Washington, D. C., the Headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventists
By George I. Butler
It is a little over one year since the General Conference decided to remove its headquarters from Battle Creek, and the Review and Herald voted to remove that institution also to another locality.
After much careful inquiry, it became evident to those in charge of this work of removal that Washington was, all things considered, the most suitable place for the headquarters of this denomination.
Since this removal about one year ago, the writer has never heard of a single instance, outside of those especially interested in Battle Creek, of regret that this removal had been made, and large numbers have made known their gratitude that the headquarters of our denomination is now established in Washington, D. C. The writer has never had a single doubt that these steps were in the order of God, and that the wisest selection had been made that it was possible to make.
We fully believe that the United States of America is, all things considered, the leading nation in the world to-day. Standing first in freedom and general intelligence, in wealth and real power, the nation to whom the eyes of expectancy and hope throughout the world are directed, more than to any other, how can it but be the first in rank and importance as a nation?
As a people, we firmly believe God has given us the last great warning message to prepare a people for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This coming is very near, and hasteth greatly. It is to enlighten the earth with its glory; it is to go to every people, nation, tongue, and king; it must reach to the darkest places of the earth, and arouse the attention of mankind.
What other place, then, could have been so logically considered and chosen as Washington for the headquarters of its influence? When the gospel, after the death of our Lord Jesus Christ and his ascent to heaven, had its baptism of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, its headquarters were at Jerusalem, the great religious center. Thousands upon thousands were converted there, and from that point it started out in its work to the nations of the earth. After the Jewish nation had rejected it, and did its utmost to persecute and destroy it, and had at last filled up its day of probation, Jerusalem was destroyed. There can be no question that Rome, the great city of power, was the next important center from which the gospel went out to various portions of the earth.
In the very nature of things, this truth, which is to reach and influence souls in all parts of the world, should have its headquarters in the great central point of the most influential nation on the globe. That is Washington, D. C. To this center, more and more, are coming intelligent people from all parts of the globe. Men of influence are constantly going forth from this city, on various missions of importance, affecting the well-being of society throughout the world. The light of this great message ought to reach all in such a center of importance. The time has come, in this stage of our work, when this seems absolutely essential.
It was very proper, in the early period of this work, when it was starting in obscurity and poverty, struggling for a very existence, that it should have originated in comparatively obscure localities, until it had attained sufficient strength to draw the attention of people to itself. In its earliest days it was moved from place to place in various localities, in Connecticut, Maine, New York, and finally centered in Battle Creek, Mich., where it became an influential power. Probably there is no city of its size that has become so well-known throughout the world as has Battle Creek because of the presence of Seventh-day Adventists. That city, and the country in all directions for a long distance outside of it, had become very familiar with our people, and the doctrines they taught. Little more could be done than had been done to reach this radius of influence. It was high time that the headquarters were removed from this center to a place of more commanding influence, where the people had learned very little comparatively concerning it.
The providence of God demonstrated, in various ways, that the proper opening existed for us in Washington city. The printing of our leading denominational organs has been located there for months in the past, in small and unfavorable quarters; land has been procured in a favorable locality at a reasonable price. It certainly is now high time that our people should be able to present to the citizens of Washington, and those from all parts, of the world who may be there, suitable quarters for the different departments of our work. All important branches of the work should be represented in neat, modest, plain quarters, that will be respectable and worthy of a denomination looking for the soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our influence should be made to be powerfully felt in that locality, by a presentation of the glorious principles of truth which God has given us as a people.
The leading men of the nation should also be made acquainted with us. Light has come to us that men in responsible positions will yet embrace this truth. All classes of people, of our own nationality and of others, are to be found in Washington and its vicinity. To say the very least, when our various periodicals go forth with the superscription of Washington upon them, everybody will know the location of our headquarters. It is a city of world-wide influence.
With this brief and incomplete introduction, the writer wishes to say to all with whom he has influence, that he is in hearty sympathy with the efforts made to establish our headquarters at Washington. A modest, respectable office of publication should be established; a sanitarium suitable for our work should be erected and properly managed; schools of instruction, properly equipped, should most certainly be located there; and a vigorous campaign should be entered upon to make the truth of God known to all who will lend a listening ear in a radius of many miles around this important city.
