ON Sunday, February 23, while a Catholic priest of Denver, Colo., by the name of Leo Heinrichs, was officiating at the altar of his church, he was killed by an anarchist, Guiseppi Alio. The funeral of the murdered priest was held the following Wednesday. While preparing the body for burial, a discovery was made that reads like a leaf from the history of the Dark Ages. We give the account of the discovery as published in the Washington Times of February 26:—
Priests and laymen alike are astounded by a discovery made in preparing the priest's body for burial. Next to the skin Father Leo had wrapped about his waist and upper arms heavy bands of linked steel chains, and to each link was a hook, sharpened to a needle's point, attached in such fashion that each movement of the priest caused the hooks to pierce his flesh and to remind him of the life and death of Him whose steps he struggled to follow.
Father Leo never spoke to his fellow clergy of his mode of penance, and no one in the monastery surmised it. His body and upper arms were entirely calloused, showing that when the pain became deadened because of the toughened skin, he had taken the network of claws and adjusted them so that the pain might come again with renewed force.7
We have no desire to speak disparagingly of the dead, no sympathy with the cruel assassin who chose to dispense death while pretending to desire participation in the ceremony the priest was performing; but the discovery illustrates how completely the gospel is perverted in the teaching of the organization to which the murdered priest belonged. Doing penance for sin has always been a characteristic of pagan religions. The East Indian, enduring the agony of standing between burning fires, sleeping on a bed of spikes, holding the arm above the head until it withered and grew rigid, was practising the same kind of religion as that which put the belt of torture around the waist and arms of this priest. These all originated in the same idea as that which inspired the use of the instrument of self-torture discovered on Leo Heinrichs. If salvation be by such means, the Hindu has no need of the gospel, and Jesus Christ died to no purpose. He who could invent the keenest torture, and stand it, would be entitled to the highest place in the kingdom. Jesus did not die to open a way whereby men could torture themselves into glory. He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt. 11: 28-30. Again: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Isa. 45: 22. How different is this from the doctrine of self-flagellation to win favor with God. In torturing the body for the sin of the soul, man makes himself judge of the enormity of his sin. In other words, he puts himself in the place of God to mete out judgment for his own transgression of God's law. Putting itself in the place of God—that is what the papacy was to do as an organization (2 Thess. 2: 3, 4), and wherever it teaches penance to purge away sin, it is teaching men to do as individuals what it is doing as an organization. Would that the murdered priest had learned what Martin Luther learned, that “without faith it is impossible to please” God, and having learned that, had stripped off his torture girdles, and trusted for the salvation of his soul in the efficacy of the life and blood of Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to torture our bodies to win the eternal reward, but the Bible rings from cover to cover with the blessed invitation, Come. The words of the Lord through Micah are applicable here: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth Jehovah require of thee, but to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollar Fund
By I. H. EVANS
For Special Work at Home and Abroad
Received on the $150,000 Fund up to Feb. 25, 1908
***Atlantic Union Conference***
Central New England ........$ 2,772.18
Greater New York .......... 1,496.31
Maine ..................... 836.51
New York ................. 2,326.50
Southern New England ..... 1,210.50
Vermont .................. 1,331.74
Western New York ........ 2,064.09
Total .................. 12,037.83
Canadian Union Conference
Maritime ................... 317.43
Quebec ..................... 155.84
Ontario .................... 803.58
Newfoundland ............... 16.80
Total .................. 1,293.65
Central Union Conference
Colorado ................... 3,629.92
Kansas ..................... 3,492.85
