Earlier text: HELP FOR OUR SCANDINAVIAN INSTITUTIONSCHRISTIAN SCHOOL WORK
By John O. Stow
So much has been said and written on the subject of Christian education that no argument is needed to convince Seventh-day Adventists that an educational system according to the plan of God must be successfully operated among us to insure our spiritual advancement. Such a system will not only secure to us the perfect development of all the powers and faculties, physical, mental, and spiritual, thus enabling us to reach the highest attainments of life and181 character, but is absolutely necessary to keep us from backsliding and becoming as the ancient Jewish Church—a sad relic of what might have been. No religion can prosper without an educational system. The Roman Catholic denomination understand this far better than do Seventh-day Adventists. They know that ten thousand dollars invested in Catholic schools means more toward the advancement and spread of their religion than three times that amount devoted to preaching, without the aid of the educational institutions. Here, too, Satan is wiser than the children of light, and has skillfully prepared a thousand and one attractions to allure the youth and get them under his training, so that he can control the young, and thus govern the world. Satan watches with intense interest the movement to establish church schools, for he well knows that here lies the key to the future; and if he can check the schools, he can hinder the spread of the truth. So he works in every conceivable way to bring in doubt, fear, and every form of opposition, to defeat, if possible, the progress of the Third Angel’s Message. The educational question is therefore one of vital importance with us. This branch of the work can not be neglected without irreparable loss. As a purely missionary enterprise, it will bring the greatest returns when carried out in God’s appointed way. The rapid spread of the Catholic denomination is due to the fact that they have church schools. Not only are their children educated to be Catholics, but thousands of other children are educated by them, and become members of that Church. No other people have half the light on the subject of education that has been given to us; and if this light had been received, we should now be far in advance of all other people in education. If we are not the leaders in education now, it is because we have hidden our light under a bushel, and, like ancient Israel, turned back from the promised land into the wilderness of unbelief. Over forty years ago it was our privilege to have a complete system of Christian schools. During the past year the writer visited a church where a church school was in successful operation over forty years ago. That was so long ago that most of the members had forgotten all about the school, or knew nothing of it. Some said that it was a complete failure; but an interview with the teacher, who is now quite aged, drew out the following interesting facts: There were twenty-five pupils. The teacher understood Christian principles; and love for souls was the inspiring motive. The school was carried on successfully through the year. Several Catholic children attended the school. The president of a denominational college not of our faith, sent his two little boys, because he recognized that the school was superior to the public school, both in mental training and in moral power. The teacher sacrificed her time, receiving only five dollars a month. But with all this success, the church got anxious, and stopped the school because they could “not afford to pay the teacher”! Their trouble was not so much present shortage, but a fear of future difficulties; so they went back into the wilderness. While Catholics and others were so interested in Seventh-day Adventist education, the people themselves were like the ten spies, who brought back a discouraging report of the promised land. The great financial giant looked invincible, and they were only as grasshoppers in their own sight, so they turned back into the wilderness when they might have entered the promised land. “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” Heb. 3:19. CAN THE LANGUAGE OF TROUBLE BE TRANSLATED?
