AUTHOR OF "TWO REPUBLICS," "EMPIRES OF THE BIBLE," "GREAT EMPIRES OF PROPHECY," "ECCLESIASTICAL EMPIRE," ETC.
DEPARTURE FROM PRINCIPLE.
(Concluded.)
IT is true that the people of the earliest church brought their belongings and put them into a common fund, and "had all things common." And this is cited by the advocates of socialism as the true example, and assurance that socialism is the true order in government and society on earth. But in this deduction in behalf of socialism, the most important elements, indeed the strictly vital elements, are all left out. It is true that at that time the church had all things in common, and no one said that aught that he had was his own. But that was the church, not the State, nor society, as such; and it was the church immediately after Pentecost, when "all were filled with the Holy Ghost." And not all who cite this in advocacy of socialism are thus filled with the Holy Ghost. Another item in that action of the early church is that the matter of having all things common was altogether and absolutely voluntary on the part of every one of those who were in it. While in the socialism proposed, it is intended to conduct a political campaign, and get a majority vote, and then have this majority compel by force all to have all things common. But the thing can never be accomplished by force, nor by any political or any other worldly scheme.
Another vital element, which in this socialism is ignored, is that the Holy Spirit reigned so completely there that those who were the leaders had, by that divine Spirit, the faculty of detecting those who would use the system for merely selfish purposes, as the means of sponging, while in the system of socialism, as now advocated for the United States, this power is entirely lacking. And without that element, every scheme of having all things common will surely fail; for it is perfectly certain that there never can be given perfect assurances that amongst these advocates of socialism there are, and ever will be, absolutely none actuated by the motives that characterized Ananias and Sapphira.
These items demonstrate that no scheme of having all things common, whether it be distinct socialism or what not, whether in the church or in the world, ever can be true, or ever can be successful; into which all composing it do not enter individually, of their own free choice; in which all who compose it are not entirely free from selfishness; in which every one in it is not filled with the Holy Ghost, as the consequence of having personal faith in Jesus Christ as the Saviour from sin; in which all are not absolutely subject to the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit; and in which the Holy Spirit does not preside to such a degree as absolutely to guard the community from all selfishness and all hypocrisy.
Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that this mistaken system of socialism will continue to be advocated; and will even be advocated as "Christian" socialism. It is also scarcely to be doubted that, at least to some extent, the scheme will be made effective in governmental affairs. But to whatever degree the thing shall be made effective, it will prove itself only that much of an element in the hastening of the anarchy, which is the only logic of the socialistic proposition from the beginning.
Government of the people, both in the individual life and in the public life, is so far gone that, in every phase of the public life, government is of a few. The contest between capital and labor has reached the point where it is truly a contest as to which shall control the formal governmental machinery to the disadvantage of the other. This contest is as certain to grow as that day and night continue. And as it grows, confusion and uncertainty will only the more grow, and expedients of government will certainly have to be resorted to as means of balancing issues and preserving order. And, at the rate that things have been going lately, it will be but a little while before
A Triumvirate
will be the surest expedient of the balancing of issues. For at the point at which things almost stand to-day, the chief representative of capital, and the chief representative of labor, and the chief political manager of whatever national party should be in power, by agreeing together, could decree that nothing should be done in the commonwealth without the consent of each of the three; and such a triumvirate would form a power as complete and beyond any other combinations to resist, as was that of the triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus, and Cæsar.
And while events have reached this pass, and are fast hastening to a crisis, of which some such expedient can be the only salvation,—while all this is occurred on the part of the State, the religious power (and that the power of the Papacy, flattered and favored by apostate Protestantism) is striding at even greater pace to position of supremacy at Washington, and, from this, the supremacy of the world. For, of all the elements that are working to-day to exalt the Papacy once more to world supremacy, there are none so potent, none so sure, and none so rapid, as the influence of the United States. And with that supremacy there comes also the persecution and the anarchy that are the inevitable accompaniments of undisputed papal power. But this time, thank the Lord,
Her Reign Will Be Short,
for the Scriptures point out that the period allowed her in this thing is the shortest of all the prophetic periods named by inspiration—"one hour." Her power over the kingdoms of the earth is received for but "one hour," and in "one hour" her judgment comes. In "one hour" all her wealth and glory vanish. And then that mighty angel takes up a stone like a great millstone, and throws it into the sea, saying: "So shall Babylon, the great city, be violently overthrown, never more to be seen. No more shall the music of harpers, minstrels, fluteplayers, or trumpeters be heard in you; no more shall any worker, skilled in any art, be found in you; no more shall the sound of the mill be heard in you; no more shall the light of a lamp shine in you; no more shall the voices of bridegroom and bride be heard in you.
