern aeroplane that can take these same papers, at the rate of two miles a minute, to distant readers. Indeed, knowledge is increased, when a speaker may be heard by millions of persons by means of the radio. The threefold message of Revelation 14 is symbolised by angels flying swiftly and proclaiming it " with a loud voice." And God has provided the means for thus giving it. Truly God works in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. These unmistakable signs, great in number and in accuracy of fulfilment, are so certain and definite that none need err as to the time of Christ's second advent. Surely we now know that " He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness : be- cause a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." Rom. 9 : 28. " We are taught in God's Word that this is the time, above all others, when we may look for light from heaven. It is now that we are to expect a refreshing from the presence of the Lord. We should watch for the movings of God's providence as the army of Israel watched for ' the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees,'—the appointed signal that Heaven would work for them."—" Testimonies," Vol. 5, p. 728. Go Work Today God asks us this question : " Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth ; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee ? " Prov. 22 : 20, 21. Note that these " counsels and knowledge " have been given us that we may answer the words of truth to them that send unto " us. God gives us truth that we may give it to others. Christ's command, " Go ye into all the world," applies to every believer. He exempts none. One of our Korean believers, a farmer, took this command home to his own heart. He began to study his Bible, to tell his neighbours of Christ, and to work for their salvation. In one year he read his Bible through four times, and brought four of his neighbours into the faith of the soon-coming Saviour. A Filipino farmer, coming into the city from his mountain home, heard our evangelist telling of Christ's soon coming. He became interested and took literature to his home. Before long he came back with his wife. They had so faithfully studied the truth and were so well informed in it, that they were soon ready for bap- tism. In a little while he came down with a neighbour to whom he had taught the truth, then with another, and another, until there were thirteen believers, and they were organised into a church. A little Filipino girl induced several of her play- mates to go to Sabbath school with her. These play- mates took their mothers, and three members were Semiti and Family, Fijian Workers in Papua added to the church as the result of this little girl's work. Think how quickly Christ would come if every one of our 300,000 believers would follow these examples and win at least one soul to the truth this year. There would then be 600,000 believers next year, each of whom could do the same personal work for Christ. It has been said that sin " is anything that keeps one from God or another person." The one thing needful is that con- straining love of Christ that has always impelled men and women to win souls to Him. The Reward of Sacrifice This message of the soon-coming Saviour is to go to all " them that dwell on the earth." But there are yet great reaches of the world to which it has not gone. There are many tongues that do not yet speak it. It is not only the duty, it is the real privilege of each member of the church to take part in gospel work, even " unto the uttermost part of the earth." The majority of our church members are not able themselves to go into those lands where Christ is not known, but they can help in sending those who can go. This has always been the way in which the gospel has been advanced. The apostolic church chose goodly men and women, and sent them to distant parts of the world to proclaim Christ's salvation. I have seen, in the heart of China, armient tablets erected in commemoration of the work the apostle Thomas is said to have done in that far-away portion of the world. The sacrifice made by one to send Opening providences in the mission field call for not less than £2,500 this Week of Prayer. 10 r AIISTRALASIAN RECORD 3/5/32 another may be just as great as the sacrifice of the one who is sent. And God's work is to be carried forward by sacrifice. " 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. Gather My saints together unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." Ps. 50: 3-5. God's judgment of men is here shown to be measured by their spirit of sacrifice. But what may be sacrifice for one may not be sacrifice for another. It may not be real sacrifice to one to give liberally of his means to God's cause, but it would be a great sacrifice for him to go to his neighbour and talk to him of his soul's welfare ; or, contrariwise, one might easily talk of his blessed hope to the neighbour, yet be unwilling to give financially all he should to advance God's cause of truth. We are each called upon to make a covenant with Christ by sacrifice, giving our hearts, our lives, and liberally and cheerfully of our means, that men may be saved. " When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride." The great second advent movement will very soon triumph gloriously. Of nothing may we be more certain. But there is also set forth a glorious reward for those who are waiting and watching for the fruition of the blessed advent hope, for God says : " Behold, I come quickly ; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be. . . . I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. . . . Surely I come quickly. Amen." And we say, " Even so, come, Lord Jesus." (Reading for Tuesday, May 17) Advancing Under Difficulties BY A. V. OLSON, President, Southern European Division FROM its earliest existence the Christian church has been compelled to carry forward its work under trial and difficulty. Down through the ages the devil has tried in a thousand ways to hinder and destroy the work of God. At times the future has appeared dark. It has seemed as if the church could advance no farther. But God has never forsaken His people. As they have put their trust in Him and have moved -forward at His command, the way has always opened and great victories have been gained. When Jesus lay dead in Joseph's new tomb and His followers were in hiding for fear of their enemies, the cause of Christ seemed hopelessly lost. Satan and all his wicked host rejoiced over their apparent victory. But how short was their joy ! how brief their triumph ! An angel descended from heaven, the great Roman seal was broken, the heavy stone was rolled from the door of the tomb, and Jesus, called by His Father, walked forth a mighty conqueror. In a few days all Jerusalem was stirred by the preaching of His humble but daunt- less followers, and thousands of new converts were added to the church. Later, when bitter persecution drove these new believers out of Jerusalem, they went everywhere preaching the word. Thus the gospel was made known far and wide, and the number of the be- lievers was multiplied. In spite of all the difficulties they encountered, the light of the gospel could not be extinguished. The church of God could not be fettered. In one country after another the standard of truth was planted as the church advanced with mighty power. After the bitter night of the Dark Ages had hung over the church for more than a millennium, during which time millions of Christians lost their lives as martyrs, it must have seemed to many that the church would be totally annihilated and its work utterly de- feated. But not so. Instead of defeat, came a wonder- ful victory. The golden light of the Reformation dis- pelled the darkness, and the church entered upon one of the most glorious experiences in its history. Bitter Opposition Manifested Just as the church in former ages had to carry for- ward its work under trial and difficulty, so the remnant church must also expect to meet with fierce opposition from the enemy. In these last days Satan has not be- come less aggressive in his warfare against God's chil- dren. If anything, he is more bitter than ever before. He is determined to hinder the church in its every attempt to advance the cause of God. Says the prophet : " The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus." Rev. 12 : 17. From its beginning the people of the Advent move- ment have been hated and despised. Their work has been misrepresented and opposed. Obstacles of all kinds have been placed in their way. In many countries bitter persecution has been their lot. Here in Europe many lands have tried to close -their doors to the mes- sage and messengers of God. The missionaries have been banished or imprisoned ; colporteurs have been thrown into prison and their books burned ; publishing houses and meeting halls have been closed, and the government seal placed across the doors. As I write these lines, there lie before me on my desk pictures of a large number of Seventh-day Ad- ventists from different parts of our Division who have suffered much for their faith. Here is a newspaper, only a few days old, with the picture of one of our young men now in prison in Western Europe for refus- ing to transgress the commandments of God. Here are pictures of conference presidents who have recently been in bonds ; of ministers and Bible workers who have had to suffer in loathsome dungeons ; of colporteurs who -t its highest an-i h-st r-v--is thc.V01wi 9th;rat fi%r Church on Atchin, New Hebrides. Pastor and Mrs. C. H. Parker in Charge. r 3)5/32 AUSTRALASIAN RECORD � 11 little handful to more than 12,000. Less than three years ago our workers there were thrown into great perplexity by a government decree prohibiting any one's being bap- tised and joining another church until after he had been properly released from the State church. When our new converts applied in the prescribed way for the cer- tificate of release, they were in nearly every case re- fused, the official before whom they had to appear being generally a priest. To baptise without the stipulated certificate meant imprisonment for both the candidate and the minister. For the minister it also meant that he would not be permitted to preach another sermon. We shall not soon forget a meeting of the members of the union committee and a number of other leading workers where the situation brought on by this new decree was considered. All realised that we were facing a real crisis. The great question was, What shall we do ? Shall we simply preach the message and leave our con- have been cruelly beaten and tortured. Here are photo- graphs of meeting places that have been wrecked and demolished. One of these pictures came to me in a letter just this week. It shows the broken seats in our little chapel at ----, stained with the blood of our dear members. In a letter accompanying this last-mentioned picture, the union president writes : " On Friday evening, our church in � was suddenly attacked during the service by a crowd of men armed with clubs and bricks, who forced their way into the hall. There our brethren and sisters with their children had met for worship. The brethren pressed to- gether and formed with their bodies a wall between the women and children on one side, and the angry mob, striking wildly with their clubs, on the other. This gave our sisters and the children an opportunity to escape through the windows. " In their enraged frenzy, the mob had shat- tered the hanging lamps in the hall. As they could no longer distinguish our members, our brethren were protected by the darkness and thus made their escape. But during the few minutes' attack these rough assailants wrought cruel havoc. Many of our brethren were beaten and cut so ter- ribly that the blood gushed in streams from their deep wounds. " After their escape, the members sought refuge in the homes of neighbours around the meet- ing place, They could flee no farther, because the place is nearly surrounded by water, and can be reached only by a narrow road which was being guarded by another mob in order more surely to prevent our brethren from escaping. A few neighbours gave our members hiding places in their cellars. The mob were especially looking for the church elder, whom they had planned to kill. Not being able to carry out their wicked: plot,2 they turned their wrath against the meeting place. They broke the chairs to pieces, tore out the doors and windows, carried away the pulpit, tore up the books, tracts, papers, and Bibles which were on the missionary table. Then they tried to set the building on fire. A neighbour, not an Adventist, hurried to the place, and succeeded in extinguishing the fire, and thus the building was saved." In the union where this happened, seldom a day passes without our pedple in one place or another being attacked by their enemies. The colporteurs suffer most. Before me are reports covering a period of two years for only half of the local conferences in this union, showing 365 cases of arrest, 862 days spent in prison, literature confiscated 124 times, and colporteurs beaten 118 times. To the glory and praise of God we are glad to say that even in the face of such persecution and all other hindering influences and difficulties, the work is advanc- ing with power. The Advent movement cannot be de- feated. It will move forward from victory to victory until the work is finished. We have found that where opposition is the most bitter, there progress is greatest. State Church Refused to Release Its Members In the last field referred to above, for instance, the membership has grown during a very few years from a verts unbaptised until such time as the decree may be changed? or shall we baptise as well as preach, even if it means that our ministers and hundreds of our mem- bers may be cast behind prison bars, our chapels closed, and our work prohibited ? These were serious ques- tions. It was a solemn time. Those men had already suffered much, and they were willing to suffer again, but they did not wish to bring suffering and sorrow to our dear people, and injury to the cause of God by a rash act or a wrong move. More earnest prayers I have seldom heard than those that ascended from that gathering to the throne of God for wisdom and guidance. As we prayed and counselled together, the blessing of God rested upon us. The great commission of our Lord and Master made duty plain. All agreed to baptise every sincere and fully instructed convert who desired baptism, even though the application for release from the State church had not been granted, leaving results with God. When the meeting closed and the workers bade one another farewell, they did not know when and where they would meet again. They did not know what the future held in store for them. They understood the " Not one sincere prayer is lost. Amid the anthems of the celestial choir, God hears the cries of the weakest human being." 12 � _ AUSTRAL ASIAN RECORD � 3/5/32 seriousness of their decision. They knew that unless God intervened, bonds and affliction awaited them and their brethren. Solemnity pervaded the group, but a heavenly peace and joy filled their hearts. They were happy and free in God. That was in December, 19'28. During the following two years, nearly 4,000 converts were baptised and added to our churches in that field, and the work is going forward with ever-increasing success. Perse- cution and trouble there have been, and still are, but the message is being preached, souls are being won, and the work of the Lord is advancing. To God be all the glory and praise. He has restrained the enemy, and caused the wrath of men to praise Him. Amidst Troublous Times As we near the end we may expect trials and diffi- culties to thicken about us. Conditions in the world will become more confusing and perplexing. Forces be- yond the power of man to control seem already at work. Great social upheavals may be expected. As foretold by prophets of old, there will be revolutions, wars, and bloodshed. There will be poverty, famine, and pesti- lence. Men's hearts will fail " them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Amid such conditions the church of God will have to finish its work. The task will not be an easy one, but with the help of the Lord it will be accomplished. Step by step the church will advance until the goal is reached. Not for one moment must we lose our hope and courage. Christ our Captain will pilot us safely through the storm. " In the world," said He, "ye shall have tribulation : but be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world." And, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." With Him at our head, victory is sure. God has in recent times given us ample evidence that He is able to care for His work even in troublous times. There in China, for example, where for years the country has been overrun by contending armies and by great marauding bands bent on murder and destruc- tion, the work of God has made remarkable progress. Then here in Europe, shaken and torn during five long years by the greatest war the world has ever known, many feared that our work would disintegrate and come to naught. But, thank God, it did not dis- integrate; it did not come to naught. When the smoke of battle cleared away, we found the work intact and the membership nearly double what it was when the war broke out. Again, in those nerve-racking years following the war, when the economic structure of Europe broke down, and nations, as well as individuals, really went bankrupt ; when money lost its value and millionaires became paupers overnight ; when the tithes and offer- ings sent conference offices by the churches lost most of their value in transit ; it did seem at times as if many conferences and institutions would have to dismiss all their labourers and cease to operate. Those were days of perplexity and trial, of hardship and suffering. They were also days of prayer, of earnest seeking after God. They were days of sacrifice and service. They were days of victory, of wonderful progress. Statistical re- ports show that these same years were some of the best and most fruitful in the history of the work in Europe. Ours to Exercise Faith and Courage Today the world is passing through one of the worst financial depressions in its history. � Stock markets have collapsed, great financial institutions have failed, millions of men are unemployed, and millions more are suffering from poverty and want. Many fields, both at home and in mission lands, are greatly embarrassed. Their treasuries are empty, and they know not how to provide for their workers. Under these conditions we may be tempted to become discouraged and to feel that the work cannot advance. But this is no time for dis- couragement, defeat, or retreat. This is the time for earnest prayer, for strong faith, for sacrificial giving, and for courageous action. The Lord's message to us through His servant is : "My brethren, there is no need for discouragement. The good seed is being sown. God will watch over it, causing it to spring up and bring forth an abundant harvest. . . . Move for- ward courageously, assured that the Lord will be with those who love and serve Him. He will work in behalf of His cov- enant-keeping people. He will not suffer them to become a reproach. . . . Nothing else in this world is so dear to God as His church. "Work in faith, and leave results with God. Pray in faith, and the mystery of His providence will bring its answer. At times it may seem that you cannot succeed. But work and be- lieve, putting into your efforts faith, hope, and courage. After doing what you can, wait for the Lord, declaring His faithful- ness, and He will bring His word to pass. Wait, not in fretful anxiety, but in undaunted faith and unshaken trust."