General Conference Bulletin, vol. 4

Seventh Meeting

Sunday, April 7, 3 P.M.

A. G. DANIELLS in the chair. GCB April 8, 1901, page 117.5

Prayer by H. Schultz. GCB April 8, 1901, page 117.6

The Chair: On the opposite side of the globe are men and women who love the third angel’s message just as much as you do. They are working just as hard to extend the work. They are there grappling with the difficulties that stand in the way. This afternoon Brother Conradi will speak to us about the great country of Russia, and he will be followed by Brother Thurston, who will talk to us about the work in South America, or at least in Brazil. GCB April 8, 1901, page 117.7

L. R. Conradi: The call from Europe is indeed the Macedonian call, because Macedonia is a part of Europe. And when I read in Acts 16:9, 10, I find that Paul was in Asia Minor, close to Europe. A few months ago I was in the neighborhood where Paul was when he had that vision. It says: “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” Macedonia was a part of Europe. It was the first entering of Christianity, the gospel work, into Europe. There were Israelites, believing Jews, in different parts of Europe, in Rome and Greece and other places; but the light of the risen Savior had as yet not been proclaimed there until Paul was called to go over to this great country. GCB April 8, 1901, page 117.8

In the tenth verse we read the effect the vision had upon Paul: “And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel unto them.” This Macedonian call comes to-day from all parts of the continent of Europe. GCB April 8, 1901, page 117.9

I would mention a few facts about Europe. It is small in comparison with other great continents around it; but small as it may seem, there are four hundred millions of people living in it. It is a close neighbor to Asia, so closely attached to it that you will not know the difference when you are in Europe or Asia. You may start from the eastern border of Europe and go thousands of miles clear on to the Pacific Ocean, and still be in Asia. GCB April 8, 1901, page 117.10

When I first went to Europe, I found three or four hundred Sabbath-keepers in Switzerland and France, and about twenty-five in Germany. Other parts had never seen nor heard of a Seventh-day Adventist minister before. At the present time the same territory has about four thousand members. It is the power and the grace of God that has done the work. But yet this field has whole empires, with twenty millions of people, and kingdoms with five or six millions of people, which have hardly been touched, perhaps simply a Bible worker or a minister in them. There is surely room enough for missionary effort. GCB April 8, 1901, page 117.11

The Russian mission field includes Russia in Europe, and that is about half as large as if you take the United States and Mexico together. Suppose you take this country and Mexico, cut them in halves, and then call each a mission field, with ten laborers in it,—and you have our condition. But more: Take half of the United States and Mexico, and put 135,000,000 people in that territory, and you get another comparison. You may ask how many resources we have to carry on the work. We have $2,500 or $3,000 a year. If you had this amount, you would not think you had many resources in this country. That has been our situation. But I believe the Lord will change the situation at this very Conference. GCB April 8, 1901, page 117.12

As early as the year 1881 we began the work among the Germans of this country, and some of the brethren in this very assembly are those who belonged to the first church that was organized among the Russian people in the United States. As they accepted the truth, they began to send literature over to the Crimea, their old home. GCB April 8, 1901, page 118.1

Among our brethren in the West who heard the truth, was a Russian brother about sixty years old, who was deeply impressed with it. He had an impediment in his speech. Notwithstanding this, he said he wanted to go back to his native land, to circulate the truth there. He was the last man whom we wanted to send. What could such an old man do? But the Lord does not look upon men’s statures, or their countenances, but upon the heart; and he can take the weakest instrument with which to do a great work. This brother went down to the Crimea; he did not have money enough to take him all the way, and he had to sell his boots to procure funds with which to finish his journey. He had some relatives in that country. He could not talk much, but he took a lot of tracts with him, and began to circulate them; and as he could not read very well, he would take a tract to people, and say, “I can not read this very well. Will you please read it to me?” As they began to read, they became interested, and would say, “Can’t we have one of them?” In his simple way he scattered the truth throughout all that part of the Crimea. Years after that man died, we found souls there who spoke of the good old man that came from America, and scattered the seeds of truth. Only the day of judgment will show how many souls have been brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the publications circulated by that faithful old brother. When I went to Europe in 1886, I had news from the Crimea that there were thirteen there keeping the Sabbath, through the work of that brother. GCB April 8, 1901, page 118.2

When we began our work in Russia, we heard that it was difficult to labor in that country. But when we got into the country, and the people flocked to our meetings, it seemed to us just as free as the United States. We were out in the country; and though it was harvest time, the people would come every night about ten o’clock to our meetings. That went on until we began to present the Sabbath question. When we presented that, the next thing we knew, the windows flew into the room. A few days later we had our first baptism; and just as we were ready to celebrate the ordinances, a friend came and said we were wanted in the next house; the police were after us. We went over there, and the police asked us for our passports. I thought we were safe enough, so I handed him the passports; and the next thing I knew, he put the passports into his pocket. We knew what it meant, because without passports, one can not travel in Russia. In a little while we were on the road to prison. GCB April 8, 1901, page 118.3

On our way there we tried to secure the services of a lawyer, who might assist us out of our difficulty. “But,” said he, “the charge against you is Jewish heresy; I can do nothing for you.” This was Sunday afternoon. I looked at the brother who was with me, and who was my interpreter. The judge came, and asked if I was the heretic. “Well,” he said, “come along.” The next thing we knew, we were locked in a safe place, I assure you. That evening we were marched away into a building behind high walls, and we stayed there forty days. It was the first time in my life that I learned to prize liberty. Sometimes as the guard walked up and down the corridor, he would look in through the little hole in the door, and see me praying, and say, “Your God does not hear you.” But I believed in a God that could and would hear. It did not look so, sometimes: but the United States minister to whom Elder Whitney wrote about my case at the time, sent the following answer: “I fear that it will be found that the laws of Russia forbid any minister of a foreign denomination of Christians from coming into Russia, and teaching their distinctive views without special leave. I shall do all I can for your relief, but must say to you that the action of the foreign office is very slow.” That was the disheartening answer we received. The charge was Jewish heresy. The punishment for that, according to law, was to go to Siberia. But what happened?—The Lord so directed that this very minister not only interceded by letter with the Russian minister in our behalf; but as he saw how it was, he went right in before him, and was asked: “Do you know assuredly that these Adventists are not Jews?” If the minister had said “They are Jews,” the case would have been settled adversely; but this very minister, Mr. Lathrop, a Michigan man,—had been at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, and knew us as a people. So he said, “I know, and can assure you, that they are Christians.” The minister then telegraphed to the Crimea to set us free. O, there are providences in the way, and God sometimes directs public men. There might have been a man there at that time from California, or New York, or some other State, who would not have known a thing about us; simply had heard about us; but the Lord so directed that a man was there who knew us, and he could say directly, “They are Christians.” All in the prison had expected that we would go to Siberia, and every Monday morning we could see a number of prisoners marched out, and their few things put on a cart, and then the soldiers in front, and soldiers behind, would go on the long tramp to Siberia. We did not know what morning we would have to march out in the same way, until the news came that we were to be free. GCB April 8, 1901, page 118.4