Your merchants were the great men of the earth, for all the nations were deceived by your magical charms. Yes, and in her was to be found the blood of the prophets and of Christ’s people, and of all who have been put to death upon earth." Rev. 18:21–24 (Twentieth Cent. Version).
And then there will be heard that loud voice of a great throng in heaven, saying: "Praise the Lord! To our God belongs salvation, glory, and power, for true and just are His judgments. For He passed judgment on the great prostitute, who was corrupting the earth by her licentiousness, and He took vengeance upon her for the blood of His servants." And again the voices cried, "Praise the Lord!"
Then when the earth shall have been cleansed with fire from on high, He who sits on the throne, says, "Behold, I make all things new," and, "It is done." Then comes the kingdom of God indeed, in all its beauty, glory, and power, "and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey Him." "And the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever."
NOTE.—After the foregoing article was written, the annual congress of the German Socialists was held at Dresden, Germany, Sept. 14, 1903. The following passage from the brief report of the proceedings the very first day and at only the second meeting of the congress is strongly illustrative and confirmatory of the points made in the article as it relates to that subject:—
Gaylor Wilshire, in the name of the socialists of the United States, congratulated the Republican Social Democrats of Germany on their "marvelous organization, and still more marvelous electoral triumphs." Wilshire said the antagonism of capital and labor was assuming in the United States forms more acute than in Europe, "owing mainly to the developments of the trusts." The crisis in the capitalistic system, he asserted, would be precipitated first in the great trans-Atlantic republic, and would spread thence to Europe, "leading to the universal dominion of Social Democracy."
A stormy discussion took place at the afternoon session of the congress, due to a resolution of the executive council, prohibiting the literary members of the socialist party from contributing articles to non-socialistic papers.
The resolution was mainly directed against the so-called academicism, who claim the place of honor in the party by virtue of their learning, while gaining their livelihood by writing for newspapers antagonistic to the socialistic movement.
Angry recriminations were indulged in, and at one time violent scenes appeared to be imminent.
"It is an untruth," shouted Herr Bebel in a frenzied rage, to Heinrich Braun, who was engaged in proving that even the classic leaders of Social Democracy were guilty of this.
Herr Singer, the president of the congress, stopped Herr Bebel, and asked the members to preserve their dignity and refrain from behaving like schoolboys. Herr Bebel, who was much excited, demanded to know whom the president meant.
Later there were lively passages at arms between Herr Bebel and Herr Vollmar. Finally the debate was adjourned until to-morrow.
When such a crowd as that get governmental power and control of all property, their attempt to have "all things common" will be a good deal farther from peace and harmony than was this meeting of Sept. 14, 1903. To any sober-minded person the mere contemplation of the prospect thus presented is surely sufficient to demonstrate that socialism successful will develop nothing short of sheer anarchy. A. T. J.
NOTE 2.—After the foregoing article was written, the American Bar Association held its annual session for 1902; and the report of its committee on trusts contains the remarkable forecast of a one-man power, of how near it may be, and what it can be when it comes:—
The modern combination’s primary object is to control trade and commerce in plain articles of production and substitute a more or less perfect monopoly in place of a more or less free competition. It *changes entirely the basic principle of commercial relations between man and man, and if they are to continue5to grow and develop in the future, as in the past, will render necessary most important changes in the principles of our commercial laws. Combination as an economic force, is fast coming to take the place of competition. The producers are combining, the transportation companies are combining, tradesmen are combining, workmen, as well as employers, are combining; everything seems to be coming into some form of combination, and everybody seems to be a combiner. The competition that still remains is fast disappearing. Workmen are refusing to compete for jobs. Labor unions are enlarging the spheres of their activity and extending their operations.
The union of the employers is still stronger and more far-reaching than the union of workmen. We are now having combinations of combinations. The United States Steel Corporation is a combination of a dozen theretofore competing producers, who themselves were combinations of still other producers, and these, in turn, often combinations of still others. To trace them back to their beginning is like discovering all the multitude of sources that go to make up the volume of the swollen Mississippi.
