Central New England ........ $ 2,772.18
Chesapeake .................. 592.01
Eastern Pennsylvania ...... 2,524.80
Greater New York ............ 1,488.51
New Jersey ................ 1,239.95
Maine ....................... 836.51
New York .................... 2,292.50
Southern New England ...... 1,210.50
Vermont ................... 1,331.74
Virginia .................... 862.14
West Pennsylvania ........... 1,905.67
Western New York .......... 2,042.09
West Virginia .............. 558.11
East Michigan ............... 2,753.51
Indiana ................... 5,215.02
North Michigan .............. 1,505.22
Northern Illinois ......... 2,849.36
Ohio ...................... 5,760.43
Southern Illinois ........... 1,307.99
West Michigan ............. 8,730.20
Wisconsin ................... 4,382.55
Total ....................... 32,504.28
North Pacific Union Conference
British Columbia ............ 215.00
Montana ..................... 611.39
Upper Columbia ............ 2,936.43
Western Washington .......... 2,675.18
Idaho ....................... 1,008.40
Western Oregon .............. 2,885.84
Hawaii ...................... 16.05
Alaska ...................... 20.00
Total ....................... 10,368.29
Western Canadian Union Conference
Alberta ................... 1,203.80
Manitoba .................... 333.55
Saskatchewan Mission Field .. 47.60
Total ....................... 1,584.95
Northern Union Conference
Iowa ........................ 5,724.20
Minnesota .................. 5,620.28
South Dakota ............... 2,659.47
North Dakota ............... 2,095.43
Conference not specified ..... 73.82
Algeria ................... 13.33
Australia .................... 163.84
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 ....................... 13.00
Costa Rica ................... 6.25
India ........................ 187.50
South America ............... 76.43
Switzerland ................... 9.60
Panama ....................... 27.11
Nicaragua .................... 4.00
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 .............. 10.00
New Zealand .................. 1.52
Fiji ........................ 4.87
Total ....................... 1,726.13
Grand Total ................. $127,560.98
I. H. EVANS, Treasurer.
A star preceding the name of a conference, indicates that that conference has paid its membership share of the fund.
Rome and Human Governments
A PRESS report from London states that a great deal of discussion is being indulged in throughout Europe, both within and without the Catholic Church, due to a recent utterance of the pope on government. This utterance tends to show that the “sovereign pontiff” holds extremely undemocratic views. In a recent address to the members of the anti-slavery congress at Rome, the pope said:—
A government, in order to govern well, must be despotic and tyrannical.
This remark was suppressed in the official report of the address, but its authenticity is vouched for by those who were present. It is pointed out that it is these principles which the pope holds strongly that are governing his actions toward France. Robert Dell, the Paris correspondent of the Nation, says, in reference to this feature of the pope’s policy:—
The political policy of the pope is the same everywhere. It is a deduction from fixed principles, the application of which would be as fatal to a constitutional monarchy as to a republic, for they involve the destruction of political liberties and the control of the state by a theocracy.
These principles, says the report, the pope has more than once expressed, but never quite so plainly as in the foregoing remark. And it matters not how many American Catholics proclaim the love of the pope for this country, the policy of the hierarchy is expressed in the utterance of the pope above quoted. The undying purpose of the papacy is to bring the whole world under the domination of one head who shall rule over things temporal as well as spiritual; and that rule we may expect to be “despotic and tyrannical.”
More Scrap-Iron
THE New York Independent of January 30, under the above heading, sets forth the great and ever-increasing accumulation of fighting ships by the great nations of the world, and asks the question, “Will the nations never cease provoking each other to greater military extravagance?” To our mind it answers its own question in these words: “Great Britain built a new and much more powerful ‘Dreadnaught,’ and now Germany plans to have sixteen ‘Dreadnaughts’ in six years, and forty-seven in twelve years.” The Independent believes that within a few years these ships will all be scrap-iron, because “the people will not submit many years longer to settle their differences by murder.” These nations are fulfilling God’s Word in their military preparations. Would that the people of this world believed the Word.
