For years determined efforts have been made to secure the passage of a Sunday law for the District of Columbia. Up to the present time these efforts have all failed.
But I was startled on March 14, to discover that the following bill had been favorably recommended by the commissioners of the District of Columbia:—
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 1904
Mr. Wadsworth introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the District of Columbia and ordered to be printed.
A Bill
Requiring certain places of business in the District of Columbia to be closed on Sunday.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be unlawful for any person in the District of Columbia to sell or to offer for sale, or to keep open any place of business for the sale or delivery of, any groceries or fruits or meats or vegetables or other provisions on Sunday, except that from the first day of June until the first day of October meats sold prior to Sunday may be delivered at any time before ten o'clock of the morning of that day. Any person who shall violate the provisions of this act shall, on conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than fifty dollars for the first offense, and for each subsequent offense by a fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the jail of the District of Columbia for a period of not less than one month nor more than three months, or by both fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court.
SECTION 2.—That all prosecutions for violations of this act shall be in the police court of the District of Columbia and in the name of the District of Columbia.
You will note that this bill was introduced on February 4. On February 8, a hearing was held before the commissioners of the District of Columbia. There seems to have been a plan to keep from those who would oppose this measure all knowledge of the hearing; at least not one of those who usually oppose Sunday legislation was present, and those who were urging the measure seem to have been successful, more so than for many years.
The bill must now come before the District Committee of the House of Representatives, and if recommended by them, before Congress.
We shall certainly ask for a hearing before the District Committee, and we trust the bill may yet fail of becoming a law. But a favorable recommendation from the Commissioners of the District of Columbia has great influence with7Congress in all matters pertaining to legislation for the District of Columbia. The District Commissioners are the executive authority for the District. The laws are all made by Congress direct.
If any measure becomes a law in the District, the residents can not vote it down. No one can vote in the District of Columbia.
This is an ideal place for the National Reformers to begin their work. The people of the District can not make or change the law; and Sunday legislation for the District of Columbia will be used as a precedent for Sunday legislation for the whole country. If the principle of a Sunday law, or religious legislation, is right for the District of Columbia, it is right for the whole United States.
I am certain that while so many of the States have oppressive Sunday laws, God has kept this little territory, the very heart of the United States, free, as a home for his work.
Here the conflict centers, and thank the Lord, he has brought to this place the very heart of his work, the headquarters of the General Conference organization, to meet the issue.
It is well that this city is not a great, crowded business center, like New York, Chicago, London, or Paris. In the providence of God this city is, compared with those cities, a small place, having only about three hundred thousand inhabitants. It is the capital. It is that only. No great business interests overtop and hide the work of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the great government departments.
The “Mill on the Hill,” as the Capitol is sometimes called, with its departmental branches in other parts of the city, constitutes practically the only business.
A very large proportion of the people are directly connected with the government. Here congressmen and senators and judges may be met any day as common citizens of the capital city. Many of these ride on the street-cars or walk on the streets with the most humble resident of the city.
Here these men that lead the whole nation, and also ambassadors of all the great nations of the world, may be more easily reached than anywhere else in the world. And it is surprising how free and common many of these leading people become in Washington. Some of these people have already attended our meetings, and will attend them more in the future.
If the capital was a large city, like those named above, it would take ten times the amount of money to accomplish (as far as reaching the men who lead the nation) what can be accomplished by a reasonable amount in Washington.
We are well and favorably known here. The clerk of the District Committee of the House of Representatives, in a recent visit, said that several years ago a Sunday law was proposed for the District, and at a hearing before the District committee the Adventists opposed the measure, and it failed.
He did not know at the time when he told me this, that I was an Adventist. He himself was opposed to Sunday legislation, and seemed to regard the Adventists with deep respect.
Our credit is good in Washington. Many who are not Adventists regard the wonderful way in which money has been sent to help the church as nothing short of a miracle. A member of the board of trustees of the Central Methodist Protestant Church, from whom the church was bought, said to me recently, speaking of this matter, ‘Surely the Lord is with you.’
The people are looking with perfect confidence to see our institutions built here quickly and free from debt. Surely they will not be disappointed. Those who read this article will decide the question favorably or unfavorably. The General Conference can do nothing without the people.
To establish our institutions here on a sound basis will preach religious liberty to the nation and the world as can be done in no other way.
The raising of one hundred thousand dollars quickly will advance the work here, and thus through all the world, as no preaching, no literature, no theorizing, can possibly do. We still wait for some one to start the list with a donation of one thousand dollars.