By David Paulson
The art of walking and the science of arithmetic both have to be acquired; but of the two, the former is far more important. So in the spiritual world some lessons are of much greater practical importance to our Christian life than are others. This is pointed out in 2 Peter 1: 12, 13. And it is necessary to be constantly stirred up in reference to these duties. Nine tenths of the mistakes people make would be avoided if they would but recall some lesson they had already learned. Many who read Job 5:7—“Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward”—come to the conclusion that this life is naturally a vale of tears, because they do not take pains to read the previous verse: “Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.” Every trial is sent for the purpose of teaching us some truth which God has tried to teach us in prosperity, but which we failed to learn. Here is an iron rod which I wish to bend in order to increase its usefulness, so I pass it through the fire, and then it yields. God is constantly seeking to mold and fashion us after the divine similitude; and when we will not bend, He passes us through the fire of affliction. This lesson is beautifully brought out in Job 33:14-30: “God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.” Many of our parents had a rule that if they spoke once, and we did not hear, they would then try more effective means. God continues to speak a number of times to withdraw man from his purpose, to keep back his soul from the pit; but if God can not arouse him to his danger by addressing him through the nerve of hearing, he will begin to speak to him through other nerves that appeal to him in a more impressive way. “He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: so that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.” Even the very conditions that God sends are for the purpose of correction. Perhaps if it had not been for “fullness of bread” and the persistent indulgence in “dainty meat,” the poor sufferer’s nerves would have been sufficiently sensitive to hear God’s voice before He began to send trouble. “Yet, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.” The crisis is approaching. He is sick spiritually and physically; then “if there be a messenger,”—one who can bring good news, “an interpreter,” one who can translate into plain words the meaning of this whole experience,—“to show unto man His uprightness: then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom.” That this class of workers will never be in the majority is indicated by the expression “one among a thousand.” “To show unto man His [God’s] uprightness.” The nine hundred and ninety-nine will probably be saying that God is harsh, or that somebody has done wrong; if it had not been for Brother So-and-so, this thing would not have happened. But the one among a thousand will impress upon the sufferer’s mind the fact that the same hand that earlier in his experience gave him roses, lilies, and pinks is now pressing to his lips the bitter cup, and that it is all an expression of the same kindness. And as a consequence, a new life is begotten in the heart of the poor sufferer. “Then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom. His flesh shall be fresher than a child’s: he shall return to the days of his youth.” God will actually restore to him “the years that the locust has eaten.” In the Life Boat Mission recently I listened to a man who a little over three years ago was one of the most notorious safe-blowers in the United States, a man who had served his time in many prominent prisons, whose picture is hanging in every rogues’ gallery. This man gave a most touching testimony of the power of the grace of God, which had been exercised in his behalf. As I looked upon this man, his face scarcely showing a trace of the forty years of sin through which he had passed, I thought, What a telling witness to the truth of this verse! All who expect to work for those in trouble and despair should be thoroughly acquainted with the shortest and most explicit course in soul-saving methods on record, which is explained in verses 27, 28: “He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.” How little God requires of the sinner! and how much He himself does! He does not use His great power to overawe us, but simply as an example of the strength He is willing to use in us. Job 23:6. He asks us to be perfect, even as He is perfect; and as soon as we are willing, He actually performs it for us himself. And these things are only a portion, or sample, of His ways; but what we see is sufficient to enable us to know that He is love, and that the hand of love is with us in all our experiences. Job 26:14. There is a people few and lone,
Possessing naught they call their own.
Their reputation long since gone
For goodness, greatness — they unknown.
Why is it so? they do not know —
But look straight up and pass along. Their life is quiet, serene, and calm;
No storms disturb, no fears alarm —
A tranquil rest that's quite unknown
To those who make this world their home.
What gives such rest, and makes so blest,
This happy people all God's own? I'll tell you. Naught in self they find
To occupy their heart or mind.
They've yielded heart and life and will
Into God's hands, and now are still;
Nothing to do — He keeps them true —
But look straight up and do His will. A life from God now fills their soul,
Strengthens, quickens, takes control.
The Holy Ghost now takes the sway;
They listen, hearken, and obey.
