Question Corner

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 7, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 32.

1162. Miscellaneous Questions.

(1) If men worship mammon, shall not mammon rule over them? (2) If any one despises His salvation, His love, and His cross, is he entitled to our aid or comfort? (3) Does not the Hindu’s contempt for women express his own unutterable corruption and foulness? (4) Must we love the children of the world, the flesh, and the devil, as our brethren and sisters? (5) Can all the powers of the world prolong our days one second, or combined scientific knowledge lengthen life against His will? (6) Are self-made men and leaders of society endurable?

J. C. K.

1. Men irresistibly form character or mould their lives after that which they worship. The man who worships mammon will be ruled by mammon and his lesser brood,—greed, avarice, covetousness, oppression, etc.; and therefore “thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Matt. 4:10.

2. “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Gal. 6:10. God “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matt. 5:45, 48.

3. In part. In part the result of a cursed education in a man-made religion.

4. We can not love the ways of the world as we love the ways of God. We can not therefore love the associations of the world as we love those of God. We should see by faith, through the power of God, the possibilities of grace in every soul, and love the sinner for the sake of the Master, in the love of the Master. Yet love for the people of the world can not be as strong as love for those bound to us by the bond of His life. See John 13:34, 35; Gal. 6:10; 1 John 4:7, 21. The Christ-love in every heart will respond, not to selfish desire, but to the need of souls, even of the loveless.

5. Only the power of God can prolong life. This He does through various means. Only as scientific knowledge, seen under His guidance, can help us better to appreciate His truth and the working of His life is it profitable. His life is given to us through the food we eat and the water we drink. But the life and the power is all of Him. He is the omnipotent One.

6. God has endured the continuance of evil beings from the time evil entered. Can not we endure what He has? Long-suffering and forbearance often bring to repentance. Love “endureth all things.”