Earlier text: CO-OPERATIVE TREATMENTS AND NATURAL REMEDIESTHE KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENTS
“I AM the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” The second of the three forms under which “the world” is embraced, and idolatry manifested, is— The lust of the eyes can be summed up in one word, vanity; and vanity is simply love of display. Something is put on ourselves, or that which is ours, merely for display, to attract the attention and excite the lust of the eyes of others, and cause them to envy our condition. Further, on our own part, this idolatry is indulged in our seeing something that somebody else has, and not being content until we have imitated him by obtaining for ourselves a like thing. That which we see with others may be perfectly proper, and strictly becoming, to them; yet, when imitated by us, it may be altogether improper, and unbecoming in itself, besides our indulging idolatry in the use of it. Because, if our eyes had not seen that particular thing, no thought of our own, and no need of our life, would ever have suggested that we should have it. The only reason of our having it being solely that our eyes saw it in possession of some other one, the possession of it by us is sheer idolatry in the lust of the eyes. This principle of idolatry is expressed in the one word, the worldly word, “fashion.” The world spends time in inventing particular styles of dress, or whatever else may be a part of the living. The world is expected to follow, and expects to follow, the fashion set by the world. But we are studying how to serve God. We are studying how to be separate from the world; how to be “not of the world;” how to be completely divorced from the love of the world, or of the things that are in the world. And in this we are studying how to be separated from this lust of the eyes which follows the world, which accepts the dictates of the world, and which itself is “of the world.” God has made no two persons alike. He has made each person with characteristics which single him out distinctly from all others in the universe. This is for a purpose. We are created for the glory of God; that is, the purpose of our creation is that each one, in the characteristics which make him himself alone, distinct from all others in the universe, shall be a means of making God manifest,—of reflecting a ray of the light of God, in a way that no other can possibly do, that by each one God shall be manifested as not by any other one. And, in order that this shall be so, it is essential that each one shall be joined only to God, and this with all his heart, and all his soul, and all his mind, and all his strength—the whole being. This principle is expressed in the parable of the talents, in Matthew 25. When the master took his journey into a far country, and delivered to his servants his goods,—to one five talents, to another two, and to another one, he gave “to every man according to his several [individual; not common to two or more; separate, particular] ability.” And from the master, at His returning and reckoning, each one receives according as he has used the gift of God, according to this “several ability.” No one is to use, indeed no one can use, this gift of God in imitation of others. To attempt to use it in imitation of others is to separate from God, and put others in His place; it is to have other gods before the Lord; it is idolatry. There are desires of the flesh which are not lusts of the flesh, in the wrong sense. While we are in this world, it will be necessary for us to eat and to drink—not to make a god of the belly, not for the satisfaction of appetite, not for the lust of the flesh, but for the glory of God. Those who serve God in the keeping of the First Commandment eat and drink that which, in every respect, enables them best to discern what is the will of God, and how best to serve Him according to that will. While we are in the world, it will be essential to clothe ourselves—not to please the world; not to conform to some silly style that our eyes see, which is altogether of the world, and which we ourselves would never think of if our eyes had not seen it as displayed by the world—not that; but the glory of God. It is proper, indeed it is essential, to our glorifying God, that we shall dress neatly; that we shall wear as good clothing as we honestly can; that it shall be made to fit us becomingly, that is, that it shall conform strictly to our own individuality; that it shall be a proper expression of our own several selves, as God has made us. But to imitate the dress of others, to put something on ourselves simply because we have seen it on others, to adopt a style for ourselves which we have seen adopted by others,—all this is of the lust of the eyes; all this is not of the Father, but is of the world: it is idolatry. A long coat is strictly becoming to a long man, but not at all so to a short man. A high collar is entirely proper for a man who has a long neck; but for a man with a short neck to wear a collar so high that it throws up his head as if he were constantly gazing at the moon, is not at all proper. A blue dress, or one of some other color, may be exactly becoming to the one whom you saw wearing it; but it may be the last color in the world that you should wear in a dress. Now, all this imitating of others, all following of fashion, is but the lust of the eyes, is of the