Earlier text: FAITHFUL AMID PERSECUTIONThe Tomb's Defense
By C. M. SNOW
It is so lonely in the tomb,—
The silent tomb, where thoughts of men
Are turned from vain or glorious things
Back to material earth again,—
So lonely there! It is so dreary in the tomb,—
The cold, white tomb of chiseled stones,
Where beauty fades, and flesh decays,
And earthworms burrow in our bones,—
So dreary there! It is so silent in the tomb,—
The chilly tomb, where shout of crowd
Nor words of love can ever pierce
The enmuffling foldings of the shroud,—
So still, so silent there! O, 'tis a dreadful place, the tomb—
Where man lies down to wake no more
To life, nor think, nor love, nor move!
What wonder that we dread the door
That opes the dreadful tomb? Yea, 'tis a fearsome place, the tomb—
Where man must cease from all he is,
From all he would be, and pass out
Into the dark, black nothingness
Of night — eternal tomb! Why art thou here to plague the race,
Thou cruel, dark, and silent tomb?
Why need we thee to crush our hope
And fold us in thy shroud of gloom?
Speak, Tomb, and tell us why. Why dost thou punish us, bleak Tomb,
For being in the realm where thou
Dost rule, where thou dost sit as judge,
As jury, jailer? Tell us now
The purpose of thy sway, O Tomb. We came not hither by design
Of our conceiving; could not stay
The plan or power by which we are:
Why dost thou quench our little day
As we were trespassers, O Tomb? Could we have had the choice, and known
The fearful penalty of life,
We had not chosen to be born—
We had not faced this world of strife
To be but food for thee, O Tomb. Thou hast no features that we love;
Thy visage is a fearsome sight
To freeze the marrow in our bones
And conjure specters in the night.
O answer us, thou ghostly Tomb! Thy queries fret thee, child of earth,
And turn thy visage ashy pale.
Cease; I will answer thee, and then
Thou mayest again my cause assail;
But I will tell thee why. I am not executioner,
I am not judge, of thee; but I
Thy jailer am alone to keep
What man did forfeit to a lie—
I keep that—I, the tomb. And yet 'tis not for aye I hold
A chattel mortgage on thy bones:
I must relinquish claim when He
Shall come whose blood for thee atones;
Then must I ope my gates for thee.
Yea, I shall fling them wide for thee,
And gladly so. If thou hast been
A child of faith,—if thou art his
By gift,—then shalt thou live again.
I cannot hold such when he comes. I know 'tis drear in my embrace;
I have nor warmth nor life to give;
The fault is not mine own, but his
Who chose the wrong. It could not live,
So ye die with it—so the tomb. And were it not for Him who came
Unbidden to my cold embrace,
Thou hadst been always mine, and thou
In all the universe no place
Had found except the eternal tomb. Then had thy lot been cause for grief
Un'suaged by hope—a dead, dark pall
Pressed down upon a world of woe
And tears and blood—and that were all. There is an exit from the tomb. Thy Father is not joyed to see
The bloom of life and health decay,
The blossoms wither on the cheek,
Thy life, thy loved ones, pass away:
He hath no joy in such as this. It hurts his heart, yea, more than thine,
When Death with cruel hand strikes down
The object of thy love and his;
He shares with thee the hateful frown
Of him whose kingdom is the tomb. I can but hold the dross; the pure
Is his whose blood has purchased life
For those who love the pure and true,
Who look to him, and shun the strife
And sin of earth—whose goal I am. When he shall come and I shall ope
My portals at his word, the dead
Who owned his purchase and his right
Come forth to life. Its silver thread
His hand has welded through the tomb. Then lay thee down; for so thou must
When Death shall call for thee; but know
Thy case is safe; for he who burst
My brazen bars did conquering go
The way he leads thee—through the tomb. I thank thee, then, O Tomb, for this thy word
Of consolation to a burdened breast.
The clouds of gloom are parting even now,
And through thy cold but shattered gates
I see
The glorious promise of a life beyond. Yea, we shall live again; his love has made
The shroud a chrysalis where folded lie
The mighty pinions of a living hope.
Though earth consume, or one great furnace be,
Still are they safe, O Christ, who trust in thee. Hope and the Glory of God
By George Macdonald
Those that hope little cannot grow much. To them the very glory of God must be a small thing, for their hope of it is so small as not to be worth rejoicing in.—George Macdonald. A Champion of Liberty
By C. M. S.