Conclusion of the Whole Matter
By J. O. CORLISS
Character of the Papacy—No. 10
“Conclusion of the Whole Matter”
J. O. CORLISS
While a conflict of authority in the Catholic Church is pending, which threatens to rend that body asunder, we may safely predict that the policy of the papacy will be to close up its ranks for united work in conquering the world to itself. At the Council of Trent many modifications of doctrine were apparently conceded in order to return to the fold the recalcitrants of the Reformation; but not until the proportions of that movement had assumed threatening aspect.
So now we may look for an early movement from Rome in a desperate effort to retain the leading lights of its present system. Knowing, as it does, that the liberal branch of the church has in mind the conquest of Protestantism, according to their candid confessions, as already noted, the papacy must, to save what it has already gained by ages of manipulation, do something to secure what it considers a prize in sight, as viewed from the waning efficacy of Protestantism.
Under One Power
To form some sort of union by which to accomplish its age-long design is the only logical outcome of the present controversy, because to do otherwise will be to see slip away an opportunity that has cost astute diplomacy, and almost infinite treasure. Besides, the fulfilment of prophecy demands such a union. Referring to a symbolic beast which was to make war with the saints, in order to compel their obedience to its mandates, the prediction is made thus: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship9him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8.
We are justified in believing that the complete fulfilment of this prophecy contemplates a universal movement, and must include everybody except the few who are riveted to the Rock of Ages. It will not do to say that the prediction was fully met during the Dark Ages; for then, while every effort possible was made to induce the Eastern or Greek Church to unite in recognition of the see of Rome, each advance in this direction was promptly repulsed. And yet the Eastern Church of that time had a system of idol worship which was a barrier to their standing in the full light of God.
There are some who sincerely believe that “Protestantism will yet stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism; she will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under this threefold union, our country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.”—“Spirit of Prophecy,” Vol. IV, page 405. No thoughtful person can truthfully deny that this is already in process of execution. When this prediction was penned, thirty years or more ago, Spiritualism was so pronounced in its atheism, coupled with free-love theories, as to disgust all loyal church-members. But the situation has now altered. Spiritualism has tamed its expression of sentiment to harmonize with that of orthodoxy. Its adherents make public prayer to God and sing hymns as do the churches, so that the “gulf,” once so wide between Protestants and Spiritualists, has narrowed enough for each to recognize the other by the fraternal grasp of the hand.
Under the same conditions Protestants would, from the very nature of things,—the inborn desire to fraternize with all,—extend the hand of fellowship across what was once an impassable “abyss,” between themselves and the Church of Rome. Indeed, we have evidence at hand of such tendency even now. To say nothing of the well-known efforts of titled Englishmen to unite the English Church with the Roman hierarchy, we have in America men of influence in higher church circles who plead for one universal church, with all creed lines obliterated.
Some who read this may call to mind the name of Charles A. Briggs, a highly educated man, who was in the early seventies pastor of a Presbyterian church at Roselle, N. J. He was appointed professor of Hebrew in Union Theological Seminary in 1874, and was transferred from that position to the chair of Biblical theology in 1891. But almost immediately he was brought to trial by his denomination for alleged heretical teaching, known as “higher criticism.” After two years of contention over the case, he was suspended from the Presbyterian ministry, yet retained his position in the seminary. In 1898 he was, notwithstanding his pronounced lack of faith in the entire inspiration of the Bible, ordained a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church. He is still a popular man, and one whose writings appeal to the educated class.
To Heal the Breach
During the summer of 1905, Dr. Briggs had an extended conference with the pope, while on a visit to the Vatican. The drift of conversation then pursued, and the impressions brought from that conference, may be quite correctly diagnosed, if the symptoms appearing since count for anything in the case. Almost immediately following this visit, he wrote a very friendly article on “Reforms in the Roman Catholic Church,” and in the early part of 1907, outlined, in The North American Review, a plan by which all Christendom might easily unite to form one universal church, under a reformed papal system.