Missouri ................... 1,965.12
Nebraska ................ 5,817.68
Wyoming .................. 808.00
Total .................. 15,713.57
***Columbia Union Conference***
Chesapeake ................. 614.28
Eastern Pennsylvania .... 2,548.91
New Jersey ............... 1,246.95
Ohio .................... 6,300.43
Virginia ................. 1,034.77
West Pennsylvania .......... 1,905.67
West Virginia ............ 558.86
Total .................. 13,669.87
***District of Columbia***
Washington churches ...... 1,384.54
Lake Union Conference
East Michigan .............. 3,151.06
Indiana .................. 5,243.02
North Michigan ............. 1,705.22
Northern Illinois ........ 2,912.36
Southern Illinois .......... 1,404.46
West Michigan ............ 8,730.70
Wisconsin .................. 4,383.55
Total .................. 27,530.37
North Pacific Union Conference
British Columbia ........... 216.00
Montana .................... 611.39
Upper Columbia ........... 3,036.43
Western Washington ........ 2,679.93
Idaho ...................... 1,019.40
Western Oregon ............. 2,899.49
Hawaii ..................... 16.05
Alaska ..................... 20.00
Total .................. 10,498.69
Northern Union Conference
Iowa ....................... 7,241.36
Minnesota ................ 5,686.28
South Dakota .............. 2,664.47
North Dakota .............. 2,129.93
Conference not specified .... 73.82
Total .................. 17,795.86
Pacific Union Conference
Southern California ........ 2,848.63
Arizona .................. 466.79
California-Nevada ........ 10,249.03
Utah ..................... 434.58
Total .................. 13,999.03
***Southern Union Conference***
Conference not specified .... 70.82
South Carolina ........... 266.09
Alabama .................... 613.14
Tennessee River .......... 1,405.01
Florida .................. 951.48
North Carolina ........... 1,028.70
Cumberland ................ 1,347.32
Louisiana ................. 572.54
Mississippi ................. 413.08
Georgia ................... 457.97
Total .................. 7,126.15
Southwestern Union Conference
Not specified .............. 22.82
Arkansas ................... 894.63
Oklahoma ................... 3,924.79
Texas ...................... 2,285.24
Total .................. 7,127.48
Western Canadian Union ConferenceAlberta .................. 1,203.80
Manitoba ................... 336.55
Saskatchewan Mission Field. 59.60
Total .................. 1,599.95
Unknown
Unknown .................... 161.70
ForeignAlgeria .................. 13.33
Australia .................. 173.84
Bermuda .................... 36.00
China ...................... 165.60
South Africa ............... 439.02
Jamaica .................... 13.41
Yukon Territory ............ 20.00
England .................... 274.84
West Africa .............. 50.00
Mexico ..................... 65.97
Costa Rica ................. 6.25
India ...................... 187.50
South America .............. 76.43
Switzerland ................ 9.69
Panama ..................... 27.11
Nicaragua .................. 9.00
Central American Mission ... 26.00
Trinidad ................... 28.69
Norway ..................... 25.00
Japan ...................... 12.50
Hayti ...................... 5.00
Egypt .................... 51.55
Palestine .................. 2.00
Tobago, W. I. .............. 1.22
Cuba ....................... 8.00
Hungary .................... 3.00
Tahiti ..................... 14.88
France ..................... 6.80
Philippine Islands ......... 1.00
Samoa ...................... 8.00
Barbados ................... 5.00
Portugal ................... 1.00
Straits Settlements ........ 10.08
Pitcairn Island ............ 20.00
New Zealand ................ 1.52
Fiji ....................... 4.87
St. Kitts .................. 7.51
Total .................. 1,811.61
Grand Total .................. $131,750.30
I. H. EVANS, Treasurer.
A star preceding the name of a conference, indicates that that conference has paid its membership share of the fund.
The Last Call for Reapers
By MRS. EDITH B. GOODRICH
MRS. EDITH B. GOODRICH
The last call for reapers is sounding
to-day.
Rise up! Like Elisha, leave plow, and
away!
Let those who are world-bound still stay
by their stuff;
The Master hath called thee, and that is
enough.
Let nothing now hinder. Shake off
every coil.
Stand free, and go forth in the harvest
to toil.
See! see! the great fields are all waving
and white;
Go work while 'tis day, swiftly cometh
the night.