world, and is idolatry. Ask God what He will have you do. It can never be a proper question with you, as to whether anybody else in the wide universe does it. You are to glorify God, not others. Study, in the fear of God, your own self as the workmanship of God; and study, in the fear of God, asking Him only what you shall wear, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, what you shall do, that shall most fully glorify Him, that shall most fully represent the talent which He has given you to be used for Him only, according to your “several ability.” In every way it means much to love God with all the heart and all the soul and all the mind and all the strength. It means much to be not of the world; to love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Yet that which it means is simply the keeping of the First Commandment. “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” “Here are they that keep the Commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Manila Petition for Filipino Independence Presented to Congress
A petition, “signed by 2,005 peaceable Filipinos , residents of Manila,” has been presented to Congress, in which it is declared that “the only admissible solution of the present difficulties is the recognition by America of the independence of the Filipinos. In saying this, we do not consider either the nullity or the legality of the Paris Treaty on our country, but the well-known doctrine of the immortal Washington, and of the sons of the United States of America, worthy champions of oppressed people.” The petition was denounced in the United States Senate by Senator Hawley as “a treasonable document.” INTELLECTUAL IDOLATRY
By L. A. Reed
ONLY a great mind can conceive great thoughts, and great themes can come only from great minds. In fact, a mind must be judged by the themes or thoughts on which it dwells, and which it presents to others, even as a tree is known by its fruit. Realizing this, we are able to behold the greatness of the mind of God, its nobility and glory, to the extent that we comprehend and appreciate the literature that presents it — and that literature is the literature of the Bible. And yet there are those, even among professed Christians, who study the themes of the world’s literature, and live in almost total ignorance of the great thoughts that have come directly out of the wondrous mind and throbbing heart of God. They live in the atmosphere of other men’s minds, of other men’s thoughts and ideas, and these become the impulse of their lives. They become absorbed in hero-worship and intellectual idolatry, and have no place for God’s thoughts in their minds, consequently no place for His acts in their lives; for as a man thinks, so is he. God calls this committing two evils; it is a double sin. It is worse than the heathen do. “For pass over the isles of Chittim and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” There are many ways in which we may forsake God, and there are many things to which we can go; but in literature itself, since it deals with the minds of the authors, we have the direct way of forsaking God, and the direct way of going to other minds than His. Consider it for a moment. Our salvation and our worship of God depend upon true knowledge; for idolaters worship they know not what (John 4: 22), but true worshippers are saved by a knowledge of the true God. John 17: 3. And with this mind which thus knows, they serve the law of God. Rom. 7: 25. If they lack this knowledge, they are destroyed; and because they reject this knowledge, God also rejects them. Hosea 4: 6. Now in Biblical literature we deal directly with God’s mind; and when we reject Biblical literature and its study and training, we reject the mind of God itself, and its study and its training. And since in other literature we deal directly with other minds, when we choose this literature we choose directly these minds, in preference to the mind of God. It is committing two evils. We turn from God’s mind, the fountain of living waters — that is bad enough, that is one evil. Then we fix our attention on the minds of others, their thoughts and teachings, and thus hew out for ourselves cisterns; and, worst of all, these are broken cisterns that hold no water — and this is the second evil. God calls it a horrible thing. And truly such it is. SUNDAY-LAW HEARING IN MASSACHUSETTS
BEFORE a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature, February 7, there was held a hearing on “a bill to provide a weekly rest-day for employees of transportation companies.” As always, the petitioners for the bill, and those who pleaded for it before the committee, were preachers. From the employees of transportation companies there were present more, it would seem, to oppose the bill, than there were of the preachers to advocate it. Yet the preachers insisted to the committee that “although the railroad men present were against the bill, it should be passed, as it is best for them.” But, “as most of the petitioners were ministers and representatives of organizations, in no way connected with railroading, the conductors, brakemen, and engineers who were present demanded the privilege of running their own affairs, and claimed to know what they wanted as well as anybody else.” One of the advocates of the bill, as usual, took pains to explain that the bill had “no relations to Sabbath-day observance. There is no