When the day came for us to walk into freedom, that very jailer who had said to us, “Your God does not hear you,” had to lead us out, and do you know what he said? “I am not worthy to lead you.” “Why?” my interpreter asked. “O, your God has heard you.” There is a God that does hear and answer prayers. As we walked forth, the whole world looked so glorious we hardly realized the situation. As we went back to our brethren and sisters on Friday, we were exceedingly happy. As we drove up to the house they came out to meet us, and thanked the Lord. The wonderful thing was that all the brethren from forty miles around, had gathered that very evening. It seemed as if they had been called together. That was our first experience in that country. But how did it happen? It was published in one of the American papers that somebody was going to Russia. Indeed, my name was mentioned as the one to go, and so all the ministers and preachers knew that I was coming, and were watching for me. When they heard that I was in prison, they said, “That is a good thing.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 118.5

But the next thing, we were down in the Caucasus. There was a man there who heard us, and went to his minister to ask why he thought we ought to be in prison. The minister said that we kept the Jewish Sabbath. The man replied that many years ago the GCB April 8, 1901, page 118.6

Mennonites had considered that Sabbath question. He said he could not see why that should be heresy. So the people began to investigate the truth of the matter. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.1

To-day I received some letters from our brethren there. In them the brethren tell their experiences of the last few months,—some in prison two or three times. One brother writes from near the Baltic Sea. He began to preach and was fined five dollars. But as he would not pay the fine, he was put into prison, first for two days. He preached again; they made it three days. He preached again, and they made it four days. The prison was a small place, and some eight or ten were crowded in, and the air was terrible. But five cents a day was allowed for food. I have heard that you can live on ten cents a day, but he had only five cents a day. But I tell you, he found some better food. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.2

They asked him, “Are you a criminal? Did you steal a horse? Why are you here?” “No,” he said, “I am here for preaching the gospel.” “The gospel?” They began to laugh. He says there was in that prison room an old Bible. Part of the leaves had been torn out, and used for papers to make cigarettes. One young man brought the Bible to him, saying, “You stand here and preach to us.” Well, he began to talk to them, and in a little while they became interested; and when the fourth day came, and his deliverance was announced, he was not yet through answering all their questions. He said, “Why, the time seemed so short to me. I did not know that I had had so little food, or anything of the kind.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.3

Another case. A brother wrote the first of December that he was imprisoned in the Caucasus. A few Christians were with the other prisoners.—Lutherans and Catholics. It was very cold, and he says: “We received hot water twice a day, and five cents a day with which to keep ourselves.” As he took his Bible, and read it there in the prison, he thought of the words of our Saviour. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” And then he speaks of another text, Isaiah 25,—how the Lord was his refuge and strength. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.4

There was a brother in the Catholic Church, a Russian, who heard of the gospel. He took hold of the truth, and began preaching it. As he received the light, he preached it to those around him. The next thing, he was exiled from the western part of Russia to the Caucasus. He had no work, had a large family which he had left behind, and tried to find some work to support them. He would go from door to door, trying to find employment. The people all knew he was an exile, and they would ask him, “Why are you here as an exile? Have you killed somebody?”—“No.” “Have you stolen?”—“No.” “Well, why are you here?”—“O,” he said, “on account of my belief.” They were Catholics. “O,” they said, “you are a heretic. We do not want any heretics.” So he went from door to door, trying to get work and something to eat. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.5

But what happened?—A German baptist took him into his store, and talked with him. One of our ministers went there, and talked with this German brother about this last message, and as he read from the Bible, this Russian said, “Why, you must have some good things; I would like to know them, too; tell me.” And so he was told about the Sabbath, and about the truth that the Saviour is coming. Then the German said to the other,—his partner now,—“Why, we will keep next Sabbath.” “But,” the other said, “how about our business? I can not do it so quickly.” “Why,” the other said, “after I have left my home and everything, and now the Lord brings the truth to me, I must not stop short: I can not.” He kept the next Sabbath. He then began to preach, and in a little while twenty-five Sabbath-keepers were gathered together. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.6

Then the Russian Church said, “We will stop that thing.” They banished all these men to the other side of the Caucasus Mountains, near the Persian border. We were there just at that time, and had a general meeting. The brethren told us their experience. One brother said there were the brethren in chains, ready to be taken away across the mountains. On the one side of the soldiers were the men and on the other their wives and children. The soldiers would go up and down between them, and they could not say farewell to each other. It was a hard thing. In the midst of the winter they were to cross the mountains. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.7

The priests said, “This thing will stop. There are only women left, and a few children. They can not do anything.” I asked the daughter of one of these exiled men, “Are you not discouraged? Your elders have gone, your preachers have gone, and everybody else.” “No,” said she; “God still lives.” [Voices: Amen!] “And,” she said, “if we ever go to work, we want to go to work now, and all they can do is to send us where our fathers have gone.” So they went to work, and in a little while they had twice as many as they had before. [Voices: Amen!] More than that. As the exiled brethren went down to the Caucasus and to the Persian border, do you think they kept quiet? Why, they began preaching, and in a little while quite a number accepted the truth. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.8

There are in Russia 135,000,000 people, and some may say, because the country is so large, it is thinly populated; but I will give you a little idea about Russia. When you come across the German border, Russia is as thickly settled as New Jersey. If you go a little farther, it is as thickly settled as New York and Pennsylvania. And when you come a little farther, and from there to the Siberian border, it is settled about like Iowa. And when you get into Siberia, it is about as thickly settled as Montana. The southern part of this Siberian country is a good country, just as good as the West was in the United States before you went into it to settle there. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.9

To-day as the Siberian railroad goes across there, hundreds and thousands of Russians are brought into that country, and are settling along that railroad, all the way to China. There is a mission field. And not only Russians, but German and others, are going into that country to develop it. It is just as good a country as you have here. The railroad is being built for six thousand miles. I met a man who told me he had been twenty-one days on the railroad coming from Siberia. There is a mission field in Russia, and we ought to look to that vast mission field. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.10