Various calls have already been made for means with which to establish these agencies. One hundred thousand dollars has been estimated as a reasonable amount with which to establish our work there at the first. The writer is in no suitable position to ascertain just7how much is needed, but is willing to take the judgment of those who are upon the ground, men of ability and influence, as to the amount necessary.
We doubt not that the great enemy of this cause will make every effort possible to hinder our work, and our establishment in this great center of the world's influence. This we must always expect, wherever anything great and good is opening, the enemy will do his best to hinder it.
We hope, indeed, that the spirit which actuated Nehemiah and his fellow workers when they promised “to arise and build” will actuate the workers in Washington, and our people everywhere, to rally to the proper establishment of the agencies which God has instituted for the promulgation of his truth at the capital of the nation.
We urge our people to make this enterprise successful by liberal contributions of their means for this purpose. With such abundant resources in possession of our people, it would indeed be a disgrace should this work be hindered for lack of means. Our men of comparative wealth should not look askance at this important enterprise, but move on as we have in the past, in every new effort in our work. It will take quite an effort to raise this amount of money.
The writer is closely connected with the difficult, perplexing work in the great Southern field. We are very much in need of means. Sometimes we feel almost in perishing need of help, but we would, at the present time, give our work in Washington the precedence, and advise our people to do so in their liberalities.
It takes quite an effort to be able to say this truly, when we feel and realize how much we need means here to help forward the work, but we hope never to get so warped by local influences that we can fail to see the importance of great enterprises a little distance away.
The work must be established in Washington. May the Lord bless every effort put forth in good judgment to obtain this important consummation.
GEO. I. BUTLER.
A Poor Exchange
ONE stanza of a hymn which gives expression to a genuine Christian experience, runs as follows:—
“Not for worlds would I exchange it.—
This sweet faith in thee!
Earthly treasures can not equal
All thou art to me.”
That faith which rests without wavering in the word of the living God, and which believes in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as revealed in the Scriptures, is worth more than the combined riches of all worlds. He who barters this faith for a mere belief such as the devils have—a belief resting upon demonstration; and accepting only that which can be comprehended and satisfactorily explained by human reason—is indeed making a poor exchange. As the consequence of this first step he soon exchanges the truth of God for a lie, and worships and serves the creature rather than the Creator. Every suggestion which satanic cunning can invent is now being urged to weaken faith in God, and in the final message which is to prepare a people for the coming of Jesus. It is no wonder that our Lord inquired, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Nevertheless at that very time there will be a people of whom it will be said, “Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Do not permit either devil or man to rob you of your faith in God and his message of truth.
Questions Concerning American Imperialism
By L. A. S.
SPEAKING at a dinner of the Harvard Law School Association recently, Ex-Secretary-of-State Richard Olney set forth a number of questions the earnest consideration of which by the lawyers of this day is, he said, imperatively needed. These questions relate to the governmental policy of the nation, in which the speaker saw a great departure from the pathway in which the nation has attained its present position among the world powers.
Where in the national Constitution, Mr. Olney inquired, is to be found the principle of altruism. Where is to be found in it “any authority for purely philanthropic enterprises—any right of the government to turn itself into a missionary to the benighted tribes of islands in the South Seas, seven thousand miles from our shores, or any power to tax the toiling masses of this country for the benefit of motley groups of the brown people of the tropics, between whom and the taxpayers there is absolutely no community either of interest or of sympathy?”
“Still another search is needed,” he said, “to find in American law any right in a strong nation to appropriate the sovereignty or territory of a weak nation, either in the name of ‘collective civilization’ or in any other name or on any pretext whatsoever.”
It is for the men of the American bar to say, Mr. Olney said, “whether there is a break with all our past which ought to be and is to be perpetuated; whether American principles as embodied in American constitutions and state papers, once deemed models of wisdom and inspirations to humanity the world over, are now to be relegated to the limbo of antiquated superstitions; whether the flag shall symbolize the ideas and the ideals of the great Americans who are identified with all that is most glorious in our past history, or shall stand for the theories of the new guides and teachers of the present hour.”