—" Testi- monies," Vol. 7, pp. 242-245. If God's people the world around will at this time seek Him with all their heart, He will be found of them, and we know that He will turn the experience through which we are now passing into a triumphant victory for His church. With God's help this can be made a period of real progress, both in Christian experience and soul saving. Just before Moses was taken from the children of Israel as they stood on the borders of the Promised Land, he said to them : " Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life : but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons." As they faced the difficulties before them, God wanted them to remember the way He had led them. So now, God desires that we shall remember the way He has led us hitherto. Through His servant He has told us that " we have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us."—" Testimonies to Ministers," p. 31. Looking back, we can see how wonderfully God has led us all the way. He has brought us safely through every storm. He has never left us, and He never will. His promise is, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." The future may look dark and ominous, but we need not fear. He who led His people of old through the Red Sea and swollen Jordan into the Promised Land, can and will lead His remnant church into the heavenly Canaan. Soon the battle will be over and all our trials ended. Soon, yes, very soon, the ransomed of the Lord, with " Every sacrifice that is made in His ministry will be recompensed according to the riches of His grace." AUSTRALASIAN RECORD � 3'532 � E 13 Jesus and the angelic throng, with songs and shouts of triumph, shall sweep through the pearly gates into the city of God. " Daughter of Zion, awake from thy sadness ; Awake, for thy foes shall oppress thee no more. Bright, o'er thy hills, dawns the Day-star of gladness, Arise, for the night of thy sorrow is o'er. " Strong were thy foes ; but the arm that subdued them, And scattered their legions, was mightier far ; They fled like the chaff from the scourge that pursued them; In vain were their steeds and their chariots of war. " Daughter of Zion, the power that bath saved thee, Extolled with the harp and the timbrel shall be ; Shout ; for the foe is destroyed that enslaved thee, The oppressor is vanquished, and Zion is free." (Reading for Wednesday, May 18) Sacrificing to Meet a World Need BY W. H. BRANSON, Vice-President, General Conference A WORLD is lost, and there is no easy way to save it. It can be accomplished only through sacrifice. The entire plan of redemption is built upon the principle of sacrificial giving. " God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son " to save the perishing. Jesus willingly laid down His life for us that He might redeem us unto God. Thus nothing has been left undone that a loving God could do, even at infinite sacrifice, to bring about our redemption. No price was counted too dear when the great Creator considered the question of saving a lost race. But the sacrificial effort to redeem the lost of earth was not all to be on God's part. It was arranged that saved men should share in this mighty undertaking, even to the point of entering into Christ's sufferings, and no other course would, in fact, be worthy of a disciple of our Lord. This is why Jesus declared so plainly : "If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My dis- ciple." "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." Luke 14 : 26, 27, 33 In the apostolic days when the gospel church was young, we find that as soon as converts were made, they were immediately taught to support the cause of Christ by sacrificial giving of their earthly treasure. "The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul : neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked : for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet : and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need." Acts 4 : 32-35. Sacrifice Made Part of the Plan This is the plan God has ordained by which to propa- gate the gospel. Perhaps God could have chosen another way. Possibly He could have worked entirely through His angels in the effort to communicate His offer of mercy to the lost of earth. He might have ex- cused us entirely. But in so doing He would also have been compelled to excuse us from the sweetest joy known to man in this life, and from the glory of the life to come,—that of seeing souls born into the kingdom of God through our personal efforts. If this joy would be tasted, then we must first taste our Lord's suffering. It is only through the pains of travail that sinners are brought to the new birth, and only those who have paid this price can ever know and enter into the joy of our Lord when " He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." A sacrifice is not made by simply giving of our sur- plus. A sacrifice touches our very living. As Jesus sat with His disciples near the treasury, watching the people cast in their gifts, we are told that " many that were rich cast in much," and then— " There came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury : for all they did cast in of their abundance ; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living." Mark 12 : 41-44. Those rich persons therefore did not make a sacrifice for the cause of God. They gave only of their abun- dance, but the widow gave of her very living. She gave what she really needed for her own use. As a result of her gift, small though it was, she would feel the pinch of want and suffering. She would be deprived not only of life's comforts, but of some of its actual necessities. But her loyalty to God and her love for His cause led her to go thus far in her sacrificial efforts, and this act on her part caused the Master to commend her above all those who brought their gifts to the treasury that day. She had learned the secret of sacrifice, and through it she received the approval of God. Years ago Sister White said, " I saw that a sacrifice did not increase, but it decreased and was consumed." � "Early TzjTritings," p. 57. It is therefore not the size of the gift that makes it acceptable to God, but rather it is the spirit in which it is given and the degree of sacrifice that it entails. " If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man bath, and not according to that he bath not." 2 Cor. 8 : 12. It is not into the collection plate, there- fore, that the Lord looks to determine the value of our gift to His cause, but into our purse after the gift is made. It is what we have left that determines the value of what we have given. If we give of our very living, the gift is counted a sacrifice, and the giver is reckoned to have thereby made a covenant with his God, who hesitated not to give His all. It is of such that Christ at His coming will speak to His angels, say- ing, " Gather My saints together unto Me ; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice." Ps. 50 : 5. " Pray in faith. And be sure to bring your lives into harmony with your petitions." 14 04:-.M.' AUSTRALASIAN RECORD' 3; 5/32 Pleading Ones Waiting to Be Gathered In The needs of a lost and perishing world should appeal as deeply to the hearts of God's people as they do to God Himself. We are to have the same mind which was in Christ Jesus. This, mind led Him to lay aside His glory, and come into a world of darkness and sin to suffer and die for lost humanity. He thought not of self, ease, pleasure, comfort, or personal aggrandisement. Only one thing mattered to Him,—the saving of that which was lost. Now if we would be His followers, we must imitate His spirit and His willingness to give all. Thus John declares : "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us : and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little chil- dren, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him." I John 3 : 16-19. Never since sin entered the heart of man has the world stood in such dire need of the help which the church can give as it does today. We have reached the last end of the last generation. We stand today upon the very threshold of eternity, and as human probation closes, the angel of mercy folds her wings in preparation for her final departure from the earth. The end is right upon us, and the world is about to plunge to its final doom. Soon, very soon, the wail will be heard among the nations and kindreds of earth, " The great day of His wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ? " But among those who are about to perish, there are still multitudes who are honest in heart and who long for the light of life. This word is given us : "All over the world, men and women are looking wistfully to heaven. Prayers and tears and inquiries go up from souls longing for light, for grace, for the Holy Spirit. Many are on the very verge of the kingdom, waiting only to be gathered in." —" Testimonies," Vol. 6, p. 71. Again we read : " There ate many that are pleading with God that they may understand what is truth. In secret places they are weeping and praying that they may see light in the Scriptures."—Mrs. E. G. White, in General Conference Bulletin, r893, p. 294. " Many of the honest in heart are gasping for a breath of life from heaven."—" Testimonies," Vol. 9, p. 110. "Among all nations, kimireds, and tongues, He sees men and women who are praying for light and knowledge. Their souls are Unsatisfied : long have they fed on ashes."—" Prophets and Kings," p. 376. Shall these praying, pleading ones be left to perish with the ungodly ? Shall our love for them and our de- sire to see them rescued from darkness and sin, be ex- pressed in words only, or shall we do something about it ? Said the Lord's servant : " A thousand doors of usefulness are open before us. We lament the scanty resources at present available, while various and urgent demands are pressing us for means and men. Were we thoroughly in earnest, even now we could multiply the re- sources a hundredfold. Selfishness and self-indulgence bar the way."—" Testimonies," Vol. 9, p. 38. "Come Over and Help Us" While the writer was attending the Far Eastern Division Council in the Philippines, the past winter, Pastor R. R. Figuhr, the Philippine Union Superin- tendent, arose one day in the meeting and held up a sheaf of letters which he had received during the past twelve months from far and near throughout the ten thousand islands of the group, in which earnest en- treaties were made to our people to send the light of the Advent message to the writers and their friends. Some of these appeals were signed by as many as fifty people who had heard about our work, but who as yet had never heard the message preached. The following are translated copies of a few of these appeals : " We, the undersigners [eighteen], have a united wish to bring before the Seventh-day Adventists the following : " To the Director and Seventh-day Adventists as a whole : " We bring to your attention that we have great desire that you send us the message of the gospel. We shall greatly thank the Lord if you will hear our wish." " To the Preacher of the Gospel : " We earnestly seek your help in this part of San Rafael, Bulacan, to hear the message of the Seventh-day Adventists. We have not yet heard your good news. The anticipators are the signers below." (Signed by twenty-one persons.) " We, who have signed our names below, are resi- dents of Concepcion and Baritan, Malabon, Rizal. We are very desirous to hear the blessed truth of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. We believe that you who have this light will give it to these who are asking for it." (Signed by twenty-five persons.) " DEAR SIR : " We, residents of Antipole, have been eager to hear the Bible studies of the Seventh-day Adventists. If possible we desire that a tent be pitched here in our place, so that we may hear the truth every night. We thank you very much if you can comply to our wish. We await your answer." (Signed by twelve persons.) An old African chief on the banks of the upper Zambesi River in South Central Africa, on being visited by the writer and others, said : " I know that other countries about me have mis- sions and are taught of God, but until now no one has ever come to tell us of Him. We have been long in darkness. We do not know the future nor what is beyond the grave. We have been watching long for the missionary to come and teach us how to find God. Our eyes have grown weary in watching for His messengers." Recently a letter reached our union office in Japan, addressed simply to " Armstrong, Tokio." It was from a man in one of the Caroline Islands, far, far across the waters of the Southern Pacific, in which he told of a twenty-five-year search for our people following the reading of two tracts received by his father from Brother La Rue, our pioneer missionary to China, upon the occasion of a visit to Hongkong. A sea captain finally gave him the name of Armstrong in Tokio, and his letter of inquiry and appeal reached our representative. A Japanese worker was sent out to investigate, and a com- pany of believers was found in that remote part of the earth. Our mission need for 1932 Annual Offering,_12,500 .AlliSTRALASIAN RECORD 3/5/32 15 And it is the same almost everywhere. The world is literally breaking open before us. The Macedonian call comes to us today from every land, " Come over and help us." Shall we respond to the call? or shall these earnest, pleading souls who are longing for the light be left to perish ? Consecrated Means Needed Today Heretofore the call of God's cause was for both men and means. Today it is chiefly for means. There is already a surplus of men. Bright, talented youth are graduating from our colleges every year, who are ready to go to the very ends of the earth as representatives of this message, but there are no funds to send them. Truly we have reached a genuine crisis in our work, and something out of the ordinary is called for if the cause of God is to be saved from languishing, and if the earnest appeals for help are to be answered. Before this Week of Prayer closes, the Annual Offer- ing for missions will be taken. Shall it be an ordinary offering ? or shall we sound new depths in sacrificial giving ? During the last General Conference session an aged sister, whose eyes were blinded by cataracts, sent up to the platform an envelope containing $100 with the re- quest that it be used in mission work in Africa. After the meeting her son told us that his mother was poor, and that she had saved up this sum of money, a little at a time, for the purpose of having the cataracts removed from her eyes ; but she had decided to remain in her blindness, and use the money to bring spiritual sight to eyes blinded by sin in the lands afar. Surely this was sacrifice, and had Jesus been standing by, He would have commended her spirit of self-denial. Brethren and sisters of the Advent message, what will be your answer to these Macedonian calls ? We are told that in the day of God some will be heard to wail, " The cause was languishing, God's people were starving for the truth, and we made no effort to supply the lack ; now our property is useless. 0 that we had let it go, and laid up treasure in heaven ! "—" Early Writings," p. 57. May God help each of us to do our full duty in this hour of crisis and great need. May the cries of the needy touch our hearts anew, and may the love of Christ truly constrain us. " Lord God of Hosts ! open Thy people's eyes That they may see earth's whitened harvest field Widespread, may note the precious grain that lies Unreaped. Open 1 that they may see the promised yield Perish because no sickles touch the grain, Making Thy Son's great sacrifice in vain. "Lord God of Hosts ! quicken Thy people's hearts ! Cause them to feel what pain, what grief is Thine While wasted lie these heathen lands, vast parts Of Thy domain, untouched by love divine. Help them to share Thy bitter grief, And move them, Lord, to send relief. "Lord God of Hosts ! open Thy people's purse, That they may give, not less, but more and more. Oh, may they never taste the bitter curse Of Meroz! Help them their treasures all to pour Into this saving work of grace, Thy coming hastening on apace. " Lord God of Hosts! call forth our young and strong Into Thy harvest field, where die the lost In sin's black night of fear and hate and wrong. Lord, call them forth to toil at any cost To self, in gain and home and life ; Baptise them for earth's final strife. "Lord God of Hosts ! open Thy church's door I Send forth Thy flock, north. south, and east and west, To rear the ripened fields! Upon them pour Thy Pentecostal power for toil, not rest, That ransomed multitudes may stand With those who reaped, at Thy right hand." (Reading for Thursday, May 19) Gathering Out a People From the Islands of the Sea BY A. B. STEWART, Vice-President, Australasian Division A ND it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea." Isa. I I : In the providence of God, the constituency of the Australasian Division who are served by these Week of Prayer readings, find ourselves responsible for the proclamation of the message of the flying angel to the inhabitants of the numerous and widely scattered islands lying in the vast South Pacific Ocean. At this annual season of intercession and thanks- giving, it seems fitting that we should briefly review, to some extent at least, the work which has been accom- plished in the gathering out of dear souls from the isles of the sea, and also to again lift up our eyes upon the fields already white unto the harvest ; for the primary work of God's church upon earth is the execution of the great gospel commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. As one authority has truthfully said, " If you wish to get a man to pray, you must do something more than exhort him to pray. Lead him to see and to realise the need of payer. The knowledge of what God is doing and what He wants done in the world make praying intelligent and definite. Nothing short of participation in the sublime under- taking of the evangelisation of the world is adequate to emancipate from selfishness and to call out the best energies of mind and heart."