One of our brethren was to be exiled to Siberia. He was brought to one of the prisons in Russia, to stay for a while before being carried away to Siberia. In the prison were two criminals. He began to talk to them, and they were converted to God, there in the prison. He was carried away, his wife with him. As they came to a distributing prison, where there were some thousands of prisoners to be distributed into different parts of Siberia, he spoke one day to a crowd of prisoners. After he had finished, a man rushed up to him, put his arms around him, and wept. He said, “Do you know me? O, God has answered my prayers.” The man looked at him. “Why,” said he, “are you not the criminal who was down here in Russia some time ago?” “Yes,” he said, “I am. O, since you have brought me the light of the gospel, I have been in the prisons, and I have found there no one to talk to me.” Said he, “This very moment I was in my prison cell praying to God, ‘O, if I could only see some man again to give me food for my soul:’ As I stepped out of my cell, I looked, and saw you there, sent as an angel from the Lord.” And so that man had another chance to tell him still more of the truth of God. GCB April 8, 1901, page 119.11

These are some of the experiences. The priests said, “We will stop this,” and they were sent still farther on. But, brethren, we can not stop it, as I said before. They have sent the truth better than we could send it ourselves. GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.1

I must say a word about the success of the work. In spite of the few laborers and the little money that we have, the work has grown. In the year 1887 we had about thirty members there. I will read the membership as it has stood year after year, beginning with the year 1887: 30, 95, 141, 231, 356, 450, 480, 530, 640, 734, 886, 995; and at the present time, 1,100. Besides this, I think there are two or three hundred now in the United States who came from there, and are now members of churches in America. So about fourteen hundred souls have been gained in that country, in spite of all the difficulties. The Lord has wrought. GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.2

There are eleven workers in Russia now—one for each ten million inhabitants. Among these, there is only one American, Elder D. P. Gaede, who felt a burden for that field, and went there about two years ago. The others are all native workers, and the superintendent, and the whole committee but one are native workers. There are today, at least half a dozen young men waiting to be educated for work in that field. We have native workers not only in the German language, but in the Lettish and Esthonian and Polish and Russian,—five languages in all, in which work is being carried on in Russia. GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.3

There comes another question, and that is their faithfulness. The people of Russia are very poor. I admit that. We have great failures of crops, and famines throughout the greater portion of Russia; and yet we have a faithful tithe. I wish to call your attention to the ancient churches of Macedonia; “Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; how that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.4

As the people once in Macedonia, so those in Russia are poor. Out in the country they are especially poor; but they are trying to support the work. The tithe has increased from year to year, and is near two thousand dollars a year now. It is not a large sum, but many are doing their very best to give what they can. If more prosperous times come, they will do more. GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.5

But we have tried to economize, and I think too much. The country is so large in extent, and the churches are so scattered, that the ministers are compelled to travel long distances, being from three to five nights on the cars, in order to meet their appointments. And when I travel in Russia, it is not like traveling in the United States. We have a hard wooden bench to sit upon, and at night we take out our blanket and pillow, and if we find room to stretch our limbs, all right; and if we do not, we crowd together and make the best of it; and for from two to four nights we are on the cars going from one place to another. GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.6

During the last two or three years we have carried eleven workers with two thousand dollars. We are now seven hundred dollars behind. Last year I attended two general meetings in Russia, one in the north and one in the south. O brethren! as I look over this large congregation, and see the large buildings, and the prosperity attending the work in America, I ask myself, Should these faithful men, our brethren in Christ Jesus, be cramped for means, and suffer? Shall that debt press them down any longer, or shall we say as a people, No, we do not want these men loaded down with that debt? Shall we make them free by wiping out that seven-hundred-dollar debt—and not only that, but raise two or three thousand dollars, at least, in order that they may go forward in the strength of the Lord? Is it not enough that they have these many obstacles to encounter? Besides that, should they be required to look around and see where the next cent is coming from? I do not think it is right, and I believe the Spirit of God will put it into the hearts of some in this congregation to say, We will give a hundred dollars for Russia. It is a very needy field. GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.7

What are our wants in Russia for the future? We do not ask for a number of workers to go there from America, because when they go there, they find things are not just as pleasant as they are in America, and they want to come back. The money that we would spend in sending men to Russia, and then paying their fare home again, would keep two or three native workers in the field all the time. The native workers are just as earnest and faithful as any we can find. There are men there now who want to go into the ministry. We believe that by training native Sabbath-keepers, we shall have a sufficient number of laborers to carry forward the work in Russia. Of course if there are men and women in America who are impressed by the Spirit of God, and will say, We want to make Russia our field of labor, and will remain there till the Lord comes, and not return, even if put in prison, but will teach the gospel while in prison—if there are such in America, we say, Come. If the Conferences want to help us, all right; but we do not want any of you to come expecting you will have a good time as far as the world is concerned. We are thankful for the privilege of working in that field. It has been my privilege, during the last biennial period, to visit Russia three times to attend their general meetings, which were excellent. But the brethren have said, “Brother Conradi, we expected you here, but why is it that some of our older American brethren could not come over and visit us, too? They come to Germany, Switzerland, and England. We would like to see their faces in Russia.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.8

We at first thought we could not work in the cities, and so remained in the country districts largely. Our experience has changed, and during the last few years, churches have been raised up in several of the large cities of the empire. When the brethren in these places can not hold services in one house, they change their location. In one city the brethren have recently changed their house of worship five times; yet they are faithful in attending services. As I see the privileges we have as a people here in this Tabernacle and in this country, I think that if we should but go to such a country and go through some of the experiences our brethren have there, it would do us all good, enlarge our hearts, and lead us to deny ourselves more, and do more for that needy field. GCB April 8, 1901, page 120.9

W. H. Thurston: For the last seven years I have been laboring in South America. Of course any country where the work has not been started, may be called a neglected field, but South America is so called from a spiritual standpoint, in view of the fact that while there are 265 missionary societies operating in the world, only 16 have attempted anything in this land. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.1

Brazil is the country in South America which I wish to call attention to, and speak of to-day. Brazil occupies nearly half of the continent of South America. It is divided into 20 states, and is called the Republic of the United States of Brazil. It claims the largest number of navigable rivers of any country in the world, has nearly 4,000 miles coastline, and an area of 3,500,000 square miles. Brazil is nearly as large as the United States, and has a population of 16,000,000. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.2

In May, 1893, Brother A. B. Stauffer entered Brazil, and began canvassing among the Germans, and from year to year other colporteurs joined him. We now have the work started in seven States. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.3

It was in 1894 when my wife and I went to Brazil to start a tract society, and open a depository; but there was no ministerial work done to speak of, excepting a brief visit from Elder F. H. Westphal, of Argentine, until the latter part of 1895, when Elder H. F. Graf and family came. In July, 1895, Brethren A. J. and J. F. Berger came over from the States to engage in colporteur work, and are still laboring in that line. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.4

In 1896 Elder F. W. Spies and wife came down from Germany, and in 1899 Brother E. Schwantes began preaching, and was ordained to the ministry the following year. As to my labors, I would say that I have done very little ministerial work. I have traveled more or less from time to time, trying to assist in the work as a whole, but the greater part of my time has been occupied with facts and figures at headquarters. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.5