That a great and sudden change should come over the policy of the nation at this time, is no mystery to the student of prophecy. The “beast” symbol under which this power appears in inspired prophecy, has “two horns like a lamb,” but speaks as a dragon. This power has been lamblike in its profession and policy hitherto; and if it is to speak as a dragon, a decided change in its attitude must take place. Just such a change has now come, and eminent men of the nation, though they know nothing of any Bible prophecy to be fulfilled by the nation, note this change, and ask whether it is to be permanent. It is a change which sets aside the principles of the equality of all men in point of natural rights and the right of all men to self-government, and declares that government derives its just powers from the consent merely of “some of the governed.”
There has come apostasy from the truth by the church; there is now apostasy on the part of the state. Church and state are now to unite, and proceed together against the truth by which God would call men out from the world at this time, and against its adherents. This will yet appear as the meaning of the declaration that is now made that this nation can rightfully govern people without their consent. L. A. S.
Faith Turns Darkness to Light
IN looking at the providences of God for his people, everything depends on the standpoint from which your view is taken. If you are in the camp of Israel, the guiding pillar will give you light; but if you are in the camp of the Egyptians, everything will be bound to look dark; for what was light to the Hebrews was darkness to the Egyptians. “If the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Faith turns darkness to light; but without it light becomes darkness.
Note and Comment
By Editor
We are accustomed to think of the present times as fairly peaceful, and so far as great wars are concerned, this may be true. Yet there is a warlike spirit in the air which constantly finds expression in warlike expeditions into territories beyond the boundary lines of civilization, and in preparation for a great war which all anticipate. The present “peace” is less peaceful, so far as military preparations and expenditures go, than war was formerly.
As an illustration, an English journal, The Speaker, states that England has had in the last nine years fourteen wars, which have increased the national debt from £635,000,000 to £798,000,000. The following list is given of these wars, with the cost of each:—
Two in Ashanti, one in 1895–’96, the second in 1900; there were also three native wars by the Chartered Company, the first against the Matabeles, the second and the third in Mashonaland. The cost of these three expeditions was about $13,000,000. Then came a war, lasting three years, in Sudan. This cost $12,000,000. Next came a war on the northwest frontier of India, lasting eight months, at a cost of $13,000,000. This was followed by the South African war, in which 965,000 British and 82,000 colonial troops were engaged, the war lasting two years and eight months. The total cost, including interest on the war debt, up to April, 1903, was £211,000,000, equivalent to $1,055,000,000. The expedition to China in 1901 cost more than $33,000,000. And then there were five more adventures: Venezuela, Kano, Aden, Somaliland, and Tibet. At present the last two are costing several hundred thousand pounds every month.
In nine years of office, says The Speaker, the present Unionist government has been responsible for an expenditure of at least £250,000,000 on war alone, while it has also run through about £400,000,000 in the way of “normal” or peace expenditure, or $2,000,000,000 on soldiers, sailors, battle-ships, barracks, and forts. The sum total of this is over $3,000,000,000. Not since the battle of Waterloo, it is declared, has so much British treasure been spent in war in nine years, and the nation has spent on war the accumulated savings of the thirty years which began when Mr. Gladstone came to the helm in 1868.
There is a current saying that “money talks;” and if this be so, it is sounding in the world a different cry from that of “Peace, peace!”
The Work in Washington
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
THE Lord calls upon his people in every State in America to come up to his help in the establishment of his work in Washington. Those who have this work in hand are to show no lack of interest in it. And our people are to remember that for the present the work in Washington is to be our first interest. There are many kinds of work to be carried forward in different places; but our first interest just now is our work at the capital of our nation.
We are to center our minds for the present on the work that needs to be done at Washington. Daily our petitions are to ascend to heaven for the success of this work, that it may move forward rapidly. The Lord of hosts gave special direction that the publishing work done in Battle Creek should be transferred to Washington. The directions were so plain that we could see that there must be no delay. And since we have moved forward in obedience to this word, we have had evidence that the Lord has prepared the way at every step for the establishment of important interests at Washington. Thus far he has helped us in a way that leaves no room for any one to doubt or question.