May the Spirit of the Giver of every good and perfect gift impress the situation, the crisis, upon every reader. Send all gifts to W. T. Bland, 222 North Capitol St., Washington, D. C.
J. S. WASHBURN.
Ye Are the Light of the World
“Ye are the light of the world.”
Note and Comment
By L. A. S.
THREE steel trusts—one American, one British, and one German—have agreed to divide the earth between themselves, each agreeing to keep out of the others’ sphere of interest in the world’s markets.
It is believed now that the great Baltimore fire was caused by a lighted cigar. A special committee appointed by the General Loss Committee of the insurance companies, has made a report affirming this opinion. “The report states,” says a Baltimore dispatch, “that the fire must have been due to some one dropping a lighted match or a cigar or cigarette stub through a cracked or broken deadlight in the sidewalk. This fell on inflammable material, and it smoldered for hours, creating heat and smoke, which, after the doors had been burst open by the firemen, caused flames and the later explosions which resulted.”
AMERICAN missionaries at Ping Yang, China, have refused to accept an invitation extended by the United States government to seek safety on board the American war-ship “Cincinnati,” which is now at Chemulpho. The State Department has made it clear, to the missionary societies in this country, says a Washington dispatch, “that in case of actual war it can not undertake to employ the United States army and navy in expeditions into the interior of a country which is the scene of war. If the missionaries remain after a proper warning, the United States government can not remove them, and they must take their chances with other civilians.”
THE centennial anniversary of the founding of the British and Foreign Bible Society was observed in London, Sunday, March 6, by services in St. Paul’s cathedral. Speeches were made by several eminent men, among whom was Justice Brewer, of the United States Supreme Court, who referred to the “destructive criticism” which has attacked the Bible within recent years, coming from a professedly Christian source. Such criticism the eminent jurist does not approve. The New York Sun makes note of the justice’s position, and speaks of the effect of this criticism upon the church’s activity in missionary work. It says:—
In neither Europe nor America is there now a scholarly authority of the highest class who is satisfied to limit his Biblical criticism to the “correcting of wrong translations and arranging in chronological order the matchless truths of Scripture,” to which Mr. Justice Brewer would confine him. The critics most respectfully heeded by the theological world of to-day are examining the Bible in the very light from which the justice would remove it—“as a crazy-quilt of untrue history, distorted science, weak poetry, impracticable morality, and vague foreshadowings of the unknown and the unknowable.” It emerges from their tests simply a human literature of people in an early stage of intellectual evolution. Its stories and its miracles become mere legends and symbols. The most this criticism will admit is that the Bible “contains a revelation,” not that it is a revelation.
What will be the consequence? At the second centenary of the Bible Society will there be a record of Biblical distribution like that of the century now past? Will heroic missionaries continue to devote their lives during the next hundred years to efforts to bring the Bible to every living creature as the one lamp of light let down from heaven itself? A justice of the Supreme Court may reject the new criticism as iconoclastic and destructive, but what force will his dictum have against the weight of the authority of Biblical scholarship?
Fortunately the return of the great Missionary who once came from heaven to earth will put an end to this destructive criticism, and avert the coming period of missionary paralysis which the Sun foresees. L. A. S.
Still With Thee
By Archer Wright
ARCHER WRIGHT
How often in the watches, silent, solemn,
Between grave midnight and the joyous dawn,
From dreams of home and friends I wake, the column
Of life's recorded past to muse upon.
From earth my thoughts leap to the home up yonder,
Above the discord and the daily strife,
While through the open window breezes wander
With whispered echoes of eternal life.
When, thus awake, I draw aside the curtain
And see the bright stars in their purity,
Steals o'er me the assurance, sweet as certain,
“Lord, when I waken, I am still with thee.”
Still with thee, Lord, when pressed by strong temptation;
With thee, though overwhelmed in sorrow's sea.
Without thee naught could give me consolation,
For thou, O Christ, art all in all to me.
Still with thee, Saviour, morning, noon, or twilight;
Still with thee when the deepening shadows fall,
Still, still with thee in death's dark hour of midnight;
Still with thee when thy voice the dead shall call.
With thee,—'tis strength and weakness met in union
To last unbroken through eternity;
Yet, sweetest thought of all life's sweet communion,
“Lord, when I waken, I am still with thee.”