Some of his arguments for such a church will probably extend far beyond the faith of their author, because they set forth a state of dissatisfaction with the divided condition of Protestantism. For instance, he says, and with considerable truth, that Catholics and Protestants everywhere are “looking with hope and eagerness for great and wide-spread reforms, such as may remove the evils that brought about the division of the church, and destroy the barriers which perpetuate the separation.” His reason for having all unite with the papal church is that the papacy is not only the greatest institution that ever existed, but that it calmly looks forward to a “still greater future,” which is undoubtedly true.
The doctor argues that the Protestant Reformation was at most only a protest, which was well enough for the time. But when the Protestants went so far as to deny all the historic rights of the papacy, it put itself in a false position, which it must ultimately abandon. He further affirms that the papacy has slowly, but cautiously been making reforms since then, which ought to be recognized. Among other things the article affirms that since “the infallible and irreformable determinations of councils and popes are few, and these may be so explained, . . . these discriminations may no longer be stumbling-blocks to the world.” The inference is therefore easily drawn that “there are no serious barriers in the way of such a transformation of the papacy as may remove the chief objections of those churches which do not at present recognize its supreme jurisdiction.”
The conclusion of the article is very optimistic, even prophetic in character. The doctor says: “It is certain, as Jesus Christ our Saviour reigns over his church and the world, that some day, in some way, the papacy will be reformed so as to correspond with his [Christ’s] ideal, and will be so transformed as to make it [the papacy] the executive head of a universal church.”
And this is not impossible, considering that which the prophecy of God’s Word has pointed out. When the churches of 1844 rejected the doctrine of the Lord’s speedy coming, and disfellowshipped those who stood stiffly for that cheering prospect, the answering message rang out upon the world: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” Rev. 14:8. If rejection of spiritual, vitalizing truth at that time, that the church might remain illicitly connected with the world in its mad race for popularity and ease, was designated fornication, and marked the fall of the church, would not a similar departure from the Lord’s direct instruction in his closing work, to connect with a foreign following, be another and similar lapse of virtue?
A Movement to That End
It may be in place here to call attention to the late effort for the federation of all the churches. The convention which met in New York to forward this project was a representative one, and encouragement was there given that in time the object they sought would be accomplished. So set are those who are fostering the idea that the only way to conquer the world for Christ is to break down denominational barriers, that the churches seem ready to go to almost any length to realize their cherished plan of federation. Let them see any way by which to gain the co-operation of the Catholic Church toward this end, and, judging from the sentiment of the convention referred to, they would consider some concessions of faith, and even of principle, not a large sacrifice to carry a united front against all that which they consider inimical to the best interests of their work. Having accomplished the union that such men as Dr. Briggs recommend, then the medieval character of the papacy will revive, and woe betide the individual who would dare to question the authority of its decrees, when sustained by the influence of a universal church.
We may depend upon it, that when the Lord attempts his special work for the universal gathering of his people into one fold,—even the heavenly,—then a counter movement will begin to draw attention to itself, and away from such heavenly calling. That God’s plan may be thwarted, “Satan’s policy in this final conflict with God’s people is the same that he employed in the great controversy in heaven. He professed to be seeking to promote the stability of the divine government, while secretly bending every effort to secure its overthrow.”—“Great Controversy,” page 501. In this closing struggle many will be induced to yield cherished theories, in order to form one great religious union by which to control the devotional sentiment of the world. Then souls, without any regard for truth, and devoid of heavenly desires, will connect with such an organization, for the same reason that many now join industrial unions,—to be in fellowship with the controlling element in society. Then it will be said again, and emphatically, too, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation10of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” Rev. 18:2. The message of God’s people then will be, “Come out of her, my people,” and this will “constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth.”— “Great Controversy,” page 604. May the church of this generation be able to sense the times in which it lives, and the message it has for the world.
Mountain View, Cal.
“He Changeth Not”
By E. H. Foss
HE changeth not, but day by day,
In spite of every adverse fate
That rises up to bar my way,
With all the ills I contemplate
Mayhap to come to mar my lot,
He is the Lord, he changeth not.
He changeth not, though storms assail,
And lightnings flash across my skies,
Though sorrow’s fiercest pang and wail
Wring bitter tear-drops from my eyes,
Banished from each familiar spot—
He is the Lord, he changeth not.