IN an address before the diocesan branch of the Federation of Catholic Societies in Boston on November 15, Cardinal O’Connell gave a strong address on religious liberty, even going so far as to criticize with considerable vehemence the policy and attitude of the American government and its representatives in Mexico toward the present government in Mexico. He is reported to have characterized the present conditions in Mexico as “disgraceful anarchy,” and to have condemned the agents of the Wilson administration in Mexico as “incapable.” In that country, the cardinal declared, a conspiracy has for two years deluged the country with blood, drained its material resources, and “spread atheism and anarchy over a land once happy and industrious.” His final appeal to the Catholic citizenship in this country reads:— Every Catholic in the country should rise up and protest with all the legitimate power in his possession against the recognition of any government in Mexico or anywhere else in this continent which does not guarantee perfect freedom of religion as it is understood by the citizens of the United States.—Washington Post, Nov. 16, 1914. If the cardinal’s pronouncement were taken seriously by the Catholic citizenship of this country, and the government should do what they demand, the United States would spring at once into a state of “splendid isolation” in the Western Hemisphere; for there is not another independent republic in either North or South America that is based upon the principles of religious liberty as they are expressed in the fundamental law of this land. Therefore the American government would refuse to recognize any independent nation in the Western Hemisphere. Not another nation guarantees freedom in religious faith and practice as it is guaranteed in the United States. This would be preaching religious liberty with a vengeance. But the cardinal does not mean this; he does not really want this. If he did, he would be sanctioning the efforts of those elements in the South American nations that are seeking, against great odds, to bring about even a small degree of religious liberty in their respective countries. The attempt to amend the constitution of Peru so that the Roman Catholic Church would not be the only authorized or permitted religion in that country has been strenuously opposed by the leaders of that church in Peru. The American government has not been requested to withdraw recognition from Peru until she does amend her constitution in that particular. For centuries the Roman Catholic Church was the only recognized or authorized church or religion in Mexico, and Protestants were persecuted, beaten, and killed for practicing and preaching evangelical Christianity in Mexico. There was no outcry then by any Roman Catholic cardinal, bishop, or priest against the recognition of Mexico until she should “guarantee perfect freedom of religion as it is understood by the citizens of the United States.” But now the Roman Church is in difficulty in Mexico. Her political activities have made her persona non grata with the new régime. She has lately promised that she would cease such activities, but the new government seems not very deeply impressed with her promises. Many of her churches have been desecrated or closed, her priests and nuns maltreated, much of her property confiscated, and her processions hindered; and all this by a people whom she has had under her absolute control and dominance for centuries. As it was in the Philippines, in France, in Portugal, so is it today in Mexico. In the Philippines the Roman Church had the powerful United States government to come to its rescue, to pacify the natives, and permit the Roman Church to come again into its own. Now she desires the same nation to come to her rescue in Mexico, protect her from her own children, and help her to obtain control there again. The future of the Roman Church would look dark indeed to the cardinal if he did not feel that the church had the great Protestant nation America to come to her rescue from time to time and save her from herself in other lands. Wherever the Roman Church has had complete control in a nation, her own course has killed her power and influence. Italy, the home of the Papacy, has stripped the Pope of his temporal power, and hampered him in other ways. France, “the eldest daughter of the church,” has repudiated the hierarchy, stripped the Papacy of its control, taken the ownership of its churches out of its hands, outlawed its institutions and associations, and expelled the members of its religious communities. Portugal has done the same, Spain has threatened, and Mexico has laid heavy and ruthless hands upon the church. Infidelity is now rife in all these lands, and the same conditions are rapidly developing in South America. Only in countries that are established upon principles that are antipapal in nature is the Roman Church safe from her own children; and this ought to be a demonstration, even to the Roman hierarchy, that if America were made dominantly Catholic, the Roman Church would lose the strongest guaranty of its existence; and that if the whole world were under her dominance, it would spell her certain ruin. We should be glad to see religious liberty in Mexico, and in every other country in the world; but its truest and most sincere advocates are those who practice it themselves, and are as ready to guarantee it to others as to plead for it in their own behalf. C. M. S. Francis Bampfield’s Appeal
By W. A. S.