--John R. Mott. This is true both of the individual member and the church as a whole. The mission field view leads to more intelligent service and effective praying. " It seems to be an indisputable fact," said Bishop Selwyn, " that however inadequate a church may be to its own internal wants, it must on no account suspend its mis- sionary duties ; that this is in fact the circulation of its " No man can lay up treasure in heaven without finding his life on earth thereby enriched and ennobled." Natives at Our Two Newest Mission Stations. Above: On the Island of Emira. � Below: On Mussau Island. FMXOe-AIISTRALA.SI.AN RECORD _ 16 3,5 32 life-blood, which would lose its vital power if it never flowed forth to the extremities, but curdled at the heart."—" The Pastor and Modern Missions," p. 62. Every advance step brings joy and gratitude to the child of God, and especially to the believers in the soon coming of our Saviour, who Himself has said that " this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all theworld for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24 : 14. On the other hand, the open doors and the un- answered calls for help are a definite call to prayer on our part. Christ Himself successfully helped those that came to Him. " But when He saw the multi- tudes, He was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scat- tered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith He unto His disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labour- ers are few ; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth la- bourers into His harvest." Matt. 9 : 36-38. As will be very clearly revealed in the following quotations from letters recently received from some of our mission fields, never before have we had so much cause for rejoicing as at the present moment. We can surely say with the prophet of old, " Sing unto the Lord a new song, and His praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein ; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof." Isa. 42: 10. As the message of the everlasting gos- pel, spoken of in Revelation as an angel flying, has travelled from island to island, companies of believers have been raised up who are indeed singing a new song and who now " give glory unto the Lord, and declare His praise in the islands." Isa. 42 : 12. At the end of the year 1931 we had enrolled in our Sabbath schools through- out the islands 7,837 members, or 1,747 more than at the close of the previous year. From the most distant islands away in Eastern Polynesia to the farthest west in Melanesia, these souls have been gathered, reminding us of the promise :" Fear not : for I am with thee : I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west ; I will say to the north, Give up ; and to the south, Keep not back : bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth." Isa. 43 : 5, 6. A Turning to God Unparalleled in Our Island Mission History Let us listen for a few moments while Brother G. McLaren tells us of the wonderful changes being wrought in our newest mission field, the Territory of New Guinea. He writes regarding the island Mussau, situated almost on the equator : " I have just returned to Rabaul from visiting all the workers up north, and am more than pleased with the progress that has been made. I believe that during the time we have been working in the islands of the South Seas, never has the cause known such a marvellous movement among natives. I venture to say that the present progress of the work is more rapid and on a larger scale than has been known or seen before in Aus- tralasia. The transformation that has been wrought on Mussau is miraculous. You are acquainted with the mode of living that is common among heathen people : houses and people alike filthy, bush growing to the very doors of the houses, and pigs everywhere. Now we see the people cleaning up their houses, cutting down acres of bush, and clearing all undergrowth. Pigs have been killed in hundreds, heathen emblems have been renounced, tobacco finished with, betel-nut of no further use in the lives of the people. Men have put away their numerous wives, and miracles of grace have been performed in the lives of hundreds of people. This is all the Lord's doing, and illustrates what can be done by His Spirit when the people look to Him from their heathen darkness. " These people were hitherto firm believers in the power of darkness. Satan was their god, and I must admit that he never disappointed them ; when they desired his help he was always ready to give it. Now we see their affections changed over. All the faith that they had in their old gods has been transferred to the God of heaven. As one man said in his prayer last week, 0 God, before we did not know You. We had never heard Your name until the missionary came. Now we have heard of Jesus, and intend to hold on to "Do we realise that the outstretched hand of these poor unreached multitudes is the outstretched hand of Christ?" Natives on Mussau Bringing in All the Emblems Connected with Their Former Devil Worship 3/5/32 Xtic §tiliXiSf.ANRE CORP 17 You forever.' Old men and women who were awaiting death in their houses, are now attending church regu- larly twice a day, and praising God in their own simple, sincere way. Others who were sick with asthma and other troubles are now, because of their abandoning the use of tobacco and unclean foods, testifying daily to the power of God. The position as I find it at present is that we need as soon as possible some more Solomon Island teachers. The people are crying out for help, and we are too few in numbers to deal with them all." Concerning these people Brother A. S. Atkins also reports as follows : " It is a privilege to be connected with such a won- derful field as this, for the power of the Lord has been and is still being manifested in a marked way. I think there has never been a field among our island missions where we have had such a wonderful response. " I visited right around the island during the first week, saw just about every one, and found an earnest hungering for the message at every turn. One becomes amazed at times to think that they have advanced so far in such a short space of time. " Here on Mussau we have eight teachers, but this is by no means sufficient. There are about six districts still without any help, and all are waiting anxiously for a missionary. These places have made progress in spite of the fact that they have no one to lead them. They have only had occasional visits from Oti, but when I visited them they all lined up, ready to show me their various articles used in heathen rites and witch- craft. After telling me what each one had been used for, at their own request they were ail cast away. This has taken place at all the villages now. " There is hardly any one away from worship ; if there are, it is only when they are too sick to come. Their villages are very scattered, and some have long distances to come, but they never miss nor come late. Two of our boys have about 200 in each of their villages, so they can hardly do justice to their work, as the majority come to school. "I was amazed at the distance some of the people walk in order to attend worship. At Salau's mission, folk come from two other villages, and some have two hours' journey over a rough track. This means they leave home about 4 a.m. to be in time for morning worship, and they come again in the afternoon. I told them that perhaps it would be sufficient if they arranged to go on Sabbaths only, but they said, No, we want to go all the time.' But they pleaded for a teacher to go to them, as the travelling back and forth left them little time for work in their gardens. All are anxious to learn, from the tiniest youngster right up to the old folk. " I have put in a week or two at some of the places, and plan to visit likewise at other centres later. This enables me to advise the teachers on some points, and straighten out certain problems which usually trouble natives, such as, which of two or three of their wives they are to put away, land matters etc., as well as give time to spiritual themes. Native Testimony Meeting in New Guinea " Usually on the last Sabbath I conclude with a testimony meeting, and what a response ! They have the real spirit of a testimony meeting, and the difficult task is to try to get only one man to talk at a time. About three or four will break out at once, and all the time I keep saying, One man one time,' but their zeal gets the better of them. No one remains silent. All have something to say, and are bent on saying it. It usually happens that they speak several times before I finish. One man may start by saying in pidgin English, Me like lose him altogether belong time before, now me like catch Him Jesus,' which means, I wish to put away altogether my former life, and now put on Christ.' This is followed by every one saying, Me like all the same too,' ` Me too,' etc., till every man, woman, and child has given voice. Then some one will make another testimony relative to his former condition, or his love for the message, and this reminds others of something else, so they in turn have their say. Each testimony calls something to each one's mind, and up they stand, till probably they have stood up three or four times. � I just let them speak ; it is good for them, and it makes them the stronger for it. I know the brethren at home would be thrilled if such a response could be obtained at some of our churches where members are reluctant to speak. Perhaps it is that these folk appreciate the message more, after being freed from the powers of darkness. They realise that the mission has something far better to offer them, so they are all most anxious to throw away everything which savours of heathenism." Let us think, dear brethren, for a moment what this really means. Hundreds, yea thousands, of these peo- ple after only a few months' instruction, coming out of heathenism and renouncing all their vices, and changing life-long habits � How true are the words of the apostle, " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new crea- " Thousands are perishing in sin, and a lack of means is hindering the proclamation of the truth that is to be carried to all nations." 11- �AIISTRALASIAN RECORD is 3/5132 ture : old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5 : 17. On the other hand, brethren, we must think of the almost half a million in this one field—the Territory of New Guinea—who are still in heathen darkness, and who are waiting for us to bring to them the message that is so wonderfully transforming the lives of those who have already been reached. The Lord counsels us, " Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. . . And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see : all they gather themselves together, they come to thee : thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side." Isa. 60 : 1, 3, 4. A Call to Prayer from the Solomon Islands We have already referred to Christ's instruction to His disciples, " Pray ye therefore the Lord of the har- vest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest," He does not mock His children, and if we earnestly pray this inspired petition He will surely answer it. We, however, must be ready to help in the answering of the prayer. The needs today are just as great or greater than when this compassionate prayer was first spoken. In a letter recently received from Brother L. A. Borgas, the new Superintendent of the Solomon Island Mission, he describes something of the needs of 40,000 people living in heathenism on the large island of Malaita. He says : " Our first point of contact with the island was at Langa Langa, where we knew that Harry, one of our boys, was holding up the banner of truth. We anchored a little way off and sent boys to ascertain if Harry was there, but were told that he had waited and waited for some one to come from headquarters, and when no one came he died three days ago—a victim of the recent epidemic of influenza which swept across these islands. " On reaching Auki, farther along the coast, the Government headquarters, we were told that the actual population of Malaita was 45,000, but 1,500 had suc- cumbed during the recent epidemic, and 5,000 are re- cruited away from the island. " Later at Tunafore we met Simi, the native teacher who was left in charge of Malaita, caring for a mission school, besides directing new-found interests. We had heard that Simi had openings for more teachers, and so we brought two with us, but on arrival we learned that the number of teachers required was three times the number we had brought. " We were taken up to a village where we were to leave a teacher, and when we arrived old chief Sukutolo came to meet us. Having dreamed that three white men were coming that day, he had told his people not to go away to work in their gardens. When we three— Brethren Anderson, Parker, and myself—arrived, he immediately summoned all his own people and some from another village, and soon they began to gather around us. " After a talk, treatment was administered to the sick, worship held, and the new teacher was introduced to them and received very cordially. Good-byes and a hearty handshake all round brought a happy gathering to an end. " We had to be off as we had a long tramp before us. Every stop had its peculiar line of interest to us. The sick were treated at each stop. Small rivers simply had to be waded across. Nightfall found us at the last vil- lage planned in this itinerary. Treatments were again given, worship was held, and then we repaired to the river where two of our boys had a dinghy waiting to row us back to the ship. Hungry and tired, but happy, we were glad to get back on the Melanesia again. " We had placed two teachers, but here were other calls. Deputies from inland tribes and deputies of salt water people came. What were we to do ? My heart did yearn that these earnest requests might be granted. The last ones to ask for a teacher came to us in their canoes about forty strong in the evening and during a heavy rain, making it necessary for them all to board our ship. They remained two and a half hours, demon- strating that their request was genuine, and endeavour- ing in every conceivable way to solve the problem, even to selecting one of our boat crew to be their teacher. The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few." Does not this pathetic plea, coming from those who are sitting in darkness, appeal to our hearts ? Can we lightly heed these calls ? As we so often sing, " Can we, whose souls are lighted With wisdom from on high,— Can we, to men benighted The lamp of life deny ?" Recent News from the New Hebrides From one of the most difficult and dangerous places in our mission field we are also receiving most inspiring reports. The members of our churches throughout the home field will not soon forget the noble work done and the sacrifice made by our pioneer workers on West Malekula. The little grave marking the resting place of our faithful Brother Norman Wiles, must always remind us of the price that has been paid in establishing the work in that difficult field ; but the following lines from our veteran worker, Pastor C. H. Parker, who is in charge of the work in that district, shows how wonderfully the Lord is blessing the work done and watering the seed so prayerfully and tearfully sown. In a letter recently received from Pastor Parker, written after a visit to that field, he states : " I have just returned from my tramp on Malekula. We had splendid meetings, and the Spirit of God was present in power. At a general meeting of all our peo- ple on the coast that I held the last Sabbath I was there, the hearts of the people were strangely stirred, and every man and woman, young man and young woman, and boy and girl in that large congregation stood up to put away every sin and asked for baptism. They wanted to be baptised at once and partake of the Lord's supper with us. It seemed a heavy cross to them when we told them that they would have to enter the baptismal class first. Later in the day when we celebrated the ordinances they were all there, and it was a very solemn meeting. There seems an earnest determination on the part of our people on Mitlekula to get rid of sin. " While we were engaged in this meeting, a tribe back in the bush, some distance inland, having recently accepted the mission, were worshipping for the first time in their own church which they have just completed. "Communion with God will impart a moral elevation to the character and to the entire course of action." 