All chains that have held thee must now
be cast off;
Let no one delay thee by frown or by
scoff.
Nor mother, nor father, nor loved one
should stay
That one who is called. Harvest hands
— ho! away!
He calleth! He calleth! On far foreign
shores
The heathen are waiting with wide-open
doors.
Why stand ye here idle? Why longer
delay?
Rise up, O ye reapers, and hasten away.
Cottage Grove, Ore.
Eternal Riches
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
CHRIST'S teachings are of a character to impress the mind with the superiority of eternal things, and to impregnate the present life with the interests of eternity.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,” the Saviour declared, “where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
“No man can serve two masters.” As Christ visited the places where worldly gain was occupying men's thoughts and energies, and marked the worshipers at the shrine of Mammon, he said, “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!” With the confidence of one who knew, he said, “Ye can not serve God and Mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”
“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (for after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.”
The Lord looks with pity on those who allow themselves to be burdened with household cares and business perplexities. They are cumbered with much serving, and neglect the one thing essential. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,” the Saviour says, “and all these things shall be added unto you.” That is, Look away from this world to the eternal. Put forth your most earnest endeavors to obtain those things upon which God places value, and which Christ gave his precious life that you might secure. His sacrifice has thrown open wide to you the gates of heavenly commerce. Lay up your treasure beside the throne of God, by doing with his entrusted capital the work that he desires done in the winning of souls to a knowledge of the truth. This will secure you eternal riches.
The possession of the Word of God places great responsibilities upon us; for it makes us accountable for the means that he entrusts to us. It is a great privilege to have money to invest in the cause of God; and that man is blessed who desires to place it where instead of ministering to selfish desires, it will help to work out the purposes of God. The offerings made to help carry out the plan of salvation, bring joy to the giver and glory to the One for whose sake they are made.
“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” God gave Christ to the world. The Son of God laid aside his royal robe and kingly crown, and leaving his high command in heaven, came to earth as a man. Through the years of childhood and youth and manhood he was subject to poverty and to all the temptations that beset the human race.
When we think of the great gift of heaven for the redemption of a sinful world, and then consider the offerings that we can make, we shrink from drawing a comparison. The demands that might be made upon a whole universe could not compare with that one gift. Immeasureable love was expressed when one equal with the Father came to pay the price for the souls of men, and bring to them eternal life. Shall those who profess the name of Christ see no attraction in the world's Redeemer, be indifferent to the possession of truth and righteousness, and turn from the heavenly treasure to the earthly?
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. But every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
This gospel message is one of the most precious passages in the New Testament. When it is accepted, it yields in the lives of the receiver good deeds whose value is far above that of diamonds and gold. It has power to bring gladness and consolation into the earthly life, and to bestow eternal life upon the believer. O that we might have our understanding so enlightened by grace that we could take in its full meaning! The Father is saying to us, I will bestow upon you a treasure more precious than any earthly possession, a treasure that will make you rich and blessed forever.
In this life our possessions are limited, but the great treasure that God offers in his gift to the world, is unlimited. It comprehends every human desire, and goes far beyond our human calculations. In the great day of final decision, when every man shall be judged according to his deeds, every voice of self-justification will be hushed; for it will be seen that in his gift to the human race the Father gave all he had to give, and that they are without excuse who have refused to accept the gracious offering.
We have no enemy without that we need to fear. Our great conflict is with unconsecrated self. When we conquer self, we are more than conquerors through him who has loved us. My brethren, there is eternal life for us to win. Let us fight the good fight of faith. Not in the future, but now, is our probation. While it lingers, “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things,”—the things which now so often serve Satan's purpose as snares to deceive and destroy,—“shall be added unto you.” God's chosen ones must be gold, not wood, hay, and stubble. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
“The Meeting Is Yours”
By MAX HILL
MAX HILL
The place was at church, the hour was twelve-thirty, the occasion was a social meeting. The leader had read a lengthy portion of the Testimonies, with comments. The noon whistles had blown,—on time, as a dozen watches testified,—but the leader, like the brook, seemed inclined to “go on forever.” I supposed it was just a talk he was giving. Imagine my surprise then, at9twelve-thirty to hear him say, “Now, brethren, the meeting is yours; who will be the first?”