Let the work in Washington move forward. Let every one act his part in self-denial and self-sacrifice. Our people are not to wait for more appeals, but are to lay right hold of the work, making those things which appear impossibilities, possibilities. Let each one ask himself, Has not the Lord entrusted me with means for the advancement of his cause? Has he not bidden his servants in Washington arise and build? Shall I, at this time of great importance, withhold my means, which God asks me to invest in raising up memorials for him?
Let us be honest with the Lord. All the blessings that we enjoy come from him; and if he has entrusted us with the talent of means, that we may help to do his work, shall we hold back? Shall we say, No, Lord; my children would not be pleased, and therefore I shall venture to disobey God, burying his talent in the earth?
There should be no delay. The cause of God demands your assistance. We ask you, as the Lord’s stewards, to put his means into circulation, to provide facilities by which many will have the opportunity of learning what is truth.
The temptation may come to you to invest your money in land. Perhaps your friends will advise you to do this. But is there not a better way of investing your means? Have you not been bought with a price? Has not your money been entrusted to you to be traded upon for him? Can you not see that he wants you to use your means in helping to build meeting-houses, in helping to establish sanitariums, where the sick shall receive physical and spiritual healing, and in helping to start schools, in which the youth shall be trained for service, that workers may be sent to all parts of the world?
God himself originates the plans for the advancement of his work, and he has provided his people with a surplus of means, that when he calls for help, they may cheerfully respond. If they will be faithful in bringing to his treasury the means lent them, his work will make rapid advancement. Many souls will be won to the truth, and the day of Christ’s coming will be hastened.
God will prepare the way before his faithful people, and will greatly bless them. The righteousness of Christ will go before them, and the glory of God will be their rearward. There will be joy in the heavenly courts, and joy, pure, holy joy, will fill the hearts of the workers. To save perishing souls, they are willing to spend and be spent. Their hearts are filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. The consciousness of God’s love purifies and ennobles their experience, enriching and strengthening them. The grace of heaven is revealed in the conquests achieved in winning souls to Christ.
So God’s work in this world is to be carried forward. The church here below is to serve the Lord with self-denial and self-sacrifice, and the most glorious triumphs are to be won.
God’s word to his workers in Washington is, “Arise and build;” and his word to his people in all the conferences is, “Strengthen the hands of the builders.” The work in Washington is to advance in straight lines, without delay or hindrance. Let it not be kept back for lack of means. The workers in Washington will advance with steadfast courage just as fast as the Lord’s people will furnish them with means. Let every church in every place act its part cheerfully and willingly.
I know that the people of God desire to act their part nobly in advancing his work in the world. God extends his favor to us daily, and we are to regard it as a privilege to show that we are in harmony with the work now being done at the capital of our nation. We have no time to lose. The bounty that God daily bestows upon us makes a direct and forcible appeal to us to respond to the goodness and love of God by placing all that we have and are upon the altar of sacrifice. We must be co-laborers with God. He calls upon us to engage in his work, to return to him a part of that which he has bestowed upon us. He has made us his helping hand. Our self-denying benevolence, our willing offerings, are to give evidence that the truth has been doing its work upon our hearts.
Natural Laws
By G. B. Thompson
G. B. THOMPSON
It is not a new thing for the Word of God to be arraigned at the tribunal of human criticism. The shore of time is strewn with these rudderless wrecks which have gone to pieces on the impregnable rock of God's Word. But that the Bible should be betrayed in the house of its professed friends is somewhat new, and a sight which is unspeakably sad. Through what is called “higher criticism” the statements of the Holy Scripture are being subjected to a scrutiny which is illuminated only by the uncertain light of mortal wisdom; and that which can not be explained through the deductions of human philosophy, and accounted for in harmony with what they know about the so-called “natural,” or “fixed,” laws is rejected as not inspired. The trend of much of the theological teaching of the present time is to find out and understand God through a study of these “fixed laws,” and limit his operations in harmony with the little which they understand in reference to these laws.