3/5/32 movaets.;,.0- AUSTRALASIAN RECORD 19 Quite a long distance from this tribe, three other bush tribes had united together to build themselves one town, and they also were resting on that Sabbath. Some of these were in attendance with us at the ordinances, and they were deeply impressed. They shook hands very warmly with me at the close. " We are literally besieged on every hand with the sick. This year has opened with a great deal of sick- ness and complications. It keeps both Mrs. Parker and myself very, very busy. We are glad to say to the praise of the Lord that we have not yet lost a case. God has done some wonderful things." Need for Serious Attention Now while we greatly rejoice in what has been ac- complished, and praise Him for the victories gained, we must on this occasion give serious attention to the many unanswered calls coming from the unentered parts of the great harvest field where there are people still waiting for the message. In the Territory of New Guinea messages are being received by our workers asking for us to go to them. Our workers say they dare not go unless they have some assurance that teachers will be supplied. In Papua also districts are still unentered where the natives wish to learn about this saving message. A few lines from Brother L. Howell, from the Vailala district, indi- cates how desirous the young people are of a training. He writes as follows : " While down at Vaivere we paid a visit to two neighbouring villages, and had opportunity of doing some medical work among them. The people seemed very appreciative, and signified their willingness for us to start a school there as soon as we were able to supply a teacher. Three lads from one village returned with us and are now staying on the mission. " Last week three boys came to us from a new dis- trict some miles along the coast, so I have taken them in. I hope they develop well, as they will help us to open work in their own district in the future. Had we several additional native teachers, we could extend our work considerably." And now, dear brethren, we must conclude this read- ing. Very much more could be written regarding what God, by His Spirit, is doing in the regions beyond. The power of the message upon these lives cannot really be described. It is beyond description. Old habits, faiths, errors, and cruelties are fast disappearing, and being re- placed by entirely new hopes, new lives, and new aspira- tions. We in the homeland have a definite part in this wonderful work. Our prayers are effective and availing. Let us pray more. Our offerings are being blessed, and we share in the blessing. Let us continue to give. During this week let us definitely plan by God's help to increase rather than decrease our gifts that the grand work may continue. In closing we repeat these beautiful lines from the author of the book, " The Desire of all Nations : " " Be- fore the great and loving Lord let us kneel. Let us ask Him to touch our eyes that we may see the world as He sees it, in all its sin, and want, and hopelessness ; to touch our hearts that we may feel for it that compassion of His that brought Him to the cross ; to touch our lives that we may live for that for which He lived and died ; and to quicken us by His resurrection power that the light and the joy of His love we may carry unto the ends of the earth." (Reading for Friday, May 20) Dangers Threatening the Church BY FRANCIS M. WILCOX, Editor " Review and Herald " WE have reached a great crisis hour in the history of the world. � The present world-wide economic depression, the millions of men out of employment, the shaping of events in the political world in preparation for future war, the increase of crime showing the de- moralisation of society, the disasters in the physical world, as represented in earthquake, tidal wave, famine, extremes of heat and cold, the growing spiritual apostasy affecting the great churches of the world,— these are ominous indications of the times in which we live. They presagl the rapidly approaching end, the day of final judgment, and the coming of the Lord to reap the harvest of the earth. Christ will soon close His work in the heavenly sanctuary. Then the people of God must live through the time of trouble without an intercessor. And while grave dangers threaten the world in gen- eral, grave dangers also threaten the church of Christ. Satan has come down in great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time. By every possible device and specious temptation he is seeking, now as never before, to draw away the church from its allegiance to God. At a time like this, when we are especially seeking God for a greater fullness of divine blessing, it is well for us to consider to what extent Seventh-day Ad- ventists have been influenced by the evil tendencies of the day. Yea, should we not consider to what extent we individually are permitting our own experiences to be fashioned and moulded by the worldly influences by which we are surrounded ? We thank God for the thousands of earnest, devoted believers, both old and young, connected with the second advent movement ; for the army of consecrated youth who have dedicated their lives to holy service. But we cannot forget, on the other hand, the large number of old and young who are losing out in their experience. For these we should pray and for these we should put forth most earnest labour. What are the great dangers threatening Seventh-day Adventists at the present time ? We cannot, in this brief study, enumerate them all. We will mention sev- eral of special significance. " The darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray." AT_ISTRALASIAN RECORD 20 3/5/32 1", � t4v3Z% Trust in Formal Profession This has been the bane of the church in every age. It is against this very danger that a definite warning is sounded to the last-day church in the third chapter of Revelation. The True Witness charges this church with saying, " I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Let us be careful that this spirit does not unconsciously creep into our hearts. We can say, as did the apostle Paul, that after the flesh we have nothing whereof we might boast. We have a beautiful system of truth, so intrenched in the Word of God as to prove impregnable against all the assaults of the enemy, a church organisation complete in every detail, institu- tions world wide in their influence, an impetus and aggressive force connected with our work which chal- lenges the admiration of the world. We thank God for these achievements, but let us realise that in these things of themselves there is for us no personal salvation. The True Witness declares that those who glory in their riches are " wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Their hope is in buying the gold of faith and the white raiment of Christ's righteousness, and in being anointed with the eyesalve of the Holy Spirit. Declares the apostle : By grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God : not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2 : 8, 9. It is only in this experience, in a con- scious connection with the Lord Jesus Christ, that a cold, formal profession will be changed into a living, pulsating Christian experience. This will constitute us " His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Then we shall keep the Sabbath and all other commandments of God, we shall pay tithe, we shall give to foreign missions, not in order to earn or buy our salvation, not from a sense of duty, but out of joy born of the indwelling Christ. The outward service will be only the fruit of the indwelling experience. Delaying Christ's Coming Some have waited long for the Lord to return. They have grown gray in sacrifice and toil for the advance- ment of the second advent movement. The danger is that their hope, long delayed, will make their heart sick. God recognises this danger which threatens His faithful and tried people, and again and again He sounds a warning against the ever-ready suggestion of Satan that the coming of the Lord is delayed. To those who are tempted to cast away their confidence, this word is spoken : "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith : but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition ; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul." Heb. 10 : 35-39. Christ Himself gives a warning against this danger that threatens the church in the last days. In the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew He outlines the signs that should precede His second advent. He exhorts the believers to be in a constant state of readiness, for " in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." He pronounces His blessing upon the faithful servant who keeps this message before His church. But He declares that the evil servant will be saying, " Nly Lord delayeth His coming." He will not necessarily -give expression to this sentiment. The record is that he will say it in his heart, but his outward actions—smiting his fellow servants and eating and drinking with the drunken—will indicate his state of unbelief. Sad, indeed, that there are found in the church today some who represent this evil servant. The appeal is to us who read or listen to these words. Do we belong to this class ? If so, may God take away our unbelief. May He lead us in our study of His Word, as applied to conditions existing in the world today, to build up our faith, to strengthen the things that remain, to seek a new experience in the Lord Jesus Christ. Soon " He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." May this living, abiding hope constantly incite us to new consecration and faithfulness. Alienation in the Church and in the Home The spirit of doubt, distrust, and alienation exists everywhere,—in the state, in society, in the church, in the home. There is a looking to men instead of to God, a looking to men for example, a looking to men to criticise them. The last evil is probably the greatest. If there is one sin above another among us, it is that of unkind criticism. We find it everywhere, in every con- ference, in every church, almost in every home. Gossip and talebearing do their evil work to contribute to mis- understanding between closest friends. Families are separated, alienation takes place between husband and wife, between parents and children. To an alarming extent we see these conditions around us. How earnestly should we strive against permitting these great evils to enter our churches and our homes ! It was in recognition of this danger in the last days that the promise was given through the prophet Malachi. Speaking of the work of Elijah, of the spirit which should accompany the second advent message in its triumphal march to victory, he declares : " He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." We thank God that we see this prophecy being fulfilled in some measure in our homes and churches today, but there must come in the days before us a much larger fulfilment. Note the divine order. The hearts of the parents are first moved ; they turn toward their children, and then in the hearts of the children there is awakened a blessed response. May God roll today upon the hearts of the fathers and mothers and the older members of the church, a great burden for the youth and children of the denomination, as we seek by every means in our power to win them to God. This cannot be done by a spirit of criticism, or faultfinding ; it cannot be done by unwise comparisons of the standards of today with the stand- ards of fifty years ago. The youth today were born into the world with its present standards; they know nothing else. It is for us patiently and kindly to teach them the way of the Lord, to turn them from the low, evil stand- ards of the world to those high and holy standards placed before us in the Word of divine revelation, as "In Christ God has provided means for subduing every sinful trait, and resisting every temptation, however strong." ••••••••• 3/5/32 � AUSTRALAS= RECORD � 21 represented in the Bible and in the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy. The Spirit of Worldliness No argument is required to prove that the spirit of worldliness is making serious inroads into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is seeking entrance in many ways and in varied forms. The world around us is seeking after creature comforts, sensory pleasures, the satisfaction of unholy ambition in the acquirement of wealth, in securing selfish social recognition or political position for personal ends. And Satan is seek- ing by such means as these to draw away after himself the followers of the Master. Association with these influences may be by direct or indirect contact. They seek entrance to the heart and life through the reading of pernicious literature, through the novels and storybooks obtained from the public library, through the recital of crime which comes to us in the columns of the daily newspaper or the current magazines. They make appeal through the sense of sight in the moving picture represented on the screen, in the popular movie or the personal acting on the theatre stage. They make appeal through the sense of hearing in much that comes over the radio. We recog- nise that oftentimes one can hear over this modern in- vention that which is really helpful,—wholesome lec- tures, sacred music ; but on the other hand, the radio is used for the promulgation of much that is positively demoralising in its influence and tendency. We refer to such things as jazz songs, dance music, comedy, the dramatisation of Bible incidents in such a way as to destroy their sacred character, the promulgation of doctrines and theories directly opposed to the teachings of the Bible. The influence of the popular bathing beach, with promiscuous association of men and women, may be- come another potent factor for evil. The sex appeal and the crime appeal are the two influ- ences above all others which corrupt the mind, degrade the morals, and lead men and women into lives of infamy and crime. And one or both of these appeals may be found to a greater or less extent today in the movies, at the pub- lic bathing beaches, in the novels and stories and reports of crime found in books, magazines, and the daily papers, and the jazz songs and other forms of entertainment which come over the radio. Surely it is high time for Seventh-day Adventist parents and youth, if they are tempted to mingle with the ungodly, or to view the wicked scenes thrown upon the movie screen, or to lis- ten to the evil influences coming into the home over the radio, to recognise that the friendship of the world is enmity against God. There are many other forms of worldliness which are to be deplored. Worldly parties of pleasure, too many of which are found in the ranks of our own people ; our young people uniting their life interests with unbelievers, with all the fruitage which follows this unfortunate step, of divided homes and worldly associations ; affiliating with worldly clubs, leagues, secret orders, etc.,—these are insnaring evils to be avoided. Christ is our example. We are not to follow the lead of others, we care not how high may be their posi- tion, even in the church, or how holy their profession. The word of the Lord to Seventh-day Adventists today is, " Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ; and I will receive you." We cannot join affinity with the world, and maintain our allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot live as we list, and go to heaven at last. The way to the Holy City is straight and nar- row and rugged, and he who would gain eternal life at last must be willing to pay the price of self-surrender, self-denial, and self-sacrifice in this present world. These evil influences, entering the home, act and react. They not only give chaff in return for the precious hours spent, but they rob of time for secret prayer, for family worship, for the study of the Word of God. In how many instances is the study of that Word neglected for the reading of the daily paper, the latest magazine, or the storybooks from the public library! May God anoint our eyes that we may see the Home of a Solomon Island Native Worker on Museum, Territory of New Guinea evil influences at work, and resolutely set our hearts for definite reform in our own experience and in the church of God. Sabbath Desecration We are thankful for the reverence paid the Sabbath of the Lord by thousands of our church membership. We honour them for that loyalty to right which has led so many to sacrifice worldly business prospects in order to observe faithfully the day which the Lord has made holy. But sad to say, in the lives of some in our churches the spiritual significance of Sabbath observance has largely been lost. It is made a day of physical rest and recreation and pleasure. It is used for social visit- ing, for motor car rides, for picnic outings. Some are careless in beginning and closing the Sabbath hours. They return from their work or from making purchases, after the Sabbath has begun. They hasten to their ap- pointments of business or pleasure before the sacred hours have passed. God cannot bless His children who thus regard His holy day. On the other hand, this is the promise that He gives to those who will hold in reverence this sign of His creative and redemptive power : "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day ; and call the Sabbath a delight, the " When in faith we take hold of His strength, He will change, wonderfully change, the most hopeless, discouraging outlook." AUSTRALASIAN RECORD 22 3'5. 32 holy of the Lord, honourable ; and shalt honour 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 bath spoken it." Isa. 58: 13, 14. May we heed this exhortation, and not follow on this day our own ways nor find our own pleasure nor speak our own words. There is needed in the church a genu- ine reform in Sabbath observance. May God help us to make it in our own experience. The Sin of Covetousness The apostle declares that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money, when rightly used, may be made a great blessing. It may be given to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to minister to human suffer- ing, to carry the gospel to those in darkness. When thus employed, the special blessing of God will attend its use. But when the objective in earning money is for selfish aggrandisement, to minister to selfish, physical comfort, to enjoy the good things of life while we pass by those who are in need, then it is that the love of money becomes the root of all evil. William Carey, the father of modern missions, was once asked regarding the vocation he followed. He re- plied : " My business is to serve the Lord, and I cobble shoes to pay expenses." A noble, comprehensive answer indeed ! It is the business of every Christian to serve the Lord. This should be his primary purpose ; and the means he earns, in whatever business he engages, should be used for the furtherance of this grand objective. This is the relation which every Seventh-day Adventist should sustain toward the means which God brings into his possession. He is not to lay up a competence, to build a fine home, to amass a fortune for his children ; he is to use his intrusted talents of money-making the same as the minister uses his talent of preaching,—for the giving of the gospel to his fellow men. Unfortunately, there are many in the church who are robbing God in tithes and offerings, and if this season of seeking God is effective and accomplishes for His people what Heaven designs, there will be many returning to the Lord's treasury that which they have unjustly used. Withheld tithes will be paid. Withheld freewill offer- ings will be given freely and thankfully, not from a sense of stern duty, but joyfully, returning to the Lord that which is His own, that of which He has made us merely the stewards. Our Hope If we shall find from our study of the Word of God and from searching our own hearts by the illuminating power of His Holy Spirit, that we have departed from the Lord, th.t our sins have shut out from our lives the fullness of His blessing, in what may we hope ? 