DEAR BRETHREN : You know that there is no calling so sacred, so high, and so infinitely responsible as that of professed ambassadors for Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. They take upon their hands the eternal destiny of many souls for weal or woe. God will require these souls or their blood at our hands. How important, then, for others and ourselves, that we stand in the counsel of God. Says the Lord, "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest not the warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul." Eze. 3 : 18, 19. Among those who will receive the severest punishment at the Judgment will be unfaithful ministers. This the Bible everywhere teaches. No class are in greater danger of perdition than ministers themselves. Their profession is higher; their responsibility is greater; the people look to them for instruction and example. While we are "subject to like passions" as other men, we cannot disguise the truth that there is often a strong temptation presented to the minister to seek to please his people and to gain the sympathy and applause of his congregation, to lower the standard for those whom he would not otherwise win, and to court the favor of the world to build up his church. Again, we are in danger of being satisfied with the reforms which our fathers wrought, without carrying forward a work which is crossing to our feelings. Jesus said, "Every scribe instructed unto the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasures things new and old." God's word of truth, especially the prophetic portion, is progressive in its development, and we must advance with it or be left in darkness. All past ages afford us warnings in these respects. When a reform is needed God, in his providence, unfolds new light on the Scriptures. And in the times of all past reforms there have been found ministers who sought their own glory instead of the glory of God, who opposed the reforms and turned away the people from the truth. So it was in the days of Christ, of Luther, and of Wesley. Human nature and the allurements of the world and of worldly influences are ever the same. Let us heed the warning thus given us in the Bible and in history, and not follow the example of those who lamented the blindness of their fathers who stoned the prophets, and yet themselves condemned the chief of the prophets to a like fate. We condemn ourselves in applauding the reformers of past ages if we do not carry out in our lives the spirit of reform for this age. Who Hath Believed Our Report?
THIS was the question of the prophet, as he saw the disposition of the people to reject the counsel of God. When they who were bidden to the supper began to make excuse, each offered a reason which was satisfactory to his own mind,—but not to the mind of the king. No excuse is admissible when God calls. When Jesus and his disciples taught, although they preached just what the Scriptures foretold, their word was rejected because the people thought they had enough truth. So it was in the days of Luther; so in the days of Wesley. He who teaches in harmony with the popular feeling cannot be a reformer. A true reformer must, in the very nature of things, take an unpopular position. Friend, do not neglect or refuse a matter because it is unpopular: because the proud and the worldly treat it with scorn. It may be the message of God to you. "For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called." 1 Cor. 1:26.