QUARTERLY REVIE
ORGAN OF THE -
OUTHERN EUROPEAN DIVISION
_ of the General Conference of SDA.
ERY
DECEMBER 1938
NUMBER 4
Dear fellow believers in the Advent Message *
Greetings !
The annual Council! of the Southern European
Division, insession at Lausanne, Switzerland, devo-
ted much time to a consideration of the spiritual
needs of both our ministers and our people.
We are facing today conditions that are giving
mankind the deepest concern. Men's hearts are
failing them for fear for looking after those things
that are coming on the earth. Only those who are
studying God's word in the light of the propheciesare
able to give a clear answer to the question: “What
do these things mean?” Speaking of our time, the
angel said to the prophet Daniel, “Many shall be
purified and made white and true: but the wicked
shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall
understand: but the wise shall understand.” The
special need for this time is for a deeper experien-
ce in the things of God, a whole-hearted turning
away from every sin, and receiving into our hearts
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
A great work is to be done in all our churches
in setting before our people the need of soul-cleans-
ing. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and
it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like
him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man
that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even
as he is pure” (1 John 3: 2-3). Let us live close to
God's holy word, for there is power in that word
to break the grip of sin upon our lives. The writ-
ings of the Spirit of prophecy should be given
earnest attention, as those writings were given to
God's remnant people to instruct them regarding
the things that are shortly to come to pass. A revi-
val of true godliness is to be seen in all our church-
es, and it is time for this to come to pass.
We also need to be on our guard against the
dangers of which our Saviour spoke when telling
His disciples about the conditions that would pre-
vail in the last days:“And take heed to yourselves
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
drunkenness, and care of this life, and so that day
come upon you unawares” (Luke 21: 34). “And be-
Message from the Winter Council
cause iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall
wax cold” (Matt. 24: 12). Again we are warned
against manifestations that “if it were possible
would deceive the very elect” (Matt. 24: 24). Satan's
most successful way of deceiving God's people is
by sending among them those who make a high
profession of holiness, but who sow the seeds of
doubt in the church concerning the ministry and
their fellow believers. Thus he plans to bring in
division and prevent the fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer
that His disciples might be one as He and the
Father are one. In this way he plans to cause
weakness where the church should be strong and
united. Against all these dangers we should be on
our guard. Anyone who sows the seeds of division
in the church is working with the powers of
darkness, no matter what pretensions he may make
to piety and to spiritual leadership.
Our hearts have been greatly cheered as we
have listened to the reports of progress which the
work of God is making even in lands where bitter
persecution is the lot of the believers. The Spirit
of God is at work upon human hearts, and souls
are coming to the light in great numbers. At the
same time we have been very unhappy to find that
the funds at our command do not enable us to
help the needy mission fields during 1939 as we
would like to; but the money at our disposal has
been distributed in the best way possible, and we
are confident that in the months to come the Lord
of the harvest will impress men and women with
means to remember God’s cause in a special way
while their gifts may be used for the salvation of
souls. We believe our people will rally in a strong
way to provide the necessary means for quickly
finishing the work committed into our hands by our
Saviour.
May the rich blessing of Heaven rest upon all
our faithful people, and may we be kept true to
God during the storm that is soon to break.
Faithfully your brethren,
A.V. Orson, President.
W.R. Beach, Secretary.