0, we may hope in God's forgiving mercy if we will only turn to Him. He invites us to come. Hear His gracious invitation : " 0 Israel, return unto the Lord thy God ; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity." Hosea 14 : 1. This was the word of the Lord to ancient Israel. It is none the less the word of the Lord to Israel today. In His tender mercy for His children, He not only pleads with them to return, but frames for them the very words with which to come to Him : " Take with you words, and turn to the Lord : say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously." To this appeal, which the Lord puts in the mouth of the sinner, He makes response : " I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely : for Mine anger is turned away from him." How could the great God be more gracious ? How could He more signally multiply His mercies and mag- nify His love for the children of men ? He holds out the cup of salvation, He offers it to every soul, and all He asks is that each come and drink. At this hour shall we not accept this invitation, and make to the Lord a new consecration of heart and life ? He is coming soon. His work is soon to be finished, and it is for every one of us to have a part in its triumph. As in the gift of Christ, God placed all upon the altar for us, so He requires in return that we place our all upon the altar. We must give our lives, our plans, our purposes, our business, our earning, our families, all that we have and are and hope to be, to be used as His Holy Spirit shall direct and His providences guide. In this whole-hearted consecration we shall find a joy in His service that we never have known before. We shall have victory where before we have suffered defeat. Christ by His Holy Spirit will come in and take up His abiding place in our hearts. We shall have with us continually the consciousness of His divine presence. We shall know that we are accepted in the beloved. This is the blessed experience into which God desires every one of His children to enter. May we seek Him for this experience for the church of God and in our own individual lives. (Reading for Sabbath, May 21) The Surety of the Triumph BY W. A. SPICER, Field Secretary, General Conference THE title of the subject assigned for this Sabbath morning is in itself inspiring. At the first sug- gestion of the triumph of the work of God and the surety of it, our hearts leap up with fresh joy and cour- age. And the text this morning is one of those trumpet calls of Inspiration that stir to action and reconsecra- tion. It is 2 Corinthians 2 : 14 : " Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." One version renders it, " Which always leadeth us in triumph." I like the picture that the text draws so vividly. We are on a battlefield, pressed by the foe. But in all the experiences and conflicts of life there is One leading us on in triumph. And what a Leader He is ! He " When the reproach of indolence and slothfulness shall have been wiped away from the church, the Spirit of the Lord will be graciously manifested." ATISTRAI:LASIAN RECORD 3/5/32 23 " always leadeth us in triumph." We will follow Him, follow Him to the eternal victory over sin and Satan. Then, too, the range of the text is larger than the field of personal experience. In it we see Christ leading on the cause of truth through all the ages ; and now the two sides in the great controversy are arrayed upon the last battlefield. The final triumph that will end the war with evil is just before us. The prophet John, in the Revelation, saw Christ leading the final triumph over the forces of evil. " These shall make war with the Lamb," he said, " and the Lamb shall overcome them : for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings : and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." Rev. 17 : 14. " They that are with Him," it says. That means us. Unworthy as we are, we heard the call, and have taken our stand " with Him." Our sinful hearts went out to the Lamb of God who gave His life that we might have forgiveness and cleansing from all sin. Called and chosen by the unmerited grace of the Lamb, we surrender anew this day, praying Him to keep us faithful—" called, and chosen, and faithful." "My life, my love, I give to Thee, Thou Lamb of God, who died for me; 0, may I ever faithful be, My Saviour and my God." If we had never done it before, we would enlist today as followers of the Lamb. Is there one with us who has not yet taken the stand for Christ and the truth ? Do it this morning. It is not enough to think it in the heart. " With the heart man believeth unto righteous- ness," but " with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Rom. 10 : 10. Jesus says, " Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I con- fess also before My Father which is in heaven." Matt. 10 : 32. How He longs to confess every name! As we go on with this service, we shall be praying that not one per- son, young or old, shall go out from this place of meet- ing today without having the name registered in the book of life. Triumph Sure from the Beginning From beginning to end of Holy Writ the voice of God speaks the surety of the triumph in Christ. From the day that sin appeared in heaven, it was a sure thing that one day it would be wiped out of existence. The holy war was on at once. " Michael and His angels fought," we are told ; and Satan " fought and his angels, and prevailed not." Evil never will prevail against Christ. Look across the six-thousand-year battlefield since the controversy was transferred to this earth. Never once has Satan prevailed against Christ. Satan's ap- parent triumph at the cross was but the supreme defeat that means his eternal destruction. True, he prevailed for the moment over Adam and Eve in Eden, and sin and a sinful nature, and death and every evil were in- jected into humanity ; and this bright new earth in God's creation was darkened by the curse. But right there Jesus brought victory out of man's defeat. He gave Himself to die in man's place. The stroke that was falling upon us fell upon Him. Jesus stepped in between. There it was that the sure and eternal charter of salvation was sealed by the Father and the Son, in the terms of John 3 : 16 : " God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believ- eth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Jesus Made Our Surety I love that verse, and so do you. All that heaven has to give is there. All that we need is there. And Jesus has made Himself the " surety," or pledge, of it, as Hebrews 7 : 22 tells us. If a contract fails, the surety is forfeited. If this promise of everlasting life to the believing sinner could fail, Jesus, the surety, would be lost. It can never be. His oath, His covenant, His blood, assure us as we say, " Lord, I do believe, I do accept the gift." All this pledging of surety is in order that we may have " strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us : Brother and Sister Weil on Their Station, Big Bay, Santo, New Hebrides which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." Heb 6 : 18, 19. The Lord alws.y s speaks surety and certainty to us as He begs us to let Him save us. Never has one failed who cast his helpless soul upon Jesus. "Did ever saint find this Friend forsake him? Or sinner find that He would not take him ?" No, not one, not since the world began. Weak, sin- ful, of our own selves we can do nothing ; yet we do triumph in Him. The natural tendencies of this sinful flesh are warring against the Lamb. Our selfishness, our pettiness and impatience, our pride and love of place and the honour of men, little grudges and resent- ments and jealousies, the nursing of the tendency to look at the dark side and be discouraged,—all these be- setting sins, so common to the natural heart, are evils that war against the Lamb. We can apply to these things the assurance in the text quoted before : " These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them : for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings ; and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." We are with the Lamb of God in this battle against sin within. Let us not excuse sin in our lives, or har- bour it, or surrender to live with it, for a moment. We are to fly on the instant to Jesus for the cleansing grace and keeping power. He promises to be on instant duty in the heart that is determined to live only for God and "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." :A_TISTRALASIAN RECORD 24 *144-` 3/5/32 eternal life. That heart is the Lord's vineyard, and 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." Isa. 27 : 3. There can be no fear or uncertainty about such al- mighty guardianship as that—on the watch every moment, night and day. To Him we commit the keep- ing of our souls, and every interest of life. And we say with the apostle Paul : " I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." 9, Tim. 1:12. 0 the joy in the surety that Christ is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him, and able to keep us now and forever ! Triumph of Advent Movement Sure But we must look for a few minutes at the surety of the soon-coming triumph of God's cause on earth. So good it is to go over these things of the surety of our soul's salvation in Christ, that we have left but little space to talk of the sure and needy triumph of this Advent movement and message. God's truth is to tri- umph, and sin is to be swept from this earth. All through the ages the Lord has never ceased to talk of the surety of it. In a dark time in history He declared : " As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." Num. 14 : 21. He pledges His own existence to the surety of it. Over and over He repeats that this sinful earth shall be covered with glory. The time is at hand. When through the prophet Habakkuk He speaks to us who are waiting now, He emphasises the surety of our hope " Wait for it ; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." Hab. 2 : 3. And the New Testament writer quoting this, renders it : " Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Heb. 10 : 37. The Lord knew it would seem to us that the coming of Christ was tarrying. But really the glorious ending of the great controversy is rushing on at about lightning speed. A thing is not tarrying when it is rushing swiftly on. " Cast not away therefore your confidence," the Lord urges. The eternal triumph is at hand. It will surely come. How the signs of the end multiply on every side! Never, it seems, have we found our work so in the very midst of the perils of the last days as we have seen it this last year or two of distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring. Amidst unrest in Asia, three valiant missionaries have fallen by violence. With sea and waves roaring, one strong Australian mis- sionary and six devoted Fijian workers were swept to watery graves in the unusual hurricane season over those islands. In the terrific earthquake in New Zea- land, in which large areas of fair cities fell, lifelong ties were severed in one beloved worker's home ; while in Spanish Central America the desolation of a capital city leaves our mission home one of the monuments of provi- dential preservation. Writing by moonlight in stricken Managua, with the air full of earthquake dust and the ground still trembling, the superintendent's wife, Pearl Waggoner Howard, penned this song of Christ's coming as the one hope and refuge in a crumbling world : "Cities perish in a moment, Crumbling into dust; Earth is trembling, agonising, As from fatal thrust. All that can fall still is falling, Wailings rend the air; Desolation—stark, appalling— Everywhere ! "Food is burning, water failing, Death stalks wild abroad; Stoutest heart and spirit quailing,— Oh, our God, Thou our promised help and refuge, Be our stay, For the earth and all around Are giving way I "Naught is left of tranquil calmness Save the stars, the moon; Naught that's glad except the knowledge Thou art coming soon ! Burn the dross, consume the evil From our hearts, and then, 0 Lord Jesus, come ! come quickly ! `Even so, Amen! '" Everything speaks to us, " Be ye also ready : for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matt. 24 :44. In one vast region many thousands of our brethren are passing through trials so sore they can- not even report to us about it. This we may know, thousands of prayers must be going up, " Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come." He will surely come, and will not tarry. On Into Neglected Regions " We see the message speeding on in a way that fills our hearts with awe. The latter rain is falling in long- neglected regions, and fruitage such as we never ex- pected to see in those fields is springing up. It seems surely that these outpourings are coming in largest measure now in the most neglected and naturally least promising countries, as if to bring the work there quickly up to the place where it is in the older fields after all these years of labour. Then may the Lord pour out the fullness of the latter rain on all lands, the work in the whole world will be moved on together to the closing witness, and the final triumph will come in fullness of power. There is surety in every prophecy of the closing work. When the hour came, in 1844, the movement rose. The people came keeping the commandments of God and preaching the hour of God's judgment come. As the message has spread from land to land, the fruit- age has sprung up—the people of prophecy, of all nations and kindreds and tongues, keeping " the com- mandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." This movement is not of man, but of God. It is wonderful to see God move this message on- ward. We now see fulfilling in the Catholic lands and the heathen lands, predictions made years ago by the Spirit of Prophecy. It was written : "In heathen Africa, in the Catholic lands of Europe and of South America, in China, in India, in the islands of the sea, and in all the dark corners of the earth, God has in reserve a firmament of chosen ones that will yet shine forth amidst the "The principle laid down by Christ is that the gifts and offerings should be in proportion to the light and blessings enjoyed." Students at Batuna Training School, Solomon Islands 3/5/32 � fir AUSTRALASIAN RECORD- „,„ - 25 darkness, revealing clearly to an apostate world the transform- ing power of obedience to His law."—" Prophets and Kings," p. 198. Not one of us could have written such a statement in those years. We did not look for it. But the Spirit of Prophecy foretold it of these lands that then looked so barren and unproductive. The reserves were to be called in at the very last from Catholic and heathen lands. In the hour of deepest apostasy they were to spring into line. We see them now coming by the thousands. How we thank God to see them come! Our greatest gains of late are in these very places. Many thousands have come marching in this year who were not with us last Week of Prayer. With love we welcome all the new believers. Final Movements Rapid Ones As the crisis draws upon us, the reserves are truly coming. It is a sign. The last events are rapidly tak- ing place. " The final movements will be rapid ones," we have been told. The conflict deepens. We see the forces of evil gathering closer for the last great struggle. But the Lamb shall overcome them all; " for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings : and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful." Faithful we must be now. Let a few brief ex- tracts from the Spirit of Prophecy sound the same keynote of surety that Holy Scripture everywhere sounds regarding the triumph of this message : " In the midst of the time of trouble that is coming, . . . God's chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them ; for angels that ex- cel in strength will protect them."— " Testimonies," Vol. 9, p. 17. "The bulwarks of Satan will never triumph. Victory will attend the third angel's message."—" Testimonies to Min- isters," p. 410. "At times the difficulties that we shall meet will be most disheartening. The very greatness of the task will appall us. And yet, with God's help, His servants will finally triumph."— " Life Sketches," P. 439. "I testify the things which I have seen, the things which I have heard, the things which my hands have handled, of the word of life. And this testimony I know to be of the Father and the Son. We have seen and do testify that the power of the Holy Ghost has accompanied the presentation of the truth, warning with pen and voice, and giving the messages in their order. To deny this work would be to deny the Holy Ghost, and would place us in that company who have departed from the faith. . . . "The enemy will set everything in operation to uproot the confidence of the believers in the pillars of our faith in the mes- sages of the past, which have placed us upon the elevated plat- form of eternal truth, and which have established and given character to the work. The Lord God of Israel has led out His people, unfolding to them truth of heavenly origin. His voice has been heard, and is still heard, saying, Go forward from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from glory to glory. The work is strengthening and broadening, for the Lord God of Israel is the defense of His people."—Id., P. 430. "God calls upon His faithful ones, who believe in Him, to talk courage."—" Testimonies," Vol. 8, p. 12. Let these words of the Spirit of Prophecy end with this call to courage. We are all to talk courage. I should say so ! Who could watch God's leadership in this world message, brethren and sisters, without talk- ing courage ? He is leading us in triumph to final victory. Here let us renew our consecration to courage and faith and loyalty in the message and to Christ our Leader. We must not forget that this includes sacrifice for the needs of the cause of Christ. Today is the Annual Offering for missions. We know that the lack of means is cruelly felt at this moment. The greatest situation we ever faced, the fields dead ripe for harvest—and this year of financial depression that struck all the world has caused the Mission Board treasury and all the fields the greatest distress. Pray, dear brethren, pray the Lord of the harvest. And give for Christ's sake as He enables. But before the offering of money is laid down before the Lord, let us give ourselves anew to Him, this last Sabbath of another Week of Prayer. So the New Testament believers in Macedonia did as they were giving their money. They "first gave their own selves to the Lord," we are told. That is the most precious gift that any one can give the Saviour today. In a moment we shall ask all who make this gift of themselves anew to God to stand up in confession of united surrender and consecration to Him. Then we will join in prayer, asking God to accept this consecra- tion and to forgive and cleanse from every stain of sin, so that our offering may be without blemish. And with us this morning will not every person present join in this confession of whole-hearted acceptance of Christ and His truth ? Let not one heart hold back today from a Saviour who waits and pleads. " Come unto Me," He says today. And just as we are, 0 Lamb of God, we come. Let all stand who make this consecra- tion today. [NOTE TO LEADER.