I speak of these things at this time to show about how many have been laboring in Brazil, and about the length of time each one has been there. The work began in a quiet way and on a small scale. We have not given so very much attention to methods and machinery, but have endeavored to let the Holy Spirit work, moving on as fast as possible to the people with the message of peace, and the Lord has blessed the combined efforts as we have branched out. We now have fifteen churches and ten companies, with a total membership of 700. We have about the same number of Sabbath-schools, although some have not reported. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.6

With the exception of the canvassing work, last year was the most successful and encouraging of any since the work began. There were 232 added to our little flock during the year, and the tithes and offerings amounted to nearly $2,000. Up to 1901 we had sold about $12,000 worth of books and Bibles, and everywhere these are preparing the way for ministerial work. We have four church schools, one secular school, and a mission school all doing good work, and all self supporting. Our mission school is located about eight miles from any city, in a beautiful valley, through which flows a living stream, and is surrounded by the heavenly influence of a large church. The school is conducted on the industrial plan. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.7

We have sixty acres of land, a dormitory large enough to accommodate forty students, and a school building all paid for. Brother John Lifke is teaching the mission school as well as a church school at the same place, and his wife has charge of the home. At present there are fifteen in the mission school, and more preparing to come. We design to educate and train workers in this school for the great harvest in Brazil, and in this way save time and means incurred in sending so many laborers from the home field. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.8

Up to 1899 the most of our work was among the Germans, but soon after Brother Schwantes united with us, he began laboring among the natives, and I think about 100 of our communicants are Brazilians. This interest among the natives increased the demand for a periodical in their tongue, and in July of last year we began publishing a sixteen-page paper in the Portuguese language, called O Aranto da Verdade (The Herald of Truth). This, of course, has not been self-supporting, but we hope to make it so in time. Beginning with this year we had three hundred subscribers. For some time we have felt the need of a church paper in the German language, that we might give instruction in the different lines of work, and make reports from time to time of tithes, offerings, etc.; and at the last meeting of the Mission Committee, it was decided to start such a paper, and issue it quarterly, and oftener later on if advisable. The paper is called Missions Arbeiten. This will be self-supporting from the first, will be much appreciated, and a real missionary. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.9

We now have 4 ministers, 1 licentiate, 1 business agent, 6 colporteurs, and 6 teachers. The licentiate, Brother William Stein, Jr., edits the Portuguese paper, and the balance of his time he works with the paper and does Bible work. As a whole the work is moving on very well, and the outlook is encouraging. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.10

We have not thought to ask any great things for Brazil at this Conference, but we have a few requests to make. Realizing the great work yet to be done in preaching this gospel of the kingdom in all Brazil, as well as elsewhere, it has been our hope and prayer that this Conference will result in a great impetus to the missionary spirit and zeal of every one of us as well as all of our Churches, and that we may move on with greater earnestness and rapidity to all the world. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.11

The laborers in Brazil send greetings to all assembled, and each one is praying for the success of this conference, and that all may have the fullness of power, standing where God would have us, and that more laborers may be called to the great work abroad. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.12

We are carrying on evangelical work, medical missionary work, and religious liberty work as fast as we can, but we have no organizations for those two branches. Every one of our laborers is an evangelist: every one a medical missionary; every one a religious liberty man, and every one is a Sabbath-school worker. We all work together. We all labor together, one man in Christ. We have no difficulty whatever. It is a blessing to see all this work prospering, growing, and moving with rapidity. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.13

We have, as I have stated, 15 churches and ten companies, and wherever we have organized churches, we have begun from the first to educate them to the fact that they are missionary workers; that they are not to sit down and fold their arms, and thank God for what he had done for them, but that they are to go out into the field, to sell books, distribute tracts and papers and periodicals, and spread abroad the light they have received. I am glad to say that there is this feeling among all the churches, and that every little while there comes a call for a minister, where the people have become interested through our reading-matter, and want a minister to come and baptize. Perhaps the call comes from another district, five or ten miles from this settlement or this church; and they call for some one to come and organize them into a church so that they can be counted in with us, organize with us, and then go to work systematically. GCB April 8, 1901, page 121.14

Just before I came away, a call came for a minister to go to one of our churches where there was a great interest among the Germans and the Brazilians. They wanted a minister who could speak both German and Brazilian, so that he could labor for both peoples. Several were awaiting baptism. This work is reaching out everywhere. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.1

We design our school to be a mission school, a self-supporting school, to train and educate laborers for the great harvest-field in Brazil. And I have no doubt but that we may be able to spare some from there to at least one other country. There is this country over here, Portugal, that has the language we have in Brazil, and we have thought that we could train laborers in this school in Brazil to open up the work in Portugal. I do not know whether any of you have ever thought of that or not. But the thought has come to us that it might be a good plan if Brazil could raise up laborers to carry the truth to Portugal. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.2

While our boat was lying at Lisbon, I looked over that great city, the place where one of the signs of the second coming of Christ was fulfilled, and realized that there is not a voice in that city to sound the third angel’s message. If we can raise up laborers in Brazil, and train them, to go to Portugal to start the work, we shall be only too glad. And it looks to me at the present time that it is the will of God that it should be so. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.3

We have bright young men and women coming into the truth in Brazil, both Germans and Brazilians; and it is only a question of time when our school will be full to overflowing. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.4

It has been very hard to get a laborer to come and help us. Our hearts have been pained when the response came back to our pleas, from the Foreign Mission Board, saying, We do not want to come. Why, brethren, why is that? Why should that be so? Why should any Seventh-day Adventist, when he is called, or when he is asked to go to a foreign field, say that he does not want to go? GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.5

I admit that there is a possibility of our not being in calling distance; but I hope and pray that the time has come that every Seventh-day Adventist will not only get in calling distance, but will forever remain there. God is calling for his people to spread out over the world, and give the message to the people. So I hope and pray that from this Conference we shall go forth with greater power, with greater missionary spirit, and a greater desire and zeal for the salvation of souls, than ever before. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.6

I wish to relate some experiences. They are rich to us, and I believe they will be of interest to you. Although I am not in the habit of relating incidents regarding myself, I must speak of one, simply to show you how God works, and what blessings we receive when we walk out in his fear. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.7