But the effort is vain. As well might we expect to ascend into heaven by going down into a bottomless pit, as to search out the infinite God through the mist and fog of human reason. From this has resulted all the heathenism which has darkened the earth since the fall of man. Forgetting that God is incomprehensible and omnipotent, and professing through human wisdom to find him out, man's foolish heart was darkened, and his imaginations becoming wicked and vain, he “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and to four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” And why not? for a God whom we can fully understand through a study of his works is no greater a being than ourselves; and having formed in our minds such a conception of Deity, it is but a step further to formulate our idea of him into an image, and worship it.
God can be known to man only by a9revelation which is received by faith. We can never find him by reason. His ways are past finding out, and his wonderful acts can never be explained by a study of “fixed laws.” The Lord is not circumscribed in his workings by any such laws. He is the author of all law, and can work independent of, and apparently contrary to, any law known to man. All that God does is incomprehensible, and consequently beyond the range of man's investigation.
The God of the Bible works “contrary to nature.” It is not natural for a sea to divide, and form a solid wall on either side of a path while a nation marches through its midst. But it did this once when the hosts of Israel came out of Egypt. It is according to “fixed law” for the waters of a swollen stream to flow on without a moment's pause, but this natural law was interrupted once at the Jordan when the children of Israel entered Canaan. It seems to be natural for fire to devour wood, but Moses upon a certain occasion witnessed the strange sight of a bush in the flames, yet it was not consumed. The Hebrew worthies lived in the fiery furnace unharmed, their clothing not even being burned, though the fire destroyed those who cast them in. Men erect in large cities immense structures from seemingly indestructible material, and call them “fire proof.” According to “natural law” they are, but in the days of Elijah fire came down from heaven and burned up both water and stone. The sun in the days of Joshua was stayed in the heavens for the space of a whole day, but no disarrangement of the “fixed laws” which govern the planetary system has ever been discovered and reported through astronomical science as a result of this. And in the days of Hezekiah the sun not only stopped, but it went back “ten degrees” in the heavens, Isa. 38:8. But we do not find that this reversal of the workings of the “fixed laws” threw the great clock of the heavens out of time a single second. The machinery of the universe is controlled by its Architect, and he is not bound or hampered in his supernatural operations by any unchangeable law.
It is through faith that we understand, and it is much better to walk in its sunlight than to wander in the haze and gloom of human speculation.
The life we live is not our own,
Self never more can please us;
We cast down self from off the throne,
And give that throne to Jesus.
We give to him the mind and will,
And he from bondage frees us,
And while we love and trust him still,
The One who reigns is Jesus.
Would’st thou this wondrous secret
learn,
It means full consecration,
From every sin repentant turn,
And ask his full salvation.
He will come in and keep from sin,
If thou be young or hoary,
And thus a new life will begin,
’Tis Christ “the hope of glory.”
That Christ may daily in us live
We lay self on the altar;
To him our best affections give,
Nor from his guidance falter.
Thus walking daily in the light,
With him who ever sees us,
That life is pleasing in his sight;
In mortal flesh—’tis Jesus.
—W. R. Carswell.
Present Truth
By George I. Butler
“Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” 2 Peter 1:12. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, was a leading man among the twelve apostles left to guide the infant church after the Saviour ascended to heaven.
In the words above quoted he uses this term “present truth,” which is nowhere else found in the Bible, to designate the system of doctrine which Christ communicated to the apostles to be preached in all the world, to every creature. It was designed to save from their sins in this world, and eternally in the kingdom of glory, all who would accept and obey it.
There is something striking about this term “present truth.” It contains a beautiful, forceful thought. Why did not Peter merely use the term “truth”? Would that not have been sufficiently explicit?—It seems not, or he would not have added the word “present.” That addition must have involved an additional thought. It must have made his meaning more explicit. Every word of God has its importance. There is a great depth of meaning in the divine words of inspiration.
The True Significance of “Present Truth”
All truth is valuable. There is an unmeasurable difference of value between truth and error. There are many truths that are eternal. God is the Creator of all things; Christ is his only begotten Son. His word is ever true. These and other doctrines like them always have been true, and always will be true.
