MAJORITIES AGAINST THE TRUTH.
By Rev. John T. Chalmers
THERE are those who magnify the numbers that give countenance to their cause, forgetting that in both morals and religion the word of God is the only rule and guide, and not the sentiments of any number of fallible men. In other words, they assert that truth must lie with the majority. But is this an infallible method of determining truth and right? How was it when Israel worshiped the golden calf? or in the days of Ahab, when from among the millions of Israel only seven thousand were found who had not bowed the knee to Baal? or when Elijah stood, single and alone, to meet the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal? Who were right and who received the approval of Heaven? How was it upon that dark and tragic day when Jerusalem and its environments rung with the maddened cry, "Away with him, crucify him, crucify him"? Who were right during the Dark Ages, the multitudes that followed "the man of sin" and worshiped the virgin, or that little band of Christians who in the valleys of the Alps kept alive the sparks of true religion that ultimately kindled into the blaze of the Reformation? Who stand upon the safest ground at the present time, the few hundred thousand who profess the true religion, or the countless multitudes who are virtually unbelievers? No, the race is not always to the swift, the battle to the strong, nor truth with the multitude; and when assailed with such logic let us not be intimidated or discouraged, but rather let us remember the babe in the ark of bulrushes, the stripling of Bethlehem before the giant of Gath, the little band of Gideon, and the eleven fishermen of Galilee. Let us not forget these illustrious examples of divine strength made perfect in human weakness, of the power of minorities when God is on their side, and the Saviour's precious words of promise: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."—Rev. John T. Chalmers.