The ambition of the shipping trust, perhaps the pet project of the great American combiner, has been to control all the ships that sail the ocean. A hundred years ago there were hardly two ships owned by the same individual or corporation, and even fifty years ago there was scarcely a ship owner, individual or corporation, that owned a half dozen ships. No one knows but that within the next ten years a greater man than J. P. Morgan will arise, who will combine into one organization all the industries of the land, so that the workman who works for wages can find but one possible employer, and the purchaser of wares can find but one possible seller. The steps toward the formation of one universal industrial corporation, which shall crowd out all other corporations and assume to itself all the industries of the land have already been more than half taken. It is not so far to go from now to that end, as we had to go to reach the present condition.
And when that point shall have been reached, the event will bring the sure fulfilment of Rev. 13:16, 17. So true is it that the best view of the signs of the times is presented in the daily march of events. A. T. J.
History of Government BY ALONZO TREVIER JONES AUTHOR OF "TWO REPUBLICS," "EMPIRES OF THE BIBLE," "GREAT EMPIRES OF PROPHECY," "ECCLESIASTICAL EMPIRE," ETC.
THE MINISTRY OF PRAYER.
By Augusta C. Bainbridge
BY AUGUSTA C. BAINBRIDGE.
“PRAYER is the Christian’s vital breath.” We learn what prayer is by praying. At first, perhaps, as children and youth, we learned to “say our prayers.” But the time came when this was nothing to us. We were touched by the power of the Spirit. Conviction held us helpless. We could only cry out, “Lord, save, or I perish.” We lived in the gladness of the answer to that prayer, and, as we found in our God a forgiving Saviour, we learned to come to Him in every hour of temptation. We found that He forgave us when we fell. He lifted us to our feet. He even kept us from falling, and gave us daily joy in a present help for every time of need.
Each has been a step in advance in the ministry of prayer; but when the joy of victory fills the soul, be sure the next step will be a reaching out for God in communion for our direction in service. The news is too good to keep.
Our temporal needs are laid before Him, and not one anxious care is hidden in our breasts.
Our physical blessings of healing, and continued health follow in lines of obedience, and faith is given to connect us with the Fountainhead.
Beyond these lies a deeper, higher field of prayer, where the soul drops all its desires, and lets the Holy Spirit lead into any object of prayer, any department of labor, just as God shall choose. God, our Creator, has so arranged His plan that His will is accomplished through His creatures, and the fully-surrendered soul will be assigned labor or burdens, according to His will.
No more anxiety about unanswered prayers; and no halting in service. We pray no longer for things we desire, but having surrendered all to Him, we ask for our prayers as we ask for our bread. His Spirit being in us and making intercession for us, the life-current will flow through us as freely as we will let it. All members of the body have not the same force or volume of blood flowing in the blood-vessels, some that are nearer the heart having more than others. So those dear saints who live closer to the heart of God, have a more fruitful current than those farther off.
The call to a life of prayer is one of the highest that can come to a Christian. It brings the soul into very close union with Christ, and, as it is a service which allows no field for external gifts, or showing off of talents, as singing, preaching, teaching, or writing, the temptation to pride or selfishness is removed.
It is one of great fruitfulness and rich blessing. When once one enters this life, we will be receiving sweet surprises in many requests for prayer, on behalf of others. This is a special honor laid on a surrendered soul, and if it is appreciated, and the time taken for deliberate meditation and prayer, pleading the promises of God, we will be surprised, not only by direct answers, but by the enlargement of interests and sweetness of loving service that will enter the heart and life.
Let us watch for openings, enter gladly, and serve faithfully. We will soon see His face.
SERVICE FOR CHRIST.
By Anna Artibee
BY ANNA ARTIBEE.
THE life of Christ was the noblest life ever lived in this world. No king of earth ever attained such splendid, such real, royalty as did He; no hero on battle-field ever did deeds of such inherent greatness as those wrought by the hands of the Carpenter of Nazareth.
And what was the ruling motive of His life? Was it not service? “Not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” was the motto of all His beautiful years. He lived wholly for others, with no thought of self, no miracle performed in the interest of self; and at last He emptied out His very blood in the greatest of all His acts of service.
Shall we not learn from our Lord’s example that the truest life in this world is one of self-forgetting love? “He who neglects love’s duties of service, in Christ’s name, to those who need the ministry of love, can not long enjoy the raptures of worship within the sanctuary,” says a certain author. Devotion is not the end of Christian life. We wait upon God that we may renew our strength for noble service.