He changeth not, so I can trust
Myself entirely to his hand
Though labors hard are on me thrust.
The why I may not understand;
Why need I fear though foes may plot?
He is the Lord, he changeth not.
— E. H. Foss.
Ezra the Priest, the Scribe
By Ellen G. White
The Return of the Exiles — No. 12
Ezra the Priest, the Scribe
MRS. E. G. WHITE
(Concluded)
The results of Ezra's timely effort to revive an interest in the study of Holy Writ, were given permanency by his painstaking, life-long work of preserving and multiplying copies of the Old Testament Scriptures. During the captivity, the knowledge of God's will had to some extent been lost. Ezra gathered all the copies of the law that he could find, and had many copies of these made and distributed. The pure Word, thus diligently multiplied and placed in the hands of many people, gave knowledge that was of inestimable value.
As Ezra strove to promulgate the truths he had learned, his capabilities for labor increased and developed. He became a man of piety and zeal, because the truth was a sanctifying power in his soul. He was the Lord's witness to the world of what Bible truth is when revealed in the daily life of the receiver. His life, like the life of Christ, sowed the seeds of truth, by a revelation of the pure principles that can save the soul. Far happier would professed Christians be to-day if they would in the same way reflect the light of heaven upon the pathway of others, teaching in the life the statutes and judgments that rule in the heavenly courts.
Shall we let the example of Ezra teach us the use we should make of our knowledge of the Scriptures? The life of this servant of God should be an inspiration to us to serve the Lord with heart and mind and strength. We each have an appointed work to do, and this can be accomplished only by consecrated effort. We need first to set ourselves to know the requirements of God, and then to practise them. Then we can sow seeds of truth that will bear fruit unto eternal life.
Ezra's faith that God would do a mighty work for his people, led him to make known to King Artaxerxes his desire to return to Jerusalem that he might revive an interest in the study of God's Word, and assist his brethren in restoring and building up the holy city. Ezra declared that his entire trust was in the God of Israel, who was abundantly able to protect and care for his people. The king was deeply impressed. He well understood that the Israelites who wished to return, were going to Jerusalem in order that they might serve the living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth; yet so great was the king's confidence in the integrity of Ezra, that he showed him marked favor. Artaxerxes not only granted him his request, but bestowed rich gifts for the temple service, made him a special representative of the Medo-Persian kingdom, and conferred on him extensive powers to carry out the purposes that were in his heart.
This decree of Artaxerxes Longimanus for the restoring and building of Jerusalem, is the third issued since the close of the seventy years' captivity. It is remarkable for the expressions it contains regarding the God of heaven; for the recognition it gives to the attainments of Ezra; and for the liberality of the grants made to the remnant people of God. Artaxerxes refers to Ezra as “the priest, the scribe, even a scribe of the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of his statutes to Israel;” “a scribe of the law of the God of heaven.” The king united with his counselors in offering freely “unto the God of Israel, whose habitation is in Jerusalem;” and in addition to the bestowal of rich gifts, he made provision for meeting many heavy expenses by ordering that they be paid “out of the king's treasure-house.”
The king's special anxiety was to assist in carrying out the commands of the God of heaven. “Thou art sent of the king, and of his seven counselors,” he declared to Ezra, “to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of thy God which is in thine hand.” And he further decreed: “Whatsoever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it be diligently done for the house of the God of heaven: for why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?”
Artaxerxes arranged for the restoration of the members of the priesthood to their ancient rites and privileges. In giving permission to the Israelites to return, he made particular mention of the priests and Levites, and he added: “We certify you, that, touching any of the priests and Levites, singers, porters, nethinims, or ministers of this house of God, it shall not be lawful to impose toll, tribute, or custom, upon them.” He also arranged for the appointment of civil officers to govern the people justly, in accordance with the Jewish code of laws. “Thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God that is in thine hand,” he decreed,
“set magistrates and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.”