A few desultory testimonies were given, one or two stanzas of a hymn were sung in a half-hearted way; the meeting dragged. How sorry I was for the tired little folk,—the few who had not escaped to the fresh air without the church! How I pitied the few young people who were striving to be content with the service! How sorry I was for the dear brother who led the meeting! And then—I just could not help it—I thought of a prayer-meeting I had attended that very week in another place.
A dear old brother led the prayer-meeting. There was a good, stirring song, a Scripture reading, a little talk,—not a sermon,—and the meeting was ours. The first up proved to be three or four, so of course no one of them took more than his share of the time. Nearly all took part, and were prompt in song and prayer and praise. The secret was twofold; the leader was alive spiritually, and every one there knew that the meeting would close as soon as there was the least sign of dragging; “for Brother Glenn never holds late,” they said. Every one was refreshed and helped.
Mountain View, Cal.
Bible Study in School
By M. E. KERN
The Bible in Education—No. 5
Bible Study in School
M. E. KERN
In closing this series of articles, I wish to say a few words about the study of the Bible, as such, in our schools.
To know a few texts, and be able to put them together, to teach a line of thought which some one else has developed, is not the highest result of Bible study. We can not teach the doctrines of the Bible by rote. I heard a rather ludicrous illustration of this idea of teaching subjects without the student's getting a real, first-hand research knowledge of them. A zealous teacher had taught some intermediate students the prophecies of Daniel. He had taught them how to prove that the date 457 B. C. was the proper date for the beginning of the twenty-three hundred days, teaching them to repeat what is said in commentaries,—that the date is established by the Canon of Ptolemy, which is substantiated by more than twenty eclipses. Imagine his chagrin when on his last day of school, while having a kind of exhibition of the school's work, he asked a boy to give the proof that the date 457 B. C. is the correct date, and the boy replied, “Ptolemy shot off his cannon, and caused more than twenty eclipses.” It is more often true than we realize, that we do not know what we are talking about, those who have had a training in the schools not excluded.
We have a special message which is present truth, but it includes and is built upon every experience of God's people through preceding ages, and upon every revelation which has been given. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning.” Then study it all and study deeply, and focus the light of God's complete revelation upon the mighty questions of the present; for new controversies are springing up, and old ones are arising.
We need to develop in our schools stalwart defenders of the Bible against the infidelity within and without the professed church. Our students must be thoroughly established in the unadulterated truth from the living fountain of truth, that they may be able to meet the subtle philosophies of so-called Protestant Christian lands, as well as of Mohammedan and heathen lands. We are developing our young people for the broadest and most far-reaching service in this world, and they should have a broad and deep knowledge of the Great Book. We should have young men studying this Book in the languages in which it was written, to take part in the translation of the Bible into other tongues, and there should be among us more men who are authorities on the original languages, for every position of our faith will be questioned, and every means will be taken to discredit the truth.
And let us not cheapen the Bible and cause our students to lose respect for it by cheap Bible teaching. Let the Bible classes be the strongest in the school. Teach the student that he must “sink the shaft deep into the mine of truth, that he may obtain the celestial gold,—that wisdom which will make him wise unto salvation.”—Christian Education, page 101.
As some one has said, the mental vice of these newspaper days is superficiality. But let us not in this study which is to be the basis of all study,—in this study of God's thoughts,—encourage this evil. Let us not hastily clutch after many things, which perhaps are pleasanter, but let us teach our students to plod, to be accurate and thorough, persistent and logical.
