No Compromise by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 11, 1903

No Compromise

By Editor

Editorial

No Compromise

The principles of the kingdom of heaven and the principles of the kingdom of this world are utterly at variance. They have nothing in common. To accept heavenly principles is to repudiate worldly principles. To follow worldly principles is to reject heavenly principles. “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” And there can be no compromise in this matter. “For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?” There must be an utter repudiation of all worldly principles and policies. There must be no halting, no wavering, no making of crooked paths. The conduct must be as open as the day. There must be no attempt to conceal wickedness under an appearance of good, or to make wrong appear right. The temptation to do evil that good may come, under the plea that the end justifies the means, must be steadfastly resisted, and we must be willing to suffer an apparent defeat rather than to purchase an apparent victory at the expense of right principles. These truths seem self-evident, and yet how often do we see them ignored in practice. There needs to be a new revelation to-day of what it means to be fully governed in the life by the principles of genuine Christianity, and this experience ought to be the result of a whole-hearted acceptance of the truths of this closing message. Beware of any attempt to compromise with the world. Beware of such an interpretation of this message as leaves you in doubt whether there is any definite message after all. “If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him.” Be honest. Make no compromise.

The One Work

We have been called to a definite work. The message of the soon-coming Saviour and of the preparation necessary to meet him in peace must be heralded to all the world in this generation. The simple truths of the gospel which have either been overlooked or perverted must be presented to all the people. A standard of truth must be raised aloft, bearing the inscription, “The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,” and there must be a mighty movement in the earth, calling people back to loyalty to God and to obedience to his holy law. This is the one work for which this people have been raised up, and our strength lies in an unswerving devotion to it. And this work must be carried forward after God’s order, and not in harmony with a worldly policy. Any attempt to gain favor and standing in the world by softening down this message, or by hiding the real issue and substituting another of our own invention, will bring weakness and defeat to us, while the real message will move forward and leave us. Every effort of the enemy is being made to confuse and mislead this people, in order that the one work of giving this message to the world may be weakened and delayed. The very circumstances of this time call upon every one who is loyal to this advent movement to devote all that he is and all that he has to its advancement, absolutely refusing to accept any teaching or any leadership which tends to weaken his faith in those simple truths which for more than half a century have constituted the foundation of this advent message. This is no time for a half-hearted faith or a faltering service. “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion.”

The Impenitent Heart

The one thing which can resist God successfully is the impenitent heart. All the riches of God’s grace and mercy are revealed to it in vain. All the unmeasured love of heaven is lost upon it. All the creative power in the gospel does not change it. It rejects the long-suffering of God, and builds itself up in its resistance of the divine pleadings. But the impenitent heart finally reaps the fruit of its own doings in a hopeless separation from God, an unchangeable choice of eternal ruin. It is a terribly sad fate to contemplate, and it is almost overwhelming to think that it is overtaking some who have known this truth; but so it is. “Impenitence has taken hold upon some who once acted a prominent part in the work of God. There is on their part a settling down to a fatal hardness of heart, a confirmed resistance of the Spirit’s pleading. Should death overtake them as they are now, the dreadful words would be spoken, ‘Weighed in the balances and found wanting.’” It is possible for men to offer the Saviour outward homage, to be Christians in profession, to have a form of godliness, while the heart, whose loyalty he prizes above all else, is estranged from him. Such ones have a name to live, but are dead. To-day Christ is looking with sadness upon those whose characters he must at last refuse to acknowledge. Inflated with self-sufficiency, they have had all hope that it would be well with their soul. All at once the mirror of detection reveals to them the evil that their hearts have practiced, and at the same time shows them the impossibility of reform. Every effort was made to bring them to repentance; but they stormed out words of defiance, and refused to humble their hearts. Now the bitter lamentation is heard, ‘The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and my soul is not saved.’ Very solemn words are these. In this time of testing, decisions are being made for eternity. “Come, and let us return unto the Lord.”

A Turning Point

It is evident that we have come to a time of special significance in this work. Our present experiences have great meaning in them, and indicate a new order of things. The change which we are making in removing the headquarters of this denomination, under the direct and very specific guidance of the spirit of prophecy, and in establishing a new base of operations in so important a center of influence as Washington, D. C., is the preparation for that experience in this work for which we have long looked and prayed. If we conscientiously

follow the counsel of our Leader, the Captain of the Lord’s host, and adopt his plans for the campaign, we may confidently expect such co-operation on the part of the heavenly agencies as means the finishing of this work in a short time. This hope is clearly held out before us in the instruction which has come to us as our guide in this time of much perplexity. This is certainly the time of our visitation, the opportunity offered to us to unite with the divine purpose in stirring the world with the closing message. It is altogether probable that all this might have been accomplished without the experiences which have come upon us in Battle Creek, and without removing the denominational headquarters to another place, if there had been a heartfelt response to the warnings and entreaties which the Spirit of God has sent to us during these years, but that possibility is now out of the question. The developments of the last year constitute a turning point in the history of this movement. Changes are now imperatively demanded which might have been avoided, and we must act accordingly. Any attempt to hide these simple facts and to misinterpret the meaning of our present experiences will only lead to further disasters in this work. Let each one wait upon the Lord for individual guidance, and be sure that he does not make crooked paths for his feet.