objection to running trains on Sunday, but the bill attempts to make up to transportation employees for their loss of Sunday. The proposed law will furnish work for one-seventh more men. Mr. Buttrick then went on to show the great increase of Sunday travel, and the growing number of men who are compelled to work seven days in the week. He said that the continuous toil is causing men to deteriorate in many ways. General Bancroft told him that the motormen and conductors of the Boston elevated are better paid than the average clergyman. From this Mr. Buttrick concluded that they could better afford to give up a day than mill hands and others who can not work seven days if they want to.” “After several railroad men had tried to cross-examine Mr. Buttrick, he refused to answer questions, and Rev. G. G. Farwell was called. He said that for five years the committee of the Congregational general association had tried to get the bill. He stated that conductors and motormen of the Boston elevated do not dare to come and petition for a day of rest; moreover, they do not dare even to frequently ask for a day off, as, if they do, they will lose their places. The opposition to the bill, he said, came from steam-railroad men, who have a day off each week.” “The next witness for the petitioners was Rev. Doremus Scudder, of Woburn. Dr. Scudder went on to explain how, although they work seven days in a week, lawyers, doctors, and ministers can get recreation by a very long vacation or by the variety of their work. He thought workingmen who do the same thing day after day should be compelled to rest.” “Rev. W. H. Allbright pictured a horrible future for labor which must work seven days in order to live, and claimed that it is the duty of the State to compel the transportation men to do what is good for them, whether they wish to or not.” “The principle of the State legislating for the good of the man, whether by his consent or not, was laid down by the next speaker, Rev. A. A. Beale, of Brighton.” “Rev. Daniel Evans, of Cambridge, stated that all great reforms do not come from the people to be benefited, but from those outside who are able to see what they need better than the beneficiaries themselves.” “H. M. Sweeney, representing the building trades council of Boston, said that the bill looks toward one great principle of organized labor; namely, to lessen the hours of labor. Men should not be allowed to work seven days a week, because they thereby prevent other men from getting any work. It is also necessary that a man shall not work too long, as thereby the public is endangered, as the motorman, engineer, or conductor is not alert and at his best if he has no rest.” “George E. McNeil told how he was grieved at this time, when the century is just beginning, to find intelligent men opposing the bill in question. Then Mr. McNeil brought up the old question of leisure promoting efficiency, and thereby increasing payment. ‘Wherever the Sabbath day is invaded by labor,’ said Mr. McNeil, ‘there civilization has deteriorated.’ We want not the religious seventh day, but a labor sabbath. We always find men willing to follow the boss wherever he may lead. Of ten thousand people employed on street railways, eight thousand are compelled to work seven days a week. The extra men make about two dollars and a half or three dollars a week. Make the regular men work one day less a week, and these extra men will have a larger income, because they will get more work. The American Federation of Labor stands for one day’s rest in seven, but railroad men think they are too good for association with carpenters and painters. As Mr. McNeil was generalizing to a considerable extent, the chairman of the committee, Senator Butler, reminded him of the subject at hand.” “Rev. M. D. Kneeland, secretary of the New England Sabbath Protective League, said he considered that the proposed bill would make a wise law.” “Rev. Carey, of the Methodist preachers’ meeting, said the bill would serve the workingmen, the community, and the commonwealth.” “A representative of the Presbyterian ministers’ meeting also appeared in favor of the bill.” “C. D. Baker, president of the legislative board of railway employees, opened the opposition to the bill. He said that, except in emergencies, men of the steam railroads are not compelled to work on Sunday. If the bill were passed, Sunday would be cheapened and brought down like other days. Mr. Baker stated that it is fitting that clergymen should come here to try to get a day off for railroad men, as he was sure that the man who first agitated a Sunday train on the Boston and Albany railroad was a minister who wanted to get into town to his church. Regarding the employment of extra men, Mr. Baker said that extra men can not be employed indiscriminately on a steam railroad, as they are unable to protect the public. He said he knew that steam-railroad employees do not want legislation on this subject.” “J. Johnson said that for about fifty years he has worked seven days a week, six days for the railroad and one for the church, singing in the choir and being paid for it.” “J. H. Parant said that the railway conductors’ association is against the bill. It would not call for the employment of extra men, and to the twenty-five thousand employees of the Boston and Maine not more than a handful would be added, but the regular men would have to lengthen their hours