We may feed the hungry, visit the sick, minister to the poor, provide for the widow and orphan, and practise generosity. All this is well so far as it goes; but we have not yet reached the greatest of all earthly things, the most important of all the work which a Christian can do. Are we striving to win souls? Are we seeking the lost to bring them to Christ? Saving souls is earth’s greatest and most glorious work.
We must get the spirit of service, and then our lives will be like Christ’s.
Winterfield, Mich.
CXXXVII
By Editor
[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.]
CXXXVII
HAVING been brought up a Roman Catholic, and, at an early age, feeling that God required me to withdraw from the follies of the world, I entered a monastic seminary in Montreal, Canada. During my studies it always seemed very peculiar to me that Protestants (so-called) should admit the authority of Rome so much as to keep Sunday as their day of worship instead of the Lord’s Sabbath. I must admit that it afforded me a good deal of amusement at that time, knowing, as I did, that the day was altered by the Papacy, and not by the blessed Master Himself, as some ministers are so ready to preach.
Seeing the follies and abominations of the inside workings of the Catholic Church, I prayed to God that He, in His own blessed way, would deliver me from the vows which I had taken. In the year 1892 He mercifully did deliver me, and from that time forward I did not affiliate myself with any particular organization. I have worked as an independent evangelist in many parts of Canada and the United States for the last eight years or more, but all the time bowing to the Sunday law.
During my journeyings back and forth I had heard considerable of the Seventh-day Adventists, yet there were many points of doctrine that I could not accept; in fact, I must here make the confession that I was extremely prejudiced towards them, for I really believed them to be religious fanatics. Still I admired their courage in standing out so boldly and fearlessly for the Sabbath of the Lord. It would take too long for me to speak of the way in which the Spirit of the Lord has followed me during the past few months; suffice it to say that, in December last, while attending some revival meetings in this city, an aged sister in the Lord—Sister Witherly—handed me a tract on the “Eastern Question.” After finding out where their meetings were being held, I resolved by the grace of God to attend—not from the standpoint of a critic, but to get whatever good I could from them.
I praise God, and say it to His glory, that all my prejudices fell from me at that first meeting, and I have not missed a Sabbath’s lesson since. It is now my delight to meet with God’s people, and to be taught the blessed truths revealed in His most precious Word. It is my desire to follow so closely to the Light of the world, that when He shall appear, I may, with His elect, be caught up with Him in the clouds.
(REV.) R. W. CAMPBELL.
REST IN JESUS.
A POOR English girl in a home in Paris, ill in body and hopeless in spirit, was greatly affected by hearing some children singing, “I heard the voice of Jesus say, Come unto Me and rest.” When they came to the words, “Weary and worn and sad,” she said: “That’s me; that’s me. What did He do? Fill it up! fill it up!”
She never rested till she had heard the whole of the hymn, which tells how Jesus gives rest to such.
By and by she asked, “Is that true?” On being told, “Yes,” she asked: “Have you come to Jesus? Has He given you rest?” “He has.”
Raising herself, she asked: “Do you mind my coming close to you? Maybe it would be easier to go to Jesus with one who has been before than to go alone.” So saying, she nestled her head on the shoulder of her who watched, and, clutching her as one in the agony of death, she murmured, “Now try and take me with you to Jesus.”
Their voices joined in prayer. The presence of Jesus filled her heart, and she had rest and peace.—Western Christian.
Following the Light
GOD does not demand of us that we shall know everything or see everything at once. He asks a heart that is willing to accept Him for all that He is and all He wants to be to every soul. He who sees God in one ray of light, and accepts that ray, will be led to the fulness of light; and whether the light be little or much, the true heart will gladly receive it all and follow it to the end.
Unity in Missionary Work
"That they all may be one" was the burden of Christ's prayer for His disciples; and His desire was that the unity between them should be as the union between Him and His Father. The purpose of this desire,7like that of every other desire of His loving heart, is that the world may believe that God sent Him to save men. Here, then, is the first requisite for missionary work—oneness of heart on the part of those who would engage in it. This unity can be attained only by all having the mind of Christ, humbling themselves, that God may be in them, as He was in Christ, "reconciling the world unto Himself." Christ acknowledged that of Himself He could do nothing, so we must realize the same truth. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
WHERE IS OUR SAFETY?
