RELIGIOUS LEGISLATION RIFE
Abounding Iniquity.— With the awful revelations of the last year relative to the corruption and crime in politics, in municipal, state, and national governments, and in high commercial and financial circles, made by Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, Thomas Lawson, and others, it would seem that the most optimistic would lose faith in the unscriptural theory of a converted world. Jesus said that just previous to His coming, iniquity—lawlessness—would abound, and because of this the love of many would wax cold. Matt. 24:12-14. Behold the fulfilment of His words. The apostle Paul declares: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” 2 Tim. 3:1, 5. The reason of this is abounding iniquity, not in the heathen world, but among those who have a form of godliness, but deny its power. He mentions eighteen different classes of sinners, among which are lovers of self, lovers of money, and truce-breakers. And these are specially manifest in the present overwhelming revelations of lawlessness. We are living in the last days. What will be the outcome of Mr. Lawson’s revelations in frenzied finance? This is a question which many are asking. The articles are striking, stirring. They have mightily aroused the great financiers. They will make many investors more careful. They will furnish topics of conversation for those who like such things, and place a large amount of political capital in the hands of Socialists, and kindred spirits. They will probably also foment to some extent class hatred, and that’s about all. “But will they not reform?”—Not at all. There is in them no element of reform. Reform must be based in deep-seated moral conviction. Heart and conscience must be touched. But this is the result of the Spirit of God bringing home to the heart the transgression of God’s law, the heinousness of sin. And then reform will not take place unless the regenerating power of the Gospel is applied to life and character. Mr. Lawson and others may reveal the awful disease; God only can cure. RELIGIOUS LEGISLATION RIFE.
If any of our readers think that religious legislation is a thing of the past in this country, or that there is no disposition to enforce religious laws, let them read Mr. Bradley’s notes in our Outlook department. Mr. Bradley has for years been studying the question; he is a keen observer, and writes from the view-point of an American citizen. The present article presents only a few of such items. There are many more to follow. Where the thing will end the prophecies of the Revelation clearly tell us, and in the very nature of the case, as attested by past history, catastrophe is sure to follow. The demand for religious legislation always reveals a weakened church, fast losing its hold of the power of God, and the yielding to that demand on the part of the State reveals a weakened government. The end is destruction to both. “Christ is the head of the church,” and “the church is subject unto Christ.” Eph. 5:23, 24. Not only is Christ the head of the church, as “the body of Christ,” but He is the “head of every man.” 1 Cor. 11:3. It is claimed by the Church of Rome that Peter was the delegated head of the church after the ascension of Christ, and that the pope as successor of Peter is the vicegerent of Christ, and therefore the visible head, having spiritual dominion over the body. Hence, as head of the church, he assumes to be director of the faith. The only man mentioned in the Scriptures as having a general oversight is not Peter, but Paul. In referring to the persecutions and trials through which he had passed, he says, “Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.” 2 Cor. 11:28. But this “care” is not one of dominion or authority, it is an obligation. “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.” Rom. 1:14. “For tho I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to glory of; for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the Gospel.” 1 Cor. 9:16. Altho God had anointed him, yet he says to the church at Corinth, “Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand.” 2 Cor. 1:24. At the very time Paul was having this “care of all the churches,” tho disclaiming any dominion over their faith, he gives this record of his manner of labor at Ephesus: “Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews; and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:18-21. Nor did he claim a very large income for his services, or allowance for the helpers which his great charge necessitated. Altho he was entitled to temporal support from those to whom he ministered in spiritual things, yet he gives this testimony as to his self-denial in respect to his maintenance: “I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Verses 33-35. This is the only true principle upon which any one can have a proper oversight of churches. Jesus said to His disciples: “Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant, even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matt. 20:25-28. A deadly business was recently exposed in the East. It was the manufacture of “life preservers” so constructed that they really endangered the lives of those who should be compelled to use them. The law requires a certain weight of cork to each preserver. A lot of “preservers” were found under weight. The attention of the manufacturers was called to the deficiency, and the “preservers” were “rectified” by putting a piece of iron in each to bring it up to the required weight. The country was shocked at the discovery. Now a similar discovery has been made at Victoria, B. C. The weighted “life preserver” was taken from a local steamer. These incidents show the fearful lack of consideration for life which characterizes this generation when human life is weighed against money. The manufacturers of these dangerous “life preservers” know full well that they are jeopardizing the lives of men and women when they deliberately place sinkers in life buoys; but the few cents they save on each buoy by putting in iron instead of cork looks bigger to them than any consideration for the lives or happiness of others. It is not that they refuse to sacrifice for the good of others; but they refuse to give what they are paid for giving. Heaping together treasure is the divinely-foretold characteristic of the age in which we live; but that condition is being brought about with a heartlessness that is hard for a Christian to understand. The vender of such articles holds the lives and the family ties of individuals in his hands, and coolly barters them for gold. The worship of a golden calf would hardly be indulged in now; but the worship of the gold itself is obscuring every consideration of right or justice in the hearts of multitudes to-day, and the world is rapidly ripening for its harvest. Theory can save no one. But the acceptance of a theory out of harmony with the truth of God has often erected a barrier in the soul against the very Gospel of God. Thus has many a soul been led blindfolded to its own eternal ruin. “Evolution” is a theory—a theory which is out of harmony with the truths of the Bible, and which, if accepted, is calculated to lead directly away from the Word, away from God, away from salvation through Christ. There is no work which shows the fallacies and inconsistencies of the evolution theory and Darwinism better than the book entitled, “Modern Science and Modern Christianity,” by Geo. E. McCready Price. A study of its contents may help you to save some soul from becoming hopelessly entangled in the snares of that theory. It is a good book to loan to those who have already accepted the theory, and so are already on the borderland of doubt. Price, 75 cents. Order of this office. An important discovery in the realm of wireless telegraphy has been made by Major George O. Squier of the United States Signal Corps. He has found that every living tree will act as a vertical antenna for both sending and receiving wireless messages; also that the ground surrounding each tree may be used for the receipt of such messages. Living trees and the leaves of trees and plants are found to be very sensitive to electric waves. A living tree may also be used to complete the circuit of an ordinary telephone system.