Now all is light; where once ’twas night,
To this quiet people in God's way. — J. M. C., in King's Messenger. YE ARE NOT YOUR OWN
By C. P. Whitford
3. Whom were we serving when Christ bought us?—“The prince of the power of the air.” Eph. 2: 2. We were “children of disobedience;” and by nature the “children of wrath.” V. 3. 5. Did Christ purchase anything besides us?—Yes; He purchased our sins. Gal. 1: 3, 4. “All unrighteousness is sin.” I John 5: 17. 6. What does He want of us and our sins?—He wants to redeem us from all iniquity, all unrighteousness, all sin, so that when sin is destroyed, we shall not be destroyed with it. Titus 2: 14. Our sins, and all that we have and are, belong to the Lord, but He will not take us nor our sins against our will. Deut. 30:19. “Choose life.” SECRET prayer is the hidden bread of God for our souls; but we must not limit ourselves to it. How can I express to you all that I believe concerning the richness and value of fellowship in the prayer life? We must meet at the throne of grace if we are truly to make ourselves known to one another. How often people meet and exchange views, even as friends, of the deeper things; how often fellow workers talk together of all the incidents and details of their work, and feel that they are getting in touch with one another; and yet they are losing the great bond of intimacy unless they live together in the prayer life. I do not know anything that so purges fellowships of all kinds, fellowships in Christian work, friendships, all associations of individuals with one another—I do not know anything that so purges these relationships of pettiness, of little enmities, of exhibitions of selfishness, and of all things that are unworthy, as bending together at the throne of grace. “There is a place where spirits blend,
Where friend holds fellowship with friend;
Though sundered far, by faith they meet
Around one common mercy-seat.”
It sometimes seems to me that we never see into the soul of our friend until we and that friend have each lost sight of the other in the outpouring of both souls before Christ in prayer. I have known friends to work side by side for years. I have known, even in the household, husband and wife to walk side by side for years; yet in the sight of God, and after the measure of the deeper life, strangers to one another because fellowship in the prayer life was a thing unknown. Their spirits never blended at the throne of grace. Make much of fellowship in the prayer life. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE WOMAN'S GOSPEL WORK
By Mrs. Geo. A. Irwin
Many are inquiring how to do Woman’s Gospel Work, and asking us to send plans for organization. We wish to say that, so far, we have had no distinct organization, and have made no special effort to multiply meetings. We have no plans, save those formed by the Saviour himself, to do good to all mankind. We have endeavored so far, in our Woman’s page and in our correspondence, to help the sisters to work in such a way that they may not arouse prejudice, but break down any that may have existed. Before attempting work for the Master, we should be sure a work has been wrought in our own souls. Let us begin at home, and put our own house in order. Let us confess our sins to God and man, and put them away. Let us dress as the Lord would have us; live up to the laws of our being; be good, faithful, loving wives and sisters, and make our homes the dearest spot on earth to our families. It will take but a short time to do this, when once our hearts are fully surrendered to the Lord. Let each one of us say, “I have done it.” What is the object of our work?—It is to win souls to God. Now, how shall we proceed? Well, is there not a poor, tired, discouraged sister near you? Call upon her, and when the opportune time comes, tell her you remember when you were similarly situated, and how some good woman came and helped you, and that now you wish to help her. Or if a neighbor has no one to leave her baby with while she runs on an errand, or goes to church occasionally, tell her in the spirit of the Master, that you will care for the little one while she goes, or while she takes time to do her washing. Visit the sick. Do not call and merely ask how they are, but ask, in such a way that they will know that you mean it, if there is not something you can do to help. Be a good Samaritan. Help the poor. If possible, help them to help themselves. This is a much better way than to give things away to those who do nothing in return. Take a deep interest in the temperance work. Do all the personal work you can. If we can first win the hearts of the people, then the way will be open to tell them the truth, and to sell and give away our literature. This truth is illustrated by the experience of a sister who lives ten miles from any of our people, who started a cottage prayer-meeting with her neighbors. They are