Thus, “according to the good hand of his God upon him,” Ezra persuaded the king to make abundant provision for the return of all of the people of Israel, and of the priests and Levites, in the Medo-Persian realm, who were minded “of their own free will to go up to Jerusalem.” What rejoicing this decree must have brought to those who had been uniting with Ezra in a study of God's purpose concerning his people! The sentiment of the hearts of many is expressed in the words of praise uttered by the servant of the Lord in devout thanksgiving to God for his wonderful providences. “Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers,” Ezra exclaimed, “which hath put such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem; and hath extended mercy unto me before the king, and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty princes.”
A Real God
By L. D. SANTEE
L. D. SANTEE
HEATHENISM sadly asks concerning the human race, “Out of the darkness, where? Into the darkness, whither?” And in this is summed up their knowledge. Christianity says, “I know whom I have believed.” 2 Tim. 1:12. God and his revelation stand between us and heathenism.
It is neither wicked nor presumptuous in us to learn all that we can about Him whom to know aright is life everlasting—so far as his Word reveals him. “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever.” Deut. 29:29. Again, we are counseled to “acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace.” Job 22:21.
In all ages, the faith of good men has sought lovingly for a closer knowledge of God. Definiteness encourages faith, while ambiguity breeds doubt and indifference. Gladstone, when asked, “What is the greatest hope for the future?” answered, “A living hope in a personal God.” Chas. H. Spurgeon said, “No heart can rest without a personal God.” Professor Garbett, in his work on infidelity, page 91, said, “Anything that does not possess personality must be inferior to ourselves.”
We approach the subject with reverence, yet with confidence, for we are studying his own revelation. While “we see through a glass, darkly,” yet the outlines are clearly defined. Perhaps one of the most insidious enemies that the Christian religion has to meet, is that belief that considers God as the “life principle in nature.” It does not create the prejudice that is felt toward avowed infidelity, and yet its effects are the same. It is a sort of pantheism. Pantheism, as defined by Webster, is, “The universe as a whole is god; the doctrine that there is no god but the combined forces and laws which are manifested in the existing universe.” Many will discourse of “god or nature.” I wonder if they ever stop to think that all forces and laws are immaterial, inorganic, and therefore necessarily unconscious, insensible, and unintelligent. Such is the god that is only a principle. It has neither consciousness, sensibilities, nor intelligence. In sharp contrast with this, is the God of the Bible. The Scriptures are emphatic in declaring that God is a living, personal being. He is called the living God (not the life principle) thirty times. In the study of his Word, I read of his head, hair, throne, garment, feet, hands, voice, eyes, ears, face, mouth, heart, form, and person, and in every one of these texts I find the evidence of a personal God.
Paul, when speaking of Christ, says that he was “the express image of his [God’s] person.” Heb. 1:3. How could this be true if God is not a person? Well has Bishop Balgarnie said, in the Homiletic Review, page 301: “We are driven to the conclusion that there was a form of God from all eternity, and that man was created in the image and likeness of that form divine.”
It is said of Jesus, that he was “in the form of God.” Phil. 2:6. I wish the thought to remain with us that without organization there is no intelligence, without brain there is no mind. When the record states that “God created man in his own image” (Gen. 1:27), it establishes the personality of God just as really as that of man.
His dwelling-place is also plainly stated. In 1 Kings 8 I read the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple. In verse 30 he petitions, “And hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place: and when thou hearest, forgive.” Again, in Deut. 26:15, Moses prays: “Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel.” One more testimony on this point: the prophet says, “I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the hosts of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.” 1 Kings 22:19. Our Saviour taught his disciples to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven.” It is also stated that “Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” Col. 3:1. From our study thus far, it is easy to conclude that God is a real personal being, dwelling in heaven. We could multiply proof on this point, but it is unnecessary.
God gave the sun, and its heat and light ripened the world’s harvests. The heathen, in their darkness, believed that the sun was a god, and the system of sun-worship began. I read in Acts 17:25: “He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.” The heathen mistakenly concluded that life is God; but like the sun, it is only one of his gifts.
His attributes are often spoken of in connection with himself, in such expressions as, “God is a spirit;” “God is love;” “Our God is a consuming fire.” We have some of the same attributes, but in an inferior degree. Were he inorganic, and therefore unconscious, we might well ask, as did the heathen, “Where is their God?” Ps. 79:10. Though infinitely inferior, we are created in the image of the Eternal. Inspiration records him as possessing the same members that we have. Otherwise, we should not be in his image.