There are other truths that apply only to special periods. Before the proper time when they have their application, they could not have been truly proclaimed. Noah was told by God to proclaim that a flood of waters was to come and drown all that generation. The result demonstrated the truthfulness of that prediction. Could Adam, Seth, or Enoch have preached such a message to the generation in which they lived?—Certainly not. Could it have been preached by any generation since the flood, and have been true?—O, no. But it was “present truth” to the antediluvians.
During his whole ministry Jeremiah proclaimed the destruction of Jerusalem to the generation then living. It was a true prediction; it was present truth to that generation; but it could not have been true before or since.
For four thousand years predictions were made that the Messiah would come and open a way for the sinner to be saved from the wrath to come. God’s people looked for him all through those ages; but there was no time during that long period when any one could truly say he had come till the Babe of Bethlehem was cradled in the manger.
He came, he lived, he died on Calvary, and with his expiring breath he cried with a loud voice, “It is finished.” From that time on, Peter and all the believers could truly say, He has brought salvation to fallen man. The great truths of the glorious gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ have been fully proclaimed to the world.
Peter, speaking to the believers who had been made fully acquainted with these grand truths, could truly say, “Ye know them, and are fully established in the present truth.” The loving disciples went forth in the power of God, and in thirty years Paul could say they were “grounded and settled” in “the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” Col. 1:23. It was indeed a grand and glorious “present truth.”
Has God a “Present Truth” for Our Age?
Most assuredly he has. What is it?—The Lord is coming the second time, without sin unto salvation. His coming is near, even at the doors.
In all parts of the world evidences of the near approach of the “King of kings, and Lord of lords” are to be seen. Floods of evidences God’s Word gives us to show that it is near, and hasteth greatly.
Surely, reasoning from analogy, if God warned the world of a flood, of the destruction of Sodom and the cities of the plain, of Christ’s first coming, of the two destructions of Jerusalem, and even warned the Gentile, heathen Ninevites through Jonah, he will warn the world and his own people of the final destruction of the world by fire. This grand announcement is the present truth for this age. That will be the greatest event that ever occurred, or10ever will occur in all the universe of God.
If a little war in Eastern Asia stirs the hearts of men, how should the announcement of a “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation,” affect us? Dan. 12:1
If convulsions, tornadoes, great fires, awaken interest and alarm to-day, how will it be when a voice from the throne says, “It is done,” and the great earthquake occurs, when every island flees away, and the mountains are not found, and the great hailstones of God’s wrath fall upon men?
If the great fires of Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, and other cities, and the sweeping of Galveston to wreck and ruin in a day, stirred this whole nation and excited the sympathy of the civilized world, how will every person feel at the last great day, which is thus described by John: “The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:14-17.
Dear reader, to call attention to such things as these, and to induce people to make preparation for them, so that they may be found of God in peace, is the present truth for this time. In your Bibles is a vast amount of evidence that we live just before the coming of that “great day for which all other days were made,”—the coming of Jesus Christ in glory. To prepare for that day is the highest possible evidence a human being can show of his faith in that event.—Geo. I. Butler, in Southern Watchman.
Your Sins Forgiven
By Anthony Beans
ANTHONY BEANS
“Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Whose sins?—“Thy sins” (your sins). Yes, dear reader, the Lord says this to you, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Just as surely as you have taken the Bible steps by which you become a member of heaven’s family, just so surely this welcome message of peace and pardon is spoken to you, and it is your privilege to believe and accept it. This is a wonderful declaration of peace that comes from the “God of all peace,” to your soul.
The steps by which we may secure the forgiveness of our sins, are briefly outlined in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Prov. 28:13.
When will the Lord do this? When is the Lord “faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”?—Just as soon as we confess and forsake them, and believe that the Lord does with them what he says he will do, that moment our sins are forgiven. Praise the Lord! We are not required to serve a long sentence “at hard labor” behind dreary prison bars before we can realize the blessedness of sins forgiven.