becoming much interested in the soon coming of Christ. She has sold a copy of “Christ’s Object Lessons” to every family that attended the meetings. These are only a few of the ways in which the Woman’s Gospel Work may be carried on. But this is an individual work, and God has a different plan for each of us. No two persons in all this world are exactly alike, and so no two can work in exactly the same way. Therefore, let us live so near to the Lord that we shall be able to understand the plan of work which He has arranged for us. “I REQUEST prayer for my aged mother, who says she does not believe in the divinity of Christ or the inspiration of the Bible. Also pray for the youth of our church, who have had many stumbling blocks cast in their way.” A brother writes: “I would like to request the prayers of the brethren and sisters in my behalf. I am in poor health, for which I am to blame, but the cause is in the past. I have a bad temper, which I am trying hard to overcome.” Prayer is requested for a mother and her married daughter, who have recently accepted the truth, that they may be kept by the power of God against opposition, and may be a light to the people where they are. Prayer is requested for an old gentleman who has been very much prejudiced against the Spirit of Prophecy, but who has just recently expressed a desire to investigate and find out the truth. He is a member of the Church of God. “I am a lone Sabbath-keeper. There are years at a time when I do not hear a Seventh-day Adventist sermon. My husband and four sons are not Christians, and are very worldly. Please pray for them. One of my sons has been sick with typhoid fever, and the doctors gave no hope of his recovery. But it seemed as if I could not give him up, for he was not saved. I could not sleep, and would pray183 hour after hour that God would spare his life long enough to give him one more chance for repentance. The dear Lord heard my prayer, and my boy is getting well, for which I praise the Lord. But I ask the sisters to pray earnestly for him, that his life may not have been spared in vain.” “My husband, my son, and my brothers and sisters are all out of the ark of safety, and I ask an interest in your prayers for them, that they may come to a knowledge of the truth before it is too late. I am the only one in a large family who has accepted the truth, and my husband is much opposed to it. I read my case in many of the extracts from letters published in the REVIEW. But I find God’s grace sufficient for all the trials I have to endure.” A sister requests prayer for her husband, who, though once an earnest Christian, has become indifferent, and neglects his family. This sister feels that her own life has not been the help to her husband that it should have been, but she is now trying to do her best, and requests prayer that the home may not be broken up by a separation between her and her husband. She also requests prayer for her children, who are grown, and have drifted out into the world, and seem indifferent to their Christian teaching. A dear sister sends in a two-months’ subscription for the REVIEW to be sent to her son, who is not in the truth, and for whom she feels very anxious. She requests prayer in his behalf. We can certainly pray that this young man will be led to read the papers which his dear mother has sent him, and that the Spirit of the Lord will accompany the reading, and impress the truth on his heart. We think it is a good plan to accompany our prayers with some personal effort of this kind. “I have been reading to-day the requests for prayer, and my heart yearns for help in the same way. I have children who are trying to serve the Lord, and some who are not. Their father is an unbeliever and an intemperate man, and he has made the burden too hard for them to bear. We are isolated from others of like faith. We are well able to send the children to school, and they are anxious to go, and I am anxious for them to go to school and be taught the truth before it is too late. Please pray for us, and pray that I may have patience to bear all things.” “SUFFICIENT TO THE DAY”
By Mary Morrison
Only one day at a time, dear heart!
Only one day at a time;
One day’s sorrows and cares and joys
To weave into soulful rhyme;
One day’s journey along the way,
Toilsome and rough and drear.
Courage, dear heart! soon cometh the night,
Then will come rest; don’t fear. Bright and cheery the sun may rise
Over the morrow’s way,
Turning the rocks to nuggets of gold,
Chasing the shadows away.
Give thyself to its cheering power,
Gather its shining gold,
Store it away for a darker hour,
When sunny skies grow cold. One day’s burden thy hands may bear,
Nay, ’tis enough, dear heart!
Borrow not aught of to-morrow’s care,
Cheerily bear thy part.
Strength shall be given thee, hour by hour;
With movements slow or fast,
One by one they will glide away
Into the shadowy past.