Co-workers With Christ
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
Christ intended that a greater work should be done in soul-winning than we have yet seen. He did not intend that such large numbers should take their stand under the banner of Satan, enrolled as rebels against God. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He did not design that human beings should live and die in sin. Why, then, are so few reached and saved?—It is because so many of those who profess to be Christians are working on the same lines as the great apostate. They let Satan plan and devise for them.
Very much more might be done for Christ if all who have the light of present truth would practise the truth. There are whole families who might be missionaries, engaging in personal labor, toiling for the Master with busy hands and active brains, devising new methods for the success of his work. There are earnest, prudent, warm-hearted men and women who could do much for Christ if they would give themselves to God, drawing near to him, and seeking him with the whole heart.
My dear brethren and sisters, take an active part in the work of soul-saving. This work will give life and vigor to the mental and spiritual powers. Light from Christ will shine into the mind. The Saviour will abide in your hearts, and in his light you will see light.
Consecrate yourselves wholly to the work of God. He is your strength, and he will be at your right hand, helping you to carry out his merciful designs.
By personal labor reach those around you. Become acquainted with them. Preaching will not do the work that needs to be done. Angels of God attend you to the dwellings of those you visit. This work can not be done by proxy. Money lent or given will not accomplish it. Sermons can not do it. By visiting people, talking, praying, sympathizing with them, you will win hearts. This is the highest missionary work that you can do. To do it, you will need resolute, persevering faith, unwearying patience, and a deep love for souls.
Find access to the people in whose neighborhood you live. As you tell them of the truth, use words of Christlike sympathy. Remember that the Lord Jesus is the Master Worker. He waters the seed sown. He puts into your minds words that will reach hearts. Expect that God will sustain the consecrated, unselfish worker. Obedience, childlike faith, trust in God,—these will bring peace and joy. Cultivate thankfulness of heart. “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, . . . and be ye thankful.”
Work disinterestedly, lovingly, patiently, for all with whom you are brought into contact. Show no impatience. Utter not one unkind word. Let the love of Christ be in your hearts, the law of kindness on your lips.
It is a mystery that there are not hundreds at work for God where now there is but one. The heavenly universe is astonished at the apathy, the coldness, the listlessness, of those who profess to be sons and daughters of God. In the truth there is a living power. Go forth in faith, and proclaim the truth as if you believed it. Let those for whom you labor see that to you it is indeed a living reality.
The gospel standard is to be planted in every place where now it is not. With our eyes fixed on the cross of Calvary, believing that the Saviour will be with us until the end, as our shield, our strength, our efficiency, we are to work for God.
Why is it that we do not receive more from him who is the source of light and power? We expect too little. Has God lost his love for man? Is not this love still flowing earthward? Has he lost his desire to show himself strong in behalf of his people? Christ will give us victory in the conflict. Who can doubt this when we know that he laid aside his royal robe and kingly crown, and came to this world in the garb of humanity, that he might stand as man's substitute and surety?
We do not value as we should the power and efficacy of prayer. “The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which can not be uttered.” God desires us to come to him in prayer, that he may enlighten our minds. He alone can give clear conceptions of truth. He alone can soften and subdue the heart. He can quicken the understanding to discern truth from error. He can establish the wavering mind, and give it a knowledge and a faith that will endure the test. Pray then; pray without ceasing. The Lord who heard Daniel’s prayer, will hear yours if you will approach him as Daniel did.
Let us live in close communion with God. The joy of the Christian arises from a sense of God’s love and care for his children, and the assurance that he will not leave them alone in their weakness. The Lord never withholds his wisdom from those who are truly consecrated. Those who fear him and seek him daily, walk in security. It is the men who humble themselves even as a little child who are taught by God. The man who does not exalt himself can fill a place in God’s plan that no self-sufficient man, however learned and well-prepared he may think himself, can fill. It makes every difference whether a man walks with God, or whether he is satisfied to walk with himself, trusting in his own abilities.
It is the fragrance of our love for our fellow men that reveals our love for God. It is patience in service that brings rest. It is through humble, diligent, faithful toilers that the welfare of Israel is promoted. God upholds and strengthens the one who is willing to learn in the school of Christ the lessons that he teaches.
The power of the Holy Spirit would come to our workers if they would ask for it aright. There will be no change made in the divine economy in order to bring about marked changes in the religious world. Men and women must rise to the emergency. They must receive the holy oil, the divine communication. This will enable them to arise and shine because their light has come.
Those who believe present truth are to live this truth. They are to bring the word of God into the daily life. This word is the bread of heaven, and those who read and study it, making its truths a part of the life, will be given power from above. O, can we not understand this? “This is the will of him that sent me,” Christ said, “that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” If this, the life of Christ, be in us, what may we not accomplish in his service?