FRANCIS BAMPFIELD was one of the witnesses for the Sabbath in England two centuries and more ago. One of his tracts preserved in the British Museum is entitled “A Just Appeal From Lower Courts on Earth to the Higher Court in Heaven.” It bears the imprint, “From Newgate Prison, the seventeenth day of the eighth month, 1683.” Thus a prisoner for the Sabbath of the Lord not only bore witness before men in various hearings in the courts, but bore his testimony to the public by the aid of friends outside and the printing press. In this leaflet Bampfield is evidently answering accusations of disloyalty made against him because of his refusal to take the oath of loyalty to the government. But he explains that the judge at the sessions “openly did declare it as law that he who did take this oath was thereby bound to go to common prayer, to partake of the sacrament as the law8 required, to go to no more private meetings, which the law condemns as unlawful conventicles, and was moreover thereby obliged to obey all the king’s laws.” He explains that he had already suffered nine years’ imprisonment for nonconforming, and while loyal in all civil matters, was not prepared to subscribe to the terms of such an oath. So he was remanded to prison again. Three months later Bampfield issued another leaflet, “A Continuation of a Former Just Appeal.” In it he says, “I have been four times already at the bar in open sessions at Old Bailey.” The Old Bailey was the law courts, at the rear of which stood the Newgate Prison. Still the authorities were endeavoring to extort from him an oath of allegiance which had mixed with it elements to which he could not subscribe. One of his difficulties at this time was that he was being pressed to subscribe to a form of oath that had been leveled against popish recusants. He could not make the declarations abjuring popery. He said, “I never was, neither am I, infected with any of these gross and dangerous errors.” Therefore he argued that the authorities had no right to present such a declaration to him, and that to prosecute Protestants under those laws was illegal. In closing this tract, which explains his position regarding the oath of allegiance, he says:— I cannot, therefore, as so legally ministered and so judicially interpreted, take it, but must in the supplies of the Holy Spirit, patiently, quietly, cheerfully, thankfully, compose my whole man, to a ready taking up and willing bearing of my further cross, glorying therein in thus following my Lord and Master. Men having been resolved upon it to put me out of the protection of man and man’s laws, and to bring me under confiscations and imprisonments, Christ has secured me of my being the more under his special care and custody. He hath promised me an hundredfold more now, and eternal life in the best world, and a liberty and glory with himself, with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The whole of this case issueth into this sweet meditation, holy resolution, and free self-resignation. Jehovah my Elohim, himself do with me and for me and by me, or suffer others to do against me, what seemeth good in his eyes.
On this last of his leaflets appears the subscription:— Francis Bampfield. From Newgate Prison; where my imprisonment, with other former imprisonments in other gaols, for the sake of Christ and his Word, has now filled up ten complete years; all the glory be to him! Vulgarly, twentieth day of eleventh month, 1683 or 4. Very shortly following this appeal from courts on earth to the court of God, Bampfield fell ill under the privations of prison life, and died in prison. His stand for the right and his eminence as a man gave to him the sympathy of very many who did not themselves lay hold of the Sabbath truth. One of the old chroniclers of the Church of England says that his body was followed to the grave by “a very great company of factious and schismatical people.” Thus in the olden time, amid hardships and perils, lovers of the Word of God bore faithful testimony to the Sabbath of the Lord. They had not the inspiration of a great movement, based on fulfilling prophecy; but they had the inspiration of loyalty to God’s Holy Word, which was more to them than all else besides. They did not ask whether persecution or death for the truth of God lay before them. In fidelity to the command of Jesus Christ they followed him. Thus they kept the light of Sabbath truth glowing through dark days of intolerance and apostasy; and the “little” from their hands we receive the torch of truth to carry on to the end. Believing God’s Prophets
By F. M. W.