In closing, let us notice his omnipresence. How is it possible for a personal being to be everywhere present? The question is easy, for the Bible answers it. David says, “Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?” Ps. 139:7. As the rays of the sun give light over all the earth, so God, by his Spirit, can manifest his power in all parts of his universe without being personally present. Christ speaks of “the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father.”
Dixon, Ill.
Enduring Hardness as Good Soldiers
By T. E. BOWEN
T. E. BOWEN
MANY in entering the service of Christ do not first sit down and calmly count the cost. They get on well for a time—so long as everything moves on smoothly; but when hardships are experienced in the service, they fail.
Paul was set forth by Christ as one who should especially be called upon to endure hardness for his sake. And in this he is set forth for our example. From the very first, God made known to his servant that his was to be no easy lot. When giving instruction to Ananias, of Damascus, the Lord told him, in answer to his questioning as to the propriety of going to this man who was making such havoc in the church: “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” Acts 9:15, 16.
Wherever Paul went, he encountered fierce persecution from Jews and Gentiles, and even from kings, because of his preaching the cross of Christ. He was imprisoned, beaten, hated, and reviled, yet amid it all he wrote, “None of these things move me.”
In writing to his son in the gospel—Timothy—near the close of his life, he said: “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 2:3. He held out no easy place for this young man in the ministry. He compared the service to that of a soldier.
The call to be a soldier calls out the bravest, the hardiest, among young men. Those who are faint-hearted, who want an easy place, do not choose a place among soldiers. To be a good soldier, requires forgetfulness of self; long, weary marches in the hot sun, or through the cold of winter; perils by day and by night; a constant readiness to listen for and obey orders; in fact, constant living in the face of death; for the soldier knows not at what moment his life may end. This is what it means to be a good soldier. And this applies spiritually.
To endure is the glory of the soldier. For hardness he enlists. So to the follower of Christ, it is his glory to endure temptation, to suffer the perils of the conflict, and that bravely and cheerfully. “Because to you it hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in his behalf.”
Christ made very plain that in the pathway of his followers there would be hard things to endure for his sake. In that wonderful parable of the sower,11he said that the gospel seed would fall upon stony places, and that for a while the seed would grow very well, but when the sun came up with its burning heat, because there was no root, it withered. In explaining this part of the parable, Jesus said: “And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.”
By these words of the Saviour we learn that it is by a depth of experience, a thorough rooting and grounding in the truth,—the Word of God,—believers are prepared to endure hardness. Without this preparation, and a firm trust in God, rather than leaning upon one’s own understanding, when the real test comes, he stumbles and falls. And sometimes God permits us now to experience a little fall that we may better appreciate how weak we really are. He does this to prepare us for greater trials. Remember Peter.
And we shall be wise to prepare now for severe tests just ahead. Let no one deceive himself by thinking that to go through and triumph with this message means an ordinary conflict with the devil. As we near the end, when he knows that he has but a short time, every sinew of Christian character will be tried, just as it was in the Saviour’s life: his most severe conflicts came at the end of his life. Those who had been associated with him very closely turned to become very bitter enemies. All forsook him and fled in the very hour when he longed for human sympathy and companionship. As God permitted Jesus to be tried, so Jesus will permit his people to be subjected to severe tests.
“As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins, the Lord permits him to try them to the uttermost. Their confidence in God, their faith and firmness, will be severely tested. As they review the past, their hopes sink; for in their whole lives they can see little good. They are fully conscious of their weakness and unworthiness. Satan endeavors to terrify them with the thought that their cases are hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away. He hopes so to destroy their faith that they will yield to his temptations, and turn from their allegiance to God.”—“Great Controversy,” pages 618, 619.
But Jesus will not desert his people. With him are found mercy and forgiveness, for every true, repentant one. His love for his people is unchanging. But this love permits them to be tested.
Let us provide ourselves with the armor Christ has prepared for those who enter the Christian warfare: “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.”