For some time my wife and I felt that the Lord wanted us to go elsewhere to labor. We talked it over together, and we did not know why; but when we came here to the Conference Bible School about eight years ago, we resolved that if the Lord wanted us to labor elsewhere, we would simply say, “Here we are, Lord; send us.” Before the school had closed, one of the brethren asked us if we wanted to go abroad. We told him we had no plans, no desire, any further than what God had for us. Whatever was God’s will was our pleasure. Before the school closed, we were called before the Foreign Mission Board, and asked if we would go to Brazil to open the tract society, and start the depository. We told them, Yes, if it was the will of the Lord. We made it a subject of prayer, and told the Lord to guide and lead us. It seemed that we should go, and so we planned to do so. Arrangements were all made. We felt that it was the will of the Lord that we should go. A few days before we were ready to start, my wife was taken sick. I took her to the Sanitarium, where she had a little treatment, and she appeared a little better. But the time was hastening on for us to go. Our tickets were bought, everything arranged, the baggage all ready; and the day before we were to start, my wife had a hemorrhage. “Well,” said one of the brethren, “you are not going now, are you?” I said, “Yes, for anything I know of we are going.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.8

Just before we were ready to step on the train, one of our good brethren, an official here, called me one side, and took the privilege to give me a little advice. “Now, Brother Thurston,” he said, “they may think it is time to open up the work in Brazil; but I do not think so. If you want to go down there and start a depository and a tract society on your own responsibility, all right. But I do not think the time has come to start it. But if it proves to be a success, then we will father it.” I said, “All right; we are going.” He said, “All right,” turned around, and went back. I was about half way to the depot, to get on the train. The train was coming. Another brother met me in the depot, who had an inkling of this, and said to me, “I will tell you. I would not go a step.” I said: “We are going. We believe the Lord has called us to this field, and we believe he will care for us, and that he will help us all the way along; and we are going.” The train came in, and we started. And my wife kept getting better all the way. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.9

I did not start out on a salary. I was sent down to Brazil as a self-supporting missionary. I did not speak German, and did not know a word of Portuguese. And I want to tell you that with a little handful of American people in Brazil, you can well know that I could not support myself selling books in English. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.10

We did not know a word of Portuguese when we got off the boat in Rio de Janeiro. We stood on the street corner by the docks about an hour, and the Brazilian porters would come up to us, and talk away as fast as they could, and with all the gestures they could get into their talk; but I would say, “Thank you; but I do not know anything you have said.” Finally one came along, and he took hold of my arm, and made signs to me, “Come here, come with me,” talking to me in Portuguese. He took hold of my arm, and pulled me along, and put my baggage together, and motioned that he would tie our packages all up, and put them on his head, and for us to follow him, and he would take us somewhere. I said, “All right; go ahead! it is better than staying here. So he did, and motioned to us to come on, and we followed him. He took us up a short distance to the street-car. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.11

I had an address with me, but no one knew where it was; but he thought he could put me on the street-car, and he knew it went up in that direction. Brother Stauffer was to meet me in Rio de Janeiro; but when I got there, he was in a colony about a thousand miles from there, and I did not see him until three or four months later. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.12

We stayed there on the corner about two hours; but we could not get on the street-car, as the cars were so crowded at that time of day. When the porter saw the condition of things, he motioned to us so we understood it, that we could not get on the car, and he would repeat the same thing. So we talked it over, and we thought that was the best thing to do. He put the things on his head again, and away we went, tramping through the streets—some of them such as would almost scare a man to go into. They look like some of the narrow alleys we have in New York and Chicago. But we followed him through, and he finally brought us to a place where we felt quite at home. It was a sailors’ mission home; and as we went in, my wife saw a motto which read, “The Lord Will Provide.” The porter was as greatly pleased as we were, and rejoiced that he had brought us to somebody to whom we could speak. GCB April 8, 1901, page 122.13

We went into the mission, and the missionary came forward and met us, and was very happy to see us. But he told us that it was no place for us there. He said he would take us to an English boarding house, a good place a little ways from there. So after a short visit, he sent us to this English boarding house, where we stayed two weeks. Then we found rooms, and began housekeeping on a very small scale. I began work the best I could. Everything was very high, and it was not long before our money was all gone. I did sell one or two books, but traveling through the great city to find here and there an Englishman was rather slow work. GCB April 8, 1901, page 123.1

The time came when we had nothing to eat in the house, and no money. I do not think I have ever told that before, and I only tell it now to show how God will work for those who put their trust in him. So the next morning I told my wife I would go down to the post-office and see if there was anything there. There was nothing. On my way back I met the missionary of the sailors’ home (this was Sunday morning), and he invited me to come over to the mission, and speak that night. I told him I should be pleased to do so, and went home. That evening I spoke to the sailors on the love of God, and our dependence upon him; but I made no reference whatever to our condition. At the close of the services, a man came forward to the desk, and said, “See here, come to my room;” and turned squarely around and started off. This was a missionary that had a room in the mission building. I followed him to his room, and he said, “Here is a little money. I want you to take it and keep it until I call for it, and use it,” and he handed me a little sack of money,—perhaps seven or eight dollars. “Well,” I said, “I did not ask you for any money.” “I know it,” he replied; “but every day I am gathering this in, and it is in my way, and I want you to take this along and use it; you may need it.” Then I told him we did need it, and thanked him for it. I told him we were all out of money, and had nothing to eat, and it was just what we did need. We had a very enjoyable little season there, and my wife and I went home and thanked the Lord. GCB April 8, 1901, page 123.2

From time to time I would meet this man on the street, and he would hand me out from five to ten or twenty dollars at a time, and say, “Here, take this; I have no use for it; I do not need it; take it and use it; you may need it. Keep it until I call for it.” It ran up to something like one hundred or one hundred and fifty dollars; and when I sent the money to this man, he said, “I never did such a thing before in my life as to hand money out, and not have a scratch of the pen to show for it; but,” he said, “I know how it came; God told me to give you that money because you needed it.” [Voices: Amen! Amen!] Well, we thanked God for this experience, and took courage. I believe that God permitted us to go through these experiences to try our faith, to see how persevering we were, and that we would learn to go forward, and trust him implicitly, and at all times, and in all things. GCB April 8, 1901, page 123.3

Now I want to tell you a little incident that took place. Brother Stauffer began work up in this section that I had been through originally. Three of them went out there, and held meetings about two or three weeks, and raised up a company, and organized a church, and got everything in good condition, and started away; and when they were taking their departure, they were overtaken by a mob, who surrounded them with clubs, and sticks, and wanted them to give an account of themselves, for coming in there with a doctrine contrary to their religion, and teaching a false doctrine, etc. They had not spoken very many words before one of the men stepped up behind Brother Stauffer, and struck him with a club right over the ear, and he fell to the ground, apparently as dead as a man could be. The brethren had a blanket along; and they rolled him in it, and carried him to the house of a friend. After they got him into the house, he rallied, and they treated him the best they could. He recovered somewhat, but he could not get up, could not walk, and did not have his right mind, really; so they went on, and left him in the care of the friends. GCB April 8, 1901, page 123.4