THIS age is teaching its children to trust in self. God is teaching the world, through the very instability of the works of man, that there is no safety, nothing enduring in self. The glory of the ancients has crumbled into dust before our eyes; their lives have gone out like a whisper in the night; but the same stars that shone upon them are shining upon us with the same luster. Under the noiseless tread of the ages the most enduring works of the delvers in stone are being ground into powder, that generations to come might see the wasting process of human vanity. The wasting away of the glory of the pyramids keeps time to the process of destruction in every other monument to human pride, every work of man.
The human aspirant for glory has pressed the record of his speech and his doings into tablets of clay. To-day these books of brick are lisping and stammering in a pitiful attempt to articulate the glories of the human during the heyday of heathenism. Until the history of sin is finished, wasting and desolation are the appointed portion of all those things that minister to the glory of the human.
God has permitted men to build, out of the most indestructible material in this earth, massive monuments to self, in order that the slow elements of destruction might teach men their own weakness; so that, looking up into the imperishable heavens, they might throw themselves upon the everlasting mercies of Him who created the stars, and "calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might." That is the lesson for men to draw from all the perishing monuments of this earth. It is the lesson of the triumph of eternity over time; of the Infinite over the finite; of a loving Creator over a rebellious creature; of righteousness over sin. The finite has lifted its hand against the Infinite, set up the throne of selfishness in the very shadow of Calvary, and flung defiance at that Word which caused the earth to spring out of nothing. A patient Creator allows man's folly to be manifest to his posterity through the wasting away of those things which man has made to perpetuate his memory.
Every monument to self, to worldly fame, to human glory; every work of selfishness of whatever kind or whatever it is, every work that is not of God, is summoned to its trial in the court of eternity. The test is on, and precedents are barred. "Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." 1 Cor. 3:13.
We have looked upon the faded and shattered glories of the most substantial works of man; we have seen the fragmentary records of their greatest achievements still trying to tell their broken story; we have seen sickly childhood, tottering age, and the feeble frame of the wasting invalid; and we have seen the plumed hearse and the black-robed mourners leading a perpetual procession to the tomb. We have seen all this, and we have asked, Is there, then, nothing substantial, nothing imperishable, nothing perpetual but death and decay in all the star-sprinkled universe of God? Go out in the stillness of the night, when the prattle of humanity has been hushed upon the bosom of the crooning old earth, and look up into God's great torchlight procession, marching and countermarching to the orders of Heaven; and then fall down upon your knees, and ask God about it. Question the Maker of it all. He is not bound by time or distance. His ear is always within hearing of the lips of His feeblest children. Ask Him if there is nothing stable, tangible, perpetual in all His realm.
He will tell you that "from everlasting to everlasting" He is God. He will tell you that tho "all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field" that perisheth, yet the word that has gone out of His lips "shall stand forever." "I am the Lord, I change not." "The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." While you are looking upon the dissolution of earthly things, the Lord will tell you that there is "a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens;" that the kingdom which He promises to the ransomed of earth is "an everlasting kingdom." Are you mourning the loss of human love, and wondering if there is any hope to which the human soul can anchor? Then know that God has loved you "with an everlasting love," and seeks to bind you to Himself with His everlasting cable of loving-kindness. Are you discouraged and cast down, forsaken and oppressed? Then know that "underneath are the everlasting arms." When trouble comes in like a flood till the very earth seems to tremble beneath your feet, then know that "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His." As He knoweth the stars and calleth them all by names, so He knows you, calleth you by name, knoweth your frame, and remembereth that you are dust. At the same time the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings that can not be uttered.
Then there is an eternal Rock, to which the most storm-tossed can anchor; there is an eternal habitation for the most footsore pilgrim; in the midst of changes and destruction, there is One who is "the same yesterday, to-day, and forever;" tho the words and works of men are crumbling and fading away, the word and works of God "stand fast forever;" the pyramid may become the plaything of the summer breeze, but "the foundation of God standeth sure;" the record of human selfishness will fade from the memory of the redeemed, but the simple story of Calvary will be sung by angels and by the redeemed as long as God shall live. In the very midst of death and decay, we may be laying hold on eternal life. We have learned that there is no safety in any device of man, no protection, no security against the elements of decay or the elements of strife and passion, that are rampant in the earth to-day. Our safety, our security, our salvation is in the Rock Christ Jesus, and in Him alone. Human schemes are but pitfalls of the enemy of our souls; but in the provision which God has made for us we may trust with absolute certainty.