THROUGH all the ages of the past the prosperity of the church of God has been in direct proportion to the faith exercised in the instruction which he has given through his special messengers. Jehoshaphat, the king, admonished Israel in his day: “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” When Israel heeded this advice, the blessing of God attended the nation; but when they forgot the Lord and grew careless with reference to the instruction sent them, they were left to their own ways, and were given over to their enemies. In an earnest, prayerful study of the Bible and of the special instruction given to this people, and an application of this instruction to our own lives, lies our only safety in these days of peril. Men to-day are discounting the Scriptures of Truth. They fail to make that appeal to the great Christian church which they made in the days of our fathers. The spirit of higher criticism has come in. The minds of many are confused, and they are ready to set at naught the sacred record. We need to guard against the entrance of this spirit into our hearts. There is danger that the great truths of salvation shall not make that appeal to us that their importance demands; that the Holy Book of God will be lowered to the level of common literature. The Holy Scriptures should be our first and daily study. In them are revealed the way of life, and the means by which we may escape the thralldom of sin, and enjoy the liberty and bliss of heaven throughout eternity. The gift of the spirit of prophecy has been associated with this movement from its early beginnings. Repeatedly has the Lord been pleased to give through his messenger special instruction to this church. Many dangers have been pointed out; warnings have been sounded against the sophistries and subtleties of false doctrine; Christian duty has been made plain; the Scriptures of Truth have been exalted and magnified, and the church has been continually urged to greater diligence in their study. Surely, like Israel of old, we need to give diligent heed to these admonitions. Next to the Book of God we know of no other literature so ennobling in its character, so spiritualizing in its influence, and so helpful to a living Christian experience as the Testimonies which have come to the church through the spirit of prophecy. We earnestly urge our readers to take up during the coming winter months a systematic reading of the ‘Testimonies for the Church.’ The little volume ‘Early Writings’ will be found particularly helpful to every reader. It is comparatively easy in these days of changing emphasis to depart from the old landmarks; to let reason supplant faith, and philosophy Christian experience. It does not take much persuasion for the mind of unbelief to accept the conclusions of Thomas Paine or Robert G. Ingersoll with reference to things in the Scriptures which are not understood. It is one thing to study the Bible and the Testimonies to detect error and to find inconsistency, and quite another thing to study this instruction prayerfully and humbly, with a desire to know the will of the Lord, and with our hearts open to the influence of his Holy Spirit. It is this latter spirit which we should bring to the study of these writings. We have come to a time in the history of the world when we can cherish faith and talk faith, and so build up our faith and the faith of our brethren, or we can talk doubt and unbelief till doubt begins to affect and mold our whole Christian experience. We need, in our study of the Word and of the special instruction which has been sent to this people, to seek to build up the things that remain. In these days of doubt and distrust, of unbelief and disintegration, let us seek that calm and steadfast faith in God and in his revelations which will keep us firm and steady and unmoved. “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” F. M. W. The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception
By C. M. S.
“Rome Never Changes”—No. 4
The Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception
There is perhaps no dogma of the Roman Catholic Church upon which more stress is laid at the present time than the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. In order9 to be an adequate, complete, and satisfactory sacrifice for sin, it was necessary that Jesus Christ himself should be free from sin. It was necessary that the kingdom of darkness should have no hold or claim upon him. The sacrifice must be without sin, or it could not be offered as the gift of God; for “he that committeth sin is of the devil,” and “whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin.” 1 John 3:8, 9. He who had himself broken the law (committed sin) could not free others from the penalty of sin by sacrificing himself in their behalf. The death of such a one would be but the penalty for his own sin. Inspiration says of him who is our Sacrifice:— “Ye know that he was manifested to take away sins; and in him is no sin.” 1 John 3:5.
“Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” 1 Peter 2:21, 22.