About three weeks later, the officers came there, and wanted him to go and appear before the courts to answer for what he had been doing there. He said he could not walk. They dragged him out of bed; but when they found that he could not walk, but fell to the floor, they put him back to bed, but with the promise that he would appear before the court as soon as he was able. As soon as he could go about, he took his small satchel and Bible, and went down and presented himself before the court. They began questioning him; and he answered every question right from the Bible, reading to them the word of God. The man that struck Brother Stauffer confessed, and was converted; but during this examination, another man arose, and bore a false testimony to what Brother Stauffer was saying; and right there and then, that man’s tongue was paralyzed, and he has never spoken from that day to this. That is another experience that shows us that God will stand by his people, and will vindicate his truth. [Voices: Amen! Praise the Lord!] GCB April 8, 1901, page 123.5

A brother and two helpers went up into the northern part of a small state where there was a little interest, and a few came out and accepted the truth, and some of the people became vexed over the matter. A mob went down, and seized the three of them, and gave them a thrashing, and struck him several times with a knife, so that the blood ran from the body; then dragged him off, and put him in jail. Afterward they were sent away with the understanding that if they ever returned to that district again, they would be killed. The brother soon got well, and that very thing spread the truth more than he could have done if he had stayed there all the time he was home getting well. GCB April 8, 1901, page 123.6

Brother Spies, in one of his trips, was called to a halt, and surrounded by a lot of fellows with clubs, and asked to give an account of himself. Well, he talked with them a little while, and laughed with them his sociable, good-natured laugh; and they finally made up their minds that they had nothing against him, and let him go. He went on his way rejoicing, and kept right on preaching the truth. GCB April 8, 1901, page 123.7

And so the work is onward, though we are called to a halt every now and then. The constitution of Brazil grants religious liberty, but it is not always respected by the people. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.1

Only a short time ago I had the privilege of seeing our missionary map of the world. As I looked it over, to see where our Sabbath-keepers are marked with little red dots here and there, I found them in South America. Then I looked here at the United States, and it looked to me that they were so thick up here in the United States that they were almost in each others’ way, especially in this part of the United States [pointing to Michigan]. I thought, as I looked that over. “Why would it not be a good thing for scores and scores of our brethren and sisters who have a little money, and who could as well as not be spared, to move to some of these destitute fields, buy a little farm, or go into whatever occupation they saw fit, and live the truth before the people? [Voices: Amen!] GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.2

“Why,” you may say, “in northern and southern Brazil it is hot.” That is the truth. In the capitol of Brazil it is hot, but, as I said the other night, in the Sanitarium, the heat does not kill everyone. My wife and I both had the yellow fever, and I suppose I was brought as near death’s door as anyone ever could be and live. But God spared my life. My wife took the fever from me. She did not have it so bad; but we have had the yellow fever, and got well. And while it is true that in the capital of Brazil, during the months of December, January, February, and March, sometimes the mortality runs from three hundred to two thousand in a month, in southern Brazil, in the State of Santa Paulo, in Rio Grand do Sul, and especially in Santa Catharine, there are good farms and a pleasant climate. Of course it gets warm there in the summer, but the climate is good, the soil is good, and it is a good country for cattle-raising and general produce. Rio Grand do Sul has a very pleasant climate, and you can raise a great many small fruits, and many things that we raise here, and I think there are something like 200,000 Germans in that one State. We have scores and scores of German brethren here in this country that could pull up and move down there and settle in these various States and localities and live the truth, be missionaries, and do a great work for the Lord. I believe I am safe in saying that it would be the salvation of scores of our brethren and sisters if they would enter these foreign fields and go to work. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.3

[Voice: Are there any English colonies there?] GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.4

W. H. Thurston: No; no English colonies there. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.5

[Voice: What is the German population?] GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.6

W. H. Thurston: I can not give it exactly. I think the German population is something like 500,000, more or less. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.7

[Voice: What is the present membership?] GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.8

W. H. Thurston: In Brazil, about 700, including the church members and the companies. That means baptized people, about 600 Germans and 100 Brazilians. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.9

[Voice: Some want to know the price of the land.] GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.10

W. H. Thurston: It runs all the way from five to fifty dollars an acre. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.11

[Voice: Does a person have to be acquainted with the German or the Brazilian language in order to work there?] GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.12

W. H. Thurston: It would be necessary to be acquainted with German, Portuguese, or English. You can get along very well, that is, families going up to locate, if they know English or German, because most of the people speak German. But you will find here and there, Germans, especially in the towns, speaking the English. But if those who speak German and English go there, it would not be necessary to learn the language. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.13

Of course, if you are going into missionary work, or work for the Brazilians, it would be necessary to learn the language, but I do not want you to think of that, because there is plenty of work to do among the Germans. If you know the German language, that is sufficient. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.14

[Voice: How about the French?] GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.15

W. G. Thurston: French is spoken very little there. I have overrun my time, and the story is not half told. But I thank God for this privilege, brethren and sisters, of laying before you some of the questions in South America and Brazil. I have not said anything about that other part of South America, but we have friends here right on the ground among us from those fields, and I hope that we shall be privileged to hear from them. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.16

The trials of life are God’s workmen, to remove the impurities and roughness from our character.—“Mount of Blessing.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.17

WILL A MAN ROB GOD? GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.18

Talk by Mrs. E. G. White in the Tabernacle, April 6, 1901. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.19

I solicit the prayers of this people. I want everyone to realize that an individual responsibility rests upon him to hear with faith and understand what we have to say, because it is the word of the living God. Pray for me; pray for yourselves individually. You have a personal Saviour, and the Lord wants every one of you to be saved in his kingdom. He wants you to have a crown of life, and you want it. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.20

“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.21

Stop and consider what that means. Fuller’s soap makes a garment shrink into a much smaller compass. We want to stand in that position of humility where the life is hid with Christ in God. We claim him; he is our Righteousness; therefore if our lives are hid with Christ in God, we shall not shrink into nothingness. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.22

“And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and they that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye have gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?” As though they had no knowledge but that they had been doing just the best thing, and were living as well as they could. GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.23

Now the explanation comes,—“Will a man rob God?” Would you do it? The GCB April 8, 1901, page 124.24

Bible speaks of this as if it were an impossibility that any man should venture to do such a thing. “Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.1

Now everyone ought to know that the system of tithing which is here brought out, means. I shall not go into the explanation of this; for we take it for granted that we all understand it. GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.2

“Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.3

This is a representation of the result of faithfulness in returning to the Lord his own. The Lord saw just how it would be when the world was filled with inhabitants, and therefore he makes a covenant with his people that they should give him their tithes and offerings, according to the arrangement which he has made. This is his. It does not belong to any of you. God has made this arrangement with you, that you may show that you realize your dependence and accountability to God by returning to him his portion. If you do this, his blessing will come upon you. All that we have is the Lord’s, intrusted to us as his stewards. That which we hand back to him he must first give to us. The Lord is trying and testing us by every dollar that comes into fore the world as the people who acknowledge him. How?—By appearing before the world as the people who acknowledge their accountability to God by giving him all they possess. Thus you may bear witness that God is the possessor of all that you have, even yourselves. “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price,” even the precious blood of the only begotten Son of God. GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.4

All the sufferings, all the distress that came to him who was equal with the Father, was born that he might bring a people to himself. For this purpose he laid off his royal robe, his royal crown, laid aside his high command, and stepped down to humanity. He who was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, died for sinners. GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.5

We breathe because God takes charge of the human machinery. Day by day he keeps it in working order, and he wants us to think of the infinite sacrifice he has made for us in suffering with One equal with himself,—his only begotten Son. He consented to let him come to a world all seared and marred with the curse of sin, to stand at the head of humanity as a sin-bearing, sin-pardoning Saviour. God has pledged himself to receive sinners; for he “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Everlasting life,—this is what we want. Shall we be satisfied to live in this poor world without a hope of a better life? God forbid. Let us lay hold of the power that has been provided for us to make it possible for us to gain eternal life. Let us take hold of the blessings heaven has given us that we may fit ourselves for the higher grade, fit ourselves for the mansions which Christ is preparing for us. He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.6

To us has been given the work of preparing ourselves for the mansions. And this we can do through the help that is awaiting for us. When God gave his Son to our world, he gave all heaven, all the facilities and powers of heaven. Those who fail to improve the glorious opportunities granted with the gift of God’s Son will be without excuse. GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.7

Christ declared that all power in heaven and earth has been given to him, and he gives this power to those who truly believe on him, to his disciples, that they may go forth to proclaim the message of hope and salvation to a fallen race. He takes his position at the head of humanity, covering humanity with divinity. In him humanity and divinity are combined, and he can accomplish for the human race all that is necessary to enable them to overcome as he overcame, and to sit down with him in his Father’s throne. GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.8

The battle is before us. We can come off victorious; for through Christ we can be partakers of the divine nature, having “escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” How glad I am that this is so! How glad we all should be! When we had nothing to recommend us to God, Christ gave his life for us. With his long human arm he encircles the race, while with his divine arm he grasps the throne of the infinite. Thus finite man is united with the infinite God. The world, divorced from God by sin, has been restored to favor by the sacrifice of his Son. With his own body the Saviour has bridged the gulf that sin has made. GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.9

In the first chapter of second Peter we read, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.10

By reading this chapter you will see that we have been given a sum to work out. We are to work on the plan of addition. “Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.11

From this we can see that there is to be a co-operation between God and man. We are to act our part. It is of no use for us to say, “I believe in Christ,” while we fail to practice his lessons. God wants every one of us to rise to the emergency. We are to be witnesses for Christ. He wants us to grasp all the blessings he has brought to us. God gave all heaven to his Son to give to us. GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.12

In the chapter from which L have been reading in Malachi. God declares that he will abundantly bless those who are faithful in bringing him their tithes and offerings, but that the curse of Heaven with rest upon those who are dishonest in this matter. God forbid that the curse of heaven should rest upon this congregation because of dishonesty toward the Lord. God forbid that any one of us should fail of gaining the precious boom of eternal life. Do not rob God. Walk honestly before him. All is his. He has intrusted goods to his agents for the advancement of his work in the world. They are to bring to his treasury a faithful tithe and besides this, they are to bring gifts and offerings as the cause shall demand. God does not propose to do the work which he has intrusted to us. We are to do our part in carrying out the plan of redemption provided for the human race at an infinite cost. God desires us to realize our accountability to him, and act as his helping hand. The medical missionary work, which has been so clearly and definitely established here in Battle Creek, is to be recognized. God desires us to realize that heaven has been brought near to earth. Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of angels minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. GCB April 8, 1901, page 125.13

Just think of it! These angels are ministering to us to-day. They are all through this congregation. But there is also an opposing element here. On every such occasion the enemy comes in with his power and his invisible army. Therefore we may know that there are two parties in this house, those who are ministering to the human race, and those who are working counter. One power is trying to bring in everything possible to divert the mind, but the Lord God of heaven has given power to the heavenly agencies, and they are working. Satan is seeking to throw his hellish shadow across our pathway to eclipse the view of God’s glory. GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.1

Christ wants you to bring eternity into your reckoning. “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” We do not want you to think that the work of bringing all these people into the gospel of Jesus Christ costs nothing. We have missionaries in many places, but there have not been so many as there should have been. Now, dear friends, a new chapter is to open from the time of this large gathering here. We have set our whole hearts with a determination that the work shall be carried with much greater strength than it has hitherto been carried, and we want the help of everyone to advance the work of God. GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.2

We have taken up the work in the foreign fields, where the people have never heard the truth, but the missionary work has not been advanced as it should have been. We could not go very far, because we had not the means. All that I have received from the royalties of the books I have written, I have invested in the work, and then I have said to my brethren, by faith, “Lend me your means, I will pay you the interest, but the work can not stop here.” I have tried to carry forward the medical missionary work and the gospel. These two are united, and should never be separated, because Christ did not separate them. Some institutions have been established in Australia, but not half what there ought to be, nor what there will be. After we had erected, with what help we could get there, eleven meeting-houses, and organized eleven churches, then the work was just taken hold of with the ends of our fingers. What was the matter?—There was no money in the treasury. We had no means to handle. I never want men sent to missionary fields with nothing to work with, as we were sent to Australia. They have sent some money to that field, and this is no more than they should have done. It was God’s money. GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.3

Christ took humanity upon his divine soul, and in the wilderness of temptation he overcame in behalf of humanity. For forty days and forty nights he was tempted of the enemy. He traveled the path which everyone of us must travel. The question for us to solve is whether we will be overcomers or be overcome. Christ was an overcomer. He met the devil with, “It is written.” He entered into no argument. When Satan tempted him to make the stones bread, he said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Then Christ was tempted in regard to ambition. Satan placed him upon a pinnacle of the temple, saying, “Cast thyself down.” He could tell what was written. “It is written,” he said, “He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” But Satan did not tell the whole. He left out the words, “To keep thee in all thy ways.” There was a way in which Christ was to do his work, but not in a presumptuous manner. He was to be an example to humanity. He was not to show his glory by throwing himself from a dizzy height. “It is written,” he said, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.4