The child who in school really conquers one thing, will as a man conquer many things. Those portions of the Bible that have been our chiefest study, we have been admonished to search still. The effect of this thorough study of the Bible upon the mind of the student will be wonderful, for we have been told that “as a means of intellectual training, the Bible is more effective than any other book, or than all other books combined.”—Id., page 126. As to the effect on character, we are told that “if God's Word were studied as it should be, men would have a breadth of mind, a nobility of character, and a stability of purpose that is rarely seen in these times.”—Id., page 58. Wonderful results follow a right study of the Word of God. O, we want these results!—breadth of mind, nobility of character, stability of purpose; and such breadth of mind, nobility of character, and stability of purpose, as is rarely seen.
With the grand principles of healthful living and Christian education, and with the noblest purpose before us that can appeal to any one, we have the privilege of developing the strongest, noblest, and best young people that this generation has seen. May it be so!
Let us, then, appreciate, more than we have, the Book of God as an educational book. As well exclude the glorious sunlight from our schoolrooms, and try to light them with tallow candles, as to exclude from education the Bible. Let us receive in its fulness that light from heaven which alone interprets, completes, and systematizes all our earthly knowledge into one organic whole, alone revealing of all books the true nature of God and man, and their relation to each other.
College View, Neb.
The Science of True Government
By J. O. CORLISS
J. O. CORLISS
In its original form, and in its true sense, government is the divine system of organization. Just as the feet move, and the hands perform, by the hidden impulse of the brain, and without the use of physical force, so divine government controls men through an unseen connection which influences their highest obedience to heavenly requirements. If, perchance, disease enters a human organism, and paralyzes a hand or a foot, so that it does not respond to brain suggestion, a disturbed organization obtains, yet all other parts of the system perform their functions as before, without the co-operation of the diseased member.
When the disease of sin paralyzed parts of heaven’s organized body, so that these no longer felt the touch of divine impulse, their condition did not prevent others from responding fully to the promptings of superhuman instinct. But the result was two distinct forms of government, one regulated through the secret springs of heavenly influence, the other controlled by outward restraint from earthly sources. The two systems thus formed have no common origin. The first is of God, and therefore heavenly; the second is of man, and consequently earthly. The first provides a plan by which individual members of the lower system may be adopted into the family of the higher, without any interposition whatever of any earthly government.
In fact, earthly governments, having obtained their brief and problematical authority because man seceded from God’s government in Eden, can by right have nothing whatever to do with matters relating to heaven’s rule over men. To undertake anything of the kind would be to move in the dark, not being acquainted with the inner workings of the higher guidance. Besides, an earthly government is not in position to say to an erring one, Come, confess your crime, and I will elevate you to a place in the family of heaven.
Nay, more. It can not restore a transgressor to dignity among his fellow men, for the reason that the laws of a10nation, in order to maintain the integrity of that nation, must be held inexorable. Therefore no law can permit pardon to be proclaimed for the transgression of its requirements, without annulling itself. It may provide in certain cases for compensation, where injury has been inflicted, but to provide absolute pardon for the transgression of its own precepts, is not in the nature of law.
The reason for this is that national law is higher than a single individual, and is therefore necessary to the nation’s existence. But penalties are necessary to the existence of law, therefore no penalty of the law can be permitted to lapse without endangering the safety and happiness of the nation.
There are only two conditions under which pardon may be safely granted to a transgressor. These are, first, the restoration of the transgressor and of those affected by his influence; or, second, with the restoration of the transgressor, a compensation which will counterwork, and eventually remove, the derangement of the system. But this last can not be accomplished by the distracted subject, because it is not within his province, so must proceed from a source outside of and above the disturbed element. A good act of the present can not possibly compensate for a bad one of the past. The performance of present duty can not purchase pardon for the past, nor indulgence for the future, because one’s knowledge of good made its performance an ever-present duty of the past.