That is why it is possible that “the blood of Jesus his Son” can cleanse us “from all sin.” 1 John 1:7. Then have we indeed a Saviour who “is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Heb. 7:25. There came into the Roman Church during the Dark Ages the idea that Mary the mother of Jesus was a sharer in the redemptive and mediatorial work of the Messiah. She was given the titles of “Mother of God” and “Queen of Heaven,” both of which titles were of pronouncedly heathen origin. “The ‘mother of the gods’ was worshiped by the Persians, the Syrians, and all the kings of Europe and Asia, with the most profound religious veneration.”—Joannes Clericus, Philos. Orient., lib. ii. De Persis. cap. 9, vol. ii. page 340. Tacitus proves that the Babylonian goddess, or goddess-mother, was worshiped in the heart of Germany, and Cæsar found this same worship in Britain, the god-mother’s priests bearing the name of druids. From Herodotus we learn that in Egypt the queen of heaven was the greatest and most worshiped of all the divinities.”—Herodotus, Historia, lib. ii. cap. 66, page 117, D. The worship of the queen of heaven, the mother of the gods, was so prevalent in the days of Jeremiah that many of the chosen people of Jehovah adopted it and burned incense “unto the queen of heaven,” and poured out “drink offerings unto her,” even “in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem.” Jer. 44:15-17. Through the influence of heathenism the worship of the female divinity gradually penetrated the Christian church, and Mary the mother of Jesus was given in the Roman Catholic system the position occupied in heathen religions by such goddesses as Semiramis of Babylon, Aphrodite of Greece, Venus of Rome, and others. Placed upon that pinnacle of divinity, what follows is but the logical sequence. She is said to be “the life of the sinner, since she obtains for him the pardon of his sins.”—“Glories of Mary,” by Liguori, pages 63, 64. She is declared to be “the hope of all the children of Adam.”—Id., pages 86, 87. She is said to be “the patroness and protectress of the church in every great calamity, to destroy heresies, and to be the entire ground of hope for sinners.”—Id., pages 136, 138. It is further declared that “a sinner can be saved only by having recourse to the blessed Virgin, whose infinite mercy obtains salvation for those who would be condemned by infinite justice.”—Id., page 164. Romanists are taught to say in their prayers to Mary, “We hope for grace and salvation from you, and since you need but say the word, ah! do so; you shall be heard and we shall be saved.”—Id., page 143. These astonishing declarations are in harmony with the following names, which are given by the Roman Church to Mary: “Mother of Divine Grace,” “Gate of Heaven,” “Refuge of Sinners,” “Ladder of Paradise,” “Advocate of Sinners,” “Way of Salvation,” “Queen of Heaven.” Liguori has gone so far as to declare that, in the matter of a refuge for sinners now, “there is but one, and that is Mary.” As the One who was to be the Saviour of the race must be without sin, the Roman Church found it necessary to place Mary before the world as a sinless being, if she was to play the part of a savior. Therefore there was evolved the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which means that Mary herself was without a taint of original sin from the moment when she herself was conceived. This, if true, would make false the declaration of our Saviour that “none is good, save one, even God.” Luke 18:19. As that claim can be truthfully made of none but God alone, it must necessarily follow that Mary is excluded, for she is human and in no sense divine. When Jesus Christ had passed the supreme test, we have the record of him that he was without sin and without guile. But the Scripture nowhere intimates this of his mother. Nevertheless, the decree of Pope Pius IX Ineffabilis Deus, of Dec. 8, 1854, makes this declaration:— After imploring the protection of the whole ecclesiastical court, and after invoking on Our knees the Holy Ghost the Paraclete, under his inspiration We pronounce, declare, and define, unto the glory of the holy and invisible Trinity, the honor and ornament of the holy Virgin, the Mother of God, for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith and the increase of the Christian religion by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and in Our own authority, that the doctrine which holds the Blessed Virgin Mary to have been, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God . . . preserved free from all stain of original sin, was revealed by God, and is, therefore, to be firmly and constantly believed by all the faithful. Therefore, if some should presume to think in their hearts otherwise than we have defined (which God forbid), they shall know and thoroughly understand that they are by their own judgment condemned, have made shipwreck concerning the Faith, and fallen away from the unity of the Church; and, moreover, that they by this very act subject themselves to the penalties ordained by law, if by word, or writing, or any other external means, they dare to signify what they think in their hearts.—“Dogmatic Canons and Decrees,” pages 183, 184.