Then Satan took the Saviour to the top of a high mountain, and presented to him all the glory of the world. All this, he said, will I give thee. It is mine. I will give it to thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Christ had come to a point then where divinity must flash through humanity, even in his starving condition. What did he say?—“It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.... Get thee hence.” Satan could not stand after the “Get thee hence” had come. A power superior to the power of darkness was revealed. Christ gained the victory, even in his weakness. GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.5

So Satan went away. Christ was left fainting on the battlefield. Where was the hand to be put beneath his head? Where was the bosom upon which he could lean? It was ready. An angel of God ministered unto him. Angels of God gave him food, and supported the fainting head. GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.6

All this Christ did for us. For us he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. He shares the sufferings of human beings. His help will be given them in their emergencies. GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.7

A letter comes over to Australia, asking if Mrs. White is a millionaire. I would like everyone to become a millionaire as I have done. Nothing which I possess is my own. When I came back from Australia, I had nothing, not even to purchase a home. But we made some arrangements for the first payments, by selling some of the land. To be a millionaire in this world is no temptation to me. We see millionaires made very poor in a moment. Or they die, and leave their treasures for their heirs to quarrel over. I want something more than this. I want to become a member of the royal family. If I can be a child of the Heavenly King, I a more than a millionaire. God has declared that there is an eternal weight of glory laid up for those who are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.8

I am using in the work all the means I have. I am seventy-three years old, and I frequently think when I enter the pulpit that I may die there, or on my knees in prayer. But this does not trouble me. I have hid my life, hid it with Christ in God. I desire to overcome, even as Christ overcame; and I desire you also to overcome. GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.9

Why are some of you so afraid to trust the Lord? He had not where to lay his head, and yet he was the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory. My heart is drawn out in sympathy for you. I greatly desire that you shall feel that you can take hold of Jesus Christ. I want you to be co-laborers with him in the work of saving souls. As you work with means and voice to sustain the cause of God, you may know that you are following in the footsteps of your Redeemer. He says, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 126.10

I wish to say to you who are in this meeting, We are to organize here for a great work. We want all who possibly can to help us to carry the load. There are some whom we need as personal laborers in the field. If God has given you intelligence and a knowledge of the truth, then I ask you, Why are you not working for him? How long will your soul be kept fresh and fruit-bearing if you live only for self? You can grow in grace only as you impart to others the grace given to you. GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.1

The work in America has not gone forward as it should have done, because self-sacrifice and true devotion have not been manifested. The people of God have not moved forward in strong lines. How long will it be before you understand that to every man God has given his work? The talents which he has intrusted to his people are to be sacredly improved. GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.2

“Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength; let them come near; let us come together to judgment. Who raised up the righteous man from the east, and called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him ruler over kings? Who gave them as dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow? He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generation from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and the last; I am he. The isles saw it and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.3

“They helped everyone his neighbor; and everyone said to his brother, Be of good courage. So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, my friends. Thou whom thou hast taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.4

God will work for us if we will stand in our lot and in our place. If you will do cheerfully the work apportioned you by the Master, he will work with you. GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.5

“Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee. They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I, the Lord, thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new, sharp thrashing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thrash the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them, and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.6

Medical missionary workers, listen to these words. God has a great army for the protection and strength of those who work as his helping hand. GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.7

“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.8

We are running a race for the crown of life. Let us run with patience, laying aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset. Then we shall obtain the crown of life. But we can not expect to gain the victory if we sit down in Battle Creek and fold our hands, doing nothing for the Master. There is a dearth of workmen. Put on the armor, and let your feet be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Just as soon as God sees that you are ready for work, he will work with you. GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.9

I believe there is one here in this congregation, Shireman by name, who has established church after church; and how did he establish them? He went into a field where there was nothing. He was a carpenter. He would build his house, and then call in the people, and hold Bible readings. There he would work till a good, strong church was established. Then did he stand and say, Look at the good work I have done?—No; he would go to another place, and repeat the same thing. This he did over and over again. GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.10

Where did this brother get his education?—I will tell you. He got it in the same manner that John the Baptist got his education, when he went into the desert and into the wilderness. The priests and rulers were so troubled and distressed because John did not walk according to the old, regular order in getting his education. Yet Jesus said there was not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.11

We do not say that you should go nowhere or anywhere to get an education, but we do say that every man is not dependent upon a school or college education to do work for the Master, if he is converted to God, soul, body, and spirit. He is in connection with the great Teacher, the greatest Missionary that the world ever knew. We are to feel no sufficiency in ourselves; for the Lord God of heaven is our wisdom, our sanctification, our strength, and our righteousness. If we realize our dependence, and hang our helpless souls on Jesus, we shall find that the waters of life will flow into the soul, and it will be as Christ said to the Samaritan woman, “A well of water, springing up into everlasting life.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.12

Now, brethren, we want more of God and less of self. When we get the education that is needful, we should impart it. It is an honor to Christ to trust in him. He says, I am at your right hand to help you. GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.13

We want every soul to see God as he is. He is the Majesty of heaven. He is the great Teacher. We want you to believe that he will give wisdom and counsel and judgment. He will prepare the way before you, if you will come before him praying and watching unto prayer. Remember that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, “but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” We have to meet invisible foes, therefore we should not send, as many have, across the waters of the Pacific, to ask counsel as to what shall be done. You have a Counselor right by your side. Do not dishonor him. How many have been left destitute of wisdom because they persisted in asking counsel from human agencies, when GCB April 8, 1901, page 127.14

Christ, full of comfort, grace, and love, was longing to bestow it. All heaven is longing to help those for whom Christ has died. GCB April 8, 1901, page 128.1

I will give you a recipe against depending upon man. In the first chapter of second Peter there is recorded the plan of addition, upon which we are to live, and then the apostle says, “If these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and can not see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.” How many here have forgotten to pay God his tithe? How many are robbing God, and at the same time expecting his blessing, wondering why they do not have more vitality and power and grace? How many have forgotten that God will purge us from the sin of covetousness? GCB April 8, 1901, page 128.2

“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 128.3

This is our life insurance policy. Those who enter the kingdom of God must first co-operate with him in the saving of their own souls and the souls of others. May God help us to go to work. To you who have been robbing God in tithes and offerings I would say, Do not think that you can come here to his house and receive his blessing. No; you will begin to murmur and complain, wondering why you are not exalted as others are. But of those who serve him in sincerity the word says, “They that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.” GCB April 8, 1901, page 128.4

Read the third chapter of Malachi, and think whether you wish to be found robbing God. God is in earnest with us. He expects us to help in planting his standard in places which have never heard the truth. He calls upon you to practice self-denial, that the work in foreign fields may go forward. From all over the world, calls for help are coming. Lay out no money unnecessarily. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow the Master. You can never give him as much as he has given you. He gave his life for you. What have you given for him? GCB April 8, 1901, page 128.5