—Mary Morrison. SPEAK COMFORTING WORDS
By Mrs. Geo. A. Irwin
A SISTER wrote asking me to call on a friend at the Sanitarium. I made the visit, and in the course of the conversation I spoke of many being prejudiced against us as a people. My hostess said, “Is it not strange? I am not. But do you know the reason why? It is because of the example Mrs. —— [the sister who requested the visit] set before me. I never met any one who can comfort people as she can, and do so many kind little things for others.” Sisters, that set me to thinking. I wondered whether we are all comforting the sick and burdened ones as much as we can, and whether we are watching for opportunities to render little kindnesses. This would be pleasing to the Lord, and would remove prejudice. Shall we not go and do likewise? I feel anxious that we may all get such a burden for souls that we shall not leave these duties undone. TO COOK LEGUMES OF ALL VARIETIES
By H. H.
Look over carefully, cover with boiling water, and let stand in a hot place until they are wrinkled all over, wash thoroughly in cooler water, and put to cook in boiling water; keep boiling until tender, and then add the salt. This will not take over three hours. Do not stir while cooking. Keep plenty of liquid on the legumes — two or three inches above them until the last hour. When tender, they are ready to bake, or use in the various ways needed. The best beans are the kidney, Mexican or Chili, red California, lima, and navy. All kinds of dried peas will cook nicely this way, also lentils. If the recipe is closely followed, every particle of skins of beans will pass through the colander if necessary to sift them. The flavor of the bean is best preserved if they are kept boiling. I have used this recipe in my class work for six years, and it has never failed. DAILY READING FOR MARCH 24–30
Sunday, “Thoughts on the Revelation,” verses 1–11. Wednesday, The Last Plagues and the Judgment, “Early Writings” (Experience and Views), page 43; also Joel 1. Thursday, read and meditate upon the 91st Psalm. 1. What command will be given the seven angels? Whence will the voice come? Will the plagues be universal? 2. Upon what will the first plague be poured? What will be the result? Will it continue during the following plagues? 3. Where will the second plague be poured? What will it be? What is indicated by the sea becoming as the blood of a dead man? How will that differ from simply becoming blood? 4. Upon what will the third plague be poured? What is the effect? What response will be given by the angels? 5. Give the fourth plague. How will it affect men? How will they respond? 6. Where will the fifth vial be poured? How much of the earth will be obedient to the Beast at this time? Rev. 13:8. How extensive will be the darkness? Who will have light? Ps. 91:10; Ex. 10:21–23. Will the wicked have any disposition to repent? Is it possible to seek repentance when it is too late? Heb. 12:16, 17. 7. Upon what is the sixth plague poured? What is represented by the great river Euphrates? What does the drying up of the river indicate? When the river is dried up, what takes place? 8. Through what three powers will the unclean spirits work? What will they do? For what purpose? While the wicked are preparing for battle, what will the righteous be doing? Where will the battle be fought? 9. Where will the seventh vial be poured? Whence come the words, “It is done”? Describe the effect of this voice upon the earth. What is the significance of the three parts of the city? How is the earth’s surface affected? Give weight of hailstones. It was “one of the four beasts [cherubim, who] gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God;” but it was “a great voice out of the temple” which said “to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.” The first six plagues were poured on different localities, while the seventh was poured out in the air, and affected all mankind, the earth, and vegetation. The time of the outpouring of the plagues is supposed to last about one year. Isa. 61:2; 63:4; 34:8; 16:14; Rev. 18:8. These are the seven last plagues. Rev. 15:1. The first plagues were upon Egypt. The plagues upon Egypt when God was about to deliver Israel were similar in character to those more terrible and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God’s people. Says the revelator, in describing these terrific scourges, “There fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the Beast, and upon them which worshiped his Image.” The sea “became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.” And the rivers and fountains of waters became blood. Terrible as these inflictions are, God’s justice stands fully vindicated. The angel of God declares: “Thou art righteous, O Lord, . . . because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” By condemning the people of God to death, they have as truly incurred the guilt of their blood as if it had been shed by their hands. Matt. 23:34, 35; Rev. 18:24. In the fourth plague, power is given to the sun “to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat.” Rev. 14:18. The prophet thus describes the condition of the earth at this fearful time: “The land mourneth; . . . because the harvest of the field is perished. . . . All the trees of the field