We are in great need of large-hearted, level-headed men,—men whose daily life shows plainly that they have been with Jesus, and have learned of him,—men who, when called to bear burdens, do not complain, but move cheerfully forward, singing, yes, making melody in their hearts to the Lord.9
To those who are presenting from the pulpit the truth for this time, I would say: Remember that you are engaged in a solemn, sacred work. Souls for whom Christ died, and who may have the life that measures with the life of God, are in the valley of decision. Before you present any subject to the people, talk with God in prayer. Hide self in Jesus. Receive the Holy Spirit, and then, in the power of this Spirit, speak to the people. Be sure that you are standing where you can be worked by the Spirit, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power.”
To our youth, I would say, As you use for God the talents that he has entrusted to you, you will obtain a knowledge that will make you dissatisfied with yourselves. You will see the great work that is to be done. You will see the need of separating from every hurtful habit or practise, lest you harm some other soul.
There are conscientious young men who are preparing to move into line, to strengthen the outposts. If they will walk with God, he will talk with them and teach them. Let them work where they are, doing what they can to pass along the truth that is so precious to them. Then, when there are vacancies to be filled, they will hear the words, Friend, come up higher. They may be reluctant to advance, but let them move forward, trusting in God, and bringing into his work a fresh, honest experience, and a heart filled with unswerving love.
Open the door of the heart to the knock of Christ. Welcome the heavenly Guest. Then if you are placed in a position of responsibility, you will not lift yourself up unto vanity. There are truths in the Word of God the meaning of which you do not comprehend, but these will open to you in their beauty and loveliness; for Christ is your teacher. If you have improved the past, it is still yours, because you have garnered the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. You have a treasure of knowledge to which you are constantly adding, and thus you are being raised to a higher plane of service. Impart that which you receive, and keep imparting, that you may continue to receive.
Always a Way of Escape
THERE is a place in the Hudson where, as you sail, you seem to be entirely hemmed in with hills. The boat drives straight on toward a rocky wall, and it seems as if it must either stop or be dashed to pieces. But just as you come within the shadow of the mountain, an opening is suddenly disclosed, and the boat passes out into one of the grandest bays on the river.
So it is with temptation. You are not to seek it, not to enter into it; God promises no way out in such a case. But if it meets you on your heavenward journey, you are to go straight on though you see no way out. God does not promise “a way of escape” until the temptation actually comes. The way will reveal itself in due time if you only keep on, your way being the way of duty. And remember that as in the river the beautiful bay lies just around the frowning rock, so often your sweetest and best experience of life lies just behind your most threatening temptation.—Christian Herald.
***Fully Following the Lord***
(Continued)
God does require the unexpected of his people, and he has required it in past days. I was thinking this morning of Abraham when he was in Padan Aram, living with his father’s family. He had made his wife and servants and his property, but he had ceased his idolatrous worship, and turned to the true God. His fathers were all idolaters before him. They worshiped the sun, moon, and stars, and were living like the people about them; but Abraham had given his heart to God. Let me read one thing that I think must have been a little hard to Abraham when he started out to fully serve the Lord: “The Lord said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee.” Back in that country, in the days when Abraham lived, there were no great public highways, no facilities for traveling; and the nations were only armed men, Arabs and Syrians, going hither and thither, ready to fall and prey upon any man not able to defend himself. “Get thee out of thy country, . . . unto a land that I will show thee,” was God’s command. Abram did not ask where that land was, nor how long it would take to get there; but he left his father’s house, and went unto the land which the Lord had commanded him. Abraham stands out prominently before all of us as a man of faith. Why?—Because he was a man of obedience. Do you know that there was never yet a man of faith who was not a man of obedience? And, my friends, if you are weak in faith, doubting any of God’s word, or hesitating over any of his precepts, the trouble lies in your disobedience. There is not a man who renders implicit obedience to his conscience who does not have faith in God. Obedience brings faith, brings confidence, brings hope; it brings the blessing of God into the soul. A man may talk about faith; but until the heart is ready to render obedience to God’s requirements, he can not have faith. It is impossible. So, my friends, God always commands his people along lines that seem hard, utterly impossible for them to fulfil; but every command of God has to be received in faith.