—Take a moment, if need be, as the congregation stands, to plead with those to come with us who have not before taken their stand. Sometimes a warm-hearted invitation from the leader at a service like this, or from some friend—just a personal word—will help a soul to make the de- cision that means eternal life. Then the consecration prayer; and after the prayer let the Annual Offering be taken.] Here Let the Annual Offering Be Taken ATIS TRALASIAN RECORD 4..‘;',4A0 3/5/32 26 The Children's Lessons Introductory Note [Careful study has been given to pro- vide suggestive lessons for the children during the Week of Prayer, based upon the topics used by the writers in the regular series of readings, only adapted to the comprehension of the children. It is designed that each church shall definitely plan help for the children by appointing experienced workers suf- ficiently early so that preparations may be made for separate meetings to be held with the children each day during the Week of Prayer. The lessons have been prepared, under the general direc- tion of the Sabbath School Department, by Mrs. Frances Fry-Howell, whose life has been devoted to working with children. How often in His work among us the Master drew into His arms a little child to enforce some spiritual lessons upon NOTE FOR THE TEACHER.—May the prayer of each teacher who stands before a group of children during this Week of Prayer be, " Lord, teach me how to pray, that I may teach the children how to pray." When the children are taught to bow in prayer with a sense of their need, with their hearts fixed upon the promises of God, we may have great confidence in the prayers of little children. In the first lesson an effort is made to bring to the child a deep heart sense of the following essentials of the prayer life : 1. Prayer is talking to God as to an esteemed friend. 2. Our part is to know what our needs are and to tell them just as they are to Jesus. 3. Then we must believe that Jesus hears and answers every believing prayer. 4. Thankfulness for answered prayer. 5. Talking to Jesus moment by moment is our privilege and our greatest need. I. Prayer Is Talking to God as to an Er teemed Friend.—What is your idea of a very good friend? Is it some one who will help you only when convenient ? Is it some one whom you can trust with only a few of your secrets? Is it some one who is your friend today, but soon forgets all about you ? What a poor example of a friend ! That isn't the kind of friend you want. You want a friend who is al- ways your friend, of whose help you can always be sure, to whom you can feel free to tell everything, some one (and this is the greatest of all) who would die for you if necessary. It would be wonderful to have such a friend as this. Not many earthly friends measure up to such a friendship. But this is the kind of friend Jesus is and longs to be to every boy and girl in this room. Think of some special the hearts of men. And still is He, by His Spirit, drawing unto Him in their tender years the children, inscribing their names in the B lok of Life as they in the love and sincerity of their hearts come unto Him. "Suffer little children to come," were Jesus' own words. And these words come on down to us across the centuries as clearly and with as much force as when first they were uttered. His command implies that the children will come unto Him, if not forbidden or hindered. During this Week of Prayer let the way be cleared that many may come. Then, too, it may be the Master may use some of the children to lead the way for those who are older in years to come ; for have we not this word from Him who Himself is the way : " Except ye be converted, and be- come as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven " ?] friends of yours. How did you become friends? You just got to talking to- gether, and before you knew it you were friends. Just get to talking with Jesus, and you will become special friends with Him. Tell Him all about yourself. You can tell Him of your worst faults, things that you wouldn't tell to a single earthly friend ; and the more you tell Him the more He loves you. But there is nothing that makes this Jesus Friend love you quite so much as for you to keep asking favours of Him. It just makes His heart overflow with love for you. What a privilege to tell everything to such a Friend! (At this point in the lesson, sing one stanza of the song, " What a Friend we have in Jesus.") 2. Our Part Is to Know What Our Needs Are, and Then to Tell Them Just as They Are to Jesus. I Peter 5: 7.—How often our earthly friends greet us with, "I have something special to tell you." That is the way Jesus likes to have us greet Him. He loves to hear us say, " I have a special sin to tell you about." If it be lying, for instance, we should say something like this : " I am not as honest as I should be ; at times I tell a lie." If we should go to some of our earthly friends and tell them in this way of our special sins, they might not like us any more. But Jesus loves us all the more, for He takes this as one big proof of our special friendship with Him. So keep looking for the special things to tell Jesus and then tell them to Him just as they are. 3. Then We Must Believe That Jesus Hears and Answers Every Believing Prayer. Matt. 21 : 22.—Nothing makes us more happy than to have our earthly friends say, "I can count on that boy, for he is a special friend of mine." Or, " I know that girl won't fail me, for she is my special friend." Nothing makes Jesus more happy than to hear us say, " I know Jesus will answer my prayer, for He is my special Friend." Or, " I know I shall not tell any lies today, for I am depend- ing upon Jesus to help me." Such belief in our hearts not only makes Jesus happy, but it sends strong angels to our side to help us. Believing is the biggest thing in our special friendship with Jesus. 4. Thankfulness for Answered Prayer. Eph. 5: 20.—Anoth -r thing that counts in our special friendship with Jesus is thank- fulness. I ask, I believe, I receive. Then I must give thanks. Did you thank your Mend for that pretty book he sent you ? Certainly you did. You wouldn't be so rude as to receive a gift and not say, "Thank you." Let us not be rude to Jesus, our Friend. Let us thank Him for every little favour, no matter how srpall it is. I lost my knife; I couldn't find it anywhere. I asked Jesus to help me find it, and I found it very soon after breath- ing my little prayer. Should I not stop and say, " Thank you, dear Jesus " ? I prayed often during the day that God would help me to be kind to little sister. At night when I knelt to pray I remem- bered times during the day that I was helped to be kind when I felt like being cross. I cannot close my eyes in sleep without saying, " Thank you, dear Jesus, for this wonderful help." 5. Talking to Jesus Moment by Moment Is Our Privilege and Our Greatest Need. Thess. 5 : I7.—There are times when our earthly friends are many miles away and we cannot talk to them, but we can al- ways talk to Jesus. There isn't a moment when He cannot hear the softest whisper of a prayer. Some people seem to have the idea that we cannot pray unless we stop everything we are doing and kneel in prayer as we do in the morning and evening family worship. But this is not true. We can be talking to Jesus while on the playground, where we are so often tempted to cheat and use bad language. We can be talking to Jesus while we are working our problems in arithmetic. We can be talking to Him while walking home with our friends after school. We can pray this little prayer at all times, " Jesus, help me." This is what it means to be praying moment by moment. Satan is determined to insnare every boy and girl. He has set his cruel traps every- where. Those who talk often to Jesus will escape. The words of the chorus of "Yield Not to Temptation" will help us much if we will sing them from the heart, for in this song we are asking, believing, and receiving. " Ask the Saviour to help you, Comfort, strengthen, and keep you ; He is willing to aid you, He will carry you through." a contrite heart." (Lesson for Sabbath, May 14) Talking to God LESSON I " Never is one repulsed who comes to Him with AUSTR2aASIAN RECCRD 3 5 32 � 27 NOTE FOR THE TEACHER.—The pur- pose of this lesson is to impress the chil- dren with the thought that we are in a lost world and that we ourselves are lost. It is our privilege to help the children to find Jesus as their personal Saviour, and then to inspire them with a desire to bring others to Jesus. The lesson is based on the following topics: i. Every one is lost. 2. Jesus came to find the lost. 3. Has He found me ? 4. How I may help Jesus to find others. 1. Every One Is Lost.—Any one who has been lost in the woods knows how terrible the feeling is when he senses that he cannot find his way home. Every sound he hears among toe trees he fears is a wild animal coming to kill him. Or the deathly stillness gives him a dreadful sense of loneliness and helplessness. But if in the darknes he hems the sound of a human voice or sees the first flicker of a light, how his, heart leaps with hope and joy 1 He knows he will soon be delivered from all his fears. Every man, woman, and child in this world is lost because of sin. Adam and Eve were put in a safe place in the gar- den. But Eve wandered away among the trees, and was lost in sin because she listened to a lie that Satan told her. Then Adam foll,,wed her lit sin, and he too was lost. And because Adam and Eve were lost, all their children were lost. We are all their children, and we are lost too. Not one of us knows how to find his way home out of the woods of sin. Every wrong thing I do takes me farther from home in the dark and dan- gerous woods, where I am helpless and ready to die. 2. Jesus Came to Find the Lost.—Jesus looked down from heaven and saw us lost in the woods of sin. He said to His Father, "I will leave Our beautiful home here, and go down into the dark world of sill, and search out Our lost children. I will become the light of the world, and with My light I am sure I can find many of these lost children and bring them home." The Father said, "I love these children so much I will let You go and find them." So Jesus came down from heaven to this dark world of sin. When He got here, He said, "I have come to seek and save the lost. Every one who will hear My voice and come to Me, I will save." (See Luke 19: to.) When we are tempted to do sin, Jesus' voice says, "Do not go that way, for it will lead you farther into the dark woods of sin ; but come with Me, and with My light I will take you home where you will be safe." 3. Has Jesus Found Me ?—The question for every boy and girl to ask is, " Has Jesus found me ? " Every time you tell a lie, every time you do not obey father or mother or teacher, you get farther away from Jesus. But every time you say, " No, I will not lie, I will tell the truth," Jesus draws you nearer to Him. Every time you do exactly what mother or teacher tells you to do, Jesus makes His light shine more brightly to show you the way home. Jesus goes everywhere to find His children,—into the dark woods, into the wild mountains, out into the sandy desert, everywhere He can find any of His lost children. He comes quietly into your home, and steals into your room and talks to your heart, and says, " Come with Me, and I will show you the right way today. If you stay close by My side, you will not get lost today." Has Jesus found you ? Do you listen to His voice ? Do you stay close by His side, so you will not get lost any more ? 4. How I May Help Jesus to Find Others. —When Jesus has been so kind as to NOTE FOR THE TEACHER.—This les- son is to impress the children that Jesus is really coming very soon, and that we must be ready to meet Him when He comes. We shall also want to tell others of Jesus' coming, and help others to get ready to meet Him. The topics are : 1. Jesus came to earth once. 2 Jesus is coming again. 3. I must be ready to meet Him. 4. Helping others to get ready. I. Jesus Came to Earth Once.—Have you all heard that Jesus is coming soon ? Three little boys in California have a father who flies in an aeroplane. This father decided to go on a long journey,— clear around the world. It was a hard and dangerous journey, but the father did not care how hard it was if he could only make the journey through the air and get back home safe. So he left mother and his three little boys one day, and started flying on his long way. Day after day and night after night he kept on flying. and flew over the m mmtains, and over the woods, and over the desert, and over great oceans. His little boys and their mother kept waiting and waiting, and watching and watching, for father to come back home again. While father was flying, he kept sending back mes- sages through the air, telling where he was, and that he would be coming back home again to his little family. Then one day the people saw an aeroplane come flying down from the sky and alight on the same ground where it started. Father was in the aeroplane, safe and happy after his long journey. 0, what a happy time that was for the little boys and for come and find you, would you not like to help Him find others who are lost ? There are many ways you can do this. One way is always to do right when you are playing with other children, for that will help them to do right, too. Another way is always to obey mother and teacher, so other children will be influ- enced to obey when they see you doing cheerfully what you are asked to do. Another way to help Jesus find others is to save every penny and every threepence you can to give at Sabbath school to help send the Bible to the people in the islands. Still another way is to be kind to every one you find in trouble. There are many sad people everywhere, and you can cheer them up by saying and doing kind things to them. You can carry flowers to a sick boy or girl. You can bring a nice cold drink to mother when she is warm and tired. You can give away papers and tracts. Don't you want to be Jesus' little helper in all these ways ? While He is seeking out the lost and saving them, you can be His little helping hand. You will want to do this because Jesus found you and saves you. mother ! They had waited patiently a long, long time, and now father was back home once more. Jesus is like a father to all the boys and girls who love Him. He loved you be- fore you loved Him. He loved you so much that He left His glorious home high up in the sky, and came down through the air to this earth where we live. He came as a little child, and grew up with brothers and sisters in His home in Nazareth, just like you. Then He went out through all the land to tell the people that He had come to earth to seek and save the lost. Many were filled with joy to hear the good news, but some wicked men were angry with Him, and finally killed Him by crucifying Him on a cruel cross. His friends sorrowfully buried Him in a tomb of rock, but after three days His Father called Him back to life again, and He went to find out and cheer all those who loved Him. One day while talking to some of them, He began to go up through the air with many angels around Him. He was going back home. 2. Jesus Is Coming Again.—As Jesus was going up toward heaven, one of the angels remaining with His friends below, said, " 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." Acts I : it. While Jesus was yet on the earth, He had said to His people, " 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." John 14:2, 3. (Lesson for Sunday, May 15) Seeking and Saving the Lost LESSON II (Lesson for Monday, May 16) The Coming of Jesus LESSON III " When we come to Him in faith, every petition enters the heart of God." 28 L! � ' AUSTRALASIAN RECORD - 3'5 32 This wonderful promise Jesus will surely keep. After He had gone to heaven, John, His beloved disciple, wrote about His coming back. " Behold, He cometh with clouds ; and every eye shall see Him." Rev. :7. Among His last words to the beloved John were : Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22 : 12. Jesus wants all His children with Him where He is in His own lovely home, and He is coming back very soon to the earth to get them. 3. I Must Be Ready to Meet Him.—When the flying father;went off in his big 'plane, he told his three little boys and their mother that he was coming back soon— sooner, he hoped, than any other man that had gone around the world. He told them he could not tell them just when he would return, but that they would know when the time came, and they must be ready any time, day or night. And sure enough, when his 'plane arrived, there were three little boys and mother dressed in their best, stretching out their arms to welcome father back home. If the little boys had kept at their play and had not been there, it would have almost broken the father's heart, and how sad the boys would have been to miss meet- ing him. NOTE FOR THE TEACHER.—This les- son corresponds to the adult reading, Advancing Under Difficulties." Its pur- pose is to teach the children hat the way of the Christian is not easy, but he must endure hardness as a good soldier. But Jesus smooths the way if we keep close to Him and follow in His footsteps. As the children find this good way, they will want to do their part in telling others about it. The topics of the lesson are : I. The way of life is not easy. 2. Jesus smooths the way. 3. Am I walking in Jesus' way ? 4. How can I help others to find the way? T. The Way of Life Is Not Easy.—Did you ever go out in the yard to pick some roses, and get your fingers scratched by the thorns ? You love roses because they are beautiful and smell so sweet. But when you gather them, the sharp thorns scratch your hands and sometimes make the blood run. But do you stop picking roses because there are thorns? No, you love them so much you would rather get scratched a little than to go without the roses. Did you ever start to school in the rain and have the wind snatch your umbrella away ? You might get a little wet, but you ran after the umbrella to pick it up again. Do you stop going to school be- cause it rains and blows and makes it hard to keep from getting wet? No, you So Jesus said when He went away : " Watch therefore : for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come ; . . . for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matt. 24 : 42-44- Because we do not know exactly when Jesus is coming, we must be ready to meet Him all the time. The way to get ready and be ready when Jesus comes is to confess all our sins, give them all away to Jesus, and do just as He wants us to do every day and every hour. 4. Helping Others to Get Ready.