of work. About the only men who work Sunday are those who do it to get extra money. Not three per cent of the railroad employees in Massachusetts would want this bill. ‘We are not directed by any officials,’ said he, ‘but we have no trouble in approaching the president, and without a committee. We know very well that all these clergymen want is Sunday observance, and that the present bill is only an entering wedge. We can now get off almost any time, and are sure of it; under the proposed law, we should never know when we should have any time to ourselves.’” “Chairman Butler then asked all the remonstrants to rise, and forty-three stood up, representing every division of the Boston and Maine, the New York, New Haven and Hartford, and Boston and Albany railroads.” “J. B. O’Connell quoted statistics showing that the railroad men are the second longest-lived class of people, and doctors last.” “A. H. Brown said that on the Fitchburg division of the Boston and Maine a few men work twelve days and lay off two; most of them have Sunday.” “Mr. Stone, an engineer and member of the Congregational Church, said that the bill would take forty-three men out of his church. He had never worked Sundays, because he had scruples, and the trainmaster respected them.” “J. H. McDonald said he had worked for eighteen years at railroading, and many Sundays, and did not feel deteriorated. When he asked to be relieved of Sunday work, the request was granted.” “The hearing then adjourned.” It has been observed that “where ambition can be so happy as to cover its enterprises, even to the person himself, under the appearance of principle, it is the most incurable and inflexible of all human passions.” And it is equally true that where professed leaders in morals have deliberately deluded themselves into maintaining a confessedly false issue upon false pretenses, “for righteousness’ sake,” they have committed themselves to the control of a passion that is as blind and cruel as that other is incurable and inflexible. Every one of those preachers knows full well that to ask for legislation in behalf of “the Sabbath” or of enforcing Sabbath observance is unconstitutional, un-American, un-Protestant, and un-Christian. This is clearly shown by their being careful to disavow all intention of asking legislation enforcing a religious sabbath: “we want not the religious seventh day, but a labor sabbath.” Yet every one of them knows that there is no sabbath but a religious sabbath; and that their so-called “labor sabbath” which they demand is identically to the very minute the religious sabbath that they profess to exclude. Thus they shift the issue, and boldly demand the very thing which at the outset they profess to exclude, and so commit themselves to an utterly false issue. Then, the easier to maintain their false issue, they put themselves forward as the champions of the “poor oppressed laboring man.” Then, when it is demonstrated that the “poor oppressed” ones whom they have championed “are better paid than the average clergyman,”—that is, that the “poor oppressed” whom they have assumed to champion are neither so “poor” nor so “oppressed” as are the average of the class who put themselves forward as the champions,—the fact is deftly turned in their own favor by the additional cool assumption that those can so much the better afford to have these as their champions, and submit to their will. Then, further, when the ones whom they have especially championed appear, and openly and decidedly repudiate these self-constituted champions, and assert their ability to know what they themselves want as well as anybody else, and demand to be let alone to exercise the privilege of running their own affairs,—then they are met with the enormous proposition that “those outside are able to see what they need better than the beneficiaries themselves;” that “the State must compel these persons to do what is good for them, whether they wish to or not”! All of this is the very philosophy and argument of the Inquisition. And in it all there is a terrible danger, though this danger is unperceived by those who are so zealously pursuing the dangerous course. Yet this great danger is especially to those who are so zealously pursuing that course. It has been presented by another, as follows:— “No real supporter of these laws can persuade himself, even by trying to persuade others, that either he or his fellow Brownists of the past or present time care in the least for the physical benefits which may or may not result from the enforcement of the idle and cheerless Sunday. All Brownists know perfectly well that their idle and cheerless Sunday was originally established in England as a theological institution, and without any reference whatever to physical considerations; that wherever it is established in the United States, the motive of its establishment is a religious motive, the stimulus of its enforcement is a religious stimulus, and no regard for social and sanitary results inspires its advocates. They know that if it were demonstrated that their idle and cheerless Sunday is a positive injury to the bodies of men, and a disorganizing social influence, their zeal for ‘the day’ would not in the least abate, and that they would simply regard whatever inconvenience it might entail on the154 individual or the body politic, as ‘a suffering for righteousness’ sake.” “They will prate of the ‘secular