are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.” See Joel 1:10–12, 17–20; Amos 8:3, 11, 12; Hab. 3:8–19; Psalm 91; Isa. 33:16; 41:17, 18. “These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut off; yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy. The people of God will not be wholly free from suffering. But that God who numbers the hairs of their heads will preserve them. It is then they cry day and night for deliverance. Like Jacob, all are wrestling with God. Their countenances express their internal struggle. Paleness sits on every face. Yet they cease not their earnest intercession.” The darkness that comes upon the seat of the Beast can not be described any more than the effect of it. “They gnawed their tongues for pain.” It is of a nature to cause the most excruciating suffering. It comes upon the seat of government, and perchance at the time when those at the head of the government are issuing stringent laws against those who are keeping God’s commandments. The expressions in verses 11 and 9, “And repented not of their deeds,” “And they repented not to give Him glory,” show that had God granted them probation, none would have accepted it. “Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.” Isa. 26:10. Verse 11 also shows that those who receive the first plague still live to curse God. When the Turk leaves Europe, there will be a time of trouble such as never was. But there comes a time when the nations of the earth scramble for his territory. This will be under the sixth plague. It will be a cause of the final gathering of the nations “into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Armageddon and Megiddo are the same. An object-lesson battle was fought there in the days of Deborah and Barak. See Judges 4 and 5, especially the fifth chapter, at the battle of Megiddo. This is an important chapter for Seventh-day Adventists to study in connection with the sixth and seventh plagues. The great agency that will unite the dragon (paganism), the Beast (papacy), the false prophet (Protestantism), will be “the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” It is under the pouring out of the sixth vial that the voice of God is heard declaring His everlasting covenant. It is then those who have died in the Third Angel’s Message will come forth to hear this covenant of peace. Then, at the hearing of this voice, will the captivity of God’s people be turned, and the last trace of disease and deformity will leave the people of God. For a vivid description of this time, read carefully the chapter on The Shaking, in Spiritual Gifts, “Early Writings;” also the chapters, The Time of Trouble, and God’s People Delivered, in “Great Controversy.” At the present time the study of these chapters is especially important. “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven [this is God’s voice, not Christ’s], from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts [paganism, papacy, and Protestantism], and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” It is at this point that God rises up to come with every angel in glory, and with Christ, to deliver His people. No comment on these verses can be compared to the three chapters to which we have already referred. THE KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENTS
“I AM the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Yet another phase of the worship of “the god of this world,” included in “the pride of life,” is the worship of Mammon, or riches. And this is not by any means least, though it is the last one in the list. For is it not written, “The love of money is the root of all evil”? This is so wrapped up with that phase of “the pride of life” which was noticed last week,—ambition, self-exaltation, self-aggrandizement, glorious,—that it is, in great measure, inseparable from it. For there is nothing that gives worldly glory so quickly, so easily, and so abundantly as money; and there is nothing that gives power so quickly and so easily as does money. All this, simply because Mammon is such a familiar deity to mankind, because mankind is naturally so worshipful of Mammon. And yet it is all idolatry; it is all a denial of the true God; it is a breaking of the First Commandment, which says, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” For, says Jesus: “Ye can not,”—not, Ye ought not; not, Ye should not; but,—“Ye can not serve God and Mammon.” Since the true worship of God is to love God with all the heart, and all the soul, and all the mind, and all the strength; and anything that draws away either the heart, soul, mind, or strength to it, and comes between man and the true worship of God, is another god; so the allowing of money, the desire for money, the love of money, to come between a man and his true service to God, is the worship of Mammon. And to allow the desire for money, the love of money, to separate a man from true Christian thoughtfulness, and care of mankind temporally and eternally, is the worship of Mammon; it is to have another god than the Lord; it is to break the First Commandment. The distinction may be clearly drawn by saying that the keeping of the First Commandment is the being right, and doing right, with no thought whatever, at any time, as to what it will cost. No amount of money can ever have any consideration whatever