A Bold Plan by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 6, 1907

A Bold Plan

By C. M. S.

THROUGH all past history Satan has carried on his work of counterfeiting the work of God. He has not scrupled even to ensconce himself within the sacred precincts of the sanctuary itself, and from that vantage-ground to tamper with and adulterate the ceremonies of the temple service. To that extent he had gone when Jesus, with the whip of cords, drove out the minions of greed, declaring that they had converted into a den of thieves that structure which was designed to be the dwelling-place of the Most High.

Satan has never faltered in his unholy ambition to “be like the Most High.” Through all the history of sin there has run the blood-red thread of Satan’s purpose to rule or ruin, and to rule by ruin. Every forward movement in God’s work has met his persistent onslaughts. It has been “a battle and a march,” and another battle and another march. When he has been unable to stay the progress of any movement from the outside, his next move has always been to get on the inside and put discord in the place of harmony, disintegration in the place of cohesion, confusion in the place of organization, contentions within, that he might thus reduce the ability of the force to contend against that which is without.

No army ever succeeds whose integral units have imbibed a spirit of distrust toward their leaders. No army ever succeeds which undertakes a radical and vital change in organization while the battle is on. To attempt it is to invite defeat. But neither of these contingencies can possibly approach in rashness and certainty of defeat such a proposition as the complete disorganization of our forces in the very face of the enemy’s charging legions. No leader of an army ever thought of it; no private would trust a leader who would think of it. The soldier who risks his life in battle must have confidence in the judgment and wisdom of his leaders; but one experience in that kind of military tactics would make him unwilling ever again to go into battle.

The theory of individual leadership and individual responsibility in this closing conflict may be made to appear beautiful,—as a theory,—but no movement is possible of success under such an arrangement. What made Babel?—Lack of organization. But God brought it about for the very purpose of bringing their work to naught. He disorganized them, and immediately their work ceased. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. They were doing a great work; but God was not pleased with it. He used the most effective instrument possible to bring their work to naught: he disorganized them. It worked so well that Satan, the great father of all counterfeiters

has appropriated it and reserved it as a most effective agency with which to strike back at the great work which God is to do in the culmination of his work for man.

That such a blow is struck under the guise of religion should not blind our eyes as to its authorship and purpose. It takes more than a sacred name to make and keep a thing sacred. “Thus saith Jehovah unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live; but seek not Beth-el.” Amos 5:4, 5. But why not seek Beth-el, seeing that Beth-el means The House of God?—Because Beth-el had come to be the abode of a people who dishonored God. He was dishonored there while still they called it his abode. He disowned it, and warned his people against it, notwithstanding the sacred sound of its name. So he will disown and so does he warn against any movement carried on to-day in his name whose purpose is to weaken and scatter his forces. C. M. S.