But one says, “I do not feel that my sins are forgiven.” You do not need to feel it, necessarily. Your sins are forgiven because God, who is fully able and willing, says it, and his saying so makes it so in your case and mine as soon as we believe. It matters little whether we feel it or not. The feeling that we look so much for and crave in making our voyage over life’s sea is simply the harmonious sound that always follows pure belief in God’s word, a part of which says, “Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.” Matt. 9:2.
The Value of Old People to Society
We live in a time when there seems to be a tendency to discount old age. Some men of business are saying, “Let us retire from business at sixty, and give place to younger men.” Among the artisans a voice has said, “At forty-five crowd him out, and let another take his place.” Even in the church of Jesus Christ gray hairs are sometimes discounted, and some say, “At fifty let the man in the pulpit give place to a younger man.”
Now, old age, as it comes in the order of God, is a beautiful and majestic thing. The very shadows that dim life make it more beautiful if the peace of God encircles it. It stands for the wiser counsel of God among men. Most of Jehovah’s mighty prophets wore the visage of age. Years voice wisdom. So I come to say a word for the old people to-day. Wherever I go, I see them. Their bent form, wrinkled brow, gray hair, appear on the street, in the office, in the church, and in the home.
Let us note some things that have been done by old men:—
At seventy-five Abraham was called of God to go into a strange land and begin a new dispensation of faith. At eighty Moses was called to deliver a nation from bondage, and through him at eighty-one God gave the world the best law ever put upon record—the ten commandments. At seventy-eight Joshua became the successor of Moses, and led Israel into the promised land. Isaiah prophesied until he was eighty and eight years old. Simeon and Anna worshiped regularly in the temple after they were eighty, saw Christ there, and sang songs that we yet sing. St. John, at more than ninety, had visions of the King in his glory, and wrote for the learning of all nations.
Yes, God has a work for old people to do, and he has said that the hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness. God has put a premium on old age. Let us not despise it.
Most of us are too sensitive on the matter of age. The great master-roll of famous men looked not at years, but at work, and made their mark. They went on improving opportunities, using their strength in good service, and God made them great.
The ministry of age has more of heaven in it because there are more degrees of growth, more fillings of the spirit, more mellowings of love, more of the voicing of the word and Spirit of God.
Old people are a blessing to any community. Their large experience, their knowledge of days and years and of affairs give them a wisdom that is of more value than money.
Some things old people can not do so well as young people. They can not walk on ice so well, but they choose more readily a safer place to walk. They can not see so well for hand and foot, but they calculate results better. When a man reaches forty-five or fifty, his eyesight begins to fail him, and time must be taken to put on glasses; and then the focus is not that of a younger eye; at this point a younger man, other things being equal, will pass him, and therefore the employer will give the young man preference. When physical action and endurance are at a premium, youth always wins. But where counsel, wisdom in organizing and guiding, steady purpose, and deliberate aim are at a premium, age wins.
For soul work there is not a better qualification than age and experience. Old people are a conservative force which makes society more safe, institutions more stable, and life more secure. God makes no mistake in saying to youth, “Honor thy father and thy mother.”
Old people remind us that we, too, shall grow old, and the infirmities of age will be ours. If we disrespect old age, we shall soon come under the frown and scornful lip. Our own sins will find us out. The child that dishonors father and mother will be dishonored. The youth that is kind to the old will be attended by good angels.
And old people are a link uniting us to heaven. He who is the Ancient of days, the first and the last, whose hairs are as wool, as white as snow, and his eyes a flame of fire, is in heaven, and he is King of saints. Our mothers worship him. Our fathers bow to him. Through the prayers of the old we are helped. They are between us and God, and when they pray, we are blessed. And no one looks out and up and prays quite so much as the old pilgrims. No one leans so hard on the Everlasting Arms. No other is quite so intimate with the King on the throne.
Without the old people this world would lack all the wisdom that comes with age and experience; its better counsel would be lacking; its riper fruitage would be lost, and this life would be .
Living Always With God
God is ever with me, ever before me. I know he can not but oversee me always, though my eyes be held, that I see him not; neither is there any minute that I can live without God. Why do I not, therefore, always live with him? Why do I not account all hours lost wherein I rather enjoy him not?— Joseph Hall.