I remember reading a story of a general who had led his armies through great battles, and had won every conflict. This time he had pitched his camp, and got his army all ready, and the battle was to be fought early in the morning. He was walking about among the tents in disguise, trying to discover whether his men had courage and faith or not. As he was creeping from one tent to another, listening to the conversation of the soldiers, who were lying inside, he came to one tent, and listened. One of them said, “We are defeated, we shall never gain this battle.” The other one said, “Well, I think that is so. The general is a great captain, but he has made a fatal mistake this time. We never can gain this battle. Why, here we are, only forty thousand men, and the enemy has three times our number! It is impossible.”
The general’s heart was stirred. He lifted the curtain of the tent, and walked in, and said to the men, “How many do you count me for?”
“O,” they said, “general, you have made an awful mistake in placing your men here. You ought never to fight this great number of men.”
He answered, “How many do you count me for?”
“Yes, but it is impossible for us ever to get the victory on the morrow. I know it, because they are three to our one, and they are just as well trained as we.”
“I want you to answer me just one question,” said the general again. “How many do you count me for?”
There is a lesson for us in that. When it seems as if the battle must go against us, let us remember our General. With his might, his power, it is possible to win. And the requirements that God has made—we look at them, and say, it is impossible, it can not be done. Brethren, if the God of heaven has commanded it, it is possible for it to be done. And instead of our hesitating, and saying, It can not be done, I want to know, How many do you count God for? God is sufficient in every instance, when he commands, to see that that command is absolutely and fully obeyed by every child of his. I care not how we may be outnumbered, or what superior strength may come against us, just as surely as God has made a requirement of us, just so surely has he provided the possibility of that thing being done. It is possible. O, I would that his people—you and I—recognized this truth, and acted on it! God requires you and me to walk in perfect obedience to his will. It is possible. How?—Through the strength that God himself provides. The weakest child, the man who has the least power to resist the passions of his own heart,—when God commands, there is nothing for that poor, weak soul to do but to render perfect obedience. The grace of God is ready to enter into every heart, to give courage to undertake, fortitude to endure, and the victory in every conflict. Let us look at this question of obedience from the further light of the Testimonies concerning God’s work. I have10said it myself. But, my friends, has God required what can not be done?—Never! Never!
When God told Moses to take Israel up into Canaan, it was possible for them to go. Israel took no arms, they had no war instruments, nothing with which to fight. They went up with their bare arms, and they faced great and war-like kings on every side; yet it was possible for them to take the land. Why?—Because God commanded it. But had Israel settled down, and counted how they were to do it,—their own weakness and the strength of their enemies,—I venture that not a wise man among them could have seen how it would be possible. The only thing they could do was to start when God gave the command. And where did he lead them?—O, my friends, in a way that I should never have chosen to lead them. They did not have a boat nor an instrument of warfare among them, not a thing with which to cope with the enemy. God led them straight from Egypt to the edge of the Red Sea. What a position!—mountains on each side of them, the Red Sea before them, and the armies of Egypt behind them! It looked as if the leaders had made a mistake; and do you blame the poor people for saying, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt”? But when the Lord stretched out his hand over that sea, and fanned those waters either way, and the people passed over on dry ground, and they could look back and see their enemies all slain, then they could join in the song of praise and victory. If Israel had never started in obedience to God’s command, they would never have reached even this stage in their journey.
Now God says to this people, “Do great things.” But we say, “This is impossible, or that is impossible; this is too large, or that is too large.” Brethren, does God say do these things? If he does, that, it seems to me, ought to end it. That ought to end it. Men ought to settle the question that if God has spoken, they will obey; every one of us ought to pledge his life to see the thing accomplished.
“But,” you say, “that sounds all right; but we are not really sure about our leadership. We are a little bit doubtful about you men. We do not have full confidence in all of you. We would like a little more moderation, a little more consideration.” O brethren! some of us are so conservative that we would consider a thing till doomsday,—and it would never be done. What God wants in his cause to-day is men who hear his voice, and who are ready to obey when he commands. It is a fearful thing; but this cause is being paralyzed because of the hesitancy in God’s ministry to accomplish what God commands. From Maine to California we hear men acknowledge that the trouble is inactivity, it is inaction. A paralysis has come over us, an inactivity with which we can not cope. Brethren, are we ever going to arouse out of this inactivity by considering and pondering, and waiting until we get a better start?—Never!
The cause of God to-day is languishing for Elijahs—men of faith, who dare to brave anything for God, and will risk consequences when God has spoken. Give us a dozen or fifteen or twenty such men as that, and things will move. But O, how afraid we are when anything does start to move!
“But,” you say, “I do not think that is just the way to look at it.”