sabbath,’ ‘the overworked laboring man,’ ‘police regulations,’ etc., etc., being all the while perfectly aware that they are guilty of false pretenses, and are throwing a mask on this dogma of Brownism, and seeking to keep it in the statute book by imposition, and by making it appear to others that it is a certain thing, and has a certain purpose, when they know that it is no such thing, and has no such purpose; and that, if it were any such thing or had any such purpose, they would not care in the least either for the passage or the enforcement of a Sunday law.” “Knowing all this, are they not clearly guilty of a high and execrable degree of intellectual dishonesty when they pretend that the object of Sunday laws is the physical betterment of the race, and that they are supporters of these laws for any such reason? Cato wondered how one augur could look another in the face without laughing. It is difficult to understand how any intelligent Brownist can use this secular argument for the idle and cheerless Sunday without blushing at his own insincerity.” “But whether the red signal flag of the blush is flown or not, the corruption exists within. The man is false to himself. He has prostituted his intelligence. He has sold his soul. He has done evil that good may come. He has undertaken to obtain under false pretenses the ‘goods’ of idleness and cheerlessness on the first day of the week. And a soul that has once been bartered is ever thereafter in the market. A clergyman who is compelled in defense of a dogma or tenet of his sect to be intellectually dishonest, ought to resign; for nowhere does falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus [false in one, false in all] apply more absolutely than to such a case. If he once plays fast and loose with his own spirit, at the dictation of tradition or convention, he will do it again at the command of interest or desire. The consciousness of his own degradation will never leave him; no second baseness will lower him any further in his own esteem. He has lost his bearings on the ocean of morals. How is he safely to steer any longer, either for himself or others?” Such is the beginning of a course which easily and inevitably leads to the office of the actual inquisitor, in the workings of the Inquisition itself. WHY NOT USE SENSE, INSTEAD?
By Editor
We have received a booklet, and a circular letter calling attention to the booklet and its value, hoping that we will accept it. This booklet advertises a patent-medicine—a grand cure—“a perfect remedy for headache arising from the following causes:— “Headache resulting from protracted mental effort and close confinement; nervous headache occasioned by excitement, excessive grief, or other causes; headache due to loss of sleep and rest; headache from indigestion and overindulgence.” From this it is perfectly plain that, if ever there was a medicine invented as a sheer imposition upon the ignorance and thoughtlessness of the people, and to encourage dissipation and injurious practices, this must be the one. For it distinctly identifies certain causes of headache, and then recommends this drug, or whatever it may be, as a cure for the headache produced by these distinctly named causes; when the simplest thing in the world, and the only sensible thing, is for the individual to stop the causes. Imagine the perfect thoughtlessness and the nonsense of taking a drug to cure a “headache resulting from protracted mental effort and close confinement”! All in the world that is needed in that case is for the sufferer to stop his protracted mental effort, and go out into the open air. For headache that is “occasioned by excitement, excessive grief, or other causes,” all that is needed is to stop the excitement, to tone down the grief, and to put away whatever “other causes” there may be. For headache that is “due to loss of sleep and rest,” why should it be thought that anything is needed but to take sleep and rest? And for headache caused by “indigestion,” the thing to do is to eat only what will digest. And for headache from “overindulgence,” the sensible thing would seem to be to stop the overindulgence. Yet this circular is a fair exposition of the present-day ideas of cure—continue causes, and then administer drugs to kill the effects! And, in all reason, what can the end be of such a course, but to kill the person? FEET WELL SHOD
By Uriah Smith
In the task assigned us of wrestling against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, journeying to the heavenly Canaan, and running with patience the race set before us, there are no members more essential to success, and hence to be more scrupulously cared for and protected, than the feet; therefore the Bible has much to say about the feet. The apostle Paul tells what provision should be made for them. He says: “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. . . . Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” Eph. 6:11-15. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and publisheth peace.” Isa. 52:7. How often, in describing departures from God, and wanderings into ways of wickedness, the feet are referred to. We have such expressions as these: “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood.” In setting forth the expanding mercies of God that were upon him, David says, “Thou hast set my feet in a large room;” and, He hath “set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Ps. 31:8; 40:2. He also says, “He maketh my feet like hind’s feet, and setteth me upon my high places.” Ps. 18:33. The snares that are set, are set for the feet; the by and forbidden paths of sin are designed to turn the feet from the right way. It is therefore necessary that the feet should be well equipped, and guarded against all dangers to which they are exposed. What is said concerning the feet shows that the Christian is designed to be a determined, moving, progressive, active being; the feet are of themselves weak and exposed members. Hence they need to be shod with that which will protect and strengthen them. The road is rough, and cumbered with sharp-pointed stones and piercing thorns; hence the feet need the shoes which grace alone can provide. Whence come these shoes for Christian feet?—They come alone from Him who provides the whole armor of God. He himself journeyed through life, in its roughest and most dangerous ways, and is well acquainted with the roughest and most severe and perilous stages of the journey. He therefore knows just what we need, and can supply our wants. The material of which these shoes are made is worthy of attention. They are made of “the preparation of the gospel of peace.” This is most excellent material. It is easy to wear, and marvelously durable. It will wear as long as we have a desire to seek peace and pursue it, and to win the blessing pronounced upon peacemakers. Such an article will be to us the antitype of that of the children of Israel, of whom it is said: “Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.” Neh. 9:21. This passage in Eph. 6:15 has been paraphrased thus: “Shod with the firm footing of the knowledge of the gospel.” The word “preparation” signifies “preparedness,” or “readiness.” 2 Tim. 4:2. “Instant in season, out of season.” So Paul says, in Rom. 1:15: “I am ready to preach the gospel.” This preparedness is well-pleasing to God. “How beautiful are thy feet, with shoes, O prince’s daughter!” Cant. 7:1. And what is embraced in this peace with which our feet are to be shod? Peace with God, who is the God of peace, and from whom all peace comes. Peace as to the past, our sins all being forgiven. Peace as to the present; for the promise is, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.” Isa. 26:3. Such a person can rest quietly in the Lord, in the spirit of perfect assurance expressed in the last stanza of a beautiful hymn of trust, as follows:— “At peace with all the world, dear Lord, and thee,
No fears my soul’s unwavering faith can shake;
All’s well, whichever side the grave for me
The morning light may break.” Peace for the future; for they look forward to the time when their last enemy, death, shall be destroyed, and they stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb, who will feed them, and lead them to fountains of living waters, and wipe away all tears from their eyes. Here is peace, sure to come, in the presence of which the confused noise of the keenest strife and the loudest and most boisterous carnage of earth sink into insignificance. In this peace with which our feet are to be shod, there is the peace that accompanies complete submission to the divine mind and will. No feelings of aversion or rebellion rise up against anything that may come to us with conclusive evidence that it is the mind and will of God. We move out cheerfully in harmony with it. But on this point let this precaution be taken, that every one should be convinced of duty in his own mind, for himself, not fall under the control of the convictions of any other mind. It is when one tries to follow the path that others may mark out as duty, while he has no sense of duty on his own part, nor feelings of responsibility of his own, that antagonisms of views and feelings are liable to come in, and trouble and discouragement arise. Know what the mind and will of the Lord is for yourself; then follow your own enlightened convictions of duty. One shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace will moreover be in perfect harmony with the Word, and in full accord with all its teachings. He will have peace with his own inner self, his conscience, his fears, and his desires; and if he is at peace with all these, if there are no antagonisms here, no troubled conscience, no disturbing fears, no unlawful desires, then his feet are well shod to press on, with cheerfulness and comfort, in the Christian pathway. This peace will extend to and govern our relation with our brethren, and we shall find ourselves ever inclined to obey the injunction of the apostle to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It will extend to our relation with all mankind: “As much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” Rom. 12:18. Those thus shod will find themselves equipped for marching, and for all daily duties; and our whole experience is described as “a battle and a march.” These shoes furnish a sure foothold. With them, we need have no fears of the calamity which David thought had well nigh befallen him when he says, “My steps had well nigh slipped.” They are a good protection by the way. None grow footsore or weary who wear these shoes. They render us wonderfully immune from dangers on the road: “Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” Ps. 91:13. Those who walk with these shoes find that all their ways are ways of pleasantness, and all their paths