So then, earthly government being but the administration of human power, and the deranged human subject having no power to recover and restore himself, it follows that earthly government can not provide, without compensation of some sort, the power to restore the transgressor of its laws to a place among its loyal subjects. It therefore knows no method of government but that of force. No mercy is revealed in the law of its administration. If a culpable member of any community is restored to his former place, it must be by intercession of others, and not because the law provides for such a pardon.
Moral law is just as inexorable as civil law, but through unselfish love of the moral Governor (an attribute unknown in civil government), the Son of the Most High was permitted to take on himself the nature of those who had transgressed heaven’s law, and while among them to suffer, the just for the unjust, that thus he might bring them to obey the divine law. To become a partaker of heaven’s benefits thus rendered, one must voluntarily accept this gift of love. He must believe in the power of Christ to pardon and restore him to favor. He must receive the divine impulse, the secret inner working of the Spirit, too, in order to the completion of the divine purpose.
Such is the operation of divine government,—no outward force driving one to obey the mandates of the law, but a still, gentle voice within, saying, ‘This is the way, walk ye in it.’ Confess your sins, and I will be faithful and just to forgive your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. Civil government can not act thus, lest it destroy its own authority. It must deal justly against crime, without any mixture of mercy, because its organization was not formed to deal in mercy, but in stern justice. Knowing nothing of the heavenly element, it is therefore disqualified to deal with matters pertaining to heavenly rule.
To be explicit, civil government, being only the expressed will of human minds, can not possibly measure and define the personal requirements of divine rule, which is the expression of heaven’s King. The reason for this is that God is a Spirit. His kingdom is within men, and so deals with the inner, or spiritual, man through the operation of his Spirit. But the natural, or unspiritual, man can not receive the teachings of the Spirit of God, because they are folly to him. More than this; he can not even understand them, because ‘they are spiritually discerned,’ or comprehended. 1 Cor. 2:14.
This being true, how can legislators in a civil government enact laws touching religious duties? Being men of the world, what can they know of spiritual things in behalf of others? In other words, being servants of the civil government, why should they make laws by which to judge the servants of God’s spiritual government? Or to sum up, why should civil legislators undertake to regulate the laws of heaven? Do they think that the King of heaven has become impotent, and incapable of administering his own government, and therefore needs a civil guardian?
If not, then why make laws to punish for the non-observance of a weekly rest day, since God does not visit offenders with instant wrath? There can be no civil obligation requiring one day’s rest in seven, or even one day’s rest in a year. Independence day stands for more in an American patriot’s breast than any other holiday in the year. Yet, revered as it is as the memorial of national freedom, no law obliging men absolutely to cease labor on that day, would be thought just. Then why should a law be enacted requiring men to rest one day in seven? It can not be because of any national significance in the day, nor is it to commemorate any human achievement. Why then ask for it?
The whole question rests on a religio-selfish demand. This is it. Certain men leave business and rest on one day of the week to show their regard for religious requirements, and desire to have every other person do the same. If others do not look at the matter just as they do, a law is demanded to compel them to yield their stubbornness. But is this zeal in behalf of God’s honor? —No; for those who contend most strongly for such laws, deny that they are for religious ends. Why plead for them then? When pressed to answer, they say that it is not fair to let some work seven days in the week, and so get the major part of the business, while they themselves are obliged, for the sake of their religious convictions, to rest one day in every seven.
This, then, is the secret: because some think they ought to recognize a weekly rest in honor of their chosen religion, they feel determined to make others do the same, that they themselves may not be handicapped in the race for this world’s goods, while professing to give up all for Christ. Is it possible that men can so deceive themselves as to believe that the kingdom of God is within them, while acting from such selfish motives? The exhortation of the apostle is to the point in this connection: ‘Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?’
* Mountain View, Cal.
R. C. PORTER
By R. C. PORTER
The Ax Laid at the Root of the Trees—No. 1
R. C. PORTER
THERE come times in the affairs of life when it is necessary to get at the root of matters. That means to get at the bottom facts in the case. In the days of John the Baptist there was a new order of things to be established. Pharisaical priests and scribes were no longer to devour widows’ houses and pass it off by the pretense of long prayers. One was about to come who would not judge after the sight of his eyes, but righteous judgment was to be rendered.