in any question of serving God; in any question of loving God with all the heart, or our neighbor as ourself. And yet everybody knows that “What will it cost?” does have a positive bearing with the vast majority, even of professed Christian people, upon the exercise of their love to God with all the heart, and their neighbor as themselves. But to allow this question to have any bearing whatever is the worldly way. It is not of the Father, but of the world. For with the world the first question is always, “What will it cost?” “How much can I make?” In all the dealing, all the traffic of business relationship, in the world, the way of the world, and the inquiry of the world, is only, “How much can I make?” And if more can be made by oppressing the neighbor, the oppression takes precedence of the love of the neighbor; and the neighbor is deliberately robbed. If a neighbor begins business of the same order as that of a man who has already begun, he is deliberately underbidden, undersold, that, if possible, he may be crowded completely out of the business, in order that the first one may be left alone, to have all, in order that he alone may be rich, and have the worldly glory of his little kingdom of the crossroads. And those that have succeeded most fully at this, form gigantic combinations to crush out, or absorb, all lesser ones, until there remains but one vast combination drawing tribute from all the people in the nation, and even of the whole world. But God has written of it all that “he is a proud man” “who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and can not be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people;” “that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil.” But “shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long?” “Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee.” Hab. 2: 5–9. This is all “the pride of life,” which is not of the Father, but is of the world. It is all Mammon worship. And since the literal, original meaning of the word “mammon” is “that in which one trusts,” it is particularly appropriate that these various combinations, which crush out all individuality and demand tribute of all peoples, should be called “trusts.” Yet the most gigantic of the “trusts” is but the extreme of that trick of trade held by the individual, by which, to get the trade, he undersells and crowds out the man across the way. The most gigantic “trust” is but the extreme of that trick in trade by which the individual or the little partnership or corporation asks more for a thing when there is no competition than would be asked if there were competition. Whosoever, without competition, demands a greater price than he knows that he would take if there were competition, is an exactor of unjust gain. And “he that by usury and unjust gain increases his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.” Prov. 28: 8. The most gigantic “trust” is but the extreme of that trick in trade on the part of the individual, by which, through his beating down, or “jewing,” he tries his best to get a thing for less than he knows that it is worth. “It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer: but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth.” Prov. 20: 14. The organizer or the president of the “trust” who boasts in his enormous gains is no more an idolater and a sinner in this thing than is the individual who, in his degree, and to the extent of his power, does the same thing precisely. If he had the ability, or the power, of the organizer or the president of the “trust,” he would be doing precisely the same things that he is doing now, only in the larger measure that would be his, as the head of a mighty corporation. And so certainly is it true, as written, “In the world, the god of traffic is the god of fraud.” All such is but the worship of Mammon; it is idolatry; it is to have another god before the Lord; it is not of the Father, but is of the world; it is neither loving God with all the heart nor the neighbor as the self. “If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; if I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; . . . this also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above.” And this equally and as really as if I were a worshiper of the sun and the moon. Job 31: 24–29. There is a better way: it is the way of the keeping of the commandments of God: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” It is the way of Christianity: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” You know that you do not like to have a man work a scheme upon you, by which he requires you to pay for a thing more than he would take for it if there were competition. You know that you would not like to have people “jew” you down to take for a thing less than you know that it is worth. Put yourself in the other man’s place—and stay there. Look at things from his side, and continue to do so. “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” This is Christianity; it is the keeping of the First Commandment. Yea, it is the keeping of all “the law and the prophets.” Nor is it hard to do this. It is the easiest thing in the world for him who has the heart to do it. And God gives the heart to do it; as it is written: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”