are peace. Their fighting qualities are equal to all their other advantages; for they are really a part of the whole armor of God, every part of which we must have on to be able to stand. With this equipment, these gospel shoes, neither flood nor fire can harm us. Isa. 23:2.155 But how many in the world around us are bare-footed. Sinners are unshod. In troubles and trials they are obliged to kick against the pricks. The backslider is slipshod; or he wears tight shoes, which pinch his feet, or thin slippers, which soon wear out. And how many, by neglecting the gospel remedy, become, like Asa, diseased in their feet. 1 Kings 15:23. How many gouty Christians there are in the world! how many with spiritual chilblains! and how many with such troubles as in childhood we used to know as “stone-bruises,” or “stone-boils,” a source of great discomfort and inconvenience. All these difficulties can be remedied by following the gospel prescription. To be without shoes was, in Israel, a mark of disgrace, as it indicated a loss of inheritance and a state of penury and dependence. Among the first words of welcome to the returning prodigal was the order, “Put . . . shoes on his feet.” The Chinese are said to advertise shoes which enable the wearer to walk on the clouds. What does the gospel promise?—“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isa. 40:31. Wm. Gurnal says, “The gospel shoe will not come on thy foot so long as thy foot is swollen with sinful humors (any unrighteous or unholy practices). These must be purged out by repentance, or thou canst not wear the shoe of peace.” The Jews were to eat their passover with their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staff in their hand; and all in haste. Ex. 12:11. This foreshows the time and condition we are in at the present day. “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” The time has come for us, that our loins must be girded about, and our shoes on our feet, and our staff in our hands, and we ready for instant obedience to the order to go forward. The New Testament reiterates the same instruction: “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” Luke 12:35, 36. U. S. THAT VALUABLE INFORMATION
By Editor
In these columns, January 29, we published the following:— “To our brethren, and through them to suffering humanity everywhere:— “A physician, a brother in his ninety-third year, who has practiced medicine about seventy years, and has procured most of his remedies from the vegetable kingdom, wishes to say to all suffering from cancer, that the juice of the root of the narrow-leaf yellow dock will promptly relieve all cancer pains. This he has proved by an experience of twelve years. “For cancer of the stomach, take internally as much and as often as the case requires. For surface cancers, bathe the parts freely in a decoction of the juice. “The yellow dock is not a poison, and its fresh roots can be obtained in almost every field and garden, and by every roadside. “This aged physician has done much charitable practice during his life, but is now poor, and others have to do his writing. If you desire further information on this important subject, send self-addressed, stamped envelope for return letter. “He would be pleased to receive voluntary testimonials from any who prove the virtues of this remedy. “Address Dr. Joel D. Hough, care of Jno. Wm. Stein, 282 N. Washington Ave., Battle Creek, Mich.” , If that is carefully read, it will be seen that there are in it several items:— First, there is the statement that the juice of the root of the narrow-leaf yellow dock will promptly relieve all cancer pains. Next, plain directions are given as to how to apply the remedy. Next, how easy it is to find the root. It is also stated that the brother who gives this valuable information to cancer sufferers is in his ninety-third year; that he is now poor; that others have to do his writing for him; and that if any want further information, they should send a “self-addressed, stamped envelope for return letter.” Now that is all plain. And in view of the facts that the brother is in his ninety-third year, and poor, and must have others do all his writing for him, the request for self-addressed, stamped envelopes is altogether fair and reasonable. Yet he has received a great number of letters, as many as forty in a day, asking for further information, some of them calling for what must be a complete prescription and medical advice; but there have been sent no self-addressed, stamped envelope, no stamped envelope, no stamp, nor money to buy stamp and envelope, for reply. Therefore, in behalf of those whom, for this cause, he can not answer, Brother Hough asks us to say again: If you want a reply, be sure to send self-addressed, stamped envelope, provided your request requires only a simple answer. And if you desire extended information requiring medical directions or a prescription, then inclose one dollar; for he will have to pay for the writing of what you want to know. If, however, any cancer sufferer is too poor to send a dollar, please state it, and Brother Hough will do his best to help him. Please study and apply carefully the directions already given as to the relief of cancer pains, and it may be you will not need any further information. And, having done that, if you do want further information, then study carefully and follow strictly the other directions here given.