That placed the seal of the church on the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. But it was not until the year 1854 that this occurred. It had been discussed previously. The Franciscans long and violently advocated the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, and the Dominicans just as violently denied and denounced it. In all, fourteen popes opposed the dogma, and during the first eleven centuries of the Christian era not a single great name can be quoted in favor of it. The writings of the Fathers for the first five centuries do not even mention it. When it was first proposed, it was vigorously opposed by Bernard, who is now a canonized saint of the Roman Church. Later when Duns Scotus championed the doctrine, it was opposed just as strongly by Thomas Aquinas, who also is on the list of saints of the church; and when it was finally promulgated by Pope Pius IX, the Jansenist bishops protested against it. As for the early apostolic church, it was never so much as hinted at in those days. In spite of this, we have the dogma of the Immaculate Conception as one of the most drastic and compulsory dogmas of the Roman Church. Its acceptance is obligatory upon all. One writer says that although “admittedly unknown to the apostles, unknown to the early Fathers, unknown even to many of the popes, and opposed by others, and that it has been bitterly denied by many of the leading doctors of the church, Romanists are now required to believe it as necessary to their salvation. Pio Nono [Pius IX], in his bull, declared: ‘If any should presume to assail it (this doctrine), let him know that he will incur the indignation of the omnipotent God, and of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul.’”—“Romanism Analyzed,” page 233. The excerpt from the bull of Pio Nono10 is quoted from the Tablet, Jan. 27, 1855. It cannot be successfully denied that in the matter of the dogma under discussion, the Roman Catholic Church has made a change, a radical change, and a revolutionary change. What the doctors and saints of that church have denied and opposed with all their ability; what that church stood out against, and often vehemently so, for many centuries, is now a compulsory dogma of the church, which no one must question on pain of the church’s curse, and whose acceptance is now made one of the first requisites of salvation. And this revolutionary change was made in order that the Roman Church might exalt Mary to a place which God never designed she should occupy, a place which in the very nature of the case she never could occupy, the place and the rôle of advocate and mediatrix for sinners, a position which only He who died for our sins could occupy. Rome does change, and every change carries her farther away from the purpose and plan of God than she was before the change was made. C. M. S. The Gospel in Its Purity and Simplicity
By F. M. W.
In its purity and simplicity is found the power of the gospel message. Whenever these qualities have become corrupted with an intermingling of error or a departure from simple forms, the power of the gospel message has waned. The apostle Paul declares that in his preaching he “determined not to know anything . . . save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” The message which Paul bore did not meet the standard of unbelief erected by the Jew, nor the philosophical reasoning of the Greek. In the sight of the former it was a stumbling-block, and with the latter it was counted foolishness. But to the one who received it as a little child, whether Jew or Greek, it became “the power of God unto salvation.” The Gospel in the First Century
The power of the gospel message in the first century was symbolized in the prophecy of the seven seals by the white horse. “And he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” Rev. 6: 1, 2. But this glory of character which clothed the church of the first century, and the power of conquest which attended it in spiritual warfare, soon passed away. The red horse of the second seal became the fitting symbol. The apostle warned the elders of the church at Ephesus that soon after his departure grievous wolves would enter in among the flock, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20: 29, 30. With the passing away of the early disciples this work of disintegration made rapid strides. The mystery of iniquity, which worked in Paul’s day, early developed into the man of sin. The direful result to the church of God every student of history knows. The church lost its God-given power, and substituted the feeble power of human aid. Forsaking its true husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, it joined affinity with the governments of earth. We see the operation of these same principles in the days of the Reformation. The blessing of Heaven attended in a signal manner the preaching of the gospel under Luther, Melanchthon, and their associates. Thousands forsook the communion of the Roman Church, and enrolled under the banner of Prince Immanuel. The darkness of superstition was swept away by the light of the gospel truth; the formal ritualism of the Roman Church was supplanted by a simple worship. But with the passing of the pioneers of that movement, the fine gold became dim; the pearls of truth became intermixed with the rubbish of earth; the simplicity of the gospel message was corrupted, and a loss of spiritual power came to the church of Christ.
The experience was repeated in the days of Methodism. No student of history can deny that the mighty power of God attended the preaching of the Wesleys, Whitefield, and other pioneers in that movement. And we are glad to believe that in our own day many devoted Christian men and women are still found in the membership of that church. But with the growth of members and increase in material prosperity, that old-time simplicity has given place to formalism and indifference. Learning From Others’ Experience
These lessons are for us as a denomination. The power of this message in its beginning was found in its purity and simplicity. These qualities must constitute its power in the present time. Since the beginning of this movement, a new generation has come onto the stage of action. Gathering impetus with the passing years, the last decade has marked a wonderful growth in our membership. The majority of our members and of our laborers know little by actual experience of the trials, the sacrifice, the self-denial which marked the early days of this work. Many false standards exist in the world around us. Many voices are demanding recognition. Do the changing times and the new conditions demand a change of standards, new ideals? In our judgment, far from it! The old standard of sacrifice, of simplicity, of consecration, must be maintained if this work shall accomplish its divine mission under God; and this standard will be maintained by those who go through and triumph with this work at last. Two Classes in the Church
We appreciate the loyalty of our people today. Men and women on the firing line, away out in the great beyond, meeting darkness and error and superstition, are standing true to God. They have not counted their lives as dear unto themselves, but have laid all upon the altar of God’s service. And we remember as well the fathers and mothers who have given their sons and daughters for this work; the toilers in mill and mine, in office and field and factory, who by closest economy are giving of their hard-earned means to carry forward this work in its various departments.