John the Baptist knew that a change was to take place. The mask of pretense was no longer to shield hypocrisy. One was coming as a teacher whose own life was in harmony with his teaching. Although they should surely say to him, “Physician, heal thyself,” this would not shield them in their efforts to prevent the plain, straightforward presentation of gospel truth. “The common people heard him gladly;” and those that heard him declared, “Never man spake like this man.”
John knew that he was the forerunner of the Messiah. He knew what his own message meant in awakening to new hope the real children of the kingdom. In the power and demonstration of the spirit of Elijah he preached repentance for the remission of sins. He urged all to flee from the wrath to come. Gladly he instructed and baptized the sincerely penitent. “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”11
There was no indecision about this message. It was not talked to others about the Pharisees and Sadducees. It was spoken directly to them at the very time they offered themselves as subjects of baptism. It was not the kind of preaching they were accustomed to hear. But John knew them, and he knew that the baptism would do them no good unless they brought forth fruits meet for repentance. And he knew that they would be the same hindrance to the work in the church where they were now offering themselves for baptism that they had been as leaders in the Jewish work, unless they thoroughly repented, and started upon the right foundation.
John would do no half-way work in his ministry. To do this was to cause souls to be lost. The ax must be laid at the very root of the trees—not to trim off some limbs, but to hew down the tree if it did not bring forth good fruit. The very tap-root must be severed, that growth of sin should no longer be tolerated. Neither was it because John was inconsiderate or unkind that he bore this straight message. The time had come for a reformation. That reformation must be placed upon a right basis. It must not be modeled to admit unconverted men who would become decoys to ruin other souls and corrupt the church.
The Master paid the highest tribute to John for his faithfulness to his sacred trust. He declared that John was the messenger whom he had sent to prepare the way before him, and that a greater prophet had not been born of woman than John the Baptist. Christ takes up precisely the same gospel of repentance carried by John, and he added, “Every plant, which my Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.”
There is another illustration given of a man whom God had appointed as priest and leader among his people. It was the case of Aaron. Moses had been a true leader. He had not been led by the people into all the follies that they would have led him into had he held that it was the people who were to lead the ministers and men of God’s appointment as leaders, in place of the ministers instructing and leading the people. No doubt Aaron had heard that Moses was arbitrary in his dealings with the people. It now becomes his opportunity to lead them for a few days. Moses is in the mount with God. He is delayed longer than the people expected. They ask Aaron to make a golden calf for them to worship. Aaron may have reasoned that he would not be guilty of being arbitrary in his leadership. It was the wish of the people, and why not let the people have what they wanted? Why should the leaders all the time seek to control things in the church? At least he surrendered to the wish of the people. He instructed them to bring their ornaments, and he made of them a god. The Lord summed it up by saying, “And the Lord plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.” The Lord sent Moses down from the mount in haste to take matters in hand and justly deal with such traitorous leadership as Aaron was practising in his absence. “And it came to pass, as soon as he was come nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it in fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.”
He then called upon every man who was on the Lord’s side to manifest it by coming to him. He gave the command of God that every man of the Levites should gird on his sword and go through the camp and slay every man his brother and his neighbor. That was most drastic treatment. Yet God directed it, and he never reproved Moses for showing righteous indignation at the weak leadership of Aaron. Instead he was commended, and it was testified of him that he was “faithful in all his house.”
Now these things are “written for our learning,” lest we follow the policy outlined by some, which would lead to a similar apostasy in the cause of God to-day. Let no one be frightened by the cry of arbitrary leadership, and turn to the weak policy of Aaron to follow the lead of a few people into apostasy. It is time that men should stand as Moses and John the Baptist, and lay the ax at the root of the trees.