I want to give you a parallel case. I want to go over here to my text. It was the day when Israel was to go over into the promised Canaan. You will remember they had had a sore time of it, yet they had seen much of God. The pillar of cloud had overshadowed them by day, and shielded them from the fierce rays of the sun; by night the pillar of fire had kept the wild beasts away, and had protected Israel from their enemies. Bread had been rained down from heaven to feed them, and water had gushed forth from the solid rock to quench their thirst. The great God had come down from Sinai, and his voice had reverberated through all the earth, and all the people had heard his voice speaking his law. With his own finger he had written his ten great commandments upon tables of stone. No people had ever seen such mighty manifestations of Jehovah as Israel. We would suppose that when God told them to go into Canaan, they would have gone straight forward, without complaining or murmuring.
But we have a different record here in the thirteenth chapter of Numbers. God told Moses to select a man from each tribe, and send them over and let them spy out the land. So Moses took twelve of the rulers. He said, “Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: and see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strongholds.” See whether it is productive, whether it is well-watered, whether there is fine timber for building. Make a thorough inspection. See whether the people are well-armed and trained for battle, and bring us back a report.
Those twelve men go through all that great territory, while Israel wait in camp, ready to go over there. By and by, after forty days, these men come back. Their families are glad to see them. Moses and Aaron meet them. And I fancy every heart hopes to receive a good report.
They start out with a very good report, as you can see. Let me read what they said: “And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.” You will remember it took two men to carry one bunch of grapes. “Nevertheless,” they said,—and I tell you, my friends, man never started out with that word without landing somewhere in darkness. You never heard a man begin to talk, “Nevertheless,” “But,” etc., without ending in unbelief. That is so. I have heard many a man say, “Yes, yes; we ought to go to Washington; but”—But what?—“Let us have time to consider and to get our plans together. Wait; just wait.” I have heard many a man say we ought to do this and that when God speaks; but let us wait; there are impossibilities in the way, there are difficulties surrounding us. My dear friends, when a man begins to reason along that line, he is sure to lose sight of God and his power. It was thus that the men reasoned who went to spy out the land of Canaan. They said: “Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.”
It would not take long for ten good, conservative men, bringing in such a report as that, to throw a whole church into unbelief. I can bring up case after case that I know of, where men who are conservative, careful financial men, have delayed the progress of God’s work year after year. And God does not approve of it, my friends. The men who lead in this work are to be men of faith. I know we say, Let us put “practical men” at the head, men who won’t do anything, who won’t get us into trouble;—and we die of inaction and stagnation. What we want at the head of God’s work is men who believe God, and who are ready to start something going. Ten thousand times better that this people should consecrate their means and their sons and daughters to God’s work, than to have their sons and daughters grow up worldly and godless, and have them get out of the work and forget the great commission that God has given to us!
(To be concluded)
The God of Spiritualism
By George B. Thompson
GEO. B. THOMPSON
From the bogs of ancient witchcraft and necromancy modern Spiritualism has lifted its head into this age of light, and in a half century has spread its deadly miasma around the globe, gathering within its embrace millions of the most learned and distinguished persons in the world. This crowning deception of satanic spirits bids fair to capture the world, and lead all to perdition.
The following quotations from leading Spiritualists state clearly the kind of god which is worshiped by this huge system of error:—
Mr. Jamieson in the Crucible, April 22, 1871, says: “A personal God would be a monstrosity. All prayer addressed to a supposed Supreme Intelligence is idolatry.”
The Banner of Light, April 28, 1888, a leading exponent of Spiritualism, has the following in answer to a question: “We have yet to come in contact with a thorough Spiritualist, one who understands something of spiritual life and the revelations made by returning spirits, who directly believes in a personal God. . . . We know of no Spiritualist—let us repeat it—who believes in such a11personal God, but we can believe and accept the idea, though it may pass beyond almost our finite comprehension, that there is a grand universal spirit permeating all forms of existence, that this great source of light, of activity and vitality, vibrates with intelligence, and that it is superior to all organic forms, however grand they may prove to be.”
Again: one of the “spirits” in the Banner says this: “God’s face is seen in the violet, and man may well worship this tiny flower.”
This is pantheism, pure and simple, and, when received in the soul, it leaves no place for a real, actual, personal God, such as is revealed in the Bible. It is the same mysticism which the Hindu in his pagan blindness believes and teaches. How true it is that to represent God as an “essence pervading all nature,” followed to its logical conclusion, “sweeps away the whole Christian economy.” This, Satan designs, through Spiritualism, to do.