But others, we regret to see, are permitting the spirit of worldliness to enter their lives. By the time spent in worldly sports and pleasure, by their manifest love of money, by their dress and deportment, by the way they relate themselves to the church and its activities, they indicate that another spirit than the spirit of this message possesses their lives. To these Heaven calls today. While yet there is opportunity for repentance, they need to find in God a new experience. Temporal Versus Eternal Riches
As the man in the parable gave all his possessions to buy the field containing the priceless treasure; as the apostle Paul in his day knew nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified; as the pioneers in this movement were controlled by the one absorbing purpose to give this message to all nations of men,—in the same way we ourselves must place all upon the altar. It may require the sacrifice of property, of friends, of position; it will mean the turning aside from the honors and emoluments which the world holds out to us; it will mean the giving up of personal pleasure and convenience; but O, the reward is worth the sacrifice!
Let us maintain a oneness of purpose, a simplicity of life, and Christian living befitting those who expect the speedy return of their Lord and Master. Let us not permit the standards of the world to become our standards, the forms and fashions and follies of the world the gauge of what we shall say and do. Let us not mistake denominational activity and material prosperity for individual Christian experience. Denominational religion will not save us. We must have a personal, individual experience in God. The gospel in its power, its purity, its simplicity, must fill our hearts and mold and fashion our lives. F. M. W. The Celebes, East Indies
By F. A. DETAMORE
FROM a native away up in the Celebes we received a letter asking us to send him some of our books and pamphlets from Batavia, that he might sell them to his people. None of our workers are acquainted with him, and we do not even know how he learned of our work, or of our books; but we decided to send the literature, for it would do some good even if we never received the money, which he promised to forward to us as soon as he had sold the books. After a long time he sent the money for those books, and ordered more, this time a large number. We decided to let him have them this time also. Months rolled by before anything was heard of him again, but at last a letter came with part of the money, and a request for more books. These were sent, and the money for them and the others was received later. We do not know what it all means, but it would seem that the Lord is going out before us to open the way for the message of love to enter that part of our field where nothing has yet been done. Perhaps the heart of the Infinite is unwilling to wait longer to give light to those dying in darkness. Engaged in a Great Work
By R. C. Porter
THE prophet Nehemiah represented the work of the Lord in a time of great crisis. He was called of God to bear heavy responsibilities during that period of apostasy and crisis, because he was trustworthy. His loyalty was based upon principle. He could not be swerved by prospects of honor, bribed by worldly goods, cowed by the laughter of opponents, nor intimidated by threats. His anchorage was the Rock of Ages. The secret of his devotion was the estimate he placed upon the work of God in his day. He regarded it as a “great work.” If he had placed a low estimate upon that work, regarding it as insignificant and scarcely worthy of his endeavors, the record of his life would have been very different. Self-interest would have eclipsed his interest in the cause of God, and a worldly spirit instead of the spirit of the Master would have captivated him. Humility and Devotion Indicate a Sense of the Greatness of the Work
Self-sufficiency, independence, lack of humility and devotion, are always accompaniments of a high estimate of self and a low estimate of the Lord’s work. As Moses bowed low in humility and pleaded his own insufficiency in the presence of the great undertaking of leading Israel from apostasy in Egypt to the land of Canaan, and Daniel in deepest contrition confessed his own sin and the sin of Israel, and set his face to seek the Lord, “by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes,” for deliverance from Babylonian captivity; so when Nehemiah learned that the people of God had been carried away captive, and those left in Jerusalem were in great affliction, he “sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven.” A sense of the gravity of the sin of Israel’s apostasy which had brought upon them these calamities, and of the greatness of the undertaking to awaken them to repentance and restore them to their inheritance, brought the prophet low at the feet of the Great Counselor, with a powerful plea for the aid of the Mighty Helper in the accomplishment of this work. That fervent petition availed much. It was the foundation stone of the restoration of the “broken down” wall of Jerusalem, because it was the beginning of a reformation movement that brought Israel back to their allegiance to God, and coupled their weakness in captivity with his almighty power for the restoration of their city, government, and nation. R. C. PORTER.