THE ALPHA AND OMEGA.
FROM the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation extends a glorious bridge of promises whose buttresses are set in eternity, and whose suspension cables are anchored in the throne of God. What a wonderful bridge, spanning all time and clasping hands with two eternities. Over that bridge must walk the whole host of the redeemed; for none enter heaven from this earth save those whose footway has been upheld by the promises of God. The first of them declares that the Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head (Gen. 3:15), and the last: "Behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. Blessed are they that wash their robes [do His commandments, A. V.], that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city." Rev. 22:12-14.
This promise is emphasized in verse 20, which reads, "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly." On these two promises rests the Christian's hope—the first given when all had been lost, the second enunciated when all things had been redeemed from the hand of the usurper, from the curse of sin, through the bruising of that promised Seed. The victory of Christ over death and the grave gave Him the right to that title, "the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last." So it takes the whole Bible, written often in the blood of the saints, to expound the full import of this title which the risen Son of God ascribes to Himself. Between the alpha of Genesis and the omega of Revelation, upon which rests the bridge of our hopes, lies the great, surging sea of sin's conflict against the powers of righteousness. Said He who gave the Revelation, "I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Because He was able to fulfil that first promise, and did so, He is able to make the last, and to fulfil that, also. So is the great bridge completed, like the temple of old, without sound of ax or hammer or human invention or appliance of any kind.
That first promise, involving the whole work of redemption, was made necessary by the disobedience of man. How fitting, then, that the last, or omega, promise should have connected with it the requirement of complete renunciation of disobedience, complete submission to the law of God! That disobedience, which made necessary the work of the first, or alpha, promise, was what shut man away from the tree of life. How fitting, then, that in connection with the omega promise we should find the promise of the restoration of the privilege of coming to and partaking of the fruit of the tree of life! It was forbidden to the sinful man, lest he should live forever. It is restored to the righteous, or redeemed, man in order that he may live forever. God will not suffer the perpetuation of sin; but He has pledged Himself to the perpetuation of righteousness. Man, by his disobedience, put on mortality; but when the work of redemption is complete, "this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality." 1 Cor. 15:54.
That completes the omega promise; that sweeps out the reign of sin with all its sorrowful adjuncts; that brings in righteousness over all the dominion of God; with all the blessings which are bound up in it. Toward that glorious consummation this age is hastening with winged feet. The marshaling call to the hosts of sin and the artillery of iniquity is heard throughout all the world. They are gathering for the fearful and final fray. The storm is driving on; but just beyond are the placid waters of eternal peace. The promises of God are sure, they can never fail. The Word of the Lord shall stand fast forever.
THE REMEDY, THE GOSPEL.
By Editor
IT was pointed out, in our last issue, that the divine remedy for the divisions of Christendom was the everlasting Gospel, as set forth in the message of Rev. 14:6, 7: "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
"The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom." All fear of man vanishes in its presence. It brings the great God, His awful majesty, His holy requirements, as the all-important things, before the soul. What is all else in comparison! What if all the works of man fail! What if creeds and societies and plans and platforms and confessions wither and perish! The soul has God, and what more is needed?
"Give glory to Him," not to men. To hold, in one jot or tittle, to human creeds and human requirements, when these are contrary to God's written Word, is to give glory to men instead of to God. To look to men to devise some way out of the Babylon of creeds, instead of seeking to God's Word, is to give glory to men instead of to God. To honor and exalt human devisings, "science falsely so called" (never settled, never at agreement), is to render worship, honor, service to the creature rather than to the Creator. To obey the laws of men, when they conflict with the law of God, rather than walk in the way of God's commandments, is to worship man rather than the God who made the heaven and the earth.
Men may be in error and accepted of God, but there are no half-way stations in principle. God demands the whole heart. Following error has led many honest in heart, true in principle, unswerving in purpose, into Babylon. Many have been born there. Many more are there, a veritable, constituent part of Babylon through compromise of principle. By the message of the everlasting Gospel God is calling them out. He is calling those true to principle away from the creeds of men to His own Word. He is calling the compromisers of principle to the eternal principles of His law and the dread realities of His judgment. He is calling to everlasting good tidings of salvation.
What the rejection of this call means we will consider in our next.