—It is not enough to get ready ourselves to meet Jesus when He comes; we must help others to get ready too. God so loved the people that He gave Jesus to die to save them from sin. He so loves everybody that the Bible says He is not willing for one of His little ones to perish. Matt. 18:14. Jesus wants every one to be ready. Some will not get ready, but we must help every one we can to get ready. We must help our bro hers and sisters, our cousins, our playmates, and all our neighbours to be rea ry. Then we must send all the help we can to the black and yellow and red people in all lands to help them get re ady to meet Jesus at His coming. How many of you here today will do your part to get ready and help others to get ready for our heavenly home ? want to learn, and you love your teacher, and you just keep on going to school every day, rain or shine. When Jesus came down to this earth, do you think He found the way easy ? No, He was born in a stable where the ox and the donkey were fed, because there was no room for His mother at the inn, where people sleep. Then Joseph had to flee with Him and His mother into a far country, because the king was trying to kill the little Babe born in Bethlehem. Jesus' home was a poor one, and even as a boy He worked hard to help earn food and clothing. When He became a man and went about among the people doing good, He had no nice bed to sleep on at night. Though He had been walking through the dust and heat and teaching and healing the people all day, He had to lie down under the trees or beside a big rock to sleep. He had only very simple food to eat, and had to get water to drink wherever He could find it. But He went through all these hard things cheerfully, because He loved us and wanted to teach us the way of life. The way of lite is not an easy one, but we are glad to walk in it because of the many good things we get and the many good things we can do for others. 2. Jesus Smooths the Way.—If we had to walk in the way of life all alone, it might be very hard indeed. But Jesus has gone over the way and smooths it for us, when we set our hearts to do right. When we are tempted to tell a lie or to steal some- thing, Jesus will tell Satan to be gone, and give us strength to be true to the right. When a playmate slaps us in anger and we want to hit back, the still small voice of Jesus says, " Say a kind word to him, and he will be ashamed of himself." That dear voice of Jesus makes the way easy for us. When mother de- nies us something we want that is not good for us, and we feel like saying some- thing ugly to her, Jesus says, " Let Me take out of your heart those angry words, and don't say them to mother." It is wonderful how Jesus smooths the way for us when we are determined to do right and ask Him to help us. 3. Am I Walking in Jesus' Way ?—The thing every boy and girl wants to decide ih this Week of Prayer is, " Am I walking in Jesus' way ?" If I am walking in Hi way, it will be very, very easy, becauss He goes before me and smooths the waye But if I am not walking in Jesus' way, my. way will be very, very hard, because there is no Jesus to smooth toe way, and Satan makes it rough and thorny. Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." No, we cannot put our hand in the hand of our kind heavenly Father, except as Jesus puts it there for us. He is the only one who knows the way to heaven, and He will surely lead us there if we only walk in His way. How many of you will say today, " I am going to walk in Jesus' way, because if I try to walk in my own way it will be too hard for me " ? Please stand, all who have de- cided to walk in Jesus' way. 4. How Can I Help Others to Find the Way l—It would be very selfish for us to walk in Jesus' way, and not try to help others to find the way, too. There are many heathen boys and girls whose way is much harder than ours. They live in large numbers in the islands and in Africa and China and India. First we want to help all our little white neighbours and playmates to find Jesus' way, but thousands in the islands are calling for some one to come and teach them the way of Jesus. Many of them have never heard the name of Jesus at all. They have no Christian father or mother, no Sabbath school to go to, no church to attend, and could not read the Bible themselves if they had one. It costs much money to send teachers to them, but Jesus says, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." You can help send teachers and preachers by saving every penny you can, and by trying to earn more to give. While doing this, you can keep telling others about it, and try to get them to do the same. What a wonderful help it would be if you all would do this. How many are ready to begin now ? EVERY sincere prayer is heard in heaven. It may not be fluently expressed; but if the heart is in it, it will ascend to the sanctuary where Jesus ministers, and He will present it to the Father without one awkward, stammering word, beautiful and fragrant with the incense of His own perfection.—" The Desire of Ages," p. 667 (Lesson for Tuesday, May 17) Going Forward When the Way Is Hard LESSON IV " Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring." 3/5/32 AUSTRALASIAN RECORD 29 NOTE FOR THE TEACHER.—The spirit of giving to the Lord Jesus for the ad- vancement of His cause should run all through the Week of Prayer like a thread of gold. Giving from the heart is a spir- itual act. Temptations to spend money needlessly and foolishly are on every hand. We shall save much money for the cause of God if we can train our chil- dren in habits of giving. Encourage them to save and sacrifice during this Week of Prayer, in order to have a love gift for Jesus at the close of the week. The fol- lowing is our list of topics: I. Jesus the great Giver. 2. Give, and you will love. 3. The least of these, My brethren. 4. Businesslike giving. I. Jesus the Great Giver. John 10 : We all believe in giving. We pay our tithe. We give our offerings to Sabbath school ; we give our Thirteenth Sabbath offering ; and we give other offerings as well. But are we giving all that we can and should to Jesus and His needy ones ? Before answering this question, let us stop and think how much the Lord Jesus gave and is constantly giving to us. Would it be possible to dip the ocean dry and measure its contents? It would be even more impossible to measure the love of Jesus, as expressed in the gifts that He daily bestows upon us. Suppose Jesus had said when He saw our need of a Saviour, "I'll leave My mansion in heaven and come down to earth, where I shall be homeless, with no place to lay My head. I'll leave the streets of gold for the rough, dusty paths of earth that lead to the place of suffering and want. I'll leave My place by My Father's side, and take My place by the side of suffering humanity. When I have done all this, surely I will have done enough." And surely this would have been amazing. But it was not enough for Jesus. No, He must not only leave heaven, with all its splendour and glory, and come down to a dark, dreary, homeless earth, where He must suffer and toil, and be persecuted and abused, but He must pay the last and biggest price of all to save you and me. He must give His life, and this He did so willingly, so lovingly. His great love led Him to do this for you and me. This is the Jesus who today is pleading in heaven for your love gift and mine. And while He is pleading, He is giving, giving, giv- ing,—giving us life, home, fathers, moth- ers; giving us sunshine, air, rain, that bring us health; giving us food, and bless- ings without number. What a wonderful giver is Jesus. Surely, " love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my soul, my all." 2. Give, and You. Will Love. Luke 6 : 38. —So this is why Jesus loves us so. It is because He gave us so much. You may say, " Oh, He gave because He loved us so." Yes, but it works both ways. He gave because He loved, and He loves be- cause He gave. This is why God wants us to keep giving to Him. It is because He wants us to keep loving Him more and more. Yes, love, and you will give ; and give, and you will love. 3. The Least of These, My Brethren. Matt. 25 : 40.—This is why He has planned it so that your gifts and mine must care for the needy and send the gospel to earth's waiting millions. God has wealth untold. He doesn't need our money. It is just His great longing for our love that has caused Him to depend upon us to carry on His cause. His cause is the cause of every one who is in need,—that poor neighbour who is in need, that poor cripple on the street, and, oh, the millions across the sea, who have never heard the gospel I Jesus puts Himself in the place of each needy soul, and what we do for that one, we are doing for Him. " Inas- much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done t unto Me." So God is not counting on NOTE FOR THE TEACHER.—To help the children sense God's interest in our personal lives and His direction of all our ways, is the aim of this lesson. God must often answer our prayers by sending us experiences that compel us to come to Him for help or to do the things we ought to do. The following topics are sug- gestive of the development of this subject 1. God's willingness to talk to us. 2. God's answer to Moses. 3. God's answer to Joseph. 4. God's answer to our missionaries. 5. God's answer to us. 1. God's Willingness to Talk to Us.— ' God is ready and willing to hear the sincere prayer of the humblest of His children."—" Steps to Christ," p. 68. We talk to our friends and they talk to us. Could you imagine conversing with a friend and receiving no reply to what you had to say ? What a one-sided conversa- tion that would be ! Your friend listens quietly while you talk. Then he talks while you listen. Just so it is in our talks with Jesus. He listens so carefully to all we have to say, and then how He delights in answering us. Angels are called, and they are sent at once to do the things that need to be done in order to answer our prayers. We cannot see them nor hear them, but we can see what they do. Things are always astir in heaven when we pray, and something always happens. Now the thing that happens may not be just the thing we have asked for. Our prayers are all summed up in one word when they reach heaven. They are the wealth of heaven. God is counting on our gifts of money ; He is counting on our love. 0, Iet us not disappoint Him ! 4. Businesslike Giving—And how can we meet His expectations? There are temptations to spend our money at every turn. We are tempted to buy lollies and things we do not need, things that are harmful to us. How can we spend less for ourselves and give more to Jesus ? Here is something that will help us. When tempted to spend your money for lollies, stop and think of India, with its millions still unwarned. When tempted to spend your money for soft drinks, stop and think of Africa, with its millions still un- warned. When tempted to spend your money for anything you do not need, stop and think of the hundreds of islands still unwarned. Surely, the thought of souls perishing without the gospel will keep us from spending our money foolishly. It always pays to be businesslike, especially with God. Let us determine in this meet- ing, in a businesslike way, just what our gifts should be each week, and work and save to that end, especially during this Week of Prayer. Let us work and save for a very definite love gift for the Lord Jesus. If we love Him, how can we hold back our love gifts from Him ? summed up in the one word, " help." Isa. 41:10. So our Jesus at once bids the angels do the things that will help the most. And how swiftly they fly to do His bidding So the things that come to us may be things that we ask for, and they may not be. If the things we ask for will help us, they will surely be done. If they will not help us, they just as surely will not take place. God's one thought toward us is to help us. He is our strong Helper. His answer to every prayer is, "I will help you." 2. God's Answer to Moses.—Moses was only a young boy when he found himself in the court of Egypt's heathen king. It became very clear to him that God was calling him to deliver His people Israel from the bondage of Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land. What a great work for a young man 1 But Moses thought he could do it. He was young and strong. He had a knowledge of mili- tary rules. He had a good education. But he did not know that Moses without God could do nothing. So when Moses prayed that God would make him a great leader, God answered his prayer by send- ing him into the wilderness, where he learned how weak he was and how strong God was. Moses was not expecting the wilderness answer to his prayer. But what a great leader it made him for God 1 What a wonderful answer to the prayer of Moses! So when you are having a hard time and things go wrong, who knows but that God is trying to teach you that Harry without God can do nothing, or Helen without God can do nothing? (Lesson for Wednesday, May 18) Love That Gives LESSON V (Lesson for Thursday, May 19) God Talking to Us LESSON VI "Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees." � I 3 15 (32 30 � 4pO t � Jo ton, AUSTRALASIAN RECORD This is often God's answer to boys and girls who would prepare to do a great work for Him. 3. God's Answer to Joseph.—Joseph was carefully taught by his father about the law of God. He loved to sit in their tent door by night and hear his father's won- derful stories about God. How his heart thrilled with a desire to be true to the God of his fathers. Joseph's daily prayer was, " 0 God, help me to be true to what I know to be right." And what was per- mitted to come in answer to his prayer ? Great temptations to be untrue were per- mitted to come, in order to make him strong. How he was tempted as a slave in Egypt, tempted to do carelessly the de- grading work of a slave, tempted to be impure when no eye was watching, tempted to be hateful when cruelly abused. Joseph was able to say " No " to every temptation, and every "No" to tempta- tion made him just that much truer to God. How true he was when he stood next to the head of a great nation. God had surely answered his prayer. Let us not be afraid of temptation. It may be God's way of answering our prayer, and making a Joseph of us. 4. God's Answer to Our Missionaries.— Think of our true-hearted missionaries, working so bravely in heathen lands to carry the gospel to those who sit in dark- ness. How often they pray that God will help them to speed the message to all the world! In how many surprising ways God is answering their prayers. Some- times He permits persecution to come to them to answer their prayers. How NOTE FOR THE TEACHER.—This title very concretely suggests the pattern life exemplified for us by the Lord Jesus. Christianity is not something formal and abstract. It is tangible and real. But it will be so only as it is applied to the com- mon, everyday experiences of life. 0 to walk as He walked, that we may teach and be taught I We believe that the title embraces those acts common to us all, and in which we need to conform more and more to the perfect pattern. I. Praying as He prayed. 2. Meeting temptation as He met it. 3. Talking as He talked. 4. Working as He worked. 5. Loving as He loved. Life has often been spoken of as a path- way over which we travel but once. As we travel this once over life's highway, we want to travel it well, living our best, and doing all the good we can. Jesus travelled the pathway of life before us in order to show us the way. If we would walk as He walked, we must learn first of all to— I. � as He Prayed. Mark 1 : 35 We are told that no one lives as Jesus lived, because no one has ever prayed as Jesus prayed. We can learn much about could persecution ever possibly be an an- swer to prayer to spread the gospel? Why, while in prison, our missionaries have often been able to tell the story of Jesus to those in prison with them. Often their imprisonment has brought them be- fore officers and magistrates, and what a wonderful chance this gave them to tell the gospel story. A strange but wonder- ful way of answering their prayers! Sometimes native chiefs travel long dis- tances to visit our missionaries and beg for Christian teachers. Often our mis- sionaries must say, "No, we have no teacher to give you, for we have no money." Then what do our brave mis- sionaries do ? They pray that God will impress us here in the homeland to give our money, so that these people who are begging for the light may have a teacher. Do you remember times when you felt a special burden to give your money to help our missionaries ? God was impressing your heart, and this was His way of an- swering the prayers of our brave mission- aries. God has some wonderful ways of answering prayer, and every way is a helping way. 5. God's Answer to Us.—Dear boys and girls, God is not just a talking God, He is a working God. He works in many ways to answer your every prayer. He may permit difficulties to come, and strong temptations, and even sorrow,—anything that will help you. Rom. 8 : 28. Best of all, He is a helping God. His one desire each day is to help you. So pray today, and every day, believing that in the faintest prayer there is saving help for you. prayer from the life of Jesus. It is not from the wonderful prayers that He prayed that we can learn so much, but from the fact that He prayed so much. Jesus got up very early in the morning, and went to the woods to pray. He prayed that He might be strong to meet temptation. Sometimes when Satan was tempting Him hard, He prayed all night. He prayed when He worked at the car- penter's bench. He prayed when He walked. He prayed not only for Himself, He prayed for a lost world. He prayed such a simple prayer, "Father, keep Me and keep them." Such a prayer we can pray, and as it kept Jesus moment by moment from sinning against God, so it will keep every boy and girl in the hour of temptation. Let us repeat this prayer softly together, " Jesus, keep me." 2. Meeting Temptation as He Met It.— Would you meet temptation in the brave, wonderful way in which Jesus did ? Then you must put on the armour which Jesus wore. How cruelly Satan's darts were hurled at Jesus, but He escaped every one. Surely, it was a wonderful armour, and one that every boy and girl can put on each day. This armour is prayer and God's Word. It is the only armour that will keep us in the moment of temptation. The more we pray and study God's Word' the stronger is our armour. Let us not only determine to pray as Jesus did, but let us read God's Holy Word every day. Have some special time each day when you reverently take up God's Word, and let it speak to your heart as if you could hear God's voice just speaking to you. This is the way to meet temptation as Jesus did. 3. Talking as He Talked.—" Jesus did not suppress one word of truth, but He uttered it always in love. . . . He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe word."—"Steps to Christ," p. 13. Jesus' voice was the sweetest voice ever heard, because it was the kindest. If we would talk as Jesus talked, our voices would al- ways be kind. It is easy to speak kindly when people are kind to us. But the test comes when people speak unkindly to us. The people were saying cruel, hateful things about Jesus. Surely, Jesus will speak sharply to them this time. But ilsten, that same kind voice is saying, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." No matter how cruel and hateful the peo- ple were to Jesus, He never spoke an unkind word. 0, what a record for angels to write! May we talk each day with the kind voice that Jesus always used. 4. Working as He Worked. Eccl. 9:10. —What kind of workman are you ? Are you a good workman or a poor workman ? Jesus was the perfect workman. When a boy, working at the carpenter's bench, He made every edge straight, every corner true, every surface smooth; yes, His work was perfect. This is the way Jesus did all His work. This was because He tried in every piece of work He did, to do His very best. And because He tried to do perfectly the little things, when He grew to be a man He did hard things perfectly too. He started as a perfect Helper in the carpenter's shop. He became the perfect Teacher, the perfect Healer, the perfect Saviour. Let us adopt the motto of the perfect Workman, "In everything I do, I will try to do my best." 5. Loving as He Loved. john 3: The greatest of all in the life of Jesus as He walked through the pathway of life, was the way He loved. He loved the poor, shabbily dressed person as much as He did the rich one in robes of satin and velvet. He loved the man who was cruel and hateful to Him as well as the man who was kind and loving. He loved the little child as well as the greatest and mightiest man. He was the great Lover. He loved every one. And they did not have to be told that Jesus loved them. Oh, no. They could see it in His face, they could hear it in His voice, they could feel it in His touch. And would you know the secret of His wonderful love? Ah, Jesus saw in all men, fallen souls, those whom it was His mission to save. He treated every soul as if He had come to this earth just to save him. If we would feel that way toward Harry and Mary and Ruth and John, toward Mrs. Smith and Mr. Brown, toward every one with whom we have anything to do, how (Lesson for Friday, May 20) Walking as He Walked LESSON VII Mary, Queen of Scotland, used to say, " I fear the prayers of John Knox more than an army of ten thousand men." 3/5132 44);; " .A.TISTRZULASUSIT RECORD � 31 differently we would treat them, how much love there would be in our voice and in our manner, and in everything we did. To love the most unlovely person you know as Jesus loves you—this is to love as Jesus loved. Appeal : 0 to pray, to meet temptation, to work, to talk, and to love as Jesus did This is what you must do if you would walk as Jesus walked. If every day you will say, when ready to pray, "How would Jesus pray today ? " when ready to speak, when some one has spoken un- NOTE FOR THE TEACHER.—This lesson corresponds to the adult reading, "The Surety of the Triumph." Its purpose is to help the children to see how to make sure of winning in the great purpose of life. Many Bible examples show the way. But God chooses boys and girls just as really today as He did in Bible times, when He has a great work to be done. God has begun His last great work in the earth, and He wants the children to get ready for a part in it. The topics of the lesson are: „,t. Joseph was sure to win. Le_2. God has a people to lead now. C3.How can I be sure to win? r14. Do you want to win ? Z. Joseph Was Sure to Win.—W hen Joseph was a lad of about seventeen, his father, Jacob, sent him to see how his older brothers were getting along keeping sheep far away from home. Joseph set out on his journey a very happy boy. His father loved him very much, and had made him a beautiful coat of many col- ours. Joseph loved his kind father, and was glad to go on this errand for him, wearing his new coat and carrying fresh food for his brothers. How glad he would be to hurry back and tell his father how the other boys were faring. But when his jealous brothers saw Joseph coming, they took him and put him in a deep, dark pit. They would not listen to his piteous cries to lift him out and let him go home. But they took his nice new coat and dipped it in blood. Then they took it back to their father, telling him that they had found it. Their father said, " Surely wild beasts have killed him." Joseph they sold to some men going down to Egypt on camels, who took him with them, and sold him to a king's officer for a slave. 0, what a dark time that was for Joseph ! He could never go back to his loving father and his happy home. Not used to hard work, he must now use his tender hands working as a slave. He must live in a heathen home among heathen people who worshipped idols and did not know the true God. Joseph thought of all this while riding along in the hot sun on the camel's back. It made him feel terribly homesick and afraid. He was at first much discouraged, but his father had taught him many things about the true God, and angels brought these kindly, " How would Jesus speak ?" when ready to work, " How would Jesus do this piece of work ?" when you meet some one who is poor and shabby, and perhaps even dirty, " How would Jesus treat this unlovely soul ?" In this way, you will be using Jesus as your pattern, and you will become like Him. " Be like Jesus, this my song, In the home and in the throng; Be like Jesus, all day long! I would be like Jesus." things to his memory. As he thought them all over, his heart began to beat with joy. Why ? Because he made up his mind to be true to God noimatter where he was taken or what was done to him. From the very hour of this decision, Joseph was sure to win. Think of what Joseph faced in Egypt. He was one lone boy among thousands of idolators. He must keep the Sabbath and worship the true God all by himself. Wicked people tried many times to lead him into sin, but he stoutly said, "How can I do this wicked thing, and sin against God ?" Every time he said " No " to temptation he was still more sure to win. He was so true to God, and so faithful and dependable in all his work, that the Lord opened the way for him to stand next to the king. In this way he was able to save all his father's family, all the people of God, from dying of starvation in time of famine. God used one little boy to help carry through His plan for sending a knowledge of Jesus into the world to save His people from sin. Joseph was sure to win because he was true to God every- where at all times. God's plan for Joseph's people—God's people at that time—was sure to win, because He worked through a little boy that could be trusted. 2. God Has a People to Lead Now.—As it was in Joseph's time, so it is now. God has a people to lead through to the end and finish His work. When the time came to begin His last work in the world, he chose a little girl to lead the way—a little girl He could trust anywhere and at all times to give the people His messages. Ellen Harmon was only thirteen when God called her to be His child, and only seventeen when He gave her her first vision and the first message for His peo- ple. It was a great cross for her to tell the people their sins and point the way to God and to success in His work. But Ellen, like Joseph, decided right then and there to be true to God, and to do under all circumstances just what He wanted her to do. From that very hour, Ellen's work and God's plan for His people were sure to win. God's beginning of His last work in the world and His choice of Ellen Harmon to guide it along safe lines, were made nearly ninety years ago. Ellen Harmon became later Mrs. Ellen G. White. She lived for nearly eighty-eight years, and was true to God to her dying hour. She has gone to her rest, but the work of God moves steadily on. Mrs. White wrote more than sixty books and many articles and letters to help on *he work. These all contain pre- cious instruction. Our boys and girls study much from these books in our schools, because they are all based on the Bible and help us to understand it. We must read these books and the Bible more and more. If we follow their teachings, we are sure to win in the great work God has given us to do. 3. How Can I Be Sure to Win f—I can be sure to win in just the same way, and in only the same way, as all the boys and girls of the Bible and the Advent move- ment of our own time have been sure to win. God chose Joseph as a mere boy, because he would prove true. God chose Moses as a babe in the cradle, because He knew when he grew up he would choose to go with the people of God and lead them out of Egypt. God chose Samuel as a little boy to be His prophet, because Samuel said, " Speak, Lord; for Thy ser- vant heareth." God chose Esther to be queen of a great nation, because she was not afraid to die for His people, if neces- sary. God chose Daniel as a youth to be His speaker to great kings, because Daniel was not afraid of men nor of lions, but prayed to God faithfully three times every day. God chose Ellen G. White as a little girl in our day, because she was not afraid to give His messages to His people and to their leaders for many, many years. God is choosing boys and girls every day now, as they grow up in their homes and as they go to our schools. He wants to finish the work very quickly, and He wants boys and girls He can de- pend upon to do His work true to His plan. 4. Do You Want to Win 7—God's plan for Jesus to come soon is sure to win. Do you want to be sure to win with His great plan? If you do, you must follow His plan now from day to day and every day. You can be a Joseph or an Esther or a Daniel in God's work now, as surely as were God's boys and girls in olden times. But remember, God's plan only is sure to win, and you must follow His plan now, as they did then, if you are to win. Will you? "THE kneeling Christian always finds Him, and is found of Him." " WATCH ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy . . . to stand before the Son of man." " NOT because we see or feel that God hears us, are we to believe ; we are to trust His promises." " WE have failed Him, but, blessed be His name, He has never failed us, and never will." "PRAYER is the channel by which price- less blessings come to us, the windows through which our needs are supplied by a gracious God." (Lesson for Sabbath, May 21) Sure to Win LESSON VIII " We need to look heavenward in faith. We are not to be discouraged because of apparent failure, nor should we be disheartened by delay." ••••••••.1 14r00011M.m..••••••••••••.••••••• 32 � AUSTRALASIAN RECORD 3/5/32 Putotratazian Prarb THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE AUSTRALASIAN UNION CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS Editor : Anna L. Hindson Assistant Editor: Viola M. Rogers Single Subscription, per Year, post paid � 5/- Order through your conference office, or send direct to the Avondale Industries, Cooranbong, N.S.W. Advertising rate 2s. ed. for each insertion. All copy for the paper and all advertisements should be sent to Mrs. Hindson, "Mizpah,'• Wahroonga, N.S.W. Printed weekly for the Conference by the AVONDALE PRESS (A.C.A. LTD.), COORANBONG. N.S.W. To Church Elders DURING the months of the past year much trouble has been crowded into the history of the human race. These dis- tressing world conditions have brought their own peculiar test to the lives and faith of our own people. It therefore seems that this is a time above all times when every effort ought to be put forth to make this special occasion for prayer count for the very most in the life of every believer, whether he be resident where there is a church, or isolated. This is the time when our souls are being tested, and we should hold on to the Lord with the firm faith that Jacob manifested in his notable struggle for victory. Let us also not let go until we have received a signal blessing. Beyond the consideration of our own needs, the needs of a continually growing work have suffered the impediment of languishing funds, and yet it is obvious that no circumstance in human experience should militate against the work of the Lord. At the time of writing this, it seems very clear that we shall be facing a large reduction in our funds. This will mean reductions in our appropriations to missions. Let us try during this Week of Prayer to think what this will mean. And as Hezekiah of old, when hemmed in by the enemies of the Lord, laid the whole situation before Him, and found deliverance through a special manifesta- tion of divine power, so may we as a people assume Hezekiah's attitude, and plead for deliverance from the conse- quences that loom so real before us. More than ever we plead with our be- lievers to remember the Annual Offering. A little added sacrifice will make possible a gift that will supply a measure of the re- lief that is so much required at this time. We earnestly request church elders to lay plans well in advance, and inform the people sufficiently of the Annual Offer- ing day, Sabbath, May 21. May we also call attention to the out- lines of study that have been prepared to assist those conducting studies for the children. The value of this instruction to our children will be determined by the kind of leadership that is given to their meetings. May each church leader give this matter early and prayerful attention, so that down to the tiniest tot the influ- ence of this Week of Prayer may be felt, bringing them nearer to God. This is a time of hurry and bustle, and often we fail to measure with the helpful- ness that is possible in the Week of Prayer by the selection of poor readers. Much thought has been given to the preparation of these readings by our ex- perienced leaders, and it is possible for their prayerful effort to reach the people with an influence of uplift only if those appointed to read will go right through the reading without stopping for unneces- sary comment. The readings are short, giving ample time for prayer and testi- mony, so that every heart may enter in with response to the appeal. We therefore commit our good and loyal people in this time of crisis to Him who alone can bring to them the comfort and consolation that their hearts need, and can lead them into a larger sacrifice and a greater service for Him. Day of Fasting " THE days in which we live are solemn and important. . . . The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us. . . . Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other."— " Testimonies," Vol. 9, pp. ii, 17. Recognising both the timeliness and the truthfulness of this statement, it is fitting that as a people we should set aside during the Week of Prayer the first Sabbath of this season in fasting and prayer. With this in view, the Union Confer- ence Committee invites our members everywhere to unite with them and our conference workers in observing Sabbath, May 14, as a day of fasting and earnest prayer before God in self-examination that our own hearts may be cleansed, and in pleading that His work may advance with greater power and rapidity both at home and in mission fields. The need of individual cleansing is con- stantly before us. Shall we not make it a very vital fact, and plead with God until it is experienced in fullness ? The need of others, both in the home field and in the islands of the sea, is greater than ever, and today doors are opening on every hand for light and truth. Let us pray earnestly that the Lord will endue our white missionaries and the scores of native teachers with power to successfully carry on aggressive and productive warfare in these wonderful times. Let it be no mere formal abstention from food, but a definite setting aside of the day in heart-searching worship, and an earnest plea for spiritual refreshing. Present day conditions demand earnest- ness of purpose and consistency in prayer. Reality in religion is needed now. May the Lord impress us each and all during this time with our individual need, making the Week of Prayer a week of prayer indeed and the beginning for each of us of a life of prayer for the Master. "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. While men have slept, Satan has stolen a march upon us."— " Testimonies," Vol. 9, p. 29. W. G. TURNER. Our Offerings An Aim for Each Conference As has been very clearly pointed out to us in the preceding articles in this paper, the situation in the mission, fields today calls for the expenditure of much more money in these needy places. And as the annual Week of Prayer offerings made at this time are devoted entirely to our foreign mission work, we have another wonderful opportunity of greatly helping forward this most fruitful branch of Chris- tian service. The doors are open wide on every hand, and we have workers who are wait- ing to go. The fields are fully ripe, and a rich harvest could soon be gathered. Yet in the face of these unprecedented oppor- tunities, we find our Annual Offering de- creasing. Now, we may be tempted to say that this is caused by the financial depression existing today. But, dear brethren, we must admit that there are still many ways whereby many of us could economise and thus have more to give to this very worthy and needy cause. While we are here setting conference aims for this year to the total amount of £2,500, and we earnestly hope that each conference will reach its aim, it is to the individual believer that we appeal at this time to make your offering, if possible, a little larger than last year. Plan for it and pray about it, and we believe we will see the aim more than reached. Our total aim for the Union Conference this year is £2,500, divided as follows among the conferences : Nth. N. S.Wales £310 Nth. New Zealand 310 Nth. Queensland 30 Queensland 140 Sth. Australia too Sth. N. S. Wales 430 Sth. New Zealand 16o Tasmania 8o Victoria 430 West Australia 160 Missions 350 £2,500 By action of the Union Conference Council held last September, we have already planned for the expenditure of most of this amount. The missionaries are now awaiting their various appro- priations, and somehow, dear brethren, we are confident that God will enable us to double this amount. Remember, dear brethren, that in the day of final reward we shall be doubly blessed in seeing souls saved in the kingdom of God and also hear Him say to us, "Inasunich as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me." May God grant that to each one who shall have a part in this year's Annual Offering the "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," may be spoken. A. G. STEWART. "By a life of holy endeavour and firm adherence to the right the people of God seal their destiny."